February 14, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode, James McLamb joins host Aaron Alejandro to discuss the impact of encouragement—both as a simple word and as a transformative action. James shares his journey from agriculture education to youth leadership development, emphasizing the power of mentorship, servant leadership, and personal growth.
From his early experiences in the FFA to founding Generation Youth, James highlights the role of mentorship, life skills, and leadership development in shaping young minds. Whether in the classroom, in mission work, or coaching the next generation of leaders, he believes in empowering others to unlock their full potential.
Story Notes:
• Exploring the importance of gratitude in leadership
• James McLamb shares his background in agriculture and education
• Discussing the role of Generation Youth in youth empowerment
• Importance of hands-on skills and community service for competitive edge
• Emphasizing leadership roles for personal and professional growth
• The urgent need for mentorship within today’s youth
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFAFoundation will take on a
journey of exploration intoagricultural science, education,
leadership development andinsights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who providethe fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, AaronAlejandro.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, good morning, good afternoon or good evening
or whenever you may be tuning into the Growing Our Future
podcast.
We're just honored that you'rewith us today and we appreciate
you joining us.
And, as always, we're reallyexcited about today's guest.
I just love bringing on subjectmatter experts, people that
share their insights,experiences and they're just
(00:52):
encouraging and willing to pourinto others, and today is no
different.
Today we have James McLamb,generation Youth founder and
executive team leader.
James, thanks for joining ustoday, thank you, aaron.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
It's good to be with you, my friend.
We've been friends a long timeand I'm grateful for this
opportunity to be able to sharesomething with you today.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, I appreciate you coming on.
It's always fun, like you said,when you know people.
But I love podcasts becauseit's an opportunity for me to
shut up and listen to you and tosay you know here, jane, you
know, share all the good stuff,all the good conversations, all
the things that we talk about,about what our passions are, and
a lot of our passions liearound developing young people,
(01:37):
and we're going to unpack someof that today.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, I'm grateful to be here on you and I've told
you this story before is youwere influencing me before I
even knew you, because as ayoung teacher in the early 90s,
I was buying videos about how toteach parliamentary procedure
and there were some young guyfrom Texas that was the host of
those videos going through thosethings, videos going through
(02:06):
those things.
So I got to see a young AaronAlejandro teach parliamentary
procedure as I relayed that tomy students in the early 90s.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, you're awful kind and I can tell you.
I can tell you one thing thathadn't changed.
I know I've got a lot less hair, got a lot more pounds, but I
can tell you that I don't mindarguing still, and that's the
one thing.
Parliamentary procedure givesyou an edge when it comes to
talking and discussing things.
So thank you for sharing thatwith your kids.
By the way, james, we start offthis program every guest, every
(02:33):
guest I've ever had on here westart off with the same question
and that is James, what are yougrateful for today?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
What I'm most grateful for today is that in
just three days my family and Iwill be leaving for a much
extended vacation in themountains of North Carolina to
be in a cabin.
I've been monitoring theweather there.
It's going to be very cool.
We've got lots of relaxingenjoyment and I just am eager to
get and and relax and spendtime with most of the family.
(03:07):
The oldest is is a teacher, anagriculture teacher herself, and
her first year, so she'll benot with us the entire time.
She'll catch the latter half ofthe the trip.
But that's what I'm gratefulfor today is is I'm counting
down the, not the days.
We're down to counting downhours now.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
That's awesome.
I couldn't agree with you more.
By the way, you know, as youand I have discussed many times,
if you turn on the news or youget to scrolling through social
media, sometimes it's real easyto get a little negative and
forget all that we have to begrateful for.
And I think those moments ofpause where you look around and
(03:48):
say, wow, I got a family, wow, Igot a family Not everybody can
say I got a family, wow, I'vegot a good job that provides me
a little liberty in a greatcountry, that provides all these
incredible natural resourcesand the capacity to get away and
enjoy those moments together.
You know, like I said, sometimesyou just got to look around and
(04:10):
realize how, how fortunate weare and how blessed we are.
And I don't know about you, butI like to be around people that
are grateful.
I have found that people thatare grateful have a lot more
energy.
They're more optimistic,they're always looking for
something good, and I kind oflike hanging out with people
like that.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I do too.
I do as well, and I'll begrateful for every minute that
we get to spend there.
Probably the only thing I willbe ungrateful for is having to
pack up on the last day and comehome, so there you go.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
There you go.
All right, james McLam, here'swhat we're going to do.
You've already said that weknow each other, but not
everybody knows you, and so I do, and I know your background a
little bit.
But for the listeners andviewers that may not be tuned
into your podcast, they may nothave read your book, they may
not be aware of your pedigree,why don't you take a moment?
(05:03):
Because I know you did not justfall into that seat that you're
in.
Something tells me there was ajourney, there was some
experiences, and there'ssomething that brought you to
this place in life and whyyou've chosen to do what you do
right now empowering,encouraging and equipping young
people.
So take us through your lifeand take us through how you got
(05:24):
to where you're at today.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Well, like so many people and you can attest to
this as well I'd wandered intoan agriculture classroom in the
ninth grade at South JohnstonHigh School in North Carolina,
not knowing what it was aboutreally.
Just went there because I grewup on a farm, specifically a
nursery, and I knew I had to bea part of that in some way or
another.
(05:47):
So I, you know, wandered intothere to find out what was going
on.
Well, that was just what Ineeded.
It took a very shy person,someone who felt like they had a
lot to offer but didn't knowhow to package it and how to
give it to the world, and itgave me a vision for what could
be in my life and who I couldbecome.
(06:09):
And so, like yourself, I hadmany opportunities for
leadership in the FFA in NorthCarolina and to serve in
capacity on the national levelas well, and that led me then to
(06:32):
go into agriculture educationin college and to teach for
almost a decade in NorthCarolina as an ag teacher, which
really inspired me.
It motivated me, I know.
Every day I went home feelingso grateful for the opportunity
to share in the lives of youngpeople, but also I was grateful
for what I was learning fromthem every day.
I really felt like I learnedmore at the end of the day than
the students who were in myclass when my oldest daughter
was born.
(06:53):
I decided to go back to thefamily businesses the nursery
operations and some otherbusinesses and and take over
those responsibilities so thatmy wife could then stay at home
those responsibilities so thatmy wife could then stay at home
and we could provide a familyand a lifestyle that would
enable us to be able to raise afamily at home and provide for
them and take advantage of someopportunities there at my
(07:16):
hometown.
But I never lost the passionfor working with youth.
I never lost that desire toimpact future generations and
really just pour into them andhelp empower them so that they
could see their potential.
And so it was channeled theninto ministry work and missions
(07:39):
work.
Through our church and throughsome other opportunities.
My wife and I did mission workwith youth, creating ministry
teams that led mission tripswith youth in mind, serving at
youth camps, speaking at youthcamps, doing those types of
things.
But all that did was just kindof fuel the fire.
You know, it didn't quench it,it just kind of fueled it to
(08:00):
make me see that things could bebigger.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
And at that same time , I had a sales staff working
under me at the nursery that Iwanted to equip better.
And so I went back to where Ithought was the best sales
training and also along with myvalues, and that was the Ziegler
Corporation.
I said, well, these folks knowhow to teach sales and their
values, along with what Ibelieve.
Let me go back to them and getthat material.
(08:26):
So I started really going backand relearning all those things
that I'd learned in high schooland college and during teaching
from Mr Ziegler, but now from adifferent perspective, from a
sales perspective.
During that process ofreconnecting with them and
finding out all the information,I discovered that they were
(08:47):
starting a new program of legacytrainers where they were going
to equip people who had a desireto impact others with Mr
Ziegler's timeless principlesPrinciples, you know, on the
steps to success and buildingbetter relationships and goal
setting.
And I signed up.
I was part of the first class.
I wanted to be there, wow.
(09:08):
And that week things started tofall into place.
I began to see all thesespeaking and things that I'd
done through ministry and thethings that I've been teaching
and all this business stuff thatI had learned.
This was kind of pulling it alltogether and I began to see a
picture.
I need to redirect my life tofocusing on working with youth
(09:32):
and equipping them andempowering them to be the best
you can be.
And this was in 2013 when thishappened.
And so, on that last day forthose who are familiar with
these types of training programsyou have kind of a graduation
ceremony where you get to standup and get your certificate and
your picture taken with thepresenters and for us it was
(09:55):
with the Ziegler family andshare with them what you were
going to do, and I stood thereand said I want to take these
concepts and I want to repackagethem for youth.
And, of course, there were alot of folks that were clapping
yeah, yeah, we need that.
But I could tell that most ofthem were, yes, they were
excited about it, but theyweren't willing to step into it,
and so I spent the next twoyears trying to figure out how
(10:17):
to do this.
And to begin with, aaron, it wasreally all kind of me focused.
I was like I'll get up, I'llform my own team, we'll go
around the world, we'll goaround the nation, we'll do
speaking, we'll do workshops,we'll do great, I'll build a
team and we'll just be great,we'll do our own thing.
And so I was doing some of thatand I enjoyed it.
I mean, I remember speaking ata youth conference and the youth
(10:39):
afterwards come up and says oh,you're trending locally on
Twitter.
