Fundamentals Over Flash: How Discipline Creates Freedom and Builds a Resilient Kid

This one hits different.

For the first time ever, my son Castle Cripps steps into the studio. If you know him, you know he’s wired a little differently. Basketball. CrossFit. Broadcasting. Finance. The kid understands how a Roth IRA works better than most college grads, and he’s not afraid of hard work.

We talk about a summer that shaped him. Tough basketball camps. A coach who nearly sent him home on day one. Early mornings, protein breakfasts, CrossFit strength, and learning why fundamentals beat flash every time. Castle shares what it feels like to push through “I don’t like this” and come out stronger on the other side.

We also get real about habits. Sleep over screens. Outdoor play over all-night gaming. Why calling for a ride at a sleepover isn’t quitting, it’s choosing tomorrow. There’s a fun nutrition detour, lessons from mowing lawns, and a surprisingly sharp breakdown of money, ownership, and why starting a Roth IRA early changes everything.

This episode is about building a durable mindset. For young athletes. For parents. For anyone who believes discipline creates freedom.

🏀 Strength before spotlight
 💪 Consistency over motivation
 💰 Think like an owner early
 👨‍👦 Always keep the call-me lifeline open

If you care about youth sports, parenting, or raising kids who can handle real life, this episode is for you.

Since the recording of this episode my Dad passed away. I lost my Dad, Best Friend and Mentor all in one moment. My son lost his Pappa, Mom lost her husband, team mate and love of her life of over 60 years. 
*Don't take the little things for granted. Enjoy the moment understanding.. there will be a last moment. 
Even though it is hard... be thankful for the time you had. 

Let’s charge forward together. 🚀🔥 

If one story, one insight, or one spark made you better this year—mission accomplished. 

New episodes every Thursday / Friday (working on getting back to that after our recent loss)
Subscribe, review, and keep charging forward with us.

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Transcript

Welcome And Summer Hoops

Castle Cripps 0:00

Coach Dan, I wanted to leave practice that first day. I did not want to be around that guy.

Jim Cripps 0:05

Yeah. Well, what about the second day? Who do you think you'd pick for that?

Castle Cripps 0:10

Either Peyton Manning or Donald Trump.

Jim Cripps 0:13

Okay. All right. I like I like both of those. Hey team, Jim Crips here with the ChargeFord Podcast, coming to you from HitLab Studios here in Nashville, Tennessee. I have an absolutely fantastic guest for you today. He is near and dear to my heart, my son Castle Cripps.

Speaker 1 0:34

How you doing, Dad? Nice to you here.

Jim Cripps 0:36

Well, I'm doing fantastic. It's great to have you back in the studio.

Speaker 1 0:39

Yeah, yeah. Great to be back.

Jim Cripps 0:41

That's right. So you got a lot going on this summer. You got basketball. Basketball is a pretty big deal these days, right?

Speaker 1 0:48

Yep. A lot of camps, a lot of camps.

Inside UT Camp And Fundamentals

Jim Cripps 0:50

All right. We just got back from UT camp. What how did that go?

Speaker 1 0:54

Uh, that was pretty good. Uh our team lost the uh camp championship, which was a little disappointing, but we did really good at camp, and I thought uh my whole team did pretty good.

Jim Cripps 1:05

Yep. And d tell us a little bit about that, because some of the watchers aren't aren't gonna know about UT camp and what it's all about.

Speaker 1 1:12

So at UT Camp we got to meet the players, the coaches, including Rick Barnes and the 2025-26 player list for the University of Tennessee Vols. Uh we got autographs, and then we played a lot of five-on-five games with the other kids at camp, and then we got into other things what as is drills, shooting, ball handling, stuff like that.

Jim Cripps 1:38

Okay, cool. And got to check out the campus too, right?

Speaker 1 1:41

Yeah, we did. We found we went on kind of a little scavenger hunt, me and my friend, to uh find all the smokies, but that's a project for next year.

Jim Cripps 1:51

Okay, that's cool. And definitely got a picture with uh the memorial for Miss Pat Summit, right?

