Fatherhood and Biblical Entrepreneurship (w/ Adam La Barr, Sr.)

On this episode, Darren sits down with Adam La Barr to discuss his journey in simultaneously raising kids and businesses for the glory of God.

Thanks for listening, and keep partnering with God in your business.  

And don’t forget to check out our sponsor at HighBridgeBooks.com. And feel free to contact me directly at darren@highbridgebooks.com if you’re interested in writing, publishing, and selling a book.   

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to the Christian Business Leader Podcast, where Christ following business leaders explore God's will and ways for business. This show is the ministry of the Center for Christianity and Business at Houston Christian University and features conversations with today's Christ-centered business leaders who are representing Christ faithfully in the business world. I'm your host, Darren Scheer, and if you want to make your work, leadership, and company's culture more Christ-centered, you've come to the right place. On this episode, we're joined by Adam Labar Sr. Adam is the owner of RAL Capital Group, through which he has owned and operated hundreds of doors of real estate and helped build and run amazing businesses from an education company to escape rooms. And he also hosts two podcasts: the BizDad Podcast and the Delegate That Podcast. He's a follower of Christ, husband to an amazing woman, father to three great kids who he helps to homeschool and is also a military veteran. So thanks for your service, Adam, and welcome to the Christian Business Leader Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Thank you so much, Darren. I greatly appreciate uh you having me on.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

When did you first realize God wants to be involved in your work and business?

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Um, I'd say it was probably I was listening to a podcast or a video. Um, I wish Ryan Pineda was talking on uh on one of his podcasts about being unequally yoked doesn't necessarily just mean in your marriage, right? Um being wise about who you're marrying, of course, but also being wise about who you're partnering with and not being unequally yoked in your partnerships. Um and I'd say that was like the first stone in my shoe where I was like, boy, like I've never I've been partners with other Christians and I've I've thought about you know Christianity in business, but never put that much thought to it. So that was probably somewhere around 2021, 2022, somewhere in there. Maybe I heard him say that. Um and it was just like a uh again, one of those stones in my shoe that every time I walked around, I was like, you know, I should think about this a little bit differently. And that's where it kind of uh really started to get ingrained in my brain on how I should be operating.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Yeah. So did you feel like you were unequally yoked at that point?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Uh yeah, in a couple of my partnerships I was. Like I don't, I wasn't, you know, they they weren't strictly Christian partners um uh that all had the same ideas uh as me on the direction that we should be going and um the feelings that we had on certain things, and it just uh we didn't have a lot of uh attention in that front, but it was more internal for me. It felt more like a conviction to me, like you should really be thinking about this differently. Um, so that was where like the the beginning of some of the changes that I I started to make later on.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yeah. Was there something specific that made you feel uh that or made you notice that yeah, I'm probably not on the same page with these guys?

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Um not necessarily. I mean, I I would say that uh um some of the conversations I would have were just kind of, you know, uh the direction was almost always about uh, you know, uh making money here or doing more money there or pushing more this. And it was like, yeah, I've got different ideas about where I could like to take these things and um how I wanted to lead people and where I wanted to take things. And uh so nothing necessarily specific, but it was more the the general idea that um as we were having different conflicts, my my desires to go in one direction were led by the by my faith and theirs were not. And it was like not that their ideas were bad or that their you know what they were wanting to do is bad. Um, you know, when I was teaching multifamily education, I always told people like make sure you treat like this partnership that you're creating as a uh like like a marriage, right? Date first, understand what you're doing, don't jump right into a partnership, know that you guys have great long-term vision, where your goals are, what you want to be doing. Um if one of you wants to uh uh own this property for five years, sell it, take the proceeds, and buy another one, but the other one wants to hold it for 10 years, refinance, and buy again. Well, you guys aren't gonna be great partners. Neither one of those are bad, but you're not gonna be great partners. And that's where I kind of started to see myself fitting. It's like neither of us had bad ideas on where we want to take the business. We just long term we're not going to see things the same way on how we wanted to do this. So it just kind of um uh started to split up a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's biblical wisdom right there. Adam, I believe that the primary purpose of business isn't primarily to just make a profit or to make money to donate to Christian ministries, but fundamentally to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Uh, can you give us an example? You've you've been involved in a lot of different real estate transactions, property development, and you know, having just recently built a cabin that we talked about. Um, I mean, uh just countless opportunities to share the gospel, not just share the gospel like let's go through the Romans Road, but just to set an example um and to disciple these guys in the construction world as as followers of Christ before they even know what's happening. Um, and I'm sure you've had many of those kinds of opportunities. Can you give us a specific example of how disciple making has happened through your company?

