From Orphan to Entrepreneur: A Dad's Journey Through Loss and Faith

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What happens when life strips everything away before you've even begun? In this deeply moving episode of the Quarterback Dadcast, we welcome Clark Wilcox, whose extraordinary journey began with unimaginable tragedy—losing both parents within ten days when he was just five years old.

Clark is the founder and host of the Digital Recruiter & Digital Recruiter Podcast.

Growing up in France to an Algerian father and American mother, Clark's childhood was abruptly transformed when his father died unexpectedly. Days later, upon learning the government planned to take her son away, his mother took her own life. Transported to America to live with his mother's family, Clark had to learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, and somehow make sense of his shattered world.

Through the guidance of his grandmother and adoptive father, Clark discovered the power of positivity, curiosity, and resilience. "My dad was never going to let me be a victim," Clark reflects, "but he didn't do it by telling me—he did it through action." These early lessons would become the foundation for his approach to life, business, and eventually, fatherhood.

Now a successful entrepreneur running The Digital Recruiter and raising two young sons with his wife, Clark shares how his faith journey became the cornerstone of his recovery from both childhood trauma and later professional setbacks. His candid discussion about reconciling with his adoptive mother demonstrates how forgiveness works as a healing force not just for the forgiven, but primarily for the forgiver.

What makes Clark's story so compelling isn't just what he overcame, but how he transformed his experiences into wisdom. The values he prioritizes—humility, grace, forgiveness—reflect a man who has thought deeply about what truly matters in parenting and in life. His journey reminds us that our greatest challenges often contain the seeds of our most important contributions.

Whether you're facing challenges in your parenting journey or simply seeking inspiration from someone who has transformed pain into purpose, this conversation will leave you with practical wisdom and renewed hope. Subscribe to the Quarterback Dadcast for more authentic conversations with fathers who are working to become better leaders in their homes.

Please don't forget to leave us a review wherever you consume your podcasts! Please help us get more dads to listen weekly and become the ultimate leader of their homes!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Riley and I'm Ryder and this is my dad show.
Hey, everybody, it's CaseyJaycox with the quarterback dad
cast.
Welcome to season six, and Icould not be more excited to
have you join me for anotheryear of fantastic episodes and
conversations really unscriptedand raw and authentic

(00:25):
conversations with dads.
If you're new to this podcast,really it's simple.
It's a podcast where weinterview dads, we learn about
how they were raised, we learnabout the life lessons that were
important to them, we learnabout the values that are
important to them and really welearn about how we can work hard
to become a better quarterbackor leader of our home.
So let's sit back, relax andlisten to today's episode on the
Quarterback Dadcast.

(00:45):
Well, hello everybody.
This is Casey Jaycox with theQuarterback Dadcast.
We're in season six and, as Imentioned, everybody, our guests
just keep getting a little bitbetter, and our next gentleman,
clark Wilcox, is going to walkthe walk and meet the demands of
that intense intro that I justwent crazy with, but he is the
um.
Actually, before I introducehim, I got to give love to Kelly

(01:06):
Shoe drop.
She's one of the coaches I'vehired on my journey of
entrepreneurship.
So, kelly, thank you forintroducing Clark Wilcox and I.
That's without you, thispodcast never happened, so shout
out to you, sister.
Um, anyway, he is the CEO, thefounder of the digital recruiter
helping companies drive morebusiness top of funnel through
LinkedIn.
Uh, he is the host of a digitalrecruiter helping companies
drive more business top offunnel through LinkedIn.
He is the host of the DigitalRecruiter Podcast.

(01:28):
He is a fractional CMO but,more importantly, he's a dad,
and that's why we're going tohave him on today to learn about
Clark the dad and how he'sworking hard to become that
ultimate quarterback or leaderof his household.
So, without further ado, mrWilcox, welcome to the
Quarterback Dadcast.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Hey, casey, thanks for having me.
Man, this is great to be here.
I'm so excited for thisconversation.
Being a dad's the best thingever.
Being a business owner ispretty fun.
It's all great.
So it's all things I'm excitedto talk about, so appreciate you
having me, you bet.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well, we always start out with gratitude, so tell me,
what are you most grateful foras a dad today?

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Ooh, I mean, I don't even know how to start the list,
but I I mean really my, mybirthday was on Sunday, so a
couple of days ago, and so Ithink it's always thank you.
I think there's always like atime of reflection and I think
what I was grateful for is justto have just think about that

(02:21):
day of just.
It was nice weather, I got myalmost two-year-old.
I have a son that's going to betwo years old next month.
We have a two-month-old as ofthis week.
So the 202 lifestyle and havinga house, having a wonderful wife
that's been crazy supportive ofme, and all in with our kids,

(02:42):
and just the reward of justraising kids and just like
hanging out, especially with mytwo-year-old and I, that
personality coming to life, andjust like the moments, just like
the being present.
I'm grateful that I'm as presentas I can be.
I'm flawed and make mistakesall the time, but I think I'm
grateful for just all like theblessings and just appreciating

(03:03):
what a special time in life thisis.
It hasn't been like the easiestof journeys, as most guests I'm
sure you've had, and listenersright, we all have trials, but I
just think I'm so grateful forthe blessing I have, and the
problems I have too.
At the same time because theseare problems I prayed about
having five, six, seven yearsago and I don't take a minute of

(03:25):
it for granted Just a love thatI have in my day-to-day and my
business.
I just have some of the bestclients ever and I just every
day is fulfilling man.
I don't feel like there's awasted moment, so I'm really
grateful for that.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Love it.
That's well said, dude.
What I'm grateful for is Ihaven't talked about this in a
while, but I'm grateful for time, because I have control over
time and each we all both youand I and everybody listening at
home and wherever you're at weget 1,440 minutes each day.
No one gets more, no one getsless, and so I'm grateful for a

(04:03):
very present mindset that dayswhen I'm not my best, I might
not use my time as efficient,that's okay, but I'm not going
to let two bad days go in a row.
And so, like a perfect exampleof the day I woke up I woke up
earlier because I had I have afull day of podcast recordings
and sales leadership work I'mdoing with companies, and I had
a gap between, like I had a 30minute gap, and so I said I said

(04:27):
I said my dog, who's behind me.
I said, hey, you know, we're,we're going to go.
And I literally took her for a14 minute.
You know what?
I can't say the word causeshe'll freak out the W, a, l, k.
And so I was like seven minutesout, seven minutes back now.
Was that any form of goodexercise?
No, but better than doingnothing.
And so I have another gap thisafternoon, then I'll take it for

(04:47):
a longer one, but it was justlike I was just grateful that,
like you know, I worked outearlier, did some gratitude work
, had a coaching call and justbeing outside for 14 minutes got
me in an even better mindset abetter and I was already I will
already woke up, ready to go andjacked up, but like it got me
in a better mindset.
So I'm grateful for that,because I had control over that

(05:08):
and I to me.
I made the right decision todayto just maximize the time I get
.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
I love it.
I did the same exact thing, Ithink the same timeframe, on a
walk with my golden retrieverright before this recording.
So it's a.
It's crazy how that that syncsup and parallels.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
I couldn't agree more so for those watching on
YouTube.
That's Harley.
What's up, harley?
For those at home in the car,you can't see it, but she's an
Irish Setter Golden Creeper50-50 mix.
Oh, they're the best.
We just lost Stella about amonth and a half ago, her
stepmom, but we're getting her apuppy in september, so she's

(05:45):
going to be now.
She went from baby to now.
She's going to be the big girlon campus.
Yeah, which will be very nice,very nice.
Well, um, bring me inside thewilcox huddle, talk to me about
how you and your wife met andthen talk about, uh, each
wonderful child.
You have.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, yeah, we met October 2020.
So interesting time, right.
The COVID.
The first year of COVID era, Ihad moved to Ohio October,
officially October 2019.
So I've been there about a year.
I had kind of found my faith inMarch of 2019.

