"Heart of a King"| Episode #70 | Builder of All Things | Author’s Cut: Chapter Three | Full Episode w/ Richie Breaux

Welcome to the Builder of All Things Podcast—where we go beyond the pages of the book and explore into the Author’s Cut! 🔥 Join Richie Breaux and Ray Bisnar as they break down each chapter in micro-episodes, giving you the behind-the-scenes insights, deeper wisdom, and real-life applications—just like a Director’s Cut for a book.

🎙️ Heart of a King | Navigating Deep Waters in Business and Faith
Welcome to Chapter 3!This is the chapter where it all begins — the true birth of the book's message. We dive deep into the pivotal turning point where business, leadership, faith, and personal calling collide.

In this episode:
* 🌊 We explore what it feels like to navigate the "deep waters" of success, fear, and uncertainty.
* 💬 Real talk about working with your spouse, building trust, and complementary strengths.
* 📈 The danger of chasing status over purpose — and how ambition without direction leads to emptiness.
* 🙏 How a powerful scripture (Proverbs 21:1) reshaped the vision, focus, and destiny of an entrepreneur's journey.
* 🚢 Stories from Navy missions across the Pacific Ocean — and how they mirror the business journey.
* 🧭 Why operating without God's vision is like sailing without a GPS — and the freedom that comes when you trust the true Builder of all things.

If you've ever found yourself questioning the real purpose behind your drive, this chapter will resonate deeply with you. It's not about climbing to the top for status — it's about flowing in the stream of God's purpose for your life and leadership.

🔔 Subscribe for more real conversations on faith, leadership, entrepreneurship, and staying anchored through it all.

Chapters

• 0:30 Chapter Three: The Heart of a King
• 5:12 Working with Your Spouse: Trust Matters
• 10:36 Lost in the Business Ocean
• 18:58 The Challenger Deep Experience
• 22:38 Finding God's Stream of Purpose
• 29:23 Making Decisions in the Stream
• 39:47 The Stream of Life's Purpose

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:30

We are in chapter three.

Speaker 2: 0:32

I am excited about this chapter because this chapter is the birth of the book. I don't know if you knew that. No, no, no. If you look at the front cover, it's it's the storyline of chapter three it's what chapter three is.

Speaker 1: 0:50

It is it is.

Speaker 2: 0:52

It's really what started, the reason why I had I mean, we'll probably get into it, but I had to really put some substance first before I jumped right into the key component of the book. So it takes a little bit of a journey to get there, but, um, I felt like it was important to establish the other, you know, things in chapter one, chapter two and especially chapter 10 yeah, for those who are maybe just tuning into this chapter 10.

Speaker 2: 1:20

I take you on a a decourse after chapter one to chapter 10. I take you on a D course after chapter 1 to chapter 10.

Speaker 1: 1:26

Well, you don't go to a fine restaurant and you don't just go straight into the meal, right?

Speaker 2: 1:32

You got your appetizers right? Yeah, that's true. That's a good point, man, you got your meal and then your main course.

Speaker 1: 1:38

and then you got the desserts man, the small chocolate.

Speaker 2: 1:41

This is where it gets fun for me, because this is the meat of the book where it starts. This is the meat of the book where it starts. This is the dinner. You know this is, um, you know. This is when the dinner is about to be served and when you actually get to look at what's being presented by the chef for the very first time, you know. And so the next gosh all the way to chapter uh eight, the dinner courses right of the book.

Speaker 1: 2:05

Let's hop into it man Streams navigating deep waters, and I think in the beginning it mentions when you start to really dive in and start working with Tiff and everything's just going right. But in my mind, the first question that I had was how is it what pops out to you when you work with your spouse? Because I think a lot of people not a lot, but there are people that work with their spouse and some people, can you know, agree or disagree with that kind of working relationship or whatnot, but I don't know what it. Was it what stands out to you most in that? That?

Speaker 2: 2:43

Right away the word trust just bubbled up. There's nothing like operating with a partner that you trust In every aspect of the business. I can talk to her about anything, talk to her about anything. So she's kind of like in this inner circle where we can talk about finances, employees on you know, things that they're going through to, uh, vision, to. I mean there's just a trust in a circle because that's your partner and so, um, I trust her, she trusts me and we're able to share all these things. And so know, partnering with your spouse can be challenging when you don't trust your spouse maybe you know, but in certain level of degree.

