Leading with Love: A Transformational Journey with Entrepreneur Jonathan Rivera

Have you ever thought about the power of the right words spoken by the right person at just the right time? Our guest, Jonathan Rivera, a faith-driven entrepreneur and a leader who leads with love, shares his story of transformation from a high school dropout to a successful entrepreneur. Don't miss this episode if you've ever wondered about the profound impact of words and the importance of leading with love.

We dive into Jonathan's unique perspective on prioritizing one's day around four F's - faith, fitness, family, and finances. He sheds light on the mystery behind his morning ritual of a rosary and coffee, revealing how this routine sets the tone for his day. You'll also hear about Jonathan's continuous journey of leadership development, fueled by resources such as podcasts, books, and biographies.

Listen in as Jonathan shares his struggles, triumphs, and the crucial lessons he's learned along the way. 

I want to invite you to check out the Committed Mastermind, a community I help lead along with world-class leaders like JC and Karen Hite, Vinnie Fisher, and Jonathan Mast, plus incredible mentors like Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The 5 Love Languages, and many others.

This is for entrepreneurs who want to build a thriving business without sacrificing their faith, their family, or their health.

Check out the Committed Mastermind at https://committedmastermind.com/

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Transcript

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Leadership and Growth With Jonathan Rivera

Speaker 1 1:24

Welcome to Catalytic Leadership , the podcast designed to help leaders intentionally grow and thrive . Here is your host author and leadership and executive coach , dr William Attaway .

Speaker 2 1:38

Hey , it's William and welcome to today's episode of the Catalytic Leadership podcast . Each week , we tackle a topic related to the field of leadership . My goal is to ensure that you have actionable steps you can take from each episode to grow in your own leadership . Growth doesn't just happen . My goal is to help you become intentional about it . Each week , we spotlight leaders from a variety of fields , organizations and locations . My goal is for you to see that leaders can be catalytic , no matter where they are or what they lead . I draw inspiration from the stories and journeys of these leaders and I hear from many of you that you do too . Let's jump into today's interview .

Speaker 2 2:21

I'm so excited today to have on the show Jonathan Rivera . His teachers said that he would never amount to anything , but God had another plan for it . From a high school dropout to faith-driven entrepreneur living a life of limitless possibilities , jonathan believes the right words from the right person at the right time can change your life . That's exactly why he's dedicated his life to having meaningful conversations at scale . His core values are faith , family fitness and finances . Jonathan says that God gave us talents and we must use them to make the world a better place . That's why he built the podcast factory . Every day they are inspiring , entertaining and influencing their listeners to live lives of infinite fulfillment . Jonathan , I'm so glad you're here . Thanks for being on the show .

Speaker 3 3:16

Let me tell you something Deep , deep , deep level of respect for any guy that can get through an intro like that in one shot . You're a professional . I know I'm in good hands now , right , I'm like , yes , all right , I want to start . I'm excited to be here , brother .

Speaker 2 3:32

It's going to be a great conversation . I've been looking forward to this one . Jonathan , I'd love for you to start by sharing some of your story with our listeners , particularly around your journey and your development as a leader . How did you get started ?

Speaker 3 3:46

Man . It's interesting when you think about that , because we're not born leaders and it seems like we have to learn People like me who are dumb and barely made it out of high school . We don't learn too easy , Right . So we got to take a lot of bumps , a lot of bruises , a lot of kicks in the rear to learn things man .

Speaker 3 4:11

I have always I don't know . I have always wanted to do something good . My parents planted the seeds of virtue in me and the good news is that , even though it took a while , those seeds sprouted and I get to do good work today . But it's really not for me . What I've done here is create something where I get to live my mission every day . Like you said , write words , write words in the right time , change your life . I get to do that , and so , since I'm blessed to be able to do that beautiful mission , I won't let anything get in my way all right no matter what happens , I won't let it .

