How A Heart Attack Reordered My Priorities And Made Me A Better Father - Blaise Bussell

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A great career means little if you’re not here to enjoy it. This conversation with KellyMitchell’s president, Blaise Bussell, cuts through the noise to what matters most: leading at home, protecting your health, and building a life your kids will remember. Blaise opens up about the values forged in childhood by a gritty mom and a humble coach-dad, the joy and nerves of raising a 13-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, and the choice to put family first—even when work says otherwise. From car-ride questions that spark real talks to celebrating his daughter’s faith decision on her terms, the small moments become the story.

Then comes the jolt: a heart attack with 98% blockage that arrived without a dramatic warning, just jaw pain, nausea, and a stubborn belief it was stress. Blaise walks us through the late-night symptoms, the “go straight to the hospital” call, fast-placed stents, and the quieter recovery that followed. He traded max-effort workouts for sustainable strength, dialed in medication, and learned to live in a safer training zone. The most important lesson may surprise you: LP(a), a hereditary lipoprotein rarely included in standard cholesterol tests. If heart disease runs in your family, you need to ask for it. Fit doesn’t mean safe when your genes stack the deck.

We also get practical about priorities. Blaise shares a simple framework—faith, me, we, family, work—that helps him make cleaner decisions, from delaying projects to catch a child’s tournament to protecting date nights and bedtime rituals. On the career side, he explains how aligning with a company’s culture and protecting your personal brand can turn hard pivots into new momentum, and he offers a look at how KellyMitchell blends IT staffing with solutions to serve innovative enterprises.

If you’re a parent who wants more presence, better health, and resilient leadership at home and at work, this one’s for you. Listen, share with a friend who needs the LP(a) nudge, and tell us the one habit you’ll change this week. If the conversation helps, please follow, rate, and leave a review—it helps more families find the show.

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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_02 (00:13):
Everybody's quarterback.
Welcome to the first one.
Another year of fantasticepisode stage.

(00:50):
And uh he was we reconnected atthe conference and uh he shared
some news to do, which we'll getinto eventually.
Um president of Kelly Mitchell.

(01:11):
He's a beta guy, he's amoccasin, we're gonna learn all
about.
He's a former Smith Barney guy,he's a former K-Force guy, which
is where our path once crossed.
I worked for him.
Everybody next to me, he was oneof the best bosses I worked for
because he was an amazinglistener.
I'll give him some love.
And and and Blaze was the first,the first gentleman I ever
worked with that was actuallyyounger than me, um, which

(01:34):
sometimes that's a struggle forme, but I loved it.
And um I got great memories ofus working together.
But with all that said, really,that's not why we're having him
on.
We're having him on to learn howBlaze, the dad's working harder
to become that ultimatequarterback and leader is home.
And also he's gonna have alittle bit of a health message
to send to all of us dads tomake sure we're taking care of
ourselves.
But that without further ado,Mr.
Basell, welcome to thequarterback dad cast.

SPEAKER_01 (01:55):
Thanks, Case.
It's I'm glad we're finally ableto do this and uh looking
forward to a call.
We we like to call our umFlorida Southern's a school,
it's a robust school of 1800students, and we call ourselves
the striking moccasins.

SPEAKER_02 (02:08):
They love it.

SPEAKER_01 (02:09):
Yeah, it's good.
Shout out to Lakeland, Florida.
When's the last people?

SPEAKER_02 (02:14):
When's the last time you've had the a shout-out to
the moccasins?

SPEAKER_01 (02:17):
Uh, you know, I actually uh they just got a new
president there not too longago.
And one of the cooler thingsthat I've ever received, I got
um, you know, when I moved intomy role with Kelly Mitchell,
this is going back three or fourmonths ago, I got something in
the mail, just handwritten notefrom uh my my school, and it was

(02:38):
from one of the one of the umdevelopment guys from the
business school.
Ironically, I was a psych major,not a business major, but uh he
wrote he wrote to me acongratulate uh congratulations
note, and then uh in it waslike, hey, the president would
love to talk to you just tohear, you know, about what
happened.
And they included a picture ofmy junior year um team, which we

(03:03):
were the I think we still havethe best record in the history
of the men's soccer program.
I was a bench warmer that year,not good enough.
Um but but yeah, it was coolthat they like they reached out
and they're just trying to getuh you know kind of ideas about
their school.
I thought it'd be a fundraisingcall and actually spent like a
good hour uh just shooting theshit with the president of the

(03:24):
school, a young guy trying to,you know, do some cool stuff for
our our university.
And so I thought it was prettyneat story.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (03:34):
Relationships, yeah, you know, for sure.
How are people doing it theright way?
Well, we always start out eachepisode with gratitude.
So tell me, what are you mostgrateful for as a dad today?

SPEAKER_01 (03:44):
You know, I I've listened to your podcast for you
know a good amount of time andwas thinking about this
question, and I I'm gonna go.
Something that I don't do veryoften is talk about uh
spirituality a little bit on itbecause just yesterday, um my
daughter, she's 13, she plays alot of soccer, and so she's out

(04:07):
at the fields four to five daysa week, plus also on the
weekends with the games andthings like that.
And you know, she always hasthis ever-growing conflict with
youth night at church and her FCDallas team that she plays for,
having practice.
And every time she asks, dad'sthe same thing like, no, you got
this commitment, like it'sduring season, you know, you can

(04:30):
go when it's off season, blah,blah, blah, blah, blah.
But for whatever reason, she wassuper adamant yesterday to to
miss practice.
And, you know, my wife called meand she's like, You just you
need to not be the dad younormally are with this and like
listen to her.
Something's up.
You know, I'm at work.
And uh, so I went home, I tookher to church, I let her skip,

(04:51):
and then I pick her up.
And uh, you know, it's justnormal pickup.
I she's gone a 20, 30 times orwhatever.
And I was like, How was it?
And she's like, It was good.
What do you guys do?
Well, we worship, we did this,and then you know, they uh they
had us all in the in the mainarea, two or three hundred kids
of us, and then they asked, youknow, they they talked to us

(05:11):
about the message, and then theyasked us like who wants to give
your life to Jesus, and she'slike, There were like 10 kids
that stood, and I was one ofthem.
And I was just like, Whoa, youknow, like this isn't something
I push on my kids, and you know,and what we you know believe in
our house is you don't you havekind of have to make that
decision on your own, and youknow, we give you the

(05:31):
information and it's yours tomake something I made when I was
her age, and it's just cool thatI'm gonna lean back on that
going forward.
That she'll she'll always be,you know, have that moment that
she can remember.
So that was just yesterday.
And uh pretty rad thing.
And you know, she's she's onfire, man.

(05:53):
So I'm excited about that.

SPEAKER_02 (05:56):
Well, I well, I guess what I now I love that
well, I guess what I love mostabout that story is um it's her
journey, not yours.
Right.
You know, and I think too oftenI've seen it uh at you know, a
time when I was a younger dad, II found like you want success
about your kids.
You want to let them have itbetter than than you had it.
And sometimes we forget thatlike sometimes the struggles

(06:16):
they go through the adversity,that's where the growth's gonna
happen.
But like you could have easilysaid, no, you're going to
practice because you're gonna gopro and you if you miss, you're
screwed.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (06:25):
No, I I was gonna say we should have our Uncle
Rico drinking game for anyonelistening to this.
Like you have to take a sip ofyou know, whatever you're
drinking every time you say itor I say it or something like
that.
But I certainly feel like thatwith her sometimes, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (06:40):
But I love I love that she um she came to her own
um her own journey and it, youknow, and you can have both, you
can have balance.
And I and you know, we're we'reour we just we don't go to
church, not because it's likeagainst it.
I'm just I'm a bit, but I amreally, really spiritual dude.
Um look at a scripture everymorning, do gratitude work every
morning.

