What Makes John Hall & Relevance a Best Place To Work: Building a Culture of Care

In this conversation, Matt Granados interviews John Hall, the CEO of a growth marketing service firm. They discuss how to grow employees, how to grow as a person, and how to give back to the community. The conversation highlights the importance of coaching from the leadership team, providing access to resources and trainings, and creating a safe and encouraging work environment. They also discuss the concept of missionary employees versus mercenaries and the value of giving and receiving honest feedback. John Hall emphasizes the importance of being genuine, showing appreciation, and following through on promises. He also shares his approach to mentorship and creating a culture where employees can be the best version of themselves both inside and outside of work. John Hall emphasizes the importance of being prepared to help others in any situation. He shares how he has developed various skill sets and built a storage area to provide assistance when needed. He also highlights the value of listening to people and finding ways to make their lives better without creating a sense of entitlement. John discusses the importance of recognizing and giving credit to others, as well as the significance of creating a culture where everyone feels supported. He also shares his approach to incorporating good deeds into business decisions and the positive impact it has on employees and the community.

 

Keywords:

employee growth, personal growth, community involvement, coaching, resources, trainings, safe work environment, feedback, missionary employees, mercenaries, mentorship, genuine, appreciation, follow through, preparation, skill sets, assistance, listening, making lives better, recognition, credit, supportive culture, incorporating good, positive impact

 

Takeaways:

• Coaching from the leadership team is important for employee growth.
• Providing access to resources, trainings, and tools helps employees improve.
• Creating a safe and encouraging work environment fosters growth and prevents fear of retaliation.
• Giving and receiving honest feedback is crucial for personal and professional development.
• Mentorship opportunities can be created by genuinely caring about employees and helping them be the best version of themselves.
• Being genuine, showing appreciation, and following through on promises are key to building trust and a positive culture. Be prepared to help others in any situation and develop the necessary skill sets.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
This we're recording live now.
We'll cut this out obviously.
but if for some reason you get this connected or I get this connected, stick tight andjust come back on or, or reload it.
Sounds good.
Let's rock.
Cool.
Let me get my screen where I can see things.

(00:29):
You got 12 pages of notes for you.
great.
I love it.
Your people went after you.
A lot of feedback.
Hopefully it's on my clothing.
I know I need to dress better, but they're just so comfortable.
It's on the, it's also on the iron fist you rule by.
Yeah, that's how I rock.
Yeah.
All right, let's start it.

(00:52):
Hey everybody.
We are excited for you to be back here with best people, best place.
I have a friend of mine, John Hall.
I am super excited to have you on, man.
I'm excited to share what your employees were saying.
John, can you do me a favor?
Just kind of introduce who you are, your company, and then we're going to get started toshare with you what your employees said about you to give you some feedback.

(01:13):
So introduce us.
Who are you, John?
Yeah, I can't wait for this one.
Like, I appreciate you have me on here and the time spent on it.
And yeah, I guess my history.
I mean, I've been involved in different companies over the years.
Got started as an entrepreneur when I was 18, got into student housing, then started acompany with Kelsey Meyer and Brian Bischor called Influence and Co.

(01:33):
We ended up being the largest creator and distributor of expert content media.
Then ended up selling that, starting a holding company.
We've got about
25 or let's say around 2025 portfolio companies.
The one today is very close to home just because these are the ones that are its relevanceand relevance is actually, you know, in our company headquarters here in Columbia,

(01:54):
Missouri, where we have a campus and these are people that I, you know, try and you know,that I see every day almost more than my wife.
So I'm really looking forward to kind of making sure that a we're on the right track andif we're not, it's okay, we'll figure it out and.
And so look forward to getting the feedback with this, but we're a growth marketingservice firm and agency.
So we've got a unique model where ultimately we're really good at organic growth.

(02:17):
So if a company wants to be known as a category leader or an industry leader, they hire usto handle their organic earned strategies like PR, thought leadership, SEO, content
strategy, anything that is naturally earning that thought leadership or industryleadership positioning and growing the organic traffic.
So they're becoming that kind of a leader in the space when people are consuming content.
So that's the jam.

(02:38):
Awesome.
Well, man, I appreciate it again.
And I was telling you for those who are just watching for the first time, when we gothrough these, these interviews, we find places that their employees are grateful for
them.
And the way we find out is we give a survey to the employees to make sure that this isn'tjust another list that people are buying to be on.
We purposely don't receive any payment for doing these interviews.

(02:59):
It's strictly just to highlight companies that are doing amazing things.
All right, John.
So there's three sections we go into.
First is going to be, how do you grow the employee?
Second is how do you grow the person?
And third, how do you give back to the community?
All three of those, you and I have talked to about personally what you do, but one of themost amazing things that I see is your people taking your philosophy on life and how

(03:20):
you've actually helped that build the culture of the company.
So one of the things that, that people say is that, you know, coaching from the leadershipteam is amazing.
It's easy and paid access to resources, trainings, tools, safe, encourage your workenvironment, no fear of retaliation or.
abuse.
That was how they described the working for you as a company.

(03:41):
When it comes to paying for people's resources and trainings and tools, how do you balancethat in your company to make sure it's worthwhile of doing, right?
From a financial perspective and make sure that the people are benefiting for whateverresources they decide to go after.
Yeah, it's funny.
I use it like that.
I have no idea what you're going to talk about.

(04:02):
So this is all transparent and off the cuff here.
But it's funny that you mentioned that one first, because when I was at my last company,some of the people that I work with today are working with that worked with me eight, 10
years ago and or whenever we were rocking that influence.
And there was there was something that a couple of them said to me when we got this thisrodeo started here this time.

(04:23):
And we basically they basically gave me feedback when I when I was there.
And we were a larger company, let's say 100.
people or so, or I don't know exactly when you put contractors, we were probably 120, 130.
But when I looked at that, I was like, when I was at that level, I wanted people, I wantedto invest in people and feel like we did that.
But there were certain times where, and I got the feedback afterwards when we startedthis, that they said, hey, we wanted a Wall Street Journal subscription.

(04:50):
And when I worked for you previously, it got turned on.
I was like, what?
I was like, that got turned on?
And they were just like, yeah.
Or when I wanted this, it was like 10 bucks a month.
And they, you know,
it got turned down, I was like, I felt like very guilty, honestly, because I was like, ifthat would have come to me as the CEO of the last company, I would have been like, yeah,
like, absolutely, it's no question because, you know, granted, yeah, would we monitor andmake sure that it was being used over the years and we go to waste?

(05:14):
But no, like, if it's like eight, 10, 20, those are the first things is that if somebodycomes to you and they feel like it's value one, ask them why and if they give you a good
reason, do it because 120 bucks, 150 bucks in the long run, it's like when you talk aboutkeeping people happy, content, it's like,
will spend you'll spend that much at one bar happy hour, if you go nuts.
And so stop doing the things that are just flashy, like, I'm gonna pay for alcohol a tonin two hours.