Now Everybody's tweeting you.
And I was like that's cool.
I didn't even know what that wasat the time.
I mean, this was around 13.
I was like I'm trending onTwitter.
I don't know what that means.
But yeah, that was when thosethings were kind of cool to
happen, but it really wasn'tsatisfying as much.
And it wasn't until I realizedthat I would much rather train
(11:07):
and equip young people to be theleaders and difference makers
in their community and then bethe mentor and the guidance for
them and watch them grow.
I'd rather do that.
That's so much more fulfillingthan really being the person out
in front and on stage.
I mean there's nothing wrongwith that and I love the
opportunities.
I have to do that.
(11:27):
I really do, and I would, and Irelish them to this day.
But coming off the stage, evenwith all the you know people
being excited about what yousaid and you know, getting the,
the emotional impact that yousee in there, that's great.
But what's much moresatisfactory is getting a text
from someone that says James,today I served at a camp and I
(11:53):
saw this happen.
Or, because of what you guystaught me, I'm now a teacher or
I'm going into ministry.
That, to me, is much moresatisfying.
That's that is.
Is is much more satisfying.
So that's how generation youthreally started.
I was equipping young peopleand then we moved on into
(12:13):
equipping adults because we feltadults wanted to come to our
training.
I just wanted to deal withyouth and college students at
the time, but when COVID hit, itgave us a time to refocus and
provide some new products andprovide some new services.
And now we equip people whowant to be life coaches, that
that want to help coach youth tobe their best selves, that want
(12:37):
to pour into youth, help youthidentify where they are in life
right now, help them make a planfor where you know, find out
where they want to go and make aplan to get there, and so
that's what we're doing now withour coaching program.
So that's really a very quicksynopsis of where we've been and
where we hope to go.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Well, you know, one of the things that we do here on
this show is I really enjoyhaving guests that share their
journey.
And the reason why is becauseif you will listen to somebody's
journey, you're going to pickup these little nuggets of gold,
these little opportunities ofwisdom.
(13:17):
And I also believe that if youlisten to somebody's journey and
testimony, you also find theircore values.
And listening to you share yourstory and your journey, it's
very evident of why you're doingwhat you're doing.
You started as a young servantleader.
You wanted to serve, you wantedto share, you wanted to help,
(13:40):
you wanted to encourage.
And you said you know what?
I think I'm going to do that inthe classroom.
And you jumped into thatclassroom role.
And what did you do?
Trying to share, trying toempower, trying to encourage.
And then, because you have thecore value of if you want to be
better, you've got to makeyourself better, you started
looking for tools.
What can I do to improve myself?
(14:02):
You know who can I hang aroundwith, who can I be associated
with?
And you found that incrediblebrand of the big Z and you know
you pulled into that and youleaned into that.
And then you know successbegets success and you know it
was what Zig I love Zig said.
He said you go as far as youcan see and when you get there,
(14:22):
you'll always be able to seefurther.
And listen to what you justshared.
You've shared with us servingothers.
You've shared with us settinggoals.
You've shared with us having avision.
By the way, I believe the Bibleis very clear about that.
It says where there is novision, the people will perish.
Good leaders always have a veryprofound vision and most
(14:45):
leaders will have that vision,based on their core values, of
what they want to do.
And I think when you look atwhat you're doing today, that's
very clear.
So the reason I share that isfor listeners who are listening
to the show, especially youngpeople.
When you hear people share,listen to what they're really
sharing Because, again, they'resharing their core values,
(15:06):
they're sharing what they reallybelieve in, they're sharing
their passion and their visionand all of those things have
brought you to this incrediblegeneration youth program that
you've developed.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Well, I appreciate that.
That means a lot coming fromyou and to be able to see you
put for a reason for him to beprepared.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
But if he had never struck out, took the risk and
(15:50):
put on the blue jacket, if hehad never struck out and took
the risk of getting up andsaying the creed, or standing up
and running for office orsaying that I'm going to pursue
something of faith, which isn'talways the most popular thing to
do.
If you think about all theagain, when I listen to
somebody's testimony, there's somuch gold there.
(16:11):
Now I'm going to add risk toyour background.
I'm going to add vulnerabilityto your background and I want
young people to understand thatthe people that they engage with
, they didn't just happen intotheir jobs.
They didn't just happen.
There was something behind thescenes that drove all those
things.
And what I like that you havedone is you've been very
(16:35):
intentional about that.
You've not always had all theanswers, but you've been
intentional about the directionthat you're headed.
Yeah, cleo Franklin, who's onmy board?
He's a friend of mine.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
He said, I would rather be directionally correct
than precisely wrong.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
That's a great statement, Isn't that a great
line I would rather bedirectionally correct than
precisely wrong and your path towhere you're at today and what
you're doing.
I think if the listeners arelistening, there's a lot of
opportunity that comes out ofthat.
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Well, I've been very blessed to have those kind of
opportunities and been blessedwith the gift of being able to
see opportunities in the midstof the things that I'm doing to
see there's something I can domore.
There's something that I can domore, which my wife accuses me
of.
It says you're never satisfiedwith the success that you're
(17:36):
having with this organization.
Now you're always thinking, youknow, there's got to be more,
there's got to be a biggerimpact.
And there's some truth to that.
And it's not that I amdissatisfied or not grateful,
it's just that there's anurgency I have.
You know there's so many issuesand obstacles and problems that
youth are faced today.
If we can just equip enoughpeople, we can.
(17:57):
We can change.
We can really do that.
We can.
We can make a difference.
We can make a difference.
When we first started GenerationYouth, it was called Generation
Ziegler, because we were basingmost of the content on Mr
Ziegler and honestly, we thoughtit was really creative branding
(18:19):
because then we could call itGen Z, which was the same as the
generation we were dealing with.
So, as that generation isgetting older, we've seen that
we need to open up a little bitfor that getting older.
We've seen that we need to openup a little bit for that.
But when we first startedGeneration Ziggler the person
who was helping me start it is agood friend of ours, matt Rush
used to say hey, we don't wantmuch.
When we would tell folks whatwe were doing, he said we don't
want much, we just want tochange the world.
And that's really what I'vekind of held to I don't want
(18:41):
much, I just want to change theworld.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
I'm writing that down , let me tell you something.
Every interview, every time wedo these, I'm always listening
to the guests, because I don'tever come into these thinking I
know what we're going to titleit.
I'm always listening becausesomewhere along the way they're
going to give me something.
I'll say that's the name ofthis podcast, that that's good
couple things that you just said, by the way, and again I'm just
(19:09):
unpacking what you've said.
I hope everybody was listening.
Every everybody that's on thecall, everybody that's listening
in today, everybody, whetheryou're watching the video or
you're tuned into one of theplatforms, everybody listening
has a birthday everybody's got abirthday, everybody's got a
(19:29):
birthday, and on that day thatwe came into this world, the
doctor might have slapped us onthe hind end and at that moment
we took an inhale.
I'm here and then one day, whenour purpose is served, we're all
(19:53):
going to exhale.
Life is just a breath.
Life starts with an inhale,it's going to end with an exhale
, and if you look at life asjust a breath and you want to
serve others, it will create asense of urgency, because you
know, there's a James McLean,there's an Aaron Alejandro,
there's somebody out there thatneeds to be encouraged, that
(20:16):
needs to hear they've got thetools, they've got opportunity.
There's somebody that has tohave that sense of urgency to
let me know that I need to actnow.
And I tell you my experience isthis Unless you create a sense
of urgency, most people don'tmove.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
That is very true.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
I think you're wise to talk about an inborn sense of
urgency.
The other thing that I like totell people is every leader I
know and you know them too,every leader that I know there's
one important word in theirlife, and that word is next.
It doesn't matter if it's asuccess, it doesn't matter if
it's a failure.
They just look at the mirrorand say next.
And maybe your wife needs tohear that that's really what
(21:01):
you're talking about.
Okay, I got this text todayfrom this person, but guess what
?
I want to see what text I'mgoing to get tomorrow.
Who's next, who's the next one?
And if you don't look at itthat way and you don't look at
it with that, sense of urgency,you may miss it.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Yeah, the great thing is, our last coaching class
that we did was the first one wedid virtually.
So I love stuff that's live.
I really love in-person stuff.
But I saw a need for a virtualone, so we did a virtual one
back at the beginning of themonth of May and we had three
internationals that were on thiscall One person from Canada,
(21:39):
one person who is in Guatemalaand then one is in Nigeria.
So for me next is what are wegoing to see in those three
countries?
How is that going to impactthem, especially in Nigeria?
Nigeria has the largestpercentage of youth population
in the world.
60% is under the age of 19.
(22:01):
60% of their population and bythe end of this century they
will be the second biggestcountry in the world behind
India.
Somebody's going to say whathappened to China?
Well, you need to look that upand figure it out.
China is actually going to bedown around number four by that
time.
They're dropping in population,but Nigeria is exploding.
(22:21):
In Central America, guatemalahas the highest youth population
.
I didn't know that until theperson sent me a text the next
week and said, hey, I just foundthis out.
