March 5, 2025 • 35 mins
What if a simple mindset shift could change the trajectory of your life? Join us as we explore this transformative concept with Jamie Aguilar, Senior Vice President of Lending at Sunward Federal Credit Union. Jamie shares her journey of resilience, balancing education and family, and how adopting a positive mindset helped her overcome personal and professional challenges.
Our discussion delves into how embracing vulnerability and authentic communication can lead to profound growth. We reflect on pivotal moments that required us to choose empowerment over adversity, which improved our circumstances and set an example for future generations. With over 22 years in the credit union industry, Jamie shares her personal story of shifting from a pessimistic outlook to one of empowerment, significantly impacting her family’s well-being.
To wrap up our enriching conversation, we focus on the power of choice and perspective, underscoring the idea of seeing growth opportunities even during tough times. This episode is a meaningful exploration of personal beliefs shaping reality as we discuss the importance of leaving a positive legacy. This is an episode you don't want to miss. Tune in now!
Sponsored by Optimal Blue
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast do not necessarilyreflect the views or positions
of Acuma, its board of directors, its management staff or its
members.
The podcast discussionpresented is conversational in
nature and for generalinformation only.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello and welcome to Actors On Point podcast, a
series focused on sharing thestories of people who are making
a positive impact in the creditunion mortgage industry.
I'm your host, Peter Benjamin.
Before we get to our episode,just a quick word from our
sponsor.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
This episode is sponsored by Optimal Blue.
Optimal Blue effectivelybridges primary and secondary
mortgage markets to deliver theindustry's only end-to-end
capital markets platform.
The company helps credit unionsof all sizes deliver premier
experiences to members pursuingthe dream of home ownership
(01:03):
Through innovative technology, anetwork of interconnectivity,
rich data, insights andexperience gathered over more
than 20 years.
Optimal Blue is an experiencedpartner that, in any market,
allows credit unions to optimizetheir advantage, from pricing
accuracy to margin protection inevery step in between.
(01:23):
To learn more, visitOptimalBluecom.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Today I am joined by Jamie Aguilar, senior Vice
President of Lending withSunward Federal Credit Union.
Jamie, how are you doing today?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I'm doing fabulous, peter, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I am awesome, awesome , awesome, awesome One.
Thank you very much for beinghere, looking forward to our
conversation.
You know it's.
You know, as always.
You know, prior to therecording, prior to our podcast,
we sit down with our guests andwe kind of you know brainstorm
on what we want to talk about,and I think our conversation
(02:01):
today is one that hits a littletoo close to home.
And so I'm really excited forour discussion today and, I
think, one it's really new tothe podcast and, I think, one
that I think all of ourlisteners will resonate with, so
excited to have it.
But before we get to it, I haveto bring Justin in.
(02:22):
Kind of give us all the latestand greatest that's happening
over at Acuma.
So, hawk, what is going on?
How are you doing, and pleasegive us the latest and greatest
that is happening over at Acuma.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
I'm good, peter.
How are you Living the dream?
Living the dream, that's right,all right, I know right.
Living the dream?
That's right, all right, I knowright.
Well, can you believe, though,that we're only one month away
from our first in-person eventthis year?
I cannot, I know right.
We get to go to our ViewpointRegional Summit.
(02:57):
That's on April 8th and 9thdown in Pensacola, and, as I've
mentioned in the past, we'regoing to have that experiential
part with it, so we get to gosee the blue Wahoos.
In between, two half days ofeducation.
Yeah, we just got to.
It's a chant, we know it is.
It has to be.
I don't know man, I'm.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I'm still rooting for the Montgomery biscuits.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
I.
We just need some great jam togo with it.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I already ordered the hat, so if I get in trouble for
wearing a hat when we're downthere, you're supposed to rep
the home team.
I don't care, I'm telling youthe hat is awesome.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Now, granted, I did have a craving for biscuits the
other day.
They were delicious, I'm notgoing to lie.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Anyways, I'm still going to buy a blue Wahoos hat,
but the Montgomery biscuit hat.
I'm not going to lie.
Anyways, I'm still going to buya blue Wahoos hat, but the
Montgomery biscuit hat.
Tell me, man, it's legit thereyou go.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
But we'll have the reception, the minor league game
, kind of nestled in between thetwo half days of education.
So it's open to credit unionQSOs.
It's a free event.
So if you're looking to kickoff your spring season with some
fun educational opportunities,this is one for you.
Also, registration is open forour Focal Point workshops.
(04:13):
The first one is happening May6th and 7th.
That one will be in Savannah,georgia, and the other one's
June 3rd and 4th down in or overin Seattle.
I don't think I can say down,since it's literally all the way
across the us.
It's up, up, up and over.
There you go there you go.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
That works, I think.
You know I'm couldn't be more.
I don't know which one I'm moreexcited for.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Savannah's been on my list of cities I want to visit
for a very long time, but I meanI will say, having done a lot
of the marketing for them, bothof them have very rich cultures.
Oh, so I think that that's whatI'm excited about is because
not, I mean we know that peoplecome to our events because one
(05:01):
they're awesome to figure aninsane amount, amount of
education.
But the cities also matter, andwe know that and that's why we
try to move them around as muchas we can.
But, um, the culture in both ofthese places, uh it's, it's
been fun to look into andresearch for sure I mean they
are.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
But I know we're getting sidetracked.
But you know, the pacificnorthwest has a special place in
my heart and I I always talkabout it and I I love seattle,
the fact that we're going to thepacific northwest.
You know, seattle especially.
I couldn't be more giddy, butI've started going down, like
(05:45):
this rabbit hole of, you know,wanting to go to all the fancy
Starbucks that are there.
I don't know why.
I'm a beer person and Seattlehas a good brewery scene, but
they also have the Starbucksreserves and the roasteries.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
I think that's what I've been to one in new york.
It was awesome, is it really?
Yeah, it was awesome.
It's over in chelsea market.
It was insane.
I think we spent like an hourat starbucks, so we're totally
going to a coffee, 100.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Going to a roastery?
Yeah, of course, like I just Iwant to, I just want to go to it
and I want to try it.
And don't think I think you canget like mixed drinks there too
, right?
Yep, they have all kinds ofstuff.
Oh, totally going hands down?
Yeah, I think they do.
Like tours, yep, they do thosetoo.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
All right, we're doing, yeah.
And then, to wrap out ourin-person events, we have our
make your mark annual conference, which is going to be happening
in Denver.
Be on the lookout in the nextmonth or so for some special
communications regarding that,because that will be coming out.
And then, if you're not able tomake it to our in-person events
, I would say, fret.
Not, because we have ourwebinar series, our Fast Tracks
(06:58):
and Inside Tracks that arehappening year-round.
But in addition to the webinars, we also launched a few new
networks that are credit unionQSO specific and then some that
are also open to just aboutanyone.
So we have our marketingnetworks, our underwriting
networks, our volume basednetworks and, last but not least
(07:18):
for sure, our youngprofessional network.