SPEAKER_00 5:35

So I'll give you uh two different examples. One not as direct, um, like you said, not like walking through the rooms row, but and and one a little bit more direct. So um we had the an 80-unit apartment up in Indiana, and one of the things we we always wanted to do was give back to the community as well. Um, so we would do drives at the beginning of the year. We gave away book bags and uh school supplies and all sorts of stuff in the in the parking lot of the community. So, hey, here's what you can, you know, and just just giving, uh just blessing the community. This is where, again, that like I would have liked that to be more God-centered instead of just more gift-centered. Um, uh, because this is back in like 2020, maybe. Um uh, but you know, it was still one of those I love to be able to do that, uh, is just give back to folks and and be able to bless bless folks in one way or another. Um, and then another more direct would be actually just happened a couple weeks ago. Um, uh I'm in a in another mastermind group, and somebody had reached out and said, Hey, this guy is interested in in the mastermind. I was like, All right, let's take him out to lunch. So I grabbed him, took him out to lunch. Um, you know, he met me at my escape room. We're in the middle of building some stuff out for virtual reality and all that. And I show him around, got to chat with him, invited one of my business partners with me, another Christian guy. Um, and then we go and sit down, I take him out to lunch. And uh, before you know it, by the end of it, you know, he's talking about how he needs to get back into church. And my buddy and I were like, this is great. Like, what an opportunity! Like it, you know, this is a business mastermind that you came and got to see my business, and now we just get to pour into you about what it is um that that we do. I mean, I've got a sign up inside of the employee lounge area that talks about this business is God's, uh, this business belongs to God and all this stuff. So he gets to walk in and see this sitting in the in the employee spot. We get to sit down, have lunch, chat with him about it. So he used to be a Seventh-day Adventist, and now we're trying to convince him to uh to come on, come on over to uh uh uh to an actual Christ-centered worship. Um, and uh, and it was a blessing to especially to have my buddy there with me, who is my business partner. I was like, this is great. Like the two of us get to just pour into this guy, and he's like, I really want to stay in contact with you guys. I really want to connect more and and and chat. And so we invited them both to each of our churches, like wherever you want to go, we'd love to have you, we'd love to continue chatting with you. Um, and it uh if it wasn't for the fact that I had this business that I was able to invite him to, I would have never even had that opportunity to chat with him at at that lunch.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yeah, I love that example. Um, you know, and and that guy was not going to be reached inside a church because he wasn't in the church.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

Um, and you know, certainly it's uh it's a I mean that's that's the beautiful thing about our local assemblies, our local houses of worship is that we have a place to bring people uh so that they can get more focused time to just hear about God. Uh because yeah, I mean, in the workplace, we don't always have that time to just break away. And I mean, you can take people to lunch. I mean, I think that's a perfect opportunity to really get into people's lives and allow them into your life and ask them some questions, hear their story. Um, but being able to bring them to church is is is so powerful. Um any other examples that that come to mind? Uh, because you know, the those of us that that are in property development, real estate, I mean, you're really a missionary uh to to a whole to a whole industry. Um what is what has that looked like for you?

