Welcome to the Painter Marketing Mastermind Podcast. The show created to help painting company owners build a thriving painting business that does well over one million and annual revenue. I’m your host, Brandon Pierpont, founder of Painter Marketing Pros and creator of the popular PCA educational series, Learn, Do, Grow Marketing for Painters. In each episode, I’ll be sharing proven tips, strategies and processes from leading experts in the industry on how they found success in their painting business. We will be interviewing owners of the most successful painting companies in North America and learning from their experiences.

In this series titled The Dream Team, Corey and Chad Lester of inspired by you will be discussing building a championship team, how they think about specialization versus diversification in their company and finally how to move from a supportive role to an effective business partner as a spouse.

In episode one, Coy and Chad dived into the importance and logistics of building a championship team for growth. In episode two, they weigh the pros and cons of specialization versus diversification and discuss the balance they have found while running inspired by you. And in episode three, the final episode, this episode, Corey and Chad will open up about their transition to working together as a couple and how to navigate this at times treacherous road successfully. If you wanna ask Coy and Chad questions related to anything in this podcast series, you can do so in our exclusive painter marketing mastermind podcast form on Facebook.

Just search for painter, marketing mastermind podcast form on Facebook and request to join the group or type in the URL facebook.com/groups/painter. Marketing mastermind. Again that URL is facebook. com/groups/painter marketing mastermind. There, you can ask co and Chad questions directly by tagging them with your question. So you can see how anything discussed here applies to your particular painting company. Round three. What’s up guys? Hey, what’s up friend? Here we go. This is uh always one of my favorite topics for the husband and wife team.

Yeah, it’s an interesting topic, right? Yeah, it’s, it’s a dicey one. It always gets quite real, but I think you guys are gonna have some really good, good pointers for us. So the the transition to working together as a couple, let’s I know we’ve gotten into this uh Chad, how he joined the business, but let’s revisit that just so we have the context for this conversation. If we can just just do a quick recap, chronologically, of course, you starting the company and when Chad came on board, so we have some frame here. Sure.

Um Well, I’ll even push back a little bit farther like, um, Chad and I were married in, uh, May of, uh, 20 2003. Right. 2003 is when we were married off to a great start. She can’t even remember what year we were married a long time. What, uh, no, 2003, we were married and a month later we started a business together. So, virtually our entire marriage has been a partnership, like, not just a marriage but also like a business partnership. So we’ve learned a lot over the past 20 years of marriage uh through that, and we’re still constantly learning and growing.

So when I started my business, it was in 2015, operating out of our garage and then slowly but surely I started taking over our home and it was a hot mess. And so I got kicked out of our house and found a space here. And uh and that was in 2020. And at the time, um I had a lady who was doing all of uh well, initially, I was doing everything in our business and then I hired a lady who was doing a lot of our estimating. And then in October of 2020 that year, uh her husband was in a tragic accident.

And so, um I needed help. And so Chad stepped into that role to help um just out of a dire need uh at the time. And so he was doing all of our estimating from 53 to present day. And throughout that, it was more of like a, um he was just filling a need for my business and he was really just helping out because I needed help. And then last year, um our business went through a lot of transitions and he came to the realization, I guess that I’ve created a pretty good asset for our family and, and then he was like, it, it was a blessing and how it all transpired.

But then he kind of came on board fully. And so since when would you say Chad, probably September, he’s been a vital asset to inspired by you, like really getting into the depth of everything that we do here. He’s wearing many hats currently. Um But just helping with the finances, uh with the sales and marketing, um you know, with all of the connections with a lot of our vendors that he’s grown uh since he started doing estimating. Um So it’s just, it’s been uh quite a transition.

Um I think we’re in a really unique position too because um this is a company that I started as the woman of, of the partnership and he has been such an incredible support uh through that. But now to have him as more of a partner role, it’s been, it’s been quite a transition and we’re still, you know, adjusting through some of those changes, but it’s, it’s been a ride. Yeah, it sounds like it. What company did you guys start together in 2003? Chad? Do you wanna talk about it?

Yeah, glad if you’re online watching this. You can’t see my nonverbals. Beautiful picture. He’s, he’s now a vital asset. I’ve been an asset the whole time. He’s proving himself. Let’s, let’s, let’s not kid. 21 years in, he’s starting to, I, I joke around with, I said they wouldn’t even have work if I wasn’t out selling. I mean, like so, but no, um yeah, I tell the story every day. Uh you know, we met Corey. Corey uh made the first pass at me and uh she saw I was wide open on a basketball court and student faculty basketball game and threw me the ball and I scored and, and I knew she liked me, you know, and uh the, the, it was history after that.

But then we got into, um, you know, Corey grew up in a very entrepreneurship family after we, when we got married, she grew up in a very entrepreneurship family. I grew up in a very blue collar family. My dad uh was a truck driver. My mom was a, was an office manager of a grocery store and I just, I wanted to teach and coach the rest of my life, you know, uh Corey had other ideas. Uh even though she was a teacher and a coach, uh she grew up around entrepreneurship, she grew up around her parents uh, working together and, um, at sometimes, and then owning both, they own, both owned their own businesses.

Um, and she wanted to do this network marketing, uh, business, um, that all of her college friends were doing and I thought it was, I thought it was a scam. I was 31 at the time. Corey was 2100 and I was like, she’s just young and naive. It doesn’t know what the heck she’s talking about. Was it shaped kind of like a pyramid? Oh my gosh. It definitely was a pyramid. So it was, it was AM West. Yeah, it was, it was am Y um and I did the program, people made good, real good living on.

Well, I did the program. We, we did the program but I did it to prove that it wouldn’t work and I followed her, we followed their pattern, but I was proving that it wouldn’t work and we could get out of it six months later and get back to teaching and coaching. Well, it worked. Um at one time, Corey and I had 210 different marketers across the United States selling vitamins, energy drinks, Cosme skin care. We were speaking on stages about leadership and life of 210 to 210,24 people. We were in front of uh it was a fun, fun ride.

Uh and we learned so much and, and I, you know, I contribute to what we learned there. Uh is why Corey is really part of it is really why she’s successful with the business or painting business is what we learned there. Yeah. Goodness gracious learning all, all about the sales and marketing world. I mean, that applies anywhere, you know, that it really does apply to any kind of company sales and marketing. People think they’re dirty words or whatnot. But that’s how you grow businesses. It’s your selling market. Yeah. Yeah.

