1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,160 Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Vision Pros with today's very special guest, 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:14,080 Chad E. Cooper of Marcus Ulysses Wisdom, which is such a cool business name. Can't wait to learn 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:23,200 more about what Marcus Ulysses Wisdom is all about. And so without further ado, my first question to 4 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:32,000 you, Chad, is tell us about your story. What do you want us to know about you and and your company, 5 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:40,880 Marcus Ulysses Wisdom? Well, Barbara Ann, thank you for a great question out of the gate and one 6 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:53,920 that is, Morphing as we speak, I have built a career off of mining, really. And I retired from 7 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:59,680 a small computer company, probably never heard of when I was 35 called Microsoft. You may have heard 8 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:05,920 of, they've done okay for themselves. But I didn't retire from the typical what you would think. Yes, 9 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:13,360 the stock awards made a big difference, but I saved more than I spent. And as a child at, 10 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:21,040 I want to say probably 18, 19 years old, I went into the Marine Corps. And I started listening to 11 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:28,160 this guy named Tony Robbins, personal power. And that really helped shape my life along with in 12 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:36,960 tandem being in the Marine Corps helped really me to understand our mental fortitude is what often 13 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:43,040 stops us. We're, we're, we're able to do 20 times more than what our mind believes that it can do. 14 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:49,600 Long story short, I have walked away from the corporate world in order to be the primary 15 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:56,160 and caregiver for our son. And did that spectacularly had a really powerful identity 16 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:02,400 as super dad. And he is now in his third year at university and I have a lot of time on my hands 17 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:09,120 as an empty nester. In that time, I found myself really wanting to be an example really wanting 18 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:15,280 to serve and I've done that since I was really quite young. And so I got into doing a few 19 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:20,480 various things, one of which was professional life coaching. And I had the fortunate privilege of 20 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,640 being the number one coach for the number one coaching organization in the world, working with 21 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:29,280 billionaires, working with professional athletes. I'm the guy you never saw behind the scenes 22 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:34,400 that was there for title fights and world series and in, you know, World Cups, those kinds of things. 23 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:42,320 And then working with the Olympians. So what does that have to do with Marcus Ulysses wisdom? 24 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:48,960 You collect along the way, if you're fortunate to surround yourself with some amazing people and I 25 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:57,440 have experiences and those experiences are usually achieved through screwing up and making mistakes. 26 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:04,080 Don't do that again. Hopefully you can learn from the errors of friends and family and peers 27 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:08,960 and not make them yourself, but you're going to. And then hopefully along the way, Barbara, 28 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:15,680 we can have a collection of things that allow us to serve ourselves, serve our community, 29 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:21,760 serve and mentor others. And I've reached a point where my business partner and I said, 30 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:31,520 we need to be the shepherd. And I choose the word shepherd very carefully to help share the message 31 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:40,240 with the world. And so we're looking at going global with this at a ridiculously affordable price 32 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:46,160 in sharing this out to the world. But I said, you know, when Tony Robbins, for example, dies, 33 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:51,040 his empire is probably going to crumble because it's based on one individual. And so I started 34 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:58,400 looking at Mark Twain, who has always been a great mentor for me, you know, with his writings that 35 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:04,720 he's left behind. And that was really the point. Mark Twain is really Samuel Clemens. Dr. Seuss 36 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:12,000 is not really Dr. Seuss. And so in order for the message, that wisdom to be able to transcend 37 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:20,240 the flaws of me as a human being, as a messenger, we've decided to go the path of Marcus Ulysses. 38 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,720 Marcus Ulysses and all of those different identities that I've served in life 39 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:29,840 were really empowering identities. Marine Corps, right? Regimental Marine of the Year, 40 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:36,400 you have to have a really empowering identity in other things that I've done. So Marcus Ulysses is 41 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:48,880 Marcus Aurelius, one of the greatest emperors in all of time. Ulysses S. Grant, who was an amazing 42 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:55,760 general and right hand to President Lincoln and president. Ulysses and the Iliad and the Odyssey. 43 00:04:55,760 --> 00:05:02,160 And then Marcus Luttrell, who is a former Navy SEAL that you'd known by the movie Lone Survivor. 