Stories of Resilience and Leadership with TedX Speaker - Michael Clegg

What happens when you blend the wisdom of a TEDx speaker with the heart of a dedicated father? Find out as we chat with Michael Clegg, the dynamic CEO of QWorks and Leadership Squared, who also spends his Fridays under the lights as a high school football coach.  As former colleagues at Kforce, it was so nice reconning with a former colleague for a powerful conversation on fatherhood and mindset.

Michael shares touching stories of a recent football recruiting trip with his middle child and an exciting upcoming mastermind group adventure in Austin with his 21-year-old. Plus, hear how he balances his professional life while celebrating 23 years of marriage and his daughter's incredible work ethic.

In this heartfelt episode, Michael opens up about the family dynamics that shape his life.   Michael's journey to personal growth and professional success hasn't been without its challenges. From a memorable, violent incident that forced him to leave home to the transformative experience of preparing for a TEDx Talk, Michael's story is one of resilience and perseverance. He shares the emotional aftermath of past traumas, the solace found in sports, and the incredible support system that helped him navigate life's hurdles. 

Wrapping up with a discussion on gratitude, future aspirations, and the importance of slowing down to appreciate life’s journey, this episode is a compelling narrative of growth, family, and the power of being present.

Please don't forget to leave us a review wherever you consume your podcasts! Please help us get more dads to listen weekly and become the ultimate leader of their homes!

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:03

Hi, I'm Riley and I'm Ryder and this is my dad show.

Speaker 3: 0:12

Hey everybody, it's Casey Jaycox with the quarterback dad cast, and, as I promised, we do finally have a new and exciting sponsor that's going to be joining us over the next 13 weeks or so, and they it is called the authentic edge podcast, which is going to be launching very, very soon. It is a podcast that is led by the fantastic and successful Jason DeLuca and executive sales and people leader at Dexian, as well as with a Paul DeFrancenzo, who is a global sales leader at indeedcom. This podcast, authentic edge, as I mentioned, is, is launching in the next month and it's really about a journey into the heart and genuine relationships into the workplace. So they're going to talk about uncovering the profound impact that authenticity has on establishing instant trust, fostering long-term partnerships, as well as creating serendipitous connections that evolve into endearing business and personal relationships, which is exactly how I would describe my relationship with Jason and Paul. So, without further ado, let's get right to the next episode and I hope that you check out the authentic edge wherever you consume your podcasts.

Speaker 3: 1:15

Well, hey everybody, it's Casey Jaycox with the quarterback dad cast. We are in season five, as you well know, and we're we're going to the vaults of cave force, to the alumni magazine, I had to go through multiple booking agents. Now this guy's a hot, new hot I'm talking real hot, hot, real hot TEDx speaker everybody. He's the CEO of QWorks. He is the CEO of Leadership Squared, which we'll learn all about that. He's a Highlander. We'll learn more about that. More about that. He's a high school football coach. Like I said, he's a former colleague of mine at k-force. Um, his name is michael clegg and, with all that stuff said, we're actually going to talk a little bit about that. But we're actually more interested to talk to mr clegg about michael the dad and how he's working hard to continue to be that ultimate quarterback or leader of his household. So, without further further ado, mr Clegg, welcome to the Quarterback Dadcast.

Speaker 2: 2:11

Man, it is a honor. An honor, see, I can't even speak right, so no, casey, it's certainly an honor. I mean, you have had a prestigious career. I've enjoyed watching it from afar and, man, I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 3: 2:20

Well, I appreciate that it's going to be fun. Dude, you got me all jacked up because everybody, it's May 23rd and we're recording. This episode will be out in maybe a few weeks or a month or so and he had his football jamboree and he made me do 25 burpees. We may hit the sled. I'm wearing a football helmet right now. You wouldn't even know it. Joking aside. Okay, we start each episode with gratitude, so tell me, what are you most grateful for as a dad today?

Speaker 2: 2:43

Yeah, no, I had an opportunity to go on a recruiting trip with my middle child. He's a rising senior for football. That was amazing, fantastic, starting to explore, actually a really good time for you to ask this question. So we had a five-hour road trip, windshield time. Of course. On the way back he slept three of the five hours, but that was special.

Speaker 2: 3:07

And I get to fly out from Charlotte to Austin tomorrow with my 21-year-old and I have a mastermind group that I'm a member of, so we've got an in-person event in Austin, texas. So I'm bringing my 21-year-old to get him some exposure to the entrepreneurial world with Dr Benjamin Hardy, which I'm really, really excited about, and my daughter, man, my daughter is in the process of moving up a couple levels for cheer. She works unbelievably hard for a 12-year-old. I don't know, she certainly isn't getting it from me. It's got to be all mama. And then, very blessed obviously, to have a wife. We just had our 23rd anniversary last week. So it has been a wild ride. And I'll tell you, man, what's the old saying? That the days are long but the years are short. Man, am I feeling that it's it? Is it never been truer in my life? So I'm very thankful, very blessed, very blessed, and yeah, I've got. I've got a lot of gratitude towards that long.

Speaker 3: 4:24

Days are long, years are short, years are short. Yeah, I've, it's funny, you're like the third person that said that in the last, like week. Yeah, so those are some serendipity in that thing which is getting me to slow down. Um, I'd say, what I'm grateful for, man is a couple of things. One I'm I'm solo this weekend. My wife's heading to the East coast um to check on, uh, we have a, we have a home out there, which that's another story. It makes no sense sometimes, but it makes all the sense in the world. Um, so I'm, I gotta be. I get some good kid time.

Speaker 3: 4:47

Um, I'm grateful for a couple things. One I'm going to spend some awesome time with both kids this weekend. Um, I spent, like I said before we started recording. I got to see my son uh play his last high school golf match and just and just watch him compete and have a process and just be a good person. And we got to spend time with a freshman shout out to Jake Jake, I call him Jackie moon. Yeah, that's awesome, you know. And he, uh he just looked up to my son a lot and was fun to see your, when your kid's a leader for another. It was the best feeling ever. And then this, the dad of this kid, like was so complimentary of right, I'm just like I felt so thankful, like, if, like cause. In the end, that's the goal, everybody. We're trying to create great humans, regardless if they're sports or fricking band or ceramics, it don't matter.

Speaker 2: 5:31

Yeah, but that's that's why I love sports, though. Right, I mean, you nailed it. And that's one of the things that I would absolutely say for Jackson, who is, you know, my 17 year junior, rising senior and he's going to be a four-year starter on varsity. And just seeing his development, from that scared 14-year-old right who is a freshman and looking up at all the big boys and competing to earn a spot, to the guy now who is showing other kids what they're supposed to do, and, interestingly enough, because today was the final spring practice, we have our jamboree and that's when we invite the eighth graders, who are the rising freshmen, to come watch and be a part of practice. They don't participate, but and to, to see, to see him and some of the other kids that I've coached, many of them since pop Warner and it I'll I'll say this man, in November or December, whenever this final trip is over, I will be an emotional basket case.

