September 20, 2025 • 46 mins
Episode Overview
In this episode, John Kitchens, Jay Kinder, and Al Stasek sit down with the powerhouse herself, Veronica Figueroa, to talk about leadership, culture, and the future of transformational events in real estate. From her groundbreaking “Build at Sea” event to her women’s leadership mastermind “Be Still Sisterhood,” Veronica shares why vulnerability, faith, and authenticity matter more than ever in business and life.
The crew also dives into the upcoming Agent to CEO event in Cleveland, why intimate events are replacing mega-conferences, and how real leaders balance vision, core values, and community to build something that lasts.
This is a candid and inspiring conversation about leading with heart, creating culture that sticks, and amplifying your mission without losing yourself along the way.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Transformational Events That Last
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Why conferences must respect attendees’ most valuable asset: their time
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How Build at Sea combined AI, prayer, personal growth, and business strategy
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Why intimate events (50–100 people) create deeper, lasting impact compared to mega conferences
Leadership & Vulnerability
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Why Veronica believes “real estate is what we do, but we are humans first”
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How sharing personal struggles creates connection and trust
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Why true leadership starts with being open, honest, and authentic
Core Values & Culture
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The difference between people who “say” they’re aligned and those who embody it
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Why core values both attract and repel—and why that’s a good thing
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How smaller, tighter communities create unshakable culture
Team Building & Vision
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How Veronica scaled her team to #1 in Florida without being in the weeds
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Why clarity of vision and grooming leaders is more powerful than control
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The role of diversity in leadership styles, faith, and experience in building stronger teams
Resources & Mentions
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Agent to CEO 2024 (Cleveland) – Limited seating, capped at 100 agents
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Moments of Impact – Book on designing events that transform lives
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The Perfect Day 2.0 Exercise – Vision & AI-powered personal transformation
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HoneyBadgerNation.com – Community, training, and resources
Final Takeaway
Events, teams, and culture are only as strong as the leaders behind them. As Veronica Figueroa reminds us, leadership isn’t about being at the front of the stage—it’s about being in the back of the room, empowering others, and amplifying the mission with clarity and authenticity.
“Real estate is what we do, but we are humans first.” – Veronica Figueroa
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Seven figure success starts whenyou start thinking like a CEO.
Welcome to the John Kitchens Coach podcastexperience as your host, John Kitchens.
Get ready to think bigger andtransform your business into
a path to lasting freedom.
What is up Honey Nation man.
Thank you guys for tuning into episode64 of one Big Fire and we've got
(00:24):
a massive fire in the house today.
The one and only Queen V. So thankfulfor you to be able to, uh, jump
in and, and hang out with us for alittle bit as we're preparing for, um,
agent to CEO in Cleveland next week.
And it's gonna be, uh, just fantasticto have you back in the room.
You joined us, um, a couple years ago.
I think it was the first yearwe brought it to Cleveland.
(00:45):
You were, you were there with us.
And, um, it was, it was really magicalhow that day and that, uh, those two days
and that event unfolded, um, you know.
Thanks to, you know, obviously the boyshere and, and you in the room and excited
to have you back with us again next week.
Honored to be here.
Excited.
(01:06):
I never thought I would say I'd be soexcited to go to Cleveland, but anytime it
has anything to do with you guys, I'm inand I, I, I remember going to Cleveland,
like, what am I doing in Cleveland?
And you guys showed me a great time.
I loved it.
Ow, I'm excited to see.
I'm excited to hug you.
I'm excited to be around.
Well, oh,
(01:27):
inspired we lag.
Oh, there we go.
Can you hear
me?
We, sorry about that.
We got you back.
Yeah, no worries.
We'll, uh, we, we, I thinkwe, uh, we caught it.
So Al you were about to chime in therewith, uh, what, uh, what V was saying.
Um, you want to kind of bring us upto speed, kind of where, where we're
(01:48):
at heading into a bit a week out from.
Agent to CEO as well.
Spectrum.
Yeah, and, and you know, um, what'sreally cool is, you know, Veronica is,
is a, you know, not only a leader, butshe's, she's an event, um, queen as well.
They put on events.
They just, we were talking behindbefore the, this event or before
(02:10):
this, uh, podcast about the event youjust, you just hosted in Puerto Rico.
Prior to that, a couple monthsago, two months ago, I was
invited to be on their ship.
They literally.
I just chartered an entire ship, andwe did an event out at SEA called
Build at Sea, which Veronica andher team was, were also involved in
facilitating and, and, um, what I wannasay about that one, I, I wasn't at
(02:34):
Puerto Ricos, I'm sure it was amazing.
I'd like to hear more about it.
Veronica, I will tell you this,one of the things that has really,
it really inspired me to go to anextra level with our agent to CEO.
On really the experience now we alwaysfocus on the experience we always have.
I, I, I think we've learned that from,from Michael Jay, you, John, when, you
(02:58):
know, started with egs and Mastermindsand it wasn't just a place where you got
a bunch of, uh, a notebook full of notes.
You came away, changed, itchanged the way you think.
They changed the way thatyou feel about yourself.
And Veronica, you've takenthat to a whole new level.
You've raised the bar in that.
And I felt that on the ship, youknow, um, obviously I wasn't, you
(03:21):
know, I, not to get too personal orwhatever, I wasn't in a great place
when I stepped onto that ship, when Igot off that ship because of, um, the
people that you surround yourself with.
I, you know, everything changed for me.
And, um, that is the level that webring to our, um, our events because
we don't want people just walking out.
We want them floating out andwant them thinking bigger than
(03:44):
they've ever thought before.
So thank you for, um, that invite.
Thank you for every, you and Tonyand, and your entire crew are amazing.
Um, and now we get to doit again, um, in Cleveland.
So, yeah, excited.
So v kind of un
unpack a little bit.
I'll tell what I'm super grateful in.
(04:07):
Sorry, a little delay there.
So I was just gonna have you kind of,kind of unpack what we were talking
about prior, prior to jumping in, um,really around kind of, you know, the
event coming out of, out of Build atSea, in, in kind of what you stepped
into in Puerto Rico, but also the,the, the leadership component with,
with the ladies and the Mastermind.
I think there's some, just somereally good nuggets in there.
(04:28):
Um, with the, um, kind ofthe be still sisterhood.
I, I would love to, for you to unpackthat a little bit because I, I just,
it's hard for a lot of folks rightnow to, to, to find that silence,
to find that stillness, right?
There're just, just constantreaction, constant chaos, and I
just love how you, you frame thatfrom a, from a be still standpoint
(04:50):
and what do we need to let go of?
If you would just mind kindof sharing and unpacking that.
I think it's really, really powerfulconcept to understand and grasp.
Oh yeah.
Can you guys hear me okay though?
Do you see a lag or are we good?
No, we're good.
Well, okay.
Um, first of all, I just wanna sayAlbi, thank you for your trust.
(05:11):
Um, when people come onthese, to these events, right?
I think we need to, we need todo better as leaders, right?
People are investing theirmoney and their time.
The most valuable thing that they have istheir time, time away from their family.
Time away from their business.
And I think the conference industryhas gotten to a point where they
have lost respect for people'smost valuable thing, which is their
(05:33):
time, their most valuable asset.
Um, and I've gotten to a point nowthat if I am going to invest my
time, I really wanna make sure I'mspending time with the right people.
And that it's impacting more thanjust, you know, something that is just
a common, you know, like industry.
Um, I would say fad.
Um, I really wanna create amemorable experience for people,
(05:55):
but not just a memory that isjust, oh my God, partied hard.
Or, you know, you knowwhat, what we used to see.
Now it's like, can I trulyimpact this person's life?
Can I make them, can I make, canplay a small part, not make them,
can I play a small part in there?
Life, whether it's personal, whetherit's helping them think different
(06:16):
with what they're doing with theirfinances, whether how they, how, how
they feel at home, um, forgiveness,um, you know, just involving, so like,
I'm on a, I'm on, I'm on a mission.
I'm gonna tell people like,stop going to conferences.
Just to go to conferences, stop justspending your money on, you know,
(06:37):
chasing the next shiny object and theFOMO of feeling like you're missing out.
And like, now my, you know, you know, theysay, um, addition by subtraction, right?
I'm looking at my calendar.
What are all the things that Ican eliminate that are no longer
moving my soul, my business forward?
And, you know.
Al, when we put together that Buildat Sea, one of the things that I knew
(06:57):
I wanted to do was be really, reallyintentional about how it flowed, right?
Everything from the morning workoutgroups for the morning prayer groups,
from the morning meetup groups, fromthe couples meetups, where it's like,
Hey, a lot of us work together with our.
Spouses, what are thestruggles we go through?
Um, you know, I don't wanna go to aconference and hear from the person
(07:18):
up on stage always talking abouthow they're just crushing numbers.
A lot of people who are crushing numbers,they're ending up divorced, they're
ending up, their souls are crushed.
Um, and I'm not saying that just becauseyou're doing great in your business
that that's happening in your life.
Some people use business to masstheir personal lives, and I've been
there, so like where I'm at now, andthis is what God put on my heart is
(07:40):
like, what if I could just impactpeople's lives in a positive manner?
Because I know what it is to feel empty.
I know what it is to not be honestwith myself, and I wanna create
an environment where we can be.
More than just business colleaguesthat I can truly impact their lives.
And Al, when you came in and you camein humble, you're someone I look up to.
And for you to even trust meand Tony to say, Hey, I can't
(08:02):
wait to spend time together.
And I think one of the things, oneof Tony and I's superpower, at one
point I looked at Sha as from a placeof shame was that we were always
vulnerable when we were struggling.
We were always vulnerable when we weregoing through challenges in our lives.
And what I thought at one pointwas a weakness I realized, um, was.
Part of my story to help peopleknow, like, look, I see you
(08:24):
and I'm a safe place for you.
If you're ever going throughsomething, I'm never gonna judge you.
I'm here to let you knowwe're human beings first.
So Al when you reached out to me andum, and said, Hey, v, I can't wait
to spend some time with you guys.
Always, you know, excitedto see you and Tony.
You guys have always been someonethat I look up to because you've
never been afraid to be open andhonest about some of the areas
(08:45):
you guys have struggled in sites.
I'll just use an example like.
You know, our marriage or my son whenhe went through rehab, you know, like
we were always open about those things.
Um, and by the way, we'vebeen shunned about that too.
Uh, but it really has given me, um, youknow, just this belief that if I could
just connect with people on a humanlevel and I can let them know, like.
(09:08):
Real estate is what we do,but we are humans first.
Right?
And, and if I could pray for you or ifI can let you know you're not alone, or
if I could let you know how we overcamecertain things, um, I hope that I
can just make an impact in your life.
So this cruise that we didhad a layer of business.
Business development infrastructure.
Like, yo, we did an implementationlab, we rolled up our sleeves.
(09:30):
Let's talk about your database.
Let's look at your database.
Let's look at your, youknow, your processes.
Where are you using AI to scale?
How are you using AI to be more human?
