Shaping Tomorrow’s Talent and Technology w/ Tommy Martin, CEO of The Tebow Group

Get to know Tommy Martin, the visionary CEO of The Tebow Group and founder of Mammoth. As a husband, father, and Harvard Business School alum, Tommy shares his journey of faith-driven leadership while building the future across multiple sectors, including wealthtech, family offices, life sciences, healthtech, and talent management. In this episode, Tommy also reflects on his work with The Tebow Foundation and how his transition into this role deepened his commitment to service and impact. Tune in for insightful lessons on how strong values shape both entrepreneurial ventures and personal life, offering guidance for leaders across industries.

Guest Links:

• Tommy’s LinkedIn
• Tim Tebow Foundation

Credits: 
Host: Lisa Nichols
Executive Producer: Jenny Heal
Marketing Support: Landon Burke and Joe Szynkowski
Podcast Engineer: Portside Media

Transcript

Lisa Nichols  00:03
Chromosomes, little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions that tell us who we are. At birth, most people are born with 46 chromosomes, but each year in the United States, about 6000 people are born with an extra chromosome, making them a person with Down syndrome. If you've ever encountered someone with Down syndrome, you know that they are some of the kindest, most joyful people you will ever meet. They truly have something extra. 

My name is Lisa Nichols, and I have spent the last 24 years as both the CEO of Technology Partners and as the mother to Ally. Ally has something extra in every sense of the word. I have been blessed to be by her side as she impacts everyone she meets. Through these two important roles as CEO and mother to Ally, I have witnessed countless life lessons that have fundamentally changed the way I look at the world. While you may not have an extra chromosome, every leader has something extra that defines who you are. 

Join me as I explore the something extra in leaders from all walks of life and discover how that difference in each of them has made a difference in their companies, their families, their communities and in themselves. If you liked this episode today, please go to Apple Podcast or wherever you listen and leave us a five-star rating. 

I'm delighted to have Tommy Martin on the show today. Tommy is the CEO of The Tebow group. Well, Tommy, I am absolutely thrilled to have you on the Something Extra Podcast today. Thank you so much. I've really, really been looking forward to this time with you.

Tommy Martin  01:52
I'm so excited, Lisa, absolutely delighted to be here with you.

Lisa Nichols  01:59
Well, we're gonna have fun. You know, I always love to tell our listeners, Tommy, how we get connected. So, about six months ago, our mutual good friend, Rick Nolle, who is a serial CIO here in St. Louis, that we've worked with for a very long time, had connected us. And then you and I met, we’re like we met last year at the Garden City Summit,

Tommy Martin  02:24
That's right.

Lisa Nichols  02:24
And I had totally forgot that we met.

Tommy Martin  02:28
And I actually got to hear you speak at the summit, Lisa, and I was just so inspired by your story. So, it was easy for me to remember you, and it was great to make that reconnection.

Lisa Nichols  02:40
Yes, I'm excited. And now I tell you, I don't know what God has planned but I think there's gonna be all kinds of fun things we're gonna be able to do together, hopefully. But you know, you've had really an incredibly, very exciting, successful career, but you know now you're the CEO of The Tebow group. And we're gonna talk a lot about that, but before we get into all that, I'd love to for you to take us back to how you grew up, because I think you grew up in the Great Lakes Corridor. Is that correct?

Tommy Martin  03:10
Yes, ma'am. I am a product of the Great Lakes through and through, born and raised in Michigan and Ohio, and then made my roots in Indiana. So, absolutely love it. Spent a whole lot of my childhood on Lake Michigan. I was that quintessential latchkey kid. And, you know, some of your younger listeners probably don't even know what a latchkey kid was, but it was this idea of, you know, you walk home after school and there's nobody there to let you in, so you let yourself in. You figure out how to open your own latch, if you will. My mother was absolutely phenomenal, a single school teacher that just worked her tail off day in and day out. But I would usually let myself in after school, and then I just had hours upon hours to let my imagination and my curiosity run wild. And I like to think that was a big part of my entrepreneurial beginnings, was just creating fun for myself.

Lisa Nichols  04:09
That's really interesting. I've never heard anybody say that creating fun for yourself. So, your kind of were creating something out of nothing. However, in that in that realm that is so beautiful, Tommy, I remember Greg and I many years ago, our attorney at the time and his wife had a place in Michigan, and they invited us to come. And we're like, this is a lake? This is an ocean. We cannot believe how expansive it is and how cold it was. It was very cold. 

Tommy Martin  04:46
It gets exceedingly cold in the winter. I will definitely admit to that, but we love it. But you know, one of the challenges as an Ohio State Buckeyes fan, especially during the football season, we have to refer to it. As the state up north. But the only part I'm still willing to claim day in and day out, is Lake Michigan. You know, it's not officially part of the state up north. It transcends beyond that, and it's just one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the world.

