Jeff Gilbert's Leap from Music to Entrepreneurship

Speaker 1: 0:05

Hey friends, welcome to the Uncommon Freedom Show. I'm Kevin.

Speaker 2: 0:08

And I'm Becca, and we're your hosts, here to help you reach your potential and maximize your impact in every area that matters. Let's get started.

Speaker 1: 0:18

Alright, everyone, welcome to today's episode where I have the privilege of chatting with my good friend, Jeff Gilbert. Most of you might remember him from his drumming days with the Christian rock band Cutlass Rock On, but today he marches to the beat of a different drum. As an entrepreneur, jeff has been married to his wife, shanna, for 15 years and is a father to three beautiful children Slater, stevie and Winnie. Jeff, thanks for being here, man.

Speaker 3: 0:43

Thanks for having me, man. Awesome, I'm a returning guest. Yes, this is cool.

Speaker 1: 0:47

You're only the second returned guest I've had so far. Wow.

Speaker 3: 0:50

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 0:51

Man, thank you. Yeah, it's awesome. I have a ton of respect for you and you flew in today from California for a special event, appreciate you being here.

Speaker 3: 1:00

It's a big day, man. I would never miss it. This is awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:04

Yeah, yeah. So we're recording this. About what time is it? 3 o'clock, less than two hours before my guests start arriving for the book launch party for my new book and you're someone I mean. We just we're on the same frequency, we have different, slightly different career paths, but we're passionate about the same things and when I was thinking about who I wanted to review my book, people that I wanted their perspective on. You know, the book is called the Seven Disciplines of Uncommon Freedom and you understand what Uncommon Freedom is and I wanted your perspective.

Speaker 1: 1:41

So you're absolutely one of the first people I said, hey, would you take a read, give me your feedback, and you know I was honored to have you read it. So I'm thrilled to have you here tonight and to just share a few thoughts on. You know your perspective on the concept and what the book means to you.

Speaker 2: 1:56

Man.

Speaker 3: 1:57

Yeah, I, it's. It's pretty cool to see how God continues to just put the greatest people in my life, like we've talked about this before, so this isn't a new concept that I'm bringing you, but I I strive to be the dumbest person in the room. You know, and and we talked about that probably our last conversation when I was picking your brain, because I love picking your brain, kev and you know, yeah, that was my career a long time ago, playing music, and I maybe even refer to this a little bit. Last time we recorded a episode. But I've now been out of my band longer than I was in it and I've been on this journey of going. There's other things that I want to do, but I grew up believing that I wasn't supposed to do that, you know, and it's I'm going to. I'm going to kind of set the table like this.

Speaker 3: 2:46

I grew up in an amazing home, super supportive parents that were like, if we see a gift in you and we want to, we want to, you know, show you that, affirm you in that and give you whatever you need to like, grow in it and the love it and music was that from. Like that's what they saw in me early on in my life. But there was also something that my parents believed and and I then believed it too which was if you're struggling financially, it's because you're doing God's work, and the more I've kind of unpacked that idea from my family of origin to who I am now. When I decided I'm going to go literally Google how to start a business 11 years ago because I didn't know how to start a business, I just knew, oh, I guess I'm entrepreneurial because people are telling me I am because I got all these ideas and that apparently is a way that you can make a living. And so my parents didn't. They supported it because they support me, but they didn't understand, they didn't really get it. And so it's just been this long journey of me being able to kind of like lose that skin of my family of origin and realize, no, this is who I am as a 40 year old man Now is a guy that loves to champion other people. That is who I am, is I care deeply, empathetically about other people and the direction they're going in their life, and if there's a way that I can support that or make their life just a little bit better, I'm all in for that, and if it's not no hard feelings it's okay. But you know, transitioning from playing music as a drummer to staying in the music industry because I noticed in my career there are so many little holes or issues or problems that I'm noticing that could have solutions of somebody, where to just take some time to think about it, create a solution and then offer something that that is the solution. And that's where I'm at now.

Speaker 3: 4:42

But ultimately what your book did for me was you know, I've read a lot of books that my friends have written. I've again, I like to be the dumbest person in the room, so I hang out with a lot of people who have written books and a lot of them are great, but they're not necessarily the kind of book that really resonates with me, where it's kind of like if you're friends with a guy in a band, you're not necessarily a fan of the band like a genuine fan, but you love supporting them, you love going to the show and hanging out and not feel this is one of those situations for me now where it's like not only am I a friend of yours but I'm actually a fan of your book, like legitimately, if somebody would have handed me this book and I have no idea who you are I would have eaten it up, I would have been doggiered. Every other page would have been highlighted throughout the whole deal, because what you've done with this book and I'm not I'm not giving some endorsement for your audience, because we're pals, that's. I wouldn't do that. But what your book has done for me is, as I'm continuing to educate myself on what are some things that I might be missing, what are some of my blind spots that could potentially be holding me back, what are some things I didn't learn when I was younger, because I didn't become a business person or an entrepreneur until I was 30. I feel like I was late in the game, so to speak, but it's really. There's no such thing.