Speaker 3 4:53

It could be good , it could be bad . I get knocked down , I get back up , and so my journey to being a leadership is tied to my desire to do something good , because a lot of people talk about what's wrong in the world and this problem and that problem , but they don't do anything about it . And I feel blessed getting to do something about it every single day , enlightening people , encouraging people , lifting people up , and so the journey has been a long one . There's been a lot of bumps and bruises , but it wouldn't be possible , number one , without my mission and purpose , without finding what God put me on this earth for , and number two , having a beautiful team and wonderful people around me who have supported me in the ups and downs , and so , if anything , it's that I did not want to let these people down . That's my journey to being a leader .

Speaker 2 5:46

Yeah , that's so good . I imagine that you've learned a few things about leadership along the way , probably like most of us , some the hard way and some from other people . I would love to know how you , at this point in your journey , would define leadership .

Speaker 3 6:05

That's weird , because the first thing that I think of don't kick me off the show is love .

Speaker 2 6:12

No chance .

Speaker 3 6:13

It's love . Yeah , that's where I am in my leadership today , and this is straight from the Bible . We must do everything from love and love . God is love right , and so , knowing that I have this purpose that's bigger than me , knowing that I'm going to need other people to help me , knowing that it's not totally in my hands , I have the love to glorify God's name and do this mission right , do the work that we're doing , and I also have the love to build my team up . And it wasn't always this way . Let's not pretend , look .

Speaker 2 6:51

I was rough .

Speaker 3 6:52

Okay , I was rough in the beginning . I didn't know any better . Nobody taught me how to be a businessman . I had to learn and make mistakes .

Speaker 3 7:00

But what I've noticed in the last couple years is that my leading doesn't come from ego . Now it doesn't come from I'm the boss and this is the way we do things . It comes from love , and the way that it shows up is it just like when we have a kid . For all of you that have children out there , like me , when that little child is bouncing around and falling and trying to learn to walk , we don't like yelling hey , get up and get it right , let me walk for you . You know what ? They're never going to learn ? We encourage them , we love them , and so I've taken that same feeling and transferred it to the work I do with my team . So leading them with love , leading them with ideas and leading them by example of what things should look like .

Speaker 3 7:50

And I had a situation yesterday where there's three of us in the leadership team . We were doing our meeting right , I got the CFO , I got the COO and I've got me . And , dude , they are complaining about a client and I'm like and they won't stop . Both of them are complaining and this is not typical . All right , this is not typical . They love our clients , but this one particular client is driving them nuts and I can tell them I did tell them on the call because I asked them . You know , what do you guys , what do you think your role is ? Well , we're supposed to keep our clients happy . I'm like , well , I've got two examples right here in the last two weeks where this is not happening . So are we actually trying to keep them happy or is there something else going on ? And both of them were kind of like taking a back . Oh , okay , what are you talking about now ? I'm not yelling at them , I'm not getting angry . I'm asking them a question Are we doing what we say we're doing ? And when we started breaking things down , it just wasn't right and I stepped in . So now I'm gonna lead by example . Okay , so I understand we're having some difficulty here .

Speaker 3 9:04

I like I love all our clients , right ? Because when I talk to somebody and I get invested in their mission and I wanna jump on board and help them with it , I fall in love with our clients . How many times am I gonna say love on this show ? Right ? But I said , listen , I'm gonna jump on a call , give me a piece of paper , write everything down . So they had an email and then they wrote all their notes on this and that and arguing everything . And I took that thing you sit next to me and listen to me on this call and I started the call and ended the call all on a positive note . But God everything straightened out that for weeks and weeks they couldn't . And why ? Because I was listening , because I care , because I wanna know what the problem is and I wanna know how I can do better so that I can fix it . That's the thing , right .