(06:24):
Then, when I was in LA, I movedto Ohio through a friend, kind
of was hitting reset for a year,really diving into my Bible and
sermons and going to church.
I didn't go on one date oranything else.
I was like really honed in onthat.
And about a year in I was likeall right, like I kind of feel
like you know, see what's outthere, but everything was like

(06:44):
closed or shut down.
No one was going out anywhere.
So I was like what do I do?
So download an app called Hingeand I had a few matches, a few
conversations, but she's justthe one that stood out and I
think my tagline because you canhave a few different ones on
there the one that she liked orcommented on was, uh, god, first
karaoke, second um, and so thatwas the tagline.

(07:08):
So we kind of hit it off fromthat and, uh, both people that
had kind of recently found ourfaith and but also like to have
a good time and some karaoke.
I actually ended up getting itinscribed on my suit that I had
tailored for for my wedding, uh,so it's still upstairs.
On there it says god firstkaraoke, second on there,
embroidered on there, which ispretty cool.
So we met and we got basically adinner and drinks.

(07:32):
It was the last warm day of2020.
It was 80 degrees.
We met up around six o'clockand we ended up talking for like
three, four hours and justtalking about life and work and
challenges.
And you know she had.
She didn't know her father, youknow, growing up, but she had
been really working through alot of that stuff.
For for me it was my parentsboth died when I was five years

(07:55):
old, within 10 days of eachother.
So she kind of looked at mewhen she told her story.
It was like, you know, I thinkshe usually gets judged and all
that stuff, right, you know, andI looked at her.
I was like, trust me, I can oneup you on on craziness and
trauma and I think what reallylinked us together was not
trauma bonding, but with kind ofmy childhood, we were both like
stuff happened.

(08:16):
How do we process it?
Deal with it so we can find theright person, right spout and
build a family together and workthrough overcoming kind of our
challenges together.
And that was really thefoundation of how we met and

(08:39):
from the very beginning, it wasjust one of the it was just very
intentional Date three or four.
I was like I'm not dating todate, I'm dating to marry, and
this is what I don't believe inand everything else.
I'm trying to do things thebiblical way.
And she was like I'm all in,I'm like all right.
So we just had a great year,about a year in.

(08:59):
It was Thanksgiving weekend.
We're hanging out one morning.
I'm like what are we waitingfor?
Why don't we just startplanning a wedding?
So, like I didn't have a ring,we just started touring venues
and everything else.
But we were picking stuff out.
We went ring shopping together.
Um, I was able to kind ofsurprise her somehow, even
though she knew it was coming.
I had the ring guy to email her, be like, oh, there's a delay
in the shipment.

(09:20):
And then I went picked it upand it surprised her.
Uh, in the rooftop in Columbus.
We got married a year and ahalf after we met.
We had our son a year afterthat.
Um, that was May 2023, um, andin our newest one a couple
months ago, so that's kind ofthe cliff notes version.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Uh, I'll take a breather there so you have son
and two sons, or two sons yeah,yeah, two sons.
Okay, and what are their names?
We have Wyatt and we have Jetas the newborn Cool Jet sounds
like he's already fast.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
He's fast to cry.
We were ready to figure outsomething.
He's been a little colicky.
He's adorable.
It's not fun when they cry, butreally figuring out, is it diet
stuff, is it heavy metals?
You know stuff like what'sgoing on there because you've
just been agitated.
So you know Maddie's beenincredible working just so hard
the different specialists anddoctor and all that just to try

(10:14):
to figure out, hey, what aresome ways that she can provide
them some relief and some ofthat stuff's really gotten a lot
better the last few days.
But I'm just lucky to havemarried someone that is just all
about doing whatever she canfor our boys, from just health
and she was a former third gradeteacher and everything else, so
she kind of has that abilitytoo.
So it really is amazing.

(10:36):
So we're kind of in it and justtrying to make sure he can get
the rest and the support that heneeds, because it's not fun
when they're crying all the time.
It can be part of it, but youalways want to make sure that
they're good.
Now, does she stay home with thekids?
She's at home, she helps me.
I got her into recruiting abouta year and a half ago Cause I
also own an agency, co-own anagency, a recruiting agency, and

(10:58):
she was very successful lastyear and then, as now that we
have two, it's a lot harder fortalk to candidates on the phone
daily and everything else.
So she kind of shifted over tohelping a lot with the
operations on my coaching andtraining business and kind of
our marketing work that we dowith clients.
So she's been instrumental thisyear and just helping with a
lot of back system operationsand everything else.
So it's great.

(11:19):
So she helps me for a few hoursa day.
We have our niece and mymother-in-law and our nephew are
very actively involved, so wehave family help as well.
So it's kind of like a it takesa village type of effort over
here that we have going on.
So that's pretty cool, verycool.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well, you dropped the big one on us.
You lost both parents at agefive.
I can't even imagine that.
The only only other person I'vemet that lost both parents, uh,
was a guy named orson sweatmartin, who I wrote, who I
researched and I wrote my book,um, and he, he lost both parents
at the age of like one, at likeseven and one at five.

(11:58):
So, uh, then he had I mean guyhad more diversity, but he's one
of the most positive.
If not, if you've notresearched him, research him, I
will.
Orson, what was his last name?
Orson Sweat Martin, m-a-r-d-e-n.
He actually ended up foundingsomething called Success
Magazine, which is still aroundto this day.
I think they even have aLinkedIn page.
But yeah, he is just a guy thatreally kind of I'm glad his

(12:25):
life story came across me when Iwas writing the book five, six
years ago.
So, for what you feelcomfortable sharing, talk about
what you remember about mom anddad growing up and then, and
then maybe what, what happened?

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, absolutely no, I'm.
I'm always open on on sharing.
So my parents met.
My dad grew up in Algeria.
He was the oldest of nine kids,which I didn't find out until I
was like 30, 31, which isinteresting.
That's a whole other story.
But he grew up in Algeria andimmigrated to France in the 80s.
My mom grew up north of Boston,in the town that I eventually

(12:57):
ended up growing up in, spendingmost of my childhood in, and
she had traveled to France andshe was kind of writing and kind
of working odd jobs here andthere, but mostly just kind of
lived there.
So they met on a park bench ina town called Honissy, france,
beautiful, beautiful lake townup against the Alps in Eastern

(13:18):
France, right next to Geneva,very close to Geneva.
So I was actually born outsideof Geneva, but on the French
side, saint-julien-genevois isthe name of the.
So I was actually born outsideof Geneva, but on the French
side Saint-Julien-Genevois isthe name of the city I was born
in.
But it was a beautiful town andthey worked together.
They officially got marriedwhen I was four.
I don't know how long they weretogether before they had me,
but just obviously two verydifferent cultures where they

(13:40):
were from and this is late 80s,early 90s, so no cell phones or
internet or anything else likethat.
So a little bit isolated rightfrom their families, my mom was
developing some mental healthissues, schizophrenia and that
kind of got progressively worse.
My dad worked a graveyard shiftso that was a tough schedule.

(14:04):
So I'd have like he'd drop meoff at a nanny at night and I
would sleep.
You know she would take care ofme and he'd come pick me up in
the morning.
So I do remember that.
I remember him, like you know,carrying me in and all that
stuff.
I'd be asleep on his shoulders.
So I remember, you know, ourcar breaking down and having to
walk to go get gas at the gasstation, like little things like
that, and um being at theplayground with with my mom, and

(14:24):
you know have a lot of picturesfrom that.
I don't remember their voices,um, but there's a lot of
pictures and all that stuff fromthat era.
So I always had those Um andunfortunately, what happened is
when I was like January 1993, mydad went into the hospital with
some health issues concerns and, um, I was always told that he
ended up having, you know, aheart attack and I'm not sure if

(14:46):
it was like my adopted dad waslike wasn't sure if it was
pneumonia or what, but I'mpretty sure it was a heart
attack.
Um, about age 41, um, it was asmoker working graveyard shift.
My mom's health was gettingprogressively worse, so there
was a lot going on, a lot ofstressors and and with the
mental health issues, um, youknow, so I it.
So they got along great most ofthe time.
I think a couple times, youknow, I saw the best

