1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,800 forth on that. But we're good. We're good. We got it. So while we talk, I'm going to 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:11,880 make sure to adjust your title a little bit, just your banner so that that goes the mature 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:18,600 preneur maverick. Oh, I like that. So let me move that over here. How does that look 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:19,600 for you? 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:26,440 Great. Um, yeah. And I'm happy to do you is my sound okay? Or do I need headset? 6 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:33,200 No, your sounds fantastic. Okay, great. I think it's fantastic. Um, anyway, so awesome. 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:38,960 Well, I'm so excited we get to talk about this. So maturepreneurship. What is it? What 8 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,200 are we talking about today? Oh, let's jump right in. I know what it is, but I'm just 9 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:49,240 I want to bring the audience up to speed because I'm full term. All right. So I think it's 10 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,520 it's a term that I created. And I've also seen it out there in other places. So I don't 11 00:00:53,520 --> 00:01:01,640 know if I was first, but it was me to me when I thought of it. The idea behind mature, maturepreneurship 12 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:08,160 is it is those people who are hashtag not done by a long shot. And there's this amazing 13 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:14,320 trend going on in the world that no one is paying attention to. That cracks me up and 14 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:21,440 dismayed me tremendously. There are literally millions and millions and millions of people 15 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:28,920 who are 55 plus. So boomers and late Gen Xers who are coming back into the business work 16 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:34,960 world either in employment. And that's very challenging. Not many people want to hire 17 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:40,960 a 70 year old. So they're turning to entrepreneurship and they're flooding into the business world 18 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:45,000 and no one's paying attention. It's the biggest cohort to enter the business world at any 19 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:53,280 time in history. And there's very little services, support, education or funding, et cetera, 20 00:01:53,280 --> 00:02:00,960 for them. So I am here to say that that needs to change. Ageism is alive and well. And we 21 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:07,280 have this incredible wisdom workforce that is taking over entrepreneurship. So they need 22 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:13,400 and deserve some support. So that's what maturepreneurs are. I love that you're leading the way on 23 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:19,160 this. When I was in Uruguay, that problem you mentioned was exacerbated even further. 24 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:25,640 And I've seen that in third world countries that tends to be the case. There's no justifying 25 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:32,440 it. The reality though, when you're McDonald's in Uruguay and you're one of the very, very, 26 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:39,760 very few companies that exists in a community and you've got a workforce to hire, it just 27 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:46,060 so happens that all of the really, really good looking young kids that happen to speak 28 00:02:46,060 --> 00:02:54,320 English as well get the jobs. And then as they get a little bit older, they lose the 29 00:02:54,320 --> 00:03:01,320 job. For some reason, there's another young kid that comes in and gets the job. It is 30 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,680 something we need to look at and we need to figure out again, how do we spread the wealth 31 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:11,120 more? How do we make room for the wisdom of the past years and beyond? And so I love that 32 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:18,360 you're leading this cause. And the baby boomers, you said at Gen X, I didn't say it, the Gen 33 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:25,280 Xers that are now 55. I'm sure some of them are like, don't say that right now. I know 34 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:30,180 what it's like to get older a little bit, but that's just, you're leading the way. You're 35 00:03:30,180 --> 00:03:35,040 helping them catch the vision and the hope. And I think that's absolutely amazing. So 36 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,400 what are the three resources that you would recommend to visionaries out there that they 37 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:45,440 should be paying attention to or read or pick up or join? What programs do you recommend? 38 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:50,440 Well, absolutely. There's a couple of, there's wealth. Let me rephrase that. So basically 39 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:57,360 there are not a lot of resources for entrepreneurial, older entrepreneurs. There are resources 40 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:05,520 about aging and ageism, but most events, et cetera, are about retirement and not about 41 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:10,940 what I call refiring. It's about retiring. And so there are events that talk about estate 42 00:04:10,940 --> 00:04:17,120 planning and wills and buying your burial plot and getting into seniors homes and things 43 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:23,900 like that. I'm creating an event and a community that is about refiring. How do we go get funding? 44 00:04:23,900 --> 00:04:30,280 How do we get VC capital? How do we get loans and insurance and build these businesses and 45 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:35,560 enterprises that these people want to launch? Some of them are social enterprises. Some 46 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:42,280 of them are nonprofits. Some of them are businesses. And it's for two reasons that this is going 47 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:47,600 on. One is either they don't want to spend the next 20 or 30 or 40 years golfing and 48 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:55,400 knitting or they can't afford to or both. And so we're living longer. It used to be 49 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:01,640 you retired at 65 and you died by 75. So you only had to save up for 10 years. And now 50 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:08,680 we're living to our hundreds and beyond. There's more a hundred year olds in the world today 51 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:14,100 than there has been cumulatively in history. And people that are being born now are going 52 00:05:14,100 --> 00:05:22,040 to live to 130. So literally 65 is middle age very soon. So we need to rethink about 53 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:30,160 what it means to age nowadays. I call it how we're aging, staging and living at this stage. 54 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:36,760 So part of what I would say is there's not a lot of resources for people around entrepreneurialism. 55 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:42,180 There are some aging groups and organizations that are looking at how to get people back 56 00:05:42,180 --> 00:05:48,820 into corporate or in the workplace. That's a challenge. Because like you said, it's cheaper 57 00:05:48,820 --> 00:05:55,040 to hire younger people. There's all sorts of notions that older people are not tech 58 00:05:55,040 --> 00:06:01,040 savvy, can't do the work, are going to leave in a couple of years. The reality is the older 59 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:06,000 demographic is more stable and more likely to stay with you than for instance millennials 60 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:12,080 or gen zeds who are going to leave in two years almost guaranteed. So we need to adjust 61 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:16,680 a lot of thinking in our society. There's some really good books. So one book that I 62 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:23,440 would highly recommend is called This Chair Rocks, Manifesto Against Ageism by Ashton 63 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:29,640 Applewhite. It's intelligently written. It's fascinating. There's so much information in 64 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:35,160 there. Things that I didn't know. Like I didn't know that only 2% of the population in Canada 65 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:40,960 live in seniors homes, like in assisted living. I thought that as you got older, you ended 66 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:46,920 up there. That was just inevitable. But no, only 2%. And I think it's actually 2% in the 67 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:52,560 US and 3% in Canada or something like that. But only a tiny percentage of our population 68 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:58,400 ends up there. The rest live unassisted until they die and they're reinventing themselves. 