You know this is theopportunity we have, and they're
going to be using this contentand curriculum to work with
missionary kids in Guatemala.
So the children of missionariesthat are coming there to spread
(22:45):
the gospel in that country.
She's going to be teaching themand coaching them in this
content.
So there's another rippleeffect there, because not only
is it going to impact thatcountry, because she's going to
be doing it with natives as well, but think about that when they
go back home.
Because she said they're fromAmerica, they're from South
Korea, they're from all over theworld that are pouring into
(23:10):
there, not just the UnitedStates that are sending
missionaries, or other countriesas well, and so that
international group is now goingto hear this content go out.
So that's exciting.
That kind of gets it up.
So that's the next for me.
Where's this going to go?
What's my text next year goingto be about?
Hey, they're teaching thisstuff in places that I had no
(23:32):
idea it could reach.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Just make sure you get that little filter thing
turned on, where it'll translatethe language barrier.
Get these texts and you'll knowwhere it's from.
I want to circle back realquick.
I don't do this with everyguest for obvious reasons, but
with you I can do this.
Let's circle back and let'stalk a little bit about the fact
that you did come fromagricultural science and you
came from FFA.
What are some of the thingsthat you learned in ag science
(23:56):
and FFA maybe on the highestlevel that you kind of still
employ today?
That they're skill sets youlearn, then, that you can still
employ as adults that youbelieve help you get along in
life.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Well, the core things that we teach in Generation
Youth is based on the problemsthat we have determined.
Youth have the major categoriesthat youth have based on our
interviews, and that's dealingwith self-image, building,
effective relationships and goalsetting.
And goal setting and if Ireflect back to my high school
experience, I was blessed enoughto have those kind, have
someone in the form of an agteacher and then through FFA
(24:38):
leadership on different levels,pointing to me constantly on how
to build and maintain apositive self-image, how to
effectively build relationshipswith people and be the kind of
person that people want to bearound.
And then how do you set goals?
What's the importance ofdreaming and setting goals?
(24:59):
Aaron, those were things that ayoung James took for granted,
because if I was learning themin the introduction or what was
it called the fundamentals ofagriculture class in ninth grade
at South Johnson, then, to besure, everybody in that school
was learning, but they were not.
The person in my junior Englishclass sitting next to me did
(25:20):
not know the power of dreams.
They had not heard the thingsthat I had heard.
So, yes, I was learning theseskills, these tangible skills,
through horticulture classes andag mechanics classes, those
skills that were very employablethings that I could have used
immediately if I had felt calledto go into those industries.
(25:42):
It was more those personaldevelopment that they were
learning those leadership skills.
They were teaching me personaldevelopment that they were
learning those leadership skills.
They were teaching me thethings that built my character
as much as anything that I knowof.
I was fortunate enough to havefour agriculture teachers and in
my book in the back of it Idedicate part of it to them, and
(26:04):
I know I would not have had theopportunities in life and have
felt the call of service if Ihad not seen it modeled by them,
and then not only modeled bythem but instilled in them by me
.
I mean, they kept me on a paththat they saw in me something
(26:24):
that I knew was there, but theysaw opportunities for me that I
didn't know existed.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
You know, when you come along, I think every kid
comes to that point now wherethey're dealing with their
self-image and they're saying Ithink I can do something.
And then they have to make thatdecision Do I go after it or do
I just consider myself afailure and I'm not going to be
able to do it?
But everybody has that moment.
With that I think I can dobetter.
But a lot of them just don'thave any support.
They don't have any of this.
(26:53):
You know those soft skills tohelp them move forward on that
these teachers instilled in meso that when I was at that point
I knew I could do better.
They gave me the skills to doit and then showed me the place
that I could do it and theyopened a door to a world that
you know agriculture.
Education is the best keptsecret.
(27:14):
A lot of times in schoolsPeople just don't know what
they're getting into when theywalk into that class.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Couldn't agree with you more.
We could have a whole podcaston that one topic, but I do
agree with you.
I think there are some thingsthat we learned through
agricultural science and throughFFA that are very unique
compared to other classes inschool.
I simply put it like this youknow, some people argue we need
(27:42):
to get back to the basicsreading, writing and arithmetic.
Okay, the three R's, I get it.
I always tell people yeah,let's get back to the three R's.
Let's get back to respectresponsibility and arithmetic.
Okay, the three R's, I get it.
I always tell people yeah,let's get back to the three R's.
Let's get back to respectresponsibility and resiliency.
Let's get back to the basics.
Let's learn to respectourselves, our fellow man, be
responsible for ourselves, ourhomes, our community, and learn
to get up when you've beenknocked down.
(28:03):
Not everybody's going to get atrophy, I'm sorry.
It's just the challenges thatwe face in the natural world
require resiliency.
But I think the thing thatreally separates ag science kids
and FFA kids from everybodyelse is sports can teach
teamwork, band can teachensemble Speech and debate can
(28:25):
teach communication skills.
But there's something that youlearn when some life depends on
you that if, in the world ofagriculture.
You don't do your job,something dies.
That creates an inborn traitthat people will carry with them
for the rest of their lives.
(28:45):
They will carry that with theminto everything that they do.
So I do agree with you that ag,science education and FFA not
only gives us some of thepositive soft skills, but I
would also argue that it givesyou some internal core values
that no other program can giveyou.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
I think, too, you know the part of what kind of
instilled things into me.
Do you remember the aims andpurposes of the FFA that we had
back in the?
It used to be in the manualbefore they went in, with the
mission statement and thosetypes of things.
We had the it was either 10 or12 aims and purposes.
(29:27):
There was a poster that was onthe front of the classroom.
That's that where my seat was.
Every time I sat down and Ilooked up, it was right in front
of me and those things talkedabout things like leadership and
citizenship and character andscholarship and so everything.
When I sit in that class, notonly was I learning about, you
know, cows, sows and plows, butI was learning about this and
(29:50):
service was on there and thriftand patriotism and cooperation.
I remember those things thatwere there and just seeing that
constantly in front of me justwas reinforcing things that I
had grown up with, learning frommy parents.
But now I was seeing it in apackage, in a different way that
(30:13):
I was saying you know, this canbe a part of my life as well.
I wish that I had.
There was a post.
I wish I had that poster.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Well, you're on to something you know.
You and I both know this author.
He's pretty pretty good author.
He's written a couple of booksand his dad wrote a bunch of
books.
But this guy named Tom ZieglerI've heard of him before Ziegler
I think one of the things Ilike that Tom talks about are
the 10 virtues, and thosevirtues are timeless, and I
think that's what you're reallygetting at is the things that
(30:41):
you were encouraged to pursue,the concepts that you were
encouraged to empower and put inplace in your life, are really
they were virtues and, as aresult, you now share those
virtues in the role that youplay with Generation Youth, and
I think that's a cool thing.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
If I remember right, the back of my first manual that
I had had had words on it thatwere related to those purposes
leadership and citizenship andscholarship were on the back of
that manual and I just rememberit very, very distinctly about
those types of things and it waskind of like, you know, it's
kind of like what the teacher'sreally purpose of being there
(31:22):
was.
You know was to do that morethan just teaching us farm
business management skills butto teach us, you know, these
character skills, thesecooperation skills.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
So let's kind of stay with where we're at here for a
second.
So you're up in North Carolina,I'm here in Lone Star State.
I don't know.
Do you happen to know how manyhigh schools are in North
Carolina?
I do not.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I look it up while we're talking.
No, you don't have to do that.
I do not.
I'll look it up while we'retalking.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
No, you don't have to do that.
I'm just sitting here thinkingout loud.
Texas has more than 3,000 highschools.
Now think about that for asecond 3,000 high schools.
Every one of those high schoolsare going to have a graduating
class.
So 3,000 plus high schools areall going to be graduating
people this year.
The kids are going to get out.
(32:09):
They're going to be looking fora job, a scholarship or an
opportunity A job, a scholarshipor an opportunity?
My question to young people isalways this what's your
competitive edge?
What separates you from yourpeers?
What separates you from yourcolleagues?
You have to have something.
It could be something as simpleas a simple, strong handshake
(32:30):
and a yes or no sir.
Yes, ma'am, no ma'am.
It could be the way that youpresent yourself.
It could be a handwritten thankyou.
Note.
Little things like that couldbe the competitive edge over a
similarly qualified applicant.
Scholarship applicant, jobapplicant, opportunity applicant
.
Point being you got to have acompetitive edge.
James, in your mind, what wouldbe three things a young person
(32:54):
could do that would give them acompetitive edge to succeed in
life?
Speaker 3 (33:03):
one of the things I encourage my own children to
have and I've got two that areout of high school now 23 and 20
, was number one to learn ahands-on skill while they were
in high school, not necessarilysomething that they were going
to use as a career or a jobopportunity, but the fact that
they learn that hands-on skillteaches them so many other
(33:24):
things besides that skill.
It teaches them patience, whichis going to be very important
on thison skill teaches them somany other things besides that
skill.
It teaches them patience, whichis going to be very important
on this.
It teaches them to value thequality of work.
For instance, my son really gotinto welding in his agriculture
class and got a littlecertificate for doing, you know,
welding in his class as he wasgetting through.
