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BRX Pro Tip: Turning Good Customers Into Great Customers

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BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Turning Good Customers Into Great Customers
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BRX Pro Tip: Turning Good Customers Into Great Customers

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with BRX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, today’s topic, turning good customers into great customers.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:10] Yeah. I think this is where most businesses can steal a page from the airlines. I think they do a good job in this area, and it’s their frequent flier program. When you kind of create a mechanism that you’re able to elevate the level of service for the folks that already like doing business with you, that’s a great resource that inspires loyalty, and consistency, and keeping you there, sticky, longer.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:41] So, is there anything you can be doing to create a higher tier of service for your best customers to reward them for being such great customers? Are there any unique services? Are there rewards? Is there access? Is there some higher level of membership? Is there any type of experience you can be delivering that can elevate the relationship with your super fans to make them feel more special and valued?

Lee Kantor: [00:01:06] So, my recommendation, think about your services, see if you can kind of jazz hands up one of them or a couple of those services to inspire your good customers to become great customers.

Tom Wood with Organisan

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High Velocity Radio
Tom Wood with Organisan
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Organisan-About-Us-Tom-WoodTom Wood grew up on a potato, cereal grain, and alfalfa farm in Eastern Idaho, with both irrigated and dryland acres.

Tom has built several ag related small businesses over the years, including a custom haying operation, and with his brother Matt, a custom application business, and a farm retail business focusing on biological and alternative inputs, while still managing his own farm.

Tom is always looking for “alternative” methods, systems, and products to help lower inputs and increase profitability on his own operation. After experimenting with the O2YS and Organisan line of chitosan products on his own farm, the products were added to the retail business portfolio, and one thing led to another, and Tom is now the Western Territory Manager for O2YS Corp, and Organisan Corp.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:14] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show, where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon and you guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Organisan, Mr.Tom Wood. How are you, man?

Tom Wood: [00:00:35] I’m doing very well today. Thank you. How about yourself? Are you holding up?

Stone Payton: [00:00:38] Oh, doing well man, and so delighted to have you on the program. I got a thousand questions, Tom, and I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I’m thinking maybe a great place to start would be is if you could articulate for me and our listeners mission. Purpose, you know, what are you and your team really out there trying to do for folks?

Tom Wood: [00:00:59] We, we, we deal in the general ag sector. For the most part. We find a rapidly growing presence in the Gulf turf industry as well as homeowners. Our biggest mission, I guess, at this point is where we can be very influential, very beneficial to help farmers and general consumers to get off some of the harsh pesticides that have traditionally been used in, uh, in conventional production practices.

Stone Payton: [00:01:26] Well, it sounds like a noble pursuit to me, but I got to. I got to get to backstory, man. How in the world does one find themselves in this line of work?

Speaker4: [00:01:38] Yeah.

Tom Wood: [00:01:39] So there’s a whole growing movement in agriculture. Um, I’m currently today here at stepped away from the big soil health event going on right now here in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Uh, there’s a whole movement here that they’re calling regenerative. If you saw the Kiss the Ground movie or the new Common Ground movie that’s just come out, uh, being released on Netflix, that’s a really good place for your listeners to to go to go watch those movies. We’ll kind of give, uh, an understanding and a basis of the crowd that we generally deal with, that the type of farmers that we generally deal with. Um, this is where we’re certainly not alone in this sphere. It’s growing very rapidly. Um, for myself personally, I grew up on a farm in, uh, eastern Idaho. I am the fourth generation now to operate the farm as part of what we still farm today, was homesteaded by my great grandfather in 1906. Um, I was very well indoctrinated, if you will, or very well involved with, uh, traditional synthetic chemistry farming practices. Um, my dad was a crop duster. I have a brother who still is a crop duster. That brother and myself, we own a custom application business for almost two decades that we specialized in chemical application techniques and products for the potato industry, basically in Idaho. So I was, uh, we would mark out rows in the springtime. We would put down a lot of the fungicides, some of the pop up fertilizers. We would throw up the hills that they would plant the potatoes in. And then in the fall we would come back in with usually pretty much the same customer base, and we would do the fumigation applications for all weed weed suppression and primarily nematode control.

Tom Wood: [00:03:32] And as this went on, we had a strange weather event in Idaho in 2014 that it rained. And for anybody who’s not familiar with Idaho, um, we are a very high desert. It doesn’t rain usually in July and August in Idaho, but we realized that there were some disease issues that came along in our wheat and our malting barley. There is a disease, the nickname for it is Vomitoxin. And my brother and I realized on our fumigation run that fall that most of the customers that we fumigated for had a far worse infection rate, um, than the guys who didn’t have to fumigate. So at that point, I kind of had my suspicions. But at that point, I realized that so much of what we’re contending with, with food production is we’re creating our own problems. This was biologically based. We’re obviously killing too much of something in the soil. That kind of is where I got kicked in the rabbit hole. And, uh, I was researching this infection that winter, and I came across this, this natural compound called chitosan. And in this first research paper, it talked about how effective this natural compound is against the Fusarium graminearum or Fusarium culmorum that, uh, causes vomitoxin infection one thing to another. It kind of became obsessed with this. It sounded too good to be true. I started calling around. I couldn’t find anybody who was familiar with this, and it took me almost two years, year and a half a little better before before the Organic Sand Corporation and myself found each other.

Tom Wood: [00:05:11] Uh, we brought this to Idaho, started playing with it on our own farm, trying to figure out timings, you know, application rates, best uses for the product. And the company was experiencing such a rapid, rapid growth at that point. And in 2018, uh, Mark Nichols, the VP of the company, called, asked if I would like to come to work for them. And, uh, kind of blew me away. I didn’t know if I was even good employee material because I had been self-employed for so long, but I was kind of looking for something else at that point. Anyway, I was losing interest in the in the application business. We followed as best as we could all of the required, you know, PPE, um, personal protective equipment recommendations and requirements that are listed on the labels of all the products that we handled. But when that’s all you do every day, all day, sometimes usually seven days a week for we would go for six weeks solid in the spring and we would go for two, two and a half months solid in the fall. You can’t help but pick up the exposure off of that. I don’t care how religiously you follow this. And I started to notice some some. Dear, your deterioration in my health, particularly in those seasons and I the whole thing just kind of crescendoed for me that I realized that what what I’m doing here isn’t actually helping farmers and that there was a better way. So one cascading event to another, and here we are now. So.

Stone Payton: [00:06:46] Well, two things have become crystal clear for me during the course of this conversation already. Number one, I don’t have the vocabulary or the work ethic to be in your business, so I couldn’t.

Speaker4: [00:06:59] But it’s.

Tom Wood: [00:07:00] Easy. I make up most of these words because who really is going to go double check me?

Stone Payton: [00:07:04] Exactly. Uh, and I mean, clearly you are born for this work. That’s, uh. Wow. So now that you’ve been added a while, what, uh, what are you enjoying the most, man? What’s the the most rewarding about it for you?

Tom Wood: [00:07:19] The most rewarding for me is when, uh, how do I put this politically correctly? Due to my years of dealing in the chemical industry, there was an I learned there’s an attitude. There’s a, uh. There’s a good old boy. Kind of. There’s the. It’s a little bit vindictive. There’s there’s just a there’s an attitude in the chemical industry. And I have been thrown under the bus enough times as being the applicator. Any time something went wrong or didn’t live up to expectations by the applicator was always the first person that everybody, everybody pointed to. I had developed a little animosity, if you will, I guess, towards the entire chemical industry as a whole. And it’s so fun for me now when I can step onto a farm that has been, you know, completely a conventional synthetic mindset for, you know, decades now. Um, and in just in the first year, we can make a change on that farm. I, we can step in on day one and we can greatly reduce, if not completely eliminate, any fungicide applications that you might need just by using some of the organic products. And from there, nobody ever explains to us that there’s a side effect to every decision that we make. You know, if you turn on a TV, every third commercial it’s on these days is for a pharmaceutical product. And the last 10s of the commercial is they have to list all of the potential side effects.

Speaker4: [00:08:55] Right?

Tom Wood: [00:08:56] Same thing happens in agriculture, except nobody explains to the farmers what happens with these side effects. So we can step in on year one. We can reduce your inputs many times. We can will increase your yield right off the bat, and the side effects from our products are beneficial. We we can help control your pathogenic fungal pressures, at the same time that we will increase your beneficial microbial populations. And we can start to turn this around to where your soil, rather than being in a degenerative program, is now in a regenerative program that it will start to get better. Now, year after year after year. We sometimes refer to ourselves as being a bridge product or a bridge company because we can help farmers make this jump from their traditional synthetic forms of agriculture into this. I call it new, but it’s not necessarily new, but this regenerative way of farming, just by being able to replace so many of the synthetics that you you’ve been using. And it brings me a lot of joy when I understand that I have angered their local sales person because we we eliminated their need for a lot of the synthetics.

Stone Payton: [00:10:12] Well, I get the sense that once you get the opportunity to have a substantive conversation with a farmer, relying on these more traditional methods, that that what you have to say to them would be very persuasive, and that over the course of the conversation, they would get educated and and intrigued and very likely act and sort of move, you know, toward your end of the continuum. But what is the whole sales and marketing thing like for you, you guys? How do you how do you get to have the conversation in the first place? Or are you just out traveling to farms or or I know you like you’re at a trade show right now, right?

Tom Wood: [00:10:52] Yep. So a lot of it is from this, I, I joke around with people sometimes. They ask me what I do here, and I tell them that I’m the CEO. I am the chief educational officer. Um, um, so a lot of what we do is, is literally on the road, farm to farm, face to face. Um, our vice president, Mark Nichols, is he is an absolute road warrior. Um, the man just he just lives on the road. He just he loves what he does. He is so passionate about this. The company has progressed, and the, uh, the reputation of our performance has gotten to a point that we find a lot of our stuff now is just from referrals that we don’t really have to go, you know, drive around and make cold calls and pound on shop doors trying to get conversations started with farmers that it’s easier. Now, so much of this is coming from a referral that somebody, you know, heard about this neighbor saw the results from a neighbor. We’re getting to where we have a pretty good established dealer network around the United States. And we have found that our biggest success, when we’re looking for dealers or people want to be, you know, handle our product line, we’re always looking for the people who work in the microbial realm because we we have to have a healthy microbial population in order for our product to bring its, you know, greatest chance of efficacy on onto your farm.

Tom Wood: [00:12:15] We are a we’re a food source for the beneficial microbial population, and we trigger a specific enzymatic response from a lot of the microbes that we have in the soil. So it’s a hand in glove relationship we have with the microbial people. We will run into a situation. Sometimes guys get kind of territorial and no, no, this I’ve got this product and it does all of this and I don’t need anything else. And that’s not what we do. I’m not here to replace your biologicals. There’s many instances that I will require the farmer to go find a biological input to a company with us. And from those type of relationships, well, you know, we’ll pick up a dealer somewhere. And when they added our product in, I make the comment sometimes that our the base ingredient, the sand here in our products is kind of like dumping gas onto an existing fire. We we will blow up what you’ve traditionally come to expect. So then that dealer will talk to another dealer somewhere that he knows the dealers will meet together at a conference. And so much of what we we run into anymore is just it’s a lot of word of mouth.

Tom Wood: [00:13:27] It’s it’s a lot of organic stuff that comes great. Shows like this one that I’m at right now have been a tremendous source of contacts for us, because the people there’s two types of trade shows. We realized within the agricultural sphere. A lot of what we traditionally think of for farmers are the equipment shows. Everybody’s there to see that the new biggest tractor and the new biggest grain combine and the new, shiniest paint. Those trade shows are not where our market base is located. If you’re if a farmer is just there to look at the new paint, they generally walk past the vendors like us and try not to make eye contact. So we have learned that there’s some of these educational type things that go on at these. These are where we we find we can help the most people the quickest. These people are everybody here is open minded. Everybody is kind of they’re already engaged in doing things differently. Um, they want to start trying to figure out how to do things differently. So we’ve learned to kind of tailor pinpoint that the trade shows that we go to more to this educational type, rather than just a fancy paint show, if you will.

Stone Payton: [00:14:41] Yeah. And just doing good work and generating genuine results is a is a marvelous sales tool, isn’t it.

Speaker4: [00:14:49] Absolutely.

Tom Wood: [00:14:50] There’s there’s no there’s no stronger I don’t care what your advertising budget is. You cannot outspend word of mouth advertising. That is the most powerful advertisement that you will ever get as a referral from a from a successful customer. So. Absolutely.

Stone Payton: [00:15:07] Amen. So what kind of timeline are we talking about? And I suspect it varies in different cases, but how long does it take typically to get to turn around and get get some some real results from your work?

Tom Wood: [00:15:19] A lot of what we can I mean, it depends on what you’re after, where we’re starting from. What is your end goal, what do you want to achieve and in what time frame do you want to achieve that there are times where, you know, time and money sometimes are working against each other. If you want to make some drastic changes in one year, you’re going to have to spend some some money in order to do that. But most of the time I tell people that you start moving into this regenerative mindset way of farming. You kind of have to be committed to this, that it, uh, you may not see a spectacular result the first year. The problem that we have is so often in production, agriculture, we have turned our soils into drug addicts. Our soils cannot function without synthetic nitrogen. Our soils are so depleted of microbial life, we cannot function without a synthetic fungicide. So sometimes it’s going to cost a farmer a little bit more. To start doing this, you as the farmer operator, you don’t get to decide that we’re just going to quit doing this. You have to earn the right to quit doing this, whatever it is, and your farm will let you know. All of a sudden, one year you just realized we didn’t have to spray a fungicide.

Tom Wood: [00:16:37] This year, we never got infected with anything. Our nematode population. We didn’t have any problems with nematodes. That the SDS sudden death syndrome in the soybeans didn’t manifest on our place like it did on the farms around us. So I find, though, that this is usually 2 to 3 years, that it takes a little bit to really turn things around. And when I started to realize this pattern, dealing with farmers all across the United States, that it was kind of odd to me that that’s the time frame it takes to transition into organic production is three years. So there’s somebody knew something about this. Years ago, an organic farmer started to become a thing. But it, uh, like I say it, it depends a little on time versus money, what your budget is and how far do we want to try to go in what time frame. But but usually, like I said, we can make some big differences in year one. But if farmers committed to this by year three and a lot of instances you won’t recognize your farm anymore, you will have changed it and come so far that you’re just you’ll look back and won’t recognize the way you used to do things.

Stone Payton: [00:17:47] I’m going to switch gears on you a little bit before we wrap. Uh, I mean, I don’t know where you would find the time, but I am interested to know what passions, hobbies, pursuits outside the scope of what we’ve been talking about. Uh, are you involved in. My listeners know that I like to hunt, fish and travel. That’s how I unwind. Uh, but. Yeah. What do you do to unwind?

Speaker4: [00:18:11] I.

Tom Wood: [00:18:12] It’s a good thing that I enjoy what I do for a living, because anymore I find I don’t. I grew, I used to love, love to snowmobile, I, I guess I still do, I still have my big gnarly mod sled. Don’t have time to ride them much anymore. Summertime. I love riding dirt bikes. I really love farming. It’s dumb as it sounds. It’s not that it isn’t full of grueling days of backbreaking labor these days still, but I love farming. I absolutely love what I do in that aspect. But, uh, yeah, anymore. I used to ride bulls, um, team rope, all kinds of stuff when I was younger, had more time. So I enjoy the travel. I really enjoy the travel aspect of, uh, of this job and, and the opportunities it provides me to see the country and, uh, meet people who are somewhat of a similar mindset to what I am. So.

Stone Payton: [00:19:06] Yeah. All right. What’s the best way for our listeners to connect with you have a more substantive conversation with you or someone else on your team, whether it’s a LinkedIn email, whatever.

Tom Wood: [00:19:17] Yeah. If they, uh, we got a really fantastic website. If you go to w three or w WW or Ganesan or g a n I s a n corp. Com or Ganesan. Corp. Com we have a lot of research stuff posted up there. Papers, testimonials. You’ll find a link in there. Um, there’s a couple of we have a YouTube channel. There’s a couple of video presentations on there where people they’ve recorded me giving presentations to groups of farmers. So you can go on there. I will explain sometimes in too much detail. I’ve been told how our how our base product works, how what you can expect out of it, uh, you can find me. I don’t do a lot of social media. I’m on, uh, LinkedIn is probably the, uh, the best place to find me on, on social media. So. Feel free to reach out.

Stone Payton: [00:20:14] Well, Tom, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show, man. Keep up the good work. The work you’re doing is so important not only to our president, but I, you know, I feel like it’s so important to our future. And we sure appreciate you, man.

Tom Wood: [00:20:31] Well, thank you, I appreciate that. So we’ll. Keep your nose to the grindstone.

Stone Payton: [00:20:37] All right, until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Tom wood with Organic Sand Corporation and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying, we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

Matthew N. Icard with Icard Mortgage Team

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Cherokee Business Radio
Matthew N. Icard with Icard Mortgage Team
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Sponsored by Woodstock Neighbors Magazine and Business RadioX ® Main Street Warriors

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Matthew-Icard-bwWith 15 years of experience in the mortgage industry, Matthew N. Icard has helped countless individuals and families secure the best mortgage solutions tailored to their unique needs.

His passion for assisting clients in achieving their homeownership goals drives him to provide personalized and transparent services.

Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn and Facebook.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:24] Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Cherokee Business Radio. Stone Payton here with you this morning, and today’s episode is brought to you in part by Woodstock Neighbors Magazine, bringing neighbors and business together. For more information, go to Facebook and Instagram at Woodstock Neighbors dot wbvm. And if you have a heart for community and you want to grow your small business, please consider joining our Main Street Warriors movement. Go check us out at Main Street warriors.org. You guys are in for a real treat this morning. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Icard Mortgage Team. The man himself, Mr. Matt Icard. How are you man?

Matt Icard: [00:01:11] Man, I’m good. I’m having a beautiful week already and just can’t wait to rest of the week to be good and coming up on Christmas.

Stone Payton: [00:01:18] Well, it’s a delight to have you in the studio. You and I have had a chance to connect a little bit when we meet over at Vibe Realty. They’re just doing some marvelous work over there, and we usually spend the first 10 or 15 minutes, uh, going into the, into that kind of mastermind meeting talking about our, uh, our outdoor activities. We we’ve enjoyed doing that, but I’ve really been looking forward to getting you in the in the studio. I got a thousand questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but but maybe a great place to start would be if you could articulate for me and our listeners mission. Purpose. What are you and your team really out there trying to do for folks? Man well.

Matt Icard: [00:01:59] Realistically, it’s about getting people into homeownership, especially our veterans. Um, being the child of a Vietnam veteran and grandchild of World War Two veterans on both sides, I really like helping veterans out and getting them into a better financial situation. But as well as everybody else, first time home buyers, investment properties, it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as I can help you get into a better financial situation in a mortgage, that’s what makes me feel good. Well, it.

Stone Payton: [00:02:27] Sounds like a noble pursuit to me. How in the world? I got to ask, how did you find yourself doing this kind of work? What was the what was the path to landing here?

Matt Icard: [00:02:35] It was a natural progression from in-home sales to car sales to uh oh yeah. The biggest thing you can sell is a house. So I did that almost 15 years ago and went in on an interview that a buddy of mine got me in, and unfortunately he wasn’t hired, but I was, and it kind of stuck.

Stone Payton: [00:02:57] So you’ve been at this a while now? Yes, sir. What do you enjoying the most, man? What’s what’s the most rewarding part of it?

Matt Icard: [00:03:03] The most rewarding part is seeing someone get into their first home. And the emotion and the stress that you know, you go through to get into it is just beyond words. For most people. They it it shouldn’t be that stressful, but for some reason it just is. Even when I bought my first home. Is the home that we live in is the first one that I ever bought. Now I did, you know, 1000 purchases before I bought my first home. But when I bought my first home, my wife will tell you, as soon as they handed me the keys, I broke down and cried like a baby. I mean, it was just I didn’t realize it was as emotional as it was. And then I realized it.

Stone Payton: [00:03:43] So what in your experience, is, uh, what is it that the people that your clients are nervous about and anxious about? What are some of the things you gotta sort of coach them off the ledge about?

Matt Icard: [00:03:55] Realistically, it’s just the outlay of the expense with the not knowing. So it’s it’s not like you’re going into a store, you’re handing them a credit card or your debit card, and when you buy it, it’s yours. I mean, you are literally putting them into a. Um, a mortgage that they’re not going to pay off for 30 years. So it’s the not knowing until you sign on the dotted line. So it’s a, you know, it could be up to an 18 month process. I just had closed the borrower that I pre-approved almost during the pandemic. But because of how the market went, they made 15 offers on 15 houses and never won one. And then boom, we got one. But it it can take a while or you can be in a house in less than 3045 days. It just depends on what house you’ve got and when you, you know, try to buy it.