69 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:05,120 I've talked to people who are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, not 90s yet, but 80s, late 80s, 70 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,880 who are just getting going. Literally there was a woman in Calgary who was nominated for 71 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:15,760 top 8 over 80 for creating an award-winning app in her technology company that she started 72 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:16,760 at 86. 73 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,720 Wow. That's awesome. 74 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:25,480 Yeah. So This Chair Rocks by Ashton Applewhite is a great resource on ageism. And by the 75 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,560 way, ageism doesn't just affect older people. It's also ageism against younger people as 76 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:34,560 well. They're on both ends of the spectrum. There are issues and challenges. And it's 77 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:40,880 really quite subtle and insidious and condoned. There's this notion that it's okay to just 78 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,760 overlook people because they have gray hair and that it's okay that they're invisible 79 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:51,120 and it's not an issue. And that's like, yeah, no, it's not okay. There's also something 80 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:56,560 that Ashton created called Old School. And I believe the URL is oldschool.info. 81 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,720 He is a pun champion. I like this guy. 82 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:07,880 Yeah. And her oldschool.info site is a wealth of resources. She has events and podcasts 83 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:13,360 and groups and organizations and books and a ton of resources on there about anything 84 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:22,120 and everything related to being older, albeit very little about entrepreneurialism. So that's 85 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:27,120 again, because there just isn't a lot out there yet. So that's why I'm creating an event 86 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:32,760 and a membership community and a magazine and I have a podcast and I want to create 87 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:38,320 a platform where these people can come together, be seen, be heard and be supported in creating 88 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,560 amazing things in the world. 89 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:42,920 Have those relevant resources. You heard it. 90 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:43,920 Exactly. 91 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,840 That's it. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you bringing those up, Jeanette. And of course, 92 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,960 bringing up your resources in the process and understanding that if you don't go to 93 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:57,440 the library and you can't find, you go to the library, you can't find the resource. 94 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,920 How cool is that that you're creating it? I think that's amazing. So we'll be right 95 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:06,480 back after a short break. We're going to dive in further to maturepreneurship, talk about 96 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:11,920 Jeanette's dream and vision and continue with some of the best worst leadership experiences 97 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:12,920 and beyond. 98 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:18,640 All right. Welcome in to Vision Pros Live with Jackson Calame. I'm your show host. We'll 99 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:23,720 be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs and guest leaders who are building fantastic 100 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,720 visions out there. 101 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:37,280 Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome into another episode of Vision Pros Live. I'm your show 102 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:41,880 host, Jackson Calame, founder and CEO of First Class Business. I'm excited to have Jeanette 103 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:46,640 Anderson on stage today. We're talking about maturepreneurship, entrepreneurship for those 104 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:52,120 who are getting started, 55 and older. So if you're not 55 or older, I hope you know somebody 105 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,000 who is. If you don't, you need to get outside of your silo a little bit. But there's lots 106 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,120 of people who in the workforce are either struggling to find a job or they know they've 107 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:05,300 got a purpose to fulfill. This is a great episode to refer them to and have them come 108 00:10:05,300 --> 00:10:11,440 in and learn from Jeanette's wisdom and how she's leading the cause for just that. 109 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,720 So before we dive in and bring Jeanette back on stage, we're going to talk a little bit 110 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:20,920 about some of the resources I've come across that I've been inspired enough to add to my 111 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:26,200 sponsorship. These are not paid sponsors. These are people whose programs I really like. 112 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,920 And I'm like, man, I wish more entrepreneurs in their cities were out there. So one is 113 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:34,240 the loss. But I guess you could kind of consider them paid because Melissa Gray is a client 114 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:38,840 of ours. But I would have put her up. In fact, they put her up here before she was a client. 115 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:44,200 Melissa blew my mind. She's coming on to our show. So you can watch that episode and find 116 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:49,040 an attorney who doesn't condescend at you, somebody who's also has the capability of 117 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:53,520 nurturing somebody who understands the human to human connection. And she helps business 118 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:58,600 owners understand that law doesn't have to be complicated. She's got a podcast coming 119 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:03,160 out too called Beyond the Goal, where she's going to be interviewing young athletes and 120 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:07,540 musicians as well who are on the rise about what is their vision and purpose beyond the 121 00:11:07,540 --> 00:11:12,600 goal. So I don't think there's any... Look at the poetic irony between that and entrepreneurship 122 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:19,200 right now. That's fun. And in addition to that, I have been through some serious legal battles 123 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:23,440 with business. In fact, I bet any entrepreneur who's been in business for longer than five 124 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:31,000 years has had to face that, whether it was a $20,000 lawsuit to maintain our trademark 125 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:38,160 for our brand name or whether it was Apple patenting our software that happened to. So 126 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:42,200 when you find yourself in that situation, you either choose to put your head in a hole 127 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,840 like an ostrich and just pretend it's not happening, or sometimes you end up hiring 128 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:51,640 somebody and supply and demand's not in your favor when you're in the position where you 129 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:55,760 have that need and you haven't done your research well. So all I would recommend is take the 130 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,200 time, maybe interview Melissa as you look at your potential legal counsel, put yourself 131 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:04,700 in a position where you can know for certainty that you have been a wise steward about running 132 00:12:04,700 --> 00:12:09,080 your ventures. It is so important to do, because once you... Especially once you get on the 133 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:16,040 map and you're really growing, people that aren't necessarily with the best intentions 134 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:20,360 might come along and try to derail you. It does happen. Then there's Andrew Sosin of 135 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:27,120 Recovery Unplugged. What a leader amongst men. This man has put together a team of over 136 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:32,920 400 individuals and he is helping people overcome addictions. And the way they're incorporating 137 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:37,960 music into this also hits home in my heart as a closet musician or a campfire. I guess 138 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:43,080 I can't call myself a closet musician with a guitar behind me, but campfire musician. 