April 15, 2025 • 56 mins
Ever wonder what happens when a theatrical Navy veteran with a rebellious streak becomes an IT entrepreneur? Meet Steve Schulenberg, the self-proclaimed "Cyber Cowboy," who's breaking every stereotype about tech professionals while building a thriving cybersecurity business.
Steve's journey began over 14 years ago when, sitting at his local bar contemplating his future, a bartender suggested he simply call his business "Just Call Steve" – and JCS Technologies was born. From those humble beginnings, Steve has crafted a unique approach to IT services that blends technical expertise with genuine human connection.
What makes Steve's story particularly compelling is his willingness to embrace his naturally outgoing personality in an industry often dominated by introverts. Rather than conforming to expectations, he leverages his theatrical background to bridge the gap between complex technology and business owners who find IT intimidating. This authentic approach has become his secret weapon in business development and client relationships.
The conversation takes a serious turn when Steve reveals a startling statistic: 80% of small businesses that suffer a ransomware cyber attack never recover. As he explains, too many companies entrust their vital technological infrastructure to underqualified individuals, often with catastrophic results. His mission has become protecting these vulnerable businesses through professional IT services and comprehensive cybersecurity measures.
Throughout our discussion, Steve shares invaluable insights on networking, time management, and defining success on your own terms. His philosophy that "success is any advancement from where you were before" and "failure is refusing to change" offers a refreshing perspective for entrepreneurs at any stage of their journey.
Whether you're a business owner concerned about cybersecurity, an entrepreneur struggling to find your authentic voice, or someone contemplating a major career pivot, Steve's story will inspire you to embrace your unique qualities and turn them into your greatest business assets. Listen now to discover how being yourself might be the most powerful business strategy of all.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Zach (00:05):
Hello and welcome to the Owner's Odyssey, the podcast
where we delve deep into thetransformative stories of
courageous business owners whohave embarked on an
extraordinary adventure.
I'm Zach Jones and I'm BrookeGattia.
We're here to explore the reallife experiences of
entrepreneurs.
Brook (00:22):
Each episode, we'll embark on a quest to uncover the
trials, triumphs andtransformations of remarkable
individuals who dared to answerthe call of entrepreneurship.
Zach (00:34):
Like all adventurers, our guests have faced their fair
share of challenges, vanquishedformidable foes and braved the
unknown.
Brook (00:41):
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a
seasoned business owner orsimply an avid listener hungry
for captivating stories theOwner's Odyssey is here to help
you level up.
Zach (00:52):
So join us as we embark on this epic expedition.
This is the Owner's Odyssey.
Let's start our adventure.
Paul (01:03):
Good morning.
Today we've got a podcast withCyber Steve Schulenberg, also
known as Cyber Cowboy.
Steve (01:12):
Good evening, good afternoon Good morning, good to
have you.
Paul (01:20):
So met Steve a few months ago in some networking.
We happened to go to two of thesame types of networking groups
.
Networking, we happened to goto two of the same types of
networking groups and when hehad come back from a Texas
conference where he then decidedto become the cyber cowboy, he
was wearing his Stetson or his10-gallon hat and his next chief
(01:40):
and I'm not sure if he got theboots yet.
Oh yeah he got the boots yet, ohyeah, I got the boots and uh,
so it was.
He was very distinctive and wechatted and, uh, I said you want
to come on this podcast.
So that's where we are today.
He's dressed not as I thinkit's uh, cyber steve, santa,
cyber santa yes, yeah, there hegoes cyber santa, it is the
(02:04):
season.
Brook (02:04):
His jacket literally is lighting up with lights.
He had it going earlier.
Zach (02:11):
And so he's an eclectic person who enjoys his style.
Hybrid of a Christmas tree andSanta.
Brook (02:18):
Absolutely All in one.
It's amazing.
Yes, it moves, it grooves.
My children would love it.
So.
Zach (02:25):
Steve, you're the owner of JCS Technologies.
That is correct, Correct andJCS.
I know there's a little.
Steve (02:34):
Origin store.
Zach (02:35):
Yeah, a little thing there .
So tell us what JCS stands for.
Steve (02:38):
A little over 10 years ago, I got the wild hair to say,
hey, I'm going to be a businessowner.
I wanted to go out and justwork for myself.
And uh, you know, starting up abusiness is really fun.
You go through all the thepaperwork with a state
department, you know gettingeverything registered, and uh,
(02:59):
before you go through all that,what do you got to have?
You got to have a name for yourbusiness.
So, you know, at this,technically I'm unemployed
because I don't have any incomecoming in.
So what am I doing?
I'm sitting at my localwatering hole for lunch, really,
and I'm trying to come up witha name and it's just escaping me
.
And it was just straight out ofa movie.
(03:20):
The bartender's sitting therepolishing a rocks glass and he's
like how about just call steve?
We do that anyway, and I'm likejcs was born very nice.
Zach (03:31):
So were you in um?
Tell us more about that youknow sort of origin moment, like
were you in it already and kindof what's the evolution of that
?
Steve (03:42):
yeah, I, uh I kind of danced around technology all my
life.
I was fascinated with it as akid.
When I got into the Navy my jobwas a sonar technician, so I
was tracking submarines Kind ofa boring job if there are not
that many submarines around so Ispent a lot of time hanging out
with the IT group and just kindof picked up on it.
(04:04):
When I got out of the service Istarted working as a cable
contractor, pulling cable wirefor networks, houses, businesses
.
Kind of got the lay of the land, if you will Gotcha, see how a
network is built, and got to thepoint where I'm like you know,
(04:24):
know what?
My body is not going to lastthis long.
I'm not going to be able to pullcable when I'm 40, 50 years old
sure so went back to uh school,got certified in microsoft, uh
learned how to build computers,got uh server certified and uh
went out got a job as as workingfor a managed service provider.
(04:46):
If you don't know what themanaged service provider is,
what they do is they go aroundto businesses and they are kind
of like outsourced IT.
It could be anything from helpdesk to software procurement
anything that falls into that ITcategory.
It's mainly geared for smallbusinesses that don't have the
(05:06):
support or the resources to hirea full-time person.
So after working for him atmanaged service for a couple of
years, I decided you know what,I can do this on my own.
I want to go out, try this.
And here I am, 14 years later.
Brook (05:23):
So did your decision to jump to I'm going to do my own
thing?
Was that a result of I'm notreally enjoying working for
somebody else and what they do?
Or was it more just like hey,I've always wanted to do this
sort of thing?
I wonder if I can and I'm goingto try it.
(05:43):
What got you to the point ofgoing okay, and I'm going to try
it Like, what got you to thepoint of going okay, now I'm
going to do this on my own, um,from that aspect, Well, as a
matter of fact, it was, um, oneof my customers, my oldest
customer, Um, they were the onesthat kind of gave me that spark
.
Steve (06:02):
Uh, I found myself when I was working for that MSP.
We found ourselves at acrossroads where it was a
difference of opinion and I justdecided I'm going to leave and
I'm trying to figure out whatI'm going to do next.
But a lot of these customersthat I had dealt with, I just
reached out to them and I said,look, I'm no longer with this
(06:23):
company anymore I dealt with.
I just reached out to him and Isaid, look, I'm no longer with
this company anymore.
I don't know what I'm going todo next, but if you guys need
any help, feel free to reach outto me.
Whether you stay with thatperson or you go with somebody
else, you're going to need toknow this knowledge.
So feel free to reach out.
I'll be more than happy to offerup what I have.
And that customer says oh,you're going into business for
(06:45):
yourself, what's your rate?
And it was just that light bulbmoment right there that I'm
like well, I don't know, theycharge you this, I'll charge you
$25 than that.
They're like okay, yeah, worksfor us.
I'm like I get a raise, theyget a discount.
Everybody wins, yeah, except myformer employer.
Zach (07:05):
So what were some of the um?
You know what were those earlydays like being a lone Ranger
out there?
Oh it's it's fun.
Steve (07:14):
Uh, you know you get used to hearing the phone hang up uh
the uh uh, I never knew howmany businesses had nephews that
did IT.
Paul (07:27):
I mean it's amazing.
That's a good point.
Steve (07:29):
Like oh no, our nephew takes care of that.
Oh okay, that's great thatyou're trusting your business
that provides your livelihood tosomebody who's gaming half the
time Awesome.
Zach (07:41):
Yeah, that's a crazy thing to outsource to family or
somebody not highly qualified.
I think I saw something that,first of all, small businesses I
know are sort of the target,the main target, of cyber
attacks and things like that.
Steve (08:00):
Absolutely Things like that, and then when you look at
the stats of how many businessesgo out of business shortly
thereafter, you realize what akill shot that actually can be.
The latest statistic that weheard was 80% of small
businesses that suffer aransomware cyber attack never
(08:23):
recover.
Wow, 80%.
That is just staggering tothink about.
Now, as somebody in the biz,the very first thing I did was
get cybersecurity insurance.
You know, if you've got abusiness insurance provider
right now, talk to them.
Make sure that you've gotcoverage for cybersecurity,
(08:45):
because it's a new type ofattack that people are starting
to say, oh, there's money to bemade here.
Insurance companies are saying,hey, there's claims to be
denied here, so make sure thatyour insurance covers that.
The early days you asked aboutwhat it was like learning so
much, having to file this form,going in and making sure that
(09:10):
you have an accountant.
Quickbooks is great, but if youdon't know what you owe to the
IRS or the state, quickbooksisn't that great.
You need an accountant, alwayshave an accountant.
Zach (09:25):
Data is nothing without the interpretation right, 100%,
100%.
Steve (09:31):
I have that all the time.
I get these tools and utilitiesthat run scans on the network
and the customer's like well, wecan do that too.
Yes, you can, but are you goingto be able to interpret what
that's saying?
No, that's why you need me,sure.
Brook (09:52):
You talk to this guy, he tells you why don't I be the
person?
Like, why don't you be theperson?
It's a win-win situation, allright.
Now you're in business, you'resitting at a coffee shop or some
other type of drinking hole and, um, someone says, just call
Steve JCS.
Like that's developed, allright.
You now go out and you set upyour business and you're sitting
(10:13):
there.
At what point in time did yougo?
Or did you go?
What the hell did I just do?
Or have you the whole timethrough been like this is like
amazing, like it's all poppingtogether, like what?
All right, I decided to do this.
What was that initial, like sixmonths, three months after?
(10:35):
Like where was your headspacein the midst of that?
Steve (10:38):
Oh, it's a rollercoaster Every day.
I wake up.
Uh, some days I'm likeenergized, like yes, let's go
out and take over the world.
Other days I'm like I do notwant to do this but, like you
said, you're in it right.
No takesies-backsies.
But there's so many days that Ilook at it and I'm like it
would be so much easier if Ijust threw in the towel and went
(11:00):
to work for somebody else.
Let somebody else take care ofall the taxes and the paperwork
and the filings, but at the sametime I wouldn't be my own boss.
There is a certain amount ofpride when you create a business
from scratch, from nothing.
You have an idea and you fosterthat idea into a business that
actually provides money and alivelihood for it and you're
(11:24):
doing what you love and you'rehelping people and you're able
to make ends meet and do somefun stuff.
Being a business owner is thatreward in and of itself is
enough for me.
Zach (11:37):
So do you have a team behind you at this point?
What does that look?
Steve (11:41):
like I do.
I do, actually.
I took a page out of my ownbook, managed Service.
You don't have the money tohire your own people.
You outsource it, right?
I recently, at one of thoseconferences, I met a gentleman
by the name of Dan Martell.
He does a great podcast,youtube videos and he has this
(12:02):
book called Buying Back yourTime.
What is it worth to you calledbuying back your time, right?
Uh what?
What is it worth to you to buyback your time If you could have
somebody take care of the drycleaning and the stuff around
your house, just so you don'thave to deal with that when you
get home from work?
