April 28, 2025 • 57 mins
How do you honor everything you’ve built - and still have the courage to create something new?
In this deeply personal conversation, Cortney Liddiard shares the story behind the creation of his newest venture, Kerosene Capital — a company built on decades of leadership, hard-won wisdom, and a renewed passion for business and life.
Built on decades of leadership at Ball Ventures, Cortney’s next chapter represents the natural evolution of his journey — shaped by a deep commitment to meaningful relationships, a renewed focus on balance, and the drive to build something truly personal and enduring.
With characteristic energy and humor, Cortney recounts adventures traveling with his wife Jenny (who famously enforced a “10-day rule”), testing their resilience and deepening their partnership along the way. From digging a truck out of a North Dakota snowbank with dog bowls to quiet mornings running his hunting dog through Idaho fields, Cortney’s reflections reveal the clarity that comes from real-world experience — and a willingness to embrace both hard work and stillness.
Facing the milestone of turning 58, with memories of his father’s early passing at 59 fresh in his mind, Cortney speaks candidly about making this “last swing” count. Kerosene Capital is more than a new company — it’s a return to passion, purpose, and personal alignment: doing what you love, with people you love, for the right reasons.
For anyone thinking about their next chapter — whether you’re an entrepreneur, a leader, or someone seeking deeper meaning in your work — Cortney’s journey offers a powerful reminder: The best is still ahead when you build from the heart.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today on the Ever Onward podcast, we have Courtney
Ledeard, former CEO of BallVentures, a longtime friend, and
introducing his new company,kerosene Capital.
He'll be the owner and CEO ofKerosene Capital.
It's going to be great to getcaught up with Courtney and talk
about what he's been up to inthe future, buddy oh, buddy this
(00:33):
is great.
Hey, we've been talking aboutdoing this for years years way
years and you're good at it.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm not great at it.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
No, this is great, this is uh, this is awesome.
Um, you're over in town becauselast'm not great at it.
No, this is great, this isawesome.
You're over in town becauselast night we had our first
kerosene chat.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yes, that was amazing .
It was so fun to have everybodyhere.
Everybody's probably sick of me.
I haven't seen anybody for ayear, I know and I'm hugging
everybody and they're like hey,they're like what's wrong with
you, dude?
This guy's so full of love.
They're like what's wrong with?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
you.
You guys are so full of love,Right?
Well, so a little bit ofbackstory.
So a couple of years ago wedecided, after COVID, well, we
did the conference in Sun Valley.
It was kind of a thank you toour business partners and it was
a great event.
And then we rebranded it, whichwas really fun it's Kerosene
two years ago ago and had agreat, great event.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I mean that thing was awesome, that was a lot of fun
had it down on the Lively Thenremember the rainstorm.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Had Vincent Neil Emerson come play Pitcher
underneath under everybodyoutside trying to protect
themselves.
But they wanted to talk, so muchAt the perfect time that
rainstorm hit.
But then obviously last year wetook that year off.
A lot of change, a lot ofchange.
And then this year we're goingto have kerosene again this fall
(01:53):
, which is a two-day kind ofleadership kind of conference
here in Boise.
But we thought why not do theseperiodic times kerosene chats
we're calling them where we canbring someone in and have them.
Well, we do so much businessand we go so hard.
All the time it's just crank,crank, crank, crank, crank.
(02:15):
It is so nice to take a minuteand invite those people in that
are so important to our business.
I know relationships.
I mean one thing I've learnedfrom you relationship,
relationship, relationship,right.
And so last night we had ourfirst one.
So we had Scott Gatzmeier fromMicron.
I thought he did a phenomenaljob.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know, just hearing him talk about the
process and dealing with whetherit's the internal workings,
where are they going to place it, what's the strategic advantage
of the locations?
And, of course, here in Idaho,you know there's a little bit of
good, a little bit of bad.
We're the perfect place but, onthe other hand, the thing that
makes the state great is we'restill small, yeah, but perfect
(02:55):
location.
Hearing about the process thatthey went through, you know,
coordinating with the governor,the governor's office, about,
okay, how are we going to dothis?
Because they said something,you know, last night, talking
about the construction jobs and1500 and 1500.
And when Scott said, well, it'sjust getting ready for the
15,000 people, and that'simpressive.
(03:17):
And to think I didn't realizethat the whole campus was what?
800 acres, 800 acres.
And I'm from Eastern Idaho.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
So I know what 800 acres, 800 acres and I'm from
eastern Idaho so I know what 800acres is.
What was interesting is he likeat the top of his head last
night.
Most of the things he wassaying I had never heard before.
Right, About the process, aboutthe statistics, about the
competition with the speed tomarket because they're up
against other countries it wasreally cool, he did a great.
(03:45):
Other countries it was reallycool, he did a great job and
holt hagan did a great job.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He's.
He's such a good guy, sopersonable and great.
You know really getting some ofthose comments out, making
people feel comfortable, and Ithink the word chat really what?
Yeah is what it was.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
It was great I mean just anyway.
So you're over here for that.
And then I thought you knowit's time, yeah, it's time,
you're uh.
So, uh, um little bit of anintro.
Yeah, right, 22 years ceo ofball ventures um 22 years long
time and accomplishedunbelievable things.
(04:21):
Um, well, had a big change, big, had a big change and kind of a
year of kind of reset, and Iwant you to get into that.
And now that ended earlier thismonth and I thought it was
great last night because wehaven't been able to talk or do
much, but you've been in yourmind planning what was next for
(04:43):
you, right, and last night itwas really fun to have you here
and be able to talk about yournew company and I thought, hey,
this will be fun to be able totalk about that.
Yeah, it's been a while.
So, anyway, thanks for comingon, thanks for having me Thanks
for being here last night.
It was great.
It was really fun to have thegovernor here.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Anyway, it's going to be great to talk today.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well, I guess first of all, you know, big, big shout
out to BV, all the employees,and I'll say a couple of things
a little later, that kind ofpoint to that.
But you know it was a great run.
Frankly, I learned so much.
(05:27):
Learned so much from the people, learned so much from alan.
You know he was a big influencein my life and as that thing
matures you, you know what wasuh me and uh a I used I need to
not use the words I normally use, but half-assed bookkeeper and
the secretary who thought shehad my job because she got
Alan's coffee.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Just a bean counter for Tooele Utah.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Just a bean counter, just a bean counter.
But really to see that go froma gravel pit to what it's become
, and I think that the older youget, the more you reflect and
and really, at the end of theday it's was on the backs of
those employees.
They did it all and you knowthat's just a big shout out.
(06:10):
They just have a phenomenal,phenomenal staff and have done
some phenomenal things and we'vedone some phenomenal things.
But you know the people, thepeople really, that that's a
lifeblood and a core.
The people really matter.
But you know, kind of Well, canI?
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Anytime there's big changes, it's big changes, right
.
I mean it's, it's a big change,it's a big change right, 100 to
0.
But I think I want to justpiggyback on what you said.
It's just immense gratitude,right, totally, and I think
that's been the interestingthing is just gratitude, for I
mean just years of really greatstuff and with BVA, right.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Oh, we really hit the gas.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
BVA was so I mean like probably as a time of my
life, just one of the mostenergetic mission-driven.
And I want to hit what you justsaid because, because I think
of, like Tari Malafua I'm goingto get a little emotional man I
mean I think about that guy andwhat we did together and the
(07:11):
teamwork that we felt, and justI'm so grateful for that
experience we had and it waswonderful, Just wonderful.
Right, A lot of synergy andstill a relationship there.
I mean we still have a lot ofassets together and great people
.
Anyway, a lot of gratitude fora lot of folks that made a
difference in my life.
(07:32):
Right, and I know for you, youbet.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Well, maybe getting kind of back to that year, I get
asked all the time well geez,what's it like?
Or what was it like?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Well it, is interesting because I'm like
I've said this like you have alot of qualities.
I'm gonna so, um, before youget into this, why?
Why it was so interesting isI've never known anyone with as
much capacity as you ever, andI've known a lot of people in my
life.
I'm a good salesman nah, you'remore like it's just capacity.
I mean, you would like I hadmet my match when we started
(08:11):
doing business together, causeI'm like this guy never stops
and he's he's.
So you are an accountant,that's your, your be, a be a
good or bad encounter, andmostly bad for me, right.
Cause you're all and you're,you're a, you're an analytical
guy, you're a numbers guy,you're a numbers guy, you're a
don't believe the emotion,believe the numbers guy, right?
So I was always impressed withso many things going on that
(08:32):
when you interacted with ourbusiness line, I needed to know
my stuff, because I knew when Isat down with you, it was like,
hey, within about five minutesI'm going to get the key
questions and if I don't knoweverything, I'm going to look
bad, right.
And then I'd watch you do thatwith car dealerships.
I'd watch you with a hotel.
It was like, oh, and I'm likethis guy's got more capacity
than anyone and you neverstopped.
(08:53):
So I think, well, yeah, I'mgoing to tell a story to kind of
demonstrate that capacity.
You also are like that in everyasset of your life, whether
it's riding bikes or goinghunting.
So the very first time we gohunting in North Dakota together
, I'm going to tell the story.
I've got a story or two to tellthere too.
(09:13):
I begged you for years to gofirst of all, and you would
never take me and I felt badabout it.
So finally I get the invite andnow I realize why this is a
very special thing for you andyour brother.
You have all these littlesecret places there.
Not just anyone can go, becauseonce you go to the secret place
, everyone knows the secret.
Now you know the seat.
Now it's not a secret, right,right, right.
(09:34):
So we get there and I'm excited,but I don't know what to expect
.
So I get there and I'm thinkingwe're gonna, we're gonna get
there in north dakota and we'regonna be able to, like, go to
the maverick, right, and I'mgonna get like some sodas and
some water, maybe, some beefjerky, maybe, maybe, and I think
we're gonna have this fun timethat day and we get there.
(09:56):
And you know, we have thisrental truck and we throw our
gear in, throw our guns in, andboom, our guns in, and boom,
we're off right.
And it's a two-wheel drivewhite truck and I'm like we
could go.
And after like an hour of youjust locked in I mean, you were
locked in we're like go, we gotto hurry, it's time to go, I
know.
I'm like, hey, I haven't seen acar or a person for like an
(10:19):
hour or two and I'm like are wegoing to stop by like a gas
station or something?
No, no, no.
And you go in the winter, right.
So there's very short days,first of all, in your defense,
you only have like a very shortwindow of time.
And so no water, no food, no,anything.
Right, we had snow, we can boilit.
No, it gets there.
I'm going to get there.
So we're getting about noon nowhunting, and we Like we're
(10:43):
getting about noon now huntingand we're having a good time,
but I don't have a drop of water, I don't have anything.
And there's this point at whichyou're like hey, we got to get
rid of that field over there.
I'm like well, how are yougoing to get there in this truck
.
You're like, oh, we'll make itif we go fast enough.
If we go fast enough, we canget through that snow drift
right.
So you hit it and I'm likewe're not getting through that
(11:05):
snow drift and remember we highcenter on the snow, and you're
like we're going to have to digout.
Daylight's wasted, let's getout.
I'm like, well, do you have ashovel?
And we used your two dog bowls,remember.
So all we had was dog bowls.
And we're underneath the truckdigging and I'm thirsty.
And I'm literally.
I like looking up at thatperfect blue North Dakota sky,
(11:27):
laying on my back in the snow,thinking I might die.
I'm breathing heavy, I'm eatingsnow because I'm so thirsty.
Anyway, we got it.
It took us a couple hours toget in stock.
We've hunted all day.
It was magnificent, by the way,and we don't eat until 5 30
that night.
But anyway, I tell that storybecause this is the courtney
lydier pace.
(11:48):
It's like relentless.
It is like relentless, the mostrelentless thing you've ever
experienced in your life.
So I think, for all of us,knowing you're going to take a
year off, we're like, uh, how'sthis thing gonna work?
And knowing that jenny had toput up with you every day, I'm
like okay, all right, thisthing's not work.
And knowing that Jenny had toput up with you every day, I'm
like okay, this thing's notgoing to work.
I think there was genuineconcern for anyone that knew you
(12:10):
.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
And you know, in all fairness, you might not be the
first person who brought that up, but you know that time when we
were in North Dakota.
I look back and that's, youknow.
I would say, when you have,like you said, when you go from
100 to zero, yeah, literally,you have time to really think
(12:35):
about things and what mattersmost and what in your life, what
do you treasure most.
And, thank goodness, it's notlike being up in heaven looking
down, right, but it gives you achance to say, okay, well, what,
what?
Maybe?
Now are some of the regrets Ihave.
And you know, I don't know,honestly, if I change a lot,
because I do have that energy.
And I look at that time I wasso excited, like man, all right,
(12:56):
you're in the circle, we'regonna go.
And this is so special to me, Iam, we have just, we're gonna
do it all, we're gonna do it allin two days and there's
thousands of acres and we'regoing to do every square inch.