Speaker 3: 5:56

You can start whenever you want, but when I'm reading something like what you've written, what you did, was you really comprised what I would suggest to be some of the greatest bits of wisdom that some of the foundational guys in this space have ever put together, and you applied those things to your life. You saw the measurable impact that it had on your life and you were able to recreate a way or a system that took these pillars and put them into a system where you go. If you go through these things and you start applying these to actual minutes in your day, you will see transformation happen, and that's what I'm experiencing, and so being able to sit here and talk to the author is super awesome. So I'm probably not going to talk a lot, just ask a lot of questions. So I'm going to flip the table and just start asking you a bunch of questions, but that's a long-winded answer to say well done, sir, because this is a powerful book and I've already told so many people like wait until this book releases, because I want to make sure you have a copy, because there are going to be so many golden nuggets in there that you can start putting into your discipline, your daily habits, your daily routines, to identify what's the most important thing to you. What are you doing that could potentially be holding you back and break those bad habits and start making these new good habits?

Speaker 3: 7:20

And I can't wait just to see, down the road, what the measurable impact is going to be on this thing, what the reviews are going to be, not just after reading the book once and getting it in your head, but once people get into their DNA and start recognizing. Like whoa, my marriage is starting to thrive. Whoa, my time with my kids is really rich and it's really meaningful. Whoa, I'm starting to build. Like stronger, bigger, better what I've been trying to build. Whoa, I'm having breakthroughs, you know. So, anyways, that's a longer version of my endorsement. That's just me speaking from my heart, like, this is good stuff and I don't have time to like try to find okay stuff. I only have time to find the best stuff and I would put this on the best stuff shelf.

Speaker 1: 8:04

Oh well, I'm humbled and honored. That's not what I had you on the podcast is to give me a verbal endorsement.

Speaker 1: 8:09

But, I you know, people who know me know I'm a very practical guy and I don't like to waste time and so I'm not a flowery type of character. So I think that this book is going to resonate with people who just want, they want some tell me how to do it A lot of times, especially when it comes to parenting. No, I don't have it figured out with parenting. You know, I am also looking for that book that says this is the perfect, you know, one, two, three ABC step to being a great parent. Right, I don't think that exists, but what I tried to do was really look at, okay, what are the key areas of life, what are the you know, the spokes on the wheel of life and what are the essentials to thrive in those areas? Yeah, so I want to rewind the clock, because I can't remember if the first time that we did a podcast, we really went into that. I want to talk about how we connected, because one of the things we talk about in this book is associations. We talk about upgrading your circle, and it's just amazing how, when you start to spend time associate with really good people, they connect you to other really good people, and John Maxwell he says. This is one of the questions he asks every person he meets is who do you know that I should know? So, anyone who knows John Maxwell one of his favorite heroes was John Wooden, the basketball coach, and he got to spend a lot of time with him because he asked someone he knew who do you know that I should know? And he's like John Wooden. I'm going to connect you to him and, like, within a month, john Maxwell was having lunch with John Wooden and that led to a long term mentoring relationship.

Speaker 1: 9:49

And so it was gosh December of 2017, I think, when it was the end of the year Beck and I set aside money for giving. We set it aside into a bank account and we have some regular commitments that we make. And then, when we don't, when we have leftovers, it's kind of fun at the end of the year to go on a giving spree. I posted something on Facebook this morning, like anyone who doesn't, who doesn't think or thinks that money can't buy happiness, hasn't given enough money away, and I was like holy smokes. That is so good, because I will tell you, it is so much fun to call up a ministry that's hurting or desperate for something and be gods and be used by God to answer their prayers. But I posted on Facebook like we're looking for a pregnancy resource center to give an ultrasound to and our mutual friend Tracy. It's like my buddy, jeff Gilbert, works for Save the Storks, or you were even working for them. You were. What was your?

Speaker 3: 10:48

role. Yeah, I, I was consulting for them. Okay, yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:52

Got it. So she's like got to contact him. But I think I posted on. It was like December 29th, december 30th. We were didn't know each other so and then I ended up connecting with Alisa Medina, who you now know. She'll be here tonight. Awesome, and it's crazy how the three of us you know the spiderwebs weaved Uh-huh On that, but you and I had a conversation. There was a couple of weeks into January, I remember it. I was in a hotel, actually an LA. I was at a personal development conference and we finally connected and you just shared with me what Save the Storks was about. And I just remember like instantly connecting with you and just kind of loving your vibe and what you stood for.