139 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:47,640 He used to be in a number of different states only with COVID. They were forced to bring 140 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,360 their program online. It became one of the greatest blessings for the world because they 141 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:58,200 expanded their capacity to serve people in a virtual environment. They have a 24-7 hotline. 142 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:04,080 If you or a loved one need help and support for some type of addiction, if you find yourself 143 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:08,360 feeling like you don't have purpose, the gurus who tell you that you don't know what you're 144 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:13,160 doing in life, I don't think that's necessarily the case. You find yourself feeling kind of 145 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:19,320 alone and without the support that you need. Once again, it might not be the best idea 146 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:24,640 to go to a bar to try to feel inclusion. You might want to find out what's going on to 147 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:30,640 where you can find peace, where you can potentially find happiness. I'm not the guru who can provide 148 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:35,600 that, but Andrew's program, he's dedicated so much time to that. If you're a Tony Robbins 149 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:42,040 fan, you'll especially love him. He's gone to the Tony Robbins events 22 years in a row. 150 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:48,000 The amount of dedication he's put into understanding self-mastery, self-discipline, personal development 151 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:53,360 and beyond just blows my mind. I really hope that if there's one person listening to this 152 00:13:53,360 --> 00:14:00,160 helps, then I'll be at peace that we had the opportunity to put him on the show here too. 153 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:05,160 Then there's the water project. The water project is near and dear to my heart because 154 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:09,880 I've never ever had to suffer without water. I don't know if any of you know what that 155 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:14,660 feels like, but I just can't imagine what it would be like to have my children or myself 156 00:14:14,660 --> 00:14:19,040 in a position where we don't have clean water. We have to go three to four miles to get it. 157 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:23,200 These people that you see on the screen right now, we're in just that position where they 158 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:29,000 were drinking from unsafe resources. Now there's millions of people in the world that face 159 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:35,480 this challenge and those of us privileged enough to rock the mic or listen to a podcast, 160 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,640 I would request that if you're not in a position to give back to one of these communities, 161 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:44,200 that you share it with a friend, share it with somebody who could give back. Or if you 162 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:48,400 know of another cause that where people have a lot of needs, don't hesitate to drop that 163 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:53,200 in the comments. We really want to help as many people as we can. There's 8 billion people 164 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,800 in this world to help. As we come together and do just that, it's amazing what type of 165 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,480 effects we can ripple effects we can have as they call it. Now these communities, if 166 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:08,440 you do donate, you get to see the outcome of the project itself. So if you get $5, $10, 167 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:12,360 they'll send you an email update of what's going on with that community and you get to 168 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:17,860 see that project come to fruition. And then I recommend going on a walk and meditating. 169 00:15:17,860 --> 00:15:21,680 How might that have changed their lives? I'm going to leave that with you today. I hope 170 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:26,840 you get the chance to dive in and think about that, the power of meditation and internalizing 171 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:31,640 intentionally what it is your actions are and what the cause and effect of those actions 172 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:38,100 could be is a powerful way to tap into, again, just real purpose in life and understanding 173 00:15:38,100 --> 00:15:43,040 your value in society. I hope none of you have any doubt about that. I love you all. 174 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:47,000 I appreciate every single one of you. I'm grateful for you being here. Jeanette Anderson, 175 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,880 we're going to go right back to you and bring you on stage. It is such an honor to have 176 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:52,880 you on the show. 177 00:15:52,880 --> 00:16:00,200 Thank you. And I love your heart, Jackson. I love how you support in such an amazing 178 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:06,960 and I hate to use the word, but I can't think of another one, authentic way. It is because 179 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:11,680 authentic is just so overused now. That's part of the challenge. But I really, really 180 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,680 love how you show up in the world. 181 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:19,000 Well, thank you. I hope authentic is overused because everybody's leaning more towards authentic. 182 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:24,080 And we know the AI and online world's making that a little bit difficult to believe. But 183 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:30,480 I will hold out hope that there are lots of us leaning in towards our authenticity. Thank 184 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:36,120 you, JP Sears. I'll give a shout out to him for being one of the catalysts to help me. 185 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:42,400 The comedian, I don't know if you know him, but man, that guy, what a brilliant display 186 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:48,080 of somebody diving into their true self. So Jeanette Anderson, thank you for that. That's 187 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:54,600 beautiful. And I see you uplifting people in all sorts of different ways. Put you in 188 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:59,440 touch with Franklin Anderson, Franklin Parker. Mixed y'all's names up a little bit there. 189 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:00,960 Y'all didn't get married yet, did you? 190 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:08,680 No, not yet. I'm not sure he's into Polly Amory because he is married already with kids, 191 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:09,680 but he's lovely. 192 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:10,680 Yeah. 193 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,840 Oh, it was so awesome. It was fun to just sit back and watch you two connect and see 194 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,640 how that man, there's so much beauty in both these individuals. So thank you for taking 195 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:23,920 the time to do that the other day. And what is your vision for those that you serve? What 196 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:28,680 do you hope to see them achieve? What's on the other side or on the horizon for them? 197 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:36,760 Well, that's, there's two answers to that. One is I have been up until now working predominantly 198 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:42,960 with women. It was a calling I got about 10 years, 11 years ago. I had a meditation, a 199 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:49,240 meditation, and it was really the purpose of that is to shift the world from fear to 200 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:54,240 love one happy and empowered woman at a time. And I would love to say that I jumped right 201 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:57,920 into that vision, but I didn't. I resisted it heartily. I didn't think I was the right 202 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:02,840 leader. I didn't really like women at the time because I mostly worked with men. You 203 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:07,760 know, I have a lot of excuses. Anyways, I finally did go all in. And when I did, then 204 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:14,720 I understood why women, why now and why me. And a lot of that is about shifting how we, 205 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,320 how we do business in the world, because how we do business is how we do life in so many 206 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:24,380 ways to a more collaborative model, to a more co-creative model. How do we start to create 207 00:18:24,380 --> 00:18:33,160 some real equity and sustainability in every area? And I think that it was time, it is 208 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:39,400 time for women to step up and truly partner with men because we haven't been and take 209 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:45,200 some of the weight off, off your shoulders and also create more of that true equity. 