February 7, 2024 • 45 mins
After being an executive in the insurance industry for over 20 years, David knew there was a better way. His mission is quite simple - not to eradicate how healthcare works with insurance, but how can we improve the current health and wellness landscape to make it better and more robust. You'll find his style laid back, informative, and entertaining all while addressing questions that many of us have.
Did you know Tikvah means hope? David can best be found on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidthedinga
If you have any comments about today's episode, please feel free to reach out to me - Chuck@BullStreetMergers.com
Thanks for listening, enjoy!
Did you know Tikvah means hope? David can best be found on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidthedinga
If you have any comments about today's episode, please feel free to reach out to me - Chuck@BullStreetMergers.com
Thanks for listening, enjoy!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:13):
Good afternoon. This is Chuck Crumptonand welcome to another episode of The Chuck
Crumpton Show. So excited to haveyou on this journey as we me under
our way into season four. Ihad a guest on last week and we
were just, you know, kindof exchanging Happy New Years to twenty twenty
(00:36):
four. And I made the mistakeof saying we're kicking off season three and
it's actually season four for the ChuckCrumpton Show. That's how much fun I'm
having. And I think today's episodeis just going to be a fantastic conversation.
I'm excited to introduce you to myguest in just a moment. But
I have three quick favors if youwould as we go through our journey over
(01:00):
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(01:21):
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(01:42):
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(02:06):
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(02:30):
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(02:53):
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(03:17):
a non for profit podcast making adifference where conversations are real and raw.
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chuckcrumptonshow dot com. Thank you forlistening. Here's Chuck. Thank you,
(03:38):
Julie, and again, welcome toanother episode of The Chuck Crumpton Show.
I just want to let you knowI love business and I believe that small
businesses with two to two hundred employeesin America is the engine that drives our
world economy. The messages you willhear from The Chuck Crumpton Show are real
(03:58):
world business and life perspectives. I'vebeen incredibly blessed to have built and sold
two of my own companies, boththat started in the toolshd of my garage.
This podcast actually was also started inmy toolshd My wife says, I
have a liking and a propensity towardstoolshed living. It actually helps keep me
(04:21):
grounded. If you were to seesome of the background in my tool shed
in the studio, you would seean old fashioned phone. Little markers like
that just helped me remember where Icame from and never lose sight of where
we are and hopefully where we're going. The conversations are real and raw.
I am a practitioner of business.This is not a conversation about business theory.
(04:48):
At bull Street Mergers, we helpbusiness owners build and sell remarkable companies.
If we can help you in anyway, please feel free to reach
out at bull Street Mergers dot com. Okay, let's get after this.
My guest today happens to be afriend of mine, and I've had the
(05:08):
wonderful privilege of working alongside David Thingato as a mentor, as a friend,
to try to give a little bitback, And honestly, it's it's
been a real job to keep upwith David because he's fast moving, he's
he's bright and intelligent, taller thanI am, better looking than I am,
(05:32):
so it's it's been no small feat. But We're really thrilled to have
David on the show, and we'regoing to just unpack his background. He's
been a sales leader coming out ofthe insurance industry for twenty years with American
Family Insurance, created revenues sixty toeighty million dollars. Has an undergraduate degree
(05:54):
from UNLV, one of the bestbasketball programs of all time, and as
a basketball fan, I'm I'm abig fan of u n LV and holds
his NBA from Colorado State University.So with that, David, welcome to
the Chuck Crumpton Show. Hey,Chuck, thanks for having me. Yeah,
(06:15):
man, so good to have you. You know, as we talked
about in the in the intro,we've we've had the privilege of working together.
Right as you leave what has beena very comfortable position, uh in
a in an industry that you arewell aware of, and I think the
(06:38):
word that comes to mind, Davidis disruptive. You're leaving a very secure
company, a very secure industry andyou've created Tikva Health and Wellness and as
a CEO and founder, right,you are doing something disruptive and I love
(06:59):
that, man. You know,I subscribe to the philosophy that if it's
not broken, break it because itcan be better. And I think that's
exactly what you've done. So Iwant you to take us on this journey
and we'll we'll unpack David as aperson and Tifa as a company. But
(07:19):
tell me who who is the realDavid? Tanka, Well, Chuck,
I'll tell you the real David isin process. Let's put it that way,
like all of us, right,that's right. You know, I
think for me, you know,my life, and it's interesting when you
(07:43):
when you have stability, you know, working in corporate America for a very
long time like I did, andthen just kind of leaving that behind,
you know, with I think thetiming was right for me. I've got
a strong faith and so I kindof walked that out. But uh,
I'll tell you it's been interesting.You know. I'm super, you know,
(08:03):
super like you know you said,uh, I kind of see the
world differently. So I'm passionate aboutlike looking at problems that I've faced and
trying to figure out how to solvethem. You know, I'm I'm I'm
a family guy. I love,you know, my kiddo's and just trying
to get my best you know,to them and just balance everything out,
(08:28):
you know, like with with lifein general. Yeah, I'm thankful for
our connection, our friendship. Imean, even as I got started,
you know, with my new company, you know here in the Charleston area.
You know, your mentorship, youknow, even like some of the
you know, evolution of that,you know, like over the last twelve
(08:48):
months has been very very powerful,profound, and very helpful. And I'm
very appreciative of you for that,that's right, very kind. Yeah,
thank you saying that well as aas a mentor, and I know you
serve in that capacity and you willright maybe at a at the next stage
(09:09):
in your life. It's a realtreat for us as mentors to to try
to make an impact to affect companiesand founders. But I tell you,
man, it's a hell of alot easier when you've got someone that is
passionate and bright and intelligent with agreat work ethic. You try to come
(09:33):
alongside, You try to hold upthe person's arms, you know, in
the in the midst of the battle. But you also there's an element of
just trying to stay out of theirway. So I applaud you on and
what I recognize, David with youis your willingness to learn, to grow,
the hunger that you have to startsomething that again is so dang disrupt
(10:00):
uh in this industry, and Iwant to unpack that. I'm drawn to
a quote that is on your signaturethat obviously would be probably a monto that
maybe you live by, and itsays this, You're always one decision away
from a totally different life. Unpackthat if you wouldn't, man, I
(10:26):
think for me, Chuck, isso funny you mentioned that because it's like
when I look back to even someof my own like personal transformation and business
transformation, it always began with onedecision. You know that that sometimes then
after learning and kind of you know, gleaning from that decision or processing through
(10:50):
that decision, or taking some actionsthat that decision led me to, that
will lead you to another decision andmore, you know, at height maybe
in that same arena to continually getbetter and better and better, to become
a better version of yourself. Andthat's one of the biggest things that we're
(11:11):
trying to accomplish with our company isyou know, not just be a reactive
solution, but to help people alsobecome the best version of themselves as well.
Yeah, yeah, that's good.I'm drawn to the reality of your
(11:33):
transition and transformation and this is whatI mean by that, And I'll relate
a personal story. It's easy forall of us, right to kind of
start with the personal and then bridgefrom there. But I remember, almost
like it was yesterday. In nineteenninety seven, I was working for a
fortune fifteen company. My office wasactually on the fiftieth floor of the Bank
(11:56):
of America Building downtown Charlotte. Icould see the Panthers Stadium, not much
to look at after this season,but you know, it was just it
was a great job, great salary, you know, unlimited travel and entertainment,
you know, covered parking, youknow, the whole nine, right,
It was. It was a itwas a beautiful executive package. And
(12:18):
I remember having this burning desire toto leave the cave, kill something and
drag it home. And you know, one day, sitting, you know,
at in my beautiful office on thefiftieth floor, I looked out and
I just said, there's there's morefor Chuck, right than this big old
(12:39):
post job. You know, greatincome, great security, benefits at the
wazoo, all that kind of stuff. And you know, as I molled
through that decision, I packed upone day and uh and left. My
job was being moved to Atlanta,so it kind of made the decision easy.
