BeTempered Episode 66 - Lessons in Faith, Family, and Grit From the Rite of Passage

What makes a leader? Is it the title, the position, or something deeper? In this powerful episode of BeTempered, host Dan Schmidt sits down with Tucker Perkerson to unpack the experiences, challenges, and defining moments that shaped his leadership journey—from a small-town childhood in Atlanta to making an impact in both education and corporate America.

Tucker reflects on the lessons learned growing up immersed in sports and community, and how those early values carried forward into his adult life. He shares the heartbreak of suddenly losing his high school football coach, a man who had been a pillar of guidance and support. The loss became a turning point, shaping how Tucker views mentorship and legacy. After his college football career came to an end, he faced the daunting question of what to do next. It was a single question from his father—“Who’s had the greatest influence on your life?”—that steered him toward a career in education, leading to twelve fulfilling years as a teacher, coach, and eventually, a school principal.

The conversation takes a surprising turn when Tucker describes his leap into the corporate world, joining Chick-fil-A’s team at the national level. He gives listeners a rare insider look at what makes the brand thrive—not just its customer service reputation, but the “operator model” that prioritizes local ownership and direct accountability. Tucker explains why being closed on Sundays is more than a faith-based decision—it’s a strategic move that supports employee well-being, retention, and long-term performance.

One of the most compelling moments in the episode is when Tucker and Dan Schmidt recount their shared experience completing the Rite of Passage—a grueling 24-hour endurance challenge designed to strip away comfort and push participants to their absolute limits. Side by side, they endured exhaustion, pain, and the mental battles that come with extreme adversity. Tucker recalls physically collapsing at the finish line, unsure if he could take another step, until a Green Beret friend leaned in and said, “You just gave everything.” That simple statement reframed the entire experience, turning it into a powerful metaphor for leading with heart, faith, and relentless commitment.

From there, the discussion moves into Tucker’s day-to-day approach to leadership and life: intentional morning routines, making career decisions that prioritize family, and embracing gratitude as a guiding principle. He and his wife, Jennifer, have a shared vision for their legacy—one rooted in generosity. As Tucker puts it, “When people look back on Tucker and Jennifer, if there’s one word, we want it to be generosity.”

This episode isn’t just a conversation—it’s a roadmap for anyone looking to lead with purpose, overcome challenges, and live in a way that inspires others.

🎧 Experience the full story of grit, gratitude, and growth—visit BeTempered.com to listen now.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, my name is Allie Schmidt.
This is my dad, dan.
He owns Catron's Glass.
Thanks, allie.
Things like doors and windowsgo into making a house, but when
it's your home, you expect morelike the great service and
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Final replacement windows fromCatron's come with a lifetime
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Also ask for custom showerdoors and many other products

(00:21):
and services.
Call 962-1636.
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Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey, do you want to catch every episode live as it's
being recorded?
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, behind the scenes photos and alive recording as it takes
place.
Go to patreoncom slash betempered.
Welcome to the Be Temperedpodcast, where we explore the
art of finding balance in achaotic world.

(00:51):
Join us as we delve intoinsightful conversations,
practical tips and inspiringstories to help you navigate
life's ups and downs with graceand resilience.
We're your host, dan Schmidtand Ben Spahr.
Let's embark on a journey tolive our best lives.
This is Be Tempered.
What's up everybody?
Welcome to the Be Temperedpodcast, episode number 66.

(01:13):
We are Ben-less today.
Ben has a little youth footballpractice tonight, so you just
got me and our special guest.
Today's guest is not just anincredible leader, he's also a
friend, a brother in life'sjourney.
Tucker Perkerson is an Atlantanative, a devoted husband and

(01:34):
father and a key part of theChick-fil-A family where he
leads and serves at a high levelwithin their Corporate Summit
Support Center in Atlanta.
Tucker and I first connectedthrough the rite of passage an
experience that tested our faith, grit and brotherhood in the
mountains, and he's the kind ofman you're better for having in
your life.
He's the type of leader whoshows up for his family first,

(01:57):
who brings faith and integrityinto his work and who lives out
what it means to serve others.
Well, today we'll talk abouthis childhood, the lessons he
carries forward from his parentsand how he balances faith,
family and leadership, and whyhe said yes to pushing himself
through one of the toughestphysical and mental challenges
we've faced.
I'm honored to call him afriend and excited for you to

(02:20):
hear his story, tucker.
What's up, man?

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Glad to be here.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
I'm glad you are here .
It's kind of funny how this allworked out this week.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, yeah.
So I was coming up here forwork and you know we had gone
back and forth about doing thisvirtually, and earlier this week
you sent me a text and said,hey, I think it'd be a lot
better if it was in person.
And uh, ironically, two dayslater I'm in cincinnati.
So just a few travel changesand I'm here.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
So yeah, it's cool and and I appreciate you, uh, uh
, going out of your way to makethe make the trek up here from
cincinnati and and, uh, I'mexcited to hear your story.
I know we we talked a couple ofweeks ago and obviously we
talked when we spent about 36hours together.
Um, through some exhaustion andand maybe some hallucination
from, uh, you know those those24 hours, but, um, I'm excited.

(03:17):
I'm excited for our guests, orfor our listeners, to hear your
story growing up.
So so you know how we like tostart.
We'd like to start from thebeginning.
So talk about what childhoodwas like for you, growing up in
the big city of Atlanta.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, so I'm 45 years old.
So in 1985, there was less than2 million people in Atlanta.
Now there's close to 8 million.
So it's always been a big city.
But it's grown a ton, you know,as I've obviously gotten older.
And so for me, growing up whereI did I was just outside the

(03:54):
city limits grew up in aneighborhood.
All the kids that were in myelementary school, we went to
middle school together, highschool together, so it didn't
feel like a big city.
But what was cool is you feellike a big city.
But what was cool is you stillhad the big city perks.
You know we had the AtlantaBraves, dale Murphy, you had
Hawks that was back whenDominique was dominating and so

(04:14):
you had the fun of, you know,the big city, sports and concert
venues and what a big city hasto offer.
But I really felt like I grewup in a smaller community.
Um cause, some of the people Iwas in kindergarten with, you
know I graduated with, and someof those folks are still some of
my closest friends.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
So what was your?
How big was your graduatingclass?

Speaker 3 (04:35):
We graduated right at 400.
Okay yeah, okay, so in Georgiathat's a triple a school.
Um, maybe I don't know what itis now, but that back then it
was a triple a school, so wewere like one division below the
biggest schools in the state.
Okay yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Okay, well, good.
So it feels like small town,even though you're in a city of
2 million people and here we arein a city of 40,000 people, so
big difference in my mind forsure.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
So so kind of talk about childhood, siblings,
parents, all those good things,maybe some um, uh, people who
had some early influences onyour life as a kid.
Yeah, yeah, so, um, yeah so,mom and dad.
My mom grew up in Atlanta, mydad grew up on a farm about an
hour and 15 minutes Southwest ofAtlanta, and so, um, I often

(05:24):
like to go back and like talkabout my granddad's first, just
because they were two verydifferent people but both had
really unique influences on mylife, and so I'm named after my
dad's dad.
So my full name is WoodrowTucker Perkerson.
My granddad was Woodrow WilsonTucker, and so he grew up in
North Georgia, probably not toofar from where we did the rite

(05:45):
of passage, but came down toAtlanta, went to law school and
had a really successful careerin law, ended up being a state
judge.
So you had my granddad Woodrow,who we called Woodrow.
By the way, we didn't call himgranddad or pop, we called him
by his first name, but then wealso.
Then you have my granddad Robert, who got an eighth grade

(06:09):
education and then was done,started working on the farm, and
and so I like to just startthere, because you kind of have
the success success story and ofof my granddad Woodrow, but
then you've got a differentsuccess story of my grandfather,
robert, both very successful inwhat they did.

(06:30):
Both raised amazing families,raised amazing kids who then are
, you know now kind of you know,carrying on that tradition and
so yeah, so I'd like to startthere.
My mom and dad met in college,and my dad also is an attorney.

