During this business coach podcast, America’s #1 business coach share the Chip and Joanna Gaines story. Today, business coach Clay Clark brings on his wife and entrepreneur Vanessa Clark as well is their 12 year old daughter to talk about the story of the reality TV stars Chip and Joanna from the HGTV show “Fixer Upper”. They talk about how Chip started their empire with his first business as a landscaper to the empire that they are known for today.
Podcast Transcript
Clay Clark: All right Tulsa, T-town, welcome back to The Thrive Time Show on your radio. Today we’re going to attempt to do something that has never been done before in the history of this radio program. I’m feeling very adventurous today here. On the show, today we’re going to have my incredible wife of 15 years, Mrs. Vanessa Clark. Mrs. Vanessa, how are you?
Vanessa Clark: I’m doing fantastic, I’m excited about the big news.
Clay: The big news here today, we’re going to feature my 12-year-old daughter. A really good part of my genetic code, she got all of that. That is my incredible daughter, she’s a 12-year-old, she’s a guru, she’s a sage, she’s making minimum wage, though. She’s working here with her dad, it is my incredible daughter Miss Havana Clark. Miss Havana, how are you?
Havana Clark: Good, how are you?
Clay: I am feeling it like a petting zoo, I’m super excited to have you on the show. Today, as always Thrivers, we’re going to breaking down the tactics, the processes, the systems of successful entrepreneurs because we want to teach you how to build a successful business. Today, we are specifically diving into the success of Chip and Joanna.
Vanessa, for anyone who’s listening who says, “Who is Chip and Joanna? Why do I care? Who’s Chip? Who’s Joanna?” Why should the listeners care?
Vanessa: First off, they are just the heroes of TV right now anyways in our family and that’s why I know Havana is very excited about this. They are just an ordinary couple, they were entrepreneurs who got married and were building businesses, businesses plural, of their own. They were just like many of our listeners, barely making ends meet, nose to the grindstone, doing whatever they can to put their business–
Clay: They put their nose on a grindstone? That’s so weird?
Vanessa: That’s right, but you know what ended up happening was kind of a fairy tale story. They got their big break on HDTV and really because they were authentically themselves and authentically lived their lives and their businesses true to who they are and for them, that’s honoring God in all they do. Nationwide people responded to it because that’s not something you see very often, we love them.
Clay: Do you know that the Scripts family, they own this show, this network there. They’re based in Cincinnati and they also own HGTV, they own the Food Network, they own The Travel Channel, The DIY network. Havana, what’s the name of the show that people can watch them on HDTV?
Havana: Fixer Upper.
Clay: Do you like that show?
Havana: I love it.
Clay: What do you like about the show the most, I mean, overall?
Havana: I like that you get to see their family and it’s not them acting as someone else, but it’s actually them being them and also, I like that they have chickens.
Clay: Okay, we raise our own organic chickens and so we kind of empathize with that. If you’re listening right now and you’re going, “What is the chippinger way to empire? Why do I care?” let me just give you some nuggets of knowledge here. They now own a thing called, “The Magnolia Market and Silos”, which you can go visit in Waco which right now outside of Baylor University it is the number one tourist attraction in Waco, Texas.
They also have a vacation rental called, the Magnolia House where they let their fans spend a few nights surrounded by creamy white shiplap and shiplap covered furniture, the old Chip and Joanna Gaines style. They have four kids, they’re basically taking Waco, they’re the stars of the Fixer Upper show and the thing is Thrivers, is they are somebody just like you. They’re somebody who wanted to achieve success and they went from, “Okay, I hope it happens.” To making it happen.
I’m going to go ahead and unpack their path to success. Chip right now, he’s 41 years old, he’s a born entrepreneur, but he turned his first profit when he was in elementary school selling juice boxes to kids at tennis camp near his home in Albuquerque New Mexico. When his family moved to Dallas, Texas Chip ran a fireworks stand and actually sold books door to door. He was always looking for ways to make money.
Vanessa: I just love this because this is so typical, just typical of the everyday entrepreneur that we run into or deal with in business. I look at you and what were you doing in elementary school? You were making Garfield t-shirts for kids in your classroom and turning a profit that way. In middle school, you were DJing dances and making a profit that way. We look at our friend Jonathan Barnett, he was running a fireworks stand as soon as he could.
I just think that this is true to all these entrepreneurs, they usually start young or if they don’t get to cut their teeth on it then maybe it’s in college. They all have humble beginnings and they learn the lessons of how to turn a profit, how to pay the employees, how to overcome these obstacles that you’re always going to have in business and move on to bigger things. Chip and Joanna are exactly the same way, no different.
Clay: Do you know Thrivers, how I started my first business? How I made my first, bang, bang, huge deal? Havana, you went to Metro Christian there for a while?
Havana: Yes, I did.
Clay: Do you remember your time at Metro Christian?
Havana: A little bit, I don’t remember very much, though.
Clay: Because you were a young kid.
Havana: A young person [laughs].
Clay: A young person before we did the whole homeschooling game. What was the name of your last teacher though, do you remember?
Havana: I think it was Miss Kelly.
Clay: Miss Kelly, okay. Here’s what happens. I had a teacher, this time it was Mrs. Wilson. Mrs. Wilson, she notices my game but here’s the thing all the students back in the day they all wanted tapes. Havana, have you ever seen a cassette tape?
Havana: Yes, I used to pull all the film out of those. [laughs]
Clay: Here’s the deal, back in the day everybody wanted to have the best music but nobody could afford it because you’re in second grade. What I did is I bought this, think of a high-speed dubber and what it would allow you to do is you could play one tape and then record an exact copy of it on another player, which was highly illegal but the song that people wanted back in the day was this song.
Let me get it queued up for you Thrivers, here we go. Milli Vanilli. Here we go. [music] Around the second grade everybody is going, “Hey, do you have that Milli Vanilli? Do you have that Milli Vanilli?” And I go, “I have that Milli Vanilli. How much do you want that Milli Vanilli?” And they say, “I really want the Milli Vanilli“. I’m a second grader and I’m like, “Here’s the deal, I’ll sell you a Milli Vanilli for $5″ and they go, “Okay, I’ll get $5.”
They go home the next day and they say, “Hey mom, for school I need $5” and the mom is like, “What do you need $5 for?”, “Just something for school”. They come up to me the next day and they go, “Hey, I’ve got my $5” and I’m like, “Oh, yeah”. I would do that about 10 times a week, I made about $50 a week and I discovered that people wanted not only Milli Vanilli, but they wanted New Kids on The Block. Vanessa, do you remember new kids on the block?
Vanessa: I do, yes.
Clay: Were you into New Kids On The Block? Did you care about new kids on the block?
Vanessa: I never really was but–
Clay: Are you kidding me?
Vanessa: I know, right?
Clay: You were raised in California?
Vanessa: Yes.
Clay: Was communism taking over California at the time? How could you not be into New Kids On The Block?
Vanessa: Possibly, look where they are now, I’m just joking.
Clay: Here’s the deal, everyone wanted that New Kids On The Block and I’m like, “I’ve got that New Kids On The Block“. This is the move, I’d go to the store and I’d buy that tape and I’d bring it back to my lab and I would copy them all night. I’d say, “Hey, you guys want that New Kids On The Block?” And they say, “I do” and I’m like, “I’ll give it to you for $5.”
Vanessa: This is something I want to point out. Look at what you did, you’re illegally reproducing this music as a second grader and you look at Chip and Joanna, they many times if you read their book, were stumbling around maybe not doing something exactly to the letter of the law. Chip is getting in trouble for his dogs running around the neighborhood, he gets thrown in jail, just kind of crazy stuff, right?
That is what the entrepreneur needs before they get all their ducks in a row they need to know where their goal is and just start taking action to get there and figure it out along the way. I think so many people are afraid that they need to know the whole game plan before they can take a step and then they’re frozen in fear.
Clay: There’s two lessons to be learned here. One is, I 100% agree with you, it’s absolutely important if you’re listening right now as an action item I want you to pull on over, go ahead and get yourself a notepad, a piece of paper. “Why do I have to write on a paper? Why not use a smartphone?” Because I’m old school, I’m 36. I remember back in the day before we had smartphones.
Just write it down on something, write down some problems if you want to be an entrepreneur, according to Forbes magazine, 57% of you listeners want to start a business. Make a list of all the problems that people have and maybe how you can solve them. The problem that I had, I realized, every kid my age wanted to get their hands on New Kids On The Block and Milli Vanilli.
My next move was, kids back in the day, you had buttons. Do you remember buttons, Vanessa? The big buttons?
Vanessa: I do remember the buttons, yes.
Clay: Did you ever have a button?
Vanessa: Yes, many buttons. Actually, I remember getting buttons for my parents of my school picture, you’d give those out or maybe you were on the soccer team and you’d have a button of yourself in your soccer uniform.
Clay: Yes, the thing is that was a problem that people had and I realized, “Hey, I can make buttons”. I’m being real, that was my second business, I had never made buttons in my life, but I told people I will do it and for $5 I will make you buttons. I went to hobby lobby, bought a button maker, next thing you know I’m the button making king, “Bam. Nobody makes more buttons than me.”
Vanessa: What’s pretty cool is when you start off a business and it is just you. You’re doing everything, but also, you’re pretty much keeping most of the profit because you’re not having to pay a lot of people for all these brand-new start-ups where it’s just you. It’s a good learning time, you are the person wearing all the hats doing everything but at the same time, I know there’s a drone guy we work with out of Dallas and he is rocking right now.
Clay: Thomas is rocking with full package meaning he’s rocking it bam.
Vanessa: It’s wild. He’s the one who surfaces almost all of the shoots and so he’s in a good spot. I know there’s all different business model but really as a start-up, I think that’s a pretty unique thing, you get to learn so many things but you also get to keep most of the profit.
