July 2, 2025 • 41 mins
When financial stress grips your mind, everything suffers - your health, your relationships, and especially your leadership. This revealing conversation with Matt Paradise takes us from his remarkable journey through teen homelessness and addiction to becoming a respected financial wellness expert who now helps leaders build healthier financial futures.
The statistics are startling: 57% of employees report that financial worries steal hours of productivity each week. One-third experience PTSD-like symptoms from money stress. As leaders, our financial struggles don't just affect us - they ripple through our entire teams, influencing decisions, workplace culture, and bottom-line results.
Paradise shares how financial health goes far beyond spreadsheets and budgets. It's deeply emotional, connected to our earliest experiences with money and our core values. For leaders in high-pressure industries like poultry production, where operational challenges and thin margins are commonplace, financial stress can lead to short-sighted decisions that compromise long-term stability.
The conversation offers practical pathways toward greater financial wellness: creating space for "sober-minded" assessment of your financial reality, building community support systems, and modeling financial vulnerability with your team. Paradise emphasizes that you don't need to share every detail of your financial life, but acknowledging struggles and sharing lessons learned creates psychological safety for team members facing similar challenges.
Whether you're currently thriving financially or struggling to keep the lights on, this episode provides compassionate guidance for leaders who want to transform their relationship with money and create cultures where financial wellness becomes a shared priority. Remember - your team's financial health directly impacts your organization's success.
Listen now and discover why taking even one small step toward financial wellness today can transform your leadership effectiveness tomorrow. What financial habit could you change this week?
Learn more about Matt Paradise - https://www.mattparadise.com/
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 (00:28):
Welcome to the Poultry Leadership Podcast.
I'm your host, Brandon Mulnix,and on today's podcast we're
going to be talking with MattParadise, and Matt and I we're
going to be talking aboutfinances, financial health,
financial stress and ways, as aleader, you can be more healthy
(00:48):
in that area.
Now, this isn't your typicaltithing sermon from church.
I'm not asking for anything.
I'm not asking you to give toanywhere if you are a leader of
people, because you may not bestruggling with your finances,
but I guarantee someone that youlead, that is part of your team
(01:10):
, is With that.
I'd like to welcome Matt to theshow.
Matt, welcome to the PoultryLeadership Podcast.
Matt Paradise (01:16):
Thank you so much , Brandon.
It really is an honor to behere.
Brandon Mulnix (01:19):
Matt, can you share with the listeners a
little bit about who you are?
Matt Paradise (01:23):
Sure, I am a guy who grew up in rural Connecticut
farms and country.
You can take the boy out of thecountry.
I live in Boston now with mywife and family, but you can't
take the country out of the boy.
And for my wife, she grew up inand around the city and she
always looks at me sidewayssometimes with things that I do,
because rural farmland is partof where I come from.
(01:45):
Shout out to Valleyside Farmand the Youngs one of my best
friends there in dairy farming.
But I grew up in Connecticut andhave really a twisty, windy
road to get to leadership.
My background includeseverything from teen
homelessness where I left myfamily's house very young
(02:05):
because of addiction and,through overdoses and a variety
of different things, made a lotof poor choices and those poor
choices helped form who I amtoday.
So would I change that?
That's a tough question, but Iam grateful for the grace that
I've received because I'm aliveand it's been over 24 years
(02:27):
sober and ultimately moved awayfrom that life so that I could
change.
And anybody who's gone throughaddiction or challenging
circumstances knows wherever wetry to travel and get away from
ourselves, we take all ourbaggage and personal character
with us.
So I had a lot of work to doand there's no such thing in my
mind as a self-made person.
(02:48):
I had a lot of mentors, a lotof people who helped guide me
along the way, for whom I'mextremely grateful and
ultimately was able to get a jobat a place called American
Consumer Credit Counseling.
It's a nonprofit agency whohelps people manage their
finances and get out of debt.
I started there as a19-year-old kid who had no idea
(03:10):
what I was doing with my money.
I got into credit card debteven as I was counseling other
people to get out of debt,because money is so much more
than dollars and cents.
It's emotions.
It's deep, deep feelings andcircumstances and people that
we're exposed to at an early age.
So our values, our beliefsystems around money influence
(03:31):
how we choose to spend it.
So that was work with, again,lots of mentors and help to be
able to learn and grow, andeventually, as a high school
dropout, was able to get a GEDand take some college courses
and get certifications so that Icould teach others competently
around money and personalfinance, and now I serve on the
(03:53):
board of that organization.
I left that organization in2018 to start my own business
and speak because my wife and Ihad adopted a child and we had
the need for more flexibility inour lives and was able to speak
to different organizations tohelp their employees with
financial stress, while stillhaving flexibility to really
(04:14):
care for what was most importantin our lives our family and
making sure that our son hadeverything that he needed,
including our time and attentionand mental capacity and all of
those things as well.
So I left American ConsumerCredit Counseling and was
invited to join the board ofdirectors now and am able to
(04:36):
help with the organization toreally grow and serve more
people throughout the country.
Brandon Mulnix (04:41):
Matt your story from homelessness and addiction.
It probably resonates reallywell with the community that we
listen to.
A lot of folks that I know thatare in the farming community
usually struggle.
I mean, they're tasked with alot of things, they have a
really hard job and money issometimes one of the biggest
(05:04):
stresses.
What does it mean to you when Italk about leaders being
financially healthy?
Matt Paradise (05:09):
I think there's a lot to that I write about in my
book, about the concept ofwhole health wealth, the idea
that the different domains ofour well-being are inseparable.
So when we think about ourmoney, our finances, it's on the
top of everybody's mind becausein the society, in the world
where we live, it's necessary tofeed our families and put food
(05:32):
on the table and try to run ourbusinesses and really work and
grow and be productive in ourcommunities.
Money is stressful and itaffects our mental health.
So there are lots of data andplenty of research that shows
that the stresses that we feeland that our employees feel
(05:52):
around money influenceproductivity directly.
So the majority I mean themajority of the workforce, 57%
to be precise of employees havereported that they have
financial stress and it takesthem hours out of their week of
productivity thinking about howam I going to pay those bills.
(06:13):
I've worked on farms before.
I've baled hay, I've shoveledfertilizer, and it is hard work,
like you said, brandon.
And when we have our thoughtsthinking about the next thing
and what we need to do and how Idon't want to shovel fertilizer
forever we start to weigh onour psyche.
(06:33):
So our financial health and thefinancial health of those whom
we lead affects not just mentalhealth, but physical health as
well.
Data shows that when we stressabout finances, sometimes about
one-third of the population hasfelt PTSD-like symptoms as a
result of the financial stress.
(06:54):
So the fight, flight, freeze,not sure what to do, like oh my,
I have bills but not the moneyto pay them stresses people out
incredibly so, and I know I'vefelt that Maybe others can
relate, but I've felt that of Idon't know where my next meal is
going to come from.
What is it that I need to do?
And, out of desperation, readyto do almost anything just to
(07:17):
get food in my stomach.
And that's difficult, that'shard and that's something that
so many people across thecountry, from coast to coast,
are facing and struggle with.
But with the question aboutthat financial health, it's not
just dollars and cents, though.
It's that as well, making surethat we have what we need to pay
(07:39):
for, but it's such an emotionaland physical impact on our
lives and well-being, but it'ssuch an emotional and physical
impact on our lives andwell-being.
Brandon Mulnix (07:46):
As you look at managers, leaders and I'm going
to go back to that empathy pieceunderstanding their team,
understanding that, thestruggles that they have,
they're not alone.
The leader's worried aboutmoney, maybe has poor habits
around it, maybe hisproductivity is out.
(08:07):
He's managing a team that'sequally, or maybe even more,
stressed about the same topic.
How can a leader, I guess, leadin this area?
Matt Paradise (08:14):
I would say.
The first is by example.
I mean, I know so many leadersthat I've worked with and just
because someone has a largersalary than somebody else
doesn't necessarily mean thatthere's zero financial stress in
their lives.
Sometimes the opposite is true.
As we have more money and moreresponsibilities that come with
earning that money, thensometimes that stress starts to
(08:36):
pile up.
And I don't know about anybodyelse, but I personally don't
always deal with stress in themost productive way.
Oftentimes that comes out tothe people closest to me my wife
, my son but we care for her momas well as she lives with us.
Sometimes it just comes out injust being a little bit too
(08:56):
sharp, lacking love, care andcompassion when all they're
asking is for like, what are wegoing to do for dinner or some
other otherwise inane thing.
