October 7, 2024 • 36 mins
After a year-long hiatus, we're back with a new season and a brand-new episode! This season Benji is joined by his brother, our new co-host, Brady Wilson.
We are excited to reconnect with our listeners and share insights from our leadership journey, which began in the mid-90s with SERVPRO. We will also reveal our fresh vision for this podcast. Our discussion will focus on the idea that leadership can sometimes feel like a solitary journey, but it doesn’t have to be. We will explore the concept of “leadership loneliness” and emphasize the importance of influence and divine calling. Drawing from our own experiences and the support we’ve found in groups like C12, we will highlight the crucial role of hope, community, and a supportive network in overcoming the isolation often experienced by leaders. We’ll show how surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals can lead to encouragement, growth, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Building a strong foundation is essential for success in both spiritual and business realms. We will discuss the importance of a strong spiritual foundation in navigating life’s challenges and the significance of effective systems and processes for business adaptability and success. We will also explore insights from “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, emphasizing the value of systems over goals. Additionally, we will cover the evolving role of digital marketing in the church, the impact of social media on mental health, and the power of community.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
all right, well, welcome back into the higher up
podcast.
As always, I am joined by myco-host, benji wilson.
Uh, but also I'm excited, ben,because today we're going to be
joined by a regular new co host.
Oh yeah, your brother, the yingto your yang, I can't say your
(00:32):
better half, I guess, butFreddie Wilson.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We are very excited to have him.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We're very excited to have him.
Very excited we are.
It's going to be.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
We've sat and talked, we'vekind of gone over some things.
We know we've been gone for ayear and you're probably
listening right now and thinkinglike Adam, why would I trust
you?
You broke my heart.
You listened to 10 episodes andthen you disappeared for a year
(00:57):
.
Left us hanging.
Left us hanging.
But we're excited because wedefinitely want to bring in some
extra knowledge.
We're going to talk a littlebit today about just the new
process with Brady coming in.
We're going to kind of briefhim a little bit.
Find out why did you want to bepart of the show?
Don't answer it yet.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
We're going to get into it.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
I'm ready.
We're going to get into it.
We got some cool updates we'lltalk about and then just kind of
some things we're going to bedoing moving forward.
So I'm excited we're here,Benji.
It feels like a long time.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
It's been way too long and, adam, we've had so
many people.
It's been kind of overwhelming,in a good way, that people are
reaching out going hey, when areyou guys going to start this
again?
When are you going to get back?
Going what?
What's the next step?
You know, we've, we've.
I think August the 15th in 2023was the last episode we
actually released, um, and itwas with, uh, with a buddy of
(01:54):
ours, roy Adcock.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
He, he firmly believes.
He's like did I kill thepodcast?
He was our, he was our firstand only guest.
He was the only one.
Yeah, he's the only one we had.
We were kind of wanting peopleto get to know us a little bit
and then jump into it.
But uh, but yeah, I talked tohim all the time and he's like
I'm sorry, I killed your podcastit's a really good episode,
(02:17):
though it was.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, he's great.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
The thing is is we people again.
They were reaching out and theywere wondering when we were
going to release again, andevery week we're seeing people
download the podcast.
Don't know where these folksare coming from and they're
messaging in we would like more,we'd like more, and so we're
like you know, it's time.
It's time to get this thingrolling again.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
No, we're excited about it.
We're going to kind of diveinto things a little bit.
Um, the reason I'm reallyexcited about it is, you know,
now we've got um the the two ofyou guys and I think we were
kind of chatting about it beforewe started going live um,
you'll have what?
50, 60 years of leadershipbetween the two of you right.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Like you've been in leadership positions, it's been
well.
I was 14, brady would would havebeen 14 when he started he's
got a two-year head start on me,but it was mid-90s yeah, it was
mid-90s when we actually gotinto SurfPro, the business that
we actually run on a day-to-daybasis.
(03:17):
So it's all we've ever done,it's all we've ever known.
He has a two-year head startbecause he actually went to
college and got a degree.
I went to college and never gota degree.
So I know y'all have heard thatbefore, but, yes, we've got a
lot of years of history, a lotof years of leadership, and we
just we feel like we have amessage to share for people to
(03:38):
help them in their business.
Maybe it helps them in theirchurch, maybe it helps in their
personal life, whatever.
And we wanted to just, you know, partner up and say look, we
want to help you, whatever wecan do to help.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, I think it'll be good for you guys.
I think it'll be.
You know it's tough.
The two of you y'all run a verysuccessful company.
It's very busy.
I know, brady, you especiallywe'll get to talk about this
more, but your schedule isdetailed, very detailed in your
calendar, and so what I'm moreexcited about with this new
(04:11):
format is it really is going togive people access to you guys.
We're going to shift a littlebit more to really the two of
y'all kind of talking about yourexperiences, the things that go
on.
But it's tough for you guys tohave meetings and do these
things, because everything elseis going on and it's not just
the company.
I mean, you guys have familiesthat are going nonstop.
(04:33):
So not only are you leadingyour company, but you're leading
your families, and then both ofyou are serving your church in
some capacity as well, whichit's a lot, so it takes a lot of
time.
So, um, what I'm really hopingthat our listeners get from this
is it's going to give a chancefor them to have a little bit of
access to the two of you, um,for them to hear your heart and
hear a little bit more, um, howyou guys run things, what you do
(04:57):
, and then also, uh, it'll be agood chance for them to connect,
ask questions, what are sometopics?
We can cover different things.
So it's, it's going to be, it'sgoing to be great.
I'm really excited about wherewe're going to be going with all
this.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Oh yeah, for sure, and I think, I think everybody
will get value out of this.
We, we want your help.
Share the message out, becauseit could touch someone's life in
a way that they may be goingthrough something and one word
or one sentence or whateversparks an interest and changes
their their whole trajectory onlife.
So that's what we want to do,yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, well, let's, let's do this.
We've got, uh, we've got, ournew co-host and so some people
may not know, uh, they don'tknow Brady Wilson, and so I
think we need to take a momentand share a little bit about
that.
Um, you know what it is that?
Uh, you know what is you'redoing now Obviously you're
helping run the company, buttalk a little bit about just
(05:49):
share with us like what you'redoing where you are.
I mean, take two or threeminutes and just really kind of
give the people you know whoBrady Wilson is.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
The inside track, Uh, yeah, well, I I would be remiss
to say, first off, guys, I feela little bit out of place
because you guys have thesefancy studios.
I mean, I'm looking in thebackground and seeing all this
stuff and I feel like, man, II've got it.
I need to grow up here and andget something behind me or get a
space that I can do this.
(06:18):
But no, this is going to be ablast.
I'm looking forward to it.
Uh, just a little bit about me,yeah, yeah, I mean I, I Benji
said it, you know, he's got atwo-year head start on me and
serve pro.
We started at a very young ageand this serve pro is the only
thing that we've ever done, andwe're second generation owners
and, and so basically what I doon a day-to-day basis in our, in
(06:41):
our company, is run theoperational side of the of the
business and and really we havea good team, uh, that I get to
lead each and every day and andthey're the ones that really
make it happen and uh, so, justproviding some leadership and
some direction and and that typeof thing.
Um, that that's what I do,that's my day job, if you will,
(07:01):
and then you know, outside ofthat Adam, you mentioned that
you know we're involved in ourchurch.
So I'm I'm one of our fourworship leaders at our local
church here.
And then, um, as a side note, Ialso am a um, um on the board
of a nonprofit here locally inAlabama and, uh, I helped to
serve that and serve as a as theboard president.
(07:23):
So there's a, there's a lot togo on.
And on top of that I've got afamily, you know.
I've got two kids, one 19,that's uh, just got engaged a
few weeks ago, and so he's goingto be married, yeah, and in
April really happy for him.
And uh, and then I've got a 16year old daughter, and so uh
yeah pretty busy all around, butit's a good thing I'm excited
(07:45):
about.
You know just what the Lord'sdone and the blessings that he's
given us and our family, andwhat he allows me to do each and
every day.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I didn't realize.
You're just in all facets oflife.
Now, that's right.
You're getting ready to bringnew people into the family.
You got one that's finishing upschool and you got a lot going
on.
So tell us a little bit.
I'm going to be 100% honestwith you.
I was a little shocked when youbrought it up.
You and I were in a meeting andyou said, hey, I want to ask
(08:16):
you something.
And you prefaced it with don'tlaugh at me.