(15:10):
interactions at times, butoverall my memories were always
like very positive and healthy.
But unfortunately, my mom camein and woke me up one night and
told me my dad had passed away.
And so I do.
You know, I always rememberthat moment and pretty ingrained
.
Again, I can't remember thewords that she said, but I just
I can remember her face and herkind of mouthing the words, and

(15:31):
again in French.
Right, I spoke only French atthat time.
She taught me a little bit ofEnglish.
So that happened and she hadour close family friends came
and took me in and actually mymom and my son sort through
everything, came and took me inand actually my mom and son sort
through everything.
But then, unfortunately, youknow the government I think it
was my dad's family, you knowthey got wind of some of her
issues she was having andbasically 10 days later, my

(15:55):
uncle and my dad's side came andvisited and told me that my mom
had passed away, and so whathappened is that she had taken
her life and they had found aletter from the government that
was saying that they were goingto take me from her.
It just didn't have the supportaround everything else and I
think that was just kind of thelast straw, right in the tough
state tough head state and hadlost her husband and was about

(16:18):
to lose her son, and so that wasit.
So they kind of found theletter on the table and so, yeah
, that was 10 days, 10 daysapart, and yeah, and then it was
just kind of a whole process.
In France it took about threemonths for them to figure out am
I going to go to Algeria, am Igoing to go to Boston?
In France they giveguardianship to the grandparents

(16:41):
, so there was a battle that wasnot necessarily my Algerian
side of the family is 99%amazing.
I've met some of them in futureyears, a lot later on in life,
but I had one uncle that I thinkreally wanted to bring me back
to Algeria, and his girlfriendat the time kind of stopped that
from happening, shall we say,illegally, and so that was kind

(17:01):
of a whole thing I learned aboutlater.
Eventually the courts decidedto give guardianship to my mom's
mom, um, and so she, uh,officially was one of the travel
where he took me in, but I wasplayed.
I lived with my mom's olderbrother, um, and his and his
wife.
So he had um this was hissecond wife.
He had been married, had my oldman, older sister, um, got

(17:23):
remarried and had two kids afterthey took me in my younger
brother and sister.
So it's kind of convoluted andcomplicated.
But basically my aunt and uncletook me in on my mom's side and
so I grew up with that side ofthe family.
My grandmother it was her oldestchild that had passed away.
My mom, my adopted dad, was herstepson technically, so we just

(17:45):
had a really close bond.
I learned, uh, english in aboutfour months and forgot all my
french like I barely speakfrench nowadays still to this
day.
Um, and you know, my dad wasjust like my adoptive dad, was
just like you know.
It was no drugs, no therapy andeverything else was like we're
just gonna shower this kid withlove and a good time.

(18:05):
And I had neighborhood friendsimmediately like they introduced
me to and I would go to all the.
You know my grandmother wastrying to figure out like what
to do with me, like how do Ihang out, you know she's, and he
was like just take her, justtake him to sports games, like.
So we, she got me red sockstickets for my seventh birthday
and, um, you know, I had movedto back start.

(18:25):
I had moved here before the daybefore my sixth birthday, uh,
so I moved to the states 32years ago, uh, this week, um,
and yeah, it was about a year tokind of figure out they got me
a sega right away.
I had to tend to in france.
It got me a sega so, you know,had fun and made friends and
learned english.
And then, a year in, she, youknow, had fun and made friends
and learned english.
And then a year in, she liketook me to red sox game and I

(18:48):
was hooked.
Like I went to red sox game,bruins and celtics all in the
same month and I was like thisis what I love doing, like I
love sports.
Uh, and so her and I went tohundreds of games together,
going up from revolute soccer tofootball to red sox and all
that and that like our bonding,and she was the one that kind of
took me on vacations andeverything.
So, she was my grandma, yeah, sothat was kind of like and I

(19:11):
could take a breather if youwant to ask me but she was like
that, was it?
Like her and my adopted dad andso many other family members.
But those are the tworelationships that were were
really my saving grace, uh,growing up, and they were
whether not really by officialtitle, but kind of my, my
therapist.
We were all grieving right inour own way, um, but just

(19:34):
through spending time togetherand being present and just
talking about stuff not alwaysserious stuff, but just kind of
having fun and helping me figureout what my interests were and
everything else and skills, um,it was great.
So, like I had some crazy stuffhappen, but like people stepped
in for me, it took me in like Iyou know, it's like I I really

(19:54):
have no complaints because acrazy thing happened.
But you know again, god worksin mysterious ways and he put me
in the right place where Ineeded to be.
Um, and you know, that doesn'tmean it was all roses, far from
it but I got put into a greatenvironment and, despite having
gone through a crazy situation,Are grandma and stepdad still

(20:16):
with us?

Speaker 1 (20:17):
They?

Speaker 2 (20:17):
both passed away.
My grandmother passed away inAugust 2015 and my dad passed
away July 2020.
It matched in the craziness ofthe COVID and all that stuff.
He had a lot of health issues.
He got diagnosed withnon-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2000.
He ended up going throughradiation and had COPD for about
20 years.
So about 15% lung capacity for20 years, which is pretty nuts.

(20:42):
There was always in and out ofthe hospital but wanted to be
keep that stuff like veryprivate.
But unfortunately, with howsome of the hospital medical
stuff was run around that time,especially in a state like
Massachusetts, it was a littlesketchy on kind of how things
went downhill, cause he'ssupposed to be discharged the
next day and I was back therevisiting to kind of take care of
him that that summer a littlebit and it was unfortunate and I

(21:04):
think kind of just took a turnpretty quick that week and but
it was just.
It was kind of one of those youknow grown up moments.
Unfortunately I had, you know,gone through it when I was
little, but it was definitelydifferent at this stage.
But I know it was one of thosethings that you know.
He was no longer in pain and atpeace and as much as I.

(21:27):
You know I miss him.
I said, but we miss him.
You know a ton, but it was oneof those like to see him, just
like we're not fighting.
You know all that stuff tobreathe and everything, and he's
very prideful.
He wouldn't want anyone to takecare of him in a certain
situation for a long time andyou know what like even those
things kind of can happen for areason in their due time.
And I think, going through that, I met my wife three months

(21:49):
later and it was just one ofthose like kind of grown up
moments and kind of the passingof the baton.
It's like all right, now I'mready to kind of like really
build my own family and continueto carry and build upon the
legacy that you know my dad kindof handed off to me.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
Wow, it's powerful stuff, dude.
I mean we don't have.
I wish I could interview youfor four hours because I got
questions for days.
But is it ironic orserendipitous that the Mariners,
my beloved Seattle Mariners,are taking on the Red Sox today?

Speaker 2 (22:17):
Are they really?
That's crazy.
Yeah, that's pretty cool,that's pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
I've actually been to Fenway once and saw the
Mariners play Fenway.
It was awesome.
My son was like seven years oldat the time and I told him I'm
like, hey, bro, chill your, slowyour roll a bit.
These Boston fans can be alittle bit intense.
We're not going to get toocrazy.
We put up seven runs in thefirst and my seven-year-old son

(22:47):
is just losing his mind.
Thankfully, the Boston fanswere nice to us and I'm like
we're trying to calm him down.
He's like, oh, this is actuallygreat.
And then it was like we endedup winning an extra inning.
It was like 12 to 10, like akickball game.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, that's so funny .
Yeah, I mean, look at a seven,you know they're, they're all
right.
Uh, when you get to that level,it's, uh, it's.
It is funny.
You mention it's a great story.
It makes me think of a time like97, 98, like red sox, yankees,
memorial day weekend.
I mean just absolute banana.
I mean ticket prices were likea tenth of what they are now so
we could get, you know, a bunchof tickets for a couple hundred

(23:18):
bucks for the year.
Now it's like you get twotickets for a game for that
price.
And it was a different era.
But they didn't even have themonster seats yet at that time.
But we would park on LansdowneStreet behind the monster, so it
would be the garage.
You see on Sunday NightBaseball that the cars get hit
by a home run or whatever,that's where we would park.
And it was one day we had theBruins playoff game on Maybe it