Speaker 1 1:57

Yep, yep, yep.

Jim Cripps 1:58

That was pretty cool.

Speaker 1 1:59

That was really cool.

Jim Cripps 2:00

Yeah. And this is not the first year you've done UT camp, right?

Speaker 1 2:03

No, I was there last year and then including this year, so that makes it two years in the running at UT camp.

Jim Cripps 2:10

Okay. Now, your favorite camp though is here in Middle Tennessee.

Speaker 1 2:15

Yep. Uh Nike camp, Nike basketball camp at Davidson Academy.

Jim Cripps 2:20

Yeah, and who who all's who all does that one?

Speaker 1 2:22

Um more people that work there at Davidson Academy or other college kids. So Drew Maddox's daughter and son worked at the camp, and then obviously it's sponsored by Nike, so we get shirts and then we have prizes.

Jim Cripps 2:40

Yeah, that's cool. Well, what what is basketball to you these days?

Speaker 1 2:46

Um I think it's fun, and I think it's just something that keeps me going, and I really like it, but I like it when I feel like I'm good at it.

Jim Cripps 2:58

Yeah. Well, I'm I mean, I think that's everybody. Everybody likes to likes to be good at stuff, right?

Speaker 3:02

Yeah.

Jim Cripps 3:03

Uh but you know, I and I forget who egg who exactly it is that that says this, but if you're if you're gonna be good at things, you have to be willing to suck at them first. And so, you know, we do have to go through that period of like we don't really know what's going on, or maybe we go to the next level and it's harder, or we're playing against better players, and uh that's what makes us a better player, right?

Speaker 1 3:25

Yeah, yeah.

Jim Cripps 3:25

Yeah, totally. And then CrossFit's a big deal these days too, right?

Speaker 1 3:29

Yes, sir.

Jim Cripps 3:30

And so who all you got at CrossFit?

Speaker 1 3:32

Uh my friend Branch. Uh we hang out quite a bit, we ride bikes together, and then we're gonna try and keep doing that later. Um he's got some really fun dogs, so we hang out quite a bit. His dad owns the gym, so uh he was able to get me there even when I'm not twisted be in the right age group, um, which is really fun because we get to do a lot of more complicated things than kids our our age are just sitting on the couch.

Jim Cripps 4:03

Now, tell us some of the coaches that you've enjoyed along the way with basketball.

Coach Dan’s Tough Love Pays Off

Speaker 1 4:10

Coach Shane, Coach Dan, uh, Coach Mason, my AAU coach. Then Coach Dan kind of taught us it's like tough love for basketball.

Speaker 4:21

Yeah.

Speaker 1 4:22

And then uh Coach Shane Samway is Coach Dan.

Jim Cripps 4:27

Okay. But they're totally different coaching styles, right?

Speaker 1 4:30

Yes.

Jim Cripps 4:30

So tell us about the very first time you met Coach Dan.

Speaker 1 4:34

Coach Dan, I wanted to leave practice that first day. I did not want to be around that guy.

Jim Cripps 4:39

Yeah. Well, what about the second day?

Speaker 1 4:42

I wanted to go back because I felt like I got better each and every day and every year that I went to his camp.

Jim Cripps 4:48

Yeah. And so for listeners at home, and just to kind of paint the picture, the first time we went to Coach Dan's practice, we get there and Coach Dan is very strict. He's about fundamentals and really learning each piece of basketball before you put it together. And in that first practice, there were probably 40 kids. And when we left practice, Kazel said, I don't want to do that again. And I said, Buddy, that is real basketball. That is somebody that is passionate about teaching you the game. And I said, reality is over half these kids won't show back up next time, so we're going. And the next the next uh practice we went to, sure enough, there were maybe 10 kids in that practice. And we went to that practice every single time. And unfortunately, it didn't happen this year uh due to some scheduling conflicts. But uh Castle always asks about Coach Dan's practice because he absolutely got better because of it. And, you know, the kids, the kids that show up for that practice, they get a lot better, don't they?

