WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.659 everybody welcome into another episode of vision 00:00:01.659 --> 00:00:04.059 pros live i'm your show host jackson callum founder 00:00:04.059 --> 00:00:06.500 and ceo of first class business and i'm really 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:09.099 excited to have billy stitt on the show today 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:12.699 uh this guy's got a bacon company uh like how 00:00:12.699 --> 00:00:16.250 how much better can it get? And he's got a restaurant. 00:00:16.609 --> 00:00:19.390 He's got a lot of background in farming and family 00:00:19.390 --> 00:00:22.570 and values. And the amount that we get to learn 00:00:22.570 --> 00:00:25.550 today isn't just about how to dream up a vision 00:00:25.550 --> 00:00:28.670 or even just produce a vision, but his background 00:00:28.670 --> 00:00:30.829 in these different industries means that he becomes 00:00:30.829 --> 00:00:33.009 a potentially powerful mentor for anybody who's 00:00:33.009 --> 00:00:35.009 willing to reach out to him and talk to him. 00:00:35.130 --> 00:00:37.549 And that's really what his MO was. As he talked 00:00:37.549 --> 00:00:39.310 to me about coming on the show is he wants to 00:00:39.310 --> 00:00:41.770 be connected to more podcasters. He wants podcasters 00:00:41.770 --> 00:00:44.560 and audiences. to realize how fun it can be to 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:46.799 work with him and talk to him. And so I don't 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.079 know where all of his ambitions and dreams are 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:50.939 taking him and what he's up to in that regard, 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:52.759 but maybe we'll get into that too right when 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.119 I bring him back on. So before I bring Billy 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:57.539 back on, a couple of other fantastic resources 00:00:57.539 --> 00:01:01.560 to be aware of and to tune into. One is Dr. Shannon 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:04.459 and Dr. Justin Pierce of Journey to Wellness. 00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:07.409 I've known them for eight years now. I met them 00:01:07.409 --> 00:01:09.150 at a conference of chiropractors and holistic 00:01:09.150 --> 00:01:12.310 professionals that I spoke at years ago. We stayed 00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:14.930 in touch, stayed friends. I had a couple of friends 00:01:14.930 --> 00:01:18.370 and family members who had some serious health 00:01:18.370 --> 00:01:21.950 issues. And Shannon's known for curing and helping 00:01:21.950 --> 00:01:23.969 with health issues that were incurable, that 00:01:23.969 --> 00:01:26.310 nobody could work with. And all three of the 00:01:26.310 --> 00:01:28.480 people that I sent to her. um when i followed 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:30.980 up with them just raved about what they learned 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:32.620 and what they were to uncover about their health 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:34.939 and i was able to see the transition like the 00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:37.140 transformation they had so it was such an honor 00:01:37.140 --> 00:01:38.659 when they decided that they wanted to work with 00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:41.439 me back in november um it's been and it's been 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:43.060 eight years coming but if you've got a health 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:45.060 issue or especially those of you who are women 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:48.280 That's what Shannon's specialty is, helping women 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:51.060 overcome fatigue and anxiety and health issues. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.980 And secondary, we've got Jennifer Reed's company 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:56.620 up here, Practice Makes Permanent. Jennifer Reed 00:01:56.620 --> 00:02:00.000 is a cultural facilitator. She helps companies 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.840 understand EQ and IQ and emotional intelligence 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:06.799 and spirit. I said EQ and IQ, EQ and SQ, emotional 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.340 intelligence and spiritual intelligence and incorporate 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:11.180 that in the workplace in order to bless the lives 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:14.520 of families. She firsthand learned a very hard 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.349 lesson. about emotional intelligence and about 00:02:17.349 --> 00:02:19.509 being there for your family and making sure you're 00:02:19.509 --> 00:02:22.550 doing the right things. She lost her son to suicide 00:02:22.550 --> 00:02:25.849 just over a year ago. And that's what inspired 00:02:25.849 --> 00:02:27.870 her to say, you know what, I'm going to dive 00:02:27.870 --> 00:02:29.830 in as much as I can to learn about emotional 00:02:29.830 --> 00:02:31.550 intelligence and spiritual intelligence. And 00:02:31.550 --> 00:02:33.710 I can tell you the things that I've learned from 00:02:33.710 --> 00:02:35.949 Jennifer have made a... phenomenal impact on 00:02:35.949 --> 00:02:38.770 my life. And she's been training in one of the 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:40.909 most difficult organizations, in my opinion, 00:02:40.930 --> 00:02:42.990 that exists out there. She's been working for 00:02:42.990 --> 00:02:45.669 the IRS for more than 20 years, I