American Towing and Recovery Institute onThe Go
American Towing and Recovery Institute onThe Go
Trailblazer Leadership Retreat Preview
Want your team to run smoother and your stress to drop? We sat down with Cardinal Legacy Towing Group’s CEO, Kurtis Barks, to unpack a simple idea with outsized impact: put the right people in the right roles and teach leaders how to lead. From towing and recovery to body shops and insurance, the same patterns show up—great operators get promoted, then drown in management chaos. Kurtis walks us through the Trailblazer Leadership Retreat, a two-day, small-group experience built for owners and managers who need real tools, not vague motivation. Think role scorecards, decision frameworks, candid coaching, and a peer network that lasts.
We dig into the Culture Index and how a 10-minute survey can cut turnover, stabilize hiring, and reveal strengths you can actually use. You’ll hear how a struggling salesperson became a standout finance pro once his natural wiring had a place to shine. The results aren’t theoretical: better safety, fewer miscasts, faster onboarding, clearer meetings, and more resilient margins. We also talk about training that respects time—concise classrooms, more instructors, and a calendar of schools rolling out nationwide. If you’ve ever felt stuck working in the business instead of on it, this is your map out.
Beyond operations, we spotlight service and legacy. Kurtis shares the story of Guns and Hoses and BackStoppers in the St. Louis region, supporting families of fallen first responders with real, lasting help. That spirit is baked into the retreat’s design: small, practical, and people-first. Seats are limited to 30 for deep work and stronger connections, with priority access for attendees to bring their teams later in the year. Ready to swap firefighting for leadership that scales? Hit play, then grab your spot at amcosignup.org or call 636-800-ATRI. If this resonated, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a business owner who could use a win this year.
You're on the train to success with April and West Wilburn. I'm DJ Harrington, the co-host, better known as the Tow Doctor. We're all on our way to the town of proper towing and recovery, along with our producer Chuck Camp in the studio. Don't go to the town of wulda, coulda, shoulda. You could have done this. You should have done that. Listen every week to thought-provoking wisdom from great guests. So if you have Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeartMedia, or the number one podcast, or maybe Amazon, or wherever you get your podcast, turn in on Wednesday and be turned on all week long. If you are a state association and want your announcements or upcoming State Association news, or maybe a post show that's coming up, let us know. Our podcast studio phone number is 706-409-5603. I'm proud to be part of a great team at the American Dome Recovery Institute. I will turn it to April and Miss.
SPEAKER_06:Thank you, DJ, for those kind words. I certainly appreciate it. Of course, we appreciate all our listeners, you folks that are listening, you make this whole thing possible. Appreciate you listening. Make sure you hit that like and subscribe button. I guess I shouldn't have to be the first thing, but I do appreciate the subscribers where we're 20,000 now and keep growing every week. So we certainly appreciate that. So we're here in the dead of winter. How's everybody doing? DJ, how are you doing, buddy?
SPEAKER_05:I'm doing fine, my friend. And it's I'm looking forward to the leadership conference. And the last couple of weeks, I loved the podcast. They were great. So our listeners need to go back and listen to one or two of the archives, and you they really get a lot out of it. I know I did. April, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_04:I'm doing pretty good. Just trying to keep up with this yo yeah weather. Uh we're in January and we've had days in the 70s, and we're gonna have days in the 20s, so it's hard to acclement to that.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, right now we're seeing 70 and 80 degree weather down here in the southeast corner of North Carolina. Next week they say we're gonna get cold again, so winter is roaring as ugly head. But we've been up and down all over the place with this weather, haven't we?
SPEAKER_04:We really haven't. All I have to say is you can complain about the weather all you want to, it's gonna be a daily occurrence. When you have a good day, just enjoy enjoy that day.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Everybody talks about their weather and how it changes so rapidly, and you hear the same thing all over the country. If you don't like the weather here, just wait 30 minutes, it will change.
