Power of Man #227 - Alex Sanfilippo, the Story Behind the Man... Artwork

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Power of Man #227 - Alex Sanfilippo, the Story Behind the Man...

June 05, 2025 • Rory Paquette

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Alex Sanfilippo, co-founder of "Podmatch" and award winning podcaster and mentor, is a very well-known figure in the world of podcasting. Anyone with aspirations of going Pro as a podcaster, either knows or has heard of this man and his accomplishments. Because of that, he is constantly asked to appear on podcasts... to talk about podcasting. Not here. Not today.

In a very rare and special behind-the-scenes look, Alex pulls back the curtain on his personal journey, shares his personal beliefs, and talks about his faith. Don't miss this special and meaningful conversation. Listen now.

Alex's website: https://alexsanfilippo.com/

Alex's podcast: https://podmatch.com/hostdetail/1590577274896x703756399245430300

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SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Power Man Podcast. My name is Rory Paquette. I know you guys know that already, but you know, I still feel like I have to say it. Sometimes we get a new listener. They don't know who I am, and I want to make sure I'm telling them, hey, my name is Rory Paquette. I'm very, very grateful to be here, folks. If you guys are not out there doing what you've been doing, listening, sharing, subscribing, sending DMs, and I mean lots of DMs. Wow, folks. You folks lit me up about my coffee cup. I can't get over that still. I've said it a couple times in the show, but I used a different coffee cup, and you guys sent me like 100 DMs going, what happened to the IU cup? I love you for that. I really do. It's fantastic. Um, folks, the fact that you're doing that means I get to sit over here and do what I'm doing. And I'm eternally grateful for that. If you want to reach out, uh, possibly be on the show, uh, talk to me, tell me, Hey, you know, I love that what you're doing with the goatee, anything. It's great. Go for it at power of man podcast on Instagram, probably the best way to reach me. But from there, folks, and in the show notes, you can reach me anyway, really easy to find me. We have a fantastic guest today, and I'm going to, uh, you know, introduce him in just a minute, but you guys all know what time it is. If you're a friend of the program and I know you are, we've got to pay a couple of bills. I got to take a sip of my preferred beverage. Wow. Delicious stuff. And I mean, this is probably my third cup today already. So I'm firing it up guys. I'm going to be on fire today. Um, you know, we're drinking it's freedom Hill coffee at freedom Hill coffee on Instagram. Look them up, check them out. Deep, dark, rich, bold, and beautiful. Just like my wife. They brew a mean bean. It's a fantastic cup of Joe. They do all the right things for all the right reasons. And folks, they support veterans. And any of you who have listened to five minutes of this podcast in the past know how important veterans are to us here at the Power of Man podcast. Folks, that's why we support them. Freedom Hill Coffee at Freedom Hill Coffee at Instagram. Look them up. Tell them Power of Man sent you. Now, I'm taking one more sip of this so I can try to keep up with this young buck across the table from me. Here we go. All right, we are rocking and rolling. Folks, we have a great guest. I am honored that this guy decided to come over here and tell his story today. He is the founder of PodMatch, which is a fantastic service, which I'm sure we'll talk to you guys about. He is a podcaster. His podcast is Podcasting Made Simple. This guy's fantastic. He does so much for the podcasting community and the people that are in it, and it's just great for him to be here. Folks, please welcome to the show Alex Sanfilippo. Alex, how you

SPEAKER_01: 2:37

doing? Rory, I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me on today.

SPEAKER_00: 2:39

Thanks for being here. I really appreciate it. Now, you know, when I asked you to be on here, and I want to make sure that the folks all know this, you get asked probably a million times a day, to be on a show, to talk about podcasting and, you know, be an expert and tell everybody how to do it. Uh, I approached you a little bit differently and I said, Hey, I really want to hear your story. I want to know who Alex is. I want to know what you're all about and how you got here. And, uh, you responded very kindly to that. And I, it sounded like you really wanted to do that today. And, uh, so I'm honored that you're deciding to do that here with us. And I'm going to give you a chance now, and I'm going to stop talking. Go ahead and tell our audience, you know, who is Alex? What are you about, brother? And what brings you here today?

SPEAKER_01: 3:19

Yeah, thank you for the opportunity to share. about more than just podcasting. I'll get into it in a minute, but that's what I do. So that's my work. I do love it. But when you reached out, you were like, let's talk about you and what makes you you and what brought you to where you are. And so again, a gift, Rory. Thank you so much for that. And I love the Power Man podcast and I listen to myself. So I'm really just honored to be here today. And so I'll go back to before I was an entrepreneur. Like I'm a full-time podcaster now, but to go back and kind of set the stage a little bit, I previously did 15 years in the aerospace industry. And I wasn't an astronaut, wasn't a sky So all the interesting jobs were taken. I was working in a manufacturing company. We focused below the atmosphere. And so we were manufacturing, again, below the atmosphere aircraft parts. And I ended up being in the C-suite over time. That's not how I started. But over 15 years, eventually, I worked my way up to that level and helped even take the company public, which was like a really good start. really fun experience, a lot of work that I hope to never do again, but it was a really cool experience. And I love that career. And I always like to mention this if I do talk about it, but my last year there, my 15th year was my best year I ever had there. They were all pretty good. I was working my way up. I started as a part-time receiving guy and worked my way up to C-suite level of a publicly traded multi-billion dollar organization. And I left on really good terms because I'm a firm believer the way we end one season is the way we begin the next. So I like to mention that because I I wanted to leave two years before I did. And I didn't start slacking, so I like to mention that. But two years before I decided to leave was shortly after we went public. That's when I got promoted to the C-suite level for being a key player in the acquisition and stuff like that. And... I went to my CEO's office, which I reported directly to him. It was right down, just over from my office. I walked over there because one of my divisions I was ever seeing, I was ever seeing five divisions of the company, and one of them saved a full 10% on their total, their margin. I was like, thrilled. We'd never done anything like that before. So in my mind, I was going to kick his door down and be like, hey, man. But respectfully, of course, quietly knock on the door. I'm like, hey, can I come in, Paul? And he's like, yeah. And so I was like, hey, do you see the numbers in this division? And he just said, yeah, I saw them. And it was the sound in his voice. So I kind of leaned in. So we saved that 10% there. It didn't cost or anything like that. He's like, no, I saw it. I know, Alex. I know. And so I just kind of put my hands up. I'm like, what's wrong? I'm like, is something not okay? He's like, man, there's just some people that have been reaching out to me. We didn't tell anyone we were going to do this. There's shareholders that would have liked to have known. There's our board that needs to know when we do stuff like this. He goes, you just can't do stuff like that anymore. And he's like, you're not in trouble or anything like that. He's like, we just got to talk about this stuff in advance before we do something that drastic that's going to make such a big change. And so... Listen, I guess it's the goal of a big organization to become public. I mean, you and I probably laugh at something like that, right? Most listeners are like, what are you... Sounds like a good deal, right? And it was a good deal. It was just we didn't bring people into the loop. And I guess it could have been considered risky, which was maybe more my natural tendency was to do something and try things, right? Anyway, that day... we finished up our conversation. I was walking back to my office. It was the first time in that entire career, 13 years at this point that I ever felt like it was a long walk from his office to mine. And what I mean by that is it was just kind of this thing where I was like, I think I can even remember thinking, I'm like, I think my time here is up. Like, I think it's time for me to go. And, uh, I didn't know what that meant at that time. And I can remember just looking out my window and looking down at, I don't even know, I guess the woods or whatever behind us and just looking around being like, man, I think I got to do something else. And so I kind of went home that day and just addressed it to my wife. I was like, hey, I think maybe I want to try some other things. And so Rory, what I decided to do was start some side hustles. I had a really good job. I'm very thankful for them. I'm like, let me try some side hustle stuff, right? Let me try some side income things. And I did some... Public speaking, because the company had me speak sometimes, and I actually learned I really liked it. I did some coaching, because I was doing consulting with that stuff anyway. So I got into some web design stuff, all kinds of things. And all of them had terrible outcomes. Either they didn't work for me, I just couldn't figure it out, or two, I just hated it. I just ended up being like, this is the worst. I thought that I really was going to like web design, and I designed one website, and I had the worst client experience ever. So I was like, this is... This isn't it, right? This isn't it. And so the interesting thing is I just went from like what felt like failed attempt to failed attempt not working. And I remember having this moment probably about a year into this process of like, you know what? Maybe I'm just a corporate guy. Like maybe I'm not made to be an entrepreneur. Like maybe this isn't for me. And now I look at it and it seems like it was brilliance. Back then, I don't know if I'd call it that. Maybe it was just desperation. But I decided to start a podcast, get this right, to talk to people who had successfully left a nine to five job to figure out how they did it. And now when I say that, Roy, you're like, wow, that's a brilliant move. I don't think it was that insightful, but

