Transcript
Speaker: I called Garrett Weber Gale, the CEO of Acton. And i remember where I was. I was in the hallway at Intervest and was like, yeah, i I need to back out of the the onboarding process. I'm not supposed to go to this program.
Speaker: Garrett's like, what? Dude, you're in. Like, we we, like, come up, do the do the process. But, like, we we want you you. You are a part of the program. Please don't do this. was like, I... man, I cannot, like, this is not right for me.
Speaker: I really trusted God in that. Like I needed to follow it I think God just has to teach me physically. I learned physically, ah I experienced God in very physical ways. And, um, so I think, I think that was, I don't sense that as like a harsh God. It's just like a, Hey, this is how I just grab them a little bit. The audibles in life. I don't like sports can feel different.
Speaker: um Like, oh, cool. Yeah. Audible and help them win. But in life for some reason, I think people are so loaded. We talk about this so loaded with fear. And when you call an audible in life, it it it just evokes that fear inside of them because it's filled with like, what if like, oh, I can't I can't control it. I can't yeah be over this thing. And so um it's scary.
Speaker: Welcome to Unstuck and Alive. I'm Todd Pinkston. And I'm Steven Nooner. We have watched it happen. Fear gives way to faith. Isolation melt into belonging.
Speaker: The stuck places break open and life begins to flow again. On this show, we sit around the fire, so to speak, and listen to the real stories of everyday heroes.
Speaker: Men and women who have found freedom and stepped into the unforced purpose they were made for. If you're tired of striving, if you're longing to breathe deep, break free, and come alive again, then you're in the right spot.
Speaker: This is Unstuck and Alive. Let's go. Yeah, Todd, come get your free love sack. oh It's probably not as cool as the Pro Tour one that Andrew experienced. Thierry, did you say that the Pro Tour was sponsored by Love Sack?
Speaker: Love Sack and Chipotle the same year. So the athlete tent was just stack of burritos and Love Sacks. so I love how the y the X Games gets people ready for their ah their their competitions with Love Sacks and Chipotles as well as the...
Speaker: Yeah, like yeah or I mean, I mean, think about like the Fort Worth Pro Tour stop in like mid-July. It's like 105 you're just sweating, ah eating burritos, laying on love sack.
Speaker: Well, on that note, welcome to Unstuck and Alive. We're here with Andrew Deerhood. Andrew spent his glad to be here his early career starting in pro wakeboarding and then spent some time oil and gas.
Speaker: Went from Houston to Fayetteville, Arkansas with his bride and three kiddos and now runs Bend Advisors. He'll get into what all that is, but they help people find their way around the bend into what the Lord is calling them to and leading great companies. and so Andrew, thanks for being with us today.
Speaker: Hey, thanks for thanks for having me. i'm I'm excited to be here with you boys. Come on. Hey, tell us about the pro tour. You tell us how you got there. You started started wakeboarding as a kid and then ended up, um you know, in a sport that was kind of on the front end of coming around. Right.
Speaker: Yeah. So um we got a boat when I was 11 years old and ah my parents had always wanted one. um ah They grew up on the water. And so.
Speaker: um I'm the middle of of three kids. I've got an older sister and a younger sister. And so, um yeah, we we we finally were able to get a boat and ah our family, we're like, we're like lake rats. I mean, we we really spent time out on the water. So you might think of like a weekend warrior as we would call it, like a, you know, maybe a Friday night or mostly a Saturday or a Sunday. We were, we're the family that's like,
Speaker: You know, dad might pick us up from from school. ah You know, he's self-employed. we'd We'd go run out to the lake for a couple hours before dark or after dinner for a couple hours. And so, you know, we're like the...
Speaker: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, you know, or Tuesday, Thursday, like you name it, we're going to be the best days on the lake. There's nobody there. Oh, I mean, I'm so spoiled. Like my view of going to the lake is ruined forever. So ah but yeah, we we got a boat um and ah I just naturally You know, ah we got a wakeboard. i I have a gymnastics background. So did gymnastics to like seventh grade when I was like, I think I like the girls in this tumbling cat class. and
Speaker: i I now feel embarrassed about being in gymnastics. So let me get out of this board now. um ah But because of that, once we got a boat and a wakeboard,
Speaker: um That's like the year 2000. And i just naturally was like, I got to try to go upside down. yeah And um genuinely, i I had to train hard. There's no doubt. But um it was just raw, raw kind of it's just either have it or you don't. And I had talent and gifting and I picked up i advanced very quickly.
Speaker: um And so, ah yeah, it just really naturally came to me. And so I loved I loved it. And. um ah by uh 2003 had you know um a couple of team managers for some big brands connelly wakeboards you might think of connelly skis but their team manager said hey you you need to consider taking this more seriously.
Speaker: And, um, that, that year, actually the, the, uh, a guy named Andrew Atkinson, who was the world champion of that year, he, he happened to to be on Connelly's wakeboard team. And he said, Hey, seriously, you need to, you need to go after this thing. You've you've got some talent. So was like, Oh, well, okay. So I went to a couple of competitions and did well and, um, quickly, uh, went from there. Um,
Speaker: Joined the the Mastercraft Pro Wakeboard Tour in 2004 in the junior pro men's division. So they have two divisions on the pro tour. It's kind of like this chance for up and coming athletes to to warm up to the big leagues, if you will. So it's kind of like the minors. So junior pro men ah for for younger guys under 18.
Speaker: um and then i moved into the pro men's division when i turned 18. and um so i had seen most of the united states by the time i graduated high school um i think just just around 40 41 states so traveled a ton was making money ah had four big brands that i was a team athlete for so i don't know for for for for listeners today you would think of like an athlete during that time period, pre-social media is like your minimum viable product.
Speaker: It's a chance to expose your product to the world is like through an athlete. And so, um, I was a paid team athlete. You might think of like NIL of that time period, um, for brands like, uh, Nautique boats was one of my sponsors, um, uh, reef sandals, kicker audio Connelly wakeboards. And so,
Speaker: It was amazing to get paid to do what you love at such a young age was really cool. And I didn't make, it's not life-changing money, but when you're, you know, you're making, don't know, it's like 20, $30,000 and you're under 18, you feel like a millionaire. And while writing, while doing exactly what you love.
Speaker: I mean, passion paired with opportunity when you're that age kind of and like it genuine it's it's a struggle ever since then to say, oh, my gosh, am I ever going to have that moment where both of those two things collide? So ah blessing the curse. But yeah, um had a blast traveling. I mean, being a team athlete, you like I sat in a meeting with the head of engineering and ah chief revenue officer and president of Nautique.
Speaker: 12 athletes with with the leaders of this company and they're asking us what are customers saying about our product this year. So what a neat learning experience at a young age. like I think I just went into adulthood assuming every company is that thoughtful about what they're making and how they're thinking about building products. So wonderful learning experience along with the competition, the drive,
Speaker: I finished 36th in the world, um which was just, ah i'm I'm grateful for it. So i had a I had a lot of fun. Made a lot of good friendships all along the way. what What do you feel like you learned from that?
Speaker: On the positive, on the negative, spiritually, professionally? I mean, those are experiences that most people don't get. And yeah you know at a young age, what do what do you feel like you gleaned from that that's been shaping in your life?
Speaker: um You know, good question. i it did feel kind of I did feel kind of alone. grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I was born in Fayetteville. grew up in Springdale, the the neighboring city. Got a chance to play football in high school for a very notable coach, Gus Malzahn, and, um, to go to Gus Malzahn and say, hey I'm quitting football for wakeboarding my junior year. I'm a running back and doing well. And he's like what are you what are you doing? You know? And, um, but, uh, to, I just, I've always been kind of a contrarian. I've, I kind of marched to the beat of my own drum a little bit and, um, that I can talk about where that comes from. ah
Speaker: and, uh, You know, i that there's that question, if you knew God standing with you, what would you do, right? And I've had an amazing earthly father who, when I began to walk with God, um Emmanuel, i I don't have a perfect grasp on that word, but I've got a pretty solid grasp on it because I've had an earthly father be with me.
Speaker: And so i think I genuinely, the the image of God's with me, what am I going to go do? um, allows me to lot of, I really think it gave me a ton of freedom to, to say I'm quitting football to go pursue what I think he's moving me towards.
