How did a spontaneous idea during a high-altitude hike lead to an insightful conversation on The Poultry Leadership Podcast? Join me, Brandon Mulnix, and my incredible wife, Emily Mulnix, as we kick off Season 2 with a heartfelt dialogue that crosses the boundaries of personal and professional life. Emily gives us a glimpse into her fascinating journey from dairy farm roots to her vital role as a registered nurse, while we share amusing anecdotes from our life in a small Michigan town. As we chat, you'll learn about my diverse career path, from firefighting to photography, and now, podcasting, as we discuss finding the right balance in our professional lives while raising our two kids.
Our episode takes a deep dive into the intertwining of personal and professional connections within the poultry industry, emphasizing the profound impact of family involvement and genuine relationships. We shed light on industry events that nurture bonds beyond mere business dealings, and the role of vulnerability and shared experiences in strengthening these ties. Together, Emily and I reflect on our personal growth, celebrating the supportive and enriching nature of the poultry community that has become an extended family to us.
Looking further into the episode, we explore the power of impactful connections in healthcare and farming, inspired by Brian Fretwell's transformative coaching insights. By shifting our focus from routine inquiries to questions that foster empathy and understanding, we discuss how professionals can improve performance by recognizing employees as whole individuals. Additionally, the conversation expands into collaboration and innovation strategies, highlighting the benefits of learning from industry experts and adopting cutting-edge technologies. By embracing continuous learning and innovative practices, we uncover how professionals can ensure long-term success and improvement in their operations.
Sponsored by Prism Controls
Hosted by Brandon Mulnix - Director of Commercial Accounts - Prism Controls
The Poultry Leadership Podcast is only possible because of its sponsor, Prism Controls
Find out more about them at www.prismcontrols.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brandon Mulnix (00:26):
Welcome to the Poultry Leadership Podcast.
We are kicking off Season 2with style.
It was a year ago when thePoultry Leadership Podcast
kicked off.
Man.
It's been a great year.
I am so looking forward toSeason 2, as I take in
everything that you have allshared with me.
So, without further ado, let'sget this interview underway.
Our guest host todayvolunteered to interview me.
(00:50):
I thought she might be crazy oroxygen deprived, because we
were on a hike and the altitudewas about 10,000 feet higher
than where we live at inMichigan.
I also must have beenstruggling to breathe because I
agreed to the interview.
What a great hike.
If you're still confused, whois the guest host on the podcast
(01:10):
?
It's none other than my amazingwife, emily Molnix.
Emily, welcome to the show.
Emily Mulnix (01:16):
Hello Brandon, it is so good to be here.
Brandon Mulnix (01:21):
I am so surprised you're sitting across
from me right now.
You are the most quiet,introverted person I even know,
and yet you're volunteering tointerview me on the podcast.
This is crazy.
So what was going through yourhead at that moment?
Emily Mulnix (01:40):
In that moment was probably don't fall again.
In that moment was probablydon't fall again.
But also, who better to be onthe podcast for season two
kickoff than the host of thepodcast, who everybody knows?
But do they really know?
So I figured it was a good plan.
Brandon Mulnix (02:02):
Well, I appreciate the offer.
So I would like to at leastintroduce to the audience who
you are.
Let you speak a little bitabout who you know, your
background just a little bit, sothey can understand who this
amazing guest host is.
Someone will probably put meout of work, I'm sure.
Emily Mulnix (02:18):
I don't think so.
Brandon Mulnix (02:19):
All right.
So, emily, tell the audience alittle bit about who Emily
Molnix is.
Emily Mulnix (02:24):
Where do I start?
I'm Emily Mulnix, I guess, if Igo way back to way back.
I grew up on a dairy farm inIonia County, michigan.
I milked cows.
Before and after school I drovetractors in the fields raking
(02:46):
hay.
While those years of my lifewere certainly difficult, I did
learn a lot about hard work andwork ethic.
I would give anything to havemy children have that experience
in the positive aspect of it.
I met Brandon.
Well, I guess Brandon and I metcollege and career Bible study
(03:09):
group.
I remember one night at Biblestudy we were staying up all
night long having a competition.
I just want to formally saythat I won.
Brandon had his sunglasses onand he fell asleep, and I
definitely did not fall asleep.
So that's my championship rightthere.
We got married in September of2000.
(03:31):
We have a daughter who is 21and a son who is 16.
I was a stay-at-home mom for 14years.
My main goal was to be astay-at-home mom home mom for 14
years.
My main goal was to be astay-at-home mom and thankfully
God allowed us to be able to dothat, with saving a ton of money
(03:51):
and living a very, very humblelifestyle.
Then God called me to changeeverything about myself and
become a nurse.
So I went to nursing school andI am a registered nurse.
I work at the level one traumacenter here in Michigan and
(04:11):
Grand Rapids, corwell Health,butterworth, in a med surge unit
where we see everything fromanything and all sorts of
patients and all sorts offantastic stories that I bring
home.
Brandon Mulnix (04:24):
Yeah, it's a pretty good introduction of
yourself.
Emily Mulnix (04:28):
Thank you.
Brandon Mulnix (04:29):
I mean, you took one for the team and married me
, took me out of the pool.
Appreciate that.
Emily Mulnix (04:35):
I kind of like you .
Brandon Mulnix (04:36):
Yeah, usually when I interview I get to ask
all these amazing questionsabout career and other things.
But I'm leaving the questionsup to you because, as we
prepared for this, the questionsI had were pretty boring and
you just basically said you knowyou felt sorry for the audience
if that's all you asked.
Emily Mulnix (04:55):
I did not.
You're such a liar.
Brandon Mulnix (04:59):
So, Emily, go ahead.
You're now the host of thePoultry Leadership Podcast.
Emily, go ahead, you're now thehost of the Poultry Leadership
Podcast.
Emily Mulnix (05:05):
Please, Brandon, tell us about yourself and maybe
your family and maybeupbringing in your life.
Brandon Mulnix (05:15):
Wow.
Emily Mulnix (05:15):
That's a tough question, Emily, since you
covered most of the topic withyour introduction.
I did not.
Brandon Mulnix (05:18):
I told it from my side.
I'm Brandon Mulnix.
I happen to host a podcast.
If you hadn't heard of it, it'scalled the Poultry Leadership
Podcast.
It's kind of a big deal, kindof a big deal, kind of a big
deal.
Emily Mulnix (05:29):
Kind of a big deal .
Brandon Mulnix (05:30):
I'm married to this lovely lady, Emily Mulnix,
for coming up on 25 years, andwe've been blessed to have two
amazing kids in a very small,tiny house I always bring that
up in my story just a small,tiny house.
Been able to raise them in thatlittle community that I grew up
(05:51):
in, just outside of GrandRapids, Michigan, called Saranac
, Michigan.
I always dreamed of doing bigthings in my life and became a
photographer and a firefighterright outside of high school,
went to school, became an EMTparamedic, and spent most of my
life doing that, struggling withmy identity, how I was going to
(06:13):
champion the world, and one daydecided I wanted to check
another box at career day.
And that's when I got intoproject management, which then
led me to PMSI at the time andnow Prism Controls.
And while at Prism Controls,yeah, started the podcast.
Emily Mulnix (06:30):
You really skimmed over that whole life story
there.
Brandon Mulnix (06:33):
Yeah, it's a long life story.
I don't spend a lot of time onthat.
Emily Mulnix (06:37):
How many careers have you had?
Brandon Mulnix (06:40):
Well, I'm on my second career.
I say because I've had a lot oftitles.
I've had firefighter, coastguard photographer, paramedic,
project manager and now directorof commercial accounts.
Emily Mulnix (06:59):
You were also a lawnmower man and a lifeguard.
Yes, so yes, man and alifeguard.
Brandon Mulnix (07:05):
Yes.
So yes, I was a lifeguard.
I've done a lot of differentthings in my life.
I don't really count those ascareers.
Emily Mulnix (07:14):
Right, well, you, I mean, those are things that
lawnmower, you did lawnmowingfor a long time.
Brandon Mulnix (07:18):
I did it, paid the bills while I was in school
before I became an EMT, and onceI became an EMT I could work on
an ambulance and you know thatchanged the world Been able to
go save people's lives, that'spretty awesome.
And then the Coast Guard thing.
Well, that happened because Iwas trying to become a full-time
fireman and I found out that inorder to become a full-time
(07:38):
fireman in our area it was goodto have military background.
And I was running up a hill oneday and some Marine recruiter
pulled up next to me and goeshey, have you ever thought about
joining the Marines?
I might have said I was toosmart for that.
But then I realized to all myMarine Corps listeners, that's
not true.
I respect you.
But then I joined the CoastGuard, spent my four years.
(08:00):
At no time did Wisconsin attackMichigan during that time, so
we didn't have to protect theMichigan coast too much.
Got to enjoy Station GrandHaven, beautiful Coast Guard
City, usa.
It wasn't a bad branch of themilitary to be in.
And then, yeah, just continuedon in my career, mid-time,
(08:22):
full-time fireman, decided thatwasn't the thing for me.
After I had to stand up for afew things, realized my morals
were more important than a job.
At the same time, oh, theeconomy Didn't know what was
going on with that.
So I left being a full-timefireman, became a photographer,
owned a studio in downtownLowell, michigan, called Modern
Photographics.
And then 2009 happened and Ihad no idea that GM was going to
(08:44):
lay off 50 photographers andthey would join my community
with the same time digital wascoming out.
So I continued on that until Isold the business in 2012.
And while also going back veryquickly to become a paramedic,
where I became a supervisor andspent time really developing my
craft, becoming as good of aparamedic as I could be Before,
(09:07):
at one point, just realizingthat promotion wasn't an option
there.
I just didn't feel like God wascalling me to promote there and
I wanted more, more for myfamily.
Different lifestyle Left there.
A friend of mine gave me anopportunity at his company in
research and development as aproject manager, gave me an
opportunity at his company inresearch and development as a
project manager and a littlebefore COVID, that job was cut.
(09:34):
And the guy who my wife and Imet, who started the Bible study
, my wife and I met 25 years ago.
We ran into each other at aproject management conference
and he kept hey, you got tocheck out this job at my company
.
