Shed Geek Podcast
The Shed Geek Podcast offers an in depth analysis of the ever growing and robust Shed Industry. Listeners will experience a variety of guests who identify or specialize in particular niche areas of the Shed Industry. You will be engaged as you hear amateur and professional personalities discuss topics such as: Shed hauling, sales, marketing, Rent to Own, shed history, shed faith, and much more. Host Shannon Latham is a self proclaimed "Shed Geek" who attempts to take you through discussions that are as exciting as the industry itself. Listeners of this podcast include those who play a role directly or indirectly with the Shed Industry itself.
Shed Geek Podcast
Farmer, Marketer, Podcaster: Cord Koch- PART 2
A passion project can stay pure and still pay its bills. We open the curtain on how our shed-industry podcast evolved into a practical media and consulting platform, why we invite direct competitors to the mic, and how we’re formalizing a vetted network of niche experts in operations, rent-to-own, CRMs, 3D configurators, lumber, and growth leadership. The goal is simple: connect real problems to the right expertise, measure outcomes, and keep the conversation honest enough that everyone gets better.
You’ll hear the why behind our approach to monetization and sponsorships, including exclusivity, rigorous vetting, and a commitment to fairness even when we sell. We also share what changed our trajectory: a health scare, burnout, therapy, and an inattentive ADHD diagnosis that reframed decades of focus struggles into an attention-surplus superpower. That transparency isn’t spectacle—it’s strategy. When leaders stabilize, teams perform, customers feel the difference, and the entire supply chain benefits from clearer thinking and cleaner processes.
We’re building peer groups and roundtables where shed pros can ask hard questions, bring fresh data, and iterate on what works month after month. Education alone isn’t enough; iteration compounds. If you bring niche expertise or need targeted guidance, we want to talk—because iron sharpens iron, and this industry grows faster when we learn out loud together.
Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review to help more shed pros find these conversations. Want in on a peer group or consulting session? Call or text 618-309-3648 or email info@sheedgeek.com.
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Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro
Thank you for listening to part two of a two-part series here at the Shed Geek Podcast. If you missed part one, just go back to last week and listen for more engaging conversation here at the Shed Geek Podcast.
Cord :I don't want to keep being the one to talk here. So, maybe you tell us about Shed Geek Consulting.
Shannon:Well, you know, the consultation has happened more organically than it has in terms of like going and getting a formal education. To me, in many ways, uh it's the best form of consultation because it's uh in the military, they always, you know, you're always called the grunt whenever you've done all the work. You know, you weren't the officer, you were the NCO, the non-commissioned officers always kind of got the reputation as the blue-collar section of the military versus the officers and the very white-collar approach that that that they took in leadership. Um and so, like for that reason, you know, everybody respects uh a guy who's been in the trenches, it seems. You know, uh they ultimately become first sergeant, most of them, in the military, and they still answer to the officer in charge, but everybody knows that the person with the knowledge was the first sergeant. So, you know, we've been in the trenches, but that doesn't mean that we have all the answers that we're figuring them out as we go. But as we even began to, you know, uh grow um, you know, a rentals, a finance and e-commerce, and even a marketing side, uh, you know, that all came from a desire to help people, you know, and then if you can find a way to help people and then monetize, you know, yourself the uh what's the what's the term? The um oh my gosh, I can't think of it. Anyway, I'm failing to come up with it. Um the dilemma. There what is it called? Like a Hobson's something. What's the other? See, this is driving me crazy now because I can't.
Cord :Now you've got a specific type of dilemma. Oh gosh, I don't know. I know about Holmes Grazer, I don't know about Hobson's dilemma.