Lisa Nichols  05:16
I could not agree more. Well, you went to Taylor University, where you met your beautiful wife, Rachel. I know you have a BA from Indiana University, a certification from the Booth School of Business, the Wharton School, Harvard. My goodness, you know, you've had a really awesome education and then went on to have this incredible career in wealth management investments. How did you get started in that field, Tommy? What was the what was the story behind that, and having you choose that field?

Tommy Martin  05:48
I was actually an accident. Really came down to, I wanted to marry a girl. You know, I'd met my wife my freshman year at Taylor University. We had this thing called Spiritual Emphasis Week. And what it was you had to go to chapel every day of the week, and it was the same speaker every day. And as a freshman, they actually took attendance to see if you were actually showing up. I thought that was cruel and unusual punishment, and so I showed up the first day of that week, and the speaker was actually phenomenal. He was so good. I learned so much. I actually became excited to go back all the other days of the week. And sure enough, that Friday, that speaker made a big mistake. He actually brought his daughter with him, and I took one look at her and said, I'm out of the game for the rest of my life. And she's now my wife of 23 years. 

Tommy Martin  06:40
And at the time, I was actually a triple major in youth ministry, Bible and music. And it turns out, Lisa, I'm actually terrible at all three of those. And I hope to be great, truly, hope to be great at my Bible someday. But you know, I had met this incredible woman I was 17 years old, and knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. And so I really was on a quest for you know, how can I get into a position where I can provide for a wife and eventually a family, and a guy at our church needed an intern, so I signed up just to have a job. And it turned out he did this financial stuff and you know, I fell in love with it because it was an opportunity to actually be a pastor in financial advisors clothing. 

Tommy Martin  07:30
And I found out I was actually good at that. And if people will tell you about their financial life, they'll talk about anything, is what I found. And so, I found myself day in and day out, helping people talk through their marriage challenges, helping people talk through their challenges with their children. Yes, we would talk about all their financial stuff, but it was really just a means to talk about the bigger, more important things in life. Really get into what, what we call their wealth that matters. You know, very few people end up with a massive net worth and say, I wouldn't trade at all if they've lost their family along the way. And so that's that became our emphasis was, how do we help people really get to the wealth that matters? And it's very rarely has much to do with money.

Lisa Nichols  08:22
That is such a beautiful story. I love everything about that story. You’re kind of an you are an accidental financial management wealth manager. I've got a friend that he always says he's the CEO of a bank, and he always calls himself the accidental banker. He fell into it, but God, had a plan, right, Tommy? Even from that beginning, for you to meet that man, and obviously to Meet Rachel and her dad. Well, I think that then you were at Larson financial for 11 years, and the last two of it time you were the CEO, and that is a St. Louis based firm that provides outside services to physicians and you know, people in the healthcare space.


Tommy Martin  09:06
Yes, it, you know, an incredible firm. And I was so grateful I was one of the first people to join the boat and work with Paul and his brother Jeff. And they just had this vision for how do we scale a financial service firm? And this was back before any other firm that we know of had really thought about centralized services, where taking the financial advisor out of the position of being a stock broker or an investment manager and making them a relationship manager and centralizing the, the investment services, centralizing the planning services. And then we really built almost a franchise like model out of it, and developed a great process where we could bring in a new advisor, new to the industry, and help them become successful as an advisor, very, very quickly. Where most of the industry was failing out 80 to 90% of new advisors. We were only failing out 10% of new advisors. It was just a really incredible process. We were babies. We were in our mid 20s when we launched this thing, and it just took off like a rocket ship. We went from managing $6 million out of our garages when we launched to pretty quickly growing that to $1.6 billion by the time I left and just became a nationwide powerhouse. It was one of the fastest growing financial firms in the country for nearly a decade, and they've continued to do great things. You know, I'm so proud of the team over there. They've just done a an absolutely tremendous job. 

Tommy Martin  10:45
My exit happened was actually just a very personal decision of my, my children were going into middle school, and I had just been traveling like crazy. I was gone about every other week, leading the firm, and just really felt convicted that I needed to be home when my kids were in middle school. It's just such a formative time of their lives. And so, I had told the team when I took the CEO role, I said, hey, I can do this for three years, but after that, I need to be done because I'm going to be home for my middle schoolers and my partners. I don't think they thought I was serious when I said that, but I genuinely was, so as my kids went into middle school, that became the right time for me to just exit the business. It was you know, just an incredible exit, life changing exit for my family. But I've been so proud to see what the team has continued to do and grow. They've just become an absolute powerhouse. I mean, they've taken it so far beyond where I had taken it. Colin Wiens, who's the President over at Larson Financial. He was a guy I got to work with day in and day out. He and I actually met on an airplane, and that's how we ended up recruiting Colin and so to see an understudy go on to do bigger and better things than I ever accomplished has just been one of the great honors of my life. I'm just so proud of him, so proud of the team over there. They've just accomplished some great things, and some of the things they're doing for the city of St. Louis, I just I couldn't be more proud.

