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Wounded Deeply, Used Greatly: The Path to an Ignited Soul | Kary Oberbrunner
54 Plays18 days ago
Kary Oberbrunner knows that before God uses a person greatly, He often allows them to be wounded deeply. As the CEO of companies dedicated to publishing and protecting intellectual property, Kary helps influencers set free world-changing ideas. However, he’s discovered that the most powerful weapon on earth isn’t an idea—it’s a human soul on fire.
Kary pulls back the curtain on the **unglamorous** side of leadership: the ruthless commitment to an *Opus*, the courage to tell people "no" to protect your calling, and the resilience required when 70% of your company walks out the door. We discuss the "Civil War" that rages when our ideal self clashes with our shadow self, and why the ultimate form of pride is a fixation on one's own worthlessness. If you feel attacked, silenced, or stuck in a season of chronic pain, Kary’s journey from a stuttering child in a learning disability class to a global visionary will recalibrate your perspective on failure and the refining nature of the "mountain" moments in life.
Find more information mentioned in the episode in the links below
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Dr. Kerry Oberbrenner
00:00:56
Steven J. Neuner
Welcome to Unstuck and Alive. What a great day we have today, guys. We got an awesome guest, a dear friend of mine, really someone that's really mentored and influenced me just by our friendship.
00:01:09
Steven J. Neuner
Dr. Kerry Oberbrenner. Never once has he asked me to call him doctor, but Dr. Kerry Oberbrenner. I am going to butcher Kerry's intro overall, but I mean, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, bestselling author of 14 books, CEO of Instant IP, which is a really interesting thing I hope we talk about, Igniting Souls,
00:01:32
Steven J. Neuner
He's helping authors, entrepreneurs, influencers publish and protect and promote intellectual property. What the heck is that? His companies are committed to setting free world-changing ideas and award-winning.
00:01:41
Kary Oberbrunner
Mm-hmm.
00:01:44
Steven J. Neuner
He's written books. He's a screenwriter, inventor, degrees, teaching entrepreneurship. He's a cyclist. He's a husband. He's a father. I've met you know at least one of his kids.
00:01:55
Steven J. Neuner
Just what a treat. So excited to dig in My friend, Kerry, welcome to the show.
00:02:01
Kary Oberbrunner
Super glad to be here. i love the name of the podcast. I've listened to you know the very first episode. That's where I started and a big fan of all you guys, what you're doing. Todd, great to be here with you. And we've chatted a few times and super excited.
00:02:19
Todd Pinkston
You bet. it's always It's always good to have somebody with a similar haircut, you know? It's like great great minds think alike.
00:02:23
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah, that's right.
00:02:25
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah. Which is why I'm, by the way, grew the staff.
00:02:28
Todd Pinkston
Hey, so...
00:02:29
Steven J. Neuner
I screwed the stash for you, Todd, uh, just cause I needed to keep the hair balanced to this show.
00:02:35
Kary Oberbrunner
oh yeah we might we might have we might have to use that mustache other places oh yeah
00:02:41
Steven J. Neuner
i
00:02:45
Steven J. Neuner
All right, Todd.
00:02:46
Todd Pinkston
Man, Kerry, you got a lot to live up to in that intro. you know We better we better jump
The Role of Pain in Personal Growth
00:02:50
Todd Pinkston
in. Hey, we So we love to just start out and and hear the story, and we'll dive down in different places, but man, how have you gotten to where you are today?
00:02:50
Kary Oberbrunner
that's something man
00:03:02
Todd Pinkston
And and you know from all angles, from from faith side, from professional side, just you know what has what has made you into the man you are in the current moment, milestones, memories, and we'll pick different spots and dive down into it So excited to get to you more.
00:03:02
Kary Oberbrunner
hmm
00:03:10
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:03:15
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. There's a great quote. I think it was Tozer who said, before God can use a person greatly, he must wound them deeply.
00:03:27
Kary Oberbrunner
And that is not a thing you'll find on a Hallmark card that doesn't really sell in American church today. hey let's get God to wound us. But I'll tell you what, man, pain is a big thing, you know, like part of my story. And i mean i i was in pain last night by choice doing cycling trying to hang on a very fast group virtually and i couldn't hang with the fast group you know and i'm i'm booking i'm booking and i see in the back there's people trying to catch me and like it's pain right so why do it and then i went into sauna and that was pain like so why do we put ourselves in pain
00:04:07
Kary Oberbrunner
you know i think that there's two types of pain in life. There's what's called acute pain and chronic pain.
Childhood Challenges and Healing Journey
00:04:13
Kary Oberbrunner
Chronic pain is where most of the world lives. Chronic pain is uninvited, purposeless, dull, and kind of like always in the background.
00:04:27
Kary Oberbrunner
And so like most people are like, you know what? My back hurts. I'm in chronic pain. You know what? My marriage sucks. I'm in chronic pain. You know what? And then you just start going down the line. A lot of people are in chronic pain. So what do they do?
00:04:40
Kary Oberbrunner
They self-medicate. So they self-medicate by, you know, whatever, porn, gambling, you know, addiction, substances, or workaholism.
00:04:54
Kary Oberbrunner
extreme extreme exercise, like good or bad, like we we become this vice type of people. For me growing up, I was in chronic pain and I chose self-injury, you know? And this was not like a thing I talked about. It it actually started at a very young age through the form of biting.
00:05:19
Kary Oberbrunner
And then it moved into, as I got older as a teen, it moved into actually cutting. And nobody knew about it. My parents didn't know about it. I wasn't talking about it. It's tough to track the original source of the pain.
00:05:32
Kary Oberbrunner
you know like I've done counseling a lot. like Could it have been some form of abuse? Totally could have. Do I remember it? No. You know, so I don't even like go there.
00:05:44
Kary Oberbrunner
Are there signs that I could point to a hundred percent, but like the, the bottom line is like, uh, had a stuttering problem. That's how another way it manifested. So then I wouldn't speak, you know, I just, I just wouldn't talk because kids would make fun of me. And back in the day, i don't know if you remember the Steven and Todd, but like you had to read out loud.
00:06:04
Kary Oberbrunner
Maybe I'm too old.
00:06:04
Steven J. Neuner
A lot.
00:06:05
Kary Oberbrunner
Maybe you didn't have to, yeah but like but you know like it would go around the the room and like it was your turn to read and like i remember standing up and being like uh uh you know and just like totally like not able to get my words out and everybody laughs and then back in the uh late eight early 80s you would get sent into the special classes so legit i was diagnosed with a learning disability this kid can't comprehend things and you know blah blah blah So anyway, i just say all that to say that that's kind of how life started.
00:06:06
Steven J. Neuner
No, I did. Yeah.
00:06:17
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:06:42
Kary Oberbrunner
and i But I came from a great Christian home. I would say I came from a poor home. I came from a home where we were kicked out on Christmas Eve because my mom had a stroke and my dad took six weeks off of work to care for us four kids. And, you know, I mean, even as crazy as as I'm told, hey, we didn't have dinner one night. My dad says, hop in the car.
00:07:07
Kary Oberbrunner
God will provide. We hit a pheasant. He takes the pheasant, throws it in the backseat with us kids. We all start screaming. And that was dinner. You know, like stuff you look back and you're like, what?
00:07:14
Steven J. Neuner
I love
00:07:19
Steven J. Neuner
i love that
00:07:21
Kary Oberbrunner
You know what saying?
00:07:23
Todd Pinkston
That's awesome.
00:07:23
Kary Oberbrunner
So then my my my parents both went into full-time ministry. I kind of grew up thinking like, hey, if you're a super Christian, you know, you you work for God full-time. And if you're not a super Christian, you go into business.
00:07:37
Kary Oberbrunner
I don't know if you you know you all thought about that. But but I mean, that was the that was the way I kind of grew up. And always wanted to be used by God, you know,
00:07:47
Kary Oberbrunner
for maybe good and bad motives, but like
Overcoming Self-Obsession for Growth
00:07:50
Kary Oberbrunner
always thought, hey, God's going to use me for a big reason. And therefore, that's why I kind of felt like the spiritual attack a lot. I feel i feel feel like satan Satan attacks those who threaten.
00:08:02
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:08:02
Kary Oberbrunner
And so just for your listeners, if they're feeling like attacked and beat down and like life's against me, I would just say, you know what? You're probably a threat. And there's probably a lot of a lot of strategy to work against you, to silence you, to shut you up.
