Fullständig transkription av Staying Connected | Episode #507 | Encore Edition #5

really glad that I've got 73 00:04:38.470 --> 00:04:41.490 my own talk show now because it's going to minimize 74 00:04:41.529 --> 00:04:43.129 the amount of time you've got to spend on the 75 00:04:43.170 --> 00:04:45.240 phone with me. It's going to make your life easier 76 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:49.300 that Jeff Heiser has given me this opportunity. So without 77 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:53.019 further ado, I'd like to introduce Abe Richards to you. 78 00:04:54.699 --> 00:04:59.420 Well, hello, everyone. And, Steve, thanks so much for the 79 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:04.620 introduction and the kind words and the Our friendship and 80 00:05:04.699 --> 00:05:08.439 collaboration means a huge amount to me, and I get 81 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:11.939 more than I give. So kind of kudos back to you, 82 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:16.170 and it's been nothing but a pleasure watching you as 83 00:05:16.230 --> 00:05:21.670 you go around into prisons and other places and helping people. So, again, 84 00:05:21.730 --> 00:05:23.750 I get much, much, much more out of this than 85 00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:27.449 I give. So it's a pleasure to be on the show. 86 00:05:29.149 --> 00:05:32.970 Jake, thank you again. One of the beautiful things about 87 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.540 my life is that I've been surrounded by a lot 88 00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:41.379 of people that give so much to others. And I 89 00:05:41.420 --> 00:05:43.579 just want to quote Napoleon Hill for a minute as 90 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:46.019 a lead-in to some of the questions that I want 91 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:50.569 to ask you, Dave. Napoleon Hill says that the secret 92 00:05:50.810 --> 00:05:56.350 to success is to know your desire and never quit. 93 00:05:57.209 --> 00:05:57.490 And so. 94 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:02.139 What I'm learning is that people that genuinely care about 95 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:06.019 other people have basically the same philosophy, but they may 96 00:06:06.110 --> 00:06:09.389 say it in different ways. So, Dave, with that said, 97 00:06:10.449 --> 00:06:12.310 I'd like to just get everybody to know a little 98 00:06:12.350 --> 00:06:15.009 bit about you. And by the end of this interview, 99 00:06:15.029 --> 00:06:18.470 I think they're going to understand that there are a 100 00:06:18.509 --> 00:06:23.189 lot of people out there that want to do for 101 00:06:23.310 --> 00:06:27.329 others without so much caring about themselves. And you're one 102 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:29.519 of those people. How did you get like that, Dave? 103 00:06:31.819 --> 00:06:32.000 Thanks. 104 00:06:32.060 --> 00:06:34.680 Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I 105 00:06:34.779 --> 00:06:38.779 grew up in New England, large family, seven brothers and 106 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:43.870 sisters and parents. And I look back and really can 107 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:45.810 honestly say I think I have been one of the 108 00:06:45.850 --> 00:06:48.769 luckiest people alive to be born into

the situation I've 109 00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:52.089 been born into, not because we had a lot of money, 110 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:56.180 but I was born into a family. And by family, 111 00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:57.879 I mean that with a big F, not just the 112 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:02.230 immediate biological family, but family and friends and influences and. 113 00:07:02.430 --> 00:07:02.970 All of that. 114 00:07:04.389 --> 00:07:09.189 And from that, you know, a couple things have been, 115 00:07:09.569 --> 00:07:12.149 you know, imparted on me since a very, very young age. 116 00:07:12.269 --> 00:07:15.519 And again, these are right out of every book you 117 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:19.480 ever read, things like, you know, education and incredibly important. 118 00:07:19.500 --> 00:07:22.750 And it was stressed by, our parents and hard work, 119 00:07:22.910 --> 00:07:26.550 more than probably anything else, hard work and being able 120 00:07:26.589 --> 00:07:31.089 to grind. And so that's kind of what I come from, very, 121 00:07:31.170 --> 00:07:37.129 very small town roots and these really, really simple values. 122 00:07:38.189 --> 00:07:41.790 And I try to hang around people that kind of 123 00:07:41.810 --> 00:07:45.870 believe those same things and hard work and friendship and giving. 124 00:07:45.949 --> 00:07:47.000 And so that's where I come from. 125 00:07:47.750 --> 00:07:47.870 Uh. 126 00:07:48.389 --> 00:07:50.389 and then you know that the first thirty years i 127 00:07:50.430 --> 00:07:52.730 went to a small college in new england called williams 128 00:07:52.769 --> 00:07:56.050 college and and i married a uh... charlotte phil virginia 129 00:07:56.089 --> 00:07:59.370 girl which meant i ended up doing my work uh... 130 00:07:59.310 --> 00:08:01.709 my graduate work in business at the university of virginia 131 00:08:01.750 --> 00:08:04.629 at the at the darden school and so i've now 132 00:08:04.709 --> 00:08:09.839 been a mid-atlantic virginia north carolina person for the last uh... 133 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:14.339 almost thirty years and um... And that's where, you know, again, 134 00:08:14.459 --> 00:08:17.620 my life ended up, you know, crossing paths with Steve 135 00:08:17.660 --> 00:08:21.779 Copeland on a number of occasions. So that's me in 136 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:22.300 a nutshell. 137 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:26.439 That's good, Dave. Hey, I want to say that that 138 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:28.980 day I was at that seminar when I reconnected with you, 139 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:34.620 I came up to you and I didn't recognize you 140 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:39.419 because I hadn't seen you in 13 years. and you 141 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:42.019 actually looked younger than you did when I first met 142 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:46.120 you 13 years earlier. You must be doing something right. 143 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:51.450 But the seminar that you did fascinated me, and being 144 00:08:51.470 --> 00:08:53.929 the kind of

