How do you pivot from athlete to entrepreneur when life throws a curveball? As he recounts his journey from the Missouri Tigers to the business world, former SEC quarterback Alex Demzcak answers that question. He shares the lessons he learned on the field in his best-selling book "The Sale," which he co-authored with Jon Gordon, and how Proverbs 3:5-6 guided him through the challenges that followed his sports career.
Alex shares his experience of being benched and the resilience required to forge a new path while navigating identity and leadership. Leadership is not defined by titles but by our ability to rise above adversity and grow as individuals. His darkest moments became a period of enlightenment and unexpected encouragement thanks to mentorship and community.
Lastly, we turn the spotlight onto the literary realm, where Alex's company, Streamline Books, has recently celebrated the signing of its 105th author. His insights into the world of publishing demystify the journey from a draft to a polished book ready to make waves in the market. Whether it's turning a dissertation into a compelling narrative or understanding the power of print-on-demand technology, Alex illuminates the intricacies of storytelling and the joy of helping others leave their mark on the world through the written word.
With 4Freedom, all your communications, internet activity, and app usage are encrypted using multiple layers of robust, military-grade encryption algorithms that surpass the standards used by the NSA.
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https://www.4freedommobile.com?ref=bridgebuilders
How do you pivot from athlete to entrepreneur when life throws a curveball? As he recounts his journey from the Missouri Tigers to the business world, former SEC quarterback Alex Demzcak answers that question. He shares the lessons he learned on the field in his best-selling book "The Sale," which he co-authored with Jon Gordon, and how Proverbs 3:5-6 guided him through the challenges that followed his sports career.
Alex shares his experience of being benched and the resilience required to forge a new path while navigating identity and leadership. Leadership is not defined by titles but by our ability to rise above adversity and grow as individuals. His darkest moments became a period of enlightenment and unexpected encouragement thanks to mentorship and community.
Lastly, we turn the spotlight onto the literary realm, where Alex's company, Streamline Books, has recently celebrated the signing of its 105th author. His insights into the world of publishing demystify the journey from a draft to a polished book ready to make waves in the market. Whether it's turning a dissertation into a compelling narrative or understanding the power of print-on-demand technology, Alex illuminates the intricacies of storytelling and the joy of helping others leave their mark on the world through the written word.
With 4Freedom, all your communications, internet activity, and app usage are encrypted using multiple layers of robust, military-grade encryption algorithms that surpass the standards used by the NSA.
You can start your secure account today:
https://www.4freedommobile.com?ref=bridgebuilders
My guest today is Alam Dimsek. He's a former SEC quarterback for the Missouri Tigers. Al is graduated with a degree in communications and a minor in business. He is a keynote speaker, entrepreneur and author who challenges businesses, schools and teams to maximize their impact. He is the best-selling author of the Sale with John Gordon. The Sale delivers an invaluable lesson about what matters most and how to achieve it. The business fable teaches four lessons about integrity to create lasting success. The sale has been endorsed by Dave Ramsey, ed Millett, michael Porter Jr, jamie Kern, lima and others. He's also author of Thrive U. This inspirational book is a collection of stories from 100 collegiate and professional athletes nationwide.
Speaker 1:John Gordon has mentored Alex for the past eight years and is part of his core leadership team. Arthur is co-founder of Streamline Books, a company that helps individuals become an author. He's also founder of Speaker School, which helps individuals become speakers. He's an innovator, entrepreneur with a knack for starting new ventures and collaborating with multiple startups. We welcome Alex to the podcast. Well, it's so good to have you on today, Alex. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:Keith, it's an honor man. Thank you so much for having me on your show. I'm really excited and looking forward to this conversation.
Speaker 1:This is my first star quarterback I've had on, so you are first.
Speaker 2:Man I don't know about. You're from Louisiana. You know about star football players. When you see one, I'm definitely not a star, so you're just kind of up on my ego a little bit.