What is that worth?
What is it worth for me,instead of having to go in and
figure out the person's mundaneproblems why they can't print,
(12:25):
why their keyboard suddenlydoesn't work and that gives me
the ability to focus on the bigpicture stuff like why are these
hackers trying to get into yournetwork?
That's what I need to befocused on.
The outsourced IT help deskwill help with the small
problems.
Brook (12:43):
So I totally am one of those bougie people who
outsource my laundry.
Steve (12:50):
Love it.
Brook (12:51):
I can totally tell my neighbors are like the first
time we did it.
After a couple times they'relike you guys getting your
laundry done, because you put agiant bag out front and then the
next day it shows back up andI'm like, yeah, I just I can't,
like I cannot do a lot and plusour laundry's in the basement.
So my other half has fallendown the steps with the laundry
(13:13):
and I made it immediately, saidand we're done, like I don't
need this stress.
So I'm totally for uh, balance,and it doesn't have to be
laundry, but um the like,finding the things that just
kind of push you over the edge.
I also I haven't figured outhow to do this would love
someone to come in and do mydishes every day.
(13:35):
I do not like doing dishes.
My son does not like doingdishes.
We have pitched out fightsabout helping.
It's too gross.
So, anyhow, there are somethings I haven't quite figured
out how to outsource that Ireally would love to.
Zach (13:47):
Paul and I were just talking before we hit record
about how my me and my wife weredecent cooks, but it is not
something that energizes us orthat we're passionate about at
all.
And we finally got to the point.
Last month I was looking at thebills and just seeing door,
dash, door, dash door dash door.
Brook (14:07):
You spend so much money and we save money on like all
right, we're running out ofmoney.
We need to not do this so much.
Just cut back on door dash.
All of a sudden we got hundredsof dollars.
Zach (14:15):
It goes in a hurry because you don't, you know, you don't
think about it.
You're like oh, this is fivebucks, this is five bucks, but
then you got taxes, delivery fee, you know 40 bucks later
tipping yeah what have you?
so I was like this is, you know,at best we get a meal for 30
this way, and we ended upfinding an online service that
(14:36):
does prepped meals.
Oh, no delivered to your doorcompletely prepared.
You can put them in themicrowave for two minutes or put
them in the oven for, you know,12, 15 minutes this herculean
they're good to go.
This is actually cook unity cookunity I haven't heard of this
cook unity if you want to goahead and give us a little
sponsorship here but for allyour unifying meals but yeah,
(15:00):
they use local chefs and havelike compostable packaging that
the whole thing goes in and itends up being about 10 bucks a
meal.
So we were like that's that's ano-brainer.
It's tough because in a perfectyou're always kind of thinking
of the perfect world scenario.
So it's like if we shopped andwe ate healthy, then we'd be
spending you know less and we'dbe doing xyz and it's just like
(15:22):
that's never really going tohappen.
So compare it it to the door.
Don't compare it to the the oneweek a year where you actually
accomplish, you know, healthyshopping and and prepping all
those meals with no food waste.
Steve (15:36):
You know it's funny both both my wife and her, more so
than I have a background in foodservice, so we're no stranger
to cooking.
But it's funny, during COVID,everybody's DoorDash bill jumped
exponentially.
To this day, I still have notgone back and looked to see how
much we spent on DoorDash duringCOVID, don't you?
(16:00):
Yeah, that's a trigger warning.
Trigger warning people.
Zach (16:03):
Absolutely.
Brook (16:04):
Don't you?
Yeah, that's a trigger warning,trigger warning people,
absolutely.
So when I started my businessand it was just me and I'm
trying to figure this out andthen I came to a moment where I
was like, all right, can't beworking out of my home, I need
to like rent a space.
And it was a really big stepfor me to do that, to be like
all right, I'll start doing this.
But it was a very smartdecision for me because now I
(16:29):
just kind of more officiallyformed myself.
I had place that people couldcome.
It felt more when it was justmore professional I'm not
meeting with people to do theirtaxes at their house or
Starbucks and so you talk hereabout like hey, I need to
outsource that side of things.
Um, and then, after I likerented a place, I hired someone
(16:52):
and you know those kinds ofgrowth spaces of things what
piece of that?
Like, I figured out what wasbetter for my time.
What was your first like thing?
You stepped into and you werelike, oh, why the hell did I not
I cuss, sorry why the hell didI not do this?
Yeah, months ago, or what didyou do it right away?
Steve (17:15):
like, were you like nope, I got this I, like most people,
think I got this, I know whatI'm doing.
Uh, real quickly, you find outthat you don't.
Uh, there's people that havebeen there before and they're
they're lighthouses for youfollow their lead.
Um, but the the first thing thatthe really aha moment was the
(17:38):
help desk.
When people I mean I love to bethat guy that has all the
answers and figures things out,but I want to be the guy that
gets you taken care of first andif it takes me three hours to
figure something out, versus ahelp desk that deals with this
all the time, gets you takencare of in 15 minutes.
(17:59):
There's the balance.
I would much rather do that Nowless money, but the customer is
satisfied in the long run,which is going to lead to repeat
business and more bandwidth andfreeze you up.
And freeze me up to go out andfind more customers.
I find that, as much as I enjoyIT and being technical, I enjoy
(18:23):
people more.
I like to get out and meetpeople, and that's really what
being a business owner is You'repromoting your business, you're
meeting people.
You're not waiting for them tocome to you and say, hey, do you
fix computers or cybersecurity?
Brook (18:38):
Yeah, it's almost the service aspect of things.
How can I serve you?
And it gets really hard whenyou're running things to remind
yourself of that.
Like, all right, I'm trying tomake cash flow work, I'm trying
to market, I'm trying to do allof these things and my clients
are kind of stressed or grouchyand kind of taking stuff out on
(19:01):
you or whatever else for you tokeep reminding yourself and
bringing yourself back to how amI serving that person, how are
my processes helping them?
And it's not about me, it'sabout them.
And yeah, I need to make moneyand there's value to my service.
But like keeping that mindsetand that care for the people, um
(19:23):
, sometimes it's really hard inbusiness because it's just
business, like I'm just gonna.
This isn't personal, it's justbusiness, and that's not always
true.
Zach (19:32):
I'm, I'm talking it's like the office michael.
Michael Scott, saying somethingto the effect of he's like
business is the most personalthing in the world.
Brook (19:41):
Yeah, it does feel like that sometimes and so I love
that you're like yeah, there'sthe IT part, but there's the
people part too that comes intoit and that's a huge value to
kind of running business on thatside.
Steve (19:57):
Well, there's also the.
I mean we live in a world nowwhere it's instant anything on
your phones right.
Just ask the magic rectangle.
It has all the answers.
Well, in IT we kind of want todo that as well.
We want to provide all theanswers.
We can certainly find it on theinternet, but, as a business
owner who is not savvy withtechnology, they're going to
(20:21):
look at Google, they're going toask the same thing that the IT
person would and the resultsthat come back they're going to
like I have no idea what this istalking about.
The IT is kind of like yourtranslator, and that's kind of
what I want to be.
As far as JCS, I'm like.
You have problems in technologythat you need addressed.
You need to have technologywork for you instead of you
working for it.
(20:41):
Our company can come in andrelax that pain for you.
We can take care of all thetechnical stuff.
You just tell us what you wantand we can make it happen.
Zach (20:52):
Do you find that most of the small business owners that
you engage with kind ofunderstand that from a
conceptual standpoint or is isit fairly challenging?
Or do you have a pretty, youknow, robust kind of
infrastructure of like kind ofproof prior to purchase of like
(21:15):
this is?
This is why you, you need thisCause.
A lot of times we have thatsame, you know, conversation at
Edgewater of someone saying,well, I can figure this out and
it's like yes, you, you can, butbut should you, should you?
Steve (21:31):
and why would you right?
How much time would you wastedoing your own taxes Right?
Especially if you didn't knowyou'd have to research the
current tax code?
That's something that myaccountant, you guys, you
research.
Every year the tax code changesso you have to stay up to date.
That continuing education partNow yes, people have the ability
(21:51):
to learn things for themselves,but that's not what we were
here to do.
We were here to kind of providea service.
Every person has that innatetalent that can be useful to
other people and and justfinding out what that is how you
can be of service.
Brook (22:12):
So you are, and I think we talked about this a little
earlier.
You are sitting here in aChristmas shirt that's lighted
up.
Um I I don't know if it waswhen we were talking on air or
not but, that you were atheatrical person of background.
Um, so you're kind of thiseccentric personality that comes
(22:35):
in the door.
Um, how has one?
How did you develop aneccentric personality that comes
in the door?
How has one?
How'd you develop an eccentricpersonality?
Paul (22:42):
as an IT person.
Brook (22:43):
As an IT person to how how does, does that?
Does that help you?
Does that hurt you?
Like?
How does that, how does who youare kind of play into all of
that?
Steve (22:57):
So you mentioned earlier the into all of that.
So, uh, you mentioned earlierthe office, michael Scott.
Uh, there, there, my family, welove it.
I mean, my son could probablyrecite every episode word for
word.
That's our house right.
It's just a great show.
Um, bring it back, please.
Uh, yes, but there yes.
But there's a couple ofepisodes where Michael gets
(23:22):
freaked out because of the ITguy coming in.
If I was to ask you guys todescribe your typical IT guy,
most people would describe quiet, maybe nerdy glasses.
Coke bottle glasses right Mosteveryone would say introverted,
keep to themselves, right, okay,well, it and technology isn't
going away.
Most everyone would sayintroverted, keep to themselves,
right, okay, well, it andtechnology isn't going away.
And we need we, as in regularnon-technical people, need that
(23:48):
technology to work for us.
So you need that liaison.
Zach (23:51):
That's someone that can understand the technology part
of it, but then still be withthe be able to communicate it to
you as the layman, exactly,exactly, understand the
technology part of it, but thenstill be with the be able to
communicate it to you as thelayman.
Steve (24:03):
Exactly, Exactly, so, um sorry, I forgot what the
question was.
Just how?
Brook (24:06):
do you like one?
How'd you develop thiseccentric personality to how um?
Paul (24:11):
how does that serve?
Brook (24:13):
and impact and hurt, or whatever your direction.
Well, I, uh, I was blessed bybeing the youngest of four.
An impact and it hurt, orwhatever your direction.
Steve (24:19):
Well, I, uh, I was blessed by being the youngest of
four.
Okay, my mom, still at 48 yearsold, uh, she still refers to me
as her baby.
Um, but I had that.
You know, there was, uh, my twoolder sisters and my brother
were off doing their things, andso the attention was always on
them.
So here's Steve, over in thecorner, not being able to do
(24:42):
anything because I'm five yearsyounger than my next oldest
sibling.
So I started developing the,you know, at a young age, being
honest temper tantrums to getattention.
And then, when I found that gotthe wrong kind of attention, I
started looking for other ways.
And it was my fourth gradeteacher convinced me to be in
(25:04):
the school play and I remembergoing up doing the play and
everybody pat me on the back,tell me what a great job I did.
And I had these dreams when Iwas a kid of being an actor uh,
making it in hollywood.
Brook (25:21):
nope, never did not that good or just not that driven not
that when you see, you know allthe starving actors in
hollywood you know you'reworking three jobs.
Steve (25:31):
Uh, as a car washer server.
Uh, it just doesn't seem thatglamorous.
You know a handful of peopleactually make it as stars.
It's interesting too.
Zach (25:42):
I feel I'm a musician and I feel like I share in that
sentiment of there's such agreat sacrifice that people make
to be in that sort ofcompetitive space of you know
want to talk about Hollywood orNashville or whatever it is, and
(26:04):
I think those people seem tohave it's more valuable to them
to be acknowledged for that andto kind of have that public
persona than it is for them toactually be doing what they like
to do.