And then, of course,immediately I started laughing
because I have no idea what'scoming and was like you know,
you said what?
What would you think if Ijoined in on the podcast and I
was like you're, you're messingwith me, you don't know.
I was like so, um, but yeah, soso, to kind of jump into that a
(08:37):
little bit, I mean, we're likeyour thought process behind that
.
Like what is it?
Uh, I, I do.
I do like you said.
I think this is a little bitout of your, uh, your comfort
zone.
This is new for you, but Ithink it's good.
I think you have a lot ofknowledge.
You and I had talked about thefact that we had done a little
bit of podcasting early on in mycareer uh, as a pro when you
(09:07):
guys were trained in yourknowledge of the corporate world
, the leadership that you bring,and people enjoyed it.
So I'm excited to kind of seewhat people pull from this but
share a little bit with ourlisteners.
I mean, what got you here?
What do you feel like?
What was your thought processgetting to here?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yeah, I mean it did take a little bit of I remember
that discussion.
It did take a little bit of armtwisting from Adam to really
get it out of me for a long timeto even be able to do this,
because this is not my comfortzone, but it's an interesting
question in the fact that and Iwas reflecting on that and
really, you know, there's reallytwo things at the core of it.
(09:43):
One is just, you know there'sreally two things at the core of
it.
One is just know leadership isinfluence.
John Maxwell says that and soif we, if Benji and I, have any
influence in just our own innercircles, and then, you know,
just with people that we've hadthe privilege of building
relationships with, and evenpeople that listen to this, I
mean we want to be able to usethat influence for good and just
(10:07):
what the Lord's called us to do.
And the other thing is that youknow leadership is a calling.
And I'll talk about that here injust a minute.
It's a calling, you know.
Do people want to lead?
Yes, but it's not easy.
And so while I was thinkingabout like higher up podcast,
what does that mean and I don'tremember, benji and I were in I
(10:29):
think it was Dallas, maybe ayear or two ago and he was
talking to me about this conceptand and um, and so I listened
to you know some of the episodesand just really getting to the
heart of what you guys aretrying to do is one I was
thinking about higher up.
And what does that mean?
To live a higher up life?
And really, even as of thismorning, there's a verse that
(10:52):
came to mind I think it's out ofPsalm 191, 192 that said I lift
my eyes up to the hills.
Where does my help come from?
It comes from the Lord, themaker of heaven and earth.
And so that's really the firstthing is to acknowledge that
every day that we wake up, ifwe're going to live this higher
up life, then we need to givecredit to the one that created
(11:14):
us.
And that's really where itstarts.
It doesn't start with us, itstarts with him, and so that was
really one part of it.
And then the other part of itwas and I spoke to this a little
bit earlier but leadership is,it's lonely, you know, and I
remember a couple of years ago,you know, I was in kind of a
state of you know, when they sayit's lonely at the top, I mean
(11:36):
that's not just a cliche, that'snot just a phrase, but it's a
reality and um, and so I wasable and fortunate enough,
through just some prayer and andsome things that went on, that
I was able to find a group, alocal Christian CEO group that I
got a part of, called C12.
And it and it really helpedsurround other brothers with me,
that that helped me in myjourney.
(11:58):
And so, um, you know, I thinkthat for me and I know you guys
want the same thing is there arepeople that are out there and I
know of some that just needhope, and we, as leaders, a lot
of times we don't get to hearfrom people that are like us,
that are doing the same thingsthat we're doing every single
(12:19):
day, and while in business, hopeis not a good strategy.
In our personal lives it reallyis, and so if we can just
provide some hope to some peoplethat are distraught out there
or that are lonely in whatthey're doing every single day,
and we just have a little pieceof being able to make a
difference in their life.
I'm all for it.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
You know it's interesting.
You said that about beinglonely at the top.
There are people if it wasn'tlonely, everyone would do it.
I mean, everyone would try totake the next step, you know, in
their venture in life.
And going back and thinkingabout that, you know there's so
many leaders out there that whatis my next step?
(13:01):
How do I take the next step?
How do I do the next thing, thenext process, whatever, um, and
without that, without thatgroup you know, around us to be
able to help lift us up, peopleto help challenge us, people to
help, uh, inspire us, um, helpus to be better leaders.
It can be very lonely at thetop, and so it's.
It's interesting.
(13:21):
You said that it can be verylonely at the top, and so it's
interesting.
You said that.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Well, it's interesting Both of y'all say
that, and especially for youguys.
I know, brady, you kind ofmentioned C12 and you've got
another group of guys, but thatwas going to be my question is.
I thought about it Like, wheredo you get that from, especially
from, I mean, you.
I mean you're essentiallypresident and vice president and
you're on the top, top of thecrop, so where does that?
I mean?
The good thing is, you knowsomeone in my position.
(13:47):
I've got people that I feellike are similar to where I'm at
, that I can talk to, that I canreach out to.
But for you guys, I mean, otherthan is there.
Does it come just from joininggroups like C12, or do you have
other owners or other leaders oranything in that?
I mean, where does thatinspiration come to help kind of
pull you out of that lonelinesswhen you're like man?
(14:08):
Does anybody understand whatI'm dealing with right now?
I mean I'll Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Benji.
I'll tell you this, buddy, youknow, from my perspective I'm
not a part of a group like he is.
I think I get my.
I'm more of the vision,strategy, marketing, business
development side of the company.
I get my thoughts.
I believe the Holy Spirit givesme ideas, right, because our
organization is so large nowthat it would take a group like
(14:39):
C12 to tell us what we don'tknow right, and both of us can't
be involved in C12.
Only one or the other can.
And it fits Brady's personalitya whole lot better to be a part
of that than it would me.
I would be sitting in thatmeeting.
You know we talk about workinggenius.
I'd be sitting in that meeting.
Going man like this would driveme crazy, but for him he gets
(15:01):
joy out of that right.
For me I get my.
I believe the Holy Spirit givesus ideas.
I said this in a meetingrecently and the entire team
died laughing.
I come up with eight out of 10strategies that are totally
foolish, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
But the two spaghetti on a wall.
That's what we call it, and ifit sticks, great.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
If it doesn't, it'll fall off and move to the next
one.
But if there's two out of 10ideas that we might can
implement I think I talked aboutthis on a previous episode, but
there was a lot of times whereBrady would be like, hey, whoa,
slow down.
We can only implement so manythings at a certain time, and I
had learned that over the courseof about 12 months that, look,
(15:42):
we're not in the businessanymore to be able to just drive
, drive, drive, drive, drive,drive, drive.
From a local perspective, wehave a team around us now of 12
to 14 directors that have buy inthe culture, the vision, the
strategies, and so we can, wecan throw the idea out there.
It might not stick, it might befor a later time.
(16:03):
It's not a no, it's just notright now.
So that's right, we have tofigure that stuff out.
So from my perspective I thinkthe Holy Spirit gives us
thoughts and ideas to be able totake that one idea and
implement that thing, and thenBrady and the team go.
You know what we can either doit or we can't.
So for me I don't have a grouplike that around me, except you
know, I have a lot of largebusiness owners that I talk with
(16:25):
on a certain day-to-day basisthat are in the same industry we
are.
But for him he has that groupthat can really help us figure
out from a company how we canget to the next step.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, and I think that was so good.
Benji, the um.
I think for me, based off ofthe question that you asked,
adam, there's so many leadersout there that that really don't
know what to do.
And so we say in our businessall the time is that decisions
are easy, so we can makedecisions, but it's the
(16:57):
disciplines that are the hardestthing.
To do, the everyday things.
But just to go along with thatis when.
So when I got to this spot thatI really felt like I needed some
help is a lot of times we get.
We get to that spot and then wedon't know what to do and we
don't really take it any further.
So we just we keep talkingabout it and talking about it,
but we're never doing anythingabout it.
(17:18):
But the first realization iskind of like and I don't know if
people really do this anymoreLike the people go to the.
I don't know if people go to themall anymore, but if they do,
you know, back in the day youwould, you would, you know you'd
park in the, in the parkinggarage, and then you'd go in the
first door and then you knewkind of what store you wanted to
go to and the first thing thatyou would come up to is the
(17:40):
kiosk right Now.
I know they got apps now andall that kind of stuff, but the
first thing you do is you comeup to the kiosk and what was the
thing that you looked for?
On the kiosk Shoes it says youare here, here, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Right, you are here.