Clay: There’s two lessons to be learned here. One is you got to find a problem that you can solve. That’s step number one for everybody listening right now. Make a list of all the problems that you could solve. What are the things? If you’re going, “Men, I’m tired of this landscape, we’re not doing a good job. Maybe that’s your idea. I can’t find someone good to clean my home. Maybe that’s your new business idea. People are wanting buttons. Maybe that’s your deal but the second lesson is you said you don’t have to get all of your ducks in a row before starting.
Vanessa: I think that in this day and age, maybe because of college or people are taught no, they almost have this fear, “I can’t do it until I have X, Y and Z and A, B, C and everything perfect.” If you’re waiting for that, it’s never going to happen but I think if you work with what you have and you do it yourself, you don’t have to worry about all the other positions, how you’re going to pay everyone.
Just do what you can with what you can and you’ll be awarded more. You’ll have more responsibility, you’ll get more bookings then you’ll say, “Okay, let me bring on someone to help me.” Let me now see, “Okay, I need to file this the right way.” Or whatever.
Clay: You know my main man George Washington Carver. He would agree with you. He said start where you are. This is a notable quotable from George Washington Carver. Someone should be writing this down. He says, “Start where you are with what you have. Make something of it and never be satisfied.”
The one thing you said, you don’t have all your ducks in a row. Now Havana, you raise the chickens, you mentor the chickens you’re like the chicken whisperer at the house. Is it possible to even get your ducks in a row? Have you ever tried to get the ducks? We used to have some ducks, can you even get them in row? Is that even a thing?
Havana: It doesn’t work. We actually couldn’t even get them in a coop for a month.
Clay: You can’t get them in a coop and you can’t get them in a row?
Havana: Yes. They don’t listen.
Clay: Here’s the deal Thrivers. You might be listening and you might be saying, “How did you as a second grader make buttons? Here’s what I did. I bought that Paula Abdul album. [music] I’m telling you this is awesome. I bought that Paula Abdul album. When I bought that album, I did two things with it. One, I high-speed dubbed that mess and I’m selling those CDs but then I took the album art out because the album back in the day, the album art and I cut it out and I made buttons out of it. Yes, that was recycling baby.
Thrivers, where were you when the song came out? Where were you? This was hot sauce. Did you know that Paula Abdul was actually an LA Lakers cheerleader? And the girl can’t sing at all. This is all auto-tune. Back in the day before auto-tune. Seriously. Thrive nation I’m telling you if you’re listening right now, and you’ve ever wanted to start a business, you have what it takes. You’ve got what it takes within you but you’ve got to look for a problem that you can solve.
That’s step number one. Step number two, is you’ve got to go to Oklahoma Joe’s and have some baked beans. I’m just telling you. If you’re listening right now and you’re going “I’m motivated but I don’t know if I have the energy or the will or the determination, or the motivation”. I’m telling you what, you can find the energy, the motivation, the inspiration, inside a pint of Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans.
It’s a secret to the universe. It’s scientifically proven. I don’t have the data. No, I don’t have the facts but I can tell you this, it tastes great and yesterday was mandate day with my son. We went out there, we had some Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans and I’m inspired. That’s proof positive that it works. Stay tuned. Learn more about the Chip and Joanna show on the thrivetimeshow.com.
Alright thrive nation Oklahomies, welcome back to the thrive time show on your radio. Broadcasting in the left coast of the Arkansas river inside the beautiful thrive15.com world headquarters inside the box that rocks and through the magical microphones to your ear, I am here, the former SPA entrepreneur of the year. My name is Clay Clark. I’m a father of five human kids. I’m the husband of one incredible woman, Mrs. Vanessa Clark who is on the show today and, I think I already said this, the of the father of five human kids.
One of the humans is inside the box that rocks. For the first time in history of this show, I am going to get adventurous and I’m going to get a little crazy and I’m going to bring a 12-year-old onto the magical microphone. Will she say inappropriate things? Will she disappoint her father? Will she prove that I don’t actually have a functional brain and that I’ve never taught her anything? We’ll see. Havana, how are you?
Havana: Good. How are you?
Clay: I am doing so good. We’re talking about Chip and Joanna and their story, their timeline of success. How did they do it? Havana, what’s the name of their show?
Havana: Fixer Upper.
Clay: Fixer Upper. If you’ve never watched Fixer Upper, I apologize because you’ve not been living very good. You’ve got to check it out. We’ll walk into the timeline of Chip and Joanna’s success. While a sophomore Baylor University in Waco Texas, Chip began flipping houses using money he earned from his one-man landscaping business in a small loan from his parents. Timeout. If you’re listening right now and you’re looking for capital to start a business, Vanessa did you know where Jeff Bezos the guy who started Amazon where he got his money from to start his business? Do you know?
Vanessa: I do not know. No.
Clay: Why you do not know? Havana, do you know?
Havana: I do not.
Vanessa: I know you’ve told me at some point. I apologize.
Clay: I’m a poor husband. Here’s the deal because he got it from his mom and dad who emptied their savings, all 300,000 dollars. They said, “We believe in you, you can office out of our garage, boom. If you’re listening right now and you don’t have an ample amount of capital, you don’t have the resources, go ask a friend, a family member, maybe get a second job. “Is that ethical? Should I have a second job what about life balance?”
You got to do whatever you need to do to start a business. Vanessa, we started our business. You’re working over there at office depot in a copy center. You’re making copies like that was your job because it was.
Vanessa: That’s right. That enabled you to be able to go focus on selling DJ packages because we knew we could live off of my income and then you also worked another job. We just did what we had to do but we had a vision and a goal we were moving towards. We knew this was a season. What I think is so interesting too and what I loved about Chip and Joanna.
You talk about how he used the money from his landscaping business to fund his house flipping business but did you know that originally how he started his landscaping business was he was at Baylor and he used to sit in classes by the window and look out the window and think, “Oh man, I wish I could be – he reminds me of my son. I wish I could be mowing that lawn instead of this class. Oh man.” To the point where he went out and asked the guy “Can I just mow lawns with you?”
Clay: What guy did he ask?
Vanessa: I forget his name but he became great friends with him and the guy became a mentor. He was the guy who owned landscaping business–
Clay: He went and asked a successful landscaper, how do you do it?
Vanessa: He did and then he ended up working for him for a long time until the guy said, “Listen you need to do this on your own. That’s what you want.” This is what I loved about it. All of our Thrivers out there, everyone has a passion in them. Here he was, attending a university, getting an education and I’m not saying not to, that’s great but he knew where his heart was. He goes, “I want to be working with my hands.” And looked at that as a talent that God has given him. To this day, him and Joanna, I mean, he’s using his gift working with his hands.
Clay: Who’s hands?
Vanessa: Yes–
Clay: Unlike me where I use my body. I work with my body. He uses his hands. A lot come to thrive15.com and they come visit the facility and I go, “Are they’re here for my body?” I say, “Eyes up here men. Eyes up here ladies. Come on now.” I use my hands too you know. Seriously Thrivers, if you’re listening right now, the actionable thing you can learn here is that you just have to start with where you’re at and if you don’t know how to get into that business, find somebody who’s in the business, offer to go work there for free. You can absolutely do it, okay–
Vanessa: And you did that with DJ connection. You’ve worked for another company–
Clay: Yes. For Rob Biggins.
Vanessa: Yes. Rob Biggins. I remember him.
Clay: All access global music — he was actually was a part-time professional wrestler. Remember that we went to River Lanes in Washington? He was bringing it there. His name was Rocko Valentino.
Vanessa: [laughs] Can’t believe you remember that.
Clay: I remember everything that I shouldn’t remember. I remember all the things. I remember seeing Rocky Valentino. He was a big deal. Moving on here, this is the next part of the Chip and Joanna story. He graduated from Baylor with a business degree but after he graduates with that degree, he stayed in Waco and continues flipping houses. That’s where he met Joanna. Joanna was a recent Baylor graduate with a degree in communications and she had been interning in the fancy New York area for Dan Rather. You remember Dan Rather?
Vanessa: Yes, at that time she thought she was going to pursue broadcast journalism and so of course when any person who’s driven is going to do — they’re going to go place themselves under a successful person, right?
Clay: You know, I have an audio clip of Dan Rather. Do you want to hear this?
Vanessa: I do [giggles].
Clay: This is early Dan Rather back in the day. Here we go. “That’s going to do it for all of us here at channel four news. You stay classy San Diego. I’m Ron Burgundy.” No. That was Ron Burgundy. That was not Dan Rather.
Vanessa: That doesn’t sound like him.
Clay: My bad, I got the wrong clip queued up there but anyways. Seriously, she worked before for Dan Rather interning and she decided that really broadcast journalism wasn’t going to be for her. She came back to Waco. She’s working in her father’s tire and auto repair shop–
Vanessa: I’ve got to interject.
Clay: Yes, sure.
Vanessa: I’m so sorry I have to. When she was there though that was a part of her dream in New York. She had been living in Waco which is very different from New York.
Clay: I don’t think they’re different at all. When you go to Waco, this is what I think of. [music] Waco is high fashion. It’s a busy city. “I’m going on Waco Texas to turn my dreams into a reality. It’s a tough city. I figure if I can make it in Waco I can make it anywhere.” That’s how Waco is, right?
Vanessa: I guess so. Yes, it talks about, she decided not to pursue her internship but she used to walk around New York and just fell in love with all these little boutiques and she thought, “I’d love to do the same thing one day.” And Waco’s eventually known with her story, that’s what she did. I just think that in our heart, we know things that we are drawn to, things that we’re gifted and now it’s how do you take action on these things.
Clay: If you’re listening right now Thrivers, I’m just telling you that you got to start somewhere. 57% of you want to start or grow a successful business but you’ve got to start. Henry Ford says, “You cannot build a reputation based off of what you’re going to do.” Here’s the next move though, so Chip walks into the store one day, he’s trying to get some breaks for his car and he asks around and the two hit it off immediately even though they were opposite.