But Lee, that big old,really big six figure package with all
(13:05):
the perks and the benefits and allthat kind of stuff was pretty darn scary
to be honest with you. Youknow, having a wife that didn't work
and two children that really loved toeat. I don't know why, but
you know it was tough. Itwas a tough decision. Walk us through,
David. You know, you hadan incredible career at American Family Insurance,
(13:30):
twenty years sales leader. You're crushingit, you know, eighty million
dollars in revenue, doing well.Walk us through why you left the security
and the confines of a career thatyou had built over twenty years with good
income, lots of security. Whyleave that man? Was what went through
(13:56):
your head and heart? That's agreat question, Chack, And I'll tell
you I think something that I thinkit was a It was a decision that
built up over time, probably similarto yours, is that we start preparing
ourselves for that. But you know, I felt very called to begin the
(14:16):
company that I have started now,but I wasn't sure exactly when to do
it, you know. During COVID, you know, I think that it
became more evident to me that Ithink the timing was becoming more impeccable to
probably bring this to the world orbegin the process of beginning this, you
know, bringing this to the world. Another part of it, too,
(14:39):
like what you just mentioned, isthat I started, you know, kind
of unpacking like stability and really whatis stability, you know, I mean,
I mean, I think that everyonehas an illusion of stability of really
what their life you know, lookslike in the comfort that they that they
have. We almost have a comfortcrisis in many ways. And so that
(15:01):
was kind of the situation for me, was to kind of go through that
process of seeing like the high youknow, six figure income and like working
inside of a corporate environment where itwas becoming more challenging and it was more
more becoming a bureaucratic, you know, environment and less less driven by excitement
(15:26):
and enthusiasm and trying to change theworld, more about expenses than growth,
you know, and being in salesand revenue. I started feeling like that
pressure and the kind of the Idon't know the the the motivation in ambition
to try and do something different.That being said, you know, obviously
we'll get more into TIKFA, butI started, you know, seeing some
(15:48):
of these problems too that exist inthe health and health insurance space. You
know that we're trying to kind ofsolve as well. So yeah, very
cool, Well in full transparency.And I've been, you know, in
developing this podcast now in our fourthyear. I said it earlier. I
(16:10):
mistakenly said it's our third year becauseI'm having so much darn fun. But
you know, in our fourth year, I've made a lot of mistakes because
I started this podcast really not knowingwhat I'm doing. And I've had great
guests. You're you're part of thefamily now, right of great guests,
but a lot of great guests who'vejust been gracious and patient. And you
(16:33):
know, I've kept my integrity everystep of the way with the podcast.
And I've said on many occasions inthe early days, I said it every
time that we tend to stay awayfrom politics and religion because they seem to
be polarizing and I'm not sure ifit really moves the needle to debate,
you know, religion and politics.I'll throw sports in there too for all
(16:57):
the non Tarhel fans. But anyway, I'm curious I think of you,
I perceive you, I see youin a light of faith, and I'm
curious how that faith that you havethat you hold on to, how it
affects what you do in business insome of those decisions that you make.
(17:23):
Another excellent question, man, AndI'll tell you what I believe I do
I mentioned earlier, I do havelike my faith is really most important number
one. So it's funny actually evenjust this morning kind of processing through both
personally and professionally. You know,it's a grinds as building a brand new
(17:47):
company, and so trying to youknow, put God, put my faith
first in every single little decision that'smade. So you know, we can
have the direct I can have thedirection that I need, and the prioritization
that we that we need, andthe stewardship, you know, and the
and the smart financial decisions you knowthat we want to make with the company.
(18:11):
And I'll tell you even like theword tikfa is hope, you know,
in in in Hebrew, and soyou know, our company is really
built on Hope. So it's interesting. I think even for me, probably
like the last four to five years, Chuck, I would say that I
kind of shifted away from having afully you know, kind of like way
(18:33):
of looking through a physical lens inthe physical world of sorts and started really
appreciating bringing my you know, myfaith and my spiritual perspective to things as
well. And I'll tell you,as an early stage, you know,
entrepreneur, there's no way through it. There's no way, you know,
other than through it. You can'tget around. You know this because you've
done it. You mentioned earlier,you know, in regard to you know,
(18:57):
the beginning phases, and you've beena big inspiration to me personally just
through some of the stories that you'vetold. But that has been an incredible
daily factor for me to be ableto continue to press forward, you know,
in doing all this and also everyother area of my life as well.
Yeah, that's cool, man,very cool. Well, one other
(19:18):
quick personal question then I want tojump into what you are doing at TIFA.
Okay, if in you know,my audience over these now going into
our fourth year, not third year, but fourth year, we've just grown
together. We've grown up together,you know, in these conversations, and
it's been so cool to get feedback. And this is a sidebar, but
(19:45):
I think germane to the comment thatyou just made. I had a guest
on I think in season two andit was a wonderful conversation. You know,
very large a lady that works fora very large German company who has
(20:06):
since been has become a really goodfriend of mine and we had a conversation
and it took a turn that wedid not expect. You know, it
went from a very high level businessyou know, huge, massive company and
just talking about you know, whatthey're doing in the marketplace and all that
kind of stuff into a very personaland vulnerable, you know area in that
(20:32):
conversation, and we didn't know thatit was going there, but it did,
and thank god it did, becausewhen we aired the podcast, one
of her former co workers reached outand said he was at the end of
his rope and had been thinking ofthe worst, the inevitable, and by
(20:56):
listening to that very open and transparent, vulnerable conversation, he found hope to
continue on with his life and hisbusiness and his marriage and his family.
And that's life changing, bro.That is Uh, that's life changing.
You know. So the personal isreally important to me in any conversation,
(21:21):
particularly in this conversation, because ourwhole premise of the show is built on
real and raw conversations. But somy question before we get into TIFA is
this, if you could ask onequestion to anyone in the world, and
it could be any question, whowould you want to ask that question of?
(21:45):
Oh my gosh, man, that'sa tough one, and you did
not have ahead of time. Hey, you know what, though, you're
gonna like this and this this guyhas been on my mind, I think
quite a bit. But former NorthCarolina it's our heel, it's time NBA
(22:06):
champion, Michael Jordan. Oh nice, And I think for me the question
that I would ask him would be, you know, people often sometimes look
at you know, they look atlike they go to the games and they
see the glamour of the games,you know, and they see like kind
(22:26):
of like the like what you talkabout, the pinnacle, like the rise
or whatever. But I'd really becurious to see what it really took back
in the late eighties and early ninetiesto kind of set the tone for what
they accomplished with the Chicago Bulls.Yeah. Yeah, yeah, well listen,
great subject and great question. Wayto go, man, that's awesome.
(22:49):
Yeah. He would actually hung outon his boat one time. He
was not there, oh my gosh. And I was not supposed to be
there, believe it at that.But yeah, that's cool. So let
me ask you. Let's let's jumpinto Tikfa Health and Wellness again, just
(23:10):
to set the stage right, youleft. You left a great job,
lots of security, good income.You know, life was clicking along,
doing well, and you became disruptive. You became disruptive to an industry that
does not like disruption. It's justnot prone to uh to being picked at
(23:33):
right, and you did it.So I applaud you for doing that,
for having the the warwithal, youknow, the the faith and the tenacity
to challenge the big old giant gorilla. So I love the disruptive nature of
(23:55):
Tikfa Health and Wellness. What wasthe problem that you wanted to solve there?
You know, it's interesting because beingin the insurance base for twenty years,
you know, it's what happened andwhat kind of led me to the
vision of beginning this company. Thefirst place was you know, we we
(24:19):
had some personal life situations that hitus, you know, that just started
causing you know, some concerns andsome questions. And I'll share couple with
you. You know that. Thefirst one is Chuck is my oldest.
You know, there's a lot ofyou know, ADHD diagnoses that goes around
(24:41):
you know, these days, rightand you know, he's almost he's seventeen,
almost eighteen and thriving now. Butwhen he was five years old,
he was diagnosed with you know,with ADHD, and we just didn't feel
super great with the one solution ofputting them on a prescription drug, you
know, and so my you know, my ex wife and myself at the
(25:03):
time went down the path of tryingto look at like maybe an elimination diet
and maybe looking at you know,some maybe some chemicals and different things.