SPEAKER_05:And how about all the hey April? Think about all the people up north in the deep snow and getting six and eight inches again.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I mean it's and it's normal for them to get it. We can't fathom it down here because you really haven't been if you've just been in the south and if you've been lucky and been in the south your whole entire life. Really can't fathom what that uh experience is to what that experience is to um have that as a normal thing. You know, that's a normal thing up north.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, you can say it's normal all you want though, but when you get six inches or a foot of snow, it's still a challenge. I don't care if you're used to it or not.
SPEAKER_04:I'm gonna uh well, let me let me tell you a little story about that. I'm from West Virginia originally and I went to Northern Virginia. North of Virginia does have weather compared to here, but not like down home in West Virginia dead. And I go home, it's the middle, it's maybe it's January, December, January, and I go home and I wake up and there's about six inches of snow on the ground and I'm panicking because I've gotten used to not having to be in the weather. And I I'm trying to figure out if I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna wait another day um to go because there's so much snow out there. And my cousin walks and all is like, Oh my god, there's six inches of snow out there, and he he looks at the one and he said, Yep, only six inches of snow. So you can get used to it. They do down there. Or I'm saying down there because I think I'm thinking what should be still down there, but up there. You you do get used to it. We you know. We have hurricanes, they have snowstorms. So But one I I wanna say that's one thing as far as like the archives go. Um we had a great 2025 as far as podcast interviews go. We write a lot of information to people and probably in the in in that prospect of doing that, we probably also learned some things too than we was. We probably picked up some things here and there.
SPEAKER_07:Sure we did.
SPEAKER_04:Um, between like looking stuff up and getting ourselves educated and then also having great interviews with people who brought different perspectives too. So you go back and look at 2025, 24, 23. We've been doing this since our fifth season.
SPEAKER_06:We'll be here shortly.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, we're coming into our fifth. Yeah, we're coming into our fifth season. Um, and we've had some great, great interviews um and and great people on too. So go back and and look at that, and we hope maybe our 2026 brings us some more great um interviews as well.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I concur with you. I think 2025 was so superior to 2024.
SPEAKER_06:We're working on 2026.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:The question I keep getting asked is when am I retiring? What am I doing? I plan on staying on another hopefully two and a half years at least. If I wait for it. But I'm right here today, it's the same as it was last year. I'm here with my lovely white paper working to set up the school dates. I plan on attending virtually all of them myself with the crew that we've got now, Justin and JT, and a couple other people coming on board too. Tony and Travis, and several other people getting involved. I shouldn't name names because then you don't name somebody. But the schools are happening uh as much, if not more than ever. We put on the best school that I've ever been involved with, with the crew that we have that coming and help, and trying to get trying to not shortcut the classroom, but get we're gonna go out of the blah blah blah information and make it more concise and more um well, concise, I guess, would be the best word I'm looking for. But anyway, with all that being said, starting in February, we got about two to three schools per month, so make sure you check our website out.
SPEAKER_04:Our website is A M T O W R I slash sign up.
SPEAKER_06:Or you can just call 910-7479000 as a direct line. Um if you're interested in hosting a date, get with me. The spring's about filled up, but we have a couple of weekends open. Summer's got dates in the fall, it's about halfway filled up already. So I'm at class number 981. I got 19 to go to a thousand. So no matter what we're doing at, we're thinking we might reach a thousand by the early spring, or excuse me, early summer. So keep posted on that. But besides that, nothing has changed with training other than we've made it more concise. Oh, another thing that's involved is we have all these other folks involved. So the education factor is more than just me. I I'm so I can't tell you how excited I am by that fact because I believe I've shared just about everything I got with with the organization to try to make this training the best I can. These other guys coming on board and gals too, really helped take things to the next level. So that's another exciting thing that's happening for 2026. Six months into this merger, I'm tickled to death with it. As a matter of fact, the interview here shortly directly related to that with the the uh the CEO, the chairman of the board, I guess is the correct term of the organization that has consumed ATRA training to us. So we got a great interview. We're gonna take a quick break, but right after the break, we'll come back.