person I am, I wanted to meet 145 00:08:53.970 --> 00:08:57.149 you because you taught me something that day that I 146 00:08:57.190 --> 00:09:02.070 wanted to thank you for. The seminar was called 25 Years, 147 00:09:02.070 --> 00:09:07.029 10 Projects That You Were Involved In and What I Learned. 148 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:09.980 Can you hit the highlight of that for a minute? 149 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.399 I mean, I could do it because I love it, 150 00:09:12.450 --> 00:09:15.610 but would you talk about that for a second? Sure. 151 00:09:17.370 --> 00:09:21.730 So I was sharing experiences essentially as either pretty much 152 00:09:21.769 --> 00:09:25.879 the CEO or the leader of 10 different ventures that 153 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:28.179 I'd been a part of. And if you looked at 154 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:33.759 what had happened over those 10 different ventures, companies, businesses, companies, 155 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:37.889 It was really quite remarkable because three of them did 156 00:09:38.490 --> 00:09:40.269 very well, financially. 157 00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:40.529 Did very well. 158 00:09:40.629 --> 00:09:43.399 And you'd look at them and say, wow, big successes. 159 00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:48.320 And a third of them cratered, totally, you know, were 160 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:51.580 failed ventures in one way or another. And you did 161 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:53.090 the best you can. And then several of them we 162 00:09:53.110 --> 00:09:55.610 had to close down or whatever. And then another third 163 00:09:55.629 --> 00:09:58.769 of them went sideways. They didn't do great. They didn't 164 00:09:58.789 --> 00:10:03.519 do bad. They just went sideways. And you learn, interestingly, 165 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:06.399 you learn a lot more from the experiences of the 166 00:10:06.500 --> 00:10:09.750 ones that crater and go sideways than you learn from 167 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:13.230 the ones that do really well, because generally the common 168 00:10:13.250 --> 00:10:17.379 denominator across all of those 10 ventures is The common 169 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:20.980 thing is we worked hard. We tried our best. We 170 00:10:21.659 --> 00:10:24.320 think we were creative. We think we listened to customers. 171 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:26.980 We think we did all of those things the same, 172 00:10:27.019 --> 00:10:30.179 and some worked and some didn't. But there were some 173 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:35.610 things that oftentimes were out of our control that actually 174 00:10:35.690 --> 00:10:38.970 worked in our favor. The market was right, the product 175 00:10:38.990 --> 00:10:41.690 was right, or whatever, and we looked like heroes when 176 00:10:41.730 --> 00:10:43.870 they worked well, and the things that didn't work well, 177 00:10:43.909 --> 00:10:47.129 we didn't look as good. And And it was, quite frankly, 178 00:10:47.149 --> 00:10:51.830 the same people. So my takeaway from that is that's life. 179 00:10:51.909 --> 00:10:54.990 That's a metaphor for life at an individual level. You 180 00:10:55.009 --> 00:10:57.529 can do your best at times, and things just don't 181 00:10:57.570 --> 00:11:02.049 work out. And you don't want to blame other forces, 182 00:11:02.129 --> 00:11:05.710 but that's a reality. What it doesn't change is you 183 00:11:05.750 --> 00:11:08.929 just got to keep grinding through these things. So that 184 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:11.509 was kind of my storyline that day. And I was 185 00:11:11.529 --> 00:11:14.360 talking to a bunch of people that were early on 186 00:11:14.379 --> 00:11:19.580 in their career of starting and running businesses. And that story, 187 00:11:19.659 --> 00:11:23.360 if you talk to venture capitalists, professional venture money people, 188 00:11:24.059 --> 00:11:27.100 they'll pretty much tell you the same thing. Their returns 189 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:30.659 are driven by a relatively small percentage of companies that 190 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:33.529 do very well and a whole lot that don't work out. 191 00:11:33.610 --> 00:11:37.610 And the truth is, when they don't work out, you've 192 00:11:37.629 --> 00:11:40.360 got to pick yourself back up and learn the lessons 193 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.159 that you should have learned from those experiences, and dust 194 00:11:43.179 --> 00:11:47.039 yourself off and get back in the game. Wow, that's beautiful. 195 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:48.220 Is that what you took away, Steve? 196 00:11:49.419 --> 00:11:52.169 Yeah, yeah. You know, I'll say it in my words. 197 00:11:52.769 --> 00:11:56.269 So of the ten projects that Dave had done, I 198 00:11:56.309 --> 00:12:01.509 was incredibly impressed because these are big-time projects. One of 199 00:12:01.529 --> 00:12:04.490 them was the Weather Channel. Dave was one of the 200 00:12:04.529 --> 00:12:07.360 people behind the Weather Channel, and One of them was 201 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:10.500 a thing called Physicians Online where Dave figured out how 202 00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:15.370 to have 200,000 doctors subscribe to a program that he 203 00:12:15.409 --> 00:12:19.809 came up with and had pharmaceutical companies underwrite the program 204 00:12:19.850 --> 00:12:23.029 so that they could get in touch with these doctors. 205 00:12:23.970 --> 00:12:28.000 Dave is a master of connecting, but there's 10 projects 206 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:31.539 that Dave had. He used a technique of thumbs up, 207 00:12:31.940 --> 00:12:35.940 thumbs down, or thumbs neutral. And what's really interesting here 208 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:39.200 is and I want everybody to pay attention to this, 209 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:45.000 we're working with hardship populations, people that go through hardship. 210 00:12:45.700 --> 00:12:50.950 Not everybody is like poor, but people that are experiencing hardship. 211 00:12:51.389 --> 00:12:55.409 And what Dave just talked about is being able to 212 00:12:55.870 --> 00:12:59.610 not get hung up in

the past, just cut your 213 00:12:59.629 --> 00:13:02.320 losses and move forward. Learn from it. That's what he 214 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:06.830 just said. But of those 10 businesses... If I remember correctly, 215 00:13:07.450 --> 00:13:10.750 only three of them had a thumbs up that were successful, 216 00:13:11.389 --> 00:13:14.960 and four of them were thumbs down where you had 217 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.019 to just learn from it, get out of it, and 218 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:19.860 move on. And three of them that were named three 219 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:23.700 were like neutral, neither good nor bad. So what I've 220 00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:27.539 learned from Dave that day and all of our interaction 221 00:13:27.580 --> 00:13:31.649 ever since is Dave is a guy that knows how 222 00:13:31.909 --> 00:13:35.460 to move forward. So I want to bring one more 223 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.919 thing and then move back to Dave. When I was 224 00:13:38.970 --> 00:13:41.970 talking to Dave about the interview, I shared something with 225 00:13:41.990 --> 00:13:45.850 him that he agreed with. I spent so much time 226 00:13:46.950 --> 00:13:51.149 speaking on the subject of how to persevere and get 227 00:13:51.210 --> 00:13:54.250 through hardship. But I told Dave, I think I need 228 00:13:54.269 --> 00:13:57.940 to lighten up a little bit because, you know, why 229 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:02.059 are we fighting so hard to persevere? My answer is 230 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:06.019 because I love life. I love life, and I love everybody. 231 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:08.830 So on the subject of lightening up a little bit, 232 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:11.889 I want to ask you a question. Dave, did you 233 00:14:11.929 --> 00:14:15.370 hear about the cowboy that went into the saloon walking 234 00:14:15.409 --> 00:14:19.070 his dog, and his dog had a lip? Did you 235 00:14:19.090 --> 00:14:19.789 hear about that, Dave? 236 00:14:20.710 --> 00:14:20.909 No. 237 00:14:22.970 --> 00:14:24.629 I'm just trying to lighten up a little here, Dave. 238 00:14:24.649 --> 00:14:26.970 So the cowboy's in the saloon with his dog on 239 00:14:27.009 --> 00:14:30.269 a leash that's lipping, and when they get inside the saloon, 240 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:34.899 the dog says, I want to know who shot my pa. 241 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:41.919 That's kind of silly. So Dave, what I want to 242 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:45.679 go into next is, you shared some personal stories with 243 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:49.200 me when we traveled across the state of Virginia, in 244 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:54.279 and out of prisons, about your father and what you 245 00:14:54.379 --> 00:14:57.070 learned from your father. And I know that he had 246 00:14:57.129 --> 00:15:02.059 some some very inspirational people that he taught you. Can 247 00:15:02.100 --> 00:15:04.480 you speak to that? Sure. 248 00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:09.139 Yeah, both of my parents have been huge role models, 249 00:15:09.259

--> 00:15:13.500 and if you're lucky in life, maybe those role models 250 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:16.210 are your parents or maybe they're your grandparents, or they 251 00:15:16.250 --> 00:15:19.049 could be an uncle and aunt or whatever, or friends 252 00:15:19.129 --> 00:15:23.629 or bosses. And so, again, I've been fortunate because my 253 00:15:23.669 --> 00:15:27.169 parents were those in many, many ways for me. And Dad... 254 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.820 had on his desk, actually there on his desk, but 255 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:33.279 on the wall behind it, he was a lawyer, a 256 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:36.419 small-town lawyer in Vermont, and on his wall he had 257 00:15:37.330 --> 00:15:41.909 two plaques, not plaques, two... What's the word I'm looking for? 258 00:15:41.950 --> 00:15:48.230 I'm stretching for the word. Two little things on his 259 00:15:48.250 --> 00:15:50.470 wall that hung there that had quotes. How's that? I 260 00:15:50.509 --> 00:15:52.350 can't think of what the word is. I'm looking for it. 261 00:15:52.389 --> 00:15:54.690 But anyway, But anyway. 262 00:15:55.029 --> 00:15:59.169 One of them was Teddy Roosevelt's Man in the Arena. 263 00:15:59.289 --> 00:16:03.889 And if you go to Steve's website, the rightthinking.org website, 264 00:16:04.710 --> 00:16:08.669 you'll find it. And the other he had was Max 265 00:16:08.750 --> 00:16:12.860 Ehrman's Deserterada, which is a little bit longer piece. And 266 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:16.879 I think Dad probably looked at those about every day. 267 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:21.059 I look at those two pieces on a regular basis. 268 00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:28.100 And the reason is, they inspire me. And they're simple, 269 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:31.840 and they talk about hanging in there and fighting on 270 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:36.299 and doing that. And again, like I said, you can 271 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.139 learn from others, and I learned from obviously my parents, 272 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:43.029 but I learned from writers like that. These are simple things. 273 00:16:43.070 --> 00:16:47.610 But anyway, where that really became clear to me is 274 00:16:47.669 --> 00:16:50.990 watching Dad battle cancer. So he got cancer at a 275 00:16:51.029 --> 00:16:55.610 relatively young age. He was in his 50s, prostate, which 276 00:16:55.649 --> 00:16:59.309 most men will get during their life. And somewhere along 277 00:16:59.330 --> 00:17:05.599 about eight or ten years in, they gave him months 278 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:09.059 to live, months to live. And we all got in 279 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:11.880 the car quickly and we moved from Virginia, not moved, 280 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.059 but we visited from Virginia to Vermont and and it 281 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:17.460 had just consumed his body. It was in his bones, 282 00:17:17.549 --> 00:17:19.180 and it was in all sorts of places, and he 283 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:21.349 was in so much pain, you literally couldn't