(05:38):
And this is me old, like, I'd be like, well, yeah, but I pay for the drinks all night onenight when in reality is that I think that the right type of missionary employees, and
when I mean missionary versus mercenary, like I want missionary employees, people who wantto be better want to be better versions of themselves want to invest in themselves, one
that takes ownership and autonomy, and we give them that autonomy.
So
I think that that's like the easy one.

(05:59):
I think the other thing is just that, you know, when we look at each employee, it's likesetting a growth plan with them where it's like, what's going to truly bring the best out
of you and also like have you the most pride, like the most pride in your work and thingslike that.
And I think just consistently, openly talking about it.
I think also not like pushing things like, well, you should be doing this.

(06:21):
You should be doing this.
Take this course.
I think that like planning that together and being a guide more than like, this is yourtraining.
We have great on the site training from the account managers, but if it's coming fromleadership, it needs to be, in my opinion, a walk together.
And we're basically saying, where are you trying to go?
Where are you trying to learn?
And also another thing, can it be real life?

(06:42):
Like where it's like, somebody is like, well, they're like, well, I could do the HubSpotcourse or this course.
I'm like, or what?
And they're like, well, like maybe a mentor.
I'm like, great.
That's real life.
I have somebody who's a content strategy at a really good place that I would love tomentor.
So I think that just being real, similar to how you look at schooling now, I want mydaughters who are 11, I take her out and she does entrepreneurial things.

(07:04):
She does things to service others.
She does things to give to the community.
I look at education as something that should never stop in that real world experience.
So sorry for that rant, but I wanted to dive into that one because it's something prettyimportant to me when it comes to education.
No, you're good.
And honestly, the next thing I was going to go into was the ministry versus mercenary,because that was talked about a lot.

(07:24):
And I've never heard that talked about in that way, but it's so true.
But one of the things that did come up, it says, it says they provide us with honestfeedback on ways we can improve and has allowed us to understand what it means to take
good feedback.
That is something that is, it ties in exactly what you're saying.
And the other thing that kept coming up was just this concept of mentorship.

(07:46):
So.
to both of these things.
How do you make sure you're giving good feedback?
Cause that's one thing I find most of the clients we work with, they don't know how to dothat, right?
It's criticism, it's not actually constructive.
It's just explaining what's wrong.
So I want to go into the feedback and then I want to understand how do you creatementorship opportunities?
Because a lot of clients come to us and ask if we can build out a mentorship program.

(08:07):
And I always kind of tell them, no, like it's more of a personality and you have to careabout the person.
It's not like a blocking and tackling type thing.
So.
Let's touch on the feedback first.
How do you give honest feedback, so honest that your employees on a survey say it's one ofthe things they like most about working with you is getting feedback.
Yeah, I like, I mean, I like your style exactly how you just framed it, where it's like,like when you do things that are so dang structured and uptight and it's like, and I like

(08:36):
what you just said, like you go, no, I don't do it.
Cause if you do that, it seems this very framed formal thing.
And what you just said, there's like really getting to know the.
person and getting to know them and what drives them and mentorship to me is not likesomething that's this fancy program.
It's legitimately understanding the human and how you bring the best out of them andbringing the best version out of them.

(08:59):
And it might not be one, it might be multiple like, hey, I have my strengths, but I alsohave weaknesses.
If you came to me for mentoring for organization, you better not listen.
So, you know, because it's like, in reality is that I'm not a strength in
I have strengths in other areas and we've all been giving these gifts.
So I think that also just the realness of it's okay to like I tried to I guarantee you Idon't know if this was said in the the feedback maybe it was but I made fun of more than

(09:26):
anybody in the organization and that's fine because I think that that humanizes me andcreates a situation where you can
Like I'm not perfect.
I'm trying to work on myself and I am the embrace feedback and it's really good to get itand thanking people for giving it to you, whether they're an intern.
like I just think you can have a real relationship if you're not truthful on what bringsthe best out in each other.

(09:51):
I think that that's an everyday life too.
And I try and promote that.
my last text was with the, I just received was from a friend this weekend where I gave himsome transparent feedback and I said, Hey, honestly, you know, you're one of my favorite
people in the world, but.
When you're around this other person, it brings out the worst in you and other people willnot want to be around you.
And I love you, but it's like, I just want to be real is that I look out for you.

(10:14):
And I think that if you saw yourself act when you're around this person, I think you'd be,you'd realize what people are seeing and, and, and you'd want to be a better version.
And he's like, and then my last text was, Hey, thanks for the weekend feedback.
That was really, he's like, I wasn't aware of that.
So it's nice that you brought to my attention.
And so, and that's one of my strongest relationships in my life.
So what I do is I try to apply those where I'm not trying to say I need to be best friendswith my employees or my teammates.

(10:39):
What I'm saying is I should give them the same respect that I give those.
And I think when you're genuine and you're willing to get in and return, those are the keythings is that if you're not genuine, like I know when I'm not genuine, when I'm putting
someone down to make myself feel better.
Well, I've been in this industry for 20 years and blah, blah, blah.
Why didn't you do this?
And this, this, I'm a godlike character, which that's not my role.

(10:59):
And so I think that simply put,
When you're trying to be genuine and you truly want to help them, and also you're willingto take feedback back in a very honorable and curious way, I think that that's what makes
the mentoring true.
So yeah, I mean, I think that that's, it's not rocket science to me.
It's, it's almost dumbing it down to simple relationship, you know, kindness and beinggenuine.

(11:23):
Here's, here's a great example, right?
So this person on it says on my first day, I got a book, which I immediately read.
about how to prioritize the important things in life and focus on essential tasks.
That set the precedent early in my work to work hard.
What we want you to be, it says, as Hall says, missionaries, not mercenaries.
I definitely needed that message and I'm a much better employee and leader and overallperson because of it.

(11:50):
So here's what I want to understand before someone even comes in, this is kind of the partof just the culture that you offer, right?
And that's why it works so well with you guys is this is just who you are.
I've been on the receiving side of your feedback the first time we hung out, right?
And it wasn't, it was loving, but it was direct and it was helpful, right?
Like, and that's what true relationships are all about.
And that's what I think you do so well.

(12:11):
My question is, is how do you let that go into the rest of the company?
Like it's one thing for you to do it in your own way of doing it.
And what you've done, which is so amazing is like, I'm hearing people say things thatyou've said to me.
Does that make sense?
Like, like you've helped permeate that.
through your company and also explain why people call you hall.
So they understand, Hey, you just like to be a little bit more relaxed, but there's twoJohns in your company, right?