Speaker: And I know it's different, but God's with me. Like, I don't, I'm not afraid of this. So, um, Andrew, just real quick, if if I could just, I'm curious, cause sometimes we miss this.
Speaker: Um, just two or three things real quick. Like what made your dad a great earthly father? The, the literally like being with my dad genuinely just wants to be with his kids, all of us. It's not just me. um ah He chose to own his own painting contracting business to prioritize being with us. He could build his own schedule.
Speaker: um I know that, that ah I know that my dad had to work some late nights. I remember waking up at like 10 PM and walking in seeing him like crunching bills and,
Speaker: you know, probably, probably writing checks and breaking necks. I don't know. But, but like, I, I genuinely, um, I had a very attuned mom and dad.
Speaker: Um, my dad included, like very much attuned to my heart, my needs. Like I, I can say that I really can. Um, uh, I never felt this like my dad's business is more important than us.
Speaker: Um, he, he invited us in like there are times he had to go finish up a job on a Saturday and he'd be like, Hey buddy, you want to hop in the car with me? We'll, you know, we'll, we'll go to a job site and we'll, we'll make some fun out of it. And I'd, I'd love to crawl. I'd crawl all over these new, new big custom homes. He's painting and, and, uh, but he just brought me into his world too. And, um, all the way up into like,
Speaker: ah junior high years where like you're starting to lose that natural, you know I'm a teenager, and but he still would make the efforts that are very um ah probably not not traditional. like We had a fishing boat as well as wakeboard boat. but so i mean We loved the lake. like It's you know like, oh, wow, we can also go at nighttime. Let's fish. so ah I vividly remember being 13, 14.
Speaker: thirteen fourteen i loved bass fishing and And he'd be like, hey, buddy, after after dinner tonight, um it's Friday night. Why don't we go fish? Like you and me, we'll go, you know, we'll head out about 8 or 9 p.m. And let's just fish till like, i don't know, midnight or 1 a.m.
Speaker: So when you're like that age, you love staying up late. I love fishing and the adventure of like nighttime fishing. Is that a boat? And so my dad would just... just spend time with me and ask thoughtful questions. It wasn't overly purposeful. Like he'd tell you, like, it was not like this.
Speaker: Okay. When we go to, go to Lake, I'm going to ask you five spiritual questions, but he would genuinely just engage with me. So, um, yeah. So, yeah. just why I just want to skip over that because I, that's,
Speaker: uncommon enough that I do. I think it's easy to gloss over, especially if you've had that. And those of us that haven't, it's like, Hey, how simple is it? How, you know, how accessible is a son sitting here saying that he had a great father? That was really too. Yeah.
Speaker: Thank you. Yeah. Oh yeah. um I'm grateful for it. It's a, it is a, it is, it's very much for me, like a generational, if you will, like a wealth transfer, like that I'm wealthy in that category and I want to bless my kids with that and pass it down. And sir gam so.
Speaker: And that the theme of family is going to be playing out throughout your story. i mean, even even what you do right now and and family enterprise and, you know, we'll get to that. But I love how that started early in in your career. So.
Speaker: when did you When did you walk away from wakeboarding? So um I began to ah back up a little bit. I began to walk with God when I was about 13 years old. like It just became real to me. Yeah,
Speaker: i i ah yeah my faith became real. I could sense conviction. My whole friend group changed. No judgment on those folks, but I was just like, hey, i something in me is off about decisions being made.
Speaker: And i i found an amazing group of friends and ah and a mentor named Matt who were just with me through all my wakeboarding days. um And ah I share that to say,
Speaker: um as I was walking with God in those early years, I began to listen to podcasts on my like Gen 2 or Gen 3 iPod, you know, like the scroller wheel.
Speaker: and i would download, um I mean, I'll i'll tell you exactly where I was, but I was listening to Matt Chandler on a podcast. um my so My story is contrarian because of wakeboarding into the early college years. I went my freshman year and I hated school.
Speaker: I was tired of learning. i had no, I felt rudderless. Like, why am I here? And I don't want to waste mom and dad's money. And I'm not motivated. It's not even like a, Hey, you're really smart and good at this subject. Just grind and bear it. Like,
Speaker: um It was a, it was like, well, man, I'm just, I'm directionless here. And um made a 1.8 GPA my freshman year and told my mom and dad, I got to do something else. And my dad's like, I see it. I get that.
Speaker: Yeah, I believe you that. Yes. um You will do something else. You're like, yeah, i don't know. You're really good. That actually takes skill. That takes a certain skill set.
Speaker: Why didn't you drop that class? like I don't know. I think I'm supposed to just keep it. ah um my My mom had a hard time with it, but i I share that story. I remember going to my dad and saying, well, um'm I'm wakeboarding. I love what I'm doing. I've been named up-and-coming writer.
Speaker: I'm beginning to make a little money. i really enjoy what we're doing here. that's where my time energy and focus is. i mean, at one point in school, I remember having to, I brought a list, you know, because our, our, our schedule as an athlete, like are you're kind of mapped out for you.
Speaker: Um, I remember, I remember taking my list of like dates. I can't be in class to a professor. That was like my smallest efforts of caring was like, here's the dates I'm gone. And imagine telling any professor, like, you know, the ego, like you're missing my class, you know, like, how dare you? so it just never sat well. It was like, I'm, I'm sorry. Like, this is just, um this is my schedule. And so I, I, uh, I share that to say wakeboarding is a thing. School is not, um, because I was walking with God.
Speaker: i really sensed this desire to be in ministry at some point. Um, I really thought that might be part of my journey. And so, um,
Speaker: ah I told my dad, i was like, hey, i'm I think I need to take some time off for school. And it really felt like a not forever, it's just not now is what I kind of sensed from God. And so um ah I had already lined up a ministry internship with a a college ministry at the University of Arkansas.
Speaker: And so I just said, Dad, this is my plan. Like i um I've already gotten approval from the the the director of the college ministry. And I basically went to this guy's name is Josh Foley art. And um I know you've met him, Todd. And I said, I went to Josh and said, Hey,
Speaker: is there any chance I can just like learn from you and learn, learn about ministry? And Josh was like, absolutely. ah can't pay you, but, um, hop in under my wing and we will do everything. You will, you will learn about event planning. You're going to, you're going to teach on our Sunday night, uh, college service.
Speaker: Um, you're going to lead some of our volunteers. You'll set up and tear down the, you know, the the actual event space. Um, he was doing some pre-marriage counseling at one point he said hey i've already asked a couple if you can sit in on our session so you can see what um you know young newlyweds and and and their journey could look like so i got like a two semester um know, just drank from a fire hose of like, oh, this is what vocational ministry looks like.
Speaker: And really a neat learning experience. So I was, I'm, wakeboarding's paying my bills. ah Along with, I had like a part-time job at this amazing bike shop. I love, I love cycling in the off season for wakeboarding.
Speaker: Keeps the legs fresh. So, so. so so And like, and random 15 mile runs. Is that, was that kind of a part of the, was that heart a part of the rest of the book?
Speaker: I worked out this morning thinking i had this awful workout this morning. I even thought about you, Todd. I said, this is kind of similar. Noon, you got a deer head. Deer head came up to visit way forward this summer.
Speaker: And, and I was in the middle of my training. He was like, Hey, what are we doing tomorrow morning? i was like, I don't know. I got, I got 15. I need to knock out. And he's like, I'm in. And I was like, wait I like was like, when was the last time you ran? He was like, uh, I mean, I kind of, I work out with a group, but, uh, I don't run much. And I was like, okay. I mean, yeah a it's Cold start. Haven't run for over a month.
Speaker: Dude, he started out kind of walking. I'm like, all right, let's hit a jog. And dude, like, sprints. And I'm like, hey, hey, hey, slow down, brother. Slow down. Slow down. We're in it for the long haul.
Speaker: he made He made it to the turnaround really well. And then on the way back, ah the old knee starts going out. we get We get like a mile back to from the house. he's like, hey, man, you go ahead. ah I'm going to walk this thing out. I've never had like a leg quit on me. I was like, it i can't it won't do what it's supposed to do.
Speaker: and And then Aaron's driving to work and passing me and she kind of gives me a wave like, good job. It was so good. That's funny. man. How long was the recovery on that? no Weeks. Leg. Leg like.
