November 13, 2025 • 47 mins
Sometimes the smartest move isn’t climbing higher—it’s knowing when to walk away.
This week on My Crunchy Zen Era, Nicole chats with Stuart Cooper—a self-described sales hunter who’s grown companies across healthcare, biotech, finance, staffing, and tech—to talk about the art of strategic quitting, taking smart risks, and that one time he ran for Congress in just five months.
They start with intermittent fasting (yes, really) as a small act of discipline that sets the tone for bigger life decisions. From there, they chat about finding purpose, and how marriage and memory can be quiet anchors in seasons of big change. Stuart shares how he bets on leaders, not logos, and why having backup plans isn’t fear—it’s strategy.
They get into all of it: toxic bosses, pivots, faith, politics, personality tests, and the lesson that timing rules everything. His biggest takeaway? Family first—because once your kids hit sixteen, time speeds up fast.
It’s part career therapy, part faith journey, and full of that crunchy zen mix of humor, reflection, and real talk.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
What something crunchy has done that you've
done lately?
SPEAKER_03 (00:02):
I have been doing is time restricted eating and like
intermittent fasting.
Like I know everybody's intothat.
SPEAKER_00 (00:10):
I am into that.
Do you like that?
SPEAKER_03 (00:12):
Yeah.
I like going till four o'clock.
So I'll go till four.
SPEAKER_00 (00:15):
Wait, wait, from you start at four or you start
eating at four?
SPEAKER_03 (00:20):
I'll start eating at four.
So I'll go, so I'll skipbreakfast and lunch, and I don't
eat my first meal until fouro'clock.
SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
That is a a long time to have for a fasting
window, like regularly.
I do like five to nine-ish.
Yeah.
So like, but women have to fastdifferently to nine a.m.
SPEAKER_02 (00:43):
Oh, you fast at 5 p.m.
to 9 a.m.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (00:46):
So I fast for at least like 13 hours.
SPEAKER_02 (00:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
And like apparently, if women keep with the exact
same like fasting schedule thatmen do, we can start to like
lose our hair and stuff.
I've heard that.
Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
Yeah.
Do it doesn't happen with men,do you know?
Do we lose our hair?
SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
I don't think so.
I'm not too worried about youguys.
You seem to be fine.
That's great.
You might want to look into thatthough.
Yeah, I need to look into that.
Yeah.
Well, welcome to my crunchy zenera.
(01:25):
This is a weekly podcast filledwith a little fun, a little
humor, and a whole lot ofcuriosity.
I'm your host, Nicole Swisher,and this week my guest is Stuart
Cooper.
Welcome.
I'm glad that you're here.
I was trying to think about howwe met, and it was at some very
random networking event.
And I think it was for yourfriend with the app that we were
(01:47):
talking about.
SPEAKER_03 (01:47):
I was with him tonight, yeah.
Dave Castro.
He has the icebreaker app.
And uh was it Next Mile withGinger Jones?
Maybe.
I think I got an invite for thattoday.
So I think that's what it was.
Yeah.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
I feel like it was last winter.
Yeah, it was dark.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (02:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
So and then I feel like we bonded over stand-up
comedy.
SPEAKER_03 (02:09):
My twin brother.
So yeah, my twin brother, I hadjust done uh like on a whim, I
had just gone and on a date withmy wife.
Uh I said, I just want to go dostand-up comedy.
And she said, Why?
You know, I would never do that.
And I was like, I just want todo it.
And I tried it.
Yeah.
And so I think it was withinweeks of of that that I met you
(02:30):
and you were talking to my twinbrother, Craig.
And so he immediately connectsus and he went over and grabbed
me and grabbed you and said, Youguys should talk.
And so we wanted over comedy.
SPEAKER_00 (02:40):
And uh after your stand-up experience, have you
done it since?
No, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (02:46):
I got I get busy with some other stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
Yes, we will definitely talk about what I
think you're alluding to.
Um if you could relive anymemory, what would it be and
why?
SPEAKER_03 (02:58):
With my wife, I I thought about I saw some of
these questions you were gonnaask, and I love how all of them
are great.
Um, it would be with my wife.
So uh I have several uh memoriesthat and also my dad.
I just lost my dad in April ofthis year, and I love my dad,
he's the best of the best, anduh so I have memories with him,
but I but with Jenny, uh sowe've been married 26 years.
(03:22):
Um different getaways anddifferent things that we've done
where we've gotten away from thekids.
So there was one where we wentto Dandridge, Tennessee, in the
middle of nowhere.
SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
I'd like to say I know where that is, but I don't.
SPEAKER_03 (03:36):
Literally like two roads.
That's that's about it.
Like the downtown, if you cancall it that, yes A Street.
And uh there's a bridge.
I remember that.
I remember a street, solidbridge, and a bridge, yeah.
And uh that we had uh we we goton jet skis and went out on the
lake and uh just a good goodmemory.
It was after our third kidda.
(03:59):
And um, but yeah, I I rememberthat I remember that one being a
great getaway.
So I'd probably relive that.
SPEAKER_00 (04:08):
I feel like I have so many memories with people of
like the travels and when youget out of the day-to-day life,
it's so being able to be presentin a different way can really
just make it a lot more specialand memorable.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
So um, so I want to talk to you about your career
and of course running foroffice.
Yeah.
So I was looking all up in yourLinkedIn profile, which was
super helpful.
Um, and you described yourselfas a sales entrepreneur and a
sales hunter.
SPEAKER_03 (04:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:41):
What do you mean by those terms?
SPEAKER_03 (04:43):
So I can't call myself an entrepreneur.
I wish I could call myself anentrepreneur.
Maybe at some point I'll I'll beable to do that.
My dad was an entrepreneur, sohe had our my last name is
Cooper, and he had Cooper oneverything growing up.
So he had multiple businesses.
And but dad would go boom, bust,boom, bust.
And so we experienced, you know,as a teenager, um my house got
(05:09):
auctioned off, like in front ofme, like we saw our house get
auctioned off.
My mom crying.
I was like, what's going on?
All the furniture being removed,people selling pictures that she
had and and you know, differentfurniture that she had.
And so I never wanted to gothrough that.
(05:30):
So I've always put the risk outon other people.
So I help, so as a salesentrepreneur, I help
entrepreneurs grow theirbusiness, is how I would say it.
And that mostly has been in um,and I think that'll change at
some point as the kids get outof the house and that type of
thing, maybe I would feel morecomfortable taking some risk and
(05:51):
and and doing that.
Jenny's also very conservative.
But I uh as a sales hunter, Ijust I've I'm always I'm always
asked to grow businesses.
So uh, and it's been indifferent, you know, spheres
like healthcare, pharmaceutical,uh, biotech, uh finance,
(06:18):
recruiting and staffing, andtechnology.
Then I stumble into MA typestuff, so I've had like multiple
conversations about well, weshould just buy your business,
and then I set that up, and weend up buying the whole company,
and that's happened three times.
Uh I've had seven, seven, Ithink seven different times at
(06:40):
bat for that, and three of themhave worked out, and um that's
kind of cool because you end upgrowing the company rapidly
through a strategic acquisition.
And so that's that's how Idefine that.
SPEAKER_00 (06:54):
How many uh how many jobs have you had?
SPEAKER_03 (06:56):
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_00 (06:56):
Uh you know I was gonna ask, even though I didn't
tell you.
Oh, because we talked aboutthat.
SPEAKER_03 (07:00):
Yes, right, that one night.
SPEAKER_00 (07:02):
Um my goodness, that's right.
SPEAKER_03 (07:05):
Yeah, so that's part of why I wanted to do, I wanted
to just go make fun of myself,like at the stand-up and mostly
my career, and then what whatit's like to be an identical
twin too, which is has beencrazy um and fun.
But yeah, I I I want to say 22.
Like it's it's probably morethan that.
It might be 26.
(07:26):
Um, it's a lot.
So if anybody's listening, likewhoever's listening, you know,
like uh I'm not I you know it'swild.
I wouldn't I wouldn't put myselfas a job hopper or anything like
that.
Um I've I'm a I'm an eight wingseven on the Enneagram uh
Enneagram or Myers back on theEnneagram, yeah.
(07:46):
So cu uh control is something II like to have.
And so if I feel threatened,like at a company, um I I I'm I
do not ever want to be on thestreet.
So I always have backup plans.
I was talking to somebody aboutthis today.
I literally have an app or notan app, but the notes section on
(08:07):
my phone.
SPEAKER_01 (08:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:08):
Uh where I I have multiple backup plans.
So if I have so the role thatI'm in right now came about
because I had one coffee meetinguh out of the blue, by the way,
out of the completely out of theblue, uh, my boss says, Hey, can
we go grab coffee?
And so we go grab coffee and wewere hanging out for two hours.
(08:29):
It's very cordial.
But then at the very end, hepaid for the you know, tab and
he said, Hey, I want to give youa heads up on something.
Um I had been there for 22months, I think at the time, and
I had set up an acquisition Iset up a company acquisition or
I initiated it.
Other people I know on that oneuh started too as well.
(08:51):
But anyway, um I um he justsaid, Hey, you know, this one
partner's looking at numbers anduh your name has come up a
couple of times.
Maybe we should start meetingand trying to figure out an
action plan.
It felt like a uh what do youcall it, a pip, a performance
improvement plan uh might becoming toward me.
(09:13):
Uh and I I I just don't I'm toouh old for that.
Like, you know, I don't know.
I just I literally called theguy I'm working for right now.
So I got in the car and I calleduh Ken Wagner and he said,
Stuart, what's going on?
I was like, what's going on is Imight need to come work for you.
And he said, Why?
What happened?
Yeah, I thought you were happy,and I explained it and he said,
(09:35):
Oh yeah, we'll come over.
And then I told him, I said,Hey, don't be surprised if I
come over there and initiate anacquisition because that's what
I do in my spare time.
Sometimes I happen, yeah.
And it happened, you know.
So I came over and then we andso he's been great and has given
me a lot of autonomy.
And he let me do the uhcongressional run, and that was
awesome.
(09:56):
And so I feel like it's checkingboxes for me, but yeah, I've had
multiple uh yeah, five fivedifferent industries.
Tech has been the hardest.
Tech has been hard because uhthere is no job security in
technology if you're in sales.
Yeah.
Uh 80% of sellers um don't hittheir number.
(10:18):
Like in sales is quota, yourquota.
Only 20% of sellers intechnology actually hit their
quota.
So something's wrong with theentire industry when only 20%
hit their quota.
And so you have 80% that arelooking over their shoulder,
wondering if they're gonna getaxed.
Uh companies like Microsoft andum some of the very, very large
(10:41):
companies will just they'll justevery year they'll just cut, you
know, 10,000 people or somethinglike that.
It's crazy.
Yeah, and so it trickles all theway down.
I've been in smaller businessesthan I've been in some of the
large ones, but I've been insmaller ones.
And so just being um aware ofthat, I've always got backup
plans.
SPEAKER_00 (11:01):
And so I think I think it's interesting how our
society really views likechanging jobs as almost like a
moral failure sometimes becauseWell then I'm a big failure.