(07:01):
Um we just don't we just don'tgo to organized church, you
know.
And um I think what's what'sawesome about faith is
everyone's faith is their faith.
And I don't think one's betterthan the other.
And uh, you know, sometimes likehold a religious game, but
sometimes frustrates me becauselike we see people are arguing
over stuff.
It's like, well, how do we youdon't know?
It's like you've had a Zoommeeting with God.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.

(07:22):
I know.
But um all right, what I'm mostgrateful for is I made a
decision uh this week.
Uh I was in Northern Californiain the Chico State area.
Nice, yeah.
And uh my rider, my son, he's19, he's he plays golf at a
school called Southern Oregon.
He uh he had his second collegetournament this week.

(07:44):
And they and they play they playon Mondays and Tuesdays.
And we went the the previousweek, me and Carrie went
together and I had so much fun.
And just the being able to bethere at these events, and you
know, not every parent is luckyor fortunate to to to be there.
Right.
And I I told I had I had uh uhtickets booked to go to this

(08:05):
one, and that but I was feelinglike stressed.
I was like, there's no way I cango because I got I started this
new coaching project with aclient, and it's like a ton of
leaders, and I I I that was astory I was telling myself, and
I said, you know what, I'm notgonna regret this in 10 years.
Yeah.
So I told Kara, I'm like, I'mgoing.
And I'm gonna delay the proy theproject a week.
And um that's what's gonnahappen.

(08:27):
And so I literally called Icalled the people, I said, Hey,
I'm really sorry, but I'm gonnahave to delay your project one.
And they're like, Oh my god, andyou're dude.
So not only were they actuallythis was not the goal, but they
were actually inspired by medoing this because I was putting
family in front of work, right?
Right.
And I almost like gave themblessing or grace to do it,
which that was again not not thegoal.
And I had such a great time, andso I'm so grateful that I did

(08:50):
that.
And you know, it's like if if Iif I lose out on something, you
know.
But to me, as a dad who's almost50, man, that was like one of
the best decisions I've made ina long time, and I was had an
absolute blast watching himcompete and uh it was fun.

SPEAKER_01 (09:06):
So yeah, that's so cool.
I and I if I'm not mistaken, yousaw an eagle putt, too.
Or from I might have dropped anup bomb too.
And I just yeah, no, I saw that.
I mean, if there was ever amoment, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (09:19):
Oh, well, yeah, that's right.
Um, bring me inside the theBasel huddle.
Um, talk about how you and youryour lovely bride met and talk
about what uh members of theteam are up to right now.

SPEAKER_01 (09:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Vita is what we call each other.
So my wife is from um she's fromSouth America.
I think when we were originallytalking, and you're like, hey,
can you come on my podcast andtalk about what it's like to be
uh married to a Latin woman?
I was like, dude, that screamstrap.
You know, like there's no way.
Um no, it uh Monica is her name.

(09:55):
That's um and we met.
Um I had a bachelor pad, I wouldsay.
Uh, you know, we were uh threeguys renting a house in La
Jolla, California.
Um, to one of my best friendsand somebody that became a
really close friend of mine.
Uh, we used to have uh Sundayafternoons a lot, or you know,

(10:15):
kind of as many times aspossible, we'd have like you
know, cookouts in the backyardand like one of those houses
that you don't lock, you know,people stored surfboards there.
You know, it's just kind of afun little situation.
But yeah, she just came in to mybackyard one day, literally, you
know, one of my friends wasdating uh uh another girl from

(10:35):
Paraguay, and you know, she waslike, Oh, come on, you gotta
come over.
And um I met her.
I remember, you know, thinking Iwas super curious, you know,
like to use your uh your boy TedLasso, you know, and just like
who is this person?
Asked her a hundred questions,you know, probably a lot of them
were dumb, at least 85 of them.

(10:56):
Um, but eventually, you know,she's like, This guy, this is
what she'll she'll say like he'sjust not gonna let up.
So uh that's how we met.
And um I think we started datingabout eight months later.
And uh fun fact about us, wewere uh, I think engaged in
three months and married inthree months and one week or

(11:16):
something like that.
And that you know, that was 16years ago, I think.
So yeah, it's been the rest ishistory, but yeah, she's uh
she's great.
And and who else is in thefamily?
Yeah, uh, so two two kids.
They got a nice little gapbetween them.
Um, so I mentioned my daughter,uh, she's 13.

(11:40):
McKinley is her name.
And uh uh, and then we uh sixyears later had our son uh
Sawyer.
So he is seven and he's insecond grade, so eighths and
sevenths.
We got a fun little little crew.
I like the gap because you knowI know just you know, yours are

(12:00):
pretty close, right?
So it it as much as you know,you we want to hurry through
parenting and all that stuff,we're getting a nice long run
without having like four kids toraise in that in that period of
time.
So um, yeah, love them to death.
They're both very different.
And um, you know, but but as mydad said, when my when my son

(12:23):
was born, he's like,Congratulations, you have the
million-dollar family.
Everybody wants a boy and agirl.
You know, like yeah, I know youyou're in that camp.
And um, so yeah, we're blessedin that sense.

SPEAKER_02 (12:35):
Very cool.
So McKinley's into soccer.
What's Sawyer up to these days?

SPEAKER_01 (12:41):
Yeah, he doesn't play any video games.
He's a perfect child.
He doesn't watch any, you know,no Roblox, none of that kind of
stuff.
Yeah, so that's always achallenge.
But now he uh, you know, I Iplayed soccer, obviously, and
uh, so that's just somethingthat we love, or at least dad
does, and then I introduced himand Sor's um into competitive

(13:01):
soccer, but he also playsbasketball too.
Um, and he's gonna have to shootlike a dime a dozen to keep
playing because he was blessedwith my height, and uh so we'll
see where that goes.
But uh yeah, he's having funwith it right now.

SPEAKER_02 (13:16):
Hey, tell him so my Riley, my daughter, she's 5'4.
She's she's really yeah, five'sfour.
She actually just committed toplay at Central where I played
football.

SPEAKER_01 (13:24):
Yeah, that is the coolest thing.
When I saw that, yeah, because Iknow you know you and I always
talk about D2 athletes are thebest tires, you know.
Um jump on their shoulder.
Yeah, absolutely, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 (13:36):
So that was definitely a Disney day when
that when that happened.
So yeah, amen.
Good stuff.
Well, um you've you've listenedto shows before, so you probably
know where I'm going.
I always love to learn becauseit's sometimes I these are
questions I didn't ask when weworked together, but but take me
back to what was life likegrowing up for you and and talk
about the impact mom and dad onmom and dad had on you from a

(13:57):
values perspective now thatyou're a dad.