(23:41):
wasn't more early, it was Aprilearly May.
Bruins on right, like uh, maybeit wasn't more like april early
may bruins playoff like turnedup playing, I think, like the
capitals, but we got this yankeefan, there's red sox fan,
they're still got.
They got mullets and tank topsand they're just like beating
each other up behind our car, solike like, well, we're not
moving.
I was like I was like nine, mygrandmother's my grandmother.
So like we're just hanging outlistening to the bruins game,
playoff games these drunkmeatheads are beating each other

(24:03):
up behind us.
I was like that's just kind ofpart of the course, you know, in
90s and Fenway oh that'shilarious.
That's hilarious.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
Okay, so for what you so, for everything you've been
through, I want you to thinkabout what are the core three
values that everybody thathelped the village that raised
you, what would be the threevalues that really have been
staples for your life as youreflect that you believe that

(24:35):
you and your wife will be?
These will be values that youreally want to teach your boys.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
Yeah, guys Great question.
Want to teach your boys?
Yeah, guys, great question.
One of the things that alwaysstuck out with my dad, I think,
just his positivity and hisoptimism.
He was never going to let me bea victim, but he didn't do it
by telling me, he just did itthrough action, if that makes
sense.
We acknowledged crazy stuff,acknowledged like crazy stuff

(25:02):
happened, and crazy stuffhappened to him in his life.
He lost both his parents in hisearly 20s.
I mean, he lost his dad thesame year he had his first
daughter, like, but he neverdwelled on that stuff.
I know it affected him.
We talked about it more laterin his life but he just the show
kept going with a smile on hisface and just to listen, to talk

(25:24):
to people and ask themquestions, whether you knew them
and strangers.
He was always asking aboutother people and their day and
their favorite show and theirfavorite sports and like, just
relentless, like optimism andjust having a good time and
that's like just the first thingI think of with my dad.
It's just like there's enoughbad stuff.
Have a good time, have fun withlife.

(25:46):
We get one shot at this.
That was huge.
That had a huge impact.
I know it did on just mydevelopment.
And yeah, there was tough times.
Yeah, I struggled, I was angryand cried and all that stuff and
wondering what stuff happenedto me and all you're growing up,
normal stuff.
But like that, always, I justalways had a good time with

(26:11):
things, man, and it's like themore I and it make me think
about this more like god, it's abig part of it day to day.
I can't stand being aroundnegative Nancy's like it drives
me nuts and I just there'schallenges, I face them, I get
it, we all have them.
But man, life can be great andyou will miss the moments if you

(26:36):
don't have that attitude.
That was the first one, I think, with him.
My grandmother also just lovedlearning about people but was
just full of just love andgenerosity, I think, just being
generous with your time, withwhat you have right.
If God's given you abundance,especially financially, just
don't hoard it yourself.
My grandmother would alwaysspend money on experiences with

(26:58):
her grandkids and her kidsBecause I think when she was a
mom I know she had a lot ofregrets about how that happened
and my grandfather and his ownissues also took his life and
everything, with five kids thatwere ages nine to 16.
So that was crazy for mygrandmother.

(27:19):
So it was just like survive atthat rate.
So she really got a secondchance at all of it as being a
grandparent and she justwhatever she could to spend time
with her grandkids and all thatit was experiences do things
with the people that you loveand use it as a vehicle to get
to know them better and to showthem that you're present.
And my grandmother was belovedby her grandkids because she

(27:42):
spent time getting to know everysingle one of us and doing
things that we wanted to do.
She wanted to know what made ushappy and what things were fun
and she wanted to be the one todo those things with us.
And she did that with everysingle one of her grandkids and
I think she had, before shepassed it was nine, ten of us

(28:02):
and I think every single one ofthem would have felt like, yes,
she knows me individually.
God, there's a power of havinga great grandparent.
It's incredible.
She took obviously a lot withme just because my mom wasn't
around biological mom.
So we spent probably more timethan the other grandkids and I
was the oldest one of herbiological grandkids.

(28:23):
But man just that piece of itexperiences.
That is how I, even to this day, I kind of show my love for
people.
I think it's like let's just godo something, let's go to an
event, let's go do, let's spendtime, and in that I can interact
and converse with you.
I definitely get that from her.
It doesn't always have to begoing and spending money.
It can be going to a park withmy son, right, just something

(28:45):
like that.
So that's two.
It's a long-winded two, but ifI say positivity and optimism,
if I say generosity, I have tosay give me gratitude.
I don't know if love I meanlove's got to be in there.
I heard just curiosity.
What's that?
I heard?

Speaker 1 (28:58):
curiosity too.
What's that?
I heard?
Curiosity too, without yousaying it.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, being curious about people I think that's why
I got into recruiting is becauseof some of the stuff that they
taught me.
I just am curious about theworld and people and how they
interact and I think justnaturally as an orphan I kind of
had to look around for otherexamples just to see how do
people operate, because I kindof lost my structure pretty
quickly.
So I was always just curiousabout how people attack the
problems in the world and learnstuff right, because obviously

(29:28):
some things probably kind offell through the cracks, as they
do for all of us.
But just being curious, it'sjust like definitely a trait
that you get to know so muchabout the world and people when
you're that way.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
The superpower Most people.
That's why I'm obsessed withcuriosity.
It just is a superpower.
It solves majority of theproblems in life and it gets us
out of trying to convince andtell, which allows our ego to
get up.
When we aren't curious, then Ithink it leads to lack of
vulnerability, lack of humilityand then fear sneaks into the

(29:59):
culture.
When fear is there, look outand people are not the best.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
I love that you picked that up because it
reminds me you're spot on.
Glad you picked up that wordbecause my dad I always ask my
dad like dad, how do you know somuch?
Like my dad was brilliant andso smart, but like just knew
something about everything.
I was like how in the world?
It was most of it is prettyinternet era.
I'm like how in the world?
He's like I read the newspaperevery day.
All I do, I just read thenewspaper every day.
And because he was alwayslearning and always curious and

(30:27):
then he would research and hehad stacks of vcrs and dvds and
books everywhere and he was justlike always learning, like a
constant lifelong learner.
Yeah, what did?
What did they do for their jobs?
It's interesting.
My grandmother was a massagetherapist and then my dad kind

(30:48):
of had a bunch of differentthings.
He owned a bunch of radiostations in the 90s and then
when he got sick he had to sellthem.
He just couldn't maintain allthat anymore.
And then he kind of had someyou know, odd jobs here and
there.
He, you know just through, kindof what he took didn't have to
work a ton we'll put it that waythroughout his life and so he

(31:11):
had different kind of thingsgoing on.
He bought a couple of tall shipsand then tried to turn that
into a new business, but thenalways kind of wanted to make it
a charity.
He was like, you know, becausehe didn't necessarily have to
make income from it.
So he now eventually he had tobecause there were some tough
decisions and the recession hurta little bit and everything
else in 08, um, but he used itto try to like, okay, you'll get

(31:33):
, you know, the special needskids and the charities and all
that.
Like give them tickets and takethem, give them experience,
right on a boat in a tall shipin boston Harbor to go out and
fire off fake cannons and allthat.
So he kind of ran that as abusiness, but kind of a little
bit I don't know how manytickets were actually sold and
that was after he had got sick.
So I think he was like newlease on life I'm not going to

(31:53):
stress myself out too too muchand have fun with this and try
to give back a little bit more.
And then he would kind of doyou know odd jobs here and there
in the last like 10 years, butI think he kind of was able to
live out a little bit of hisretirement a little bit earlier.
So he was just kind of likejust tinkering things with here
and online projects and all thatgood stuff.

Speaker 1 (32:16):
How so as you, as you reflect and kind of talk
through about these things, I'masking you which I don't know
how often you've thought aboutsome of this stuff, but how
close are you to some of your?

