Exactly. All right. So today, vision wise, company wise, family wise, etc. What are you
most excited to talk about?
I think I'm most excited to talk about how our vision has developed and how the vision
is not easy, but the fact that it's not easy doesn't make it any less worthwhile. It's
actually a pretty difficult vision, to be honest with you. And it causes a lot of headache
and frustration for that reason at times, but then the wins along the way to fulfilling
the vision, I guess, are that much more fulfilling as you notch them, if that makes sense.
Yeah, it makes perfect sense, especially for us. I mean, one of our rally cries is we're
creating a full appreciation of family and personal well-being within the workplace.
And that's on a global scale. And we're creating our second rally cry is bridging the economic
gap between North America, South America and the rest of the world. So no, it's not easy
by any sense of the imagination. It's not as fun as a ludicrous concert or going to
South by Southwest. But there's tremendous amount of purpose and value and for me, peace
in the process. So when I saw what you were up to, I was like, well, it is deep and it
is a big deal. I'm going to pull the screen up and share it while you talk about it. Forward
family services and helping these families of children, the experience you guys went
through with COVID on this as well. But I'd love to hear in your words, what did you create?
What are we about to talk about? Well, these are families with various behavioral
and mental health challenges. And what I, you know, my background is actually in finance
and insurance, where I've worked for auditing companies that have, you know, basically developed
financials for hospitals and healthcare. And when I thought about what I'm going to do
with my life, how I'm going to contribute to the world and the kind of company I want
to build, I wasn't, I wasn't big on developing or building financials for the rest of my
life, even though I've developed that skill set. I wanted to be involved with something
more fulfilling and meaningful than that, but still use my skill set. And over long
story short, behavioral mental health and I were at a crossroads where I realized I
could use my skill set to help families as far as the insurance side goes, where I'm
not sure what your experience is with behavioral mental health, but any family that goes through
it, trying to get their children in these kinds of services, it is very frustrating
to say the least from an insurance standpoint to get your children authorized and validated
to get these kinds of services. So I've made it a mission of forward to be an advocate
for these families and to do everything we can with our resources to help these families
not only, you know, be a place where these kiddos can get these services here, but to
really work with the insurances and pick up the ball for the parents so that they don't
have to be on 20 phone calls with insurance or fill out a very frustrating packet or get
told different things by an insurance company on the phone. That's, that was kind of the
start of forward dealing with it a little bit in my own personal life and with other
family members, you know, that have had these similar struggles. We wanted, I wanted forward
to be a place where families felt relief from the second that they were looking for these
services for their kids. And I'm not just talking definitely from the, definitely from
like the behavioral side, but also from the insurance side and the paperwork side, I guess
you could say that that is far more daunting for many of us. Um, you know, I can, I can
deal with challenges, emotional vulnerabilities and things like that pretty well. I'm, I'm
certainly have my limits as well. Um, you know, but to have to find, to have to dive
into the unknown of that system that is just so awful to deal with. Um, you know, it is,
I told, I would have been a great realtor. I would have done very, very well from an
emotional standpoint, from talking to people, but I would have never touched it because
of the amount of paperwork that just intimidates me. It makes me feel completely powerless
to have to deal with all that paperwork. And you take that to a 20 X level when you're
dealing with insurance and bureaucracy related to it and the fees and the stress. That's
awful. So you're, you're helping. That's amazing that y'all get involved in that level
too. Um, all right, so we're going to be diving in a lot deeper into this vision and
talking about family at the forefront, no matter what, putting our families first, um,
and the idea of family first too. Before we do, what are three resources that you recommend
for other leaders and visionaries out there? Three resources. Um, I'm like reading. It
could be a book. It could be a movie, uh, YouTube videos, but three resources that will
help visionaries and leaders continue on their path to, uh, to move their purpose forward.
Um, I'm a pretty big believer, um, in leadership and self deception. Um, that's not a new one.
That's an old one. But what I love about leadership and self deception and just that, that Institute
and their model is no matter how you try to spin it, no matter how you, whatever the situation,
ultimately the way that you decide to interact with people is what you need to hold yourself
accountable to. You cannot, you cannot try to pin it on other people's shortcomings or
behaviors. Ultimately you have to take accountability for how you interact with other people. I've
just learned over time that that's, that's very valid and a very true way of thinking,
at least in my experience. So I'm really big on leadership and self deception. Um, another
one I'm Arvin, right? Yes, that's right. Yeah. I'm in the middle. So I was looking back here
cause I was looking for it and I was like, wait a second. That's why I stopped there.
I need to put this on my desk because I was in the middle of it and then I moved from
my apartment to where I'm at now and to my duplex and I fell off my desk. Yeah. And they
have a series it's, and it's not, it's not a intimidating read. Um, there's just, it's
just, it's very practical in my view. Oh, it has super, super high ratings and a lot
of leaders that I've talked to, um, that's, that is one of their go-to favorite resources
as well. And it's like, we, you know, you, you can ignore perhaps the popular opinion
out there. Um, you know, like, oh, you should watch this reality TV show. The right amount
of leaders talk about a resource over and over that have, you know, made it to where
you have, um, and beyond it's like, wow, okay. Um, I need to pay attention to that. No, absolutely.