believe. I 00:02:45.669 --> 00:02:47.210 can't remember if it's 20 years exactly or not, 00:02:47.310 --> 00:02:51.719 but that's one of those areas where... you know, 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:54.560 making a difference and, and showing up to work 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:56.840 with the right attitude. If you get the chance 00:02:56.840 --> 00:02:59.400 to meet her, you'll see exactly what I'm talking 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.080 about. And if she can go about saving more families 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:05.699 and making sure that parents are more prepared 00:03:05.699 --> 00:03:08.120 to help their children at home, then she's going 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:10.360 to do just that. So I believe in her full force 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:12.280 and hope you get the chance to meet her as well. 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:14.780 then there's the water project you can see right 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:17.259 there in my hand the water project is something 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:19.560 that i support every single month um and i've 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:22.139 never been thirsty in my life but when i found 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:24.439 out there's millions of kids and and families 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:26.240 that don't have access to clean water and it 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:27.860 affects their lives and disrupts it and there's 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:29.479 an entity that's actually willing to do something 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:32.699 about it what was really cool i gave like 20 00:03:32.699 --> 00:03:35.319 bucks the first time to a specific entity or 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:38.490 a specific project And they actually sent me 00:03:38.490 --> 00:03:40.949 social media posts about the project update and 00:03:40.949 --> 00:03:42.530 what they were doing to educate the people to 00:03:42.530 --> 00:03:44.430 keep up with this water well that they were building. 00:03:44.530 --> 00:03:46.530 It's called a borehole well. They teach you about 00:03:46.530 --> 00:03:48.389 it and you get to see the community transformation. 00:03:49.710 --> 00:03:53.530 We're talking about a contribution that helps 00:03:53.530 --> 00:03:56.569 generations of people with their life. So if 00:03:56.569 --> 00:03:58.229 you've got another cause you'd like to see us 00:03:58.229 --> 00:04:00.069 support. then by all means, let us know about 00:04:00.069 --> 00:04:02.030 it. I'm going to get back to supporting your 00:04:02.030 --> 00:04:03.990 cause right now of how to build your vision out 00:04:03.990 --> 00:04:05.849 by interviewing some of these great guests. So 00:04:05.849 --> 00:04:08.310 Billy, thanks for joining me on Vision Pros Live. 00:04:08.389 --> 00:04:11.129 I really appreciate being here, man. Happy to 00:04:11.129 --> 00:04:13.810 be here. This is a really good setting. I'm enjoying 00:04:13.810 --> 00:04:16.449 this. Well, go ahead, man. Me too. You know, 00:04:16.470 --> 00:04:21.250 the family aspect, I think a lot of people forget 00:04:21.250 --> 00:04:23.670 or overlook the reality of how important family 00:04:23.670 --> 00:04:26.000 is. Your father. Helped you out. And then two, 00:04:26.060 --> 00:04:28.160 the community was smart enough to also get involved 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:30.240 in the community, ask you what things you wanted. 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:32.660 So those are all huge impacts already for us 00:04:32.660 --> 00:04:35.199 as visionaries. I want to steer you down some 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:37.519 of the restaurant path because that's where I 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:39.839 want to go. But I also know better than to do 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:43.040 that. This may be our last time to talk about 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:45.939 vision and what vision means to you and how you 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:47.899 can help others with it. So I'd rather give you 00:04:47.899 --> 00:04:52.579 a clean slate, a clean canvas. What do you want 00:04:52.579 --> 00:04:54.870 to talk about? to help visionaries out there 00:04:54.870 --> 00:05:01.430 bring their goodwill to life? Oh, gosh. There's 00:05:01.430 --> 00:05:08.689 some in the visionary category. I'm kind of a 00:05:08.689 --> 00:05:13.050 geek in regards to writing my plans down. I have 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:16.430 the worst handwriting in the world, but when 00:05:16.430 --> 00:05:19.389 computers came along, that helped me a lot because 00:05:19.389 --> 00:05:25.170 now I can read my notes. I've been working off 00:05:25.170 --> 00:05:31.170 one plan that I started. I actually started journaling 00:05:31.170 --> 00:05:36.370 in high school, but where it really got detailed 00:05:36.370 --> 00:05:39.149 and I really put it to paper and I'm still working 00:05:39.149 --> 00:05:41.290 off that same plan was one that I started when 00:05:41.290 --> 00:05:43.629 I was 18 years old as a freshman at Ole Miss. 00:05:45.050 --> 00:05:47.170 And that's where I said, you know what, I'm going 00:05:47.170 --> 00:05:53.050 to work hard for as many people as I can. And 00:05:53.050 --> 00:05:57.069 I'm going to one day own my own restaurant and 00:05:57.069 --> 00:06:04.509 one day own my own brand. And by putting it on 00:06:04.509 --> 00:06:09.009 paper, I don't think I would be where I'm, believe 00:06:09.009 --> 00:06:11.629 me, I'm definitely struggling in a lot of ways. 00:06:13.069 --> 00:06:17.829 But I would have never started it and I wouldn't 00:06:17.829 --> 00:06:19.930 be where I am today if I didn't put it on paper. 