SPEAKER_03 (11:14):
I mean, I am too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:16):
I've had plenty of jobs.
Um I think I've been at five lawfirms, six.
SPEAKER_03 (11:23):
And especially in the legal industry, it's like,
oh that probably sounds likeit's for your industry that
maybe that's a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (11:30):
But for me, I had very like solid reasons why I
made the moves, and some that Iwon't ever share publicly
because I shouldn't, due to likean NDA.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (11:42):
Um so it's like people would want to know, you
could say right now.
Yeah.
You tell them it's a greatcontext for you to listen to the
end.
SPEAKER_00 (11:52):
Yeah.
But I think it's interestingwhen you you know, you're I
don't think well, I think thereare job hoppers who are just
like, I just want the next newthing, I can get lured over.
But for some people, I thinkyourself, myself, it's like we
have a story that like makessense that was thought through.
And sometimes, you know, justjudging by pay like what's on
(12:16):
paper, people might look at yousideways.
SPEAKER_03 (12:20):
But I've had those, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:21):
I think that being knowing when to quit and move on
is also a skill.
And I think it's 100% staying ina a bad relationship that is
like toxic or something.
Like, why is there a moral highground to that versus leaving
and knowing yourself?
And yeah, so this is my soapbox.
SPEAKER_03 (12:43):
No, I I completely agree with you.
I I I've only had, I will say II can't remember the number if
it's 25 or whatever.
So I've probably had twenty fivebosses.
Uh 23 of them were phenomen weregreat, we're good.
Uh, and some of them got betterand better and better, and
(13:04):
sometimes I pick who where I gobased on who I'm who I would be
reporting to.
And I would like to staysomewhere for a long time.
I mean, that's the goal.
I would love I want to be whereI'm at right now for 10 years if
I could, that'd be great.
But then companies get bought,right?
And acquisitions happen and anddifferent things like that.
And uh sometimes there's ads,moves, and changes.
(13:25):
And I had one guy that I wasreporting to.
I've had a couple that weretough, and I was having
nightmares, and uh he was from adifferent country.
I don't think he got the memo,uh certain certain memos um that
of what you can and can't say ordo.
And so he would deride me infront of my team and come in,
you know, and they would look atme like, I've never seen
(13:47):
anything like this.
Are you okay?
He'd leave the room, are youokay?
I was like, I think I am.
So he can't he did that and cameback in and uh, all right, let's
get started.
And I go, We're not, we're no,we're respectfully, we're not
getting started.
Yeah.
He's like, What do you mean?
And I said, Well, you just youjust stormed off you know, angry
after, you know, a publicpublicly saying some stuff that
(14:13):
I just don't agree with, and Idon't think you talked to me
privately like that, and nowyou're doing it publicly, and I
can go work somewhere else, youknow, like yeah um, and so I
stayed there another six monthsafter that.
I shouldn't have, I probablyshouldn't have, but I was
looking the whole time, youknow.
And so sometimes you have tolook.
It's career discernment, right?
You know, and that guy told meum uh a recruiter called and
(14:36):
asked me, hey, uh, you know, hewas trying to ask me about
something, and I was trying tobe sensitive and not say
anything negative.
And I haven't even heard Ihaven't said who that was, or
um, and he said, Hey, I'm anadvocate for you.
You need to speak openly.
And so I I told him, Oh, thishappens, that happens, this
happens, that happens.
(14:56):
And then he said to me, uh,well, you need to get out or get
a therapist, like and do itquickly.
Like, and so that was helpful.
SPEAKER_00 (15:05):
I've had a recruiter say that to me.
It's very validating, yeah,yeah, 100%.
But yeah, I mean, there's justsome things like I had one
company I worked for where Ifound out they were struggling
and that they were probablygonna be acquired or break up or
like dissolve, and it was like Iwas planning on staying here
(15:26):
longer if I could, but you know,you you just don't see life
coming, and I feel like justrolling with it a little bit and
being able to get into a newplace and like get your feet
under you.
I I've always tried to bringwith me of like some of the
negative experiences as I'vegotten senior, being like, I I'm
(15:48):
not gonna do that.
I'm going to make sure that thepeople who are junior to me are
having a better experience thanI did.
Absolutely.
I just think it's important.
Yeah, that's good.
Yeah.
So, okay, you have an MB MBA.
SPEAKER_03 (16:01):
Yep.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:01):
Do you think that was worth it?
SPEAKER_03 (16:03):
I do, yes, yeah, I do.
So my my under my undergrad wasin speech communications, and I
took uh I was there in '95 at UTat University of Tennessee in
Knoxville.
The year we won the nationalchampionship is when I
graduated, '98.
It was a great time to be there.
I had one class, it was a speechcommunication class, and there
(16:25):
were 12 people in it.
And they they said, we're goingto teach you to say what you
need to say, uh, say it, saywhat you're going to say, say
it, say what you said, sit down,or something like that.
And then there's also going tobe interpersonal, uh, and and
all kinds of personality testsand dealing with people.
And actually, there's probablysome business majors in here
(16:45):
that you'll probably get moreout of this than you would out
of business.
And you could drop business andmake this your major.
And at the time Peyton Manningwas in that major, there were
only a hundred of us in it.
And so um I I looked at my twinbrother because he was in there
with me, and we both said, Yeah,let's do that.
So we dropped that and did it,but I didn't pick up any of the
(17:06):
business knowledge.
And so when I was 30, um, so Iworked for my dad for a while,
and I kept telling dad, youknow, Dad, I'd I'd love to do an
MBA.
And he said, Well, everythingyou can learn from those guys,
you can just learn from me.
And a lot of it, he was right.
And uh but I ended up leavingthe family company.
(17:28):
He had a medical issue at thetime that uh caused us to all
leave, except for my olderbrother Tyson.
And so I um when I got out ofthe company, I uh Clayton Holmes
had this program where theywould pay for your uh for your
for your degree and I askedthem, hey, could you pay for
(17:51):
this?
And if I had just startedworking there, and they uh had
some where I had to stay therefor a certain amount of time or
whatever.
SPEAKER_00 (18:00):
I'm always curious about the MBA because I've heard
some people describe it as likeexpensive networking.
Other people really learn a lot.
Um I'm I've wanted to get my MBAfor like 10 years, but I've but
I'm always like that's a lot ofwork after already getting a JD.
SPEAKER_03 (18:18):
Yeah, you don't need to do it.
Yeah.
I like saying do it, don't doit, you know, all within.
SPEAKER_00 (18:23):
That was less than a minute.
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, I've I've justbeen like very curious because
some people are like, uh so Iwas an English major, so half
the time in MA, I'm just like,what's happening?
Like I I mean, I know better.
Yeah, when I do like MA deals.
SPEAKER_03 (18:40):
That's what you do.
That's what I mean.
You inked the deals.
SPEAKER_00 (18:45):
Yes, I do.
Oh, cool.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's I learned that, yeah.
Yeah, I learned like thefinancial side of business just
from having to do due diligenceand the number of times I've
taken an accounting for lawyersCLE, and I'm still just like, I
don't know.
Great.
I'm like, I can tell whenthere's money going places there
(19:06):
shouldn't be, and that's kind ofit.
SPEAKER_03 (19:08):
You probably don't need you probably don't need
you, I I would say you don'tneed the M the MBA because you
do you've got the accountingside of of actually doing the
numbers, you have a law degree.
I did it because at when I was18 I didn't understand any of
the marketing finance econ.
And then when I went back, Ithink after being in business
(19:28):
for a while, I started tounderstand it more.
SPEAKER_00 (19:31):
Yeah, I struggle with the numbers quite a bit.
Like I started using AI to likeI'm like do this calculation and
it just like spits it out, andI'm like, it's right, I think.
Um no, my the partner likedouble checked it, don't worry.
But I I was like, okay, I seewhy AI is helpful.
Yeah.
I don't have to math anymore.
(19:51):
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, so you've been inuh actually before I move on, I
so you had to choose your majorat 18.
SPEAKER_03 (20:01):
Yeah, I don't know if I had to, but I did.
Yeah.
That's so young.
SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
And do you think that it's helped you where you
are now?
SPEAKER_03 (20:09):
I I yes, yeah.
I would go back.
That that degree, the speechcommunications degree, I would
do that again.
I would recommend people to doit.
I don't know what it's like atother universities, but at
Tennessee, it was all helpfulfor what I ended up what I ended
up doing.
Sale mostly sales and dealingwith people and relationships
(20:31):
and um so yeah, it was great.
It was a lot of um what groupsetting communication, uh public
speaking, one-on-one personalitytype test, and and just trying
to discern how to relate topeople.
Um I I I got a lot out of it.
SPEAKER_00 (20:50):
I mean, all that I I feel like communication and
understanding people is it's askill that you can be taught and
people need to learn.
And a lot of times I thinkpeople look at it as it comes
naturally or it doesn't.
And I've been in many situationswhere people just be like, Well,
that's just how they are.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, they don't have tobe like that though.
(21:11):
Like they could learn to not bethat way.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, so I've yeah, I feel likeknowing what you've done this
year, I assume it's come inhandy with like running for
Congress.
SPEAKER_03 (21:23):
Yes, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
My so my twin brother, it wasinteresting because my twin
brother got into pastoralministry and he immediately for
20 years put together the theaspect of you know writing a
45-minute speech basically anddelivering it every week to you
know, fift fifteen hundredpeople or however many people
(21:46):
were in the in the room.
And um, I didn't do that part ofit.
It dawned on me later that a lotof my sales career was 80% of
the what they taught in thespeech communication class was
all about the group setting typecommunication and one-on-one.
(22:06):
And I don't I couldn't evenremember all of it right now,
but it's only probably only 20%was stand up and speak.
Um and so but I did, but I'veused both you know all
throughout, and definitely onthe congressional uh run.
Yeah, you it comes in handy whenyou're talking to the media and
you know, different and one I'mremembering one of the things I
(22:27):
remember right now is and youknow this and everybody knows
this, but it's fun to say itagain.
But uh people usually don'tlisten to what you're saying,
they look at your mannerisms.
Isn't that weird?
Like it's a I think 70% or 80%,nine sometimes even 90% of your
communication is coming fromyour demeanor.
(22:48):
Isn't that wild?
SPEAKER_00 (22:49):
Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_03 (22:50):
And so you just kind of learn, and my wife reminds me
of that a lot, you know, andthen your tone.
So your tone, uh, so and she'llcall me out on my tone all the
time.
I think women, I think this isnot I'm just saying, I'm just
calling it as it is.
I think you guys have somethingspecial we don't have.
We pick up on things, you pickup on stuff, yeah.
And yeah, so she could well youuh you said this, but your tone,
(23:13):
you know, came out like that.
I think she said that yesterdaymorning.
And then she said something backto me, and I said, Well, your
tone, you know, like I can tell,you know, you're upset, you
know.
We just go back and forth.
I want you to know that.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
She's like, good.
SPEAKER_00 (23:31):
Uh so can you tell me about why you decided to run
for Congress?