And we found that we worked witha more naturopathic provider and it was a
short, you know shift and changethat he was able to you know,
(25:26):
reduce some of those symptoms and getback to filling hole and being able to
see kind of what caused him toget out of balance in the first place.
And we had to pay for thatout of our own pocket. Another
more drastic one is like after mythird son, my third child, my
son Christian was born. You know, my ex wife, Amy had postpartum
(25:48):
cardio myopathy. So what that isis she had congestive heart failure and you
know, had a really bad battleand was having some heart issues and really
had a bad prognosis from you know, some of the heart you know,
surgeon as well as cardiologists and differentpeople that they're kind of looking at what
she may have to look at,you know, dealing with for the next
(26:10):
five to ten years, maybe forever. And we found a functional medicine doctor
in Texas that helped her get herhormones and adrenals balanced. And she was
back in the office of that cardiologistsdoing a what do they call it,
the ultrasound or heart and he didn'teven know what to say, Like her
heart had been healed, you know, within probably less than six to nine
(26:34):
months. Wow. And so againwe had to go and look at,
you know, through some of thesedifferent alternative solutions, and we had to
pay for all out of all thatout of pocket, and we had to
you know, go about it,you know, on our own investigative journey.
There wasn't a lot of support becausethe healthcare system can be so heroic
in many ways, but it's focusedon bio medical type. You know,
(26:59):
you know this, you spent alot of time there. It's built on
pharmaceutical studies and it's driven we're inyou know, in the classroom and in
like in that type of environment thatit is out in the world. Yeah,
you're creating, uh, you're drivingthis paradigm shift again in the in
the health space. The you know, you're sort of tackling insurance as we
(27:23):
know it. Right what's been thebiggest challenge David and being disruptive? That's
a great question, Chuck. I'lltell you the biggest challenges when we think
about paradigms and paradigms trying to beshifted, is that we all kind of
(27:48):
grow up, you know, aswe build up our own perception in our
own experience of the world, andso you know that that can often limit
our ability, you know, tosee things a little bit differently or even
be willing to evaluate and try thingsthat might you know, work better or
a little bit differently. And soone of the biggest challenges I see right
(28:11):
now is that we we want tomake a huge contribution to helping people find
a healthier way forward. But atthe same time, you know, with
the with the healthcare system itself,there's so many trained professionals like different uh
you know, like actuarial science.We're going to try and make an impact
with trying to build pricing and ratingyou know, a little bit differently than
(28:33):
it's been done before. You know, care modalities. There's a lot of
different things that we're super comfortable with, you know that Unfortunately, anything that
falls outside of that gets scrutinized andgets looked at a little bit differently.
So it's it's going to take ussome time, you know, to to
be able to make an impact onboth sides, because there's the professional side
(28:56):
and there's also helping people back tothat kind of that early experience becoming more
confident and maybe a little bit morewilling, you know, out of fear
to take a step in a differentdirection that might lead them down a better
path, you know, for theirhealth. And just some of the traditional
you know, just situations that continueto pop up with pharmaceutical drugs or often
(29:19):
sometimes you know, other types oftreatments and whatnot that tend to be a
little bit more invasive immediately. Imean, you know a lot of times
there's certain things that are necessary,you know, in time, and conventional
medicine can be again, it canbe amazing. But you know, we
we always start there and we're morereactive and we're also simpt focused. So
(29:41):
let me ask you just so wehave a good understanding of what you guys
are doing at TIKFA, right,Like we we have a big old group
policy insurance policy. And having havingjust been through h know, major knee
surgery two weeks ago, you know, it was it was really cool,
(30:06):
right and I went in checked inand you know, we had a deductible
to me, you know, wrotethe check for the deductible, and the
lady looked at me and said,your insurance company just paid X, and
that was a big X. Andit gave me comfort, right that I
(30:27):
could receive world class care and thatit would not break the bank and knock
on wood, fortunately, very blessedto say, you know, it's we've
progressed along the last couple of weeksin recovery, but I'm very thankful for
that group health insurance program, rightbecause if you look at what I paid
(30:49):
versus the group cost. You know, it's it's just a big old number.
So for the folks that are ina similar seat that I'm with my
story, talk to that person onwhat is the value component or one of
(31:11):
the value components the premise that you'rebringing to disrupt that, to make it
better, probably not to eliminate that, right, but to compliment that and
to make the net result, thebig picture better. Am i Am I
correct in that statement? Yeah,you are one percent correct. I mean,
(31:33):
you know, we My biggest thing, and I've learned this, you
know, over the past few years, is that we want to meet,
you know, individuals, families,companies where they're at, you know,
in regard to kind of how they'redealing with things, and then try and
you know, through our value proposition, help them accomplished, you know,
accomplished. Two things. Number oneis try and introduce opportunities to come alongside
(31:59):
of conventional medicine. You know thatdifferent types of practitioners maybe more root cause
you know, like analysis in regardto when they do get sick or injured
or hurt and something can become youknow, serious, being able to approach
a little bit differently and also throughthat process and you know, helping people
back to when we first you know, started the the show earlier, you
(32:21):
know, transformation, trying to getpeople tools and resources you know, to
help reduce their cost. You know, that goes for employees and individual individuals
and families as well as employers too, Chuck, because employers, I mean
from twenty twenty three to twenty twentyfour, we just were researching some data
(32:42):
that we're going to see the highestrate increase for employers where health insurance is
concerned in the last decade, youknow, and we do need to have
peace of mind, you know formajor medical that could be supported through conventional
but we also need to open upthe doors, you know, to some
other possibilities and clue become more inclusiveof bringing doctors and practitioners into the equation
(33:04):
that kind of right now are onthe outside looking in that can do a
lot of you know, I thinka lot of good to help you help
and support people. Yeah, andI'm seeing a trend. We've discussed this.
I'm seeing a trend in the alliedpart of healthcare. Right of the
practitioner side, We're more and moreuh PCPs, more and more docs are
(33:27):
headed toward you know, more progressivemodalities, an expandent way of thinking.
Concierge's care right, doing it differently, trying to do it better. So
I think you're tapping into this bigold hill that you're climbing, but I
think you're climbing it at a goodtime and hopefully, you know, for
(33:50):
you and and you guys at TIKA, you're getting some win under your cell
or behind your cell right with themomentum that I believe UH is a changing
environment. Would you agree? Iwould totally agree with that. And I
see it too, Chuck, Isee it both. You know, I've
talked about even you know, someof the best care you know, doctors
(34:15):
and practitioners and whatnot are kind ofevaluating the insurance model and the even like
the you know, the system,the way that it's set up right now
is just not being sustainable. Sothey're kind of trying to look at like,
how do we become more efficient,how do we look at things differently?
And then like there's a lot ofinterest you know, in in you
know, especially with the individuals andfamilies and even I attended a session with
(34:37):
some of the best doctors in townhere in Charleston where they're becoming more interested
in learning at natural ways to takecare of yourself, you know, maybe
differently versus just more conventional approaches.So I couldn't agree with you more.
I think that, you know,the timing for us, you know,
everything is timing. I think it'sGod's timing. I think there's a lot
of you know, perfect timing herefor you know, disruption and some positive
(35:01):
change that we'll see. And Ibelieve that there'll be a lot of innovation.
I mean, you work with youknow, you have a chance to
visit and work with a lot ofdifferent people, Like we're very fortunate and
blessed to be able to do that. And I think there's gonna be a
lot of entrepreneurs out there that thattry and you know, work towards fixing,
fixing some of the the you know, the the not cracks, but
i'd say holes in the sick careYeah, you know sick care model that
(35:24):
we that we kind of live inall kind of today. Yeah, yeah,
absolutely, let me macro it outfor just a moment as we uh,
as we work toward to close herein the conversation. Again, I
love working with entrepreneurs and founders.I was there uh, in many,
(35:45):
in many aspects, I'm there againbecause I'd love the juice of creativity,
and you know the challenge winking upevery morning, wanting to jump out of
bed, even with the bad knee, because I love what I do right.
