Episode 14 - Rodrick Smith - Quiet Leadership

Quiet Leadership: Pouring Time and Faith Into the Front Lines

Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Joel Malin and Dr. Jonathan Wade are joined by a special guest, Mr. Roderick Smith—a barber of 35 years, a local councilman, restaurant owner, and founding president of Nashville, Georgia's Dads Program. The conversation shifts away from purely business scaling to look at the health of a community through the lens of frontline leadership, quiet acts of service, and the irreplaceable value of sacrificing our most fleeting commodity: time.

📈 Weekly Wins & Losses

Joel Malin

• The Win: Celebrating a much-needed "date day" with his wife, Christy, ahead of the Fourth of July. They took their boat out on the water, providing a beautiful opportunity to disconnect from work and parental responsibilities and just enjoy being together.
• The Loss: Severe sunburns. Christy ended up with a massive X-shaped burn on her back from her swimsuit, prompting Joel to affectionately dub her the newest member of the X-Men while applying aloe.

Dr. Jonathan Wade

• The Win: Hosting friends in the backyard for a fantastic Fourth of July celebration and catching up on old times.
• The Loss: Matching Joel's sun exposure. The brutal holiday sun scorched his skin on day one, forcing him to buy SPF 100 on day two—making him joke that his dermatologist will be very happy to stay in business.

Roderick Smith

• The Win: Enjoying a peaceful holiday weekend to relax and share the company of good friends while doing some deeply personal cooking.
• The Loss: The inevitable, jarring return to reality on Monday morning.

🧠 Core Themes & Key Takeaways

1. Frontline vs. Behind-the-Scenes Impact

Roderick operates on a foundational philosophy: "less is more". Rather than using his 25 to 30 years of deep community activism and his position as a city councilman as bragging rights, he emphasizes getting into the trenches. True leadership relies on actions over words, knowing both how to get sweaty on the front lines playing with local kids and how to quietly handle administrative logistics behind closed doors.

2. The Power of Single Runs: The Dads Program

Celebrating its 14th year, the program Roderick founded was born out of a personal vision during a challenging life situation. Transitioning from a direct mentoring program to a broad community outreach network, the group quietly stands in the gap for those in need.

• Quiet Generosity: Roderick highlights that impact doesn't require a home run. The group frequently steps in for small, anonymous victories—like going to the local high school to quietly pay for 25 or 30 senior shirts for students who couldn't afford them.

⚾ Winning the Long Game"It doesn't always have to be a home run. You can get a single here and a single there. RBIs are what win ballgames at the end of the day." — Roderick Smith

3. The Stagnant Threat: Paying Attention to Baselines

When asked to evaluate the health of a community similarly to a business, Roderick identifies complacency and a lack of observation as the greatest threats.

• Reading Behavior: As a product of a single-parent household raised by a hardworking mother, Roderick emphasizes that "every child has a story". Drawing from 17 years as a substitute teacher and 15 years as a basketball coach, he stresses the critical importance of observing kids' physical demeanor rather than just listening to their words.
• The Handshake Rule: He shares a poignant story of a player who gave a "lazy handshake" before practice. Because Roderick knew the boy's normal baseline, he noticed the shift, pushed past the superficial "I'm good, coach," and created a safe space for the student to open up and receive help.

4. Giving Time as an Asset

While writing a financial check is easy, allocating quality time is society's most fleeting commodity. Jonathan recalls a powerful memory from coaching his son's AAU basketball team in Atlanta and Jacksonville. Realizing he was the only dad who traveled with the coaches, Jonathan chose to pile six players into his hotel room and sleep on the floor so they could have the beds. That simple sacrifice of physical comfort and time poured "soup into the soul" of everyone involved.

5. Praying In and Out of Season

Sustaining this level of community output alongside running a business requires a supernatural anchor. Recently celebrating the 3-year anniversary of his restaurant, Roderick admits to frequently burning the candle at both ends and battling the desire to give up on a daily basis. He credits his endurance entirely to a deep, active prayer life.