Speaker 2: 3:33

But she's talented and, you know, equipped in a lot of different areas in the business realm. So she just complements the things where I lack, you know, and so we're just a good fit. You know, I, I very I have great vision on things. Man like I could see five years from now and I could see, you know paths to get there. But she's more logical and and has more real take on things and understands a lot of the risks that I don't see, and so I've always get to rub. You know what the risks are, or I'll learn the hard way and then she'll be like I told you. So you know so.

Speaker 2: 4:20

But you know she's also a servant of vision as well, meaning not serving my vision, or a vision servant to God's vision, meaning she also has vision as well, and so just seeing those always align is always a beautiful thing too, you know, and so I don't know what it's like with every husband and wife, but our dynamic is she trusts me in my arena and I trust in her and hers, and then when we overlap, that's just iron sharpening iron yeah, yeah, you know just like, hey, this is my lane, this is yours, and so, um, when we stay in our lanes, man, I think you know it's always been uh prosperous for sure.

Speaker 2: 4:59

Um, I love partnering with my wife tiffany. She's just, she's a beast man.

Speaker 1: 5:03

When it comes to navigating waters, bro, I've read this portion.

Speaker 2: 5:12

but what's your? Can you kind of explain in your words? Yeah, this is where the whole business and success and where am I going just exploded for me. I think I am a habit of nature as well, where I'll look on social medias and try to look, or websites and be try to look for what do I do, how do I grow, how do I, you know, become successful like other business owners? And so you know, on social media, right now especially, there's just so much, you know, help, I don't know what you call it, it's saturated.

Speaker 2: 5:44

It's saturated by so much like you know, different quotes, different ways of doing things. You need to do it this way Business owners trying to equip business owners. And it's just. You know, I, as a humble student of the game, I want to learn, you know, and so I've gone through seasons where Tiffany could tell you where I've hired business coaches, just because I don't, I'm not a like, I'm not an educated business entrepreneur that went to college for six years and got degrees in business, right, and so I had this fear or insecurity that I don't know what I'm doing, you know, in a sense.

Speaker 2: 6:20

So, yeah, I was being resourceful to look up things, but I felt like I needed coaching and I'd go through coaching and and what blew my mind is these coaches. They're like you got like all your ducks in a row, man like, and then all of a sudden I realized I was coaching the coach and telling them what they should be doing in their coaching and certain things, and so it was just like every coach I'd hire, every thousands of dollars I would spend. I realized Tiffany's started At first, I think she supported, but after she was like, after I give her like the feedback, like oh man, this guy is awesome and I told him he should do this. This is she like. But what did he tell you?

Speaker 1: 6:59

Let me say something real quick. When I first say something, when I first we, when I came in here and I seen the way, the, the, the tools that you utilize, sometimes I look over your shoulder and see all of these like data, data analysis and these graphs, and I'm like, richie, what are you doing? And and you're explaining to me like, oh, this is what we, you know, we track every single thing. This is where you go and look.

Speaker 1: 7:21

If you click here, it shows blah, blah, blah you were nerding out and I was like yo richie is a beast when it comes to these things.

Speaker 2: 7:27

You see me and ray. We shared a office because I I moved my office to the production room and he was our lead production uh, creative content specialist during that season. And yeah, he, he was able to. Just, ray would just do his thing and I didn't want to be bothered and just be in Grimoire, but Ray always was there to see what was going on behind the scenes.

Speaker 1: 7:51

I was sticking my mind, I was like this is not normal. I was like you have to have some type of drive or, in your case, maybe ADHD is a superpower, as we've talked before.

Speaker 2: 8:03

Yeah, it's a blessing and probably I don't want to say a curse, but yeah, yeah, it could be blessing and probably I don't want to say a curse but yeah, yeah, it could be a blessing.

Speaker 1: 8:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:09

It's got the two different lanes. But yeah, I believe God gifted me to understand how to navigate data analysis, how to break things in categories, how to scale. I mean, I just had it naturally and didn't know. But the point is that with these tools, with the coaching and everything I'm seeing on social media, I'm just like I'm hungry to grow and I see it growing because God's blessing this thing right, and there's just so much work, so much opportunity. And so I just felt like, okay, if there's a lot of water, I need to get a lot of cups, I need to, you know, continue the flow and overflow and keep growing.