Lisa Nichols  12:20
Well, that is just beautiful. I mean, I love the fact that you prioritized your family. And sometimes Tommy, just speaking for parents out there, sometimes you think, oh, you know, when they get in middle school, they're more self-sufficient. They don't need me as much. No, that's probably the time they need you the most, because they have so many outside voices coming at them all the time. So, I love that you prioritize your family, but tell let's talk about this just a minute. So, you, you just said that you were babies starting in the garage, so you kind of grew up and then became the CEO. What did you learn? What types of leadership lessons did you learn? And talk to me a little bit about your leadership philosophy, if you would.

Tommy Martin  13:09
Those were days of trial by fire and learning a lot the hard way, Lisa, it was. I made a lot of mistakes as a leader in those early days, we were, we were just, you know, we were kids in our late 20s, early 30s, leading a team of over 200 people. And, you know, there's, there's a lot that goes into that. And I think the thing that I had going for me is I genuinely, genuinely cared about our team. I cared about our people. I cared about our business. And was willing to put those things mostly ahead of myself, and I think that's what ultimately allowed me to succeed, even amidst the challenges of learning through trial by fire, there's a gosh, there's hundreds of things. I wish I could go back and have a do over I would have done differently, but it also helped shape me as a leader for the next chapters in my life, learning from those mistakes. You know, you do get do overs. It's just in a new position, a new level of responsibility, maybe with new people under your care, but it was a great time to just learn what to do and what not to do as a leader, and unfortunately, probably learn more of what not to do in those earliest days as a young CEO.

Lisa Nichols  14:35
Sure. I can totally relate to you, Tommy, because Greg and I were in our late 30s, or late 20s, rather early 30s, when we started Technology Partners. And there's no manual, there's no playbook, or at least at the time, there was not now, there's boot camps and things like that that you can go through. There was none of that. I mean, it was totally trial by fire, and let's try it. And we made a lot of mistakes, too. In fact, I say today we probably have. I don't even know how many lines of SOPs and, you know, processes and stuff that we have documented today. I say a lot of those were documented because I like, screwed up something. We need to document the right way to do this so we do not repeat this, you know. 

Lisa Nichols  15:21
But you know, I love Tommy, and you just set me up for the perfect segue here. I love reading your LinkedIn posts. And you're, you're, you're very active on LinkedIn, and I read one about overcoming imposter syndrome and embracing success. You were really vulnerable in this post. I would, I would highly encourage our listeners to go out and follow you on LinkedIn, go read that post. But here are just a few quotes that I really love, that you wrote, you said, and you just really kind of said this right before, you know, I talked about this. But "imposter syndrome isn't about forgetting the past. It's about recognizing how it's prepared you for the ongoing work that you're called to do." And then this one I really love, "our struggles don't define us, they refine us." So, how do you believe that somehow have you seen some of those struggles, Tommy, even in those early days? How have you seen those refine who you are today and how you lead today?

Tommy Martin  16:33
I think one of the most important lessons I've learned along the way in leadership is that sometimes people actually need you to lead. And I spent a lot of time in my early days as an executive, as a CEO, trying to be diplomatic. And sometimes there's a time and a place for that, but there's also a time and a place where people just need you to be decisive. And, you know, I think I cared too much about being liked, and not enough about making the hard decisions and being just completely honest and candid with our team. I've learned one of the best ways we can be kind to our team is just to be fully candid, not hold back. We don't have to do it in meanness. We can still be kind, but to just be open and honest and share what the reality is. Instead of trying to fluff it over and make it tactful, it just isn't helpful. And so, you know, my, the leadership team I would have had a decade ago would be shocked by my level of candor today. That's been the biggest development for me as a leader, to go from completely holding back always just being diplomatic and tactful in how I said everything, never getting giving a full answer. You know, is always a fluff answer to today. I'm just, I try to be very direct, very candid, to let people know exactly where they stand, what my expectations are, and it's just a much smoother way to exist as a leader.

Tommy Martin  18:21
But it also required me to get comfortable that not everybody's gonna like me, and that's okay. I think one of the, one of the best lessons I learned in my leadership training in business school was that most good leaders, if you don't have about 30% of the people that aren't very happy with your decisions, you're probably not leading. You're probably just existing, and so, you know, I'm comfortable now making decisions that aren't always popular with the entire team. It's, it's not about diplomacy or leadership by consensus. Somebody ultimately has to make the hard decisions, and I'm much more comfortable being in that position today in my 40s than I certainly was in my 30s or my 20s.