Speaker 2: 6:34

I remember the last game of my oldest and that was tough. I was also in the COVID year and dealing with all of those things. But you know my final son playing football and I'm very passionate. I've coached football for a very long time now and will continue to coach at some level. But man, it is remarkable to see that level of leadership. It really truly is man. So that would be. I'm glad you mentioned that, because that would be another blessing that I would have overlooked.

Speaker 3: 7:07

There we go. All right, You've you've. You've briefly talked about each member of the of the squad, but let's, let's go into the huddle a little deeper, and I want to hear about how you and your wife met, and then I want to hear a little bit about each person of the squad.

Speaker 2: 7:20

Yeah, so Kelly and I met about a month before I graduated. We both went to Radford University, highlanders, right, yeah, the Highlanders, gosh. I was a graduate in 99. She was a 2000,. So she had a year following me, which is probably a great thing that we met a year before I graduated she probably wouldn't have married me. Thing that we met a year before I graduated. She probably wouldn't marry me.

Speaker 2: 7:49

But we met at a fraternity event in April of 99. And we've been together since. It's one of those. We called it quad fest, right, you have bands and all those things out on campus, which was unusual. It was the only time of the year that this happened and I, honestly, I'd had a crush on her even though, technically, hopefully, my ex doesn't hear this, but I had a crush on Kelly for a couple of years, even before I met her, and so I took a shot right, we miss 100% of the shots we don't take. So I took a shot on that April day and, yeah, we we hung out ever since and, and you know, became great friends. And now I guess now 25 years later since we met but it was, it was a college thing and and we immediately hit it off. A lot of fun. A lot of fun. It's hard to believe it's been 25 years. Thanks for reminding me. There you go.

Speaker 3: 8:44

I just celebrated 25 years myself, man, so make you feel just as old. And then each member of the squad.

Speaker 2: 8:57

Yeah, so gosh man, logan's 21. He goes to school at App State. Hard to believe he's going to be a rising senior, right. So he and I, and he's starting to ask the questions about business and money and finances and what should he be thinking about? So we're starting to go, which is new for me, right, and I think all the kids, right, we have a lot of friends, I think, all of the kids that have. Once you get to that upper class level in college, I think the professors at school really start going hey guys, you got 24 months and you're going to the real world, right? So you know that's.

Speaker 2: 9:34

That's been a blast, jackson being the rising senior playing football, and you know his recruiting journey is is really just beginning. And his recruiting journey is really just beginning. Even though Logan played football, he decided he didn't want to play in college and he was a heck of a long snapper and could have played at D1 level being a long snapper. But he said, dad, I just want to go to school. So I respect that. It's his choice at that point. And Jackson wants to play in school. So he's got, I guess, eight or nine schools right now that that like him. So we're going through that process of visits and and having the like I said earlier, the windshield time, right. But he's a great kid was always he's the jokester of the family, right, he's the funny guy. You always need that.

Speaker 2: 10:21

And then my daughter, kinley McKinley we call her Kinley. She is the blessing of the family. You know, never imagined having a girl, but I'll say this man, having a daughter has made me a better father, a better husband. It has opened my eyes to things that I'd never even thought of. You know, I do have a younger sister, but she's 15 years younger than me. So I was basically out of the house by the time she could talk, so I didn't have that close of a relationship with her. You know, growing up as you do with most siblings.

Speaker 2: 11:00

But you know, I've got a brother that's five years younger than me. So I just never got that experience from that girl side. And I'll tell you what man. You know, I've got a brother that's five years younger than me. So I just I just never got that experience from that girl side. And, uh, I'll tell you what man I am. It is. It is a journey. I'll just leave it at that. It is a journey, man, I am learning on the fly so I got a lot of buddies who are, who are girl dads, um and uh. You know, sometimes I get good advice. Sometimes I don't like what I hear, but it comes with the territory, I suppose.

Speaker 3: 11:28

Love it. I am a girl dad too. I love having a daughter. I, I, I've. Yet I feel like lucky cause I haven't had to deal with the girly girly stuff. My daughter's boyfriend is the game of basketball and but she definitely, you know, she dresses. Uh, there's been a couple of times where I'm like you're wearing that, what, what? Where's the rest of the outfit? Did you get bit by a dog? Oh gosh, you know. So, like that type of stuff, but like for the most part, um, she's just very, very driven, um, and I, I love having a tough, independent daughter, which is that that's a lot of my wife Carrie. She's a beast and I think most of us good marriages we marry up, yeah, absolutely, oh, I definitely outkicked my coverage.

Speaker 2: 12:13

There's no doubt about it, which is probably why it took me two years to take the shot, Right? So, um, and I might've had a couple of couple of cocktails, uh, before I took that shot. It gave me a little bit of courage, but so far it's worked out.

Speaker 2: 12:25

So, there we go, very blessed man, love, love the three kids. They're great kids, good heads on their shoulders, very driven and, like I said, the, the, the, our daughter is like I don't, like she's insane, Like just works so daggled I like she does things at 12. I have never even, never even thought about and honestly, even in high school I did not work the way if I did.

Speaker 2: 12:47

I might've had a probably much better sports career, but she's ridiculous man, she's just, she's just so driven and and committed to when she, when she, commits, she's, she's all in, so it's fantastic.

Speaker 3: 12:58

Now is is. Does Kelly work too, or does she stay at home? She stays at home, okay.

Speaker 2: 13:03

Now I say that Hardest job on the planet. No doubt about it. She wears many hats and, honestly, I would not be able to be a CEO of one company found another. I would not be able to do that. Fortunately, she started helping me. If you think about the whole EOS model and the whole visionary, traction, visionary and integrator, right From traction, I am certainly the visionary. I've never seen a bad idea. I've got new ideas every day. That's why I love my gym time in the morning because I got a thousand ideas. So she's one of my who's, if you will that. Say hey, Clegg, slow down. So she does help a lot, especially behind the scenes with the new company, and does a lot of back office stuff for us as well in QWorks group. So she's not exactly stay at home, but she's partial stay at home.

Speaker 3: 13:51

There you go. All right, man. Well, I like to go back in time with my guests and I'd like to learn about what was life like growing up for you and let's talk. I'd love to talk about or have you talk about, the impact your dad and parents have on you now that you're a dad?

Speaker 2: 14:03

love to talk about or have you talk about the impact your dad and parents have on you now that you're a dad? Yeah, no, I have a much better relationship with my father today than I did growing up. I even said this in my TED Talk. My parents were only 20 years older than me, so I mean they were practically kids when they had me and they divorced pretty early on. I think I was 12 when they split up. My mom and I were best friends. Growing up. Other kids were out playing ball and playing. I'm in watching soap operas with her during the summer. She's trying to kick me out to go play, but I just had a great relationship with my mom.