But I find and I think thisis characteristic of a lot of entrepreneurs,
a lot of founders, it canbe very very lonely. Again I
(36:12):
go back to Toolshed living. Itcan be very lonely in the toolshed right
when you're trying to leave the cave, kill something, drag it home so
you can eat and feed your kidsand feed your family. So I characterize
it as being a time of greatjoy, of great difficulties, of winds
and losses and ups and downs.And you know, there's some days,
(36:37):
even doing the podcast, which Ilove, put a microphone in front of
me and I'll dance for my food. But there are just some days that
are better than others, and somedays that are lonely, and some days
you're thinking, why in the hellam I doing what I'm doing right?
Talk to just real quick, thatfuture entrepreneur, that future leader, because
(37:02):
we have a lot of leaders andCEOs that listen to the Chuck Crumpton Show.
But that person, maybe they're walkingthe dog, they're sitting on a
subway. Hopefully they're not shoveling snow. But you know they're they're just working
through life in corporate America and they'vegot an idea. They've got something burning
in their soul. And unless you'vedone what you're doing, you don't understand
(37:27):
the burning of the soul. Right, you know that that that itch that's
down deep that you've got to scratch. But talk to just a moment,
because you left right You left thesecurity to walk out in the snow,
You left the big office building togo into the tool shed. Speak real
quick before we close to that personthat may be contemplating that either aither thinking
(37:53):
about it or you know, andholidays tend to be conducive for people making
a change. Maybe they made theirchange, you know, January first,
and they're sitting in the tool shedby themselves, going what the heck am
I going to do next? Youknow, how do I how do I
put legs to this dream? Talkto that person for a moment. Just
(38:15):
share your heart, man, Yeah, I mean I will. I'll tell
you. You know, I thinkthat we've only got one life to live,
you know, and I think alot of times we can if we
don't really pay close attention to that, or let you know, circumstances or
other things shake us up a littlebit, you know, in creating possibilities
(38:38):
or you know, or are feelingled to do something else, we may
not and then we'll end up maybewhen we're in our that maybe we might
be lean up against the wrong buildingtowards the end of our life because we
didn't take you know, some ofthose chances, or we didn't take any
(38:58):
you know, risk, and thenthere is never a good time, you
know, I think that sometimes,like you know, I think you've got
to trust, you got to usediscermon and instinct, and you know,
there's something to be said for calculatedrisk. But I also believe that,
you know, there's never necessarily agreat time. You're just gonna have to
get to a point where you whereyou feel like it is the time and
make the decision, and you gotto go after it, you know.
(39:20):
I mean, because I can lookback on even and I'll say this to
you right now, I can lookback on having a lot of stability,
and like you know, I wouldsay more, you know, like having
plenty of resources coming in et cetera, et cetera, all of the things,
and starting a brand new company andkind of like being in the grind
(39:40):
and trying to bring something to theworld that I'm super passionate about and I
feel like it really could benefit fromand not really starting at ground zero.
I've never been having more fun thanI am right now. You know,
So cool man, so cool.Yeah. Yeah. And it's like kind
of what we put our you know, like that's what we put our trust
stand and sometimes we put everything intothe wrong things sometimes, you know,
(40:02):
and like maybe we're meant to liveand we are meant to live differently.
So that's what I would encourage people, you know, is you can start
planning and researching and doing you know, all the homework and getting the stuff
built out and kind of mapping out, but you just got to get after
it because you only got one lifeto live. Yeah. Well, well
said, yeah, that's awesome.Well, David Thanka, I'm telling you,
(40:27):
man, I applaud you for leavingthe big old corporate building and going
out and just disrupting your industry.Applaud you. I've watched you man,
and I'll just say this in closing. I watched your first presentation many many
many months ago, and then Iwatched one, you know, maybe six
(40:47):
months later, and I was justthrilled at how you grew, not only
in grasping and with this big oldindustry that you're taking on and trying to
make better, but just in yourarticulation of what you guys, your mission
(41:08):
and what you're doing and what youwant to do. So it was really
cool, right just as you know, maybe as a friend and a mentor
to watch your transformation. So Iapplaud you, and I do encourage you
to keep up the good work,keep the focus, keep your faith in
(41:29):
this endeavor, and good things willhappen, my friend, Good things will
happen. And I really appreciate yousharing what you've done, where you are
mentally and what you guys are doingat TIKFA Wealth, Health and Wellness.
How do we track you? We'renot going to stalk you, but how
do we track you? So youknow, we have a website, so
(41:54):
tifah Health and Wellness dot com.And then you know, my email right
now is uh, you know,David at teak for Health and Wellness dot
com. And then we do havea form that we are you know,
we are beginning to enroll people andyou know, you and I have talked
about this, like we're we're excited. You know, we're starting to evaluate
you know, different situations that area really good fit for what we're doing.
(42:16):
And so they can you know,someone can fill out a form and
won't be able to get back tothem very quickly through that process and kind
of get them up to speed andmore educated on what we're doing. Well
bye, that an opportunity to learnmore. And you know we've got LinkedIn.
I've got my LinkedIn account, We'vegot a business LinkedIn account, and
there is a teak for health andwell on this Instagram account too. So
(42:38):
awesome, different different places again,Man, we're we're gearing up for like
we're putting a lot of effort.You and I know this, and I
wanted to say something real quick.I learned to say a big thank you
to you, you know, becauseyou just mentioned like you know, I
I think even from last year,just a lot of mentorship and just you
know, your questions and the waythat you communicated and just your a lot
of your experience helped kind of shapeand kind of shift, you know,
(43:00):
even some of my my thinking,you know, and trying to go about
tackling this. And I want tosay thank you. You know, last
year a lot of time was spenton you know, fleshing out our business
model and kind of getting ready.This year, it's time to get after
starting to help people and trying toyou know, get out there and reach
(43:20):
you know, the right the folksthat are ready for us. You know,
I think more and more will comewith time. So that's very cool.
Well, you're very kind in yourthoughts and in your words. Thank
you for that. I find andit's and this is maybe purely philosophical,
but I find a strange tension witha lot of entrepreneurs and new founders.
(43:45):
And the tension is, you know, I've got to come out of the
gates. I'll use the bull becauseyou know, I'm Bill straight, but
we come out of the gates hard, charging and we want to conquer the
world. And you have to harnessyou have to embrace the balance of you
know, I'm just gonna come outof the gates charging wide open, working
(44:08):
hard every day, and you youyou balance that with a thirst for knowledge
and a humbleness to accept feedback.And I have seen you demonstrate that,
and that's one of that's a characterstatement that I'm making of you, and
(44:31):
that that attitude, man, thatcharacter will fuel a lot of great things
that you will do in life.So I just encourage you. I encourage
you. Man. When the uh, when the days get long and the
temperatures drop and you feel like you'reout there in the wilderness all by yourself,
there are a ton of people aroundyou that are cheering you on,
(44:53):
that are waiting more success stories.And I know you guys are going to
do great things. Is antique forhealth and wellness. So I encourage my
listeners. Please go to the site. Check David out, check what those
guys are doing. I love whatyou guys are doing. Keep up a
good work man, and really appreciateyou just sharing your heart today. David,
(45:15):
all the best, my friend.Thank you, sir. I appreciate
you being here.
Good afternoon. This is Chuck Crumptonand welcome to another episode of The Chuck
Crumpton Show. So excited to haveyou on this journey as we me under
our way into season four. Ihad a guest on last week and we
were just, you know, kindof exchanging Happy New Years to twenty twenty
(00:36):
four. And I made the mistakeof saying we're kicking off season three and
it's actually season four for the ChuckCrumpton Show. That's how much fun I'm
having. And I think today's episodeis just going to be a fantastic conversation.
