Listening First, Leading Better

What if the fastest way to lead better is to talk less and listen more? Michael of MP Educates joins us to share how intentional listening, humble feedback, and clear boundaries helped him grow as a father, pastor, mortuary professional, and educator—without burning out. His story begins with a hard truth: answering before someone finishes speaking isn’t leadership, it’s fear. By slowing down and watching for nonverbal cues, he built trust, learned what actually works, and made smarter choices under pressure.

Michael Perie

• Website: http://www.mp-educates.com/
• Email: mike_perie@yahoo.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-perie-0902025a/

For entrepreneurs ready to launch, Michael offers simple, decisive guidance: gather information first and keep learning as you grow. Know the true costs, prepare for the surprises, and let research shape your roadmap. That discipline pays off when you step into ownership; you’ll be solving problems with a reservoir of hard-won knowledge rather than guesswork. We also spotlight IHG Missions, the nonprofit he and his wife lead in Memphis. Their essentials bags—socks, toiletries, warm gear, encouragement notes, and even cash—center dignity and choice. Michael’s take on giving is refreshingly direct: give from a generous heart and trust the act to do good.

Join us as we support In His Grace Ministries this month!


We close with what’s next: a home studio to improve livestream quality and presentation, plus expanded MP Educates seminars and online CEUs that make professional growth more accessible. If you’re navigating multiple callings or just starting out, this conversation offers an honest blueprint—listen first, set boundaries you’ll honor, prepare like it matters, and serve people by name. If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find stories like this.

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Transcript

Show Open And Series Mission

Voiceover 0:03

Tales from the Wild. Stories from the Heart. A journey into the mind and soul of finder business professionals where they share their vision for the future. And hear from a different nonprofit organization every month as they create awareness of their goals and their needs. Dive into a world of untamed passion. As we join our host, Shereen Buerta, for this month's episode of Friends from Wild Places.

Shireen Botha 0:35

As the founder of MP Educates, could you share with us one of the biggest lessons that you have learned on your journey as an entrepreneur? And how did you overcome it?

Michael Perie 0:55

For me. And I overcame that by just simply, if I'm gonna be direct, shutting up. Because a lot of people who are talking, they can't listen. People would tell me things and I'm trying to, you know, answer their questions before they can get the question out. Or they're sharing details of, oh yeah, that sounds good. I think I know that. And then I find that I don't know it. Or I'm giving an answer to a question when they haven't fully uh finished the question. Uh so for me, uh being a good listener uh allows me to be successful as a leader. Uh it allows me to be successful in uh the different ideas uh that I can um put into place uh to be um uh I guess you say MP education to be that uh and to do that. Uh but listening uh I think for me uh has been a really, really uh big thing uh because you not only um uh have to listen to the you know the verbal things, but the non-verbal things. Um seeing what works, what doesn't work, uh being able to take mental notes and say, okay, let me not do that again, or let me not try that again, or maybe I do it this way next time. Uh and then then being able to be um humble enough to hear someone tell you that didn't work or that wasn't good uh and not get offended by it. Um, especially when when someone is is looking from a different lens, they can see different than you because you're actually in it. So it's it's kind of hard to see in it when you're in it. Uh, but when someone is on the outside and they can say, hey, and it's especially if it's uh uh uh someone you you would consider a trusted vessel, uh not just someone who says, Oh, you know, I can do that, you didn't do nothing, uh or you know, some some kind of critical thing that um really doesn't matter, but someone who's like really critiquing you uh and giving you the truth of the matter uh to help you evolve. Um listening uh for me has done it uh and it continues to do it, uh being able to listen, even to y'all. Um, I know this probably doesn't uh go with when I'm saying when MPP educates, but being able to be on this uh on this broadcast, on this podcast, um, how you all are conducting it and the things that you're doing and how you're you know, the questions that you're asking and the way that you're flowing with it and the way that you start off. And um, I pick up on those things. That's why I was sitting here not saying anything. Uh, just pick up on those things because one day I'm gonna be the sharing. One day I'll be the Dr. T, you know, um, and being able to go forth and do it that way. So being able to listen uh helps me and is helping me.

Tanya Scotece 3:40

That's beautiful. What a beautiful uh journey, Michael. It's so funny. Only my students call me Dr. T. So Tanya. I tell them when they graduate, they can call me Tanya, but uh yes.

Michael Perie 3:52

Gotcha.

