Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Welcome to From Caving in to Crushing it, the podcast for those who find themselves immersed in adversity and choose to write their story instead of having others.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Write it for them.
[00:00:18] Speaker A: I'm Drew Duraney and I'm your host.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: So welcome everybody to the Men's Supporting Men Collaboration Tribe. And I'm going to be interviewing Jason Croft and going to be really the episode one of the podcast From Caving in to Crushing It. Men, know your worth, stand your ground. And I asked Jason to come on to tell us about himself and his journey. So, Jay, I'll let you introduce yourself and we'll start talking.
[00:00:47] Speaker C: Sounds good. Glad to be here, Drew. Gentlemen, good to see you all.
This is a blast. My name is Jason Croft. I have a company called Media Leads and a couple of different shows that I do do.
You know, I'm a father of three boys, moved to Colorado a few years ago because I needed, I needed mountains in my life and they speak to my soul and I get up into them as much as possible, for sure. But yeah, I, you know, I've got a background of 30 years in video, film, movies, corporate events, that whole world.
And a few years ago put myself in front of the camera in front of the, the, you know, I guess it's behind the mic, in front of the camera. What all those things simply to, as a means of, of interviewing started out with a little, you know, marketing test. Doing it felt like, you know, I've got no business doing it, but I'm going to do it anyway. Found out I loved it and that's the main thing that I, I do now is helping other people create their shows and of my own. And that's, that's the, the, that's the highlights right now.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: Well, you know, you hit on something that I do want to talk to you about because many of us fear failure and have, sometimes some of us have a fear of success. And I was Talking to my 16 year old daughter and she said, dad, how do people have a fear of success? I said, some people, if they don't have self confidence and so, you know, self respect and they think they're going to build something and screw it up, that's how some people can be. What I admire about what you said, Jason, is that you just thought about doing it, didn't know how to do it, but you did it anyway. Tell me about how you had that internal motivation to just go and try something without being afraid of failure or even failure or even success.
[00:02:49] Speaker C: Yeah, it's, it's, it's Something that really was sort of my def. Defining moment. Defining decision, you know, as a. More of a. A thing than. Than a moment. And I think, you know, most of us, big transformations, they might come down to a decision. They rarely. It's. It's rarely like, I did this one thing and, you know, everything was perfect after that, you know, but that decision was really wanting to. To be that outgoing person, that connector. I read Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point, you know, way back years ago when it. When it came out. And, you know, he's describing the. The three types of people, like the mavens, the connectors, and totally blanking on the third one. But that connector person, that role just knows everybody brings people together, does all of that. I sat there reading that, I was like, oh, my God, I still get chills thinking about it right now, because I was just like, that's what I want to be. That's what I want to do. And the weird part was that it was the furthest thing in the world from it, right? You know, I was the guy that, man, if I could possibly get myself to go to some networking deal, you know, standing, you know, against the wall, hoping maybe somebody, you know, says hi to me first, all that.
And, you know, a few things happened. You know, there was that decision that I. I want to be. That I want to be better at this, but. And then a few things came together all at once. Kind of the perfect storm to make it happen, I think. I mean, number one was that decision, right? So then after that, I got really purposeful with. I'm reading about how to network better, how to connect with people, how to talk to people better, just how to, you know, watching those videos, like, how to present yourself and do this and do that. And so just that skill set fascinates me.
I think turning 40 was one of those things that, I don't know, there was something to like, oh, I don't give a crap what people think. Like, I just like, all of a sudden realized it. I'm like, oh, who cares? You know? And so then I'm busting through the doors of a network and really, hey, what's up, everybody? You know, like just that little. That. That little decision, right? I mean, that. That's a big filter to put everything through. If you don't care anymore, you're not worried about it anymore.
And then along those same time, that same time, I started a show called Startup Dallas. I worked for a video production company when I was back in Dallas. And just as a marketing idea, it's kind of discovered the startup community and thought they would be perfect, you know, just a whole avenue for, you know, selling video production services that, you know, it was my role, marketing and sales, right. And I was like, oh, well, this is cool. You know, I'm just. I always look for that unique thing to. To kind of figure that out and get in front of people and talk to people instead of just like, hey, you want to buy this? Hey, you want to buy this? And we were sitting here with a studio, you know, we've got all the gear, all the space. I was like, you know, we just kind of start a show, interview the people who, you know, we'd love to eventually be clients and all that kind of stuff.
I mean, nobody else is going to sit in the chair and do the interviews. I'll do it, you know, what the heck.
