BeTempered Episode 47 - Horses, Faith, and Building Dreams: Brian Ballenger's Journey - BeTempered

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, my name is Allie Schmidt.
This is my dad, Dan.
He owns Catron's Glass.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Thanks, allie.
Things like doors and windowsgo into making a house, but when
it's your home you expect morelike the great service and
selection you'll get fromCatron's Glass Final replacement
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Windows from Catron's come witha lifetime warranty, including
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Also ask for custom showerdoors and many other products
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Call 962-1636.
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(00:26):
Kitchen's best.
The clear choice.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, where we
explore the art of findingbalance in a chaotic world.

Speaker 4 (00:35):
Join us as we delve into insightful conversations,
practical tips and inspiringstories to help you navigate
life's ups and downs with graceand resilience.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
We're your hosts, dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr.
Let's embark on a journey tolive our best lives.
This is Be Tempered.
What's up everybody, welcome tothe Be Tempered podcast,
episode number 47.
47.
Well, today we have thepleasure of speaking with a
distinguished leader from goodold Richmond, indiana, mr Brian

(01:06):
Ballinger.
Brian is the owner ofWiesenhunt Construction, a
general construction companywith a longstanding reputation
for quality in the community.
In March of 2022, he expandedhis leadership role by joining
the board of directors at WayneBank.
Beyond his business endeavors,brian is deeply committed to
community service.

(01:27):
He co-founded Brighter Path Inc.
A nonprofit organizationdedicated to providing
equine-assisted learning andtherapeutic writing programs.
Recently, in 2025, brian washonored as the Outstanding
Chamber Committee Member fromthe Issues and Advocacy
Committee during the WayneCounty Area Chamber of Commerce
Annual Dinner.
Above all, brian is a devotedhusband, father and, most

(01:50):
recently, a proud grandfather.
His dedication to both hisfamily and his community make
him a true example of leadershipand service.
Brian, welcome to the BeTempered Podcast.
Welcome, brian.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
Thank you, guys.
It's really good to be here.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yeah, we're glad to have you.
As you know, we like to startby hearing the full story, right
?
So take us back to thebeginning.
What life was like growing upfor you, and what shaped you
into the person you are today?

Speaker 5 (02:17):
Sure, Well, before I get started, I just want to
thank both of you.
I really consider this aprivilege.
Started, I just want to thankboth of you.
I really consider this aprivilege.
I've caught up.
I've heard every episode.
I was telling Dan last weekwhen we were getting ready A

(02:37):
couple of weeks ago, I was in myweight room.
Typically I like to work out tomusic songs.
I've heard a thousand timesover, but that day I thought,
you know, I really need to startlistening to podcasts, because
I spent about an hour and a halfto two hours in the gym three
to four days a week and really Ifeel like part of that time's
being wasted on um music.
Like I said, I've already heardit.
So I thought, well, I'm goingto plug in one of their podcasts

(02:58):
and see how this goes.
I'm not sure it's going to bethat motivational.
How am I going to get throughthis workout?
Anyway, two hours later I wasexhausted because the longer I
listened, the more intense itgot.
At times I was in tears and itjust made me push even harder.

(03:19):
So I just want to share thatwith you and the listeners that
what you're doing is an amazing,amazing thing, and I hope my
story in some small way mighttouch and impact somebody.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Oh, I appreciate that and we had that conversation.
I was blown away.
Yeah, you know, I mean it's.
I do the same thing where youknow, sometimes I'll listen to
music, but the podcast a lot oftimes, if you get into a good
one, you know, you just findyourself, you know, engulfed in
that story and then, before youknow it right, the workout's
over, you know, or you're goingfor two hours.

Speaker 5 (03:46):
Yeah, I guess what really hits me is when you're
hearing somebody's story thatreally impacts you and touches
you and you know, yeah, so maybeI've been through a few,
through through a few things,but nothing like that.
And you know, literally I'mlike dang it, dan, you're
bringing me to tears again, man.
I don't mean to, I know, I know,but it's good stuff.

(04:13):
Anyway, I'll get back to yourquestion.
I was born in 1968.
My dad was a Marine veteran, sohe was in Vietnam when I was
born.
I think I was about a year oldwhen he got back.
Thankfully he came home.
Both of my grandfathers servedin World War II, so a long
history of military service whenI was about six years old

(04:36):
probably one of the best thingsthat ever happened in my life.
It was a challenge for my dadbecause work wasn't really
steady in the mid-70s.
But when I was six we moved toa small farm, and when I say
small, it was 27 acres.
Literally everything that weate we grew Very few things mom

(04:58):
went to the grocery for.
So as part of that obviouslybecomes a lot of responsibility
for myself and my brother.
As I look back on that time Ihave such a fond memory now but
at the time it was hard.
It was very challenging.
When I was 10, dad took adriving job because he tried the

(05:19):
factory route but it seemedlike every factory he started
with ended up shutting downroute.
But it seemed like everyfactory he started with ended up
shutting down.
Some of the guys that were mydad's friends.
They were with union factoriesthat didn't shut down.
They had a much better way togo, but dad didn't experience
that.
So in I think it was 1978, afriend of my dad's had a

(05:41):
trucking business and so dad,very first time out, was gone
for about 10 to 14 days, and sowe had livestock chickens, quite
a few heads of cattle.
So it's me and my brother, mybrother's younger, and my mom.
And when I think back on thattime Dad didn't come to me and

(06:03):
say Look, brian, I'm going to begone and now I want you to do
this One, two, three, everythingthat has to be done daily.
Never said that, it was justexpected that I knew what had to
be done and it will get done.
And I, I, I'm so thankful nowfor those experiences because it
taught me to be veryindependent, and I'm even to

(06:26):
this day, probably independentto a fault.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yeah, yeah.
But you recognized.
Hey, dad's not here, it's meand mom and my brother, and we
got to do it.

Speaker 5 (06:37):
Yeah, and there were consequences if you didn't do it
, not only when dad gets home,but you've got livestock that
are depending on what you putinto it.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, and I think that's a great thing about no
matter what size the farm butlivestock in general.
You know as a kid, you learnreal quick that they're reliant
upon you for water, for feed andfor growth and that's a.
I think that's a very valuablelesson for especially young kids
to learn growing up.

Speaker 5 (07:05):
Right, right.
So went to a small rural school, union Elementary.
Through high school, when I wasa junior, we, we moved and I
went to Hagerstown my last year,graduated from there, from

(07:29):
there.
So, before I move into mycollege years, for uh, uh for my
mom you know I've not talkedabout her yet she went back.
So she had started school.
They got married, had me again.
Dad was off in Vietnam, mymother had been enrolled at Ball
State.
She had to drop out and so shewent back to school, I think
when I was in fourth grade, gother bachelor's and then her
master's when I was in sixthgrade.
So, moving away from that,going then to Hagerstown, mom

(07:59):
obviously had provided a lot offinancial support with her job
as a teacher, provided a lot offinancial support with her job
as a teacher, and so collegeeducation was very important to
her and she instilled in me at ayoung age that you're going to
college.
But what we never talked aboutis well, how are you going to
pay for it?
Because, mom and dad, they justdidn't have the means to send
my brother and I to college.
But yet I was expected you'rejust going to go.

(08:21):
So that was really never aquestion.
But I had to figure out okay,how am I going to afford this?
You know I had saved up moneythrough 4-H.
You know, raising animals,selling, selling livestock was
working anytime I could, anyfarmer that would hire me from
the time I was about 13, I wasputting money back.
But a friend, a friend of myfather's he was a National Guard

(08:43):
recruiter and so he came to meand talked about some of the
benefits of being in themilitary.
That was an easy sell for me,but understanding the GI Bill,
how that would work.
So, basically, to get throughschool, I was working summers
Every month.
I was off for the weekend, uh,with a national guard training.

(09:06):
And then in my second year ofcollege in the national guard
there was a shortage of armyofficers.
So I was recruited because Iwas about to finish my second
year of college, my third year,at ball state, I was taking a
full load of classes and thenwas going through the Indiana

(09:27):
Military Academy and thengraduated from that a year later
.
That was really a formativetime in my life, not only with
the military training but reallyhaving to learn a lot about
self-discipline to an evenhigher level Because I was
taking a full load of collegework on top of the military

(09:49):
training.
So that was a lot, but anywaythat helped me to be able to
afford to get through school.
I think there was at the timeBall State was on the quarter
system.
I had to sit out one quarter tobe able to work, put enough
money back and then go hit thebooks again.
But something that was veryhelpful for me at that time, I

(10:11):
was starting to learn how toinstall flooring and there was a
flooring contractor that Iwould work for through the
summers and begin getting myeyes open to the construction
field.
And of course that's where I'velanded now.
When I was in college, you know,typically you want to have a

(10:32):
plan, right, you want to havesome goals.
But you know I was one of thosekids.
I just had no idea.
I knew I wanted to do something, I wanted to be something, but
if you were to ask me when I was20, 21 years old, I had no idea
, and I try to share that when Ispeak with high school students
that look, I realize it's scaryand for me at that time it was

(10:53):
really challenging.
But God has a plan and when Ifinished college had become a
commissioned officer in theNational Guard.
I'll probably expand on that ina moment.
But I had nothing in my pocket.
I'd just gotten married.
So in 1989, that was a prettybig year for me Got my

(11:16):
commission, got married and thentwo years later we had our
first child.
We had our first child.
But to think about goingthrough all of that and then,
okay, thinking now what?
But I had a little bit of thatconstruction background to fall

(11:36):
back onto and actually I lovethat kind of work.
So I started a.
I wouldn't even call it acompany.
I was basically a glorifiedhandyman.
I started out doing justliterally anything that I felt
like I could do professionally,as well as the true professional
.
So that meant if I'm painting,if I'm cleaning up windows,

(11:59):
caulking a little bit of trimwork and you know I feel like
it's you either have that Godgiven gift and talent or you
don't.
Within five years I built myfirst home.
So, yeah, so you know whatstarted out is again, I won't
even call it a company butwithin a few short years I was
able to build our first home andthen, from there, started

(12:21):
building homes throughout theremainder of the 1990s into the
early 2000s.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
Wow, and a lot of that, I'm sure, came from your
work ethic.
You learned being on the smallfarm.