And really, I think what it did was it helped me develop a love of learning. I, I did not, I mean, I went to school to play sports and I didn’t really develop a love of learning until I started uh uh it really just opened up my mind to like some of the books that were out there, some of the just the thought process and the wealth mentality. Um It, it really just uh developed a love of learning. How long did you guys do? Am I we still have, we still have it to this day.

We still have it to this day. We just stopped working in 26, but we, we still have it to this day. We have, we, we, we’ve had great mentorship that we built something that’s solid. It’ll last and you guys have some passive income from Amway still. Yeah, we created, we created a stream of revenue which actually enabled me to start inspired by you because I didn’t have to worry about OK, Well, if this fails, like we still had that revenue coming into our house. So it kind of gave me a little bit more freed up to start a business without that fear of.

Ok, well, if this doesn’t work, then I’ve got nothing because we still had something and it was, you know, it, it was a nice substantial income that we had created with that. So we worked at pretty much 103 years hard together. Um And then we were able to walk away from it, man. That’s so cool. That’s all I did not know that you guys did. That. That’s amazing. And I, I think it’s, well, I don’t want to get into, into this quite yet, but the books. So for you, you talked about the love of learning and, and some of these wealth, you know, the wealth mindset, I think wealth mindset is something that’s often misunderstood, neglected, ignored, thought of as, as not real or not important or maybe greedy.

Can you elaborate a little bit on the wealth mindset? And maybe a few books that you found helpful? Sure. II I don’t think wealth mindset is just money. It’s like that, that growth mindset. It’s very much uh like that abundance mentality. Um That, that sharing of knowledge. Uh I think uh a broke mindset is very short term thinking. It’s not thinking long term. It’s, it’s thinking that here and now it’s that immediate gratification instead of the delayed gratification. And not settling for the good when the greats around the corner.

And like a lot of the things that we learned kind of growing up in our network marketing business, uh It translates so well and uh success principles don’t change no matter the arena. So it’s, it’s like we were able to kind of take a lot of the stuff that I learned there and, and just translate it into our business. And I think people skills are such a highly underrated, um just essential part of any business. Uh And I think if you have good people skills and networking skills and uh you know, just connecting skills the way to connect with people, uh I think that that will instantly set your business apart because so many people do not have just those basic people skills.

And um so books like skill with people and bringing out the best in people, how to win friends and influence people, like all of those people, skill books, friendship factor. You know, tho those people skill books are, are essential. Uh I think for any business owner. Um And then you’ve got like, uh I, I love story books um because they were just an easy way for me to read and remember things. So like the Go Getter and the greatest salesman in the world is probably one of my favorite books of all times with a, you know, um one of my favorite chapters of all, all time is, uh, in that book, I will persist until I succeed and it just talks about just going after it and continuing to fight and claw and scratch until you succeed.

Um There’s just so many great books out there and then you’ve got like just your mindset books, like the, the slight edge doing one little thing every day to separate yourself. And in the long term, it’s gonna separate big dividends. Um You’ve got rich, dad, poor dad and you know, thinking grow rich, you know, all of the, all of these incredible books out there to, to help grow your mindset. Um And I, I need to continue to read like that. That’s one thing that, you know, I, I can feel myself, I haven’t been into books as much as I should have a, a as much as I should be and I can make all the excuses in the world as to why I haven’t.

I haven’t, but it’s, it’s just something that I, I just read a book the other day and it was, it was excellent. It was called the Three Kings and it was just talking about um it was, it was a book based on, on the Bible and King David and King Saul and um and Absalom and like just the connection there. But I just, when, when you’re diving into those books, it just helps to expand your thinking and books can tell you something that you need to hear uh without you, have you taking offense because there’s really nobody like, they’ll just poke you with that sharp stick of truth saying and it reveals so many things that you need to change about yourself.

Um But you can’t get offended because nobody’s telling it to your, to your face, you’re telling yourself, you know what I mean? You, you’re kind of self recognizing it. Right. Right. So it’s just a great way to grow yourself. Um And, and I’ve benefited greatly from books. I know Chad has as well. Chad, what are some of your favorite books? Because Chad is Chad’s a, a certified uh John Maxwell speaker. He’s also a certified John Gordon speaker. Um So he, he dives into a lot of the movie.

He’s, he’s met both of them and uh yeah. Yeah. So, Chad, yeah, it, I mean, I mean, Corey just said a lot of them that we grew up on, you know, I mean, the magic of thinking big is another one that I know that. Yeah. Um You know, and, but what I loved about what the Amway so called business did, it was about the mentorship Amway was just a distributor. It was about the mentorship team called your association that we were a part of um that uh II I wanna write a book someday, talk about books, but I want to write a book someday of everybody who did things like that.

So, here’s my thing is, it’s, it’s about proximity. Um, it’s the same thing in the painting world too. It’s all about proximity. Corey. And I got into rooms and sat at feet of self be multimillionaires. Very young in that business. And people go, well, why did you succeed? I said because we were in rooms and they taught stuff that you wouldn’t, you’re not hearing out, uh, anywhere and they talked about books and talked about this and, and you just, you soaked it up and then you went and applied it.

So many people read stuff and never apply it. Um, and they get knowledge constipation. Um, but it’s the same thing, proximity. We got in the rooms with people who read these books, who did these things. It’s the same thing Corey did in, in the painting. I, I remember her seeking out people. Hey, I’ll come to you, I’ll pay you. Just teach me what, you know, I saw her do that. I saw her take the same valuable lesson she learned in, in the network marketing business and just applied it here.

And I would tell anybody who’s going to like expo and, and things like that. It’s about proximity. I don’t know if it’s about one book that changed me. It’s about all of them that changed me. I took a little bit out of every one of them and it molded and shaped me. But I also then got around the people who were in the fire, not just sitting on the sidelines, they weren’t talking about what they used to do, they were doing it. And to me that’s what it’s about.

It’s that community of growing and staying in community in proximity of people who are growing. Man. I love that. I’m gonna share a, a personal story just because it’s relevant here. I don’t want to talk too much about myself but the, uh so I, I do Wim hof stuff. So I went to, you know, the cold training and things like that done in Poland and Iceland. And I went to Iceland when you do interesting stuff. You meet interesting people. So that’s another thing you do crazy stuff, you meet really cool people.