Speaker 3: 11:33

And that's cool. I don't know if I knew all of that part of your side of when we met. That's cool. All Tracy to death, tracy and Russ. Big shout out to you guys. Great people, totally great people and very generous with with connecting you Like she is a hardcore, like you need to know, you need to know them and you need to get you guys got to just go figure it out. You know, sometimes connections are like currency for people and I understand that. But the same time it's interesting too about Maxwell, how he goes. Who do I need to know? That's pretty powerful, pretty ballsy to be, honest with you.

Speaker 3: 12:09

That's awesome, yeah, yeah, man. So the long story, the short of the long story, would be that I connected with Joe Baker from Save the Storks through a buddy of mine named Bob Lenz, and Bob knew that I was. You know, we worked together. He had he's a global speaker. He runs a festival in Wisconsin called Life Fest and it's just a big music concert in the summertime and my old band, cutlass would would play that often and Bob became a dear friend of mine and he goes Jeff.

Speaker 3: 12:43

I know a guy that's starting this pro life thing but it's different, it's way different and I think you guys need to know each other. I'm like great, I want to meet him. You know, I I kind of I was very passionate about life but I never got really in the ring in the whole. You know, pro life, pro choice, argument, discussion, politics. I was just kind of like leave me out of that. But if there's ever anything I can do for a family or somebody in need in that space, I care deeply about making sure that that person is cared for.

Speaker 3: 13:15

So I meet with Joe and he's like we want to build an artist program for Save the Storks where we can partner with, with tours and with artists and do what Compassion International does or World Vision does. And I'm like you mean to tell me that you want to partner with artists and expect artists to have like a 15 minute talk on abortion at their concert, when audiences aren't even they don't. They're not there for a fundraiser, they're not there for a gala. Sometimes it's even hard for audiences to understand like, oh, we're going into sponsoring children right now. You know we're just here to take in some music and have some fun. And I'm like so you want to do that? And he goes Jeff, the way we talk about it is unlike anything you've ever heard before. And so I asked him to explain to me, like, how do you talk about it?

Speaker 3: 13:59

And he goes we're rebranding the pro life movement in order for people to really see and understand that when you show up with all of the services and all of the solutions that most women are facing, where they go well, I I don't have, you know, a list of five to 10 things in order to be able to carry this child and to deliver this child and raise this child and save the Storks basically looked at all of those issues and said we could fill in the gaps there and walk with her, empower her, show her that she's not alone. Because we could go on and on Kev like about the statistics of why somebody would would feel like abortion is their only choice. And I always want to make sure that I share these ideas and topics with with sincere care, because this is not coming from a judgmental tone. This is not saying you know the way that you hear a lot of pro lifers coming at it from a judgmental point of view. In fact, I'm actually looking at it from a I don't blame you point of view.

Speaker 3: 15:03

You've had a hard go, a hard situation, a tough upbringing. There's so many circumstances that are very, very fragile that that would would be the case. So, especially with the amount of people who have shared their testimonies with me of their abortions. So I was, I was thinking about it and I'm like, actually you know what, joe? So what, when you're showing me these solutions? You got one bus, one mobile medical unit up in New Jersey. What are the stats on that deal Like? How does that work? And he goes well.

Speaker 3: 15:31

We partner with an amazing pro life pregnancy center. We parked this mobile literally on the curb in front of the abortion clinic on a street parking spot that we were just feeding the meter all day. And the first year of going mobile with that pregnancy center, 364 women boarded that mobile medical unit called a stork bus, and all 364 chose life for their babies. Yet 365 babies were born out of that ministry, so there's some twins. But they just cared for these people. They showed up, not with judgment, not with criticism, not with any of that. It's just like no, can we just be in this with you, just so you feel like you're not alone? Whatever choice you make, you still have absolute freedom to walk into that building right there and terminate this pregnancy. That is your freedom to do that. But if we can just walk with you and show you that you're not alone, just simply being there for somebody in a non-manipulative way, just going, you matter. You are valued, this child matters, this child is valued and we want to walk with you through all the circumstances of what you're going through. So when I'm hearing all this, I'm like dude, we can totally do this.

Speaker 3: 16:42

A couple years later and I mean, they had started out, I believe, well under $1 million annually as a cause when I met Joe and I'd worked with compassion for years and years in my band. I became an artist representative with some other causes that did the same type of fundraising through child sponsorship, with tours. So I was very involved in a lot of how that operation works. It's extremely. There's a lot of nuance that goes into it, from CRMs to emails to communication, to all the way down to packet design and making sure that the kid that's on that brochure is actually the kid that you're sponsoring. There's a lot of logistics that goes into that. So I was learning a lot and Save the Storks didn't have any of that. I'm like, ok, well, I can consult for you guys because I can basically tell you you need source coding, crms, like so much that goes into it. So it took us about three or four years to really get that straight.