(06:51):
He's now retired, but he was anattorney.
He was a judge for a littlewhile as well.
My mom was a stay-at-home momfor a portion of our childhood,
but not all of it.
She worked some as well.
And then I have a brotherthat's eight years younger than
me.
His name's John Um and he isactually getting married in
November and he's marrying agirl where I work from

(07:14):
Chick-fil-A her name's Sarah andum, super excited for them.
Um, you know, my brother's beenvery patient to wait on the
right girl and he found her, andso yeah they're getting married
.
Uh, like I said in November,Well, congratulations, john.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
And what's his fiance's name?
Sarah, sarah.
Yeah, congratulations, john andSarah.
That's exciting.
Yeah so eight years younger.
So you, you were by yourselffor a while.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
I was yeah, so I was by myself Um and um and yeah, I
mean, you know, just thankgoodness I lived in a
neighborhood because there wereplenty of kids around, we were
always outside playing andsports was always a big thing
for me growing up.
But yeah, when John came along,you know we truly obviously,
when you're eight years apart,you know it's hard to be real

(07:58):
close.
My kids are three years apartand I see how close they are
based on the age.
But yeah, john and I arefriends, not just brothers, even
though we do have that big gapbetween us.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Okay, yeah, so brother's eight years younger,
so you're playing with all theneighbor kids until you're eight
years old.
So what's life like as Johncomes into the picture and uh,
and you're cranking along inschool.
What are you involved in sports?
Uh, what, what things are youdoing as as a young, uh, eight

(08:34):
year old?

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, so I mean I was , I mean sports was kind of
everything for me and it wasjust whatever was in season.
So it was, it was baseball,basketball, football, football
and just whatever season we werein.
That's what we were doing.
And I was.
I did play, you know, likeyouth sports, but you know we
were.
We were out in the neighborhoodevery day, every day looking
for a pickup game, trying topull everybody together to play.

(08:57):
So it was a really funchildhood and sports was a big
part of it, which has carried onand we'll get to this.
But that's been a big part ofmy story, you know, even all the
way up until now.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Right, yeah, you know .
So you're 45, I'm 46.
So we're kind of in that lastgeneration before the cell
phones came right, because I gotmy first cell phone when I
graduated college in 2001,.
Uh, you know, at 21 years oldor whatever I was 2001,.
Uh, you know, at 21 years oldor whatever I was.

(09:29):
So.
So we kind of had a similarupbringing where, you know,
outside a lot playing.
You know, whatever sport wewere in and whatever season it
was like you said that was, thatwas my favorite sport at the
time.
You know now things everybody'sgot a cell phone.
You know all these sports arespecialized and they try to be a
whole year long or their.
You know their seasons aresuper long.

(09:51):
So I think we're the, we're thelast of a dying breed before
the cell phone age.
You know, um, and and how,that's how that's changed things
.
So, um, that's pretty cool.
So talk about then, um, goinginto high school.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
Yeah.
So going into high school, umman, I think back on that.
I'm like middle school wastough.
I did not enjoy the middleschool years.

Speaker 2 (10:10):
Why is that?

Speaker 3 (10:11):
Just the social um awkwardness, you know, trying to
fit in, not really feeling likeI did fit in.
Um, we didn't have middleschool sports, so it was just
school, so everything was waslike, just the social aspect.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
A school that you graduated 400 people and you
didn't have middle school sports.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
Didn't have middle school sports.
Yeah, so, uh, yeah, our middleschool didn't do any kind of
organized sports, so, um, so youjust went to school and um, and
yeah, just uh, you know we'lltalk about this later, but I
mean, I spent 12 years ineducation.
Middle school is tough years Alot of hormones, a lot of trying

(10:50):
to figure out who you are,where you fit into things.
So, going into high school, tobe honest, I was like you know
what's this going to be like?
I didn't really enjoy theselast three years.
But when I went into high school, something clicked, and I think
sports had a big part in it,because I was playing football,
basketball, baseball, myfreshman year.

(11:12):
And you know, you're in highschool classes now and you're
just having to balance thingsmore so than you were before.
And all of a sudden, I likestarted working harder, started
getting a little moredisciplined, you know, started
being a little more focused, andso, you know, just just about
midway through that ninth gradeyear, um, I was like okay, this

(11:35):
is, this is fun.
Like I'm enjoying school.
Uh, again, cause school was funin elementary middle school was
tough and so sports was a bigpiece of giving me structure and
discipline and helping me havesome focus were there any
coaches along the way that thatinfluenced you oh?
yeah, yeah, I mean the one thatsticks out the most.
Um, well, there's two.

(11:57):
So one is a guy named billhoskin.
Um, so, bill hoskinkin was aSecret Service agent for most of
his career, retired from theSecret Service, had played
college football and gotten adegree in history, and after his
career in the Secret Service hestarted coaching high school

(12:18):
football and teaching history,and that was my sophomore year
that he became our head footballcoach.
So he was there my freshmanyear, but I was playing JV,
started to get to know him andhis story as a sophomore and
just an amazing man, amazingleader.
Going into our senior year wehad our first game and the next

(12:45):
day he was playing tennis withone of our other coaches and he
died.
He was in his early 60s.
He ran five, six miles a day.
Just amazing fitness, you know,for a guy.
His age Didn't carry any extrabody.
There's nothing that you wouldhave said would have led you to

(13:07):
believe that this guy would havea heart attack playing, you
know, leisurely tennis on aSaturday, and so that was a big
shock, you know.
And so we had a reallyinteresting season, you know,
that year as seniors.
Just, you know, recovering fromthat you know you've got a game
next Friday.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (13:25):
You know, and from that you know, you got a game
next Friday, you know.
And so what do you do?
Your head coach just passedaway unexpectedly, so he's one
that I'll never forget, um, youknow, and, and still, like, I've
got a drawer at home where Ikeep, you know, cutouts from
newspapers and things like that,and there's several things in
there, even the, the, um, thepamphlet from his funeral.

(13:45):
I still have that in that, inthat that file.
Um, the other one would be my,my head basketball coach, a guy
named Greg Segroso.
Um, he was a, he was, he was asclose to a professional coach
as we had for me, you know, upuntil I got into college, and so

(14:06):
he had gone to Duke.
He didn't play at Duke, buthe'd gone to school at Duke.
Really smart guy.
He was a math teacher at ourschool and just had a passion
for basketball and coaching, andhe really showed us what a
program a sports program is andhow it's supposed to be designed
and the commitment level thatyou've got to have to be

(14:27):
successful.
And so, um, you know we weren'twildly successful, but, um, he
certainly made us a lot better.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:35):
Uh yeah, and so he and I still stay in touch.
Um, we'll connect periodically.
Um he's not coaching anymore.
Um, he's got three girls andmoved into a different career.
His girls are now all incollege, but, yeah, huge
influence on me man.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
So you're so your senior year your head coach
passes away unexpectedly.
That that had to be achallenging time as a 17, 18
year old kid, you know goinginto your senior year,
especially since knowing thisguy.
I mean that I can't imaginethat.
If I know my coach, I you knowhe came in my sophomore year and

(15:13):
I know that the relationshipthat he and I had and what he
meant not only to me but for ourteam, uh what?
How did you guys end up doingthat season?
Do you remember?

Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, we didn't have a great season.
We were three and seven, okay,but yeah, I mean we had had a
really good year.
The year before we had a strongsenior class.
The year before me we lost sometalent, but yeah, I can
remember, you know, that weekafter and going out to practice
and so many people so it wasstill early in the fall, so a

(15:46):
lot of the seniors and peoplethat had played for Coach Hoskin
previously hadn't gone off toschool yet.
So we're out there practicing afew days after he passed away
and we've got I can remember 50,60 former players out there
just watching practice, kind ofin honor of him and just
supporting us, and at first itfelt like a lot of pressure.

(16:08):
I mean, I remember they had avigil at the school the night
after we all found out and youknow people were like you've got
to dedicate this season toCoach Hoskin and of course we
did, sure, but it really put alot of pressure on us and yeah,
and I remember just a lot ofemotion, especially in those
first few weeks.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah, I'm sure.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
But a guy named Anthony Edwards had come on to
our staff that year and he tookover as the head coach, and I
think the world of him as well,and you know he did a great job
filling in.
I mean, what a tough job he was, you know, put in to have to
try to do so.
Yeah, we made the most of itand the stadium is actually

(16:52):
named after Coach Hoskin and the20-year anniversary of his
passing they did an event at theschool and I was able to go to
that and it was neat to see howmany people came back 20 years
later.
You know, just to to honor him.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
He had a big impact on many, many oh yeah, oh yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome.
So you get through sports, youplay baseball.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
Played baseball through my sophomore year.
Football, basketball were themain focus for me.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
So so you talk about, um, you know, the end of that
high school.
You're looking to go to college.
What, um, you know.
Talk about that, that kind oftransition, what you were going
to study, and and and.
Now where you were at then.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
Yeah, so, um, I had another, a mentor, a guy named
Steve Harkey.
Um, he played at Georgia techand then played um in the NFL,
for he had a good career, I wantto say maybe 10 plus years.
He was a running back and hestarted a ministry in Atlanta
called Coach's Corner and onething he would do was he would

(17:57):
ask coaches, hey, do y'all havekids on your team that I can
disciple?
And so my name got passed tohim, which I look back on that
now I'm like at all the schoolsthat he was involved in and all
the coaches he asked, and so wewould meet, usually about once a
month.
It was always at a McDonald'sand, um, you know, share a

(18:20):
biscuit and talk and and, um,you know, he was very
intentional with the time and hejust poured into me and so,
because of his time at Georgiatech, um, you know he was
encouraging me to considerwalking on at tech.
Um, I was receiving somerecruitment.
Uh, played tight end, I thinkyou did.