Speaker 1 5:52

Yeah. So we in there was a kid that we played with and he was a grade younger than me, and uh he went to I saw him before he started with Coach Dan. He sat the bench the entire time, and I saw him play like half of the game. Maybe not e probably not even that much, and not even half, maybe like a fourth. He only had like a few minutes, and then after he played he he was averaging thirty minutes a game.

Jim Cripps 6:25

Oh wow, that's a big difference. So because basketball is such a big part of your world these days, if you could play one-on-one with one player, who would that be?

Speaker 6:40

I would rather do a like two-on-two. Okay.

Speaker 1 6:44

Me and Wenbenyama versus uh Jordan and Kobe.

Jim Cripps 6:50

Oh, alright.

Speaker 1 6:51

Because if Win Ben Yama just lifts me up on his shoulders, they can't really block that, and it's not traveling because Wenbinyama doesn't have the ball and I didn't move my feet.

Jim Cripps 7:03

I get it, but I I gotta believe Kobe and and Michael are gonna come out on top on that one.

Speaker 1 7:08

Yeah.

Jim Cripps 7:08

Yeah. But what an amazing game it would be to see. Right?

Speaker 1 7:13

Yeah.

Jim Cripps 7:14

Alright. Uh, who would you say is a good role model for you? Who do you look up to?

Speaker 1 7:25

I might have to think about that for a second.

Jim Cripps 7:27

That's totally fine.

Speaker 1 7:28

We might have to come back to that one?

CrossFit, Friends, And Hard Work

Jim Cripps 7:30

Yeah. Okay, we can come back to that. Um now, one of the things that you get to do with me every once in a while is you get to go to car lunch. So for anybody that doesn't know what that is, why don't you explain what that what that is?

Speaker 1 7:42

Uh people that have a lot of money and a lot of cars, they come and have lunch, and it's really cool to see even in the rain, somebody can bring a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. In the thunderstorms, somebody can bring the most amazing types of cars.

Jim Cripps 8:05

Yeah. And what what about what about the lunch itself? What about the conversations? What about the people? Um what the people are pretty fun. Yeah.

Speaker 1 8:16

Yeah.

Jim Cripps 8:18

Anything else?

Speaker 1 8:19

No, not really.

Jim Cripps 8:20

No, not really. Okay. All right. So I know that one of the things that you want to do this year is you want to work the sports desk at Sycamore. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about that.

Speaker 1 8:31

So we get to interview people that play on the sports teams uh the section that I would be doing, I would be interview interviewing the boys' parts of the team. So baseball, basketball, football, golf, um, and then sharing what happened in the games that uh last night or that evening that somebody might have not seen or missed.

Jim Cripps 8:59

Cool. And one of your friends does that right now, right?

Speaker 1 9:02

Yeah. So my f my uh best friend call his older brother. His older brother does it, and uh he did it last year, so that was pretty cool. And that saw me. I I saw that and I knew I wanted to do that.

Jim Cripps 9:17

Okay. And so is that something you try out for, or is it something that uh you gotta what how how does that work?

Speaker 1 9:24

I don't really know. I think you just sign up.

Jim Cripps 9:27

Okay.

Speaker 1 9:28

And you write you write something, I guess. I'm not really sure.

Jim Cripps 9:32

Okay. Well, we gotta get that figured out, right?

Speaker 1 9:35

Yeah.

Jim Cripps 9:35

Okay.

Speaker 1 9:36

And is that something you do in seventh and eighth grade, or what it's for sixth graders, seventh graders, and eighth graders.

Jim Cripps 9:42

Okay. And how many people do that?

Cars, Community, And Curious Lunches

Speaker 1 9:45

Uh last year, so you have like a camera producer, an editor, uh, like two other cameramen, a director, and then everybody that talks, um, and then like we'll do news around our hometown. So you have people that like go out there, and then the cameramen that do that, the reporters, all that kind of stuff.