Speaker 2: 8:51

And so, just on that pursuit, I just felt like kind of lost too, like where are we? Where are we going? You know, I use the analogy of navigating in the deep oceans because I served four years in the Navy, did two tours where we went across the whole Pacific Ocean to the Middle East on a six-month cruise it was a mission and come back and I've done that twice. So I've seen some really deep waters, man, and and I know that feeling of being out there you don't see any land for weeks and weeks, and weeks and weeks and what that can do to you as a human. You know just being and and. In the navy, we obviously know there's a navigation happening, there's a captain, they know where they're going.

Speaker 2: 9:40

But from a sense of, if they're not telling us, and I'm at the bottom, like what do we really know what's going on? You know, it's like that kind of disconnect, and so that's how I felt as a business owner. I felt like there's a disconnect with where am I going? What's the purpose? Is it just for profit or is it just to grow in status or like? But where's the land? You know what I mean like where, what's the purpose? And all this like, and I felt like I started losing a sense of like. Where am I going? What's the point? And that's when I really just wanted to seek God and say man, I feel like lost in this ocean of people on social media telling me I need to do this, business coaches telling me I need to do this to get up to the mountain, mountain, keep growing, keep going, get to the top. But then what's up there?

Speaker 1: 10:28

You know, it's like, like, like what, what is this? When did you realize that you had no navigation or no map? I guess, in a sense, was there a shift in, like an event in the business that kind of caused you to realize, like what am I even doing here?

Speaker 2: 10:40

or well, I might have been an internal thing. Just, I've always seeked purpose with God and intent. When we started this, it was with God. I just felt at the time like it was fruitful, but I have to attach something to it with God or I don't want to be in it. I started losing the interest, almost like an overwhelmingness, of constantly being pushed to the top, at least in a sport. We know time runs out and you got to win a game. You know that's the goal.

Speaker 2: 11:14

Yes, right now I'm like what's the goal? Like what am I doing? Like am I just trying to like get money? Am I just trying to provide work? Am I just trying to be the best on the island? Like what is the point in this?

Speaker 2: 11:28

And so I think, when you know, we signed in, signed up for the union, we became a union contractor, because I felt like the right next thing to do we are hiring employees, we're growing our workforce, we just got a new office, you know, first time, getting a real office and warehouse, you know. And just we're growing and I realized the weight of what was coming with it. But then I'm like, is it worth it? Like what's the point here? Like you know, I started feeling that on the inside, like, okay, I'm leading, but for what? Just to sake to lead? You know, I'm the owner. For the sake of what? Just to be an owner? So I, yeah, man, it was just, uh, it was with nobody. Everyone's already back home having their regular lives and I'm sitting there grinding estimates and just sit back and just say what, what am I doing? You know, it's just, I don't know how to explain, man, it's just one of those moments like where am I going? Like, if I don't, if I don't have purpose, man, I lose passion and interest, right.

Speaker 2: 12:25

So, you know, originally, the, the passion and interest was just trusting god, stepping out and and and and seeing it happen and just being excited that, oh man, this thing is working, god's in it and this, but okay, but where are we headed? Yeah, we got it. Okay, we got the ship, it's working, we got a crew, we're out in the ocean, god put us out here. But now it's like, I don't have a GPS. Man Like, okay, we're just out in deep waters. Now, like, and I'm reading, I'm seeing what everyone's putting on instagram, and I'm just like that's like, is that, is that it like? And it's just overwhelming man.

Speaker 1: 12:58

That's crazy because, um, I seen this. Um, while you're talking about that portion where everything's kind of popping everything's, you know you got your crew, uh, business getting better, you got more employees. There was one one specific image in my mind came up, bro, where, um, you would have meetings I think it was like every wednesdays or something um, in in the meeting room, but the room would be absolutely filled with all the leads and, uh, and I was in my mind. I was like, oh, like this is getting big, like. But I see, see that now, where you're thinking, what you're saying here is like everything was going big.

Speaker 1: 13:35

But what was the real purpose of that? Was it just a facade of having this image and it being an example of what success is? Because sometimes in my mind I'm like what does success look like when you're in the business? And as I continue to read this, you know you get all of the things that you imagine in your head what a successful business looks like. That image came up and I was like, okay, that does look like success, but deep down, it's like when you know, when you're at home or when everything's by yourself or alone, you have these thoughts. Again it's like, okay, is that really the purpose or whatnot? But I just seen that image for some reason, with the room filled.

