How A Sales Hustle And A Loving Home Built A Better Dad - Adam Bilinski

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Some stories punch through the noise because they’re real, a little rough, and full of heart. Adam Bilinski’s path runs from a single mom’s sacrifice and a grueling work ethic to a flagpole accident that nearly ended his chance to be a dad—then into the high-pressure world of New York tech hiring, where process and people beat buzzwords. Along the way, he learned what actually scales at home: respect for everyone, a clear standard for work, and an attitude that lifts the room without faking optimism.

We dig into the moments that shaped him: summer jobs where five minutes late meant go home, the teacher who told him he belonged in New York after watching him negotiate for a busload of classmates, and the career breakthrough that came from obsessing over value rather than volume. Then we connect those lessons to fatherhood. Adam and his wife raise two very different sons with the same core rules—mutual respect, consistent effort, and financial literacy. When culture clashes with values, they choose values, even if it means changing schools.

The emotional playbook is as practical as it is kind. Adam calls himself a realist with a good attitude, teaches his kids to notice who adds or drains energy, and lives by the saying " This too will pass." He swapped lectures for listening—do you want me to listen or solve?—and watched trust deepen. 

Professionally, he explains how Randstad Digital wins with delivery, talent, and repeatable processes, and why integrity outlasts shortcuts in a crowded market. If you’re a parent, leader, or both, you’ll walk away with simple habits that compound: respect everyone, choose your attitude, save first, serve others, and keep showing up.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more parents and leaders can find us. Your support helps these conversations reach the people who need them most.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_03 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Riley, and I'm Ryder.
And this is my dad's job.
Hey everybody, it's Casey J Coxwith the Quarterback Dadcast.
Welcome to season six, and Icannot be more excited to have
you join me for another year offantastic episodes of
Conversations with unscriptedand raw and authentic

(00:24):
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 of the
Quarterback Deckcast.

(00:45):
Wait everybody, it's KCJ Coxwith the Quarterback Deckcats
Weird.
Now it's tail end of season six.
And I want to say thank you toall um every dad or mom or
grandma and grandpa whoevercontinues to listen for your
support.
It means the world to me.
And I know we're uh we're uhepisode 300 and something uh
when this comes out, uh, but thegoal is to get to a thousand,

(01:08):
and so which means we're notgonna be doing this thing.
We're not we're gonna becontinuing to do this thing for
a long time, which I'm very,very excited about.
And our next guest, well, he washard to get.
You know, I went throughmultiple agents, um, I I had to
go through like meet him in analley, and he finally agreed.
Uh, joke him aside, his name isAdam Bolinski.
He's a senior executive clientpartner at the wonderful

(01:28):
Ronstadt.
He's been there over 26 years.
He's a Buffalo Bull, he's adiehard Rams fan.
Uh, but more importantly, he's adad.
And we're gonna learn from Adamhow he's working hard to become
that ultimate or quarterbackleader of his household.
So without further ado, Mr.
Balinski, welcome to thequarterback dad cast.
Hey, appreciate it, Casey.
Thanks for having me.
How about that intro?
Yeah, it's pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Yeah.
I I was wondering if I couldjust copy that for the next 10
things I need for work when theyask me for an intro.

SPEAKER_03 (01:55):
There we go.
So, uh, when's the last timesomeone mentioned that you're a
Buffalo bull?
Kyle 20 years.
Go bulls, baby.

SPEAKER_02 (02:06):
Yeah, you know, a uh undrafted free agent out of UB
uh had a great game for the Ramsthis weekend started.

SPEAKER_03 (02:13):
Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02 (02:14):
Luck, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (02:15):
There we go.
Trivia right there, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Remember, Mr.
Cole Mack came out of Buffalo,so that you know they got a
couple players.

SPEAKER_03 (02:23):
Nice.
Well, brother, we always startout with each uh each episode
gratitude.
So tell me, what are you mostgrateful for as a dad today?
That I am a dad.
The fact that I get to be a dad.

SPEAKER_02 (02:35):
Um, and the fact that I got a wife who loves me.
Like I said, uh I'm not jokingwhen I tell you I'm living the
dream, pal.
I got the white picket fence,the golden retriever, the two
boys, the wife who loves me, anda great job.
I am live LTD.

SPEAKER_03 (02:48):
There we go.
Funny story about that.
When my wife and I first gotmarried, our first house was a
yellow, yellow house with awhite picket fence, and we had a
golden retriever, and I took thefence down.
I'm like, I can't, there's toomany cliches.
We got to put up a new fence.
True story.
Um, well, what I'm most gratefulfor, um, I'm grateful for uh the
Seattle Mariners today becauseuh it's it gives me something

(03:11):
greatly to talk about with myson and my daughter, who's now
becoming even a better SeattleMariner fan.
But uh we're recording in uhOctober.
This episode will come out here,I say, within the next month.
And uh we're gonna get togethertoday with uh friends and and
watch the game.
And uh hopefully by the by thetime this episode comes out,
you're gonna be looking at theWorld Series champs and this

(03:32):
beloved biker bar, handlebarmustache will be gone.

SPEAKER_01 (03:36):
Well, I wish you the best of luck.
Now that the Yankees are out,fine, let's go Seattle.

SPEAKER_03 (03:42):
There we go.
There we go.
Well, bring me inside the the uhBalinski huddle.
I'd love to learn how you andyour wife met and then talk
about each member of uh thesquad.

SPEAKER_02 (03:51):
Sure.
Uh, you know, it's right out ofthe fairy tale.
Uh we I met her on the mathleague bus.
I asked her cousin if I couldget her phone number.
Her cousin said nope.
Uh, you know, I was two yearsolder than her at the time.
We dated for all of two weeks inninth grade, uh, but realized
maybe we weren't mature enoughyet.

(04:12):
Stayed close friends.
Uh, she went and told her motherafter our two weeks, this is the
boy I'm gonna marry.
Uh, her mother wrote it down sowe'd remember uh throughout high
school, she was one of my bestfriends.
Um throughout college, she cameand visited me, one of my best
friends.
Uh, you know, I had the typicalmentality that um this was
someone I really liked,appreciated, but no way I'm good

(04:33):
enough for her.
Uh, you know, she was the thepedestal.
Uh and then after uh wegraduated college, uh, about two
weeks into my uh summer beforewe moved to New York City, uh, I
had uh told her we should bedating.
And she said, I have aboyfriend.
I said, Don't worry, I'll lethim know it's over.
I was quite confident young man,and we did the next year and a

(04:55):
half long distance where wemoved to New York City together
and you know, started that wilddream.
And here we are 26 years laterwith two wonderful boys and
everything going up pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 (05:04):
Wow.
And and talk about the boys.
What are they up to in theirages?

SPEAKER_02 (05:08):
Yeah, so I have a 17-year-old senior uh and a
16-year-old now sophomore.
Uh, they're about 18 monthsapart, they couldn't be any more
different than any two kids inthe world.
Um, fortunately, they're both atthe same school now.
Uh, they go to a prep school.
And uh my oldest is finishing uphis college applications in the

(05:30):
next two weeks and hopefully uhhave that all settled by uh the
end of the year because he isgoing to be going uh early uh
what's it early attention,early, what's it called?
Um and then the youngest decidedhe did not want to be known as
just a football player, and soreally made this pivot to the

(05:50):
academic institution.
But they're both on the samevarsity prep football team, and
it's you know quite a joy uh asa father to see them both out
there.
Um my youngest doesn't take astep off the field both sides.
He's an Iron Man, he's he's amachine, and the uh the oldest
is an intellect, and so um he heprobably only gets you know

(06:11):
maybe 20% of the time, but boydoes he make it uh worthwhile.
He's fast, it's fun.
So, as a father, what do you do?
You root out there, you keepyour mouth shut and say no
injuries, no injuries.
Right, exactly.
Exactly.
Great sportsmanship is all I'veever asked for them.
You know, I've said all thecliches, I think I'm familiar.
I coached them until they wereeight and you know, made it
clear that you know the onlything I can ask of you is what

(06:33):
you can control.
Yeah, um, I don't care if youscore a hundred goals, I don't
care if you catch a hundredpasses, but you better do it
with the right attitude, theright demeanor.
You better treat everybody withrespect.
Um, and it's paying off.
You know, I do appreciate thepats on the back from his
teammates, his coaches, from allof them on how they treat people
and how they act.
And so, you know, there'sanother proud factor.