SPEAKER_03 (23:35):
Yeah, so when I so my freshman year at UT, we're
talking about UT.
So my freshman year at UT, I'min my dorm room, and I was J609
on Hess in Hess Hall, which isthe largest dorm on campus at
the time, and it was co-ed.
You got guys on one side, girlson the other side with a big red
(23:56):
door.
I want to say red door, a bigwall in between multiple stories
or whatever, and no airconditioning.
So people would always leavetheir windows open and they'd
leave their doors open so thatthe wind could pass from one
side to the other and cool usall down.
And so if you weren't anextrovert, when you moved there,
you would do two things.
One, you would go to HodgesLibrary, which is a walking
(24:19):
distance, and you'd just getaway from all of it.
And the second thing is you'dyou'd either become an ext you'd
either become one or you wouldjust loosen up around people,
you would uh recognize that'show people are and you'd you'd
you'd get relaxed about it.
But but fall break inninety-five, I was, and this
this is coming up on Saturday.
Saturday is the 25th, I think.
(24:40):
I think Saturday's the 25th.
So that's my I it's the day uhI'll tell the story first and
I'll tell you what the 25th is.
The day around this when thishappened.
And so I'm in my dorm room, andum fall break, everybody cleared
out.
So 900 students, I was probablythere were probably two of us in
the in the dorm, is what it feltlike.
(25:03):
And so first time I had beenalone and and that it was quiet,
and that I could remember in along time, and basically I'm
sitting in my dorm roomlistening to Hootie and the
Blowfish, like uh number 11,which is nobody's listening to
me, not even the trees.
And there I was wrestling withsome internal stuff, and I was
(25:25):
really down, I was fightingdiscouragement, depression, that
type of thing.
And so I look out the window andI prayed.
I just uh the you know, windowsright here, and I look out and
I'm like, God, I don't even knowif you exist, but if you're out
there and you exist, um dosomething.
(25:46):
I need help, like do somethingright now.
And uh because the the song wasnobody's listening to me, not
even the trees.
And so I just prayed.
And right when I prayed that, uhI heard something slide under my
door uh to my foot, and Ithought it was a Papa John's
flyer because the guys would gothrough and knock and throw it.
Yeah, yeah.
(26:06):
College, yeah, yeah.
And so I'm like, oh great, youknow, this is what I need.
And I I'm crying at the time,and looking, and I and I pick it
up, and it's an it's an inviteto a campus ministry.
It says victory and life throughJesus Christ, uh, reason to
believe, come hear this messageor something like that.
And it had a um an invite ofwhere the meeting would be, and
(26:29):
I had just prayed and so Ipicked that up and I did a
double take, like what?
And so then I called Jenny, whowas my friend at the time.
We weren't even dating, and shebecame my wife.
And so I just said, Hey, I I gotthis invite, I think I need to
go to this meeting.
And so would you come with me?
It was I think for the nextnight.
(26:51):
And then I called her and saidlater and said, I just want to
go by myself.
So I go to this meeting and Ihear the gospel, like I
literally hear um a very simplemessage, you know, but it was
communicated in a really winsomeway by a guy that was from
Nashville, uh, a guy named RiceBrooks.
(27:12):
And um I just remember going, Ithat guy's kind of cool.
Like he had anyway, he just hadthe Nashville look or whatever,
and he was making he was I wastracking with what he was
saying, and then he uh hebasically shares the simple
truth, you know, God is holy,man is sinful, there's a
separation between God and manthat your good works can't
(27:34):
bridge, and different religionscan't nothing can bridge that.
Um but Jesus uh was fully Godand fully man, and he was born
as a uh uh from a virgin,sinless, and then as God man
died on a cross and on thatcross received the punishment
(27:54):
for your sins and the wrath,like the wrath of God that you
deserve was poured onto Jesus.
And if you believe that and turnfrom your sins, you'll become a
Christian.
And I was sitting in the roomand I heard that and I was like,
Well, that's a that's good news.
You know, like I had beenfighting, struggling with stuff
(28:16):
that you know I was thinkingthrough and sin and different
things, and I was like, Ibelieve I believe that.
And so I became a Christian thatnight, just literally while that
guy was sharing that message, Ibelieved it, and that's all it
took.
And so my life was totallychanged.
I was born again, and so at thatmoment, um, I had this desire to
(28:37):
want to serve also to serve, youknow.
I was kind of like, I'd love todo what that guy is doing, you
know, which I thought for awhile I thought I'd be a pastor.
And then um then somebodyintroduced me to William
Wilberforce.
Uh, do you know that guy?
SPEAKER_00 (28:53):
I know who that is, yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (28:54):
What do you know about him?
SPEAKER_00 (28:55):
Um, isn't he the one who wrote Amazing Grace?
SPEAKER_03 (28:59):
So he was best friends, or not best friends.
His pastor was John Newton, theguy who wrote that.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
Okay.
Was he the one who helped endslavery?
Yes.
Okay.
Like it's one of these.
Yes.
Yeah, I've read I read a bookabout him a while ago.
SPEAKER_03 (29:15):
No way.
What happened with Wilberforceis he he was a young man who was
privileged, and I wouldn't sayhe was a merchant's son, so he
was he he was very rich.
I wouldn't say at all that I canrelate to that.
But when in his twenties, Ithink he ran for parliament and
won.
He just spent a bunch of moneyand won the seat, but then he
(29:37):
became a Christian.
So he was he was a partier anddid a bunch of stuff.
But while he's in parliament, hebecame a Christian.
So then he starts thinking, Oh,I should be a pastor because I'm
a Christian.
He wants to quit.
And uh John Newton, who wroteAmazing Grace, uh said, No, God
put you there, like stay there,you know, don't quit.
(29:59):
And so he He ended up peoplethen presented him Problems,
which was the a lot of differentones.
I think he had two main aims,the ref reformation of manners
and to end slavery.
And so anyway, I read that and Ithought, oh, that's kind of cool
that you and he could quotePsalm 119 is this massive psalm,
(30:20):
right?
Like at the middle of the Bible.
And it's probably it wouldprobably take 20 minutes to
quote it.
It's very long, but he wouldquote that psalm uh as he walked
to Parliament and back becausehe used to walk.
And so I I I read about him, Iread about different people, and
then I just started uh thinkingabout it.
And then I had so I had thisinternal desire when I was in my
(30:42):
twenties, and I'm 48 now, soit's been 20 something years
that I've I've had this desire.
Um and I've had externalconfirmation where people have
said, Hey, have you consideredpolitics?
I think you'd be really good atthat.
And uh I went to go get advicefrom a guy, uh a profess a
(31:02):
professor at UT during the MBAprogram.
I called my wife and I said, UhDr.
Carcello, I'm getting with him,about to take him to lunch.
Uh should I bring up politics?
Because we're talking aboutcareer.
And sh and he Jenny said, No,that's keep that close to the
chest.
Don't bring that up because it's20 years from now, you if it
even happens.
And I said, Okay, so I sit downand he's from New York and said,
(31:26):
Stu, tell me, what do you likeabout your current job?
You know, and he's like, and I'mlike, Well, I like you know,
this, that, that, that, that.
I start naming it.
And he said, Have you everconsidered a career in politics?
You know?
And I'm like, okay, you know,and so different, and then I've
had different things like thatwhere um anyway, I have I'm
(31:49):
thinking of something that I'mnot gonna share.
SPEAKER_00 (31:51):
And so so what what was the impetus this year to do
it, given that it's been therefor so long?
SPEAKER_03 (31:57):
Well, so in 2016, I was was convinced by some people
to run for school board.
And so then another almost 10years went by.
I didn't win that.
But the guy who won became acustomer and a friend, and uh
he's a neighbor, and so um Ijust but I got involved more in
Williamson County at that time,and so I b somebody made uh me
(32:22):
uh there's a guy named StephenSchau, who was the chief of
staff for the currentcongressman, that he was current
a few months ago, he's resigneduh midterm.
SPEAKER_02 (32:32):
Gotcha.
SPEAKER_03 (32:33):
And so he made me his chairman for Williamson
County.
I said, What does that mean?
And he said, Well, if there's acouple hundred people that show
up for a rally and Mark Green,Congressman Green, can't be
there, you'll speak on hisbehalf.
And I said, Oh, that sounds likean honor, that's great.
Never happened.
Uh but I, you know, but I gotaround the Green team and I was
(32:53):
um I did volunteered for themand that type of thing.
And Mark Green resignedabruptly.
That's right.
So that when his term was up, Iwas getting ready to run and
mentally in other differentways, and uh it just happened
very abruptly.
And I had his team had been hiscampaign manager had been
(33:15):
calling me Congressman Cooperfor a year.
And so and he would say, Hey,are you ready?
Are we ready for this?
Are we doing this?
And so I found out um kind ofquickly in that they that that
they had picked another guy thatthey were gonna support that had
military experience.
(33:36):
Okay.
And so, but I said, I'm stillgonna stay in it.
I'm just gonna this is and I'mglad I did it.
So historically, I think sixthousand people have this is not
this is just me consolingmyself.
You know, on your podcast, youknow.
Uh I hope that's okay.
You got a mic, go for it.
Uh sorry, I I got this from ChatGPT, but I said help me
(33:59):
understand what it's helpful.
It's helpful.
I was like, what just happenedin my life statistically?
And so um I think I think MountEverest, so 6,000 people have
climbed Mount Everest since1950, since recorded it, they
started recording the history ofit.
And so only 25,000, somewherebetween 25 and 30,000 people
(34:19):
have had had their name on theballot for United States
Congress in the 250-yearhistory.
And so according to Chat GPT,it's a lot more rare to run for
Congress than climb MountEverest, which is interesting.
So then then I said, Well, howrare?
And it was like, you know,you're you're three times as
(34:40):
many people have been struck bylightning in recorded history or
something like that.
And so I uh I take solace inthat.
I like to do I want to do hardthings, and uh it was helpful
for my the kids.
My daughter was very encouragingto me, and uh the boys have been
encouraged.
I've got a a girl and threeboys, and they were all very
(35:03):
encouraging.
Jenny was very encouraging, anduh my pastors and yeah uh you
know friends were encouragingwith it.
So I I take solace in in that.
SPEAKER_00 (35:15):
How much uh time did you have to invest in that?
Because you were working fulltime.
Yeah.
So this is like a side gig.
SPEAKER_03 (35:21):
Yeah.
Nor so normally when you ifyou're gonna run for uh for US
Congress, it's normally gonna bean 18-month uh endeavor and it's
gonna cost three milliondollars.
SPEAKER_00 (35:33):
Uh for congr for really?
SPEAKER_03 (35:35):
Yeah, to run for yeah, to r run for a
congressional seat.
Now, so like some of the Senateseats are that will go up to 30
million.
SPEAKER_00 (35:43):
Well, that's why I mean that's why I was like
Senate, but I I mean runningevery two years and having to
raise that money.
SPEAKER_03 (35:50):
Yeah, and it will for an open seat.
And so uh but yeah, then thecoffers just it's crazy.