(33:46):
That's not something he wasinterested in, but still to this
day I have noticed, when hedoes work, those qualities that
he was graded on in that weldingskill it translated.
So, you know, learning thathands-on it teaches you far more
than just that skill, but inthe background it does give you
(34:10):
something to fall back on, ornot even fall back on but to
build upon.
If you find an interest in that, I think you know you guys had
a speaker out at Texas FFA a fewyears ago who is very much an
advocate of teaching skillstraining again and that's Mike
Rowe, and I'm a big follower ofhis as well and I love the fact
that he feels like that there'snot enough of that and he's
(34:33):
looking at job opportunities andthe work ethic that goes into
that.
We're not training those folksenough, but it's so much more
than that, so that would be onething no, I'm gonna listen.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
I hope everybody listened to what j just said.
This is the goal that comes outof this podcast.
Hands-on means that you'relearning quality of work,
service your service.
Did you meet a deadline?
Did you learn critical thinking?
Did you learn to problem solve?
All of that comes as a resultof that hands-on.
(35:05):
James, that was excellent.
Keep going.
You're doing good Well, he saidthree.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
right, let me think Well.
The second one is and there'ssuch a push for us anyway is to
be involved in some kind ofservice activity.
While you are doing it, Learnto serve others.
Now in North Carolina and Ilooked it up there's about
almost there's 980 high schools,both public and private, in
North Carolina.
But in North Carolina mostschool systems, public or
(35:34):
private, require a certainnumber of hours of community
service in order for you to dobefore you're eligible for
graduation.
You have to complete that insome way.
So some people they're justchecking it off the list.
But some see opportunity inthat.
They see an opportunity notonly to serve but maybe to find
a passion for their life, themto be really involved with
(35:54):
serving.
Now for my daughter it wasobviously through the FFA.
She's an agriculture teacher.
She poured her life into that.
My son is an Eagle Scout, sothat was part of what he had to
(36:17):
do anyway, but that attitudethat he did.
Now, when they're going to lookat opportunities for jobs and
folks they can talk about, hey,I'm here to help.
I'm here Cause they learn somevaluable skills, so hands-on,
making sure that they have anopportunity to serve and I would
encourage to to findopportunities to serve in
(36:39):
leadership roles.
That would be the third thing.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Now, when I say leadership roles, I'm not
talking about trying to be thattop officer, necessarily, or
that top patrol leader or scoutassistant, scout leader or
something like my sons had theopportunity for.
But there are alwaysopportunities in schools for you
to step up and lead in some wayor another, for you to step up
(37:07):
and lead in some way or another.
Someone always needs help forsome kind of project, for
someone to stand up and say I'llbe in charge of that, and maybe
there's only a couple of peoplethat you're working with at a
time, but you are learning somevaluable skills.
So leadership, service andhands-on would be the three that
I would say.
If you got those three in yourbelt, you're a step ahead of
(37:27):
everyone else.
I know that some folks will say,hey, really dive into the
coursework that you're doing andhave the classes.
I'm not negating that at all,I'm not diminishing that at all.
But, all things being equal,those people who've got those
other things are going to be theones that I hired first we've
done done a lot of thesepodcasts, james, but I got to
(37:48):
tell you those are three.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Those are pretty solid right there, and not only
do I like them.
I like them because, as youunpack each one of those,
there's three more points thatyou could take off every one of
those.
So you gave us three, but Iguarantee you I could put nine
of them on a piece of those.
You gave us three, but Iguarantee you I could put nine
of them on a piece of paper.
That's good stuff, james.
(38:09):
Real quick, tell us how we canlearn a little more about
Generation, youth and leadershipdevelopment and maybe where to
get a copy of.
I've got this book here.
Maybe somebody wants to get acopy of that.
Where might they do that?
Speaker 3 (38:22):
The book Tomorrow's Youth.
Thank you for showing that thebook is our attempt to empower
people who are working withyouth with, first off, the
knowledge of what we havediscovered the major issues and
problems the youth face todayand then some practical
solutions that they can have tohelp overcome that.
They can find the book onAmazon.
(38:45):
It's very easy to find thereTomorrow's Youth, and just put
in my name.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
James, tell us again a little bit about where we can
get a copy of your bookTomorrow's Youth, and also a
little bit about GenerationYouth and leadership development
opportunities.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
Well, tomorrow's Youth can be found on Amazon.
It's very easy to find there.
We'd love for you to get a copyand tell us what you think.
You'll find my email in theback of it as well.
You're free to send an emailand tell me what you agree with,
what you disagree with, and wecan have a great discussion from
that URL of generationsiglercom.
(39:28):
So they'll go togenerationsiglercom.
They'll find all theinformation for everything to do
.
It'll have a section there forour podcast, our blog.
There'll be a link over to thecoaching program or you can go
to the coaching program URL,which is generation-youthcom,
which.
All of that will be mergedtogether by the end of summer,
but generationsiglercom willstill be active for quite some
(39:49):
time.
That the URL will, and you canfind out all the information
that you'd like about us.
How to connect.
We are retuning, refining,reorganizing the youth
certification program that we'vedone to meet new needs.
It was a wonderful program, butthe post-COVID world needs a
(40:10):
different approach.
So we're wanting to change itup a little bit and create a
leadership certification thatmeets the needs of youth, maybe
on different levels.
We're looking at having a moreof an introduction program and
then a more of advanced programthat's very similar to what we
had to kind of get to meet theneeds of youth where they are
(40:31):
and to help teachers and thosewho work with youth be able to
empower those young people thatthey work with in the best way
possible.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Very good.
We appreciate you sharing that,and I would encourage anybody.
If you get a chance, whetherit's their online offerings or
their in-person offeringsdevelop yourself.
I tell people all the time ifyou want to know what the future
is, grow it.
Well, how do you grow somethingyou got?
(41:03):
We have to be looking foropportunities to say, oh, look
at this.
I think I'm going to take thisconcept from James.
I'm going to plant it, I'mgoing to water, I'm going to
take care of that, I'm going togrow that opportunity and that's
how we improve ourselves.
What is it?
Abraham Lincoln said that thephilosophy of the schoolroom in
one generation will be thephilosophy of government in the
(41:23):
next.
If you want to know what thefuture is, grow it.
And how do we do that?
It's through folks like James.
It's through podcasts like his,this one others.
Learn all that you can learn.
Assimilate all that you canassimilate, because you never
know when that one thing thatyou learned is going to change
(41:45):
the life of somebody else downthe road.
You never know, but you got tolearn it, so take advantage of
the opportunities.
James, thanks for being with ustoday.
Time flies when you're havingfun, and we covered a lot of
ground.
You're a good guest.
You covered a lot.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
You shared a lot of great insight, skills
development, good stuff stuffwell, I appreciate the
opportunity and this may be oneof the shortest conversations
that you've ever had.
We cover a lot of stuff when weget together and it normally
goes on and I get off the phone.
I'm like man, that was great.
Why did it end?
Speaker 2 (42:22):
so everybody on the podcast gets one last fun
question.
So you get the question what isthe best?
Speaker 3 (42:30):
concert you've ever been to.
Best concert I've ever been tois the very first big time
concert that I ever went to as ahigh school student.
I grew up very rural area sothere were a lot of
opportunities.
But we traveled from my area toRaleigh, north Carolina, and I
saw Alabama in concert atReynolds Coliseum at North
Carolina State University andthe opening act was the Charlie
(42:52):
Daniels band.
And I mean I've been to somethat have you know, were bigger
and had you know other stuff butthat one I can always.
I can remember the song sequence, I can remember every bit about
it because I was just soenthralled and we got what we
thought were bad seats becauseyou know it was in a coliseum
(43:15):
and so the stage, you know, cutoff the back half.
We were right at the edge whereyou were looking vertically to
them.
But it actually ended up beingreally good because we could
actually see a little bit behindthe stage and we could see them
behind hand and they werewaving at us.
I was like it's so awesome, Ijust got to wave.
(43:35):
Randy Owen waved, charlieDaniels just waved at me.
I'm a 16-year-old coming out ofBenson, north Carolina, driving
up to this concert.
There might have been biggerones.
There probably have been.
I know I've been to stuffthat's been and had a lot more
people in stadiums, but that tome is the best concert I've ever
(43:57):
been to and the one I rememberthe most.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
That's awesome.
I was actually at that not thatsame concert but I did see
Alabama with Charlie Danielsback in the day at Shepherd Air
Force Base, their July 4thcelebration, and I'm like you,
I'll never forget it.
Charlie Daniels came out, herocked the house and then
Alabama came out and everybodyknows every Alabama song and
we're all singing along and thispodcast will probably come out
(44:23):
in 2024.
So the material that we sharehere today is evergreen material
, so folks can pick it up andit's going to be just as
applicable when they capture itas then, as it is the day that
we recorded it.
So, james, thanks again forbeing on the show, and all of
our listeners thanks for joiningus for the Growing Our Future
podcast.
(44:44):
Remember, if you want to knowwhat the future is, grow it,
Grow it.