(18:40):
You play tight end as well thatwas a defensive tackle.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
I didn't like the tight end.
Did you play tight end as well?
I was a defensive tackle, okay,I didn't like the tight end.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
That's okay.
Yeah, so I was a tight end.
I mean, at my school you had toplay both ways, but tight end
was where it looked like I couldmaybe play a little bit at the
next level.
And so he introduced me toGeorge O'Leary, who was the head
coach at Georgia Tech at thetime, and they had a video, you

(19:06):
know, you know probably VHS.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
It was VHS.
Yes, it was a VHS.

Speaker 3 (19:11):
I think I still have that too.
But, and so, you know they, theyallowed me to come on as a
preferred walk on, which allthat means is you just get to go
in early and and work harder,and so I did that.
So I decided to go to tech andum.
That was an incredibly humblingexperience.

(19:31):
Um, you know, I was recruited.
The only D one school that thatrecruited me, you know like
where I made a visit, wasVanderbilt Um, and so um didn't
work out.
They didn't offer me ascholarship.
The scholarship offers I gotwere all from like D two um

(19:54):
schools and so um, but I went toGeorgia, tech and um and, yeah,
I just learned real quick how,how physically um behind I was,
especially as a 18, young, 18year old.
My birthday's in June, so I'm alittle later.
So, yeah, I show up and I'mjust like going up against 20,
22, 23-year-old guys grown menand so that was a tough year.

(20:18):
I did get to dress for our gamesand experience big-time college
football and it was a good yearfor Georgia Tech for our games
and experience, you know,big-time college football and it
was a good year for GeorgiaTech.
We were very successful thatyear.
We were co-ACC champions andhad some big wins.
The goalpost got torn down in agame where we came back against
University of Virginia, and soI've got a piece of that

(20:41):
goalpost at home.
But the writing was on the wallreally, really quick that you
know I was not going to, youknow, probably ever see the
field there.
And so I had a decision to make.
And that's where my dad comesinto, really helping me with
what was next.
And we I remember aconversation we had where he

(21:03):
said, hey, so who's had thegreatest influence on your life
Of course you want to say youDad you, mom right.
But really I pointed towardscoaches.
Coaches were the ones that Iwas at that time when he asked
me that question that I thoughtabout who really has had that
influence me, that question thatI thought about like who really

(21:27):
has had that, that influence?
So that led me to leave tech,um, and then move on to um,
georgia perimeter college, whichwas just a local school, um,
just a great place for me tocatch up on on core classes and
get myself ready for what wereyou studying?
I was well, I was at tech, I wasundecided.

Speaker 2 (21:43):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yeah, so, and at Tech back then you know, there was
only there wasn't a lot ofofferings that weren't math and
science, yeah, and so.
So that was.
The other part is like,academically I didn't feel like
I was in the right spot and thenathletically I knew like if I
really want to play, this isn'tgoing to be the place, so kind
of just hung up the cleats,started focusing on getting a

(22:06):
degree.
That was connected to thatconversation I had with my dad,
which was in education.
So that's when I startedgearing towards education and so
went to Georgia Perimeter, thenwent to UGA.
And so I don't know how muchfurther you want me to go along,
but that was how I got onto theteaching and coaching path.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
Sure sure.
So you decided to go intoteaching.
Um, that's good advice fromyour dad.
You know you.
You were influenced.
Asking who you're influencedmost by, you know, to kind of
point you in in the direction umwhere you could have that same
influence on on people as well.
So you go into teaching andcoaching.
You graduate from theUniversity of Georgia right.

(22:44):
Yeah, what's your firstteaching position?

Speaker 3 (22:48):
Yeah, so I'm teaching at Union Grove High School,
which is in Henry County, wherewe live now.
It's where my wife grew up, andso her track coach.
By the way, jennifer, is thereal athlete in the family.
She was a sprinterinter,actually sprinted at Georgia.
Um, she's only five one, butshe can fly, or she could back

(23:10):
then, and so fortunately she hada great relationship just in
that 120 that were there when Iwas there ended up playing the
NFL.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
We good, that's insane.
Yeah, all right.
So you mentioned, you mentionedyour wife, so where did you
meet her at?

Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah, so we met at Georgia, yep.
So, um, kind of a funny story.
Um, I was in a class, uh, so Itransferred to Georgia.
So a lot of my friends hadalready that I grew up with had
started there, they'd done thefraternity thing.
And so when I went to Georgiaas a junior it was a little bit
lost, like I knew what classes Ineeded to take but I wasn't

(23:48):
sure where I'd fit in, like whatwas I going to do outside of
class?
And so met a guy in a class whowas part of a fraternity called
Alpha Gamma Rho, which is theagricultural fraternity.
Yeah, and you know, I grew uphunting and fishing and so we
just had a lot in common.
I didn't grow up on a farm, butmy dad, as I mentioned earlier,

(24:10):
did, and so I spent a lot oftime going to that that family
property, growing up.
And so to get to the point, um,I went to a um party at their
house and met Jennifer thatnight and um, and so it was
about probably 1230, you know,in the morning, and at that

(24:32):
point I had made a decision tojust like put you know, drinking
behind me.
I never was really a drinker,but you know just the social
aspect of college, and so Ithink she and I were the only
two sober people there.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
And we connected for just a few minutes.
But afterwards or the next day,I asked John, the guy, that who
invited me to the party.
I said, hey, I met this girl.
Um, she was short, blonde.
Um, Jennifer, he goes.
Oh yeah, I invited her to theparty and I'm like we got to
make a connection.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
So that's, that's how it happened.
Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah.
Did you have any issues?
You know you play football highschool, first year of college
at Georgia tech.
Was there any issues?
You know you played footballhigh school and your first year
of college at Georgia Tech.
Was there any issues whenfootball was over?

Speaker 3 (25:17):
yes, oh yeah, I mean I mean, was it?
Was it that difficulttransition?
It was hard, yeah, I mean I,you know sports, as I've we
talked about, I mean it was sucha big focus of my life.
I mean I that was not the lasttime that I thought about could
I still go somewhere and play?
And, um, you know, I I evenconsidered maybe, maybe

(25:37):
basketball, cause I playedbasketball all through high
school and um almost actuallywent to a small school called
LaGrange college and and playedbasketball there, just cause
sports was it was like withoutit I wasn't really sure who I
was.
Yeah, and so, yeah, it wastough.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
Okay, it's tough.
So you mentioned that your wifewas a track star, so what did
she run?

Speaker 3 (26:02):
Uh, she ran the hundred 200 and then the relays.
Okay, four by one.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
Um, yeah, so she was.
And just for reference, myoldest daughter runs track in
college and so she's going towant to know times.
So what was her?
A hundred time.

Speaker 3 (26:17):
So she set a PR the spring that we started dating.
Um, she ran a 12, three, okayyeah, when she was at Georgia.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
All right.
So Allie, my oldest daughter,if you're listening there, you
go Give you something to shootfor.
No, that's awesome.
So now we'll fast forward backinto um.
You know you started yourcareer, you're in, you're in
your teaching and your coaching,so kind of talk about that and
take us through.
You know what's life like foryou when you get into that

(26:45):
career.
You're out of college um, whereare you and and and your wife
at?
Are you married at this time?
And talk about life then?

Speaker 3 (26:53):
Yeah, so we graduated from Georgia in May of 2003.
We got married in June and weboth started teaching in August
and so, uh, a lot happened in ashort period of time, excuse me.
And so we, um, yeah, so westarted teaching, she.
She got a degree in marketing.
She had, no, no desire to godown the marketing route, and so

(27:16):
she got a provisionalcertification and started
teaching special ed and shecoached track later that year in
the spring, and then, of course, as I mentioned, I was coaching
football and basketball andgolf.
But, yeah, I think I was aboutsix months into teaching and
coaching when I knew that Iwasn't going to do this long

(27:36):
term.
And for me, as much as Ienjoyed investing time in the
kids and one thing I haven'tmentioned is we were really I
was really involved in YoungLife growing up, and so I saw
Young Life as a great way totake this opportunity that I was
working with kids in theclassroom and on the field and
then have an opportunity tominister to them through Young

(27:58):
Life, and so Jennifer and I werevolunteer leaders for Young
Life.
So, as much as it was great tosee that side of things the
repetitive kind of just samething day in, day out.
I knew this wasn't going to befor me long-term.
It felt like groundhog day, youknow.
Okay, and so um.