SPEAKER_00: 8:15

I don't know. That's exactly what I was thinking. I was like, what a great idea, because then you're building a business and you're learning what you're trying to do. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 8:25

Right? Here's the thing, though. It did work. That's ultimately what caused me to get out of full-time, I guess, corporate life and into entrepreneurship. And I learned two things during that time of having that podcast. One, that I... I kind of learned the framework of being an entrepreneur. But two, I knew that I wanted to be in podcasting. I found that lane. I really ended up just loving the podcasting space. Everyone I met was just incredible people, for lack of a better term, and just really, really enjoyed it. So for me, what I learned to way simplify entrepreneurship, I'm not trying to downgrade what some of these just incredible people taught me, but basically I learned just the four steps. And for me, it really spoke to me. Step one is find an area of passion. For me, it was podcasting. Step two, get into the community of that area of passion. I referenced I was speaking, doing some coaching and stuff like that. So I started just naturally doing that more in podcasting. And I wasn't building people's websites, but I helped them understand like, here's how you can do it, right? I'm not doing it for you. But I was passionate podcasting. I was now in the community. And, um, The third thing is, I'll share in a moment, but I want to share the story leading up to it. It was actually the beginning of 2020. I don't know if anyone remembers that year. It was like the month before the world shut down, Rory. It was like that month. And I was speaking on stage with 2,000 people there. And so it was like a lot of people in this room just a month before the whole world shut down. But I knew that that third step in entrepreneurship, again, your passion, your community. I'm in the community. I'm in front of the community right now. The third thing is to find a simple problem that community is struggling with. And so from stage, I just said, hey, if anyone is willing to talk with me for just a minute after I get off stage, I'd love that opportunity. And again, just given the number of people in the room, there was a lot of people who were willing to chat. And in my hand, I had pen and paper. I wrote down anyone's name who talked to me, email address, and the question I asked all of them, like we chatted for a little bit, the question I wanted to ask is like, hey, what is it that you're struggling with in podcasting? And I wrote that down. And I talked to a bunch of people that day. And I'm very grateful for that. But 100 people said the same thing. It was the common trend of what people said. And it was, Alex, I'm having trouble finding the right guest for my show. Or I'm having trouble finding guests for my show, period. I'm having trouble streamlining that process. Or, hey, I just wrote a book. I'd love to be on a podcast myself. What do I do? And so that was the feedback I got. And Again, maybe not being a brilliant guy, I went back home and didn't know what to do with that. So I was just like, I don't know. I don't know what to do with that. But I knew that that was the problem that I wanted to solve. And to me, it didn't seem simple yet. But the way you can simplify a problem, or at least what I figured out in this time, is that... you have to think of someone who's done it well, instead of reinventing the wheel, think about how you can take that wheel and do something with it. So for me, I always just say that this came straight from God. Like I'm a follower of Jesus. And I felt like God spoke to me one day when I didn't know what to do with that. I was in the middle of a workout on my back porch because the world had shut down. So that's, that was my new gym. And yeah, I just felt like I was supposed to go inside and write on my whiteboards. And being a corporate guy, I had whiteboards all over my walls. It's just kind of, it looks like a crazy person place or a corporate place if there's a difference. And, but I remember I just started writing things out and like, I wrote it so fast. I like, it was like a flash. Like I barely remember at the end of it, the words I ended with were these, like a dating app, but instead of connecting people for dates, connecting podcasts, guests, and hosts for interviews. And so I had like, I had it all written out. I just kind of like came back to it. And I'm like, again, I just felt like that was like a download from God is the only way I can describe it. I don't, I don't mean to over-spiritualize it. I just never came to that conclusion myself because to me, this was a really big problem. I'm like, I'm going to solve a simple problem, not a hard one. But I was like, wait a minute, people have already done this. I'm not reinventing the wheel. And I've been married too long to use a dating app, but, but I got the idea of how they worked, right? They connect people that are probably going to like each other together. And so for me, I was like, oh wait, there might be actually something here. And so I, the last step of that entrepreneurial framework, step four, is to offer the fastest possible solution. And so for me, I immediately just called a friend who I had known for years, who was a developer. I just was like, hey man, I've got this idea. I pitched it to him. And next thing you know, that was actually March, 10th, 2020, on June 15th, 2020, we launched PodMatch, which again, for anyone like Rory mentioned in the beginning, I've talked about it a little bit here. PodMatch is a service that connects podcasts, guests, and hosts for interviews. And the whole idea is just making that connection happen faster so that more time can be spent behind the microphone like we're doing now, because that's what serves listeners. And that kind of, I mean, there's obviously been a lot of things that have happened since then, but that's brought me onto the course I'm here. On December 7th, 2021, December 7, 2020 was my last day in corporate. And it was bittersweet. I really did love that job. And I cried on my way out the door. I'm not much of a crier, but I just remember like that was a 15-year legacy. But I knew that I was sacrificing the sake of the good for the sake of the potential. Great. Like there was potential with this Podmatch thing. And so anyway, Roy, that kind of brings us to present day-ish, right? But that was kind of the backstory of me stepping into entrepreneurship full-time and becoming a full-time podcaster.