So it's interesting to me and Iresonate with the fact that
(26:25):
you're like I like to act and Ilike to be a character, but I
can do that somewhere else andhave the consistency and you
know all of the benefits of youknow kind of doing something in
a field that isn't so you knowcutthroat, or you know one in a
million or or what have you, butyou know still kind of occupy
(26:47):
the space that I want to occupy,cause I, paul, and I have had
this conversation of like, aslong as I can play music, I
don't care if anybody hears itknow what I mean other than
myself.
Brook (26:57):
So that's just an interesting so you bring your
theatrics to your everyday life.
It's great.
So I'm a little intrigued.
Did you say you were part ofthe army or the navy?
Steve (27:08):
the navy?
Brook (27:08):
yes, okay and so here's this, uh theatrical person who
decides to join the navy yes, I,I guess the Navy has that songs
, but I don't think they're theones who created it.
But how did that step go?
Steve (27:25):
The armed services are great, great family group of
people and we gel, just like thefour of us are right now.
You get a group of peopletogether and you're going to
have mashups, but for the mostpart everybody else is trying to
do the same thing trying tomake a name for themselves,
(27:47):
trying to move up in rank, andyou get the characters that like
to cut up.
You'll get the ones that don'twant to do anything except
straight lace, very rigid, um,but then I don't know.
Brook (28:01):
You just so it didn't feel like I imagine this like
theatrical creative, like space,to going into this very
structured, like space.
Was that?
Yes was that okay?
Steve (28:18):
was that difficult, very difficult uh, the first thing in
the military all of when you gothrough boot camp, they want to
break you down to nothing andbuild you back up their way.
Any preconceived ideas of hey,this isn't fair, that's out the
window because, you are supposedto follow a certain regiment.
um, that being said, it wasn'thorrible, but I was definitely
(28:44):
stifled.
There was no way for me to becreative or theatrical out there
.
So, while I did enjoy my timein the service, when my
enlistment was up, I'm like I'mgoing to do something else.
Brook (28:57):
How did that help that transition from this freedom to
structure, assist and help youwith business today?
Steve (29:08):
Oh, to tag on to the origin story, before my time in
the military I was bouncingaround from part-time job to
part-time job, video store clerk, taco Bell no real direction I
had.
I mean, my biggest aspirationwas to make assistant manager at
the video store.
And then there was something Idon't remember what it was, but
(29:32):
there was something that justthat clicked.
It says you've got to get youract together.
And my stepdad was a Marinejust that clicked.
It says you've got to get youract together.
And, uh, my, my stepdad was aMarine.
And if, uh, one thing willaggravate Marines more than
anything is for their uh, uhchildren to join the Navy.
So, uh, so that that was how Idid, uh chose.
(29:53):
The Navy is like.
Brook (29:54):
Oh, so you're just chose.
Paul (29:56):
The Navy is like oh, so you're just, you're also
rebelling.
Yeah, I've got a rebelliousstreak.
Steve (30:00):
Yes, you tell me I can't do something I'm going to figure
out a way to do it.
Paul (30:02):
Watch this.
I'm puck you and I at the sametime.
Yeah.
Steve (30:06):
But uh, yeah, the, the and then for a Navy dad it's.
Zach (30:10):
There's a whole chain, it's like the whole Indiana
Kentucky, Illinois.
Steve (30:17):
Don't forget Space.
Zach (30:18):
Force Rock paper scissors.
Steve (30:22):
Exactly.
Brook (30:27):
And another Steve Carell piece there Love this guy and
that's kind of cool, becausethere's also this like you felt
stifled, and so then you comeout of it and it takes, takes
you a while to refine yourselfand like who you want to be in
that and not that the, themilitary, is a um, a bad place
by any means, but just for youand your personality of like,
(30:49):
okay, I had to rediscover.
they broke you down, built youup the way they are, and you had
to kind of rediscover who youwanted to be.
Without that kind of structurein place and kind of stepped
into IT, which is also verystructured and methodical in
many ways too, so you kind ofare bridging a lot of those kind
(31:12):
of gaps of things of things,and so I will say that a lot of
my uh drive and inspiration itdoes come from my wife telling
me to be myself.
Steve (31:24):
Uh, she knew when, when we first started dating, what
kind of a character I was, anduh, before or after the military
after.
Okay, and she knew, you know,when I got up for work I had a
uniform that I put on and wentdid my little service utilities
(31:45):
at an office building and shesaid that's not for you, you
don't feel like you're happy.
You need to find something thatmakes you happy and it allows
you to be yourself.
That makes you happy and beyour.
It allows you to be yourselfand IT being my own business
owner or being my own boss itkind of allows me to do that.
Yes, I can be serious and takecare of the job, uh, but I can
(32:09):
also have fun when I'm doing it.
And I find that customers,especially when it comes to IT,
if they're freaked out about ITand they have somebody come in,
that's just hey, everything'scool, we're going to get through
this, I've got your hand,you're not going to lose
anything.
That calms them down and thathelps the situation.
Zach (32:31):
So to that point of kind of finding your happiness and
finding your sweet spot now thatyou're in the thick of it and
your business as well,established 12, 13 years of of
this business at this point.
Is that right?
Yep, okay, what you know?
Business owners wear a milliondifferent hats.
(32:52):
What's your favorite hat towear?
Is it?
Is it in the operations pieceof things and helping clients?
Is it business development?
What do you?
What really kind of energizesyou?
Steve (33:04):
Oh, I would have current.
I would have to say businessdevelopment, meeting the people.
Uh, since joining thesenetworking groups like
rainmakers and BNI, uh, I foundthat talking to people, figuring
out what pain they have and howmaybe technology can help,
maybe not, but maybe I knowsomebody that you know.
(33:25):
If somebody's not happy withpaying taxes, hey, I know some
accountants that I can hook youup with.
I'm not really doing what Ithink I could be as far as
running my business.
Hey, I got a business coachthat I can hook you up with.
Meeting people and finding outwhat pains them that's what
energizes me.
(33:46):
Did you expect that?
No, not at all.
Because, like I said, whenyou're in IT, there's that
traditional introverted self,and I was always fascinated with
technology and, being theyoungest of four, my siblings
called me a nerd when I was akid, so I developed this I don't
(34:09):
know if psychosis is the rightword, but I felt like that's
what I was.
But then that theatrical partor that theatrical streak kind
of took over and said you can beboth.
You can go out and meet peopleand not be the introvert and you
can surprise the heck out ofthem.
Zach (34:27):
How far into the development of your business did
you start know kind of morestructured network Cause
Rainmakers, bni, those are heavy.
You know the big commitmentsright.
Did someone pull you into thatworld?
Did you seek that out?
What, what kind of pushed youin that direction of building
(34:50):
your business?
Steve (34:51):
Again, my wife is a big inspiration.
She was.
She had done BNI when she wasselling Aflac insurance and had
great success with it.
And uh, I'm at the point nowwhere I'm I'm needing to grow my
business.
I've got everything kind ofdialed in the way I want it to
(35:11):
as far as the service I want toprovide.
Now I just got to get out thereand get the customers to
provide.
Now I just got to get out thereand get the customers and she
said I recommend BNI, Irecommend Rainmakers H7.
So I started attending thesenetworking events and meeting a
lot of people that werebasically just like me.
They were trying to get outthere and grow their business
and meet people and find outwhat pain they could solve.
Zach (35:36):
What are some of your kind of rules of thumb or golden
rules in terms of thatnetworking space, like it sounds
like that's been beneficial andthat you've got, you know,
tangible rewards or you knowresults from being in those
spaces and being in them myselfa lot?
(35:57):
I know there are people thatare straight to the point and
pulling a ton of business andthen there are people that are
just kind of lifetime networkers, that are there to small talk
and hang out and nothing reallyever happens.
So if you had a top three tipsor something like that for other
people, uh, moving into thatspace, what?
(36:19):
What have you learnednetworking in in those areas?
Steve (36:23):
Number one is follow-up.
Always follow up.
If somebody gives you areferral, thank them and then
call that referral Uh, cause ifthey give it to you and you
don't follow up on it, they'renot going to give it to you
again.
Uh.
Number two is stay engaged.
Uh, especially with BNI, it's aweekly commitment.
Uh, rainmakers, uh is a monthlycommitment.
(36:45):
It works if you work it right.
Uh, you hear that in everyprogram there is.
If you show up, the programworks.
Um, and I guess number threewould just be be yourself, and I
guess number three would justbe be yourself.
Don't compromise who you are toto try to be somebody you're
not.
And I mean, at the end of theday you can look back and say
(37:06):
today was a good day.
I did everything the way Ithink it should have been done
and I helped some people alongthe way is there.
Zach (37:16):
I'm sorry, I'm asking a million questions in a row.
You want to go ahead?
Brook (37:20):
So where are you going?
Steve (37:22):
Where am I going To the moon?
Zach (37:27):
You've got the technology.
Steve (37:31):
Honestly, I really haven't thought that far ahead
as far as long term.
Haven't um thought that farahead as far as long term?
I?
I always see myself as active,doing this type of you know,
either it's technology ormeeting with people.
Um, my son has been accepted toball state.
Uh, the teaching program he'llstart in the fall.
Uh, it's exciting.
(37:52):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Really good, um, head on hisshoulders and he wants to be be
a teacher and that's a veryrewarding job.
It's thankless.
I come from.
Both of my parents wereteachers, so I know how they got
raked over the coals.
But once he's out of college, Idon't know.
(38:12):
I would like to expand thebusiness.
Maybe take it outside ofIndiana, any mountain estate.
I love the mountains, but Idon't know Right now.
I want to provide a goodservice and help people, help
educate them to the threats thatare out there.
Paul (38:34):
So expand it to JCS and S.
Just call steve and son.
There you go I.
Steve (38:41):
I actually talked to my son this is a couple of summers
ago.
I said hey, we're going to giveyou your first summertime job.
You're going to come to workfor me.
You're going to just be myassistant.
I'm going to pay 250 a month.
He's like what awesome, cool.
So he comes in, he starts doinga couple of computers and the
repetitive stuff.
Really, he liked that becausehe just put his AirPods in and
(39:02):
go to town and I was like allright, you're doing good.
Maybe you keep this up when youget out of college you get a
business degree and you can takeover the business for me.
He's like dad, I don't want todo this.
Talk about heartbroken.
I'm like, here I'm buildingthis company.
Just call Steven Sutton.
Nope, I don.
(39:22):
Heartbroken.
I'm like here I'm building thiscompany.
Just call steven sutton.
Nope, I don't want to do this.
So, but that that's.
That goes back to what I'mtelling everybody else.
Just be yourself.
You know, I don't, I can't getupset with him if he wants to be
a teacher very fair.
Brook (39:38):
Why the mountains?
Steve (39:40):
uh, that's from growing up in Alabama.
For 21 years it was hot, humid.
The mountains down there aren'treally mountains, they're the
foothills, of the Appalachian,whatever.
But once you see the Rockiesfor the first time, those
snow-covered peaks, the Cascades, beautiful.
Brook (40:01):
The Rockies are definitely different than the
Carolinas because the Rockiesare like it's like desert space,
I feel like, and so I've onlyreally been there once, twice,
so I can't really compare.
But yeah, those are differentmountain ranges if you're used
to the Carolinas and so that'smy two cents on that.
(40:24):
So at the end of every kind ofpodcast we do.
What a lightning round.
Zach (40:32):
Yes, we started calling it the slow round, because it
inevitably sparks additionalconversations.
Brook (40:40):
Yeah.
So it's kind of fun to kind ofgo through, and so we're just
going to ask you a couple ofquestions.
They're random.
Paul (40:47):
Okay.
Brook (40:48):
Silly, Um, but uh, I think it, we kind of get a
little insight into people onthem.