And so I met this, this group of entrepreneurs and one of them was just a highly, highly successful entrepreneur from France. And he, he was, is this Israeli French guy. He’s actually in the Israeli Reserves. He’s, he’s over in Israel now, you know, with the conflict, he’s like 210 21000 2100 years old. The dude’s over in Israel right now for the, you know, because of the conflict and, and he had flown there in his private jet, flew everybody there. And I met him at the last day I really started connecting and understanding this guy and he started talking about real estate and I had just read three of Robert Kiyosaki’s books.

You know, Corey, you mentioned Rich dad poured out, I’d read a few of them. So I was kind of in that mindset, you know, open to opportunity, open to seeing opportunity. And I, I talked to this guy and I was like, oh my gosh, you know, he’s the kind of guy that I wanna learn from and he, he didn’t come from anything. He’s now friends with Emmanuel Macron. I think he’s probably worth in excess of 100 million. Like he, he’s really somebody. So I ended up asking if I could come, just learn from him.

And so I, I bought a ticket to France and like just right then just bought a ticket to France didn’t have that much money went out for a week, didn’t know what it was gonna look like. And what I did was I basically got a dinner with a guy and I went and I got to, I got to sit in his office for, for a week. I got to talk to people who worked for him. He had a whole investment team and everything, you know, family, family, private equity office.

But what I was there for was that one dinner with a guy for a week. And then from that one dinner, it changed my life, changed my perspective. I it unlocked, you know, knowledge that I had been seeking for years. So the point of that story is with Corey, with you flying, you know, being willing to go pay people to teach you, if you’re listening to this and, and you have big dreams or you think you might want to have big dreams but maybe have a glass ceiling because you don’t think you’re capable of it.

It’s yours for the taking. No one’s going to give it to you. There’s no rule book to follow. If you see an opportunity, go pursue it, be willing to do whatever it takes. People tend to be pretty generous with go Getters, go pursue it, think outside the box because that’s what, that’s what leads to greatness that and that chad, that’s what you’re talking about this proximity, think bigger, think differently, um, and do unique things, but just wanted to drop that in. No, that’s great. Yeah. Yeah, I listen and I know that to love a mentor of mine, John Gordon who’s wrote a ton of books.

Um, he tells a story one time of Zig Ziegler being in the crowd while he was speaking. Ok. Zig Zig wrote, uh, see at the top and uh, some newer Zig Zig was a great, uh, speaker too. And, um, but Zig Ziegler was in the front row of Jon Gordon, uh, speaking taking notes on John Gordon. And that’s when we talk about checking fruit. Is those people who are in the hunt and who are hungry and who are really building their businesses. Do you also see them in the front row getting every little crumb and seed too when they’re not the focus and, and there’s other people.

And so I check out those people too because then I want to get around those people because I know they’re humble when they’re hungry. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. I love it. We all, we all have something to learn from, from every, everybody everybody has, has something they’re better at than you are. Especially when they’re, you know, they’re an expert, of course. But even if they’re not an expert like at, at PC A Expo, right. There’s those brain melts. So you’ll have, you’ll have companies and, you know, eight or 10 people sitting at a table discussing a certain topic and it tends to be different pretty dispersed set of revenue ranges sitting around the table.

You might have someone who’s at 3, 400,000, you might have someone who’s at 15 million and they’re sitting at the same table. And one of the things that I see is, is consistently the person who’s at, you know, a really big revenue number is receptive, respectful, but they’re also actually taking in information, they’ll be taking notes from, from the person who’s at three or $10003,000 because that person knows things and is doing things that would actually benefit their business too. So always be open to new, to new ideas and learning from other people, Corey, you know, a lot of books off the top of your head for, for saying you haven’t done a good job of reading.

You know, you just kind of ripped off like a top 20 books, book list right there. No preparation at all. So I think you’re doing all right, can always get better. Yeah. Well, fair enough self self-improvement. Another Corey, you’re just sort of laying out the ideal entrepreneur, you’re kind of just laying out and chad like, you know, for people listening, just the things that they’re saying right now, this is what an ideal entrepreneur in my opinion looks like. Um One of the things that I, I found interesting too, going back to the partnership is Chad, you said, hey, I don’t think the Amway thing’s gonna work, right?

You are not a believer in it. You thought it was a bad idea and in the natural reaction there would be, hey, I’m not going to do this. We’re not going to do this. This is a stupid idea. You know, that’s what, that’s what most couples would, that would sort of be what would happen, right? This is a bad idea. We’re not going to do it. You instead said, hey, we’re gonna do it. You know, I’m gonna be a team player here and just kind of show it doesn’t work, even though I fully don’t believe in it, we’ll do it for six months.

You know, I’ve already kind of mapped out the ability for us to obtain a refund, but you, you essentially decided to commit half a year of your life, which is a big deal to something because Corey wanted to do it even though you didn’t think it was gonna work to me that speaks volumes about your guys’ partnership. But I wanna, I wanna hear from you. Well, I like being right and if you just said no, and she would always say it was a good idea. You’re gonna put, I think, I think it definitely speaks to our partnership because like I said, like, we’re both, uh we’re both type a first born, like, incredibly driven.

I think it was more like I’m doing this and it’s like I, and, and I think he was like, yeah, I know, I know, I know she’s gonna do it. And I think he, he too, like, uh we’re both very stubborn, like both chad and I are so incredibly stubborn. So like I dig my heels and say I’m doing it and he’s like, well, I’m gonna do it, but I’m gonna do it my own way. And I love how he said, I’m gonna follow every step. I’m gonna do everything they tell me to just to show it doesn’t work and, and it’s you guys crush it because you do everything.

Like literally we hit the top of the bonus scale in seven months and we were like, it was crazy as you started, right? It totally was. And like the whole time we were building our business, it was like, it was very much like that. Like, just constantly, um, you know, just pushing, pushing the envelope and like, trying to just work with one another and like, learning it because we’re, we’re newlyweds, we’re learning to work together, but we’re also learning how to operate a business together. And, uh we failed a lot.

