July 17, 2025 • 56 mins
Ever had a child born in an elevator? Jeremy Greene has, and it's just one of the fascinating stories he shares on this episode of the Quarterback Dadcast.
As a father of two young children and the co-founder of Feather, a relationship-focused productivity platform, Jeremy brings a refreshing perspective on balancing entrepreneurship with present parenting.
Growing up in a family where his grandfather and father built a successful residential construction business, Jeremy absorbed powerful values that now shape his approach to parenting. "Family is everything at the center," he explains, describing how this foundation has only strengthened since meeting his wife Christina, whose West Indian culture similarly prioritizes family bonds.
The conversation takes a dramatic turn when Jeremy recounts his son Cameron's birth – a four-hour labor that culminated with delivery in a hospital elevator with the help of a doctor who happened to be nearby. This story of unexpected challenge mirrors Jeremy's entrepreneurial journey, which began when he recognized the need for better relationship management tools while sending Father's Day messages to fellow dads in his contact list.
What makes this episode particularly valuable is Jeremy's honesty about his parenting struggles. He openly discusses his efforts to be more present despite the demands of building a company, sharing practical wisdom like taking ten seconds before entering the home to reset his energy. His three-part advice for fellow fathers – energy management, partner alignment, and giving yourself grace – offers simple yet powerful practices for anyone navigating the complex journey of parenthood.
Whether you're an entrepreneur balancing work demands with family life or simply a father looking for inspiration, Jeremy's blend of vulnerability, practical wisdom, and unwavering commitment to family values will leave you with actionable insights for your own parenting journey. Listen now and discover how you can strengthen the quarterback position in your own family huddle.
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!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Riley and I'm Ryder and this is my dad show.
Hey, everybody, it's CaseyJaycox with the quarterback dad
cast.
Welcome to season six, and Icould not be more excited to
have you join me for anotheryear of fantastic episodes and
conversations really unscriptedand raw and authentic
(00:24):
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 on the
Quarterback Dadcast.
(00:45):
Well, hey, everybody, it'sCasey Jaycox with the
Quarterback Dadcast.
Season six continues to roll onand our next guest I met through
the wide world of LinkedIn andI found out that he has a.
He is he's a fan of the one andonly John Kaplan, who I'm a big
fan of.
Kap is someone I met in mycorporate career and I was, I
(01:08):
guess, his customer, but hetaught me a lot and so he's a
mentor from afar.
I hope, kap, you're listening,brother, appreciate you and
thanks for being the guy you are, but our next guest is a guy
named Jeremy Green.
He's the co-founder of a socialproductivity app that's going
(01:30):
to hopefully do some really coolthings there in the world
called Feather.
We'll learn all about that.
He's a Stony Brook Seawolf.
He's been in sales and salesleadership and entrepreneurship
for quite a while.
But, with all that said, that'snot why we're having Jeremy on.
We're having Jeremy on to learnabout Jeremy the dad and how
he's working hard to become theultimate quarterback or leader
of his household.
So, without further ado, mrGreen, welcome to the
Quarterback Dadcast.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Casey, thanks so much , and it's a pleasure and a
privilege to be on here with you, especially after six seasons.
Man, you must have met somereally cool people, so I hope I
live up to the status of theshow here.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
But thanks for having me.
It'll be fun.
It's hard to believe man.
Yeah, I think I've interviewed305 dads Wow, which is insane,
but it's uh and I'm, it's fun.
I, I learn, um, I've learned alot about myself.
I've improved, I think I've, Ithink I've improved my patience
as a dad, um, and yeah, I justlove learning about people and
(02:21):
just I think having this podcastfurther just ignites the
curiosity in me.
It's incredible.
All right, well, we alwaysstart out each episode gratitude
.
So tell me, what are you mostgrateful for as a dad today?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Oh, my God, Every morning when I wake up and the
kids come out of the bedroom andrun and say daddy, daddy, daddy
, it is like the most heartwarming and heart melting thing
in the world.
But I would say that probablyeveryone feels grateful for
their kids.
But I'm even more grateful formy wife.
She is just like the rock ofthe family and I couldn't do
(02:54):
anything that I'm pursuing,couldn't be half the man that
I'm trying to be without her.
So, Christina, I am verygrateful for you, so, Christina.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I am very grateful for you.
There we go.
Well said, well said Well.
I'm grateful we are recordingin June this episode will come
out in a month or so and I'mgrateful that my son is home
from college and we have thefull family back, which has been
(03:24):
great.
This past weekend I played in agolf tournament.
Golf tournament he was cattingfor another group and, uh, just
seeing him out there and uh, youknow the a lot of my buddies
will came out to me.
They came up to me like theysaid man, you've raised such a
great, uh, you guys have raisedsuch a great, fantastic son.
And just like hearing that Iwas, I told him yesterday I was
like, whatever you shoot,because he plays golf in college
(03:46):
, I go.
There's times you're going toplay well, there's times you're
gonna play bad, but the factthat you're a freaking good
human being and people come upout of the way, tell me, buddy,
I'm very, very thankful for that.
So my gratitude's going towardsmy son today that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
He's not, he sounds if he's.
If he's anything like you,casey, I'm sure he's an awesome
guy.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well cool, well bring me inside the green huddle and
tell me a little bit about eachmember of the squad and then how
you and your wife met.
Yeah, so we are a family offive.
I've got a 10-month-old sonnamed Cameron, and this guy is
(04:26):
just like a brick brick, and hewas born in the elevator.
So, one of the reasons why Iadmire my wife, we uh, we didn't
make it all the way and it wasa four hour labor and this kid
just was ready, ready to comeout.
So, uh, yeah, he was, he was,uh, he was ready to go.
It's a great story, um, but Igot.
I got Cameron he's 10 monthsold and I got Kenzie, who is
turning three on Thursday on on,uh, on Thursday June 12th.
(04:49):
So, uh, the two of them.
And then my wife, christina.
I met her, uh, when I movedfirst to California, back in
Southern California.
We'd been together for almosteight years now and then our
fifth member is our fearless, uh, uh, 35 pound dog that thinks
she's probably 150 pounds.
So we got an amazing dog,stella, that looks like a tiger.
(05:11):
That is the green household.
We're down in Vista, northCounty, san Diego, and my wife's
family's on the West Coast, myfamily's back on the East Coast,
so we have the pleasure ofbeing able to go back and forth,
but California is home.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Very cool.
So born in an elevator.
How scary was that.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Oh God, I don't even know how to begin how scary it
was.
I don't even know how to beginhow scary it was.
So I have to tell you how ithappened and to bring you in on
it.
So my wife is, she is a yogateacher.
She is also into hypnobirthing.
We took some hypnobirthingclasses and then she became
(06:00):
certified as a hypnobirther, youknow, educator, hypnobirthing
educator.
And so the first, first kid was28 hours of home labor and then
Cameron was four and I kind ofrecognized like we, we need to
go.
We had a duo that was like ifyou don't want to have your kid
in the shower, you need to getin the car and go over now.
(06:21):
So we jumped in the car anddrove really fast.
I was driving about a hundredover to Kaiser and we pulled
into the ER parking lot andacross the way I sprinted out to
go get a wheelchair and some ERdoctor saw me.
He's doing his rounds in thelobby and he came running out.
(06:42):
I had both the go bags, one onthis arm, one on this arm.
The car doors were openChristina's, you know, like
screaming, you know, and thedoctor's like can I, can I help
you with something?
I tossed him the keys, I saidcan you shut the doors?
And uh, and then he, he, Istarted running into labor and
delivery but it was Sunday andso like the hospital was kind of
(07:12):
quiet and I didn't really knowwhere we're going, this guy
catches up to us and we wind upin the elevator and Christina's
got a leg up on his shoulder andshe's screaming he's coming.
And Cameron came out in theelevator and this doctor, you
know, basically caught Cameron.
And it was funny because thelabor and delivery doctor and
the nurse were coming down togreet us because I had called on
(07:33):
the way in and I had said he'scoming in hot, we're coming in
hot, come meet us.
And they heard us screaming inthe elevator bay.
So in any case, the doorsopened up, we're right in the
foyer of labor and delivery andthen out comes the baby.
And so during that time youasked how scary it was During
(07:54):
that time, casey I was kind ofin the zone.
I was in a bit of a flow state.
I kind of just knew what I wasdoing, knew what I was doing,
but then when the baby came out,it's giving me chills even
thinking about it.
I was like in shock because Iwent through all of that like
massive adrenaline to that.
Just all of a sudden, like herehe is, um, but yeah, it was.
It was really scary.
(08:15):
You know, we we Christina losta little bit of blood and I
don't think I'd ever seenanything like that in person,
except maybe like on Dexter onTV once or twice.
But uh, it was.
Uh, it was nuts man freakingwild for sure but he's healthy
and doing great.
He's great he's like just anincredible little kid, like, oh
(08:36):
wow, happy, healthy, strong.
He's a little too strong forhis age but uh, yeah, I'm
blessed.
Yeah, he's so cool, so cool,well.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
So cool?
Well, I've never.
That's a first on the podcast,so you've already achieved your
goal of living up to it.
Tell birthing elevator stories,yeah, and tell me how did you
and your wife meet?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
So a good old fashioned setup.
When I moved from New York toCalifornia, I was working in a
software company sellingsoftware and one of my co
California.
I was working in a softwarecompany selling software and one
of my coworkers who I becamefriends with ah, you have any
cute friends, can you hook it upand make an intro?
And she just bought a house andset us up.
She invited Christina to comeover and I came over for a
(09:19):
barbecue and it was like thefive of us her, her friend, her
guy, another friend and thenChristina and I.
And so when we met, it was itwas really funny because I came
in with this really big Costcosized bottle of champagne
Congratulations, serena, youknow, you got a new house like
so happy for you.
And Christina showed up an hourlater with a bigger bottle of
(09:43):
champagne and a five pound, fivepound candy bar and I was like,
okay, I see you.
Yeah, yeah, we, uh, we met ourmatch from from that very first
moment, for sure very cool, verycool.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Well, um, I always like taking my guests down kind
of memory lane and I'd love foryou to talk about what was life
like growing up for you and theimpact mom and dad had on you
from a values perspective, andthen maybe share a story or two
that would further kind ofcement those things you learned
from them amazing parents andthey've been together for day
(10:28):
one and I've got two youngerbrothers and a younger sister
and they gave us a really goodlife.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
My mom she's like brilliant collegiate, you know,
student just, and then kind ofgave up a lot of her own focus
to help raise us and give us anamazing life.
My dad was working.
My grandfather's business onLong Island was in the
residential building.
They were big builders doingtrack homes and so we grew up in
(10:55):
an upper middle class familywith vacations and never had to
want for much.
This was pre-social media, sowe didn't really have to want
for much because we didn't knowthat all want for much because
we didn't know that all all theuh, cars and stuff existed I
guess, um.
But I grew up in a family thatwas like really, I think,
supportive of just beingyourself and so the confidence
(11:21):
of you know who you are and whatyou do, and that was always
like instilled from the from thebeginning.
So that was that's, it's kindof carried through really well.
I try and make sure I don'tcross the line of cockiness, but
sometimes that's not an easything, but the, the confidence,
was instilled from day one.
And you know my, my dad.
He's just like an amazing human, just loves his family to death
(11:46):
and would do anything and justworks really hard, which you
know it's kind of a good thingand a bad thing.
And I grew up in a householdwhere I was privy to that
Grandfather was like the youknow, the patriarch of the
family and you know was reallysuccessful.
And then there was familybusiness issues, where there was
family members not like collect, collaborating with each other,
(12:08):
and you know how that familybusiness thing kind of like
causes some problems, um, but nomatter what, my parents always
were there for us at all times,which is such, a, such a
privilege, and so I hope to behalf the man that my dad was.