Speaker 3 9:51

And so my team , what they didn't get and this is so this could change your life if you get this they thought that saying yes all the time , yes , we'll do that , yes , we'll take care of that , that was being loving and taking care of the clients , making the client miserable , making them miserable . I said , look , saying yes all the time is not caring for the client . Leading that client , finding out what they need , what they want , where we're going wrong and giving them a path to success . Leading them , that's caring for them . And it was like , oh , I never thought of leadership that way , I never thought of taking care of our clients by saying no , that way . But I wanted to show them and that's what I've found in the last couple of years man Leading with love , caring , nurturing , watching these people grow , our clients grow , our team grow has made my life infinitely better .

Speaker 2 10:50

I love that story , jonathan . It reminds me of something that Craig Grashel said one time . When members of his team were complaining to him about their clients and they said , well , they won't do this and they won't do that and they won't do this , he said hang on a second , let's stop for a second . It's because we haven't led them to . It reminds me exactly what you're describing with your team , and I love the authenticity there and the recognition that , hey , we need to look at this from a different perspective . As leaders , we need to understand our role here , understand that we may not have done what we are supposed to do , so let's , before we point the finger , let's be very , very careful there . It reminds me of what

Timing and Customer Needs

Speaker 2 11:34

I read in the intro . Right , you talk about how the right person at the right time , the right word . That sounds like exactly what you did in that situation . You brought the right word to your team .

Speaker 3 11:45

I hope so , and even at a deeper level , the right heart , the right version of me to help them grow without being I just do that . I spent so many years angry . I'm tired . Right , I got to put all that behind me , all that teenage angst and all that stuff . I just want to be happy , peaceful , joyful .

Speaker 2 12:07

I love that . Like that's outstanding . You talk as I was reading about you and learning more about you in preparation for this interview . You say a number of things that intrigue me , that I want to ask you about . One of the things that you say is that the customer is always wrong .

Speaker 1 12:26

I got to tell you , I don't hear that very often .

Speaker 2 12:28

I would love to hear you unpack that just a little bit .

Speaker 3 12:32

Yeah , I'm going to share a story where I screwed up on this recently to illustrate what I'm talking about here . And so we're selective about the people we work with . We want people with a message , we want people with a mission , we want people doing good things so that we can fall in love with that mission and help power it , put some of our love into it to power it . And I have to keep that in perspective and I don't know we do that , so I'm guilty of not always doing that . I had a call with some guys and they were doing an incredible , incredible amount of work and it wasn't paying off for them . They were doing so much content , so much media , and I was on the call and I'm asking questions , learning more about their business , learning what they're doing , processes , everything , learning as much as I can to find out , hey , why isn't this working ? And when I get in there , I'm like good grief , this is all messed up and I feel bad . Right , years and years of work , hundreds of episodes , and they're not getting any calls and I'm like , guys , you're doing something wrong . But I really respect your persistence and what they needed was somebody to guide them , to bring all these things together and I thought , well , look , you guys , you know what . You don't need more podcasting . In fact , I might talk you out of podcasting for a little while while we look at your systems that are here and we fix them .

Speaker 3 14:13

So I'm trying to give them what they need , but they come back to me with well , we were really just looking for production and getting some of this work off our plate . They are wrong . They're wrong about what they need , and I screwed up , though , right , because I needed to sell them that production in order to deliver what they actually needed . I needed to get that contract and get that gig so that I could help them do better . And that's the way most of our customers are . They want all kinds of things . They're watching too much IG and TikTok and flipping through commercials right . They want a lot . What they really need is totally different , but in order for us to get in the dorm and be able to help people , sometimes we got to just sell them what they want and give them what they need .

Speaker 2 16:16

That makes sense ? Yeah , absolutely , and that takes a special kind of wisdom and experience to know that what they're saying , what they say that they want , is not what they need . Like , not just anybody can do that .