She was very serious, very shy, smart girl who always did her homework. He’s funny. He’s extrovert, he’s that cute guy who’ve never did his homework, that kind of thing but they clicked and she said in her book here, she says, “He made me laugh that’s why I fell in love with him.” Do you remember when I first harassed you Vanessa, do you remember that?
Vanessa: I do remember you consistently harassing me for as long as I’ve have known you.
Clay: How did that happen? Did I just come in like a ray of hope, a ray of light, I just walk in and you just immediately recognize me? I think when I walked in I said, Hello, do you know who I am? I am Clay Clark. People know me. No, nobody here knows me but people will know me. How did it happen?
Vanessa: You just consistently harassed me. You sat next to me in class. Drew over all my papers or you would come and crash my table.
Clay: What does that mean to crash the table? What is this propaganda?
Vanessa: I mean that if you go to Oral Roberts University, you are assigned a wing so it’s kind of like — It’s not a sorority but it’s a group of people who all live in the same area of the dorm–
Clay: Wing is like a sorority.
Vanessa: When you go up to eat at the cafeteria, all the wings have their own table. You sit with your sister wing and brother wing but you don’t go to someone else’s wing and go sit at their table–
Clay: You do so and I will tell you, when we come back Thrivers, we’re going to talk about going to the sorority wing. Going to that other wing. We’re talking about breaking all the rules to chase the ladies. We’re going to teach you some moves, some super moves. Stay tuned for some dating tips. If you’re watching on Facebook Live, you know I’m a man, bare pig. How did I do it? Stay tuned, I’ll teach you. thrivetimeshow.com.
All right, Thrive nation, welcome back to the conversation. We’re talking today about the Chip and Joanna story. This is a story about two lovebirds who’ve gone on to be mega TV stars. What’s the connection? Well, our show is owned by Scripts radio based in Cincinnati and these guys also own, if you’re on Facebook Live you can check it out there on HGTV, they own the Food Network, down the DIY Network, they own the Travel Channel, and they own Stitcher and they own thus, they own — Havana, what’s the name of the show?
Havana: The Fixer Upper Show.
Clay: By the way, do you like the fixer — By the way, this is my daughter Havana. She’s 12 years old. She’s inside the box that rocks, on the radio show. Do you love that show?
Havana: I love it. Mom will tell you. I’m always like, “Mom can we stay up for like two more hours?”
Clay: What do you like about that show the most?
Havana: I like that it’s real people doing what they really love. They’re not putting on a face just for the camera and then, they do have chickens and ducks and stuff like that.
Vanessa: What do you think about Chip?
Havana: I think he’s very funny like dad.
Clay: For the Thrivers out there who are like, “What’s your dad really like?” Can you explain to the Thrivers what I’m really like when I’m not rocking the mic on the radio show?
Havana: You’re always really, really funny and you’re always holding a chicken or a duck, and we’re all out there and you’re holding the bunny, we’re all just like —
Clay: I really do, I love holding animals.
Havana: You do.
Clay: And your passion is to be an animal rescuer someday right?
Havana: Yes.
Clay: Describe to the Thrivers the animals that you’ve coached up at this point in your life. What animals have you been in charge of?
Havana: I’m in charge of 15 chickens, two of them are chicks and then one bunny. We did have two dogs but we have to give them away and then, four cats and we did have ducks.
Clay: And four cats. At this point in your life, at age 12, what do you want to do when you’re 27?
Havana: I want to rescue animals and I actually want to do that before I’m 27 and then I also want to have a pet food store. I don’t know exactly what you call it. Pet supply place?
Clay: When you’re 30, when I allow you to start dating, hopefully you can relate to this next story. Here’s the deal. Basically, we’re talking about the Chip and Joanna story and how they became the super success story that you know today. Joanna, she goes up to New York and she interns for Dan Rather and she says, “You know what I love that opportunity but I want to come back to Waco.”
She’s working for her dad in this break store in Waco and Chip is flipping houses. He walks in to buy some breaks. Next thing you know, he’s asking her out on a date but Vanessa, for the Thrivers out there who haven’t read the book, what did he do on the first date? Describe for the Thrivers what did Chip do on that first date?
Vanessa: I just love it because it’s just Chip. He shows up an hour and a half late.
Clay: He shows up an hour and a half late?
Vanessa: Yes, by the time he shows up, she’s so mad and she’s with her friends that she doesn’t even want to get the door. The friends let him in and he, he’s kind of like you, charms them. He’s funny. He’s everything that they love and so everyone just [unintelligible 00:25:33] and to this day, he’s like, “I wasn’t an hour and a half late.” I guess the spirit of entrepreneur where they aren’t afraid of making mistakes, right, you’re going to go 100% for what they want and they don’t care what anyone else thinks. I think that’s what Joanna fell in love with.
Clay: Can you describe for the Thrivers the whole courting process, what I did to woo you? Obviously, you were attracted to my body but besides that, what else did I do to woo you?
Vanessa: I guess I was oblivious to — I just thought we were friends but you were always around and you were just harassing me always and then I remember this, this is going to make me riled up now. I was going to go babysit somewhere for the weekend and I was in charge of kids for the weekend so the family is entrusting me. I’m an ORU student, I didn’t know them that well. You decided to show up.
Clay: I did and I made eggs.
Vanessa: You made me eggs with ham and I wouldn’t eat them because I’m the pickiest eater and my friend was there and so she ate the eggs, she ate the smoothie. I wouldn’t drink the smoothie because it had milk in it [laughs].
Clay: Unbelievable.
Vanessa: And then, I guess maybe she picked up a vibe because she left after she ate the meal.
Clay: She picked up the vibe.
Vanessa: Yes.
Clay: I was putting out a good vibe.
Vanessa: And I remember my friend saying like, “He’s going to try to kiss you. No, never. This would never happen.”
Clay: I think this music gave it away. [music] I came around, we’ll go make some eggs. Yes, I think I gave it away.
Vanessa: Anyways, long story short, you did try to kiss me. I backed up, started laughing and thought, “My gosh, what is going on, this is craziness.”
Clay: I don’t remember that. I blocked it out.
Vanessa: But the whole point is, you, just like Chip, were determined, just like your business to your eye on whatever it was you wanted and you’re–
Clay: I had my eye on the sparrow.
Vanessa: The sparrow. [laughter] You didn’t call me bird.
Clay: I did call you the bird.
Vanessa: Yes, maybe that’s the thing, I guess. I am the sparrow.
Clay: Thrivers, listen, seriously, if you’re listening right now and you’re going, what are you talking about? We’re talking about Chip and Joanna and how they became the success story that everybody talks about today and their path. The idea is because when you hear someone else’s story, you realize, hey you know what, I can do it too.
That’s the idea. One guy in Tulsa who really took his vision and turned into a reality is Joe Davidson. He’s the founder of Oklahoma Joe’s and Oklahoma Joe’s, obviously, is a proud sponsor of our show but did you know he’s sold 2 million smokers, 2 million.
Vanessa: That’s a huge number but just like Chip and Joanna, he started at humble beginnings. Didn’t he personally make the first smoker?
Clay: He did. He made for the first smokers and to get his first deal with Walmart, he actually just drove out there and waited until he could get an audience with the big buyers, that’s how he did it.
Vanessa: This is what we’re pretty much telling people. You don’t need to wait and get this huge big infrastructure around you. You need to know what you’re going for, what your goal is, what your passion is or what you’re going to focus on and then do it yourself. Don’t build this huge team, do it yourself and take the action steps you can. That’s how everyone who has gotten started, started.
Clay: As an example of doing it yourself, I could work with the team of jingle riders. I could work with professionals but instead, over the past weekend, I’ve been working hard, trying to write the perfect jingle for Oklahoma Joe’s and I believe I have it now. Here we go. Get ready Thrivers. Emotionally prepare yourselves. It might sound like the fiddler on the roof but it’s not. Here we go. [sings] Where are the peg bins that I long for? What do you think about that Thrivers? Here we go. [sings] Where are the baked beans I long for? I can find them only at Oklahoma Joe’s-
Vanessa: Havana’s laughing because she knows he does this at the house.
Clay: -where is the peanut smell I long for? Look it’s ruminating in my nose. On Facebook Live you can see it but Thrivers listen, I think that’s the idea, I think we take the fiddler on the roof track and we mix it with the Oklahoma Joe’s theme.
I think that could be a huge thing. Where is — Thrivers, that’s a big thing right? You love it? Here’s my Regent Bank commercial I’ve been working on. Here we go. Let me get this right. It might sound like purple rain. [sings] You can get your suckers at Regent Bank, Regent Bank, Regent Bank. Come on Thrivers, sing with me now. Everybody now. Crank it up on your AM dial. [sings] Regent Bank, Regent Bank, come on now. You’re not going to get free suckers at the other banks, no, you’re not going to get a deal, you’re not going to meet Sean Coupland [sings] bank. Regent bank. I’m working on that and it might sound like proper rain, but they knocked off my jingle. It might sound like fiddler on the roof but they knocked off my jingle. Either way, I hope it does get stuck in your head, I hope you go to a region bank and Oklahoma Joes.
Now Thrivers, when we come back we’re going to get deeper into the Chip and Joanna story about how they tuned their big entrepreneurial dreams into reality and if you want to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality, you really owe it to yourself to go to thrivetimeshow.com to find out more because we’re going to have a two day in person 15 hour workshop on February 24th and 25th right here inside the beautiful Thrive15.com world headquarters.
Again, if you’ve ever been looking for that detailed workshop where they teach you all the stuff behind the stuff. They teach you how to build a sales script, how to optimize your website, how to do PR, how to do marketing accounting, they teach you all the brass text, that’s what our workshop is all about. We have a scholarship program available, so if for some reason you cannot financially afford it right now, now you can. You owe it to yourself, we only have 45 tickets available, only 45 tickets left so go to thrivetimeshow.com to get your tickets, February 24th and 25th. It’s the Thrive Time Show on your radio. Check it at thrivetimeshow.com.