Speaker 5 (12:31):
Yeah, yes, it did.
When I think about beingself-employed, when I'll talk to
other entrepreneurs, or talkingto other kids that are thinking
about an entrepreneurial route,I always ask them this question
so what do you think is the oneidentifying trait or mark of an
entrepreneur?

(12:52):
To me is it's this, and it'spretty simple You'll make a
terrible employee.
And I think it's true, you know.
You know I say that maybe in aself-deprecating way, but in all
honesty I'm so independent thatI have to have the freedom and
the flexibility to try.

(13:13):
Sometimes that means failure,and I'm going to talk about that
in a little bit, because I'veexperienced failure in life and
that has been actually one ofthe more defining moments of my
life is experiencing failure,feeling what that's like, but
yet how do you work out of it?

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, so talk a little bit more about the
military during that time,because you talk about how you
built your first house andyou're building your business.
But where are you at militarywise with that?

Speaker 5 (13:43):
Right.
So I was in the national guardfor seven years, so that that
would have been 1993, a fewyears before my business really
started taking off.
But um, you know, there wouldbe times, you know, when I would
have a little bit of a break ona weekend.
I would be off in the corner,you know other guys are smoking
and joking.
Whatever, I'm over in thecorner doing estimates because

(14:05):
you know other guys are smokingand joking.
Whatever, I'm over in thecorner doing estimates because,
you know you're making use ofthat time.
But you know not to downplay myexperience with college.
Obviously I learned a lot, butit didn't compare at all to the
leadership that I was able tolearn and gain through the
military.
That really helped set me up tounderstand how you gain respect
, how you earn trust to thedegree that people would follow

(14:30):
you doing something they reallydon't want to do, because it can
be kind of brutal, it can berough, it's tiring, but how do
you motivate a group of peoplethat are all much older than you
to follow this young, 22,23-year-old lieutenant all much
older than you to follow thisyoung, 22, 23 year old
Lieutenant?
Um and I and I felt like Ilearned that right away because

(14:51):
I would watch others and learnwhat they were doing and and saw
how it didn't work and howineffective it was and like,
well, that's pretty easy, I'mnot going to do that, you know.
So.
It's really about buildingtrust and respect right off the
bat, and when you gain that,what I usually find is they'll
follow.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yeah, and, and you know you hit on something that
kind of hits me.
I feel like throughout mybusiness career, the past 20
some years of being in business,the one thing that I I am proud
of, or I think that I'm I do agood job of, is just observing
people, and observing peoplewhen they don't know they're

(15:27):
being observed, right Like youwatch somebody from afar.
You watch, you know you're in alot of construction meetings.
I mean, that's how I found mymanager, jeff, at the shop.
You know, I just I knew that Ineeded someone.
I didn't know who that personwas, but just as you start
observing them, interacting inmeetings or interacting with uh,

(15:48):
you know other coworkers oremployees or whatever position
they're in.
You can learn a lot about aperson just by observing them.
So, that that kind of hits me alittle bit, because I do that a
lot.
I did it with Ben, I've done itwith a lot of the people that I
have, um, men and women thatwork for me, and that's I think
that's a good leadership style.
It's a great way to learn right, good and bad.

(16:11):
So kind of expand upon that alittle bit.
How are you able to do thatwhen you're in that leadership
position in the military, in theNational Guard, for them to
follow?

Speaker 5 (16:22):
Sure, yeah, so for one, each person's an individual
right and they react andrespond differently.
So I think it's reallyimportant to understand who
you're working with, who you'redealing with.
But in the military it's alittle bit different because at
the end of the day basically acommander, they have an order to

(16:44):
issue.
It's going to have to befollowed.
Now, I saw oftentimes wherethose orders would be followed,
but it wasn't because they werewilling, it's not because they
wanted to.
They knew they had to.
So what's the result going tobe?
Well, it's not going to begreat, right?
So for me, it was leading byexample.
I wouldn't just simply sendthem off on a particular mission

(17:12):
and sit back myself.
They knew that when LieutenantBallinger had a map in hand,
uh-oh, we're in trouble, we'regoing to have a long night.
But they also knew I was goingto be right there with them.
I was never asking them to dosomething I wasn't willing to do
myself.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
Yeah, that's important and they respect that.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
So you're going through that,you.
Your business is growing.
What's next for you?

Speaker 5 (17:33):
Yeah.
So, um, that decision to exitthe military was really a
challenging moment for mebecause I absolutely loved it, I
was excelling.
But at that time I was gettingvery involved in our church, my
business was starting to takeoff, our second daughter was on

(17:56):
the way and I just realized thatin life, to me it's all about
priorities.
The military had meant a lot tome, but I felt like that was
probably a chapter that wasabout to close.
But again it was hard becausemy one of my very last weekends
my battalion commander came tome and I think at the time I was

(18:18):
a, I'd just been promoted tofirst Lieutenant and I was
offered the most I guess you'dmaybe say most exclusive role in
our battalion for somebody myage and rank, and so it's almost
like that carrot dangling outthere in front of you.
So it was really hard to haveto tell him.
No, I really appreciate this.

(18:38):
I knew where that would launchmy trajectory had I taken that,
because I know I would have puta lot of effort into that and
not to don't take this wrong butI would have excelled with that
.
I know that.
But in order to maintainpriorities, you know, god and
church first, then my family,then my business.

(18:59):
I was going to have to letsomething go.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
So it was military, you let go.
Yes, so after seven years, okay, very, you let go.

Speaker 5 (19:04):
Yes, yeah.
So after seven years, very,very grateful for that
experience.

Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah, for sure.
So now you're on to the newpriorities of of, not the new,
but these are your priorities.
That you've said, hey, this is,this is, this is what means the
most to me.
So so what's that look like nowmoving forward?

Speaker 5 (19:23):
Yeah.
So the business was going well.
We were building more and morehomes.
In late 1998 through 99 hadwhat I?
We all have pivotal moments inlife, right?
And so what is a pivotal moment?
Well, that's a period of time,regardless of what those
circumstances might be.

(19:43):
But going through that it'swhere life changes for you and
it can either be for the betteror for the worse.
Now, at the time when I lookback, you know I'm reconciled to
what I went through.
I see the benefit of it, I seehow much stronger I am, but at
the time it was absolutely awful.

(20:04):
So both of my well, actually,both accountant and attorney
both advised me to filebankruptcy.
So I'd had a series of eventsfinancially where I was getting
behind and to the point wherethey were saying, look, there is
no way out.
And I just refused to believethat, you know.

(20:25):
And I remember telling theaccountant first, because I
think I met with him first andhe said look, brian, you're just
going to have to filebankruptcy.
And I looked him square in theeyes and I said look, none of my
creditors asked for this.
They didn't ask for this.
I will.
I refuse to file bankruptcyunless someone forces me to.

(20:46):
And I told the attorney thesame thing.
I didn't know what the pathforward was.
I had no idea how I was goingto be able to pay back that debt
, but I'd made a commitment.
I just have faith.
I believe he'll see me throughthis.
Didn't know how that was evergoing to work because it seemed
impossible.
Me through this.
Didn't know how that was evergoing to work because it seemed

(21:07):
impossible.
I thought he's probably right,but I refused to accept that.
So the first home that we hadbuilt, remember I told you five
years in so my wife and I hadbuilt our dream home.
Obviously, I did almost all thelabor myself, with some help,
but we had quite a bit of equityin that.
So I feel like twice in my lifeGod has spoken directly.

(21:30):
So imagine being like gutpunched.
You're on the ground and you'regetting stomped on again and
just no way forward with this.
You know we've got smallchildren, our third daughter, we
have three girls, thirddaughter's on the way.
So how in the world are yougoing to get through this?