Shannon:It's uh I'm struggling to think of it, and that's terrible. It's where my mind has gone. It's like a uh it's a it's comparative to a dilemma. Anyway, let's use dilemma because our minds are failing us here. The dilemma is this. The dilemma is that like when you when you uh have a media agency that's overseeing the education and entertainment of an industry, um the monetization of that came about sort of organically. I jumped into this to help people, to communicate, and to just do something. I did not set back on a big grand plan to figure out how to monetize this and retire off of this. As a matter of fact, it was a it was a passion. Uh matter of fact, I've done it for free. Uh to, you know, I probably told the story on here beyond that, which was to, you know, actually purchase the equipment in hopes that it would make it. I spent 3,500 bucks to get rolling and was just like, I don't know. I want to do this. This sounds like fun. This seems exciting. I like the people, I like the industry. Uh it's needed because people want to communicate. And we just gave them a way to do that. Um I know that there's other ways that you can do it, but the digital side, you know, made a lot of sense too with the growth of just the way that the digital landscape has kind of touched our lives. So, you know, as we were developing marketing, it became just apparent to me that really what we're doing is educating people so that we can sell something to them. And it's really something I'd been doing long before, you know, people had been calling me since you know my first year. Where do I get a website? Where can I go for it? Where can I go from that? And I'm just like, yeah, uh, well, these guys do it. Well, we've had these guys on the show. And they did next thing you know, you're helping people because you're becoming a resource because you're not thinking about monetization. But then there comes a point where you're like, hey, um spending resources, you know, and like there's got to be something to come back. That's when the criticism gets introduced, right? Because now if you find yourself in a competing space, you know, it's like, oh, you should just do the podcast, don't do these other things. And I'm like, well, a lot of people forget that I was in rent own when I started the podcast.
Cord :Right.
Shannon:Um, I remember when people said, Don't get into rent own, you make a lot of enemies, and I was like, Well, what if I can make a lot of friends instead? You know, like why can't I invite those people to the to the conversation? And I have. And some of them, you know, will still come on, and likely some of them might not pick up the phone now. I'm not sure. Uh, but for the most part, everyone's been 90% of the time, it's like, yeah, this is a good thing. And we want to come talk about, you know, uh, use that platform to talk about it. And so, like, I've been using this for a long time, Cord. Uh, whenever people say, Well, how can you hardly be um how can you hardly be impartial or fair and balanced to you know uh uh an industry in which you also not only talk to, but that you service. I said, Well, I'll tell you what, I don't know that I can be a hundred percent impartial and one hundred percent fair and balanced. Uh is that okay with you? And they're like, well, yeah, sure. It's just, you know, it's got to be known. I'm like, let me tell you what I do though, is I am impartial enough and fair balanced enough to have my competitors come on and talk about their product offerings. Oh, and by the way, um, they even advertise with me sometimes. And you know what? I had a rent-owned guy come up to me the other day whenever we was at the expo and said, Hey, you know, we're thankful for the leads we've gotten off of the podcast because it makes me want to continue to advertise with you moving forward. I also saw that I was honest and left those leads alone if those leads came to them because we set it up so that it did specifically go to them. You know, we've had our feel, you know, with rent owned. We've done really good this year. As a matter of fact, I think Stay at Home came on here and we kind of talked about our, you know, doubling contracts. So it's like, hey, we were very comfortable with doubling. We didn't really have to go out and try to win the world, right? Uh we were we were satisfied. Anyway, I'm getting down a rabbit trail, but you know, that this is all what's kind of led me to the consultative space to be like, man, uh God's timing is just so impeccable. Uh, you know, um I started getting even some conversations over the last six months of people that was like, hey, I want to really get into this. And like, is there a way we can partner? Is there things that we can do? We've already identified, as a matter of fact, uh, you know, someone that we're working with in the consultative space, uh, our friend Tyler Mahan, you know, at uh, you know, had spent all of his time at Better Barnes and was a uh uh a columnist in the Shed Builder magazine, Shed Business Journal for years, and really has over 20 years of expertise. And by the way, we've already signed our first client on to that consultative space, and likely more will be signed on by the time this goes out because of the meetings we're having. Um, and I think you know, there's others that have talked about joining the group, and we're actively looking. We're trying to use our means, our direction, prayer, and our focus in conversation to say, can we identify folks who would want to be involved? So if you feel like you're one of those folks that offers an area of expertise, um, and you want to be a part of that, we're looking for, you know, varied experts uh, you know, uh who can bring uh so you you've been here, you've done that, right? So you have something to offer. And then we just have to get into the weeds of like what the details are of what you want to offer, how you're gonna uh offer that, and how we can partner together to offer the best consultative, and maybe that's in you know, C-suite services like you were doing with Growth Ops, you know, or maybe that's in, you know, 3D configurators or CRMs or Lumber or who knows what. But um we've talked about a potential peer group and really wanting to get a group of people together that are exclusive on a call so that we can uh shape and shift uh parts of the industry or at a minimum parts of the industry that serves them best, how we can you know service them through communication. I believe knowledge is power, and uh I believe that speaking, you know, um is important, but man, iron sharpens iron, and when you can get together and speak, it creates sort of a dynamic that is better. The dialogue always to me is better than a monologue.