And that was, all of those things coming together just changed everything. Because again, wasn't that, oh, I want to be this great TV personality person? And that was the, you know, like, the, the trajectory. It was certainly I wanted to be that connector. I wanted to be that person. But then it was just sort of a means to an end to sit in the chair and host this. But then what that did, unbeknownst to me when I was starting, it was. It just lit something up in me. I was like, holy smokes, this is it. You know, like, I love this. And it wasn't, you know, necessarily the camera part or anything like that. It was that connection. It was that interviewing that other person that I was across from and from there, you know, I've. I. When I left that company, I. I knew I had to keep this going because that was just a part of my soul now, you know, that I figured out, and it's been a blast, you know, that. That lit. I mean, that changed my entire trajectory. Like, everything I do now has to have that component going on, whether it's the main thing or a piece of it.
So that's, you know, that's.
It's. It's one of those things that it's good that it's functional, there's a use for it, but it's also like, I've got to do this, you know.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:07:52] Speaker C: So much fun.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: So. So if you hadn't picked up that book, Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, where do you think you'd be?
[00:08:03] Speaker C: I don't know. You know, that's always. That's always tough. You know, it would have, you know, would it have been something else? Would I still have done maybe the show thing down the road.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:08:13] Speaker C: Because it was still just a marketing idea.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:16] Speaker C: Who knows? But it. It was something that. It allowed me to just. It painted that picture. Right. Like, oh, that's it. You know, like these vague things of, I'd like this quality or I'd like that quality. It's like, that's the thing. And so I went from, you know, being the furthest thing from that, like I said.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:35] Speaker C: To, you know, two, three years later. I've got, you know, one of the top, like, connector pieces, people in. In Dallas.
[00:08:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:44] Speaker C: Calling me because she needs this type of person at her next event. Hey, I know, you know, everybody, can you do that? And it was one of those little moments. I was like, oh, that's cool. You know, like, that's. That's neat, you know, to kind of navigate that. And. And again, I think we all need those things, too, to look back on and go, oh, yeah, this wasn't just happenstance. You did these things to make this end goal happen.
What's next? Because we always have something else we want to do, and when we haven't done it at all, it's so easy to just go, like, all we have to compare it to are the people who are already successful and already doing it. Like, how am I possibly going to get to that level? But when we could take a step back and go, okay, what have I done purposefully? And, you know, put those. Those things into motion and then like, oh, gives us that little bit of confidence to just take that first step and then do, oh, okay, I can kind of maybe do this. Get a little more confidence and keep going down that road.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: Absolutely. You know, a lot. A lot of people don't get that taste of, I have to do this. You know, you have. We have a lot of people, men especially, who don't have something to look forward to. Right. And they don't realize that they control whether or not there's something to look forward to. So with you, how old were you when you picked up that book? Out of curiosity, you remember?
[00:10:17] Speaker C: Oh, gosh, it would have been. Let me think. Like, I can't remember the year that the book came out. Maybe 2012, maybe 10 years ago.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: So in your 2012, 2013 somewhere.
[00:10:34] Speaker B: Okay. All right. So I'm wondering where. Where were you in your life at that time that that made you really think about wanting to find out who you are? Because did you know your purpose back then or did you discover your purpose around that time?
[00:10:53] Speaker C: Oh, gosh. Well, I mean, my Main drive, like from high school until about 2010, was film, movies, making movies. That was it. It was one of those, like, I knew in. In my soul that if somebody handed me a hundred million dollars, it would be like, okay, what are you gonna do now? I'm going to take this money and make movies. You know, it was like. It wasn't like that. Quit and go do something else. And so that was a main. That was my main driver for the longest time until that just. That was the weirdest thing. But in.
There was a time it just. That passion and desire just went away. You know, I had plenty of, you know, I mean, that's just what I did, you know, at all different variations from shooting and lighting and producing and doing all that.
And it. That was almost a switch, like a light switch being turned off. That was the strangest thing. That. That desire and that passion is just. It went away almost overnight. Like I was physically ill at the thought of being on a set. I mean, it was crazy. And so there was a little bit of. There was some time in there for sure of like now what. Because that's, that's been it, like, that's been the North Star, right, Forever.
What, what filled that and a little bit of crossover there as I was getting interested in producing when I was making movies and all of that, which is very much the logistics side, the business side, all of that, which I loved as much as the creative shooting and lighting side.
That, that enjoyment and passion kind of came in there, you know, that love of business, specifically marketing and sales.
And so that sort of sent me down that path, which, you know, just kind of following that and.
