Welcome to the Gentlemen Project Podcast. I'm Cory Moore. And I'm Kirk Chugg. Today we have Derek Miner with us. Derek has been a friend of the Gentlemen Project for a long time. Derek is a somewhat of an internet marketing pioneer, I guess you could say 20 years ago, he was kind of on the forefront of what internet marketing was, what the internet was going to become what businesses needed to do to be online, and present with their with their companies. And he's had just this amazing string of like, he's got the Midas touch and everything. And everywhere he goes, he kind of just turns this culture into a wonderful place that people love to work. He was with Aha.com, founded orangesoda.com. He's now with Lemonade Stand. And they're a full service marketing firm, great guy all around. And if I had to describe Derek, in like two words, it would be outrageously kind. Just so that the people on the podcast know, we're doing a remote today with Derek. And he happens to be sitting in front of a whiteboard that is full of messages from his kids, and in scribbles and doodles and a whole bunch of different pictures that they've drawn. It's like the perfect backdrop for the Gentlemen Project Podcast-an involved dad that obviously has his kids come to the office and spend some time while he's there working. So thanks for joining us today. Derek. Thanks so much, Kirk. And Cory sure appreciate the the opportunity. You mentioned, pioneer makes me sound a little bit old. It was funny. I was actually talking to my son the other day. And he said, Hey, he says, Dad, were you born in the olden days? And I didn't even know how to respond to that. And I started laughing. He says, because I was born in the newer days.
Kirk Chugg:I guess if you could say last century, right? Yeah, that was about the time that was about the time that you were really getting involved and things were taking off was right around 2000. Yeah, that's right. And anything with a .com after it was getting funded. And that was a crazy wild ride and count the cowboy days of the internet. Yeah, you've been around doing amazing stuff ever since. So although you're an amazing marketer. We we talk on the gentlemen project about how you're plugging in what you're doing with your family and your kids to be more involved and to make a difference in your kids lives. So knowing the type of person that you are at work, I kind of want to dig in and find out what are you doing at home right now? Derek? What's your life? Like? Tell us about your family? And what are you doing right now that you could say, Hey, I could share this and I'd make an impact to our listeners.
Derek Miner:I appreciate that. Man at home right now. It's really busy. It's we're right in the thick of it, I think we have our oldest is 16. Just he's just awesome. A daughter who's 14, and then three boys who follow him. And that a little princess at the end. And so our youngest is is two and a half. And it is it's so much fun at our at our house right now. And I mean, some of the things that that we're trying to do try to be really intentional. You know, I think the last year has been a challenge in a lot of ways. And what we did is just tried to find time to spend together and to get outside. And I think that's been one of the things that's been the most impactful for me, especially growing up with loving, amazing, caring parents, who believed in me and gave me opportunities. I you know, I wanted to do the same thing for them.
Cory Moore:So what are some of the things Derek that your kids have taught you through through this COVID time, you know, we've spent I feel like we've all spent a little more time with our, with our kids and at home a little better. There's some things that surprised you through that time?
Derek Miner:I think more than anything, just how resilient kids are, and how you know, every day is a new opportunity and a new time of day to go and explore. Again, one of my favorite things that I've that I've done that I learned from another friend is writing down really cool things that my kids say, which are absolutely just hilarious. He said, Dad, let's go explore some adventures. And so I'd say over the last year, we've tried to explore a lot of adventures together as a family. You know, it was it was a really challenging time. Actually, interestingly enough when I started at lemonade stand, which you know, it turns out I can't get enough citrus in my life that he got orange soda now Yeah, that's right and right. And and we started and there's there's a lot of, you know, really interesting things with businesses and other challenges and then kids trying to figure out man, how do we finish up this year and then go into summer, and then, you know, getting ready for the following year when things seem to be changing rapidly. It was just amazing to see how how resilient kids are and how they always look for opportunities to lift and, and help each other and to, to learn some fun new things as well, we went on some great adventures here in in Utah, that's what was great about having the mountains so close. I'd say the one thing that I that I've tried to be really intentional with is something that I grew up with too, which is spending a lot of time outside and in the outdoors, because there's so much you can learn so much perspective that can be gained. And in an insight, and especially being with with kids, where you're not distracted, you're not in front of a screen. And, and learning just, you know, real life lessons, you know, together, we spent a lot of time on skiing, which was a ton of fun, you know, together as a family. In fact, we had our little two, two and a half year old scheme, and we have the entire family on the hill. And that that's always a great opportunity to be together.
