Healthy Simplified
Welcome to the Healthy Simplified podcast, where we put personalized health and wellness in the spotlight. Join us for enlightening education, inspiring stories, and in-depth discussions with industry, medical, and scientific experts. Together, we’ll explore how to craft a unique approach to your well-being.
Healthy Simplified
A Father's Wisdom: Josh Paine on Business, Belief, and Being Present
How does a leader navigate the intricate landscape of business growth while staying true to their values? Join us for a riveting conversation with Josh Payne, CEO of IDLife, as he shares his remarkable journey. Raised in a family with a serial entrepreneur father, Josh's life was a masterclass in hard work and resilience, especially after his father's ALS diagnosis. Josh reflects on how these formative experiences shaped his own approach to business and life, all while balancing the responsibilities of being a dedicated father and a man of faith.
We'll explore the themes of identity, accountability, and organizational growth, underpinned by Josh's rich background in accounting and finance. Get an insider's perspective on how Josh transitioned from CFO to CEO during the financial crisis of 2008, navigating through tough decisions and leading a company towards profitability without losing its core values. Josh's insights provide a compelling case for the crucial role of confronting the truth in business and the importance of maintaining transparency and integrity, even amidst conflict.
Finally, hear about the serendipitous moments that led Josh to IDLife and how he envisions the future of the company. Learn about the pivotal contributions of Laura Brandt, the Chief Experience Officer, whose leadership has helped shape the company’s culture and growth. Josh's passion for entrepreneurship and his commitment to elevating humanity through business shine through, painting a vivid picture of a leader who is not just building a company, but also a community dedicated to health, wellness, and shared success. Don't miss this inspiring episode filled with valuable lessons and heartfelt stories.
Welcome to the podcast everyone. We're back with a healthy, simplified podcast. Today, I have the pleasure of having the IDLife CEO, josh Payne, with me. Josh, thanks for being here.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Mark, Really really great to be here with you.
Speaker 1:You know, you don't sound.
Speaker 1:I haven't seen you in days. Well, you know you sound a little nervous. I mean it's. I always tell everyone. You know you can be as comfortable as you want to, but if I get to ask the questions, your comfort is just gone and and all I gave you is kind of like here's kind of an outline, but I didn't give you any of the questions. So this is going to be kind of fun.
Speaker 1:You know, today is all about getting to know Josh. Uh, you know, most importantly, what I want to make sure people understand is Josh and I have been working together for almost two years now, but I wouldn't say that we necessarily know each other all that well, especially some of the background stuff that I'm going to go through today. But you know, at the same time, I'm not sure that a lot of people know Josh, and that's kind of why I wanted to do this podcast. I wanted people to have an understanding of who he is. You know, the family man that he is, his commitment to his family and, most importantly, his commitment to his faith, which I want to also come out in this podcast. But, josh, I always kind of start out the same way because, like I said, the main purpose of today is to get to know you a little bit better and understand why you would ever want to be a serial. What I'm going to call CEO is I give-.
Speaker 2:I'm a glove for punishment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I want them to understand your family, your background. So let's hear a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, I am a proud father of two teenage boys, Joshua and Samuel. Bless you that are. Yes, yes, you can pray for me. They are an apple of my eye. I love my boys and before that, before they came into the scene, I'm one of four, so I have an older brother, john, and two younger sisters, and that was a whole adventure growing up in a family of four. Yeah, there's a lot of places you could go without.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, one of the interesting things I do know about your background uh, you know, I've obviously had a chance to to meet and get to know your mom, uh, a little bit. But you you come from a family your father was an, a serial entrepreneur. I mean, he did multiple things and you grew up in that environment and environment and obviously it had an impact on you. So why don't we talk a little bit about about that and growing up in an environment where dad owned and sold multiple things?
Speaker 2:He did. Yeah, dad was my hero. He was just a powerful, powerful man. He was an engineer by training and then went from, you know, contractor to owning the construction company and then saw an opportunity in logistics and owned a logistics company. And then saw an opportunity in the warehouse and space and owned that. And then the whole dot-com world opened up and he started, had a couple of different tech companies, a consulting company, and then built actually a platform for her credit card processing. So when people were processing transactions online, that was a big deal back then. That was not. It was not available to anyone. People were used to sort of the hypercom terminal and all that, and he built a technology company that ultimately became the eighth largest credit card processing company in the United States.
Speaker 2:So, yes, he was to say he was a serial entrepreneur. Was it was an understatement? Um, my dad was the hardest worker I've ever met in my life. Um, if, and, and there was no question that he loved us, but if you wanted to see dad, you had to be up and spending time with him before he left for the office at six 30 in the morning, or you had to be uh, you know there late at night when he got home from the office he was, he could put in the hours. That's, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:You know it's it's interesting. Along this podcast I've had a chance to talk to a lot about decisions I've made in my own personal life and you know where I was and what I did. And one of the things I told everyone is when you were a trial lawyer for 20 plus years of your life, you know I never missed anything for my children, but I can't say I was necessarily present for a lot of those things, which is why I decided 11 years ago to do something different. And you've kind of told me stories about dad was kind of the same thing. You know he was there, he was always present, but he wasn't always present, if you understand what I'm talking about there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's, that's an understatement. Um, what I'm about there? Yeah, that's an understatement, but the reality is I am very blessed, and I'm blessed because my dad was always my hero, but he's my hero now for very different reasons than he was before. He was my hero at the beginning because he was dad, he was Superman. He could do anything. He could kick a ball to make it disappear.
Speaker 2:I'm not kidding, the guy was an incredible athlete incredible businessman, incredible father, but he was strong that's the word for dad. And then, when I went off to college, he got ALS, which is Lou Gehrig's disease, which is a very cruel disease that all, all of your, your nerves die, which then the muscles die, so your entire body atrophies and, and the really challenging part about that is your brain is always 100, and so you lose the function of your arms and legs and then your internal systems, and yet your brain is always a hundred percent there. But through that process, through his body wasting away, through all of the things that allowed him to be so mighty and strong, uh, going away, the real him emerged, um, and he went from. He went from the most powerful man I knew to the most peaceful man I knew, and he chose for that crucible to transform him, and it's that that I have the opportunity to witness firsthand, and for that he's my hero.
Speaker 2:You mentioned earlier faith. I've always had a faith, but that faith has transformed, that faith has transitioned. We were as kids growing up, we had the perfect quintessential house from the outside, home from the outside, you know. People looked at oh yeah, they're the Paynes and they go to, to the church and they're there on the Wednesdays and the Bible studies and, and, and of course, sunday mornings, and dad's an elder and you know things looked great. But that was only great on the outside. It was a. It was a facade, because we didn't understand grace. We really thought it was about personal effort. We really thought it was about us trying to be the best we could. And the reality is you either have faith in yourself or you have faith in God. He doesn't share a throne. So well, really learned to put his faith and trust in God and let God make up the parts that he can no longer make up. And it's then that I watched that gentleness, that kindness, that peace, that presence show up and it was interesting.