[00:12:52] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, something I've been actually working on for myself. And it's, it's, It's. It's been very interesting to see. It is. I've, I've. I've had my. What my business life has been. And then I look at the time timeline and I overlay what was happening in my personal life. At the same time stuff was happening in my professional. So I'd like to ask you if I can get a little personal question is around that time, let's say 2012. I know you've told me you've gone through a divorce like I have while you were going through that divorce, which is a very stressful thing, whether or not the divorce turns out okay and all that, and what, what was happening to give me that. That timeline of personal and professional at the same time and how you handled it and how you got through that situation.
[00:13:48] Speaker C: During the divorce time.
[00:13:50] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:13:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
So I'm very fortunate that, you know, it's very positive situation. I mean, my ex and I are incredibly good co. Parents and just friends and on the same page and, and I count myself so fortunate for that constantly.
And it doesn't mean it wasn't hard by any means.
So the, the we'll say the first time we were getting a divorce was 2018.
And you know, she came to me, I want to get a divorce.
And honestly, the biggest stressor in all of it, the, the most anger inducing aspect of it was me being away from my boys. I've got three boys and, and the fact that I would see them one second less than I would have otherwise, like, that's, you know, that's the most anger of the situation.
So we were still living in a, in the, the same place, you know, for a couple of months and won't go into all the details and stuff, but she then came back and said, I want to, you know, let's give this another shot. You know, I had actually met someone in between that and I think seeing that scared the shit of her, you know, a little bit. Well, I mean, I know I did. That's, that's her words, you know, And I knew for the sake of my boys, for the sake of everything, I had to give this another shot. It was just. I felt in my being like I, I had to. And there were no words she possibly could have said to say, like, hey, let's try this again. There were no words at all. But I saw it in her. I saw the physical change in here of scaredness of a different person and all of that.
And that was hard, of course, ending things with who I had met and going back into this. But for a year and a half, she was a different person. Like, I mean, it was amazing, like in all the best ways, for her sake, for my sake, everything, you know, and then started, you know, about a year and a half into that, fortunately we, we got up to Colorado. We've been wanting to get up here for, for years.
And she hit me with it again, you know, almost two years to the, to the month, you know, and the biggest thing was like, at the time was just like, it was just this assumption we would move back to Texas. That's where family is and all that. I was like, are you. We just got it. Are you kidding me? Like, in my head I'm like, give me one summer in Colorado, not in freaking Dallas, Texas. He, I love you, Dallas. But dear goodness, fortunately we stayed up here and all of that and the boys through all of it.
My older boys had a tougher time the first time, through the first one, but all of us, we kind of had a dry run through this thing.
So I'd come to terms already I've gone through that of like, okay, what is joint custody going to look like? What is this, you know, going to look like?
So, I mean, it really was a lot easier.
It was the hardest on. It was the hardest on my youngest the second time around, because the first time he just wasn't old enough to, like, process what was going on and everything.
And so, you know, it's. It's. It's been really good. I mean, it's been nothing but open communication and really just great stuff. I mean, I don't know if it's. If it's a main reason why, but I remember having, you know, I had that positive.
The positive role role models friend. A friend of mine from, you know, from elementary school, you know, like, we're still friends today. His parents had been divorced and, and they were always that amazing example of exes who were always at, you know, his functions and always that stuff and just amazing relationship between this. So there was a little bit of example there, which was. Which was great, you know.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:22] Speaker C: And we've seen it when. We've all seen it and heard the stories and when we were going through our divorce, we had friends of ours who just happened to be going through at the same time that just.
I mean, you talk about the complete opposite and just felt so bad because it was, it was just. It was. It was the ugly version, you know.
[00:18:45] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. So you mentioned about positive role models when you were going through that. Can you think about, you know, growing up, who was your, who was your mentor, your role model growing up?
[00:18:57] Speaker C: So raised by my mom, single mom. Um, she certainly gave me that foundation of. Oh, you too? Yeah, yeah, she gave me that foundation of love, which is. Is really a. A kind of miracle because she didn't have it, you know, she wasn't supported that way. The way she just somehow knew that she was going to, you know, love her kid and give that, you know, that support and foundation. So I had that from. From day one. You know, we had our rough patch, you know, as a person of my own and off. Off on my own. And that, that led to, you know, a lot of things, you know, we get into or not, but we're back to, you know, a good relationship again, which is good.
But. And then my grandparents were, you know, I spent, I mean, all my time, you know, with them, certainly all summers with them, and, and they were really my role models in just hard work. That work ethic.