(28:19):
So we both went back to school,um, I got a master's, she got a
master's in counseling.
We both then went back and gotour specialist degrees in
leadership, and so we're bothfour years in specialist degrees
in leadership.
And so we're both four years in.
We've both been teaching atUnion Grove and um and enjoying
it.
You know, we were young lifeleaders.
We were taking kids to camp umin the winter for a weekend, and

(28:42):
then in the summer we do a weeklong camp out in Colorado.
So there was a lot of greatthings going on, but in my
career I just felt like I wasn'twhere I was supposed to be, and
so so then I started hearingabout this school that was open
and called Strong Rock ChristianSchool, and so where we live
there's only a handful ofprivate school options, and and

(29:06):
so Strong Rock was opening up.
It was going to be the onlyChristian school in our area
that wasn't associated with achurch or tied to a church, and
they had this just amazingvision.
It's an incredible story.
The family that built theschool.
It's kind of a field of dreamsstory.
They built the school, put tensof millions of dollars into it

(29:27):
before the first student hadever even enrolled Wow.
Talk about faith.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, millions of dollars into it before the first
student had ever even enrolled.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
And so, um, so I, yeah, yeah, so I started hearing
about this school and andwanted to learn more, and, um,
the more I learned, the moreinterested I was.
Well, while I was, I was, youknow, they were interested in me
as a teacher and coach.
At the time, I was morethinking about like and coach.
At the time, I was morethinking about like, could I
move into an administrative role?
And, uh, and so I started there, um, for that, that first year

(29:56):
it opened in 07.
And I started there that firstyear as a teacher and coach, and
then the school opened with 330students, which is really
incredible because all theconsultants that the family had
brought on to help them with,hey, how do we start a school?
Yeah, like you're, you're, likeyou'll be lucky if you have 50
kids the first year.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
That's what I was going to say, yeah, and they had
300 and 330.

Speaker 3 (30:17):
Wow.
So then the next year we had660, doubled in size, and so
that's the kind of vision thatwas cast for this place.
And so, um, so, yeah, so whenwe doubled there was a need for
another administrator for themiddle and high, and so that's
when I moved into administration.
And when I moved intoadministration again in less

(30:39):
than six months, I knew this iswhat I'm meant to do, because as
a teacher and a coach, it wasalways like is it lunch yet?
And then as an administrator,it was like, wow, lunch is
already here.
I just enjoyed the, the problemsolving, the strategy work,
even the tough stuff, dealingwith discipline issues, dealing
with tough kids stuff and familystuff.

(31:01):
Um, I felt like that was a, uh,an opportunity for me to to,
especially in a Christian school.
It's a ministry and um, I justalways, um, you know, kind of
not minded leaning into toughsituations, and so, uh, so, yes,
that that's how I got into the,the role of an assistant
principal, and then, down theroad, ended up as a principal.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
Okay, yeah, so you do that.
For how long?

Speaker 3 (31:26):
So I was an assistant principal for about three and a
half years and then theprincipal that I worked for they
moved out of state and sothat's when I moved into the
principal role and I did thatfor another four and a half.
So a total of five years as ateacher and coach and another
seven and a half years as a, asa AP and then a principal.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
Okay, yeah, but then something changes.
Yeah, talk about that.

Speaker 3 (31:51):
Yeah.
So, um, you know, once again,like, as much as I enjoyed that
role in that school, um, I can,I can say this I knew if I was
going to stay in education, Iwasn't going to go anywhere else
.
That's how much I love strongrock.
I mean our kids are there now.
We haven't talked about ourkids, my kids, yet.
I love Strong Rock.

(32:11):
I mean our kids are there now.
We haven't talked about ourkids, my kids, yet, but they go
to school there, and so you know, that's we love.
We love that place.
It's an amazing, amazingenvironment, and so that's where
I wanted to be.
I was going to be in school, butI started to just ask myself
more questions about is theresomething else that I should be
doing?
Um and um, I got a call from,actually, one of our board

(32:33):
members at the school and hecalled me and he says, hey, have
you got a, got a minute?
And, um, I said, yeah, I'd loveto love to chat, but what's
going on is actually, I'd like,I'd like for you to come over to
the house and I'm like, okay,so it's winter break and he's
calling and I'm like somebody'sgetting fired.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
What is going on?

Speaker 3 (32:54):
This isn't good, yeah .
And so I go over to his houseand we sit down and we talk
about Chick-fil-A.
And his wife was a formeroperator, so she operated.
She was the first femaleoperator to have three
Chick-fil-A's.
She had three in Atlanta, whichis very uncommon.
We can talk more aboutChick-fil-A, but three is the

(33:16):
max.
You don't get more than threerestaurants.
Most people have one, some havetwo, very few have three.
Well, she had come on to oursupport center.
It used to be called ourcorporate office.
We renamed it to the supportcenter several years ago, and so
you know, so, yeah, so throughher and him talking back and

(33:36):
forth, and I guess my name wouldcome up from time to time as he
would talk about the school,because he was a very involved
board member.
He was our chairman at the time.
You know, there was just thisconversation about Chick-fil-A
and so it took me totally bysurprise, which I, you know.
Looking back, I'm like you know, those unexpected opportunities
are usually the best ones, andand so, yeah, that's how it

(33:58):
started.
So I went on a what we call adiscovery phase, where I was not
applied.
Not applied, but I was just.
She afforded me the opportunityto spend time with people in
the job that she felt like Iwould be a good fit for, and so
I did that.
Several times, she took me outin the field with her and, after

(34:19):
about a six-month discoveryphase, jennifer and I made the
decision that we'd go ahead andgo for it, and I wanted to be
very intentional about thedecision, because what I told
Jennifer says if I do this,Cheryl has invested a lot of
time and energy in me.
If, if it turns into a yes,we're going like it's got to be

(34:39):
a yes, and the biggest thing wewrestled with was the travel.
So we didn't know what travelwas like.
I had some trips from time totime in my role as a principal
or as assistant principal, evenas a coach, but it was, like,
you know, a couple times year.
This role I was going into wasa pretty heavy travel job, and
so, um, trying to understandthat and think about what the

(35:01):
new norm would be for us wastough, and so now I look back on
it and I'm like, man, that wasa no brainer.
But, um, at the time it justseemed pretty overwhelming to
take on a role like that and betraveling.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
At the time did you have any children?

Speaker 3 (35:15):
Yes, so Bryant was three and I think Jennifer she
was actually pregnant when thoseconversations first started.
Okay, yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
That's a big deal.
Yeah, it was Career changewife's pregnant and you got a
young three-year-old.
Yeah, that's a Career changewife's pregnant and you got a
young three-year-old, yeah, yeah, that's a big change for sure.
Did you talk to your parents atall about it?
Were they involved in any ofthose decisions, or was this
between you and your wife?

Speaker 3 (35:40):
No, they were.
I mean, I talked to my parentsabout it.
I didn't talk to a lot ofpeople about it, but I talked to
my parents.
I actually talked to mybrother-in-law a good bit.
Um he um, he's been in thebusiness world for a long time.
He's done some consulting, he'shad travel jobs, heavy travel
jobs, and so spent a lot of timetalking to him and getting

(36:00):
advice from him as well.
But yeah, there was kind of acore group that I was getting
advice from.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (36:05):
Yeah, and you know Chick-fil-A has such a great
reputation, especially inAtlanta it's the home of
Chick-fil-A.
You know most people are likeit's a no brainer, you know, um,
but there were other peoplethat people that knew me best,
knew it was a.
It was a bigger decision thanthat, cause they knew how much I
loved what I was doing at thetime.