(06:55):
I think it's gonna come out afew times today in our our
discussion, how proud I am.
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (07:00):
Love that.
Love that.
Uh and your wife, does she stayhome and and control the the run
the roost, or does she work too?
Does she have uh corporate job?

SPEAKER_02 (07:12):
Had uh our first child in 2008.
Uh we were had that magicaldream that we were gonna try to
raise in the city.
Um, realized, you know, sixmonths before the baby was born,
that's just not, we're not doingthat.
So I started building a house uphere in upstate New York,
Saratoga Springs, New York area.
Um, and she retired uh a weekafter we had the baby.

(07:33):
Uh, I came home for a week,moved them into the house, and
then I decided to commute forthe next 12 years, the three
hours from upstate New York toNew York City.
I'd leave every Tuesday morning,come home every Thursday night
or Friday morning.
Um, worked out well.
She started, you know, getting alittle antsy and she's quite
talented.
So she did some marketing for alaw firm.

(07:55):
She did some substituteteaching, and then it started to
expand, expand, expand.
So she's got a small businessfor kind of SEO marketing, how
to make it to when you searchfor a lawyer, they're the first
one on the websites, things likethat.
A lot of smaller businesses thatmight get gobbled up by the big
Googles of the world.
She'll teach them how to utilizethe tricks of the trade so they
don't have to pay$12,000 a monthto do it the right way.

(08:16):
Um, and so she probably got likeseven or eight of those.
She still substitute teaches forthe fun of it.
You know, we have nieces andnephews in the area, so she will
make it a point to try to be thesubstitute teacher for them so
she gets to spend more time withthem.
She still does some uh volunteerwork.
We're pretty big advocates foruh Operation Smile.
Um, our youngest was born with aminor cleft lip, introduced us

(08:39):
into that world, and we decidedthat, hey, let's go all in.
And uh he wears it like a badgeof courage.
He's raised uh almost$65,000already for it.
And every year we did it untilhe was about seven or eight, and
now it's every other year wehave a you know an event, you
know, live music, fun stuff, getall the friends together.
Um, so she continues to make theworld a better place.

SPEAKER_03 (09:01):
Wow, that's awesome, man.
Um well, Mr.
Balinski, take me back to whatwas life like growing up for
you, and I'd love to learn aboutmom and dad and the impact they
had on you now that you're afather.

SPEAKER_04 (09:13):
Sure.

SPEAKER_02 (09:14):
Um well, my mom is my rock.
Um, I my parents divorced when Iwas probably one.
Um, didn't get to really know mydad that well.
Of course, had the weekendvisitation and stuff like that.
Um by the time I was 14, prettymuch stopped seeing him.

(09:34):
Um by 15, definitely wasn'tseeing him anymore.
Uh, and was very fortunatebecause my mom was the rock.
I never knew we were poor.
Um, there's always a funnystory.
Just probably had to be about 10years ago.
I had a pork chop with a nicebone at a restaurant, you know,
it was excellent.
And I cut it all off and Ihanded my mom the bone, and she

(09:55):
looked at me and goes, What thehell are you doing?
I said, You love the bones.
I remember growing up, youalways ate the bones.
She pushed it back at me.
She goes, You idiot.
It's because we couldn't afforda second pork chop.
That's what I had to eat.
And I did not know that forwhat, 30 something years, that
it finally clicked, like, thisis what your mom does, this is
what parents do for you.
Um, so my mom is everything.

(10:16):
She's the rock.
I was fortunate though that mymom's father, my grandfather,
and one of my mom's brother, myuncle, really took a parental
lead for me.
I was able to go to work at 14years old at a mechanical
contracting facility and learnthe importance of hard work.
Um, and I think that's, youknow, a lot of what I can

(10:37):
attribute my success for todayis I'll tell you, I'm not the
smartest guy in the room, butI'll outwork you.
Uh, and that's what got methrough New York City those
first few years.
Wow.
And what did mom do for a job?
Geez, what didn't she do?
Um, you know, she was basicallya homemaker for all I ever
remember.
You know, she worked at a Troybuilt manufacturing until I

(11:01):
think maybe I was kindergartneror something like that.
Um, she did daycare for years.
You know, our house was alwaysrunning around with kids, and
everybody would get in line tohave my mom watch the kids and
spend time.
My mom has the patience of asaint.
I know in her last 10 years, sheactually volunteered at the
school for the special needschildren and stuff like that

(11:23):
because she just had thepatience, could handle it, and
does it.
She's that type of wonderfulperson.

SPEAKER_03 (11:29):
Is and is mom still with us?

SPEAKER_02 (11:31):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So uh mom is a snowbird now.
You know, she goes down to SouthCarolina for about six months uh
and comes up here for about sixmonths.
So all summer long we get to seeher, and then uh we get to all
travel down to South Carolina inour new beach home.
Uh, my stepfather's been aroundsince I was probably, I think
they got married when I was infourth grade.

(11:52):
I've known him since I was infirst grade.
Uh, he's always been theprovider.
And again, another example ofwork ethic.
Um, I think I remember aroundhis retirement, him getting some
sort of award for like 20consecutive years without
missing a day of work.
Like he's that type of guy.
Um, he ended up working in amanufacturing plant that

(12:13):
decided, hey, we're in New York,we're gonna close those things.
He was 54 years old.
He got an option to go to Chinafor one year or go to Canada for
five years to help him out withhis retirement.
He ended up going to China forlike eight years.
So mom went over to China withhim.
He went over there, what a wayto live life, see things.
She taught uh English to some ofthe orphanages and things like

(12:35):
that.
He did the work, traveled theworld, which enabled them to,
you know, go by the beach houseand have the things that they
all deserve.

SPEAKER_03 (12:41):
Wow.
What was uh did you ever get togo visit her in China?

SPEAKER_02 (12:46):
I did not, um, which which is crazy.
It's one of the bigger regrets.
Um we were we started theprocess to adopt uh in China,
uh, and going through the legaland all that, and I was gonna
use the fact that they werethere.
We had kind of gone through it.
Um, side note, you know, thegood Lord told me I would never
have children.
I had a medical concern that I'dnever have children.

(13:08):
You get to that wonderful NewYork City, and the doctors are
the best in the world.
I waited seven years in line fora doctor to save up my money to
see if he'd uh could fix it.
And sure enough, right when Icalled him up, his PA started
his own practice, except myinsurance.
I had a littlevaricacetolectomy, and here's
sure we are, you know, 18 monthslater, started having the
babies.

(13:29):
Wow.
So yeah, um, no need foradoption.
Uh yeah.
And not saying that to be rude,but I mean, we were have we had
our two boys, and that was it.
So it kind of put a egg on it.
I guess I thought he'd be thereforever, right?
And then all of a sudden hecomes home, he retires, and very
cool.

SPEAKER_03 (13:47):
Um, as you think back to to the journey of uh
obviously, you know, your yourbiological dad, not in the
picture, and then dad, grandpa,uncle, stepdad, mom, um, still,
you know, sound family strong,it sounds like.
Um, tell me like two or threecore values that were most

(14:08):
important um that were instilledin you and taught to you through
like maybe a story that maybeyou've as you as you reflect
back.

SPEAKER_02 (14:15):
Yeah, so my best friend in life, um, who is an
incredibly successful uh lawyer,one of the hardest working young
men, decided that in high schoolwe would both go work a summer
at the mechanical contractingfirm.
Um, and the stories still gettold of you know the hard work
where you know we had to pave adriveway and 98 degrees, and you

(14:37):
know, my grandpa's retired andwouldn't let us get water.
Um, you know, this was the workethic.
It you showed up five minuteslate, go home.
I don't need you, you don'tyou're not taking me seriously.
Um, you know, my job was toclean the toilets, mow the lawn,
pick up the dirt.
It didn't matter whatever I wasallowed to do if I could make
money.
On weekends, I could do uh firewatch and they double time.

