January 28, 2025 • 45 mins
Grit and Growth: Easton's Journey from Insurance to 'The Voice'
In this episode of Radio Daybreak, the hosts spotlight Easton Rentmeister, an insurance professional and passionate musician from Utah. They discuss Easton's family history, including his grandparents' 70-year marriage and the evolution of his mother’s insurance agency. Easton shares his journey from serving in the Air Force to entering the insurance industry, with a focus on commercial insurance for blue-collar workers. He also reveals his love for music and his experiences auditioning for 'The Voice'.
The episode highlights the importance of community, particularly through their involvement with BNI and how it supports business growth and networking. Easton’s story exemplifies dedication and the pursuit of passions both professionally and personally.
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00:00 Welcome to Radio Daybreak Season Two
00:29 Meet Easton Rentmeister: The Man Behind the Name
01:31 Family Legacy and Early Life
02:50 The Journey into Insurance
06:29 Military Service and Life Lessons
12:46 Joining Grit Insurance
13:29 Understanding Grit Insurance's Philosophy
15:58 The Importance of Insurance for Businesses
18:02 Personal Stories and the Impact of Insurance
19:50 Defining Blue Collar Workers
20:48 Defining Blue Collar Work
20:57 Fun Facts and Hobbies
22:32 Sports and High School Memories
24:51 Joining BNI and Business Networking
30:25 Musical Journey and The Voice Audition
37:08 Parenting and Co-Parenting Insights
40:02 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Here we are.
It's Radio Daybreak.
The B& I Business of the Week.
Innovators of Daybreak.
What other titles wewant to throw in there?
Oh my gosh.
I don't
know.
I mean, I guess.
That's it.
Yeah.
That's it.
That's it.
But look, today.
Season two, right?
Season two of Radio Daybreak.
Here we are.
We wanted to be more of a faceand a voice of the community
and innovators of Daybreak.
(00:22):
The who's who, who's doing what,super cool things going on.
We got the
who's who.
We got the who's who.
We got the who's who.
That's why you're here.
That is why I'm here.
We got Easton Rentmeister.
I like to say, like, I like to givean introduction like a wrestling act.
With the last name of Rentmeister,you've got to be like the
property management person.
Rental.
I get that
all the time.
People ask me all the time.
(00:43):
You have to be in property.
Yeah.
I miss my calling apparently.
Yeah man.
Well I mean you're kind of in propertyright with what you do ish, ish.
A little bit.
Business I guess.
Yeah.
Taking care of propertiesone way or another but.
There you go.
Buying an apartment complex atthe Wreckmeister Inn or something
should have been my calling.
Maybe he can
lend
(01:03):
his name to the
seat that has that in the B& I chapter.
Maybe you can trade names.
We need somebody with what lastname to fit your business in here?
Oh, a last
name to fit for insurance,uh, I don't know.
I feel like it's more of like a taglinename, like The Protector or like, like
a superhero name or something.
There you go.
Now, now you're talking like,well, you brought wrestling up.
(01:25):
So I was like, you'vegot to have something.
Oh man.
That's something you'll know about me.
I'm a huge wrestling fan.
You know
his, his family name, Rentmeister,you know, they're a big
company here in Utah, right?
Did you know that?
I
did know this.
Yeah.
I
mean, you do have roots.
There is.
The Rentmeister name, we're all related.
I mean, within Utah, I feellike most all of us are related.
(01:47):
We're all the pioneers in the,you know, polygamous ancestry.
Okay, maybe not.
Not me.
I'm out of that loop.
Well, I don't know.
Your accent kind
of gives it away, Blane.
I'm with the Inbredsback in Tennessee now.
Nothing you say, Blane.
Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
So tell us about the name andyour family, because they are,
(02:07):
people know that name here.
So, Rentmeister.
Rentmeister name that you guysare familiar with, it's my
grandparents, it's their brothersand sisters up north a little bit.
Um, but I have a giganticfamily here within Utah.
So, Rentmeisters, we're allfrom here locally in Riverton.
My grandparents actually, last week, justcelebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
(02:29):
What?
Wow.
70 years.
It was crazy to see that
people married 90 this year.
I
mean, I can't believe people live that
long,
much less are married to the same person.
Yeah.
Like, it's crazy when Ihear those kinds of stories.
We've met some people like that atone of the markets or something, but
that's, those stories are incredible.
So charming.
Your mom was
in this business too, right?
(02:50):
Yeah, so my mom, uh, Donnahas owned a insurance agency
for going on 22 years now.
So I've been, I tell people that I'vebeen working in insurance now for about
eight years, but that's voluntarily.
Oh, voluntarily.
Because back in the day That's when
you
were five.
Insurance, uh, policies back in the daywere on pieces of paper, so literally
people would come in and you'd write downtheir coverage and we'd file them, so
(03:12):
from a kid I was always her filing cabinet
for her, her whole officewas lined with that.
So it's in the blood.
Yeah.
So even with that lastname, it's still Just a
generational
line.
He's
still there.
He's for sure second generationinto this, it sounds like.
Yes.
Yup, and it's kind of growingmore into a family business
in one way, shape, or form.
My mom does it, her brother nowdoes it, my brother's getting
(03:34):
involved into insurance now.
Do you have
your daughter being your filer now?
She is, she is.
If I ever have problem clients onthe phone or anything like that,
I put her on the phone and it justimmediately de escalates the situation.
Oh, I bet.
So, you know, like you, he'slike, here, you can talk to Blane.
Oh,
you know I don't flop thatmany, more than twice a day.
Not more than twice a day.
At least twice a day.
(03:55):
That's all.
No more.
No less.
No,
she's my little sidekick.
She's with me everywhere.
I've taken her to clientmeetings every once in a while.
She's the face for me.
She's darling.
I've had the opportunity and pleasureof meeting her and she is so smart.
I'm sure she'll be third generationeasily take this over and.
We'll see.
Yeah.
She's, she changes about everyother day what she wants to do.
(04:16):
So we'll, we'll see.
Nothing
wrong
with that either.
Yeah.
There's nothing wrong with that either.
And she's involved in a lot of things too.
She's already doing a lot ofthings and just her whole mindset.
How old is she?
She's 8 now.
Oh my word.
8 going on 16.
Truly.
Yeah.
It's an age where they're trying tofind her identity and her personality
changes on a day to day basis ofwhat she's feeling in the day.
(04:38):
Some days are excitingand some days are, I, hi.
I'm
excited.
I know you're.
That's me.
I know your daughter is a big partof your why with why you do what
you do and the story behind that.
But, but tell us more about, firstoff, your actual business name, what
you're doing, how you got startedand kind of the why behind it all.
(04:59):
Yeah.
So, uh, I work for a companycalled Grit Insurance.
We do commercial businessinsurance, um, anything from
liability insurance to properties.
Uh, your autos and your workerscompensation, protecting your
employees while they're out onbusiness sites and job sites.
Um, the biggest things withbusinesses is, you know, people
say all the time, well, I'm fine.
I'm, I'm careful.
(05:20):
I don't do anything wrong.
Nothing's going to happen to me.
And for businesses, it's really nota matter of if something's ever going
to happen, but really a matter ofwhen, and you invest so much time and
energy, you know, people always saythat while you have a job, you work
and get paid and you're good to go.
You clock out.
And once you own a business, youput in twice as many hours for
(05:40):
half as much pay, and it runs yourentire life, as you guys know.
100 percent yeah.
So when something does end up happeninginevitably for somebody's business, um,
on our side of it, we've unfortunately hadthe displeasure of seeing that accidents
can take down an entire company, anentire life's work, um, before your eyes.
(06:01):
So for us, we really liketo go in and find out.
People's why of their business and whatreally is most important to them and
making sure that we protect that for them.
I mean, companies don't have thatlittle countdown on the, on the side
of the wall, days since last accident.
Yeah,
last accident.
They don't have
that because it's not goingto get used, literally.
There's, there's not a, it's notan if, it's when, like you said.
(06:25):
You, so you had insurancein your blood, basically.
Yep.
You left, you went and did the military.
Is
that right?
Yeah, I was in the militaryfor just about six years.
And I did the United States Air Force.
Nice.
Active duty.
It was fun.
When I graduated high school,I was not the person that
college was my screaming desire.
(06:46):
Um, So I really didn't have an ideaof what I wanted to do and as soon
as I graduated high school, uh, Istarted looking at pilot lessons.
I really wanted to fly since I was akid, I really wanted to fly airplanes.
Don't
we all?
Yeah.
It's deep down somewhere, likewe all want to, like we want to
be able to lift off the ground.
Do we?
Look . What?
(07:07):
You don't some more than others.
I'd like to stay lifted.
Take that how you want.
You know, I was a flightattendant, so I don't know.
Maybe that's, maybe that's, youget a little different side, right?
Do I need to fly the plane orjust get the drinks in the back?
I know.
So you, I, so you went anddid the airport station.
Tell us a little more about that.
So I graduated high school and I wanted tofly and I so happened to meet a recruiter.
(07:29):
He was great, um, but sometimesthey'll tell you anything and
everything that you want to hear.
Yeah.
And I told him I wanted to fly, andhe said, All right, you know, join
the Air Force, go in as this, andyou'll, you'll be flying in no time.
Well, six years later, I never.
Never could.
Never did.
Um, instead, I was a mechanic on, Idid body work on airplanes and stuff.
I had a
buddy.
Same thing.
Really?
(07:49):
Yeah.
Same thing.
He didn't want, he wantedto fly, did the same thing.
I went to high school with him.
Old Tidylocks.
If you're watching after OldTidylocks, this is his name now.
He's a stand up comedian now.
He's retired from the Air Force.
I'm sure he has a lot gota lot to say about it.
But yeah, man, same, same boat.
It was fun.
You know, I, I got to travel a lot.
I got to see a lot of the world.
Um, I did my basictraining in San Antonio.
(08:11):
Nice.
Um, in August.
And if you've ever been toTexas, it is literally hell.
I'm from Tennessee, and it's not faroff with the humidity and all that.
Oh my gosh.
It was fun,
you know, and it was a culture shock.
Living in Utah and growing up here, uh,it's a very sheltered community here.
We don't have High crime.
(08:32):
We don't have a lot of, of bad areas.
And so you go down there and youmeet people from all over the country
living with 60 people in barracks.
Oh
yeah.
You get
real comfortable, real fast.
Um, it was a great experience though.
Doing basic training.
I did my technical schoolin Pensacola beach, Florida.
So I went from hot to beach hot.
Got to live
(08:52):
right on the coast.
We were on a Navy base and my, my frontdoor of the dorm rooms was the beach.
Wow.
It was amazing.
I did six months almost down there.
Um, and moved from there.
I got my first duty stationin Spokane, Washington.
Man, you were all over, weren't you?
(09:13):
We were on the veryEast side of Washington.
So right on the border of Idahoand I don't know if you've ever
heard of like Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Yeah.
Big like we're about fourto five minutes from there.
Oh
nice.
So you're like by a nice luxury place too.
You ever been to Coeur
d'Alene?
I don't know.
All right.
Well, guess not.
I'm on a road trip.
Take it
a road trip.
(09:34):
We could do a live show up here.
Road trip.
If they got internetover there, you think?
That'll be fine.
There is internet.
It does work.