Speaker 3: 17:42

And that's when I met Kurt Cameron and that's around the time I met you and, yeah, I was just passionately stoked on what was going on there. So when I met you, tracy was like you just need to know my friend Kevin, you guys are totally hit it off. She didn't tell me that you had some benevolent play money or anything like that. I'm just stoked that somebody heard about us and is curious about what's going on. Next thing I think it was at the end of that call you said all right, we want to fund a bus and I'm sitting here like I mean, technically part of my job is to raise funds. But my whole perspective on raising funds is how about I just cast the vision to you and if you grab it and go, this is amazing and show me whatever paperwork you need to see to see the proof and the pudding. But I believe treasure follows naturally. I've rarely ever had to ask somebody like we really need this. Is there any way that you'd?

Speaker 1: 18:35

give. That's what happens when you cast the vision. Well, right man that's it. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 18:39

Just like sales, just like what you're producing for people's lives and what you do. It's like the moment somebody feels like you're trying to get them to buy something from you all of a sudden it feels weird. But if you're just sitting here, listen, what my program does is produces results in X, y and Z. This is how. This is why. Here's some testimonies. Here's what's going on. This is how it's growing. You're brought into a community of people that affirm you, keep you accountable all these things You're like. This is a whole deal that will really help you get to the goals that you're seeking. When you share that, somebody's going. That's worth the dollars that goes into that. I now value it because I recognize that it takes a lot of time and effort and understanding and experience to pull that off.

Speaker 3: 19:24

So what's really cool, bro, is that I was talking to the CFO of Save the Storks a couple of years ago. It was like, right after we wrapped a third year of a marriage and parenting tour that I built with Kirk Cameron and he goes Jeff, we're now over 11 million in residual giving per year and I was like what Are you serious? We're just out there going for it, casting the vision, telling the story. I didn't know that it had grown that big and so the amount of grants that Storks has cut. Multitudes of pregnancy centers across the country. Over 100 mobiles are active now out on the road loving on people and communities. And yeah, it's just pretty crazy to look back on that and go, ok, I need to kind of slow down sometimes and look and go, whoa, that there's a lot that happened there, because I just keep envisioning the future and what we could do in all kinds of ways to make the world a little bit better for everybody. And that's always been my ethos in work and business and that's why I resonate with you so much is what's the point of accumulating a ton of wealth if you're not able to really be standing in the gap and allowing the Lord to use you to be a part of that answered prayer, like you just said earlier.

Speaker 3: 20:45

It's like that blows my mind to think OK, so the more money that I can accumulate, the more good I can do with that, which is really truly what God wants for us. And so I've really had to change my mind. Shift of no, if you're broke, that doesn't mean that you're spiritually in the right place, because God wants you broke. Actually, he wants you to thrive and he wants you to be able to pour nutrients in other people's lives so they can thrive too. So that's kind of how that all came about. Was you and I just jived and had such a cool conversation about being passionate about life, being passionate about people and being able to support these things and to see them take life? And it's so amazing to see how God brings the body together, where you've got a whole set of skills that I don't have, that I'm trying to build and hopefully I have some skills that I'm bringing to the table. That just brings the nutrients needed to get that vision cast. And that's it, man. It's just great to collaborate.

Speaker 1: 21:45

Yeah, it sure is, and real quick. I think what resonated for especially me and Becca on the Stork Bus concept is it's a grace-filled, loving approach. When I think about how Jesus lived His life two different, like there was the two sides of Jesus there were two sides of the coin. He was very intense with the religious group and he would call them out, but with those who weren't religious he was very loving. And you think of the adulterer right who was brought to Him and all these people, guys ready to stone her Right, and he said go and said no more. But he was full of grace.

Speaker 1: 22:27

And you look at the woman, at the well, he was very. He's a guy talking to a woman who is a Samaritan. They didn't even talk to each other, much less a guy talking to a woman and, once again, instead of saying you're married, divorce five times and blah, blah, blah. He's just very loving and grace-filled and I feel like that's what I loved about the Stork Bus concept, not to mention it's taking the need to the people instead of requiring the people to come to them.

Speaker 2: 22:58

So we're not here to talk about Stork Buses.

Speaker 1: 22:59

I love them, we're passionate, but it's cool how just the Lord used that connection and we'll have to do another one someday just about how God connected the dots to the Pregnancy Resource Center. That we're passionate about, tucson, how you and Elisa connected without knowing that I was the mutual connection and then connecting the dots and that. So that's awesome.

Speaker 3: 23:21

Yeah, that conversation took probably maybe a half hour until we realized we were talking about the same person. So she was talking about her friend who she's just, like this guy's awesome, such a supporter. I'm like I got a guy like that too, and that was actually at one of Kirk's events where they were there and I was so pumped that they were there and yeah, come to find out we were both talking about Kev. Well, kev and Beck.

Speaker 1: 23:45

And just I mean God was connecting, it was a circle God put us in. It's really cool.