Um is he's still around, but uh, yeah, so my dad was, is he's?
still around.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Wow, yeah, so your dad was a builder, he said.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, yeah, so my mom's dad, grandpa Jerry, was a
lawyer and then he started doingbig building projects.
He probably started with ahandful of homes and then
extended into hundreds andthousands of track homes and my
dad was working for him for many, many years and, yeah, it was
(12:52):
really great growing up andseeing that.
It kicked off the entrepreneurin me from a very, very early
age, for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
How does one go from a lawyer to a builder?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I think you find a good partner.
My understanding at least, thisis the story.
My grandpa, Jerry, found areally good partner who was
financially well off and the twoof them were just like a power
couple financially well off, andthe two of them were just like
(13:26):
a power couple, right.
They, you know, they.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
they basically self-funded all these projects
and you know, put it into, intomotion and then scaled from
there.
Wow, Very cool.
And you, I didn't catch what,what your mom did.
Was your mom a stay at home, ordid she work as well?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, so she she was, she went to university in I
want to say it was Bostonuniversity, and I mean she is
like super, super smart and shewas an occupational therapist
for kids and so like for thefirst actually it's interesting
the first like six, seven yearsof my life.
(14:02):
We were up in Massachusetts andI, my two younger brothers,
were born.
My dad was a stay at home dadfor a handful of years where my
mom was working, and then movedback down to New York where my
dad joined my, my mother'sfather's company to go and be
kind of like, you know, one ofthe one of the heads of projects
and and then my mom stayed home.
(14:23):
So the tides changed there yeah, there's a lot of.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Actually there's um season one interview to stay at
home, dad, um, I think it's likethe.
It's an there's no one knownnormal right, I think it's.
I think it's great that when,if moms want to be the you know,
the, the family breadwinner, godo it.
If the dad wants to go do it Idon't think there's.
You know, that's kind of coolto see, I think mainly because I
have a daughter and I wantRiley, my daughter, to be able
(14:48):
to see, like you know, just manor woman, someone's going to go
and do it and be supportive, andso I love that your pops was
able to do that for a little bitand then get back into
entrepreneurship.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
So yeah, it's interesting.
You say that I was literallyjust I forget where I was
listening to maybe a podcast orjust talking about this dynamic
is changing and you know, it waslike a long time ago kind of
expected for dad to be thebreadwinner, and now it's like
how do you, how do you go andcreate a space where it just
works?
And it's interesting because Ifor the last 15 or so years have
(15:25):
been in enterprise softwaresales and sales.
Like I was telling you when wefirst met sales leadership and
carrying a bag as a sales repand working in go-to-market, and
when I went full-time intoFeather, it afforded me an
opportunity to be more presentand be home and help out.
And we've got a kid that youknow he's just wrecking the
whole house cause he can justget into everything now, and so
(15:48):
sometimes it's nice to give mywife a little reprieve and it's
been really nice to be able touh, have that flexibility and
you know she works full time.
So it's uh, yeah, it's goodwhen it works that way, you find
something that operates well.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Oh yeah, wife, she worked when we were young, when
we're first married, and then,um, uh, and then when the kids
are like, call it four and twostayed home and uh, it was a
talking about a blessing.
I mean just helped help mefocus on work and still be able
to, and then I was able to stillbe able to get home at certain
times just to, you know, stillbe present as a dad.
(16:24):
But man, having a wife thatstays home it was the best.
And now she actually goes backto work now, which is even more
cool because then shows our kidsas they get older, they
understand more things that hey,mom does actually a lot of
stuff still.
It's kind of neat to be able toshow that.
So, going back to your growingup, you said you're very
supportive parents, that.
(16:46):
So, going back to your growingup, you said you're very
supportive parents.
You know teaching, confidence,instilling that confidence.
Tell me about, like, if you hadto pick two or three, like
really like powerful core values, that that would kind of like
cement the greenhouse or likethat you'll maybe take and also
make it teach, teach your yourtwo kids, maybe.
Tell me you know what.
What comes to mind?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, there's a lot and I think I think what happens
is it evolves as you start tolearn them more.
I think the number one thatstands out to me is it's
actually it's kind ofgenerational right, so it's
starting more so with mygrandfather into my parents,
(17:30):
into us is like, for one, familyis everything you know at the
center, and to make sure thatwe're always looking out for
each other, like that is themost important thing, which is I
I hope I I don't know if it'scommon for everybody, but I hope
that everyone gets toexperience that that has family,
because it is a really, reallybeautiful thing when you know
(17:53):
you really lean into that.
So that's something that wereally push hard on.
And in fact, it's tenfold whenI married christina because she
she comes from a west indianfamily that's like family over
everything is just rooted inculture and it's just part of
their every, every aspect oftheir thought process.
So that's been really amazing.
(18:14):
And the other one is is justfind a way or make a way, which
is interesting because you knowI grew up where it was kind of
like um, my, my folks were, were, you know, involved in the
family kind of dynamics and thefamily business and the family
(18:35):
business came across some hardtimes and then it's like, okay,
everyone leans into each other,which is like, okay, great, so
as long as you still have thatrock, you're, you're still able
to to, you know, be there forone another.
And it's just one of thosethings where, like you, just you
know, keep fighting, keep youknow, keep giving everything
(18:55):
that you got to create something.
One thing that you know, Ithink I picked up early on,
which probably wasn't asinstilled from the get-go, was
how do I go and build some sortof financial ecosystem, if you
will right, like the power ofcompounding gains and being able
(19:16):
to focus on that really earlyon, and obviously being a
high-paid W-2 guy for a longtime created a lot of
flexibility in that space, and Ithink that's probably something
that, coming out of a lot ofthe learnings of growing up, I
realized that that's a new valuethat I want to make sure that
we carry that forward with ourfamily too.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
I like.
That, did you say, was thesecond one find a way, make a
way.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, whose phrase was that?
So it wasn't so much a phrase,I think it's um.
I mean, I've heard it a milliondifferent times.
I wouldn't say that that it waspicked up from from the family,
but um it, uh, it is um.
I think that comes from my dad.
Honestly, I can't recall himever saying that verbatim.
(20:06):
But that's kind of the thoughtprocess which is no matter what,
you have to get up every dayand make sure that you're going
to find a way or make a way.
Leaders, amazing leaders incompanies that have also pushed
on that too.
So there's, it's interesting,kind of like how that family
(20:26):
dynamic Also.
I found that in the professionand the career track as well,
especially when you're coldcalling as a sales rep, you got
to find a way.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So when you think about that which I think I love
that advice that's it's.
I mean, it's such a it's on.
I do a lot of mindset work formy clients and my other part of
my job, but I always tell peoplesomeone's going to do it, why
not you Right?
And so like, if you can find away, go and then find it and
then go make it happen.
Was there a?
(21:01):
Can you think of a story wherethat really was cemented in?
As a kid your dad taught you.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Yeah, I think it's actually a little bit.
The one that's most recent isprobably the one that's just
coming top of mind to me.
I'll try not to get tooemotional about it.
But my dad, uh, he's gonethrough, he has been through
some tough times with health Um,and he, you know he had, uh,
(21:33):
he's he's had bad battle withcancer for many, many, many
years, slow acting, um cancerthat just keeps raising its head
.
And you know, luckily thetreatments that he's gone
through have been they haven'teven been intravenous, it's just
been, you know, very much liketake some pills and he'd come
(21:55):
out and come into remission.
And so I witnessed that since Iwas in my teenage years and it
was just like a continual thingEvery few years it would pop up
again.
But most recently I I got a calland and you know this is a
little while ago, so it's, it's,it's settled down.
(22:16):
But I got a call and you knowcancer was back and you know he
was really scared because it wasworse than it had been prior.
Um, and he came out of that inthis time and he needed to do
like a full treatment and, uh,after the first, the first
treatment, he was asking to goback to work.
(22:36):
I'm like, dude, can you justchill a little bit?
Um, but it was this.
You know there's there's alwaysgood and bad with everything
right Like maybe some anxiety ofnot being able to provide,
driving the need and the feelingof wanting to go back and I
have to do the thing.
But also it's just rooted inhis DNA to just find a way or
(23:00):
make a way and provide for hisfamily.
I don't even think he eventhinks so much about it.
It's just so inside of him todo that.
And yeah, he was back in theswing of things fairly quickly
and he's, you know, I'm proud tosay he rang the bell again and
he's back in remission and sothis guy's a fighter, he's
(23:20):
kicking ass.
Um, but yeah it, uh.
I watched that through allsorts of different moments as
growing up as a kid, and it justcontinues to happen.
Um you know, unfortunately, he'sin a position where he still
has to work.
You know he's not.
He's not sitting back in in aretirement kind of, uh, living a
retired life and chilling out,but uh, you know that's that's
(23:44):
him he's just fighting his waythrough it, so oh well, I'm
sorry your pops has gone throughthat.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
we think in positive thoughts, but I love the story
of just like grit and mindsetand toughness and, um, and I can
just tell from the storiesyou've shared so far, I can tell
you guys have a super closefamily, which is which is really
really cool, and and not everyfamily has that.
So I think it's it's awesomethat you appreciate it and and
and are even that present andthought about it too.
(24:10):
Um, as you think about, um,your family and values that
you're going to teach your kids,um, that maybe maybe they're
going to be a little bit, maybeChristina's family, but are
there a few things that come tomind that you really want to
teach your kids as they getolder?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Oh, this is such an interesting question because I
feel like there's so much and Ifeel like I also don't know what
to teach them yet.
What to teach them yet, Igenuinely think if I could
bottle up my wife's empathy andher just general positivity and
put and instill that into themlike they're going to be great,
(24:58):
they're going to live an amazinglife, they're going to do
amazing things, and I pray formy family every day.
I pray for them literally everyday that they have an amazing
life.
They're going to do amazingthings and I pray for my family
every day.
I pray for them literally everyday that they have an amazing
life, they experience amazingthings.
But my wife is kind of like abeacon of light and you know
it's tough because in some casesI'm more of like the pragmatic,
(25:19):
like ones and zeros let's gospreadsheet out the finances and
you know and figure some ofthat stuff out, and we work
really well together.
But she, you know, um, I, Ithink I just really hope that
they and I could already see it,I mean like the two kids are
just like trailblazers alreadyat such a young age, um, you
know.
So that's one thing and then Ithink I think I want them to
(25:45):
also learn what it takes to earnan opportunity.
And it's not like you don'twant them to have all the
opportunities in the world, butI want them to know what it
takes to create opportunity andthen to be able to appreciate
(26:06):
that.
And so I think if we cancombine the hard work and the
you know, find a way andcontinue to have that motivation
and fight through the nose andbe proud and be confident in
yourself that you can.
Proud and be confident inyourself that you can, and
(26:28):
coupled with, like this, glowingpositivity and just love for
people, they're going to livejust killer lives.
It's going to be awesome.
So I hope that's kind of thetwo things.
And you know I was listening tosome of the stuff on stoicism
and I, you know, I read thisbook from Ryan Holiday and one
of my old bosses was telling meabout Ryan Holiday and I picked
up some of his work.
And you know I read this bookfrom Ryan Holiday and one of my
old bosses was telling me aboutRyan Holiday and I picked up
some of his work and you knowit's really amazing.
I think it's so easy to likescrew up, so easy to like hope
(26:55):
that you do a good job, and youknow it's I just have so much
more awareness of how hard beinga parent actually is, so much
more awareness of how hard beinga parent actually is.