Stone Payton: [00:04:49] Wow. I cannot imagine trying to get 15 houses and not as because they were outbid or that is that usually what happens. Somebody else just offers a higher number.

Matt Icard: [00:04:59] Yeah. With the market that we are in currently and it’s kind of, you know, easing off is you’re in a such low inventory, high demand that you’re, you know, you’re going to compete with other people. And some people have the finances to pay over what you could pay.

Stone Payton: [00:05:14] And so talk to me about timing is, is there some wisdom in trying to time the market? I know the answer. When I talk to financial services people about financial products, you know, their answer is like, unequivocally, no. Just, you know, establish a an investing discipline in the mortgage world. I mean, like, it’s now a good time to to buy or not necessarily or what do you think.

Matt Icard: [00:05:39] It in my personal opinion, it’s always a good time to buy. Okay. The answer to that question is when is the best time to buy? A year ago, whether it was a year ago, a year ago or a year ago, ten years ago. Right? The reason being is that much like the financial services part of it, when you’re investing, it’s a long terme play. So yes, you’re going to get into a house, but you’re going to build equity in that house. And that’s why it’s a long terme. Play is a year ago rates were a little bit lower. Now obviously they’re astronomically high now. But even two years ago when the rates were real low, that was still one of the better times to get in. But it’s better than a year from now because a year from now, it could be a totally different market and there could be more, more buyers coming.

Stone Payton: [00:06:26] Yeah. And it’s interesting. And I may have this wrong, but, uh, it’s my understanding that, like when I was a kid and I’m a little, you know, long in the tooth and I got gray hair. I think my parents, you mentioned exorbitant, you know, really high interest rates. I think they paid way higher interest rate when they bought their home in, uh, what would that have been in the, in the 70s. Mhm. Right. So historically it’s not really crazy high interest rates is it.

Matt Icard: [00:06:53] No it’s definitely not um historically. And I give this example to most people when I’m talking to them is I know what my parents when they bought in Roswell in 1984, it was almost a 19% interest rate on their house.

Stone Payton: [00:07:07] Oh my gracious.

Matt Icard: [00:07:08] Which obviously today would just I mean, people would lose their mind if I said, oh, yeah, I’m going to give you a 19% on this house for 30 years. Yeah. They’d be like, nope. But yeah, I mean, realistically we are in a little bit higher rate market environment, but it’s never going to be back to the 19%, which is realistically it’s never coming back to that 2.5% we had during Covid either. Right. It’s just the best time to purchase is get in it when you can and then realistically take advantage of the rates when they come down to refinance. That way you’re not competing with other other buyers at that time, right.

Stone Payton: [00:07:47] All right. So let’s talk about the work a little bit. Someone approaches you somehow some way. You begin a relationship with a with a potential home buyer. Just walk us through those early conversations. Some of the things that you’re trying to help them get their ducks in a row, just walk us through that process a little bit.

Matt Icard: [00:08:05] Yeah. So when someone comes to me or someone has referred to me, what I basically do is just have a conversation with them, talk about their goals, talk about their finances, get into, and I basically get into every bit of their finances from what they spend monthly to what their long terme goals are, to how much money they’ve got saved up. And a lot of the time, most people don’t understand how in depth that can go. Well, I.

Stone Payton: [00:08:33] Think a lot of people and there are of course some exceptions. And as we get a little older, some of us pay a little more attention to that in our in our planning. But a lot of people haven’t even asked themselves that. I bet their first response in a lot of cases. Well, I don’t know. I got to go find out. Right? Right.

Matt Icard: [00:08:47] Exactly. Because one of one of the statements I like to make is in the United States, we’re not taught about our finances. I mean, my mom and dad taught me how to balance a checkbook. There was nothing in school to show us how to do that, because in reality, school doesn’t want you to know that because they want you to realistically get out of high school, go to college, get in debt, get some credit cards. Get in debt while they’re in college, which is why you see credit card companies at colleges all over the place. And then once you’ve got the degree and you’ve got a little bit of debt, it’s time to get a job. Well guess what? What happens when you get a job? You got to get a car. So you got to get into more debt and then, oh, I’m going to get married. Well, you might have a little bit more debt when it comes to that. And then it’s time to buy a house. So you’re constantly in debt without being told how to leverage your finances and how to live within your means.

Stone Payton: [00:09:43] So you’re a part therapist too? I would think in some of these conversations and also the it often it’s a couple I would think buying buying buying a home. Yeah. They’re not maybe always on the same page right out of the box either are they.

Matt Icard: [00:09:57] No they’re not. They’re definitely not. I don’t know how many times that I’ve pulled credit on a couple. And when I start going through their credit report of what’s on their credit report, as far as credit cards, there’ve been a few credit cards with balances that one of the spouses did see that the other one did not.

Stone Payton: [00:10:16] Oh my. That’s got to be an interesting set of conversations. Yeah, I don’t.

Matt Icard: [00:10:20] Get the conversation after we hang up, but I’m pretty sure there’s some little animosity going between the two.

Stone Payton: [00:10:27] All right. So you have this conversation. You start having them think, look at some things that maybe they haven’t looked at in a while. They’re kind of getting their ducks in a row. And let’s say we do whether whether they both do it or not, we got some stuff a little out of whack and you’re and so you kind of coach them through, okay, we need to get this down or consolidated or you know what? Y’all work on this and let’s talk again in six months. Like, yeah, keep walking us through that whole oh for sure.

Matt Icard: [00:10:51] So when most people come to me, if they have a budget, great. If they don’t, I help them develop a budget to understand what they can afford and what they can buy. Most people base it off of what their rent payment is. So I don’t want, you know, a mortgage payment higher than my rent payment. Well, realistically, it could be a little bit more because with rent you’re not paying homeowner’s insurance, you’re not paying the property. Well, you are paying your landlord’s property taxes, but you’re not paying property taxes. And most people don’t understand the maintenance that comes with owning a house. And what my wife likes to say is, as soon as you’ve painted everything in the house and got everything the way you want it, it’s time to paint something else.

Stone Payton: [00:11:31] Right?

Matt Icard: [00:11:32] So, I mean, it’s just a constant evolution of that. But when I am walking someone through now, a lot of people know what their credit scores are because they’ve got that Credit Karma or Freecreditreport.com or whatever it is. Right? They know what it is, but they might not understand what the score is evaluating. So most people’s credit, if it’s good, bad or, you know, excellent doesn’t really matter because in reality you can get the same interest rate at a high credit score that you can at a low credit score. The only difference is when you have a low credit score, you’re going to pay more for the rate instead of less for the rate. So the higher the credit score, the lower the cost for the rate is.

Stone Payton: [00:12:13] I explain cost for the rate. I’m not familiar with this this piece of it.

Matt Icard: [00:12:16] So and it’s it’s kind of a weird conundrum. So I’ll give you the little bit of the spectrum of it. So you’ve got from 350 to 850 credit score. Okay. And what most people don’t realize is if you take into account for it is. 350 to 850. You take the decimal point, pull it back one so it’s 35 to 85. Now let’s base everything off 100%, even at the best credit score you can have. If 85% of 100 is that 850 credit score, that means the bank is risking 15% chance that you won’t pay your bills.

Stone Payton: [00:12:56] Ah, that’s an interesting way, because.

Matt Icard: [00:12:57] There’s no 100% guarantee, right? Right, right, right. Well, think about it. What’s 35 then? That means there’s 35. What? That means there’s a 65% chance you’re not going to pay your bill. So how are they going to hedge that? They’re going to charge you more to get into that same interest rate for the mortgage payment being where it’s at.

Stone Payton: [00:13:18] They’re going to charge some sort of fee to get the loan. It’s process.

Matt Icard: [00:13:21] It’s either a fee or they will bump the rate up higher to get it. Gotcha. So there’s always cost for everything where most companies build in their margins. But when everybody sees the interest rates that they see online and everything, they’ve got to realize that is for the ultimate buyer from 800 to 850 credit score with very little down. Everybody wants that low rate, but they don’t realize that it. See, the small print is it takes this type of credit buyer to get that rate. Now you can get it at the lower credit score, but you’re paying more for it. Where right give you a hypothetical. If if I have a 850 on a $300,000 house in, you know, hypothetical interest rate is 6%, I might pay $1,000 to get that 6%, whereas you’re at a 650 instead of 850, you might pay 5000. So you’re paying. Gotcha. Just more. It’s not necessarily a whole lot more, but it’s more over, especially over the life of the loan.

Stone Payton: [00:14:19] Yeah, just one of a thousand reasons that you need and want to have a mat level person helping you navigate all of this.

Matt Icard: [00:14:29] Do you you want them to break it down for the long terme and the short terme, to see what the difference is when it’s time to buy to when it’s time to refinance, to take advantage of a lower interest rate, which is one of the reasons why I’m advocating for most people. If you find the house you love, you’re marrying the house you’re only going to date and rate date the rate and payment. So when the rates come down, you take advantage of the lower interest rate, where you don’t have the competitive nature of trying to buy that house when the rates come down, because everybody and their mother’s waiting on the rates to come down, well, realistically, that turns into another seller’s market to where you’re going to be overbidding for houses, if you remember that in, oh yeah, 2021. I mean, I had one person. By an $800,000 house that bid $950,000 on it. Good lord. Now the appraisal only came back at 800,000, so they put $150,000 over and above their purchase price. Um, that didn’t gain them $150,000 in equity, right? That just means they wanted that house so much that they were willing to risk it and have it long.

Stone Payton: [00:15:43] Terme, you mentioned a terme earlier in the conversation. I want to circle back to it. Uh, pre-approved. How important is it, or is it almost mandatory that you got to get kind of pre-approved to go house shopping?

Matt Icard: [00:15:56] Well, most sellers and seller’s agents now want you to be pre-approved as opposed to pre-qualified. Okay.

Stone Payton: [00:16:02] Yeah. Describe the difference. Yeah.

Matt Icard: [00:16:04] So pre-qualified is you send me all your income documentation. I make sure that you fit the bucket of being able to purchase. So you have enough money for down payment. You have enough income. So you’re in the spectrum of what the lender is looking for. But I don’t put it into underwriting. So there are certain. Aspects of the mortgage that you have to be. I’ll use debt to income as a, you know, little buzzword. As long as you’re debt to income is below a 45% of your total, you know, gross, right? That’s a good qualifier. If your credit score is 750, that’s a good qualifier. If you have, you know, $100,000 in the bank when you’re trying to buy a $200,000 house, that’s a good qualifier. And I call it the mortgage tripod. So you’ve got three legs to a tripod. If you’ve only got two of those, mortgage is not going to hold up. If you have one is really not going to hold up. But if you’ve got all three of those, you’re pretty much qualified for a mortgage. But what a preapproval is, is I take all that information in a loan application and I send it into underwriting before we even find a house. So they’re going to basically look at the entire file, not as in depth as when we find the house, but they’ll give us what’s called an initial approval. So it’s a pre-approval. As long as you find a house, it meets this qualification and nothing changes in your income, job or you know, anything in your life, you’re pre-approved for a loan.

Stone Payton: [00:17:34] And I would think that would be meaningful for a to a seller. Like if I’m selling my home and I’m getting two offers that are in the same neighborhood, and I’ve got one that’s pre-approved and one that, you know, doesn’t, that then I’m probably going to lean to that offer, right?

Matt Icard: [00:17:50] Correct.

Stone Payton: [00:17:50] Got it.

Matt Icard: [00:17:51] And you’re going to and depending on the program itself. So a conventional preapproval is typically taking over an FHA pre-approval. Now FHA is a great product. It’s less money down. But there are some interesting contingencies when it comes to an FHA. An FHA is not necessarily as qualified as a conventional, but it’s still a pre-approval. It’s still a good loan. But for some reason, sellers and seller’s agents would much rather have a conventional than an FHA. And above above that, an all cash offer is going to take it any anyway. So regardless of the mortgage aspect of it, if there’s an all cash offer like an investor, I mean, you’re not going to beat that.

Stone Payton: [00:18:35] That’s yeah, that’s the one that they’re really going to jump on. So uh, 15 years plus now doing this, how long have you been at this.

Matt Icard: [00:18:42] Uh, two. Was it 2009? Yeah. So almost 15 years.

Stone Payton: [00:18:46] Wow. So have you had the benefit of one or more mentors along the way that kind of showed you the ropes and helped you really learn this business?

Matt Icard: [00:18:56] I have, um, a few mentors. One of my first branch managers, um, when I first came into the business, before I even got licensed, because when I came into the business is when, you know, right, in that 2008, you know, when the market crashed and the housing market crashed. So I got in it at the absolute wrong. Nicely done. Exactly. I got in at the wrong time, but for some reason I liked it so much it just stuck. Um, but one of my first branch managers, when I was going to get licensed, I was what what they called a branch marketing specialist. So I made all the outbound phone calls. I cut my teeth on people that were, you know, looking to refinance, looking to purchase. But I was doing the cold calling, you know, 175 calls in the morning, 175 calls in the afternoon. Wow. And talking and listening to my branch manager who had been in the business for, you know, ten, 15 years prior to that, you know, he would say, oh, man, you should have been here during the, you know, late 90s, early 2000.

Matt Icard: [00:19:52] You would have made a killing. I was like, well, I didn’t realize it was just selling. And then as soon as I’ve got everybody on the phone, I literally took them in to loan officers. So I was just handing them deals for the first six months that I was in the business before I was able to get licensed and talk real money. So I got all of that experience before I got on the phone, and I remember the first guy that I sold a loan to, his name was James Nelson over in, I think Winder, and when he came into the office, sat in front of me and he was like, man, it seems like you’ve been doing this for years. And he’s like, well, how how did you learn this? Well, you know, I just finished my online course last week and, you know, made him laugh. But, you know, you know, we just settled right into it, sold it. And he was, you know, he was a great guy. He was happened to be a veteran. The first loan I did are there.

Stone Payton: [00:20:41] I’m operating under the impression that there are some unique characteristics or some idiosyncrasies, um, uh, associated with helping a veteran, um, family get into a home. Speak to that a little bit.

Matt Icard: [00:20:52] Well, veterans obviously very good for me as far as emotionally and heartfelt is what most veterans, they are not taught finances either. They go and defend our country. God love them for that. And when they come home, they don’t have as much knowledge on how to do what they need to do to get into a house, as everybody else. But one of the best parts about a VA loan is it’s 100% financing, so they don’t need a down payment now, do they? Do they need. The money for closing costs? Yeah. Typically, yes. But with like every other mortgage sellers can pay the closing cost. Or a percentage of the closing costs so we can keep it, especially on a veteran, as especially if they’re a disabled veteran, because there’s no what’s called an upfront funding fee, which is kind of like prepayment, not prepayment, but PMI. But since there isn’t one, if they have any more than 10% disability, it’s so much easier to get them into a house as long as we make sure they financially qualify for it.

Stone Payton: [00:21:57] So much of your work to me seems grounded in relationship and really, um, education dependent. Like you spend a lot of time educating your your client. You got to you in fact, you got to educate them before you can really consult them, right. So they can even understand where you’re taking.

Matt Icard: [00:22:14] That’s one of the things that I’ve always liked is I’m a teacher, even, you know, some of the other companies I’ve been a part of, it’s training the other guys how to do it and teaching them about their finances. Because like I said, we’re not taught how to handle our finances. We’re not taught how to leverage our finances. A good example of that is with the way the economy is going. You might be in a low interest rate mortgage because you bought in 2020 or 2021, or refinanced in 2020 2021 to take advantage of those low rates. But with where the economy has gone, you started to, you know, live outside your means or you’ve lost a job and started to, you know, have to put money on credit cards or get personal loans or just get any type of high interest rate of debt. And at that point is using the equity because the market has gone so high on values, you have what’s called equity. So equity you could use to put into all of that debt and learn how to leverage your finances even better. And what most people don’t realize is, if I can save you $100 a month, I can show you how to take all of that debt. And now this is household debt, not just mortgage debt, and save you that $100 and show you how to leverage it into your home and show you how to pay that debt off in less time than you would be if you stayed in the house and tried to pay it off yourself.

Stone Payton: [00:23:40] Aha. And you’re a good friend to have.

Matt Icard: [00:23:43] You know, I try.

Stone Payton: [00:23:45] So, uh, still making 175 calls in the morning and in the afternoon. Or is your sales and marketing strategy evolved a little bit?

Matt Icard: [00:23:53] I don’t make that many calls anymore. Now I have and, you know, I definitely have, you know, when I’ve had to. Yeah. But realistically, referral base is where we’re at with, you know, the icon mortgage team is I’ve got a bunch of different referral partners and agents, you know, in what I’m licensed in 13 different states. So oh wow. I’ve got agents, you know, in those states. But obviously Georgia is where home is and always looking for more referral partners that way. So we can help each other out. Right.

Stone Payton: [00:24:25] So some a consumer, a house buyer who had a great experience, surely they would refer you. But like the the real estate ecosystem, like the people in the home services world or the real estate agents, those are important relationships to you, right? And they and they refer people to you for sure.

Matt Icard: [00:24:43] Kind of like that mastermind we’re in together at Vibe Realty. So realtors I mean, you’re in it, right? Um, I think there is a couple insurance guys in it. There’s a couple, you know, different, you know, contractors in it. I brought Mark a couple of weeks ago who’s a painter that I know. Right. Um, but also being part of networking groups in general is a way to, you know, just have a constant influx of referral business coming in.

Stone Payton: [00:25:09] Yeah, that’s probably a lot more fun than making 175 phone calls. It is.

Matt Icard: [00:25:13] You actually get to talk to people and just get to know them and be part of their family that way. But I mean, even all of my borrowers that I’ve worked with, it’s I don’t friend them on Facebook until after we’re done with the loan because they realistically become family. I mean, I had one lady in Massachusetts years ago and my wife says it’s hilarious is that I have this weird mimicking ability to mirror someone. So obviously you can tell I’m from the South. I don’t have that, you know, huge twang. But this lady was from Massachusetts and she was like 75 years old and she was so sweet. And she goes, Matt, Matt. And, you know, you got to you got to meet my granddaughter. She would be perfect for you. And I’m sitting there, ma’am, you know, I’m married. She goes, that’s all right. That’s all right. Your wife won’t mind at all. She’s perfect. I’m like, gotta love people, man.

Stone Payton: [00:26:06] You do a pretty good Boston. I know, that’s pretty good. I will switch gears on you here before we wrap. Uh, I don’t know when you’d find the time, but, uh, what passions, pursuits, hobbies do you have outside the scope of the work? We’ve been talking about? Where you just get to unwind and enjoy yourself. What do you and your family like to do?

Matt Icard: [00:26:25] Well, my daughter, who is about to turn 16, is a competitive softball player, so.

Stone Payton: [00:26:31] Oh, you can’t have. Any hobbies? You got a 16 year old, you’re going to ball games. Well, I.

Matt Icard: [00:26:35] Do have, you know, you and I have talked a few times about our, you know, collective hobby that way, sitting in the woods and waiting for the four legged animals to walk by. Yeah. Um, but, yeah, coaching her softball teams or even being just the parent in the stands and watching her excel, as well as being married for 18 years to an absolutely smokeshow of a woman. Um, yeah, that keeps me pretty busy now. I played golf professionally back in the early 2000, so I still like to play golf, but I can’t tell you the last time I picked up the golf clubs to actually play.

Stone Payton: [00:27:08] I thought you brushed over very quickly. I asked you something before we went on air and you go, yeah, when I was playing professional golf and I let it go, but now I’m going to ask, tell me a little bit more about the professional golf experience.

Matt Icard: [00:27:19] Well, it started in 2004. Um, a buddy of mine came into town who was a caddie on the LPGA, the women’s golf tour, and I was working for Budweiser at the time, and we were playing in a softball tournament, and he just looked over and he said, you play golf, right? I’m like, yeah. And he said, you’re good. I’m like, yeah, I can, I can play it around. He’s like, well, I got another player who’s caddy is broke his leg and he’s out. Uh, would you happen to want to, you know, carry a golf bag for the week and be inside the ropes at a professional event, which is the chick fil A Charity Championship down in McDonough when they used to have it down there and I said, well, yeah, let me go ask my boss if I can have a week off, because it was happening that Monday and this was like Saturday. So I called my buddy and he was like, yeah, man, you’ve got plenty of vacation time. Go do it. Well, I had an absolute blast. Um, got to caddy at, um, Eastlake during a pro-am with a bunch of chick fil A executives and, you know, talking to the player that I was carrying the bag for that day, and I helped all of them.