Speaker 1:As long as Mizzou and the SEC, it's really a football league now. So you know before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's true. That is true, man. We joined the SEC and I will say we came out the gates swinging. We came out the first, second year pretty good. Then for the last I don't know seven years we haven't been too good, but this year, yeah, I watched this year.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, I rushed the field a few times this year with my nine-month-old son and three-year-old daughter and my wife, so it was a pretty fun year. Man, it was exciting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think your running back was from a Lutheran high school.
Speaker 2:Cody Schrader. Yeah, and he went to yeah, you're right. And then he went to Truman state and he broke all these records D two, and then he just pretty much walked on to Mizzou. Man, he's a, he's a, you know, believer, awesome kid, hardest worker in the room man, and just he, he's a great, great dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think he. I think he went to Lutheran South.
Speaker 2:There's one of our Lutheran high schools in Missouri area. Okay, yeah, yeah he. And then, yeah, truman state. I mean, let's talk about a transition going from D2, and then he just had, like you know, 3000 yards or something crazy, and then walked on a Mizzou. It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1:It is unbelievable I could talk football there, but this is not a football podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have to. I have to, you know, keep you accountable for all your listeners.
Speaker 1:You can't just talk football all the time, because I can just see him tuning out now, like, oh, he'll talk about football.
Speaker 2:So to get back on, track, give us the best piece of advice you've ever received. Wow, that's a great question. I would say, man, I'm going to go to the Bible, I guess Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding and all your ways, Acknowledge him and he'll make your path straight.
Speaker 2:And I think I remember learning that verse in high school. It was actually kind of like, I guess, a life verse. My mom, you know, I remember just talking with her about I think I found my life verse. And yeah, man, I think just that that verse applies to so many situations. I guess I didn't receive it. Maybe I did receive it from someone because it's in the Bible. But yeah, I just think, man, that's such an applicable verse for all of us. It's like it's so easy to trust in your own thoughts, beliefs, but it's, how often are we tuned in to God to say, God, what do you have for me in this situation? And I think, man, I can't. That's probably the best advice I've ever, I've ever received.
Speaker 1:Well, I can't argue with that being great advice, as it came from God. So there you go. That's true, I'm always curious people like yourself. I'm sure there've been a lot of people in your life who have been an inspiration to you. But give me somebody who's been crucial in your life and then tell me a little bit about them. It's your chance to kind of give them a shout out and kind of tell us what made them so special for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think when I look back on my life, I actually had to share not had to, but I got to share my testimony yesterday at our church small group and like, when you share your testimony and share your story of, like, what you've been through in life, yeah, I couldn't help with, just like you know, people kept popping into my mind of like, oh, this person and this person that was there for me, and so it's like hard to even know where to begin and that's just the way God's orchestrated my life and I'm sure, your life too. But I guess I would say, yeah, I guess in a business context, I guess I would say yeah, I guess in a business context, I guess I would say John Gordon, my co-author, you know, author of the energy bus. He's the author of 28 books, I guess, professionally speaking. This was someone who I looked up to and thought, wow, maybe someday I could be like this person. Right, you know, want to be like this person.
Speaker 2:And I told him that.
Speaker 2:I said, you know, he came when I was on the football team at Mizzou and he spoke to the team and and essentially I went up to him and said, look, I just saw you speak to the entire athletic department.
Speaker 2:There's something about you like I want to do what you're doing when I grow up and and so I started working for him for free, trying to learn from him. And it's just cool when you identify where you feel like God's calling you and you start taking steps in that direction to kind of the doors that start opening, and I'm sure a lot of your listeners can resonate with that in their own lives. And so I would just say the mentorship, the way that he's kind of taking me under his wing to learn about being a speaker and author, all these different things, how to run a business within a godly manner and has been really, really influential and yeah, there's a lot more people I could probably talk about, but man in that setting and the way he still helps me and mentors me now it's pretty cool to see how God orchestrated a relationship like that in my life.