Speaker: Which is funny because I texted him like a couple days later, man. How you feeling? And I got that. Dude, I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Great. Great. Awesome. Back in the gym. Living through Colorado. I hear a Toby Keith song playing in the background.
Speaker: i'm Not as good as it was. That was it. I guess you can't cold start 15. so Hey, man. You did it. ah It was awesome.
Speaker: um Right. You're riding bikes in the off season, doing some college ministry. Yeah. So, um, and, and so I'm listening to podcasts and, you know, I love wakeboarding. didn't sense burnout, but i did sense.
Speaker: I genuinely began to have visions of like, I i don't think I want to be a professional athlete at 30 or 35. I do want to enjoy the lake with kids. If I have those one day in a spouse and I don't think I can enjoy it with a family right now.
Speaker: If y'all went to the lake with me, if you've ever been with an athlete when they're in their, in like their, their spot, their sweet spot, or like, this is their place of focus. It's their job. It's just different. Like, um, you know, I go to Lake with friends and have fun, but, uh, like on a Saturday, but if a friend came with me on like a Tuesday morning at 6am, it's not like we're just like, for me, it wasn't like GM session. at the lake. Let's swim. It's like, no, this is I'm training, you know? And so,
Speaker: Um, I was, part of me was like, i want to be able to turn that off one day and not be in this progressive mindset of good enough never is. And how can I improve? And I'm training and just enjoy the lake with my kids. And so I could feel that I could also sense this ministry thing. And so, um, there was some like early processing of what, what's the next season look like if it's not wakeboarding.
Speaker: Um, and so listen to a podcast by Matt Chandler from the village church after a Sunday night service. um that that we just led. And I'm in i'm in the car.
Speaker: i think I was like picking up on a podcast i I'd listened to earlier, whatever. And I sensed the spirit just say, ah hey, I want you to have an open hand with wakeboarding. And it was one of those just quiet voices and and one of those deals where I was like, okay, yeah, like, I think I heard God, but who knows, i'll I'll journey on like, okay, that's living with me, but um there's nothing right in front of me. I didn't It wasn't like quit tomorrow. it was just like, hey, just want you have an opening with it.
Speaker: um That spring, there was a, there was a, our like opening qualifier event for the year. I broke my wrist the the morning. ah ah I was flying out that evening for the opening event in Orlando that morning, a final training session broke my wrist behind the boat.
Speaker: um And I was like, huh, all right, well, pay attention. um what what's god want from this um because of that i was a pre-qualified athlete i would be able to join the pro tour halfway through the season um so there is still this like it's not totally clear yet but okay i'm i'm paying attention to like what god might be doing and i've learned in my life sometimes he kind of has to um ah we talked about this with one of my board members will is like i'm i'm like a
Speaker: I think God just has to teach me physically. I learn physically. ah I experienced God in very physical ways. And, um, so I think, I think that was, I don't sense that as like a harsh God. It's just like a, Hey, this is how I just grab them a little bit. Like, so, uh,
Speaker: During that time, I was a team athlete for Nautique Boats. Nautique Boats to this day were Crack Craft, the parent company. Their mission is build boats to the glory of God. And so for athletes, you don't have to be a Christian, but you need to know that they're going to ship you around the U.S. to Christian camps that they sponsor.
Speaker: So I'm not competing. I've got this love for ministry, and I'm brought to Austin, Texas. Austin, Texas, there's a church there, Austin Ridge Bible Church.
Speaker: that This is the coolest thing ever, but um the the church is located in a lake community. It's right there um kind of between Westlake and Lake Travis area. And so you've got Lake Austin.
Speaker: ah for For listeners who aren't familiar, Austin has these two lakes, Lake Austin and and Lake Travis. And so um this church was like, we have a lot of members who have wakeboard boats that Instead of shaming them for having those, why don't we just use use the gifts they have? Like they've been given this.
Speaker: yeah And so Austin Ridge is a very generous church. And so members with Nautiques, Malibus, what Mastercraft, whatever would say, yeah, sure, i'll I'll donate my boat for an entire week so that the student ministry can bring middle school kids out ah for a day camp wakeboarding. that's and um And then the high school ministry, it'll be ah it'll be a discipleship training program where they'll they will train high schoolers to articulate the gospel in a clear manner for a middle schooler, as well as their own story.
Speaker: And so I'm walking into this camp because Nautique gets wind of this and they're like yeah we'll ship you five boats from the local dealership. And so we would have anywhere from 25 to 30 wakeboard boats, which equate to every boat, you know, you think you add, you can add like 10 or 15, 20 more kids. So 300 middle schoolers come out for a day camp.
Speaker: It's an overnight camp for training like a hundred high schoolers. And I'm like, this is the most amazing thing ever. and um, and so I just had an amazing week there at camp driving home in the rain back to Arkansas. Uh, I didn't fly to that one.
Speaker: And, um, man god just like i began to weep and it wasn't a um i didn't hear his voice other than like i began to weep and realize i think god's calling me into ministry and there's a chance to be involved with austin ridge and um i had tossed them a message about being involved and uh so i got to go down the next summer and do a ministry internship.
Speaker: I'm still like not in school. I'm traveling with wakeboarding. And, um but I want to be down in Austin doing some ministry. And I have wakeboard friends in Austin. This would be a great kind of a, I'm doing both. God hadn't shut the door yet on wakeboarding, but um but I'm going to kind of do this dual thing.
Speaker: And so moved to Austin in ah April of 2000.
Speaker: When was that? Oh my gosh, was that 07 or 08? It must have been 08. So moved to Austin um where I established some wonderful friendships and and began to do a ministry internship and student ministry at Austin Ridge, preparing for that year's wakeboard camp and I'm traveling, wakeboarding.
Speaker: It's an awesome, awesome time. That fall, um the middle school director is asked to step down and um i had i had begun to do a little more than most of the interns and so the high school director his name was timothy atik ta um he said andrew would you be willing to step into the interim director position and i just man i i sensed god was like yeah this is for you and um uh i i moved into that role and after about six months they were interviewing candidates
Speaker: TA came to me and was like, I want you to be, if if you'd be willing, i'd I'd like for you to be the full-time middle school director. And um I knew that that was like an ask in which I would need to make some decisions. And I just, man, I just hung up wakeboarding. I ah trusted God. It was, um again, if there's like that same narrative, like high school football, you're on an amazing team. What are you doing? Like, i'm quitting. I'm going pursue wakeboarding.
Speaker: um God's building a story here. and then And then here I am. Nothing is really wrong with my career. um i and I'm like, i think I think God wants me in ministry. And so ah it was it was a little challenging, but I really – I was so grateful to do it. And um I was passionate about ministry. And so um I called – I had like two contracts that still had another two years on them.
Speaker: I called those team managers and was like, i'm I need to – I need to, I need, I need to ah quit on my contract. And they're like, well, what's going on? i'm like, uh, vocational ministry, a youth pastor. They're like, what's ministry? You know, like, so um, uh, a wild thing, but, um, yeah. So, uh, I hung up, I hung up wakeboarding.
Speaker: Um, They were, they they were great. Like I, I had good relationships with, with our team managers. And, um, so, you know, but they deal with like young athletes, things are always changing. That's not a surprise. Um, uh, so, uh, a little bummed, but, um, also you want to think about like wakeboarding at that point, big evolutionary time. i like,
Speaker: Early 2000s, wakeboarding and extreme sports in general are taking off. You have X Games is backed by ESPN, a lot of marketing dollars, big marketing dollars, GM, um Chevrolet, ah Mountain Dew, Vans, like big deep pockets coming into the sport.
Speaker: A lot of money. Athletes are getting paid well. um but by 08 you've got the financial crisis and so everyone's pulling back boat manufacturers my my contracts were being slashed in half one them was like gear only no pay you know and so um uh so there was like already this like natural thing in the water so that when i was like hey i'm i really feel led somewhere else um i it was a it was an easier transition but um The whole sport was evolving. like No more middle class boats. That was the beginning.