Cell service, hit and miss.
But internet is my thing.
This
time of year, super cold.
FYI.
Oh, okay.
Well, I'm
already layered up onthe couch inside, so.
Oh, I know.
I'm not gonna be able to handle that.
It's a little chilly outside right now.
So you left, you left,
(09:54):
You
get out of
the Air Force.
Yeah, got out of theAir Force and came home.
Uh, and what they don't tell you whenyou're in the military is when you get
out, you get about a five day crash courseon what life is actually like outside
of the military, on how to fill out yourresume, and they give you a plane ticket
and say, we'll see you a little bit later.
So I got back home and I, again, hadno idea, but I went back to school.
(10:15):
Uh, started college, uh,at the University of Utah.
and started doing finance,I started doing accounting.
And I love numbers, I love math,and numbers make sense to me.
It's something that I really do enjoybecause I spent so much time in the
military really calculated a lot,a lot of math in fixing aircraft.
Um, so I did that for a littlebit, and I asked my mom, uh,
(10:39):
how she liked doing insurance.
And she said, you know, it's really hard,it's a, it's a grind, but she loved it.
And getting to see that side of it.
So, I started taking, uh, my courses toget my license, and then I got my license,
and I asked her for a job, and I said,hey, I'd love to come and work for you.
No.
Of course.
She said, she said
no right off the bat and I was Where is
my child?
She needs to be here inthis interview right now.
(11:00):
I was
taken back.
I was like, I, I put inthe work, I got my license.
She said, I just, I think you needto go get some experience elsewhere.
And I think that it'd be goodfor you to learn somewhere else.
So
Good for
her.
Yes.
At the time, I wasreally, I was taken back.
I was upset.
I was like, I'm your baby though.
I, Yeah,
I am entitled to this.
That's right.
Where's my child?
She needs to hear this.
(11:21):
Deep down, that washard for her somewhere.
I'm sure.
Yeah.
True.
So, I started at an independent insuranceagency, um, over in Taylorsville and I
learned the ropes of commercial insuranceand kind of got my feet on the ground
and about after a year and a half, shesaid, all right, you've been doing it.
How do you like it?
I said, I love it actually.
Yeah.
I really do enjoy this business.
Good.
(11:41):
And she said, So she hired meto, to come on and take over her
commercial department, um, withAmerican family insurance and, uh,
ran that for about six years with her.
Uh, we went through COVID and we wentfrom five of us in the office down
to me and my mom running a business.
And it was trying.
(12:02):
Uh, they say working with family canbe fun until it isn't, but it brought
us really close together becausewe, we had to figure out how to
keep a business alive during COVID.
Um, and we shut up to the officeevery day and we grinded every
day and made it through it and ourbusiness actually grew from it.
(12:23):
And as we continue togrow in American families.
Changes and policies and stuff withthe commercial world and insurance was
getting a little bit harder because Ilove doing insurance for contractors.
Blue collar work, because it bringsme back to being in the military.
I get to get out on job siteswith people and see what
they're doing on a daily basis.
You know, I get to havethose interactions again.
(12:44):
That kind of reminds meof our roots a little bit.
So, uh, I made the decision, uh, aboutsix months ago to make change back
to the independent insurance worldand go back to commercial insurance.
And so, Uh, I got a job offer fromgreat insurance with Kirk, uh, over
there and Justin, they're great guys.
I've been networking with them forabout two years and as soon as they
(13:05):
found out that I was looking to leaveAmerican family, he said, you have to
come aboard, come with us and come letus show you kind of what we're doing.
Um, I sat down with them for oneinterview and probably within 15 minutes,
we stopped talking about businessand started talking about everything
else in the world and I thoughtthis is kind of where I need to be.
A good fit.
Yeah.
When you,
when you feel thatalignment, you kind of know.
(13:25):
The energy is there and allthe concepts in the same room.
I guess.
Yeah, that's a great.
What is grit?
There's an acronym.
What is that?
What is GRT?
So not so much as an acronym acronymto it But kind of like I mentioned
earlier, you know insurance is a grindIt is something that it takes a lot
of work and it's not Really when youthink of jobs, it is not something
(13:46):
that you go to career day and the kidsare like, you know what I want to do?
I want to do insurance.
This is my path in life, you know So itreally is something that it takes a lot
of work a lot of grit to get through itand to do it and so Our philosophy at
Grit is to really grind for our clients.
We don't look at ourselves as insuranceagents per se We, we're advisors.
(14:10):
We're team members and you know, weput a lot of integrity into our work.
We're, we may not be the peoplethat are going to just price shop
what you have currently and justgive you, here's a price tag.
Uh, we deep dive into businesses and welook exactly as, uh, where are you at now?
Where have you been?
And what's your next five years look like?
(14:31):
What does your business want todo and where do you want to be?
And we find what people's passions are.
And the way they want to growtheir business and then we
tailor that to them specifically.
So, we really try to put that gritinto other people's, uh, businesses.
So, so that's kind of what grit is andthat's what, uh, Kirk kind of started
it, uh, with and him and Justin have ranan amazing company out there doing it.
(14:52):
Um, they are something that Iget to learn from every day.
I get to bring a little bit of myown personality to it as well and
kind of help them along the way.
Um, and so it's a lot of fun.
We push each other a whole lot andwe have another office, not just
here in, uh, Salt Lake area, butwe have one in Chalice, Idaho.
Don't ask me where it's at per se,cause if you blink, you might miss
(15:15):
it.
Yeah, they're still the onesthat have their high school
graduations on the football field.
Oh yeah.
You know, people in the stands.
About a hundred kids total.
Yeah.
Four way stop.
They
got a four way stop and that's it.
That's cool.
It's kind of where you grew up.
It is, exactly.
Yeah.
But not in Idaho.
No.
Yeah.
A little further east.
Not No.
But, uh, it's, it's great.
(15:36):
We love it.
Our chalice office runs a lot ofour personal insurance lines and
then Salt Lake here we got a.
A lot of the commercial side of things.
So you dove
in a little bit to who your idealclient is, but you know, the listeners
out there, they're like, I don't know.
I don't know if this is for me, Easton.
Like, if you're talking to yourideal client, like who is that
that needs to talk to you and why?
(15:58):
For us, I mean, we will talk withanybody that owns a business.
Of course, first and foremost is yeah.
If you are looking to start yourown business or grow it, um, it is a
great opportunity to be able to sitdown with an insurance agent because
it's not something that, you know,people think of right off the bat.
It's kind of a reactionary thingto start a business and they
say, okay, you know, I have
(16:19):
X, Y,
and Z set up.
I'm ready to go.
Oh yeah.
I need insurance.
And they don't know necessarilytoo much of what that involves.
Um, But contractors tend to kindof be our, our bread and butter.
Uh, those blue collared workers,because you have contractors, excavation
companies is a really big one that
we work with.
Okay.
Um, and if you're out running a piece ofexcavation equipment, you know, your cost
(16:42):
of hire, you know, is a hundred dollarsplus an hour that that person is working.
If you take that job owner away from that,to have to work through their insurance
processes and find out what they need.
That's a hundred plus dollars anhour that they're losing out on
the job site every single day.
Um, so for us, we love to be able to sitdown and create a plan for our clients
(17:02):
to where once a year we can have aconversation with them and on their time
when they need and what works for them.
And they don't have to worry about it.
Any certain number of employees that weshould look at or think about for you?
Uh.
Like as company business owners?
So a
number of employees, I mean from theday that you hire one employee, if it's
a W 2 employer or even if they are acontracted employee but they only work
(17:26):
for you, the state of Utah, and I meanevery other state that, but we're here.
Gotta be careful with
that, yeah.
You know, you have to have workerscompensation insurance on them.
Yeah.
You have to protect those employeesto where if something happens, um.
On the job site that they can be ableto collect that money and, you know, get
paid for their medical bills or, yeah.
(17:46):
Um, a big one is, is that they'relost wages when they're out of work.
You know, workers' comp will helpcover that person's lost wages, so
you don't have to continue paying youremployee for time off or for them to
go on disability or anything like that.
Workers' comp will help cover that form.
So
I'm sure you've justseen like such impact.
People's stories, doing what you do, likepersonal stories, I know you probably
(18:07):
can't dive into details because thoseare often confidential, but the things
that you're talking about, you know,could really be heartbreaking on the
flip side of that if you're not insured.
Um, one story, I mean, I canshare a little bit, is my own
personal, is my grandfather.
He was an iron workerfor many, many years.
(18:27):
Um, like the, uh, Smokestackout there in Tooele.
Yeah.
Um, he helped build that back.
Wow.
A long,
long time ago.
And back in the day.
What are we doing with our lives exactly?
Tell me.
I'm gonna get out of bed today.
But they did not haveregulations back then.
Yeah.
There was no such thing as, you know,tying off and securing with harnesses.
(18:49):
Yeah.
You see the old picturesof people sitting on.
Right.
Like
all of the things that we now have.
You
see the old pictures of metalworkerssitting on beams having lunch, you know.
Yeah,
and that's really the way that it was.
And, uh, he did tragically.
He had an accident and he fell from abuilding, um, that he was working on
(19:10):
and actually fell onto the rebar belowhim that actually impaled through him.
Um, and he still battles it today.
It's still somethingthat he has to deal with.
Surgeries.
Spent a long time in the hospital,um, and thankfully for Workers Comp,
it was something that was able toprovide him for that time off, and his
medical bills, and it's something thatreoccurringly can continue to pay out
(19:33):
for him, um, long, long term until hewas able to return back to work, so.
I swear.
You know.
It's so important.
I gotta go.
Ask a dumb question.
I love asking dumb questions.
No such thing, Blane.
Until now.
I think it would be a good one.
It's for people out there stillthinking, I don't know who that is.
What's a blue collar worker?
Blue collar workers, yeah.
(19:53):
That's a good question.
You know, that is something that not, Iguess, maybe not too many people know.
Yeah.
Maybe like, next generation may not.
They may not, they may not!
And they're gonna be business owners.
Like, there's business owners here whoare coming up who are younger than us.
Yeah.
They may not know whata blue collar worker is.
There's older ones too.
I don't want to get out there andget people saying, Oh no, wait a
minute, he's picking on the ages.
No, no, no, no,
(20:13):
no.
What is a blue collar worker?
A blue collar worker is somebodyyou can tell right off the
bat by looking at their hands.
If
you look at
their hands,
if there are,
if there are stains somewhere on theirhands or their clothes in some way, shape,
or form, most likely they work in blue.
Gotcha.
It's often your trades and youknow, the ones that are out
there working with their hands.
(20:33):
Painters, plumbers, that kind of stuff.
Yeah, absolutely.
Anything from your home buildersand contractors to your, uh, your
HVAC, you know, your heating homeventilation people to electricians.
So anybody that is out doing manual labor.
Um, for a living.
That's, that's blue collar work.
Not working in an officeon a day to day basis.
No, I love it.
I'm
Yeah, no, that's great.
Let's put a definition on it.
(20:54):
It really was a great question.
There it is.
Alright, we're gonna jumpto some of the fun stuff.
Let's get
to it.
Okay.
Find out a little bit more about you,because we want to dive into the details.
So, tell us maybe a fun fact aboutyou or something that not a lot of
people know that's unique to you.
Okay.