I'm excited to introduce you to myguest in just a moment. But
I have three quick favors if youwould as we go through our journey over
(01:00):
the next thirty thirty five minutes.Number one, if you would just subscribe
to the show. It helps keepthe cookies at our level. It's easy
when the podcasts come out, generallyon Wednesdays, the conversations come out,
they just pop up on your phoneand it's easy to kind of track and
(01:21):
what I call keep the cookies atI level. And if you would share
today's episode. Every episode has intentionality, but we keep things loose and casual.
We have a goal, but we'renever quite sure where it's going to
go, which is a beauty ofhaving a conversation between two friends that the
(01:42):
world gets to listen to. Andif you would leave a review, hopefully
a five star review, it helpsthe podcast. I don't do the podcast
for We don't monetize it. Idon't make any money. We are very
blessed to get folks that will donateoccasionally. All that money, every dollar
comes in, goes out to,you know, promoting the show. So
(02:06):
your five star review is really superimportant. It just helps the algorithms.
So if you would leave a fivestar review, if you're inclined to leave
a one star review, I wouldinvite you number one not to do that,
and number two to go find anotherpodcast. There are millions of podcasts,
and maybe there's a better one thatfits your your likes, but anyway,
(02:30):
we're glad to have you. Thisis going to be a great episode.
If there's any anything that you canthink of to make the show better.
We put a lot of time andenergy into this because we want the
conversations to be really good and beneficialand just impact a lot of people.
So if you have an idea suggestion, there are no sacred cols, so
(02:53):
you can feel free to tell methe good, the bad, and ugly
and we'll try to make the showbetter for you and I'll be back right
after this. Thank you for tuninginto another episode of The Chuck Crumpton Show,
(03:17):
a non for profit podcast making adifference where conversations are real and raw.
We are grateful for your support aswe build one of the fastest growing
podcasts in the US. Please subscribe. More information can be found at the
chuckcrumptonshow dot com. Thank you forlistening. Here's Chuck. Thank you,
(03:38):
Julie, and again, welcome toanother episode of The Chuck Crumpton Show.
I just want to let you knowI love business and I believe that small
businesses with two to two hundred employeesin America is the engine that drives our
world economy. The messages you willhear from The Chuck Crumpton Show are real
(03:58):
world business and life perspectives. I'vebeen incredibly blessed to have built and sold
two of my own companies, boththat started in the toolshd of my garage.
This podcast actually was also started inmy toolshd My wife says, I
have a liking and a propensity towardstoolshed living. It actually helps keep me
(04:21):
grounded. If you were to seesome of the background in my tool shed
in the studio, you would seean old fashioned phone. Little markers like
that just helped me remember where Icame from and never lose sight of where
we are and hopefully where we're going. The conversations are real and raw.
I am a practitioner of business.This is not a conversation about business theory.
(04:48):
At bull Street Mergers, we helpbusiness owners build and sell remarkable companies.
If we can help you in anyway, please feel free to reach
out at bull Street Mergers dot com. Okay, let's get after this.
My guest today happens to be afriend of mine, and I've had the
(05:08):
wonderful privilege of working alongside David Thingato as a mentor, as a friend,
to try to give a little bitback, And honestly, it's it's
been a real job to keep upwith David because he's fast moving, he's
he's bright and intelligent, taller thanI am, better looking than I am,
(05:32):
so it's it's been no small feat. But We're really thrilled to have
David on the show, and we'regoing to just unpack his background. He's
been a sales leader coming out ofthe insurance industry for twenty years with American
Family Insurance, created revenues sixty toeighty million dollars. Has an undergraduate degree
(05:54):
from UNLV, one of the bestbasketball programs of all time, and as
a basketball fan, I'm I'm abig fan of u n LV and holds
his NBA from Colorado State University.So with that, David, welcome to
the Chuck Crumpton Show. Hey,Chuck, thanks for having me. Yeah,
(06:15):
man, so good to have you. You know, as we talked
about in the in the intro,we've we've had the privilege of working together.
Right as you leave what has beena very comfortable position, uh in
a in an industry that you arewell aware of, and I think the
(06:38):
word that comes to mind, Davidis disruptive. You're leaving a very secure
company, a very secure industry andyou've created Tikva Health and Wellness and as
a CEO and founder, right,you are doing something disruptive and I love
(06:59):
that, man. You know,I subscribe to the philosophy that if it's
not broken, break it because itcan be better. And I think that's
exactly what you've done. So Iwant you to take us on this journey
and we'll we'll unpack David as aperson and Tifa as a company. But
(07:19):
tell me who who is the realDavid? Tanka, Well, Chuck,
I'll tell you the real David isin process. Let's put it that way,
like all of us, right,that's right. You know, I
think for me, you know,my life, and it's interesting when you
(07:43):
when you have stability, you know, working in corporate America for a very
long time like I did, andthen just kind of leaving that behind,
you know, with I think thetiming was right for me. I've got
a strong faith and so I kindof walked that out. But uh,
I'll tell you it's been interesting.You know. I'm super, you know,
(08:03):
super like you know you said,uh, I kind of see the
world differently. So I'm passionate aboutlike looking at problems that I've faced and
trying to figure out how to solvethem. You know, I'm I'm I'm
a family guy. I love,you know, my kiddo's and just trying
to get my best you know,to them and just balance everything out,
(08:28):
you know, like with with lifein general. Yeah, I'm thankful for
our connection, our friendship. Imean, even as I got started,
you know, with my new company, you know here in the Charleston area.
You know, your mentorship, youknow, even like some of the
you know, evolution of that,you know, like over the last twelve
(08:48):
months has been very very powerful,profound, and very helpful. And I'm
very appreciative of you for that,that's right, very kind. Yeah,
thank you saying that well as aas a mentor, and I know you
serve in that capacity and you willright maybe at a at the next stage
(09:09):
in your life. It's a realtreat for us as mentors to to try
to make an impact to affect companiesand founders. But I tell you,
man, it's a hell of alot easier when you've got someone that is
passionate and bright and intelligent with agreat work ethic. You try to come
(09:33):
alongside, You try to hold upthe person's arms, you know, in
the in the midst of the battle. But you also there's an element of
just trying to stay out of theirway. So I applaud you on and
what I recognize, David with youis your willingness to learn, to grow,
the hunger that you have to startsomething that again is so dang disrupt
(10:00):
uh in this industry, and Iwant to unpack that. I'm drawn to
a quote that is on your signaturethat obviously would be probably a monto that
maybe you live by, and itsays this, You're always one decision away
from a totally different life. Unpackthat if you wouldn't, man, I
(10:26):
think for me, Chuck, isso funny you mentioned that because it's like
when I look back to even someof my own like personal transformation and business
transformation, it always began with onedecision. You know that that sometimes then
after learning and kind of you know, gleaning from that decision or processing through
(10:50):
that decision, or taking some actionsthat that decision led me to, that
will lead you to another decision andmore, you know, at height maybe
in that same arena to continually getbetter and better and better, to become
a better version of yourself. Andthat's one of the biggest things that we're
(11:11):
trying to accomplish with our company isyou know, not just be a reactive
solution, but to help people alsobecome the best version of themselves as well.
Yeah, yeah, that's good.I'm drawn to the reality of your
(11:33):
transition and transformation and this is whatI mean by that, And I'll relate
a personal story. It's easy forall of us, right to kind of
start with the personal and then bridgefrom there. But I remember, almost
like it was yesterday. In nineteenninety seven, I was working for a
fortune fifteen company. My office wasactually on the fiftieth floor of the Bank
(11:56):
of America Building downtown Charlotte. Icould see the Panthers Stadium, not much
to look at after this season,but you know, it was just it
was a great job, great salary, you know, unlimited travel and entertainment,
you know, covered parking, youknow, the whole nine, right,
It was. It was a itwas a beautiful executive package. And
(12:18):
I remember having this burning desire toto leave the cave, kill something and
drag it home. And you know, one day, sitting, you know,
at in my beautiful office on thefiftieth floor, I looked out and
I just said, there's there's morefor Chuck, right than this big old
(12:39):
post job. You know, greatincome, great security, benefits at the
wazoo, all that kind of stuff. And you know, as I molled
through that decision, I packed upone day and uh and left. My
job was being moved to Atlanta,so it kind of made the decision easy.