Kirk Chugg:Awesome. So Derek, you've been a part of a gentleman project lunch club, right? Yes, you have, you've chosen a place. And there's a group of people that you get together with who you I would assume, based on I know that people in your group. They're people you could definitely call mentors in the fatherhood space. Tell us about what a Gentlemen Project lunch club is, first of all, and then what you've gotten from those meetings and how it's changed the way you parent?
Derek Miner:Well, you know, the cool thing is we have, we have another one coming up here really soon. And I'm so excited about it. So Dave Norton, and Jeff Flamm and Rob Shallenberger. And I, which are just extraordinary examples to me. We we've been getting together regularly. And what have I learned from them? Man, I could probably spend the entire podcast just talking about let the you know, lessons from them. One thing that I remember that that Jeff talked about is something that he does with each of his kids, when they turn a certain age. And I remember walking away from one of the lunches saying, I'm going to spend more and, you know, as I think about it, to Rob does this and Dave does this, where they spend one on one time with each of their kids every single, you know, at least monthly. So it's just them. And having six kids, making sure you're carving out time for each each one of them individually. That's, that's been a huge takeaway for me. But man, it's been an incredible experience for me to be with my kids, as well, just one on one when it's just them, right. We do a lot of things together as a family, which is awesome. But that's been that's been really, really big for me, one of the things that one of many things that I get out of there, but we're really just sharing my experiences, what's working? Well, what's not. And this is why, you know, maybe we should do a part two after lunch next month that I continually learn from people who inspire me. And man, those three sure are great examples to me.
Kirk Chugg:Yeah, well, anybody who's a regular of the podcast has met Jeff lamb, and they've met Rob shallenberger. So you've got like, three of the four guys so far that meet in your club, have been guests on the podcasts, and they've been some of our listener favorites. so far. So yeah, you'll have to let us know how that goes. Just so if people don't know what a Gentlemen Project lunch club is, and it can be breakfast, whatever you'd like it to be, as you choose a place, you get together, usually once a month. And you talk about like you said, What's going well, what's not going well, and then you make commitments to each other. You say, this is what I'm going to work on, because this isn't going well. These are the things that I'm going to try the next month when you come back instead of being judged for not doing them or, you know, praised for doing them as you just have an accountability group right there. It says, hey, how did it go? You said you were struggling with this last month, you said you were gonna try this and somebody writes it down. And they say, hey, how did it go? That's definitely been a blessing in my life. Those relationships have been have been great.
Cory Moore:So yeah, Derek, I was gonna ask you. You mentioned growing up and your parents talk to us a little bit about what you learned growing up, that's important to you, that from your parents that you're passing on to your kids.
Derek Miner:I appreciate that. You know, I grew up on a farm. And we we had horses and chickens and all sorts of cool animals that I had to take care of. A lot of times, it was pretty scary. But I, you know, they don't feed themselves. And I think having having a responsibility to young age taught me a really important lesson that I needed to show up. And if if they didn't, you know, get taken care of then it was it was a real problem. I remember one year, our pipes inside of our barn froze. And we had to bucket water from all the way across it was it was brutal, and it's cold, and you've got two Homer gallon buckets, you get at Home Depot and you've got those full water, and you're walking over there and all the horses are lined up just watching me like, I wonder what's going through their head. They're like, this is a joke, right? And then I'd walk over the trough and I'd pour it And literally, I'll tell you one thing that I learned that was hard is I showed up late one day, and they were all standing there looking at me and I went over there and I saw that had been pawing where the ice was in the, in the water. And I remember pouring it in there, and then just drinking as fast as they could. I'm like, Oh, my gosh, what if I had forgotten overnight, you know, and so I learned this at a really young age, you know, growing up, but man been born to loving, caring parents who believed in me and gave me opportunities. And who