Matt Icard: [00:28:23] And, I mean, they tipped me like 5 or 600 bucks each because they were upper executives. And I obviously had never made 2500 bucks in a day. And I was like, well, is this all does this happen? He goes, yeah, you can do that pretty much at every stop. I’m like. Uh, so I looked over at the player that I had that week and I was like, uh, how long are you playing? She’s like, well, I’ve got another, you know, ten, 15 weeks. I was like. You want me to go with you? She was like, yeah. So I literally went back in on that Friday because we didn’t make the cut. And I told my boss I quit. So I literally left Budweiser and went on tour for the rest of 2004 to the first part of 2005 and went to the US open for the women’s and went all over the United States. Didn’t fly out of the country or anything, but had a blast. Got to play with a bunch of different female professionals. Um, you know, name drop here. Played with Annika Sorenstam once. Most people remember.

Stone Payton: [00:29:19] Even I know who that is.

Matt Icard: [00:29:21] Exactly right. You know, Laura Davies, some of the, you know, players that have been around for years had fun with them and playing golf with them. They, you know, said, hey, you could play this if you actually devoted some time to it. So when I came home off the road and just, you know, started working with a buddy of mine, that’s when I kind of ran into my now wife and she was all over it. She says, let’s go, baby. He’s like, you can do it. I was like, okay, so we jumped in. I qualified at the Hooters Tour in Jacksonville, was the qualifying school, and I qualified for 13 events. Um, I think I got in 2 or 3, but lightning never struck in a bottle. I mean, one of those things, it’s five events. Five events now. Sorry, but, um. Yeah, lightning never really struck. And, you know, obviously, if I was as good as I wanted to be, I probably wouldn’t be on the radio with you right now. I’d be with that guy, Tiger Woods and everything, just playing with them.

Stone Payton: [00:30:20] But you still play and go out and have a good time. Oh, I do with clients and friends and that kind of thing I do.

Matt Icard: [00:30:25] I mean, I am the call for most of my buddies when they need a forth and they need a good player, they icart come here. What are you doing? I’m like, I don’t know, call Angie. And as long as it’s within the schedule and I can play, she’s like, all right, go play.

Stone Payton: [00:30:41] Oh, man. All right, let’s leave our listeners, uh, you know, young people, veterans, whoever’s out there getting ready to buy a home, thinking about it, let’s leave them with a couple of pro tips. Sure. Uh, things to think about. Maybe, uh, maybe even some things to to be prepared to have a conversation about with someone like you. Let’s leave him a couple of actionable things. Pro tips.

Matt Icard: [00:31:02] Sure. Um, biggest thing is save some money, live within your means, find a budget, work on the budget and if you can save $100 a month, save $100 a month. If you can save $1,000 a month, save $1,000 a month and realistically set your credit payments up for automatic payments, even if it’s just the minimum. Now you can go in and pay anything else. Yeah, you know, if you’ve got a bigger balance, you can pay it off at your own leisure, but set it up to make the minimum payments without looking at it. So that way you never miss a payment. Because if it’s interesting enough, you can work years to get that 850 credit score. You missed one payment on an American Express or Visa or Mastercard. It’s going to drop it down to 600, and then it’s going to take you another year or two to bring it back up. Because once you have a bad debt on your credit, it typically takes time away to grow it.

Stone Payton: [00:32:03] Well, I’m glad I asked. Did not realize how important that is. Oh, yeah.

Matt Icard: [00:32:08] Minimum payments. And that’s all you have to pay now. You can pay more. Yeah, down the road. And what I typically do with most people, especially the ones that, um, I do cash out refinances when I’m paying, you know, all their debt off is I tell everyone to get two credit cards. Now, if you have, you know, eight credit cards, don’t close them because that can negatively affect. But if you’ve got two credit cards, preferably ones with awards rewards, I should say like an Amex SkyMiles or a Capital One Venture card. So you get the rewards of whatever you buy. Use those two cards instead of your debit card to buy your stuff. If you’re going to the grocery store, put it. Put it on your Amex. Now, as soon as you buy it at the grocery store, get home, pay the Amex off. Pay that debt that you. If you spend 100 bucks at, you know the gas station for gas, pay it off when you get home. It shows you village, but it doesn’t allow you to get into that big debt balance. So and because credit cards are basically government backed, um, it’s a lot more secure than your debit card. If you give somebody your debit card on an automatic payment where it comes out every month, and then all of a sudden you’re short in the bank state in the bank. Mhm. Uh, it’s going to come out and in, in my. Uh, experience. It’s harder to get off of an automatic payment with your debit card than it is with a credit card. Uh, because if you get overcharged with a credit card, all you have to do is go back and dispute the credit card. And the credit card company is going to get their money. Um, the bank does not care.

Stone Payton: [00:33:45] Right. Yeah.

Matt Icard: [00:33:47] Exactly. And realistically, the biggest thing is, um, if you, you know, you can contact me, you can contact any mortgage person for just an evaluation if they’re worth their, you know, salt. You can get an evaluation of your profile without even, you know, putting any money out there to see where you’re at, just to see where you’re at, whether you end up doing something or not. That’s the biggest.

Stone Payton: [00:34:14] Thing. Okay. All right. What’s the best way for our listeners to get in touch with you? Whatever you feel like is appropriate? Uh, email, LinkedIn. I just want to make sure that people can connect with you, maybe do that evaluation and have a substantive conversation with you. What’s the best way to connect? Well, you can.

Matt Icard: [00:34:28] Find me on all social media, um, under Instagram. I’m Icard mortgage, man, because, you know, I like, kind of like the muffin man. Do you know the muffin Man? No. Do you know the man or the mortgage man? Yeah. I don’t live in Drury Lane. I live on, you know, over in Woodstock. Um, but you can also find us as Icard mortgage team.com. It’s got a link to my calendar, um, to where you can just book a 30 minute, you know, calendar session with me. Doesn’t cost you anything. Um, my email. We are powered by quest Rock Home Loans, so it’s Matt Icard. Matt Icard at quest Rock. Dot com. Or you can call me on my cell (678) 206-7640 or shoot me a text. Any way you want to get Ahold of me, I’m there and I typically respond within the hour.

Stone Payton: [00:35:16] Well, Matt, it has been an absolute delight having you in the studio. Thanks for sharing your insight, your perspective. Don’t be a stranger. Come in periodically and kind of get us updated on what’s going on in the market. Might be fun to at some point. Uh, you know, you mentioned teaming up with other people in the, in the real estate ecosystem, maybe bring a referral partner, someone in home services world or a real estate agent, and maybe we’ll profile their business, but maybe also talk about how you guys collaborate to genuinely serve the home buyer. That might be fun.

Matt Icard: [00:35:49] Oh, we absolutely will. And before I let you go, I will tell you one thing that we have been doing that and my wife does a lot of the marketing for us is that she helped with one of our realtors, um, put a drive together for homeless or foster kids here in Cherokee County to where they can drop a. Piece of luggage, a stuffed animal, or a blanket for the foster kids in Cherokee County because when those children are pulled out of the houses in bad situations, they typically don’t have anything with them. So the bags that we’re getting is so they have, you know, a stuffed animals so they can, you know. Cuddle up with him a blanket so they can stay warm because they are literally walking out with trash bags of clothes sometimes. So that was one of I love my wife for having just the biggest heart that way. And right now I want to say our what we call our, you know, library is almost full of bags and stuffed animals and blankets to wear. Um, what do we have? Two drop off points. One at Club Pilates in Woodstock on Town Lake. And then there’s one at our, um, child’s private school for Top Prep in Acworth. And they are absolutely just killing. It brings stuff in.

Stone Payton: [00:37:13] All right. So luggage is one of the items you mentioned. Yeah.

Matt Icard: [00:37:16] Just small, small luggage. Luggage bag, um, stuffed animals and just the little, you know, blankets.

Stone Payton: [00:37:24] Yeah. All right. Well, I’m glad that you mentioned that. Yeah. Keep up the good work, man. Thanks for coming in. And let’s let’s do it again.

Matt Icard: [00:37:31] I will, and you know what? We got to go sit in the woods here. In there? Sure.

Stone Payton: [00:37:35] You got it, man? Yes, sir. All right, until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Matt, Aykut and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you again on Cherokee Business Radio.

 

GWBC LACE Awards 2023: Matielyn Jones with GWBC

by

Matielyn-Jones
GWBC Radio
GWBC LACE Awards 2023: Matielyn Jones with GWBC
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Matielyn-JonesMatielyn Jones

GWBC

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for business. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from the Georgia Aquarium Oceans Ballroom for 2023 GWB Lace Awards Gala, Ladies Achieving Continuous Excellence. So excited to be talking to my guest right now. Matielyn Jones, Director of Operations at GWBC. Welcome.

Matielyn Jones: [00:00:38] Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:39] Now, are you excited about tonight’s event?

Matielyn Jones: [00:00:42] I am excited, I’m always excited to spend time with our women, business owners and corporate sponsors, so it’s going to be great.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:48] So what can people expect? What are some of the things that you’re looking forward to this evening?

Matielyn Jones: [00:00:53] Well, I am responsible for the team that manages the certification process. And so we have tons of applications that come through every single week, every day of the year. And I’m looking forward to putting faces with the names of all the.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:07] That’s right, because you’ve probably seen them or heard through email and over zoom or something like that. But you may not have met him in person.

Matielyn Jones: [00:01:14] Right, exactly. And so I we received their actual documents. So that would be all of their legal documents. And so we literally feel like we know them. Exactly. So, you know, the history of the business. Who started it. Where were they? You know, we’re looking at, you know, financial documents. We’re looking at who the owners are, all their resumes, all the things, the criteria for certification. So I literally feel like by the time an event like tonight comes around, I’m so excited because we get to put these faces with the names of people who, again, we memorize the details in our head of who these people are. So I’m excited.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:49] Now what for somebody who isn’t certified, what, like, what can they expect to go through the certification process? Like what are some of the things that they need in order to, you know, get through this process because it is arduous, because they’re it’s important to get it all right. And you can’t no one just because you say I’m a woman owned business doesn’t mean that you are really you got to jump through some hoops, right?

Matielyn Jones: [00:02:10] That’s right. And so we certify women owned businesses that can legally demonstrate that they are at least 51% woman owned, controlled, operated, and that they operate in a way that’s independent of any other business. And so we look through those legal documents to make sure that they are legally woman owned, 51% minimum. We my team, the certification team, does all the vetting of those applications. So we do the initial intake of those applications. We do the auditing, which is the line by line of every single piece of paper that comes in, which is which is very, very rigorous and tedious. However, we want to make sure that there is integrity in our process and that if we give someone that seal of approval saying they are a woman owned business, that we’ve gone through the process of making sure that they are legally so, and that process takes 60 to 90 days. Part of the reason why is because we do look at every single sheet of paper for every business that submits. Right now, we sit at around 1245 applications or certified businesses between Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina. And we’re looking for ways to continue to make the process more efficient so we can certify more women do more outreach, things like that. So, yes, the process it takes about up to three months, but usually once people have submitted their applications and they’re good to go, we roll right along.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:30] And it’s important because a lot of the value that you’re going to get from being a certified business is that you’re going to have access to maybe some enterprise level organizations that are looking for these specific types of people to do business with, right? So you get fast tracked, and this could really change the trajectory of your business if you do this.

Matielyn Jones: [00:03:49] Absolutely. One of the things that is important to remember is that our certification process does not guarantee that anyone will secure a contract, but what it does do is it makes them competitive in the market for the contract. And so we are looking to certify because there are companies, corporations and the government that are both looking to spend money with women owned businesses, also with minority owned businesses, also with veteran owned businesses and whatnot. But for us, for women owned businesses, and they access our database to make sure that that vetting process is really done for them. And so they can search the database of all of our women owned businesses, because we this is a national certification that we process locally. And so they can use it nationally even though we process it locally. And so they look into our database to see who are the staffing agencies, who are the construction companies, who are, you know, whatever the business need is. And we take the vetting of that, you know, making sure that if they have this set aside for two to spend with women owned businesses, that at least this group of women owned businesses they know have been vetted as such.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:56] And that spend isn’t just a little bit of money, right? It’s. Billions and billions of dollars.

Matielyn Jones: [00:05:03] It’s billions last. Earlier this year in April, I went to the top corporations luncheon, and it was Maria and I who was the director of programs. It was our second day on this job. We both started in April. And you know the numbers in the room. 2 billion here, 4 billion there. It starts at 5 million money.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:22] Right.

Matielyn Jones: [00:05:22] It added up and I said, I said, I’ve never been in a room where it was like a flex. How much you spend with women owned businesses. It was exciting and it was a great welcome and introduction to the organization. But it was very exciting and I’m very proud of all the companies that come together to really support women owned businesses in this way.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:41] And for people who want to learn more about getting certified themselves or getting re certified, if maybe they have done it in the past, what’s the best kind of way to connect with you?

Matielyn Jones: [00:05:51] Sure, I think the best way is to go to our website. It is for the Greater Women’s Business Council. So that is GW, BC. Org, our certification team. Photos and pictures are there. You can email us directly at certification at GW PBS.org. You can also reach out to me directly at M Jones at GW PBS.org. But we would love to hear from you. I’m always open to questions and walking you through as best I can, high level through your application, but just know that our goal is to make sure that we audit these documents well, and that we really set people up for success who want to compete in this market.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:28] Well, congratulations on all you do. I mean, you’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Matielyn Jones: [00:06:32] Thank you so much. And thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:34] All right. We’ll be back in a few at GW. Bc Lace Awards Gala 2023.

About GWBC

The Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®) is at the forefront of redefining women business enterprises (WBEs). An increasing focus on supplier diversity means major corporations are viewing our WBEs as innovative, flexible and competitive solutions. The number of women-owned businesses is rising to reflect an increasingly diverse consumer base of women making a majority of buying decision for herself, her family and her business. GWBC-Logo

GWBC® has partnered with dozens of major companies who are committed to providing a sustainable foundation through our guiding principles to bring education, training and the standardization of national certification to women businesses in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

BRX Pro Tip: Why and How You Really Can Dominate Your Local Market as a BRX Studio Partner

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BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Why and How You Really Can Dominate Your Local Market as a BRX Studio Partner
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BRX Pro Tip: Why and How You Really Can Dominate Your Local Market as a BRX Studio Partner

Stone Payton: [00:00:02] And we are back with BRX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you, Lee, in much of our promotional material and many of our conversations, we specifically say, “Dominate your local market.” That’s kind of what we lead with as we’re trying to communicate with prospective Business RadioX studio partners. Let’s drill down a little bit and talk about why and how you really can dominate your local market by becoming a Business RadioX studio partner.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:30] Well, for some businesses, kind of, dominating your local market is critical. If there’s 10 or 20 vendors of the same type of service, it’s going to be difficult for you to get the market share you desire if you’re number 20.

Stone Payton: [00:00:48] Yeah. Look, if you’re selling insurance, and you’re at the Chamber of Commerce meeting, you’re at that networking meeting, you’re selling insurance, you’re a financial advisor, you’re a printer, man, it is competitive out there. And there’s six other people at the same meeting in your industry trying to have that same conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:05] And you don’t want to ever kind of compete on price. So, you want to be able to differentiate yourself in terms of value. And what better value to bring to the table than being the operator of a Business RadioX  studio in that local market. By being the media, by being the business media in that local market, and being the one that gets to pick and choose who gets to come on shows and tell their story, puts you in a totally different position in the mind of your prospects and the business community as a whole.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:38] I mean, in a short period of time, you’re going to become the belle of the ball in terms of being the mega connector. You’re going to know people in all different parts of the business community that you’d never, ever ran into in your normal life because they’re going to want to come on the show and talk about their business. And then, as you start getting more and more clients around it, then you’re gonna go deep into the verticals that they serve. And then, you can connect people around that as well. So, becoming the de-facto business media outlet in your market totally separate you from all your competitors. For me, if I was a challenger brand in any local market, being a Business RadioX studio partner is a must-have, not a nice-to-have.

Stone Payton: [00:02:19] Well, I agree, but you don’t have to take our word for it, right? And we tell people this when we’re having this conversation with them, the next time you go to one of these things, and there’s six other financial planners there, there’s nine other people who are selling insurance, you tell them that you’re thinking about opening up a Business RadioX studio. And in that, you’re going to be spotlighting local business people and sharing stories about the great work that they’re out there doing for their community and for their profession. And ask them if they know any business people in the local market who have a compelling story to share. See what kind of responses you get, see the kind of reaction that you get, and see the delta in those exchanges and your typical networking environment.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:06] Right. There’s plenty of people that give lip service to being a good corporate citizen. If you’re running a Business RadioX studio in your local market, and telling the stories of business in your local market, you’re demonstrating that you’re a good corporate citizen. You’re walking the walk. You’re not just talking the talk.

Lindsay Esterline with Bible How-To Podcast and Alex Morales with Precise Soccer Academy

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Charitable Georgia
Lindsay Esterline with Bible How-To Podcast and Alex Morales with Precise Soccer Academy
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In this episode of Charitable Georgia, Brian Pruett welcomes Lindsay Esterline, a teacher, writer, and former restaurant owner, and Alex Morales, founder of Precise Soccer Academy and a community activist. Lindsay talks about her diverse career, her podcast Bible How-To, and her work with the Seventh-Day Adventist community and the Hope Channel. She shares her insights on balancing work and family, starting and monetizing a podcast, and the importance of community involvement. Alex also shares his experiences in social work and his passion for advocating for underprivileged communities. They both talk about their transitions from different fields to their current roles, their dedication to youth development, and their faith.

Lindsey-Esterline-bwLindsay Esterline, host of Bible How-To podcast, is no stranger to presentation and public speaking. Her unique background in advertising and education has equipped her with years of experience communicating important information in a way that engages her audience.

In addition, Lindsay has been working for the past few years as a freelance SEO writer for adventist.org, as well as a freelance writer and editor for HOPE Channel International and HOPE TV. So, she is familiar with the multimedia presentation of the gospel.

Alex-Morales-bwAlex Morales is the founder of Precise Soccer Academy. His soccer journey began through volunteering as a coach at a Seventh-Day Adventist School in Calhoun, GA.

As a coach, Alex rediscovered the joy and freedom that comes from doing what you love. Soccer has always been his passion, and coaching at Coble Elementary reignited that spark.

What started as a volunteer gig turned into the founding of Precise Soccer Academy. It’s a journey of learning from experiences, courses, and his amazing students.

Alex’s goal is simple: to be a trusted guide for soccer players, teaching them the fundamentals with excellence and doing it all for God’s glory.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and resources. We put the fun in fundraising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruett.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good fabulous Friday. It’s another fabulous Friday. And if this is your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, welcome. This is all about positive things happening in the community. And we’ve got two fabulous guests. This morning. We were supposed to have three, but one of them is stuck in Chicago. So Walter, we’ll get you on when you get back, buddy. Um, all right, I’m excited about this morning because this doesn’t usually happen. We have a little small community, and, um, we are all Deventh Day Adventists, which is kind of cool that we are all in the room together. So it’s kind of interesting how God works on that. So, uh, our first guest this morning is a friend of mine from my church, Lindsay Esterline. Welcome this morning.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:01:19] Thank you for having me. I’m very excited.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:21] So, uh, we’ll get into why I asked you on, because I think what you’re doing is pretty cool, too. But, uh, because you started your own podcast. And like I said, we’ll talk about it in a second, but you have a pretty cool, uh, interesting background and woven in a lot of things. You were a teacher, you’re a writer. You’re, uh, all kinds of stuff. You had a restaurant, a food truck. Yeah. Um, but if you don’t mind sharing a little about your background, then we’ll talk about your podcast.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:01:44] Yeah. So, um, you’re right. I’ve kind of had, like, a schizophrenic career. Um, it’s it’s like I never grew up and never decided what I really wanted to do. Um, but I’ve been in a little bit of everything, and I have to believe that that’s because, um, God has a very unique plan for for me and what I’m supposed to be doing right now. And I think it has culminated in the podcast that he put on my heart to start. And so, um, I started off in college going for a degree in advertising, um, and then never used it, um, and then decided I wanted to be a teacher and, um, got a master’s degree in education. And so that’s given me an opportunity to just be in front of people and have to share information, um, with people in a way that they are engaged in, understand. And, um. Yeah. Little people are are. Our special, right? Um, to say the least. And, um, I did largely second grade. And so to to keep a second graders attention all day long and keep them, um, learning, I think has has been, uh, an important step in, in my journey to trying to communicate the gospel and share the Bible with people through through this podcast. And, um, yeah, I’ve even owned a food truck and a restaurant and, um, we, we had to close those doors right before the pandemic. So God blessed us in that area, right? Like, we we got out, um, before everybody got hit really hard.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:35] Um, it was a specialty restaurant, too, right?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:03:37] Yeah, it was a vegan and gluten free restaurant because I am vegan and gluten free. And I was like, there has to be a place for me to eat in this town. Um, but yeah, we just we were we were also passionate about sharing health message, um, with the people of Atlanta and, um. Yeah, restaurant business is just a really hard business to break through, especially when you’re going to be super niche like that. Um, but yeah, we we eventually saw that door closing and then like I said, the pandemic hit and my husband ran across an advertisement, um, for our church conference looking for writers. And, um, like I said, uh, my background originally starting out in advertising, was supposed to be a copywriter. And so he was like, you were you should really just go for this and see where it where it ends up. Right? Like, what are you going to do at home all day during a pandemic anyway? Kind of a thing. And I’m like, yeah, you know what? You’re right. I need something to do. I need something to occupy my brain because obviously I’m all over the place. Right? Um, so yeah, I went through the, uh, process of application to, to be a writer for our church and got the job.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:05:00] Got it, uh, you know, narrowed all the way down out of hundreds of people. Um, got to be on on that call list and have just been working as a freelance writer. Ever since. And then because of that experience, just writing for adventist.org and, and other um, entities of our church like Hope channel. I just, you know, realized that there was a need for like. Helping people in a very practical way. Like we put a lot of resources out there, even just other Christian churches put a lot of resources out there for, um, reading about the Bible or having a devotional, but they don’t really give you any practical steps on how to study the Bible for yourself. Right? How to, you know, devotional life is very important, right? We need to spend time daily in the word, and sometimes we only have five minutes to get through that because life is crazy. But I really, truly believe that we need to set aside some time on a regular basis to dig a little deeper.