And you know, I, I, there's somany things in that trip that I
look back at like, like the snowdrift.
Yeah, you know, and I think thisis, you know, if you're a doer,
(13:18):
I think it's in all of us.
I know it's in you, becauseI've had this feeling like what
in the hell are you thinking?
And just like the snow drift,like, oh, we can make it, let's
go, yeah, and let's just pushright through it.
And I think that's somethingthat's core of my personality is
yeah, I may not make it thefirst time, I may have to dig
(13:39):
out with the dog bowl, but bydang, I'm going to make it
through that drift, because Igot Tom's, got to have a good
time, we were going to go.
So, and you know the otherthing, I've got a picture.
And when we were there thesecond time, yeah, we're in
South Dakota, my favorite place,yeah, you know we'd had such.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
We're not going to tell that story today.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
No, it may have invited.
No, it may have involved alittle yes.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Just tell it.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
No, no, no.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Well, it was a totally innocent mistake, just
so people don't think there wasRight.
Like we're in North Dakota,you're like, let's go to South
Dakota, it's right across theborder.
Like, okay, you're like, well,you got to get online and get
your licenses, so you buy yourlicense on your iPhone while
you're going across the borderVery quickly and you may have
put the date in by one day.
Wrong, I did.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
By one day Right, one day wrong.
And you know, I mean I grew uphunting and when that nice
officer comes in the field, hewas in it to win it, man.
He was in it to win it, man, hewas in it to win it.
And you know he starts tellingme about you're hunting after.
You know, you're hunting afterhours.
And I'm looking at him likewhat are you thinking?
(14:50):
I can see, I mean, I've huntedmy entire life and this, you
know, after sunset thing.
I remember telling him well,what am I supposed to do?
Be pulling out my phonewatching the weather channel?
I mean, it was 15 minutes after, something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
it's like I didn't know that this was like this,
but the good news it all endedall right.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah it ended up great, a lot of lessons learned,
and you know honestly.
So back to that day, okay, sothe two things.
So one is again, I want to makesure you have a good time.
And I'm down off in this littledraw and I hear this shooting,
boom, boom, and I'm like, oh,it's getting into, it's gonna be
great, this is gonna be great.
(15:31):
Boom, and I remember like, okay, there's no more shooting.
I come back and I look over andyou're going back to the truck.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Oh, this was so funny well, hey, hey, in my defense,
you hunt so hard and the firstfour or five fills and you're
going.
I'm just trying to catch up andI'm literally thinking to
myself I don't think I can dothis all day.
I'm going.
We got our dogs right, we'rehaving a great time, but it's
beautiful.
So every once in a while I justsit down and go.
(16:00):
I'm tired, right, but I didn'tsee any pheasants.
So then we go into this fieldand I've got a box of shells, a
box.
I know it's a monster and you'relike, just wait, when we get
into them, it's going to beincredible.
Well, I run out of shells andthere are birds everywhere and
I'm just like you're walking thelimit limit.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
He's like, well, I got one, A box of shells, and
you got one hey.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Oh man, it's a different story today.
You've been practicing, no, butit was embarrassing because
they're hard.
Yeah, you're chasing across bythe time they get up, oh yeah,
yeah.
The other thing I rememberabout that trip is that was your
dog's last trip.
It's a cool story.
Yeah, I got a picture of youwith a frame, trigger, trigger,
and you had that dog forever andyou're like I got to take him.
(16:53):
I think this is going to be it.
It's his last big hunt and youknow what he got to hunt with my
new dog?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah, and then he made it home.
Made it home a few months later, you know, on to bigger and
better.
That's one of the things I'llalways remember.
Yeah, you know, I got a pictureof him and it's kind of not to
wax, you know, too emotional.
But if I think about how I wantto go out, I want to be Trigger
(17:19):
.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Because there's a picture of him.
He had just gone.
And, if you remember, I broughtmy new dog.
Yeah, because there's a pictureof him, he had just gone.
And, if you remember, I broughtmy new dog.
Yeah, spot, yep, spot.
And you know, trigger's got allthis experience and Spot's just
hey, where am I going to?
go.
What am I going to do?
And Trigger's just okay, letthe young guy Okay.
And he brings his bird back andI've got a picture of him
(17:40):
laying on the ground becausehe's tired and he's kind of
looking at me like hey, bud,this is it.
This is my last one.
I'm not getting any more ofthese for you.
And it was.
You know, I think everything inlife, you know whether it's the
death of a dog, change.
You know there's good and badand you have that flood of
(18:01):
memories and appreciation andthat's just.
You know.
That's just.
You know.
That's just another moment thatI think kind of is germane to
to where I'm, you know, the lastyear, frankly.
So yeah, so go to this, yeah,so just a picture.
I've got a picture of youagainst my jeep, not the muddy
picture, but the good picturelike it was staged almost, and
you know it's just.
(18:21):
When I look at that it's likepeace, accomplishment,
friendship.
It's everything that wasimportant.
At that.
It's like peace, accomplishment, friendship.
It's everything that wasimportant to me.
And over the last year I'dstare at that picture and you
know my brother, and when youhave a year to think, you start
thinking about what's important.
And so if you were to peopleask me well, what was it like?
(18:44):
What was it like?
And you know I just tell them,hey, what, what was it like?
What was it like?
And you know I just tell them,hey, this is the worst, best
experience of my life becauseyou know, was it easy?
No, you go and you say, well,what am I going to do today?
I gotta go.
I, you know I got up at five,30 and I remember my wife going.
You don't have to get up atfive, 30.
Like keep going.
She goes.
Hey, bud.
Like bud, you don't have to getup at 530.
Keep going.
No, she goes.
(19:04):
Hey, bud, like what do you haveto like?
What's it?
545?
I'm like, ah, you got to get up.
Well, what exactly do you haveto do?
And so you know, luckily, atthat period of time you know I
live in Rexburg, I live up well,used to live up so I did a lot
of things you're not supposed todo in a year, like leave a job,
sell your house.
Thank goodness Jenny didn'tdivorce me but I started taking
(19:28):
my dog.
My brother would always go withhis dog, not on hunting season,
but you know, running it,keeping it in shape and outside.
Not on hunting season, but youknow, running it, keeping in
shape and outside.
And you know what I was alwaysjealous of, that right Way
jealous, and being able to go dothat now is something I do to
this day, like like you know, ifyou said, well, how come you
got to get back?
Well, I got to go run my dogtomorrow.
(19:48):
You know it's like this specialtime, but that really gave me a
lot of time to kind of reflectand you know, run my dog and up
in the fields and see thingsI've never seen.
I had no idea we had that manyelk within it's about three
miles of my house.
I've seen herds of 50 elk.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I'm just sitting here while you're talking.
Isn't that like the mostpeaceful thing ever?
Yeah, like being in a fieldwith your dogs.
Yeah, I mean it's simple, but Ithink the clarity in nature,
there's some special bond withthe dog.
I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
It's just awesome, isn't it?
And, unlike some places, I'vehunted and thought that
trespassing was just a guideline, I actually asked for
permission, and so you know itwas great.
And you know, the other thingthat I wanted to make sure that
I that I got out there today is,you know, my dad was a huge
influence on my, on my life, andso was my mother.
(20:48):
I mean, they had such mymother's still alive, by the way
, she's the toughest personyou'll ever meet but my dad, you
know I would have a bigdecision or, most of the time,
screw up, and he'd say listen,you know, bud, you can't change
the past.
You live in the present.
All you can do is affect thefuture.
(21:09):
So what you do next matters most, and that is something that
rang through my head and rang,you know a lot, just because you
know when you're going 100miles, and you know this, you're
going 100 miles an hour.
You have these things that youwant to accomplish and, uh, I
can't tell you how many timesyou know whether telling jenny,
yeah, well, I'll get thattomorrow.
Well, I get that tomorrow.
(21:29):
Well, tomorrow never comes,yeah, and so being able to look
at what you want to do and goforward.
Really.
That saying I probablyespecially the first few months,
it just was in the back of myhead all the time and I got so
much to talk about.
How much time do we have left?
We have plenty.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
All right.
So you know, as I try to takethat, figure out what I want to
do, one of the goals andsomething that Jenny talked
about was I'm going to dosomething.
I'm going somewhere every monthLike I'm going to go, and, as
you know and a lot of othersknow, I've got this motorhome
(22:12):
and I come from a family oftruckers.
My wife's family is her fatherbuilt a large trucking
enterprise and so they all knowhow to drive and so I'm in this,
you know, 45 foot motorhome andpulling a trailer, a flat deck
trailer, with my Jeep on it.
Yeah, it's probably notsomething I've done all the time
and so you would think I wouldask for advice.
(22:33):
So I do crickets, except for mybrother-in-law, beeper.
He's like oh, yeah, yeah,you've got to take 25 over here.
By the way, I love the factthat your brother-in-law's
nickname is Beeper.
Oh, it's Beeper.
Some people know him as Beeper,but it's Beeper and he's the
only guy Like I would be okay,so the Okay.
So the first trip we went from,you know, up in Rexburg, down
(22:55):
through Moab, and Beper said no,you got to go.
Have you ever been across anyreservation?
And I'm like no, you know, I'veflown all over them and he's
like, oh yeah, this is just youknow, and he's telling me how to
go by Shiprock and make surewhen I get to Gallup, I take
over on.
You know what is that?
70?
Anyways, what is that?
(23:17):
70?
Anyways, take off, no, 40,something.
You know this highway and and Ithink this next piece that I'm
going to tell you is somethingthat really really highlighted
the last 12 months is I can dowhatever I want, right, I could,
and I'm a really pretty curiousperson.
And so we go down to Gallupcoming, we're going east, we go
through Albuquerque to gallopcoming, we're going east, we go
(23:40):
through albuquerque and one ofthe very first uh, auto
dealerships that we looked atbuying with, with mario from
teton toyota who mario is, isjust an incredible, you know,
he's an incredible individual,unbelievable was clovis, new
mexico, and so I was bound anddetermined to tell him.
I went to clovis again.
So I'm driving over to Clovis,going along, and I see the sign
Fort Sumner and the light goesoff and I'm trying to stop
(24:01):
Because you know you don't stopexactly quickly.
It's not like hitting, it's notlike, you know, in the little
Volkswagen hitting the brakesand you stop.
And so, you know, I finally getthings stopped.
She's like Fort Sumner.
Why do we got to go to FortSondheim?
I'm like that's where Billy theKid is buried.
He's everybody's hero.
And so we get turned around andwe go to the Billy the Kid
Museum and, needless to say, youmight guess we were the only
(24:22):
ones there.
But so that was our first tripand I got a really good friend
down in Midland and you know, tobe able to get up one day and
say I don't want to stay to um,you know, down to san marcos, uh
, texas, and we went a lot ofplaces and I've been a lot of
places for two hours and youknow, I don't, you know people
(24:43):
like, oh, they got.
I remember going to san marcosthe first time with a really
good friend of mine, mikestarcher.
We were looking at a project.
He's like, yeah, he's kepttalking about this great
barbecue.
And we go, look at the project.
We, you know, okay, great, Igotta go.
And he's like, well, we gottago to the barbecue.
I'm like, what, we're not gonnastop, we gotta go.
(25:03):
We got granola bars, let's go.
And at least he had granolabars and water and water why was
he?
complaining, right, we didn'thave water.
And you know, he's like like,kind of to this day, when you
talk to him, if he knows me,he's like, yeah, that's the
dirty rotten, that wouldn't stop.
But but so back to we wentsomewhere every month and you
(25:25):
know whether it was down thecoast of Oregon, which has its
own set of funny stories,whether it's I mean all over and
the thing that I worried.
And so, jenny, you know, mybest friend, partner in life the
most patient, it's a partner inlife the most patient.
It's a good thing.
She's opposite the most patientperson.
However, when it's, and she'slike, yeah, that'd be so great,
(25:45):
man, we can just go somewhere onjust wherever you know like,
and I'm like, hey, great,because I got a little hippie in
me.
People don't know that.
You know I'm fine just goingand exploring.
I got a little hippie in me.
People don't know that.
You know I'm fine just goingand exploring.
And so I start.
I think Turks and Caicos in Mayis what really highlights this,
because I am bound anddetermined.
I've never been there.
You know he's got these beaches.
(26:06):
I'm like I'm renting thisAirbnb for a month, right, and I
think she's excited.
But sometimes I don't listen,well, and so I'm looking, and
which one?
For a month?
And what's the amenities?
And you know.
So jenny has this thing.
She's like I'm up really amonth.
I'm like, so I'm negotiating,hoping to get to two weeks, and
(26:28):
then, but she's got this 10-daything.
If he's like, well, we're gonnago to hawaii for for three
weeks, I don't know three, ohboy, and you know.
So she has this 10-day limit.
And I'm thinking, what do welike?
Why, why do we?
Well, we got you know, and geez, like, what do we have to do?