All right thrive nation, welcome back into the conversation, where we are teaching you how to start and grow a successful business. If you want to get involved in this month’s interactive workshop, it’s a two-day workshop, it’s on February 24th and 25th. We have 45 tickets left check it at thrivetimeshow.com, and now we get back into the rest of the story. We’re talking today about the Chip and Joanna story, and how did Chip and Joanna go from where they were to being TV sensations and TV — they’re like America’s couple right now. Havana, what’s the name of their show again? The name escapes me.
Havana: Fixer Upper.
Clay: The Fixer Upper Show, if you haven’t checked it out, I’m telling you, you’ll want to check it out. We’re going into the next part of their story. They begin living homes together before they were married. She begins helping him with his rentals and flips, she’d turn painting and decorating. She actually says, here is a notable quote from Joanna, she says, “I had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t know anything about interior design or construction.” Now this is Chip’s side of the story, he says, “We learned it on the fly.” This is the thing where, you know, they were learning it as they went.
I think a lot of entrepreneurs get that wrong because they feel like they have to know everything before they can start. Vanessa, explain to the entrepreneurs out there, you’ve been around me when I first started the DJ company. Tell the Thrivers what I did wrong, maybe those parts where you were like, “Oh my gosh you did that.” Maybe just explain some stories of some things that I did wrong, and then maybe share how it was different at the end, you know what I mean?
Vanessa: Yes, I think for both of us, I mean, everything that we’ve learned along the road of business we learned through trial and error, we were kids we didn’t know how to do it. I look at how we used to send DJs out to shows in the very beginning with no cart.
Clay: They had to carry their amplifier and their gig rig, it’s 80 pounds. I’m like yes just carry it and they’re like “It’s so heavy, don’t you have a cart?” I’m like, “No, I don’t have a cart you don’t need a cart, you’re freaking woss.” Then over time I realized like, men most people are not modern day Vikings and they’re not angry, and they don’t — but I was the guy like I didn’t have a cart, didn’t know that one even existed. I remember I parked the car in front of the Crown Plaza, and I carried the equipment while going half a block. I didn’t even know.
Vanessa: It’s a common sense thing, but there are so many things in business that you learn as you do it. I remember so many tax lessons I learned along the way, or even with clients. We learned this very quickly where we need to ask for a deposit, but then have the majority — everything due the night of and it worked so great for cash flow, because that’s when we’re paying the DJs the night of. We don’t want to have payment in full for six months earlier, and then nothing come in when we need to pay everyone. That worked wonders for cash flow, but we didn’t know until we did those things.
Clay: Now as the DJ business begun to grow at one point, the guys would come in and load in their equipment. I would send a given night when we had 40 guys that were coming back, 50 guys DJing. At that point I didn’t have any checklist, you remember that I didn’t have any checklist?
Vanessa: I do remember this and I do [laughs] remember them being created.
Clay: We went to Houston for a wedding and do you remember when I forgot the amplifier?
Vanessa: Yes.
Clay: Do you remember that?
Vanessa: Yes I do it is seared in my memory, right?
Clay: We’re setting up everything and I’m like, “Okay, I got the lights, I got the speakers, I got the music.” And I’m like the speakers aren’t working. You’re like, “I think you forgot the amplifier.” And then I’m like “What? How did I forget the amplifier?” You had to drive super-fast to a guitar center–
Vanessa: In a city we’re not familiar with, we have no GPS–
Clay: You went and bought it, then you came back and I’m like, “I don’t have a mic stand.” You had to go back out again, do you remember that?
Vanessa: Yes, I remember every out of town show was just white knuckling it the entire time, because we would get there — really we delivered great because we’d get there so early because we planned-
Clay: Yes, we’re there like four or five hours earlier.
Vanessa: -we always planned on having these issues and we would have them.
Clay: I planned on having these issues, but in every plan, I’m thinking on how to make a checklist.
Vanessa: What issue they would be, yes or what issue yes exactly.
Clay: Dumb okay. Now the thing is Thrivers if you’re listening right now, what can you learn from this? Well one you’ve got to make a checklist. If you don’t have a checklist, bad things happen. Now I don’t know what you need to hear to be inspired about this, but you have to make a checklist. I have some audio from Bill Belichick talking about the importance of why you need a checklist. Here we go.
Voice-Over: Just do your job, don’t try to make too much of it just do your job.
Clay: You just got to do your job, you got to have a checklist. Now Havana, do you remember when I was doing some speaking events and I didn’t have a checklist yet? Do you remember the time when I forgot the books?
Havana: I was actually just about to bring that up, we drove all the way down there we’re like -.
Vanessa: [unintelligible 00:36:09]?
Havana: It was somewhere in Texas I don’t remember exactly where. Probably Dallas, and we only have maybe 20 minutes to get there. It’s the middle of the night and dad’s like, “Will you go check right to the book are there?” I’m like, “Sure.” I go back there, there is no books. I’m like, “Dad there is no books.” and he’s like “Well it’s going to be a funny story.” He goes back there checks and they are not there. We drove all the way back and we get there at 5:00 in the morning and were originally going to be there 11:00, and it’s like 5:00 in the morning.
Clay: 11:00 at night, yes because I forgot to pack the books when going to a speaking event, I’m going to tell you what, you only need to do that one time before you realize I am not a genius, and I have to make a checklist. Thrivers I would encourage you to ask yourself right now, what are the repetitive problems that you’re running into over and over and over?
Then how do you fix it? You’ve got to make a checklist, the elephant in the room our men’s grooming lounge. Sam our producer, his incredible wife, they’re here and they’ve seen some of these checklists being made, but Karina used to manage one of the locations, and you’re there managing and I’m sure it never happened to you or to me or probably it didn’t happen to other people, but I think there might have been a few times when you’re going, “We don’t have the tools we need the materials.” Maybe we don’t have supplies or maybe we don’t have enough shampoo or paraffin or whatever. I’m just telling you, if you’re listening right now you’ve got to make a checklist.
Vanessa: I agree 100%, and also for those who are wantapreneurs, they’re thinking about starting a business or they’re brand new to business, you also have to have the attitude that things are going to happen. You’ve never done this before, but it’s okay it’s part of the process and it’s not like, “oh no I got to give up and take my ball and go home.” No, this is part of the process, it’s to be expected. Yes, you need to get a coach or a mentor or someone to help you along the way so you can minimize these problems, but when they come along you need to look at, how do I solve this so that next time this isn’t an issue and then keep going, keep tracking along.
Clay: Thrivers you don’t want to take your ball and go home, you want to leave your ball there. That’s my ball I’m leaving it there, no I’m just kidding. Thrivers the thing is, everybody listening right now, you have to have a checklist, you just got to have a checklist. I have a notable quote that I’m going to read to you from Atul Gawande, from his bestselling book, The Checklist Manifesto which I love.
He says this, he says, “The volume and complexity of what we know has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correctly, safely or reliably.” He goes on to say, “We don’t like checklists. They could be painstaking, they’re not much fun, but I don’t think the issue here is mere laziness. There is something deeper more visceral going on, when people walk away not only from saving the lives, he studied doctors and that kind of thing, but from making money.
It somehow feels beneath those to use a checklist, an embarrassment. It kind of runs counter to the deeply held beliefs about the truly great amongst us. Those who we aspire to be, they handle situations of high stakes and complexity, the truly great are daring there and they improvise. They do not have protocols and checklist, maybe our idea of heroism needs updating.”
The point is Thrivers, that’s Atul Gawande from his book, Checklist Manifesto. You’ve got to have a checklist, I don’t know what to tell you, you’ve got to have a checklist, please. If you’re listening and your husband doesn’t have a checklist for his business, don’t slap him don’t [makes sounds] don’t hit him with it but you got to somehow go, “Listen you need a checklist.”
If you want to know how to build a checklist, you want to know how to build a system because what made DJ Connection great was repeatable excellence over and over and over. If you want to know how to do it, you’ve got to get out to our two-day Thrive Time Workshop. We’ve built this beautiful 20,000 square foot facility for you. If you’re a doubter, goggle Thrive 15 Conference reviews. Google the reviews, watch videos from people like you who explain what it’s like. We have no upsells. It’s 15 hours. We cover everything, marketing, sales, accounting, PR, everything you need to know to start or grow a business. It’s all there and you can learn everything you need to know about it, the thrivetimeshow.com.
Check it out, thrivetimeshow.com. Book your ticket, we have 45 left and I’m telling you absolutely change your life, Vanessa.
Vanessa: I just want to brag on it because if you would’ve had access to something like this, you would’ve been all over it. What makes this conference, this workshops, really I think that the truer word is workshop, so unlike anything else, is that you give people the actual tools and teach them. If you’re going to say, you need a checklist, you’re going to get out a checklist and say this is the checklist I use for whatever the task is.
If it’s for my SEO, or this is the checklist I use for cleaning our bathrooms, whatever it is and so you’re teaching people, this is the script, this is the call script we use, this is how you make a script. People leave with the actual tools at hand. I’ve never seen that, and we’ve been to many different conferences before.
Clay: Yes, we’ve spoken for Chevron and Hewlett-Packard and Maytag University, and O’Reilly Auto Parts, and a lot of events but you never get to go super deep. This workshops are designed to allow you, as the entrepreneur, to go very deep, have your specific question answered and the way it works, it starts at 7:00 AM, and you go from 7:00 AM to 7:45 then we break for 15 minutes and any questions that you have, we answer them. Then we go from 8:00 to 8:45 and any questions that we have, we answer.
