37| How My Dad’s Quiet Example Built My Life And Business (Kate Solo)

Happy Birthday Daddy D! 

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Chapters

• 0:01 A Different Kind Of Episode
• 0:30 Celebrating Dad At 70
• 1:05 Quiet Humor And Sharp Wit
• 2:46 Comfortable With Silence
• 2:46 Leading By Doing, Not Telling
• 4:02 Small Business, Big Durability
• 6:20 Responsibility Without Complaints
• 8:20 Presence, Family, And Fun
• 10:36 Accountability Without Shame

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:01

Today's episode is a little different. It's just me, Kate. And this is not a functional medicine deep dive. I don't have a profound lesson in nutrition, biochemistry, or physiology. But it is a little background of the facility ethos in a way. At least in the way that my dad has shaped me. Which means me as a business owner, as a clinician, and me as a human. I didn't have an episode ready to release this week, but it just so happens that today, December 16th, my dad is turning 70. So instead of something overly polished, I just wanted to record something that feels more accurate and take a moment to appreciate him. It's not a biography, it's not a highlight reel. It's just a few things that I've noticed after a lifetime of watching someone live in a very particular way. The lessons, his character, and really what I admire and aspire to. So if you've met my dad, you know he's not loud, but if you're paying attention, he's the funniest person in the room. My dad has this quiet, sneaky humor. If you're not observant, you'll miss it. And honestly, what I really like is that if you're not very smart, you're definitely gonna miss it. He doesn't perform, he waits. I'll never forget when I was in high school looking over in church, and he was just casually playing with a matchbox car, just waiting. Waiting for one of us, me or my siblings, or really, I think my mom, to notice and scold him. And that was the whole joke. He can make up song lyrics on the spot, which is something I even appreciate more now having a daughter. That is a skill. And the way he can do it with humor, ugh, it's the best. Watching the news with my dad is a completely different experience. Because his commentary is rarely about the actual story. It's usually about what the reporter is wearing or something strange happening in the background. One of my favorite things is that my dad is incredibly comfortable in silence. He speaks when he has something to say, not just to fill space. Now I think I've realized that I absorbed more of that characteristic. One thing that truly defines my dad is how he works. He just does things. No complaining, no announcing. I was really thinking about this recently because there's a running family mantra that the family that rakes leaves together, stays together. Write that down. But that sums him up perfectly. He would get up on a Saturday, go outside, and start raking. He didn't force us to join him every time. He just knew that we would see him out there and eventually come join him. He was just as happy working alone as he was having us alongside him. And he knew there's a job to get done. Someone has to do it. I might as well start doing it. But that's his style of leadership, just a quiet example. No lectures, no explaining the why. They were just demonstrated. Watching that has taught me that work doesn't need to be miserable to be meaningful, and that showing up consistently is its own form of generosity. My dad is a small business owner, so I grew up around a business that wasn't flashy, but it worked. My dad left his engineering career to join a family business started by his dad. Interspan Resources. It is a human resources company where other businesses, often in the warehouse or the line work environment, outsource the hard stuff, the recruiting, the hiring, the scheduling, the payroll, all the day-to-day realities of managing people so that the company itself can function. Here's the thing that I can now appreciate about his small business. There are no dramatic growth stories, just consistency. Year after year, showing up, solving problems, handling what needed to be handled. And watching that over decades has taught me the difference between growth and durability. Anyone can grow quickly, but not everyone can build something that holds up. What really stands out to me is how responsibility was modeled. Again, there was no complaining about it. There wasn't a need for validation. If something needed to be handled, he handled it because it was his. That kind of example changes how I think, especially as a business owner. It's where my respect for systems comes in for boring excellence for the long game. It really shaped how I think about sustainability. Not just profitability, not just that bottom number, but emotional and financial stability. Building something that works for a long time to provide for my family without burning out or cutting corners to get there. I think this shows up directly in how we run the clinic, why ownership matters so much to us, why we don't overpromise or oversell. We know where our limits are. And it's, I mean, I care more about doing things well than doing them loudly. I think I learned early on that doing the work doesn't require announcing that you're doing the work. Even during the hardest business years when work I know had to be heavy and stressful, he never missed what mattered. My dad was there for sports events, school events, family moments. When he was home, he was home. Not work dad, just dad. His best friends have always been his family. His dad, his siblings, my mom, us. I'm one of four. I have an older brother, a younger sister, and a younger brother. But having fun didn't mean escaping that. It meant being together, often with yard work involved. But that kind of presence and enjoyment, it sticks with you, especially now as a parent. Another thing that I can now appreciate as a parent is my dad let us make mistakes. But he never let our mistakes ruin us. There was a lot of accountability, but there was also safety. He was able to balance correction without shame. And that combination is so rare and so powerful. And that's where now it's shaping human me. Now it's shaping me as a mom. Mention this in his work, Ethic, but his values aren't taught in speeches and lectures. They're in patterns. I see it in how people are treated. I see it in how he keeps his promises. I see it in how problems were handled when no one else was around. Those kinds of things have stuck with me. And now they shape how I interact with patients, how I think about trust, and why I care so much about follow-through. Because I do think it speaks to me as a human. Turns out that values don't need a lot of explanation when they're lived and demonstrated consistently. It's kind of out there, but every time I hear sermons about the father's love, my brain goes straight to my dad. He's steady, patient, present, he's safe. And I'm just I realize how lucky I am to have that modeled so clearly to me. So turning 70 feels like a like a marker. What I hope that I have absorbed is the long view, the quiet humor. I hope I have some of that. The ability to work hard without bitterness, the discipline to show up over and over without complaint. The understanding that love is expressed through presence and example, not just words. So this is my thank you for the work ethic for the humor that you have to pay attention to, for showing me that the long game done well is worth it. Happy birthday, Dad. Daddy, Ducky, Bubba, all the things. I love you. And now, if you're not my dad, you may now exit the episode. Because this is gonna show my real vulnerability.

SPEAKER_00: 10:30

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear dad. Happy birthday to you.