But because there's 10, 15different processes going on in
my mind about all the thingsthat need to be done, my stress
spills over to those around meand I think for leaders that can
(09:17):
certainly be the case and it'sa stressful time for many in our
current economy.
In the poultry industrycertainly, there's a significant
labor shortage.
There's significant recruitmentretention factors that affect
operations for many farms acrossthe country, farms that friends
of mine own and others thatI've seen and when we start to
(09:39):
get stressed, we tend not tomake the wisest decisions for
our future.
Slowing down, being able togather ourselves, collect
ourselves and lead as a servantand by example the area of
finances in this case with yourquestion, brennan, I think is
extremely powerful, and I don'twant to underestimate how
(10:01):
difficult and challenging thatcan be at times, because the
stress is real.
It's not that it just goes awaybecause we don't want to feel
stressed or don't have theseother problems, because they're
there.
I just know personally thatwhen I'm stressed and start to
make decisions out of thatstress, sometimes out of
desperation, I tend not to havethe outcomes that I'm looking
(10:22):
for.
Brandon Mulnix (10:23):
Yeah, I can feel that.
I think stress and thatsometimes makes us do things
that we would not normally do.
You know, looking for thatquick, easy win versus that
long-term gain, and I've seenthat in business.
Thankfully, I've experienced alot in my life, matt.
It's one of those things.
I'm, you know, I had adifferent type of education
(10:46):
growing up.
My first two businesses wentbankrupt, first one being a lawn
mowing business right out ofhigh school.
Bought that lawnmower was goingto mow those lawns and I didn't
have the money to pay for thelawnmower Got repoed and away it
went.
Second one was another business.
I had a photography studiowhere I 2009 hit, crashed,
(11:09):
crashed around me and for someway I was able to work my way
through it.
And next thing I know, a fewyears later, I was able to
actually sell a business for aprofit the same business for a
profit.
And it's just.
You know, what you'rechallenged by in there is your
core need of providing providingfor your family, providing for
your own needs.
(11:29):
I have things I like to do.
I like to eat out, I like to doall those things.
When you can't do that, itstarts to gnaw at you and adds a
lot of stress on the marriagerelationships and then, when
that comes to work, yeah,sometimes people see their
employees as a way to get theirneeds met and get things done
and they get a profit out ofthat.
(11:50):
And that's hard when you startto focus on that as your way of
getting out of your debt andstuff like that.
So, matt, we know the problem.
Everybody can relate to theissue of money in some way.
How do we walk our way out ofit?
How do we find freedom fromunhealthy lifestyle?
Matt Paradise (12:08):
Sure, I appreciate that.
The first step and you alludedearlier, brandon, the challenge
of addiction.
It's real.
I'm sure there's listeners thathave never touched a drug in
their lives and I have friendsthat back in the day we called
it straight edge didn't touchdrugs, alcohol, anything, and
(12:29):
wouldn't put anything into theirbodies that would ever corrupt
it.
I always thought that wasamazing.
I also saw that as personally,a journey that seemed impossible
.
I couldn't even comprehend it.
So the first step is to besober-minded, and being
sober-minded doesn't necessarilymean that there's a substance
attached to it.
For many there often is, but itdoesn't have to be, because
(12:54):
there are process addictions,whether it's gambling, whether
it's getting into debt andfueling our whatever that it is
our dreams, our aspirations, ourgoals, and it becomes
compulsive to the point ofirrational thought and behavior.
Being sober-minded means totake a step back, collect not
(13:15):
just our thoughts and ourfeelings but also really just,
with a sober mind, assess thereality of our situation.
Many of my challenges I'vegotten into because I didn't
have a sober judgment, evenwithout using drugs or alcohol,
but I didn't have the soberjudgment, clear-mindedness, to
(13:36):
make the best decision for myfuture.
Sometimes that comes throughlack of hope when we lack hope
for a better world or betterfuture.
And oftentimes debt can comeabout out of the best intentions
.
We want to feed our family, wewant to help our employees, we
(13:58):
want to grow our business to bebigger and better and help our
economy and our community andthe friends and family and
people who we love.
And sometimes that starts aprocess in our minds to do
anything to make that happen,because it's out of our good
heartedness as well To stop andsoberly assess our situation and
whatever that it is.
(14:18):
And I know in 2024, farm debt atagricultural banks increased by
7%.
By 7% In the credit counselingbusiness, I would speak to
people often with cash flowchallenges and the most credit
card debt unsecured credit carddebt was around $500,000.
And that's on top of equipmentloans or property loans or other
farm debt or things like that.
(14:39):
And oftentimes when the debtgets that large, it's because
it's trying to make it through ahurdle and there's so many
variables and factors in farmingthat often are beyond our
control.
When there's a natural disaster, I can't control that, but it
certainly affects, whether it'sthe cost of feed or we can run
down the list trying to besober-minded through those
(14:59):
things.
I find that challenging.
Maybe others can relate.
So to take a moment andsometimes get other help from
people, whether it's trustedfriends, advisors, people in our
lives who can help us with aclear mind.
Look at all of the debt, all ofthe income, all of the expenses
, and this can be on thebusiness side as well as our
(15:20):
personal side.
We talked about earlier,brandon, the idea of leading by
example.
Even in our personal lives I'veseen plenty of businesses that
are doing phenomenally and oneof the reasons why they're doing
so well is because the ownersaren't necessarily taking a
salary or a salary that'sadequate to cover their expenses
(15:40):
and a fair wage.
Essentially, I mean thinkingoutside of even just the farm
industry, I mean physicians.
Across the country there aremany who have all this debt and
paying their employees and justthat monthly nut, the overhead
stress, just to feed theirfamilies and don't have enough
of a salary to pay the bills.
(16:01):
So it's important, with a clearmind, to sit down and that
could mean something differentfor everybody.
Sometimes it's the externalhelp, Sometimes it's just maybe
getting away, stepping away fromthe stresses of day-to-day life
, because it's so easy andfarming and other industries too
but to be working in thebusiness and not have time to
(16:23):
work on the business and onourselves.
So I would say that's step one.
Brandon Mulnix (16:28):
So realizing there's a problem is step one.
Not putting our head in thesand, not pretending that
tomorrow will be sunshine andrainbows because today was
cloudy and rain, but to actuallyidentify that there's a problem
.
So for someone who, okay, Ineed help, I'm willing to get
help.
Where do they turn?
Matt Paradise (16:50):
to, I would say that it's a very personal
decision and I'll clarify thatit's not dodging the answer,
which, okay, Matt, thanks,that's not helpful.
When I think about dealing withpersonal finances, it's
important to keep it personal.
It's a little bit differentthan business finances.
(17:11):
When we get into accounting,there's the numbers, there's the
dollars and cents.
Who cares about the feelings?
Bills have to be paid.
When it comes to our personalfinances, there's a lot more
feelings, emotion, thoughts,attitudes, values all of the
above.
That's not just ourselves, butour families.
(17:33):
My wife and I are a partnershipand we make decisions together
and many of the decisions I makeshe would not make.
I'm the emotional one in ourrelationship.
She is analytical, she's abiochemist and everything like
data, numbers, spreadsheets.
That's just how she thinks.
She doesn't have to try andwe're different.
(17:54):
The power of that is that whenwe come together to face a
problem, we address it fromdifferent perspectives and it's
far more powerful and we havebetter outcomes together than
individually.
So when I say personal what thefirst step is or what the next
best step is and I think that'simportant when we can't see the
full staircase in front of usand where the clear path is, we
(18:18):
just take the next best step,and for some that might be
getting help with a drugaddiction or drinking and I
don't say that lightly, as Ishared, as listeners now know
that that's part of mybackground.
I know what it's like tooverdose.
I know what it's like to wantto change and, as Paul says,
(18:40):
even the good I want to do, Itry and I can't and I'm pulled
right back down into the sameold patterns and by my own power
I know that I wasn't able to doit.
I needed people For me.
That was a Bible-based drugrecovery program and I had a
mentor that cared enough aboutme, that didn't let me just sink
(19:01):
deeper into the depressive,deep, dark hole of addiction
that I was living in for years,but cared enough about me to
show a better way and that madeall the difference.
So for others, maybe it'sfiguring out what the different
vice is.
Maybe it's tuning out the worldin front of the television.
(19:24):
We don't typically think ofthat as an addiction, but so
many friends that I've seen andat times I've felt as well, the
compulsion to say life is tough.
Forget this.
Let me go watch another episodeof fill in the blank.
Whatever your thing is.