So, um, first one, uh, whatdrink are you drinking for any
business networking meeting?
Steve (41:03):
What drink are you drinking for any business
networking meeting?
Brook (41:08):
It would be an espresso martini, also known as my third
cup of coffee.
Is that what you were drinkingat your watering hole?
Yes, espresso martini.
Steve (41:15):
He's got a little bougie character going on there, the
coffee and the party alltogether.
I don't know if I've ever hadone of those.
Paul (41:24):
Oh.
Steve (41:26):
Where were we?
Monterey Cuisine?
Zach (41:29):
That was my next question is where's a good one?
Monterey?
Steve (41:32):
Cuisine right down the road Excellent.
Brook (41:35):
I just tried that place this couple last week or
something.
It's a really good place.
Oh yeah, another sponsor forour podcast monorail.
We're just racking them up umfavorite person to follow
podcast instagram, facebook,tiktok uh, I just started
watching it.
Steve (41:53):
I don't know uh his last name, but it's aj from the y
files.
Uh, conspiracy theories hetalks about like uh talks about
where they originated and thendebunks it and tells what really
it could have been.
Brook (42:10):
Are you a conspiracy theorist?
Always?
Steve (42:14):
I was in the military.
Of course I have a conspiracytheory.
Zach (42:18):
I can't believe.
I didn't ask you that themilitary guys always are the
ones that see the UFOs, so didyou have any?
Steve (42:25):
I can neither confirm nor deny anything at this time.
Brook (42:32):
You were not at Area 55.
Is that what it is, Area 55?
Paul (42:35):
51.
Dang it 51, 55,.
Zach (42:39):
whatever it takes, that's a Brookism.
Brook (42:41):
It's a new place.
You guys don't know about it.
Steve (42:43):
That's 55, whatever it takes.
Brookism, it's a new place.
You guys don't know about itbecause it's really secret.
Area 51 is the distraction.
Zach (42:49):
Area 55 is where Area 51's got a gift shop, that's right,
that's right.
Steve (42:57):
Sponsored by McDonald's.
Brook (43:01):
How late is fashionably late 15 minutes early.
Paul (43:07):
No body time.
Steve (43:08):
I remember my my first day in the Navy bootcamp that
our division officer, ordivision chief, was yelling at
us.
He says if you're not 15minutes early, you're late.
And I don't know why, butthat's just stuck in with me.
I go into panic mode if I'mlike two minutes before the
meeting starts and I'm not thereyet.
(43:30):
It's just a panic attack.
Brook (43:32):
But to answer, your question showed up four minutes
before this meeting.
He was already here gettingcoffee.
Yes, were you standing outsidewithout anybody in?
Zach (43:42):
No, you beat on my legs.
I was here at 7.
Oh wow, I'm in rare form.
Brook (43:48):
Hey, his early is an hour early.
Steve (43:51):
Well, I wasn't wearing the face hat or the beard when
you came in.
Brook (43:57):
No, you weren't.
You have a beard too.
Zach (43:59):
Talk about eccentric, yes, so he had the full Santa beard
and long white hair.
Brook (44:05):
He was trying to make an impression as he walked in the
door and no one was here,because you were 15 minutes
early and are fashionably lateIs way different, but he was
already here.
Zach (44:16):
I was like this is either an elaborate Robber outfit or
this is our podcast Feel free toedit this going forward, but
I'll have you.
Steve (44:29):
I was sitting out in the car and I had the hat on and I
walked in.
I'm carrying my backpack, andthen the first thing I thought
of is oh gosh, they're going tothink that I'm like out for some
CEO or something.
Brook (44:44):
Tis the season, so I have not been following that.
My sister-in-law sat down withme.
He's like have you heard that?
Like I'm like, no, I'm, it'sand I'm not.
It's all crazy.
(45:04):
We're in the like made-believestories on tv all of a sudden
are coming true and so, yes,it's weird.
Um, all right, so what's yourbiggest pet peeve?
Steve (45:15):
people that drive the speed limit in the left hand
lane love it.
Zach (45:22):
So you know they're not following the rules.
Brook (45:24):
No, they are the army says you're overheating army,
sorry um maybe, maybe, um, yeah,every 55 yeah no, the uh.
Steve (45:35):
You know what cattle catchers are.
They used to put them on thefront of trains back in the day
to, if there was cows they justmove out of the way well, I want
to install those on the frontof my vehicle so that if I'm
driving along on the interstateand somebody is doing 60 in the
left-hand lane, they're going tobe in the far left-hand lane
and then you are going to havecops coming after you absolutely
(45:57):
138, absolutely One, three,eight.
Brook (46:02):
What's your personal motto?
Steve (46:04):
Personal motto Always do unto others as you would have
them do unto you.
That's, that's the one I livemy life by.
But I recently watched a reallygood movie where I heard um uh,
you're never wrong to do theright thing.
Mark Twain, I think, said that,but yeah.
Brook (46:27):
It's old.
Paul (46:29):
Mark Twain's got a lot of good ones, oh yeah.
Brook (46:33):
Yeah, you sometimes forget to go back and read
historic stuff and you're likethat wisdom has all been there
for ages and ages and ages.
We just got to be willing tonot only look at our TikToks,
sort of things.
Steve (46:45):
So anyhow, my favorite Mark Twain saying of all time is
everybody wants to complainabout the weather, no one wants
to do anything about it.
Brook (46:53):
Oh, that is one of my exhaustions.
When people are like, hey, Ithink this is not working right,
this process is all mixed up,you should fix it, and'm like,
come on, like, come at, what'sthe fix that needs.
Like this, I see a problem, I'mgoing to complain about it, but
I'm not going to help fix it.
So um yeah, drives me bonkersand uh, do.
(47:15):
What's the, what's the saying?
Um ask not what your countrycan do for you, what?
Zach (47:20):
you can do for your country, whatever I'm working on
an album right now and I thinkI'm going to call it.
Stop helping and complainalready.
There you go.
I love it.
I love it.
What instrument do you play?
Um, my, my original instrumentwas guitar.
Because I've been in a studiosetting in the past, I kind of
(47:41):
can fake it on a lot ofdifferent things and you know I
can play four bars of anythingon anything.
So you know, I kind of havemoved into that producer mindset
and use a lot of synthesizersand digital instruments and
things like that.
Brook (47:58):
But a guitar is my home space I was trying to find
something that I was like I havenot played a harp.
Zach (48:04):
I actually have a friend who is also a guitar player, um
that down in Evansville, and sheI was chatting with her last
week and she was like yeah, Iwas playing harp on a gig, like
the other day, and I was likeyou play harp?
She said no, but you know so.
She said no, but you know so,and so like kind of just showed
(48:25):
me how the tuning was and andand I, you know, just winged it
and figured it out.
I was like that's, that's crazy.
I'll have to give the harp ashot but now that sounds so
intimidating catch me on thatone.
Steve (48:31):
But I think the better question is where is there a gig
where there's a harpist?
Paul (48:37):
yeah, evansville's got a lot of those kind of winery.
Zach (48:41):
Okay, yeah very fancy just 50 people out in a field
getting boozy.
Paul (48:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Zach (48:50):
Kind of events.
So I think that was the settingfor that.
Steve (48:55):
I can dig it Interesting.
For sure we have some doves flyup at the end.
Zach (48:59):
Yeah, that's pretty much the type of gigs they play.
They're very like Indigo Girlskind of energy, so it lends
itself to those sorts ofsprawling field kind of events.
Brook (49:13):
So what color do you think of when you think of a
business owner?
Steve (49:16):
Red.
Brook (49:17):
He's wearing red?
How many times I ask thisquestion to pretty much all of
our podcast people?
Paul (49:26):
and nine times out of ten.
Brook (49:28):
They are wearing the color that they are like it's
kind of their power colorsomehow or another, although
it's very interesting you havered with lights popping through
it.
Paul (49:36):
But that's your power.
Color, so power um.
Brook (49:41):
What is your superpower then?
Steve (49:45):
well, if I told you what my superpower is, doesn't change
that.
It's your superpower but thatyou would know that that's my
alter ego what's wrong with analter ego?
Nothing okay, you got to keepit secret.
No, you don't.
How many people know who thereal batman is Besides us?
Zach (50:02):
I was going to say in the real world or in Gotham.
Steve (50:07):
What would be my superpower?
I used to say empathy, but Ikind of tapped out on that.
Okay, no, I don't know.
I guess that's a good question.
Well, I already know it's notflying.
I can't know, I guess that's agood question.
Well, I already know it's notflying and I can't do that.
Zach (50:29):
And it's not invisibility, I can tell you that Definitely
not.
Steve (50:31):
That I don't know.
I guess I keep trying to do theforce persuasion these are not
the droids you're looking forbut for some reason people keep
not picking it out yeah.
So one of these days it's goingto work.
Brook (50:49):
Well, when you find your superpower, you can text us and
we'll do a next year like 10minute short podcast for you to
go through.
Steve (50:58):
Where are they now?
Yes, exactly it's not working.
Paul (51:02):
when you're driving and people are in the left hand lane
, you don't do that littlefinger across.
Steve (51:07):
I'm not going to lie, I have tried.
Brook (51:13):
So the last two questions um Zach came up with and I
think they're really good, canyou um define for us what
success is?
Steve (51:23):
Define success S-U-C-C-E-S-S.
Brook (51:28):
Not spell it, define it.
Steve (51:32):
Success is any advancement from where you were
before.
Zach (51:40):
I like that.
Steve (51:42):
Not staying in the same place.
I've taken so many trips aroundthe country and I view each one
of them as a success.
I have had multiple jobs in mylifetime and each one of them is
a success because it has been aspringboard to the next phase.
Brook (52:06):
Perspective is a big thing.
Paul (52:07):
It is.
Brook (52:08):
So, even if it's hard, I've learned from this.
I grew from it.
I don't regret that side ofthings.
Steve (52:15):
I'm a huge movie buff, so I see little quotes and stuff
from movies all the time up inthe air with George Clooney.
Anybody who ever built anempire or corporation sat where
you are right now and it'sbecause they sat there that they
were able to do it.
That right there is the lifechanging quote You've ever been
(52:36):
on the bad end of a firing?
Yeah, you feel like you're justworthless.
They didn't want me.
I'm not good enough to be partof a firing.
Yeah, you, you feel like you're.
You're just worthless.
They didn't want me.
I'm.
I'm not good enough to to bepart of this company because
you're sitting there right now.
You're going to be able to dosomething better.
Zach (52:53):
So that's sort of in line with someone told me very early
on uh, I moved around a lot as akid and that was a rough
experience but also, you know, arewarding one.
And someone said the more youstep outside of your comfort
circle, the larger the circlegets um.
(53:13):
And you know, I fully agreewith with that sentiment of the
more you can push yourself tostay in the uncomfortable space,
the more comfortable you getwith being uncomfortable.
Steve (53:28):
Yeah, you branch out and your comfort space gets bigger
100%.
Zach (53:35):
So the last question in turn, we know what success is
Now.
Can you define failure?
Steve (53:40):
Failure is refusing to change.
Love it Just I mean, I can'texplain it any more than that
when, when you're at a roadblockand somebody gives you advice
and says this is how you getaround it, and if you refuse to
take that advice and refuse tomove, then you're destined for
failure.
Brook (54:01):
Very true, very true, very true.
Thank you very much, thank youguys.
For joining our podcast andjust telling us a little bit
about how you went from thetheatrical loving person all the
way to running a business, andto the military, to the nerd, to
(54:24):
the yeah, all of that stuff.
And it is all what create it.
It's all what helped developyou to be who you are.
In that that growth and beingable to step into being a
business owner and you areprobably sitting in scary
moments and exciting moments.
People ask me do you like beinga business owner?
It depends on which 15 minutesyou ask me because, it can
literally change that fast, um,but yeah, it's all kind of built
(54:48):
into you doing that and that'sit's kind of a cool story and
journey for you.