Um, another one, uh, that I'm, I'm a pretty direct individual and there's, there's many
variations on, on this, but the one I probably mentioned that people are most familiar with
is radical candor. Um, that's, that's a really good book. Um, just, I think what radical
candor is good about is taking, if you are a direct individual, taking you and helping
you to be a direct individual in a healthy, in a professional way. Um, but I think I,
I do think that direct feedback is just important. I think if you're going to succeed in any
organization and any business, I believe strongly that feedback must be unfiltered and unfettered.
Um, but I, what I appreciate about that book is that she's very, I think she's very good
about making sure it's respectful, professional, and it's considerate. Um, but, but not, but
not at the expense of mitigating the direct feedback, if that makes sense, which I think
is important.
A hundred percent. Well, it does to me because I'm a radical, I knew exactly what book you
were going to say. Oh, I said the same time because, but I haven't read that one. Um,
I am a radical candor person as well. Um, and my, my, one of my best friends who was
a, a student of mine previously, um, he ended up coming into my company as my right-hand
man, a few years later after moving into the, he was getting to the business school, the
Marriott school of business at BYU. And he had shouted at me for about four months and
I was freaking out because I was like, dude, like, why do I have this effect on people?
Like, how do I, why does they, why is she so hurt? Um, you know, by what I said, and
he's like, Jackson is a guy, get what you mean. But sometimes when you speak, it's like
you hit people with a steel bat. Um, and I was like, I know I was like, but I don't know
how to fix it. Um, and so I, I went on a several year journey with him and others trying to
figure out, okay, how do I, how do I become more diplomatic, you know, more. And so now
I gotta read the book because I've still absolutely. And, and to take it a little further, sometimes
what I realized is no matter how much I work on it, no matter what some, in some situations,
I'm just not the guy. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I do have to just send one of my lieutenants
or one of my, that they are the guy for that conversation. Um, and I just have to acknowledge
my shortcoming and that it's just not best coming from me. That's been a hard lesson
to learn sometimes, but I've had, I've just had sometimes to acknowledge that, no, it's,
this is just not, and it's not a cop out. It's, it's out of, it's out of respect. Yes.
Yeah. Yeah. It's the same thing. If I don't speak Chinese, what am I doing? Trying to
be a Chinese diplomat. Right. You know, that's kind of how I look at it. I'm just like, look,
I love you and I want you to be happy. I'm obviously not the guy who can happen. There's
that to it too. Um, the other one, um, last one, I guess I'd recommend, and again, there's
variations of it, um, is, um, the one minute manager. Uh, I, I, I own and operate, you
know, four different businesses. Um, and it, it can be done. Um, teams matter a lot, which,
you know, a couple of the books I just mentioned talk a lot about teams and teamwork, but the
second thing, I think the single most valuable experience that I had in my graduate school
experience at Fresno state, um, was a professor that just gave us one hour, didn't, didn't
tell us the assignment was happening. We sat down and we just had a paper with like 57
different items on it. And he just said, okay, you have one hour, get, get your 57 items
done. And the idea of the, the exercise, some were really quick and easy. Others were projects
that would take in a normal world, like a week or more, but the, the moral of the story
was prioritizing your time and knocking out the right things with the one hour that you
had on short notice. I, at first I remember thinking, this is, I don't understand why
here we are at this grad school. This seems kind of silly, but I look back, you know,
12 years later on that experience on that particular, you know, assignment that, that,
that's very real, especially for me now more than ever is just the, the convulgence of
my family at home, my personal life, my faith-based life, you know, uh, my kids and it, you know,
prioritizing your time and effectively doing it while still being respectful and not dismissive
of others. Um, really big on the one minute manager and their approach to that and how
you manage your time effectively, uh, while still making sure things get the needed attention.
