The Quarterback DadCast

Casey Cavell: From Baseball Fields to the Boardroom - A Father's Journey

October 26, 2023 Casey Jacox Season 4 Episode 219
The Quarterback DadCast
Casey Cavell: From Baseball Fields to the Boardroom - A Father's Journey
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

A big shoutout goes to Larry Levine for making the introduction so this episode would happen!  Our next guest, Casey Cavell, is the father of two young kids, and then the unexpected happened.  Imagine walking into your first scan to hear the words, "Congratulations, it's twins!" The sheer surprise, joy, and overwhelming sense of becoming a parent is precisely the journey that our guest, Casey Cavell, undertook. A former baseball player turned business efficiency expert, Casey shares the highs and lows of his life, from hitting home runs in the field to bold entrepreneurial dreams. 

Life isn't a straight pitch, and Casey's story is no different. He grew up with two loving parents in Northern Indiana, grappling with their unique relationship's challenges. But he turned those experiences into life lessons, shaping his understanding of marriage, parenting, and self-development. Now a father, Casey unveils the strategies and philosophies guiding his parenting style. He also unravels how his parents influenced his career path and fueled his entrepreneurial spirit.

But Casey's story is not just about personal growth and parenting; it's also about navigating the tight corners of self-doubt and building resilient business relationships. From forgiving himself to understanding his core image, Casey's exploration of his mental space is an enlightening journey for all of us. He also sheds light on how his father's entrepreneurial spirit and mother's resilient nature shaped his own business pursuits. So, gear up for an authentic conversation with Casey Cavell that blends family, business, and baseball into one inspiring narrative.

Casey is the founder of his consulting & coaching practice and the host of the Dugout CEO Podcast.

Lattitude Sitka
Our sea adventures cover fishing, wildlife tours, beach excursions, scuba diving, snorkeling, paddle

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Please don't forget to leave us a review wherever you consume your podcasts! Please help us get more dads to listen weekly and become the ultimate leader of their homes!

Speaker 1:

Hi, I'm Riley and I'm Ryder, and this is my Dad's Show, hey everybody.

Speaker 2:

It's KCJ Cox with the quarterback Dadcast. I'm excited to announce we have a brand new sponsor joining the show, which is called LatitudeSitkacom, a Latitude 57. Now this company's mission is to provide an unparalleled Alaskan experience that will enable their customers to explore everything that the region has to offer. Additionally, they are dedicated to supporting and promoting the local community, the culture, as well as protecting and preserving the natural beauty that the resources of the region have to offer us. So I'm going there in June. I can't wait. And whether you're looking to find a wellness retreat, if you're looking for a place to take your favorite customer, if you're looking for a way to maybe take your leadership team, check out LatitudeSitkacom, because they will give you some amazing sea exploration from fishing to commercial fishing, wildlife tours, beach excursions, scuba diving, snorkeling, even paddle boarding. If none of those sound interesting to you, well then, go. Stay on land and go ITVing, hiking, hot springs, yoga, take a massage in. The team has over 20 years of local knowledge to serve you, and they also will be able to cook amazing meals while you are there staying in their facility. So go to LatitudeSitkacom now and book that next wellness retreat. You won't regret it. The majestic views will blow you away and, as I mentioned, I cannot wait to get there in June. So with that, let's welcome LatitudeSitka to the podcast and get right to today's episode. Hey, everybody, it's KCJ Cox with the quarterback dadcast. We are in season four, almost the end of season four, which, again, as you've the loyal listeners want. How cool does that sound that? We've been along this journey together and it all started with my, my, my loyal teammate, ty Nunez, 86 buddy at Yakima, washington. I love giving you love on almost these 200 plus episodes because without you, buddy, we don't give this off the ground. So thank you again.

Speaker 2:

And this next guest comes to us from the talented Larry Levine. I'll meet Larry Levine, the talented Paul Hari. So shout out to Paul and Larry for making today's interview happen, which is with the talented KC Kavelle. He is a, he's a, he's a gosh and gosh he's the black squirrel, or is he a Maple Leaf, I don't know. We're going to talk about baseball. We're going to talk about faith. We're going to talk about how he's helping, for the last 17 years, grow scale, make more businesses efficient. We're going to also hear about the dugout CEO podcast, but, most importantly, we're going to talk to KC the dad and learn how he's working hard to become that ultimate quarterback or leader of his households without further ado. I love this is another KC to the podcast, so welcome sir.

Speaker 1:

Hey, great to be here.

Speaker 2:

How about that?

Speaker 1:

intro it was. It was awesome. What's the black squirrel? Or Maple Leaf? Where did you get that?

Speaker 2:

I thought that was like your baseball squad, like your color, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's super weird I don't know Like who told you that Because, like the mascots, the Maple Leaf, the Goshen College Maple Leafs, but there's like this like joke where we were called the black squirrels because there's all these ugly black squirrels running around campus and I think they finally got a mascot and it's a squirrel. I guess it's hard to make a Maple Leaf into a mascot. But yeah, goshen College, I tell people it's like the Georgia Tech of the North, because they'd never heard of it. But yeah, it's just like small men and I Amish community up in Northern Indiana and I just went there to play baseball because I knew I wouldn't be able to sit the bench with 15 players on the college roster and I enjoyed my time there.

Speaker 2:

So well, I love doing the random. I'm very random, most quarterbacks are, and I love, I love surprising people that did a little bit of research at the college they went to and so, but it was on Wikipedia. You had you as the black squirrel on the Maple Leaf, such why I was confused.

Speaker 1:

That's it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's like a joke and I guess it's taking off now, so I love it All right, casey, so we always start each episode with gratitude, so tell me, what are you most grateful for as a dad today?

Speaker 1:

So my wife's out of town and that's not why I'm thankful, but I guess maybe so so she's out of town for the next two days. I have a two year old and a 10 month old and I got them for the next couple of days, so we're going to see how that goes. I'm very grateful that we have a babysitter here for the next hour so we can hang out, but when she leaves I'm grateful that I have my energy packets ready and I have all of my, I guess, things that I need to survive over the next couple of days kind of laid out and ready. My wife made me a list and I'm going to take them to the park. It's not a hundred degrees here today and we're going to go out and maybe go get a free cookie at Publix and enjoy these next couple of days with two really small kids. Because of what everybody tells me, it goes by fast. Sometimes it seems like it doesn't, but I hear it. I hear it does in all reality, so I'm trying to enjoy it.