So well.
Steve (54:53):
Thank you, I really appreciate the opportunity to
come on board and um I I justhad a really good time, yeah.
Zach (55:01):
Awesome.
Is there anything that you'dlike to plug to wrap this up or,
you know, maybe just tellingpeople that?
Are listening in how to findyou Sure?
Steve (55:13):
JCS Technologies is offering cybersecurity risk
assessments.
You don't know where yournetwork holes are until you get
a test, so we would like theopportunity to come in, tell you
where all the problems are andgive you a roadmap on how to fix
(55:35):
that.
We can be found at our website,jcs-technologiescom uh, or our
phone number is 317-644-5569.
Zach (55:48):
Perfect.
Thank you so much.
Thank you Appreciate you.
Paul (55:51):
Steve, thank you Bye.
Hello and welcome to the Owner's Odyssey, the podcast
where we delve deep into thetransformative stories of
courageous business owners whohave embarked on an
extraordinary adventure.
I'm Zach Jones and I'm BrookeGattia.
We're here to explore the reallife experiences of
entrepreneurs.
Brook (00:22):
Each episode, we'll embark on a quest to uncover the
trials, triumphs andtransformations of remarkable
individuals who dared to answerthe call of entrepreneurship.
Zach (00:34):
Like all adventurers, our guests have faced their fair
share of challenges, vanquishedformidable foes and braved the
unknown.
Brook (00:41):
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a
seasoned business owner orsimply an avid listener hungry
for captivating stories theOwner's Odyssey is here to help
you level up.
Zach (00:52):
So join us as we embark on this epic expedition.
This is the Owner's Odyssey.
Let's start our adventure.
Paul (01:03):
Good morning.
Today we've got a podcast withCyber Steve Schulenberg, also
known as Cyber Cowboy.
Steve (01:12):
Good evening, good afternoon Good morning, good to
have you.
Paul (01:20):
So met Steve a few months ago in some networking.
We happened to go to two of thesame types of networking groups
.
Networking, we happened to goto two of the same types of
networking groups and when hehad come back from a Texas
conference where he then decidedto become the cyber cowboy, he
was wearing his Stetson or his10-gallon hat and his next chief
(01:40):
and I'm not sure if he got theboots yet.
Oh yeah he got the boots yet, ohyeah, I got the boots and uh,
so it was.
He was very distinctive and wechatted and, uh, I said you want
to come on this podcast.
So that's where we are today.
He's dressed not as I thinkit's uh, cyber steve, santa,
cyber santa yes, yeah, there hegoes cyber santa, it is the
(02:04):
season.
Brook (02:04):
His jacket literally is lighting up with lights.
He had it going earlier.
Zach (02:11):
And so he's an eclectic person who enjoys his style.
Hybrid of a Christmas tree andSanta.
Brook (02:18):
Absolutely All in one.
It's amazing.
Yes, it moves, it grooves.
My children would love it.
So.
Zach (02:25):
Steve, you're the owner of JCS Technologies.
That is correct, Correct andJCS.
I know there's a little.
Steve (02:34):
Origin store.
Zach (02:35):
Yeah, a little thing there .
So tell us what JCS stands for.
Steve (02:38):
A little over 10 years ago, I got the wild hair to say,
hey, I'm going to be a businessowner.
I wanted to go out and justwork for myself.
And uh, you know, starting up abusiness is really fun.
You go through all the thepaperwork with a state
department, you know gettingeverything registered, and uh,
(02:59):
before you go through all that,what do you got to have?
You got to have a name for yourbusiness.
So, you know, at this,technically I'm unemployed
because I don't have any incomecoming in.
So what am I doing?
I'm sitting at my localwatering hole for lunch, really,
and I'm trying to come up witha name and it's just escaping me
.
And it was just straight out ofa movie.
(03:20):
The bartender's sitting therepolishing a rocks glass and he's
like how about just call steve?
We do that anyway, and I'm likejcs was born very nice.
Zach (03:31):
So were you in um?
Tell us more about that youknow sort of origin moment, like
were you in it already and kindof what's the evolution of that
?
Steve (03:42):
yeah, I, uh I kind of danced around technology all my
life.
I was fascinated with it as akid.
When I got into the Navy my jobwas a sonar technician, so I
was tracking submarines Kind ofa boring job if there are not
that many submarines around so Ispent a lot of time hanging out
with the IT group and just kindof picked up on it.
(04:04):
When I got out of the service Istarted working as a cable
contractor, pulling cable wirefor networks, houses, businesses
.
Kind of got the lay of the land, if you will Gotcha, see how a
network is built, and got to thepoint where I'm like you know,
(04:24):
know what?
My body is not going to lastthis long.
I'm not going to be able to pullcable when I'm 40, 50 years old
sure so went back to uh school,got certified in microsoft, uh
learned how to build computers,got uh server certified and uh
went out got a job as as workingfor a managed service provider.
(04:46):
If you don't know what themanaged service provider is,
what they do is they go aroundto businesses and they are kind
of like outsourced IT.
It could be anything from helpdesk to software procurement
anything that falls into that ITcategory.
It's mainly geared for smallbusinesses that don't have the
(05:06):
support or the resources to hirea full-time person.
So after working for him atmanaged service for a couple of
years, I decided you know what,I can do this on my own.
I want to go out, try this.
And here I am, 14 years later.
Brook (05:23):
So did your decision to jump to I'm going to do my own
thing?
Was that a result of I'm notreally enjoying working for
somebody else and what they do?
Or was it more just like hey,I've always wanted to do this
sort of thing?
I wonder if I can and I'm goingto try it.
(05:43):
What got you to the point ofgoing okay, and I'm going to try
it Like, what got you to thepoint of going okay, now I'm
going to do this on my own, um,from that aspect, Well, as a
matter of fact, it was, um, oneof my customers, my oldest
customer, Um, they were the onesthat kind of gave me that spark
.
Steve (06:02):
Uh, I found myself when I was working for that MSP.
We found ourselves at acrossroads where it was a
difference of opinion and I justdecided I'm going to leave and
I'm trying to figure out whatI'm going to do next.
But a lot of these customersthat I had dealt with, I just
reached out to them and I said,look, I'm no longer with this
(06:23):
company anymore I dealt with.
I just reached out to him and Isaid, look, I'm no longer with
this company anymore.
I don't know what I'm going todo next, but if you guys need
any help, feel free to reach outto me.
Whether you stay with thatperson or you go with somebody
else, you're going to need toknow this knowledge.
So feel free to reach out.
I'll be more than happy to offerup what I have.
And that customer says oh,you're going into business for
(06:45):
yourself, what's your rate?
And it was just that light bulbmoment right there that I'm
like well, I don't know, theycharge you this, I'll charge you
$25 than that.
They're like okay, yeah, worksfor us.
I'm like I get a raise, theyget a discount.
Everybody wins, yeah, except myformer employer.
Zach (07:05):
So what were some of the um?
You know what were those earlydays like being a lone Ranger
out there?
Oh it's it's fun.
Steve (07:14):
Uh, you know you get used to hearing the phone hang up uh
the uh uh, I never knew howmany businesses had nephews that
did IT.
Paul (07:27):
I mean it's amazing.
That's a good point.
Steve (07:29):
Like oh no, our nephew takes care of that.
Oh okay, that's great thatyou're trusting your business
that provides your livelihood tosomebody who's gaming half the
time Awesome.
Zach (07:41):
Yeah, that's a crazy thing to outsource to family or
somebody not highly qualified.
I think I saw something that,first of all, small businesses I
know are sort of the target,the main target, of cyber
attacks and things like that.
Steve (08:00):
Absolutely Things like that, and then when you look at
the stats of how many businessesgo out of business shortly
thereafter, you realize what akill shot that actually can be.
The latest statistic that weheard was 80% of small
businesses that suffer aransomware cyber attack never
(08:23):
recover.
Wow, 80%.
That is just staggering tothink about.
Now, as somebody in the biz,the very first thing I did was
get cybersecurity insurance.
You know, if you've got abusiness insurance provider
right now, talk to them.
Make sure that you've gotcoverage for cybersecurity,
(08:45):
because it's a new type ofattack that people are starting
to say, oh, there's money to bemade here.
Insurance companies are saying,hey, there's claims to be
denied here, so make sure thatyour insurance covers that.
The early days you asked aboutwhat it was like learning so
much, having to file this form,going in and making sure that
(09:10):
you have an accountant.
Quickbooks is great, but if youdon't know what you owe to the
IRS or the state, quickbooksisn't that great.
You need an accountant, alwayshave an accountant.
Zach (09:25):
Data is nothing without the interpretation right, 100%,
100%.
Steve (09:31):
I have that all the time.
I get these tools and utilitiesthat run scans on the network
and the customer's like well, wecan do that too.
Yes, you can, but are you goingto be able to interpret what
that's saying?
No, that's why you need me,sure.
Brook (09:52):
You talk to this guy, he tells you why don't I be the
person?
Like, why don't you be theperson?
It's a win-win situation, allright.
Now you're in business, you'resitting at a coffee shop or some
other type of drinking hole and, um, someone says, just call
Steve JCS.
Like that's developed, allright.
You now go out and you set upyour business and you're sitting
(10:13):
there.
At what point in time did yougo?
Or did you go?
What the hell did I just do?
Or have you the whole timethrough been like this is like
amazing, like it's all poppingtogether, like what?
All right, I decided to do this.
What was that initial, like sixmonths, three months after?
(10:35):
Like where was your headspacein the midst of that?
Steve (10:38):
Oh, it's a rollercoaster Every day.
I wake up.
Uh, some days I'm likeenergized, like yes, let's go
out and take over the world.
Other days I'm like I do notwant to do this but, like you
said, you're in it right.
No takesies-backsies.
But there's so many days that Ilook at it and I'm like it
would be so much easier if Ijust threw in the towel and went
(11:00):
to work for somebody else.
Let somebody else take care ofall the taxes and the paperwork
and the filings, but at the sametime I wouldn't be my own boss.
There is a certain amount ofpride when you create a business
from scratch, from nothing.
You have an idea and you fosterthat idea into a business that
actually provides money and alivelihood for it and you're
(11:24):
doing what you love and you'rehelping people and you're able
to make ends meet and do somefun stuff.
Being a business owner is thatreward in and of itself is
enough for me.
Zach (11:37):
So do you have a team behind you at this point?
What does that look?
Steve (11:41):
like I do.
I do, actually.
I took a page out of my ownbook, managed Service.
You don't have the money tohire your own people.
You outsource it, right?
I recently, at one of thoseconferences, I met a gentleman
by the name of Dan Martell.
He does a great podcast,youtube videos and he has this
(12:02):
book called Buying Back yourTime.
What is it worth to you calledbuying back your time, right?
Uh what?
What is it worth to you to buyback your time If you could have
somebody take care of the drycleaning and the stuff around
your house, just so you don'thave to deal with that when you
get home from work?
What is that worth?
What is it worth for me,instead of having to go in and
figure out the person's mundaneproblems why they can't print,
(12:25):
why their keyboard suddenlydoesn't work and that gives me
the ability to focus on the bigpicture stuff like why are these
hackers trying to get into yournetwork?
That's what I need to befocused on.
The outsourced IT help deskwill help with the small
problems.
Brook (12:43):
So I totally am one of those bougie people who
outsource my laundry.
Steve (12:50):
Love it.
Brook (12:51):
I can totally tell my neighbors are like the first
time we did it.
After a couple times they'relike you guys getting your
laundry done, because you put agiant bag out front and then the
next day it shows back up andI'm like, yeah, I just I can't,
like I cannot do a lot and plusour laundry's in the basement.
So my other half has fallendown the steps with the laundry
(13:13):
and I made it immediately, saidand we're done, like I don't
need this stress.