All right, let's think here.
So something unique to me is, uh,when I was a kid, uh, you may not be
(21:18):
able to tell now, I mean, but I, uh,was such a nerd when I was a kid.
And I say that as a good thing now.
I love that, that fact aboutme now, but I look back at like
teenage me and I'm like, oh.
Boy, I'm pro nerd all the way, but
I know it's true.
Sometimes I find out things about youthat I'm like, Oh, you really are.
(21:39):
I'll
fight the first person.
He's a proud nerd and youshould be a proud nerd.
I
look at it and I love that factabout me, but when I was a kid,
I wanted to do everything andanything that I could possibly do.
Um, so little known factabout me is I love music.
You and I kind of talked about it alittle bit before we started here.
(22:00):
Um, but when I was in secondgrade, I played the violin,
and I
played all the way through highschool, um, and kind of branched out
to multiple instruments from there.
Um, in high school I did ballroom dancing.
Yeah, I told you, I was really,really popular in high school.
Carrying around a violin caseand, uh, ballroom dancing.
And doing ballroom
(22:20):
dancing.
Afton, get in here and do a couplesteps of ballroom dancing with me.
Where's my child?
Get in here.
It was a lot
of fun, but I wanted to try everything,um, and I played sports as a kid.
Okay.
Growing up, uh, baseball, basketball,football was my life, that's why my name
is Easton, and I thought as a kid thatall sports equipment that my parents
got me, they had personalized for me.
(22:42):
Because it was Easton Becks.
And
not just like as a little kid,like, kids had to tell me, finally,
that that wasn't just mine.
Uh, yeah.
Made me a little bit longerthan I'm proud of, to admit.
I would go to baseball tournamentswith all of my Easton stuff, and
I'm like, I am decked out with allpersonalized equipment here, and then
(23:03):
I'd see somebody else with it, and I'dbe like, That's what I was gonna ask!
What?
His name must be Easton, too.
I would have thought, man,he must be a fan of mine.
That is really
funny.
So, I played sports all growing up.
My brother's name is Peyton,after a football player, Walter
Peyton, from Chicago Bears.
So, my family has bred us for sports.
(23:25):
Um, I got to
high school and Istopped playing baseball.
I just couldn't do it anymore.
I played as a kid traveling allaround, you know, Utah to California,
Colorado to Arizona and I loved it.
Um, so I, when I got to highschool, I thought, you know, what's
a very popular sport, um, thatwill make me even more popular?
(23:47):
So I went to golf.
Oh yeah.
Oh, there you go.
Absolutely.
So I Hey,
there's some scholarships there.
There
are.
I mean, in all sports, but you know.
I took golf in college.
I got credits.
I loved it.
I didn't know that.
I joined the high school golfteam as a freshman and played
through high school and I loved it.
So I kind of wanted to be somebodythat tried anything and everything
(24:09):
that I could get my hands on.
So, uh, right
at home right here with these.
Yes.
I saw these as I walked in and that'ssomething now that I'm older, I'm
like, Oh my gosh, I started this asa kid and now it's part of my job.
I love it because Ilove to take clientele.
I love to go golfing.
Cause you kind of can take the pressureaway of a business meeting by going.
(24:29):
Out and just relaxing, having fun.
I just had a thought.
I think we, for BNI, 'causewe're all members of Daybreak
Business Community B Nni.
Yes.
We'll talk a little more details intothat and how that's maybe evolved
and, and helped you in your career.
But I think we might needto do an event at Top Golf.
Good.
I think that would be a great,wouldn't that be a blast?
Yes.
(24:49):
I think that'd be a blast.
I
think we should.
Okay, so on that topic,let's, let's jump into B& I.
So tell us a little bit about B& Ifor those who don't know what it is.
We've got the, we are allmembers of the Daybreak Business
Community, as we mentioned.
What is B& I for you and whathas it done for your business?
Yeah,
so B& I is something, uh,for business networking.
And the great thing that I loveabout it is It brings community of
(25:13):
people together that are involved inbusinesses or own their own businesses,
um, to build a network and findreferral partners back and forth.
And the great thing that I love aboutit is, uh, we meet every week and
there is only one person per industrythat, that you can bring into it.
So, um, I have a friend of minewho owns a handyman business and
it's called, uh, I got a guy.
(25:35):
Oh, I love it.
I love it.
So.
So he's got a guy for everything.
And so I think of B and I in that samesort of sense, you know, a guy or girl,
you know, in that sense that if somebody,one of my clients, a family, a friend,
somebody needs something, I got somebody.
Yeah.
It's so true.
And so it really does bring togethernot just business opportunities, but
(25:58):
a community of people to be able to.
Grow their businesses togetherto challenge each other to
hold each other accountable tohave accountability partners.
For me, I think is a great one.
We're able to find out, you know, whatit is that you need in your business.
And then if, if somebody gives you areferral, hold yourself accountable to
it and also have other partners withinyour business and your network to hold
(26:21):
you accountable and follow through.
So, um, for me, that hasbeen the big thing for B& I.
And so we meet every single week andwe Continue to grow our businesses
together and I, I love that.
I got involved in BNI in 2017 when Ifirst started in insurance and I love it.
I've never stepped away from it.
Uh, I grew to be able to havethe opportunity to work with BNI.
(26:46):
I've worked with Cameron Thorne.
Owner here for the Northern Utah area.
And, uh, I started helping launchchapters, uh, during COVID.
We saw an influx in members in B& Ibecause people were stuck at home.
Yeah.
They were starving forbusiness and needing that.
And B& I brought a culture tobe able to bring people together
(27:06):
to continue growing those.
So I'd help people start froma core group like we did where
we just start our meetings.
We're not officially big enough of ameeting to be a chapter and I would help
run their meetings every single weekuntil they got to that 17, 18 mark and
be able to launch them on their way.
So
it
showed me a little bit different sideof BNI of the growth opportunity.
(27:27):
I was
going to say, you're notafraid of growth at all.
You're like, let's take this on.
And that's,
that's, That meeting inspecific, the one we're talking
about, is every Wednesday 9 a.
m.
at the DCC.
If you're not familiar with theDCC, Daybreak Community Center.
Upstairs, I think we're aboutto take over both rooms.
We are.
We have grown so much in our lastThree months since we initially
(27:50):
started meeting that I think we'regoing to need the larger room.
Two rooms actually.
I can't wait
for this.
Yeah.
It's crazy to me to see the amountof growth that we've really had.
And it's not just growth of puttingpeople in a seat, it's the value
of people that we have there.
You know, as long as I've beena BNI member, you know, every
chapter has its own culture to it.
(28:11):
Because it has its own peoplewithin it, you got to bring
your own personality to it.
Uh, this chapter has lit a fire, Ithink, under me that has been something
that maybe in the past, you know, alittle bit has been kind of dormant.
It's something that is like resparking again, um, passion to
continue growing, not just my business,but really anybody that's there.
(28:33):
I love it.
When we started meeting, when I startedcoming to your guys meetings in the
end of November, I think it was rightbefore Thanksgiving, I think we were like
10, 11 people on a weekly basis and Ithink last week we had almost 30 people
there and
all of those are putting in applicationsand coming on a weekly basis and
they're seeing the value from themoment they step through the door.
(28:54):
I'm very excited.
I'm very
excited.
Ever fill out theapplication in front of me.
I we will get to her.
Yeah.
We, we've been after
her for a minute, so, no,I, I love what I'm talking
about.
That's awesome though, because I do
the same thing I do.
I do.
I will be out driving on the road and asyour insurance person, don't do what I do.
don't, don't listen to me.
Okay.
But I really will.
I will take pictures of trucksand vehicles going by because
(29:16):
I'll do it for my own business.
If I see people's contracting truckson the side, I'll take a picture.
So if you've gotten phonecalls from me, this is.
This is, but I started doing it forB& I and we were talking with, uh,
Mark last week about it and he said,you know, getting people to the
meeting, you know, how do I do that?
And how do I invite people?
And I said, just have a conversationwith anybody and everybody that you see.
(29:39):
There you
go.
You know what?
We're going to end.
This part to this segmentand that's your B& I tip.
Yeah, literally that's a B&I tip right there a huge tip
Literally just have a conversation.
Yeah, like I'll take
pictures of people's vehicles as Ias I drive by them I mean, I'll call
them long, you know stopped at a redlight not moving with my seat And
when you say take picturesof people's vehicles, you're
(30:00):
talking about business like rats.
Yeah, he's not talking aboutjust No, no, not your own
personal, not your own personal vehicle.
Yeah.
There
you go, Justin.
Yeah, I gotta specify on that one.
I'm not gonna go pick up lines.
Well, hold on now.
License plate.
I wanted to make sure we,we clicked that up because.
Because
in
your world, that could be the case.
Oh, yeah.
(30:20):
Yeah, that's for sure.
I got to hit one more thing here.
I got to dig a little deeper.
The music thing.
I know you got some moresuccess in the music.
Where are you going with the music?
Where have you been
recently with the music?
Yeah, so I, again, music hasalways kind of been my passion.
When I was It was, what really sparkedit for me was when I was in high school
(30:41):
playing in the orchestra and stuff.
We went, every year we'dgo on what's called a tour.
So we'd pick a new place, whetherit was out of state or in state.
Um, we would go for a week and we woulddo either lessons or we'd go to like
a competition or things like that.
And my junior year of high school,our, uh, Teach our orchestra leader.
(31:02):
She had the amazingidea to go to Manhattan.
Yeah, and to go to New York It was was
that
all of us did not want to get ourhopes up because what parent at 16
17 years old is like You know what?
I'm gonna do I'm gonna send 40 kids.
Yeah to New York With limitedamounts of supervision and we'll
see you in a week, you know, um, but
(31:23):
it
was great.
We went there.
Um, we took a red eye flight from SaltLake straight to New York and woke up that
morning and we went to family opera and.
All of us are trying as hard as wecan to keep our eyes open, but we're
also mesmerized by what's going on.
Um, so I got the opportunity todo that and that was amazing.
(31:46):
And then the very next day we got togo to Juilliard and we got to have a
private lesson with somebody that hadbeen there since he was 13 years old.
Wow.
And he was a cello player.
It was a life changing thing tosee somebody that has devoted their
entire life to music, and to seethe abilities of what people can do.
(32:07):
Um, so we did that, and wewent to a couple other shows.
We went to Mary Poppins while we wereout there, and we went to Wicked.
Oh, really?
It was It was amazing.
Um, so when we got back, I, I really saidmusic is kind of something that I love.
Yeah.
It's my passion.
So, um, when I got back here fromthe military, I picked back up
again and started playing guitar alittle bit and then started playing
(32:29):
and singing every once in a while.
And then I had a buddy that was doing,uh, Live music on Friday nights down
at, uh, Guadalajunquis down in Draper.
They have a bar section nextto it called Donkey Tales.
Oh, this sounds like fun to play.
We gotta get you there.
Oh, it's so fun.
So, when I got back,he was like, come out.
(32:51):
Try playing in front of people.
And so I was a nervous, nervous wreck.
Wow.
So this is
new for you.
Going from watching yourself in the mirrorin the bedroom playing a guitar Bye!
Singing whatever is a lot differentthan going in front of an audience.
So go from there So I started doingthat and he said come on back.