00:08:18
Kary Oberbrunner
And that's why the opposite's true.
00:08:18
Steven J. Neuner
And
00:08:20
Kary Oberbrunner
Igniting souls, I think that the most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire and that the glory of God is a man or woman fully alive. So it's like this deep battle, like, hey, what has Stephen unleashed and who is Todd, you know, totally knowing God's for him.
00:08:37
Kary Oberbrunner
But then there's this steal, kill, destroy thing going on.
00:08:42
Steven J. Neuner
and and
00:08:43
Kary Oberbrunner
It's kind of like how I frameworks. Yeah.
00:08:45
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:08:45
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah. And backing up just a little bit, if I could, you know, the the idea, like i'm I'm thinking about you and how I know you now and the rest of your story, which you're going to get to. But the idea that if you're a super Christian, you went into full time ministry.
00:09:01
Steven J. Neuner
I'm curious, like where you pick that up with and and and how that.
00:09:05
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:09:06
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:07
Kary Oberbrunner
I think for me, it was honestly, This sounds really weird, but if I get close to God, he'll get off my back.
00:09:19
Kary Oberbrunner
If I get close to God, he'll stop letting bad things happen to me. You know, if i if I, if I got, you know, so God and I had a love hate relationship.
00:09:23
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:09:28
Kary Oberbrunner
True story. Like even down to the, like toward the end where I started to get healing 23 years old in seminary,
00:09:41
Kary Oberbrunner
pastor at a solo country small church, preaching sermons on Sunday and cutting on Monday. that's like a picture of me right before getting healing, like preaching about love and grace and, you know, give your life to Jesus on Sunday.
00:09:54
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:09:59
Kary Oberbrunner
And then Monday being like, life
00:10:00
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
Struggles and Breakthroughs in Seminary
00:10:02
Kary Oberbrunner
sucks.
00:10:03
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm going to, I'm going to cut just so I can make it through life. In other words, there's a misconception, misnomer out there that like you self injure because you hate yourself. and you want to kill yourself. Actually, self-injury for me was like, I can't find words enough to explain how much pain I'm in. It's a way of like coping, you know?
00:10:25
Todd Pinkston
Hey, so dive down right there. you i mean you just laid out the like the picturesque... You've got a you've got a a you know an ideal self that's presenting to the world, preaching, things are together.
00:10:40
Todd Pinkston
Behind closed doors, the shadow is just you know raging. of
00:10:44
Kary Oberbrunner
Civil War, Civil War, man, Yeah.
00:10:45
Todd Pinkston
Yeah, it's it's a war. And then you're you know you're foreshadowing to healing of like, man, finding that true self. Like what is... Before you found it, what was keeping you from believing it was possible, understanding it, I mean, breaking through what kind of kept you, you know, on one side of the line?
00:11:00
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:11:02
Steven J. Neuner
Mm-hmm.
00:11:05
Todd Pinkston
And then how did you get through that to, you know, to the other?
00:11:09
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. and I'm looking at your URL, unstuck and alive, I was stuck. i was I was stuck and dead.
00:11:17
Todd Pinkston
Amen, man. Yeah.
00:11:18
Kary Oberbrunner
i was stuck in that, you know? So
00:11:22
Kary Oberbrunner
when God wants to free you, he has to confront you. and And true story. I mean, people don't want to hear this, but self-injury, depression, it's pride.
00:11:35
Kary Oberbrunner
Now people are like, what the heck? This dude's super unkind. And here's what I want to talk about. Fixation on self is pride. You can be fixated on how bad you are.
00:11:47
Todd Pinkston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:49
Kary Oberbrunner
And you can be fixated on how good you are. And it's the same coin, two sides. So I was fixated on on self-obsessed.
00:12:01
Kary Oberbrunner
That's where Satan had me going. It's like, man... you are You're worthless, you're crap, you're a disappointment, you're not perfect. like So I can pick up extremely fast now when I meet with clients and authors who are holding back in shame, bound by perfectionists.
00:12:10
Todd Pinkston
yeah
00:12:21
Kary Oberbrunner
like I can smell that so fast and get on people because cause that was me.
00:12:22
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:12:28
Kary Oberbrunner
you know And so the true nature of an unbeliever that's set free is they are not focused on self, but check it out, not humble.
00:12:45
Kary Oberbrunner
So I battle this a lot with my students at Cedarville where they're like, you're teaching a branding class? God doesn't want even do we have a brand? Why?
00:12:57
Kary Oberbrunner
You know, there's this, you don't cease to exist. That's not helpful for God.
00:13:02
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:13:03
Kary Oberbrunner
David sees a trial and it's like Goliath's challenging the Israelites and David's like, I can take him.
00:13:13
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:13:13
Kary Oberbrunner
I think that's biblical. I think, I think unstuck and alive person is like, put me in coach and
00:13:19
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:13:20
Kary Oberbrunner
Let me roll. Let's go. you know, it's like an aggressive, unleashed, confident, not arrogant, humble, not hiding.
00:13:28
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:13:30
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:13:31
Kary Oberbrunner
Okay. So, so what, what broke free everybody is God had to confront me with failure. I'm in seminary. I'm studying MDiv, Master Divinity in Counseling.
00:13:45
Kary Oberbrunner
The teachers are observing me counsel behind glass. I'm not even kidding. It's a lab. and like Legit, like it's weird, but like they would observe you behind glass, like counseling real people who signed a release form that said, yeah, I'll do three counts.
00:14:01
Steven J. Neuner
Do they have like a light on the person? Whoa.
00:14:04
Todd Pinkston
yeah
00:14:04
Kary Oberbrunner
Dude, it's crazy, man. I don't even remember this stuff. but But here's what the here's what the professor said. The professor said, your grades are perfect, but we're going to fail you from the class.
00:14:17
Kary Oberbrunner
And I'm like, what? What you mean failure? Like failure was like the F word because it is the F word. Like failure, right? So like we're going to fail you. and they're And I'm like, why? And they say, anytime someone brings up pain in your counseling session, you run from it.
00:14:35
Kary Oberbrunner
You're extremely uncomfortable. You're not fit to be a counselor. Like we can see this, like you're so, you're so uncomfortable with pain. And, and then what I had to do guys is I had to have a choice.
00:14:43
Steven J. Neuner
hmm
00:14:48
Kary Oberbrunner
Do I, admit that I'm actually struggling or do I keep the facade? So I go privately to this professor and I legitimately, first time ever, roll up my sleeves legit and be like, I'm struggling with self-injury.
00:15:06
Kary Oberbrunner
And the guy listens. And then three days later, i get a notice in my student mailbox that you're failed. You're not fit to be a counselor because you're cutting.
00:15:20
Todd Pinkston
Hmm. Yeah.
00:15:20
Kary Oberbrunner
And this was at a seminary.
00:15:22
Kary Oberbrunner
Okay. So then i'm like, oh my gosh, like the first time I actually go honest with my pain, I i actually i actually fail. actually get like kicked out.
00:15:34
Kary Oberbrunner
So then I go to the the vice president who is my mentor. And the vice president said, he can't fail you without my permission. let's Let's get you in counseling.
00:15:45
Steven J. Neuner
hmm
00:15:47
Kary Oberbrunner
Let's get you some help, but he can't fail you. Turns out, turns out this professor, I'm not saying he was the enemy. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but he was sleeping with one of the married students.
00:16:04
Kary Oberbrunner
So my whole point is like, You know, the one guy who could have helped me was himself battling, which is very common.
00:16:13
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:16:16
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:16:17
Kary Oberbrunner
No. So, uh, yes.
00:16:18
Todd Pinkston
Dude, that is... I don't want to blow past that, Kerry. That is rich that when we step out...
00:16:22
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah.
00:16:25
Todd Pinkston
that when we step out
00:16:28
Kary Oberbrunner
yes
00:16:28
Todd Pinkston
the The first thing that often happens is a misinterpretation. somebody doesn't mean It's so uncommon for somebody not to live in hiding.
00:16:40
Kary Oberbrunner
Right.