You are here.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
So the first acknowledgement is to recognize
it.
Okay, here's where I'm at.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
You see where Adam is .
He's in the shoe department.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
The shoe department.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I'm not worried about where I'm at how do I get the
footlocker?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
So you got to.
So you have to realize, like,where am I?
That's the acknowledgementfirst, that way you can know
where to go.
And so until we realize, hey,I'm I.
I'm in this state right now andI need to do something
different to get out of it.
That's where you got to startwith.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
And then you start going down the path of, okay,
what do I need to do about it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think that's good because,like you said, it's so many, so
many times people throw thoseideas and then are you going to
do it?
Are you not going to do it?
Are you going to keep throwingthose out?
And one of the things I feellike, too, is so different is
from the company world to likethe church world, for instance.
I mean, all of us are in thatfacet.
(18:54):
You know, in the company worldit's tough.
You don't want to have failure.
I mean, you've got to succeed,you got to find initiative and
processes and policies that work.
But you know, in the churchworld it might be a little
different, where you're tryingto create an environment that
raises up people and you're likeit's okay to kind of have those
failures, like let's learn fromthem, let's do them.
(19:15):
And I think it points in companyand you guys can elaborate on
that a little more.
But I think in company wise,it's okay to have those places,
but it just it has to bestrategic.
There's certain things thatyou've got to be able to succeed
at from the beginning, like hey, guys, we've got to create
something that that works, likeI mean budgets or you know any
(19:37):
marketing things, things thatwork.
We got to make sure that thingsare rolling from the start,
whereas as those are different,that's.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
that's a great point.
There's a lot of businessesthat you know and I'm using
business.
It could be for your localchurch as well that they get
status quo just because theydon't want to do anything
different.
They're so stuck in their wayof exactly how they do things,
why they do things.
You know what we're good.
We don't really want to grow tothe next level we have.
(20:05):
Brady says it all the time toour team we want to change
family trees.
It's not just about our family,the Wilsons.
We want to change our employeefamily trees as well.
We have a lot of employees whohave started as entry-level
positions that have now grownand morphed into management into
(20:26):
our company.
I'm not talking aboutmanagement at the local level.
They're now managers at ourdirector level that grew through
this company with us and yousee many examples like that in
business all the time.
But people, they don't want togrow and what do we got to do to
help them grow?
Well, we believe this Higher Uppodcast if we understand what
we're living for then, we have adesire, we have a dream to
(20:49):
change other people's lives.
So yeah, from a Christianstandpoint, we want to change
people's lives and then acceptthe Lord, you know.
But from a business perspective, we also have the same thing.
We want to grow, we havedesires, we have dreams.
Do we fail?
Absolutely?
You mentioned it best A lot oftimes in the.
You know you're in the churchworld and failures do come and
(21:11):
go, but I think it's justsometimes.
It's a test, right, you eithertake the test, you pass it or
you don't pass it.
We're not going to say fail,you just don't pass that time
because you can always take thetest again.
So yeah, we have desires togrow, we have dreams, we have
things that we want to do tohelp not just our family, but
our families.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, I think so too, adam, that it comes with having
good foundations.
So, you know, in our spiritualwalk, we know that we got to
have a good foundation andthat's our walk with the Lord
and that's the time that we'respending with him.
And because things are going tocome up, temptations are going
(21:51):
to come up, or thoughts or ideasthat we shouldn't be having, or
other things come up, unless wehave that solid foundation,
then then something bad mayhappen.
You know, and it's no differentin the business world, either
is our foundations A lot oftimes, uh, or or in the church
world, processes and proceduresand systems.
We were reminded recently aboutJames Clear, the guy that wrote
(22:14):
Atomic Habits.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
And he says that you don't-.
Great book, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
It's a phenomenal book and he says that you don't
rise to the level of your goals,you fall to the level of your
systems, systems, foundation,whatever those are, because
we're going to make mistakes,we're going to, we're going to
fail at things, but that's butif we don't learn from them and
create systems and processes andprocedures that allow that not
(22:37):
to happen next time, then it'sgoing to happen and it could be
worse.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
You could.
You could see that in a lot ofum industry.
You know people things thatthey decided I don't want to
change my process, I don't wantto change my system and they go
out of business.
You know you have to always bestriving to do something
different.
If not, competition will comein, competition will see where
they can plug that, plug thatvoid, and they'll do it.
(23:03):
And then you lose the businessand go out of it.
So we always have to bestriving for that.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Yeah, it's about the, I guess the word evolution,
like, do you evolve with the,the, the, the world in general,
you know, and and I thinkthere's there's a safety line.
You gotta be with that.
You know we're we're called tobe, you know, in the world not
of it.
So we're trying to figure outlike, okay, how do I, how do I
navigate this, but still besuccessful in this field, and I
(23:32):
mean even in the church world.
You know, we, I feel like weexperienced that.
I mean, think about where weare with digital marketing.
I mean, yeah, there's a lot ofthings out there on social media
and social I, I, I, you knowyou guys know me as a digital
person.
I, on social media and social II, you know you guys know me as
a digital person.
I love social media, I enjoycontent creation, I enjoy just
creating in general and comingup with ideas to connect with
(23:54):
people.
But you know, social media canbe a dark place and it can be
full of um things that we don'tneed to see.
It can be full of things thatcan, um, you know it can give a
lot of mental issues, mentalhealth.
I mean, just, you know we're ingive a lot of mental issues,
mental health, I mean just, youknow we're in this world of
comparison now we see things andwe compare ourselves like am I
that good or am I like thisperson's better?
(24:15):
And you know it's those type ofthings.
But it's finding ways to connectwith people, especially from
the church world.
I mean we've got to find waysto get people into church and
show them that it's not the oldschool just singing hymnals and
things like that.
Church is fun.
There's a lot of good thingsthat go on.
(24:36):
There's community, there's life, there's finding people.
I know it's cliche and I thinkit's funny because I see that a
lot on social media, where now,there, now there's a lot of
there's a trend going aroundwhere everybody says you know,
like, do life together and so.
But I mean it's cliche as it is, I mean you hear it in every
church, but it's also it hassome truth to it, like these are
(24:57):
your people.
I mean these are, these are thepeople that you're, that you're
going to be around.
So how do you find ways to dothat and connect with those
people and be successful at it?
But still, like you guys said,have your foundations and keep
those without changing themthat's it are you
Speaker 3 (25:13):
sure you're a creative guy, I would never have
guessed that he liked it somuch, brady, he left us at surf
pro and I know I haven't brought.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I haven't brought it up yet.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I figured it'd be for another episode, episode two,
stay tuned to our listeners,just so everyone knows.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Um adam has gone and and done what has been
passionate to him.
Yes, for a number of years.
It's what he's always wanted todo and we could not be happier
to him.
For a number of years, it'swhat he's always wanted to do
and we could not be happier forhim.
Matter of fact, he likes it somuch he's still helping us
produce this podcast.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
We couldn't get rid of him.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
But what I love is I feel like I'm getting a
different perspective, and Imean even in that, like
everybody that I'm working with,is a lot of them have been at
the church for a long time andI'm learning that.
And one of the things I want tobe very careful with is I don't
want to be the new guy.
I don't want to come in andjust change things.
Like you know, I don't wantpeople seeing like well, adam,
(26:11):
you know he took a new positionas the creative director at the
church and you know he's justthis kid, this is just.
I want people to realize it'snot a job to me, like I care
about the church.
It's not and it's not just thechurch that we're at, it's the
church, the capital church, youknow, and that's really the big
(26:41):
C.
And you know that's one of thethings that I'm I'm excited to
be able to bring is I'm learningthat right now is that how do I
do this without peoplerealizing I'm not?
I don't want to step on toes, Idon't want to.
You know, I don't want to comein and change things.
What I want to do is push theball forward and realize that we
have a massive amount of justtalented people at church, from
senior leadership, seniorpastorship all the way down.
And how do we do those things?
And I'm learning now, how do weconnect with those, like, how
do we do those things?
And I'm learning now, how do weconnect with those, like, how
do we do those?
One of the things that's reallycool and it might get off
(27:03):
subject, one of the things we'redoing, you know, working with
you guys.
For so long it was like how dowe sell services?
How do we?
You know we're emergencyservice.
Our whole thing was how do weget in front of someone when
that time comes?
They're not going to look forus until they, until they need
us, you know.