Speaker 2 (32:27):
cousins?
That's a great question.
I mean cousins like the onesthat turned into my siblings, or
just cousins in general.
Yeah, my cousins, yeah, thatare well, it's a good
distinction and you wouldn'tknow.
But yeah, they're all mybrothers and sisters now and
we're close.
Now we're not closegeographically my sisters in New
Jersey, I got one in Englandand I got a brother in Belgium,

(32:49):
so we're all over the place.
So that's probably that's thehardest part.
But I am very close.
I mean, especially growing up.
My brother was born six monthsafter I got here, my sister a
couple years after.
So there's an age differencewhere I'm 11 years apart from
the oldest, six years and theneight years.
So there's a wide gap, sodifferent, it's like different

(33:10):
generations at times, right.
So we have some naturaldifference there.
But I mean, I would say the waywe handled the biggest testament
to how close we are is the waywe handle my dad's passing and
being there for each other and,um, because I wasn't officially
adopted, right, there's somestuff with like the will and
everything else and that stuffcan get messy, and there was

(33:32):
zero mess with any four of usand that is more like the rarest
thing.
I've talked to a lot of peopleabout that stuff, everything
else, and that's a testament ofthey had my back.
It wasn't even a question ofyou know, clark's, like it's the
four of us and everything elseand we just, I would say, always
have our back and each other'sback.

(33:53):
And difference in opinions andall that, yeah, of course, right
, brother, brothers and sisters,um, but I don't for a question
doubt um, you know their, theirlove for me, and I don't for a
question doubt you know theirlove for me and I don't think
they question my love for them.
And same thing, taking the sametraits and just being there for
each other and loving each otherthrough disagreements and
everything else, and just havingeach other's back, we're really

(34:17):
close.
It's a special bond becauseit's part blood but part forged
in a lot choice and that's thereis something about being
related and kind of the bloodfamily but and we are
technically cousins but yourrelationships and everything
else are a choice on how deep ofa level you want to get into it

(34:37):
with them, and that's one ofthe things that I've been
blessed to learn through goingthe route I have in my life is
everything's a choice andrelationship is showing how you
choose to show up and everythingelse, and I appreciate and love
them for the fact that theychose me, to accept me as their
brother and there was noresentment on splitting
attention and all that and on myend or their end, and I think

(34:57):
that's I'm definitely one of thethings that I'm really proud of
, and I think that's definitelyone of the things I'm really
proud of.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Hi, I'm Leslie Vickery, the CEO and founder of
ClearEdge, a company dedicatedto transforming the business of
talent.
Through our three lines ofbusiness ClearEdge, marketing,
recruiting and Rising that helporganizations across the
recruitment and HR tech sectorsgrow their brands and market
share while building their teamswith excellence and equity.

(35:25):
I believe we were one ofCasey's very first clients.
He helped our sales and accountteams really those people on
the front lines of building anddeveloping client relationships
in so many ways.
Here are a few.
He helped us unlock the powerof curiosity.
For me it was a game changer.
I was personally learning allabout TED-based that's, tell,

(35:47):
explain, describe, questioning,and that really resonated with
me.
We also learned about unlockingthe power of humility and
unlocking the power ofvulnerability.
Casey taught us to be a teamplayer, to embrace change, to
stay positive.
He is one of the most positivepeople I know.
He believes that optimism,resilience and a sense of humor

(36:10):
can go a long way in helpingpeople achieve their goals and
overcome obstacles.
And I agree Casey's book Win theRelationship, not the Deal.
It is a must read.
Listen.
Whether you're looking forcoaching and training or a
powerful speaker or keynote,casey is one of the people I
recommend when talking tocompanies.

(36:31):
The end result for us, at leastas one of Casey's clients our
own clients would literallycommend our approach over all
other companies, from the way wewere prepared in advance of a
call to how we drove meetings,to how we follow up.
It sounds really basic, I know,but let me tell you it is a
standout approach that led tostronger relationships.

(36:54):
I encourage you to learn moreby going to CaseyJCoxcom.
You have nothing to lose byhaving a conversation and a lot
to gain.
Now let's get back to Casey'spodcast, the Quarterback Dadcast
.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
We get 1,440 minutes a day.
No one gets more, no one getsless.
So I guess my question iseverything that you went through
and like how soon do you thinkyou'll share this information
with your boys?

Speaker 2 (37:25):
I mean whenever is appropriate.
I have.
No, I don't know what age thatlooks like.
To be honest, I have nothing tohold back and I think if it's
relevant and important to teacha lesson, or I'm sure you could
tell me kids get pretty curiouspretty early and then you have
to understand, guess how to kindof you know work in that

(37:45):
conversation.
Um, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
I'll ask you like what do you think is an age that
you know kids like thattypically respond and kind of
can understand some of thatinformation my, without ever
going through that, and I'mdefinitely not a trained
therapist, but my, my gut saysum, you'll know in your gut, um,
you, obviously, with a faithbackground, I would think your,
your, your heart's going tospeak to you.

(38:12):
Um, the other thing I'd say it'sI bet it's one of those things
you're going to say you're goingto tell more than once.
It's going to be a story, amultiple story, where you, maybe
you'll kind of sprinkle inpieces of it and then they it
might be too much for them, um,and then I think there'll be
times where, um, well, I, I, I'ma big believer of like when, in
telling stories, it's alwaysgood to ask a question if they,
if you know that kind of I usethis framework in, like my sales

(38:34):
and leadership coachingbusiness where it's like I'm
going to teach somebodysomething I always say tell me,
would it be helpful if I shareda story about when I went
through that challenge?
yeah, they're a lot more they'remore interested to hear it
versus me.
Just like, well, here's whatyou got to do.
They're like, oh great, mrfreaking know-it-all, he's gonna
just tell me you know, we wantit to be their idea.
We want it to be like, justlike we're teaching our kids, um

(38:55):
, there's a great book I I readthrough, actually, this podcast
journey.
It's written by a guy named, uhwell, the author, swen nader.
That said that book's calledyou have not taught until they
have learned.
Oh, I'm writing it down youhave not taught until they have
that.
You have not taught until theyhave learned.
And swen nader played for abasketball coach.
People might have heard ofgetting john wooden.
Oh yeah, yeah, not a bad, not abad career decent coach, yeah,

(39:20):
not, not a bad run.
so so he and like that, teachingum is so powerful for us as
parents and business leaders andeverybody.
But I think what?
Back to the question I askedyou, I think it's um, I think,
just when you lead with, again,I think, the superpowers of life
, vulnerability, humility,curiosity, we're being our best,

(39:40):
we're showing up our best whenit's I might, when the first
time you communicate it.
It might not be perfect, butyou're being your best and you
know, I think, when we thinkabout time, that's all we can
ask for is be my best.
But we all have the one commonthing in common we're all flawed
, we all have issues, we're allnot perfect, but I think we can

(40:01):
reset each day to like shit.
That was not my best, but I'mgoing to be better and those are
the stories I teach.
Try to teach my kids about like.
And actually, when you weretelling your story about your
dad, um, about positivity andoptimism, um, like my one of my
good friends wife, she says, man, if you were like a had a in a

(40:21):
tribal name, like back in like,you know, I joked her, I was one
16 Cherokee Indian, but shesaid, if you were a tribal, you,
you're Nick.
Your traveling would be he whoover invites.
Like I love people.
I love bringing people together.
I love being curious.
I love optimism.
I hate being around negativepeople.
It's a choice.
So I'm like when your dad I waslike I.
It's a choice.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
So I'm like when your dad I was like I hope my kids
describe me like you describeyour dad no-transcript because I

(41:15):
love the stage that they're atnow, uh, when I feel it, but
it'll be fun when we get there.
And it was the same thing, justdinner parties.
Every food would be on thetable, everything snacks would
be thrown.
My friends would come over.
He'd throw like Milano cookiesat us.
Okay, the diet was not greatand all that, but when your kids
are like, this is sweet, it'sjust like making sure we're

(41:43):
having a good time, that we'rewell fed, that we're having fun,
that he's asking about us andthey will remember you that way
because it's fun and peopleremember people that make them
feel and feel heard and listento and special.
And I took it, yeah, and I tookit for granted growing up.
I, I, it was great.
But man, I look back now at the, at our culture and landscape
and how even more rigideverything not as free-flowing
as it was kind of growing up inthe 90s and it's special to

(42:07):
people when you can foster thoseenvironments where people are
having fun and feel heard andrespected and just having a good
time.
I didn't realize how much workit takes to really do that and
be good at that.
I just kind of took it forgranted.
I didn't realize how much workit takes to really do that and
be good at that.
I just kind of took it forgranted.
Yeah, it's good to have.
We need people like you and mydad out there doing stuff like

(42:28):
that, because that's what buildscommunity.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
And that's really it.
I appreciate you saying thatand I think well, I want to be
kind of cognizant of the time.
I can talk to you forever here.
Brother, this has been a funconversation.
Yeah, you mentioned faith as apart of your life.
If you can talk about thatjourney and how has it
positively impacted you?