Speaker 2 (36:22):
Yeah, yeah, you had to be pulled in kind of two
different directions.
Um, so you?
So you decide to make thechange, talk about what it was
like in the beginning and kindof you know, maybe fast forward
a little bit to where it's atnow, how it's was going to be
responsible for a certain numberof restaurants and that you
know, ultimately, like ifsomeone came up to you and said

(36:57):
tell me about this restaurantyou needed to be, you know, you
know what was going on, know theins and outs and so.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
So that's basically what I knew.
Chick-fil-a invest, and stilldoes, about nine almost
somewhere between nine and 12months of training before you
ever even started in the role,and and I just don't know of any
other company that does thatthat's a lot.
Yeah, so when Chick-fil-A hiresyou, they're hiring you for life

(37:24):
.
Um, you know, it's it they talkabout when they select
operators, franchisees, and whenthey select support staff.
It's like a marriage.
They want it to be that way.
They want you to know thatyou're here If we make this
decision and bring you on.
We want you here as long asyou're willing to stay, and so
they invest that time on thefront end and it makes such a

(37:46):
big difference.
Because a lot of people werelike you're going to work where
In the chicken business?
What do you know about this?
You've never worked in arestaurant before.
You can learn a lot in a year.
Um, you know, if, if, if, ifthe training's done well and you
really invest the time, um, so,yeah, so that first year was
really pretty much just training.
Um spent, uh, three months outin the field in restaurants,

(38:11):
working in the restaurant.
You can never compare that tobeing an operator, but it at
least gives you some empathy forwhat goes on you know and how
hard the job is to run arestaurant.
You know, six days a week.
Thank goodness it's only sixand not seven at.
Chick-fil-A.
But yeah, so you know, I gotthrough that first year of

(38:33):
training, got into the role and,man, I loved it.
You know it was just.
It was a really good fit for me.
The travel was a non-issuebecause I was traveling Tuesday
to Thursday and those are thedays, you know, for people
listening, if you've got kids,you know, like the middle of of
the week it's kind of the grindtime.
Yeah right, you get up, you getthe kids to school, you get

(38:55):
home, you eat, homework, bed.
As a principal, assistantprincipal, as a coach, weekends,
you know it was just so.
Um, no week was the same and wefinally had this predictable
schedule and we had our weekendsand that was a huge blessing
for our family, especially withmy kids at that age, you know,

(39:17):
um, now they're four and one,five and two, those first few
years and um, to have, you know,uninterrupted weekends with
them every weekend was reallycool.
So on the family side, thingsare good.
And then on the on theprofessional side, I'm still
learning the role.
But you know one thing thatthat is true of Chick-fil-A

(39:39):
you're you're a support centerstaff member.
You're there to serve, like oneof our core values is we are
here to serve and soresponsiveness is huge.
You know when operators needsomething, if you're responsive,
it goes a long way, and so Ijust tried to be really
responsive and and like you know, like crazy responsive, like

(39:59):
you text me, you're going totext back right away.
You know, you call me, I'mpicking up the phone and so
can't always do that.
But you know, the goal was, ifI'm, if I can be, as responsive
as possible, it's going to makethe biggest difference for me as
a new, new consultant in thisrole.

Speaker 2 (40:14):
Yeah, so you know, it's no secret, everybody that
that talks or looks atChick-fil-A knows that they're.
I mean, I don't, I don't knowwhat separates, and that's what
I kind of want you to answer isis what separates Chick-fil-A
from all the other fast foodrestaurants in the industry?
Um, because they do it so welland they do it one less day out

(40:40):
of the week than the rest ofthem.
So kind of talk about what youthink from from being there, uh,
for a while now, what?
What sets Chick-fil-A apartfrom all these other restaurants
?

Speaker 3 (40:52):
Yeah, I could talk about this for a long time but
I'll try to.
I'll try not to go too far withit.
But first and foremost is theoperator model.
So, um, for those that aren'taware, um, chick-fil-a has a
unique operator model.
We when I say we, I meanChickfil-A corporate invests all
the money into the restaurantand all of the equipment, and

(41:14):
operators pay a $10,000franchise fee.
That's their only investment.
So they have no capitalinvestment into the restaurant.
So when they get selected forthat, then they're selected for
that restaurant and then ifthey're going to get selected
for a second restaurant orpossibly a third restaurant,
that is a Chick-fil-A decision.

(41:35):
And so the operator comes inknowing that.
You know, my entrepreneur, youknow like goals have to be
focused around a singlerestaurant or maybe a second
restaurant or maybe a third, butunlikely, it's more than most
of the time it's one or two.
So that operator model isreally the secret, because you

(41:57):
have the owner of the businessin the business all the time.
And you know, when we were justmalls back in the seventies and
eighties they truly were likein the business all the time.
There's some funny stories aboutoperators.
You know that like they wouldlike it'd be them and their wife
in the mall.

(42:17):
You know running the restaurantduring those slow months, you
know, and and.
But now I mean you know theseguys have girls.
They've got 120, 150 teammembers for one restaurant.
So they're still in thebusiness but they've had to
develop these leadership teams,you know, to really manage all
that goes on to operating it dayto day.
But that's the secret.

(42:38):
The secret is the localownership.
That's what sets us apart,because so many other franchises
you know you've got thefranchisee might own 20 or 30 of
a certain brand.
They're not in that restaurantevery day.
How can they be right?
So then they.
They then are relying onmanagers who are probably on a
salary.

(42:59):
They might be incentivized, butyou know at the end of the day,
the operator, the success ofthat business that they're in
every single day, you know, hitstheir bottom line and so, um,
so that that really is thesecret.
And then I would say, you know,when you, when you start with
that, then below that is justthe, the support model.

(43:19):
And so, operators, we have asaying they're, they're in
business for themselves, but notby themselves, and so you'll
oftentimes hear operators talkabout, you know the support they
get.
Operators talk about you knowthe support they get, the things
they don't have to do.
That the Chick-fil-A SupportCenter does for them is one of
the things that keep them in therole and keep them, you know,

(43:41):
motivated and really happy inthe role, because the support
center does a lot.
I keep using the word support,but that's what it's about.
It's about supporting them.
So, yeah, it starts with theoperator, the support that the
operator gets.
And then I have to go to theKathy family.
I mean the Kathy family, um,they are, um, just an amazing

(44:02):
family.
Started with Truett, um, histhree kids have have shepherded
the business incredibly well.
They've now got it down intogen three and Andrew Cathy is
our CEO now and they'reincredibly generous.
They give an incredible amountof grace and I think, knowing

(44:24):
that the Cathy family is, at theend of the day, the family
you're working for, whetheryou're an operator or someone
like me that works at a supportcenter, it makes all the
difference, because you're proudto work for such an amazing
family.

Speaker 2 (44:39):
For sure, that's pretty awesome.
There's no doubt you're prettyhappy there.

Speaker 3 (44:44):
Oh, yeah, yeah and closed on Sundays makes a big
difference too.
You know all those team members, hundreds of thousands of team
members knowing that at leastone day a week they don't have
to think about chicken.
Um, that that's a competitiveadvantage for us.
People look at it and go that'slike how can you give up the

(45:04):
that?
You know, um, those sales.
It's like no, it's, it's yeah,you gotta flip that around.
Like no, it's it's yeah, yougot you got to flip that around,
yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:11):
That's pretty awesome , all right.
So your career obviously madeit made a big jump and a big
change, you know, to Chick-fil-Alife's pretty good, family's
growing.
Um, now I kind of want to getinto how you and I met.
So, um, there came a point intime for you.

(45:32):
Um, obviously you work out,you're in shape.
Um, we had some conversationsand we'll talk about that on on
the rite of passage when we werewe're doing our track, and you
kind of talked about yourmorning routine a little bit.
So so what I'd like you to do iskind of talk about your, your
morning routine, because that'sa very important time for me and
my, uh, you know, and, and myday, every day, how I start, and

(45:55):
I know it is for you, so talkabout that, and then talk about
how that led into you signing upfor the rite of passage.

Speaker 3 (46:02):
Yeah, yeah.
So, um, when I first startedChick-fil-A, um, I was able to
uh have an executive coach mysecond year, and the name of the
organization is called the 1%Club.
And when you join 1% Club andyou do their coaching, they
encourage you to create an EMSR,an early morning success

(46:23):
routine, and this is what wetalked about on the trail, and
so it's yours to create.
They just want you to beintentional with 20 to 30
minutes of your time first thingin the morning.
And so for me, um, my routineis um, obviously, get out of bed
, wake up I know I'm going to beworking out in about 30 minutes

(46:45):
so, um, get a little carbs inthe system, uh, get some energy
going.
But I sit down and Jennifer'susually beside me because she
gets up around the same timetypically and the first thing I
do is I read a chapter in theNew Testament.
I then read the proverb for theday.
So, whatever day of the month,it is Today's the 6th, so I read

(47:06):
Proverbs 6 this morning, and Ijust do that on a repeat month
in, month out.
So that's, first, is time inthe Word.
I should back up a little bit.
I pray first and I alwaysincorporate the Lord's Prayer.
I say always.
I started that about ninemonths ago after our pastor did

(47:27):
a really great sermon on prayer,and so I pray.
Obviously I'm praying for, forJennifer and the kids and just
things and situations but then Isay the Lord's prayer and then
that's when I get into scripture.
And then after scripture, umand I'm doing my best to do this
without going into my phonehere, but, like after scripture,
I'll then, uh, use my phone.