Lisa Nichols  19:13
Oh, that is so good. That is so good, Tommy. And they need you, like you said, they need you to lead. And it's not a popularity contest. They need a leader, right? Pat Lencioni was on the podcast, Tommy, and I know you've read his books, "Advantage" and "Five Dysfunctional of a Team" and all this and but he was talking about, like, critique. And he said, Really, if you really love somebody, you're not going to continue to let them stay where they are. You know, you're in so many times as leaders. And I know I fall prey to this too. He calls himself a wuss. He said, I'm a wuss because I don't really like confronting people about things. And I said, you know what? I'm going to admit something. I'm a wuss, too. I mean, I don't like doing that. 

Lisa Nichols  20:02
But it's like, if you really care about somebody and you see something that needs to be changed, or you need to make a hard call on something, it's really kind of unloving not to do that, and that was kind of a paradigm shift for me. But let me ask you something I am in fact, I just did a post about this this morning. LinkedIn had a research study that came out that said 66% of women. And of course, you know, I do a lot of speaking to women. I'm sure men have the same thing. Tommy, I don't know what that percentage would be, but it said 66% of women suffer from imposter syndrome or self-doubt or thinking that they're not enough. And I'm sure the same is true for men. I just don't know what that stat is. What would you say, knowing that this is a common thing for people to have that self-doubt. What kind of advice would you give them, Tommy, if they're sitting there going, oh, I don't have the confidence to do this job. Or, you know, I feel like if people knew then, then they, they wouldn't want to follow me. I mean, what would you say to them?

Tommy Martin  21:12
I think the studies on vulnerability are absolutely fascinating to me, Lisa. And unfortunately, here's what they say, that vulnerability from the top down is actually extremely well received. Unfortunately, vulnerability from the bottom up is not well received by the organization, by people's peers, by their boss, by their boss's boss, and so it's something we have to be very self-aware about. So, as leaders, what it gives us the unfair advantage of, is that we can actually be vulnerable about what we're experiencing in the moment, and by and large, that's actually received as a very good thing by the organization, by the people that report to us, by the people that report to them. And so that would be my best advice. 

Tommy Martin  22:06
If you're feeling that as a leader, it's okay to speak up and just articulate that like, you know. Team, there's a lot of days I don't feel capable, equipped, confident, to be sitting in the seat that I'm sitting in. And I, oh, my goodness, I believe that as CEO at The Tebow Group, you know. I pinch myself every day that I'm in this position, but I absolutely spend most days feeling like, oh my goodness, I don't know that I'm the right man for the job. I don't know that I'm properly equipped. That's all very real, and it's okay to share that with your team. If you're feeling that. Where, unfortunately, it's less effective is if you are the newer person in the organization, or if you are reporting to other people, it's not received nearly as favorable to have that vulnerability from the bottom up. And I wish that was different, and I hope as a leader, I can do a better job of accepting it and appreciating that vulnerability, instead of letting it be a detriment to somebody's future career path. But that's not what the research says right now. It actually can be a detriment to the future career path if you're vulnerable when you're not in that key leadership role.

Lisa Nichols  23:23
That's really, that is really interesting. Well, hopefully Tommy, as leaders, what we do is we're giving people the permission to raise their hand and say, I need help here. I'm not really clear on what it is I'm supposed to be doing. Because I have seen, I've honestly seen people that come across with so much hubris and confidence and not such a great way. And they go off on their own and do something because they don't want to raise their hand, and then it's completely the wrong thing, right? I would much rather have somebody come and go. I don't I need help. I really don't understand what it is that I'm supposed to be doing in this particular case. 

Lisa Nichols  24:06
And the other thing is but I think we as leaders have to model that for the people that that we're leading and giving them permission, that it's okay, you know, and I come in, you know, many, many days not really knowing either, and it's okay. So, I don't know, for me, I would rather have somebody raise their hand and say, I'm not. I don't really know exactly. I need some help, I need some coaching, I need some mentoring, and I'm there all day long. I'll take a person like that, but that is very interesting. Well, I tell you what, we have got so much more to talk about. I've got so much I want to talk to you about, but we do need to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with Tommy Martin on the Something Extra Podcast.

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Lisa Nichols  25:24
Welcome back everyone to the Something Extra Podcast with Tommy Martin. So, Tommy, I have to ask you. I mean, you've, we've talked a little bit about this, but I know that you have faced highs and lows in your professional and personal world, just as all of us, have you know how, for you, have you maintained a sense of purpose through all of those? Because I think that a lot of people can probably relate to that, and I just want to hear from you how you have maintained your hope and your purpose.

Tommy Martin  25:56
Lisa, that's actually some of the most challenging parts of my life. So, my first three businesses went absolutely nowhere. And you know, it's easy to look at people and see all the success that's normally what we get to see. What we don't often see is under the hood, what it took to get there, or maybe the struggles they still have today. We put out this outward picture to the world on social media, and even when we're talking in our small group or those things, usually we're giving them the best picture of our life. And during that period where my businesses were just failing one after another, just absolutely failing, it was really, really difficult. We went through a three-year period where we didn't know how to buy groceries week after week after week, and I'm so grateful. I had incredible family that stepped up to support us. I had friends, I had a I had a friend that co-signed a loan at a bank. For me, I mean, like a lot of people, don't have people that will surround them like that. It was like they were propping us up so we couldn't fail. And without that, I would not be doing what I'm doing today. 