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:26.639 Hmm. Ideas down and don't ever throw your old 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:30.500 notes away. Um, you know, there's nothing wrong 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:32.560 with editing them, but keep your original copy. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:37.300 I love that. I'm a big fan of writing as well. 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:39.259 Um, you guys can see right here when I'm, when 00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:41.540 I look distracted, it's cause I'm, I'm writing. 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:45.360 Oh, that's a huge, huge component of, uh, of 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:48.259 two. What, what it brings me joy, um, satisfaction 00:06:48.259 --> 00:06:50.899 and peace in my life. You mentioned the word 00:06:50.899 --> 00:06:53.319 struggle. We might have time to come back to 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:56.139 that. But you also said something that I think 00:06:56.139 --> 00:06:58.339 a lot of people miss out on in life. But you 00:06:58.339 --> 00:07:01.779 caught it from an early age. You said you want 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:05.279 to help as many people as you can. Why do you 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.920 care? What drove you to care and why do you care? 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:17.069 Caring for others was instilled. In my family, 00:07:17.129 --> 00:07:22.290 from my grandparents to my parents, my brother, 00:07:22.430 --> 00:07:26.290 every one of them, I mean, they got up in the 00:07:26.290 --> 00:07:30.490 morning and it wasn't all about them. They got 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:33.490 up in the morning wanting to help people. And 00:07:33.490 --> 00:07:39.889 it was just, we just watched, we watched my mother 00:07:39.889 --> 00:07:44.660 and father constantly. Just doing things for 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:48.420 others. If it wasn't just for us, when my brother 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:51.279 and I were kids, it was just, you know, when 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.600 we would get picked up at the ballpark from some 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:56.220 sort of sporting event, both my mom and dad, 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:59.100 they wouldn't just grab us and go. They would 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:01.120 look around to make sure that some kid wasn't 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:03.639 getting left. Because there was always somebody 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:05.839 that, you know, somebody forgot to pick them 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.180 up or they didn't have anybody to pick them up. 00:08:08.819 --> 00:08:12.589 Or, you know, when we were in scouting or. or 00:08:12.589 --> 00:08:17.230 sports or anything we just you know and and then 00:08:17.230 --> 00:08:19.689 the customers that my dad worked with were they 00:08:19.689 --> 00:08:21.569 weren't just customers to him they were his friends 00:08:21.569 --> 00:08:25.110 and they were involved you know they were community 00:08:25.110 --> 00:08:29.889 -minded people that were you know yeah they were 00:08:29.889 --> 00:08:31.689 making money and they're driving their business 00:08:31.689 --> 00:08:34.769 but that wasn't what it all what was to them 00:08:34.769 --> 00:08:36.909 it was you know how do i how do i make my community 00:08:36.909 --> 00:08:41.080 better how do i how do i create a company or 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:44.919 how do I take my vision? To have a vision and 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:49.139 to have a company, you have to have people. If 00:08:49.139 --> 00:08:52.399 you can bring on people and they become part 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.179 of your company family and you learn what their 00:08:55.179 --> 00:08:58.659 goals and visions are and you tell them, this 00:08:58.659 --> 00:09:01.279 is only as far as I can go with this company. 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:03.960 This is as much as I can pay. This is what I 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:07.220 can offer. If we get to here, I can do more. 00:09:07.909 --> 00:09:09.610 If we're just going to maintain and stay where 00:09:09.610 --> 00:09:12.190 we are, this is as far as I can go. So when it 00:09:12.190 --> 00:09:13.730 comes time for you to decide to do something 00:09:13.730 --> 00:09:17.990 different, I hope you don't just disappear. I 00:09:17.990 --> 00:09:20.629 hope you try to find a way to do what I call 00:09:20.629 --> 00:09:23.990 graduate, where you come to me. And let me back 00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:26.029 up for a minute. When I worked for the folks 00:09:26.029 --> 00:09:30.129 at a restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi, I graduated 00:09:30.129 --> 00:09:32.789 from college. I worked with them all through 00:09:32.789 --> 00:09:35.809 college. I was studying hospitality. I wanted 00:09:35.809 --> 00:09:39.360 to be a chef. I wanted to run restaurants and 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:41.120 I approached them and I said, you know, I've 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:42.940 learned so much here. I really, really like it, 