🎯 Mindset Anchors & Quotes

"If you're ready to give up, you haven't been praying hard enough." — Roderick Smith

• On Authentic Motivation: "It has to be more than their money... it's a monetary gain, but at the end of the day, what else do you get out of it? It's got to be felt deeper than your wallet." — Roderick Smith & Joel Malin
• On Over-Exertion: "Sometimes we try to fight through, and that's probably the worst thing you can do... to just be Superman all the time. At the end of the day, you have to take the stress hat and just put it to the side." — Roderick Smith
• On Replenishment: "We talk a lot about how you can't pour from an empty cup. You've got to revitalize yourself so that you can give or get these things done that are part of your 'why'." — Dr. Jonathan Wade

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

All right, hello again, everybody. This is Joel Mallon, and this is the Longburn Podcast. I'm here with again Dirty Dr. Jonathan Wade. Hello, Jonathan. Hey, I love that you just keep up with that nickname. Listen, I'm not gonna let it die. It's dirty Dr. Wade. It's just got a ring to it. And so so we got uh Jonathan here as well. And uh we have a special guest today, Mr. Roderick Smith, uh, who's very involved in the Nashville Barry and County community. Um loves being a father and all these other things, and we'll let him introduce himself in a second. Um, so go ahead and say hello, Rod. Good evening. Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Very proper. Wow. See, we have a true gentleman on the show. We're gonna pick up our game here. Yeah, I mean, we're gonna he's gonna make us look bad with his, you know, being polite and courtesy and stuff. Golly. Well, uh, so yeah, we'll we'll kick it off in kind of our usual fashion with uh kind of some wins and losses, and I'll start it off since you know I'm uh so gung-ho about doing so. Uh I'll say a win is that Christy and I got to have a a date day this past Friday, right before the fourth, and it was awesome. We got to take the boat out on the water. Um, we got to jump off the boat and enjoy the beautiful day. It was nice and sunny. We did not get rained on. That was amazing. So it was just great to feel like we had fun being together again instead of just focusing on responsibility or work or taking care of the baby. It felt fun. And it's it's awesome how genuine that feels when you have those moments. So that was a big win. The loss was that we both got sunburned. So I mean, literally, Christy had a giant X on her back from her swimsuit. And so I jokingly, I was like, look, we got a new X-Men in the runnings, you know, and she's like, Shut up, I'm burnt and it hurts, you know. So I've been rubbing aloe on her. But other than that, it was totally worth it, uh, even with the sunburn. So uh yeah, that's my wins and losses.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Yeah, I I think for me it's it's sort of the same but different location. We were at the house in the backyard for the fourth, had some friends over, and yeah, that that sun was brutal this weekend. It was. So ha having some friends over was was a fantastic win. Uh catching up on some old times, and then uh, but boy, my my skin has paid the paid the the price for it. I had to go out with day two and get some SPF 100, which uh I I really just should have worn pants and a long sleeve shirt.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

I guess that's called a shirt.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Anyway, uh my dermatologist will be happy, I guess. I don't know. It just keeps them it keeps them in business with all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

All right. And what about yourself, Roderick? Any um wins or losses for you, either the past week or the recent history?

SPEAKER_04 2:42

Uh probably the win this week was just able to relax. Um, enjoy the weekend, enjoy the holiday, enjoy good company, and um probably the loss is uh today you're back to reality.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Well, I'm gonna assume you cook something over the weekend.

SPEAKER_04 3:02

I did, but not what I normally cooked. It was more personal this time.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

More personal. Nice.

unknown 3:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Okay. So um, well, what I want to do is now done our wins and losses, um, could you give us like a a brief overview of how would you describe yourself? Like how would you introduce yourself to other people about the things that matter to you? Like what are you passionate about in life?

