November 18, 2024 • 36 mins
What if choosing happiness was entirely within your control? Imagine turning a frustrating wait at a Starbucks drive-thru into a highlight of your day thanks to a cheerful barista. In our latest episode, we discuss being "happy on purpose" and how small, intentional acts of positivity can uplift our lives and workplaces.
We delve into the importance of emotional awareness, especially during life's unpredictable moments. By embracing gratitude and making conscious choices in our responses, we can transform our interactions. Simple gestures, like a friendly greeting or actively listening to someone’s concerns, can create a positive culture and support those around us.
Customer service presents a unique backdrop for discussing empathy. Inspired by companies like Disney, we explore strategies to enhance experiences even when immediate solutions are unavailable. Through stories of kindness, such as a rain-soaked day with a Disney guide or the wise advice of a Starbucks barista, we demonstrate the power of choosing positivity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
all right, benji brady, welcome in to another
episode.
I always feel like a game showhost.
I was actually thinking in thecar today.
I'm like how can I better start?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
if you get paid as much as ryan seacrest on will of
Fortune, you'd be happy.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I kid you not, I was driving home from the gym this
morning thinking about recordingthis new episode and I'm like I
need to find a better way tostart the episode because I was
listening back through ours.
I'm like I sound like a gameshow host every time.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Every time.
Maybe Adam that's drawingpeople in.
That's not a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Maybe it is.
I don't have any money to givethem, so it's not going to be
one of those game shows we'responsored by.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, we're sponsored by.
I will tell you.
Thank you all for listening.
We've gotten our ratings aregoing seems like out the roof.
Just so many people tuning inlistening.
We're getting feedback nowquestions.
Just thank you guys.
So much for all of you thatlisten or watch on YouTube.
It means a lot to us.
We appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Always, we need the engagement from you and that's
why we do it, to be here just tokind of provide some things to
you guys, some insights.
So we're excited about today.
We're going to go ahead andjump in straight to the episode
today and we're talking aboutbeing happy on purpose.
Love the slogan, love thetagline.
Benji, this is something youcame up with.
(01:26):
Why don't you talk a little bitabout what does that mean?
Like, why happy on purpose?
Like what is that?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, so, interestingly enough, I just
happened to be in the drive-thruline of Starbucks Imagine that
a few weeks ago and I hadordered my drink.
And let me tell you what I get,because I'd like to know what
you guys get.
I know, adam, you're not a bigStarbucks guy.
I get it, but I order a ventiskinny caramel macchiato, hot
(01:50):
with almond milk and four steviain it.
And I know that you're thinkingwhy in the world would you
order all that?
It's kind of like a holidaytime.
It's kind of like the caramelbrulee latte they have.
It comes out on November, Ithink, fourth or whatever every
year, but it's kind of the yearround version.
Um, and Brady has inspired me,if you're watching on YouTube,
we go to these different citiesnow, so I get these little cups,
(02:13):
you know, from Starbucks toprove where we've been or
whatever.
You know I don't have acollector's cabinet or anything
like that, but, uh, I know Bradyhad a.
What was it what you said?
The Been there series they hadback in the day.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, they had Been there and you had to actually go
to get it, and now they'vecheated, so you can just buy
whatever mug that you wantonline.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
And it defeats the purpose.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Probably get it on Amazon or something, I don't
know yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I feel like that defeats the purpose.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
He may have given away my sticker, but no, I did
not order this online my secret.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
But no, I did not order this online.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It was, we were there .
I believe you got that onephysically in person.
Yeah, I always wait till we getback to the airport so I don't
have to carry it around all week, you know, whatever.
But, yeah, I'd gone through thedrive-thru and was ordering my
drink and I could.
My drink was taking a littlebit longer than it normally does
and I was the only one in line.
And I look up and I'm like fourdeep.
And sometimes when you're in adrive-thru line you're like, oh
man, what is everybody elsethinking behind you?
(03:06):
And then you go it's really notmy fault because I'm waiting on
my drink and the barista, shestarted to have a conversation
with me through the window andyou could tell she was trying to
kill some time and try to takemy mind off of the length of the
time that it was actuallytaking to make the coffee.
Um, so she just started aconversation.
She said how's your day going?
(03:27):
No, so far, do you got anyspecial plans for the day?
And I was kind of like, well,that's kind of nice.
Somebody, you know, just wantedto start a conversation.
And then I I'm sure they'veprobably trained her to if
something's taken longer, youknow to just start having a
conversation.
And, um, so I was.
I started to think about this.
You know, you never know whatsomeone's going through.
(03:48):
Um, I know we've talked aboutthis before, but you just don't,
you just don't know, andsometimes you have for you
business owners, managers, youknow.
You walk into your place ofbusiness sometimes and you've
got five employees, 50 employees, 500 employees and you get
caught in the hustle and bustleof the day to start your day,
start your process, whateverthat is, and sometimes it's the
(04:10):
little things that you know.
We had an episode about it's inthe details, you know, the
little things that matter.
How can we change the outcomeof our employees day?
Because they come in.
Think about it.
They come in and you know younever know what they're dealing
with at home.
Man, think about it.
They come in and you know younever know what they're dealing
with at home, their family life,whatever the case may be.
And it was interesting.
I thought about this Starbucksbarista lady.
(04:31):
You know she just changed theoutcome of what I thought.
What is taking so long?
This is Starbucks.
Starbucks is not normally likethis, right, and so she just
started to have a conversation.
So I was like what if we getinterrupted, right?
How can we choose to makepeople happy, and especially
with our employees?
Because these are the, theseare the backbone to what we do
(04:54):
every single day.
They're the front, they're theones that make it happen out on
the front line.
So we have to teach them.
When you approach a customer,you know we have to have a smile
on our face because we neverknow what that person's going
through.
So it was just reallyinteresting to hear her kind of
just change the outcome of whatwe were trying to do.
Do we get frustrated?
(05:15):
You know we have a choice,right, brady.
We have a choice every singleday when we come to work to put
on our game, face right, and dowhatever it takes to help our
you know, especially ouremployees.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yeah, it kind of.
It kind of reminds me, Benji,of um back in the day.
I don't know if we've actuallyshowed this anytime recently,
but, like in orientation yearsand years ago, you remember the,
the fish video?
Oh, yeah, and um it's the fishmark Seattle Washington, the
fish market and, uh, we'll haveto pull that back out.
That was a great video, butthey were just talking about,
(05:48):
you know, they're dealing withstinky fish and all this stuff
and they just found a way tomake it fun.
And I remember one of the linesthat one of the guys said in
the video is you have a choice.
You have a choice, like I thinksometimes we forget that.
That is, do we react?
(06:08):
We can, but we have a choice ashuman beings that we can make a
choice to react either a goodway or a bad way to whatever
situation, and we have a choiceto either be happy or not.
To be happy.
It kind of goes back to thathope thing that we talked about
a little bit.
It gives you hope when you arehappy.
(06:30):
But just, I think it's to mepersonally, I think it's a
mindset and it's a.
You wake up every day andyou're making that conscious
choice to do something good thatday.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Well, I'm finally getting through it, but the book
that will not be named thatBrady hates.
We cannot say that on thepodcast, cannot say it on the
podcast Great book, great book.
But one of the things one ofthe chapters that he talks about
, is how much we as individualsmake such emotional decisions on
everything we do.
And I know I'm the pot callingthe kettle black.
(07:08):
That's me like.
I'm an emotional person, I makeemotional decisions, I is.
You're just talking about beingaware, and I know, for me, I
have like I have to think aboutthings, and so that's why, a lot
of times for me, I'm you know,when we're dealing with
something, I have to removemyself from things at times so I
can deal with that frustrationfor a second.
I need to process and gothrough those things.
(07:33):
When I'm frustrated with asituation, when I'm frustrated
with a coworker, a customer,whatever it is, those are some
of the things you're justtalking about practicing.
For me, that's my copingmechanism.
I need to step away for asecond.
When it's just me, I can saywhat I want to myself, I can say
how I feel.
It doesn't matter if it soundsridiculous, it doesn't matter if
it sounds childish.
But what I realized for me is,in those moments where I have to
(07:55):
decide to be happy in thesituation, because I am reacting
emotionally, I have to take amoment, get it out of my system
before.
I have to take a moment get itout of my system before I have
that conversation with whoeverit is, or talk to someone about
the situation.
I know for me that's somethingthat I've always have to do.
