January 21, 2026 • 26 mins
What if ROI could guide more than budgets and software investments? We sat down with Greg Richmond—VP of Value Advisory Services at an Atlanta-based supply chain software company—to unpack how a metric-heavy mindset can deepen relationships, sharpen focus, and shape a faith-filled legacy. Greg’s story moves from Texas blue-collar roots to white-collar leadership, and along the way he reveals why he swapped “doing everything” for “doing the essential” and how that shift changed his family and career.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional, andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders, soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethis show even better, please
let us know.
(00:27):
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at leaderimpact.ca oron social at LeaderImpact.
And if you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at leaderimpact.com.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is Greg
Richmond.
Greg is a vice is the vicepresident of Value Advisory
Services for Ketacu, anAtlanta-based supply chain
(00:48):
software provider.
Greg has been involved withLeader Impact since 2015 when he
participated in a globalexchange to Ecuador.
He is a Leader Impact Groupleader in Atlanta and part of
the Leader Impact Atlantaleadership team.
Greg is a graduate of BaylorUniversity and a native Texan,
but he has lived happily in theAtlanta area since 2001.
Greg is married, has fourchildren, four grandchildren
(01:11):
living in Georgia and Florida.
Greg loves to play golf, butdoesn't get as much as he wants.
Instead, he's picked up Pilatesand plays pickleball, both with
Monica.
Welcome to the show, Greg.
SPEAKER_01 (01:22):
Thank you very much.
So I need to change that bio.
I don't play pickleball as muchanymore.
SPEAKER_00 (01:28):
Oh.
Does Monica?
If if our guests remember, weinterviewed Monica a few weeks
ago.
Does Monica still play?
SPEAKER_01 (01:34):
She doesn't play either.
Both of us have think arethinking that might not be a
good idea.
SPEAKER_00 (01:39):
Have you played over on an ankle?
Is it getting too aggressive?
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Yep, it's just a little bit too aggressive.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (01:46):
Yeah.
So my husband and I have justbought like the titanium, like
we're getting, just getting intoit.
So once I sprain an ankle, we'llbe done.
Um but thanks, thanks forjoining us.
It was wonderful to meet yourwife, Monica, a few weeks ago.
So we are excited to have you.
Thanks for joining us.
Thank you.
So we always start uh ourpodcast looking for a little bit
(02:08):
more of info about you andreally the journey of how you
got to where you are from whereyou are today, or to where you
are today, but really those thatpivotal moment or moments that
you have that got you where youare.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
If you could share one.
Well, I appreciate it.
So I, you know, I was um I Igrew up um in Texas and um
somewhat of a blue-collarfamily.
And my family uh was uh did methe good fortune of of sending
me off to college where Idecided to uh study accounting
and I did that and became a CPA.
(02:41):
So I had a big transition in mylife family-wise, from a
somewhat of a blue-collar to awhite-collar type of profession.
Uh, and so I started out beingan auditor and a controller, but
um I discovered that my what Ienjoyed most was being with
people, so kind of more out infront than uh you know handling
(03:03):
the bookkeeping.
So um I started, you know,selling and and moving towards
computers uh and sellingaccounting systems.
Um so that's kind of one bigturning point.
But then there was a guy in mylife that um that was a good
friend of mine, and I kind ofkept following him following him
around, you know, one job afteranother.
(03:26):
And so I followed him to one andthen a next and then a next.
And that second one I got intowas in the field that I'm in
today, which is uh valueadvisory services.
I I help people understand thevalue of uh buying enterprise
software and what a businesscase would be like for using
(03:46):
that software in their business.
SPEAKER_00 (03:48):
Okay.
And this man that you havefollowed, where is this person
in your life now?
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
Well, um he's he's still in my life.
I meet with him regularly, uhevery week at least, uh, several
times a month.
Uh he's a good personal friend.
SPEAKER_00 (04:05):
Yeah.
You mentioned um the going fromblue collar, being raised blue
collar, to uh white collar.
SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:12):
Tell me a little bit about what that was like.
I mean, is it hard to let go?
Is it hard to join in?
Is, you know, that transition.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
Well, um, you know, I think my parents were always
just very encouraging.
My mom mostly was a stay-at-homemom, but uh off and on she would
do various jobs.
One of her biggest ones wasworking in a school district.
But my dad was, my dad isconstruction entrepreneur, uh,
getting out uh in the field, um,making things happen.
(04:45):
Every neither one of them had acollege education.
And when I was a when I was asenior in high school, we were,
you know, working for an HBACcompany putting in uh air
conditioning gun uh uh vents uhfor apartment complexes.
And uh we were at the companyand I said, Dad, what do you
think?
What do you think maybe I shoulddo for a career?
(05:06):
And he said, Well, I think you'dbe a good tax attorney.
And I went, okay.
So um, you know, I went frombeing out driving around a
pickup, you know, installing airconditioning vents and
apartments to going to school,uh, you know, to have a have a
licensed uh degree, you know,which was which was really cool.
SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
Yeah, I think that's um it's it's nice when the
parents are, you know, you canbe who you want to be.
I think you should be a taxattorney, but be who you want to
be, right?
Don't don't stay here drivingtruck or what, you know, just
yeah, sit out there and be bewho you need to be, who God
wants you to be.
Um we talk a lot aboutprinciples of success, and I'm
wondering if you have one and ifyou have an example of um or
(05:54):
what illustrates that, your bestprinciple.
SPEAKER_01 (05:56):
Yeah, I um this this might not be surprising, but I
think one of the biggest thingsthat I pay attention to is
focusing on ROI.
And you may be familiar with it,some may not, but ROI stands for
return on investment.
Um, so you know I apply that toevery aspect of my life
professional, personal, andspiritual.