I'm learning I've learned a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (35:58):
But once you're the incumbent, it's not I mean, we
all know it's not as hard torealize.
So it's just kind ofinteresting.
SPEAKER_03 (36:04):
The guy who won will have I told him the other day
because we did a Barry theHatchet meeting, and I said,
You've got this locked down foras long as you want.
I mean 16 years if you want it.
Marsha Blackburn was in thatseat for a long time.
Um, yeah, most most people if ifthey're serving well and it's
going well, it's a 85 to 90percent win rate for an
(36:30):
incumbent.
Yeah.
And so if you challenge anincumbent, it's kind of a it's
not uh statistically, it's ahard it's an uphill battle to
challenge an incumbent.
Yeah.
And so that's why you have towait for open seats.
And so hence the 10, you know, Ihad 10 years of of sort of
waiting.
It's a weird, it's all timing,it's an interesting uh thing
(36:52):
I've I've learned.
But this one didn't take that'sone of the reasons I did it too,
is this is it this it soundsfunny because uh I mean it was
five months, like it was fivemonths, start to finish.
This whole thing was for me.
Now the person who won theelection on October 2nd, 7th,
will go to the general December2nd, and he'll be in it longer,
(37:15):
but I was only in it for fivemonths.
SPEAKER_00 (37:18):
That's what I thought when I saw you post it
whenever we had had coffee, I Iknew you had an interest, but
then I see you post and I waslike, this timing, yeah, what is
going on?
So now I understand.
I was like, that is so fast.
SPEAKER_03 (37:33):
I did have people, I had family members who called
and said, I've got a cousin inChicago, and she said, How did
this come about?
How in the world did this comeabout?
And I'm like, Well, it's it'sbeen 20 something years in the
in the making.
The other thing about it, uh,the average everyday person
probably doesn't know that youthere's qualifications to even
(37:55):
run.
They look at your voting recordand really yeah, at least who
looks at it?
Uh the there's uh uh committeesand like on the the party, yeah.
Yeah, like a state executivecommittee.
Probably on either side, on theside of the aisle that I ran on
that I'm on, they theydefinitely look at all of that.
So they can they can tell everyelection I've ever gone to if I
(38:17):
voted early, if I didn't vote.
And so then you have uh ifyou're gonna run for Congress,
you've got to have showed up ateverything.
I mean, you're voting all thetime.
And so I learned that when I ranfor school board.
Wow.
Um so I don't miss an election,you know, because partly because
of that.
SPEAKER_00 (38:35):
So Okay.
That's I'm just thinkingthrough, I'm like, I will never
get elected to anything.
No, I get it.
But I won't say why.
No.
SPEAKER_03 (38:45):
But the other the other thing, but from a time
standpoint, I had yeah, just theinvites started coming like
crazy.
And one of the most surrealthings now being out of it is my
phone doesn't ring and and I'mnot getting pinged uh by by
different invites.
So I would have four invites forone night, and we'd have to pick
you talk to your campaignmanager, you pick one and
(39:08):
decline three, and uh it's itwas it was it was crazy.
I mean it's a it's definitely ayou know 70 hour work week for
and then work was great.
I didn't uh I had just landed abig deal at work that is a
recurring revenue type deal, andI just set up an the acquisition
(39:30):
uh here, and so they've they'vebeen very kind to me to let me
um to let me have Slack so thatI could go do that.
And I I'm very grateful forthat.
SPEAKER_00 (39:40):
What would you say is like the big the biggest
takeaway from this experience?
SPEAKER_03 (39:46):
Um my family.
I I treasure time like right nowuh like I I can see the the sand
and the glass just kind of goingout really quickly.
Um because somebody at churchtold me it's not like you you
don't have to get your kids to18 necessarily.
(40:08):
I mean you have to, you I meanyou have to food, water,
shelter, all that type of stuff,and hopefully influence and but
uh at 16 you stop seeing them.
And so now I guess it's takenI'm thick, it took me a while to
understand.
I'm glad I I'm glad I can focuson my family.
So that's probably what I'velearned.
SPEAKER_00 (40:27):
Yeah.
Well, we I think we could talkfor another hour.
SPEAKER_03 (40:31):
I love this, by the way.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (40:33):
It's fun to we'll have to do a part two, I feel
like.
I would love that.
That'd be great.
Yeah, we didn't get to have myquestions because we were
chatting.
SPEAKER_03 (40:41):
What's one that you that you wish you had asked?
SPEAKER_00 (40:44):
Um if there's one.
Yeah.
I mean, I was super interestedin some of the personality
traits stuff, but you want to dowe have I can do it short.
SPEAKER_03 (40:52):
Um I know I'm long-winded, but if you want to
dive into that, I could Can youdo it in one minute?
SPEAKER_00 (40:57):
Yes, yeah, challenge.
SPEAKER_03 (40:58):
What would yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (40:59):
What um how would you say like the personality
assessments have helped younavigate your career?
SPEAKER_03 (41:06):
So I love the Myers Brig.
I love the Enneagram, uh Discpersonality, there's a bunch of
other ones.
Um and I would, yeah, I I thinkthey help me looking backwards
after something happens.
Yeah.
And so then I then I'll I'll goand I'll read about ENFP eight
wings seven.
(41:27):
How does this person respond toconflict or something like that?
And then it just ex it just laysit out in such a way that reads
my mail.
Yes.
And I go, oh, I feel understood.
Yes.
And so that's why I wantautonomy and freedom and some
control, but why I'm also not,you know, I don't go about it
(41:47):
this way or that way.
And uh, so yeah, I it's sohelpful.
No, somebody is it was itSocrates that said know thyself?
SPEAKER_00 (41:55):
Probably, yeah.
It's helpful.
Yeah, I I think I'm fascinated.
Was that one minute?
I think it was, yeah.
I'm I'm fascinated by themotivations of like Enneagram
because I've had the sameexperience.
So another day we will delvefurther.
So, what are you obsessing overlately?
SPEAKER_03 (42:14):
This is silly, but the SORA app I that I said I put
it on LinkedIn that I was gonnabe on your podcast, and I I had
a cameo of me with Mark Cuban,and because you can do the AI
type stuff and mix it together,and somebody showed me that.
I just think it's hilarious.
I can waste so much time onthat, and you can get your
friends on there and then putdifferent scenarios for them to
(42:38):
be talking.
And uh I wouldn't say I'mobsessing over it, but I I
deleted it off my phone becauseI was probably obsessing over
it.
So maybe I would say I was like,You put a stop to it.
I had to I'm like, I gotta getthis off here.
SPEAKER_00 (42:49):
And what's your recommendation?
SPEAKER_03 (42:51):
Is it also the Sora app or do you think that's uh so
the Bi I when I read that I waslike, what would I recommend to
people?
So uh the Bible reading plan,like I'm serious, like I would I
would do I would download umit's a it's a brown app and it
audios the Bible.
And you can set seven minutes aday if you speed it up.
(43:12):
And what you you can, why not?
You know?
Yeah, and uh or 15 minutes a dayand you read through the entire
Bible in a year.
And so that's how I I I I do itevery every day.
I'll go through and I'll justlisten.
I'll just I'll put it right hereand I'll audio, you know, I'll
sit down and I'll listen.
So I don't read, I don't read asas much as list, I just will
audio it.
(43:33):
And you can brush your teeth anddo it, you can be in the car and
do it, you can be on a walk anddo it.
SPEAKER_00 (43:38):
It's habit stacking, right?
Isn't that what it's called?
I feel like you should say thatwith the Bible.
SPEAKER_03 (43:42):
No, no, no, but it's a great book too.
Uh I know the book and I readit.
I don't remember it.
SPEAKER_00 (43:47):
Yeah, but it's not the seven habits of highly
effective people, is it or isthat totally different?
No, that's a different thing.
I have not read the book, so Ijust know the term.
SPEAKER_03 (43:55):
I know I know that, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (43:57):
Um my recommendation is rise mushroom coffee.
SPEAKER_03 (44:03):
I read about I I saw a video on this last week.
SPEAKER_00 (44:06):
It's really good.
Really?
I've been trying to get off ofregular coffee.
Yeah, but what has happened isI've just stacked them.
Regular coffee, then my mushroomcoffee.
SPEAKER_03 (44:18):
You do like you'll do it, you'll drink regular and
then double my coffee intake, iswhat I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00 (44:22):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (44:23):
But I need to does it taste like a mushroom though?
SPEAKER_00 (44:26):
No, no, it just it's just tastes like really good
coffee.
Really?
It's more natural, so I like ita lot.
SPEAKER_03 (44:32):
I will literally buy it this week.
Yeah, and I'll try that.
SPEAKER_00 (44:36):
Yeah, they also have like chai and matcha.
SPEAKER_03 (44:40):
Yeah.
I like matcha too.
SPEAKER_00 (44:42):
What are you looking forward to this week?
SPEAKER_03 (44:44):
Uh my niece just had a baby.
Oh, that's exciting.
And I get to go into Chattanoogaand visit my my niece's baby,
which is my grandniece.
My grandma, yeah.
Yeah.
My or grandnep grandnephew.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (45:02):
Grandnephew.
Yeah Oh, nephew, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Got confused.
SPEAKER_03 (45:07):
Although I will say I called Craig on the way, and
I'm like, I don't remember ifBerkeley is a boy or a girl.
Honestly, I wasn't a hundredpercent sure what you said.
Yeah, I saw my grand somethingnibbling.
SPEAKER_00 (45:18):
Niece or nephew, yeah.
I my brother just had his baby,well, his wife had the baby on
Saturday.
Oh, right.
Liam John Swisher.
So I'm super excited.
I don't get to see him.
Strong name.
Yeah.
John, my dad's name is John.
So I don't know where Liam camefrom, but I like it.
Liam Mason.
Liam, maybe we'll find out.
(45:38):
Strong.
Yeah.
Well, I am looking forward to onSaturday I'm recording a
podcast, not this podcast,different podcast with friends
where we read a romance noveland discuss it, and it's so bad.
I can't wait.
Where can people find you?
SPEAKER_03 (45:55):
Uh, so I I'm on uh I never get on Facebook and
Instagram.
I have uh Facebook, Instagram,Twitter.
If anybody joins, they'll be my17th Twitter follower or
whatever.
Don't do it, but LinkedIn.
I do everything on LinkedIn.
And so it's um linkedin.comforward slash N forward slash
(46:19):
Stuart Cooper S-T-U-A-R-T, uhCooper like the tire.
And then two number two.
SPEAKER_00 (46:25):
We'll make sure to link it for everybody.
Yeah, that'd be great.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (46:28):
And link LinkedIn, that's where I'm most of my
time.
You can message me on LinkedIn,I'll respond.
Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (46:34):
Watch your video with Mark Cuban.
Yeah, and this one, I'll postthis one.
SPEAKER_03 (46:38):
Yeah, I know it'll go to YouTube, but well, thank
you so much for being here.
SPEAKER_00 (46:42):
This was awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (46:43):
Yeah, yeah, this was great.
I enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (46:45):
Good.