Speaker 3 16:30

It cost me the assignment , right . But then I went back and looked at it and said , ok , well , here's where I went wrong . They really want a production . I should have just given that to them , and then I would have been in there and then I could have consulted them and fixed everything , because then they would already be paying me and respect me . And so that's a call out to everybody out there listening is , if you're really doing good work , you have to sell that thing and get your foot in the door so that you can make that change that these people need and that you can deliver .

Speaker 2 17:01

You talk about how repetition is your reputation . What do you mean by that ?

Speaker 3 17:09

Yeah , I call it the law of reps , and I think in today's world so many people are , their expectations are crazy for instant gratification , quick dopamine , hit . What do we call it ? The microwave society ? It's they need something quickly and I get it . I get it . You've been conditioned .

Speaker 3 17:36

But if you're hearing this right now and you're going through that , maybe this little piece of awareness can help you break free of it . But here's the thing is we are what we repeatedly do . So if you're repeatedly flicking through TikTok and all that stuff , then you're nothing but a consumer doing nothing right . And so the law of reps is we are what we do , so we may as well choose to do good things .

Speaker 3 18:02

So , for instance , with me , I have limited capacity in this world , so I got to do the things that are important , the things that are going to move the dial , the things that are going to get closer to my purpose and my mission , and that's having conversations with guys like you , that's leading my team , that's talking to my clients and helping them . Those are the things that I do over and over again . So that's who I am and that's how people know me . So we got to ask ourselves what are we doing over and over again . Who do we say we are and are our actions aligning with that ? And whatever you do is who you are . So think about it . What are you doing right now ?

Speaker 2 18:41

And that over Tom really reveals integrity or not .

Speaker 3 18:46

Or not , or not Right .

Speaker 2 18:50

You know , so many people are waiting .

Speaker 1 18:54

They're just , they're saying well , it's just not the right time , right now .

Speaker 2 18:56

Well , you know , I'll get there . Well , I'm going to start doing my revs , I'm going to , I'm going to get there , I'm going to start building this . And they just keep delaying . They just keep waiting for the , for the perfect time , the perfect season , the perfect set of circumstances .

Speaker 3 19:12

Yeah , so I like . There's a couple of things that I want to highlight there , and one of them is is one that I'm learning now as I'm a little bit older and getting is the idea of seasons . So I do like that idea of different seasons for different things in life , and I think that's real . And when we start thinking about work , life balance and all that kind of stuff , I don't agree with that . I think there's harmony in life when you know what season you're in and you ride that wave . So I wanted to bring up that , that idea of season , but there is no . There is no right time . The time is right now . If it's fitness season , baby , then get to the gym , start eating right and lifting weights Right . If it's business season , then start booking calls and doing sales and doing whatever it is . Whatever that season is , we have to get in there and just commit . And this is one of the most interesting things .

Speaker 3 20:06

I had a conversation with a friend on a podcast the other day and and he gave me this idea that I never heard of . He's like did you know that there were levels of commitment Level ? I mean , I didn't know that there was like a scale of commitment , either committed or not , and that's what we're living in is a society where people think , oh , I'm slightly committed , I'm a little more committed , I'm committed today , but not tomorrow . That's not committed . Okay , yeah , you , you know what I'm talking about .

Speaker 2 20:34

I love that . I think that's fantastic . It's a binary state right .

Speaker 3 20:40

Right , right .

Speaker 2 20:41

Oh , that's so good . There is not a level of commitment .

Speaker 3 20:45

No , I never heard that before .

Speaker 2 20:47

It's nice . You strike me as somebody who's very intentional , jonathan , somebody who is purposeful in what they do and how they do it . Are there rituals or practices or disciplines that are a part of your life , maybe part of your morning or part of your day , that you would be willing to share with us ?

Speaker 3 21:08

Oh man , are there . What's interesting about it is yes , there are , and then sometimes you got to get away from them . So over the last eight weeks I've been very disciplined with my diet and my weightlifting . I'm on a new program and I did it for the eight weeks and I just finished . So today for lunch , instead of having protein , I had a bag of cookies . Okay , so I ate a bag of cookies and I felt gross afterwards .