We still fail a lot. But the, the thing that I think we both learned is just never quit on the same day. Like we just, we don’t ever quit on the same day. I’m gonna, I’m gonna get a bunch of like plaques and T shirts and stuff, maybe go back and listen to these three things and pull out these phrases from Corey. And I’ll be sure every, every day at X box we wearing a different shirt and it’ll be like that for both. I think it’s, it’s been way to ride and the thing is over the years we’ve learned so much about one another.

And uh and Chad has been so good, like, because I have moments where I’m just like, oh, like this is like, I, I can’t take it as this and this and this and this and this and he just listens and then he’s like, ok, now breathe and like, and, and I just think, and he has those same days and I try my best to listen. Now I’m definitely more like when he’s having a bad day, I’m the one who will like, be like, Yeah. But you need to suck it up and, like, let’s go and come on and, like, I’m like more of that person.

He’s a much better listener and, you know, but it, it’s been a work in progress. We are definitely. What did you say, Chad? Like, we’ve grown a lot next past. Yeah. Yeah. And Brandon that the, um, uh, two things. One, I, I know this is one of my flaws is, I’m, I’m a good follower. As long as the leader is strong, that leader isn’t strong, I’m not following. Yeah, I am, I’m a horrible follower if the leader isn’t strong. Um And thank goodness we had a very strong leader that I bought into uh during that time.

Um Basically, he told me I couldn’t do it and I was like, that was my plan but that, but then that ticked me off and I was like, OK, you, you put your pants on the same way I did to do and I said we’ll do this. And so that’s great. Um The other thing that I want to say is um through that um a guy’s ego and pride um can, can really grow when you have thousands of people at, at just wanting, uh you know, I mean, just texting you or calling you or just thinking that you’re all this and you have the answers for everything.

Um And what almost destroyed, it destroyed us as Corey and I to be transparent is that my ego, my pride of got in the way. Uh And this business became my idol. Um, more than why I was supposedly doing it was to be, have free time to have that. I don’t have to think about money. Uh It, I don’t have to be filthy rich but I don’t wanna, I wanna think about money. Like I think about air. I don’t think about my breath of air every day.

I, if I wanna do something, I wanna do something and, and be in there and creating memories for my family. So we went through a hard patch where that was almost all gone because of my prod ego. And I, and, and so when I, so when I got into like when Corey started this, uh because there was a time where I was out in front and people looked to me, you know what I mean? And Cory is more behind the scenes, which was a huge part that you didn’t realize until after it was gone.

That’s the glue that keeps things together is behind the scenes. Um When it came to this and Corey started building this, I promised myself, I promised God that I would never touch the glory and I would never want to be out in front. This is why I even struggle being on podcasts with Corey uh because I don’t really want to get close to that anymore. Um My job is to support her to serve her to serve my kids to whatever they need. It’s just listen, when she started taking this over, that meant laundry.

That meant cooking. That meant running the kids everywhere. That meant still II I took on another business and, and owned a bread route that meant working full time there. That meant whatever it took to take everything off of Corey’s plate so she could go build. That was my job. And today I still feel like it’s that, that’s my job. Um And that I, I don’t want to get close to her when she is built. She is built. I’m behind the scenes. I, I do whatever she can, the heavy lifting where she don’t have to lift that.

And, but at the end of the day, inspired by you by Corey Lester and the, and the team of awesome ladies that she has built and the culture that she has built. What a partner, man, he’s, he’s an incredible partner and I, I couldn’t have done what we’ve done with, inspired by you without him and without his support behind the scenes. Um because like you said, like it is a lot of, of um stuff that he’s, he’s had to carry and, and the thing is um like, I don’t ever want that glory either.

You know what I mean? Like I always, I always refer to it as our team and it’s, it’s us and it’s about, you know, what, what we’ve built, it’s, I, I hate I statements. Um And, and so for me, I think, yeah, I’m a strong woman but I think that as a strong woman, I want an even stronger man. And um and so what, what I’ve seen in Chad is not only is he a stronger man, but he has grown into like an incredibly humble servant leader.

Um which is in my mind, the strongest of men. Um because I, I think it takes so much more, it’s very easy to have that pride and ego and to go about it and to own it, it takes so much more uh and a man who’s willing to humble himself and, and do everything that he’s done behind the scenes without any recognition whatsoever. Um Just to help our family and, and to help our business grow. Um So like as we’ve grown, it hasn’t been ever like, I’ve always considered it our business because what it’s what has been built has been for our family and to now have him come kind of full circle and now it really is our business as we’re building it now together.

Um It’s just a beautiful thing and, and I absolutely love uh having him there with me. I know that right now he is drowning and all of the stuff that is on his plate because he has taken over. I really want, I really want that a couple of times. But uh but no he’s, he’s been just, uh it’s been, it’s been incredible to have that support now. Um And, and as we continue to grow together now, from here on out, it’s gonna be even better. What a partnership, man, this reminds me a little bit of, uh, Maggie and Matt Kiper.

I love them. Yeah. Yeah, I have a very, very good relationship and partnership like you guys. Yeah. And if I, if I wasn’t through what I was through, um, uh, didn’t go through, it would be hard for me as a guy. Um, any guys there listening to sit in the background and because, and start thinking, well, what’s everybody think, uh, uh, Corey’s just out there doing the work and Chad does nothing. Uh, because, because people don’t see what I do but I have nothing to prove to anybody.

Um, iii, I feel, I feel that good about me and the relationship I have with my God and, uh, that I have nothing to prove. The only thing I have to prove is to him that I’m taking care of Corey and the kids. Uh, and at the end of the day that’s all that matters. It’s beautiful. I do. I, I have a question for you guys just about ambition and I, I think this is likely to lead back to faith and, um, principles. But I was having a conversation with my brother in law last night and one of the things we were discussing was really successful entrepreneurs, uh CEO S even so successful executives, um su successful people, kind of really in any field.

I’m in the, the Army National Guard. We were talking about kind of operators and special forces personnel. And, and basically the, the common theme for people who seem to do things really well or at an extreme level is divorce and a wrecked family life. And so we were contemplating, I, I guess the CEO of Delta has been divorced seven times or you know, that’s what he said. So he, he’s uh an airline pilot for Delta. So we’re we were contemplating, can you ambitiously succeed? Can you have ambition while keeping intact that which is most important, you know, your family, your, your marriage, your Children or is it something that you intentionally have to co in a way compromise?