00:16:40
Todd Pinkston
this That when we do it it, people don't know. They run. and it like it affirms, i mean, for anybody that for anybody that was in your shoes, the moment they said, hey, I'm i'm cutting and the fail happens and and there's not that other professor or that other you know president to step in,
00:17:00
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:17:01
Todd Pinkston
Man, those people just double down on hiding of like, dude, I tried when I was 15 to tell somebody I had a struggle and they didn't understand.
00:17:04
Kary Oberbrunner
Yes.
00:17:09
Todd Pinkston
And I'm just going to shove it the rest of my life. And it's like, no, I mean, that is, yeah, that, that, that's the enemy.
00:17:15
Kary Oberbrunner
That's deep.
00:17:15
Todd Pinkston
And it's often said more about that other person than it does about you. So that, that's really good.
00:17:22
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:17:22
Kary Oberbrunner
That's deep.
00:17:23
Kary Oberbrunner
Steven, you can jump on that.
00:17:25
Steven J. Neuner
I mean, why why why add? it's I mean, it's it's true. I mean, it's true. So, yeah.
00:17:32
Kary Oberbrunner
It's true. It's true. And and I don't know about you guys, but not to go too off topic, but like, I don't know what it is with my Instagram and my Facebook. But every single day, the last four weeks, I'm seeing this worship pastor fell, this school official fell, this youth pastor fell, this Bethel pastor fell.
00:17:53
Kary Oberbrunner
Like, is it me or am I just like, what the heck? Am I in some algorithm trap here?
00:17:56
Todd Pinkston
It seems prevalent.
00:18:00
Kary Oberbrunner
You know?
00:18:00
Todd Pinkston
It might be, but it seems prevalent for sure. Mm-hmm.
00:18:02
Steven J. Neuner
Well, I do have, a as we're off topic, I do have a, I do have a friend whose wife is in the media and she went, she had a, has a big social media following and she literally stopped posting negative stuff for like a period of 30 days.
00:18:03
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. So.
00:18:19
Steven J. Neuner
So it just says something that I think we crave seeing other people fail oftentimes. We have an interest in that because maybe we're we're we're battling our own married infidelity type stuff, right?
00:18:26
Todd Pinkston
Yeah. Totally.
00:18:33
Todd Pinkston
sort
00:18:34
Steven J. Neuner
I mean, like it's it makes us feel better is all I would maybe add to that. I mean, there's something there. back But spiritually, back to what you said, kill, steal and destroy is what's going on.
00:18:40
Todd Pinkston
yeah
00:18:41
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. it's
00:18:46
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. yeah Yeah. So Jesus said, John 10, 10, came that you might have life and life abundantly. The enemy says I came to steal, kill and destroy.
00:18:53
Todd Pinkston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:55
Kary Oberbrunner
But here's the thing, guys, like this little microcosm of what what I just said.
00:19:00
Steven J. Neuner
Mm-hmm.
00:19:01
Kary Oberbrunner
I can then spin that out two years later, two years later, two years later, whatever, three years later. i mean, Stephen, you kind of know some of my story where, okay, finally, you know, finally I'm in the church and working there.
00:19:17
Kary Oberbrunner
Bored, not bored of... I was an entrepreneur, you know, like I was an entrepreneur. I didn't know it at the time. I'm constantly coming up with ideas. I'm constantly coming up with, we should do this with the church. Hey, what if we do this? What what if we do this for the community? And they're not bad. Like my leadership wasn't bad, but I wasn't the senior pastor. And, know, eventually it just became like, we're not doing that. let' well Let's not do that. Okay, fine. You go off in the corner and do this, but we're not going to promote it. you know And eventually, i mean, I wrote book one, two, three, four, five, started a side speaking thing. And then this all came to the head, guys. This is pretty cool story. That is just another layer.
00:20:00
Kary Oberbrunner
So I do start getting bold. I do start impacting people. Scared to death though. And here's my point. got this really tough coach named Chet Scott.
00:20:11
Kary Oberbrunner
Still, he's in my life. He's a great guy. He's just like an unfiltered dude. He's a Christian who will just call you out and cuss you out and call you the F word and all this stuff anyway.
00:20:18
Todd Pinkston
It's great.
00:20:21
Kary Oberbrunner
So, so he calls me. All right. And anytime you get a call from Chet at the church, you like step outside because you don't know what he's going to say. Okay. So this is,
00:20:34
Kary Oberbrunner
So this is May.
00:20:35
Todd Pinkston
Turn the volume down.
00:20:37
Kary Oberbrunner
Oh, yeah. This is May 2012.
00:20:38
Steven J. Neuner
much on my call to the Todd.
00:20:39
Kary Oberbrunner
Oh, yeah.
00:20:41
Todd Pinkston
What?
00:20:42
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. Yeah. So this is May 2012. twenty twelve And Chet says to me, because I started to get associated with John Maxwell the year before, because John Maxwell's like, whoa, this dude's a pastor. And like he left the church and like he's impacting people. And wow, maybe there's a place for me. you know, so that that was kind of who God used to show me a model.
00:21:09
Kary Oberbrunner
So Chet calls me he's like, hey, man, I see that you were out speaking last week. That's cool. That's cool. What is your what is your church think? I'm like, I don't know. They're cool with it.
00:21:20
Kary Oberbrunner
He's like, what does your senior pastor think? He's cool what it. What does your wife think about it? He's cool with it. And then he's like, what does God think about it? And I'm like, I don't know. And then he says, you know what? I think you're full of blank.
00:21:33
Kary Oberbrunner
And then I'm like, what? He's like, I'll tell you what. I think you're living off the church's dime. I think you're telling everybody to big live a big, adventurous, bold life, and you're scared to go all in and you can't take the ring and stay in the shire.
00:21:53
Kary Oberbrunner
Call me back when you grow a pear. Boom.
00:21:57
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. Dude, right there, i almost vomited. I literally was outside the church. I almost vomited because, because the dude was right.
00:22:11
Todd Pinkston
Oh, get that on a YouTube reel right there and just replay it every morning.
00:22:15
Steven J. Neuner
Oh, good.
00:22:16
Todd Pinkston
That's what you need.
00:22:18
Steven J. Neuner
But Kerry, I got ask.
00:22:18
Todd Pinkston
and
00:22:19
Kary Oberbrunner
Dude was right. He was, yeah.
00:22:21
Steven J. Neuner
I got to ask. Did you know it? Was it already something you were thinking about and afraid to act or were you blind to it and he just got you?
00:22:24
Kary Oberbrunner
No.
00:22:29
Steven J. Neuner
Like, was it a blind revealed moment or? Got
00:22:32
Kary Oberbrunner
e No, he crystallized it. he I didn't put it all together. I just thought, you know, whatever, you know, he put it all together.
00:22:38
Steven J. Neuner
it.
00:22:43
Kary Oberbrunner
And then I thought if he sees it, everybody else must see it. And then like I'm not even kidding, guys.
00:22:48
Todd Pinkston
Hmm. Hmm.
00:22:49
Kary Oberbrunner
Within 24 hours, I was in my senior pastor's office turning in my resignation. like Like that, like I'm a mover, dude. Like,
00:23:00
Steven J. Neuner
You are.
00:23:01
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm a mover and, and I was like,
00:23:07
Kary Oberbrunner
he's right. And so they didn't say, okay, you're out. They said, listen, you've been here 12 years.
Career Transformation Inspired by John Maxwell
00:23:14
Kary Oberbrunner
If you just leave automatically, it's going to cause a wave.
00:23:18
Kary Oberbrunner
What are you going to do? That's what they said. How do you, how are you going make money? And I legit didn't have an answer. was like, I don't know.
00:23:27
Steven J. Neuner
You with all the books and all the speaking.
00:23:29
Kary Oberbrunner
I was like, I'm speaking coaching, but like I knew that couldn't replace salary, health insurance, Christian school for my kids. like you know But anyway, they're like, why don't you stay till – this is May. why don't you stay till November 30th?
00:23:48
Kary Oberbrunner
We'll give you one month of severance, and you can have you can start your thing. So like legit, man, like this was me stepping out of the shire and I became so much more believable.
00:23:59
Todd Pinkston
Wow.
00:24:02
Kary Oberbrunner
Oh my gosh. Like it was tough. Like again, but do you see how this is layers? Like being honest about self-injury, being honest that you're not a pastor, you know?
00:24:09
Todd Pinkston
Totally. Totally.