Speaker 1:That's great, so tell us about your personal journey. I'm curious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so grew up in a Christian home. I've been, you know, just so blessed to have amazing mentors, relationships, family, healthy family and just the way that they raised me and my sister Morgan and then got really involved with sports and growing up and had the chance to walk on at the University of Missouri and, like you said, we were in the Big 12 when I joined and then we transitioned, as you were saying, the SEC and so, honestly, in a lot of ways, keith, like my life was good, like I had no complaints, my freshman and sophomore year it was kind of like when you're in the zone, you feel like you're where God has you, Like everything was great. And going into my junior season, you have this essentially like a meeting with your coaches every year. You'd have it. It would be very chill, meeting, no big deal, right. And I walk in going into my junior season and instead of one coach being in the room, there was three, so that was, that was different. And I walk in and as I'm as I'm, as I sit down at the table, one of the coaches is closing the door behind him and so I'm like I'm not the sharpest tool on the set. This is not a good start to the meeting. I'm thinking that through my head, right. And so, long story short, the coach sits down and he looks across the table and he says Alex, we have over scholarship at quarterback. We are bringing in some, we're bringing someone in to take your spot, we are bringing in some, we're bringing someone in to take your spot.
Speaker 2:And essentially, in that moment, what he was saying is like, you are not good enough, like you do not measure up. And he said you have, you know, two options. Option number one is you can stay on the team as a volunteer assistant coach and option number two is you're cut, like that, thank you, but no, thank you. And he's like by the way, you know, you need to decide right now in this meeting what you want to do. And so, as you can imagine, yeah, I'm sitting there like my mind's racing. I've given my whole life to this thing. I thought this is where God had me. And now he's essentially saying you're not good enough. And so in that moment I just said I guess I'll be this assistant coach. I didn't even really know what that meant and I remember, standing up, walking out, they kind of shook my hands and walked me out. I walked past the person who took my spot. I knew who that was and he's excited, obviously. You know I'm not, and I remember going out to my truck and just parking it and I remember just like letting loose, crying and feeling so humiliated and so honestly angry and mad at God of like God, you brought me all the way here to do all these things, kid from a small town and like this is where my story ends Like this is what you've like, where are you? Like, uh, you've given me this passion for football and now you've completely stripped it from me. Why would you do that? Why would you do that to me? And that was it was, that was kind of my why me moment.
Speaker 2:And there was a few weeks leading up to the first practice and, man, honestly, it was like really, really a tough time in my life because you got to understand football for me, for someone listening that doesn't care about sports, just think of something that you're passionate about, where you feel like God's gifted you to do that thing and then in a moment's notice it's taken away. That was football for me. You know, football was my identity, that's who I was. If I had a bad practice, my whole night was ruined, right. And so, leading up to the first practice, I'm like you know what, like just praying God. You know, make it clear what I'm supposed to do. And you know, I want to be faithful to where you have me. But I don't see how this is. This is working out Right. And so I show up to that first practice. I'm like you know what? I gotta be positive. Maybe I'm going to have some big coaching role and I'll have this big responsibility on the team. I'll get the free Mizzou swag, the free gear. That's what I was thinking about.
Speaker 2:And I walk in my first day thinking I'm going to have this big coaching role, and this assistant coach, he kind of barks at me. He's like Alex, come here, I want to show you what your job's going to be. And I'm thinking, sweet man, hook me up Right. And he walks over and he hands me this yellow flag. So if you can see on video, it's this actual yellow flag he gave me. You can see it's still breaking apart here. And he said, hey, we need to work on our discipline and practice. And so, alex, when someone jumps off sides and practice, what we need you to do is take this flag and you're going to take it and for your listeners here, you're going to just visualize, but you're going to take this flag and you're going to throw it down and just like that, right. And the worst part, keith, is he showed me how to do that twice. And so I'm sitting there going like, ok, what a rocket scientist of a coach. You know, I didn't understand on the first time. You know, throwing down the flag, but I didn't say anything, of course. But you know, you show me what my job's going to be.
Speaker 2:And long story short, man, my entire junior season I'm at practice throwing this darn flag, I'm making copies for the coaches, I'm making coffee for the coaches and the practice plan doing their coffee, all these things, all these like menial tasks. And I'm sitting there going like God, why would you have me here? What am I doing? Like I should be out there on the field. I should be out there running out of the tunnel in front of 70,000, not making coffee. Like what am I doing? And I'll just say it was real that that junior season was so refining, like there's so many stories I could tell you about, just like the little things. Uh, people would would tell me things like hey, man, I you know I'm praying for you, or hey, or keep keep going. I see what you're doing, you know. And they would say these little things that would honestly get me through weeks at a time. They didn't know it, but they were just saying those little things, right and um?