(47:47):
I've got this in my notes and so, um, then I'll go to, um, uh,
my sleep.
So I've got to.
You know, track my sleep.
So, um, look at kind of all my,my health stats.
Go through all that.
Then, um, um, going to 1440, Idon't know if you've heard of
that or not.
1440 is a great um newsletterthat comes out every day.

(48:09):
It's just the latest news andit's unbiased and it's an easy
read and it just keeps me up tospeed on what's happening in the
world.
So I read 1440, which you canget through that in just a
couple minutes.
And then, after the 1440, Ihave some goals, and so you know
, I read my goals every singleday.

(48:30):
And then Now, on your goals, Ire, I read my goals every single
day.

Speaker 2 (48:33):
Um, and then now on your goals, not to interrupt
please yeah.
So your goals are?
You are these goals you'resetting like the beginning of
every year?

Speaker 3 (48:40):
They're goals that are are set for typically like
90 days.
Okay, typically some of themare like long-term, some aren't,
but yeah, usually like around90 days is kind of quarter to
quarters, how I just kind of rerevamp those.
And so then, after I getthrough my goals, um, I have a
picture of everybody on my teamand I was encouraged by another

(49:02):
person at Chick-fil-A to do this, but I have a picture of them
and their family, and so I justlook at those, those individual
pictures, and that's my time tojust think about my team at work
.
And so, you know, I see apicture of, you know, allie and
Max, and then I see a picture ofSarah and Danny, and they just
had two twins, and so Miles andAmelia.

(49:23):
So there's, there's those eightpeople, and I look at them and,
and you know, say a quickprayer for each one of them.
Um, and then I I usually amgetting off the couch and start
my day.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
And you're doing all that in 30 minutes.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
Yeah it's, it goes quick.
Okay, yeah, so, cause I'm justreading one chapter of the in
the new Testament, the proverbyou know.
So yeah, it goes pretty quick.
Um, that's pretty awesome.
Yeah, and then if I have timeI'll do Wordle and many too.
I don't know if you the NewYork times games.
Oh man, they're fun.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
Yeah, they're just little quick games, um, just to
kind of like keep my brain sharp, yeah, so that's pretty awesome
.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
Yeah man, that's great.
Okay, so you're doing all thatevery day?
Every morning every morningyou're doing that.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:16):
So then you know, talk about why or how you came
across the rite of passage withthe three of seven project and
what you know.
What got in your head to say,yeah, I'm going to try that.

Speaker 3 (50:22):
Yeah, so I think you know cause you asked the
question.
You know connect your routineand and what's.
You know, like you mentionedfitness and so, um, you know, at
this stage of my life you'vegot to work to stay in shape.
It's a lot harder at 45 than itwas at 25.
You've got to be so much moredisciplined to stay sharp, in my

(50:46):
opinion.
And so to get to the rite ofpassage back up a little bit.
So my next-door neighbor he'sbeen my neighbor for over 20
years.
He's a producer and he producessome television shows, he
produces documentaries.
Well, he produced thedocumentary Just One Mile and,
for those that don't know, justOne Mile is a documentary that's

(51:08):
focused on Chad Wright, who isthe head of Three of Seven
Project.
And so Ed, my neighbor, youknow he would talk about work
from time to time, but I neversaw him more excited about a
project than when he was doingthe just one mile documentary.
And so he would come over, we'dsit on the front porch and he'd
tell me about Chad and formerNavy SEAL ultra runner and just

(51:33):
all the the, if you've seen thedocumentary yeah, that's the
Polka Dona two, 50 or whateverit's actually called the mid
state mile the mid state mile.

Speaker 2 (51:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (51:41):
Yeah, so it's a last man standing.
That's right, that's right, so Idon't want to spoil it, but
it's worth watching.
Um, it's on Amazon, but anyways.
You know that's how I learnedabout Chad and it and you know
Chad's fate story is incredible,but the just one mile really
doesn't focus on that.

(52:01):
It's more focused on who he wasas a seal and the lessons he
learned from that and he'sapplied as an ultra runner.
So, anyways, as I, when I, whenthey finally released the
documentary, you know I got towatch it and I was like, man,
this is really cool, let melearn more about chad.
So I went to, just startedgoogling about chad.
Of course, three of seven cameup.
That's when I came across thecourses that they offer and saw
right of passage, and so when Isaw it, I was like 24 hours on

(52:25):
your feet, constant movement.
All you can do is eat, drink,like this sounds pretty tough Um
and um.
And so I was like, yeah, I thinkI want to take something like
this on, and so I actuallysigned up, or I submitted the
application well over a year ago, and I got accepted to do a

(52:47):
class in September, butunfortunately it fell on a
weekend where my son had a tonof stuff going on.
I just couldn't miss any ofthat, and so I had to let him
know I couldn't do that session.
And so then the to to let himknow I couldn't do that, that um
session.
And so then the session me andyou did together popped up, and
I think about that Cause I'mlike I could have been in that
other class, right, but I was in.

(53:08):
I was on team 12 and of courseyou know.
I know every team has amazingexperiences, but I'm glad I was
part of team 12.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Oh for sure, yeah for sure.
So so you, you go and and talkabout leading up to that.
What, what did your yourtraining look like?
Cause yours was a littledifferent than than mine.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
Okay, Um, yeah, so for me, um, I I didn't share
this, but you know, I I reachedout to Blake, Chad's brother.
It's Blake, right.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
Yeah, yeah so.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
I reached out to Blake while we were on a
vacation overseas and just said,hey, I couldn't do the class
last September.
Do I need to do anotherapplication?
Well, this is in early June.
And he says we got a spot inlate June.
And I'm like, well, I'm goingto get home and I'm going to
have a week before doing this,and so, to be honest, like I

(54:02):
really didn't train for it, youknow, I mean, fortunately I was
already doing something everyday, you know, from a fitness
standpoint.
But yeah, we got home and I wantto say it was like we had a
weekend and then the followingweekend was rite of passage and,
honestly, that Friday morning Ihad a full day, bunch of video

(54:24):
calls, you know.
And I, that Friday morning,before I got my day going, I was
like I really want to do this,you know it.
Just, we just come back fromvacation.
There was a ton of stuff thathad piled up and, yeah, I was
pretty close to just being like,eh, you know, I think I'll just
stay home with the family thisweekend and Jennifer and I

(54:48):
talked about it a little bit.
She's like oh no, you're going,you're going.

Speaker 2 (54:51):
Good job.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
Jennifer.

Speaker 1 (54:52):
Yeah, so I mean.

Speaker 3 (54:53):
I don't think I really would have not, but it
definitely crossed my mind.
You know cause I?
I think there was.
I didn't really know what I wasgetting myself into.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Yeah, I don't think any of us did, yeah, so so you,
you worked out long day onFriday and and uh head North
right, yep, and uh, you knowtalk about uh.
Was there any anxiety as you'redriving up?
And then when you get there,what all that felt like.

Speaker 3 (55:17):
Yeah, so I.
So I was on calls all the wayup until like 10 minutes before
my arrival time.
Well, my arrival time, like, Ileft the house and anyways, my
ETA just kept getting furtherand further out because of
traffic and all that.
So, anyways, I get off thiscall and it's like all right, I
got to refocus.
I'm 10 minutes out.

(55:37):
Well, the the address they gavewas not the right address Right
.
So I ended up somewhere and itwas not clear where to go.
So now I'm nervous Cause I'mlike I know this Chad guy's
intense.
He's a former Navy SEAL.
They said you got five to five,30 arrival time.
It's looking like I'm going tobe pushing five 30.
Like, are they just going tolike turn me away?

(55:59):
So I pulled in there kind of ontwo wheels, not knowing how it
was going to go.
Fortunately, it was like y'allwere setting up tents and um,
but I definitely, like I did notcome in with like any.
I was not relaxed, I was stillkind of amped up from from the
day, then the worried aboutbeing late and so um, so yeah, I

(56:22):
was, uh, I wasn't probably inthe best state of mind when I
first showed up.

Speaker 2 (56:27):
Yeah, I don't think any of us were.
I mean, I I've talked to a lotof the guys outside of that
individually and I think that'suh, you know, the theme to
everyone's story is the anxiety,the doubt, the what am I doing
that night before, and so youmake it obviously a little
quicker than Wesley did the nextday.

(56:50):
So you know, talk about, youknow, once we get there and Chad
comes in and he's telling, he'stelling us all the rules, and
now this, it's starting to getreal.
Right now we're here and youknow.
Talk about where your mind wasthen.