I guess the the better word might be balance. But I also think there is an aspect of compromising and sort of accepting. Ok, I could go be this $100 million entrepreneur, but I might lose everything that I care about in the process. So my goal for my life is not going to be to be $100 million entrepreneur. It’s gonna be to be a $10 million entrepreneur and, and have more boun. Have you guys ever thought about that trade off or do you think it’s real? Absolutely. I, I think that it is real.

Um and I think that I think you use the word uh intentional, like you, you just have to be intentional about your relationship and it’s so easy not to be intentional. Um be because intentional with your relationship because you’re more intentional with your business. Um And that group, um I, I don’t believe in balance. I mean, I don’t think, I think it’s what the word means. I mean, II, I love work life integration, like integrating the two. I think it’s just a part of who we are as entrepreneurs.

I think that you can’t, you can’t separate it. And I love that we integrate what we do because now all of our kids, like they want to be entrepreneurs too. I’ve seen it in my mom and dad like what they did and the way that they raised us, all of us are entrepreneurs, you know, and uh and our spouses are entrepreneurs. I think it’s, it’s pretty incredible what can happen. Um when you get that integration and when you make it a part of who you are and what you do and how you live.

Uh I think that it’s, it is very easy to let business completely take over your life. Um So I think you have to be really intentional with your relationship and, and intentional with date nights and intentional with setting aside a time, uh setting aside time together. Uh And I, I think that if you don’t divorce is pretty much inevitable. Wow. OK, so let’s get into this. That is, that’s strong. I’m glad you said that. So you’re saying with lack of intentionality because I don’t think anyone really thinks divorce is inevitable, right?

But, but you just said it and I think it’s probably true. So you’re saying if you do, you love it? Yeah. If, if you’re growing a business and you’re not intentionally like you don’t go in and, you know, I guess the idea failing to plan is planning to fail. If you don’t say, hey, we’re gonna grow this business, we’re gonna go through some rocky times. It’s gonna be intense because that’s entrepreneurship. But we are gonna protect that, which is most deer through intentionality through date nights. And I do want to get into, into some details here about how to do that.

But you’re saying if you don’t carve that out, you’re, you’re on a path straight to divorce. Just no, if ands or buts about it, no question, Chad. Would you agree? Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately. Yes. II, I totally agree. Um Yeah, and I, I think there’s different seasons of where you could push, um, and go really hard and there’s other seasons where of your life where it’s like, hold up a second. Um, I mean, I don’t believe in the balance thing either. Um, but I have learned to control my calendar and control like my phone is not that important, um, to answer every phone call.

Um, so I’ve but, but I had to learn that the hard way. I’d ra, I rather would have learned that the easy way. Um, so, yeah. Um, yeah, listen, nobody said it was gonna be easy here on this earth, you know. Um, so I don’t think anybody’s looking for easy. I think you just gotta stay on guard and you gotta continue to, to talk through those seasons. Um, and I think the best people that, uh, uh, stay together are the ones who can adjust and adapt and, and get through those seasons because there are, there are tough seasons.

I mean, especially if you’re just starting building a business, you know, and, and, and then if you’re, if the business is really good and then you have to make some adjustments and, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s just, there’s, there’s, it, it takes, man, anything great is gonna be hard, anything great is gonna be hard, anything great or worth it is gonna be hard. So if the relationship is worth it, it’s gonna be hard at times, you know, but that’s ok. It doesn’t mean you don’t love each other, it’s just gonna be hard.

Um, and in the business too, it doesn’t mean you don’t love your business. If it’s hard, it just, it just beats, it’s hard and you, and you gotta work together to get through it. Chad you’re gonna get a couple of T shirts too. But I think, I, I think this, this is not common thinking. But I don’t think that I think like every everybody else, I know a lot of people say divorce is not an option. And I don’t think that that’s the way to live life because I think if you go through life and you say divorce is not an option, then it’s so easy for you to take your partner for granted because hey, we’re never gonna get divorced.

I’m gonna take them for granted. They’re, they’re gonna love me no matter what. Like, yes, you should love your spouse unconditionally. But you know what? You should also be intentional with them and show them like that you care about one another and that you, uh, you value that. I mean, it’s, it’s so easy to get caught up in what we do every day and, you know, it weighs on you, especially like Chad is doing so many things and I’m doing so many things and my, my stuff is more physical so it takes more of a toll on my body.

But his stuff that like all of the stuff that he does is just as instrumental and just as important and, and I don’t ever want him to think. I know sometimes he feels like I don’t value what he does as much because it’s not like the physical part of the job. But it, like he said before, like if he’s not doing what he’s doing, then we don’t have the jobs to be able to do what I’m so we work together, but we also have to find like we also have to show one another and take time for one another to show that we value each other.

And um, and not, uh I think just saying, saying the words, divorce is not an option. It just kind of devalues that relationship because it’s saying I can take you for granted all I want and, you know, I don’t have to work at a relationship as much because you’re always gonna be there. Um, I, I just think those words, um, I, I don’t know. II, I don’t, I don’t think that you should get divorced. Um, but at the same time I think that you should be very intentional with your relationship like that, the one thing you guys have both echoed is you don’t like balance, you don’t like the concept of work life, balance.

You like the concept of work life integration. You work together. What about a couple that maybe one person’s working on the business? Maybe the other person has a traditional job or maybe they stay at home mom or dad or do you think it’s, I guess, can, can they run it successfully where they keep their work and their life separate? Is it, is it important for them to talk about it? Does it depend on the relationship? How do you guys view the variables there? I think it’s important for them to communicate about it.

Especially if it’s like if it’s one spouse that owns a business, I think that that’s a business to help your family and I think that it should be, uh, communicated with. Um, and I, I think that as a spouse you wanna feel a part of what each other is doing, um, I think that communication is really essential in any kind of relationship but especially a marriage relationship. Let’s get into some, oh, go ahead. Jack. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. II, I agree. Like, I don’t see, I don’t see how couples, uh, whatever one owns a business.

Uh, listen, if you’re a couple, whether you’re in it or not, you own a business together. Yeah. I mean, why do you think? Yeah, I wouldn’t see why the other person wouldn’t want to know what the heck’s going on in that business. I mean, there’s just so much weight that is on the shoulders of a business owner, especially if it’s a solo where you’re doing everything and you’re wearing all hats yourself. Like, there’s just much weight on that person. It helps if there’s that supportive role. Just like Chad was for me.