Ken Blanchard is one of the OGs to me, the man who wrote that book. Um, you know, it
changed everything for me. And just like you said, um, and I happened to read right after
it raving fans. So that's a good one. Yeah. Big books. And yes, they, I would, I've got
these books on my shelf in order. The lower shelf here is an order of like what I recommended
people read, um, for their path through leadership and entrepreneurship, with the exception of
my mouse pad. And that mouse pad is the reason like I need to remember to be effective. And
it's the same concept of know thy time, right. And prioritizing Jake Larson, video power
marketing. Um, I think you'll appreciate this. He, he turned me onto a YouTube talk about,
or about, uh, juggling versus plate spinning and how we often refer to life as a juggling
act, but it's more like plate spinning where sometimes you got 20 plates going and that
plate spinner has got one particular plate that's kind of out of whack. Um, in order
to need a little bit more attention than others. And sometimes we got kids, any more attentions
than other kids, and it's not about fair. Um, you know, it's not about equality in
essence. It's about who needs the attention at the right time or what needs the attention
at the right time. And then, and what's the effective mode of communication? Like it,
can it be done in it? Can it be done in an email? Can it be done in a, in a call? I,
I have so many, you know, staff or others are like, they're calling a meeting and I'm
like, you have to politely help them realize this doesn't need a meeting. You know, you
can, honestly, a text message would have suffice for this. That's why I also love the one minute
manager is it really focuses too on the modes of communication. Um, and when they're appropriate,
you know, that, that helps me. It helps me a lot. Yep. It is. It's, it's super fun that
we, that design behind me, that is from the five dysfunctions of a team. We have a similar
design that we've created for our culture around the one minute manager game plan. Uh,
so we can always reference it and showcase, here's what we're doing. Here's what we're
doing. So I walked through it. Here's how we train people. They're, they're really,
really helpful concepts. I mean, couldn't do it without, without Ken Blanchard and that
case or Patrick and Tony. Um, got to learn from the, we're standing on the shoulders
of giants as they say. Um, so we'll be right back guys. Those of you listening in, soak
up those resources, maybe pull out your Amazon account. Um, I've got a marketing list on
mine and every time a leader recommends a book, I, I upvote that book or reprioritize
it based on the quality of leader I'm talking to, what they've done, who I've heard references
to and then it eventually makes it into my audible account if it has that, or I grind
it out and read through it. So we'll be right back and dive into Aaron Tucker's vision quite
a bit further. All right. Welcome in to vision pros live with Jackson Calame. I'm your show
host. We'll be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs and guest leaders who are building
fantastic visions out there. Hey, what's up? I'm welcome into another show vision pros
live. I'm your show host, Jackson Calame founder and CEO of first-class business. I'm excited
to have Aaron Tucker on with me today. Um, I'm labeling him a little bit. I'm a stereotype
a little bit. He's got a reverence and a calm to him that just kind of, it doesn't even
harmonize with mine. It's kind of like exactly how I like to be most of life is reverent
at peace. And so this isn't going to be as dynamic of a show, but this is going to be
very, very profound. We're going to be talking about his business forward family services,
his other businesses a little bit that he has, how he got into that and family and why
family, uh, you know, we want to inspire people to keep family at the forefront no matter
what, because there's so much that, uh, that can get in the way of that. Um, speaking of
my four kiddos are downstairs and I'm excited to interact with them right after this show
to how do you balance family and podcasting and running businesses? And you know, as a
single father, um, you know, it's, it's one of those things where we're not intentional
about paying attention to that. It can slip away before we know it. And, uh, I never want
that to happen for my priorities in life. So before we bring Aaron Tucker on, I always
want to give some resources to a few visionaries out there that I think are extremely valuable.
One of them is the law spot with Melissa Gray. Melissa Gray came onto our show. I almost
canceled it because I don't like most lawyers and how pretentious they can be in condescending
and they kind of speak over your head and they know their supply and demands in their
favor. So you get the short end of the stick. I couldn't have found Melissa further from
that stereotype. She's a fantastic listener. She truly cares about people. We've had a
lot of fun working with her as well on the development of our own brand. Um, we've been
developing her brand and she's got this new blueprint to help people understand that your
attorney shouldn't just be somebody who can protect you, but can also expand your network
and your partnerships. So I highly recommend touching base with her. Uh, I went through
a $20,000 trademark lawsuit before I realized the importance of having the right counsel,
um, for the legal activities that may come your way. She's also got a resource, um, for
an audit for your own legal, uh, potential needs. So feel free to check out that too.
Then there's the healing and do with Pramila Param. Um, Pramila is, um, she's got some
tenure and that's what I appreciate most about her. She's got a ways to go to build this
international wellness community out from a digital perspective, but don't let the digital
disrupt the reality of the decades she's put into finding healers and therapists and coaches.