Speaker 2:I'll say one thing and I'll be quiet here because I'm sure you got more questions, but at my father's funeral there were hundreds of people that showed up and I don't think any of them showed up because he was boss. I don't think any of them showed up because he was the chairman of the chamber of commerce or whatever, or any of his other accolades. People showed up because in the latter part of his life, as he was being reformed, he learned how to be present with people. He learned how to really show up and give his presence, give love, allow him to be a vehicle of love to other people, and that is transformative. And so that's the aspect of my father that I really want to become. Maybe I'll never be as smart as he was. Maybe I'll never be as smart as he was. Maybe I'll never be as gifted as he was, but if I can be as open and accessible and available to be present with other people and love, then call that a win.
Speaker 1:You know, I had the opportunity last night to have dinner with a woman who's going through battling breast cancer for the second time in her life and she was an extremely, still is a very, extremely powerful woman. She's been very successful in business, very ruthless, I mean just. She would literally cut your throat if meant she was going to win in this business deal. Obviously, my background she may or may not have gone to law school, so she you know, she's just really, really, really ruthless at what she does. I never like to say things about lawyers because at the end of the day, it always reflects back on me. But what's interesting to me is in my conversations with her last night, I noticed how she was being exceptionally kind to everyone and anyone around her, from the waitstaff heck, even to myself, to everyone that was at the table. So I asked her about it and one of the things that she said was Mark, I wasted 52 years of my life focused on me and she goes.
Speaker 1:I've enjoyed the last three years of my life focusing on my ability to give to others, and it's not giving of things, it's giving of myself, of my time, of my interests but, most importantly, of my knowledge. I would say one of the greatest gifts that your father probably gave you was you got to witness him in his years of conquering and then you got to witness him in his years of offering and serving, and the service part probably means more to you than all of the conquering that he did, because at the end of the day he probably learned that that was the most important thing he was put on this earth for. So I know that guides part of your character. That is not something you and I had ever talked about before, but obviously I can tell the impact that that had on your life just by who you are. Uh so it's.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you shared that with people because it's it is. It is a definition of who you are, but, most importantly, it is a well-defined, a well-defined reason why dad is your hero. It's not because of all the things he did, it's all the things that he, to me, is.
Speaker 2:My dad would talk about identity a lot In the latter part of his life. He'd talk about identity versus accomplishment, and the reality is he was big on receiving your identity daily from God. I mean he goes look, you wake up every day empty and you have to get your identity. It's there. There's like eating You've got to eat. And so the question is, where will you take that identity? Will you take it to your God and let him fill you up, let him identify you, or will you take it to the world? And the reality is, when we take it to God, it's my belief that then you can actually be present with other people. Otherwise, you're needing them to identify you, you're needing them to fill you up, and that lends you in a situation where you're showing up to get versus showing up to give. And my dad, he taught me how to show up to give.
Speaker 1:Well, grateful for that. At some point you decided that you were going to leave home and go to college. I can't say one of your more intelligent decisions. You decided Texas A&M is where you're going to go.
Speaker 2:I knew it was coming.
Speaker 1:Fine.
Speaker 2:I'm an Aggie.
Speaker 1:Maybe that's the East Texas in you, I'm not sure, but you know, at least it shows that you know. You decided that you were going to try to, you know, be a member of whatever that thing is down there in in Brian. But I always say Brian for people that are from College Station, college Station people from Brian. For some reason that makes people mad. I don't understand. But I guess you gotta be an Aggie. But you know, I want to understand because you, you, you had a dad. You obviously had influence, mom's probably influencing you as well in this decision. But you decided to go down a path into what I'm going to call kind of an accounting finance. What kind of pushed you in that direction?
Speaker 2:Well, I knew I wanted to do business and so I was in the business school trying to figure out you know how I was going to eat the beast that is business, and I honestly a lot of conversations with my father as well as taking your entry courses. I realized that, you know, accounting is a language of business, it's the nuts and bolts and if you can really understand and comprehend that, it's great insights into a business. And so I decided to give my undergraduate accounting a master's in finance, because I wanted to go in and be qualified to do something right out of college and, honestly, there's not a lot of paths that qualify you for something right out of college. But in doing that path, I could be an auditor, which, again, no one loves Aggies, apparently, and no one loves auditors. So I've been a glutton for punishment my entire life, mark.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I was an auditor. But here I am 21 21 year old kid out of college getting to sit down with CFOs and CEOs of companies and not one a year, but 20 or 30 a year and ask them hey, what works, what doesn't work? To see the things that they cared about, the things that they didn't care about. That was really, really interesting to me. It was always a. It was a means to an end, meaning there wasn't a single person that ever thought Josh, you seem like an auditor to me. I was never that guy, but it was good training ground for where I wanted to go.
Speaker 1:You know, all my experience in my lifetime with auditors is obviously probably a little bit different than your experience with auditors, because usually I got called when the auditor found something that wasn't supposed to be there. Because usually I got called when the auditor found something that wasn't supposed to be there without without really revealing any confidences there. What are some of the greatest lessons you learned in that time, cause I know it wasn't necessarily one of your favorite times. I know auditing was a was a path to where you wanted to get to, but but what was some of the things that you captured from that that really did kind of hone who you are, and things, most importantly, that you still use today and look for.
Speaker 2:Well, I learned. One of the one of the things I've learned was that most companies don't want to see the truth, most companies run from the truth. They're required to get an audit because of the bank, covenants or whatever else, and that the reality is it was often not used, people refuse to, and, and that when leadership would capture that, when leadership would sit down and try to really understand, um, it was transformative on their business, um, and and then also took away that a lot of people I knew I was wired different, because a lot of people were content they would get to a certain level in business. And then you know my job at least the way I've considered it to be my job was to help them see possibilities, pass forward ways they could grow, ways they could improve, and I was really astounded by the number of companies and the number of leadership that didn't want that. They really just wanted to have what they had, protect it and move forward.
Speaker 2:So I left there very discontent because it seemed like people were just comfortable with where they are and I thought, if business is a vehicle for good, then if you can create opportunities for people, why not create opportunities? That's ultimately what led my path out of public accounting and into a whole different world, because I wanted to create opportunities for people. But to do that, companies had to be growing, they had to be thriving. So I want to be part of a company that can do that.