Speaker 2:

It's funny you say that, or serendipitously that you said that, because I don't post often on like Facebook, but I posted a picture this week of my son and my daughter. My son is a senior in high school. He just started that this year my daughter's a sophomore, and the post started was everybody told me that time goes by fast, and at the time, I was like what are you talking about, man? My son's like one. Let me just enjoy this. He's a senior, casey, sure. So I love how you're going to enjoy the park, enjoy every moment, enjoy every minute. I just I love it. I'm so grateful for that. I'm actually so. I'm what I'm grateful for.

Speaker 2:

The day, though, is right before we joined, my wife called me and said she goes. Oh no, I just checked my email. I'm like oh, why? I was like she did something wrong. She's like they have a girl available. I was like what do you mean? She's like a puppy. So we we had three dogs. We just, unfortunately, lost two in the last like three months. One of them was really old, and actually the one of them that passed away was like my daughter's dog, which was a sheet. So I didn't really like the things was just annoyed me, but I love like bigger dogs. But so my daughter has no idea and she won't be listening to this. Anyways, when this episode comes out I'll be past her birthday, but we're surprising her with a puppy and she's going to freak out.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, that's going to be super cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah that's going to be awesome. That's going to be awesome, okay, so before I go into your, your huddle, tell me how do you know, larry? How'd you guys meet? We got to give him some love.

Speaker 1:

Gosh, his business partner Darryl, and I have kind of been kind of just in communication over the last couple of years. We're both kind of growth minded, open minded guys that believe in abundance, like there's so much business to go around and so much opportunity, like let's help each other. And he connected me to, I think, larry and selling from the hearts one of his things that he does, and I'm a big passion guy and that's kind of it. I've just spent the last gosh five or six years after exiting my company just adding value to other people any way I can and I've just met some really cool people and he's just one of them.

Speaker 2:

Love it. So Darryl Amy also was a former guest on the podcast and I made that so. Darryl. We shout out to Darryl. Shout out to Larry go Dodgers. I am painful to say, larry, but I am going to the Mariners Dodger game on September 16th, I think. So go Mariners for that. That's a shout out for Larry. All right, so tell me about your squad. You got a two year old and 10 month old, but tell me a little bit about them and then how you and your wife met.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so my wife and I met my best friend, introduced me to her after 10 years of knowing him, so that shows you how much he thought of me for the first 10 years.

Speaker 4:

He's like yeah.

Speaker 1:

I don't know about this guy, but after 10 years now he has got seven sisters, so it's like there's a lot of them and my wife's one of 13. So after 10 years of knowing him it was, I guess his girlfriend at the time is like hey, you and Connie should meet. Is my wife and you're either going to really like each other or it's just going to, you know, not turn out so well because we're both very passionate, very fired out of very driven kind of people and they connected us and we had a good time. I'm seven years older, so at the time she just graduated college. So I'm glad I met her when I did, because any earlier it would have been a little bit creepy. So it turned out well and I was, you know, able to.

Speaker 1:

I kind of joked, we kind of did like the bachelor lifestyle where, like the TV show, I was living in Atlanta, she was in Indiana, we would meet up in Chicago, we meet up in New York, we meet up, she'd come down or whatever, and we just kind of did that for a while. But I made sure I was like hey, just so you know, like if this is serious, like this is not how life's going to be Because you know, we were kind of doing fun things together and relationship was kind of smooth and easy. But yeah, it was kind of fun. So that's that's how we met and we got Peyton, who is, I guess, I grew up a Colts fan, so Indiana Peyton, you know, yeah, he's a boy, she's a girl, but we named it or spelled it P A Y T O?

Speaker 1:

N. So that was kind of cool because I grew up yelling come on Peyton, come on Peyton, and watching him just work miracles right in front of me, my eyes just seeing that name, and my wife kind of came up with it. So we have Peyton, she's two, and then banks is 10. And then we also have twins coming in January.

Speaker 2:

What Wow yeah?

Speaker 1:

So it's going to be four under two and a half KC. So we are um, yeah, we are trying to game plan right now and come up with the right strategy, and we might need to hire an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator to who knows who we're going to need to help. But we're trying to enjoy the moment but also kind of like plan for the future there we go.

Speaker 2:

Well, ironic, so we're recording right before Labor Day. The episode that just came out yesterday on the podcast was a talented business executive for a company called Dexion, a guy named Vinnie DeVoe, and they have twins, and so the episode was kind of talking about twins and the surprise. So did you, there's our twins that run the family, or was this like a surprise?

Speaker 1:

No, total surprise. Like I said, my wife's one of 13. It doesn't run in anybody's family. So we went in there. I think we were week seven or eight and the doctor asked all of these questions and we're like, okay, interesting. He's like come with me. Well, he took her right in for the sonogram thing, which you're not really getting typically till week 12 or whatever, and he goes okay, yeah, this is in, he goes. This is the problem. I'm like what do you mean? This is the problem. You don't want to hear that when you're in a doctor's office he goes well, this is baby one and this is baby two. And you know, you're kind of like what the heck get the heck out of here.

Speaker 1:

Right, I'm not a man that uses a lot of profanity, right, I used to be right in my baseball playing days and sports days, but I've matured a little bit. I think I said a few things under my breath. My wife said it verbally, right, she's like what she's? I mean, she's just dumbfounded because it's not that we're having twins, we're going to have four under two and a half. So it was a little hard, but just like in sports and football, whatever, it's just like all right, this is happening. You better figure out a way to build a championship winning team and create the right mindset, and I think we're slowly but surely getting there.

Speaker 2:

Wow, Do you know? Do you know the exact date in January?

Speaker 1:

It's gonna be middle January, so our anniversary is the 21st, so that could be cool, but yeah, anytime, that's a great time to have a baby because there's a lot of football on right. You got a FC championship, nfc championship, you know Super Bowl is coming up, so college football playoff game, so I think it's it's gonna work out perfect.

Speaker 2:

There we go. Why, ask, is my? My dad's birthday is January 9th and he unfortunately passed away on December 29, 2021. We dedicated entire season three to him, but if you just said just generate ninth, I was like whoa, that woulda gave me some chills sure, but Cool. Well, I Would love to go back in time, and I always like asking this question to dads is just Understanding what was life like growing up for you and and talk about the impact your parents had on you.