Cord :But um and then uh yeah, I mean, um well, and I think the I think the brilliant part of the way that you've approached this, Shannon, to basically say, you know, like obviously you have a ton of expertise across many, many different kinds of service categories uh, you know, across the industry. But to say, hey, let's go find niche experts, right? Um, uh uh let's go find, I mean, you know, uh the most direct example that you just said, let's go find a guy who has 20 years operating an uh independent manufacturer or dealer location. Right. I mean, the listeners uh, you know, probably heard the interview uh that I did with him uh a few weeks back, um, you know, and his thoughts on you know how to how to continue to uh diversify and add uh add uh products and services, you know, to continue to grow um you know, uh even outside of the traditional uh you know multi multi-kind of uh uh location model type of thing. And um you know, just uh a wealth of knowledge in that category. But as you said, uh really, you know, obviously we have uh people that that we're talking to already and that uh that we kind of think would be good at this. But if you have some of that industry uh or niche specific knowledge, right, 618-309-3648, call Shannon. Uh info, INFO@shedgeek.com. Uh shoot him an email, right? We want to talk to you um you know, because we really want to formalize this network um that provides so much value, right? Um uh let's figure out a way um that this knowledge can be shared, uh, both in that personal consultative hour a week, you know, whatever that looks like on a on a personal basis. But then to your point, Shannon, my goodness, what does it look like? You know, the down the downside of a podcast versus a broadcast, right, is that we don't have that back and forth interaction directly. You know, so let's let's get a peer group that has you know three of the niche experts in this industry who pop in on a round table, right, and you can ask questions back and forth. And this is a continuing conversation, right? This isn't this isn't uh a once-a-year, you know, panel, right? This is a conversation where you know you talk about something uh you know, one week or one month, and then you come back and revisit, you talk about your results, and you talk about the freshest data, and you talk about the freshest uh, you know, uh strategy and tactics. And you know, so really trying to um formalize just all of that uh knowledge and expertise and uh real life uh you know connectedness and value and value to the customer. And I just think it's awesome, man. And you can tell I'm excited about it because I'm sitting here stealing your thunder on just how you're fine. You're fine doing it and putting it together.
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Shannon:Well, I want to make sure, you know, to I mean, to focus on too, you know, we have been very, you know, balanced with our approach to advertising or having people on the show. But we are into year five, and you know what? We do have a business to operate here. And like I told someone else before, my family's my first ministry, and that's the ministry I've got to take care of. And that means making sure that they're well taken care of through um finances, uh, through emotional support, you know, uh, through spiritual support, you know, uh uh physical support, one that a dad and a father and a grandfather and a friend offers. And it's a business, you know. That being said, man, I'm about as open book as you can be, Cord, which is both very beneficial and both very difficult to navigate. I've actually had some of the best minds in the industry say, uh, you know, and I this sounds like a statement of arrogance, but they've just, you know, said, I'm impressed by the way you've walked a tightrope. And I'm like, well, you know, for me, I don't think it's really been much effort. I think it's just been, you know, um, I had a buddy when we were young, and he was he was like, you know, when I was young, I was I was too dumb to be afraid. Uh, you know, that's what landed him in a lot of trouble. Fear didn't do enough for me. Love is what conquered me. And he was like, I was too dumb to be afraid. And I would say that a lot of times I've just been too dumb to know that there's rules in business that you're not supposed to, you know, um cross over. Uh and I'm like, you mean I can't go ask that guy? And I'll tell you what, I'm gonna tell this story because it doesn't give anybody away. But I knew I was on to something. I specifically knew I was on to something when there was uh a very uh well-known person in the industry looking to put together a dinner, uh, basically, among several people who kind of served or crossovered into servicing one particular area of the industry. Right. And uh this is a person who I felt like had some really great resources and still does. And they called me and said, Okay, um, I need you to name them for me. Who all are they? Uh I want to contact them and I want to bring them all together for a conversation. And I was like, You're asking me. He's like, Oh, come on, you're the guy, you you're the one who knows all of them.