Speaker 1:Well, what's interesting to me about that is you weren't at a small public accounting company, no, the largest in the world, as it were. Yeah, so I want to make sure everyone understands. When you said people were comfortable, I mean you're talking about, you know, you were literally working for not you know one of the big five. You were working for the big one and you did that. But at some point you had a pull and a lure to go to do something else. What was kind of the final nepotism of okay, I'm going to take this leap. I've learned what I can from the public accounting world. Now I'm ready to jump.
Speaker 2:Well, I knew that in any business environment, if you don't understand sales, it's another part of the equation. So sales, it's another part of the equation. So accounting, it's a language of business Finance. If you don't understand those, there's a limitation that you have. But also realize, look, accountants don't like them because they use to make more money, but the sales guys there is. If you can't communicate a value proposition, you don't have anything.
Speaker 2:And so I had an opportunity at one of my father's companies they had. He had bought a company with one of the partner out of bankruptcy and so it was basically a shell. It was a shell of a business because it bankrupted. And he's like we need to build a sales practice and so come over and help us build that. So I took the leap, I joined, went from public accounting to sales, and that was the beginning of what I do now, because you know I talked about finding opportunities. Well, we built the sales practice out. It was wildly successful. So when we were then we looked up and realized, well, we had to underwrite these accounts. We do better job on the risk mitigation. So then I built the risk mitigation department and we realized, well, we have all these clients now we better service them better. So then I built the customer service department, and it started going systematically through this company. That was just a few engineers and a value proposition, and that's the company that we ultimately grew to the eighth largest credit card processing company in the.
Speaker 2:United States and I just was a sucker for punishment, I don't know. I liked seeing opportunities. It was really, really fun. Some of my favorite memories are looking back and having people that were in customer service and then all of a sudden, they're running sales, they're heading up departments, they are finding opportunities, and that's ultimately what I think business can be, is, uh, is an opportunity to elevate humanity. I think it is, and I think that the kind of work we do matters, and I think that the way in which we do what we do matters. Um, and all along the way, you know that one was great because, man, mark, I wanted a mentor. I wanted a mentor.
Speaker 2:So bad, I was always doing things that I didn't feel qualified to do, because I wasn't qualified to do them. I was just figuring it out, and so I wanted a mentor and I was praying. I was like God, give me a mentor. And then I finally had my eyes opened. Because I wanted a mentor and I was praying. I was like God, give me a mentor. And then I finally had my eyes opened, and because I had a boss and this boss was arrogant.
Speaker 2:This boss was manipulative and prideful, and I was so frustrated with him and then God finally rebelled to me and said this is your mentor. So frustrated with him, and then God finally revealed to me. He said this is your, this is your mentor. I learned more from that gentleman than he shaped the way that I think about business. He helped identify for me pitfalls that virtually every company I've been a part of has fallen for all because. And so if you can't learn from the people around you, if you can't learn from people that you don't want to be like, then you can't learn from the people around you. If you can't learn from people that you don't want to be like, then you can't learn.
Speaker 1:You know it's. It's funny I'm, as you're telling these stories, I can only reflect back on my own past and it's it's eerie how they're similar. Different but similar. You know, my, my very first law firm I was in was in Longview, Texas. You know why did you choose Longview instead of Tyler? If you know anything about the East Texas area and I tell people, it's because I didn't have two generations in the ground in Tyler, so I was never going to be from there, so I chose Longview. You know, which is actually a true statement.
Speaker 2:That's a true statement.
Speaker 1:But you know what's interesting is, my very first mentor was a raging alcoholic. He just was, I mean, beautiful human being, very, very intelligent, just. He had a problem with alcohol and, as a result, I ended up doing more than I should have ever done in the first four years of my life practicing law. I had no business doing what I was doing and talking to the people I was talking to and representing who I was representing, but it shaped and molded me in ways that I never would have been able to do in the amount of time that I had, and, as a result, that's propelled my, my career in ways that I can only, you know, have imagined. But you know, having that similar background, you know you pray for a mentor and you basically get one, and you get one.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm going to learn exactly what to do, the opposite of, because, in the process of doing that, guess what you actually can learn. Well, at some point, though, after, after, you guys decided that you were going to sell that, uh, you, you started on a path of becoming what I'm going to call a serial sweet, a C-sweeter. You know, it's a unique, uh, unique animal that you've got yourself into, but let's talk a little bit about that transition, because I think it's important for people to understand that there are people out there in the world who, I mean, some people call them turnaround guys, some people call them, you know, just the serial C-suite. You know, basically go in there in profession what I'm going to call professionalize and then move on. And you know, let's talk about that because I want people to understand what that was like for you.
Speaker 2:Well, that because I want people to understand what that was like for you. Well, again, it was not designed. Well, it was designed just not by me. I had served on the board of a dot-com company that had gone from zero to $80 million. I mean, they were, they were crushing it and and after serving on the board for a couple of years, they asked me to be the CFO. So I joined them as CFO. Um, and that's where it got a little wonky, because I thought I was there to help him count the money.
Speaker 1:I saw the top line sales.
Speaker 2:I didn't see anything else. I was young and stupid. Okay, just yeah. It Okay, just yeah.
Speaker 2:And within two weeks of being there, I set the founder and his wife down and I said you have 45 days of cash and you're bankrupt. And I had just moved my family to Pennsylvania. I had absolutely no idea what I'd gotten myself into. But I could, again, using the accounting back and finance background, see that, see that this is fixable. But it needs more runway, it needs more capital. And so I outlined the options as I sold them to the founder and he had the humility to say I know that it's going to affect my ownership of the company because he owned basically 100% of the company, right? So I think there's a path to be able to raise capital. But you, to be clear, they're going to see you as the problem, right, because you, under your watch, you ran the company into the ground. Uh, I, if, if, you're willing to be diluted. I think there's an opportunity to really grow this company. And he said I care enough about my people that I will. I will do. I will do that, um, because, let be clear, a lot of people won't. They will. They will take their pride and a lot of people's lives. I'll run it right to the ground. So he had the humility to do that.
Speaker 2:We raised a capital in those 45 days and then those same gentlemen said, well, you got us into this pain, get us out of it. And all of a sudden, I was the CEO of a digital e-commerce company that was losing money. And then this fun thing called you know, remember the financial crisis of 2008? Right, when all the liquidity dried up and people started spending a whole lot of money for vacations. Not, that was the reality, but, you know, people were still looking for value, people still wanted to get away, and the thing about online is they just didn't want to pay too much. They wanted the best possible value. And so I found that if you're just honest and direct with people, you can run through mountains, and there's nothing that stops a tenacious person. And we were tenacious and we just kept moving it forward and doing it the right way, and so that looked like calling all the vendors that we owed money and saying, look, I can't like.