(26:49):
We don't have to.
And so I've learned about the10-day rule and I'm still
working on 15 days, but we'regetting there.
But people ask all the time,you know, with Jenny, like, oh
wow, what are you guys going todo?
That's going to be, you know,because, I mean, marriage is
tough.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Well, I think you're a lot.
So I mean like let's like it'snot surprising that everyone was
worried about this, Right?
So it's just like you're actinglike everyone that knew you was
like oh, it's going to be likeshe deserves a medal, right.
So so like this was like a lotfor one person.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Well, and from the outside looking in, I I get it,
you know, I understand, but whatthe and this is the other thing
about this year has been, whatare the blessings and the real?
I was never nervous and,frankly, even if you were to ask
Jenny in a private moment alone, never to be recorded, she
would tell you the same thing.
I mean, at work I was the bossand we worked together for very,
(27:48):
you know, 17 years, 20 years,and you know, at work I was the
boss and at home she's the bossand unfortunately, unfortunately
, the last year she's beenmostly the boss, but that was
always our balance and frankly,you know, we could go for 10
days.
A 10-day thing.
I don't really get it's.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I'm gonna tell you it's not me but well, she's like
I think it is cool to watch,like she's awesome and she's
your best friend.
You bet she's your rock, she'severything to you and it's.
It's a great example of what amarriage can be and should be
and and uh, it's been, it's beencool, well, and that bond is
(28:28):
unbelievable and only there's astronger right and you know
she's, she was always a rock thehey.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Here's the schedule.
This is what you've got to do,this is what we have to do, and
it's no different than drivingthe motor home.
We're figuring out where to go.
There's this huge rainstorm Idon't remember it was out in
Oregon and it's coming down andshe's over there navigating,
like it was just what we do inlife.
You know, I'm driving like okay, thinking, and she's keeping me
on course and where we got togo.
(28:56):
And so you know, just like thatmoment that highlights our
personalities, our marriage andhow we interact, and we
literally would go for a coupleweeks and not really talk to
anybody and I don't think verymany people in life can say that
about their best friend spouse.
You know, it's just uh, it'sjust those little things that
(29:18):
have come about the last 12months that I realized, man, I
am like the luckiest guy in theworld.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Isn't that like, uh, it's been.
When you go through something,like looking at it with
gratitude and what can I takefrom this, what can I learn?
You just said how do I reflect,how do I look for the good?
It's like that living arrowsout thing, Like how do I not
make this about me and how do Imake it about what do I learn?
And how do I make you knowwhat's the future, what's was
(29:45):
really?
It's just really awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
It, uh, it is.
Reflection is very valuablebecause it gives you that second
reset to say, okay, well, whatwas what did I like, what did I
hate?
Cause it gets confusing, youknow this, you get so busy and
focused and gives you time Like,what did I really enjoy?
And you know, when I, when Iget asked about well, geez, what
was the last year really like?
(30:07):
And I I'll respond and say,have you had any?
Have you ever had anybody inyour life close to you that's
passed away?
Because it's a lot like that.
And I break it down into kind offour stages of, I think, what
people go through, even whenthey have a loved one pass away.
You know, the first part wassadness.
I mean, I was, there's no doubtabout it.
(30:28):
I was sad and you say, well,what were you sad about?
You know, the number one thingthat I was really sad about is I
had the pleasure of showing upwith about 70 people that
started out with those two thataren't there anymore.
They weren't there long.
And you know 70 people that Igenuinely love and you know I
(30:53):
would say maybe half of themloved me, but I love them and I
love the employees, and you know, that was the hard part,
because constantly I'd bewalking around and wanting to
call or you know, I used to walkaround the office.
I'd walk around the office, youknow, two or three times a week
and I'd go different routes soI could say hi to everybody and
when I left, I we have glasslike a lot of glass, and which
we have a lot of glass becauseof you, like I'm not the
(31:13):
creative guy, but I come overover here and I'm like man,
that's pretty cool.
We needed to do that.
But I wrote them all a notebecause I wanted to remember, um
, that I cared and you know it.
Uh, so that first part, loss andloss of being able to, you know
, interact with the partners.
But and then there becomes apart of you that's angry and you
(31:35):
know what?
Are you angry?
Well, I'm angry a little bitthat I don't get to see him
anymore, I don't get to interactwith the partners anymore, and
you know just um and not youknow nothing.
It's just a life of somethingevolving and you're kind of
angry.
We don't like to.
You like to change, I don'tlike to change, none of us do
right, and you're angry like I.
(31:57):
I gotta change and and then Ithink that really puts you, you
know, then this, the next, Ithink three months, I kind of
put it into three months eachand the next part is reflection.
Yeah, you know, not quite peaceyet.
That comes next.
Reflection, like okay, well,what really?
You know, relationships, well,what really was?
(32:20):
What are all the positives?
What did you really learn?
What can you take away fromthis?
You know, frankly, and also youlearn most when you do, when
you make a mistake.
So what were those mistakes?
And then I would say the lastpart around Christmas was kind
of okay, peace.
Those people are still myfriends.
(32:40):
I still get to see themoccasionally and you know they
don't get texts from me anymoreat two in the morning, but uh,
you know, it's just kind ofpeace.
Okay, now I know what I want todo going forward.
Uh, I know I don't want to workexcuse me, 70 hours a week,
that that deals over.
Uh, I promised my wife 20 to 30.
And then I remind her thatthat's average.
(33:01):
So some weeks might be 70, someweeks might be zero.
But you know kind of definingthat piece of being able to say,
look, I can make my own world,I can do my own thing, and you
know, uh, what am I going toprioritize?
What am I going to let go of?
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Isn't it?
I was just sitting herethinking about, in fact, I said
this this week to somebody andthen I realized life is long
until it's not right.
I mean, think about all thechances we have in this country
and the opportunity we have tokind of reinvent ourself, to
kind of learn, grow.
Wisdom comes from badexperiences, bad experiences
(33:39):
come from lack of wisdom, allthese things, right, you kind of
go, okay, but you can reinventyourself so many times and kind
of re-figure out okay, what canI take, what's the good that I
can take, what are the lessonslearned?
And then blaze forward to thefuture, rekindle that fire in
your belly and go again right,it's so cool that that's life
here and we can do that and youcan.
You know, and I think early on,I think one of the things I
(34:01):
said to you was like hey, you're, you're only in your fifties,
man.
I mean like you know what Imean.
I remember like you're like butit's true, right, right.
And then, but then the secondpart of it until it's not right
until it's not.
And so I was talking to one ofmy, I was talking to a really
good friend this week who justlost his mother and um, and we
were having this conversation islike it, it is long until it's
(34:24):
not, and we do have limited time, we really do right.
And I think, as you getreflective on life, and then you
think about okay, there is onlyso much of this thing and I
think guys like us probably takeit for granted.
A lot of people do take yourhealth for granted.
You take your time for granted,and it's in when you have big
events that allow you to reset,you say, okay, I do have more
(34:46):
time, I'm going to make adifference, I'm rekindling my
fire, I'm thinking about who Iwant to.
You know, have relationshipswith what is important to me,
right, right, what is important,what is important to me, and I
just love the fact that we cando that.
That's one of the bestexperiences of this little thing
we call life that you canreflect, grow, reinvent and move
(35:08):
on.
And I think that's this lastphase for you that you're
getting into.
But before you went there Ithought that is so cool.
It's a great example of of, andyou know.
The other thing I'll say islike, as we go through things,
bitterness, like you know what Imean.
It's just it's not once thatcan get you know, you know out
(35:29):
of the equation and you get backto gratitude and moving forward
.
It's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Well, when you first brought up the the age thing,
you know it my father a lot ofpeople know my father died when
I was younger.
He died about age 59 and I'mrocking and rolling on age 58.
So you know, I got that in theback of my mind and it's always
been in my mind, but it's alwaystomorrow, that's a long way.
(35:57):
Tomorrow, tomorrow, well, it'salmost here.
And so then you say, well, okay, what is that?
What's that next thing and whatdoes it really look like?
Uh, because I, you know, I, I'mcompetitive, I'm, you know,
there's a piece of my lifeprofessionally that I like to be
engaged in.
I mean, I think people don't,uh, really want to invite me to
events because I'm, like youknow, want to talk to everybody
and see of my lifeprofessionally that I like to be
engaged in.
I mean, I think people don'treally want to invite me to
events because I'm, like youknow, want to talk to everybody
(36:19):
and see how everybody's doingand got a lot of energy.
But I think of my dad and allthe things he taught me in early
age that he passed away.
And you don't really think, likewhen I there's thinking and
there's feeling, and thenthere's thinking, feeling yeah,
and so when you're you'rethinking about OK, then you feel
(36:42):
like wonder what?
I know what it felt like for meand I was early 30s.
You know what did it feel likefor him and I thought, well,
this is my last swing, not onlyprofessionally, right, but also
what if I died at 59?
What does that mean?
And that's helped me find a lotof balance.
You know, focus as far asmaking it meaningful, and
meaningful things and you know,in business do things that, uh,
(37:04):
that are more focused and matter, and you know, limited and, but
I'm excited.
You know I've had a lot of, uh,a lot of time, like you said,
to think and reflect, and youknow I'm really, really excited
about the future.
And you sit there and I can'treally, you know I wanted to
(37:26):
call you and say, hey, this iswhat, and actually I was worried
about offending you, right,because I see I didn't even
think.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
So last night at the thing.
So to be clear, like you like,you like, when is it was a year
of like right?
right, I no longer can call itwas it was a year of kind of
just pausing right, whatever youwant to call it.
And so when it ended like, andI and you know Shanna would ask
me all the time she's likewhat's Courtney gonna do?
I'm not sure.
And she was like it's beenfunny because then I and she and
(37:57):
I was excited because we kindof knew a year was coming up.
Anyway, last night at the thingbecause your new company you
named it Kerosene Capital,kerosene Capital, and you were
worried that I would like,because you didn't talk about it
and you called me a week ago.
You're like here's what I'mdoing.
It was cool, it was so fun, andlast night, watching you
(38:19):
announce your new thing andsaying, hey, here's what I'm
going to do, here's the new name, the new logo is fantastic.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
So Kerosene Capital is your new company.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Let's talk a little bit about well, first of all,
before you do that, I do want tosay something about you,
courtney.
Well, first of all, before youdo that, I do want to say
something about you, courtney.
I've again known a lot ofpeople and for me when someone
says Courtney Lyddiard, it'scapacity, that's number one,
like never seen anyone ever withcapacity.
And then it's relationships,and a lot of people say that
there's a lot of lip servicearound relationships.
(38:51):
There are.
I mean, you walk into anycompany and you look at their
wall and their values and allthat.
But those values on a wall comefrom the founder or the leader's
heart, right.
If you can get what's in yourheart and what motivates you
genuinely, authentically as you,and you get them on the wall
and you can have that becomeyour culture, then it means
(39:12):
something.
But if it's just words on awall, it doesn't mean anything.
And you look at almost anyone'svalues they got relationships
right.
But with you it's real.
It's not a word on a wall, it'snot aspiration, it is how you
live every freaking day of yourlife and it's been since the
first time I met you.
It's been forever.
So my point is a long ramblingstatement here, to get to the
(39:36):
point, but coming out of this,you have a lifetime of
relationships that are deep andmeaningful and they are
one-on-one and they are peoplethat trust and love you and know
who you are, right.
So, coming out of that, it'sgoing to be part of your future,
right, right, right, yeah,because it's the base.
(39:56):
It's the foundation of who youare is capacity and
relationships, right, right.
So it's it's cool to watch thisnew reinvention of hey, here's
the last swing at the plate,right, and what it's going to be
for you.
It's cool, I love it.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Well, it is, it's exciting.
And you know, relationships areeverything and when you have
that pause, you think constantlywell, are they going to return
my call or are they not?
And I called a joint friend ofours that had retired.
That was, you know, ran a very,very large organization.
(40:32):
And I said well, you know howis this going to go, like you
know.
And he says well, he said youthink everybody's your friend
and I'm like that was the firstmoment.
I'm like not, they're not myfriends.
I thought they were all myfriends.
And he said you know, like whenyou reach out to another leader
(40:52):
at an organization or whatever,you know, somebody maybe that
you don't go to barbecues with,but you think is your friend, he
said you know, if you, out ofthose 10 people, he said two
aren't going to call you back,I'm sorry, two aren't going to
call you back and the next sixthey're going to call you back.
It just that hour that you'reused to, it might be a week and
I'm like, oh, that's going to betough, how's that going to work
(41:14):
?
And he goes, but there's two,there's two that will text you
right back.
And so, you know, the firsttime I sent a text to one of
those.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
You're waiting to see if you were, at what percentage
I did?
Speaker 2 (41:24):
I did, and I'm looking at my phone going I sent
it Because you don't want, like, you want to know the answer,
but know, you know, like, isanything going to respond?