Jim Cripps 10:11

Okay, cool. Well, you know, one of the things that we talk about quite a bit, uh, whether that is uh CrossFit or whether it's us playing pickleball or whether it's basketball or working out, um, we talk quite a bit about health.

Speaker 10:25

Yes.

Jim Cripps 10:26

And so what would you uh what would you say is the difference maybe between the lunches that you pack for yourself or the breakfast that you make for yourself versus maybe something that you see other kids eating?

Speaker 1 10:39

Uh Takis, talkies, hot Cheetos, Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, fried corn, chips.

Jim Cripps 10:48

Hang on, you eat all those things?

Speaker 1 10:50

No, no, no, no, no. For breakfast, I usually have eggs, maybe like a waffle occasionally, more like eggs and bacon, or eggs and like half a piece of toast. And then the lunches that I see at school are cereal and then um not organic fruits or juices, or uh like low quality almost or expired milk.

Jim Cripps 11:18

Expired milk?

Speaker 1 11:19

Yeah. I've had expired milk before.

Jim Cripps 11:23

That doesn't sound good. All right. Well, let's not do that. Ew. Um, and then you you you were actually saying this on the way over here. So what is the reaction? Because you said you had tried a taki before. What does what does a taki actually do to you?

Speaker 1 11:42

So my back actually turns red and my like it starts to sweat, and so do my like neck and the whole back of my my back, my neck, all that starts to heat up and get really red.

Jim Cripps 11:56

Yeah. I think I think you're just because we don't do a whole lot of processed food, I think it's just your body's like, oh, get that out of here. No, don't let that in here. Um, so walk everybody through. What what is your normal routine in the morning? Like, like tell them about what time you get up.

School Sports Desk Ambitions

Speaker 1 12:14

So I I usually get up at 5.30 or 5.45. If I'm tired the night before, then I'll sleep till about six. I usually wake up, I'll either take a shower. If I was really cold or I didn't sleep good, that helps me wake up. And then um I usually get dressed, fix my hair, brush my teeth, uh, do all kind of the normal stuff that people do in the morning. And then um I'll probably put on some different clothes and um lift some weights downstairs and then come up in about 10-15 minutes and then put on what I'm gonna wear to school. Uh uh me and my mom make some breakfast sometimes, and then uh she sometimes makes my lunch for me, which I really appreciate. Um sometimes I'll make it and then uh at the end of the morning I can watch TV as soon as I have like all my important things done.

Jim Cripps 13:18

Okay. All right. And you know, a lot of kids play a lot of video games. They and not that you don't play some video games, but a lot of kids play a lot of video games way into the night. Uh, don't get proper amounts of sleep. Well what time do you go to bed?

Speaker 1 13:34

I go to bed in the summer, it's been a little rough since we've done car shows and basketball and things like that. But on a school night, I'm between 8 30 and 9. And then, like I said, I get up at 5 45, 5 30, 6 o'clock, just so that I'm up, ready to go. When most kids are waking up 10 minutes till school, they're just throwing some clothes on, uh, grabbing a Pop Tart out the door on the bus.

Jim Cripps 14:01

Oh, Pop Tarts.

Speaker 1 14:03

My arch nemesis.

Jim Cripps 14:07

So I remember a game we used to play when we were trying to really kind of trying to teach you about the importance of of food and and that kind of stuff. And uh, I don't remember how we started this thing, but what did we used to do? We would go into HG Hills.

Speaker 1 14:22

So we'd go into HG Hills and we'd go grab our stuff and we'd always go down the Pop Tart aisle. And it was whoever found the most amount of carbs or added sugars on the back of the Pop Tart got something. I don't remember what it was. I think it was like um like the little toy dirt bikes that we used to get from like O'Reilly's or that kind of stuff. It was if I if I won like a bunch of rounds, I could get one of those or a truck from Tractor Supply.

Jim Cripps 14:53

Yep. And what what was the what was the like most sugar or highest carbs, just terrible Pop Tart situation?

