Speaker 1: Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFA Foundation will take on a
journey of exploration into agricultural science, education,
leadership development and insights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who provide the fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, Aaron Alejandro.
Speaker 2: Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or
whenever you may be tuning in to the Growing Our Future podcast,
hey, we just appreciate you stopping by.
You know time's one of those things.
We can't save it, we can't hoard it.
The only thing we can do with time is spend it, and so the
fact that you're stopping by and sharing some of your time with
us, let me tell you it's an honor.
We appreciate you being here.
The podcast itself, growing Our Future, you know, I tell people,
if agriculture's taught me anything, it's taught me this If
you want to know what the future is, grow it.
Well, how do you grow a future?
You've got to plant the right seeds, you've got to take care
of those seeds and then you've got to harvest it and then share
it with other people.
That's what this podcast is about.
We bring on people that I consider subject matter experts,
people with incredible stories, testimonies and seeds of
greatness, things that, if we listen, we can find something
that we can plant in our lives.
Today is no different.
I have been looking forward to this interview.
I remember reaching out to this young man's mom.
She said, well, he's got to do these other podcasts first.
I said, okay, let him do them as soon as he gets them done.
I want a shot at him and we got him.
Today we've got Colton Kyle with us.
Speaker 3: Colton Kyle president of theamericansnappercom Colton
, thank you for joining us today .
Thank you very much for having me.
I'm looking forward to this.
I am by no means an expert on anything, but I do my best.
Speaker 2: Yes, you are, you've got a testimony and we're going
to talk about that testimony.
That's what you're an expert on , so I always think that that's
really kind of fun.
Sometimes I ask the kids in the FFA.
I said tell me about your business.
And they always look at me and they say, well, mr Alejandro, I
don't have a business.
I said, yeah, you are, you're it.
I said what time do you go to work in the morning?
What kind of customer service do you deliver?
I said you are your business, and just like you, colton, I've
been following your brand and I'm telling you that that is
extraordinary to have a business , it's extraordinary to live a
brand, and that's the reason why I wanted you on this show.
We're going to talk about that.
We start every episode off the same way, though, so I would
like to start this episode off with a simple question, and that
is Colton, what are you grateful for today?
Speaker 3: Today, I could think of a million and one things to
be grateful for.
Specifically, this morning I was able to work out with my
girlfriend, and so I'm very grateful for an able body that
I've been blessed with, that I can go to the gym and work hard
and reap those rewards through the rest of my non-training
activities oh that's good.
Yeah.
Speaker 2: Ability to get out, get a little blood flow.
Speaker 3: With people you enjoy hanging around.
What.
A lot of people don't have that opportunity.
Speaker 2: Well, and with people that you enjoy hanging out with
.
Speaker 3: Agreed Good company.
Speaker 2: I was going to say what a better deal than that?
Not many, yeah, I'm with you.
I'm like you.
I like I don't know about you I love the great outdoors.
Yep, I love, like you said, to kind of get the blood flowing
and good company and live in a country and under an umbrella
that allows me all those incredible freedoms and
liberties and opportunities, and I just can't be thankful enough
that this is where God allowed me to be born and to raise my
family here, and so I appreciate you sharing that.
Yeah, absolutely, colton.
We talked a little bit.
You know, before and after we'll talk some more, but you know,
everybody's got a testimony, everybody's got a story and
sometimes we kind of find our paths through those testimonies
and we find our paths through those stories.
And you know there will be people that might tune into this
podcast which may not have a background, they may not have a
full understanding of who you are, maybe your lineage, your
background.
So if you could, colton, just kind of take us through a little
bit, then tell us a little bit about Colton Kyle.
Where did you grow up, how did you grow up and how have you
found yourself into this position that you're in today
with American Sniper?
Speaker 3: Yes, well, I'm Texan, so I'm going to claim to be
Texan Technically.
I was born in California, but the first soil that my feet
touched was Texas soil.
My dad made sure it was brought to the hospital, because he's
proud Texan, and so I consider myself to be a proud Texan as
well.
So I'm still in Texas now and I probably will be for a little
while at the very least.
Little while at the very least.
I am 20 years old.
I graduated high school two years ago and since then I've
been working on the American Sniper brand, so I run the brand
.
My mom has given me the opportunity to do that, and as
much as American Sniper who is my father, chris Kyle has been a
figure and a book and a movie.
My mom has done enough with it so that it could stay a brand
that way, in case my sister or I wanted to take on that role as
part of our inheritance.
We were able to, and so I had this great opportunity to do
that, and that's what I've been doing these past two years.
So, as you mentioned, my website americansnipercom Right
now I have merchandise on there.