210 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:50,440 So that's been a lot of the work I've been doing. And how I do that is by helping them 211 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,080 figure out their purpose. What's their why? Why did they do what they do? And how do they 212 00:18:55,080 --> 00:19:01,000 turn that into something that profits both them and themselves and other people? And 213 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:07,240 so that's one way that I serve is help them really figure out how to expand as a leader 214 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:15,840 and step into creating a really viable business that serves them and serves their community. 215 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:21,680 So that's the work I've been doing for the past, well, 40 years actually, but with women 216 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:27,860 specifically for the past over a decade. And now my focus is shifting to maturepreneurs 217 00:19:27,860 --> 00:19:36,740 as we change our demographic changes often. Having been the brunt of ageism and literally 218 00:19:36,740 --> 00:19:42,880 ignored at a business event a few years ago, I, cause you know, I'm, I'm a fairly visible 219 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:48,760 person. I have blue hair, I have polka dot glasses, I'm fairly loud and you know, people 220 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:55,160 don't tend to ignore me very often. I've never had that experience before until I got 60, 221 00:19:55,160 --> 00:20:01,920 get 60 years old. And then it was like, oh, I'm now suddenly invisible. What, how interesting 222 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:09,520 is that? And so that really started my curiosity about this whole thing and my deep passion 223 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:18,560 to change this kind of condone prejudice. So how do I serve? The bottom line is help 224 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:25,640 them turn what their passion and purpose is into something that they can do as a business 225 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:30,920 or as a social enterprise or charity or however they want to live into that so that they can 226 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,800 be the difference that only they can be in the world. Cause each of us has our note in 227 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:42,600 the choir that we sing and their notes important. So I want to get that out into the world. 228 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:47,080 So how I do that is help them growing their business and being the solution that they're 229 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:56,000 here to be. Absolutely. Now, curiosity killed the host. I mean, I mean, Kat, but you mentioned 230 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,040 some, I don't want to, I don't want to say it's wrong, but I'm probably going to, you 231 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:05,520 said something about women and men. You didn't use the word equality, I don't think, but 232 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:12,640 you talked about something to do with women and maybe not carrying their load. Was that 233 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:17,600 what I heard? And I'm curious about that. I'm curious to context. Like I'm like, Whoa, 234 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,600 what's this? This is new. I haven't heard this before. And I'm curious about your paradigm 235 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:25,280 because you know, all perspectives, I was listening to tribal leadership last night, 236 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:30,580 great book by the way. And it talked about how, you know, when you get too many people 237 00:21:30,580 --> 00:21:35,360 in your circle that all think just like you, that's a dangerous thing. You know, like you 238 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:41,560 want to have some external inputs and people who do think, you know, maybe, maybe they, 239 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,720 they carry the same values, but they have a completely different way of looking at it. 240 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:50,760 It talked about not being, not being in business with people who agree with you, but people 241 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:56,040 who are aligned with you or they still have the freedom to exercise their beliefs in a 242 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,920 completely different way. Teach me. I'm very curious about this. 243 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:05,200 Yeah. And my framing on that is they resonate with, you resonate with one another's why's. 244 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,960 You have a similar perspective from that way from the world, but you may be accessing it 245 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:16,280 or, or delivering or living into it in entirely different ways. So the, the thing about the 246 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,840 women thing. So when I got this call, I was very resistant and initially was like, no, 247 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:25,760 I don't even like women, which was when I kind of went through that, I had to stop and 248 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:32,400 think why is that? Like what, why am I not like women? And really it's a lot of training. 249 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:39,680 We are trained very consistently to not trust one another. And until I actually stopped, 250 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:45,320 stopped and dug down below that belief, I didn't realize that it wasn't really my belief. 251 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:52,720 It was just something that I had kind of been inculcated with and trained and, and, and 252 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:58,080 there's very specific reasons why we are taught to not trust one another, which is longer 253 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:04,400 conversation. But I then started to recognize that, no, it's not that I can't trust women. 254 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:10,600 And, you know, yeah, there can be some issues, but there can be issues with men as well. 255 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:16,980 And then I started to really ask why me, why this, why this direction? Why do women need 256 00:23:16,980 --> 00:23:25,360 to step up and out more? Yes, we need economic equity. We're still 80 cents on the dollar 257 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:31,760 if you're a white woman to be paid for the same job. And it goes down based on, on, you 258 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:37,520 know, ethnicity to 50 cents on the dollar for Latina women. And so, yeah, we still have 259 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:43,400 a gender wage gap that needs to be addressed and gaps in a whole bunch of other areas. 260 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,800 But I wasn't really like, I didn't consider myself a staunch feminist, which is why I 261 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,560 like kept saying, I'm pretty sure you meant to call Gloria Steinem or someone like that. 262 00:23:51,560 --> 00:24:00,040 Like, why me? What I really understood was that my perspective on this is that women 263 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:07,120 have been sitting on our power a lot. And what that means is we've kind of left men 264 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:15,040 to do the heavy lifting. And yes, we are, are kind of pushed into that position as well. 265 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:19,680 But the patriarchy is a system that doesn't work for anyone, including old white men. 266 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:25,160 It just is not, it's a broken system and doesn't have real equity. And that's the word that 267 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:29,480 I would use rather than equality. Equality means we're the same. We're not the same. 268 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:33,200 We're very different. And you're different than other men. I'm different than other women. 269 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:38,440 We're different than each other. But equity is fairness. Equity is that people are treated 270 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:45,640 appropriately. And that I do want to see. And I think that when we step up and step 271 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:52,520 into our power and start to lead, then you're no longer left to have to do all of that, 272 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:58,000 you know, on your own kind of thing. Now, men do also need to let go of some of that 273 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:06,120 control and power and so on. But there is so much benefit to us partnering to create 274 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:11,960 a new way of doing things and really partnering, really working together, not against each 275 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:19,560 other. And there's been so much us versus them sensibility throughout history, but especially 276 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:27,440 in the last five to 10 years, that's gotten turned up, especially, I think, a lot in America. 