But you know, I think beingpresent and being you know my
wife talks about magicalsurrealism and you know, just
(27:16):
living in the moment and livingthat life and I've been really
trying to do that and I've had,I've been afforded that
opportunity going, you know,going full time on this endeavor
here and it's just brought me alot closer to the kids and now
seeing the two of them and Icertainly hope that they can get
the best parts of both of usfor sure.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Hi, I'm Leslie Vickery, the CEO and founder of
ClearEdge, a company dedicatedto transforming the business of
talent.
Through our three lines ofbusiness ClearEdge, marketing,
recruiting and Rising that helporganizations across the
recruitment and HR tech sectorsgrow their brands and market
share while building their teamswith excellence and equity.
(28:00):
I believe we were one ofCasey's very first clients.
He helped our sales and accountteams really those people on
the front lines of building anddeveloping client relationships
in so many ways.
Here are a few.
He helped us unlock the powerof curiosity.
For me it was a game changer.
I was personally learning allabout TED-based that's, tell,
(28:22):
explain, describe, questioningand that really resonated with
me.
We also learned about unlockingthe power of humility and
unlocking the power ofvulnerability.
Casey taught us to be a teamplayer, to embrace change, to
stay positive.
He is one of the most positivepeople I know.
He believes that optimism,resilience and a sense of humor
(28:45):
can go a long way in helpingpeople achieve their goals and
overcome obstacles.
And I agree Casey's book Win theRelationship, not the Deal.
It is a must read.
Listen.
Whether you're looking forcoaching and training or a
powerful speaker or keynote,casey is one of the people I
recommend when talking tocompanies.
(29:06):
The end result for us, at leastas one of Casey's clients our
own clients would literallycommend our approach over all
other companies, from the way wewere prepared in advance of a
call to how we drove meetings,to how we follow up.
It sounds really basic, I know,but let me tell you it is a
standout approach that led tostronger relationships.
(29:29):
I encourage you to learn moreby going to CaseyJCoxcom.
You have nothing to lose byhaving a conversation and a lot
to gain.
Now let's get back to Casey'spodcast, the Quarterback Dadcast
.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Well, empathy is going to win in life.
Being positive is always goingto win in life, I think, always
putting yourself in otherpeople's shoes and then,
obviously, teaching them to dohard work and appreciation.
It's funny when you were sayingthat I'm fortunate enough that
I belong to a golf club and, uh,our family does.
(30:07):
And when my son was 12, 13,we'll call it uh, we had a
family membership, but my wifeand daughter didn't really like
they didn't play golf, and soI'm like, why am I paying a
family membership?
I said right.
I said right.
I said hey, um, I know you likegolf, but you don't love golf
(30:28):
at this age, so I'm going totake you off membership because
it's, it's not.
If you don't want to put it inthe work and go like, then we're
going to take you off.
He's like wait what?
And it was, I'm so glad I didit and my wife supported it
because it created a fire.
I'm like Whoa, shoot, maybedad's not messing around.
He, he did.
He's actually holding meaccountable that this, maybe I
(30:48):
don't.
I go cause I, I'm paying for it.
You're not paying for it unlessyou can get a job, and so it's
crazy.
And then from that moment itjust kind of unlocked him and
COVID hit and then he was at thegolf course like every day and
it went from like a 14 down to afive and now he's a plus one
playing in college.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
So it's like when you said that those are the stories
that, like you know, it is hardbecause, like, as our kids get
older and you guys will gothrough this, it's you know,
there's this phrase, I thinkI've heard it's called the
snowplow parent where you'retrying to get ahead of
everything and make this easypath, because no one wants to
(31:27):
see their family struggle, noone wants to see them go through
tough times.
But, as I reflect as a dad, evenas a kid, some of my biggest
moments of adversity have becomemy biggest lessons that have
shaped who I am, and so it'slike those are also things where
your and your kids go throughthese things.
I think we as parents have toreally embrace it and, um, not
(31:48):
always easy, like you said,parenting is freaking hard, um,
and I think you got, we got togive ourselves grace at times
too, because you know, I yet tomeet the perfect parent, the
perfect person, the perfectleader, the perfect salesperson.
I mean, we, we're flawed humans, we're going to mess up, but
give yourself some grace andthen just kind of get back to
the values of what drives usthinking.
(32:10):
We kind of do our best to keepus both on track.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Yeah, it's definitely helpful also having a partner
who can kind of like tap in attimes.
There are moments whereChristina is, know, christina is
just, she's flustered becauseshe's juggling everything and
you know, kenzie's giving her awhip and she's, you know, trying
to trying to be, you know, stepout and be her own
(32:35):
three-year-old, going on 20.
Right, and sometimes I step inand just like totally flips the
whole dynamic of the situationand vice versa, where I'm like
getting ready to throw thesekids out the window and she, you
know, she's right, she jumps inand yeah, it's really helpful
to have a good partnershiparound that too.
(32:55):
And you know, it's funny, I'vebeen seeing so much more like
they're so young, right, Like,you know, not, it's, they're
about just about two years apartand it'll be three in one kind
of thing.
And they're so young butwatching their um, kind of
personalities really starting tocome out, it's so funny.
(33:17):
Uh, kentzie just had her first,her first dance recital and she,
she, it's funny.
It's like she's, you know, two,two, almost three, and they're
doing it's like a minute longroutine.
They, you know, they come intoMontessori, they teach them for,
you know, a half an hour once aweek, and now there's this
(33:42):
dance recital and she's dressedup and she's she's gone and
doing her thing thing and she'snot doing any of the moves at
all, none.
But she just was in her ownelement, dancing her own moves,
doing her own thing.
And uh, looking at it and I'mlike, look at my wife, like is
she you, is she me, is she bothof us?
Like it's so funny that's'sfunny.
(34:03):
But yeah, it's.
You know, the accountabilitypiece you're talking about,
casey, I think, is huge and it's, yeah, it's an interesting
thing.
Like I mean, did you have thatthought?
Did you expect that to havethat outcome?
Was that planned?
You know, as you were goingthrough, I hope I didn't.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
I didn't.
I wish I could say I had thislike totally architected the
thing, but I just, I was justtrying to just light a fire and,
um, realize, teach.
I definitely want to teach himthat this stuff is expensive and
doesn't um, I didn't know if itwas going to work or not work,
but I knew it.
I knew it was regardless.
(34:42):
Have you ever got into golf ornot?
I just want to teach him lessabout, like, if you're going to
have things like, go use it, Um,but if you're not, it's like
you're going to ride a bike.
I just didn't, I didn't wanthim to be, I would get it just
like.
You know.
You know, I think well, and Ithink the bigger reason too is
(35:05):
like I didn't have a countryclub membership when I was
growing up.
We were middle class as well,and I was.
I was very fortunate in mysales and sales leadership
career, did better than Ithought I would do, and it's now
afforded things to us to dothings.
I don't want that to be thenormal for my son and my
daughter.
I want them to realize that,hey, you might choose the path
of being a teacher and you mightnot be able to afford that
(35:27):
membership, or you might go domaybe I don't know what you're
going to do work a barista or bean artist, and so, like my
biggest thing, I just wanted toteach them that like stuff's
expensive and we're not justgoing to waste money, and and I
want you to work hard no matterwhat.
And so that was, that was thehope, and I think it, I think it
worked, so yeah, it's special.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I always, I always kind of wonder, like how do you
step it into those kind oflearnings?
(36:12):
Because you know, I've got aniece she's two and my teach
them in those moments and atwhat age are we really
instilling the wisdom?
And sometimes I find myselfneeding to actually check myself
of like hey, these kids arelike just learning to walk
practically Right, like yeah, soyou know, I don't know, I don't
know if there is chapters.
(36:32):
I'm sure that in the big plan,big picture of things, there's
chapters, but I think we try tobe our best.
You be a good person, you tryand be altruistic, you try and
instill good vibes and goodvalues and love your people, and
it's the best we can do.
At the end of it, you don't getto walk away with anything
(36:52):
except for trying to be yourbest Right, yep can do.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
At the end of it you don't get to walk away with
anything except for trying totrying to be your best, right,
right, yep.
Um, one of the questions youmay always like asking dads is,
uh, an area of their dad gamewhere that maybe they know it's
not quite where they want it.
And then they and just like insports or football you know, we
watch film and get and realizethat, hey, I'm never gonna have
a perfect game and remember me,the perfect dad.
But this question I like asking, is it kind of helps?
(37:15):
Maybe, just, you know, maybethere's a dad that's not a
entrepreneur, it doesn't own aown a you know software company,
but but there are dads we havethat in common.
And there's an area that maybea struggle for you, but at least
that you say but here's whereI'm maybe not my best, but I'm
working hard to get better at it.
Maybe I can lead my witness.
At times, patience was mine,just being a very competitive
(37:37):
person.
I've gotten a lot better atpatience now.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
I give myself grace.
But for you, tell me what comesto mind for you, jeremy, it's
very easy for me to answer thisquestion because I'm also my own
worst critic.
At times it was presence.
It was presence and not.
And even before the kids,because I was so anchored into
work, I was so driven by.
This is what is inflating thesuccess balloon.
It's just, you know, crushingdeals and moving up and you know
(38:09):
, stacking checks and doing likethat was just so.
But I was I over-rotated intothat and so, early on, that was
just so what I was I overrotated into that, um, and so
early on, it was just reallypresence, um, and I think that
has started to change and I'vebeen making a conscious effort
over a handful of years now andI don't think it'll ever be
(38:31):
something that goes away.
It's just to try and put thephone down or at least like, do
a big smile before you walk inthe door and leave as much as
you can behind.
That doesn't, you know, bringthat in.
And it's really hard,especially when it's a 24 hour
job kind of thing and no one'stelling you what to do.
Well, there's always anotherdeal, there's always another
(38:51):
client, there's always anotherfire Right, like it's really
hard.
It's really hard to balancethat out, but I've made a very
conscious effort in that and Iand I think that has played a
role in how close I've been ableto be with the family,
especially over the last coupleof years.
Um, but the one that I'm reallythinking about right now even
like far beyond that, it's justenergy levels.
I'm tired.
It's like I got a.
(39:13):
I got a kid that's up.
You know he, he, he's a lovely,lovely little kid, but he wakes
up once in a while in themiddle of the night.
And you know, I, for the, wewrote our first line of code
three weeks before he was born.
And so I, for the last 10, 11months, have been working on
India time and getting up at two, 30 or three o'clock in the
(39:36):
morning and starting my days andjust was, uh, it was.
It's been exhausting, and so myenergy levels and I think, you
know, as my kids are becoming alot more mobile, I want to be
the dad that is playing sportswith them and I want to be the
dad that is riding the bikes andI want to be the dad that's
outside versus inside.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
And I think that is probably the biggest area of
opportunity right now.
Just energy, that's a that's agood one, and presence is that's
.
That's been a common theme fora lot of dads we've talked to.
Have you I think it's called abillion dollar coach?
Have you read that book?
I haven't.
No, I forgot the name who wroteit, but it's it's.
It's when I read that it kindof resonated with me when I was
raising kids.
(40:24):
And we get sometimes we as dads,or anybody I'll pick on us dads
we get wrapped around eitherour who we are, but not what we
are.
And then and then then we loveto tell ourselves a story that,
like I'm so important and likeeven me in my corporate job I
was, you know, I, I want tobelieve I stayed humble
(40:45):
throughout that journey.
People would tell me that Ihope I led that way.
But then there's times where,even as successful as someone
might be, they didn't go out ofbusiness when I left.
And so it's like I say thattongue in cheek because I
remember, like when I wouldcoach my son's sports, my
daughter's sports, that was thebest time because I knew for two
hours work couldn't call me andI wasn't going to answer and
(41:09):
even if it was important, theyleft me a message and I give
them a call back and, um, thisbillion dollar coach guy he was
like coaching the Google CEO oranother crazy big you know, he
did a lot of work on Microsofttoo, but, like, what I loved
about that is it just remindedus that it's okay to take a
(41:29):
break for family.