SPEAKER_04 3:27

Oh man, family. Um my kids, my kids, everything. So everything starts and um stops and revolves around just uh you know what they mean to me. Um my community itself, uh, you know, I grew up here born and raised. Um I've been pretty much uh around and involved for the last uh roughly 25-30 years just being community um active. Um and in the last four and a half, five years, I've uh I've been a local uh councilman here as well. So um I was driven, you know, I was driven by um wanting to make a change, not just in in my community where I grew up at, but just in the the city as a whole. So that's kind of been my passion of uh of moving um probably ever since I met both of you. Um you can probably see that that fire and burn that I've had. Um consistency of being able to you know upkeep what I feel is is is is a good thing for the community.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah, absolutely. I think you're underselling yourself though, honestly. I know, I thought that's what I think too. I mean, like we we talked about you at the end of last episode, and we and we called you the butt guy because of the barbecue, you know, and but you you've cut hair, you've got the dad for I mean I I I I appreciate your humbleness, but but you do so much for this community, and I love that.

SPEAKER_04 4:58

Yeah, and that I mean for me, that's the biggest thing is uh, you know, uh less is more, you know. So the the less I can say about myself is the more someone else can see. So that's just kind of you know, it's never a brag and write for me. It's just all about, you know, getting out there, getting down to it, and just making it happen, either on on the front line or behind the scenes, you know. And I've been on both sides of it. So I know how to get out and you know, get sweaty and you know, get in the middle with the kids and you know have fun. And I also know how to sit down, take time and put things together so that you know that people don't see.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

So actions, not words, that's what you're saying. Yeah. Well, it just it just all depends on how you look at it.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Now, and what are some of the things that uh I know you mentioned being a councilman and everything. What are some of the other ways that you're also involved in the community? And I know that you were or maybe still are involved in the dad's program there in Nashville.

SPEAKER_04 6:02

Absolutely. Um that's that's another big fact, big, big passion for me. Um, we're in our 14th year. Um I'm the I'm the founder and president of the of the group. Um, you know, I was given a vision. Um you know, everybody always wants to say, you know, you know, my vision. You know, I was I was truly given a vision on some circumstances that I was going through in a personal situation, and I took it and made the good of it. And um, you know, 14 years later, we're still out here trying to make a difference, even if it's nothing but you know giving the kids an outlet of no just you know just being kids because at the end of the day, that's what they're gonna do anyway. They're gonna be kids no matter what we try to put in front of them. Um they're gonna be kids up until you know they see differently.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

And what's the overall mission of the program that you have?

SPEAKER_04 6:53

Uh well, it actually started out as a community outreach uh mentoring program. And you know, in today's world, it's a little different to really uh get you know get close to the kids. Um, you know, everybody have their belief about, you know, I don't want this, I don't want that from certain people. But at the end of the day, so we just kind of convert it into community outreach. You know, so we you know, we're pretty much here for you know the community in time of need. I mean, we've done so many things that you know we can't even talk about on this podcast, you know, is you know, a lot of stuff that we do, a lot of people don't know about it. You know, we help people from you know all aspects and you know different walks, and you know, even if it's nothing but uh you know going to the high school and finding out what seniors that you know didn't pay for their senior shirt, you know, and you know, paying for 25 or 30 senior shirts and you know, not even knowing who paid for it, you know, we just go in and pay for it and walk out, and you know, it's all said and done. So just little things like that where you can step in and and help, you know, it don't it don't always have to be a home run, you know. You can get a single here and a single there, and you know, our you know, RBIs is what win ball games at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Right.

unknown 8:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

And so uh with the you mentioned, you know, being involved in the community and also that being a father is very important to you. I'm just curious, like how do you kind of bring your kids alongside you in helping them to maybe have that same passion or include them in some of the work that you try to do in the community?

SPEAKER_04 8:30

Um well now they're you know they're both of age of 25 and 22, so they're it's a little different now than it was, you know, probably 10 years ago. Um but you know, I at the end of the day I always try to instill in them of you know, you know, being a free-hearted person. And I think uh both of them has picked up on that in their own way. Um you know, so I I know deep down inside that they're both you know good people and they you know that they care about other people. So that's at the end of the day, that's all that really matters.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Yeah, I I think that's great. I mean, I think selflessness is something we don't we don't see in society these days enough. I I know growing up, you know, my parents would take me, we'd serve it at soup kitchens, we would do the angel trees at Christmas, um, you know, and and that's carried through now. Doing the Salvation Army, we do the bikes and scooters with you every year at Christmas. Right. Um, you know, and and so I I I think that's something we can instill that in our kids at a young age. It it follows through. It's just part of their DNA almost as they get older that they they want to look out and help out with other people.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

I totally agree.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

So since since you've been involved in the community, what what do you feel like? So I I want to kind of uh look at community the same way we would look at the health of a business or something like that. So from your experience, uh what would you say is the biggest threat to the community um based on what you've experienced and what you've been through?