I'm like I'm good, I'm happywhere I'm at.
Little did I know two dayslater I'd be looking at his
business card saying, hey, youstill got that job open and came
here to work.
Emily Mulnix (09:53):
It's so fun to hear how God was intertwined in
all of the different spots.
Brandon Mulnix (09:57):
Yeah, not every time did I see God in it, but
now I look back and he wasdefinitely definitely there.
He was definitely there.
He was always there, he wasalways there.
Emily Mulnix (10:07):
So, brandon, with all your careers and talents
that you've had throughout thepast, I sometimes get questions
from others at work when I tellstories of what you're doing
today or where you are today,and they ask me what you do and
I pull up this handy photo on myphone that says what you do,
(10:29):
which you typed out for mesaying Director of Commercial
Accounts.
Automation Technology for EggProducers.
Market Development for FireDetection and Mitigation System
for Animal Barns.
Badass Podcast Host.
Host.
Please tell me in the audiencewhat these all mean wow, great
(10:53):
question, emily.
Brandon Mulnix (10:54):
So, yeah, uh, my title director of commercial
accounts um, yeah, titles areit's not really that important,
in this case it's.
I have a great team and I getto facilitate and lead and
provide for them, so that way,prism Controls can continue to
produce products for the UnitedStates and the world.
Anything customer focused, suchas marketing, sales, project
(11:16):
management that falls into mypreview.
I'm not perfect at all of it.
In fact, I get to learn everyday in this role because I have
no background in most of that.
It's all acquired throughdifferent things that I've done.
But I have a great team thatfor some reason, follows the
directions and follows the goalsthat we have.
(11:37):
So I couldn't do anythingwithout them.
But, yeah, I get to meet withcustomers which are amazing
farmers across the United Statesand make sure that we, as Prism
Controls, get to meet theirneeds and solve their problems
on a technology level.
So we provide computers tochickens.
Oh wow, they're great typers.
(11:59):
They peck away at the keyboard.
No, we automate things away atthe keyboard.
Now we we automate things,things that they do on a daily
basis in their farms, such asfeeding the chickens,
ventilation in the barns, makingsure that it's nice and
comfortable for the birds and aswell, as you know, gathering
all that information about thebirds and providing good
(12:19):
information back to the farmersthat they can make decisions on,
such as how much water was usedthat day, how much feed they
they ate, how much do they weighall those little details but
helps gauge the health of theflock.
And then, when it comes to thefire mitigation stuff, my
background in firefighting gaveme a little edge in the fact
that fires are a big deal in ourindustry, and so I have a
(12:40):
passion for making sure thatchicken houses don't burn down,
because there's so many problemswith that.
The business interruption piece, the fact that the supply chain
, the eggs, aren't getting outto the people that's a huge
problem when they're alreadydealing with other problems like
avian influenza and otherchallenges of raising animals in
today's world.
And then mediocre podcaster.
Emily Mulnix (13:04):
It's not what it says on my thing.
Brandon Mulnix (13:07):
All right, badass podcaster, just my
passion for making sure thatfuture leaders have resources
available to them and in ourindustry.
When getting things started,there weren't a lot of options
for people just to grow.
There's not a lot of YouTubevideos for commercial farming.
There's not a lot of optionsfor people just to grow.
There's not a lot of YouTubevideos for commercial farming.
There's not a lot of trainingsfor them, and so just to be able
(13:29):
to connect them with resourcesis a huge piece of my story.
I just want people to be ableto grow so they're better
tomorrow than they were today.
Grow 1%, and to be able toprovide that for them is a real
blessing for me.
So if you consider that badass,then that's okay.
Forum is a real blessing for me.
Emily Mulnix (13:45):
So if you consider that bad-ass, then that's okay.
Can you talk about how thisbusiness is quite family
oriented and how that affectsyou and the business itself and
how much different that iscompared to other places that
you've been?
Brandon Mulnix (14:06):
oh yeah, when you're in the emergency medical
world, I mean, family isbackseat.
You're saving people's lives,you're dealing with stress,
you're dealing with chaos andyou try to protect your family
from what you do.
You don't want them to have tobe burdened down.
Where in this industry, familyfarms are the core of it.
(14:30):
Yes, there's some biggercommercial farms, but the family
is still important All the waythe way they have events, the
way they work together, the waythey big community, and so when
these conferences happen andfarmers or executives are
bringing their wives and theirfamilies to some of these nice
places, it's their time to relax, their time to enjoy, but their
(14:52):
family's still there.
They're invited to dinner,they're not a distraction and
it's just such a blessingbecause I rather do business
with families than to dobusiness with folks that are
just isolated and you know anddon't combine the two.
When your personal life and yourprofessional life are separated
, I think there's so much stressfor people.
But when they're able to can becombined and and people are
(15:14):
just able to see that you knowwhat they do matters to their
family and they're able to blesstheir families with some of
these nice places where we stayand things like that.
It's just such a blessing andalso helps us all connect.
We all have families at home.
We all have kids.
It's just really cool to seethose kids get to interact with
all kinds of different people atdifferent levels, and I think
(15:34):
it actually helps grow the kidsbecause they're able to see what
it's like that their mom anddad do.
I think that really shows yourkids a lot and just such a great
thing about this industry.
Emily Mulnix (15:45):
I think it's great .
I mean, as someone who's beento conferences before the
poultry industry, nothing islike going to these conferences
as a wife to support my husbandand seeing all the other wives'
husbands supporting their spousejust how it's so family
oriented.
(16:05):
When it comes down to the basisof everything, it's about the
families.
It's about feeding families andproviding for families and
having families involved fromthe groundwork of all these
things and it was just anamazing experience to go to
these conferences.
It's so cool to see Brandonworking and talking to people
(16:31):
and getting to know them on apersonal basis, hearing about
their stories and going fromthere to business.
Talk is really cool in this,especially this last one that we
were at in Colorado where theyformed the band with the chicken
industry people, which was soamazing to see the crossover and
(16:52):
how they showed off the secrettalent they had, just how
everything is intertwined ineverything.
It was just so cool.
Brandon Mulnix (17:02):
Yeah, it is so crazy to see we connect as an
industry on what we do.
But when you've got people thatare the guitarist in their
worship band at church and theykind of compartmentalize that
off to the side and don't reallybring that out, and then at you
know this event, all of asudden they're, they're singing,
they're they're dancing,they're playing oldies, it was
(17:23):
just incredible.
From CEOs to managers it didn'tmatter.
There was no titles up thereother than rock stars having a
ball, just living out their bestlife.
And I think that's as anindustry, the more we do that,
the better we are, because we'reall people, we're not just
business people but it matters,it really does when we're
(17:44):
vulnerable and have that fun,have fun it.
It really helps us connect andwork together and find common
things that we wouldn't realizewere common.
Because if you're stuck at thebusiness level and we talk about
the normal business stuff, it'spretty transactional.
But when you're talking aboutmusic, you're talking about
sports you're talking about.
When you're talking about music, you're talking about sports,
(18:05):
you're talking about kids you'retalking about.
We all have, we all have acommon bond and it's just easier
to find that 99% that we havein common.
So that way, when we're talkingabout that little 1% that we
don't, it just just makes sense.
Emily Mulnix (18:18):
I think one of the other cool things was you know
we're become friends on Facebookhere and there and to have
people from the industry come upand ask me how is your health,
how are you doing?
Like, oh, I'm going to get tearyit just meant a lot to know
that they are people who mayhave really big jobs in the
(18:45):
poultry industry, but they'rehumans who care about other
humans.
And the fact that like, yes,it's family-oriented and yes,
it's family oriented and yes,it's it's a business, but at the
same time, you're doing yourlives with these people and in
their lives, they have realhealth things and and real
(19:07):
family things going on and youcan connect with those, whether
it's, you know, in person, atthese conferences or just
checking in on them.
You know calling them andsaying, hey, how are you doing?
I might have you know thisthing I want to help you solve
for your business, but butreally, how are you doing with
(19:27):
this other thing in your life?
I think that's that speaks alot to what this industry is and
how different it is fromperhaps other industries that we
have out there.
I think it's really cool.
Brandon Mulnix (19:39):
It's interesting that we're even talking about
this because you know we kind ofcome in from the outside.
You know it's been five yearsand we come from different
backgrounds than a lot of our.
You know the people that we'redoing life with.
You know we talk about that atchurch all the time.
Are we doing life with thesepeople?
I get to do life with someamazing people in the industry.
That's not work.
(19:59):
At that point there's no work.
It's a huge pleasure to be ableto serve, but just five years
in and looking at the industry,going, wow, man, I wish I could
have been part of this 20 yearsago, man.
But you know what?
That's what God's got gotplanned.
Emily Mulnix (20:16):
He prepared me to come here with my tools and and
I'm so blessed to get tohopefully spend the rest of my
career in this industry so, uh,speaking of vulnerabilities,
let's say over the last twoyears, can you speak to
something that you have overcomeand can look at from the other
side and how you've grownthrough it?
Brandon Mulnix (20:36):
one of my biggest things when I first, you
know, even got into this wastrying to figure out my place.
You know, I came in as aproject manager and I got to,
you know, kind of sit on thesidelines a little bit and watch
help develop a process.
I didn't know anything aboutthe industry, according to those
around me, and that was okaybecause it was a.
It was good to just sit backand watch.
(20:58):
I was humbled by that, and sofor me, one of the things that I
had to overcome wasself-confidence and having
enough confidence that I broughtvalue, and I didn't need to
prove that value to anybody, Ijust brought it.
And once I've started gainingthat confidence in myself and
you can call that emotionalmaturity it really started to.
(21:19):
I mean, I grew so much overthis last five years it's crazy.
But once I got that confidenceI didn't have to prove myself to
anybody, I just let what I diddo the talking.
I didn't have to tell anybodywhat I did, I just did it, and
if it showed up, great.
But I had enough confidence inmyself that I didn't have to
tell everybody everything I wasdoing and that once I got to
(21:40):
that point in my career, Irealized I don't have anything
to prove.
It's okay.
People value me for what Ibring to the table.