Cord :And this is a dinner of competitors, I believe, if you're a dinner of competitors, right?
Shannon:And I was just so surprised because I was like, uh, well, yeah, okay. I didn't think anything about it. I'm like, well, you can do this, and this company does this, and this is the way they operate. And you know, I'm just going through all this mental exercise or whatever without even thinking, wait a minute, that's a valuable opinion. You know, uh, you can, you know, and that's just because my heart is to help first, right? And if you have a chance to monetize that, then you're just blessed. But you know, it's always been how can I help? How can I do more? And look, we're five years in, and this this still seems to be an opportunity. So when I said earlier, we're fair and balanced on that. We start getting some of these preferred partners, trust me. It doesn't have anything to do with personally. I don't want you to advertise, but if we offer some exclusivity, perhaps in an area, uh, look, that's just the way it is. These people are believing in our program enough to put their money where their mouth is, and we want to support them. Uh, and we're vetting those situations heavily. So I just want to make sure to throw that disclaimer out there when it comes to advertising.
Cord :This is formalizing value, right? I mean, and and you it's it's no conceptually different than uh formalizing the value to your customer that your uh you're framed up 16 on center, right? Like it's no conceptually different than just saying, how do I take the value that I'm offering them, right, and package it in a way that actually adds up to a dollar figure, right? It adds up to the value that it actually provides. Um, and so you know, it's business, it's formalizing it. But at the end of the day, you know, I mean, I know you and I know your heart, um, and it's always going to be business done fairly. Um, I have no doubt about that. You know, I feel like both of us really go as far as is possible to be as fair in business as as uh, you know, I just think we do. I think that we we try to go above and beyond to be fair to competitors, um, to be fair to um, you know, whoever it may be, service providers, to just to be fair to people and not to take advantage. Um, and you know, and sometimes that's to both of our financial detriment, right? But but I think that um, you know, we believe in in a higher power, a higher calling. Um, you know, and so it doesn't even have to be.
Shannon:It's God's money anyway. You know, it's God's money anyway, Cord. So, you know, um he you know, it rains on the just and the unjust. You know, so like the way I see it, you know, he takes care of the sparrows uh of the air. You know what I mean? He's gonna take how much more will he take care of us? He owns a cattle on a thousand heels. Like me and you are able to pay our bills this month, and that's all that really matters. So, I was making the comment that I was just reading in the book of Matthew, and we've probably since edited this uh because we had to take a quick bathroom break because we're long-winded. But I'm gonna tell you something that happened in the middle of this podcast, uh, Cord, as we were sitting here talking about this, is I got a messenger message. And I'm gonna go ahead and read this messenger message because uh it'll basically keep the anonymity of the individual uh sort of at bay because that's what they prefer. And it's actually uh one of my current um advertisers who I hope stays on. Uh, you know, it kind of talks about this very thing. Um this is an example of what happens on a daily basis. Hey Shannon, uh I hope you're doing well. Would you happen to know any individual that is using the RTO smart program for their own personal RTO contracts? Wanting to ask someone the pros and cons. I hate posting it out there in the Facebook world when I have where I have uh then I have so many advertisements for rental companies. Uh we work with some of them already, or one of them um thinks in advance. And like I think that's just kind of harmonious of like uh of the example of what we're sitting here talking about is like, you know, I'm thankful, first of all, let's say that, that they ask. Uh second of all, uh you'd be surprised at how many private messages come in because things don't happen on Facebook. So, what you see on Facebook is sometimes just a uh glimpse of kind of what other conversations begin to happen. But I was reading in the book of Matthew, and this is probably going to be segue into two different ways, but I just wanted to talk about this. I was reading to Deanna last night, and I'm just gonna leave this here. Because when you talk about the last few months and just really trying to get through things, and we can even talk about why I stepped away for a little bit, because I think that's important. But I was reading in Matthew, and I was telling us to Deanna last night, you know, in Matthew 27 uh 12, this is you know, we're kind of the resurrection story, or really the uh not the resurrection story, but really the uh crucifixion story here, you know, where Jesus had been handed over to Pilate, and it says, now Jesus was, and I don't know what version this is, guys. I didn't type in ESV or or uh NIV or or uh King James or yeah, so so um uh but it says now Jesus was standing there before Pilate, the Roman governor. Um are you the king of the Jews? Um asked the governor. Um but when the leading priest and oh wait a minute, that's actually an expanded um I didn't get into the whole thing there because I knew that was off there. But he says, Are you the king of the Jews? and he says, You have said it. And I always thought that was interesting. Um now I've done lost my whole place uh by expanding that. Here we go. Um and I always thought it was interesting that Jesus didn't say, Yes, I am. He said, You have said it, and we can get into that because it'll preach. But the next verse says, But when the leading priest uh and the elders made their uh accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.