Speaker 2: 14:39

Later in life, my dad and I are very close now, but later in life, my dad and I are very close. Now. I'm very fortunate to have both my parents and I learned a lot from my dad and my dad has owned a lot of things that he'd probably do differently if he had to do it all over again. So I was very fortunate and blessed to play sports and had a couple of close coaches. That coaches right that that really played that father figure for a period of time. Uh, in in in my life and, um, you know, I I think part of part of that. Um, you know, I wouldn't say like I think most people would. Naturally we all want more for our kids than we had for ourselves. Right, I think that's just a natural human instinct that we have. I don't know that I necessarily thought, you know, I don't think I reflected back on my dad as much you know as a as a early parent, as much you know as a as a early parent. Um, you know, I was very fortunate and blessed that, uh, when Kelly graduated, we actually moved. I got reload um with uh tech systems before K-Force and to to Houston and that's where Kelly's parents were. And you know, back in those days there was like 10 different cities that could have gone to and I was like, hey, if we're going to have kids, let's go move near your parents. So we did and I really got a chance. I got very close. I mean, her dad became my business mentor, one of my best friends. He was my golf buddy. Early Sunday mornings I always had the first tee time, which was like 6.15 in Houston, which I can't say I was always on time for, but I made it, you know. So her parents had a lot to do with becoming a father and a parent and you know I really you know the whole. It takes a village.

Speaker 2: 16:42

I've been blessed, I've had a village. I've had a lot of very key people in my life. Even going back to like my high school sweetheart, I mean truly like her parents. I spent a ton of time with them. I think I dated her like six or seven years. I mean I rode my bicycle to her house the first time, right, so that's how long ago it was. So I have, I've been, I've been very fortunate and blessed to have a lot of people surrounding me to help. I didn't get a lot of trouble. You know I didn't drink, do drugs, any of that stuff. You know like a lot of a lot of kids were doing in high school. You know I was usually the designated driver if there was ever the party was was happening. So you know I just I was very fortunate man I was. I was fortunate to have a lot of people surrounding me and then a lot of great coaches that cared about me.

Speaker 3: 17:25

So what, as you think about, like the journey of your pops, though, like um, when you were young, what were? What were like um, or your mom, or your dad as you, as you think back to like the core values that were like these are our house rules, bro, and you got to follow them. That that stuck out now that you're a father.

Speaker 2: 17:42

Yeah, I would say with my mom. My mom played both parts really truly. I did end up moving in with my dad when my mom got remarried. My stepdad was pretty abusive so I left my mom, which crushed her, broke her heart, and I left my brother at the time because my sister was born about a year after I left. So I guess I was right at about 15, 16 when I moved in with my dad.

Speaker 2: 18:13

You know I was a good kid man. You know I never had a curfew, I never got in trouble. I mean I just didn't go out. I mean sports were so everything for me and I had a good group of friends right that I played sports with and you know there wasn't a lot. Now I could say watching my brother grow up was a different story. Right, I'm five years older than him. You know I learned about boundaries really quickly because my brother was such a little badass best I can say but really it was about standards and boundaries and honestly those are probably the two things that I speak to my clients about the most and it's funny, I've never really correlated the two from childhood. So I appreciate you bringing that up.

Speaker 2: 19:08

But I was, I was a really good kid and my mom always says if my brother was born first I would have never been born, but I made up for it in the later years, I suppose, as my mom would say, but it was always about standards and boundaries, and I think a lot of that, once again, not only was, as my mom would say, but you know it's, it was always about standards and boundaries and I think a lot of that, once again, not only was set by my mom, but really truly a lot of it was set through my coaches. Everything, everything in my life at that time younger was was about sports. I mean truly. I mean sports probably kept me in shape where I was.

Speaker 2: 19:39

I was a pretty good little athlete and I wanted, I wanted more in that life and and the only way to do that was, you know, to, to, to fly right. So that was, that was always the choice and it wasn't wasn't tough. I never had a lot of peer pressure. I wasn't exposed a ton, really truly, until maybe my junior senior year and at that point I was already locked in. So you know that's what breaks my heart about some of these kids today, that I mean God, the fentanyl and the drugs and and just God, the social media. I mean they're, they're always on right. I mean there's, there's never, there's never a downtime. So but standards and boundaries man, standards and boundaries.

Speaker 3: 20:26

If you don't mind, again, if it's too close, we don't want to talk about it. I'm curious, I'm super curious, as you know. Um, talk, take me back to the decision to move out.

Speaker 2: 20:36

Yeah, so this, this actually was in my Ted talk. Um the uh, it was a taco Tuesday and Tuesday and I was sitting at the dining room table and I was actually shredding cheese. I didn't go into this much detail in the talk, but my stepdad was picking on me, which was not unusual, and this day just went a little too far. The next thing I remember I'm on my back looking up at him on top of me you know, beat me pretty good and my mom on top of him trying to pull him off. And when I, when I got up, I walked out of the house and I'll never forget, I went and sat on the back of my mom's car out in the driveway and of course he comes out and he's like man, I'm so sorry, I apologize. And I, at that point, I I just checked out, I didn't hear him and the decision was easy Um, and I I know still to this day my mom, like even when we do talk about that, uh, she hates that that happened, she hates that she lost those high school years, uh, but I mean my, my parents lived basically in the same town.

Speaker 2: 21:39

So I mean I, I saw my mom often, but you know, it is different when you're, you're no longer living where you grew up. Um, and uh, you know, and it did, I think. I think it impacted my brother and I too, Right, I mean I I didn't get to be that big brother for him when he was in middle school that he probably needed, right, um, I'm fortunate my brother and I are very close. You know, we're at least texting every day. That's cool, but you know it's it is. And I'll say this you know, my dad and my brother and I are on a text string together and we are all three of us are texting every single day and really are close.

Speaker 2: 22:21

But I just, it wasn't a tough decision, man, I mean I just I knew I was like I can't stay. I've never felt first, I mean, that was the first time I really ever had my ass kicked like that. I got beat up once when I was 12 by like four dudes, but it was more gut shots than face shots, but it was easy, man, I mean it really was. It was like four dudes, but it was more gut shots than face shots, but, um, it was easy, man, I mean it really was. It was like man, this isn't, this isn't where I'm going. This isn't where my head is, and um, it's just. Uh, how did your dad take it? That was, that was um man, I hadn't thought about that. Um, he was pretty upset. Um, about that, he was pretty upset.

Speaker 2: 23:10

I do recall, I believe there was one minor interaction between him and my stepdad and, you know, nothing really didn't go too far. But I mean, I can't thinking about being a father. I can't imagine another adult putting hands on any of my kids, like I cannot. You know, you see some of those stories on Instagram or on the news where you know dad's kid was a victim in some way, shape or form and, you know, finds the perpetrator in the courthouse, right, and I could easily see how those things happen. You know, my wife and I always talk about this Like I would go back to college in a heartbeat, like no, don't get me wrong, I love being a 50 year old, I love being a business owner, I love being a dad.