I don't have to share that withanybody, and you know and you
of course, have the front seatof that because of our everyday
walks and getting to see thedifference in the last five
years, or, heck, in the last 25years of my growth you know
there was a huge part of me backyears ago where it was all
(22:03):
about the title.
It was all about I'm aparamedic, I'm a hero, and now
it's like.
You know, I could barelyexplain what I do most days
other than I help farmers.
I don't need any really big,more descriptive words and it's
okay.
It's okay.
I still like the idea of beinga chicken tender, though that's
still one of my favorite titlesthat you gave me when I first
(22:25):
started this.
But no, that's probably one ofthe biggest things I've been
able to grow in.
And then, with that confidencein myself, just being able to
start to give back to others,cause a lot of it was trying to
figure out purpose and how do Ishare that purpose with the rest
of the world, because I found ahuge gap coming into this
industry of knowledge.
Where do I find this stuff?
When I started looking aroundand realizing that I wasn't
(22:48):
alone, it's like I really liketo watch people grow.
I love hearing about people'ssuccesses.
I love when that light bulbclicks in people, that they just
get something, and it's likehow can I help provide that for
them?
How can I connect the managerat the farm who doesn't go to
(23:08):
conferences with the sameresources that I have, that my
company sends me there, not forthe education, which is so
valuable.
They send me there for businessand I pick up all of those
little things.
That's where I've probablygrown the most in the last
couple years and that's how Itry to share it with people.
Just keep sharing thateducation, that confidence, with
others.
Emily Mulnix (23:29):
Being someone who characteristically maintains a
positive outlook.
What positive things have youpersonally noticed that have
come out of this podcast itself,specifically being recognized
in an airplane by someone.
Wait, are you brandon malnix?
Brandon Mulnix (23:48):
I guess that meant more to my wife than it
meant to me.
But yes, um, that first timethat I was on an airplane and
someone's like, are you brandonmalnix?
I'm like, yeah, who are timethat I was on an airplane?
And someone's like, are youBrandon Malnix?
I'm like, yeah, who are you?
My girlfriend was on yourpodcast, ah, okay, so that was
(24:10):
pretty cool.
Ask questions.
I'm a positive person but Ilove, love, love, love, love,
love, love to talk, and this hasreally caused me to slow down
and just be able to ask peoplequestions and really start to
value stories.
I love people's stories, but ifI'm talking, I can't hear
theirs.
So that's the one thing aboutthis podcast that's really
(24:31):
helped me in that.
And, of course, there's a lotof positivities.
I've watched people grow.
There's people that havewritten out and communicated to
me what the podcast meant tothem, and that's huge.
That just means I'm doingsomething.
It only takes one person thattheir story of growth, of what
they learned, that they're in abetter position, they're more
(24:52):
confident in themselves.
They picked up something tomake this podcast worth it.
They're more confident inthemselves.
They picked up something tomake this podcast worth it.
You know, I don't know how manymore people that I'm going to
affect, but until I feelotherwise, god's going to
continue to have me do thispodcast, because I really enjoy
just helping others and sharingthat positivity in this
sometimes not so positive world.
Emily Mulnix (25:13):
I really like that , and I really like when you
tell me about the books thatyou've read recently.
Brandon Mulnix (25:19):
Well, I mean there's been a number of books
and people that have hadinfluence.
I mean I go all the way back toa book called Flash Foresight
by Daniel Burris, and that onejust taught me how to solve
problems differently, and onceit clicked in my mind about
problem solving, I got to seethe world in a completely
(25:40):
different way.
Lately it's been a lot aboutpurpose.
I've been reading the book thePurpose Factor, and that book
has solidified some of thethoughts I'd had and put it in
writing in a way, and I canrelate to it.
You know, I remember trying tofigure out what my purpose was.
I always wanted to share mypurpose, but I didn't know
really where how to do that.
(26:00):
So the purpose factor was huge.
It really challenged me toshare my purpose with the world,
then ask questions to reallytruly identify my purpose,
because it's not about my title,it's not about what I do, it's
not about where I live.
It's ultimately about what Iwas blessed to do on this earth
and how do I not keep that tomyself and how do I help others
(26:22):
through that purpose, and sothat's been a big book, but
there's been a lot of peoplethat have really had a lot of
effect on me over the years andI try to share them all with you
.
So if they've had a big effecton my life, I try to bring them
on as guests or just share whatthey're doing, so that way you
guys as an audience can growfrom that, because they've had a
big impact on me.
Emily Mulnix (26:42):
I know some of the questions on our walks have
changed through the time.
It's been less what did you dotoday?
And it's been more how did youaffect someone's life today?
I think that in the nursingworld I can come home some days
and feel really extremelydefeated, but the fact that I
was able to change someone'slife give them, you know, the
(27:05):
boost that they may have neededto make their day more positive.
It definitely helped to changethat mindset, for me at least me
at least.
Brandon Mulnix (27:19):
Yeah, that's Brian Fretwell's work, that he
you know, his relationship thatI've had and been able to be
coached through him and justunderstand the value of
connection.
Asking the questions I wished Iwould have been asked years and
years ago by people instead ofasking you know what's the worst
call you were ever on?
No, how did you affectsomeone's life today?
Because there were so many graydays, dark days, that it it's
like in that moment there wasone positive thing and if I
(27:41):
could have brought that out, itprobably would have changed my
career.
Emily Mulnix (27:45):
I know one of the things that I say at work often
is there is always something tobe thankful for.
There is always, no matter whatchaos is going on around me,
there's always something to bethankful for, and if I can just
remember to focus on that, ithelps a lot.
Brandon Mulnix (28:02):
I'm glad I got the positive side of things,
because I definitely know that Iwas not the most positive for
most of my career.
Emily Mulnix (28:09):
Speaking of that, if you could go back into your
career to redo something betterwith the knowledge that you have
today, into your career to redosomething better with the
knowledge that you have today,not changing what trajectory of
your life would be?
Or, you know, shifting thingscompletely.
Just one small thing, what?
Brandon Mulnix (28:30):
would it be and how do you think it would have
changed things going forward?
It goes back to the idea thatevery person I ever worked at I
should have had a positiveeffect on.
Every person had a family athome.
Every person had the samestruggles, witnessed the same
things I did.
Instead of asking them first,why didn't you fill out your
paperwork?
Why'd you drive like an idiotIf I would have just asked them
hey, how you doing?
(28:51):
No, no, really, how have youhad a positive effect on
somebody this week?
Whose life did you changebecause you decided to come to
work?
That would have had a much.
I mean I can't go back, butbecause of that experience I've
been able to grow and understandthat.
You know we we deal withfamilies in this industry.
(29:14):
We deal with people.
People that you know have allthe health issues.
I mean they could be the ownerof a company, they could be the
owner of a farm and they still.
You know they care about theirworkers.
You know they care aboutfeeding their workers.
You know I get the blessing ofworking with a farmer outside of
the industry that is willing todo whatever it takes to feed
(29:36):
his workforce and that means alot to me, like when I see
owners like that that will startdaycares so that way they're
good daycares, not just cheapdaycares, but the daycares that
they would send their kids tobecause they realize the value
of education and good, solidthings.
That's asking that question ofno, how are you really?
(29:58):
What can I do to help you?
As a person before worried aboutthe stupid paperwork, what I
find is, you know, and this isout to the audience is when your
employees come to work, they'vegot personal lives, they've got
crap that they're dealing with.
It's so, you know, we alwaystalk about just keeping personal
and workplace separate, and Ithink that's the biggest mistake
(30:20):
, because I think if the peoplecan come to work and know that
people care about them, theywill produce much better work
than if they'd come there andthey're just doing the job.
And for years I wish I wouldhave been able to make have that
positive impact on people andbeen more positive.
Being a paramedic Because I hadit as a photographer I was
(30:42):
always really positive there.
There was nothing that was aproblem there.
But as a paramedic, when wewere dealing with chaos, it
seemed like that's.
All we wanted to do wascompartmentalize it.
Emily Mulnix (30:52):
I think that's a good quality to have, for you
know any business, not justfarming or anywhere.
It's because all the people youencounter do have lives.
No matter where you are, nomatter what you're doing, they
all do have lives.
They all do have theirstruggles, their you know joys
in their life, the things thatthey want to share with other
(31:12):
people, no matter where they are, how exciting it is.
And if we could just look ateverybody and say what's one
thing you're proud of today,what's one way you change
something today, how much morepositive just literally
everywhere would be.
Brandon Mulnix (31:28):
It's something fun to practice because I love
asking different questions.
Now I usually try them on myway, first on our walks, and
then I work on them with thekids, and then I might even ask
the most random person atStarbucks, hey, what's the
coolest cup of coffee made today?
Or what's the coolest personyou've met?
And watch them just light upthat they're a human being and
(31:51):
they have connection and want toshare their story, and that's a
great way to start your day.
Versus I gotta go to work today, man, gotta go to the gym today
.
No, I get to go to the gymtoday, you get to have a
positive impact.
Emily Mulnix (32:07):
I think it's fun.
Just the people that I meet atwork I would obviously never
meet otherwise, because it's ahospital and you meet all sorts
of people there.
But just you never know whoyou're going to meet and how
much of an impact they're goingto have on you, at the same time
as how much your interactionwith them could have an impact
on them, from the homelessperson to the 95 year old.
You know they all have suchinteresting stories and just
(32:28):
having that connection withrandom people and this is coming
from an introvert, afull-onvert but if I get
somebody one-on-one, we havesome amazing conversations and I
get to meet some cool people.
So having these other questionsthat I can ask them, I just
appreciate that I'm getting toknow my patients a little bit
(32:50):
more and being able to be morepositive with them and my
coworkers and just the people Imeet along the way, and having
the confidence to not say, hey,how are you doing today?
It's more like a more personalquestion that they have to think
about.
That just speaks more topositivity.
I think it's a great tool.
What advice do you have forfarm owners as they plan for
(33:14):
future projects?
Brandon Mulnix (33:16):
Wow, when you say it that way, it's a pretty
boring question.
Emily Mulnix (33:19):
It sure is.