(12:36):
Yeah.
One that I think that it creates informality with, me where it, to me, it's like, I liketo be very approachable, like, because I am direct as you can tell.
And it's like, you're like, wow, if it's a direct person that can like an intern can startup day one and the owner of the company can call by the last name.
like they did, you know, a friend growing up.

(12:57):
I think that it creates that.
So I do like that.
And I like to be a very approachable person because I am, I can be, I want to be genuinelydirect and I want, I always want people to know where they see it with me.
So I try and create these situations where there's some informality so it can balance thatout.
I think that if I create this very informal, I'm on a pedestal, call me Mr.
Hall.
That'd be weird.

(13:17):
I hope nobody does that, but like, it's like, if they do that, then it doesn't allow me totruly genuinely get through to them.
They're going to act a certain way.
And I'd rather them act like real to me rather than acting like I'm trying to impress theowner.
I just had one of those employees that everything she did was around impressing me.
And I'm just telling you, it's like the one way to not impress me is when you're justtrying to impress me and not being a great teammate, not being genuine to others, not

(13:42):
doing that.
Like I don't care how much of a rock star you are.
I'd rather like, I'd rather have someone who just is building up the people around themand all the people are like, I want that person on my team.
That's what I want.
I don't want the person that is going to try and impress me.
So that's why I do those things.
With the, with like the, like you gave that example of starting out and saying, you know,here's this book and you know, I just look at it is like, I do want them genuinely to be

(14:12):
better.
And I think that my way of permeating that through the company is by showing the other keypeople.
Like for example, our president Misty, it was her.
It's her birthday today.
And so I was out of town.
Everyone people knew that yesterday, but I came back early and I brought my daughters uphere and we decorated.
We went and got her flowers.

(14:33):
We got her.
She has this wine that she likes.
It's hard to get.
And so we went out on town and got that.
And so I think that for me, and there was a list of things we got a collage of the funtimes that in different things she's done in the company.
And we did that.
Now I do that.
for two reasons.
A, I'd bring my daughters and my son along to show them the same thing because I thinkthat when they see their dad doing that, they're like, you know, no matter how many

(15:02):
companies, like because I have multiple companies, it doesn't make me too busy for toshow, you know, care and thoughtfulness because that investment is worth it because Misty
shows that to others.
And what I've learned about people is that when you pick the right missionary employeesand you treat them that way as an owner, they treat that, it goes to other people.
So,
Lead by example is a key one, but also consistency and then seeing it over time thatyou're not doing this as a tactic.

(15:27):
You're not doing this as a strategy.
You're doing this as genuinely, this is the person that I want to become and I hope I am.
And then they become that.
And then when that happens and it's not a tactic, it's not a strategy, it's genuinely whothey're trying to be.
Because I do think missionary employees want to be thoughtful.
They want to bring the best out of people.
They want to do that.
So if you activate that by showing them consistently that.

(15:50):
genuine love and respect.
because these are people that had, I'm, I'm able to have the wealth that I do because ofthem.
And so I think that showing that consistently makes that filter throughout.
So that's awesome.
Hey, so can you create missionary employees or do you recruit missionary employees?
recruiting is a lot easier.
it just depends.

(16:10):
There's people that like, I don't want to, like, I can guarantee you there's a lot ofentrepreneurs that would disagree with me.
Like you can't change a tiger stripes.
but in reality, I wasn't always this way.
bingo.
And so it's like, I hope my, I hope my stripes changed because I was kind of a butt headearly on in my career.
And so I look at it as, the best thing to do is recruit or if there's some mercenary typeemployee, you know, identifying that they want to get better.

(16:41):
They just got like out of a situation that they were a mercenary amongst mercenaries andthey want to find that home.
I think that you can do that as well.
I mean, I think that like, I'm trying to think through my staff right now.
I would say most of them we recruited and that's something I actively look for.
Or I just, I would say that maybe 20 % of them are ones that I saw that and was like, youknow, I think with the right, there's one in particular that I thought was a mercenary.

(17:07):
And I was like, I think with the right connection and mentorship and me investing in themand this person investing in them, I think that we can,
make them realize this.
I was just wrong.
I felt that way about a person that was working with us about three to four months ago.
And she was really cool and fun to hang out with.

(17:27):
But the mercenary aspects were very clear.
And I thought I was like, well, with these changes, I think that and I thought that youcould so I would say that I can be wrong and I can be right with changing a mercenary to a
missionary.
And it's just the gamble you want to take.
I think that, you know, if you have a good shot and potential, I think you should givethem that shot because some of the best missionary employees were mercenaries because they

(17:51):
realized they don't want to be that way.
They realize that they're looking for a longer term home.
They're looking to be a better version of themselves so they can turn out to be amazingemployees.
But I would say if I'm being honest, I actively try and recruit missionary employees.
Yeah.
I almost feel like the mercenaries are somewhat misguided, right?
Like they've kind of become that way because of the environments they've been in and theyshow up to your guy's spot and they're like, wait,

(18:12):
And that's kind of what a lot of these responses were.
We're like after 11 years in this rough company, I showed up here and it was like, wait,there's a different way.
One of the things they said here, which is really big on what I do and what I care aboutwas they say they always follow through on what they say.
Which honestly, I would say from as a friend, you always do that.
But as a company, I find that's one of the biggest issues a lot of people make is theymake these promises.

(18:38):
And they don't do anything about it.
So how do you ensure not only you, but also your leadership when we promise something, wefollow through with it.
Yeah.
I mean, I've had to, I've had to do that several times where like, I not, I'm not joking.
I on an offhanded thing, a meeting four years ago, three years ago said in a meeting, man,if that happens, I'll take you guys to Disney world.

(18:59):
And I walked out, forgot I said it.
And, and, well, I don't, I mean, I have this,
I mean, like in reality, is that like, and anytime there's a meaningful thing, I createthese folders for the people involved so they can remember in life.
But that's us at Disney World.
Look at that.
All fun doing that so you can see it.
But that's an example where, you know, was that expensive?

(19:23):
Yeah.
I mean, could I have probably kept those employees no matter what by being like, well, Ijust set it off the cusp.
But I think that like, you know, when it comes to those things, any relationship, there'sa level of trust that you need to have with each other.
And,
I think that me personally, just the type of person I want to be is someone that, youknow, and I was raised that way.

(19:44):
My parents and my mom in particular was like, you know, if you said it and she, if I saidsomething and I didn't do it, she'd make it even if I didn't want to.
Then she kind of taught me that way.
So I was blessed to have parents that way.
But I think that even if you don't have that upbringing, I think that to me, it shows aaspect of loyalty.
And also I think that.

(20:04):
you know, when you have those values, I think it goes back to the insurance will act thatway.
If they see the owner acted that way.
And I'll give you an example.
My first job out of college, I worked for a very successful entrepreneur and he was theopposite of that stuff.
And it's like, he would say one thing, not do it.
And I saw so many people brokenhearted.
I saw so many people demotivated.