Speaker 2:So I knew that I wanted to get back on the team. My senior year I had one year of eligibility left and so I'm literally out at practice. You know, being this student, assistant, volunteer, coach, but I'm also like running sprints after practice. I'm trying to add value wherever I can. I'm like in it, I'm involved, I'm just like I'm here, right and long story short. My senior year I got back on the team as a quarterback. We. My senior year I got back on the team as a quarterback. We went to the Citrus Bowl. It was like an awesome experience, man. We beat Minnesota and it was just like a really cool just ending to my sports career.
Speaker 2:But the reason why I'm sharing this story with you is that when I look back at all my years as a player and as an athlete and then I look back at the one year where I was throwing this darn flag, right, I was doing all these small things. What I would argue and I think a lot of people would agree, is that I had a way bigger impact the one year that I had no title, I had no role, than all my years as a player, and so my message that I get to share at companies and teams across America and schools is that leadership requires no title. It doesn't. You don't have to have a title to to show up and be excellent in what in your craft and what you do and love the people around you. And and I didn't do it perfectly that year by any stretch, right, I was discouraged all the time. I was like God, why? Why am I here? But it's like in, in being excellent in the small things.
Speaker 2:I think God used that time to really refine me, um, so that I didn't. That situation didn't define me, but refined me. And I think that's so often in life when we have these trials, it's like God, where are you at? And sometimes it takes those things in life for us to kind of man, maybe, maybe just start listening to God for the first time in a long time and say God, what? What are you calling me to do in this situation, man. So that's that's a big part of my story.
Speaker 2:And now what I get to do as an author and speaker and, like I was telling you before the recording, man, I was just in Iowa last week speaking to a school district, and it's just so humbling to be able to go and, you know, share something that maybe can help one person. Maybe it can help whether it's mental health or a teacher or a coach who's going through something. If there's one thing we can talk about that leads them maybe to a better mindset, or maybe I don't know, but maybe someone's led to Christ. And my goal is just to be faithful, to show up and to try to make an impact. And so, man, that's kind of what I've been doing the last few years since I graduated, man. So it's just crazy to look back now and see how God uses these circumstances to really equip us and to refine us for what he has next for us. So, man, that's my story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what you just described reminds me of a biblical illustration of that season of pruning, and pruning is never easy and sometimes it's very painful. What are some of the greatest lessons you learned? You talk about looking back at that year and you say how much impact you had. What lessons do you have to share with people who are going through a season of pruning Because you could have just quit? You could just say you know, I'm done with this, I'm not throwing this stupid flag down, I'm just going to walk away. So, but what lessons or encouragement if you're in that season right now where God is pruning you and you just go, why am I here? Why does it feel like God's abandoned me? What advice do you have?
Speaker 2:Man? That's a great question because, yeah, I was tempted at times to be like God. I'm done Like get me out of the situation Right. Um, I would say one thing that I've really, um thought about in my own life uh, getting out of that season is, um, the people who spoke truth to me during that time, the people who encouraged me, who gave me maybe a you know, we as believers can can be that for other people who are going through that tough time, and so I think my encouragement would be um, are you that person for someone? Cause I had many of those people I could point to now when I was in it right, when I was going through it, that I could say, wow, nathan, or you know down the list of these people that spoke truth in my life that allowed me to continue moving forward. Um, and so that's for, and so that's for all of us who maybe aren't going through the pruning right.
Speaker 2:But to your question of you know, if you are going through the pruning right now, I think a lot of times what's been helpful for me is a long-term vision when you think about, obviously, for all of us as believers, we know that's heaven eventually, and so you know, there's nothing that we can't get through on this earth when we think about what our eternal glory will be like. But I think, even if you're able to get yourself in a mindset of giving the situation fully to God, to say, god, I don't like this, this is not what I had, this is not the story that I wanted, god, will you teach me Well, can I be teachable in this moment to learn, to learn your ways to your heart in this situation? A great, a great example. Man is one of my good friends and I'd love to get you guys connected. He'd be a great, he'd be a great guest. He's he's a color analyst on SEC network. He played basketball for the Florida Gators and he got in a really bad car accident. His name is Patrick Young. You know Patrick.