Cord :Right.
Shannon:Uh don't you hear all these charges they're bringing against you? Pilate demanded. But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor's surprise.
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Shannon:You know, sometimes in business you just try to take chances and do different things. And some sometimes they end well and sometimes they don't. But I, you know, like we always want to put our best effort forward. And like in business or personally, I think I had someone come on recently and say, you know, hey Shannon, he's a pretty decent guy. And uh, you know, I think I told you I get embarrassed by those things, and you've probably seen those things privately. You know what I mean? That that's more embarrassing than it is kind of like celebratory for me. And I think a lot of that's probably got to do with all a myriad of things, uh, probably going back all the way from my childhood, all the way to today. And I think I can give a decent, you know, excuse to, it's not even an excuse. I'm just so transparent. Like we put a show out once a week, sometimes twice a week. We've been doing that for you know 52 weeks a year for five years, and you just almost can't step away, even whenever you need to step away, because you're just kind of responsible for being out there. And that's hey, that's our value proposition. I'm not complaining about it. Those are offerings that we give to our our advertisers. We want to make sure that they stay in front of people. We're trying to expand that now in year five to where we do a better job. We've already talked about that. But you know, I think it's worth since I'm you know trying to be, you know, ride that transparency, you know, conversation, is it's easy to just be like sometimes you just lose a passion for something, you know, and Cord, you kind of came on at exactly the right time because um when you do this and things fail, or when you do this and things go sideways, or gosh, I could probably write a book or tell a whole podcast on you know the ugliness of things that sometimes happen that you don't even talk about. It's just not edifying, you know. Um you know when I first started this, it was not a business, it was a passion. And uh I guess probably about a year ago, you know, is whenever I really started to feel my passion wane, you know, and then I also felt myself becoming very um prideful in what we had done, you know. Um we had built something good in multiple levels, seemingly everything that we were doing was succeeding, and then bam, you know, you have a year of different things you try that just didn't work out, you know, and I'd prefer to just move on from them and learn from them and get back up, you know, and move on. Um but it but it takes its personal toll on you, and you know, through that, some things come out that you can fill in the gaps if you want to. You know, some things came out, some trusted information I had given to somebody from a very traumatic event that had happened to me as a child, um, you know, and I didn't share that. I didn't share that with anybody. Um fill in the gaps, let your mind wander, call me as an individual if you really want to know more. Um, but I don't want to speak on that, I haven't really talked. about that with my family even uh but it did land me you know in a place where I thought you know giving that away at the altar more than 10 years ago solved it and I do think god takes that uh at that burden and those things and he uses them uh for you and to your advantage but that doesn't mean that I had ever really dealt with those and um actually found myself Cord I'm just yes just full transparency here I guess we'll edit this out if we don't think it serves the audience the best in conversation but it also it landed me in you know attending you know therapy for the first time in my life seeking out someone to discuss both through uh cognitive uh or talk therapy but also uh had someone in the industry who was pretty close to me who suggested EMDR therapy which is what they use in um um soldiers and trauma those with PTSD and traumatic experiences that have or whatever had happened uh in their lifetime and so I'm actually in that process now and by the time this episode comes out there'll be several you know uh sessions into those different things but what I've found about it is it just kind of gave me like this new lease