Maybe it's gambling andgambling doesn't necessarily
(19:46):
mean showing up at the casino,but even taking unnecessary
risks and feeling the compulsionto do so quote unquote, betting
the farm.
For others, maybe it's arelational thing and working
through anger.
I've dealt with some differentillness and things like that in
my life and it's common withsignificant illness to feel the
need to control everything andevery outcome, Because through
(20:10):
illness for me it was bile ductcancer but through illness,
every control, every possiblecontrol, is taken away from us.
I coded on the table in 2021,and I couldn't control whether I
lived or whether I died.
It was in the hands of my God,it was in the hands of the
(20:30):
doctors whom he sent andultimately that takes just
incredible surrender.
That doesn't come easy to me,and it doesn't come easy to many
of my friends who are leaderseither, because it's our job and
responsibility oftentimes tokeep things under control,
because families rely on us,it's people, and the decisions
(20:53):
that we make affect people andthe community and the ones that
we love and want to see do wellalso.
So sometimes it's seeing thosecharacter traits within
ourselves that might need togrow, and maybe it's whether
it's anger, whether it's we canfill in the blank for each one,
and that's why I say it'spersonal, because, brandon, my
(21:14):
things are different than yourthings and for every single
listener that's listening to ustoday, their things are
different than ours, and that'sjust how life is.
That's part of the power ofcommunity when we lead, it's not
leading in a bubble, but it'srelying on neighbors.
I know one of the mostincredible things actually that
happened this winter a friend ofmine from high school, his
(21:38):
family farm.
He runs it now.
It burned down Well, not thewhole farm, large barn burned
down and that's expensive and itwasn't something that he
planned for and he reached outto the community to ask for help
.
This was it happened to be adairy farm, but it was time to
milk the cows, and the cowsdon't wait, the cows don't think
.
Well, there's a farm.
(21:58):
Let me just hold on to my help.
Farming doesn't work that way.
Chickens wait on no one.
When it's time to lay thoseeggs, it's time to lay those
eggs, no matter what we think,feel or what's going on around.
So what was incredible about it?
Obviously not the fire, but thefact that community rallied
(22:19):
around him, because there justhappened to be one particular
person that was in theneighborhood fixing it.
And we're in New England, sothere's like one company that
fixes this particular piece oflegacy equipment because some of
it's just generational, it'sbeen on the farm for a long time
and they keep it runningbecause it works better than a
lot of the new stuff.
Sometimes, anyway, butsometimes it's challenging to
(22:40):
fix.
So it just so happened thetiming worked out that this
person who knew this piece ofequipment was there and could
fix it, and a neighboring farmoffered their milking parlor, so
it was actually the milkingparlor that burned down, so they
were able to transport the cowswith other people in the
community to this milking powerto still be able to milk the
(23:00):
cows, and the way that thecommunity rallied together was
truly inspiring.
Shout out, matt Peckham.
So when we think about thechallenges that we go through
and I know that so many alreadydo a lot of this stuff they rely
on each other.
But community is powerful whenit comes to our personal growth
as well.
It's just as powerful to beable to ask trusted advisors, to
(23:24):
be able to ask those who arearound us.
What do you think?
Is this a wise financialdecision?
Does this make rational sense,will these choices financially
lead me to the goal and outcomethat I desire?
And obviously everybody has aplan, until they're punched in
the face and plans go up insmoke, sometimes literally.
But that doesn't mean that westop planning.
(23:45):
We plan and God determines ourfootsteps, and we take it one
day at a time.
But that doesn't mean weabandon all plans.
It does mean that with manyadvisors, our plan is much more
likely to succeed.
Brandon Mulnix (23:59):
So, Matt, I'm hearing you talk a lot about
community not doing it alone.
You've identified, you've got afinancial problem.
You identified that maybethere's an addiction that could
be.
You missed a bunch of them thataffected me over the years food
, living, you know, buyingsomething just so I could keep
up with my friends, especiallyhobbies.
(24:20):
As a guy, I always had to havethe best hunting stuff because I
thought it was going to give methe next big buck and I would
spend all kinds of money on thatstuff, and yet I was putting me
in debt, justifying it by goodlean venison.
It's costing me way more thanjust going by the beef down at
the store.
So you talk about the communityside, getting others involved
(24:44):
as we look at the leader, theperson that maybe it's not them
that's going through this, maybeit's somebody else.
How do you approach somebodythat you're leading and offer
help without offending, so tospeak?
Matt Paradise (25:01):
That's a delicate balance.
I think you mentioned the wordearlier, brandon compassion,
being able to have compassionand empathy, understanding that
those we lead are struggling.
It's a matter of what it isthat they're struggling with and
that's just a reality of humannature.
So, being approachable, so thatwe create an environment of
(25:28):
conversation and that's not easy, that takes time that's a
culture, because I don't know, Idon't want to perpetuate
stereotypes, but you mentioned acouple that resonated with me
and as a guy, I don't want toneed to ask for help.
I don't want to have thisculture of kumbaya.
Let's just talk it out.
(25:48):
That's personally not me.
I have many friends that do.
I've needed to continue mygrowth.
I can't say that I've fullygrown, but continue my growth so
that I can lead withvulnerability, so that I can
share what's happening.
Brandon, your story of getting alawnmower and starting a
(26:10):
business and the excitement, theexhilaration that comes with
that and then the heartbreaking,soul-crushing aspect of
bankruptcy that took that away,and not once, but twice.
So there's a good chance forlisteners who lead and have
employees that their employeesalso have aspirations, whether
(26:30):
it's to have a lawn mowingbusiness, or maybe it's to grow
in the poultry business andeventually maybe even have their
own plot of land and be able togrow a business.
But employees have aspirationsand dreams and when we, as
leaders, empower our employeesand leading with vulnerability,
well then one, those employeesaren't going to just leave
(26:52):
faster to go start their dreamBecause, as anybody who's in a
farming business knows that, itdoesn't just happen overnight.
You don't automatically say,well, I'm done, I don't need
this paycheck because I'm in themoney.
It takes time, it takespatience, it takes perseverance,
it takes lots of stumbling.
(27:18):
So knowing and understandingthat and nurturing employees for
the long term so that they caneven work towards and grow
towards their own dreams, goals,aspirations and maybe even
build their own thing.
It's not a competition in thatcase, but it's being able to
reach behind us as leaders andgive people a handout Not
necessarily a handout.
It doesn't mean that everybodyjust needs higher paychecks and
more money, but what they needis our compassion, our empathy
(27:42):
and understanding and sometimesjust help from the lessons that
we've learned.
Brandon, you sharing again justsome of your financial
struggles and lessons thatyou've learned through that is
powerful for others, becauseothers are in that position
where you were 20, 30, whateveryears ago, and similarly for me.
(28:02):
I've gone through lots ofdifferent challenges and trials
and struggles and made plenty ofmistakes, and it's out of those
mistakes that I've been able tolearn and I can now and have
the pleasure of teaching andworking with others.
Brandon Mulnix (28:17):
It's interesting .
You talk about getting to knowyour team, getting to know your
team members to know your team,getting to know your team
members, dreams, aspirations,desires, struggles.
There's a delicate balancebetween too much information at
work and a relationship with theperson.
We spend more hours with thepeople we work with than we
(28:40):
typically do our family in aweek, and understanding the
struggles that they have really,you know, in my past has really
helped me understand how I canbest lead them, as I've had
folks that you know had visionsfor such grander ideas and just
needed a little bit of a hey,I'm behind you, I'm supporting
(29:02):
you and they're like, but whywould you support me when, if I
do that, that means I'm behindyou?
I'm supporting you and they'relike, but why would you support
me when, if I do that, thatmeans I'm leaving the company
and it's like well, myinvestment's not in you for the
company, my investment's in youfor the rest of your life.
I want you to be a betterperson, I want you to grow, I
want you to learn from even mymistakes.
Sharing my story allows them tounderstand that it's not just
(29:24):
vulnerability, but it's hey,what did you learn?
How can I keep you from thatMaking the same mistakes I made,
and I guess it just helpsrelate to them as humans and
you're working together.
My big thing is when I look atmy team and I see their
successes, it really makes mehappy.
I like to see when they get anew vehicle, when they, you know
(29:51):
, talk about their kid going offand playing travel sports,
because I know how expensivethat is.
I had kids in travel sports,but the idea is, as a leader,
it's I get to win when they win,and that is truly important to
me, because I know that there'sother jobs that always pay more.
That's not the always answer.
I know that there's jobs thatprobably have more flexible
(30:13):
hours.