SPEAKER_01 (13:59):
Yeah, yeah.
So um, yeah.
My my dad didn't, you know, tome, I've everyone that um he
knows a lot of young men my agebecause he spent his whole
career as coach.
And um ever since I was born,you know, my I you know that

(14:19):
what was that movie um Big Fish,you know, where like the dad did
all the crazy things and the sondidn't believe him for all those
years, like Ewan McGregor, Ithink Eric was in it.
And um, that was kind of my dadin a nutshell.
Like he when I was born, he wasa professional uh motocross
racer in the 70s, uh, traveledaround the East Coast.

(14:41):
They didn't fly around oranything.
So he he drove a semi-truckduring the week, and then him
and his boys would jump in a vanand tow some dirt bikes to like
New York or somewhere in Canada.
They do a circuit down inFlorida.
Once in a while, he'll tell mestories about it that only I
know, none of my siblings do,and it's really fun stuff.
Um but yeah, he did that for awhile.

(15:02):
He was a um he played with umMark Howe, Gordy Howe's son.
He played hockey with him,dabbled in pro soccer, just like
everything he did.
He was he was um he wasexcellent at.
And then ultimately growing up,he was a high school coach um
for Birmingham Groves, which isa pretty good school in
Michigan, known for uhathletics.

(15:24):
So, you know, in in my eyes, mydad was my hero, right?
Because he had a I mean, I wrotethere was like a poster in our
garage with him on a dirt bike,you know.
Like, so um the reality, hewasn't around as much though,
either.
Like he loved me and it was allin when he was home.
Uh, but he was a busy guy, youknow, with coaching and

(15:45):
practices, and and that wasthroughout my whole childhood.
He eventually became a collegesoccer coach, and I had the um
the benefit of getting a playfrom my dad in college when he
was an assistant coach at theschool, which was kind of a cool
that was the only time he reallyever coached me, was all the way
to col you know, here's here'sthis fantastic soccer coach.

(16:07):
So I would spent a ton of timeuh with my mom because she, you
know, I was the firstborn.
So, you know, all the time wespent together, there were a few
years where it was just her andI constantly, and we'll talk
about that.
But, you know, as far as the uhand I I've got so many fun
memories.
We grew up in a log cabin inMichigan on three acres of land.

(16:28):
We had another three acres downthe road, dirt road.
I had a little dirt bike, likeyou didn't have to worry about
anything until I was 12, andthen we moved to Florida
eventually into a gatedcommunity, and I had to get rid
of the bike.
But uh, you know, but as far asthe values, you know, when I
think about um my mom, it'sdefinitely grit.
And I think if if any of mysiblings will tell you that I

(16:51):
have um my mom's kind of a no BSperson, she's very she'll share
her opinion, she has no problemdoing that.
And I I um I am mostly her in mymy personality.
Uh my dad is uh one of the mosthumble, thoughtful, caring men
that I've ever met in my life,almost to a point where I get

(17:14):
mad at him sometimes for notlike stepping up in a moment.
And uh, but a a fun story abouthim, I was thinking of all the
stuff he did, but probably thewildest thing he ever did.
He when I was about 13, 14, Iremember this because Nirvana
was like out at this point, youknow, all your Seattle grunge
was out in the world, and youknow, music's probably the best

(17:37):
couple years of music back then,early 90s.
Um my dad coached an adultsoccer team.
So he goes to practice and andum you know he comes home, it's
8:30, and there's like this dudewith my dad.
And of course, my mom's like,Who's this guy?
You know, like uh probably 26years old.
His name was uh Americana, andhe'd just come to the US from

(18:01):
Portugal and was a fantasticsoccer player.
And my dad started talking tohim after, and he's like, Where
do you live?
And he's like, uh, you know, andhe just kind of skirted around
the question.
But he covered that the guy'sliving in a shelter in in you
know my hometown.
So the natural thing is let'slet's just bring him home, you
know.
So yeah, and like, you know, wedidn't have an extra bedroom, so

(18:25):
I was like, he put him in theroom with me.
This guy, like, you know, wedidn't speak a lot of you know
English, so you know, mostlyPortuguese, but like he and I
stayed up like listening toNirvana together and we had this
music, and he stayed with us fortwo weeks until my dad was able
to find him a semi-pro likecontract with some team in
Orlando, and uh, you know,that's just him in a nutshell,

(18:47):
like just just never worriesabout anything like that kind of
stuff.
So that it was a I forgot aboutthat story until I was thinking
about it recently.

SPEAKER_02 (18:56):
So yeah.
Tell me, where do you think yourmom's grit comes from?

SPEAKER_01 (19:00):
I don't it's hard because she she also is the
oldest of of five kids.
You know, my grandfather was aum, you know, he sold cars for a
living.
Um legend is he sold um he soldCadillacs to Mr.
Kelly from Kelly Services backin the day.
That's what um but you know hewas a he was a tough, you know,

(19:21):
your 50s, you know, type ofgrand uh or type of dad, strict
house.
And I think my mom had tosurvive that a little bit, um,
you know, candidly at at thattime.
And and I think that made hertough in a in a way that, you
know, not a not everyone, noteveryone gets that.
But I think that's where youknow that happened.

(19:43):
There was a later time in ourlife where she had to use that.
Um, you know, not everything wasgreat financially for us at one
point.
And um she realized that she wasgonna have to enter the
workforce.
Um, and she ended up, I was thefirst of in my family to
graduate college.
Uh I I think my it is either mymom might have been second, and

(20:05):
uh right be or maybe my sisterwas second, but she went back to
Florida Southern where I wentand sat in the same classrooms
with 20-year-old kids while shewas in her 40s to get her
teaching degree.
And uh she's taughtkindergarten, gosh, I don't even
know, case like 30 years now,she's still doing it today, um,
in into her 70s, you know, andand uh I think that just goes to

(20:30):
like she loves what she does,she likes to work, you know, as
long as it's for the childrenand educating them.
So um I think that's probablywhen I think about like any
success I've had in um in myprofession, it you know, it's
it's probably come down toinheriting some of that from
her.
Yeah.

(20:51):
Now, do we have siblings, remindme?
Yeah, four.
So there's two sets of us.
So there's myself, and then um Ihave a a sister.
We're very scattered across thecountry.
So I'm in Dallas now, and I havea sister in New York that's a
few years younger than me.
And then then uh I think when Iwas 12, my brother was born, and

(21:14):
uh he lives in in my hometown ofLakeland, and then a couple
years after my uh my sister wasborn.
So the fun fact there's four ofus, uh one was planned.
So you know, and it wasn't mebecause I was born six months
after the wedding.
Uh and and I figured it out whenI was like 12 and I called a

(21:35):
family meeting, you know, todiscuss it.
But yeah, no, we're the four ofus are pretty uh tight, uh you
know, candidly case when I was Iwhen my little sister, the
youngest, was around in like indiaper, I'm 15, 16 years old.
I'm in high school.
Last thing I want to do is bearound like my little siblings.
I want to be out with my buddy,so I didn't have much of a

(21:56):
relationship, but now um my sitmy kid's sister and I are that's
one of my strongest siblingrelationships, actually, in
adulthood.
So it's it's cool that we'vebeen blessed to be able to still
hang together and just saw eachother this summer.
So that's awesome.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (22:13):
Yeah.
So Grit, you talked abouthumility, caring,
thoughtfulness.
Um if you were to describe, youknow, a couple of the values,
maybe through a story of how youlearned those that have impacted
you maybe as a dad or in yourprofessional world, tell me what
comes to mind.