(21:53):
How are you going to get out ofit?
And I remember going into myoffice there at home, and you
know it was a point where I havenowhere else to turn.
I don't know who.
Where else do I look to?
And I hadn't talked to myparents about it.
Nobody in this world knew,except the accountant attorney,
my creditors.
They knew I wasn't paying mybills Right.

(22:16):
And then my wife and I in prayer, and the first time that I feel
like God's spoken to me in mylife, he gave me the path.
He said you're going to have tosell this house and my first

(22:37):
thought was how do I tell mywife Sandy?
She designed it, I built it andthis is where we were going to
raise our children.
So that's what we did.
She begrudgingly agreed to it.
But we had enough equity.
We almost paid off the debt,but not fully.
Still to the point, I don'tknow how we're going to be able
to pay this debt back.
But after about two years timeI had one creditor and I thank

(22:57):
them daily that they agreed towork with me, cause I went to
him and I told him.
I said look, this is mysituation.
So I was honest about it.
This is where I'm at.
I'm not sure how long it'sgoing to take, but if you're
willing to work with me, Ipromise you, you have my word,
you'll be paid every dime, andhe agreed so.

(23:21):
Through that, the Lord was there, he provided.
Obviously, we had to give upour dream home, but that's just
a material possession, right?
But see what did I come outwith?
I had my honor intact, and whatgreater thing can you have in
life than to maintain your honorand your integrity?

(23:44):
Can you have in life than tomaintain your honor and your
integrity?
I tell you guys, I've beenblessed over and over and over
since that point in my lifebecause I feel like that was
what God was calling me to doand I honored him by following
that.
And again, I don't share thisto exalt myself.
That's not what this is about.
And you know, I reallystruggled for years sharing this

(24:07):
.
I don't know if it was ego,maybe a little bit of pride.
I don't see it that way.
Now I hope that it encouragesothers to realize that God's
there, he's with you, he'llprovide the honor him and then,
by doing that, you keep yourhonor intact.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
Yeah, what a story man, and thank you for sharing
that?

Speaker 5 (24:30):
Did you know that I had no idea?

Speaker 3 (24:32):
I had no idea.
And you know, being in businessfor for 20 years with with, uh,
with little Catron's glass, youknow I've obviously ran into
instances where we've had raninto instances where we've had
customers file bankruptcy andwe've had customers who were
honest and and did exactly whatyou did.

(24:52):
And, um, man, you know that'san awesome thing because I I had
more that filed for bankruptcythan than the couple that came
and said, hey, here's thesituation.
You know, here's what we'regoing through.
I promise you I will pay youevery dime.
It's just going to take me sometime and, you know, fortunately
I was in a position where wecould make that work.

(25:14):
It wasn't large sums of moneybut, um, the respect that I have
and I know the, the two peoplein my mind who who both had
those conversations with me overthe last 20 years.
I know exactly who they are andI respect them so much more, um
than if they would have cameand lied to me or not, you know,
not not paid their debt and andthat's not an easy thing for

(25:37):
you right To do that Right it's,it's humbling.

Speaker 5 (25:41):
Yeah, I mean, that's an understatement.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
Yeah, yeah, but you did it.
And now look like, what did youjust say Through all that?
What did you learn?

Speaker 5 (25:49):
Yeah, I'm a different person because of it.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
Yeah, and how different would you be if you
had filed for bankruptcy?

Speaker 5 (25:55):
Oh well, we wouldn't be sitting here together today.
I promise that.
Yeah, yeah, you know we had toborrow money to.
I'll get into this later butwhen we purchased Winston Hunt
Construction I didn't have thecash to be able to buy that
business, so obviously it took aloan.
I wouldn't have ever beengranted credit to be able to do
that and be where I'm at today.

(26:16):
Last 10 years have been amazing.

Speaker 3 (26:18):
Yeah, yeah.
So you get through that pivotalmoment, that difficult moment,
that um that turns out to be ablessing in in your life.
What's next for you?

Speaker 5 (26:28):
Yeah.
So it took till probably 2001,2002 to get completely out of
that hole, still rebuilding,because not only did I sell my
home, I had to sell quite a bitof equipment.
Uh, so I went through a resetperiod, basically practically
starting over, with nothingagain.
One thing I do want to share,so I'm going to go back for just

(26:50):
a moment.
When I was finishing up withschool had my commission, again
really not having any idea whatmy path forward was going to,
was where that was going to takeme.
I like to put it this way I hadno money in my pocket but a
handful of ambition, and youknow, as long as you have
ambition in life, with the rightattitude, you can handle just

(27:14):
about any challenge right.
So that's where I started.
So now we'll get back to thisnext question.
So keep in mind, you roll theclock back just two or three
years flat on my back dead brokebills to pay, no way to pay it.

Speaker 3 (27:32):
Young family.

Speaker 5 (27:32):
Young family right Now.
My youngest daughter's in thepicture by 2005,.
Well, actually, let me back up.
So in 2002, we purchased a home.
Where we're at now We've gotnine acres, and my oldest
daughter from the time she wasabout a year, year and a half
old just fell in love withhorses.

(27:54):
We had horses back on the farm,but they weren't all that, they
weren't trained all that.
Well, dad would throw me on andoff we go you know that kind of
deal you know, not not realsafe.
So my my daughter sparkedsomething in me to to want to be

(28:15):
able to provide that for them.
The the property had a what I'dcall just a junk barn.
It was one step away from justneeding to be torn down, but I'm
a carpenter.
So what do you do?
You just start fixing it up.
And I was fortunate enough tobe able to get a horse for each
of my two daughters so that theycould experience what that

(28:38):
would be like.
Because, again, I want them tohave what I had as a child,
where there's responsibilitiesthat come with consequences.
If you do the work, and it goesright, if you don't do the work
, there are severe consequences.
I definitely wanted my girls tobe able to experience that.
So by 2004, 2005, I was reallybeginning to see the impact,

(29:02):
that responsibility, but alsotheir connection to horses.
I saw how impactful that wasfor them and how it was
developing them.
And so I began thinking allright, I know there's a lot of
kids, just that I know.
But other kids in thiscommunity, they're never going
to have this opportunity, so howdo I extend that to others?

(29:22):
And so, in 2005, I startedhaving these thoughts of okay,
how do you create some sort ofprogram that offers writing
lessons, but really more sooffering a therapeutic side to
introducing these young kids tohorses?
Had no idea and I guess Iwasn't smart enough to do the

(29:45):
research.
But what I was envisioning isactually an international
phenomenon.
There's writing programsliterally all across the world
doing what we do and I'll getinto Brighter Path a little
later but really what I want toget to is so, keep in mind, this
is 2005,.
About five, six years ago.

(30:06):
I'm on my back.
So for years, and I would saymaybe even to this day, one of
my greatest fears is the fear offailure, financial failure.
It has gripped me in the past.
I'm right there with you.
Every decision I would think itthrough, second guess it
because, look, I knew what theconsequences could be.

(30:27):
I knew what the fallout of poordecisions could be, and I
remember the first time thinkingabout and maybe this was
dreaming to a degree okay, ifI'm going to do this, then if
I'm going to do it right, I'mgoing to need an indoor facility
.
I thought, wait a minute youcan't afford this.

(30:47):
You know, you're just you'remaking payments on the mortgage.
You know three young children,all of that financial obligation
.
We're just barely making it.
How, how in the world am Igoing to be able to afford to
build a huge indoor riding arena?
Add more horses?
That's just not even possible.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
And horses are cheap.
Yeah, especially feeding them.
Right, right, right.

Speaker 5 (31:08):
Yeah.
So then the tug of war startswith God.
Ben, I see you shaking yourhead, you, I think you know
something about that, maybe, yep, yep.
So, um, I put a pencil andpaper together, put an estimate
together Okay, what's it goingto cost?
And I saw the number at thebottom.

(31:30):
I'm like you got to be kiddingme.
There is just no way.
So for the next two years, I'mwrestling with God, and I think
we know what that looks like,right?
God's telling you to do onething, and we're saying no way.
You to do one thing, and we'resaying no way.
So, over and over and over, fortwo years I was telling God I

(31:51):
can't afford to do this, I can'tafford to do it.
But God's relentless.
When he puts something on yourheart and it's his desire, his
will, he is absolutelyrelentless.
So those thoughts never wentaway.
I was seeing more and I wouldhear stories, I would hear of
children in community that Iknew, without a doubt, I could

(32:13):
help them.
Building some sort of programwould absolutely have an impact
in that child's life.
Those thoughts never left me,but again, I guess maybe being
hardheaded my answer was I can'tafford to do this.
And, dan, I think I shared thiswith you last week and I
promise you I'm going to getgoosebumps here in a minute,
because every time I tell thisstory it just gives me chills

(32:35):
over again.
So I'll never forget where Iwas at.
I think it was in June or Julyof 2007.
I was on the lawnmower.
That's where I get my thinkingdone.
And again, as God, asrelentless as he is, those
thoughts and those feelings werejust overwhelming me that day

(32:55):
and I kept saying, you know, onthat path, on the mower, going
around, the next time I can'tafford to do this.

Speaker 4 (33:03):
Oh sorry.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
There's God calling right.