really taught me the value of work is something that is, is always been ingrained in my heart and mind to be able to teach my kids the love of music, my father is a concert pianist as well. And it turns out, skips a generation because my son is now will all four of my for my six kids are in piano lessons, my and my kids have toured around. But that's another really important thing that they taught me is the, you know, the love of music, and sports and relationships and, and having the, you know, the opportunity to do extraordinary things. And it gave me the belief when I was young, too, that I could do, I could do anything. And I believe that. And and that was it was really important. I'll never forget one of one of the things that my parents would always tell me, just a few things that stick with me. In fact, they still say it, I saw them this morning, as they're getting older and and, you know, it was really interesting, as I was getting ready to leave, they're like, Hey, I love you more than words can say. And I remember them telling me that when I was younger, and I'm like, okay, that's awesome. And then I was talking in my dad was always kind of follow that up with, hey, you'll understand how much I love you and what this means when you have your own kids. And guess what I get it, you know, now I really get it. And, and and that was just so powerful to me, because sometimes words are inadequate in how to describe how much you love and care. And I'm just so grateful. Because I know, there's a lot of other challenges that are out there. And to be able to have parents who express that love to me is just so critical. But you know, my dad had a little bit of that, but he he didn't feel that kind of love from his father growing up. And he could have, you know, said, I'm gonna do kind of the same thing. But he chose and I think was really intentional with the way that he showed up in my life, which I'm so grateful for. In fact, there was he always taught me this too, he says, when the moment of opportunity arrives, the time for preparation is passed. I think that's another kind of thing that just echoes in my mind that might that my dad taught me. And in fact, he, he was speaking to a group of executives in Salt Lake City. And I think I was 12 or 13 years old. And he said, Hey, Derek, why don't you come with me. And right after we'll go, and I think we're gonna go, we're gonna go do something together. But I went in there, and I listened to him. And I remember just sitting in the back of the room saying, Man, my dad, so awesome. It's so fun to see him in a pair of Wrangler jeans, on horses. And then to see him in this in this executive boardroom meeting presenting to everyone he was talking about empowerment, and the way that it talked about, as he talked about, you know, how to empower your team and, and what that really meant, and how, when that moment of opportunity presents itself preparation has past, and he always would take a piano with him when hit present as well. And they were expecting him to play the piano and and one of the executives say, Well, do you really, you know, do you teach this also in your home into your kids? And he said, Absolutely, we do. And here I am. I'm just back in the back, of course, didn't have a phone. I was just drawing or something like that. And the next thing I knew, my dad was asking me to come to the front and play on the piano. I'm like, Oh, my gosh. So talk about the moment of preparation being totally gone. In here. I'm like, I got to play. And he says, Well, let me just show you. My son's been working on this on this piece. It was this is what's so crazy, is I learned a lot of songs playing, you know, growing up. But this was Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, I would just I just learned it, in fact, when I was there, and so I started playing it. And I was actually pretty comfortable in front of this big group. And when I finished the CEO said we you know, we this is this incredible deal to see someone you really talking about, you know, here's what we say we do at home and here's actually what's happening. And I'll never forget that like my dad wrote a book and he included that section in there. But it was just that's what that's what my my my parents instilled in me some of those things just love and deep appreciation to live life.
Kirk Chugg:Derek you have a reputation in the business world of someone who builds teams, and builds culture. And I imagine that living in your home. You've taken some of those lessons either from work and implemented them at home, or you've taken them from home and the things you've learned from your parents and implemented them at work. What would you say would be like your top two things about building culture and building family culture that moves the whole family in the same direction in their goals in their roles?