Like, even if you’re not the one who actually owns the business, but you’re holding down that home front and you’re like, you’re making sure meals are on the table and you’re running the kids around and you’re making sure the laundry is done. Like that was so instrumental in our success. Um, because it was, he knew that I was wearing so many hats and I was doing everything. If I had all of that other stuff to do we wouldn’t have grown at all. Yeah. People don’t give enough credit whether it’s, whether it’s the mom or the dad who does that stuff, people don’t give enough credit to that.

Those, those people that listen, that’s a drain. Even if you want to be a stay at home mom and that’s your goal and that’s your, your dream, it’s a drain. Listen, it’s a drain day after day of doing the same thing over and over again and half the time then you don’t even have adult interaction. You’re, you’re having interaction with all the little kids, you know. Um, it’s a drain and I don’t think enough of those moms or dads get credit for that, that stuff. Uh, and Corey and I both have lived at that role, you know what I mean?

So, we both know how that role feels and, and, um, I just, yeah, there’s, I mean, I was just glad that I got to do their laundry when they were little and Chad gets them when they’re athletes and they go through two or three pairs of clothes a day. I mean, he gets the whole life doing laundry. It’s crazy how much these kids, like their laundry piles up so much. Like just that in itself could be a full time job they’re starting to do there in the summer.

Responsibility and independence. So, yeah, the Corey, one thing you said was interesting because it’s, it’s, uh, share a little bit more about my personal journey here as well because we that emotional, uh, support, I guess. Right. And it was something in our early days, you know, my, my wife was doing, uh, similar stuff, right. To stay at home, take care of, take care of everything so I could go out and hunt and grow and then build. But it’s a lot of pressure. It’s a lot of pressure when you’re building the company, it’s a hard thing to do.

And so what I would do, I guess the mistake I made, which ended up causing us some issues. What was I was overly emotionally dependent? So you, you want to, you want to have an outlet, right? You want to talk with your partner about it, you wanna kind of let the stress out or, or explain what’s going on or what you’re worried about, but your partner is there monitoring the kids doing the laundry, you know, getting dinner ready, taking the kids to and from places like answering their question, being emotionally supportive of them, then, ok, they go to bed and then you come out.

Now they got to babysit kid number three in my example, right? And like now to babysit me. So we had to come up with a balance where it was like, OK, you know, kid number three is gonna grow up, you know, we’re gonna go ahead and kick him out of the house time for him to grow up and, and have structured times like, OK, there’s structured times where, where, you know, we can discuss um ideas, strategies, get feedback. Like you guys said, you’re, you’re in it together, whether you’re both running the business or not.

But kid number three needs to get some emotional independence. So I think that’s an i an important point and I, I know I overlooked it. I certainly overlooked it. Like the, the, like one of you said, it’s draining the emotional toll of having to emotionally, not just the, the tasks I’m very task oriented. So I think what are you doing? Do boom, boom, boom, boom, knock out the task. But the emotional support required to be draining. And for somebody who’s in that role, you think as the business owner, oh, it’s all going according to plan, the business is getting bigger.

We’re dividing and conquering, you know, that this person is staying home, I’m, I’m growing it and everything is on track. But for the person who’s staying at home, it can feel like nothing is happening because all they’re doing is the laundry and the dinner and emotional support and the laundry and the dinner and, and they don’t, they’re not as intuitive, so they’re not excited about it and it can kind of beat the crap out of them over a long period of time. Have you guys experienced, uh, personally any of that?

No question, I think, especially, um, you know, recently with, uh, with us just grinding, like it’s constantly going and going and going and fixing a lot of the stuff that I did. I mean, Chad’s the fixer right now. He’s going in and he’s wearing a Washington movie or something. He’s fixing a lot of the stuff that I, I work a lot of this stuff and making sure that it’s running properly. And so it’s very easy to at the end of the day just complain and say like this is going wrong and this is going wrong and this is going wrong and this is going wrong and then like when I have a bad day and then I hear all of that, it’s just like, oh, you know, it’s, it’s draining and, and I know it’s the same for him.

Um You know, if he’s having a long day and then I’m the one complaining, like it’s just, I think we have to do a better job of guarding ourselves against that. Um I know there’s just living with a heart of gratitude, helps that like, because there’s so many things to be thankful for, despite all of the crap that’s going on and all of the stuff that’s coming against you and all of the things that are draining life, there is so many things that are filling and, uh, and I tend to be more of a good finder and I know it drives people crazy sometimes because, like, there’s all of this crap going on and I can, like, find something good in it.

Um, but there are days too when I’m like, oh, gosh, this again and this again and this again. So, you know, I think it’s, it’s best when you do operate out of a heart of gratitude and it’s a lot easier said than done. Um Chad, how about you? What are your thoughts? Yeah. And you know what? And, and it was for, for my whole thing is never touching the glory again, was a good thing, but a bad thing also. Um It just, I need, I needed to get a different mindset is because uh there’s no way even coy, the things that we have transitioned to the things that I took over.

There’s no way somebody who is producing at the level Corey is producing is able to do those things as well. And so even though I thought I was helping by not stepping on toes by not saying, hey, let’s, let’s look at this and let’s look at this part of the business and just stand in my lane and doing sales. I really wasn’t helped, you know, and I think what we were both doing is, is, is one of those stories like uh Corey wanted so much help, but I don’t want to ask Chad to come in here and help.

Uh I wanted to let him do his thing. And I was like, and me thinking of her, I don’t want to step on her toes. This is her thing. She built this. I don’t want to get in the way. I think we were actually both thinking of each other. Uh but never connecting in that time of, of saying, hey, this is what is really needed. Um Because I know that’s how she feels like she, she doesn’t feel threatened that I need to be the one out in front and I need to be the person at, you know, Corey is the, the, the, the one out in front.

Corey is the, the face of inspired by you and, and, and I don’t feel threatened by that, that she’s the face and that everybody knows her. I’m great with that to be honest with you and I’m great being behind the scenes. Um So, so yeah, I uh yeah, and Chad, I think it took, it took me taking on another partner for Chad to finally realize that I’ve been looking for a partner and praying that it would be him for years. But you know, it, it took me taking on another partner for him to say, hold up, I can be your partner and had I not taken on that partner, then this would have never happened.