Speaker 4 (33:06):
Yeah, or Matt Keating .

Speaker 5 (33:10):
Yeah.
So the last time I said I can'tafford to do this, this is the
second time I feel like God'sspoken to me.
He said you cannot afford tonot do this.
You can't afford to not do it.
And I tell you, I stopped themower.
I think I about fell off themower.
I just literally about brokedown.

(33:32):
I thought, oh my gosh, you'rekidding me.
You've got to be kidding me.
I've been down so far thatthere was no way out.
But then it occurred to me.
God pulled me out of that.
How else do you explain that?
And I guess very quickly I wasreconciled again.

(33:56):
I don't know how, how this isgoing to work out, but I knew
what.
I knew what had to happen inorder to bring this type of
program to fruition.
We broke ground in in August.
I'm a contractor, so I know howto push buttons.
I know how to get thingsrolling.
So we broke ground justliterally a couple months later

(34:16):
finished the barn right aroundNew Year's that year.
So we had our first students inthat facility in 2008.
One of my first students I'vegot a picture of him at the time
he was 13.
He was our first spatial needsstudent.
That was just unbelievable andsince then I couldn't tell you.

(34:37):
In fact I have no idea how manyhundred students, literally
hundreds of kids, have beenthrough the program, the people
that have been impacted the waymy life has changed.
It's opened up opportunitiesfor volunteers to work with kids
.
I think at times I think maybethey're even more blessed than

(34:57):
the students that we work with.
But going back to so, how didthat get paid for?
Again you know, I was my companyat the time.
It was still on the reboundright.
It's still growing back becauseI had to start all over again
that year, so that's 2007,.
I was on a project down inOxford.

(35:19):
It was a really good projectfor us financially.
By the time we finished thebarn in December of 2007, half
of it was paid for.
Wow.
Half of it Within a matter of afew years later, it was paid,
paid off.
That's amazing, right?

(35:41):
So to me, that's what faith cando.

Speaker 3 (35:45):
Yeah, yeah.
And you know there's a lotthere.
So I think about you sitting onthat mower and God telling you
you can't afford not to do it.
You know you have to do this.
Think about the impact.
I mean, I can see the impactit's had on you and there's no
doubt the impact that it's hadon any of those kids that go

(36:09):
through the program, thevolunteers.
But then what about all thosefamilies?
Not just the kids, not just thevolunteers, but the families,
how you have positively affectedthe families.

Speaker 5 (36:22):
Yeah.
So before I answer that, I wantto back up.
So we homeschooled all three ofour daughters.
My middle daughter, especially,was very passionate about
learning how to train horses.
She was very gifted at that,also probably equally gifted

(36:42):
with children.
My middle daughter, emma,really just was quite passionate
about this.
So when she was 12 was when shefirst started giving lessons
right beside dad.
So she and I together, fivenights a week, we were working

(37:03):
with students.
So we started that in againJanuary of 08 and through 2017.
In 2017, we were fortunateenough to get our non-profit
status.
I'd never done this before, buthad to form a board of directors
, put all of the programmingtogether, and then Emma, of
course, it was just very naturalfor her to take the next step.

(37:25):
She became the executivedirector, and so really, from
that point, I would say theprogram has been on a strong
upward trajectory in terms ofthe number of students we're
able to touch, the amount ofvolunteer opportunities that
have been created as a result.
But, to get to your question, afew years ago we actually, as a

(37:47):
board, considered that and wechanged our mission statement,
because we were not onlyimpacting the students, but we
were seeing the huge impact itwas having on parents and even
grandparents.
I'll never forget the firsttime I witnessed a grandparent
standing there at the wallobserving their grandchild in

(38:08):
the arena accomplishingsomething that they didn't think
was ever going to be possible,standing there in tears, I mean.
Even now I just get cold chillsthinking about it.
I have no idea the number ofpeople that have been impacted
by that.

Speaker 3 (38:24):
But it's amazing, yeah, yeah, it's amazing, that's
fantastic.
So, from Brighter Path nowwe're moving forward.
Business, you know, business isgoing pretty good, but there's
some more changes coming right,sure.

Speaker 5 (38:38):
Right.
So all along my business wasprogressing, really getting my
feet back under me.
I had learned a lot, you know,in business.
In business, sometimes the thebest lessons you learn the hard
way, right.
But my girls were getting alittle bit older and I took
parenting very seriously.

(38:59):
So I, um, I was veryconscientious about maintaining
priorities.
Um, I could have you know yearsago, I could have ramped up the
business and mash the gas alittle harder, so to speak, but
I just felt like to be theparent that I needed to be, the

(39:19):
husband that I need to be to mywife.
Serving the church, there'sjust got to be a priority and I
was not willing to make thosekinds of sacrifices where my
family was going to pay theprice, because with sacrifice
there's a price, right?
So, as my girls were gettingolder, my first daughter got

(39:40):
married in 2012.
Emma, she was married in 2017.
But in 2016, I was given theopportunity to purchase
Wissenhut Construction.
I was very excited about that.
Quite honestly, I was a littlebit surprised that, keith I

(40:01):
don't know if you would sayrespect or not, but I guess he
saw something in me that he waswilling to offer his company to
me, that he'd put 40 years ofhis life into.
I knew that because I'd workedfor Keith as a subcontractor and
knew the level of quality heexpected and demanded, and I
knew that he had a greatreputation throughout eastern

(40:25):
Indiana and considered it quitea privilege.
But again, that opportunity wasmade available to me because
years ago I'd made a decisionthat it was absolutely the only
decision for me that opened thatopportunity and put that door
wide open in front of me.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
Yeah, it's amazing it goes back to could have filed
for bankruptcy, right yeah, andyou didn't.

Speaker 5 (40:49):
Right.

Speaker 3 (40:50):
And how different your life is.

Speaker 5 (40:52):
So you know buying, you know you've been in
construction, mainly residentialright For the most part I had
done some commercial work right,but I had a lot to learn.
I'll admit that when I tookover the company there was a lot
to learn Things about thecommercial side, some of those
intricacies that I didn't quiteunderstand.
But you know I'll be honest,I'm a hard charger and I'm going

(41:16):
to learn it.
You know, I think part of we'regoing to talk about success
later, but part of that ishaving no quit.
Yeah.
I think I probably learned thatat a very young age, back six,
seven years old Dad you know, mydad was kind of a different

(41:38):
type, let's say quite acharacter, but dad was not the
type that would hold my hand andsay, Brian, okay, this is what
we're going to do and these areall the steps that it's going to
take.
Going to do, and these are allthe steps that it's going to
take.
No, he would say, Brian, I wantyou to go do whatever.

(41:58):
And he would walk away andleave me wondering all right, I
have no clue.
But dad said this and I, Ifeared the wrath more than
anything.
So what are you going to do?
Well, you start figuring it out, you analyze it and you you
come up with a plan and youproblem solve and, right or
wrong, I did it.
And so I think maybe that'spart of what got me to a point
where you just have thisattitude no, quit there is no

(42:21):
quit.

Speaker 3 (42:21):
Yeah, and and you know, I think we we've talked
about it with Maddie, a lot ofpeople that have been on here
you know you find out the kindof person that you are when your
back's against the wall.
Right, that's where you youfind out the measure of a man is
is when their back's againstthe wall.
Talk a little bit about youknow you didn't do it on your
own.
You talked about your dad.
I know your relationship withyour wife and your family, but

(42:43):
there had to have been othermentors along the way that
helped to guide you.
Is there any that come to thetop of your mind that you say,
hey, this was somebody that Iwent to and had a serious
discussion with that helped meget through some of those times.

Speaker 5 (42:57):
Yes In my business life.
I wish I could say Dan.
Yes, absolutely, I sought out amentor.
That's a mistake that I've made.
Looking back, I would havebenefited greatly from that.
To answer your question no, nota single person per se, but I

(43:20):
feel like my relationship withthe Lord.
He has mentored me all alongand there's probably more value
in that than if it had been justa person or maybe a group of
people.
However, there is obviouslyvalue in mentors, but, again, my

(43:41):
relationship with the Lord, histeachings, his commandments,
following those what greatermentorship could there be?

Speaker 3 (43:49):
Where did that faith come from?

Speaker 5 (43:50):
what greater mentorship could there be.
Where did that faith come from?
Well, you know, as a youngchild.
Mom, dad, dad would go tochurch sometimes, but mom always
went.
So I don't really remember atime that I wasn't taken to
church but just because you'rein church doesn't mean you're at
church you know what I mean bythat.

(44:11):
Yeah, you've probably beenthere.
I think I've heard you talkabout it actually.
So you know, I, you know myspiritual walk, I've been.
I've been in some very darkplaces.
You know, when I spoke earlier,when I was about finished with
high school, going off tocollege, that was kind of a dark
time for me because I wasstruggling with my faith.