Speaker 1:

Now that your father yeah, so grew up in northern Indiana, two parents that just loved us to death, right, I Mean they would do and did anything and everything they possibly could do to just help us. They weren't perfect by any means and I know I'm not as a dad and I've had to learn how hard it is and I almost like appreciate my parents now more being a dad, because it's really, really hard and I'm sure it even gets harder the older kids get and the different challenges and stuff. And my parents I mean they were great Now I think the challenges they didn't really have great examples growing up. You know my dad came from a broken family. My mom came from two parents that you know she kind of told me never really said I love you. So it's like man, that's tough. And you know, when she met my dad, my dad was Mr Love, like would say it all the time do anything. I mean my dad has a really big heart for people. So they instantly.

Speaker 1:

And my dad came from no money, literally a lifeguard like Mitch from Baywatch style, living in a van at Miami Beach, like. And she grew up with tons of money, a giant house, giant mansion, and she's going with this lifeguard that can't rub two nickels together. Why? It's because my dad loved her and I thought that was interesting and they dated for a really long time before they got married, but I just don't think they had a really good foundation and they walked into a marriage without a good foundation. As you know, if you don't have a solid foundation, like things are gonna happen and I think a lot of stuff did happen over years and I don't know if my parents dealt with it or really understood the things that happened to them and how they impacted themselves individually and how those things impacted their relationship. And then those things in tune probably, you know, got put on us at one point or another. And you know my dad was very entrepreneurial and did a lot of crazy business things, which I've done, a lot of really crazy business things and I learned a lot from my dad, like a ton, like a lot of really good, amazing things, like he was always super positive, never used the word can't right, like you can do it kind of thing.

Speaker 1:

My mom was more realistic and my dad was more optimistic, but I saw that tension my whole life where you know they were kind of at odds with each other my entire life.

Speaker 1:

Right, there was never like that time, or I remember like I mean, there was times, but there was never like that Sustained like, wow, mom and dad are on the same team, and when mom and dad aren't on the same team, you know, brother might play dad against mom or brother might go to dad for something and if dad says no, he's going to mom and that, and when mom says yes, and dad and mom are together, so it was, I mean it was good, but it was also really hard and you know, thankfully I've been able to learn what they did really well, which once again, was a million different things, and I learned and have learned and talked to my wife through a lot of things that they didn't do well, and I think we're now trying to build a different type of foundation to build our family upon. So, yeah, so that's kind of a little bit of what I experienced growing up now, our mom and dad still with us.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they are, and after 43 years of marriage they got divorced about this time last year.

Speaker 1:

I'm sorry, so it's yeah, it's like wow, right, because I think they were keeping together for as long as they could because they had kids in the household and me and my brother were what? 12 years older than my sister. My sister was kind of like the oops, miracle baby kind of thing. So I'm thinking, you know they kept it together for her and my dad eventually kind of left after my sister graduated with college and you know, don't know all the reasons why, right, never will know all the reasons why. But I know my dad loves us, I know he's proud of us and my mom is too, but I just I don't think they ever Really took a hard look inside themselves and the pain and the issues and the thoughts of like, why am I feeling this way? And it took me.

Speaker 1:

Casey, I went through counseling for four years At 30 years old, so my dad's 70, so as much baggage as I had growing up, right, they probably had that much more because you know my dad came from a broken home early in High school and college. So thankfully I was able to work through any Bitterness or resentment towards my parents because one I know they did their best. I know they love me and If I was in their situation, I probably would have had the same thoughts and did the same type of things, because a lot of people's environment Unless you're able to Work on yourself like it's gonna impact the way you kind of do life.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, my I my parents got divorced and I was in my Would have been my, you know second year in college.

Speaker 2:

So I know all to what that feels like. And then my dad, my parents split, my dad Went, went through a bunch of health issues. So, like when we got married at 20 we got married young 23 I remember my uncle saying, hey case you might want to get a two bedroom apartment for your dad because he's gonna come live with you guys, we're like that's not gonna happen. And then just seeing him kind of a rose that he's got, he's got a lot of love and he's got a lot of love and he's got a lot of love. And then seeing him kind of a row, the ups and downs. And then, yeah, I was, I was essentially dad for my dad for almost 20 years.

Speaker 2:

Wow, yeah, you talked about like marriage vows to sickness and health, like my wife was so strong and is so strong and we, she and I, were actually both with him for his last breath, which is a beautiful, sad thing to go through, but like I couldn't, so grateful I was. And the last six weeks of his life, almost like his dementia, some of his health stuff went away. So, wow, yeah, man, it's just, divorce is hard. I always I pray that that's something I'll never have to go through, my wife and I, you know we Were by far from perfect. To known is we're all flawed humans, but I think it's. But we are. We definitely try to be on the same page a lot, you know, as much as we can, because I think that does impact kids, yeah. So Now, what did? What sort of jobs and mom and dad do?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so you know, mom came she was a what? Dental hygienist and then my parents wrote the ambulance together. So they literally were like the team, you know, on an ambulance together going out in Miami and saving people and taking them to the hospital. So they were a team. So that was kind of a cool thing, right. That's it, that's gonna build your relationship and you're gonna experience a lot of things. But then my dad said when my mom became pregnant, he's like you got to go home right now. Like go home, stop working. And I almost tried to do that to my wife when she told me she was pregnant, because she became pregnant right in the middle of COVID. I'm like let's put her in a bubble and like let's hide her in the basement for 10 months Because, like, I wanted to protect her. So they did paramedic Work for a while and then my mom kind of retired, became stay-at-home mom.

Speaker 1:

My dad did some teaching and so on and so forth and then Just started doing entrepreneurial things buying some real estate, flipping some real estate, starting some businesses that worked, starting some businesses that didn't. And you know, when businesses don't work it adds a lot of stress to the household and when mom's not behind dad a hundred percent of what he's doing A lot of times here, rightfully so like he had some crazy business ideas that I'm like, even as an 18 year old kid or a 13 year old kid, I'm like there's got to be a better way to do what you're trying to do here, or I don't even know if that's something you should do because I don't know if the market can sustain it.