Well, thank you guys.
Thank you so much for watchingor listening.
Um, please give us a follow andrate and review the end.
Thanks for listening to mycrunchy zen era.
Please subscribe and leave areview wherever you listen to
your podcast.
This podcast is produced by me,Nicole Swisher, and my good
friends Summer Harcup and LizGolder.
(47:07):
Editing is by Drew HarrisonMedia and recording is done by
Logos Creative in Nashville,Tennessee.
Thanks for hanging out.
We'll be back next week.
What something crunchy has done that you've
done lately?
SPEAKER_03 (00:02):
I have been doing is time restricted eating and like
intermittent fasting.
Like I know everybody's intothat.
SPEAKER_00 (00:10):
I am into that.
Do you like that?
SPEAKER_03 (00:12):
Yeah.
I like going till four o'clock.
So I'll go till four.
SPEAKER_00 (00:15):
Wait, wait, from you start at four or you start
eating at four?
SPEAKER_03 (00:20):
I'll start eating at four.
So I'll go, so I'll skipbreakfast and lunch, and I don't
eat my first meal until fouro'clock.
SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
That is a a long time to have for a fasting
window, like regularly.
I do like five to nine-ish.
Yeah.
So like, but women have to fastdifferently to nine a.m.
SPEAKER_02 (00:43):
Oh, you fast at 5 p.m.
to 9 a.m.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (00:46):
So I fast for at least like 13 hours.
SPEAKER_02 (00:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
And like apparently, if women keep with the exact
same like fasting schedule thatmen do, we can start to like
lose our hair and stuff.
I've heard that.
Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
Yeah.
Do it doesn't happen with men,do you know?
Do we lose our hair?
SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
I don't think so.
I'm not too worried about youguys.
You seem to be fine.
That's great.
You might want to look into thatthough.
Yeah, I need to look into that.
Yeah.
Well, welcome to my crunchy zenera.
(01:25):
This is a weekly podcast filledwith a little fun, a little
humor, and a whole lot ofcuriosity.
I'm your host, Nicole Swisher,and this week my guest is Stuart
Cooper.
Welcome.
I'm glad that you're here.
I was trying to think about howwe met, and it was at some very
random networking event.
And I think it was for yourfriend with the app that we were
(01:47):
talking about.
SPEAKER_03 (01:47):
I was with him tonight, yeah.
Dave Castro.
He has the icebreaker app.
And uh was it Next Mile withGinger Jones?
Maybe.
I think I got an invite for thattoday.
So I think that's what it was.
Yeah.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
I feel like it was last winter.
Yeah, it was dark.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (02:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
So and then I feel like we bonded over stand-up
comedy.
SPEAKER_03 (02:09):
My twin brother.
So yeah, my twin brother, I hadjust done uh like on a whim, I
had just gone and on a date withmy wife.
Uh I said, I just want to go dostand-up comedy.
And she said, Why?
You know, I would never do that.
And I was like, I just want todo it.
And I tried it.
Yeah.
And so I think it was withinweeks of of that that I met you
(02:30):
and you were talking to my twinbrother, Craig.
And so he immediately connectsus and he went over and grabbed
me and grabbed you and said, Youguys should talk.
And so we wanted over comedy.
SPEAKER_00 (02:40):
And uh after your stand-up experience, have you
done it since?
No, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (02:46):
I got I get busy with some other stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
Yes, we will definitely talk about what I
think you're alluding to.
Um if you could relive anymemory, what would it be and
why?
SPEAKER_03 (02:58):
With my wife, I I thought about I saw some of
these questions you were gonnaask, and I love how all of them
are great.
Um, it would be with my wife.
So uh I have several uh memoriesthat and also my dad.
I just lost my dad in April ofthis year, and I love my dad,
he's the best of the best, anduh so I have memories with him,
but I but with Jenny, uh sowe've been married 26 years.
(03:22):
Um different getaways anddifferent things that we've done
where we've gotten away from thekids.
So there was one where we wentto Dandridge, Tennessee, in the
middle of nowhere.
SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
I'd like to say I know where that is, but I don't.
SPEAKER_03 (03:36):
Literally like two roads.
That's that's about it.
Like the downtown, if you cancall it that, yes A Street.
And uh there's a bridge.
I remember that.
I remember a street, solidbridge, and a bridge, yeah.
And uh that we had uh we we goton jet skis and went out on the
lake and uh just a good goodmemory.
It was after our third kidda.
(03:59):
And um, but yeah, I I rememberthat I remember that one being a
great getaway.
So I'd probably relive that.
SPEAKER_00 (04:08):
I feel like I have so many memories with people of
like the travels and when youget out of the day-to-day life,
it's so being able to be presentin a different way can really
just make it a lot more specialand memorable.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
So um, so I want to talk to you about your career
and of course running foroffice.
Yeah.
So I was looking all up in yourLinkedIn profile, which was
super helpful.
Um, and you described yourselfas a sales entrepreneur and a
sales hunter.
SPEAKER_03 (04:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:41):
What do you mean by those terms?
SPEAKER_03 (04:43):
So I can't call myself an entrepreneur.
I wish I could call myself anentrepreneur.
Maybe at some point I'll I'll beable to do that.
My dad was an entrepreneur, sohe had our my last name is
Cooper, and he had Cooper oneverything growing up.
So he had multiple businesses.
And but dad would go boom, bust,boom, bust.
And so we experienced, you know,as a teenager, um my house got
(05:09):
auctioned off, like in front ofme, like we saw our house get
auctioned off.
My mom crying.
I was like, what's going on?
All the furniture being removed,people selling pictures that she
had and and you know, differentfurniture that she had.
And so I never wanted to gothrough that.
(05:30):
So I've always put the risk outon other people.
So I help, so as a salesentrepreneur, I help
entrepreneurs grow theirbusiness, is how I would say it.
And that mostly has been in um,and I think that'll change at
some point as the kids get outof the house and that type of
thing, maybe I would feel morecomfortable taking some risk and
(05:51):
and and doing that.
Jenny's also very conservative.
But I uh as a sales hunter, Ijust I've I'm always I'm always
asked to grow businesses.
So uh, and it's been indifferent, you know, spheres
like healthcare, pharmaceutical,uh, biotech, uh finance,
(06:18):
recruiting and staffing, andtechnology.
Then I stumble into MA typestuff, so I've had like multiple
conversations about well, weshould just buy your business,
and then I set that up, and weend up buying the whole company,
and that's happened three times.
Uh I've had seven, seven, Ithink seven different times at
(06:40):
bat for that, and three of themhave worked out, and um that's
kind of cool because you end upgrowing the company rapidly
through a strategic acquisition.
And so that's that's how Idefine that.
SPEAKER_00 (06:54):
How many uh how many jobs have you had?
SPEAKER_03 (06:56):
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_00 (06:56):
Uh you know I was gonna ask, even though I didn't
tell you.
Oh, because we talked aboutthat.
SPEAKER_03 (07:00):
Yes, right, that one night.
SPEAKER_00 (07:02):
Um my goodness, that's right.
SPEAKER_03 (07:05):
Yeah, so that's part of why I wanted to do, I wanted
to just go make fun of myself,like at the stand-up and mostly
my career, and then what whatit's like to be an identical
twin too, which is has beencrazy um and fun.
But yeah, I I I want to say 22.
Like it's it's probably morethan that.
It might be 26.
(07:26):
Um, it's a lot.
So if anybody's listening, likewhoever's listening, you know,
like uh I'm not I you know it'swild.
I wouldn't I wouldn't put myselfas a job hopper or anything like
that.
Um I've I'm a I'm an eight wingseven on the Enneagram uh
Enneagram or Myers back on theEnneagram, yeah.
(07:46):
So cu uh control is something II like to have.
And so if I feel threatened,like at a company, um I I I'm I
do not ever want to be on thestreet.
So I always have backup plans.
I was talking to somebody aboutthis today.
I literally have an app or notan app, but the notes section on
(08:07):
my phone.
SPEAKER_01 (08:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:08):
Uh where I I have multiple backup plans.
So if I have so the role thatI'm in right now came about
because I had one coffee meetinguh out of the blue, by the way,
out of the completely out of theblue, uh, my boss says, Hey, can
we go grab coffee?
And so we go grab coffee and wewere hanging out for two hours.
(08:29):
It's very cordial.
But then at the very end, hepaid for the you know, tab and
he said, Hey, I want to give youa heads up on something.
Um I had been there for 22months, I think at the time, and
I had set up an acquisition Iset up a company acquisition or
I initiated it.
Other people I know on that oneuh started too as well.
(08:51):
But anyway, um I um he justsaid, Hey, you know, this one
partner's looking at numbers anduh your name has come up a
couple of times.
Maybe we should start meetingand trying to figure out an
action plan.
It felt like a uh what do youcall it, a pip, a performance
improvement plan uh might becoming toward me.
(09:13):
Uh and I I I just don't I'm toouh old for that.
Like, you know, I don't know.
I just I literally called theguy I'm working for right now.
So I got in the car and I calleduh Ken Wagner and he said,
Stuart, what's going on?
I was like, what's going on is Imight need to come work for you.
And he said, Why?
What happened?
Yeah, I thought you were happy,and I explained it and he said,
(09:35):
Oh yeah, we'll come over.
And then I told him, I said,Hey, don't be surprised if I
come over there and initiate anacquisition because that's what
I do in my spare time.
Sometimes I happen, yeah.
And it happened, you know.
So I came over and then we andso he's been great and has given
me a lot of autonomy.
And he let me do the uhcongressional run, and that was
awesome.
(09:56):
And so I feel like it's checkingboxes for me, but yeah, I've had
multiple uh yeah, five fivedifferent industries.
Tech has been the hardest.
Tech has been hard because uhthere is no job security in
technology if you're in sales.
Yeah.
Uh 80% of sellers um don't hittheir number.
(10:18):
Like in sales is quota, yourquota.
Only 20% of sellers intechnology actually hit their
quota.
So something's wrong with theentire industry when only 20%
hit their quota.
And so you have 80% that arelooking over their shoulder,
wondering if they're gonna getaxed.
Uh companies like Microsoft andum some of the very, very large
(10:41):
companies will just they'll justevery year they'll just cut, you
know, 10,000 people or somethinglike that.
It's crazy.
Yeah, and so it trickles all theway down.
I've been in smaller businessesthan I've been in some of the
large ones, but I've been insmaller ones.
And so just being um aware ofthat, I've always got backup
plans.
SPEAKER_00 (11:01):
And so I think I think it's interesting how our
society really views likechanging jobs as almost like a
moral failure sometimes becauseWell then I'm a big failure.
SPEAKER_03 (11:14):
I mean, I am too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:16):
I've had plenty of jobs.
Um I think I've been at five lawfirms, six.
SPEAKER_03 (11:23):
And especially in the legal industry, it's like,
oh that probably sounds likeit's for your industry that
maybe that's a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (11:30):
But for me, I had very like solid reasons why I
made the moves, and some that Iwon't ever share publicly
because I shouldn't, due to likean NDA.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (11:42):
Um so it's like people would want to know, you
could say right now.