We keep doing that all day. We break for lunch, we come back till 3:00 It’s from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM. It’s a game-changer. We peer from all over the world coming to these things and I promise you, it’s going to change your life and if you can’t afford to attend, now you can. We’ve teamed up with some awesome people. I don’t know how to explain this more articulately, but if you can’t afford, you understand, there are scholarship donors available, you never have to pay back, you don’t have a student loan, you don’t owe anything.
You’ve got to check it out. It’s The Thrive Time Show, The Thrive Time Workshops. You can check them out at thrivetimeshow.com. Learn more, February 24th and 25th. When we come back, you’re going to learn more about the Chip and Joanna story on The Thrive Time Show.
[silence]
All right, Tulsa, Oklahomies in Nashville, Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bentonville, Arkansas, the people who are very close to Oklahoma City, people who are in Macalester, people who are in Topeka, welcome to The Thrive Time Show on your radio. We are talking today specifically about the Chip and Joanna story and how did those two lovebirds go from, you know he was flipping houses and she was an intern with the Dan Rather Show, and then they moved together.
She moves from New York to Waco, she’s working on a brake shop for her dad, he walks in one day, they meet. How did they go from there to where they are today as the stars of HGTV? We’re talking about their story. Inside the Box that Rocks, we brought in a couple more guests. They’re like, I would say they’re Tulsa’s Chip and Joanna of the non-profit world. It could be said. We have Ms. Lindsay Reyes and Mr. Joey Reyes. Lindsay, how are you doing?
Lindsay Reyes: I’m good, how are you?
Clay: I am excited to have you inside the Box that Rocks. I’m very excited here, and we were bringing in the man with the plan, the guy who tricked you into marrying him, Mr. Joey Reyes. Joey, how are you, man?
Joey Reyes: Hey, I’m doing good, man. Thanks for having us.
Clay: A lot of people are very familiar with The James Mission now. A lot of people know about it, but there are half of our audience who doesn’t know about it as well. Joey, can you explain what is The James Mission, my friend?
Joey: Yes, we are a non-profit. We are a resource center that provides resources, clothing, shoes, necessities to foster children, to foster community and people in need.
Clay: Lindsay, I want to ask you this. Why did you guys start this? Was it a deal where he hit his head on the toilet seat, next thing you know “I’ve drawn the flex capacitor. What it is? It’s going to be The James Mission.” I mean where did the idea come from?
Lindsay: Well ultimately, it did begin with him–
Clay: Yes. It’s a win for mankind.
Lindsay: Yes, I’ve got to give him that credit. Didn’t see that coming then, but he had, prior to praying his car that he was going to be 35 and hadn’t done much with his life, and thought, there’s got to be more to this. We prayed a prayer, burn me, mold me, do whatever, I want to be in Your will. A month later, I lost my job, and I made bulk of the money at that time, so it was a pretty hard hit.
Fast forward six months of arguing with God, and he and I basically being stripped of everything, I dusted off the Bible and got to my knees and started praying and opened it up to the Book of James and just began reading.
Clay: This is a deal where you had this vision, and we’re talking about the Chip and Joanna story and how basically when they’re dating, she decides to come work with him, and he says here, this is his edible quotable. He says, “We learned on the fly.” She says I had no clue what I was doing, I didn’t know about interior design or construction.
Did you ever feel like that when you started this? Because you have this vision to start a mission to help people? Joey, did you ever feel like you’re going, “What am I doing? I have no idea what I’ve done.”
Joey: You know what’s funny is I still do that.
[laughter]
Clay: That’s brutal honesty right there.
Joey: It’s been a learn as you grow. We’ve been trying to maneuver. Again, it was based off the Book of James. So, you help the needy, the orphans or widows, these foster children and these families. Ultimately, what does that looked like? To help someone and that’s what we’ve been learning along the way.
Clay: I think a lot of entrepreneurs are listening. According to Forbes, 57% of the listening audience wants to start a business. I repeat that’s 5 to the 7. 57% of you want to start or grow a successful business. Here is what it sounds like, [music] I’ve got this big vision. I’m going to start a business.
You probably read a Tony Robins book, or you’ve stayed up too late drinking Red bull and now you’re ready to go and all of a sudden [music stops] life hits you in the face with a brick and you realize, I don’t know what I’m doing. What happens is less than two years after Chip and Joanna meet, they’re married and they moved into one of Chip’s rental houses in Waco.
Their first flip as a married couple, they repeat this pattern over and over, and end up buying this old renovated store. That becomes the Magnolia market, where Joanna sold flowers and candles, that kind of thing and Chip said right away, he says, “We were a dual business couple right off the bat. We were rocking and rolling.” But she’s sharing an entirely different story. Vanessa, I mean, her take was kind of like —
Vanessa: It was rough for her. It was really rough. I think she, you know, gets back from her honeymoon. She describes the first rental house that they go into. They spend all of their money, all of it and there’s no electricity, no heat and air-
DJ: Smells like cat pee.
Vanessa: -she’s lying on the floor on dog pee, she determines-
DJ: Dog pee. That’s better.
Vanessa: –and there was rotting meat, I think because the air has been turned off. Then what did she do? She cries. I can relate to that just like, “Oh my gosh. What did I get myself into?”
Joey: “What are we doing?”
Vanessa: Yes, and I think what I absolutely love, and I think what America loves about Chip and Joanna is they are wholly in it together, though, and they don’t turn on each other, instead they turned to each other and figure out “How are we going to do this?” And when I look at you as couple—
Clay: And then they turn on each other. Yes, Thrivers. Yes, had to fit that in there. That’s win for mankind. Yet another win for mankind.
[laughter]
Vanessa: When I look at you, Joey and Lindsay, here you’re doing something that is going to take all of you, and then some. It’s going to take God leading you along the way but you’re in it fully together, and that’s how you do it. There’s going to be surprises along the way. We just talked about this, about how in business you’re going to sometimes make a wrong turn or wrong move, and it doesn’t mean that you stop and you give up but you say, “What do I need to do better for next time?”
Clay: I want to ask you on a very practical level, and you don’t have to share anything super deep and dark but we want to know, have you ever, when you’ve started the mission and things are happening, have you ever thought like, “Oh, my gosh. What have I gotten myself into? How are going to make it to next week?”
I’m going to start with you Joey, have you ever had a thought where you go, “We couldn’t probably eat each other.” Have you ever thought about like how much Ramen you’re going to eat? Have you ever found yourself where you go, “How am I going to make this?”
Joey: You know it’s funny, we did. We have. The whole process, what like Lindsay said earlier, the first thing that happened was she lost her job. We were struggling. We were at each other a little bit, you know, when you lose your finances and a home, that’s hard, it’s a tough deal.
Then in the midst of that, still trying to find out who you are and what you’re doing and then once it actually hits we’re on the same page and we’ve had moments, let’s just be honest. We’ve had our moments where we just sit there and we look at each other like, “What are we doing?”
Vanessa: Lindsay, how do you see that you two have grown in yourselves and the business? From where you were, when you started, you’re probably not the same people.
Lindsay: No, Not at all. It started out as just, God really, I’m stubborn, I know that’s shocking. God had to really deal with me. It took this hard hit that like, “Okay wake up. I called you to do something great, you’ve always wanted to start a business and you’ve talked about doing a non-profit.” And when His wake up calls of like, “I’ve put you through your MBA, like, do this.” And so, it was like, “Okay, I can do this. I got to do this.” Well, non-profit world is a whole different world from what I was prepared for, so he took a side road that was like, “Okay, we got to do this.” The income isn’t there. Literally, we’re selling nothing. We don’t have a revenue that comes through. We get self-donated and we’re like —
Joey: Yes. We sell hope. And it’s free.
[laughter]
Clay: How did you finally put it together where you could financially make them. What was your breakthrough Lindsey? One where you said, “Okay, we could finally now give back to the community the way we wanted to and help people in our local community, but also keep the lights on.
Vanessa: Because now you have an actual store front now, right? Or actual facility where before it was a lot of your house?
Lindsey: Yes. For two years we did it from our garage. I know great businesses start from your garage, right?
Clay: Yes. The garage mahal.
Joey: We are on our way.
Lindsey: Right. Yes. So we started it from our garage and it was literally just putting some posts out there like, “Hey we need this,” because when kids come in to foster care they literally will come with what they have on and that is it. Most of the time it doesn’t fit. That was the big thing for us as we were also foster parents. Getting that approval process and this kids will come to us with nothing. So my heart would break and we just kind of–through social media has been a huge one is just putting it out there and saying, “Hey, we need this. We need help.” Then slowly but surely the things increased and the needs were met. Even to the penny needs were met. It’s all God. I can’t explain anything else as God has always provided everyday from those two years in the garage to a building rent-free for a year to once we had to start paying rent the financial part sort of slowly coming in and becoming more established as a credible organization.
Joey: Yes. In every which way. Even small needs. It’s funny we talk about those than their huge needs. We had a box truck donated at the right times. We were maneuvering out of Lindsey’s little SUV and I say SUV you think of big car, but it’s not. It was little and a little trailer. We’d unload and load everyday. Like she said it’s been to the penny to the T of what has been fulfilled.
Vanessa: What is great is you did with what you had. You did what you could. We just talked about this earlier starting with what where you are.
Clay: Well, you know for Vanessa and I, our whole thing was we wanted to start the DJ company, DJ Connection and we didn’t have enough money. Sam, can you grab the ad there off the stairs, my friend? That was hot right there. What happened was is that, we didn’t have the money to afford an ad. So what we did was when we talked about it and I’m like, “We got to turn off the air conditioning.”
Vanessa: Yes.