Speaker 1:

So I learned from my dad like how to create big wins and how to avoid big losses. So it's weird. So I'm very visionary, entrepreneurial, but I'm also very like safe and precise and detailed. So you know I do a lot of business consulting. Now I exited a couple companies and built some cool things, but now I help other people like build businesses the right way to minimize like bad things happening and maximize upside, because I've seen what that can do in your life. So I help people like build a business that like gets them what they want, so they can be like better at home, because I've Witnessed what happens when businesses aren't good and the impact that they can have on a family.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you're making me realize a story. So I remember when I was About your stage of parenting, remember I was, I would say, right guy, right time, right place, had a Good run and a corporate job. But early in that journey, when I first started to kind of taste like success, that was new to me. I remember I was leaving the house like at six, getting home around seven, getting 15 minutes with my son. I'm like now the company I work for you. They loved it. I was making them money.

Speaker 2:

I was financially happy, life seemed great on paper, but I was miserable because I didn't get time with my son. I'm like this is not what it's about. And I remember going to my boss shout out Angela, veronica, if you're listening. I said Angela, I'm. She's like what's going on? I go, I'm freaking a mess. This sucks, this is not what I mean.

Speaker 2:

15 minutes a day with my kid, this is not what it's about. She's like well, leave it, leave it for. I'm like we don't work in a bank. I can't leave it for, so why can't you? I Didn't have a good answer. So it taught me the power of like empowering your team, setting expectations, being clear and I would know from like four to five. I was always available but like all of a sudden, once I did that, casey, my curve went even straight hockey stick and I was a better dad. I was hands-on, I'd great better late ship my wife and I'm so grateful that I learned that early and I hope, if there's a dad listening that you know what you just said or what I just said, gonna make some stop and think like maybe there's a better way.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's. It just keeps reminding me the whole Pareto's principle 80 20 approach, where it's like 20% of the stuff you do every day actually makes in 80% of the results anyway. So it's like if you look at that, it's like half your day is wasted. In that philosophy, 80% of your day is wasted time. And if you can figure out a way to get really smart with your time and figure out what really makes a difference, what really moves the needle, and then just spend your time there, you're in good shape.

Speaker 1:

And whenever I go into somebody's business or I help an entrepreneur, I always try to figure out alright, where do you spend all your time? Because my job is to get your time back, because time is the most valuable asset you will ever have and you're right, you want to spend it doing things that you want to do, spending time with people you want. And I just realized and look, I have to ask myself this every day, every week, as I look at my calendar what really makes an impact for the people around me, what really makes you know revenue go up and and how do I spend my time doing those things? And you'd be like crazy, did I think, like you can't get some time back, but you're right, like I can't. You just sleep a couple hours early and then you develop that strategy and then you do, and I think that's really cool. It's cool you had a boss that empowered you to do that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, super grateful, super grateful. And actually the fun part for me is I then I gave that to others. I encourage probably five or six others to do it, so it's like it's kind of like I always call it now boomerang mindset You're serving others with positivity and hope that boomerang comes back to you, but you don't got it, don't score. Yeah. So baseball was important to you. Talk, talk about that journey. Maybe talk about the impact your parents had on you during your baseball journey.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, my dad would always give me opportunity. So Whenever there was a team if I wanted to do it, he's like, yes, let's figure out a way to make it happen.

Speaker 1:

And he would take me to the games and get me the equipment. My mom would always get me the bats I needed and all that kind of stuff, and they just both loved it. So that was that was cool, right, because they were behind me. Whatever I want to do, accomplish, they supported me, they, they got me what I needed, they helped me hire the best trainers and all that kind of stuff that I needed and, yeah, and that was super cool.

Speaker 1:

And we would go to games together and enjoy that and football too, like we were big football fans and went to a AFC championship game with my dad and then the multiple Colts games as my team and went to Purdue. So you know, we've gone to a lot of Purdue games. So, yeah, baseball was fun, but just, my parents were behind me a hundred percent. So that's where, when I look at my kids, I want to figure out what fires them up. Now, what fires me up.

Speaker 1:

And I'm too early to figure that out, although my daughter so far is liking sports, so that's cool. I know she's too in change, right, but she wants to watch it for at least a couple minutes, right? Yeah, you know, whenever I take her to a sporting event Always make sure we don't just sit there and watch the game because one she wouldn't want to do that, but we do all the fun kids stuff. So yeah, I think they figured out what I was excited about and try to do their best to give me opportunities to do more of that Love it Well as a dad who has a competitive daughter.

Speaker 2:

My daughter's a sophomore in high school. She is. My son would hate for me to say this ball say, anyway, she's the toughest one in her family. My daughter, like she's this, she's a scrappy point guard, shooting guard that never gets tired, like we're like Just a motor that just If there's a loose ball she's diving headfirst. I asked her one day so do you rather have a black guy or make a three-pointer? She goes probably a black guy. So it's, it's awesome. So I don't know if that was just how you know, having a brother that made it a little bit tougher, but sure it's, it's super fun. As you think about themes when you were raised that are gonna be now important to you, like values, life lessons, tell me what comes to mind.

Speaker 1:

I think the whole If you think you can, you can kind of thing like, but if you think you can't, you can't. I want to really believe and let my kids know, like Don't say no, like say yes, and you can do it. I think that's just really important. I mean, my dad taught me that you know, whenever I came up with an idea, it's like all right, great, figure out a way to make it happen, kind of thing. So I think that's it, that if you believe it, you can achieve it. Now you don't want to do that blindly, like you need to have an actual plan, because I think positivity without a plan is not really positive, it's actually stupidity. Right, it's like, hey, I want to be positive, hey, I'm gonna, I can do this, I'm gonna achieve this, I can, this is possible. But if you don't have a plan and you don't surround yourself with a team, like just thinking it, it's not gonna automatically make it happen like Thinking, grow rich I think I read that a long time ago Like I

Speaker 1:

don't know if it's literally just think and grow rich, like you got to do something, I think. But the whole thing is mindset. You got to first have the mindset that you can do it and then, once you have the mindset, then it's like all right, well, what's the plan to get there? And then you got to do it. So I think that's the big thing for me, like anything is possible. Put your mind to something, develop a plan and like make it happen. But if you're also gonna do something, like do it, like do your best ability, like don't just join a team and just be on the team, like Join a team and like really like take it serious and try to make those better around you, kind of thing mm-hmm.