Speaker 2:I remember calling American Express. We were the number one. They have different divisions than American Express. We were the number one client, the largest client under this sort of division vertical American Express. I called them up and I said guys, we can't pay you, okay. The bad news we can't pay you, okay, the bad news is, we can't pay you. The good news is, I have a plan to get it fixed and I'm willing to sit down with you guys each and every week, have a call every week and give you an update to the plan complete transparency.
Speaker 2:And they realized that they were in pretty deep and so they worked with me and I met with American Express every single week for about well, about a year, until we worked our way through, and it was incredible. The team rallied, we made it happen and we built the company. The very next year we made more money than the 10-year history of the company combined, and it's not all about the bottom line, but it was a healthy company, and so I did that for that company. And then the next one happened. The next one happened and they started happening together and then I realized I was meeting with one another, one of my mentors and this was a mentor that I really liked there's mentors everywhere and he helped me see a connective tissue, and the connective tissue was that organizations grow and develop like people. They just do because they're full of people.
Speaker 2:And so companies at different phases act in very predictable ways, just like people do right. Toddlers act like toddlers. Teenagers act like teenagers. And the reality is, although I'd been in the banking world, I had been in the merchant processing world, the technology, space travel what I was doing was really, really similar. I was going into late stage entrepreneurial companies and helping them grow up right. So the way we've talked about in the past is that adolescent phase. That adolescent phase that I'm going through with my boys right now is awkward, and it's awkward because they're trying to get childish ways to work in the adult world and that doesn't work. You have to use adult ways. So you have to make that transition if you're going to be successful and healthy, and that is ultimately what I like to help companies do is grow up. Grow up and professionalize.
Speaker 2:Institutionalize is the word that private equity uses, but I like to do it in a very, very different and unique way, because there is value in institutionalization, scalable processes and everything else. That's great, that's wonderful, but if you do that and you lose the heart of the organization, you've lost everything. So, private equity frequently they love people like me, come in and institutionalize, professionalize it, scale it, that's great. But I don't do that with traditional private equity. And I don't do that because I care about how things are done, I care about culture and I care about values and a lot of times, the big money. Quite frankly, it doesn't. It doesn't mean they can't create value for shareholders Sure they can. It doesn't. It doesn't mean they can't create value for shareholders Sure they can. But the reality is, if you're exchanging value, meaning one person wins and another person doesn't, I don't think that's optimal.
Speaker 2:I'm a conscious capitalist and so a conscious capitalist believes in the stakeholder approach. And the stakeholder approach maybe, said really simply, is that in every organization has certain key stakeholders, right, you have your employees and you have your shareholders, and you've got your communities and you've got vendors and partners, and so you have these five organizations, five different buckets, around you as a company. And so if you will make decisions in light of those stakeholders in a way that everyone wins, then you win, then you have a long-term sustainable path. But if you don't, if one of them has to win, right, you go. Well, who would do that? Well, most companies would do that.
Speaker 2:Most companies would say our customers always come first, okay. Well, when the customer comes first, guess who's going to pay for that? The employee, the shareholder, the communities that you're in? I don't know right. Or our shareholders come first. Well, that's great, I can give more money to the shareholders. I should take it from the employees. So those one-sided transactions, they're not sustainable. If, however, you can approach business and say no, I want to make decisions where the communities win, I want to make decisions where the shareholders win, I want to make decisions where the employees win and the customers win. Right, when everyone's winning, then it makes decision-making harder, yes. However, it makes it sustainable, and that's something that deeply shapes me and how I view businesses. I want all of the stakeholders to win, and it's amazing how, with a little extra effort and cycles and perspectives, you can do that.
Speaker 1:So I want to dive a little bit deeper into two principles that you mentioned, because they're near and dear to my personal heart and I've got the microphone, so I'm going to ask questions.
Speaker 2:You win.
Speaker 1:Yes, I will win. One of them is what I'm going to call the head in the sand principle, because so many companies, when there is a problem, when there's an issue, they want to take their head, they want to dive into the stand and they want to pretend like it's not coming. And you learn really quickly that that is the worst thing in the world to try to do around me, because I'm very much OK, I'm going to run right into it and, whatever it is, I'm going to go deal with it. And we were aligned in that, which which was an extreme positive. But let's talk a little bit about that, because that is not people's first nature.
Speaker 1:Most people hate conflict and usually what you're dealing with is, you know, is a problem, an issue, somebody who's upset, somebody who's mad, a business dispute, and you found, I guess, based upon what you said, is dealing with the issue right then and right there. And the second principle, transparency, I think are critical. So let's talk a little bit about those two items together, because I think dealing with problems immediately and with complete transparency are critical for people to understand when they're trying to build a business or dealing with issues in business.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if it's amazing how averse the human spirit is to conflict, Uh, and if you want to compound something with interest, that gets really ugly really fast. Don't deal with truth, right? The reality is you can't fix problems you can't see. And by not acknowledging that they're there, you can't see them. You can know that there's a problem, but when you don't acknowledge that problem, you absolutely cannot fix it. It's impossible, Can't see them. You can know that there's a problem, but when you don't acknowledge that problem, you absolutely cannot fix it. It's impossible, Can't be done.
Speaker 2:And so it's really, really important for organizations and people right, People are proxy for organizations to be able to identify things, to accept them and then actually do something about it. And so, whatever that is, you got to keep that list short. You don't want resentments building up an organization. You don't want resentments building up with any of the stakeholders in your lives, right? Not your kids, not anything else. So you got to deal with it directly and honestly. And if you're not willing to do that, then you're building up compound interest, but it's not in the right direction. It's going to bite you in the rear.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, Mark, we've had a lot of conversations just going directly at the issue and it doesn't look. That's why you have core values. Core values guide your decision. They guide the framework with which you have those conversations. So for us at ID Life, it's servant leadership, integrity and tenacity. So we have those tough conversations within the framework of servant leadership, integrity and tenacity. But yeah, you cannot expect to move forward in life or in business if you're not willing to go directly at those issues and call a spade a spade. And it's amazing to me how people don't realize that there's freedom on the other side of that. There's always freedom on the other side of that hard conversation. And then that's why I'm a big fan of it. If you don't believe me, try it. Try it. Have those hard conversations and you'll see. I know, Mark, you're not afraid of any of those hard conversations.
Speaker 1:I mean, you know, what's interesting about me is there's an entire profession in the world that exists simply because people hate conflict. You guys want to get rid of lawyers. It's real simple Deal with your own conflicts.
Speaker 2:Exactly that's what we do. We don't outsource, we do conflict. That's what we do. That's that's what we're really good at.