touch him. 284 00:17:21.950 --> 00:17:24.450 He was in that much pain. And anyway, so we 285 00:17:24.470 --> 00:17:28.150 all went up over the holidays to basically, you know, 286 00:17:28.529 --> 00:17:32.329 have a last holiday and say goodbye. And so I'm 287 00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:34.769 talking with Dad, and I said, you know, how are 288 00:17:34.789 --> 00:17:36.309 you doing? He goes, well, you know, I think I'm 289 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:39.359 a lot of pain, but I'm feeling pretty good. And 290 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.339 I was like, well, tell me about that. And he goes, well, 291 00:17:42.380 --> 00:17:44.640 I've been to the doctors, and A whole bunch of 292 00:17:44.660 --> 00:17:47.089 them say, well, you know, it's, you know, I don't 293 00:17:47.109 --> 00:17:48.390 have a lot of time, but, you know, I talked 294 00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:50.589 to this one doctor, and he said, no, I've seen 295 00:17:50.630 --> 00:17:54.069 people last, you know, 12, 15 years from where you are. 296 00:17:54.109 --> 00:17:56.730 And the dad said, you know, he just said, I 297 00:17:56.769 --> 00:18:01.730 choose to take that advice. So he really sunk his 298 00:18:01.890 --> 00:18:04.410 head into it, you know, his mind into it, and said, no, 299 00:18:04.430 --> 00:18:07.369 I'm going to be around. And damned if he wasn't 300 00:18:07.410 --> 00:18:08.250 around 12, 15 years later. 301 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:10.319 Uh. 302 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.259 and it i think you know the i don't know 303 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:15.180 what the medical proof on this is but i believe 304 00:18:15.259 --> 00:18:17.680 so much of it was his is spirit that says 305 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:19.619 i'm i'm going to be here a lot of stuff 306 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:22.369 i have left to do uh... any battle this this 307 00:18:22.450 --> 00:18:25.950 wasn't this wasn't easy but he battled it with good 308 00:18:26.029 --> 00:18:29.349 cheer and we took trips and every spring he'd come 309 00:18:29.390 --> 00:18:33.309 down from vermont and we'd go visit civil war battlefields 310 00:18:33.430 --> 00:18:36.359 and And when we were done with that weekend, I'd 311 00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:38.420 put another one on the calendar for the next year, 312 00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:40.650 and we'd be shooting for that. And he'd come back down, 313 00:18:40.710 --> 00:18:43.049 and my brothers and I would do this, and my kids. 314 00:18:43.130 --> 00:18:47.650 And so it was that kind of, you know, this 315 00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:51.470 was not an easy process, and it was hard. But 316 00:18:51.509 --> 00:18:55.849 he always kept, you know, the right attitude, the cheer 317 00:18:55.930 --> 00:19:02.250 about it, joked about it. and realize life is still 318 00:19:02.289 --> 00:19:06.019 good even though it's a hard time. The alternative is worse. 319 00:19:06.259 --> 00:19:11.319 So anyways, I learned a lot from those types of experiences, 320 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:13.339 and I try to take them into my own life. 321 00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:19.710 Yeah, well, Dave, I know that you keep a grueling 322 00:19:19.829 --> 00:19:26.990 schedule and that you're involved in numerous nonprofit organizations that you... 323 00:19:27.490 --> 00:19:30.809 try to help them get their message out. And I 324 00:19:30.849 --> 00:19:33.890 thank you again for being part of Right Thinking Foundation. 325 00:19:34.970 --> 00:19:37.410 But Dave, can you share a little bit about some 326 00:19:37.450 --> 00:19:40.009 of the nonprofits that you work with and why you 327 00:19:40.049 --> 00:19:40.369 do that? 328 00:19:42.269 --> 00:19:46.950 Sure. So my business, the company that we started quite 329 00:19:46.970 --> 00:19:50.079 a few years ago is called Concursive. And over the 330 00:19:50.099 --> 00:19:57.950 last almost 17, 18 years, we've built technology, quote, a platform, 331 00:19:57.970 --> 00:20:02.130 a technology platform. And the purpose of the platform is 332 00:20:02.150 --> 00:20:06.730 to connect people. And so historically... So what does that mean? Well, 333 00:20:06.750 --> 00:20:10.450 that means... uh... uh... company a big business or small 334 00:20:10.470 --> 00:20:14.250 business that want to connect their employees together something that 335 00:20:14.549 --> 00:20:17.069 would look and feel mac like a face book you 336 00:20:17.109 --> 00:20:20.509 know with you know walls and comments and blogs and 337 00:20:20.569 --> 00:20:23.190 all pictures and photos if they want to build one 338 00:20:23.210 --> 00:20:25.920 of those they could lighten our software to do that 339 00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:30.559 they could build their own private social kind of environment uh... 340 00:20:30.940 --> 00:20:33.259 or they could lighten their software and they could try 341 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:35.500 to build and you know a business out of our 342 00:20:35.859 --> 00:20:38.980 on top of our software So a number of years ago, 343 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:42.299 we decided as a business that we will still license 344 00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:44.799 our software that anybody that wants to pay us money 345 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:48.230 to use it to go build a community. And we 346 00:20:48.250 --> 00:20:51.089 still do that. So we license our software to others. 347 00:20:51.549 --> 00:20:56.970 But increasingly, we decided to use our technology to address 348 00:20:57.670 --> 00:21:01.970 what we call problems that matter. And to address problems 349 00:21:02.009 --> 00:21:08.200 that matter where the solution is greatly about people working together, 350 00:21:08.289 --> 00:21:11.849 people connecting. You will think about kind of bringing the 351 00:21:11.950 --> 00:21:14.990 crowd together to solve a problem. So we said, let's 352 00:21:15.009 --> 00:21:17.609 keep our eyes and ears open. When we see problems 353 00:21:17.630 --> 00:21:21.789 where the solution is greatly about people, then our technology 354 00:21:22.250 -->