Speaker 2: 23:53

I wouldn't change any of that. If I had to make a choice, I would certainly go back to college. My wife would go back to high school. I want no part of high school. None like none at all. And I think a lot of that stems from, you know, being a ninth grader and or an eighth grader at the time. I guess, with my stepdad and and all of the things that happened there, it's just a miserable time. But once again, I mean I was blessed, I, I, I was, I was blessed, I was dating someone right who ultimately I dated much longer and whose parents were around quite a bit. I mean I think I ate dinner at her house every single night for better part of three or four years. I mean truly, you know it was, and then ultimately my dad remarried and my stepmom moved in. And that's when normalcy probably set back in my senior year, I think that my senior year they got married. But yeah, it was tough, man.

Speaker 1: 24:53

I'm not going to lie. Yeah, I can imagine.

Speaker 2: 24:57

But that was my life, right, I didn't know any different. So I was so invested in sports, honestly, and I hate when I, when I talk to people and their kids don't play sports, and I know, not everything's about a ball, I get that, but do something Right. Do something that requires socialization, right, and dealing with conflict, dealing with challenges, dealing with struggle, like that's the stuff that it's why I love hiring athletes, right, I mean it takes a lot. I mean I think about what my son's about to do. I mean we got two weeks off before summer camp starts and you know he's going to be at the school at 645 every morning until almost noon. You know, four days a week. You know grinding Right, and that's hard.

Speaker 2: 25:49

I mean by the time camp, actual camp gets here in August right, he's gassed. Right, he's already got two months of of grinding Right. And and football is a tough sport, as you know, right, being a quarterback, you especially know. Toughest guy in the field, that's right, no doubt about it, brother. Hey, well, especially if you don't have a very good offensive line, you got to be the toughest guy on the field.

Speaker 3: 26:12

Real quick, I joked. So this Jackie Moon, my boy Jake, his dad played center at University of Oregon. Oh wow, his quarterback was Akeely Smith, oh geez. So I talked to him this week we were joking because he was at the state high school golf tournament and I said you know, his name is Dekus. You know, dekus? Actually I didn't even play football, I was quarterback. Now, tongue in cheek, we played a little football. Now, when I took shots back in the 90s, that would be outlawed right now and like being an O-lineman, that's football, oh yeah, I love the trenches.

Speaker 3: 26:44

I want to make sure I give love to the O-line brotherhood.

Speaker 2: 26:46

I know my role, that's right. Amen to that man, amen to that. But it is man, it's just, you know, and I can appreciate the question and I'll be honest, you know, I had that accident last year of why I was doing the TED Talk and I got a chance to really reflect on a lot of those things that I'd forgotten about and it just hadn't, it didn't have a reason to think about it, and so, you know, I really had to start journaling, I really had to start reflecting on the past, and that really was all because of Dr Benjamin Hardy. And you know he's got this, he's got this theme, if you will, about time isn't linear, right? You know it's not. You know Newton says time is linear, einstein says it's not, it's relative right.

Speaker 2: 27:30

And and so most of us, as humans, we, naturally, because we're taught this way, we, we, the past impacts the things that we do in the present. And instead, what, what? What Dr Hardy says is he's like no, no, no, like reframe your past. Right, because we can make it whatever we want it right, which, like, truly we can. The outcome, the event, whatever it is, has already happened. There's nothing we can do to change that right. What we change is the future, and the future is that of the impact of the things you do in the present, not the past. And so, like that to me, it really struck me and that whole time concept really was. I mean, it was like magic to me when I started thinking like my future self and who I wanted to be. It changed everything.

Speaker 2: 28:19

But to do that I had to dig deep and journal. I'm not a journaler, right, I wasn't, I hadn't been and and man. When you start writing, it's crazy, like writing reflected on my past, like giving myself space, which, as leaders, we don't give ourselves enough space. We need space to think. That's the only way we become the best version of ourselves in anything that we do. And when I started doing that and these were things before the accident that I would have judged as being way too woo-woo or fluffy for me, right, that's soft.

Speaker 2: 28:56

I don't do that. I don't meditate and I'm telling you, man, I'm still not great at meditating, I don't do it every day. Telling you, man, I'm still not great at meditating, I don't do it every day, but I do write, I do journal, I do reflect, and it is frightening the things when I see myself now, and I know my parents are proud. They tell me all the time how proud they are of me and I'm very blessed to have both of my parents still around and healthy. And when I do think back to those times of being a 12-year-old, 13-year-old, 14-year-old, I can't imagine my kids going through what I went through. But it didn't seem hard at the time, it just seemed the way it was supposed to be. So I don't know why, but in reflection, freaking sucked Right.

Speaker 3: 29:43

Well, I love that you shared that. I know that's not easy to talk about, um and I and I hope there's a dad at home listening that that will.

Speaker 3: 29:53

I want to get into your Ted talk, but I want to like kind of build this up so people understand it, but like, uh, so many people go through hardship in life but don't talk about it. Um, you know, like my dad, rest in peace my dad was molested when he was six years old by his brother. I learned about that and I was in college and I was like what, and there's so much. That came out later when, like dealing with, I saw what my dad went through. He had, you know, a rapture to health issues that just kind of got worse and worse because he didn't. I don't think he got ahead of it and then didn't know how to deal with it.

Speaker 3: 30:19

And so I think, like things you're doing, like writing, um, journaling, I do gratitude work every day. I look at a Bible scripture every day. You know, I don't I'm not like super religious, but I'm very spiritual. I believe that people's coming, coming to your life at the right time If you really look for it. Um, like you, I have coaches that were massive mentors for me in my life, that spoke to me.

Speaker 3: 30:41

Um, but, and I and I love the fact that the story as much as you maybe you thought going through you're like this is going to be the worst ever. I'm never gonna be my mom, my dad's going to do this, whatever. But now you're, you found peace and you're back with each other, which I think is an awesome way to end, end it. And you know, and you got great relationships, which I'm sure there's a lot of. I mean maybe real quick, like what well, two part question what skills do you think you use to bring those relationships back to present? And the second part of the question is how much of the story does your, do your kids know?

Speaker 2: 31:09

Yeah, um. So the first part. I would say my parents had a lot to do with that, more so than me, right, truly, um, as as I got to school and I probably grew up a little bit too right, but as I got to college my dad was more present then and I didn't go away to school until I was 21. I thought I was going to be a lot better baseball player than I ended up being. But he became present truly and we just developed a friendship. Truly it is a friendship. I mean, he's my dad and I respect him as being my dad and I know there are things that he would certainly change in his life. But I also reflect back on going. He was 20. My parents were 20 and 22 and they had me. I mean, I'm 33 years older than my oldest. I can't imagine being 20 years older than him. I can't even fathom what it would have been like to be a 20-year-old with a child. So I truly don't. So I think, from my perspective.