SPEAKER_01 (22:28):
I think in my professional world, um not
everything is gone like youknow, my wife and I got uh
engaged to that God bless thebroken road, you know, song.
And I think professionally grithas had to be something that um
I've I've had to he key in onbecause not everything has gone

(22:51):
up to plan.
You know, I I I spent sevenyears at a really great firm
that, you know, in a lot of wayshelped change our industry.
And I thought I might be thereforever.
And, you know, some things andultimately is my decision to
leave there, but um, you know,it's just like you kind of start
over again.
And that's where I found KForce.

(23:12):
And and um, you know, I had agood amount of time at K Force
and loved working with you.
And, you know, it's funny yousay like boss, because I I was
never your boss.
Um at, you know, uh all I wasyour support if you needed it,
you know, at the time you neededit.
And and uh I'll never forget I'mhaving to, you know, I don't

(23:34):
know if everyone knows most ofour industry knows how what a
successful career you had, butyou were a legend in our
company.
And when the decision was madethat Casey was gonna report to
me, it was like impostersyndrome hits pretty quick.
Like, how am I gonna like whatam I gonna do to somebody who's
at this high?
You know, like like, come on.

(23:55):
But you were um you wereimpressive to me that you you
allowed me to to be that personfor you at that at that time and
and to support you, because mostpeople probably like to your
point, younger, you know, maybea hot shot attitude or something
like, you know, which could befair at that time for sure.

(24:16):
Um, but you taught me a lotabout humility just in the way
you um operated around me, notnot to stroke your ego or
anything, but it was just butyeah, and then you know
ultimately K Force came to anend, and that wasn't my call.
You know, I I've I've been veryvocal about that.
And you know, but so what do youdo in that moment?
You kind of think like, how am Igonna pick myself up?

(24:36):
You got a family, you just gotlaid off, taken care of
throughout the whole thing, butyou know, and that was the
probably the biggest gift I wasever given was the ability to
openly ask myself questionsaround where do I want to go,
who do I want to align myselfto?
And and what I leaned on was um,you know, what's my personal

(24:57):
brand?
And I think this goes back tolike my parents' values and all
those things.
Like, and then with you know,the more you grow in your
career, um it your brand becomesso important to who you are and
and who you want to attachyourself.
So I was lucky enough to getintroduced by a mutual friend of
ours, Anne Marie, uh, to KellyMitchell.

(25:19):
And the rest is history.
I mean, I remember sitting downwith my wife looking at YouTube
videos of the company, some oftheir marketing stuff.
I was like, this feels like us.
It's not too, you know, uhheavy.
Everybody seems pretty light,you know, but they're they seem
aggressive, they're all sharp,they're you know, young
organization, but motivated.
So yeah, the rest is history.
Uh, and it's been such ablessing to have gone through

(25:42):
those little trials to get towhere you know we're at now.

SPEAKER_02 (25:47):
So yeah, grit's a grit's a great skill to have.
Um grits are a great skill tohave.
I know you and I joke, but kindof weren't like as we're
recording earlier, is you knowthe the division two athlete
always people have a chip ontheir shoulder, and I think that
translates well in the staffingindustry, which we can talk
about here in a little bit too.
But um, I think grit as a dad isactually important too, because
being a dad, there's not amanual when the kids leave the

(26:09):
hospital hospital.
Right.
You know, there's no, it's like,wait a minute.
So I'm I'm good to go now, I canleave and I'm I'm a dad now.
And like, yep, go get them.
Like, well, I don't know how todrive.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What do I what do I do?
Well, you figure it out.
I think like that's why I thinkI'm obsessed with the word
curiosity as you mentionedearlier, is because I think when
you're curious, you're notafraid to ask for help, which

(26:31):
requires vulnerability.
I think humility, which is Iappreciate you saying that.
I think humility is such asomething I work on with my kids
to work on with me.
And I I'm grateful for myparents and coaches and people
in my life that have helpedinstill that humility in me.
And I don't ever try that.
So one of the reasons why whatdrove me at K Force was um one
year our our our our former CEO,when the first one of the first

(26:54):
years I had give a speech at ourpresence club, he says, Man, you
had a great year, but I'm like,cool.
Next year, man, you had a youhad a better year lot this year
than you did last year, butyou're more humble.
And when he told me that, it'slike I never wanted him to not
say that.
And I wanted my goal was to havehim tell me that each and every
year.
And it's kind of like, you know,soccer, but you're only as good
as your defense, you're only asgood as your goalie, and like

(27:15):
football, like I I can't throwthe ball to myself.
Right.
I need linemen, I need greatteammates, I need people to help
me.
So um I think those are greatskills that as we slow down as
dads, I think about how can weinfuse these into our own kids
through story?
Because I think I'm a bigbeliever that stories sell,
slides don't always help people.
And these moments you can thinkabout something slowing down to

(27:36):
have these conversations.
Your kids was like, Oh my god, Itotally forgot about that, you
know, and to be able to sharethem with your kids is fun.
Um what is the hardest partabout being a working dad for
you?

SPEAKER_01 (27:50):
Yeah, I mean, I I know it's absolutely patience,
you know, coming coming home umis is a is a tricky thing.
You know, I early on pre-COVID,I was traveling a lot and as a
as a dad.
And with that, the you know,obviously it sucks to be gone
from your kids.

(28:12):
I and you know, you do missthem.
You also get a lot of free timetoo.
And and so, you know, when whenI I don't know that oh since
I've been a parent, even now,like I'm just now, you know, I
moved to Dallas last year.
I was working fairly remote, butwould travel and I got to spend

(28:33):
a lot of time at home.
But just now am I starting toget back into the normal life
of, you know, coming into anoffice, working a full day, and
then going home, and then youknow, automatically you're gone
to the next thing.
And and um having time to spend20 minutes to play with the
game.
I I'm not good at that candidly.
Like I get a lot of one-on-onetime and good conversation with

(28:56):
my kids as I'm driving them tothe event the different things.
And I'm very adamant about doingthat part because that's been I
think the what's made up forsome of the play.
If if we're not like playing inthe backyard throwing a ball, at
least we're in the car talkingto each other, and you know, um
I used to ask how was their day,and you get you know the answer

(29:19):
you get to that, right?
And I'm like, fine, you know,it's good.
Yeah, or you know, that that'sall.
But I my wife sent me somethingthe other day, like, ask your
kids what made them laugh today.
And so I'm trying to askquestions like that to get and
and sometimes like today, I'll II have this thing where both my
kids go train at this facilityat the exact same time, uh right

(29:42):
next to each other.
And it's it's a really coolmoment where the three of us are
just in the car and we all havethis banter back and forth.
So that I've had to replace thatbecause you know you're
exhausted.
You come home long, long day.
You got up super early to try todo some things before work for
yourself.
And then kids are like eitheryou have a choice between iPad,

(30:05):
allowing them to have yourphone, or you know, actually
having to do something yourselfwith your children.
And it's hard, it's hard to it'swell, let's put it this way,
it's really easy to give themthat electronic device.
Yeah.
You know, and I don't always winthat battle.
In fact, I'm probably have alosing record, you know, but we
try to limit it with time andthings like that, of course.