Speaker 3 (57:04):
Yeah, so, um, you know Chad, as I think you talked
about this, he can.
He's a little bit of anintimidating figure right, and
so the beard, but he's just he'sone of those guys that like,
when he's looking at you, you'realmost like he's looking in
your soul.
He's just got that intensityabout him.

(57:25):
And so I'm listening to all ofthe rules and what you can and
can't do, but honestly, I thinkwhat I was thinking about the
most was he talked about the twosquads and identifying two
leaders.
I was probably thinking themost was he talked about the two
squads and identifying twoleaders.
I was probably thinking the mostabout who's going to lead this,
and for me, you know, I'malways willing to lead, but I

(57:49):
didn't necessarily really wantto lead, you know, not because I
didn't want the challenge of it, but it was just like there's
18 guys here, you know who elsereally is wanting to do that,
and so there was just that likequestion mark of who's here,
who's really ready for this,who's gonna lead us, um, and

(58:10):
then also just like how can Ihelp?
You know, that was the otherpart like what's my role in this
?
Um, because you know, you'vegot those guys that are just
like eager beavers, like they'reready, you know, and they're
going to jump at everyopportunity.
So I didn't want to sit backtoo much, but also was just
trying to figure out, like how'sthis group really going to

(58:31):
function together?

Speaker 2 (58:32):
Yeah, I was in the same boat as we were standing in
that shelter house and kind ofall standing around a circle
trying to select leaders, andthat's what, when Ray was here,
you know, this past weekend, andwe talked about that, I don't
even remember how, how it cameto pass, other than him and
Casey being the youngest guys.

Speaker 3 (58:50):
That was it, that was that was the key factor.
I think Billy spoke up and saidhey, these two guys are the
youngest, let's let them lead.
And I think that's about assimple as it was.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So did you sleep at all thenight before I?

Speaker 3 (59:04):
maybe, maybe a couple hours.
Okay, yeah, I mean, you know wehad that, that thunder, the
lightning, um, it wasn't cool.
You know, probably midseventies I'm used to sleeping
with like mid sixties and soyeah, it was not a great night's
sleep, yeah.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
Yeah, it was.
It was definitely challenging.
That, I think, was was probablythe hardest part for me.
It was that night before, justthe doubt and the anxiety and
the struggle that I, that Ifaced.
So we get, we get up thatmorning, um, and they come and
pick us up, talk about when,when we, we get out of the van
and we you know there's a littlebit of chaos before we get kind

(59:44):
of taken off towards Chile,right, um, what were you
thinking then?

Speaker 3 (59:50):
Um, well, you know, I was sitting right behind Chad
and the whole ride I was reallypaying attention to him and
cornbread, they weren't talkingmuch, they were given just an
instruction here, an instructionthere.
Um, so, honestly, the more thathe was silent, the less he said

(01:00:12):
, I think, the more anxious Igot, because I just didn't know
what we were about to do, right,and then he gave us the
instructions of like Chili'sgoing to get out of the van,
team one's going to, or squadone's going to fall right behind
him, y'all got to get out andgo.
I mean, that was what we weretold, and so it was just hustle,
you know, get going and go.

(01:00:32):
And so, yeah, I mean I thinkthere was excitement, but also I
was anxious at the same time,you know, nervous.
I was definitely nervous on theride there.

Speaker 2 (01:00:43):
Yeah, yeah for sure.
So we get rocking and rolling.
Was there a point in time foryou where you were like holy cow
this is maybe a little morethan I anticipated or did you
feel good pretty much the wholetime?

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
No, I mean, I think within a couple hours, um, I was
starting to feel it in my legs.
You know my legs weredefinitely.
You know you want two hours.
You know that we're only alittle bit in at two hours, but
we're on these hills and we'regoing up and down, and so I
could feel it, you know.
And so, yeah, within, it didn'ttake long for for my body to

(01:01:18):
start talking to me, and so Irealized early on, this is going
to be a grind, yeah, yeah, whenwas your head at?
Head was in a good spot,because at that point it was
still cool outside.
You know, um, the conversationwas starting to happen, um, but
I was really just like pacingwas one thing I was thinking a

(01:01:40):
lot about, cause you could tellI don't remember this but like
we started out at a pace thatprobably was not sustainable.
Then we slowed down and it waslike you know, I at one point I
was in the front setting thepace, and so I was just like
what's the right thing to dohere?
We got to do this for 20 morehours, so I was just really
concerned about that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
Yeah, yeah so what point in time for you?
You know for me, where itreally got real and I felt like
we came together as a team wasright before that, that second
resupply, when I really noticedRay struggling.
Was there a time for you whereit was like this is not about me
finishing, this is about theteam.

Speaker 3 (01:02:21):
Yeah, I think, um, uh , you know when we, if you've
watched, have you watched thedocumentary they put out?
So there's that part of thedocumentary.
You hear Ray say the downhillsare really hurting and that when
he said that, I remember himsaying that because I remember
cornbread up in the woods, youknow filming and I thought, oh

(01:02:42):
boy, this is going to be, thisis going to be tough, and, and
so that that was when it reallyhit me Like we're going to have
to, we're all going to have tochip in and help each other, if
we're, if we're all going tofinish, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:57):
Yeah, it was um, and I think I told you when Ray was
here, you know he said for himthis first 40 minutes like he
knew, he knew he was in, he wasin pain, um, talk about you know
when, when there was a coupleof times really early on, before
cornbread came around, um, andreally started talking to the

(01:03:19):
group, uh, where there'd be somesilence, yeah, so that was.
That was tough for me, becauseyour mind starts to wonder, you
start to question, uh, and thenI think cornbread went up to
Scott and said hey, you hearthat silence Like you need you
need to, you need to reiterateto these guys to explain their
why.
Again, where was your mind whenthings got quiet?

Speaker 3 (01:03:41):
Yeah, um, I definitely when it got quiet is
when I started thinking about memore, right, like that's, when
I was like how am I feeling?
How am I doing?
Do I need to eat more?
Do I need to drink more?
Um, is this what feels like acramp in my left calf going to
go away in 10 minutes or go awayin an hour?
Um, I didn't know.

(01:04:01):
You could like cramp and thenget rid of a cramp and then
cramp again, over and over again.
Um, but it was happening likethat and so, yeah, anytime it
was quiet, I felt I felt thefocus come back on me and so I
really enjoyed and, to yourpoint, cornbread really
encouraged us.
But, like, the times that werethe most enjoyable on in that

(01:04:22):
experience were the times where,when we just kind of got lost
in our, in our conversationamongst each other yeah, and it
could be just nothing reallymeaningful conversation.

Speaker 2 (01:04:32):
It was just conversation some points times,
but there was, there was manytimes when some of the stories
that people shared were very,very powerful for sure.
So you know, we were trekkingalong, it's hot, it's
challenging, and we get into thenight and we're going to get to
the end, where you had someissues.

Speaker 3 (01:04:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
But talk about leading up to that, because it
seemed to me like I remember youand I having a conversation.
Um, when we came out from thewaterfall we were heading up the
gravel road before we got tothat resupply five had a good
conversation talking about yourfamily.
You seem super strong Like and,and, quite honestly, for me, I

(01:05:17):
felt pretty good as well.
Super strong Like and and,quite honestly for me, I felt
pretty good as well.

Speaker 3 (01:05:23):
Um, but we get past resupply five, we go to where
we're, we finish and you passout.
Yeah, I did.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
Yeah, so talk about leading up to that, how, how you
felt good, and then then what?

Speaker 3 (01:05:35):
happened.
Yeah, so I mean, to your point,I really felt good, you know, I
mean I'm I carried a anotherperson's bag for a good portion
of that overall, that wholeexperience, and wanted to do
that Like I felt like the hey,this is how I can contribute to
the team.
Um, and so, yeah, I mean I uh,you know it was hard, don't get

(01:05:58):
me wrong, but you know, when wewere, when we were finishing,
Matt told I don't know if yousaw this text, but Matt told a
story about, shortly before wegot to the point of stopping.
Um, I noticed Matt to my rightand he was, he was, he was shaky
and I looked at him.
I was like man, you doing okay,and he's like, ah, I'm not

(01:06:19):
feeling great.
And I said I got some fruitsnacks, maybe this little sugar
will help you.
And I passed him those fruitsnacks and he talked about later
how that that helped kind ofperk him up.
So I was in a mode of how'severyone else doing?
And feeling really good, and wegot to that point and you know,
and um and so, uh, we took, wekind of all turned around and we

(01:06:43):
were standing there.
Well, I mean, I was like numberprobably going to be like the
15th or 16th guy to take thatfinal walk to the vans.
And, um, yeah, I just, I just Ihad this feeling and my stomach
was going crazy.
Like I just felt all thisfeeling and my stomach was going
crazy, Like I just felt allthis pressure in my stomach, and
then I started to feel likeblood was rushing from my feet

(01:07:05):
to my head and I remember, Ithink I blurted out like I'm not
feeling well, I think, if Iremember correctly.
And then I remember, turningtowards Alan who was standing
right behind me, I was like Alan, I'm about to.
And then the next thing, youknow, I'm on the ground.
So I completely, you know, yousaw it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:24):
No, I was gone.
Oh, you were gone.
Yeah, I was already out, oh,okay.