There's jobs that would meetsome of their needs better than
what I can, as a leader, offerthem.
But ultimately, I want to makesure they feel that I'm
alongside of them, I'mpartnering with them.
I have their career in mind, Ihave their family's livelihood
in mind, because that all willkeep them growing and prospering
(30:36):
in many ways like that, and sothat's always been important for
me figuring out ways to helpkeep supporting even the local
community, different things,just because I know how blessed
I've been in life.
It's like how can I continue tobless others with that and
that's a lot of that's justthrough sharing experiences Like
, for example, this podcast.
(30:57):
So, matt, what resources arethere out there to help people
that they're not?
You know, they don't just leavethis podcast and and go and
have to again hunt for moreresources.
What have you got for them?
Matt Paradise (31:09):
Sure, there's a lot for sure, and it can be
challenging and sometimesoverwhelming.
I want to just add to thatpoint that last point that you
made, brandon, I think iscritically important.
There's there's so much morethat can be explored there.
I think it's one of theparadoxical things about
creating culture where peoplewant to stay and that when they
(31:31):
do stay, it's not necessarilyabout just earning the higher
paycheck.
I do believe that loyalty doesexist.
I do believe that creating thatculture of we'll call it
reciprocity, but the idea that arising tide lifts all boats,
the idea that we help each otherand we can all learn and grow
and be better as people, but ina lot of different ways,
(31:55):
whatever the metrics are that weuse, I think it also talks and
gets even into successionplanning.
For many farmers and friendsthat I've grown up around,
succession planning is always onminds, and this goes beyond
just the poultry business, butacross the board.
For any leader who runs or ownsa business, succession planning
is critical and I've spent alot of time working with boards
(32:17):
of directors on this recentlybecause it's critical.
Something happens to the keyperson and there's not a
succession plan.
Everything just falls apart.
There is no paycheck foremployees.
There may or may not even be abusiness without that planning
in place.
So sometimes creating thatculture where it's nurturing for
our employees to be the bestthat they possibly can, one in
(32:38):
the short term, paradoxically,can increase productivity and
data shows it and a betteroverall business.
And that person that we'renurturing also may be the
manager or helping to run thebusiness or maybe even running
the business.
Sometimes a business is passedon generationally.
Other times there's notnecessarily a child to pass it
(33:01):
on to and there's someone thatneeds to be raised up and it
makes a world of difference ifthey know that business inside
and out.
So long-term and short-termproductivity now and success and
health of the business in thelong-term.
So for resources, I do have awebsite.
Mattparadisecom is my websiteand there are quite a few free
(33:24):
resources on there, so I'm notselling extra stuff.
Don't go there and buy somespammy course.
Go there and get some freeresources.
I think that that's for sure.
One area, as far as even otherfree resources around personal
finance and education, dependingon where listeners want to go
to.
I love going to a place calledCoursera C-O-U-R-S-E-R-A.
(33:46):
Coursera is a website where youcan take college level classes
on everything from farming tofinance, and, it's amazing you
can take top college classes forfree online and learn almost
anything that you want to.
So maybe you're trying toimprove some of the productivity
through automation at your farm.
Well, there's a lot of techthat blows my mind that you can
(34:09):
go to a college course for freeand maybe enjoy it and learn
something.
Maybe it's not for you.
There's not a financial riskand after 10 minutes, if it
doesn't resonate with you, itdoesn't have to be a time risk
either, but you can get collegelevel classes on accounting and
just about anything there.
Edx is another one, acombination of MIT and Harvard
some smart people that created aplatform to access
(34:32):
college-level classes for free.
There are so many more.
My website offers a lot ofdifferent resources and websites
that I have personally used andvetted, so I think that
sometimes it's a matter ofknowing too much and doing too
little, and I'm talking tomyself here, because I want to
learn.
I want to know everything.
(34:53):
We were talking before wehopped on Brandon, about your
company and the tech that itcreates and the different
modules and ways that thedifferent controllers operate.
To me, that's fascinating and Ican go down a rabbit hole and
lose track of all the otherthings that I'm responsible for,
because that fascinates me andI have a desire to constantly
learn.
(35:14):
With money and finance, it's somuch like that as well, where we
can learn everything andeverybody has a different
opinion about this or that orwhat's best, or invest in this
and you'll be all set.
And sometimes it just takestaking a step back, being clear,
being sober-minded to thinkwhat is actually the next best
(35:35):
step to help me accomplish whatI need, and sometimes it's
simple.
I mean, at the end of the day,we've probably all heard don't
spend more money than you make.
Well, in and of itself, true,it may not be the full advice
that we might need because ofall the other emotions and stuff
we spoke about throughout thisepisode, but sometimes it can be
as simple as that.
For me, I need to kiss, keep itsimple, stupid, because I can
(36:01):
tend to overthink and, as aresult, because I can tend to
overthink and, as a result, thatprocrastination that comes
about overthinking and be stuckfrom taking the next best step.
So sometimes maybe it's notnecessarily going to learn more,
sometimes it's implementingwhat we already know.
Brandon Mulnix (36:19):
That's so true and there's so many people that
I can relate to the overthinkingpiece.
I'm a react very quickly pieceand then sometimes have to think
about it later.
But the idea is I can alwayschange directions.
Start doing something we talkabout with finances.
Start by saving $2 out of yourpaycheck.
(36:40):
Start by doing something that'sdifferent than what you're
doing today, because what you'redoing today hasn't worked up to
this point.
The challenge is the stressthat you're having.
So it's doing somethingdifferent than you're doing now,
and it doesn't have to be.
It doesn't have to be the best,it's just something getting
yourself moving in that rightdirection.
(37:01):
I know being willing to dive in.
We talked about leaders andbeing a leader, being willing to
have that conversation withyour team.
I've been at two differentcompanies that have provided
financial counseling.
From an HR perspective,priority health actually brought
(37:22):
in a financial counselor forpeople because they realized the
stress of finances and whatit's doing to the human body.
But providing that for yourteam, you know, for me it was
someone speaking into my lifeyears and years ago.
The first one was CrownFinancial was years ago.
I don't even know if it stillexists.
And the second one wasFinancial Peace University,
because I didn't grow up withthe best examples for finance.
(37:45):
I didn't make my best decisions, and I've talked about business
, I've talked about other things, but the areas that I think
I've grown the most was thatself-education, finding that
education for free.
There's a program called MBA forFree out there and literally it
will teach you everything youneed to get a college-level MBA
without the debt.
Now, you're not going to get acollege level MBA without the
(38:06):
debt.
Now, you're not going to get acertificate, you're not going to
have the network from theuniversity, but you're going to
have the same education.
The resources are available toyou.
You don't have to go to collegeto get the resources.
So, especially on the financialstuff, there's a lot of good
resources out there.
There's a lot of bad resourcesout there too.
So, matt, in closing, is thereanything else that you would
like to share with the PoultryLeadership Podcast audience?
Matt Paradise (38:28):
There's a lot.
This has been an amazingconversation.
I've thoroughly enjoyed it andI hope that it's helpful for
listeners.
I think, in closing, the lastcomment that you made about just
get going take a step, one stepat a time is important.
I'll use the analogy of tryingto steer a tractor.
If we try to steer a tractorwhile it's still, it's going to
(38:51):
be brutal.
It's going to be brutal, butonce it starts moving in a
direction, it's so much easier.
It's just physics.
With our lives, with ourfinances, it's similar.
Knowledge will only only get usso far, and there's a lot of
bright people in the world andthere's a lot of bright people
(39:11):
who do nothing with it.
But when we take that knowledgeand apply it and move it to
action and build discipline,habits and it creates a
lifestyle that's powerful.
And it creates a lifestylethat's powerful when we think
how challenging our situationsmight be, and for some, maybe
this is the best that it's everbeen and for others, maybe it's
(39:34):
the feeling of the sky isfalling.
For the latter group, I want toreally impart the idea that
there is always hope, there'salways the possibility, no
matter how difficult,challenging, frustrating the
situation might be.
There is always hope and alwaysa way, and that way starts with
taking that one next best step.
Brandon Mulnix (39:56):
Well.
Thank you, Matt.
I appreciate you willing toshare your story, your heart and
your wisdom with the PoultryLeadership Podcast audience
Listeners.
If you are a leader and you'renot worried about finances, just
remember somebody on your teamis.
Be there for them.
Take this subject, take it toheart, have empathy, figure out
(40:21):
how you can get the most out ofyour team just by being there
for them.
Help guide them in this area.