SPEAKER_02 (30:25):
Yeah, that's those are uh those are choices.
It's kind of like you, you youwon't regret doing that.
It's kind of like and I tellpeople how find me the last time
you've actually worked out andexercise, and you're like, God
dang, I wish I didn't do that.
Right, right.
You feel better when you do it.
It's sometimes it's just thestart that stops us from doing
it.
It's we tell ourselves a story,oh, I'm too busy, I gotta do
this, I gotta do that.

(30:45):
But I mean, I remember sometimeseven when I was first started my
own business in this in theCOVID run when I didn't even
know what I was starting.
I remember one time like rallywould have been ninth grade,
eighth grade, and maybesomething like seventh grade,
whatever.
And um I'm like, screw it, Icanceled a meeting, I said we're
gonna go ride a bike down to theriver.

(31:07):
Nice.
Don't regret it.
And it's like I didn't lose mybusiness, I didn't lose a
client, I didn't go out of butsometimes we wrap ourselves
around these stories that welike I'm not and now I'm not
trying to encourage people to bereckless and just quit your job
and go by Slurpees all day.
Right, right.
There's a there's having balanceand being a being intentional
about your time.

(31:28):
Um and I always tell people too,like, you don't need a podcast
to have these types ofconversations with your buddies.
You could slow down and meetmeet one for coffee, meet one
for early breakfast one morningto have these types of
conversations.

SPEAKER_00 (31:38):
Hello, everybody.
My name's Craig Coe, and I'm thesenior vice president of
relationship management forBeeline.
Uh uh for more than 20 years,we've been helping Fortune 1000
companies drive a competitiveadvantage with their external
workforce.
Uh-huh.
In fact, Beeline's history offirst-to-market innovations has
become today's industrystandards.
Uh I get asked all the time, uh,what did Casey do for your

(32:00):
organization?

unknown (32:01):
Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 (32:02):
And I say this
The guy Flat Out gets it,relationships matter.

unknown (32:06):
Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 (32:06):
His down-to-earth presentation, his real-world
experience applied to every areaof our business.
In fact, his book, Win theRelationship and Not the Deal,
has become required reading forall new members of the Global
Relationship Management Team.
If you'd like to know more aboutme or about Beeline, please
reach out to me on LinkedIn.

(32:27):
And if you don't know CaseyJacks, go to caseyjcox.com and
learn more about how he can helpyour organization.
Now, let's get back to today'sepisode.

SPEAKER_02 (32:38):
So I want to transition because you and I we
we reconnected last November,and we were I was there that
there are our friends atTechServe, which unfortunately I
won't be there this year becauseRyder has a a tournament, and
I'm not gonna miss it.
Good move.
Yeah, and uh shout out to Susanand and Sean for and for
understanding it from TechServe,everybody.

(32:59):
Um but you you you shared somenews with me that kind of
stopped me in my tracks.
And so for what what you feelcomfortable sharing, I think I
think your story, my hope, isgonna inspire dad to maybe do
that physical, maybe do thathealth check.
So maybe what walk walk ouraudience through what happened.

SPEAKER_01 (33:17):
Yeah, yeah.
Uh well, I not to delay, I had aheart attack uh last year.
So uh one week from today willbe my one-year anniversary of um
being shocked by you know bysomething because we all, you
know, we grow up thinking thatyou know we're fairly invincible

(33:38):
and and young, and especiallywhen you're doing a lot of
exercise or you know, but eveneven if you're not, you just
kind of like that's not gonnahappen to me.
Um but yeah, I I um you know,just to kind of like tell the
story, and and part of the youknow, you asked me to do this in
at that moment, and you know,you said to me something that I

(34:01):
won't regret won't uh forget,which is it plays you can save a
life.
And um so you know, that's beenthat was it was really good
guilt selling, Casey.
Just so you know, great greatjob.
I held on to that, you know, foranother nine months, you know.
So we had three more heartattacks.

(34:21):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
More stress.
Yeah, I had to wait for my bloodpressure to go down.
So um, no, so you know, I Ithink to back up a little bit,
like I I um you know, I've haddifferent exercise, but yeah,
and it's funny, I forgot thatthis is not on video.
So I I you know I lost like 12pounds before I got I was
getting ready for this podcast.
So uh I'm kidding.

(34:43):
I'm kidding.
But um I wanted to look healthyafter, you know, heart attack.
I don't know.
Well, yeah, we're trying.
But um anyway, yeah, I I umobviously college athlete, I was
a little bit after college, butthen I, you know, I started
running marathons.
I did, you know, five, I think,and not always fast, but like

(35:05):
could do it, you know, and andum so you never really think
about that.
And um, you know, I got in my40s.
I'm I remember when I firststarted at Kelly Mitchell, there
was like one night that my bloodpressure spiked up to like wild
numbers, like 180 over 130 orsomething.
You just and I went to theclinic that night and they ran a

(35:26):
bunch of EKGs on me, like allthe stuff when I was 40 years
old.
This is going back like eight uhalmost nine years ago, and um
they did a full sweep and likelike it's not that.
So I was like, do I have a panicattack?
Because I've never done thatbefore.
And then um last and then youknow, even like three years ago

(35:47):
or so, I started going to thesesubscription health doctors that
you know will go over um, youknow, like your vitals and your
blood work.
And and one of them actuallysaid, you know, here's your
here's your numbers.
And I did have a you know,borderline high cholesterol, uh
decent like blood pressure 140over 90 or something like that.

(36:09):
So um, but they gave me a pieceof paper that was like your risk
score, and it said like yourrisk of a heart attack in the
next 10 years is like 4%.
So if I see that, yeah, four.
Like, and I, you know, so Ithat's not even like in my in my
mind.
So uh, you know, like the lastlast year, one of my really

(36:30):
close fellow Theta Kai brothersand um striking moccasin buddies
had a 50th birthday, and uh weall went to Europe to um you
know England for Premier Leaguegames and uh as a group, you
know, just some soccer guys andkind of geeking out over the
that.
And I remember um on a Sunday,I'm in I'm in the uh Tottenham

(36:54):
Hotspur Stadium, which is anamazing place, and uh I felt
like death.
And you know, it was one ofthose things.
Like obviously we were outdrinking the night before, we're
in England, this guy's trip, butthe punishment did not fit the
crime.
And I almost left and I feltnauseous and all the you know,
all the all the things, couldn'tlike no way I could have a sip

(37:16):
of alcohol.
Like, and eventually it gotbetter.
I got through the game nextnext.
This is now a Monday, I fly hometo um to Dallas.
So my week goes on, not thinknothing of it.
And um the following Sunday, sowhat is that, the 22nd of
September last year?
I go to bed.
I probably had like two or threeglasses of wine, maybe a bottle

(37:39):
if I'm being honest.
I don't know.
Uh, you know.
Uh and I woke up at two in themorning and it was just wild
case.
Like I there is, you know, myjaw was starting to like I could
feel chest pains, but it wasn'tlike knocking me out or anything
like that.
It was just my jaw was hurting,my feet were hurting a little

(38:02):
bit.
Um, I ended up throwing uptwice, and all this is going
down.
And the worst part, mysix-year-old, who occasionally
will wake up in the middle ofthe night and run downstairs, he
happens to come down in themiddle of all this.
So I got my son and my wife likeup trying to figure out, and
we're debating, like, becauseagain, 4% is in my mind that

(38:26):
like, should we call anambulance?
Like, do we really want like theneighbor?
And like, it's a panic attack.
Like, I've never I must bestressed out at work or
something like that.
And um luckily, years ago, uh Idon't know why, but we had a
prescription for 1500 milligramaspirin, and Monica's like, hey,

(38:48):
why don't you just take this?
Like, obviously, if it's andthat calmed me down, and then
everything kind of like stopped,and I went to bed that night.
Like, we were just like, Okay,I'll go to the clinic in the
morning, I'll get it checkedout.
So I actually got up, got on mymorning meeting for work, like,
you know, like just started theday, and I thought I'll do these

(39:09):
two conference calls and thenI'll head into the clinic, and
they'll tell me the same thingthey told me when I was 40.
And um they uh I put my symptomsin, like as I was making my
appointment, and I got a phonecall right away.
So I got off the conferencecall, they called and they said
they said, We can't help you,you need to go straight to the
hospital right now.
So again, bad decision numberfive here.