Clay: She’s kind of like, and my friend’s always been supportive but I’m like, “We got to turn it off.” If you’re on Facebook live you can see this. That little baby right there was about $800 a month and that was the difference between us having heat, in there and–from Facebook live you can check it out. It’s beautiful. So we didn’t have any heat in there, but we had a yellow page ad and that’s what got the calls coming in and you just hope you get enough calls coming in to turn that back on. If people would come visit and they would go, “It smells like cat pee and it’s like 107.” We’re on the second floor of the apartment complex so it was the hottest it could get. Vanessa, you remember that one of our wedding candles melted and-
Vanessa: They actually melted, yes.
Clay: Yes. So people would come in and go, “What is wrong with you? It smells like cat pee,” and I’m like, “That is cat pee.” Don’t think it smells like cat pee that’s a-
Vanessa: Yes. We had a cat die and then he refused to let him out because we were afraid.
Lindsey: Oh no.
Clay: Now if you’re on Facebook live you can see I’m burning the high dollar pinon wood on the air.
Vanessa: Yes. Gift from Sam.
Clay: Literally I’m doing this. This is a gift from Sam, our producer and his incredible wife, Karina. We’re burning pinon wood inside the box that rocks to create that great rustic smell that I long for.
Vanessa: Yes. [laughs]
Clay: Here’s the deal Thrivers. The action item for you right now is if you’re listening go ahead and sketch us–if I had all of the money and all the resources that I would ever need, what would I be doing? You have to ask that question because if not, you’re not going to have your breakthrough until your breakdown. I want to ask you Joe, had you always–for somebody out there who’s listening and who says, “Man, I’m 35, I’m 34, I’m 37, I’m 41, I just don’t know if I have what it takes to start my own business and I’ve been putting it off.” How much more fulfilled do you feel now on the other end of building the James Mission and seeing the people you’ve helped than maybe where you were 10 years ago?
Joey: Gosh, I can remember the moment that that hit me in 2012. It’s no comparison. It’s not a comparison. You’re looking at your right and your left hand it’s just complete opposites. I wouldn’t change anything for the world at where we’re at now. But saying that, the process getting there was not fun at all. That’s what you have to understand. I know for me, when this happened to me, I remember seeking that and changing it and I was like, “Do what you need to do because I’m done.” I remember that the word desire–when you desire something it’s not like something you want and it’s like, “Hey I want that.” It’s actually something you sacrifice for. Stuff like you said you gave up that air condition. Different things you begin to give that you think are important to you and you realize on the other hand, it’s really not that important. To change lives, there’s their own price for that. It’s awesome.
Clay: Thrivers if you’re listening and you’re going, “Well how does this apply to me?” The one thing that I would encourage you to think about right now is go ahead and get out a sheet of paper and make a list on one side of all the things you want. Make a list of all the things you want. Now we could be talking about it all the time, we call it the F6. But what are your faith goals? What are your family goals? What are your friendship goals? What are your fitness goals? I know you’re trying to write fast here, but your faith, your family, your finances, your fitness, your friendships, your fun, your fun? Put them down and make a big list. On the right side of that paper make a list of all the things you’re willing to trade off in exchange for that. Like you want to get in great shape, you might have to turn off that show. You might want to start that business you might have to say no to a lot of things. You want to have a great intimate relationship with your spouse, you might have to say no to the bowling league. “What? I love the bowling league. Why do you always talk bad about bowling?” Well, one is I don’t like bowling very much.
No, but seriously you’ve got to make a list of the trade-offs because you can’t have major success and fulfillment unless you’re willing to trade off the things that don’t give you major success and fulfillment. Also you’ve got to commit to the long road. Did you know that Chip and Joanna, it took them almost 10 years to become an overnight success? When we come back, we’re going to hear about how they’ve became an overnight success after 10 years of sowing seeds, okay? You got to sow those seeds before you’re going to reap a harvest. When we come back we’re going to get into the details of how Chip and Joanna became an overnight success after 10 years. Stay tuned.
All right Thrive nation, welcome back inside the box that rocks, my name is Clay Clark. I’m the former SBA entrepreneur of the year. In your ears, sent here to teach you how you can turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality because you can. You can do whatever you wan to do. But an entrepreneur, what is an entrepreneur? A lot of you are listening going, “What is an entrepreneur?” Really at the end of the day, you Google it and you’re checking that. An entrepreneur is somebody who solves problems for the world in exchange for what they seek, okay? So you could be a non-profit entrepreneur. You could see problems that the world has and you could solve them in exchange for fulfillment. You could see problems that the world has and you could do it in exchange for money, but you’ve got to find a problem that the world has and then you’ve got to focus on solving that problem.
Inside the box that rocks, we really like to feature entrepreneurs. But what we’re going to do we’re going to shift it up a little bit today. We’re going to kind of [unintelligible 00:57:13] just kind of [unintelligible 00:57:14] with a little bit of [unintelligible 00:57:15] To quote John Madden here, “We’re going to go Boom.” The thing is we’re going to change it up a little bit and we’re going to feature a non-profit organization in Tulsa that is really solving problems for Tulsa in a way that is profound. So what we’re doing is we wanted to reach out and–because Dr. Z is out expanding his vast entrepreneurial empire. So we’re going, “Who could possibly fill the shoes?” and so we realized let’s bring in the dynamic duo. Let’s bring in the couple that’s kind of like the Chip and Joanna of the non-profit world in Tulsa. It’s unbelievable.
We have Lindsey and Joey Reyes inside the box that rocks are the founders of the James Mission. Lindsey, I want to ask you, for anyone who’s listening right now, what is the James Mission? Frankly, why should anyone listening care?
Lindsey: Well, we are a non-profit organization that helps provide resources for kids in foster care and families in need. We help over, last year alone, over 4,000 families were impacted. So it’s crazy.
Clay: On a practical level, because that’s what dudes are talking about Joe. That’s what the dudes are talking about. We’re like, “Okay, so that was a big vision but [unintelligible 00:58:20]” what kind of stuff do you specifically provide for the kids, Joe?
Joey: We do clothing, shoes, shirts, necessities, toothpaste, toothbrush. Anything that basically that when you’re at a home a lot of that stuff we take for granted. You just kind of imagine you get pulled from your home and you got no chance, no choice to even pull anything and you come empty-handed.
Clay: The organization is starting to get a certain momentum where it’s–my wife went in there. Vanessa, can you describe when you went to the James Mission what you saw for people who can’t quite fathom what it is? You came back and you’re like, “Oh my gosh. It’s unbelievable.”
Vanessa: First off, I know Joey and Lindsey from years ago just acquaintance so I didn’t know them very well. Somehow we were going to make a donation and I didn’t know where they’re located and we drove and you guys had a kind of industrial area storage.
Lindsey: Yes.
Vanessa: I was amazed when they pulled up the garage door or whatever you want to say the entrance, you had so many clothes from floor to ceiling organized by newborns and zero to three months and all the way up for kids. You had underwear, you had everything so labeled and you could not have fit any more things in there. You had cribs and everything had let’s say, “Hey, this are spoken for you.” You couldn’t come in there and just say, “Hey I want a crib.” You already had that going to a family in need. You had an area where it was if you were off the street and you weren’t eating, you could come in and get seasonal clothes for your kids. I just was blown away by how organized.
Also, another thing that my heart loved about it, like the Chip and Joanna, and we try to do this with our family, is you had made this a family affair. It was Lindsey and Joey. They’re foster I guess they are adopted children there. You’re whole family, your son was driving a truck loading.
Clay: How many kids do you have 35 kids, how many kids do you have?
Vanessa: They’ve adopted a bunch of children, I love it.
Clay: Joey how many kids?
Joey: Five.
Clay: Five kids.
Joey: Five kids but through this process, we’ve had 26 foster children. You want to calculate the up I’m at 30 years.
Clay: How many years have you been doing this. How many years have you guys been doing this Lindsey how many years have you been doing this?
Lindsey: It will be four years in June.
Clay: You’ve been four years of sowing seeds and you’re just now starting to reap a harvest. For the Thrivers who are listening, we’re talking today about the Chip and Joanna story as well walking you through their timeline. 10 years okay so Chip and Joanna okay they’ve been. They’re married now, they’re living now they’re in Wako. They’re flipping houses and they’ve been working on this for years. They have four kids.
Vanessa: Barely making it.
Clay: Barely making it. Their kids are involved in their business and so they’re just rocking and rolling and just trying to make it happen. In 2012, a producer who had seen photos of them and their work called and asked if they wanted to be on a reality show.
Vanessa: Here’s what I love– is that Chip thought it was a Scam.
Clay: Chip thought it was a scam he said, “They’re going to want us to pay them to produce something, it’s a scam.” Anyway so his wife said, “No come on we should do this,” so they go ahead and do it. What happened is the show they were shooting a pilot which is basically a preview of what it could be. They’re shooting, what happens is reality show producers they reach out to somebody who they think would be a good show and they have to actually make one show and they show it to networks to see if the network would like it. They do out there to film them and nothing good is happening. Chip is super gregarious but on camera, I guess he gets super shy and reclusive and Joanna gets sort of short with people and quiet on camera.
Vanessa: They’re aware of the camera they’re aware they’re being filmed.
Clay: Right. And Chip who thinks that this reality show is a scam just continues doing his normal craziness. What he did is he bought a houseboat site on scene online. The TV camera crews they’re saying to them hey, listen if something magic doesn’t happen today this isn’t going to work, this pilot is awful. They see we’ve screwed up our chances it ain’t going to happen. Anyway to Chip, this isn’t weird he’s not playing it up for the camera he has a houseboat delivered. This boat shows up.
Vanessa: This happens to be delivered the day the pilot is there. It wasn’t planned.
Clay: His wife’s, “Why did you buy this houseboat.” He’s,” Baby it’s for you, we’re going to live on it, it’s a gift.”
Vanessa: He’s already sold the house that they were living in which is typical of him. He sold the house they were living in because it’s just proper him it’s just business, and they need somewhere else to live. He says we’re living in a houseboat.