Derek Miner:Man, that's a it's a really good question. I think we're, we're striving every day to do the best we can. Because building bidding, building a winning culture, you know, culture so much more than, you know, all the great things that you do. I think culture really manifests itself when challenges arise, you know, and when there's when there's hard times and who shows up for each other? And how do they show up for one another? I've constantly been inspired by my by my younger kids. In fact, when I dropped them off this morning for school, I always say, hey, love, you guys have an amazing day. And then I was about to say it and my my little he just turned seven. He was counting down the days. It's the cutest thing ever. He's like, Dad, there's only 79 more days till my birthday. Hey, Dad, there's 72 more days to my birthday. 49 more days to my birthday. Hey, Dad, ask Siri how many more days to my birthday. His birthday was yesterday. And he said, Dad, today is my birthday all day. Cutest things. So anyways, I'm getting his I'm dropping him off at school this morning. I said, Hey, I love you guys so much. And I said and that I was about to say something. And he said he's he just said, Hey, Dad, and we'll say something nice to someone else! And so I was just like, Oh my gosh, he kind of finished my sentence for me. And it was one of those moments where I just sat there after I dropped him off. I'm like, Oh, this is awesome. Because there's so many life lessons that you try to teach in the moment. And you wonder if they're even listening, you know how that's how that's going to come across. We're far from perfect in terms of what we try to do. But there's things that what's what's so fun, you know, in building a winning culture, I think everything starts with trust, and creating a safe environment for your kids, where there's accountability and responsibility, high levels of communication, there's kindness, there's service, and and creating a pattern where they feel where they feel safe, and they hold us accountable what's interesting, every night, you know, we try to get together and and say our prayers and read right before we go to bed. And here's my cute little two and a half year old daughter at the very top of the stairs, holding our book. And she said it's time for scriptures dad! I'm like, oh, my goodness, it's just it's and so we've tried to do things like that to really to help, you know, overall. But I'll tell you, this, this really crystallized for me a few years ago, you know, as you think about how am I investing in my kids, and how am I helping them to be better. And, and to think and to and to look out for others. And obviously my older kids have a lot of the stories because they've been around with us the longest. But I'll never forget when my kid, my kids skied competitively. And my son, his last his last year of skiing with the team. He made a choice. He's like, you know, I don't want to ski on on Sundays. And I'm like, okay, you know, when you get to this level, you need to start skiing all the time and accumulate a certain number of points, which I thought was really interesting. And I said, All right, here's your race. As we sat down here, were the metrics ready to think about how does this tie into business, here's what you have to do, here's what your performance has to look like at every single race. You have to finish, you know, in the top 50 in the region to qualify for this. He's like, that's my goal. That's what I want to do. He did really, really well in all these races and kept his commitment to himself and, and to us, and which I thought was really interesting. He got enough points to qualify for this region, this regional ski event, you know, based on that commitment, the final event was was to be held, they were going to do a practice while leading up to this event and it was out of state and he he went up there with his with his team and was practicing. And one of his friends before he left his his dad had ALS and tragic had been dealing with it for a really long time. He passed away and found out that the funeral- he passed away literally I think it was like two or three days before he was leaving to go up out of out of town. And they found out when the funeral was he said well, I'm going to go and race and we'll see how it goes. And he raced and did really well and he found out that he had one more actually it started snowing really hard and they pushed the day back. The race day back in and he said dad, he says I have a lot of other opportunities to ski in my life. But I won't have the opportunity to be at my my friend's dad's funeral again. And even though he wanted to ski there, so bad. He ended up coming home and with his friend. And that was one of the things for me. I'm like, Oh my gosh, we didn't tell him. We didn't tell him. No, you can't ski on Sundays. No, you can't do this. No, you can't do this. We said you can do all these things. And to have him make that choice man! My wife and I just looked at each other. And we're like this is incredible, you know, and he since has just continued to surprise us with with being, you know, making decisions like that. So, are we are we trying? Yeah, we're doing our very best.
Kirk Chugg:That's really cool to see character manifests itself in your kids, isn't it?
Derek Miner:No question.
Cory Moore:So you grew up on a farm. And it sounds like your kids are hard workers based upon the fact of some of the instruments and sports they've been playing. I think that's a topic we all care about a lot as a parent is how to teach our kids hard work, but it's harder when you're not on a ranch. Talk to us about what are the ways that you and your wife have taught your kids that principle of hard work, focus, dedication, that kind of thing?