SPEAKER_05:You're listening to the American Towing and Recovery Institute podcast with Wes Wilburn and April Wilburn, and yours truly, the Toad Doctor DJ Harrington. I want all of you to remember we're available on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeartMedia, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcast. We're there. So, without further ado, I know this is going to be a great one. It's a returning guest. So, Wes, let me turn it on over to you, buddy.
SPEAKER_06:Thanks, DJ. Certainly appreciate that. Again, we thank our listeners. We're over 20,000 subscribers. If you haven't taken a moment, hit that subscribe button, please do that. We really appreciate that. Hit that like and share also. Um so today we have a returning podcast guest, someone we've had on before. Um Curtis Barks is the chairman of the Cardinal Legacy Towing Group, which is the organization that ATRI training division sold to recently. And Curtis and the whole team there's been putting a lot of effort into some really exciting training that's coming up. So, Curtis, I want to welcome you back to the podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Sure. Good afternoon, good morning, whatever you guys are listening to this. And uh, like I said, on all avenues and all podcasts, my name is Curtis Barks. I am the CEO of Cardinal Legacy Towing Group. Um, also uh an entrepreneur in St. Louis, Missouri, based and looking to uh continue growth across the United States. Um, over the past years, I've owned a number of businesses such as uh Complete Out of Body and Repair. Uh that's for 26 years with seven locations amongst the St. Louis area. Uh recently sold uh those to a solid investment group, two investment groups actually for the body and the service side of things. We're looking to uh take that money and reinvest it more into the towing and training industry and really get to uh set the bar in towing to make it safer and make it better for everyone. So I'm excited to be here.
SPEAKER_06:Well, we're excited to have you. Um you sold out on the body shops in the automotive, but you for so we tell us about your entry into towing and where you are today with that.
SPEAKER_02:Sure, it started towing back in 2009. Um started small just with two trucks, got into it, grew up into uh 2019, grew up to about 11 trucks. Uh then 2019 goes into 2021, right out of COVID, started to do uh looking at acquisitions, and as of today, uh with uh 13 brands underneath our belts, uh we're proud to push out there almost 200 uh 200 units, about 145 power units, and about 60 pieces of equipment to uh support it. So we're really looking to take over uh and support the industry where there is a struggle to find high-quality people with high quality training, is by replacing uh the way that things used to be done with the newer, more modern ways that are safer and better and and all around just going to be the new way things are done for the next years to come.
SPEAKER_06:Well, that's outstanding. Um we'll first follow just a little bit more clarification. You guys are major in the St. Louis market, and then you're also in the Kansas City and the uh, what's that, Naples, Florida?
SPEAKER_02:That's correct. Naples, Florida. We've got uh one location in Kansas City. We're looking at doing two more acquisitions here real quickly. Uh the St. Louis market has the number of acquisitions done, and it has grown to be one of the largest in the Midwest.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely. First class operation as well. I've been working with you guys for a number of years and it's a great organization. That's part of the reason we were happy to make the move to combining forces with you guys. One of the one of the things that that I really am excited about is your y'all's look on the big picture. Um for many years I realized the towing industry means more than just uh hook and chain training, as some people have called it over the years, which is important and has its place and the last 33 years of my life, the hook and chain training on one level. But also from the business side, and I I saw this years ago, that's what we started the COVID's retreat in Myrtle Beach over a decade ago, bringing in people like Gary Coe and Donna Bookhouse Co. that talked about the business of running the front office. Um, and I've always tried to touch on a little of that through my regular training, but never have really even made a scratch the surface of what's available out there. And that's why I'm so excited about the leadership training that you folks are bringing in and that you and Jeff and the whole team are so involved in. Can you talk to us a little bit about the the need that you saw for leadership in the industry? Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. Yeah, when it comes to the when it comes to this industry, you have a lot of good ladies and gentlemen that are good operators, but they're just not they're just not leaders, they're just not owners. They're good at doing the job, they know how to do it, they need a little bit of training, but also what they need training in is it is a pure leadership. If we can develop a leader, and it could be in any industry, this is a universal love language type thing, where you look at it, and if you don't have a leader, where are you going? Right? Everyone have it has a leader, everyone has someone to look up to. Well, sometimes in our towing industry, or even in in the autobody industry um or repair industries, just to give an example, we're really good at doing the work, but we're not really good at leading our team to that next level. You know, we're we're we're working in our business instead of on our business.