Speaker 1:I think I remember the name, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And so man, just an amazing guy, he got in a really bad car accident that he's unable to walk currently and we actually just helped him publish his book. It's called Sit to Rise, because he believes one day he will walk. And we all know in heaven, eventually he will be restored, and just as we all will. But man, his joy that he has during these trials, of going to the hospital, having infections, all these things, people see it in him, man. They see his joy that he has, they see his love for other people. You know I did a speaking engagement with him at a college in Texas recently. Man, I was almost just brought to tears traveling with him and seeing the amount of people. You know he's six foot 11 and he's had all you know. He's in a wheelchair and just man, his, his joy, his joy is so infectious, man, and I just think a guy like that is such a great example for me, my own life, not only.
Speaker 2:You know, man, I have nothing to complain about. We none of us do. We've been given so much. But also, man, how can I learn during the trial? Because so often we want to look past the trial, right, but God has a lot of things to teach us in those moments, and I think the quicker you can be teachable, the quicker you can start to learn some of those truths that will give you peace, Because God is a God of peace, not of anxiety or fear or discouragement, but of peace, of truth, of love. So, man, that's what I would say for someone listening right now who's going oh my gosh, I'm so in it right now. Man, just go, bring it to the Lord, bring it to God and say, God, how can I be teachable in this moment?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. I wanted you to tell me about your other book before we get into the sale. But tell me about Thrive U, because I love books about athletes and their journey. But just kind of tell us what's Thrive U about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Thrive U is my first book, and so when I was in college, I worked at a summer camp a Christian sports camp where you're, as a college athlete worked at a summer camp a Christian sports camp where you're, as a college athlete, you're a counselor for high school athletes, and so I actually met my wife there. It's an awesome camp and I, you know, I just met probably 100 other college and some pro athletes at this camp and I'm just like, wow, these people are amazing. There needs to be a way they can tell their story, that people can hear about their what, what, what allows them to ultimately thrive rather than survive, and so thrive you. Uh, god just put that vision on my heart. And so it's a hundred different college and pro athletes sharing their story, sharing their heart, their testimony, and it's just like a. It's a devotional book, it's a. It's just man. It was so fun, and so that was the.
Speaker 2:That was my first book, a devotional book. It's a. It's just man. It was so fun, and so that was the. That was my first book. And then my, my newest book, called the sale. Uh, it's a business fable, and so it's a business fable about integrity. So John Gordon, my coauthor, who I mentioned earlier. He has 28 other books and they're all different fables. And so, man, our, our book is about integrity and and just really I passionate about the topic because in a business setting, it's so rare these days to be around people who are actually modeling integrity right. It's almost like when you see it, it stops you in your tracks because you're like whoa, that's like counter-cultural, but we know, as Christians, that's what we're called to be and called to do. And so, man, it's a fun, encouraging story. If any of your listeners want to check it out, they can reach out to me, I'll email, I'll send them a free e-book to check it out. Just for any of your listeners, keith man Just would love to get that message in their hands.
Speaker 1:You just mentioned stuff I think is really critical that you don't see integrity oftentimes Well, in a couple areas. I don't see a lot of times in business. I don't see a lot of times in business. I don't see a lot of times in politics. But how do you cultivate a culture of integrity in business, because that's really key. You can't cultivate that if you don't have it yourself.
Speaker 2:But if you do, how do you spread that throughout your organization? Yeah, that's a great question. And I was working with a car dealership and one of the CEO of this car dealership he said, alex, what's more important, to model integrity or to talk about integrity? And I said both, because the reality is to your point. Who are you as a leader to talk about it, to do those things, to live that way? And so I think it first starts with an introspective. Look Before it's like, hey, team, you need to go out and do this. It's like, hey, how am I modeling that? How am I doing that internally, with my family, with my team?