(39:30):
I think I decided to drivemyself to the hospital.
I'm like, hey, babe, I'll behome by like one or two.
And uh, long story short, um, Igot to the hospital and they
started doing some tests on me,and they're like, You you had an
event.
Um, and it's fairly significant,and we're gonna keep you here.
And um while I was laying, youknow, they had all me strapped

(39:52):
into everything.
And by now, like, you know, mywife is on her way to the
hospital.
My dad just found out hemiraculously like raced to the
airport and got there by thatnight from Florida to Dallas.
And uh I'm sitting there in the,you know, with all the stuff
tied to me, and I felt my heartlike I kind of just go for a

(40:16):
second.
And it and then it came back.
And then all of a sudden analarm goes off and this thing
prints out, and the the all ofus, you know, I was supposed to
get a uh procedure, a stent thenext day.
They moved the guy off, and youknow, the that shout out to to
um Texas Health and thosedoctors, uh, because they they

(40:36):
moved me in and by 4 p.m.
I had a stent because I was 98%blocked.
Wow.
Uh in one and the other theother one was 75%.
So, you know, I just crazy.
Uh that that moment.

SPEAKER_02 (40:53):
So that so how long now are you in in the hospital
during this journey?

SPEAKER_01 (40:58):
So I, you know, believe it or not, like it's
it's not, you know, a lot ofpeople are like, Do you have a
scar on your chest?
Like, no, they go in throughyour wrist and it's the littlest
dot for like three weeks, andthen you it's like it never was
there.
Modern medicine is amazing.
Um, but yeah, I was I was there.
Um I believe they did that stentthat night.

(41:20):
And then uh I want to say thenext day I was out by like the
afternoon.
I don't think I stayed there twonights, and there was enough,
like, you know, because of thekidneys and things like that.
They they ended up doing asecond stent the uh two or three
weeks later once my umeverything was able to heal from
some of the like dye that theyput in your body and and all of

(41:42):
those things.
But uh yeah, that was that wasthe you know event that changed
my life, no question.
Um and it's it's been kind of aa recovery because and that was
part of the reason I didn't wantto talk about this yet, because
it's been a journey to get tolike even where I'm at today,
where I feel like now I know howto live with that versus you

(42:06):
know trying to figure it out.
When I saw you, it was thatNovember, like 60 days out, I
didn't know what was going onstill at that point.

SPEAKER_02 (42:14):
So t tell me the biggest biggest I don't want to
think it's a lesson, but it'sthe biggest thing you've learned
about this journey.

SPEAKER_01 (42:24):
Uh yeah, I mean it's different, it's different
things.
So let me let me talk aboutprevention a little bit because
I think this if there's onemessage that I want to get
across, and everyone hasdifferent opinions, but this
one's pretty the more I lookinto it.
I I think it's a miss in our,you know, I I think we have a
great healthcare system, sure,but I think this is part is a

(42:45):
miss.
And that's this little thingcalled LP little A.
And and understanding what thatis, um, you know, when we do
HDL, LDL, cholesterolscreenings, that's kind of your
standard screening that everyguy, every dad gets.
Everyone does.
Um the LP little A is actuallyan a third um lipoprotein or

(43:12):
whatever it is.
You know, it's like it's it's inthe cholesterol family, if you
will.
And the problem with this one isit's entirely hereditary and
there's no cure for it at thispoint.
There's apparently things intesting and you know that could
reduce it by 90%.
Hopefully, this isn't an issuefor any of our children because
certainly mine will have um, youknow, and I inherit my uncle

(43:36):
died at my age of a heart attackon a you know, racetrack where
he was his son was racing littledrag racing cars, and he just
Uncle Chuck died that day, youknow.
I remember that.
But he, you know, so we we havewe're really good at heart
disease in our family.
And um this this test, though,most doctors, you don't get it

(43:56):
unless you ask for it.
And I think it's important forpeople to know because uh, as I
was consulting with a friend ofmine that's a physician after
all this stuff happened, heasked me about it.
And he was going through myphone on my labs, and he's like,
Blaze, look, like normal LPlittle A is a 30.
Like you're you're you're in the90s on this.
So it's not like, and and ifyou've ever remember the show

(44:19):
The Biggest Loser, and thatthing was on Netflix recently.
Like that that trainer, the guy,had almost died.
Like he was he was in a coma fora while, fittest guy out there,
but that doesn't matter, likeyou gotta know what you're
dealing with when it comes tothat, and and take preventative
mess uh measures and have areally good relationship with a

(44:39):
cardiologist if that is high foryou.
So uh it's just something that II you know I feel like every
person should know what that is.
Um pro tip though, um some ofthat preventative tests and
things like that, I I would uhtake a real good look at your
life insurance policy before yougo out and do that tomorrow, you

(45:02):
know, because that can affect itquite a bit.
And I had a friend of mine thatthat, you know, his his uh the
quote that he got, and then hegot in a test for actually it
was for colon cancer, but youknow, something was not right
there.
So his his rates went upquadrupled because he hadn't had
it yet.
So, but that's yeah, that's Imean, that's just like from a

(45:23):
prevention standpoint, you know.
I would I was on some meds thatI was not taking, you know, like
just for cholesterol and highblood, I I was not consistent
enough.
Now I don't miss, you know, andyeah, I people have different
opinions on like meds, but I Ijust like I'm really like

(45:44):
living, you know, so I'm justgonna listen to what you know
people are telling me.
So um, but yeah, it's tough,man.
I I think the uh you know, as adad though, the hardest thing
for me is like every time Idrive by that hospital, which is
on our way to practice, so we goby it, you know, seven, eight

(46:05):
times a week.
My little seven-year-old islike, Dad, are you going back
there anytime soon?
And like stuff like that.
It's just brutal.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (46:12):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (46:12):
So but it's um, you know, I'm I'm hoping that
through it they learn like youknow how to how I've adapted to
all that, you know.
I think case the hardest partwas they they told me the doctor
was like, You get this becauseyou're CrossFit.
And I had done, I never hit 500.
I think it was like 470 F45workouts, like in um, and so you

(46:38):
know, you're you're ramping upyour heart rate, you're getting
up to like 165, 170 even, and uhred line.
I love living there.
I like that you just seeadrenaline rush that you get off
out of that.
And uh my doctor for the lastyear said I don't want your
heart rate over 150.
And it's just like, man, likeit's not in our nature to yeah,

(47:00):
like, you know, go drive 30miles an hour on a highway, you
know.
So that's but I figured it out,you know, like I've learned
like, okay, well, strengthtraining, you can still do that
and live in the 140s and do alot of things, and your kids
will look up to like you, likeyou talk about fitness and all
that kind of stuff.
So anyway, that's just uh that'swhat it is.