Yeah.
You tell them it's a greatcontext for you to listen to the
end.
SPEAKER_00 (11:52):
Yeah.
But I think it's interestingwhen you you know, you're I
don't think well, I think thereare job hoppers who are just
like, I just want the next newthing, I can get lured over.
But for some people, I thinkyourself, myself, it's like we
have a story that like makessense that was thought through.
And sometimes, you know, justjudging by pay like what's on
(12:16):
paper, people might look at yousideways.
SPEAKER_03 (12:20):
But I've had those, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:21):
I think that being knowing when to quit and move on
is also a skill.
And I think it's 100% staying ina a bad relationship that is
like toxic or something.
Like, why is there a moral highground to that versus leaving
and knowing yourself?
And yeah, so this is my soapbox.
SPEAKER_03 (12:43):
No, I I completely agree with you.
I I I've only had, I will say II can't remember the number if
it's 25 or whatever.
So I've probably had twenty fivebosses.
Uh 23 of them were phenomen weregreat, we're good.
Uh, and some of them got betterand better and better, and
(13:04):
sometimes I pick who where I gobased on who I'm who I would be
reporting to.
And I would like to staysomewhere for a long time.
I mean, that's the goal.
I would love I want to be whereI'm at right now for 10 years if
I could, that'd be great.
But then companies get bought,right?
And acquisitions happen and anddifferent things like that.
And uh sometimes there's ads,moves, and changes.
(13:25):
And I had one guy that I wasreporting to.
I've had a couple that weretough, and I was having
nightmares, and uh he was from adifferent country.
I don't think he got the memo,uh certain certain memos um that
of what you can and can't say ordo.
And so he would deride me infront of my team and come in,
you know, and they would look atme like, I've never seen
(13:47):
anything like this.
Are you okay?
He'd leave the room, are youokay?
I was like, I think I am.
So he can't he did that and cameback in and uh, all right, let's
get started.
And I go, We're not, we're no,we're respectfully, we're not
getting started.
Yeah.
He's like, What do you mean?
And I said, Well, you just youjust stormed off you know, angry
after, you know, a publicpublicly saying some stuff that
(14:13):
I just don't agree with, and Idon't think you talked to me
privately like that, and nowyou're doing it publicly, and I
can go work somewhere else, youknow, like yeah um, and so I
stayed there another six monthsafter that.
I shouldn't have, I probablyshouldn't have, but I was
looking the whole time, youknow.
And so sometimes you have tolook.
It's career discernment, right?
You know, and that guy told meum uh a recruiter called and
(14:36):
asked me, hey, uh, you know, hewas trying to ask me about
something, and I was trying tobe sensitive and not say
anything negative.
And I haven't even heard Ihaven't said who that was, or
um, and he said, Hey, I'm anadvocate for you.
You need to speak openly.
And so I I told him, Oh, thishappens, that happens, this
happens, that happens.
(14:56):
And then he said to me, uh,well, you need to get out or get
a therapist, like and do itquickly.
Like, and so that was helpful.
SPEAKER_00 (15:05):
I've had a recruiter say that to me.
It's very validating, yeah,yeah, 100%.
But yeah, I mean, there's justsome things like I had one
company I worked for where Ifound out they were struggling
and that they were probablygonna be acquired or break up or
like dissolve, and it was like Iwas planning on staying here
(15:26):
longer if I could, but you know,you you just don't see life
coming, and I feel like justrolling with it a little bit and
being able to get into a newplace and like get your feet
under you.
I I've always tried to bringwith me of like some of the
negative experiences as I'vegotten senior, being like, I I'm
(15:48):
not gonna do that.
I'm going to make sure that thepeople who are junior to me are
having a better experience thanI did.
Absolutely.
I just think it's important.
Yeah, that's good.
Yeah.
So, okay, you have an MB MBA.
SPEAKER_03 (16:01):
Yep.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:01):
Do you think that was worth it?
SPEAKER_03 (16:03):
I do, yes, yeah, I do.
So my my under my undergrad wasin speech communications, and I
took uh I was there in '95 at UTat University of Tennessee in
Knoxville.
The year we won the nationalchampionship is when I
graduated, '98.
It was a great time to be there.
I had one class, it was a speechcommunication class, and there
(16:25):
were 12 people in it.
And they they said, we're goingto teach you to say what you
need to say, uh, say it, saywhat you're going to say, say
it, say what you said, sit down,or something like that.
And then there's also going tobe interpersonal, uh, and and
all kinds of personality testsand dealing with people.
And actually, there's probablysome business majors in here
(16:45):
that you'll probably get moreout of this than you would out
of business.
And you could drop business andmake this your major.
And at the time Peyton Manningwas in that major, there were
only a hundred of us in it.
And so um I I looked at my twinbrother because he was in there
with me, and we both said, Yeah,let's do that.
So we dropped that and did it,but I didn't pick up any of the
(17:06):
business knowledge.
And so when I was 30, um, so Iworked for my dad for a while,
and I kept telling dad, youknow, Dad, I'd I'd love to do an
MBA.
And he said, Well, everythingyou can learn from those guys,
you can just learn from me.
And a lot of it, he was right.
And uh but I ended up leavingthe family company.
(17:28):
He had a medical issue at thetime that uh caused us to all
leave, except for my olderbrother Tyson.
And so I um when I got out ofthe company, I uh Clayton Holmes
had this program where theywould pay for your uh for your
for your degree and I askedthem, hey, could you pay for
(17:51):
this?
And if I had just startedworking there, and they uh had
some where I had to stay therefor a certain amount of time or
whatever.
SPEAKER_00 (18:00):
I'm always curious about the MBA because I've heard
some people describe it as likeexpensive networking.
Other people really learn a lot.
Um I'm I've wanted to get my MBAfor like 10 years, but I've but
I'm always like that's a lot ofwork after already getting a JD.
SPEAKER_03 (18:18):
Yeah, you don't need to do it.
Yeah.
I like saying do it, don't doit, you know, all within.
SPEAKER_00 (18:23):
That was less than a minute.
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, I've I've justbeen like very curious because
some people are like, uh so Iwas an English major, so half
the time in MA, I'm just like,what's happening?
Like I I mean, I know better.
Yeah, when I do like MA deals.
SPEAKER_03 (18:40):
That's what you do.
That's what I mean.
You inked the deals.
SPEAKER_00 (18:45):
Yes, I do.
Oh, cool.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's I learned that, yeah.
Yeah, I learned like thefinancial side of business just
from having to do due diligenceand the number of times I've
taken an accounting for lawyersCLE, and I'm still just like, I
don't know.
Great.
I'm like, I can tell whenthere's money going places there
(19:06):
shouldn't be, and that's kind ofit.
SPEAKER_03 (19:08):
You probably don't need you probably don't need
you, I I would say you don'tneed the M the MBA because you
do you've got the accountingside of of actually doing the
numbers, you have a law degree.
I did it because at when I was18 I didn't understand any of
the marketing finance econ.
And then when I went back, Ithink after being in business
(19:28):
for a while, I started tounderstand it more.
SPEAKER_00 (19:31):
Yeah, I struggle with the numbers quite a bit.
Like I started using AI to likeI'm like do this calculation and
it just like spits it out, andI'm like, it's right, I think.
Um no, my the partner likedouble checked it, don't worry.
But I I was like, okay, I seewhy AI is helpful.
Yeah.
I don't have to math anymore.
(19:51):
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, so you've been inuh actually before I move on, I
so you had to choose your majorat 18.
SPEAKER_03 (20:01):
Yeah, I don't know if I had to, but I did.
Yeah.
That's so young.
SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
And do you think that it's helped you where you
are now?
SPEAKER_03 (20:09):
I I yes, yeah.
I would go back.
That that degree, the speechcommunications degree, I would
do that again.
I would recommend people to doit.
I don't know what it's like atother universities, but at
Tennessee, it was all helpfulfor what I ended up what I ended
up doing.
Sale mostly sales and dealingwith people and relationships
(20:31):
and um so yeah, it was great.
It was a lot of um what groupsetting communication, uh public
speaking, one-on-one personalitytype test, and and just trying
to discern how to relate topeople.
Um I I I got a lot out of it.
SPEAKER_00 (20:50):
I mean, all that I I feel like communication and
understanding people is it's askill that you can be taught and
people need to learn.
And a lot of times I thinkpeople look at it as it comes
naturally or it doesn't.
And I've been in many situationswhere people just be like, Well,
that's just how they are.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, they don't have tobe like that though.
(21:11):
Like they could learn to not bethat way.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, so I've yeah, I feel likeknowing what you've done this
year, I assume it's come inhandy with like running for
Congress.
SPEAKER_03 (21:23):
Yes, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
My so my twin brother, it wasinteresting because my twin
brother got into pastoralministry and he immediately for
20 years put together the theaspect of you know writing a
45-minute speech basically anddelivering it every week to you
know, fift fifteen hundredpeople or however many people
(21:46):
were in the in the room.
And um, I didn't do that part ofit.
It dawned on me later that a lotof my sales career was 80% of
the what they taught in thespeech communication class was
all about the group setting typecommunication and one-on-one.
(22:06):
And I don't I couldn't evenremember all of it right now,
but it's only probably only 20%was stand up and speak.
Um and so but I did, but I'veused both you know all
throughout, and definitely onthe congressional uh run.
Yeah, you it comes in handy whenyou're talking to the media and
you know, different and one I'mremembering one of the things I
(22:27):
remember right now is and youknow this and everybody knows
this, but it's fun to say itagain.
But uh people usually don'tlisten to what you're saying,
they look at your mannerisms.
Isn't that weird?
Like it's a I think 70% or 80%,nine sometimes even 90% of your
communication is coming fromyour demeanor.
(22:48):
Isn't that wild?
SPEAKER_00 (22:49):
Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_03 (22:50):
And so you just kind of learn, and my wife reminds me
of that a lot, you know, andthen your tone.
So your tone, uh, so and she'llcall me out on my tone all the
time.
I think women, I think this isnot I'm just saying, I'm just
calling it as it is.
I think you guys have somethingspecial we don't have.
We pick up on things, you pickup on stuff, yeah.
And yeah, so she could well youuh you said this, but your tone,
(23:13):
you know, came out like that.
I think she said that yesterdaymorning.
And then she said something backto me, and I said, Well, your
tone, you know, like I can tell,you know, you're upset, you
know.
We just go back and forth.
I want you to know that.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
She's like, good.
SPEAKER_00 (23:31):
Uh so can you tell me about why you decided to run
for Congress?
SPEAKER_03 (23:35):
Yeah, so when I so my freshman year at UT, we're
talking about UT.
So my freshman year at UT, I'min my dorm room, and I was J609
on Hess in Hess Hall, which isthe largest dorm on campus at
the time, and it was co-ed.
You got guys on one side, girlson the other side with a big red
(23:56):
door.
I want to say red door, a bigwall in between multiple stories
or whatever, and no airconditioning.