Speaker 2: 32:31

So I want to give him and, once again, I was very close to my mom when I was younger, so I want to give them credit. But from my perspective, I really think that, from a skill set perspective, resilience, right, I never blocked things, like some people just ignore stuff. I've never ignored things. I have always addressed things head on and, ironically, until the accident. But as a kid and a young adult, I did.

Speaker 2: 33:07

I like conflict, I don't like conflict, but I've been able to address it. I don't like conflict. I'm not a fan of conflict and I think most of us don't like. If you like conflict, there's probably something wrong with you. There's probably a small percentage of people that do don't like. If you like conflict, there's probably something wrong with you. There's probably a small percentage of people that do.

Speaker 2: 33:26

But but you know, I don't shy away from it and and I have always been a very open, direct person, and I think some of that does stem from my upbringing and and I mean, gosh, I was in high school and, and I mean there would be Fridays, I'd get home and my dad said, hey, I'm going to the beach for the weekend and I wouldn't see him till Sunday night, right, and I'm I mean, I'm 15 year old kid, um and I always had buddies at the house, but we never got in trouble. We didn't have big you know ragers or any of that stuff. My dad trusted me, um, and I took that trust, I think, seriously. You know, we never got any trouble. I mean we might have played baseball in the house, messed up a couple of walls or a couple of lamps and things like that that we, you know, came up with an outlandish lie of what happened, blamed a couple of things on my dog at the time. But I think that that independence that I had at such a young age has really given me what I have today.

Speaker 2: 34:24

Truthfully, from a kid's perspective, my kids know, I believe, the overwhelming majority of my childhood. You know I have a very open dialogue with my kids. You know they're still teenagers, right, or two of them now, I guess, still are teenagers. But you know, everything's not perfect. Certainly, we have the same troubles and struggles that any other family does, but our kids do not.

Speaker 2: 34:54

They're not afraid to talk to us and and we always say and we had an opportunity to have a conversation just a few weeks ago as a family and said look, guys, you're going to screw up. We know that. You know it doesn't make it right, doesn't give you the ability to make it, ok. But when you do, your mom and dad always have your back. Now you may get in trouble, you may get punished. Right, you're going to. There are consequences to our actions. You're going to, there are consequences to our actions. But, um, you know we'll deal with anything head on and uh, and and it's it's, it's awesome to have that level of relationship with, with your kids, and I just know, as as they get older and become parents themselves, we're going to be great friends with our kids, which is awesome, love it.

Speaker 3: 35:38

I can't wait to plan a member guest with my son. Yeah, oh my God, that's awesome. Or a member member I didn't even thought about that, that's awesome, that type of stuff. Yeah, I was just in Bandon Dunes. Have you heard of Bandon Dunes? Oh, absolutely. Oh, I was there last week and I had a fantastic time and, um, I was joking with my buddies, oh yeah, oh, my gosh, it's I mean people listening that have not gone to Bandon Dunes. Bandon Dunes could be a sponsor of this podcast. Go see, go visit Bandon Dunes. If you're a golfer, it's the best, that's awesome.

Speaker 2: 36:09

Yeah, we have a lot of buddies that they go every year and Bandon's usually part of that trip when they hit the West coast, and I mean it's, it's always the tops of the trip when they come back the tops of the trip when they come back. I have not played golf out West, but at some point, yeah, I got it. I got it Certainly hit that no doubt.

Speaker 3: 36:28

Here we go. All right, you mentioned the accident. People at home are probably on the edge of their seat, like what the hell is he talking about? Tell us what happened.

Speaker 2: 36:36

Yeah, without being too graphic, I was driving back from a seven on seven tournament. You know my my last spring, it was March of 23. And I was on the interstate outside the Charlotte area, about 45 minutes away, and guy jumps off the bridge in front of my truck and unfortunately it happened pretty quickly where I didn't have time to stop or to swerve or avoid, and ran over him and he did not make it and that was, I mean, it just was surreal, doesn't even do it justice. I haven't found a word to describe that moment when you realize that I just ran over a human being.

Speaker 1: 37:29

You got to understand like if I hit a squirrel right.

Speaker 2: 37:32

I mean I'm lifting my feet up off the. You know I'm going holy crap, like I can't believe I just did that. My life changed forever in that moment. My life changed forever in that moment and months following that. Honestly, until my TED Talk, my wife didn't even know. She did not know really truly what I went through. And it was a good three, four months, most of the summer last year, even as football was starting and I was coaching.

Speaker 2: 38:06

I was in a pretty low place, pretty dark place, and I never blamed myself. I wasn't guilty because of what happened. There was nothing that I could do and those were the messages. If I hadn't seen anyone for six months since the accident, the first thing that people would say was like oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. You know, I heard a while but I didn't know how to reach out. You know, but now that I see you it's. You know it's not your fault, you know I'm sorry. It happened, could have happened to anybody. You know, wrong place, wrong time, those were kind of the themes that I would get and those things are all true, didn't matter, it didn't change how I felt and I couldn't really describe how I felt and obviously you know I had, you know, got a therapist and did all of that. But honestly, man, it was meeting Dr Benjamin Hardy and joining his group that really things started to change for me, and it was the whole idea of reframing your past truly. And the idea of that reframe is reframe your past not as something that happened to you, but reframe it that it happened for you. So it really is a shift in the mindset.

Speaker 2: 39:28

And it wasn't until the TED Talk that I wasn't going to practice in front of my wife at all. It's weird. I was actually really nervous to do it in front of my wife, which was really crazy. Hopefully millions of people will watch it, but one person in the living room, like I, was frightened to tell her, but I ultimately did because I was really struggling. The last week there were some changes that were made and it's very like what's the word I'm looking for? Particular right. So you have TED coaches that coach you through the process and the Sunday before they were making changes I was like holy crap. So that week prior to I had six days to get it right and so I decided to and my wife cried my wife's not a crier. We always tease that I'm the chick in the relationship, she's the dude right, Because I'm very, very vulnerable, I'm very open and a pretty sensitive emotional dude generally speaking. And man, she was like shit, clegg. I had no idea, because I did.

Speaker 2: 40:29

I walked around, I pretended everything was okay and I believed in my mind that everything was okay, like I genuinely, if you would have asked me straight up 12 months ago, you know, last May of 2023, which is two months after the accident I'd be like, oh man, it's OK, it's good, like it happened, nothing I could do about it. I mean, that's that? That was my response to everything. Oh man, nothing I could have done about it. Like it's awful, I feel for that person, that family, what they're going through. You know, I was playing that game and I didn't even know that I was really playing that game, didn't even know that I was really playing that game. I really didn't know that I was struggling. I knew I didn't want to get out of bed in the morning, right, I knew that I had lost motivation to go to the gym and lost motivation to to, to, to do anything. Really it was awful. Um, yeah, I mean that's a lot, I know.