SPEAKER_00 9:12

So I haven't started the property development side yet. So that's uh something we're getting ready to fire up, right? So I haven't been around the construction workers as much and all that. So um I'd say this this newest business that I uh the escape room, um uh which I would have never thought I would buy, by the way. That was completely uh left field that I bought that business, but it's a fun one. Um my business partner in that is in the construction field. Um, he he does a bunch of concrete work and all the stuff. And he, I mean, I get to hear the stories that he has about uh partnering with folks, and he was another one that um kickstarted my brain as well. And he's like, I just want to pour into other Christian guys who can open businesses so that we could just have Christian businesses inside our entire town. Everybody, when they walk in, they know that it's it's a Christian-owned business by these men. Um but uh but I'd say that it for my employees, um, I have I have worked hard to again set I've I've set the stage by putting signs up inside of our employee lounge. They know that I'm a Christian, they know that that's what's what's driving us. Um they uh one of the guys, it's fun. I I walked in and he had uh psalms playing on the YouTube channel, like just somebody reading psalms. Um and I was like, I just walked in and I I hadn't quite heard what they were saying. It was it was some like AI like guy loading a gun, which was weird. And I was like, what is he reading? He's like, Oh, he's reading psalms. And I was like, this is awesome. Like my, you know, and I I've worked to have um not just Christians coming in to work for me, but uh they, you know, it seems to have attracted those types of people where it's like, okay, I want you guys to pour into every one of our customers that they feel the presence of God when they walk into this room and they're having fun, even if it's one of the the scarier rooms, they could still walk out, know that we love them, know that we are trying to uh help them enjoy their time and be a blessing amongst uh amongst them while we're having our conversations and talking about it. And maybe they get a glimpse of some of the signs that we have hanging up here or there. Um, and it's just uh uh I just bought that business a couple months ago, so we're still wanting to put some more signs up and different things and how we're gonna pour into it a little bit differently. It's under somebody else's brand, so I could have to be a little careful on that, but but not really, because it's they're they're out of a different country, so it helps.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yeah. Wow. Uh what a fun business. Um, I have never done have I done an escape room? No, I have not done an escape room. I think I saw I think I saw the show The Floor's Lava with my kids. Uh a couple a couple of those episodes. Um, but otherwise, yeah. Um, it's a cool concept. We just went out looking for one the other day. We were gonna do one in Maggie Valley here, and uh it was closed on that particular day. So we'll have to get get back out.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Actually, I think we have no lava in any of ours. So if you come to mine, you won't you won't know lava to worry about. So okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

That's no fun.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Um and also no lawsuits. Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

That's true. Most um most importantly. Um I don't know. What's another time that you saw God's hand at work in business?

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Um boy. Uh just me getting into business, I would say, was God's hand at work. So I was a paycheck-to-paycheck guy for a long time. Um, I didn't know any difference. I had never experienced anything different. Uh, and then I got married and my wife had this magical thing called a savings account that I had also never heard of before. Like I had like that minimum $5 in it. Um, and immediately, you know, God had started working on me. Like, hey, you need you need to listen to wife, your wife on this, you know. And then before you know it, she was like, Hey, you should look at real estate. And then I was like, All right. So then I started, you know, researching real estate. And then I found this guy. He's uh um uh also a Christian, seven kids, um, doing multifamily, teaching multifamily. And I was I went and met him uh in person and I was like, boy, this this is the kind of guy I need to be learning from. Um and before you know it, like I'm I'm in his group for six months, and I bought my first apartment building with some with some partners in there, and I was like, this is this is while you were on active duty, right? While I was active duty, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah, and you were in Japan and you bought a you bought an apartment complex in the United States while you were in Japan.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Yeah, 62 unit apartment complex. I was in Japan. Uh the apartment building was in East Tennessee. Um, I had partnered with a couple guys um from uh from a mastermind group I was in at that point. Um, and it was just uh uh that was a massive headache that I wish I would have done a little bit more diligence on, uh, but I didn't lose money, which is great. Uh but um but it was just one of those things that when you look back on it, you can realize like God put certain people in in place to put those bugs in my ear to help me understand what what I was doing uh was not the path that I needed to be on, that I needed to kind of take a different path. And and uh um and then all of a sudden I started teaching people how to do this. And um, you know, we I think we've bought, I don't know, somewhere around 380 doors or so of apartment buildings and um now a couple businesses, and it just it's all it all started from you know my godly wife putting some bugs in my ear saying, Hey, you need to you need to look at this a little bit differently.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

So Yeah. What's one of the business practices that's helped you reflect uh God's character and God's ways uh through the process of all of these investments that you've made?