So stay on the lookout forupcoming meetings with those uh
groups as well let's do like ahappy hour at starbucks.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
That would be fun.
Could you imagine, like?
I know I should be looking atsomething else, but I'm looking
at the map.
I think it's right down thestreet from us, from our hotel
you got uppers and downers,that's awesome, I know Never do
a downer than an upper.
Always do Wait, no switch.
That Anyways, I come back, Idigress.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
Yeah, that could be fun.
That's right.
We need to add this to Krista'svery short list of things that
she needs to work on.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
She's probably listening right now, but yeah,
we'll make it.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
Yeah, we'll add it to the list of things.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
We'll see how this one goes we're totally getting
in trouble for this.
All right, love it.
I love getting in trouble.
Awesome.
Well, thank you very much.
Appreciate it.
Of course this will be so good,jamie.
Sorry, I like getting introuble.
All right, so I'm going toclose that window.
I need to stop going down thatrabbit hole.
Um, again, excited for thisconversation.
(08:30):
But before we get to ourconversation, I I always start
off the podcast with the samequestions.
Like I have to continue to doit this way.
Um, you know, the firstquestion is always the same and
again, the On Point podcast is apeople piece and I always
preface it the same exact way.
First question is always thesame one who is Jamie?
(08:53):
Let's always start it with that.
So please, you know, for thepeople who don't know you, you
know, walk us through who Jamieis.
You can make this as personalas you want, you can keep it as
professional as you want, youcan do a mix of both, but please
, let's walk us through that.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Love it.
I always appreciate a mix ofboth.
So I currently get theopportunity to lead Sunward's
lending team as the SVP oflending, where I get to redefine
the cooperative spirit withinfinance institutions.
Where I get to redefine thecooperative spirit within
finance institutions.
I really enjoy this spacebecause I get to champion values
that really align with me, bothprofessionally and personally
(09:32):
Accountability, grittiness,putting our members first, being
better every day.
I have 22 years in the creditunion industry.
I actually have served 22 yearsat one organization and then
recently joined the Sunward teamin New Mexico, which is where
we're going to lead into it.
But part of this mind shift andjourney as we go through so I
(09:53):
have two amazing boys that I amabsolutely proud of my journey
has really been one of learningevolving, redefining success, of
learning evolving, you know,redefining success.
I've had many moments whereI've had to completely shift my
mindset, whether it be in mycareer, whether it be in my
personal life or facingchallenges that seemed
impossible at times.
(10:13):
So I like to always think of mygrowth, as you know, not always
having all the answers, butbeing able to ask better
questions.
So I'm really excited to diveinto this today.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Okay, awesome.
And I think you kind of hintedat it, and I think that's the
main premise behind today'sconversation is our ability as
humans, as professionals orwhatever.
We want to frame this up as ourability to maintain a positive
(10:45):
mindset, but also to to navigatedifficult times and really come
out ahead, right?
So I think we all go throughdifficult times, you know, and I
think some of us have theability to come out ahead.
(11:06):
Take those times that are moredifficult than others, learn
from them and come out better,right.
But at the same time, some ofus really never recover from it,
right.
And so maybe this episode isgoing to go a little bit deeper
(11:26):
than what we normally do, and Ithink that's why the second
segment is always geared towardsmaking it a little bit more
lighthearted.
But I think this conversation isreally tailored for the people
who have a hard time takingthemselves back up, right,
(11:48):
because we need to find a way tolearn and grow and keep moving
forward.
You know was it WinstonChurchill says if you're going
through hell, keep going.
So let's dive into this, okay,so help, let's kind of walk
through your journey, let's diveinto it and how, how you found
ways to kind of keep motivatingyourself to push forward and and
(12:12):
maintaining that mindset thatto overcome adversity oh, you
know, mindset is really an kindof an undervalued concept, right
?
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Everybody thinks it's this rose colored glasses.
You have to find this silverlining.
It has to be this this great,happy kind of blinded look.
But it's not so.
Reality is, some situationsjust suck.
You know, there are some dayswhere we are just not the best
versions of ourselves.
And mindset is not aboutpretending everything is great
(12:44):
or finding silver lining ineverything when there's not one
there, you know, it's not sayingthat, oh, we needed the rain
when you're standing in themiddle of a flood.
It's about knowing deep downthat you've had resilience to
push through the storm.
It's about owning the powerthat you have within you to face
anything and come out stronger,or even sometimes just come out
(13:05):
Right.
The difference is it's thechoice that you choose.
You know, mindset where I hadwas early on in my parenting
days, at a very young age,raising two boys on my own,
carrying the full weight ofproviding a household, kind of
(13:26):
just learning in myself as I wasso young, trying to figure out
what was next.
Right, I had previously reallyleaned towards pessimism,
flipping into that victimmentality.
Why me?
My boys deserve better.
Then there was a frustratingkind of middle ground moment
where I found myself making toomuch money to qualify for
(13:48):
government assistance to get mychildren health care, but not
enough money to afford properhealth care for them.
And at that moment I steppedback and said I had two choices
I could lower my income toqualify for aid or work harder
to afford the health care thatmy boys deserve, the life that I
wanted.
And I just remember looking atmy boys and I knew at that time
(14:10):
that I couldn't accept thestatus quo.
They deserve to live the lifethat they were meant to live,
not the one that we werecurrently stuck in.
So for me it was about survivaland resilience and really
redefining what was possible.
I made the conscious choice toshift from I can to I will, from
(14:32):
we have to settle to we'regoing to make this work.
We stopped seeing ourselves asa broken household and started
embracing that we were really anawesome family.
You know, this mind shift, thischange not only helped like
financially, but our mental andphysical well-beings as well.
So it wasn't pretending about.
(14:53):
Things were easy.
There were hard days, therewere days of tears.
It was really about reframingthese challenges with the cards
that we were dealt and doing thebest of what we could with the
cards that we were dealt, so itwasn't a this happened to us.
This is the cards.
What are we going to do with it?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And that shift in perspective has really made a
difference in my journey so mayI ask you know you you kept
referring to you know how, howyoung your boys were.
Just you know.
You know having young kids, youknow, and I I share this often.
You know, my, my oldest, isseven.
(15:34):
I have twin girls that are four.
How old were your boys at thetime?
Speaker 4 (15:38):
if you don't mind me asking, so they were eight and a
newborn.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We're talking months, yeah month, okay, and and so
you know, eight, eight and sevenyear old, you know, for the
most part, you know it's, it'svery similar in in maturity
levels, right, and so oftentimesyou're, you know, I imagine I
was having, I'm having the sameconversation that you were
having with with your, youreight-year-old, right, and so
(16:04):
how did you explain to youreight-year-old back then, you
know, that flip of a mindset,right, cause I mean, I and, and
Justin, I'm sure you can relate,you know, being, you know, the
father of two boys.
It's all too often, you know,and Justin, you coach baseball,
(16:25):
I coach basketball and lacrosse.