(06:18):
Um you mentioned in my openingthat I'm married and have four
kids.
I also have four grandkids, andI've got three spouses that go
along with the kids, and I haveanother grandkid on the way.
So that's that's 13 people uh inmy immediate circle.
And building into the lives of13 people requires you know a
(06:42):
significant amount of time.
So how I spend my time uh willdetermine what type of ROI I'm
gonna get in my life and in thelives of those 13 very unique
people.
Um so one of the things that Idecided to do, this is the story
part for that, is I just foundmyself with so many different
(07:04):
competing interests for my timethat I better put some time in
my calendar to prioritize therelationships with my children
and grandchildren.
So what I did is, you know, I'mgetting to the grandchildren
through the children.
I I said, I want to have a mealwith you every month.
And since I have four kids andthere's generally four weeks in
(07:26):
every month, I set up a weeklymeal with each kid so that so
that I have it on my calendar tospend time with a meal.
That's one per week, four permonth, 48 per year, 480 meals
over 10 years.
And who knows, you know, if Imaybe get 400 meals over the
(07:46):
next, you know, 10 years, then Ikind of think that there's going
to be a good ROI on that.
SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
Yeah.
Okay, I've had some greatprinciples of success, but that
one has just hit me.
And you know, as as we're in thenew year and you think of goals,
and I have friends who, youknow, goal setting, and ROI is
such a business term to me.
SPEAKER_01 (08:04):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (08:05):
It's like I just didn't put it to my like, what's
the return of investment on mychildren, my family?
Like, what am I doing?
Well, how am I investing?
Oh, great one.
SPEAKER_01 (08:15):
Yeah.
Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
Thank you for sharing that.
Um well, we learn, we all know,we learn more from our failures
and mistakes than our ownsuccesses.
And I'm wondering if you'rewilling to share a failure, a
failure, or a mistake, um, andwhat you learned from it.
SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
No, I don't really want to.
I don't I don't really don't Ireally don't want to do that.
But but since you asked andyou've been kind enough to give
me a microphone for a minute, II guess I'll go ahead and tell
one.
Um one of my job moves wasbigger than I was ready to
handle, quite honestly.
Um, this work that I do, um Ihad been doing for at least a
(08:57):
decade, 10 years or so, and theand the man that I was working
for, the VP of sales, moved onto another company, and he
wanted to build that same typeof practice into the software
company that he moved to.
So he reached out to me andsaid, Greg, I'd love for you to
join me.
And if you come over here, helpme figure this out, uh, get it
in place at this company, thenyou can also do these couple of
(09:20):
other things for me.
So he hired me to do not only mycore skill, uh, but also to
branch out and do some otherthings as well.
And I loved it.
It was a I love the idea.
It was a great opportunity forme to grow a little bit more,
advance up the company ladder.
But what happened is that whatwas easy for me and what I was
(09:43):
hired for uh became secondary.
And it was harder for me to dothe other things that he was
asked or he asked me to do orput on my plate.
And what ended up happening isthat I didn't do good at any of
them.
And the worst thing that couldhave happened is that the thing
that he hired me for, I didn'tfocus on it enough.
(10:04):
I didn't get it up and going andum productive for the company uh
like it needed.
I remember I was sitting on a,this was a public company, it
was small, but a public company,and I was sitting on a uh
quarterly earnings call, and oneof the analysts asked the CEO,
uh, you told us about addingthis uh new value advisory
(10:25):
services program into yourbusiness, and we're wondering
what kind of positive impactyou're seeing from that.
And the CEO said withoutblinking, without thinking about
it, nah, not much.
And that was like a huge gulp.
It was like, oh my gosh.
Yeah, I just, you know, what Ido for this company just raised
to, you know, Wall Street andthe world listening to this
(10:48):
company and you know, how it'sperforming.
And I'm the guy that wasresponsible for making sure that
the answer to that question waspositive.
And I failed, you know, bottomline, I failed from that.
So, you know, the the bigpicture for me and what I
learned the most from that is tokeep the main thing the main
thing.
And uh in that situation, Ishould have been keeping my eye
(11:11):
on the main thing and notgetting distracted by something
else just because I thought itwould be good for my career.
It almost, you know, ended mycareer there, you know, to be
quite honest.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:22):
I don't think you're alone in that.
I think people uh many times wetake on too much and then we
just we're good at nothing.
Like, you know, we we I thinkthat's a great story.
And and it hard to rememberthough, right?
Because we all want to do moreand and then we don't do enough
and we forgot what we were camein for.
(11:43):
Gosh.
SPEAKER_01 (11:45):
Life can um yeah, um, throw a rope around us and
pull us into things that wereally shouldn't be doing.
That happens all the time.
It's not going to be hard for meto remember that earnings call
and the fact that um, you know,I was kind of you know outed,
you know, on the spot withoutusing my name.
So that has been a a huge, ahuge reminder for me in my life.
SPEAKER_00 (12:07):
Yeah.
We have to have those sometimesto remember, not to do it again.
SPEAKER_01 (12:11):
That's right.
That's why they're good.
That's why um lessons learnedare some of the best lessons.
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
Yeah.
It's easy to read about or hearabout someone else's lessons,
but sometimes until they happento you.
SPEAKER_01 (12:22):
That's right.
That's right.
I I'm not wishing it on anybody,that's for sure.
That's why we're sharing to me.
SPEAKER_00 (12:27):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:28):
We share it so you can learn.
Um well, you've been involved inleader impact for many years.
And as you know, we want to growpersonally, professionally, and
spiritually for increasingimpact.
So I'm wondering if you'd bewilling to share an example of
how the spiritual makes apractical difference in your
life as a leader.