Brian Pruett: [00:06:11] So we’ll talk about more of the podcast in just a second. But for those people who are listening who may not know about the seventh day Adventist, uh, faith and belief, can you talk a little bit about that? And then also, you mentioned the Hope channel and people may not know what that is either. So can you share a little bit about each one of those.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:06:27] Absolutely. So um, the seventh day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination. Um, we believe in Jesus. Um, so we have a lot of faith and fundamentals in common with the Baptists and all of those things. But we do diverge in a couple of different areas, and one of those obviously being the seventh day Sabbath. Right? It’s right there in the name, um, we believe that the fourth commandment is very explicit about what day we should be worshiping and setting aside that time on a weekly basis to, to spend with, with the Lord, reconnecting with him, um, just resting in the assurance of salvation and just actually having a physical rest from the grind, right? And reconnecting with friends and family and, um, setting aside some opportunity even to do some charitable work to serve others. Um. And so that’s probably the big the big one that separates us from the rest of the the Protestant church. I mean, if you want to know more details, you can absolutely check out Adventist. Org. They just revamped all of the fundamental beliefs so that you can kind of see where, um, where we land on some of those, uh, Bible doctrines that are out there. And, and then, of course, if you listen to the podcast, we, we stumble into some of those as well, because, you know, when you get deep into the, the word of God, you’re going to you’re going to run across some of this doctrine.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:08:06] And that’s why we have so many divergent beliefs on so many different topics in the Bible, because people have landed in different places based on different scriptures that they’ve studied. And, um, you’ve got to be able to figure that stuff out for yourself, right? What is the Holy Spirit putting on your heart in specific? And that’s why I feel like it’s such a passion of mine to get people to to study the word on their own and make their own choices. Don’t don’t just go with what the Baptists say, because you were raised Baptist, and that’s what you always learned. And I had to go through that even as an Adventist. Right? I, I ended up landing back on the Adventist platform. Um, but there was a there was a time in my life that I had to really, um, do some introspection about whether or not this is what I believed, instead of whether or not it’s what my mom believed. Um, and that’s just what stuck with me, because that’s the way that I was largely raised. And so, um, yeah, that’s kind of the spark, right? That set me.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:10] And so the Hope channel, I mean, it’s on the direct TV, you can get it on direct TV and other places, but that’s an Adventist based network, right? Yes.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:09:17] So it’s a TV, um, network. They also have presence online. So you can go to Hope Dot study and find all kinds of Bible study resources there. Um, yeah. Devotionals even like games for kids. They have their Bible Heroes game. That looks really cool. By the way. I don’t know if you’ve checked it out, but they like really tried to go after like that comic book vibe to keep the kids attention. Nice. Um, so I have been, uh, doing a little bit for them. They have a program that comes on weekly, um, called Bible Help Desk, where you can actually send in your own questions and they’ll invite guests, right. Like so PhD Bible scholars that will come on and answer those questions for you. Um, so it’s a it’s a really cool idea. Um, so yeah, I encourage everybody to check out Hope channel and of course Adventist org if you have any questions about our denomination in specific.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:16] Right. Well, that leads into your podcast because you name your podcast is How to Write Bible, how to Bible study. Is that.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:10:21] Right? Yeah. It’s um, it’s called Bible how to and this season is how to study. So that’s what we’re focusing on right now. So Bible how to study. And you can go to Bible How-To dot com and find out all the information about what um, my little family ministry is trying to do. Of course we have the audio links there for you. I’m also on YouTube, and so you can find us on any of those platforms that you like to listen to. Um, Spotify, Apple, Google. Right.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:57] Awesome. Yeah. I encourage you guys to go listen, because one of the things is it’s not just you talking. You do bring guests on too, that I’ve noticed in some of the episodes and the people that can, you know, share their, their experiences and ask questions and that kind of stuff. So I think it’s really cool. So a couple of questions for you. Um, since you have the marketing degree, the background, the owning your own business. So we talk a lot on this show about, uh, getting involved in the community and networking and that kind of stuff. And so I know you’re big involved in community, especially with the church, because you do a lot of stuff with the youth and the young adults and, uh, things of that nature. And that helps because you’ve got three kids. Yes. And and, you know, number three was kind of a surprise. Uh, but, um, why is it important for you to be a part of the community?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:11:44] It’s important to me to be a part of the community, because I think that’s what God is asking us to do in in his word, right? Like in order for people to take you seriously when you share your relationship with Jesus, they they have to know you a little bit at least, right? I don’t. I don’t want to knock anybody, but I’m just wondering how much success the people who stand on the street corner and yell repent! And and, you know, swing their Bible at the kids at the college campuses where there’s just no relationship there. I wonder how successful they really are in getting anything other than those viral YouTube and, you know, TikTok clips that we see floating around there where the kids are confronting pastors with, you know, hard questions and things like that. And I’m not saying there’s not a place for that and that there might, um, not be some people who who just need that kind of confrontation to, to, to wake up to the message that is being presented there. But I just, I feel like working in the community gives me an opportunity to build relationships with a lot of people and a lot of different people. Um, so the other the other important aspect of it for me is just not getting locked into my little bubble.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:13:07] Right? We get into an echo chamber on our social media feeds and and things like that. And, and we don’t see the perspective of others. And when we don’t see their perspective, then we kind of just, you know, get locked in to a way of thinking that sometimes doesn’t turn out to be very healthy. And I think we see a lot of that going on in especially the United States right now. Um, and, and so I just I’m also just a very outgoing and gregarious person. So I just really like being out there. Um, I feel like the young people minister to me more than I minister to them, because I just really enjoy being with them. And, um, I’m just really excited that they let this middle aged lady hang out with them. Um, so yeah, I just feel like it’s about building relationships and showing people that you care about them. And when you are able to express that on a real, tangible level. Then when you get an opportunity to share Jesus with them, they take it a little bit more seriously. They at least give you the respect of hearing you out. Right, right, right.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:20] Well, and you talk about relationship building, and that’s what I believe fully about the networking aspect of it too, because you got to build those relationships, um, and let people know and don’t make it about yourself. You know, you want to learn about all about the other person. So, uh, I don’t obviously, right now you’re not able to do this because you got the little one still at home, and, um, you work from home and all that stuff, too. But have you had an opportunity to pass to do any networking with any other of your businesses or jobs or anything like that?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:14:47] I did a lot of networking with the food truck and the restaurant, because there was a couple of food truck coalitions that we were a part of. Um, because not only were there benefits for paying those dues and having access to their special lots and, and things of that nature, but they were also working very hard to lobby, um, the Georgia state government in order to make running our business a little bit smoother. Um, unfortunately for us, our business doors closed before some of those advantages came to fruition. So they’ve made it a lot easier for food trucks to operate in Georgia in the past couple of years. And I’m so excited. Um, for our friends who are still in the business that have that, um, that weight lifted, right, right. Because it was also a financial burden. And I think it was part of what contributed to us closing our doors was just not being able to financially sustain some of the requirements that were out there. Um, so networking is important on a lot of levels. I mean, we learned a lot from other people who had been in the business for for years. They gave us some great advice, um, that helped us, um, avoid a few mistakes. Right. We still made plenty. But, you know, so having somebody watch your back and looking out for you and and just being excited about, uh, sharing, sharing their wealth of knowledge and, um, helping another person to succeed is, is is really a blessing. And, um, yeah, we’re still in touch. Even though it’s been years, we’re still in touch with a lot of the the folks out out there that are still running, um, their food trucks. And we still try to give them business whenever we can. Um, so.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:38] Well, that’s important too, because you talked the relationship and you guys, as you mentioned it, friends. Right. Because you make friends that are lifelong that way as well. So, um. And it’s kind of interesting because until a couple weeks ago, I didn’t think about this when another guest, I’m asked the same question about asking a positive share, a positive story on networking that might have benefited this person. And she started talking about all the events they were involved in. And I never thought about it this way, but networking is everything you’re doing doesn’t have to be a networking quote unquote event or, you know, uh, meeting or whatever. So, um, I wanted to ask you this too. So you’ve you’ve owned your own business. You you’re currently doing this podcast. So this is a two part question. Uh, give somebody who might be listening some advice on if they want to start their own business, what they should be doing and looking at and things of that nature. And then anybody who might be thinking about doing a podcast, there’s a lot of podcasts out there, a lot of people doing podcasts, and most of them don’t make it. Um, you’re fairly new at this, but I, you know, but so, first of all, if you don’t mind, just share those two pieces of advice. And then I got a couple other questions for you.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:17:46] Okay. So the first question was advice about running a business. Okay. Um, I think it’s really kind of trite or cliche, but you just have to be prepared to put in the hours, um, especially if you don’t have the money. Right. Money helps a lot in a lot of ways. Um, just, you know, life experience will give you that. Um. But. Right. Like I couldn’t afford to hire a manager sometimes. Um, line cooks would, you know, just dip out on me? I mean, you’ve got to you’ve got to invest all of the time before you open the doors just to research where you want to be, what your business is really going to be about. Um, how much money is it really going to cost you on a daily basis to keep your doors open? I mean, there’s just so much footwork and research that goes into it before you even get started with the actual like, physical implementation of, of the business. Um. Yeah. There’s just there’s so many things. And it’s because I’m. I am all over the place and I’m spazzy. Like, my brain is running a mile a minute trying to answer this question. And I think, like, there are college courses out there on running a business.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:19:14] And so I’m not going to be able to give you everything that you’re going to need in, in this moment right now. Um, but I think the biggest takeaway for me is just you’re you’re going to have to be fully invested. And that means long hours. That means you’re risking your financial stability a lot of times because you want to make this thing happen. You’re looking at the goal. Um, so. Just really keep your eye on your goal and and create a plan with action steps that will get you to that goal so that when you’re having a hard time and things aren’t going according to plan, you can sit down and recenter yourself on those action steps and that goal and hopefully, you know, refocus yourself so that you’re positively motivated to continue to execute your dream. Right? Right. Um, I mean, sometimes the writing on the wall says you like, you know, what happened to us? Like, it’s not going to work out. Um, but I believe that, uh, God was with us through that process and that that experience has been valuable, um, for me and my family since then.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:37] Well, the other the other thing I might add to that, before you answer the the other question, uh, is I also think that you need to, um, because I’m doing this with my business as well, is learning, first of all, how to say no, but also not sacrificing family. Um, uh, you know, you talked about it, and it’s true. You do have to work long hours and stuff like that. But I think you also have to a point where you know what family takes precedence even over some of that work hours. So would you agree?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:21:00] I would agree, and I think that’s part of the reason that we decided to close, because we got ourselves into a position where the financial risk was going to start affecting our family in a way that, um, was uncomfortable for us. And the the time investment was getting to the place where, you know, I’m, I’m deciding between my business and my children and, um, it just it was it was a really uncomfortable spot. And, and we had me and my husband had to sit down and decide, you know. What what we needed to do moving forward in order to maintain an appropriate balance. Right. And and we just decided that. We can’t do this business thing anymore. And in. Be successful family.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:00] Right. So I just thought of this while we were talking about it. Uh, how old are your daughters?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:22:05] Oh, you’re going to tell on me? Okay, so I have a 17 year old, a 12 year old and a two year old. Right. So I had a Covid baby. Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:14] So that’s what I was thinking, right? Because we talk about all the time about how God works in mysterious ways and talking about it wasn’t the right time for your business. Right. And then God blessed you with your surprise.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:22:26] Yes, yes. Oh my goodness, she is such a blessing. But sometimes I just wonder about God’s sense of humor, right? Um, I don’t recommend having a baby in your 40s, but it’s what happens, right? And, um.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:44] Well, if God wants it to happen, he’s going to make it happen. Oh, yeah.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:22:47] Yeah. I mean, we made efforts to avoid this from happening, and, um, he worked around that because. Right. She was meant to be here.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:56] There you go. All right, so let’s go back to that other question about people. Again. There’s all kinds of podcasts out there. And people just they want to talk. It doesn’t matter what they want to talk about. So they start podcasts. So um, if somebody is thinking about, again, you’re new into this because it’s what, month? Two months?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:23:12] Yeah, we launched in October and I’ve never done any kind of podcasting before this. So I mean, I guess I’m a testament to how God is going to put something on your heart and equip you to do it.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:23] So if somebody’s listening and thinking about starting a podcast, what are some things I mean, obviously. People are out there and they do it as a hobby and they don’t make any money. And most people try to make some money on this kind of thing. So what advice would you give on that?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:23:39] So I started out with a book. It was called Making Noise. I believe I’m I didn’t look at it before I left the house, so I don’t remember the name of the author. Um, but he was the author of this particular book, was an experienced in the radio business and the podcasting business for many, many years, working like New York and, you know, had a lot of success. And so, um, there’s a ton of very good advice in there about content, for sure. Um, so you’ve got to know what you’re going to talk about, because people are going to be looking for a very specific, uh, topic. Right. They, I don’t, I don’t know, too many podcasts that are out there that are just like, we’re just going to talk about whatever we feel like it today, you know, like, um, so, so people are looking for niche material, um, when they’re looking for a podcast. And so you’ve got to know what your material is going to be, and then you’ve got to know whether or not you want to be the guy talking into the microphone all by yourself, or whether or not you’re going to invite guests. And what that means. Right. As far as setting up schedules and who do you want to talk to and why do you want to talk to them? Um. So I think finding your your your niche or your niche however you want to pronounce that is super important because you’re going to build the rest from from that idea out. Right. What what is my podcast really going to look like? Because this is what I want to communicate to the world right now. And so that book is going to be an excellent resource, um, for helping you just kind of map out that what your big idea is.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:25:33] Um, as far as the actual execution of, you know, editing it and putting it out there in where people can click on it and actually get a hold of it and listen to. Um, I, I, um, have no experience with editing audio and video because I’m also on YouTube. Um. So that is just. That’s an expense for me because I don’t have the actual technical knowledge to do that. So that’s the other aspect of starting a podcast. Like, are you trying to do this on the cheap and free and you don’t care if it’s a little bit messy because you don’t have the technical skills to make it a little bit smoother for your listeners? Or are you going to invest your money, um, in, in making this something that, um. That is a little bit more professional sounding. And so I went the second route. Um, and like I said, this is a family ministry. So far I have not been picked up by a larger entity. I’m really hoping that that happens pretty soon so that I can, um, make any donations, uh, tax deductible for folks out there. Um, but we haven’t we haven’t done that yet. So every, every time I produce an episode that comes out of my pocket, my family’s pocket directly because we’re just that invested in, in making this thing happen because we feel like this podcast, this the mission of our podcast, which is, is sharing with people how they are going to get into the word for themselves. Is that important? Um, well.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:14] So there’s people out there too who make try to make selling, you know, sponsorships, advertising, things of that. Um, have you thought about doing that? Selling? You know, you said being picked up by a bigger entity, but have you thought about selling sponsorships for your for your podcast?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:27:30] Um, yes and no. So I know that that’s an option for podcasts and, and the podcast medium makes it very easy for you to do that because you, you, you don’t have to like it’s just you like, you can put a commercial in your podcast if you want to, and you can make it however long you want or however short you want. And you know, whatever anybody is willing to give you in order to, to have that, um, space in, in your, um, conversation. Um, but for me. I’ve just been focusing on on finding a bigger sponsor, like, you know, a church, uh, some one of the divisions of our church, one of the, um, entities like Hope channel. Um, and when you’re going for something on that, scale, it. The machine moves slow, right? Um, and since we just launched in October, I don’t really have the listenership numbers to go after advertisers who just want a commercial spot. Right? Um, so unless they just really believe in what I’m doing and it’s more of a charitable donation than actually an advertising expense right now. Um. Then, um, I just I just feel like that that hasn’t been the route for me to take right now. And I’m hoping that as time goes by and I get that listenership built up, then it’ll be a little bit more interesting for people who want to buy advertising space on an actual episode. Right. So.

Brian Pruett: [00:29:03] Well, I’m going to also go touch a little bit on your freelance writing because that’s in essence your own business as well. Mhm. Um. Somebody. There’s a lot of people out there who enjoy writing. Um. If you ever read anything of mine. My wife and my mother tell everybody I have a very rare disease called chromophobia. I don’t use them. So you have to take one really long breath. Um, but again, that’s again part of a business. So how would you recommend somebody who wants to be in the freelance world instead of just writing for one person? Uh, what what advice would you give on something like that?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:29:35] So there’s a lot of resources out there on the internet now getting people connected. Um, you know, producers connected with people who need those products. And one of the websites that I use, and I am not getting any kickback for sharing any of this information, um, is called Upwork. Um, and I got connected through that job opportunity over, uh, the pandemic shut down where I got connected with the church, and that was the platform that they were using. And then once I was on that platform so that I could have a contract with them and a motive of payment and everything, I noticed that there was like a whole nother world on there of other people, um, who are sharing their freelance services as well as, um, people who are posting jobs for freelancers on, on that website. And there’s other websites out there that do the exact same thing. So just pick one that you’re comfortable with. Um, I think maybe because it was the first one that I ran across Upwork has been the one for me, and I want to maintain more than one site, um, or account. So that’s what I’ve been I’ve been using.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:56] And so for the I guess people may not, may or may not know what freelance is, but as a freelance you can you can set your own schedule, set your own kind of owning your own business to write you set your own schedule, set your own pricing right. Pick your own who you want, who you don’t want to work with, that kind of thing.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:31:11] Absolutely. So sometimes people request that I put in a proposal for work that they want to do, and I can I can read the description of their job. And if it’s not something that I feel matches my skills or something that I want to invest in, then I can say no. So I’m not working in an office, um, for somebody else right now. Um, so I can decide if that job is going to fit in my schedule and help me achieve any of my future goals, or even just something I find interesting.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:44] Right? Awesome. So again, share with somebody the folks again how they can find your your podcast. And then um, are there anything, anything else coming up. Any kind of. Fundraising things that you know that you want to share, that we can talk about.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:31:59] So you can find the podcast. The easiest way to find it is just to go to Bible How-To dot com, and I’ll have links to all the platforms as well. I mean, you can just listen right from the website, but if you would like to be linked to your favorite platform for listening and then you can click the follow button there. Um, we’re on YouTube and all of that stuff as well. So that’s, that’s the easiest way to get connected to us. Um, I’m also on a lot of the social media platforms. Um. As far as fundraising, I don’t have any fundraising endeavors scheduled at the moment. Um, like I said, we just launched in October and so I have just been this has been this is a one woman show. So I’ve just been, like, so bogged down in the details of finding guests and getting them scheduled and actually recording and coordinating the production and, you know, getting in touch with, um, those those larger groups that I’m hoping will pick me up. Um, that I haven’t, I haven’t really focused on fundraising in a really intentional way. Right. So all.

Brian Pruett: [00:33:13] Right. Well, Lindsay, thanks for coming on and sharing a little bit of your background and your podcast. Don’t go anywhere. We’re not technically done with you yet, so. Okay, we’re moving over now to Mr. Alex Morales from Precise Soccer Academy. Yes. Alex, thanks for being here this morning.