Speaker 2 21:38

There's a season for everything , right .

Speaker 3 21:42

I'm like , oh , this is gross , but how to do it ? I can't wait to get back to my protein . But yeah , I mean , I have . Number one is God gifted me with discipline . And when you look up in the dictionary , like my son

Priorities, Discipline, and the Podcast Factory

Speaker 3 21:57

asked me about discipline the other day , he said , dad , discipline a bad thing ? Discipline sounds like what happens when I get in trouble and I told him go grab your dictionary . He's got a kid's dictionary . Go grab your dictionary , open it up .

Speaker 3 22:11

Let's look at discipline today . In discipline , one meeting is bad , three meetings are good . Right , this goes back to the law of reps . This goes back to taking care of whatever . It is Like you said intention that to me , that and discipline go together . But yeah , dude , I've got rituals and I'm calling you dude . I apologize , doc . No , that's good , I can be dude , that's fine . That's not discipline . Man , I need some classes but I get excited .

Speaker 3 22:43

But yeah , I mean for me number one and I've actually flipped things around in my priority list , so I don't remember how you said it . If it's right on the intro , but it's faith , fitness , family finances . That's because I had a mentor shift my thinking about this recently where he's like , hey , if you're not taking care of yourself , how do you take care of them , or anything else ? And so he got me to think about fitness at a higher level , and not just like lifting weights and stuff like that , but how you eat , how you sleep , how you live , so that you can show up the best for your family and for everybody that you get around .

Speaker 3 23:26

But yeah , discipline number one in the morning is faith . Brother , I get out of bed , I get dressed and I do a rosary . I'm old school . I get me a rosary and takes about 16 minutes and I love it .

Speaker 3 23:40

After that's cup of coffee and reading a bunch of devotional books that tie back to the Bible and then cross-referencing the stuff that I think is interesting in the Bible , and then after that I share five or six friends what I read today and what I think they can use if I know something there that's useful for them .

Speaker 3 23:57

So that's how I start today and I started in faith and being a disciple and that's what makes me feel good . And after that I got to look at fitness from the idea of eating . So I got to eat the right foods . And I also take care of my family at that time because my son we home school , so in the mornings with him walk a little bit of studying while we walk , talking and all that stuff , and then come back do my workout and then , after I've done all of that right , so I've got time with the family , got homework done , I take care of my body and my mind and my soul , Then I can give everything I have left to work , and so my whole day is filling up my cup and then pouring out . That's how it works .

Speaker 2 24:43

I like that . Do the people around you have an impact on any of that , Like the people that you choose to spend time with during the course of your day ? Do they impact your mindset ? Do they impact your intentionality ? Do they impact your discipline ?

Speaker 3 24:58

I mean , we live in a world surrounded by people who are going to impact what we're trying to do , and so we got to ask ourselves a simple question Does this bring me closer or further to what I am trying to accomplish today ? And everything for me is always looking up at God first , keeping that connection first , and then I start looking at the other pieces . But yeah , of course today is going to take a while turns , things are going to come up . We're going to come out of nowhere with new things that you didn't even know about , right . So , yeah , that stuff is definitely those are things that come into the day , but it's I'm so aligned with my intention and what's important to me .

Speaker 3 25:41

I don't allow that stuff to phase me . Like I know I got to spend time with my family . I want to . Not , I got it . I got it for my heart to fulfill it . I know I got to be with God , I know I got to take care of my body , and so I put all those things first and I don't really see the other stuff . I mean , sometimes it comes to my field of vision but I try to just like , okay , that doesn't fit what I'm doing . But dude , this is years of practice . Years of practice and being this kind of Zen has only been like the last six months when I got my priorities really straight .

Speaker 2 26:15

So you built the podcast factory , but tell us a little bit about that . Why did you build it ? How do you do ? How does this make a difference ? How are you moving the needle through this ?