But Lee, that big old,really big six figure package with all
(13:05):
the perks and the benefits and allthat kind of stuff was pretty darn scary
to be honest with you. Youknow, having a wife that didn't work
and two children that really loved toeat. I don't know why, but
you know it was tough. Itwas a tough decision. Walk us through,
David. You know, you hadan incredible career at American Family Insurance,
(13:30):
twenty years sales leader. You're crushingit, you know, eighty million
dollars in revenue, doing well.Walk us through why you left the security
and the confines of a career thatyou had built over twenty years with good
income, lots of security. Whyleave that man? Was what went through
(13:56):
your head and heart? That's agreat question, Chack, And I'll tell
you I think something that I thinkit was a It was a decision that
built up over time, probably similarto yours, is that we start preparing
ourselves for that. But you know, I felt very called to begin the
(14:16):
company that I have started now,but I wasn't sure exactly when to do
it, you know. During COVID, you know, I think that it
became more evident to me that Ithink the timing was becoming more impeccable to
probably bring this to the world orbegin the process of beginning this, you
know, bringing this to the world. Another part of it, too,
(14:39):
like what you just mentioned, isthat I started, you know, kind
of unpacking like stability and really whatis stability, you know, I mean,
I mean, I think that everyonehas an illusion of stability of really
what their life you know, lookslike in the comfort that they that they
have. We almost have a comfortcrisis in many ways. And so that
(15:01):
was kind of the situation for me, was to kind of go through that
process of seeing like the high youknow, six figure income and like working
inside of a corporate environment where itwas becoming more challenging and it was more
more becoming a bureaucratic, you know, environment and less less driven by excitement
(15:26):
and enthusiasm and trying to change theworld, more about expenses than growth,
you know, and being in salesand revenue. I started feeling like that
pressure and the kind of the Idon't know the the the motivation in ambition
to try and do something different.That being said, you know, obviously
we'll get more into TIKFA, butI started, you know, seeing some
(15:48):
of these problems too that exist inthe health and health insurance space. You
know that we're trying to kind ofsolve as well. So yeah, very
cool, Well in full transparency.And I've been, you know, in
developing this podcast now in our fourthyear. I said it earlier. I
(16:10):
mistakenly said it's our third year becauseI'm having so much darn fun. But
you know, in our fourth year, I've made a lot of mistakes because
I started this podcast really not knowingwhat I'm doing. And I've had great
guests. You're you're part of thefamily now, right of great guests,
but a lot of great guests who'vejust been gracious and patient. And you
(16:33):
know, I've kept my integrity everystep of the way with the podcast.
And I've said on many occasions inthe early days, I said it every
time that we tend to stay awayfrom politics and religion because they seem to
be polarizing and I'm not sure ifit really moves the needle to debate,
you know, religion and politics.I'll throw sports in there too for all
(16:57):
the non Tarhel fans. But anyway, I'm curious I think of you,
I perceive you, I see youin a light of faith, and I'm
curious how that faith that you havethat you hold on to, how it
affects what you do in business insome of those decisions that you make.
(17:23):
Another excellent question, man, AndI'll tell you what I believe I do
I mentioned earlier, I do havelike my faith is really most important number
one. So it's funny actually evenjust this morning kind of processing through both
personally and professionally. You know,it's a grinds as building a brand new
(17:47):
company, and so trying to youknow, put God, put my faith
first in every single little decision that'smade. So you know, we can
have the direct I can have thedirection that I need, and the prioritization
that we that we need, andthe stewardship, you know, and the
and the smart financial decisions you knowthat we want to make with the company.
(18:11):
And I'll tell you even like theword tikfa is hope, you know,
in in in Hebrew, and soyou know, our company is really
built on Hope. So it's interesting. I think even for me, probably
like the last four to five years, Chuck, I would say that I
kind of shifted away from having afully you know, kind of like way
(18:33):
of looking through a physical lens inthe physical world of sorts and started really
appreciating bringing my you know, myfaith and my spiritual perspective to things as
well. And I'll tell you,as an early stage, you know,
entrepreneur, there's no way through it. There's no way, you know,
other than through it. You can'tget around. You know this because you've
done it. You mentioned earlier,you know, in regard to you know,
(18:57):
the beginning phases, and you've beena big inspiration to me personally just
through some of the stories that you'vetold. But that has been an incredible
daily factor for me to be ableto continue to press forward, you know,
in doing all this and also everyother area of my life as well.
Yeah, that's cool, man,very cool. Well, one other
(19:18):
quick personal question then I want tojump into what you are doing at TIFA.
Okay, if in you know,my audience over these now going into
our fourth year, not third year, but fourth year, we've just grown
together. We've grown up together,you know, in these conversations, and
it's been so cool to get feedback. And this is a sidebar, but
(19:45):
I think germane to the comment thatyou just made. I had a guest
on I think in season two andit was a wonderful conversation. You know,
very large a lady that works fora very large German company who has
(20:06):
since been has become a really goodfriend of mine and we had a conversation
and it took a turn that wedid not expect. You know, it
went from a very high level businessyou know, huge, massive company and
just talking about you know, whatthey're doing in the marketplace and all that
kind of stuff into a very personaland vulnerable, you know area in that
(20:32):
conversation, and we didn't know thatit was going there, but it did,
and thank god it did, becausewhen we aired the podcast, one
of her former co workers reached outand said he was at the end of
his rope and had been thinking ofthe worst, the inevitable, and by
(20:56):
listening to that very open and transparent, vulnerable conversation, he found hope to
continue on with his life and hisbusiness and his marriage and his family.
And that's life changing, bro.That is Uh, that's life changing.
You know. So the personal isreally important to me in any conversation,
(21:21):
particularly in this conversation, because ourwhole premise of the show is built on
real and raw conversations. But somy question before we get into TIFA is
this, if you could ask onequestion to anyone in the world, and
it could be any question, whowould you want to ask that question of?
(21:45):
Oh my gosh, man, that'sa tough one, and you did
not have ahead of time. Hey, you know what, though, you're
gonna like this and this this guyhas been on my mind, I think
quite a bit. But former NorthCarolina it's our heel, it's time NBA
(22:06):
champion, Michael Jordan. Oh nice, And I think for me the question
that I would ask him would be, you know, people often sometimes look
at you know, they look atlike they go to the games and they
see the glamour of the games,you know, and they see like kind
(22:26):
of like the like what you talkabout, the pinnacle, like the rise
or whatever. But I'd really becurious to see what it really took back
in the late eighties and early ninetiesto kind of set the tone for what
they accomplished with the Chicago Bulls.Yeah. Yeah, yeah, well listen,
great subject and great question. Wayto go, man, that's awesome.
(22:49):
Yeah. He would actually hung outon his boat one time. He
was not there, oh my gosh. And I was not supposed to be
there, believe it at that.But yeah, that's cool. So let
me ask you. Let's let's jumpinto Tikfa Health and Wellness again, just
(23:10):
to set the stage right, youleft. You left a great job,
lots of security, good income.You know, life was clicking along,
doing well, and you became disruptive. You became disruptive to an industry that
does not like disruption. It's justnot prone to uh to being picked at
(23:33):
right, and you did it.So I applaud you for doing that,
for having the the warwithal, youknow, the the faith and the tenacity
to challenge the big old giant gorilla. So I love the disruptive nature of
(23:55):
Tikfa Health and Wellness. What wasthe problem that you wanted to solve there?
You know, it's interesting because beingin the insurance base for twenty years,
you know, it's what happened andwhat kind of led me to the
vision of beginning this company. Thefirst place was you know, we we
(24:19):
had some personal life situations that hitus, you know, that just started
causing you know, some concerns andsome questions. And I'll share couple with
you. You know that. Thefirst one is Chuck is my oldest.