SPEAKER_00: 13:12

I love the story. I love the fact that you feel like you were called to do this because, I mean, the idea is revolutionary, the way that you put it all together. And, you know, I'm sure that there have been different things that have been done on different platforms. But, you know, I've tried a few things here and there, but this is a wonderful platform. I mean, for a podcaster. Thank you. to be on this. Uh, I joined it and, uh, you know, I, I do a lot of coaching and stuff and I joined it and I wasn't going to say anything to anybody about it until I tried it myself. And I haven't had one bad thing to say about it since I did. So anybody else listening for free endorsement, if you're a podcaster, get on pod match. It's crazy. If you're not, it's crazy. It's very helpful. So, uh, kudos to you for building a fantastic thing that has done so much. Um, I think more than how easy it is though, um, to use and to like help build your business. The thing about Podmatch, and you are the leader of this, I'm sure you know this, but you may not want to step into that role. I don't know. But you're the leader of the community on Podmatch. And that's one of the biggest things about being on that is that everybody that I'm meeting, they're all there for the same purpose. It is truly a place where the rising tide raises all ships. It's just one of those when we're all there for ourselves, of course, but we're all there for each other at the same time. you have a history of, you know, a life of, of service, you know, you do this for other people, you consider other people, you go to folks at a speech that you're giving and you say, what are your problems? How can I fix this? You're looking for needs to fix brother. Where does, where does that come from?

SPEAKER_01: 14:55

Yeah. I think if I, if I have to go back to like a time in my life when, um, when maybe I discovered this side of myself. I don't even know if that's the right way to say it, Rory, but I'm gonna go with that. When I was late teens, I started a technology company, if you will, back then. This is like going many years back. But basically, we were designing virtual tours of homes. This is before my corporate sprint of 15 years. But we started building virtual tours of homes. And now it's very common. It's when you can maybe go to a website like Zillow or one of those type of websites where you can kind of drag the mouse and look at the roof, the floor, spin it all around. That tech is pretty common now. We were pioneering that type of technology. We're working directly on the MLS and posting these virtual tours of homes for people that wanted to to buy online or to do a little bit of research online, which was a fairly new concept at that point. And I only got that gig because my dad knew somebody and he needed someone who was good on computers and no one was good on computers yet. Well, I happened to be decent on computers. And so I got this opportunity. It turns out I also had like a mind for entrepreneurship and business at that point. And so I got into that. And as I kind of looked at tours, because I had a number of photographers and editors working for me and we were a completely remote company. So I was always just reviewing work digitally because I wasn't out doing the photography work or anything like that. And so I'd look at at it. And I got very interested in real estate. So the day I turned 18, around the day I turned 18, I invested in my first property. I was really excited about it. I'm like, this is an investment property. I'm not moving into it. This one's a rental property, rental property. And I was like, I'm going to continue that trend. And I just kind of became someone who was very successful financially, strictly financially. So success from a financial standpoint at that age, 18, 19, even 20 years old. I was doing very well on paper. And I can even remember this one time I was at a dental office and this is also, this is like the 2006 maybe is when this was. So this is also before smartphones whereas as smart as they are now. So like when you're waiting in a doctor's office, for me it was a dental office one day, you've just looked at the magazines. That's what you did. And there's a magazine there that was Forbes 30 under 30. And I remember being like really interested in this. I start going through it. And man, in that moment, I felt like I found my purpose, my calling. I'm going to be a Forbes 30 under 30 and real estate is going to be my way of getting there through investing and through this technology startup. Like I can do this. I know I can. And that was like the first thing I really grabbed onto is like an identity type of thing. And it was a really wrongly placed identity. Um, I, I really started hanging out with people that were only money focused relationships. I was, I was in, uh, were also just money driven. Uh, I wanted the right kind of car, you know, there was all the things that went with it. And man, I, I just, there was no depth to who I was. What you saw is what you got, which can be a good thing, but it was all money. It was all that. It was all getting ahead faster. And, uh, This all relates back to how I came into becoming a person of service because at one point, everyone might remember this, but 2008, 9, 10, 11, those years happened, right, where just everything crashed. And for me, I had no insight into that. So I went from this company that was doing really well. We were doing at least 30 tours per day. So we had 30 homes that we were taking pictures of, doing all this, down to one a week. So 30 day to one a week, virtually no more business. I ended up just saying to the partner, someone who I got into it with, hey, this is yours. I can't do anything anymore. I'm out. You can take my name off of it. I can't do it. There's nothing to sell. It's yours. And one of my rental property, the one I had just most recently invested in, I had to move into it. That was the only option. It was either that or I'm upside down on this thing. And so someone who put his whole identity in this idea of like, I'm going to get ahead. I'm going to be a 30 under 30, most wealthy... what 20 some odd year old in the world, right? Like I'm going to, I'm going to make this happen. I went from that to total crash and burn complete identity crisis. I consider that my rock bottom in life. And so for me, I went from doing well and on my way to quote unquote something down to lost identity, feeling depressed, feeling anxious, feeling like I don't belong to like literally my absolute rock bottom. And I will forever, hopefully consider that my absolute rock bottom. And that was a bad time for me, man. Like, It was a really bad time. And this is where I really discovered, though, who I was. I am so thankful for this time. I needed that to happen. I don't think everyone needs a drastic rock bottom experience like that. And I hope not everyone does. I had to have it or I was never going to wake up. And I'll never forget it. One day I went to my mail expecting there to be more bills because at that point in my life, that's all I seemed to get was just bills. And I had taken my corporate job at that point. So part-time receiving guy. So like I had a very part-time job, which was just covering my expenses to live. And that was all I could do. But in the mail that day, there was a flyer for a young adults church ministry. And I looked at the address and it had to be, I didn't know where it was, but it had to be like literally walking distance from him. Like across the street, outside the neighborhood, there's like a business park. I think it must be in there, right? And I grew up in a religious family, I'd say. And I didn't really take hold of that. Like as soon as I was kind of out of that, I was out of it type of thing. But I did understand the concept at least. And so I remember putting that in the corner of my calendar being like, I don't know why, but I can't throw this away. Like I want to throw this away, but I can't for some reason. And I end up taking a couple of weeks and then finally end up going to this thing. I remember sitting in the car, Rory, and I was, man, I was, all my thoughts hit at once. This is rock bottom, remember, like the anxiety of like, you're a failure. No one here is going to like you. Just like the relationship that you were in that disappeared. Just like the friends disappeared when the money disappeared. These people aren't going to care about you. Like God wants nothing to do with you because all you care about is money. Like all these things were like hitting me in that moment. And I almost just was like, why am I here? I almost just drove off. But again, something inside was telling me, you got to go in here. You got to do this. And so for me, I guess I took courage. And courage means being afraid than doing what you have to do anyway. And And I was scared. And I just knew, though, I had to do this. So I was like, you know, I'm afraid, but I'm gonna do what I have to do anyway. I'm gonna walk in this door. And it's really hard for me to articulate what happened. But I remember walking in and everyone was really kind. I'm like, until they get to know me, they're gonna be kind, of course, right? But more importantly than that, I felt that I just walked into a room where I felt the presence of God, which I had never felt before. I felt this sense of I'm loved and it's okay. And I'm not defined by what I've done or who I am. There's something else. And at that moment, I couldn't articulate all that. And I didn't take any action at church. I didn't try to meet people or anything like that. I just remember when I left there, I felt like there was a different person inside me than when I walked in. I felt a weight that lifted. And And the only way I can describe it is like, Jesus loves me. And like, that was the first time I actually realized that. Even though there was no reason for that, like, that's what it was. And man, so I started going back, started making friends. And I started realizing that the type of people that were there and the type of love that I was feeling was a love that came from a place of service and unconventional love, which in my mind, I always describe as loving people for who they are, not for what they do. And so for me, it was like I was loved because I'm a person, not because of my accolades or the things I had accomplished or not accomplished. And man, at that point, it's again, super hard for me to articulate. And I'm sorry for Power of Man listeners. They're like, what are you talking about, man? It's just something changed. And at that moment, I just devoted myself to a life of love and service toward others. And I wanted to just be that light for people any chance I got. And that was a very, to me, the most defining moment of my entire life.