Speaker 2:

What else besides that was important, gosh, growing up. That maybe will be important to you and for you and Connie, for your, for your two daughters.

Speaker 1:

So we have a kind of a mission statement for our family have a fun and simple life, put family first and work as a team. So One I don't want to buy a vacation home because that seems stressful. Why you would probably buy it in Florida. There was just a hurricane in Florida. I would be nervous, my insurance premiums would go up. I would be nervous that the wind, the winds, are gonna knock it down.

Speaker 1:

Like I think it's great that people want to have Second homes and fifth cars. I don't even own a car. I Uber. We're about to upload to a minivan from Arkea, tell you right, because I think it's gonna be more convenient and more fun, right? So, like I think that's a big thing for us it's like, and a lot of people it's like if you have a mission statement or a vision or values, like to use that to actually live life. So for us.

Speaker 1:

I bought a motorhome a couple years ago. It was not fun by any means and it was not simple. It was fun when it worked, but it didn't work. So we just got rid of it. We sold it.

Speaker 1:

Was it simple? No, there was a hundred million buttons on there and that's thinking thing broke down all the time. Literally, I about just drove it off a cliff and jumped out with a parachute because I never wanted to see it again. Thankfully I convinced somebody to take it off my hands because, ultimately, like I think people and in general like stuff, it gets complicated and the older we get, the more stuff we accumulate, the more opportunities we have. So for me it's like learn how to say no to people and learn how to say no to opportunities.

Speaker 1:

Don't keep up with the Joneses and just enjoy it. And you know what? Maybe we don't take our family to the Grand Cayman Islands on vacation. We take him a Panama City Beach. They don't care, they don't know the difference. Right At the end of the day, they just want to be there with us. So and I've been to the Grand Cayman with my wife and maybe we take them back there when they're, you know, teenagers or something I don't know. But I don't think you need to do all these wild, crazy things that a lot of people say you do to Really have fun. I mean, my wife grew up with 12 brothers and sisters in a small double-eyed trailer like there's. They love each other more than like everybody I know.

Speaker 1:

Like they're in it together and it just showed me like you don't need to have the giant house or the this or the that. Now have those things if you can use those things to enjoy them with others. Have the vacation home, buy it. Right if it doesn't stress you out. Right, if you can use that vacation home to make memories or invite people to stay. But for us that's it. Keep it simple. How fun and Work together as a team. Love it, love it.

Speaker 2:

I love how you said like if you do have something, share, share it with others, because that's I'm a big memories person. Create memories over. I mean like this is like a random Thought, but like if I had to spend 150 bucks on a pair of jeans versus Spend $500 to go play golf with my son, it's a no-brainer, I'm gonna go play golf and yeah, and somebody like what five to me it's like I'm a big golf guy but like you know that some things I'm so cheap at but doesn't make you know Sense wise. And back to be said about mindset I do in my, my work, I do a lot of like mindset work for business leaders as well. And you said, you said you maybe you don't, didn't use a lot of profanity then why I created five. This is like sarcastic speaking, but I truly mean it like Five swear words that I've shared with people. These are bad ones, casey. Okay, these are need to, should, to, want to, have to and can't.

Speaker 2:

And instead, I replace them with I will, and so when we need to do things, we should do things we have to do things, to my mind, just creates anxiety, and the power of just writing it down.

Speaker 2:

Have an, a vision. Now you see it. You know we as humans have. I learned this through some work I did with a small consult company called limitless minds, which is Russell Wilson's company and some of those Crazy smart near neuroscience folks, and I learned about the number of thoughts we have a day. I learned about the percentage of those thoughts that are negative a day, which then I share with my kids to help them, at an early age, learn about the power of like. Like you said, visualize, have a plan. I totally agree with you. I mean, if someone would have said I was gonna Write a book, you know, write, write a book. That said no way, but I believed it and then for four months, from 9 to 11 30, I wrote every day.

Speaker 4:

Intention integrity IT recruitment. We are McCann partners and I am Megan McCann, the CEO and founder. Mccann partners is a Chicago based IT recruitment firm. We support a growing portfolio of innovative organizations, from Chicago based startups to companies with a global footprint. We are dedicated to creating a more equitable and diverse workforce and are proud that more than 70% of our talent placements Since 2020 have been diverse hires. We take pride in our work and invest time to hone our skills. Case in point, our work with Casey Casey helped me and my team learn new habits of success and unlock the skills we already have been using the superpowers of humility, vulnerability and curiosity. If you, the listener, are curious about our experience with Casey and his impact on the team and our business, please reach out to me via LinkedIn.

Speaker 1:

Do you do like clips of podcasts and break them into little one-minute clips or segments? Do you do that? Mm-hmm, all right, well, send me this recording because I want to do it and I'm gonna take that little clip and then I'm gonna write down Everything you said to because, like, it's so good. Like hey, I have to watch the kids over the next couple days because my wife said I town on a girls weekend.

Speaker 2:

Well, get to what?

Speaker 1:

why? Like because I was out of boys trip three weeks ago and we went golfing, went to the ocean when we're fishing, we did all kinds of guy stuff, right, it's like, well, and I get to hang out with my kids like they're healthy, they're not sick, they're good, and I get to do that. So I'm like, because it is exhausting at this age sometimes, but it's like I get to because, you're right, like it's just mindset and I was a mental midget, like I'm like brother listen to a podcast and I literally call myself a mental midget and he's very like I don't know what you would call it, I Don't know sensitive to other people's feelings. Right, you're like you can't use the word midget. I'm like, I'm sorry, cancel me, right, like, but I'm like at the end of the day, I was small-minded. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I had a bad attitude. I had to look back at it, casey, and why the anger and why the cuss words is because for years, you know, the messages that were given to me were I'm not good enough and in counseling I I ultimately came to have this like core image of myself, this thought when Casey thinks about Casey, what does he think? And it was Casey's a piece of shit. And that's a hard way to live, because everything you did, if you weren't great at it, you went back to that. And then when you think you're that, you go crazy, you go nuts, you throw the bat right, you scream you, f, bomb you this.