00:21:24.890 is relevant. And so going back to, obviously, Steve, you 355 00:21:24.910 --> 00:21:27.339 know this, when you and I kind of linked back 356 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.119 up years ago and you were telling me about prisons 357 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:33.230 and your work in there and We start talking about, well, 358 00:21:33.329 --> 00:21:38.390 what happens when the prisoners are released? How do you 359 00:21:38.430 --> 00:21:41.519 help them then? And the answer is greatly it's about people. 360 00:21:41.579 --> 00:21:47.039 It's about trying to connect those individuals, returning citizens, with 361 00:21:47.099 --> 00:21:51.420 better influences than they had before. Mentors, how do you 362 00:21:51.460 --> 00:21:54.119 connect them with better information? And how do you connect 363 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:58.390 them with jobs? And the answer is, while it's about people, 364 00:21:58.410 --> 00:22:03.029 it's also about technology can help people. And so that's 365 00:22:03.109 --> 00:22:06.349 the intersection that we're most interested in, is looking for 366 00:22:06.410 --> 00:22:10.549 problems where we can bring more people to try to 367 00:22:10.609 --> 00:22:14.039 work on and solve it. And our little piece of 368 00:22:14.059 --> 00:22:16.819 the puzzle is we just have a big piece of 369 00:22:16.859 --> 00:22:19.000 software that has, I don't know, six or seven million 370 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.200 lines of code to it. And so we don't have 371 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:24.250 to repay for that. We can kind of bring it. 372 00:22:24.289 --> 00:22:29.190 So that's led us to do work around food insecurity, hunger. 373 00:22:29.250 --> 00:22:33.950 How do we get more food picked up from people 374 00:22:33.970 --> 00:22:37.630 who have food they can give to people that need 375 00:22:37.670 --> 00:22:41.779 the food. And the, I don't know if it's an 376 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:44.880 embarrassing or horrible thing about this problem in the United States, 377 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:47.680 and it's this problem around the world, but the United States, 378 00:22:48.579 --> 00:22:55.190 we throw away or plow under or goes bad as 379 00:22:55.329 --> 00:22:57.410 much food as consumed in the United States. 380 00:22:57.910 --> 00:22:58.410 Think about that. 381 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:03.150 As much food is consumed in the United States, an 382 00:23:03.329 --> 00:23:06.710 equal amount either goes bad or is thrown away or 383 00:23:06.730 --> 00:23:09.190 is plowed under, meaning the farmers have it. They don't 384 00:23:09.210 --> 00:23:10.269 have any way to get it to market, so they 385 00:23:10.309 --> 00:23:14.779 plow it under. So food insecurity, the solution is a 386 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:17.579 distribution problem. How do we get more of that to 387 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:20.119 the people that need it? And we do that through 388 00:23:20.140 --> 00:23:24.000 connecting people. So we have a little company that's not 389 00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:25.859 even a company. It's just a product. It's an initiative 390 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:31.690 called WeFeed.us. And we're working with the city of Norfolk 391 00:23:32.089 --> 00:23:34.829 in Virginia and the city of Virginia Beach, and we're 392 00:23:34.849 --> 00:23:37.750 working with the Food Bank of Southeast Virginia. And when 393 00:23:37.789 --> 00:23:42.329 I say we and working, it's strictly an informal collaboration. 394 00:23:43.450 --> 00:23:46.269 We just bring the technology, and we're bringing some young, 395 00:23:46.789 --> 00:23:49.829 smart kids to help us, and they're bringing a few dollars, 396 00:23:49.910 --> 00:23:54.829 and we're working with nonprofits, and we're working with faith-based organizations. 397 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:56.900 And it truly is a collaboration. We don't know how 398 00:23:56.920 --> 00:23:58.480 we're going to, well, I tell you, we're not making 399 00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:00.809 any money. All we do is, quote, lose and spend money. 400 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:03.509 But that's okay. That's fine. It's not a lot of money, 401 00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:06.890 and it's the right thing. So we're working in food insecurity. 402 00:24:07.450 --> 00:24:12.750 We're working around autism, trying to connect autism, families that 403 00:24:12.789 --> 00:24:16.390 have autistic children or members of their family with better resources, 404 00:24:17.490 --> 00:24:21.059 doing some early work with Gold Star, the Gold Star community, 405 00:24:21.930 --> 00:24:24.930 which we are incredibly sympathetic to, and how you support 406 00:24:24.970 --> 00:24:30.019 them better. And then we're also pointing our technology at 407 00:24:30.140 --> 00:24:33.779 areas where we think hopefully we can have more commercial success. 408 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.720 And so the more commercial success we have by licensing 409 00:24:36.779 --> 00:24:39.660 our technology to people that can pay us allows us 410 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:44.190 to take that money and do things that, quite frankly, 411 00:24:44.430 --> 00:24:47.519 we don't see any kind of financial return on. But 412 00:24:47.579 --> 00:24:49.990 that's okay. I'll tell you, the stuff that we do 413 00:24:50.029 --> 00:24:55.190 in the food area is just so much more rewarding, 414 00:24:55.250 --> 00:24:58.250 quite frankly, than selling technology to a big company to 415 00:24:58.349 --> 00:25:03.099 use internally. And that's how we've run it, obviously, together. 416 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:07.519 Let me interject here. I want to bring it back 417 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:14.930 down to a little bit. more ground level. I want 418 00:25:14.950 --> 00:25:19.230 to let the listeners understand something that I understand. That 419 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:21.220 day that I come back to where you were doing 420 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:25.920 your seminar and I was just so, so enjoying what 421 00:25:25.940 --> 00:25:28.099 your point was to move

on with your life and 422 00:25:28.140 --> 00:25:31.339 so forth. One of the things that I said to 423 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:37.180 you was, you know, I do million dollar business deals. 424 00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:41.599 You do billion dollar business deals. And what I meant 425 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:45.339 by that was there's a term in business where you 426 00:25:45.460 --> 00:25:49.859 use it sometimes. Let's look at it from 10,000 feet up. Like, 427 00:25:49.900 --> 00:25:53.000 let's look at the real big picture. Well, what I 428 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.250 want to tell everybody that's listening is Dave is a 429 00:25:56.329 --> 00:26:01.470 guy that has the heart for people. He has the 430 00:26:01.569 --> 00:26:04.990 heart to want to be there for other people. I 431 00:26:05.029 --> 00:26:07.589 think that's why I love Dave so much and why 432 00:26:07.630 --> 00:26:10.880 he's my close friend. But what I'm trying to get 433 00:26:10.980 --> 00:26:15.490 at is this. It takes people that can think at 434 00:26:15.549 --> 00:26:19.230 that higher level and then other people like me to 435 00:26:19.269 --> 00:26:22.150 get out there and kind of put those thoughts into 436 00:26:22.309 --> 00:26:25.950 action sometimes. Dave puts thoughts into action. But, Dave, you're 437 00:26:26.009 --> 00:26:29.710 always looking at the really big picture. And I've been 438 00:26:29.730 --> 00:26:34.529 around you so much that sometimes I don't understand how 439 00:26:34.549 --> 00:26:37.509 it works and how that can be. But the longer 440 00:26:37.569 --> 00:26:41.049 I'm around you, I see that, wow, it's like a 441 00:26:41.109 --> 00:26:45.490 visionary that sees something that nobody else sees. With that, Dave, 442 00:26:45.529 --> 00:26:47.630 I'm not just trying to kiss up to you. I'm 443 00:26:47.730 --> 00:26:52.589 trying to bring it to the listeners' understanding that when 444 00:26:52.630 --> 00:26:57.009 you talk about your Connect software, sometimes it's hard for 445 00:26:57.049 --> 00:27:02.470 me to understand how can being involved in like a 446 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:07.890 social media kind of thing really help people understand move 447 00:27:07.990 --> 00:27:10.670 on with their lives and succeed. And one of the 448 00:27:10.750 --> 00:27:14.210 features of Connect that I really like is how you 449 00:27:14.230 --> 00:27:18.029 can do an action plan for somebody. Would you explain 450 00:27:18.230 --> 00:27:21.009 that feature of how if we were to mentor somebody 451 00:27:21.049 --> 00:27:25.759 that had been recently released from prison or is somebody 452 00:27:25.779 --> 00:27:29.759 that we're trying to help along, how your platform can 453 00:27:29.900 --> 00:27:31.619 focus them towards success? 454 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:33.720 Sure. 455 00:27:34.779 --> 00:27:40.700 Great question. success, at least in my belief, of success 456 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:44.240 and everything that's helped me succeed and people that I 457