But what I was something I'mworking through right now that
I'm trying to figure out is howdo I get in front of people that
(27:24):
aren't looking for Jesus?
Like, how, you know how, how dowe do that?
Because so much of everythingwe do I mean, like big brothers
always listening, you know youthink about it.
During Christmas, you startseeing ads for everything, right
, like you know, big Brother'salways listening.
So if you're not somebodythat's talking about Jesus,
talking about church, how do youget in front of those people,
(27:44):
and so that's something we'reworking through right now is how
do we create things that put usin position to show people that
experience Jesus, you know, andwe're working through that now,
but, yeah, it's exciting tokind of see and take a lot of
those.
But you know, taking thecorporate world that came from
the two of you, I think I wastelling somebody.
(28:06):
I was talking to the artdirector of HR, talking to Leo,
and he was asking how thingswere going and I was telling him
what I was doing and what I wasbringing up and he was like,
you know, you sound like Brady,right?
He was like cause.
I told him I was like yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I take that as a compliment.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It is.
It's a good thing, cause I toldhim, you know, as I came in, I
said hey, what, what are y'all?
Give me five things that needto be worked on before the end
of the year, like what are fivethings?
And I was like I don't know whatyou're talking about.
And he was like, yeah, you do.
He said it's what you do, whatare your top five goals?
And so, but, like you guys said, it gives us something to work
(28:46):
toward.
You know whether that can bedone in a week or you know maybe
it's going to take severalmonths.
There's things that we'reworking toward at all times to
get better at, to grow at, andso that's what I'm really
excited, as we're coming intothe second season, the two of
you guys to share is how do youcreate those goals, how do you
achieve them?
How do we move forward to livethat higher up life, to do these
(29:08):
things that we want to do, and,like I said, not just for
business and not just for yourchurch, but, like you said, but
I mean you're involved innonprofit things and I mean I
completely forgot about you'rein that.
That's another facet you'readding.
But how do you show leadershipand how do you show growth in
that?
How do you do it for yourfamily, which to me is really
(29:29):
the most important?
How do you grow that?
How do you instill that?
We're walking through that now.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I mean with a four-year-old and eight-year-old
.
How do we instill theseprinciples in them?
How do we instill, before youknow it, they're gonna get
married.
Yeah, oh god, I got two girls.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So you got two girls.
I'm starting to save now I needto.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I was about to say you better have that a wedding
fund started now and don't,don't open it.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
No debit cards to it, just leave it alone.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
That again, that's a big thing.
You guys have taught about that.
Like, how do we, how do we dothings without that?
How do we achieve dreams, howdo we do these things?
So, um, I'm excited aboutmoving into that, you guys.
I feel like even this just uh,just this quick welcome back
episode you guys have already.
You're just showing, showingour listeners what's coming, and
so, um, but uh, just before Iask you guys for a final nugget,
(30:20):
let you guys know we've got abunch of things coming up.
We got some new branding comingup.
Yeah, I'm excited about uh, I'ma branding guy through and
through.
I love it.
I love, uh, why brands andcolors are chosen and different
things.
So I'm excited for that.
We've got our good buddy, joshover at Bright Coal working on a
(30:41):
brand new logo for us.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Hey, I'm going to tell you something too, bright
Coal, for our listeners.
If you know of someone lookingto upgrade your logo, maybe at
your church, maybe it's yourbusiness In our world we can't
really do so much because wehave a corporate logo that know
it's a franchise.
But if you're looking forsomething, give Josh and his
team at Bright Coal a call, amessage.
(31:03):
You can go to Bright CoalB-R-I-G-H-T-C-O-A-Lcom and I
promise you they will take goodcare of you.
Their communication, adam.
Even they were good the firsttime I dealt with them when I
had our church redone yeah.
And even they were good thefirst time I dealt with them
when I had our church redoneyeah.
Even now it's so much easierthe process he has, so give him
a shout.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Sponsor us, josh.
Yeah, sponsor us Brought to youby Brought to you by Brickhole.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
But, we're excited what was that.
Yes, the coffee yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
He does.
It's called Trellis coffee.
He's man, he's just creating.
What's the name of it?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
trellis coffee, augusta, georgia, augusta yeah,
it's kind of like a coffee snob,so I'm gonna yeah one of our
surf owners his daughter.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Um, that's in, uh, that you guys kind of that, you
guys help with uh, he's uh, hisdaughter works there, so it's
kind of funny oh, yeah, okay umbut, no, we're excited, we're
gonna be releasing that.
Um, releasing that by the timethis episode comes out, it may
it may have already come out.
We're working through that now.
It's obviously, it's a process.
Uh, we're working through those, but we're excited, um, you're
going to see that the brandingcomes out.
(32:04):
It fits to what we're doing.
Uh, it fits to what we'retrying to build.
Um, I believe it's going to setus apart, um, in the podcast
world on on some looks and somethings.
But, uh, we're excited tocontinue working on topics for
the next couple episodes.
So, if you guys have anything,definitely hit us with that.
But any lasting thoughts, benjiBrady, anything that you want
(32:25):
to leave our listeners with aswe get ready to close up our
first episode of season two.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
Season two.
I'll say one thing I'm abranding guy like Adam.
I love the new feel, the newlook.
Stay tuned on all of our socialplatforms.
At HigherUpPodcast, you canalso go to HigherUpPodcastcom.
You're going to see a completerebrand there.
So we're really excited.
Stay tuned.
We're on YouTube as well.
If you're watching this, thankyou for watching.
(32:52):
If you're listening, thank youfor listening.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Any lasting knowledge .
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Well, just one thing, adam.
You talked about earlier justabout being in the world and not
of the world, and I wasreminded of the verse that says
do not conform to the pattern ofthis world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind,and so that renewal is just
growth.
I would encourage everybodythat, if you're not growing, if
(33:19):
you're not reading books, ifyou're not listening to podcasts
like this or something that youknow it's how we set that
foundation, like we talked aboutearlier, and I think that you
know this this particularpodcast can be a part of your
growth strategy, and we'd lovefor you guys to join us, so yeah
, yeah, we're working on um.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
every two weeks again , uh, we're working on a day.
We're trying to figure out, hey, what's the best time.
You know when do we drop them?
We want to make sure you guysuh have a chance to listen to
that.
But we're we're working throughthose You'll.
You'll see all that.
We'll.
We'll get some content out andpull some of these that Benji
and Brady are giving us.
So I'm excited for us to beable to share those and we're
going to expand Brady's worldwith social media.
(33:58):
I looked at your, by the way,before I got ready to leave.
I asked Brady when we had myexit interview with him.
I was like, hey, can we, can webe friends on social media now?
I said yes, and I still don'tthink you've accepted it.
So I did, I did you.
You never post I probably don'tsee it.
I think I looked at your pageand I was like I I'm pretty sure
(34:20):
his kids are like 10 and 12years old in this picture that
he last probably are brady.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
I need to update a little bit, a little bit of help
, brady.
So when adam sends you acollaboration on instagram, all
you have to do I don't even know.
I don't even know what that is.
He doesn't even know.
Let is.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
I'll tell you a quick story, just because it's funny.
You said that.
So we're obviously goingthrough a lot of this at the
church now and Pastor Noah Rayhe's our associate pastor.
We did a recap reel and hespoke a few weeks ago, did a
phenomenal job.
I walked in I said, hey, here'syour reel, want to make sure
you like it.
And he was like oh, this isgreat, I love this.
This was the point that I wastrying to get across.
(34:57):
I was like sweet, I'm about topost it, I'm going to put this
in this, I'm going to send you acollaboration.
He's like awesome, I'm soexcited and I started to walk
out of his office.
He's Give me a minute, let meget my phone and we'll uh, I'll
walk you through this process.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
I'm willing, I'm willing to to learn all that I
can.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Hey look, this is nice because for the past six
years I've gotten to do nothingbut absorb what the two of you
have taught and I feel like nowI'm like repaying that debt a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
There you go, there you go, you, you're growing.
You want to grow Trying to Well.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Again, hey, thanks a lot both of y'all for joining in
.
Brady.
We're excited to have you partof the team.
We're excited to have you jumpin.
Like I said, we'll be workingon these and getting these out
to you guys every two weeks.
We'll be hitting some knowledge.
We're going to work on a coupledifferent topics but, like
Benji mentioned, hey, follow us.
We're on all differentplatforms.
You can listen to us on alldifferent platforms.