Derek Miner:Yeah, good questions. I think about that each one, like each one of them are a little bit different, as we know, you know, for all of us dads, what works for one doesn't work for all of them. Dang it. And I think that's what makes it you know, such a great opportunity for us to spend time one on one and understand really what's most important for each of them and what they're, you know, what their goals are, and giving them opportunities to try a lot of different things. And to explore and experience a lot of different things. I'll, you know, maybe just a few examples. When when we go out we work, you know, we we don't have someone come and take care of our yard. Our kids do. Yeah. And, and we try to make it a game. And it's, it's actually a lot of fun. When we go out there and say, Hey, we're gonna, we're gonna see how many piles of weeds we can pull and what we can do. And when you when you turn it into an experience, you know, more than just like, Alright, roll up your sleeves, Alright, we're showing up out here, and make it happen, you know, and a lot of these things, a lot of these things translate into into other opportunities. For instance, again, my oldest son, he's, he practices piano two hours a day, and, and has is competing on the piano, and has traveled internationally to, to to play. And it's inspiring to see him even though there's times when he doesn't want to go in and, and sit down on the piano and play that he still finds time to do it. And he and he looks back at that. And then I think the other sibling see that too. And my daughter's really loves tennis. And she spent a lot of time focusing on on working really hard to play tennis. And then my my next son in line, he, he's got the gift of the piano as well. And so my son would be putting my eldest son to be playing the piano, he'd come in hit here, Mike was that Gavin in there, but no, it's Austin are younger. And so we're like, oh, my gosh, he's got something here and then putting that towards that. But having having him spend the amount of time with the piano that my older son does, that just it doesn't really happen. So we have to, we have to change, you know, change the game a little bit with him. And then I think about my my next son who really loves golf, and he's got a really good little swing, and it's so fun to be out with him. And to see, you know, golf's frustrating and really hard. And it takes a lot of time to get really good at it. And I'm like, all this stuff just takes really hard work. But we also we invite them to help with the laundry and all the chores around the house. Even though we don't live on a farm, giving an opportunity to take responsibility for ourselves. Sometimes it works really well. Sometimes it's an absolute disaster, you know, to try to get motivated and say, why are we doing this? This is so hard work is so hard. Let's go do this. And I would say hey, we're, we're gonna do this, and then we can go play and, and yes, we also try to mountain bike a lot as a family. And I know a lot of them just say, Hey, can we just be at the, at the uphill? I said, we got to earn the uphill. And I said the exact same thing in life, right, where we want to have these great experiences together. It all everything we do requires work. So I don't know. Cory, if that is the question, if there's any follow up, what are we doing? I don't know, we're not doing a lot of things well, but, you know, we're trying to make it make it fun and have them you know, reflect back and say, you know, I learned something, you know, as a result of this.
Kirk Chugg:Yeah, well, it sounds like what you've done is you've identified something in each one of your kids lives that they're passionate about, and then you support them in that in that role. And you know, whether it be piano or golf or mountain biking, and you you let them know that you're behind them and you'll be with them no matter what but you you kind of give them that environment of I can learn hard work doesn't have to be, you know, shoveling stalls at the ranch. But I identify with that. My wife and I had a goal that we would have an opportunity for our kids to learn outdoor work. A pretty fun story that that I've been told my whole life was my grandfather I was put to work at 10 years old. They lived in stone, Idaho, he had his own horse, and he was responsible to take those cows, great grandpa was a dairy farmer and he'd take the cows out to the West Hills every day. And at night, he'd have to go get them and bring them in. And if he didn't take them out and bring them in every day, and so that they could feed, they couldn't milk and the family didn't eat, and grandpa learned from a very, very young age, you know, 10, that I have an integral part in the culture of this family. And I play a huge role in in the success of this family running. And sometimes I feel like, you know, I want to give that experience to my kids, although I don't have 1000s of acres and a dairy herd, to let them have that same experience. You know, you want to give them that responsibility. And I agree with you, sometimes I think it'd be easier just to do it yourself than to argue with your kids about doing it, like whose responsibility is it to vacuum and by the time you find the kid whose responsibility it was to vacuum, it could have been done. Good. And it probably would have been done better in the first place. But that's not the point. That's right. So what do you guys do in your home, when it comes to chores and things like do you have structure of like, who's responsible for certain things? And if those things get done or don't get done, are there natural consequences or, you know, maybe help us understand a little bit what it's like in the Miner household, for your kids to grow up and have those responsibilities. I think everybody loves a kid that would sit down and play beautiful music at the piano for two hours every afternoon but you know.....