Speaker 1:We don't outsource, we do conflict. That's what we do. That's that's what we're really good at. Here is a little secret for you. If you ever get into a dispute legal dispute or otherwise there are lawyers in the world that hate conflict. Too Little known fact. As people ask me what I used to do, I said I was a trial lawyer. There's a difference between a trial lawyer and a litigator. A litigator will take your money and then convince you to settle at the end. A trial lawyer doesn't care about settlement, wants to get in front of 12 people in a box or a guy in a black robe and let the decision be made. Trial lawyers are a little bit different than litigators. By the way, litigators are the ones that are afraid of conflict.
Speaker 2:So in case you're wondering, You're a bit of a Navy SEAL to to attorneys. You actually want to fight.
Speaker 1:But you know, what's interesting about it is, you know, when I was practicing, I actually didn't want to actually try to talk people out of the fight. That was the unique aspect of things. I always wanted to meet the beginning, because one of the things that I learned early on in my career was usually, when companies are in a dispute, usually when companies are in a dispute, both sides are right in the reason why they're fighting. This was the unique aspect of something that I had to learn early on. It's how they basically framed the reason why they were right. Both of them are correct and if you can get into a room and open your mind and understand, okay, you're correct in the way that you're framing it. But what if I gave you another piece of the frame and you do that on both sides? All of a sudden, what you realize is the two companies that were making perfectly good money together before can continue to do so if they can worry more about fixing the issue than they are about being right. And I learned early on that if I could get two companies to see that and actually work together again, get out of their own minds, get their ego set aside, I usually ended up with another client and it was just one of those interesting aspects of things. I was like well, you know, I'll fight if I have to fight, but I'm the typical type of guy If I can avoid it, I'm going to, and in business, I think that's extremely important.
Speaker 1:But you know, one of the things that you started to introduce to everyone was ID Life and the concept of ID Life. Eventually, you got to a point in your life where, OK, you know, the cereal C-suite thing may have run its path. I'm going to go back to my ranch in East Texas. I'm going to basically try to do something else. Maybe I'm just tired of doing all of this. But then you got a phone call and you got introduced to this wonderful thing called ID Life. Let's talk a little bit about that and why you were intrigued by the concept of what it is we have built at IDLF.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, this global pandemic is a great excuse to go hang out in the ranch. I can tell you, in the woods in East Texas there was no COVID.
Speaker 1:It was kind of nice.
Speaker 2:Everyone acted pretty normal out there, which is maybe not that normal.
Speaker 1:That's just being a Texan. Sorry, that's just being a Texan, that's right, which is maybe not that normal, that's just being a Texan, sorry, that's just being a Texan, that's right.
Speaker 2:And yet, at the same time, I knew in my heart I wasn't done. I wasn't done, but I didn't want to do something. I didn't want to just do something, I wanted to be a part of something special. I wanted to do things that mattered in a community that mattered. Maybe said differently, the how mattered to me immensely. What mattered, but the how mattered the community aspect of it.
Speaker 2:And, candidly, one of the things I had not been very good of in my life was sustainability. I like to run real fast, and yet when you run really, really fast for a really long time, you can wear yourself out, and so the concept of sustainability was really important to me. So there were all these foundational principles that I was looking for, but but it's kind of sounds strange, but I didn't feel permission to go out there and utilize my network to go find the next deal. I have an extensive network, I'm, I'm, I am, uh, in very, quite a few CEO communities, um, chairman of the Lone Star chapter, ypo on the regional board, like I have great connections and, yeah, great.
Speaker 2:However, I didn't feel like using any of those to find what was next. I felt in my heart that in the right time because business is all about timing, or maybe life is all about timing that it would occur at the right time and it did. I got a phone call from Logan Stout and he invited me to go have lunch. And I'd met Logan and in a former life, years before, knew him, but not well. We'd met a few times and we went and had lunch and he shared with me about ID Live and it was interesting. It was interesting, the concept was interesting, but, more importantly, when I walked out to the car, he said a couple things that would be random for anyone else, but in my spirit they were exactly what I had heard would be mile markers for what was next for me, like literally word for word, what I'd heard in my quiet times. And so I started paying attention. I started paying attention and I started looking deeper into this ID Life movement and I couldn't here's. I was enthralled, right.
Speaker 2:So one of the most important things in business is timing, okay, and if you don't get that timing right, you miss out on everything. And so it's important, kind of like if you're going to surf, if you're going to surf. Here's the most important thing. It's not the board, it's not the clothes you're wearing. You got to be in front of the wave and I saw this ID Life movement that was absolutely in front of the wave, they were ahead of the curve in virtually everything and the most beautiful part is no one knew about them. It was incredible. Absolutely. They were ahead of their time and it was the best kept secret. And so I realized I really want to be a part of this. I want to be a part of something that can go out there and they can sustainably help people live better lives and, candidly, I wanted to help make it not the best kept secret better lives and, candidly, I wanted to help make it not the best kept secret.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the things that you and I have had a chance to talk about extensively is you have a personal passion for health and wellness. Yes, now, obviously, id Life fit right into that personal passion. But let's talk a little bit about that, because you know you had done a lot of things in your life to try to chase health. I'm probably going to say probably because of what you watched your father end up with. You know that's the psychologist in me is, hey, I'm going to chase away from what I watched happen. But let's talk about that a little bit, because you know, when you got introduced to ID Life, you had to rethink a lot of what you knew about health and wellness.
Speaker 2:I did. I mean, I was no stranger to the space, I'm an avid not only an avid exerciser, but I really cared after running myself up. Candidly, honestly, I just ran myself into a wall many, many times as a CEO, and so I started thinking there's got to be a better path, and I spent a ton of money with nutritionists and with a neuropath, you know wellness doctors and chiropractors and you name it, and it was great. I really learned a lot. The problem is it was two parts confusion for every one part, clarity, right, and and. And no one agreed with each other and no one was really looking at it holistically, and so I was in a better place than if I didn't do it, but it was really really, really confusing.
Speaker 2:And I had the under-the-sink syndrome. You know what the under-the-sink syndrome is? Right, I don't. It's when you, every Sunday, you got to open up under the sink, pull out $400 million worth of pills. Try to remember what was I supposed to take and when and what was the dosage and why is the doctor charged me four times as much as Costco, and maybe I can just buy it at Costco, but it is a vitamin C, a vitamin C, right? I didn't know. And so I was taking all this stuff thinking surely this is helping me. But I don't really know.
Speaker 2:And so when I was introduced to ID Live, it's like all the pieces came together. All the puzzle pieces clicked and I realized here's a company that's figured it out and not claiming that they figured it out, no, scientifically they've proven that it works. And there were all these testimonies. And so ultimately you go, that's nice, but I got to try myself and I did, and I honestly I cannot imagine my life without the Audio Life products. I can't imagine my family's life. I can't imagine.