Alex Morales: [00:33:29] Thanks for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:33:30] So you and I met, what, two weeks ago now, I believe. That’s right. Or maybe just a week ago. Two weeks ago.

Alex Morales: [00:33:36] What was it last week? What was last week?

Brian Pruett: [00:33:37] Uh, the carnival business club. And then I invited you Thursday to another group. And that’s when I found out you’re also an Adventist, which is kind of cool. So, again, it’s kind of cool how God works, but, uh, you have started a business in training, uh, youth, uh, in soccer. Um, and it’s because you have a passion for that. But I’ll get into that just a second. But if you don’t mind, just share a little bit of your background, and then we’ll talk about the precise soccer academy.

Alex Morales: [00:34:02] Sure. Uh, I think I’m on the same boat. I think a lot of people are aware. Don’t know quite where your journey, what you want to do. You know you have gifts. God, God, God has given, given all of us gifts. It’s like, how are we going to do it in the best way possible to serve him? Um, I remember, you know, my brother is pretty, uh, successful with his computer science. He was someone that, at ten years old, was built a computers and was selling it to his teachers. And he was. That’s his passion. You could tell from the very beginning that’s what he likes. And just naturally, as a brother, you know, um, try to follow his path. And as I got progressed, I’m like, it’s not for me. I do like the, um, analytical, uh, thinking process of it. You know, I definitely am an introvert, so I don’t like being kind of around people. But funny story is, as we progress in my story, we’ll find out that that kind of breaks out. So I’m like, okay, I don’t want to do technical, uh, technology. What is it that I want to do? And then somehow, you know, I started off with McDonald’s and then found a call center job here in Kennesaw close by, and. It was 100% scripted. It was an opportunity where, you know, even with my Spanish, it wasn’t fluent at the time. I went to El Salvador, tried to enhance that a bit just to make sure that I’m I can speak to my customers.

Alex Morales: [00:35:28] Right. So that was quite a journey because as we continued. Howson was hanging on a cliff because my the way I was, um, handling the calls I was I knew the knowledge. I have the knowledge. I just didn’t, um, have the confidence to be able to deliver that to the customers. And what that means if a customer sniffs one lack of confidence, they’re going to say, give me my money. I know there’s a way to get a nickel out of you during the call, which. During that time, you know, um, all call centers have processes, so it’s not like the call center representative can go out the way and be like, here you go. They do have like a for some for some of the clients I’ve worked with, they have a process where it’s like one month, three months, six months and then go ahead and escalate. There’s nothing else we can do. And that’s process for each client, each, each, um, each company has its own process. But as, as we continue that journey, there was a supervisor during that time that saw something in me and got out of his way to make sure I was good. And so by that, he partnered me up with one of the top tier, um, call representatives or slash QA. You know, they were doing kind of a dual, um, um, enrollment there. Right there. I got to listen to her. She gave me good tips and I don’t know what happened after that.

Alex Morales: [00:36:51] I my delivery and all that pretty much transformed to where I was comfortable. Um, the client was happy. Um. The other she became pregnant. There was an opportunity for me to come in, and that was good, because the one that trained me was going to be her and I. And come to find out, like literally two days, three days before she got an opportunity within her, um, career path that she studied in college. And obviously I’m always happy for her during that time. Still am. Um, but I was freaking out because it was just going to be me, and so I had to pick who was going to be the person that was going to be the QA during that time. And we did. We have to we, you know, like you mentioned, we had to put the additional work to make it happen. Um, even though it wasn’t the career I wanted during the time, it’s it’s the same for everything. If you want to achieve and be successful, you have to give it all you can. So I remember staying up all night till 12 in the morning grading calls, and we’re here like there was a deadline. So it was Sunday to Saturday at midnight. Um, Monday, you know, it was Sunday to Saturday, Friday, midnight. So once it hits midnight and the requirements were met, then you missed it. So we were there. Obviously Friday we would have to make sure we finished first before because it was Sabbath for us on on once the sun goes down.

Alex Morales: [00:38:19] So that’s another thing we had to equate in the equation. Um. After that happened. You know, the contract with our, um, our client during that time was ending, and I’m like, okay, what’s next? And something happened where I was I think God has had helped me during that time with. The coaching and the development. I’m pretty creative when it comes to that. Being able to help, um, cater to whatever each person’s need is. And, you know, like, I’m a visual learner. Not everyone is. You have to you have to, um, be able to get creative to see how you can reach somebody’s mind and heart. So that way they can change. They liked what I was doing and the current people, the opera operation managers over there at the other company, the client, they liked what I was doing, and they brought me up and I was 21 years old during that time. So I think that kind of paved the road. Okay. I, um, it is not in the picture anymore. Now I transitioned into the corporate world. So from there, you know, that was the first, first set because I actually worked there twice. It was, um, quite a journey the first time. I think it kind of helped me understand how to deal with difficult clients, how to do client delivery, how to meet expectations and make changes. I think it went pretty successful. Um, I think I did have that problem that you mentioned, Brian, with, um, saying no.

Alex Morales: [00:39:46] And that kind of just overruled me during that time, and I just had to make a executive decision of what’s best for me, um, which was my, my health and my, my future wife and just doing what’s best during that time. So after I left there, um, actually went to, um, something completely different warehouse. And from there. That’s where I discovered my passion for soccer coaching. Um. You know, I was coaching because of my brother in law. He’s a lot younger than I am. He was at an elementary school, which is kind of combined with the middle school for the COBOL, um, elementary school over there in Calhoun, Georgia. So they asked me, hey, do you want to help out? And I did, and I didn’t think anything about it, just, hey, just let me just help these kids out and literally, um. One of the parents came up to me. They were like, hey, can you coach my kid? I’ll pay you. Like I don’t. You don’t have to pay me. I don’t I didn’t think about it like that. I just want to help. And once I think a couple sessions after that passed, they were like, you really should look into doing this full time. This could be your career. So I think it’s funny how sometimes people see the passion in us without us seeing it within ourselves. Yeah, yeah. So just kind of, uh, wrapping up that journey with the corporate world, um, due to financial, um.

Alex Morales: [00:41:16] Challenges of me trying to get a house or at a time, you know, I had to find something that obviously paid more. Um, so I went back to, to the, to the corporate world for a couple of years. Just recently left this year, actually. And I think, um, if I were to. Label. Like what did I learn from this time? Is my confidence, the confidence that I didn’t have the first time. So. That definitely has changed it, that that confidence has given me the courage to say no when I needed to. And unfortunately, when you say no, you disappoint other people and and you know things that doesn’t go that right way. But I do know that I can go with clear conscience that the way the approach I did it with was with God in my life. And I asked I asked him for my for his guidance of whether I should stay there, whether I should move forward. And he made it clear after I asked that. So I decided to do this full time. I’m here because I definitely want to give an opportunity that I didn’t get to, to the youth, um, as a seventh day seventh day Adventist person that we were talking about earlier. Um, the struggle with the seventh day Adventist community is that we can’t play on Sabbath. Um, wasn’t the best, but I was definitely gifted when I was in high school, and it just was tough to see.

Alex Morales: [00:42:38] That I wasn’t able to help my my, my teammates out, especially when they play Sabbath. Um, they needed me. They, um, maybe sometimes they won, sometimes they lost. But they it felt good because they they really cared about me. They wanted to wanted me to be part of the team from my side. It was like, man, I want to be there because I’m I’m wanting to win a game, wanting wanting to win a trophy. But now looking at it, um, I’m proud of that. I’m proud and happy that my parents gave me that discipline that I needed to give that sacrifice for God, because the Sabbath is a very important thing for us. Um, it’s really we were studying about this, um, on Saturday, actually use advantage org to come up with some of the material for the youth program in the afternoon regarding Sabbath. Um, it’s a way. It’s one day of the week where we give up completely. Our business, our personal lives, our our friendships, at times being able to buy stuff. And. That right there just shows how much you trust God. Because Sabbath is. If you were to open a food truck on a Saturday, you know how much money you can make. If you were to do a lot of things on a Saturday, you can make so much money. But that sacrifice is just a way for us to show how much we have our money on God, that he’s going to return that blessing to us.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:02] Right? Well, and there’s all kinds of adversity out there. And I think, you know, I’ll be saying that, you know, as an Adventist, we have to come with adversity, right? Because as you just mentioned, you know, because I’m my original goal as a sportsman, I wanted to be a sports announcer. Well, you’re not going to start out at the top on Sundays and call the NFL games, right. You have to start at Friday nights, Saturdays, and again because of the Sabbath. Not going to do that. So to me that’s an adversity. And God will work out whatever your path is if you let him. We’ll do that. So, um, I want to ask you, so, uh, same thing. I kind of asked Lindsey because you’re very passionate about the youth and helping them. Um, why is it important for you to be a part of the community?

Alex Morales: [00:44:42] Well, originally I thought about something that I think was selfish was I want to leave the blueprint of when I ever whenever my time is to leave the world. I wanted to leave my blueprint. But then I started reading the Bible and it influenced me. The story I was reading during that time is that everything we do needs, needs to be for the glory of God. And so. I want to be an example. As much as I don’t believe I am like, I don’t believe any of us are worthy to even be servants of God. But he chose. He died for us and he chose us to serve him. I do believe that it’s important for us to be, um. The chosen people for him to give that example to the community, just like she had mentioned. How likely is it for someone to be out there giving signs? I mean, maybe it has some subconscious impact, but when you’re within the community and people see and you’re able to interact them and show them, I think that’s what’s the best thing. And you can still reach the you can reach people from TikTok. You can, you know, do podcasts, you can even be out there. But, you know, it just gives you an advantage to really touch people’s heart.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:54] Right. So you talked about coming from corporate world into starting your business. I think most everybody who’s an entrepreneur probably did that at one point in time. Um. So I’ve got a couple of thoughts on that. The first one is on the networking piece. Um, again, it was just last week you came to Castle Business Club. Have you done any networking prior to that?

Alex Morales: [00:46:14] No. I actually was planning on going there for some time now, and. I don’t know, I just because of the corporate world, the jobs 9 to 5, it just doesn’t work out. I know, um, one of the guys, Axel, he literally just came there and left and we didn’t get to talk much like we wanted to. But, um, I think that’s I think if the 9 to 5 job wasn’t the the obstacle in that case, a lot of, a lot of more people would have gone there.

Brian Pruett: [00:46:41] So you haven’t had a chance to experience any positive. Well, I’m not going to brag, but you got to meet me. But any positive things from networking yet? So if the more you do it, you will find out how powerful it is. So, um, talk a little bit about that transition. How is the transition from going to a corporate world into being an entrepreneur?

Alex Morales: [00:47:03] Scary, but peaceful because you’re literally putting all your faith in God, which you shouldn’t be scared of that, right? Um, you’re just scared of your own own own own strength and work ethic, making sure that, um, you’re able to keep on track of of things that’s going to generate the money you need to put food on the table. Um, and what was the other question? Sorry.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:29] Uh, well, just from transitioning from the corporate to the entrepreneurship. So, uh, while you’re thinking I’m talking about that, and we were talking about the sacrifice of not sacrificing family. Um, that’s one thing, too. I think you have to have, uh, as if you have a family, a very strong spouse to believe you and back you. Right? Would you agree with that?

Alex Morales: [00:47:51] Yeah. Yeah, my wife definitely has my back. I mean, she is working 12 hour shifts at the hospital, and she’s even willing to come out, come out and help me out whenever I need. So that definitely helps me have that confidence that I have a wife that supports me and definitely has the same belief. Um, what I was trying to say earlier is, is that from the corporate world, you have someone managing you and the paychecks are consistent versus when you’re an entrepreneur. If you don’t if you’re not in that financial stance to do that, then yes, it becomes challenging, uh, stressful. But the way I see it is, I’m stressing for something that’s going to be mine at the end of the day, that’s I’m building up for, for for God, of course. Right.

Brian Pruett: [00:48:31] All right. So go ahead and get and we’ll get into the to the soccer academy here in just a second. But go ahead and give some advice for you, even though you’re still fairly because you’ve only been doing this. How long how long did you start.

Alex Morales: [00:48:42] Started in 2019 okay. Um, Covid hit and then, um, kind of gave up the passion. And then my tax advisor was like, you should open back up. This is it’s not, um, something that many people are doing. It should generate good money. I would even put my kid in the in the academy. But something I would recommend for anybody that’s doing any sports, um, type of business, because you cannot you can also do this with football speed and agility. Basketball. I think that’s, um, very popular nowadays. Um, with the soccer, um, community in the United States. At some point it wasn’t popular. And, um, we’ll see in the next few years that’s going to grow drastically. But the advice I would give is just come up with a business plan, do some research. There’s actually some resources from some guy named Ben Nabors that I used. He actually teaches you it’s a course that he has. He has different options, whether it’s like a community based or a personal base, um, kind of course, training that he he went through the process and he’s a pretty good resource to do that. Um, that’s an option, obviously. Youtube, um, look for a mentor that has done it. Maybe you can partner up with them, things like that.

Brian Pruett: [00:49:57] So that’s kind of, uh, what you mentioned the business of sports business because sports is a huge business. People who don’t believe that. Must be under a rock because it is a multi million dollar business. Um, whether that’s from peewee leagues to T-ball to, you know, even just soccer academies and everything else, sports is a huge, huge business. Uh, all over the world. So, um, I just wanted to point that out. So, um. All right, let’s talk about Precise Soccer Academy, where all do you train? What what age groups and what can people expect with your with your academy? Yeah.

Alex Morales: [00:50:31] So home base would be Cartersville, Georgia, off of Bartow County. I’ve gone to Calhoun right now just focusing on that area, um, expanding a bit in Rome. I’ve done that before, but just right now I’m accepting private sessions semi private, and then once I get the that community down, I’m open to expanding and in different locations. Um, just trying to I’m wanting to work with different coaches. That way I can give them an opportunity to do something they love, just like as I do. And, and I want to share some some of that versus competing with them. You know, we can all be competitors and then try to see who can get the most kids. But it’s easier when you have a community base like a podcast, you know, work with people and, and things of that nature.

Brian Pruett: [00:51:16] Right. What age groups do you work with?

Alex Morales: [00:51:17] Um, 8 to 15.

Brian Pruett: [00:51:18] 8 to 15.

Alex Morales: [00:51:19] Yep. But if anyone above that, it’s open. I’m definitely open to that. I do like the personal training. So at some point, college students, I do like, um, coaching the, um, more at a more advanced, um, skill set. But I know that the parents will, um, be willing to invest within the ages of 8 to 15. Unfortunately, once you reach the high school, you think you know it all. And that’s the thing. If you don’t, if you’re not, if you’re someone that’s not known to the community, then it’s more likely than that. Some some of those students won’t trust you, right?

Brian Pruett: [00:51:54] So take us through a typical, I guess, maybe a day for, uh, maybe a parent that’s listening about what to expect, uh, for their child in your academy. What what’s a typical day look look like.

Alex Morales: [00:52:08] From from a training session? Yeah. So a training session. I do a customized training, customized training session where we focus from the very beginning, um, 15, 10 to 15 minutes of agility. And sometimes I’ll combine that with ball mastery, where, um, agility is known for, for you to work on the footwork, the eye coordination, your foot coordination so you don’t get injured. You know how to cut side to side to trick somebody, juke somebody. Basically, um, I try to incorporate the agility speed with the ball mastery because they go hand in hand. Then we’ll transition into like 15, 20 minutes of passing drills. Sometimes I’ll switch it up. Recently I’ve done added like a special um, section where it works on cognitive reaction, um, where you can have a player facing against you and we’re not facing a face to face. Their back is facing the person with the tennis ball. So I will give them like a verbal cue, go or clap your hand and then throw the tennis ball at the same time to see if they can react and get it. So we’re trying to build athletes not just with one area. We’re trying to build them all together because they can be good with the ball, mastery and passing. But if they’re not good with, uh, with, um, everything else, with the, um, with running and the agility, then we do see that that’s a struggle for the youth.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:29] Uh, do you have any, uh, camps or programs coming up? Do you want to share on February?

Alex Morales: [00:53:34] Actually, yesterday, I spent a whole day while I was spending the day with my wife. Yesterday, I think Thursdays for now would be like my rest day where I can have that day with my wife. Um, planned the whole year for the next year already. I’m done with that. I’m working on building the calendar so I can give it to my customers already. Um, but the the most upcoming one, it will be in February 19th to the 20th. It will be a two day clinic.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:56] And where will that take place?

Alex Morales: [00:53:58] Um, slow location is to be, to be determined, but most likely it will be at Georgia Highlands in Cartersville.

Brian Pruett: [00:54:04] Okay. Um, are there opportunities for businesses to help support your soccer academy and if so, how how can they do that?

Alex Morales: [00:54:11] Yeah. Um, so actually offer some sponsor, uh, sponsorship packages, um, where depending on the, the tier of the package, you’re going to be on the uniforms, which we already got those covered. But we do have other ones such as bronze, silver, gold that they can purchase. And it offers a pretty good, um, value to it. We try to, um, target their marketing to our clients. And, you know, when we have the special events, we find that we we reach out new faces because it’s something quick, something they don’t have to commit to very cheap. And I try to make sure that, um, the top one I would say would be the social media and, and newsletter marketing. So, um, when I first started, I started off with three emails, three contacts. Now I’m almost up to 300 this year, so it’ll be direct resource for them to, um. Interact with my community.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:06] Okay. Uh, go ahead and share with somebody who might be listening, who wants to go to either get to talk about for that or to talk about your services for their kid. How can somebody get a hold of.

Speaker5: [00:55:15] You, how.

Alex Morales: [00:55:16] They would get a hold of you? Yeah. They can reach out to my personal number at (678) 956-3174. Or, um, they can reach out on my Facebook or Instagram. Instagram would probably be the a preferable, preferable way which would be instagram.com, um forward slash precise soccer academy. And you have a website. Yep. It’ll be precise soccer academy com okay.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:37] And I’m going to open a can of worms here because I think it’s this is just my opinion. But, uh, since you work with, uh, 8 to 15 year olds, you’re writing this way for the high schools, even though they’re kind of early. Um, but the nil. Everybody knows what the nil is, right? Name, image, likeness that they’ve gone through. And the college kids can now accept money before that. Well, it just passed in Georgia, the state of Georgia. The high school kids can now accept money. For their initial for the name engine and his likeness. And to me, that kind of takes away the passion and, uh, the love of the game. And even in college level, I think it’s kind of ruining that. And again, that’s just my opinion. So everybody out there getting mad at me just get mad at me, uh, for that. But working with high school kids, what are your thoughts on Nil, especially for the state of Georgia and high school kids now being able to accept money for that?

Alex Morales: [00:56:31] I do think I do agree that it can mess up the way they’re thinking they could play. I mean, you’ll probably have more kids trying to play sports now, because trying to get money and and money can definitely sour the heart. So, um, just the intention, I think it just really depends on the person. If they know, um, that money is just an item and not something that will, you know, make a huge impact. I think that would be ideal. But not everyone’s like that. Like I’m trying to picture myself at that age. I would just be like, yeah, I’m going to score goals so I could get more money. You know? I’m doing it just for that. I’m not doing anything for anything else. I think it’s an easy way out kind of thing, right?

Brian Pruett: [00:57:12] Yeah, I agree, I just, uh, I don’t know, uh, to me it’s just not a good thing. So, uh, one last question about your training and stuff like that. So obviously you work with kids who, uh, I’m assuming enjoy the game of soccer. Um, but you also work and train with these kids to, I guess, advance their careers in that game as well. Right? So help get scholarships and things of that nature.

Alex Morales: [00:57:37] Yes. Um, my first student will be getting, um, well, she actually got offered from Shorter University and got accepted, and she, um, even accepted it. She, she had offered three offers. Come in and then she accepted Shorter University also going to she actually was very kind and even invited me to the signing. So I’m looking forward to that. And I, I’m going to celebrate with her by inviting her and her mother, um, out to dinner to, you know, formally, uh, congratulate her. Um, but yeah, the idea is I want to build them up so they can at least get to the college level that way. Hurt their parents, don’t have to worry about the bill. I think that’s something that, um, didn’t favor, um, in my life because my parents were are immigrants. You know, they obviously have the documents now to work, but. I didn’t know they were always working, so I didn’t have that support. And, you know, money was tight. So I didn’t get that opportunity. I would have to just kind of just like right now I’m taking I would have had taken that leap of faith, which I feel more comfortable doing now versus before, to, to be be successful. So, um, it’s just giving them an opportunity to do that. And if they do go pro cool, it’s not my goal. My goal is to get them free tuition.