SPEAKER_00: 22:28

That's amazing, man. Don't apologize, first of all, for anything. You're talking to a whole bunch of people who have heard stories like this before. Unfortunately, I think what we've found over time, at least I know I have sitting in my seat, is that when you are a strong male You know, especially if you're a father or a husband and you have that, you know, you're a provider and you're a protector. You have so much pressure on you that you have to be broken down for God to get through because we're not letting him in. And I spent decades questioning and not letting him in, you know? And so I, I, I know where have I speak, so to speak. Um, and when I hear you telling your story, uh, as awful as it was to get broken down that far, uh, do you think that you would have been receptive to the message if you hadn't been?

SPEAKER_01: 23:27

No, I mean, I'm thinking about that right now. I've never actually pondered that before. So, um, But no, I don't think I was open at all. I think that even my religious upbringing, and I don't mean any shame to my parents or anything like that. They did the best they could, but I kind of felt like I already knew all that and had seen all that. So I think I was really not open to it from that perspective. So no, I think I needed that to happen. I mean, obviously, I wish that didn't have to. But for me, I can't think of a better thing that could have happened to me.

SPEAKER_00: 23:58

I love that your honesty right there. You just said philata. I've never even really thought that way. I think most of us don't because we're trying to survive, you know, and we're just going through that. How am I going to keep this going? I'm giving blood by groceries. You know, I mean, you're going through whatever it is you're going through, but I really do believe that God works that way. And hearing your story, I mean, it's one more case where I'm sitting over here going, yep, I believe it even more now. And we keep on going, but he breaks you down. He gets in the door. He's able to say, here I am. It's still up to you at that point to take his hand and to say, you know what? I accept this. So this happens for you. You break down. It happens. You have this moment. What do you do with it after that? You know, what's the next step for Alex in his life now that he has taken that hand and accepted it and he's moving forward with it?

SPEAKER_01: 24:53

Yeah, I'd say there's two sizes, professionally and personally. Professionally, I end up applying myself at the job I was at. Like I mentioned, at this point, I'd taken that part-time receiving clerk job at the aerospace company. And that meant breaking down boxes and taking out people's trash, by the way. That's like a fancy title for that's what I was doing. But I just really applied myself there. I decided to show up with a servant mindset and just... be thankful that I even had a job because a lot of people at that time didn't have a job. I'm very blessed to have been able to land a job and I'm so grateful for that. I ended up turning into a beautiful career that kind of propelled me into what I'm doing now. So professionally, I just showed up and gave it 110% every day. My decision was I'm here to serve people, but ultimately I'm here to serve God. Someone shared a concept. One of those first weeks I was at that young adults ministry at church, and they just talked about how our work can be worship unto God. The way we show up to work can be worship. And I just decided I want it to be that. I want to show up not for my bosses, like, yeah, I'll do well by their standards, but because I'm doing it for God, not for them. So professionally, I showed up that way. On the personal front, I started meeting some really great people, and I just... I knew I couldn't be the only person walking in there the way I was walking in there. And so for me, I was like, Hey, is there any chance that we can just put together a few group of us that are really outgoing and just meet people when they walk in the door? I'm like, cause like, thankfully I got courage, but I walked straight to my seat and straight out and didn't say a word, you know, it was just kind of this in and out type of thing. Uh, but I'm like, maybe someone else who's more of an introvert or yeah, more of an introvert than that. Like maybe, Maybe they won't even come to the door or they won't come back. Like, can we just talk to them? So for me, it really just started even at church where I was meeting people and finding community. And we started just talking to people. We wanted to bring people into the community aspect as fast as we could so that the human element of I'm nervous to go in a room where I don't know anybody could go away. And so that was kind of, that was a really big part of, I'd say, what kind of propelled me into this idea of servanthood.

SPEAKER_00: 26:46

Yeah, I'm sitting here listening to you and you're literally saying that you have this moment. You accept God into your life and you start building community. And I'm like, no, that tracks. That kind of fits for what I've learned about Alex. So was that your first experience? It's a tough thing to say because we all do all kinds of things in business. I've been in real estate too, so I know there's a lot of aspects to it. Was that your first attempt at truly building community based on that common element of faith?

SPEAKER_01: 27:21

Definitely. I grew up with friends in the neighborhood and friends I went to school with and stuff like that, but all that was... Was fairly face value. This was the first time there was any real depth behind it of like, hey, let's actually do life together. This concept of iron sharpens iron, right? We can get better together if we actually open up a little bit. This was my first go at that for sure.