SPEAKER_01 (12:45):
Yeah, well, you know, it's it is honestly the
spiritual is the thing I enjoytalking about the most, the
thing I look for opportunitiesto talk about.
It it literally underpins uh myentire life.
And but I'm gonna I want to pickum or you know, I'm gonna say
(13:06):
that, you know, it means to methat I just try to stay present
in every relationship I have,both relationships I have
internally, you know, inside thecompany I work for, and also
externally, the um prospectsthat we talk to, the uh friends
that I have, etc.
(13:27):
I believe, I believe people areeternal.
And I believe we can all decidefor ourselves whether heaven and
hell are real.
And so for this reason, I justtry to be salt and light in
every aspect of my life.
If what I have looks tasty uhand true, it's honest, um
(13:47):
there's a a realness to it, thenmaybe somebody who doesn't
personally know God um will wantto give it a try and give me an
opportunity to talk about my ownstory with them.
SPEAKER_00 (14:00):
I think I I wonder if people listening um and like
myself, it it's difficult tobecause I mean all you're saying
is be present, uh, you know, uhallow them to trust you first,
share your story, maybe they'llask.
Because I think sometimes wethink, no, we got to go in there
and say, you know, and um be alittle more pushy, but we don't
(14:22):
have to be.
SPEAKER_01 (14:23):
And no, it's better not.
I don't think Jesus was pushy.
Yeah.
You know, I think people heJesus loved people where right
where they were, and he wantedto come, he wanted them to come
to him in the easiest waypossible for them.
And and that way is completelyunique uh for every person on
the planet.
(14:43):
So I just uh seek to be kind andconsiderate uh to everybody I
meet, quite frankly.
SPEAKER_00 (14:50):
And do you have a lot of people ever bring up
faith with you?
SPEAKER_01 (14:54):
You know, um it doesn't happen all the time.
I can't say all the time,absolutely.
No.
But uh there's a there's acouple of there's a couple of
key scriptures um that I rely onin this regard.
And one of them is 1 Peter 3.15,which is always be prepared uh
to give an answer to anyone whoasks you to give the reason for
(15:17):
the hope that you have and to dothis with gentleness and
respect.
So, you know, to me, and youknow, what what I'll do is, you
know, I'll invite somebody to ameal or I'll invite somebody to
a conference.
And and and a lot of times, notmost, a lot of times they just
say yes, and I'll say, Oh,great, okay, well, let's go.
(15:37):
And then after that, I just Ijust want to meet with them.
How'd you like it?
What'd you think?
Was it interesting to you?
Why not?
You know, okay.
Uh, or why was it?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (15:48):
Yeah.
Right.
Good advice.
SPEAKER_01 (15:51):
I try to keep the barrier pretty low to have a
conversation with me.
SPEAKER_00 (15:55):
Good.
Oh, I love it.
I think a lot of people strugglewith how we are how we are to
make disciples of all nations.
We, you know, so so thanks.
You made it easy.
I I appreciate that.
Yeah.
Um, I've got uh two morequestions for you, and but we're
gonna we're gonna ask you first,what brings you the greatest
joy?
SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Well, um I'm gonna say it's my quiet time with God.
Um you know, it's not golf.
I love to play golf.
Golf is is maddening.
You can never be a good enoughgolfer.
You know, I love playing golf, Ilove getting outside, but here's
(16:37):
why my time with my time withGod brings me the most joy.
It's because He knows me betterthan anybody else knows me.
And, you know, I my wife is mybest friend.
Uh, she is the one who I go tomost when I'm struggling, or she
comes to me when I'm struggling.
(16:57):
It's you know, there's there'sthat, you know, being in the
flesh and that one anotheringthing um happens easiest there.
But she doesn't know me inside,and when I mess up, I can upset
her.
And I I don't remember a timeever that I feel like that God
was upset with me, that Iscrewed up in a way that He just
(17:22):
said, Well, that's it.
You know, we're gonna have anargument right here and now, and
you're gonna, you know, changeit.
You know, that's that's neverhappened.
It's it's always been more of a,okay, let me write to you about
this and talk to you about this,and let you speak to me through
prayer, prayer, and through jerthe journaling process.
And when it happens that I knowthat I am hearing from God, or
(17:48):
his words are showing up on thepaper, you know, to me, um it
makes me cry.
It just makes me cry.
I just go, the creator of theuniverse, the one that's holding
all of this together in hishands, or just by a word or a
thought, knows me well enough tocorrespond with me, to
(18:12):
communicate with me and remindme who I am.
That is a that is a deepness umof understanding, of being
received, of being loved, whichis just without parallel.
There's just there's nothingthat that compares to it.
That's deep, deep joy to me.
SPEAKER_00 (18:34):
I so I have recently, not recently, but
really picked up my journaling.
So in the morning I readscripture and I'll journal about
it, and then I'll do a deepdive, and wherever God takes
that conversation, it blows mymind.
So at listening to, I'm like, Iget such joy in the morning with
and I've got getting up earlierjust so I can do it.
(18:54):
But for people that are very newand listening to you, I think
the Bible, they it's it'ssometimes a struggle to read, to
understand what God's saying toyou.
I don't know if you have anyadvice.
Um, my husband has uh like aBible where it kind of explains
this is what it's saying.
So I don't know, you know, ormaybe you're just so good at it.
SPEAKER_01 (19:14):
No, no, no, no, I'm not good at it.
Um, but I I'm repetitive at it.
Uh, you know, everybody knows,uh maybe not everybody, but most
people know about the the Bibleapp uh now.
And a cool thing about the Bibleapp is that it just it just
announced just in the last monthor two that it's been installed
(19:35):
one billion times in the world.
So one of the things that theBible app has in it is reading
plans, read through the Bible ina year.
And it's got a bunch ofdifferent reading plans.