So it’s like, even though it I mean, God works things all, all things together for the good, even though we don’t, we don’t understand the mess at the beginning. Uh We never do if I, if I remind myself about anything, we never understand the mess in the beginning. We always understand it looking backwards. Um And not that you want to stay backwards because you always want to be forward thinking, but it’s good to reflect every once in a while for a reminder that next time you go through something, it’s like, hold up a second.

He’s brought me through this. He’s brought me through that. He’s brought me through this. I didn’t understand it when I was in it. Let me trust in him and then boom, that’s a very good point looking back on that stuff because especially as hard charging entrepreneurs, we very rarely do that. But then we have some, some downturn or some negative consequence and it’s, it’s hard to not get emotion really affected by it. But when you make a habit of looking back and seeing the stuff you’ve come through and even how, how a lot of those things will have ended up up working out for the best.

You think there is some kind of plan there, then it’s easier to have faith that, hey, this is gonna be ok there. It’s gonna end up being a win somehow. I don’t, I have no idea how, but I know it’s gonna, we’re gonna come out on top of this, that reflection process I think is so instrumental in success. Like just reflecting on everything that’s happened in the past and it enables you to have that part of gratitude because you can essentially look back, I I can look back on everything that has happened in my life.

And I can say, oh my gosh, this was God preparing me for this and then this happened so that it would prepare me for this. And like every single thing in my life that has happened has prepared me. It, it’s perfect preparation for where you are right now and, and you can continue to walk, it enables you to walk by faith even more when you’ve seen his hand work and in your life and in your business. And it’s just, it’s pretty awesome. That’s actually scared Ariel Me. So we’re because we’ve gone through some pretty dark times with some stuff and we’re like, you know, it’s God preparing us, but then we both get nervous.

We’re kind of clammed up like for what, you know, I don’t want whatever is coming up, we don’t want it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it is without a doubt, every single thing. I mean, had we not gone through everything that we’ve gone through in our marriage and our relationship and our Amway business, I wouldn’t have inspired by you, right? And so it’s, it’s kind of crazy. Um Just all that has happened. Um Even like my teaching degree and, and the fact that, you know, I was a captain of, of my teams in high school and college, like, just that leadership that was taught early on, like, ok, well, I’m using every single thing I’m using teaching, I’m using leadership.

I’m using the entrepreneurship. I’m using like everything that has happened in my past. Um I’m able to use now. Uh, and, and my business and it’s, it’s pretty awesome to see that. And Chad too, like everything that has happened is prepared him for where he is. But I know that that’s only a touch of where he’s about to go too. Like, it’s, it’s pretty cool. I wanna, I wanna touch on a couple before we wrap up a couple of the intentionality strategies. I know we talked about date nights.

You guys have other things that you are very intentional about in terms of prioritizing your relationship. Well, I’m getting better. I’m getting better. It’s a, it’s a work in progress. I mean, even like at Christmas this year because I’m, I’m not, I’m so hard to get gifts for, uh, because I’m like, if I want something I’ll just go get it. Yeah. So, but so I’m, I’m a horror. Like gifts is not my love language, you know, giving gifts. Yeah. I mean, I’d rather spend time with you and, and create a memory.

But like this year Corey and I just went away for a night together. And we did something I liked and we did something she liked. We went to a Sixers game, a basketball game and we sat like almost courtside, you know, and then we stayed at a nice hotel with a nice spa where she got her spa, uh, the next day. Uh, but it was the best person present because it was a night away from the kids. Uh, not that we like to be away from the kids but for you have to feel guilty. Chad.

We all get it. Yeah, we love the kids but a night away is ok for just us and we, we did things that we loved and we were together and we didn’t have nothing else. And that was the perfect for me. That was a perfect Christmas gift. Yeah. And for me too, like, and it was a surprise and it was just, it was awesome and to be able to do stuff like that, this is a wonderful Christmas. I mean, we, we know like, Chad is horrible to get gifts for like you can get, I throw my own birthday parties.

He does. That’s what I was gonna say. Yeah. No, like last year we went to, we went to a Sixers game and he got two courtside seats. Everybody else was up in the stands and then like we swapped out and everybody would go down and sit with him and everybody loved it, loved it. And that’s a great one. So, so this year, this year my birthday is next week. So I took the girls to see elevation worship the other night because they can’t go with me next week.

Uh And then next Wednesday night will be, it will be at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University. My son, my, both my sons, uh and then a couple of his friends and dads, oh, won’t be there. But I throw my own birthday party. That’s so funny. That’s, and it’s great for me and, yeah, I mean, so creative. Everyone’s sitting way up and then just, I’ve never heard of someone doing that and I get time with them. That’s all for me. If I spend time with you at an event or dinner, man, I’m filled, I’m filled.

Like, and we create a memory together. I’m filled it. It makes everybody happy too because it’s like I have no idea what to get him and he loves doing that stuff and we all have a great time together. Yeah. And the kids are like, what, what are we, what are we doing for your birthday? Dad? Like, they’re trying to give me ideas. No, it’s great. I think like, just those little intentionality, things like the, the date nights are essential and we need to be more intentional with having them more regularly.

Like, usually it’s ok. I need a date night and it, but that’s a little reactive Corey. I know. I know. No, but that’s that’s, it is the season. And that’s, that’s the thing. We were really good at date nights once a week. But then I’ll be honest with you, the last six months it hasn’t been like that. A couple of reasons why this is why I tell people you got to go through your season is we got kids that are heavy in sports every weekend where we got a divide to conquer most weekends, either basketball or volleyball.

We’re not all together, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Yeah. I mean, right now, you know, and then in the last six months our bus, the, the business has just needed a lot of attention, like intentional intention. Um, but we both realized that man a date night or two or three in our future is needed. Yeah. I mean, but, but there is seasons where Corey and I are really good at once a week. Um, but then there’s seasons. It’s like, oh, the season we’re in.

Yeah, I think that’s where that, uh, you know, we were talking about wealth, mentality versus work mentality and that long term thinking that will help any relationship survive that test because I know we got caught, we were building a business together seven nights a week, hard for, like, 10 years. Chat. Uh, well, it was six years before we had Haley and then we had Haley and then it was, like, hold up. I’ve got this little human being that needs my time. And now Chad’s out by himself and he’s used to have a meet with him every single night.