It's okay to, you know, put ourphones down, but it's hard when,
like for you, you're building acompany.
The pressure is you putting onyourself, I can imagine, is high
, but I think it's really,really cool that you are
intentional, or the thought isin your head now, about like I
want to be present and I will bepresent because you know the
(41:50):
phrase the days long, years areshort.
I remember when my son anddaughter were literally in baby
bjorn, so I was yesterday,they're 19 and 16 right now it's
insane dude can't even imagineit.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
Yeah, I mean like I, I feel you um, just like it's
mind, it's mind-blowing, it'slike gosh.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Yeah Well, I would love to hear about your journey
in entrepreneurship, Bring us upto speed on your obviously very
successful software career.
And then you decide I'mstarting a company.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
So tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah, thanks for asking it was.
It was a really interestingPath.
I think when you and I firstmet I mentioned it to you, but I
kind of realized thatrelationships are everything in
business and in life.
Just by way of being a caringsales person.
Prior to getting into enterprisesoftware sales I was in private
(42:58):
events.
I was doing weddings and sweet16s and corporate events and so
I really cared a lot aboutcreating an experience for
people.
And when I started sellingsoftware, I took that
intentionality into buildingrelationships and building trust
.
And I didn't even you know thiswas pre Kaplan, I didn't even
know anything about John McMahon, I didn't know medic, I
(43:19):
couldn't tell you a three letteracronyms to save my life, but I
was doing something that washelping me succeed.
And then I got thrown into thatwhole, that whole world, which
really put a lot of sciencebehind how I operated in in
technology sales and scaled fromthat perspective.
But it was my daughter.
She was born two weeks later.
(43:40):
It was Father's Day, so it wasalmost three years ago, and I
was banging out text messages.
Everybody that I knew that wasa dad.
I was sending a happy Father'sDay text message to and I was
like man, we got Outlook andwe've got Sales Loft and we've
got all these other salesengagement automation tools for
emails and this Nothing for myphone.
(44:02):
That's a and you know what mywife was was fine for the first
hour, but I have 2000 contactsin my phone to be able to
actually like go through it all.
And I realized like I had donethat many, many times on all
different holidays, not just togo get a deal, but just to kind
of keep in front of people, keeptop of mind and check in and
(44:23):
see how things are going.
And so that kicked off the ideaof Feather.
And then, over a variety ofthings, like my best friend and
I we moved to different parts ofthe country and so, even though
it's like you pick up the phoneand it's like you never missed
a moment, months have passedRight, and you know it's like
you have to catch up and, um,whether you lose a deal to not
(44:46):
having a champion, it's you knowyour competitor.
Having a champion, like thetrust and the relationships,
like it's so important.
And uh, and I started thinkingabout it a lot, I talked to a
buddy of mine who was a customerturned friend over a decade and
we realized that had we notbeen really intentional about
our relationship even aftersigning that first deal, we
(45:06):
wouldn't be able to be talkingabout doing this thing together.
So that's how how Feather wasborn.
It was born with the idea thatif we're more thoughtful and
more thorough and more proactivewith our relationships, we can
create better lives.
We can create a better life forour personal life and we can
create better business success.
(45:26):
And so we went in and we builtan app.
We built a mobile app.
We put a lot of time, a lot ofeffort into it and came out to
this really amazing back-endsuper modern architecture, all
on AWS.
It was just amazing.
And then I realized, just abouta month or so ago, that, in
(45:47):
order to really take this, Ihave this vision where I don't
want my kids to grow up in aworld where their own self-worth
is measured just by the metricof how many likes or shares from
some artificial entity metric.
I want them to be measured bythe depth and breadth of their
connection.
I want to help with that, Iwant to contribute to that.
(46:10):
And then the reality ofbuilding a company set in which
is you know you've got to makemoney in order to go and keep
the lights on, and so what we'vebeen doing over the last couple
handful of weeks isreevaluating what is our first
go to market before we can gochange the world?
How do we go make a real bigimpact?
Consultants or coaches, or werealize that there's still a
(46:34):
need to cut through the noiseand create clarity and help
people be more proactive withtheir relationships?
It's just that people aredriven more likely by the
relationships that are businessrelationships than they are
thinking about.
Let me go and find the newfriendship of friendship kind of
app.
So we're pivoting into a B2Bplatform.
Actually was glad we'rechatting about this.
(46:56):
I was going to fill you in onit, but, um, we're looking at.
You know.
We started down the path of,like all these enterprise
technology companies, all thebig software companies have huge
sales, engagement, platformsand automation and there's so
much.
I'm sure you see this all inyour world too.
Right, like all thisconsolidation.
But what about the non-sellersellers?
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
And what about the, the, the you know the lawyers
who have to do businessdevelopment and they bill, you
know 600 bucks an hour and theydon't have the time to go out
there, and and they don't alsohave a whole sales ops or biz
ops team that's out therebuilding automation for them.
And so we realized that there'slike this kind of ecosystem of
(47:37):
referral based businesses thatyou know live and breathe on the
quality of their relationshipsand are really needing to
continue to track who are thepeople I need to make those
investments and make thosedeposits into.
And so we've been prototyping aweb app and we put the whole
mobile app that we built on ice,for now we've got this big
(47:58):
backend and we're going toconnect the two things together.
Once, uh, we figured outexactly how do we solve the
problem.
So it's been an interestingperiod for the last couple of
weeks a sobering moment of likewow, you know, first thing you
take a big swing at.
You know, swinging for thefences is not the first thing
that you're going to hit, butalso, like, the silver lining is
(48:20):
that we've really keyed in onsomething I think matters and is
impactful, and have done a lotof work to figure out who
actually cares about this andyou know where is there actually
a measurable problem in a pain?
But you had asked about, youknow kind of how Feather came to
be and that's, that's thegeneral story and I could tell
(48:43):
you.
You know, the entrepreneurialitch and bug and drive started
with Grandpa Jerry a long timeago, right?
A whole lot of things prior totrying to be a tech entrepreneur
.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
I love it.
Well, it's cool, I can, I canfeel the passion and obviously
the second time we spoke it's inin the you know I, always
there's a phrase of winners winand if you know the if you, if
you won before you got it in youand you're going to win again,
and so I'm betting on you and Ican't wait to follow um, follow
(49:18):
you guys and um.
But I guess, back to back tofatherhood, if you were to
summarize, uh, kind ofeverything we've talked about
today that maybe um has kind ofsummarized the stories of you
and your girl, that you know thevalues your pops taught your
grandpa, things you andChristina will do for your kids,
um, if we were to kind ofsummarize what we talked about
(49:38):
today into maybe like two orthree actionable um things that
dads who are listening could cantake to apply in their own life
, um, from you know, from a, Iguess the best practices or a
mindset perspective tell me whatcomes to mind oh man, I'm I'm
hardly a, uh, a role model forbest practices.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
I some practice I don't know exactly what kind yet
but I would say that one thingthat I think is really, really
beneficial and becauseespecially in, you know, in jobs
where you can't shut it off perse is it's just as you get to
that front door, it's just take10 seconds, literally take 10
(50:18):
seconds, and smile and walk inthe house with a changed energy.
I think that is a huge piece ofit.
I think, um, you know, growingup with a family, seeing the um,
you know, hey, like I think weknow what's happening, and then
you know we haven't really putthe, put the contingency plan in
place.
I think that's a big piece ofit, right.
(50:40):
Which is, you know, have youlooked at a bunch of different
um outcomes and have you builttrust and have you built a
strong enough relationship withyour partner to be able to talk
through that and get on the samepage?
I think that's a huge thing too, right?
You know we're multifamily realestate investors down here in
Southern California and so wekind of gave up the white picket
(51:02):
fence, single family homevision to just go and build some
stuff together at first, and Ithink getting on the same page
financially, getting on the samepage with you, know what kind
of lifestyle is really big, andthen the last piece of it is
just being you said it reallywell giving yourself grace.
Because we're never going to beperfect.
(51:22):
I have to remind myself, youknow, often that we don't always
have the answers, and it's okay.
It's okay to not have theanswers, and so I think those
three things taking your time to, you know, reset the energy
when you come home and really bepresent, being on the same page
with your partner and givingyourself grace uh is at least
(51:45):
some cock, you know, cocktail ofbeing a, uh, semi good parent.
Speaker 1 (51:52):
Yeah, I love that man .
It's well said and maybe itwill come full circle with shout
out to Cap.
Cap used to say one of mybiggest things I took from him.
He said it's okay not to knowevery answer, it's just not okay
not to do anything about it,and I would always stuck with me
and Marcy Stout I don't know ifyou know Marcy as well Marcy
(52:20):
and I we actually did a littlesales mindset thing a couple of
years ago and she's become agreat friend, but we used to
always, whenever we talk, wetalk about our capitalism.
That we've learned.
So all right, sir.
Well, now it's time for me totake you to the lightning round,
which is why I show you thenegative hits of taking too many
hits in college not bong hits,but football hits.
And your job is to answer thesequestions, hopefully as quickly
as you can.
My job is to try to get agiggle out of you.
(52:41):
Okay, sounds great.
Okay, true or false?
You were the Stony BrookSeawolf mascot, false.
Okay, if you were advised tocome to your house for dinner
tonight, what would we have?
Sushi, okay?
Speaker 2 (52:58):
uh, favorite comedy movie ever watched is oh shit,
uh favorite comedy movie everwatched.
Uh, super troopers okay, solidchoice.
Speaker 1 (53:12):
Uh.
What would be the one genre ofmusic that would?
That would surprise, uh, your,your fellow co-workers bluegrass
okay, um last book you read wasuh, the champion cell okay okay
(53:33):
, uh, if you're going onvacation right now, just you and
christina sorry, kids arestaying home.
Where are we going?
Speaker 2 (53:41):
uh, we are going to mykonos and to the greek islands
on a catamaran that soundsfantastic.
Speaker 1 (53:50):
Um, if there was to be a book written about your
life, tell me the title.
Speaker 2 (53:57):
The end the title of my life book Just Keep Chugging,
and there's a lot of differentthings you got to chug to read
this book.
Speaker 1 (54:10):
Okay, so Just Keep Chugging.
Brother is killing it now andit's.
Amazon can't print enoughcopies.
Barnes, Noble, they're tryingto get in on the action.
So now Hollywood's found outabout this.
You are the casting director.
I need to know who's going tostar Jeremy Green in this
critically acclaimed, hit newmovie.
Speaker 2 (54:26):
It's got to be Jason Statham.
Speaker 1 (54:28):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (54:29):
Yep, yep, it's got to be Jason Statham, because he's
going to make this.
Just keep chugging, maybedramedy, way more action-packed
and a lot, much more of a boxoffice hit than anybody else.
Speaker 1 (54:45):
Love it.
And then last question tell metwo words that would describe
Christina.
Speaker 2 (54:49):
Amazing and beautiful .
Speaker 1 (54:51):
Boom Lightning rounds over.
I kind of giggled at my ownjoke, which I usually typically
do.
I'm glad you were not, uh, thethe mascot.
That would have been ironic ifyou were, but you weren't.
But, um, it's been great.
I'm grateful for our timetogether.
It was really really cool tolearn more about you and your
family and your story and, um,you got some fantastic role
(55:12):
models.
You've obviously done a greatjob with you and you're gonna do
the same thing with your kidsand your and your lovely wife.
Obviously, you guys are workinghard to to build a really cool
family.
But I just want to say thankyou so much.
Make sure all your stuff aboutfeather is in the show notes so
people can continue to track andfollow and learn more about
what you guys are gonna be doingto impact B2B world.