(20:27):
I saw that.
So when you, I would say that people like listeners to this is that,
learn from those, you know, moments and see how people react and how it made them feel andall that stuff.
And I remember how it made me feel when he made me like he screamed at me because I didn'trun to his private jet and get his luggage out by the time he got to the car.
Or when I had to wait till he was done with his seconds to eat until you know, I couldeat.

(20:53):
And now like I'm the last one to always eat at events on the last one I you know,typically will.
park all over the, you know, I got yelled at for being in this parking spot one time.
And so like, I call that opposite modeling is that, you know, when you see things likethat, don't not look at it, observe it, lean into it, see it and see how it made the

(21:13):
people feel.
And I call that opposite modeling is that when I'm in those moments, I say, what am Igoing to do in the future to make sure I never make someone feel the way that he made me
feel, or I saw that they made him feel.
So I think that opposite modeling is a key.
key thing I believe in is that to be the best version yourself, you need to not only modeland look at out for mentors, but also look at people that do things poorly and you, you

(21:39):
see that reaction and you see how it demotivates an opposite, do the opposite of it.
And it can be one of the biggest strengths.
And honestly, that's something that I've been blessed to have.
It's very, you know, smart, hardworking people that did some culture things pretty messedup.
That's awesome.
All right, so here's one that I love.
It says, I love that they tell me they appreciate what I'm doing and tell me when I'mdoing a good job and also give me feedback when there's something I could be doing better.

(22:05):
I'm honestly a much better parent and spouse outside of work because of what they do forme inside of work.
So when I hear these things said, and when we ask these questions, I told you there'sthree categories.
There's how do they grow you as an employee?
How do they grow you as a person?
How do they get back to the community?
No one really talked about how you grow them as employees, meaning the tactical skills.

(22:28):
And a lot of people think they can solve cultural problems by doing tactical training.
When it comes to your kind of philosophy on the tactical stuff that you all do, that youremployees need to do, I know you create this amazing culture, but do you have to train
people or do you feel if you get the best version of the person, they'll do the job youneed?
I talk about this in one of my keynotes where I tried to get away from.

(22:51):
when you're trying to change or have the best culture tactics and being like this at work,you need to do this at work, you need to do this.
If these people become and this is my own learning experience, when I'm a better husband,when I'm a better father, when I'm a better friend, I'm a better I'm better at work ever.
And so I think that like, I don't I look at these people as like, it went out to be clear,we need to set boundaries, because I can also overstep boundaries personally and be like,

(23:18):
I'll do this for you where a boss or a CEO, and that's something I have to learn as wellis that you want to be there for your people and their personal life, but you don't want
to get caught up in some drama.
You also want to have a level of respect.
And that's where formality can be good is that you do set reasonable boundaries.
But I think that if you can help someone be the best version of themselves, both insideand outside the office, that is a huge win.

(23:44):
And you have so many better culture situations.
And so I would say that yes, every time I'm looking at a situation, I'm trying to say, amI making this person be the best version of themselves, not just in this office, but
actually as a human?
And are they wanting that now granted if they don't want feedback, like I had a friendthat I mean, there's somebody who asked me, you know, dating advice and I was like, sorry,

(24:05):
you asking like, I don't want to give unsolicited and then I make sure that they'rewanting there.
Yes.
I'm like, Hey, like, honestly, I
it's helped me out of work when I do this, you know, and I make sure that I'm there for mywife here and I'm like, and I and my wife's actually been a lot cooler with supporting me
at work, when I've actually, you know, been there for her in the right moments, becauseher love language is quality time.
And so what's funny is I thought I was like better at work because I was spending moretime at work.

(24:29):
But in reality, I was actually not as good because my marriage was a little challenge.
And I shared that with them.
And I said, this is a real talk with me.
And I want you to learn from my mistakes because I you know, you're
In your late twenties, I'm turning 40 in a week or two weeks.
And I look at this and I'm like, I want to share this with you so you don't walk down thepath where I wish I would have been on a little before I got there.

(24:52):
And so, yeah, I think that that's how I look at things.
And I think that as long as you are reasonable with your boundaries, and I think you'renot doing unsolicited advice on how you know everything in the world, but you're there for
people when they need it and they have your personal experience that can help them be in abetter place.
Then yeah, I think absolutely.
And I think that that's a good thing for your culture.
So here's two different ones that kind of come together about just how you care for yourpeople.

(25:14):
This one says in quotes, like five people on the leadership team is helping a coworker geta loan for his first house.
It says calling people up, discussing best practices and helping in any way possible.
This is what I mean by these people go above and beyond just ordinary work.
Right?
So that's, that's in present tense.
Yeah, I was involved in that one.

(25:35):
So.
Again, this is what I love about you and just to see you do this, not just when you talkto friends, but just in everywhere.
This is just who you are.
But you got five other people who were following the same suit.
So that was the first thing that's really cool.
And then another one was talking about when an individual's parent passed away and whenthey passed away, you guys came in and PT it says PTO was given without any question plus

(25:59):
extra.
And then when I got back, there were flowers for us waiting.
How much of that to you?
And then how much of that is just the culture you've built and because of the cultureyou've built and the leadership you have in a team you have that they initially do it on
their own.
I think it's kind of a group.
I can't take the most of the credit there.

(26:20):
I mean, I would say maybe I sparked some things there, but like in reality, like, I mean,if you go through the leadership team or the manager, I mean, even really anybody, they're
thoughtful people.
That's something I do look for is like,
You know, I'll ask that in an interview.
It's like, Hey, when's like, like, give me an example in the last, you know, month,something you've done.
That's very thoughtful.
It doesn't have to be at work just in general.
And I want to see some of them.
People are like, by the way, I did a, you know, you know, whatever I opened the door forsomeone.

(26:45):
You're like, they didn't give that a, whatever.
I'm like, that's what you, you should try and do that.
If, if somebody's answer full, you're just a butt head if you don't, but like, I thinkthat then they're like, I did this.
And the thought that goes into it.
And so I think that I'm very lucky to, to, and to have some of those people.
So I would say that now.
In that specific example, what I'll give you is that this is a very nice, kind employee,works his butt off, and got put in a bad situation.

(27:11):
I think that the best time to show someone that you can be there for them is notvolunteering when they don't need help or just to show them that you're awesome.
It's when they truly need you.
And I do believe in that is that, it's like if you...
were in jail or something like that.
You guys hopefully you want to be you got a great character.
There could be a misunderstanding, let's say.

(27:33):
But anyway, but you know, I would drop what I was doing to go there and to end to bethere.
If you were in a bind, I would drop like, and we can have this understanding is that if Ican't get to it, because I travel, then a Tim of Misty will or somebody they know that
that that's part of our, our culture.
And so I think that like, for me, you know, I've, I've

(27:56):
like as funny as it is, and this is just me as a human, I've tried to be prepared for anysituation that if someone needs me, so I'm an ordained minister.
If a wedding goes bad, I can basically go and step in.
I have certain skillsets with first aid with anything like that where it's like, I try tolearn as much as I can so that if needed, I'm there.
We also have a storage, I built the office with a storage area underneath.

