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Episode 54: Opportunity in the Midst of COVID 19 with Phillip Ramsey and Bryan Dewhurst
152 Plays6 years ago
When challenging times come, opportunity comes right along with them. We see this play out over and over throughout history. The entire world is in an unprecedented holding pattern because of COVID-19. How should you respond?
Things are uncertain and scary right now, so we wanted to create an episode to talk about that. Jobs are being lost and business paradigms are being disrupted. But in the midst of this, there are touchstones to hold on to. How can you spend this time with your family? Who should you reach out to? What should you start doing that you were not making time for a month or two ago?
What we are living through represents a huge reset button on many levels. How we respond is up to us. We just want you to know you are not alone, and that opportunities do await in the midst of this crisis.
what you will learn in this episode:
- The amazing, intentional ways your family can connect during a crisis
- How to help kids focus beyond themselves and reach out to friends and family
- Avoiding the “Cam Newton Effect” of blaming others for challenges you face
- How business paradigms might shift more rapidly in the wake of this pandemic
- Why grace needs to be more abundant than ever
- How this crisis might impact commercial real estate
- The potential of acceleration toward more self-employment
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Mission
00:00:02
Speaker
Everyone dreams about living an uncommon life, but how we define that dream is very different for each of us. And for most, it's a lifelong pursuit. Welcome to the Uncommon Life Project podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living that life or enjoying the journey to get there. We're going to also give you some tools, tricks, and tips for starting or accelerating your own efforts to live an uncommon life.
00:00:27
Speaker
A life worth celebrating and savoring.
COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities
00:00:30
Speaker
Please welcome your hosts, Brian Dewhurst and Philip Ramsey. Hello and welcome, everybody, to another episode of the Uncommon Life Project, where I'm your host, Philip Ramsey. And I am Brian Dewhurst. And today you have a duo cast of yours truly and the Brian Dewhurst talking about a topic that might or might not be you're sick of it at this point.
00:00:53
Speaker
But it's COVID-19. And I don't want to make any light of that. But there is just a ton of things coming at us from many different directions. And so we do want to, I think, address it. And then also talk, I think, mainly about just opportunity that things like this happen or things like this come to surface.
Creative Family Activities in Quarantine
00:01:12
Speaker
And people talk about opportunity in times like this. But to be able to speak to it and give you tangible action items right now,
00:01:20
Speaker
I think could be helpful. So COVID-19, the coronavirus, we're going to start speaking into just the opportunities that it can create. And so the first thing I want to talk about is the quality time that it gives you with your family or your loved ones.
00:01:37
Speaker
Obviously, we're all stuck in the house or we should be. I'm not sure how serious you're taking that. We are taking it fairly serious to like only go in the grocery store and only one of us go. But it has created such an amazing opportunity for quality time. And so today,
00:01:54
Speaker
We are having a high T with my family and I. I have a suit and tie on. I'm suited and booted. My wife and my daughter got their hair all did up. This is the first time I've ever done a high T. I have no idea what this means, but it's a pretty big deal.
00:02:12
Speaker
They, my wife and daughter, LeRae, have done a lot of work for this thing. And I cannot wait in an hour to go to high tea with my family. And it just gave us this. We wouldn't have done this without this opportunity. The second thing, and then I'll let Brian talk because I feel like I'm on my soapbox, but I get excited about this, is my wife and I put a sheet, a king size sheet up in the basement and then had a projector and projected
00:02:39
Speaker
movie on top of it so which was kind of fun but my wife found this link of a international trip that you can take with your family in the midst of covid-19 and it had like the airplane stewardess flight thing it had like how to buckle your seat belt and just that's that movie that they normally show you.
00:03:00
Speaker
My daughter dressed up in a stewardist outfit, my son was the pilot, and every little video would keep coming up. So then it would be the stewardist, then it would be the flight on a runway, and then we would obviously have it really loud and it would be like kind of like a plane.