00:24:11
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:13
Kary Oberbrunner
This is the trend that like has been my whole life and it it doesn't go away.
00:24:15
Todd Pinkston
yeah
00:24:20
Kary Oberbrunner
Like this is what I want people to realize. It's not like, oh, and then my life became easy. You know, Stephen knows this story, started igniting souls, you know, blah, blah, blah.
00:24:31
Kary Oberbrunner
And then things are going great. And then God kind of puts in my head this blockchain IP protection concept. Okay, so now I got the successful multi-level, multi-million dollar business.
00:24:46
Kary Oberbrunner
Then I go to my team and I'm like, hey guys, hey ladies, there's something here with blockchain. I can't explain it i don't yeah I don't know what it is fully, but I i think we need to like also include this with our book offering.
00:24:52
Steven J. Neuner
They're like, what?
00:25:04
Kary Oberbrunner
I had two women that were kind of running CFO and COO.
00:25:10
Kary Oberbrunner
At first they're like, yeah, you know, why don't you just work on that side project? We'll start meeting and we're the integrators and CFO and you're the visionary. We want to free you up. Don't worry about it. We'll run the Igniting Souls company.
00:25:23
Kary Oberbrunner
They start meeting. create a competitive company, steal my clients, start rumors that I'm suicidal. And then they and my small company within 11 weeks, 70% left.
00:25:35
Steven J. Neuner
Thank
00:25:42
Kary Oberbrunner
You know, and that hurt. That hurt a ton. But that's my point. Like you say yes to God, what God's put in your heart. And it's like, All right, you've signed up to be stronger, so God's going to bring in the trials. So I just want people to realize, like, you having trials in your and in your life is not what Job's friends say is because you're on the wrong path. It might actually be because you're on the right path.
00:26:10
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:26:12
Steven J. Neuner
And what I hear is you're telling these, uh, Carrie, just as, as we think about the book, like it's you're stuck and then you go from trap to truth and you become alive.
00:26:23
Steven J. Neuner
Right. And then you're, you're living in a new zone of unforced purpose.
00:26:24
Todd Pinkston
Thank
00:26:26
Steven J. Neuner
What I hear is like, it's like, it becomes overflow out of like who you are, right. Not, you know, it's not performative and it's really cool.
00:26:39
Steven J. Neuner
Talk to me about 70% the company. Obviously, you know you're. Those are really, really important. you know The day before were those were really important people in your life, right?
00:26:51
Kary Oberbrunner
people. Yeah.
00:26:54
Steven J. Neuner
Really important relationships. You probably felt really, really deeply connected. Talk to me about that. What what was on the other side of that? like cause I think that theyre you know a lot of times these relational type things are are often what gets people stuck the most.
00:27:14
Todd Pinkston
yeah
00:27:14
Kary Oberbrunner
Oh, yeah. Well, and and I tell this. So, Todd, the cool thing is, is like I brought Stephen and Corey to my conference and they saw it. I mean, like in our in our in our heyday, we had a conference of 600 people.
00:27:33
Kary Oberbrunner
We rented out a whole hotel. People flew in from Australia, the UK. We had the Author Academy Book Awards. By the way, I got sued by the Oscars because they said you can't use the Author Academy Awards. I mean, we were that big that the Oscars tried suing us. We had to rebrand our name.
00:27:55
Kary Oberbrunner
like But, Stephen, like maybe tell tell Todd. like But, I mean, wasn't that like a big room, lots of people, like super exciting?
00:28:03
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah, it was incredible. And in what what I would say again, and why I would go to the relational pieces, it was full of people that you know carry your leadership was igniting souls. Like for for me, it was a really big, scary moment. It was my children's book was coming out. It was the first time that I'd ever, I'd only talked to to people in my faith walk about my faith one-on-one in a personal conversation.
00:28:29
Steven J. Neuner
Carrie gave me the opportunity to talk about the book and what God was doing. And I talked about it in a public environment, my faith publicly for the first time. And I was terrified. Right. But that was like, I was one tiny microcosm of a above boiling pot of people who that were,
00:28:46
Steven J. Neuner
their souls were being ignited by you the leadership and what you put on there. Like, but what God was doing through it. Right. But you're, but you were, you were leading and it really was an igniting souls conference.
00:28:56
Steven J. Neuner
And I know that you know, the, the, some of the people involved were, were believers and probably, you know, all of those things.
00:29:02
Kary Oberbrunner
Oh, yeah.
00:29:03
Steven J. Neuner
I'm just kind of curious about that. And, but, but since we brought it up and I'm getting the chance to talk about the conference, i don't know if you know this, Carrie, but Corey and I were at Barnhill that happened Like Corey was moved at that conference.
00:29:21
Steven J. Neuner
we We had been going down the journey of Barnhill and it was at that conference, one of your speakers spoke and that's when Corey pulled me aside and said, honey, I know you've been, you know, like you've been feeling called to this and I've been a no.
00:29:34
Steven J. Neuner
She said, you know, the truth is i'm I'm afraid, I'm really scared. We have no idea what we're doing, right?
00:29:39
Kary Oberbrunner
Wow.
00:29:40
Todd Pinkston
Wow. Yeah.
00:29:42
Steven J. Neuner
But it was at that conference. So literally, i made the phone call that started our our our walk our walk of faith to being right here at Barnhill doing what we're doing now.
00:29:52
Steven J. Neuner
That was at that conference.
00:29:53
Kary Oberbrunner
That's crazy.
00:29:54
Steven J. Neuner
That soul's yeah ignited, right? I mean, like we, that so all of that happened there, you know, both those things. And it was because of of of someone that was speaking that it really, really was exactly yeah definitely what she needed, right?
00:30:03
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. Yeah. But that's how God is.
Impact of the Igniting Souls Conference
00:30:10
Kary Oberbrunner
And I just want people to be encouraged on your podcast. Like you walking in obedience with God could literally set someone else free.
00:30:13
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:30:19
Kary Oberbrunner
And Chet had to do it for me. And then I took a step, you know, and then God used Igniting Souls Conference.
00:30:22
Steven J. Neuner
Mm-hmm.
00:30:25
Kary Oberbrunner
But Todd, you know, the moment everything is amazing with Igniting Souls, you know, then COVID happens. And my small little company had written the hotel an $85,000 check for the following year conference to prepay.
00:30:44
Kary Oberbrunner
You know, like I want people to realize like life is a risk, you know, and, and then, right.
00:30:45
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:30:51
Kary Oberbrunner
Right.
00:30:51
Todd Pinkston
These are good.
00:30:51
Kary Oberbrunner
like
00:30:52
Todd Pinkston
It's good. I remember like one time Matt Chandler was, was, was preaching a sermon. He was like, you know, you always hear the stories about money showing up in your mailbox, you know, on the day of, but he's like, what about the stories where your tax bill comes in twice as much as you thought it was going to be?
00:31:07
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:31:07
Todd Pinkston
Like, what are the stories about AC breaking down?
00:31:07
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:31:10
Todd Pinkston
And I think it's like, Dude, we want to share those those buttoned up, really pretty stories. And and that's true. But without understanding the other side, man, we're not seeing the full picture.
00:31:22
Todd Pinkston
And and if if the if the point of it is for us to be refined, it's like, man, it's a process. it it is It is daily. And just about the time you feel like you're on the high, you know something knocks you down.
00:31:22
Kary Oberbrunner
yeah
00:31:39
Todd Pinkston
Because when you're on the high, it it can you know just like you said earlier, if you're thinking about yourself, that's pride.
00:31:45
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:31:46
Todd Pinkston
and And it's like, man, getting knocked down is not a bad thing.
00:31:46
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:31:50
Todd Pinkston
it's It's a good reminder that it's not about me.
00:31:54
Kary Oberbrunner
But you guys do this mountain stuff that it's a great metaphor. So you guys know that I do so cycling.
00:32:01
Todd Pinkston
hu
00:32:02
Kary Oberbrunner
When I train like crazy in 11 months out of the year so that the last three years I could go to France and go on the Alps and do the highest, hardest mountains in the planet, I'm more confident.
00:32:19
Todd Pinkston
Yeah, for sure.
00:32:19
Kary Oberbrunner
get what saying? like I think that's that's the biblical principle. It's like God puts you through all this stuff so that you're not perfect, but you're you're you're you have this like character and integrity.
