All right, welcome in to Vision Pros Live. With
Jackson Callum, I'm your show host. We'll be
doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs
and guest leaders who are building fantastic
visions out there. Tell me about yourself. Tell
me about, you know, I guess what I missed on
the vision. If we later want to produce this
as kind of like raw footage and bonus footage,
people tend to love that too. So I'm also good
with that. But yeah, tell me about yourself.
I don't really have any context, but I like your
personality. You're a nice guy. So thanks. It's
going well so far. Yeah. So I live in rural Utah
down here, Southeast Utah. Been kind of born
and raised in this area and grew up kind of loving.
the ruralness of Utah, you know, a lot of desert,
high desert areas, hiking, biking, just getting
out in the outdoors, that kind of thing. And
I grew up on a farm in rural Utah as well when
I was a young kid. So that kind of taught me
hard work and the values that kind of come along
with that. Grew up with eight other brothers
and sisters, so big family. Eventually, you know,
was really attracted to business entrepreneurship
as I was growing up. I started a few little businesses
when I was a teenager and ended up studying business
in college up at UVU, which is, you know, right
next door to BYU, which is where you were at.
So maybe we were there about the same time. I
don't know. What years were you there? 2007.
Let's see. I served my mission in 2007, 2009.
So I was at BYU for 2006 for a little bit, and
I was there for 2010's winter semester as well.
What about you? Okay. Yeah, I graduated in 2001
from UVU, and I was stuck around there for maybe
four or five more years before we moved. down
to Southeast Utah. So I was probably in the area
around the same time as you were. Uh, we had
a little condo there in South Provo. So, but
yeah, so graduated from business. So I was pretty
close. Okay. Nice. Nice. Yeah. Um, yeah. So graduated
from business and started in, uh, in finance
kind of. got my start as a financial planner
ended up getting into banking and kind of growing
my career in banking where i grew you know from
a loan officer to a manager to a district manager
and now i'm the ceo of a of a credit union in
southeast utah called desert rivers credit union
and i've been in that role for 14 years and we've
grown that credit union from about Just one branch
when I took over in about $10, $12 million in
deposits. So we're up about 10 times that. We're
about $115, $120 million in deposits now. And
we have four branches across Southeast Utah.
And love to see that going. Along the way, I
helped found and start up a business, an IT business.
about five years ago with a partner of mine.
And so we struggled to find like quality enterprise
level IT here in rural Utah. So we bought a franchise
that provided proper IT and cybersecurity for
businesses in this area. And just... kind of
expanded from there you know used it as a solution
for the credit union and then kept kind of offering
it to others that needed it and it's becoming
a bigger and bigger need in our communities as
we grow and there's a bigger need for that so
yeah so that's that's i also dabble a little
bit in real estate i'm a partner in a real estate
investment firm that is actually focused on the
eb5 program which helps People who are not residents
of the United States to gain their visa status
here by investing in real estate projects. Wow.
You make UVU look phenomenal. Oh, thanks. Yeah,
I wish we had had a football team, though. Man,
that's cool. Congratulations. That's the story
most of us know Utah for, is tremendous hard
work, perseverance, and successes like that.
At least that's my depiction. I felt so inadequate
when I was at BYU. I was like, whoa, I'm outclassed
by everybody at almost everything. This is crazy.
Yeah, BYU is hard that way. And, you know, I
also, I mean, a little bit about me and my family.
an avid family man i've got five kids i think
i was mentioning before i have three adult children
all three of them are are at college i've won
it one in prague and one at stanford and one
at byu and then i have two two young daughters
seven and nine years old that are still in in
elementary school been married to my beautiful
wife chanel for 26 years and uh like Every day,
I think, gets better with that marriage. It's
amazing how it just progresses into a more fulfilling
relationship. And I love seeing my family grow.
All three of my older kids came back for Thanksgiving.
And seeing what they're doing with their lives
and trying to figure out what the next steps
are is pretty cool. Amen. This was the perfect
vision to hear about. That's just, again, congratulations
to you. And I just want to soak in it because
I'm like, man, this is good stuff. Samuel, what
would be your, I guess I'll ask two questions.
You can go whichever one you want first. One,
I already know how much this vision will mean
to other visionaries who are building out there.
the type of hope that this drives um and so my
questions are one what do you feel would be most
beneficial for other visionaries who are listening
in and what what would be your favorite or best
takeaways um for being on the podcast well i
i love i love your podcast because um i think
sometimes visionary people feel a little bit
alone. It can feel like a lonely road when you're
envisioning some of these big, grand, grandiose
ideas. Just because people have different reactions
to a visionary person. I've noticed that, you
know, the more I share my vision, the more diverse
the reaction usually is. And it's it's the whole
scale, you know, like people can be really excited
about the vision and and it can it can get them
jazzed about the next steps. Or it can also go
to the point where people are scared and they're
afraid of of your vision. And so as a as a visionary
person, I've been a visionary person really my
whole life. And I want I'd love to share with
people that it. it's okay to be a little bit
alone in your vision and that there are other
people out there like you that are also holding
on to their vision and just stepping forward
every day, trying to bring that vision to pass
and to do the hard things because it takes a
lot of faith to move forward with a big vision.