Tommy Martin  27:07
And so, during those times, though, it was very difficult, and I'm, I'm so grateful I have my faith in Christ to fall back on, and that was really what kept me through. But there was a period where I was just trying to muscle through without Jesus and without my faith. I was just trying to muscle through and get it done on my own. And I vividly remember a day I walked into my little boy's' bedroom. They were both sleeping, and I realized a couple things. First, I realized, wow, they are now at an age where they're older than I was when my parents got divorced, and that was a really emotional moment for me. Even talking about it now, still emotional I was just It gave me pride that we'd fought as hard as we had to get to where we were, even at that point where we still had no business success, but at least we had reached a milestone in our family life that my parents hadn't reached. And I have incredible parents, by the way, but that was, you know, certainly a difficult part of my life. My first memory in life is walking in to find out my parents were getting divorced. 

Tommy Martin  28:24
And so, it was awesome to reach that milestone, but I also in that moment, I had a fleeting thought that my kids would be better off with my life insurance than with me. And I'm so thankful. It was a fleeting moment. That was the night I literally got on my knees in my children's bedroom and just said, God, I cannot do this without you. Please just take over my business. Take over my life. I'm here to serve you however you want me to show up and serve you and Lisa, I don't want to set the wrong expectation. This is not I don't believe God always works this way, that when you just turn it over to him, it all works out great. But that day was a pivotal moment in my career, and our company took off like a rocket ship after that. And again, I don't want to over spiritualize it. That's not how it always works, but that is what happened in our case. And so, just in that roughest moment of my professional life, I'm so grateful that I turned to the Lord instead of continuing to turn to myself and try to muscle through it, that is truly what made all the difference for me. 

Lisa Nichols  29:51
Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. I'm teary-eyed I just listening to you, Tommy, but I want to talk. Let's, let's get happy here. I want to talk about Rachel. I want to talk about your amazing wife, and she sounds like just a remarkable woman and a great life partner for you. But I read a blog that you wrote titled True story about the three most powerful statements from my wife. And I'm not going to ask you to reiterate all these, but I want to, I want to ask about this one, and would love for you to kind of expound on it. You go, she said to you, "I'm not calling you out, I'm calling you up." Tell us that story. I'm not calling you out, I'm calling you up. 

Tommy Martin  30:35
My wife is truly the best venture capitalist I've ever known. And the reason I say that she's not actually in venture capital, but she took me, she made an investment in me when I had a negative net worth, no career path. Was an absolutely horrible communicator, and somehow, she took a four and turned him into a seven. And you know, kind of proof that when you marry a perfect 10, she can turn a 4 into a 7, but she is, she has been the best voice in my life. Just incredible, incredible wisdom, incredible support. And you know, every day I would come home when work was especially hard. We had this word picture at one point that a friend gave me, and he said, look, when you walk in the door, your spouse has a shovel. They get to choose what to do with it, either they can beat you over the head with it, or they can scoop you up with it. And boy, she scooped me up more often than not, and the time she beat me over the head with it figuratively, not literally. But the time she beat me over the head with that shovel, it was because I needed it, and she has just been the most incredible support I could ever dream of. 

Tommy Martin  31:54
But some of those moments have absolutely defined my professional life and my role as a father and as a husband. I'll get to the quote that you gave, but one of the other ones that I love sharing is she had to come to me at one point and say, our family is only getting your leftovers, and we need more of you than that. And that was that happened before I had stepped into that CEO role. But that was part of why I made that important decision, even before I accepted the CEO role, to say, I'm only going to do this for three years, because I knew my family wasn't going to get what they needed out of me when my children were in middle school, if I was still in that seat. I didn't have a way to be able to accomplish both. I'm not saying nobody can. I just wasn't equipped at that time of my life to be an outstanding CEO and an outstanding father and husband. 

Tommy Martin  32:52
And so, the quote you referenced was just an absolutely incredible moment as well. My wife is so wise, and just came to me one day, and she was talking about an aspect of parenting in a way that I wasn't setting the example for our children that she knew they needed me to be setting. And the way she approached it was just with so much love and grace and class. She just said, I want you to understand, I'm not calling you out. I'm calling you up. And it took me from defensive and wanting to fight back and challenge and say, no, no, you're wrong. That's not what's happening. It just put me lights out. All I could do was listen and ask for help, and just her approach was so thoughtful, so careful, it made me want to be a better man.