Speaker 3 26:29

Man , I am so blessed to be able to do this , and the way it started was , quite simply , I had a skill that other people found interesting , and that was a podcast skill . My first podcast was in 2008 . And it's out there and it's embarrassing . It is embarrassing , friend , but it's out there . That's my body of work and I'm going to claim it . But I had that skill in podcasting and I had some friends who had helped me out quite a bit in business , with my real estate business , with my personal development , with my growth , and I thought , hey , we hook you guys up with a podcast too , and then we can hang out , talk , chat and anybody who listens maybe they'll get a golden nugget or two , maybe they'll have some fun . And that's how it started . And then what happened was people started asking me hey , I heard you doing a show with so-and-so . How do you do that ? Hey , I heard you doing a show , can you help me with that ?

Speaker 3 27:34

And that's when we realized that there was a potential business there , and so we leaned into that and we started taking clients back in . Well , we did our first show in 2013 , but we didn't start taking clients till 2015 , two years later , and ever since then it's been trying to figure out that whole . The current only idea was hey , you've helped me out a ton . Let's record some conversations and see if we can help other people out . Let's just do that . That was a form of giving and that turned into a business , and then it turned into a mission . Write words from the right person at the right time can change your life . So right now , at scale , there are at least I don't know how many conversations are going on each day through the network , but every day we are sharing encouraging words , uplifting words , words that transform people , and I get to be a part as my mission , but it's also my business and I feel blessed about that situation .

Speaker 2 28:38

Jonathan , how do you stay on top of your game ? How do you level up your leadership

Continuous Growth and Leadership Development

Speaker 2 28:45

skills ? Because the podcast factory is going to need you to lead at a higher level a year from now than they do today . How do you keep leveling up ? How do you keep growing ?

Speaker 3 28:56

A couple of things is programming ourselves . How do we program ourselves ? I program myself through podcasts , through books . Mostly is my main thing . Audio books , regular books , biographies are my favorite .

Speaker 3 29:12

Learning what other leaders have done in situations , having the right group of friends , always up leveling my friends , because one of the things that happens is , when you get to a certain level of success , some of the people that you started with might not be able to reach that level . So you're going to have to upgrade your friends , and so I'm constantly upgrading my friends and the ones who are coming up with me , giving them a hand up as well , but always looking to be around . Better people , better thinking , better ideas , better questions and conversations like this , where you ask me and I have to think about it and then say , well , here's what's next . But it's a constant learning and it's also a constant application . And so we think in terms of wisdom , which is a word you used earlier .

Speaker 3 30:04

People think that reading books will give them wisdom . It says it in the Bible . No , it won't . Words without actions are hollow , and so we have to not only just look at the word and think about the word , contemplate it , but we have to practice the word , and so this is not just in the Bible and not about being a Christian . This is about everything we do .

Speaker 2 30:28

There's too many people who are just talking a good game , right . And then you look and you see , are your feet moving or are you just talking a good game ? You know , these are the bobblehead people . They just they keep taking in more and more information , their heads get bigger and bigger , but their body never moves .

Speaker 3 30:47

Yeah , I like that . I never . I never thought of it that way . That's a good one , bobblehead people .

Speaker 2 30:54

I'm guessing that you , as an entrepreneur , have faced some challenges . There's a perspective , I'm afraid , by looking at social media and what's online , that it looks like , oh wow , man , jonathan , he's just , he's just done great , he's just been up until the right . He really hasn't had any challenges . But I'm guessing , if you're like the rest of us , you probably have hit a bump or two along the way . What are some of the challenges that you have faced as an entrepreneur ?