(28:20):
And when someone needs something,
I will just buy it because if it's something important, like somebody had a water thing.
And so I just immediately went out and bought all the water stuff equipment so they coulduse it.
And then I put it down in the storage.
And then if someone else, and we had another, there was another flood where somebody elseused it.
So they, they know that, I mean, this week there was an insect problem.

(28:40):
and I was like, you know, Hey, let me, you know, call my pest guy and make, you know, tryto do that.
When another employee, I have a handyman that I have a really good relationship with thatI've helped him get out of some jams.
He basically knows that if I call him for something important and something came up a fewmonths ago where an employee was having a really tough time, it was like, hey, just go to
her house, give me the bill.

(29:01):
Two employees had babies and they were struggling with, or one was like, it'd be helpfulif I didn't have to clean the house, but we paid for their cleaning for six months each.
And so I look at that as like, it's kind of like,
I don't know, it's listening to people and saying what will make their life better withoutmaking them feel entitled or owed.

(29:24):
Like it's like, I don't want people to just come up to me like, I wish I had a Mercedes,my life would be better.
I want them to know that when they are in a bind, that we have an ecosystem that will helpthem.
And it's, it's a benefit that nobody else could describe as a benefit because it'sinsurance policy over when stuff hits the fan in your life.
If the company can help you in a way that doesn't get us in trouble with discrimination orsome other thing, we will be there for you as a company, whether it's John, Misty

(29:53):
leadership, or an intern.
That's just the kind of ecosystem that we want to create.
Man.
All right.
So here's some other ones you missed out on that founder took me and my girlfriend out todinner when she got into graduate school.
So that was nice of, just these are things people said that have been done.
this one actually turned out to be my favorite.
It says super random.
I got a rock tumbler for my birthday.
but it was way too loud for my apartment.

(30:14):
I asked if I could borrow four sound panels from the room being worked on.
And the answer was, of course, literally in all caps.
I've also borrowed stud finders and hung up a clock, right?
So like everything you're talking about, and this is what's so cool is the listeners arelistening to this.
It's not just you doing things that you think are cool.
It's you're genuinely helping people with things they need.
And because of it, the stud finder is what they're talking about here on what makes yousuch a good place to work.

(30:40):
And it has seemed so little.
But it's just so intentional.
Now here's the part that I, again, the entire, this is, this is a quote, the entireleadership team here are honestly winners.
My boss, Tim is super caring and wants to always make sure everyone on the team is set upfor success.
the owners, John Hall and John Rampton are two of the kindest, most thoughtful people Iknow.

(31:02):
Misty and Emma are so on top of things.
Will is crushing it in sales and Emma B is helping forge connections for us, for us andproducing quality.
content.
Sarah is literally wearing at least 10 different hats and somehow does everything superwell.
Everyone does their part and I feel very blessed to be a part of it.
So when you hear again, being one of the founders, but also building out that leadershipteam and the fact that when we ask what's good about the company, they don't just sit

(31:30):
there and say, you know, John and John are doing amazing things.
They dive into the leadership team.
How does that...
protect your culture and when you talk to other people and hey, how did you build such agood leadership team?
How did you let that happen?
Yeah, I made some mistakes in the past.
Like my last company, I think it is at least the first three to four years of the JohnHall show.

(31:51):
Now it kind of made sense back then we were into thought leadership, personal branding andI needed to be that.
But I also think that I took credit when I shouldn't have, even if it was deserved or wasbecause of me.
I think that you, when you do that, you,
create one spotlight just on yourself.
And I think that I don't want a company where there's one spotlight on me.
I want a company where the spotlights are on different people at different times.

(32:16):
And I think that you like also other factors contribute just because I might've got likethe, it's almost like in hockey or soccer, it's like, you know, that's why they keep track
of assists, assists matter.
And I think that what I've tried to do is say, Hey, like we're all like,
you know, working together in a way where something that I did could have been because ofthis person like, hey, that she actually helped me out.

(32:41):
I just got feedback from her a week ago about how I was a butt head in that way.
And then when I, you know, did this, and you know, everything was great, it was because ofher feedback.
So she's helped me, you know, become that better version.
So my advice there is like just being open about credit and saying, and when people aredoing good around you, and they got you like pulling aside and be like, hey, by the way,
like, it was because of you, thank you.

(33:02):
or, you know, being vocal about recognition.
We're very big on personal thank you notes here.
So I write a lot of personal thank you notes.
Every single person you went that you listen on that name, right?
Or like just a second ago, they all write personal thank you notes to each other or toother employees.
And so I think that when you look at that as like recognition is one of the key thingswith building it, because once that happens, it one motivates them, makes them feel

(33:27):
empowered too.
It makes other people realize that there's rock stars besides, you know, people who.
are starting the company because I always joke around.
I'm like, just because you started the company, it doesn't mean you're the best atsomething.
It's like, and I think that's hilarious because somebody, this was like, maybe, this one,we were in our old building.
Somebody come up to me, they're like, all right, so we've done this.

(33:48):
So like we're doing this and we're doing it this way.
And I'm like, wait, why are you still doing that way?
And they're like, well, because it's the way you always done.
I'm like, I did that.
I'm like, I'm.
I got like a 17 on my reading score in ACT or ICT and you want me to design all of ourcontent processes.
I did that because nobody else was doing it.
The whole point is that we get smarter people in better positions so that the dummyfounder is not doing everything.

(34:12):
Because I'm good at like a couple things, but I'm not good at like everything.
And so I think that that's something that we just openly talk about.
You say, hey, like, you know, people are in the roles and they're in the roles becauseit's earned and they're the right people there.
And so when someone comes to me, they're like, Hey, should I be on like, Hey, why don'tyou talk to him about that?
Like, she's honestly better at this stuff.
Hey, talk to Misty.
Like she's, she's solid at that.

(34:33):
Like I could give you an answer and, and, but in reality is that she's going to be betterat that.
So it's like, I think that when you do that, it creates this, I don't go to hole foreverything.
And also, you know, let's, let's play to his strengths and not take his advice on hisweaknesses.
so, all right.
So I love your philosophy just in general on how you do your business, everything fromyour book.

(34:55):
right?
Obviously a friend, but also a fan.
When it comes to the organic philosophy of relevance, right?
And how you want people to create this organic content.
I love the organic build out of what this culture has become.
Like, and when we do this podcast, a lot of people listen because they want to know like,how do I do what John did?