You got to plant the seeds, yougot to take care of them, you
got to nurture them, then yougot to harvest it and then, when
you do, you got to feed others.
Remember that the essence ofleadership is to plant trees
under whose shade you may neversit.
Go out and grow an incrediblefuture.
(45:05):
Until we meet again, everybody,be safe and do something
incredible for somebody else.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the
Growing Our Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by theTexas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthenagricultural science education
so students can develop theirpotential for personal growth,
career success and leadership ina global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFAFoundation will take on a
journey of exploration intoagricultural science, education,
leadership development andinsights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who providethe fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, AaronAlejandro.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, good morning, good afternoon or good evening
or whenever you may be tuning into the Growing Our Future
podcast.
We're just honored that you'rewith us today and we appreciate
you joining us.
And, as always, we're reallyexcited about today's guest.
I just love bringing on subjectmatter experts, people that
share their insights,experiences and they're just
(00:52):
encouraging and willing to pourinto others, and today is no
different.
Today we have James McLamb,generation Youth founder and
executive team leader.
James, thanks for joining ustoday, thank you, aaron.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
It's good to be with you, my friend.
We've been friends a long timeand I'm grateful for this
opportunity to be able to sharesomething with you today.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, I appreciate you coming on.
It's always fun, like you said,when you know people.
But I love podcasts becauseit's an opportunity for me to
shut up and listen to you and tosay you know here, jane, you
know, share all the good stuff,all the good conversations, all
the things that we talk about,about what our passions are, and
a lot of our passions liearound developing young people,
(01:37):
and we're going to unpack someof that today.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, I'm grateful to be here on you and I've told
you this story before is youwere influencing me before I
even knew you, because as ayoung teacher in the early 90s,
I was buying videos about how toteach parliamentary procedure
and there were some young guyfrom Texas that was the host of
those videos going through thosethings, videos going through
(02:06):
those things.
So I got to see a young AaronAlejandro teach parliamentary
procedure as I relayed that tomy students in the early 90s.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, you're awful kind and I can tell you.
I can tell you one thing thathadn't changed.
I know I've got a lot less hair, got a lot more pounds, but I
can tell you that I don't mindarguing still, and that's the
one thing.
Parliamentary procedure givesyou an edge when it comes to
talking and discussing things.
So thank you for sharing thatwith your kids.
By the way, james, we start offthis program every guest, every
(02:33):
guest I've ever had on here westart off with the same question
and that is James, what are yougrateful for today?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
What I'm most grateful for today is that in
just three days my family and Iwill be leaving for a much
extended vacation in themountains of North Carolina to
be in a cabin.
I've been monitoring theweather there.
It's going to be very cool.
We've got lots of relaxingenjoyment and I just am eager to
get and and relax and spendtime with most of the family.
(03:07):
The oldest is is a teacher, anagriculture teacher herself, and
her first year, so she'll benot with us the entire time.
She'll catch the latter half ofthe the trip.
But that's what I'm gratefulfor today is is I'm counting
down the, not the days.
We're down to counting downhours now.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
That's awesome.
I couldn't agree with you more.
By the way, you know, as youand I have discussed many times,
if you turn on the news or youget to scrolling through social
media, sometimes it's real easyto get a little negative and
forget all that we have to begrateful for.
And I think those moments ofpause where you look around and
(03:48):
say, wow, I got a family, wow, Igot a family Not everybody can
say I got a family, wow, I'vegot a good job that provides me
a little liberty in a greatcountry, that provides all these
incredible natural resourcesand the capacity to get away and
enjoy those moments together.
You know, like I said, sometimesyou just got to look around and
(04:10):
realize how, how fortunate weare and how blessed we are.
And I don't know about you, butI like to be around people that
are grateful.
I have found that people thatare grateful have a lot more
energy.
They're more optimistic,they're always looking for
something good, and I kind oflike hanging out with people
like that.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I do too.
I do as well, and I'll begrateful for every minute that
we get to spend there.
Probably the only thing I willbe ungrateful for is having to
pack up on the last day and comehome, so there you go.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
There you go.
All right, james McLam, here'swhat we're going to do.
You've already said that weknow each other, but not
everybody knows you, and so I do, and I know your background a
little bit.
But for the listeners andviewers that may not be tuned
into your podcast, they may nothave read your book, they may
not be aware of your pedigree,why don't you take a moment?
(05:03):
Because I know you did not justfall into that seat that you're
in.
Something tells me there was ajourney, there was some
experiences, and there'ssomething that brought you to
this place in life and whyyou've chosen to do what you do
right now empowering,encouraging and equipping young
people.
So take us through your lifeand take us through how you got
(05:24):
to where you're at today.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Well, like so many people and you can attest to
this as well I'd wandered intoan agriculture classroom in the
ninth grade at South JohnstonHigh School in North Carolina,
not knowing what it was aboutreally.
Just went there because I grewup on a farm, specifically a
nursery, and I knew I had to bea part of that in some way or
another.
(05:47):
So I, you know, wandered intothere to find out what was going
on.
Well, that was just what Ineeded.
It took a very shy person,someone who felt like they had a
lot to offer but didn't knowhow to package it and how to
give it to the world, and itgave me a vision for what could
be in my life and who I couldbecome.
(06:09):
And so, like yourself, I hadmany opportunities for
leadership in the FFA in NorthCarolina and to serve in
capacity on the national levelas well, and that led me then to
(06:32):
go into agriculture educationin college and to teach for
almost a decade in NorthCarolina as an ag teacher, which
really inspired me.
It motivated me, I know.
Every day I went home feelingso grateful for the opportunity
to share in the lives of youngpeople, but also I was grateful
for what I was learning fromthem every day.
I really felt like I learnedmore at the end of the day than
the students who were in myclass when my oldest daughter
was born.
(06:53):
I decided to go back to thefamily businesses the nursery
operations and some otherbusinesses and and take over
those responsibilities so thatmy wife could then stay at home
those responsibilities so thatmy wife could then stay at home
and we could provide a familyand a lifestyle that would
enable us to be able to raise afamily at home and provide for
them and take advantage of someopportunities there at my
(07:16):
hometown.
But I never lost the passionfor working with youth.
I never lost that desire toimpact future generations and
really just pour into them andhelp empower them so that they
could see their potential.
And so it was channeled theninto ministry work and missions
(07:39):
work.
Through our church and throughsome other opportunities.
My wife and I did mission workwith youth, creating ministry
teams that led mission tripswith youth in mind, serving at
youth camps, speaking at youthcamps, doing those types of
things.
But all that did was just kindof fuel the fire.
You know, it didn't quench it,it just kind of fueled it to
(08:00):
make me see that things could bebigger.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
And at that same time , I had a sales staff working
under me at the nursery that Iwanted to equip better.
And so I went back to where Ithought was the best sales
training and also along with myvalues, and that was the Ziegler
Corporation.
I said, well, these folks knowhow to teach sales and their
values, along with what Ibelieve.
Let me go back to them and getthat material.
(08:26):
So I started really going backand relearning all those things
that I'd learned in high schooland college and during teaching
from Mr Ziegler, but now from adifferent perspective, from a
sales perspective.
During that process ofreconnecting with them and
finding out all the information,I discovered that they were
(08:47):
starting a new program of legacytrainers where they were going
to equip people who had a desireto impact others with Mr
Ziegler's timeless principlesPrinciples, you know, on the
steps to success and buildingbetter relationships and goal
setting.
And I signed up.
I was part of the first class.
I wanted to be there, wow.
(09:08):
And that week things started tofall into place.
I began to see all thesespeaking and things that I'd
done through ministry and thethings that I've been teaching
and all this business stuff thatI had learned.
This was kind of pulling it alltogether and I began to see a
picture.
I need to redirect my life tofocusing on working with youth
(09:32):
and equipping them andempowering them to be the best
you can be.
And this was in 2013 when thishappened.
And so, on that last day forthose who are familiar with
these types of training programsyou have kind of a graduation
ceremony where you get to standup and get your certificate and
your picture taken with thepresenters and for us it was
(09:55):
with the Ziegler family andshare with them what you were
going to do, and I stood thereand said I want to take these
concepts and I want to repackagethem for youth.
And, of course, there were alot of folks that were clapping
yeah, yeah, we need that.
But I could tell that most ofthem were, yes, they were
excited about it, but theyweren't willing to step into it,
and so I spent the next twoyears trying to figure out how
(10:17):
to do this.
And to begin with, aaron, it wasreally all kind of me focused.
I was like I'll get up, I'llform my own team, we'll go
around the world, we'll goaround the nation, we'll do
speaking, we'll do workshops,we'll do great, I'll build a
team and we'll just be great,we'll do our own thing.
And so I was doing some of thatand I enjoyed it.
I mean, I remember speaking ata youth conference and the youth
(10:39):
afterwards come up and says oh,you're trending locally on
Twitter.
Now Everybody's tweeting you.
And I was like that's cool.
I didn't even know what that wasat the time.
I mean, this was around 13.
I was like I'm trending onTwitter.
I don't know what that means.
But yeah, that was when thosethings were kind of cool to
happen, but it really wasn'tsatisfying as much.