Tanya Scotece 3:53

It's good, it's good, it's good. And I want to ask a question though, Michael. So it sounds like you know, your day-to-day, like you're you know, a father, a husband, you know, you're in the ministry, in a funeral um profession, teaching mortuary, you have your own business. How do you um manage your time? Like time management is always I mean, I see that with the students, and I mean they come in, they have you know a lot of things on their plate. So how do you is it divided equally? I don't mean the family part, I'm just saying like the work aspect. Like how how does your day-to-day flow? Like, are you teaching at school? Are you working in funeral homes? Or um what does that look like and even from your own business?

Michael Perie 4:32

Okay. So I've been asked that before, and I would always always laugh when people ask me that because I I never sit and think about oh, that is a lot going on. Um, but I had one lady ask me that. Um, she said, How are you doing all of this? I said, Doing all of what? She's like, all the stuff that you just named. I was like, uh I said, I guess with the help of the Lord, you know, and and she like and she started laughing. She's like, she's like, she's like, oh, okay. Then she's like, oh, so how do you like how do you break it all down? What are the I said, well, so she made me think. I said, well, let me see what actually goes on. How do how do I do all this? I know it's the help of the Lord, but how do I do all of this? Um, so I had to learn to set boundaries. Um, what I can do, how long I can do it, um, what I can't do, uh, when I need to do certain things, how I need to do it. Um, that's cool, for instance, like with um, we just use the three. We use uh funeral education and ministry. So with the three, with the funeral side, um I do the normal work, you know, during the day to eight to five or whatever you want to call it. Uh, do that during the day. Uh, while I'm doing that, um though those other two always present itself to me to educate or to share some way in ministry, whether it's just uh God bless you, ma'am, or thank you all for allowing us to help you. Um may the Lord be with you, you know, during this journey. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Let me see if I can help you. So I'm um I'm ministering, basically ministering means just to serve. So I'm serving families while I'm doing the funeral industry, but I'm also educating them. Well, I think we should do this. And and well, the reason why you don't want to do that is because of XYZ. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, because if you do it this way, you end up this way. Okay, so being able is it's kind of a mix of all three for me. So it's it's like it doesn't stop. So when I have to go to like the roles as far as like um, like on Sunday when we're um ministering, it's just that, you know, I'm ministering, but during the week I'm I'm reading, I'm studying, um I'm I'm spending quiet time with the Lord to be able to get you know understanding, knowledge, and wisdom, uh, so that I can continue to uh evolve uh in ministry as a pastor. Uh so I got that portion. Uh so what I what what I was doing, um, I was actually uh would do the full-time job and then I would go to the mortuary school and teach during the evenings. Well, it kind of got to be a little hectic. So uh I just started instead of doing the in-class teaching, I started doing the clinical teaching. So they would just, when it's time for the students to get their um embalmings done or their cases done for on the funeral side, um, they would know just to contact me and be like, yeah, I can take three right now, sure. So they will be a part of my day and it will make it easier where I didn't have to go there, but they could come, you know, to me. Uh so I'm I'm teaching, I'm sharing, I'm showing them uh what they need to know. Um, and while I'm doing that, um I'm still doing, you know, like I said, the regular full-time, you know, funeral work, um, and kind of taking them along the journey with me. Uh, so being able to uh mesh it all together, uh, it's kind of been helpful to me. Uh being able to, like I said, know when to cut certain things off. Okay, we need, uh, like my wife and I, we need a date now. Let's go out and eat. Let's just, you know, no funeral stuff, no educational stuff, no ministry stuff, no children. Let's let's just kind of go and you know, have one-on-one and and have a nice dinner and watch a movie on TV or something like that. Uh, but being able to recognize and be mindful of all those different times. And okay, let me let me let me share this with my son. Let me sit with my daughter, let me uh let's watch a show together. Uh, and being able to, like I said, I guess you can say have a mental uh mindset to know, uh, like a like a mental alarm, uh, to know, okay, okay, right now let's let's not do that, let's focus here. Um, okay, I can focus on two things at once and and let's do it this way. Uh, but being able to kind of uh wear all those hats uh at one time, um, it used to be very difficult, but uh now I would say it's um a lot more uh easier.

Shireen Botha 8:58

Yeah, very interesting, isn't it? I think time management is so important. I mean, for all of us, such a life lesson to try and balance everything, and then you think you you you're doing so many things in a day, and you think, okay, I'm full, I'm packed, I can't fit anything else in until you fit something else in. And then you're like huh, wait, I thought I was full, but clearly I'm not because now I've added a whole extra layer to my day, and you carry on like that and go, right now I'm really full, I can't add anything in. You don't know how much you're capable of.