Um, but what was not expected werethe moments where we actually say,
by the way, we have a prayer groupin the morning, and if you'd like
to join us, it started off with.
Maybe 10 people and the last day itwas nearly half the entire conference
(09:53):
attending the prayer group, especiallyin the light of everything we've
got going on in our country, right?
We need more prayer.
I don't care what you believe in.
We need more prayer, we need moreconnection, and we need to know that we
have community regardless of what ourdifferences are and whatever we might
be going through personally, you havecommunity you can lean on, so, and.
Al you walking in and being open tojust connect with us at that level.
(10:16):
That's real leadership because peoplelook at you, you've made it, you've
built one of the largest organizations.
You are that person that we look upto, but you also are humble enough
to say like, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm herewith you in community and I too need
to grow in certain areas of my life.
And that's what, tome, true leadership is.
And from there, it's just, you know,this year I made it a point that
(10:39):
the experiences that I would create.
Would be more deeper connection,more true stories, and less about
shoving success down people'sthroat if they're broken inside.
So that is important to me.
I don't know if you guys can hear me.
I hope that it's not lagging.
Um, but I just want you guys to knowlike that is where I stand and I know
(11:01):
what it is to be number one in theworld, but I also know what it is to be
number one, but yet broken because I was.
Masking my succe.
I was masking my pain and success.
But if I can help people have abeautiful balance where you could still
be the overachiever, but like Abelwho was on that ship says, Hey man.
I document every morning whenI take my kids to school.
(11:25):
He has triplets.
If you don't know AbelGilbert, you need to know him.
He has triplets.
But it started off where the kids,'cause he has got triplets, would
fight about who was in, uh, whowas, uh, shotgun in the morning.
And because he couldn't keepup, he started documenting
who was riding shotgun, right?
And then it started, herealized these are memories.
These are memories for me and my kids.
(11:46):
These are memories that I'm documenting.
And guess what?
I won't start my day without myprayer, without my morning goal
session with my wife, and withoutdocumenting and celebrating that
I take my kids to school every
moment.
What are the littlethings that we could do?
Right?
And from him sharing that story andNick Creme coming on and teaching us
how to use AI to become more humanand to find who are who we really are.
(12:09):
And people wrote their life anthem.
As a result to learning how to tellthemselves, you know, a little bit
more positive things to themselves.
And some of you guys are usingAI just for automation or to
real, to scale your business.
Using it as our gratitude song thatwhen we wake up in the morning,
we have a song playing in our mindto remind us that we were meant to
(12:31):
do wonderful things in this life.
Right?
And some of us wrote a song toour dying mother who has cancer
and dedicated a song to them.
Some of us wrote a forgivenessletter to the person who hurt us.
And it's, it's a healing.
It it, it was healing.
And now we have a. We have a playlistthat those of us who bonded on that
(12:51):
ship, we know each other's life mission.
We could hold each other accountable.
Now we can say, Hey, how areyou doing on this area of your
life that you were struggling?
Because we were able to write upwhat I would consider, and, and al
you, you tell me if I'm wrong, someof them were Grammy award-winning
worthy songs that I would say I wouldlisten to that as a playlist so that.
(13:13):
Chip, that cruise inspired meto stop playing small when I
have the biggest responsibility.
When people trust me with theirmost valuable asset, which is their
time, time away from their family,and that I have the one opportunity
to make an impact in their life.
And that is what be still sisalso where, where that came from.
(13:37):
And that is something sacred.
We locked ourselves in a room,uh, for three days and, and just.
Got real honest about where we'replaying small in life, in our families,
in our faith, um, and, and, and in ourbusiness and who we surround ourselves
with, what are the toxic things that weallow in our mind that are affecting our
(13:58):
businesses, infecting our relationships,infecting our families, um, and, and,
and declaring that we have permissionto have accountability in our circle.
Yeah.
And, um, that's what that's about.
Yeah, it is.
Y you're, you're muted, Al. Um,
oh, sorry about that.
John.
I, I, I, I wish you were on the ship for,you can, you know, kind of ex experience
(14:22):
this, but the good news is, John, we'regonna be duplicating that at agent
to CEO in about a week and two days.
So,
yeah.
Um, and I know John, you know, you,you've been really, you know, the,
the, the, the heartbeat facilitatorof this event for so many years and.
I appreciate your flexibility in allowingus to be water, if you will, and kind
of like allow it to retransform into.
(14:45):
So, two things I wanted to say.
First of all, you know, you had mentionedevents, big events versus small events.
Our first experience, at leastmine anyway, John was with,
with the Mastermind, the mm-hmm.
The Kinder Reese Mastermind wasa small event, three a year.
It was in really cool places.
It reminds me a lot of what we're doingwith Build A little bit, but just a, it
(15:09):
is a diff it's definitely a differentflow to it, um, from an event standpoint.
Mm-hmm.
But the size, the intimacy,the connections that happen,
that's not gonna happen.
At an event with five,six, 7,000 people at it.
Mm-hmm.
It happens with say, 50 to a hundred tops.
That's why we stoppedselling tickets at a hundred.
(15:30):
For agents, A CEO, because we want theroom small, we want the room intimate.
We want those connections.
So I wanted to just ask you guys,if you're seeing it, like, I'm
seeing this feels like a movement.
It feels like I,
I'm not
away from large events.
What I am seeing is a lot moresmaller, more compact, more
(15:53):
intimate events happening.
Uh, you know, from the regional,the regional rallies are a
little, a little bit bigger.
I wouldn't put that into that category.
Um, they're great, but that magicain't happening like it is at these
small, like the small builds, right?
Where, where these relationshipsand it's not just a relationship
(16:13):
like, Hey, I got to know Veronica.
Hey, I got to know John J Kinder, uh,John Kitchens, it's, they connect.
And
the last thing that I wannashare was the song thing.
So, you know.
That was something I had no idea wasgonna happen by the way, and, and, and
nor if, if you would've even told methat that was gonna be the outcome,
(16:35):
I wouldn't have, still wouldn't havegotten the whole impact of how deep
and, and connected that made everybody.
It wasn't just for me.
I made three songs on theplane on the way back.
I literally listened to'em sometimes twice a day.
And it still impacts me everysingle morning before the gym.
That's what I'm pumping into my brainand my subconscious is, is what I'm
(16:58):
facilitating in my own life fiveyears out, where I want it to be
and, and what I want it to look like.
Also, what I don't want it to look like.
I would've never, you know, likeeven got it, if you would've said,
Hey, we're gonna go on this ship.
There's gonna be lots of goodspeakers, and Nick Krems gonna
come up to talk about AI and you'regonna walk out with a song or two.
(17:18):
Like until, until we, we live this, whichwe're about to with agent to ceo, um, it's
not gonna have the, the luster in it, butI'm excited for everybody who's gonna be
there, um, you know, to experience that.
And, and, and what you saidv was it connected everybody?
That was something that I didn'treally kind of think about.
I mean, of course I knew we wereconnected, but the songs, how
(17:41):
everyone was sharing their songs.
Very intimate things, you know, in the,in these songs it's 'cause it's not
just where you wanna be in the next fiveyears that we call that the perfect day.
We're, we're recoiling it.
Hopefully Nick Rem doesn't mind it.
You know.
Perfect Day was a Frank Kernexercise we've been doing for years.
(18:02):
And John and, and Kinder told me aboutit a long time ago, but this is 2.0.
This is the perfect day.
Frank Kern's perfect day on steroids.
And, and it, and it goes beyondwhere, where, where the, where he
left off, where he's kinda laid thefoundation this picks up and, and it's
just the, the sky's the limit on it.
So
(18:22):
yeah, it, it, you know, 'cause, you know.
Perfect day just pulls that coreidentity, who you are at your core,
and just creates a level of awareness.
And now once you have that level ofawareness, then you have power, right?
You have choice, you can dosomething about it or not.
Whereas the power of use utilizing AIas kind of that thought partner to help
you navigate and, and pull things out ofyou faster to me is, is, is the magic?
(18:46):
Because now that brings it to life, right?
And then it puts it into.
Positive reinforcement in the form of,of music and song to where now you're,
you're, you know, you're hearing the, thereinforcement and so important, right?
What we hear starts to play the taperecorder in the back of the mind.
So being able to, to fill with, youknow, the, the, the stuff that's gonna
(19:08):
serve us instead of, you know, justwhatever noise and junk that that goes in.
But there's obviously, um, al what youwere saying, but, but even with uv, right?
So looking back over.
You know, all the years and all theevents and everything that we've
done, you know, we, we kind of set thestage and, and a lot of things unfold.
Like you said, the prayergroups just became bigger.
(19:30):
Like we didn't reallylike intend that to be.
But there's a great book, um, and I pulledit up real quick 'cause I don't know if
you remember it, but it's called Momentsof Impact and it's about designing.
And it, and, and obviouslythere's some, some design and some
intent, there's some structure.
There's like certain seat, certainpeople next to certain people just
(19:53):
so you can find differences and,and where things are in common.
So there's, there's alittle bit of, of design.
But the magic happens to, toyour point, when you can come in
and just be vulnerable, right?
And you can just be transparentand you can just let that go.
And al to your point, thatdoesn't happen in massive rooms.
(20:13):
That's where the power of the tribe comesin when you get the smaller, intimate to
where you can really connect and buildthe trust fast versus in those big rooms.
And, and so I'm, uh, you know.
Obviously agent to ceo, a littlebias is kind of one of all time
favorite events throughout all themasterminds and even Kitchen table.
But it's, um, it, it really is becauseit takes 'em on a journey like v
(20:36):
like you were talking about, right?
From a business standpoint.
It takes 'em on a flow and a journey,and that's why we end with leadership and
that's why we end with self-leadershipbecause I just don't believe you
can coach and lead another humanuntil you can lead yourself first.
And v you know, first rule ofleadership is lead by example
and, you know, be the example.
And that's, I, I, I'm really excited forwhat we have in store and for next week.
(21:00):
Yeah.
Um, I, I think it's important whatyou just mentioned about, you know,
sometimes you don't know the wholestructure or you have a plan and
the plan kind of shifts, right?
Um, these ladies actually, who Iinvited to this personal, um, intimate
setting, actually, I decide I, it wasput on my heart while I was in Italy.
This year, um, I've traveledmore than what I ever imagined.
(21:20):
Um, Jay will be like, where you at, girl?
You know?
Uh, but that was actually by design.
Um, I wanted to see ifI had a real business.
I wanted to see if I had a real teamand I needed to step production team
in a way that, um, allowed me to scale.
Um, and, and, and, you know,I, I'm conflicted with the team
(21:41):
situation sometimes because, um,you know, I'm at a point where if.
You know, I love the platform that wehave at exp and I could spend all my
time right just doing that and, and,you know, I could say, that's it.
I'm sunsetting the team.
Right?
That could be, that could be.
That's it.
I'm, uh, um, you know, and there's noego in that, but I, I feel like God
is saying I'm not done yet with that.
(22:02):
But it needs to look, itneeds to look different.