It is your responsibility as aleader of folks that you work
with every day to be that mentor, that guide, and don't take
that for granted.
So, as I close, I'd like todefinitely thank our sponsor,
Prism Controls.
One of the things that you knowkeeps farmers up at night is
(40:44):
finances and risk and all thethings that go hand in hand, and
one of the things that prismcontrols really focuses on is
helping guide farmers throughthat by making sure that they
have the technology to be ableto handle some of the crises
that they've been relying onhumans for unsuccessfully for
years.
This podcast just wouldn't bepossible without them, so please
(41:08):
thank them you can check outtheir website.
It's always in the show notes,things like that but also share
this with somebody.
Leave a comment.
Give your best financial advicein the comments on the show.
It really helps others.
You're part of this show,you're part of the community and
I appreciate all of you.
So have a great day.
Welcome to the Poultry Leadership Podcast.
I'm your host, Brandon Mulnix,and on today's podcast we're
going to be talking with MattParadise, and Matt and I we're
going to be talking aboutfinances, financial health,
financial stress and ways, as aleader, you can be more healthy
(00:48):
in that area.
Now, this isn't your typicaltithing sermon from church.
I'm not asking for anything.
I'm not asking you to give toanywhere if you are a leader of
people, because you may not bestruggling with your finances,
but I guarantee someone that youlead, that is part of your team
(01:10):
, is With that.
I'd like to welcome Matt to theshow.
Matt, welcome to the PoultryLeadership Podcast.
Matt Paradise (01:16):
Thank you so much , Brandon.
It really is an honor to behere.
Brandon Mulnix (01:19):
Matt, can you share with the listeners a
little bit about who you are?
Matt Paradise (01:23):
Sure, I am a guy who grew up in rural Connecticut
farms and country.
You can take the boy out of thecountry.
I live in Boston now with mywife and family, but you can't
take the country out of the boy.
And for my wife, she grew up inand around the city and she
always looks at me sidewayssometimes with things that I do,
because rural farmland is partof where I come from.
(01:45):
Shout out to Valleyside Farmand the Youngs one of my best
friends there in dairy farming.
But I grew up in Connecticut andhave really a twisty, windy
road to get to leadership.
My background includeseverything from teen
homelessness where I left myfamily's house very young
(02:05):
because of addiction and,through overdoses and a variety
of different things, made a lotof poor choices and those poor
choices helped form who I amtoday.
So would I change that?
That's a tough question, but Iam grateful for the grace that
I've received because I'm aliveand it's been over 24 years
(02:27):
sober and ultimately moved awayfrom that life so that I could
change.
And anybody who's gone throughaddiction or challenging
circumstances knows wherever wetry to travel and get away from
ourselves, we take all ourbaggage and personal character
with us.
So I had a lot of work to doand there's no such thing in my
mind as a self-made person.
(02:48):
I had a lot of mentors, a lotof people who helped guide me
along the way, for whom I'mextremely grateful and
ultimately was able to get a jobat a place called American
Consumer Credit Counseling.
It's a nonprofit agency whohelps people manage their
finances and get out of debt.
I started there as a19-year-old kid who had no idea
(03:10):
what I was doing with my money.
I got into credit card debteven as I was counseling other
people to get out of debt,because money is so much more
than dollars and cents.
It's emotions.
It's deep, deep feelings andcircumstances and people that
we're exposed to at an early age.
So our values, our beliefsystems around money influence
(03:31):
how we choose to spend it.
So that was work with, again,lots of mentors and help to be
able to learn and grow, andeventually, as a high school
dropout, was able to get a GEDand take some college courses
and get certifications so that Icould teach others competently
around money and personalfinance, and now I serve on the
(03:53):
board of that organization.
I left that organization in2018 to start my own business
and speak because my wife and Ihad adopted a child and we had
the need for more flexibility inour lives and was able to speak
to different organizations tohelp their employees with
financial stress, while stillhaving flexibility to really
(04:14):
care for what was most importantin our lives our family and
making sure that our son hadeverything that he needed,
including our time and attentionand mental capacity and all of
those things as well.
So I left American ConsumerCredit Counseling and was
invited to join the board ofdirectors now and am able to
(04:36):
help with the organization toreally grow and serve more
people throughout the country.
Brandon Mulnix (04:41):
Matt your story from homelessness and addiction.
It probably resonates reallywell with the community that we
listen to.
A lot of folks that I know thatare in the farming community
usually struggle.
I mean, they're tasked with alot of things, they have a
really hard job and money issometimes one of the biggest
(05:04):
stresses.
What does it mean to you when Italk about leaders being
financially healthy?
Matt Paradise (05:09):
I think there's a lot to that I write about in my
book, about the concept ofwhole health wealth, the idea
that the different domains ofour well-being are inseparable.
So when we think about ourmoney, our finances, it's on the
top of everybody's mind becausein the society, in the world
where we live, it's necessary tofeed our families and put food
(05:32):
on the table and try to run ourbusinesses and really work and
grow and be productive in ourcommunities.
Money is stressful and itaffects our mental health.
So there are lots of data andplenty of research that shows
that the stresses that we feeland that our employees feel
(05:52):
around money influenceproductivity directly.
So the majority I mean themajority of the workforce, 57%
to be precise of employees havereported that they have
financial stress and it takesthem hours out of their week of
productivity thinking about howam I going to pay those bills.
(06:13):
I've worked on farms before.
I've baled hay, I've shoveledfertilizer, and it is hard work,
like you said, brandon.
And when we have our thoughtsthinking about the next thing
and what we need to do and how Idon't want to shovel fertilizer
forever we start to weigh onour psyche.
(06:33):
So our financial health and thefinancial health of those whom
we lead affects not just mentalhealth, but physical health as
well.
Data shows that when we stressabout finances, sometimes about
one-third of the population hasfelt PTSD-like symptoms as a
result of the financial stress.
(06:54):
So the fight, flight, freeze,not sure what to do, like oh my,
I have bills but not the moneyto pay them stresses people out
incredibly so, and I know I'vefelt that Maybe others can
relate, but I've felt that of Idon't know where my next meal is
going to come from.
What is it that I need to do?
And, out of desperation, readyto do almost anything just to
(07:17):
get food in my stomach.
And that's difficult, that'shard and that's something that
so many people across thecountry, from coast to coast,
are facing and struggle with.
But with the question aboutthat financial health, it's not
just dollars and cents, though.
It's that as well, making surethat we have what we need to pay
(07:39):
for, but it's such an emotionaland physical impact on our
lives and well-being, but it'ssuch an emotional and physical
impact on our lives andwell-being.
Brandon Mulnix (07:46):
As you look at managers, leaders and I'm going
to go back to that empathy pieceunderstanding their team,
understanding that, thestruggles that they have,
they're not alone.
The leader's worried aboutmoney, maybe has poor habits
around it, maybe hisproductivity is out.
(08:07):
He's managing a team that'sequally, or maybe even more,
stressed about the same topic.
How can a leader, I guess, leadin this area?
Matt Paradise (08:14):
I would say.
The first is by example.
I mean, I know so many leadersthat I've worked with and just
because someone has a largersalary than somebody else
doesn't necessarily mean thatthere's zero financial stress in
their lives.
Sometimes the opposite is true.
As we have more money and moreresponsibilities that come with
earning that money, thensometimes that stress starts to
(08:36):
pile up.
And I don't know about anybodyelse, but I personally don't
always deal with stress in themost productive way.
Oftentimes that comes out tothe people closest to me my wife
, my son but we care for her momas well as she lives with us.
Sometimes it just comes out injust being a little bit too
(08:56):
sharp, lacking love, care andcompassion when all they're
asking is for like, what are wegoing to do for dinner or some
other otherwise inane thing.
But because there's 10, 15different processes going on in
my mind about all the thingsthat need to be done, my stress
spills over to those around meand I think for leaders that can
(09:17):
certainly be the case and it'sa stressful time for many in our
current economy.
In the poultry industrycertainly, there's a significant
labor shortage.
There's significant recruitmentretention factors that affect
operations for many farms acrossthe country, farms that friends
of mine own and others thatI've seen and when we start to
(09:39):
get stressed, we tend not tomake the wisest decisions for
our future.
Slowing down, being able togather ourselves, collect
ourselves and lead as a servantand by example the area of
finances in this case with yourquestion, brennan, I think is
extremely powerful, and I don'twant to underestimate how
(10:01):
difficult and challenging thatcan be at times, because the
stress is real.
It's not that it just goes awaybecause we don't want to feel
stressed or don't have theseother problems, because they're
there.