00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:49.220 know have succeeded, it's a pretty simple formula. You've just 458 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:53.569 got to keep at it. You've got to make a list. 459 00:27:53.609 --> 00:27:56.289 You've got to make a plan. And you've just got 460 00:27:56.309 --> 00:28:02.630 to really grind through it. And unfortunately, most things don't 461 00:28:02.670 --> 00:28:07.009 just fall in your lap. And so... Our technology, and again, 462 00:28:07.049 --> 00:28:10.670 it has a lot of features that look and feel 463 00:28:10.730 --> 00:28:14.369 like a Facebook or a LinkedIn or those types of things. 464 00:28:14.490 --> 00:28:17.009 What I mean by that is where you can connect 465 00:28:17.049 --> 00:28:21.509 with people, and literally in things like walls and replies 466 00:28:21.549 --> 00:28:24.079 and all those things, if you've used any of these 467 00:28:24.119 --> 00:28:27.940 social technologies, you would be familiar with them. But what 468 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:30.799 Steve is referring to is it has some other capabilities 469 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.369 as well, the ability to make a simple plan. make 470 00:28:34.549 --> 00:28:39.950 a list of things to do. And again, that sounds 471 00:28:40.029 --> 00:28:44.130 pretty trite, but it's incredibly important to make a list 472 00:28:44.170 --> 00:28:46.069 of things to do and then check them off and 473 00:28:46.109 --> 00:28:51.289 do them. What's important also about these Connect technologies is 474 00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:54.990 I can build myself a little team. So when I'm 475 00:28:55.049 --> 00:28:58.549 building my list of 10 or 15 things that I'm 476 00:28:58.589 --> 00:29:01.650 going to do, if Steve is on my little private 477 00:29:01.769 --> 00:29:05.609 team area and Maybe I get Jeff on my team area, 478 00:29:05.630 --> 00:29:08.289 and maybe I'm a returning citizen, and they've helped me 479 00:29:08.349 --> 00:29:10.369 build the list of things I have to do. And 480 00:29:10.829 --> 00:29:13.190 in my private little work area, they've maybe put a 481 00:29:13.250 --> 00:29:16.450 few documents and things they think I should read. And 482 00:29:17.329 --> 00:29:20.990 so they're looking at the same list of things that 483 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:23.400 I say I'm going to do. They're looking at it. 484 00:29:23.930 --> 00:29:25.720 And they're my mentors, and they're my coaches, and they're 485 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:28.259 my friends, and they want me to succeed. And when 486 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:31.039 I don't do them, they can look and see that 487 00:29:31.059 --> 00:29:32.920 I haven't done them because I didn't check them off. 488 00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:35.400 And they can get hold of me, just like my 489 00:29:35.559 --> 00:29:37.259 parents used to do. When I said I would do 490 00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:40.549 something and I didn't do something, they reminded me. sometimes 491 00:29:40.589 --> 00:29:44.390 with a hug and many times with a kick in 492 00:29:44.410 --> 00:29:47.180 the fanny. Say, no, no, no, no, you're falling down here. 493 00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:51.140 Get going again. And so making lists and making them 494 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:55.759 transparent is a huge part of success and just doing 495 00:29:55.779 --> 00:29:57.779 what you say you're going to do. Steve talked about 496 00:29:57.859 --> 00:30:01.240 credit last time. And credit's about saying you're going to 497 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:03.599 do something and then doing it, borrowing money and paying 498 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:06.460 it back. That's how you build credit. Well, that's how 499 00:30:06.509 --> 00:30:11.049 you get forward in life in general. And so, Steve 500 00:30:11.109 --> 00:30:12.450 and I have talked a lot about these things, but 501 00:30:13.029 --> 00:30:17.170 I get inspired by the great men who came before us. And, 502 00:30:18.210 --> 00:30:20.279 you know, if you look at, go look at Ben 503 00:30:20.410 --> 00:30:23.599 Franklin and go look at George Washington. Now, these are 504 00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:26.539 men from the past. These are the greatest men in 505 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:28.579 the history of the United States, probably the two greatest 506 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:30.779 in my mind. If you put a third in there, 507 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:32.799 it's probably Lincoln, at least in my mind. If you 508 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:35.980 put a fourth, you could say a bunch of other people. 509 00:30:36.019 --> 00:30:39.940 But early American history, those are the greatest. Franklin, since 510 00:30:39.980 --> 00:30:47.400 he was a teenager, he identified 13 virtues. And every day, 511 00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:51.059 every day, he looked at those 13 virtues, and he 512 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:53.759 focused on a different one every week. And he had 513 00:30:53.799 --> 00:30:56.440 this regular routine. He figured, if I could do these 514 00:30:56.440 --> 00:31:01.039 13 things well, I will have a good life. George Washington, 515 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:03.720 as a 16-year-old, did a very similar thing. He created, 516 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:05.339 and you can go look these up, and we'll have 517 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:07.519 them on the website if they're not already up there now. 518 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:12.759 Washington created 110 what he called rules of civility and 519 00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:16.549 decent behavior. And he looked at those every day for 520 00:31:16.589 --> 00:31:19.069 the rest of his life. That was his list. That's 521 00:31:19.089 --> 00:31:22.089 how he was going to get ahead. So we're taking 522 00:31:22.230 --> 00:31:25.329 many of those simple same concepts and saying, you as 523 00:31:25.410 --> 00:31:27.230 a person have to create your own list. You have 524 00:31:27.250 --> 00:31:30.089 to create a plan. Steve talks about this, make a plan, 525 00:31:30.190 --> 00:31:33.930 plan ahead, work it, things will get better, and it will. 526 00:31:34.470 -->

00:31:37.769 And if you don't do that, they generally just don't 527 00:31:37.809 --> 00:31:41.289 get better as quickly, if at all. The nice thing 528 00:31:41.329 --> 00:31:45.559 about now where technology can help you is think about 529 00:31:45.619 --> 00:31:49.839 how to involve trusted friends of yours, and you can 530 00:31:49.900 --> 00:31:53.420 build a little private area, and they can help you 531 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:58.559 stay on track. So that's Steve, you tell me what 532 00:31:58.599 --> 00:31:58.920 I missed. 533 00:31:59.880 --> 00:32:03.369 No, you didn't miss anything. But let me say something 534 00:32:03.450 --> 00:32:08.970 about what you just said. I am a prime example 535 00:32:09.630 --> 00:32:14.619 of how high-level thinking with technology and the whole concept 536 00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:18.839 of how important it is to be connected. I am 537 00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:23.279 an example because, like, look at right now. I've been 538 00:32:23.339 --> 00:32:27.269 connected with Dave for five years now. And it's opened 539 00:32:27.349 --> 00:32:32.650 up many, many doors. And that's a wonderful thing. But 540 00:32:32.950 --> 00:32:37.170 Dave has got technology that a lot of people, they 541 00:32:37.190 --> 00:32:40.980 can't understand how just having, connecting with people and one 542 00:32:41.019 --> 00:32:45.900 another through technology like Facebook and being involved like that 543 00:32:46.460 --> 00:32:48.779 can help people change their lives other than just being 544 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:51.900 a whole lot of gossip, for the lack of a 545 00:32:51.940 --> 00:32:55.789 better word. And what I'm saying is, Dave is at 546 00:32:55.829 --> 00:33:00.420 this level with which you've done, Dave, that enables people, 547 00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:05.180 once they want to understand that being connected to others 548 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:08.609 with a sense of community will give them a much 549 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:18.529 more fulfilling, better life. If you go to my website, rightthink.org, R-I-G-H-T-H-I-N-K.org, 550 00:33:19.349 --> 00:33:21.339 and you look at a little video that you're going 551 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:24.450 to see right in the homepage there, At the very 552 00:33:24.609 --> 00:33:27.849 end of it, when the video stops, where I introduce 553 00:33:28.069 --> 00:33:32.369 myself and what Right Thinking does, my logo, the bottom 554 00:33:32.490 --> 00:33:35.569 of my logo is on the screen for a few seconds. 555 00:33:37.109 --> 00:33:41.059 Dave gave me that logo. He's the one that took 556 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:44.359 my idea of what I want to do. And he 557 00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:48.859 taught me, well, Steve, in order to succeed, you've got 558 00:33:48.980 --> 00:33:52.539 to be connected with community. And then he gave me 559 00:33:52.619 --> 00:33:56.269 three pillars. The first pillar is you've got to have 560 00:33:56.309 --> 00:33:59.599 a place to live, you've got to have an income, 561 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:03.880 and you've got to be involved in community. This stuff 562 00:34:03.940 --> 00:34:07.480 is so deep. I hope that we're communicating it to 563 00:34:07.559 --> 00:34:10.139 everybody here properly, but what I'm trying to say is this. 564 00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:16.510 If a person has a real desire to be there 565 00:34:16.889 --> 00:34:20.230 and be helpful to other people, to help them make 566 00:34:20.269 --> 00:34:25.570 their lives better, and they use... All they've got, all 567 00:34:25.590 --> 00:34:30.869 of their gifts, and they really care. In the interview 568 00:34:30.889 --> 00:34:33.860 with Jeff Heiser five weeks ago, he said the key 569 00:34:33.900 --> 00:34:36.699 was they have to genuinely care if they want to 570 00:34:36.780 --> 00:34:40.639 influence people, otherwise they're in the wrong business. So what 571 00:34:40.659 --> 00:34:45.239 I'm trying to say is simply this. Dave has tools. 572 00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:50.849 He has technology that if it's used properly, people that 573 00:34:50.889 --> 00:34:55.219 are struggling... If they want to be connected with other people, 574 00:34:56.500 --> 00:35:00.800 doors will open. And it's happened for me. And I 575 00:35:00.909 --> 00:35:02.750 thank Dave for that. That's why I got him on 576 00:35:02.789 --> 00:35:05.429 the show today. It wasn't so much for Dave to 577 00:35:05.469 --> 00:35:07.349 just tell his whole life story, which I want you 578 00:35:07.369 --> 00:35:09.630 all to hear. It's so that I can thank him 579 00:35:09.730 --> 00:35:12.409 publicly for all that he's done for me to be 580 00:35:12.469 --> 00:35:15.550 behind me and open up so many doors. So, Dave, 581 00:35:16.769 --> 00:35:20.099 let's talk a minute. You want to respond to that, Dave? 582 00:35:20.179 --> 00:35:21.880 I guess you could say you're welcome. 583 00:35:21.900 --> 00:35:28.469 I have a response to that. Two thoughts. First is 584 00:35:28.769 --> 00:35:32.429 there are a lot of people out there who are 585 00:35:32.469 --> 00:35:36.570 willing to help. They really are. I see them all 586 00:35:36.590 --> 00:35:38.659 the time. And people are busy and they have lives 587 00:35:38.699 --> 00:35:42.280 and they have kids. But so many people will lean 588 00:35:42.420 --> 00:35:46.250 out and help to some degree when they can. So 589 00:35:46.289 --> 00:35:50.550 there really are a lot of people. I'm incredibly encouraged 590 00:35:50.630 --> 00:35:53.889 by people's willingness to help. That's the first part. The 591 00:35:53.989 --> 00:35:57.030 second part of that is they're even more willing to 592 00:35:57.110 --> 00:36:00.809 help when they run into people that are trying to succeed. 593 00:36:00.849 --> 00:36:02.849 And they're even more willing to help when they've run 594 00:36:02.889 --> 00:36:06.769 into somebody that is down on their luck and is really, 595 00:36:06.829 --> 00:36:11.260 really working hard to try to succeed. People