So people would always leavetheir windows open and they'd
leave their doors open so thatthe wind could pass from one
side to the other and cool usall down.
And so if you weren't anextrovert, when you moved there,
you would do two things.
One, you would go to HodgesLibrary, which is a walking
(24:19):
distance, and you'd just getaway from all of it.
And the second thing is you'dyou'd either become an ext you'd
either become one or you wouldjust loosen up around people,
you would uh recognize that'show people are and you'd you'd
you'd get relaxed about it.
But but fall break inninety-five, I was, and this
this is coming up on Saturday.
Saturday is the 25th, I think.
(24:40):
I think Saturday's the 25th.
So that's my I it's the day uhI'll tell the story first and
I'll tell you what the 25th is.
The day around this when thishappened.
And so I'm in my dorm room, andum fall break, everybody cleared
out.
So 900 students, I was probablythere were probably two of us in
the in the dorm, is what it feltlike.
(25:03):
And so first time I had beenalone and and that it was quiet,
and that I could remember in along time, and basically I'm
sitting in my dorm roomlistening to Hootie and the
Blowfish, like uh number 11,which is nobody's listening to
me, not even the trees.
And there I was wrestling withsome internal stuff, and I was
(25:25):
really down, I was fightingdiscouragement, depression, that
type of thing.
And so I look out the window andI prayed.
I just uh the you know, windowsright here, and I look out and
I'm like, God, I don't even knowif you exist, but if you're out
there and you exist, um dosomething.
(25:46):
I need help, like do somethingright now.
And uh because the the song wasnobody's listening to me, not
even the trees.
And so I just prayed.
And right when I prayed that, uhI heard something slide under my
door uh to my foot, and Ithought it was a Papa John's
flyer because the guys would gothrough and knock and throw it.
Yeah, yeah.
(26:06):
College, yeah, yeah.
And so I'm like, oh great, youknow, this is what I need.
And I I'm crying at the time,and looking, and I and I pick it
up, and it's an it's an inviteto a campus ministry.
It says victory and life throughJesus Christ, uh, reason to
believe, come hear this messageor something like that.
And it had a um an invite ofwhere the meeting would be, and
(26:29):
I had just prayed and so Ipicked that up and I did a
double take, like what?
And so then I called Jenny, whowas my friend at the time.
We weren't even dating, and shebecame my wife.
And so I just said, Hey, I I gotthis invite, I think I need to
go to this meeting.
And so would you come with me?
It was I think for the nextnight.
(26:51):
And then I called her and saidlater and said, I just want to
go by myself.
So I go to this meeting and Ihear the gospel, like I
literally hear um a very simplemessage, you know, but it was
communicated in a really winsomeway by a guy that was from
Nashville, uh, a guy named RiceBrooks.
(27:12):
And um I just remember going, Ithat guy's kind of cool.
Like he had anyway, he just hadthe Nashville look or whatever,
and he was making he was I wastracking with what he was
saying, and then he uh hebasically shares the simple
truth, you know, God is holy,man is sinful, there's a
separation between God and manthat your good works can't
(27:34):
bridge, and different religionscan't nothing can bridge that.
Um but Jesus uh was fully Godand fully man, and he was born
as a uh uh from a virgin,sinless, and then as God man
died on a cross and on thatcross received the punishment
(27:54):
for your sins and the wrath,like the wrath of God that you
deserve was poured onto Jesus.
And if you believe that and turnfrom your sins, you'll become a
Christian.
And I was sitting in the roomand I heard that and I was like,
Well, that's a that's good news.
You know, like I had beenfighting, struggling with stuff
(28:16):
that you know I was thinkingthrough and sin and different
things, and I was like, Ibelieve I believe that.
And so I became a Christian thatnight, just literally while that
guy was sharing that message, Ibelieved it, and that's all it
took.
And so my life was totallychanged.
I was born again, and so at thatmoment, um, I had this desire to
(28:37):
want to serve also to serve, youknow.
I was kind of like, I'd love todo what that guy is doing, you
know, which I thought for awhile I thought I'd be a pastor.
And then um then somebodyintroduced me to William
Wilberforce.
Uh, do you know that guy?
SPEAKER_00 (28:53):
I know who that is, yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (28:54):
What do you know about him?
SPEAKER_00 (28:55):
Um, isn't he the one who wrote Amazing Grace?
SPEAKER_03 (28:59):
So he was best friends, or not best friends.
His pastor was John Newton, theguy who wrote that.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
Okay.
Was he the one who helped endslavery?
Yes.
Okay.
Like it's one of these.
Yes.
Yeah, I've read I read a bookabout him a while ago.
SPEAKER_03 (29:15):
No way.
What happened with Wilberforceis he he was a young man who was
privileged, and I wouldn't sayhe was a merchant's son, so he
was he he was very rich.
I wouldn't say at all that I canrelate to that.
But when in his twenties, Ithink he ran for parliament and
won.
He just spent a bunch of moneyand won the seat, but then he
(29:37):
became a Christian.
So he was he was a partier anddid a bunch of stuff.
But while he's in parliament, hebecame a Christian.
So then he starts thinking, Oh,I should be a pastor because I'm
a Christian.
He wants to quit.
And uh John Newton, who wroteAmazing Grace, uh said, No, God
put you there, like stay there,you know, don't quit.
(29:59):
And so he He ended up peoplethen presented him Problems,
which was the a lot of differentones.
I think he had two main aims,the ref reformation of manners
and to end slavery.
And so anyway, I read that and Ithought, oh, that's kind of cool
that you and he could quotePsalm 119 is this massive psalm,
(30:20):
right?
Like at the middle of the Bible.
And it's probably it wouldprobably take 20 minutes to
quote it.
It's very long, but he wouldquote that psalm uh as he walked
to Parliament and back becausehe used to walk.
And so I I I read about him, Iread about different people, and
then I just started uh thinkingabout it.
And then I had so I had thisinternal desire when I was in my
(30:42):
twenties, and I'm 48 now, soit's been 20 something years
that I've I've had this desire.
Um and I've had externalconfirmation where people have
said, Hey, have you consideredpolitics?
I think you'd be really good atthat.
And uh I went to go get advicefrom a guy, uh a profess a
(31:02):
professor at UT during the MBAprogram.
I called my wife and I said, UhDr.
Carcello, I'm getting with him,about to take him to lunch.
Uh should I bring up politics?
Because we're talking aboutcareer.
And sh and he Jenny said, No,that's keep that close to the
chest.
Don't bring that up because it's20 years from now, you if it
even happens.
And I said, Okay, so I sit downand he's from New York and said,
(31:26):
Stu, tell me, what do you likeabout your current job?
You know, and he's like, and I'mlike, Well, I like you know,
this, that, that, that, that.
I start naming it.
And he said, Have you everconsidered a career in politics?
You know?
And I'm like, okay, you know,and so different, and then I've
had different things like thatwhere um anyway, I have I'm
(31:49):
thinking of something that I'mnot gonna share.
SPEAKER_00 (31:51):
And so so what what was the impetus this year to do
it, given that it's been therefor so long?
SPEAKER_03 (31:57):
Well, so in 2016, I was was convinced by some people
to run for school board.
And so then another almost 10years went by.
I didn't win that.
But the guy who won became acustomer and a friend, and uh
he's a neighbor, and so um Ijust but I got involved more in
Williamson County at that time,and so I b somebody made uh me
(32:22):
uh there's a guy named StephenSchau, who was the chief of
staff for the currentcongressman, that he was current
a few months ago, he's resigneduh midterm.
SPEAKER_02 (32:32):
Gotcha.
SPEAKER_03 (32:33):
And so he made me his chairman for Williamson
County.
I said, What does that mean?
And he said, Well, if there's acouple hundred people that show
up for a rally and Mark Green,Congressman Green, can't be
there, you'll speak on hisbehalf.
And I said, Oh, that sounds likean honor, that's great.
Never happened.
Uh but I, you know, but I gotaround the Green team and I was
(32:53):
um I did volunteered for themand that type of thing.
And Mark Green resignedabruptly.
That's right.
So that when his term was up, Iwas getting ready to run and
mentally in other differentways, and uh it just happened
very abruptly.
And I had his team had been hiscampaign manager had been
(33:15):
calling me Congressman Cooperfor a year.
And so and he would say, Hey,are you ready?
Are we ready for this?
Are we doing this?
And so I found out um kind ofquickly in that they that that
they had picked another guy thatthey were gonna support that had
military experience.
(33:36):
Okay.
And so, but I said, I'm stillgonna stay in it.
I'm just gonna this is and I'mglad I did it.
So historically, I think sixthousand people have this is not
this is just me consolingmyself.
You know, on your podcast, youknow.
Uh I hope that's okay.
You got a mic, go for it.
Uh sorry, I I got this from ChatGPT, but I said help me
(33:59):
understand what it's helpful.
It's helpful.
I was like, what just happenedin my life statistically?
And so um I think I think MountEverest, so 6,000 people have
climbed Mount Everest since1950, since recorded it, they
started recording the history ofit.
And so only 25,000, somewherebetween 25 and 30,000 people
(34:19):
have had had their name on theballot for United States
Congress in the 250-yearhistory.
And so according to Chat GPT,it's a lot more rare to run for
Congress than climb MountEverest, which is interesting.
So then then I said, Well, howrare?
And it was like, you know,you're you're three times as
(34:40):
many people have been struck bylightning in recorded history or
something like that.
And so I uh I take solace inthat.
I like to do I want to do hardthings, and uh it was helpful
for my the kids.
My daughter was very encouragingto me, and uh the boys have been
encouraged.
I've got a a girl and threeboys, and they were all very
(35:03):
encouraging.
Jenny was very encouraging, anduh my pastors and yeah uh you
know friends were encouragingwith it.
So I I take solace in in that.
SPEAKER_00 (35:15):
How much uh time did you have to invest in that?
Because you were working fulltime.
Yeah.
So this is like a side gig.
SPEAKER_03 (35:21):
Yeah.
Nor so normally when you ifyou're gonna run for uh for US
Congress, it's normally gonna bean 18-month uh endeavor and it's
gonna cost three milliondollars.
SPEAKER_00 (35:33):
Uh for congr for really?
SPEAKER_03 (35:35):
Yeah, to run for yeah, to r run for a
congressional seat.
Now, so like some of the Senateseats are that will go up to 30
million.
SPEAKER_00 (35:43):
Well, that's why I mean that's why I was like
Senate, but I I mean runningevery two years and having to
raise that money.
SPEAKER_03 (35:50):
Yeah, and it will for an open seat.
And so uh but yeah, then thecoffers just it's crazy.
I'm learning I've learned a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (35:58):
But once you're the incumbent, it's not I mean, we
all know it's not as hard torealize.
So it's just kind ofinteresting.
SPEAKER_03 (36:04):
The guy who won will have I told him the other day
because we did a Barry theHatchet meeting, and I said,
You've got this locked down foras long as you want.
I mean 16 years if you want it.
Marsha Blackburn was in thatseat for a long time.
Um, yeah, most most people if ifthey're serving well and it's
going well, it's a 85 to 90percent win rate for an
(36:30):
incumbent.