00:32:34
Kary Oberbrunner
And like of good a good father would not give a gift to a kid if they couldn't handle it.
00:32:35
Todd Pinkston
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:32:43
Kary Oberbrunner
So every kid is praying for success and wealth and riches and fame from their father, God. And yet God is like, no, I'm not going to give you that gift because it would crush you. It it would kill you. We see it all at the time.
00:32:57
Kary Oberbrunner
So instead, at least for my life, God's had to put me through, oh my gosh, like beast stuff.
00:32:57
Todd Pinkston
h
00:33:06
Kary Oberbrunner
But just like on the Alps, I can face the mountain just like on your wilderness stuff. You take those guys out in a microcosm of a hard hike.
00:33:19
Kary Oberbrunner
And yes, it's beautiful. And yes, it's amazing. But they're also developing like areas. If I can climb that mountain, I can go back to the marriage. If I can climb that mountain, I can face that disease. If I can climb that mountain, I can say no to my day job.
00:33:36
Kary Oberbrunner
I mean, don't you think?
00:33:38
Todd Pinkston
Absolutely. Say more about it.
00:33:42
Kary Oberbrunner
yeah
00:33:43
Todd Pinkston
I mean, really, like what is psychologically what's happening?
00:33:43
Kary Oberbrunner
No. Yeah. yeah Yeah.
00:33:47
Todd Pinkston
You know, you've we read the Michael Easter, you know, comfort crisis and and a Masogi idea. I mean, I talk about it all the time, but i mean, share more on that.
00:33:58
Todd Pinkston
Like what is why is it so important to continually choose the hard, not for the sake of the hard, but what you know, what happens through that? So I mean, talk more about your journey in that.
00:34:09
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah, man. I mean, again, this is kind of silly, but I'm going to go to my Strava and I just want you to see this here for a moment. Okay. So like, here's my Strava activities and then here's my Strava activities and here's my Strava activity. Like my point is that,
00:34:27
Kary Oberbrunner
When I say, so basically I bike 100 miles every week like note with no exception, like just constantly.
00:34:38
Kary Oberbrunner
okay The point is this, just like the scriptures talk about, like perseverance. And when perseverance has its perfect work, like you can stand.
00:34:46
Todd Pinkston
Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
00:34:50
Kary Oberbrunner
you know like God took Abraham and had to like beat the crap out of him. That should go on YouTube, right? But like, okay, I'm going to develop you into an amazing nation. And it's going to be like the sand, you know, and the sea and the stars in the sky. And like, okay.
00:35:07
Kary Oberbrunner
But he's so scared. He has to lie that his wife is a sister. And then he's like, okay, crud, you know, my wife can't get pregnant.
00:35:12
Todd Pinkston
okay
00:35:15
Kary Oberbrunner
So going okay, my wife says, go sleep with the servant. I'm in, you know, like the guy is making like fail after fail after fail. And I think that's why the scriptures are inviting to me, exciting, because I'm like, dang, I can relate.
00:35:32
Kary Oberbrunner
I can relate to that. Like I couldn't relate to a holy book where it's like, and here's the ideal person.
00:35:39
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:35:40
Kary Oberbrunner
You know?
00:35:41
Todd Pinkston
Good.
00:35:41
Kary Oberbrunner
so So what? I'm currently in a battle right now where instant IP is, I think, the best thing on the planet And it's the choice for today's ai world and it's idea protection at the speed of thought.
Innovating Intellectual Property Protection
00:36:00
Kary Oberbrunner
And it's literally a button away and it takes less than 60 seconds. And guess who I'm fighting? The United States Patent Trademark Office. You know, like in other words, you know, there's an old way for hundreds of years of protecting your IP and I'm not trying to replace it, but I'm trying to be like, look guys, we we need,
00:36:15
Todd Pinkston
Hmm. Hmm.
00:36:22
Kary Oberbrunner
tax Taxi drivers needed Uber. the The horse and buggy needed a car. Like entrepreneurs need a way to protect their idea the moment they think about it because AI is already scraping their website and stealing from them.
00:36:40
Kary Oberbrunner
You know, so it's like, sign me up.
00:36:41
Todd Pinkston
For sure.
00:36:42
Kary Oberbrunner
Okay. You just entered a new battle. You know, and some days people are like, that's the most amazing thing. I'm on board. And other days people are like, you're, so you're an idiot.
00:36:53
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:36:53
Kary Oberbrunner
Like, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Like, what do you think? You know, it's like every day, as Steven knows, Dan Sullivan, like the number one thing you got to protect is your confidence.
00:37:04
Todd Pinkston
It's rich.
00:37:05
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:37:07
Todd Pinkston
All right, so so dive down a little more into, you know, we've talked about the resistance, talked about, you know, the the the habit of hard and just choosing to, you know, to to do stuff that's building your resilience.
00:37:23
Todd Pinkston
what What does it look like day to day for you to be stepping out? I mean, yeah, you've had some hard things. Dude, you've also stepped into some really, really big things. I mean, you've been bold.
00:37:32
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:37:33
Todd Pinkston
You've made some huge pivots in life. what does what do What do daily habits look like for you that remind you of your confidence, remind you of your identity?
00:37:39
Kary Oberbrunner
Okay.
00:37:43
Kary Oberbrunner
Here's the most unsexy hard one. Okay, you get you get an email from somebody who wants to pick your brain and your friend told them, hey, you should talk to my friend, Kerry, and and you should you should be able to pick his brain.
00:38:01
Kary Oberbrunner
And yet, you know, you're a CEO of two companies. You're a full-time professor. And how do you tell this dude no or how do you qualify this dude without sounding like a complete idiot and jerk because I'm a recovering people pleaser?
00:38:16
Kary Oberbrunner
So true story.
00:38:16
Todd Pinkston
Mm-hmm.
00:38:17
Kary Oberbrunner
True story. This happened this week and a young gentleman wanted to meet with me. So here's a practical way how to achieve that. I said, Ben, I'm honored that you want to meet with me in person for breakfast.
00:38:33
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm unable to. Because I've already said yes, by the way, i didn't say this exactly, but i said I've already said yes to my opus. Just go to carryoverrunner.com slash opus. That's literally who who and what God called me to do.
00:38:49
Kary Oberbrunner
That document. I didn't tell him that, but I'm like, I've already said yes to some commitments. I cannot do this, but here's what I can do. Watch this three-minute video. It talks about an impact filter.
00:39:02
Kary Oberbrunner
My coach, Dan Sullivan, makes me complete it before I meet with him. after you And by the way, this is all this is all a system now. Like I literally have a copy-paste email with the Loom video with the Dan Sullivan's PDF.
00:39:16
Kary Oberbrunner
And I said, watch this three-minute video, send me back an impact filter, and I'll send you time that we can chat while I'm commuting back from the college that I teach at.
00:39:28
Kary Oberbrunner
Dude does it. He's one of the less than 10%, less than 10% of people do this. less than ten percent of people do this
00:39:33
Steven J. Neuner
Yep. Yep.
00:39:35
Kary Oberbrunner
The other 10% think probably this guy's an idiot, this guy's a jerk, who does he think he is? you know But the alternative is I just say yes to everything.
00:39:45
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:39:46
Kary Oberbrunner
And then I suffer in my marriage, I suffer in my health, I suffer. you know This is the tough stuff that takes like courage. So I chat with this guy named Ben on the way back yesterday.
00:39:59
Kary Oberbrunner
give him like five book met recommendations, give him a plan on how to build his business. And the dude is on fire and excited. And 20 minutes after our chat, like I haven't compromised my opus.
00:40:15
Kary Oberbrunner
The dude's on the right path. you get what I'm saying? Like it's the little stuff.
00:40:19
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah. Yeah. And it's recovering people.
00:40:21
Todd Pinkston
It's awesome.
00:40:21
Kary Oberbrunner
So, I mean, that's a little example.
00:40:22
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah.
00:40:24
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah, go ahead.
00:40:25
Steven J. Neuner
No, I was going to say, an and and like for anyone that's not a recovering people pleaser, like that is not easy to do, right? Like that that actually, done especially when you have a heart and you feel you can buy into this that you're supposed to help everybody or, you know, like these trap type things that we get, right?
00:40:33
Kary Oberbrunner
That is not easy.
00:40:41
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:40:43
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah.