will try 596 00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:13.019 to lean in and help. So the point of that 597 00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:17.670 is is there's help out there, A. But B, it 598 00:36:17.710 --> 00:36:20.849 has to start with the individual saying, I'm going to 599 00:36:20.889 --> 00:36:24.750 make my life better. And I love running into those people. 600 00:36:25.349 --> 00:36:27.809 And I can only, only any one person can only 601 00:36:27.829 --> 00:36:31.460 do so much. But you try, you connect them with others. 602 00:36:31.539 --> 00:36:35.059 And so to this point of, how do you show 603 00:36:35.179 --> 00:36:39.369 people that you're trying? The answer is, You get started. 604 00:36:40.090 --> 00:36:41.949 You do it. You make a plan. It's all the 605 00:36:41.969 --> 00:36:45.329 stuff Steve talks about. The reason I warmed up to 606 00:36:45.349 --> 00:36:50.010 Steve so much is, you've never seen Steve. Let me 607 00:36:50.030 --> 00:36:53.130 tell you about Steve. Steve is about 5'10. He weighs 608 00:36:53.230 --> 00:36:54.829 about 127 pounds, soaking wet. 609 00:36:55.849 --> 00:36:56.829 5'11, 161. 610 00:36:56.829 --> 00:36:57.769 Thank you. 611 00:36:59.349 --> 00:37:02.590 And he is the scrappiest SOB you've ever run into. 612 00:37:03.030 --> 00:37:04.699 And if I was ever in a foxhole and I 613 00:37:04.699 --> 00:37:08.039 need someone behind me, Steve is the guy. And he's 614 00:37:08.059 --> 00:37:12.239 not going to give up. And he's had terrible health issues, 615 00:37:12.280 --> 00:37:16.000 and he's not given up from those. He survived through 616 00:37:16.599 --> 00:37:21.820 the 2008 real estate recession. I mean, I love people 617 00:37:21.860 --> 00:37:26.119 like that. And almost all of my friends from every 618 00:37:26.159 --> 00:37:29.469 walk of life look like Steve. And we've all run 619 00:37:29.489 --> 00:37:33.469 into these adversities. And so There's other people like, obviously, me. 620 00:37:33.550 --> 00:37:36.690 There's lots of them. And if you're someone, you should 621 00:37:36.730 --> 00:37:40.510 emulate Steve in terms of don't give up. He says 622 00:37:40.550 --> 00:37:45.409 it pretty straightforward. So anyways, I digress, but that's kind 623 00:37:45.449 --> 00:37:51.039 of what really getting ahead is. And it's not rocket science. 624 00:37:52.380 --> 00:37:57.139 It's just grinding through. And let me, because again, I 625 00:37:57.139 --> 00:38:00.679 don't get this. It sounds horrible and burdensome. My belief is, 626 00:38:01.369 --> 00:38:04.949 wherever you are in life, have a goal in mind. Literally, 627 00:38:05.469 --> 00:38:07.760 think where you'd like to be in five or ten years, 628 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:10.019 and it's probably a lot better place than you are today. 629 00:38:10.639 --> 00:38:13.739 Think about it. And now say, okay, how do I 630 00:38:13.780 --> 00:38:16.539 get started? How do I get started in that direction? 631 00:38:18.179 --> 00:38:22.309 And you get started by getting a job, any job, 632 00:38:23.170 --> 00:38:26.170 doing a great job in whatever job you're in. And 633 00:38:26.210 --> 00:38:28.329 if you do a great job in any job you're in, 634 00:38:28.630 --> 00:38:31.260 whether it's washing dishes, and I've done every one of 635 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:35.639 these jobs, trust me. Washing dishes, waiting tables, I've raked 636 00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:40.369 and sold seaweed, I've knit lobster pot and nets, doesn't matter. 637 00:38:40.989 --> 00:38:44.909 And I've also been executive of a very large company. 638 00:38:45.989 --> 00:38:49.360 And the common denominator is you get ahead when you 639 00:38:49.380 --> 00:38:52.880 work hard and do a good job because bosses take 640 00:38:52.940 --> 00:38:56.119 note of that, customers take note of that, and And 641 00:38:56.139 --> 00:38:58.909 when you're doing that, you're keeping in mind wherever you 642 00:38:58.929 --> 00:39:01.030 want to end up, a bigger vision, a better vision. 643 00:39:01.849 --> 00:39:04.070 That's good, Dave. 644 00:39:04.849 --> 00:39:11.710 Okay, Dave, I think that we've established that you're a 645 00:39:11.750 --> 00:39:16.550 person that really is doing a lot trying to help 646 00:39:16.610 --> 00:39:19.889 people have a better life, which is what right thinking 647 00:39:19.909 --> 00:39:22.789 is all about. I want to share this about. 648 00:39:24.900 --> 00:39:28.130 Two and a half years ago, Dave came up with 649 00:39:28.349 --> 00:39:31.380 a program that he said, maybe right thinking could add 650 00:39:31.460 --> 00:39:36.199 to its curriculum. And it was called Win That First Job. 651 00:39:36.840 --> 00:39:41.699 And it stressed the importance of getting started right away. 652 00:39:41.820 --> 00:39:47.690 If you've been incarcerated or you're out of work, maybe 653 00:39:47.869 --> 00:39:50.510 this is not for somebody who's been incarcerated. Maybe it's 654 00:39:50.530 --> 00:39:55.690 just for some regular person whose company went out of business, 655 00:39:55.929 --> 00:39:58.309 and all of a sudden you're a 52-year-old person that 656 00:39:58.670 --> 00:40:02.170 is unemployed. And you're getting a little depressed because you're 657 00:40:02.210 --> 00:40:06.570 not supporting your family. So anyway, anybody that's not working, 658 00:40:06.590 --> 00:40:11.489 Dave gave me an outline for the program that he's 659 00:40:11.530 --> 00:40:14.409 now taking to the Virginia Department of Corrections. And for 660 00:40:14.429 --> 00:40:18.860 the last two years, I incorporated it. And it's basically... hey, 661 00:40:18.889 --> 00:40:22.699 if you're making $ 60 an hour as a truck driver 662 00:40:23.659 --> 00:40:26.800 and you can't keep your license anymore, it's okay to 663 00:40:26.840 --> 00:40:29.090 go work for minimum wage and just get started. But 664 00:40:29.110 --> 00:40:30.750 what I want to do now, Dave, for the last 665 00:40:31.289 --> 00:40:34.429 six or seven minutes of the interview,