(14:57):
So I loved it.
But I remember complaining oncein the shop as I was sweeping
up, and my grandpa, all 90pounds soaking wet of them,
retired, worked five jobs, youknow, crushed it in life.
You know, what the hell are youcomplaining about?
Threw a pipe wrench at me andsaid, Hard work never killed
anybody, shut up.

(15:18):
And so it's always been, whatare you complaining about?
Hard work never killed anybody.
And so uh I've always taken thatto heart.
Um, I've always thought that mywork ethic is a reflection of my
family, my family values, andit's my way to say thank you to
the support that I got from myuncle, uh, my grandpa, and
giving me those opportunities isit'd be disrespectful to their

(15:40):
memories if I didn't work hard.
Uh so you know, sometimes when Iget down in the lurch and
everything like that, I havethese opportunities because I've
worked hard.
I have these opportunities uhbecause I had that instilled in
me at a young age.
Uh, and it's been pretty cool.
Every boss I've ever had hasasked me where I got my work
ethic.
Well, you know, they didn't haveto push me.

(16:00):
I had an inner drive.
So uh it's nice.
And you know, I try to do thatwith my boys.
Uh, it's a different mentalitynow, it's a different mindset,
you know.
And uh I don't want them working80 hours in the summer.
I want them enjoying a littlebit of the summer.
Hey, you're getting your 4.0 atschool, you're doing great.
20 hours is just fine.
You know, like, but you're gonnahave a job, you're gonna work,

(16:22):
you're gonna figure out what youdon't want to do.
Uh, and it absolutely has helpeduh both of my kids work.
Uh, they know that they don'twant to work in the food
industry because of how hard itis.
Right.
You know, and so both of themare pretty motivated to go to
college uh and get theopportunities that's out there.
So I feel like I've checked thebox, at least in that aspect of

(16:43):
parenting.

SPEAKER_03 (16:45):
Besides, you know, work ethic, uh, which is
obviously a massive one.
Um, tell me what else comes tomind in terms of things that you
learned that you've maybealready shared with your boys
that that were part of yourjourney.

SPEAKER_02 (16:58):
Yeah, you know, um, I don't want to say that people
who know me, like you heard, theliving the dream.
Some people have firstimpressions, oh, another BS
kookie, whatever, they don'tbelieve it.
Some people will challenge me onit.
Um, and after you get to knowme, you see that it's not a
gimmick.
It's exactly who I am.
But I don't consider myself anoptimist at all.

(17:19):
Uh, I'm a realist with a goodattitude.
And the difference in the impactthat you can have on the people
around you is your energyimpacts the people around you.
And the boys are starting to seethat now and who they choose to
spend their time with is thisperson adding to my environment
or is this person taking awayfrom my environment?

(17:41):
Some of them are family members,right?
You know, you can't say youcan't choose your family
members, but just, you know,understanding your behaviors,
your attitude, yourcommunication, and how it
impacts not just yourself andbut everyone.
And so I go out of my way to tryto be positive, try to be an
opt, try to see the you know, uhthe forest for the trees every
day.

(18:01):
Um, and I'm seeing it with them,and I'm seeing it when they
notice it isn't there.
And the conversations are real.
Dad, I just don't want to behappy right now.
Okay, good.
Appreciate that, bud.
At least they can have thatconversation and have that
realization that you know thisis the way they feel, and
they're communicating it to mebecause yeah, I absolutely have
that too.

(18:21):
You know, that's where I'll gofor my bike ride, I'll go golf,
I'll go work out, I'll go do, godo something.
Um, and try not to take it outon the people around me.
And I absolutely can see that.
My mom has the best attitude.
You know, there could be cancerin the family, there's uh an
issue here, and she can alwayssee the light, she can always

(18:42):
see the positive uh and alwaysroot for it.
And it's just it's so mucheasier to be around and be
around, surround yourself withpeople like that.
Um, versus you know, that otherone who wants to come in and
complain and show you negativeson everything.
It's not to say that I don'twant to be around those people,
but I want to do what I've donein the last 10 years is try to

(19:03):
wow, that must be hard for you.
Explain to me why.
Like, how can you see that thatway?
And some people I can't getthrough, but others, it's been
you know, the best relationshipsI have in my life is because
they turn to me now, you know,and there's our older family
members or cousins or uh youknow, in-laws that look to me,
hey, I want to have a chat withAdam because it always makes me
feel better.

SPEAKER_03 (19:25):
Where do you think your mom's positive positivity
comes from?

SPEAKER_02 (19:29):
I think honestly, leading for me.
I you know, I was a shy kid.
I didn't have the easiestupbringing, I guess.
Um, I think I hid behind heruntil I was fourth grade,
apparently.
I wouldn't speak to anybody.
Uh, when I went to first grade,apparently they had to pull me
from the public school because Iwouldn't speak and I'd sit in
the corner.
I lost 10 pounds, and so theyput me in the little tiny

(19:51):
school.
We didn't have any money.
How'd we do that?
I found out my grandpa paid forthat and all this.
I started figuring out thesethings many years later.
Like, how did Adam go to thisnice school?
You know, at least until thirdgrade.
Um, I went to a militaryinstitute for my freshman year
because my father thought it,you know, I was a very smart
young man and it would help me.
Two months in, I started gettingthe phone calls.

(20:11):
Can you come down to theprincipal's office?
Sure, you haven't paid yourtuition.
Talk to my dad.
Uh well, we haven't.
Well, me neither.
I haven't talked to him.
So by about the third month, Iwas 15 years old.
I walked down the emergency atthe principal's office and said,
Oh, yeah, yeah, I was supposedto tell you guys, um, my dad's
not gonna be able to paytuition, so I got to sign myself
out of here.
I literally signed a bunch ofpaperwork on a Friday afternoon

(20:33):
as a 15-year-old freshman andcame home on the CDTA Troy City
bus, walked up, you know, themile and a half of my two
backpacks to the house and said,Mom, I did it.
I'm finally out of that school.
And she looked at the paperwork,started screaming at me.
And uh on Monday, I showed up atthe public school, waited
outside on the bench until theguidance counselor had time to

(20:54):
see me.
By 11 o'clock, I was walkinginto new classes, just signed
up, and luckily I was smartenough to figure it out and keep
the grades good.
But I just looking back onthings like that, oh my God,
like you know, I should havebeen such a stronger young man
at that time, but it was alwaysmy mom was the rock, you know.
And wow, she was always there.

(21:14):
Fifteen.

SPEAKER_03 (21:15):
I was a freshman, yeah, uh at LaSalle Military
Institute.
What how come you went tomilitary school?

SPEAKER_02 (21:21):
My dad had gone briefly.
Um, I had scored very high onstate testing.
I missed a scholarship to JohnsHopkins on my SAT in seventh
grade by 30 points.
Um so I could score.
I knew math.
I could, you know, I liked math.
Yeah, I when I played thecomputer games, yeah, I'd play
some games, but I'd play mathgames.

(21:42):
I enjoyed it.
You know, I went to math leaguebecause it was fun.
I'd take my soccer cleats offand run off to the gym to go
math league and compete withother people.
I enjoyed it.
Um, I didn't have a hard prihard time learning if given the
opportunity.
So my dad thought it would bebest.
And I didn't disagree.
I liked the school, but I wasnot happy with getting called

(22:04):
down to the principal's officetwice a week for the last like
six weeks, asking for money thatI didn't have, my mom didn't
have.
Um, and taking public buseshome, trying to find a public
bus, get it home, and then walka mile and a half up a hill.
Like, come on, as a 15-year-old,as little much.
My mom had just had my sister,you know, so I had a brand new

(22:24):
baby sister who, you know, shecouldn't pick me up, she
couldn't drive, so I had to tryto find it and figure it out.

SPEAKER_03 (22:30):
Wow.
You ever sit back and reflectlike what those experiences, how
they've impacted you and helpedyou incorporate?

SPEAKER_02 (22:38):
Probably not as much as I just did telling you.
You know, yes, there's been atime or two where it's come up.
Um not in a while, to be honestwith you.

SPEAKER_03 (22:50):
How many people listening to this that you work
with have no idea about thatstory?