One is start at the beginning,you know, in Genesis and then in
Revelation.
Well, you got to make your waythrough Leviticus, you know, and
Deuteronomy to do all that.
(19:56):
And you numbers, all of those,those last three books of the
pivotal.
They're they're kind of tough.
But there's other kinds of planswhere you read a little bit of
Old Testament, a little bit ofNew Testament, read some Psalms
and Proverbs, and kind of mix itall up.
So, you know, when you're inLeviticus, you go, that's over.
Now I get to go, you know, readsome New Testament, you know,
(20:18):
and that's that's a lot easier,much easier to understand.
So that's what I do.
And, you know, at this point,I'm not bragging at all, but I'm
six years into it reading theBible every year.
Um, you know, I'm into my sixthyear, my sixth time now.
And what is fascinating aboutthat is some of those names and
(20:39):
kings and in the Old Testamentthat I just read over and I
didn't make sense, I'm startingto remember them and who they
were and what the big picture oftheir story was and how that
story fits into the big story ofthe Bible.
And I didn't get it at first.
I didn't, but just continuing tokind of, you know, be with it,
(21:01):
spend time with it, let it seepinto me, let me pick up on
things.
That is that has been highlyvaluable.
Big ROI on that.
SPEAKER_00 (21:09):
Big ROI.
I love it.
Thanks for sharing that.
Because I think sometimes it'sdifficult and I want to hear
other people's views on becausethe Bible app, it's accessible
24-7 everywhere.
You when you're you know, ifyou're sitting in an office, a
doctor's office, you could, youknow.
It's accessible.
SPEAKER_01 (21:25):
I'll tell you one more thing about it.
Uh uh, you know, a lot of peoplesay, well, when do you have your
quiet time?
When do you read the Bible?
And um, you know, some peoplemay remember the Left Behind
series um by Tim LaHaye, and Ican't remember the other guy,
but uh I remember I rememberthere was a character in the
Bible who was talking about hisquiet time, and he said that I
(21:47):
do it in the evening because Ialways go to bed.
But in the morning, somethingcan happen, you know, just kind
of shocks you and makes you wakeup and derails you and gets you
off into the another part ofyour life and you haven't had a
chance to spend any time uh withthe Lord, either reading the
Bible or having a quiet time orwhatever, but but you're always
(22:10):
going to bed, you know.
So at the end of the day, justbefore you go to sleep, you can
always, you know, say a prayer,or you can always open up the
Bible app and read a few verses,you know, before you nod off.
Actually, you know, praying andreading the Bible is a good way
to go to sleep.
You gotta go to sleep reallyfast.
But I don't have any guilt aboutthat, I promise.
(22:32):
I'm thinking, oh, I'm in yourpresence, God.
I love that.
You know, if you want me to goto sleep, I think I'll just go
to sleep.
SPEAKER_00 (22:37):
Yeah, yeah, it's just time.
Yeah, I I'm actually a morningperson because it's like coffee
in the Bible.
Like nothing's gonna derailthat.
But I do get it.
I mean things can happen in themorning.
All right.
Well, my last question is justabout um leader impact is
dedicated to leaders having alasting impact.
So as you continue to movethrough this journey of your own
(22:59):
life, what do you want yourfaith legacy to be when you
leave this world?
SPEAKER_01 (23:04):
Well, um, some of what I've talked about today um
you know talks about this.
I I live a what I call areproducing life.
Um and all of that started uhwhen I became a Christian, which
was before I got married andstarted having children.
Um I thought about my faith.
I like talking to other peopleabout my faith.
(23:26):
I like talking to people aboutJesus and, you know, hopefully
leading people to Christ andthings like that.
That's reproducing.
But but now, you know, you know,I'm married and I have these
children, and my children arehaving children.
And now I get to be both afather and a grandfather.
And how I go about being aleader in my family is is
(23:50):
critically very, very importantto me.
I take it seriously and I wantto do it uh very well.
Um, there's another Bible versethat 2 Timothy 2.2 that um that
I picked up along the way, whichsays, the things which you have
heard me say in the presence ofmany witnesses entrust to other
reliable people, so they may bequalified to teach others.
(24:16):
So I I reproduce, you know,legacy is not what I do and
what's left behind.
Legacy to me is what peoplethink about you after you're
gone.
You know, and what memories dothey have for you?
How did they build into yourlife?
How did you treat them asspecial and and recognize the
importance of who they are?
(24:36):
That's what I want my legacy tobe for people to think about
Greg and that he thought I wasimportant and special.
SPEAKER_00 (24:46):
Well, it it sounds like your 48 dinners, no, 52,
no, how many dinners a year thatyou have with your dinner?
SPEAKER_01 (24:53):
480 dinners, 480 dinners in 10 years.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:58):
Sounds like you are getting your ROI right and
you're spending time, and itsounds like there is a legacy
that you are reproducing.
SPEAKER_01 (25:06):
So I hope so.
Yeah, I hope so.
SPEAKER_00 (25:09):
Greg, I want to thank you for just taking this
uh just this time with us andsharing.
We I think it's important toshare our stories.
Um people may look at at faithand it's scary.
Uh and I, you know, if they somepeople didn't grow up in faith
and uh um or some people mayhave lost it and it may be
coming back.
(25:29):
So all these stories are soimportant, and I love showing up
for them.
So I just want to thank you.
Um Lisa.
If anybody wants to connect withyou, find you, what is the best
place?
SPEAKER_01 (25:41):
Yeah, LinkedIn.
Uh LinkedIn is the best way togo.
Uh it's Greg Richmond Atlanta,uh, I think, something like
that.
But Greg Richmond in Atlantaworking for Ketacue.
I'll pop up.
You can message me there.