Speaker 2:I look back. So ranches are a. If you have a second home, it's like a, you know, middle of nowhere. It's a time capsule. You know like stuff goes out there to dive and doesn't die. I don't know if anyone has this, but I go out there and I see Coke Zero. I go out there and I see like sugar-free drink, like all full of sucralose, all this junk. I go what in the world was I feeding my kids? I had no idea. So as much progress I'd had and I was more than most. I definitely had made more progress than most. I had absolutely no idea until I met ID Life what clean living really could look like and done in a sustainable way, and I'm forever changed by it, you know as part of your diligence of the opportunity at ID Life, you eventually came to the office and you met one of my favorite people in the world.
Speaker 2:Laura.
Speaker 1:And you know I want you to tell a little bit about that story, First getting to meet her, how she was introduced to you initially, and then what you found out about her and what she had done at ID life from beginning, or even before the beginning.
Speaker 2:Well, it's hard to talk about Laura without talking about you. So I can tell you in one sentence Laura was nice and friendly and and you didn't like me.
Speaker 1:That was for free. There you go. Trust with me is earned not given.
Speaker 2:That is that's a true statement. Trust with me is earned, not given. That's a true statement. But we got there. We got there, laura.
Speaker 2:I couldn't figure her out. First of all, she had a title of Chief Experience Officer. I don't know what the heck Chief Experience Officer is, I really don't but I noticed very quickly that every single person in the office would go to her to try to come up with a solution, and I asked a few questions and realized she's been here from the beginning and yet, despite the fact that she had all the answers've ever come across in my entire life, when anyone else would have viewed me as an outsider, anyone else would have viewed me as a threat, she saw it as an opportunity to learn and grow, and I am unbelievably impressed. I will say that Laura Brandt is the most intelligent female executive that I've ever had the opportunity to work with, and I'm really grateful. She has made a deep, deep impact in my life and I want my success here to be gauged by the level that Laura can grow in this company, and right now I don't see any end to what she can do with this company, you know.
Speaker 1:I've had the pleasure of being side by side with her for 11 years, as you know, saw something in her when she didn't have the belief in herself and I knew what was possible, and watching her grow is like a proud father.
Speaker 1:Uh, you know it's. It really is special. But uh, what she is doing now and what she has been doing for you know the entire time, for ID life is is is nothing short of amazing. But I can tell you in that time period, the one thing that that I see the most, in that I actually cherish the most about her, is her willingness to constantly give to others and doesn't care what her title is. There's nothing below her. She's willing to do anything, and one of the concepts that when, when we were building the company she and I talked about early on, was you can never expect somebody to work harder than you're willing to work yourself, so make sure you outwork everybody. So I think I may have overdone that with her a little bit. So it's just she is uh, she's exceptionally hardworking and you're right, she has never asked.
Speaker 2:She's never asked for a pay raise. She's never asked for a title increase. She's never asked for anything. What she has done is she's earned it. She's earned every step of the way. We are very, very fortunate to have Laura Brand.
Speaker 1:So you meet with Laura, you have multiple conversations and doing your diligence, and then all of a sudden you're like, okay, I'm going to take a tour of this place and I'm going to learn all about the products it has and the offerings and everything else. And they're like, okay, well, to do the tour, you have to meet the lawyer. Uh, and then you met me and you're like and probably in your brain you're like, hold on a second, I've got to meet the lawyer to do a tour about products. This makes zero sense, always the case. No one understands this. Um, so talk about your perspective of that first tour and you and I kind of getting to know each other. I know we didn't start out in the greatest of places. Uh, again, you know, trust with me is earned, not given. Uh, I'm always very protective of of the things that I'm around, especially things that I've given my entire life to, like ID life. So let's talk a little bit about that, because I'd love to know your perspective of that very first meeting and going through that tour.
Speaker 2:Well, you were terrifying.
Speaker 2:However, it was so interesting because you can't learn everything about a company from the numbers and I've combed through the numbers and I did all of that diligence, so sort of pulling from the auditor roots to figure out, hey, what's this company right? You can't really fall in love with that. What you can fall in love with is the heart of an organization and during that tour I got to see your heart and I got to see the true passion of what makes ID Live special and I got to understand how carefully crafted absolutely everything is and it was really really special. I knew there was more here. I could feel that there was more here. I had met incredible people like Laura, but it was on that tour with you, mark people like Laura, but it was on that tour with you, mark, and seeing how intentional every product was curated and put together for the benefit of others, that I realized this organization has tremendous depth and that's something that's rare, not a lot of in our society today.
Speaker 2:People don't even hardly value debt. They value the exterior, they value, you know, the just people's opinions of it has and done the work, done the engineering, done the medical science work to create something that is as powerful and sustainable as it is. I've never seen an organization do that. Most organizations spend most of their money on the marketing and the merchandising, and here was an organization that spent all the money on sort of the backend, unsexy hard stuff, and so that to me was confirmative of of of what the great opportunity is here, because the real hard part has been done. Now we get to. Now we get to tell the world about it. That's fun.
Speaker 1:You know I I love hearing your perspective, but it wasn't just your perspective, since since we've been doing this for a couple of years, you've had a chance to bring in a lot of your friends and a lot of people that you're close to and a lot of people that you do life with, and they've kind of had that same kind of experience.
Speaker 1:Talk a little bit about that. I mean, because one of the things I love about our company is people can see it, they can watch videos about it, they can read about it on the internet, they can think they know about it. But when people have actually taken the time to come and walk through the office and actually take a tour and get to see the behind the scenes of the why because to me the most important thing is always the why it's why we do what we do is more important than anything else. And you're right, we've spent all of our time, money and effort in the why, because to me it's the most important thing how do you help other people? The what and the how are kind of boring to me, but the why is very important. But talk a little bit about the feedback that you've gotten back from your friends and family that have had the same experience as you.
Speaker 2:It's unanimous at this point. Every person I've walked through the doors and that's CEO, friends that run billion-dollar organizations, and down to my mom that have walked through this building they get such a taste of the heart organization. You can't walk in these doors and not get a sense as to the true purpose and intention behind this organization. It's, it's incredible. We, you know, we're still trying to figure out how do we bottle that and send it out, um, but but everyone that has come through here, uh, has has wanted to attach themselves to Heidi Life, um, and so you know what does that look like? That looks like family members coming in and and and now they're all on product and they all want access to Mark. Go, hey, I've got this rash. What do you think about it? What does that mean Mark? Yeah, you've had some of those fun calls I know friend than I have it's come through here and figured out how do I attach myself to AdiLife, not just how do I get on product, but how do I become a part of this. I want to invest, I want to do this. I'm like well, guys, we're a private company and we're very, very, very thoughtful in terms of who our investors are, and so it's been interesting how many people want to be a part of this movement and how everyone has a story and everyone has a connection and everyone both needs, has found a need for ID Life in their life as well as for other people some new marketing agency that's working with us. The very first thing they did is come here and they got it to work. Then they all got excited and they wanted product, and then the next call was oh my gosh, this stuff actually works, right, david Young, their president's, like Josh, I remember my dream. I didn't know, I had dreams. Everyone's just astounded, and I think it's because most people have a.