Speaker 3 (01:07:28):
I can't remember who was gone and who wasn't, but
yeah, so next thing I know Chadis in my face.
It's kind of funny.
It's kind of funny.
He's going Hunter, hunter,because Billy had called me
Hunter on and off, and I'm likeI'm not going to correct him
every time.
He does it.
So Billy was behind me and Ithink he probably said Hunter.
So Chad's in my face calling meHunter and I can remember it.

(01:07:50):
Like he's just like there andso, yeah, so they got me back on
my feet and then I said I hadto go to the bathroom, stepped
off the trail, went to thebathroom, step back into the
line and I went out again and um, and then they got me on my
feet again.
I went out one more time andthen on that third time, um, you

(01:08:15):
know, chad was like, hey, meand you, we're going to take
this back together, we're goingto walk it back.
Just, you know, we're going tolet you stay here until
everybody else goes.
And so I had no idea how long Iwas out.
I had no idea, but I remember Iwas still on the ground and all
of a sudden, sweat just emptiedout of my body and I felt great

(01:08:37):
after that, and so great to apoint you know, but I was back
on my feet, somebody gave metheir hiking poles and Chad, and
I walked it back and had agreat conversation.
It was the weirdest thing but Italked to two people have said
something to me about it sincethen.
One, my mom.
She's like you don't rememberwhen you fainted in the kitchen

(01:08:57):
when you were 16?
I'm like no, no idea.
So I have fainted before.
Okay, but she reminded me of atime that happened in high
school and she said it was aftera football practice in the
summer.
And then one of my neighbors, aguy named Troy Williams he's
Special Forces Green Beret guynamed Troy Williams, he's um,

(01:09:21):
special forces green beret.
Um, he's a.
He lives in Georgia but he'sout of a.
He's a reservist out of a groupin, uh, alabama.
And I was telling him about itand he's like dude, you just,
you just gave everything.
He's like that's the way Iwould look at it is you sold out
, he goes.
That's awesome you know, yeah.
And so I'm like, well, I'lltake it.
You know, maybe maybe that'swhat it was, maybe I just
completely.
And then I do remember thatlast section where we were going

(01:09:43):
up and down those steep rocks.
I was carrying Casey's bag fora good portion of that and, yeah
, I was spent.

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:09:53):
Felt good, but I knew my body was at it.
I mean, I'd given what I couldgive.

Speaker 2 (01:10:01):
It's just amazing that it you know it happened.
You know I I mean it was at theend, so your body knew like got
you to that point and then it'slike Nope, you're going, you're
going to take a nap you know,so hardest, hardest part of the
whole rite of passage for youwas what?

Speaker 3 (01:10:17):
Yeah, the hardest part, I think, was, you know, we
had gone through one section Idon't want to give away things
about it, but like we'd gonethrough a section and you know
it was probably two or threeo'clock in the morning and my
mind started looking at the skyand I would look one way and

(01:10:38):
then I'd look the other.
I'd be like, wait, it's alittle bit lighter over there.
Are we close, you know?
And I'm like, now that I knowwhere it was, like probably two
o'clock in the morning, that wasthe hardest part, because by
that point you're exhausted,your mind starting to play
tricks on you, you're wanting tobe done and so you're just
hoping you're a lot closer thanyou really are.

(01:10:59):
And, um, it just kept going andkept going, you know, and we
had that resupply before the.
The really hard part and yeah,I mean, I'm like man looking
back, I'm like you literallythought it was almost over and
it was like 2 AM, so that washard.

Speaker 2 (01:11:15):
Yeah, yeah, I agree, that was, uh, that was
challenging cause your mind'splaying tricks on you.
You're hallucinating.
I mean just your body'sexhausted Um yeah that's pretty
powerful man.
You definitely gave it your allfor sure, for sure.
Um, so last two things here andwe'll we'll finish.
We'll wrap this up.
Is there, is there a Bibleverse?

(01:11:37):
Is there a quote?
Is there something that youlean on?
You know, maybe when you're notfeeling enthusiastic to to to
do your work in the morning oryour workout or anything like
that but is there is theresomething out there that you
lean on that you come back to,that motivates you to keep going
?

Speaker 3 (01:11:59):
that motivates you to keep going.
Hmm, you know, I don't knowthat I can point towards a Bible
verse.
You know, I think I think about, you know, my motivation to get
up and do that routine and getthe workout in and be my best at
the you know, at whatever'sahead of us that day, and
obviously we all fall short ofwhat we ultimately want to do.

(01:12:22):
Um, and I just kind of I would,I would have to say, is just,
you know, god has been sogracious, um, and I'm, I'm so
grateful that, um, I just wantto be generous back, you know,
generous with how I'm servinghim, how I'm serving my family,

(01:12:44):
how I'm serving, in my career,friends.
And so when we had that 30minute time on the rite of
passage, there were two things Ithought about.
I started off thinking aboutgratitude and how grateful I was
for just so many blessings, butthen I thought about generosity

(01:13:05):
, kind of the second half ofthat walk, and that's the legacy
we want to leave.
And I'm getting off topic alittle bit, but we, you know, we
are like when people look whenwe're dead and gone and people
look back on Tucker and Jennifer.
If there's one word, we want itto be generosity, and so that

(01:13:25):
comes out of a spirit ofgratefulness.
And so I say to answer yourquestion, I think just you know
why do we get up and do what wedo.
I'm just very grateful to evenhave the opportunity to do it.
It's one of the things I saywhen I first start my routine is
God, thank you for another day.
Yeah, you know um, cause theBible is pretty clear.
You know we're not, we don'tnothing's guaranteed Correct

(01:13:49):
Right.

Speaker 2 (01:13:50):
Yeah, so um so, yeah, yeah, that's.
That's a great answer, man.
Great answer.
Last question If you could siton a park bench and have a
conversation with anyone livingor deceased.

Speaker 3 (01:14:02):
Who would it be and why?
It's a great question.
Um, three people come to mind.
I'll just mention the two namesand I'll I'll talk a little
more about the third.
So the first person would betrue at Kathy.
I got to meet him one time.
It was before I.
He actually passed away a yearbefore I started Chick-fil-a.
So I'd love to just ask him thequestion are we, are we

(01:14:22):
fulfilling your vision, you know, are we staying true to what
you started as the founder ofChick-fil-a?
Second one's George Washington.
I don't think I have to say awhole lot about why, right, but
I love our country and, and youknow, obviously he's one of our
founding fathers and probablythe most well-known, and it's
just the way he led, the way hewas written, with things that

(01:14:43):
were written about him.
But the one that I think Ireally would want and and I
think would be the mostchallenging, would be to sit
down with, with Paul, theapostle Paul, and I'd love for
Paul to do an assessment ofTucker.
I think he would challenge meand, and you know, point me in
some directions and, and youknow, make me better.

(01:15:05):
Um, cause he certainly did that, you know, for a lot of people.

Speaker 2 (01:15:09):
So, yeah, that's it, that's awesome man, great answer
, great answers, um, anddefinitely all very influential
people.
For sure, man, you did great.
I appreciate, um, appreciateyou coming up here, because you
didn't have to, um, and and Iknow you weren't you weren't far

(01:15:30):
away, but, uh, it means a lotto me, um, you know what we did
together in our 24 hours andmaybe 36 hours of actually
knowing each other and those youknow, 17 other 18 of us total
group of men.
I mean, it has really impactedmy life and I've been on many

(01:15:54):
teams, you know, throughout mylife and it's an amazing group
of men.
You're an amazing man, you're,you're doing some amazing things
and I, I, I know that peopleare going to take something from
your story, um, and use it in apositive way, because that's
what life is all about.
That's what Chick-fil-A isabout, that's what you and

(01:16:15):
Jennifer about with your family.
It's about just just trying tomake this world a better place.
So I thank you for taking thetime to come up here.

Speaker 3 (01:16:23):
Thank you, this has been an honor.
Yeah, absolute honor.

Speaker 2 (01:16:26):
Yeah, all right, everybody Be sure to like and
share and all those good things.
We continue to be grateful foryour support.
Go out and be tempered.

Speaker 1 (01:16:38):
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Speaker 2 (01:17:06):
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