I've got some more things coming soon, specifically
merchandise expanding on that, but also in the next year or two
, I expect to have some tactical gear available and maybe move
into some firearms and some things like that.
I'm passionate about that, so I'm excited about that.
That's what I do now On the side as well.
I'm really passionate.
I'd say my main passion is apologetics and if you're not
familiar with that, that is the reasonable or logical defense of
your faith.
So explaining to people who may have different worldviews,
different backgrounds, or maybe even Christians, and expanding
on what my faith is and why, logically, I believe that and
there is, it's integral to your faith is the faith part of that?
And believing in things that you don't see?
There's also a large part of reason and logic.
And, most likely, why does it make the most sense that
Christianity is the truth?
Because everything takes faith.
Everything takes some belief.
You have to make assumptions at some point to believe anything
at all.
So I just believe that my faith takes the least amount of faith
or belief in trusting things that you don't see, and I think
atheism and other religions take a lot more faith, um, than mine
does.
So I know that can be kind of confusing, but that's my passion
, that's what I like to do.
So I like to read and have Bible study and listen to many
great speakers and authors and that kind of thing.
So that's a little insight into Colton Kyle.
Speaker 2: I love it.
By the way, this, right here, is exactly why we do this
podcast, by the way, colton, so you know the one thing that I
tell people that you cannot argue with, and that is
somebody's testimony.
Nobody could ever come along and say, colton, that didn't
happen to you.
That would be a foolish statement.
The beauty of a testimony is it's built around all of those
things, those experiences, those values.
But something that you said and this is the reason why I share
this, this is what I want people to kind of take away from these
podcasts is learn to listen to what the speakers say.
The guests say what they share, and one of the things that
you've just shared that I really hope people are listening to is
discernment.
You have a real mature sense of discernment, and I think that
is an incredible attribute, and I hope that young people will
ask questions.
It's okay to ask questions because I think it's in that
asking questions that you find answers, where you become a
better discerner.
Speaker 3: Is that fair to?
Speaker 2: say that.
Speaker 3: I totally agree.
Yeah, I think questions and doubt is understandable.
Everybody has doubt at different points, about
different things.
But earnestly and honestly seeking answers, I think you'll
find the truth.
Jesus says if you seek you'll find the truth, and the truth if
you seek you'll find the truth and the truth is Him.
So I'm all about asking questions and asking the hard
questions, because if somebody doesn't know that they should
say I don't know and I'll help you.
Look, and there will be things that go unanswered, but there
will be a lot of things that have good answers that in the
very end you can find comfort in .
Speaker 2: So one of my favorite verses in the Bible.
I was speaking to a bunch of kids down in the Houston area
the other day and they asked me some pretty interesting
questions by the way Kind of surprised, yeah.
They asked me about how important is faith to leadership
.
I really appreciate that question.
And then they asked me they said do you have a favorite
Bible verse?
And I said interesting that you would say that.
I said I sure do.
I said I got lots of them, but I got one in particular and it
really kind of goes to what you just said.
It's James 1.5.
It says if any man seeks wisdom , let him ask God, who gives it
freely to all men without cast and judgment.
So that means anybody If so that means anybody if you need
wisdom, you just got to ask and there's an opportunity there to
gain insight.
But discernment, I think, is really important for today's
young people because I think in today's world of media, social
media, entertainment, there are so many different touch points
that can try to sway a value system, sway an opinion, that I
think having that element, that leadership tool I'm going to
call it a leadership tool that leadership tool of discernment,
I think can keep your compass in the right direction.
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
Yeah, I think we used to be in the age of information and now
we're in the age of misinformation.
So many things out there and so many.
It's so easy to deceive people, kind of with the rise of AI and
just with presenting things that aren't facts as if they are
facts and, in our short form, content, how we don't fact check
hardly anything or spend time researching anything.
We just trust who who claims to be an expert, without even
finding out if they are an expert.
So discernment is yeah, it's incredibly important and
powerful.
I really like when you mentioned james five part of the.
The end part of the verse is he gives it freely, without
casting judgment.
So it doesn't matter who you are, what your background is, uh
, if you're, if you're supposedly the most holy
christian, if you're somebody who's been in the church for a
long time and has done all the right things, or if you're
somebody who's never been in the church and doesn't know who god
is or what he's supposed to be like, when you start asking
questions and you're honestly seeking answers, god's going to
give it to you and he's not going to look down upon you
because you shouldn't know these things, because you've been in
the church, or you should know these things because you've
heard it, or anything like that.
Um, it really speaks to his character that he gives that
freely and his knowledge about himself I had a friend here.