Lisa Nichols  33:54
I think that is such a beautiful phrase. And how many times, right? Do we have somebody in our family? Or even you could use that with your children, and because they might get defensive about something that you're trying to instruct them on. But it's not like I'm not calling you out, I'm calling you up to a higher level, because that's how much I love you. So, I just, I think that is so beautiful. Well, I'm excited about talking about this. This has been so, I've loved talking to you, Tommy, I think I could talk to you for five hours. We're not going to do that to our listeners, but you're now the CEO of The Tebow Group. I got to know how in the world did this come about? I have loved what you know Timmy and Demi have done for years. Allie, our youngest daughter, as you know, is a little girl with Down syndrome. We have participated in many Night to Shines. I know, I know it's always such an amazing evening. But how did you get? How did you get? Involved, and how did you connect with, with Tim and Demi?

Tommy Martin  35:05
It really started a decade ago. Lisa, so, after I'd sold our companies, we had decided, as a family, we did not need our own family foundation, because we loved so much the work that the Tim Tebow Foundation was already doing. And I'd never met Tim. I didn't expect to meet Tim. We just loved the work they were doing in areas of adoption, care and prevention for children with profound medical needs, for children with special needs, and in the areas of anti-human trafficking and child exploitation, we just absolutely loved the work they were doing. And we said, why would we start over from scratch when they're already doing such powerful work? Why wouldn't we just join them? And I learned at that same time that Warren Buffett, who at the time was the second richest man in the world, had decided the same thing. He didn't need his own family foundation because he loved the work that the Gates Family Foundation was already doing. And I just kind of said to myself, well, boy, if the second richest person in the world can make that decision, it can't be the worst decision ever for us. 

Tommy Martin  36:14
And so, we had just decided we were all in to support The Tim Tebow Foundation, and went on to launch some other companies and do some fun things. And it was ultimately, through that we had launched a healthcare venture capital firm, and through a lot of really fun just, I'll call them kind of God orchestrated moments, because they truly have to be, it put Tim and I together. He became an investor in our healthcare venture capital fund, and through that, I got to know his team really well, and I was so impressed by the people and their passion, and then the purpose they were showing up for at work, day in and day out. And a couple years ago, talking with their team, I found out Tim had a big need for somebody to come run the for-profit side of his world so that he could spend more time on the nonprofit side. And that was ultimately what brought us together, and so that's my role today. I get to help lead the for-profit side of the house so that Tim and his wife Demi, can spend more time on the nonprofit side of their work, fighting for some of the most vulnerable people around the world.

Lisa Nichols  37:32
Oh, goodness, that is so amazing. Well, I want you to talk about this, because this just happened, because you sent me the video. This just happened last week, the Renewed Hope Act of 2024, Timmy was on Capitol Hill last week. Can you tell us about that Renewed Hope Act. What is it?

Tommy Martin  37:54
Yeah, absolutely. Lisa, thank you so much for asking about the renewed hope act. Listeners, I'm about to share some content that could be sensitive for some people about child abuse. So if that's an issue for anybody, please feel free to turn us off at this point. But I really hope most people will listen, and one of the things we've come to realize is that there are over 50,000 children that are being sexually abused, most of them by someone in their trusted circle, and it's being broadcast online for other viewers, and one of the things that drives us as a team is that over 2000 of those children are infants. It's just so hard for me to imagine a more horrific evil, and so we're in that fight. The Tim Tebow foundation is working actively in lots and lots of ways to help in that fight. One of those ways is we don't have nearly enough people dedicated in our law enforcement nationally to help pursue who these children are, because if we can find out who they are and where they are, that's the first step in being able to rescue them. But if we don't dedicate people to that, how are we supposed to get to these kids and so our US budget, the way it's currently structured doesn't dedicate nearly enough resources to these 50,000 plus children that need our help so desperately. So the renewed hope act dedicates some very specific resources to give us more people that their job is to go in and find and rescue these kids, and we are so honored to put our energy behind that effort, and we are so grateful for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that are willing to come together and fight for these children.


Lisa Nichols  39:57
I can't remember the exact line, but I watched that video several times, Tommy and, you know, Tim was just saying, let's do this so that they don't have to wait one day longer. You know, just. I really gripped my heart. So, Tommy, when we look at Tim and Demi, we see them in the public eye. We see what is put out there on social we see that. But can you just tell us, because you know them intimately. You know them personally. Are they the same? I've got a friend that says, Does the video match the audio with them? Are they as amazing in person as they are what we see?