Or, and I'll tell you myexperience, uh, and I'm not
saying this in a boastful way,it's just to your point about
relationships, I'd send a textand I would say, yes, I had the
two, no doubt about it, but theother eight, they're still my
(41:48):
friends, that's all, and they'restill wanting to engage and
interested.
And I had, I wanted to.
After you know when, after the31st, when I thought I'm going
to reconnect and of course youknow you're not in real estate
and not needing financing rightand capital, and so I thought,
(42:09):
well, I'll call this EVP of realestate for a large bank and see
how that, you see, can I get anappointment?
Well, even, that's every back,you know.
And, boy, he texted right backand said, yeah, well, I don't
know what you're going to do, Iwant to hear how you're doing
and what's next.
And you know how does nextsurge day?
And I remember telling Jennylike, hey, he's one of the six,
(42:31):
he's one of the six, awesome.
And you know, because, like yousaid, relationships are
everything.
And maybe back to kerosene alittle bit, that event I just
really look at that event andthat is highlights so many
things.
It highlights relationships, andnot only with you know,
bringing some of those people tolittle old Idaho, from you know
(42:53):
Wisconsin, yeah, to little oldIdaho, from you know Wisconsin,
yeah, it really is therelationships between you and I,
between the employees and causeyou don't.
One thing I've learned from youis, you know, definitely you've
got the hey, what do you mean?
They say we can't do it, we cando this.
You know you've got that morethan anybody I've ever met.
(43:13):
And but really every betweenhey, well, what's this going to
be like?
And of course you're like it'sgoing to be here and I'm
thinking, well, we have to hear,maybe.
And you know you, you pushed.
And I look at the people thatattended, I look at the people
that spoke, the venue, all of it, and you know it was just
phenomenal and a lot of energy.
(43:34):
So many people came up and I, Iand have a good speaker is one
thing, because I've told peoplea lot when you attend.
Oh, speakers were great.
And in my mind I was thinkingwhen do I get the heck out of
here.
But people were genuine and Ithought about the energy coming
out of that, from all aspects ofbusiness and friendship and
(43:56):
just relationships that we'reexcited to attend, and I thought
, man, I, you know, I reallyliked that name kerosene, and
and.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
But you know, kerosene is something that you
came up with Right and it it was, yeah, it's, it's funny because
, uh, where where it's it'soriginal thing is, it was in the
ER, because in the ER you knowtons of I mean like, like it's
just hard.
And so I would always say to myteam cause I was talking about
(44:27):
this the other day like whenyou're in the emergency room,
I'm really glad that that's.
And I always liked sports andplayed little college basketball
and was always part of my life.
But then when I went intomedicine, I was attracted to
emergency medicine because it'svery team oriented.
Like you, like you have someonecome in off, you know, you go
unload them from an ambulanceand they're having a cardiac
(44:49):
arrest.
At the same time, you havesomeone in the lobby who walks
in and passes out having apulmonary embolism, and you are
working a night shift.
You've got you're, you're thedoctor and I'll tell you, every
other person, every single otherperson in that entire place has
to be on the same page with you, or or or bad things happen,
(45:10):
right.
So so you're constantly tryingto motivate people and I always
prided myself and I still runinto people.
It makes me feel a littleemotional because I saw someone
a couple of weeks ago, but, like, I always prided myself in like
the phlebotomist, the personthat came to our blood, the
x-ray technician who comes downto help you, the unit clerk that
most doctors didn't know theirnames, right, that those people
(45:35):
all mattered.
So one of my sayings I alwayshad was hey, in order to work
these night shifts, you got tohave kerosene in your veins.
I always had was hey, in orderto work these night shifts, you
got to have kerosene in yourveins.
Because it was like you have to, right, it's that fire, because
are you part of this team?
So it's just always stuck withme kerosene in your veins, right
, and what did that mean?
It means are we together?
(45:59):
Are we committed?
Do we have a combined vision?
We know where we're heading, dowe have clarity on plan of what
we're doing?
And then do we work our tailsoff together, right, and it's
just, it's kind of a greatlittle phrase, but anyway, I'm
I'm so happy that this, thatthat cause.
I know you were worried.
You're like hey are you okaywith this?
And I'm like am I okay?
It's like this honor, right?
Speaker 2 (46:17):
So I think it ties back to our friendship too, yeah
, and personality and you knowpersonality and when I look at,
so I looked up the definition isdumb, but I looked up the
definition of carrot like what'sin kerosene, what's?
Because I've always thoughtlike hot fire, yeah, yes, it
(46:38):
burns right, yeah, it doesn'tburn hot, it's not like you know
.
Uh, it's not like nitroglycerindoesn't explode and but it's
constant, yeah, and it's fueland it provides light, right,
and it means a lot.
I love the name and you know,then and this is I didn't I'm
(46:59):
not the creative guy you are,and so, as jen Jenny and I were
looking and we thought colorsand this was honestly about in
July is thinking, well, what isit?
Speaker 1 (47:08):
I didn't know any of this, until last night, by the
way, I know Like last night.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
I know, and the first time I I'm like, okay, thel, so
you know, thel's the attorney.
I'm like, well, I need to like.
So there's such a team, youknow, I just knew that I had to
tell him the name becausethere's something with the
secretary of state.
You got to like reserve thename or something, and so he's
like, you know, okay, well, I'mgoing to file.
(47:32):
And I thought, well, that's oneway, because I know Tommy likes
the name.
Somebody's going to say, oh,hey, and there's this legal
filing and it's got Phil Casper,and you're going to know, so
that doesn't happen.
So, but, but I liked the nameand even then I used the orange.
This was in July.
I've got a sign.
It's got a black background,it's got the orange and the
closer we got, you know, startthinking.
(47:54):
And then after the 31st, youknow, when I hit send on the
logo, it's got the orange andthe black.
And I didn't know you wouldhate it.
I thought there's me elementsthat you like.
You know you're like, hey, oh,oh, I don't know about this.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
We gotta so to be clear, to be clear, I have the
benefit of my life of havingmaddie ray, my son-in-law, who's
here today, who is like's notme, he's like the creative
genius, but I know what he wouldhave said hey, thanks, matt.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
Muchas gracias.
Speaker 1 (48:27):
I sent it right to him and I'm like, hey, fix this,
but the color, let's go to thecolor, because for you you had
to put orange in there and itmeant to you and it was so funny
.
It wasn't until last night.
Oh really Last night, oh reallyLast night, you pulled me out.
And it's the same thing.
When we did our rebrand, I toldMatthew I said I want Hunter
Orange there.
And he's like yeah, and I'mlike yeah, I want it to be
(48:48):
Hunter Orange, because I thinkit's pretty cool, dude.
Well, it's pretty cool that,without any communication, that
was the bond, right, that wasthe thing is.
The thing is, hey, goingforward, that means something to
us and it's fun and like westarted with kind of this, the
hunting, the experience, rightstuff, and anyway, well what
(49:10):
this is.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
When it dawned this is when one piece of it
connected was last night when wewere here and I look over and I
look up close at the period andI, you know, I did not I'm like
that's exactly, that's the samecolor, like kind of exactly the
same color.
Yeah, and so the connection, asfar as you know what kerosene
(49:34):
means, what the orange, there'sjust a lot of uh, similarities.
And know, the reason I keepbanging away at June is I didn't
cheat Like to me, I just wantthe best idea.
So you know, it wasn't the ohboy, that's a great orange, I'll
use that one.
It was more thoughtful thanthat.
And then to see that, thatsimilarity, that synergy,
(49:55):
because there's so many thingsabout us that are synergistic.
Speaker 1 (49:58):
Talk about, talk about your new company and your
vision and and where you see itgoing and how you're going to
take advantage of a life of ofrelationships in your new
venture.
You bet.
Speaker 2 (50:12):
So I think, the first founding principle, if you will
, I want to do things that Ilove with people that I love,
and now I've got the luxury Idon't have to like people that I
don't really love, you know,cause there's relationships are
at different levels, and so I'mgoing to do what I love and I'm
going to do it in the timeframethat I want, and so, um, you
(50:34):
know that, that, in all honesty,that 20, 30 hours a week is
what I'm looking at, and youknow, compared to 60, 70 before,
and just be really thoughtfuland focused and then do it with
people that I love, whetherthat's, uh, my partners.
I want to be able to call andhave that relationship and think
(50:55):
about things and be able toglean from their experience.
We can learn something fromeveryone, whether they're in a
completely different industrythat's probably who you learn
the most from and just involvesome independent people to help
with some of the decision-makingpeople that are my senior and
that I've respected forever andone of them led a very large
(51:16):
organization as a lender, andRob and I.
There were times that he toldme no and I didn't like Rob.
Well, now I want him to tell meno, because I, like Rob and you
know, involve some great people, do great projects.
Of course, yes, real estatefocused and be able to do it
with people that you know, Ireally care, love and trust.
(51:38):
You know I have the luxury ofbeing able to decide which of
those people do I want to moveforward with, and you know it's.
I can't tell you how excitingit is and energetic to be able
to do that.
And you know, because theyexist all over, you know, all
(52:01):
over the country, and really I,from my perspective, be able to
go do business with some of thebest of the best is, I think,
not only a, yes, strategicadvantage but also, you know,
from a friendship, emotional,liking, who you're dealing with,
that's that I couldn't ask foranything better, you know,
(52:25):
because I still I mean, I sit onthe board of Blue Cross.
I love that it's.
I'm not a doctor, but I'vefixed a few things, yeah, but
you know, be able to I justanyways be involved in Blue
Cross.
I can't say enough good aboutthat great company, they do
great things.
I love being a part of it.
Uh, work a little bit with the,with the state, on the, on the
(52:45):
idaho parks, and board, uh,being able to see, believe it or
not.
So when the governor firstasked me, I'm thinking uh, you
know, like I gotta tell you, gov, the campgrounds we got a
problem with campgrounds, ofcourse you know.
But then realizing who's there,and I remember telling the
governor like, hey, we got torun this deal like a business.
(53:07):
And in fact during my littleyou know, confirmation hearing,
I got maybe a little passionateand just said, look, you know,
this is a business, the statehas a business and Susan, the
director of Buxton, does aphenomenal job of trying to.
Hey, we're going to run this,we're going to have metrics,
we're going to have what'sreturned on assets and are we
(53:28):
really doing the best job forthe state as a steward?
And they're forward thinking,they're looking at joint
ventures between differentdepartments at the state, and
you know, so that's, that'sexciting.
I want to have time to give backto the state, to others and
because, let's face it, I loveto live here, you love to live
here.
I do not want to live in SouthDakota, I want to be a visitor
(53:52):
for, you know, a week or two, amonth or a year.
But but Kerosene Capital is,it's one of the things with.
You know, I never owned a shareof stock of bv, but emotionally
I owned it and you know again,just great, great company, uh,
great employees.
But now I've got a chance to toown, yeah, you know, own a
(54:16):
piece of it and own what itmeans and the brand and how it's
perceived in the community.
And and then you know what whatI own is me and and I got to
say, you know, and Jenny,jenny's had so much to do.
Believe me, you think that thelatest logo was not the best.
Speaker 1 (54:34):
I've got a million of them that she's already thrown
up on you know, matthew, matthew, you don't want version one,
don't get version one, no, buthey, well, hey, this has been,
this has been the best.
Yeah, yeah, I can't.
It's uh, the amount of energy.
One of the things that I wantedto maybe kind of end in on here
(54:55):
is, uh, the energy you bring tolife is infectious, whether
that's in a two-wheel drivetruck, going through a freaking
snow drift that we had nobusiness even trying to go
through, we made it, and then,like, literally an hour before
dawn till an hour after dusk,and then we finally get back to
(55:16):
the hotel to eat our cheesecurds, oh yeah, but, like,
whether you're hunting or inbusiness, it is, it is the most
energizing thing ever.
It is, it never stops, it'sthoughtful, it's metric based,
it's.
It's like I just, uh, I lovethe partner, I love the
partnership, I love you, I loveyou as my friend and as my
(55:38):
business partner.
It's been a wonder, wonder.
It's been a wonderful ridetogether.
And now, uh, v2 is, is you know, like I again, I just is going
to be uh, with gratitude on thepast and with absolute fire and
excitement for the future.
Speaker 2 (55:55):
And here we go I'm ready to go and you know, just
bring that energy and you've gotenergy.
And one thing that I've noticedabout you over the years is you
always, if somebody's got aproblem, uh, whatever it is, you
kind of you drop everything andI gotta this guy.
(56:15):
This guy needs my help, not notrelation, not business related.
This guy needs my help andyou're always help and you're
always willing to help them.
And that's, frankly, been a Ineeded to slow down and you know
, because I love to help peoplebut I've never seen anybody with
that and there's a lot oftakeaways from people that I've
(56:37):
met, but that is something thatjust always stood out.
And at a time in my need youknow which we don't have time to
go through when you would tellme well, there's a story here,
we got to have this test.