SPEAKER_00 (25:54):
Awesome.
Thank you, Greg, for spendingthe time with us.
SPEAKER_01 (25:57):
Yes, thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (25:59):
Well, if you're part of Leader Impact, you can always
discuss or share this podcastwith your group.
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(26:20):
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Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
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cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
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(00:27):
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at leaderimpact.ca oron social at LeaderImpact.
And if you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at leaderimpact.com.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is Greg
Richmond.
Greg is a vice is the vicepresident of Value Advisory
Services for Ketacu, anAtlanta-based supply chain
(00:48):
software provider.
Greg has been involved withLeader Impact since 2015 when he
participated in a globalexchange to Ecuador.
He is a Leader Impact Groupleader in Atlanta and part of
the Leader Impact Atlantaleadership team.
Greg is a graduate of BaylorUniversity and a native Texan,
but he has lived happily in theAtlanta area since 2001.
Greg is married, has fourchildren, four grandchildren
(01:11):
living in Georgia and Florida.
Greg loves to play golf, butdoesn't get as much as he wants.
Instead, he's picked up Pilatesand plays pickleball, both with
Monica.
Welcome to the show, Greg.
SPEAKER_01 (01:22):
Thank you very much.
So I need to change that bio.
I don't play pickleball as muchanymore.
SPEAKER_00 (01:28):
Oh.
Does Monica?
If if our guests remember, weinterviewed Monica a few weeks
ago.
Does Monica still play?
SPEAKER_01 (01:34):
She doesn't play either.
Both of us have think arethinking that might not be a
good idea.
SPEAKER_00 (01:39):
Have you played over on an ankle?
Is it getting too aggressive?
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Yep, it's just a little bit too aggressive.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (01:46):
Yeah.
So my husband and I have justbought like the titanium, like
we're getting, just getting intoit.
So once I sprain an ankle, we'llbe done.
Um but thanks, thanks forjoining us.
It was wonderful to meet yourwife, Monica, a few weeks ago.
So we are excited to have you.
Thanks for joining us.
Thank you.
So we always start uh ourpodcast looking for a little bit
(02:08):
more of info about you andreally the journey of how you
got to where you are from whereyou are today, or to where you
are today, but really those thatpivotal moment or moments that
you have that got you where youare.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
If you could share one.
Well, I appreciate it.
So I, you know, I was um I Igrew up um in Texas and um
somewhat of a blue-collarfamily.
And my family uh was uh did methe good fortune of of sending
me off to college where Idecided to uh study accounting
and I did that and became a CPA.
(02:41):
So I had a big transition in mylife family-wise, from a
somewhat of a blue-collar to awhite-collar type of profession.
Uh, and so I started out beingan auditor and a controller, but
um I discovered that my what Ienjoyed most was being with
people, so kind of more out infront than uh you know handling
(03:03):
the bookkeeping.
So um I started, you know,selling and and moving towards
computers uh and sellingaccounting systems.
Um so that's kind of one bigturning point.
But then there was a guy in mylife that um that was a good
friend of mine, and I kind ofkept following him following him
around, you know, one job afteranother.
(03:26):
And so I followed him to one andthen a next and then a next.
And that second one I got intowas in the field that I'm in
today, which is uh valueadvisory services.
I I help people understand thevalue of uh buying enterprise
software and what a businesscase would be like for using
(03:46):
that software in their business.
SPEAKER_00 (03:48):
Okay.
And this man that you havefollowed, where is this person
in your life now?
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
Well, um he's he's still in my life.
I meet with him regularly, uhevery week at least, uh, several
times a month.
Uh he's a good personal friend.
SPEAKER_00 (04:05):
Yeah.
You mentioned um the going fromblue collar, being raised blue
collar, to uh white collar.
SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:12):
Tell me a little bit about what that was like.
I mean, is it hard to let go?
Is it hard to join in?
Is, you know, that transition.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
Well, um, you know, I think my parents were always
just very encouraging.
My mom mostly was a stay-at-homemom, but uh off and on she would
do various jobs.
One of her biggest ones wasworking in a school district.
But my dad was, my dad isconstruction entrepreneur, uh,
getting out uh in the field, um,making things happen.
(04:45):
Every neither one of them had acollege education.
And when I was a when I was asenior in high school, we were,
you know, working for an HBACcompany putting in uh air
conditioning gun uh uh vents uhfor apartment complexes.
And uh we were at the companyand I said, Dad, what do you
think?
What do you think maybe I shoulddo for a career?
(05:06):
And he said, Well, I think you'dbe a good tax attorney.
And I went, okay.
So um, you know, I went frombeing out driving around a
pickup, you know, installing airconditioning vents and
apartments to going to school,uh, you know, to have a have a
licensed uh degree, you know,which was which was really cool.
SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
Yeah, I think that's um it's it's nice when the
parents are, you know, you canbe who you want to be.
I think you should be a taxattorney, but be who you want to
be, right?
Don't don't stay here drivingtruck or what, you know, just
yeah, sit out there and be bewho you need to be, who God
wants you to be.
Um we talk a lot aboutprinciples of success, and I'm
wondering if you have one and ifyou have an example of um or
(05:54):
what illustrates that, your bestprinciple.
SPEAKER_01 (05:56):
Yeah, I um this this might not be surprising, but I
think one of the biggest thingsthat I pay attention to is
focusing on ROI.
And you may be familiar with it,some may not, but ROI stands for
return on investment.
Um, so you know I apply that toevery aspect of my life
professional, personal, andspiritual.
(06:18):
Um you mentioned in my openingthat I'm married and have four
kids.
I also have four grandkids, andI've got three spouses that go
along with the kids, and I haveanother grandkid on the way.
So that's that's 13 people uh inmy immediate circle.