Speaker 2: 14:13

Yeah and those. And you know, when you see growth as somebody who's stewarding a business, you get excited in those moments and you see them, I see them too, like I'm looking like, wow, I got there's so many leads I get to pour into and equip them to go out there. And those are exciting. You know, uh, fire, firecracker moments. You know, uh, fire, firecracker moments. You know you're just like man, okay, but like I don't.

Speaker 2: 14:33

I'm not attracted to the success that everyone's preaching though. Like where is it going? Where does it end? Where does it fulfill? You know, and so, um, yeah, those deep waters, man, they can, they can get a little lonely. When you start actually recognizing you're in the deep ocean, you know it's like there's a quick fear that can come over you Like. You know what if I fail these guys out here? You know, and I've seen movies where captains take their crew out to ship and big storm comes and they all end up dying out there. You know, and I'm just like, oh man, like where am I actually taking these dudes and where am I taking everyone? So leadership, I think, think, always has that. I think there's pastors there's, there's big time entrepreneurial, uh, leaders and and people, even us as husbands and, uh, you know, we, we hope we're leading well and not like leading them, as you know, deep ocean where there's no land or fulfillment, you know. And so, and yeah, man, that was uh where navigating water started. Um, I, there was a portion there where man.

Speaker 1: 15:31

That was where navigating water started. There was a portion there where you talk about the Challenger Deep or mention the Challenger Deep. I have this where it says it's about seven miles down down below and it's like when I read that I was like I had.

Speaker 1: 15:46

So personally, I have a fear of like underwater and like where the reef reef is, and I think it's because I just don't know what's down there yeah, so every time I you know, at weimei we jumped over rock or whatever and then you can see the underground, but once you go deeper it's like you can't see anything unless you go down.

Speaker 2: 16:05

I'm scared, I'm like I just don't like diving because I don't know what's down there I and and I I shared this in the book and it was very uh, it was a I. I had significance to, um. A reason why I I shared it, it's because, okay, let me share the experience first. Man, like, yeah, it's south of guam and there's a part of the ocean, the pacific ocean, called the challenger deep, and it's about seven miles deep and it's one of our trajectories going from Hawaii to the Middle East. That's part of the pathway, and so when the ship gets over certain things, like you know, the captain of the ship goes on and says now we're about to be going over the Challenger Deep.

Speaker 2: 16:49

It gives us a little history and allows us to go out and just kind of look over and see, you know, it's not, I mean, it's just water, um, but he, you know there's certain things, uh, that we get to experience out there on water, and that was one of them. But I remembered like I didn't really have a significant or significance, I didn't have a uh, a dial in on what seven miles was, you know, and so I was like I did quick math, I was like okay, football field is like 100 yards and I did like how many football fields are in a mile? And I came up with like 18 and that's how I understand.

Speaker 2: 17:25

Yeah, so I was like what's 18 times seven, eight, I forget, it's like 156, I think, or something. I was it is like 156, I think, or something. I was thinking dang, that's 156 football fields going down. And then once I realized that, man, I just felt like I remember thinking like, not like if, because obviously you jump in the ocean, you're still going to be able to swim, but there's a feeling of that depth under you. It's kind of scary, you know.

Speaker 2: 17:49

And so when I was in that season, I was thinking, man, I have God under me, but I couldn't imagine a business owner that didn't have the builder of all things. They would be like the ship going not only lost the ocean, but nothing under them either, you know, for seven miles. And so I was just thinking, man, almost, about other business owners, like what they must feel, what I'm feeling, but even like worse, it's like an empathy kicked in of sense of like man, I wonder how they feel. Sometimes, you know, like, at least when I get into that moment, I go OK, I know I got God, you know, under my ship I got his hand, and so support me. And what I mean by that is my foundation, tiffany's foundation. When we started, we jumped out. We jumped out with God, right. So knowing that he's under there, but just having that empathy to think about man, how deep you know somebody could feel in that lostness if they were in a place and didn't have God as well. That was where that connected for me.

Speaker 1: 18:48

How long were you guys had to go through that I?

Speaker 2: 18:51

mean it's quick oh, I think our ship, I mean our ship is like 560 something feet long. You, know, and I think there's a certain length where you can call it a boat to a ship, uh-huh, and it's based on the length. Yeah, and so it qualifies as a ship. Um 10 000 pound ship shirt can go 30 knots. I mean, we're a beast what's uh, what's?