Speaker 1: 41:21

But Hello everybody. My name's Craig Coe and I'm the Senior Vice President of Relationship Management for Beeline. For more than 20 years, we've been helping Fortune 1000 companies drive a competitive advantage with their external workforce. In fact, Beeline's history of first-to-market innovations has become today's industry standards. I get asked all the time what did Casey do for your organization? And I say this it's simple. The guy flat out gets it. Relationships matter. His down-to-earth presentation, his real-world experience applied to every area of our business. In fact, his book Win the Relationship and Not the Deal has become required reading for all new members of the global relationship management team. If you'd like to know more about me or about Beeline, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. And if you don't know Casey Jaycox, go to CaseyJaycoxcom and learn more about how he can help your organization. Now let's get back to today's episode.

Speaker 3: 42:22

Now let's get back to today's episode how so you do a TED Talk In a few minutes? Talk about the why you want to do a TED Talk and then talk about how that's impacted you as a dad, husband, business owner, et cetera.

Speaker 2: 42:37

Yeah, when I and I keep going back to Dr Hardy and I do that because it was honestly it was he played a big part in my recovery, in his process and the way he thinks and the things, it was gospel to me it just it was this magnetic pull, as I said in the talk. It was this magnetic pull that I just I couldn't like the whole idea of a future self. Like I got excited again, like I was motivated. I was like you know what I mean? I was working seven days a week, I was grinding and it was not working. I can remember several times that Kelly would say, clegg, like you got to take a day off. And I'm like, no, I really don't. Like I feel awesome, like I was so alive when I really started this whole process and I was like you know what, if this whole idea of the future self can really straighten me up, like how many like 70 plus percent of people are going to experience some level of trauma in their life, I'm like maybe this can help somebody. So my why was the idea of maybe this can help somebody? And so I said you know, I said I want to. I made a commitment to myself, I said I'm going to be on a TEDx stage within five years. And I started journaling and started doing all these things. You know, I'm going to be a professional speaker. I'm going to, I'm going to start speaking for a living. And so I started this company, leadership Squared. And so I hired a speaking coach and, within you know, told him all my goals and within two weeks he sends me this thing and says hey, here's a TED Talk, go apply. And I was like I said five years, I'm like I'm not flying to a TED Talk now. Are you crazy? I was like I don't even know what the hell I'm doing. I don't even. And I did, and you know, made it through the process and got the opportunity. And I even say in the talk, I'm like, because I was taking the steps of becoming my future self, things started changing quickly, like really, truly, like I've done more in six months, casey, than I've done the last 10 years, and like this whole idea of becoming your future self is like it truly is magical.

Speaker 2: 44:54

And the kids, I think, I think when they realize you know what was actually happening and what the TED scene is like, what it is, and you know, they're like, wow man, that's kind of cool. This is awesome, you know. And TED has not published it yet. It actually, you know they're like wow man, that's kind of cool. This is awesome, you know. And Ted has not published it yet. It actually hasn't even been submitted. It gets submitted, I think. I got a note last night. It's going to get submitted later this week or early next week. So it's probably still a month away from actually being on the Ted site at least, because there's a whole process.

Speaker 2: 45:19

I mean Ted is like process overload, but yeah, I just, I think they think it's cool and I'm just, I'm, I'm blessed because my son was driving behind me. He missed that and I called my wife immediately and and I said, call Jackson, he's, I don't, he can't see this. Like, get him to turn around, give, give a crap, get him to turn around. And he did. But I don't know, you know, I've never, I've never really asked my kids, you know, like, really, truly like, what do they think? So I'm going to do that and obviously I'll get some time with Logan this weekend, so we'll certainly get a chance to talk about it, because I'll be with Dr Hardy, which is awesome, um, but uh, I don't know, I don't know what they really think, other than the. You know the actual man. That's pretty cool, dad.

Speaker 3: 46:20

What about what? As you went through the process of doing a Ted talk, um, uh, someone who also I do, I don't speak, I would say a ton, but I speak where I, where it makes most sense for me in this journey. I'm on, Um, you make a great speaker, by the way. I appreciate that. Uh, when you speak, when, when you did what you did to prepare for the Ted talk, when you were you present enough to slow down to realize that the lessons that your kids were seeing about the preparation and practice you were going through, no, in fact, I told you that Sunday they changed everything.

Speaker 2: 46:51

I flew out to California for the mastermind meeting Tuesday, wednesday, thursday and I almost canceled that trip because I'm like I got to learn this thing, I got to memorize this right. It's not like you've got teleprompter in front of you, it's 100% memorization. I had a few people, and one person in particular, chad Willardson, in California. He said Clegg, he's like dude, this is great. And I'm like Chad, I almost didn't come and I said like I'm just so stressed, I'm so this and he goes. He goes, dude, slow down, he goes, he goes.

Speaker 2: 47:31

In a few days this will be over. You know you're going to do great. He's like this is this is meant you're, this is what you're supposed to do. Just remember that. Remember that he's like. But stop and look around. And it wasn't until he said that on Wednesday, prior to that, everything slowed down for me, like I'm not kidding you, it's, it's insane. And what a great question by the way, you are pretty good at this, by the way but he asked the question and then you know it, it just it, it did. It changed everything, um, for me, and and I mean my heart rate probably dropped 60 points and you know when you wake up for six straight weeks with nerves. And that's what it was like, like I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Speaker 3: 48:17

You had to change underwear probably a few times.

Speaker 2: 48:18

It's crazy, it's nuts.

Speaker 3: 48:20

Game day squirts.

Speaker 2: 48:23

Right Absolutely. Um, but it Right Absolutely. But it was amazing. I was more nervous Friday for the dress rehearsal than I was Saturday Once I got the dress rehearsal out of the way, because I think speaking in front of the other, there were eight of us. So speaking in front of the other seven speakers, and some of those speakers have done like three or four TEDs. We're like real, true professional speakers. I'm this schlup who comes from staffing right, what?

Speaker 3: 48:48

do I know?

Speaker 2: 48:51

And Saturday was awesome. It was amazing and I just, I just remembered what Chad said. He's like dude, slow down, like just take it all in, and so you know it was about 75 or 80 hours of preparation. Love it, and you know I don't know, I think that'll be another question.