Yeah Friday.
(33:11):
Come on back.
So when I take breaks He said you can justjump in and play and sing for everybody
and then that evolved into me gettingLocal gigs around the valley and then I
actually got the opportunity when I livedin Daybreak here a few years ago to play
at the Daybreak music yeah, I'm here.
Um, I got to open up for Chance McKinneyout there and country singer than that
(33:32):
So it was so much fun to do that Um,that I continued kind of pursuing it
and then I got the opportunity justout of wild hair that they were having
auditions for The Voice down in Vegas.
There you go.
And I was like, you know, it'd just be funto just go be around like minded people
like that and just see what happens.
I mean, there are thousands of peoplethat show up to these things and wait
(33:53):
in line for hours and hours and hoursand then they bring you into a room and
you're with their, um, About 8 or 10 otherpeople and they say you got 30 seconds,
no music, no nothing, sing me a song.
And so you do it and then theygo down the line and say yes, no,
no, yes, yes, you stay in here.
And so when I went in there I got it, Igot a yes from the first one and then you
(34:14):
come back the next day but you can havemusic so you either have a back track or
you can play your instrument or something.
And you sing again.
And so I went and did that and Isaid, okay, we'll let you know.
And I thought that was kindof the end of the line.
I said, you know, that was fun.
I've got an opportunity to go do this.
I got to spend a weekend in Vegas andhang out with new people and musicians.
Um, and so I came home and a monthwent by and I didn't hear anything.
(34:37):
And I just thought thatwas kind of the end of it.
And then I got an email.
Uh, about a month and a half later, um,saying, Hey, we want you to come out to
LA and continue the audition process.
What?
What?
Um,
so I flew out to LA and went and didan audition out there again, and they
have you pick two songs, do the auditionagain, and then they do the same thing.
So I came back home again, kind ofdidn't really hear anything again.
(35:00):
A couple of weeks later, I getan email again, Hey, we're going
to fly you back out to LA again,and do some interviews and yo
of emotion, man.
Because I really kept thinkingevery step of the way.
I was like, okay, you know, this is it.
It's really not going to turn intoanything, but it's an experience.
So I came back home and went backto LA again and they do interviews.
(35:21):
Uh, they sit you down and kind of coachyou how to answer interview questions and
have a conversation because they put amicrophone in front of you for singing.
And that's one thing I can do that.
But then they start asking you questions.
I'm like, I freeze.
I don't know what to say.
This
is scary.
I don't want to talkabout me the whole time.
Um, so they, they give you somecoaching and some opportunity
to learn how to do interviews.
(35:43):
So I did that.
Um, and spent about a week out inLA doing interviews, doing music
auditions and things like that.
And they cut it down to about75 people at that point in time.
So they've gone from nationwide auditionsdown to 75 people Um, and then you have
one last day of auditions where theyactually take you and you can do, um,
(36:04):
auditions on stage and things like that.
Um, and they get ready for filmingand they get ready for the chair
turn auditions and then theycut it down to about 40 people.
That's what makes the live recordingsfor the show where they actually
see the judges come in and all that.
And so when they did the final cutdowns to 40, uh, that's where my
opportunity ended there for it.
And it was a great experience though,because I, for someone just starting
(36:27):
that, I was like one week, I was like,you know what, I'm just going to try
it.
And you went that far?
And then I ended up going that far.
So at least top 75, youcould say, I guess, right?
Yeah, for that
year.
You going to do this again?
Yeah.
So I'm going to try again, uh,this next week here, actually.
Woo!
So we're just going to see how it happens.
And again, I'm kind of goingin with the same thing.
Okay, we're
(36:47):
going to be watching onhow we're going to see it
for Easton, right?
Yes, yes.
It'll be a lot of fun.
It's just an experience, you know,of putting yourself out there
because I think so much of us nowwe get stuck behind our keyboards
or internet
and TV and whatnot that Uh,sometimes people get a little shy
to step out of their comfort zone.
You know what I really
(37:08):
love about this and it's kind of wherethis interview started is what you're
showing your daughter, you know,with what she's pursuing and just the
example that you're showing her andyou know, get after it and go pursue
your dreams and you're successful inwhat you're doing with your career.
But you're like, thatdoesn't mean I'm done.
Right?
So
does it define you?
That's it.
(37:28):
I'm at with your, with your daughter.
Yeah.
And I do love that.
I mean, I, I'm a.
Single dad to my 8 yearold daughter and I love it.
You know, uh, since I was a kid, being adad has been something that I've always
kind of wanted to be and wanted to do.
You know, and even with me, youknow, I am divorced now for about
two and a half years, but me andmy ex wife, we're, we're great.
(37:50):
Honestly, probably best friends.
She's one of my closest people thatwe've been able to show that since things
didn't work out with us, though, we'restill a family in some sort of way.
Because
we're setting that example for her,um, and I have her a majority of
the time just with work schedules,if it works out really good.
So that's kind of a big drive forme is that trying to kind of show
my daughter that, you know, evendoing things on your own, that you
(38:13):
can step outside and you can chaseyour dreams and chase your ambitions.
Um, work is one thingthat it's gonna come.
You're gonna have to do it.
You're gonna have to make a livingsome way, but find your passions
and, and then it's not work.
Yeah.
And then it's not work.
That's so awesome.
I love that example that you're setting.
I wanted to throw that in therebecause I do know your daughter and,
you know, that unique situation.
(38:34):
My ex husband and I,we've talked about this.
They're very similar, right?
Very similar situation with, withthe way that we raised our kids.
And I think it shows a lot.
I know not everybody.
I'm going to get some flack herebecause not everybody can, you know,
have those kinds of relationships,but when you can, it really is nice.
It does, it works.
I'm
very fortunate to have a partnerin this of, you know, parenthood
(38:56):
because in one way or shapeor form, we're still partners.
We're still, you know, beingtogether in a way to raise kids.
Somebody a mold, a mindinto, to being something.
And you know, like Christmas, thislast Christmas here, uh, her mom came
over for Christmas and we still dofamily breakfast for Christmas morning.
You know, she's got herrelationship now and he's great.
You know, that's kind of theonly thing that we ask is that.
(39:18):
Find somebody that, you know, lovesour daughter and takes care of her.
And it was, it was reallygood experience to go through.
Me and my ex wife came up with when wefirst started getting back into the dating
world, or if we started that again, thatwe had the respect of we'll introduce.
Our partner to the other parent Yes.
Before bringing our daughterinto the picture for him.
(39:38):
Yeah.
So I met her boyfriend, um, prettyearly on and And he's great.
Yeah.
Honestly, so nice.
That works.
He's great.
They're happy.
Happy.
So great.
And so they, we come over forChristmas breakfast, we hang out,
we have a good time, and then wekind of go our own ways and its.
It's great.
I love it.
Yeah, it's amazing.
But not all people arefortunate in that way.
So I know, I know I'm very lucky andvery fortunate in that way to have that
(40:01):
opportunity.
We can't wait to see, dude.
Insurance stuff.
I can't wait to see the voice.
I really can't wait to see where yourbusiness goes because I do see nothing
but big things here with the DBC.
Can't wait to, I really can't waitto see what happens with the voice.
Oh, thank you.
You gotta have, you're gonnastill have the business if
you go in the voice, right?
Like you got it.
(40:21):
Insurance is still a passion of
mine.
I still
love
to
do it.
So it's not work?
Once again.
He loves his numbers andhe loves helping people.
If you end up on the voice andgoing famous and all that, maybe
your daughter at Eight, nineyears old takes over the business.
She could probably handle it, right?
I
actually just thought about this for B& I.
I'm going to be out of town.
(40:42):
I'm headed off to Hawaiifor some warmer weather.
I'm going to need a sub.
There you go.
I'm wondering if Easton could justlike stand up and Sub for me in the
sense that he has to sing everything.
Oh no.
I feel like
I
will tell you, I will sit in frontof a big large group of people.
I'd rather sing in front of athousand people than like four
(41:03):
people, especially people I know.
I really, Oh, it's because you know them.
They don't know me.
I may never see them again.
It's kind of a big crowd of people.
So when
we show up to Guadalajonkey's,like, you're gonna be like,
Oh, I'm heading in now.
At that point in time, I'm okay.
You
said every Friday night, right?
(41:24):
Because we're gonna be there.
Sun's
going
down now.
It's about time to head over now.
We've
got a show tonight.
We'll head over there.
It's a lot of fun, but I still do,I get nervous in front of people.
My family, every year for our Christmasparty, we do a little talent show.
Yeah.
My grandparents, we were talkingearlier, my grandma had six kids
and She has about 22 grandkids.
(41:48):
And
there's only about 3 of usnow that aren't married.
Um, out of that.
And then she has about 26 great grandkids.
Wow.
So when we get together forfamily holidays like that.
It's a big party.
We have a lot of people there for it.
And I'm still in front of them.
No, I'm like, I don't want to do it.
Yeah.
Don't make
me do that.
I still get nervous about it every time.
I guess he just needs more practice.
(42:10):
That's what I heard.
Yes,
I could probably use her a lot more.
So B& I, we heard it here,he'll be performing every week.
Every week now.
Meeting every week at B& I, which is 9 a.
m.
9 a.
m.
on Wednesdays.
Wednesdays 9 a.
m.
at the DCC Daybreak Community Center.
Come and join us.
I mean,
(42:30):
this is your invite.
This is your invite.
We are inviting whoever'swatching right now.
Come out there.
We are a I mean, I'm braggingon us, but we're a great group.
Like we're, that's it.
It really is.
I think it's okay to brag on it.
I'll tell you what.
We're a lot of fun.
I know it's a great group when I'mnot doing this while I'm sitting
there and the time hits and it'sover and I'm like, Yeah, I wish,
(42:52):
wish we had a little more time.
Like,
yeah,
that's what I feel like becauseit's not It doesn't feel like work.
Once again, we're notworking when we're there.
No, we're doing what we'realready passionate about.
So
better ourselves.
And we're not biased by anything.
Do you know how every, every parentsays like, my kid is talented.
They're beautiful.
They're great.
We have a little bit of bias forour children because being, I
(43:14):
really is, it is a family thing.
We are a family and people together.
Really though, we are those beautifulones that really brag about it.
We kind of, we kind of are.
The community of people is so much fun.
And a big thing to add to that is,to let people know, is you don't
have to live in Daybreak to come.
True.
Thank you.
(43:35):
Yes,
we get
that
question.
We do.
I mean, this is the president, andI'm a membership committee, so it's
It's up to us to who we're, visitorhosts, like, like we're not just
letting anybody and everybody in andyou don't have to live in Daybreak.
Because people who live outside ofDaybreak still service Daybreak,
(43:55):
so I love, thank you for this.
Yeah, I really love that you said that.
And here's the thing about this,I mean we can go on all night, I
don't know how much more There isa lot of talent in Utah, right?
And, and yes, of course I'm going to bebiased towards our state too, because
I'm Utah, I'm born and raised, right?
But, there's a lot of talent and alot of entrepreneurial spirit here.
(44:19):
Um, a lot of tech, a lot of marketing,like just very highly educated people.
And they're Again, just the pool ofpeople that we have that are coming
into this group are just incredible.
So I will say that.