So I'm totally for uh, balance,and it doesn't have to be
laundry, but um the like,finding the things that just
kind of push you over the edge.
I also I haven't figured outhow to do this would love
someone to come in and do mydishes every day.
(13:35):
I do not like doing dishes.
My son does not like doingdishes.
We have pitched out fightsabout helping.
It's too gross.
So, anyhow, there are somethings I haven't quite figured
out how to outsource that Ireally would love to.
Zach (13:47):
Paul and I were just talking before we hit record
about how my me and my wife weredecent cooks, but it is not
something that energizes us orthat we're passionate about at
all.
And we finally got to the point.
Last month I was looking at thebills and just seeing door,
dash, door, dash door dash door.
Brook (14:07):
You spend so much money and we save money on like all
right, we're running out ofmoney.
We need to not do this so much.
Just cut back on door dash.
All of a sudden we got hundredsof dollars.
Zach (14:15):
It goes in a hurry because you don't, you know, you don't
think about it.
You're like oh, this is fivebucks, this is five bucks, but
then you got taxes, delivery fee, you know 40 bucks later
tipping yeah what have you?
so I was like this is, you know,at best we get a meal for 30
this way, and we ended upfinding an online service that
(14:36):
does prepped meals.
Oh, no delivered to your doorcompletely prepared.
You can put them in themicrowave for two minutes or put
them in the oven for, you know,12, 15 minutes this herculean
they're good to go.
This is actually cook unity cookunity I haven't heard of this
cook unity if you want to goahead and give us a little
sponsorship here but for allyour unifying meals but yeah,
(15:00):
they use local chefs and havelike compostable packaging that
the whole thing goes in and itends up being about 10 bucks a
meal.
So we were like that's that's ano-brainer.
It's tough because in a perfectyou're always kind of thinking
of the perfect world scenario.
So it's like if we shopped andwe ate healthy, then we'd be
spending you know less and we'dbe doing xyz and it's just like
(15:22):
that's never really going tohappen.
So compare it it to the door.
Don't compare it to the the oneweek a year where you actually
accomplish, you know, healthyshopping and and prepping all
those meals with no food waste.
Steve (15:36):
You know it's funny both both my wife and her, more so
than I have a background in foodservice, so we're no stranger
to cooking.
But it's funny, during COVID,everybody's DoorDash bill jumped
exponentially.
To this day, I still have notgone back and looked to see how
much we spent on DoorDash duringCOVID, don't you?
(16:00):
Yeah, that's a trigger warning.
Trigger warning people.
Zach (16:03):
Absolutely.
Brook (16:04):
Don't you?
Yeah, that's a trigger warning,trigger warning people,
absolutely.
So when I started my businessand it was just me and I'm
trying to figure this out andthen I came to a moment where I
was like, all right, can't beworking out of my home, I need
to like rent a space.
And it was a really big stepfor me to do that, to be like
all right, I'll start doing this.
But it was a very smartdecision for me because now I
(16:29):
just kind of more officiallyformed myself.
I had place that people couldcome.
It felt more when it was justmore professional I'm not
meeting with people to do theirtaxes at their house or
Starbucks and so you talk hereabout like hey, I need to
outsource that side of things.
Um, and then, after I likerented a place, I hired someone
(16:52):
and you know those kinds ofgrowth spaces of things what
piece of that?
Like, I figured out what wasbetter for my time.
What was your first like thing?
You stepped into and you werelike, oh, why the hell did I not
I cuss, sorry why the hell didI not do this?
Yeah, months ago, or what didyou do it right away?
Steve (17:15):
like, were you like nope, I got this I, like most people,
think I got this, I know whatI'm doing.
Uh, real quickly, you find outthat you don't.
Uh, there's people that havebeen there before and they're
they're lighthouses for youfollow their lead.
Um, but the the first thing thatthe really aha moment was the
(17:38):
help desk.
When people I mean I love to bethat guy that has all the
answers and figures things out,but I want to be the guy that
gets you taken care of first andif it takes me three hours to
figure something out, versus ahelp desk that deals with this
all the time, gets you takencare of in 15 minutes.
(17:59):
There's the balance.
I would much rather do that Nowless money, but the customer is
satisfied in the long run,which is going to lead to repeat
business and more bandwidth andfreeze you up.
And freeze me up to go out andfind more customers.
I find that, as much as I enjoyIT and being technical, I enjoy
(18:23):
people more.
I like to get out and meetpeople, and that's really what
being a business owner is You'repromoting your business, you're
meeting people.
You're not waiting for them tocome to you and say, hey, do you
fix computers or cybersecurity?
Brook (18:38):
Yeah, it's almost the service aspect of things.
How can I serve you?
And it gets really hard whenyou're running things to remind
yourself of that.
Like, all right, I'm trying tomake cash flow work, I'm trying
to market, I'm trying to do allof these things and my clients
are kind of stressed or grouchyand kind of taking stuff out on
(19:01):
you or whatever else for you tokeep reminding yourself and
bringing yourself back to how amI serving that person, how are
my processes helping them?
And it's not about me, it'sabout them.
And yeah, I need to make moneyand there's value to my service.
But like keeping that mindsetand that care for the people, um
(19:23):
, sometimes it's really hard inbusiness because it's just
business, like I'm just gonna.
This isn't personal, it's justbusiness, and that's not always
true.
Zach (19:32):
I'm, I'm talking it's like the office michael.
Michael Scott, saying somethingto the effect of he's like
business is the most personalthing in the world.
Brook (19:41):
Yeah, it does feel like that sometimes and so I love
that you're like yeah, there'sthe IT part, but there's the
people part too that comes intoit and that's a huge value to
kind of running business on thatside.
Steve (19:57):
Well, there's also the.
I mean we live in a world nowwhere it's instant anything on
your phones right.
Just ask the magic rectangle.
It has all the answers.
Well, in IT we kind of want todo that as well.
We want to provide all theanswers.
We can certainly find it on theinternet, but, as a business
owner who is not savvy withtechnology, they're going to
(20:21):
look at Google, they're going toask the same thing that the IT
person would and the resultsthat come back they're going to
like I have no idea what this istalking about.
The IT is kind of like yourtranslator, and that's kind of
what I want to be.
As far as JCS, I'm like.
You have problems in technologythat you need addressed.
You need to have technologywork for you instead of you
working for it.
(20:41):
Our company can come in andrelax that pain for you.
We can take care of all thetechnical stuff.
You just tell us what you wantand we can make it happen.
Zach (20:52):
Do you find that most of the small business owners that
you engage with kind ofunderstand that from a
conceptual standpoint or is isit fairly challenging?
Or do you have a pretty, youknow, robust kind of
infrastructure of like kind ofproof prior to purchase of like
(21:15):
this is?
This is why you, you need thisCause.
A lot of times we have thatsame, you know, conversation at
Edgewater of someone saying,well, I can figure this out and
it's like yes, you, you can, butbut should you, should you?
Steve (21:31):
and why would you right?
How much time would you wastedoing your own taxes Right?
Especially if you didn't knowyou'd have to research the
current tax code?
That's something that myaccountant, you guys, you
research.
Every year the tax code changesso you have to stay up to date.
That continuing education partNow yes, people have the ability
(21:51):
to learn things for themselves,but that's not what we were
here to do.
We were here to kind of providea service.
Every person has that innatetalent that can be useful to
other people and and justfinding out what that is how you
can be of service.
Brook (22:12):
So you are, and I think we talked about this a little
earlier.
You are sitting here in aChristmas shirt that's lighted
up.
Um I I don't know if it waswhen we were talking on air or
not but, that you were atheatrical person of background.
Um, so you're kind of thiseccentric personality that comes
(22:35):
in the door.
Um, how has one?
How did you develop aneccentric personality that comes
in the door?
How has one?
How'd you develop an eccentricpersonality?
Paul (22:42):
as an IT person.
Brook (22:43):
As an IT person to how how does, does that?
Does that help you?
Does that hurt you?
Like?
How does that, how does who youare kind of play into all of
that?
Steve (22:57):
So you mentioned earlier the into all of that.
So, uh, you mentioned earlierthe office, michael Scott.
Uh, there, there, my family, welove it.
I mean, my son could probablyrecite every episode word for
word.
That's our house right.
It's just a great show.
Um, bring it back, please.
Uh, yes, but there yes.
But there's a couple ofepisodes where Michael gets
(23:22):
freaked out because of the ITguy coming in.
If I was to ask you guys todescribe your typical IT guy,
most people would describe quiet, maybe nerdy glasses.
Coke bottle glasses right Mosteveryone would say introverted,
keep to themselves, right, okay,well, it and technology isn't
going away.
Most everyone would sayintroverted, keep to themselves,
right, okay, well, it andtechnology isn't going away.
And we need we, as in regularnon-technical people, need that
(23:48):
technology to work for us.
So you need that liaison.
Zach (23:51):
That's someone that can understand the technology part
of it, but then still be withthe be able to communicate it to
you as the layman, exactly,exactly, understand the
technology part of it, but thenstill be with the be able to
communicate it to you as thelayman.
Steve (24:03):
Exactly, Exactly, so, um sorry, I forgot what the
question was.
Just how?
Brook (24:06):
do you like one?
How'd you develop thiseccentric personality to how um?
Paul (24:11):
how does that serve?
Brook (24:13):
and impact and hurt, or whatever your direction.
Well, I, uh, I was blessed bybeing the youngest of four.
An impact and it hurt, orwhatever your direction.
Steve (24:19):
Well, I, uh, I was blessed by being the youngest of
four.
Okay, my mom, still at 48 yearsold, uh, she still refers to me
as her baby.
Um, but I had that.
You know, there was, uh, my twoolder sisters and my brother
were off doing their things, andso the attention was always on
them.
So here's Steve, over in thecorner, not being able to do
(24:42):
anything because I'm five yearsyounger than my next oldest
sibling.
So I started developing the,you know, at a young age, being
honest temper tantrums to getattention.
And then, when I found that gotthe wrong kind of attention, I
started looking for other ways.
And it was my fourth gradeteacher convinced me to be in
(25:04):
the school play and I remembergoing up doing the play and
everybody pat me on the back,tell me what a great job I did.
And I had these dreams when Iwas a kid of being an actor uh,
making it in hollywood.
Brook (25:21):
nope, never did not that good or just not that driven not
that when you see, you know allthe starving actors in
hollywood you know you'reworking three jobs.
Steve (25:31):
Uh, as a car washer server.
Uh, it just doesn't seem thatglamorous.
You know a handful of peopleactually make it as stars.
It's interesting too.
Zach (25:42):
I feel I'm a musician and I feel like I share in that
sentiment of there's such agreat sacrifice that people make
to be in that sort ofcompetitive space of you know
want to talk about Hollywood orNashville or whatever it is, and
(26:04):
I think those people seem tohave it's more valuable to them
to be acknowledged for that andto kind of have that public
persona than it is for them toactually be doing what they like
to do.
So it's interesting to me and Iresonate with the fact that
(26:25):
you're like I like to act and Ilike to be a character, but I
can do that somewhere else andhave the consistency and you
know all of the benefits of youknow kind of doing something in
a field that isn't so you knowcutthroat, or you know one in a
million or or what have you, butyou know still kind of occupy
(26:47):
the space that I want to occupy,cause I, paul, and I have had
this conversation of like, aslong as I can play music, I
don't care if anybody hears itknow what I mean other than
myself.
Brook (26:57):
So that's just an interesting so you bring your
theatrics to your everyday life.
It's great.
So I'm a little intrigued.
Did you say you were part ofthe army or the navy?
Steve (27:08):
the navy?
Brook (27:08):
yes, okay and so here's this, uh theatrical person who
decides to join the navy yes, I,I guess the Navy has that songs
, but I don't think they're theones who created it.