Speaker 2: 19:15

30 knots I want to say I don't know the math and I'll probably be wrong, but I'm thinking 40, 50 miles per hour okay, I think, yeah, that's fast for a ship.

Speaker 1: 19:26

Yes, yeah, yeah for a ship that size yeah yeah, oh, 10 000, yeah, that's,000. Yeah, that's wild.

Speaker 2: 19:30

Yeah, that thing can book and it's intentional because the ship that I was on was a warship that protected our. It was a US cruiser missile protected what do you call them Carriers? And so 434? 34. Oh, we got input from Michael, so 30 knots is 34 miles per hour that was close, I said 40. I gave it a little oomph, yeah.

Speaker 1: 20:01

Maybe with the stream.

Speaker 2: 20:02

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, we were a beast man.

Speaker 1: 20:08

If you were the enemy, how would you make a business owner lose sight of you know the, the core oh man, that's an easy answer.

Speaker 2: 20:17

man, I think I would be, uh, like the mouse and cheese. I would put cheese in front of the mouse and just keep having him chase as far as I could away from his purpose until he goes off a cliff. What's cheese, cheese, cheese is status, it's money, it's profit, it's the things that I was seeing on Instagram to grow your business. It's the cheese that you end up chasing and you never arrive. That's the thing about it you never arrive. And so that's where I connected the dots. I said I don't want to go on this journey that there's nowhere, like I don't have the arrival vision to go on this journey, that I there's nowhere, I like I don't have the arrival vision. You know, like there's no place, like I hear a lot of motivational speakers telling you. You know, keep going, keep moving, keep going. You just keep going and going. But the higher you go, the higher the fall hey, come on man higher you go, the higher the fall.

Speaker 2: 21:06

What are you climbing for? Man, and and and we as business owners? I think we have to look through the lens of knowing that. Where is the contentment plateau, where is that contentment level of saying I don't need to climb anymore because my purpose is right here, and so we need to have that vision of where our purpose is and where we're climbing to, versus just climbing a mountain. Because when you get to the top of a mountain, guess what?

Speaker 2: 21:28

The is, a is a huge fall, and that's that's what I've seen coming is like, and I've I've talked with very successful people doing luxury business homes that they, they've felt they've have. Everything you think is is where you're going the, the ferraris, the, the mansions, the, everything you think you would want in the big successful world, as, hey, this is the status quo and they're the most lost individuals, you know, because on the top of that mountain is a huge fall of nothing, man. So that's what I didn't want. I didn't want to climb a mountain for the sake of a mountain. So I had to shift my focus away from the worldly way of doing it, man, and say, ok, god, where can I look? For you know direction.

Speaker 1: 22:16

In 2018, you had to shift. Can you talk about for listeners?

Speaker 2: 22:21

Yeah, yeah, I mean this is the perfect moment, because the name of the chapter is Heart of a King. So I was like, look, I'm going to go straight to the good book, right. So I was like, look, I'm going to go straight to the good book, right, I'm to find out. Ok, if I'm going to get a coach, it's going to come from the builder of all things. Right, because not saying that getting business coaching is wrong. But I needed vision first, man, you see, if I'm even going to hire this type of coach, or you know. And so I just need a direction and I needed to know, like, what's what? What are we doing here? And so I was just reading, you know, studying, doing my devotions, and there is this one scripture, I think it was Isaiah 10, 8 said aren't my commanders to be kings? And just reading in the context of that and stuff, man, god really spoke to me, basically giving me like the direction on who to study. He was like look, you're an entrepreneur, you have to lead and govern these certain things. He said look into my Kings in the Bible. And I was like Hmm. He was like if you want to command my ship, aren't commanders Kings? And I was like okay, yeah, okay, I'm going to go study Kings then.

Speaker 2: 23:28

So I went on this little like hey, I'm going to study all the kings in the Bible journey. So I started studying them, man, just like King David I mean all of them. But I think King Solomon, david's son, who was the most wealthiest person on earth and not studying him for the sake of that, but just knowing all the wisdom he had, he poured into books like Proverbs, right, and so I was really reading proverbs, man, it was just like you know, a whole bunch of cool stuff, man. I was just like man, this is good, right, but what? When I got to proverbs 21 uh, it's 21 one, it uh. That's when some dots started connecting with me and just an explosion of revelation happened, man, and just gave me a refocus of what journey I'm on and the, what success meant to me now. And it just kind of gave me this download of vision, man, download a vision, man. And so it said the heart of a king is like a stream in the hand of the Lord and he'll guide it where he pleases.