Speaker: Nautique was moving into R&D on saying, we need to birth $100,000 to $200,000 wakeboard $300,000 plus now. i mean it's crazy. yeah really have Wow. Yeah, there are new the the new Paragon this year, I think, will be like $650,000. It's nuts. so they said They still send you one a year. That's that's the coolest of the whole thing. Yeah, yeah i yeah i kept that I kept that part of it. kept that. God, you can have everything else but not my D-contract. Is it wakeboard for you now? i just want to know. Can I buy this thing and like just jump wake to wake without like –
Speaker: blindfulness The boats are unbelievable. The call from Nautique to Nooner and I, ah i mean, they they offered us kind of two lower tier boats, you know, for yeah for this to have you on. so i it's this Is that the one you got? Yeah. told me out them They told me I'd have to pay a million dollars because they never want my my name or face associated with their boat.
Speaker: So whatever. Oh, so fun. to i want to i want to kind of drill down on... The statement you made. So, you know, you're 20 at the time. When does the wakeboard camp happen Austin? Are you 20, 21? First time I went there was 19, then I'm 21 now.
Speaker: um and then i am i amm twenty one when I'm there in Austin. Okay. So, so you're 21 years old. You decided not to go to college. You, uh, you know, you dropped out of college. You are, you know, you're pursuing, I think in so many ways, the narrative could have been like God's opening doors. I'm taking this path. It's going to, you know, The the stars are going to align, the dominoes are going to fall and you're on a training, you know, run and you break your wrist. And for a lot of people, I mean, i remember when I had injuries in high school, it was like, whoa, God, like, what what are you doing? I mean, why yeah this? Like I, we can go into the woe is me. We can go into the victim mindset and,
Speaker: and you had this you know this this this statement, pay attention. um what like how did you how how How was that in your repertoire of you know way paradigms to view it? And I think that's a huge one where um you know like what can we what can we glean from that moment of how can we avoid the pitfall of spiraling and and look at it through the the lens of like, man, maybe God is up to something here.
Speaker: Yeah, man, I'm probably going to beat a dead horse here. But when you've had like. I've had two attuned parents that really cared for me well. We'll get into a part where that was a challenge in my teenage years. But um like, if you know God is with you and.
Speaker: um His word and his character, like. it is trustworthy it's true and it's given to us in love uh and i've had an earthly father show me that kindness and that love and i've had a great mentor same character like i think my view of god is like no he's he's loving and kind um above all else like he's he's gentle this is not um you know uh yeah there's some identity stuff i was working through and it's tough like being a
Speaker: i mean I remember feeling some shame and guilt about like, man, um why am I different? Like why? Like everyone else is like, and for a listener, like Northwest Arkansas, but you know, we have corporate Tyson, JB Hunt and Walmart and a very common social, social cultural narrative is like, just go get a degree. It doesn't matter what and get you a job at the big three. You'll have a great career, make good money.
Speaker: That's just a playbook. And so for me to be disruptive and like, Who's this, who's this kid? Like, it's, you know, ah what are you doing? And um so I wrestled with some of that identity, but, but I didn't sense it from God. It was more like, well, how do I navigate this? I mean, I remember having like a, I had a pastor say like, Hey, it's unwise not to go to college. What are you doing?
Speaker: Like, man, i don't know. I'm trying to follow the Lord. you know, and so that's a tricky one to navigate. You're like, well, he's, he's wise. He does walk with God. Like, what do I do here? You know, but so,
Speaker: so I just, man, I really, um I'm not trying to spin it. Like, uh, like those are hard seasons to be different. And, um, I'm not making a lot of money and it's, you know, it like, but I really, I really sense God's with me and this is just the movement, the direction of life. And I can't always explain it to people. And that's hard too. It's like,
Speaker: You know, that's a, that's a tough thing, um, uh, to be contrarian to kind of, you know, move in a different pace life. I mean, Todd, even a few months ago, you're, we're talking about the board and like, I have to call you. This is different. This is not what I intended for. so anyway, um,
Speaker: That's when, i mean, you're referring to when you quit, when you quit the board before you started, you know, is that, is that what you're, is that what you're referring to? You know, after I took you on a run, you said, um i'm so out on this. I didn't realize. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah Really. I was just afraid of what you, if if that was just hanging out with you, then what is a board retreat like? So, yeah. ah ah so And dude, I want to get to that. I don't know answered your question. Absolutely.
Speaker: um And, in you know, I've actually part of our part of our run together, I got to hear your you know more of your story. When you got 15 miles, you got plenty of time. But um man, i learned i look at I look at you right now and and so many people would. It's like you've got you know you've got a ah successful company. You know, you launched into Bend Advisors.
Speaker: Yeah. I'm making jokes. if You launched into Bend Advisors. It's going really well. and you know, you could look back at that and say, man, the everything must have just gone really well for this guy throughout.
Speaker: And then you start to pull back the curtain and it's like, you know, you started in a professional career and, and, you know, broke your wrist, that could have been a downfall. You felt like the Lord opened the door to ministry and you jump in on that. It's like your your heart was drawn to something. You spent some time in oil and gas. You, you know, spent some time, and you know, with another coaching practice that you ended up moving to Northwest Arkansas. That didn't work out. I mean, all kinds of things that, ah you know, were like you were going down a path and then there was a slight detour. And you have this attitude that I i admire of,
Speaker: man, God must be up to something here. And I'm going to be attuned to that, not resistant to that. And you're also really successful and you are around, you coach people that are really successful. You don't get you don't get to be successful without a sense of grit to push through the you know the the hiccups along the way.
Speaker: and To be attuned to the Lord, you have to see the hiccups as potential, man, what could God be doing in this? And so that I'd love just as you continue to share the story of, you know, how do you navigate that? Because I think that's a huge question we ask is, you know, we want to get there and we want to power through the things we need to power through.
Speaker: Yet along the way, when you sit down with men like you and hear their story, there's places where it became clear to them this wasn't just a you know a slight hiccup in the road. it's It's a detour sign that the Lord's saying, hey, I want you to go this way.
Speaker: Yeah. i've i've had I've had seasons where it feels more so like it does feel stuck and we can get into it. But you talk about the grit. I want to clarify something. like You're right. There are moments...
Speaker: Look, that it has to be discernment or the Holy Spirit. Like, I remember I took a really hard fall um and stuck... stuck i used to like ride well I used to ride like this with my like lower lip tucked in You know, I'm like focused.
Speaker: And I came down that's on a landing. That's not good for a chin a chi chin impact. ah So I came down really hard and put my chin to knee and put my teeth through my lip and like...
Speaker: I think I was knocked out for a second where, man, I came up to the water disoriented. i thought I'd lost all my, I was just numb. My whole mouth. um You could put like one of those like boba tea straws through my lip, you know, like, it's just like a, ah and I mean, painful, gritty athlete kind of endurance. Yes, I had that. And that was, that was a few years before,
Speaker: ah You know, and you I could have interpreted that as like, is that God physically waking me up? No, that wasn't the moment. The spirit wasn't speaking to me in that moment about it. So um there are moments to be gritty and and like that's part of life.
Speaker: ah But there's that attunement to, well, some of those moments, maybe God is trying to like, hey, um I need you here. I need i need to pay attention. So yeah. How do you coach people to navigate that?
Speaker: You know, if you've got a business guy in front of you that's running a company and trying to decide, man, it seems like this market's closing down or this is happening personally. You know, how do you how do you navigate those things with somebody sitting in front of you to to discern, is this, no, you just need to you need to power through. You need to keep taking one step in front of the other. Or is this, man, I need to look up and see what's God doing here? And how can I yeah how can i navigate around it?
Speaker: ah Look, I'm gonna be honest. I'm not a guy that over-indexes on frameworks all the time. Oh, here's the solution to that. It's not that clear. It's not. and And I'd be lying if I pretended like, oh, I'm i'm the guy with the answers. you know um ah What I will say is that in in our in our work at Bend, we are a board-governed,
Speaker: coaching and advising firm and so for me i said let's let's invite real counsel into these decisions that's a big thing um a council of many is wise and so i abandoned the model of coaching of like let me be this guru on my own and i've got the answers or i'm going advise on on subjects um i just said i don't for me i'm not saying that model's wrong but When I'm working with someone who's leading an organization is considering layoffs, I am stewarding that moment with the CEO.
Speaker: um I just think my word should be held accountable to someone else and something bigger than myself. And so we developed this to be a board-governed ah entity. So all the work I do with clients has oversight today.