277 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:34,520 And therefore, that kind of ripples out. So I would love to see us partnering with men 278 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:42,180 to create real equity for everyone. And yes, that means women need to be appreciated and 279 00:25:42,180 --> 00:25:50,760 treated appropriately and, you know, have parity and equity and equality. And we need 280 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:57,360 to stop being pissed off and start being part of the solution and working with men to co-create 281 00:25:57,360 --> 00:25:59,960 a new way of doing things. 282 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:06,560 Nice. Well, very good. I appreciate you diving into that as a product of a home of five older 283 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:14,280 sisters and my mom. You know, it's one of those interesting paradigm shifts, right? 284 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,280 And I think anybody who comes from, you know, my dad's side on the same token, I've got 285 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:25,760 three brothers, you know, complicated family life. We were predominantly a patriarchal 286 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:32,160 at home as well and have that belief system. And at the same time, it's so important to 287 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:37,520 get out of our silos, you know, and to see the different ways that the world can be built. 288 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:41,000 And so I really appreciate you sharing and diving into that a little bit. We're going 289 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:46,000 to return to what is your personal vision? What do you see for yourself on the horizon? 290 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:51,160 Cool. And by the way, I just want to say patriarch, by the way, is not just men. It's a system 291 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:56,880 that's supported by men and women and needs to be healed by men and women. Okay. So my 292 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:04,960 vision, my vision. Oh, I have such a big vision. I am so excited about this. I am excited about 293 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:10,320 stepping into my leadership in a real way. I have developed lots of expertise and really, 294 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:17,680 truly haven't gotten myself until the like the older I get, the more I can sit in my 295 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:25,360 value without it coming from ego or from proving and just get who I am and then go be that 296 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:30,660 in the world in a bigger and louder way, in an unapologetic way, knowing and trusting 297 00:27:30,660 --> 00:27:36,360 that I have a good heart and that I'm going to do my best. That's one of the biggest gifts 298 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:44,160 of getting older. I love it. And I'm super excited about creating this. I call it my 299 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:49,680 my mature printer empire in my head. I call it the mature printer world out there, but 300 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:56,000 I'm excited about the possibilities of that. I'm excited about doing a whole lot more speaking, 301 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:01,400 traveling the world and speaking about this, starting and igniting some, some recognition, 302 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:09,720 some passion, some inclusion, some functionality for this group. I, I'm excited by hanging 303 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:16,600 out with wise, cool, kick ass people all around the world who are up to playing a big game, 304 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:24,080 whatever that may look like for them. And I'm excited about really one of my secret motivators 305 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:30,440 that I don't usually share, but I am really excited about being the poster child of it's 306 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:36,840 never too late that you can go from at 63 having no retirement or very little or not 307 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:43,760 enough to sustain you to creating a million dollars plus an ability to sustain yourself 308 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:49,000 within a couple of years, because I know so many people who are in the situation I was 309 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:57,280 in of not having enough money to retire and being in that despair to know that you can 310 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:02,960 change that at any point that it's never too late to change your circumstances, change 311 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:08,040 your life, you are not done by a long shot. And so I'm really excited about being the 312 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:13,120 poster child of that transition. I'm, you know, a little scared that it won't work, 313 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:20,440 but I'm also really committed to making it work. So that's, that's really, that gives 314 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:26,280 me some juice because there's nothing more powerful than an example of something being 315 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,960 done to let us know that we can do it. 316 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:32,960 I love that. I love that you're willing to do something scary. And I think one of the 317 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:40,000 majestic feelings of being at the Grand Canyon is that unspoken fear that that scared nature 318 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:44,960 of like, man, you know, that's a long way down. You know, there's a bit of a perilous 319 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:49,480 danger that is not too far away. There are survival instincts are naturally going to 320 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:55,960 kick in and protect us from. So, you know, that's, that's a healthy fear in that regard, 321 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:59,680 right? As long as it doesn't consume us and prevent us from ever looking at the Grand 322 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:06,120 Canyon, right? There's, there's opportunity there. New segment today. Why do you think 323 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:10,280 leaders hide from funding their vision? 324 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:16,240 Oh, that's an interesting question. I think it's, it's comes back to that fear that you 325 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:22,240 were talking about the fear of going all in, you know, I got to say, one of the biggest 326 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:31,480 lessons I've learned in life is that 99% is a bitch. 100% is easy. When we hold back in 327 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:37,000 any way, whether it's putting our money where our mouth is, or, you know, having a back 328 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:42,240 door or kind of dipping our toe in, but not really diving in, I call it drowning in the 329 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:47,240 shallow end of the pool. Like either step, stand up, get out of the pool and go have 330 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:53,400 a Mai Tai by the side of the pool or dive in and swim one or the other. And I think 331 00:30:53,400 --> 00:31:00,800 the, the hiding from funding their vision is that fear of going all in. And it's what 332 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:08,120 it does. I know what it's done for me in my life is it, it piddles away the money rather 333 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:13,920 than having that investment, whether it's time, money, effort, commitment, whatever 334 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:20,040 it is, rather than having it make a substantial difference because I go all in with it. Or 335 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:25,840 it just gets dissipated because I just kind of give 10% now and 10% and then 10%. And 336 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:31,800 it doesn't really have the impact. So what I would say is if you want to step into a 337 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,280 vision, go all in. 338 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:39,920 You just reminded me of the Zig Ziglar quote, one of his teachings that has made such a 339 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:44,520 profound difference. I learned it probably 20 years ago. And I continue to draw on it 340 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:49,320 often and that's that pumping the water at the well and how you just pump a couple of 341 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,800 times really hard, the water is not going to come out if you stop, right? If you just 342 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:59,000 keep doing that 10%, you're never going to get water out of the well. You've got to really 343 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:03,920 hit it. And then once it's flowing, you can't stop. But once it's flowing, as long as you 344 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:10,280 maintain a basic pace, the water is going to flow. And so that going all in aspect, 345 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:20,200 I think, is a very valid aspect of this. And I'm curious if you want to talk about how 346 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:26,200 leaders can dive in to funding for their visions because I imagine a lot of the maturepreneurs 347 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:32,600 are going to face that reality of like, man, how do I make this happen? What are my options? 