Derek Miner:I'll tell you, it doesn't it didn't sound good, you know, a few years ago, but man it does now. And now as we're going through, you know, different ages, than plucking on the keys with one hand and then you can see you know what it's like when you practice you can you see that end when what the what the end goal is. But I'll tell you too Kirk, you as you mentioned, dairy farming is no joke. One of my one of my really good friends has a dairy farm. And I actually took my kids down there. I said, I want them to come down and experience this. And then I'll come back to you know, what does it look like at the Miner household, they know they walked in this dairy farm, they're like, Oh, my gosh, it smells so bad, even though they've been around horses and other animals. But dairy farming, let me tell you what-- that is work! And that is there are no vacations from that. And I think it was a novelty while we were there from you know, from the morning until that and you know, we're we're experiencing all that. But I'm like, No, this happens every single day. And if you don't show up again, it's the same thing you don't eat, you don't get you know, you don't get anything. So you know, what we're what we're trying to do is, is give them basic responsibilities, and then try to, you know, really praise them for the success in doing really small things. I was just thinking this morning as my my daughter woke up and she's doing her own laundry. And she made muffins for the for the family as they woke up and then there's others were just like, hey, this needs to happen. They're like, Oh, my gosh, do I have to do this? Again? I emptied the dishwasher like 25 days ago?!! So do we do we have a job chart, per se? No, we've tried it. And it really didn't work. We all just say hey, look what needs to be done around you. Which we hope tries, you know, we were trying to create awareness within our space. Because when we're when things are clean, and everything's happier, you know, When, when, when when things are picked up. And so we start with, you know, with with small things and try to celebrate those successes at every age, no matter you know, no matter where they are, what they're doing, because again, what my 16 year old is capable of is much different than, you know, my my little princess who just if I ask her to do something, and she goes and does it, my heart just melts all over the floor.
Cory Moore:Derek, I've been thinking lately about trying to give my kids an aha moment, because they've grown up in this very, somewhat affluent area with affluent neighbors, that kind of a thing. And I'd like to get them to see the world differently. Right. I'm thinking about taking them to an orphanage or building houses in a third world country, something like that. Have you done anything with your kids? Or how do you show them that they're not necessarily growing up like the rest of the world?
Derek Miner:Yeah, that's, that's a it's a great, great question, Cory. And this is something you know, we're trying to be even more intentional about. Because I think empathy, especially at a young age, you know, empathy is really understanding what people's circumstances are. And a lot of times we can say, oh, I've you know, I feel so bad. And that's never happened to me. But when it happens, it's a totally different scenario. I think just recently we we had the opportunity to do a food drive in our neighborhood. And I'll tell you who showed up and who was the most excited. Were our two youngest boys. They jumped in, they were ready because we told them, we told them, You know what we were doing and we took we took a minute just to talk about why. They're like, Wait a second, what are we gathering food for, and it makes them think about things a little bit a little bit differently. And I love it. In fact, in the, I've got a picture of them in the back of a truck, you know, both just flexing their muscles with this entire truck bed that will fill up because of the generosity of our amazing neighborhood and community. And rallying around this food drive. But they talked about that for a long time. Another experience that I had, with our with our three oldest this was about four years ago, we went to Guatemala as a as a family. And it was I mean, talk about an eye opening experience, I hadn't been to Guatemala, my wife had been to Central America a few times, but I hadn't and my kids hadn't. And to just see and experience that firsthand, to see you know what it looks like when people literally you walk out of your front yard, you walk out of your front yard, and it's there's the crops, and they're out there working. And we went, and we were actually walking through these onion fields. And the cool thing is my three oldest, I've been in this Spanish Immersion in school. And so they learned a little bit of Spanish. And to see them speak with these other kids that were their ages. And here are these kids working right alongside their parents watering, hand watering, from canals, with these buckets splashing, you know, splashing these onions to water them again, back to the point if they don't do it, then they don't eat and don't provide and, and that was just that was huge for all of us. And we talk about that experience. And I think really molding, you know, the older three to in terms of life decisions and how they want to how they want to show up and give back to other people. Because it's great. And when we talk about Hey, building and developing your talents are really for the intent to bless and help and lift other people. And, and when we see that, with that, with that purpose, is really what we're trying to do and and to be intentional around showing that but there's so many opportunities all around us, you know, Cory even in, you know, in some of these more affluent areas, are some of the loneliest people, and the opportunity even just to reach out. And, you know, we've had some of our kids draw on little cards again, and to take way less time for me to just write out a note, but I wanted each of them to do it too. And go take it to, you know, neighbor, who may have been struggling or suffering because ultimately, I think all these experiences in life are can get us outside of ourselves. And I think one of the greatest ironies in life and one of the things I talk to my kids about a lot is, the more we think about ourselves, the unhappier, we are so counterintuitive, right? To everything in this selfie world, that we live in, where it's like, live your best self go and you and, and put you ahead of everything else, you know, it's just the kind of this false narrative that we have right now. And the irony is, I know people who have everything, who aren't happy at the core, but the minute we think about other people, and put them ahead of our own needs, the happier we are, I don't get it. I really don't. But the irony is, whenever I've had those experiences, my kids have had those experiences, they feel better about themselves, I certainly feel better. And you think about the person that you just were able to impact in some small way. And I think about it the same way where other people have reached out to me, and I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is this is incredible. Like I think about, you know, an experience that was, you know, absolutely. I don't know how I'm gonna get through this. My wife is expecting our fifth and, and her her water broke at 26 weeks, 24 weeks, 25 weeks. And this is not good. And we have four kids at home. One who is 18 months old, is the youngest. And we go down to the hospital and they're like, hey, guess what your wife stay in here. I'm like, Come again? What am I gonna do with these for, you know, while I tried to work in this is right, during a transition actually as transitioning out of Orangesoda. And I'm like, Man, I'm starting a new opportunity. And I've got to give them everything my kids need me. And to see neighbors, friends, everyone just show up and help me in my time of need. Was absolutely unbelievable and taught me so much too you know, in terms of how we can show it for everybody. Cuz I mean, honestly, you reach out to just about anybody in your contact list right now and just say, Hey, I'm thinking about you. How are you doing? Because guess what, every single one of them probably has stuff going on. And and it doesn't take very long. And that's what's so amazing about the technology that we have today that helps connect us and keep us aware of other people that really just getting outside of ourselves.