SPEAKER_06:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and that that's something that's got to change. And we can offer, uh, you know, we are offering an opportunity to get some real strong training, leadership training, uh, hosted by myself and Cardo Legacy Group and Jeff Bauer here at the end of January down in Weston Weston Cape Coral. Uh, not only will you have beautiful weather for the end of January, but you'll have some beautiful minds around you. It's a small class of 30, and uh we only have a couple spots left, and really looking to fill it out and then uh enjoy some good speech uh from a couple different speakers, from former law enforcement to uh nonprofit to just overall leadership in general, straight out of John Maxwell's playbook, that uh normally you would have to wait a year to get to or years to get to if you could even get in, and you're in a room with thousands of people. Well, in the in this class, in this leadership role, you're one of thirty. So you're gonna get the one-on-one type training that you need to really make decisions in your business to make it that much better. And by working on your business instead of in it, you're gonna be so much more successful, so much less stressed, and you're gonna wake up just rejuvenated with greater ideas and be able to be the next greatest tow company or auto-body shop, repair shop, salvage yard, anything. Even even I heard somebody say dry cleaners, anything. You'd be the best in your area by having the right leadership tools.
SPEAKER_04:That was the question I was gonna ask Kurt because this isn't we're in the towing industry, you're in the towing industry, um, and we know people in the towing industry, but this is a this is a multifaceted across the board um type of uh uh intimate, and it's intimate, it's only 30 people setting where you can get that one-on-one and get those skills to take to your business, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, you're 100%. It it doesn't matter what industry you're in, if you're looking to be better and have a clearer mind on how to get to the next step in life, you know, a lot of people will do really good at one thing, but when they go to multitask or they go to try and figure out how to do two to three things or to deal with problems, you know, they just don't have the leadership mentality to answer those questions. And they don't have anyone to go to because they're the boss. So, what we want to do is give them those tools, fill up your toolbox full of things that you can get into, um, opening your mind, you'll have like-minded quality people sitting next to you who you can have great conversations with, and you can learn on again how to be that leader to take your team to that great great level you're looking for.
SPEAKER_04:It also sounds like it might be a fantastic networking opportunity as well.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, 100%. Yeah, that there's people from the insurance industry gonna be there, and you know, from the automotive industry. Um, I know for a fact that you know some of the key people in my life will be there that I've learned from, and I look forward to listening to them talk again so I can be refreshed. Uh it's it's not every day that you get to spend um a full solid day or two with someone as talented as Jeff Bauer at the cost of the minimal that you can take back to your team and make huge impacts. And for the small investment of time and and and funds, you come back with just 10 to 50 times what you had when you went down there. And it's a great feeling. It takes away stress, it takes people off the ledge, off that heart attack ledge, and really just gives you that peace of mind that you do know what you're doing. You you now have someone you can rely on, you're gonna build a group of friends that you can work with, and they're not there to take your business from you, they're here to support you.
SPEAKER_06:Many lifelong friendships will be started at this event is my prediction. Absolutely. And a good time will be at. Not only is it uh will be a good networking opportunity, you're gonna gain information that will help you in your home, help you in a church, a volunteer organization, and your business.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you're right. Everything from finance to personal well being to health Help self help self-help. Um, you know, there's just a lot of it that we're gonna pack into these two days because we've got such a small group, we're gonna be able to. The question and answer part of it's gonna be amazing. Again, you're gonna meet so many people in so many industries, and you get to hear questions that maybe you're afraid to ask, or maybe you didn't think to ask. And these these answers will come to you, and it's gonna trigger something. Everyone will take back something very positive. And whatever you invest, you know how anything works. If you invest your time into it, it will be successful. And that's the people we're looking for. We're looking for the ones that want to be continually successful.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely. And there's a high caliber crowd from what I've seen on the registration list already. I know so all the people attending. So I'm super excited. You know what else I'm excited about? We have uh this oceanfront resort. This looks like quite the place. Um, we have access to a private clubhouse, DJ. What about that?