And, um, this year I put my teamto the test even after having ran
a team and it nearly imploding, um,a few years back thinking I had.
The right formula and I outsourcedthe heart too soon, and I went
too deep into systems that forgotabout the soul of the team and the
(22:24):
soul, the essence of who we are.
And I had to go back, you know,and, and come back in and, you know.
Make sure the vision was clear.
But this year I have a remarkable,like, I mean, I'm just so excited
about the future of this team andwhat I've been able to, what I would
say the proof of concept, right?
I don't need to be in the weeds everyday, but I can still cast the vision
(22:46):
and I can lead great leaders in placeand I can groom those leaders up and as
long as they know the old, the overallvision, they can be a part of it.
So this year I traveled a lot, um, fora lot of different reasons, um, and.
My team is more profitable.
This year we've been number one, Jay.
(23:07):
As much as we try to avoid it,it just keeps on happening.
Number six months in a row, um, inthe state of Florida for exp and
probably trending about nine months.
Out of the nine months, uh,seven of the nine months.
So right now, leadingnumber one in, in the state.
Um, and it is because the vision is clear.
It is because I have very goodleaders that I'm coaching up.
(23:29):
I'm helping lead, and I put peopletogether intentionally, John, even
though it didn't make sense to them.
I said, you guys are gonnahave to figure it out.
You're gonna have tolearn to work together.
It's not meant for you guys to alwayshave the same, you know, leadership style.
You have to mesh.
And we forgot to putthis community together.
And in business, I've done it.
(23:51):
And in this group this weekendthat I brought together in my mind,
when God put them on my heart, Iwas like, they don't make sense.
Some of them don't know each other.
And I was being very obedientand saying like, but it's meant.
This is, this is what it's meant to be.
I brought a group of women togetherand I said, here's what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna bring you guys together.
Some of you guys are gonna fall off,and whoever ends up being in the room,
(24:11):
it's because you were meant to be there.
Some are gonna commit butaren't really going to show up.
And it's exactly how it happened.
And then once in the room, what was funny,John, was the amount of, um, diversity of.
Leadership styles.
And beliefs and Right.
And I'm a, I'm a big believer indiversity of mindset, diversity of
ideas, and even levels of leadership.
(24:35):
And what was interesting was I was.
I'm walking in my faith andI'm unapologetic about that.
Um, and these women were indifferent levels of their journey
in leadership and also faith.
And what I'm so proud of is, atthe end, the bond that came out.
And even we admit like, oh, atthe beginning we weren't sure
how we were gonna mesh together.
(24:56):
But it was intention of whowas in the room, who sat in
the room, who sat next to who.
Yep.
And you don't know each other, but Ibelieve there's gonna be some magic here.
Mm-hmm.
When you can just learn to,I would say, appreciate.
The diversity of leadershipstyles and people's journey.
And it just gets me excited becauseI believe I am a really, I know
(25:20):
what my God-given talent is.
Connection connect, being aconnector and assembling teams.
That is my God-given talent.
Like, I don't know, maybe in a differentlife I wanted to be a baseball coach, you
know who, you know, like I would've likepicked, you know, like players to win
championships and that is what I wanna doin this lifetime is bring people together.
(25:41):
And make an impact.
And even when they never imagined,like, you two need to meet, something is
telling me, you two will like hit it off.
Something's gonna happen here.
There's magic here.
And for me, I just, I live for thosemoments, so I can't wait to be in the
room for agent to CEO because I knowI'm gonna meet people that I can perhaps
connect with and vibe with and, and, andsomething beautiful is gonna spark and,
(26:03):
um, or be reinforced with people who Ibelieve are in my world for a reason.
Yeah.
Love it.
I I love that you know, it, it's thewhole plus minus and equal concept
and you, you get into to rooms andyou're like, well, I wanna be, I
wanna be, you know, the smallest.
But sometimes you get into rooms andyou're like, okay, I'm kind of biggest
(26:23):
in this discipline of life, but I couldalways grow in these other disciplines,
so I'm gonna be open to, to receiveand, and listen for what I can learn.
And it could help me inanother equity of my life.
Right?
And, and so I think that'sjust an important reminder.
And what you were saying there,that was where my mind was going.
I was like, plus, minus, and equals.
(26:44):
Right?
There's, there's somebody that'sa little bit further ahead
that can pour into somebody.
There's somebody that's just kind ofat the bottom looking up for, for, to,
you know, somebody to pour into them.
And then there's that running mate, right?
Like.
I got you.
B we're gonna, I'm gonna,I'm gonna text you every day.
I want you to text me every day.
We're gonna hold each otheraccountable and gonna do this thing.
So it's, it's so good, um, towhat you just said right there.
Um, you, you know, we can always learnsomething right from someone in, in
(27:07):
some area of our life at any given time.
Hey, quick break before we move on.
If you've ever wished you could cloneyourself to handle all the behind
the scenes stuff in your business,I've got the next best thing.
Coach kitchens.ai is your 24 7 AIpowered real estate business assistant.
It's built for agents who wanna stopguessing and start executing faster.
(27:29):
Check it out@coachkitchens.aiand see how it can plug right
into your business today.
All right.
Back to the episode.
You know what that reminded me ofwhat, what v just talked about?
Yeah.
Exciting times.
Um, Jay, it kind of remindedme of two things actually.
(27:50):
The diversity of leadership.
And when you, when you said that, thequestion that entered into my mind was,
okay, is it healthy to have different.
Um, styles of leadership.
I think it, I think it is.
But, but what binds everyone together?
And it reminded me of NAEA and, um,man, I, when I used to just come visit
(28:14):
you guys as, as a first, it was kindof like a client, but more, more so,
more when I, when I became one of yourcoaches and man, there were a lot,
there was a lot of diversity goingon in there, you know, with, with
different personalities, different um.
Different leadership styles forsure, but there was one bond
(28:35):
that bonded everyone together.
It was their core values, saiddifferently, it's their beliefs.
And you had mentioned faith and when,when you can get, I, I think that you
can have all the diversity you want, butif you don't have a, an agreement on a
set of beliefs that are non-negotiable.
Yep.
You're gonna have a train wreck on yourhands, especially with the diversity
(28:57):
of different, you know, personalities.
Right?
Oh my God, Jay, I, I'd like your inputon that, man, because, you know, you all
assembled a pretty amazing team of misfitsand I, I mean it, but it was amazing.
Like it worked.
But yeah, man, it was, um, now
too, right?
Yeah, it was, it was, it was verychoreographed and very intentional.
(29:19):
Um, almost to the point that I didn'teven really understand that, that it
was gonna work, how it worked, right?
Like the, you know, the, we justgot so good at hiring the wrong
people, that we got really goodat hiring the right people.
Yes,
you have, you kind of have to go through.
You know, I could tell stories on peoplethat you know, that are the wrong fit.
(29:42):
That you know, when you're my, likemy, the hair on my arm is standing
up right now when I think about it.
Like some of these people thatdidn't share the same core
values of, of that you do.
And it's how we behave thatthis, how this company was built.
And you know, when you start integratingthe whole, you don't even, the hiring
process doesn't begin until two people sitin the room and ask core value directed
(30:05):
questions around those core values.
They, it doesn't matterwhat the resume says.
If they don't match the corevalues, they don't move forward.
And, and, you know, I saw that happenand, you know, and then, you know, you
go around the system and try to hiresomebody and bring 'em in and, and it's
like you, I mean, it'll kill the culture.
Like the, you know, it's like, it'sunbelievable how the wrong, and,
(30:25):
and when you got somebody on yourteam that vouches for that person.
And then they're, you know, they'rea day or two later working and doing
something and they're like, makingexcuse and they're like pulling 'em
aside and be like, listen, motherfucker,I put my neck on the line for you.
Mm-hmm.
Where you're like, we don't make excuseslike the, the, you know, the, the
what people will do to protect that isincredible and make sure that they'll
(30:49):
help somebody to, to, to no end to makesure that they're successful because.
You know, that's the valuesthat, that we, that they live by.
And, and it, it wasn't something Icontrolled, it was something that they
controlled the, the team controlled it.
And it was, it was fascinating to me.
And, you know, y'all have heard thisstory before, but Mike and I both, you
(31:10):
know, Megan, who was running everything,and she was, you know, at the, at the,
you know, the point of contact forme and Mike, it was me and Mike, co.
CEO, which we eventually.
You know, split, divide and conquer.
But Megan was our direct personand she led everyone else,
and she was the main leader.
And all these things I've been sayingto Megan for years and years and years
and like, um, and then she quit, right?
And, and there was a wholeleadership lesson and all that.
(31:32):
But, um, the, the thing that wasfascinating is we called Clay Mask, our
mentor, and we're like, what do we do?
And he is like, you gottameet with all of 'em.
And we're like, oh, wegotta meet with all of them.
Like, we were scared to do it because Mikeand I were out in the field doing things.
I didn't even know everybody's name.
And I sat down.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I started sitting inthose meetings with each individual
person and they were all sayingthe shit I say all the time.
(31:52):
And I was like, this is unbelievable.
Like.
Like the, it, it was, it, theyliterally had been being led by
Megan who was led by us and she wasleading them the same way we led her.
And it was such a great evidenceof leadership and, and the absence
of when someone leaves, then theyleave a place better than, than.
What, when they, when they got there, thatwas, that was what we were experiencing
(32:14):
was like, she's literally been leadingpeople as good as, as they could possibly
be led, you know, lead to the core values.
Um, and it was fascinating to see,and it was like we, we all knew
each other and we didn't, you know?
Um, but that was a, it was something I wasscared of, but then it was the, probably
the most, the best example of a greatleader that I had ever seen at the time.
(32:36):
And so.
You know that, but thatculture was real, man.
I mean, it was, it was, I mean, we foughtfor each one of the words on each one of
those core values, on those posters onthe wall, and we lived them day and night
and, and that was, that was who we were.
And there wasn't anybody that wasallowed in that didn't have 'em.
And even to the point, like one ofone of ours was get shit done, right?
It just get shit done.
(32:56):
Like, you know, one wanna make noexcuses, a hundred zero, get shit done.
And then we would go in and belike, should it be, get stuff done?
No, maybe this shit's not the right word.
No motherfucker, it's get shit done.
Like if you are gonna be offendedby us saying get shit done, then you
probably ain't gonna fit in around here.
Like, and that was true.
It was true.
You weren't gonna make it
by that.
It was just a word.
Right?
And so, um, it was fascinating.
(33:16):
It, it was really, um,it, it was a work of art.
Uh, when I look back and thinkabout it, and when you're in
it, you're just, it's amazing.
It, it feels so good to be aroundpeople that are, that, that behave,
that, that behave the same way.
And are willing to go, you know,do the extra, go the extra mile.
Make, you know, add value,make a difference, Al always
(33:36):
making the right decision.
Do the right thing, you know, you know,you try to integrate these things into
your life and you try to teach your kidsand, and, but when you got a work family
that, that, that vibes like that man.