(44:33):
I had zero direction in termsof where am I going, what am I
even doing?
Why am I going to college?
I know I really need to, butwhat's the purpose?
And so I really startedquestioning God.
In fact, I hate to admit it, Igot so low I was even asking is

(44:54):
there a God?
But when you come to that pointand remember I made this
statement earlier and I believethis with all my heart God is
relentless and he didn't leaveme there.
But I think God allowed me togo to that place so that I would
realize I am nothing withouthim.
And there came a point where Iwas accusing God.

(45:19):
Imagine this I was accusing Godthat he had left me.
He hadn't left me, I'd left him.
And that was anotherlife-changing moment when I
realized he's never left me.
He's been here all of my lifein ways I can't even imagine.
To this day he's with me inways I can't imagine, protecting

(45:42):
me, guiding me, puttingthoughts on my mind and my heart
, the way that we're to serve.
So I don't know if that quiteanswered your question.
You know how do you come to apoint of faith?
I think God, obviously God isthe giver of faith, but it's in
us to then recognize that it'sGod speaking, it's God directing
.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (46:02):
That's a great answer .
Same thing with your wrestlingthat you're talking about
earlier, like when you're tryingto decide if you, you know I
can't afford it, I can't affordit.
It's that spiritual.
You always hear pastors andeverybody.
It's so true.
You know like you're wrestlingwith them, and it's not just you
and God wrestling back andforth, it's you, it's me in a
spiritual battle, exactly Right.

Speaker 5 (46:21):
So the problem with that is I was putting all the
focus on me.
It was.
It was, in one way, it was true.
It was true.
I don't know how to do this, Ican't afford it.
Listen to what I just said.
I can't afford this.
Well, that part was true.
I couldn't afford it.

(46:41):
But I know one that does, orwho is able, and God is able in
all things.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Yeah, and you're right.
You're a hundred percent right.
So you buy WisenhuntConstruction and how many
employees did you have beforeyou bought Wisenhunt?
And then how many did you have?

Speaker 5 (46:56):
once you purchased the business Right, we
fluctuated over the yearsbetween three and five.
I think maybe at one point on aparticular project.
That was about a three-yearproject.
There were seven of us.

Speaker 3 (47:09):
And then, when you bought Wisenh hunt, what did
that look like?

Speaker 5 (47:12):
That took us to about I don't know, it was maybe 12.
That's a big jump, pretty bigjump.
Yeah, still small.
But um.

Speaker 3 (47:20):
Management wise, that's a big job.
It is right.
A lot more Um I.

Speaker 5 (47:26):
I guess I'd been through enough lessons that you
know I didn't struggle with it,I wasn't stressed over that, I
wasn't worried.
Now, granted, there's been some, there've been challenges, but
I really I can't say that Iworry about the small things.
Now I handle stress pretty welland I just fully believe that

(47:48):
God's going to see us through.
And again, it's kind of likethese building blocks, life
through life.
You experience success, youexperience maybe a better way to
put that is overcoming and thatsets you up for the next.
And I love to be challenged.
I'm kind of restless when itcomes to that.

(48:11):
I have to be challenged.
I love projects, I loveanything that is challenging.
That's what pushes us to domore, be better, to achieve more
.

Speaker 3 (48:23):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't know a lot of this stuff
I am.
You know you learn so muchthroughout failure.
You know having failure in yourlife and you talk about again.
You go back to where you couldhave filed for bankruptcy Now
you're buying.
You know you're buying ageneral construction company.
Now you've got 12 employees andnow you've got a loan to pay

(48:48):
back.
With that you talk about yourfaith.
What keeps you going?
You're obviously very, verydriven to succeed and you have a
major fear of failure.
So how do you sleep at night?

Speaker 5 (49:05):
Actually I sleep pretty well.
I have a great team around me.
We've been very selective aboutlet me be careful how I say
this.
We're very mindful of thosepeople that we put in place.
I have to be able to trust themimplicitly.
And so how do you gain thattype of person?

(49:27):
Well, it's reciprocal.
They have to trust meimplicitly.
So when I get the right teammembers in place that I know
we're all moving in the samedirection, there's no strife
among us.
Then I don't have to take a lotof this home with me and I
don't About five, six o'clock atnight.

(49:47):
Good luck getting a hold of me.
I put the phone down.
I might check it once or twicethrough the through the evening
weekends.
The same way, if you guys wantto get ahold of me, you better
have my wife's number, otherwiseI am out of touch.

Speaker 3 (50:01):
And that's that's good.
But when you buy a business,you inherit people.
Yes, right, so there's there'sthere's challenges to try to
manage.

Speaker 5 (50:11):
Most of the guys are still there.
We had a few that over timethey probably needed to go, and
I knew when you first take overyou can't just upset everything
at once.
So over about a year or twoperiod we were able to weed
through and get rid of.
That's kind of a bad way to putit, but we worked through some

(50:33):
of the actors, let's say, thatwere not going to help us go in
the direction that I knew Iwanted to take the company.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
Okay, talk about success.
What's success look like foryou?

Speaker 5 (50:45):
I'm glad you ask Um.
So I think about that word alot and I I feel like achievers
and you guys are achievers and Iwant to address your audience
for a moment.
There's a reason why youraudience is listening, why they
might listen to somebody like me.
They are already motivated, butwhat I want to ask you?

(51:07):
They are already motivated, butwhat I want to ask you, I want
to ask you to consider how doyou define success?
So many people today, when youask that question, it's going to
be a very simple,straightforward answer and it's
marked by material matters yourhome, how many homes you have,

(51:34):
what your retirement accountlooks like, how much money you
have in the bank.
That doesn't mark success to meat all.
Those things are necessary, butthat is not the mark of success
, and I feel like each of ushave to define what does success
look like for me?
And the reason I say that iswhen I look at a child in the

(51:56):
arena that is accomplishingsomething that they never
thought possible.
But through instruction,through love, care and
compassion, through a lot ofdedication and hard work, maybe
they've overcome a physicalchallenge for the first time in
their life.
That's huge success, but it'ssomething that you and I, we do

(52:20):
on a daily basis.
Maybe it's being able tophysically hold a ball, maybe
throw a ball.
You and I would do that withouteven thinking right, so you
wouldn't define that as success.
But for the next person, thatmight be one of the major
successes of their whole life.
So when you begin breaking thatdown, so I have to look at

(52:41):
myself.
How do I define success?
Have I honored my wife?
Have I been the best parentthat I can be?
Have I given my children theopportunities to grow and
succeed as adults?
Have I served others?
Am I compassionate?
Am I giving to others?

(53:03):
The answer to that tells mewhether or not there's been
success me whether or notthere's been success.

Speaker 3 (53:16):
That's a good answer.
I, um, I got hit in the mouthwith the success question, I
don't know.
Probably four or five monthsago I was driving and I got a
phone call from someone from aschool and she said um, Dan, we
would like you to speak atgraduation.
Wow, Like me.
What do I have?

Speaker 5 (53:39):
Right.

Speaker 3 (53:39):
She's like she.
She said you've been successful.
And I'm like successful haveyou seen my bank account?
Like why do you think I'msuccessful?
Because I don't think I'msuccessful Like I.
And it really really made methink because I guess in my mind

(54:02):
the way I had always looked atsuccess was someone who's got
all those things that you justsaid.
And this isn't that long ago,and I'm kind of ashamed to admit
that that.
That that's the way I wasthinking.
And she's like no, dan, she'slike look at what you've done
with your life, look at how you,um, you know you show up every
day and you work hard and andyou try to set a good, good

(54:24):
example and you try to be a goodparent and you try to be a good
friend.
And then it was like it waskind of like that like switch
went off was like you know whatYou're right, like really, truly
, what success for me is is whenmy alarm goes off at four, 45
in the morning, that I get outof bed, that I get out of bed.
It is that simple?
Yes, it is.
And and so I I kind of did anabout face and I started looking

(54:48):
at it as how can I besuccessful today?
Well, I can start by when myalarm goes off.
I get out of bed.
Then what's my next step?
I get my boys, or the girls,and we, we go work out and then
we have breakfast together.
You know, we have.
We have a short window of timebefore the kids go off to school
and I go off to work, to wherewe've got that 30, 45 minutes

(55:11):
together that I can enjoy and Ican cherish, because I'm already
seeing it.
I've got one off to college,you know.
I got another one that's goingto be going off in a couple of
years and, um, I can go to work,you know, and I can.
I can help a customer, I canhelp an employee and success
right At the end of the day, ifI'm going to go get my walk-in,

(55:32):
I get my walk-in, I do it, I saymy prayers, right?
I have dinner with my family,or we go coach a bunch of young
kids playing basketball,whatever it may be.
I lay down in bed that night andI think, okay, was today a
success?
Yeah, yeah, it was.
I mean, you can break it downthat simple.

(55:52):
It doesn't mean you've got allthe money in the world and
you've got all these homes and Idon't know why.
That day it just kind of hit mebut it did and it was like no,
let's just make this our success.
Let's make this podcast rightnow with Brian Ballinger
successful, and then we'll dowhat's next with Brian Ballinger
, successful, and then we'll dowhat's next.