Brandon Mulnix (33:20):
What's interesting about that question,
though, is it is one of thosethings where, as I get to work
with farms on all kinds ofreally cool commercial or
capital projects, most of farms,as they get bigger and bigger
and bigger, they try you know,boss has to do it because nobody
else is on their team to do it.
A lot of times they'll have,you know, they'll be in charge
(33:42):
of things that maybe they're notthe best at being in charge of,
and it's hard because they wantto make good decisions, they
want to be good with their money.
One of the things from theindustry side that I've seen is
it's okay to ask for help fromyour vendors when you're
planning a project by asking thesimple question what's worked
in the industry to make mebetter, to make the process
(34:04):
better?
You know there's a lot ofvendors that are out there that
have worked across the entireindustry and have so many
interesting stories about what'sworked and what's not worked
Mostly lessons learned from whatdidn't work, and I encourage
that, as farmers start to starttheir project, ask their vendors
hey, what's working right now?
The farmer may not knoweverything that's going on, but
(34:26):
just ask the question to theirvendors what could I be doing
different.
That would make this project alot better, because the vendors
have experienced a lot.
Sometimes that might be puttinga capital projects manager in
charge.
If you have the resources to doit, it's probably going to save
you a lot of money in the endto have somebody that's
available to manage the project.
That's not necessarily thefarmer, even though they're a
(34:49):
great stakeholder.
They're a great executive.
Construction projects can get alittle tedious.
Construction projects can get alittle tedious.
And when it's not your main joband you're trying to do it
because that's what you'vealways done, sometimes it's good
to turn over those reins.
But again along the way, askyour vendors hey, what could I
be doing different?
(35:09):
What's worked across theindustry, even if it's not with
their product?
They'll give you an answerwhat's working?
What's working in electrical,what's working in technology,
what are the new things?
And it's amazing what you'lllearn.
Emily Mulnix (35:21):
I think that's really important.
Just because you do your joband you know how things have
worked in the past doesn't meanthat you yourself are a
professional in all of thethings.
So just go ask theprofessionals.
It's not going to cost anythingto ask questions and there
might be something new out there, something that's been done,
(35:44):
something that's better, that noone has ever thought of before
or that somebody has thought ofand it's working fantastic in
their farm or their industryPretty much anything.
If you're, say, doing a houseproject, like we may be doing at
our house, it doesn't hurt toget the heating and cooling guy
over to say, hey, what can we dobetter here, now that we have
(36:06):
drywall and we're not quite donewith the drywall, what can we
do better to do this part of theproject?
So I think that's great tomaybe ask the professionals
what's working somewhere andwhat's not and how can we do
this better, whether it'sutilizing you as a resource or
(36:26):
utilizing you as the whole part.
Are there any tips for theindustry that you may have or
best practices as it relates toequipment or building that you
know of right now?
Brandon Mulnix (36:38):
Technology is advancing at such a fast rate.
There's so many new tools outthere.
We look at BI, businessintelligence, artificial
intelligence.
It's tools that make processingall of the available data,
because everybody wants sensorson everything, which is great.
But how do you take all thatinformation and turn it into
usable stuff?
And that's where reallygrasping technology.
(37:01):
There's a lot of great thingsout there.
If you're doing somethingmanual over and over and over
again every day, there'sprobably a solution out there
that would free you up to beable to utilize your thinking
skills compared to just yourdoing skills.
And you may love, love, lovegoing out and adjusting the
temperature in the house, butthere's technology that will do
(37:24):
that for you and keep it, keepit within reach.
And then also just there's coolways of future-proofing
technology getting vendors onboard that you know have a
future-proof mentality, not justa one-time buy it.
It's not buying the the tractoranymore and hoping it lasts 30
years.
It's like a lot's going tochange in the next 30 years in
technology and it's just findinga partner that can walk
(37:47):
alongside you and making surethat they are your partner in
looking out for advances andmoving that forward.
Because again, it goes back tojust what we talked about with
farmers.
You know asking for help whenit comes to doing projects.
If you don't look outside yourindustry at least 5 to 10% of
the time, you're always going tobe stuck at what you learned,
(38:09):
the way we've always done it.
And it's hard to progress when,even if you don't have somebody
looking out and saying, hey,what's working?
Hey, they've got these camerasout there counting stuff.
Why can't we use those for eggs?
Hey, we've got.
You know houses are burning downand you know how are we going
to keep these houses are burningdown and you know how are we
going to keep these houses fromburning down, because the barns
were built the same way theywere 20 years ago, but the birds
(38:32):
aren't raised the same as theywere 20 years ago and the amount
of electronics that are thereand the motors and everything
that has to do with it.
So, as things continue tochange, just making sure you
have a piece you're part of yourteam that's looking out and
trying to find ways to continueto advance the farm.
Even you know looking at amazonand what they do, they do some
(38:52):
amazing things and how could youapply some of the lessons
learned and some of the cooladvances of technology that are
working in other spaces, becausethey'll get to the poultry
space.
They really will and it's justa matter of time.
So it's exciting times becauseit's continually evolving.
Emily Mulnix (39:08):
So do you look out ?
Are you the looker outer?
Brandon Mulnix (39:10):
Oh, I definitely look out.
I mean, that's part of mereading as many books as I read.
I encourage my team you know,as we build, as we work on
different projects around ourcompany, to say, hey, we could
build a help desk, we couldbuild a customer service, but
what's working in those otherindustries?
We don't need to recreate thewheel.
We may need to adapt what'sworking in other industries
(39:31):
because that's the expectations,that's what people, that's what
our customers see.
So how can I encourage my teamto explore, look, see what else
is out there?
Because that's what will makeus better.
Because we're only going to getas good as what we have the
knowledge inside to do and overtime we need outside influence
to make that better.
(39:52):
So I'll ask you this, emilywhat's your favorite part of the
industry?
Emily Mulnix (39:56):
Oh, my favorite part is definitely the travel.
I do appreciate that we are ata point in our life that I can
coordinate my schedule andtravel.
Just get out of Michigan whenit's cold to somewhere where
it's warm and spend time, youknow, enjoying different areas
of the country.
(40:17):
Have not yet been out of thecountry, although I did offer in
recent trips that I wasavailable.
I was denied.
Um, um.
What is one goal that you havein the next five years, brandon?
Brandon Mulnix (40:35):
Yeah, one of my next goals in the next five
years is to figure out how tocontinue to share, or to share
my, my passions and my purposewith you know, a greater
audience.
Um, I think part of that isjust being obedient and
following the direction I'mbeing led through my good Lord.
Um, whether that's in country,out of country, figuring out how
(40:57):
to feed more people Um, youknow, we're in a good place
where we can be able to give,share our talents, and that's
been a huge blessing to go downto Guatemala and just see the
need there and be able tosupport the local ministry
that's there.
Feed more people, because bymyself I really can't do much,
(41:21):
but using the skills that I'vebeen gifted and the passion and
energy, it really helps you liveout your purpose in another
country.
One of my five-year goals isdefinitely to help expand those
opportunities for others to beable to give more.
Emily Mulnix (41:37):
So throughout this podcast recording, we've talked
about faith several times.
Can you share more about yourfaith?
Brandon Mulnix (41:47):
Well, it's pretty intertwined in my life.
I mean, been through a lot, lotsof different things throughout
life and it always comes back tofaith, you know, from early on,
and knowing I had, you know,had a relationship to the point
where, you know, had to testthat relationship a little bit
and maybe my 20s, and just kindof take it for granted and not
(42:09):
really live it out, and then themore challenges that we've
overcome together, it just kindof deepens your faith because
you realize that you reallycan't just do it with a spouse,
you really can't do it byyourself, so you kind of need
God in that.
And so, yeah, we've had someamazing challenges.
We've been through a lot in 25years and so through that, god's
(42:32):
been there, god's answered alot of prayers and when you look
for God, see what God's doingaround you, it's pretty amazing,
pretty amazing, from ouradoption to Guatemala, to other
things that he's been able to do, you know, show himself in.
It's easy to have faith whenyou're looking for it, it's when
you're trying to deny it, it'swhen it's not as prevalent.
(42:55):
So I've been blessed, been very, very blessed.
It's a huge part of my life andnow it's continual to share it
with others.
Emily Mulnix (43:04):
I really like that .
He is always, has always beenand will always be part of our
lives and everything that we do,and always.
I think that's important toshare, just like I don't know,
not share, but like, yeah, share.
(43:25):
I think it's important thatthat's who we are, as Brandon
and Emily Molnix and the Molnixfamily, and we believe in a
great creator and someone who isalways, will always be with us.
Brandon Mulnix (43:42):
So we definitely did not get here on our own.
Not at all.
It's every trial.
I mean, looking back in my, youknow, younger years, probably
teenage 20s, I would say youknow, when I get old, I want to.
I want an amazing story, I wantan amazing journey and I didn't
(44:02):
know what that was going toentail.
Journey and I didn't know whatthat was going to entail.
And now that I look back, it'sman.
I hope the amazing journey andthe amazing tales continue
because, even though there'strials, it's like it's how it
deepens my faith.
All right.
So throw that last question atme.
Emily Mulnix (44:30):
Yes, Last last, but certainly not least Now,
Brandon, sometimes you're quietand I ask you what are you
thinking about?
And you say nothing.
Is that true?
Or are you really trying totake over the world?
Brandon Mulnix (44:36):
well, I'll give you an honest answer.
There are times I'm literallythinking of nothing, and then
there are other times where mybrain is off in some other place
, thinking about solving thebiggest world challenges,
biggest world problems, and it'sjust too much for that walker
on the block to share.
(44:57):
So I kind of get to put thatone back in there and hope that
maybe it'll come out one day, ormaybe by the time we were on
the corner that you know, thethought has passed me because it
was a fleeting thought and myADD got caught in the way.
Well, thank you, emily, forgoing way outside of your
comfort zone, but it's amazingwatching you talking to the mic.
(45:20):
You're a lot more comfortablethan you think you might have a
future.
Emily Mulnix (45:23):
I'm not starting a podcast.
I'm not going to be a podcasthost.
Brandon Mulnix (45:31):
All right, podcast listeners, let's thank
my wife for doing this.