(35:56):
Hey, if you are on Spotify orApple Podcasts, leave us a
review.
That helps us a lot.
More reviews obviously push usto more people Say, hey, this is
a great podcast you shouldlisten to.
We're hoping we're giving youguys enough knowledge that you
want to do that and share thosethings.
But again, thanks to you allfor for listening and we're
(36:18):
excited We'll be back in anothertwo weeks, all right, guys.
So y'all go live.
What is it?
It's been so long.
Is it like?
Live a higher up life?
Choose to live a higher up lifethere.
It is All right guys.
Y'all enjoy Bye.
all right, well, welcome back into the higher up
podcast.
As always, I am joined by myco-host, benji wilson.
Uh, but also I'm excited, ben,because today we're going to be
joined by a regular new co host.
Oh yeah, your brother, the yingto your yang, I can't say your
(00:32):
better half, I guess, butFreddie Wilson.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We are very excited to have him.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We're very excited to have him.
Very excited we are.
It's going to be.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
We've sat and talked, we'vekind of gone over some things.
We know we've been gone for ayear and you're probably
listening right now and thinkinglike Adam, why would I trust
you?
You broke my heart.
You listened to 10 episodes andthen you disappeared for a year
(00:57):
.
Left us hanging.
Left us hanging.
But we're excited because wedefinitely want to bring in some
extra knowledge.
We're going to talk a littlebit today about just the new
process with Brady coming in.
We're going to kind of briefhim a little bit.
Find out why did you want to bepart of the show?
Don't answer it yet.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
We're going to get into it.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
I'm ready.
We're going to get into it.
We got some cool updates we'lltalk about and then just kind of
some things we're going to bedoing moving forward.
So I'm excited we're here,Benji.
It feels like a long time.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
It's been way too long and, adam, we've had so
many people.
It's been kind of overwhelming,in a good way, that people are
reaching out going hey, when areyou guys going to start this
again?
When are you going to get back?
Going what?
What's the next step?
You know, we've, we've.
I think August the 15th in 2023was the last episode we
actually released, um, and itwas with, uh, with a buddy of
(01:54):
ours, roy Adcock.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
He, he firmly believes.
He's like did I kill thepodcast?
He was our, he was our firstand only guest.
He was the only one.
Yeah, he's the only one we had.
We were kind of wanting peopleto get to know us a little bit
and then jump into it.
But uh, but yeah, I talked tohim all the time and he's like
I'm sorry, I killed your podcastit's a really good episode,
(02:17):
though it was.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, he's great.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
The thing is is we people again.
They were reaching out and theywere wondering when we were
going to release again, andevery week we're seeing people
download the podcast.
Don't know where these folksare coming from and they're
messaging in we would like more,we'd like more, and so we're
like you know, it's time.
It's time to get this thingrolling again.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
No, we're excited about it.
We're going to kind of diveinto things a little bit.
Um, the reason I'm reallyexcited about it is, you know,
now we've got um the the two ofyou guys and I think we were
kind of chatting about it beforewe started going live um,
you'll have what?
50, 60 years of leadershipbetween the two of you right.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Like you've been in leadership positions, it's been
well.
I was 14, brady would would havebeen 14 when he started he's
got a two-year head start on me,but it was mid-90s yeah, it was
mid-90s when we actually gotinto SurfPro, the business that
we actually run on a day-to-daybasis.
(03:17):
So it's all we've ever done,it's all we've ever known.
He has a two-year head startbecause he actually went to
college and got a degree.
I went to college and never gota degree.
So I know y'all have heard thatbefore, but, yes, we've got a
lot of years of history, a lotof years of leadership, and we
just we feel like we have amessage to share for people to
(03:38):
help them in their business.
Maybe it helps them in theirchurch, maybe it helps in their
personal life, whatever.
And we wanted to just, you know, partner up and say look, we
want to help you, whatever wecan do to help.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, I think it'll be good for you guys.
I think it'll be.
You know it's tough.
The two of you y'all run a verysuccessful company.
It's very busy.
I know, brady, you especiallywe'll get to talk about this
more, but your schedule isdetailed, very detailed in your
calendar, and so what I'm moreexcited about with this new
(04:11):
format is it really is going togive people access to you guys.
We're going to shift a littlebit more to really the two of
y'all kind of talking about yourexperiences, the things that go
on.
But it's tough for you guys tohave meetings and do these
things, because everything elseis going on and it's not just
the company.
I mean, you guys have familiesthat are going nonstop.
(04:33):
So not only are you leadingyour company, but you're leading
your families, and then both ofyou are serving your church in
some capacity as well, whichit's a lot, so it takes a lot of
time.
So, um, what I'm really hopingthat our listeners get from this
is it's going to give a chancefor them to have a little bit of
access to the two of you, um,for them to hear your heart and
hear a little bit more, um, howyou guys run things, what you do
(04:57):
, and then also, uh, it'll be agood chance for them to connect,
ask questions, what are sometopics?
We can cover different things.
So it's, it's going to be, it'sgoing to be great.
I'm really excited about wherewe're going to be going with all
this.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Oh yeah, for sure, and I think, I think everybody
will get value out of this.
We, we want your help.
Share the message out, becauseit could touch someone's life in
a way that they may be goingthrough something and one word
or one sentence or whateversparks an interest and changes
their their whole trajectory onlife.
So that's what we want to do,yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, well, let's, let's do this.
We've got, uh, we've got, ournew co-host and so some people
may not know, uh, they don'tknow Brady Wilson, and so I
think we need to take a momentand share a little bit about
that.
Um, you know what it is that?
Uh, you know what is you'redoing now Obviously you're
helping run the company, buttalk a little bit about just
(05:49):
share with us like what you'redoing where you are.
I mean, take two or threeminutes and just really kind of
give the people you know whoBrady Wilson is.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
The inside track, Uh, yeah, well, I I would be remiss
to say, first off, guys, I feela little bit out of place
because you guys have thesefancy studios.
I mean, I'm looking in thebackground and seeing all this
stuff and I feel like, man, II've got it.
I need to grow up here and andget something behind me or get a
space that I can do this.
(06:18):
But no, this is going to be ablast.
I'm looking forward to it.
Uh, just a little bit about me,yeah, yeah, I mean I, I Benji
said it, you know, he's got atwo-year head start on me and
serve pro.
We started at a very young ageand this serve pro is the only
thing that we've ever done, andwe're second generation owners
and, and so basically what I doon a day-to-day basis in our, in
(06:41):
our company, is run theoperational side of the of the
business and and really we havea good team, uh, that I get to
lead each and every day and andthey're the ones that really
make it happen and uh, so, justproviding some leadership and
some direction and and that typeof thing.
Um, that that's what I do,that's my day job, if you will,
(07:01):
and then you know, outside ofthat Adam, you mentioned that
you know we're involved in ourchurch.
So I'm I'm one of our fourworship leaders at our local
church here.
And then, um, as a side note, Ialso am a um, um on the board
of a nonprofit here locally inAlabama and, uh, I helped to
serve that and serve as a as theboard president.
(07:23):
So there's a, there's a lot togo on.
And on top of that I've got afamily, you know.
I've got two kids, one 19,that's uh, just got engaged a
few weeks ago, and so he's goingto be married, yeah, and in
April really happy for him.
And uh, and then I've got a 16year old daughter, and so uh
yeah pretty busy all around, butit's a good thing I'm excited
(07:45):
about.
You know just what the Lord'sdone and the blessings that he's
given us and our family, andwhat he allows me to do each and
every day.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I didn't realize.
You're just in all facets oflife.
Now, that's right.
You're getting ready to bringnew people into the family.
You got one that's finishing upschool and you got a lot going
on.
So tell us a little bit.
I'm going to be 100% honestwith you.
I was a little shocked when youbrought it up.
You and I were in a meeting andyou said, hey, I want to ask
(08:16):
you something.
And you prefaced it with don'tlaugh at me.
And then, of course,immediately I started laughing
because I have no idea what'scoming and was like you know,
you said what?
What would you think if Ijoined in on the podcast and I
was like you're, you're messingwith me, you don't know.
I was like so, um, but yeah, soso, to kind of jump into that a
(08:37):
little bit, I mean, we're likeyour thought process behind that
.
Like what is it?
Uh, I, I do.
I do like you said.
I think this is a little bitout of your, uh, your comfort
zone.
This is new for you, but Ithink it's good.
I think you have a lot ofknowledge.