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Um I'm gonna keep leaning on this this newest business because the um uh I sold my ownership last year in one of the companies. Um uh and then this was kind of like the the start of really pushing hard to make sure that um I'm partnering with the right people, that I'm hiring the right people. Um and it's it's honestly changed the way that I've been communicating, even with my my team members, right? Because it's um as a prior military guy, especially doing some of the jobs that I did and going some of the places I've gone, I was a very um rough and brash guy for a long time. Uh, and then uh even after I got out of the military the first time, I was like a uh an angry veteran type of guy, you know, like the it just you know, I I was still a uh quote unquote Christian, but I wasn't like the the the nicest guy you'd ever meet. And uh um slowly but surely I've been getting polished on that and and you know, sharpening my sword. And now it's like a different way that I get to lead this team with a different level of grace than I ever have before, with a different level of uh coaching and mentoring than I ever have before. Um and it's been it's been wonderful because I started off by all of these employees knowing who I am as a Christian, which I've never done in any of my businesses before. Right. People know, like they can look at my signature, my email block, they can look at my website, they can look at things and realize, oh, this guy's a Christian, but I've never brought it into the workplace the way that I have so intentionally in this business. Um, again, because previously that wasn't, you know, it didn't make sense with the partners that I had. So it was a little bit more difficult to do that. Um so now I I I'm sitting down with with mentor sessions completely in a different frame set than I ever have been before, where it's like, hey, I want, I want you to grow and I want you to uh be the person that you you should be as you're growing. And as I mean, I've got you know, 19, 20-year-old uh folks who are working for me in escape room. That's usually you know, college students that are there that may not have ever had um uh uh a Christian male figure sit down and try to help and guide and and mentor. And now I'm like, man, this is an opportunity that I I love. You know, I want to, I wish somebody at when I was 19 in the military, somebody would have poured into me a little bit differently than than I ever saw. So uh so now that's a practice that I get to do regularly. And I go in, I get to sit down and chat with them and get to tell them about, you know, like yesterday we were putting up TVs for our virtual reality room. Um, one of my the business partner that I have that also builds houses. So I was chatting with him. And we sat out back and just chatted about theology for like an hour and a half before we ever even started putting up TV. And then I got to go in and sit down with my employees and be like, oh, this is what me and Blaine were talking about. We were having a great time having this conversation and that conversation, and you know, sprinkling in a little bit of it that that they just get to to hear constantly come out of somebody that's you know they may not have expected in this business doing going and getting their first job that they would have these conversations.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

So yeah. And speaking of first jobs, you're also discipling your kids and and uh showing them the ropes of what it looks like to serve God in business. What an incredible opportunity. And you a couple years ago, you were you you just decided you're gonna homeschool your kids. I think your wife was still on active duty. Is that right? Correct. And you were already uh out of the military and just did some research on what it looks like to to homeschool kids. You were not homeschooled yourself, uh, which a lot of people would assume. Oh, you must have been homeschooled, you figured this thing thing out. Like my wife, she was homeschooled. Uh, but me thinking about taking that on myself is would just be incredibly daunting, uh, which it is. Um but you were up to you were up to the task. Um and and so how how's that how's that been going?