What she's building with us as an opportunity for those entities to come together into a
filtered community and hub so that the clients, potential clients who might come into this
and say, you know what, I don't quite know what type of help I need. I just know I need
it. She's creating a place for everybody to come together and provide their services in
harmony so that those people who need help can get it. Um, and all of us have different
levels of needs for help. Um, I'm surprised at how many people say I already have a coach
and ignore the fact that people like LeBron James and Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and name
any one of your favorite mentors out there have loads of coaches, loads of people helping
them do what they do. We can always expand the depth of the mentors in our life. Um,
I recommend checking out what she's up to. Then there's the water project. The water
project is something that, uh, you know, it's funny, Aaron Tucker's program, family forward
services reminds me of a similar opportunity. I have never been thirsty in my life to the
extreme where I was worried about where I might get my next source of water. So when
I found out that there was millions of people who don't have access to clean drinking water
and their kids have to leave school to go get water for the community, the parents have
to leave work in order to go get water for their kids and the water they're getting isn't
even necessarily safe. Um, I just wouldn't let myself forget it. Um, and I was like,
you know what? We can do more. We can raise some awareness around this. We can give back
to this as well. What I love about the water project is the transparency. You get to choose
a community that you provide to and you get to see the outcome and result of that donation
or effort. Um, so if we can, if we can get together and help the 8 billion people in
the world, that's awesome. Again, back to family forward services. Uh, I don't know
what it's like to have a child with special needs, um, or to have a child with learning
disabilities or to just need extra additional help beyond, um, my family and friends. And
so when I learned about what Aaron was up to and how he's showing up in the world with
his team to help families and what they went through during COVID to continue to support
people the best they could, I was like, wow, this guy has a vision that is helping people
that are often forgotten about by people like myself. And, uh, man, I gotta bring them on
the show. So without further ado, Aaron, man, thank you for being here and joining me on
vision post-life. Absolutely. I'm happy to be here. Thank you for having me. 100%. Now
we did, we did get some recordings regarding the vision. Um, uh, early on we did a couple
of pre-show segments, but I still want to dive back in to make sure people understand
where this came from. So you launched right before COVID with a desire to help families,
um, with the education development of, of their children. And then COVID hits and the
world wants to shut down the school. Um, you know, the world wants to shut down your ability
to help these individuals who could benefit from a reprieve. I know with my kids, I can,
you know, I need some time sometimes to just be me. Um, right. I can't do it 24 seven.
So can you walk us through that? What, what did you launch? What happened? How did you
overcome the obstacles when so many others would have shut down in your scenario? Yeah.
Um, thank you for that question. Uh, and it, you're very, you're very nice to describe
me as reverent. That was not a reverent time. Um, it was a very, it was a very stressful
time. Um, and, uh, it, well, there's so many ways I guess I could, I feel to answer that
question. Um, first and foremost, right before COVID there's, there's just too many people
who need the services that we provide. That's, that's part of why I got into it. And there's
two, there's so many people that so many, so many places that I respect anyone that's
in this industry trying to provide services for those with behavioral mental health needs.
And so, um, I think that's a very important part of the, of the, of the, of the, of the
industry. Um, due to the insurance dominance of the, um, industry, getting services and
the way with which services are trying, you know, are trying to be onboarded, like I said
earlier is often frustrating for families. And so we, if we were going to do this, we
were going to be better. We were going to approach this with customer service, with
a chore to get them the services that they need, which is often what families experience.
And then, so that's the vision. And then COVID hits and you're trying to onboard families
with dignity. It's already difficult to, to go through the authorization process with
insurances. I will put your listeners to sleep, um, trying to explain what that entails. So
I won't do that. Suffice it to say, it's just a very long involved process. And then when
you throw COVID in the mix of that, and my whole, my vision is I'm going to do better
than what these families typically experience elsewhere. And somehow I'm going to execute
on that, like during COVID. Um, it, it was very intimidating really from, from the start.
Um, but what we quickly realized was so many of our, of other providers that do behavioral
health services were opting to shutter and not provide services that my initial fear
was, man, we're not going to do this in the way that I wanted to for my vision. And that,
that, that's a not, if you're a founder or a CEO that's in a place where you're not going
to have your vision, that's a non-fun place to be. I mean, your vision is what drives
you. It's why you do what you do. Um, and I'm pretty OCD. I don't like not doing things
to the way that I want to get them done. What I quickly had to put my mind at ease at though
and realize is when, once you look around you during COVID and you see what everyone's
going through, what I realized is, you know what? I'm just setting myself apart by staying
open at all because there's so many others around me that aren't even making, that they're
just deciding, you know what, we're not going to try this. This is too much. And so what
I quickly realized is however imperfectly or however difficult it was going to be with
COVID, um, we were setting ourselves apart just by being open and still seeing kiddos
at all. And the feedback I quickly got from the families that we were taking on was just
how simply grateful we were for making that effort at all. And so I kind of had to let
go of the vision, not, not that we weren't struck, not that we weren't striving for my
vision. That's not what I'm saying. Um, but I had to, I had to let go of the, you know,
striving for perfection and execution. COVID just blew all that out of the water. It was,
it was trying to just make sure families had a place to go and we would give them the best
service we possibly could while trying to figure COVID out. And the grace that families
afforded us during that process was really appreciated. And, and truthfully what happened
was we still grew in spite of not executing perfectly on my vision from the beginning.
Like once again, because we were willing to give it a try and still be open during COVID.