If I don't, then I'm going toreact wrong, then I'm going to
(08:18):
have to come back and I'm goingto have to apologize.
I just don't want to show thatside.
So I know for me you're justtalking about how do we work
through it, how do we handlethose things?
Choosing to be happy I've got.
I have to be.
You have to be aware, right?
You have to be aware of how youare, how you respond and what
you do.
If you don't, you're going tocontinually get into a cycle of
(08:40):
acting that way, talking thatway, speaking that way, and
that's just for me.
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Well, let's think about this too.
I mean, this is the Higher Uppodcast, so I would imagine that
most people listening are insome type of a leadership role.
And just speaking of leadershipin general, I know we tell our
leaders all the time a simpleconcept, and many, many people
have said this line, so it'snothing new.
(09:06):
But you know, from ourleadership perspective, more is
caught than taught.
So, when, when you are, when youare leading people, when you
are leading others and whatevertype of organization, people are
looking at you and people aresaying you know, adam, he's,
he's, he's telling me this overhere, but he's responding this
way and you know, it's kind oflike with your kids Are they
(09:29):
going to do more about what yousay or more about how they see
that you're reacting to acertain situation?
Probably the latter, and somaking that conscious choice it
is a choice to say you know what, if I am in some type of
leadership role and if you're aparent, you're in a leadership
role is making that choice to behappy or have a positive
(09:52):
attitude, because people arewatching?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, people are always looking.
We're trying to teach Addiethat right now, addie's our for
our listeners.
Addie's our oldest and she iscut from me.
She's an emotional person.
I mean, like in the morningsthat she's having a bad day,
everybody else is going to havea bad day, like she gonna make
sure, like if I feel this way,y'all gonna feel this way, and
(10:18):
we're trying to get her to kindof see that too.
And you're talking about beinga parent.
For me, seeing that helps a lottoo, to be aware, because I
think you and I brady when wewere having one-on-ones like man
I, I see so much of myself andand her and it makes you more
apparent because you're, you'reessentially watching yourself,
right, like you're watching aversion of you, and I'm like man
(10:39):
I if I think I've even askedyou before I'm like is that?
How is that?
How?
I've been in situations BecauseI was like and what have I told
?
you.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yes, they're watching .
They're watching, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yes, and that's the other side too.
It's a good point.
They're watching too.
So that's the other side, andI've told her before.
Like look, you and I both areemotional people.
We get annoyed and angry, orfaster, when things don't go our
way.
You have to be aware of it atall times.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I think that's a struggle.
People have, me included.
You know we have to be aware ofit, right.
If you know where the downfallis, you can fix anything.
But you have a choice howyou're going to respond to it,
right, and you know, do we getfrustrated in the process?
A hundred percent, we getfrustrated probably with it more
than we we should.
You know, because people youyou ask them to do something and
(11:32):
you know what's best in theinterest of your.
You know that specific taskthat you're doing at that time.
And they have a choice torespond Yep, I'm going to do it,
what my supervisor asked me todo, or I'm going to do it this
way, different, and there's,there's 16 ways to get there
right, you can still get to thesame outcome, um, but we have a
choice and we have to choose toyour point not to be frustrated
(11:54):
with the process because they'regoing to respond in certain way
.
We have to be ready.
I'll never forget there was a um, there was a book that um dad
always taught Brady and I readbooks.
Well, brady took advice from itand I didn't, right, I just
don't read.
I don't read a lot of books, um, I've started.
I told you guys on a fewpodcasts.
I started listening to a lotmore episodes of of, uh, just
(12:15):
podcast in general.
Honestly, um, just to try topick up cause I can ride down
the road, I was really bad aboutlistening to a lot of music, um
, but it's not bad.
I mean, I just listened to alot of genres of music and such,
but I thought, you know what,maybe I should start filling my
mind with some good, you know,like leadership stuff and
whatever, um, and and so Ifinally was like dad.
Dad said hey, we want, I needyou to read books.
(12:37):
Well, when he passed away in2017, I was cleaning his office
out and I found this book inthere and it talked about the
five good traits of being a goodcoach, and the book was really
thin but it had real big letterson it and I thought I can
actually read this one.
Um, this one, this one willwill be good for me.
I don't know that it would do meany good to listen to an audio
book, cause I'd probably getbored to death, um, but if I can
(12:59):
hear conversations of whatpeople are having through a
podcast, probably a littleeasier.
Some of you out there listeningmay be the same way.
But you know, I read this bookand the fifth one talked about.
If you just take the time tothank an employee or thank
someone for the job that they do, thank them for being there,
thank them for serving, thankthem for whatever the case may
(13:22):
be, that thank you goes a longway.
And then when I, when I'm inthe drive-thru line of this
Starbucks, again with thisbarista and she's having a
conversation with me and you'regoing to hear towards the end of
the episode what she said, toreally kind of change the
outcome of the of the you knowsitting there and waiting, it
(13:42):
was really enlightening to mebecause we have a choice every
day to be happy or not, and wecan wake up.
Some people say you woke up onthe wrong side of the bed.
Well, you have a choice how yourespond when you wake up and it
goes into your physical life,whether you're trying to
exercise and be healthy more.
(14:04):
It goes into your spirituallife, whether you're trying to
read a devotion, read the Bible,whatever the case may be.
You have a choice and there aredays that I wake up and I
probably did wake up on thewrong side of the bed and I
choose not to go exercise.
Well, I know that's not goodfor my health.
Sarah tells me all the time shesaid hey, did you exercise today
?
She never says you should haveexercised, but she'll say hey,
(14:26):
did you?
Did you exercise today?
And I was like, no, I didn't.
She goes.
Well, maybe you should go giveit a run.
So she's doing it in such a wayto encourage, versus just, you
know, hammer down.
We have, we have a choice to behappy.
And there are times again wewalk into work, you see that
employee over there and justsaying, hey, how's your day
(14:47):
going, how are you doing, howare you doing at home, how's
things going?
Just having a conversationalpiece, because a lot of times in
the management and employeeworld, the employees, I think,
feel like, do my bosses reallycare about me?
You know, do they really careabout me?
And just taking a moment, hey,good morning everyone, how's
things going?
Good morning, good morningChanges everything, brady.
(15:09):
No-transcript.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah, I mean, obviously it was a lot easier
when we were a lot smaller to goaround to everybody and say hey
, good morning, and exactly whatyou were saying.
It makes a big difference insomebody's life for that day.
It's gotten more difficult aswe've gotten translated down to,
(15:40):
you know, the leaders thatwe're serving each and every day
.
So if we're doing it, thenthey're going to do it and
hopefully they're going to do it, you know, with their people,
and it's just a trickle downeffect, you know, all the way
down through the organization.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, I feel like the two of y'all, though, have
always been able to handle thosetype of situations like you,
public facing and I don't meanjust like public, as in our
consumers and customers andclients, but I mean even with
our own team.
I mean, I've been in one on oneswith you guys where you've you
know, you've expressed hey, thisis frustrating, you know, we
talk through it, whether that'swith me or a situation we're
(16:14):
dealing with, whether that'swith me or a situation we're
dealing with.
But I just feel like, in termsof like the way that I feel like
y'all have mastered handlingthose things in that public eye
Because I've even asked youabout it before, brady I'm like
I don't understand.
How do you handle that?
How do you do it?
How do you?
You know, you've just kind of,you know, said hey, it's the
exact same thing you're talkingabout now.
Hey, if I respond this way inthat moment, I'm realizing that
(16:37):
I'm sitting in front of ourentire team, and if I respond in
that way, it almost is like I'macknowledging them and giving
them the freedom to act, torespond that way as well, and so
Well, and Adam, you're 100percent right.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I mean, it's all in how we react to situations.
I will never I, I will neverforget.
Uh, this was years and yearsand years ago, but I had this,
you know, it was back in the daywhen I was kind of handling,
you know, some customercomplaints.
We have a team that does notthat now, thank goodness.
Um, but we had this one ladythat called and I mean, she was
just really, really, reallyupset and, um, so I got on the
(17:16):
phone with her and I was likema'am, you know what,
negotiating one-on-one orcustomer service one-on-one, you
know what can we do to helpsolve your issue?
And she just kept going andkept getting louder and louder
and she was using some choicewords and, uh, honestly, some
words I'd never heard before,and, uh, so I learned a lot that
(17:38):
day.
But she just kept gettingmadder and madder and madder and
I finally said, ma'am, what isit that you want me to do?