It's been amazing.
It's been incredible.
I'm so proud of her for doingthis.
The questions that she came upwith were great, and I just hope
that you all gain somethingfrom this, and if you didn't,
that's fine.
I got to have this amazingexperience with my wife.
It doesn't always have to beabout you, wow.
(45:52):
So, on that note, thank youpodcast listeners for being here
.
I really appreciate it.
No-transcript, but maybe youshare your story with them.
(46:39):
So I think that could be evenmore valuable than this podcast,
because our stories are whatbind us, our stories are what
helps us grow, and when we justhold those stories back, it
doesn't bring out our true value.
So please share this with theworld.
Thank you and look forward tofuture episodes.
And, as always, thank you,prism Controls for sponsoring
this podcast and allowing me todo this.
Emily Mulnix (47:01):
Yes, thank you, prism Controls.
Brandon Mulnix (47:03):
Have a good day.
Welcome to the Poultry Leadership Podcast.
We are kicking off Season 2with style.
It was a year ago when thePoultry Leadership Podcast
kicked off.
Man.
It's been a great year.
I am so looking forward toSeason 2, as I take in
everything that you have allshared with me.
So, without further ado, let'sget this interview underway.
Our guest host todayvolunteered to interview me.
(00:50):
I thought she might be crazy oroxygen deprived, because we
were on a hike and the altitudewas about 10,000 feet higher
than where we live at inMichigan.
I also must have beenstruggling to breathe because I
agreed to the interview.
What a great hike.
If you're still confused, whois the guest host on the podcast
(01:10):
?
It's none other than my amazingwife, emily Molnix.
Emily, welcome to the show.
Emily Mulnix (01:16):
Hello Brandon, it is so good to be here.
Brandon Mulnix (01:21):
I am so surprised you're sitting across
from me right now.
You are the most quiet,introverted person I even know,
and yet you're volunteering tointerview me on the podcast.
This is crazy.
So what was going through yourhead at that moment?
Emily Mulnix (01:40):
In that moment was probably don't fall again.
In that moment was probablydon't fall again.
But also, who better to be onthe podcast for season two
kickoff than the host of thepodcast, who everybody knows?
But do they really know?
So I figured it was a good plan.
Brandon Mulnix (02:02):
Well, I appreciate the offer.
So I would like to at leastintroduce to the audience who
you are.
Let you speak a little bitabout who you know, your
background just a little bit, sothey can understand who this
amazing guest host is.
Someone will probably put meout of work, I'm sure.
Emily Mulnix (02:18):
I don't think so.
Brandon Mulnix (02:19):
All right.
So, emily, tell the audience alittle bit about who Emily
Molnix is.
Emily Mulnix (02:24):
Where do I start?
I'm Emily Mulnix, I guess, if Igo way back to way back.
I grew up on a dairy farm inIonia County, michigan.
I milked cows.
Before and after school I drovetractors in the fields raking
(02:46):
hay.
While those years of my lifewere certainly difficult, I did
learn a lot about hard work andwork ethic.
I would give anything to havemy children have that experience
in the positive aspect of it.
I met Brandon.
Well, I guess Brandon and I metcollege and career Bible study
(03:09):
group.
I remember one night at Biblestudy we were staying up all
night long having a competition.
I just want to formally saythat I won.
Brandon had his sunglasses onand he fell asleep, and I
definitely did not fall asleep.
So that's my championship rightthere.
We got married in September of2000.
(03:31):
We have a daughter who is 21and a son who is 16.
I was a stay-at-home mom for 14years.
My main goal was to be astay-at-home mom home mom for 14
years.
My main goal was to be astay-at-home mom and thankfully
God allowed us to be able to dothat, with saving a ton of money
(03:51):
and living a very, very humblelifestyle.
Then God called me to changeeverything about myself and
become a nurse.
So I went to nursing school andI am a registered nurse.
I work at the level one traumacenter here in Michigan and
(04:11):
Grand Rapids, corwell Health,butterworth, in a med surge unit
where we see everything fromanything and all sorts of
patients and all sorts offantastic stories that I bring
home.
Brandon Mulnix (04:24):
Yeah, it's a pretty good introduction of
yourself.
Emily Mulnix (04:28):
Thank you.
Brandon Mulnix (04:29):
I mean, you took one for the team and married me
, took me out of the pool.
Appreciate that.
Emily Mulnix (04:35):
I kind of like you .
Brandon Mulnix (04:36):
Yeah, usually when I interview I get to ask
all these amazing questionsabout career and other things.
But I'm leaving the questionsup to you because, as we
prepared for this, the questionsI had were pretty boring and
you just basically said you knowyou felt sorry for the audience
if that's all you asked.
Emily Mulnix (04:55):
I did not.
You're such a liar.
Brandon Mulnix (04:59):
So, Emily, go ahead.
You're now the host of thePoultry Leadership Podcast.
Emily, go ahead, you're now thehost of the Poultry Leadership
Podcast.
Emily Mulnix (05:05):
Please, Brandon, tell us about yourself and maybe
your family and maybeupbringing in your life.
Brandon Mulnix (05:15):
Wow.
Emily Mulnix (05:15):
That's a tough question, Emily, since you
covered most of the topic withyour introduction.
I did not.
Brandon Mulnix (05:18):
I told it from my side.
I'm Brandon Mulnix.
I happen to host a podcast.
If you hadn't heard of it, it'scalled the Poultry Leadership
Podcast.
It's kind of a big deal, kindof a big deal, kind of a big
deal.
Emily Mulnix (05:29):
Kind of a big deal .
Brandon Mulnix (05:30):
I'm married to this lovely lady, Emily Mulnix,
for coming up on 25 years, andwe've been blessed to have two
amazing kids in a very small,tiny house I always bring that
up in my story just a small,tiny house.
Been able to raise them in thatlittle community that I grew up
(05:51):
in, just outside of GrandRapids, Michigan, called Saranac
, Michigan.
I always dreamed of doing bigthings in my life and became a
photographer and a firefighterright outside of high school,
went to school, became an EMTparamedic, and spent most of my
life doing that, struggling withmy identity, how I was going to
(06:13):
champion the world, and one daydecided I wanted to check
another box at career day.
And that's when I got intoproject management, which then
led me to PMSI at the time andnow Prism Controls.
And while at Prism Controls,yeah, started the podcast.
Emily Mulnix (06:30):
You really skimmed over that whole life story
there.
Brandon Mulnix (06:33):
Yeah, it's a long life story.
I don't spend a lot of time onthat.
Emily Mulnix (06:37):
How many careers have you had?
Brandon Mulnix (06:40):
Well, I'm on my second career.
I say because I've had a lot oftitles.
I've had firefighter, coastguard photographer, paramedic,
project manager and now directorof commercial accounts.
Emily Mulnix (06:59):
You were also a lawnmower man and a lifeguard.
Yes, so yes, man and alifeguard.
Brandon Mulnix (07:05):
Yes.
So yes, I was a lifeguard.
I've done a lot of differentthings in my life.
I don't really count those ascareers.
Emily Mulnix (07:14):
Right, well, you, I mean, those are things that
lawnmower, you did lawnmowingfor a long time.
Brandon Mulnix (07:18):
I did it, paid the bills while I was in school
before I became an EMT, and onceI became an EMT I could work on
an ambulance and you know thatchanged the world Been able to
go save people's lives, that'spretty awesome.
And then the Coast Guard thing.
Well, that happened because Iwas trying to become a full-time
fireman and I found out that inorder to become a full-time
(07:38):
fireman in our area it was goodto have military background.
And I was running up a hill oneday and some Marine recruiter
pulled up next to me and goeshey, have you ever thought about
joining the Marines?
I might have said I was toosmart for that.
But then I realized to all myMarine Corps listeners, that's
not true.
I respect you.
But then I joined the CoastGuard, spent my four years.
(08:00):
At no time did Wisconsin attackMichigan during that time, so
we didn't have to protect theMichigan coast too much.
Got to enjoy Station GrandHaven, beautiful Coast Guard
City, usa.
It wasn't a bad branch of themilitary to be in.
And then, yeah, just continuedon in my career, mid-time,
(08:22):
full-time fireman, decided thatwasn't the thing for me.
After I had to stand up for afew things, realized my morals
were more important than a job.
At the same time, oh, theeconomy Didn't know what was
going on with that.
So I left being a full-timefireman, became a photographer,
owned a studio in downtownLowell, michigan, called Modern
Photographics.
And then 2009 happened and Ihad no idea that GM was going to
(08:44):
lay off 50 photographers andthey would join my community
with the same time digital wascoming out.
So I continued on that until Isold the business in 2012.
And while also going back veryquickly to become a paramedic,
where I became a supervisor andspent time really developing my
craft, becoming as good of aparamedic as I could be Before,
(09:07):
at one point, just realizingthat promotion wasn't an option
there.
I just didn't feel like God wascalling me to promote there and
I wanted more, more for myfamily.
Different lifestyle Left there.
A friend of mine gave me anopportunity at his company in
research and development as aproject manager, gave me an
opportunity at his company inresearch and development as a
project manager and a littlebefore COVID, that job was cut.
(09:34):
And the guy who my wife and Imet, who started the Bible study
, my wife and I met 25 years ago.
We ran into each other at aproject management conference
and he kept hey, you got tocheck out this job at my company
.
I'm like I'm good, I'm happywhere I'm at.
Little did I know two dayslater I'd be looking at his
business card saying, hey, youstill got that job open and came
here to work.
Emily Mulnix (09:53):
It's so fun to hear how God was intertwined in
all of the different spots.
Brandon Mulnix (09:57):
Yeah, not every time did I see God in it, but
now I look back and he wasdefinitely definitely there.
He was definitely there.
He was always there, he wasalways there.
Emily Mulnix (10:07):
So, brandon, with all your careers and talents
that you've had throughout thepast, I sometimes get questions
from others at work when I tellstories of what you're doing
today or where you are today,and they ask me what you do and
I pull up this handy photo on myphone that says what you do,
(10:29):
which you typed out for mesaying Director of Commercial
Accounts.
Automation Technology for EggProducers.