I'm like I don't want that testand well, I'll tell you later
and I'm glad you didn't tell meon the front end, but sorry for
another day.
But I want to make sure that.
Shout out also to all of thepeople you know who, to all of
(56:58):
the people you know who you are.
I just appreciate you to death.
I owe so many people, so muchgratitude, thank you.
Nobody does it in life on theirown and it's really the
relationships, the people behindyou and I've just blessed, and
first with Jenny and then withyou.
(57:19):
Know there's too many to name,but thank you.
Well, it's been great yeah.
Thank you for your relationship,friendship and example.
Okay, buddy, all right, we'lldo it again.
Yes, sir, thanks everybody,let's do it.
Today on the Ever Onward podcast, we have Courtney
Ledeard, former CEO of BallVentures, a longtime friend, and
introducing his new company,kerosene Capital.
He'll be the owner and CEO ofKerosene Capital.
It's going to be great to getcaught up with Courtney and talk
about what he's been up to inthe future, buddy oh, buddy this
(00:33):
is great.
Hey, we've been talking aboutdoing this for years years way
years and you're good at it.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm not great at it.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
No, this is great, this is uh, this is awesome.
Um, you're over in town becauselast'm not great at it.
No, this is great, this isawesome.
You're over in town becauselast night we had our first
kerosene chat.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yes, that was amazing .
It was so fun to have everybodyhere.
Everybody's probably sick of me.
I haven't seen anybody for ayear, I know and I'm hugging
everybody and they're like hey,they're like what's wrong with
you, dude?
This guy's so full of love.
They're like what's wrong with?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
you.
You guys are so full of love,Right?
Well, so a little bit ofbackstory.
So a couple of years ago wedecided, after COVID, well, we
did the conference in Sun Valley.
It was kind of a thank you toour business partners and it was
a great event.
And then we rebranded it, whichwas really fun it's Kerosene
two years ago ago and had agreat, great event.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I mean that thing was awesome, that was a lot of fun
had it down on the Lively Thenremember the rainstorm.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Had Vincent Neil Emerson come play Pitcher
underneath under everybodyoutside trying to protect
themselves.
But they wanted to talk, so muchAt the perfect time that
rainstorm hit.
But then obviously last year wetook that year off.
A lot of change, a lot ofchange.
And then this year we're goingto have kerosene again this fall
(01:53):
, which is a two-day kind ofleadership kind of conference
here in Boise.
But we thought why not do theseperiodic times kerosene chats
we're calling them where we canbring someone in and have them.
Well, we do so much businessand we go so hard.
All the time it's just crank,crank, crank, crank, crank.
(02:15):
It is so nice to take a minuteand invite those people in that
are so important to our business.
I know relationships.
I mean one thing I've learnedfrom you relationship,
relationship, relationship,right.
And so last night we had ourfirst one.
So we had Scott Gatzmeier fromMicron.
I thought he did a phenomenaljob.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know, just hearing him talk about the
process and dealing with whetherit's the internal workings,
where are they going to place it, what's the strategic advantage
of the locations?
And, of course, here in Idaho,you know there's a little bit of
good, a little bit of bad.
We're the perfect place but, onthe other hand, the thing that
makes the state great is we'restill small, yeah, but perfect
(02:55):
location.
Hearing about the process thatthey went through, you know,
coordinating with the governor,the governor's office, about,
okay, how are we going to dothis?
Because they said something,you know, last night, talking
about the construction jobs and1500 and 1500.
And when Scott said, well, it'sjust getting ready for the
15,000 people, and that'simpressive.
(03:17):
And to think I didn't realizethat the whole campus was what?
800 acres, 800 acres.
And I'm from Eastern Idaho.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
So I know what 800 acres, 800 acres and I'm from
eastern Idaho so I know what 800acres is.
What was interesting is he likeat the top of his head last
night.
Most of the things he wassaying I had never heard before.
Right, About the process, aboutthe statistics, about the
competition with the speed tomarket because they're up
against other countries it wasreally cool, he did a great.
(03:45):
Other countries it was reallycool, he did a great job and
holt hagan did a great job.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He's.
He's such a good guy, sopersonable and great.
You know really getting some ofthose comments out, making
people feel comfortable, and Ithink the word chat really what?
Yeah is what it was.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
It was great I mean just anyway.
So you're over here for that.
And then I thought you knowit's time, yeah, it's time,
you're uh.
So, uh, um little bit of anintro.
Yeah, right, 22 years ceo ofball ventures um 22 years long
time and accomplishedunbelievable things.
(04:21):
Um, well, had a big change, big, had a big change and kind of a
year of kind of reset, and Iwant you to get into that.
And now that ended earlier thismonth and I thought it was
great last night because wehaven't been able to talk or do
much, but you've been in yourmind planning what was next for
(04:43):
you, right, and last night itwas really fun to have you here
and be able to talk about yournew company and I thought, hey,
this will be fun to be able totalk about that.
Yeah, it's been a while.
So, anyway, thanks for comingon, thanks for having me Thanks
for being here last night.
It was great.
It was really fun to have thegovernor here.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Anyway, it's going to be great to talk today.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well, I guess first of all, you know, big, big shout
out to BV, all the employees,and I'll say a couple of things
a little later, that kind ofpoint to that.
But you know it was a great run.
Frankly, I learned so much.
(05:27):
Learned so much from the people, learned so much from alan.
You know he was a big influencein my life and as that thing
matures you, you know what wasuh me and uh a I used I need to
not use the words I normally use, but half-assed bookkeeper and
the secretary who thought shehad my job because she got
Alan's coffee.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Just a bean counter for Tooele Utah.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Just a bean counter, just a bean counter.
But really to see that go froma gravel pit to what it's become
, and I think that the older youget, the more you reflect and
and really, at the end of theday it's was on the backs of
those employees.
They did it all and you knowthat's just a big shout out.
(06:10):
They just have a phenomenal,phenomenal staff and have done
some phenomenal things and we'vedone some phenomenal things.
But you know the people, thepeople really, that that's a
lifeblood and a core.
The people really matter.
But you know, kind of Well, canI?
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Anytime there's big changes, it's big changes, right
.
I mean it's, it's a big change,it's a big change right, 100 to
0.
But I think I want to justpiggyback on what you said.
It's just immense gratitude,right, totally, and I think
that's been the interestingthing is just gratitude, for I
mean just years of really greatstuff and with BVA, right.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Oh, we really hit the gas.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
BVA was so I mean like probably as a time of my
life, just one of the mostenergetic mission-driven.
And I want to hit what you justsaid because, because I think
of, like Tari Malafua I'm goingto get a little emotional man I
mean I think about that guy andwhat we did together and the
(07:11):
teamwork that we felt, and justI'm so grateful for that
experience we had and it waswonderful, Just wonderful.
Right, A lot of synergy andstill a relationship there.
I mean we still have a lot ofassets together and great people
.
Anyway, a lot of gratitude fora lot of folks that made a
difference in my life.
(07:32):
Right, and I know for you, youbet.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Well, maybe getting kind of back to that year, I get
asked all the time well geez,what's it like?
Or what was it like?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Well it, is interesting because I'm like
I've said this like you have alot of qualities.
I'm gonna so, um, before youget into this, why?
Why it was so interesting isI've never known anyone with as
much capacity as you ever, andI've known a lot of people in my
life.
I'm a good salesman nah, you'remore like it's just capacity.
I mean, you would like I hadmet my match when we started
(08:11):
doing business together, causeI'm like this guy never stops
and he's he's.
So you are an accountant,that's your, your be, a be a
good or bad encounter, andmostly bad for me, right.
Cause you're all and you're,you're a, you're an analytical
guy, you're a numbers guy,you're a numbers guy, you're a
don't believe the emotion,believe the numbers guy, right?
So I was always impressed withso many things going on that
(08:32):
when you interacted with ourbusiness line, I needed to know
my stuff, because I knew when Isat down with you, it was like,
hey, within about five minutesI'm going to get the key
questions and if I don't knoweverything, I'm going to look
bad, right.
And then I'd watch you do thatwith car dealerships.
I'd watch you with a hotel.
It was like, oh, and I'm likethis guy's got more capacity
than anyone and you neverstopped.
(08:53):
So I think, well, yeah, I'mgoing to tell a story to kind of
demonstrate that capacity.
You also are like that in everyasset of your life, whether
it's riding bikes or goinghunting.
So the very first time we gohunting in North Dakota together
, I'm going to tell the story.
I've got a story or two to tellthere too.
(09:13):
I begged you for years to gofirst of all, and you would
never take me and I felt badabout it.
So finally I get the invite andnow I realize why this is a
very special thing for you andyour brother.
You have all these littlesecret places there.
Not just anyone can go, becauseonce you go to the secret place
, everyone knows the secret.
Now you know the seat.
Now it's not a secret, right,right, right.
(09:34):
So we get there and I'm excited,but I don't know what to expect
.
So I get there and I'm thinkingwe're gonna, we're gonna get
there in north dakota and we'regonna be able to, like, go to
the maverick, right, and I'mgonna get like some sodas and
some water, maybe, some beefjerky, maybe, maybe, and I think
we're gonna have this fun timethat day and we get there.
(09:56):
And you know, we have thisrental truck and we throw our
gear in, throw our guns in, andboom, our guns in, and boom,
we're off right.
And it's a two-wheel drivewhite truck and I'm like we
could go.
And after like an hour of youjust locked in I mean, you were
locked in we're like go, we gotto hurry, it's time to go, I
know.
I'm like, hey, I haven't seen acar or a person for like an
(10:19):
hour or two and I'm like are wegoing to stop by like a gas
station or something?
No, no, no.
And you go in the winter, right.
So there's very short days,first of all, in your defense,
you only have like a very shortwindow of time.
And so no water, no food, no,anything.
Right, we had snow, we can boilit.
No, it gets there.
I'm going to get there.
So we're getting about noon nowhunting, and we Like we're
(10:43):
getting about noon now huntingand we're having a good time,
but I don't have a drop of water, I don't have anything.
And there's this point at whichyou're like hey, we got to get
rid of that field over there.
I'm like well, how are yougoing to get there in this truck
.
You're like, oh, we'll make itif we go fast enough.
If we go fast enough, we canget through that snow drift
right.
So you hit it and I'm likewe're not getting through that
(11:05):
snow drift and remember we highcenter on the snow, and you're
like we're going to have to digout.
Daylight's wasted, let's getout.
I'm like, well, do you have ashovel?
And we used your two dog bowls,remember.
So all we had was dog bowls.
And we're underneath the truckdigging and I'm thirsty.
And I'm literally.
I like looking up at thatperfect blue North Dakota sky,
(11:27):
laying on my back in the snow,thinking I might die.
I'm breathing heavy, I'm eatingsnow because I'm so thirsty.
Anyway, we got it.
It took us a couple hours toget in stock.
We've hunted all day.
It was magnificent, by the way,and we don't eat until 5 30
that night.
But anyway, I tell that storybecause this is the courtney
lydier pace.
(11:48):
It's like relentless.
It is like relentless, the mostrelentless thing you've ever
experienced in your life.
So I think, for all of us,knowing you're going to take a
year off, we're like, uh, how'sthis thing gonna work?
And knowing that jenny had toput up with you every day, I'm
like okay, all right, thisthing's not work.
And knowing that Jenny had toput up with you every day, I'm
like okay, this thing's notgoing to work.
I think there was genuineconcern for anyone that knew you
(12:10):
.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
And you know, in all fairness, you might not be the
first person who brought that up, but you know that time when we
were in North Dakota.
I look back and that's, youknow.
I would say, when you have,like you said, when you go from
100 to zero, yeah, literally,you have time to really think
(12:35):
about things and what mattersmost and what in your life, what
do you treasure most.
And, thank goodness, it's notlike being up in heaven looking
down, right, but it gives you achance to say, okay, well, what,
what?
Maybe?
Now are some of the regrets Ihave.
And you know, I don't know,honestly, if I change a lot,
because I do have that energy.
And I look at that time I wasso excited, like man, all right,
(12:56):
you're in the circle, we'regonna go.
And this is so special to me, Iam, we have just, we're gonna
do it all, we're gonna do it allin two days and there's
thousands of acres and we'regoing to do every square inch.
And you know, I, I, there's somany things in that trip that I
look back at like, like the snowdrift.
Yeah, you know, and I think thisis, you know, if you're a doer,
(13:18):
I think it's in all of us.
I know it's in you, becauseI've had this feeling like what
in the hell are you thinking?
And just like the snow drift,like, oh, we can make it, let's
go, yeah, and let's just pushright through it.
And I think that's somethingthat's core of my personality is
yeah, I may not make it thefirst time, I may have to dig
(13:39):
out with the dog bowl, but bydang, I'm going to make it
through that drift, because Igot Tom's, got to have a good
time, we were going to go.
So, and you know the otherthing, I've got a picture.