Speaker 2: 49:10

I mean, my kids know, I mean I'm a grinder to begin with, like I work pretty hard at everything that I do because I'm not super talented in a lot of areas, right, so like I'll try to outwork somebody. You know that's probably another question to ask them, but I think just them observing how much time and energy and the cool thing for me, man, and unfortunately they couldn't be there. You know my daughter had, like this national event in Atlanta. So you know, my, my kids were, my, my, my son had. I forget why my oldest couldn't be there, but I brought my best friend that I've known since I was 12, which was awesome. But them, when I walked in the door that Saturday night unfortunately it was in North Carolina so I only had a few hour drive to get back home it was pretty, it was pretty amazing. Like I know they were proud. And then the following day, when my, my wife and daughter and the rest of the clan came in, um, they were just like man, it was amazing and they were so proud of me and that was just like and I and I felt good about it.

Speaker 2: 50:19

I'm not gonna lie, like when I walked off that stage. Casey, I think I told you this in prep. But when I pushed through those doors and they're like hey, you know, you've got. You've got about a minute to get back to the green room to give all your you know, your mic equipment and all that stuff back up to the person coming after the next person. And when I went through those doors, man, I broke down like a, like a little baby. I mean, I cried Like I probably haven't cried since I was probably like six, seven, eight years old and it was like it was a happy cry, but it was probably an ugly cry, I can imagine.

Speaker 2: 50:51

And unfortunately, nobody was there on the other side of that door, but it was such like my biggest fear coming out of that was I'm so fearful that I will never feel that feeling ever again. It was so. I've never felt that feeling ever in my life Child, you know, kids being born. Those were pretty amazing moments and days, but I had nothing to do. I had very little to do with that process. Right, that was all my life, this was all me, and obviously I had nothing to do. I had very little to do with that process. Right, that was all my life, this was all me. And obviously I had a lot of people supporting me. No doubt about that and with the preparation. But it was such an amazing feeling and a bit of a letdown a couple of weeks following. Now I'm three weeks out of it, so I'm coming back to normal, coming back to life, and now I'm looking for what's next.

Speaker 3: 51:43

Well, um, I've, I watched it, as you know, and, uh, you know, you and I didn't know each other. I'd say, super well, we worked together but we'd see each other on trips and, um, we see each other from afar and um, but man, I was like hooked. I, I loved it. I thought you killed it and we'll make sure that any links you have will be linked in the show notes so people can see it. And because it's a great story and, as you can tell everybody from the vulnerability and the way Michael articulates the story and shares the story, it's like we all have that gift that we can give ourselves, our kids, our relationships in our life, that and realize that we're all in this journey of life together. We're all flawed, we all got gaps, we're all replaceable and I thought you just did a fantastic job. So I'm excited, I'm glad that you got some homework out of this podcast.

Speaker 3: 52:35

That's always a goal when I ask questions to make people think and because, just as a business person, when we ask questions, that's how we separate ourselves. Absolutely. That's so, um, okay. Other one question I always love asking dads um, as you can think of your journey as a dad, what's, what's an area of your dad game that you know has been a gap, um that you are continuing to focus on, um, getting better at um, tell me I mean, for me it's patience, but for you maybe, tell me what comes to mind.

Speaker 2: 53:05

Yeah, I would say early on I was a hothead. I lacked patience, like no tomorrow. Early on with my first kid I would say I got better as as things went. And now I'm probably too patient with my daughter, like truly like. I'm like, look, if there's anything that goes wrong my wife's gonna have to handle it. But man, that's a great question, cause I think I've done a much better job as I've gotten older as well. From a patient's perspective, my dad joke, my dad joke game is horrible. My kids, my kids, call me Mike. They're like when I tried to be funny guy to them, they're like okay, mike, that's like, I guess, my alter ego. Let me think of this. That's a really good question, I think. Well, I don't think I know this because I get this feedback from my wife.

Speaker 2: 53:58

Sometimes I struggle. I coach for a living right, so I coach high school football. I coach executives. I coach for a living right, so I coach high school football. I coach executives. I coach executives running multimillion dollar businesses. So sometimes I might coach a little too hard or a little too much at home. So I've I've been known to have had a comment or two thrown my way.

Speaker 2: 54:19

Dad, or Clay, as my wife calls me, or not one of your clients. So you know, sometimes you just have to let people be right, sometimes you just have to let people learn, and and you said something a second ago, and I think this is probably why you've been amazingly successful in your career and continue to be is that you know how to ask great questions. And I think the same thing as as being a dad and you know it's asking questions, it's how you get answers Right, and so I probably talk a little too much, even though I give my kids that the two one, two ears, one mouth, you know, listen twice as much as you speak. I should probably follow that own advice a little bit, but having conversations with them, asking more questions, that certainly would be a gap in my game, asking more questions than telling them. So, god, casey, you give me a lot of stuff I got to work on this week.

Speaker 3: 55:13

Well, let me make you feel better about yourself. So, my wife, when I got into this journey as a coach, I didn't mean to do it. This just found me and I was so excited at first. I was so excited about the podcast. At first I was so I was telling everybody sometimes they didn't give two shits and sometimes I took it personally. Well, but I'm excited about it.

Speaker 3: 55:33

And it's like they're not talking about their job all the time, whether they're a policeman, a teacher, a janitor, a salesperson, and my wife. One day in the early it's like probably year one of the entrepreneurial journey and she goes we miss Casey. Yeah, just be you, don't. We don't want to be coached. And I didn't realize I was doing it. Yeah, and talk about like a humble pie. That's why might as well stay humble man. Life's going to humble you or someone's going to humble you, and that's right. Be able to take feedback. And now she wasn't waking up, trying to be a heartless wench to me. Yeah, quote ferris bueller's day off. She was trying to like man, where'd he go? Yeah, and I, I'm so. I'm very thankful to her. Sometimes I'll bring it up like man.

Speaker 3: 56:15

I'm so thankful you said that, because I don't want to be that guy yeah, you know so good on, good on on Kelly, for that is that is powerful brother, really truly is.

Speaker 2: 56:25

And no, it's, it's true and it is. And I think that comes from that want and the need to you know, want your kids to do better, want your kids to have more, want your kids to get the things right, not make the mistakes. But in reality they need that stress, they need that challenge, they need those mistakes. That's, that's how they're going to be great adults.

Speaker 3: 57:00

They need those mistakes. That's how they're going to. A couple of nuggets of wisdom, two or three things, skills, topics, thoughts that they can take from our episode as actionable steps or to use maybe as progress to be a better leader of their home, better version of themselves. Tell me what are a couple of things that come to mind.

Speaker 2: 57:21

I would start with standards and boundaries. Right, create and don't limit the standards right, have high standards, have that high floor, expect more of yourself, expect more of those around you. Value the time. Like, honestly, that, going back to the whole, you know the the days are long and the years are short. If you're a dad and you've got young kids, it is a grind man. Oh, I can remember rock paper scissors with Kelly, who's getting up the next day with the kid. Enjoy that man.