It, it is, uh, it is, itis a noticeable thing.
And we learned all this by going toInfusionsoft and Clay Mask and, you
know, they, you know, we watcheda company bigger than us build
that culture that they had, and welearned from that and we went and,
(34:00):
and, and built it because of that.
But, but it was, it's, it'snot something you see in every
company walk through the doors.
That's for.
I think that's what I, I, when I thinkof the honey badgers, right, and I
think of those who are like the realhadai hard honey badger ambassadors.
Like Jay and I always kind ofjust talk about, he is like, dude,
(34:23):
that's such a honey badger move.
You know?
Like, it, it's, it's just, again, you justknow what it means to be a honey badger.
And I think we're, we'rejust scrappy, you know?
We're just like, like.
Just willing to dowhatever it takes, right?
Mm-hmm.
And I think that DNA is verysimilar to when you're building a
(34:44):
team or you're building a mission,or you're building a movement.
You just know who has that DNA.
And there are people who saythey are a honey badger, and then
there's others who are, they embody.
Mm-hmm.
Being a honey badger.
And I think you guys have justdone a great job, and I think
even like people that are.
You know, again, building teams, right?
If you can just build something with thattype of mission and, and, and you just,
(35:08):
that DNA, that people just embody it.
And I think my team that I'm superproud of is, like, we have, I have
some core leaders that they just,they live and breathe the big team.
You know, like they, they're like13, 14, 15 years in with me, six
years in with me, eight years.
And I'm like, why do you.
You know, like, why do you stay?
(35:29):
And I, I'll ask those questionslike, you know, like, tell me.
And they're like, theylike, we're 15 for life.
You know, like we, we, we really,and then the acronym of it, right?
People are like, sometimeslike, it's just Figueroa short.
Like now there is actually ameaning to it, you know, it's like
family inspiration and growth.
Like, how are we, you know, like,how are we impacting you and what
(35:50):
are we doing to inspire each otherto keep on going and growing?
And I, and I mean likewe have people who have.
You know, like, um, stop drinking.
We have people who have, you know,like, finally get out, got out of there.
Um.
BS excuses and, and like they're growingand they're finally reading books.
They're finally like, you know,accepting that there is an evolution
(36:12):
of of, of, you know, who we'resupposed to be as leaders and from
who they became to who they are today.
I'm like, that's what we represent.
Yeah.
Meaning
inspiring them and, um, I just think youguys have done a great job, especially
with Honey Badgers of, you know, again, inNAEA and watching your guys' brotherhood.
The bond that you guys have is aprime example of at least what I know
(36:35):
I want, like who's my running mate?
I got some running mates that I'mlike, these are my die hard people.
Right.
And, and, and you guys are like.
People will be like Ken Reese,Michael Reese, Al J, you know,
Al Jay, Michael Kitchens.
You know, like that.
That's something that's really beautifuland I think you guys have really set
an example and what I love, Jay, we'vetalked about on the golf course, like
(36:56):
tell me when it wasn't good, right?
Mm-hmm.
Tell me about
how to overcome that, because alot of times people think things
are supposed to be perfect, butyou know what I respect is when.
Things aren't right andyou grow through that.
'cause you can't tell me that therehas never been a disagreement.
Oh yeah.
You can tell me that there hasn't beena breakup, that there hasn't been a
(37:18):
moment that you had to pick up thephone and say, Hey, how do we fix this?
Yeah.
See, that to me is what I want more of.
Yeah.
The values.
The values are way moreto learn from way better.
Yeah.
We, we call it perfectly imperfect.
Mm-hmm.
I love that.
And, and, um, I actually have aquestion for all three of you guys.
So you, you were talking about yourteam, Veronica, and how you're like,
(37:41):
maybe, maybe it's time to move onfrom it, but I have a bigger vision.
God's call me.
We talk about core values and, andif I'm just gonna be completely
transparent, when I first heard about'em through coaching re's coaching, I
just thought it was just something I hadto knock out and do and put this thing,
put 'em up on my wall, which I did.
We tried to live like, but, but I'll,I'm gonna be honest, I didn't get it.
(38:04):
The part I did, I mean, I did,I understood what they were.
I understood that we had to have them.
I didn't understand how they hadto, like, we're we literally,
that had to be the foundation.
It was the footers
mm-hmm.
Of the rest.
And without it, you're leaving maybemillions on the table with regard to,
to money, you know, I mean, when it,when it rolls up to profitability.
(38:27):
'cause you just saidyou're the most profitable.
I bet you have the most alignmentwith your beliefs and values.
Here's my question though.
It is not that difficult if youhave a team of, let's say 10, to
get everybody in alignment, right?
I mean, it's just, just 10 people.
That's, it's not too difficult, right?
So.
When you're thinking about core values,your core beliefs, your dos and don'ts,
(38:51):
your non-negotiables, and you'rescaling to what we were, we were kind of
talking in our private chat about whatis the next level after the mega team.
What is, what is that,what's that gonna look like?
What's it gonna be called?
And we shot around theword, um, enterprise, but
whatever it's gonna be called.
Right?
What happens when you have ahundred people on your team,
(39:12):
200 people on your team?
300. We have 14,000 peoplein our Honey Badger Nation
family in the Facebook group.
And we struggle.
You know, I, I couldn't tellyou if every single one of those
people were aligned with ourvalues or not, to be really honest.
Um, I doubt all of, you know, like that.
(39:34):
That's what I wanna solve for next week.
Hmm.
What do y'all have to say about that?
Hmm.
I'll just throw,
I'll just throw you the curve ball.
Go, dude.
I mean, it's impossible.
I mean, it it not at the levelthat we're talking about, right?
Like, I think all you can do is youcan put the tuning fork out there.
For the people that are and, and, and, andyou know, you can, you can, you know, you
(39:58):
know, you said something Veronica that I,I recognized, seen, and it was probably
the most valuable thing that I experiencedin my life up, up to this point.
Even I would say, uh, it, it really islike watching a human being that you're
leading, become a better version ofthemselves is probably one of the most
(40:18):
rewarding things you can do in your life.
Like it really is.
And, and seeing who that, that you know,that you, you people living up to, what
they're capable of is, is fascinate.
It's a fascinating thing.
And then you get to play arole in it is, is a blessing.
Um, you know, so I don't know that,that from a, from 14,000 strong, I
think we can have a tuning fork to, tothe, you know, and you, we, the ones
(40:42):
that vibrate at this level, you know,we all kind of, you know, you, you,
you know, you, you, you can feel it.
And, and I think that's all you can do.
I don't think that we, we don'thave the kind of process of weeding
out and who we let in and who wedon't, and we don't control it.
And so there's certainly gonna bepeople that are not all of the same core
values, but I think all you can do isyou can speak, you know, you can speak
(41:03):
the, you know, the, put the signal out.
You know, that's all you can really do.
The, the, the reminder to,to your question Al, is, you
know, the, the core values.
They attract, but they also repel.
And to Jay's point, the more that youcan tune that fork and amplify what
the, what the values are, what, whatdoes Honey Badger Nation stand for?
(41:26):
What's the mission?
What are our values?
What are our shoulds and should nots thatwill, that will send, you know, through.
The big thing is, you know, youlook for those that that wanna lean
in and you help 'em lean in more.
And that's where the leaders, creatingleaders, creating leaders, you know,
that was one of our values at NAEA aswell, so you're just pouring into them.
(41:47):
But the reminder is, is that they'regoing to, you want it to repel
the people as well, and that's whyfewer, fewer core values is better.
But the rule of thumb is that.
People have to be more than 50%.
So if you have, if you have five corevalues, they have to match three.
Non-negotiable.
They have to match, they don't haveto match the other two, but there's
(42:10):
three that they will d they will dieon the, on the sword with you with.
And that's really what you're looking for.
But um, yeah, when you get tothat big, you're definitely
not gonna have all alignment.
Tim, you can probably get, if youhave five core values, you can
probably get 10 people that haveall the same five core values.
But you get to like V size, youget to, you know where Kyle's at.
(42:30):
You get to, you know, those, the,the bigger organizations, man, you're
just, you, you want to tune thatfork out there as much as you can.
And then you got your, you know, you gotyour writer or Dyers, right, like V was
talking about, and they're gonna care.
Continue to press that messageas well, and you'll repel
and that's what you wanna do.
All right, I'm going on Amazon.
I'm, give me a tuning fork.
(42:53):
Listen, I
live this every day, uh, with my team, youknow, and again, even people are like, you
know, how do you run your team and you'renot physically there every single day?
Um, but they feel my heart.
They know the vision.
Every Monday, no matter where I'mat, I, I host my morning huddle
mindset, motivational Mondays.
Um, I, I don't, I don't.
(43:13):
I don't, I do not waver.
That has to happen.
And in light of everything that'sgoing on right now, and we've been,
we've been kicking off our, our morningMonday huddle for about a couple months
with prayer and um, you know, we hadsomeone the other day say like, ah,
kind of makes me feel uncomfortable.
And I said, I respect that.
(43:33):
And, you know, let's talk through that.
And, um, especially this week wheneverything obviously was going on in the
world, I had more people reach out to me.
And safety.
Thank you for not wavering and for, youknow, being a, the, you know, the way I
am when it comes to being open and honestand and vulnerable, um, as a leader.
And, you know, I think it's,it's Jay you said, right?
(43:56):
It's impossible right.
To, to to get everybody to be, youknow, aligned with our core values.
But, you know, I think what's important.
If you could just be true to who weare, like what this mission stands for,
like people are gonna, either, they'regonna armor up, they're gonna rally
you, and they're gonna make it stronger.
And it's true.
People will either feel uncomfortable,they're like, ah, I'm out.
(44:16):
But that's okay, because you're soprinciple based and you're so clear.
And by the way, you know, companiesand, and, and, and, and teams and
visions, they go through seasons, right?
Like Jay says, the valleys right.
And it's okay right now inthis moment to say, Hey.
We we're reigniting this fire.
We, we are so excited.
Who are the honey badgeswe don't know about?
(44:37):
Like, who do we need to celebrate?
Like who do we, who dowe need to connect with?
Where are the next ta?
Where's the next, um, uh, what tosay wave of leaders, like right
now, I'll tell you what I'm onmission on, and I've said it loud.
When I got these ladies together, I waslike, I am no longer the leader that wants
to lead from the front of the room and bethe one on stage and the one celebrated.
It actually like, kind of irks my light.
(44:58):
My soul right now, I now knowI'm following my mission to be
in the back of the room and bringtalent to the front of the room.
I'm no longer just Veronica Figueroa.
I know I'm a platform to discover leaders.
I'm a platform to helpshine the light on leaders.
So I need to go out there and find thoseleaders and understand their story and
(45:19):
celebrate them and help them scale.
Or an idea inside of them that theydon't even know how to execute on.
And then from there, I'm gonna help them.
That is my God-given talent right now.
So like, but I'm getting louderand louder and louder about that.
Why?
How am I doing it?
Guess what?
Interviewing more women,highlighting more leaders.