And when we were there thesecond time, yeah, we're in
South Dakota, my favorite place,yeah, you know we'd had such.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
We're not going to tell that story today.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
No, it may have invited.
No, it may have involved alittle yes.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Just tell it.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
No, no, no.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Well, it was a totally innocent mistake, just
so people don't think there wasRight.
Like we're in North Dakota,you're like, let's go to South
Dakota, it's right across theborder.
Like, okay, you're like, well,you got to get online and get
your licenses, so you buy yourlicense on your iPhone while
you're going across the borderVery quickly and you may have
put the date in by one day.
Wrong, I did.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
By one day Right, one day wrong.
And you know, I mean I grew uphunting and when that nice
officer comes in the field, hewas in it to win it, man.
He was in it to win it, man, hewas in it to win it.
And you know he starts tellingme about you're hunting after.
You know, you're hunting afterhours.
And I'm looking at him likewhat are you thinking?
(14:50):
I can see, I mean, I've huntedmy entire life and this, you
know, after sunset thing.
I remember telling him well,what am I supposed to do?
Be pulling out my phonewatching the weather channel?
I mean, it was 15 minutes after, something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
it's like I didn't know that this was like this,
but the good news it all endedall right.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah it ended up great, a lot of lessons learned,
and you know honestly.
So back to that day, okay, sothe two things.
So one is again, I want to makesure you have a good time.
And I'm down off in this littledraw and I hear this shooting,
boom, boom, and I'm like, oh,it's getting into, it's gonna be
great, this is gonna be great.
(15:31):
Boom, and I remember like, okay, there's no more shooting.
I come back and I look over andyou're going back to the truck.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Oh, this was so funny well, hey, hey, in my defense,
you hunt so hard and the firstfour or five fills and you're
going.
I'm just trying to catch up andI'm literally thinking to
myself I don't think I can dothis all day.
I'm going.
We got our dogs right, we'rehaving a great time, but it's
beautiful.
So every once in a while I justsit down and go.
(16:00):
I'm tired, right, but I didn'tsee any pheasants.
So then we go into this fieldand I've got a box of shells, a
box.
I know it's a monster and you'relike, just wait, when we get
into them, it's going to beincredible.
Well, I run out of shells andthere are birds everywhere and
I'm just like you're walking thelimit limit.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
He's like, well, I got one, A box of shells, and
you got one hey.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Oh man, it's a different story today.
You've been practicing, no, butit was embarrassing because
they're hard.
Yeah, you're chasing across bythe time they get up, oh yeah,
yeah.
The other thing I rememberabout that trip is that was your
dog's last trip.
It's a cool story.
Yeah, I got a picture of youwith a frame, trigger, trigger,
and you had that dog forever andyou're like I got to take him.
(16:53):
I think this is going to be it.
It's his last big hunt and youknow what he got to hunt with my
new dog?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah, and then he made it home.
Made it home a few months later, you know, on to bigger and
better.
That's one of the things I'llalways remember.
Yeah, you know, I got a pictureof him and it's kind of not to
wax, you know, too emotional.
But if I think about how I wantto go out, I want to be Trigger
(17:19):
.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Because there's a picture of him.
He had just gone.
And, if you remember, I broughtmy new dog.
Yeah, because there's a pictureof him, he had just gone.
And, if you remember, I broughtmy new dog.
Yeah, spot, yep, spot.
And you know, trigger's got allthis experience and Spot's just
hey, where am I going to?
go.
What am I going to do?
And Trigger's just okay, letthe young guy Okay.
And he brings his bird back andI've got a picture of him
(17:40):
laying on the ground becausehe's tired and he's kind of
looking at me like hey, bud,this is it.
This is my last one.
I'm not getting any more ofthese for you.
And it was.
You know, I think everything inlife, you know whether it's the
death of a dog, change.
You know there's good and badand you have that flood of
(18:01):
memories and appreciation andthat's just.
You know.
That's just.
You know.
That's just another moment thatI think kind of is germane to
to where I'm, you know, the lastyear, frankly.
So yeah, so go to this, yeah,so just a picture.
I've got a picture of youagainst my jeep, not the muddy
picture, but the good picturelike it was staged almost, and
you know it's just.
(18:21):
When I look at that it's likepeace, accomplishment,
friendship.
It's everything that wasimportant.
At that.
It's like peace, accomplishment, friendship.
It's everything that wasimportant to me.
And over the last year I'dstare at that picture and you
know my brother, and when youhave a year to think, you start
thinking about what's important.
And so if you were to peopleask me well, what was it like?
(18:44):
What was it like?
And you know I just tell them,hey, what, what was it like?
What was it like?
And you know I just tell them,hey, this is the worst, best
experience of my life becauseyou know, was it easy?
No, you go and you say, well,what am I going to do today?
I gotta go.
I, you know I got up at five,30 and I remember my wife going.
You don't have to get up atfive, 30.
Like keep going.
She goes.
Hey, bud.
Like bud, you don't have to getup at 530.
Keep going.
No, she goes.
(19:04):
Hey, bud, like what do you haveto like?
What's it?
545?
I'm like, ah, you got to get up.
Well, what exactly do you haveto do?
And so you know, luckily, atthat period of time you know I
live in Rexburg, I live up well,used to live up so I did a lot
of things you're not supposed todo in a year, like leave a job,
sell your house.
Thank goodness Jenny didn'tdivorce me but I started taking
(19:28):
my dog.
My brother would always go withhis dog, not on hunting season,
but you know, running it,keeping it in shape and outside.
Not on hunting season, but youknow, running it, keeping in
shape and outside.
And you know what I was alwaysjealous of, that right Way
jealous, and being able to go dothat now is something I do to
this day, like like you know, ifyou said, well, how come you
got to get back?
Well, I got to go run my dogtomorrow.
(19:48):
You know it's like this specialtime, but that really gave me a
lot of time to kind of reflectand you know, run my dog and up
in the fields and see thingsI've never seen.
I had no idea we had that manyelk within it's about three
miles of my house.
I've seen herds of 50 elk.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I'm just sitting here while you're talking.
Isn't that like the mostpeaceful thing ever?
Yeah, like being in a fieldwith your dogs.
Yeah, I mean it's simple, but Ithink the clarity in nature,
there's some special bond withthe dog.
I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
It's just awesome, isn't it?
And, unlike some places, I'vehunted and thought that
trespassing was just a guideline, I actually asked for
permission, and so you know itwas great.
And you know, the other thingthat I wanted to make sure that
I that I got out there today is,you know, my dad was a huge
influence on my, on my life, andso was my mother.
(20:48):
I mean, they had such mymother's still alive, by the way
, she's the toughest personyou'll ever meet but my dad, you
know I would have a bigdecision or, most of the time,
screw up, and he'd say listen,you know, bud, you can't change
the past.
You live in the present.
All you can do is affect thefuture.
(21:09):
So what you do next matters most, and that is something that
rang through my head and rang,you know a lot, just because you
know when you're going 100miles, and you know this, you're
going 100 miles an hour.
You have these things that youwant to accomplish and, uh, I
can't tell you how many timesyou know whether telling jenny,
yeah, well, I'll get thattomorrow.
Well, I get that tomorrow.
(21:29):
Well, tomorrow never comes,yeah, and so being able to look
at what you want to do and goforward.
Really.
That saying I probablyespecially the first few months,
it just was in the back of myhead all the time and I got so
much to talk about.
How much time do we have left?
We have plenty.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
All right.
So you know, as I try to takethat, figure out what I want to
do, one of the goals andsomething that Jenny talked
about was I'm going to dosomething.
I'm going somewhere every monthLike I'm going to go, and, as
you know and a lot of othersknow, I've got this motorhome
(22:12):
and I come from a family oftruckers.
My wife's family is her fatherbuilt a large trucking
enterprise and so they all knowhow to drive and so I'm in this,
you know, 45 foot motorhome andpulling a trailer, a flat deck
trailer, with my Jeep on it.
Yeah, it's probably notsomething I've done all the time
and so you would think I wouldask for advice.
(22:33):
So I do crickets, except for mybrother-in-law, beeper.
He's like oh, yeah, yeah,you've got to take 25 over here.
By the way, I love the factthat your brother-in-law's
nickname is Beeper.
Oh, it's Beeper.
Some people know him as Beeper,but it's Beeper and he's the
only guy Like I would be okay,so the Okay.
So the first trip we went from,you know, up in Rexburg, down
(22:55):
through Moab, and Beper said no,you got to go.
Have you ever been across anyreservation?
And I'm like no, you know, I'veflown all over them and he's
like, oh yeah, this is just youknow, and he's telling me how to
go by Shiprock and make surewhen I get to Gallup, I take
over on.
You know what is that?
70?
Anyways, what is that?
(23:17):
70?
Anyways, take off, no, 40,something.
You know this highway and and Ithink this next piece that I'm
going to tell you is somethingthat really really highlighted
the last 12 months is I can dowhatever I want, right, I could,
and I'm a really pretty curiousperson.
And so we go down to Gallupcoming, we're going east, we go
through Albuquerque to gallopcoming, we're going east, we go
(23:40):
through albuquerque and one ofthe very first uh, auto
dealerships that we looked atbuying with, with mario from
teton toyota who mario is, isjust an incredible, you know,
he's an incredible individual,unbelievable was clovis, new
mexico, and so I was bound anddetermined to tell him.
I went to clovis again.
So I'm driving over to Clovis,going along, and I see the sign
Fort Sumner and the light goesoff and I'm trying to stop
(24:01):
Because you know you don't stopexactly quickly.
It's not like hitting, it's notlike, you know, in the little
Volkswagen hitting the brakesand you stop.
And so, you know, I finally getthings stopped.
She's like Fort Sumner.
Why do we got to go to FortSondheim?
I'm like that's where Billy theKid is buried.
He's everybody's hero.
And so we get turned around andwe go to the Billy the Kid
Museum and, needless to say, youmight guess we were the only
(24:22):
ones there.
But so that was our first tripand I got a really good friend
down in Midland and you know, tobe able to get up one day and
say I don't want to stay to um,you know, down to san marcos, uh
, texas, and we went a lot ofplaces and I've been a lot of
places for two hours and youknow, I don't, you know people
(24:43):
like, oh, they got.
I remember going to san marcosthe first time with a really
good friend of mine, mikestarcher.
We were looking at a project.
He's like, yeah, he's kepttalking about this great
barbecue.
And we go, look at the project.
We, you know, okay, great, Igotta go.
And he's like, well, we gottago to the barbecue.
I'm like, what, we're not gonnastop, we gotta go.
(25:03):
We got granola bars, let's go.
And at least he had granolabars and water and water why was
he?
complaining, right, we didn'thave water.
And you know, he's like like,kind of to this day, when you
talk to him, if he knows me,he's like, yeah, that's the
dirty rotten, that wouldn't stop.
But but so back to we wentsomewhere every month and you
(25:25):
know whether it was down thecoast of Oregon, which has its
own set of funny stories,whether it's I mean all over and
the thing that I worried.
And so, jenny, you know, mybest friend, partner in life the
most patient, it's a partner inlife the most patient.
It's a good thing.
She's opposite the most patientperson.
However, when it's, and she'slike, yeah, that'd be so great,
(25:45):
man, we can just go somewhere onjust wherever you know like,
and I'm like, hey, great,because I got a little hippie in
me.
People don't know that.
You know I'm fine just goingand exploring.
I got a little hippie in me.
People don't know that.
You know I'm fine just goingand exploring.
And so I start.
I think Turks and Caicos in Mayis what really highlights this,
because I am bound anddetermined.
I've never been there.
You know he's got these beaches.
(26:06):
I'm like I'm renting thisAirbnb for a month, right, and I
think she's excited.
But sometimes I don't listen,well, and so I'm looking, and
which one?
For a month?
And what's the amenities?
And you know.
So jenny has this thing.
She's like I'm up really amonth.
I'm like, so I'm negotiating,hoping to get to two weeks, and
(26:28):
then, but she's got this 10-daything.
If he's like, well, we're gonnago to hawaii for for three
weeks, I don't know three, ohboy, and you know.
So she has this 10-day limit.
And I'm thinking, what do welike?
Why, why do we?
Well, we got you know, and geez, like, what do we have to do?
(26:49):
We don't have to.
And so I've learned about the10-day rule and I'm still
working on 15 days, but we'regetting there.
But people ask all the time,you know, with Jenny, like, oh
wow, what are you guys going todo?
That's going to be, you know,because, I mean, marriage is
tough.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Well, I think you're a lot.
So I mean like let's like it'snot surprising that everyone was
worried about this, Right?
So it's just like you're actinglike everyone that knew you was
like oh, it's going to be likeshe deserves a medal, right.
So so like this was like a lotfor one person.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Well, and from the outside looking in, I I get it,
you know, I understand, but whatthe and this is the other thing
about this year has been, whatare the blessings and the real?