I would like 666 00:40:34.489 --> 00:40:39.909 for you to give the listeners the whole seminar condensed 667 00:40:40.639 --> 00:40:45.199 on what you do when you encourage people train us 668 00:40:45.460 --> 00:40:47.380 on how to get out there and get employed, Dave, 669 00:40:47.420 --> 00:40:49.000 because you're a master at it. 670 00:40:51.159 --> 00:40:55.849 In six minutes. Well, I don't exactly know how to 671 00:40:55.909 --> 00:40:57.710 do that, Steve, but let. 672 00:40:57.610 --> 00:41:01.889 Me take a quick look. We'll bring you back for 673 00:41:01.909 --> 00:41:02.989 the long version, okay? 674 00:41:03.289 --> 00:41:07.570 Okay. The short version is you just have to get started. 675 00:41:07.610 --> 00:41:12.250 Any job. It's easier to get a job, a better job, 676 00:41:12.349 --> 00:41:15.409 when you have a job. And my mother always said 677 00:41:15.429 --> 00:41:19.849 to me, any honest day's work is honorable. It doesn't 678 00:41:19.869 --> 00:41:23.360 matter whatever it is. And so you've got to get 679 00:41:23.380 --> 00:41:25.900 a job. And the way to then get ahead, again, 680 00:41:25.940 --> 00:41:30.139 let's take dishwashing. If you're the world's best dishwasher and 681 00:41:30.199 --> 00:41:32.539 you show up on time and you wash dishes better 682 00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:36.559 than everybody else in the restaurant, and you're always punctual, 683 00:41:37.219 --> 00:41:39.469 and you're the one that's raised, and you say to 684 00:41:39.489 --> 00:41:43.280 the boss, hey, boss, anytime someone says, doesn't come into 685 00:41:43.300 --> 00:41:46.079 their shift and you need someone call me on short 686 00:41:46.139 --> 00:41:49.179 notice and i'll show up if you're the type of 687 00:41:49.260 --> 00:41:53.429 employee that is their number one employee in any area 688 00:41:54.289 --> 00:41:57.809 trust me when an opening comes up that may pay 689 00:41:57.869 --> 00:42:00.269 more in that job let's say it's a waiter or 690 00:42:00.309 --> 00:42:03.590 a bus or whatever you have an opportunity to move 691 00:42:03.670 --> 00:42:06.210 up there and now you're making more money and you're 692 00:42:06.309 --> 00:42:09.010 you're up a higher level and if you're doing the 693 00:42:09.050 --> 00:42:11.559 same thing in that job You say to the boss, look, 694 00:42:11.679 --> 00:42:14.519 anytime someone drops a shift, won't show up, call me, 695 00:42:14.840 --> 00:42:18.699 I show up. Super Bowl Sunday, I'll show up. Christmas Eve, 696 00:42:18.900 --> 00:42:21.679 I'll show up. That's the type of people that go 697 00:42:21.719 --> 00:42:23.559 ahead because then at some point they're looking for an 698 00:42:23.579 --> 00:42:26.699 assistant manager. You're moving up to assistant manager. So the 699 00:42:26.760 --> 00:42:30.670 point is there are paths forward. Every one of them 700 00:42:30.829 --> 00:42:34.849 is based on the performance you do. And if you 701 00:42:34.969 --> 00:42:37.329 are kind of the best and you're putting the team 702 00:42:37.409 --> 00:42:41.099 first and you're putting your boss's success first, you're putting 703 00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:45.059 the clients first, you will move up. But you've got 704 00:42:45.079 --> 00:42:45.679 to get started. 705 00:42:46.300 --> 00:42:49.219 And don't worry about where you're starting. Let me interrupt you, Dave. 706 00:42:51.019 --> 00:42:55.360 How about interviews? How about interview skills? I mean, you've 707 00:42:55.400 --> 00:42:58.559 hired many, many people. You teach people how to go 708 00:42:58.619 --> 00:43:01.739 through a proper interview. What are some of the pointers 709 00:43:01.940 --> 00:43:04.380 that you want to share with people that don't know 710 00:43:04.440 --> 00:43:07.489 how to do interviewing properly and don't feel like they're 711 00:43:07.510 --> 00:43:08.119 going to get hired? 712 00:43:10.500 --> 00:43:15.780 So be prepared. Now, so what does that mean? If 713 00:43:15.820 --> 00:43:21.300 you're a returning citizen and you have a convicted felon, 714 00:43:21.739 --> 00:43:24.260 you better have a simple answer to the question of, 715 00:43:25.510 --> 00:43:28.090 tell me about that. And the first thing out of 716 00:43:28.110 --> 00:43:30.489 your mouth should be something to the effect of, whoops, 717 00:43:31.409 --> 00:43:35.090 I really screwed up. I spent time. I've screwed up. 718 00:43:35.550 --> 00:43:38.239 I've learned. and I'm trying to make my life better, 719 00:43:38.260 --> 00:43:40.119 and you shouldn't try to gloss over it. You shouldn't 720 00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:44.659 hide it. You should address the elephant in the room. 721 00:43:44.699 --> 00:43:48.110 So that's one, because if you don't address it, you 722 00:43:48.119 --> 00:43:50.750 know people are thinking about it, whatever that issue is. 723 00:43:51.329 --> 00:43:55.989 The second thing I would say is understand the company 724 00:43:56.269 --> 00:44:00.170 that you're going into. If you go in to interview 725 00:44:00.210 --> 00:44:02.789 at a construction company for a construction job, go spend 726 00:44:02.829 --> 00:44:04.829 two or three or four or five hours down at 727 00:44:04.849 --> 00:44:09.380 the public library on the Internet learning about that company, 728 00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:13.820 learning about that company's competitors, learning about what their company 729 00:44:13.840 --> 00:44:17.219 is about. So when you walk in, you can actually 730 00:44:17.340 --> 00:44:21.519 talk about the company that you're applying for. You're actually 731 00:44:21.619 --> 00:44:24.599 showing that you care. You're showing that you're someone that 732 00:44:24.760 --> 00:44:28.599 wants to succeed. Trust me, if you did that before 733 00:44:28.639 --> 00:44:31.780 you went into interview for a construction job, you would 734 00:44:31.820 --> 00:44:35.449 stand out from 99% of the other people applying for 735 00:44:35.469 --> 00:44:35.929 that job. 736

00:44:36.650 --> 00:44:39.650 Hey, Dave, when you taught that to me, let me 737 00:44:39.670 --> 00:44:42.750 slip this in on you, Dave. You taught that to me, 738 00:44:42.769 --> 00:44:44.949 and I've been teaching that to people. Even if you 739 00:44:44.989 --> 00:44:48.110 only got 10 minutes the night before, learn something about 740 00:44:48.150 --> 00:44:50.940 the company so that you can turn the interview around, 741 00:44:51.380 --> 00:44:53.900 and it shows initiative. That's what you taught me on 742 00:44:53.940 --> 00:44:56.099 this program, is that if you do a little bit 743 00:44:56.139 --> 00:44:59.150 of research and they're looking at your resume, and you've 744 00:44:59.190 --> 00:45:03.670 got to separate yourself from everybody else, and you interrupt 745 00:45:03.730 --> 00:45:07.469 the person that's interviewing you and say, you know, I 746 00:45:07.489 --> 00:45:10.429 was looking at the Internet last night researching the company, 747 00:45:10.449 --> 00:45:13.869 and you've been around for 35 years. That's wonderful. I 748 00:45:13.909 --> 00:45:15.969 didn't know this company had been around that long. The 749 00:45:16.010 --> 00:45:18.650 person's going to look up from your resume and look 750 00:45:18.690 --> 00:45:20.889 at you and think, this guy's got a little bit 751 00:45:20.929 --> 00:45:24.090 on the ball here because he knows something. And the 752 00:45:24.110 --> 00:45:24.789 bottom line is. 753 00:45:24.789 --> 00:45:30.510 35 years ago, and now you're in electrical. How did 754 00:45:30.530 --> 00:45:32.639 you make that jump? That's what I want to do. 755 00:45:32.679 --> 00:45:37.219 You're exactly right, Steve. You will stand out with those 756 00:45:37.280 --> 00:45:43.380 type of techniques. It's like going out on a date 757 00:45:43.420 --> 00:45:46.539 for the first time and never knowing anything about who 758 00:45:47.559 --> 00:45:50.500 you're dating. If you actually show interest in that person, 759 00:45:51.199 --> 00:45:55.480 you do a lot better. This is human skills 101. 760 00:45:56.340 --> 00:45:59.070 Just apply them to the business. Look at the business 761 00:45:59.210 --> 00:46:02.130 as someone you're trying to impress. Learn something about them. 762 00:46:02.949 --> 00:46:05.610 If you're being interviewed for a job and there's 50 763 00:46:05.610 --> 00:46:09.269 people being interviewed and you've got a resume, if you 764 00:46:09.309 --> 00:46:13.420 don't get into a conversation with the interviewer and have 765 00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:16.099 him put down that resume and start to engage with you, 766 00:46:16.460 --> 00:46:18.960 you might not ever get a call back. So you've 767 00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:22.019 got to learn to turn that around with the interviewer. 768 00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:28.159 And Dave, you have... talk people from an employer standpoint 769 00:46:28.239 --> 00:46:31.639 what they're looking for. And that is very valuable information, 770 00:46:31.679 -->