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Um, it was uh, you know, I told you before we started recording, like I was already working my butt off for like an hour and a half at the end of the day. And it sounds like working your butt off at only an hour and a half, right? But it was at the end of a workday for me, it was at the end of a school day for my son, and we were just exhausted trying to go over math and trying to go over Latin and trying to do this stuff. And it was like, this kid is in third grade, and he, I want him to live an enjoyable third grade life. I do, I am passionate about education. I am passionate about learning. Um, I really want my kids to always want to be lifelong learners. I gave up on learning at like 16 years old when I got a social life, and then I didn't realize until my late 20s that how much I loved it and just started pouring into it again. Um and I want them to have that, never lose that desire. But man oh man, could I see it just getting wiped from them, just from you know, the the uh the schoolwork that we were doing. So it's like, yeah, I I need to find a different way. Like, and not to mention, I was traveling so much in the military that um I've got a going-away gift up here somewhere, I don't know if it's out of camera or not, from uh from Japan that says, Adam, always TDY LaBar. Thanks for visiting. Um, and TDY for the non-military folks means temporary duty, it means you're sent somewhere else. And I was traveling so much that they were like, boy, every time I come back, I didn't know where my office was going to be because they'd put boomed me to somewhere else. Um, and you know, I have to welcome back home, you know, for my kids and and all the stuff. And I was like, I'm when I left, I was like, I I want to be a present father. I want my kids to travel with me. I want to do all this stuff, and I can't while they're sitting in school. So I want to change this up a little bit. So, you know, I chatted with my wife and she said, I mean, hey, that's if that's what you want to do, then go for it. And we prayed about it and said, Yeah, I'm totally gonna do it. So I just did a bunch of research and said, This is what I'm gonna do. Jumped in, started buying the curriculum, doing all the stuff, figuring it all out. Um, started off semi-easy because it was, you know, uh, one of them was truly in school, the other one was more kindergarten. Um, and then, you know, here we are on our third year of homeschool. Uh, we got a sixth grader and a um second grader, and uh, you know, our our two and a half year old, she hasn't really done as much as I'd like her to do. She doesn't even started reading yet at two and a half. What a bum. Um, but uh sarcasm, of course. Um, but uh, but it's been such a blessing to be able to, you know, uh we were putting on a conference in Denver and um on my one of my old businesses, and we I put the kids in the car and I got to drive from Florida to Denver doing homeschool in the car, stopping, exploring, seeing things, taking them out of school for uh quote unquote out of school for a couple of weeks would have been not very feasible um in regular school. But now it's like, no, I get to bring them with me, and it's like what a blessing. And they get to hear me on business calls, they get to see me on stage, they get to all of the stuff, like get to see the conference from the backside and see like these hundreds of people that came to watch this and that were teaching and growing, and I get to pour into my kids to see all of it. I I could not imagine doing it any other way now.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

That's awesome. And you live in Florida, where Florida has uh nobody's encouraging homeschooling like Florida, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:32

I mean that's what it seems like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Yeah. I mean, they they actually have tell us about kind of the difference in what Florida does.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Yeah. So Florida's got these scholarships. Um, it's it's like true school choice. So if you want your kid to go to public school, they can go to public school. If you want to go to private school, they can get a stipend from the from the state. Um uh depending, it's it's all depending on their their age on how much they get, but it's roughly 7,500 to 8,500. Dollars a year. So you could say about $8,000 per kid to put towards the private school if you want to go to private school or if you want to do homeschool. You can get that money to go to homeschool. Now you have to go and spend the money, fill out the receipt. Like it's got to be a legitimate expense. Of course, they're going to review it. They're going to make sure that it's legitimate. And man on man do they push back and forth multiple times as you're trying to submit the paperwork. But, you know, if it's a legitimate expense, then it makes sense. So you get $8,000 per year per kid to get school stuff, you know, whether it's school supplies, field trips, um uh sporting equipment, uh, anything that they may use at a regular school, you could buy here. I mean, I could buy a projector with it and a screen. You could buy whiteboards, you could buy um uh little couches, you could buy um golf clubs if they're golfers like my kids are. Um, and of course, obviously the curriculum and all the stuff that goes along with it. So it's been it's been awesome to be able to do that. It's it's helped save uh a good amount of money, like getting, you know, we we may have cut some corners here and there if we were paying for it ourselves. Um, but now it's like, no, I get to actually give, like, I don't need to cut the corner, I can actually bless my kid with the thing that that they need to learn um and grow. And and it's uh I I can't I didn't know that that was there when I first started doing the homeschool. And I said, hey, this is what I want to do. And then the more research I did, I said, wait a minute, what is this thing? You know, that that's really cool. So I looked into it more and more, and before you know it, here we are submitting a bunch of uh uh receipts all the time to uh to get reimbursed.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Yeah. That's a really interesting way that you framed it uh about getting home after work. Your kids have come home after a long day at school, and and now you've gotta get into stuff that they don't want to do anymore. They don't want to do math anymore. They're they're done, they want to go out and play, they want to go do things that they really enjoy doing, which is not which is not school. Um or you could just knock it all out in the morning and be done. Yep. Right? And you don't even have the commute to school, you know. Think how much time that saves. Like just just from like a practical stand efficiency standpoint, like how would you how else would you articulate those benefits to anyone who's on the fence about it?