You know, there's a lot ofyou know, ADHD diagnoses that goes around
(24:41):
you know, these days, rightand you know, he's almost he's seventeen,
almost eighteen and thriving now. Butwhen he was five years old,
he was diagnosed with you know,with ADHD, and we just didn't feel
super great with the one solution ofputting them on a prescription drug, you
know, and so my you know, my ex wife and myself at the
(25:03):
time went down the path of tryingto look at like maybe an elimination diet
and maybe looking at you know,some maybe some chemicals and different things.
And we found that we worked witha more naturopathic provider and it was a
short, you know shift and changethat he was able to you know,
(25:26):
reduce some of those symptoms and getback to filling hole and being able to
see kind of what caused him toget out of balance in the first place.
And we had to pay for thatout of our own pocket. Another
more drastic one is like after mythird son, my third child, my
son Christian was born. You know, my ex wife, Amy had postpartum
(25:48):
cardio myopathy. So what that isis she had congestive heart failure and you
know, had a really bad battleand was having some heart issues and really
had a bad prognosis from you know, some of the heart you know,
surgeon as well as cardiologists and differentpeople that they're kind of looking at what
she may have to look at,you know, dealing with for the next
(26:10):
five to ten years, maybe forever. And we found a functional medicine doctor
in Texas that helped her get herhormones and adrenals balanced. And she was
back in the office of that cardiologistsdoing a what do they call it,
the ultrasound or heart and he didn'teven know what to say, Like her
heart had been healed, you know, within probably less than six to nine
(26:34):
months. Wow. And so againwe had to go and look at,
you know, through some of thesedifferent alternative solutions, and we had to
pay for all out of all thatout of pocket, and we had to
you know, go about it,you know, on our own investigative journey.
There wasn't a lot of support becausethe healthcare system can be so heroic
in many ways, but it's focusedon bio medical type. You know,
(26:59):
you know this, you spent alot of time there. It's built on
pharmaceutical studies and it's driven we're inyou know, in the classroom and in
like in that type of environment thatit is out in the world. Yeah,
you're creating, uh, you're drivingthis paradigm shift again in the in
the health space. The you know, you're sort of tackling insurance as we
(27:23):
know it. Right what's been thebiggest challenge David and being disruptive? That's
a great question, Chuck. I'lltell you the biggest challenges when we think
about paradigms and paradigms trying to beshifted, is that we all kind of
(27:48):
grow up, you know, aswe build up our own perception in our
own experience of the world, andso you know that that can often limit
our ability, you know, tosee things a little bit differently or even
be willing to evaluate and try thingsthat might you know, work better or
a little bit differently. And soone of the biggest challenges I see right
(28:11):
now is that we we want tomake a huge contribution to helping people find
a healthier way forward. But atthe same time, you know, with
the with the healthcare system itself,there's so many trained professionals like different uh
you know, like actuarial science.We're going to try and make an impact
with trying to build pricing and ratingyou know, a little bit differently than
(28:33):
it's been done before. You know, care modalities. There's a lot of
different things that we're super comfortable with, you know that Unfortunately, anything that
falls outside of that gets scrutinized andgets looked at a little bit differently.
So it's it's going to take ussome time, you know, to to
be able to make an impact onboth sides, because there's the professional side
(28:56):
and there's also helping people back tothat kind of that early experience becoming more
confident and maybe a little bit morewilling, you know, out of fear
to take a step in a differentdirection that might lead them down a better
path, you know, for theirhealth. And just some of the traditional
you know, just situations that continueto pop up with pharmaceutical drugs or often
(29:19):
sometimes you know, other types oftreatments and whatnot that tend to be a
little bit more invasive immediately. Imean, you know a lot of times
there's certain things that are necessary,you know, in time, and conventional
medicine can be again, it canbe amazing. But you know, we
we always start there and we're morereactive and we're also simpt focused. So
(29:41):
let me ask you just so wehave a good understanding of what you guys
are doing at TIKFA, right,Like we we have a big old group
policy insurance policy. And having havingjust been through h know, major knee
surgery two weeks ago, you know, it was it was really cool,
(30:06):
right and I went in checked inand you know, we had a deductible
to me, you know, wrotethe check for the deductible, and the
lady looked at me and said,your insurance company just paid X, and
that was a big X. Andit gave me comfort, right that I
(30:27):
could receive world class care and thatit would not break the bank and knock
on wood, fortunately, very blessedto say, you know, it's we've
progressed along the last couple of weeksin recovery, but I'm very thankful for
that group health insurance program, rightbecause if you look at what I paid
(30:49):
versus the group cost. You know, it's it's just a big old number.
So for the folks that are ina similar seat that I'm with my
story, talk to that person onwhat is the value component or one of
(31:11):
the value components the premise that you'rebringing to disrupt that, to make it
better, probably not to eliminate that, right, but to compliment that and
to make the net result, thebig picture better. Am i Am I
correct in that statement? Yeah,you are one percent correct. I mean,
(31:33):
you know, we My biggest thing, and I've learned this, you
know, over the past few years, is that we want to meet,
you know, individuals, families,companies where they're at, you know,
in regard to kind of how they'redealing with things, and then try and
you know, through our value proposition, help them accomplished, you know,
accomplished. Two things. Number oneis try and introduce opportunities to come alongside
(31:59):
of conventional medicine. You know thatdifferent types of practitioners maybe more root cause
you know, like analysis in regardto when they do get sick or injured
or hurt and something can become youknow, serious, being able to approach
a little bit differently and also throughthat process and you know, helping people
back to when we first you know, started the the show earlier, you
(32:21):
know, transformation, trying to getpeople tools and resources you know, to
help reduce their cost. You know, that goes for employees and individual individuals
and families as well as employers too, Chuck, because employers, I mean
from twenty twenty three to twenty twentyfour, we just were researching some data
(32:42):
that we're going to see the highestrate increase for employers where health insurance is
concerned in the last decade, youknow, and we do need to have
peace of mind, you know formajor medical that could be supported through conventional
but we also need to open upthe doors, you know, to some
other possibilities and clue become more inclusiveof bringing doctors and practitioners into the equation
(33:04):
that kind of right now are onthe outside looking in that can do a
lot of you know, I thinka lot of good to help you help
and support people. Yeah, andI'm seeing a trend. We've discussed this.
I'm seeing a trend in the alliedpart of healthcare. Right of the
practitioner side, We're more and moreuh PCPs, more and more docs are
(33:27):
headed toward you know, more progressivemodalities, an expandent way of thinking.
Concierge's care right, doing it differently, trying to do it better. So
I think you're tapping into this bigold hill that you're climbing, but I
think you're climbing it at a goodtime and hopefully, you know, for
(33:50):
you and and you guys at TIKA, you're getting some win under your cell
or behind your cell right with themomentum that I believe UH is a changing
environment. Would you agree? Iwould totally agree with that. And I
see it too, Chuck, Isee it both. You know, I've
talked about even you know, someof the best care you know, doctors
(34:15):
and practitioners and whatnot are kind ofevaluating the insurance model and the even like
the you know, the system,the way that it's set up right now
is just not being sustainable. Sothey're kind of trying to look at like,
how do we become more efficient,how do we look at things differently?
And then like there's a lot ofinterest you know, in in you
know, especially with the individuals andfamilies and even I attended a session with
(34:37):
some of the best doctors in townhere in Charleston where they're becoming more interested
in learning at natural ways to takecare of yourself, you know, maybe
differently versus just more conventional approaches.So I couldn't agree with you more.
I think that, you know,the timing for us, you know,
everything is timing. I think it'sGod's timing. I think there's a lot
of you know, perfect timing herefor you know, disruption and some positive
(35:01):
change that we'll see. And Ibelieve that there'll be a lot of innovation.