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:44.279 but I want to get out and see the world. I want 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:45.899 to do some different things. And they said, OK, 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:49.799 great. But let's let us help you. So they said, 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:53.720 if you'll agree to give us X amount of time, 00:09:53.960 --> 00:09:57.440 we will help you find what you want to do and 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.700 make a great decision. But you need to help us 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:02.879 also train someone to do what you do. And I was 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:04.600 like, that's great. So we looked at everything 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:08.559 from McDonald's to Marriott. And we studied all 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:10.200 these different companies. And Ruby Tuesdays, 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:12.299 which was owned by Morrison's Cafeterias at the 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:16.700 time, kept popping up. So just to have owners 00:10:16.700 --> 00:10:20.259 of a small company to not just look at me and 00:10:20.259 --> 00:10:21.919 say, well, the guy wants to leave, he's gone. 00:10:23.620 --> 00:10:27.120 I'll never forget that. So when people that work 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:28.860 with me decide they want to do something different, 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:31.240 I hope they'll give me a chance to help them. 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:36.159 I mean, just don't just disappear. There's a 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.039 lot of people out there just disappear and they 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:42.500 don't give their boss a chance to help them. 00:10:42.539 --> 00:10:44.240 Since they help them, they want to help them 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.980 also. It's huge. A lot of people never learn 00:10:47.980 --> 00:10:50.559 that either, Billy, on the entrepreneurial side. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.679 You know, it's so cool to see that you've had 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:57.159 so many great mentors that knew how to do that. 00:10:57.299 --> 00:10:59.580 You know, the e -myth, Michael Gerber talks about 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:02.820 that exact type of experience of understanding. 00:11:03.789 --> 00:11:06.210 how to delegate well by taking great care of 00:11:06.210 --> 00:11:08.769 the people who are helping you build um you know 00:11:08.769 --> 00:11:10.309 making sure you're staying in touch with what 00:11:10.309 --> 00:11:11.889 is it they're doing and they're prepared and 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:15.129 good friend of mine uh craig hanley um he's he's 00:11:15.129 --> 00:11:18.669 got a fortune 500 company um called listen trust 00:11:18.669 --> 00:11:22.090 and they wrote a book called um hired to quit 00:11:22.090 --> 00:11:26.789 inspired to stay um and they make sure that everybody 00:11:26.789 --> 00:11:29.120 they bring in knows that you're not You're not 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.480 necessarily meant to be here long term. You got 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:33.480 ambitions and goals and things you want to do. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:36.879 We want to help you get there. And that inspires 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.659 those people to say, wow, I belong here. And 00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:41.500 so you're a living, breathing example of that 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:45.659 as well. So I guess it would be easy for somebody 00:11:45.659 --> 00:11:48.799 like me to think, OK, your your vision is just 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.080 to inspire people to enjoy the taste of bacon. 00:11:51.220 --> 00:11:53.700 Right. Enjoy the taste of food. But I don't want 00:11:53.700 --> 00:11:56.740 to limit you. What's your vision for those that 00:11:56.740 --> 00:11:58.720 you serve? And you serve multiple audiences, 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:04.379 so feel free to expand. You know, Billy's has 00:12:04.379 --> 00:12:07.759 become so much more than just a hamburger joint 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:15.799 or a personal chef experience or a slice of bacon. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:23.259 It's a family. You know, we have, you know, 30 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:27.340 to 40 people that come and go through my doors 00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:31.919 every day that work here. And the restaurant's 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:34.139 been doing this for 13 years and the baking company 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:40.720 for eight years. And I just, I want to expand. 00:12:40.820 --> 00:12:43.399 I want to grow the restaurant to where we can 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:47.539 open Little Billy's. I want to go east to Pensacola, 00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:50.500 Destin, and the 30A area with three little billies, 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:53.080 and I want to go west to Mobile and Ocean Springs, 00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:56.740 Mississippi, Covington, Louisiana, all places 00:12:56.740 --> 00:12:58.820 that I could drive to and be home in my own bed 00:12:58.820 --> 00:13:01.240 at night and open little billies, a small bacon 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:05.820 and burger joint, fast, casual little concept. 