00:03:16
Speaker
My daughter then gave us treats. I mean, this was the funnest thing we ever did. So we ended up going to Japan and touring around the city, which there was a video of that. It was actually kind of really cool. And because it was so big, it kind of felt like you were there. And the last thing we did is went to Disney there.
00:03:34
Speaker
We checked into our hotel, by the way, of course, that was in there. But all these videos were already pre-populated for us. All I had to do is keep clicking and creating a fun experience with our family. And then the end, we went to Disney and went on the ride, went to Space Mountain and then went on a ride. And I'm telling you with that big screen, my stomach did drop when we hit those buttons.
Engaging Children with Empathy and Skills
00:03:54
Speaker
And what a fun thing that we got an opportunity to do.
00:03:58
Speaker
one that we never would have created without this time and this is the time i think. For our kids they'll never forget i'll never forget this but they'll be talking to their grandkids about the time they have they got out of school for a month maybe even longer.
00:04:14
Speaker
And the fun things that they did as a family. So this gives us an opportunity as a family to connect in an amazing, intentional way. And I cannot wait for the other opportunities. And my kids are excited every morning to figure out what we're going to do fun and create a moment and a memory together. So that's the first opportunity I think it sheds for us. And Brian's done his own thing. So I'll let you talk. Sorry, man. Took a long time there.
00:04:40
Speaker
No, it's good. I think it's important to think this is a huge reset button on a lot of different levels. And yeah, our family is trying to do unique things every day and create special moments and this isn't just
00:04:55
Speaker
you know, three week vacation, uh, where they just get to hang out on TV or watch YouTube all day. So yeah, we're taking advantage of those, um, this time to try to, one of the things we're doing is just trying to every day, each of the kids, uh, has to reach out to a family member and FaceTime with them and just ask them five questions and just check in and see how they're doing. Uh, I think for kids, you know, it's always that like, it's easy to feel like the focus is always on them. So challenging them to just kind of interview,
00:05:25
Speaker
other family members and get their story and see, make sure they're doing okay.
COVID-19 as a Character Test
00:05:30
Speaker
So that's kind of one thing that we've been, we've been trying to implement at home and you know, fun stuff. So Megan has been intentional with having your kids write letters to their friends, like pen pals again, like that's something we don't talk about a lot. And yeah, something that we do work. Yeah. Like let's be honest. Like when you get a real handwritten note in the mail, it's kind of exciting. Totally.
00:05:53
Speaker
So yeah, doing lots of fun stuff and trying to just keep it interesting, you know, and I think the thing that I've challenged our kids with is just like, what is like one thing you could really master, like even if it's like the Rubik's Cube or
00:06:09
Speaker
Um, you know, whatever it is, is there something you could really push into over this next three weeks? Um, you know, and get a really good understanding of something before you go have to go back to school. Um, haven't really found what those are for each of the kids, but trying to do different things to kind of just set that mindset.
00:06:29
Speaker
You know, and this is early enough in this whole thing that I think that we all are adapting in a way that I think can move forward. But moving on, I think not only do we have to adapt like we are now, but we're probably going to be at the point where we're going to know somebody with the COVID-19 or coronavirus. And then eventually, I think within a couple of weeks, we might know somebody that's
00:06:51
Speaker
you know, been affected and died from it. Like this is getting more and more serious. And so the second opportunity I wanted to talk about is just the opportunity to let your true character come out. And I know that I'm really high on this Cam Newton effect where he's a quarterback for the Panthers. He was not single.