Speaker 2: 57:51

Those are the moments that, honestly, still this day, I still remember those 5 o'clock am mornings with Logan. I mean gosh, we were in Texas when it was pretty early in the morning and I'll never forget I was rocking him in the chair and I think this was 2003. So I don't even know if he was a year yet when the Columbia shuttle exploded over Texas, you know reentering, and he was in my arms when that happened. So you know those, those, those moments are special. You know, as, as as Chad Willardson told me before the TED talk, you know, slow down, enjoy it, look around. So I would say that for the, for the dads as well. And then, ultimately, I think, as as we summarize here just a few moments ago about asking questions. I think it's the most powerful gift that you know God has given us as human. We've got the ability of consciousness Right and and asking questions is how we learn and, um, you know, be very thoughtful in the questions you ask. You know, tell less, ask more.

Speaker 3: 58:53

Love it. You can't see it and no, no one at home can, but off to my left, or. But there's a. There's a picture of Ted Lasso without eyes, just a white face with a mustache. So imagine the face a nose, but no eyes or no eyebrows. And it says be curious, not judgmental. So I have. I'm a big visualization person. I have, like I've done it since playing football in college, high school, uh, and work, Um, I have a vision board. To my right, I have the podcast goal board behind my right, I got, and I just, and when I see it, it just gets into my subconscious. That's right.

Speaker 2: 59:27

Absolutely Fully believe. What you focus on expands, brother. So I love that you do that. It's fantastic. And those vision boards, I'm telling you, man, those things are fantastic. I laughed at them for a long time, me too.

Speaker 3: 59:40

They are game changers. Do you remember Angela Aronica? I do, yeah, Angela's one of my first bosses. She did this. She had us do a vision board. I'm like, what is this? Arts and crafts. We're in fifth grade. Oh yeah, you know, typical smart-ass guy. And she's like, just try it. I'm like, okay, I'll try's fantastic.

Speaker 2: 59:54

Always enjoyed seeing her at meetings.

Speaker 3: 1:00:11

Huge. She was a huge part of my growth in my life. Um okay, if people want to learn more about um leadership score, they want to learn about um QQ works. They want to learn about you. Tell me what's the best way I can make sure that we send people your way so that they can learn more about you.

Speaker 2: 1:00:22

Yeah, I would say LinkedIn's the simple and central area. Very active on LinkedIn, it is an untapped business tool for most and even though most people say I'm on LinkedIn, that doesn't mean you're active on LinkedIn. It's a tool that could be utilized better and I coach often about LinkedIn. There's so few people actively using it. I would say LinkedIn would be the best because otherwise, given multiple emails, multiple websites and that's no fun.

Speaker 3: 1:00:51

There you go. We will make sure you're linked in the, in the, in the show notes, so everybody can connect with you. I can't wait for people to watch the Ted talk Everybody I'm not I'm not fully you know what. I watched it, which is why my Mr Clegg's here is, because I was so moved by it and I said I want, I want to hear this story and I want to share it with the world. Um, so I'm excited for people to connect, watch it. I hope we get some more followers.

Speaker 3: 1:01:12

Uh, it's now time to go into the lightning round where I go completely random and show you the negative hits of taking too many hits in college not bong hits, but football hits. And my job is to ask you questions. Your job is actually to answer these questions as quickly as you can. My job is to ask them rapid fire and make you laugh. Okay, got it? Okay, true or false? You hit the sled every morning like an offensive lineman before you go to work. False, okay, true or false? You, when you coach football, you are the short rightell shorts with the two buttons to show off your moose knuckles. False, false.

Speaker 2: 1:01:51

I would have worn bike shorts anyways.

Speaker 3: 1:01:53

I just said the word moose knuckles on the podcast. First time in five years. We will make sure there's an E at the end of this episode, so it's adult friendly.

Speaker 1: 1:02:02

Sorry, buddy.

Speaker 3: 1:02:05

If I was to go into your phone right now, what would be the one song that I'd be shocked to listen to?

Speaker 2: 1:02:09

Oh man, my workout is is my workout stations? Cardi B, nice, let's go, that's right.

Speaker 3: 1:02:16

Drop it like it's hot. That's right If there was to be a. How about this? If you were to go on a vacation right now, you and your lovely bride?

Speaker 2: 1:02:26

Kelly, where are you going without kids? Oh man, I want to go to the far East. I want to go like Fiji or Bali, something, something over there. Absolutely, two weeks Sounds fantastic. If I was to come to your house for dinner tomorrow, what will we have? Let's see. I'll be in Austin, but Friday night, friday Friday will be to go. That's either going to be Chinese or we'll pick up Chinese, mexican, never Italian, cause my wife doesn't like Italian, even though the boys love it. Give me one of those two.

Speaker 3: 1:02:58

There we go. Sounds delicious, If I was to. If there was to be a book written about your life, tell me the title.

Speaker 2: 1:03:07

Oh man, that's a good one. It would certainly have to have Be your Future Self in there somewhere, but Dr Hardy already has a book like that, so that might be a bad idea. I was going to say something about breakdancing, because I used to breakdance. You know you want the hook, you want people to go. Oh, what's this thing all about? Why did I say that? Oh, my God Can you edit that out.

Speaker 2: 1:03:29

No, no, let's keep that in there. Hey, let's edit out breakdancing and moose knuckles. It would certainly be something about growth, something about being your future self, because I'm telling you that future self is magic. Let's go with that?

Speaker 3: 1:03:46

how about that future self magic? Okay, now, future self is magic. Believe it or not, is exploding. Every bookshelf, no one can keep the copies in the shelf, the airports are sold, everybody's sold out. And now hollywood has found out about this book, this story, and hulu has found out about it, netflix has found out about it, and now you are the casting. I need to know who's going to star you in this critically acclaimed, hit new movie, mr Clegg.

Speaker 2: 1:04:07

My wife would kill me if I didn't say this. I had one guy in my first job who said I look like Gary Busey. There we go and freaking. Oh my God, gary Busey is about as ugly of a man as you could possibly get. So I hate that. So those of us that can't see us, I don't think I'm that ugly. I'm not the most handsome guy, but I have to. I have to make it Gary Busey.

Speaker 3: 1:04:29

There you go. And then last question Tell me two words that describe Kelly.

Speaker 2: 1:04:34

Resilient and forgiving.

Speaker 3: 1:04:37

Bingo, bingo, bongo, lighting round's over. We both giggle. We'll call a tie because of my immaturity A 48-year-old man who said drop the word moose knuckles on the podcast. I'd like to thank you, brother, for telling your story. It was powerful. I'm grateful our paths crossed. I'm grateful they recrossed. I'm excited for what the future holds for you. I don't need to tell you but, man, you're, you're, you're surrounded by some great people and, um, it's really, really cool to see you taking all your experience and giving it away and impacting so many, so many lives, and I know your Ted talk is going to do that for a lot. A lot of people do so. I appreciate it, brother, and thanks so much for sharing your story.

Speaker 2: 1:05:17

Thank you, man, thanks for having me, I appreciate you.