Food Choices, Mornings, And Routine

Speaker 1 15:02

So I think it got discontinued or something, but I think there was I I don't really remember it. I think it was like strawberry frosted milkshake. And it was like 91 91 carbs for uh a pack of two.

Jim Cripps 15:27

Yeah. That's that's a real good way to start your day, right?

Speaker 1 15:31

Yeah, great.

Jim Cripps 15:32

Great. Uh well, speaking of the the uh toy motorcycles, I remember when you were a little guy, and back then, yeah.

Speaker 1 15:41

Teeny tiny tiny teeny.

Jim Cripps 15:43

Teeny tiny tiny teeny. Well, I remember I I used to travel quite a bit for work. And one day I got to my hotel and I opened up my suitcase, and you had packed me some motorcycles in my in my suitcase, so that uh when I called to say goodnights that evening, uh we could uh play motorcycles together.

Speaker 1 16:07

I remember that. I think I remember doing that a couple more times, but like I still I still play with those toy motorcycles.

Jim Cripps 16:16

Yep, that's fun. And then one of the times, you know, um because we kind of raised you to be a little bit older than you are or act a little older than you are, um, you know, I think you were maybe one when I bought you your first first motorcycle.

Speaker 1 16:31

Oh, yeah, I remember that. I it's I don't know.

Jim Cripps 16:34

I don't know that you remember.

Speaker 1 16:35

No, no, but I I remember the like the seeing the pictures.

Jim Cripps 16:38

Yeah, absolutely. And so you rode dirt bikes early. Um oh, here's a fun story. What about the time you just tried to submarine your no, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 1 16:52

We are not talking about that today.

Jim Cripps 16:55

All right, we'll save that for the for the for the next podcast. Um last year, you got you got a pretty pretty nice thing, pretty uh pretty big deal for uh starting summer. Do you remember what that was?

Speaker 1 17:15

It was my razor, wasn't it?

Jim Cripps 17:17

Uh-huh.

Speaker 1 17:18

Yeah, because I got it on the last day of school. You told me we were going to the shop that uh does our um that fixes them, and I didn't know this, but a couple of days before you had to go pick it up, and so I went to go hang out with a friend, and I had no idea why I was doing this. And um my grandpa almost ruined it because he was like, Did you get your new razor yet? And I was like, What new razor? And so sure enough, the last day of school, we go to the shop and uh they're like, Can you start that up? And I was like, Yeah, easy. Hand me the keys. So I get in there and I start it, and they were like, Why don't you just go ahead and pull it out? And I was like, Isn't this somebody else's? And they were like, Go ahead and pull it up on the trailer, and I was like, Why am I pulling it up on our trailer? And then they ended up telling me after we got it strapped down that it was mine.

Jim Cripps 18:18

Yep. And who who was there?

Speaker 1 18:20

It was me, you, uh, my mom, Mr. Jason, and Mr. Mitch.

Jim Cripps 18:27

Okay. Mr. Mitch and uh Mr. Jason are pretty cool, aren't they? Really cool, yeah. Um, all right. So what do you think is something that parents or adults don't understand about being a kid these days?

Speaker 1 18:45

What do you mean by that?

Jim Cripps 18:46

I don't know. Just whatever you think it means.

Speaker 1 18:49

Can you ask that question one more time?

Jim Cripps 18:51

Yeah. What do you what would you what's something that you think maybe adults or parents don't understand about being a kid, maybe being a middle schooler these days?

Speaker 1 19:05

Just take the console away, make him put him on a bike.

Jim Cripps 19:10

Okay, all right. So how come?

Bikes Over Video Games

Speaker 1 19:13

Uh so I actually had a sleepover with a friend a couple of nights ago, and um we were just kind of sitting inside, we were watching TV, playing with the dogs, and he was like, You wanna go outside? And I was like, Yeah, sure. And so ended up, we just kinda just kind of like sat around in the garage and I was like, You want to go ride bikes? And he was like, sure. So he hopped on his e-scooter and I hopped on the bike, and we rode ten and a half miles on bike and e-scooter, and I realized how much fun I was having with my friend. Uh, we got to talk, we got to ride to uh places that we had never gone before in that neighborhood. So I just thought that that was really fun to be able to um just be outside and ride bikes together.