Market Development for FireDetection and Mitigation System
for Animal Barns.
Badass Podcast Host.
Host.
Please tell me in the audiencewhat these all mean wow, great
(10:53):
question, emily.
Brandon Mulnix (10:54):
So, yeah, uh, my title director of commercial
accounts um, yeah, titles areit's not really that important,
in this case it's.
I have a great team and I getto facilitate and lead and
provide for them, so that way,prism Controls can continue to
produce products for the UnitedStates and the world.
Anything customer focused, suchas marketing, sales, project
(11:16):
management that falls into mypreview.
I'm not perfect at all of it.
In fact, I get to learn everyday in this role because I have
no background in most of that.
It's all acquired throughdifferent things that I've done.
But I have a great team thatfor some reason, follows the
directions and follows the goalsthat we have.
(11:37):
So I couldn't do anythingwithout them.
But, yeah, I get to meet withcustomers which are amazing
farmers across the United Statesand make sure that we, as Prism
Controls, get to meet theirneeds and solve their problems
on a technology level.
So we provide computers tochickens.
Oh wow, they're great typers.
(11:59):
They peck away at the keyboard.
No, we automate things away atthe keyboard.
Now we we automate things,things that they do on a daily
basis in their farms, such asfeeding the chickens,
ventilation in the barns, makingsure that it's nice and
comfortable for the birds and aswell, as you know, gathering
all that information about thebirds and providing good
(12:19):
information back to the farmersthat they can make decisions on,
such as how much water was usedthat day, how much feed they
they ate, how much do they weighall those little details but
helps gauge the health of theflock.
And then, when it comes to thefire mitigation stuff, my
background in firefighting gaveme a little edge in the fact
that fires are a big deal in ourindustry, and so I have a
(12:40):
passion for making sure thatchicken houses don't burn down,
because there's so many problemswith that.
The business interruption piece, the fact that the supply chain
, the eggs, aren't getting outto the people that's a huge
problem when they're alreadydealing with other problems like
avian influenza and otherchallenges of raising animals in
today's world.
And then mediocre podcaster.
Emily Mulnix (13:04):
It's not what it says on my thing.
Brandon Mulnix (13:07):
All right, badass podcaster, just my
passion for making sure thatfuture leaders have resources
available to them and in ourindustry.
When getting things started,there weren't a lot of options
for people just to grow.
There's not a lot of YouTubevideos for commercial farming.
There's not a lot of optionsfor people just to grow.
There's not a lot of YouTubevideos for commercial farming.
There's not a lot of trainingsfor them, and so just to be able
(13:29):
to connect them with resourcesis a huge piece of my story.
I just want people to be ableto grow so they're better
tomorrow than they were today.
Grow 1%, and to be able toprovide that for them is a real
blessing for me.
So if you consider that badass,then that's okay.
Forum is a real blessing for me.
Emily Mulnix (13:45):
So if you consider that bad-ass, then that's okay.
Can you talk about how thisbusiness is quite family
oriented and how that affectsyou and the business itself and
how much different that iscompared to other places that
you've been?
Brandon Mulnix (14:06):
oh yeah, when you're in the emergency medical
world, I mean, family isbackseat.
You're saving people's lives,you're dealing with stress,
you're dealing with chaos andyou try to protect your family
from what you do.
You don't want them to have tobe burdened down.
Where in this industry, familyfarms are the core of it.
(14:30):
Yes, there's some biggercommercial farms, but the family
is still important All the waythe way they have events, the
way they work together, the waythey big community, and so when
these conferences happen andfarmers or executives are
bringing their wives and theirfamilies to some of these nice
places, it's their time to relax, their time to enjoy, but their
(14:52):
family's still there.
They're invited to dinner,they're not a distraction and
it's just such a blessingbecause I rather do business
with families than to dobusiness with folks that are
just isolated and you know anddon't combine the two.
When your personal life and yourprofessional life are separated
, I think there's so much stressfor people.
But when they're able to can becombined and and people are
(15:14):
just able to see that you knowwhat they do matters to their
family and they're able to blesstheir families with some of
these nice places where we stayand things like that.
It's just such a blessing andalso helps us all connect.
We all have families at home.
We all have kids.
It's just really cool to seethose kids get to interact with
all kinds of different people atdifferent levels, and I think
(15:34):
it actually helps grow the kidsbecause they're able to see what
it's like that their mom anddad do.
I think that really shows yourkids a lot and just such a great
thing about this industry.
Emily Mulnix (15:45):
I think it's great .
I mean, as someone who's beento conferences before the
poultry industry, nothing islike going to these conferences
as a wife to support my husbandand seeing all the other wives'
husbands supporting their spousejust how it's so family
oriented.
(16:05):
When it comes down to the basisof everything, it's about the
families.
It's about feeding families andproviding for families and
having families involved fromthe groundwork of all these
things and it was just anamazing experience to go to
these conferences.
It's so cool to see Brandonworking and talking to people
(16:31):
and getting to know them on apersonal basis, hearing about
their stories and going fromthere to business.
Talk is really cool in this,especially this last one that we
were at in Colorado where theyformed the band with the chicken
industry people, which was soamazing to see the crossover and
(16:52):
how they showed off the secrettalent they had, just how
everything is intertwined ineverything.
It was just so cool.
Brandon Mulnix (17:02):
Yeah, it is so crazy to see we connect as an
industry on what we do.
But when you've got people thatare the guitarist in their
worship band at church and theykind of compartmentalize that
off to the side and don't reallybring that out, and then at you
know this event, all of asudden they're, they're singing,
they're they're dancing,they're playing oldies, it was
(17:23):
just incredible.
From CEOs to managers it didn'tmatter.
There was no titles up thereother than rock stars having a
ball, just living out their bestlife.
And I think that's as anindustry, the more we do that,
the better we are, because we'reall people, we're not just
business people but it matters,it really does when we're
(17:44):
vulnerable and have that fun,have fun it.
It really helps us connect andwork together and find common
things that we wouldn't realizewere common.
Because if you're stuck at thebusiness level and we talk about
the normal business stuff, it'spretty transactional.
But when you're talking aboutmusic, you're talking about
sports you're talking about.
When you're talking about music, you're talking about sports,
(18:05):
you're talking about kids you'retalking about.
We all have, we all have acommon bond and it's just easier
to find that 99% that we havein common.
So that way, when we're talkingabout that little 1% that we
don't, it just just makes sense.
Emily Mulnix (18:18):
I think one of the other cool things was you know
we're become friends on Facebookhere and there and to have
people from the industry come upand ask me how is your health,
how are you doing?
Like, oh, I'm going to get tearyit just meant a lot to know
that they are people who mayhave really big jobs in the
(18:45):
poultry industry, but they'rehumans who care about other
humans.
And the fact that like, yes,it's family-oriented and yes,
it's family oriented and yes,it's it's a business, but at the
same time, you're doing yourlives with these people and in
their lives, they have realhealth things and and real
(19:07):
family things going on and youcan connect with those, whether
it's, you know, in person, atthese conferences or just
checking in on them.
You know calling them andsaying, hey, how are you doing?
I might have you know thisthing I want to help you solve
for your business, but butreally, how are you doing with
(19:27):
this other thing in your life?
I think that's that speaks alot to what this industry is and
how different it is fromperhaps other industries that we
have out there.
I think it's really cool.
Brandon Mulnix (19:39):
It's interesting that we're even talking about
this because you know we kind ofcome in from the outside.
You know it's been five yearsand we come from different
backgrounds than a lot of our.
You know the people that we'redoing life with.
You know we talk about that atchurch all the time.
Are we doing life with thesepeople?
I get to do life with someamazing people in the industry.
That's not work.
(19:59):
At that point there's no work.
It's a huge pleasure to be ableto serve, but just five years
in and looking at the industry,going, wow, man, I wish I could
have been part of this 20 yearsago, man.
But you know what?
That's what God's got gotplanned.
Emily Mulnix (20:16):
He prepared me to come here with my tools and and
I'm so blessed to get tohopefully spend the rest of my
career in this industry so, uh,speaking of vulnerabilities,
let's say over the last twoyears, can you speak to
something that you have overcomeand can look at from the other
side and how you've grownthrough it?
Brandon Mulnix (20:36):
one of my biggest things when I first, you
know, even got into this wastrying to figure out my place.
You know, I came in as aproject manager and I got to,
you know, kind of sit on thesidelines a little bit and watch
help develop a process.
I didn't know anything aboutthe industry, according to those
around me, and that was okaybecause it was a.
It was good to just sit backand watch.
(20:58):
I was humbled by that, and sofor me, one of the things that I
had to overcome wasself-confidence and having
enough confidence that I broughtvalue, and I didn't need to
prove that value to anybody, Ijust brought it.
And once I've started gainingthat confidence in myself and
you can call that emotionalmaturity it really started to.
(21:19):
I mean, I grew so much overthis last five years it's crazy.
But once I got that confidenceI didn't have to prove myself to
anybody, I just let what I diddo the talking.
I didn't have to tell anybodywhat I did, I just did it, and
if it showed up, great.
But I had enough confidence inmyself that I didn't have to
tell everybody everything I wasdoing and that once I got to
(21:40):
that point in my career, Irealized I don't have anything
to prove.
It's okay.
People value me for what Ibring to the table.
I don't have to share that withanybody, and you know and you
of course, have the front seatof that because of our everyday
walks and getting to see thedifference in the last five
years, or, heck, in the last 25years of my growth you know
there was a huge part of me backyears ago where it was all
(22:03):
about the title.
It was all about I'm aparamedic, I'm a hero, and now
it's like.
You know, I could barelyexplain what I do most days
other than I help farmers.
I don't need any really big,more descriptive words and it's
okay.
It's okay.
I still like the idea of beinga chicken tender, though that's
still one of my favorite titlesthat you gave me when I first
(22:25):
started this.
But no, that's probably one ofthe biggest things I've been
able to grow in.
And then, with that confidencein myself, just being able to
start to give back to others,cause a lot of it was trying to
figure out purpose and how do Ishare that purpose with the rest
of the world, because I found ahuge gap coming into this
industry of knowledge.
Where do I find this stuff?