Speaker 2:Most organizations have a really, really loud megaphone. There's just not a lot of substance behind it, and ID live has turned that on its head. We don't have a very loud megaphone. We've not shouted what we do from the rooftops. We're really really have been quiet about it to date, and yet when people come, they see such a tremendous depth um that they are blown away each and every time. And our opportunity now is to take all of that goodness, the iceberg, right under the water, all that goodness, and begin sharing it with other people in more and more scalable and sustainable ways, and so that, to me, is the. That's that's the fun part. Right, that's the fun part, but you can only build things to the extent that you're willing to dig in and build the foundation. And, again, so rare. Most organizations don't do the hard work and the and the financial investment to build out those level of foundations.
Speaker 1:You know, early on. Uh, we, we weren't even in business for a year. And somebody asked me one time. They were like, okay, so ID Life chose a network marketing model. Basically, we wanted to give opportunities to individuals to have a chance to earn extra income by sharing what it is that we're doing in the world. And I was asked you know why would you choose that model? Model? And you know I could give them the business reason. But instead I gave them, you know, my personal reason, because a lot of people have asked me that and I haven't really told this story much. But when I was 11 years old, I had to ride my bike three miles to try out for the only select baseball team there was in our area. So, yes, I'm a Gen. You know I'm a Gen Xer. You know we are a different breed. Yes, my parents would actually let me ride my bike anywhere I wanted to, not that they really knew where I was going, because as long as I'm at home by the light coming on.
Speaker 1:I was good, but I made the team. I was so excited I ride all the way back home to tell mom that I made the team, only for her to say that we didn't have the $500 to play. So I played city ball and that was the end of it and it crushed me and I mean it was like, hey, I was good enough in everything else and I ended up going on and playing college baseball, but it was just that killed my heart because I had the ability. We just didn't have the finances. So somebody was asking me there and I'm like that's a long story. But the reality of that story is this that little blue man that is ID Life to me, represents the single mom out there that doesn't have to say no to her son if he has the ability and the drive and wants to put in the effort to make the team. That, to me, is what it is. It's not the person that's making tens of thousands of dollars and all the other claims that these crazy companies are trying to make and post on the internet and do all the things wrong and all the other claims that these crazy companies are trying to make and post on the internet and do all the things wrong. To me, it's that small extra cash that gives them the ability to have the dignity of not having to tell their children no. So when people say, and they come in and take the tour and they're like why is your, why are you so passionate about this? Why are you, why, why do you talk about it the way that you do? I tell you the same thing. Look at the wall behind our ID Nutrition Room and you'll see a little blue man. Every time, before I start, that's what I see, that's what I feel, that's the story that's in my head. So every person that I'm talking to, that's the heartbeat to me of what ID Life represents.
Speaker 1:I've always said from the beginning that this is a movement of people. It's not a movement of any single person. It's not about any single thing. It's not about the four people you know that are running the company right now. It's not about who is invested in the company. It's not about that. It's about the people that are out there every single day sharing what it is that we do and, most importantly, you know, the network of individuals that are putting their reputations on the line to say, hey, I believe in this brand. So let's talk a little bit about that, because to me that's near and dear to my heart is the is the network of individuals. I mean, we call them leaders, we call them associates. They're the people that really do the work of ID Life. Let's talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:And what intrigued you about that aspect of our business model. You about that aspect of our business model. So I love entrepreneurship. I am absolutely stoked by it. It's the one thing that I just I have to have as a part of my life. And yet I've been a part of a lot of organizations that we've been very successful, and the reward for success is that got sold and the shareholders made a lot of money, and that's great. That's wonderful. Occasionally, there was some sharing with employees, with a few select employees, and so there were a few people that got to win. That's fine.
Speaker 2:The issue is I want to elevate humanity and I think business is a vehicle to elevate humanity, and so it the fact that we get to do what we do and elevate all the stakeholders like, in other words, when we do what we do, guess who wins? Our associates win, we win, they win, our communities win, investor every single person gets to win. There's not a loser in it, and I'm unbelievably passionate about that because here's where it doesn't end when we have top leaders, or any leaders. We have the single mom in here, we have the successful attorney, we've got the gym owner, we have the personal trainer, people that are using ID Life in their life that are sharing it. They have the opportunity to make extra income, which look, here's what I know they're. They are here because they have the same kind of values we do and therefore the impact is that much greater because of our model. When they win, they're investing back in their communities. When they win, they're impacting the next generation of people.
Speaker 2:And so my kids said you know what does network marketing mean? I said you know, remember when daddy was running this? You know XYZcom business? He said, yeah, I said we spent $54 million a year with Google, $54 million a year with Google. I said what daddy does now takes that 54 million and puts it in people's pockets that actually just want to share the product and they get to benefit their family's lives and their community's lives. And they were like, dad, that's really cool, that's way better. I'm like, yeah, that's really cool, that's way better. We, this, this model, is what business should be. People don't have a problem sharing. Anyone shares things that make a positive difference in their lives. That's that's just what we do, and to be able to share and then get rewarded for that what's more natural than that? And to be clear, some people can make it weird, don't make it weird. Don't make it weird, um make it weird. And so I love our model. It is absolutely our competitive advantage.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, one of the things that you've done in the time that you're here is you've taken a lot of the things that you've learned along the way, a lot of the things that you've actually done along the way in other companies, and we've started to implement them here at ID Life. We're seeing some positive results as a result of that. But one of the things I want you to do is I want you to kind of paint a picture for me, because you know it's easy for us to talk about. Hey, this is how we see the future. This is what we think you know the future looks like. How does Josh Payne view ID Life in one, three, five years? What is your vision for where we're headed and what we're doing?
Speaker 2:So path forward is one of simplicity. Right, we have the foundations that we need to significantly grow and scale this organization. What we have the opportunity to do now is to remove the friction points, right. So the good news is we don't have to figure out another model. We don't have to majorly adapt. What we have to do is take the complexity that exists now and reduce it, make it even more simple to do business with us, and so we're doing those right. We are actively addressing those at multiple levels right now, and so it just gets easier and easier and easier to do business, to take our products, to share our products, and so we've got a very, very clear pathway for growing this organization.
Speaker 2:And what's fun is, I don't want to double it. I don't want to triple it. I don't want to triple it. This is going to be a household brand. This is going to be something that is so synonymous with our brand of Healthy Simplified that anyone and everyone that is passionate about health and bringing that into their lives is going to know about AudioLive. So we are the best kept secret right now, but it's not going to stay that way, mark.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the most complicated things in the world to do is to simplify something. That's exactly right. I think I just plagiarized Einstein in some respect, but I don't think he's got a mind.