Jim Cripps 20:08

Yeah. And so, you know, obviously you get a lot of your friends, they they play a lot of video games. Um, a lot of uh sleepovers or going to hang out with friends just end up with it being a lot of video games versus sometimes or some some uh people you hang out with, uh, it's a lot of playing basketball or riding bikes or that kind of stuff, playing outside. What what do you think is the main difference? Or what do you tell me which one you like better?

Speaker 1 20:40

I think since we had so much fun riding bikes together, and when we used to live in a neighborhood, we would have races all the time, which was really fun. Um, but I think sometimes when I'm at a sleepover where they just want to play video games, I kind of get caught up in that, and so we end up spending like the entire night before we have to go to sleep and the entire morning playing it, and we just never really did anything fun or productive. Like we didn't go go outside, we didn't ride bikes, we didn't uh if they have uh pets, we didn't play with them.

Jim Cripps 21:18

Yeah. Um and so one one of the things that I'm very proud of you on is if if you if you're somewhere and they're just playing video games or um you don't want to be there anymore, you will call me.

Speaker 21:37

Yep.

Jim Cripps 21:37

And so maybe there's a kid out there right now that's watching, or maybe there's an adult um that maybe they don't have that relationship. Maybe their son is not or their or their daughter's not willing to call and say, Hey, I'm ready to come home. Uh, what would you tell them?

Speaker 1 21:54

I mean, some nights when I'm at a sleepover, at like I didn't Want to do it. I had a sleepover with my friend, and we were having a lot of fun. We went down in the creek that he has, and uh we built a fort down there that was super fun, and it got to be about 10:30, 11, and I was getting ready for bed, and he was watching TV, and so I can't sleep with the TV on. I like it to be dark, quiet. I like to listen to like rain sounds. I know some people find comfort in that, and so do I. And he just wanted to watch TV until he passed out or fell asleep, and that's just not really what I like to do. So I gave you a call and you came and picked me up.

Rigs, Rides, And First Stick Shift

Jim Cripps 22:44

Yeah. Well, and and so that's one of the things, and I I'll give a shout out to Mr. Bobby Hopkins. Uh, and Bobby was very forward on the podcast about how if he always wanted his son to understand that no matter what, he could call him, no matter when it was, how late it was, how early it was, and he would come and get him. And I would encourage every parent out there, uh, whether it is a code that they text you, or whether it's they're willing to give you a phone call, no matter what, uh, but but have that relationship with your son or your daughter, that they feel comfortable calling you to pick them up so that they are not in a situation that they don't want to be in, even if it's just that they're not going to get good sleep and be productive the next day, um, because that's a habit or that's a uh a feeling of comfort of being able to call you that they will carry on into more difficult uh situations later in life. Um if you could design a video game, what would it be?

Speaker 1 23:49

Probably a racing game. I really like racing. Uh I I'm trying to get like a racing steering wheel that hooks up because uh I'm not old enough to have a driver's license and I've got a razor that's only in the backyard of my grandparents' house. But uh with this, you know, I can kinda sit down, but still, you know, like I don't play shooting games because I know that I can get addicted more to that. Um, but racing games I can drive even though like I can't drive in the real world.

Jim Cripps 24:27

Okay, all right. Uh, but you have started learning how to drive a five-speed, right?

Speaker 1 24:32

Yes, it's very complicated.

Jim Cripps 24:34

It's very complicated.

Speaker 1 24:35

I do not like it.

Jim Cripps 24:36

You don't like it? No. Are you kidding me right now?

Speaker 1 24:38

Not yet. Not yet, at least.

Jim Cripps 24:40

Okay, all right. And what are you driving?

Speaker 1 24:42

Uh B and W Z3, 1997, no.

Jim Cripps 24:50

1999.

Speaker 1 24:51

Uh-huh. Okay. I couldn't remember if it was 99 or 97.