Speaker 2:Because I think so many of us live these lives where it's like separate, right. It's like I got work over here, I got church over here, I got friends over here, I got friends over here. But I think in so many ways, like what we know, that life is kind of together and it's kind of all these different things affect another part of our lives. And so my best encouragement to someone who's in you know, because really you think about corporate America. It's one of the darkest places today, right, where you know it's. You're just faced with things in corporate America that do test your integrity and your character, and so I think you know, when you think about you know the word integrity. The root word is integer, which means a whole or complete number. Right, and for all the math nerds listening, and so I'm not one of them but but you know, if you think about the word integer, it's like to be fully integrated, right, To be the fully integrated leader that God's called you to be. That requires you to be like your whole self, and I think so often when we do live these disjointed lives where it's like I got work over here, I'm going to act one way at work and then different to my wife at home. Man, there's an uneasiness about that and I think what's so attractive.
Speaker 2:Here's a good example. We had someone for one of my businesses called streamline books, where we help people write and publish their book. We had someone who flew in recently to spend the day with me and my co-founder and a great guy who came and, um, it was funny. Like as we were taking him back to the airport, he said he said something along the lines of you guys were exactly how I thought you were, you know, or something, and to us it was a compliment because we spent literally the whole day with this guy and he was someone we look up to in the industry. He's asking us questions after questions after questions and after that full day of kind of questioning us not that we're perfect by any means, but he just was like you know what you are, who I thought you were, and that meant a lot to us because it's like, hey, hopefully you know we're not trying to put on some show for some guy that's coming in to ask us questions about our business.
Speaker 2:It's like we just want to be who we are and have fun, be passionate, speak truth, encourage people. I mean, I just think it is so different when you see people in the marketplace. I think I think it was Billy Graham that said that. You know he predicted before he passed away that the biggest move of God would be in the marketplace, you know, with godly leaders who would take the charge and take the gospel to the darkest parts of corporate America. And so, man, it's fun to even be able to talk about these things on your podcast, because so often I'm on a business podcast or a secular podcast where I get to here's the cool thing share biblical principles, but kind of in disguise right.
Speaker 2:Because when I go speak at a when I was going to speak at the school district in Iowa last week it's a public school district. I can't go do an altar call, but I can share principles with these kids or these teachers that they have biblical principles. But man, it's it's prior to bring these people hope. And and that's what's cool is is you get to have this presentation and then when that person walks up to you and says you said something during that talk, I have a question about you. Know, that's where God just a lot of times will open up the door for you to be able to speak truth, man, and it's just, it's really cool how God works in that way.
Speaker 1:I love it no-transcript.
Speaker 2:What's been cool to hear him talk about is, like you know, we wrote a book about building trust, but we've actually built that trust first and I think that's why it's easier to live that message, because it's like we did. We have lived it with each other. I've seen it in him. I've seen the way that he's built a business that's God honoring that ultimately, people will come to Christ because of the work he does, his books, and it's just so cool to be part of that and just to learn from that. So it's a massive part of it, man, and I think it wouldn't be the book, wouldn't be what it is, if that wasn't part of the story.
Speaker 1:Right, tell us more about Streamline Books. It sounds like you help people get that book that's in their head or somewhere out and into the public sphere. So how do you do that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, man. So my co-founder, Will Severins, and I, we co-founded a company called Streamline Books and we get to help people write, edit and publish their book. And so, man, it is such a fun job for us. We get to help people like yourself, we get to help people who have a message and a story, and we get to help them. We have different options, but essentially publish their book.
Speaker 2:And whether it's a keynote speaker who wants to get more speaking engagements, or it's a pastor who wants to take a sermon series and put it into a book, or if it's an entrepreneur who wants to take a sermon series, you know, and put it into a book, or if it's a an entrepreneur who wants to tell the story of his or her business, that's what we get to do, man, and we just feel like the world is full of news and we, we get to help share stories.