348 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:37,680 I'm curious about your take on that. Yeah. And it is one of the things because of the 349 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:42,120 prejudice of ageism that is really hard, like good luck trying to get a loan from a bank 350 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:49,760 if you're 70 or 80 or 60, even 65 or venture capital funding. It's really, or even just 351 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:54,160 insurance like business insurances, like they won't, they just don't insure you, they haven't 352 00:32:54,160 --> 00:33:00,160 caught up yet. So you have to get creative. I think crowdfunding and crowdsourcing is 353 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:06,960 going to be a big aspect of this market, getting funding. Things like being visible on shows 354 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:12,640 like Shark Tank and Dragon's Den is another way, coming with that vision to a group of 355 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:20,760 people. I really believe that the more of us that are going out and looking for funding, 356 00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:25,040 the more that will shift the market. My goal- 357 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,880 You are totally spot on with that. I'm sorry, I got so excited because I haven't heard anybody 358 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:33,120 say that, but that's exactly right. You're creating a market. 359 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:39,640 Yes, absolutely. And my goal actually is to create a professional association, the Maturepreneur 360 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:46,400 Professional Association for the purposes of lobbying and advocacy and going out to 361 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:51,880 the banking industry and the insurance industry and VCs and so forth and say, hey, you guys 362 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:59,400 are missing a huge opportunity to make more money and more impact. Wake up. There are 363 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:04,960 millions of people that you are missing out on. So yeah, the advocacy is going to have 364 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,000 to come after I get some of the other pieces in place, but that's on my radar. 365 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,920 You're doing it right now though. You're already starting it. You're the perfect person to 366 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,560 have started these questions with it. Literally, it came to my mind as you're talking about 367 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:21,560 your vision, I'm like, new segment, we got to talk about this. You are the literal and 368 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:26,560 inspiration for those questions coming out of this podcast. So thank you. 369 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:32,480 And coming back to how do I plan to fund this? You know, one of the things that I've been 370 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:38,320 like really wrestling with is that I don't want to bootstrap this. Like I have all of 371 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:43,200 my businesses over my life. I don't want to do this on my own. Like I have done all the 372 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,280 businesses over my life. How do I make this? How do I get out of the way and make this 373 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:52,840 big fast? And so one of the things that I'm doing is creating an advisory board right 374 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:59,280 now. And one of their primary goals is to help me get money to fund this vision. And 375 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:03,760 we're going to do presentations. We're going to do whatever we need to do. We're going 376 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:09,140 to apply for grants. There are of course grants for young people starting businesses. There 377 00:35:09,140 --> 00:35:16,080 are no grants for older people starting businesses. So I'll be doing some lobbying of grant organizations 378 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:21,640 that provide grants and governments that provide grants and say like, again, you're missing 379 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:28,600 out on a big market. How about some money over here? So a lot of it is going to be the 380 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:33,280 thin edge of the wedge and kind of leading the charge, which is challenging when there 381 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:39,640 isn't a market to create a market. However, I'm just going to ask a lot of people to fund 382 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:45,560 this vision if they believe in it. And that's how I'm going to do it. And that's how I assume 383 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:50,440 most of the maturepreneurs are going to do it is to let their passion lead the way and 384 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:52,800 ask. There aren't traditional... 385 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:57,960 That's the angel investor market. And it is overlooked by so many and the promissory notes 386 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,360 are overlooked and not talked about. And if we don't talk about it, we don't learn about 387 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:06,960 it, then how the heck are we ever going to do it? So very, very great. I love the plan. 388 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:11,080 I'm so glad that you're leading the way on that. Maturepreneurs will benefit tremendously 389 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:16,640 from it. And it's a matter of... I call it founding members as well, right? Bringing 390 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:20,840 in those founding members and helping them see the legacy that they're creating. So you're 391 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:26,200 leaning heavily into that process. And I think it's amazing. So thank you for talking all 392 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:32,640 about it. And I hope we're able to lead many more people to see the value of doing just 393 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:39,920 that. Let's dive into a dark subject. What's the worst leadership experience you've ever 394 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:40,920 had? 395 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:45,120 Okay. I'm going to answer that, but I want to credit you for an idea you just gave me. 396 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:50,480 The association is going to have the founding 50 and they get a reduced fee and so forth. 397 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:56,160 But I'm also now going to add a piece where they can optionally donate to the fund to 398 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:59,160 create this platform. So thank you for that. 399 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,800 You know what? Let's hit that one more time because I was talking to another visionary 400 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:09,380 the other day and she had 36 people on her board of advisors. And as we dove into the 401 00:37:09,380 --> 00:37:15,320 reality of that, she had 36 people who were rah rah cheering and nobody was putting their 402 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:20,360 money where their mouth was. I was like, you don't need 36 people on your board. Not 36 403 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,400 people who aren't willing to participate. She's like, Oh, I might get a hundred dollars 404 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:28,480 out of each of them. And I'm like, not to be on a board. I was like, you don't need 405 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:34,960 36 distractions, 36 chiefs. You need people who are actually bought into this. You know, 406 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,960 and I didn't tell her she needs, I don't tell people what to do. I don't tell people what 407 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:43,520 to do. But point being, you know, we've got to have the real sincere conversations with 408 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:47,720 people who say they're following and who say they're founding, who say that's a founding, 409 00:37:47,720 --> 00:37:53,600 right? That's talking about building a foundation that something stands on. And that that sometimes 410 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:58,600 takes some tough conversations. Either give me the feedback as to why you're not all in, 411 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:06,280 right? Or give me or give me the no so I can move forward and find the people who are or 412 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:11,660 help me build this. Yeah, I truly help me build this. It's not enough to just get enough 413 00:38:11,660 --> 00:38:15,520 people to say yes. And I like what you're doing. You go do the work mother. Real little 414 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:23,480 