SPEAKER_00: 27:40

So now you're active with this group. Was that something that propelled you forward then in terms of like, you know, professionally?

SPEAKER_01: 27:47

Yeah. I mean, I got, here's the wild thing, right? I didn't get around people that were as like financially successful or had their own businesses like I was before these individuals. A lot of them were students. I mean, this is a young adults ministry. So most people that age were students full time, but it was just the mindset they carried that I think took me even further than being around some of the, the really successful business or even shrewd business type of people. So for me, yeah, it just helped develop my, it helped develop my mindset, I think in a really healthy way. Um, I'm not really sure how else to articulate that. Yeah, I found it very helpful. These relationships, once again, the people that were leading, people that were just serving alongside me, people that were just walking the door, I felt like everyone had a different level of depth. And so this was really my first go at anything like this.

SPEAKER_00: 28:32

Nice. How long from that moment, from that low point, the way you describe it, to... pod match. I mean, it seems like there's a lot that happens in there. What's your transformation from starting and deciding you're going to serve to where you are today? Because I bet there's a lot of different steps in there.

SPEAKER_01: 28:52

For sure. Yeah. So there was the whole corporate side. I'm guessing it was 14 years. Some of the numbers get blurry, but I think it was about 14 years of time from then to... to actually doing something with starting a pod match. But between there, I helped end up starting a small group ministry with a church. So that was something that was really fun to be able to do in my community at work. So bringing the management team together, things like that. So I just started applying this everywhere I possibly could. And it just kind of became second nature, I guess. And still to this day, it's the part of everything I look forward to. I love the community aspect of it. Don't get me wrong. I'm very proud of PodMatch as a software. But the community side, that's my favorite part. I'm leading two community events today alone within PodMatch because it's just the piece of it that I really grab onto and realize that community is where we're changed. It's where we're formed. And it's so important, especially as men in today's world where I... And I don't mean to get political, but we can't really always say our feelings everywhere. We have to be kind of careful, right? And I think that suppression can be very dangerous. So for me, it's great to be able to facilitate a space where we can share. We can talk a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00: 30:01

And I love having you here. That's something that we've been doing since moment one. It hasn't always been well received, but it's amazing once you break through. You know, and once you survive the first volley of arrows, so to speak. Well said. And then you're able to, you know, start building something. And so, I mean, I'm in touch with that feeling for sure. But, you know, I've listened to a lot of things that you do and your podcast and things like that. So, I mean, you are all about serving the community. I guess, how do you get started in that? Because you're podcasting, you're learning how to do a business. At the time that you're doing that, you're still concerned about being an entrepreneur, the money, the material goods. I mean, you're in real estate, things are happening. So how do you make that transition over to where you really are just trying to serve this gigantic group of podcasters that's out there?

SPEAKER_01: 30:52

Yeah, my favorite way to answer this is always the same way, which is do for one what you wish you could do for all. the podcasting community at large, there's hundreds of thousands of people in it. And I think that if from day one, especially, I say I got to serve these few hundred thousand people, that's a lot of pressure. And like, if we really think about it, there's not too many people that have ever lived that have done something like that. And not saying that we can't all do that, but I think that maybe it's better to reverse engineer it. I'll start with one and see how I do with that, right? Let me see if I can help one person before I try to help 300,000. And so for me, I just start with that mindset of like day one, I found the best way to serve people, especially at the beginning, is just to be transparent. I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not. So from day one, I didn't claim to be a podcasting expert. I basically said, hey, it took me forever. I figured out which microphone to get. Is anyone interested in what I learned? Which sounds kind of basic maybe in today's world, but going back to whatever year that was, the 2010s, it wasn't basic yet. People didn't know. People were like, oh, I'm using my phone. Is there a better way? I'm like, yeah, here's what I did, right? And like, So I help that one person and then maybe they help one of their friends, right? So for me, it just kind of happened by me being very transparent. Once again, the main thing there is not pretending to be somebody I'm not or not pretend to know something that I don't actually know about. And so I always know that, hey, me being just transparent, I can help the one person who might be like, I'm right there with you, man. What did you do? And... The way I've always articulated this, if I'm trying to climb a mountain and there's someone at the top who's yelling, hey, Alex, here's where you go to get up, like, because I'm stuck behind a giant rock and they're trying to describe it to me, it's kind of hard to hear them. They're already there. It's a little, it kind of makes it, man, I got to get there faster, right? But if there's someone right in front of you that says, hey, this is a big rock, here's my hand, grab it. I'll pull you up on this rock and we'll figure out where to go from here. I found that people just resonate from a community standpoint far more with the person who's willing to do that, saying, give me your hand. I'm right here above you. I'm one step above you. This one's really hard, but let me get you up here and then we'll keep on going together. To me, nothing has worked better than that. And so my entire experience outlook on community is just, can I grab somebody by the hand and bring them to where I am? And then together we can continue figuring things out. And some people, I'm very grateful for this, have far surpassed me. And maybe they're not even in my community anymore, which is, that's great. I played my part in their transformational journey, but I just knew this was the piece of the puzzle I could really help with.

SPEAKER_00: 33:07

Nice. I love everything you just said. That's absolutely fantastic. So as I've kind of, you know, looked at you and watched what you're doing, and especially right before the episode, you know, you kind of look into somebody a little bit. I'm like, what can I find out about this guy? What are we going to talk about? You and, you're not a dad yet, right?

SPEAKER_01: 33:28

Maybe later, actively preventing the moment. This is a safe space to say that. I never say it that way, but Power Man podcast, I can say that here.

SPEAKER_00: 33:34

You sure can, 100%. No, I love that. But you are a husband and have been for a while. Correct. Yep. Yep. Um, and that changes things because when you're going through those low points alone, you know, it's one thing because you can take certain risks. You don't have nearly as much pressure and as much guilt, you know, on you when these things happen. But, um, when you go through it and you're married, it's different, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01: 33:56

Oh yeah. Yeah. The low points I talked about early on, uh, early in our conversation, no relationship, right. Anything like that. But, but now even the decision to take pod match full time. Oh yeah. It's, It's real different when the person whose opinion I value most is the person I want to bring it to. It's scary.

SPEAKER_00: 34:14

Yeah. Now, your wife, I mean, she's part of this. And she's active in the community. And she even emailed me once with a question on it. So I'm like, okay. But she's very active in this. I mean, she's a partner with you. What's your role business-wise? And how does that impact you guys personal-wise?