Tommy Martin  40:39
Lisa, I do. I get to see them day in and day out, completely behind the scenes and, and all I can tell you is they're actually even better than what people see in the public eye. They're actually more kind than what you expect. They're more passionate than what you expect. Their instincts about business and people are just incredible. I'm inspired day in and day out, getting to work side by side with Tim and Demi. They're just, just truly genuine, passionate and caring people. And one story that I love to tell that just really sums it up, because no one was looking is we had arrived at the airport, it was Tim and I and a couple of colleagues. And the colleagues and I end up at baggage claim, and we look around and we realize Where's Tim, and we don't see him, and so we finally go find him. Well, Tim had seen there was a blind man walking through the airport with no one helping him, and he was completely stuck. Didn't know how to get out to his vehicle that was there to pick him up. And Tim stopped, helped the blind man, walked him all the way through the airport, made sure he got safely in his car. And can you imagine that this, this blind man had no clue, and this was in Jacksonville, Florida, at the Jacksonville Airport. This blind man had no clue. It was Tim Tebow helping him get to his vehicle. Oh, this story just brings me chills every time I think about it. 

Tommy Martin  42:21
But what really struck me is that we're there were three others of us with Tim, and none of us even noticed the blind man. I was one of them, but Tim noticed him, and Tim went out of his way to make sure that he got to safety. And that is just such a strong picture of what we do day in and day out. And it's Tim and Demi noticing some of the most vulnerable people among us in a way that most of us are just passing by or we're looking the other way, but Tim and Demi are there saying, how do we help make sure we get them to safety? And I'm so grateful for their example and their leadership, because that's what brings us as an entire team along, is to want to be like that, to want to have eyes that see, ears that hear the people that need our help the most.

Lisa Nichols  43:23
That is such a beautiful story. Let me, let me ask you this, because we've got our sweet little Ally. Our little girl with Down syndrome that teaches us something new every day, every day. She's such a beautiful told somebody the other day and enhancer to leadership lessons for me, but I know that you've got little Gracie, and you've got Gracie that's on the autistic spectrum. What have you learned? What are some of the lessons, Tommy, you've learned from Gracie? 

Tommy Martin  43:51
Well, she has been one of my best teachers in life, Lisa. So, Gracie, story is We adopted her from overseas, a country called Moldova, right next to Ukraine, where we see so much turmoil happening today. We adopted her when she was two years old, and we didn't know she had severe autism. In fact, you know, I'm a little bit embarrassed by this, but when we filled out the forms to adopt a child, one of the things they ask is, would you accept a child with one leg? We said, Yes. Would you accept a child with one arm? Yes, a child that's blind, yes, anything physical, we said, yes, yes, yes. Would you accept a child with mental challenges? And we said no because we didn't think we were equipped. And I like to think God was laughing a little bit, saying, No, you're not equipped, but I'm going to get you there. And so, she's been part of our lives for over 19 years now. She is just absolutely sweet. She's 21 years old today, but she'll always be our little five-year-old mentally is the best way to kind of understand Gracie. And we learn so many lessons from her, but I've also learned one of the most important lessons I've learned is how to be a more understanding husband through that. 

Tommy Martin  45:15
And Lisa, there's some research that came out that looked at the brain scan of the primary caregiver of a child with special needs, and what they were looking for is what type of brain is most closely associated to that same chemistry. And I'm not the primary caregiver for Gracie. That's my wife. That's Rachel. And what this study found was that the closest match of the chemical reactions that happen in the brain of a primary caregiver of a child with special needs is actually from a soldier in an active combat zone, because even when they're asleep at night, the stress chemicals are still firing on all cylinders, because at any moment there could be an issue. 

Tommy Martin  46:02
Well, it turns out that is very nearly identical to the same brain chemistry as the primary caregiver of a child with special needs, that at any moment you might get that call from school, from the therapist, from the babysitter, and so there's never a moment where that stress chemical gets to relax. And so, we don't know the long-term effects of this yet, but think of all the long-term effects we do know from what that chemical stress reaction causes in combat veterans, PTSD, stress, anxiety, depression. We have no reason not to expect that those same things should occur for the primary caregiver of a child with special needs. And so, the moment I heard about that. It gave me a newfound respect and admiration and willingness to step up and help for everything that my wife was going through.

Lisa Nichols  47:51
Wow, that's that is, I've not seen that study or heard that, but it does not surprise me. In fact, you know Tommy, you've probably heard this, but so many times couples that have special needs children don't make it. Their marriage doesn't make it because of all the stress. And you know, sometimes we just don't realize how much underlying stress there is in our lives, right? And that's why, for me, my faith is the thing that I lean on. And as you had said before, I mean, without God, I don't know how I would get through one day. But, you know, let me ask you this, you know, I love to ask this question, do you have a morning routine? How do you start your day? What are your habits?