I was never nervous and,frankly, even if you were to ask
Jenny in a private moment alone, never to be recorded, she
would tell you the same thing.
I mean, at work I was the bossand we worked together for very,
(27:48):
you know, 17 years, 20 years,and you know, at work I was the
boss and at home she's the bossand unfortunately, unfortunately
, the last year she's beenmostly the boss, but that was
always our balance and frankly,you know, we could go for 10
days.
A 10-day thing.
I don't really get it's.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I'm gonna tell you it's not me but well, she's like
I think it is cool to watch,like she's awesome and she's
your best friend.
You bet she's your rock, she'severything to you and it's.
It's a great example of what amarriage can be and should be
and and uh, it's been, it's beencool, well, and that bond is
(28:28):
unbelievable and only there's astronger right and you know
she's, she was always a rock thehey.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Here's the schedule.
This is what you've got to do,this is what we have to do, and
it's no different than drivingthe motor home.
We're figuring out where to go.
There's this huge rainstorm Idon't remember it was out in
Oregon and it's coming down andshe's over there navigating,
like it was just what we do inlife.
You know, I'm driving like okay, thinking, and she's keeping me
on course and where we got togo.
(28:56):
And so you know, just like thatmoment that highlights our
personalities, our marriage andhow we interact, and we
literally would go for a coupleweeks and not really talk to
anybody and I don't think verymany people in life can say that
about their best friend spouse.
You know, it's just uh, it'sjust those little things that
(29:18):
have come about the last 12months that I realized, man, I
am like the luckiest guy in theworld.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Isn't that like, uh, it's been.
When you go through something,like looking at it with
gratitude and what can I takefrom this, what can I learn?
You just said how do I reflect,how do I look for the good?
It's like that living arrowsout thing, Like how do I not
make this about me and how do Imake it about what do I learn?
And how do I make you knowwhat's the future, what's was
(29:45):
really?
It's just really awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
It, uh, it is.
Reflection is very valuablebecause it gives you that second
reset to say, okay, well, whatwas what did I like, what did I
hate?
Cause it gets confusing, youknow this, you get so busy and
focused and gives you time Like,what did I really enjoy?
And you know, when I, when Iget asked about well, geez, what
was the last year really like?
(30:07):
And I I'll respond and say,have you had any?
Have you ever had anybody inyour life close to you that's
passed away?
Because it's a lot like that.
And I break it down into kind offour stages of, I think, what
people go through, even whenthey have a loved one pass away.
You know, the first part wassadness.
I mean, I was, there's no doubtabout it.
(30:28):
I was sad and you say, well,what were you sad about?
You know, the number one thingthat I was really sad about is I
had the pleasure of showing upwith about 70 people that
started out with those two thataren't there anymore.
They weren't there long.
And you know 70 people that Igenuinely love and you know I
(30:53):
would say maybe half of themloved me, but I love them and I
love the employees, and you know, that was the hard part,
because constantly I'd bewalking around and wanting to
call or you know, I used to walkaround the office.
I'd walk around the office, youknow, two or three times a week
and I'd go different routes soI could say hi to everybody and
when I left, I we have glasslike a lot of glass, and which
we have a lot of glass becauseof you, like I'm not the
(31:13):
creative guy, but I come overover here and I'm like man,
that's pretty cool.
We needed to do that.
But I wrote them all a notebecause I wanted to remember, um
, that I cared and you know it.
Uh, so that first part, loss andloss of being able to, you know
, interact with the partners.
But and then there becomes apart of you that's angry and you
(31:35):
know what?
Are you angry?
Well, I'm angry a little bitthat I don't get to see him
anymore, I don't get to interactwith the partners anymore, and
you know just um and not youknow nothing.
It's just a life of somethingevolving and you're kind of
angry.
We don't like to.
You like to change, I don'tlike to change, none of us do
right, and you're angry like I.
(31:57):
I gotta change and and then Ithink that really puts you, you
know, then this, the next, Ithink three months, I kind of
put it into three months eachand the next part is reflection.
Yeah, you know, not quite peaceyet.
That comes next.
Reflection, like okay, well,what really?
You know, relationships, well,what really was?
(32:20):
What are all the positives?
What did you really learn?
What can you take away fromthis?
You know, frankly, and also youlearn most when you do, when
you make a mistake.
So what were those mistakes?
And then I would say the lastpart around Christmas was kind
of okay, peace.
Those people are still myfriends.
(32:40):
I still get to see themoccasionally and you know they
don't get texts from me anymoreat two in the morning, but uh,
you know, it's just kind ofpeace.
Okay, now I know what I want todo going forward.
Uh, I know I don't want to workexcuse me, 70 hours a week,
that that deals over.
Uh, I promised my wife 20 to 30.
And then I remind her thatthat's average.
(33:01):
So some weeks might be 70, someweeks might be zero.
But you know kind of definingthat piece of being able to say,
look, I can make my own world,I can do my own thing, and you
know, uh, what am I going toprioritize?
What am I going to let go of?
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Isn't it?
I was just sitting herethinking about, in fact, I said
this this week to somebody andthen I realized life is long
until it's not right.
I mean, think about all thechances we have in this country
and the opportunity we have tokind of reinvent ourself, to
kind of learn, grow.
Wisdom comes from badexperiences, bad experiences
(33:39):
come from lack of wisdom, allthese things, right, you kind of
go, okay, but you can reinventyourself so many times and kind
of re-figure out okay, what canI take, what's the good that I
can take, what are the lessonslearned?
And then blaze forward to thefuture, rekindle that fire in
your belly and go again right,it's so cool that that's life
here and we can do that and youcan.
You know, and I think early on,I think one of the things I
(34:01):
said to you was like hey, you're, you're only in your fifties,
man.
I mean like you know what Imean.
I remember like you're like butit's true, right, right.
And then, but then the secondpart of it until it's not right
until it's not.
And so I was talking to one ofmy, I was talking to a really
good friend this week who justlost his mother and um, and we
were having this conversation islike it, it is long until it's
(34:24):
not, and we do have limited time, we really do right.
And I think, as you getreflective on life, and then you
think about okay, there is onlyso much of this thing and I
think guys like us probably takeit for granted.
A lot of people do take yourhealth for granted.
You take your time for granted,and it's in when you have big
events that allow you to reset,you say, okay, I do have more
(34:46):
time, I'm going to make adifference, I'm rekindling my
fire, I'm thinking about who Iwant to.
You know, have relationshipswith what is important to me,
right, right, what is important,what is important to me, and I
just love the fact that we cando that.
That's one of the bestexperiences of this little thing
we call life that you canreflect, grow, reinvent and move
(35:08):
on.
And I think that's this lastphase for you that you're
getting into.
But before you went there Ithought that is so cool.
It's a great example of of, andyou know.
The other thing I'll say islike, as we go through things,
bitterness, like you know what Imean.
It's just it's not once thatcan get you know, you know out
(35:29):
of the equation and you get backto gratitude and moving forward
.
It's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Well, when you first brought up the the age thing,
you know it my father a lot ofpeople know my father died when
I was younger.
He died about age 59 and I'mrocking and rolling on age 58.
So you know, I got that in theback of my mind and it's always
been in my mind, but it's alwaystomorrow, that's a long way.
(35:57):
Tomorrow, tomorrow, well, it'salmost here.
And so then you say, well, okay, what is that?
What's that next thing and whatdoes it really look like?
Uh, because I, you know, I, I'mcompetitive, I'm, you know,
there's a piece of my lifeprofessionally that I like to be
engaged in.
I mean, I think people don't,uh, really want to invite me to
events because I'm, like youknow, want to talk to everybody
and see of my lifeprofessionally that I like to be
engaged in.
I mean, I think people don'treally want to invite me to
events because I'm, like youknow, want to talk to everybody
(36:19):
and see how everybody's doingand got a lot of energy.
But I think of my dad and allthe things he taught me in early
age that he passed away.
And you don't really think, likewhen I there's thinking and
there's feeling, and thenthere's thinking, feeling yeah,
and so when you're you'rethinking about OK, then you feel
(36:42):
like wonder what?
I know what it felt like for meand I was early 30s.
You know what did it feel likefor him and I thought, well,
this is my last swing, not onlyprofessionally, right, but also
what if I died at 59?
What does that mean?
And that's helped me find a lotof balance.
You know, focus as far asmaking it meaningful, and
meaningful things and you know,in business do things that, uh,
(37:04):
that are more focused and matter, and you know, limited and, but
I'm excited.
You know I've had a lot of, uh,a lot of time, like you said,
to think and reflect, and youknow I'm really, really excited
about the future.
And you sit there and I can'treally, you know I wanted to
(37:26):
call you and say, hey, this iswhat, and actually I was worried
about offending you, right,because I see I didn't even
think.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
So last night at the thing.
So to be clear, like you like,you like, when is it was a year
of like right?
right, I no longer can call itwas it was a year of kind of
just pausing right, whatever youwant to call it.
And so when it ended like, andI and you know Shanna would ask
me all the time she's likewhat's Courtney gonna do?
I'm not sure.
And she was like it's beenfunny because then I and she and
(37:57):
I was excited because we kindof knew a year was coming up.
Anyway, last night at the thingbecause your new company you
named it Kerosene Capital,kerosene Capital, and you were
worried that I would like,because you didn't talk about it
and you called me a week ago.
You're like here's what I'mdoing.
It was cool, it was so fun, andlast night, watching you
(38:19):
announce your new thing andsaying, hey, here's what I'm
going to do, here's the new name, the new logo is fantastic.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
So Kerosene Capital is your new company.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Let's talk a little bit about well, first of all,
before you do that, I do want tosay something about you,
courtney.
Well, first of all, before youdo that, I do want to say
something about you, courtney.
I've again known a lot ofpeople and for me when someone
says Courtney Lyddiard, it'scapacity, that's number one,
like never seen anyone ever withcapacity.
And then it's relationships,and a lot of people say that
there's a lot of lip servicearound relationships.
(38:51):
There are.
I mean, you walk into anycompany and you look at their
wall and their values and allthat.
But those values on a wall comefrom the founder or the leader's
heart, right.
If you can get what's in yourheart and what motivates you
genuinely, authentically as you,and you get them on the wall
and you can have that becomeyour culture, then it means
(39:12):
something.
But if it's just words on awall, it doesn't mean anything.
And you look at almost anyone'svalues they got relationships
right.
But with you it's real.
It's not a word on a wall, it'snot aspiration, it is how you
live every freaking day of yourlife and it's been since the
first time I met you.
It's been forever.
So my point is a long ramblingstatement here, to get to the
(39:36):
point, but coming out of this,you have a lifetime of
relationships that are deep andmeaningful and they are
one-on-one and they are peoplethat trust and love you and know
who you are, right.
So, coming out of that, it'sgoing to be part of your future,
right, right, right, yeah,because it's the base.
(39:56):
It's the foundation of who youare is capacity and
relationships, right, right.
So it's it's cool to watch thisnew reinvention of hey, here's
the last swing at the plate,right, and what it's going to be
for you.
It's cool, I love it.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Well, it is, it's exciting.
And you know, relationships areeverything and when you have
that pause, you think constantlywell, are they going to return
my call or are they not?
And I called a joint friend ofours that had retired.
That was, you know, ran a very,very large organization.
(40:32):
And I said well, you know howis this going to go, like you
know.
And he says well, he said youthink everybody's your friend
and I'm like that was the firstmoment.
I'm like not, they're not myfriends.
I thought they were all myfriends.
And he said you know, like whenyou reach out to another leader
(40:52):
at an organization or whatever,you know, somebody maybe that
you don't go to barbecues with,but you think is your friend, he
said you know, if you, out ofthose 10 people, he said two
aren't going to call you back,I'm sorry, two aren't going to
call you back and the next sixthey're going to call you back.
It just that hour that you'reused to, it might be a week and
I'm like, oh, that's going to betough, how's that going to work
(41:14):
?
And he goes, but there's two,there's two that will text you
right back.
And so, you know, the firsttime I sent a text to one of
those.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
You're waiting to see if you were, at what percentage
I did?
Speaker 2 (41:24):
I did, and I'm looking at my phone going I sent
it Because you don't want, like, you want to know the answer,
but know, you know, like, isanything going to respond?
Or, and I'll tell you myexperience, uh, and I'm not
saying this in a boastful way,it's just to your point about
relationships, I'd send a textand I would say, yes, I had the
two, no doubt about it, but theother eight, they're still my
(41:48):
friends, that's all, and they'restill wanting to engage and
interested.
And I had, I wanted to.
After you know when, after the31st, when I thought I'm going
to reconnect and of course youknow you're not in real estate
and not needing financing rightand capital, and so I thought,
(42:09):
well, I'll call this EVP of realestate for a large bank and see
how that, you see, can I get anappointment?
Well, even, that's every back,you know.
And, boy, he texted right backand said, yeah, well, I don't
know what you're going to do, Iwant to hear how you're doing
and what's next.