Speaker 1: 23:51

But, I'll tell you we're anxious. I'm talking to JD. I don't know if you know JD from Save the Storks. It's talking to him on Saturday at an event with him and it's like we got to get another one. I mean, phoenix needs several and the challenge is finding a PRC or a church that will actually partner with them. So if you're listening and you're part of a Pregnancy Resource Center in Phoenix or a church, sadly a lot of them won't partner because of they're afraid of the political image that creates. And folks, stork Bus is about serving women and protecting babies. It's sad that that becomes a political thing, but it's really just about love.

Speaker 2: 24:36

Hey friends, here's a quick reminder that if you're finding value in this show, would you do us a favor and subscribe, share with someone you think would benefit and give us a five-star rating. We make nothing from this show and invest a lot of time and money producing it. All we ask is that you help us get our message to more people.

Speaker 1: 24:51

You've been married for 15 years. Yeah, Can you say? What would you say are some of the keys to your successful 15-year marriage?

Speaker 3: 24:58

Oh, man, keys, I'd say out the gate. So I just turned 40 in August and I by the way, like the 40s have been my by far favorite decade.

Speaker 1: 25:11

I'm pumped so I'm like, I feel like I finally arrived. People are always like oh 40, like unbelievably the best decade in my life, and I'm only six years in.

Speaker 3: 25:20

I love hearing that. Lynn, you're not the first one who has said that. So my wife's three years older than me, so she's had her foot in the 40s for a couple years now and she's like, finally Like my husband's not still in his 30s you know, and I think I'm probably the youngest out of our crew of friends, so everybody's like welcome on in buddy.

Speaker 3: 25:40

The water's warm, the water's good, but just turned 40, and you know those milestone birthdays, at least for me I will naturally go through a time of reflection. What was it about my 30s that I would say could be, you know, cooked down to one theme, and it's God's faithfulness. And faithfulness was a theme from I left, my old career that I identified with, like I felt like that was who I was, and so I've really been through a long process of who am I? But faithfulness, I'd say, is probably one of the biggest keys that has made my marriage thrive my wife's faithfulness to the Lord, my wife's faithfulness to me, my faithfulness to the Lord, my faithfulness to her. There's nothing that is off the table as far as what we need to talk about. There's not a single hidden thing anywhere when we need to talk about the easy stuff, the hard stuff, the scary stuff, the vulnerable stuff, the shameful stuff, it's all there. You know, and I'll tell you, dude, I would say that anybody who would say how do I put this? This is all coming to. All my thoughts are coming together at once. I'm literally thinking out loud right now, but I would say that you know when. How do I put this man? You got me on the spot in a way, because it's like this is so important to me.

Speaker 3: 27:08

Like, marriage is one of the most important components, I believe, in the fabric of who we are, and even as a country, all the way down to the. You know the life conversation. It's like man. It really goes down to when you make a vow to a person. That's deeper and bigger than a contract and that's why marriage is so, so key. Your spouse will let you down no matter what. You will let your spouse down no matter what. But it's really about how you navigate those feelings of tension, those feelings of let down, those feelings of hurt, and how you create forgiveness at the core of it, how you create faithfulness at the core of it, how you look at your spouse when they're really not producing what you wish they would in the marriage and you go. This is a season they're going through, so I'm going to walk with them even through this hard thing, that where we feel really disconnected. Does that make sense, kev? You know what I'm saying? Absolutely, because you know a lot of people will share with Shannon and I because we are. She is sincerely my best friend and I stole a expression from Kirk that if Shannon ever left me, I'm going with her. You know, like if you ever leave me, I'm going with you. You know, that's how I feel and that's how she feels about me too.

Speaker 3: 28:31

And people will look at us sometimes, especially people that are going through a struggle in their marriage, and be like well, not everybody can have a marriage like yours. And it's like, dude, it takes work. It takes a crazy amount of work and sacrifice. You know, because there's times in my life where, if I've got vision for how to continue to grow in my work and it takes more out of me where I'm able I then give less time and quality time to my wife or my kids. It's a very short window when that, when resentment starts to sit in. You know what I mean and I go. But I'm trying to work for you, I'm trying to build this thing so I can give you the life that you want. She's like, but the life I want is being with you, not your leftovers and your crumbs, and I have to sit in that and go all right. So I have to now make this, you know, agreement with myself that my family really truly goes first, even if I'm looking at opportunities passing me by, that deal that could have turned into a multimillion dollar deal down the road. If that's gone because I invested in my family instead, so be it. You know, and it's really easy to get distracted with caring more about X, y and Z and saying you care about your family, care about your marriage and I'm preaching to myself right now because I always need these reminders. It's like marriage is crucial for the foundation of your home, and the way you broke it down in your book too, bro, you did a great job. Because if you want your family to thrive, then make your marriage so, so primary. You know, invest in that thing, you know. Yeah, because your kids are gonna thrive, naturally, when you are really truly investing in each other and getting through the hard stuff.