And she says I don't haveanything that I want you to do
other than get upset with me.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I'd be like I'm mad too then.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
You know, and I said I said, ma'am, I'm sorry, I just
can't do that.
If there's something practicalthat you want us to solve, if
there's something that we canfix, I'll be glad to do that.
But if you keep talking thisway, I have no other choice than
just to hang up because there'snothing I can do at that point.
But all she wanted me to do wasget upset and get mad, and it
was just going to escalate thesituation and I was just as calm
(18:14):
with her as possible, but itwas just the most interesting
conversation I've probably everhad in my life.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Well, I've, I've experienced that with even my
own wife before.
I mean, I, we always joke abouthow similar Emily and you are,
brady, but like there's timeswhere she'll tell me something,
like she'll tell me something,whether it's work, family
related, that she's she'sfrustrated with you, know, and
I'll interject and be like, well, and then she'll get mad at me
and she's like I literally justwant you to listen to me and I,
(18:45):
you know, and I think sometimes,like I, just when you talk
about the situation, you know,choosing to be, to be happy,
choosing to, to understand,sometimes that's all people want
is to have the is to just saysay, let me get my frustration
out.
I don't expect you to solve it,but if you'll just give me a
chance, I feel like it'll makeme feel better and I feel like
(19:07):
that's kind of like you and thatwith that customer she's just
like you know, yes, she wantedyou to get mad with her, but I
think, subconsciously too, shejust wanted somebody to hear her
and just I said I heard her, Iheard her.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I heard more than I wanted to.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
We actually had somebody, adam, you probably saw
on one of our I don't know whatsocial platform it was, maybe
it was YouTube but somebody saidyou know we were talking about
the Disney theme on one of ourepisodes.
And the guy said you know youcan't make everybody happy on
one of our episodes.
And the guy said you know youcan't make everybody happy.
And I thought about it for asecond.
He's not wrong, you can't.
But I responded back and I saidyou know you're.
(19:48):
You are correct.
However, when you go to Disney,they're going to go out of
their way to try to makeeveryone happy, regardless of
what it is.
I mean they they bend overbackwards to make sure that your
customer experience is secondto none.
We did and, by the way, I'mgoing to preface this by saying
we've only ever done this.
One time we went to Disney.
They have a thing.
They call it a VIP experience.
We went with Adam and Emily andtheir kids for their birthdays.
(20:11):
I think it was November, a yearago maybe.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Yeah, it was last year, about a year ago.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
And we went, we did, we chose, we chose.
You know what?
There's 10 of us we're gonnapay to do the vip thing because
we want to do a crash disney oneday, get it all done like it
was.
And it rained the entire time,entire time, oh, the entire time
.
But what was what was reallycool was the lady she met us.
She, I'll be honest, adam, Idon't know what.
She thought she looked likemary poppins when she walked up.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
She walked up, she had her umbrella, she was
dressed like Mary Poppins andshe had a little magical bag of
goodies.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yeah, and in that bag of goodies was ponchos.
She had a poncho for everyoneand this lady walked around with
us all day long in the pouringrain and her whole mission was
to make our experience a goodone, regardless of the
circumstance.
And I thought about that guy onYouTube and I was like you know
, he's not wrong, but we have achoice every day to try to
(21:07):
change someone's day, try tomake them happy.
If we to your point, brady,that lady just wanted to.
She just wanted you to be upsetand you chose not to.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
I remember my dad used to always tell me the same
thing.
He's pastored since he was 15,and he always used to teach me
no matter what I preach on,somebody's not going to like it.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
The topic.
They're not going to agree,they're not going to like my
illustrations.
He's always said that he's like.
But I have to choose just tocontinue to do it.
I feel like this is what God'scalled me to do is to preach, to
bring the word to pastor others.
But I just remember, because Ialways got to see the tough part
(21:52):
of ministry with him, likepeople's complaining, people's
issues.
I always got to see that partand I was like I don't know how
you deal with it.
He was like adam, I'm exactlywhat y'all were saying.
I'm never gonna make anyonehappy, everyone happy at all,
but I can't let that keep mefrom doing what I'm called to do
you can't, because you just itwill just make you frustrated.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
you know, um, and and you think about going back to
that star lady.
I'll never forget what she said, as she said hey, here's your
drink, again that 15 sloganStarbucks drink that I ordered.
She said here's your drink andshe's told me when we pull away.
She said, hey, go be happy onpurpose.
And I looked at Sarah.
(22:34):
She said that exact.
She said go be happy on purpose.
I said, sarah, write that down.
That's going to be an episodethat we're going to use on
higher up podcast, because shewhatever the outcome was, I
don't know that she could tell Iwas frustrated with the coffee.
I never gave her anyinclination that I was, but she
chose to go out of her way, nomatter how many people backed up
(22:56):
in that line we're pulling away.
And she said, hey, go be happyon purpose.
And she had this big smile onher face and I thought, man, I
don't care.
They could have taken 30minutes to make that drink, it
didn't matter.
Go be happy on purpose.
She was basically saying youhave a choice.
I've made a choice.
Now go be happy and do it onpurpose.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
We had a similar situation.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
It was a couple Sundays ago after church.
Emily, one of Milo's she lovesMilo's, not a Milo's person,
sorry, she loves it.
So we went to the one over inRiverchase and they were busy.
Okay, they were busy, notRiverchase, the one over there
close to the church and we walkin.
And this is this oldergentleman, he is so excited to
(23:41):
have you walk in.
You feel like it's Moe's.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Honestly, it's Moe's Welcome to Milo's.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
It's exactly what he did and they were busy and I can
tell you it took us and this isMilo's it took us 30 minutes to
get our food.
30 minutes, right, yeah, buthis you could tell he was trying
to do everything good to talkpeople there, and I'll tell you
what man.
I've never seen more peoplewalk up and bother that man
(24:08):
while he's trying to take ordersand he happily did it.
He grabbed what they needed.
If they needed a Milo sauce,they needed something they
needed to refill.
He's doing it, take an order.
Doing it, take an order.
And I told him take an order,doing it, take an order.
And I told emily.
I was like I don't care if wesit here for 45 minutes.
He is working so hard and he maynot realize we're watching and
you could tell that people werefrustrated, but I'm like he's
working so hard.
(24:29):
You know this is a fast foodjoint.
He's working so hard to makesure that these people are taken
care of that.
You know he's giving time toeach person that ordering,
that's needing something, thathas an easy and you could tell
they're just shorthanded, uh,and so it was just like you guys
said you never know who'swatching and he's choosing that
in that moment I can.
(24:49):
There's no reason to be happyin that moment.
It's stressful.
People are mad, that you knowthey're mad, but he's just
continuing to serve.
Be happy.
If you need something, got itand it's just.
It was similar to what you.
You about Benji is just.
It kind of changed yourperception because you don't
know.
You also have no idea who'swatching what you're doing and
how you respond.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
So, benji, I've got a .
I got a theory about yourStarbucks lady, all right.
I wonder if she might've beenfrustrated because who orders a
drink that you got to use chatGPT to understand exactly what
it is?
Venti caramel eight Splenda.
(25:31):
I don't remember what you said,but I got to go look at it.
She probably was.
I'm sure she was.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
I'll never.
I think there's times wherethey've said you know, you don't
have to order it that way.
You can just say I want asugar-free caramel latte or
whatever.
Yeah, that way with almond milk.
And I said, but that's not whaty'all told me to order.
She said, well, that's becausewe told you the starbucks way we
just gave you the starbuckstime.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
This is nothing to do with the episode, but I just
wondered like how in the worlddo people, especially you, benji
, get to where that's yourstarbucks order?
You're like man, I love it with, you know, a splash of coconut
milk and I need this Splenda andI need it a little extra hot,
but I want like a one fourthfoam.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I don't get it.
That's because.
That's because Starbucks isknown for whatever they.
They have taught these people,no matter how you say your order
, that they're going to get itright.
Ninety nine percent.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
I know I get that.
I'm just saying how in theworld did you get to?
That's your order.
I'm like, hey, give me someblack coffee.
I'm going to take a little bitof creamer, I'm going to put it
in there, stir it around, I'mgood, so I'll tell you exactly
how.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
One holiday season we were In the fall time yes,
spice lattes, pumpkin spicelatte.
I'm not a, I'm not a hollowLord, baby Jesus, anyway.
So November and December theydo a caramel brulee latte, but
the problem is it's got a lot ofsugar in it because of the
syrup they pour in it.