I just heard it the other dayfrom one of the kids I coach,
this is too hard, or I don'twant to do this because it's too
hard.
How did you flip that mindsetwith your son?
Because I'm sure it was this istoo hard, I don't want to do
this because it's too hard.
How?
(16:46):
How did you get that messageacross to him to get him to
follow your lead and understand,hey, we're gonna do this,
you're awesome, I awesome, we'rein this together, together we
can, we can push forward, youknow, et cetera.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
So I think a lot of it for me was is having those
honest conversations as much asyou can to an eight-year-old and
really just explain likeeverybody is born into different
phases of the world, right?
Some Some you know are raisedby their grandparents and some
are raised by, you know, twomoms, two dads, single moms,
single dads you know two parents.
(17:29):
This was to the cards that wewere dealt and we're really
going to enjoy the most of it.
So I don't know that I was ableto explain that mind shift to
him versus more demonstratingand then, when things did get
hard and when things got sad,recognizing like it's okay to be
sad, but tomorrow we're goingto get up and we're going to
(17:50):
have some fun.
Because you are not that version.
You get the choice to be ableto be happy tomorrow or you get
the choice to continue to havethese sad days.
And where do you feel better?
Right, that was a lot of ourconversations.
You know, when you, you knowwhen you wake up and you're
having these kind of doubtfulmoments or these sad moments,
(18:10):
you know how does it feel.
You know it feels crappy.
It doesn't feel good.
Well, when you go out and we,you know we do sports or we're
having fun, like how does thatmake you feel?
And so, of course, well, I'mexcited, and so we try to shift
to.
Well, let's concentrate onhaving those feelings again, the
ones that we enjoy having, andnot so much the ones that we
don't enjoy having.
We can have our pity partytoday, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
But tomorrow we're going to get back up, get mean.
It's.
You know that whole idea of youknow we choose our attitude
today, every single day that weget up, is the message that I
say to my boy, my son, everysingle day.
You know, my girls are still atthat point where they're like,
you know, whatever, dad, youknow I'm going to talk to mom,
(19:01):
mom's more important, but myson's at that point where he's
still listening to me.
But yeah, it's that we chooseour attitude every day.
And, yeah, yesterday sucked,but today can be better and you
either choose to be happy,choose to be sad, choose to be
mad.
But let's, today, let's chooseto be happy and let's, let's,
(19:22):
let's just be happy and let'schoose to be awesome today and
we can push forward.
That's awesome.
So what else can we provide?
What other type of I don't wantto say words of advice Maybe
that's the right way of framingit up what other type of words
(19:44):
of advice can we provide?
Someone who is, we'll say,going through some dark times or
dark moments, that you wouldsay, or as a lesson that you
learned, that you're, that youwould say I wish I would have
done this better, and maybeperhaps you know, hindsight's
(20:06):
always 20, 20.
If you could have donesomething better, it may be
turned out Okay, but which youwish you could have done it
better.
What was, what would be thatone lesson learned?
Speaker 4 (20:17):
So one that really sticks out, and it was reminded
um.
A good friend of mine, um, soone that really sticks out, and
it was reminded.
A good friend of mine, delVermillion, had reminded us of a
story that was told by TrevorMoad, and you guys have probably
heard this one.
It's been around a while, butthe concept of this story is
(20:42):
that there was a young man whowas struggling in high school,
failing out of school, wasn'treally kind of the best version
of himself, didn't have a brightlooking future and had promised
his mom that he would take theSATs.
So he went in, took the SATs,took the SATs because that's
what he promised his mom, notexpecting anything out of it.
When the results came in, hescored a 1480 out of 1600 on the
SATs and for anybody you know,that is amazing, that is
(21:05):
phenomenal, that's like kind of,you know, going towards that
genius status.
And he really started to seehimself in a different light.
He began acting differently but, you know, believing he was
smarter than he ever realized hecould be.
And he not only changed andshifted his life through high
school, he was able to get intocollege, was successful through
college and then eventuallybecame the most you know,
(21:27):
successful magazine entrepreneur.
But then there's a twist to thestory.
So 12 years after thiswonderful sat, life-changing
moment, he received a letterstating that he was one of 13
individuals that were given thewrong SAT score, that he was
actually a 740 and not a 1480.
(21:49):
So this story is not about themistake behind it.
It's about how he was able toshift his mindset, because he
believed he was this 1480.
He started acting like a 1480.
So his belief changed hisbehaviors.
His behaviors changed hisattitude.
The attitude changed thereality.
Right, so the power of mindset.
(22:11):
So when we go back to your, toyour question on what would I
have liked to do better, Iconstantly remind myself am I
acting like that 1480?
And it can be when I'mstruggling to work out and I
just don't want to do it, but Iknow what my end result is.
Am I acting like that 1480?
And there have been plenty oftimes where I have not lived
(22:34):
that positive mindset mentality.
But it's recognizing thatthat's the stage I'm in, right,
it's recognizing, hey, that'sthe mindset that I'm in.
And then really asking myselfthe conscious, you know, jamie,
are you going to stay in thisnegative mindset or are you
going to act like that 1480?
(22:54):
Are you going to come out of it?
And I think recognition is oneadvice, that it is okay.
You know I had said it before.
You know there are days thatare going to suck right, but
it's recognizing.
What do I want out of it,recognizing that I'm in that
space and then what do I want todo to get out of it?
Because I am the only one thatcan make that shift.
There's no amount of teachings,there's no amount of mentorship
(23:17):
, there's no amount ofcounseling and life coaching
that can get you out of it.
It has to come from you.
And then you make thatconscious choice to stay in or
get out.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Okay, I love it.
That's awesome.
If there's one thing that youwould say that you're the most
proud of, after all these things, after navigating all these
dark times and coming out ahead,what's the one thing that you
would say, hey, I'm the mostproud of this.
What would that be?
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Making the choice to go down the hard path of working
harder, putting myself throughschool while raising two boys.
I'm most proud of choosing thathard path because it would have
been easier to choose the pathof oh, let me just work less.
Oh, you know, let me go out andfind somebody to support me.
(24:11):
So my biggest has always beenthat I took a path that was
aligned with my values and myvisions and what I wanted to see
out of my boys as they grew upinto young adults.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Okay, that's awesome, justin.
You leaned in.
Speaker 5 (24:26):
Yeah.
So, jamie, I feel like you andI, I feel like you're telling my
story and it's incrediblehearing it from someone else's
perspective as well, when youkind of reach that moment where
you kind of put yourself throughschool and what was that
epiphany like?
(24:47):
What did that feel like?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
oh, that is beyond words.
There is a a passion aboutknowing that I have just
demonstrated to my boys, to myfriends, to my families that
anything is possible if to myboys, to my friends, to my
families, that anything ispossible if you put your mind to
it.
I think that was that joy andkind of a satisfaction of man.