Clay: She walks through it and inspects it and discovers there’s holes in the ceiling so it’s been raining inside it for years. There’s no air conditioning, it’s moldy and he’s, “What do you think baby.” It’s all on camera and she’s, “No, why would you do that you have to send it back.” He’s, “I paid in cash and I can’t return it.”
Vanessa: And then also he realized, “I think I got scammed.”
Clay: She goes you’re the one getting scammed not us. The camera guys are just loving it and so for a moment Chip and Joanna forget the camera people are even there and that’s when the magic happens because that’s their normal life. That’s the normal thing.
Vanessa: Real selves.
Clay: That’s the real selves and so long story short this thing becomes an instant hit in 2013 and now it is basically the number one show on reality TV. One of the top shows on television period and now they actually work together on everything. Chip actually executes the vision and Joanna really has the vision now. They go to a property and she has the vision and he executes it. Here’s a notable quotable from Joanna, she says, “We’ve learned that we complement each other when Chip stays in his lane and I stay in mine.” Joanna goes on to say, “We do our best to work when we allow each other to creative in our fields and trust that the other one knows what they’re doing.” I want to ask you this Joey, how does it work with you and your wife now as you are building the James Mission. What are your roles and what her roles?
Joey: That quote is funny I mean this is us to the T. We have been I mean truly discovering ourselves in our gifts and talents and different things and we are complete opposites.
Clay: Oh, wow. Well, what is your wife’s role what does she do what do you do? Lindsey, what are you up to?
Lindsey: Well technically I’m the OCD organizer and so I basically run it all. I’m really good at organizing and keeping things straight and so I do that end of it. He’s the face of James Mission, he’s the people person and loves working with that connection.
Clay: When we come back Thrivers we’re going to get more into how Joey and Lindsey how they run the James Mission on a day to day and how. If you’re listening right now and you work with your spouse, how you can stay together happily married in that house and actually grow closer together as you grow your business or none profits, stay tuned Thrive Time Show.
All right Thrive nation welcome back into the conversation right now you could be in the lobby of Regent Bank eating some Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans while sending out job posts on zip recruiter. You could be doing that but I tell you what right now, you should be doing that. We’re approaching two o’clock I mean what better way to say I love you than with a gift of Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans and Vanessa I cannot tell a lie, I cannot do it. Did I not celebrate mandate with my son yesterday with our son Aubrey. Did I not take him put to Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans?
Vanessa: I think you all go there once a week for baked beans.
Clay: That is dishonest, what you said is inaccurate I go there twice a week.
Vanessa: You’re snicking.
Clay: I snick the one then I go then I go the second time. This shows all that integrity. I’m going to tell you what we do go there and I’m telling you what there’s nothing more rewarding than having yourself some Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans at the end of your work day. You got to go in there check it out it is the best. They’ve actually won the award for the world’s best-baked beans, it’s unbelievable, Joey do you like yourself some baked beans?
Joey: I love them.
Clay: I mean when you finish a hard day of working there at the James Mission you and Lindsey have been working and you’re trying to help. Your ministry is focused on helping out kids in the foster care program, am I correct?
Joey: Yes.
Clay: Would you say that the majority of kids like baked beans as well?
Joey: I would agree yes.
Clay: I don’t know we’ve done a lot of research on that. All right if you are listening right now the thing the foster care community loves it, the non-profit community loves it my son loves it. The only person I know that it’s really sane or rational that doesn’t like baked beans is my wife. We’ve been doing some research and we report back to you week by week and figure out how we’ve encouraged her to accept what’s right.
Vanessa: I even brought it up on here. I didn’t want you in the know. I mean I can probably do Oklahoma Joe’s only.
Clay: What’s wrong with you did you hurt your tongue as a child, what happened?
Vanessa: I have no excuse.
Clay: Okay so Thrivers listen here I’m telling you owe it to yourself to check out Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans and today we’re talking about the Chip and Joanna story and really in the context of you. If you’re listening right now and you want to turn your dreams into reality you can do it. I mean he went from a guy who was a landscaper and a home flipper and now reality TV star and Lindsey and Joey who are inside the box that rocks, they started the James Mission when it first just an idea and now how many families did you serve last year Lindsey? I mean you said how many families?
Lindsey: Well there’s over 4,000 lives impacted.
Clay: You helped 4.000 people last year but when did you, Joey when did you first have the idea I mean were you at Oklahoma Joe’s when you had the idea, were you in the bank of Regent or where did you have the idea?
Joey: It’s funny I was walking into Regent with my beans.
Clay: Oh, Wow. Nice, thank you.
Joey: No. The whole thought and the process took about a year to get there, to be honest with you. It’s funny because we were not on the same page and that’s huge thing.
Vanessa: That’s what I was going to ask you if you both were there.
Joey: No, we were on completely separate paths at that time and it took once we got on the same path, it just took off the thoughts, the ideas, the process everything just started to fall into place. The way I can explain it, I’ve always explained it. To me it’s a roller coaster ride, I was on it trying to get her to come on and once we got on she got in and it hit whole other level. It was dark, you can’t see nothing and I love roller coasters and it was just then I ride ever since.
Clay: All right now Thrivers what we’re talking about this next step of the Chip and Joanna game. Is they began to achieve what the world would call happiness but they had happiness in the process and that’s the part I want to make to make sure we’re focusing on here okay. Chip and Joanna they talk in their book they’re describing happiness and what makes them happy. Joanna is 38 years old okay. Chip she’s actually 39 now I believe and Chip is 41, 42 years old and they don’t have a television at their house. They don’t like vacations, they live with their kids and they have 60 animals. The whole thing is that they have defined what success looks like and happiness looks like in their life.
Now every day they’re happy, happiness isn’t a distant future that they’re chasing, it’s not financially based. Happiness is agreeing as a couple what you want your life to be and almost writing the script and then acting it out. Vanessa, I want to ask you could you describe for the Thrivers what does happiness look like for you.
Vanessa: For me, the biggest thing that I always desire is just a peaceful, joyful, loving family so if we’re going to do business 100% I am on the team to do business 100% and I’ going to be a part, and my kids are going to be part. We’re going to get there as a family and grow together. If we were going to do a nonprofit, I would want to do it just like you do. I want my whole family involved. To me, happiness and fulfillment is growing together as a family, living within your means, and just a peaceful, simple existence.
Clay: Let me ask you this, Lindsey, what does happiness look like for you and Joey as you’ve grown the James Mission? What does that look like? What’s that sustainable happiness looks like for you and your family?
Lindsey: I think we work so well together that if I’m having that bad day, he picks me up. If he’s having a rough day, I pick him up. And our kids just complete that whole process. For us, we know that we’re there 100% with it. Whatever the need may be, we know that God has it, and we’re just going to make it happen. We don’t know how some day is, and I’m thinking how is this going to work, and I’m the planner. But you know what? God has always just been like, Bam there it is. Bam. There it is. That’s the happiness to me. It’s like we’re there, we do it, and we love it.
[background music]
Clay: I don’t know if this is like an infomercial for Joey, but I heard you say that he raises you up.
[laughter]
Clay: It’s like a Josh Groban thing. Did you hear that there, Joey? [crosstalk]
Joey: I did. I heard it. I caught it. That’s right.
Clay: It’s just it’s very inspirational. You might be Tulsa’s number one married man.
[laughter]
Lindsey: Oh my. I don’t know about that.
[laughter]
Clay: Josh Groban is just loving it.
Joey: Thanks, babe. Appreciate it.
[laughter]
Clay: I want to ask you what does happiness look like for you outside of you just being happy because you’re around yourself?
[laughter]
Joey: You know it’s funny. Happiness is to me– is what I’ve learned through this process, I think it’s happiness and success. I think we have that turned away a little bit. To me, I think true success is knowing who you are, finding yourself. And when you find that out, happiness just comes with it. The joy, the fulfillment, everything that comes with it. Then to be able to do it with your wife, and your family, and your children, man, there’s just nothing else like it.
Clay: I have a notable quotable. I want to read it to Thrivers. As I read it to you, I’m going to read it slow so you can marinate on it, kind of like some Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans. You’re just marinating. This is the [unintelligible 00:02:10] quotable. This comes from John Lennon, the head of the Beatles back in the day. He was their lead guy. He says this. He says, “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down happy. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment.” He said, “I told them they didn’t understand life.” The concept is that, if you’re listening right now and you’re not happy where you are, you got to understand no matter where you are, you’re going to be there.
Homework for you, write don what happiness looks like and find a way to enjoy the process of achieving your overnight success over the next 10 years because you absolutely have what it takes to be successful. You already have the tools you need. You just got to get started. If you’re looking for those action steps, the specific training that you need, we have four ways to help you. One, we have the in-person Thrive Time workshop that’s going to be hosted on January 24th and 25th within our 20,000 square-foot–
Vanessa: February.
Clay: Sorry, February 24th and 25th. That’s right. My beautiful wife is helping me. February 24th and 25th here at the beautiful Thrive15.com world headquarters. It’s two days. It’s interactive. It’s 15 hours of power. We have a scholarship program. It’s super available for everybody out there. It’s affordable for you. If you can’t afford it, now you can. Option number 2, you can go to thrivetimeshow.com, listen to all the archive podcasts. Option number 3, go to thrive15.com, the world’s best business school, thrive15.com. Option number 4, you can sign up for one-on-one in-person business coaching at thrive15.com.
And Joey, Lindsey, for people who want to find out more, Joey, what’s the website? How can they find out more about the James Mission?
Joey: It is jamesmission.org. Look us up and that’s where you can find all your info for us.
Clay: All right, Thrive Nation, we are talking today specifically about the Chip and Joanna story, how they went from that. Their humble beginning is he’s a landscaper, she’s a lady who’s interned for a Close Encounter With Fame. She interned there for Dan, Rather, in New York. She decides to leave New York City. She comes back to Waco, Texas. She’s working for her dad’s brake business. In comes Chip into the brake business into the auto shop. He takes her on a date. He shows up an hour and a half late for their first date. Is that right?