I just know personally thatwhen I'm stressed and start to
make decisions out of thatstress, sometimes out of
desperation, I tend not to havethe outcomes that I'm looking
(10:22):
for.
Brandon Mulnix (10:23):
Yeah, I can feel that.
I think stress and thatsometimes makes us do things
that we would not normally do.
You know, looking for thatquick, easy win versus that
long-term gain, and I've seenthat in business.
Thankfully, I've experienced alot in my life, matt.
It's one of those things.
I'm, you know, I had adifferent type of education
(10:46):
growing up.
My first two businesses wentbankrupt, first one being a lawn
mowing business right out ofhigh school.
Bought that lawnmower was goingto mow those lawns and I didn't
have the money to pay for thelawnmower Got repoed and away it
went.
Second one was another business.
I had a photography studiowhere I 2009 hit, crashed,
(11:09):
crashed around me and for someway I was able to work my way
through it.
And next thing I know, a fewyears later, I was able to
actually sell a business for aprofit the same business for a
profit.
And it's just.
You know, what you'rechallenged by in there is your
core need of providing providingfor your family, providing for
your own needs.
(11:29):
I have things I like to do.
I like to eat out, I like to doall those things.
When you can't do that, itstarts to gnaw at you and adds a
lot of stress on the marriagerelationships and then, when
that comes to work, yeah,sometimes people see their
employees as a way to get theirneeds met and get things done
and they get a profit out ofthat.
(11:50):
And that's hard when you startto focus on that as your way of
getting out of your debt andstuff like that.
So, matt, we know the problem.
Everybody can relate to theissue of money in some way.
How do we walk our way out ofit?
How do we find freedom fromunhealthy lifestyle?
Matt Paradise (12:08):
Sure, I appreciate that.
The first step and you alludedearlier, brandon, the challenge
of addiction.
It's real.
I'm sure there's listeners thathave never touched a drug in
their lives and I have friendsthat back in the day we called
it straight edge didn't touchdrugs, alcohol, anything, and
(12:29):
wouldn't put anything into theirbodies that would ever corrupt
it.
I always thought that wasamazing.
I also saw that as personally,a journey that seemed impossible
.
I couldn't even comprehend it.
So the first step is to besober-minded, and being
sober-minded doesn't necessarilymean that there's a substance
attached to it.
For many there often is, but itdoesn't have to be, because
(12:54):
there are process addictions,whether it's gambling, whether
it's getting into debt andfueling our whatever that it is
our dreams, our aspirations, ourgoals, and it becomes
compulsive to the point ofirrational thought and behavior.
Being sober-minded means totake a step back, collect not
(13:15):
just our thoughts and ourfeelings but also really just,
with a sober mind, assess thereality of our situation.
Many of my challenges I'vegotten into because I didn't
have a sober judgment, evenwithout using drugs or alcohol,
but I didn't have the soberjudgment, clear-mindedness, to
(13:36):
make the best decision for myfuture.
Sometimes that comes throughlack of hope when we lack hope
for a better world or betterfuture.
And oftentimes debt can comeabout out of the best intentions
.
We want to feed our family, wewant to help our employees, we
(13:58):
want to grow our business to bebigger and better and help our
economy and our community andthe friends and family and
people who we love.
And sometimes that starts aprocess in our minds to do
anything to make that happen,because it's out of our good
heartedness as well To stop andsoberly assess our situation and
whatever that it is.
(14:18):
And I know in 2024, farm debt atagricultural banks increased by
7%.
By 7% In the credit counselingbusiness, I would speak to
people often with cash flowchallenges and the most credit
card debt unsecured credit carddebt was around $500,000.
And that's on top of equipmentloans or property loans or other
farm debt or things like that.
(14:39):
And oftentimes when the debtgets that large, it's because
it's trying to make it through ahurdle and there's so many
variables and factors in farmingthat often are beyond our
control.
When there's a natural disaster, I can't control that, but it
certainly affects, whether it'sthe cost of feed or we can run
down the list trying to besober-minded through those
(14:59):
things.
I find that challenging.
Maybe others can relate.
So to take a moment andsometimes get other help from
people, whether it's trustedfriends, advisors, people in our
lives who can help us with aclear mind.
Look at all of the debt, all ofthe income, all of the expenses
, and this can be on thebusiness side as well as our
(15:20):
personal side.
We talked about earlier,brandon, the idea of leading by
example.
Even in our personal lives I'veseen plenty of businesses that
are doing phenomenally and oneof the reasons why they're doing
so well is because the ownersaren't necessarily taking a
salary or a salary that'sadequate to cover their expenses
(15:40):
and a fair wage.
Essentially, I mean thinkingoutside of even just the farm
industry, I mean physicians.
Across the country there aremany who have all this debt and
paying their employees and justthat monthly nut, the overhead
stress, just to feed theirfamilies and don't have enough
of a salary to pay the bills.
(16:01):
So it's important, with a clearmind, to sit down and that
could mean something differentfor everybody.
Sometimes it's the externalhelp, Sometimes it's just maybe
getting away, stepping away fromthe stresses of day-to-day life
, because it's so easy andfarming and other industries too
but to be working in thebusiness and not have time to
(16:23):
work on the business and onourselves.
So I would say that's step one.
Brandon Mulnix (16:28):
So realizing there's a problem is step one.
Not putting our head in thesand, not pretending that
tomorrow will be sunshine andrainbows because today was
cloudy and rain, but to actuallyidentify that there's a problem
.
So for someone who, okay, Ineed help, I'm willing to get
help.
Where do they turn?
Matt Paradise (16:50):
to, I would say that it's a very personal
decision and I'll clarify thatit's not dodging the answer,
which, okay, Matt, thanks,that's not helpful.
When I think about dealing withpersonal finances, it's
important to keep it personal.
It's a little bit differentthan business finances.
(17:11):
When we get into accounting,there's the numbers, there's the
dollars and cents.
Who cares about the feelings?
Bills have to be paid.
When it comes to our personalfinances, there's a lot more
feelings, emotion, thoughts,attitudes, values all of the
above.
That's not just ourselves, butour families.
(17:33):
My wife and I are a partnershipand we make decisions together
and many of the decisions I makeshe would not make.
I'm the emotional one in ourrelationship.
She is analytical, she's abiochemist and everything like
data, numbers, spreadsheets.
That's just how she thinks.
She doesn't have to try andwe're different.
(17:54):
The power of that is that whenwe come together to face a
problem, we address it fromdifferent perspectives and it's
far more powerful and we havebetter outcomes together than
individually.
So when I say personal what thefirst step is or what the next
best step is and I think that'simportant when we can't see the
full staircase in front of usand where the clear path is, we
(18:18):
just take the next best step,and for some that might be
getting help with a drugaddiction or drinking and I
don't say that lightly, as Ishared, as listeners now know
that that's part of mybackground.
I know what it's like tooverdose.
I know what it's like to wantto change and, as Paul says,
(18:40):
even the good I want to do, Itry and I can't and I'm pulled
right back down into the sameold patterns and by my own power
I know that I wasn't able to doit.
I needed people For me.
That was a Bible-based drugrecovery program and I had a
mentor that cared enough aboutme, that didn't let me just sink
(19:01):
deeper into the depressive,deep, dark hole of addiction
that I was living in for years,but cared enough about me to
show a better way and that madeall the difference.
So for others, maybe it'sfiguring out what the different
vice is.
Maybe it's tuning out the worldin front of the television.
(19:24):
We don't typically think ofthat as an addiction, but so
many friends that I've seen andat times I've felt as well, the
compulsion to say life is tough.
Forget this.
Let me go watch another episodeof fill in the blank.
Whatever your thing is.
Maybe it's gambling andgambling doesn't necessarily
(19:46):
mean showing up at the casino,but even taking unnecessary
risks and feeling the compulsionto do so quote unquote, betting
the farm.
For others, maybe it's arelational thing and working
through anger.
I've dealt with some differentillness and things like that in
my life and it's common withsignificant illness to feel the
need to control everything andevery outcome, Because through
(20:10):
illness for me it was bile ductcancer but through illness,
every control, every possiblecontrol, is taken away from us.
I coded on the table in 2021,and I couldn't control whether I
lived or whether I died.
It was in the hands of my God,it was in the hands of the
(20:30):
doctors whom he sent andultimately that takes just
incredible surrender.