44 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,640 And so I took a collection of four, the best characteristics and qualities. And we decided 45 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:14,880 that the message needs to stand on its own and not under the ego of an individual. And so Marcus 46 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:23,040 Ulysses is just a really kick ass name to represent the caliber of the work that we're working to put 47 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:30,480 out in the world. So there's a really stupid long answer for you. There's no stupid. I don't believe 48 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:38,400 in stupid. Well, mostly. But as John Wayne said, you can't fix stupid, but you can put duct tape 49 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:48,320 over their mouth. True. So that's it. You know, it's interesting because I put up the title, 50 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,320 you know, what's the story behind your why, because that kind of led up to it. And gee, 51 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,480 you get this all the time. But, you know, with sincerity, thank you for the service that you 52 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:05,040 provided to our country. And so with all of that said, what exactly would you say is your why? 53 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:15,920 Well, the one word that serves that is shepherd. And so that journey, I grew up with a very large, 54 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:24,000 large family, Barbara Ann, and in that you learn to survive. You learn to get along, you learn 55 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:33,360 diplomacy, you learn trauma, and all kinds of things. And in the military, as you just mentioned, 56 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:39,280 my time in the service, you know, freedom isn't free. And so I chose to go with arguably what I 57 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:44,800 would say is the world's best, the Marine Corps. And that was about understanding that there has 58 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,120 to be a price to pay. Hopefully, I don't have to make that ultimate sacrifice, but I was willing to. 59 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:57,520 Coaching, being a father and being Mr. Mom before it was pioneered and considered appropriate or 60 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:04,160 acceptable was about being able to be of service to my family and saying, my wife was far better 61 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:09,040 in diplomatic and successful in the corporate world than I was. Made my money, got out, right? 62 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:17,440 Go do the things where I can serve and that light me up and I can create impact. And so I made the 63 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:23,760 really silly mistake of one day having a conversation with God and said, I want to go 64 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:30,320 on a mission trip. And he goes, great, you get to lead it. And I was like, what? The team leader, 65 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:38,080 he quit, had no paperwork processes or operational understanding. And I got thrown in. And it's been 66 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:44,480 now almost 20 years. We've actually got a compound that we've bought in, it's over probably 800,000 67 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:52,080 U.S. and can support 48 missionaries, has an apartment for sabbatical, has medical outpatient 68 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:58,240 facility, does all kinds of amazing work in serving widowed women with children. We build houses for 69 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:07,200 them along with a lot of other things, medical, et cetera. But that began with a, as I would say, 70 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:13,440 Robert F. Kennedy said, some people see things as they are and ask why. Others dream of things that 71 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:20,640 have never been and ask why not. And so my life, my why has really been led by why not. And as a 72 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:30,960 shepherd, you're a constant herder, constant nomad. No mad, nomad-er. I think you understand. 73 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:36,160 But if you look at the characteristics of a shepherd, they are there to protect the flock. 74 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,960 They are there to feed the flock. They're the flock. They're there to take the wool from the 75 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:48,640 flock and help create a revenue stream. It's an ecosystem within itself. And my why is as a 76 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:55,840 shepherd, they represent everything from humanity in nurturing and caring to capitalism to 77 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:01,760 protecting, right? They have to ward off the threats, the wolves in sheep clothing. 78 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:07,600 And that staff, while it helps them walk, also can be used as a very powerful weapon. So my why I 79 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:15,120 learned some time ago is to be a shepherd to others, specifically and explicitly how to be, 80 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:22,640 how to identify healthy and normal in our life. Because most people living in the United States 81 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:27,920 or other Western parts of the world, we live in a toxic society. And many people have never actually 82 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:34,640 seen what normal is. And so by taking people into indigenous parts of the world, they may for the 83 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:40,160 first time actually put down technology, have a relationship that they discover for themselves, 84 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:45,440 and identify, oh, this is what normal is. And they go, oh my gosh, this is magical. Oh my gosh, 85 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:50,400 it's so spiritual. It's like, no, this is normal. You've just never experienced it. So that's my why 86 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,480 is to be a shepherd, to help people understand the message of what normal and healthy is. 87 00:09:54,480 --> 00:10:03,280 That is so amazing on so many levels. And it intertwines everything from servant leadership 88 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:11,760 to healthy relationships, whether it be with God, nature, other humans, so forth and so on, 89 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:19,600 all of the things that so much about, interestingly, the entity that you retired from and others 90 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:27,440 have really kind of led us away from. And so you've touched on bits and pieces, but I really want to 91 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:35,120 hyper-focus in on where this vision of what you're doing came from. So... 92 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:41,760 Yeah, I would say the vision didn't come all at once. In fact, it's continuously still unfolding. 