SPEAKER_04 9:56

Oh, just probably being stagnant, you know, just just thinking everything is okay. Um because every uh every child has a story. Um, you know, I deal with kids through the DAZ organization. Uh I coach basketball here at uh at the Baron High School for the last uh roughly 15 years. So I, you know, I was a substitute teacher for 17 years in this in the Baron County School system. So I've I've been around to see kids' demeanor and um you know sometimes you just pay attention to them, you know, as a person, not what they say, but kind of what they do. And I think that's the biggest thing is just really not paying attention. So I think that's the biggest threat of just thinking every kid is okay. Because sometimes, you know, coming, you know, sometimes coming to school is is uh is unfortunately probably a highlight of their day.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Right. Yeah. Well, there's a lot of statistics talking about um children that are raised without fathers that I mean they're much more predisposed to crime, they're much less likely to pursue higher education. And so, I mean, I I feel like with your focus and your intention on how you've you know supported that and encouraged that in the community, I I think you're on the right track based on what a lot of the research shows.

SPEAKER_04 11:15

Yeah, I would I would say, I mean, I'm a a product of uh one parent home, so I know how important it is to to uh you know to deal with things like that, you know, because at the end of the day, you know, every kid should have that, and unfortunately every kid don't have that. And every kid did, you know, they deal with it differently. But I I was blessed with a uh a great mother that that that that played the role and um you know my work ethic, my drive and my passion, and and at the end of the day is just not giving up. All that came from her and what I seen her do. So uh at the end of the day, you know, she can't really teach, you know, she couldn't teach me how to be a man, but she can teach me how to be a good person. And I think that's what I got out of the whole deal.

unknown 12:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Well, and I think that the mistake is like so. Let's say someone does teach you how to be a man, but that may not be the type of man that you want to be, because you know, masculinity is defined incorrectly in a lot of different ways. You know, and so I think somebody teaching you to be a strong person gives you the confidence to become the man that you want to be. And uh, you know, that's something a lot of times that we know these things, but maybe we don't know how to verbalize them. And I would assume that you your mom probably knew that that if she could teach you how to be a solid, confident, strong individual, that you'd figure out how to be the kind of man that you want to be. Because I mean, it doesn't sound like you have any insecurities around that topic.

SPEAKER_04 12:42

Well, I I truly had to grow into it. It hasn't always been this comfortable uh, you know, talking about it, especially coming from a single-parent home. So, you know, it hasn't always been the conversation I want to dwell in. Um but like you say, you know, you have to grow into who you are. And at the end of the day, um, you know, you're gonna have to be a man at some point. Um, or you're gonna be put in a situation where you don't have a choice but to be a man. And I think, you know, some of the things that I faced as a kid, you know, coming up now, it gives me a lot of freedom to be who I am, you know. And at the end of the day, that's a father, that's a good person. Um, it just don't want to always try to look out and help other people when I when I can. All the time, you know, we say, you know, I help who I can. No, it don't always work like that. Some situations you just can't help people. And you know, and and unfortunately in the society we live in today, everybody thinks it's a you know it's a financial help or or whatever. And you know, that's the kind of world we live in. But um, you know, help goes a long way. Um, it don't have to be, you know, financial all the time. It can just be, you know, a moment. Um, I can go back to a um uh a story some years ago when I was coaching, and I, you know, always had this thing when kids come in, you know, always come give me a handshake first before you go in the dressing room, you change clothes for practice. And um, this one particular day, kid came in and shook my hand, kind of gave me a lazy handshake, and I asked him what was wrong. He said, Nothing, coach. I'm good. I said, You sure? Yes, sir, I'm good. So, you know, everybody goes in and come out, we're doing warm-ups, and I noticed the same demeanor. And um I called him over to uh I called him over to me again, and I said, Man, what's wrong? He said, Coach man, let me tell you what happened today, man, man. And he just opened up, you know. But that was the part that, you know, you know, that was the part that you know I paid attention to, and I paid attention to his demeanor, I paid attention to how he normally comes in and how you know and how he normally act. And I just think that's a a key thing with being involved in you know with kids and in the community. Um, you know, just try to pay attention as much as you can because you never know who's crying out for um assistance, help, or anything.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