It was tough, there was a lotof obstacles in the way, but I
(25:14):
came out better and now my boysrealize and recognize that
through the struggles of life,that we can get through it yeah,
no, I totally agree.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
I mean, I, I remember being in a similar situation
and just the amount of weight assoon as I kind of let it all go
, the amount of weight that wasjust lifted, like it was just
like you could breathe again,like Like so many doors opened
up whenever you quit focusing onbad stuff.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
I love it and you're exactly right, and that's why I
always think it's so undervalued, because people do look at it
like those rose colored glasses,but it is not.
There is something truly abouta unexplainable shift in
yourself and how happy you areand how you see the world and
how, you know, I always look atit like a sunset.
You know, did you enjoy thesunset?
(26:05):
It happens every night, but youget the opportunity right To
say, man, it's a beautifulsunset or that's a sunset.
So I 100% agree with you.
There is something that shiftsin your whole world that makes
life happy, positive, and youknow, there's a million words
that can describe it, because itis very hard to crawl out of a
(26:28):
dark space, but when you do like, you're unstoppable totally
that's awesome.
Speaker 5 (26:38):
You were gonna say something else, Justin or no?
No, it's an amazing story.
I've heard my own fiddle before, so it's just hearing it in a
different tune.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
That's awesome.
All right, jamie, we need tostart transitioning.
As much as I want to continuethis conversation, we need to
start transitioning, but Ialways have that last question.
And the last question is really, actually, I'm going to ask two
questions and please forgive mefor pivoting.
The second to last question isalways going to be final
(27:15):
thoughts.
By that on my preface, by saying, you know, as we focus on the
idea of maintaining a positivemindset, you know, in this, this
overall fast-paced,ever-changing industry, that
we're in right and and let's behonest, I mean, the past couple
(27:36):
years have been tough and let'sand let's, let's, let's remove
the personal side of this.
Okay, because I think we focusa lot on the personal side in
this conversation.
Let's, let's focus onprofessional side for this, this
, this moment.
So the past couple years havebeen tough professionally for a
(28:01):
lot of people, which isobviously, in turn, impacted
them personally in the nextcouple years and you know, based
off of everything that we'veseen in the news, who knows what
it's going to be like for usprofessionally?
How do we maintain give me somefinal thoughts how do we
maintain give me some finalthoughts how do we maintain a
positive mindset in this everchanging environment that we're
(28:24):
in.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
So I would go back to everybody has a choice.
You get to choose your good,you get to choose your bad, you
get to choose your challengesand to really look at instead of
this is happening to us that Iget to go through this, that I
get the opportunity to come outstronger, that I get the
opportunity to come out stronger, that I get the opportunity to
come out with more knowledge, Iget the opportunity to share
(28:46):
these experiences.
You know, 10, 15 years down theroad and then, based on those
choices and those experiences,how am I going to show up?
Like, what is that legacy goingto look like?
Was it, oh, you know, themarket crash?
Knock on wood that it's notgoing to crash, but the market
crash.
We went through these reallyhard times and that was it right
(29:08):
, or is it?
We went through these reallyhard times, but I was able to
shift in this area.
I was, you know, able to maybelearn about this, and then I
came out of it even stronger,right?
So I think it's that choice ofwhen these things are happening
is it happening to you or do youget the opportunity to grow
from it?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Yeah, I love it.
That was a great answer.
All right, here's the realfinal question.
You're like everyone else onefoot out of bed.
What keeps you going, whatkeeps you motivated, what keeps
you driving every single day?
And I mean, I have a feeling Iknow the answer, but I have to
(29:50):
ask the question anyways whatkeeps you going?
Speaker 4 (29:55):
A couple of things.
So it's really a passion forwhat I do and it's not just
professionally, it's how I showup in the world right, it's the
impact that I leave behind, it'sthe quote unquote legacy that I
get to live behind.
So I want my boys to see like,when you push through these
challenges and you strive to bebetter, the world is your oyster
(30:19):
right, the world is at yourfingertips.
You know, I love the challenges, I love the wins, but I love
proving to myself even more thatI can do what seemed impossible
and that really fuels me liketo leave things better than I
found them.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
No, that is awesome.
Great answer, great answer.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
All right.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
So we need transition to the second segment of our
podcast and then the secondsegment.
This is where we sometimes doJeopardy.
We sometimes have fun facts.
But in today's episode, we'regoing to do the most requested,
fan favorite series of dad jokes, and so here's how we're going
(31:03):
to run it.
We're going to go around thehorn and we're each going to say
our dad jokes, and so, prior tothe podcast, I asked you to
come prepared with two to threedad jokes.
So you're going to say your twoto three dad jokes, jess will
do his two to three dad jokesand I will wrap up with my two
to three dad jokes.
(31:23):
Now, jamie, how many dad jokesdo you have?
Two or three?
Speaker 4 (31:27):
I have two.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Perfect, perfect.
So you'll do your two, justinwill do his two and I'll do my
two, and then we'll wrap up andthat's it All right.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
So after you, so what do you call a factory that
makes good products?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
What.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
A satisfactory.
It's always those shepherdsthat you know is a good bad joke
, right?
So why do chicken?
Speaker 5 (31:57):
coops only have two doors.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
I know this one, because, if they, had four.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
They'd be called chicken sedans.
I knew that one.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
I hate that I didn't say it these are the ones that
got the biggest eye rolls fromboth of my boys, so I knew I had
adamant I knew that one.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I knew that one.
Oh, damn it, I knew that one.
Why I knew that one?
Damn it.
I knew that one.
Why didn't I see it?
I blanked on it.
That was good.
That was good.
All right, justin, I'm going totry to ruin yours.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
I know I'm really good at ruining Justin's show.
I'm struggling with this.
Okay.
What creature is smarter than atalking parrot?
What A spelling bee.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
I knew that one too, oh oh.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
That was good that was good.
Speaker 5 (32:56):
Alright, I'm going to jack up this, but I'm going to
try it anyways.
What did Elvis say to hislandscaper?
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Please do, please do an Elvis voice.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
I tried, I tried.
Speaker 5 (33:17):
That's a bad impersonation, but I tried.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Do it again real quick.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
That's good.
That's good, nicely done.
What do you call a one-leggedhippo?
I don't know A hoppo.
I don't know a hoppo um umwhich one?
(33:51):
Which one which one um.
The other day my wife asked meif our kids were spoiled, and I
said no, most kids smell thatway well true fact, but yes,
seriously god, it's bad, alrightand that's it.
(34:14):
That wraps up this episode'sround of dad jokes.
Well, jamie, thank you so muchfor joining us today.
We really enjoyed theconversation.
I mean it a lot.
I think everything that yousaid, I think, resonated with
both of us.
You know, justin and I, but Ithink your message was very,
(34:35):
very, very powerful.
I appreciate the fact thatyou're vulnerable throughout
this whole episode.
I think this is probably one ofthe most impactful episodes
that we recorded so far in thethree seasons.
So thank you very much, reallydo appreciate it absolutely
appreciate you having me onabsolutely thanks for the
conversation of course, andjustin, thank you, of course.