You and I had talked about thefact that we had done a little
bit of podcasting early on in mycareer uh, as a pro when you
(09:07):
guys were trained in yourknowledge of the corporate world
, the leadership that you bring,and people enjoyed it.
So I'm excited to kind of seewhat people pull from this but
share a little bit with ourlisteners.
I mean, what got you here?
What do you feel like?
What was your thought processgetting to here?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yeah, I mean it did take a little bit of I remember
that discussion.
It did take a little bit of armtwisting from Adam to really
get it out of me for a long timeto even be able to do this,
because this is not my comfortzone, but it's an interesting
question in the fact that and Iwas reflecting on that and
really, you know, there's reallytwo things at the core of it.
(09:43):
One is just, you know there'sreally two things at the core of
it.
One is just know leadership isinfluence.
John Maxwell says that and soif we, if Benji and I, have any
influence in just our own innercircles, and then, you know,
just with people that we've hadthe privilege of building
relationships with, and evenpeople that listen to this, I
mean we want to be able to usethat influence for good and just
(10:07):
what the Lord's called us to do.
And the other thing is that youknow leadership is a calling.
And I'll talk about that here injust a minute.
It's a calling, you know.
Do people want to lead?
Yes, but it's not easy.
And so while I was thinkingabout like higher up podcast,
what does that mean and I don'tremember, benji and I were in I
(10:29):
think it was Dallas, maybe ayear or two ago and he was
talking to me about this conceptand and um, and so I listened
to you know some of the episodesand just really getting to the
heart of what you guys aretrying to do is one I was
thinking about higher up.
And what does that mean?
To live a higher up life?
And really, even as of thismorning, there's a verse that
(10:52):
came to mind I think it's out ofPsalm 191, 192 that said I lift
my eyes up to the hills.
Where does my help come from?
It comes from the Lord, themaker of heaven and earth.
And so that's really the firstthing is to acknowledge that
every day that we wake up, ifwe're going to live this higher
up life, then we need to givecredit to the one that created
(11:14):
us.
And that's really where itstarts.
It doesn't start with us, itstarts with him, and so that was
really one part of it.
And then the other part of itwas and I spoke to this a little
bit earlier but leadership is,it's lonely, you know, and I
remember a couple of years ago,you know, I was in kind of a
state of you know, when they sayit's lonely at the top, I mean
(11:36):
that's not just a cliche, that'snot just a phrase, but it's a
reality and um, and so I wasable and fortunate enough,
through just some prayer and andsome things that went on, that
I was able to find a group, alocal Christian CEO group that I
got a part of, called C12.
And it and it really helpedsurround other brothers with me,
that that helped me in myjourney.
(11:58):
And so, um, you know, I thinkthat for me and I know you guys
want the same thing is there arepeople that are out there and I
know of some that just needhope, and we, as leaders, a lot
of times we don't get to hearfrom people that are like us,
that are doing the same thingsthat we're doing every single
(12:19):
day, and while in business, hopeis not a good strategy.
In our personal lives it reallyis, and so if we can just
provide some hope to some peoplethat are distraught out there
or that are lonely in whatthey're doing every single day,
and we just have a little pieceof being able to make a
difference in their life.
I'm all for it.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
You know it's interesting.
You said that about beinglonely at the top.
There are people if it wasn'tlonely, everyone would do it.
I mean, everyone would try totake the next step, you know, in
their venture in life.
And going back and thinkingabout that, you know there's so
many leaders out there that whatis my next step?
(13:01):
How do I take the next step?
How do I do the next thing, thenext process, whatever, um, and
without that, without thatgroup you know, around us to be
able to help lift us up, peopleto help challenge us, people to
help, uh, inspire us, um, helpus to be better leaders.
It can be very lonely at thetop, and so it's.
It's interesting.
(13:21):
You said that it can be verylonely at the top, and so it's
interesting.
You said that.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Well, it's interesting Both of y'all say
that, and especially for youguys.
I know, brady, you kind ofmentioned C12 and you've got
another group of guys, but thatwas going to be my question is.
I thought about it Like, wheredo you get that from, especially
from, I mean, you.
I mean you're essentiallypresident and vice president and
you're on the top, top of thecrop, so where does that?
I mean?
The good thing is, you knowsomeone in my position.
(13:47):
I've got people that I feellike are similar to where I'm at
, that I can talk to, that I canreach out to.
But for you guys, I mean, otherthan is there.
Does it come just from joininggroups like C12, or do you have
other owners or other leaders oranything in that?
I mean, where does thatinspiration come to help kind of
pull you out of that lonelinesswhen you're like man?
(14:08):
Does anybody understand whatI'm dealing with right now?
I mean I'll Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Benji.
I'll tell you this, buddy, youknow, from my perspective I'm
not a part of a group like he is.
I think I get my.
I'm more of the vision,strategy, marketing, business
development side of the company.
I get my thoughts.
I believe the Holy Spirit givesme ideas, right, because our
organization is so large nowthat it would take a group like
(14:39):
C12 to tell us what we don'tknow right, and both of us can't
be involved in C12.
Only one or the other can.
And it fits Brady's personalitya whole lot better to be a part
of that than it would me.
I would be sitting in thatmeeting.
You know we talk about workinggenius.
I'd be sitting in that meeting.
Going man like this would driveme crazy, but for him he gets
(15:01):
joy out of that right.
For me I get my.
I believe the Holy Spirit givesus ideas.
I said this in a meetingrecently and the entire team
died laughing.
I come up with eight out of 10strategies that are totally
foolish, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
But the two spaghetti on a wall.
That's what we call it, and ifit sticks, great.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
If it doesn't, it'll fall off and move to the next
one.
But if there's two out of 10ideas that we might can
implement I think I talked aboutthis on a previous episode, but
there was a lot of times whereBrady would be like, hey, whoa,
slow down.
We can only implement so manythings at a certain time, and I
had learned that over the courseof about 12 months that, look,
(15:42):
we're not in the businessanymore to be able to just drive
, drive, drive, drive, drive,drive, drive.
From a local perspective, wehave a team around us now of 12
to 14 directors that have buy inthe culture, the vision, the
strategies, and so we can, wecan throw the idea out there.
It might not stick, it might befor a later time.
(16:03):
It's not a no, it's just notright now.
So that's right, we have tofigure that stuff out.
So from my perspective I thinkthe Holy Spirit gives us
thoughts and ideas to be able totake that one idea and
implement that thing, and thenBrady and the team go.
You know what we can either doit or we can't.
So for me I don't have a grouplike that around me, except you
know, I have a lot of largebusiness owners that I talk with
(16:25):
on a certain day-to-day basisthat are in the same industry we
are.
But for him he has that groupthat can really help us figure
out from a company how we canget to the next step.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, and I think that was so good.
Benji, the um.
I think for me, based off ofthe question that you asked,
adam, there's so many leadersout there that that really don't
know what to do.
And so we say in our businessall the time is that decisions
are easy, so we can makedecisions, but it's the
(16:57):
disciplines that are the hardestthing.
To do, the everyday things.
But just to go along with thatis when.
So when I got to this spot thatI really felt like I needed some
help is a lot of times we get.
We get to that spot and then wedon't know what to do and we
don't really take it any further.
So we just we keep talkingabout it and talking about it,
but we're never doing anythingabout it.
(17:18):
But the first realization iskind of like and I don't know if
people really do this anymoreLike the people go to the.
I don't know if people go to themall anymore, but if they do,
you know, back in the day youwould, you would, you know you'd
park in the, in the parkinggarage, and then you'd go in the
first door and then you knewkind of what store you wanted to
go to and the first thing thatyou would come up to is the
(17:40):
kiosk right Now.
I know they got apps now andall that kind of stuff, but the
first thing you do is you comeup to the kiosk and what was the
thing that you looked for?
On the kiosk Shoes it says youare here, here, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Right, you are here.
You are here.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
So the first acknowledgement is to recognize
it.
Okay, here's where I'm at.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
You see where Adam is .
He's in the shoe department.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
The shoe department.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I'm not worried about where I'm at how do I get the
footlocker?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
So you got to.
So you have to realize, like,where am I?
That's the acknowledgementfirst, that way you can know
where to go.
And so until we realize, hey,I'm I.
I'm in this state right now andI need to do something
different to get out of it.
That's where you got to startwith.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
And then you start going down the path of, okay,
what do I need to do about it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think that's good because,like you said, it's so many, so
many times people throw thoseideas and then are you going to
do it?