(26:50):
And I said they had ran out,and I was.
I said, ma'am, I would.
You'll order your drink thisway, then we'll get you what you
want.
It's very close.
I said okay.
And then she said, oh, by theway, if you want to do it the
Starbucks way, order it this way.
(27:10):
And that's what I've done eversince then.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, when you said that it had nothing to do with
the episode.
It cracks me up hearing peopleorder their coffee order, no
matter where it's from, and I'mlike did you, so put in the
comments what your favoriteStarbucks drink is.
Did you really use ChatGPT tofigure?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
out your coffee, I'll give you a really funny story
before we close the episode.
We were a surf pro.
Obviously you guys know that wedo fire and water damage
cleanup.
We were on a storm up inChicago, illinois, one year and
I had never really doneStarbucks.
Matter of fact, brady'sfather-in-law introduced me to
Starbucks back in the early2000s.
(27:50):
I had not drank coffee.
He said well, if you haven'thad coffee to drink ever, if
you'll do it this way, it'llkind of get you used to drinking
coffee over time he did Brady,he messed Benji up.
He did, he did.
We're in Chicago, I'm notkidding you, we're in Chicago.
And back then we used to havefor those of you that know what
(28:10):
Nextel radios are out therelistening, oh Nextel.
Yeah, we pushed the Nextel radioand he goes I'm going to go to
Starbucks and I'm going to getall you guys.
I want to take care of you, Iwant to get you a coffee.
And I said okay.
He said I've never been toStarbucks, so when I get there I
will next tell you guys andI'll just hold it on, I'll hold
(28:33):
the button on while you orderand I'll let the lady listen.
I said okay, so he goes toStarbucks and those nextxTails
you know they work a long way.
I mean, it's basically a bigradio signal, it's a massive
walkie-talkie, yeah, and he getsin line and I told the people
in there.
I said y'all watch this, and Ididn't drink the same drink that
I told you just now that I do.
(28:54):
And I told him.
I said all right, this is goingto be hilarious.
So I pushed the button, I saidI want a and I made up this name
like just just, I don't evenknow what I said, to be honest
with you Mocha choka loca,something like a boca, something
, something.
And he comes on the radio.
Now he's standing with thebarista behind the cash register
(29:15):
, he buzzes in and you hear deadsilence for like eight seconds
and he goes.
Can you repeat that order?
She has no clue what you justsaid and of course we're busting
out laughing.
So to your point Starbucks.
They make up these names, whoknows where they come from, but
it's pretty funny, I don't thinkour listeners understand the
addiction that you have toStarbucks and Chick-fil-A, Like
(29:35):
it's and Milo's Tea.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Well, it's got to be.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
It's got to be Splenda Yellow Cap.
And the reason why I likeStarbucks and Chick-fil-A I know
people laugh at me all the timeis because most, every single
time you go to those two places,it doesn't matter what you
order, what you say, they aregoing to get it right most of
the time.
And I don't like going toMcDonald's the kids love
McDonald's.
I don't like going toMcDonald's, the kids love
McDonald's.
I don't like going toMcDonald's because you can order
two cheeseburger meal with onlyketchup.
(30:05):
It's going to have everythingon it, no matter how you order
it.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
No matter how you order it, it's frustrating, it's
just frustrating.
Well, as we get to wrapping up,I like to always end and kind
of see where you guys are, sojust hitting you guys as owners.
Right, you guys are businessowners.
Y'all deal with the good andy'all deal with the bad.
(30:30):
What is it for the two of youguys that helps you continue to
choose to be happy to handlethose situations?
Because y'all deal with waymore than anybody.
It doesn't matter if you're ourCFO or if you're just an hourly
employee.
You guys deal with everythingthat people aren't aware of.
How do you choose to deal withthose moments that are
frustrating?
And how do you choose to deal?
How do you choose to continuesaying, hey, I'm going to choose
(30:52):
to be happy in this and, asidefrom, obviously, you know this
is how you guys live, this iswhat you know, this is what
supports your family.
Outside of that, you guys couldessentially just say, hey, I'm
good, I don't want to do thisanymore, I could find something
else.
But how do you, how do each ofyou choose to live that happy
life, to say, hey, even in thetough moments, I'm going to
(31:13):
continue pushing forward andwe're going to.
We're going to choose to beokay with this and we're going
to.
We're going to handle thisproblem.
I'd like to hear Brady's first.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
That was a very long-winded question.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
That was very strategic.
Very strategic, I mean.
I think there's so manydifferent ways that I could go
with that.
I mean from a practicalstandpoint, a spiritual
standpoint.
(31:45):
I think at the end of the day,it's all part of a growth
mechanism and we've talked aboutgrowth a lot on the podcast and
, and I'll say, evolution notnot like evolution, but just us
evolving as human beings andcontinuing to learn every single
day is how do we get better?
And it's just something that Imean.
I've learned over the yearsthat if I respond a certain way,
(32:07):
the outcome is just not greatyou know, and I and I and I am
far from perfect, you know, butI've just learned that there's
so many different circumstances.
I have responded in the wrongway and I see the outcome of
that.
Responded in the wrong way andI see the outcome of that.
So, if I just take a moment andI just pause and I just listen,
you know, adam, you, you, um,you talked about you and your
(32:29):
wife earlier, and not not that Ido this all the time, but some
of the best advice that I evergot from somebody is we were
talking about how to handle, youknow, like marital conflict or
whatever, and one of my mentorsat the time is he said you just
got to laugh.
I was like I don't think that'sgoing to work.
I, you know, I don't know whatkind of marriage you have, but I
(32:50):
don't think.
He said no, no, no, not L A U GH L A F, and I was like you're
gonna have to explain that alittle bit more.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (32:57):
He says.
He says, when you're in aconversation, you ask the
question do you want me tolisten?
L, do you want me to affirmwhat you're saying?
Or, in this situation, wouldyou like me to fix the problem?
And so I said okay, and I meanit's been a game changer because
(33:17):
it gives me a little clarityinto certain situations to where
, hey, sometimes I'm like yousaid, I'm just supposed to
listen.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
And sometimes you know somebody wants me to fix it
.
But I think how we choose toreact and just take five seconds
pause, take it in, use thediscernment that God's given us
to say how do I need to respondin this situation?
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yeah, that's good.
Yeah, I would say very, verysimilar to that.
I mean, I have chosen to have apositive outlook on life in
general.
I mean, I'm not going to getinto details about it now we're
going to do it on the episodelater but 2011 totally changed
the trajectory of my life.
Brady was a big part of that uh, getting me to the hospital
(34:01):
that day.
But ever since I went throughthat and a lot of people say,
you know, I've never had thattime in life where something's
happened to me.
I didn't, up until that point,never had anything like that.
And you know, woke up thatmorning and basically I was like
man, the Lord's allowed me tolive here longer.
I need to use it as an impact,to tell the story, because it
(34:21):
could change someone else's life.
And I thought I have a choiceevery day.
I'm not going to be that personwho's just going to be angry,
who's going to be upset, who'sbecause life is too short for
that.
You know, people live like thatall the time and I'll be honest
, because they choose to.
Now some people would say it'sdue to, you know, to substance
(34:41):
they're using, whether it'salcohol, drugs, whatever.
I think there are a lot ofpeople that don't even have that
, that just choose to live.
They just choose to not behappy for whatever reason.
Be content with what you have.
That's what the Bible says.
Be content with what you haveand, whatever that is, use your
gift to your advantage.
And, honestly, I took thebarista's advice.
(35:03):
I said I'm going to choose tobe happy on purpose, and
sometimes I have to be remindedof that.
I have to because there aredays don't get me wrong there
are days I get frustrated, I getmad, I get upset.
I don't let the outside worldknow it, but I do, because
processes change, systems change, business platforms change,
whatever those things are.
Your job change, systems change, business platforms change,
whatever those things are.
(35:23):
Your job change you know forthose of you that may have, you
know, gone, different job orwhatever and I just choose to be
happy and, honestly, I took heradvice.
I'm going to be happy onpurpose because I can do it on
purpose.
Yeah, and that's what.
That's what it means to me.
That's good.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
That's a good one today, boys.
I enjoyed that one.
That's a lot to chew on.
Hopefully our listeners thinkthrough it this week as they're
listening to the episode.
What are ways you can choose tobe happy in your situation,
Even right now?
Maybe you're listening to itand getting the kids in the car
and getting to school was notthe best thing.