Tommy Martin  47:51
I do. I absolutely do, Lisa, and I really credit. So, I'm very open about my severe ADHD. I am off the charts on the ADD spectrum and, and so my morning routine is really what centers me and grounds me for the day. So, when I do it right, some of my favorite parts are just certainly getting some time with the Lord, whether that's reading my Bible, spending some time in prayer. I make sure that I go through the calendar so I understand. Are there any things that I need to be thinking about, anything I haven't thought ahead about? I take a freezing shower, and it wakes me up far better than coffee ever could. And I'm gonna admit my nerd side for just a moment here. There's a group that we play the game Wordle is that New York Times game where you're figuring out a five-letter word. I have a Wordle group, just a great group of friends and family, and so I play the daily Wordle, and then ultimately, I set out, what are the three most important things I need to get accomplished that day? Because I know if I don't get those three things done by 10am the odds of me actually getting them done go way down, because the unexpected things of the day are sure to pop in. 

Tommy Martin  49:26
Notice one of the things I did not say, and I try to coach our teams in this one of the things I didn't say is checking my email. What I one of the things that's my pet peeve is when leaders, or anyone really allows their email to dictate their day. It's like they're allowing everybody else to dictate what's most important in their schedule. And that's almost the worst way you could possibly start your day. I also didn't say doom scrolling on social media. You know, I don't let those things enter into the morning routine, because it's way too important to get the day off to an incredible start. It frames everything. And then the other piece I add is Mondays, especially, I like to do leg day. And the reason I do leg day on Monday is I figure if I can start off the week with my least favorite thing to do, then it's only going to get better. So, Monday morning is leg day. I try not to miss it, because I do not like leg day at all. I hate it. I hate it. And so, I do that Monday morning. 

Lisa Nichols  50:41
What do you do on leg day? Squads or lunges or what are you doing? 

Tommy Martin  50:43
So, I have, I have three blown discs in my spine. So, I don't get to do as many squats as I would like. But anything I can do without putting load on my spine is what I'll throw into leg day. And you know, if they don't hurt pretty bad by Wednesday, I probably didn't do it right?

Lisa Nichols  51:02
Wow, let me ask you this. Now, I had not planned on asking you this, but do you ever work out with Tim? Because I can't imagine his routine.

Tommy Martin  51:12
Well, I would like to say that I work out with Tim, but you know what I do at least, is probably not even a warm up for him. So yes, he has, he has a great gym that he utilizes quite frequently. I get to be in the gym at the same time as him, but I think if you asked him, it would be very difficult for him to classify what I do, even as a workout.

Lisa Nichols  51:44
As a workout. Oh, my goodness, that's funny. I'd love to be a fly on the wall, and that's happening. Well, Tommy, this has been so much fun, but I have to ask you, what do you believe is this something extra that every leader needs?



Tommy Martin  51:29
Absolutely, Lisa. So, one of our core values in the Tebow organizations is to value and seek wise counsel. And I look back to the mistakes I made as a young leader. Most of them could have been prevented if I was just humble enough to go ask for help or to seek out mentors, and it really has been a cornerstone of my life and my career. I've done a decent job of making sure to surround myself with people that are 1-2-3, steps beyond where I am, people that I respect, that I'd like to model my life after. You know, I did that in marriage. I sat down with the couples who are, you know, have been married for 50-60, years, and said, what is it that has made your marriage so successful? And the number one answer they gave was so surprising to me, Lisa. I thought they were gonna say, oh, you know, we never fought, or we always had date night or any of that. No, the number one answer I got was, we didn't quit when it was really hard. And that just made me feel so much better about myself and my shortcomings as a husband. 

Tommy Martin  53:14
But certainly, in work as a leader as well, it's having enough humility to realize we don't have all the answers, but then having enough wisdom to surround ourselves with people we can call to get strong answers. And it's truly part of our culture at both The Tim Tebow Foundation and The Tebow group, part of the culture is to value and seek wise counsel, because that's how we make far better decisions. And our sub sentence under that core value is to especially value the opinion that doesn't come naturally to me, and that's the hard part. It's really easy to seek wise counsel if they're just saying exactly what you want to hear. But isn't it ironic that, by definition, wise counsel matters the most when we want it the least because it means we're making a hard decision, and we probably have the direction we want to go, and wise counsel is telling us that our natural inclination is the wrong direction. So, it's one of the greatest ironies of leadership, is that wise counsel matters the most when we want it the least, but we're really trying to build a culture around accepting that wise counsel, especially when it's the opinion that doesn't come naturally to us.

Lisa Nichols  54:46
That's a mic drop moment right there, Tommy. That is a quotable. I love that. This has been so much fun. I have absolutely loved every single second of doing this podcast interview with you. So, thank you so much for making the time to be on the show, and I cannot wait to I know we're going to see each other in February. We'll see each other at the Garden Summit in February, but hopefully even before that. So, thank you so much, my friend for making the time. 

Announcer  55:16
Thank you for listening to today's show. Something extra with Lisa Nichols as a Technology Partners Production Copyright Technology Partners Inc. 2019. For show notes, or to reach Lisa, visit tpi.co/podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or wherever you listen, you. 

*Please note, the preceding transcription has been automatically generated and should be used for informational purposes only.