So like, that's my missionstatement right now.
(45:42):
And, um, I'm just gonna getlouder on it and amplify it.
So I just think we justneed to, how do you do it?
You amplify.
Your mission and, and,and, and the vision.
Even if at one point you were silentabout it, get loud, something get has to
reawaken and we gotta get louder together.
Let's get I love it.
(46:02):
I love it.
That's awesome.
I gotta jump
guys.
Thank you.
Hey, have a great day.
Awesome.
Well, all right fellas.
Well, I appreciate you guys and,uh, if you guys haven't got your.
We got see a V eight tickets left,eight tickets, and it's sold out.
So it'll be gone by the end of the week.
(46:23):
Awesome.
All right, fellas.
Um, appreciate y'all, appreciateeverybody tuning in and, uh,
see you guys in Cleveland.
See you.
Thanks for tuning in.
If you're done guessing and ready tolead like a real CEO with a custom
strategy, real accountability andproven systems, check out my executive
one-on-one coaching@johnkitchens.coach.
(46:44):
Fill out the application and bookyour one-on-one call with me.
Be sure to hit follow soyou never miss an episode.
Catch you on the next one.
Seven figure success starts whenyou start thinking like a CEO.
Welcome to the John Kitchens Coach podcastexperience as your host, John Kitchens.
Get ready to think bigger andtransform your business into
a path to lasting freedom.
What is up Honey Nation man.
Thank you guys for tuning into episode64 of one Big Fire and we've got
(00:24):
a massive fire in the house today.
The one and only Queen V. So thankfulfor you to be able to, uh, jump
in and, and hang out with us for alittle bit as we're preparing for, um,
agent to CEO in Cleveland next week.
And it's gonna be, uh, just fantasticto have you back in the room.
You joined us, um, a couple years ago.
I think it was the first yearwe brought it to Cleveland.
(00:45):
You were, you were there with us.
And, um, it was, it was really magicalhow that day and that, uh, those two days
and that event unfolded, um, you know.
Thanks to, you know, obviously the boyshere and, and you in the room and excited
to have you back with us again next week.
Honored to be here.
Excited.
(01:06):
I never thought I would say I'd be soexcited to go to Cleveland, but anytime it
has anything to do with you guys, I'm inand I, I, I remember going to Cleveland,
like, what am I doing in Cleveland?
And you guys showed me a great time.
I loved it.
Ow, I'm excited to see.
I'm excited to hug you.
I'm excited to be around.
Well, oh,
(01:27):
inspired we lag.
Oh, there we go.
Can you hear
me?
We, sorry about that.
We got you back.
Yeah, no worries.
We'll, uh, we, we, I thinkwe, uh, we caught it.
So Al you were about to chime in therewith, uh, what, uh, what V was saying.
Um, you want to kind of bring us upto speed, kind of where, where we're
(01:48):
at heading into a bit a week out from.
Agent to CEO as well.
Spectrum.
Yeah, and, and you know, um, what'sreally cool is, you know, Veronica is,
is a, you know, not only a leader, butshe's, she's an event, um, queen as well.
They put on events.
They just, we were talking behindbefore the, this event or before
(02:10):
this, uh, podcast about the event youjust, you just hosted in Puerto Rico.
Prior to that, a couple monthsago, two months ago, I was
invited to be on their ship.
They literally.
I just chartered an entire ship, andwe did an event out at SEA called
Build at Sea, which Veronica andher team was, were also involved in
facilitating and, and, um, what I wannasay about that one, I, I wasn't at
(02:34):
Puerto Ricos, I'm sure it was amazing.
I'd like to hear more about it.
Veronica, I will tell you this,one of the things that has really,
it really inspired me to go to anextra level with our agent to CEO.
On really the experience now we alwaysfocus on the experience we always have.
I, I, I think we've learned that from,from Michael Jay, you, John, when, you
(02:58):
know, started with egs and Mastermindsand it wasn't just a place where you got
a bunch of, uh, a notebook full of notes.
You came away, changed, itchanged the way you think.
They changed the way thatyou feel about yourself.
And Veronica, you've takenthat to a whole new level.
You've raised the bar in that.
And I felt that on the ship, youknow, um, obviously I wasn't, you
(03:21):
know, I, not to get too personal orwhatever, I wasn't in a great place
when I stepped onto that ship, when Igot off that ship because of, um, the
people that you surround yourself with.
I, you know, everything changed for me.
And, um, that is the level that webring to our, um, our events because
we don't want people just walking out.
We want them floating out andwant them thinking bigger than
(03:44):
they've ever thought before.
So thank you for, um, that invite.
Thank you for every, you and Tonyand, and your entire crew are amazing.
Um, and now we get to doit again, um, in Cleveland.
So, yeah, excited.
So v kind of un
unpack a little bit.
I'll tell what I'm super grateful in.
(04:07):
Sorry, a little delay there.
So I was just gonna have you kind of,kind of unpack what we were talking
about prior, prior to jumping in, um,really around kind of, you know, the
event coming out of, out of Build atSea, in, in kind of what you stepped
into in Puerto Rico, but also the,the, the leadership component with,
with the ladies and the Mastermind.
I think there's some, just somereally good nuggets in there.
(04:28):
Um, with the, um, kind ofthe be still sisterhood.
I, I would love to, for you to unpackthat a little bit because I, I just,
it's hard for a lot of folks rightnow to, to, to find that silence,
to find that stillness, right?
There're just, just constantreaction, constant chaos, and I
just love how you, you frame thatfrom a, from a be still standpoint
(04:50):
and what do we need to let go of?
If you would just mind kindof sharing and unpacking that.
I think it's really, really powerfulconcept to understand and grasp.
Oh yeah.
Can you guys hear me okay though?
Do you see a lag or are we good?
No, we're good.
Well, okay.
Um, first of all, I just wanna sayAlbi, thank you for your trust.
(05:11):
Um, when people come onthese, to these events, right?
I think we need to, we need todo better as leaders, right?
People are investing theirmoney and their time.
The most valuable thing that they have istheir time, time away from their family.
Time away from their business.
And I think the conference industryhas gotten to a point where they
have lost respect for people'smost valuable thing, which is their
(05:33):
time, their most valuable asset.
Um, and I've gotten to a point nowthat if I am going to invest my
time, I really wanna make sure I'mspending time with the right people.
And that it's impacting more thanjust, you know, something that is just
a common, you know, like industry.
Um, I would say fad.
Um, I really wanna create amemorable experience for people,
(05:55):
but not just a memory that isjust, oh my God, partied hard.
Or, you know, you knowwhat, what we used to see.
Now it's like, can I trulyimpact this person's life?
Can I make them, can I make, canplay a small part, not make them,
can I play a small part in there?
Life, whether it's personal, whetherit's helping them think different
(06:16):
with what they're doing with theirfinances, whether how they, how, how
they feel at home, um, forgiveness,um, you know, just involving, so like,
I'm on a, I'm on, I'm on a mission.
I'm gonna tell people like,stop going to conferences.
Just to go to conferences, stop justspending your money on, you know,
(06:37):
chasing the next shiny object and theFOMO of feeling like you're missing out.
And like, now my, you know, you know, theysay, um, addition by subtraction, right?
I'm looking at my calendar.
What are all the things that Ican eliminate that are no longer
moving my soul, my business forward?
And, you know.
Al, when we put together that Buildat Sea, one of the things that I knew
(06:57):
I wanted to do was be really, reallyintentional about how it flowed, right?
Everything from the morning workoutgroups for the morning prayer groups,
from the morning meetup groups, fromthe couples meetups, where it's like,
Hey, a lot of us work together with our.
Spouses, what are thestruggles we go through?
Um, you know, I don't wanna go to aconference and hear from the person
(07:18):
up on stage always talking abouthow they're just crushing numbers.
A lot of people who are crushing numbers,they're ending up divorced, they're
ending up, their souls are crushed.
Um, and I'm not saying that just becauseyou're doing great in your business
that that's happening in your life.
Some people use business to masstheir personal lives, and I've been
there, so like where I'm at now, andthis is what God put on my heart is
(07:40):
like, what if I could just impactpeople's lives in a positive manner?
Because I know what it is to feel empty.
I know what it is to not be honestwith myself, and I wanna create
an environment where we can be.
More than just business colleaguesthat I can truly impact their lives.
And Al, when you came in and you camein humble, you're someone I look up to.
And for you to even trust meand Tony to say, Hey, I can't
(08:02):
wait to spend time together.
And I think one of the things, oneof Tony and I's superpower, at one
point I looked at Sha as from a placeof shame was that we were always
vulnerable when we were struggling.
We were always vulnerable when we weregoing through challenges in our lives.
And what I thought at one pointwas a weakness I realized, um, was.
Part of my story to help peopleknow, like, look, I see you
(08:24):
and I'm a safe place for you.
If you're ever going throughsomething, I'm never gonna judge you.
I'm here to let you knowwe're human beings first.
So Al when you reached out to me andum, and said, Hey, v, I can't wait
to spend some time with you guys.
Always, you know, excitedto see you and Tony.
You guys have always been someonethat I look up to because you've
never been afraid to be open andhonest about some of the areas
(08:45):
you guys have struggled in sites.
I'll just use an example like.
You know, our marriage or my son whenhe went through rehab, you know, like
we were always open about those things.
Um, and by the way, we'vebeen shunned about that too.
Uh, but it really has given me, um, youknow, just this belief that if I could
just connect with people on a humanlevel and I can let them know, like.
(09:08):
Real estate is what we do,but we are humans first.
Right?
And, and if I could pray for you or ifI can let you know you're not alone, or
if I could let you know how we overcamecertain things, um, I hope that I
can just make an impact in your life.
So this cruise that we didhad a layer of business.
Business development infrastructure.
Like, yo, we did an implementationlab, we rolled up our sleeves.
(09:30):
Let's talk about your database.
Let's look at your database.
Let's look at your, youknow, your processes.
Where are you using AI to scale?
How are you using AI to be more human?
Um, but what was not expected werethe moments where we actually say,
by the way, we have a prayer groupin the morning, and if you'd like
to join us, it started off with.
Maybe 10 people and the last day itwas nearly half the entire conference
(09:53):
attending the prayer group, especiallyin the light of everything we've
got going on in our country, right?
We need more prayer.
I don't care what you believe in.
We need more prayer, we need moreconnection, and we need to know that we
have community regardless of what ourdifferences are and whatever we might
be going through personally, you havecommunity you can lean on, so, and.
Al you walking in and being open tojust connect with us at that level.
(10:16):
That's real leadership because peoplelook at you, you've made it, you've
built one of the largest organizations.
You are that person that we look upto, but you also are humble enough
to say like, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm herewith you in community and I too need
to grow in certain areas of my life.
And that's what, tome, true leadership is.
And from there, it's just, you know,this year I made it a point that
(10:39):
the experiences that I would create.
Would be more deeper connection,more true stories, and less about
shoving success down people'sthroat if they're broken inside.
So that is important to me.