Speaker 5 (56:18):
So, as you're sharing all of that, isn't it true that
success is not marked by thingsthat quickly pass?
Yeah, and so all of thesematerial things, they're going
to pass, right, but what are thethings that are lasting?
That's how you measure successare lasting, that's how you
measure success.
So I've listened to all of thepodcasts.
I got hooked.
So, a couple of them I want tomention, because, if we're still

(56:40):
learning, if we're stillgrowing, I think it's good to
admit that you just made astatement a moment ago that
you're almost willing to, almosthesitate, almost embarrassed to
even admit this, but that's a,that's a mark of growth.
So, um, coach Kelly, you guys,um, you adore him.
I didn't hardly even I hate toadmit, I didn't know the name to

(57:02):
him.
He's, uh, really high on thelist, but any, anyway, when I
was listening to that podcast,um, I could name several things
that he said that was reallygood.
But there was one moment in thatpodcast that really got my
attention.
I knew that I, because I wasn'twatching, I was just listening.
But I knew exactly what he wasdoing.

(57:24):
And you were talking about yourgratitude walk, yes, and so you
began expanding on that and youwere getting ready to go to the
next subject, coach Kellystopped you and he said wait a
minute.
What did you just?
What did you call that?
And I could hear him shufflingsome papers and I could imagine
he was taking a pen.
He wanted to write that downbecause he's still learning.

(57:47):
That's success, you know.
Success is not that we lookback on yesterday and we live in
the triumphs that we might havewitnessed and gained yesterday
and expect that success to carryus into the future.
It doesn't work that way, youknow.
Whatever success I've had inthe past, that's in the past.

(58:10):
What about today?
Where am I going tomorrow?

Speaker 3 (58:13):
Yeah, and you know what's unique about that Cause?
We talked about that a week orso ago.
Coach Kelly hears that yeah hedoes Listen um is he was my
teacher.
Yeah exactly, I mean, I gainedit so much.
Yeah, I gained so much from him.
And then, here we are, 20 yearslater he's sitting here, he
becomes the student, yeah.

Speaker 5 (58:32):
Yeah, I loved that.
I thought that was so amazing.

Speaker 3 (58:34):
Yeah, no, that's a good point, and we talked about
that and that you're right.
I mean it was.
I remember him doing that.
I remember him asking thequestion and I was thinking the
same thing.
This is, this is pretty unique,yeah yeah.
So we talked about success,Talk about goals, a little bit
Like what are some goals for you?
Because I know right now you'rein the middle of maybe a

(58:59):
challenging time in your headtrying to figure some things out
and and and we talked about ita week or so ago, you know, talk
about some of the things thatyou're doing and some of the
things you're going through.

Speaker 5 (59:09):
Yeah, I don't know quite how to answer that.
I know there are going to besome bigger things for me ahead.
I just don't know yet exactlywhat that's going to be.
I'd say for probably the lastfew months, doing a little bit
of soul searching, like I saidearlier, I get restless, I get.
I guess, to be honest, I getbored easily.

(59:32):
I've got to be challenged and Iknow that there's amazing
things out there waiting for me.
It's just I don't know whatthey are yet.
So I'm praying over it and I'mvery excited about it.
I love change.
Most people are terrified bychange.
I love change.
I embrace it because that wherethere's change, if you're

(59:53):
moving in the right direction,that's growth.
So I don't know that I can sayexactly what these goals are,
other than being somethingbetter and more than I am today.

Speaker 3 (01:00:07):
Can you talk a little bit about the conversation we
discussed when you wereskydiving and how you were
getting frustrated?

Speaker 5 (01:00:21):
Kind of go into that a little bit and then the
conversation be kind of an oddthing that somebody at my age
would want to try to pick upskydiving and become a master of
that sport.
So in 2001, when they werestill having the boogie down at

(01:00:43):
the Boston airport, I told mywife.
I said you know I'm going to godo that.
And she says I don't know thatyou are.
So I took a little bit ofconvincing and persuading.
I remember again, you know wedidn't have much money at all,
but I'm like I really want to dothis.
So she agreed and so that wasmy first taste of it.

(01:01:04):
I think that fall.
I jumped five times Again.
I realized that look, in termsof priorities, I can't keep
doing this.
It's an expensive sport, butanyway, put that on hold Again.
Priorities I feel like we haveto have them.

(01:01:25):
So two years ago I had anopportunity to take a young lady
that was a volunteer at WrRider Path.
She won a scholarship andsurprisingly, her scholarship
read this do somethingchallenging and exciting that
you can't afford to do and spendit on yourself.
So she won this $500scholarship and she was telling

(01:01:46):
me about it.
She said you know, I think Iwant to go skydiving, I said,
wonderful, I'm going to take you.
So after, since you know it'sbeen all these years I have I've
kind of put that dream on hold.
So we, we go and we make, makeour jump together, which was
kind of amazing.
It got me hooked again.
I think I had an I don't knowmaybe a couple more jumps that

(01:02:09):
year and then last year I forget, I don't know I got three or
four jumps in and I realizedthat if I'm going to get my
skydiving license at my age youknow, age is going to start
working against me I better bedoing this now.
So I thought, well, I'll go toFlorida, I'll carve out two
weeks.
There's a world-class skydivingcenter down in Deland, florida.

(01:02:32):
It's going to be easier for meto take off a two-week block of
time in the winter, much easierthan to get away in the summer.
So about a month ago I'd justgotten home from this and then
we talked about it last week.
So my mind leading up to that isall right.

(01:02:53):
It's just simply mind overmatter.
You listen to the instruction,you listen to the teaching and
you just simply go and do it.
Well, what I discovered is it'sreally not that easy.
You don't get the sense thatyou're falling, but you're
falling through the sky at 120miles an hour.

(01:03:14):
That's terminal velocity.
So imagine the slightest littlemovement of your leg, your hand
, your arm dipping your shoulder.
Every small movement has aconsequence.
So I want you to keep that wordconsequence in mind.
So my first jump went fine.
You've got two instructors byyour side.
Get to the ground, no problem.

(01:03:35):
Jump two was not bad.
Jump three not so great.
Jump four.
So keep in mind you have to.
You have to pass each jump toget to the next level.
So jump four.
I did not pass and still havenot passed.
I jumped nine times while I wasdown there.
So keep in mind this is Floridain the winter.

(01:03:59):
You've got people fromnationalities literally all
across the world.
I met some amazing people,multiple countries.
Most of my instructors are notnative to this country.
One was from Honduras, one wasfrom Brazil and one from
Venezuela.
So the the little shortVenezuelan guy he's the one I

(01:04:20):
want to talk about.
He was not really my instructorbut for some reason he always
seemed to take an interest in me.
After we would make a jump, theinstructors had goPros on their
helmets, so every jump'srecorded and they would use that
as a training tool, show you,okay, you did this right.
But here's where it went wrong.
And when that training sessionwould be over, for some reason,

(01:04:44):
this little short Venezuelan guy, he'd always come up to me in
his accent and he would sayBrian, you need to relax, you
need to just take a deep breathand relax.
And then he would give me someother pointers, and he was
always really good about that.
So, anyway, after my ninth jump, I'd gotten over the fact that
I'm really frustrated because inmy mind, you just simply do it.

(01:05:07):
Well, that wasn't working.
My ninth jump I won't go intointo it there were some pretty
crazy things happening.
My my instructor had to kind ofdive in and grab a hold of me
to get me stable.
So so you were out of control,very out, very much so out of
control.
So, uh, my training instructorshad gone through the video and

(01:05:27):
the little short venezuelan guycomes up to me and he kind of
gets almost in my space.
I'm like dude back up comes upto me and he kind of gets almost
in my space.
I'm like dude back up, what areyou doing?
And he kind of reaches in andhe's shorter than me, so he's
looking up and he goes, you knowwhat your problem is You're
trying to control everything inyour life.
I thought my first thought and Ididn't say it out loud, but it

(01:05:48):
was like dude, you don't know me.
And then, immediately, as soonas that thought entered my mind,
it was like wait a minute, heknows something, he's absolutely
right.
I was trying to controleverything.
And in the sky, in the air, youcan't, you don't control it.
You work with it, you flow withit.

(01:06:09):
And I'm still unpacking thatbecause I think there's some
spiritual lessons in that.
So much about life we're tryingto control.
And so I really think, when youask me about goals, I think
that's why I can't tell you,because I don't know where God's
taking me.
Yet I know there's somethingbig and I feel like there's
something great.
I don't know what it is, butI'm not going to try to control

(01:06:30):
it because I don't know great, Idon't know what it is, but I'm
not going to try to control itbecause I don't know so.
But again, I think there's a lotmore to that that I'm trying to
unpack.
No-transcript.
Huge piece of advice then.
That whole two week trip wasworth it.

Speaker 3 (01:06:51):
Yeah, and that hit me when you told me that, because
you know I'm kind of in the sameboat.
I, like you know, I've beenable to, for the most part,
control things here and there.

Speaker 5 (01:07:00):
Well, that's what an entrepreneur does right, well,
we think we are.
We think we're trying and we'retrying to force everything into
my box and it has to fit justthe way I want it to fit.
Yeah, it's hard.
I see it in your eyes.