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Boy, I mean, practical and efficiency standpoint. I mean, there's a there's uh unlimited amount. I mean, it's obviously some people are gonna hear this and go, yeah, but now now one of us has to not work. Um, and potentially, you're potentially right, right? Um uh, but maybe not. Maybe, maybe it is a, I mean, I worked from home for the couple years that I was doing it. Um buying this new business lined up well with my wife's retirement. So now she's taken over the homeschool and I I'm you know building building a new business. But um uh uh so practicality, some people push back on that. And it's like, okay, well, let's buckle down. And I've had this conversation with a bunch of people. So let's buckle down and see where you're actually spending money and see what you're actually doing, you know, uh, on where this all goes. Um, and in the grand scheme of things, again, what do you want for your kids? Right? Do you want them to um uh I think it's uh I'm gonna fail to remember his name right now, of course, uh, because I'm on the spot. Um uh pastor, he was in California. He just recently Vodie Bakham. Vodie Bachum had always said um uh you send your kids to uh Caesar's uh schools and you wonder why they come home Romans. Um and that was one of those things where I was like, man, isn't that the truth? Where I was always happy that I sent my kids to private school, but it was like, no, what do I really want to pour into my kids? So practicality now, I get to, especially, I mean, this is a business leaders podcast. I get to pour into my kids in the business. They get to come to the business with me. Like, how much more practical is that that they get to see what the real world looks like? They get to come in and that like I come home and they're like, Well, how much money do we earn today, dad? What happened here? And they're asking me questions about the business because they've got to see it. If they were in school all day, they'd never see that. They would never know that. They would never, I maybe I'd have a conversation with them at dinner about it, you know, but that's not, you know, it doesn't always happen that way. So, practically speaking, I don't see why I would not do that. Um, uh, I get to expose my kids to to more, I get to teach them more about uh the word, I get to teach them more about business, they get to see their parents all the time. Like my sons don't even they're they're like, Dad, I didn't realize you were going to be at the escape room this much. Like this is I was like, Yeah, because you've had me home all the time. So now you just get to come visit me at work, and then I and then I come home for you know a major still a majority of the day. I'm still not uh even at the escape room that much. But practically speaking, um, again, it goes into what do you want your kids to learn? Where, like, what sort of lessons are you trying to teach your kids? And is the school you're sending them to teaching them those lessons or not? Right? Are you having to push back, especially if they're in public school? Are you having to try to, you know, wash away all the nonsense that they learned at school and pour into them? But remember, they're there eight hours. Uh, they're there at school eight hours. You don't know who the parents are of the friends that they have. You don't know what the teachers are actually teaching them, especially if they're in public school. Um, you don't know what's actually going on there. And then you've got to wash away a lot of that stuff when they get home. Okay, well, now you're washing away that stuff while trying to teach them the stuff that they that you want them to learn. I think it's much more wise to sacrifice the the nicer house, the nicer car, um, the the nicer neighborhood. If you need a downsize to be able to go to one one uh uh paycheck coming in to be able to pour into your kids in a different way, like practically speaking, that makes a whole lot more sense to me. Is that the harder route? Sure. But you know, being a strong Christian is also a harder route than just being able to be laxadaisical in the rest of your life. So uh it is one of those choose your heart type of moments. Do I want to choose my heart when my kid's 16 and they're rebelling like crazy and they have no idea like they're just yeah, like they are literally of the world, not just in the world? Um, or do I want to choose my heart now and say, hey, I want to pour into my kids? I mean, obviously there's no guarantee on where they end up, they all have free agency, but um, I would like to give my kids the best shot possible. And that's to me, this.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Yeah. And so you say you have a two and a half year old, and did you say a sixth grader?