Speaker 2 (42:55):
Yeah, it's been everything.
I mean, it's been the bestthing that's happened in my life
and it's something Idesperately try to hold on to
and want to be.
Well, I'm not worthy of it, butI am so grateful that my eyes
were opened.
It was I grew up going tochurch Episcopal Church,
confirmed when I was 14.

(43:15):
I stopped going right after Iwas confirmed.
I just never really bought inat that age.
That level it was good for someof the community stuff, but
very, you know, traditional.
My dad was called a catholiclight episcopalian.
Uh, pretty funny, looking backon it I think there's a lot of
points there.
But, um, it just didn't really.

(43:37):
It felt surface level to me.
Um, so I never really resonatedand I grew up until 2000s and I
was like I'm just gonna kind ofdo my own thing.
My dad never pushed it on us.
He's like you go until you'reconfirmed and it's your choice.
Okay, cool, um, and so I Ididn't go and he was telling me
my 20s he's like you know, clark, like yeah, you're gonna come
back around you just wait, likehe just knew he saw it in me.

(43:58):
Um, my journey I was like yeah,whatever, dad, and I don't know
if I believe any of this stuff,and I was into sports and not
really caring and uh, thosethings evolved in my 20s and I
just kept having these likeepiphanies of like 2015.
I was like, what am I likedoing?
I'm 28, I'm at Aerotech, I feellike I'm kind of going through

(44:19):
the motions in life and justsomething was gnawing at me that
I wasn't really, that there wassomething like a lot of like
potential left on.
My dad was that you have a tonof potential and at some point
I'm like well, what am I goingto realize this uh potential.
And that was kind of the sameyear.
That was the same year mygrandmother ended up passing
away and I spoke at a funeraland I remember just being like,

(44:41):
you know, I might not be able toreplicate the exact
relationship I had with her, butI can carry the traits of those
and kind of put those out moreinto the world and I think that
just like I always remember thatbecause then I said it and I
had to live it and I juststarted living and I just
started doing more likeself-discovery and
self-improvement books and thenreading about entrepreneurship
and then reading about the worldmore and like how things just

(45:02):
operate and you know a lot ofsome of the things.
That's I really had a lot ofdisillusionment about how I was
raised, especially culturally,and everything else.
And that's 2016, and then 17 anduh, I got into some, you know.
I figured out like working outa little bit more and I got into
some relationships that weren'tgreat and kind of learned about
those and actually kind ofhired a dating coach back then.

(45:23):
That like really wastransformational and like just
showing me my blind spots like Ialways respond well to coaching
and I was like sounded crazy atthe time.
Like I'm a dating coach, likeyou're like 30, like what do you
need one for us?
Like I just know I'm missing.
I have blind spots here.
Like what are they?
He woke me up to a bunch ofstuff.
I'm like, oh, that'sinteresting and kind of the
masculine and the feminine andall that stuff.

(45:43):
And I started watching somepodcast people and all that,
listening a little bit moreabout Christianity, and I was
like this is interesting.
And then 2019, I just realizedlike I think the resurrection
actually happened, like I justlearned a little bit more about
it.
I'm like huh, and like there'sa balance of faith and there's a
balance of historical knowledge, and it was like, wow, there's
more sources that Jesus lived atthat time than the Roman

(46:05):
emperor at that time.
I'm like, well, that'sinteresting, right.
So like, I got to learn somefacts about it all.
I'm like this really happened,like I believe, and so I did.
And then I started opening upthe Bible.
I read Ecclesiastes this wasMarch 2019.
And it was hard to likeactually open and start reading,
but I related to that one andit took me about six months to

(46:27):
find a church.
But I was like you know what Ibelieve?
I don't really know what to dofrom here, but like, I believe,
like, and that was the firststep.
And three weeks later, I was ina rough time in my life.
I was I left Aerotech, therecruiting company, I was part
of partying and investing andstuff for a year and a half in
LA and three weeks later Ivisited my friend in Columbus,
ohio.
This is about a month after Idecided I believe I'm a
Christian.
I don't know what church I'mgoing to, but I believe on this.

(46:49):
I looked at my bank account and,from poor investments and
trusting the wrong businesspartner, realized I was broke
after having a healthy sixfigures in the bank.
I lost everything.
Completely my own fault, my owndoing Everything.
I just was being a degenerateand just bad decisions, and not

(47:10):
necessarily I would saymalicious, no, malicious intent,
but I was just dumb.
I had no purpose, I wasn'tdoing anything productive, I got
everything was just gone gone.
I was like stuck with high rentand a car payment and
everything else.
So it took me about four monthsto get out, to get out of there,
and my friend, you know, had aplace for me to stay.
He got bought my plane ticketto get out here and everything

(47:31):
else and we had met through likea year before and he was really
into christianity.
So him and I were talking aboutsome of this stuff.
I didn't know what church hewent to, but he always had the
answers to stuff and I'm like soI come out here, he takes me
out to Atlanta to visit hisfriend.
I come out to Columbus.
I moved from LA to Columbus.
We go down to Atlanta within amonth and go to some church

(47:52):
friends that he's known for awhile, that he grew up with and
moved down to Atlanta.
We go to a service and there'stwo sermons.
They're split sermons, like noone's dressed up in robe or
anything, but everyone's readinghas their own bible and they're
preaching from the bible.
I was like I have never seenthis in my life, like I just
never grew up, I never knew thebible.
Growing up, going to church,and they were like reading and

(48:14):
referencing passages andeverything else.
I'm like, well, this isinteresting and we're talking
about.
Then we talked about theresurrection and everything else
and it was a Sabbath goingchurch and we went to church on
a Saturday and I was like whatis going on here?
But I just kept coming back.
I was hooked.
I was like I love that you guysread from the source and preach

(48:34):
from the source.
I've never seen that beforebecause I tested out some other
congregations and so I startedgoing to that called United
Church of God and we keep theHoly Days in Leviticus 23.
And that just made sense to meand I listened to hundreds of
hours of sermons and justlearned on all that stuff and

(48:56):
just tried to, you know, catchup the best I could and live on
that and it changed my life.
I got out here, I got a job at$12 an hour and I had a smile on
my face every day just to tryto pick myself up right Doing
remodeling work.
I was terrible at it but theystill paid me they're super nice
guys and helped me out and Igot a job at 15 an hour and,
like then, my friend Tristanreintroduced me to someone in

(49:18):
the LinkedIn world, the businessdevelopment world.
That's how I got in to learnabout LinkedIn.
And then I bumped my pay fromthere and used my old skills
from my Aerotech days and I justkind of rebuilt with just a ton
of gratitude and appreciationand I moved out here four months
before COVID happened and werented like 19 acres and my
buddy was like you got to seemoney hit the account again.
So I worked a little bit andstudying my sermons and going on

(49:41):
walks to hit the account again.
So I worked a little bit andstudying my sermons and going on
walks and that was just a veryhealing time for me.
And then so many I was able toprocess dealing with my dad's
stuff and the church communitywas great.
And then when he passed Ireally had my faith to lean on
Um and I really believed that Iwould see him again.
And I feel very at peace withall that, with all my relatives
that have passed, and knowingthat everyone's going to get a

(50:02):
chance to repent, whether inthis life or the next Just that
kind of hope was invaluable tome and I'd rather live in again
positivity.
I'd rather have faith and leaninto that.
There's an all-powerful Godthat has a plan for us and why
not?
To me, that's a more fun way tolive.