Speaker 2: I live in north North Texas, I live in Wichita Falls
and I was 23 years old.
I just moved to this community.
By the way, colton, get this I'm 23 years old, I'm the
district director for a member of Congress.
I got four offices.
I've got an office in Denton, wichita Falls, lubbock and
Amarillo.
I'm the gatekeeper and I hardly know anybody That'd be like
being 23 and being the gatekeeper for Marcus, marcus's
brother.
You know it's like it's crazy to think that that's what I did,
but when we think about you know, discernment and and
knowledge and wisdom and just making yourself accessible.
There's also another trait in here, a leadership trait, and
this one's tough for people.
It's vulnerability, because I've got to be a little bit
vulnerable to be a potentially a little bit wrong.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2: Does that make sense?
I've got to be a little bit vulnerable, you know.
The other side of that is, you know, I tell kids all the time,
be open minded, but just don't be so open minded your brain
falls out.
So I mean I want you to be open minded, but I want that
discernment and I want that humbleness of vulnerability to
say, you know, maybe I don't have all the answers, maybe I
need to seek wisdom.
Another thing that I share, colton, which is another reason
why I wanted you on the show a wise mentor of mine once told me
he said, Aaron, he goes always have 10 friends older than you
and 10 friends younger than you.
The ones that are older than you are going to tell you where
we've been.
The ones younger than you are going to tell you where we're
going.
And I've never forgot that.
And so when I moved to Wichita 23 years old, there was a doctor
here that befriended me and I befriended him and he was a man
of faith.
We did a lot of work with Fellowship of Christian Athletes
.
He's just a good man and we used to go over to his house
every week and, you know, other men would come and we'd sing and
do Bible studies and stuff and he got cancer and he passed away
.
And I remember we came over to his house after that and we were
all sitting there and everybody said, well, you just got to
have faith.
Speaker 1: And I was mad.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I'm human.
I was mad and I said it's not right.
I said Jerry's one of the finest men that I've ever known
in my life.
He's one of the most incredible men of character that I've ever
known in my life.
It's not right.
So I was mad.
I got up and walked out by the way and thankfully it's not
right.
So I was mad, I got up and walked out by the way and
thankfully my brothers still loved me.
They knew I was just mad.
But I happened onto a book and the book was called by John
Fisher.
It was called True Believers Don't Ask why.
And the don't is crossed out.
Okay, good.
So I remember it must have been a God thing that I just happened
to walk by that book and I grabbed that book and that's
what the book is about is asking questions yeah and I do a lot
of stuff with teachers where we train teachers, and they get on
the bus and I give them a work, a work manual, and the first
thing in their work manual is the word question.
And then below it it says what is the root word of the word
question Go on an adventure.
So to hear you at 20 years old talking about going on an
adventure, of learning, of discerning and then being bold
enough to share.
I think there are some real intriguing leadership tips there
for young people.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Because they could duplicate what you're doing.
They might duplicate it in an engineering space, they could
duplicate that in a medical space, in a law space.
I mean, I can think of several things.
In other words, I think God gives us concepts that are
scalable.
Yeah, absolutely so.
That's good stuff.
What you shared.
Yeah.
Speaker 3: And then I have a few things on leadership and
important leadership qualities.
I'd say the first one is communication, so to speak, to
your vulnerability.
You do have to be vulnerable, but to be able to express that
effectively and communicate effectively, if you want to lead
somebody, you have to let them know where you want them to go,
or what you want them to do, or how you want them to do it, and
if they don't know any of those things, then you really can't be
a leader.
So I think communication, and effective communication, is
incredibly important and I think you know that when you run into
a leader, that's an effective communicator, that you really
understand what they're saying or how they're feeling or what
they want you to do, then you're able to do it so much better.
And then on top of that, so communication is the, I think,
the first thing and then, once people can understand what
you're trying to tell them, then that goes into how you
communicate and and how you're treating others.
Strategical thinking is obviously incredible, incredibly
important to manage multiple people, but then faith and part
of that being compassion and love and patience for people,
because, like you said, I'm human, we're human, and when you
lead people you're not leading robots and it's easy to say it's
kind of cliche, but really you have to understand that people
are human and they're going to make mistakes and they're also
going to do things better than you would do them and you have
to be okay with that and and harness that power of of
people's strengths and understand their weaknesses and
be able to play into that.
But having patience with any people that you're over as a
leader is incredibly important because when people know that
you care for them, they want to do better work for you and they
want to yeah, they want to run head first with you as you're
leading the sharps keep going.
Speaker 2: You're doing good.
What else do you got for me?
Make some more leadership tips.
Speaker 3: That's great stuff well, I mean that's.