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Yeah, so I've got an 11-year-old, a seven-year-old, and a two and a half-year-old. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Okay. So is your 11-year-old or maybe even your seven-year-old helping out at the escape room?

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Absolutely. They've both of them have come in to help me out. Now, I haven't officially started paying them yet, um, but I will. Um, so they they've come in, they've helped me give briefings, they helped me reset rooms, they helped me uh kind of track things in there, and they they love it because you know, if there's not a room being used, they're like, Can we go in and see how fast we could do the room? Because they like, dude, you already know even all the codes for all this stuff, but they still love it, they want to go in and and play. So, yeah, they're they're there helping out. Um, uh, not as much as I would like, because I'd like them there next to me all the time, but at the same point, they're there rather often.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

Yeah. Yeah. So Jesus, the Bible says that he grew in wisdom and stature. Um, where did that happen? That I think a lot of that happened in Joseph's workshop, right? Um, you know, a bit of a theological quandary of, you know, how much influence did Joseph actually have? But I I I would I would assume a lot um in the life of Jesus. I think I think Holy Spirit was working through Joseph to to prepare Jesus to be uh exactly who uh who he is, uh and and who he always was, uh to be theologically uh accurate. Um what an opportunity that that you have and that I have, and those of us who have a have have provided a place in business for children to serve. Um just yesterday, my my 10-year-old was out there with me manhandling uh a bunch of cable and conduit that had been left over from the the construction. And um, and he was out there helping me wrangle, wrangle that out yesterday and just connecting, you know, wasn't super long. Um something we were able to knock out pretty quickly. Um, but it it it wasn't something within our own household, like a household chore. But hey man, this is this is business. Like we're serving those people, you know, living at the living at the cabin right now, you know, making making their lives better. Um and and and that's the that's the vision that I have and and and that that you have that you are that you are walking in. And I think many who are listening right now also have that's their heart, is that their kids would be able to be discipled in their in their business. And you know, that might not mean that you start your own business, but somehow getting your kids involved in your work. Um, I I think the Hebrew model is more than a bring your kid to work day, you know, once a year. Um it it's it's the lifestyle where a massive part of their education is uh experiencing the real world experience of their mom and dad or mom or dad operating, interacting with customers, interacting with employees, contractors, vendors, and and seeing what that what that looks like, you know, maybe getting to experience some of the some of the conflict, letting them in on some of that. I mean, that that's the that's the good stuff. I mean, that's what uh kids need to know. They need to experience that. And what better place to do that than in the marketplace?