red hen. We got some real board members. Thank you. That was that was a really contextually 415 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:29,140 expanding comment for me. So thank you. I am now shifting the membership and the advisory 416 00:38:29,140 --> 00:38:35,520 board opt in process. So that's cool. Oh, I'm so happy to hear that. Well, me too. We're 417 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:40,240 always shifting, optimizing, upgrading a lot of people to serve, right? So, okay, now we'll 418 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:43,400 dive into the dark subject. All right. What's your leadership experience that you've ever 419 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:50,200 had? You mean other people are seen? It could be the one that's going to be most powerful 420 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:56,280 and beneficial. Okay. Looking to the scene of perhaps. I worked for a large corporation 421 00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:02,560 that was a Fortune 500 company in Canada in 2001 and put together the largest deal that 422 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:10,200 they had ever had in their in their history of $1.5 million, $1.2 million. The second 423 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:17,680 phase was 1.5. And the short version of the story is rather than pay me the commission 424 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:22,960 due on that, they fired me because they were having a bad quarter and they didn't want 425 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:27,980 to have to pay out that money. And that and so not only did I not get that commission, 426 00:39:27,980 --> 00:39:32,960 but I also didn't get paid the $20,000 in the expenses that I had accrued. And I was 427 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:41,240 fired by the phone when I had literally gone 76 days in a row without a break because I 428 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:47,440 was filling in two vice president roles while they found new vice presidents and had literally 429 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:55,240 for 76 days in a row worked 16 hour days and they fired me. So I can tell the story in 430 00:39:55,240 --> 00:40:00,480 great detail about how I was victimized and how wrong that was and so forth. The accountable 431 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:06,320 version of that is I knew they had a history of firing people to save money when they had 432 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:13,600 about that quarter and didn't protect myself against that. I did have a lawyer that was 433 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:19,220 going to take it on pro bono and fight it for me because it was so clearly documented. 434 00:40:19,220 --> 00:40:23,960 Like it was an it was a open and shut case that they owed me the money. But I would have 435 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:30,460 had to stay in litigation for probably a couple of years. It was from one province to another. 436 00:40:30,460 --> 00:40:35,680 And I would have needed to stay angry for a couple of years to stay in that process 437 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:42,800 and stay in that game. And I just didn't want to. And I was completely burnt out. So these 438 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:51,180 leaders had a and it wasn't just one, it was a culture had a short term vision of immediate 439 00:40:51,180 --> 00:40:57,080 solutions that had long term impacts. So to save themselves that hundred and twenty thousand 440 00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:04,160 dollars, they lost a one point five million dollar sale. They have a bad reputation in 441 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:11,440 the industry. It had a huge impact on morale of my team and department. So what I would 442 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:18,560 say is bad leaders find short term solutions that they think are they're plugging holes 443 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:26,320 in the dyke. Stop. Build a better structure and then you don't have to plug holes in it. 444 00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:32,360 And and they don't you know, this particular firm had four in-house legal councils and 445 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:37,800 a full time firm out of house because they were so litigious and because they did so 446 00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:44,480 many things that required people to sue them. And like, don't don't try and get away with 447 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:50,240 in the short term what you think will save you. Do what will you know, and I don't mean 448 00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:55,800 this. Well, maybe I do mean it religiously, but you will save your soul in the long term. 449 00:41:55,800 --> 00:42:03,800 Do what will actually have you be the person that you want to be long term. And it's so 450 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:09,780 easy when you're struggling in the short term to make those those choices and decisions 451 00:42:09,780 --> 00:42:17,200 based on that. But you pay big time for it later. So longer term vision, even when you're 452 00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:24,120 struggling in the short term is going to keep you happier and healthier and whole longer 453 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:31,720 going forward. So it it what it did was from two for me, whatever, was precipitated a real 454 00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:38,320 period of burnout and really, frankly, depression. I ended up having to declare bankruptcy. It 455 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:44,440 was quite devastating. But all of the fallout, it was such an incredible feeling of betrayal 456 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:51,520 that it took me literally a couple of years to process and work through that. And it did 457 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:58,160 cure me of my aberrant behavior of going back into corporate corporate work. Never do that 458 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:05,160 again. A story from that is, well, kind of funny. They fired me on the Friday. On Monday, 459 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:13,480 I got a call from HR and 911 on the I got a call from HR on the 13th saying, Are you 460 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:20,320 okay? I said, No, I'm not okay. And they said, Well, where where are you? And I said, I mean, 461 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:25,840 Calgary. And they said, Well, what's what's wrong? Are you physically okay? Yeah, I'm 462 00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:33,640 physically okay. It took us quite a book five minutes to figure out what's going on. Road 463 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:37,660 Warrior and had been, you know, flying back and forth. They thought they were checking 464 00:43:37,660 --> 00:43:43,400 to see if I was on one of the planes. They were checking if I was okay, physically okay. 465 00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:51,600 On 911 or if I was okay. And I thought they were calling about having been fired. And 466 00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:59,400 for injury. Yeah, it was it was really insult injury. And it was like, Yeah, no, I'm physically 467 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:04,800 I'm okay. No, I wasn't on any of the planes. And no, I'm not okay. How I was fired and 468 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:11,120 why I was fired was not okay. So that was probably my worst leadership experience ever. 469 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:15,440 Yeah, there's a there's a lot of lessons done back from that one. Yeah, we're gonna we're 470 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:19,840 gonna save the unpacking. We'll let the visionaries do that today. For the sake of time, we're 471 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:24,580 gonna move right into the opposite. Let's go to the light. What's the best leadership 472 00:44:24,580 --> 00:44:31,840 experience you've ever had? Well, I would say hmm, I've had a lot of different experiences 473 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:38,080 with interesting different moments that have really been pivotal. But one of the people 474 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:42,680 that really impacted me the most was a man named Reverend Chunggu Park. It was a long, 475 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:48,640 long time ago. And he used to he would speak to this international student group that I 476 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:56,840 was part of back when I was 20. And, and he used to say in a very indomitable spirit Korean 477 00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:03,040 kind of way, child, you must live a story life, a story life. After I got over being 478 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:10,640 intimidated, I went, you know, that's probably the best advice I had ever gotten. And, and 479 00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:16,080 I heard it in two ways. One is be aware of the stories that I tell myself, because we're 480 00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:20,280 making it all up. So we might as well tell better stories about what's happening. And 481 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:24,320 because that's just going to help us and empower us and telling crappy stories. Like I can 482 