SPEAKER_02 (22:55):
So my my friends growing up will know, which is I
am incredibly lucky.
I still hang out with you know acore of probably seven people
that I've known since I was 10years old.
Love it.
And still see them.
My best friend and I rode ourbikes together at 14 years old,

(23:15):
um, went our separate ways whenI went to New York City, but
always you know kept in touch.
Didn't matter if it was a day ora year.
Um, and still, you know, everyFriday or Saturday there's at
least one golf outing we dotogether, the families do
together, his kids call me UncleAdam.
Um, so I think those group ofpeople would know.
I don't think a lot of the workrelationships would know.

(23:38):
You know, I definitely learnedafter my first year of working
that maybe I need to keep somethings, you know, to myself.

SPEAKER_03 (23:44):
Yeah.
I think though that uh I'mexcited for people that you work
with to listen to this.
And I appreciate you coming onbecause I think these stories uh
connect people.
And you know, that one of thegoals when I started this
podcast um shoot six years agowas whether you're an executive
at a staffing company, uhbarista, a bus driver, a

(24:06):
software executive, our kidscould give two shits.
They're really good.
And but our male ego says, yeah,but I'm this and I've been here
27 years.
Who cares?
What our kids care about is hey,can we play catch?
Hey, where are we going onvacation?
Hey, can we go, can we go toMexican the night?
Hey, hey, can we go can we go tothe Rams game?
And you know, I think it's ourjob as dads to like put that ego

(24:27):
aside and just realize, hey,we're well, we we got the same
job, same job title.
Let's keep them out of jail,let's instill values, let's
teach them how to like all thethings you talked about, like
bringing energy, bring in, beingpositive, um, surround yourself
with good people.
And it's interesting, Iinterviewed a guy recently, and
he's he had a really good point.
He said, you know, like to getto drive a boat, you gotta get a

(24:50):
boater's license.
To get a car, you gotta get adriver's license.
To you know, to be a pilot, yougotta get a pilot's license.
But to be a dad, you just gottaget someone pregnant, and you
then you're qualified.
It's like that's kind of assbackwards if you think about it.
100%.
But imagine if you had to getqualified before you can have a
dad to be a dad.
Like, what would I was like,that's a really interesting

(25:11):
thing.
I've never thought about likethat.

SPEAKER_02 (25:13):
But I grew up telling every significant
relationship by the third monthof being together that I would
never be able to have children.
I had a freak accident October11, 1986, that we'll go into
another podcast that'll makepeople cry.
Um, and I was told, you'reprobably not gonna have kids at
15, like, hey, you know, you'renot gonna be able to have kids.

(25:34):
Um it was wasn't that hard.
I had a varica seal and theyfixed it and they fixed it, but
apparently they shouldn't havetouched it twice.
The New York City doctor fixedit, but everybody I ever met
from ninth grade on, I can'thave kids, I can't have kids.
My wife Selena was born to be amother.
Like, this is all she put onthis earth.
The fact that she doesn't have ababy girl is still upsetting to

(25:55):
her.
And yet she was the only one whosaid, Don't worry, we'll work on
it, we'll figure it out, we'llfigure it out.
She never had a doubt, whichmade it very difficult when
you're struggling for thosefirst few years trying to have
kids.
So I think a lot of my parentingwas because A, I didn't have the
best relationship with myfather, didn't really know.

(26:16):
B, I was told I was never tohave kids.
So I had that mentality.
I don't want kids.
I don't want kids.
I'm gonna do this all myself.
Deep down, I absolutely wantedkids.
I was born to be a father.
This is my proudest moment is tobe a father.
I wake up and breathe the air soI can be a father.
Uh, but it was interesting.
But my dynamics and everybodywho knew me only knew me as a
kid who never wanted kids.

(26:37):
But that was only because of themedical issue.
And once that changed, my wholeworld changed.

SPEAKER_03 (26:42):
Wow.
Well, if if you don't mind, I'mI'm intrigued.
My curiosity, I gotta hear aboutwhat happened by this accident.
I feel like Sharon.

SPEAKER_01 (26:50):
Is this a PG podcast?

SPEAKER_02 (26:52):
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (26:52):
Oh my god.
We can do our we can I can makea little bit.

SPEAKER_02 (26:56):
We're 11 years old, we're picking teams for
football.
Yeah.
Okay, we're at a cemetery in abig open grassy area next to all
the things.
There is a flagpole, and youknow what they tie the flagpole
ropes on.

SPEAKER_04 (27:08):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (27:09):
Okay.
Adam's hanging out 12 inches offthe ground, standing on the edge
of one of the flagpole things,and I get picked, it's raining
out a little bit, and my footslips.
And I just slide down and hitthe ground, and that thing that
you tie the ropes on caught myscrotum, I guess it's called,

(27:30):
and ripped a hole right from thebottom to the top.
I am the luckiest guy in theworld because it didn't touch
the member, but it ripped ahole, you know, the size of a
golf ball right up my screw.
You could see the other things.
I fell to my knees.
I uh reached down into my pantsand ow, you know, ow, and my

(27:50):
hands were all blood.
I was like, uh oh.
I was like, oh, what's going onhere?
I dropped my pants and realizedwhat had happened and just
started screaming.
And you can imagine 25, youknow, 11 to 14-year-old boys all
started screaming, and everybodyran, except for one kid, the
14-year-old, who was myneighbor, said we can't leave
him, ran back, picked me up,carried me, you know,

(28:12):
essentially less than a block tohis house, my my neighbor's
house.
My mom happened to be groceryshopping, so the ambulance came
to his house.
I kept it all together, youknow, held it all together.
And it was the most painful,incredible experience ever,
getting needles in that area,sewing it back up.
Um, but at that point they said,Oh, you have some damage to one

(28:34):
of these things, and you have avaricoseil in the other.
I don't think you're gonna be,and so they thought they fixed
it at a 12-year-old.
But what I found out when I gotmuch older is they should have
never touched me until I wasready to have kids because they
could have fixed it quickly witha varicoseil.
When you fix it, it generallywants to come back.
And so essentially I just had aI had a varicoseil.
And I had the surgery twicebefore I got in line with that

(28:56):
New York City doctor that fixedit right away.
Wow.
Yeah, crazy.
And that's where I was destinedto go to New York.
I got a good story there.
Why I'm in New York, why I'm insales in New York.
I'm a guy who couldn't speak topeople in fourth grade.
I hid behind my mom.
I wouldn't, you couldn't get meto speak out loud in front of
anyone.
I don't think I really came outof my shell until like ninth or

(29:18):
tenth grade a little bit.
But even then, the teachers thatknew me back then are like, you
do what, Adam?
You give presentations for aliving, you travel the country,
travel the world now, and speak.
And they're they've seen somethings on LinkedIn.
They're like, Who are you?
I don't even remember this youngman.
So interesting, you know, that Ibecame that guy.

SPEAKER_03 (29:36):
Um, how did you what what made you want to get into
sales?

SPEAKER_02 (29:41):
So, picture upstate New York, you get on the school
bus and you go on a class tripto New York City.
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (29:47):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (29:48):
You go to New York City, everybody gets off the bus
at the Statue of Liberty DeadBattery Park.
And, you know, me and my friendswere into we're gonna get a
watch, we're gonna get a niceRolex, we're gonna have fun with
all this stuff, good glasses.
So, I mean, two or three otherguys got a plan.
But then I turn around and Isee, you know, 10 different
vendors hawking five differentgroups of people and everybody

(30:09):
get different prices.
And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa,whoa, whoa.
I said, everybody who wants awatch, get behind me.
And I said, all the vendors, oneguy's going to get all this
business.
You're not getting it all.
I'm negotiating for everybody.
Nobody buy anything until I tellyou the price.
And I stood there while theteachers watched me and
negotiated for 25 people to getthem the better deal.
It wasn't that I wanted tonegotiate.

(30:30):
I just wanted to make sure myfriends weren't getting taken
advantage of.
But I saw the way New York, theenergy, the way you could
communicate, ask for anything.
And my teacher got back on thebus, says, You belong down here.
Of course, I get out of college.
I'm doing a little bit ofpharmaceutical sales.
It's not the most motivating.
I got a capped income.

(30:51):
I'm waiting for Selena tograduate so we can move to New
York City.
And on a whim, I took thisinterview with the IT staffing
firm, right?
But the unlimited commission gotme.
I was like, wait a second.
I can make how much?
And I asked a few people in theoffice.
Not everybody was making it, buta couple people were doing well.