SPEAKER_02 (47:24):
So well, I I I c I applaud your your vulnerability
by sharing this because um likesometimes these are things we
keep private to ourselves.
But I think as I shared you ayear ago, I think these are the
stories that I mean I've neverheard what LP little A is.
I've heard of I've heard of theHDL LDL when I had, you know, I
I get a physical every year, Iget blood work.
Um I have I have kidney issues.

(47:45):
I have to kind of keep an eye onmy family.
So I just I actually just wentto the kidney doctor, got he
said, No, you're you're good,dude.
Um I decided it'd be fun to getI decided it'd be fun to get
gout, which I don't recommend toanybody.
It is awful, but I I takesomething called Alparanol now
and it's like stabilizing and Ifeel like I'm in a better spot,
but um, which is alsohereditary.

(48:06):
Um but I think health isimportant, and if you're one of
these dads listening that'slike, oh, I like going to the
doctor, well, how would you likebeing dead?
Yeah, yeah.
And and I think we have to stopbeing selfish because we're
lazy.
Hate to call us our our our outdads, but go to the freaking
doctor, go get a physical, goget your um prostate checked if

(48:27):
you're go get a colonoscopy ifyou're if you're above 40, 45,
whatever the age maybe.
It's like you won't regret it.
Right.
Peace of mind.
I think if these are not lessonswe uh other dads can learn from,
but also it's like we're showingour kids what's the right thing
to do.
Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (48:44):
100%.
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
I think it's brought us closeras a as a family too, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (48:53):
So are there things you have to watch now going
forward, like to prevent anypotential future episodes?

SPEAKER_01 (49:01):
Uh I mean, kind of all of it.
Yeah, I mean, it's hard becauseyou know, it it's there are
certain things that you know,people, and I'm not gonna get
into every little detail, butlike you you have to make
choices too about, you know,like they one of the things they
told me like the nutritionistcame in, it was like the old 19,

(49:24):
let's call it 2000s nutritionalguide to like all red meat is
evil, and you know, like don't,you know, and it and there's
certain things like I'm sorry,I'm not I'm not gonna stop
eating healthy what I deem to below-fat red meat, because that
is like now do I try to eat itevery meal?
No, but like little littlethings like that, you've got to

(49:46):
make a choice on like living tolive and and living not to die
on on things, and and that'swhere I'm doing my my best to
balance that out, you know, butit's not like I have not figured
that out either, right?
Like, because you know, I Istill have I still have a beer

(50:06):
with friends, you know, like I'mnot gonna I you know, I thought
when I first got out of there, Iwas like, I'm never having a sip
of alcohol again for the rest ofmy life.
I don't think that's realistic,like, you know, but but it also
I also don't I could have tolook at that really seriously
and say, like, okay, what whatis a good like balance between
what you should be doing foryour health and longevity of

(50:27):
your children, like seeing yourgrandkids, and um, you know, and
in a lot of ways, like I jokewith, you know, there's a gym I
go to right now, and like everygym I go to, I tell them, like,
I had a heart attack, and thenthey look at you like you're
about to die.
Like it so they they watch youlike a hawk, everything.
And I just told my trainer theother day, I was like, I
guarantee you I have a healthierheart than everyone in this gym

(50:49):
right now.
So I'm fine, like just leave mealone, I'll be good.
You know, like maybe not in 10years because of that, you know,
that unless they come up with acure, but at least we know we
monitor and we go from there.
And I think Peter Atia, thatguy, you know, he's like a
Huberman lab buddy, you know, hehe always says, I'm confident I
will die with heart disease, notfrom it.

(51:11):
And that's my goal, you know, isuh to uh just keep it regulated
enough.

SPEAKER_02 (51:17):
So how can people again they just ask for a little
P L P little A?

SPEAKER_01 (51:22):
You said Yeah, it's just L P little A.
There's a bunch of likearticles.
You can just Google it.
There's there's stuff from theuh American Heart Association's
got some good things about it,but mostly more than anything,
next time you get a screening,like demand it that you get your
LPA test too.
Because and you know, likeespecially if you have heart
disease in your family.
Like if you if you don't,there's a good chance, you know,

(51:44):
maybe 80% chance, I think Atiasaid, because he did a whole uh
like three-hour thing on onthis, but there's a good chance
you don't have, but if if youhave heart disease in your
family, you need to go get thatchecked out.
So it's good.

SPEAKER_02 (51:59):
Yeah, it's good to know everybody.
Hopefully, uh we can all learnfrom Blaze and Blaze's journey.
And um, I got a page full ofnotes here.
Yeah.
Thank you for sharing.
Um, as we get ready to kind ofto wrap up, I wanna I wanna like
think through um want to kind ofgo back to values and then but
also kind of bring in what youtalked about the health.

(52:21):
But you did like kind ofsummarize what we talked about
that dads can take from ourepisode on on ways they can
maybe improve their leadershipskills, a dad, um be a more
present dad, maybe look at theirhealth better.
Like, what would you say is likethe the top three things people
can take from our specificallydads can take from our episode
today?

SPEAKER_01 (52:39):
Yeah, you know what?
I'm gonna shout out one of ourold bosses, uh, Mr.
Neil.
Yeah, yeah.
You know what?
Because he said something to me,Case, that I think translates to
everything in life.
I don't I know you talked to himbefore on here, but um the you
know, there him and he and hiswife have a a way, a

(53:00):
decision-making structure, Ithink about how they look at
life.
And it's uh faith, me, we,family work.
And and I I've like I whenJeffrey told me that it it hit
me so, and I think I think itwas actually they were talking
to Monica and I on one of thetrips about that.
And um, if you look at it, youknow, this whole conversation

(53:22):
started with faith and you know,and like where where you stand
with that, because I thinkthat's really important as a
baseline, no matter what youknow, it is.
And then, you know, you got totake care of yourself,
obviously.
Uh, you gotta have strong tiesand a great marriage.
And I've been lucky enough tohave a you know, wife that
challenges me to be a greathusband and for us to have a

(53:46):
great marriage and do all thethings, and she's very vocal
about that.
Um and then, you know, ourfamily, our nucleus, and like
how do we, you know, I I love mymy sister and her husband,
they're they have four kids, andthey're like core four, like
everything they say, it getsannoying over time.
Like, you know, the core four,you know, nothing penetrates the

(54:06):
core four.
But yeah, like their family unitand having like that tie tight,
like we're gonna take care ofeach other and then um then
work, you know, after all that,because if you've got all those
things, like you you've done alot of that of how you
prioritize things, and you know,we've made a bunch of sacrifices
as a family moving around thecountry for different, different

(54:28):
roles.
And as I I tell my wife, like,there aren't a lot of IT
staffing firms, over$100million, you know, that are in
our industry.
And so that means that, youknow, a president job at one of
those is a lot like being an NFLcoach.
You go to where the job needsyou to be if you want that job.
And and so we've had toprioritize that, but do it in a

(54:50):
way that still can work for ourfamily.
You know, like when we movedfrom San Diego a year ago, it no
doubt that had some stress todo, you know, moving from
paradise to Dallas.
But Dallas has grown on us andit's it's it's created a lot of
opportunities for our kids, youknow, and and uh so yeah, like
looking at those things and thatthat decision matrix, I think is

(55:12):
something that I I've I've lovedthat Jeffrey gave to us.