Michael Perie 9:39

That's true.

Shireen Botha 9:40

You say you have a full day, but if you know how to time manage, you're pretty surprised how many things you can fit in a day.

Michael Perie 9:51

That's true.

Shireen Botha 9:52

Oh, that's lovely. Thank you for sharing that with us. You know, absolutely we're listening to you, um, Michael, and if there's somebody out there that's also in a stage in life that wants to start something new, you know, wants to start their own business, whatever the idea might be, right?

Michael Perie 10:10

Right.

Shireen Botha 10:12

What advice would you give them to motivate, encourage, inspire? Like what would you say to them right now?

Michael Perie 10:23

Gather, let me take that back. Know how much it's going to cost you before you get into it. So gather information first. Don't just jump into it like, hey, I want to be a realtor. Well, you can't go out and get the job first until you take some kind of realtor type class, you know. Um being mindful that you need all the information that you can get uh before you start, you know, launch any business. Learn all the stuff that you can learn, get all the understanding uh that you can before you even make a move to try to make something public uh or to step into an ownership realm. Uh you want to gather, uh, I would say uh gather as much of the information as you can because it's going to be helpful to you when you do get in the position where you are the owner, you're the key person, you're the CEO, you're the go-to person, because you'll be able to fall back on what you what you've gained, what you know. And you won't you won't come up short uh because you actually uh took care of that portion in the beginning. So by the time you start evolving through, um you have that that's going with you. So every step that you take, you got that information and not only uh get the information from the beginning, but continue to get it. So as you continue to go through the years, just like in funeral service and educational service in the ministry, uh, as you continue to get, you you should you should start developing an appetite to want to get more so that you can know more and you can learn more and you can teach more, uh, you can share more, uh, you can be more successful. Uh so get the information first and then continue to get it. Yeah.

Shireen Botha 12:15

Excellent.

Michael Perie 12:16

That's what I would that's what I would share.

Tanya Scotece 12:18

Good advice. Good advice.

Shireen Botha 12:20

Yeah. Thank you. I that's so important. Um you know, I think when you start you have an idea is one thing, gather all the information you can is another. And you can always expect unforeseen expenditures. So if you have a little bit of savings tucked away, that's always very helpful. Um to get yeah, to get your business up and running, it's going to cost you something. So try and have a little bit of savings somewhere to to help you through that. But before I continue, I just want to jump in here with a Buzz Sprout, just a little ad, a blurb, because you know, Friends from Wild Places, we use Buzz Sprout as our platform for our podcasts. Um, so friends and Friends from Wild Places is a place to share stories from other boat boat business owners and professionals. It's a safe space. So we feature nonprofits every month to try and make a difference, or give a helpline to someone in need. So the question is do you have a message you want to share with the world? Or maybe you think it'll be fun to have your own talk show or podcast? You know, podcasting is really it is easy, it is inexpensive, and it is a very fun way to expand your reach online. So if you want to start your own podcast, please go ahead and follow the link in the in the show notes. This lets Buzz Sprout know that we sent you. It does help support the show. Um, and the team at Buzz Sprout really is passionate about helping you succeed, and it's super, super easy to get your podcasts out. You upload it to one platform, and you can find friends from wild places on every platform that you get your podcasts on, you're gonna find us. And we and it's you know, we just have to upload it once, which is great. Um, there's there's hundreds of podcast platforms out there. So go ahead, have a look, have a look at what Buzz Sprout can do for you. So, next question I have for you, Michael, is um you've mentioned a non-profit because I think I just mentioned how we love to support a nonprofit every month. And so this month we want to support IHG. Now, I'm going to let you share with us what is IHG, what do they do for the community, where do we go to try and support them, and how do we support them? Go ahead, Michael.