Speaker 2: 24:39

And I was like the heart of a king and I was like man, this was a heart issue this whole time I'm struggling with right. And so when I'm saying, okay, I'm reading all this governing and how God works with kings and how he stewards, allows and some he sets up for success, others to ruins, because they just straight disobey him, but he's like how he operates with them, and then there's this one scripture that just says the heart of a king is like a stream. And I'm like man, that's what I want. I felt like a pole'm like man, that's what I want. I felt like a pole, Like man. I want to know about the heart of a king, because that's what I want. I want my heart positioned properly so I feel comfortable where we're going. Because right now I feel like what I'm seeing everywhere my heart's not positioned right and I'm just flicking cheeses left and right Like I don't want that Boom, boom, boom. So the heart of a king really like grabbed me personally.

Speaker 2: 25:30

Okay, what's the heart of a king? It's like a stream. Okay. And then I was like okay, what's a stream? A stream knows its destination, it has a flow, it has a beginning and it has an end. And I was just like wait a minute, because I know streams, because in peoria we have streams. Where I'm born and raised. We have rivers. You know I understand where a river comes from, where it goes, and there's just a constant current going streams, because in Peoria we have streams.

Speaker 2: 25:51

Where I'm born and raised, we have rivers. I understand where a river comes from, where it goes, and there's just a constant current going one way. But I know an ocean as well, being out there to sea for months and months and months. So I'm looking at these two different body of waters, ray, and I'm like wait a minute, I don't want to be in the ocean, I want to be in the stream. And it says the heart of a king is like a stream in the hand of the Lord and he guides it where he pleases. And I felt like that Challenger Deep moment was like flicking the cheese too. I got the hand of the Lord under me if my heart's positioned right in this stream. So to me I felt like okay, my focus and my whole perspective shifted. I just got out of the ocean, ray. I said all right.

Speaker 2: 26:34

I'm getting into a boat on the stream now and I'm going to follow this flow, you know, because I see there's a flow and I said, okay, now I just took the whole business, like how I see it right, and I said, okay, we're no longer in an ocean, lost, I got rid of the body water, I took our business and boat, everything that God's doing. I just dropped it in a stream. Now, right Visually in my head, okay, now I'm in a stream and I trust, and I know God's got me because of how we started and how we're rolling and how we're going and I see the fruit and everything. But now I know, and I can trust, if I'm in the hand of God, that he's already determined the destination. I don't have to worry about everything else. Why was I even worried? So I just like canceled the worry or the push or the drive to try to meet these expectations of the world and I just basically took a pencil and just erased them, said I don't need to worry about that because the destination is already determined.

Speaker 2: 27:27

And if I know the destination is already determined, why I had you guys read chapter 10, because I already know we won. I know we won after death. I know we've already won, based on whatever God has in my life, because all things work together for good in Romans 8, 28. So he knows, in everything we do we've already won. And now I'm believing. I'm believing that I can just trust and follow and roll with what God's doing that the ending is already determined.

Speaker 2: 27:56

And so the river, the stream, gave me a new level of confidence and it started helping me understanding vision, understanding God started downloading the endgame for me, right. The end game for me, right, because he was already giving me a confidence level to open my, what is called my mind or my spirit vessel, to receive what he has for me. And what you know during that season was hey, I want you to establish a new level of excellence, you know, in your work field. I want you to establish me being God builder of all things in your workplace. And I want you to do it, not say it, yet I want you to do it. That's your mission.

Speaker 2: 28:38

He says I want you just to operate the way like I got you. You're going to bump rocks, you're going to do certain things, but the flow is going to keep going and some days, you know, the water gets shallow. Some will get deeper where you'll feel like a good flow no flow, but it's always flowing. But just know and trust. I got you, and so that confidence gave me a vision, man, I knew my vision now was to okay, I'm going to you know, partner with my wife to run this business, but we're going to run it how God would run it, as he is the CEO, and we're going to do it so people can see how to do things.

Speaker 1: 29:14

There's an application portion that I've seen here where you guys prayed a specific prayer, which was to close doors that, or to open the doors that you want to be open, lord, or shut the doors that you want to close.