Um, and you know, um, it's not a small thing to provide these services that I would argue
are, uh, very necessary and vital for these kinds of families, these kinds of kids. It's
like oxygen breathing air to them. Um, and so we just, we adapted and we overcame and
my team was flexible and we made it work. And, um, over time, I think like anyone else
realizes, you know, you do the things you get, you get the, uh, the, uh, PP, uh, PPP,
you know, grants, you, you do some things to help you get by and navigate. Um, eventually
the COVID restrictions kind of lesson and things seem out. And I think what's been,
was a blessing while it was really difficult to be open during COVID and to time it that
way. Operating during COVID versus operating now, I guess, once you've been there and then
when things kind of normalize, it be, it's easier than it was a few years ago in certain
ways that you're grateful for having had that experience because it's kind of hard to Trump
opening a new business during COVID. If I'm being honest. So, so, um, really difficult
at first, but then in retrospect and having pushed through that, the discomfort of that
and the inconvenience of that, I think has been good for me and my team and my company
and helped us to shape us. And I think it's communicated to families that we are committed
to this. You know, we're, we're serious about doing these from the get-go, you know.
Oh, it's huge. It's absolutely phenomenal. They're the quote that often gets pulled out
of context. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Um, I think in this case is a very,
very important applicable quote. Um, you know, you talked about not derailing from the vision
and I think a lot of people get a little bit linear about that aspect. So I want to, I
want to highlight the truth and reality of that. That's there's the tunnel vision aspect
of having blinders on. There's also the reality of being flexible and pivoting and pivoting
doesn't always mean turning the exact opposite direction, but even then it's like a U-turn.
I used to live in an apartment where the only way to get to go the direction I needed to
go, I had to drive a mile in the wrong direction first, um, to get around to my destination.
And we face that in the physical world. We sometimes don't realize that we're not necessarily
stuck and can't do our vision just because we need to turn left before we turn right.
It's just part of the process. Um, and you emulated that. Now you also talked about,
um, I appreciate your joke about reverence, but I do want to bring it full circle. One
you at least honor mine. And that shows it as a leader, you're willing to adapt. But
to that anger that you fell to that frustration and the difficult challenges you had in that
experience reminds me of righteous indignation. I had to look the word up while you were talking
by the way, but I was like, I gotta make sure I got this right. But that's that reality
that you know what? Sometimes, you know, the best, sometimes to me, the most important
forms of reverence are standing up for what you know is right, even though it's not popular,
even though other people don't want it. You know, 96% of entrepreneurs lose within 10
years, 4% beyond that. They don't just succeed. They're not the rock stars. Most of them are
still surviving. They're still just trying to figure it out. And talking about that doesn't
mean like, Oh, what was us? I hate life. It's the reality of we have some, a sincere amount
of work to do in order to make this right. Let's put the work in and get it done. Um,
but it doesn't to me interfere with the idea of, of reverence or respect or sacred or,
Hey, let's still enjoy life in the process. So thank you for that. Um, what are your,
what was that? What was that like for your family and your family life? Having to go
through that and what are some lessons perhaps we can learn from that experience? Um, it
was a very stressful time. Um, it was really challenging for our family. We had, uh, we
had just bought a house two months prior to that and relocated. Started a business and
bought a house and go, Oh my gosh. Yeah. We had just recently relocated from Baton Rouge,
Louisiana back to Fresno is my hometown. And, um, yeah, it is just, you know, I'd kind of
sold my wife on the vision and, and we felt good about making the move. And then it's
just kind of like, as you're getting into it, uh, it's just like, wow, it does, it couldn't
have felt more not good timing, uh, in so many ways. Um, but I think what my wife is
really good about, she grew up in the military, um, you know, and in her family, I'm, I'm
like a hometown boy. I grew up in the, you know, the same place, same friends. I think
what I appreciate about my wife, uh, is she's used, she's very used to adapting. It comes
very natural to her. And I, my observation has been that families, military families
in particular, I think they're kind of used to, uh, being derailed or kind of rolling
with the punches. And on top of that, my wife was raised by very good parents, uh, that
I think just from her experience and her upbringing, she, she, yes, she goes through frustration
or grief just like anybody else does, but it's very quick to like, okay, this isn't,
this isn't anything we can't solve. And so let's talk through it. Let's, you know, think
about what we can do about it. That's in our control. And you know, so we're, she's very
practical in solutions based that way. And then, you know, it sounds, I don't know cliche,
but like at the end of the day, you know, you have to have something that keeps you
centered. I am a religious person. Everyone has variations on that, but like I do, I am,
we are, me and my wife are believers that like, if you're passionate about doing something
and you committed to it, um, and you're going to put in the effort to do it, it will work
out if you're committed to doing it and really, you know, putting in the effort and time that's,
that's necessary and adapting, like I just talked about. Um, so certainly having her
and that kind of wisdom and that kind of experience with me, uh, was very helpful. And, uh, it
turned quickly into a couple of days of, man, this is hard to, Hey, we're here. We just
got to figure this out. Like everybody else, we will figure this out. And you know, we
just, we just talked it out, made plans and took it a day at a time. I think that's the
other thing I would just say about that time in COVID is it's, it's too, if you, if you
take a step back and look at the monster that's, that's ahead of you, um, that only adds to
the stress and, and the panic and, and it just, it just hazes the vision and creates,
you know, displacement. I think you have to focus on small things, little victories. Um,
you just got to make your list, knock out your list, and then the momentum becomes a
real thing. Um, and that, that was effective for us, if that makes sense. So it makes perfect
sense. I had a friend call me out once. It wasn't very long ago, actually. Um, and he
told me about the story of the bison and the cow and how, when the hurricane or the storm
hits the cows run from the storm, so they're in it longer. And the bison runs at the storm
and runs right through it and gets there faster. He's like, Jackson, you're being a cow. I
was like, oh man. I'll take it. I need to look at, look at where I need to improve on
this. Um, but having, having relationships and friendships like that, um, um, religion,
you mentioned that, um, I won't force you to dive in any deeper on that, but I will
second to your, your style on it. I'm on, I'm unapologetically Christian. Um, and it
took me a while to learn how to be that. That was what I needed for me was to find that
centeredness and groundness. Like, okay, look, like I, I'll be listening in that aren't religious.