Um, and as a relationship guyand wrote a relationship book, I
(55:34):
think that's what drew me toyou to want to get to know you a
little bit, because so manypeople don't do that enough.
And, to use another John Capperword, is uncommon like it's
uncommon to be unique how youbuild relationships with people,
so I love that you're trying tofind ways to have technology
(55:54):
make that easier for people.
It's really really cool.
Speaker 2 (55:57):
Yeah, yeah, it's a, it's a fun.
It's a fun problem to uh tryand make an impact on.
For sure, A lot, a lot of goodcan come from it.
Speaker 1 (56:05):
Cool, all right, brother, thank you for your time
.
I'll look forward to hopefullytalking soon.
Speaker 2 (56:09):
Super.
Thanks so much, casey,appreciate it.
Hi, I'm Riley and I'm Ryder and this is my dad show.
Hey, everybody, it's CaseyJaycox with the quarterback dad
cast.
Welcome to season six, and Icould not be more excited to
have you join me for anotheryear of fantastic episodes and
conversations really unscriptedand raw and authentic
(00:24):
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 on the
Quarterback Dadcast.
(00:45):
Well, hey, everybody, it'sCasey Jaycox with the
Quarterback Dadcast.
Season six continues to roll onand our next guest I met through
the wide world of LinkedIn andI found out that he has a.
He is he's a fan of the one andonly John Kaplan, who I'm a big
fan of.
Kap is someone I met in mycorporate career and I was, I
(01:08):
guess, his customer, but hetaught me a lot and so he's a
mentor from afar.
I hope, kap, you're listening,brother, appreciate you and
thanks for being the guy you are, but our next guest is a guy
named Jeremy Green.
He's the co-founder of a socialproductivity app that's going
(01:30):
to hopefully do some really coolthings there in the world
called Feather.
We'll learn all about that.
He's a Stony Brook Seawolf.
He's been in sales and salesleadership and entrepreneurship
for quite a while.
But, with all that said, that'snot why we're having Jeremy on.
We're having Jeremy on to learnabout Jeremy the dad and how
he's working hard to become theultimate quarterback or leader
of his household.
So, without further ado, mrGreen, welcome to the
Quarterback Dadcast.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Casey, thanks so much , and it's a pleasure and a
privilege to be on here with you, especially after six seasons.
Man, you must have met somereally cool people, so I hope I
live up to the status of theshow here.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
But thanks for having me.
It'll be fun.
It's hard to believe man.
Yeah, I think I've interviewed305 dads Wow, which is insane,
but it's uh and I'm, it's fun.
I, I learn, um, I've learned alot about myself.
I've improved, I think I've, Ithink I've improved my patience
as a dad, um, and yeah, I justlove learning about people and
(02:21):
just I think having this podcastfurther just ignites the
curiosity in me.
It's incredible.
All right, well, we alwaysstart out each episode gratitude
.
So tell me, what are you mostgrateful for as a dad today?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Oh, my God, Every morning when I wake up and the
kids come out of the bedroom andrun and say daddy, daddy, daddy
, it is like the most heartwarming and heart melting thing
in the world.
But I would say that probablyeveryone feels grateful for
their kids.
But I'm even more grateful formy wife.
She is just like the rock ofthe family and I couldn't do
(02:54):
anything that I'm pursuing,couldn't be half the man that
I'm trying to be without her.
So, Christina, I am verygrateful for you, so, Christina.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I am very grateful for you.
There we go.
Well said, well said Well.
I'm grateful we are recordingin June this episode will come
out in a month or so and I'mgrateful that my son is home
from college and we have thefull family back, which has been
(03:24):
great.
This past weekend I played in agolf tournament.
Golf tournament he was cattingfor another group and, uh, just
seeing him out there and uh, youknow the a lot of my buddies
will came out to me.
They came up to me like theysaid man, you've raised such a
great, uh, you guys have raisedsuch a great, fantastic son.
And just like hearing that Iwas, I told him yesterday I was
like, whatever you shoot,because he plays golf in college
(03:46):
, I go.
There's times you're going toplay well, there's times you're
gonna play bad, but the factthat you're a freaking good
human being and people come upout of the way, tell me, buddy,
I'm very, very thankful for that.
So my gratitude's going towardsmy son today that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
He's not, he sounds if he's.
If he's anything like you,casey, I'm sure he's an awesome
guy.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well cool, well bring me inside the green huddle and
tell me a little bit about eachmember of the squad and then how
you and your wife met.
Yeah, so we are a family offive.
I've got a 10-month-old sonnamed Cameron, and this guy is
(04:26):
just like a brick brick, and hewas born in the elevator.
So, one of the reasons why Iadmire my wife, we uh, we didn't
make it all the way and it wasa four hour labor and this kid
just was ready, ready to comeout.
So, uh, yeah, he was, he was,uh, he was ready to go.
It's a great story, um, but Igot.
I got Cameron he's 10 monthsold and I got Kenzie, who is
turning three on Thursday on on,uh, on Thursday June 12th.
(04:49):
So, uh, the two of them.
And then my wife, christina.
I met her, uh, when I movedfirst to California, back in
Southern California.
We'd been together for almosteight years now and then our
fifth member is our fearless, uh, uh, 35 pound dog that thinks
she's probably 150 pounds.
So we got an amazing dog,stella, that looks like a tiger.
(05:11):
That is the green household.
We're down in Vista, northCounty, san Diego, and my wife's
family's on the West Coast, myfamily's back on the East Coast,
so we have the pleasure ofbeing able to go back and forth,
but California is home.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Very cool.
So born in an elevator.
How scary was that.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Oh God, I don't even know how to begin how scary it
was.
I don't even know how to beginhow scary it was.
So I have to tell you how ithappened and to bring you in on
it.
So my wife is, she is a yogateacher.
She is also into hypnobirthing.
We took some hypnobirthingclasses and then she became
(06:00):
certified as a hypnobirther, youknow, educator, hypnobirthing
educator.
And so the first, first kid was28 hours of home labor and then
Cameron was four and I kind ofrecognized like we, we need to
go.
We had a duo that was like ifyou don't want to have your kid
in the shower, you need to getin the car and go over now.
(06:21):
So we jumped in the car anddrove really fast.
I was driving about a hundredover to Kaiser and we pulled
into the ER parking lot andacross the way I sprinted out to
go get a wheelchair and some ERdoctor saw me.
He's doing his rounds in thelobby and he came running out.
(06:42):
I had both the go bags, one onthis arm, one on this arm.
The car doors were openChristina's, you know, like
screaming, you know, and thedoctor's like can I, can I help
you with something?
I tossed him the keys, I saidcan you shut the doors?
And uh, and then he, he, Istarted running into labor and
delivery but it was Sunday andso like the hospital was kind of
(07:12):
quiet and I didn't really knowwhere we're going, this guy
catches up to us and we wind upin the elevator and Christina's
got a leg up on his shoulder andshe's screaming he's coming.
And Cameron came out in theelevator and this doctor, you
know, basically caught Cameron.
And it was funny because thelabor and delivery doctor and
the nurse were coming down togreet us because I had called on
(07:33):
the way in and I had said he'scoming in hot, we're coming in
hot, come meet us.
And they heard us screaming inthe elevator bay.
So in any case, the doorsopened up, we're right in the
foyer of labor and delivery andthen out comes the baby.
And so during that time youasked how scary it was During
(07:54):
that time, casey I was kind ofin the zone.
I was in a bit of a flow state.
I kind of just knew what I wasdoing, knew what I was doing,
but then when the baby came out,it's giving me chills even
thinking about it.
I was like in shock because Iwent through all of that like
massive adrenaline to that.
Just all of a sudden, like herehe is, um, but yeah, it was.
It was really scary.
(08:15):
You know, we we Christina losta little bit of blood and I
don't think I'd ever seenanything like that in person,
except maybe like on Dexter onTV once or twice.
But uh, it was.
Uh, it was nuts man freakingwild for sure but he's healthy
and doing great.
He's great he's like just anincredible little kid, like, oh
(08:36):
wow, happy, healthy, strong.
He's a little too strong forhis age but uh, yeah, I'm
blessed.
Yeah, he's so cool, so cool,well.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
So cool?
Well, I've never.
That's a first on the podcast,so you've already achieved your
goal of living up to it.
Tell birthing elevator stories,yeah, and tell me how did you
and your wife meet?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
So a good old fashioned setup.
When I moved from New York toCalifornia, I was working in a
software company sellingsoftware and one of my co
California.
I was working in a softwarecompany selling software and one
of my coworkers who I becamefriends with ah, you have any
cute friends, can you hook it upand make an intro?
And she just bought a house andset us up.
She invited Christina to comeover and I came over for a
(09:19):
barbecue and it was like thefive of us her, her friend, her
guy, another friend and thenChristina and I.
And so when we met, it was itwas really funny because I came
in with this really big Costcosized bottle of champagne
Congratulations, serena, youknow, you got a new house like
so happy for you.
And Christina showed up an hourlater with a bigger bottle of
(09:43):
champagne and a five pound, fivepound candy bar and I was like,
okay, I see you.
Yeah, yeah, we, uh, we met ourmatch from from that very first
moment, for sure very cool, verycool.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Well, um, I always like taking my guests down kind
of memory lane and I'd love foryou to talk about what was life
like growing up for you and theimpact mom and dad had on you
from a values perspective, andthen maybe share a story or two
that would further kind ofcement those things you learned
from them amazing parents andthey've been together for day
(10:28):
one and I've got two youngerbrothers and a younger sister
and they gave us a really goodlife.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
My mom she's like brilliant collegiate, you know,
student just, and then kind ofgave up a lot of her own focus
to help raise us and give us anamazing life.
My dad was working.
My grandfather's business onLong Island was in the
residential building.
They were big builders doingtrack homes and so we grew up in
(10:55):
an upper middle class familywith vacations and never had to
want for much.
This was pre-social media, sowe didn't really have to want
for much because we didn't knowthat all want for much because
we didn't know that all all theuh, cars and stuff existed I
guess, um.
But I grew up in a family thatwas like really, I think,
supportive of just beingyourself and so the confidence
(11:21):
of you know who you are and whatyou do, and that was always
like instilled from the from thebeginning.
So that was that's, it's kindof carried through really well.
I try and make sure I don'tcross the line of cockiness, but
sometimes that's not an easything, but the, the confidence,
was instilled from day one.
And you know my, my dad.
He's just like an amazing human, just loves his family to death
(11:46):
and would do anything and justworks really hard, which you
know it's kind of a good thingand a bad thing.
And I grew up in a householdwhere I was privy to that
Grandfather was like the youknow, the patriarch of the
family and you know was reallysuccessful.
And then there was familybusiness issues, where there was
family members not like collect, collaborating with each other,
(12:08):
and you know how that familybusiness thing kind of like
causes some problems, um, but nomatter what, my parents always
were there for us at all times,which is such, a, such a
privilege, and so I hope to behalf the man that my dad was.
Um is he's still around, but uh, yeah, so my dad was, is he's?
still around.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Wow, yeah, so your dad was a builder, he said.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, yeah, so my mom's dad, grandpa Jerry, was a
lawyer and then he started doingbig building projects.
He probably started with ahandful of homes and then
extended into hundreds andthousands of track homes and my
dad was working for him for many, many years and, yeah, it was
(12:52):
really great growing up andseeing that.
It kicked off the entrepreneurin me from a very, very early
age, for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
How does one go from a lawyer to a builder?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I think you find a good partner.
My understanding at least, thisis the story.
My grandpa, Jerry, found areally good partner who was
financially well off and the twoof them were just like a power
couple financially well off, andthe two of them were just like
(13:26):
a power couple, right.