So and I would say a lot of that has to do with just time. It takes time to be around somebody, to learn somebody, to understand what their baseline or their norms are. You know, you wouldn't have known that something was off had you not spent time around him, and he would not have responded to you had you not spent the prudent amount of time for to gain his trust. You know, and time is a uh I would say is our most fleeting commodity in today's society. I'm sure you're probably familiar with like five love languages. You know, you've got uh acts of service, physical touch, gifts, um uh what's uh the quality time and uh oh shoot, I'm blanking on it. I forget what the last one is. Uh anyway, so the point I'm trying to make is that quality time is what so many people want today in order to feel love from somebody else. And it's the least available. You know, like I was sharing uh finally getting a date day with my wife. That's the first one we've had in in months because we've been so focused on adapting or adopting, uh, you know, adapting to the role of being parents. And so, you know, but it takes that quality time where you have that one-on-one attention where you get to know somebody, you can become vulnerable, you you share some of your fears and insecurities. And that's where that closeness comes from. And and it sounds like that's the approach that you take in the way that you meet these kids where they're at, where you can gain that trust over time.

SPEAKER_04 16:14

Yeah, that that's true. You know, and and and on a way, you know, either one of you can feel comfortable with the other one is is that, you know, because you know, I don't think I get or you know, that same response is not given to a stranger, you know? Or that same response is not given to someone that they think that don't care. So I think at the end of the day, I think, you know, letting them know, you know, who you are, you know, where you come from, and at the at the end of the day, the main thing is that you care about them. Like I truly care about, you know, the the kids that I coach. And you can you can go find one from 15 years ago and he'll tell you that, you know, it's the it's the same as the one I'm coaching today. So it's it's it's definitely and I think that comes with the passion that you have for what you're doing and the time that you're committed to what you're doing, because at the end of the day, you're sacrificing a lot to do, you know, to do those things, you know, just be away from home, be away from your kids. And uh well, my kids are a little grown right now, but you know, but even before that, you know, I was I was sacrificing a lot of time. Like my son rode uh the bus a lot of nights, you know, going to games with me as you know, 10, 11, you know, 12 year old.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

So and and you know, you you said the the financial component, it's it's easy to to write a check or or or do whatever, but but I think you know, time is our most valuable asset. And so when we're willing to to give that and and and and uh pour that into somebody who maybe is not used to getting time. Or feels undeserving of it even. Sure, sure. I um you know, Preston the the past two summers uh played on an AAU team out of Alasta and it was very eye-opening for for both he and I. Um, you know, but I I think one of the best memories I have is we went to uh Jacksonville or Atlanta or something for some some tournament, and most of the time our it it was the two coaches and and me. That was it. There were no other dads, there were other no other parents there. And and I remember we just crammed about six six of the guys into a hotel room with us, and you know, they thought they were gonna sleep on the pull-out sofa or what. And I was like, y'all take the bed. Like, like, you know, and it was just you could just see this change in them that somebody was like, no, no, this is this it's about you guys. Right. It's about you and not not me. You know, I'll sleep on the floor, I'll sleep, you know, in the bathroom, whatever the case is. And and and that was was uh that that poured into me as much as I hope it poured in into them. I was still stunk in there though. I didn't sleep in the bathroom, I slept on the floor.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Six half-level boys, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