(34:57):
It was my pleasure.
And, to close out, thank youagain to optimal blue for
sponsoring today's episode andto all of you.
We know your time is valuable.
Thank you for tuning in to thelatest episode of Acuma's On
Point Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time, be well, myfriends.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time at theAcuma On Point Podcast.
If not already, be sure tosubscribe and give us a
five-star rating For more greatepisodes and information.
Be sure to visit us online atacumaorg and to get the latest
updates.
Head over to our LinkedIn page.
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast do not necessarilyreflect the views or positions
of Acuma, its board of directors, its management staff or its
members.
The podcast discussionpresented is conversational in
nature and for generalinformation only.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello and welcome to Actors On Point podcast, a
series focused on sharing thestories of people who are making
a positive impact in the creditunion mortgage industry.
I'm your host, Peter Benjamin.
Before we get to our episode,just a quick word from our
sponsor.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
This episode is sponsored by Optimal Blue.
Optimal Blue effectivelybridges primary and secondary
mortgage markets to deliver theindustry's only end-to-end
capital markets platform.
The company helps credit unionsof all sizes deliver premier
experiences to members pursuingthe dream of home ownership
(01:03):
Through innovative technology, anetwork of interconnectivity,
rich data, insights andexperience gathered over more
than 20 years.
Optimal Blue is an experiencedpartner that, in any market,
allows credit unions to optimizetheir advantage, from pricing
accuracy to margin protection inevery step in between.
(01:23):
To learn more, visitOptimalBluecom.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Today I am joined by Jamie Aguilar, senior Vice
President of Lending withSunward Federal Credit Union.
Jamie, how are you doing today?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I'm doing fabulous, peter, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I am awesome, awesome , awesome, awesome One.
Thank you very much for beinghere, looking forward to our
conversation.
You know it's.
You know, as always.
You know, prior to therecording, prior to our podcast,
we sit down with our guests andwe kind of you know brainstorm
on what we want to talk about,and I think our conversation
(02:01):
today is one that hits a littletoo close to home.
And so I'm really excited forour discussion today and, I
think, one it's really new tothe podcast and, I think, one
that I think all of ourlisteners will resonate with, so
excited to have it.
But before we get to it, I haveto bring Justin in.
(02:22):
Kind of give us all the latestand greatest that's happening
over at Acuma.
So, hawk, what is going on?
How are you doing, and pleasegive us the latest and greatest
that is happening over at Acuma.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
I'm good, peter.
How are you Living the dream?
Living the dream, that's right,all right, I know right.
Living the dream?
That's right, all right, I knowright.
Well, can you believe, though,that we're only one month away
from our first in-person eventthis year?
I cannot, I know right.
We get to go to our ViewpointRegional Summit.
(02:57):
That's on April 8th and 9thdown in Pensacola, and, as I've
mentioned in the past, we'regoing to have that experiential
part with it, so we get to gosee the blue Wahoos.
In between, two half days ofeducation.
Yeah, we just got to.
It's a chant, we know it is.
It has to be.
I don't know man, I'm.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I'm still rooting for the Montgomery biscuits.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
I.
We just need some great jam togo with it.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I already ordered the hat, so if I get in trouble for
wearing a hat when we're downthere, you're supposed to rep
the home team.
I don't care, I'm telling youthe hat is awesome.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Now, granted, I did have a craving for biscuits the
other day.
They were delicious, I'm notgoing to lie.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Anyways, I'm still going to buy a blue Wahoos hat,
but the Montgomery biscuit hat.
I'm not going to lie.
Anyways, I'm still going to buya blue Wahoos hat, but the
Montgomery biscuit hat.
Tell me, man, it's legit thereyou go.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
But we'll have the reception, the minor league game
, kind of nestled in between thetwo half days of education.
So it's open to credit unionQSOs.
It's a free event.
So if you're looking to kickoff your spring season with some
fun educational opportunities,this is one for you.
Also, registration is open forour Focal Point workshops.
(04:13):
The first one is happening May6th and 7th.
That one will be in Savannah,georgia, and the other one's
June 3rd and 4th down in or overin Seattle.
I don't think I can say down,since it's literally all the way
across the us.
It's up, up, up and over.
There you go there you go.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
That works, I think.
You know I'm couldn't be more.
I don't know which one I'm moreexcited for.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Savannah's been on my list of cities I want to visit
for a very long time, but I meanI will say, having done a lot
of the marketing for them, bothof them have very rich cultures.
Oh, so I think that that's whatI'm excited about is because
not, I mean we know that peoplecome to our events because one
(05:01):
they're awesome to figure aninsane amount, amount of
education.
But the cities also matter, andwe know that and that's why we
try to move them around as muchas we can.
But, um, the culture in both ofthese places, uh it's, it's
been fun to look into andresearch for sure I mean they
are.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
But I know we're getting sidetracked.
But you know, the pacificnorthwest has a special place in
my heart and I I always talkabout it and I I love seattle,
the fact that we're going to thepacific northwest.
You know, seattle especially.
I couldn't be more giddy, butI've started going down, like
(05:45):
this rabbit hole of, you know,wanting to go to all the fancy
Starbucks that are there.
I don't know why.
I'm a beer person and Seattlehas a good brewery scene, but
they also have the Starbucksreserves and the roasteries.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
I think that's what I've been to one in new york.
It was awesome, is it really?
Yeah, it was awesome.
It's over in chelsea market.
It was insane.
I think we spent like an hourat starbucks, so we're totally
going to a coffee, 100.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Going to a roastery?
Yeah, of course, like I just Iwant to, I just want to go to it
and I want to try it.
And don't think I think you canget like mixed drinks there too
, right?
Yep, they have all kinds ofstuff.
Oh, totally going hands down?
Yeah, I think they do.
Like tours, yep, they do thosetoo.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
All right, we're doing, yeah.
And then, to wrap out ourin-person events, we have our
make your mark annual conference, which is going to be happening
in Denver.
Be on the lookout in the nextmonth or so for some special
communications regarding that,because that will be coming out.
And then, if you're not able tomake it to our in-person events
, I would say, fret.
Not, because we have ourwebinar series, our Fast Tracks
(06:58):
and Inside Tracks that arehappening year-round.
But in addition to the webinars, we also launched a few new
networks that are credit unionQSO specific and then some that
are also open to just aboutanyone.
So we have our marketingnetworks, our underwriting
networks, our volume basednetworks and, last but not least
(07:18):
for sure, our youngprofessional network.
So stay on the lookout forupcoming meetings with those uh
groups as well let's do like ahappy hour at starbucks.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
That would be fun.
Could you imagine, like?
I know I should be looking atsomething else, but I'm looking
at the map.
I think it's right down thestreet from us, from our hotel
you got uppers and downers,that's awesome, I know Never do
a downer than an upper.
Always do Wait, no switch.
That Anyways, I come back, Idigress.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
Yeah, that could be fun.
That's right.