SPEAKER_01: 34:32

Yeah. So there's actually three of us in the business. So it's me, I guess, for lack of a better term, my Sales, marketing type of thing is more my focus. And then Jesse, the co-founder I called back on March 10th, 2020, he's a full-stack developer, so he does all the development work. I kind of plan, because it's funny, I don't even know if he listens to podcasts, but he knows how to develop real well as long as he can give him direction. And great guy. And then Alicia is the third partner we brought on, and she's more operations member support and success and stuff like that. So she really focuses on that side. And for all three of us, there's very little overlap, but all three of us are really like... We're in what we're really good at. And so for me, like we started in 2020, my wife and I, we worked out of our home. We actually still to this day, we work out of our home and we've definitely learned some things on like best practices to make that work. But we knew we wanted to work together and we wanted to give that a shot. And I know a lot of couples that doesn't work for them. They don't want to do that, but we knew we wanted to, given how different our skill sets are, but how well we communicate at the same time. We were like, we could do close quarters and make this thing work. And it has been great. I don't mean to say that there's not arguments and stuff like that that come up from it from time to time, but it's been really good. And she's a great business partner, very, very intelligent and smart in ways that I'm not. So it's been good for the business. But yeah, yeah. I don't know if you want me to get real granular on that, but I'm happy to share any of that. If that's helpful for people, you let me know, Rory, if that's a good direction to go.

SPEAKER_00: 35:56

Actually, I'd love to go that direction, at least for a moment or two. My wife is incredibly supportive of everything I've ever done, even the failures. She's been like, hey, you had to try it. I know you're going to get us out of it. And she just has blind faith. I could not have gotten more lucky with the person that I've been with for a very long time. But I also know that if you ask my wife, will you go and work with this guy? My, my response wouldn't matter because she'd be like, absolutely not because I love him. So nope, nope, not in a million years. So I'm sure there's a lot of guys out there who are like, you know, how, how does that work and what challenges does that present? And so, yeah, if you want to like get a little more granular, I think people would love to hear that.

SPEAKER_01: 36:40

Sure. This is a gift to get to talk about because not many people ask about it, but I mean, power man podcast, like I kind of, makes sense that we'd go here, but thank you for allowing us to chat about this. So early on, like making the decision, first off, when I told my wife, I think I need to quit my job and do this pot match thing full time, I was so nervous. But I just told her, I'm like, hey, like, you're already working on it a little bit, because she actually sold a business. She owned a really successful clothing boutique, both online and they had brick and mortar as well. And just by the grace of God, she sold it in December 2019. There was no no idea what was coming up shortly after that. But like, um, so she was, she was like, Hey, I'm going to take like a sabbatical. And so she just started helping with pod match right when we started, like just, just a little bit here and there. And, um, that kind of gave us a taste of like, we might like to work together. But I remember going to her being like so nervous. I was probably sweating saying, I want to quit my 15 year career, uh, to, to focus on this little startup thing that may, maybe it will work, maybe it won't. Uh, but she was completely supportive and she was totally down to help from day one. And so that's, it's kind of how we kind of form that partnership of like, okay, let's develop some roles. And at first, First, man, I'm loud. I like loud music while I'm working. I'm very, I'm just loud. So I don't know how else to describe it. But like, if I'm excited, I'm going to yell. Like it's all good stuff. And one day she goes, she goes, you are so loud. And I was like, what do you mean? And she's like, she's like, your music's always loud. You've got your door open. You're doing like conference calls with people screaming at the top of your lungs just because you're excited about something, not like in a mean way. And she's like, I have like a headache. Like, what are we going to do? And so we kind of that day like sat down and just decided like, okay, I'm going to close my door and I'll be loud in here. And then, you know, you won't hear it as much. And so like that was like the start of like, okay, we have to have some boundaries. And I think that that's the key is boundaries. And good communication matters when you're defining those boundaries. Because you can't just be like, this works for me. Hope it works for you. No, it's a sit down conversation. So for us, number one, Alex is loud and he likes loud music. My music is now quieter. My door is closed. And if I'm going to take like a really loud, like a call, I'm really excited about, and I'd be really loud. I'm going to go for a walk and do it like little things like that. But also for, for her, it was the constant interruption of like, Hey, especially early on, we're building this offer. She's like, I don't know how this works. Can you show me real quick? So I'd be like working. And she just like barging with her laptop, set it down, like, show me this. I'm like, Oh, uh, hold on, what was I doing? Um, right. And like, it would kind of cause that to happen. So we, we created what we call office hours. There's twice a day and it's the only two times we're allowed to interrupt each other because it is, I shouldn't even say interrupt each other. We actually meet in a common area of the home and we work together for two 30 minute periods to go through all that stuff. Building these type of boundaries, these guardrails around it and clear definitions of what your role is, what my role is, has helped us. I mean, so much. Uh, I consider it a really great working relationship. Um, And the last thing I'll share is again, boundaries is also when we stop work. My computer automatically shuts off at 6pm. I do not have the password to turn it back on. She only has that password and it'll turn back on for me at 8am. I because I like to work. And so for me, I'll be like, I'll just work 15 more minutes, just 20 more minutes, just 30 more minutes, right? Like, and so it shuts down and I close it. And then we're very good about okay, work is over. And now we're transitioning to our lives as a couple. as friends, as people that are social, right? Like we're going to transition into that side of things. I know I just shared a lot right there, but I'm telling you, this has been so helpful to get these things right. Starting from the boundaries, the communication, setting some guardrails and having an end time for work. Those things have made a very big difference in how well we work together.

SPEAKER_00: 40:12

I mean, that's incredible that you can have those kind of boundaries. So the two of you just in a very adult fashion sat down and said, we need to work this out. And whose idea was the boundary thing? I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_01: 40:27

She instigated it by being like, you're so loud. But I was the one who was like, let's sit down. We got to figure this out. I will say we were both very good at communicating, especially together. That has been a strong suit from when we got married in 2012. It's always been a very strong communication. We both have a very high capacity for understanding each other, which I'm so grateful for.

SPEAKER_00: 40:47

That's fantastic. I mean, there really is to be that organized and to have those sorts of, uh, you know, boundaries again, great word. Um, you know, and that sort of apparatus that you both work within and you respect it and you honor it, uh, I think is, is fantastic. The stopping work thing. And this is where I've always had the problem. I mean, I'm an old real estate guy, you know, where you just work 24 seven. 24

SPEAKER_01: 41:09

seven, Rory. 24 seven.

SPEAKER_00: 41:11

It's what you do, right? That's so, um, I mean, I was dyed in the wool as a, you know, if there's an extra hour here, I could be getting 57 minutes of work done, you know, in that hour. And I'll take three to, you know, say hi to somebody. So, I mean, getting past that mentality for me would be really, really tough in that thing. When it came to your boundaries and stuff like that, what was the, what was the thing that kind of stuck with you? What was the tough part for you to go, all right, I get this and these boundaries are great, but man, this one, this one's tough.