Jim Cripps 24:54

All good. All good. Um, and you know, there's very few cars these days that are manuals, but I do think that it's important for everybody to know how to drive a stick shift. So that's that's fun. That's a project we've been working on. And then um if you could pick your own hype song for you to come out into basketball or to CrossFit, whatever, what would it be?

Speaker 1 25:20

The uh the theme song from Space Jam, the original one where Michael Jordan, uh the Space Jam song. I love that.

Jim Cripps 25:28

Okay, all right. I like it. Um, we we talk about cars quite a bit just because of the the work that I do and uh some of the people that we know. What do you think your first vehicle is going to be?

Speaker 1 25:44

Uh I want a F-150 platinum or limited uh white with chrome. I think that looks pretty good.

Work, Money, And Entrepreneur Mindset

Jim Cripps 25:56

Okay. Good deal. And then um for for kids maybe out there that have not had a job yet, uh, so last year you had a you had a job. What were what were you doing last year?

Speaker 1 26:09

Mowing grass.

Jim Cripps 26:10

Mowing grass. And what did you learn through that experience?

Speaker 1 26:15

That it might not be the best career pick, but it it was I I had some money at the end of the season.

Jim Cripps 26:23

Okay. All right. And so who did you work with?

Speaker 1 26:26

I worked with Mr. Paul Davis. I mowed his grass uh every other week for $120 for like three or four hours of work.

Jim Cripps 26:38

Yep. And so what's what's different about kind of owning your own business versus maybe working for somebody else, say like at the grocery store or something?

Speaker 1 26:48

So at the grocery store, you get paid commission or um wage. When you have your own business, you decide how much you get paid. As an entrepreneur, you can get paid a lot of money, a little money, or in the middle. When you work for somebody, you they decide how you get paid.

Jim Cripps 27:11

So the difference is you get to decide how you get paid versus somebody else deciding how you get paid. And and but you do something a little bit different. So you had to you had to talk to Mr. Paul, you had to schedule those, you had to walk the yard with him. So how was it working with Mr. Paul?

Speaker 1 27:27

It was not like anything I've ever done before, but it definitely taught me like things that if I want to do or want to have a business in the future, that I have to do those things.

Jim Cripps 27:41

Yeah, like what?

Speaker 1 27:42

Um talking to them, like being clear about it, um, saying what um telling them uh the truth, like honesty, if I can't make it, if uh I'll have to do it uh on a different day than I usually uh don't, like if it's during the week or on the weekend, um that kinds of things.

Jim Cripps 28:07

Okay. And uh they put a lot of trust in you, then didn't they?

Speaker 1 28:11

They did. So um it was we had to like clear up some trees, uh create like almost a burn pile, we keep the yard looking good, uh, that kinds of thing.

Jim Cripps 28:25

Okay. Um what is your favorite thing at CrossFit?

Speaker 1 28:32

Deadlifts.

Jim Cripps 28:33

Deadlifts?

Speaker 1 28:33

Or back squats?

Jim Cripps 28:35

Okay. All right. And what is the most fun day you've had at CrossFit? Or what's the most fun thing you've ever done at CrossFit?

Speaker 1 28:46

Probably rope climbs.

Jim Cripps 28:48

Rope climbs? Okay. You also do Spartan races too, right?

Speaker 1 28:51

Yes.

Jim Cripps 28:52

What's the what's the fun thing about Spartan races?

Speaker 1 28:57

They're not really fun, they're just really challenging.

Jim Cripps 29:00

Okay. So why is it important to to challenge yourself?

Speaker 1 29:04

Get out of your comfort zone, I guess. I mean, I don't really like doing them. They're not really my favorite. Um, but I do.

Jim Cripps 29:15

Okay. All right. Um, now I brag on you a lot of times in that um you probably know more about money than anybody your age, and I would even say probably more than most high school and or college kids. So tell me about investing.

Speaker 1 29:35

What do you mean? Like just if you were to buy a stock or investing in a company.