93 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,920 And that's really about my relationship with whatever you want to call that higher power, 94 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:55,040 I call God. And Abraham, religions, whether you're Islamic, Jewish, or Christian, all call the same 95 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:01,200 God, God. So we'll just call that person God, whatever you or entity God, call whatever you want. 96 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:08,160 It's not a text where I'm in trouble, I send a, I need help, get me out. It's an ongoing conversation. 97 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:18,400 It's still unfolding. But in that process, what I learned is I left the IT world, I left Microsoft 98 00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:25,760 on really good terms, because what I saw was that when Bill Gates and I retired on the same day, 99 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:29,920 and I always say, when Bill found out that I was retiring, he's like, I can't do it without Chad, 100 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:33,600 I'm out, right? People are like, seriously? I'm like, no, not seriously. 101 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:37,040 That's an awesome part of your sense of humor. Oh my gosh, I love it. 102 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:41,920 Like, wow, I'm not that big of a, you know, of a narcissist to think that, but it is funny. 103 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:49,600 But what I realized is, is that we go through life with these extremes of this or that, right, 104 00:11:49,600 --> 00:12:00,400 spiritual or tangible material. You know, it, and what I realized was that it's more like improv, 105 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:09,920 where you have to say yes and, and when we open up to yes and, then the vision says yes and. 106 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:16,240 And so what I realized is like technology, as you mentioned, can lead us away, but we don't want to 107 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:22,320 throw the baby out with the bath water. So that vision is a yes and technology that serves and 108 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:30,560 supports our outcome, compliments us where it clashes and competes is where we have to draw the 109 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:36,080 line. And so that vision is about really, it was about learning how to create healthy boundaries. 110 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:41,200 And of course, that's a lifelong journey. It's about where we have to make space for 111 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:46,880 the spiritual and the material, right? We are spiritual entities in a material world. 112 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,000 And you have to have the responsibility to say, if you don't play by the rules, 113 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,680 of the material world, you're going to experience some, some, some difficulties. 114 00:12:54,560 --> 00:13:01,440 And it also that vision was very clear early on that God did not want me in a church serving as 115 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:08,160 an example. He wanted me out in the field to be out as a shepherd, helping the, those that were in 116 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:13,440 need. And so that vision was just little bits and pieces about really having a relationship, an 117 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:20,240 intimate relationship in listening to that voice. And some might call it intuition or what have you. 118 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,880 And Carl Jung has a whole, you know, explanation on that, but it was really about the, the, 119 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:31,200 the trust and certainty in that there's something bigger. And if I had to tune into that, 120 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:37,680 it could be a great guide. And it gives me as an African proverb says, walk as far as you can see. 121 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:39,840 And when you get there, you'll be able to see further. 122 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:46,800 And that's really, I think often what a vision is for many people is it continues to unfold and 123 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:53,760 will till the day I die, but it guides me in, in, in is my North compass to continue to, to unfold 124 00:13:53,760 --> 00:14:00,800 on a regular basis. But the values and the moral compass are solid in a foundation. And that's 125 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:05,920 what keeps me, you know, on a solid platform. Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy 126 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:11,600 that you tuned into vision pros live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes 127 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:15,280 continue to move forward. This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more 128 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,440 engagement as well. We'll invite people to participate in the show and thank you for 129 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,520 giving us your time and attention. Have an excellent time building out your vision and 130 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:36,400 becoming a vision for yourself.