That doesn't come easy to me,and it doesn't come easy to many
of my friends who are leaderseither, because it's our job and
responsibility oftentimes tokeep things under control,
because families rely on us,it's people, and the decisions
(20:53):
that we make affect people andthe community and the ones that
we love and want to see do wellalso.
So sometimes it's seeing thosecharacter traits within
ourselves that might need togrow, and maybe it's whether
it's anger, whether it's we canfill in the blank for each one,
and that's why I say it'spersonal, because, brandon, my
(21:14):
things are different than yourthings and for every single
listener that's listening to ustoday, their things are
different than ours, and that'sjust how life is.
That's part of the power ofcommunity when we lead, it's not
leading in a bubble, but it'srelying on neighbors.
I know one of the mostincredible things actually that
happened this winter a friend ofmine from high school, his
(21:38):
family farm.
He runs it now.
It burned down Well, not thewhole farm, large barn burned
down and that's expensive and itwasn't something that he
planned for and he reached outto the community to ask for help
.
This was it happened to be adairy farm, but it was time to
milk the cows, and the cowsdon't wait, the cows don't think
.
Well, there's a farm.
(21:58):
Let me just hold on to my help.
Farming doesn't work that way.
Chickens wait on no one.
When it's time to lay thoseeggs, it's time to lay those
eggs, no matter what we think,feel or what's going on around.
So what was incredible about it?
Obviously not the fire, but thefact that community rallied
(22:19):
around him, because there justhappened to be one particular
person that was in theneighborhood fixing it.
And we're in New England, sothere's like one company that
fixes this particular piece oflegacy equipment because some of
it's just generational, it'sbeen on the farm for a long time
and they keep it runningbecause it works better than a
lot of the new stuff.
Sometimes, anyway, butsometimes it's challenging to
(22:40):
fix.
So it just so happened thetiming worked out that this
person who knew this piece ofequipment was there and could
fix it, and a neighboring farmoffered their milking parlor, so
it was actually the milkingparlor that burned down, so they
were able to transport the cowswith other people in the
community to this milking powerto still be able to milk the
(23:00):
cows, and the way that thecommunity rallied together was
truly inspiring.
Shout out, matt Peckham.
So when we think about thechallenges that we go through
and I know that so many alreadydo a lot of this stuff they rely
on each other.
But community is powerful whenit comes to our personal growth
as well.
It's just as powerful to beable to ask trusted advisors, to
(23:24):
be able to ask those who arearound us.
What do you think?
Is this a wise financialdecision?
Does this make rational sense,will these choices financially
lead me to the goal and outcomethat I desire?
And obviously everybody has aplan, until they're punched in
the face and plans go up insmoke, sometimes literally.
But that doesn't mean that westop planning.
(23:45):
We plan and God determines ourfootsteps, and we take it one
day at a time.
But that doesn't mean weabandon all plans.
It does mean that with manyadvisors, our plan is much more
likely to succeed.
Brandon Mulnix (23:59):
So, Matt, I'm hearing you talk a lot about
community not doing it alone.
You've identified, you've got afinancial problem.
You identified that maybethere's an addiction that could
be.
You missed a bunch of them thataffected me over the years food
, living, you know, buyingsomething just so I could keep
up with my friends, especiallyhobbies.
(24:20):
As a guy, I always had to havethe best hunting stuff because I
thought it was going to give methe next big buck and I would
spend all kinds of money on thatstuff, and yet I was putting me
in debt, justifying it by goodlean venison.
It's costing me way more thanjust going by the beef down at
the store.
So you talk about the communityside, getting others involved
(24:44):
as we look at the leader, theperson that maybe it's not them
that's going through this, maybeit's somebody else.
How do you approach somebodythat you're leading and offer
help without offending, so tospeak?
Matt Paradise (25:01):
That's a delicate balance.
I think you mentioned the wordearlier, brandon compassion,
being able to have compassionand empathy, understanding that
those we lead are struggling.
It's a matter of what it isthat they're struggling with and
that's just a reality of humannature.
So, being approachable, so thatwe create an environment of
(25:28):
conversation and that's not easy, that takes time that's a
culture, because I don't know, Idon't want to perpetuate
stereotypes, but you mentioned acouple that resonated with me
and as a guy, I don't want toneed to ask for help.
I don't want to have thisculture of kumbaya.
Let's just talk it out.
(25:48):
That's personally not me.
I have many friends that do.
I've needed to continue mygrowth.
I can't say that I've fullygrown, but continue my growth so
that I can lead withvulnerability, so that I can
share what's happening.
Brandon, your story of getting alawnmower and starting a
(26:10):
business and the excitement, theexhilaration that comes with
that and then the heartbreaking,soul-crushing aspect of
bankruptcy that took that away,and not once, but twice.
So there's a good chance forlisteners who lead and have
employees that their employeesalso have aspirations, whether
(26:30):
it's to have a lawn mowingbusiness, or maybe it's to grow
in the poultry business andeventually maybe even have their
own plot of land and be able togrow a business.
But employees have aspirationsand dreams and when we, as
leaders, empower our employeesand leading with vulnerability,
well then one, those employeesaren't going to just leave
(26:52):
faster to go start their dreamBecause, as anybody who's in a
farming business knows that, itdoesn't just happen overnight.
You don't automatically say,well, I'm done, I don't need
this paycheck because I'm in themoney.
It takes time, it takespatience, it takes perseverance,
it takes lots of stumbling.
(27:18):
So knowing and understandingthat and nurturing employees for
the long term so that they caneven work towards and grow
towards their own dreams, goals,aspirations and maybe even
build their own thing.
It's not a competition in thatcase, but it's being able to
reach behind us as leaders andgive people a handout Not
necessarily a handout.
It doesn't mean that everybodyjust needs higher paychecks and
more money, but what they needis our compassion, our empathy
(27:42):
and understanding and sometimesjust help from the lessons that
we've learned.
Brandon, you sharing again justsome of your financial
struggles and lessons thatyou've learned through that is
powerful for others, becauseothers are in that position
where you were 20, 30, whateveryears ago, and similarly for me.
(28:02):
I've gone through lots ofdifferent challenges and trials
and struggles and made plenty ofmistakes, and it's out of those
mistakes that I've been able tolearn and I can now and have
the pleasure of teaching andworking with others.
Brandon Mulnix (28:17):
It's interesting .
You talk about getting to knowyour team, getting to know your
team members to know your team,getting to know your team
members, dreams, aspirations,desires, struggles.
There's a delicate balancebetween too much information at
work and a relationship with theperson.
We spend more hours with thepeople we work with than we
(28:40):
typically do our family in aweek, and understanding the
struggles that they have really,you know, in my past has really
helped me understand how I canbest lead them, as I've had
folks that you know had visionsfor such grander ideas and just
needed a little bit of a hey,I'm behind you, I'm supporting
(29:02):
you and they're like, but whywould you support me when, if I
do that, that means I'm behindyou?
I'm supporting you and they'relike, but why would you support
me when, if I do that, thatmeans I'm leaving the company
and it's like well, myinvestment's not in you for the
company, my investment's in youfor the rest of your life.
I want you to be a betterperson, I want you to grow, I
want you to learn from even mymistakes.
Sharing my story allows them tounderstand that it's not just
(29:24):
vulnerability, but it's hey,what did you learn?
How can I keep you from thatMaking the same mistakes I made,
and I guess it just helpsrelate to them as humans and
you're working together.
My big thing is when I look atmy team and I see their
successes, it really makes mehappy.
I like to see when they get anew vehicle, when they, you know
(29:51):
, talk about their kid going offand playing travel sports,
because I know how expensivethat is.
I had kids in travel sports,but the idea is, as a leader,
it's I get to win when they win,and that is truly important to
me, because I know that there'sother jobs that always pay more.
That's not the always answer.
I know that there's jobs thatprobably have more flexible
(30:13):
hours.
There's jobs that would meetsome of their needs better than
what I can, as a leader, offerthem.
But ultimately, I want to makesure they feel that I'm
alongside of them, I'mpartnering with them.
I have their career in mind, Ihave their family's livelihood
in mind, because that all willkeep them growing and prospering
(30:36):
in many ways like that, and sothat's always been important for
me figuring out ways to helpkeep supporting even the local
community, different things,just because I know how blessed
I've been in life.
It's like how can I continue tobless others with that and
that's a lot of that's justthrough sharing experiences Like
, for example, this podcast.
(30:57):
So, matt, what resources arethere out there to help people
that they're not?
You know, they don't just leavethis podcast and and go and
have to again hunt for moreresources.
What have you got for them?
Matt Paradise (31:09):
Sure, there's a lot for sure, and it can be
challenging and sometimesoverwhelming.