(31:11):
I said, all right.
And I talked to my girlfriend atthe time.
I talked to my mom at the time.
I said, this is what I'm goingto try.
My mom was not happy about itbecause I got a nice
pharmaceutical sales gig.
At least the bills are going toget paid.
I will tell you, my secondmonth, I borrowed$1,300 from my
now wife to help pay rentbecause the commissions don't
kick in right away.
But I was the first one in.

(31:32):
I was the last one to leave.
Being poor is a hugemotivational factor when you
can't pay rent your third monthunless you start getting some
deals.
And so it just spurred me to geta little bit more success, a
little faster.
Uh, then you start learning thetricks of the trade, right?
You learn, oh, I can make thisprocess better.
Oh, I can help this.
You know, I chased down a whale.

(31:54):
We all know the whales.
Bank of America was creating aninvestment bank in New York.
Started seeing a bunch ofconsultants go off the market to
equities and fixed income.
So started chasing those guysdown.
And I remember I got the globalhead of equities on the phone.
He said, Why the hell do youkeep calling me?
I said, Because you buy a lot ofwhat I sell and you could change

(32:15):
my life.
Great, you're like everyoneelse.
Please don't call anymore.
Just give me a chance.
You know, let me come meet you.
Maybe I can impress upon youenough.
Fine, fine, fine.
415 after trading.
We went up and he goes, I reallyappreciate your tenacity, young
man, but you're not going to beable to help me.
There's nothing you can do forme.
You're like everyone else.
I said, Well, try me.
He goes, Fine, I think this isgreat.

(32:36):
How many people are supportingMorgan Stanley equity
derivatives and what technologythey're using?
And I wrote it down.
He goes, You don't have theanswer.
I go, Well, what else?
Goldman Sachs.
He started asking me questionsabout financial services in New
York City.
I looked at him, I say, okay,I'll get you these things quick.
He goes, See, you don't have theanswers.
You're useless to me.
I said, wait, I don't, but Ihave access to these and I will

(32:57):
get these for you.
So I went back, quickly got backto the office.
I got some senior levelrecruiters.
I know that they got consultantsat all these places.
I say, I will buy pizzas in a12-pack if you just spend and
get me these three answers.
We must have had the answers in35 minutes.
So call up first thing in themorning.
I'm gonna walk to the subwayagain because that's how I got

(33:18):
them yesterday.
Called up, he picked up, said, Igot your answers.
He goes, Okay, good.
What are they?
I said, Come on, even I'm notthat dumb.
I was like, when do you havetime for me?
4 15 again.
We walk up at 4 15.
I get in front of him.
I'm a young kid with anoversized suit, you know, but
I'm willing to work.
And I sit down, he goes, Okay,go.

(33:39):
And I start giving him theanswers.
And there's all of a suddensilence, and I'm like, oh shit.
And he looks at me, he goes, Allright, follow me.
Gets up, walks into this hugeboard one on 57th Street
overlooking Central Park andgoes, guys, this is Adam.
Where are you from?
I was like, SapphireTechnologies at the time.
Adam from Sapphire, start doingyour hiring from him.

(34:01):
And that was it.
Within a few months, I startedrecognizing that you know they
were hiring one out of 18.
It was this written test.
I said, How about I take thewritten test?
I administer the test in myoffice.
I take the hard copies and bringthem to you because people would
cheat if you did it online andthings like that.
So literally, we had 30, 40people coming in per week taking

(34:22):
the tests.
I'd bring them up to themanagers, drop them off.
You know, we were doing ourglider hacker rank before it
even existed.
And we quickly went from one outof 18 to 11 of the next 18
interviews were hires in thegroup over the course of a
couple weeks.
Um, he loved what I was doing.
He wanted me to teach the othervendors how to do it.

(34:43):
Okay.
I then they weren't doing it aswell.
I also did my talent management.
Every month I take theconsultants out, collect all the
data, then report back to him.
Hey, they're struggling withthis.
It's not, you know, theconnectivity for fix is wrong
over here.
That's why they're struggling.
Oh, I didn't know that.
I started providing him valuableinformation that would make it
better.
Um, this guy, you know, doesn'tfeel like he's appreciated

(35:05):
because they're not using yourC.
Oh, let's move them over here.
This guy couldn't stand beingnext to somebody.
I found a closet that was empty.
I got a desk and a thing set up,and I set them up in there, and
he was happy.
So little things where I startedmaking it better, doing things
like that.
After the first year, he said,everybody, no matter what, goes
through Adam.
So all the other vendors evenhad to go through me, even

(35:28):
though we had a field glass VMSand all the others.
So I earned it.
I worked my butt off for thatguy for a number of years.
I got to be the number one salesrep in the country.
It changed my life, it helped mepay off all those bills and get
ahead in life.
But it's uh, you know, it wasn'tanything more than hard work
initially.
And it was how can I improvethis process?
How can I show them value?
And every time I, before I wentto a meeting, what is going to

(35:50):
be valuable to them?
What is going to be valuable tothem?
And I still think I take thattoday as you know, that second
meeting.
How am I providing value?
You know, if it isn't people, ifit isn't process, if it isn't
technology, if it isn't theprojects, information.
Like you said, Casey, I've beendoing it 26 years.
I've seen a lot of wrongs, I'veseen some rights, and I think I

(36:10):
can go into most environmentsand at least have a positive
impact in a short period oftime.

SPEAKER_00 (36:17):
Hello, everybody.
My name's Craig Coe, and I'm thesenior vice president of
relationship management forBeeline.
For more than 20 years, we'vebeen helping Fortune 1000
companies drive a competitiveadvantage with their external
workforce.
In fact, Beeline's history offirst-to-market innovations has
become today's industrystandards.
I get asked all the time, whatdid Casey do for your

(36:40):
organization?
And I say this, it's simple.
The guy Flat Out gets it,relationships matter.
His down-to-earth presentation,his real-world experience apply
to every area of 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.

(37:01):
If you'd like to know more aboutme or about Beeline, please
reach out to me on LinkedIn.
And if you don't know CaseyJacks, go to caseyjaycox.com and
learn more about how he can helpyour organization.
Now, let's get back to today'sepisode.

SPEAKER_03 (37:17):
Well, I know you and I joked about recently that this
the staffing or consultingindustry is a is not an old
man's game, but you're you'rethe OG and uh still making it
making an impact.
So like if there's if there'scustomers out there and you're
you're tired of working withthat 23-year-old person that
doesn't know what he or she'sdoing, we'll make sure Adam's
information is linked in theshow notes so you can reach out

(37:40):
to him and his team and they cantake care of you like you
deserve to be taken care of.
Um I want to go back to the thejourney.
So you you you learn hard work,you you learn you know a lot of
the other emotionalintelligence, you learn the art
of um negotiation early.
Uh you're you're shownleadership at 15 before you

(38:01):
probably even knew it, or 14,wherever that field trip, how
over was that field trip.
Um relating it back to now youryour boys, um, and all the
values you've learned throughyour grandpa, your uncle, your
your pops, mom, and even whatyou've seen in corporate, to
talk about what are like the twoor three uh most important
values that you and your wifehave taught your boys that like

(38:23):
you're super proud of.

SPEAKER_02 (38:24):
There's a lot of them.
I'm sure I'm gonna miss some.
I think the mutual respect isthe first one where you show the
same level of respect foreveryone.
Just because I I don't caretheir job title, I don't care
their socioeconomic status,their skin color, and you treat
everybody with respect, and itwhat goes around comes around.

(38:44):
And I get so many complimentsfor how kind my kids are.
Um, and look at it in highschool, it's a lot easier to go
with that group that is the meanor follow it.
And I've got plenty of examplesof my younger son standing up
for you know, someone who hedidn't feel it was right.
And there's a reason he leftthat high school.

(39:05):
Um, you know, there was just somuch that he really didn't like.
And he's a big, strong kid, andof course, you know, they would
love to pick on him.
Um and he just he you know,after a while said, I'm sick and
tired of seeing these people gettreated like this, it's
unacceptable.
And uh he finally just went tothis other school.
And the feedback for the firstsix weeks has been this is what

(39:26):
people should treat people like.
You know, this is where I expectto be in life, is that you have
common respect for each other.
Um, so uh the mutual respect isa big thing.
Um, my son is making his collegechoices and came back and said,
no disrespect to Notre Dame.
It was the most incredibleexperience.