I mean, you work with youknow, you have a chance to
visit and work with a lot ofdifferent people, Like we're very fortunate and
blessed to be able to do that. And I think there's gonna be a
lot of entrepreneurs out there that thattry and you know, work towards fixing,
fixing some of the the you know, the the not cracks, but
i'd say holes in the sick careYeah, you know sick care model that
(35:24):
we that we kind of live inall kind of today. Yeah, yeah,
absolutely, let me macro it outfor just a moment as we uh,
as we work toward to close herein the conversation. Again, I
love working with entrepreneurs and founders.I was there uh, in many,
(35:45):
in many aspects, I'm there againbecause I'd love the juice of creativity,
and you know the challenge winking upevery morning, wanting to jump out of
bed, even with the bad knee, because I love what I do right.
But I find and I think thisis characteristic of a lot of entrepreneurs,
a lot of founders, it canbe very very lonely. Again I
(36:12):
go back to Toolshed living. Itcan be very lonely in the toolshed right
when you're trying to leave the cave, kill something, drag it home so
you can eat and feed your kidsand feed your family. So I characterize
it as being a time of greatjoy, of great difficulties, of winds
and losses and ups and downs.And you know, there's some days,
(36:37):
even doing the podcast, which Ilove, put a microphone in front of
me and I'll dance for my food. But there are just some days that
are better than others, and somedays that are lonely, and some days
you're thinking, why in the hellam I doing what I'm doing right?
Talk to just real quick, thatfuture entrepreneur, that future leader, because
(37:02):
we have a lot of leaders andCEOs that listen to the Chuck Crumpton Show.
But that person, maybe they're walkingthe dog, they're sitting on a
subway. Hopefully they're not shoveling snow. But you know they're they're just working
through life in corporate America and they'vegot an idea. They've got something burning
in their soul. And unless you'vedone what you're doing, you don't understand
(37:27):
the burning of the soul. Right, you know that that that itch that's
down deep that you've got to scratch. But talk to just a moment,
because you left right You left thesecurity to walk out in the snow,
You left the big office building togo into the tool shed. Speak real
quick before we close to that personthat may be contemplating that either aither thinking
(37:53):
about it or you know, andholidays tend to be conducive for people making
a change. Maybe they made theirchange, you know, January first,
and they're sitting in the tool shedby themselves, going what the heck am
I going to do next? Youknow, how do I how do I
put legs to this dream? Talkto that person for a moment. Just
(38:15):
share your heart, man, Yeah, I mean I will. I'll tell
you. You know, I thinkthat we've only got one life to live,
you know, and I think alot of times we can if we
don't really pay close attention to that, or let you know, circumstances or
other things shake us up a littlebit, you know, in creating possibilities
(38:38):
or you know, or are feelingled to do something else, we may
not and then we'll end up maybewhen we're in our that maybe we might
be lean up against the wrong buildingtowards the end of our life because we
didn't take you know, some ofthose chances, or we didn't take any
(38:58):
you know, risk, and thenthere is never a good time, you
know, I think that sometimes,like you know, I think you've got
to trust, you got to usediscermon and instinct, and you know,
there's something to be said for calculatedrisk. But I also believe that,
you know, there's never necessarily agreat time. You're just gonna have to
get to a point where you whereyou feel like it is the time and
make the decision, and you gotto go after it, you know.
(39:20):
I mean, because I can lookback on even and I'll say this to
you right now, I can lookback on having a lot of stability,
and like you know, I wouldsay more, you know, like having
plenty of resources coming in et cetera, et cetera, all of the things,
and starting a brand new company andkind of like being in the grind
(39:40):
and trying to bring something to theworld that I'm super passionate about and I
feel like it really could benefit fromand not really starting at ground zero.
I've never been having more fun thanI am right now. You know,
So cool man, so cool.Yeah. Yeah. And it's like kind
of what we put our you know, like that's what we put our trust
stand and sometimes we put everything intothe wrong things sometimes, you know,
(40:02):
and like maybe we're meant to liveand we are meant to live differently.
So that's what I would encourage people, you know, is you can start
planning and researching and doing you know, all the homework and getting the stuff
built out and kind of mapping out, but you just got to get after
it because you only got one lifeto live. Yeah. Well, well
said, yeah, that's awesome.Well, David Thanka, I'm telling you,
(40:27):
man, I applaud you for leavingthe big old corporate building and going
out and just disrupting your industry.Applaud you. I've watched you man,
and I'll just say this in closing. I watched your first presentation many many
many months ago, and then Iwatched one, you know, maybe six
(40:47):
months later, and I was justthrilled at how you grew, not only
in grasping and with this big oldindustry that you're taking on and trying to
make better, but just in yourarticulation of what you guys, your mission
(41:08):
and what you're doing and what youwant to do. So it was really
cool, right just as you know, maybe as a friend and a mentor
to watch your transformation. So Iapplaud you, and I do encourage you
to keep up the good work,keep the focus, keep your faith in
(41:29):
this endeavor, and good things willhappen, my friend, Good things will
happen. And I really appreciate yousharing what you've done, where you are
mentally and what you guys are doingat TIKFA Wealth, Health and Wellness.
How do we track you? We'renot going to stalk you, but how
do we track you? So youknow, we have a website, so
(41:54):
tifah Health and Wellness dot com.And then you know, my email right
now is uh, you know,David at teak for Health and Wellness dot
com. And then we do havea form that we are you know,
we are beginning to enroll people andyou know, you and I have talked
about this, like we're we're excited. You know, we're starting to evaluate
you know, different situations that area really good fit for what we're doing.
(42:16):
And so they can you know,someone can fill out a form and
won't be able to get back tothem very quickly through that process and kind
of get them up to speed andmore educated on what we're doing. Well
bye, that an opportunity to learnmore. And you know we've got LinkedIn.
I've got my LinkedIn account, We'vegot a business LinkedIn account, and
there is a teak for health andwell on this Instagram account too. So
(42:38):
awesome, different different places again,Man, we're we're gearing up for like
we're putting a lot of effort.You and I know this, and I
wanted to say something real quick.I learned to say a big thank you
to you, you know, becauseyou just mentioned like you know, I
I think even from last year,just a lot of mentorship and just you
know, your questions and the waythat you communicated and just your a lot
of your experience helped kind of shapeand kind of shift, you know,
(43:00):
even some of my my thinking,you know, and trying to go about
tackling this. And I want tosay thank you. You know, last
year a lot of time was spenton you know, fleshing out our business
model and kind of getting ready.This year, it's time to get after
starting to help people and trying toyou know, get out there and reach
(43:20):
you know, the right the folksthat are ready for us. You know,
I think more and more will comewith time. So that's very cool.
Well, you're very kind in yourthoughts and in your words. Thank
you for that. I find andit's and this is maybe purely philosophical,
but I find a strange tension witha lot of entrepreneurs and new founders.
(43:45):
And the tension is, you know, I've got to come out of the
gates. I'll use the bull becauseyou know, I'm Bill straight, but
we come out of the gates hard, charging and we want to conquer the
world. And you have to harnessyou have to embrace the balance of you
know, I'm just gonna come outof the gates charging wide open, working
(44:08):
hard every day, and you youyou balance that with a thirst for knowledge
and a humbleness to accept feedback.And I have seen you demonstrate that,
and that's one of that's a characterstatement that I'm making of you, and
(44:31):
that that attitude, man, thatcharacter will fuel a lot of great things
that you will do in life.So I just encourage you. I encourage
you. Man. When the uh, when the days get long and the
temperatures drop and you feel like you'reout there in the wilderness all by yourself,
there are a ton of people aroundyou that are cheering you on,
(44:53):
that are waiting more success stories.And I know you guys are going to
do great things. Is antique forhealth and wellness. So I encourage my
listeners. Please go to the site. Check David out, check what those
guys are doing. I love whatyou guys are doing. Keep up a
good work man, and really appreciateyou just sharing your heart today. David,
(45:15):
all the best, my friend.Thank you, sir. I appreciate
you being here.
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