Speaker 3: 30:19

If you're stuck at a standstill on things that are driving you nuts, find and pray for, find, ask around for a great therapist, a counselor, counseling is revolutionized the way my wife and I think and talk and navigate stuff. You know, we we brought in our family of origins into our marriage and the word says to leave in cleave. So there's a lot of stuff that she brought in, that I brought in, and we have to look at each other go. We're kind of reparenting each other a little bit. Yeah, you know, and there's a lot of dudes, I know, that don't like getting into the emotional stuff. They don't like peeling back the layers. You know, I don't want to go there. I don't need to go there. It's like you do, especially if you want to be the man that your wife believes you can be and For you gals to be the woman that you're, what your husband believes you can be. Yeah, it takes that kind of work and discipline.

Speaker 1: 31:08

It's crucial in the book I talked about the fact that, like we tend to think, we grow up thinking we're normal.

Speaker 1: 31:16

Mm-hmm like that, the way that our family does things. This is how everyone does things for the most part. I mean, there's a few things you're like okay, my family's weird about this, but you know, it was really interesting is? You know? You, beck, and I, you know, got married young, which I think is a great thing. Getting married young, how you know, 21? Yeah, wow, yeah, and I highly recommend it, like I'm encouraging my kids start looking for a spouse like like be married by 21. I mean because I think we grow up together.

Speaker 1: 31:42

It's a lot easier to leave and cleave if you do it at 21 than 30, hmm, I mean, and some people are gonna do it late. But like I'm a huge fan, like the fact that we're so close, we're, you know, 46, celebrating 25 years, it's a huge blessing. Like I'm so grateful and, honestly, being married young kept me from making a lot of stupid decisions, but it's amazing, you do realize, holy smokes, what, like, I just assumed that you operated, thought, did things the same way and she made the same assumption about me.

Speaker 3: 32:11

So, just realizing that we are very different and we do have to retrain and so your perspective would be you are not so glued to your ideals or your beliefs the way life should work when you're younger. Your, your ideas, your ability to kind of like Rethink the way that life works. Yeah, I is a little more pliable. Yeah, then, the older you get, you kind of become set in your ways.

Speaker 1: 32:35

Yeah, like this is how I get that you know this is how the laundry is done. I mean, trust me back and I load the dishwasher differently and my way is the right way right, absolutely, yeah, but at least I do the dishes right. So, but I think that there's less, you know we, because there is. There was so many things that the first time I ever lived outside of the house, my parents house, was with Becca. Hmm, I never moved out. I was going to college, living at home until we got married and then that was it.

Speaker 1: 33:02

And I think I mean we literally talk about the fact we grew up together. I think I mean I've learned. You know, a man's brain isn't then developing until he's 25. I still had four more years of development. Yeah, you did going on, yeah, you know, in the first four years of our marriage. So it's kind of crazy. So we got so much to cover, but we're running out of time.

Speaker 3: 33:21

So you're I talk too much, you just cut all this stuff. No, it's great.

Speaker 1: 33:27

So you're doing a totally different thing. Why don't you talk about what you're doing now? Because you spearheading this new company. Uh-huh, talk about what you're doing.

Speaker 3: 33:35

Yeah, man, my company's called goodness live and I've got two unbelievable partners and then we got Basically what we're doing. Man is like I mentioned earlier, if you, if for me, to start a business, it has to really focus on making anybody's life who's associated with it just a little bit better. And so we discovered that in live events you know, christian, non-christian, just live concerts you have this audience that's there to see an artist because they love that artist, that artist is worthy of purchasing a ticket. I got to see them live, love their music, and those artists are there to have a moment with these folks that listen to their music. Every night you're out on tour. I can totally confirm this. There's so many amazing moments that happen Every city you go to.

Speaker 3: 34:31

It's bizarre to think there's people that are singing our lyrics In this city. Then we travel 500 miles, 1000 miles, 2000 miles, 10,000 miles across the ocean and they're singing the same songs that we wrote. It's crazy. Now, for 20 years me working in the music industry, predominantly the Christian music industry it's always been just a couple different types of philanthropic endeavors at a show, and that's because there's some really phenomenally smart people out there. That said, I bet you Christian audiences would really resonate with sponsoring a kid, because this child desperately needs that support. It's extremely cost effective for an American who makes American dollars to be able to give 30 to 40 bucks a month, and when you transfer that over to one of the poorest nations in the world, that 30 to 40 stretches really far and you also can build a connection with that kid through writing letters, and so that's a beautiful idea and it works beautifully in most cases too.