Are you not going to do it?
Are you going to keep throwingthose out?
And one of the things I feellike, too, is so different is
from the company world to likethe church world, for instance.
I mean, all of us are in thatfacet.
(18:54):
You know, in the company worldit's tough.
You don't want to have failure.
I mean, you've got to succeed,you got to find initiative and
processes and policies that work.
But you know, in the churchworld it might be a little
different, where you're tryingto create an environment that
raises up people and you're likeit's okay to kind of have those
failures, like let's learn fromthem, let's do them.
(19:15):
And I think it points in companyand you guys can elaborate on
that a little more.
But I think in company wise,it's okay to have those places,
but it just it has to bestrategic.
There's certain things thatyou've got to be able to succeed
at from the beginning, like hey, guys, we've got to create
something that that works, likeI mean budgets or you know any
(19:37):
marketing things, things thatwork.
We got to make sure that thingsare rolling from the start,
whereas as those are different,that's.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
that's a great point.
There's a lot of businessesthat you know and I'm using
business.
It could be for your localchurch as well that they get
status quo just because theydon't want to do anything
different.
They're so stuck in their wayof exactly how they do things,
why they do things.
You know what we're good.
We don't really want to grow tothe next level we have.
(20:05):
Brady says it all the time toour team we want to change
family trees.
It's not just about our family,the Wilsons.
We want to change our employeefamily trees as well.
We have a lot of employees whohave started as entry-level
positions that have now grownand morphed into management into
(20:26):
our company.
I'm not talking aboutmanagement at the local level.
They're now managers at ourdirector level that grew through
this company with us and yousee many examples like that in
business all the time.
But people, they don't want togrow and what do we got to do to
help them grow?
Well, we believe this Higher Uppodcast if we understand what
we're living for then, we have adesire, we have a dream to
(20:49):
change other people's lives.
So yeah, from a Christianstandpoint, we want to change
people's lives and then acceptthe Lord, you know.
But from a business perspective, we also have the same thing.
We want to grow, we havedesires, we have dreams.
Do we fail?
Absolutely?
You mentioned it best A lot oftimes in the.
You know you're in the churchworld and failures do come and
(21:11):
go, but I think it's justsometimes.
It's a test, right, you eithertake the test, you pass it or
you don't pass it.
We're not going to say fail,you just don't pass that time
because you can always take thetest again.
So yeah, we have desires togrow, we have dreams, we have
things that we want to do tohelp not just our family, but
our families.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, I think so too, adam, that it comes with having
good foundations.
So, you know, in our spiritualwalk, we know that we got to
have a good foundation andthat's our walk with the Lord
and that's the time that we'respending with him.
And because things are going tocome up, temptations are going
(21:51):
to come up, or thoughts or ideasthat we shouldn't be having, or
other things come up, unless wehave that solid foundation,
then then something bad mayhappen.
You know, and it's no differentin the business world, either
is our foundations A lot oftimes, uh, or or in the church
world, processes and proceduresand systems.
We were reminded recently aboutJames Clear, the guy that wrote
(22:14):
Atomic Habits.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
And he says that you don't-.
Great book, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
It's a phenomenal book and he says that you don't
rise to the level of your goals,you fall to the level of your
systems, systems, foundation,whatever those are, because
we're going to make mistakes,we're going to, we're going to
fail at things, but that's butif we don't learn from them and
create systems and processes andprocedures that allow that not
(22:37):
to happen next time, then it'sgoing to happen and it could be
worse.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
You could.
You could see that in a lot ofum industry.
You know people things thatthey decided I don't want to
change my process, I don't wantto change my system and they go
out of business.
You know you have to always bestriving to do something
different.
If not, competition will comein, competition will see where
they can plug that, plug thatvoid, and they'll do it.
(23:03):
And then you lose the businessand go out of it.
So we always have to bestriving for that.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Yeah, it's about the, I guess the word evolution,
like, do you evolve with the,the, the, the world in general,
you know, and and I thinkthere's there's a safety line.
You gotta be with that.
You know we're we're called tobe, you know, in the world not
of it.
So we're trying to figure outlike, okay, how do I, how do I
navigate this, but still besuccessful in this field, and I
(23:32):
mean even in the church world.
You know, we, I feel like weexperienced that.
I mean, think about where weare with digital marketing.
I mean, yeah, there's a lot ofthings out there on social media
and social I, I, I, you knowyou guys know me as a digital
person.
I, on social media and social II, you know you guys know me as
a digital person.
I love social media, I enjoycontent creation, I enjoy just
creating in general and comingup with ideas to connect with
(23:54):
people.
But you know, social media canbe a dark place and it can be
full of um things that we don'tneed to see.
It can be full of things thatcan, um, you know it can give a
lot of mental issues, mentalhealth.
I mean, just, you know we're ingive a lot of mental issues,
mental health, I mean just, youknow we're in this world of
comparison now we see things andwe compare ourselves like am I
that good or am I like thisperson's better?
(24:15):
And you know it's those type ofthings.
But it's finding ways to connectwith people, especially from
the church world.
I mean we've got to find waysto get people into church and
show them that it's not the oldschool just singing hymnals and
things like that.
Church is fun.
There's a lot of good thingsthat go on.
(24:36):
There's community, there's life, there's finding people.
I know it's cliche and I thinkit's funny because I see that a
lot on social media, where now,there, now there's a lot of
there's a trend going aroundwhere everybody says you know,
like, do life together and so.
But I mean it's cliche as it is, I mean you hear it in every
church, but it's also it hassome truth to it, like these are
(24:57):
your people.
I mean these are, these are thepeople that you're, that you're
going to be around.
So how do you find ways to dothat and connect with those
people and be successful at it?
But still, like you guys said,have your foundations and keep
those without changing themthat's it are you
Speaker 3 (25:13):
sure you're a creative guy, I would never have
guessed that he liked it somuch, brady, he left us at surf
pro and I know I haven't brought.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I haven't brought it up yet.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I figured it'd be for another episode, episode two,
stay tuned to our listeners,just so everyone knows.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Um adam has gone and and done what has been
passionate to him.
Yes, for a number of years.
It's what he's always wanted todo and we could not be happier
to him.
For a number of years, it'swhat he's always wanted to do
and we could not be happier forhim.
Matter of fact, he likes it somuch he's still helping us
produce this podcast.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
We couldn't get rid of him.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
But what I love is I feel like I'm getting a
different perspective, and Imean even in that, like
everybody that I'm working with,is a lot of them have been at
the church for a long time andI'm learning that.
And one of the things I want tobe very careful with is I don't
want to be the new guy.
I don't want to come in andjust change things.
Like you know, I don't wantpeople seeing like well, adam,
(26:11):
you know he took a new positionas the creative director at the
church and you know he's justthis kid, this is just.
I want people to realize it'snot a job to me, like I care
about the church.
It's not and it's not just thechurch that we're at, it's the
church, the capital church, youknow, and that's really the big
(26:41):
C.
And you know that's one of thethings that I'm I'm excited to
be able to bring is I'm learningthat right now is that how do I
do this without peoplerealizing I'm not?
I don't want to step on toes, Idon't want to.
You know, I don't want to comein and change things.
What I want to do is push theball forward and realize that we
have a massive amount of justtalented people at church, from
senior leadership, seniorpastorship all the way down.
And how do we do those things?
And I'm learning now, how do weconnect with those, like, how
do we do those things?
And I'm learning now, how do weconnect with those, like, how
do we do those?
One of the things that's reallycool and it might get off
(27:03):
subject, one of the things we'redoing, you know, working with
you guys.
For so long it was like how dowe sell services?
How do we?
You know we're emergencyservice.
Our whole thing was how do weget in front of someone when
that time comes?
They're not going to look forus until they, until they need
us, you know.
But what I was something I'mworking through right now that
I'm trying to figure out is howdo I get in front of people that
(27:24):
aren't looking for Jesus?
Like, how, you know how, how dowe do that?
Because so much of everythingwe do I mean, like big brothers
always listening, you know youthink about it.
During Christmas, you startseeing ads for everything, right
, like you know, big Brother'salways listening.
So if you're not somebodythat's talking about Jesus,
talking about church, how do youget in front of those people,
(27:44):
and so that's something we'reworking through right now is how
do we create things that put usin position to show people that
experience Jesus, you know, andwe're working through that now,
but, yeah, it's exciting tokind of see and take a lot of
those.