Brian Pruett: [00:58:54] There you go. That’s awesome. Congratulations, by the way on that student. That’s that’s really cool. All right. As we wrap this up, what I’d like to do, uh, is always have my guest share something, uh, positive, whether it’s a quote, a word, a nugget, some kind of a piece of advice to live today, what’s left of 2023 and beyond with. So, Lindsay, what do you got?

Lindsay Esterline: [00:59:14] Oh, man, I wish you would have told me beforehand.

Brian Pruett: [00:59:17] That’s why I told you. Listen to back episodes. It’s the same question.

Speaker5: [00:59:19] I’m sorry.

Lindsay Esterline: [00:59:20] I spaz, I spaz if you have one. Go ahead, go ahead. Yeah. So.

Alex Morales: [00:59:26] So the grassroots, um, which is, uh, an organization that teaches, it gives it gives out the courses and certification for coaching licenses. I went to one of their, um, courses for the 11 v 11 certification. They they said something to me that even as a Christian has helped me out. And I try to go by this, um, in all aspects of my life. And, and this is for business owners is definitely will help you out. So it’s a saying that says no one cares how much you know until they they know how much you care.

Speaker5: [00:59:58] Mm.

Brian Pruett: [00:59:58] Nice. Say that one more time.

Alex Morales: [01:00:01] No one no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

Brian Pruett: [01:00:05] Nice. All right. Lindsay.

Lindsay Esterline: [01:00:07] Yeah, that’s that’s a good one. And I think that’s why, you know, connecting in the community like we talked about earlier, is so important. When they know how much you care, then they’re they’re willing to listen, um, to the advice that you’re offering. So I wanted to find this Bible verse because it just it’s been jumping out of the page at me, uh, lately. And I’m actually going to post a whole blog around it. Nice. Um, pretty soon, but it’s found in Zephaniah 317, and we don’t read a lot of Zephaniah. Right. Um, but it says the Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love, and he will exalt over you with loud singing. And I mean some of this stuff that’s in this verse. Is the stuff that is Christians. We we we all know this stuff, right? He’s going to save us and he’s going to give us peace. And and we we know that he’s with us, right? Even if it’s not a tangible, um, experience, but the idea that God is rejoicing over you and singing over you just really touched me, right? The fact that not only does he love us and want to save us, but he is. He’s he finds joy in us and gladness in us like we we make God sing. Right? And so I mean. That’s that’s just what’s been filling my heart. Um, especially for this past week. And, and I will be posting, like I said, a blog, so that I can share that with anybody who wants to find it. Just some other thoughts on that. I mean, there’s there’s a blessing in in numbers six as well. It’s the, the one that God gave Aaron to bless the children of Israel with. And in that one it says that God, you know, may God make his face to shine upon you. And when you think about a phrase like that.

Speaker6: [01:02:17] Um.

Lindsay Esterline: [01:02:18] You’re like, okay. Yeah, God is. God has glory, right? He’s luminous. Right? If he’s looking at me, he’s, you know, his face is. But it’s more than that. It’s about him smiling in approval at you. Like we have an American phrase about how your face lights up when you see somebody that brings you joy, right? Or when you when something good happens to you. And the idea, again, that God’s face will light up. When he looks at you is is just something that has just really hit for me lately. Um, just the fact that not only does he love you, he likes you.

Brian Pruett: [01:02:57] Right? And that’s pretty awesome because, you know, he he can do that in many ways, right? People are probably thinking, well, I don’t hear him, I don’t think. But he can do that multiple ways. I think about this. That’s a that’s a good way to just my buddy Bob Brooks who I have you guys, if you’ve listened, you’ve heard him on the show, but he is grew up in the city of Acworth, uh, a long time resident there. He is very passionate about the Horizon League and working with the special needs kids in the sports. And, uh, there’s a church there who just, I believe, celebrated over 100 years, and he did a lot of stuff that got done for free for that church to celebrate them. Anyway, yesterday he was named the citizen of the year by the Acworth Business Association. And I think that’s because God was smiling and absolutely, you know, things of that nature. So awesome. The other thing that I like to do is to thank you as a lost art these days. So, Lindsay, thank you for what you’re doing for everybody in general who just wants to learn more and have a deeper relationship with God. From your podcast, Alex, thanks for what you’re doing with the youth and the kids and trying to get their passion. As far as the soccer and everybody out there, let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Consider Becoming a Membership Business

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BRX Pro Tip: Consider Becoming a Membership Business
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BRX Pro Tip: Consider Becoming a Membership Business

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here. Lee, in a lot of situations, we really should consider becoming a membership business, yeah?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:13] Yeah. A lot of folks that are in the service business have an opportunity to become a membership business, and it’s just a reframing of your offering. The membership obviously has to include people who are your prospective clients, of course, but they can also include everybody in the ecosystem that you serve. It could be your vendors, suppliers, referral sources, trade associations, media influencers, everybody that touches the niche that you’re serving.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:38] So, figure out a service that you can offer on a regular basis by serving and providing value to each person in that ecosystem. And if you can make it a regular membership that they pay a small fee every month to be part of this, whatever this membership is, and it could be online courses, it could be a community where you solve problems together, whatever the membership is, you’ll have an opportunity to become that indispensable resource and separate yourself from all of your competitors.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:09] In essence, this is what every Business RadioX show is, every Business RadioX studio partner is. They are in the membership business whether they’re framing it that way or not. But every show that we listen to, guests can sign up and get the next episode for free. That’s part of – it could be considered a membership. And then, they get this great intelligence from all these great players within that niche on that show. And then, some of those guests get – some of those listeners get to be guests if they have something to say or something valuable that the host gets to choose and curate the guest list to make them another level of membership, which is now a guest. And then, some of those people that have moved from listener to guest can eventually become a client and then get even more service from that service provider or sponsor or host of a show that we do.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:59] So, it’s just a matter of reframing. And if you’re in the service business, you have a unique opportunity to become a membership business and you should definitely consider doing it.

Author Ken Kraus and Publisher Constance Payne

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Author Ken Kraus and Publisher Constance Payne
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Ken-KrausKen Kraus is a former United States Marine who was the first American taken hostage by Iranian militants prior to the Iran hostage crisis, a retired detective with the Roswell Police Department, and the author of the book, “A Marine Endures Hell: The First Marine Held Hostage in Iran During the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979.”

 

Constance-PayneConstance Payne is an actor, producer, forensic cleaner, entrepreneur and co-author and producer of the book, “A Marine Endures Hell: The First Marine Held Hostage in Iran During the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979.”

 

 

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:05] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX Studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:16] And welcome to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX, where we talk about the ups and downs of the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. I am your host, Sharon Cline, and today is a little bit of a different take. It’s not so much business as it is a personal life experience we have in the studio. Ken Kraus. He is the author of the book A Marine Endures Hell, the first marine held hostage in Iran during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979, and the publisher of his book, who’s a repeat person here on the show, Constance Payne. She is an actor, a forensics cleaner, and an entrepreneur here in Atlanta. Welcome, Ken and Constance to the show.

Constance Payne: [00:00:55] Hey, hey, hey.

Ken Kraus: [00:00:56] Hi, Karen.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:58] Hi. Thank you so much for being willing to come in. And your book has just been published this past week. Um, and it’s a whole new venture for you in the publishing world. So I’m very excited to talk to you about how important this book is, not only just for the publishing experience and, and Constance involvement with you, but just reliving and talking about how the experiences that you had while being held prisoner and what this has, how this has affected your life long terme. It’s so fascinating to me, and important because you have a perspective on different, um, events that have happened all around the world that people don’t have if they haven’t been through what you have. So do you mind if I kind of get started a little bit in the beginning of, of when you were a sergeant in the Marines?

Ken Kraus: [00:01:45] No, ma’am.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:46] Go ahead. Okay. So you were 22 years old. Uh, you were a sergeant in the US Marine Corps. You were sent, um, to from the embassy in Cyprus. You were sent to Tehran. Um, and you were going to be helping support the marine detachment in Tehran.

Ken Kraus: [00:02:02] That’s correct.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:03] And then on Valentine’s Day 1979, in the morning, there was a siege. Can you talk about what happened? And I don’t know how much detail you’d like to go into, but please feel free to take it from there.

Ken Kraus: [00:02:16] Yeah. Basically, we had gone, um, on a 24 hour, uh, shall we say, patrol or alert status. We really realize that because so many Americans were, um, getting brought back onto the embassy and the consulate to be evacuated out of the country, it put a lot of stress upon the the embassy personnel, which were already down to a skeleton crew anyway for what they need working, uh, very similar about what’s going on over in the Middle East now, um, in Gaza and Israel, where they’re pulling people out. But when you put that many people through the ringer of the red tape that takes to get out of the country and to to wait around it, it really is a security nightmare. You, you know, for terrorists or anybody, it just gives them a hard target and a and a soft target, you know, to focus on. So, you know, with that being said, um, it was, uh, the Shah had just left the country. Shah Reza Pahlavi. And now that the, uh, Ayatollah Khomeini was coming back in, there was a vacuum there in the political world. So what was happening is that really, nobody had a handle on what was going on, who was going to take over, you know, this new type of regime that’s a theocracy, which, you know, nobody’s ever seen before. Remember, this is only 1979. This is just barely five years after, um, Saigon, you know, I mean, it’s it’s, uh, American military, you know, wasn’t looked upon with a lot of the prestige they are today.

Ken Kraus: [00:03:44] And the Vietnam veterans that came back, you know, they weren’t they weren’t honored the way they should have for their service. So we’ve seen that. And so people a lot. Today, 44 years ago, people couldn’t even find Iran or Iraq on the map. I mean, people couldn’t, you know, they didn’t they didn’t even have operational maps at times. You take a look at it, it looks like this, uh, the desk here, you know, it’s all one color because it’s a sandbox over there. Middle East. Yeah, that’s that’s the way that is, you know, and if it wasn’t for the satellite, you know, navigations and the type of communications, it’s hard to even find out where you’re going there. So especially if it’s not your embassy. And, you know, I was sent from Nicosia, Cyprus. Um. To try to fit us in with another detachment even is is is a kind of a sideways show to begin with. So with that being said, we knew within about oh, 24 hours ahead of time something, something was brewing. And because we’ve we’ve had riots before, we’d had thousands of students, demonstrators, anti-shah or pro-khomeini, whatever. Which way you want to look at it, start over in the giant soccer stadium. And this would be 20, 30,000 people. Okay. This isn’t just, you know, downtown, you know, a couple hundred people. You’re talking thousands of people.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:59] You said you in the book that you had a feeling something was wrong that day. Absolutely.

Ken Kraus: [00:05:03] Because there’s, uh, uh, the night before, uh. Then the post that I was standing is very, uh, uh, very restricted area. Uh, on the back of the embassy and not very many people allowed to use it to come through there anyway. Uh, that morning when I had gotten off of duty, there’s something seemed strange because I knew this, that there wasn’t the Farsi police officers that are normally out there. You take a look at the embassies in Washington, D.C., you’ll see just outside the embassies that they have, uh, GSA or regular police. They’re not the same police officers that are in the Washington, um.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:41] Like at the white House or at the white House.

Ken Kraus: [00:05:42] So when I saw that they weren’t there that morning when I got off, I was thinking, you know, it’s not a special day. It might be Valentine’s Day, but not in a muslim country here. I mean, what’s what’s up with that? I didn’t think much of it until I got my, uh, my relief, uh, came I gave them the brief, and then I went back to the marine house. Actually, I had gotten off, and, uh, I had some breakfast at the caravanserai restaurant. And then shortly after that, I went back to the marine house, and I was going to get some sleep. And, I mean, I was just.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:09] All hell broke.

Ken Kraus: [00:06:10] Loose, dead ass tired. And it was cold that night. It’s February up there in the mountains. This is, uh, it’s a really cold area. And, uh, I remember, uh, basically taking my gear off and getting ready to hit the rack, and, uh, I just started to hear, uh, gunfire. And I know that since the State Department had taken away, uh, the Marines, M16s, our our automatic weapons, and they given a shotguns. So we raised hell about that. But for the most part, we work for the State Department. So, you know, for whatever their security, uh, generating generation, generic terms are going to be for whatever their threat assessment is, we basically got to go with it. And so I’m saying, no, these shotguns aren’t really good for, you know, more than about 50 yards. Yeah.

Constance Payne: [00:06:56] Those are close range weapons.

Ken Kraus: [00:06:58] Absolutely. And the, uh, you know, you’re talking about a 27 acre compound, you know, with different buildings in it. So I’m wondering what, you know, drastic, asinine thinking this is coming up because it’s not very tactical at all, give or take that. So when I, when the firing first started. We were wondering where. It was it was small arms fire. And we recognize that pistols basically. Then we heard rifle fire. Now, since we didn’t have rifles, we were wondering. And the loud crack of a rifle so close. You’re wondering. You know who who who’s got the rifles? It wasn’t the Marines. Then we heard the, uh, we heard, uh, uh, the radio traffic come across or coming over the wall or coming over the wall. I’m taking inbound. I’m taking in fire. In fire. Request permission to fire back. And I know who it was. It was. It was Corporal Downey at the front gate where there’s three Marines at the main gate, and there’s just being overrun. And then it went from rifle fire to sustained automatic weapons fire. So now you’re in, you know, a full bore firefight.

Constance Payne: [00:07:59] And if you guys want to know more about the firefight, you’ll have to buy the book.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:04] I love you, Constance, because to me, it’s like, of course I want to hear and know more, but that’s why you have a book. So one of the, um, quotes that you have in the book is that in, in, during the gunfight, that it was both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. Can you describe to me why that is? I mean, I know that you’re trained military to defend and fight, but to have that reality of it happening at you at that moment, what was that like?

Ken Kraus: [00:08:33] I think it, Sharon. I think what happens is that, uh, while we were in that firefight with the, the the attackers that were there, they had the range of fire, the rate of fire. They had the, uh, they had the high ground on us. And we were we were outmanned, outgunned, outranged we had they had everything in their favor, you know, element of surprise. They had taken over control of our radios. So we were basically incommunicado. And the building where myself and the other two Marines were the was the caravanserai restaurant. And that’s where we kind of held up like an Alamo and holding up there. It’s just a matter of time before, when they come in, that they know that there’s somebody in that building, you know, and then once they try to get through the building, that’s where the fire, that’s where our our little individual firefight, along with all the main, other little firefights were going on at the Chancery building, the, uh, chargé D’affairs house, all the different little buildings that were there.

Constance Payne: [00:09:22] But and this was like, this was the first firefight you’d ever been in as a marine before. Then it was just training. Absolutely. Yeah. So, I mean, I guess that would be the exhilarating part that like, all your training had kind of stirred up to this. I mean, nobody wants to be in a firefight. Absolutely. But you are ready for it.

Ken Kraus: [00:09:40] So to, to to balance what you’re going to say, I think where it comes from and I’ve thought about this, but you don’t think about that over the years. I didn’t think about it at the time. But where you your training comes back in, where your tactics are, what you and where your marksmanship and being alert. Make sure nobody’s taking a bead on you or you know you’re not you’re not getting shot at. You’re more worried about a ricochet or something. But when the exhilarating part of it is, is that. You are in a fight that you know you want to win, and the only way you’re going to win that is if you stay in it. And when you have bullets shot at you that miss you and hit everything around you, and when you shoot back and you hit somebody, you hit another human being. It’s it’s a, it’s a sword that’s got a double edge to it.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:26] You had said in the book, if violence is the process that our enemies have chosen to negotiate with, then I say, let’s give them all that they want, because that’s what that’s what they’re negotiating. That’s their terms.

Constance Payne: [00:10:37] Yeah, that’s what’s the other choice. Die.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:39] You have to fight. You have to fight.

Ken Kraus: [00:10:41] There’s no diplomacy there. Even though it’s a diplomatic mission. It goes out the window as soon as somebody starts, you know, raking you with automatic fire with intent to kill you, you know? Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:50] Changes things. What are you going to do? Yeah. So you had. You were in. Do you mind if I talk a little bit about the the next steps? So you were in in the firefight. You were taken hostage. Um, and you were held hostage seven days. Is that right? Eight days. Eight days? Yes. Damn. So some of the descriptions of what you experienced and what you witnessed are just unbelievable to me. And I was thinking about just myself, you know, I can’t stand to see anything suffer. I don’t know, it doesn’t animals. Nothing. But what would have happened to me or just just an average person to witness, not even to yourself. You’re suffering in your own way, physically, but to watch someone suffer and be tortured right in front of you, right in front of you. And. Have have that in your psychology. You can’t not see all of this. What effect did that have on you?

Ken Kraus: [00:11:46] Well, to back it up a little bit, the the initial part of it is when, uh, shall we say we had, we had about 20 Americans that were noncombatants and uh, they were basically stuck there with us at the restaurant. Uh, long story short, uh, once they once the terrorists knew that they were in there and they wanted them and they tried to come through the doors. That’s what started the fight. Okay. Um, we exchanged fire back and forth, and it’s just a matter of time before they were going to overrun us. You know, we just running out of bullets. That’s getting down. And we knew that. You want to think about something that in hand-to-hand combat, what we call cold steel, you got to sit there and think about, I’m going to have to take a knife. Uh, a ka-bar a marine, and I’ve got to stick it in somebody with direct intent to take their life. And of course, if it gets down to that and, you know. So that’s your first reality, is that how close is this going to be, then you realize that once they get through us, these Americans are going to be slaughtered at slaughter. They’re at their mercy. And so there, there, your charge. Yes. So when it comes down to it, and I talk in the book about the miracle. Yes. That first miracle is that if I had not if I had not gotten lucky or a miracle hadn’t happened, that I got that guy, I captured him basically in the window. Yes. And and I had thank God he decided to want to live that day. And I wasn’t going to shoot him because if it went any other way, I shoot him. Then we’re just back to square one. So with that, it was able to get those 22, those 2022 workers safe and out of there. But to to bring up where the first amount of what you’re talking about shock and trauma was that morning that uh my friend the waiter monarchy. Yes. Had.

Constance Payne: [00:13:32] Well yeah. I will have to read more in the book. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:35] In the book.

Ken Kraus: [00:13:35] Yeah. And when he dies in my arms, he steps in front of me and he dies in my arms. I mean, that’s the first.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:40] The first trauma. You had known him for a while and had been so kind.

Ken Kraus: [00:13:44] And I just had breakfast with him. And then to get beat down like I did, uh, before I was taken out and then shot. Now, once you’re shot, I don’t know what happened. I mean, I guess nobody knows. To this day, I’ve taken off the confusing.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:57] It is because there are moments where you’re actually having some kindness happen to you, and then moments where it’s completely taken away. You know how confusing and disorienting that must be. Yeah, it.

Constance Payne: [00:14:06] Started off as a regular day, and then it just everything changed for him.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:10] Yes, yes. You say that? Um, well, okay, so President Carter was, um, able to negotiate your release.

Ken Kraus: [00:14:20] So I was told.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:21] So you were told, you said. And that leads me to the next part, that there’s a disparity between the media account of what was happening and what was really happening. Do you want to talk about that?

Ken Kraus: [00:14:30] Imagine that. Yeah. Really? So, uh, the embassy actually, in fact, they did not even know it had been hit and overrun. Um, they were trying to contact them. And for whatever reason, back in 1979, whatever type of communications they had, they were trying to get it from the BBC. Uh, UPI, AP and they were the ones that were saying, hey, uh, Washington, you know, your embassy is on fire over there. Yeah. You know, you can’t talk to your ambassador. Do you know that the American flags have been taken down? The embassy is burning. You may want to check that out and see. Of course, I didn’t know any of this because I was. I was taken off the, uh, off to the hospital and then from the hospital, kidnaped out, taken to that that hellhole called Avon prison. And, uh, that’s something if you want to Google that and look and see what the history of that is, uh, you’ll it’ll it’ll change your lifestyle. It’s places where in the book where I talk about, uh, having to have come up with a different name for some of these people because I couldn’t speak Farsi. And I talk about, you know, turkey motto. And then you look at that. That’s the Spanish Inquisition. That’s how far it goes back of what you were saying to watching other people, uh, be tortured in such inhumane ways. I said, first of all, who thinks this stuff up?

Sharon Cline: [00:15:42] How what kind of mindset do you have to have to make it okay for you to do that to?

Ken Kraus: [00:15:46] I I’ve never you.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:47] Know, I don’t I don’t know either, thankfully.

Ken Kraus: [00:15:49] And then to, uh, you know, keep these people alive long enough for whether you want an information from them. I don’t know whether you just want to be mean and revenge, you know, tactics.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:58] At some point they can’t speak, and yet they’re still being beaten and tortured. So it’s like, what’s the point?

Ken Kraus: [00:16:03] It’s it’s hideous. And though I.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:04] Can’t imagine.