Speaker 3 31:24

Man . I think that the first one we talked about earlier was was that ego when it started out . And we all have to have a certain level of ego to hang out our shingle and call ourselves a business , but that ego at some point does not serve you . And so that was a huge one . That was a huge one for me . And knowing that I have to let go right , I have to let go and turn the work over to some people who are better qualified , that was a big one . Another one last year a big lesson and this is the one that's made me so much happier and feel so much better today is learning the lesson of surrender and realizing and this is part of my faith journey that has helped me out so much was when I realized , hey , all these daily planners and weekly planners and goal planners and all this planning you're doing , johnny , maybe he's not making you so happy , maybe you ought to let go and perhaps let him drive right . But God's plan , drive you .

Speaker 3 32:47

And when I realized that because I was suffering at that time business was bad , our cost of goods was up , we were losing clients , dude , the credit card was going nuts and I was feeling so crushed with all that and the weird part was I was doing my daily prayers , I was doing my daily rosary . I decided to let go and I got this weird and it's funny because it came to me in Spanish , but like the Holy Spirit talking to me tranquilo and tranquilo , tranquil , relax , right , tranquilo , spanish For relax . That's what the message was like . Yes , this sucks . Relax , let go . And when I let go , I felt a burden , just like like a weight off of my heart . And so Something happened there where I realized , okay , so I got to let go and I got to let him drive . And it's gotten me closer to my purpose , it's got me closer to my family , it's got my fitness better , realizing relax , god all wants you to work , but he also wants you to replenish or else you can't serve him .

Speaker 3 33:57

And that was a big realization . There was hey , it's just let go , surrender to God's plan and then be available . This is an interesting one , because we're in a world where , if you're like me , I used to have my calendar filled up days , weeks , 2325 calls . I I mean , I got up and load , looking at my calendar and when I said , tranquilo , relax , we're not doing this anymore . Nothing on my calendar . Now I'm available . What am I available for ? My family , my fitness , my faith and what else am I available for Opportunities like this to speak with you and opportunities to help other people . I'm more available to do God's work now and that's what he wanted from me .

Speaker 2 34:39

That was a big one .

Speaker 2 34:41

Nothing . I love how your faith is just a part of who you are and it's not just this compartmented piece of your life , but it has flowed through every part of your life . It touches everything and I think for a lot of listeners , that's something that they're , that they're hearing , and it's not as common as I think it should be . You know , so often we have this idea that we compartmentalize different parts of our lives and that you know , what happens over here doesn't touch what happens over here , and etc . Etc . The . The fact is , we're created to be integrated people where every part touches every other part , where we are one person , and that's what I'm hearing in you .

Speaker 3 35:23

Let's not . Let's not Put me up for a Mechanization over . Let's not call me a saint yet right , but well working You're not perfect .

Speaker 2 35:33

None of us are , you know . I just I wanted to call that out because I think that's important To hear , because too many people are trying to wall off different parts of their lives and not be fully , authentically who they are , everywhere they are , and that's what I'm hearing in you and I just wanted I just wanted to call that out because I think that's standing out to the people who were listening .

Speaker 3 35:56

And that's why I feel happy now , though right , because , like you said , if we're walling off a part of us and we're not truly us are we . And and the part that I'm really struggling with right now I'll be candid with you on my faith journey , of my growth journey is Okay , I connect with my father Daily , and even multiple times a day , to keep that connection , because that's the way it is . We have to keep that connection throughout the day . The the other part , though , that completes that is , is the hard part for me , and that's that same connection , that same love , needs to go out to all the people that I deal with every single day . Right , we got to love our brothers and sisters like ourselves . We got a , we got to see the Christ Jesus and everyone that we encounter , and that is not always easy , no , but that's the part I'm working on right , because I know I have this , this connection , and I drops off and I Reestablish it . I have that connection , the connection to the father .

Speaker 3 37:04

Now my , my work isn't Connecting with my brothers and sisters so that we can create that energy flow Between us , create that goodness and bring that light to everything we do . And when I do have those pieces and , in Tech , all the pieces connecting like , like we're supposed to . What I realize is there's joy and peace . People Smile at me , people look at me differently , conversations are different and I only get glimpses of it because I'm no good at it yet , but I'm working on it . I promise you that I'll be better at it next year than I am this year .