I just think that's the base.
And then it's kind of like you said, it's a quest and you kind
of find your own answers as you ask your own questions.
Um, and I could probably talk forever about anything if you
wanted me to uh, just kind of inherited that, but, um, yeah, I
mean, I think it's effective communication and strategical
thinking, which not everyone is is blessed with in the way that
they can manage people, um, but I do think that's important.
And then what anybody can learn is how to treat others.
And when you show people love, they understand and they respect
that.
And if that's missing a deadline or something, that may
seem detrimental and you say, well, I want to discourage that.
I don't want people to not follow through or to make
mistakes, but, um, the man who's the most grateful is the man
who's been forgiven the most right, and so the person who's
going to work the hardest for you is going to be the person
who you've forgiven the most, that owes you the most.
And so at a certain point, as an employer specifically,
there's a, there's a place to draw the line for people who are
repeat offenders of something and they're not learning and
they're not growing, but someone who is.
I have a kind of a mentor who told me they got to be smart,
humble and hungry.
And anybody who works for you needs to have those three traits
.
Smart, if you can read, you're probably smart enough to do any
job, because most things can be taught.
And if you're humble and you can respect authority and
respect orders, then you can work hard.
And then hungry means they have to want it for themselves and
you can kind of stoke hunger and stoke that fire.
But someone who's lazy and chooses not to be hungry, you
just at some point there has to be a line drawn.
That doesn't mean you give up on them as a person, but maybe
as an employee.
So that's some of some of my thoughts on leadership, I
suppose.
Speaker 2: Okay, we can stop there.
That's good.
No, that's the.
I really related to a lot of that, by the way.
So you know my mom and dad.
I grew up there in the Metroplex and my mom and dad
divorced when I was six.
My father passed away when I was 10 and I got into a lot of
trouble and I got sent to a boy's ranch.
And if I'd got sent there I'd have never met the FFA.
I'd have never met the FFA, I'd have never been state president
, I would have never gone to college, I'd have never had the
incredible life We'd have never had this podcast.
But to your point, I'm very grateful.
I'm grateful for the love of my mother that realized she didn't
have the tools she needed help.
I'm grateful for a place that gave me opportunity and an
organization that gave me opportunity.
And, to your point, I think that that being grateful
provides some energy to get through tough times.
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: It does, you know it?
It allows us to to reflect and say you know, yeah, it's not
good.
I had a girl on this podcast.
Her name was Madeline Barber.
She was from Bernie, texas.
She sold a pig at the county fair.
She sold this pig at the county fair for $35,000.
That's a lot of money, Colton, that is.
She turned around and donated all $35,000 to St Jude's
Children's Hospital.
That's impressive.
She was a cancer survivor, yeah , oh yeah.
And she said you know, they saved my life, I want to save
somebody else's.
And I think that, to your point , when you have that kind of
humbleness of humbleness, that kind of ability to be smart
enough to recognize that, and then the ability to work hard I
mean, that pig didn't feed itself.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: You know I tell people all the time.
When people ask me about what separates our ag kids from
everybody else, I said it's real easy.
The reason why I like your dad, by the way because in the world
of agriculture, if we don't do our job, something does.
So when you can teach a kid early on that we got to get up,
whether we want to or not, we got to feed it, we got to water
and I know it's a pain my daughter she's tiny and she was
a senior cheerleader at a big 5A school Guess what?
She had to get up and go feed heifers.
She had to water them in cold and in heat.
But now that she's a nurse today she's so good at her job
because my son too.
They're so good at their jobs because I think there's things
that they learned, that things depended on them, that they were
able to carry on into other aspects of their lives.
And I remember when I read American Sniper and I read about
your dad's growing up in the FFA and talked about wanting to
be an ag teacher initially when he started to go to college, it
was it's the craziest thing.
I think I share this with you, but I'll share one more time
since we're on the air, but I had been trying to find a way to
get to talk to your dad and, of course, with the explosion of
American Sniper, it just got harder and harder to find ways
to get there.
If I'd have been smart, I would have started with the most
obvious.
I'm fixing to tell you what that was, but I didn't obvious.
I'm fixing to tell you what that was, but I didn't About the
time.
I finally finally found a way.
Then the tragedy that happened happened and I was at a loss
because I was so eager to want to share that story and then,
luckily, I found my way to your mom and then we got to reconnect
and I told Tay, I said you've got to come to convention.
I want you to see what Chris's life was really all about.
All that, colton, all that came together.
This is where the story gets really crazy.
Ready for this, all that comes together I was asked to go to
Level Land, texas, and speak at a banquet in Leveland, Texas,
out in West Texas.