And you know how does nextsurge day?
And I remember telling Jennylike, hey, he's one of the six,
(42:31):
he's one of the six, awesome.
And you know, because, like yousaid, relationships are
everything.
And maybe back to kerosene alittle bit, that event I just
really look at that event andthat is highlights so many
things.
It highlights relationships, andnot only with you know,
bringing some of those people tolittle old Idaho, from you know
(42:53):
Wisconsin, yeah, to little oldIdaho, from you know Wisconsin,
yeah, it really is therelationships between you and I,
between the employees and causeyou don't.
One thing I've learned from youis, you know, definitely you've
got the hey, what do you mean?
They say we can't do it, we cando this.
You know you've got that morethan anybody I've ever met.
(43:13):
And but really every betweenhey, well, what's this going to
be like?
And of course you're like it'sgoing to be here and I'm
thinking, well, we have to hear,maybe.
And you know you, you pushed.
And I look at the people thatattended, I look at the people
that spoke, the venue, all of it, and you know it was just
phenomenal and a lot of energy.
(43:34):
So many people came up and I, Iand have a good speaker is one
thing, because I've told peoplea lot when you attend.
Oh, speakers were great.
And in my mind I was thinkingwhen do I get the heck out of
here.
But people were genuine and Ithought about the energy coming
out of that, from all aspects ofbusiness and friendship and
(43:56):
just relationships that we'reexcited to attend, and I thought
, man, I, you know, I reallyliked that name kerosene, and
and.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
But you know, kerosene is something that you
came up with Right and it it was, yeah, it's, it's funny because
, uh, where where it's it'soriginal thing is, it was in the
ER, because in the ER you knowtons of I mean like, like it's
just hard.
And so I would always say to myteam cause I was talking about
(44:27):
this the other day like whenyou're in the emergency room,
I'm really glad that that's.
And I always liked sports andplayed little college basketball
and was always part of my life.
But then when I went intomedicine, I was attracted to
emergency medicine because it'svery team oriented.
Like you, like you have someonecome in off, you know, you go
unload them from an ambulanceand they're having a cardiac
(44:49):
arrest.
At the same time, you havesomeone in the lobby who walks
in and passes out having apulmonary embolism, and you are
working a night shift.
You've got you're, you're thedoctor and I'll tell you, every
other person, every single otherperson in that entire place has
to be on the same page with you, or or or bad things happen,
(45:10):
right.
So so you're constantly tryingto motivate people and I always
prided myself and I still runinto people.
It makes me feel a littleemotional because I saw someone
a couple of weeks ago, but, like, I always prided myself in like
the phlebotomist, the personthat came to our blood, the
x-ray technician who comes downto help you, the unit clerk that
most doctors didn't know theirnames, right, that those people
(45:35):
all mattered.
So one of my sayings I alwayshad was hey, in order to work
these night shifts, you got tohave kerosene in your veins.
I always had was hey, in orderto work these night shifts, you
got to have kerosene in yourveins.
Because it was like you have to, right, it's that fire, because
are you part of this team?
So it's just always stuck withme kerosene in your veins, right
, and what did that mean?
It means are we together?
(45:59):
Are we committed?
Do we have a combined vision?
We know where we're heading, dowe have clarity on plan of what
we're doing?
And then do we work our tailsoff together, right, and it's
just, it's kind of a greatlittle phrase, but anyway, I'm
I'm so happy that this, thatthat cause.
I know you were worried.
You're like hey are you okaywith this?
And I'm like am I okay?
It's like this honor, right?
Speaker 2 (46:17):
So I think it ties back to our friendship too, yeah
, and personality and you knowpersonality and when I look at,
so I looked up the definition isdumb, but I looked up the
definition of carrot like what'sin kerosene, what's?
Because I've always thoughtlike hot fire, yeah, yes, it
(46:38):
burns right, yeah, it doesn'tburn hot, it's not like you know
.
Uh, it's not like nitroglycerindoesn't explode and but it's
constant, yeah, and it's fueland it provides light, right,
and it means a lot.
I love the name and you know,then and this is I didn't I'm
(46:59):
not the creative guy you are,and so, as jen Jenny and I were
looking and we thought colorsand this was honestly about in
July is thinking, well, what isit?
Speaker 1 (47:08):
I didn't know any of this, until last night, by the
way, I know Like last night.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
I know, and the first time I I'm like, okay, thel, so
you know, thel's the attorney.
I'm like, well, I need to like.
So there's such a team, youknow, I just knew that I had to
tell him the name becausethere's something with the
secretary of state.
You got to like reserve thename or something, and so he's
like, you know, okay, well, I'mgoing to file.
(47:32):
And I thought, well, that's oneway, because I know Tommy likes
the name.
Somebody's going to say, oh,hey, and there's this legal
filing and it's got Phil Casper,and you're going to know, so
that doesn't happen.
So, but, but I liked the nameand even then I used the orange.
This was in July.
I've got a sign.
It's got a black background,it's got the orange and the
closer we got, you know, startthinking.
(47:54):
And then after the 31st, youknow, when I hit send on the
logo, it's got the orange andthe black.
And I didn't know you wouldhate it.
I thought there's me elementsthat you like.
You know you're like, hey, oh,oh, I don't know about this.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
We gotta so to be clear, to be clear, I have the
benefit of my life of havingmaddie ray, my son-in-law, who's
here today, who is like's notme, he's like the creative
genius, but I know what he wouldhave said hey, thanks, matt.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
Muchas gracias.
Speaker 1 (48:27):
I sent it right to him and I'm like, hey, fix this,
but the color, let's go to thecolor, because for you you had
to put orange in there and itmeant to you and it was so funny
.
It wasn't until last night.
Oh really Last night, oh reallyLast night, you pulled me out.
And it's the same thing.
When we did our rebrand, I toldMatthew I said I want Hunter
Orange there.
And he's like yeah, and I'mlike yeah, I want it to be
(48:48):
Hunter Orange, because I thinkit's pretty cool, dude.
Well, it's pretty cool that,without any communication, that
was the bond, right, that wasthe thing is.
The thing is, hey, goingforward, that means something to
us and it's fun and like westarted with kind of this, the
hunting, the experience, rightstuff, and anyway, well what
(49:10):
this is.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
When it dawned this is when one piece of it
connected was last night when wewere here and I look over and I
look up close at the period andI, you know, I did not I'm like
that's exactly, that's the samecolor, like kind of exactly the
same color.
Yeah, and so the connection, asfar as you know what kerosene
(49:34):
means, what the orange, there'sjust a lot of uh, similarities.
And know, the reason I keepbanging away at June is I didn't
cheat Like to me, I just wantthe best idea.
So you know, it wasn't the ohboy, that's a great orange, I'll
use that one.
It was more thoughtful thanthat.
And then to see that, thatsimilarity, that synergy,
(49:55):
because there's so many thingsabout us that are synergistic.
Speaker 1 (49:58):
Talk about, talk about your new company and your
vision and and where you see itgoing and how you're going to
take advantage of a life of ofrelationships in your new
venture.
You bet.
Speaker 2 (50:12):
So I think, the first founding principle, if you will
, I want to do things that Ilove with people that I love,
and now I've got the luxury Idon't have to like people that I
don't really love, you know,cause there's relationships are
at different levels, and so I'mgoing to do what I love and I'm
going to do it in the timeframethat I want, and so, um, you
(50:34):
know that, that, in all honesty,that 20, 30 hours a week is
what I'm looking at, and youknow, compared to 60, 70 before,
and just be really thoughtfuland focused and then do it with
people that I love, whetherthat's, uh, my partners.
I want to be able to call andhave that relationship and think
(50:55):
about things and be able toglean from their experience.
We can learn something fromeveryone, whether they're in a
completely different industrythat's probably who you learn
the most from and just involvesome independent people to help
with some of the decision-makingpeople that are my senior and
that I've respected forever andone of them led a very large
(51:16):
organization as a lender, andRob and I.
There were times that he toldme no and I didn't like Rob.
Well, now I want him to tell meno, because I, like Rob and you
know, involve some great people, do great projects.
Of course, yes, real estatefocused and be able to do it
with people that you know, Ireally care, love and trust.
(51:38):
You know I have the luxury ofbeing able to decide which of
those people do I want to moveforward with, and you know it's.
I can't tell you how excitingit is and energetic to be able
to do that.
And you know, because theyexist all over, you know, all
(52:01):
over the country, and really I,from my perspective, be able to
go do business with some of thebest of the best is, I think,
not only a, yes, strategicadvantage but also, you know,
from a friendship, emotional,liking, who you're dealing with,
that's that I couldn't ask foranything better, you know,
(52:25):
because I still I mean, I sit onthe board of Blue Cross.
I love that it's.
I'm not a doctor, but I'vefixed a few things, yeah, but
you know, be able to I justanyways be involved in Blue
Cross.
I can't say enough good aboutthat great company, they do
great things.
I love being a part of it.
Uh, work a little bit with the,with the state, on the, on the
(52:45):
idaho parks, and board, uh,being able to see, believe it or
not.
So when the governor firstasked me, I'm thinking uh, you
know, like I gotta tell you, gov, the campgrounds we got a
problem with campgrounds, ofcourse you know.
But then realizing who's there,and I remember telling the
governor like, hey, we got torun this deal like a business.
(53:07):
And in fact during my littleyou know, confirmation hearing,
I got maybe a little passionateand just said, look, you know,
this is a business, the statehas a business and Susan, the
director of Buxton, does aphenomenal job of trying to.
Hey, we're going to run this,we're going to have metrics,
we're going to have what'sreturned on assets and are we
(53:28):
really doing the best job forthe state as a steward?
And they're forward thinking,they're looking at joint
ventures between differentdepartments at the state, and
you know, so that's, that'sexciting.
I want to have time to give backto the state, to others and
because, let's face it, I loveto live here, you love to live
here.
I do not want to live in SouthDakota, I want to be a visitor
(53:52):
for, you know, a week or two, amonth or a year.
But but Kerosene Capital is,it's one of the things with.
You know, I never owned a shareof stock of bv, but emotionally
I owned it and you know again,just great, great company, uh,
great employees.
But now I've got a chance to toown, yeah, you know, own a
(54:16):
piece of it and own what itmeans and the brand and how it's
perceived in the community.
And and then you know what whatI own is me and and I got to
say, you know, and Jenny,jenny's had so much to do.
Believe me, you think that thelatest logo was not the best.
Speaker 1 (54:34):
I've got a million of them that she's already thrown
up on you know, matthew, matthew, you don't want version one,
don't get version one, no, buthey, well, hey, this has been,
this has been the best.
Yeah, yeah, I can't.
It's uh, the amount of energy.
One of the things that I wantedto maybe kind of end in on here
(54:55):
is, uh, the energy you bring tolife is infectious, whether
that's in a two-wheel drivetruck, going through a freaking
snow drift that we had nobusiness even trying to go
through, we made it, and then,like, literally an hour before
dawn till an hour after dusk,and then we finally get back to
(55:16):
the hotel to eat our cheesecurds, oh yeah, but, like,
whether you're hunting or inbusiness, it is, it is the most
energizing thing ever.
It is, it never stops, it'sthoughtful, it's metric based,
it's.
It's like I just, uh, I lovethe partner, I love the
partnership, I love you, I loveyou as my friend and as my
(55:38):
business partner.
It's been a wonder, wonder.
It's been a wonderful ridetogether.
And now, uh, v2 is, is you know, like I again, I just is going
to be uh, with gratitude on thepast and with absolute fire and
excitement for the future.
Speaker 2 (55:55):
And here we go I'm ready to go and you know, just
bring that energy and you've gotenergy.
And one thing that I've noticedabout you over the years is you
always, if somebody's got aproblem, uh, whatever it is, you
kind of you drop everything andI gotta this guy.
(56:15):
This guy needs my help, not notrelation, not business related.
This guy needs my help andyou're always help and you're
always willing to help them.
And that's, frankly, been a Ineeded to slow down and you know
, because I love to help peoplebut I've never seen anybody with
that and there's a lot oftakeaways from people that I've
(56:37):
met, but that is something thatjust always stood out.
And at a time in my need youknow which we don't have time to
go through when you would tellme well, there's a story here,
we got to have this test.
I'm like I don't want that testand well, I'll tell you later
and I'm glad you didn't tell meon the front end, but sorry for
another day.
But I want to make sure that.
Shout out also to all of thepeople you know who, to all of
(56:58):
the people you know who you are.
I just appreciate you to death.
I owe so many people, so muchgratitude, thank you.
Nobody does it in life on theirown and it's really the
relationships, the people behindyou and I've just blessed, and
first with Jenny and then withyou.
(57:19):
Know there's too many to name,but thank you.
Well, it's been great yeah.
Thank you for your relationship,friendship and example.
Okay, buddy, all right, we'lldo it again.
Yes, sir, thanks everybody,let's do it.
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