Speaker 1:

And that's what I had to work through counseling of who is Casey? And no, I'm not that, but this world tells you you're that. This world always tells you you're behind, you're off schedule, right, you're not good enough. And like I have to still renew my mind, because I still feel like that from time to time, and that was all messages that were ever given to me, whether from the time I was probably, you know, two years old, till time I was 30 and learned how to forgive myself and learned how to forgive others. But you know, it is just it is mindset and I was just not right in the mind for so long and impacted myself and so many other people that I still need to probably write forgiveness letters to, because, although I accomplished some things, I heard some people along the way.

Speaker 2:

Grace is a powerful word, brother, and when you, even if you're the most strong-minded, positive person, we're all flawed and those thoughts still come in our head. And so, like for me, like as an entrepreneur which again I surrender to the fact I didn't mean this for this journey to happen, but I swear this is. I know this is what I was meant to do. The 20 years in corporate 25 years in corporate built stronger skills so I can now give it away to other people, which is like the best feeling in the world. But when we, like I could easily compare myself to other speakers, coaches like, oh, I wish I had this, I wish I'm like, I don't want that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah it's hard. I value more taking my daughter to her favorite pizza place last night than playing a goofy game on her phone. To me, at this stage of life I'm almost 50, which feels weird to say, but I feel like I'm a 15 year old in the probably my maturity level. But it's about this. When those thoughts get in our brain, dads, what do we do? Do we compare ourselves to this other family, compare our kid to their kid? Or we just say, because I value, are my kids nice? Do they show up on time? Are they honest? Do they work hard? Do I want them to play long golf? Yes. Do I want them to get good grades? Yes. Do I want my daughter to make a basketball team and shoot? Yes. But in the end, that's not the most important thing.

Speaker 5:

Hi, I'm Leslie Vickery, the CEO and founder of ClearEdge, a company dedicated to transforming the business of talent. Through our three lines of business ClearEdge, marketing, recruiting and rising that help organizations across the recruitment and HR tech sectors grow their brands and market share while building their teams with excellence and equity. I believe we were one of Casey's very first clients. He helped our sales and account teams really those people on the front lines of building and developing client relationships in so many ways. Here are a few. He helped us unlock the power of curiosity. For me it was a game changer. I was personally learning all about Ted-based that's, tell, explain, describe, questioning and that really resonated with me. We also learned about unlocking the power of humility and unlocking the power of vulnerability. Casey taught us to be a team player, to embrace change, to stay positive. He is one of the most positive people I know. He believes that optimism, resilience and a sense of humor can go a long way in helping people achieve their goals and overcome obstacles.

Speaker 5:

And I agree Casey's book when the Relationship, not the Deal it is a must read. Listen. Whether you're looking for coaching and training or a powerful speaker or keynote, casey is one of the people I recommend when talking to companies. The end result for us, at least as one of Casey's clients our own clients would literally commend our approach over all other companies, from the way we were prepared in advance of a call to how we drove meetings, to how we follow up. It sounds really basic, I know, but let me tell you it is a standout approach that led to stronger relationships. I encourage you to learn more by going to kcjcoxcom. You have nothing to lose by having a conversation and a lot to gain. Now let's get back to Casey's podcast, the Quarterback Dadcast.

Speaker 2:

So I get. Every time I talk to dads, I feel like I get free therapy. So, as you inspired me to say that, and hopefully there's a dad at home that's listening, that's enjoying what we're talking about, that's good, and I love that you were vulnerable enough to share about counseling, because I've interviewed multiple dads where we've said it's okay to ask for help and or we can be this dad like our dads and their dads were taught just, you know, you wass, suck it up, let's go, you can't ask for help, which I think is the exact opposite.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, there's a balance, right. It's like I think that older generation it is like suck it up, figure it out right. And then the newer generation is like, oh, okay, you know it's okay not to be okay, and you know, baby and Caudill and enable where it's like there's gotta be that balance, where like, yeah, it's okay not to be okay, but get your shit together. Like, get it together, but you can't get it together by yourself. You need a team, right? If you're going out there in your QBRs 15, it's like you need a quarterback coach and if your quarterback coach isn't delivering, hire another one.

Speaker 1:

Because, you're right, I had to hire multiple quarterback coaches to help me in multiple areas of my life and you know, I don't think my dad was really willing to do that. I don't know why, but he never really went through the counseling and when him and my mom were like trying, like it was just really hard, it was really uncomfortable for him. Why, I have no idea, but thankfully I was able to get to that point and I would say anybody that's feeling uneasy like.

Speaker 1:

Just having somebody to talk to is really key.

Speaker 2:

Tell me what was your tipping point that gave you the confidence or the strength to go do it.

Speaker 1:

Let's see what was the tipping point. I mean one I had good people around me that cared about me, that connected me to somebody, so that was key. So if you don't surround yourself with good people, or at least have people around you that care, it's gonna make life harder. So I think the first thing to do is just like ask yourself the people you're surrounding yourself with, is that the lifestyle you want, right? So I think that helped. But then what was the tipping point? Like, how was it to burn out? I was tired. I was ready for change. And.

Speaker 1:

I think it like it hits most men Usually, I think, in the like 40s and 50s when they're like all right now what am I doing? I?

Speaker 1:

just got married. I spent all my time raising these kids. I'm working this job like there's gotta be more kind of thing, like I think it like burnout usually happens a little bit later in life. I just ran so fricking hard for so long I think I got there a little bit easier and I had so much baggage that was holding me down. So, yeah, I was just ready for a change. I just felt this pain that I was just like there's gotta be a better way than this and yeah, that's it.

Speaker 2:

What if you can't? I'm intrigued and curious to learn a little bit more about kind of your business journey that maybe brought you maybe his business, maybe his personal that brought you to faith. And then maybe how was the, what was the journey that brought you to, you know, exit some of these companies you work for?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So you know I learned a lot from my dad had to build businesses the right way, the wrong way, all of that. So when I got done playing baseball, I got my real estate license and I'm like, all right, I don't wanna go and just sell houses and work the weekends and get a check. Like I wanna figure out a way to build a business that doesn't rely on me and that's my whole thing. That's what I do now. Like I hope business owners that own something Make that thing turn profit without them working, because that's what a business should do. It just makes you money. Like if the owner of the Indianapolis Colts doesn't go to work for the next year, like it's probably okay, it's still gonna make money. It's a machine. So I was always like how do I create a machine? So got my real estate license, realized buying and selling houses or helping other people do it, wasn't it? Then bought a book, bought a course and went to a mastermind or a seminar with a guy that was teaching you how to buy self-storage facilities. So I just went, paid a few grand which at the time was a lot of money and then just started learning how to do it, sat in the front row, asked all the questions. And then I did it and I went and bought three underperforming self storage facilities over a couple year period.