on life in many ways it's kind of given me this refocus and people say hey this is TMI you don't want to share those things and I'm like man I've been sharing my life on this podcast for five years like where I go you go you see what I'm doing you go with me um and I'll tell you what it did was it actually you know for those who don't believe in this or those that do you know um you know feel free to talk to me about it but uh we discovered that there was an undiagnosed you know ADHD uh which is something first of all let me just say when I went you know I was like terrified that something like that would come out because it was like does what does that mean and what's the stigma that goes along with it you know do people think that you're bonkers you know what I mean like you know uh what do people think and when you start looking at all the trauma that's happened that's undealt with in your life and you realize how it creates defense mechanisms and you it actually molds your entire life because you begin to mask or you begin to do different things. And I'll tell you what I've just found out so much about myself in this last four months it's exciting actually part of it has become uh there's different styles of ADHD I know again some of the audience might not believe these things exist but I'm a firm believer because I can't watch a video now that doesn't resonate with me on things that I've done or do my whole life and mine in particular is what they call inattentive ADHD so it's a form of uh basically neurodivergent uh autism which means a couple of different things which means sometimes I will I'm very obsessive compulsive so sometimes I can get on a uh thought and then think it through and then think it through again and then talk about it and then think it through again.
Cord :Uh and what happens I thought that was podcasting.
Shannon:Is it not podcasting what happens is you get you get very distracted you get very distracted. But what we have found is that like a people interest is specifically you know uh what drives me is like interested in people's stories. Well you know I mean I've got report cards from the third grade that said you know Shannon could do better in school he's a bit of a daydreamer you know and that's because you begin to get bored and I wasn't hyper so it's not a uh uh it's not a um attention deficit the problem it's a it's an attention surplus because your mind is on 20 or 30 different things all at the same time so it feels like a group of mules pulling you your mind in different directions so you're trying to like focus on one thing so it's not a deficit of attention as much as it's a you know um too much attention and mine didn't show up in a way of hyperactivity like you see with kids who run and bounce off walls and all that uh instead mine was very um uh inattentive which means I turned into daydreaming or I turned into thought and anyone who's been around me knows that I will you know talk one specific thing through an hour if necessary because I'll just think it through very profound. So, I why am I telling you all that? I'm telling you all that because cord filling in has been able to give me a break and uh I've kind of been able to hide the fact that I was kind of struggling over the last three to four months uh to be excited to come into work and to do these things again. And then boom you know prayer some Bible reading and some therapy and the next thing you know you know you've started to see in the last week or two even Eric told me yesterday he's like man you're like the old you now and I was like I know for three or four months I've been checked out. But really for the last year I've just been kind of like going through the motions.
Cord :Well, I mean I can just say that the fire is in your belly and like you say whether it's the you know the last two or three weeks or whatever it is um it's awesome. Uh and the the progress and the the all the things that are going on you know around here and the things we've talked about earlier in this conversation um you know are honestly just a testament to you sort of like being able to have that time number one and take that time. But now coming back like you know um yeah I mean uh similar to Eric I feel like you know Shannon's back and you are back and you know back on the podcast and not just not just back in in person but back in spirit and man it's awesome.