Kirk Chugg:Yeah, that's one of the good things about technology is you do kind of know what's going on in other people's lives more than you would otherwise-So if there's a positive side to that, to social media, that's probably it. So Derek, you've had for the last 20 some odd years, you've been in a in a space, an entrepreneurship space, that you're always out kind of flushing the bushes to see the next thing that's gonna come up. As your kids are getting older, have you been able to integrate them at all into some of the business opportunities that you've had?
Derek Miner:Yeah, absolutely. As you can see from my board behind behind here, they they love coming into my office and drawing, that's why I can't erase it, I think I'm just gonna keep it there and have them keep adding to it, because four of them have all contributed amazing artwork there.
Unknown:Entrepreneurship is, it's it is a true roller coaster, up and down, you know, and, and there's highs, and there's extreme lows. And I think what we've tried to do is, is share with our kids every step of the way, to just be grateful and enjoy every, you know, we think about when we eat things, really trying to savor and take time to enjoy what we have. I'm trying to do that with all the moments that we have, you know, because it man, it goes so fast. But with with entrepreneurship, again, there's there's amazing times there's really high highs and there's low lows, as well. But one of the things that we've we've talked to our kids is and they asked me what I do, and I bring them to my office and I explained to them, you know how how things work and how money works. And and again, another example because my son, all of them have have worked and mowed lawns, and my son actually started tuning skis and getting really good out because he was racing, and he was then tuning for the other kids. And then my three older kids are the two, the next two started learning how to tune skis. And they had their own, their friends would bring their skis over and they'd send them Venmo. I'm like, that's how it works, you guys. And then you know, then he started tuning more skis. And this last year, he's like, Dad take down my website, because I actually don't have enough time to tune all these skis. And then he's he also rides bikes, and he's tuning bikes now and, and things like that. But what was really interesting, and hopefully this comes back, you know, Kirk to the question is, how are we teaching them and showing them, you know, real life skills. And in the world of providing for yourself and being self sufficient, I think is one of the most important things that we can teach our kids. He wanted to work in a bike shop. And it was last year. He's like, hey, I want to work this summer. I'm like, yeah, guess what? No one's hiring. It's COVID. Everything shut down. And so we started talking, he's like, Dad, I've reached out to all these companies I talked to and I kind of had this in my mind all along, am I here's what you should do. We spent time together, putting together you know, a little resume, which really didn't have much. And then here's how you email, here's how you reach out. Here's how you build relationships with people. And he's like, Dad, I haven't heard back from anybody.
Derek Miner:Shocker!!! Right?
Kirk Chugg:And bike stores didn't have any bikes! And so I said, here's what I'd recommend. I said, Why don't you go in? And he sent a series of follow ups Did you hear back? Hey, you know, we're, you know, we're not hiring it right now. We'll we'll keep every you know, we'll keep your name and information because he's been in the shop a lot. And so he's like, okay, whatever, I'll just mow lawns and keep doing stuff like that. And I said, Gavin, if you really want to work there, you should just go ask him if you can work for free, and learn. And, and he went in there, he says, Hey, I know I've applied here. I love bikes. I really want to just learn, you know, on the job, can I work for free, they said, you can start on Monday.