00:46:33.239 and I pass it on to a lot of people. 771 00:46:33.260 --> 00:46:34.730 I thank you for that. 772 00:46:34.809 --> 00:46:38.230 One other thing that will go a long, long, long way, smile. 773 00:46:39.230 --> 00:46:43.090 When you go in, look people in the eye and smile. 774 00:46:44.190 --> 00:46:47.969 I mean, a smile changes everything. So anyway. 775 00:46:49.329 --> 00:46:52.360 No, that's good. You know, Dave, you've got a couple 776 00:46:52.380 --> 00:46:56.199 other points in your outline on job interview skills about, Reading, 777 00:46:56.219 --> 00:47:01.099 the importance of reading and being a team player and 778 00:47:01.260 --> 00:47:05.519 don't create any drama. And, you know, be there to learn. 779 00:47:05.579 --> 00:47:08.420 Be there to grow the company. You're working for them. 780 00:47:08.480 --> 00:47:11.260 You've taught those things in your seminars. I've heard you 781 00:47:11.280 --> 00:47:11.550 do it. 782 00:47:13.590 --> 00:47:18.309 Yes. Again, think of the person who's hiring you. They 783 00:47:18.329 --> 00:47:20.289 don't need more drama in their life. They're trying to 784 00:47:20.349 --> 00:47:23.170 run a team of people. They need team members to 785 00:47:23.210 --> 00:47:26.119 come in and help them. And your goal should always 786 00:47:26.179 --> 00:47:29.340 be to make the team successful, make your boss successful. 787 00:47:29.739 --> 00:47:31.719 And this was taught to me by a business school 788 00:47:31.739 --> 00:47:33.929 professor many years ago. He said, the best thing in 789 00:47:33.969 --> 00:47:37.530 life is when your boss succeeds and moves up the chain. 790 00:47:38.929 --> 00:47:41.690 If you've helped your boss move up, your boss generally 791 00:47:41.750 --> 00:47:43.630 pulls you along because he wants to succeed and go 792 00:47:43.650 --> 00:47:46.269 to the next level. And then you do the same thing. 793 00:47:46.329 --> 00:47:48.650 You want people to help you move up. So life 794 00:47:48.690 --> 00:47:52.199 is about helping people. It's very self-serving, but it's very, 795 00:47:52.360 --> 00:47:54.869 very true. Be the best teammate on the team. Your 796 00:47:54.909 --> 00:47:58.510 boss gets ahead. You get ahead. They don't need more drama. 797 00:47:58.530 --> 00:48:01.309 They don't need more, you know, things going on and 798 00:48:01.329 --> 00:48:04.500 people fighting. They need people to, you know, help them, 799 00:48:04.760 --> 00:48:06.260 you know, move the company forward. 800 00:48:08.099 --> 00:48:12.119 Dave, if anybody that's listening to you today wants any 801 00:48:12.159 --> 00:48:16.329 more information, you could give me stuff to post on 802 00:48:16.369 --> 00:48:18.340 RightThinkings' website would be a good way to do it. 803 00:48:18.349 --> 00:48:19.849 Do you have any other suggestions? 804 00:48:23.590 --> 00:48:27.610 Again, you mentioned it earlier, read, read, read, read, read. 805 00:48:27.659 --> 00:48:31.199 And if you have

challenges reading for whatever reason, you 806 00:48:31.239 --> 00:48:35.239 may be dyslexic, you may have, you know, your education 807 00:48:35.300 --> 00:48:38.099 isn't where it is, there are resources and social services 808 00:48:38.699 --> 00:48:42.440 that can help you. You have to reach out and 809 00:48:43.539 --> 00:48:47.530 improve that ability because if you can, You can now 810 00:48:47.619 --> 00:48:50.869 start following people like Steve and read people that inspire 811 00:48:50.949 --> 00:48:54.130 you and read the stories how they got ahead. If 812 00:48:54.170 --> 00:48:57.329 you go online and just Google homeless people that have 813 00:48:57.369 --> 00:49:01.320 now turned into successes, you'll find a hundred great stories. 814 00:49:02.110 --> 00:49:05.679 Learn from others. So that would be my number one 815 00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:10.480 thing is engage your brain. And that will kind of, 816 00:49:11.039 --> 00:49:12.219 that will lead you. 817 00:49:12.239 --> 00:49:17.159 Gage, We're down to about our last minute or so here. 818 00:49:17.179 --> 00:49:21.320 I lost track of the time. when the interview started, 819 00:49:21.460 --> 00:49:23.920 and I didn't set my timer, so we might get 820 00:49:24.079 --> 00:49:26.559 bumped out pretty quick here. But let me ask you 821 00:49:26.699 --> 00:49:32.000 one final question. What advice, with everything else you've said today, 822 00:49:32.579 --> 00:49:36.719 can you give to somebody that's experiencing hardship, they're down 823 00:49:36.739 --> 00:49:39.710 at the bottom, their self-esteem is at a zero level, 824 00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:43.630 and they just about quit. What can you say to 825 00:49:44.179 --> 00:49:48.530 them to help them pick themselves up and keep the 826 00:49:48.570 --> 00:49:49.110 fight going? 827 00:49:54.550 --> 00:49:57.309 Hang in there. Hang in there. It will get better. 828 00:49:58.849 --> 00:50:03.920 You can't quit. That's not the answer. Get outside. I 829 00:50:04.480 --> 00:50:09.139 walk a lot. It frees my brain up. Things like that. 830 00:50:11.159 --> 00:50:13.610 clear you up. And then, quite frankly, you've got to 831 00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:18.769 get back in the arena and find people that will 832 00:50:18.789 --> 00:50:20.489 be willing to help you. And if you find someone 833 00:50:20.510 --> 00:50:22.809 who's willing to help you, you know, God forbid, don't 834 00:50:22.849 --> 00:50:25.610 let them down. You know, then if they're willing to 835 00:50:25.650 --> 00:50:29.449 help you, now you've got to up your game even more. So, 836 00:50:29.469 --> 00:50:32.329 you know, your tagline, Steve, is something to the effect 837 00:50:32.349 --> 00:50:34.849 of plan ahead, hang in there, we'll get better. I 838 00:50:34.889 --> 00:50:36.769 think that's a great, great motto. 839 00:50:38.670 --> 00:50:42.019 Thank you, Dave. What I'd like to say as we 840 00:50:42.280 --> 00:50:47.159 close today is that Dave, thank you. I've said it 841 00:50:47.159 --> 00:50:50.679 25 times, but I can't say it enough to you. 842 00:50:51.500 --> 00:50:55.840 But I want everybody to understand there are plenty of 843 00:50:55.929 --> 00:50:59.489 people out there that if you start doing for other people, 844 00:51:00.119 --> 00:51:04.130 caring about them, that they're there to help you. And 845 00:51:04.590 --> 00:51:06.610 you just got to do what Dave said. You just 846 00:51:06.630 --> 00:51:09.010 got to pick yourself up and just quitting is not 847 00:51:09.050 --> 00:51:13.070 an option. So Dave, I'd like you to come back 848 00:51:13.150 --> 00:51:17.750 sometime because it's a pleasure to have you on here, 849 00:51:17.769 --> 00:51:19.710 but you've got so much more that you can connect 850 00:51:19.750 --> 00:51:22.840 with people. So in summary with you, Dave, I think 851 00:51:22.860 --> 00:51:27.519 you're saying never quit and give up. Be connected. Get 852 00:51:27.559 --> 00:51:30.980 that first job. That's great advice, Dave. We appreciate that. 853 00:51:31.940 --> 00:51:35.199 So I would like to just thank everybody for listening 854 00:51:35.579 --> 00:51:38.550 and tell you have a great week, and we'll see 855 00:51:38.570 --> 00:51:39.050 you next week. 856 00:51:39.280 --> 00:51:42.119 You're listening to Right Thinking with Steve Copeland. I look 857 00:51:42.139 --> 00:51:44.659 forward to being with you again next week. And remember, 858 00:51:45.119 --> 00:51:45.679 don't quit. 859 00:51:46.150 --> 00:51:46.769 Plan ahead. 860 00:51:47.230 --> 00:51:49.789 It will get better. God bless you and have a 861 00:51:49.829 --> 00:51:50.329 great week.