Vanessa: Yes. [laughs]
Clay: Not a good start there. And so anyway, the long story short, now they’re reality TV stars. If you missed their path to success, you want to listen to the rest of the show. Just go to thrivetimeshow.com. You can hear the archived podcast.
Inside the Box that Rocks today, we have a couple that’s like Tulsa’s Chip and Joanna for the nonprofit world. We have Lindsey and Joey Reyes. And they are here because, one– My wife and I, we are so encouraged by the work that they’re doing in this city. Tulsa has a lot of great things. But just like any city, there’s a lot of problems. There’s a lot of issues. There’s a lot of people who almost feel forgotten. What they did is they turned their dream into reality. Instead of just dreaming about it and postponing their happiness or their pursuit of happiness, they decided, “You know what? We don’t have it all figured out but we’re going to start this thing called the James Mission.” It’s so inspiring because they did it as a couple.
If you’re listening right now, I want Lindsey to be able to explain to you what the James Mission is all about. If I’m listening right now and I’m going, “What is this? Why should I care?” Kind of a rude question, Lindsey, but I’m also going, “Why should I care about the James Mission? What exactly do you do?”
Lindsey: We basically provide resources like clothing, toiletries, shoes, socks, undies, that sort of thing, and even beds. A lot of kids don’t have beds to lay their heads on, and that breaks my heart. So we try to help provide those resources to foster kiddos. Also, we work with Preventative Side for families in need.
Clay: How many families did you touch, you think, in the last 12 months?
Lindsey: We impacted over 4,000 lives this past year.
Clay: So if I’m listening and I’m going, “Okay, I want to get involved. Maybe I want to donate or maybe I want to volunteer. Maybe I want to connect in some way. Where can I find out more about your organization?”
Lindsey: You can go to our website which is jamesmission.org. And we have several different tabs that you can click on. If you have a need, there’s someone out there that needs something, you can click on that “I Need Help” tab and schedule an appointment to pick up items. But if you want to help and get involved, we always need clothing and resources like that. You can schedule a time to drive off those items.
Clay: I have a challenge for all the Thrivers out there. Let’s do fun– Vanessa, are you ready to throw down a challenge?
Vanessa: I’m ready.
Clay: [laughs] Everybody listening, we all have something that we don’t need that somebody else needs. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. As an example, everybody listening right now, if you think about your attic, you think about your closet– what happens a lot of times is you say, “Well, I don’t know where to put it. I don’t want to throw it out so I’ll put that in the closet.”
Vanessa: You got a baby crib up there-
Clay: A baby crib.
Vanessa: -old frame bed.
Lindsey: Beds are always needed.
Clay: Joey, list off some of the things that almost everybody who’s listening has. What are some of the things where you’re like, “Man, I don’t even use that anymore. I’ll put it in my attic. I put that in that guest room. I put that in that closet.” Thrivers, you know that crazy closet.
Joey: It’s very simple. For me, personally, I would just even be honest about myself, there are shirts, clothes, jeans, and I’m like, “Oh, I’ll fit into those later when I go decide to work out,” and they just sit there.
Lindsey: They’re still nice.
Joey: Yes, they’re nice. They’re coming straight out of my closet. They’re just sitting there. A lot of times, the beds are huge, like she said, the cribs. A lot of times, these little baby clothes we want to keep and hang on to. We’ve had our moments with our own daughter. When it was time to let go, it’s a difficult time, but we knew it went to a great another need in a better place. Those are easy examples right there.
Clay: So everybody who’s listening right now, I encourage every single listener– Can you write this off? Are you guys a nonprofit? Or are you one of those– Is it a thing where it’s like, “I know a guy. We have a little warehouse, I know a guy. You drop it off.” I mean are you legit nonprofit organization?
Joey: It is a legit 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Clay: Five-o-one, what?
Joey: C-3.
Clay: Okay, so it’s a legit organization. It’s not one of these “I know a guy” things. If I’m listening right now and I want to bring– Give me the steps. Tell me step 1, step 2. What do I need to do to donate and help you?
Lindsey: The first one is you go to our website, the I can help tab. You go jamesmission.org, click on the I Can Help tab and–
Clay: Do I have to be on the Internet to go to your website?
Lindsey: Do you have to be on the Internet? You can do it from your phone if you–[crosstalk]
Clay: I’ve heard that Putin and Trump are using it to spy on people.
[laughter]
Clay: Okay, so what’s the website again? I’m sorry.
Lindsey: It’s at jamesmission.org.
Clay: Okay, so I go there and once I’m there, what do I do?
Lindsey: You’re going to click on the “I Can Help” tab.
Clay: I Can Help?
Lindsey: Yes.
Clay: I’m going to have my young granddaughter. She’ll be clicking on there with her little fingers, the millennial fingers. They don’t even know what they’re doing but they’re just clicking their fingers. So now, what do I do?
Lindsey: And then, you’re going to click on then– if you want to drop off items like clothing and things like that, you can click on the “Donate Items” tab and it will take you to the appointments that we have available.
Clay: And if I want to write it off because I know I’m paying too much in taxes. I want to write it off. I don’t even care about the cause. I just want to write it off. What do I do? Tell me.
Lindsey: It will actually ask you, “Do you want a tax donation receipt?” when you fill out the form and you click ‘yes’ and then there will be one waiting for you when you drop off your items.
Clay: All right. For any of you who are listening right now and you’re a hostile older man, this could be just a shameless write-off move for you. That’s the move.
Vanessa, what’s the–
Vanessa: Also, is there a place if you just want to make a cash donation because I know you’ve got a lot of expenses to keep yourself up and running.
Lindsey: Yes.
Vanessa: Where can I do that?
Lindsey: The same section. If you go to the I can help tab, there’s one that says “Donate Money”, and there’s a little piggy bank little emblem there.
Clay: Oh nice, that’s my money donation sound there.
Lindsey: Awesome. We definitely need that cash flow to keep things going. I mean there’s a lot of overhead when it takes to paying the bills and we have to have that to keep the doors open.
Clay: Now, Thrivers, I’m telling you what. Some of you need a little motivational music, so here we go. [music] Now come on, make a list right now. Make a list of all the things you can donate. Make a list of how many extra dollars that you can donate, I mean a lot of us– this is what’s happening, you’re on the way home from work, and you don’t need to go to Braum’s, but you’re going to go for the 47th time this month. Just go ahead and stop on over, make a donation, help these people. They’re making a big impact in Tulsa, so we want to help them we want to bless them. It’s a neat, neat cause that everybody needs to get behind. Vanessa.
Vanessa: Yes. I’m thinking a lot of these business owners too, I know so many businesses who love to get behind a cause, and they say,”you know what? We go ahead and we give 5% of everything, all of our profits back to this, or we give–” it would be– I’m just thinking of ideas for local businesses who want to help the local community to be able to say, “you know what? Support our business, and this is how we support the community as we give this percentage back,” or that’s just a great idea I’m throwing out there. I love the James Mission and everything they do.
Lindsey: Yes.
Vanessa: Just putting that bug out there in the ear for any of our business owners, or people who are thinking of starting a business and want to use it as a way to also give back.
Clay: Now the final little teaching moment I want to provide for everybody listening, is that you’ve got to– before the end of today, you’ve got to define– “Why today?” because we find that if people act then they’ll actually get it done, but if they think about, well I’m going to get back to it later, they don’t. You have to define what happiness looks like today. Okay, get out a sheet of paper, write it down.
I’m going to give you some notable quotables to kind of stimulate the thoughts here for you. This is one, this is from Gandhi, okay, Gandhi says this, he says “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Joey, I mean, I’ve seen you guys do this from afar, but what you think, what you say, and what you do as a family are now in harmony? How does that feel, knowing that what you’re thinking about, and what you’re actually talking about and what you’re doing are all aligned and you’re in harmony there, and actually pursuing a big vision.
Joey: Man, I think it completes everything because so many times, like you said, you’re right, you know we think about doing this, “I’m going to do this, I’ll do it tomorrow”, or “It’s cold outside” and it ain’t as cold, it was cold outside. I’ll do it when it warms up. You start putting your thoughts, your words and your actions behind all that, it begins to move and after a certain point, you get a momentum and then that momentum picks up and it just continues and I think at some point it just starts to come together.
Clay: Now Lindsey, I want to ask you this as the brains of the operation, the James Mission. Jim Rhon, he’s a best-selling author, he has this notable quotable that blew my mind the first time I read it. He says, “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future, it is something you design for the present.” I explain this to Thrivers as it’s kind of like the if you get hit by a bus test if you got hit by a bus and you had like five seconds to think about it “Oh no, there’s a big bus”, would you regret the life you’re living? Would you be fulfilled or satisfied with what you’ve done? Talk to me about the level of fulfillment that you and your husband now experienced now that you’re putting your all into something you both are working on together.
Lindsey: Yes, we just recently talked about this. I think that for me if that were to happen, I know that I did everything I was supposed to do at the time. Obviously I would love to be here longer to see it grow and prosper, but I know that we planted these seeds, and no matter what these seeds are planted and growth is there and I don’t know what tomorrow looks like, but I’m just thankful for today and knowing that I’ve done what I’m supposed to be doing.
Clay: Now Thrivers, if you want to learn how to turn your passion into profits, or your passion into your product, or your vision into what you do every day. If you want to get to a place where you actually doing what you were called to do, I encourage you to come out to one of our two-day in-person Thrive Time workshops. They’re located on the left coast of the Arkansas River, inside our beautiful 20,000 square foot facility. You can learn everything that you need to know and thrivetimeshow.com. The next one is February 24th and 25th, and if you want to learn more about the James Mission, where can they check it out there?
Joey: jamesmission.org.
[01:24:41] [END OF AUDIO]