00:13:05.860 --> 00:13:08.100 I want to get that mastered, and then I want 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:12.980 to push north to small college towns and large 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:17.480 college towns. and grow the brand there. And 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:21.440 then with the bacon company, I get to where I 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.240 can really put a road show together and travel 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.419 around the country talking about bacon and talking 00:13:26.419 --> 00:13:28.539 about the hospitality and how the hospitality 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:33.820 industry and bacon is what I'm about and have 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:35.960 my distributors that help me get my bacon to 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:39.960 people support me along the way. So for example, 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:43.539 I've got a good old Winnebago pulling a trailer 00:13:43.539 --> 00:13:46.740 with my old 1958 Chevy Apache with a kitchen 00:13:46.740 --> 00:13:51.179 in the back of it. Pull into Dallas, Texas and 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:56.580 park it at some mall or whatnot and, you know, 00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:59.919 walk out of the back of my sleeper van and grab 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:02.320 about 50 pounds of product and put it into my 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.259 pickup truck and drive to some festival or show 00:14:05.259 --> 00:14:09.509 or some major street corner. And I pull up and 00:14:09.509 --> 00:14:14.590 start cooking bacon. And it just, I've done it 00:14:14.590 --> 00:14:17.409 a few times and it's just, it's a really cool 00:14:17.409 --> 00:14:20.370 experience. And I want to be invited to festivals 00:14:20.370 --> 00:14:24.409 and shows and be an MC. I want to, you know, 00:14:24.429 --> 00:14:26.809 I just want to show up and talk about pork belly 00:14:26.809 --> 00:14:32.169 and the fun about it. That is awesome. That is 00:14:32.169 --> 00:14:35.490 just living. That reminds me of the four -hour 00:14:35.490 --> 00:14:38.330 work week without the... without the push of 00:14:38.330 --> 00:14:41.230 like being lazy um you know it's the exact opposite 00:14:41.230 --> 00:14:43.730 it's like being tenacious with purpose though 00:14:43.730 --> 00:14:47.669 that creates a a wonderful life so you mentioned 00:14:47.669 --> 00:14:51.110 hospitality my first article on linkedin ever 00:14:51.110 --> 00:14:53.909 it's probably got like eight views on it um it 00:14:53.909 --> 00:14:57.090 talks about how if if you want to be you want 00:14:57.090 --> 00:14:59.889 to hire successfully hire out of the hospitality 00:14:59.889 --> 00:15:03.830 industry i am right there with you the hospitality 00:15:03.830 --> 00:15:07.080 industry bless my life so well And you brought 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:09.799 up struggle. Let's circle back to the struggle. 00:15:09.940 --> 00:15:14.460 I'll lead the way. I had a co -host that was 00:15:14.460 --> 00:15:16.820 learning a lot with me as he was helping me grow 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:19.019 Vision Pros Live out. As we were going through 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:22.360 some big growing pains and financially just wasn't 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:25.179 there. I know lots of challenges. We invest a 00:15:25.179 --> 00:15:27.559 lot to make these episodes come out and to build 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:30.799 our brands and build other brands. And he said, 00:15:30.899 --> 00:15:33.919 Jackson, it's a real shame what we haven't been 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:37.019 able to accomplish. And I said, well, what do 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:40.059 you mean? What do you mean by that? And he let 00:15:40.059 --> 00:15:42.200 me know and he was referring specifically finance, 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:47.879 finance, finance. And I said, well, I don't think 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:50.179 it's a shame at all. I'm really grateful for 00:15:50.179 --> 00:15:52.639 where we're at. And he said, what do you mean? 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:56.720 So we have over 30 families on payroll for over 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.000 a year and a half now. And none of them could 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:01.879 have ever had the opportunities that they have 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:04.440 today. They got job stability. They got security. 00:16:05.539 --> 00:16:09.259 They've all got raises. They've never dreamed 00:16:09.259 --> 00:16:12.259 like they've dreamed until now. And we continue 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:14.039 to grow. And we'll continue to get better and 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:17.360 learn along the way. And top 5 % podcast, et 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:19.440 cetera, all that stuff. But at the end of the 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:22.240 day, man, the families whose lives we've blessed, 00:16:22.419 --> 00:16:27.730 why would I ever take that for granted? On your 00:16:27.730 --> 00:16:30.529 side, you mentioned some struggles, but some 00:16:30.529 --> 00:16:32.230 of your story is also just kind of larger than 00:16:32.230 --> 00:16:34.289 life. I know you've been able to build some pretty 00:16:34.289 --> 00:16:36.830 amazing things in my eyes. So you want to talk 00:16:36.830 --> 00:16:42.250 to that? Talk about that? Well, I mean, talking 00:16:42.250 --> 00:16:44.470 about struggles kind of makes you feel like a 00:16:44.470 --> 00:16:49.889 country song. Feel free to spin it. I've really 00:16:49.889 --> 00:16:56.600 tried hard to not. Go that route because I've 00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:00.779 told those stories so many times. Well, how do 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:03.779 you keep the positive and the fun as front and 00:17:03.779 --> 00:17:05.740 center in the middle of struggles? Let's go there. 