Shannon:It's awesome to be around more things that we want to do too and we'll end the podcast here to be a two-part series but you know creating an actual media group you know not only expanding uh this podcast and turning it into something hopefully special and our presence in the industry or what the brand means as a whole but even beyond that cord like we've talked about doing you know I've talked for a long time about doing a recovery podcast because of my you know um um involvement with prison ministry and how that rolls over into addiction and recovery uh even to the point of wanting to create a um a recovery center here you know in our hometown which is very much needed Are you swimming in leads but struggling to close the deal it's time to turn those leads into profits with making sales simple the ultimate sales training program designed specifically for shed sales professionals at making sales simple we understand the challenges you face overwhelmed by inquiries unsure how to follow up and missing opportunities that could boost your bottom line our proven techniques help you and your team master the art of connecting with customers building trust and closing deals like never before whether you're new to the industry or a season pro, this training will sharpen your skills, increase your conversions, and drive your business to new heights. 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Where me and you kind of get along on our uh talk about community uh you know involvement in community and creating another podcast that is so and I've been talking about it for like two or three years right and it's like hey it's time to move on this um and I thought man does that mean I'm shutting this this chapter down you know and I've really been struggling with asking God that for the last you know six months but man the last four months have been heavy stuff and it's like God it's your podcast you know it's your money it's your time what do you want me to do with it help me to be a willing vessel and I'll tell you what man I've got a new fire uh to just go out and say wait a minute let's go out and hammer this thing for the next five years and let's see what we can do because you don't have to be embarrassed of the fact that you want to help people uh and you also don't have to be embarrassed of the fact that you want to turn that into a financial uh uh inflow uh and you know for your family you know again your first ministry to take care of so I hope I'm not doing too much information today but I want you guys to know uh if you have any questions about why I might get lost on a thought on the podcast or go down a road uh what is some of the people said you ask a question and it's like you didn't let them answer you answered it for them and I'm like I know I know I'm getting better I promise you but uh this has been one of the most life changing years uh for me and all of this started with basically complications from uh complications from a medical procedure routine medical you know uh procedure which was a colonoscopy that ended up you know with uh oh gosh you know basically internal bleeding because of uh ruptured uh um lesion yeah lesion yeah uh landed me in the ICU was in for three days lost about eight pounds uh they had to go in and put some staples in uh and when all of that happened it changed the course of everything for me uh because it really woke me up uh and then you know obviously end up finding out more about myself because I had what they call a vasovagal response you know which is basically I passed out so then they gave me a blood infusion they thought I'd because I was losing blood uh heart doctor gave me uh uh you know did all the stuff right the EKGs did a um uh um ultrasound on my heart but then they did an MRI cap scan and everything that you could probably you know get done for me your dad would be proud they done it all um you were in his unit actually Lures ICU that's right I was and uh I'm gonna tell you what man um it was it was intense uh but the doctor came back and started talking about the sympathetic and asympathetic nerve and response and why I do what I do. So basically I've passed out probably 10 or 12 times in my life if not more um and I basically go into this Vegas response this Vegas nerve basically is your fight or flight. So you know how some people like attack uh I'm like a feigning goat uh basically when I get overwhelmed you know just you know I'm gone uh so but a lot of that plays into the central nervous system that kind of comes back to what they're uh some of the stuff they're finding out about trauma and PTSD and things like that. So hey, look this is a very touchy personal thing to me but at the same time man I've just felt like hey it's better to own it and just be like hey that this makes sense now as to why you know some things uh those who deal with anger like I'd love to do a podcast on this I'm dive I've done the biggest deep dive into ADHD I think that you can do over the past four weeks because I went in saying no I'm not because I don't want you to medicate me to them saying hey nothing's saying we have to medicate you know like let's see if we can get through this without that anyway um.
Cord :Well there's so much misunderstanding, I think that's a great idea uh an episode on uh even just like the different neurodivergent the spectrum of autism I mean my goodness gracious right like how misunderstood is that and you know um so yeah I think that would be and you know that's I think the type of stuff maybe that little Friday bite-sized you know episodes or whatever topical type of stuff you know maybe that allows us to do that um you know and still give good information that maybe isn't shed information but you know I think at this point just about all of us you know have someone in our lives someone that we care about um you know whether it be um cousins or just acquaintances I know one of my very good friends that I grew up with you know she has two sons um you know now they're more profound on the spectrum but my goodness I mean just the best kids you know the you know the and so she has that business you know about an inclusion but um anyway you know maybe something like that would be uh a good little Friday episode and I think that the people take a lot out of that even if it's not you know we can talk about shed sales and we'll do plenty of it because me and you burnout passionate about it.