SPEAKER_02 (55:16):
Shout out Jeffrey Neal.
That's gold, man.
That's it's really well said.
And I think again, these areactionable things that dads, if
you're listening, hopefully ifyou if you missed it, hit the
rewind button, get out a pieceof paper, take some notes.
Um because that's that's whatwe're the goal is of these
episodes, is just learn fromeach other.
Regardless, if you're apresident of a staffing
consulting company like Blazes,you're a janitor, you're a

(55:38):
barista, you're a pro athlete,it don't matter.
Your kids don't care.
Dads, I love that we we think wedo our ego, our male ego said,
Yeah, but I'm a this and I'm anauthor.
Your kids they could give twoshits.
Yeah, they really could.
And I don't mean to bedisrespectful to myself or
anybody else, but just likewhat's important is is the
relationships we're formed withthe kids.
Where how we show up, thoseconversations in the car, you

(56:01):
know, passing up 10 more minutesof work for go play catch, go
rebound, go play soccer in thebackground, go watch a movie
together, play a game, teachthem cribbage.
It's that's what they're gonnaremember, and that's what you'll
remember as that versus the onemore work meeting or one more
phone call you could have made.
Are you a cribbage player?
I love cribbage.

SPEAKER_01 (56:21):
No kidding.
Yeah, good to know.

SPEAKER_02 (56:24):
Get it on.
Yeah, me and Carrie play all thetime.

SPEAKER_01 (56:28):
Really?
Interesting.
Yeah, cool.

SPEAKER_02 (56:31):
Okay, um, so Kelly Mitchell.
Um people might be thinking,Kelly Mitchell, it's it's not
Paul Mitchell.
You do not sell hair productlike that also soon.

SPEAKER_01 (56:41):
Yeah, yeah, we divested that.

SPEAKER_02 (56:44):
Yeah.
Kelly Mitchell has a has a has asolid name in the industry.
So people don't know what KellyMitchell is, who you are, what
you do, um, educate ouraudience.
How can they learn more aboutyou and your work at Kelly
Mitchell?

SPEAKER_01 (56:57):
Yeah, we do IT staffing and services for a lot
of the, you know, some of theworld's greatest and most
innovative companies.
So um, you know, I I think ifyou are curious about us, and
uh, you know, it's I love areach out on LinkedIn.
Um, you know, I'm pretty activeon on there, and uh we're in the
middle of what is a pretty cooltransformation from what has

(57:21):
been a you know legacy ofdelivering staffing services and
getting more and more into thesolutions space, which is which
is you know something you and Idid a lot of work on, Case.
And it's um it's been a fun yearas we've been, you know, kind of
stepping into my role.
That's been a a big charter ofmine to to go down that path.

(57:44):
And so yeah, if people arecurious, um absolutely reach out
to me on LinkedIn whether youknow you're somebody looking to
you know expand your career andmove on to your next thing, or
or obviously on the client sidetoo.
So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (57:59):
Awesome.
We'll make sure that's linked inthe show notes, everybody.
Um, I would encourage you to tofind Blaze on LinkedIn if you're
an active person on LinkedIn.
Um he's uh he's he's one to oneto connect with, one to follow.
He he will get back to you.
He is a man of his word.
Um it is now Blaze to go intothe lightning round.
How are I?
I I show you the negative hitshave taken too many hits, not

(58:21):
bong hits, but football hits.
Your job is to answer thesequestions as quickly as you can.
My job is to try to get a goodGladio.
Fair.
Are you ready?
Challenge accepted.
Okay, how now round cow?
No more smiling because we gotto get ready.
All right.
True or false, now that you livein Dallas, you drive a dirt bike
to work.

SPEAKER_01 (58:39):
That would be false.
I drive an EV, which is reallydisappointing because I bought
it in San Diego before I knew Iwas moving.

SPEAKER_02 (58:47):
Uh when you when you say San Diego, do you say San
Diego or San Diego?
Well, it's founded by theGermans, so it has more of a
German Yes, yes, diversity.
It's an old wooden ship.
Yes.
Um true or false, you workShengard's Dork.
Only on Thursdays.

(59:08):
If I came to your house fordinner tonight, what would you
and Monica make me?
A whole lot of protein.
Okay, so my gout would getincreased.
Perfect.
Sounds awesome.
Yeah.
What would be one song that ifwe went under your phone right
now might surprise yourcolleagues?

SPEAKER_01 (59:25):
Ooh, um, I would say probably like Tate McCrae music
that's just you know left overfrom kids stuff.
So yeah.
Last book you read was actuallyuh from our our boy Ryan Leek,
who we got to see, the um how towork with complicated people.

(59:48):
Okay.
Just finished it recently.
So yeah, it's good, it's a gooduh good book about you know how
to work how to work with peopleso and how to work on yourself
more than anything, I think.

SPEAKER_02 (59:59):
There you go.
Yeah.
If you were to go on vacationright now, you and Monica,
sorry, kids, you're stayinghome.
Where are you taking her?

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:06):
Uh, you know, we just got back from a wonderful
family trip in Europe, and Ilove that place.
I think we would be in Greece.
Somewhere along, you know,somewhere like that, Italy or
Greece.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:18):
Oh, Greece is on my list for sure.
Um, if there was to be a bookwritten about your life, tell me
the title.
Blazing Saddles.
Nice.
Blazing Saddles, pun intended.
Okay, now Blazing Saddles, eventhough it's already been a movie
about Blazing Saddles in the1970s or 80s, this is a Blazing
Saddles part duh, but it's gonnabe about you.
Um now you're the castingdirector.

(01:00:40):
I need to know who's gonna starBlaze Basell in this critically
acclaimed hit new movie, BlazingSaddles.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:44):
Yeah, I think I would like to answer Matt Damon,
but I think a lot of people thatknow me would say like Kevin
James.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:53):
That's quite a genre of of talent, of uh, of actor
skills.
Okay, and last and mostimportant question, tell me two
words that would describeMonica.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:02):
Oh gosh.
Um undeniable and enthusiastic.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:09):
Boom.
Lightning rounds over.
I think I giggled first my ownjoke, which means I take the
loss.
Uh I definitely have a losingrecord on this podcast after
320-something dads, but I'm justI'm not giving up because I'm
gonna get to a thousand episodesone day and hopefully I can stop
laughing at my own dumb jokes,which I do every week.
Blaze, I appreciate you,brother.
Uh, that hour flew by.
I'm grateful that you educatedus, shared your story, um, not

(01:01:31):
only about what was life growingup, where you where you learned
your grit, grittiness from, yourhumility, your caringness, your
thoughtfulness, your ability tolisten as a leader.
Um, I have great memoriesworking with you.
And every time I get a CADconference or on LinkedIn, it's
always a always brings a smileon my face.
And I hope if there's a dad athome who has heart disease in
their family, please, please,please, please take what Blake

(01:01:53):
said to heart, pun intended, anduh go get yourself tested.
And let's figure and figure thisthing out.
And hopefully over time there'llbe a cure for for one of these
diseases.
But appreciate you, brother.
I'm grateful for our timetogether, and I know we'll be
crossing paths again soon.
Yeah, it's been an awesome case.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:10):
Always a pleasure to talk to you.
All right, ma'am.