You're welcome to hear where I'm at and provide your own perspectives too. Um, you know, I,
I embrace that and I want that. And I'm not going to be quiet about mine while I'm also
not going to be forceful about it. It is the secret weapon for me of knowing that, okay,
I've got God on my side at all times, no matter what, even when I screw up and I can turn
to him for help. And I also know all things work for my good. I know that even when I
didn't want to doubt it or think, no, no, this meant, this is meant to be, what am I
supposed to learn in this? And I also know that the best blessings usually come after
the most extreme trials, if you stay focused and committed. So those are principles for
the leaders and visionaries out there. Um, you know, if you have them own them, if you
do not maybe consider exploring it, it might help you get through some tough times, but
don't take my word for it. Do your own work. Absolutely. So let's go to, um, the traditional
question I usually lead with, um, we talked about this in some different angles, but what
does the outcome look like? What's, what's your vision for those you serve? I mean, I
know it feels good to have the paperwork done, but you know, what are some of the other benefits
that these families receive working with Ford family services? Yeah. I mean, so for me,
like I said, on the, on the front end, it's great to help them with the strain of the
process of just getting in. But then the real, the true fulfillment, you know, and the part
that really is the, is it is the best part is, is seeing the impact of the types of services
that we offer on their actual behavior and on, on their lives. Um, and we specifically
at forward, we work with applied behavior analysis. That's ABA therapy. So ADHD, developmental
delays, autism. Um, we also do psychotherapies to think like individual counseling, uh, family
marriage counseling. Uh, and then we also are involved in a, uh, emerging space, which
is, um, like addiction recovery and other behavioral type, uh, challenges. So intensive
outpatient treatment as well as, uh, residential detox treatment. Um, and just to be clear,
these, these services are, these are not all interconnected. We have different families
that we offer different services to, and I employ different professionals that provide
different services, these different kinds of services, but ultimately they all fall
under behavior and mental health. And what's his outcome. So yeah, go ahead. You got, I
think you're getting there. Okay. So what's rewarding is, you know, um, families that
come to us, like say a child with autism and often it's two or three kids. When you actually
have a kiddo with autism, it's not uncommon to have more than one and they're just desperate.
I mean, not only do they need childcare, maybe mom and dad are both working jobs, but like
they don't use their child like cared for. They need their child taught. They need their
child's behavior, you know, curbed and, and funneled and, and, you know, direct redirected.
Um, and they're desperate for that. And, you know, with residential detox or IOP, we're
talking kiddos that might be borderline suicidal. Um, you know, obviously there's addiction,
which I think plenty of people are familiar with various types of addictions to, to see
families go from like the worst kind of stress that you've probably ever seen to gradual
relief and like gratitude, um, for the services you provide. I mean, yes, I do this provide
for my family, but I don't think, I don't think I can do justice to like the feeling
you get when your services literally have, have made a 180 impact on a family's life,
um, in such a, in such a way that we're talking just, you know, commonly tears of gratitude
and, and, um, just where they thought there was no options, they thought there was no
true permanent, I guess, um, changes that could be made to really help their life go
differently when, once they found them and you go through that process with them, it's,
it's hard to top that, I guess, if that makes sense.