Ken Kraus: [00:16:05] Um, they’re doing this to their own people. Now imagine me, you know, a combat marine who just, you know, got in a firefight, fair firefight. And we we killed a bunch of them, and now they’re going to take it out on me. So whatever I’m watching here, I’m going to get just as much or worse. And I was already wounded, already beat and bones broken. And so I hadn’t had anything to eat or sleep in two days. So, you know, strip naked and you’re looking at this is how much more can you take?

Sharon Cline: [00:16:32] You talk about how, um. It didn’t matter what they were going to do to you. And I think at the end of your sentence was just, I’m a marine like that ended your sentence. And I was like, oh, it’s so like touched me. You know, I felt like that I could feel the energy behind that sentence. So I’m wondering, how did you feel like you were prepared enough for what you went through? And how can you prepare? Really? But you, no matter what you were going to experience, you were still going to stand by being a marine.

Ken Kraus: [00:17:02] Absolutely. And it all comes down to I knew that nobody knows where I was.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:07] Yeah. You gave them some truths and some some lies to confuse the heck out of stripped me naked.

Ken Kraus: [00:17:12] I have no idea. I can’t no no dog tags, ID, nothing, you know. So here I am, down in this hellhole. My. I don’t know what happened to the embassy. You’re inside and he get this time deprivation because you don’t get fed on a regular basis at all. You don’t see light whatsoever. So you never know when you fall asleep, you literally pass out. Was I out for a week, a month, a day, you know, and it didn’t matter.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:36] It didn’t.

Ken Kraus: [00:17:36] You didn’t matter. But when it comes down to it and you realize that, you know, I’m not going to get out of this situation. And, you know, you go back to, you know, why you joined the Marine Corps and, you know, your core value is inside. And you say, you know, I signed up, I’m an American fighting man. I’m the United States Marine. I served in the forces that guard our country and our way of life. I’m prepared to risk and give my life in their defense. And that’s what you look at when you look at a blank wall. There’s no mirror and you say, okay, however it’s going to be, you know, they can they can beat me up, they can kill me, they can eat me. And that’s the worst they can do. And they just have to accept that because, I mean, it was there was nothing else. You, you know, you’re in a position where all you there’s even no hope that, you know, you want to keep the hopes open, but you say hope for what? Because then you try to be logical, you know, nobody knows where you’re at and there’s no way, etc., etc., etc..

Sharon Cline: [00:18:33] Who knows what’s gonna happen to you in the meantime?

Ken Kraus: [00:18:35] And I said, you know, basically getting no medical attention whatsoever. I know my wounds are going to go septic. I’m going to die here. I know it’s just the thing that bothered me the most is that, you know, when I had to accept that, you know, with a spiritual relationship, I just had to say that I asked, uh, I asked the Lord to say, you know, there’s one thing I just really wanted to get across is that I know that, you know, whether I just die here or whether they, you know, execute me, whatever it’s going to be is that they can take me out here and put me my picture in the newspapers like they have with so many others, and they can accuse me of all kinds of heinous crimes, ugly things, you know, and as I could imagine what kind of crimes that they could accuse me of. And, um, as an American, as a marine and the Marine Corps and, and my family, they would have no closure on that, say, there would be no defense whatsoever. You know, you wanted.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:31] Them to know the.

Ken Kraus: [00:19:31] Truth. And I want yeah. I just want to say, hey, you know, if you know you’re going to kill me, then I’m going to go out and just, you know, as as a fighting man and just leave it at that. And he was a marine that died and, you know, and the defense of the country. And if that’s all that I wanted, you know, the Lord to say, because I know I’m not getting out of here. So if that could be my epitaph or whatever they, you know, was left in my body, even if they gave the body back, I don’t know. But please don’t don’t embarrass me or my family’s name. And you know already there’s been enough things from Vietnam and we’re just five years later, so we don’t need any more of this. Yeah.

Constance Payne: [00:20:03] You wanted to die with honor if it was going to happen.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:05] Rightfully so.

Ken Kraus: [00:20:06] Pretty much.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:07] It makes me wonder how many Marines or military don’t because they don’t have that opportunity. Or maybe not don’t, but they no one really knows their story. No one really knows their mindset. And there must be so many.

Ken Kraus: [00:20:20] Especially the ones that go, uh, deep undercover and operations that we never hear about, you know, and, you know, the when they don’t come home, sometimes you’re kind of you don’t even can’t even, uh, give them the accolades. You can’t even talk about it. No medals conferred. And the families just said it’s a training accident or they never recovered the body back. You know, didn’t you.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:40] Say in the book that the two men that you were with in the, um, restaurant, you didn’t see them again after a certain point.

Ken Kraus: [00:20:46] Never saw them again.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:46] So we don’t.

Ken Kraus: [00:20:47] Know. Well, I have talked to one where we found him. He’s up and he retired and he’s up in, in, in New England. And, uh, he just wants to be have a quiet life and, you know, no accolades or anything.

Constance Payne: [00:20:59] But that was the first time you had talked to him since you saw a gun to his head as you were being carried out.

Ken Kraus: [00:21:04] Got you. That was on his, uh, it was.

Constance Payne: [00:21:06] In my office, too. Yeah. Oh. You’re kidding. Yeah. We did the call in my office and we filmed it. We’re going to put the that some snippets of that conversation on YouTube.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:14] I can’t imagine what that was like.

Ken Kraus: [00:21:15] I was in.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:15] Tears. How could you not be how could you? There are only a few people on the planet who know what that was like exactly. To be in. Um, what do you think people have a misconception about for during your time that you were a hostage, but also in the ensuing months, 144 days, I believe it was that they were or 400 and.

Ken Kraus: [00:21:36] 444.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:37] Days.

Ken Kraus: [00:21:37] 14 months. Yes. Yep. And well, for one is that the media itself doesn’t go back and follow it, you know, take a look at just yesterday, Pearl Harbor, there was hardly a mention on on media out there. Oh my.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:51] Goodness. I didn’t even think of that.

Ken Kraus: [00:21:52] You’re right. Exactly. They don’t teach it in the schools anymore. How how often are they still talking about the hostages? 52 hostages. What happened to them? I can name most of them. And I know the ones that have committed suicide are the ones that have passed away naturally. And, you know, they don’t. They don’t teach it in the schools. So part of the misconception is that the it goes away and that, you know, that’s never going to happen again. Well, you know, just a few years ago they attacked they attacked the same way in Benghazi, you know, and some of the very politicians that were there, what does it matter? It mattered a lot of people when they drug the United States ambassador naked. Yes. Through the streets. See what I mean? So when you don’t remember those things, you are bound to commit the same problems or get into the same problems and end up with same, same similar solutions. So that’s the misconception is that these people won’t attack and, you know, they will attack. They will attack again. They don’t attack Russian embassies. They don’t attack Chinese embassies. Why is that? Why is that just their misperception? Nah, because they don’t show up with a Swat team. You know, they’ll show up with about eight divisions. Just annex your country, you know, so there’s a there’s a bigger fear over there than, um, you know, they.

Constance Payne: [00:23:03] Don’t mess around over.

Ken Kraus: [00:23:04] There. They don’t mess around. No, they they bring the heat. And that’s not always the best answer. But sometimes, sometimes violence and military operations is necessary. For instance, Normandy, Normandy invasion. D-day. They don’t even talk about that much. You know, the largest, greatest invasion in military history in human history. And some people don’t even well in the.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:26] Potential lives that it did save right by ending.

Ken Kraus: [00:23:30] Was there any other way to get rid of Hitler?

Constance Payne: [00:23:31] You can’t solve terrorism with hugs. That’s just not, you know, it’s just not a thing.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:38] So when you came back, um, and you were released, you were given the Cross of Valor in 1979, and you were given the Purple Heart and a Navy Commendation Medal. What was that like for you?

Ken Kraus: [00:23:51] That was amazing, Sharon, because, uh, I learned about the medals on my flight over here. I mean, I’ve, uh, my flight from Germany when I was, uh, evac’d out. We went to Germany, stayed over night. They looked at my wounds, and they had to find a uniform for me and everything. And then on the flight, I was briefed about, you know, what would happen. And, uh, I was saying, well, that’s that’s amazing. Where’s the other Marines? Where? Because I never talked to any of them since then. And I said, how about the other accolades that they’re going to be getting? And, you know, when am I going to see them? He says, well, let’s the officer that I was, you know, briefing me, it said that it was, um, I said, that’s above our pay grade. We don’t discuss that. So he said, uh, he said, you know, that this is a, uh, an oncoming election year. And it’s just people when you get off this plane, here’s what, here’s what to expect.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:39] Their cameras and.

Constance Payne: [00:24:40] Everything. Here’s the dog and pony show.

Ken Kraus: [00:24:41] Oh my God. I mean, it was it was a picture.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:43] Of you hugging your mom, you know.

Ken Kraus: [00:24:46] Iconic. But, uh, to actually when you you look at the book and you see the photos of the entire marine eighth and I band out there, the president’s own, and, you know, for them to stand at attention and the band to play and for you to get a salute like that from them and to walk down that ramp knowing that, you know. 72 hours ago, I was minutes away from death. I was doomed to be executed and a firing squad. And now I’m here. I said, is this real? You keep biting your cheek. You say, how does this happen? I said, usually, you know, when you eat, you meet the commandant, you meet the. You go through the whole dog and pony show. Senator John Heinz, um, Secretary of the Navy, Graham Claytor, um, all of them, they’re all have, you know, to salute them. Put the put the pin on you read this, read the citation. And you wonder, you say usually when, uh, soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, any kind of veteran does something like this. They vet them first and they check it out and they say, hey, we want to see, you know, everything that’s involved, who else was involved, etc., etc. how they went from not knowing where I was in that hellhole down there to whirlwind overnight. Now they can they can come up with this entourage of this. What’s going on here? I mean, it is overwhelming. It really is. And to know that, um, you never got any decent sleep or, you know, medication, anything like that, and, uh, the stitches that were in my, my chest and my stomach when my mom ran up to me, I could just barely hold on to her. And I go, oh my God, I picked her up. You can see it’s not a normal stance. I had to separate my my feet boots to hold my back up, uh, because otherwise I said, oh, there goes my stitches. Oh, God. You know, but.

Constance Payne: [00:26:24] You just finally got him in. They had taped you together before, you know, that was it.

Ken Kraus: [00:26:29] And, you know, I said, come all the way back here to, you know, die on the on the tarmac with a hug from your mom.

Constance Payne: [00:26:35] But the cameras. What a way to go out.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:38] So, Constance, I would love to talk to you about how you and Ken got to know each other. There’s a restaurant that’s, um, sort of military themed restaurant here in Woodstock called Semper Fi.

Constance Payne: [00:26:49] Yes, yes. Now, their rally point and they move in just up the road as we speak, I think actually. Right, Ken? Yes. Right. But, uh, but yeah, we met there on February 1st of this year. Um, it’s just it’s got chit chatting.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:02] Just got to chit chatting.

Ken Kraus: [00:27:03] While we’re sitting at the end of the bar. And I just got in from, uh, having a having a beer and a burger and the, uh, from a disabled American veterans, uh, uh, convention or meeting. Anyway, so I had taken my book bag, which tells you how old I am, and I put it on the chair next to me, and all the other chairs were taken, and Constance came in and she looked around and she asked, is that seat taken? And I said, oh, no, ma’am, it’s, uh, be my guest. I said, let me move my book bag. And she kind of giggled, you know, book bag, you know, grandma, grandpa, things like nobody carries book bags, but but because I was working.

Constance Payne: [00:27:36] He had this silly look on his face, too. He’s like, please sit next to me.

Ken Kraus: [00:27:42] So I so I moved, I moved my quote book bag that had the books in it that I was working on at the time or released. Think I’m working on it. The research. And she said, don’t you mean a computer bag? I said, yeah, it’s got a computer in it, but I’m writing a book. And she goes, oh, you’re writing a book? And boom! Um, because she’s had experience in that and has been an author and a publisher, I said, what’s the odds of that right there? You know?

Constance Payne: [00:28:02] Yeah. And then we talked about, uh, forensics and stuff like that, because he went on to be a forensic detective after the Marine Corps.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:09] Department I saw until 2016. Yeah, she.

Ken Kraus: [00:28:11] Had shown me pictures and we were showing, you know, photos back and forth. And she owns her own forensic cleanup. Yeah, I.

Constance Payne: [00:28:16] Had just come from a cleanup. I kind of normally do that. Like, I’ll go to, you know, just to decompress. Yeah. Decompress. And. Yeah, I like to sit around, you know, people that are respectful and honorable. And it was he was the first person to ever talk to me in that bar in the year that I had been going there after work. Um, so I was like, this little guy’s got some balls. It was hilarious. So I, you know, and I usually go there just to get, you know, a moment to myself. But I enjoyed our conversation and we just kind of gave the synopsis of our lives and we, like, totally brought out. It’s it’s kind of an odd friendship, you know, I’m 37. He’s 66. Uh, but but think.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:52] About how just even being in the forensics world, how you all can compare, like bringing out, like, looking at your. Yeah, your battle wounds.

Constance Payne: [00:28:59] Yeah. It’s like, here you go.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:00] Yeah. This gun, you know, fight and this. I just can’t imagine what it was like to talk about things that you only the two of you in that kind of.

Constance Payne: [00:29:07] You don’t often meet somebody that see, you see eye to eye with. Yeah, exactly. Especially right off the bat about so many different topics. So it was a good conversation for sure.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:17] And that led to the book. The book. Yes. So, Constance, you have, first of all, just the most cool person ever on the planet and just such a fan, um, actor forensics cleaner, of course. But you just I didn’t even know that you had a publishing side. So you have done some publishing for other authors in the past?

Constance Payne: [00:29:34] Yes, yes. I used to work for a third party companies in my early 20s when I was actually doing radio. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:40] That’s right. You have a great voice for radio. Thank you, thank you.

Constance Payne: [00:29:43] That’s kind of what got me into that. It was it was really random. I was working at a biker bar and, uh, the the old lady that owned it wanted me to give these tickets away for her concert or whatever. So I didn’t know that you just call the sales department. Like, I had no idea. I’m, like, 21 years old. And so I just kept calling up the DJ, and I started doing my funny voices and just being like, hey, give these tickets away. And that kind of led into radio. But I tribute both of those aspects into being a successful actor, you know, because I understand my voice, how to throw it and then character development, what it really means, you know, especially in book publishing, like people can publish all they want. If you don’t have a page turner, you’re not going to get good reviews. People aren’t going to continue to buy it, they’re not going to recommend it or anything like that. And so helping to create and craft that through, you know, interviews with him that were verbal and his notes and just meshing those things together to, to make it what it was. And, and then in the final publishing process, seeing him go through page after page, because I said, all right, Maureen, let’s read it. You got to read this and you got to read it and criticize it. If I’ve missed something or I messed something up, now’s the time. And he just kept page after page. He’s like, great, great. And it was it was a very emotional experience. It took about four hours for him to go through the whole book and really line I line it.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:04] I was going to ask you as well, like, what is it like as in your 60s, going back to your 22 year old mindset? Like, how did it feel? Did you realize things different?

Constance Payne: [00:31:15] I don’t think he’s ever matured past 22.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:18] I haven’t either. We’re we’re kindred spirits. Then, because I am totally not my chronological age. I think I’m Arrested Development.

Constance Payne: [00:31:25] Go ahead, answer that one. Ken. I had to step on you on that.

Ken Kraus: [00:31:29] The, uh uh, in in reflection, you look at it and you’re thinking. The stuff that you went through that you saw, how did it affect your life now and then you stop for a second. You realize it’s. Uh, it’s a continuing process that you become. Specifically myself. I had created an alter ego and I didn’t realize that. And it suffered in in some of the jobs that I, that I wanted to go for, for instance, air traffic controller, which I was in the military, my first MOS, my first job before I went embassy duty. And then I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to take the stress and have people’s lives again, sitting in a dark room for 20 years. That and a couple of divorces where you realize this alter ego is something that I’m never going to be a hostage again. That’s something you say, hey, I’m not going to be sausage. You know, financially, I’m not to your emotions. And I had a hard time with people giving me, um, I wouldn’t say direction, but ultimatums, you know, I said it’s not going to be that way. It’s my way or the highway. And I said, I’m not going to be put into a corner. And I’m always out trying to think people. That was. What was your, uh, initial, I’d say initial, um, emotional thought process when you contacted me about something. What is your intent or motive?

Sharon Cline: [00:32:51] Yeah.

Ken Kraus: [00:32:51] What’s your what’s your motive and your intent for me. Exactly. And it was, uh, not paranoia, but it was what I. I didn’t want to call it paranoia. I just wanted to call it heightened awareness, you know, super sensitive, being cautious.

Constance Payne: [00:33:03] You know, I do the same thing.

Ken Kraus: [00:33:05] And the, uh, you’re very guarded in your feelings and letting people in. And then even then, when you you share, it’s, uh, it’s not complete. It’s just enough to, you know, get them to feel comfortable with you and, um. Going on with that. That’s the emotional part and the mental. Then there’s the there’s the physical where you would you hear a certain music or sound? Um, I, a certain smells that would bother me and, you know, curry and things like that. I love curry, but it’s the way it’s cooked and it brings back. It brings back memories. It’s visceral.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:36] Right? It’s like.

Ken Kraus: [00:33:37] A absolutely. Yeah. Um, sometimes when I see people from the Middle East and dressed in their cultural garb, um, I look at them and it wasn’t too long ago where I saw one, uh, a female and not a full, not a full burqa, but, uh, half half of it with, uh, at least a chador is what we call it. And, uh, you could, you know, definitely tell that they were from the Middle East and pushing her cart in, uh, in Walmart. I come around the corner, and it would never bother me any other day. I don’t know why it bothered me that day. I just looked at her and the first thought came in my mind is that does she have a baby in that little stroller, or does she. Does she have a bomb in there? Who in their right mind thinks like that? I don’t get out of bed, you know, hating people or loving them any which way, shape or form, but something like that. And you look at them and you didn’t want to. I didn’t want to walk by her. I didn’t know what her face looked like, or if she had a baby in that carriage, I’d have turned my buggy around. I said, oh, we’ll come back down this aisle another time.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:34] I think it’s so interesting how PTSD in itself is so unreasonable. Like, you can you can tell yourself you’re safe. You can tell yourself there’s nothing that you there’s no reason why you should feel what you’re feeling. But it is like completely irrational responses. But they’re still very real. You know, the sights and the sounds and the smells. All of those things I can imagine can bring you right back to a place of fight or flight.

Constance Payne: [00:34:59] Yeah. And then other days they don’t bother you, you know, you’ve got good days and bad days and. That’s right. Why does your brain do that?

Ken Kraus: [00:35:06] If you knew something that triggers you, you stay away from it, okay, not so much. But sometimes the subconscious things will just pop in, especially in your sleep. You know, you say, you know why? Why do you wake up screaming? You know, why do you? Why are you sweating like you know so bad and sometimes you don’t know. And then it’ll keep you. It’ll keep you awake for a while. And you say, now this is instead of having a nice, you know, slumber, sleep and waking up refreshed, ready to do your itinerary for the next day, it’s now interrupted. That has now changed your lifestyle, and you know you’re going to be a little cranky. You know you’re going to put some you know why you’re gonna put some Baileys in your coffee.

Constance Payne: [00:35:41] It sounds like a plan. No kidding.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:42] So you were in the Marine Corps until 1986, and, um, in, like, I think it was from 95 until 2016. You were a detective, a detective with the Roswell Police Department here in Georgia. How did your experience impact your being a detective?

Ken Kraus: [00:36:03] That’s interesting, because I’ve often thought myself as that. Why would you go back in and do something so stressful? Um, something that was so much a high level liability nowadays and and dangerous, you know, at dangerous at times. And it boiled down to saying, um, what drew me into it was I went to work for the Department of Energy and Nuclear Swat officer. We transport nuclear materials around the country. Long story short, and through that, working and going to conventions and going to Swat competitions, I met people in the law enforcement, civilian part of the field. I moved here to Atlanta. So, you know, when I hooked up with the Roswell Police Department, um, it didn’t take me long at all from going from, uh, foot soldier and a uniformed police to detective. I just had natural instincts about it, and I focused on it. And I really like forensics at the time. The OJ Simpson trial from 9495, the CSI. Before that, people didn’t know what CSI was, right. They couldn’t even spell it. And then two years later, you got every city in the every city, you know, in America has got, you know.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:07] A CSI department.

Ken Kraus: [00:37:08] Yeah, exactly. You know, so and, uh, plus the, uh, the technology is coming out. Dna was now, you know, you know, out out there for everybody to look at. And they started vetting, you know, fingerprints and some of the disciplines in CSI. And it was long overdue. And I’m glad it did, you know. So you were there.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:26] For all of that.