Speaker 2 37:37

Yeah , you're not where you're gonna be yet , but you're also not where you were right . That's growth and and that growth mindset , that growth posture that you're in and that I've heard throughout this interview , I think it's a challenge to each one of us to make sure that we are continually growing , we are continually getting better , that that we are under absolutely no commitment at all to be the same person we were five minutes ago or five years ago . We need to grow . You mentioned that you learned through books , audiobooks , and that this is one way that you continue to level up . Is there a book that has made a significant difference in your journey that you would recommend that every leader listening add to their to-read list ?

Speaker 3 38:23

This is not the typical answer , I'm sure , but read the Bible . If I'm only going to give you one book to read , it's the 4000-year-old instruction manual that God gave us to live life , because everything to me stems from there . If I had to give only one book , and then my favorite or one of my favorites is Proverbs , which is pretty common , short , pithy , great ideas there . But there's also one of the ones that I think is underrated and I think that you should go read right now If you have a Bible handy . It is Ephesians . Ephesians is good , it is good . That's one of my favorites . But yeah , I would say , if there was only one book , that's the one .

Speaker 2 39:21

If you could share one piece of advice with everybody , list and talk when people walk away from an episode like this with one big idea . If you could say this is what I want that one big idea to be . This is the one thing I want you to walk away with . What would that one thing be ?

Speaker 3 39:36

I feel like the one that we spoke about today , and the one that has been quite beneficial in my growth , is learning to lead with love , and that example of how we take care of our little kids who are bouncing around , bringing that kind of love to all our interactions , especially with our team and our clients . I feel like that's a good starting point . The other part of that , though and this is a hard part is , in order to lead with love , you have to learn to love yourself , and that is incredibly hard . We can't truly love unless we love ourselves , and what I have found has helped me to love myself and love my brother better the Bible .

Speaker 2 40:25

And it ties together all . There we go . Well done so . This has been so insightful today . I appreciate you sharing so honestly and authentically from your story . I believe that's going to help every person listening . I know people are going to want to stay connected with you and continue to learn from you . What's the best way for them to do that ?

Speaker 3 40:48

I'll give you two ways . We talked about elevating your environment so that you can have a better perspective . Hey , we don't always have the right people around us , so where do we get them ? I have a collection of them for you over at thepodcastfactorycom . Look at the client showcase Tons and tons of shows , probably over 100 at least . Different hosts with uplifting messages , with inspiration for you , with some different perspective that could change your life . That's number one . Number two if you have a mission , a message and you need to connect with more people , thepodcastfactorycom forward slash call . I can do my best to give you . Give you what you want and what you need .

Speaker 2 41:36

Well done . Love that , and I think you're going to be pretty authentic when you do . Thanks for joining me for this episode today . As we wrap up , I'd love for you to do two things . First , subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode , and if you find value here , I'd love it if you would rate it and review it . That really does make a difference in helping other people to discover this podcast . Second , if you don't have a copy of my newest book , catalytic Leadership , I'd love to put a copy in your hands . If you go to catalyticleadershipbookcom , you can get a copy for free . Just pay the shipping so

Free Leadership Book and Coaching Offer

Speaker 2 42:14

I can get it to you and we'll get one right out .

Speaker 2 42:17

My goal is to put this into the hands of as many leaders as possible . This book captures principles that I've learned in 20 plus years of coaching leaders in the entrepreneurial space , in business , government , nonprofits , education and the local church . You can also connect with me on LinkedIn to keep up with what I'm currently learning and thinking about . And if you're ready to take a next step with a coach to help you intentionally grow and thrive as a leader , I'd be honored to help you . Just go to catalyticleadershipnet to book a call with me . Stay tuned for our next episode next week . Until then , as always , leaders choose to be catalytic .