[00:20:02] Speaker B: Right.
[00:20:02] Speaker C: Entrepreneurialism, you know, all of that, you know, which, I mean, was always kind of in me from.
I mean, they tell me stories of being five or six years old, standing out on the side of the road, like, selling rocks that I'd found, you know, out there to cars that came from rocks.
[00:20:21] Speaker B: Right?
[00:20:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
And, but yeah, just getting that, that mentorship. And then, you know, I, I, I, it's wild. I, I kind of, I had that father figure through, through a big span of time from my senior year of high school, getting my first internship with a video production company.
Ended up working there for five years. Had a great sort of father figure, you know, with the guy who ran that company, and then that it was almost like a handoff as I went.
Found the film program in college that I was in. And he was, you know, a dad to all of us and just an amazing mentor, you know, so it was interesting to, you know, to find those, those role models and those, those people to look to, you know.
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. That, that's very, very important that, you know, I was just like, I just. We just launched a podcast with my son, and he wanted me to do a podcast with him. And he told me, which surprised me, but I should guess I shouldn't be surprised. He told me that as long, as far back as four years ago, he didn't see me as his mentor or a role model. He, it was his grandfather, my dad, because I was, he felt, and he just hadn't been able to articulate his motions for years. He had seen me running around, you know, the issues with the marriage and working in the hospitals, and that when I was home, I really wasn't home. I was physically there, but not mentally. He picked up on that. And it's only been since my dad passed away in the last year and a half. He told me this just a couple days ago that now he sees me as a mentor and a role model because I'm paying attention to him. And I didn't realize at the time that I was acting that way. And instead of taking it personally and getting upset, I said, you know what? I got to do things differently. And so, so it's it that the whole thing about mentor is, is so important because a lot of us men go without a mentor for whatever reason, you know, and it doesn't have to be your father if you, if it can't be your father, it can be somebody else. And, and so I'm, I'm happy you had that, you know, growing up.
[00:22:32] Speaker C: Yeah, it's wild. We're all, and we, and we're, we are that role model, whether we're conscious of it or not, as we've all learned, you know, and so the, the, the sooner and the better you can get aware of that and then be purposeful and, you know, and, and it doesn't have to be.
That's the thing. Like, if you care about being a father, which I personally do, then, you know, it can get big, right? It can get like, oh my gosh, I've got a. Be this exact. I've got to do this and I've got to do that. And sometimes that leads to withholding the bad stuff or not expressing yourself or in my case, I think it's been, I'm go, I'm going, I've got to get this thing done before I can really be an example to my kid. I have to make X amount of. I have to accomplish this next goal or this.
And I think there's, I think there's been some, you know, chances of just a little bit extra time, a little bit extra conversation or this and that. Because I didn't feel I was qualified to teach maybe this thing or that thing as much as I, you know, I mean, if I took anything to heart, the cliches when, when you first have kids that everyone tells you is to go so fast and all, if that's one thing I took to heart above anything else, and just every minute I can, you know, be there and it's still too fast and goes, you know, but, you know, hung on as much as possible. So if I screwed everything else up, these three boys know in their, you know, from the very core of their being that they are loved. Right? There's a foundation of that. And if everything else was screwed up, well, I'm sorry, but like, at least there's.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: Yes, yes. No, that's, that's an awesome point. You know, moving back into your professional life. I know podcasting is a big part of your life right now. Tell me a little about how you got into it and tell us a little about your podcasting experience with strategy and action and concentrate.
[00:24:47] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. So had that first show Startup Dallas left, that we did probably 80 something episodes in, in a year. So, you know, in person interviews, which, again, it was just a blast. I left that company and I was like, I've got to keep this going.
And so I I went down to the basics because, okay, I'm going to be doing this on my own. I had the, the luxury of, you know, somebody shooting it, somebody editing the episodes and all of that. So I'm doing it all myself. So I want. It needs to be a single camera, it needs to be a simple edit, you know, all of that. So I was like, oh, let me do this Seinfeld style and interview people driving around, you know, and so I, I worked out all the great, because it also has to. It's still got to look good. I mean, I'm. That's my background, right? So it's got to look good, it's got to sound good.