Speaker: yeah um When someone signs on to work with us, ah our objectives on a monthly and quarterly basis is is brought before board. they They have full line of sight. They can, I mean, if I were recording this Zoom, a board a board member could pull it up in our in our our tech and see the conversation that I had if they wanted to, um or they can get highlights. So one, there's a council component to help in that.
Speaker: uh we're really big on drawing leaders out will black and one of our board members has helped invent some helpful tools around this um but we're really big on on you know if if you will proverbs 20 verse 5 the heart of a man is deep water than another man of understanding draws it out so we're we'll push hard into the the um we're not goingnna pretend to have all the answers but we're we're definitely going to push hard on Let's ask a lot of questions around this and see what we can discover.
Speaker: For those clients who walk with God, yeah, well i'm I'm happy to to go through prayer with them, to walk in those decisions from a faith-based, wise perspective and ask them to have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that's obedient.
Speaker: For those who aren't, ah um'm I'm happy to help navigate it too. um So, yeah. Yeah, that's that's that answer your question. Absolutely.
Speaker: The answer is in you. Let's help unlock it. It's it's there. well We'll we'll find it. Yeah, and we're not gonna get it perfect. So, yeah. What what was the, you know, oil and gas and you start feeling a ah tug, you know, talk me through the the the circumstances in your life where you started realizing, man, I got a gift for something else.
Speaker: yeah well um is it helpful if we back up a little bit to kind of the the vocational run and transition to oil and gas because that sounds like a gap for some people yeah because for me i'm listening and i'm like okay so how like how'd you even get yeah ministry to oil and gas seems very ah So worked in Austin, um on staff at Austin Ridge Bible Church for five and a half years, middle school director. um Church is growing.
Speaker: I mean, student ministry, but just the whole church was just blossoming at the time. um Great staff, great leadership I'm really grateful for. um and our team was growing. I think by the time I left, we were like student ministry alone was fantastic.
Speaker: uh you know four four or five of us full-time and then three or four support ah part-time folks so you know it's like a team of seven or eight and um so man ah ah just a just a great organization i really loved my time there um i had met my wife she went to the university of texas and uh we met through some some long uh long-term really good friends and um so after she graduated she's two years younger than me I dated her all, so I met her when she was 18, a freshman at the University of Texas, and I'm 20 at the time, and we started dating not long after,
Speaker: ah and um so I dated her most of her college, like, I'm i'm her only college boyfriend, so, um like, ah She's really smart. She's by far the brains in our home. She started college with 41 hours already completed. I'm like on the, ah like, we cannot be, we are oil and water. And she had to drop the class or not drop the class, which she should have. So she broke out of the ones and into the twos and threes for GPA. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, wow, that's an interesting approach to college. Show up with some already completed. but
Speaker: You're like 4.0. I didn't even know the scale got above two. but up So, um, you know, natural guy brain, this is all like internal dialogue. I'm like, yeah, this, I really love this woman and she's already got 41 hours completed. That means she'll graduate early. I'm going to profess my love and tell her I want to marry her So like but she's a sophomore. I'll go ahead and tell her her I want to marry you. Yeah.
Speaker: And she's like, um I think I love you too and I want that, but I'm staying for all four years. So like buckle up.
Speaker: I'm already like working at church. I'm thinking career. I'm like, I'm ready to get married. Like I'm bored, you know? it So like, let's, let's do this thing. And yeah. she was like, I want to enjoy college. Like her last semester, I think she took like an internship. It wasn't even like school. But, uh, so we get married after she graduates and, um, I'm still on staff. And again, I remember that theme. Like I, I didn't just, you know, cold stiff school. Like, ah, I'm an anti-school guy. It was like, it's just a, not now. And so, um, once we got married,
Speaker: ah I kind of felt this like, man, I might want to do some school. I took a couple of evening classes and I loved learning again. Like it was just wind in my sails, focus, attention and consent, like every class. It wasn't,
Speaker: I was, I took like a political science one of those semesters. i was like, Oh wow. Unbelievable. Can you believe how our nation was built like with, with our, with our government system and like just really loved learning again.
Speaker: um, uh, I was sensing like, like vocational ministry. i had didn't sense a lifelong calling in the ministry. It it was a season. And, um, and so we began to kind of listen to that. And, um,
Speaker: I took a few classes, like I said, i loved it. And so we kind of went with this decision of like, it's kind now never if I'm going to this school thing. And a close friend of mine, another one of the pastors, Mark, was like, hey, ah my understanding, as you've said, is that your wife has money left over in her 529.
Speaker: School is free, pretty much, if you'll just go complete it and you love learning again. Eyes and ears, what's obvious? Like, let's go do this thing. So, We moved to Houston for me to finish up school.
Speaker: Believe it or not, when you're walking with that 1.8 past resume of school, you know your historical records, ah the University of Texas is less interested in you.
Speaker: so um i can't I don't understand. Guys, but look what look at my today effort. Yeah. So if I ah I was I wanted to major in geology, my brother in law is a geologist and I had had a chance to kind of spend some time with him. And he would said, I think you'd really love this this career path or this um this school, ah this this major it's earth science. You love being outside. This this is a right up your alley. So.
Speaker: University of Texas has a great program, like top tier geoscience program. So it's like, okay, I can work really hard to maybe eventually get into the Harvard of like geoscience or let's go to the University of Houston and and and and knock that thing out. So they have a great program, ah but ah it's not it's it's not UT. So um we we moved to ah ah houston My wife's from Houston.
Speaker: She can get a better paying job. It's kind of like, it it feels very like, let's just go with the logical next best step here. um I'm going knock out school and I'm running like 18 hour semesters, 20 hour semesters, winter courses.
Speaker: um The goal is like, I'm knocking this career, I mean this um this ah just college degree out and we're going to do it quickly.
Speaker: So I think we spent two and a half years or so doing school. um really challenging major uh like it's a stem program it's consistently like a top top major to um it's just hard and i loved i actually really enjoyed that it felt like kind of this if i'm gonna go i want my degree to mean something i'm i'm here for business like i'm i'm here to knock this thing out and work hard and so man it felt so good to be like 4.0 dean's list out the gates and loved learning again and kind of even redeem that old 1.8 right so um yeah i loved it uh you know the final course as a geology major is to um the capstone course i lived in a tent in colorado right right right near the the base of the collegiate peaks and i had to map a two square mile uh portion of the rockies that's your final course six week test pass or fail and so you're like
Speaker: You're like, this is unbelievable. Like, look where I am. But oh my gosh, also, if I mess any of these results, like these numbers up, pass fail. like So it's this weird sense of like one of the best moments in your life, but also this immense pressure to get it right. So ah yeah, knock out school, moved moved at like, you know, just breakneck speed to to to get through it, get back to work.
Speaker: And along the way, I had i had done an internship in the oil and gas business. um I had a couple. One was with Schlumberger and then one was with my father-in-law as a founder of an oil and gas um ah operating company and private equity firm. And so ah he said, hey, come to our come to our our internship program. We usually have 15 to 20 interns.
Speaker: Would love for you to go through it. And, um, uh, so yeah, I, I went and worked at our, what is it? A ah ah family firm, um, for a summer internship and I loved it.
Speaker: Um, it's a large company, great work culture, very well, very well known for like great people. uh, really smart, uh, people, but just a great culture. It's one like top place to work in Houston.
Speaker: Um, you know, it has all those accolades and they're growing at the time. So, um, here's the deal, what you need to know about science folks in in industry, um there's a lot of people that are way smarter than I am with geoscience and engineering degrees, like by far. um ah But if you have half a personality, you will advance so far compared to being just like a 10 pound brain, you know? And so ah i'd I'd left that internship and folks were like we loved Andrew. We'd love to have him work one day, maybe here. And so upon graduating, um I was given a job offer.
Speaker: uh to work at um our our family company i rejected it at first i was like no i'm my own man i'm gonna get a job i don't want hand out my brother-in-law had had moved from chesapeake energy in oklahoma city at the time to be in a more leadership role at um intervest is named the company and so um he came to me one day and was like pretty much like a list from hr of like here's the roles we're hiring we're hiring multiple geologists we are ramping up operations this is not a handout we we we we were going to hire great people love for you to come learn the industry and so that kind of hell i think he knew how to speak to me and was like okay um i'm in so i worked in oil and gas for my father-in-law's company for um just about uh well with internship and everything i i don't know just under six years so um ran at a breakneck speed
Speaker: it's private equity firm oil and gas operations for those who don't understand geologists are responsible for like the planning and execution of drilling horizontal oil uh horizontal oil and gas wells and so um yeah we know where the best rock is and then they're going give us a bit uh for those who don't know like it's just shy of space science um truly but like ah at 10,000 feet down, we will begin to bend the pipe horizontally.