Maybe you had a fight with yourspouse.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Maybe you had a long day at work, but you know or
maybe you're going through theStarbucks drive-thru right now.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yeah, you're sitting in the line, so no, I want to
tell you guys, not only go tochoose to be happy on purpose
but, as we always say on higherup podcast, don't forget to
connect with us, but go outthere and just choose to live a
higher up life.
Appreciate you guys listeningin.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
All right, we'll see y'all next time.
all right, benji brady, welcome in to another
episode.
I always feel like a game showhost.
I was actually thinking in thecar today.
I'm like how can I better start?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
if you get paid as much as ryan seacrest on will of
Fortune, you'd be happy.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I kid you not, I was driving home from the gym this
morning thinking about recordingthis new episode and I'm like I
need to find a better way tostart the episode because I was
listening back through ours.
I'm like I sound like a gameshow host every time.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Every time.
Maybe Adam that's drawingpeople in.
That's not a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Maybe it is.
I don't have any money to givethem, so it's not going to be
one of those game shows we'responsored by.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, we're sponsored by.
I will tell you.
Thank you all for listening.
We've gotten our ratings aregoing seems like out the roof.
Just so many people tuning inlistening.
We're getting feedback nowquestions.
Just thank you guys.
So much for all of you thatlisten or watch on YouTube.
It means a lot to us.
We appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Always, we need the engagement from you and that's
why we do it, to be here just tokind of provide some things to
you guys, some insights.
So we're excited about today.
We're going to go ahead andjump in straight to the episode
today and we're talking aboutbeing happy on purpose.
Love the slogan, love thetagline.
Benji, this is something youcame up with.
(01:26):
Why don't you talk a little bitabout what does that mean?
Like, why happy on purpose?
Like what is that?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, so, interestingly enough, I just
happened to be in the drive-thruline of Starbucks Imagine that
a few weeks ago and I hadordered my drink.
And let me tell you what I get,because I'd like to know what
you guys get.
I know, adam, you're not a bigStarbucks guy.
I get it, but I order a ventiskinny caramel macchiato, hot
(01:50):
with almond milk and four steviain it.
And I know that you're thinkingwhy in the world would you
order all that?
It's kind of like a holidaytime.
It's kind of like the caramelbrulee latte they have.
It comes out on November, Ithink, fourth or whatever every
year, but it's kind of the yearround version.
Um, and Brady has inspired me,if you're watching on YouTube,
we go to these different citiesnow, so I get these little cups,
(02:13):
you know, from Starbucks toprove where we've been or
whatever.
You know I don't have acollector's cabinet or anything
like that, but, uh, I know Bradyhad a.
What was it what you said?
The Been there series they hadback in the day.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, they had Been there and you had to actually go
to get it, and now they'vecheated, so you can just buy
whatever mug that you wantonline.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
And it defeats the purpose.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Probably get it on Amazon or something, I don't
know yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I feel like that defeats the purpose.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
He may have given away my sticker, but no, I did
not order this online my secret.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
But no, I did not order this online.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It was, we were there .
I believe you got that onephysically in person.
Yeah, I always wait till we getback to the airport so I don't
have to carry it around all week, you know, whatever.
But, yeah, I'd gone through thedrive-thru and was ordering my
drink and I could.
My drink was taking a littlebit longer than it normally does
and I was the only one in line.
And I look up and I'm like fourdeep.
And sometimes when you're in adrive-thru line you're like, oh
man, what is everybody elsethinking behind you?
(03:06):
And then you go it's really notmy fault because I'm waiting on
my drink and the barista, shestarted to have a conversation
with me through the window andyou could tell she was trying to
kill some time and try to takemy mind off of the length of the
time that it was actuallytaking to make the coffee.
Um, so she just started aconversation.
She said how's your day going?
(03:27):
No, so far, do you got anyspecial plans for the day?
And I was kind of like, well,that's kind of nice.
Somebody, you know, just wantedto start a conversation.
And then I I'm sure they'veprobably trained her to if
something's taken longer, youknow to just start having a
conversation.
And, um, so I was.
I started to think about this.
You know, you never know whatsomeone's going through.
(03:48):
Um, I know we've talked aboutthis before, but you just don't,
you just don't know, andsometimes you have for you
business owners, managers, youknow.
You walk into your place ofbusiness sometimes and you've
got five employees, 50 employees, 500 employees and you get
caught in the hustle and bustleof the day to start your day,
start your process, whateverthat is, and sometimes it's the
(04:10):
little things that you know.
We had an episode about it's inthe details, you know, the
little things that matter.
How can we change the outcomeof our employees day?
Because they come in.
Think about it.
They come in and you know younever know what they're dealing
with at home.
Man, think about it.
They come in and you know younever know what they're dealing
with at home, their family life,whatever the case may be.
And it was interesting.
I thought about this Starbucksbarista lady.
(04:31):
You know she just changed theoutcome of what I thought.
What is taking so long?
This is Starbucks.
Starbucks is not normally likethis, right, and so she just
started to have a conversation.
So I was like what if we getinterrupted, right?
How can we choose to makepeople happy, and especially
with our employees?
Because these are the, theseare the backbone to what we do
(04:54):
every single day.
They're the front, they're theones that make it happen out on
the front line.
So we have to teach them.
When you approach a customer,you know we have to have a smile
on our face because we neverknow what that person's going
through.
So it was just reallyinteresting to hear her kind of
just change the outcome of whatwe were trying to do.
Do we get frustrated?
(05:15):
You know we have a choice,right, brady.
We have a choice every singleday when we come to work to put
on our game, face right, and dowhatever it takes to help our
you know, especially ouremployees.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yeah, it kind of.
It kind of reminds me, Benji,of um back in the day.
I don't know if we've actuallyshowed this anytime recently,
but, like in orientation yearsand years ago, you remember the,
the fish video?
Oh, yeah, and um it's the fishmark Seattle Washington, the
fish market and, uh, we'll haveto pull that back out.
That was a great video, butthey were just talking about,
(05:48):
you know, they're dealing withstinky fish and all this stuff
and they just found a way tomake it fun.
And I remember one of the linesthat one of the guys said in
the video is you have a choice.
You have a choice, like I thinksometimes we forget that.
That is, do we react?
(06:08):
We can, but we have a choice ashuman beings that we can make a
choice to react either a goodway or a bad way to whatever
situation, and we have a choiceto either be happy or not.
To be happy.
It kind of goes back to thathope thing that we talked about
a little bit.
It gives you hope when you arehappy.
(06:30):
But just, I think it's to mepersonally, I think it's a
mindset and it's a.
You wake up every day andyou're making that conscious
choice to do something good thatday.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Well, I'm finally getting through it, but the book
that will not be named thatBrady hates.
We cannot say that on thepodcast, cannot say it on the
podcast Great book, great book.
But one of the things one ofthe chapters that he talks about
, is how much we as individualsmake such emotional decisions on
everything we do.
And I know I'm the pot callingthe kettle black.
(07:08):
That's me like.
I'm an emotional person, I makeemotional decisions, I is.
You're just talking about beingaware, and I know, for me, I
have like I have to think aboutthings, and so that's why, a lot
of times for me, I'm you know,when we're dealing with
something, I have to removemyself from things at times so I
can deal with that frustrationfor a second.
I need to process and gothrough those things.
(07:33):
When I'm frustrated with asituation, when I'm frustrated
with a coworker, a customer,whatever it is, those are some
of the things you're justtalking about practicing.
For me, that's my copingmechanism.
I need to step away for asecond.
When it's just me, I can saywhat I want to myself, I can say
how I feel.
It doesn't matter if it soundsridiculous, it doesn't matter if
it sounds childish.
But what I realized for me is,in those moments where I have to
(07:55):
decide to be happy in thesituation, because I am reacting
emotionally, I have to take amoment, get it out of my system
before.
I have to take a moment get itout of my system before I have
that conversation with whoeverit is, or talk to someone about
the situation.
I know for me that's somethingthat I've always have to do.
If I don't, then I'm going toreact wrong, then I'm going to
(08:18):
have to come back and I'm goingto have to apologize.
I just don't want to show thatside.
So I know for me you're justtalking about how do we work
through it, how do we handlethose things?
Choosing to be happy I've got.
I have to be.
You have to be aware, right?
You have to be aware of how youare, how you respond and what
you do.
If you don't, you're going tocontinually get into a cycle of
(08:40):
acting that way, talking thatway, speaking that way, and
that's just for me.