And then a year later we have LEXI, they’re a year and 10 days apart. So now I’ve got two little ones that need all of my time. Chad’s out by himself and had, we just thought, ok, this is just a season like these kids are only young for so long. I still need Chad. He still needs me. Like these kids need him. Like had we had we thought long term, we wouldn’t have had so many issues that we did because it was like it was that temporary thing.

Oh my gosh, Cory is gone. She doesn’t need me anymore. She’s got everything she wants. Now she’s got her kids. I’m, I’m by myself. I’m alone. Like nobody needs me. Like that’s kind of where a lot of our issues arose. But had we had that long term thinking it would have helped us. And now like now when we go through those seasons, like right now when all of our kids are in like the thick of sports and we’re both coaching like Chad’s coaching basketball. I’m coaching volleyball.

Like that’s our time together as a family, but it’s like go, go, go, go, go. It’s just temporary and like we only have them really in the house for 4 to 6 more years. Um Before Flynn leaves after that, it’s just gonna be chad and I, again, so we wanna make sure that we’re being intentional so that when those kids are gone and they’re off and they’re on their own. Like, we still have that connection. We still have that relationship and we’ve thought about that long term instead of like living in the here and now and thinking, oh my gosh, like we never spend each time together.

We don’t need each other like whatever. And one thing I’ll share from that, no, I was no. One thing I’ll chime in from that is, is in, is the communication aspect because we, where, where my wife and I have had to disconnect sometimes is, is, I think we’re in this season, you know, we both know we’re in this season, but apparently she didn’t know we’re in the season, right? Which means we’re not in this season. So the, that, that communication, you know, for anyone listening, make sure that everyone’s on the same page.

Because if, if you guys get this busy, it’s easy to start to diverge in your thinking and you each kind of think you’re thinking the same thing. But, but when you actually sit down and have a long conversation about your worlds apart in terms of what you think is happening. Well, yeah, I think that that’s, that’s so essential because that’s happened to us so many times. Well, even like with this partnership thing, like had we just talked about it and like, not talked to just speak but talked to listen and to hear what each other is saying, you know, because sometimes that happens like where you’re saying something but the other person isn’t comprehending exactly what we, what we mean.

Like I think that that communication just saying no, I love you. I need you. II I want you here, you know, and right now like this is where my time needs to be, but it’s just temporary. Like I want you here like just making that intentionally known. Um I think that that’s so essential because when you’re going and going your mind and you’re by yourself a lot that isolation, it can just kill you because you’re thinking one thing and, and that negativity can just breed and grow.

So you’ve got to eliminate it by that communication. And I think the divide and conquer is sort of a double edged sword. You guys are able to do things, but it also creates a great opportunity for a rift to develop in the relationship and you guys lose track. And for us long form conversation has been instrumental. So as opposed to sitting down 5, 10 minutes because your mind’s racing. So as a business owner, your mind’s racing as someone who’s more focused on the family, your mind’s racing. So you, you each have 1000.

So oftentimes you’re not even in touch really fully with yourself. So when you do sit down, we found we’re gonna spend a day together. We’re go, we’re gonna go, like, spend hours and hours and hours and, and it wouldn’t have worked in an hour or a half hour. So that, that’s not necessarily the same for everyone, but I’m, I’m trying to from just chime in here, little bits from my personal experience to also hopefully help some people out there because it, it is, it is a grind to grow a business as a married couple.

Good to like, I catch myself all of the time. Like when Chad calls often I’m doing a million things and so he’ll call and I’m like doing this and doing this and doing this and doing this. And I’m not intentional with him when he’s on the phone and I need to do a much better job of that because it’s like when you’re doing a million things and then when I call him and I have time to talk, then he’s doing a million things. And so it’s just, you know, just, I, I think I, I need to do a much better job of just not just being intentional with dates but being intentional.

Like, ok, when he’s talking to me, I need to put everything down and focus on what he’s saying because that’s gonna strengthen that relationship and that’s way more important than all the other million things that I’m doing. 100% guys. This has been absolutely phenomenal. This is a, a gold standard podcast episode. So the pain and marketing. This is what I’m always hoping to achieve. We start with an objective. We hit that objective, but it gets really deep and it, and it goes all kinds of different ways. And I think this one absolutely did that.

It was even more profound than I expected. So I thank you both. We are wrapping up this episode. We’re wrapping up the series overall. Is there anything you guys want to add before we, we put a pin in this thing? Chad? Anything? No, I appreciate and thanks for having us on and I appreciate you man. Even when we get a chance to, to talk, we’re still learning too. Um But uh and, and, and I think this is the first or maybe the second one I’ve ever done.

I try to stay away from these. I, I really do not, not in any bad way or anything like that. It’s just my whole intention is to serve Corey, serve my kids and there’s only one person I need to impress and that’s my heavenly father at the end of the day. I mean, that’s the guy I gotta answer to. So, um I think as us guys can stay humble and hungry like that and have something to look to that’s, that’s bigger than us. Uh I think us as men are better.

Well, I think Chad, I think you helped a lot of people by coming on the podcast. I think it was a very unselfish thing to do and I thank you for making the time. Yeah, I appreciate it. I love it. Thank you so much for inviting us on Brandon. Like I just, and, and like chat that I think oftentimes when, when I speak, at least I know that I’m speaking a lot to myself. I’m never coming from a place of I’ve arrived. I know everything. This is what you need to do.

Like that’s never how I operate. It’s like, oh my gosh, these are all of the things that I’m constantly working on and I need to get better at and like a lot of times when I’m talking, I’m talking to myself and like how I can improve and, and just know that everybody is a work in progress and give yourself grace because I think so many times we listen to stuff like this and we’re like, oh, you know, I need to be better at this and I need to be better at that than that starts.

Yeah, it’s just like give yourself grace and, and know that we’re all constantly growing and learning and changing and that’s the beauty of life. It’s like you, you’ve never arrived. You’re, you’re in that constant state of growth. So thanks for doing this because I know I just, I, I loved your time together. I did too. Well, thank you guys. I appreciate it. I’m sure this is going to be one of the the by far more popular podcast series. And I thank you both. Oh, thanks Brandon.

Keep growing.