So I did that, did the Jason Croft show, because that's the most obnoxious name I could come up with. And so I picked that one and did, gosh, we did 50, 60 something episodes of that one. Similar audience, you know, the startup folks, business folks there in Dallas, you know, driving them around, you know, and I mean, it was so funny and I had this thought and this feeling on both shows, but especially driving, you know, multimillionaires around, successful restaurant chain owner, you know, like just these. And in my head I'm just like, they know this is just a little YouTube show, right? Like, you know, what is going on here? Like, this is ridiculous. And some of them even that was why, like Phil Romano, who owns, you know, Macaroni Grill and blah blah, you know, like on down the line, he agreed to it because it was different, right? It was just like, oh, this is me. Something different I'm gonna go do, right? So we had made the move. So in between that show and strategy in action, we made the move to Colorado. I was still, you know, in person interviews, that's just what I want to do and all of that. And again, one of the benefits of the pandemic was being forced to figure out this remote version, right? And I'm so grateful of it because obviously that opened up my world of who I can interview and the audiences and everything.
And, and so that was very purposeful there. Again, okay, how do I do this so it doesn't look horrible? It's not just a blah, you know, zoom call recorded or whatever. And so, you know, I created that look and figured that out.
And when I launched, had a business partner and we were both interviewing folks and stuff like that for a few episodes and I just took all that, you know, back over and so interviewing, you know, folks very much just like this, loving it, having a blast, really shifted the Focus a month or two ago to very specifically be targeting coaches and consultants and interviewing coaches. So like that's the audience, those are the guests, those are everything.
And really my, my approach which I've used for myself and then what I encourage with my clients, which is very different approach is, you know, immediate sales conversations. Like, think of it that way. If this isn't create content marketing for, you know, two years and maybe somebody's interested one day and all of that, like, well, no, you can interview your ideal clients, strategic partners who have an audience of your ideal clients, you know, being very conscious. So interview one can benefit your business. Right? The audience will come eventually. All of that, the evergreen content you're creating, it's great, it'll live on. It can be all those things that content marketing promises, but you can actually benefit the bottom line tomorrow by doing that and taking that approach.
And then Concentric is a show I'm doing with friend of mine, Gary De Rodriguez, who's just an incredible. He's been, you know, coach and therapist and all of it for 30 years.
And I was just, it's really a selfish kind of endeavor of like, I just love this. He needs attention. Like all his stuff that he's got going on really needs to get brought out in the world. So, you know, each one of those episodes is me teeing him up and letting him go.
[00:29:19] Speaker B: You know, that's wonderful. Well, you know, we're. So we're going to wrap it up. I've got two more questions and then we're open up to questions and answers for the audience. So my.
There's two questions. Both involve advice you'd give.
So personally you're talking to your young, the young Jason Croft, the nine year old Jason Croft. What advice would you give him right now about life?
[00:29:52] Speaker C: Confidence is everything. Like it's everything. And that's the great struggle of I think so many of us, you know, especially through the teen years and going through and like everybody's just as worried about who they are and what people think of them as you are experiencing right now. If you can put that aside and confidence is everything and just start sooner, do more. You know, those little inklings of accomplishment, you know, like those little goals that you want, stuff like that. Just go start now, start today. Keep going, you know.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: Wonderful. Well, thank you for that. The second one is the professional hat you are now giving advice to to the young Jason Croft who's ready to start his first business. What advice would you give him?
[00:30:48] Speaker C: Oh gosh, just talk to people, talk to More people every single day. Not this vague. Oh, I've got to have this set up and that set up and all of this before I can start having those conversations about what I do. No, it's like just me. Like, no one can buy anything from you if they don't know you're selling it. Right? So talk about that in as many ways as possible, as often as possible, which is probably still advice I need today for myself.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: And quite often we don't take our own advice. So thank you for sharing everything, Jason. This has been an absolute pleasure.
We're going to switch gears and we're going to open up questions and answers to the audience. You up for that?
[00:31:40] Speaker C: Sounds great.
[00:31:41] Speaker B: All right, here we go. So, gentlemen, any questions or statements or anything for Jason?
[00:31:47] Speaker E: I've got one.
So, you know, during all of my transitions, there was always a financial aspect of it that, you know, I didn't hear through through this because, you know, going, like, with you going through a divorce, changing careers, you know, I've been let go from one place and went, oh, man, what am I going to do now? Like you stated before, and, you know, there was a financial gap there that you also had to struggle with. Did you. Did you have to deal with that? Was it a major factor in. In your divor, you know, dealing with your kids? Because everything, you know, everything hits us at one time, every blue moon, and you're just dealing with 50 different things coming at you at the same time. But one of them is, is. Is the major focus is. Is financial. And so did you, when you left film and all of that, did you have those kind of struggles, you know, moving forward once you. Once you left that industry and started figuring out what you need to do? Because I think a lot of men need to hear support on that kind of end as well.