00:40:44
Kary Oberbrunner
Oh yeah. You can be addicted to people's, affirmation. And it says in the scripture that that's a snare. And I love Galatians 1.10, one of my favorite verses. Am I trying to please God or am I trying to please man? If I'm trying to please man, I'm no longer a bond slave of Christ. It's like you can't have it both ways.
00:41:05
Steven J. Neuner
but it's a fine line.
00:41:06
Kary Oberbrunner
So, yeah.
00:41:07
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah.
00:41:09
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah, I mean, so how else does it look like, you know, health? I take my health super seriously. But even even to fight depression, like legit, like if I didn't have endorphins popping through my head through exercise and if I was eating like crap and if I was watching whatever, like my depression, like I have not struggled with self-injury in, don't know, 20 years or whatever now, more than 20 years. Like, so,
00:41:41
Kary Oberbrunner
choose your hard, you know, like all the stuff out there, like it's hard either way.
00:41:47
Todd Pinkston
peel back that Peel back the health onion a little more.
00:41:49
Steven J. Neuner
I think that's what it's like.
00:41:49
Todd Pinkston
Like, what what does that look like for you? Are you tracking blood work? are you Obviously, you're tracking workouts, but like what is what does that more practically look like?
00:41:53
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:41:57
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:41:57
Todd Pinkston
Are you eating keto?
00:41:57
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:41:58
Todd Pinkston
I mean, obviously, your hair's not growing, so you're not drinking enough collagen, but, you know.
00:42:02
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah, totally, totally.
00:42:04
Todd Pinkston
and
00:42:05
Kary Oberbrunner
So, so what does it look like? I mean, little stuff like right or a ring, you know, are early gen one with that, you know, like Garmin watch, right? I'm checking my, you know people are like, why do you wear two watches?
00:42:16
Steven J. Neuner
I was like, I'm struggling with sleep and I'm going to do something.
00:42:17
Kary Oberbrunner
Because my Apple watch is like connected to my phone and You know, this is connected to my my bike. So, you know, it's like, look, man, go to bed early. Stop scrolling. It's like, you know what? I struggle with sleep. I really do. I'm an insomniac. So I have my dream shot from the feed store now, which is melatonin and It's this, you know, what else do I do? i bought a sauna, infrared sauna. Why? Because, you know, i have bad genetics with heart, you know, and I can sit there and be a victim. So like, hey, December, true story.
00:42:53
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm like, you know what? My dad had a heart attack at 41.
00:42:55
Steven J. Neuner
Right?
00:42:56
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm already on a lipid. I have been for years. I'm going to go get a CT angiogram. Right. The CT angiogram comes back and it's like you have calcium blockage in your in your widow's maker.
00:43:11
Kary Oberbrunner
Well, I could either be like, oh, my gosh, like, you know, it bugged me. I went through minor depression, you know, first time I'm admitting it here. But I was like, what the heck? You know how I care about my health and and what the heck, you know? And so then you got to just dust yourself off and be like, OK,
00:43:32
Kary Oberbrunner
Are we going to just throw health out the window?
00:43:33
Steven J. Neuner
And just throw it in a little bit, you know, so you know,
00:43:34
Kary Oberbrunner
Are you going to double down? You know, so I doubled down and now I got a new path, new plan, new doc, new doctor.
00:43:36
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:43:42
Kary Oberbrunner
Like it doesn't get easier. i mean, that's why I think people like David Goggins. You know, that's why I think people like some of these people online because they're just like, you know what?
00:43:54
Kary Oberbrunner
I can believe that. I mean, who who can believe a lot of these influencers where you're like, I can't believe that.
00:44:02
Todd Pinkston
It's
00:44:04
Steven J. Neuner
Hey, Kerry, we kind of slid through it.
00:44:06
Kary Oberbrunner
What do you got? Oh yeah. Hello.
00:44:12
Steven J. Neuner
I do want to get, I do, like, I just, I think, you shared something really significant. You had two major people in your business, right? That but but essentially betrayed you, right? We're talking about hard things, right? And we know that relationally is a lot of times where people get, so I'm not gonna trust them anymore. I'm not, that has not been you. i'm and But I'm curious, like, tell me about the inner workings of that and how you remained unstuck or did you get stuck from that? And how long are you still working through it? I just,
00:44:45
Steven J. Neuner
i don't I don't think that's significant.
00:44:46
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. I love it. Love it.
00:44:49
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah, and i think we all have stuff like that, and it can put us down.
00:44:50
Kary Oberbrunner
Good question.
00:44:54
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:44:55
Steven J. Neuner
So please speak to it. I'm sure you can't hear
00:44:58
Kary Oberbrunner
i So true story. I did get stuck and I did the old, uh, opposite of what Jan, John Maxwell teaches.
00:44:59
Steven J. Neuner
I'm so sure you can hear it. I'm so sure can hear I'm so sure you can hear it.
00:45:06
Kary Oberbrunner
John Maxwell says,
00:45:08
Kary Oberbrunner
If you hide, no one can hurt you, but no one can help you either. I like that. So i did go into I did go into hiding. And what I mean by that is I said, fine, I'll be integrator and visionary.
00:45:25
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm not going to hire another integrator. i' not goingnna hire another integrator because you know what, the integrator, I let her in and blah, blah, blah. So I tried running the companies but both for a few months and and I've done that before and I can do it, but here's here's the danger of a visionary becoming an integrator.
00:45:46
Steven J. Neuner
from ancient paper.
00:45:48
Kary Oberbrunner
They dream, do, ideate and implement and get bored.
00:45:49
Steven J. Neuner
It's a dream to do. I'm in the empty room and you're full of money.
00:45:54
Kary Oberbrunner
And then they create, dream, do, ideate, implement, board, move on to the next, move on to the next, move on to the next.
00:45:55
Steven J. Neuner
That's a dream to
00:46:01
Kary Oberbrunner
Because God's wired you as a visionary to create. and i And I'm like an i'm like a 90-something on visionary and like a 43 on integrator.
00:46:13
Kary Oberbrunner
Right? So my point is that I fell into that. And thankfully, God brought along Sarah, who's amazing, and earned my trust.
00:46:26
Kary Oberbrunner
And I kept giving her more and more and more and more. And now she's running Igniting Souls. Well, I grow in Instant IP. And of course, I come back and do book architectures and you know still I'm involved in Igniting Souls. But yeah, I mean, that is the true stuck and dead you know thing where you just are like, fine, I'm not going to trust people.
00:46:48
Kary Oberbrunner
And then I had to work through it.
00:46:48
Steven J. Neuner
how long did they How long did that cycle last?
00:46:52
Kary Oberbrunner
That happened in August of one year. And then it took me till May before I hired her five hours a week.
00:47:14
Steven J. Neuner
Mm-hmm.
00:47:31
Kary Oberbrunner
Then the following August, I was at Bob Schoenefeld's Visionary Summit in Texas. And the whole talk was about how you need an integrator. And that's when I made the call at that event to be, Sarah, hey, and want I want to offer you a full-time role.
00:47:54
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:47:54
Kary Oberbrunner
It's almost, it almost honestly took a full year before I had a full-time integrator again.
00:48:02
Steven J. Neuner
What's interesting, just as like hearing you talk today, there's two stories that seem similar, but they're different. And one is your commitment to your opus and the impact filter, and you can't help everyone.
00:48:10
Kary Oberbrunner
Hmm.
00:48:18
Steven J. Neuner
And then also that's sort of interesting though, like you assume role that wasn't maybe yours to be doing for a period of time because of a a setback, right?
00:48:30
Steven J. Neuner
So it's like even with the opus,
00:48:32
Kary Oberbrunner
Right.
00:48:35
Steven J. Neuner
relationships are often where we tend to get stuck.
00:48:39
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:48:40
Kary Oberbrunner
Relationships are where we get stuck, man. Absolutely. How many people do we know that are amazing at business? And they they suck. really Todd, I knew a guy, I'm not even joking.
00:48:56
Kary Oberbrunner
This pastor said, if it weren't for people, I'd be the best pastor in the world. Like, and i and he was, but he was dead serious.
00:49:02
Todd Pinkston
Yeah. Yes.
00:49:05
Kary Oberbrunner
Like, he was dead serious.