00:17:05.859 --> 00:17:10.299 You know, somebody I love very much told me one 00:17:10.299 --> 00:17:12.440 morning that they didn't understand how I could 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:14.859 be so positive with all the negative around me. 00:17:16.059 --> 00:17:21.519 And, you know, anybody that's ever worked with 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.660 me. whatever day it is i walk in and i say happy 00:17:24.660 --> 00:17:28.079 wednesday happy thursday happy friday um you 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.700 know let's make today awesome you know tell me 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:33.500 something awesome what's going on in your world 00:17:33.500 --> 00:17:36.440 and i mean it when i say those things um and 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:38.359 it doesn't surprise me when somebody slows me 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:41.299 down and pulls me around the corner they break 00:17:41.299 --> 00:17:43.559 down into tears about something horrible that 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:49.210 happened and um and uh I guess I've been through 00:17:49.210 --> 00:17:53.710 a lot. I'm still going through a lot. It's definitely 00:17:53.710 --> 00:17:59.690 part of the story. All of the struggles that 00:17:59.690 --> 00:18:01.990 I've had have definitely made me stronger. I'm 00:18:01.990 --> 00:18:08.410 definitely not a quitter. I just, I guess I thought 00:18:08.410 --> 00:18:11.710 owning my own restaurant was just going to be 00:18:11.710 --> 00:18:15.970 this just nonstop easy money. And that's not 00:18:15.970 --> 00:18:22.940 been the case at all. uh i i i thought uh x amount 00:18:22.940 --> 00:18:26.380 of dollars was going to be enough to do my plan 00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:29.660 you might as well multiply that times a lot more 00:18:29.660 --> 00:18:35.220 uh and um timing has always been different you 00:18:35.220 --> 00:18:39.519 know when i i yeah we you know we get things 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:45.470 going right and then i had somebody take a bunch 00:18:45.470 --> 00:18:49.410 of money from me at an event. That's still a 00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:52.430 mystery as to who did it. One day I'll find out, 00:18:52.589 --> 00:18:56.950 but it was all gone. That put me into a financial 00:18:56.950 --> 00:19:03.910 turmoil. I had a federal agency decide that we 00:19:03.910 --> 00:19:06.069 needed to make a bunch of changes on my property. 00:19:07.089 --> 00:19:14.349 I lost you for a minute there, Billy. Can you 00:19:14.349 --> 00:19:17.289 hear me now? We can hear you now. So you're at 00:19:17.289 --> 00:19:20.849 an event. Somebody took some money. Continue 00:19:20.849 --> 00:19:24.990 on that. That was just shame on me kind of thing. 00:19:25.089 --> 00:19:26.589 They were supposedly putting the money in the 00:19:26.589 --> 00:19:31.369 bank every day. That all disappeared. And then 00:19:31.369 --> 00:19:34.809 after that, I had an ADA came in and told me 00:19:34.809 --> 00:19:36.990 I had to do all this stuff. And that was just, 00:19:37.109 --> 00:19:38.970 you know, I couldn't quit. So I had to find a 00:19:38.970 --> 00:19:41.509 way to do what all they said. And that was a 00:19:41.509 --> 00:19:45.440 nightmare. When everything was, you know, and 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:50.940 then, you know, busted up marriage. I lost my 00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:53.559 father and I didn't handle that well. He was 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:58.019 my best friend. He was my everything. And I just 00:19:58.019 --> 00:20:02.140 really was not healthy. I was way overweight. 00:20:04.140 --> 00:20:09.119 I was just not where I needed to be. And everything 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:15.660 was spinning around me. Things just, but I just 00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:18.940 kept plugging and praying and talking through 00:20:18.940 --> 00:20:24.920 it. And slowly, you know, the guy above, he's 00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:28.059 got a better plan than I do. And he just guided 00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:32.460 me and the restaurants turned around and we've 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:36.519 got it to where it's doing really well. The bacon 00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:41.720 company is doing well, but needs to scale. Just. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:47.039 Just a whole lot of things will hit you, but 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:51.759 you still got to get up and go to work. I couldn't 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:55.059 just lay down and hide. I didn't mean to get 00:20:55.059 --> 00:20:57.559 off on a negative tangent there. You're just 00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:01.299 telling me about the man above helping in some 00:21:01.299 --> 00:21:05.000 serious life situations, things that most people 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.599 go through, at least one, two, or three of the 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:09.880 things that you're talking about, and this may 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:16.190 be the message that they need today. Well, things 00:21:16.190 --> 00:21:18.269 are going to happen to you along the way that 00:21:18.269 --> 00:21:21.509 you have no control over, but you still have 00:21:21.509 --> 00:21:27.509 to own them. And that's broken marriages, loss 00:21:27.509 --> 00:21:34.369 of a loved one, financial disasters, and people 00:21:34.369 --> 00:21:36.390 that you care about are going to steal from you. 00:21:38.219 --> 00:21:40.619 And strangers are going to do things to you when 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:45.259 you're a giving person. Those are going to happen 00:21:45.259 --> 00:21:49.720 to all of us. It's just you got to get up and 00:21:49.720 --> 00:21:53.740 you got to keep moving. I mean, there are so 00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:56.980 many weeks and months where I did everything 00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:59.119 I could to make sure everybody that worked here 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:01.599 got paid. And I knew I wasn't going to get paid 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.039 or write myself a check and write it right back. 00:22:08.390 --> 00:22:14.529 It's just brutal. But when you start seeing some 00:22:14.529 --> 00:22:16.609 things, some things fell into my lap that really, 00:22:16.730 --> 00:22:19.930 really helped me out. When I started making my 00:22:19.930 --> 00:22:24.069 bacon that everybody loved it, I had a really 00:22:24.069 --> 00:22:27.069 large hotel in the area come to me and say, we 00:22:27.069 --> 00:22:28.549 want to buy your bacon, but not only want to 00:22:28.549 --> 00:22:31.390 buy it, we want to get it to a distributor. So 00:22:31.390 --> 00:22:37.200 that helped put me on the map. And then so that 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.500 little company is just grow, grow, growing. And 00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:43.099 now we went from being this little bitty company 00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:45.099 that made bacon for ourself and we're selling 00:22:45.099 --> 00:22:49.680 it out the door to getting USDA certified. And 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:53.460 now we're in five different distribution warehouses. 00:22:53.539 --> 00:22:55.880 We're sold by Gold Belly all over the country. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.420 We're constantly winning awards. And I get these 00:23:00.420 --> 00:23:04.079 just fun and exciting, crazy emails, texts and 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:07.339 phone calls from. some foodie or some chef that 00:23:07.339 --> 00:23:09.200 just says i had your bacon it's unbelievable 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:13.980 and uh i i just i love talking about it and um 00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:17.680 so my vision is to grow the restaurant company 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:21.359 and to scale the bacon company and to all of 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:23.519 those to follow underneath the billy's umbrella 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:27.099 to where i can get out and share my bacon and 00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:31.480 share my story and possibly be invited by you 00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:33.619 know a different company that has an event they 00:23:33.619 --> 00:23:35.140 just need somebody to come in and motivate their 00:23:35.140 --> 00:23:36.980 people i know i didn't sound very motivating 00:23:36.980 --> 00:23:40.900 talking about my struggles but uh i think the 00:23:40.900 --> 00:23:43.720 opposite the opposite's true billy um it depends 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:45.480 on what people are going through at the time 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:47.839 so you've got you got the dynamic of being able 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:50.579 to do both and that's an unfair advantage in 00:23:50.579 --> 00:23:53.200 the market um and so i hope you leverage it because 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:56.039 you got a powerful story that can help uplift 00:23:56.039 --> 00:23:59.190 people who maybe feel hopeless And then you got 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:01.430 that super helpful dynamic as well. And that 00:24:01.430 --> 00:24:02.809 attitude of I'm going to bring the fun today 00:24:02.809 --> 00:24:05.730 too. Right. You got to have a good time. One 00:24:05.730 --> 00:24:07.849 other thing I wanted to add in there is I work 00:24:07.849 --> 00:24:11.450 for a corporate restaurant company and corporate 00:24:11.450 --> 00:24:14.869 restaurant is a bad word. I agree with that. 00:24:15.470 --> 00:24:17.210 You know, anyone else would jump at the chance 00:24:17.210 --> 00:24:19.390 to hire somebody from Applebee's, Chili's, Ruby 00:24:19.390 --> 00:24:21.269 Tuesday's or Charlie's because they're trained. 