[00:33:10] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. And that's an area that.
So the.
The good part is, like, I've. I've just always been comfortable with the entrepreneurial side of, like, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Like, you know, my ex, like, complete opposite. Like, I need to know this. I need it, you know, and we. We're all one or the other. Right? Like, if you're that entrepreneurial, you don't. You don't care as much. You're not worried about it for whatever reason.
That being said, like, that's also been my biggest struggle, like, through when I was in the film days all the way to now is just that roller coaster, and I haven't nailed that down. You Know, I haven't figured that out.
You know, when I went from film and like, ah, what am I going to do? And freelancing there, don't want to do that anymore. I took a full time job. That role of that video production company was a full time job there that I was fortunate. I had a relationship with the guy who owned the company and, and went in there and talked to him. It's like, hey, I'd love to come in and do this for you. And he's like, cool. So I did that for, you know, six years there before I went out on my own again through the divorce again. Just incredibly fortunate that it is just such a, hey, you know, here's what we're going to do. It's all just verbal, like, you know, there's no alimony, there's no this and that, you know, at all. Because it was very much just this amicable, hey, we're going to do this thing. We would have actually been done faster if it weren't for the mandated things from the state. It was so, so there wasn't, I don't want to say there was no financial struggles because yes, throughout all of it because I've done that still to this day. Right.
Those changes, I think it drew out the timeline more of again that advice that giving myself still need to take, that I still need to be more purposeful with. Just here's what I'm doing, here's let me, let me drive more sales every month.
So yeah, I don't know if that helps.
[00:35:27] Speaker E: You know, I think relationships also change as well. When you go from having your own thing to now having a full time job, you don't have the focus on maybe your family as much as when you had your own thing. Because with me, this, you know, I have a 19 year old, I started this company 22 years ago and I'm very fortunate that I got to spend every second with my son growing up. And when you. I always dreaded if I had to get a full time job.
So did that affect your kind of situation as well?
[00:36:08] Speaker C: Yeah, it was, it was a, it was a little flipped and, and similar both. So it's the freedom, right? Like it's great. My ex went back and forth from like having a job, not having a job, you know, all of that. Like we would decide like okay, this is great, just stay home, be with the boy. But I had big stretches right between just freelance gigs or whatever it was where I, I was the one at home, you know, which I, she still didn't ever believe me. But it's, I loved it. I loved so much, like being home, being with those boys, my second, my second child. Like, like I had that from almost day one for the first several years of his life. I mean, it was like, I want dad. That's it. Like, of course that feels great, right?
Because I had that freedom like to be there. But at the same time, like with my. When my first son was born, I was gone six months out of that year because freelance jobs took me all around the world and I was here and I was traveling and you don't say no because like, when's the next one coming? Right.
And so it was, that's, that's why I was a little bit flipped where when I took the full time job in 2010, it allowed me to have just this regular schedule. I wasn't, you know, traveling like crazy. We knew what was coming in and you know, so it actually brought some stability there.
But in both cases it was really sort of, you know, every second was with family and with the boys if, if I wasn't in there. So it didn't, it didn't stretch that or, or change that too much.
[00:37:54] Speaker B: Right.
[00:37:54] Speaker C: But yeah, that, that flexibility though, that's, that's everything. Like, it's not that you necessarily have all your hours to yourself or this and that, but I know when something. Cause I know where my priority is, it's going to be if I get that call. I don't care if, you know, I have a full time job or it's my own thing, it's a client, like I'm gone, I'm there with my, with my boys if I need to be. And so that is amazing to be able to have that flexibility. And honestly to that full time job. I, I was very fortunate to. It was as close to like having your own business as you can in a full time job with that flexibility and things. So.
[00:38:33] Speaker E: Yep, perfect.
[00:38:36] Speaker D: Thanks for sharing. That's. It's good stuff.
You were talking earlier about, you know, the concept of sell now. Okay. You know, with some of your creative work. And I'm just wondering through the evolutions that you've been through because I'm sure the divorce was, you know, I can't even imagine.
Do you think that that prompted it? Because it just seems to me that selling at least for the last five to ten years has been kind of like a very soft shoe. You know, don't do the closing questions. Don't, don't get pushy and lose the player jacket. So do you Think that had any impetus in. In saying, you know what? Listen, life's short. Gotta go for it. Now, clarify what?
[00:39:30] Speaker C: Clarify what you mean. What's the.