Jim Cripps 29:42

Tell me about tell me tell me about investing in your Roth IRA.

Speaker 1 29:46

So your Roth is a uh like a money market that's not tax deductible, right?

Jim Cripps 29:53

Well, you don't pay taxes on it when it grows.

Speaker 1 29:55

Yeah, that's what I meant. Um so whenever I retire, that's X amount of money that's in there. And when you're 18, it's we it's best to start it when you're younger than me. Um, but you want to start it in between like as soon as you're three to eighteen because that'll let it grow even more to whenever you retire.

Jim Cripps 30:21

Yep. And uh, you know, when we first started talking about investments, uh, we talked about a friend of ours was looking at buying a new truck. And if he'd put that money into his Roth IRA instead of buying the new truck, do you remember how big a difference that was?

Speaker 1 30:39

It was like a 40 or $20,000 truck, I can't remember. And it would be like two million by the time he retired at like age 68.

Jim Cripps 30:49

Yep, you're exactly right.

Speaker 1 30:50

So do you want the truck for two million dollars or do you want two million dollars in the future?

Jim Cripps 30:56

That's right. That's right. So the future cost was was pretty significant. Um, well, so we're we're kind of wrapping up here. What what do you think the future looks like for you? What do you what are you excited about?

Speaker 1 31:08

Um having my own business because I want to I want to be able to go to things like car lunch and car shows. I want to have I wanna be able to um have nice things.

Jim Cripps 31:20

Okay. And what do you what are you excited about for this year? What are you excited about coming up?

Speaker 1 31:28

Uh definitely seeing if um what I can do, I guess. So if I can get stronger, get better at basketball.

Jim Cripps 31:41

Okay. And those two kind of go together, right?

Speaker 1 31:45

Yes.

Dream Bowling Team And Closing

Jim Cripps 31:46

Yeah. Um and I ask everybody that's on the show if they were gonna pick four people to bowl in an event for that with them to raise as much money for charity as possible, who would they want on their bowling team? And so who would you want on your bowling team?

Speaker 1 32:05

So just like four people on my team?

Jim Cripps 32:07

Yeah.

Speaker 1 32:08

You, Mr. Bob Learn, Michael Jordan, and Anthony Edwards. Because uh Anthony Edwards actually bowls in his free time um with a bunch of his teammates, and I think Michael Jordan would be really cool.

Jim Cripps 32:26

Okay, all right. And if you were gonna pick one person in order to like commentate to give the play by play, who do you think you'd pick for that?

Speaker 1 32:34

Either Peyton Manning or Donald Trump.

Jim Cripps 32:37

Okay. All right. I like I like both of those. I like both of those. It's it would it would be fantastic. It's gonna be huge. All right. Well, Castle, thank you so much for joining me in the studio today. Uh, I gotta tell you, as your dad, it is absolutely fantastic. It's a pleasure to watch you grow up. I'm so incredibly proud of you. And uh boy, you are just growing up to be one heck of a young man.

Speaker 1 33:01

Thanks, Dad.

Jim Cripps 33:03

Absolutely. All right, team, you heard it here. I hope you enjoyed some time, spending some time with my son, Castle Cripps, in the studio. Remember, the Charge Forward Podcast comes out every Thursday, and our goal is to bring amazing stories to you so that you can take something out of their story and make your story even better. Big shout out to our sponsors, HitLab Studios here in Nashville, Tennessee, since custom development and uh the Charge Forward Podcast. Until next time, I'm Jim Cripps. We'll see you later. Team is Jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward Podcast. I just want to tell you, I love you. I appreciate you listening. I appreciate you for subscribing and sharing the Charge Forward Podcast with people you know and you love because that's what we're here for. We are here to share the amazing stories, the things that people have been through, the ways that they were able to improve their life so that you can take little nuggets from theirs and help improve your story and be better tomorrow than you were today. I hope that this is the tool you needed at the right time and that you find value in the amazing guests that we bring each and every week. Thanks so much, and don't forget new episodes drop every Thursday.