Michael Perie 15:00

Okay. So IHG, uh, that means uh in his grace ministries, IHG. Um, that's the church um my wife and I started it, and we have different sections or different parts um of the church. And this portion is called uh IHG missions. Um and a lot of people donate, you know, monthly or or every so often. Uh and we take a portion of that and we go out into uh, like I said, the streets of Memphis, Tennessee area. And we've actually started doing it. Uh we would or we prepare what's called um the little bags, uh, where it has essentials in there for you, you know, uh toothpaste, toothbrush, uh, we'll put maybe socks or you know, t-shirt, underwear, things like that. Uh, we prepare uh the the bags for men and women. Uh and we do that, you know, here in the in the Memphis, Tennessee area. Uh, but there are also other um ISG partners or ISG congregates who live abroad in other um cities and states where sometimes we'll send those packs to them uh so they can pass out in in their cities. Uh, but we also put like a little card in there, uh just kind of something just to encourage them, let you know them know that um we're thinking about them and we wanted to do this for them. We'll put uh sometimes we'll put uh well not sometimes, all the time now, uh, we'll put cash in there uh because even though you know you you kind of teeter about you know being mindful of uh I don't want to give a person cash because they're gonna go and do drugs. Well, that doesn't have anything to do with the person who's giving, uh, and it doesn't have anything to do with us who are who's giving because we know that we're giving from um uh a generous place, a place of wanting to help and uh wanting someone to be uh sheltered or being able to get a meal. Uh so being able to uh donate into ISG missions, um, that's what that's what occurs. And and and like I said, we started this portion of the ministry first, uh, and it has evolved into uh what we have going on today, but we never forgot about uh the beginning and we continue to do it. Um for those who want to um you know don't know, you can go to www.ihlive.com, www.isglive.com. And like I said, it'll be such a such a help to those to to start there and to continue to do it and to see these people's faces when they realize someone is just thinking of them. Um and then for us for being able doing it so long, when they call your name, when they call you by name, um, and you're giving things to them, um what else can you do? I mean, it makes you want to just continue to stay uh right there and continue to do and continue to do uh what you can for those who are less fortunate than you, because when you when you do have it and you can give it, um, and to watch the the people's, like I said, the face, to hear their comments, uh, to see their reactions, to to watch them glorify God. God, thank you. You know, and they walk away and and you can you can see them, you know, taking out the stuff and and wind, you know, uh the gloves on or or take the little hot packs and put them in their pockets or put their toboggan on, you know, things like that, just to see all of that, uh, knowing that you have it and you can give it. Um, that's what it uh ministry is all about. That's what serving is all about, uh being able to help someone who can't help themselves. So that's what ISG missions is is about.

Tanya Scotece 18:54

What a wonderful mission. Wonderful, wonderful. Uh yeah. It's truly like glorious as how it's and even evolved as you're sharing, you know, just from the different um facets of it and the different um areas that people can uh contribute and donate. So yeah, amazing. Amazing.

Shireen Botha 19:13

Yeah, go ahead, Tanya. I was just gonna say there's often that I want to give money, but I look I as a single woman, I never travel with money nowadays because it's a crazy thing for myself. Right, right, absolutely traveling around. But when I am traveling around, I always try and tell myself I prefer to give food over money because of that very thing. I'm scared that they're gonna go and use the money for drugs, which is a problem um in this area, and I'm sure in many areas that you live in as well. Um, but what you just said there is actually so true. It shouldn't, I'm still giving from a thankful heart. So as long as I'm giving from a thankful heart because I feel that that's what God wants me to do, what they do with that money is exactly God.

Michael Perie 20:09

Yep, yeah.

Shireen Botha 20:10

So thank you for a lovely reminder. Because I think I'm gonna remind myself that every time. Sorry, Fanya. Go ahead.

Boundaries, Family, And Focus

Tanya Scotece 20:18

So, Michael, I just had a question as far as um, so what are some projects or areas right now that you are working in? Um, whether it's um through IHG, through it's the mortuary profession, whether it's the education side, your own business, what are some things that are kind of uh evolving at the moment as we speak?

Michael Perie 20:40

Um IHG, let's do that. Um so we actually have a um one of our rooms uh in our home is a um kind of like a TV type studio. We've got everything lights and all that stuff, you know. Um so we uh we like to broadcast from here. Uh where we're you know, like TBM, shall I say? Uh so we'll do broadcast from here. Uh we're working on different things as far as how we um remodel, you know, we we change out, you know, the the set, shall I say, uh different uh equipment as far as different cameras and different things that uh um we help upgrade the um the person's, I guess you can say, um the presentation for the people who are watching um by live stream or YouTube or or however they watch it. Um so we're working on different things like that as far as um uh in that area for the broadcast. Um MP Educates, uh, of course, um I'm doing uh the educational stuff, um in person seminars, but also um working on um setting up some different dates for some more in person seminars uh and some online courses as well, where people can get their CEUs online. So Those are some things that uh that's evolving uh with MP Educate. Um, those are only only two things right now, yeah.

Shireen Botha 22:08

Tune in next week for part three of Friends from Wild Places.

Voiceover 22:14

You've been listening to Friends from Wild Places with Shereen Bueta. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast from the links to catch every episode and unleash your passion.