You don't smell like a giant toe. We were there for two nights and we tried to air things out, but yeah, yeah, you're gonna have to crack a window, something, light a match. But but I I wanna when you can give back to to situations. That that that is that that's that's suit for the soul right there.

unknown 19:10

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Well, I want to ask a question because I know um, you know, I know your faith background and uh you know, obviously you and I went to Bible study together men's group uh years ago, whenever I was still living in Nashville, Georgia. Um I'm just curious what your your statement is about how does your faith and your spirituality influence what you do and why you do it.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

Probably key word is is belief. You know, you gotta believe in anything you do, and you know, to be able, you know, to be a believer, you know, that's you have to be um real confident in your faith. So at the end at the end of the day, it it if you don't think something's gonna work, you I I heard a statement last week, if I'm not mistaken, it was last week, and um it said if it if you're ready to give up, you hadn't been praying hard enough. And it kind of slapped me in the face because you know I've I've been in the restaurant business. Uh we just had a uh third-year anniversary. Um I was a barber for 35 years, took a break from barbering to start a restaurant business, and at some point you feel like you're just burning the the candle on both ends. So, you know, with that being said, you have to believe in something. So if you know, at the end of the day, there's no way you can make it through a full day of uh I mean, really just beating yourself up physically, mentally, and you know, and praying in season and out of season. So that's kind of the the thing for me. It's just no matter what's going on, no matter the look on my face, no matter no matter what, it's always a strong belief, strong, you know, uh strong faith behind any and everything I do. You know, sometimes you may see me out in the in the community doing this and doing that, but trust and believe it was it was all prayed over before we even took the first step.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

And that's what I believe about you know the integration of spirituality with psychology and things like that. If I'm doing something just because I want to, like you mentioned, I'm gonna burn out at some point in time. But if I have a belief in in God, a higher power or a calling, that's something that transcends whatever I need in that moment. And it gives you that that extra driving factor, or we talked about the 90% uh stopping point. You know, it's that you've got to have something that is bigger than you that you're connected with to get you over that hump whenever you feel like physically you don't have anything left to give. Because I would imagine there's plenty of times that you were kind of like, I'm kind of sick of being stretched in 10 different directions and wanted maybe to give up potentially.

SPEAKER_04 21:57

That that's that's so true, man. I almost bow. with that on a daily basis unfortunately but you know it's it's always the b it's always the bigger picture of who benefit out of what you're doing besides yourself and I think that's the drive for me is like you know not you know you know from a uh consumer standpoint because at the end of the day you know if you're in business you gotta have consumers to keep the you know business alive but just from the at the end of the day like you know what else do you get out of it you know it's a monetary game but at the end of the day um you know what do you get out of it and um you know it it it has to be more than um than money you know right yeah it's gonna be felt deeper than that yeah that's gonna be felt deeper than your wallet yeah yeah your why I mean you gotta have that that that passion inside of you like you said absolutely absolutely yeah so well what do you say Jonathan you want to go you want to move into the uh firing line questions yeah yeah let's hit those up we'll see we'll see how rod does you have do you have those up or do you want to go get them up I don't if you got them up you go for it I do have them up I do because uh since I sent them to Rod at the last second he graciously is playing along with our our game today so firing line questions pew pew pew fire burn explosions okay we that's pretty realistic after July the fourth right you know we've heard all that so all right so question number one on firing line question is what's a failure that cost you more than money and what did it change about how you operate today what you got Rod um just not trying to get complacent on uh your goals you know and not letting your goals cost you your values of everything that you really work for. And sometimes you know you can have a goal in in front of you but you can um you can almost mess up everything that you've already achieved just chasing one thing sometimes so do you have any way of kind of identifying if you find that that either you can identify that you've been complacent or a way that you combat that um really just staying focused and just trying to uh keep everything level um you know sometimes I need that moment where I bring my own self back to reality sometimes and you know that's kind of you know a daily thing yeah I don't I don't get much sleep so pretty much I have those nightly talks with myself and I have to really um you know I have to really mentally keep myself focused you know so that's you know pretty much the thing for me it's just really staying mentally focused at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

I I know for me it's it's that that's one of the built-in benefits of being married is that your spouse holds up a mirror all the time um essentially and that I may think I'm fine I'm doing fine you know but she's like no you're not acting like yourself or or or you usually enjoy doing this why don't you enjoy doing that and I think probably my wife is the best indicator of whether I've kind of not feeling it or dispassionate or complacent or something like that. And it's it's tough. It's tough to admit it because we don't want to admit when we're failing or we're falling short or something like that.