SPEAKER_07:That's wonderful.
SPEAKER_06:That tennis court, I don't think I I used to love playing tennis, I don't think I can. It has something called uh Bushie Ball, I don't know what that is. P-O-C-C-E ball.
SPEAKER_04:Bocce ball.
SPEAKER_02:But it does have bocce balls, it's got private restaurants overlooking the cook Gulf of Mexico. I mean, it is it is beautiful. And the Weston is a premium, premium hotel.
SPEAKER_06:It also has horseshoes, and I think that we might have to do a few horseshoe lessons while we're there. Been playing that since I was a young child, so not a bad game. I know what I know what came out to challenge you in then. There you go. Um, I'm just kidding, but it does look like quite the place. Um Curtis, can we get your hang on back away? I want to talk a little bit more about what's going on in the right.
SPEAKER_05:Welcome back, listeners. This is the podcast for you. If you're in tone and recovery, it's great. But this is a podcast I would love for you to share with your wives, your relatives, your cousins, your aunts, especially if they live in Georgia, South Carolina, Florida. They can drive down to Florida. It's a beautiful area, and just like Curtis said, it's gorgeous weather in Florida. The sun is out always, and you'll love it. And bocce ball west, don't challenge any Italian people because they really play bocce ball very well. Okay, I want to remind all of you, please like and review. That's why we got over 20,000 listeners. All of you have been sharing it with fellow business owners. And this is a podcast we would love for you to share with business owners in your community or in your church. Let them know, invest in themselves so they can grow not just themselves, but their business. As I tell people, develop from within so we never ever go without. And if you want an industry leader to be on this podcast, we have a hotline at the at the podcast center 706-409-5603. And without further ado, and I thank all of you for registering, liking, and reviewing, I'll pass it over in April Wilburn. April, it's yours.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you, DJ. Well, I just want to tell uh mention to everybody this is our first uh podcast interview of 2026 um that we're doing, and I want to tell you that 2025 was a banner year for us. Uh a lot of a lot of great things happened, but one of the great things that happened is that we um came together with the Carnal Legacy group. And we are fortunate enough today to have Curtis Barks, the CEO of Carn Carnal Legacy, and he's gonna talk to us about a lot of things, but particularly the trail trailblazer leadership retreats. Curtis, welcome back, sir.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you, April. Appreciate your time.
SPEAKER_04:So as far as this leadership retreat grow goes um goes, on our last segment we talked about how the intimate setting, um, there's only 30 people that are gonna be be there. And all the the great things that are gonna come out of that, and I think there's gonna be workshops from what I understand as well, isn't there?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, there'll be a lot of interaction, a lot of one-on-one uh capabilities or possi possibilities, especially with you know, having a couple days with such a small intimate group, you're really gonna get to get the one-on-one feel.
SPEAKER_06:And part of the whole goal of this is to help the industry uh with the subject of leadership and management. Um you take kind of a different stance from some of the other people. Uh one of the things that impressed me when we made our deal was that you were very concerned about the the training that we provide still being available to the whole industry, and you're not only doing that, you're bringing this level of training. What's your motivation for doing this?