SPEAKER_00 31:56

And the business guy may business guy or gal may want to hear like the the other practical side of it is uh you can literally pay your children um, you know, up to, I don't know what it is this year, but let's say $12,000 a year and they don't have to pay taxes on it. So now you get to teach them about how to invest that money. Um, it's an employee in your business, so you get to, you know, that's an expense on your business. So lowers your business taxes. You get to teach your kid about wise investing because you've paid them now money and where it can go and how they can invest it and put it into a Roth IRA and start their investing at a young age. Um, so you're teaching them uh not to bury their talents in the backyard, uh, that they can like, no, let's put this to work. Like, you have put labor into our business, and now the business has paid you, and now you get to go and invest it. That it's one of those, like, I get to teach you all sorts of stuff. You get to learn about what it means to serve and support people inside of a business, what it means to grow and build a business, and then the fruits of that labor you now get to invest and um give back to the church. And you can, you can, you're gonna tithe with your money, you're gonna donate uh with your money, you're going to bless people, but you're also going to put money into a Roth IRA and you're going to grow that and you're going to be a lot wealthier and wiser because of it. So there's so many different practical ways to look at this and go, yes, not only do I get to pour into my kid um uh on on just teaching him business, but also life lessons across the board and helps my business out in the real grand scheme of things.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

Yeah, that's awesome. I didn't I did not know that. So you can, regardless of what age your kids are, you can put them on the payroll. Correct. And so they do they have to file taxes or as long as it's under the threshold, they don't.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

And every year that threshold changes. So which is like twelve thousand dollars. It's like uh somewhere between twelve and sixteen thousand, somewhere like that, right? So um, so now your business gets to write off that twelve thousand. And now they they have to be doing actual work, right? And it has to be um, you know, maybe maybe my two and a half year old, right? We use her as a model. So I call around here and try to figure out, hey, uh, what would it, what would it cost to, you know, hire a child model. And then they can give me an idea and say, okay, well, that's what I can pay my kid, right? Because if the IRS comes knocking, they're gonna want to know that it's a viable rate that you're paying your kid. You're not, I didn't pay them sixteen thousand dollars to um, you know, sit at my front door, right? Um uh so hey, these are the these are the contracts that I got that gave me an idea of how much it costs. This is what I'm paying them, and then I move on. So minimum wage in Florida is 14 bucks an hour. So if my kid comes and sweeps floors, mops floors, helps do things, I $14 an hour, I get to pay them. And then if it's below that threshold, they don't even need to file taxes, but they can still um uh get a Roth IRA, they could still invest that money, that's still theirs, it's still a business expense for my company. Um, it's a it's a win-win across the board. And you get to pour into your kids on a daily basis.

SPEAKER_01 34:47

Wow. That's awesome. And that's not just a state tax thing, that's a federal correct. Yeah, correct.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

That's federal, yeah. Wow. And again, I'm not a tax professional, so please talk to your tax professional. But yes, that is that's what you could do.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Yeah. Thank you for that clarification. Um so wow, wow, this is uh this has been fascinating. And um, I think people are probably already, you know, looking up moving companies to Florida right now to go homeschool their kids and um and uh looking into bringing their kids on the payroll.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

How cool. Uh so adamlabar.com is the website. Adam L A B A R R dot com is the website. Anything else you want to say about how people can connect with you and certainly go subscribe to the BizDad podcast and the Delegate That podcast. Uh anything else you want to say about that?

SPEAKER_00 35:46

No, those are the best ways to get hold of me, Adam at RAL Capital Group.com. I'll even throw out my phone number. My cell phone number is 315-527-6895. I love being able to connect with folks. Feel free to reach out. Um, if you do decide to come to Florida, you can chat with me about homeschool stuff, you can chat with me about business stuff. Um, you know, on the on the BizDad podcast, I interview uh business owners who are dads. Um and uh the beginning that we're recording this on January 6th and at the beginning of January talking about that shift again, I've now shifted it to Christian business owners who are dads because I really wanted to niche down a little bit more and have it be. I had already talked a lot about theological stuff and Christianity, but now it's like, no, I I specifically want to interview Christian business owners um uh on how we can be better dads while still running awesome businesses.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

Awesome. Well, Adam, I have really enjoyed this conversation. Thanks to Sean Garner for connecting us, um, a great web developer and uh media guy. So uh thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us. I've really grown from this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

Thank you, Darren. I greatly appreciate the opportunity. It was a pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Christian Business Leader Podcast. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and tune in for the next episode as we continue exploring God's will and ways for business.