And it wasn't until I realizedthat I would much rather train
(11:07):
and equip young people to be theleaders and difference makers
in their community and then bethe mentor and the guidance for
them and watch them grow.
I'd rather do that.
That's so much more fulfillingthan really being the person out
in front and on stage.
I mean there's nothing wrongwith that and I love the
opportunities.
I have to do that.
(11:27):
I really do, and I would, and Irelish them to this day.
But coming off the stage, evenwith all the you know people
being excited about what yousaid and you know, getting the,
the emotional impact that yousee in there, that's great.
But what's much moresatisfactory is getting a text
from someone that says James,today I served at a camp and I
(11:53):
saw this happen.
Or, because of what you guystaught me, I'm now a teacher or
I'm going into ministry.
That, to me, is much moresatisfying.
That's that is.
Is is much more satisfying.
So that's how generation youthreally started.
I was equipping young peopleand then we moved on into
(12:13):
equipping adults because we feltadults wanted to come to our
training.
I just wanted to deal withyouth and college students at
the time, but when COVID hit, itgave us a time to refocus and
provide some new products andprovide some new services.
And now we equip people whowant to be life coaches, that
that want to help coach youth tobe their best selves, that want
(12:37):
to pour into youth, help youthidentify where they are in life
right now, help them make a planfor where you know, find out
where they want to go and make aplan to get there, and so
that's what we're doing now withour coaching program.
So that's really a very quicksynopsis of where we've been and
where we hope to go.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Well, you know, one of the things that we do here on
this show is I really enjoyhaving guests that share their
journey.
And the reason why is becauseif you will listen to somebody's
journey, you're going to pickup these little nuggets of gold,
these little opportunities ofwisdom.
(13:17):
And I also believe that if youlisten to somebody's journey and
testimony, you also find theircore values.
And listening to you share yourstory and your journey, it's
very evident of why you're doingwhat you're doing.
You started as a young servantleader.
You wanted to serve, you wantedto share, you wanted to help,
(13:40):
you wanted to encourage.
And you said you know what?
I think I'm going to do that inthe classroom.
And you jumped into thatclassroom role.
And what did you do?
Trying to share, trying toempower, trying to encourage.
And then, because you have thecore value of if you want to be
better, you've got to makeyourself better, you started
looking for tools.
What can I do to improve myself?
(14:02):
You know who can I hang aroundwith, who can I be associated
with?
And you found that incrediblebrand of the big Z and you know
you pulled into that and youleaned into that.
And then you know successbegets success and you know it
was what Zig I love Zig said.
He said you go as far as youcan see and when you get there,
(14:22):
you'll always be able to seefurther.
And listen to what you justshared.
You've shared with us servingothers.
You've shared with us settinggoals.
You've shared with us having avision.
By the way, I believe the Bibleis very clear about that.
It says where there is novision, the people will perish.
Good leaders always have a veryprofound vision and most
(14:45):
leaders will have that vision,based on their core values, of
what they want to do.
And I think when you look atwhat you're doing today, that's
very clear.
So the reason I share that isfor listeners who are listening
to the show, especially youngpeople.
When you hear people share,listen to what they're really
sharing Because, again, they'resharing their core values,
(15:06):
they're sharing what they reallybelieve in, they're sharing
their passion and their visionand all of those things have
brought you to this incrediblegeneration youth program that
you've developed.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Well, I appreciate that.
That means a lot coming fromyou and to be able to see you
put for a reason for him to beprepared.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
But if he had never struck out, took the risk and
(15:50):
put on the blue jacket, if hehad never struck out and took
the risk of getting up andsaying the creed, or standing up
and running for office orsaying that I'm going to pursue
something of faith, which isn'talways the most popular thing to
do.
If you think about all theagain, when I listen to
somebody's testimony, there's somuch gold there.
(16:11):
Now I'm going to add risk toyour background.
I'm going to add vulnerabilityto your background and I want
young people to understand thatthe people that they engage with
, they didn't just happen intotheir jobs.
They didn't just happen.
There was something behind thescenes that drove all those
things.
And what I like that you havedone is you've been very
(16:35):
intentional about that.
You've not always had all theanswers, but you've been
intentional about the directionthat you're headed.
Yeah, cleo Franklin, who's onmy board?
He's a friend of mine.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
He said, I would rather be directionally correct
than precisely wrong.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
That's a great statement, Isn't that a great
line I would rather bedirectionally correct than
precisely wrong and your path towhere you're at today and what
you're doing.
I think if the listeners arelistening, there's a lot of
opportunity that comes out ofthat.
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Well, I've been very blessed to have those kind of
opportunities and been blessedwith the gift of being able to
see opportunities in the midstof the things that I'm doing to
see there's something I can domore.
There's something that I can domore, which my wife accuses me
of.
It says you're never satisfiedwith the success that you're
(17:36):
having with this organization.
Now you're always thinking, youknow, there's got to be more,
there's got to be a biggerimpact.
And there's some truth to that.
And it's not that I amdissatisfied or not grateful,
it's just that there's anurgency I have.
You know there's so many issuesand obstacles and problems that
youth are faced today.
If we can just equip enoughpeople, we can.
(17:57):
We can change.
We can really do that.
We can.
We can make a difference.
We can make a difference.
When we first started GenerationYouth, it was called Generation
Ziegler, because we were basingmost of the content on Mr
Ziegler and honestly, we thoughtit was really creative branding
(18:19):
because then we could call itGen Z, which was the same as the
generation we were dealing with.
So, as that generation isgetting older, we've seen that
we need to open up a little bitfor that getting older.
We've seen that we need to openup a little bit for that.
But when we first startedGeneration Ziggler the person
who was helping me start it is agood friend of ours, matt Rush
used to say hey, we don't wantmuch.
When we would tell folks whatwe were doing, he said we don't
want much, we just want tochange the world.
And that's really what I'vekind of held to I don't want
(18:41):
much, I just want to change theworld.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
I'm writing that down , let me tell you something.
Every interview, every time wedo these, I'm always listening
to the guests, because I don'tever come into these thinking I
know what we're going to titleit.
I'm always listening becausesomewhere along the way they're
going to give me something.
I'll say that's the name ofthis podcast, that that's good
couple things that you just said, by the way, and again I'm just
(19:09):
unpacking what you've said.
I hope everybody was listening.
Every everybody that's on thecall, everybody that's listening
in today, everybody, whetheryou're watching the video or
you're tuned into one of theplatforms, everybody listening
has a birthday everybody's got abirthday, everybody's got a
(19:29):
birthday, and on that day thatwe came into this world, the
doctor might have slapped us onthe hind end and at that moment
we took an inhale.
I'm here and then one day, whenour purpose is served, we're all
(19:53):
going to exhale.
Life is just a breath.
Life starts with an inhale,it's going to end with an exhale
, and if you look at life asjust a breath and you want to
serve others, it will create asense of urgency, because you
know, there's a James McLean,there's an Aaron Alejandro,
there's somebody out there thatneeds to be encouraged, that
(20:16):
needs to hear they've got thetools, they've got opportunity.
There's somebody that has tohave that sense of urgency to
let me know that I need to actnow.
And I tell you my experience isthis Unless you create a sense
of urgency, most people don'tmove.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
That is very true.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
I think you're wise to talk about an inborn sense of
urgency.
The other thing that I like totell people is every leader I
know and you know them too,every leader that I know there's
one important word in theirlife, and that word is next.
It doesn't matter if it's asuccess, it doesn't matter if
it's a failure.
They just look at the mirrorand say next.
And maybe your wife needs tohear that that's really what
(21:01):
you're talking about.
Okay, I got this text todayfrom this person, but guess what
?
I want to see what text I'mgoing to get tomorrow.
Who's next, who's the next one?
And if you don't look at itthat way and you don't look at
it with that, sense of urgency,you may miss it.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Yeah, the great thing is, our last coaching class
that we did was the first one wedid virtually.
So I love stuff that's live.
I really love in-person stuff.
But I saw a need for a virtualone, so we did a virtual one
back at the beginning of themonth of May and we had three
internationals that were on thiscall One person from Canada,
(21:39):
one person who is in Guatemalaand then one is in Nigeria.
So for me next is what are wegoing to see in those three
countries?
How is that going to impactthem, especially in Nigeria?
Nigeria has the largestpercentage of youth population
in the world.
60% is under the age of 19.
(22:01):
60% of their population and bythe end of this century they
will be the second biggestcountry in the world behind
India.
Somebody's going to say whathappened to China?
Well, you need to look that upand figure it out.
China is actually going to bedown around number four by that
time.
They're dropping in population,but Nigeria is exploding.
(22:21):
In Central America, guatemalahas the highest youth population
.
I didn't know that until theperson sent me a text the next
week and said, hey, I just foundthis out.
You know this is theopportunity we have, and they're
going to be using this contentand curriculum to work with
missionary kids in Guatemala.
So the children of missionariesthat are coming there to spread
(22:45):
the gospel in that country.
She's going to be teaching themand coaching them in this
content.
So there's another rippleeffect there, because not only
is it going to impact thatcountry, because she's going to
be doing it with natives as well, but think about that when they
go back home.