Speaker 1 (50:22):
If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but if I'm right, that's
pretty cool, yeah well, it's,it's, I think, believe it's the
word behind me, it's people cansee it.
There you go.
Yeah, it's obviously a tedlasso theme.
I actually got that sign at amariner game with my son years
ago.
And it's also, um, it's notjust for me a spiritual thing,
but it's more about a just likeyou got to believe in yourself.
And it's not just for me aspiritual thing, but it's more

(50:42):
about just like you got tobelieve in yourself.
And it's not being, you know,closed minded to the belief, but
it's just like belief of aconfidence and a belief of like
hey, we're here for something.
It just for me.
It just kind of sets my mindsetfor the right day, but I don't
think anybody knows the truth.
To be honest with you, man, Idon't want to get too off track
here, like we won't know untilwe go to where we're going to go
, but there's a lot of proof ofwhat, what people have learned

(51:04):
and what people do share.
I, just I am.
I'm a big spirituality guy.
I don't go to church right nowbut I like I look at a scripture
every morning.
Sometimes it makes sense,sometimes it doesn't, but, like
gratitude, I do every morning.
And one of the very first lines.
It almost makes me smile everytime I do it.
So I'm like God, just startingwith that, for me it's like oh,

(51:27):
it just it makes me like I'mhere, I can do something today I
can.
It gives me energy, um, okayAgain, I could be talking
forever, so I'm gonna try tobring, bring us here.
So if you were to think abouteverything we've talked about,
from sharing your journey, um,to the lessons you've learned,
to the life experience you'vebeen through, to your faith

(51:47):
journey, like, think about whatwould be like two or three core
values that are gonna be mostimportant to you and your wife
as you raise your boys.

Speaker 2 (51:56):
Humility and grace are the first two words that
came to my mind.
You have to have grace.
I mean where you've been madelonger than I have much longer
I'm sure you would but just inour three, three, almost three
years you're gonna screw up,you're gonna do things and just
my what I'm not used to having.
I told her this the other day.

(52:16):
I'm like just the way she's hadmy back the first couple years.
No one I've dated has had myback to that level ever.
And then we actually I hadn'tmarried anyone else but like
that's been really cool and justthe grace she's had for my
mistakes and I have it for hers,um, there's been incredible and

(52:37):
I think just humility that I Ican it's hard with two under two
right, but I'm holding on to itbut also just the humility of
you know if I believe, I believeand if this is great, this is
right, this is great and I thinkI can back up some of that.
But I'm also the humility oflike I'm not here to convince

(53:02):
and yell at people that they'rewrong or to be believers and all
that.
Like I just trust in God's planand I try to do the best I can
to listen to what that lookslike and some of the signs and
the signals.
One of the biggest ones hasjust been, you know, humility,
grace, forgiveness, those areall been huge for me.
And being able to let go andnot have resentment, first with

(53:25):
forgiving my parents, all for myparents, right, all the good
stuff, maybe all the not goodstuff, that's huge.
That's why it's a commandment,right, the fifth one.
And then you know, and thenjust obviously having you know I
don't know everything, but I'mgoing to work hard and be
confident what I do know and beopen to learn what I don't know
and where my mind can beswitched.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
And then, yeah, going back to that grace piece has
been huge and not raisingresentment yeah, such a good
word because it's like when wegive yourself, when you give
yourself, grace, you, yourealize that we're, we're all
flawed and but like, if you evertrying your best, then hey,
tomorrow's a new day.
Or if you shit the bed in thatmeeting, well, you can be better

(54:05):
than the next one.
If you, if there's things youdidn't do right, well let's own
it.
Let's check our ego.
Leave that ego check, but let'sum, and I love forgiveness,
forgiveness.
So I read a great book in mylate thirties on forgiveness by
a guy named Richard case, whichI think has a spiritual
following.
Um, he said the theme isforgiveness takes me,

(54:26):
reconciliation takes you and me,and is forgiveness takes me,
reconciliation takes you and me.
And, uh, it's a powerful thingbecause, like we don't forgive,
we hold on to that energy, thatnegative energy just negatively
impacts us.
But we forgive, whether we,whether you want to or not.
But if you forgive, like godforgave us, it's amazing what
happens.
You get that out of your systemand you open up.
It doesn't mean you're gonna bebest friends with that person,

(54:46):
but at least you can get thenegativity out and go back to
being positive.

Speaker 2 (54:51):
It's huge.
I love that saying because it'syeah, it is spiritual, biblical
, and you know I haven't broughther up yet but I do disservice
if I didn't.
But you know my adopted mom,who is still alive, and her and
I had challenges, especially assoon as I hit puberty.
I mean she got thrust into thislike raising a six-year-old.
I had just married my dad andshe was 10 years younger than
him, so I think she was like 31,32 when I came along and was

(55:15):
three months pregnant with herfirst biological child.
I mean there's a lot going onfor her and you know so we
clashed at times growing up.
I wasn't easy to deal with andyou know we've had, you know we
had some big moments, some bigfights, younger and adults.
And you know, in the last likefew years and we just kind of

(55:36):
before my wedding I think, weboth realized like we don't want
that, like she's got to bethere and all that.
And just I just kept going onwalks and just like praying and
all that stuff.
And I just like go on walks andjust like praying and all that
stuff and I just like let go.
I worked at forgiving her and Ialso worked at like knowing
where, kind of where I screwedup, right, not, it's not all on
her, and that's been one of themost impactful things of my life

(56:00):
and my faith was that and Iknow not everyone you're not
going to get that reconciliationthat you talked about, like
there's some people, butforgiveness is for you and
forgiveness has been for me andthe weight that was lifted when
I truly I worked at it.
It was not easy, it wasn't afive second prayer.
I worked at it to get there.

(56:22):
I was like, please, help me.
Just like, go with this likeanger and resentment, and
process and give me theunderstanding.
Just like, go with this likeanger and resentment, and
process and give me theunderstanding.
And that's one of the thingsthat, like really made me
believe more because it did, itdid shed over time and quicker
than I thought, to be honest,and then I was able to just
proceed and we've been building,you know, the relationship back

(56:45):
and she's not being proud andlike it just, it just works, um,
it just works and she's madethe choice to do some of that
and to work through that, whichis great, right, I didn't know
if that was going to happen ornot, um, but we've been able to
actually some have someheart-to-hearts that we never
had in 20 years, um, and youknow that's and I could talk

(57:07):
about the ones that are therelationships that are easy, but
I think it's important to sharethat as well.
You know, we both made a choiceright, we're not technically
blood related, but we both madea choice to realize all the
experiences we had together andthe life and everything, and
just like let's keep going, likelet's just keep building and
not worry about where we arewith other people's
relationships, like let's justwork on ours, um, and that's

(57:29):
been great.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
That's great man.
I appreciate you sharing that.
I think that'll be a powerfulstory when your boys are older,
of just growth Cause not to bebest friends everybody.
But you sure can be curious,you can be forgiving, you can
have grace for people and Ithink if you go through life
with that, you'll be moreempathetic.
You empathetic, you'll bearound people that bring joy to
you and you're going to be theperson that usually brings joy
to others.
So I love that you shared that.
All right, before we get intothe lightning round, which I go

(57:53):
completely random, let's learnabout the digital recruiter.
Why would someone want to learnabout you and the work you're
doing, which I know many peopledo, and then talk about your
podcast?
And why should?

Speaker 2 (58:06):
they.
Yeah, the digital recruiter isreally cool man.
It's a blend of my recruitingbackground at Aerotech, my sales
background and staffing andrecruiting learning, linkedin,
automation and having helpedpeople book.
We did the whole 10, 20 calls amonth in LinkedIn 2020, 2021
when automation was reallygetting up and running on
LinkedIn.
I worked with a couple ofLinkedIn influencer accounts and

(58:27):
got to see their marketing andI learned digital marketing
myself.
So I decided to take a blend ofcontent, marketing, automation
and just recruiting and salesknow-how in the agency
recruiting world and startedDigital Recruiter and I started
teaching recruiters how to getmore opportunities, how to
really build their brand togenerate more inbound leads and
I would say content-led outboundreally opened up that top of

(58:50):
funnel because a lot ofrecruiters just struggle to open
up the doors of hiring managersand just get conversations
going, really understanding thatbusiness development process.
It's evolved to helping somecorporate recruiters as well.
I help other coaches andconsultants as well.
It's kind of really opened uptheir top of funnel on LinkedIn.
So if we can systemize some ofyour outreach, what you do well

(59:11):
and create content around, notjust personal stuff but your
insights into your industry andyour credibility and your wins
and really show why you'redifferent than maybe some of
your competitors and get infront of your market every day.
It's kind of systemized, someof that top of funnel, so you
have a lot more warmconversations.
So it's been really fun tobuild.