I don't know if you guys can hear me.
I hope that it's not lagging.
Um, but I just want you guys to knowlike that is where I stand and I know
(11:01):
what it is to be number one in theworld, but I also know what it is to be
number one, but yet broken because I was.
Masking my succe.
I was masking my pain and success.
But if I can help people have abeautiful balance where you could still
be the overachiever, but like Abelwho was on that ship says, Hey man.
I document every morning whenI take my kids to school.
(11:25):
He has triplets.
If you don't know AbelGilbert, you need to know him.
He has triplets.
But it started off where the kids,'cause he has got triplets, would
fight about who was in, uh, whowas, uh, shotgun in the morning.
And because he couldn't keepup, he started documenting
who was riding shotgun, right?
And then it started, herealized these are memories.
These are memories for me and my kids.
(11:46):
These are memories that I'm documenting.
And guess what?
I won't start my day without myprayer, without my morning goal
session with my wife, and withoutdocumenting and celebrating that
I take my kids to school every
moment.
What are the littlethings that we could do?
Right?
And from him sharing that story andNick Creme coming on and teaching us
how to use AI to become more humanand to find who are who we really are.
(12:09):
And people wrote their life anthem.
As a result to learning how to tellthemselves, you know, a little bit
more positive things to themselves.
And some of you guys are usingAI just for automation or to
real, to scale your business.
Using it as our gratitude song thatwhen we wake up in the morning,
we have a song playing in our mindto remind us that we were meant to
(12:31):
do wonderful things in this life.
Right?
And some of us wrote a song toour dying mother who has cancer
and dedicated a song to them.
Some of us wrote a forgivenessletter to the person who hurt us.
And it's, it's a healing.
It it, it was healing.
And now we have a. We have a playlistthat those of us who bonded on that
(12:51):
ship, we know each other's life mission.
We could hold each other accountable.
Now we can say, Hey, how areyou doing on this area of your
life that you were struggling?
Because we were able to write upwhat I would consider, and, and al
you, you tell me if I'm wrong, someof them were Grammy award-winning
worthy songs that I would say I wouldlisten to that as a playlist so that.
(13:13):
Chip, that cruise inspired meto stop playing small when I
have the biggest responsibility.
When people trust me with theirmost valuable asset, which is their
time, time away from their family,and that I have the one opportunity
to make an impact in their life.
And that is what be still sisalso where, where that came from.
(13:37):
And that is something sacred.
We locked ourselves in a room,uh, for three days and, and just.
Got real honest about where we'replaying small in life, in our families,
in our faith, um, and, and, and in ourbusiness and who we surround ourselves
with, what are the toxic things that weallow in our mind that are affecting our
(13:58):
businesses, infecting our relationships,infecting our families, um, and, and,
and declaring that we have permissionto have accountability in our circle.
Yeah.
And, um, that's what that's about.
Yeah, it is.
Y you're, you're muted, Al. Um,
oh, sorry about that.
John.
I, I, I, I wish you were on the ship for,you can, you know, kind of ex experience
(14:22):
this, but the good news is, John, we'regonna be duplicating that at agent
to CEO in about a week and two days.
So,
yeah.
Um, and I know John, you know, you,you've been really, you know, the,
the, the, the heartbeat facilitatorof this event for so many years and.
I appreciate your flexibility in allowingus to be water, if you will, and kind
of like allow it to retransform into.
(14:45):
So, two things I wanted to say.
First of all, you know, you had mentionedevents, big events versus small events.
Our first experience, at leastmine anyway, John was with,
with the Mastermind, the mm-hmm.
The Kinder Reese Mastermind wasa small event, three a year.
It was in really cool places.
It reminds me a lot of what we're doingwith Build A little bit, but just a, it
(15:09):
is a diff it's definitely a differentflow to it, um, from an event standpoint.
Mm-hmm.
But the size, the intimacy,the connections that happen,
that's not gonna happen.
At an event with five,six, 7,000 people at it.
Mm-hmm.
It happens with say, 50 to a hundred tops.
That's why we stoppedselling tickets at a hundred.
(15:30):
For agents, A CEO, because we want theroom small, we want the room intimate.
We want those connections.
So I wanted to just ask you guys,if you're seeing it, like, I'm
seeing this feels like a movement.
It feels like I,
I'm not
away from large events.
What I am seeing is a lot moresmaller, more compact, more
(15:53):
intimate events happening.
Uh, you know, from the regional,the regional rallies are a
little, a little bit bigger.
I wouldn't put that into that category.
Um, they're great, but that magicain't happening like it is at these
small, like the small builds, right?
Where, where these relationshipsand it's not just a relationship
(16:13):
like, Hey, I got to know Veronica.
Hey, I got to know John J Kinder, uh,John Kitchens, it's, they connect.
And
the last thing that I wannashare was the song thing.
So, you know.
That was something I had no idea wasgonna happen by the way, and, and, and
nor if, if you would've even told methat that was gonna be the outcome,
(16:35):
I wouldn't have, still wouldn't havegotten the whole impact of how deep
and, and connected that made everybody.
It wasn't just for me.
I made three songs on theplane on the way back.
I literally listened to'em sometimes twice a day.
And it still impacts me everysingle morning before the gym.
That's what I'm pumping into my brainand my subconscious is, is what I'm
(16:58):
facilitating in my own life fiveyears out, where I want it to be
and, and what I want it to look like.
Also, what I don't want it to look like.
I would've never, you know, likeeven got it, if you would've said,
Hey, we're gonna go on this ship.
There's gonna be lots of goodspeakers, and Nick Krems gonna
come up to talk about AI and you'regonna walk out with a song or two.
(17:18):
Like until, until we, we live this, whichwe're about to with agent to ceo, um, it's
not gonna have the, the luster in it, butI'm excited for everybody who's gonna be
there, um, you know, to experience that.
And, and, and what you saidv was it connected everybody?
That was something that I didn'treally kind of think about.
I mean, of course I knew we wereconnected, but the songs, how
(17:41):
everyone was sharing their songs.
Very intimate things, you know, in the,in these songs it's 'cause it's not
just where you wanna be in the next fiveyears that we call that the perfect day.
We're, we're recoiling it.
Hopefully Nick Rem doesn't mind it.
You know.
Perfect Day was a Frank Kernexercise we've been doing for years.
(18:02):
And John and, and Kinder told me aboutit a long time ago, but this is 2.0.
This is the perfect day.
Frank Kern's perfect day on steroids.
And, and it, and it goes beyondwhere, where, where the, where he
left off, where he's kinda laid thefoundation this picks up and, and it's
just the, the sky's the limit on it.
So
(18:22):
yeah, it, it, you know, 'cause, you know.
Perfect day just pulls that coreidentity, who you are at your core,
and just creates a level of awareness.
And now once you have that level ofawareness, then you have power, right?
You have choice, you can dosomething about it or not.
Whereas the power of use utilizing AIas kind of that thought partner to help
you navigate and, and pull things out ofyou faster to me is, is, is the magic?
(18:46):
Because now that brings it to life, right?
And then it puts it into.
Positive reinforcement in the form of,of music and song to where now you're,
you're, you know, you're hearing the, thereinforcement and so important, right?
What we hear starts to play the taperecorder in the back of the mind.
So being able to, to fill with, youknow, the, the, the stuff that's gonna
(19:08):
serve us instead of, you know, justwhatever noise and junk that that goes in.
But there's obviously, um, al what youwere saying, but, but even with uv, right?
So looking back over.
You know, all the years and all theevents and everything that we've
done, you know, we, we kind of set thestage and, and a lot of things unfold.
Like you said, the prayergroups just became bigger.
(19:30):
Like we didn't reallylike intend that to be.
But there's a great book, um, and I pulledit up real quick 'cause I don't know if
you remember it, but it's called Momentsof Impact and it's about designing.
And it, and, and obviouslythere's some, some design and some
intent, there's some structure.
There's like certain seat, certainpeople next to certain people just
(19:53):
so you can find differences and,and where things are in common.
So there's, there's alittle bit of, of design.
But the magic happens to, toyour point, when you can come in
and just be vulnerable, right?
And you can just be transparentand you can just let that go.
And al to your point, thatdoesn't happen in massive rooms.
(20:13):
That's where the power of the tribe comesin when you get the smaller, intimate to
where you can really connect and buildthe trust fast versus in those big rooms.
And, and so I'm, uh, you know.
Obviously agent to ceo, a littlebias is kind of one of all time
favorite events throughout all themasterminds and even Kitchen table.
But it's, um, it, it really is becauseit takes 'em on a journey like v
(20:36):
like you were talking about, right?
From a business standpoint.
It takes 'em on a flow and a journey,and that's why we end with leadership and
that's why we end with self-leadershipbecause I just don't believe you
can coach and lead another humanuntil you can lead yourself first.
And v you know, first rule ofleadership is lead by example
and, you know, be the example.
And that's, I, I, I'm really excited forwhat we have in store and for next week.
(21:00):
Yeah.
Um, I, I think it's important whatyou just mentioned about, you know,
sometimes you don't know the wholestructure or you have a plan and
the plan kind of shifts, right?
Um, these ladies actually, who Iinvited to this personal, um, intimate
setting, actually, I decide I, it wasput on my heart while I was in Italy.
This year, um, I've traveledmore than what I ever imagined.
(21:20):
Um, Jay will be like, where you at, girl?
You know?
Uh, but that was actually by design.
Um, I wanted to see ifI had a real business.
I wanted to see if I had a real teamand I needed to step production team
in a way that, um, allowed me to scale.
Um, and, and, and, you know,I, I'm conflicted with the team
(21:41):
situation sometimes because, um,you know, I'm at a point where if.
You know, I love the platform that wehave at exp and I could spend all my
time right just doing that and, and,you know, I could say, that's it.
I'm sunsetting the team.
Right?
That could be, that could be.
That's it.
I'm, uh, um, you know, and there's noego in that, but I, I feel like God
is saying I'm not done yet with that.
(22:02):
But it needs to look, itneeds to look different.
And, um, this year I put my teamto the test even after having ran
a team and it nearly imploding, um,a few years back thinking I had.
The right formula and I outsourcedthe heart too soon, and I went
too deep into systems that forgotabout the soul of the team and the
(22:24):
soul, the essence of who we are.
And I had to go back, you know,and, and come back in and, you know.
Make sure the vision was clear.
But this year I have a remarkable,like, I mean, I'm just so excited
about the future of this team andwhat I've been able to, what I would
say the proof of concept, right?
I don't need to be in the weeds everyday, but I can still cast the vision
(22:46):
and I can lead great leaders in placeand I can groom those leaders up and as
long as they know the old, the overallvision, they can be a part of it.
So this year I traveled a lot, um, fora lot of different reasons, um, and.
My team is more profitable.
This year we've been number one, Jay.
(23:07):
As much as we try to avoid it,it just keeps on happening.
Number six months in a row, um, inthe state of Florida for exp and
probably trending about nine months.
Out of the nine months, uh,seven of the nine months.