with a with a big idea and so that would be the
one thing that i'd love your listeners to hear
is that you know there there are others out there
like you we we have faith like you and we're
moving forward one step at a time just like you
and it's okay if you feel lonely it's okay if
you feel discouraged sometimes just keep going
that's it man and I know the Internet tried to
cut out the wisdom you just shared, but I was
soaking it in. I was like, dang, this is this
is super good and super important. And you never
know when the visionary is in that moment of
despair and or in that moment of like, I don't
know if I can do this. And it's these types of
messages that end up being the springboard and
the little piece that's like, OK, now I can take
one more step forward. And sometimes that's the
only step that's now needed. But most of us.
we have, we have a lot to build, um, and you
don't, you don't build Rome overnight. It's one
brick at a time. Um, but it takes some time to
pull it off. And so, um, I love seeing why you
bet on Mike Fassett and like, oh my gosh, how
did he do all this? Um, so what would you, let's
go to the second question. What are you, um,
what would benefit you the most in this podcast
and what, what takes you to stages you've already
got? You know, you're the CEO of a credit union
that's expanded tremendously. You've got this
IT business. You've got the real estate firm.
You've got a phenomenal marriage. You've got
wonderful kids. What are you adding to or what
are you doing? We didn't waste your time on my
podcast. I'm just kidding. What is this doing
for you, Samuel? Well, I think it's important,
you know, to really like share ourselves. with,
with others. And I think it's, I think as a two
-edged sword, I think, I think sharing myself
with others helps other people to grow and like
be inspired. But it also helps me like what I
found as I've shared my story is I learn and
grow through sharing my story and I learn and
grow through putting myself out there. It was
really scary the first few times that I did podcasts
or, you know, I would, would put. social media
stuff out there but what i realized is that it
was making me a better person it would help me
with my vision it would help me with my hold
myself accountable on things and so it helps
me and then and then it does seem to help my
businesses as well you know as people get exposed
to me and they start to learn who the real person
is then you know they're more comfortable to
to approach me when it comes to banking needs
or or IT needs, cybersecurity needs, those kinds
of things. And I think that people want to get
to know the leadership of the businesses that
they put their trust in. And so I think it's
super important, especially in today's day that
we as leaders get out there and especially as
long form content where you can really get to
know people without just canned questions. Like
it's just a conversation that we're having. And
being able to get to know people that way helps
me out too. Absolutely. I would agree 100 % with
that. And I just get to learn. It's like free
mentorship to be the podcast host on these. So
Samuel, do you have any specific goals of like,
you know, are you aiming for a TED Talk? Are
you going to create some type of documentary
series on Netflix, Tony Robbins style, but one
up? Or is it just a matter of like, more like
Alex or Mosey? I don't want to say he doesn't
have specific goals, but I love when he talked
about launching his podcast. He said he was hiring
the guy who was going to help him with his podcast.
And he said, look, let go of the metrics. We're
going to do this for 10 years. We're going to
make it better every day. And in 10 years, we'll
see the result. We'll take a look and see if
it was worth our time or not. Right. And that's
a pretty bold move. how I live as well. But what
about yourself? Like, do you, do you have specific
realities that you're trying to bring to fruition
over the next couple of years or what does that
look like? Yeah, I definitely do. Like, you know,
I want to see my businesses grow and I have specific
goals for each of those. And I want to see myself
grow. One of the visions that I, that I'm working
on right now, it's not in place yet, but I, I,
I really would like to help. other executives
to grow in their role and not get burnt out while
still maintaining a really good family lifestyle.
I see a lot of my friends that they either kind
of burn themselves out by working so hard that
they kind of lose what's most important to them,
which is a lot of times their family. You know,
I've been there before where it was kind of that
crossroads of like, man, if I don't make a change
to my lifestyle, then I'm going to lose everything,
including my health. I really got to a point
where my health was very poor and I had huge
brain fog and I had shingles and all these things
that were stress induced. And the doctors were
like, you got to change your life, you know.
And so I've been able to make that journey as
well. And I feel like there's a lot of people
out there that someday I would love to have a
group of people that I help mentor and coach
a little bit through that. And I love like outdoor
retreats. So I could see myself doing like an
outdoor retreat with these groups of people,
just spending time in the outdoors, doing something
fun, you know, river raft or. I'm going on a
jeeping tour or something, you know, just getting
out in the mountains and, and camping or whatever
it is. You know, things like that. I would love,
I would love to help people who are struggling
with, with that because it, it, it's a lonely
road sometimes. I've mentioned that before on
visionaries, but, you know, or anybody who's
really running a business or that, that maybe
be an executive level. It's sometimes you feel
like you're. you're all alone. And so if you
had a group of people that you could connect
with and grow with, I think it would be pretty
awesome. Huge man. I'll, I'll for sure double
down on that. Um, one of my great mentors and
friends, um, is Tracy Childs. He's the founder
of wishlist member. He lives over in park city,
Utah. Okay. And we met icon years ago. And, uh,
We saw each other in passing a couple of times,
probably gave the bro nod. And then, you know,
we were at a like just randomly and throughout.