You guys need to come and visitus Wednesday, B& I, Daybreak
Business Community, B& I atthe DCC, Wednesday at the DCC.
(44:43):
9 a.
m.
See you there.
We'll see you there.
Easton.
It's always so great to see you and thankyou again for being on the show Yeah,
thank you guys for having me.
This is great.
I love this I've never done a podcastor sat in front of things like this
This is another thing that I can add totrying and venturing out to new things
He'll have to get him his own soon.
(45:04):
He'll have to have his own podcast.
Yeah, we're
just at the first of the yearand you're like already crossing
off like brand new things.
This is huge.
Absolutely.
I'm one of those people.
I have vision boards, so.
There you go.
Podcast check.
There you go.
It's
done.
We're done.
You got wrestling on
there?
Yeah.
Alright.
Here we are.
It's Radio Daybreak.
The B& I Business of the Week.
Innovators of Daybreak.
What other titles wewant to throw in there?
Oh my gosh.
I don't
know.
I mean, I guess.
That's it.
Yeah.
That's it.
That's it.
But look, today.
Season two, right?
Season two of Radio Daybreak.
Here we are.
We wanted to be more of a faceand a voice of the community
and innovators of Daybreak.
(00:22):
The who's who, who's doing what,super cool things going on.
We got the
who's who.
We got the who's who.
We got the who's who.
That's why you're here.
That is why I'm here.
We got Easton Rentmeister.
I like to say, like, I like to givean introduction like a wrestling act.
With the last name of Rentmeister,you've got to be like the
property management person.
Rental.
I get that
all the time.
People ask me all the time.
(00:43):
You have to be in property.
Yeah.
I miss my calling apparently.
Yeah man.
Well I mean you're kind of in propertyright with what you do ish, ish.
A little bit.
Business I guess.
Yeah.
Taking care of propertiesone way or another but.
There you go.
Buying an apartment complex atthe Wreckmeister Inn or something
should have been my calling.
Maybe he can
lend
(01:03):
his name to the
seat that has that in the B& I chapter.
Maybe you can trade names.
We need somebody with what lastname to fit your business in here?
Oh, a last
name to fit for insurance,uh, I don't know.
I feel like it's more of like a taglinename, like The Protector or like, like
a superhero name or something.
There you go.
Now, now you're talking like,well, you brought wrestling up.
(01:25):
So I was like, you'vegot to have something.
Oh man.
That's something you'll know about me.
I'm a huge wrestling fan.
You know
his, his family name, Rentmeister,you know, they're a big
company here in Utah, right?
Did you know that?
I
did know this.
Yeah.
I
mean, you do have roots.
There is.
The Rentmeister name, we're all related.
I mean, within Utah, I feellike most all of us are related.
(01:47):
We're all the pioneers in the,you know, polygamous ancestry.
Okay, maybe not.
Not me.
I'm out of that loop.
Well, I don't know.
Your accent kind
of gives it away, Blane.
I'm with the Inbredsback in Tennessee now.
Nothing you say, Blane.
Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
So tell us about the name andyour family, because they are,
(02:07):
people know that name here.
So, Rentmeister.
Rentmeister name that you guysare familiar with, it's my
grandparents, it's their brothersand sisters up north a little bit.
Um, but I have a giganticfamily here within Utah.
So, Rentmeisters, we're allfrom here locally in Riverton.
My grandparents actually, last week, justcelebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
(02:29):
What?
Wow.
70 years.
It was crazy to see that
people married 90 this year.
I
mean, I can't believe people live that
long,
much less are married to the same person.
Yeah.
Like, it's crazy when Ihear those kinds of stories.
We've met some people like that atone of the markets or something, but
that's, those stories are incredible.
So charming.
Your mom was
in this business too, right?
(02:50):
Yeah, so my mom, uh, Donnahas owned a insurance agency
for going on 22 years now.
So I've been, I tell people that I'vebeen working in insurance now for about
eight years, but that's voluntarily.
Oh, voluntarily.
Because back in the day That's when
you
were five.
Insurance, uh, policies back in the daywere on pieces of paper, so literally
people would come in and you'd write downtheir coverage and we'd file them, so
(03:12):
from a kid I was always her filing cabinet
for her, her whole officewas lined with that.
So it's in the blood.
Yeah.
So even with that lastname, it's still Just a
generational
line.
He's
still there.
He's for sure second generationinto this, it sounds like.
Yes.
Yup, and it's kind of growingmore into a family business
in one way, shape, or form.
My mom does it, her brother nowdoes it, my brother's getting
(03:34):
involved into insurance now.
Do you have
your daughter being your filer now?
She is, she is.
If I ever have problem clients onthe phone or anything like that,
I put her on the phone and it justimmediately de escalates the situation.
Oh, I bet.
So, you know, like you, he'slike, here, you can talk to Blane.
Oh,
you know I don't flop thatmany, more than twice a day.
Not more than twice a day.
At least twice a day.
(03:55):
That's all.
No more.
No less.
No,
she's my little sidekick.
She's with me everywhere.
I've taken her to clientmeetings every once in a while.
She's the face for me.
She's darling.
I've had the opportunity and pleasureof meeting her and she is so smart.
I'm sure she'll be third generationeasily take this over and.
We'll see.
Yeah.
She's, she changes about everyother day what she wants to do.
(04:16):
So we'll, we'll see.
Nothing
wrong
with that either.
Yeah.
There's nothing wrong with that either.
And she's involved in a lot of things too.
She's already doing a lot ofthings and just her whole mindset.
How old is she?
She's 8 now.
Oh my word.
8 going on 16.
Truly.
Yeah.
It's an age where they're trying tofind her identity and her personality
changes on a day to day basis ofwhat she's feeling in the day.
(04:38):
Some days are excitingand some days are, I, hi.
I'm
excited.
I know you're.
That's me.
I know your daughter is a big partof your why with why you do what
you do and the story behind that.
But, but tell us more about, firstoff, your actual business name, what
you're doing, how you got startedand kind of the why behind it all.
(04:59):
Yeah.
So, uh, I work for a companycalled Grit Insurance.
We do commercial businessinsurance, um, anything from
liability insurance to properties.
Uh, your autos and your workerscompensation, protecting your
employees while they're out onbusiness sites and job sites.
Um, the biggest things withbusinesses is, you know, people
say all the time, well, I'm fine.
I'm, I'm careful.
(05:20):
I don't do anything wrong.
Nothing's going to happen to me.
And for businesses, it's really nota matter of if something's ever going
to happen, but really a matter ofwhen, and you invest so much time and
energy, you know, people always saythat while you have a job, you work
and get paid and you're good to go.
You clock out.
And once you own a business, youput in twice as many hours for
(05:40):
half as much pay, and it runs yourentire life, as you guys know.
100 percent yeah.
So when something does end up happeninginevitably for somebody's business, um,
on our side of it, we've unfortunately hadthe displeasure of seeing that accidents
can take down an entire company, anentire life's work, um, before your eyes.
(06:01):
So for us, we really liketo go in and find out.
People's why of their business and whatreally is most important to them and
making sure that we protect that for them.
I mean, companies don't have thatlittle countdown on the, on the side
of the wall, days since last accident.
Yeah,
last accident.
They don't have
that because it's not goingto get used, literally.
There's, there's not a, it's notan if, it's when, like you said.
(06:25):
You, so you had insurancein your blood, basically.
Yep.
You left, you went and did the military.
Is
that right?
Yeah, I was in the militaryfor just about six years.
And I did the United States Air Force.
Nice.
Active duty.
It was fun.
When I graduated high school,I was not the person that
college was my screaming desire.
(06:46):
Um, So I really didn't have an ideaof what I wanted to do and as soon
as I graduated high school, uh, Istarted looking at pilot lessons.
I really wanted to fly since I was akid, I really wanted to fly airplanes.
Don't
we all?
Yeah.
It's deep down somewhere, likewe all want to, like we want to
be able to lift off the ground.
Do we?
Look . What?
(07:07):
You don't some more than others.
I'd like to stay lifted.
Take that how you want.
You know, I was a flightattendant, so I don't know.
Maybe that's, maybe that's, youget a little different side, right?
Do I need to fly the plane orjust get the drinks in the back?
I know.
So you, I, so you went anddid the airport station.
Tell us a little more about that.
So I graduated high school and I wanted tofly and I so happened to meet a recruiter.
(07:29):
He was great, um, but sometimesthey'll tell you anything and
everything that you want to hear.
Yeah.
And I told him I wanted to fly, andhe said, All right, you know, join
the Air Force, go in as this, andyou'll, you'll be flying in no time.
Well, six years later, I never.
Never could.
Never did.
Um, instead, I was a mechanic on, Idid body work on airplanes and stuff.
I had a
buddy.
Same thing.
Really?
(07:49):
Yeah.
Same thing.
He didn't want, he wantedto fly, did the same thing.
I went to high school with him.
Old Tidylocks.
If you're watching after OldTidylocks, this is his name now.
He's a stand up comedian now.
He's retired from the Air Force.
I'm sure he has a lot gota lot to say about it.
But yeah, man, same, same boat.
It was fun.
You know, I, I got to travel a lot.
I got to see a lot of the world.
Um, I did my basictraining in San Antonio.
(08:11):
Nice.
Um, in August.
And if you've ever been toTexas, it is literally hell.
I'm from Tennessee, and it's not faroff with the humidity and all that.
Oh my gosh.
It was fun,
you know, and it was a culture shock.
Living in Utah and growing up here, uh,it's a very sheltered community here.
We don't have High crime.
(08:32):
We don't have a lot of, of bad areas.
And so you go down there and youmeet people from all over the country
living with 60 people in barracks.
Oh
yeah.
You get
real comfortable, real fast.
Um, it was a great experience though.
Doing basic training.
I did my technical schoolin Pensacola beach, Florida.
So I went from hot to beach hot.
Got to live
(08:52):
right on the coast.
We were on a Navy base and my, my frontdoor of the dorm rooms was the beach.
Wow.
It was amazing.
I did six months almost down there.
Um, and moved from there.
I got my first duty stationin Spokane, Washington.
Man, you were all over, weren't you?
(09:13):
We were on the veryEast side of Washington.
So right on the border of Idahoand I don't know if you've ever
heard of like Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Yeah.
Big like we're about fourto five minutes from there.
Oh
nice.
So you're like by a nice luxury place too.
You ever been to Coeur
d'Alene?
I don't know.
All right.
Well, guess not.
I'm on a road trip.
Take it
a road trip.
(09:34):
We could do a live show up here.
Road trip.
If they got internetover there, you think?
That'll be fine.
There is internet.
It does work.
Cell service, hit and miss.
But internet is my thing.
This
time of year, super cold.
FYI.
Oh, okay.
Well, I'm
already layered up onthe couch inside, so.
Oh, I know.
I'm not gonna be able to handle that.
It's a little chilly outside right now.
So you left, you left,
(09:54):
You
get out of
the Air Force.
Yeah, got out of theAir Force and came home.
Uh, and what they don't tell you whenyou're in the military is when you get
out, you get about a five day crash courseon what life is actually like outside
of the military, on how to fill out yourresume, and they give you a plane ticket
and say, we'll see you a little bit later.
So I got back home and I, again, hadno idea, but I went back to school.
(10:15):
Uh, started college, uh,at the University of Utah.
and started doing finance,I started doing accounting.