Yeah, it is. It makes perfect sense. The, the process of providing for your family,
um, and, and then combining with this vision of how you're helping others, it makes me
think about like the reality that a lot of us as parents, we, we pretend in our imagination,
you know, we would love to just be with our kids and our family 24 seven, you know, what
if we could go to Disneyland every single day with our family and spend the entire day
there, you know, would that truly be what would be most beneficial for our children
or for our relationships as spouses? Um, you know, is, is life all about consumption
and in that sphere? Maybe. Um, I don't know. I've never done it before. Um, but the, the
reality is I, I, for me, I think it's very important for my family to have a little bit
of a distance. So family at the forefront, no matter what, does that mean Disneyland
all the time or are there, are there breaks in it? What are your thoughts on, on what
that looks like? Do we, you know, should we indulge 100% of our time into our children
or you know what? Well, I don't know how to even format the finishing touch on that question,
but you know what I mean? People, it looks like that on Instagram. It looks like that
on Facebook. Yeah. We bad fathers for not doing that. No, I mean, sometimes I am. I
have to be honest with you. I think I am, but family at the forefront, I think to me
is that, that my, my values, those family values, um, truly are at the forefront of
whatever I do. Um, it's not it to me, I guess it's that first and foremost, I'm not a CEO.
Like I'm not a, yeah, whatever the title is, I like to say I'm a husband and a father.
Like literally, if you look on my LinkedIn, that is my first title. Um, because to me,
that's, that is what I put first. Um, no matter if it's at work, you know, if it's at home,
if it's a church. So I guess it's not family first to me is to your question, which I think
is somewhat about like physically being with our children. Of course, to me, it's important
to guard that time and to make sure you're in, like you said earlier, intentional with
it. But more than that, I have, I've had former mentors, um, and, and people also that I've
worked with and, or, or, you know, trained that, that turned out to be, um, I wouldn't
say that they prioritized family values in the way they conducted themselves in business.
To me, it's always about being the kind of man and the kind of father, however, I'm acting
in business that my kids will be proud of. Um, whether I'm in a, in a room with just
me and another individual that I'm having their performance evaluation and no one can
see me, or I'm standing in front of all 150 of my staff, uh, conducting an all staff meeting.
So I guess the premise to me is like twofold. There's the actual being with your family,
which is absolutely important that you're getting at. Then the other part is, am I the
kind of father and husband, no matter where I am or what I'm doing, that my kids are proud
of my conduct and how I operate my business and how I interact with people. I think to
me that is family first, if that makes sense. Absolutely. My, uh, one of my favorite quotes,
and I'll quote it often cause it's long, um, is a man filled with the love of God is not
content with blessing his family alone, but Rangers to the whole world, angels to bless
the whole human race. Um, I heard that in my teenage years from Joseph Smith, um, junior
and, and it just hit me. Um, I was like, wow. Um, like, okay. Um, and I don't know why it
just sunk in though. And, um, you know, before I had kids, before I had a family, I was in
your wife for two years. Um, but even after, you know, coming back from that, establishing
the family that became, it was still like, this is still, it's so important for me. And,
and, uh, same time you're, yeah, I get why the bromance is so strong. I don't think I
saw that about your LinkedIn profile, um, where you talked about husband and, and, and
being a husband and father first, I think Ang found our connection, but on my Facebook
profile since my daughter was born, I've had this little title here. DAD is greater than
CEO. Um, and then the whole doc, Dr. Seuss fanatic as well. Um, it is super important.
So, um, you know, it's, but you, but you're right. They know my kids know how important
our work, my work is, um, as they've gotten older, I've gotten them a little bit more
involved too, in, in conversations about what we do, why we do it, who we're supporting,
whom I'm on the phone with and why, um, I would never take a project on that would be
one that they wouldn't be proud of if they learned about it and cared, you know, most
of them, I'm not working with something super exciting. So they don't yet, but there will
come a time where that matters. Go ahead. You got to thought. I agree. Yeah. And I, I
would also just add along the lines of your question. Um, what I love about children is
I got in this mode where as a businessman, um, it's almost too intentional. You're, you're
so intentional that you don't leave, you don't leave room enough for the unplanned or, or,
um, what just happens spontaneously. Um, and, um, there's another book I really love. I
think it's, um, I'm going to botch it, the power of moments or something that affects,
um, there's like literally lightning in a bottle on the cover. Um, but one of my favorite
quotes is that moments are the molecules that make up eternity. Um, and what I love about
my children is that they have, they've purposed me more to value at work, um, or anywhere
that I am and appreciate how important the small interactions are day to day, um, with
just people in general. Um, because I think over the long term, people are going to feel
more of that, that buy into your vision. Um, and you know, that, that loyalty to you when
they connect with you and they see and feel that you're a person, you know, like they
are. Um, and being a father, I think has helped me to also prioritize that. And to me, the
appreciation for small moments and when they happen, not ignoring or skirting over them,
but embracing them, I think is important also to a family first approach.
You nailed it. And they nailed the book name by the way. Um, I think it was Chip and Dan
Heath when I just looked it up. Um, I got one of those names, right? So, um, your, your
team right here that we're looking at, at to me is a tremendous evidence of what you're
talking about. Um, you can, you can tell a lot about somebody by their smile, um, and
how their smile meets their eyes. Um, not that anybody not smiling, you know, gets a,
it's not a end all answer to how somebody feels or who somebody is, but, or when we,
when we try to divide team from family and we don't have a lot of clarity around that,
it can create a, um, a lack of clarity amongst the culture within the business. Like can
I talk about my family? Can I not? Is it appropriate here? How are people going to feel about this?