Shannon:The Steel Kings just did an episode on burnout because burnout in business is real and taking care of your mental health is a real thing. I can remember talking with Steve Byler about you know how things got really dim for him you know whenever he was uh running his dad's business and you know how it can it can overtake you. So, um I thought you know God takes the things that are meant for harm and does good things with them. So for me, rather than being embarrassed or shying away from it, you know it helped answer questions for me over the past 45 years of like why I would uh you know previously would fall into you know anxiety or depression a lot of this is hereditary you know I could tell you stories about my dad for days but we just you know we haven't gone down that come from a broken family look all of this is like what does this have to do with sheds it doesn't it has maybe more to do with the host but man it's uh it's went from I want to interview people to somehow becoming this this shed geek character to where your actual life is on display in many ways and you know I mean you've seen the phone calls and the text and the emails sometimes it's hard to uh it's hard to circumvent that it's hard to navigate through you know all of these treacherous relationships and you know um the truth is I had someone in the industry tell me about a very traumatic event in their life you know um unsolicited and that kind of you know surprised me in itself but it in a way it didn't because I used to work in the in the uh faith-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation you know uh counseling side where people would tell me and yet I had this own thing that I was trauma I was dealing with anyway dude it's been beautiful like I'm saying all of this not as a doom and gloom I'm saying all of this as dude I feel just back cord I feel like myself again and I haven't felt that way in a year and especially over the last four months so while 2025 was a beast of burden you know 2026 is getting ready to hit and I'll tell you what.
Cord :Growth, right full steam ahead full steam ahead you know the fire that that has been relit in your belly I feel like is I feel like the Shed Geek office the people meet Deanna, Troy, Aaliyah uh you know who are working here and you know the it's not just you right like you that has now spread right and um I think um Shannon is on fire personally for the Lord uh and I think Shed Geek is following suit right and it's time to grow it's time to um do all the things you know what I mean we've only got we've only got one life and uh and we need to uh we need to please him with it right so um if we can maximize the amount of help to everyone then that's what we'll do so.
Shannon:That's right. Dude, let's pray it out of here I'm looking forward to more of these episodes that we're gonna put out on Friday where we can almost just kind of pull back the curtain and uh whether it's us or someone else you know and just get real and just be like hey man you know this this is good stuff this is good conversation you know we do a lot of this off the air but I'm like who's the brave soul willing to come on right who's the brave soul willing to talk about those difficult things anyway um shall I pray?
Cord :Yep let's do it
Shannon:All right. Lord thank you for this day thank you for the opportunity uh to sit here and just speak uh to a group of people who would find what we say um decent enough uh that they'd be willing to chime in and to listen uh and hopefully they'll be better for it uh not just because we're rambling but because we're trying to add value um uh your word says that iron sharpens iron so as we continue to talk we hope that we always lead towards uh your goal the Great Commission to go and save souls and to uh build a kingdom uh there in heaven full of people uh for you um we thank you that you sent your son um for uh to atone for our sins we know we're not perfect uh but we know who is and um we're just so thankful that you would look down upon us with mercy with grace and with kindness and with love and hope that you show us how to be those things too uh we thank you that we can talk openly and freely in a country uh we thank you that we can uh talk openly and freely about things that trouble us things that are difficult and Lord even the naysayers even those that you know don't feel value through that conversation we'd ask that there'd be something that we'd say that would still touch them in some way that would lead them to you uh or to at least show uh the sovereignty that that you possess that does steady our mind that gives us peace beyond all understanding um God we just ask that you continue to light this fire in business this fire in spirituality um we thank you for the recent uh man up adventure camp that I got to attend Lord you know the exciting things that you did there uh help that grow help it double triple uh Lord um ask that you continue to bless those folks who have been faithful stewards of just uh being a willing vessel um ask that you'd uh continue to bless us here at Shed Geek and all the listeners uh we're just so thankful uh we're just so thankful that you would give us a platform that people would listen so help us to be mindful of that every time we step up to the microphone uh that we share your uh word that we share the wisdom we've learned through um your guidance um help us to be better in business help us to be better as an industry let us never shrink uh in a moment and an opportunity to just say Lord we do fail and we have failed but in all of that failure we seek you are the one that we ask to make the ship right to turn things around um ask that you'd soften hearts that are hard today we'd ask that you would make hearts bold that are timid um God I just thank you for all that you've done in my life and all that you've done through this business and this industry in Jesus' name amen. Appreciate you brother love you man you know I do and uh excited for what 2026 is gonna be uh here at the office really am absolutely thank you until next time yes sir .