(35:18):
And I know we talked about it before when people come and they asked if I could do amentor pro like if I
You can't be inauthentic, you can't inauthentically be authentic.
But how would you suggest on it?
They're like, yeah, how do I do what you did?
Where would they even start?
I just think baby step it like it's like, and I think that when these things aren't easy,like I'm not like I've made a lot of missteps in the past.

(35:41):
And there's things that even to this day, I don't handle perfectly right.
And I think that it's just like constantly.
take steps forward in the right direction and keep doing it and trying to get better andthings become more natural.
Things become more, you know, training yourself, thoughtfulness stuff.
I think that that's like the number one key is listen.
I am an extrovert, I talk too much.

(36:03):
I did since I was like five, my mom can vouch for that.
Like I talk way too much.
But like take a step back and listen and ask like, and like, what is valuable to you?
Like how can I truly be helpful?
And like, don't just let it go.
like when they're like, no, you're good.
No, like really, like what's going on?
Fine.
It's like, like if someone's it's like, I guarantee you, you gave me in the room withsomeone, I will find out what's helpful to them by asking certain things.

(36:26):
Like now if I said, Hey, man, like, what, how can I keep an eye out for you?
Or let's say, how can I help you?
You might think sales, what does he means?
You know, okay, all right.
So then I'll be like, like, well, what's the best way to keep an eye out for you?
Any challenges you're having right now that are on your mind?
Like even if I can't help at all at this moment, I still would like to know just cause soI can keep an eye on they're like, well,
You know, actually I did this, you know, this did just happen.

(36:48):
Like one, I'll just describe like Courtney is one of our employees that like, I have tolike, she's never gonna tell me like what she actually needs.
And I think that like for me, she's a kind person that also is very content, but it makesit hard to, you know, help, you know, sometimes cause I'm like wanting her to just tell me

(37:10):
so like.
I just kind of like would stay and keep asking her different things.
And then finally, like I was like, when she had the she just recently had the baby, Isaid, Hey, like, look, like, I'm looking at different comp things, anything you want me to
change or this because I want to understand what like, for example, what's important youthese days, she goes, honestly, anything that like, helps me with the baby situation, just
because it's obviously it's my first, it's hard to take in and I go, thank you for sharingthat.

(37:32):
And that's when we said, Hey, we're gonna put a new policy in place where after someonehas a baby, they get cleaning, you know, included.
She sent me a text and she was like, my God.
And she, she was just like, thank you so much.
That's really nice for you to do.
And so I would say that like, that's the first step is that you're not going to go wrong.
If you listen, you write notes down, you don't give up to him.

(37:54):
Like actually find out called value journalism, be a value journalist where you trulyidentify what's valuable to the people that you care about and you want to bring the best
out of.
And you should try and practice it, practice it with friends, practice.
No, I'm not saying that you're interrogating them.
Don't make it weird.
But like, I think that like, ultimately, the more you identify what's valuable to people,the more you can help them.

(38:17):
And I don't care what it is, if you actually help, I can play ping pong pool here, we gotminiature golf, I can do all that crazy stuff.
But I'm telling you, if I don't truly help them become the best version of themselves, orget to a, like, they're not going to turn into the people that we want around here.
And so I need to focus on like, how am I listening to them?
How am I putting the things in place to get them on that track?

(38:38):
And how am I helping them execute?
And that's hard.
I've had to really train myself.
I had to take notes.
I've had to walk around with a booklet with those notes.
I study them.
So before I go to bed, I'm like, okay, hey, who did I talk to today?
And how can I impact their lives?
And that takes time.
So it's just, now it's natural, but I would say this has been a five -year process.
So don't put pressure on yourself to change overnight.

(39:00):
Just like every year set goals and in a three to five -year span.
You can do some great things, but you'll improve along that way and you'll keep gettingbetter until it's very natural.
I think the other thing that you're so good at is you, you've gotten so good at it tosniff it out of people.
Like you said, if you came to me, my first answer will be, all right, I need some moresales.
Who can you, who can you connect me with?
Who could bring us in to their company?

(39:22):
And you could do that by making three phone calls, but that's not really what I need.
And I think a lot of times leaders take the first thing someone says, Hey, I need moremoney.
Right?
Hey, we don't need more money.
What you really need is you need your house clean and you need to help them get to that.
And I think that's amazing that you do that.
One of the things that I'd be interested in, because a lot of people I know are thinkingthis, how do you know it's worth the investment?

(39:45):
Right?
And I think one thing I love about you is I never feel when you're trying to help, there'sever an expectation of a payback.
Like ever.
Right?
Now there's a respect level that goes back and forth, but like there's some people whereit's like,
I don't know if I want to call Hall, man.
I know if I ask him for something, he's going to let me borrow the blow up, you know,event for my kid's birthday party, but then I'm going to have to do something in return,

(40:06):
which I know you probably have 10 of them at this point, right?
But in your situation, there is, there is an ROI that always comes back.
And that's what we're seeing here.
Like there's a massive return on your investment of journaling their value.
Does that ever come in your head?
And if it does, do you have to kick that out to truly serve people?

(40:27):
Yeah, so one, doing this is not a checklist.
And so if you do like, by the way, Matt needed this.
So I checked it off the box.
That's not like our friend, John Rowland is a really good friend of mine.
I love him.
And he helped me understand at a young age, because I've known him for more than 12, 13years now, that like, thoughtfulness and actually, you know, not just saying, I did that.

(40:53):
So yep, done.
That employs good.
Cause I think that when you do checklists and transactional stuff, I think it can be seen.
I think that you often handle it the wrong way.
So it's like, for example, I love combining love languages.
And what I mean by that is like, when I give a gift, I always have meaning behind it.
If it's a gift and I don't have meaning behind it, I really think through, is it the rightgift for them?

(41:16):
And what I mean meaning is something they either really need or something that they,that's, but like,
I, or something that is can add like thoughtfulness or like, that's nice.
Like I'll give an example.
When I was speaking, people would try and like get me to cover them in this.
And like, I wasn't even drinking coffee that year.
And I got like 400 gift cards of Starbucks.
And I'm like, that's a check the box.

(41:36):
You sent me a Starbucks gift card without even knowing if I like or drink coffee or go toStarbucks.
It's the dumbest thing in the world.
And like some of these gifts that I like, I'm just sent a lot of gifts.
Cause I write all over the place.
I'm sent some of the weirdest stuff that I'm like, I have zero interest in this.
This has zero interest.
This did not move.
It actually makes me respect you a little less that you didn't even do anythingthoughtful.

(41:58):
One of our bankers, I actually moved banks.
He got me like 30 pounds of burger meat and it didn't have a note with it.
And it was like, and it was like, right after he talked to me about like a guy guy andlike basically, man, women are this women this and I'm like, you dummy, like there's 80 %
of women that work with me.
and you're coming here and kind of be a little sexist person and you're a banker trying toget my money.