Speaker 2:And Steve Jobs and everyone else.
Speaker 2:That's the hard part. The hard part is to make it simple, um, but if you don't have the the core, if you don't have the the foundations, then it won't matter. It doesn't matter how simple you make it right. There are companies out there with simple approaches to health, but they're not founded on science. They don't really have products of integrity that are sustainable, and so, ultimately, what's in the dark always comes into the light, and I like being a company that is not afraid of that. We're excited about it.
Speaker 1:Shine the light, baby, because we have got incredible, incredible products and processes and people, so I want to ask the same question, but a little bit differently what do you see for Josh Payne one, three and five years from now?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean for starters, you know, I think, within five years, if I have a tenth of the product knowledge that you have, mark, I'm just going to call that a win. Just going to call that a win. The reality is, I guess, said succinctly, I found my tribe. I found the people that I want to do life with, and so I love being a part of this movement. I want to stay a part of this movement. I want to build a legacy company that can be enjoyed for generations. So I found my tribe. You'll find me right here, and you'll also find me having some kids in college, and I hope they get even smarter we'll determine that really quickly by which college they choose.
Speaker 2:But have them, I I'm. I will tell my sons the exact same thing my father said, which is son I love you. You can go wherever you want. If you want any help whatsoever, you'll go to texas a m, you know it's funny.
Speaker 1:I told my daughter the same thing. I said, sweetheart, I will pay for any college you want, but if it has A&M behind it, you're writing your own check.
Speaker 2:So we had a very similar conversation.
Speaker 1:It's just what happened. So you know I have a few more questions here for you, but you know, one of the things that I always like to do is I like to throw some softballs at the end that allow you to kind of have an open mic to talk about something that I may not have asked about. The first one is what is it that you would want to make sure that everyone knows about ID Life and, most importantly, what you're trying to do at the helm of ID Life right now?
Speaker 2:I really want people to understand. I really want to expose what's truly here. I really want the beauty of what exists to be made known. No-transcript, I can tell you the people, the process, the programs are absolutely here and full of integrity and better than better than anywhere else. I've been there, I've seen it, I've probably tried it, and what is here is genuine, it's authentic, and that's incredible. And also that we have a chance to really grow our community, and I think that matters.
Speaker 2:There's been no sustainable, no impactful change. That happens in isolation. It just doesn't. It happens in isolation. It just doesn't. It happens in communities. And what's fun for me right now is to watch our communities get stronger and stronger as they grow and as they're thriving together. And I think that's going to be a fun one to watch as more and more people are introduced and come into the ideal life ecosystem. Because if you think that people are just coming in for people may be coming in for a specific product, but they're leaving with. They're staying not for the products, they're staying for the life change, and that happens in community. And there's so many ways for people to get plugged into this IDLock community and to be changed. And again, with our network marketing model. That makes community a whole lot easier, and that that's.
Speaker 1:That's exciting yeah, you can't, you can't beat culture. Um, it'll define who you are. Uh, every single time, you know, uh, what I always like to do is I like to give, uh, my guests the final word. As much as I would love to have the final word every single time, my word doesn't matter as much as my guest. But I'm going to frame yours a little bit different, because I want you to actually answer something, but kind of tell a story at the same time. So I'm going to ask you something. I will warn you, this is not going to be an easy question. This is actually going to be a very hard question and, yes, I've been planning this for a while, but, no, I wasn't going to tell you about it.
Speaker 1:So you said your boys are about to go to college and at some point in their lives they're going to look back and they're going to go, okay, so what are some of the things that dad said? What are some of the things that I can hear that dad talked about? What recording may have dad done that you know? Hey, this is, this is a life lesson. Uh, you're talking to your boys. Okay, you're talking to them about your past, your, your present and your future. But, most importantly, you're talking to them about wisdom and things that you've learned in your life and that you want them to know, that you think our listeners would be interested in. But, most importantly, I just want you to give them kind of your wisdom, if you would, very similar to what your father did for you.
Speaker 2:What would you say to them? Oh man, wow, mark, yeah, that's a doozy. It'd be so much that I would want them to say the thing that my dad would always say to me is people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. But I would want them to watch their habits, because they shape our lives more than anything else, and what you focus on matters. My greatest wish for my boys is that they would know whose they are, because identity determines destiny. That's it. I want them to know whose they are.
Speaker 2:And you know, what I find is interesting is that whoever owns something gets to name it Right. If I have a dog, I name that dog. A car owns something gets to name it right. If I have a dog, name that dog. A car get to name that car. The owner gets to name the object, and I believe that as humans, we have a maker and I would want them to remember, I want my boys to remember, that God gets to name them, and a lot of people are afraid of.
Speaker 2:Well, what would God name me? What would he actually have to say about me? Because I know me and I know I make a lot of mistakes, a lot of failures, and yet God has done that. He's identified us and he says you're my child, you're beloved, you're chosen, you're accepted. And I think the greatest work of faith is just believing in what God says is true, which is hard. It's hard to believe that because I know me and yet I have a pastor that said don't live down to the level of your experience, live up to the level of your belief. And I would want my boys to know who they are and they're going to hear from me each and every day. I'm going to tell them how much I love them, how proud I am of them. I want them to receive that identity from God. I want them to remember whose they are and that he has the ability to name them and that they are loved, they're accepted and they get to live on that love, not for that love.
Speaker 1:You know there's nothing more powerful than hearing. Well done my good and faithful servant at the end of your life. And, josh, I do know your faith and I know how hard that question was and I know you didn't know it was coming, which makes it even better because to me a raw response is really telling, because it really does tell who you are.
Speaker 1:Because when somebody is put on the spot, like I just did to you, they have a tendency to fall back on one of two things either their brain or their faith. And you went to your faith and I think that's telling of who you are as a man and, most importantly, as a leader. So you know, I really do appreciate you taking the time today. Like I said, I knew this wasn't necessarily going to be easy for you, because I have the microphone and I get to ask the questions, but I will tell you that I think it's been extremely valuable. I've learned a lot. I think you've probably learned a couple of things about me along the way as well, because I shared some things I haven't shared with you before. But, most importantly, I think this is going to be extremely valuable for the listeners, because I think getting to know you as a person is a heck of a lot more important than getting to know you as an executive, because once you know the heartbeat of a man, you can understand why people want to follow him. So, on behalf of myself, on behalf of ID Left, but most importantly, on behalf of the listeners. Thank you for being here and until next time.
Speaker 1:This is Mark Bennett. Talk to you again real soon. Thank, you.