00:07:11
Speaker
Well, I don't know who's quarterback for, but the story that I have to say is when he was a quarterback for the Panthers and they were in the Super Bowl and before the Super Bowl, he was pretty hyped up and even like he was a Superman and running around with his cape and blah, blah, blah. And after the Super Bowl, they got absolutely trounced and he kept blaming everybody else except for himself and how disheartened I was to watch that. Um,
00:07:36
Speaker
Meaning like he was so high on his horse and then when things didn't go his way or challenges or trials were in his face He completely coward fall fell victim to everybody else except for himself So this is an opportunity for everybody. This is so unique because it's not just America I mean, this is the whole world is dealing with this thing In an amazing like way or it can be something that's catastrophic, but it is a true
00:08:06
Speaker
character revealer to the max of how do you handle stress how do you handle other people with stress but what an amazing opportunity to be able to at least gut check yourself on how are you responding right now and know that it's probably gonna get worse.
Innovation and Business Shifts During Crisis
00:08:24
Speaker
And what is your initial response? Is it to hunker down or is it to continue like Brian said, reach out to people, make sure people are staying connected? What is your response? It's a great revealer of that.
00:08:38
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And I don't know if I have much to add to that. You kind of nailed the character side. And I think when you look back historically, you know, a lot of inventions and a lot of ideas and a lot of businesses are formed out of these types of moments in history.
00:08:57
Speaker
And so I think you're going to see a tectonic shift in business, communication, the way things are done after this, especially the more prolonged it is. I mean, we're pretty early into it here.
00:09:12
Speaker
towards the end of March 2020 as we shoot this. But it'll be interesting to see the tail effect of this. You know, the Great Depression went on. Really, that was like a lost decade. The Great Depression with World War Two and all of that economic kind of disaster that started in 1929. But it took about 10 to 14 years for the if you judge it based on the stock market to come back
00:09:39
Speaker
above where it was. But yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be super interesting because now with technology, I mean, you know, a lot of things are still possible technologically, you know, of not leaving your home. And so I think there's, it's going to challenge a lot of paradigms, a lot of businesses, and a lot of models.
Remote Work and Employment Trends
00:09:57
Speaker
You even talk about the college model, like right now, of like, whoa, they're getting challenged real bad.
00:10:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I've often thought, minus this event, I didn't think college and university life would be the same in 20 years, I think this is going to accelerate that shift. And especially when you look at the cost of it, and you know, we're helping people
00:10:20
Speaker
plan for their children's college, that type of thing. And the money that it's costing just to get a basic university level state education now is a little crazy. And so I think it's just going to be super interesting to watch. And I just heard recently, like in the last couple of days, that Iowa State is
00:10:38
Speaker
is looking at some of their dorms, some of their older dorms of whether they're even going to keep those or not moving forward because of this and because of enrollments and things of where they're at as a university level. So it's just going to be interesting to see how it plays out in terms of real estate too, commercial real estate.
00:10:58
Speaker
I think one of the guys that I follow, I'm not going to try to pronounce his name because it's really interesting, but I follow him on Twitter and I just can't get enough of what he's creating. He was basically the second person to be employed by Pinterest and basically helped to build Pinterest and then he left and started a company called Gumroad, which most of you may have never heard of, but it's one of the fastest growing companies in the world and their entire workforce is all over the globe.
00:11:28
Speaker
and they have no meetings and there's like no offices. And they all work from home and they make it work. And he's just like, this is the future. And I've kind of started saying this as a piggyback off some of the things he said, but I think you're going to see the new employee benefit is going to be time and flexibility and not 401k match or health insurance.
00:11:51
Speaker
It's going to be, it's going to be time and flexibility. And so I think it's going to, we're just going to continue to see these ramifications.
Societal and Economic Impacts of COVID-19
00:11:58
Speaker
And you look at the, not the baby boomer generation, but the great depression generation, you know, our grandparents and how they were just really tight with their money, you know, really fear-based mindset. I'm not putting that down because they went through, you know,
00:12:12
Speaker
World War II and the Great Depression, they lived through that and it really impacted their the way they handled money, the way they looked at starting a business, all those different things. And I think it's going to be interesting to see the ramifications are as a society in terms of the kind of these generational studies that people do and the impacts of this. And babies opportunities to make babies. I'm just saying it wasn't on my list, but I thank you, Dr. Oz.