(42:23):
Like, like, thoughtful.
Are you being there?
If you would just shut your mouth and just didn't ever come in our building and wrote me apersonal note that said, Hey, thank you for this.
I saw this happen.
You know, really meant a lot for the community.
That would have been more than a $500 bottle or a $500 burger package thing.
And if he hears this, this is fine.
I would tell him directly.

(42:43):
It's like, why did you send me a bunch of meat after dog that you're trying to like,
think that we're back in the 80s and the ad, you know, this is a madman dude.
So like, I think that like, from my standpoint, you know, just bottom line is like, I justlook at it as is this going to make a difference to them?
I'm not doing this as a check the box.
I'm doing this to be thoughtful, genuine, enhance their life, make them better.

(43:04):
If it doesn't fall into that, I'm not doing it.
Like people will be like, yeah, you could just drop 500 bucks on this or 200 bucks.
Yes.
So like we have some budget or we have some money to do that.
But I just look at it as like, it's not going to make the difference we want.
And if it's not going to make the difference we want, like we don't.
And I see big companies do it all the time.
They throw so much crap at people, resort stuff.
just go there, do whatever you want.

(43:25):
And it's not only isn't valued, it creates an entitlement and like, the company has moneyjust to waste.
So it's like, it just, it has the opposite effect.
And so I think simply I just, it's not rocket science.
I just go, is this actually going to make a difference in their life?
Is it going to mean something?
Is it something they need?
Is it something that...
That and if it doesn't I don't do it and the reason why I don't do is because it focusedit helps me focus on what matters Because if you do something that doesn't matter then the

(43:51):
check the box thing.
man I got mad a hundred dollar Starbucks card last week So we're good for like threemonths and right, you know, that's engaging and it's like then Matt It's Matt's like
birthday the next week and I forgot to actually pay attention to it and I wasn'tthoughtful and then I missed Matt's birthday Matt's like well
Paul really nice that he sent me a random gift card that without thought, but then it wasmy birthday.
He didn't even call or notice, or I'm not saying you're thinking that, but I'm saying thatyou'll miss out on the truly helpful moments and chances for if you start doing this,

(44:19):
check the box transactional relationship thing.
Yeah.
I think what's interesting when we go into companies, we always track metrics for oursake.
Really it's telecom, but Hey, here's what we did.
Right.
Cause sometimes it's hard to see when we come in.
In your situation, what I would, what I would encourage people is don't start with thehope of an ROI, but be okay at the end, seeing what happened because you're investing in

(44:42):
your people like crazy.
I mean, and it's because you care about them, but is it worth it to the company?
And as we're seeing here, absolutely.
I mean, it is, it's, it's, it's not only related or valuable to the company, but also tothe community.
And that brings us to our third part of this is how do you all give back to your communityand do good.
And the best thing was almost every single answer.

(45:02):
was there's too many things to write out.
There's too many things to write out, right?
We do more than I've ever seen anybody do and so on and so on.
So I'm going to leave all that off of like, literally there's 10 or 15 different ones thatall have that same starting of it.
But one thing I love is it says company volunteers, both time and money, the variety ofcauses, which that's not unique.

(45:22):
All employees get to vote on causes to donate.
So they feel close or which they feel closest to.
How do you do that voting process?
Do they, do they all?
suggest things and then we vote or how does that work?
There's a program that basically I forgot we use it.
I have to ask Sarah, but you basically have like all these nonprofits and it's listed andthen basically an employee can go in there and pick which ones are important to them and

(45:49):
then whatever that's how the voting thing so they can say like these three are the onesthat I care mostly about and then we tally those and then we put a lump sum at the end and
we say and we do it proportionally.
So if somebody cares about
dogs, like a lot of people care about humane side or things like this, you know, then abig portion would be that and, or, and we just look at the votes and we just say, Hey,

(46:11):
like, this is kind of the proportion and you know, here's the amount that we're going togive each one.
So we do that.
And then also like, I think that I try to encompass, like I ask constantly what peoplecare about.
Like, so I don't know if this came up, but like we have property, like I have a realestate business where we have a late.
That's our next one.
Yeah.
You want me to share what they said about it?

(46:32):
go ahead.
That was the next one.
it says again, kind of hard to keep track of all the good things we do.
but the one thing I really love about the company is how much we do give back.
The owners own quite a few properties, including the office, the Lake house, what we callthe Villa, basically a house and employees are able to use, for those upon request.
Personally, I've used the office to host events and my aunt stayed at the Villa instead ofwith me.

(46:57):
when she was in town for a conference, because she had broken her ankle and hobbling upthe three flights of stairs in my apartment would have been a disaster.
They've also rented out these for donations and fundraisers.
They talk a lot about the space that you let people just come in and do fundraisers at thebuilding, right?
Like, hey, it's open, take it for what you want.
They talk about Como, which might be the program you were talking about, where you guysall vote and give stuff.

(47:22):
And then one of my favorite ones, where was it, was that,
Spa day.
Twice they said.
It says, it says, I feel like it would be a shame if I didn't mention that they've takenus to the spa two years in a row.
the first year I got a mani -pedi and relaxed in the grotto.
The second year I got my first massage.

(47:43):
It was such a nice treat to go away and to somewhere nice and pampered a little bit.
Personally, I haven't ever really experienced that before working here.
And I know you guys, you have a.
a mountain house you sent people to, you got a lake house you sent people to.
These are all huge investments, but they're wise investments.

(48:07):
Are any of these calculated?
I know you're a very calculated person when it comes to strategic, but do you expect, whenyou get something, do you look at it as a holistic, like, hey, here's all the ways I can
offer this to others?
Yeah.
So I look at it as, so I'm a capitalist and the definition of capitalism a lot of times islike, and I think people look at it in different ways.

(48:32):
Like for example, sometimes people are like, well, capitalism is terrible.
Well, they're talking about exploitative capitalism or corporate capitalism or the otherthings.
Those are like, I, exploitative capitalism where, you know, one person is getting rich oneverybody else in this crazy way.
Yeah, I'm not for either.
And so I look at it as,
I look at it as a part of us succeeding and wealth that I've received.

(48:57):
Now, granted, it's funny as it is, a couple of those that you said were because of my realestate, which none of the employees really are involved in that other than maybe Sarah a
little bit.
But I look at that as like they're helping us grow this ship together.
And I think that I, as a part of believing in my version of capitalism, I feel that...
I'm going to work hard.
I'm going to do these things.
And I think that people will help me get there and are on the bus and they should benefitfrom that.

(49:23):
And so the idea that I have this, you know, lake, beautiful lake and the lake property isa little different.
I actually built that when we had a small, we had a smaller accident in one of ourcompanies and I was very frustrated with Biden, Trump, vaccine, no vaccine.
I wanted to bring a, build a place where it was a, and you've been out there and you know,essentially the roles, it's no drama.