Speaker 3: 35:38

I've been around the world and I've seen these programs are powerful. But the question that I always like asking artists is what about if we could create a way to gamify, generosity with your fans, where we could see a huge amount, a huge percentage of your audience actually becoming a part of a community that we can give to and ultimately they're going to give back, to even do even community driven efforts in that same night? And so if you meet with an artist and you go, hey, listen, your biggest fan is. I live really close to one of the biggest children's hospitals in America. It's called Chalk in Orange County Children's Hospital of Orange County. I'm like I've got friends that work at Chalk and I just found out that there's a 13 year old boy who for the last two years has been fighting for his life with a very rare form leukemia, and you're his favorite band and you're coming through Orange County. I'd love to set up a visit where you guys could just hang with him for an hour and just blow his mind, and so band goes to hang out with this kid for an hour with a guitar and they thought that they're going to go just like really bless this kid and make his you know, make him feel real good about what's going on. But the reality is is that kid had so much fierce hope and joy even in the midst of that trial, those guys walked away completely shook as how much that kid actually invested in them and encouraged them.

Speaker 3: 37:08

So that night they do the show. We let everybody know that goodness live is happening. All you got to do is scan a QR code, you register right there, boom, you're in the system and, in goodness live, we're going to be giving away all kinds of really cool experiences and upgrades and prizes throughout the night. So it's basically like a three hour, like, dare I say, sweepstakes, but ultimately what it is is we want to. We want to generate even more memorable moments for those fans that they've never received before. You can go side stage and watch the show side stage for the rest of the night. You might get exclusive merchandise you can't buy. You might get an intimate concert on the bus with the guys and they'll sing your favorite song from their catalog. There's all kinds of cool things that could happen have coffee with the band backstage, all kinds of cool things. But if you can give to goodness lives foundation, right here, we're going to raise money to fight for that kid, because that kid's parents are in 75 grand debt from the medical bills that they've accumulated over the last two years, and we actually want to wipe that out tonight. So if you give to the goodness live foundation, that is going to multiply your entries to be able to win one of these cool things, and all that money is going to go to that family and we're going to tell you how much we raise at the end of the night. And so we launched this in July of 23.

Speaker 3: 38:22

We've been literally working under the radar for over a year on this. We've invested a crazy amount of capital in it and, by the grace of God, we haven't had to raise a single penny to do it. He's just provided it through the other work that we do. We've just accumulated this and we just invested in it. We've got some incredible tech partners too that have really, really come on board in a strong way. But I mean Kev. We got nights where like 70% of the audience is registering with goodness life that's unheard of Like. If you're looking at this, I mean let's put that in perspective.

Speaker 1: 38:58

Yeah, if you pass the plate in a church and got 70% participation, that would probably blow the pastor's mind Totally Right. Like that doesn't happen.

Speaker 3: 39:06

Yeah, absolutely so. There's a lot of different companies, especially to if you're if you have your entrepreneurial hat on right now you get. You're probably thinking like these guys are brilliant, they're putting together a data collection business. That's a component of it. But what we're saying is like this is what what you and I both know. There's probably 200 businesses that have all my data. They know where I live, they know what age demo I'm in, they know the my spending habits, they know how to market to me. Yeah, you know they. They know my Instagram algorithm, all that stuff.

Speaker 3: 39:38

But what if you got into a community who can now keep you up to speed with what all these other pockets of communities are up to and the good that you guys are doing together with this one artist and this one tour? And then you talk about that at the end of the tour and go out of that tour. An average of 50 to 60% of people signed up to register and then X amount gave. This is how much we raised. These are all the things that we did, all because you're not just a fan of this artist anymore.

Speaker 3: 40:08

You're actually partnered with making the world just a little bit better of a place, and we were also able to give away a bunch of really cool stuff during the show, and that's fun. It's fun to give. So if we're asking you like, hey, participate, we also want to give to you because it's a lot of fun. And so our business model right now is already I mean, from day one. This is what's crazy. I think you're going to resonate with this. Since day one, we've given away most of our revenue and yet we've been cash flow positive the entire time while we built this and not needed to do one seed round.

Speaker 3: 40:40

We haven't done a debt round, we haven't done a series A, we haven't had a raise and we're building a tech company here, you know what I mean, and so that's a part of our ethos that we will never ditch, that we will never bend or draw outside of the lines, because we're like God clearly sees this, and when somebody gets plugged into a community, that we're actually honoring them by keeping them in touch with what's going on, the good that's moving, the things that are happening, they're going to want to come back, they're going to want to see it more shows.

Speaker 3: 41:10

And what's even cooler, bro, is there's so many general market artists. They're like I have a foundation, I don't know what to do with it. Can you help me? We're like, heck, yeah, we can help you. We got the whole backend system developed for you. And so that's where kind of my nonprofit consulting comes in too, because there's a lot of these foundations that are awesome, but they just they're sitting on a couple million dollars and they don't know how to give it away. I'm like let me help you.

Speaker 1: 41:34

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 41:34

And let's, let's make sure that all of your fans know that you're doing this together. You know? So that's goodness life.

Speaker 1: 41:40

That's awesome man. That's I love it. I love it. Well, we got to wrap things up here, but I'd love to know how have you approached mentorship throughout your career, whether it was your music days or where you're at now? How do you seek it out? Who you go to? What does mentorship look like for you?