00:49:07
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:49:08
Kary Oberbrunner
You know? Yeah.
00:49:10
Todd Pinkston
That's good. And, and Carrie, i also just want to I mean, highlight to the, uh, you know, the fact that, I mean, you're hard charging me, you know, you talked about after you got off that phone call, you turned in your resignation, you know, for the, the pastor job immediately, like you, you're a quick decision maker.
00:49:11
Kary Oberbrunner
yeah
00:49:32
Steven J. Neuner
Mm-hmm.
00:49:32
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm a quick and I like integrity.
00:49:32
Todd Pinkston
And
00:49:33
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:49:34
Todd Pinkston
And when you got burned, it took a little while to grieve.
00:49:35
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. Yeah.
00:49:40
Todd Pinkston
It took a little while to, you know, to, to process through.
00:49:40
Kary Oberbrunner
yeah
00:49:43
Todd Pinkston
I mean, I can, I can totally relate. Like that is, you know, that, that is something we've experienced and it's the betrayal and it makes you, it, it it sends you back into the place where you just want to grab it and hold it.
00:49:56
Todd Pinkston
And like, I'm not, I'm not entrusted in this, but that's about me. That's pride. You know, I don't want to get hurt again, but if, if it's a process of being refined and it's not yours anyway, then,
00:50:03
Kary Oberbrunner
I love it.
00:50:07
Steven J. Neuner
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:50:09
Todd Pinkston
you know and and and And it's okay to go through that because it's you want to glean and you want to you want to make sure you learn as much as possible.
00:50:12
Steven J. Neuner
you
00:50:15
Todd Pinkston
But I just think that's that's freeing for people to hear of like, even you, that you know multiple companies, go-getter, like, man, you could start a company tomorrow.
00:50:26
Todd Pinkston
When you got burned, it it took some while to to grieve. and And that is...
00:50:30
Kary Oberbrunner
love it
00:50:32
Todd Pinkston
And that is okay.
00:50:32
Kary Oberbrunner
And you just, you, yeah.
00:50:32
Todd Pinkston
I also don't want to blow past, man, those two guys in your life, you know, the phone call and then the other guy at seminary. i mean, they they change the course of your future.
00:50:42
Kary Oberbrunner
Oh yeah.
00:50:46
Kary Oberbrunner
That's so true.
00:50:46
Todd Pinkston
And I think the power of words is, the power of words And then we all have that opportunity in other people's lives of you can step in and you can be, you can say the thing that nobody else has the balls to say, and it can totally alter the trajectory of somebody's future.
00:50:55
Kary Oberbrunner
It is so true.
00:51:01
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:51:05
Todd Pinkston
And it's like, man,
00:51:05
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm glad you said that. Yeah. I'm glad you said that because I am a professor too now. That's a whole story. But recently there was a female student who was scared to take action in this in this super dumb, small way.
00:51:22
Kary Oberbrunner
And she kept avoiding it. and and And after she avoided it I couldn't stop thinking about it. And I'm like, this is bugging me.
00:51:33
Kary Oberbrunner
Like this is, I'm getting ticked, you know?
00:51:35
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:51:36
Kary Oberbrunner
And like, it was on a Friday and it was taking like all my brain space. And I'm like, you know I'm gonna record a video that's kind, but I'm gonna call her out personally and send this to her.
00:51:45
Steven J. Neuner
Thank you.
00:51:47
Todd Pinkston
Let's go.
00:51:48
Kary Oberbrunner
And I called her out. And I'm like, look, don't even know if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, cause you're not you're not a able to do this, blah, blah, blah, blah. But after I recorded the video, I felt good.
00:51:59
Todd Pinkston
yeah.
00:51:59
Todd Pinkston
Yep.
00:51:59
Kary Oberbrunner
And i feel like feel like if everybody probably listening to this right now is one decision away
00:52:06
Kary Oberbrunner
that from from setting themselves free, setting somebody else free, they're one decision away. So I did that video and she just pinged me on Tuesday and said, I needed that video and I made the decision.
00:52:19
Todd Pinkston
Let's go. Let's go.
00:52:20
Kary Oberbrunner
Yep.
00:52:21
Todd Pinkston
And that is that that speak the truth in love. We we do.
00:52:24
Kary Oberbrunner
Yes.
00:52:25
Todd Pinkston
we We try to we try to split that up. It's like speak the truth. It's like, well, great. I'll throw daggers on Facebook. You know I'll be the only one that's willing to say something. And it's coming out of your own pride.
00:52:34
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:52:35
Todd Pinkston
It's coming out of your bitterness.
00:52:37
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:52:37
Todd Pinkston
Or we think we do the loving thing, which is say nothing. Well, I'll just let, you know, I'll let the Holy Spirit do it.
00:52:40
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. Gossip.
00:52:42
Todd Pinkston
And it's like, can for sure.
00:52:43
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:52:44
Steven J. Neuner
of course.
00:52:44
Todd Pinkston
but what if he's trying to do it through you? And you, I mean, as you you processed, you weren't quick to, you know, make a video to, I it's like, we think of calling somebody out as like, man, I'm going to do the right thing.
00:52:47
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:52:52
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:52:56
Todd Pinkston
I'm gonna call this person out. It's like, no, you couldn't stop thinking about it.
00:52:58
Kary Oberbrunner
It was bugging me.
00:53:00
Todd Pinkston
It's like, man, Oh, out of that, she felt loved and she felt called up.
00:53:05
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:53:06
Todd Pinkston
And she's going to look back at that.
00:53:07
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:53:07
Todd Pinkston
She's going to on a podcast 20 years from now talking about you. This bald guy stepped into my world with a video.
00:53:11
Kary Oberbrunner
I hope so. Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:13
Steven J. Neuner
I had to go outside, had to go outside, watch the video.
00:53:14
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. That's good.
00:53:14
Todd Pinkston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:16
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:53:18
Steven J. Neuner
And I also love that it's so often, so often, I think people think of purpose and they think of this big P carries opus, right?
00:53:18
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. yeah
00:53:29
Steven J. Neuner
But in that moment, small P purpose from your friend changed your life.
00:53:29
Kary Oberbrunner
yeah
00:53:32
Todd Pinkston
Yeah, yeah.
00:53:35
Kary Oberbrunner
Yes.
00:53:35
Todd Pinkston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:36
Steven J. Neuner
Right. i mean, it was like, well I think we way overcomplicate how we can be transformational in people's lives.
00:53:38
Kary Oberbrunner
Yes.
00:53:46
Kary Oberbrunner
That's right.
00:53:46
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:53:48
Kary Oberbrunner
So good.
00:53:48
Todd Pinkston
Absolutely. right. So, Kerry, tell us where where are you headed? Like, what are you working on right now? what is What are you dreaming about?
00:53:55
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:53:56
Todd Pinkston
What book are you writing? How can you know how can people jump on with you know the direction you're leading?
00:53:58
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:54:01
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. yeah I'm not writing a book, which is rare.
Future Plans in Intellectual Property
00:54:06
Kary Oberbrunner
In fact, I'm relaunching this book. We went through it and and updated it.
00:54:12
Kary Oberbrunner
And again, like I've written 14 books and most of them haven't done much. Like just being real. But this book, my friend, is the number one book in all patents, trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property on Amazon. I'm not a lawyer.
00:54:27
Kary Oberbrunner
i co-wrote it with a top lawyer. But what I see In a weird way, and again, it's a little bit woo-woo, I see humans and machines almost matrixy where most humans are going to stop creating.
00:54:48
Kary Oberbrunner
And the moment you stop creating, you stop your identity as a divine, divinely created being like God created and said, Hey, go co-create, go have dominion.
00:54:55
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:55:02
Kary Oberbrunner
And there's most people that have become massive consumers. And they're just like, AI is going to take over and I'm just going to sit on the sideline and I'm just whatever, whatever. And I'm saying, look, dude, protect your idea. Now go out and like,
00:55:18
Kary Oberbrunner
make it happen. You know? So I think that instant IP isn't just some little $97 protect your IP. I honestly think it keeps us on path for our divine destiny.
00:55:31
Kary Oberbrunner
You know, it's like a pretty epic chat, you know? And so, I do feel like humanity's at a crisis right now. And if we just settle for being consumers, we're going to be very unfulfilled.