I think we're in Phoenix for the event. And he's
like, come over here. You know, he's like, say
hi. And just so warm and inviting. And in our
third gathering at that event, he's the first
entrepreneur. I don't know. I was probably 26.
But I had heard say Jackson. entrepreneurship
is just lonely. I was like, it's, you know, I
have all my best friends. I find at these conferences
and at these gatherings that we need to make
this stuff happen more often. And so I'm grateful
that, and you know, he was probably in his thirties,
forties, but like he planted that seed in my
mind and in my heart, like, Oh, this is important.
Yeah. This is what, this is where we're meant
to be. And this is where our friendships are.
And so I'll extend a branch to Sue Anderson.
Sue is one of our other podcast hosts. She owns
Wildwoods Retreat Center in Tennessee. Oh, nice.
She's also the host of the show Entrepreneurs
Gone Wild. And so I'll get you an introduction
because I think you'd be a phenomenal guest for
her show, Entrepreneurs Gone Wild. That'd be
cool. And I think you guys would get along really
well. And in addition to that, do you happen
to know, do you know Travis Chambers? I don't,
it's not sounding familiar. What's the context?
No, they're going to be great friends. Travis
Chambers was our video producer at Video Power
Marketing, outsourced, by the way. He produced
the number one YouTube out of the decade with
Kobe Bryant and Lena Messi on Turkish Airlines.
He is produced. tons of the most viral ads of
all time um and uh works the harman brothers
with daryl eaves um you know and others but he
sold his company a few years ago and he launched
something called outpost x and outpost x i highly
recommend looking up on youtube it is a out in
the middle of the utah desert resort just outside
of zion's national park uh they have star wars
themes they have luxury themes he's got investors
for this He is all out on that. He's a good friend
of Jake Larson, who's the founder of video power
that I, I help build out video power with. But
between all the things that you've done and the
direction you're headed, I just wouldn't be surprised
to see you guys just blow things up to another
level. And look, I'm a big fan of one plus one.
Yeah. Okay. You're a banker. compound effect
is like, um, people are either one minus one
and zero, or they, you know, they kind of hobble
along and try to figure it out. But when you
get two great superstars together, I see the
company and you take three, one plus one plus
one, it goes under 11. Um, right. You just, you
just get great minds to do great things. So,
um, thank you for all that you're doing seriously
for like bringing visions to life for yourself,
being a light on a hilltop for others. Um, it
does serve a great purpose. It served me tremendously
today. Um, I'd love to produce this as an episode,
even though my hair's on that. So you cool with
that? Yeah, let's do it. It'd be great. Okay.
And I'll talk to the team about, about turning
this one into an episode because this, you just
can't, you can't reinvent the conversation that
we just had in the same way, but what we can
do is we can add to it. I'd love to bring you
back and dive in deeper to your vision and like
hear about what visions you, you really want
to share, you know, just, just build on top of
this. Yeah, that sounds great. I'd love to come
back. And I love your hair, by the way. I was
in a movie, the Book of Mormon videos that were,
you know, back in like 2021 or something. And
I had to grow my hair out for like a year and
a half. So I was all the way down to my back
and I had a big old beard. I actually miss it.
So yeah, kudos to you. I wish I could go back
once in a while. That's cool. That's cool. I
told my friends, I said, I'm probably going to
apply to be an extra or something in The Chosen.
I was like, I'll probably realize this and make
it happen. So fun to try. I'm way outside my
comfort zone, but it would be a blast. All right,
Sam, last fortune cookie for the world. Well,
what do you got for visionaries? What other words
of wisdom would you like to share as we wrap
up? Just, you know, like I would say as a visionary,
the biggest thing to do is we constantly kind
of compare our visions to others. I think that's
the biggest downfall is we kind of compare like
how ours is going to somebody else's and I get
caught up in it daily. And so if I could offer
one nugget to other visionaries, it would be
just look back, you know, see how far you've
come and you can recognize your progress line.
and see that it's moving in a good direction
and, and just focus on that growth rather than
comparison and, you know, getting down to yourself
for not being where you want to be. So, yeah,
I'm, I'm sure that if I could just see other
visionaries, I'd just give them a big hug and
tell them you're doing great. Just keep stepping
one, one foot in front of the other. Awesome,
man. We appreciate it. Vision Pros, we'll see
you guys on the next episode. Feel free to reach
out to Samuel Crane or myself if you'd like help.
Also, again, check out Outpost X. Check out what
Video Power is up to. Check out what Sue's up
to with Entrepreneurs Gone Wild. None of these
are sponsors. They're just people I love, and
I love to align with people who are doing amazing
things. So I hope to align with you, too, on
the next episode. Come join us and share your
vision. We'll see you then. Awesome. Thanks.
Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy
that you tuned in to 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 and becoming a vision pro yourself.