But how did that step go?
Steve (27:25):
The armed services are great, great family group of
people and we gel, just like thefour of us are right now.
You get a group of peopletogether and you're going to
have mashups, but for the mostpart everybody else is trying to
do the same thing trying tomake a name for themselves,
(27:47):
trying to move up in rank, andyou get the characters that like
to cut up.
You'll get the ones that don'twant to do anything except
straight lace, very rigid, um,but then I don't know.
Brook (28:01):
You just so it didn't feel like I imagine this like
theatrical creative, like space,to going into this very
structured, like space.
Was that?
Yes was that okay?
Steve (28:18):
was that difficult, very difficult uh, the first thing in
the military all of when you gothrough boot camp, they want to
break you down to nothing andbuild you back up their way.
Any preconceived ideas of hey,this isn't fair, that's out the
window because, you are supposedto follow a certain regiment.
um, that being said, it wasn'thorrible, but I was definitely
(28:44):
stifled.
There was no way for me to becreative or theatrical out there
.
So, while I did enjoy my timein the service, when my
enlistment was up, I'm like I'mgoing to do something else.
Brook (28:57):
How did that help that transition from this freedom to
structure, assist and help youwith business today?
Steve (29:08):
Oh, to tag on to the origin story, before my time in
the military I was bouncingaround from part-time job to
part-time job, video store clerk, taco Bell no real direction I
had.
I mean, my biggest aspirationwas to make assistant manager at
the video store.
And then there was something Idon't remember what it was, but
(29:32):
there was something that justthat clicked.
It says you've got to get youract together.
And my stepdad was a Marinejust that clicked.
It says you've got to get youract together.
And, uh, my, my stepdad was aMarine.
And if, uh, one thing willaggravate Marines more than
anything is for their uh, uhchildren to join the Navy.
So, uh, so that that was how Idid, uh chose.
(29:53):
The Navy is like.
Brook (29:54):
Oh, so you're just chose.
Paul (29:56):
The Navy is like oh, so you're just, you're also
rebelling.
Yeah, I've got a rebelliousstreak.
Steve (30:00):
Yes, you tell me I can't do something I'm going to figure
out a way to do it.
Paul (30:02):
Watch this.
I'm puck you and I at the sametime.
Yeah.
Steve (30:06):
But uh, yeah, the, the and then for a Navy dad it's.
Zach (30:10):
There's a whole chain, it's like the whole Indiana
Kentucky, Illinois.
Steve (30:17):
Don't forget Space.
Zach (30:18):
Force Rock paper scissors.
Steve (30:22):
Exactly.
Brook (30:27):
And another Steve Carell piece there Love this guy and
that's kind of cool, becausethere's also this like you felt
stifled, and so then you comeout of it and it takes, takes
you a while to refine yourselfand like who you want to be in
that and not that the, themilitary, is a um, a bad place
by any means, but just for youand your personality of like,
(30:49):
okay, I had to rediscover.
they broke you down, built youup the way they are, and you had
to kind of rediscover who youwanted to be.
Without that kind of structurein place and kind of stepped
into IT, which is also verystructured and methodical in
many ways too, so you kind ofare bridging a lot of those kind
(31:12):
of gaps of things of things,and so I will say that a lot of
my uh drive and inspiration itdoes come from my wife telling
me to be myself.
Steve (31:24):
Uh, she knew when, when we first started dating, what
kind of a character I was, anduh, before or after the military
after.
Okay, and she knew, you know,when I got up for work I had a
uniform that I put on and wentdid my little service utilities
(31:45):
at an office building and shesaid that's not for you, you
don't feel like you're happy.
You need to find something thatmakes you happy and it allows
you to be yourself.
That makes you happy and beyour.
It allows you to be yourselfand IT being my own business
owner or being my own boss itkind of allows me to do that.
Yes, I can be serious and takecare of the job, uh, but I can
(32:09):
also have fun when I'm doing it.
And I find that customers,especially when it comes to IT,
if they're freaked out about ITand they have somebody come in,
that's just hey, everything'scool, we're going to get through
this, I've got your hand,you're not going to lose
anything.
That calms them down and thathelps the situation.
Zach (32:31):
So to that point of kind of finding your happiness and
finding your sweet spot now thatyou're in the thick of it and
your business as well,established 12, 13 years of of
this business at this point.
Is that right?
Yep, okay, what you know?
Business owners wear a milliondifferent hats.
(32:52):
What's your favorite hat towear?
Is it?
Is it in the operations pieceof things and helping clients?
Is it business development?
What do you?
What really kind of energizesyou?
Steve (33:04):
Oh, I would have current.
I would have to say businessdevelopment, meeting the people.
Uh, since joining thesenetworking groups like
rainmakers and BNI, uh, I foundthat talking to people, figuring
out what pain they have and howmaybe technology can help,
maybe not, but maybe I knowsomebody that you know.
(33:25):
If somebody's not happy withpaying taxes, hey, I know some
accountants that I can hook youup with.
I'm not really doing what Ithink I could be as far as
running my business.
Hey, I got a business coachthat I can hook you up with.
Meeting people and finding outwhat pains them that's what
energizes me.
(33:46):
Did you expect that?
No, not at all.
Because, like I said, whenyou're in IT, there's that
traditional introverted self,and I was always fascinated with
technology and, being theyoungest of four, my siblings
called me a nerd when I was akid, so I developed this I don't
(34:09):
know if psychosis is the rightword, but I felt like that's
what I was.
But then that theatrical partor that theatrical streak kind
of took over and said you can beboth.
You can go out and meet peopleand not be the introvert and you
can surprise the heck out ofthem.
Zach (34:27):
How far into the development of your business did
you start know kind of morestructured network Cause
Rainmakers, bni, those are heavy.
You know the big commitmentsright.
Did someone pull you into thatworld?
Did you seek that out?
What, what kind of pushed youin that direction of building
(34:50):
your business?
Steve (34:51):
Again, my wife is a big inspiration.
She was.
She had done BNI when she wasselling Aflac insurance and had
great success with it.
And uh, I'm at the point nowwhere I'm I'm needing to grow my
business.
I've got everything kind ofdialed in the way I want it to
(35:11):
as far as the service I want toprovide.
Now I just got to get out thereand get the customers to
provide.
Now I just got to get out thereand get the customers and she
said I recommend BNI, Irecommend Rainmakers H7.
So I started attending thesenetworking events and meeting a
lot of people that werebasically just like me.
They were trying to get outthere and grow their business
and meet people and find outwhat pain they could solve.
Zach (35:36):
What are some of your kind of rules of thumb or golden
rules in terms of thatnetworking space, like it sounds
like that's been beneficial andthat you've got, you know,
tangible rewards or you knowresults from being in those
spaces and being in them myselfa lot?
(35:57):
I know there are people thatare straight to the point and
pulling a ton of business andthen there are people that are
just kind of lifetime networkers, that are there to small talk
and hang out and nothing reallyever happens.
So if you had a top three tipsor something like that for other
people, uh, moving into thatspace, what?
(36:19):
What have you learnednetworking in in those areas?
Steve (36:23):
Number one is follow-up.
Always follow up.
If somebody gives you areferral, thank them and then
call that referral Uh, cause ifthey give it to you and you
don't follow up on it, they'renot going to give it to you
again.
Uh.
Number two is stay engaged.
Uh, especially with BNI, it's aweekly commitment.
Uh, rainmakers, uh is a monthlycommitment.
(36:45):
It works if you work it right.
Uh, you hear that in everyprogram there is.
If you show up, the programworks.
Um, and I guess number threewould just be be yourself, and I
guess number three would justbe be yourself.
Don't compromise who you are toto try to be somebody you're
not.
And I mean, at the end of theday you can look back and say
(37:06):
today was a good day.
I did everything the way Ithink it should have been done
and I helped some people alongthe way is there.
Zach (37:16):
I'm sorry, I'm asking a million questions in a row.
You want to go ahead?
Brook (37:20):
So where are you going?
Steve (37:22):
Where am I going To the moon?
Zach (37:27):
You've got the technology.
Steve (37:31):
Honestly, I really haven't thought that far ahead
as far as long term.
Haven't um thought that farahead as far as long term?
I?
I always see myself as active,doing this type of you know,
either it's technology ormeeting with people.
Um, my son has been accepted toball state.
Uh, the teaching program he'llstart in the fall.
Uh, it's exciting.
(37:52):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Really good, um, head on hisshoulders and he wants to be be
a teacher and that's a veryrewarding job.
It's thankless.
I come from.
Both of my parents wereteachers, so I know how they got
raked over the coals.
But once he's out of college, Idon't know.
(38:12):
I would like to expand thebusiness.
Maybe take it outside ofIndiana, any mountain estate.
I love the mountains, but Idon't know Right now.
I want to provide a goodservice and help people, help
educate them to the threats thatare out there.
Paul (38:34):
So expand it to JCS and S.
Just call steve and son.
There you go I.
Steve (38:41):
I actually talked to my son this is a couple of summers
ago.
I said hey, we're going to giveyou your first summertime job.
You're going to come to workfor me.
You're going to just be myassistant.
I'm going to pay 250 a month.
He's like what awesome, cool.
So he comes in, he starts doinga couple of computers and the
repetitive stuff.
Really, he liked that becausehe just put his AirPods in and
(39:02):
go to town and I was like allright, you're doing good.
Maybe you keep this up when youget out of college you get a
business degree and you can takeover the business for me.
He's like dad, I don't want todo this.
Talk about heartbroken.
I'm like, here I'm buildingthis company.
Just call Steven Sutton.
Nope, I don.
(39:22):
Heartbroken.
I'm like here I'm building thiscompany.
Just call steven sutton.
Nope, I don't want to do this.
So, but that that's.
That goes back to what I'mtelling everybody else.
Just be yourself.
You know, I don't, I can't getupset with him if he wants to be
a teacher very fair.
Brook (39:38):
Why the mountains?
Steve (39:40):
uh, that's from growing up in Alabama.
For 21 years it was hot, humid.
The mountains down there aren'treally mountains, they're the
foothills, of the Appalachian,whatever.
But once you see the Rockiesfor the first time, those
snow-covered peaks, the Cascades, beautiful.
Brook (40:01):
The Rockies are definitely different than the
Carolinas because the Rockiesare like it's like desert space,
I feel like, and so I've onlyreally been there once, twice,
so I can't really compare.
But yeah, those are differentmountain ranges if you're used
to the Carolinas and so that'smy two cents on that.
(40:24):
So at the end of every kind ofpodcast we do.
What a lightning round.
Zach (40:32):
Yes, we started calling it the slow round, because it
inevitably sparks additionalconversations.
Brook (40:40):
Yeah.
So it's kind of fun to kind ofgo through, and so we're just
going to ask you a couple ofquestions.
They're random.
Paul (40:47):
Okay.
Brook (40:48):
Silly, Um, but uh, I think it, we kind of get a
little insight into people onthem.
So, um, first one, uh, whatdrink are you drinking for any
business networking meeting?
Steve (41:03):
What drink are you drinking for any business
networking meeting?
Brook (41:08):
It would be an espresso martini, also known as my third
cup of coffee.
Is that what you were drinkingat your watering hole?
Yes, espresso martini.
Steve (41:15):
He's got a little bougie character going on there, the
coffee and the party alltogether.
I don't know if I've ever hadone of those.
Paul (41:24):
Oh.
Steve (41:26):
Where were we?
Monterey Cuisine?
Zach (41:29):
That was my next question is where's a good one?
Monterey?
Steve (41:32):
Cuisine right down the road Excellent.
Brook (41:35):
I just tried that place this couple last week or
something.
It's a really good place.
Oh yeah, another sponsor forour podcast monorail.
We're just racking them up umfavorite person to follow
podcast instagram, facebook,tiktok uh, I just started
watching it.