And building into the lives of13 people requires you know a
(06:42):
significant amount of time.
So how I spend my time uh willdetermine what type of ROI I'm
gonna get in my life and in thelives of those 13 very unique
people.
Um so one of the things that Idecided to do, this is the story
part for that, is I just foundmyself with so many different
(07:04):
competing interests for my timethat I better put some time in
my calendar to prioritize therelationships with my children
and grandchildren.
So what I did is, you know, I'mgetting to the grandchildren
through the children.
I I said, I want to have a mealwith you every month.
And since I have four kids andthere's generally four weeks in
(07:26):
every month, I set up a weeklymeal with each kid so that so
that I have it on my calendar tospend time with a meal.
That's one per week, four permonth, 48 per year, 480 meals
over 10 years.
And who knows, you know, if Imaybe get 400 meals over the
(07:46):
next, you know, 10 years, then Ikind of think that there's going
to be a good ROI on that.
SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
Yeah.
Okay, I've had some greatprinciples of success, but that
one has just hit me.
And you know, as as we're in thenew year and you think of goals,
and I have friends who, youknow, goal setting, and ROI is
such a business term to me.
SPEAKER_01 (08:04):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (08:05):
It's like I just didn't put it to my like, what's
the return of investment on mychildren, my family?
Like, what am I doing?
Well, how am I investing?
Oh, great one.
SPEAKER_01 (08:15):
Yeah.
Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
Thank you for sharing that.
Um well, we learn, we all know,we learn more from our failures
and mistakes than our ownsuccesses.
And I'm wondering if you'rewilling to share a failure, a
failure, or a mistake, um, andwhat you learned from it.
SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
No, I don't really want to.
I don't I don't really don't Ireally don't want to do that.
But but since you asked andyou've been kind enough to give
me a microphone for a minute, II guess I'll go ahead and tell
one.
Um one of my job moves wasbigger than I was ready to
handle, quite honestly.
Um, this work that I do, um Ihad been doing for at least a
(08:57):
decade, 10 years or so, and theand the man that I was working
for, the VP of sales, moved onto another company, and he
wanted to build that same typeof practice into the software
company that he moved to.
So he reached out to me andsaid, Greg, I'd love for you to
join me.
And if you come over here, helpme figure this out, uh, get it
in place at this company, thenyou can also do these couple of
(09:20):
other things for me.
So he hired me to do not only mycore skill, uh, but also to
branch out and do some otherthings as well.
And I loved it.
It was a I love the idea.
It was a great opportunity forme to grow a little bit more,
advance up the company ladder.
But what happened is that whatwas easy for me and what I was
(09:43):
hired for uh became secondary.
And it was harder for me to dothe other things that he was
asked or he asked me to do orput on my plate.
And what ended up happening isthat I didn't do good at any of
them.
And the worst thing that couldhave happened is that the thing
that he hired me for, I didn'tfocus on it enough.
(10:04):
I didn't get it up and going andum productive for the company uh
like it needed.
I remember I was sitting on a,this was a public company, it
was small, but a public company,and I was sitting on a uh
quarterly earnings call, and oneof the analysts asked the CEO,
uh, you told us about addingthis uh new value advisory
(10:25):
services program into yourbusiness, and we're wondering
what kind of positive impactyou're seeing from that.
And the CEO said withoutblinking, without thinking about
it, nah, not much.
And that was like a huge gulp.
It was like, oh my gosh.
Yeah, I just, you know, what Ido for this company just raised
to, you know, Wall Street andthe world listening to this
(10:48):
company and you know, how it'sperforming.
And I'm the guy that wasresponsible for making sure that
the answer to that question waspositive.
And I failed, you know, bottomline, I failed from that.
So, you know, the the bigpicture for me and what I
learned the most from that is tokeep the main thing the main
thing.
And uh in that situation, Ishould have been keeping my eye
(11:11):
on the main thing and notgetting distracted by something
else just because I thought itwould be good for my career.
It almost, you know, ended mycareer there, you know, to be
quite honest.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:22):
I don't think you're alone in that.
I think people uh many times wetake on too much and then we
just we're good at nothing.
Like, you know, we we I thinkthat's a great story.
And and it hard to rememberthough, right?
Because we all want to do moreand and then we don't do enough
and we forgot what we were camein for.
(11:43):
Gosh.
SPEAKER_01 (11:45):
Life can um yeah, um, throw a rope around us and
pull us into things that wereally shouldn't be doing.
That happens all the time.
It's not going to be hard for meto remember that earnings call
and the fact that um, you know,I was kind of you know outed,
you know, on the spot withoutusing my name.
So that has been a a huge, ahuge reminder for me in my life.
SPEAKER_00 (12:07):
Yeah.
We have to have those sometimesto remember, not to do it again.
SPEAKER_01 (12:11):
That's right.
That's why they're good.
That's why um lessons learnedare some of the best lessons.
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
Yeah.
It's easy to read about or hearabout someone else's lessons,
but sometimes until they happento you.
SPEAKER_01 (12:22):
That's right.
That's right.
I I'm not wishing it on anybody,that's for sure.
That's why we're sharing to me.
SPEAKER_00 (12:27):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:28):
We share it so you can learn.
Um well, you've been involved inleader impact for many years.
And as you know, we want to growpersonally, professionally, and
spiritually for increasingimpact.
So I'm wondering if you'd bewilling to share an example of
how the spiritual makes apractical difference in your
life as a leader.
SPEAKER_01 (12:45):
Yeah, well, you know, it's it is honestly the
spiritual is the thing I enjoytalking about the most, the
thing I look for opportunitiesto talk about.
It it literally underpins uh myentire life.