Speaker 3: 42:01

Yeah, that's, that's something that came a little later. I, if there's one, I don't sit in my my regrets or at least I try not to but I regret not latching on to more mentors and seeking out mentors earlier on in my life. And so it started probably close to 10 years ago when I first started going to my church. The first Sunday we went to it's a small church in Orange County called Grace Fellowship Church. Senior pastor gets up there, shares from his heart. It wasn't, it wasn't as big prepared performance, he was just really truly sharing from his heart and I was like I have to know him.

Speaker 3: 42:40

And I went up and introduced myself after church and I say, hey, I'm Jeff. And first Sunday here he goes oh cool, we chat for like two minutes and he goes hey, you want to get lunch? I'm like, yeah, I figured he's going to just have me like reach out to his secretary and six weeks from now we can maybe get lunch. He's like what are you doing on Tuesday? I'm all, I'm open. He's like Cool, let's, let's go get lunch.

Speaker 3: 43:01

So I met him on Sunday. We hung out. Two days later he then invited me into his men's group that I'm still a part of I, we met together this morning before I flew out, and that that started a whole ripple effect of now I I'm constantly seeking out, like, okay, that guy's in this space and he's super well respected, I'm just going to ask him out. You know, that's my big joke is like hey, I want to ask you out to coffee. You know, let's, let's go, let's go chop it up and see what's up.

Speaker 3: 43:30

So now it's it's really amazing, just to kind of you have to put your foot out there, though. You have to. You have to seek it out, you know, and don't be ashamed or be afraid of it. Yeah, you know, but if you're hearing about, oh, this guy sounds really reputable and he's I really admire his lifestyle, or admire what he's got going on, reach out to him, you know, and even if it's just once a month, once a quarter, once a year, I would say, be as proactive as you can sit down with a notebook and pick their brain, you know. So that's, that's something that I'm, that I've gleaned a ton from just once again sitting in rooms of people smarter than me. That's what I'm always seeking out.

Speaker 1: 44:10

Yeah, no, that's so good. I mean, john Maxwell talks about the same thing, where he says can I take you to lunch, like he actually? And it blows my mind. Obviously, john Maxwell is always pursuing growth, even though he's like the master of leadership, but he still takes one person out to lunch every single month and he looks for people that he considers that are further down the road than him.

Speaker 1: 44:33

You know, smarter, brighter you know better than him and he takes them to lunch and he asks questions and he takes notes. He's like I don't even eat most of the time.

Speaker 2: 44:44

I'm just.

Speaker 1: 44:45

I buy them lunch and I just learn from them. And then he has I think it's either five or seven questions that he asks everybody and I've got them somewhere in my notes. But that's where the question, the final question he asks is who do you know that I should know, but you're spot on. I'm amazed when you ask people, people, most people, good people, want to help and so if you're aspiring to be a better person in you know, to level up, the people that you're looking up to are good people and they're very likely to be willing to help you. And if you just ask, you'll probably be surprised at who will say yes.

Speaker 1: 45:28

I mean, I look at who endorsed my book, not to mention you. But I was like, go big or go home, I'm just going to ask, and I was blown away when the answers were yes. But it's just amazing. I encourage people, seek out the mentorship, ask for it, don't waste it. Right, like you said, show up. And when I get together with John Maxwell, it's not me talking about me, it's like I have prepared questions and I'm asking questions and I think that's a great lesson for you that you just talked about. Show up with the pen, pad and paper you know and ask questions.

Speaker 3: 46:08

There's an art to asking questions, and that's something I'm really learning more and more about, so I'd love to get that list from you. Yeah, I'll send it to you, please, and listener. If you want that list too, you're going to have to ask Kevin, nicely, you're going to have to email him, let him know you're listening and maybe he'll give you the list too.

Speaker 1: 46:26

Yeah, a five star review on the podcast and book and then we'll get you. John Maxwell's list of questions.

Speaker 2: 46:33

Yeah, man.

Speaker 1: 46:34

Jeff, we ran out of time. We'll have to do this again, but it's been a pleasure having you on the show. You really do embody the spirit of income and freedom. I mean, I, just I appreciate you. We have conversations probably every couple months and it's mutually encouraging, it's mutual mentorship, we connect each other with other people and I'm just, I'm grateful for you, appreciate you flying out, taking time away from your family to join us for this event, and just grateful for you.

Speaker 3: 47:05

Likewise, kev. Thanks for having me back. All right, bro, we'll see you. All right, dude.

Speaker 1: 47:10

Thanks for listening to the Uncommon Freedom show. We believe freedom isn't man's invention. It was created by God. If you are enjoying the show, please give us a five star review on the platform we're listening to us on, then subscribe and share with friends and family that you think will enjoy the show. You can connect with us at beckandkevcom for more resources to learn biblical principles, essential disciplines and the winning habits that help, once average people lead the life they want instead of accepting the life they were given.