They, you know, they.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
they basically self-funded all these projects
and you know, put it into, intomotion and then scaled from
there.
Wow, Very cool.
And you, I didn't catch what,what your mom did.
Was your mom a stay at home, ordid she work as well?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, so she she was, she went to university in I
want to say it was Bostonuniversity, and I mean she is
like super, super smart and shewas an occupational therapist
for kids and so like for thefirst actually it's interesting
the first like six, seven yearsof my life.
(14:02):
We were up in Massachusetts andI, my two younger brothers,
were born.
My dad was a stay at home dadfor a handful of years where my
mom was working, and then movedback down to New York where my
dad joined my, my mother'sfather's company to go and be
kind of like, you know, one ofthe one of the heads of projects
and and then my mom stayed home.
(14:23):
So the tides changed there yeah, there's a lot of.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Actually there's um season one interview to stay at
home, dad, um, I think it's likethe.
It's an there's no one knownnormal right, I think it's.
I think it's great that when,if moms want to be the you know,
the, the family breadwinner, godo it.
If the dad wants to go do it Idon't think there's.
You know, that's kind of coolto see, I think mainly because I
have a daughter and I wantRiley, my daughter, to be able
(14:48):
to see, like you know, just manor woman, someone's going to go
and do it and be supportive, andso I love that your pops was
able to do that for a little bitand then get back into
entrepreneurship.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
So yeah, it's interesting.
You say that I was literallyjust I forget where I was
listening to maybe a podcast orjust talking about this dynamic
is changing and you know, it waslike a long time ago kind of
expected for dad to be thebreadwinner, and now it's like
how do you, how do you go andcreate a space where it just
works?
And it's interesting because Ifor the last 15 or so years have
(15:25):
been in enterprise softwaresales and sales.
Like I was telling you when wefirst met sales leadership and
carrying a bag as a sales repand working in go-to-market, and
when I went full-time intoFeather, it afforded me an
opportunity to be more presentand be home and help out.
And we've got a kid that youknow he's just wrecking the
whole house cause he can justget into everything now, and so
(15:48):
sometimes it's nice to give mywife a little reprieve and it's
been really nice to be able touh, have that flexibility and
you know she works full time.
So it's uh, yeah, it's goodwhen it works that way, you find
something that operates well.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Oh yeah, wife, she worked when we were young, when
we're first married, and then,um, uh, and then when the kids
are like, call it four and twostayed home and uh, it was a
talking about a blessing.
I mean just helped help mefocus on work and still be able
to, and then I was able to stillbe able to get home at certain
times just to, you know, stillbe present as a dad.
(16:24):
But man, having a wife thatstays home it was the best.
And now she actually goes backto work now, which is even more
cool because then shows our kidsas they get older, they
understand more things that hey,mom does actually a lot of
stuff still.
It's kind of neat to be able toshow that.
So, going back to your growingup, you said you're very
supportive parents, that.
(16:46):
So, going back to your growingup, you said you're very
supportive parents.
You know teaching, confidence,instilling that confidence.
Tell me about, like, if you hadto pick two or three, like
really like powerful core values, that that would kind of like
cement the greenhouse or likethat you'll maybe take and also
make it teach, teach your yourtwo kids, maybe.
Tell me you know what.
What comes to mind?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, there's a lot and I think I think what happens
is it evolves as you start tolearn them more.
I think the number one thatstands out to me is it's
actually it's kind ofgenerational right, so it's
starting more so with mygrandfather into my parents,
(17:30):
into us is like, for one, familyis everything you know at the
center, and to make sure thatwe're always looking out for
each other, like that is themost important thing, which is I
I hope I I don't know if it'scommon for everybody, but I hope
that everyone gets toexperience that that has family,
because it is a really, reallybeautiful thing when you know
(17:53):
you really lean into that.
So that's something that wereally push hard on.
And in fact, it's tenfold whenI married christina because she
she comes from a west indianfamily that's like family over
everything is just rooted inculture and it's just part of
their every, every aspect oftheir thought process.
So that's been really amazing.
(18:14):
And the other one is is justfind a way or make a way, which
is interesting because you knowI grew up where it was kind of
like um, my, my folks were, were, you know, involved in the
family kind of dynamics and thefamily business and the family
(18:35):
business came across some hardtimes and then it's like, okay,
everyone leans into each other,which is like, okay, great, so
as long as you still have thatrock, you're, you're still able
to to, you know, be there forone another.
And it's just one of thosethings where, like you, just you
know, keep fighting, keep youknow, keep giving everything
(18:55):
that you got to create something.
One thing that you know, Ithink I picked up early on,
which probably wasn't asinstilled from the get-go, was
how do I go and build some sortof financial ecosystem, if you
will right, like the power ofcompounding gains and being able
(19:16):
to focus on that really earlyon, and obviously being a
high-paid W-2 guy for a longtime created a lot of
flexibility in that space, and Ithink that's probably something
that, coming out of a lot ofthe learnings of growing up, I
realized that that's a new valuethat I want to make sure that
we carry that forward with ourfamily too.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
I like.
That, did you say, was thesecond one find a way, make a
way.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, whose phrase was that?
So it wasn't so much a phrase,I think it's um.
I mean, I've heard it a milliondifferent times.
I wouldn't say that that it waspicked up from from the family,
but um it, uh, it is um.
I think that comes from my dad.
Honestly, I can't recall himever saying that verbatim.
(20:06):
But that's kind of the thoughtprocess which is no matter what,
you have to get up every dayand make sure that you're going
to find a way or make a way.
Leaders, amazing leaders incompanies that have also pushed
on that too.
So there's, it's interesting,kind of like how that family
(20:26):
dynamic Also.
I found that in the professionand the career track as well,
especially when you're coldcalling as a sales rep, you got
to find a way.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So when you think about that which I think I love
that advice that's it's.
I mean, it's such a it's on.
I do a lot of mindset work formy clients and my other part of
my job, but I always tell peoplesomeone's going to do it, why
not you Right?
And so like, if you can find away, go and then find it and
then go make it happen.
Was there a?
(21:01):
Can you think of a story wherethat really was cemented in?
As a kid your dad taught you.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Yeah, I think it's actually a little bit.
The one that's most recent isprobably the one that's just
coming top of mind to me.
I'll try not to get tooemotional about it.
But my dad, uh, he's gonethrough, he has been through
some tough times with health Um,and he, you know he had, uh,
(21:33):
he's he's had bad battle withcancer for many, many, many
years, slow acting, um cancerthat just keeps raising its head
.
And you know, luckily thetreatments that he's gone
through have been they haven'teven been intravenous, it's just
been, you know, very much liketake some pills and he'd come
(21:55):
out and come into remission.
And so I witnessed that since Iwas in my teenage years and it
was just like a continual thingEvery few years it would pop up
again.
But most recently I I got a calland and you know this is a
little while ago, so it's, it's,it's settled down.
(22:16):
But I got a call and you knowcancer was back and you know he
was really scared because it wasworse than it had been prior.
Um, and he came out of that inthis time and he needed to do
like a full treatment and, uh,after the first, the first
treatment, he was asking to goback to work.
(22:36):
I'm like, dude, can you justchill a little bit?
Um, but it was this.
You know there's there's alwaysgood and bad with everything
right Like maybe some anxiety ofnot being able to provide,
driving the need and the feelingof wanting to go back and I
have to do the thing.
But also it's just rooted inhis DNA to just find a way or
(23:00):
make a way and provide for hisfamily.
I don't even think he eventhinks so much about it.
It's just so inside of him todo that.
And yeah, he was back in theswing of things fairly quickly
and he's, you know, I'm proud tosay he rang the bell again and
he's back in remission and sothis guy's a fighter, he's
(23:20):
kicking ass.
Um, but yeah it, uh.
I watched that through allsorts of different moments as
growing up as a kid, and it justcontinues to happen.
Um you know, unfortunately, he'sin a position where he still
has to work.
You know he's not.
He's not sitting back in in aretirement kind of, uh, living a
retired life and chilling out,but uh, you know that's that's
(23:44):
him he's just fighting his waythrough it, so oh well, I'm
sorry your pops has gone throughthat.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
we think in positive thoughts, but I love the story
of just like grit and mindsetand toughness and, um, and I can
just tell from the storiesyou've shared so far, I can tell
you guys have a super closefamily, which is which is really
really cool, and and not everyfamily has that.
So I think it's it's awesomethat you appreciate it and and
and are even that present andthought about it too.
(24:10):
Um, as you think about, um,your family and values that
you're going to teach your kids,um, that maybe maybe they're
going to be a little bit, maybeChristina's family, but are
there a few things that come tomind that you really want to
teach your kids as they getolder?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Oh, this is such an interesting question because I
feel like there's so much and Ifeel like I also don't know what
to teach them yet.
What to teach them yet, Igenuinely think if I could
bottle up my wife's empathy andher just general positivity and
put and instill that into themlike they're going to be great,
(24:58):
they're going to live an amazinglife, they're going to do
amazing things, and I pray formy family every day.
I pray for them literally everyday that they have an amazing
life.
They're going to do amazingthings and I pray for my family
every day.
I pray for them literally everyday that they have an amazing
life, they experience amazingthings.
But my wife is kind of like abeacon of light and you know
it's tough because in some casesI'm more of like the pragmatic,
(25:19):
like ones and zeros let's gospreadsheet out the finances and
you know and figure some ofthat stuff out, and we work
really well together.
But she, you know, um, I, Ithink I just really hope that
they and I could already see it,I mean like the two kids are
just like trailblazers alreadyat such a young age, um, you
know.
So that's one thing and then Ithink I think I want them to
(25:45):
also learn what it takes to earnan opportunity.
And it's not like you don'twant them to have all the
opportunities in the world, butI want them to know what it
takes to create opportunity andthen to be able to appreciate
(26:06):
that.
And so I think if we cancombine the hard work and the
you know, find a way andcontinue to have that motivation
and fight through the nose andbe proud and be confident in
yourself that you can.
Proud and be confident inyourself that you can, and
(26:28):
coupled with, like this, glowingpositivity and just love for
people, they're going to livejust killer lives.
It's going to be awesome.
So I hope that's kind of thetwo things.
And you know I was listening tosome of the stuff on stoicism
and I, you know, I read thisbook from Ryan Holiday and one
of my old bosses was telling meabout Ryan Holiday and I picked
up some of his work.
And you know I read this bookfrom Ryan Holiday and one of my
old bosses was telling me aboutRyan Holiday and I picked up
some of his work and you knowit's really amazing.
I think it's so easy to likescrew up, so easy to like hope
(26:55):
that you do a good job, and youknow it's I just have so much
more awareness of how hard beinga parent actually is, so much
more awareness of how hard beinga parent actually is.
But you know, I think beingpresent and being you know my
wife talks about magicalsurrealism and you know, just
(27:16):
living in the moment and livingthat life and I've been really
trying to do that and I've had,I've been afforded that
opportunity going, you know,going full time on this endeavor
here and it's just brought me alot closer to the kids and now
seeing the two of them and Icertainly hope that they can get
the best parts of both of usfor sure.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Hi, I'm Leslie Vickery, the CEO and founder of
ClearEdge, a company dedicatedto transforming the business of
talent.
Through our three lines ofbusiness ClearEdge, marketing,
recruiting and Rising that helporganizations across the
recruitment and HR tech sectorsgrow their brands and market
share while building their teamswith excellence and equity.
(28:00):
I believe we were one ofCasey's very first clients.
He helped our sales and accountteams really those people on
the front lines of building anddeveloping client relationships
in so many ways.
Here are a few.
He helped us unlock the powerof curiosity.
For me it was a game changer.