Speaker 3 (01:07:15):
I know it's hard.
It's hard, you know we talkabout and actually I think it
was Jason in here on Friday hewas talking about walking that
path, you know, and having faithas you're walking down that
path, and that's a hard thing,you know it's a hard thing.
So, you know, I'm kind of inthe middle of that right now,
just trying to figure things outwith all that's going on.

(01:07:36):
So, yeah, that one hit me.

Speaker 5 (01:07:38):
Well, like in my case , trying to control it, it had
some pretty bad consequences.
I was doing some back flips,midair.
I ended up into a left turnthat quickly turned to a left
spin and that's when myinstructor I'm sure he was
thinking all right enough and heflew in.
Kind of dangerous for him, youknow I'm spinning and he could
get whacked in the head,whatever, but he again, that's

(01:08:01):
some major trust, right, becausewithout him I'm in trouble.
But you know, trying to controlit, that was not fixing
anything, it was actually makingit worse.

Speaker 3 (01:08:10):
Yeah, you, you know, trying to control it, that was
not fixing anything.
It was actually making it worse.
Yeah, you wouldn't have beenwatching the GoPro video.

Speaker 4 (01:08:14):
No, you do you get to watch it after that one oh yeah
, I've watched it several timessince.
Could you fake it and be like,yeah, I was trying to do flips
in the air?
I can show you that.

Speaker 5 (01:08:23):
Well, no, except for when he came and bailed and
saved me, you know.
Otherwise, yeah, you just gotto edit it.
You might think, man, that wasreally cool, right.

Speaker 3 (01:08:34):
What else you got you want to add?
What other nuggets ofinformation you want to?

Speaker 5 (01:08:41):
you want to share with our listeners.
Yeah, so we talked aboutsuccess.
When I look at other people,regardless of where they're at
in life, how old they are andagain, I don't really want, I
don't care about your money, Idon't care about what other
people might define success.
When I look at them, I realizeone thing they all have one

(01:09:04):
thing in common they all did thehard things first.
That's a phrase I've beenputting a lot of thought into
lately.
I look back in my life.
It's not like somebody told meall right, brian, when you're
six years old, you're going todo the hard things first.

(01:09:26):
I guess maybe to some degree Iwas forced to do that.
But through life, when you makechoices and decisions that are
principled, that are deliberate,you're not taking the easy road
, you're not doing the easythings.
But when you do the hard thingsfirst and who wants to do that?
Right, I mean, it's so mucheasier just to not do all the

(01:09:50):
hard things.
But what does that?
Where does that take you?
Where does it lead you?
Is that what success looks like?
No, you, you do the hard thingsfirst.
The older you get, the easierit becomes.
Life gets easier, and I'm I, Ifeel like I'm getting to the age
where I'm seeing that now,because I've throughout my life

(01:10:12):
not always, I mean, I'm notperfect I've made mistakes, but
I've not, I've done enough ofthe hard things first, that my
life's actually getting easier,and I really want the younger
generation to hear that messagethat I know it's not what you
want, that the quick, earlygratification, that that's easy

(01:10:33):
now, but you choose that today.
Your life is only going to getharder and harder and harder the
older you get.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:10:41):
That's, that's as you were saying.
That that's what I was thinkingis, you know, you've got so
many parents out there who wanttheir kids to be comfortable and
they don't want them to face achild.
I want my, I want my child tohave it better than I had it.
Realistically, that's, that'snot what you want.
You want them to face thosechallenges because when they if
they don't, you know, for thefirst 18 years of their life,

(01:11:03):
when they're in high school, youknow all those schooling and
they get out in the real world,they're going to melt right
Because the real world, they'regoing to melt right Because the
real world is challenging.
You know, it's a challengeevery day.
Now, what I'll tell you, withdoing the hard things early, I
agree a hundred percent.
I feel like, though, the hardthings never stop, they're just
different, right?

(01:11:23):
You know there's, there'sthings you you go through and
experiences that you have thatare are difficult.
But now that I look back and Ithink, oh, that's not that big
of a deal.
But now the challenges for me,in a lot of cases, are even more
difficult, because it may not,it may not be a financial
challenge, maybe it's a familychallenge, you know and it's,
but it's a new challenge.
So I, I um, you know, I face ithead on, but I don't know that

(01:11:49):
it ever goes away.
You know, completely, in ourposition, where you're an
entrepreneur, where you're in aleadership position, where you
want to get involved in yourcommunity, you're giving back at
a nonprofit.
You know, you want to.
You want to have a positiveimpact on people's lives.
With that, you're involved inall these different boards and
organizations.
You've got you know all kinds ofpersonalities and different

(01:12:12):
walks of life that you'redealing with on a daily basis
and, like for me, you know, and,and Ben, by doing this podcast,
you know it's.
It's bringing out stories ofpeople that were able to tell
here, but I can't tell you howmany other stories of people
that we have.
That's a phone call where theytell you things you didn't

(01:12:33):
necessarily want to hear, butthey told it to you for whatever
reason, because they trust you,you're going to listen or
whatever it is, but it's a, itis, it's a challenge and I've
said it before, it's a, it's aheavy burden you know, just
trying to manage how you respondto those things and how you
deal with those things on top ofwork, family and you know

(01:12:56):
community and everything else.
So it's a challenge.

Speaker 5 (01:12:59):
See, what you've just described is, even through all
of those challenges, you'restill choosing to do the hard
thing.

Speaker 3 (01:13:07):
Yeah, maybe I'm not smart.

Speaker 5 (01:13:10):
I don't know about that You're sitting here doing
great things.
So these challenges I want togo back to, probably about
eighth, ninth grade.
I've tried to live life withoutregrets, but when I think of my

(01:13:32):
mindset when I was probablyninth grade, so growing up on a
small farm, you know we couldn'tafford a veterinarian.
So we did a lot of thedoctoring ourselves, what we
could.
Anyway, we would have the vetout and man, I thought that was

(01:13:53):
just the coolest thing ever.
So like a lot of kids, I wantedto become a veterinarian and I
was actually fortunate to beable to work in a vet clinic
summers and once I got mylicense I was able to spend a
lot of time in a vet clinic.
But by the time I was in 10thgrade I realized academically
this is not going to work.
And it wasn't that I wasself-defeated, but I was just

(01:14:15):
simply facing reality.
That was just I knew.
Reality was look, academicallythat's not going to work.
But then that set in thecrippling effect of comparing
yourself to others.
The crippling effect ofcomparing yourself to others and
I think maybe to a degree Istill to this day, am, I would

(01:14:44):
put it this way, plagued.
What's a plague?
Well, a plague is a disease,and for me it's kind of like a
disease that goes in and out ofremission.
It'll sneak up on me and I'llcompare myself to others again
by, in my mind, what I'mdefining as success.
I'll look at myself and see allof the shortcomings where I've
not succeeded the way maybe Ifeel like I should, and it's

(01:15:06):
crippling to do that when I wasmuch younger, to the point where
I kind of struggled withself-esteem, though I refused to
allow that to define me, tohold me back.
So I guess I would challengethose that are listening that,
regardless of our limitations,there are some things about us

(01:15:27):
that we're born with.
You know, genetically, yourintellect.
There are certain things aboutus we simply cannot change.
But what do you do with that?
You can't ever let thoselimitations, those challenges
that you might be facing, youcan never allow that to hold you
back and define the limit ofwhat your greatness might look

(01:15:51):
like.

Speaker 3 (01:15:53):
Jordan Christian.
We interviewed him.
He's a young man with epilepsy.

Speaker 5 (01:15:57):
I listened to him, just I don't know.
I think it was last week.
Something about that I want toshare, because I'm still
learning from a very young manwith a very insightful statement
.
In fact, he's the one thattalked about comparison.

Speaker 3 (01:16:13):
Yeah, Comparison is the thief of joy.
Yeah, yeah, as soon as you saidthat, that's exactly what I
thought was him making thatstatement.
Um, and what a valuable lesson,because you know, we didn't
have social media growing up,right?
You know, that's somewhat new,I guess you, you did, you were
we had my space, yeah.
Okay and um, but these youngkids?

(01:16:33):
That's what they're seeing,right?
You're seeing all these grandvisions of how great everybody's
life is and what do they do.
I mean, it's a natural thing,right?
You?
You compare yourself to thosepeople and this perfect life
that.

Speaker 5 (01:16:45):
I want that and I don't have it, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:16:47):
And then then you get to the instant gratification
and all of these things, and Ithink that's where we're running
into a lot of issues with theseyounger people when they get
into the workforce is, uh,they're comparing.
You know, well, I'm my buddy'sgot this job, he's making this
amount of money and you know hedoesn't have to work this hard
to do this, or?
Um, you know, I I comparisonJordan's right.

(01:17:07):
I don't know if he came up withthat or if he read it somewhere
, but comparison the kind oftrade market.
Yeah, comparison is the thief ofjoy.
Yeah, for sure.
Well, brian, anything else youwant to add for our listeners?
Any other nuggets, pieces ofadvice, any quotes, bible verses
, sure.