SPEAKER_01: 41:42

It was the end work time and begin work time. I will say this, my natural motivation I guess cadence when it comes to work is to be a workaholic. I come from a family of workaholics. And for me, naturally, like I working 80 hours a week doesn't make me tired. And for most people like that sounds exhausting, right? For me, I'm like, no, I'm good. Like I can just flow with that. It sounds like a high functioning alcoholic, right? Who functions better under it. Sometimes I feel like I function better if you just let me work nonstop. But the reality is I have realized from a physical health, mental health perspective, like it is actually not good, especially when it's your company. When I was doing an aerospace, because I was working 60 plus hours a week, and that was kind of the nature of how you would get ahead in a business like that. But I brought that into entrepreneurship. The weight of entrepreneurship, as you know, Rory, is so much heavier. Because at the end of the day, it does technically fall on me. We shouldn't put that pressure on ourselves anyway. But the aerospace job, it was a job. I could go home. I'm like, I'm done. What do you want to do, right? This one, the more you work, the more the pressure is getting on you. And Alicia was ultimately the one who saw it. And she's like, this is not healthy for you. Like, She's like, you're still showing up well with your friends. With me, she's like, I can tell it's taking a toll on you. And so she was the one who's like, is there a way we can lock your computer? And I was like, I don't know. And I'm basically like, oh, screen time. I'm basically your kid now. And that was the hardest thing for me was agreeing to that because I was like, man, but sometimes I just need 15 more minutes. And to her point, she's like, when does that ever stop? And the way that she articulated that really spoke really well to me is the work will never be finished, right? And the reality is the work will never be finished. And so for me, having that 6 p.m. cutoff time where I can't even access anymore, that's the only way I'm going to stop. If it was left to Alex's own self-discipline, I would add an extra 15 minutes plus some every single day because that's, again, going back to my natural way. But us having that conversation, really hard for me to actually do. But since we've done it, my energy, both physically and mentally, has just gone through the roof and just been, I show up so much better for our community when I'm not always having to be on.

SPEAKER_00: 43:41

That's amazing. That really is. I know there's a whole bunch of my listeners that right now are thinking the same way I am. You're an entrepreneur. How do you ever just walk away from the business and go, no, I'm not going to do something that needs to be done? But that's such a huge statement. The work's never actually done. There's always more to do.

SPEAKER_01: 44:02

There is, you know, to me, it's about prioritizing what the right work is every day. So like really determining, like I've only got till 6 p.m. For me, I feel like I'm up against the clock starting at 8 a.m. until I'm done. And like, I feel like, okay, I'm up against it, but it's helped me learn to be like, you know what? If I do these three things for our community today, then that's a win. And tomorrow I'll do three more. And it actually is, it's helped me learn to focus on the things that actually matter versus the things that don't move the needle.

SPEAKER_00: 44:24

Wow. To prioritize your activities. That makes sense. So you actually put more pressure on yourself during your workday. So that you can have less pressure on yourself when you're done.

SPEAKER_01: 44:34

Yeah, there you go. And here's the thing. I actually, I feel better doing this. I work 10 hours a day. Interestingly enough, I feel like I'm still getting the same amount of meaningful work done compared to what I do now, but I end more fulfilled. I'm like, man, I crushed it, right? And I'll say this. I take a break in the middle of my day. I have... I have a personal trainer. My gym is right down the street from my place. And so I do take that break. And we have our two 30-minute office hours with me and Alicia. So when it comes down to it, I'm actually only working on the business, doing my thing for maybe six hours a day. But in that six hours, I know I can knock out some really important stuff in this time.

SPEAKER_00: 45:08

That's fantastic. I love that. I'm glad we got to this point because that's great information to give out to these guys. I deal with guys all the time that are just absolute workaholics and unapologetic workaholics. I'm not changing. I'm not even going to discuss changing. I'm a workaholic and I'm proud of it. I like it. I'm not going to do

SPEAKER_01: 45:26

anything. It does have a badge of honor, doesn't it? It really does. And for me, when I tell people I only work 40 hours a week, they're like, I still, weirdly enough, and this has been years now I've been doing this, Rory, I still sometimes feel bad when I say I only work 40 hours a week. Because to me, the badge of honor is when I worked 60 to 80 and didn't take vacation time in my corporate job. That's what made me a man, right? But the reality is I'm showing up better as a man outside of work because I have these guardrails in place now.

SPEAKER_00: 45:51

It's funny because you have a very old school mentality for such a young guy.

SPEAKER_01: 45:55

Right. I do, don't I?

SPEAKER_00: 45:56

You really do. I mean, if I'm talking to somebody who's my age, then I get it. We grew up that way. We were just bred that way. It was in our DNA. What's your name? What's your social security number? How many hours do you work? The basics. That's all you need to know about somebody. That's your value as a human. You know what I mean? But that's interesting. Where does that come from?

SPEAKER_01: 46:17

So my dad... modeled it and so did his dad both being like a bit of workaholics and uh for me i'm the oldest of uh four four boys so like i'm the oldest brother and so for me i was put to work the second i could walk because they're like you've got younger siblings you got to do something right and so i don't think anyone intentionally ingrained into me as a matter of fact i think that both my parents would be like we tried to keep you away from that it just seemed to it made sense to me it worked for me um I don't know how else to describe it. I just feel like that's at the DNA level. It's just there. And yeah, maybe I've got an old soul, that means, or whatever. But yeah, you're right. Most people my age are like, man, I'd do anything not to work. I'm like, you're crazy. What are you talking about, right? What do you mean?

SPEAKER_00: 47:00

I think of my sons and it's funny because one is that way. And he's like, man, if I could just not work and have all the money I need, it'd be great. And the other one is completely in the grind. If he's not doing 60 hours a week, he feels like he's letting everybody down. So I, you know, I'm not sure which one I messed up with. In the

SPEAKER_01: 47:17

middle there, there's a perfect balance

SPEAKER_00: 47:18

probably, right? Really and truly. If they can both just come in a little bit, they'll meet perfectly. So, all right. You know, as we kind of, you know, round this out, I love everything you've shared today. I mean, it's been great getting to know you as a human being, you know, as a, as a man, um, behind the scenes of all the glitz and glamor and, you know, the, the, the pod match guy. But, um, you know, what, uh, what's, what's the future hold? You know, what, what are you looking at? Um, what are your hopes and dreams type of thing? You know, where would Alex love to be in five, 10 years from now?