I was personally learning allabout TED-based that's, tell,
(28:22):
explain, describe, questioningand that really resonated with
me.
We also learned about unlockingthe power of humility and
unlocking the power ofvulnerability.
Casey taught us to be a teamplayer, to embrace change, to
stay positive.
He is one of the most positivepeople I know.
He believes that optimism,resilience and a sense of humor
(28:45):
can go a long way in helpingpeople achieve their goals and
overcome obstacles.
And I agree Casey's book Win theRelationship, not the Deal.
It is a must read.
Listen.
Whether you're looking forcoaching and training or a
powerful speaker or keynote,casey is one of the people I
recommend when talking tocompanies.
(29:06):
The end result for us, at leastas one of Casey's clients our
own clients would literallycommend our approach over all
other companies, from the way wewere prepared in advance of a
call to how we drove meetings,to how we follow up.
It sounds really basic, I know,but let me tell you it is a
standout approach that led tostronger relationships.
(29:29):
I encourage you to learn moreby going to CaseyJCoxcom.
You have nothing to lose byhaving a conversation and a lot
to gain.
Now let's get back to Casey'spodcast, the Quarterback Dadcast
.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Well, empathy is going to win in life.
Being positive is always goingto win in life, I think, always
putting yourself in otherpeople's shoes and then,
obviously, teaching them to dohard work and appreciation.
It's funny when you were sayingthat I'm fortunate enough that
I belong to a golf club and, uh,our family does.
(30:07):
And when my son was 12, 13,we'll call it uh, we had a
family membership, but my wifeand daughter didn't really like
they didn't play golf, and soI'm like, why am I paying a
family membership?
I said right.
I said right.
I said hey, um, I know you likegolf, but you don't love golf
(30:28):
at this age, so I'm going totake you off membership because
it's, it's not.
If you don't want to put it inthe work and go like, then we're
going to take you off.
He's like wait what?
And it was, I'm so glad I didit and my wife supported it
because it created a fire.
I'm like Whoa, shoot, maybedad's not messing around.
He, he did.
He's actually holding meaccountable that this, maybe I
(30:48):
don't.
I go cause I, I'm paying for it.
You're not paying for it unlessyou can get a job, and so it's
crazy.
And then from that moment itjust kind of unlocked him and
COVID hit and then he was at thegolf course like every day and
it went from like a 14 down to afive and now he's a plus one
playing in college.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
So it's like when you said that those are the stories
that, like you know, it is hardbecause, like, as our kids get
older and you guys will gothrough this, it's you know,
there's this phrase, I thinkI've heard it's called the
snowplow parent where you'retrying to get ahead of
everything and make this easypath, because no one wants to
(31:27):
see their family struggle, noone wants to see them go through
tough times.
But, as I reflect as a dad, evenas a kid, some of my biggest
moments of adversity have becomemy biggest lessons that have
shaped who I am, and so it'slike those are also things where
your and your kids go throughthese things.
I think we as parents have toreally embrace it and, um, not
(31:48):
always easy, like you said,parenting is freaking hard, um,
and I think you got, we got togive ourselves grace at times
too, because you know, I yet tomeet the perfect parent, the
perfect person, the perfectleader, the perfect salesperson.
I mean, we, we're flawed humans, we're going to mess up, but
give yourself some grace andthen just kind of get back to
the values of what drives usthinking.
(32:10):
We kind of do our best to keepus both on track.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Yeah, it's definitely helpful also having a partner
who can kind of like tap in attimes.
There are moments whereChristina is, know, christina is
just, she's flustered becauseshe's juggling everything and
you know, kenzie's giving her awhip and she's, you know, trying
to trying to be, you know, stepout and be her own
(32:35):
three-year-old, going on 20.
Right, and sometimes I step inand just like totally flips the
whole dynamic of the situationand vice versa, where I'm like
getting ready to throw thesekids out the window and she, you
know, she's right, she jumps inand yeah, it's really helpful
to have a good partnershiparound that too.
(32:55):
And you know, it's funny, I'vebeen seeing so much more like
they're so young, right, Like,you know, not, it's, they're
about just about two years apartand it'll be three in one kind
of thing.
And they're so young butwatching their um, kind of
personalities really starting tocome out, it's so funny.
(33:17):
Uh, kentzie just had her first,her first dance recital and she,
she, it's funny.
It's like she's, you know, two,two, almost three, and they're
doing it's like a minute longroutine.
They, you know, they come intoMontessori, they teach them for,
you know, a half an hour once aweek, and now there's this
(33:42):
dance recital and she's dressedup and she's she's gone and
doing her thing thing and she'snot doing any of the moves at
all, none.
But she just was in her ownelement, dancing her own moves,
doing her own thing.
And uh, looking at it and I'mlike, look at my wife, like is
she you, is she me, is she bothof us?
Like it's so funny that's'sfunny.
(34:03):
But yeah, it's.
You know, the accountabilitypiece you're talking about,
casey, I think, is huge and it's, yeah, it's an interesting
thing.
Like I mean, did you have thatthought?
Did you expect that to havethat outcome?
Was that planned?
You know, as you were goingthrough, I hope I didn't.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
I didn't.
I wish I could say I had thislike totally architected the
thing, but I just, I was justtrying to just light a fire and,
um, realize, teach.
I definitely want to teach himthat this stuff is expensive and
doesn't um, I didn't know if itwas going to work or not work,
but I knew it.
I knew it was regardless.
(34:42):
Have you ever got into golf ornot?
I just want to teach him lessabout, like, if you're going to
have things like, go use it, Um,but if you're not, it's like
you're going to ride a bike.
I just didn't, I didn't wanthim to be, I would get it just
like.
You know.
You know, I think well, and Ithink the bigger reason too is
(35:05):
like I didn't have a countryclub membership when I was
growing up.
We were middle class as well,and I was.
I was very fortunate in mysales and sales leadership
career, did better than Ithought I would do, and it's now
afforded things to us to dothings.
I don't want that to be thenormal for my son and my
daughter.
I want them to realize that,hey, you might choose the path
of being a teacher and you mightnot be able to afford that
(35:27):
membership, or you might go domaybe I don't know what you're
going to do work a barista or bean artist, and so, like my
biggest thing, I just wanted toteach them that like stuff's
expensive and we're not justgoing to waste money, and and I
want you to work hard no matterwhat.
And so that was, that was thehope, and I think it, I think it
worked, so yeah, it's special.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I always, I always kind of wonder, like how do you
step it into those kind oflearnings?
(36:12):
Because you know, I've got aniece she's two and my teach
them in those moments and atwhat age are we really
instilling the wisdom?
And sometimes I find myselfneeding to actually check myself
of like hey, these kids arelike just learning to walk
practically Right, like yeah, soyou know, I don't know, I don't
know if there is chapters.
(36:32):
I'm sure that in the big plan,big picture of things, there's
chapters, but I think we try tobe our best.
You be a good person, you tryand be altruistic, you try and
instill good vibes and goodvalues and love your people, and
it's the best we can do.
At the end of it, you don't getto walk away with anything
(36:52):
except for trying to be yourbest Right, yep can do.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
At the end of it you don't get to walk away with
anything except for trying totrying to be your best, right,
right, yep.
Um, one of the questions youmay always like asking dads is,
uh, an area of their dad gamewhere that maybe they know it's
not quite where they want it.
And then they and just like insports or football you know, we
watch film and get and realizethat, hey, I'm never gonna have
a perfect game and remember me,the perfect dad.
But this question I like asking, is it kind of helps?
(37:15):
Maybe, just, you know, maybethere's a dad that's not a
entrepreneur, it doesn't own aown a you know software company,
but but there are dads we havethat in common.
And there's an area that maybea struggle for you, but at least
that you say but here's whereI'm maybe not my best, but I'm
working hard to get better at it.
Maybe I can lead my witness.
At times, patience was mine,just being a very competitive
(37:37):
person.
I've gotten a lot better atpatience now.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
I give myself grace.
But for you, tell me what comesto mind for you, jeremy, it's
very easy for me to answer thisquestion because I'm also my own
worst critic.
At times it was presence.
It was presence and not.
And even before the kids,because I was so anchored into
work, I was so driven by.
This is what is inflating thesuccess balloon.
It's just, you know, crushingdeals and moving up and you know
(38:09):
, stacking checks and doing likethat was just so.
But I was I over-rotated intothat and so, early on, that was
just so what I was I overrotated into that, um, and so
early on, it was just reallypresence, um, and I think that
has started to change and I'vebeen making a conscious effort
over a handful of years now andI don't think it'll ever be
(38:31):
something that goes away.
It's just to try and put thephone down or at least like, do
a big smile before you walk inthe door and leave as much as
you can behind.
That doesn't, you know, bringthat in.
And it's really hard,especially when it's a 24 hour
job kind of thing and no one'stelling you what to do.
Well, there's always anotherdeal, there's always another
(38:51):
client, there's always anotherfire Right, like it's really
hard.
It's really hard to balancethat out, but I've made a very
conscious effort in that and Iand I think that has played a
role in how close I've been ableto be with the family,
especially over the last coupleof years.
Um, but the one that I'm reallythinking about right now even
like far beyond that, it's justenergy levels.
I'm tired.
It's like I got a.
(39:13):
I got a kid that's up.
You know he, he, he's a lovely,lovely little kid, but he wakes
up once in a while in themiddle of the night.
And you know, I, for the, wewrote our first line of code
three weeks before he was born.
And so I, for the last 10, 11months, have been working on
India time and getting up at two, 30 or three o'clock in the
(39:36):
morning and starting my days andjust was, uh, it was.
It's been exhausting, and so myenergy levels and I think, you
know, as my kids are becoming alot more mobile, I want to be
the dad that is playing sportswith them and I want to be the
dad that is riding the bikes andI want to be the dad that's
outside versus inside.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
And I think that is probably the biggest area of
opportunity right now.
Just energy, that's a that's agood one, and presence is that's
.
That's been a common theme fora lot of dads we've talked to.
Have you I think it's called abillion dollar coach?
Have you read that book?
I haven't.
No, I forgot the name who wroteit, but it's it's.
It's when I read that it kindof resonated with me when I was
raising kids.
(40:24):
And we get sometimes we as dads,or anybody I'll pick on us dads
we get wrapped around eitherour who we are, but not what we
are.
And then and then then we loveto tell ourselves a story that,
like I'm so important and likeeven me in my corporate job I
was, you know, I, I want tobelieve I stayed humble
(40:45):
throughout that journey.
People would tell me that Ihope I led that way.
But then there's times where,even as successful as someone
might be, they didn't go out ofbusiness when I left.
And so it's like I say thattongue in cheek because I
remember, like when I wouldcoach my son's sports, my
daughter's sports, that was thebest time because I knew for two
hours work couldn't call me andI wasn't going to answer and
(41:09):
even if it was important, theyleft me a message and I give
them a call back and, um, thisbillion dollar coach guy he was
like coaching the Google CEO oranother crazy big you know, he
did a lot of work on Microsofttoo, but, like, what I loved
about that is it just remindedus that it's okay to take a
(41:29):
break for family.
It's okay to, you know, put ourphones down, but it's hard when,
like for you, you're building acompany.
The pressure is you putting onyourself, I can imagine, is high
, but I think it's really,really cool that you are
intentional, or the thought isin your head now, about like I
want to be present and I will bepresent because you know the
(41:50):
phrase the days long, years areshort.
I remember when my son anddaughter were literally in baby
bjorn, so I was yesterday,they're 19 and 16 right now it's
insane dude can't even imagineit.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
Yeah, I mean like I, I feel you um, just like it's
mind, it's mind-blowing, it'slike gosh.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Yeah Well, I would love to hear about your journey
in entrepreneurship, Bring us upto speed on your obviously very
successful software career.