SPEAKER_02:So, what I've learned is if we don't stick together, we will fail together. So we must, as a team, or as a as an or as a group in the towing industry work together, otherwise, legislation and the fact of just pure accidents are gonna uh hinder us and take us out. So if we work together and we do things safely, we do things properly, and we work as a team, which a lot of tow companies are they don't work as teams because everybody's competitive and wanting to cut throat, but this allows you to work together with sister and brother tow companies to learn from them and experience some of the heartache together that you can turn around and spin into a positive moment. And that is something that life experiences would be the only replacer you could have for such great training. And why go through it and fail and go through the ups and downs when we can go through a leadership class and a training class and help you eliminate all those because we've gone through it. We've had the experience, we've put the people in the right spots. That's the number one thing with we do behavioral analytics. We use a culture index type product that is just amazing, allows us to put drivers in the driver's seat, passengers in the passenger seat. And when you know your position and you know what you're naturally good at, your stress levels go down, your heart attack risk goes down, your ability to be better at what you do is just generally goes up. And if you're gonna be the best at what you do, you might as well have a toolbox full of tools that helps you do it.
SPEAKER_06:You make some great points there, and definitely people allowing this job to be harder than it is has caused major health problems with many people over the years. Um you mentioned the culture index, which is something I'm fascinated with, and I I I think it's such a a proactive tool. Um with the as the pro we went through the process with me uh in our relationship, you always did the culture index on me, which well explain to our listeners what the culture index is, and then I'll talk about my experience with it a little bit.
SPEAKER_02:Sure. So culture index is basically a two-question test or survey. We don't ever really call it a test because it's more of a survey. And when you take this survey, it takes about 10 minutes, and again, it's only two questions, you pick the words that match, and when you're done, we we can evaluate it with you, and we sit down and go over it one-on-one with you and help you understand better who you are naturally. And when I say naturally, uh, if you are a timid person or you're you're outgoing, or you're detailed, or your uh entrepreneurial style is is high, or you're extremely creative, or maybe you you're high detailed and you you just like to follow directions. Um by doing that, you put the right people in the right spots, and it makes you healthier, makes your business run better. For example, in 2015, I brought it into my body shops, and I went from a massive turnover of about eight percent turnover average down to two percent in sim in less than twelve months. And we had a pretty large fleet, and so six percent was a massive number.
SPEAKER_06:That is, especially when you consider the cost, the time and energy it costs to onboard a new employee.
SPEAKER_02:That's absolutely correct. And it it's gonna get worse because nowadays you you have people that want to work, but they don't know where they belong, and and a lot of the training hasn't been hands-on, and because a lot of the trainers have retired due to illness or sickness, or or maybe they just aged out, um, or maybe they just gave up because the stresses were too high. And and that's our goal is if we can bring the training back, bring back the luxury that people have to make a choice on on what they want to do as a career instead of just putting a round peg in a square hole, we can do some really neat things and make some people really happy and also build a legacy. And that's where the Cardinal Legacy Toying Group comes from. This is my legacy. I've got a 13-year-old son. I want to leave him a legacy along along with the 300 team members that work for us. You know, they they deserve a legacy to be proud of and look back at. And I think everyone should look back at their life and go, What did I accomplish? What did I do? What am I leaving to the next generation? What did I make better? And that's what this leadership training does, is it makes you better because it brings out the inner you and puts you in the right spot to be successful.
SPEAKER_06:It really does identify tendencies and strengths and weaknesses that people have naturally. And like you say, you're not putting a round peg in a square hole, you're much better fit. I know uh Jeff told the story about someone you had on board working for you, and they they just weren't happy with their job. Yeah, and by doing the the culture index with them, you identified that they'd be better as a. I think they moved him, you moved them into accounting and they've got a settler employee.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and that that worked out really well. This this gentleman was actually he's a drummer for Story of the Year, and he's uh you would think a very personal person, performs in front of 20,000, 30,000 cheap kids and adults, and we put him into a sales role, and he just wasn't performing, and he wasn't we were gonna let him go. And we gave him the survey, went over with him, and realized that he doesn't like people. He's he's just he's he's not a people. Which is a really big thing in sales, is you've got to develop a relationship. So we took him took him out of that and put him into finance where all he had to do is crunch numbers, and within eight within 18 months, he was making twice as much money as he was making before. And the guy was working less than 30 hours a week doing a 60-hour week job. He was amazing. He was crushing it. And all because we put him in the the right right place in the right part of the bus. If we would have left it where we were, we would have fired him and never knew his talents.