I show up at Leveland and this ag teacher that I have not seen
in years gets out of his truck.
He starts walking over in my direction.
I've not seen this guy in years .
You know what he said.
He said, aaron, I saw where you were doing that tribute to
Chris.
I saw where you had been talking to Taya.
He said, aaron, I was Chris's ag teacher.
Speaker 3: That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Now what are the odds , colton, that all of that came
into alignment?
Everything that I just shared with you, within probably three
months, sled up.
So that's why I say, anytime we think, you know, I like to
think I'm a pretty good strategic thinker, anytime I
think I am.
I remember the guy upstairs because he's a lot better than I
am.
Oh yeah, he's really crafty at what he does, but there's just a
lot of really good stuff that you just shared there.
And you know another thing that you shared and I'm going to
kind of turn this back into American Sniper a little bit
here you know, one of the things that we like to tell people is,
when the opportunity arises, I need my sharpest tools.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, when, when and if I ever need it, I
need my best tools.
They, they have to be ready to go, and so I'll ask you a fun
question Do you happen to know how many high schools are in the
state of Texas?
Speaker 3: Oh man are in the state of Texas.
Oh man, I can only imagine.
Speaker 2: I'll take a random guess and say like 6,000.
Listen, you did good.
It's just over three.
Okay, that's still a lot of high schools, though Most people
are way low.
Most people are way low.
Colton, you did good.
3,000 high schools.
So, of those high schools, how many of them are going to have a
graduating class this year?
Speaker 3: Well, all of them.
Speaker 2: Every one of them.
So everybody's going to be out.
They're going to be looking for a job, a scholarship or an
opportunity.
So the question that I ask young people is what's your
competitive edge?
What separates you from your competitor?
Sometimes it could be littlest things, a firm handshake, a yes
or no sir, yes, ma'am, no ma'am.
Those can be little things that give you a competitive edge.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But I do believe that young people have to have
something that sets them apart from their peers, of course.
So, at your age, starting your kind of professional career with
a lot of incredible experiences under your belt, what would you
share as some examples of competitive edges that you think
young people could employ to give themselves an edge in life?
Speaker 3: I have to think about that and I will get to that.
I have kind of overarching.
Um, I have a bible verse here.
Sure, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as
working for the lord, not for men.
That's colossians 3, 23.
Uh, that's in the niv version.
Um, and I was even.
I had a Bible study last night and we were even talking about
this very similarly what I'm going to get to, but I can't
remember who said it.
It was a Christian in the 1600s that was significant for being
a public figure, but he said along the lines of a good
Christian cobbler is not a good Christian cobbler because he
puts little crosses on his shoes , but because he makes the best
shoes.
And so I think that's that's what the verse is speaking to,
and that's often what I think about when I'm doing business or
coming up with ideas.
Is that, well, I need a way to show my faith and I want to.
I want to honor God and all that he's done in my life and
show him like look, I'm not forgetting about you.
I don't want to take part in something pagan that's godless,
but I want to live my faith, and if it's something I'm
dedicating so much of my life and time to.
It's my business.
I need a way to incorporate God , and so what's given me a lot
of peace is that my values and how I operate and how I do
business are going to be based on my faith.
So that's first and foremost.
Many people should be able to know that you're a Christian
without knowing that you go to church without you saying that
you're a Christian or anything like that, but just because of
the way that you're so loving and the way that you treat
people, the way you act in good faith and you keep good on your
word, I think those are all incredibly important and those
are ways that honoring God in the way that you do business.
You know if you are, if you're breaking laws and you're
cheating people, but you're putting Bible verses on your
clothing, you're not honoring God at all.
In fact, you're cheating people , but you're putting Bible
verses on your clothing, you're not honoring God at all.
In fact, you're making a mockery of him.
So I think it's important to show your passion and dive into
your passion.
You know God's given you a passion, whatever it may be, and
he's put that there.
You don't have a longing and a yearning to go into agriculture,
to be a skateboarder, to go into business, to be the best
chief financial officer of a firm you could possibly be,
unless God has placed that passion in you.
And so we, I mean we can't get by.
If we're all preachers and missionaries, the world wouldn't
survive, we wouldn't be able to advance.
So for some people, that's their calling is to be a
missionary, for some people to be a preacher and a pastor.
For a lot of us, our calling is to dive into the mission field
that God has given us, because anywhere we go is going to be a
mission field.
They're going to need to encounter you and, through you,
jesus, no matter where they are, and so that's an opportunity
for you to show your faith.
And then you need to do good work as if you're doing it for
god, because you are.