(39:47):
He got to go to the summerscholar programs, take classes
this summer.
We thought this is a shoe-in.
You know, who's gonna turn downNotre Dame?
Uh, and he came home and hesaid, it was incredible, but I
would prefer a more diversestudent body.
I prefer prefer, you know, alittle bit of real life.
You know, this seemed like itwas almost, you know, magical

(40:08):
dad.
Everybody looked the same, hadthe same passion for the school.
That's not real life out there.
And I was like, wow, what amature thought.
Amazing, you know, that thisyoung man could come up with
that.
Of course, mom and dad now wantto figure out could they take
50-year-olds at Notre Dame?
Because I'm gonna go back tothat school.
Um, it was incredible, but I wasso proud of that.

(40:30):
So the mutual respect isabsolutely one of them.
Um, the the work ethic, look atboth of them at you know, 14
years old went to their guidancecounselor and got their working
papers.
At 15 years old, both of themwere working.
Um, I do think that it, youknow, I could pay their bills, I
could do their things, but it'simportant for them to
understand, you know, the valueof a dollar.

(40:51):
Um, both of my kids invest ine-trade and uh, you know,
savings.
And you know, when they get apaycheck, half goes to savings.
I helped them with thatinitially.
I don't even have to help themnow.
They do it on their own.
Um, so I think some of thosefinancial educations that I
didn't get, you know, I had tobe a sales rep because I needed
someone to pay my bar bill allthe time when I took everybody

(41:13):
out.
Right.
They don't have that issue.
So um I'm proud of that maturitythat they have with work ethic,
mutual respect.
We'll say those two to start.

SPEAKER_03 (41:23):
Wow.
Yeah, that's not normal, my man.
So kudos to you and your wifefor for doing that.
Um I I told this story before.
So, like in 2020, I was that dadthat was doing way too much for
my kids but didn't realize it.
And then I read a I had a gueston the show named Swen Nader.
He wrote a book called You HaveNot Taught Until They Have
Learned.
And when I read that, I waslike, whoa, I don't want to be

(41:46):
this dude.
And so like then we wereliterally went like cold turkey,
and and the excuse we weretelling ourselves is like, oh,
we're busy, we got you know,crazy job and getting kids to
sports, and we'll just do this,and all that, but like we're
hurting them, you know, and youknow, and I if you Googled worst
handyman in US history and thenclick images, probably my face
will show up.

(42:06):
Like, I'm not Oh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 (42:07):
I think I'm right there, but you I shake hands for
a living, pal.

SPEAKER_03 (42:10):
Yeah, I type and I talk for a living, but I I'm a
I'm a I like I work my ass offtoo and I work hard and I just
don't have the the engineeringmind to see it.
But I always say I'm a greatsecondhand, but like you know,
my kids, they don't they don'thave that skill, but like they
make their own meals now,they're doing their own laundry.
It's like, and you know, as aswhen you your kids are obviously

(42:33):
going to be set up to besuccessful in college, like
that's you know, my son's in thesecond year, and just seeing
that he's surviving and thrivingand going through ups and downs
and still staying level-headed,like those are the things that
I'm most proud of.
Um, and you I I share the storybecause you maybe think of it,
but um was this was this thethought?

(42:54):
Because I'd love to make sure Ilove if there's a younger dad
listening that, like, well, howdo I do that?
Like, what advice would you givea younger dad on how to like
embrace that mindset you andyour wife had?
And and what would be someactionable things that he or she
could do to set them up forsuccess, like you've done with
your kids?

SPEAKER_02 (43:10):
Yeah, I mean, the easiest, most popular decision
might not be the best one.
And so some of these decisionswere painful.
You know, you want to be yourson's best friend, you want him
to confide in you, but you'regonna have to teach him certain
things where, you know, for 24,36, or even longer, he might not
want to talk to you.
He might not want to give youthe time of day.
You might not get invited, youknow, to go shoot hoops with his

(43:32):
friends now, you know, you mightnot get invited for that fourth
person in golf because uh he'smad at you for that day.
Uh, but long term, you got tolook at it and say, what's best
for him growing up to be, youknow, a happy, healthy man, to
treat the the woman or man ofhis life with respect uh and to
provide for his family.
You know, and so my legacy uhis, you know, this was something

(43:56):
we learned at work, is you know,when you were number one, did
you think your legacy was goingto be uh Casey Jackson that
they're all gonna remembernumber one sales rep.
Nope.
Nobody gives a damn what I soldin 2008.
Nobody remembers my legacy, isthe impact I have on people, the
career is what they've learned.

(44:17):
And so that's where it'sstarting to be really exciting
to see my boys become men and docertain things that I'm just
sitting back going, oh, that'sbecause mom and dad loved them.

SPEAKER_03 (44:30):
Yep.
Uh love that it's um powerfulanswer, um, powerful advice.
Um I think that you know, if ifI could go back, I I would love
to start, you know, getting mykids into like finance and doing
that.
And um, you know, they've beenyou know, the job they work on

(44:50):
Cuddy Hunk Island.
We go in the summers and they'llwork like on a lobster farm or
they'll work on the raw bar,they'll do mow lawns and um even
like some sometimes now my sonwill caddy, which is like the
best job ever because it's likesocial skills, you know,
carrying a bag for four hours.
Um, some of these guys hecaddies for have some funds and
so they tip well.
And so it's a instead ofspending you know eight hours

(45:12):
unloading a moving band like Ihad to do for five days
straight, he gets to go hang outthe golf course, talk to an
executive, ask great questions,you know, build a network.
Um so he's put setting himselfup for success.
So it's it's fun to see the kidsgo.

SPEAKER_02 (45:25):
I'd be interested to notice, frick it back on you.
Tell me about some of your jobsgrowing up that you know, and
how did you end up in our world?
Yeah, you know, because nobodyever chose.
I'm gonna tell you right now,it's an interview question I
still use, you know, why did youget into ICD staffing and
solutions?
It's not a checkbox as yoursenior year in high school, your
guidance counselor doesn't offerit.

(45:47):
So, what did Casey do growingup?
And then why this?

SPEAKER_03 (45:51):
Or why it was this?
Look at look at Adam justturning the get turning making
the the guest, making the hostuh answer questions I love.
So I don't think I've ever saidthat before.
So I um I was working at acompany called Barcodes West,
and they were a labelingcompany, and I called them
stickers, and my boss like, no,they're labels.
I'm like, they're stickers,which showed my maturity level.

(46:13):
And uh they just said you had tomake a ton of phone calls, and I
was making a ton of phone calls,and I was selling stuff, but no
one in the company coulddescribe the commission report.
It was just like you had to havecalculus, 500-level courses plus
a PhD and a pilot's license tounderstand what the hell and it
did not make sense.
And then I remember um my uh mybuddy Kelly Hansen, who's still

(46:34):
you know, K4C where we workedtogether at Hall Canyon, he was
like forever, he's like, Jake,you gotta get into this thing,
you're gonna be good at it.
I was like, what is this likecontractors and and placing a
contract?
I was like, I don't understandit.
Like he's like, No, you're gonnapay, you're gonna you're gonna
be the one to go meet theclients, and then they're gonna
work with the recruiters.
I was like, it just did not makesense for because I just, you
know, and uh and then I remembergoing to my boss, and I at the

(46:56):
time, this is I've been thereabout 10 months, and I was
getting ready for my one-yearreview, and I said, he asked me
to think about my goals.
I said, Well, I can already tellyou what they are.
I said, I want to double mysalary, I want to be in front of
the customer, I don't want tojust be on the phone, I'm gonna
go meet people because I think Ican I have the personality where
I can build relationships.
He's like, Yeah, those arepretty aggressive goals for
someone your age, Casey.
Why don't you go think about itwhen you come back from my
review?
Let me know.
And right then, then I was like,this is not the place for me.