Speaker 2: 29:27

Yeah, if you're a sales team, it sounds like crazy, but, um, but basically that's what the stream is for us is. You know, we we leave the net like a fishing net open to catch all fish. But we also pray that the fish that don't make it is intentional right, that he's protecting us from getting off the stream, and so we don't want projects that would derail us or get us off the stream. So that's why we prayed that. But we still pursued every client, every project, like like it was, because we'll never know. We have to trust God with with them.

Speaker 2: 30:04

The clients say no, but we serve with the same faith, excellence, you know, in the same level of as much as we can. I'm not saying we don't fail in certain areas, but we push for that. That was the example we wanted to set. And if they said no, whether it was price or whatever it was, we even believed the no's were great, almost a marketing tool for us, because we've seen no's because of price. Go tell their friends that we couldn't afford them, but they were, were awesome. They come and we get this bigger project. So we never know how it's, it's gonna work, but we trust god with it and it gives us the confidence when we get like eight no's in a row. Praise god, you know interesting.

Speaker 2: 30:43

Yeah, no, that's good and we've been there, we've had like a lot of no's and every time we're like, yes, thank you yeah, and not not like to say like we didn't want it. We want whatever God has for us right.

Speaker 1: 30:54

How did that? I mean, you know you think about finances, when that how that translates to finances could seem a little.

Speaker 2: 31:02

That's where the trust comes in man. So, if I were to give an analogy, it's like and that's why I think this perspective is healthy when you're operating and understanding like you're going towards a purpose and if you know you have the builder of all things as your CEO and he's already, you know, determined your destination, you're not lost out in sea. It's like if you were to go on a. If you're in the mainland and you want to go on a country road trip from, you know, cali to, uh, florida, right, yeah, but imagine taking that trip ray with no gps, no map, yeah I'm lost bro right.

Speaker 2: 31:43

Yeah, that's what the ocean is for business owners. They don't realize it, but they're going on a road trip across the nation without GPS, without a map. They're just going and they think they have a map because they're striving for success. But that's how lost they really are on their purpose. You know and can be, and so you know when.

Speaker 2: 32:05

What God is for me is that you know, and some people let me get this straight Some people just want money, some people just want status. Sure, they want all these things, and um, and business can give you flexibility and all these things, and there's different reasons people do business, but I, I do want to like let people know that, trust me, man, it's when you have it all. It ain't what you think it is. You know, at the end of the day, when you're, when it's all said and done, there's a drop as high as you go, there's a drop. So god is our gps, man, and that's what the stream is is it has a destination. It has when you have a gps and it doesn't even like sometimes you ever like driving down the road and then all of a sudden the gps changes because there's a huge accident. Yes, that's what god does. Come on, man, you know it's like, oh wait, don't go that way, go this way.

Speaker 2: 32:53

You know that's good and it just keeps you on course and sometimes there's delays, but it's the right way. It's the best way and sometimes you take the wrong turn. You ever done that on gps?

Speaker 2: 33:03

yeah, yeah you just kind of take the wrong turn. Your gps is like turn around, you know, do this, do that, and so's constantly doing that, even if you take a wrong turn. So that's what the stream is for us, man. And when you said, you know that could sound like worry when you go from here to here, but it's the opposite, man, because if you can rest in knowing that the destination is already determined and you're putting success, or whatever it is, in God's hands, success now to me is is completing each day for itself. You know, and that's what. Let worry be worry for today and not for tomorrow. It's like just pay attention to today.

Speaker 2: 33:38

So in the stream you don't have to pay attention to the end anymore as much. Yes, you establish the purpose, the goals, the drive for the team and for yourself. Boom, god gave it, put it out there, boom. But we're just going to go on the GPS now and master each day as much as possible, continue to throw plans out there. But you know, throw that stuff out there, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Football plays, coach, is like throw this, play and then, boom, defense change. Things always are shifting. So why not have a GPS in this?

Speaker 1: 34:08

On a practical level, what are the major differences in how you live your life as a business owner when it was not in that stream versus when you chose to be in that stream? Like what was the difference between those two?

Speaker 2: 34:30

I think I was making decisions and choice. Okay, being in the ocean, I was making decisions and choices based on what I seen and feelings. So, like you know, I see something and like we need to be like that, you know, or we need to do that, so I would make decisions that I think were were more led to trying to establish who we are compared to how the world would want to see us or how the client would want to see us or how.