Because she said they're fromAmerica, they're from South
Korea, they're from all over theworld that are pouring into
(23:10):
there, not just the UnitedStates that are sending
missionaries, or other countriesas well, and so that
international group is now goingto hear this content go out.
So that's exciting.
That kind of gets it up.
So that's the next for me.
Where's this going to go?
What's my text next year goingto be about?
Hey, they're teaching thisstuff in places that I had no
(23:32):
idea it could reach.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Just make sure you get that little filter thing
turned on, where it'll translatethe language barrier.
Get these texts and you'll knowwhere it's from.
I want to circle back realquick.
I don't do this with everyguest for obvious reasons, but
with you I can do this.
Let's circle back and let'stalk a little bit about the fact
that you did come fromagricultural science and you
came from FFA.
What are some of the thingsthat you learned in ag science
(23:56):
and FFA maybe on the highestlevel that you kind of still
employ today?
That they're skill sets youlearn, then, that you can still
employ as adults that youbelieve help you get along in
life.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Well, the core things that we teach in Generation
Youth is based on the problemsthat we have determined.
Youth have the major categoriesthat youth have based on our
interviews, and that's dealingwith self-image, building,
effective relationships and goalsetting.
And goal setting and if Ireflect back to my high school
experience, I was blessed enoughto have those kind, have
someone in the form of an agteacher and then through FFA
(24:38):
leadership on different levels,pointing to me constantly on how
to build and maintain apositive self-image, how to
effectively build relationshipswith people and be the kind of
person that people want to bearound.
And then how do you set goals?
What's the importance ofdreaming and setting goals?
(24:59):
Aaron, those were things that ayoung James took for granted,
because if I was learning themin the introduction or what was
it called the fundamentals ofagriculture class in ninth grade
at South Johnson, then, to besure, everybody in that school
was learning, but they were not.
The person in my junior Englishclass sitting next to me did
(25:20):
not know the power of dreams.
They had not heard the thingsthat I had heard.
So, yes, I was learning theseskills, these tangible skills,
through horticulture classes andag mechanics classes, those
skills that were very employablethings that I could have used
immediately if I had felt calledto go into those industries.
(25:42):
It was more those personaldevelopment that they were
learning those leadership skills.
They were teaching me personaldevelopment that they were
learning those leadership skills.
They were teaching me thethings that built my character
as much as anything that I knowof.
I was fortunate enough to havefour agriculture teachers and in
my book in the back of it Idedicate part of it to them, and
(26:04):
I know I would not have had theopportunities in life and have
felt the call of service if Ihad not seen it modeled by them,
and then not only modeled bythem but instilled in them by me
.
I mean, they kept me on a paththat they saw in me something
(26:24):
that I knew was there, but theysaw opportunities for me that I
didn't know existed.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
You know, when you come along, I think every kid
comes to that point now wherethey're dealing with their
self-image and they're saying Ithink I can do something.
And then they have to make thatdecision Do I go after it or do
I just consider myself afailure and I'm not going to be
able to do it?
But everybody has that moment.
With that I think I can dobetter.
But a lot of them just don'thave any support.
They don't have any of this.
(26:53):
You know those soft skills tohelp them move forward on that
these teachers instilled in meso that when I was at that point
I knew I could do better.
They gave me the skills to doit and then showed me the place
that I could do it and theyopened a door to a world that
you know agriculture.
Education is the best keptsecret.
(27:14):
A lot of times in schoolsPeople just don't know what
they're getting into when theywalk into that class.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Couldn't agree with you more.
We could have a whole podcaston that one topic, but I do
agree with you.
I think there are some thingsthat we learned through
agricultural science and throughFFA that are very unique
compared to other classes inschool.
I simply put it like this youknow, some people argue we need
(27:42):
to get back to the basicsreading, writing and arithmetic.
Okay, the three R's, I get it.
I always tell people yeah,let's get back to the three R's.
Let's get back to respectresponsibility and arithmetic.
Okay, the three R's, I get it.
I always tell people yeah,let's get back to the three R's.
Let's get back to respectresponsibility and resiliency.
Let's get back to the basics.
Let's learn to respectourselves, our fellow man, be
responsible for ourselves, ourhomes, our community, and learn
to get up when you've beenknocked down.
(28:03):
Not everybody's going to get atrophy, I'm sorry.
It's just the challenges thatwe face in the natural world
require resiliency.
But I think the thing thatreally separates ag science kids
and FFA kids from everybodyelse is sports can teach
teamwork, band can teachensemble Speech and debate can
(28:25):
teach communication skills.
But there's something that youlearn when some life depends on
you that if, in the world ofagriculture.
You don't do your job,something dies.
That creates an inborn traitthat people will carry with them
for the rest of their lives.
(28:45):
They will carry that with theminto everything that they do.
So I do agree with you that ag,science education and FFA not
only gives us some of thepositive soft skills, but I
would also argue that it givesyou some internal core values
that no other program can giveyou.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
I think, too, you know the part of what kind of
instilled things into me.
Do you remember the aims andpurposes of the FFA that we had
back in the?
It used to be in the manualbefore they went in, with the
mission statement and thosetypes of things.
We had the it was either 10 or12 aims and purposes.
(29:27):
There was a poster that was onthe front of the classroom.
That's that where my seat was.
Every time I sat down and Ilooked up, it was right in front
of me and those things talkedabout things like leadership and
citizenship and character andscholarship and so everything.
When I sit in that class, notonly was I learning about, you
know, cows, sows and plows, butI was learning about this and
(29:50):
service was on there and thriftand patriotism and cooperation.
I remember those things thatwere there and just seeing that
constantly in front of me justwas reinforcing things that I
had grown up with, learning frommy parents.
But now I was seeing it in apackage, in a different way that
(30:13):
I was saying you know, this canbe a part of my life as well.
I wish that I had.
There was a post.
I wish I had that poster.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Well, you're on to something you know.
You and I both know this author.
He's pretty pretty good author.
He's written a couple of booksand his dad wrote a bunch of
books.
But this guy named Tom ZieglerI've heard of him before Ziegler
I think one of the things Ilike that Tom talks about are
the 10 virtues, and thosevirtues are timeless, and I
think that's what you're reallygetting at is the things that
(30:41):
you were encouraged to pursue,the concepts that you were
encouraged to empower and put inplace in your life, are really
they were virtues and, as aresult, you now share those
virtues in the role that youplay with Generation Youth, and
I think that's a cool thing.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
If I remember right, the back of my first manual that
I had had had words on it thatwere related to those purposes
leadership and citizenship andscholarship were on the back of
that manual and I just rememberit very, very distinctly about
those types of things and it waskind of like, you know, it's
kind of like what the teacher'sreally purpose of being there
(31:22):
was.
You know was to do that morethan just teaching us farm
business management skills butto teach us, you know, these
character skills, thesecooperation skills.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
So let's kind of stay with where we're at here for a
second.
So you're up in North Carolina,I'm here in Lone Star State.
I don't know.
Do you happen to know how manyhigh schools are in North
Carolina?
I do not.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I look it up while we're talking.
No, you don't have to do that.
I do not.
I'll look it up while we'retalking.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
No, you don't have to do that.
I'm just sitting here thinkingout loud.
Texas has more than 3,000 highschools.
Now think about that for asecond 3,000 high schools.
Every one of those high schoolsare going to have a graduating
class.
So 3,000 plus high schools areall going to be graduating
people this year.
The kids are going to get out.
(32:09):
They're going to be looking fora job, a scholarship or an
opportunity A job, a scholarshipor an opportunity?
My question to young people isalways this what's your
competitive edge?
What separates you from yourpeers?
What separates you from yourcolleagues?
You have to have something.
It could be something as simpleas a simple, strong handshake
(32:30):
and a yes or no sir.
Yes, ma'am, no ma'am.
It could be the way that youpresent yourself.
It could be a handwritten thankyou.
Note.
Little things like that couldbe the competitive edge over a
similarly qualified applicant.
Scholarship applicant, jobapplicant, opportunity applicant
.
Point being you got to have acompetitive edge.
James, in your mind, what wouldbe three things a young person
(32:54):
could do that would give them acompetitive edge to succeed in
life?
Speaker 3 (33:03):
one of the things I encourage my own children to
have and I've got two that areout of high school now 23 and 20
, was number one to learn ahands-on skill while they were
in high school, not necessarilysomething that they were going
to use as a career or a jobopportunity, but the fact that
they learn that hands-on skillteaches them so many other
(33:24):
things besides that skill.
It teaches them patience, whichis going to be very important
on thison skill teaches them somany other things besides that
skill.
It teaches them patience, whichis going to be very important
on this.
It teaches them to value thequality of work.
For instance, my son really gotinto welding in his agriculture
class and got a littlecertificate for doing, you know,
welding in his class as he wasgetting through.
(33:46):
That's not something he wasinterested in, but still to this
day I have noticed, when hedoes work, those qualities that
he was graded on in that weldingskill it translated.
So, you know, learning thathands-on it teaches you far more
than just that skill, but inthe background it does give you
(34:10):
something to fall back on, ornot even fall back on but to
build upon.