00:12:41
Speaker
Did he say that? Oh my goodness. Well now Dr. Oz just said one of the best ways to handle stress if you're married is to have sex. So that's great. Anyway, I betcha you just wait, mark my words. Nine months, 10 months from now it's going to happen.
00:12:56
Speaker
So I heard this joke. We don't do jokes very often. I'm not the best joke teller, so I might butcher this one. But this girl went up to her dad and she said, hey, dad, why is why is a sissy named Paris? And he goes, oh, well, your mom and I conceived her in Paris. And she goes, oh, OK. And then he goes, yeah, go back to your room, Corona.
00:13:18
Speaker
Yep. That wasn't
Business Ethics Under Pressure
00:13:20
Speaker
part of it. That's a bonus point there. Okay. I don't know what point C maybe. I don't know if we're on three, but it gives us an opportunity to have grace with one another. I mean,
00:13:33
Speaker
You want to talk about a high stressful moment when you don't know the future and have no idea what the future brings How much stress and tension is on everybody right now? Everybody I don't care if your business is thriving or dying like there is stress because of the unknown and I want to be and I want the listeners to be challenged to have grace with other people right now because who knows what they're going through and we just had Brian and I had a
00:14:01
Speaker
situation in our business where one of our bigger carriers or bigger products that we like just did something drastic. And when you really look at the lay of the land, it was with a life insurance company and low interest rates environments are really smoking like insurance companies.
00:14:21
Speaker
as well as high death rates. And that's exactly what we're, we're facing right now. And because of that, the grace that we had of like, okay, we understand where you're coming from and we're going to adjust accordingly instead of like raising our puffing up our chest and going after them. We just said, listen, we understand things like this happen. And so we changed our business model because of it.
00:14:45
Speaker
It wasn't ideal, not the time to be changing a lot of business models, but it gives us all an opportunity to have a grace on even more individual places and individual people. But it's a great opportunity to be challenged to have grace with people. Definitely.
00:15:01
Speaker
Okay, I'll let you have one of your points because I have a lot. Well, you can keep going. I think looking at the COVID-19, people are saying this is our generation's great depression, and hopefully we can get a vaccine or treatments. I'm not a medical person, so I don't want to use these words, but basically we can get a handle on this thing.
00:15:25
Speaker
where it doesn't come back. But I think it's just a matter of how long this thing plays out and the impacts that it's going to have and the changes it's going to force businesses to make. Let's talk
Reevaluating Business Strategies
00:15:37
Speaker
about some of those changes. I think that's important.
00:15:39
Speaker
Well, I look at companies that were gonna go build a huge commercial space to house all their employees. If you've had people working autonomously from home because you were forced into that call centers, we call lots of different companies on a weekly basis to check things, get status on things. Most of those people have worked in call centers at a physical one point or two point location.
00:16:07
Speaker
You know, now those people, I mean, we're talking to them, they're, they're working from home. I mean, you can hear them in the back, you can hear their spells in the background. And it's like, it, it's a whole different paradigm, you know? And so we don't need that call center anymore. You know, we, we could have people in.
00:16:22
Speaker
you know, six different time zones handling our call center with flex positions at four to six hour shifts, you know, to cover 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Hawaii, you know, and it would cost us a fraction of the time. So I think just like what impact this has on commercial real estate to me is going to be really profound.
00:16:43
Speaker
and just kind of the institutionalization. We've already talked about university life and all of their buildings, like, do we need any more buildings at the university level, you know? And just those types of things. And I think you look at
00:17:00
Speaker
In the early 1900s, it's like 80 to 90% of people were self-employed, you know, because people are still moving over here coming off. I've been told that coming off the boat is like a derogatory term, but immigrating from another country to America and starting businesses and moving west, all those different things.