And then you decide I'mstarting a company.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
So tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah, thanks for asking it was.
It was a really interestingPath.
I think when you and I firstmet I mentioned it to you, but I
kind of realized thatrelationships are everything in
business and in life.
Just by way of being a caringsales person.
Prior to getting into enterprisesoftware sales I was in private
(42:58):
events.
I was doing weddings and sweet16s and corporate events and so
I really cared a lot aboutcreating an experience for
people.
And when I started sellingsoftware, I took that
intentionality into buildingrelationships and building trust
.
And I didn't even you know thiswas pre Kaplan, I didn't even
know anything about John McMahon, I didn't know medic, I
(43:19):
couldn't tell you a three letteracronyms to save my life, but I
was doing something that washelping me succeed.
And then I got thrown into thatwhole, that whole world, which
really put a lot of sciencebehind how I operated in in
technology sales and scaled fromthat perspective.
But it was my daughter.
She was born two weeks later.
(43:40):
It was Father's Day, so it wasalmost three years ago, and I
was banging out text messages.
Everybody that I knew that wasa dad.
I was sending a happy Father'sDay text message to and I was
like man, we got Outlook andwe've got Sales Loft and we've
got all these other salesengagement automation tools for
emails and this Nothing for myphone.
(44:02):
That's a and you know what mywife was was fine for the first
hour, but I have 2000 contactsin my phone to be able to
actually like go through it all.
And I realized like I had donethat many, many times on all
different holidays, not just togo get a deal, but just to kind
of keep in front of people, keeptop of mind and check in and
(44:23):
see how things are going.
And so that kicked off the ideaof Feather.
And then, over a variety ofthings, like my best friend and
I we moved to different parts ofthe country and so, even though
it's like you pick up the phoneand it's like you never missed
a moment, months have passedRight, and you know it's like
you have to catch up and, um,whether you lose a deal to not
(44:46):
having a champion, it's you knowyour competitor.
Having a champion, like thetrust and the relationships,
like it's so important.
And uh, and I started thinkingabout it a lot, I talked to a
buddy of mine who was a customerturned friend over a decade and
we realized that had we notbeen really intentional about
our relationship even aftersigning that first deal, we
(45:06):
wouldn't be able to be talkingabout doing this thing together.
So that's how how Feather wasborn.
It was born with the idea thatif we're more thoughtful and
more thorough and more proactivewith our relationships, we can
create better lives.
We can create a better life forour personal life and we can
create better business success.
(45:26):
And so we went in and we builtan app.
We built a mobile app.
We put a lot of time, a lot ofeffort into it and came out to
this really amazing back-endsuper modern architecture, all
on AWS.
It was just amazing.
And then I realized, just abouta month or so ago, that, in
(45:47):
order to really take this, Ihave this vision where I don't
want my kids to grow up in aworld where their own self-worth
is measured just by the metricof how many likes or shares from
some artificial entity metric.
I want them to be measured bythe depth and breadth of their
connection.
I want to help with that, Iwant to contribute to that.
(46:10):
And then the reality ofbuilding a company set in which
is you know you've got to makemoney in order to go and keep
the lights on, and so what we'vebeen doing over the last couple
handful of weeks isreevaluating what is our first
go to market before we can gochange the world?
How do we go make a real bigimpact?
Consultants or coaches, or werealize that there's still a
(46:34):
need to cut through the noiseand create clarity and help
people be more proactive withtheir relationships?
It's just that people aredriven more likely by the
relationships that are businessrelationships than they are
thinking about.
Let me go and find the newfriendship of friendship kind of
app.
So we're pivoting into a B2Bplatform.
Actually was glad we'rechatting about this.
(46:56):
I was going to fill you in onit, but, um, we're looking at.
You know.
We started down the path of,like all these enterprise
technology companies, all thebig software companies have huge
sales, engagement, platformsand automation and there's so
much.
I'm sure you see this all inyour world too.
Right, like all thisconsolidation.
But what about the non-sellersellers?
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
And what about the, the, the you know the lawyers
who have to do businessdevelopment and they bill, you
know 600 bucks an hour and theydon't have the time to go out
there, and and they don't alsohave a whole sales ops or biz
ops team that's out therebuilding automation for them.
And so we realized that there'slike this kind of ecosystem of
(47:37):
referral based businesses thatyou know live and breathe on the
quality of their relationshipsand are really needing to
continue to track who are thepeople I need to make those
investments and make thosedeposits into.
And so we've been prototyping aweb app and we put the whole
mobile app that we built on ice,for now we've got this big
(47:58):
backend and we're going toconnect the two things together.
Once, uh, we figured outexactly how do we solve the
problem.
So it's been an interestingperiod for the last couple of
weeks a sobering moment of likewow, you know, first thing you
take a big swing at.
You know, swinging for thefences is not the first thing
that you're going to hit, butalso, like, the silver lining is
(48:20):
that we've really keyed in onsomething I think matters and is
impactful, and have done a lotof work to figure out who
actually cares about this andyou know where is there actually
a measurable problem in a pain?
But you had asked about, youknow kind of how Feather came to
be and that's, that's thegeneral story and I could tell
(48:43):
you.
You know, the entrepreneurialitch and bug and drive started
with Grandpa Jerry a long timeago, right?
A whole lot of things prior totrying to be a tech entrepreneur
.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
I love it.
Well, it's cool, I can, I canfeel the passion and obviously
the second time we spoke it's inin the you know I, always
there's a phrase of winners winand if you know the if you, if
you won before you got it in youand you're going to win again,
and so I'm betting on you and Ican't wait to follow um, follow
(49:18):
you guys and um.
But I guess, back to back tofatherhood, if you were to
summarize, uh, kind ofeverything we've talked about
today that maybe um has kind ofsummarized the stories of you
and your girl, that you know thevalues your pops taught your
grandpa, things you andChristina will do for your kids,
um, if we were to kind ofsummarize what we talked about
(49:38):
today into maybe like two orthree actionable um things that
dads who are listening could cantake to apply in their own life
, um, from you know, from a, Iguess the best practices or a
mindset perspective tell me whatcomes to mind oh man, I'm I'm
hardly a, uh, a role model forbest practices.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
I some practice I don't know exactly what kind yet
but I would say that one thingthat I think is really, really
beneficial and becauseespecially in, you know, in jobs
where you can't shut it off perse is it's just as you get to
that front door, it's just take10 seconds, literally take 10
(50:18):
seconds, and smile and walk inthe house with a changed energy.
I think that is a huge piece ofit.
I think, um, you know, growingup with a family, seeing the um,
you know, hey, like I think weknow what's happening, and then
you know we haven't really putthe, put the contingency plan in
place.
I think that's a big piece ofit, right.
(50:40):
Which is, you know, have youlooked at a bunch of different
um outcomes and have you builttrust and have you built a
strong enough relationship withyour partner to be able to talk
through that and get on the samepage?
I think that's a huge thing too, right?
You know we're multifamily realestate investors down here in
Southern California and so wekind of gave up the white picket
(51:02):
fence, single family homevision to just go and build some
stuff together at first, and Ithink getting on the same page
financially, getting on the samepage with you, know what kind
of lifestyle is really big, andthen the last piece of it is
just being you said it reallywell giving yourself grace.
Because we're never going to beperfect.
(51:22):
I have to remind myself, youknow, often that we don't always
have the answers, and it's okay.
It's okay to not have theanswers, and so I think those
three things taking your time to, you know, reset the energy
when you come home and really bepresent, being on the same page
with your partner and givingyourself grace uh is at least
(51:45):
some cock, you know, cocktail ofbeing a, uh, semi good parent.
Speaker 1 (51:52):
Yeah, I love that man .
It's well said and maybe itwill come full circle with shout
out to Cap.
Cap used to say one of mybiggest things I took from him.
He said it's okay not to knowevery answer, it's just not okay
not to do anything about it,and I would always stuck with me
and Marcy Stout I don't know ifyou know Marcy as well Marcy
(52:20):
and I we actually did a littlesales mindset thing a couple of
years ago and she's become agreat friend, but we used to
always, whenever we talk, wetalk about our capitalism.
That we've learned.
So all right, sir.
Well, now it's time for me totake you to the lightning round,
which is why I show you thenegative hits of taking too many
hits in college not bong hits,but football hits.
And your job is to answer thesequestions, hopefully as quickly
as you can.
My job is to try to get agiggle out of you.
(52:41):
Okay, sounds great.
Okay, true or false?
You were the Stony BrookSeawolf mascot, false.
Okay, if you were advised tocome to your house for dinner
tonight, what would we have?
Sushi, okay?
Speaker 2 (52:58):
uh, favorite comedy movie ever watched is oh shit,
uh favorite comedy movie everwatched.
Uh, super troopers okay, solidchoice.
Speaker 1 (53:12):
Uh.
What would be the one genre ofmusic that would?
That would surprise, uh, your,your fellow co-workers bluegrass
okay, um last book you read wasuh, the champion cell okay okay
(53:33):
, uh, if you're going onvacation right now, just you and
christina sorry, kids arestaying home.
Where are we going?
Speaker 2 (53:41):
uh, we are going to mykonos and to the greek islands
on a catamaran that soundsfantastic.
Speaker 1 (53:50):
Um, if there was to be a book written about your
life, tell me the title.
Speaker 2 (53:57):
The end the title of my life book Just Keep Chugging,
and there's a lot of differentthings you got to chug to read
this book.
Speaker 1 (54:10):
Okay, so Just Keep Chugging.
Brother is killing it now andit's.
Amazon can't print enoughcopies.
Barnes, Noble, they're tryingto get in on the action.
So now Hollywood's found outabout this.
You are the casting director.
I need to know who's going tostar Jeremy Green in this
critically acclaimed, hit newmovie.
Speaker 2 (54:26):
It's got to be Jason Statham.
Speaker 1 (54:28):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (54:29):
Yep, yep, it's got to be Jason Statham, because he's
going to make this.
Just keep chugging, maybedramedy, way more action-packed
and a lot, much more of a boxoffice hit than anybody else.
Speaker 1 (54:45):
Love it.
And then last question tell metwo words that would describe
Christina.
Speaker 2 (54:49):
Amazing and beautiful .
Speaker 1 (54:51):
Boom Lightning rounds over.
I kind of giggled at my ownjoke, which I usually typically
do.
I'm glad you were not, uh, thethe mascot.
That would have been ironic ifyou were, but you weren't.
But, um, it's been great.
I'm grateful for our timetogether.
It was really really cool tolearn more about you and your
family and your story and, um,you got some fantastic role
(55:12):
models.
You've obviously done a greatjob with you and you're gonna do
the same thing with your kidsand your and your lovely wife.
Obviously, you guys are workinghard to to build a really cool
family.
But I just want to say thankyou so much.
Make sure all your stuff aboutfeather is in the show notes so
people can continue to track andfollow and learn more about
what you guys are gonna be doingto impact B2B world.
Um, and as a relationship guyand wrote a relationship book, I
(55:34):
think that's what drew me toyou to want to get to know you a
little bit, because so manypeople don't do that enough.
And, to use another John Capperword, is uncommon like it's
uncommon to be unique how youbuild relationships with people,
so I love that you're trying tofind ways to have technology
(55:54):
make that easier for people.
It's really really cool.
Speaker 2 (55:57):
Yeah, yeah, it's a, it's a fun.
It's a fun problem to uh tryand make an impact on.
For sure, A lot, a lot of goodcan come from it.
Speaker 1 (56:05):
Cool, all right, brother, thank you for your time
.
I'll look forward to hopefullytalking soon.
Speaker 2 (56:09):
Super.
Thanks so much, casey,appreciate it.
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