SPEAKER_06:And that all comes from having a different tool in your toolbox.
SPEAKER_02:You're absolutely right.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it's it's I'm telling you that if nothing else, that information right there is worth twice the price of a mission. You know one of the things that I've always been a big believer in is the difference between successful people and average people is the the ability to take action. And I challenge everybody that's listening to this podcast today, what action are you taking for the calendar year 2026 to make you a better person? Uh a better leader. Here is a proven opportunity.
SPEAKER_02:Um we're gonna we're gonna be down and uh Well, I think Nick West, you know what you're getting at is if your New Year's resolution was to be better or to have a better 2026 than a 25, or to be a better leader in your your industry, this is the class you need to go to. This is the two days you spend that you spend correcting the last 300 days of the year and making yourself extremely profitable while taking care of all of your health benefit unit issues because you're just not as stressed. You just feel better about your job. You don't get mad at yourself when you can't do something that you aren't naturally good at.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_02:And they cannot add No, you're fine, it's just it's hard because we're so hard on ourselves because we expect ourselves to be best at everything.
SPEAKER_04:And they cannot add or ask I guess this is an ask question. Okay, so you've identified there's there's probably more than two types of people, but there are mainly two types of people, there are followers and there's leaders, and those are natural attributes that we all have. I think I have a tendency to be a follower, kind of lead from behind, but I'm still a follower, and I try to be the best follower that I can be. But I need good leadership. When when somebody goes to that retreat and they became they become a better leader um than they were that weekend, what you're doing is giving that as a gift out too to the people who want to follow you because we are probably all looking for somebody to guide us to some extent. There's a small percentage of people who are natural leaders as you are and as Wes is. And the rest of us just need to to find that that good leader.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and you can really get yourself into a lot of trouble by following the wrong person.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Raise my hand after that one. I've done that one before.
SPEAKER_02:And we all we all have at some point in our life believed in someone that failed us or believed in someone that took us down a path that we didn't just didn't quite get or understand. But they they didn't understand who we are either. So you know you look back and you don't want to get upset with the person, but you can be upset with yourself because you didn't take the steps to give you the tools to be the better bit better person. Either a leader or a follower or you know, a part of the herd, or you're out there ringing the bell and and you're you're you're you're the next Navy SEAL, whatever it is, you know, without understanding who you are, you'll never get up that hill and accomplish those goals.
SPEAKER_04:And what this recreate can do for not just the people who are attending it, but to their personnel when they go back is give that get give those folks a good person to lead them.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and what we're gonna do is the folks that come to the class on the 29th and 30th of January at the West End Hotel in Cape Coral, Florida, one of those beautiful spots in South Florida, those folks will have the first priority to come back and bring their team at a discounted rate later in the year. Well and it will sell out. It will sell out very quickly. Once this catches on and people realize what is out there for them, this is a no-brainer. This is a small investment into your life to make a difference that will impact you for the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_06:And it's an area that no one's addressing for virtually any industry, much less specifically for service type industry like what we're doing here.
SPEAKER_02:No, you're absolutely right. People are people don't want you to lead, they want you to follow. So, and and then unfortunately, that's just not the way the world works. There's too many leaders out there that have been plowhorses their whole life that need to be racehorses.
SPEAKER_04:That's right. Yeah, that's a very good way of putting it.
SPEAKER_02:We need them more than ever now. We need good leadership in this country. We need good leadership in our cities, in our towns, for our children, for the next generation. You know, we haven't had the best of leadership, and it's it's not going to change unless we change it.
SPEAKER_04:It does seem like the country is moving at a much faster pace these days, and I think that you're pretty much spot one as far as we need the leadership in all fields, in all fields of industry.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, either we step up or we let AI take over. So I mean, that's the bottom line. Do we want to be a different? Do we want to make a difference? Do we want to be that impactful person, or do you want to just sit back and watch the train go by? You know, and that's fine. There are people that want to sit back and watch the train, and if they want to sit back and watch it, let them. That's fine, because it's a better opportunity for you to win.