We need to add this to Krista'svery short list of things that
she needs to work on.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
She's probably listening right now, but yeah,
we'll make it.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
Yeah, we'll add it to the list of things.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
We'll see how this one goes we're totally getting
in trouble for this.
All right, love it.
I love getting in trouble.
Awesome.
Well, thank you very much.
Appreciate it.
Of course this will be so good,jamie.
Sorry, I like getting introuble.
All right, so I'm going toclose that window.
I need to stop going down thatrabbit hole.
Um, again, excited for thisconversation.
(08:30):
But before we get to ourconversation, I I always start
off the podcast with the samequestions.
Like I have to continue to doit this way.
Um, you know, the firstquestion is always the same and
again, the On Point podcast is apeople piece and I always
preface it the same exact way.
First question is always thesame one who is Jamie?
(08:53):
Let's always start it with that.
So please, you know, for thepeople who don't know you, you
know, walk us through who Jamieis.
You can make this as personalas you want, you can keep it as
professional as you want, youcan do a mix of both, but please
, let's walk us through that.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Love it.
I always appreciate a mix ofboth.
So I currently get theopportunity to lead Sunward's
lending team as the SVP oflending, where I get to redefine
the cooperative spirit withinfinance institutions.
Where I get to redefine thecooperative spirit within
finance institutions.
I really enjoy this spacebecause I get to champion values
that really align with me, bothprofessionally and personally
(09:32):
Accountability, grittiness,putting our members first, being
better every day.
I have 22 years in the creditunion industry.
I actually have served 22 yearsat one organization and then
recently joined the Sunward teamin New Mexico, which is where
we're going to lead into it.
But part of this mind shift andjourney as we go through so I
(09:53):
have two amazing boys that I amabsolutely proud of my journey
has really been one of learningevolving, redefining success, of
learning evolving, you know,redefining success.
I've had many moments whereI've had to completely shift my
mindset, whether it be in mycareer, whether it be in my
personal life or facingchallenges that seemed
impossible at times.
(10:13):
So I like to always think of mygrowth, as you know, not always
having all the answers, butbeing able to ask better
questions.
So I'm really excited to diveinto this today.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Okay, awesome.
And I think you kind of hintedat it, and I think that's the
main premise behind today'sconversation is our ability as
humans, as professionals orwhatever.
We want to frame this up as ourability to maintain a positive
(10:45):
mindset, but also to to navigatedifficult times and really come
out ahead, right?
So I think we all go throughdifficult times, you know, and I
think some of us have theability to come out ahead.
(11:06):
Take those times that are moredifficult than others, learn
from them and come out better,right.
But at the same time, some ofus really never recover from it,
right.
And so maybe this episode isgoing to go a little bit deeper
(11:26):
than what we normally do, and Ithink that's why the second
segment is always geared towardsmaking it a little bit more
lighthearted.
But I think this conversation isreally tailored for the people
who have a hard time takingthemselves back up, right,
(11:48):
because we need to find a way tolearn and grow and keep moving
forward.
You know was it WinstonChurchill says if you're going
through hell, keep going.
So let's dive into this, okay,so help, let's kind of walk
through your journey, let's diveinto it and how, how you found
ways to kind of keep motivatingyourself to push forward and and
(12:12):
maintaining that mindset thatto overcome adversity oh, you
know, mindset is really an kindof an undervalued concept, right
?
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Everybody thinks it's this rose colored glasses.
You have to find this silverlining.
It has to be this this great,happy kind of blinded look.
But it's not so.
Reality is, some situationsjust suck.
You know, there are some dayswhere we are just not the best
versions of ourselves.
And mindset is not aboutpretending everything is great
(12:44):
or finding silver lining ineverything when there's not one
there, you know, it's not sayingthat, oh, we needed the rain
when you're standing in themiddle of a flood.
It's about knowing deep downthat you've had resilience to
push through the storm.
It's about owning the powerthat you have within you to face
anything and come out stronger,or even sometimes just come out
(13:05):
Right.
The difference is it's thechoice that you choose.
You know, mindset where I hadwas early on in my parenting
days, at a very young age,raising two boys on my own,
carrying the full weight ofproviding a household, kind of
(13:26):
just learning in myself as I wasso young, trying to figure out
what was next.
Right, I had previously reallyleaned towards pessimism,
flipping into that victimmentality.
Why me?
My boys deserve better.
Then there was a frustratingkind of middle ground moment
where I found myself making toomuch money to qualify for
(13:48):
government assistance to get mychildren health care, but not
enough money to afford properhealth care for them.
And at that moment I steppedback and said I had two choices
I could lower my income toqualify for aid or work harder
to afford the health care thatmy boys deserve, the life that I
wanted.
And I just remember looking atmy boys and I knew at that time
(14:10):
that I couldn't accept thestatus quo.
They deserve to live the lifethat they were meant to live,
not the one that we werecurrently stuck in.
So for me it was about survivaland resilience and really
redefining what was possible.
I made the conscious choice toshift from I can to I will, from
(14:32):
we have to settle to we'regoing to make this work.
We stopped seeing ourselves asa broken household and started
embracing that we were really anawesome family.
You know, this mind shift, thischange not only helped like
financially, but our mental andphysical well-beings as well.
So it wasn't pretending about.
(14:53):
Things were easy.
There were hard days, therewere days of tears.
It was really about reframingthese challenges with the cards
that we were dealt and doing thebest of what we could with the
cards that we were dealt, so itwasn't a this happened to us.
This is the cards.
What are we going to do with it?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And that shift in perspective has really made a
difference in my journey so mayI ask you know you you kept
referring to you know how, howyoung your boys were.
Just you know.
You know having young kids, youknow, and I I share this often.
You know, my, my oldest, isseven.
(15:34):
I have twin girls that are four.
How old were your boys at thetime?
Speaker 4 (15:38):
if you don't mind me asking, so they were eight and a
newborn.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We're talking months, yeah month, okay, and and so
you know, eight, eight and sevenyear old, you know, for the
most part, you know it's, it'svery similar in in maturity
levels, right, and so oftentimesyou're, you know, I imagine I
was having, I'm having the sameconversation that you were
having with with your, youreight-year-old, right, and so
(16:04):
how did you explain to youreight-year-old back then, you
know, that flip of a mindset,right, cause I mean, I and, and
Justin, I'm sure you can relate,you know, being, you know, the
father of two boys.
It's all too often, you know,and Justin, you coach baseball,
(16:25):
I coach basketball and lacrosse.
I just heard it the other dayfrom one of the kids I coach,
this is too hard, or I don'twant to do this because it's too
hard.
How did you flip that mindsetwith your son?
Because I'm sure it was this istoo hard, I don't want to do
this because it's too hard.
How?
(16:46):
How did you get that messageacross to him to get him to
follow your lead and understand,hey, we're gonna do this,
you're awesome, I awesome, we'rein this together, together we
can, we can push forward, youknow, et cetera.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
So I think a lot of it for me was is having those
honest conversations as much asyou can to an eight-year-old and
really just explain likeeverybody is born into different
phases of the world, right?