Speaker 1:

And I'm a big guy that can see what things can be, but I'm also good enough to know, like, what are the steps that get that need to make it happen, to get there? I think a lot of business owners they see the vision but they're not really good. All right, what are all the steps that need to happen in order to get there? So what I did is I bought things that I saw it could be better, put processes, systems, people in place to make it better, and Did that with all kinds of different businesses over a ten-year period. And I would buy something and run it for two or three years and then exit and grow and did that and and then, you know, my mid-20s had a bunch of money in the bank account but it just wasn't enough.

Speaker 1:

And that's where I kind of came to All right, there's got to be more than just this. And you know my faith side of it is I just read the Bible and Everybody has a different Thoughts on the Bible. My thought was this thing's useless, like what's God gonna do for me kind of thing, like I, I I had had to be me doing it, but then I realized, hey, you know what? I read the book of John in the Bible and was a story of Jesus's life and whether you're a believe in it or not believe in it, it's a very encouraging, motivational story. But I was like this is true, it changes everything. So that's what I did and just changed my way of thinking.

Speaker 1:

Now, I didn't mean I was, you know, free and Awesome and after you know, just reading the Bible, my life was that much better. But it started me on a journey to realize that you know what money and possessions and all that aren't it. There's got to be a better way to do what I'm trying to do. And you know, after that, every business that I was in, it was always about people first, process second, and that's what I try to do. I try to build businesses that took care of its people and then put systems and Processes and to make them better.

Speaker 1:

And after exiting my company this was what five, six years ago I've been going into other companies that are existing, typically Working with the entrepreneur, the owner, a lot of companies that are, you know, 50 employees and under, but the owners like this business Is running my life, kind of thing. There's got to be a better way. And I help them get their time back, help them put a team around them, help put in systems and processes to make business fun again, kind of thing, and help them build, scale and grow. And I just realized there was better ways to do Business and make an impact, you know, with not only the people but also the bottom line.

Speaker 2:

That's cool, man. I love that you, you can tell your passion about it, can tell it's from the heart, which I think that's probably everybody's goal in their job is. You know they say, if you're doing something you love, it's never you don't work a day in your life and yeah, I, you might definitely have fun, a lot of fun, but I like I'm having a lot more fun now Because, like the work I get to do, either like helping dads and I get help out of every episode or in business, helping like business leaders Get more curious and in fact, impacting their leadership skills or even help their their sales pipeline just getting more Helping, helping, do that is so fun and I'm like addicted to it Because it's like just generates positive outcomes for people, for the mindset, for their relationships. You know one, one question I like asking dads and that you, your kids, might be too young, but I'll ask anyways, is an area your dad game? I'm maybe not. Yes, I know your dad game, that maybe you. You it's not quite where you want it maybe.

Speaker 1:

I Still think for me it's the same thing in business who. It's just focus. Wherever I am, I am Right. Wherever your feet are, you need to be. So I still need to get better at putting away the phone. I Still need to get better, like today I was just thinking of my to-do list. My wife's gone. Babysitter leaves here in 12 minutes, right. So hopefully if we have 30 more minutes of content, we'll see if child protective services shows up and my kids are out there wrestling in the front yard or whatever.

Speaker 1:

But you know it's for me it's focused. Like when I'm with the kids over the next couple days, I need to be there. I don't need to be on Twitter, I don't need to be doing my to-do list. I can do that after they go to bed, right. So when I'm with my wife, I need to be with my wife. So I think that's it and Realizing some things just have to wait and I'm not gonna get all the things checked off my box before. I need to be a dad and being on the same page of my wife that says hey, honey, I will be home At 6 o'clock. From 6 to 8, no phone. We're focused, we're having dinner, we're enjoying each other's company, and then maybe I do a few things before I go to bed. But that's where I'm really Still trying to figure out how do I actually make that happen, because that world definitely pulls you in multiple directions.

Speaker 2:

That's a good one man. I think that's if you live that, if you make the choice to live that daily and remind yourself You're never gonna be perfect. But just keep focusing that from a guy that's got a few more years of dad life on you, I know that'll yield a lot of smiles in the household, you and others, if people Before I want to do, I want to do is I want to get into. Oh, actually, I do have another question. If, as you think about what you've shared so far and you think about the journey you've been on, the ups and downs, what, what? Tell me that, like the, the top two or three Values are gonna be most important for for you and your household once the girls gonna get a little bit older I know you shared some things you've learned, but like, what would be? What would be like the top two or three things that they're gonna be like you know pivotal things that will be just like drivers for the house?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so we're people of faith, right? So you got to keep a long-term perspective. So, in all things, keep a long-term perspective. People say life short. I actually think it's really long. 80 years, 90 years, the average age expectancy is what? 70 something years old or something like that. Like odds are you're gonna be here A long time, so just keep a long-term perspective.

Speaker 1:

Learn something new every day. At the end of every day, like just talk, how'd your day go? What worked today? What didn't work? What are you proud of? What could you have done differently or improved?

Speaker 1:

But I think for me it's like celebrate the wins. Like celebrate the wins. Positivity is a better teacher than negativity. So, yeah, what did I do good today? Like just talk about that, right. Like we don't need to get into all the negative stuff.

Speaker 1:

I was just on with the coach of the mental strength, coach of the Chicago Cubs back when they won the World Series and Joshua LaFranc, and he was basically saying after every game they would take 15 minutes it would be quiet if they lost and just contemplate, and then, after 15 minutes, they move on. They won 15 minutes disco ball, celebrate, party, enjoy it, go, have a good time, but forget about it because we got another game tomorrow and, if anybody remembers the 2016 World Series, they blew a huge lead in the ninth and the eighth inning. They hit a three-run home run. I think the tie up the game with two outs in the eighth and I was there oh my gosh, it was the worst. And Then in the ninth inning, the the heavens opened and it just started pouring rain. There was literally like a 22 minute rain delay and I talked to him and I said what actually happened during that rain delay, he goes.