He's giving you the opportunity for that, he's giving you the
passion for that, um, and we can't explain how all these
things work out and when we're another and things just fall
into our lap and we're in the right place at the right time
for things to happen and, like you said, that's all because of
the number one strategical mind out there, which is God.
So, just living out your Christian faith and your walk in
your daily life, in the values that you operate in, I think is
the best way to honor God and through that you'll have a
competitive edge.
You'll be the best at whatever it is that you choose to do, uh,
because that's what God has for you, and then I believe that
you'll have God's blessing in his favor.
And if you run into roadblocks, um, it could be an opportunity
for you to persist.
It could be an opportunity for you to change where you're at
and what you're doing.
You know that's very individual and based on your relationship
with God and how he's talking to you.
But, um, I'm trying to think of specific examples.
I know when I speak to people and people think highly of me,
it's because of, uh, three things.
One of them I know I'm blessed with, and that's just God given,
and then the others I believe that anybody could do and work
towards.
Um, I'll start with how I believe God has blessed me is
immense focus, and so if I'm working on something or I'm
speaking to someone, they have my focus, they have my attention
and I'm retaining the information in front of me.
That's number one.
Now, number two and I believe a lot of people can do that and
you can improve on that.
I just know that I'm blessed with that ability.
Number two like you said, a firm handshake goes a long way.
If I shake anybody's hand, it doesn't matter how old or young
or what gender.
Their handshake will tell me a lot about them.
Eye contact when I'm speaking to somebody, I know, when I'm
writing, if I'm texting somebody , if I'm completing an email, if
someone has poor punctuation or poor grammar.
That bugs me.
A lot of people in my generation don't care for
punctuation and grammar and spelling, but it really bugs me
and it tells me that someone either does or doesn't care
enough to put that effort into that area of their life.
And while they may not value it as much as I do, I still know
that there's a.
I believe that there's a proper way to do some of these things
and you know, casual situations differ from formal situations,
of course, but I believe that's part of the living at your walk
and doing the right thing.
So I said the handshake, I said looking someone in the eyes and
then I believe, if you can relate, a lot of these are going
to be personal.
I think personal interactions are much more important than you
can bond with somebody that way .
But if you can relate to someone, if you can even if
you're being interviewed or you're submitting a resume or
whatever it is if there's an opportunity for you to take a
peek into the other person's life and ask them a question or
two just personally, that makes a big difference.
At the end of the day, everybody just wants to be seen.
We have a I forget who says this, but my mom's told me but
we're all wearing an invisible sign on us that says see me,
please.
We all want to be seen and known and recognized and as an
individual, so you're wearing a sign that says I am Aaron,
alejandro, I want to be known, I want to be seen.
And you may not be expressing that all the time, but when
somebody answers that call, when somebody does that, you feel so
refreshed and relieved and feel like you can really bond with
someone.
It makes a big difference.
Um, so, being able to personally connect with people, I think
oftentimes, when I've thought of the business or corporate or,
um, some world, or it seems highly competitive I've I've
thought of it as losing its humanity a little bit, that is
just entirely performative and that everything you do is based
on your performance and how you do the best, which, like I said,
your performance is important, and that will come based on what
God has given you, but being able to personally relate with
people will get you so much farther than you could expect.
When you run into people that seem just so incompetent at what
they do and you're like, how did you get here?
It's probably their personal skills and work right, and so if
they're lacking in one area, they've made up for it with
their strengths and their ability to speak to people, and
anybody can get better at that.
Anybody can personally invest and care about someone else's
life, or at least a little bit of it.
That you know, and so I think that doesn't necessarily work
for college applications or resumes, but anything person to
person makes a huge difference.
Speaker 2: If I haven't told you lately.
I really like you about the way I'm going to confess something
here, because everybody's going to my staff in particular is
going to get a kick out of what I'm about to say Interns,
everybody that worked for me.
When they get their intern manual and their intern
checklist across the top it's got three words.
It says details, details, details.
Because I'm a real details person.
I'm always like take care of the details and to confess and
to show you my humbleness and my vulnerability here, colton, I
want everybody to know that I messed up an email to Colton
when we were setting up this podcast and I'm sitting here
laughing now because he's talking about this and I'm
sitting here going yeah, I'm the one that messed it up.
Speaker 3: We all do.
Speaker 2: I have this thing set up to populate the time, the
date and everything for the podcast, and I was scheduling a
bunch at the same time and, by gosh, it scheduled the wrong one
and Colton caught it and he said now what time am I supposed
to be?
I'm like Alejandro, you big dummy.
You didn't even do your own details, details, details.
Real quick.
I wanted to ask you.
That was gold, by the way.
I just wrote down several notes of what you said.