Ken Kraus: [00:37:27] Oh, absolutely. So with that saying is that I’m saying people ask me, I said I, you know, I just wanted to continue to serve. I felt like the rug was pulled out from under me, and I never went back in embassy duty. And that wherever I went after embassy duty, um, I always had a stigma. I was like, hey, you know who he is, you know who he is. And and it’s. Yeah, my name’s Ken Krauss. I’m I’m now a staff sergeant. I said, but, uh, you know, as I move along, but you’re always going to have that stigma of being the person at that time when it went down. So when that stopped and, um, you know, and I got out of the Marine Corps, it was, uh, I still had a hole in my life where I didn’t have I didn’t have a job, or I didn’t have an identity to be something where I’m still serving the public. And it just fell into being a forensic detective. And I was good at it. And, you know, I. I’m not so much of an author, but I’ve a lot of people still come to me with. Things. How would you do it this way and how would you work? You know, this type of crime scene way?

Constance Payne: [00:38:24] I heard a rumor that you once got a fingerprint off of a grape. That’s true. Yeah.

Ken Kraus: [00:38:30] And I wrote it in a forensic magazine. I wrote the synopsis of how it happened. Captured a captured a burglar.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:37] From a grape?

Ken Kraus: [00:38:38] Yep, from a grape. And that’s.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:40] Incredible.

Ken Kraus: [00:38:40] He was.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:41] You were good at it.

Constance Payne: [00:38:42] He was hanging out with this grape for, what, like a week? It was your little buddy. Grape? Yeah.

Ken Kraus: [00:38:46] One grape. And it was a it was called the, uh, the Lunchtime Bandit. And they nicknamed me that because he was going from Roswell, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs. He would. He’s a, uh. He’s like a cat burglar. He would case the place a very professional. And he’d make he’d make entry, uh, usually without damaging to anything. And he would go in, and he he had a knack for looking at, uh, women’s jewelry and and telling the difference between the good stuff and and the and the costume stuff. And he wouldn’t he wouldn’t wreck the place. He just take what he needed. And usually he would make himself a sandwich, or he’d have something to eat out of your refrigerator. Leave it there. And when you came back to work from home, you go, who the heck’s been in my house? It was, uh. Anyway, so, uh, what happened is that a young lady had, uh, a mother had left her, uh, some fruit out on, on the table for her daughter, who lived right near a, uh, the Roswell High School. And she usually comes home for lunch, walks across the street, whatever, and has lunch or something like that. Well, that day she has something to do with, um, uh, in school. High school. And she didn’t get over there for that day. Okay. Well, he had just happened to hit that house, and the mother didn’t realize when she came home. Okay, because some of the fruit had been eaten when, uh, anyway, she talked to her daughter and said, uh oh, yeah. You like that fruit today we had today, etc.. Oh, mom, I didn’t get a chance to come home. I’m sorry. Whatever she said. What? What?

Constance Payne: [00:40:02] So who’s been in my house? Who’s been? Yeah.

Ken Kraus: [00:40:05] Who’s been who’s been eating my porridge?

Constance Payne: [00:40:07] Right.

Ken Kraus: [00:40:08] So she called the police in anyway. So they initiate a and she goes. Yep. Sure. Sure enough, there’s been, uh, somebody’s been in here and, you know, this is missing. She started making a list of what’s missing. She goes, man, we’ve been robbed. I said burglarized, but, you know, it’s technically so. My sergeant asked me to go over, and I sat down. You know, there’s nothing I could do. No evidence, no fingerprints, nothing. I mean, it was a forensically naked is what we called it. But then the next day, when she was cleaning in her kitchen. She had underneath. I think it was the stove or the refrigerator. She saw a grape and she went to pick the grape up and she said, oh, wait a minute, somebody touched that grape and it wasn’t her, and it wasn’t her daughter. So she called my she called my sergeant and, uh, and got through to him and was telling him about this, and he said, okay, ma’am, don’t touch it, you know? So he calls me to his office and he says, uh, you know, how to get fingerprints off of a grape. And I’m sitting down thinking, is this a punch line? Or, you know, I’m waiting for the joke here. And he goes, no. And he tells me what he had. I said, well, that’s gonna be a new one on me. So I went over there and I sure, sure enough, I captured a grape, you know, photographed it.

Constance Payne: [00:41:13] Captured the grape.

Ken Kraus: [00:41:15] And took it into custody.

Constance Payne: [00:41:18] With little grape. And I’m saying.

Ken Kraus: [00:41:20] And I’m gonna make you wine.

Sharon Cline: [00:41:23] Oh, my gosh, I was a dad joke. Nice.

Ken Kraus: [00:41:27] It comes with it comes with the territory. Anyway, so it says, uh, uh. Anyway, so we said, well, what’s the possibility of this? And I said, I don’t know. So I contacted people at GBI and FBI and nobody knows. And he goes, we better hurry up because that grape is going to turn into a raisin after. So it happened so long, you know. And, uh, so what I did is went and got, uh, went and got a similar type of grapes from the grocery store and tried different forensic, uh, mechanics on it. And what worked out best was that, um, it was to use, uh, cyanoacrylate, which is basically a fume it with superglue, that’s what happens and it sticks. But then when you try to take a photograph of it, you’re not going to be able to peel that grape off to use it, you know, the skin. So basically, um, I when you would try to photograph it, it was, it was, you know, so but it would if you, if you used uh, for, for fluorescent fingerprint powder. Okay. Interesting. And. Yeah. And then under a certain nanometers, um, of, of ultraviolet light. It was able to be photographed with a special lens. And photographers that, you know, been through that they’ll realize under a certain light. And it glowed and it was beautiful and it gave me it looked just like I can almost tell you with two fingers he used, you know, on the side, on the side of that grape.

Sharon Cline: [00:42:47] Did you catch this guy, ma’am? You caught the you caught the guy.

Ken Kraus: [00:42:51] Well, what happens is we take the we get the fingerprint and we run it through the aphis, you know, machine. And basically, it’s not like what you see on television. It’s, you know, where these two, uh, patterns, you know? Yeah, they match. They match. Like, I wish I had that, like.

Constance Payne: [00:43:05] Maybe fun to look at. Yeah. Really?

Ken Kraus: [00:43:07] Yeah. The Hollywood anyway. But uh, to, uh, to get that and then to put it on a digital, a digital mat and run it through, you get a, you get a list of potential fingerprint.

Sharon Cline: [00:43:19] Um, narrows it down.

Ken Kraus: [00:43:20] People narrows it down. So we say, no, this one’s not here. He doesn’t live here. This one, he passed away. This one’s still incarcerated. How about these two? And then after those two, they go, oh, yeah. Run his rap sheet. What do you think? What do you think it’s been? Burglary, etc., etc., etc..

Constance Payne: [00:43:34] I wonder who it could be.

Ken Kraus: [00:43:36] So then we take the fingerprint and we give it to, we give it, uh, for peer review. And we said okay, we sent it to, to the GBI and tell them nothing about it, let them run it the same way. Boom. Who do you think they come back with? Oh, you are kidding. Let’s try it one more time. Send it to the FBI. Boom. They come back. So we’re three for three. Yes. You know, it’s enough to get a warrant and then, uh, you know, out, out it goes.

Sharon Cline: [00:43:55] And you look at what you did.

Ken Kraus: [00:43:57] Yeah. Got lucky.

Sharon Cline: [00:43:58] Think about this, though. You have a spirit to serve and help, you know, whether it’s within the military or within the police department and helping people feel safe.

Ken Kraus: [00:44:09] Absolutely.

Sharon Cline: [00:44:10] It’s part of who you are.

Ken Kraus: [00:44:11] It’s a very rewarding, um, attribute. And I’m glad. I’m lucky. And I’m blessed to have it.

Constance Payne: [00:44:17] People and puppies. Yeah. He loves his dogs. Yes, he saves animals all the time. When I was going through his Facebook and checking it out, I was like, I just was like, oh, you’re like this. I never looked at your whole timeline before. It’s nothing but puppy dogs and military memes. I.

Ken Kraus: [00:44:37] I look at, I look at them and I see him in their cage, and I’ve been in a cage so I can feel for them, you know? And so it’s I try to I’ll take them home and I’ll find them. I’ll work with one and, and then find them a, a foster home like that, a forever home. And we’ll go back and do it again.

Sharon Cline: [00:44:54] What are you hoping will happen as a result of this book?

Ken Kraus: [00:44:58] Actually, this I want to get this out and I would like to see it, you know, in a production mode in a, in a, in a movie. And I don’t know who the heck would play me, but I mean, Brad Pitt for sure. Yeah. I mean, he’s gonna have to be young guy.

Sharon Cline: [00:45:13] I know, right?

Ken Kraus: [00:45:13] Yeah. And, uh, and to get it out and to let people, um, see what it’s like to, uh, go through a trial of, of fire and hell and not give up on anything, because when, when you read the book, there’s at least seven different areas there of miracles. And at the end of the book, you’ll see it says miracles. Believe in them, if any one of those. Events if you want to call them. Okay. Ironic events happen a different way. The world be different for me and I wouldn’t be here. So just the timing of exactly those things that happened, what could have went wrong, what didn’t go wrong, and what specifically had to happen for this domino effect to go positive? It’s all miracle after miracle after miracle. If you don’t believe that, then it’s, you know, there’s you’ve got an emptiness in you. Well, you lived it. Absolutely.

Sharon Cline: [00:46:03] You know it.

Ken Kraus: [00:46:04] So I mean, I just I have faith now. I mean, um, you can hope for things like that, but I mean, you have to have the, the faith of, like, what they said in a Bible of a mustard seed. You have to know it’s going to grow and nurture it, believe it, see it, make it happen, live it, smell it, you know, act it. And there’s no there’s no downside to that whatsoever. You know, it’s just a matter of, you know, the clock ticking and the world spinning just a matter of time cost you.

Sharon Cline: [00:46:28] What does it cost you to have that attitude?

Ken Kraus: [00:46:30] I just can’t imagine not having hope, you know? I mean, at one point there, I knew that, uh, I could figure out all the logical ways that that no one’s going to know I was there. And if if it is my fate, then. Then that’s why I went, you know, and I prayed that, hey, you know, just send the body back home. Don’t make a mess of it. And don’t lie about me. Just say, you know, he came over here, he stuck his nose in where it don’t belong. He was a he’s an invader. Call me what you want. You know, everybody know I was a marine and I died in the line of duty. But as long as they went out with my dad with. With a degree of honor, you know, they say. And that’s the that’s what the long blue line of Marine Corps has. I mean, that’s that’s our fighting spirit. That’s our traditional heritage, uh, the way it is. And the baton was passed to me that day, and I’m just glad I didn’t drop it.

Sharon Cline: [00:47:18] Constance, do you ever think the the the serendipity, the moment of meeting and how that leads you? Well, this has happened in so many different times of your life. It is kind of crazy when you think about it. It’s like that is your theme, but you also are a go getter, like you saw an opportunity to really help this man. And now here you are in the. And now here we are doing it.

Constance Payne: [00:47:38] Yeah, yeah. Pushing it forward and keeping going. You know, it’s like I, I needed this friendship in my life at, at this time throughout this whole last year just as much as he did, you know, and being able to be a part of telling his story and, and helping to produce it, uh, is, you know, it’s been amazing. It’s I mean, I’m, I’m very thankful. Like, and I do see like a future in a movie potential on it, you know, like I, you know, helped design and lay out the book just to start with the firefight, go back and forth with his memories and stuff like that. So so it is that page turner that we were talking about earlier and not just, you know, your typical biography, where I was born on this day and then this happened. Yeah. And then we have to get, you know, five chapters in to figure anything out.

Sharon Cline: [00:48:24] You refer to your father often, Ken, um, in the book about kind of how that relationship informed the different thought processes you had during your time as a hostage and and some of these really very deeply spiritual moments. But to not have the context of that, it doesn’t impact the same way. So I appreciate that you went back into his history. Oh, yeah.

Constance Payne: [00:48:44] Absolutely. And that’s the thing is, when he was, you know, giving me his writings and stuff like that, and I was looking over him and he would he would hand some stuff over to me and he’d be like, you’re not going to think any different of me. I just finished some of this prison stuff and and I was like, no, man. Like, I’ve been through. I see a lot, and I’ve been through a lot in my life. And when I was shaping the book out, what was the hardest part for me was the love he had for his father. That was the hardest part. All the torture stuff, all that, you know, like that didn’t bother. I mean, it’s a horrible thing, but, you know, I’m just saying, like what bothered me the most was, um, you know, the fact that he loved his father so much and I never had that in my life. I wish I could have said that, um, or at least had one parent that I could have said that about. And, uh, and it was, you know, that was the sad part for him to lose his father at 16. Yes. But he’s always with you in spirit.

Sharon Cline: [00:49:35] He is. And he speaks to you. Do you hear him? You hear him.

Ken Kraus: [00:49:38] You can hear it. I mean, people say, no, that’s not a voice. You can not you can hear a voice, but it’s it’s a it’s a deep inner impact of you feel it and hear it at the same time. It’s almost like telepathy. I think, you know, it’s it’s it’s coming from outside. You sense it as if as much as when you talk to yourself and you have to make a list of things you have to do today. You, you, you hear yourself talking about it. I mean, that’s normal. But then to hear somebody else, you know, like your father or somebody close talking, you say, wow. And they are changing the aspect of the, the issues because you would.

Sharon Cline: [00:50:11] Have chosen differently. Exactly. There’s one point in the book where you hear him say to you, pray, son, pray for what your heart wants most in this situation. Believe it, see it, know it, command it, and it shall be. I was so moving to me in the, in the in the very first day of what was happening to you. You felt your father and you heard those words and the comfort that you got from that.

Ken Kraus: [00:50:35] And that’s where when I in the caravanserai, I was in the bathroom and I said, hey, it’s, uh, the deepest thing I’ve ever asked for in my life, you know, and then went from him to actually prayer to, you know, to the Lord. And I said, this is it. Um, I can’t ask for anything else. I can’t buy this. I can’t rent this. There’s no other way to earn this. It just has to be given, given as a gift. And, um, he comes by and says, you have to believe it, but you got to believe in yourself, and you have to know what do you want most? And that’s when I said, you know what? I’ll sacrifice my life for the other 20.

Sharon Cline: [00:51:09] Let me just get all these people out of here.

Ken Kraus: [00:51:11] Yeah, they don’t deserve this. And, um, when in the book where I’m talking to the other two Marines and we’re realizing, you know, that one more assault and we’re going to be out of ammo and it’s going to be hand to hand. And he said, yeah, you know, they’re going to slaughter these people back here. And they were standing right there in the corner and a couple of overheard it. How embarrassing do you think that is? I mean, I didn’t realize, you know, in the environment there that these people just realized, you know, that their lives are in our hands as soon as we die, they’re coming minutes later. And, uh, that’s not something I could deal with. So whatever it took to whatever to, uh, every spiritual realm or to even call about my dad, I said, uh, you know, what do you got for me? How can you get me out of this? I mean, help me.

Sharon Cline: [00:51:54] Do you mind if I quickly talk about the, um, the Palestinian, the Israeli, Palestinian, Palestinian conflict that is happening right now? Do you mind if we talk about it briefly? No, ma’am. How does how does your experience, um. Being a hostage and and really understanding, um, the conflicts that happened during that time. How does that inform your understanding and your opinion about what’s happening right now?

Ken Kraus: [00:52:20] Opinions are tough because although I’ve been through Israel several times, I’ve trained with some of their military. I see some of the terrorism that that they, that they face. Uh, there’s always going to be a political point of view that you have countries, you know, um, like Iran, you know, state sponsored, uh, you have you have Syria, you have Lebanon. They all have their identity as a country. They got a flag, they got a government, they got a they got a culture, you know, and, um, for the last 50, 50 something years, uh, the place where they call Palestine, it really never existed. It was it was a historical value of it. People won’t take it into context. They just assume that, you know, somebody stealing, stealing their land. Well, it’s basically all those other countries that use them, the Palestinians, as cannon fodder. And you’ll see that the other countries are now basically at a, a impromptu or, say, a, a de facto, uh, section of war. And they’re not fighting against Israel. But yet you get these political terrorists like the Hamas and the Hezbollah, they take over a country and they’re literally running it, and they’re going to run it right into the ground. You and they’ll use them to fight and kill the Israelis, uh, over the land that no one wants to go back.

Ken Kraus: [00:53:41] To work out. In an amicable way for both sides. If you don’t go back to the beginning of how it got there, all you’re going to do is keep kicking that can down the road. And with Hamas and Hezbollah, you can see what they do. They just they attack and they attack and they teach their children, okay, how to die and how to be martyrs. Israeli children, they don’t learn that that’s not what they learn. And, you know, you know, with that being said, is that you’ll you’ll look at the Hamas goes into, you know, the area in Gaza and do they build them roads or schools? And no, they don’t, you know, they’ll build them some mosques and that it but um, the roads, hospitals. No they don’t, they don’t build them. You know, you see the little kids running around learning how to throw stones and learn how to hate the Israelis and how to hate everybody else and anybody that supports Israel. So you know that just and there’s always a lull you’ll see every few years. You know, you had the 56 Sinai War, then you had the 67 Day War, and you had the 73 Yom Kippur War, and then the 83 up there in, uh, Intifada, uh, up in Lebanon. And it’s just, you know.

Sharon Cline: [00:54:47] It’s cycle cycle cycle cycle.

Ken Kraus: [00:54:48] Cycle, cycle cycle. And, you know, you get a, you get a terrorist type organization that is run by state sponsored. And we know that Hezbollah comes from Iran. And now what Iran is trying to do, build a nuke. Now they get their hands on nuclear material and nuclear weapon. What is the first country you think they’re going to use it on? I’ll let you take a guess with that one. So if you don’t watch them and, you know, keep a leash on them, it can get out of hand somewhere where, you know, 911 is going to look like a picnic, God forbid, compared to a small tactical nuke. Zimmer. There’s only about three cities in Israel. I mean, that’s about it. You know, I don’t think that they would deliberately do it to Jerusalem because that’s a very holy place for a lot of a lot of religions. But Tel Aviv Ashcott, you know, there’s any one of them could go, you know, so you got to keep a you got to keep an alert on it. And if people would go back and look at where the, the, the, the brunt of this started, I think that they’ll be able to admit what the truth is. And it would take a lot of the hate. And that is, uh, fomented by outside agencies like Hamas and Hezbollah and take them out of the equation. And when you do that, you’re going to find people that are basically back to their Bible, their basic roots of of Islam, basic, you know, roots of, you know, being Hebrew and knowing that they, they can get along. And when they can’t get along, then they don’t have to fight like they’re doing today. But you ignore it. You’re going to have to pay that bill again every few years.

Sharon Cline: [00:56:20] It’s interesting too, because what you’re talking about is, is taking away all of the political aspects of it. But looking at people as just the humans that they are, which is, I think, what you’re so good at in the book with you and Constance together, writing it in a way that helps to really humanize something that we can talk about in a Wikipedia way, but we’re talking about the human aspect of it, and hopefully that will encourage just a great deal of compassion and understanding and a willingness to look at everyone as just humans, which is what we are on the planet, you know, not just people who are trying to win, you know, or use their force or don’t care if anyone suffers. That’s right. So I really appreciate your being willing to be so vulnerable in the book as well. With was with me today. And Constance, thank you so much for helping him to write this book and I can’t wait to see where it’ll go. Ken Krauss, thank you so much for coming in to Business RadioX and sharing your story. If anyone wanted to get in touch with you or Constance Payne, what would be the best way.

Constance Payne: [00:57:21] You’re going to want to go to Ken krauss.com? You can always shoot an email to Ken at Ken krauss.com for any type of media or book signings or you know, we’re that’s what we’re really looking at right now is where can we get Ken at any other events that are so we can, you know, set up a book table and have them be able to sign his autographs and sign his books for his fans. Excellent.

Sharon Cline: [00:57:45] Well, if there’s any way I can help you, I would love to.

Ken Kraus: [00:57:48] You’ve done so much. Today is a healing. Every time I sit and talk and let people appreciate what I’ve gone through, it’s one more inch that I healed. Thank you Sharon.

Sharon Cline: [00:57:56] Well my goodness, thank you. It’s an honor. Thank you so much. And thank you all for listening to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. And again, this is Sharon Klein reminding you with knowledge and understanding we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.

 

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We support and celebrate business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignores. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

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Business RadioX® Headquarters
1000 Abernathy Rd. NE
Building 400, Suite L-10
Sandy Springs, GA 30328