I want to just add to thatpoint that last point that you
made, brandon, I think iscritically important.
There's there's so much morethat can be explored there.
I think it's one of theparadoxical things about
creating culture where peoplewant to stay and that when they
(31:31):
do stay, it's not necessarilyabout just earning the higher
paycheck.
I do believe that loyalty doesexist.
I do believe that creating thatculture of we'll call it
reciprocity, but the idea that arising tide lifts all boats,
the idea that we help each otherand we can all learn and grow
and be better as people, but ina lot of different ways,
(31:55):
whatever the metrics are that weuse, I think it also talks and
gets even into successionplanning.
For many farmers and friendsthat I've grown up around,
succession planning is always onminds, and this goes beyond
just the poultry business, butacross the board.
For any leader who runs or ownsa business, succession planning
is critical and I've spent alot of time working with boards
(32:17):
of directors on this recentlybecause it's critical.
Something happens to the keyperson and there's not a
succession plan.
Everything just falls apart.
There is no paycheck foremployees.
There may or may not even be abusiness without that planning
in place.
So sometimes creating thatculture where it's nurturing for
our employees to be the bestthat they possibly can, one in
(32:38):
the short term, paradoxically,can increase productivity and
data shows it and a betteroverall business.
And that person that we'renurturing also may be the
manager or helping to run thebusiness or maybe even running
the business.
Sometimes a business is passedon generationally.
Other times there's notnecessarily a child to pass it
(33:01):
on to and there's someone thatneeds to be raised up and it
makes a world of difference ifthey know that business inside
and out.
So long-term and short-termproductivity now and success and
health of the business in thelong-term.
So for resources, I do have awebsite.
Mattparadisecom is my websiteand there are quite a few free
(33:24):
resources on there, so I'm notselling extra stuff.
Don't go there and buy somespammy course.
Go there and get some freeresources.
I think that that's for sure.
One area, as far as even otherfree resources around personal
finance and education, dependingon where listeners want to go
to.
I love going to a place calledCoursera C-O-U-R-S-E-R-A.
(33:46):
Coursera is a website where youcan take college level classes
on everything from farming tofinance, and, it's amazing you
can take top college classes forfree online and learn almost
anything that you want to.
So maybe you're trying toimprove some of the productivity
through automation at your farm.
Well, there's a lot of techthat blows my mind that you can
(34:09):
go to a college course for freeand maybe enjoy it and learn
something.
Maybe it's not for you.
There's not a financial riskand after 10 minutes, if it
doesn't resonate with you, itdoesn't have to be a time risk
either, but you can get collegelevel classes on accounting and
just about anything there.
Edx is another one, acombination of MIT and Harvard
some smart people that created aplatform to access
(34:32):
college-level classes for free.
There are so many more.
My website offers a lot ofdifferent resources and websites
that I have personally used andvetted, so I think that
sometimes it's a matter ofknowing too much and doing too
little, and I'm talking tomyself here, because I want to
learn.
I want to know everything.
(34:53):
We were talking before wehopped on Brandon, about your
company and the tech that itcreates and the different
modules and ways that thedifferent controllers operate.
To me, that's fascinating and Ican go down a rabbit hole and
lose track of all the otherthings that I'm responsible for,
because that fascinates me andI have a desire to constantly
learn.
(35:14):
With money and finance, it's somuch like that as well, where we
can learn everything andeverybody has a different
opinion about this or that orwhat's best, or invest in this
and you'll be all set.
And sometimes it just takestaking a step back, being clear,
being sober-minded to thinkwhat is actually the next best
(35:35):
step to help me accomplish whatI need, and sometimes it's
simple.
I mean, at the end of the day,we've probably all heard don't
spend more money than you make.
Well, in and of itself, true,it may not be the full advice
that we might need because ofall the other emotions and stuff
we spoke about throughout thisepisode, but sometimes it can be
as simple as that.
For me, I need to kiss, keep itsimple, stupid, because I can
(36:01):
tend to overthink and, as aresult, because I can tend to
overthink and, as a result, thatprocrastination that comes
about overthinking and be stuckfrom taking the next best step.
So sometimes maybe it's notnecessarily going to learn more,
sometimes it's implementingwhat we already know.
Brandon Mulnix (36:19):
That's so true and there's so many people that
I can relate to the overthinkingpiece.
I'm a react very quickly pieceand then sometimes have to think
about it later.
But the idea is I can alwayschange directions.
Start doing something we talkabout with finances.
Start by saving $2 out of yourpaycheck.
(36:40):
Start by doing something that'sdifferent than what you're
doing today, because what you'redoing today hasn't worked up to
this point.
The challenge is the stressthat you're having.
So it's doing somethingdifferent than you're doing now,
and it doesn't have to be.
It doesn't have to be the best,it's just something getting
yourself moving in that rightdirection.
(37:01):
I know being willing to dive in.
We talked about leaders andbeing a leader, being willing to
have that conversation withyour team.
I've been at two differentcompanies that have provided
financial counseling.
From an HR perspective,priority health actually brought
(37:22):
in a financial counselor forpeople because they realized the
stress of finances and whatit's doing to the human body.
But providing that for yourteam, you know, for me it was
someone speaking into my lifeyears and years ago.
The first one was CrownFinancial was years ago.
I don't even know if it stillexists.
And the second one wasFinancial Peace University,
because I didn't grow up withthe best examples for finance.
(37:45):
I didn't make my best decisions, and I've talked about business
, I've talked about other things, but the areas that I think
I've grown the most was thatself-education, finding that
education for free.
There's a program called MBA forFree out there and literally it
will teach you everything youneed to get a college-level MBA
without the debt.
Now, you're not going to get acollege level MBA without the
(38:06):
debt.
Now, you're not going to get acertificate, you're not going to
have the network from theuniversity, but you're going to
have the same education.
The resources are available toyou.
You don't have to go to collegeto get the resources.
So, especially on the financialstuff, there's a lot of good
resources out there.
There's a lot of bad resourcesout there too.
So, matt, in closing, is thereanything else that you would
like to share with the PoultryLeadership Podcast audience?
Matt Paradise (38:28):
There's a lot.
This has been an amazingconversation.
I've thoroughly enjoyed it andI hope that it's helpful for
listeners.
I think, in closing, the lastcomment that you made about just
get going take a step, one stepat a time is important.
I'll use the analogy of tryingto steer a tractor.
If we try to steer a tractorwhile it's still, it's going to
(38:51):
be brutal.
It's going to be brutal, butonce it starts moving in a
direction, it's so much easier.
It's just physics.
With our lives, with ourfinances, it's similar.
Knowledge will only only get usso far, and there's a lot of
bright people in the world andthere's a lot of bright people
(39:11):
who do nothing with it.
But when we take that knowledgeand apply it and move it to
action and build discipline,habits and it creates a
lifestyle that's powerful.
And it creates a lifestylethat's powerful when we think
how challenging our situationsmight be, and for some, maybe
this is the best that it's everbeen and for others, maybe it's
(39:34):
the feeling of the sky isfalling.
For the latter group, I want toreally impart the idea that
there is always hope, there'salways the possibility, no
matter how difficult,challenging, frustrating the
situation might be.
There is always hope and alwaysa way, and that way starts with
taking that one next best step.
Brandon Mulnix (39:56):
Well.
Thank you, Matt.
I appreciate you willing toshare your story, your heart and
your wisdom with the PoultryLeadership Podcast audience
Listeners.
If you are a leader and you'renot worried about finances, just
remember somebody on your teamis.
Be there for them.
Take this subject, take it toheart, have empathy, figure out
(40:21):
how you can get the most out ofyour team just by being there
for them.
Help guide them in this area.
It is your responsibility as aleader of folks that you work
with every day to be that mentor, that guide, and don't take
that for granted.
So, as I close, I'd like todefinitely thank our sponsor,
Prism Controls.
One of the things that you knowkeeps farmers up at night is
(40:44):
finances and risk and all thethings that go hand in hand, and
one of the things that prismcontrols really focuses on is
helping guide farmers throughthat by making sure that they
have the technology to be ableto handle some of the crises
that they've been relying onhumans for unsuccessfully for
years.
This podcast just wouldn't bepossible without them, so please
(41:08):
thank them you can check outtheir website.
It's always in the show notes,things like that but also share
this with somebody.
Leave a comment.
Give your best financial advicein the comments on the show.
It really helps others.
You're part of this show,you're part of the community and
I appreciate all of you.
So have a great day.
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