And but I'm gonna I want to pickum or you know, I'm gonna say
(13:06):
that, you know, it means to methat I just try to stay present
in every relationship I have,both relationships I have
internally, you know, inside thecompany I work for, and also
externally, the um prospectsthat we talk to, the uh friends
that I have, etc.
(13:27):
I believe, I believe people areeternal.
And I believe we can all decidefor ourselves whether heaven and
hell are real.
And so for this reason, I justtry to be salt and light in
every aspect of my life.
If what I have looks tasty uhand true, it's honest, um
(13:47):
there's a a realness to it, thenmaybe somebody who doesn't
personally know God um will wantto give it a try and give me an
opportunity to talk about my ownstory with them.
SPEAKER_00 (14:00):
I think I I wonder if people listening um and like
myself, it it's difficult tobecause I mean all you're saying
is be present, uh, you know, uhallow them to trust you first,
share your story, maybe they'llask.
Because I think sometimes wethink, no, we got to go in there
and say, you know, and um be alittle more pushy, but we don't
(14:22):
have to be.
SPEAKER_01 (14:23):
And no, it's better not.
I don't think Jesus was pushy.
Yeah.
You know, I think people heJesus loved people where right
where they were, and he wantedto come, he wanted them to come
to him in the easiest waypossible for them.
And and that way is completelyunique uh for every person on
the planet.
(14:43):
So I just uh seek to be kind andconsiderate uh to everybody I
meet, quite frankly.
SPEAKER_00 (14:50):
And do you have a lot of people ever bring up
faith with you?
SPEAKER_01 (14:54):
You know, um it doesn't happen all the time.
I can't say all the time,absolutely.
No.
But uh there's a there's acouple of there's a couple of
key scriptures um that I rely onin this regard.
And one of them is 1 Peter 3.15,which is always be prepared uh
to give an answer to anyone whoasks you to give the reason for
(15:17):
the hope that you have and to dothis with gentleness and
respect.
So, you know, to me, and youknow, what what I'll do is, you
know, I'll invite somebody to ameal or I'll invite somebody to
a conference.
And and and a lot of times, notmost, a lot of times they just
say yes, and I'll say, Oh,great, okay, well, let's go.
(15:37):
And then after that, I just Ijust want to meet with them.
How'd you like it?
What'd you think?
Was it interesting to you?
Why not?
You know, okay.
Uh, or why was it?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (15:48):
Yeah.
Right.
Good advice.
SPEAKER_01 (15:51):
I try to keep the barrier pretty low to have a
conversation with me.
SPEAKER_00 (15:55):
Good.
Oh, I love it.
I think a lot of people strugglewith how we are how we are to
make disciples of all nations.
We, you know, so so thanks.
You made it easy.
I I appreciate that.
Yeah.
Um, I've got uh two morequestions for you, and but we're
gonna we're gonna ask you first,what brings you the greatest
joy?
SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Well, um I'm gonna say it's my quiet time with God.
Um you know, it's not golf.
I love to play golf.
Golf is is maddening.
You can never be a good enoughgolfer.
You know, I love playing golf, Ilove getting outside, but here's
(16:37):
why my time with my time withGod brings me the most joy.
It's because He knows me betterthan anybody else knows me.
And, you know, I my wife is mybest friend.
Uh, she is the one who I go tomost when I'm struggling, or she
comes to me when I'm struggling.
(16:57):
It's you know, there's there'sthat, you know, being in the
flesh and that one anotheringthing um happens easiest there.
But she doesn't know me inside,and when I mess up, I can upset
her.
And I I don't remember a timeever that I feel like that God
was upset with me, that Iscrewed up in a way that He just
(17:22):
said, Well, that's it.
You know, we're gonna have anargument right here and now, and
you're gonna, you know, changeit.
You know, that's that's neverhappened.
It's it's always been more of a,okay, let me write to you about
this and talk to you about this,and let you speak to me through
prayer, prayer, and through jerthe journaling process.
And when it happens that I knowthat I am hearing from God, or
(17:48):
his words are showing up on thepaper, you know, to me, um it
makes me cry.
It just makes me cry.
I just go, the creator of theuniverse, the one that's holding
all of this together in hishands, or just by a word or a
thought, knows me well enough tocorrespond with me, to
(18:12):
communicate with me and remindme who I am.
That is a that is a deepness umof understanding, of being
received, of being loved, whichis just without parallel.
There's just there's nothingthat that compares to it.
That's deep, deep joy to me.
SPEAKER_00 (18:34):
I so I have recently, not recently, but
really picked up my journaling.
So in the morning I readscripture and I'll journal about
it, and then I'll do a deepdive, and wherever God takes
that conversation, it blows mymind.
So at listening to, I'm like, Iget such joy in the morning with
and I've got getting up earlierjust so I can do it.
(18:54):
But for people that are very newand listening to you, I think
the Bible, they it's it'ssometimes a struggle to read, to
understand what God's saying toyou.
I don't know if you have anyadvice.
Um, my husband has uh like aBible where it kind of explains
this is what it's saying.
So I don't know, you know, ormaybe you're just so good at it.
SPEAKER_01 (19:14):
No, no, no, no, I'm not good at it.
Um, but I I'm repetitive at it.
Uh, you know, everybody knows,uh maybe not everybody, but most
people know about the the Bibleapp uh now.
And a cool thing about the Bibleapp is that it just it just
announced just in the last monthor two that it's been installed
(19:35):
one billion times in the world.
So one of the things that theBible app has in it is reading
plans, read through the Bible ina year.
And it's got a bunch ofdifferent reading plans.
One is start at the beginning,you know, in Genesis and then in
Revelation.
Well, you got to make your waythrough Leviticus, you know, and
Deuteronomy to do all that.
(19:56):
And you numbers, all of those,those last three books of the
pivotal.
They're they're kind of tough.