Speaker: So you drill down vertically 10,000 feet, and then you're going to bend steel pipe, and then you'll drill horizontal um at the time, you know, another 10 or 12,000 feet. And we can keep that bit in about a five foot window if we want.
Speaker: All the data comes through our laptops. I can see exactly where the bit is in formation based on crazy like science nerd things. And so... ah That is a very um intense, fast-paced operation. Every day, you're spending money with that drilling rig. And so it's it's very critical. Like, let's let's knock this thing out. Let's be efficient. And so you know drilling a well, when they hand the kind of the the steering wheel to me, if you will,
Speaker: ah um like can take three to five days of drilling time, 24 hour operation. i get a report every hour usually, and I need to update my my plan to see where we are in formation.
Speaker: And so, Um, you know, uh, we, we kicked off a lot of drilling rigs. Um, we have a part of our business that went private, a part that's going public. And so, ah very fast paced operations learned a ton about SEC filing process and what it looks like to take a company public. And, uh, part of our company was going private and going through a chapter 11.
Speaker: um so I learned so much about business during this time. And, um, ah But but also was like, i think my soul starting to rot a little bit at this like 90 hour work pace. I'm making great money.
Speaker: um it is fun to work with some family members. My father-in-law is wonderful. My brother-in-law is great. This is a wonderful culture, but I'm just not sure this is for me long term. um, moved into a mergers and acquisitions, uh, seat in the company.
Speaker: that was a little different. I liked it a little more macro, but at the end of day, I was really like, I don't, I don't think this is it. We're starting to have kids. I, I like the, the commute is brutal, um, into the downtown office. I'm going I'm in an hour of traffic each way.
Speaker: ah and I'm only like 12 miles from downtown and it's just like, I'm starting to just sense like, I don't know if this is, if this is for me, and um so i really thought the move was an nba program back in austin uh at acton that's where i met co-founder of way forward uh uh alex newt and so um that's a whole story in another self but i i'm miserable in oil and gas okay take it out let's let's let's hit the eject button what do we know let's go back to austin we love our friends there this must be god's plan like i can't wait i'm gonna go get an nba
Speaker: I want to be a business owner um or or or work in entrepreneurship. This is my path. um this is one of those This is one of those moments where I'm probably wrestling with God through things. Miserable in work, and I'm i'm fighting for an exit. like The pain is great.
Speaker: We're having kids. How can I get unstuck? like Let me kind of like just ratchet down on my plan. And so... um uh i go through the application process of acting and i'm like oh this is gonna be awesome really intense one-year and nba program and everyone who's been through it talks so highly of it and i'm motivated and um you know but my father-in-law is even like yeah of course go get you an nba i'm like oh tailwinds this is it again here's one of those contrarian moments i'm in like ah like
Speaker: uh come there's a final piece of the equation which is like go sell these books storereto door to door in austin and and so i'm supposed to go up in like two weeks to do that to complete the application um and uh i'm in arkansas with family we have a newborn and uh i'm in my i'm in the the room at my parents house i wake up one morning and i sensed i sensed the spirit say i don't know if this is for you And I was like, huh, weird. um Ignore that. Like, keep moving. Like, or just, i know it's with me, but keep moving. Just keep, keep moving. We'll, we'll see. Like if if it's real, God will make it louder.
Speaker: That night, one of my best friends from growing up is at the house. We're hanging out. And I'm just sharing. He's like, well, tell me about school. Like, what's your plan here? What what are you doing? Like, oh, it's this MBA program. And I'm drinking the act and Kool-Aid. And this is our plan. We're so excited to, like, get out of ah Houston, back to Austin where, like, we met our best friends. want to buy a book? You want to buy a book from me?
Speaker: Yeah. yeah Have you heard of the Wild Sam Field Guide? um uh so uh his name is michael and ah this is like michael walks with god and we're just sitting there talking about it and i'm so motivated and i'm like yeah this is the plan and he just leans in and was like man i just what i'm just kind of concerned if this is what's best for you like if this is it and it was like almost word for word what i'm pretty sure of the holy spirit had said and uh i'm like huh interesting not enough not enough like
Speaker: That's not going to do it. I know I heard that this morning, but not not this evening too. Like I'm not ready for that yet. From a close friend I trust and love who walks with God, like this is getting so obvious. But a week later, my parents, it's like we go back to Houston. My parents come down.
Speaker: We're like preparing for exit. Like we have a newborn, but we're going to Austin. That's the plan. And he's like, well, I'm i'm really excited about everything working on. this does sound like ah a great thing. um You know Andrew, um I am concerned, though. Like, i I don't know if this is, if it's for you or if it's just going to be really hard on Bren with a newborn.
Speaker: i don't know. I am wondering if this is what's best for you guys. And just the language was so close to everything I've heard. i was like, that's it. This.
Speaker: Oh, no. Like, I'm pretty sure that's this is God speaking. I like it it kind of settled me down. Like, OK, like I could sense this like. uh well this this is not what i had in store but i i think this is god um and so i i called garrett weber gale the ceo of acton and um i remember where i was i was in the hallway at intervest and was like i need to um yeah i i need to uh back out of the the onboarding process i'm i i'm not supposed to go to this program and garris like what
Speaker: Dude, you're in. Like, we we, like, come up, do the do the process, but, like, we we want you. You are a part of the program. Please don't do this. was like, I, man, I cannot, like, this is not right for me.
Speaker: um And that was really hard, like, to, I went home that night and wept. I sat in my, in our newborn's room, and I cried. My wife, like, held me, um because she could, she knew I was miserable with work.
Speaker: And, and I think early on we were like, we may not be in Houston forever. And, and so I was like, I felt like, ah like clawing for an escape essentially.
Speaker: Um, so, uh, that was like a breaking point for me, if you will. Um, uh, but like, I really trusted God in that, like I needed to follow it. So that's, that means like, okay, I'm going be at Intervest for a few more years, probably, or I don't know how, I don't know. and There's not, it's not clear, but I'm, this is where I'm supposed to be.
Speaker: um So during that time is when getting to your kind of question, um ah Todd, on like, well, how do you like what like what you're doing today? Like, how do you get how do you get there?
Speaker: Well, on these awful commutes to downtown office, like I'm coming off of this moment. I thought I was supposed to be in Austin for an MBA program. And now I'm settled. And i'm I'm like, I'm trying to be where my boots are, if you will. um Like, okay, I'm i'm an a i'm in Houston. and Be where my slack pennies are.
Speaker: I hate this, but ah like, um i'm I'm here. Like, this is frustrating not Not like I'm unfulfilled.
Speaker: um I remember one day i called my uncle who I'm close to. He's one of the most free men you'll meet. My uncle Dean. And, um, No, i sent him a text message. I took a photo from my my corporate office.
Speaker: I have a wonderful office, but I'm looking down nine stories below me of ah of a of a trash truck and two trash men loading garbage. And I sent him a photo of those guys and said, i think those guys are more free than my soul is today.
Speaker: Wow. Uh, so just the like heart behind that, like, and I love, that's not like a knock on inner vest. I'm just talking about who I'm supposed to be like, uh, so, uh, you know, I'm like, gosh, I'm miserable. So on my awful commutes, I had tried audible books, podcasts, music.
Speaker: I'm not a sports talk radio guy, but like our small group guys loved talking about sports. So I was like, well I'll try this for a little while. Miserable. Um, so i'm like wrestling with like i got this hour in the car god what do you want from me i'm wrestling with god through it and i just sensed he was like just start calling people that's what you're good like just hop on the horn with people so like uh morning and evening commutes from the office i would you've got an hour to kill i just pick up the horn It's not like this this this list of like, well, who's next? Okay, call them.
Speaker: But as people came to me, I'd call them. So um like i meet I meet Stephen today on a podcast. Well, tomorrow if I'm commuting, I'm going to call him. hey, man, what's going on? That was so fun yesterday. what Tell me about your world.