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Well, let's think about this too.
I mean, this is the Higher Uppodcast, so I would imagine that
most people listening are insome type of a leadership role.
And just speaking of leadershipin general, I know we tell our
leaders all the time a simpleconcept, and many, many people
have said this line, so it'snothing new.
(09:06):
But you know, from ourleadership perspective, more is
caught than taught.
So, when, when you are, when youare leading people, when you
are leading others and whatevertype of organization, people are
looking at you and people aresaying you know, adam, he's,
he's, he's telling me this overhere, but he's responding this
way and you know, it's kind oflike with your kids Are they
(09:29):
going to do more about what yousay or more about how they see
that you're reacting to acertain situation?
Probably the latter, and somaking that conscious choice it
is a choice to say you know what, if I am in some type of
leadership role and if you're aparent, you're in a leadership
role is making that choice to behappy or have a positive
(09:52):
attitude, because people arewatching?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, people are always looking.
We're trying to teach Addiethat right now, addie's our for
our listeners.
Addie's our oldest and she iscut from me.
She's an emotional person.
I mean, like in the morningsthat she's having a bad day,
everybody else is going to havea bad day, like she gonna make
sure, like if I feel this way,y'all gonna feel this way, and
(10:18):
we're trying to get her to kindof see that too.
And you're talking about beinga parent.
For me, seeing that helps a lottoo, to be aware, because I
think you and I brady when wewere having one-on-ones like man
I, I see so much of myself andand her and it makes you more
apparent because you're, you'reessentially watching yourself,
right, like you're watching aversion of you, and I'm like man
(10:39):
I if I think I've even askedyou before I'm like is that?
How is that?
How?
I've been in situations BecauseI was like and what have I told
?
you.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yes, they're watching .
They're watching, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yes, and that's the other side too.
It's a good point.
They're watching too.
So that's the other side, andI've told her before.
Like look, you and I both areemotional people.
We get annoyed and angry, orfaster, when things don't go our
way.
You have to be aware of it atall times.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I think that's a struggle.
People have, me included.
You know we have to be aware ofit, right.
If you know where the downfallis, you can fix anything.
But you have a choice howyou're going to respond to it,
right, and you know, do we getfrustrated in the process?
A hundred percent, we getfrustrated probably with it more
than we we should.
You know, because people youyou ask them to do something and
(11:32):
you know what's best in theinterest of your.
You know that specific taskthat you're doing at that time.
And they have a choice torespond Yep, I'm going to do it,
what my supervisor asked me todo, or I'm going to do it this
way, different, and there's,there's 16 ways to get there
right, you can still get to thesame outcome, um, but we have a
choice and we have to choose toyour point not to be frustrated
(11:54):
with the process because they'regoing to respond in certain way
.
We have to be ready.
I'll never forget there was a um, there was a book that um dad
always taught Brady and I readbooks.
Well, brady took advice from itand I didn't, right, I just
don't read.
I don't read a lot of books, um, I've started.
I told you guys on a fewpodcasts.
I started listening to a lotmore episodes of of, uh, just
(12:15):
podcast in general.
Honestly, um, just to try topick up cause I can ride down
the road, I was really bad aboutlistening to a lot of music, um
, but it's not bad.
I mean, I just listened to alot of genres of music and such,
but I thought, you know what,maybe I should start filling my
mind with some good, you know,like leadership stuff and
whatever, um, and and so Ifinally was like dad.
Dad said hey, we want, I needyou to read books.
(12:37):
Well, when he passed away in2017, I was cleaning his office
out and I found this book inthere and it talked about the
five good traits of being a goodcoach, and the book was really
thin but it had real big letterson it and I thought I can
actually read this one.
Um, this one, this one willwill be good for me.
I don't know that it would do meany good to listen to an audio
book, cause I'd probably getbored to death, um, but if I can
(12:59):
hear conversations of whatpeople are having through a
podcast, probably a littleeasier.
Some of you out there listeningmay be the same way.
But you know, I read this bookand the fifth one talked about.
If you just take the time tothank an employee or thank
someone for the job that they do, thank them for being there,
thank them for serving, thankthem for whatever the case may
(13:22):
be, that thank you goes a longway.
And then when I, when I'm inthe drive-thru line of this
Starbucks, again with thisbarista and she's having a
conversation with me and you'regoing to hear towards the end of
the episode what she said, toreally kind of change the
outcome of the of the you knowsitting there and waiting, it
(13:42):
was really enlightening to mebecause we have a choice every
day to be happy or not, and wecan wake up.
Some people say you woke up onthe wrong side of the bed.
Well, you have a choice how yourespond when you wake up and it
goes into your physical life,whether you're trying to
exercise and be healthy more.
(14:04):
It goes into your spirituallife, whether you're trying to
read a devotion, read the Bible,whatever the case may be.
You have a choice and there aredays that I wake up and I
probably did wake up on thewrong side of the bed and I
choose not to go exercise.
Well, I know that's not goodfor my health.
Sarah tells me all the time shesaid hey, did you exercise today
?
She never says you should haveexercised, but she'll say hey,
(14:26):
did you?
Did you exercise today?
And I was like, no, I didn't.
She goes.
Well, maybe you should go giveit a run.
So she's doing it in such a wayto encourage, versus just, you
know, hammer down.
We have, we have a choice to behappy.
And there are times again wewalk into work, you see that
employee over there and justsaying, hey, how's your day
(14:47):
going, how are you doing, howare you doing at home, how's
things going?
Just having a conversationalpiece, because a lot of times in
the management and employeeworld, the employees, I think,
feel like, do my bosses reallycare about me?
You know, do they really careabout me?
And just taking a moment, hey,good morning everyone, how's
things going?
Good morning, good morningChanges everything, brady.
(15:09):
No-transcript.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah, I mean, obviously it was a lot easier
when we were a lot smaller to goaround to everybody and say hey
, good morning, and exactly whatyou were saying.
It makes a big difference insomebody's life for that day.
It's gotten more difficult aswe've gotten translated down to,
(15:40):
you know, the leaders thatwe're serving each and every day
.
So if we're doing it, thenthey're going to do it and
hopefully they're going to do it, you know, with their people,
and it's just a trickle downeffect, you know, all the way
down through the organization.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, I feel like the two of y'all, though, have
always been able to handle thosetype of situations like you,
public facing and I don't meanjust like public, as in our
consumers and customers andclients, but I mean even with
our own team.
I mean, I've been in one on oneswith you guys where you've you
know, you've expressed hey, thisis frustrating, you know, we
talk through it, whether that'swith me or a situation we're
(16:14):
dealing with, whether that'swith me or a situation we're
dealing with.
But I just feel like, in termsof like the way that I feel like
y'all have mastered handlingthose things in that public eye
Because I've even asked youabout it before, brady I'm like
I don't understand.
How do you handle that?
How do you do it?
How do you?
You know, you've just kind of,you know, said hey, it's the
exact same thing you're talkingabout now.
Hey, if I respond this way inthat moment, I'm realizing that
(16:37):
I'm sitting in front of ourentire team, and if I respond in
that way, it almost is like I'macknowledging them and giving
them the freedom to act, torespond that way as well, and so
Well, and Adam, you're 100percent right.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I mean, it's all in how we react to situations.
I will never I, I will neverforget.
Uh, this was years and yearsand years ago, but I had this,
you know, it was back in the daywhen I was kind of handling,
you know, some customercomplaints.
We have a team that does notthat now, thank goodness.
Um, but we had this one ladythat called and I mean, she was
just really, really, reallyupset and, um, so I got on the
(17:16):
phone with her and I was likema'am, you know what,
negotiating one-on-one orcustomer service one-on-one, you
know what can we do to helpsolve your issue?
And she just kept going andkept getting louder and louder
and she was using some choicewords and, uh, honestly, some
words I'd never heard before,and, uh, so I learned a lot that
(17:38):
day.
But she just kept gettingmadder and madder and madder and
I finally said, ma'am, what isit that you want me to do?
And she says I don't haveanything that I want you to do
other than get upset with me.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I'd be like I'm mad too then.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
You know, and I said I said, ma'am, I'm sorry, I just
can't do that.
If there's something practicalthat you want us to solve, if
there's something that we canfix, I'll be glad to do that.
But if you keep talking thisway, I have no other choice than
just to hang up because there'snothing I can do at that point.