Some Some you know are raisedby their grandparents and some
are raised by, you know, twomoms, two dads, single moms,
single dads you know two parents.
(17:29):
This was to the cards that wewere dealt and we're really
going to enjoy the most of it.
So I don't know that I was ableto explain that mind shift to
him versus more demonstratingand then, when things did get
hard and when things got sad,recognizing like it's okay to be
sad, but tomorrow we're goingto get up and we're going to
(17:50):
have some fun.
Because you are not that version.
You get the choice to be ableto be happy tomorrow or you get
the choice to continue to havethese sad days.
And where do you feel better?
Right, that was a lot of ourconversations.
You know, when you, you knowwhen you wake up and you're
having these kind of doubtfulmoments or these sad moments,
(18:10):
you know how does it feel.
You know it feels crappy.
It doesn't feel good.
Well, when you go out and we,you know we do sports or we're
having fun, like how does thatmake you feel?
And so, of course, well, I'mexcited, and so we try to shift
to.
Well, let's concentrate onhaving those feelings again, the
ones that we enjoy having, andnot so much the ones that we
don't enjoy having.
We can have our pity partytoday, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
But tomorrow we're going to get back up, get mean.
It's.
You know that whole idea of youknow we choose our attitude
today, every single day that weget up, is the message that I
say to my boy, my son, everysingle day.
You know, my girls are still atthat point where they're like,
you know, whatever, dad, youknow I'm going to talk to mom,
(19:01):
mom's more important, but myson's at that point where he's
still listening to me.
But yeah, it's that we chooseour attitude every day.
And, yeah, yesterday sucked,but today can be better and you
either choose to be happy,choose to be sad, choose to be
mad.
But let's, today, let's chooseto be happy and let's, let's,
(19:22):
let's just be happy and let'schoose to be awesome today and
we can push forward.
That's awesome.
So what else can we provide?
What other type of I don't wantto say words of advice Maybe
that's the right way of framingit up what other type of words
(19:44):
of advice can we provide?
Someone who is, we'll say,going through some dark times or
dark moments, that you wouldsay, or as a lesson that you
learned, that you're, that youwould say I wish I would have
done this better, and maybeperhaps you know, hindsight's
(20:06):
always 20, 20.
If you could have donesomething better, it may be
turned out Okay, but which youwish you could have done it
better.
What was, what would be thatone lesson learned?
Speaker 4 (20:17):
So one that really sticks out, and it was reminded
um.
A good friend of mine, um, soone that really sticks out, and
it was reminded.
A good friend of mine, delVermillion, had reminded us of a
story that was told by TrevorMoad, and you guys have probably
heard this one.
It's been around a while, butthe concept of this story is
(20:42):
that there was a young man whowas struggling in high school,
failing out of school, wasn'treally kind of the best version
of himself, didn't have a brightlooking future and had promised
his mom that he would take theSATs.
So he went in, took the SATs,took the SATs because that's
what he promised his mom, notexpecting anything out of it.
When the results came in, hescored a 1480 out of 1600 on the
SATs and for anybody you know,that is amazing, that is
(21:05):
phenomenal, that's like kind of,you know, going towards that
genius status.
And he really started to seehimself in a different light.
He began acting differently but, you know, believing he was
smarter than he ever realized hecould be.
And he not only changed andshifted his life through high
school, he was able to get intocollege, was successful through
college and then eventuallybecame the most you know,
(21:27):
successful magazine entrepreneur.
But then there's a twist to thestory.
So 12 years after thiswonderful sat, life-changing
moment, he received a letterstating that he was one of 13
individuals that were given thewrong SAT score, that he was
actually a 740 and not a 1480.
(21:49):
So this story is not about themistake behind it.
It's about how he was able toshift his mindset, because he
believed he was this 1480.
He started acting like a 1480.
So his belief changed hisbehaviors.
His behaviors changed hisattitude.
The attitude changed thereality.
Right, so the power of mindset.
(22:11):
So when we go back to your, toyour question on what would I
have liked to do better, Iconstantly remind myself am I
acting like that 1480?
And it can be when I'mstruggling to work out and I
just don't want to do it, but Iknow what my end result is.
Am I acting like that 1480?
And there have been plenty oftimes where I have not lived
(22:34):
that positive mindset mentality.
But it's recognizing thatthat's the stage I'm in, right,
it's recognizing, hey, that'sthe mindset that I'm in.
And then really asking myselfthe conscious, you know, jamie,
are you going to stay in thisnegative mindset or are you
going to act like that 1480?
(22:54):
Are you going to come out of it?
And I think recognition is oneadvice, that it is okay.
You know I had said it before.
You know there are days thatare going to suck right, but
it's recognizing.
What do I want out of it,recognizing that I'm in that
space and then what do I want todo to get out of it?
Because I am the only one thatcan make that shift.
There's no amount of teachings,there's no amount of mentorship
(23:17):
, there's no amount ofcounseling and life coaching
that can get you out of it.
It has to come from you.
And then you make thatconscious choice to stay in or
get out.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Okay, I love it.
That's awesome.
If there's one thing that youwould say that you're the most
proud of, after all these things, after navigating all these
dark times and coming out ahead,what's the one thing that you
would say, hey, I'm the mostproud of this.
What would that be?
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Making the choice to go down the hard path of working
harder, putting myself throughschool while raising two boys.
I'm most proud of choosing thathard path because it would have
been easier to choose the pathof oh, let me just work less.
Oh, you know, let me go out andfind somebody to support me.
(24:11):
So my biggest has always beenthat I took a path that was
aligned with my values and myvisions and what I wanted to see
out of my boys as they grew upinto young adults.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Okay, that's awesome, justin.
You leaned in.
Speaker 5 (24:26):
Yeah.
So, jamie, I feel like you andI, I feel like you're telling my
story and it's incrediblehearing it from someone else's
perspective as well, when youkind of reach that moment where
you kind of put yourself throughschool and what was that
epiphany like?
(24:47):
What did that feel like?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
oh, that is beyond words.
There is a a passion aboutknowing that I have just
demonstrated to my boys, to myfriends, to my families that
anything is possible if to myboys, to my friends, to my
families, that anything ispossible if you put your mind to
it.
I think that was that joy andkind of a satisfaction of man.
It was tough, there was a lotof obstacles in the way, but I
(25:14):
came out better and now my boysrealize and recognize that
through the struggles of life,that we can get through it yeah,
no, I totally agree.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
I mean, I, I remember being in a similar situation
and just the amount of weight assoon as I kind of let it all go
, the amount of weight that wasjust lifted, like it was just
like you could breathe again,like Like so many doors opened
up whenever you quit focusing onbad stuff.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
I love it and you're exactly right, and that's why I
always think it's so undervalued, because people do look at it
like those rose colored glasses,but it is not.
There is something truly abouta unexplainable shift in
yourself and how happy you areand how you see the world and
how, you know, I always look atit like a sunset.