And I love numbers, I love math,and numbers make sense to me.
It's something that I really do enjoybecause I spent so much time in the
military really calculated a lot,a lot of math in fixing aircraft.
Um, so I did that for a littlebit, and I asked my mom, uh,
(10:39):
how she liked doing insurance.
And she said, you know, it's really hard,it's a, it's a grind, but she loved it.
And getting to see that side of it.
So, I started taking, uh, my courses toget my license, and then I got my license,
and I asked her for a job, and I said,hey, I'd love to come and work for you.
No.
Of course.
She said, she said
no right off the bat and I was Where is
my child?
She needs to be here inthis interview right now.
(11:00):
I was
taken back.
I was like, I, I put inthe work, I got my license.
She said, I just, I think you needto go get some experience elsewhere.
And I think that it'd be goodfor you to learn somewhere else.
So
Good for
her.
Yes.
At the time, I wasreally, I was taken back.
I was upset.
I was like, I'm your baby though.
I, Yeah,
I am entitled to this.
That's right.
Where's my child?
She needs to hear this.
(11:21):
Deep down, that washard for her somewhere.
I'm sure.
Yeah.
True.
So, I started at an independent insuranceagency, um, over in Taylorsville and I
learned the ropes of commercial insuranceand kind of got my feet on the ground
and about after a year and a half, shesaid, all right, you've been doing it.
How do you like it?
I said, I love it actually.
Yeah.
I really do enjoy this business.
Good.
(11:41):
And she said, So she hired meto, to come on and take over her
commercial department, um, withAmerican family insurance and, uh,
ran that for about six years with her.
Uh, we went through COVID and we wentfrom five of us in the office down
to me and my mom running a business.
And it was trying.
(12:02):
Uh, they say working with family canbe fun until it isn't, but it brought
us really close together becausewe, we had to figure out how to
keep a business alive during COVID.
Um, and we shut up to the officeevery day and we grinded every
day and made it through it and ourbusiness actually grew from it.
(12:23):
And as we continue togrow in American families.
Changes and policies and stuff withthe commercial world and insurance was
getting a little bit harder because Ilove doing insurance for contractors.
Blue collar work, because it bringsme back to being in the military.
I get to get out on job siteswith people and see what
they're doing on a daily basis.
You know, I get to havethose interactions again.
(12:44):
That kind of reminds meof our roots a little bit.
So, uh, I made the decision, uh, aboutsix months ago to make change back
to the independent insurance worldand go back to commercial insurance.
And so, Uh, I got a job offer fromgreat insurance with Kirk, uh, over
there and Justin, they're great guys.
I've been networking with them forabout two years and as soon as they
(13:05):
found out that I was looking to leaveAmerican family, he said, you have to
come aboard, come with us and come letus show you kind of what we're doing.
Um, I sat down with them for oneinterview and probably within 15 minutes,
we stopped talking about businessand started talking about everything
else in the world and I thoughtthis is kind of where I need to be.
A good fit.
Yeah.
When you,
when you feel thatalignment, you kind of know.
(13:25):
The energy is there and allthe concepts in the same room.
I guess.
Yeah, that's a great.
What is grit?
There's an acronym.
What is that?
What is GRT?
So not so much as an acronym acronymto it But kind of like I mentioned
earlier, you know insurance is a grindIt is something that it takes a lot
of work and it's not Really when youthink of jobs, it is not something
(13:46):
that you go to career day and the kidsare like, you know what I want to do?
I want to do insurance.
This is my path in life, you know So itreally is something that it takes a lot
of work a lot of grit to get through itand to do it and so Our philosophy at
Grit is to really grind for our clients.
We don't look at ourselves as insuranceagents per se We, we're advisors.
(14:10):
We're team members and you know, weput a lot of integrity into our work.
We're, we may not be the peoplethat are going to just price shop
what you have currently and justgive you, here's a price tag.
Uh, we deep dive into businesses and welook exactly as, uh, where are you at now?
Where have you been?
And what's your next five years look like?
(14:31):
What does your business want todo and where do you want to be?
And we find what people's passions are.
And the way they want to growtheir business and then we
tailor that to them specifically.
So, we really try to put that gritinto other people's, uh, businesses.
So, so that's kind of what grit is andthat's what, uh, Kirk kind of started
it, uh, with and him and Justin have ranan amazing company out there doing it.
(14:52):
Um, they are something that Iget to learn from every day.
I get to bring a little bit of myown personality to it as well and
kind of help them along the way.
Um, and so it's a lot of fun.
We push each other a whole lot andwe have another office, not just
here in, uh, Salt Lake area, butwe have one in Chalice, Idaho.
Don't ask me where it's at per se,cause if you blink, you might miss
(15:15):
it.
Yeah, they're still the onesthat have their high school
graduations on the football field.
Oh yeah.
You know, people in the stands.
About a hundred kids total.
Yeah.
Four way stop.
They
got a four way stop and that's it.
That's cool.
It's kind of where you grew up.
It is, exactly.
Yeah.
But not in Idaho.
No.
Yeah.
A little further east.
Not No.
But, uh, it's, it's great.
(15:36):
We love it.
Our chalice office runs a lot ofour personal insurance lines and
then Salt Lake here we got a.
A lot of the commercial side of things.
So you dove
in a little bit to who your idealclient is, but you know, the listeners
out there, they're like, I don't know.
I don't know if this is for me, Easton.
Like, if you're talking to yourideal client, like who is that
that needs to talk to you and why?
(15:58):
For us, I mean, we will talk withanybody that owns a business.
Of course, first and foremost is yeah.
If you are looking to start yourown business or grow it, um, it is a
great opportunity to be able to sitdown with an insurance agent because
it's not something that, you know,people think of right off the bat.
It's kind of a reactionary thingto start a business and they
say, okay, you know, I have
(16:19):
X, Y,
and Z set up.
I'm ready to go.
Oh yeah.
I need insurance.
And they don't know necessarilytoo much of what that involves.
Um, But contractors tend to kindof be our, our bread and butter.
Uh, those blue collared workers,because you have contractors, excavation
companies is a really big one that
we work with.
Okay.
Um, and if you're out running a piece ofexcavation equipment, you know, your cost
(16:42):
of hire, you know, is a hundred dollarsplus an hour that that person is working.
If you take that job owner away from that,to have to work through their insurance
processes and find out what they need.
That's a hundred plus dollars anhour that they're losing out on
the job site every single day.
Um, so for us, we love to be able to sitdown and create a plan for our clients
(17:02):
to where once a year we can have aconversation with them and on their time
when they need and what works for them.
And they don't have to worry about it.
Any certain number of employees that weshould look at or think about for you?
Uh.
Like as company business owners?
So a
number of employees, I mean from theday that you hire one employee, if it's
a W 2 employer or even if they are acontracted employee but they only work
(17:26):
for you, the state of Utah, and I meanevery other state that, but we're here.
Gotta be careful with
that, yeah.
You know, you have to have workerscompensation insurance on them.
Yeah.
You have to protect those employeesto where if something happens, um.
On the job site that they can be ableto collect that money and, you know, get
paid for their medical bills or, yeah.
(17:46):
Um, a big one is, is that they'relost wages when they're out of work.
You know, workers' comp will helpcover that person's lost wages, so
you don't have to continue paying youremployee for time off or for them to
go on disability or anything like that.
Workers' comp will help cover that form.
So
I'm sure you've justseen like such impact.
People's stories, doing what you do, likepersonal stories, I know you probably
(18:07):
can't dive into details because thoseare often confidential, but the things
that you're talking about, you know,could really be heartbreaking on the
flip side of that if you're not insured.
Um, one story, I mean, I canshare a little bit, is my own
personal, is my grandfather.
He was an iron workerfor many, many years.
(18:27):
Um, like the, uh, Smokestackout there in Tooele.
Yeah.
Um, he helped build that back.
Wow.
A long,
long time ago.
And back in the day.
What are we doing with our lives exactly?
Tell me.
I'm gonna get out of bed today.
But they did not haveregulations back then.
Yeah.
There was no such thing as, you know,tying off and securing with harnesses.
(18:49):
Yeah.
You see the old picturesof people sitting on.
Right.
Like
all of the things that we now have.
You
see the old pictures of metalworkerssitting on beams having lunch, you know.
Yeah,
and that's really the way that it was.
And, uh, he did tragically.
He had an accident and he fell from abuilding, um, that he was working on
(19:10):
and actually fell onto the rebar belowhim that actually impaled through him.
Um, and he still battles it today.
It's still somethingthat he has to deal with.
Surgeries.
Spent a long time in the hospital,um, and thankfully for Workers Comp,
it was something that was able toprovide him for that time off, and his
medical bills, and it's something thatreoccurringly can continue to pay out
(19:33):
for him, um, long, long term until hewas able to return back to work, so.
I swear.
You know.
It's so important.
I gotta go.
Ask a dumb question.
I love asking dumb questions.
No such thing, Blane.
Until now.
I think it would be a good one.
It's for people out there stillthinking, I don't know who that is.
What's a blue collar worker?
Blue collar workers, yeah.
(19:53):
That's a good question.
You know, that is something that not, Iguess, maybe not too many people know.
Yeah.
Maybe like, next generation may not.
They may not, they may not!
And they're gonna be business owners.
Like, there's business owners here whoare coming up who are younger than us.
Yeah.
They may not know whata blue collar worker is.
There's older ones too.
I don't want to get out there andget people saying, Oh no, wait a
minute, he's picking on the ages.
No, no, no, no,
(20:13):
no.
What is a blue collar worker?
A blue collar worker is somebodyyou can tell right off the
bat by looking at their hands.
If
you look at
their hands,
if there are,
if there are stains somewhere on theirhands or their clothes in some way, shape,
or form, most likely they work in blue.
Gotcha.
It's often your trades and youknow, the ones that are out
there working with their hands.
(20:33):
Painters, plumbers, that kind of stuff.
Yeah, absolutely.
Anything from your home buildersand contractors to your, uh, your
HVAC, you know, your heating homeventilation people to electricians.
So anybody that is out doing manual labor.
Um, for a living.
That's, that's blue collar work.
Not working in an officeon a day to day basis.
No, I love it.
I'm
Yeah, no, that's great.
Let's put a definition on it.
(20:54):
It really was a great question.
There it is.
Alright, we're gonna jumpto some of the fun stuff.
Let's get
to it.
Okay.
Find out a little bit more about you,because we want to dive into the details.
So, tell us maybe a fun fact aboutyou or something that not a lot of
people know that's unique to you.
Okay.
All right, let's think here.
So something unique to me is, uh,when I was a kid, uh, you may not be
(21:18):
able to tell now, I mean, but I, uh,was such a nerd when I was a kid.
And I say that as a good thing now.
I love that, that fact aboutme now, but I look back at like
teenage me and I'm like, oh.
Boy, I'm pro nerd all the way, but
I know it's true.
Sometimes I find out things about youthat I'm like, Oh, you really are.
(21:39):
I'll
fight the first person.
He's a proud nerd and youshould be a proud nerd.
I
look at it and I love that factabout me, but when I was a kid,
I wanted to do everything andanything that I could possibly do.
Um, so little known factabout me is I love music.
You and I kind of talked about it alittle bit before we started here.