When I started looking aroundand realizing that I wasn't
(22:48):
alone, it's like I really liketo watch people grow.
I love hearing about people'ssuccesses.
I love when that light bulbclicks in people, that they just
get something, and it's likehow can I help provide that for
them?
How can I connect the managerat the farm who doesn't go to
(23:08):
conferences with the sameresources that I have, that my
company sends me there, not forthe education, which is so
valuable.
They send me there for businessand I pick up all of those
little things.
That's where I've probablygrown the most in the last
couple years and that's how Itry to share it with people.
Just keep sharing thateducation, that confidence, with
others.
Emily Mulnix (23:29):
Being someone who characteristically maintains a
positive outlook.
What positive things have youpersonally noticed that have
come out of this podcast itself,specifically being recognized
in an airplane by someone.
Wait, are you brandon malnix?
Brandon Mulnix (23:48):
I guess that meant more to my wife than it
meant to me.
But yes, um, that first timethat I was on an airplane and
someone's like, are you brandonmalnix?
I'm like, yeah, who are timethat I was on an airplane?
And someone's like, are youBrandon Malnix?
I'm like, yeah, who are you?
My girlfriend was on yourpodcast, ah, okay, so that was
(24:10):
pretty cool.
Ask questions.
I'm a positive person but Ilove, love, love, love, love,
love, love to talk, and this hasreally caused me to slow down
and just be able to ask peoplequestions and really start to
value stories.
I love people's stories, but ifI'm talking, I can't hear
theirs.
So that's the one thing aboutthis podcast that's really
(24:31):
helped me in that.
And, of course, there's a lotof positivities.
I've watched people grow.
There's people that havewritten out and communicated to
me what the podcast meant tothem, and that's huge.
That just means I'm doingsomething.
It only takes one person thattheir story of growth, of what
they learned, that they're in abetter position, they're more
(24:52):
confident in themselves.
They picked up something tomake this podcast worth it.
They're more confident inthemselves.
They picked up something tomake this podcast worth it.
You know, I don't know how manymore people that I'm going to
affect, but until I feelotherwise, god's going to
continue to have me do thispodcast, because I really enjoy
just helping others and sharingthat positivity in this
sometimes not so positive world.
Emily Mulnix (25:13):
I really like that , and I really like when you
tell me about the books thatyou've read recently.
Brandon Mulnix (25:19):
Well, I mean there's been a number of books
and people that have hadinfluence.
I mean I go all the way back toa book called Flash Foresight
by Daniel Burris, and that onejust taught me how to solve
problems differently, and onceit clicked in my mind about
problem solving, I got to seethe world in a completely
(25:40):
different way.
Lately it's been a lot aboutpurpose.
I've been reading the book thePurpose Factor, and that book
has solidified some of thethoughts I'd had and put it in
writing in a way, and I canrelate to it.
You know, I remember trying tofigure out what my purpose was.
I always wanted to share mypurpose, but I didn't know
really where how to do that.
(26:00):
So the purpose factor was huge.
It really challenged me toshare my purpose with the world,
then ask questions to reallytruly identify my purpose,
because it's not about my title,it's not about what I do, it's
not about where I live.
It's ultimately about what Iwas blessed to do on this earth
and how do I not keep that tomyself and how do I help others
(26:22):
through that purpose, and sothat's been a big book, but
there's been a lot of peoplethat have really had a lot of
effect on me over the years andI try to share them all with you
.
So if they've had a big effecton my life, I try to bring them
on as guests or just share whatthey're doing, so that way you
guys as an audience can growfrom that, because they've had a
big impact on me.
Emily Mulnix (26:42):
I know some of the questions on our walks have
changed through the time.
It's been less what did you dotoday?
And it's been more how did youaffect someone's life today?
I think that in the nursingworld I can come home some days
and feel really extremelydefeated, but the fact that I
was able to change someone'slife give them, you know, the
(27:05):
boost that they may have neededto make their day more positive.
It definitely helped to changethat mindset, for me at least me
at least.
Brandon Mulnix (27:19):
Yeah, that's Brian Fretwell's work, that he
you know, his relationship thatI've had and been able to be
coached through him and justunderstand the value of
connection.
Asking the questions I wished Iwould have been asked years and
years ago by people instead ofasking you know what's the worst
call you were ever on?
No, how did you affectsomeone's life today?
Because there were so many graydays, dark days, that it it's
like in that moment there wasone positive thing and if I
(27:41):
could have brought that out, itprobably would have changed my
career.
Emily Mulnix (27:45):
I know one of the things that I say at work often
is there is always something tobe thankful for.
There is always, no matter whatchaos is going on around me,
there's always something to bethankful for, and if I can just
remember to focus on that, ithelps a lot.
Brandon Mulnix (28:02):
I'm glad I got the positive side of things,
because I definitely know that Iwas not the most positive for
most of my career.
Emily Mulnix (28:09):
Speaking of that, if you could go back into your
career to redo something betterwith the knowledge that you have
today, into your career to redosomething better with the
knowledge that you have today,not changing what trajectory of
your life would be?
Or, you know, shifting thingscompletely.
Just one small thing, what?
Brandon Mulnix (28:30):
would it be and how do you think it would have
changed things going forward?
It goes back to the idea thatevery person I ever worked at I
should have had a positiveeffect on.
Every person had a family athome.
Every person had the samestruggles, witnessed the same
things I did.
Instead of asking them first,why didn't you fill out your
paperwork?
Why'd you drive like an idiotIf I would have just asked them
hey, how you doing?
(28:51):
No, no, really, how have youhad a positive effect on
somebody this week?
Whose life did you changebecause you decided to come to
work?
That would have had a much.
I mean I can't go back, butbecause of that experience I've
been able to grow and understandthat.
You know we we deal withfamilies in this industry.
(29:14):
We deal with people.
People that you know have allthe health issues.
I mean they could be the ownerof a company, they could be the
owner of a farm and they still.
You know they care about theirworkers.
You know they care aboutfeeding their workers.
You know I get the blessing ofworking with a farmer outside of
the industry that is willing todo whatever it takes to feed
(29:36):
his workforce and that means alot to me, like when I see
owners like that that will startdaycares so that way they're
good daycares, not just cheapdaycares, but the daycares that
they would send their kids tobecause they realize the value
of education and good, solidthings.
That's asking that question ofno, how are you really?
(29:58):
What can I do to help you?
As a person before worried aboutthe stupid paperwork, what I
find is, you know, and this isout to the audience is when your
employees come to work, they'vegot personal lives, they've got
crap that they're dealing with.
It's so, you know, we alwaystalk about just keeping personal
and workplace separate, and Ithink that's the biggest mistake
(30:20):
, because I think if the peoplecan come to work and know that
people care about them, theywill produce much better work
than if they'd come there andthey're just doing the job.
And for years I wish I wouldhave been able to make have that
positive impact on people andbeen more positive.
Being a paramedic Because I hadit as a photographer I was
(30:42):
always really positive there.
There was nothing that was aproblem there.
But as a paramedic, when wewere dealing with chaos, it
seemed like that's.
All we wanted to do wascompartmentalize it.
Emily Mulnix (30:52):
I think that's a good quality to have, for you
know any business, not justfarming or anywhere.
It's because all the people youencounter do have lives.
No matter where you are, nomatter what you're doing, they
all do have lives.
They all do have theirstruggles, their you know joys
in their life, the things thatthey want to share with other
(31:12):
people, no matter where they are, how exciting it is.
And if we could just look ateverybody and say what's one
thing you're proud of today,what's one way you change
something today, how much morepositive just literally
everywhere would be.
Brandon Mulnix (31:28):
It's something fun to practice because I love
asking different questions.
Now I usually try them on myway, first on our walks, and
then I work on them with thekids, and then I might even ask
the most random person atStarbucks, hey, what's the
coolest cup of coffee made today?
Or what's the coolest personyou've met?
And watch them just light upthat they're a human being and
(31:51):
they have connection and want toshare their story, and that's a
great way to start your day.
Versus I gotta go to work today, man, gotta go to the gym today
.
No, I get to go to the gymtoday, you get to have a
positive impact.
Emily Mulnix (32:07):
I think it's fun.
Just the people that I meet atwork I would obviously never
meet otherwise, because it's ahospital and you meet all sorts
of people there.
But just you never know whoyou're going to meet and how
much of an impact they're goingto have on you, at the same time
as how much your interactionwith them could have an impact
on them, from the homelessperson to the 95 year old.
You know they all have suchinteresting stories and just
(32:28):
having that connection withrandom people and this is coming
from an introvert, afull-onvert but if I get
somebody one-on-one, we havesome amazing conversations and I
get to meet some cool people.
So having these other questionsthat I can ask them, I just
appreciate that I'm getting toknow my patients a little bit
(32:50):
more and being able to be morepositive with them and my
coworkers and just the people Imeet along the way, and having
the confidence to not say, hey,how are you doing today?
It's more like a more personalquestion that they have to think
about.
That just speaks more topositivity.
I think it's a great tool.
What advice do you have forfarm owners as they plan for
(33:14):
future projects?
Brandon Mulnix (33:16):
Wow, when you say it that way, it's a pretty
boring question.
Emily Mulnix (33:19):
It sure is.
Brandon Mulnix (33:20):
What's interesting about that question,
though, is it is one of thosethings where, as I get to work
with farms on all kinds ofreally cool commercial or
capital projects, most of farms,as they get bigger and bigger
and bigger, they try you know,boss has to do it because nobody
else is on their team to do it.
A lot of times they'll have,you know, they'll be in charge
(33:42):
of things that maybe they're notthe best at being in charge of,
and it's hard because they wantto make good decisions, they
want to be good with their money.
One of the things from theindustry side that I've seen is
it's okay to ask for help fromyour vendors when you're
planning a project by asking thesimple question what's worked
in the industry to make mebetter, to make the process
(34:04):
better?
You know there's a lot ofvendors that are out there that
have worked across the entireindustry and have so many
interesting stories about what'sworked and what's not worked
Mostly lessons learned from whatdidn't work, and I encourage
that, as farmers start to starttheir project, ask their vendors
hey, what's working right now?