Speaker 2:We get to help share stories of people who are making a difference, who are making an impact. And so, man, it's been such a especially such an honor for my co-founder and I, because we just signed our 105th author, which is crazy, right, 105 authors that we get the chance to work with. But we know that is just scratching the surface. There are so many people out there that we know we're going to be able to help in the years ahead. And it's honestly fun for us because we get to read all these books and we get to learn from them and we get to learn from amazing people. It's almost like a free master class that we could have never even predicted that we're getting to take. In each book we publish and get the chance to read, it's like wow, that person was so wise and now we get to learn and so, man, that's been definitely a hidden blessing of it is just working with really wise people that we get to glean from.
Speaker 1:So here we go. I'm going to put you to the test right here on the podcast.
Speaker 2:All right, let's do it. Let's do it.
Speaker 1:So I'm working on my dissertation on organizational change in churches. I just got done doing pooling 220 people to figure out how we actually do Cotter's model of change and bring it to the church setting. So if I came to you with an idea like that just for people who maybe have ideas what would you do as a company to help that idea become a book?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. That sounds like a very fun but daunting project you're doing there, man, that sounds awesome. So, yeah, first thing, I want to say, Keith, for anyone that comes to us from your podcast, this is called the Keith special we're going to give them a discount. Just I want to put that out there for anyone. If you're listening, you're going to have a book. We would love to uh to do that just for uh, for hearing us on Keith's podcast.
Speaker 2:But to answer your question, um, in the in the process of writing a book, you know, uh, Keith, it's like so much of it can kind of feel lonely. Where you got these ideas in your mind, You're going oh man, this could be a cool story. Maybe you mentioned it to a family member. They're going why would you write a book about that? Right. Then you get more, and you get more discouraged because you're like, oh my gosh, my wife doesn't even believe in it, you know. Then you just hide this thing, Right. You just it's on a Microsoft Word somewhere and no one knows about it, but you, God, and one other person maybe that told you it was a bad idea. And so, man, for us it's just the power of bringing a team around your dream, and so, for us to answer your question, you would get a writer, an editor and a project manager and that team would be your team. That would help you in the process.
Speaker 2:So our options range from if you come to us with a finished manuscript, we're, you know, copy editing, developmentally editing and then publishing, or, for some people, our ghostwriting services, where they're going hey, I got all these stories up here but I don't have the time to write, I don't have the interest in writing, but I can speak these stories and that's our ghostwriting package. So one thing that's cool about us is we don't take any book royalties package. So one thing that's cool about us is we don't take any book royalties. So you know, we're kind of. You know, in the six months it takes to finish our process, Once we publish your book, you're not paying us anything and we feel really good about that model because we feel like if we can deliver a high quality product and deliver it in a timely manner, it's a huge value add to a lot of, you know, aspiring authors and speakers out there.
Speaker 2:So, man, there's, we could. We could do a three hour long podcast on you know, the ins and outs of book publishing, X's and O's of that, but I don't want to bore your audience. But, man, just we love, we love getting to help people steward their story. I think stewardship's a great way to describe what we do. We get to steward their story and help bring it to life.
Speaker 1:I love that. So once you get these books out and I know I've heard different stories about how hard it is to get your book on like Amazon if it's not the right kind of book so how do you get the book distributed to a wide range of people? Is it just through, like your website, or does it get blasted out all over the place?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. So, primarily, what's important for any aspiring authors out there Amazon and IngramSpark Ingram is having your book in the Ingram database allows your book if you walk into your local Barnes and Noble, that you could search in the database and find your book. So that's why we use Ingram and Amazon. What's really important as well is print on demand and what's crazy about the publishing industry. Years ago, you had to get a huge book order, pay thousands of dollars to print all these books up front. Well, now, with print on demand, once you publish your book, when people go to Amazon and buy it, boom, it's like they buy it, amazon prints it, ships it directly to them, right? So there's just a lot of tech.
Speaker 2:From a technological standpoint, it's never been easier to get your message and book out there. So we definitely have options on the back end of the publishing side of hey, here's things. You know whether it's going to build out a website or a launch campaign, all these different things that we have resources for. But I would say our bread and butter is how do we take your message up here? Or the manuscript you have that Word document and get it across the finish line design, formatting, typesetting, all the different aspects of what it takes to publish a book and actually make it happen, so that you're not sitting there going, man, I've always wanted to write a book but I've never made the time. Or you know, it's not just going to sit there forever, we're going to actually make it happen. So you have this thing that you're proud of to share with the world.