00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:28,000 tell you the crappy story about that worst leadership and I can tell you the empowering 483 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:32,560 story. They're both true. So I might as well tell the empowering one because that actually 484 00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:39,160 helps me more. So one, tell better stories. And the second thing was, live a story life, 485 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:44,040 have stories to tell about your life. And so I cannot tell you how many people say to 486 00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:51,000 me literally, probably almost monthly, my entire life, man, you have to write a book, 487 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:56,960 you've lived such an amazing life. It's because of that piece of advice from him. I really 488 00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:04,160 took it to heart and, and we don't really leave much behind aside from whatever that 489 00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:10,200 legacy is, we might hope to, and the stories that we have lived, and that will be told 490 00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:15,280 about this. And that is probably the best piece of advice I ever got. It's certainly 491 00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:22,720 the thing that shifted the trajectory of my life the most. And he was also just an incredible 492 00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:28,800 example of commitment, which I think is the most powerful thing any person or leader can 493 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:36,000 do. He had when he was giving that speech, he had cancer through 96% of his body. And 494 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:41,840 he literally was powerfully going around the world speaking at a pace that his younger 495 00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:48,240 assistants could not keep up with. He was indomitable. And so I also really learned 496 00:46:48,240 --> 00:46:55,800 from that example, energy is a choice, how we show up is a choice. There are always things 497 00:46:55,800 --> 00:47:01,560 that we can have pull us back that have an impact. And certainly as human beings, we 498 00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:10,720 have shit happens, right? But how we show up in the world is a choice. And he was probably 499 00:47:10,720 --> 00:47:15,600 my biggest teacher by example of choosing powerful. 500 00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:21,520 Wow. That is, that's amazing. Thank you for sharing that story. I'm going to let that 501 00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:25,720 resonate with people to drive right into the opportunity for you to share one of these 502 00:47:25,720 --> 00:47:30,280 powerful lessons. I want to put some context on this, Jeanette. So if this was your last 503 00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:35,280 chance to share a powerful lesson with those who are listening, what powerful lesson can 504 00:47:35,280 --> 00:47:38,640 other visionaries learn from your experience? 505 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:45,640 This question is kind of like the last lecture that they do at MIT, which I think is powerful. 506 00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:52,280 And if you've never seen Randy Pausch's last lecture, go watch it. What powerful lesson? 507 00:47:52,280 --> 00:48:02,000 I would say the power of commitment and choice are the two things we have control over. And 508 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:12,000 that can make us or break us. Lack of commitment, lack of being in the driver's seat is what 509 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:18,240 can help us live the lives we're committed to living or put us at the effect of our life 510 00:48:18,240 --> 00:48:25,120 in the world. So I would say the most powerful thing that you can work on honing and developing 511 00:48:25,120 --> 00:48:33,160 is your willingness and ability to commit, go all in, and the fact, the accountability 512 00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:40,080 of being the chooser in your life. Two things that have made the most difference in my life 513 00:48:40,080 --> 00:48:43,760 overall. 514 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:47,520 That was a way to double down on that best leadership experience. I love the way that 515 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:57,920 you revere the reverend. That is just awesome. Well, is there, in terms of maturepreneurship, 516 00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:02,040 leadership or just final parting thoughts, is there anything else that you'd like to 517 00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:06,760 share today before we wrap up? Because this has been super rich. I know we're right at 518 00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:12,720 the top of the hour almost. So any final things you'd like to share with the audience? 519 00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:18,080 The last thing I would really encourage is get some help in finding your why, because 520 00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:22,280 often it's the thing that's on the end of our nose and we can't really see it or articulate 521 00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:27,700 it, your purpose, your mission, whatever you want to call it. Get some support in really 522 00:49:27,700 --> 00:49:33,480 seeing that, because there's nothing, there's very little more powerful in our lives than 523 00:49:33,480 --> 00:49:39,700 having a compelling purpose. We are human, human beings are meaning-making machines. 524 00:49:39,700 --> 00:49:45,520 So have a meaning that pulls you forward, that inspires you, that lights you up, that 525 00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:52,800 gets you out of bed in the morning. And then have fun living into that. That's, I think, 526 00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:58,440 probably the best thing that anybody can spend time, money, effort, et cetera on is having 527 00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:05,080 that compelling why and then using it to help you in the market, to get you out of bed, 528 00:50:05,080 --> 00:50:10,000 to enroll others. Yeah, that's what I would say. 529 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:15,360 That is what like great investors teach over and over and over and over again, that I see 530 00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:21,200 so few people really listening to. It's not about the mechanics of the executive business 531 00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:26,400 summary and the pro forma's and that it can be, if you want to track the wrong types of 532 00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:33,160 investors, but if you're a passion-filled visionary, or you want to be, you yearn for 533 00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:39,480 it, I love that advice. I had lots of help finding my why. And then you talked about 534 00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:42,680 it too. You said not only just help finding your why, but also developing it so that you 535 00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:50,520 can talk about it. If you don't, your vision is going to sound and feel and come across 536 00:50:50,520 --> 00:50:57,240 to others like a shell of an experience. And people don't want an empty vessel. They want 537 00:50:57,240 --> 00:51:01,640 something fulfilling, something fulfilled, something that's really driven by something 538 00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:06,640 of extreme purpose. So once again, I know that's fantastic and wise counsel. 539 00:51:06,640 --> 00:51:10,920 Those of you who are listening in, on the landing page, we will have the action steps 540 00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:17,520 that Jeanette recommends taking. And then we're also going to have on there above that 541 00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:23,200 a button that says, be our guest. If you have a vision that you want to share, do not hesitate 542 00:51:23,200 --> 00:51:27,600 to come onto our stage, take the commitment, make the choice, take the action steps to 543 00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:32,920 come and join us. And if there's anything we can do for you, if you just want to leave 544 00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:36,600 a comment on a social media platform of your choice, we will get back to those as well. 545 00:51:36,600 --> 00:51:40,720 If you have a question, don't hesitate to leave that for us. We are very much here to 546 00:51:40,720 --> 00:51:45,120 serve you or we appreciate all of you coming and listening. We hope you subscribe. We hope 547 00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:49,640 that you like the channel and share this with others as well. And visionaries, everybody 548 00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:53,720 have an excellent rest of your day and week. We'll see you in the next episode. Take care 549 00:51:53,720 --> 00:51:54,720 everybody. 550 00:51:54,720 --> 00:51:58,720 Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned into Vision Pros Live. 551 00:51:58,720 --> 00:52:03,560 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. 552 00:52:03,560 --> 00:52:07,400 This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll 553 00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:11,080 invite people to participate in the show. And thank you for giving us your time and 554 00:52:11,080 --> 00:52:25,080 attention. Have an excellent time building out your vision.