Derek Miner:And you guys, he worked for almost five months for free without pay all summer. And in October, they offered him a part time position while he was going to school. And he still works during the day.
Kirk Chugg:How cool is that!
Derek Miner:And so that's that's one of the things and again, my wife deserves all the credit. But the fact that he you know, he, he he showed up, and he kept a commitment. And he said, I want to work for free. And he did it. And he said, here's what I'm available. And he'd show up. And he said Dad, sometimes we'd have things to do. I'm like, what do you do you see opportunities around the shop and he would look around and he said, and it cleaned the floor and hid rearrange things and, and find ways to add value. And so that's that's one of the things I think with some of the younger kids, too. We, you know, we try to show them opportunities to add value in other people's lives because really as you do, that's when opportunities present themselves.
Cory Moore:You mentioned your wife a few seconds ago. I know in my life if my wife didn't inspire me to be a better husband and a better man. I wouldn't be who I am today. What kind of things has your wife taught you about being a great father and a gentlemen.
Derek Miner:Man, I think the only reason that I've been able to do anything is because of her. She has always encouraged me and always been there for me. And in turn, I've tried to be there for her. But I talked about the kids and all the cool stuff that they're doing. It's really because of her. And everything that she does, I think we, you know, we all know that. So she, she deserves all the credit in the world. I actually had the opportunity to work with her dad. And which was really interesting. I think that's probably the only reason that he let me marry her is because he saw what I was like, and had had some work ethic. But actually, the funniest thing is when I, we knew each other, through mutual friends, and I remembered her last name. And then when I was introduced to the CFO of this company, as like, Oh, that's the same name. And then I saw her walk into the office one day, I'm like, Oh, my gosh, that's her. So I'm like, Okay, I gotta, you know, I was I remember going in and asking him, like, hey, I'd like to take your daughter out, he's like, actually, I've got someone else on the side, like, oh, that wasn't good. My wife's mother passed away when she was very young. And he was just an incredible provider, and gave my wife amazing experiences as she as she grew up, and I always wanted to be the kind of husband and father that she had in her, you know, in her death, as well. And that's, that's been a huge, you know, always still trying to measure up to that, but man, she, she's amazing. She's the one as you guys know, it makes makes everything run makes everything possible for me to do what I can do to best provide, you know, for them, but I want to do whatever I can to make her life better. And ultimately, you know, when you think about, you know, kind of my definition of what does it mean to be a gentleman and it's really, you know, helping someone to feel comfortable, and even being uncomfortable to make someone comfortable. Because that man, there's too many things in life that cause a lot of discomfort and pain. And, and, you know, really helping people feel loved helping them feel accepted, helping them feel appreciated, valued. And important, is what I hope my my behavior demonstrates for her because I know that's what she does, and how she shows up for all of us.
Kirk Chugg:Fantastic definition, Derek. Thank you. We didn't even have to ask the question. That's how in tune with the Gentlemen Project Derek miner is he knows, we're going to ask this question next. A gentleman is somebody that other people enjoy being around? And it's because of the way they make them feel? And so whether it's a woman or whether it's a man, you just described the way that your wife inspires you. And whether you whatever you want to call that when you're around people that make you feel better about yourself. And I think that you can count that as being a gentleman. Derek, thanks for joining us on the Gentlemen Project Podcast. It means a lot to us. And we are appreciative of your friendship. You'll have to let us know how your Gentlemen Project dads group goes this week, tell all those guys. Hi, we appreciate you so much for being with us today.
Derek Miner:Thank you both so much. Appreciate you and all the good you do and to all the dads out there we let's go. Let's make it happen.
Kirk Chugg:Let's do all in right.
Derek Miner:Thanks, Cory. Thanks so much, Kirk.
Kirk Chugg:Join us next week on the gentlemen project podcast. We have new episodes every Monday. We invite you to follow the Gentlemen Project Podcasts on any of the social media platforms and any of the podcast platforms that you consume your social media and podcasts, find us follow us and if you have recommendations, if you have feedback, if you just want to say hi, shoot us a message, and we would be glad to talk with you. So have a great week. Thanks again. Derek Miner for joining us. I'm Kirk Chugg.
Cory Moore:And I'm Cory Moore.
Kirk Chugg:Have a great week.