The farmer may not knoweverything that's going on, but
(34:26):
just ask the question to theirvendors what could I be doing
different.
That would make this project alot better, because the vendors
have experienced a lot.
Sometimes that might be puttinga capital projects manager in
charge.
If you have the resources to doit, it's probably going to save
you a lot of money in the endto have somebody that's
available to manage the project.
That's not necessarily thefarmer, even though they're a
(34:49):
great stakeholder.
They're a great executive.
Construction projects can get alittle tedious.
Construction projects can get alittle tedious.
And when it's not your main joband you're trying to do it
because that's what you'vealways done, sometimes it's good
to turn over those reins.
But again along the way, askyour vendors hey, what could I
be doing different?
(35:09):
What's worked across theindustry, even if it's not with
their product?
They'll give you an answerwhat's working?
What's working in electrical,what's working in technology,
what are the new things?
And it's amazing what you'lllearn.
Emily Mulnix (35:21):
I think that's really important.
Just because you do your joband you know how things have
worked in the past doesn't meanthat you yourself are a
professional in all of thethings.
So just go ask theprofessionals.
It's not going to cost anythingto ask questions and there
might be something new out there, something that's been done,
(35:44):
something that's better, that noone has ever thought of before
or that somebody has thought ofand it's working fantastic in
their farm or their industryPretty much anything.
If you're, say, doing a houseproject, like we may be doing at
our house, it doesn't hurt toget the heating and cooling guy
over to say, hey, what can we dobetter here, now that we have
(36:06):
drywall and we're not quite donewith the drywall, what can we
do better to do this part of theproject?
So I think that's great tomaybe ask the professionals
what's working somewhere andwhat's not and how can we do
this better, whether it'sutilizing you as a resource or
(36:26):
utilizing you as the whole part.
Are there any tips for theindustry that you may have or
best practices as it relates toequipment or building that you
know of right now?
Brandon Mulnix (36:38):
Technology is advancing at such a fast rate.
There's so many new tools outthere.
We look at BI, businessintelligence, artificial
intelligence.
It's tools that make processingall of the available data,
because everybody wants sensorson everything, which is great.
But how do you take all thatinformation and turn it into
usable stuff?
And that's where reallygrasping technology.
(37:01):
There's a lot of great thingsout there.
If you're doing somethingmanual over and over and over
again every day, there'sprobably a solution out there
that would free you up to beable to utilize your thinking
skills compared to just yourdoing skills.
And you may love, love, lovegoing out and adjusting the
temperature in the house, butthere's technology that will do
(37:24):
that for you and keep it, keepit within reach.
And then also just there's coolways of future-proofing
technology getting vendors onboard that you know have a
future-proof mentality, not justa one-time buy it.
It's not buying the the tractoranymore and hoping it lasts 30
years.
It's like a lot's going tochange in the next 30 years in
technology and it's just findinga partner that can walk
(37:47):
alongside you and making surethat they are your partner in
looking out for advances andmoving that forward.
Because again, it goes back tojust what we talked about with
farmers.
You know asking for help whenit comes to doing projects.
If you don't look outside yourindustry at least 5 to 10% of
the time, you're always going tobe stuck at what you learned,
(38:09):
the way we've always done it.
And it's hard to progress when,even if you don't have somebody
looking out and saying, hey,what's working?
Hey, they've got these camerasout there counting stuff.
Why can't we use those for eggs?
Hey, we've got.
You know houses are burning downand you know how are we going
to keep these houses are burningdown and you know how are we
going to keep these houses fromburning down, because the barns
were built the same way theywere 20 years ago, but the birds
(38:32):
aren't raised the same as theywere 20 years ago and the amount
of electronics that are thereand the motors and everything
that has to do with it.
So, as things continue tochange, just making sure you
have a piece you're part of yourteam that's looking out and
trying to find ways to continueto advance the farm.
Even you know looking at amazonand what they do, they do some
(38:52):
amazing things and how could youapply some of the lessons
learned and some of the cooladvances of technology that are
working in other spaces, becausethey'll get to the poultry
space.
They really will and it's justa matter of time.
So it's exciting times becauseit's continually evolving.
Emily Mulnix (39:08):
So do you look out ?
Are you the looker outer?
Brandon Mulnix (39:10):
Oh, I definitely look out.
I mean, that's part of mereading as many books as I read.
I encourage my team you know,as we build, as we work on
different projects around ourcompany, to say, hey, we could
build a help desk, we couldbuild a customer service, but
what's working in those otherindustries?
We don't need to recreate thewheel.
We may need to adapt what'sworking in other industries
(39:31):
because that's the expectations,that's what people, that's what
our customers see.
So how can I encourage my teamto explore, look, see what else
is out there?
Because that's what will makeus better.
Because we're only going to getas good as what we have the
knowledge inside to do and overtime we need outside influence
to make that better.
(39:52):
So I'll ask you this, emilywhat's your favorite part of the
industry?
Emily Mulnix (39:56):
Oh, my favorite part is definitely the travel.
I do appreciate that we are ata point in our life that I can
coordinate my schedule andtravel.
Just get out of Michigan whenit's cold to somewhere where
it's warm and spend time, youknow, enjoying different areas
of the country.
(40:17):
Have not yet been out of thecountry, although I did offer in
recent trips that I wasavailable.
I was denied.
Um, um.
What is one goal that you havein the next five years, brandon?
Brandon Mulnix (40:35):
Yeah, one of my next goals in the next five
years is to figure out how tocontinue to share, or to share
my, my passions and my purposewith you know, a greater
audience.
Um, I think part of that isjust being obedient and
following the direction I'mbeing led through my good Lord.
Um, whether that's in country,out of country, figuring out how
(40:57):
to feed more people Um, youknow, we're in a good place
where we can be able to give,share our talents, and that's
been a huge blessing to go downto Guatemala and just see the
need there and be able tosupport the local ministry
that's there.
Feed more people, because bymyself I really can't do much,
(41:21):
but using the skills that I'vebeen gifted and the passion and
energy, it really helps you liveout your purpose in another
country.
One of my five-year goals isdefinitely to help expand those
opportunities for others to beable to give more.
Emily Mulnix (41:37):
So throughout this podcast recording, we've talked
about faith several times.
Can you share more about yourfaith?
Brandon Mulnix (41:47):
Well, it's pretty intertwined in my life.
I mean, been through a lot, lotsof different things throughout
life and it always comes back tofaith, you know, from early on,
and knowing I had, you know,had a relationship to the point
where, you know, had to testthat relationship a little bit
and maybe my 20s, and just kindof take it for granted and not
(42:09):
really live it out, and then themore challenges that we've
overcome together, it just kindof deepens your faith because
you realize that you reallycan't just do it with a spouse,
you really can't do it byyourself, so you kind of need
God in that.
And so, yeah, we've had someamazing challenges.
We've been through a lot in 25years and so through that, god's
(42:32):
been there, god's answered alot of prayers and when you look
for God, see what God's doingaround you, it's pretty amazing,
pretty amazing, from ouradoption to Guatemala, to other
things that he's been able to do, you know, show himself in.
It's easy to have faith whenyou're looking for it, it's when
you're trying to deny it, it'swhen it's not as prevalent.
(42:55):
So I've been blessed, been very, very blessed.
It's a huge part of my life andnow it's continual to share it
with others.
Emily Mulnix (43:04):
I really like that .
He is always, has always beenand will always be part of our
lives and everything that we do,and always.
I think that's important toshare, just like I don't know,
not share, but like, yeah, share.
(43:25):
I think it's important thatthat's who we are, as Brandon
and Emily Molnix and the Molnixfamily, and we believe in a
great creator and someone who isalways, will always be with us.
Brandon Mulnix (43:42):
So we definitely did not get here on our own.
Not at all.
It's every trial.
I mean, looking back in my, youknow, younger years, probably
teenage 20s, I would say youknow, when I get old, I want to.
I want an amazing story, I wantan amazing journey and I didn't
(44:02):
know what that was going toentail.
Journey and I didn't know whatthat was going to entail.
And now that I look back, it'sman.
I hope the amazing journey andthe amazing tales continue
because, even though there'strials, it's like it's how it
deepens my faith.
All right.
So throw that last question atme.
Emily Mulnix (44:30):
Yes, Last last, but certainly not least Now,
Brandon, sometimes you're quietand I ask you what are you
thinking about?
And you say nothing.
Is that true?
Or are you really trying totake over the world?
Brandon Mulnix (44:36):
well, I'll give you an honest answer.
There are times I'm literallythinking of nothing, and then
there are other times where mybrain is off in some other place
, thinking about solving thebiggest world challenges,
biggest world problems, and it'sjust too much for that walker
on the block to share.
(44:57):
So I kind of get to put thatone back in there and hope that
maybe it'll come out one day, ormaybe by the time we were on
the corner that you know, thethought has passed me because it
was a fleeting thought and myADD got caught in the way.
Well, thank you, emily, forgoing way outside of your
comfort zone, but it's amazingwatching you talking to the mic.
(45:20):
You're a lot more comfortablethan you think you might have a
future.
Emily Mulnix (45:23):
I'm not starting a podcast.
I'm not going to be a podcasthost.
Brandon Mulnix (45:31):
All right, podcast listeners, let's thank
my wife for doing this.
It's been amazing.
It's been incredible.
I'm so proud of her for doingthis.
The questions that she came upwith were great, and I just hope
that you all gain somethingfrom this, and if you didn't,
that's fine.
I got to have this amazingexperience with my wife.
It doesn't always have to beabout you, wow.
(45:52):
So, on that note, thank youpodcast listeners for being here
.
I really appreciate it.
No-transcript, but maybe youshare your story with them.
(46:39):
So I think that could be evenmore valuable than this podcast,
because our stories are whatbind us, our stories are what
helps us grow, and when we justhold those stories back, it
doesn't bring out our true value.
So please share this with theworld.
Thank you and look forward tofuture episodes.
And, as always, thank you,prism Controls for sponsoring
this podcast and allowing me todo this.
Emily Mulnix (47:01):
Yes, thank you, prism Controls.
Brandon Mulnix (47:03):
Have a good day.
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