SPEAKER_04:Very true. I always say if your team is still you're going backward because the world the world's going so fast right now.
SPEAKER_02:It is, it really is. But it is the best opportunity to win because there's so many people around you that are lazy. There's so many people around you that are saying it's not my fault, it's not my job, I don't know what to do. And then there's so many people in leadership that are lost right now because they're frustrated, they're stressed out, they're they're anxiety ridden. You know, anxiety is a big thing nowadays. What if you could get rid of anxiety because you just understood who you naturally were? What if you could be a leader and and have your kids look up to you instead of looking at you, you know, just like you're an average, be above average, be above normal. Could step up, be a leader.
SPEAKER_06:And I and I totally agree with the sh the shape the world's in. We definitely need leaders and business and civics, uh the community, volunteer organizations, etc. Uh speaking of volunteer organizations. You guys just did a big thing for guns and hose. Can you talk to us a little bit about that?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, absolutely. Guns and Hoses is an amazing event. I serve on the board of that and also local backstoppers of St. Louis and St. Charles. And these organizations raise money for our fallen first responders, for the families, the loved ones, and anyone involved in law enforcement, first responders in general, medics, firemen, that's what this benefits. And we haven't announced the numbers yet, but we this event historically over the past three years, and it's its 38th year in business, it raises$1 million an evening. So we are anticipating a over$1 million donation that we'll be able to make to the backstoppers of St. Charles and St. Louis. And that's that is something that is special to the Midwest, and would love to talk to people if anyone's interested to get in touch with me or someone as I serve on the board. We want to branch branch this out to other cities and other states to do what we do for our first responders is unheard of across the United States.
SPEAKER_06:It's a wonderful organization. I kind of followed along online, and that looked like it was a great event. And um it's a very positive thing that you the whole part of the legacy telling group team provides the communities, and it's awesome that you're going to try to help share it around the country.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we love it. We're gonna we definitely got it all across St. Louis into the Midwest, and we're currently supporting 95 families, which is 65 of those are children. That uh the backstoppers will pay all of their tuition, all their medical bills, medical, all their they paid off their homes, everything for eternity because their loved one died in the line of duty.
SPEAKER_06:That is awesome. That is really awesome.
SPEAKER_02:Well, Curtis.
SPEAKER_06:Anything else you'd like to share with us about the trailbreak laser leadership retreat?
SPEAKER_02:Just one last call to action. If you're sitting there and you you you just want to take a couple days to yourself and figure it out, this is the best place to do it. It's beautiful, it's sunny, the weather's gorgeous, the people are amazing. It's a low pressure, high results, high wind event that everyone should try. And if you've never seen or heard of John Maxwell, look him up, look at what he talks about, and you'll get to see what he does and the benefits of effects of his training in Jeff Bauer. And you'll see him this this January, 29th and 30th, at the West Indian Cape Coral.
SPEAKER_06:You know, I didn't talk about Jeff Bauer, and I know you mentioned him. Uh he's the main one that I we dealt with on the business transaction of combining forces, and I have to tell you, he is a sharp businessman that is has ethics and is uh a pleasure to deal with a gentleman, a prince among men. So just the fact that he's running along with Curtis being involved, great, great people right there.
SPEAKER_02:No, he's been amazing. He's been part of my family of team of groups since 2014. And um for 11 now 12 years, he has become the solid rock in my company. He's my right hand, and I look forward to working with him for many years and decades to come.
SPEAKER_06:So for more information, you can go to amco w s-g-n-up.org. Let me repeat, that's amcosignup.org. Or you can call the office 636-800-ATRI. I'll gladly take your phone call and answer any questions I can for you. We'd love to see you there. Curtis, thank you for coming on the podcast, keeping us up to date. Able DJ, appreciate you guys as well. Want all those listeners out there that's busy with winter season to be safe. Uh, remain profitable.