[00:39:32] Speaker D: For instance, when you were talking about how you do these. Let's sell now on your commercials or the. The pot, whatever, you know, you were talking about. I'm just wondering, because my experience with, you know, people who've been through really challenging, emotional things like a divorce. Okay. Is that they're like, you know what? Fine. I'm done. It's over, man. I gotta live life. Okay? There is no more time. I gotta move on, and there is no tomorrow. I'm just wondering, did that have any influence on some of your creative work?
[00:40:06] Speaker C: I don't know. I haven't made that connection, but it's possible for sure. I think for me, I've just. I've been in that camp of, hey, we can be humans and connected and sell to each other really easily. And all done in a beautiful way. Like, I don't have these silos that people are so staunch in, and, you know, fortunately, we are moving away from that. Right. But, like, well, no, you can't. You know, you have to give value, and you can't sell anything, and you can't talk about having something for. So, you know, like, come on. Like, I've just been more at ease with. With that, and so I think that that philosophy is more influenced that approach that I. That I mentioned for the shows.
[00:40:54] Speaker D: Appreciate it. Cool.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: So we've learned a lot about Jason. I want to give each one of you a chance to just tell Jason a little about yourselves and what you do and. And then, you know, then we can wrap it up. So who wants to start?
Mike, you want to start since you've been so quiet in your construction area?
[00:41:17] Speaker F: Yeah. So I'm Mike Van Pelt.
I'm a men's life coach. I have True man life coaching, and I do a podcast as well, the True man podcast. And what's amazing is I found this incredibly hard to sit through because I wasn't asking questions or giving answers, and it was fantastic.
This was actually brutal for me.
[00:41:42] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:41:42] Speaker F: I'm gonna tell you, but you know, Jason, I. Man, great. It was great hearing your story. I can relate to so many things you were talking about, especially from the podcast area. And so it was really hard for me not to jump in. But, yeah, so I. I basically help men, and that's my quest in life. But the podcast is a big part of it because I love it.
It's become a part of me. Like, it has you. So it was cool to hear that. Thanks for sharing.
[00:42:16] Speaker C: That's awesome. Appreciate it.
[00:42:18] Speaker B: Brad, tell us a little about yourself.
[00:42:22] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:42:23] Speaker E: So my name is Fred Costa. I'm CEO of NSC Information Technology Group here in Houston, Texas. We're a 22 year old managed service provider, IT outsourcing company, cyber disaster recovery planning. So companies will outsource their complete IT departments to us. We focus on 25 to 5,000 employees.
And I've had 38 years of information technology experience as well. So way before I worked for corporations and those type of things. I really appreciate you telling your story because I think we've all gone through transitions. I haven't gone through a divorce. I hope I never have to. But the transitions from, you know, leaving one job to the next and worrying about that and all the struggles within family and how certain things happen throughout your life that, I mean, you can make one decision and it'll just derail everything into a, you know, another direction. So I really appreciate your story.
[00:43:31] Speaker C: Awesome. Thank you.
[00:43:33] Speaker D: I'm Scott Lask. I'm the owner and founder of the Wealth Management Group. We're a boutique wealth advisory, and we tend to focus more on people's emotional relationship with money, how they think about money, their greed versus fear, emotions, and keeping an eye on economic policy because that's what drives everything. And, you know, that's why you're paying. I mean, I saw one store, it's over $8 for a dozen and a half eggs. It's like, you got to ask yourself what you know. And like everyone here, you know, I've. I've gotten through my.
My evolutions, my trials and tribulations, and it's.
It's great because I think when we all go through them, you know, when fear starts to really grip your heart, okay, you feel alone. You feel like you're the only one on planet Earth because everyone's life is beautiful. The rainbows and unicorns are prancing on their lawn, not yours.
And. And, you know, it's like you just, you know, you start to say, maybe I'll get my backpack out and just disappear into, like, the Northwest, you know, but thank you for sharing.
[00:44:50] Speaker C: Yes, thank you.
It's a great point, too, with, with all of this and Drew, I love what, what you're doing. And, and of course, there's a big reason I wanted to be a part of this group because I think something, you know, left out of the discussion of transitions and going through all of this stuff is the work. Right. This Kind of work, this kind of personal development, self reflection, that.