(22:00):
Um, but when I was in secondgrade, I played the violin,
and I
played all the way through highschool, um, and kind of branched out
to multiple instruments from there.
Um, in high school I did ballroom dancing.
Yeah, I told you, I was really,really popular in high school.
Carrying around a violin caseand, uh, ballroom dancing.
And doing ballroom
(22:20):
dancing.
Afton, get in here and do a couplesteps of ballroom dancing with me.
Where's my child?
Get in here.
It was a lot
of fun, but I wanted to try everything,um, and I played sports as a kid.
Okay.
Growing up, uh, baseball, basketball,football was my life, that's why my name
is Easton, and I thought as a kid thatall sports equipment that my parents
got me, they had personalized for me.
(22:42):
Because it was Easton Becks.
And
not just like as a little kid,like, kids had to tell me, finally,
that that wasn't just mine.
Uh, yeah.
Made me a little bit longerthan I'm proud of, to admit.
I would go to baseball tournamentswith all of my Easton stuff, and
I'm like, I am decked out with allpersonalized equipment here, and then
(23:03):
I'd see somebody else with it, and I'dbe like, That's what I was gonna ask!
What?
His name must be Easton, too.
I would have thought, man,he must be a fan of mine.
That is really
funny.
So, I played sports all growing up.
My brother's name is Peyton,after a football player, Walter
Peyton, from Chicago Bears.
So, my family has bred us for sports.
(23:25):
Um, I got to
high school and Istopped playing baseball.
I just couldn't do it anymore.
I played as a kid traveling allaround, you know, Utah to California,
Colorado to Arizona and I loved it.
Um, so I, when I got to highschool, I thought, you know, what's
a very popular sport, um, thatwill make me even more popular?
(23:47):
So I went to golf.
Oh yeah.
Oh, there you go.
Absolutely.
So I Hey,
there's some scholarships there.
There
are.
I mean, in all sports, but you know.
I took golf in college.
I got credits.
I loved it.
I didn't know that.
I joined the high school golfteam as a freshman and played
through high school and I loved it.
So I kind of wanted to be somebodythat tried anything and everything
(24:09):
that I could get my hands on.
So, uh, right
at home right here with these.
Yes.
I saw these as I walked in and that'ssomething now that I'm older, I'm
like, Oh my gosh, I started this asa kid and now it's part of my job.
I love it because Ilove to take clientele.
I love to go golfing.
Cause you kind of can take the pressureaway of a business meeting by going.
(24:29):
Out and just relaxing, having fun.
I just had a thought.
I think we, for BNI, 'causewe're all members of Daybreak
Business Community B Nni.
Yes.
We'll talk a little more details intothat and how that's maybe evolved
and, and helped you in your career.
But I think we might needto do an event at Top Golf.
Good.
I think that would be a great,wouldn't that be a blast?
Yes.
(24:49):
I think that'd be a blast.
I
think we should.
Okay, so on that topic,let's, let's jump into B& I.
So tell us a little bit about B& Ifor those who don't know what it is.
We've got the, we are allmembers of the Daybreak Business
Community, as we mentioned.
What is B& I for you and whathas it done for your business?
Yeah,
so B& I is something, uh,for business networking.
And the great thing that I loveabout it is It brings community of
(25:13):
people together that are involved inbusinesses or own their own businesses,
um, to build a network and findreferral partners back and forth.
And the great thing that I love aboutit is, uh, we meet every week and
there is only one person per industrythat, that you can bring into it.
So, um, I have a friend of minewho owns a handyman business and
it's called, uh, I got a guy.
(25:35):
Oh, I love it.
I love it.
So.
So he's got a guy for everything.
And so I think of B and I in that samesort of sense, you know, a guy or girl,
you know, in that sense that if somebody,one of my clients, a family, a friend,
somebody needs something, I got somebody.
Yeah.
It's so true.
And so it really does bring togethernot just business opportunities, but
(25:58):
a community of people to be able to.
Grow their businesses togetherto challenge each other to
hold each other accountable tohave accountability partners.
For me, I think is a great one.
We're able to find out, you know, whatit is that you need in your business.
And then if, if somebody gives you areferral, hold yourself accountable to
it and also have other partners withinyour business and your network to hold
(26:21):
you accountable and follow through.
So, um, for me, that hasbeen the big thing for B& I.
And so we meet every single week andwe Continue to grow our businesses
together and I, I love that.
I got involved in BNI in 2017 when Ifirst started in insurance and I love it.
I've never stepped away from it.
Uh, I grew to be able to havethe opportunity to work with BNI.
(26:46):
I've worked with Cameron Thorne.
Owner here for the Northern Utah area.
And, uh, I started helping launchchapters, uh, during COVID.
We saw an influx in members in B& Ibecause people were stuck at home.
Yeah.
They were starving forbusiness and needing that.
And B& I brought a culture tobe able to bring people together
(27:06):
to continue growing those.
So I'd help people start froma core group like we did where
we just start our meetings.
We're not officially big enough of ameeting to be a chapter and I would help
run their meetings every single weekuntil they got to that 17, 18 mark and
be able to launch them on their way.
So
it
showed me a little bit different sideof BNI of the growth opportunity.
(27:27):
I was
going to say, you're notafraid of growth at all.
You're like, let's take this on.
And that's,
that's, That meeting inspecific, the one we're talking
about, is every Wednesday 9 a.
m.
at the DCC.
If you're not familiar with theDCC, Daybreak Community Center.
Upstairs, I think we're aboutto take over both rooms.
We are.
We have grown so much in our lastThree months since we initially
(27:50):
started meeting that I think we'regoing to need the larger room.
Two rooms actually.
I can't wait
for this.
Yeah.
It's crazy to me to see the amountof growth that we've really had.
And it's not just growth of puttingpeople in a seat, it's the value
of people that we have there.
You know, as long as I've beena BNI member, you know, every
chapter has its own culture to it.
(28:11):
Because it has its own peoplewithin it, you got to bring
your own personality to it.
Uh, this chapter has lit a fire, Ithink, under me that has been something
that maybe in the past, you know, alittle bit has been kind of dormant.
It's something that is like resparking again, um, passion to
continue growing, not just my business,but really anybody that's there.
(28:33):
I love it.
When we started meeting, when I startedcoming to your guys meetings in the
end of November, I think it was rightbefore Thanksgiving, I think we were like
10, 11 people on a weekly basis and Ithink last week we had almost 30 people
there and
all of those are putting in applicationsand coming on a weekly basis and
they're seeing the value from themoment they step through the door.
(28:54):
I'm very excited.
I'm very
excited.
Ever fill out theapplication in front of me.
I we will get to her.
Yeah.
We, we've been after
her for a minute, so, no,I, I love what I'm talking
about.
That's awesome though, because I do
the same thing I do.
I do.
I will be out driving on the road and asyour insurance person, don't do what I do.
don't, don't listen to me.
Okay.
But I really will.
I will take pictures of trucksand vehicles going by because
(29:16):
I'll do it for my own business.
If I see people's contracting truckson the side, I'll take a picture.
So if you've gotten phonecalls from me, this is.
This is, but I started doing it forB& I and we were talking with, uh,
Mark last week about it and he said,you know, getting people to the
meeting, you know, how do I do that?
And how do I invite people?
And I said, just have a conversationwith anybody and everybody that you see.
(29:39):
There you
go.
You know what?
We're going to end.
This part to this segmentand that's your B& I tip.
Yeah, literally that's a B&I tip right there a huge tip
Literally just have a conversation.
Yeah, like I'll take
pictures of people's vehicles as Ias I drive by them I mean, I'll call
them long, you know stopped at a redlight not moving with my seat And
when you say take picturesof people's vehicles, you're
(30:00):
talking about business like rats.
Yeah, he's not talking aboutjust No, no, not your own
personal, not your own personal vehicle.
Yeah.
There
you go, Justin.
Yeah, I gotta specify on that one.
I'm not gonna go pick up lines.
Well, hold on now.
License plate.
I wanted to make sure we,we clicked that up because.
Because
in
your world, that could be the case.
Oh, yeah.
(30:20):
Yeah, that's for sure.
I got to hit one more thing here.
I got to dig a little deeper.
The music thing.
I know you got some moresuccess in the music.
Where are you going with the music?
Where have you been
recently with the music?
Yeah, so I, again, music hasalways kind of been my passion.
When I was It was, what really sparkedit for me was when I was in high school
(30:41):
playing in the orchestra and stuff.
We went, every year we'dgo on what's called a tour.
So we'd pick a new place, whetherit was out of state or in state.
Um, we would go for a week and we woulddo either lessons or we'd go to like
a competition or things like that.
And my junior year of high school,our, uh, Teach our orchestra leader.
(31:02):
She had the amazingidea to go to Manhattan.
Yeah, and to go to New York It was was
that
all of us did not want to get ourhopes up because what parent at 16
17 years old is like You know what?
I'm gonna do I'm gonna send 40 kids.
Yeah to New York With limitedamounts of supervision and we'll
see you in a week, you know, um, but
(31:23):
it
was great.
We went there.
Um, we took a red eye flight from SaltLake straight to New York and woke up that
morning and we went to family opera and.
All of us are trying as hard as wecan to keep our eyes open, but we're
also mesmerized by what's going on.
Um, so I got the opportunity todo that and that was amazing.
(31:46):
And then the very next day we got togo to Juilliard and we got to have a
private lesson with somebody that hadbeen there since he was 13 years old.
Wow.
And he was a cello player.
It was a life changing thing tosee somebody that has devoted their
entire life to music, and to seethe abilities of what people can do.
(32:07):
Um, so we did that, and wewent to a couple other shows.
We went to Mary Poppins while we wereout there, and we went to Wicked.
Oh, really?
It was It was amazing.
Um, so when we got back, I, I really saidmusic is kind of something that I love.
Yeah.
It's my passion.
So, um, when I got back here fromthe military, I picked back up
again and started playing guitar alittle bit and then started playing
(32:29):
and singing every once in a while.
And then I had a buddy that was doing,uh, Live music on Friday nights down
at, uh, Guadalajunquis down in Draper.
They have a bar section nextto it called Donkey Tales.
Oh, this sounds like fun to play.
We gotta get you there.
Oh, it's so fun.
So, when I got back,he was like, come out.
(32:51):
Try playing in front of people.
And so I was a nervous, nervous wreck.
Wow.
So this is
new for you.
Going from watching yourself in the mirrorin the bedroom playing a guitar Bye!
Singing whatever is a lot differentthan going in front of an audience.
So go from there So I started doingthat and he said come on back.
Yeah Friday.
(33:11):
Come on back.
So when I take breaks He said you can justjump in and play and sing for everybody
and then that evolved into me gettingLocal gigs around the valley and then I
actually got the opportunity when I livedin Daybreak here a few years ago to play
at the Daybreak music yeah, I'm here.
Um, I got to open up for Chance McKinneyout there and country singer than that
(33:32):
So it was so much fun to do that Um,that I continued kind of pursuing it
and then I got the opportunity justout of wild hair that they were having
auditions for The Voice down in Vegas.
There you go.
And I was like, you know, it'd just be funto just go be around like minded people
like that and just see what happens.