Speaker 2: 35:01

So I was making decisions to almost dress us to look like a certain thing Right. And so when I'm in the stream now, the practicalness of it, does it align with? You know, the destination we're headed to. You know those decisions aren't based on how we're dressing ourself, because I have a destination determined with God and a purpose to establish a new standard of excellence. So if I'm going to this is like a example is if we're trying to establish a new standard of excellence in what we do, that means every decision we make has to align with integrity, with anything that aligns with God.

Speaker 2: 35:38

And people were to dig in and look, and even if the surface didn't look and you dug in, you're like, oh man, these guys are operating in truth and integrity and honesty and all these things and hard work. And so we had to push to, you know, make decisions based on those things versus the destination. So, or how we're going to look, you know. So sometimes we don't look. There might be a moment you might look at us and like complain, but if you were to dig in and saw, you'd be like, oh man, they're just holding integrity, they didn't do those things. For this reason that can really shift on a decision making for somebody. You want a homeowner look at you like a certain way and you have a way to present it, to sell yourself, but then you're going to have to lie a little bit to do it. I'd rather not lie and lose the job and then somebody goes. Well, you know, you guys, this, this and this, and then boom, you know.

Speaker 1: 36:30

So um is it difficult to knowing that people don't know?

Speaker 2: 36:36

you know it is, man, it's uh, it's the constant battle, but you know it's. You live for people's expectations. You, you die by their rejection, so that's a lecrae, uh quote, and I live by that, you know, as much as can, because I used to really live for people's expectations, and that's what the ocean is. But if you do that, as soon as they reject you, man, it hurts. And so not that I don't want to serve people, but I'm not serving them for their reaction or their expectations. You know I'm serving him, and so, at the end of the day, what god's gonna see is what matters, man.

Speaker 2: 37:22

So, um, yeah, it's hard, it's hard, like I just want to tell everybody, especially employees and the decisions we make. We can't tell them everything because, um, not that we can't, we can. But you know we've had great examples of you know, trying to be super transparent with everything, and then everybody thinks they have the better way, and sometimes that's okay too, because then they just they end up leaving. You know, not agreeing with you know our way of establishing a new standard of excellence, but that's what we're going to do, man. We want to be the best at what we do, and every business owner has that want to be the best at what we do, and every business owner has that desire to be the best, and there's nothing wrong with that. But when you dig under what is the best, you want to see God.

Speaker 1: 38:01

That's crazy, because I'm thinking, yeah, people do want to be the best, but what was the cost to get there, was it?

Speaker 2: 38:09

Yeah, you nailed it, man. Are you going in the ocean trying to look for whatever shortcut you can? It's more of a heart thing, man, about all this. I mean, there's a lot of practicalness, but it's a heart thing, at the end of the day, that I want to be in a position of trusting him being the builder of all things, and not trusting me, God knows. I mean he's already forming you in the womb of your mother, you know.

Speaker 2: 38:35

I think that's when the stream starts you know in all our lives and then you're born and the things you go through some could be traumatic, some could be fruitful. Whatever it is, god is there, you know, and he, um, he's parenting and watching and and getting, trying to parent you through life to prepare you for this calling. So the stream's constantly happening and I just encourage people to look back and say where, where's, what was the stream of my life? And sometimes we look at man that you know, when I got you know and I lost my, my scholarship in college football, I could look back and, you know, whine all day, or I could say what was God doing? Why did he allow that All things work together for good? Why did my best friend die? I can just keep doing these whys, right. But then now, looking back, when I shifted my perspective, man, I know that my calling and what God has for me, there's fruit along the way as well. And what God has for me, you know, there's fruit along the way as well.

Speaker 2: 39:31

And he's constantly had signs and bumpers, you know, like on bowling alley for kids. Yeah, put the little bumpers and they've been there my whole life bumping me and yeah, you can get out of the bumper. If you're not in the stream. You're in the ocean, man it's. You can drown out there, you know, and you can die so. But when you're in the stream and your heart is with god and he's got you, you know, at least you know you're in a lane with bumpers, and you know. And so he's preparing you for something, and and that's what I mean by that, with the ambition to calling is like the ambitions are birthed. You know. He gives you desires for a reason. He's giving you skills and gifts for a reason. He's giving you what you want to call failures in those seasons, and overcoming them or getting through them for a reason. Preparing you constantly for this stream is what I call it. Bye.