Focus, details, see me please.
Uh, that's one of the things coach nate hearn talked about
today when he and I were visiting is.
He said people need to hear when they're doing a good job,
because when they hear that they're doing a good job, that
what you're doing is, you're validating that gift that god
gave them.
You're validating that that competitive edge gave them.
You're validating that, that competitive edge that God gave
them.
Um, I got to share this one with you, cause your mom shared
it and I just love this to death .
Uh, you know anybody named Kent Studebaker?
Speaker 3: Yes, I do.
Speaker 2: I love this quote the Bible is not a rule book, but
rather a recipe for happiness.
Yeah, that's pretty good quote.
By the way, yeah, that's my grandfather, so I know.
Speaker 3: I just thought I'd share that with you because I
think that was such a great quote yeah, I think it's a, I
think it's a recipe for true joy , um, because and I believe
that's what he meant but happiness can be fleeting and
it's good to revel and enjoy happiness and the simple
pleasures, but true joy is founded purpose and, uh, you
cannot find a lasting purpose unless you are faithful and you
have a relationship with jesus.
So, um, I I 100 agree.
I think the deeper you dive into the bible, the less it
seems like a rule book and things to follow, um, but saying
, look, these are not things for you to do to get into heaven,
but this is how you can bring heaven to earth, this is how you
can have kingdom in your life and have joy.
And so, when, when these things go wrong this is not me
punishing you, this is you reaping the consequences of your
own poor actions.
And when you do these things right, you'll see.
You'll see the blessing that it cut that comes with it, because
it's not god striking you down, saying, oh, you messed up, okay
, here's your punishment.
It's god saying, look, I've given you everything you need
and you do these things right and you'll see the way it works
out.
Um, and most of the time, that's just going to be.
It's going to be in your head, it's going to be in your heart.
Um, the biggest stresses and the biggest joys that we have have
very little to do with our physical surroundings, but
really our relationships, uh, our relationship with the lord
and our relationship with ourselves.
We can really be at peace with ourselves and we know who we are
and what God thinks of us.
And I've found great peace and solace in that and, just the
last year, really understanding just how much God loves and
cares for us and that it's not so linear that it's if A then B,
if C then D, but I love you unconditionally, no matter what,
for who you are.
And then, because you know that and because you know you've
been forgiven, then I choose to walk in a way that glorifies God
and is saying look, I'm just so glad that you've given me the
opportunity to do this that I've messed up time and time again
and I still have the opportunity to do good and to honor and
glorify you.
I want to do that rather than a fearful saying I'm going to do
these things because if I don't then I'll go to hell.
Right, it's.
It's definitely relationship driven.
Like I said, the man who's been forgiven the most, is the most
grateful and will do the most in return.
Um, and that's, I believe, how we're supposed to live our lives
and act and see ourselves as humans.
You know, paul renames us.
Instead of sinners, we're now saints, knowing full well we are
sinners, but we don't carry that title.
Speaker 2: We carry the title of saint because that's who God
says we are well, I just think it's another example of the
difference between negativity and positivity.
What's going to attract more people?
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're both infectious.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, but the positive one is the one that
attracts more people.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, have you read.
Speaker 2: By the way, just sitting here listening, have you
read John Gordon's One Truth?
I've not.
Speaker 3: I've read very few, um, faith-based books and I'm
kind of starting my journey.
I've started with dr frank turek.
I don't have enough faith to be an atheist.
It's an apologetics book.
He's an apologist, uh.
And then I'm reading cs lewis mere christianity and then, yeah
, I love it, I love sis, she's, I love.
I'm going to continue reading through his classics and then
move from there.
I have not.
I'm really fascinated with CS Lewis and now NT Wright, just
recently Tom Wright and Dr Frank Turek.
He's on YouTube, so that's how I found him.
He's on YouTube, so that's how I found him, and so he kind of
relates to my generation in that way by being on social media
more actively.
But those are the guys that I've read.
And then I'll be honest my mom has read a lot and I have read
very little outside of that.
Speaker 2: So I want to.
Of course I was late to the John Gordon bus.
They we had him.
He was the keynote speaker at our convention this last year
and he and I were talking and I had to apologize to him.
So, john, if you're watching this, I'm apologizing again.
He's written, I think, 17 number one bestsellers, but his
latest book he and I were talking about it and I think you
would really enjoy it it's called One Truth and what he's
talking about is how, when we get away from the truth that's
when we typically start to have problems we lose our discernment
.
And if we could just stay centered into what we know is
true, then everything kind of takes care of itself.
And anyway, I just thought of you when you said that, so I
wanted to share that with you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it does.