Um, I just don't see how cultures can create a good feeling amongst team members without
having that inclusivity of, or, or integration of family and business. I wouldn't, I just
never want to know what that feels like personally. So we, we build with all of that being important
and being on the table to discuss within work. Um, and thank you for sharing the insight
about being flexible, right? Um, not having to complete the agenda, so to speak. Um, today's
an example of that. This show is so different than what we normally do. Um, and we're always
evolving as a podcast. We stuck with one question. Um, and I would be the, the bulk of the vision.
I would personally love to have you back here. Um, I'd love to go through the rest of some
of our questions today. We're not going to cover, to cover your most powerful lesson
for visionaries. Today, we're not going to cover the best and worst leadership experiences.
Um, we're just going to soak in the value that you've given, uh, the tremendous lessons
that you've showcased. Um, the example, um, you know, it's, it's authentic. Plus you've
subliminate subliminally, uh, incepted us and thinking you are like Warren Buffett.
Every once in a while you look up to the right and he's behind you. They're going to say,
Oh, this is a Warren Buffett guy. Um, I'm going to put my Elon Musk face onto you and
try to, um, but, oh no, anyway, this is a lot of fun. And, um, do you have any final
thoughts for the audience before we wrap up? Um, yeah, I mean, you mentioned, you know,
the folks behind me, they're actually there for a reason. And that is, um, the only thing
that they have in common to me, actually they're all very different, but they did it their
way is what I admire about these people. The ones, some of the names you just mentioned
behind me. Um, and I don't mean that in a selfish or a condescending way. I mean that
they embraced what, you know, what and who they are, what their strengths were and the
vision they had. And I mean, like what you mentioned earlier, whether it's COVID or whatever
the challenges were through it, under it, around it, nothing was going to stop them
from achieving that vision. And that's, you know, to me, that kind of passion, um, as
well as finding ways to bring people there, there's a professor that I had that, you know,
his whole thing was if you can find a way to, to, to bring, uh, you know, value or make
yourself, uh, different that, you know, sit out with people. But I think as long as you
can do that, um, while also treating people with respect and dignity and, and, you know,
seeing them for who they are. Um, I think you still have to keep that humane side with
you while doing that. Um, I, I hope that that comes through, you know, for those that I
guess see my journey, uh, that's, that's what I try to be mindful of. So I appreciate the
humility when you teach, um, it's, it's awesome. And not that you lack it elsewhere, but you
know, I'm not trying to, trying to butter you up or, and I, I apologize. I didn't mean
to keep us from getting other things you wanted to touch on today or anything. So sorry if
I did. But no, no, no, no, no, we go with the flow. Um, you know, we very much appreciate
that it's, um, there, there's been a structured process in the past and that we've gone through
and it's not that we didn't follow the structured process. We're always optimizing. Um, you
know, we're always looking at, all right, how do we get the most out of these experiences
for the listeners? And, um, that means, you know, following that intuition at times, um,
and saying, you know what, now we got, we got a new production crew, like a whole, we've
got three new people helping on production in addition to our existing team. So the distribution
of these episodes is ramping up and, uh, their capacity to take this live experience and
turn it into evergreen content, um, so that people can benefit for this for 10, 20, 30
years, um, is continuing to increase. So as this is perfect, um, those of you listening
in, we're going to have, um, of course we'll reply to any comments that you have, any questions
that you have, don't hesitate to put those, um, on the social media channel where you're
watching. Also, uh, on the landing page, if you're there, just look down below us and
you'll see the action steps that you can take to get involved with Family Forward Services
to get, uh, to follow Aaron as well on his journey as he goes from four companies to
4,000, you know, Richard Branson style, or just to see where he continues to, you know,
to, to focus on his life. Um, why do we do that? I do it because I'm always looking for
examples personally. I'm looking at like, all right, is somebody, are there people out
there who are living the type of lifestyle the way I want to live my lifestyle kind of
validates and helps me see that, okay, I'm, I'm on the right track with what I do. Also,
I just want to learn from wisdom, the wisdom from people who've done things, um, in a way
where it's like, man, I, I'm not worried about the outcomes I'm worried about or dedicated
to how can I maximize my own life? And that usually comes in the form of other human beings
trying to do the same thing. So Aaron, thank you for all that you've done for us today.
Vision Pros we'll see on the next episode. And if you'd like to be on the show and share
your vision of how you're helping and serving others and click on the button that says be
our guest and we'll see inside. Take care of everybody. Bye bye. Thank you for being
here today. I'm really happy that you tuned into Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward
to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. This is going to
get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite people
to participate in the show and thank you for giving us your time and attention. Have an
excellent time building out your vision.