Speaker: And so that's what I did for like ah probably a year. And um during that time, I'm working. we're having We've got our second kid on the way. And I – aa I kind of woke up one day looking at this list of who I've been calling.
Speaker: um I've got some mentors at this point around like entrepreneurship. and And I'm like, man, I'm surrounded. This list naturally just like here's – it's not – I'm just now looking, like reflecting on who who this list is. And it's like, man, there's a lot of leaders. There's a lot of influential people.
Speaker: um And I just have a knack for hopping in the co-pilot seat with them and helping them navigate work and life dilemmas. that looks like this thing I'm hearing about called coaching and executive coaching. And, um, so I began to, uh, move in that direction, um, kind of moonlighting it. i I took on a few small jobs, getting paid some money for, for helping leaders navigate just that, like some dilemmas. And, um,
Speaker: I hosted some leadership development weekends at a, at a ranch in Texas. And because ministry people, what can they do with their eyes closed? Events. So it's like no problem to pull together a bunch of leaders, put them in a room and charge money for it. And um like, that was just natural for me. And, and, and, and I began to say like, oh, I think this is something that I could really really sink my teeth into and love and so um yeah we we begin to move more formally into um uh pursuing a path towards coaching um at that moment so that was the early stage i'm like i've got a job but i'm i'm moonlighting some of this uh this coaching world so um yeah
Speaker: What did you find, you know, as you look down at the trash guys and says they're free, more free than me. What did you find as you started coaching that came alive that had maybe been dormant for a while?
Speaker: Oh, um I think the simple way to say it is like agency and autonomy over my life in a more meaningful way. um Getting a chance to be a part of influence, getting to use like my strategic thinking part of my brain that um You just didn't get to use as much. um And not even with helping clients. There's also like this builder in me that wants to build something longer term. And um ah there's this quote by Bernard Kosla, who's the founder of Sun or the CEO of Sun Microsystems.
Speaker: And he describes his team at Sun Microsystems as we we need two types of people. We need marching band members um who are given sheet music, told what to play and when to turn left and right.
Speaker: And then he says, we also need sheep. And when you watch sheep, no sheep is moving in the same direction. And they are exploring the edges of green grass on the furthest slopes.
Speaker: I am a sheep. And so...
Speaker: and
Speaker: That will be the highlight. That'll be the, that will come listen to the podcast. And that is deer hood. am a sheep. but And a sheep in scripture feels like such a like, you know, sheepish thing, but it's really beautiful when you think about that. And I share that to say like that was being activated, like exploring what's possible. And this is an adventure again. And it's an adventure with God. It's risky. Like,
Speaker: I'm going to get rejected with with people or told to shut down contracts or someone's going to say no to working together. And this feels like an adventure and exploring like where in coaching will I fit best? Like this is an adventure again.
Speaker: No longer being a marching band member. Again, that's not a knock on the company. That's the role I was in. Yeah. And so that was coming alive in me. Yeah.
Speaker: It's finding your unique ability and and where that fits into the marketplace. yeah So give me, give me some like last, last three years, like you, ended up coming on a way forward trip and you know, you're yeah. you the The Lord's been doing something in you.
Speaker: Bend is starting up. um Like what, what have the, like the last season been and what do you learning? Well, ah real quick, we end up moving to Arkansas in partnership in a coaching relationship. And man, I just quickly, after arriving here, was like, this is not for me.
Speaker: Again, one of those moments, like, I'm not afraid to call an audible. uh uh you know with with a few seconds left in the clock and so um moved moved out of that and you i'll just cut you off i think what you say dude this is so important for people to hear of you know if you look at a quarterback in the nfl that calls audibles all the time we look at those guys and we celebrate them it's like yeah Peyton Manning, you know, it's like the the announcers are looking at this dude and he's like, he's running the game. You know, the offensive coordinator is not running the game. He's running the game.
Speaker: yeah Those guys are lifted up and celebrated and praised. But the folks that, you know, like in your story, we look at those people we're like, ah, they're, they're a wanderer or man, they couldn't figure it out. And I, I just hear your story and I see where you are today. And I'm like, I hope that people listen to this with such encouragement in their soul of if I'm not where I'm supposed to be.
Speaker: and you know, we, we talk about it in the, you know, in the book of like, I've been, I've been looking at this map trying to find where I'm going and I feel lost and, you know, lost is more of a state of mind than a place. And,
Speaker: It's okay to step off the trail you're on that maybe somebody else invited you on. It's not a bad trail, not a bad company, but dude, I'm invited to to step off the trail. I want to be out past the breakers. And so I don't man, I'm encouraged to hope as people are listening. in So I cut you off.
Speaker: No, thank you. away yeah Look, and so much of that, i like the audibles in life, I don't like sports can feel different. um Like, oh, cool. Yeah, audible. And it helped them win. um But in life, for some reason, I think people are so loaded. We talk about this, so loaded with fear. And when you call an audible in life, it it it just evokes that fear inside of them because it's filled with like, what if? Like, oh, I can't i can't control it. I can't ah can't be over this thing. And so scary. And then you're you've got a wife and three kids. You moved across the country.
Speaker: Like there's a lot of pressure of like, really, babe? You felt a nudge? Like we've got bills to pay. Yeah.
Speaker: Well, and my wife is like an Enneagram six. The minute I was like, I'm quitting my job. We're going move to Arkansas. I'm gonna enter a partnership and hop into the entrepreneurial game. The fact that my wife, who's like risk adverse, was at peace to be like, okay, I trust you. I was like, okay, green. That's that's from God. like um So yeah, we we move. And um yeah, so anyway, ah very comfortable calling the audible.
Speaker: in that process, ah Alex Noop has been dripping on me way forward, way forward for like a decade. And we started having kids and I wasn't able to go. And he's one of my close friends and in ah Houston.
Speaker: And after that that partnership coming to an end, I was like, man, this is a great time. I need to go. like Our kids are old enough enough now that um Not that that's an excuse for anyone. So, ah but that was just, na my wife was like the freedom to go at that point.
Speaker: um that That made a lot of sense for us or that she was just really willing. And so 2023, I came on trail. Is that right? Or 24? What year is it?
Speaker: like I came in, I came in, came in 24. I came in 24. 24. Sorry. So I come in, come trail 24. give him twenty four twenty four sorry so i come and i come on trail in twenty four with Nupe and yeah, unbelievable experience. um And ah man, what ah what a wonderful deal. So much so I came back the next year and then I came and visited this past summer for fun, not on trail, just to be around.
Speaker: um So man, thank you for what you're doing. It it really, it was a it was a huge chance for me to process like, where am I heading? Like if it's not partnership that i really thought was it,
Speaker: There's some pain here. And to um man you like enter the danger, enter the fear of like, I'm not exactly sure what the process is ah what what what is next. I'm not sure what the path is, but I am going to go take advantage of a way forward and to just whatever you want to say get neutral with God to just turn everything off, turn off the noise of the fears or what is next and press into the trail and life on trail. So that was very real. I'm not making that up for the sake of this podcast. That's, that's a true statement for why I showed up. Anyone that receives the bend quarterly is going to read literally my story of like, here's why I went on trail. So, um, yeah, well, loved it. Um, during that time, bend was like brewing in me. It had been, i just, I had kind of squashed it for a while, but everything I've done has been collaborative. I'd,
Speaker: i love I love the work of like, if someone was launching a nonprofit around being outdoors, I'm not the expert, but I'm going to call Todd Pinkston and say, you guys should chat. And so I've always wanted to build a team.
Speaker: i And so there was this, i it just became very clear, like, no, coaching, I love it. But let's let's add some accountability to what the coach is saying with clients.
Speaker: yeah And I think I know how we're going to do it And I think I know who our first board is going to be. And so We spun this puppy up and I'm so grateful for our board members. um They believe in me. They believe in what we're doing. They're so helpful with the work at hand. And so ah Bend Advisors, yeah, we are a board governed executive coaching family enterprise advisory firm. And then we're launching a resourcing arm. So Coaching, you think of working with entrepreneurs and CEOs, ah small business owners. We cover the stack from pre-revenue startup to, um I mean, working with a a fourth gen dynastic large $2 billion dollars annual revenue size company. That's coaching.