But all she wanted me to do wasget upset and get mad, and it
was just going to escalate thesituation and I was just as calm
(18:14):
with her as possible, but itwas just the most interesting
conversation I've probably everhad in my life.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Well, I've, I've experienced that with even my
own wife before.
I mean, I, we always joke abouthow similar Emily and you are,
brady, but like there's timeswhere she'll tell me something,
like she'll tell me something,whether it's work, family
related, that she's she'sfrustrated with you, know, and
I'll interject and be like, well, and then she'll get mad at me
and she's like I literally justwant you to listen to me and I,
(18:45):
you know, and I think sometimes,like I, just when you talk
about the situation, you know,choosing to be, to be happy,
choosing to, to understand,sometimes that's all people want
is to have the is to just saysay, let me get my frustration
out.
I don't expect you to solve it,but if you'll just give me a
chance, I feel like it'll makeme feel better and I feel like
(19:07):
that's kind of like you and thatwith that customer she's just
like you know, yes, she wantedyou to get mad with her, but I
think, subconsciously too, shejust wanted somebody to hear her
and just I said I heard her, Iheard her.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I heard more than I wanted to.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
We actually had somebody, adam, you probably saw
on one of our I don't know whatsocial platform it was, maybe
it was YouTube but somebody saidyou know we were talking about
the Disney theme on one of ourepisodes.
And the guy said you know youcan't make everybody happy on
one of our episodes.
And the guy said you know youcan't make everybody happy.
And I thought about it for asecond.
He's not wrong, you can't.
But I responded back and I saidyou know you're.
(19:48):
You are correct.
However, when you go to Disney,they're going to go out of
their way to try to makeeveryone happy, regardless of
what it is.
I mean they they bend overbackwards to make sure that your
customer experience is secondto none.
We did and, by the way, I'mgoing to preface this by saying
we've only ever done this.
One time we went to Disney.
They have a thing.
They call it a VIP experience.
We went with Adam and Emily andtheir kids for their birthdays.
(20:11):
I think it was November, a yearago maybe.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Yeah, it was last year, about a year ago.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
And we went, we did, we chose, we chose.
You know what?
There's 10 of us we're gonnapay to do the vip thing because
we want to do a crash disney oneday, get it all done like it
was.
And it rained the entire time,entire time, oh, the entire time
.
But what was what was reallycool was the lady she met us.
She, I'll be honest, adam, Idon't know what.
She thought she looked likemary poppins when she walked up.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
She walked up, she had her umbrella, she was
dressed like Mary Poppins andshe had a little magical bag of
goodies.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yeah, and in that bag of goodies was ponchos.
She had a poncho for everyoneand this lady walked around with
us all day long in the pouringrain and her whole mission was
to make our experience a goodone, regardless of the
circumstance.
And I thought about that guy onYouTube and I was like you know
, he's not wrong, but we have achoice every day to try to
(21:07):
change someone's day, try tomake them happy.
If we to your point, brady,that lady just wanted to.
She just wanted you to be upsetand you chose not to.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
I remember my dad used to always tell me the same
thing.
He's pastored since he was 15,and he always used to teach me
no matter what I preach on,somebody's not going to like it.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
The topic.
They're not going to agree,they're not going to like my
illustrations.
He's always said that he's like.
But I have to choose just tocontinue to do it.
I feel like this is what God'scalled me to do is to preach, to
bring the word to pastor others.
But I just remember, because Ialways got to see the tough part
(21:52):
of ministry with him, likepeople's complaining, people's
issues.
I always got to see that partand I was like I don't know how
you deal with it.
He was like adam, I'm exactlywhat y'all were saying.
I'm never gonna make anyonehappy, everyone happy at all,
but I can't let that keep mefrom doing what I'm called to do
you can't, because you just itwill just make you frustrated.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
you know, um, and and you think about going back to
that star lady.
I'll never forget what she said, as she said hey, here's your
drink, again that 15 sloganStarbucks drink that I ordered.
She said here's your drink andshe's told me when we pull away.
She said, hey, go be happy onpurpose.
And I looked at Sarah.
(22:34):
She said that exact.
She said go be happy on purpose.
I said, sarah, write that down.
That's going to be an episodethat we're going to use on
higher up podcast, because shewhatever the outcome was, I
don't know that she could tell Iwas frustrated with the coffee.
I never gave her anyinclination that I was, but she
chose to go out of her way, nomatter how many people backed up
(22:56):
in that line we're pulling away.
And she said, hey, go be happyon purpose.
And she had this big smile onher face and I thought, man, I
don't care.
They could have taken 30minutes to make that drink, it
didn't matter.
Go be happy on purpose.
She was basically saying youhave a choice.
I've made a choice.
Now go be happy and do it onpurpose.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
We had a similar situation.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
It was a couple Sundays ago after church.
Emily, one of Milo's she lovesMilo's, not a Milo's person,
sorry, she loves it.
So we went to the one over inRiverchase and they were busy.
Okay, they were busy, notRiverchase, the one over there
close to the church and we walkin.
And this is this oldergentleman, he is so excited to
(23:41):
have you walk in.
You feel like it's Moe's.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Honestly, it's Moe's Welcome to Milo's.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
It's exactly what he did and they were busy and I can
tell you it took us and this isMilo's it took us 30 minutes to
get our food.
30 minutes, right, yeah, buthis you could tell he was trying
to do everything good to talkpeople there, and I'll tell you
what man.
I've never seen more peoplewalk up and bother that man
(24:08):
while he's trying to take ordersand he happily did it.
He grabbed what they needed.
If they needed a Milo sauce,they needed something they
needed to refill.
He's doing it, take an order.
Doing it, take an order.
And I told him take an order,doing it, take an order.
And I told emily.
I was like I don't care if wesit here for 45 minutes.
He is working so hard and he maynot realize we're watching and
you could tell that people werefrustrated, but I'm like he's
working so hard.
(24:29):
You know this is a fast foodjoint.
He's working so hard to makesure that these people are taken
care of that.
You know he's giving time toeach person that ordering,
that's needing something, thathas an easy and you could tell
they're just shorthanded, uh,and so it was just like you guys
said you never know who'swatching and he's choosing that
in that moment I can.
(24:49):
There's no reason to be happyin that moment.
It's stressful.
People are mad, that you knowthey're mad, but he's just
continuing to serve.
Be happy.
If you need something, got itand it's just.
It was similar to what you.
You about Benji is just.
It kind of changed yourperception because you don't
know.
You also have no idea who'swatching what you're doing and
how you respond.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
So, benji, I've got a .
I got a theory about yourStarbucks lady, all right.
I wonder if she might've beenfrustrated because who orders a
drink that you got to use chatGPT to understand exactly what
it is?
Venti caramel eight Splenda.
(25:31):
I don't remember what you said,but I got to go look at it.
She probably was.
I'm sure she was.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
I'll never.
I think there's times wherethey've said you know, you don't
have to order it that way.
You can just say I want asugar-free caramel latte or
whatever.
Yeah, that way with almond milk.
And I said, but that's not whaty'all told me to order.
She said, well, that's becausewe told you the starbucks way we
just gave you the starbuckstime.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
This is nothing to do with the episode, but I just
wondered like how in the worlddo people, especially you, benji
, get to where that's yourstarbucks order?
You're like man, I love it with, you know, a splash of coconut
milk and I need this Splenda andI need it a little extra hot,
but I want like a one fourthfoam.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I don't get it.
That's because.
That's because Starbucks isknown for whatever they.
They have taught these people,no matter how you say your order
, that they're going to get itright.
Ninety nine percent.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
I know I get that.
I'm just saying how in theworld did you get to?
That's your order.
I'm like, hey, give me someblack coffee.
I'm going to take a little bitof creamer, I'm going to put it
in there, stir it around, I'mgood, so I'll tell you exactly
how.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
One holiday season we were In the fall time yes,
spice lattes, pumpkin spicelatte.
I'm not a, I'm not a hollowLord, baby Jesus, anyway.
So November and December theydo a caramel brulee latte, but
the problem is it's got a lot ofsugar in it because of the
syrup they pour in it.
(26:50):
And I said they had ran out,and I was.
I said, ma'am, I would.
You'll order your drink thisway, then we'll get you what you
want.
It's very close.
I said okay.
And then she said, oh, by theway, if you want to do it the
Starbucks way, order it this way.
(27:10):
And that's what I've done eversince then.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, when you said that it had nothing to do with
the episode.