You know, did you enjoy thesunset?
(26:05):
It happens every night, but youget the opportunity right To
say, man, it's a beautifulsunset or that's a sunset.
So I 100% agree with you.
There is something that shiftsin your whole world that makes
life happy, positive, and youknow, there's a million words
that can describe it, because itis very hard to crawl out of a
(26:28):
dark space, but when you do like, you're unstoppable totally
that's awesome.
Speaker 5 (26:38):
You were gonna say something else, Justin or no?
No, it's an amazing story.
I've heard my own fiddle before, so it's just hearing it in a
different tune.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
That's awesome.
All right, jamie, we need tostart transitioning.
As much as I want to continuethis conversation, we need to
start transitioning, but Ialways have that last question.
And the last question is really, actually, I'm going to ask two
questions and please forgive mefor pivoting.
The second to last question isalways going to be final
(27:15):
thoughts.
By that on my preface, by saying, you know, as we focus on the
idea of maintaining a positivemindset, you know, in this, this
overall fast-paced,ever-changing industry, that
we're in right and and let's behonest, I mean, the past couple
(27:36):
years have been tough and let'sand let's, let's, let's remove
the personal side of this.
Okay, because I think we focusa lot on the personal side in
this conversation.
Let's, let's focus onprofessional side for this, this
, this moment.
So the past couple years havebeen tough professionally for a
(28:01):
lot of people, which isobviously, in turn, impacted
them personally in the nextcouple years and you know, based
off of everything that we'veseen in the news, who knows what
it's going to be like for usprofessionally?
How do we maintain give me somefinal thoughts how do we
maintain give me some finalthoughts how do we maintain a
positive mindset in this everchanging environment that we're
(28:24):
in.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
So I would go back to everybody has a choice.
You get to choose your good,you get to choose your bad, you
get to choose your challengesand to really look at instead of
this is happening to us that Iget to go through this, that I
get the opportunity to come outstronger, that I get the
opportunity to come out stronger, that I get the opportunity to
come out with more knowledge, Iget the opportunity to share
(28:46):
these experiences.
You know, 10, 15 years down theroad and then, based on those
choices and those experiences,how am I going to show up?
Like, what is that legacy goingto look like?
Was it, oh, you know, themarket crash?
Knock on wood that it's notgoing to crash, but the market
crash.
We went through these reallyhard times and that was it right
(29:08):
, or is it?
We went through these reallyhard times, but I was able to
shift in this area.
I was, you know, able to maybelearn about this, and then I
came out of it even stronger,right?
So I think it's that choice ofwhen these things are happening
is it happening to you or do youget the opportunity to grow
from it?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Yeah, I love it.
That was a great answer.
All right, here's the realfinal question.
You're like everyone else onefoot out of bed.
What keeps you going, whatkeeps you motivated, what keeps
you driving every single day?
And I mean, I have a feeling Iknow the answer, but I have to
(29:50):
ask the question anyways whatkeeps you going?
Speaker 4 (29:55):
A couple of things.
So it's really a passion forwhat I do and it's not just
professionally, it's how I showup in the world right, it's the
impact that I leave behind, it'sthe quote unquote legacy that I
get to live behind.
So I want my boys to see like,when you push through these
challenges and you strive to bebetter, the world is your oyster
(30:19):
right, the world is at yourfingertips.
You know, I love the challenges, I love the wins, but I love
proving to myself even more thatI can do what seemed impossible
and that really fuels me liketo leave things better than I
found them.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
No, that is awesome.
Great answer, great answer.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
All right.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
So we need transition to the second segment of our
podcast and then the secondsegment.
This is where we sometimes doJeopardy.
We sometimes have fun facts.
But in today's episode, we'regoing to do the most requested,
fan favorite series of dad jokes, and so here's how we're going
(31:03):
to run it.
We're going to go around thehorn and we're each going to say
our dad jokes, and so, prior tothe podcast, I asked you to
come prepared with two to threedad jokes.
So you're going to say your twoto three dad jokes, jess will
do his two to three dad jokesand I will wrap up with my two
to three dad jokes.
(31:23):
Now, jamie, how many dad jokesdo you have?
Two or three?
Speaker 4 (31:27):
I have two.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Perfect, perfect.
So you'll do your two, justinwill do his two and I'll do my
two, and then we'll wrap up andthat's it All right.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
So after you, so what do you call a factory that
makes good products?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
What.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
A satisfactory.
It's always those shepherdsthat you know is a good bad joke
, right?
So why do chicken?
Speaker 5 (31:57):
coops only have two doors.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
I know this one, because, if they, had four.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
They'd be called chicken sedans.
I knew that one.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
I hate that I didn't say it these are the ones that
got the biggest eye rolls fromboth of my boys, so I knew I had
adamant I knew that one.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I knew that one.
Oh, damn it, I knew that one.
Why I knew that one?
Damn it.
I knew that one.
Why didn't I see it?
I blanked on it.
That was good.
That was good.
All right, justin, I'm going totry to ruin yours.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
I know I'm really good at ruining Justin's show.
I'm struggling with this.
Okay.
What creature is smarter than atalking parrot?
What A spelling bee.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
I knew that one too, oh oh.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
That was good that was good.
Speaker 5 (32:56):
Alright, I'm going to jack up this, but I'm going to
try it anyways.
What did Elvis say to hislandscaper?
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Please do, please do an Elvis voice.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
I tried, I tried.
Speaker 5 (33:17):
That's a bad impersonation, but I tried.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Do it again real quick.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
That's good.
That's good, nicely done.
What do you call a one-leggedhippo?
I don't know A hoppo.
I don't know a hoppo um umwhich one?
(33:51):
Which one which one um.
The other day my wife asked meif our kids were spoiled, and I
said no, most kids smell thatway well true fact, but yes,
seriously god, it's bad, alrightand that's it.
(34:14):
That wraps up this episode'sround of dad jokes.
Well, jamie, thank you so muchfor joining us today.
We really enjoyed theconversation.
I mean it a lot.
I think everything that yousaid, I think, resonated with
both of us.
You know, justin and I, but Ithink your message was very,
(34:35):
very, very powerful.
I appreciate the fact thatyou're vulnerable throughout
this whole episode.
I think this is probably one ofthe most impactful episodes
that we recorded so far in thethree seasons.
So thank you very much, reallydo appreciate it absolutely
appreciate you having me onabsolutely thanks for the
conversation of course, andjustin, thank you, of course.
(34:57):
It was my pleasure.
And, to close out, thank youagain to optimal blue for
sponsoring today's episode andto all of you.
We know your time is valuable.
Thank you for tuning in to thelatest episode of Acuma's On
Point Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time, be well, myfriends.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time at theAcuma On Point Podcast.
If not already, be sure tosubscribe and give us a
five-star rating For more greatepisodes and information.
Be sure to visit us online atacumaorg and to get the latest
updates.
Head over to our LinkedIn page.
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