Speaker: And then we we also work in family enterprise, which is for us, it's everything a family holds and stewards together. when you move into like high net worth or ultra high net worth families, um you began to have multiple estates, you have trust funds, you have a foundation or a donor advised fund.
Speaker: So like the families, you know, we we use the word philanthropy. um We have an operating company and alternative investments. And so it becomes so complex, multiple family members with different values at the table.
Speaker: And so Bend has a very clear um path that we take families through. six Six conversations. You think of it like sessions, six sessions.
Speaker: But we call them conversations. It's not modules. We don't want the family to feel like they're in a classroom. um You are getting together as a family to talk about um everything you own, hold, and steward together and what that looks like. And so We advise you in the direction of six conversations.
Speaker: We are not tax, legal, and finance. um we We swim what we say. We swim upstream of that and help families have conversations I've never had. The word bend, I love the river. i love fly fishing. So there's like an outdoor component to it. um But we have fun with it too. It's like, oh, what is around the bend?
Speaker: You know, like in life, we're really not sure. but how can we be thinking about it? How can we be thoughtful around that idea of what's around the around the bend for coaching and for advising? And so you think there's a lot of strategy in that thought.
Speaker: um There's also. ah You know, we think about in Scripture, let us bend a knee to the Lord. How do we help families bend and not break?
Speaker: Um, it's a thing for us. We want to break the family. We don't want cause destruction. Can we begin to bend and honor multiple people at the table? Is that possible? Can we, can we get there as a family?
Speaker: Um, can I, can I, can I be blessed by my, by my dad or my father-in-law for the unique ways I'm made and in the same ways that I can bless and honor him? Can we,
Speaker: can I bend and make space for ah my sister-in-law, Molly, who loves to be generous and impact is her thing. She doesn't care about making money. How can she be generous? How can we bend and make space in the family so that that who she is is honored? Her unique ability, right? So anyway, you can tell I'm passionate about it. And then the resourcing arm, we, you know, bend exists to further a leader's impact, we really want to help. And so in the coaching journey, ah it it pains me when,
Speaker: You know, Todd, you think even on the on, you're an entrepreneur in the nonprofit space. It pains me when I've worked with leaders that, you know, if I were working with you, Todd, and, and, and and you call me one day and are like, man, it's time. I think we need to raise money.
Speaker: I hated being a coach. Who's like, yeah, you should, let's put it on the, uh, let's put on the metrics and I'm going to hold you accountable to getting it done. i just felt like what I wanted to do with Ben is like, man, we, how can we help?
Speaker: Like, how can we further the impact you want to make? It now requires, um, it requires capital both on for-profit and nonprofit sides. How can we help?
Speaker: So that's important to us at Bend is to, to, to journey with you, right? There's some of that with theme of, uh, I want to be with you in it. And so, um, we want there to be a resourcing arm, uh, of, of money. So be at a, you know, be at a, uh,
Speaker: for profit. like we We backed our first kind of venture capital high risk thing because we believe in entrepreneurship, we believe in risk. so We have a venture arm for Bend. Again, we we want to further that that leader's impact.
Speaker: well we've we We eventually want to have that for more established companies that might need it for estate planning. um Our money's tied up in a family business and we would love to have some some of that equity transfer for estate planning. Well, maybe BAND can be a minority partner and help you achieve your goals.
Speaker: um And then nonprofit wise, it like, man, who can we just be generous towards and in the nonprofit entrepreneurial space? so um Andrew?
Speaker: Yeah, man, I really just appreciate a lot of things you're sharing. And like, as we're coming closer to to the end of the conversation here, one thing I did, i love how Todd celebrated you stepping off the trail, calling the audible last minute, like how many people like get there and then they just continue with the motion. Okay.
Speaker: So I love that. And yet, like you're advising, you're leading entrepreneurs, you're best, you're doing these things. I'm curious. just for like, what have you learned in regards to, because there were multiple situations where you got there and then there are people counting on you. There are people around you and you stepped out. I'm curious if you've,
Speaker: gleaned any wisdom of like, how did I, how did I not catch it earlier? What, what were, why why did you not hear the voices? You know, it was, it took the third time, right? Like, I'm just curious if there's any like wisdom or signals, uh, as Todd would call them dashboard warning lights that anybody could, you know walk away with here and be like, man, this is how maybe i could like, you can see or hear it earlier.
Speaker: Hmm. You know, I, For me, um I mean, really, like we we really try to listen to the subtle things. There's so much so subtlety that can I try to like, can I tune in to the subtle things around me and and notice what God's doing?
Speaker: um You know, for me, from the faith perspective, right? It's, again, i I know I said it earlier, but like, can I have eyes to see and ears to hear what God is doing?
Speaker: Um, what is obvious? What's becoming obvious? Um, that's huge. You know, uh, the trusted voices in your life, um, listening to God speaking through other people.
Speaker: um but really like that Holy spirit, if, if, if I can, if I can slow down long enough to hear him speak to me and knowing that it's you know, we talk about this, like God is surprising. He is full of surprises all through scripture. And so um I don't need to assume that, well, if I want to hear from God, I should just read my Bible more. Sure. That's yes. Yes. And also you might, you might seem today out in the field or hear his voice out in the field when you're walking. So it's all around you. that It's not so, so opening up even your, your, your view of where,
Speaker: God might, might be willing to grab, grab your attention. That's good. So thank you. Yeah. I love that. And then to, to, to wrap us up, I'd love to come full circle. You know, you talked about the intentionality of your parents and you know, we, we, we talked about you calling and quitting the board. I've been one of the audibles as well. You know I've been on the receiving end of the audible. And, and,
Speaker: hows it and you you know it It was some so like situation in your family and and um your your greater family that's that's causing you know you to... not cause there's you know There are things you want to be more present around and then more present with your kids in this season. Yeah.
Speaker: ah I'd love to know for you, you know, what are you, you're you're growing a business, but how are you trying to make sure that your kids are on a podcast 20, 30 years from now, you know, that they're saying the same things that you are saying about your parents?
Speaker: Yeah. Well, you know, you think about that dashboard. I think of it as like, I have a list of like leading indicators for me, not lagging, but for my personal life. And we've We've given it different names through the years, but you know it's it's kind of like this.
Speaker: Yeah, it's like a dashboard with leading indicators. and And on that dashboard are or a handful of values that are most meaningful to me, said in my own words.
Speaker: um It's really important to me, like we said, to be with. that's That's like, mean, if I get to transfer one thing to my kids, I hope it's with. um it's generational it started with my grandfather actually so there's there's that that that that's a that's a it's really important to me um scale one to ten it's like a 12 um walked with god and was in a relationship with his wife those are those are high values for me and so when opportunities are things that i sense are um
Speaker: are in conflict with that or causing those values to not be fully lived out. Like I need to pay attention. Um, if that, if those live inside of me, God's given to me as part of who I'm supposed to be, it's my mission and they're, um, yeah. So, so that's, what's really helpful for me is to say, well, i need to, that's what I'm stewarding ultimately, I think.
Speaker: So I need to pay attention to that. Come on. Let's go. Deerhood, I respect you. I admire you. Thanks for the time today. I'm blessed by your story. Thank you. What a true gift.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. Hope that others are are blessed. How can people find Bend? How can people get in touch with you? Oh, man. Reach out. um Shoot me an email. I'm sure we can post it in the show notes or something.
Speaker: Or call my cell phone. I think it's actually on our website, bendadvisors.com. I'm not afraid. So I've got that Bob Goff approach. know what mean? Just put it out there. weird. A spam. I got it. I got hour long commutes and I want to talk to you. Hey, I have been on the receiving end of that. know, I've been on the receiving end of the random call. I'm like, I wonder what he's, I wonder what he needs. it's like, he doesn't need anything. He just wants to talk.
Speaker: And love it. Yeah. It turned out just a talker. so And then also if you want a hard copy printed, you know, paper to come to your mailbox, um,
Speaker: You should get on the Bend mailing list. They do a Bend quarterly, throwing it back, the contrarian approach to life. They are they are printing paper.
Speaker: It's free. It's totally free. yeah i'm just I'm just taking that on the chin for everybody to enjoy. Let's go. love it. Well, dude, thanks for your time today. so What an absolute gift.
Speaker: Thank you, guys. That was so fun. Thanks, Andrew. Oh, oh, oh, oh,