So right now, leadingnumber one in, in the state.
Um, and it is because the vision is clear.
It is because I have very goodleaders that I'm coaching up.
(23:29):
I'm helping lead, and I put peopletogether intentionally, John, even
though it didn't make sense to them.
I said, you guys are gonnahave to figure it out.
You're gonna have tolearn to work together.
It's not meant for you guys to alwayshave the same, you know, leadership style.
You have to mesh.
And we forgot to putthis community together.
And in business, I've done it.
(23:51):
And in this group this weekendthat I brought together in my mind,
when God put them on my heart, Iwas like, they don't make sense.
Some of them don't know each other.
And I was being very obedientand saying like, but it's meant.
This is, this is what it's meant to be.
I brought a group of women togetherand I said, here's what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna bring you guys together.
Some of you guys are gonna fall off,and whoever ends up being in the room,
(24:11):
it's because you were meant to be there.
Some are gonna commit butaren't really going to show up.
And it's exactly how it happened.
And then once in the room, what was funny,John, was the amount of, um, diversity of.
Leadership styles.
And beliefs and Right.
And I'm a, I'm a big believer indiversity of mindset, diversity of
ideas, and even levels of leadership.
(24:35):
And what was interesting was I was.
I'm walking in my faith andI'm unapologetic about that.
Um, and these women were indifferent levels of their journey
in leadership and also faith.
And what I'm so proud of is, atthe end, the bond that came out.
And even we admit like, oh, atthe beginning we weren't sure
how we were gonna mesh together.
(24:56):
But it was intention of whowas in the room, who sat in
the room, who sat next to who.
Yep.
And you don't know each other, but Ibelieve there's gonna be some magic here.
Mm-hmm.
When you can just learn to,I would say, appreciate.
The diversity of leadershipstyles and people's journey.
And it just gets me excited becauseI believe I am a really, I know
(25:20):
what my God-given talent is.
Connection connect, being aconnector and assembling teams.
That is my God-given talent.
Like, I don't know, maybe in a differentlife I wanted to be a baseball coach, you
know who, you know, like I would've likepicked, you know, like players to win
championships and that is what I wanna doin this lifetime is bring people together.
(25:41):
And make an impact.
And even when they never imagined,like, you two need to meet, something is
telling me, you two will like hit it off.
Something's gonna happen here.
There's magic here.
And for me, I just, I live for thosemoments, so I can't wait to be in the
room for agent to CEO because I knowI'm gonna meet people that I can perhaps
connect with and vibe with and, and, andsomething beautiful is gonna spark and,
(26:03):
um, or be reinforced with people who Ibelieve are in my world for a reason.
Yeah.
Love it.
I I love that you know, it, it's thewhole plus minus and equal concept
and you, you get into to rooms andyou're like, well, I wanna be, I
wanna be, you know, the smallest.
But sometimes you get into rooms andyou're like, okay, I'm kind of biggest
(26:23):
in this discipline of life, but I couldalways grow in these other disciplines,
so I'm gonna be open to, to receiveand, and listen for what I can learn.
And it could help me inanother equity of my life.
Right?
And, and so I think that'sjust an important reminder.
And what you were saying there,that was where my mind was going.
I was like, plus, minus, and equals.
(26:44):
Right?
There's, there's somebody that'sa little bit further ahead
that can pour into somebody.
There's somebody that's just kind ofat the bottom looking up for, for, to,
you know, somebody to pour into them.
And then there's that running mate, right?
Like.
I got you.
B we're gonna, I'm gonna,I'm gonna text you every day.
I want you to text me every day.
We're gonna hold each otheraccountable and gonna do this thing.
So it's, it's so good, um, towhat you just said right there.
Um, you, you know, we can always learnsomething right from someone in, in
(27:07):
some area of our life at any given time.
Hey, quick break before we move on.
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the scenes stuff in your business,I've got the next best thing.
Coach kitchens.ai is your 24 7 AIpowered real estate business assistant.
It's built for agents who wanna stopguessing and start executing faster.
(27:29):
Check it out@coachkitchens.aiand see how it can plug right
into your business today.
All right.
Back to the episode.
You know what that reminded me ofwhat, what v just talked about?
Yeah.
Exciting times.
Um, Jay, it kind of remindedme of two things actually.
(27:50):
The diversity of leadership.
And when you, when you said that, thequestion that entered into my mind was,
okay, is it healthy to have different.
Um, styles of leadership.
I think it, I think it is.
But, but what binds everyone together?
And it reminded me of NAEA and, um,man, I, when I used to just come visit
(28:14):
you guys as, as a first, it was kindof like a client, but more, more so,
more when I, when I became one of yourcoaches and man, there were a lot,
there was a lot of diversity goingon in there, you know, with, with
different personalities, different um.
Different leadership styles forsure, but there was one bond
(28:35):
that bonded everyone together.
It was their core values, saiddifferently, it's their beliefs.
And you had mentioned faith and when,when you can get, I, I think that you
can have all the diversity you want, butif you don't have a, an agreement on a
set of beliefs that are non-negotiable.
Yep.
You're gonna have a train wreck on yourhands, especially with the diversity
(28:57):
of different, you know, personalities.
Right?
Oh my God, Jay, I, I'd like your inputon that, man, because, you know, you all
assembled a pretty amazing team of misfitsand I, I mean it, but it was amazing.
Like it worked.
But yeah, man, it was, um, now
too, right?
Yeah, it was, it was, it was verychoreographed and very intentional.
(29:19):
Um, almost to the point that I didn'teven really understand that, that it
was gonna work, how it worked, right?
Like the, you know, the, we justgot so good at hiring the wrong
people, that we got really goodat hiring the right people.
Yes,
you have, you kind of have to go through.
You know, I could tell stories on peoplethat you know, that are the wrong fit.
(29:42):
That you know, when you're my, likemy, the hair on my arm is standing
up right now when I think about it.
Like some of these people thatdidn't share the same core
values of, of that you do.
And it's how we behave thatthis, how this company was built.
And you know, when you start integratingthe whole, you don't even, the hiring
process doesn't begin until two people sitin the room and ask core value directed
(30:05):
questions around those core values.
They, it doesn't matterwhat the resume says.
If they don't match the corevalues, they don't move forward.
And, and, you know, I saw that happenand, you know, and then, you know, you
go around the system and try to hiresomebody and bring 'em in and, and it's
like you, I mean, it'll kill the culture.
Like the, you know, it's like, it'sunbelievable how the wrong, and,
(30:25):
and when you got somebody on yourteam that vouches for that person.
And then they're, you know, they'rea day or two later working and doing
something and they're like, makingexcuse and they're like pulling 'em
aside and be like, listen, motherfucker,I put my neck on the line for you.
Mm-hmm.
Where you're like, we don't make excuseslike the, the, you know, the, the
what people will do to protect that isincredible and make sure that they'll
(30:49):
help somebody to, to, to no end to makesure that they're successful because.
You know, that's the valuesthat, that we, that they live by.
And, and it, it wasn't something Icontrolled, it was something that they
controlled the, the team controlled it.
And it was, it was fascinating to me.
And, you know, y'all have heard thisstory before, but Mike and I both, you
(31:10):
know, Megan, who was running everything,and she was, you know, at the, at the,
you know, the point of contact forme and Mike, it was me and Mike, co.
CEO, which we eventually.
You know, split, divide and conquer.
But Megan was our direct personand she led everyone else,
and she was the main leader.
And all these things I've been sayingto Megan for years and years and years
and like, um, and then she quit, right?
And, and there was a wholeleadership lesson and all that.
(31:32):
But, um, the, the thing that wasfascinating is we called Clay Mask, our
mentor, and we're like, what do we do?
And he is like, you gottameet with all of 'em.
And we're like, oh, wegotta meet with all of them.
Like, we were scared to do it because Mikeand I were out in the field doing things.
I didn't even know everybody's name.
And I sat down.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I started sitting inthose meetings with each individual
person and they were all sayingthe shit I say all the time.
(31:52):
And I was like, this is unbelievable.
Like.
Like the, it, it was, it, theyliterally had been being led by
Megan who was led by us and she wasleading them the same way we led her.
And it was such a great evidenceof leadership and, and the absence
of when someone leaves, then theyleave a place better than, than.
What, when they, when they got there, thatwas, that was what we were experiencing
(32:14):
was like, she's literally been leadingpeople as good as, as they could possibly
be led, you know, lead to the core values.
Um, and it was fascinating to see,and it was like we, we all knew
each other and we didn't, you know?
Um, but that was a, it was something I wasscared of, but then it was the, probably
the most, the best example of a greatleader that I had ever seen at the time.
(32:36):
And so.
You know that, but thatculture was real, man.
I mean, it was, it was, I mean, we foughtfor each one of the words on each one of
those core values, on those posters onthe wall, and we lived them day and night
and, and that was, that was who we were.
And there wasn't anybody that wasallowed in that didn't have 'em.
And even to the point, like one ofone of ours was get shit done, right?
It just get shit done.
(32:56):
Like, you know, one wanna make noexcuses, a hundred zero, get shit done.
And then we would go in and belike, should it be, get stuff done?
No, maybe this shit's not the right word.
No motherfucker, it's get shit done.
Like if you are gonna be offendedby us saying get shit done, then you
probably ain't gonna fit in around here.
Like, and that was true.
It was true.
You weren't gonna make it
by that.
It was just a word.
Right?
And so, um, it was fascinating.
(33:16):
It, it was really, um,it, it was a work of art.
Uh, when I look back and thinkabout it, and when you're in
it, you're just, it's amazing.
It, it feels so good to be aroundpeople that are, that, that behave,
that, that behave the same way.
And are willing to go, you know,do the extra, go the extra mile.
Make, you know, add value,make a difference, Al always
(33:36):
making the right decision.
Do the right thing, you know, you know,you try to integrate these things into
your life and you try to teach your kidsand, and, but when you got a work family
that, that, that vibes like that man.
It, it is, uh, it is, itis a noticeable thing.
And we learned all this by going toInfusionsoft and Clay Mask and, you
know, they, you know, we watcheda company bigger than us build
that culture that they had, and welearned from that and we went and,
(34:00):
and, and built it because of that.
But, but it was, it's, it'snot something you see in every
company walk through the doors.
That's for.
I think that's what I, I, when I thinkof the honey badgers, right, and I
think of those who are like the realhadai hard honey badger ambassadors.
Like Jay and I always kind ofjust talk about, he is like, dude,
(34:23):
that's such a honey badger move.
You know?
Like, it, it's, it's just, again, you justknow what it means to be a honey badger.
And I think we're, we'rejust scrappy, you know?
We're just like, like.
Just willing to dowhatever it takes, right?
Mm-hmm.
And I think that DNA is verysimilar to when you're building a
(34:44):
team or you're building a mission,or you're building a movement.
You just know who has that DNA.
And there are people who saythey are a honey badger, and then
there's others who are, they embody.
Mm-hmm.
Being a honey badger.
And I think you guys have justdone a great job, and I think
even like people that are.