Speaker 5 (01:17:27):
One verse that I guess is probably the very first
verse that I had ever read inthe Bible that really meant
something to me, that I feltlike there was a message that I
could relate to, and I don'tknow if I would say it's my
favorite verse, but it was thevery first verse that had impact

(01:17:47):
, that it stayed with me mywhole life, and it's Philippians
4.13.
I can do all things throughChrist, which strengtheneth me.
If you only look at the firstpart of that, you're not getting
the message.
We all want to be doers, right,I can do all things.
That sounds amazing.
I want to do all things, butthe message there is is is

(01:18:09):
Christ in you.
Through him, I can do allthings, and so that's a great
reminder, I think, to all of usto be cognizant of in our
pursuits, in our passions, inour desire to serve others and
to help lift others up.
We will only ever be able to dothat when Christ is working in

(01:18:32):
us.
Then all things are possible.

Speaker 3 (01:18:36):
Well, and what a testament to your life, right?
I mean, look at what you'vedone, what you've been through
through the National Guard,through starting a business,
through your family, yourchildren almost bankruptcy but,
saying no, no, no, I'm going todo this.
You know when, when, the, whenthe attorney and the CPA

(01:18:57):
recommend the file forbankruptcy, you say no, I'm
going to do the right thing.
Right, starting a nonprofit tohelp others.
Buying a construction companyto continue.
You know your business goals.
Buying a construction companyto continue, you know your
business goals.
Jumping out of airplanes?
Yeah Right, you know all thosethings, all things through
Christ.
Yeah Right, you knowchallenging, but you, you

(01:19:19):
persevered and you got throughit.
So it's an amazing testament toyour life to this point, and I'm
excited to see what else is tocome and I'm excited to continue
to grow our friendship.
Um, you know, the other day wehad breakfast.
You know I had an hour penciledout and four hours later, you
know, it's like I haven't gotanything done.

(01:19:40):
You're the reason I haven'tbeen able to catch up for the
past two weeks you know so umyou're welcome yeah.
I, I, I appreciate that.
Um Ben, you got anything to add.

Speaker 4 (01:19:51):
Yeah, well, one thing we always, when people come on,
that's like one of the biggestfears I feel like, is the
testimony when you're talkingabout that, like after you got
done talking about it, andyou're like it's so hard
sometimes to talk about ourfailures and going when we get
through it, because we almostfeel like we're gratifying
ourselves and stuff like that.
That's something I feel like weall struggle with, you know and

(01:20:14):
and, but it's our testimony,right, like you know, you look
in the Bible and every story youread it's like somebody's
testimony you know, like John'stestimony and everybody else's,
but I think ever, like you know,there's been a lot of guests
that's come on here and they saythe same exact thing, and it's
stuff that we feel like too, youknow you always feel like

(01:20:35):
you're going to gratify yourself, right.

Speaker 5 (01:20:36):
So I want to expand on that.
So, dan, a minute ago, when youwere sharing that you've been
asked to speak to a graduatingclass and you were talking
through how you felt like Ithink what you were saying is
I'm not qualified.
You know what I would call thatFalse humility.
False humility is crippling andI've dealt with that a lot,
because we we want and we oughtto be humble, but not to the
point that it prevents us fromgiving and offering and doing so

(01:21:01):
I guess I'm going to encourageyou in that.
Yeah, false humility holds usback yeah, it was just a shock.

Speaker 3 (01:21:10):
Yeah, you know I, it was when, when.
Shock, you know I, it was when.
When something happens andyou're not anticipating it, you
know I, I.
You can think about, likeSeptember 11th when the planes
hit right.
Everybody knows where they wereat.
You know, you talk to anybodyelse when JFK was shot, they
know.
You know all those pivotalmoments.
I remember when she called meand she asked me that I know
exactly where I was at and itwas just one of those caught me

(01:21:30):
off guard, like like me, right,like the farm kid, like what?
What am I gonna talk about?
You know?

Speaker 5 (01:21:38):
I've learned.
But see, when I hear that I'mlike well, of course, why?
Why wouldn't she ask you?
I appreciate that I do.

Speaker 4 (01:21:45):
It's that imposter syndrome.
It is absolutely.
It is.

Speaker 5 (01:21:49):
I think a lot of us struggle with that Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (01:21:53):
Oh, yeah, yeah, I struggle with it daily.
You know, just every time we doa podcast, I'm like you know,
am I really qualified to do this?
Like why let's walk in thatpath, like having that faith,
like okay, just lead me in thedirection and let me know.
We're almost to what.
We're almost to, episode 52.
We're getting closer and closerand closer.

(01:22:15):
You know, almost a year in, andI went back through some my
phone this week and looking atsome schedules from a year ago
where we recorded the firstepisode and like that seems like
forever ago, you know, tryingto figure out how to convert the
video to audio and doing allthose things, and and now you
know, a year later, it's likewow, you know what, what a

(01:22:38):
difference a year makes so it,it.
It's kind of changed myperspective a little bit, you
know, okay.
So now where do we want to bethis time next year?
Look at what we've been able todo and to accomplish and you
know in a year's time, and what,what's next, you know what can
we continue to do?

Speaker 4 (01:22:57):
so we went to tc.
Well, after we had breakfastwith you on friday, you know, we
went to tcn schools yeah, overin ohio yeah yeah and just uh
listening to jason's story, likeseeing those kids.
You know, not a lot of peopleknew jason's story.
They, you know they listened toit what weekly.
I believe in your brother'sclass?

Speaker 3 (01:23:14):
Yeah, my brother, they listened to the podcast
every Friday.
He'll put it on for him.

Speaker 4 (01:23:19):
And I'm thinking about me like when I was in
sixth grade.
I think was the youngest inthere, or was it?
Fifth, fifth grade was theyoungest in there, and I'm
thinking of me as a fifth grader.

Speaker 3 (01:23:35):
you know, when motivational speaker somebody
comes in like I'd be goofing offmy friends.
You could hear a pin drop foran hour and a half in that
school and it's just like it wasimpressive.
It was really impressive.
I mean he had a captiveaudience and you know from from
fifth graders to 12th graders itwas.
It was pretty neat to see youcould hear a pin drop for 45
minutes.
You know it was.
It was pretty cool.

Speaker 4 (01:23:49):
And then you think about, like most of the calls
and stuff we get, though, areall like you know, thirties,
forties, fifties, some twenties.
And then, all of a sudden, yougo into a school and you see,
like those saying you know thatsame story that people commented
at that age.
And then those kids we walk inthe office and like that's,
that's, that's Jason, that's youknow, that's that's Jeff's
brother.
I don't know.

(01:24:10):
It just.
It was like the wide spectrumfrom where you know, when we
started, when you're talkingabout on your phone, we were
hoping for like one person toaffect one person.
I don't know.
It's pretty cool and it'sstories like you and people like
you that help, you know, getnew listeners and your story is
absolutely amazing.
I know this one will be a bighit.
So I can't thank you enough,brian.
I appreciate it big hit.

Speaker 3 (01:24:31):
So I can't thank you enough, brian.
I appreciate it.
How can people find you likebrighter path?
Uh, business, talk about thosethings If somebody wants to get
in touch with you yep, wci,richmondcom.

Speaker 5 (01:24:37):
Uh brighter path, is uh brighter path Inccom Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:24:42):
Yeah, you're doing awesome things, man.

Speaker 5 (01:24:44):
Yep, thank you, appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (01:24:45):
Appreciate you taking the time to to come and and be
on the podcast and the podcastand be vulnerable to share your
story.
I think that's where theconnection is right, because
everybody's going throughsomething and it's all different
, and somebody may be in themiddle of a bank or thinking
about a bankruptcy right now.
They may hear your story andthink you know what.
That's not.
I don't want to take the easyway out.

Speaker 5 (01:25:06):
One more thing I want to share, and this is to you,
but I think it's to me and allof us, If not you then who?

Speaker 3 (01:25:15):
Right, that's right, that's right.
That's a good way to end it.
Go hard, go hard, mic drop.
Hey everybody, again, pleasecontinue to like and share and
subscribe and hit that littlebell notification on YouTube and
you know, somebody out therecan be impacted by Brian's story
, because he's done a lot ofthings, he's had a lot of
experiences that he's sharedwith us, and so we are grateful

(01:25:38):
for that.
So go out and be tempered.

Speaker 1 (01:25:41):
Hi, my name is Allie Schmidt.
This is my dad, Dan.
He owns Catering's Glass.
Good job.

Speaker 2 (01:25:46):
Thanks, Allie.
Things like doors and windowsgo into making a house, but when
it's your home you expect morelike the great service and
selection you'll get fromCatron's Glass Final replacement
.
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(01:26:08):
Catron's Glass the clear choice.

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BeTempered Episode 47 - Horses, Faith, and Building Dreams: Brian Ballenger's Journey

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}BeTempered Episode 47 - Horses, Faith, and Building Dreams: Brian Ballenger's Journey