I mean, there are thousands of peoplethat show up to these things and wait
(33:53):
in line for hours and hours and hoursand then they bring you into a room and
you're with their, um, About 8 or 10 otherpeople and they say you got 30 seconds,
no music, no nothing, sing me a song.
And so you do it and then theygo down the line and say yes, no,
no, yes, yes, you stay in here.
And so when I went in there I got it, Igot a yes from the first one and then you
(34:14):
come back the next day but you can havemusic so you either have a back track or
you can play your instrument or something.
And you sing again.
And so I went and did that and Isaid, okay, we'll let you know.
And I thought that was kindof the end of the line.
I said, you know, that was fun.
I've got an opportunity to go do this.
I got to spend a weekend in Vegas andhang out with new people and musicians.
Um, and so I came home and a monthwent by and I didn't hear anything.
(34:37):
And I just thought thatwas kind of the end of it.
And then I got an email.
Uh, about a month and a half later, um,saying, Hey, we want you to come out to
LA and continue the audition process.
What?
What?
Um,
so I flew out to LA and went and didan audition out there again, and they
have you pick two songs, do the auditionagain, and then they do the same thing.
So I came back home again, kind ofdidn't really hear anything again.
(35:00):
A couple of weeks later, I getan email again, Hey, we're going
to fly you back out to LA again,and do some interviews and yo
of emotion, man.
Because I really kept thinkingevery step of the way.
I was like, okay, you know, this is it.
It's really not going to turn intoanything, but it's an experience.
So I came back home and went backto LA again and they do interviews.
(35:21):
Uh, they sit you down and kind of coachyou how to answer interview questions and
have a conversation because they put amicrophone in front of you for singing.
And that's one thing I can do that.
But then they start asking you questions.
I'm like, I freeze.
I don't know what to say.
This
is scary.
I don't want to talkabout me the whole time.
Um, so they, they give you somecoaching and some opportunity
to learn how to do interviews.
(35:43):
So I did that.
Um, and spent about a week out inLA doing interviews, doing music
auditions and things like that.
And they cut it down to about75 people at that point in time.
So they've gone from nationwide auditionsdown to 75 people Um, and then you have
one last day of auditions where theyactually take you and you can do, um,
(36:04):
auditions on stage and things like that.
Um, and they get ready for filmingand they get ready for the chair
turn auditions and then theycut it down to about 40 people.
That's what makes the live recordingsfor the show where they actually
see the judges come in and all that.
And so when they did the final cutdowns to 40, uh, that's where my
opportunity ended there for it.
And it was a great experience though,because I, for someone just starting
(36:27):
that, I was like one week, I was like,you know what, I'm just going to try
it.
And you went that far?
And then I ended up going that far.
So at least top 75, youcould say, I guess, right?
Yeah, for that
year.
You going to do this again?
Yeah.
So I'm going to try again, uh,this next week here, actually.
Woo!
So we're just going to see how it happens.
And again, I'm kind of goingin with the same thing.
Okay, we're
(36:47):
going to be watching onhow we're going to see it
for Easton, right?
Yes, yes.
It'll be a lot of fun.
It's just an experience, you know,of putting yourself out there
because I think so much of us nowwe get stuck behind our keyboards
or internet
and TV and whatnot that Uh,sometimes people get a little shy
to step out of their comfort zone.
You know what I really
(37:08):
love about this and it's kind of wherethis interview started is what you're
showing your daughter, you know,with what she's pursuing and just the
example that you're showing her andyou know, get after it and go pursue
your dreams and you're successful inwhat you're doing with your career.
But you're like, thatdoesn't mean I'm done.
Right?
So
does it define you?
That's it.
(37:28):
I'm at with your, with your daughter.
Yeah.
And I do love that.
I mean, I, I'm a.
Single dad to my 8 yearold daughter and I love it.
You know, uh, since I was a kid, being adad has been something that I've always
kind of wanted to be and wanted to do.
You know, and even with me, youknow, I am divorced now for about
two and a half years, but me andmy ex wife, we're, we're great.
(37:50):
Honestly, probably best friends.
She's one of my closest people thatwe've been able to show that since things
didn't work out with us, though, we'restill a family in some sort of way.
Because
we're setting that example for her,um, and I have her a majority of
the time just with work schedules,if it works out really good.
So that's kind of a big drive forme is that trying to kind of show
my daughter that, you know, evendoing things on your own, that you
(38:13):
can step outside and you can chaseyour dreams and chase your ambitions.
Um, work is one thingthat it's gonna come.
You're gonna have to do it.
You're gonna have to make a livingsome way, but find your passions
and, and then it's not work.
Yeah.
And then it's not work.
That's so awesome.
I love that example that you're setting.
I wanted to throw that in therebecause I do know your daughter and,
you know, that unique situation.
(38:34):
My ex husband and I,we've talked about this.
They're very similar, right?
Very similar situation with, withthe way that we raised our kids.
And I think it shows a lot.
I know not everybody.
I'm going to get some flack herebecause not everybody can, you know,
have those kinds of relationships,but when you can, it really is nice.
It does, it works.
I'm
very fortunate to have a partnerin this of, you know, parenthood
(38:56):
because in one way or shapeor form, we're still partners.
We're still, you know, beingtogether in a way to raise kids.
Somebody a mold, a mindinto, to being something.
And you know, like Christmas, thislast Christmas here, uh, her mom came
over for Christmas and we still dofamily breakfast for Christmas morning.
You know, she's got herrelationship now and he's great.
You know, that's kind of theonly thing that we ask is that.
(39:18):
Find somebody that, you know, lovesour daughter and takes care of her.
And it was, it was reallygood experience to go through.
Me and my ex wife came up with when wefirst started getting back into the dating
world, or if we started that again, thatwe had the respect of we'll introduce.
Our partner to the other parent Yes.
Before bringing our daughterinto the picture for him.
(39:38):
Yeah.
So I met her boyfriend, um, prettyearly on and And he's great.
Yeah.
Honestly, so nice.
That works.
He's great.
They're happy.
Happy.
So great.
And so they, we come over forChristmas breakfast, we hang out,
we have a good time, and then wekind of go our own ways and its.
It's great.
I love it.
Yeah, it's amazing.
But not all people arefortunate in that way.
So I know, I know I'm very lucky andvery fortunate in that way to have that
(40:01):
opportunity.
We can't wait to see, dude.
Insurance stuff.
I can't wait to see the voice.
I really can't wait to see where yourbusiness goes because I do see nothing
but big things here with the DBC.
Can't wait to, I really can't waitto see what happens with the voice.
Oh, thank you.
You gotta have, you're gonnastill have the business if
you go in the voice, right?
Like you got it.
(40:21):
Insurance is still a passion of
mine.
I still
love
to
do it.
So it's not work?
Once again.
He loves his numbers andhe loves helping people.
If you end up on the voice andgoing famous and all that, maybe
your daughter at Eight, nineyears old takes over the business.
She could probably handle it, right?
I
actually just thought about this for B& I.
I'm going to be out of town.
(40:42):
I'm headed off to Hawaiifor some warmer weather.
I'm going to need a sub.
There you go.
I'm wondering if Easton could justlike stand up and Sub for me in the
sense that he has to sing everything.
Oh no.
I feel like
I
will tell you, I will sit in frontof a big large group of people.
I'd rather sing in front of athousand people than like four
(41:03):
people, especially people I know.
I really, Oh, it's because you know them.
They don't know me.
I may never see them again.
It's kind of a big crowd of people.
So when
we show up to Guadalajonkey's,like, you're gonna be like,
Oh, I'm heading in now.
At that point in time, I'm okay.
You
said every Friday night, right?
(41:24):
Because we're gonna be there.
Sun's
going
down now.
It's about time to head over now.
We've
got a show tonight.
We'll head over there.
It's a lot of fun, but I still do,I get nervous in front of people.
My family, every year for our Christmasparty, we do a little talent show.
Yeah.
My grandparents, we were talkingearlier, my grandma had six kids
and She has about 22 grandkids.
(41:48):
And
there's only about 3 of usnow that aren't married.
Um, out of that.
And then she has about 26 great grandkids.
Wow.
So when we get together forfamily holidays like that.
It's a big party.
We have a lot of people there for it.
And I'm still in front of them.
No, I'm like, I don't want to do it.
Yeah.
Don't make
me do that.
I still get nervous about it every time.
I guess he just needs more practice.
(42:10):
That's what I heard.
Yes,
I could probably use her a lot more.
So B& I, we heard it here,he'll be performing every week.
Every week now.
Meeting every week at B& I, which is 9 a.
m.
9 a.
m.
on Wednesdays.
Wednesdays 9 a.
m.
at the DCC Daybreak Community Center.
Come and join us.
I mean,
(42:30):
this is your invite.
This is your invite.
We are inviting whoever'swatching right now.
Come out there.
We are a I mean, I'm braggingon us, but we're a great group.
Like we're, that's it.
It really is.
I think it's okay to brag on it.
I'll tell you what.
We're a lot of fun.
I know it's a great group when I'mnot doing this while I'm sitting
there and the time hits and it'sover and I'm like, Yeah, I wish,
(42:52):
wish we had a little more time.
Like,
yeah,
that's what I feel like becauseit's not It doesn't feel like work.
Once again, we're notworking when we're there.
No, we're doing what we'realready passionate about.
So
better ourselves.
And we're not biased by anything.
Do you know how every, every parentsays like, my kid is talented.
They're beautiful.
They're great.
We have a little bit of bias forour children because being, I
(43:14):
really is, it is a family thing.
We are a family and people together.
Really though, we are those beautifulones that really brag about it.
We kind of, we kind of are.
The community of people is so much fun.
And a big thing to add to that is,to let people know, is you don't
have to live in Daybreak to come.
True.
Thank you.
(43:35):
Yes,
we get
that
question.
We do.
I mean, this is the president, andI'm a membership committee, so it's
It's up to us to who we're, visitorhosts, like, like we're not just
letting anybody and everybody in andyou don't have to live in Daybreak.
Because people who live outside ofDaybreak still service Daybreak,
(43:55):
so I love, thank you for this.
Yeah, I really love that you said that.
And here's the thing about this,I mean we can go on all night, I
don't know how much more There isa lot of talent in Utah, right?
And, and yes, of course I'm going to bebiased towards our state too, because
I'm Utah, I'm born and raised, right?
But, there's a lot of talent and alot of entrepreneurial spirit here.
(44:19):
Um, a lot of tech, a lot of marketing,like just very highly educated people.
And they're Again, just the pool ofpeople that we have that are coming
into this group are just incredible.
So I will say that.
You guys need to come and visitus Wednesday, B& I, Daybreak
Business Community, B& I atthe DCC, Wednesday at the DCC.
(44:43):
9 a.
m.
See you there.
We'll see you there.
Easton.
It's always so great to see you and thankyou again for being on the show Yeah,
thank you guys for having me.
This is great.
I love this I've never done a podcastor sat in front of things like this
This is another thing that I can add totrying and venturing out to new things
He'll have to get him his own soon.
(45:04):
He'll have to have his own podcast.
Yeah, we're
just at the first of the yearand you're like already crossing
off like brand new things.
This is huge.
Absolutely.
I'm one of those people.
I have vision boards, so.
There you go.
Podcast check.
There you go.
It's
done.
We're done.
You got wrestling on
there?
Yeah.
Alright.
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