Speaker 1:

You know what? They walked in there. They thought they lost the game. They took 15 minutes. They got over it. There was a motivational speech and they went out there and broke a 108 year curse and won the World Series. So I got emotional talking about it because it's like it's just mindset mentality. If you could get the right mindset and this world will Do everything I can to get you thinking negatively. If you can master that, I think we're in good shape. So I need to be a good example of that. First, my wife second and then the kids third.

Speaker 2:

Love it, small world. So I know Josh, josh needs to work together. Yeah, cuz you limitless right. That's why, yeah, he's there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, that's what I thought I was like. Yeah, I just talked to him Monday. He's amazing and some of the stuff you talked about Is just fantastic.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, actually tons of gratitude for those guys. I spent about a year and a half and then a lot of it was just timing where, as they were growing, I was growing. You just kind of have where I was like some of my own personal stuff was growing more than they had, than I had opportunity with them, and I just said I just begin back to focus. I was gonna focus on I didn't. I don't like doing stuff Like where I can't be all in and yeah, if, if you know, and so like we left asset work, left on great terms, I think, the world. Those guys I always try to Refer people over their way because I think what they're doing is fantastic. Okay, if people want to learn more about you, they want to learn more about what your business is about. They want to figure out ways to tell me what the best way people can learn more about that.

Speaker 1:

Sure. So my expertise is helping business owners get out of the day. Today I help companies, typically under 50 employees. I work with the owner of the company. That's open-minded, growth minded, and they're just stuff. They want to figure out a way to grow their business but not have their business control them. So I help entrepreneurs right, make it happen, take that vision they have in their head and make it happen fast, quick, without headache and heartache. So just check out KCcavelcom. I have a podcast as well. It's called the dugout CEO. We help, you know, leaders become MVPs at what they do. That's kind of our expertise. We've got MLB all-stars, hall of Fame coaches, some big-time CEOs and business leaders with a little bit of like a baseball kind of vibe and feel, but it's just it's leaders. We've had all kinds of really cool people on there. So you can get everything at KCcavelcom. I have a newsletter. It's all about focus. It comes out every Friday because for me, if you can master focus, which is a lot about mindset, you're in good shape. So yeah, it's kind of it.

Speaker 2:

Love it. Well, make sure that is tagged in the show notes, not only the podcast, but as well as your website. So if there's a business owner listening, that that fills stuck. Obviously your track record speaks for itself and we'll make sure that people can can link, get linked to you. Okay, now it's what I we go into this fun time called the lightning round. I literally just ask you the most random, bizarre questions that I have not thought of at all, but it shows you the effects of playing college football where you got a screw loose. My job is to ask as quick as I can. Your job is to hopefully answer. I'm sorry. No, my job is to get a giggle out of you. Your job is to answer them as quick as you can. Okay, are you ready? I'm ready. Okay, if Chipper Jones and Peyton Manning were in a WWF wrestling match, who would win?

Speaker 1:

Pat McAfee Wow.

Speaker 2:

He'd come out of the ropes.

Speaker 1:

I don't know why I thought that, but I figured Pat McAfee would have to be there somehow because he would somehow moderate that event and then he would somehow knock them both out. I don't know why I thought that, but you said answer it quickly, Okay there we go.

Speaker 2:

If there was, if you were to book a vacation right now for you and Connie, where are you going? Grand Cayman Islands. Okay For when our honeymoon. Okay, there was someone that went into your phone one of your best buddies and they found out you listened to this music. They'd be like what you listen to that song.

Speaker 1:

Oh gosh, I listened to Pump it Up. It's like a jam. Would they think that's crazy? Gosh, I don't really have anything. I listen to the same Stinkin' Pandora channel all day. So it's, I'm not. I don't have anything for either.

Speaker 2:

Okay, If you were to. If I had to come to your house for dinner tonight, what would we have?

Speaker 1:

A big pot pie.

Speaker 2:

That sounds really, really good. Actually, I'm a big pot pie guy. If there was to be a book written about your life, tell me the title.

Speaker 1:

Oops, I did it again.

Speaker 2:

Okay. Now, casey, this book is being talked about, it's in airports, people are getting excited about it, and now we're going to make a movie out of it. You're the casting director. I need to know which Hollywood star will star you. And, oops, I did it again.

Speaker 1:

Hollywood. Mark Wahlberg, why not?

Speaker 2:

I'm going to go with the funky bunch.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I guess, I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Okay, tell me the last book you read.

Speaker 1:

Last book I read was Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt.

Speaker 2:

Okay and last question Tell me two words that describe your wife.

Speaker 1:

Curly hair and bold personality.

Speaker 2:

Okay, can you say that again? We just make sure we got this.

Speaker 1:

Curly hair and bold personality.

Speaker 2:

Love it. That's very descriptive. I think we've ever had that before, but I love it. We were getting crazy in fun on the old podcast here Lighting round's over. I think I giggled first. I actually laugh, I actually lose, but I am grateful that you spent some time with us today. Larry Levine, thank you for connecting.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes you get a lot of requests on LinkedIn and sometimes you don't know if they're real or not. I'm grateful that I responded to this one because I think it's fun how the universe, or God or whatever people believe in, just brings people together. And I used to start, I used to say you know, it ironically happened or randomly happened. Now I'm saying it just a certain depth of this. They happen because I've had too many of these things happen to me in my life, where it just sometimes eerie but it's exciting and I'm leaning into that more and more as I get older.

Speaker 2:

So, casey, thank you, ma'am, for spending some time with us. I want to say thank you to catch SICKA, latitude SICKA, for your continued support of this podcast. If you guys have ever been to Alaska or want to go to Alaska, please go to latitudesickacom and check out. Check these guys out. I went in June with a bunch of friends, and it was with the time of our life. So without without we'll end it. But, casey, again thank you for spending some time with us. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

You bet Great to be here, and OK.

Exploring Alaskan Adventures With LatitudeSitka
Unexpected Twins and Parenting Strategies
Growing Up in a Challenging Marriage
Parenting, Careers, and Time Management
Parents' Impact on Baseball Journey
Overcoming Self-Doubt and Embracing Growth
Building Relationships and Business Success
Focus, Values, and Priorities in Business
Curly Hair and Bold Personality