That's the only thing that gets you through this kind of stuff in any kind of positive way, right? And it's, you know, something I learned a while ago was, you know, personal development. Wasn't this end goal, like, I don't do this thing and now everything's perfect. I don't learn this thing, and then it's all done. And I say I learned that because I know I had that mindset. I was constantly frustrated with myself because I, you know, hey, you know, since being a teenager, listening to Tony Robbins tapes and Les Brown and, you know, going through this stuff and been on that journey, learning those tools, and finally it hit me. It's like, okay, well, this isn't a done. This is a. This is so that when you're in that transition time and this shit's hitting you, it doesn't keep that stuff from happening. But when you're going through it, you can go, ah, okay, this is.
This is what needs to happen now. This is how it's affecting this person. This. You know, the more of those tools that you learn through this whole process, that's everything. And, you know, bringing it all the way back to, you know, the tipping point and having that picture of, like, oh, that's what it could look like. Well, that's what this group is exactly for. So that if nobody's ever heard of personal development before, you know, the. The men who.
[00:46:45] Speaker D: Who.
[00:46:45] Speaker C: It's not in our conversation, and they haven't grown up or they haven't wherever. Why ever, you know, that's happened, why it's happened, they can point to it. Yeah.
[00:46:56] Speaker D: I didn't have any good male role models until I was 24. My father died when I was seven. Suddenly my uncles met. Well, they really were just, you know, big artists, you know, wannabes. And, you know, you flounder, you. You feel like you're literally like, you know, you. If you've ever been deep in the wilderness and it's dark and you don't have a flashlight, you can't even. You really can't see your fingers in front of your face. Okay? And you realize after a while that you can read all the Tony books you want, but if you don't do the work and it's finding out what it actually means, the concept of you gotta do the work, you know, that's. That's, you know, just gonna sound crazy because Drew knows I'm Jewish. This is when you have, like, your come to Jesus moment. But you Gotta have that. At least for me. Yeah, I gotta have that because otherwise the light bulb won't go off.
[00:47:54] Speaker C: No.
[00:47:55] Speaker D: So yeah, I, yeah, Drew can tell you I, I'm slowly becoming a fanatic to supporting this group.
[00:48:03] Speaker B: Thank you, Scott.
[00:48:04] Speaker C: Awesome.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: So guys, in the interest of time, I just wanted to share my screen really quickly. I want to show you that the website where members can go to see recordings and all this kind of stuff because I, I don't want you guys to get lost in the shuffle when it comes to. To that. So let's see where I think it's right. Let's hope that. Can you see the website here?
[00:48:27] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:48:28] Speaker B: Okay, so for the to go, if you go to community.profit compassion.com it brings you to the member area. This is members only and if you want to see recordings and whatnot, it goes right to here about all the courses you can take.
I'm going to ch. I want to change the word to events. Basically it brings you right here. So I recorded a message welcoming everybody and there's going to be. There's a suggestion box here if any. If anybody wants to see something, learn something new in the group, you put it in here, I'll check it and I'll find the resources to offer that as far as upcoming events, you can go to call recording if you want to see recordings of stuff that already happened. So you know we had the lunch and learn last week. If so, if you missed it, you can go watch it in its entirety. I'll have a section here that'll say interviews and that's where today's will be. And if you want to see upcoming events, you go right to here and you can register for each individual event.
You know, members can. The open houses are free to non members, but members can still go to the open house if you want. But then the next, the next one's coming up, you have the Mastermind and then November 3rd's lunch and learn coming up. So the reason I have like to register for each individual thing. I'm able to track who's coming and I can prepare accordingly. I still want to balance making it easy to register for you guys. So if you have suggestions on how to make this better, please let me know. So just to recap, you go to community.profitcompassion.com and you know you get to the part where you just click on that library and it gets to these three things. You can go from here. So I just wanted to be able to share that. So you guys know how to navigate and as we go, I'm going to be adding sections here. Looks like Mike had to drop off. I'm going to add sections here where there's going to be library of resources. So my goal to help men is to be a destination spot for anything that's going to help you improve your health. And it could be physical health, spiritual health, emotional health, business health, financial health, those five pieces. So if, if we, if somebody establishes me where they need some business advice on payroll or whatever, I have people who I have vetted, who I could have up on the website. You know, if you're looking for this, here's somebody you can contact. I can hook you up with, I can introduce you. So this is going to be evolving and more and more is going to be available for members. So just wanted to be able to share that with you guys.
[00:51:17] Speaker A: Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe and give us a review to help others find it. If you find yourself immersed in adversity and would like to find support from other men in times of struggle struggle, please become a member of my Men Supporting Men Collaboration tribe by emailing me at drew at profitcompassion. Com expressing your interest and I'll get in touch with you.
[00:51:44] Speaker B: Speak to you soon.