You know, again, building teams, right?
If you can just build something with thattype of mission and, and, and you just,
(35:08):
that DNA, that people just embody it.
And I think my team that I'm superproud of is, like, we have, I have
some core leaders that they just,they live and breathe the big team.
You know, like they, they're like13, 14, 15 years in with me, six
years in with me, eight years.
And I'm like, why do you.
You know, like, why do you stay?
(35:29):
And I, I'll ask those questionslike, you know, like, tell me.
And they're like, theylike, we're 15 for life.
You know, like we, we, we really,and then the acronym of it, right?
People are like, sometimeslike, it's just Figueroa short.
Like now there is actually ameaning to it, you know, it's like
family inspiration and growth.
Like, how are we, you know, like,how are we impacting you and what
(35:50):
are we doing to inspire each otherto keep on going and growing?
And I, and I mean likewe have people who have.
You know, like, um, stop drinking.
We have people who have, you know,like, finally get out, got out of there.
Um.
BS excuses and, and like they're growingand they're finally reading books.
They're finally like, you know,accepting that there is an evolution
(36:12):
of of, of, you know, who we'resupposed to be as leaders and from
who they became to who they are today.
I'm like, that's what we represent.
Yeah.
Meaning
inspiring them and, um, I just think youguys have done a great job, especially
with Honey Badgers of, you know, again, inNAEA and watching your guys' brotherhood.
The bond that you guys have is aprime example of at least what I know
(36:35):
I want, like who's my running mate?
I got some running mates that I'mlike, these are my die hard people.
Right.
And, and, and you guys are like.
People will be like Ken Reese,Michael Reese, Al J, you know,
Al Jay, Michael Kitchens.
You know, like that.
That's something that's really beautifuland I think you guys have really set
an example and what I love, Jay, we'vetalked about on the golf course, like
(36:56):
tell me when it wasn't good, right?
Mm-hmm.
Tell me about
how to overcome that, because alot of times people think things
are supposed to be perfect, butyou know what I respect is when.
Things aren't right andyou grow through that.
'cause you can't tell me that therehas never been a disagreement.
Oh yeah.
You can tell me that there hasn't beena breakup, that there hasn't been a
(37:18):
moment that you had to pick up thephone and say, Hey, how do we fix this?
Yeah.
See, that to me is what I want more of.
Yeah.
The values.
The values are way moreto learn from way better.
Yeah.
We, we call it perfectly imperfect.
Mm-hmm.
I love that.
And, and, um, I actually have aquestion for all three of you guys.
So you, you were talking about yourteam, Veronica, and how you're like,
(37:41):
maybe, maybe it's time to move onfrom it, but I have a bigger vision.
God's call me.
We talk about core values and, andif I'm just gonna be completely
transparent, when I first heard about'em through coaching re's coaching, I
just thought it was just something I hadto knock out and do and put this thing,
put 'em up on my wall, which I did.
We tried to live like, but, but I'll,I'm gonna be honest, I didn't get it.
(38:04):
The part I did, I mean, I did,I understood what they were.
I understood that we had to have them.
I didn't understand how they hadto, like, we're we literally,
that had to be the foundation.
It was the footers
mm-hmm.
Of the rest.
And without it, you're leaving maybemillions on the table with regard to,
to money, you know, I mean, when it,when it rolls up to profitability.
(38:27):
'cause you just saidyou're the most profitable.
I bet you have the most alignmentwith your beliefs and values.
Here's my question though.
It is not that difficult if youhave a team of, let's say 10, to
get everybody in alignment, right?
I mean, it's just, just 10 people.
That's, it's not too difficult, right?
So.
When you're thinking about core values,your core beliefs, your dos and don'ts,
(38:51):
your non-negotiables, and you'rescaling to what we were, we were kind of
talking in our private chat about whatis the next level after the mega team.
What is, what is that,what's that gonna look like?
What's it gonna be called?
And we shot around theword, um, enterprise, but
whatever it's gonna be called.
Right?
What happens when you have ahundred people on your team,
(39:12):
200 people on your team?
300. We have 14,000 peoplein our Honey Badger Nation
family in the Facebook group.
And we struggle.
You know, I, I couldn't tellyou if every single one of those
people were aligned with ourvalues or not, to be really honest.
Um, I doubt all of, you know, like that.
(39:34):
That's what I wanna solve for next week.
Hmm.
What do y'all have to say about that?
Hmm.
I'll just throw,
I'll just throw you the curve ball.
Go, dude.
I mean, it's impossible.
I mean, it it not at the levelthat we're talking about, right?
Like, I think all you can do is youcan put the tuning fork out there.
For the people that are and, and, and, andyou know, you can, you can, you know, you
(39:58):
know, you said something Veronica that I,I recognized, seen, and it was probably
the most valuable thing that I experiencedin my life up, up to this point.
Even I would say, uh, it, it really islike watching a human being that you're
leading, become a better version ofthemselves is probably one of the most
(40:18):
rewarding things you can do in your life.
Like it really is.
And, and seeing who that, that you know,that you, you people living up to, what
they're capable of is, is fascinate.
It's a fascinating thing.
And then you get to play arole in it is, is a blessing.
Um, you know, so I don't know that,that from a, from 14,000 strong, I
think we can have a tuning fork to, tothe, you know, and you, we, the ones
(40:42):
that vibrate at this level, you know,we all kind of, you know, you, you,
you know, you, you, you can feel it.
And, and I think that's all you can do.
I don't think that we, we don'thave the kind of process of weeding
out and who we let in and who wedon't, and we don't control it.
And so there's certainly gonna bepeople that are not all of the same core
values, but I think all you can do isyou can speak, you know, you can speak
(41:03):
the, you know, the, put the signal out.
You know, that's all you can really do.
The, the, the reminder to,to your question Al, is, you
know, the, the core values.
They attract, but they also repel.
And to Jay's point, the more that youcan tune that fork and amplify what
the, what the values are, what, whatdoes Honey Badger Nation stand for?
(41:26):
What's the mission?
What are our values?
What are our shoulds and should nots thatwill, that will send, you know, through.
The big thing is, you know, youlook for those that that wanna lean
in and you help 'em lean in more.
And that's where the leaders, creatingleaders, creating leaders, you know,
that was one of our values at NAEA aswell, so you're just pouring into them.
(41:47):
But the reminder is, is that they'regoing to, you want it to repel
the people as well, and that's whyfewer, fewer core values is better.
But the rule of thumb is that.
People have to be more than 50%.
So if you have, if you have five corevalues, they have to match three.
Non-negotiable.
They have to match, they don't haveto match the other two, but there's
(42:10):
three that they will d they will dieon the, on the sword with you with.
And that's really what you're looking for.
But um, yeah, when you get tothat big, you're definitely
not gonna have all alignment.
Tim, you can probably get, if youhave five core values, you can
probably get 10 people that haveall the same five core values.
But you get to like V size, youget to, you know where Kyle's at.
(42:30):
You get to, you know, those, the,the bigger organizations, man, you're
just, you, you want to tune thatfork out there as much as you can.
And then you got your, you know, you gotyour writer or Dyers, right, like V was
talking about, and they're gonna care.
Continue to press that messageas well, and you'll repel
and that's what you wanna do.
All right, I'm going on Amazon.
I'm, give me a tuning fork.
(42:53):
Listen, I
live this every day, uh, with my team, youknow, and again, even people are like, you
know, how do you run your team and you'renot physically there every single day?
Um, but they feel my heart.
They know the vision.
Every Monday, no matter where I'mat, I, I host my morning huddle
mindset, motivational Mondays.
Um, I, I don't, I don't.
(43:13):
I don't, I do not waver.
That has to happen.
And in light of everything that'sgoing on right now, and we've been,
we've been kicking off our, our morningMonday huddle for about a couple months
with prayer and um, you know, we hadsomeone the other day say like, ah,
kind of makes me feel uncomfortable.
And I said, I respect that.
(43:33):
And, you know, let's talk through that.
And, um, especially this week wheneverything obviously was going on in the
world, I had more people reach out to me.
And safety.
Thank you for not wavering and for, youknow, being a, the, you know, the way I
am when it comes to being open and honestand and vulnerable, um, as a leader.
And, you know, I think it's,it's Jay you said, right?
(43:56):
It's impossible right.
To, to to get everybody to be, youknow, aligned with our core values.
But, you know, I think what's important.
If you could just be true to who weare, like what this mission stands for,
like people are gonna, either, they'regonna armor up, they're gonna rally
you, and they're gonna make it stronger.
And it's true.
People will either feel uncomfortable,they're like, ah, I'm out.
(44:16):
But that's okay, because you're soprinciple based and you're so clear.
And by the way, you know, companiesand, and, and, and, and teams and
visions, they go through seasons, right?
Like Jay says, the valleys right.
And it's okay right now inthis moment to say, Hey.
We we're reigniting this fire.
We, we are so excited.
Who are the honey badgeswe don't know about?
(44:37):
Like, who do we need to celebrate?
Like who do we, who dowe need to connect with?
Where are the next ta?
Where's the next, um, uh, what tosay wave of leaders, like right
now, I'll tell you what I'm onmission on, and I've said it loud.
When I got these ladies together, I waslike, I am no longer the leader that wants
to lead from the front of the room and bethe one on stage and the one celebrated.
It actually like, kind of irks my light.
(44:58):
My soul right now, I now knowI'm following my mission to be
in the back of the room and bringtalent to the front of the room.
I'm no longer just Veronica Figueroa.
I know I'm a platform to discover leaders.
I'm a platform to helpshine the light on leaders.
So I need to go out there and find thoseleaders and understand their story and
(45:19):
celebrate them and help them scale.
Or an idea inside of them that theydon't even know how to execute on.
And then from there, I'm gonna help them.
That is my God-given talent right now.
So like, but I'm getting louderand louder and louder about that.
Why?
How am I doing it?
Guess what?
Interviewing more women,highlighting more leaders.
So like, that's my missionstatement right now.
(45:42):
And, um, I'm just gonna getlouder on it and amplify it.
So I just think we justneed to, how do you do it?
You amplify.
Your mission and, and,and, and the vision.
Even if at one point you were silentabout it, get loud, something get has to
reawaken and we gotta get louder together.
Let's get I love it.
(46:02):
I love it.
That's awesome.
I gotta jump
guys.
Thank you.
Hey, have a great day.
Awesome.
Well, all right fellas.
Well, I appreciate you guys and,uh, if you guys haven't got your.
We got see a V eight tickets left,eight tickets, and it's sold out.
So it'll be gone by the end of the week.
(46:23):
Awesome.
All right, fellas.
Um, appreciate y'all, appreciateeverybody tuning in and, uh,
see you guys in Cleveland.
See you.
Thanks for tuning in.
If you're done guessing and ready tolead like a real CEO with a custom
strategy, real accountability andproven systems, check out my executive
one-on-one coaching@johnkitchens.coach.
(46:44):
Fill out the application and bookyour one-on-one call with me.
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