00:24:21.890 --> 00:24:24.549 Absolutely. When the food network started progressing, 00:24:24.789 --> 00:24:27.619 you know, they, they really. turned everybody 00:24:27.619 --> 00:24:30.640 into a foodie and then they just made those brands 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:36.799 bad, which is not true. But I realized that if 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:39.059 I was going to grow within that major organization, 00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:43.920 that I had to really sell myself and I had to 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:46.259 be able to do something better than other people 00:24:46.259 --> 00:24:49.160 were doing. And I identified the to -go part 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:53.160 of the Ruby Tuesdays chain as a huge opportunity 00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:57.220 to just... take a business within the business 00:24:57.220 --> 00:25:00.839 and just blow it up. So I did it within my one 00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:02.960 restaurant and then my entire district. And then 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:05.980 I got an opportunity to become the national director 00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:08.400 of to go and catering for Ruby Tuesdays. And 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:11.519 that was exciting. And that was just great people 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:14.160 running that organization that saw that I was 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:16.579 passionate about doing something. And they said, 00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:18.460 let's, we don't really know what to do with this 00:25:18.460 --> 00:25:21.960 guy, but let's take him and let's let him help 00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:26.700 us grow this part. It was an amazing experience 00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:31.380 for me. I'll never forget it. I mean, I didn't 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:34.900 want to leave that company, but I knew that I 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:36.960 couldn't move to where they wanted me to move 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:40.200 and I needed to stay where I was. So I was able 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:44.460 to basically retire and start my own gig. That's 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:46.920 awesome. That's awesome. And it brings a lot 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:48.859 of hope to a lot of people who've got a lot of 00:25:48.859 --> 00:25:50.579 big ambitions and plans. And it doesn't matter 00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:53.559 if we're 20 or 80. um there's still opportunities 00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:55.420 for us and there's a lot of purpose to fulfill 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:58.299 so i'm i'm truly inspired by your story i hope 00:25:58.299 --> 00:26:01.799 we continue to catch up i got a chef named billy 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:05.000 joe wilson down in texas who uh grow i guess 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:07.920 i should say up in texas a great friend of mine 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.599 phenomenal individual phenomenal chef i'd hire 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:13.299 him full -time to be my chef if i could so we'll 00:26:13.299 --> 00:26:14.799 see what comes out of that and other relationships 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:18.519 but vision pros um you know it's it's this is 00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:21.519 just a prime example not knowing what to expect 00:26:22.029 --> 00:26:24.430 on an experience getting to know each other um 00:26:24.430 --> 00:26:27.509 you know swapping friendship stories and then 00:26:27.509 --> 00:26:30.109 seeing what you can do to to help each other's 00:26:30.109 --> 00:26:32.609 vision come to reality and and bless other people 00:26:32.609 --> 00:26:35.150 out there so thank you for all you provide today 00:26:35.150 --> 00:26:37.730 billy i'll give you the final word um any last 00:26:37.730 --> 00:26:39.609 fortune cookie piece of advice you'd like to 00:26:39.609 --> 00:26:46.009 give to vision pros yeah um tell your story again 00:26:46.009 --> 00:26:50.549 and again and again um share your vision and 00:26:50.549 --> 00:26:54.089 uh And don't hold back. I mean, if you're going 00:26:54.089 --> 00:26:57.369 to do something, do it all the way. And work 00:26:57.369 --> 00:27:00.650 for as many people as you possibly can. And always 00:27:00.650 --> 00:27:05.170 exit in a positive way. Love it. And you heard 00:27:05.170 --> 00:27:07.109 it from the man behind Billy's Bacon. If you 00:27:07.109 --> 00:27:09.500 see it on shelves. purchase it. If you don't 00:27:09.500 --> 00:27:11.480 go onto the website, I'm sure he's got distribution, 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:14.599 uh, come in different formats, but, uh, and let's 00:27:14.599 --> 00:27:16.619 get ahold of Jim Gaffigan. Let's get him in this 00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:19.299 lineup so that he can tell us how he feels about 00:27:19.299 --> 00:27:21.579 it. We'll see you guys soon. Enjoy your days 00:27:21.579 --> 00:27:23.720 and keep enjoying building out your vision. Thank 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:25.700 you for being here today. I'm really happy that 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:27.740 you tuned in to vision pros live. I'm looking 00:27:27.740 --> 00:27:31.000 forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:32.799 continue to move forward. This is going to get 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:35.339 more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement 00:27:35.339 --> 00:27:37.539 as well. We'll invite people to participate in. 00:27:37.609 --> 00:27:39.809 show and thank you for giving us your time and 00:27:39.809 --> 00:27:42.230 attention. Have an excellent time building out 00:27:42.230 --> 00:27:44.250 your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.