I mean we act on the truth.
We'll see the way the world's supposed to be around us and
we'll also recognize what's not right.
When you bring light to a situation, you show those
imperfections.
You can see the things that are wrong, but you also see the
things that are right and it helps you address that.
So it may be scary to bring light to a situation.
Hey, the perfections but it's necessary.
Speaker 2: We have that discussion sometime with the
young people.
I always tell them the truth is confrontational, yeah, but it
doesn't have to be mean right, you know what you know what I'm
saying.
It doesn't have to be mean, but it still can be the truth.
Um, okay, the other thing that I want to compliment you on one
of my big deals everybody that knows me on social media knows
me by my handle is Live your Brand, because I'm a big
believer in living your brand.
I'm a big believer in what you share, what you post, what you
comment on, all the things that we do, all the touch points that
we have.
They become your brand by the way, and so when I was doing my
search on you that's one of the things I wanted to compliment
you on is it's very clear that you're living your brand.
Thank you, and I think that's a good thing, because consistency
creates credibility.
So the more consistent we are, the more credibility that we
create for our brands.
So when we live our brand, obviously and consistency
creates credibility Then if I talk to you, I'm apt to trust
what you say.
More right, because you've been consistent.
So I just wanted to compliment you on living your brand.
Speaker 3: So thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: We might have to come back and do a part two, because
I think there's several other things you and I could just take
off and talk about.
But we need we do need to wrap up today.
But before we wrap up, every yes gets a fun question.
Okay.
So here's your fun question Colton Kyle, what's the best
concert you've ever been to?
Speaker 3: okay, that is a.
That is a good question.
Unfortunately, I've not been to many.
I think I can remember two.
I may have been to three.
I went to a mercy me concert.
It was my first concert and I was probably 10, so I don't
remember it all that well.
Um, and then I went to a really small, really small concert.
I mean there were maybe 50 of us um in the crowd and my
friends found this band that they really liked.
They were a lot smaller.
It's called harbor as the english spelling, so
h-a-r-b-o-u-r.
Um.
They're just kind of like indie , uh, indie pop punk, kind of um
, and so, like that, I got a shirt for merch and I I found
all the band members and got them to sign it because there
were not very many of us, right, um.
So that was probably the best concert that I've been to.
And my girlfriend loves concerts, so she's been to like
niall horan.
Uh, she would love to go to cody jinx um, of course I'm
forgetting now, but Morgan Wallen.
So she's been to some really fun ones.
And I love music.
I listen to it all the time, but concerts are a little
overwhelming for me, so I just listen at my house.
Speaker 2: It's okay, that's good stuff.
I'm curious about yours.
Oh, don't get me started.
I'm a big live music person.
I'm a diehard Jimmy Buffett buffett fan.
Yeah, that's good.
I'm a diehard, uh, bruce springsteen.
Don't agree with either of their politics, just it's their
music, their talent that I like.
Yeah, but yeah, I just love live music and uh, but if you
were to get a hold of my playlist, you would be, you
would wow.
He's got everything from Christian to Tejano to a big
band sound like Sinatra, uh, all the way that country music,
classic rock I've got the whole spectrum and Mercy Me's in there
, obviously.
So yeah.
Yeah, thank you for asking, though, uh listen, I just want
to tell you again how much I appreciate you sharing some of
your time with us today.
I know I'm not the only one to say this, but really proud of
you, and I hope you keep up the good work and you keep being a
positive influence on the folks around you and share your wisdom
so that people can be discerning and keep sharing
seeds of greatness where people can grow into oak trees of
success.
Thank, you.
Speaker 3: I really appreciate that.
I'm honored to have the opportunity to speak to you.
I've really enjoyed our conversation.
Speaker 2: We're going to keep going.
We're going to keep talking.
Okay, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking time out of
your schedule again to join us today.
We appreciate you sharing some of your time with us.
Remember, you know, if agriculture has taught us
anything, it's taught us.
If you want to know what the future is, grow it.
It requires a little work.
You got to plant the right things and, and then you got to
harvest it and feed, feed others , feed yourself and feed others,
and just doing that just makes our world a better place, and we
appreciate you coming by today and joining Colton, and you know
again, have 10 friends older than you, 10 friends younger
than you.
Ladies and gentlemen, you just got to see a little bit about
where we're headed.
So, colton, thank you so much for sharing Everybody else,
thank you for joining us, and we will see you down the road
until we meet again.
Go out and do something great for somebody.
You'll feel good about it and, guess what?
Everybody's going to benefit from it.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the
Growing Our Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthen agricultural science education
so students can develop their potential for personal growth,
career success and leadership in a global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.