Yeah.
And so if you challenge anincumbent, it's kind of a it's
not uh statistically, it's ahard it's an uphill battle to
challenge an incumbent.
Yeah.
And so that's why you have towait for open seats.
And so hence the 10, you know, Ihad 10 years of of sort of
waiting.
It's a weird, it's all timing,it's an interesting uh thing
(36:52):
I've I've learned.
But this one didn't take that'sone of the reasons I did it too,
is this is it this it soundsfunny because uh I mean it was
five months, like it was fivemonths, start to finish.
This whole thing was for me.
Now the person who won theelection on October 2nd, 7th,
will go to the general December2nd, and he'll be in it longer,
(37:15):
but I was only in it for fivemonths.
SPEAKER_00 (37:18):
That's what I thought when I saw you post it
whenever we had had coffee, I Iknew you had an interest, but
then I see you post and I waslike, this timing, yeah, what is
going on?
So now I understand.
I was like, that is so fast.
SPEAKER_03 (37:33):
I did have people, I had family members who called
and said, I've got a cousin inChicago, and she said, How did
this come about?
How in the world did this comeabout?
And I'm like, Well, it's it'sbeen 20 something years in the
in the making.
The other thing about it, uh,the average everyday person
probably doesn't know that youthere's qualifications to even
(37:55):
run.
They look at your voting recordand really yeah, at least who
looks at it?
Uh the there's uh uh committeesand like on the the party, yeah.
Yeah, like a state executivecommittee.
Probably on either side, on theside of the aisle that I ran on
that I'm on, they theydefinitely look at all of that.
So they can they can tell everyelection I've ever gone to if I
(38:17):
voted early, if I didn't vote.
And so then you have uh ifyou're gonna run for Congress,
you've got to have showed up ateverything.
I mean, you're voting all thetime.
And so I learned that when I ranfor school board.
Wow.
Um so I don't miss an election,you know, because partly because
of that.
SPEAKER_00 (38:35):
So Okay.
That's I'm just thinkingthrough, I'm like, I will never
get elected to anything.
No, I get it.
But I won't say why.
No.
SPEAKER_03 (38:45):
But the other the other thing, but from a time
standpoint, I had yeah, just theinvites started coming like
crazy.
And one of the most surrealthings now being out of it is my
phone doesn't ring and and I'mnot getting pinged uh by by
different invites.
So I would have four invites forone night, and we'd have to pick
you talk to your campaignmanager, you pick one and
(39:08):
decline three, and uh it's itwas it was it was crazy.
I mean it's a it's definitely ayou know 70 hour work week for
and then work was great.
I didn't uh I had just landed abig deal at work that is a
recurring revenue type deal, andI just set up an the acquisition
(39:30):
uh here, and so they've they'vebeen very kind to me to let me
um to let me have Slack so thatI could go do that.
And I I'm very grateful forthat.
SPEAKER_00 (39:40):
What would you say is like the big the biggest
takeaway from this experience?
SPEAKER_03 (39:46):
Um my family.
I I treasure time like right nowuh like I I can see the the sand
and the glass just kind of goingout really quickly.
Um because somebody at churchtold me it's not like you you
don't have to get your kids to18 necessarily.
(40:08):
I mean you have to, you I meanyou have to food, water,
shelter, all that type of stuff,and hopefully influence and but
uh at 16 you stop seeing them.
And so now I guess it's takenI'm thick, it took me a while to
understand.
I'm glad I I'm glad I can focuson my family.
So that's probably what I'velearned.
SPEAKER_00 (40:27):
Yeah.
Well, we I think we could talkfor another hour.
SPEAKER_03 (40:31):
I love this, by the way.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (40:33):
It's fun to we'll have to do a part two, I feel
like.
I would love that.
That'd be great.
Yeah, we didn't get to have myquestions because we were
chatting.
SPEAKER_03 (40:41):
What's one that you that you wish you had asked?
SPEAKER_00 (40:44):
Um if there's one.
Yeah.
I mean, I was super interestedin some of the personality
traits stuff, but you want to dowe have I can do it short.
SPEAKER_03 (40:52):
Um I know I'm long-winded, but if you want to
dive into that, I could Can youdo it in one minute?
SPEAKER_00 (40:57):
Yes, yeah, challenge.
SPEAKER_03 (40:58):
What would yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (40:59):
What um how would you say like the personality
assessments have helped younavigate your career?
SPEAKER_03 (41:06):
So I love the Myers Brig.
I love the Enneagram, uh Discpersonality, there's a bunch of
other ones.
Um and I would, yeah, I I thinkthey help me looking backwards
after something happens.
Yeah.
And so then I then I'll I'll goand I'll read about ENFP eight
wings seven.
(41:27):
How does this person respond toconflict or something like that?
And then it just ex it just laysit out in such a way that reads
my mail.
Yes.
And I go, oh, I feel understood.
Yes.
And so that's why I wantautonomy and freedom and some
control, but why I'm also not,you know, I don't go about it
(41:47):
this way or that way.
And uh, so yeah, I it's sohelpful.
No, somebody is it was itSocrates that said know thyself?
SPEAKER_00 (41:55):
Probably, yeah.
It's helpful.
Yeah, I I think I'm fascinated.
Was that one minute?
I think it was, yeah.
I'm I'm fascinated by themotivations of like Enneagram
because I've had the sameexperience.
So another day we will delvefurther.
So, what are you obsessing overlately?
SPEAKER_03 (42:14):
This is silly, but the SORA app I that I said I put
it on LinkedIn that I was gonnabe on your podcast, and I I had
a cameo of me with Mark Cuban,and because you can do the AI
type stuff and mix it together,and somebody showed me that.
I just think it's hilarious.
I can waste so much time onthat, and you can get your
friends on there and then putdifferent scenarios for them to
(42:38):
be talking.
And uh I wouldn't say I'mobsessing over it, but I I
deleted it off my phone becauseI was probably obsessing over
it.
So maybe I would say I was like,You put a stop to it.
I had to I'm like, I gotta getthis off here.
SPEAKER_00 (42:49):
And what's your recommendation?
SPEAKER_03 (42:51):
Is it also the Sora app or do you think that's uh so
the Bi I when I read that I waslike, what would I recommend to
people?
So uh the Bible reading plan,like I'm serious, like I would I
would do I would download umit's a it's a brown app and it
audios the Bible.
And you can set seven minutes aday if you speed it up.
(43:12):
And what you you can, why not?
You know?
Yeah, and uh or 15 minutes a dayand you read through the entire
Bible in a year.
And so that's how I I I I do itevery every day.
I'll go through and I'll justlisten.
I'll just I'll put it right hereand I'll audio, you know, I'll
sit down and I'll listen.
So I don't read, I don't read asas much as list, I just will
audio it.
(43:33):
And you can brush your teeth anddo it, you can be in the car and
do it, you can be on a walk anddo it.
SPEAKER_00 (43:38):
It's habit stacking, right?
Isn't that what it's called?
I feel like you should say thatwith the Bible.
SPEAKER_03 (43:42):
No, no, no, but it's a great book too.
Uh I know the book and I readit.
I don't remember it.
SPEAKER_00 (43:47):
Yeah, but it's not the seven habits of highly
effective people, is it or isthat totally different?
No, that's a different thing.
I have not read the book, so Ijust know the term.
SPEAKER_03 (43:55):
I know I know that, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (43:57):
Um my recommendation is rise mushroom coffee.
SPEAKER_03 (44:03):
I read about I I saw a video on this last week.
SPEAKER_00 (44:06):
It's really good.
Really?
I've been trying to get off ofregular coffee.
Yeah, but what has happened isI've just stacked them.
Regular coffee, then my mushroomcoffee.
SPEAKER_03 (44:18):
You do like you'll do it, you'll drink regular and
then double my coffee intake, iswhat I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00 (44:22):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (44:23):
But I need to does it taste like a mushroom though?
SPEAKER_00 (44:26):
No, no, it just it's just tastes like really good
coffee.
Really?
It's more natural, so I like ita lot.
SPEAKER_03 (44:32):
I will literally buy it this week.
Yeah, and I'll try that.
SPEAKER_00 (44:36):
Yeah, they also have like chai and matcha.
SPEAKER_03 (44:40):
Yeah.
I like matcha too.
SPEAKER_00 (44:42):
What are you looking forward to this week?
SPEAKER_03 (44:44):
Uh my niece just had a baby.
Oh, that's exciting.
And I get to go into Chattanoogaand visit my my niece's baby,
which is my grandniece.
My grandma, yeah.
Yeah.
My or grandnep grandnephew.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (45:02):
Grandnephew.
Yeah Oh, nephew, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Got confused.
SPEAKER_03 (45:07):
Although I will say I called Craig on the way, and
I'm like, I don't remember ifBerkeley is a boy or a girl.
Honestly, I wasn't a hundredpercent sure what you said.
Yeah, I saw my grand somethingnibbling.
SPEAKER_00 (45:18):
Niece or nephew, yeah.
I my brother just had his baby,well, his wife had the baby on
Saturday.
Oh, right.
Liam John Swisher.
So I'm super excited.
I don't get to see him.
Strong name.
Yeah.
John, my dad's name is John.
So I don't know where Liam camefrom, but I like it.
Liam Mason.
Liam, maybe we'll find out.
(45:38):
Strong.
Yeah.
Well, I am looking forward to onSaturday I'm recording a
podcast, not this podcast,different podcast with friends
where we read a romance noveland discuss it, and it's so bad.
I can't wait.
Where can people find you?
SPEAKER_03 (45:55):
Uh, so I I'm on uh I never get on Facebook and
Instagram.
I have uh Facebook, Instagram,Twitter.
If anybody joins, they'll be my17th Twitter follower or
whatever.
Don't do it, but LinkedIn.
I do everything on LinkedIn.
And so it's um linkedin.comforward slash N forward slash
(46:19):
Stuart Cooper S-T-U-A-R-T, uhCooper like the tire.
And then two number two.
SPEAKER_00 (46:25):
We'll make sure to link it for everybody.
Yeah, that'd be great.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (46:28):
And link LinkedIn, that's where I'm most of my
time.
You can message me on LinkedIn,I'll respond.
Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (46:34):
Watch your video with Mark Cuban.
Yeah, and this one, I'll postthis one.
SPEAKER_03 (46:38):
Yeah, I know it'll go to YouTube, but well, thank
you so much for being here.
SPEAKER_00 (46:42):
This was awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (46:43):
Yeah, yeah, this was great.
I enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (46:45):
Good.
Well, thank you guys.
Thank you so much for watchingor listening.
Um, please give us a follow andrate and review the end.
Thanks for listening to mycrunchy zen era.
Please subscribe and leave areview wherever you listen to
your podcast.
This podcast is produced by me,Nicole Swisher, and my good
friends Summer Harcup and LizGolder.
(47:07):
Editing is by Drew HarrisonMedia and recording is done by
Logos Creative in Nashville,Tennessee.
Thanks for hanging out.
We'll be back next week.
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