(49:44):
you know, respect each other religious views, you can always learn from each other, youknow, community feel, you know, look out for each other here, it's okay if stuff breaks,
just, you know, do what's right.
And, you know, make sure it's back in order.
So it's like, when you look at like all of those, and the last one is be grateful for, youknow, what we have together here.
And, you know, that, you know, you're having a good time at this, you know, lake retreat,now go pay it forward in someone else's life.

(50:09):
So look at that as like, overall,
You know, when I did that, the mindset was I want to enhance life surround me.
I want to bring people together.
The world's scary sometimes to me.
And I think that, you know, we're all given different gifts and I want to be a, one of mygifts, I think is bringing people together in a meaningful way and connecting them.
And, cause I think community is truly one of the best things you can do to increasesomeone's productivity, their happiness.

(50:35):
now the right like minded community, if everybody wants to be here and screw around allday at work.
Yeah, that's not gonna be great, but we have a community here that, you know, we look outfor each other as you're seeing.
So yeah, I just honestly, I've said like, we have a real estate company, we make some goodinvestments.
And there's certain times where like I built a campus here and there was a piece of itthat I left to be a condo, we call condos for a cause.

(50:58):
And it was the idea was that if you know, we knew we could make a bunch of money onAirbnb, but we knew we can also do good with it with combining employee benefits where,
you know, if you're
aunt has a broken ankle, needs a place to stay, or you're having a wedding and they can'tall stay in your house, you have that.
But then also, we support Coyote Hill, which is supporting the foster kid program where wedonate it there.

(51:22):
So I look at it as like, this is killing so many birds with one stone.
It allows me to help out employees.
It allows me to get charitable support.
And people are like, well, you get a big deduction.
I'm like, no, I don't get a deduction.
I'm just not collecting revenue.
I would be taxed on that revenue.
And so, you know, I look at win -wins.
And so, but I would say is that as a company, we have a development company and we developreal estate in different ways and there's benefits financially to that.

(51:49):
And I think that whenever you're doing that, if you can incorporate good, like I say,whenever I'm making business decisions, I'm thinking in different ways and saying, how is
this affecting the bottom line?
And I'm not going to lie to you, we have to look at the numbers first.
If you don't make money, you're screwed.
So you can't say, well, I just want to be nice to employees because
You won't make money.
So I look at this as simple as that.

(52:09):
When it comes down to it, I'm going to say when we're making decisions, how does thisaffect our employees?
How does this affect the community?
Are there things that I can include in this?
And like the development, I said, okay, can we carve out a place for this?
Yeah.
Okay.
We'll sacrifice this right now.
Okay.
But can we use it for this, this and this?

(52:32):
yeah.
Great.
This is a great business decision.
If you think that way,
then you still can succeed in business and you and you can also do good.
So I would say incorporate good into anything you can.
But also let's be honest with each other.
We still got to make money.
We still got to thrive because if you're not paying your bills, nobody's happy here.
So it's like I don't want to find it sounds so cheesy.

(52:54):
And like, are like, gosh, things are just great.
The more you focus on performance and these things, and then incorporate these things intoit, the better but don't also at the same time think that I'm saying, hey, like,
go do a real estate development and just not take income off some of the property.
So I think that I want to be real with you on that is that like, you know, you got to kindof balance that out, but be very conscious and incorporate those in.

(53:17):
And yeah, you can change.
We had one of our employees use the Lake House for a Family Retreat.
She said there's nothing you could have done, you know, that was more meaningful thandoing this.
And I even went out myself and like took her, her siblings out and her kids out on the jetski myself and spend time and.
I think that that's my way of saying you're important to us.
You're important to the company.

(53:38):
And it was a very clear message to her that I will drop what I'm doing to be there foryour family.
And I think she, like in that example, I mean, I think she cares just as much as like ourcompany as I do sometimes.
And so I think that that's how you incorporate that ownership mentality is that I'mallowing them to feel like they're an owner in the things that I have.
And so it allows them to care like an owner.

(54:02):
I love it.
I think one of the coolest things again, for those who are listening, just whateverstrategic business move you're making, try to incorporate good.
Had that be at least a question you ask your team, ask your leadership asks.
And I think you'll see a lot of things, John, that you've done are wise and financiallysuccessful.
But on top of it, what else can we do to make it even better?

(54:23):
It's almost like the cherry on top of the Sunday.
And why wouldn't you?
Yeah.
Very simple is that like we make a lot of money on our real estate development here.
And all I did was design it slightly different so that would allow nonprofits to use it.
And then I did spend an extra about $20 ,000 to create a storage area underneath where wecan have all the equipment to host nonprofit events.

(54:43):
Okay.
So $20 ,000.
A, I was able to depreciate it for tax reasons.
So there's good there.
B, I have storage in case somebody in the employee needs it.
C, in reality, I'll probably get that money back if we ever sell the business.
So it's like, financially that made sense.
And all I had to do was think,
Hey, I'm just gonna big, I'm just gonna build a bigger hole now.

(55:04):
Like that's all I did is like, I built a bigger hole so we could have basement.
And yeah, it was $20 ,000.
But like, I think that like you look at that as like, okay, did I have in three years haveI got the benefit out of helping the nonprofits helping the employees when they need it.
And then, you know, am I gonna get that money back?
Yeah.
So it's like easy decision.
I was able to help people while just slightly making a change for the good.

(55:26):
I love it, man.
That's awesome.
All right, John, how can people get a hold of you?
I know you got your book, you got your website, you got your LinkedIn stuff that honestly,I love your newsletters whenever they come out.
How can people get ahold of you if they want to follow you or connect?
I'm certainly not cool.
Too cool for school to reach out.
Like a lot of people like are surprised like how easy it like I try to be as like,approachable as I can.

(55:48):
So, I mean, I like LinkedIn.
I pay attention to that.
I think that, people like the companies like relevance is the one that we're in or is oneof the major ones we're talking about here.
So check out relevance .com and see what we're up to.
likes it amazing people.
You're not gonna see much of me on the site because I think that, you know, those leadersare great and I want them at the forefront there.
And so I think just check out relevance calendar .com we own, we own different, you know,add a G is another great company.

(56:16):
And so I would just say check out the companies that you see on my LinkedIn.
And, and if one of them can help, you can absolutely reach out to me and just say, Hey,really like what you're doing on, you know, relevance or add to your calendar.
And then likely I'll,
doing definitely respond, but I'll get you connected to the best person possible.
But if it is something for me, like speaking or something like that, then I'm happy to,you know, just reach out through my speaking site.

(56:39):
And I always respond to those directly.
Awesome.
Hey, we appreciate it, John.
I know you're a busy guy.
Thank you for your time.
Everybody.
We appreciate you listening and we'll talk to you on the next episode of best people, bestplace.
Thanks buddy.