(47:18):
And so then I told my buddyKelly, I was like, yeah, this
whole Kenyan thing, yeah, I'llgo interview with them.
So I interviewed nine times, anduh they kept telling me we just
don't think you could, you know,not sure if you have the right
skill set, you're too green,which you don't tell a division
two quarterback you can't dosomething because we have a chip
on our shoulder.
And I was like, F you, I can,uh, which I didn't know how, but
in my mind I was gonna like tosimilar to you, outwork them.

(47:40):
And, you know, right guy, righttime, right place.
Three months later, you know,Angela Ronica and Lise Crawford,
who hired me, the very firstones, uh, was supposed to be a
contractor for six months.
So I took a I left a full-timejob to take a contract hourly
sales job making$16 an hour.
And I thought I was loaded.
It's like this is sick.
I had to freaking Mazda B2200with sandbags in the back,

(48:01):
studded tires.
Let's go.
You know, and uh but I I wasthere for 20 years and you know,
long went through theacquisition with K Force bought
Hall Canyon, almost went toMicrosoft, so glad I stayed, met
some amazing people, and thenwhen my time at K Force ended,
and I decided to figure outwhat's next.
And I always wanted to write abook, did that, always wanted to

(48:22):
start a podcast, did that, andthen this coaching and speaking
journey that found that foundme.
And so uh it's I could not bemore grateful for where I'm at
at this stage of life becauseyou know, you know, an age where
I can be flexible with myschedule and work my schedule go
around to go see my son play incollege and watch his golf
events, whether he plays great,does bat, doesn't matter.
I said the things I'm gonnaguarantee when you don't play

(48:44):
well, I'll love you the same andthe sun will come up.
Unless we get nuked by somebody,then it's not.
But most likely it's probablynot gonna happen.
Um, and so for me, it's like,yeah, that's this the staffing
industry was like the perfectjob for me because it's like I
think playing quarter, it waslike playing quarterback at
times, um, buildingrelationships with people, all
different like walks of life.
You know, football, I was in alocker room with black, white,

(49:06):
Samoan, you know, everything.
And you gotta learn to think onyour feet.
You gotta learn to fight, yougotta learn to compete.
Same thing in staffing, samething in sales.
Um, you know, these are theseare stories I like to share with
my kids.
You know, and now when they'reolder, they really start to
understand.
And so I think um kind ofbringing it back to you, Adam,
like all these things that we'vetalked about today and all these

(49:27):
stories that you've gonethrough, the ups, the downs,
have you been able to sharethese stories with your kids to
kind of get in perspective onwhat what a Dan life is for dad?

SPEAKER_02 (49:37):
A short answer would be yes.
I don't know if some of thetimes I've shared things if they
were listening.
You know what I mean?
Sometimes with the kids.
Sometimes I might have forced itinto what I thought might have
had a better impact.
And I've noticed over the lastprobably year and a half or so,
uh, I am listening so much more.

(49:59):
And I've practiced listeningbecause look at I talk a lot.
Everyone who knows me knows Italk a lot.
I've practiced listening, butI've become so much better with
the family just because I feellike that's that's what they
want at dinner.
They don't want lectures fromdad.
They they've made it clear, youknow, we're sick of being
lectured, so it's not aboutlecture.
If there's an opportunity totell a story and how it might

(50:20):
impact them or something, I'lluse it.
But my time will come when theywant to hear more stories.
You know, right now it's justlistening and to them.
And I think that my relationshiphas improved so much uh because
I'm a better listener.
Um, you know, I always was theguy that thought I had to solve
everything.
And so where what where did thatcome up?
What book?

(50:41):
I don't know.
But asking that question, do youwant me just to listen or do you
want me to solve?
And Adam of old was always I hadto solve, had to solve, had to
solve.
And I think it was with the wifeI realized a better husband
sometimes just needed to listen.
And I started applying that athome, and it's just been so much
better.
Um, so good.

(51:02):
I got plenty of time for mystories.
Like I said, this will be onforever now.
I got a few YouTube things outthere that are still on that
they can look up if they want.
Occasionally someone finds it.
It's like, did you know?
Yeah, I remember getting themakeup on for that many years
ago.
That's funny.

SPEAKER_03 (51:17):
Um, if you were as we get ready to wrap here, um,
it's been awesome talking to youand thank you again for for
spending time with us today.

SPEAKER_02 (51:26):
I can't believe you got the flagpole story out of
me.

SPEAKER_03 (51:29):
Hey, let's go.
Let's go.
Um if people want to learn moreabout Ronstad and the work you
do, um, maybe for someone thathas no idea about Ronstadt.
What to I'll give you a chanceto take a minute or two to talk
about what you and your guy,your company does and how can
people learn more about you?

SPEAKER_02 (51:46):
Well, many moons ago, I had to explain it to my
mom what I did.
I said, I'm the Jerry McGuirefor IT professionals.
You know, that was when it wasjust staffing.
Um, now it's you know, it'seerily similar to what I grew up
doing.
You know, I was in mechanicalcontracting.
Uh my uncles ran the firm.
And when I graduated college, Ihad to have knee surgery right

(52:08):
away.
And so I helped them.
Turns out one of my unclesgetting divorced, I helped them
start a new company fromscratch.
So went in the office, boughtthe accounting software, and
then I looked at, oh, you'repaying these people 70 bucks an
hour, you're billing the client90, you got 108 people working.
I was generating reports and soand interviewing with new Boston
Systems and Sapphire and seeing,oh, this is the same thing.

(52:30):
You know, so I definitely wasn'tuh completely immune to
understanding what the businesswas.
Um, but for Ronstadt Digital,Ronstadt Technologies, you know,
we we have a unique space in themarket.
We are not Accenture, uh,Deloitte McKinsey with that SI,
you know, end-to-end strategy.
Yeah, can we do it?

(52:51):
Can we be more flexible?
Great.
JP Morgan's not gonna choose usfor that right now.
They got those executiverelationships.
There's those mid-sized firmsthat need the VIP treatment with
the skills that are not gonnaget it from those big boys, I
think.
So there's a space there for me.
Um, in terms of who we are andwhat made Ronstad a recruiting
firm at heart.
60 years.

(53:12):
And when it comes time to it,most of these projects fail
because they don't have theright people.
You can't find the people.
That's where I put us up againstanyone.
If it's out there, the tools,the investments, the AI, you
name it, the people, uh, givesus a better chance to find it.
I think the reason that I'vecontinued to succeed is I've
partnered well with my delivery.

(53:34):
Uh, I treat them just like youknow, part of my team.
And we have delivered.
I got you know huge accounts,you know, hundreds of people
that I'm closing more than 50%of every opportunity that comes
in the door in a competitiveplaying field.
It's not like these areexclusively ours.
It's the processes, it's therecruiting, it's understanding
it, the continuous investments.

(53:54):
It's nice to have a$27 billionfirm behind you investing in all
the tools and helping you bebetter.
Um, yes, can we offer flexibletalent solutions all around the
world?
Look, you know, I love puttingit all in New York, US.
I get to see all the people,it's great.
But at the end of the day, isthat the most competitive
solution sometimes?
So, yeah, I just got back fromIndia, you know, signing up a

(54:16):
bunch of accounts in India.
I want to have the sameexperience uh around the world.
And if you do it right, you can.
Um, and you can deliver.
So we we do have a unique space.
It's definitely not foreveryone.
I mean, it is a grind, right?
And as soon as you let your footoff that gas pedal, boom, you're
gonna get passed by thecompetition.
Uh, so you have to want to grindforever.

(54:38):
And anyone who thinks they cancoast, there's only one way to
coast.
It's downhill.
Yeah, and so that was one thingI wish someone told me early on.
I said, Adam, when you get intothis until you're out of it, it
is gonna be pedaled down.
Some people love it, some peopledon't.
Um, again, I know that it's acrowded field.
I know that the differences areminor and it comes down to

(55:01):
people, and that's where youknow I've been doing it a long
time with the same firm.
A lot of the big references,just do it honest and ethically,
and the world will set you free,pal.

SPEAKER_03 (55:09):
Love it.
Well, we'll make sure this isall linked in the show notes so
people can learn more about youand Ronstad and your amazing
team.
Um, as we get ready to wrap, umI want to I want to take you
into what I call the lightninground.
And uh, but before I do that,um, I want to say if you were to
summarize everything we'vetalked about, and that dads

(55:32):
could take, you know, maybethree words or three themes that
they can apply uh in their ownlife as a dad.
Tell me what comes to mind.