SPEAKER_01: 47:50

Yeah. Uh, you know, I've, I've, Interestingly enough, this is where I go like against what I just shared. Like, I don't really, I've never had the five to 10 year plan, which is like, oh, well, if you're in work 60 hours a week, you have the five, 10 year plan, right? Like, I've never really been one of those people. But whenever I think about the future and sit down, what I do think about is creating meaningful experiences for the people in my life, creating meaningful experiences. And maybe a better way to say that is fostering meaningful experiences. I want to be included in them as well, right? And so for me, I think about that professionally and personally. And for me, that has been blurred together more than it ever has, those two things. And maybe it's a best practice, maybe not, but the reality is anywhere I show up, I wanna make sure that whatever conversation I'm having, whatever community I'm part of, if I'm leading something great, if I'm attending something great, if I'm going to dinner with friends, how can I make that a meaningful experience? When I look back on my life, I don't remember what I had for dinner three days ago, right? But three weeks ago, I remember going to a really nice dinner with some friends. We had a really good time. We were there for a few hours. I can remember that experience. And for me, I think back, I'm like, I want to have this Rolodex in my mind of things that I've done that are meaningful, but not just for me, but also for others. And so... My future, I believe, is full of creating and fostering more of those experiences for people. Any room I'm in, I want it to be something that's meaningful and purposeful and leaves a lasting impression on people's life. Not so people remember Alex, but so their life has a little bit more joy in it, a little bit more purpose in it. Just a thing that makes them feel like, man, this is so good that I'm doing this. I just want to be part of that and help other people experience that. I don't know what that looks like in the next five, 10 years. I can't envision myself not being in podcasting. I love what I'm doing right now, and I have no plans to change that. So maybe that's what it is, but I really don't know. At the end of the day, I'm going to follow what I feel God tells me to do. And when there's a door that opens that I feel I'm supposed to walk through, if I can see that it's going to love and serve people while loving and serving God, while creating meaningful experiences for people, that's what I want to be part of.

SPEAKER_00: 49:41

Well, that's an amazing answer. I don't think I could ask for more than that right there to that question. So, um, even without the five or 10 year plan, you know, which, yeah, surprises me a little that you don't have something like, you know, mapped out Mr, uh, you know, aerospace executive over here. But, uh, I love that. The, um, the story about you and your wife working together is, uh, is amazing. She seems like just a fantastic lady.

SPEAKER_01: 50:05

She's incredible. Absolutely incredible. Yeah. I can't say enough about her. Honestly, she's, she's a gift.

SPEAKER_00: 50:09

Congratulations on that, because, you know, there are a lot of guys out there. I wish they were that lucky. But you really do seem as though you've been blessed and you recognize it and you want to make sure you share that blessing with others. Every question I've asked you has come back to serving in some capacity, some mentality. And I personally appreciate that about you with what you're doing. as we kind of rounded out, like I said before, let me, let me give you the floor because we've talked about a lot of different topics today. And I appreciate that you've actually said, Hey, I've never looked at that that way, or I haven't thought about that, you know? So as we've gone through this today, is there anything that I didn't ask you about? Anything that, you know, we talked about, maybe you want to make sure you drive home for everybody. Or a leave behind, a nugget, something like that. Or our listeners, the husbands and fathers that are out there who hear your story, they love it, they're moved by it, and they want to get better every day just like you are. The floor is yours.

SPEAKER_01: 51:04

Thank you. When I think about this question. I go back to a time in my life, it was shortly after I was married and it's kind of unrelated to everything else we've talked about. So I'm glad that now I'm getting a chance to bring it up. I remember driving somewhere with my wife and just, she could tell I was frustrated and I couldn't even put my finger while I was frustrated. But I remember just saying out loud, I can't live a life where I'm not remembered. Like I need to leave a legacy that my name is remembered. And I've since really backtracked on that. But I think that so many of us, especially men, we get caught up in this idea of watching movies, watching TV, reading books, where there's just these great men that leave this absolute legacy and they could never be forgotten, right? They're immortal when it comes to history. They're never going anywhere. And I felt like maybe it's that inner piece of me being a man that's harnessed incorrectly, but I was like, I want that to be me. I don't know what it is, but I want it to be me. I'm not okay with that not being me. And since then, I've decided that that was, at least for me, was a bit self-centered. Like I wanted people to remember me. I wanted Alex. I wanted something for myself, right? For my family, for me. And when I look at it now, I've since really changed my perspective because I've realized that what I do for myself doesn't go anywhere. It dies with me, right? If it's for Alex, it's gone when I'm gone. But what I do for somebody else, and I know this goes back to service again, but what I do for somebody else That lives on. That leaves an actual legacy. And that echoes into eternity. And I have seen that to be true with some of the greatest people I've ever met that have since passed away, that no one will ever remember their name. But in the day, they didn't mind that. They know that they helped somebody get another step further. And because of that, that person can do the same. And so for me, I've just changed my perspective away from becoming that... that legacy built on my own name to being something that's just like, can we build a different foundation? One that actually makes the world a better place and propels it forward. And for me, it's leading people to Jesus ultimately. And so when I think about that, I pull myself out of the equation and I'll tell you what, that really so much weight from my life doing that. And now I'm just focused on the one person who needs me most every day and really showing up for that person, regardless of my name ever gets mentioned in that conversation or the way I helped or not, that's okay. I did my part today. And so that's what I really want to leave everybody with.

SPEAKER_00: 53:19

That's amazing. That's beautiful. Uh, it really is. And, you know, that's something you, when I could do an entire episode on is talking about discipleship and, you know, growing that and so on, um, in order to do that justice, you know, but, but I love that that's where your heart went, you know, with that question. So thank you for that. And, um, you know, Alex Sanfilippo, uh, founder of pod match, um, podcasting made simple husband, uh, entrepreneur, uh, I went from selling golf balls and doing aerospace and real estate to podcasting greatness. Uh, Alex, thank you so much for coming on the show today for sharing, uh, stuff you may never have shared before. And, um, just for being so real and authentic, man, because I think that's one of the things that makes you, you and makes you different than a lot of other folks. Thank you for coming on.

SPEAKER_01: 54:03

Yeah. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 54:04

Right. It really means a lot. I appreciate it. Thank you very much, folks. This has been another unbelievable episode of the power man podcast. Um, you know, The reason we bring powerful men on here, like Alex, with powerful messages like what he had today, is because Alex and I both want to do everything we can to help you in your mission to be a better leader, better provider, better protector, to be a better husband, a better father tomorrow than you are today, and to realize that at the end of the day, you have value. You have worth. And you are, in fact, worth it. And at some point, you just have to believe it. Until next time.