00:17:17
Speaker
And now it's less than 10%. And I think you're going to see a massive shift back towards being self-employed and controlling your own destiny, contracting with companies to do work,
Cultural and Economic Shifts
00:17:29
Speaker
not taking their benefits because you want the flexibility and cashflow to design your life the way you want. I think that you're going to see a massive resurgence in that out of this. So just those types of things.
00:17:41
Speaker
are the things that I'm looking at, thinking about. And then what investment themes are going to play well off of that out of this recession, you know, potentially recession. You know, the market judges a recession when the stock market goes down by more than 20 percent or GDP goes down by a certain percentage. And we're basically there. So I don't think it's any mystery that this is going to change things economically. So
00:18:09
Speaker
I think that whole message bodes well because people are getting uprooted quickly, which they thought they had a very secure job. It just falls really in line with our core values. What is it that God intended you to do? Let's start focusing in on that. Could this be the opportunity
00:18:28
Speaker
For me, it was getting fired from my pharmaceutical job. It was an opportunity for me to rewrite the next stage of my life. And it took me getting fired. It was the best thing that happened to me. And you've hear this time and time again. Could this be the best thing that could happen to you? And from a business perspective, I think it gives us an opportunity to show the world what we're all about.
00:18:50
Speaker
to give an opportunity to show our core values as a business, have grace with others, blah, blah, blah. But here's the two stories you have. You have a company that starts laying off people quickly and starts figuring out how to protect themselves quickly versus seeing how they can help other people. And I read this story of a commercial property owner that reached out to his tenants and said, hey, for this month, this next month, I don't want you to pay me my rent.
Leadership Responses to COVID-19
00:19:19
Speaker
I want you to pay your employees their salary. And I thought that's what I'm talking about. Like I want to hang out with that guy because he understands when things get really crazy, the best thing to do is maybe serve other people, have grace with other people and understand how to help others. And to me, I don't know how much money he quote unquote lost, but in my mind, I'd be like, I want that guy on my team. And anyway, so if you're hearing this or listening to this and you're that guy,
00:19:48
Speaker
Let's get you on the show because that's the kind of people that we need to be as uncommon. I would say listeners, uncommon people, but it is not common when people do something like that because it's thinking about other people's wants and values and needs before your own. And this gives us an opportunity as a business to show that. So that's, I think, an opportunity for businesses at this point.
00:20:14
Speaker
It's also an opportunity just to be personal with your employees. And so is this a time where you reach out to your employees and give them a raise? I don't know. I'm throwing out very uncommon things because other people are not doing that.
00:20:30
Speaker
Um, and maybe you can't do that or maybe it doesn't, it's just, these are some things that gives us opportunity to pause and think through. Here's another thing that I think is really interesting because this whole thing is shaking people and businesses up. Uh, it, it gives you an opportunity to change directions on things that aren't working well.
00:20:50
Speaker
And whether or not it's right or wrong, like if, if you feel like, or there was a decision that you were like, Hey, I want to do that, but it's hard for me to sever that relationship for whatever reason. That's basically talking to myself. It gives you a time to do that. And people will understand as hard as it is understanding like, Hey, we can't do this anymore.
Personal and Community Role Reassessment
00:21:11
Speaker
It just doesn't fit in the budget of the new budget we're doing.
00:21:14
Speaker
So it gives you an opportunity to do that and people are having more and more grace than just out of the blue saying hey we're not gonna do that anymore this really does give you an opportunity to change some directions that you're currently going if you don't like where you're going does that make sense.
00:21:30
Speaker
Totally. And I think one of the things that an exercise I've done in the past, and I think this is a great time to do it, is just writing down how many hats that you wear or how many roles that you have. You know, father, husband, friend, business owner, business partner, employer. I don't know if it's like pickleball league guy, spike ball, fantasy football.
00:21:56
Speaker
All these different things that we take on, I think, especially as Americans, and I think it's a great time to write down a piece of paper of pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19, and using this as a point to say no to something when things start back up.