Steve (41:53):
I don't know uh his last name, but it's aj from the y
files.
Uh, conspiracy theories hetalks about like uh talks about
where they originated and thendebunks it and tells what really
it could have been.
Brook (42:10):
Are you a conspiracy theorist?
Always?
Steve (42:14):
I was in the military.
Of course I have a conspiracytheory.
Zach (42:18):
I can't believe.
I didn't ask you that themilitary guys always are the
ones that see the UFOs, so didyou have any?
Steve (42:25):
I can neither confirm nor deny anything at this time.
Brook (42:32):
You were not at Area 55.
Is that what it is, Area 55?
Paul (42:35):
51.
Dang it 51, 55,.
Zach (42:39):
whatever it takes, that's a Brookism.
Brook (42:41):
It's a new place.
You guys don't know about it.
Steve (42:43):
That's 55, whatever it takes.
Brookism, it's a new place.
You guys don't know about itbecause it's really secret.
Area 51 is the distraction.
Zach (42:49):
Area 55 is where Area 51's got a gift shop, that's right,
that's right.
Steve (42:57):
Sponsored by McDonald's.
Brook (43:01):
How late is fashionably late 15 minutes early.
Paul (43:07):
No body time.
Steve (43:08):
I remember my my first day in the Navy bootcamp that
our division officer, ordivision chief, was yelling at
us.
He says if you're not 15minutes early, you're late.
And I don't know why, butthat's just stuck in with me.
I go into panic mode if I'mlike two minutes before the
meeting starts and I'm not thereyet.
(43:30):
It's just a panic attack.
Brook (43:32):
But to answer, your question showed up four minutes
before this meeting.
He was already here gettingcoffee.
Yes, were you standing outsidewithout anybody in?
Zach (43:42):
No, you beat on my legs.
I was here at 7.
Oh wow, I'm in rare form.
Brook (43:48):
Hey, his early is an hour early.
Steve (43:51):
Well, I wasn't wearing the face hat or the beard when
you came in.
Brook (43:57):
No, you weren't.
You have a beard too.
Zach (43:59):
Talk about eccentric, yes, so he had the full Santa beard
and long white hair.
Brook (44:05):
He was trying to make an impression as he walked in the
door and no one was here,because you were 15 minutes
early and are fashionably lateIs way different, but he was
already here.
Zach (44:16):
I was like this is either an elaborate Robber outfit or
this is our podcast Feel free toedit this going forward, but
I'll have you.
Steve (44:29):
I was sitting out in the car and I had the hat on and I
walked in.
I'm carrying my backpack, andthen the first thing I thought
of is oh gosh, they're going tothink that I'm like out for some
CEO or something.
Brook (44:44):
Tis the season, so I have not been following that.
My sister-in-law sat down withme.
He's like have you heard that?
Like I'm like, no, I'm, it'sand I'm not.
It's all crazy.
(45:04):
We're in the like made-believestories on tv all of a sudden
are coming true and so, yes,it's weird.
Um, all right, so what's yourbiggest pet peeve?
Steve (45:15):
people that drive the speed limit in the left hand
lane love it.
Zach (45:22):
So you know they're not following the rules.
Brook (45:24):
No, they are the army says you're overheating army,
sorry um maybe, maybe, um, yeah,every 55 yeah no, the uh.
Steve (45:35):
You know what cattle catchers are.
They used to put them on thefront of trains back in the day
to, if there was cows they justmove out of the way well, I want
to install those on the frontof my vehicle so that if I'm
driving along on the interstateand somebody is doing 60 in the
left-hand lane, they're going tobe in the far left-hand lane
and then you are going to havecops coming after you absolutely
(45:57):
138, absolutely One, three,eight.
Brook (46:02):
What's your personal motto?
Steve (46:04):
Personal motto Always do unto others as you would have
them do unto you.
That's, that's the one I livemy life by.
But I recently watched a reallygood movie where I heard um uh,
you're never wrong to do theright thing.
Mark Twain, I think, said that,but yeah.
Brook (46:27):
It's old.
Paul (46:29):
Mark Twain's got a lot of good ones, oh yeah.
Brook (46:33):
Yeah, you sometimes forget to go back and read
historic stuff and you're likethat wisdom has all been there
for ages and ages and ages.
We just got to be willing tonot only look at our TikToks,
sort of things.
Steve (46:45):
So anyhow, my favorite Mark Twain saying of all time is
everybody wants to complainabout the weather, no one wants
to do anything about it.
Brook (46:53):
Oh, that is one of my exhaustions.
When people are like, hey, Ithink this is not working right,
this process is all mixed up,you should fix it, and'm like,
come on, like, come at, what'sthe fix that needs.
Like this, I see a problem, I'mgoing to complain about it, but
I'm not going to help fix it.
So um yeah, drives me bonkersand uh, do.
(47:15):
What's the, what's the saying?
Um ask not what your countrycan do for you, what?
Zach (47:20):
you can do for your country, whatever I'm working on
an album right now and I thinkI'm going to call it.
Stop helping and complainalready.
There you go.
I love it.
I love it.
What instrument do you play?
Um, my, my original instrumentwas guitar.
Because I've been in a studiosetting in the past, I kind of
(47:41):
can fake it on a lot ofdifferent things and you know I
can play four bars of anythingon anything.
So you know, I kind of havemoved into that producer mindset
and use a lot of synthesizersand digital instruments and
things like that.
Brook (47:58):
But a guitar is my home space I was trying to find
something that I was like I havenot played a harp.
Zach (48:04):
I actually have a friend who is also a guitar player, um
that down in Evansville, and sheI was chatting with her last
week and she was like yeah, Iwas playing harp on a gig, like
the other day, and I was likeyou play harp?
She said no, but you know so.
She said no, but you know so,and so like kind of just showed
(48:25):
me how the tuning was and andand I, you know, just winged it
and figured it out.
I was like that's, that's crazy.
I'll have to give the harp ashot but now that sounds so
intimidating catch me on thatone.
Steve (48:31):
But I think the better question is where is there a gig
where there's a harpist?
Paul (48:37):
yeah, evansville's got a lot of those kind of winery.
Zach (48:41):
Okay, yeah very fancy just 50 people out in a field
getting boozy.
Paul (48:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Zach (48:50):
Kind of events.
So I think that was the settingfor that.
Steve (48:55):
I can dig it Interesting.
For sure we have some doves flyup at the end.
Zach (48:59):
Yeah, that's pretty much the type of gigs they play.
They're very like Indigo Girlskind of energy, so it lends
itself to those sorts ofsprawling field kind of events.
Brook (49:13):
So what color do you think of when you think of a
business owner?
Steve (49:16):
Red.
Brook (49:17):
He's wearing red?
How many times I ask thisquestion to pretty much all of
our podcast people?
Paul (49:26):
and nine times out of ten.
Brook (49:28):
They are wearing the color that they are like it's
kind of their power colorsomehow or another, although
it's very interesting you havered with lights popping through
it.
Paul (49:36):
But that's your power.
Color, so power um.
Brook (49:41):
What is your superpower then?
Steve (49:45):
well, if I told you what my superpower is, doesn't change
that.
It's your superpower but thatyou would know that that's my
alter ego what's wrong with analter ego?
Nothing okay, you got to keepit secret.
No, you don't.
How many people know who thereal batman is Besides us?
Zach (50:02):
I was going to say in the real world or in Gotham.
Steve (50:07):
What would be my superpower?
I used to say empathy, but Ikind of tapped out on that.
Okay, no, I don't know.
I guess that's a good question.
Well, I already know it's notflying.
I can't know, I guess that's agood question.
Well, I already know it's notflying and I can't do that.
Zach (50:29):
And it's not invisibility, I can tell you that Definitely
not.
Steve (50:31):
That I don't know.
I guess I keep trying to do theforce persuasion these are not
the droids you're looking forbut for some reason people keep
not picking it out yeah.
So one of these days it's goingto work.
Brook (50:49):
Well, when you find your superpower, you can text us and
we'll do a next year like 10minute short podcast for you to
go through.
Steve (50:58):
Where are they now?
Yes, exactly it's not working.
Paul (51:02):
when you're driving and people are in the left hand lane
, you don't do that littlefinger across.
Steve (51:07):
I'm not going to lie, I have tried.
Brook (51:13):
So the last two questions um Zach came up with and I
think they're really good, canyou um define for us what
success is?
Steve (51:23):
Define success S-U-C-C-E-S-S.
Brook (51:28):
Not spell it, define it.
Steve (51:32):
Success is any advancement from where you were
before.
Zach (51:40):
I like that.
Steve (51:42):
Not staying in the same place.
I've taken so many trips aroundthe country and I view each one
of them as a success.
I have had multiple jobs in mylifetime and each one of them is
a success because it has been aspringboard to the next phase.
Brook (52:06):
Perspective is a big thing.
Paul (52:07):
It is.
Brook (52:08):
So, even if it's hard, I've learned from this.
I grew from it.
I don't regret that side ofthings.
Steve (52:15):
I'm a huge movie buff, so I see little quotes and stuff
from movies all the time up inthe air with George Clooney.
Anybody who ever built anempire or corporation sat where
you are right now and it'sbecause they sat there that they
were able to do it.
That right there is the lifechanging quote You've ever been
(52:36):
on the bad end of a firing?
Yeah, you feel like you're justworthless.
They didn't want me.
I'm not good enough to be partof a firing.
Yeah, you, you feel like you're.
You're just worthless.
They didn't want me.
I'm.
I'm not good enough to to bepart of this company because
you're sitting there right now.
You're going to be able to dosomething better.
Zach (52:53):
So that's sort of in line with someone told me very early
on uh, I moved around a lot as akid and that was a rough
experience but also, you know, arewarding one.
And someone said the more youstep outside of your comfort
circle, the larger the circlegets um.
(53:13):
And you know, I fully agreewith with that sentiment of the
more you can push yourself tostay in the uncomfortable space,
the more comfortable you getwith being uncomfortable.
Steve (53:28):
Yeah, you branch out and your comfort space gets bigger
100%.
Zach (53:35):
So the last question in turn, we know what success is
Now.
Can you define failure?
Steve (53:40):
Failure is refusing to change.
Love it Just I mean, I can'texplain it any more than that
when, when you're at a roadblockand somebody gives you advice
and says this is how you getaround it, and if you refuse to
take that advice and refuse tomove, then you're destined for
failure.
Brook (54:01):
Very true, very true, very true.
Thank you very much, thank youguys.
For joining our podcast andjust telling us a little bit
about how you went from thetheatrical loving person all the
way to running a business, andto the military, to the nerd, to
(54:24):
the yeah, all of that stuff.
And it is all what create it.
It's all what helped developyou to be who you are.
In that that growth and beingable to step into being a
business owner and you areprobably sitting in scary
moments and exciting moments.
People ask me do you like beinga business owner?
It depends on which 15 minutesyou ask me because, it can
literally change that fast, um,but yeah, it's all kind of built
(54:48):
into you doing that and that'sit's kind of a cool story and
journey for you.
So well.
Steve (54:53):
Thank you, I really appreciate the opportunity to
come on board and um I I justhad a really good time, yeah.
Zach (55:01):
Awesome.
Is there anything that you'dlike to plug to wrap this up or,
you know, maybe just tellingpeople that?
Are listening in how to findyou Sure?
Steve (55:13):
JCS Technologies is offering cybersecurity risk
assessments.
You don't know where yournetwork holes are until you get
a test, so we would like theopportunity to come in, tell you
where all the problems are andgive you a roadmap on how to fix
(55:35):
that.
We can be found at our website,jcs-technologiescom uh, or our
phone number is 317-644-5569.
Zach (55:48):
Perfect.
Thank you so much.
Thank you Appreciate you.
Paul (55:51):
Steve, thank you Bye.
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The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!