00:55:48
Steven J. Neuner
Kerry, I want to just touch into this real quick, just because it's I've watched you with this conversation. i we we have the incredible blessing of being a strategic coach and being around a lot of like really smart, open-minded and ambitious people.
00:56:01
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
00:56:04
Steven J. Neuner
And even yet, so this IP thing is just something it's like trying to describe something that is is, I think it's a lot of people can't see.
00:56:15
Steven J. Neuner
It's hard to understand. Talk to me how how you're approaching it. And I guess I'm also curious, like it is all the years of ministry trying to help people see what's always there, which is God, is there is there is there anything that you're learning from that that's allowing you to to advance this downfield?
00:56:37
Kary Oberbrunner
I think if I would have grown up as a son of a businessman or aspirational businessman, I think I would have been a real jerk. I really do.
00:56:50
Kary Oberbrunner
God had to take me through the pastorate first to see servant leadership. And that's how I run my companies. I really do. And I think you all you all feel that and know that, that like we're people-centric first. you know How can we serve?
00:57:06
Kary Oberbrunner
Servant leadership is one of our four core values. Show up, filled up is another one. Positive optimism and growth-minded grit. But the point is that do I think God's going to make Instant IP xxx million-dollar business? Yeah.
00:57:25
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah. Like I really do. Like I have such streams for instant IP. Like you go to Spotify and it says, thanks for uploading your podcast. You want to protect that with instant IP. Thanks for your YouTube video. You want to protect that with instant IP. Great job in Canva. do You want to protect that with instant IP. Like I think it's an IP becomes the platform integrated platform.
00:57:48
Kary Oberbrunner
tool that how it's not It's not outside the creative process. It's it's actually part of the creative process.
00:57:58
Kary Oberbrunner
So if God chooses to make that happen, then i would have a massive platform.
00:58:01
Steven J. Neuner
Mm-hmm.
00:58:07
Kary Oberbrunner
And if I had a massive platform, I pray that God would be glorified. But even if he doesn't, and this becomes, you know, whatever, nothing, still be faithful, man.
00:58:21
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:58:22
Kary Oberbrunner
It's not up to me. Like, I think i think i think that's what God's telling me. Like, dude, if you think that's going to happen through you, think again. I'm out of control. Like, I don't have to strive.
00:58:33
Kary Oberbrunner
I can't make it happen. i've already I've already reached out to TEDx, Google, 11 Labs, Canva. like you know I'm not one to just sit around.
00:58:44
Kary Oberbrunner
But you know i'm not I'm not shooting the breeze like, oh, yeah i got I got a meeting with the CEO of Google. like Who knows? i don't know. It's beyond me. Can't make it happen.
00:58:56
Kary Oberbrunner
Maybe they'll listen to this podcast and be like, hey, we need to call that, dude.
00:59:03
Steven J. Neuner
Here we go, man.
00:59:03
Todd Pinkston
awesome.
00:59:06
Steven J. Neuner
Hey, if we could.
00:59:07
Kary Oberbrunner
But let me lead let me let me close with let me close with this, Stephen, really quick.
00:59:09
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah. Please.
00:59:11
Kary Oberbrunner
Joseph.
00:59:14
Kary Oberbrunner
Joseph, one day, is in prison. God's forgotten me. I stand up and turn down sexual temptation. I'm thrown in jail.
00:59:27
Kary Oberbrunner
got you know My dreams are a bunch of crap. you know My brothers hate me. I mean, blah, blah, blah, blah. blah And then the the same day is in the palace promoted to second in command of the whole country.
00:59:49
Kary Oberbrunner
like that's what you Like that's what could happen to your listeners.
00:59:53
Kary Oberbrunner
You know? Prison to palace one day, Boom.
00:59:58
Todd Pinkston
what God can do. m
01:00:00
Steven J. Neuner
Amen.
01:00:00
Todd Pinkston
he loves He loves when the odds are stacked against him. mean, as you read through stories time after time in scripture, it's at the time we look around as people and think, well, nothing else Nothing else can happen.
01:00:12
Todd Pinkston
It's all bad here.
01:00:13
Kary Oberbrunner
That's right.
01:00:14
Todd Pinkston
god God shows up in a way only he can, and he gets the glory.
01:00:16
Kary Oberbrunner
That's right.
01:00:17
Todd Pinkston
and So, yeah. Kerry, how can people find you? They can find your opus on the on the website.
01:00:23
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah.
01:00:23
Todd Pinkston
How can they find you? How can they publish a book through you? How can they go to school and have you as their professor?
01:00:26
Kary Oberbrunner
Yeah, yeah.
01:00:28
Todd Pinkston
I mean, want i want I want the pathway to Kerry widen.
01:00:29
Kary Oberbrunner
I'm
01:00:33
Kary Oberbrunner
at...
01:00:34
Steven J. Neuner
Impact filter.
01:00:35
Kary Oberbrunner
a matt
01:00:35
Steven J. Neuner
We know that. Impact filter.
01:00:38
Kary Oberbrunner
I love love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cedarville, so glad that they allow a full-time entrepreneur to be a professor because they didn't have to. And I told them, if you don't want me, that then that's okay. But this is how I come.
01:00:53
Kary Oberbrunner
Cedarville is awesome. One of the few universities who actually like hold the word of God. I really believe that. IgnitingSouls.com slash apply if people are interested in publishing.
01:01:05
Kary Oberbrunner
We're not the right fit for everybody, but you know there's a certain type of author. InstantIP.app. Use it. It's not in the App Store. We don't want anyone getting between you and your IP, but protect your first idea free. InstantIP.app.
01:01:22
Kary Oberbrunner
Sweet man. You guys are awesome. I'm really proud of you. And when does your book come out and how can people go on your mountain wilderness trip?
01:01:24
Steven J. Neuner
Thank you.
01:01:31
Kary Oberbrunner
Let's hear that. Come on.
01:01:32
Todd Pinkston
Let's go.
01:01:33
Steven J. Neuner
Go ahead, Tosh.
01:01:33
Todd Pinkston
and book Book comes out when Igniting Souls publishes it. wait we we just We just turned in the edits on the first manuscript.
01:01:39
Steven J. Neuner
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
01:01:44
Todd Pinkston
Dude, we're pumped. Can't wait for can't wait for that. We're shooting for like a late April launch day.
01:01:49
Kary Oberbrunner
We.
01:01:50
Todd Pinkston
And man, people can find backpacking excursions that truly provide freedom and ignite the soul at wayforwardadventures.com where we catalyze transformative Christ-centered experiences.
01:01:58
Kary Oberbrunner
way forward adventures yeah
01:02:02
Todd Pinkston
And man, I couldn't, the you know, to me, the the idea of what you talked about, you know, WayForward is like a blip on the radar of what we need. And as we get more connected, I mean, we're wearing two watches these days. I mean, we are so connected,
01:02:18
Todd Pinkston
And and it's great and it has its purpose, but when it bleeds over and not many people take care of their their health and their sleep like you do, we just we burn it from the time we wake up and check our email to the time we go to bed and we're watching YouTube videos as we fall asleep.
01:02:35
Todd Pinkston
There is no space to to be reminded of who we are. There's no space to be you know for our identity to be found in the Lord and to hear those nudges. And so you know whether it's WayForward or something else, yeah, just like you're saying, we are creators designed by a grand designer.
01:02:54
Todd Pinkston
And we find joy when we can align with who he's designed us to be and live that out.
01:02:54
Kary Oberbrunner
a
01:02:58
Todd Pinkston
And so, man, thanks for thanks for the encouragement on this.
01:03:03
Steven J. Neuner
Thanks, Larry.
01:03:03
Todd Pinkston
i yeah
01:03:03
Kary Oberbrunner
Thanks for having me, guys. Proud of you.
01:03:05
Steven J. Neuner
Love you, buddy.
01:03:05
Todd Pinkston
Dude, love them love the way you talk, love the way you challenge.
01:03:08
Todd Pinkston
It's been an honor to kind of walk alongside of you in the book writing process and hope to do it a lot more. So, Kerry, thanks for your time today, brother.
01:03:14
Kary Oberbrunner
Thanks for having me, guys.
01:03:15
Steven J. Neuner
Thank you for all of your help and the team's help as well.
01:03:19
Steven J. Neuner
Love you, brother.
01:03:22
Kary Oberbrunner
Thank you.