Speaker 1:See, now you're inspiring. Write my third book. Now I have to get working on it.
Speaker 2:Let's go. Come on, man. That's why you have me on here.
Speaker 1:Come on, that's right, exactly so, alex, I'm curious what are you excited about in this season of your life?
Speaker 2:Man? That's a great question. I would say, specifically today, something that I've been working through just with our leadership team is just the ways that we can help not only authors but speakers as well, and and and rather just, I guess, when it comes to writing books not just writing a book, but all the things that come that surround it. So I think I think just building businesses that can really help people and can really create jobs, can create opportunities, is something that's been really fun. But I would also say, you know, with my two kiddos, my wife, who's so supportive I still do about 30 to 35 speaking engagements a year, and so that is really fun.
Speaker 2:Like, I know, I'm speaking to the Boy Scouts of America on Wednesday here in a few days, things like that. You know, it is fun to be able to speak and to share, and sometimes these companies, these, these secular environments, but I take those as a challenge to try to show joy and just be an encouragement to people in those audiences. So, man, I would say man, just getting to do this type of work and and just getting to run alongside really good people.
Speaker 1:So you got 30 seconds to give a message to the world. What do you want to say?
Speaker 2:Man, I would just say, going back to the beginning of this podcast, proverbs 3, 5, and 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and the Lord. He will make your path straight. And I think if there's anything you've heard me say, it's that because that's what matters. And I think, if you, you know I heard someone recently say, if you read the book of Proverbs every single day, you'll be rich, you know, and rich in more ways than one financially, because there's so many truly rich. Financially, because there are so many wisdom when it comes to being diligent and all these things. But you'll be rich more than just financially, you'll, you'll have God's riches, which is ultimately what matters. So, man, keith, it's an honor to be on here and just learn from people like you. Man, I was saying earlier I thought I had a lot of books on my bookshelf, but, man, you got like. You got like five times the books that I do.
Speaker 2:So hopefully the next time you have me on, maybe in a few years. You know my bookshelf's a little bit leveled up, man, so I can get on your level. So that's only one section.
Speaker 1:There's another whole section over there a book, so I have that too. You just can't see it. So, alex, what do you want your legacy to be?
Speaker 2:Wow, it's a big question.
Speaker 2:I would just say I had a mentor of mine.
Speaker 2:His name was john draggy and I actually had him on my podcast a few months before he passed away and he was in his 60s, I believe, when he passed and uh was in shape, super fit, did triathlons, and uh, what he said he said someday at my, my funeral, I want people to say that, uh, john loved God and he loved me, and I could for sure, at his funeral, um, I could definitely say that I know a lot of hundreds, maybe not maybe thousands of people could also say that. And so I, I mean, I'm, I'm stealing that one from my friend John and hopefully, when I see him in heaven, I'll just be like, hey, is it okay that I like stole that from you all those years? And so, hopefully he's cool with that, hopefully he's cool with it. Um, but, man, that's, I think, I think that's the legacy man, it doesn't matter about the money, it doesn't matter about all these other things, but, um, man, did you love God? Did you love people with the resources that you had?
Speaker 1:That's great. So where can people learn more about you and follow you and find your books?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my website is alexspeakingcom. It has info on my speaking business and then also books and then Streamline. And then for Streamline books, our website is writemybookscom. Again, that's writemybookscom. And, like I said earlier, keith, anyone that we get to work with from your podcast man, we're going to for sure honor a discount for them and we'd love to love to connect with any of your listeners.
Speaker 1:Well, Alex, thanks so much for this. Time has been inspirational for me and it's got me thinking I get to get that book done now. So I was in the back of my mind, but now I got to work.
Speaker 2:Hey, man, thanks for having me and hey, you got my phone number. Hey, man, thanks for having me and hey, you got my phone number. So we'll make that happen whenever, whenever the time is right, man you just hit us up.
Speaker 1:All right, alex, thanks so much. You have a great day.
Speaker 2:Thanks, man, you too.