If you find an interest in that, I think you know you guys had
a speaker out at Texas FFA a fewyears ago who is very much an
advocate of teaching skillstraining again and that's Mike
Rowe, and I'm a big follower ofhis as well and I love the fact
that he feels like that there'snot enough of that and he's
(34:33):
looking at job opportunities andthe work ethic that goes into
that.
We're not training those folksenough, but it's so much more
than that, so that would be onething no, I'm gonna listen.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
I hope everybody listened to what j just said.
This is the goal that comes outof this podcast.
Hands-on means that you'relearning quality of work,
service your service.
Did you meet a deadline?
Did you learn critical thinking?
Did you learn to problem solve?
All of that comes as a resultof that hands-on.
(35:05):
James, that was excellent.
Keep going.
You're doing good Well, he saidthree.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
right, let me think Well.
The second one is and there'ssuch a push for us anyway is to
be involved in some kind ofservice activity.
While you are doing it, Learnto serve others.
Now in North Carolina and Ilooked it up there's about
almost there's 980 high schools,both public and private, in
North Carolina.
But in North Carolina mostschool systems, public or
(35:34):
private, require a certainnumber of hours of community
service in order for you to dobefore you're eligible for
graduation.
You have to complete that insome way.
So some people they're justchecking it off the list.
But some see opportunity inthat.
They see an opportunity notonly to serve but maybe to find
a passion for their life, themto be really involved with
(35:54):
serving.
Now for my daughter it wasobviously through the FFA.
She's an agriculture teacher.
She poured her life into that.
My son is an Eagle Scout, sothat was part of what he had to
(36:17):
do anyway, but that attitudethat he did.
Now, when they're going to lookat opportunities for jobs and
folks they can talk about, hey,I'm here to help.
I'm here Cause they learn somevaluable skills, so hands-on,
making sure that they have anopportunity to serve and I would
encourage to to findopportunities to serve in
(36:39):
leadership roles.
That would be the third thing.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Now, when I say leadership roles, I'm not
talking about trying to be thattop officer, necessarily, or
that top patrol leader or scoutassistant, scout leader or
something like my sons had theopportunity for.
But there are alwaysopportunities in schools for you
to step up and lead in some wayor another, for you to step up
(37:07):
and lead in some way or another.
Someone always needs help forsome kind of project, for
someone to stand up and say I'llbe in charge of that, and maybe
there's only a couple of peoplethat you're working with at a
time, but you are learning somevaluable skills.
So leadership, service andhands-on would be the three that
I would say.
If you got those three in yourbelt, you're a step ahead of
(37:27):
everyone else.
I know that some folks will say,hey, really dive into the
coursework that you're doing andhave the classes.
I'm not negating that at all,I'm not diminishing that at all.
But, all things being equal,those people who've got those
other things are going to be theones that I hired first we've
done done a lot of thesepodcasts, james, but I got to
(37:48):
tell you those are three.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Those are pretty solid right there, and not only
do I like them.
I like them because, as youunpack each one of those,
there's three more points thatyou could take off every one of
those.
So you gave us three, but Iguarantee you I could put nine
of them on a piece of those.
You gave us three, but Iguarantee you I could put nine
of them on a piece of paper.
That's good stuff, james.
(38:09):
Real quick, tell us how we canlearn a little more about
Generation, youth and leadershipdevelopment and maybe where to
get a copy of.
I've got this book here.
Maybe somebody wants to get acopy of that.
Where might they do that?
Speaker 3 (38:22):
The book Tomorrow's Youth.
Thank you for showing that thebook is our attempt to empower
people who are working withyouth with, first off, the
knowledge of what we havediscovered the major issues and
problems the youth face todayand then some practical
solutions that they can have tohelp overcome that.
They can find the book onAmazon.
(38:45):
It's very easy to find thereTomorrow's Youth, and just put
in my name.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
James, tell us again a little bit about where we can
get a copy of your bookTomorrow's Youth, and also a
little bit about GenerationYouth and leadership development
opportunities.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
Well, tomorrow's Youth can be found on Amazon.
It's very easy to find there.
We'd love for you to get a copyand tell us what you think.
You'll find my email in theback of it as well.
You're free to send an emailand tell me what you agree with,
what you disagree with, and wecan have a great discussion from
that URL of generationsiglercom.
(39:28):
So they'll go togenerationsiglercom.
They'll find all theinformation for everything to do
.
It'll have a section there forour podcast, our blog.
There'll be a link over to thecoaching program or you can go
to the coaching program URL,which is generation-youthcom,
which.
All of that will be mergedtogether by the end of summer,
but generationsiglercom willstill be active for quite some
(39:49):
time.
That the URL will, and you canfind out all the information
that you'd like about us.
How to connect.
We are retuning, refining,reorganizing the youth
certification program that we'vedone to meet new needs.
It was a wonderful program, butthe post-COVID world needs a
(40:10):
different approach.
So we're wanting to change itup a little bit and create a
leadership certification thatmeets the needs of youth, maybe
on different levels.
We're looking at having a moreof an introduction program and
then a more of advanced programthat's very similar to what we
had to kind of get to meet theneeds of youth where they are
(40:31):
and to help teachers and thosewho work with youth be able to
empower those young people thatthey work with in the best way
possible.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Very good.
We appreciate you sharing that,and I would encourage anybody.
If you get a chance, whetherit's their online offerings or
their in-person offeringsdevelop yourself.
I tell people all the time ifyou want to know what the future
is, grow it.
Well, how do you grow somethingyou got?
(41:03):
We have to be looking foropportunities to say, oh, look
at this.
I think I'm going to take thisconcept from James.
I'm going to plant it, I'mgoing to water, I'm going to
take care of that, I'm going togrow that opportunity and that's
how we improve ourselves.
What is it?
Abraham Lincoln said that thephilosophy of the schoolroom in
one generation will be thephilosophy of government in the
(41:23):
next.
If you want to know what thefuture is, grow it.
And how do we do that?
It's through folks like James.
It's through podcasts like his,this one others.
Learn all that you can learn.
Assimilate all that you canassimilate, because you never
know when that one thing thatyou learned is going to change
(41:45):
the life of somebody else downthe road.
You never know, but you got tolearn it, so take advantage of
the opportunities.
James, thanks for being with ustoday.
Time flies when you're havingfun, and we covered a lot of
ground.
You're a good guest.
You covered a lot.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
You shared a lot of great insight, skills
development, good stuff stuffwell, I appreciate the
opportunity and this may be oneof the shortest conversations
that you've ever had.
We cover a lot of stuff when weget together and it normally
goes on and I get off the phone.
I'm like man, that was great.
Why did it end?
Speaker 2 (42:22):
so everybody on the podcast gets one last fun
question.
So you get the question what isthe best?
Speaker 3 (42:30):
concert you've ever been to.
Best concert I've ever been tois the very first big time
concert that I ever went to as ahigh school student.
I grew up very rural area sothere were a lot of
opportunities.
But we traveled from my area toRaleigh, north Carolina, and I
saw Alabama in concert atReynolds Coliseum at North
Carolina State University andthe opening act was the Charlie
(42:52):
Daniels band.
And I mean I've been to somethat have you know, were bigger
and had you know other stuff butthat one I can always.
I can remember the song sequence, I can remember every bit about
it because I was just soenthralled and we got what we
thought were bad seats becauseyou know it was in a coliseum
(43:15):
and so the stage, you know, cutoff the back half.
We were right at the edge whereyou were looking vertically to
them.
But it actually ended up beingreally good because we could
actually see a little bit behindthe stage and we could see them
behind hand and they werewaving at us.
I was like it's so awesome, Ijust got to wave.
(43:35):
Randy Owen waved, charlieDaniels just waved at me.
I'm a 16-year-old coming out ofBenson, north Carolina, driving
up to this concert.
There might have been biggerones.
There probably have been.
I know I've been to stuffthat's been and had a lot more
people in stadiums, but that tome is the best concert I've ever
(43:57):
been to and the one I rememberthe most.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
That's awesome.
I was actually at that not thatsame concert but I did see
Alabama with Charlie Danielsback in the day at Shepherd Air
Force Base, their July 4thcelebration, and I'm like you,
I'll never forget it.
Charlie Daniels came out, herocked the house and then
Alabama came out and everybodyknows every Alabama song and
we're all singing along and thispodcast will probably come out
(44:23):
in 2024.
So the material that we sharehere today is evergreen material
, so folks can pick it up andit's going to be just as
applicable when they capture itas then, as it is the day that
we recorded it.
So, james, thanks again forbeing on the show, and all of
our listeners thanks for joiningus for the Growing Our Future
podcast.
(44:44):
Remember, if you want to knowwhat the future is, grow it,
Grow it.
You got to plant the seeds, yougot to take care of them, you
got to nurture them, then yougot to harvest it and then, when
you do, you got to feed others.
Remember that the essence ofleadership is to plant trees
under whose shade you may neversit.
Go out and grow an incrediblefuture.
(45:05):
Until we meet again, everybody,be safe and do something
incredible for somebody else.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the
Growing Our Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by theTexas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthenagricultural science education
so students can develop theirpotential for personal growth,
career success and leadership ina global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.
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