But there's other kinds of planswhere you read a little bit of
Old Testament, a little bit ofNew Testament, read some Psalms
and Proverbs, and kind of mix itall up.
So, you know, when you're inLeviticus, you go, that's over.
Now I get to go, you know, readsome New Testament, you know,
(20:18):
and that's that's a lot easier,much easier to understand.
So that's what I do.
And, you know, at this point,I'm not bragging at all, but I'm
six years into it reading theBible every year.
Um, you know, I'm into my sixthyear, my sixth time now.
And what is fascinating aboutthat is some of those names and
(20:39):
kings and in the Old Testamentthat I just read over and I
didn't make sense, I'm startingto remember them and who they
were and what the big picture oftheir story was and how that
story fits into the big story ofthe Bible.
And I didn't get it at first.
I didn't, but just continuing tokind of, you know, be with it,
(21:01):
spend time with it, let it seepinto me, let me pick up on
things.
That is that has been highlyvaluable.
Big ROI on that.
SPEAKER_00 (21:09):
Big ROI.
I love it.
Thanks for sharing that.
Because I think sometimes it'sdifficult and I want to hear
other people's views on becausethe Bible app, it's accessible
24-7 everywhere.
You when you're you know, ifyou're sitting in an office, a
doctor's office, you could, youknow.
It's accessible.
SPEAKER_01 (21:25):
I'll tell you one more thing about it.
Uh uh, you know, a lot of peoplesay, well, when do you have your
quiet time?
When do you read the Bible?
And um, you know, some peoplemay remember the Left Behind
series um by Tim LaHaye, and Ican't remember the other guy,
but uh I remember I rememberthere was a character in the
Bible who was talking about hisquiet time, and he said that I
(21:47):
do it in the evening because Ialways go to bed.
But in the morning, somethingcan happen, you know, just kind
of shocks you and makes you wakeup and derails you and gets you
off into the another part ofyour life and you haven't had a
chance to spend any time uh withthe Lord, either reading the
Bible or having a quiet time orwhatever, but but you're always
(22:10):
going to bed, you know.
So at the end of the day, justbefore you go to sleep, you can
always, you know, say a prayer,or you can always open up the
Bible app and read a few verses,you know, before you nod off.
Actually, you know, praying andreading the Bible is a good way
to go to sleep.
You gotta go to sleep reallyfast.
But I don't have any guilt aboutthat, I promise.
(22:32):
I'm thinking, oh, I'm in yourpresence, God.
I love that.
You know, if you want me to goto sleep, I think I'll just go
to sleep.
SPEAKER_00 (22:37):
Yeah, yeah, it's just time.
Yeah, I I'm actually a morningperson because it's like coffee
in the Bible.
Like nothing's gonna derailthat.
But I do get it.
I mean things can happen in themorning.
All right.
Well, my last question is justabout um leader impact is
dedicated to leaders having alasting impact.
So as you continue to movethrough this journey of your own
(22:59):
life, what do you want yourfaith legacy to be when you
leave this world?
SPEAKER_01 (23:04):
Well, um, some of what I've talked about today um
you know talks about this.
I I live a what I call areproducing life.
Um and all of that started uhwhen I became a Christian, which
was before I got married andstarted having children.
Um I thought about my faith.
I like talking to other peopleabout my faith.
(23:26):
I like talking to people aboutJesus and, you know, hopefully
leading people to Christ andthings like that.
That's reproducing.
But but now, you know, you know,I'm married and I have these
children, and my children arehaving children.
And now I get to be both afather and a grandfather.
And how I go about being aleader in my family is is
(23:50):
critically very, very importantto me.
I take it seriously and I wantto do it uh very well.
Um, there's another Bible versethat 2 Timothy 2.2 that um that
I picked up along the way, whichsays, the things which you have
heard me say in the presence ofmany witnesses entrust to other
reliable people, so they may bequalified to teach others.
(24:16):
So I I reproduce, you know,legacy is not what I do and
what's left behind.
Legacy to me is what peoplethink about you after you're
gone.
You know, and what memories dothey have for you?
How did they build into yourlife?
How did you treat them asspecial and and recognize the
importance of who they are?
(24:36):
That's what I want my legacy tobe for people to think about
Greg and that he thought I wasimportant and special.
SPEAKER_00 (24:46):
Well, it it sounds like your 48 dinners, no, 52,
no, how many dinners a year thatyou have with your dinner?
SPEAKER_01 (24:53):
480 dinners, 480 dinners in 10 years.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:58):
Sounds like you are getting your ROI right and
you're spending time, and itsounds like there is a legacy
that you are reproducing.
SPEAKER_01 (25:06):
So I hope so.
Yeah, I hope so.
SPEAKER_00 (25:09):
Greg, I want to thank you for just taking this
uh just this time with us andsharing.
We I think it's important toshare our stories.
Um people may look at at faithand it's scary.
Uh and I, you know, if they somepeople didn't grow up in faith
and uh um or some people mayhave lost it and it may be
coming back.
(25:29):
So all these stories are soimportant, and I love showing up
for them.
So I just want to thank you.
Um Lisa.
If anybody wants to connect withyou, find you, what is the best
place?
SPEAKER_01 (25:41):
Yeah, LinkedIn.
Uh LinkedIn is the best way togo.
Uh it's Greg Richmond Atlanta,uh, I think, something like
that.
But Greg Richmond in Atlantaworking for Ketacue.
I'll pop up.
You can message me there.
SPEAKER_00 (25:54):
Awesome.
Thank you, Greg, for spendingthe time with us.
SPEAKER_01 (25:57):
Yes, thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (25:59):
Well, if you're part of Leader Impact, you can always
discuss or share this podcastwith your group.
And if you're not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
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