SPEAKER_02 (55:41):
I still love that this too will pass.
You know, as a dad, you havesome tough days, you have some
wonderful days.
Just know this too will pass.
You know, on those hardest days,do not take it out on the people
you love the most.
You know, that's the last peopleyou intend to do it.
But if you can just take abreath and think about it from
time to time and slow down, man,it's amazing that you would
never choose to intentionally doharm to these people.

(56:04):
So if you can see it, think it,then you won't do it.
So this too will pass issomething that I use in my head
often.
Um, and then I'm still, youknow, the golden rule.
Treat everybody how you want tobe treated.
You know, I look at honesty,karma comes back.
You know, I've seen people lie,still cheat, and I used to get
upset about it.

(56:25):
Um, but looking back, I'm like,wow, it catches up to you.
Yeah.
And at the end of the day, Istill carry a poem around in my
notebook that helped me getthrough my first couple of
years, The Man in the Glass.
I mean, essentially the summaryis at the end of the day, it
doesn't matter what anyone elsethinks.
If you can look in that mirrorand feel like that you're a
straight up, stand-up, honest,ethical person, then everything
will set itself.

(56:46):
And so, you know, stop comparingyourself to everyone else,
control what you control, do ithonest and ethically, and it's
an easy job, easy life.

SPEAKER_03 (56:53):
Simple but hard, um, but by very wise words, my man.
Um, obviously, I'm I have apassion about the golden rule,
chapter one of my book.
And but I love this two willpass.
I'm actually gonna share thatwith my son uh because he had a
tough day on the golf courseyesterday.
And uh I always tell him when Ithink I said it before, I'll say
it again, like whether you havea good day or bad day, I do I

(57:14):
want you to play well?
100% I do, buddy, but I stillgonna love you the probably more
the next day, and the sun'sgonna come up.
And so when you go through, andthere's another quote I love is
which is um tough times won'tlast, but tough people do.
Love that quote.

SPEAKER_02 (57:27):
Um Michael Jordan quote about missing you know
20,000 shots and missing 6,000game winning, but he keeps
shooting them.
You know, you don't do it tobecome Michael Jordan if you
fall if you give up when youfail.
Right.
Failure is the best you failed.
Awesome.
Now you've learned.

SPEAKER_03 (57:44):
Try not to do the same thing again.

SPEAKER_02 (57:46):
Having that mentality as a 16-year-old is
difficult.
As an 18-year-old is difficult.

SPEAKER_03 (57:50):
100%.
Okay, it's time to go in thelightning round.
This is where I show you thenegative hits of taking too many
hits in college, not bong hits,but football hits.
Uh, your job is to answer thesequestions as quickly as you can.
My job is to hopefully get agiggle out of you.
Okay.
Um, when you played football inhigh school, you were considered
the Eric Dickerson of uh highschool football.

SPEAKER_02 (58:13):
No, Henry Elard.

SPEAKER_03 (58:16):
Okay.
Um if I was to go into yourphone right now, what song might
surprise me that you listen to?

SPEAKER_02 (58:24):
Uh The Outfield, Your Love.
Josie's on a vacation far away.

SPEAKER_03 (58:29):
Josie's on a vacation far away.
Oh, there we go.
I like it.
Okay.
Um, if you if I was to come toyour house for dinner tonight,
what will we what will we have?

SPEAKER_02 (58:39):
Tonight happens to be pasta and meatballs.
Oh, I love meat the balls.
Yeah.
So good.
Trader Joe's, though, not ahomemade.
Trader Joe's meatballs, Rayo'ssauce, and angel hair.

SPEAKER_03 (58:51):
Love it.
Sounds delish.
Uh, favorite comedy movie of alltime is comedy.

SPEAKER_02 (58:57):
I'll go with initial thought.
That's probably up there, butdumb and dumber, I am a huge Jim
Carrey fan.
I thought that guy was supremelytalented.

SPEAKER_03 (59:04):
Sure, tell me there's a chance.
Solid movie.

SPEAKER_02 (59:09):
I mean, you can go into Step Brothers, Anchor Man,
and there's so many, you know,wedding crashers that are just
so good.

SPEAKER_03 (59:15):
I'm more of an old school 80s guy.
Um, I just watched the JohnCandy documentary on Amazon.
I like me.
Yes, so good.
Yeah.
Uh I'm a huge John Candy fan.
He had so many good movies.
So many good movies.

SPEAKER_02 (59:29):
Like John Candy, like Robin Williams.
I liked him a lot.

SPEAKER_03 (59:31):
Oh, yeah.
Morgan Mindy.
We just dated ourselves rightthere.
Um, if if you were to take yourwife on vacation, sorry, kids
are staying home.
Where are you taking her?

SPEAKER_02 (59:41):
Uh, she's probably going to like Fiji or some
beach.
She is a beach woman.
You know, if her feet's in thesand, she's a happy person.
That sounds nice.
I'm trying to think of where wehaven't been.
We've definitely uh enjoyed thetravel.
I know you just had someone onrecently about travel and
experiences.
I didn't grow up with those.
She did, uh, but thank God.
She has implemented in ourfamily.

(01:00:01):
It becomes a joke how much wetravel.
But you know, if we're fortunateenough to do it, so I do
appreciate the experiences, eventhough I push back sometimes on
her because you know I gotta payfor it all.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:14):
Love it.
Um, if there was to be a bookwritten about your life, tell me
the title.
Damned if you do, damned if youdon't.
Okay.
Like it.
That's the first.
We've never heard that onebefore.
Now, Adam, damned if you do,damned if you don't, is selling
out everywhere.
Every airport, every airport Igo to, it's empty, empty
shelves.
I went on, I logged on toAmazon, they're out.

(01:00:36):
Log dog to Barnes Noble, they'reout.
So now Hulu and Netflix and allthe other big media outlets who
make movies, they've heard aboutthis Adam Belinsky cat, and they
want to make a movie out of outof Dan Biff You Do, Dan Biffy
Don't, but you cannot be thestarring character.
So tell me who's gonna star youin this critically acclaimed hit
new movie from Hollywood.
Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:57):
Is it 25, 30 year old Adam?
Is it Adam of the Buddha?
You get a pick, man.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:02):
You're the casting director.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:05):
I'll go with Tom Cruise, only because my boss's
wife said I looked like TomCruise last year when I had my
hair slicked back.
Oh man, did it make me feelgreat?

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:14):
There we go.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:14):
I got Jim Carrey growing up a lot.
Uh, I was on a cruise uh and uhthis people came up barely
speaking English and looked atme, go, James Carey.
And you know, I was at the pianobar throwing dollars in the
thing, drinking martinis, havingfun with everybody, and I
grabbed their napkin and wroteJames Carrey.
So thank you very much.
Alrighty then, get out of here.

(01:01:35):
And oh, it just became likeeverywhere I went.
People thought I looked like JimCarrey for a few years because I
my hair goes up and it was fun.
So I enjoyed that too.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:44):
Love it.
Okay, and then last and mostimportant question, tell me two
words that would describe yourwife.
Authentically beautiful.
Boom.
Lightning ground is complete.
Uh fantastic story.
I'm so grateful that you decidedto do this, man.
I mean, I'm what I'm mostexcited about is the hundreds of
employees that you've impactedfor 26, 27 years.
They're gonna learn more aboutAdam.

(01:02:06):
And I would be willing to betthat there's gonna be a lot more
connection that comes of this,that uh relationships, new
relationships will be formed uhinternally or externally.
And um I'm I'm grateful for youin many ways, brothers.
I'm grateful for our pathsacross.
And I'm excited to hopefullyhave a chance to meet you in
person uh when when the time isright.

(01:02:26):
But thank you again for spendingtime with us on the quarterback
dot cast.
And I know that we've impacteduh a father or two uh with your
wisdom, but I appreciateeverything you're doing,
brother.
Keep it up, great work.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:35):
I appreciate it, Casey.
It's no secret.
Uh you've had a huge impact onme, um, positively impacted my
mind, my future.
So I appreciate it right back atyou.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:44):
Awesome.
Take it easy, bud.
Thank you.