It cracks me up hearing peopleorder their coffee order, no
matter where it's from, and I'mlike did you, so put in the
comments what your favoriteStarbucks drink is.
Did you really use ChatGPT tofigure?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
out your coffee, I'll give you a really funny story
before we close the episode.
We were a surf pro.
Obviously you guys know that wedo fire and water damage
cleanup.
We were on a storm up inChicago, illinois, one year and
I had never really doneStarbucks.
Matter of fact, brady'sfather-in-law introduced me to
Starbucks back in the early2000s.
(27:50):
I had not drank coffee.
He said well, if you haven'thad coffee to drink ever, if
you'll do it this way, it'llkind of get you used to drinking
coffee over time he did Brady,he messed Benji up.
He did, he did.
We're in Chicago, I'm notkidding you, we're in Chicago.
And back then we used to havefor those of you that know what
(28:10):
Nextel radios are out therelistening, oh Nextel.
Yeah, we pushed the Nextel radioand he goes I'm going to go to
Starbucks and I'm going to getall you guys.
I want to take care of you, Iwant to get you a coffee.
And I said okay.
He said I've never been toStarbucks, so when I get there I
will next tell you guys andI'll just hold it on, I'll hold
(28:33):
the button on while you orderand I'll let the lady listen.
I said okay, so he goes toStarbucks and those nextxTails
you know they work a long way.
I mean, it's basically a bigradio signal, it's a massive
walkie-talkie, yeah, and he getsin line and I told the people
in there.
I said y'all watch this, and Ididn't drink the same drink that
I told you just now that I do.
(28:54):
And I told him.
I said all right, this is goingto be hilarious.
So I pushed the button, I saidI want a and I made up this name
like just just, I don't evenknow what I said, to be honest
with you Mocha choka loca,something like a boca, something
, something.
And he comes on the radio.
Now he's standing with thebarista behind the cash register
(29:15):
, he buzzes in and you hear deadsilence for like eight seconds
and he goes.
Can you repeat that order?
She has no clue what you justsaid and of course we're busting
out laughing.
So to your point Starbucks.
They make up these names, whoknows where they come from, but
it's pretty funny, I don't thinkour listeners understand the
addiction that you have toStarbucks and Chick-fil-A, Like
(29:35):
it's and Milo's Tea.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Well, it's got to be.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
It's got to be Splenda Yellow Cap.
And the reason why I likeStarbucks and Chick-fil-A I know
people laugh at me all the timeis because most, every single
time you go to those two places,it doesn't matter what you
order, what you say, they aregoing to get it right most of
the time.
And I don't like going toMcDonald's the kids love
McDonald's.
I don't like going toMcDonald's, the kids love
McDonald's.
I don't like going toMcDonald's because you can order
two cheeseburger meal with onlyketchup.
(30:05):
It's going to have everythingon it, no matter how you order
it.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
No matter how you order it, it's frustrating, it's
just frustrating.
Well, as we get to wrapping up,I like to always end and kind
of see where you guys are, sojust hitting you guys as owners.
Right, you guys are businessowners.
Y'all deal with the good andy'all deal with the bad.
(30:30):
What is it for the two of youguys that helps you continue to
choose to be happy to handlethose situations?
Because y'all deal with waymore than anybody.
It doesn't matter if you're ourCFO or if you're just an hourly
employee.
You guys deal with everythingthat people aren't aware of.
How do you choose to deal withthose moments that are
frustrating?
And how do you choose to deal?
How do you choose to continuesaying, hey, I'm going to choose
(30:52):
to be happy in this and, asidefrom, obviously, you know this
is how you guys live, this iswhat you know, this is what
supports your family.
Outside of that, you guys couldessentially just say, hey, I'm
good, I don't want to do thisanymore, I could find something
else.
But how do you, how do each ofyou choose to live that happy
life, to say, hey, even in thetough moments, I'm going to
(31:13):
continue pushing forward andwe're going to.
We're going to choose to beokay with this and we're going
to.
We're going to handle thisproblem.
I'd like to hear Brady's first.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
That was a very long-winded question.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
That was very strategic.
Very strategic, I mean.
I think there's so manydifferent ways that I could go
with that.
I mean from a practicalstandpoint, a spiritual
standpoint.
(31:45):
I think at the end of the day,it's all part of a growth
mechanism and we've talked aboutgrowth a lot on the podcast and
, and I'll say, evolution notnot like evolution, but just us
evolving as human beings andcontinuing to learn every single
day is how do we get better?
And it's just something that Imean.
I've learned over the yearsthat if I respond a certain way,
(32:07):
the outcome is just not greatyou know, and I and I and I am
far from perfect, you know, butI've just learned that there's
so many different circumstances.
I have responded in the wrongway and I see the outcome of
that.
Responded in the wrong way andI see the outcome of that.
So, if I just take a moment andI just pause and I just listen,
you know, adam, you, you, um,you talked about you and your
(32:29):
wife earlier, and not not that Ido this all the time, but some
of the best advice that I evergot from somebody is we were
talking about how to handle, youknow, like marital conflict or
whatever, and one of my mentorsat the time is he said you just
got to laugh.
I was like I don't think that'sgoing to work.
I, you know, I don't know whatkind of marriage you have, but I
(32:50):
don't think.
He said no, no, no, not L A U GH L A F, and I was like you're
gonna have to explain that alittle bit more.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (32:57):
He says.
He says, when you're in aconversation, you ask the
question do you want me tolisten?
L, do you want me to affirmwhat you're saying?
Or, in this situation, wouldyou like me to fix the problem?
And so I said okay, and I meanit's been a game changer because
(33:17):
it gives me a little clarityinto certain situations to where
, hey, sometimes I'm like yousaid, I'm just supposed to
listen.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
And sometimes you know somebody wants me to fix it
.
But I think how we choose toreact and just take five seconds
pause, take it in, use thediscernment that God's given us
to say how do I need to respondin this situation?
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yeah, that's good.
Yeah, I would say very, verysimilar to that.
I mean, I have chosen to have apositive outlook on life in
general.
I mean, I'm not going to getinto details about it now we're
going to do it on the episodelater but 2011 totally changed
the trajectory of my life.
Brady was a big part of that uh, getting me to the hospital
(34:01):
that day.
But ever since I went throughthat and a lot of people say,
you know, I've never had thattime in life where something's
happened to me.
I didn't, up until that point,never had anything like that.
And you know, woke up thatmorning and basically I was like
man, the Lord's allowed me tolive here longer.
I need to use it as an impact,to tell the story, because it
(34:21):
could change someone else's life.
And I thought I have a choiceevery day.
I'm not going to be that personwho's just going to be angry,
who's going to be upset, who'sbecause life is too short for
that.
You know, people live like thatall the time and I'll be honest
, because they choose to.
Now some people would say it'sdue to, you know, to substance
(34:41):
they're using, whether it'salcohol, drugs, whatever.
I think there are a lot ofpeople that don't even have that
, that just choose to live.
They just choose to not behappy for whatever reason.
Be content with what you have.
That's what the Bible says.
Be content with what you haveand, whatever that is, use your
gift to your advantage.
And, honestly, I took thebarista's advice.
(35:03):
I said I'm going to choose tobe happy on purpose, and
sometimes I have to be remindedof that.
I have to because there aredays don't get me wrong there
are days I get frustrated, I getmad, I get upset.
I don't let the outside worldknow it, but I do, because
processes change, systems change, business platforms change,
whatever those things are.
Your job change, systems change, business platforms change,
whatever those things are.
(35:23):
Your job change you know forthose of you that may have, you
know, gone, different job orwhatever and I just choose to be
happy and, honestly, I took heradvice.
I'm going to be happy onpurpose because I can do it on
purpose.
Yeah, and that's what.
That's what it means to me.
That's good.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
That's a good one today, boys.
I enjoyed that one.
That's a lot to chew on.
Hopefully our listeners thinkthrough it this week as they're
listening to the episode.
What are ways you can choose tobe happy in your situation,
Even right now?
Maybe you're listening to itand getting the kids in the car
and getting to school was notthe best thing.
Maybe you had a fight with yourspouse.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Maybe you had a long day at work, but you know or
maybe you're going through theStarbucks drive-thru right now.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yeah, you're sitting in the line, so no, I want to
tell you guys, not only go tochoose to be happy on purpose
but, as we always say on higherup podcast, don't forget to
connect with us, but go outthere and just choose to live a
higher up life.
Appreciate you guys listeningin.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
All right, we'll see y'all next time.
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