But you know, taking thecorporate world that came from
the two of you, I think I wastelling somebody.
(28:06):
I was talking to the artdirector of HR, talking to Leo,
and he was asking how thingswere going and I was telling him
what I was doing and what I wasbringing up and he was like,
you know, you sound like Brady,right?
He was like cause.
I told him I was like yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I take that as a compliment.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It is.
It's a good thing, cause I toldhim, you know, as I came in, I
said hey, what, what are y'all?
Give me five things that needto be worked on before the end
of the year, like what are fivethings?
And I was like I don't know whatyou're talking about.
And he was like, yeah, you do.
He said it's what you do, whatare your top five goals?
And so, but, like you guys said, it gives us something to work
(28:46):
toward.
You know whether that can bedone in a week or you know maybe
it's going to take severalmonths.
There's things that we'reworking toward at all times to
get better at, to grow at, andso that's what I'm really
excited, as we're coming intothe second season, the two of
you guys to share is how do youcreate those goals, how do you
achieve them?
How do we move forward to livethat higher up life, to do these
(29:08):
things that we want to do, and,like I said, not just for
business and not just for yourchurch, but, like you said, but
I mean you're involved innonprofit things and I mean I
completely forgot about you'rein that.
That's another facet you'readding.
But how do you show leadershipand how do you show growth in
that?
How do you do it for yourfamily, which to me is really
(29:29):
the most important?
How do you grow that?
How do you instill that?
We're walking through that now.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I mean with a four-year-old and eight-year-old
.
How do we instill theseprinciples in them?
How do we instill, before youknow it, they're gonna get
married.
Yeah, oh god, I got two girls.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So you got two girls.
I'm starting to save now I needto.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I was about to say you better have that a wedding
fund started now and don't,don't open it.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
No debit cards to it, just leave it alone.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
That again, that's a big thing.
You guys have taught about that.
Like, how do we, how do we dothings without that?
How do we achieve dreams, howdo we do these things?
So, um, I'm excited aboutmoving into that, you guys.
I feel like even this just uh,just this quick welcome back
episode you guys have already.
You're just showing, showingour listeners what's coming, and
so, um, but uh, just before Iask you guys for a final nugget,
(30:20):
let you guys know we've got abunch of things coming up.
We got some new branding comingup.
Yeah, I'm excited about uh, I'ma branding guy through and
through.
I love it.
I love, uh, why brands andcolors are chosen and different
things.
So I'm excited for that.
We've got our good buddy, joshover at Bright Coal working on a
(30:41):
brand new logo for us.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Hey, I'm going to tell you something too, bright
Coal, for our listeners.
If you know of someone lookingto upgrade your logo, maybe at
your church, maybe it's yourbusiness In our world we can't
really do so much because wehave a corporate logo that know
it's a franchise.
But if you're looking forsomething, give Josh and his
team at Bright Coal a call, amessage.
(31:03):
You can go to Bright CoalB-R-I-G-H-T-C-O-A-Lcom and I
promise you they will take goodcare of you.
Their communication, adam.
Even they were good the firsttime I dealt with them when I
had our church redone yeah.
And even they were good thefirst time I dealt with them
when I had our church redoneyeah.
Even now it's so much easierthe process he has, so give him
a shout.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Sponsor us, josh.
Yeah, sponsor us Brought to youby Brought to you by Brickhole.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
But, we're excited what was that.
Yes, the coffee yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
He does.
It's called Trellis coffee.
He's man, he's just creating.
What's the name of it?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
trellis coffee, augusta, georgia, augusta yeah,
it's kind of like a coffee snob,so I'm gonna yeah one of our
surf owners his daughter.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Um, that's in, uh, that you guys kind of that, you
guys help with uh, he's uh, hisdaughter works there, so it's
kind of funny oh, yeah, okay umbut, no, we're excited, we're
gonna be releasing that.
Um, releasing that by the timethis episode comes out, it may
it may have already come out.
We're working through that now.
It's obviously, it's a process.
Uh, we're working through those, but we're excited, um, you're
going to see that the brandingcomes out.
(32:04):
It fits to what we're doing.
Uh, it fits to what we'retrying to build.
Um, I believe it's going to setus apart, um, in the podcast
world on on some looks and somethings.
But, uh, we're excited tocontinue working on topics for
the next couple episodes.
So, if you guys have anything,definitely hit us with that.
But any lasting thoughts, benjiBrady, anything that you want
(32:25):
to leave our listeners with aswe get ready to close up our
first episode of season two.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
Season two.
I'll say one thing I'm abranding guy like Adam.
I love the new feel, the newlook.
Stay tuned on all of our socialplatforms.
At HigherUpPodcast, you canalso go to HigherUpPodcastcom.
You're going to see a completerebrand there.
So we're really excited.
Stay tuned.
We're on YouTube as well.
If you're watching this, thankyou for watching.
(32:52):
If you're listening, thank youfor listening.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Any lasting knowledge .
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Well, just one thing, adam.
You talked about earlier justabout being in the world and not
of the world, and I wasreminded of the verse that says
do not conform to the pattern ofthis world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind,and so that renewal is just
growth.
I would encourage everybodythat, if you're not growing, if
(33:19):
you're not reading books, ifyou're not listening to podcasts
like this or something that youknow it's how we set that
foundation, like we talked aboutearlier, and I think that you
know this this particularpodcast can be a part of your
growth strategy, and we'd lovefor you guys to join us, so yeah
, yeah, we're working on um.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
every two weeks again , uh, we're working on a day.
We're trying to figure out, hey, what's the best time.
You know when do we drop them?
We want to make sure you guysuh have a chance to listen to
that.
But we're we're working throughthose You'll.
You'll see all that.
We'll.
We'll get some content out andpull some of these that Benji
and Brady are giving us.
So I'm excited for us to beable to share those and we're
going to expand Brady's worldwith social media.
(33:58):
I looked at your, by the way,before I got ready to leave.
I asked Brady when we had myexit interview with him.
I was like, hey, can we, can webe friends on social media now?
I said yes, and I still don'tthink you've accepted it.
So I did, I did you.
You never post I probably don'tsee it.
I think I looked at your pageand I was like I I'm pretty sure
(34:20):
his kids are like 10 and 12years old in this picture that
he last probably are brady.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
I need to update a little bit, a little bit of help
, brady.
So when adam sends you acollaboration on instagram, all
you have to do I don't even know.
I don't even know what that is.
He doesn't even know.
Let is.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
I'll tell you a quick story, just because it's funny.
You said that.
So we're obviously goingthrough a lot of this at the
church now and Pastor Noah Rayhe's our associate pastor.
We did a recap reel and hespoke a few weeks ago, did a
phenomenal job.
I walked in I said, hey, here'syour reel, want to make sure
you like it.
And he was like oh, this isgreat, I love this.
This was the point that I wastrying to get across.
(34:57):
I was like sweet, I'm about topost it, I'm going to put this
in this, I'm going to send you acollaboration.
He's like awesome, I'm soexcited and I started to walk
out of his office.
He's Give me a minute, let meget my phone and we'll uh, I'll
walk you through this process.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
I'm willing, I'm willing to to learn all that I
can.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Hey look, this is nice because for the past six
years I've gotten to do nothingbut absorb what the two of you
have taught and I feel like nowI'm like repaying that debt a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
There you go, there you go, you, you're growing.
You want to grow Trying to Well.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Again, hey, thanks a lot both of y'all for joining in
.
Brady.
We're excited to have you partof the team.
We're excited to have you jumpin.
Like I said, we'll be workingon these and getting these out
to you guys every two weeks.
We'll be hitting some knowledge.
We're going to work on a coupledifferent topics but, like
Benji mentioned, hey, follow us.
We're on all differentplatforms.
You can listen to us on alldifferent platforms.
(35:56):
Hey, if you are on Spotify orApple Podcasts, leave us a
review.
That helps us a lot.
More reviews obviously push usto more people Say, hey, this is
a great podcast you shouldlisten to.
We're hoping we're giving youguys enough knowledge that you
want to do that and share thosethings.
But again, thanks to you allfor for listening and we're
(36:18):
excited We'll be back in anothertwo weeks, all right, guys.
So y'all go live.
What is it?
It's been so long.
Is it like?
Live a higher up life?
Choose to live a higher up lifethere.
It is All right guys.
Y'all enjoy Bye.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com