00:22:15
Speaker
And maybe this is a point of saying starting something in the midst of all of this because you're at just a clarity point in life. So I think that's really good advice.
00:22:30
Speaker
So I think that at the end of the day, I hope this is giving people and our listeners some opportunities to think about that you can capitalize instead of just like, Oh, this is a great opportunity to do something. Well, what are you going to do? Hopefully these are tangible. And then honestly, like for me, and obviously we like the word uncommon, but it's, it's an opportunity to let your uncommon fly.
Personal and Spiritual Growth Opportunities
00:22:52
Speaker
Like it's an opportunity for people to see the real you,
00:22:55
Speaker
and be excited about what they see. And even yourself, if you are seeing and revealing some things in your life of panic, anxiety, and worry, it's a time and opportunity to be able to surround yourself with the community.
00:23:11
Speaker
and address some of those things, so you can be an impact to others. And isn't that really all what it's about? For me, and I know Brian and our business, it's about serving other people in this time and all the time.
00:23:26
Speaker
It's kind of the same for us, but it's an opportunity for us to really sit down with somebody, understand who they are and how to align their cashflow and money to that end so that they can live a more fulfilled life. And this opportunity is an amazing opportunity, one that I get really excited about because there's so much unrest and unknown in the future.
00:23:51
Speaker
But we do have a rock that we can look to and we do have an opportunity to be able to be those people that people look up to and get excited about. I want to be around that guy more or that that woman more. And so that's my big. That's I don't know that COVID-19 or just who we should be. I don't know if it all just kind of blends together. But that's my thoughts on COVID-19, the coronavirus. Ryan, what are your clinical thoughts?
00:24:18
Speaker
Yeah, I think very similar. You know, I heard a great sermon that the church was really, has a history of, you know, really working well in these times and being the light. And I think basically to capstone what you're saying is like, we got to be like Jesus, you know, and just have open arms and how can we help and how can we speak truth. And
00:24:38
Speaker
act and speak in a way that's glorifying the God and that draws people in. And I think this is a great time to, you know, really evaluate your spiritual life too, and making amends with different relationships in your family or friends, and then ultimately making a decision about your relationship with God and Jesus.
Closing and Call to Action
00:24:59
Speaker
And so, what a better time than now.
00:25:02
Speaker
and if you ever want to talk to her you are struggling give us that 15 minutes free consultation reach out to haley at haley at uncommonwealth.com schedule that we'd love to connect with you just i'd say encourage you yeah and just
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah, let's thrive in this time, but that's who we are and we're excited. We're not changing anything. And so we hope that this is something that will encourage you and it'll let you get an opportunity to look at life a little different. Um, and cause there's just so many opportunities to do that, but I'm signing off for now. I got a high T to go to and I'm pretty excited, rain, making it rain. I'll put some pictures up on my Facebook and, uh,
00:25:45
Speaker
I feel like high T is like, you got to have an umbrella. Like one of those fancy umbrella is not like a brain umbrella. Oh, I know. And I think there's hats involved. I don't know, but I'll put some pictures up on my Facebook. And, uh, anyway, thanks for listening. You've been listening to the uncommon wealth. What is it? Uncommon life project. What is happening? And we are advisors with the uncommon wealth partners. Uh, that's it. And so thanks for listening and, uh, thanks for being gracious with us in this time and, uh,
00:26:11
Speaker
Yeah, the market's down, obviously, and all of our clients got called specifically about that, knowing that we are watching their accounts. And so that feels good to be kind of uncommon in this space, too. And so, Brian, you can sign off and let's get it out. Yeah, you've been listening to Uncommon Life Project. I've been your host, Brian Dewhurst. And Phillip Ramsey. Continue to be uncommon, everyone, and stay safe. Thanks.
00:26:34
Speaker
That's all for this episode of The Uncommon Life Project, brought to you by Uncommon Wealth Partners. Be sure to visit uncommonwealth.com to learn more about our services. Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.