(59:34):
I eat my own dog food, I run myown system every day, with
automation, with content I postevery day, and it's just been
really cool.
I've worked with hundreds ofrecruiters.
I work with a lot of founders,typically smaller companies in
general typically recruitingagency, but also work with
smaller corporate departmentsand, as I mentioned, some people
even outside the recruitingspace.
And that's what's cool, man.

(59:54):
I think we just our blend ofknowing the industry.
I've posted hundreds, maybethousands of times by now really
stunning copywriting content,marketing to show how people can
get their authentic story, tellthe truth and have that
resonate with your prospects,your clients, your future
clients and just figure out howto be you but in a business
setting.
So it draws your ecosystem, itdraws your tribe and I love it

(01:00:17):
and it's super fun.
It's kind of a blend ofeverything and it's some of the
most fulfilling work.
So we do some bootcamps, we dokind of like quick get up and
running offers.
I work with people in likethree, six months, some people I
work with on a year-to-yearbasis, so it's really cool.
But it's really like let's getthe foundation of LinkedIn,
let's open up your conversations, your pipeline, and then from

(01:00:38):
there we can fix thingssystematically.

Speaker 1 (01:00:42):
So cool.
Well, we're going to make surethis is linked in the show notes
.
Everybody, Besides LinkedIn,are there other platforms that
you're on where people canfollow you?

Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
Yeah, I'm on YouTube, x, X under my name, clark
Wilcox, youtube.
I think we have the DigitalRecruiter channel.
I'm on Facebook as well, butLinkedIn is kind of the primary
one.
I'm on X a little bit.
I'm more of a reply guy and alike guy and X and tweeting as
much, but looking to do more onthere and on YouTube, but
LinkedIn's LinkedIn's the bigone.
Oh, and you mentioned thedigital recruiter podcast.

(01:01:12):
That's right.
I just interview people salescoaches you're going to be on.
You know sales coaches, people,you know anyone related to kind
of recruiting, um agency owners.
You know maybe some tech peoplethat are related to recruiting.
I just like getting people'sstories like this what's your
story?
What have you seen work,especially on the business
development sales side?
It's just hard for people tounderstand how to be themselves

(01:01:35):
but still win great business,and I think that's one of the
most fun things to figure out,because when that light bulb
goes on, it's great.
So that's a lot of what wetalked about in the Digital
Recruiter Podcast.
It's just that piece rightHaving fun with business
development.

Speaker 1 (01:01:48):
Well, I'm going to.
I can't wait to be when thetides turn and you're the host
and the guests we're going to.
I got stories for days, bro.
And we will a lot of our selfdeprecating, but they worked
somehow, somehow, some way.
Okay, it's now time to go inthe lightning round.
This is where I show you thenegative hits of taking too many
hits in college not footballhits, I mean not bong hits, but

(01:02:15):
football hits and your job is toanswer them as quickly as you
can.
My job is to try to make youlaugh.
That's fair, okay, um, true orfalse?
You think tom brady's the worstquarterback ever, false, okay?
Um, if you were to play hockeyfor the Bruins, tell me what
position you'd play.
Probably goalie, goalie.
Yeah, that might be the worstposition ever.
You're just taking pucks to thegrill and the nards, yeah, I

(01:02:35):
played lacrosse goalie growingup, and soccer goalie and
everything else.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
Yeah, I love scoring goals, but I'm not a good skater
, so just throw me a net andI'll just stop everything
somehow, some way.

Speaker 1 (01:02:49):
Love it, love it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:51):
Tell me the last book you read.
God Go, dog Go.
I'm trying to think with my sonwe read Dinosaurs, love Pajamas
this morning.
It's technically the last bookI read this morning On the sales
side.
I've been rereading the FBINegotiator one.
I've been rereading the FBINegotiator one.
I've been going through someyeah, never Split the Difference

(01:03:13):
.
I've been going throughchapters on that a little bit
because a couple of my clientsabsolutely love that book and so
, as you can tell, it's top ofmind, my brain is mush, but
that's like my favorite businessbook that I've ever read.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
All good If you and your wife are going to go on
vacation.
Sorry boys, the kids arestaying home.
Where are you and your wifegoing?

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
You would probably want to go to Nashville or
Florida, probably one of thosetwo.

Speaker 1 (01:03:37):
There we go.
Are you guys?
Music people?
Yeah, check out a guy namedAdam Hood.
If you remember, I met him atAmerican Staffing Association.
Like this big event afterwards,yeah, I ended up getting
connected to him and then Iactually interviewed him.
He was on the podcast this year.
Okay, sweet, I'll check outthat episode Singer, songwriter
shout out to you Adam Hood.
He did some work for likeLittle Big Town Stapleton.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
And he's so good.
I love him.
He's really good.
So if I was to come to yourhouse for dinner tonight, tell
me what we'd have.

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
I'd probably go down to the butcher and get us some
steak, some fillets do thatmaybe some potatoes, some green
beans and have a little red wineand sit around and share
stories with the family.
There you go, I like thatSounds good.

Speaker 1 (01:04:20):
I'm getting hungry.
If there was to be a bookwritten about your life, tell me
the title.

Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
Wow, that's a good question About my life.
Just keep going.

Speaker 1 (01:04:32):
I think that might be it.
Yeah, you made me think of WillFerrell's the Old School.
Keep on trucking.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
Keep on trucking, keep on trucking.
That's exactly it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
Okay, we've came up with the book title together,
okay, but now you're never goingto believe this, clark.
It's already been the pre-sale.
We just announced it, like inthe last few seconds, and it's
sold out on Amazon.
It's sold out on Barnes Noble.
Everybody wants this book.
Keep on trucking.
So now we're going to make amovie and you are the casting
director, but you can't staryourself.

(01:05:04):
I need to know which Hollywoodcharacter will star you in this
critically acclaimed, hit newmovie.

Speaker 2 (01:05:09):
The two lookalikes I've gotten are Adam Sandler and
Jonah Hill.
Are the ones that I get.
I don't know personality-wiseSandler, whatever the younger
version of maybe a Sandler is.
That's the one that I get a lotfor whatever reason.
But I don't know.
Maybe maybe him.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
I love it.
Solid choice, okay.
And the last question tell metwo words that would describe
your wife, just two, I mean I'dsay beautiful and loyal.
Love it.
Two solid answers, thelightning round's over.
We both giggled.
I think I laughed more on myown jokes, which means I get the
loss, you get the win.
Clark, this has been awesomelearning about you, man.

(01:05:52):
Your story is unique.
There's so much depth to it.
I'm grateful that our pathshave crossed.
Thank you, kelly.
Yeah, thank you, kelly, and I'msure this is not the last time
we're going to be speaking.
And, um, I just encourageeverybody.
This episode's touched you.
If you've learned something,share the episode with a friend.
Um, leave us a comment on oneof our social channels.

(01:06:13):
Um, copy, just figure out waysto kind of spread the world
Cause.
Um, I, I, as the host, don'tmake money on this podcast.
This is for pure joy and I getfree therapy out of every
episode I do, but it's aboutserving others, it's about
getting the message out, it'sabout creating better humans and
um, I get so much gratitude andgrace and just in fulfillment

(01:06:35):
for getting to do this.
Um, so I'm grateful to you, I'mgrateful to all the other
guests that have come on overnearly almost 300, which is hard
to believe.
So, um, with that said,everybody, thank you for
listening.
Um, go, uh, listening, go,enjoy the rest of your day and,
clark man, thanks so much foryour time.
Brother, appreciate you.
Thanks for having me.
Casey, appreciate you.