SPEAKER_04 25:15

Oh yeah. And um you know sometimes we'll try to fight through and that's probably the worst thing you can do at the end of the day. Right. You know it's just be Superman all the time, you know and at the end of the day, man, you have to take the stress hat and just put it to the side sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Yeah. We talk a lot about you can't pour from an empty cup right so you you've got to be you've got to be yeah revitalizing yourself so that you can give or get these things done that that are they're part of your why part of your passion.

SPEAKER_04 25:46

Totally agree.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Well I think we've seen too many Rocky movies that he's already got the snob beat out of him and it's like the 12th round or something like that and he does this major comeback. Let's remember that this is a movie like this is not this is not fact this is fiction you know but we we love those stories that we can just buckle down and do it and that's just not the way it works.

SPEAKER_04 26:05

Yeah it's not un unfortunately it's not you know we wish you know we all had a little holly you know a little Hollywood inside of us for somebody to say cut and redo you know yeah but at the end of the day that you know we don't have that option there for somebody to you know to tell you that and you know you know take one take two take three you know in the real world you're really striking out yeah well this plays nicely into kind of a segue into question number two which is what belief did you have to unlearn to keep growing without burning out unlearn um it's it's probably one I'm in the process of now is that you you just can't help everybody's almost like you have to pick and choose your battle sometime and um you have to learn the word that a lot of people don't want to hear is no. So I've had to unlearn the word yes a little bit which I'm I'm I'm still working on it. But at the end of the day it's to protect um me mentally because yeah you know it's almost like the older you get you know I I I I just celebrated a birthday um a few weeks ago I turned 50 so it's like now it's it's like everything looks different all of a sudden like a snap of a finger you know some people say you turn 50 and everything starts hurting well I you know for me it's like well that too but it's like for me it's like everything started it's just like everything started like the whole thought it's like the whole thought process changed like overnight.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

So did it start right after the colonoscopy I I think I think you're exactly right there there's so much power in learning to say no and I and there's there's a Steve Jobs quote out there somewhere and I'm gonna butcher this but you know it's it's not how many things you can say yes to it's how many things you can say no to to focus on that that super important goal that super important you know aspect of your life and and I know that it was about 10 years ago that I learned to say no and it's so empowering um you know to to not try to be there for everybody do everything for everybody to where you you are stretched so thin. So I I think you're exactly right in that well he's so good at now it's just a reflex.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

So he'll say no immediately and then like he'll come back oh actually I meant to say yes but I was I was being cautious you know that's right start with no there you go start with no and then maybe it'll become a yes. That's true.

SPEAKER_04 28:48

All right so let's move on to question number three what does success look like in this season of your life not five years ago um just being able to slow down a little bit and and and enjoy what's in front of me five years ago I was probably a loose cannon just trying to do every single thing with you know every on every single level and that's that's probably about when I met you know the both of you I'm not sure which one of you I met first but um I actually remember remember going and sitting down with Dr. Wade and um you know we we did lunch together one day and we talked about some things and um you know probably at that time I was all over the place just trying to do every single thing. And um it you know it wasn't for a personal game but it was just you know you want to see you know a difference made and you know you can probably go to any organization that I've collaborated with and they'll tell you the same thing. You know you want to see the good out of it. And uh but probably not in this season is just really um just slowing down. You know that's probably the biggest success for me is just been a little bit more patient which I've I've had a lot of patience you know in my adult life and uh but probably even you know gaining more patience than what I have now.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

So yeah yeah well it kind of reminds me I don't know if you ever heard the story of the little girl on the beach that uh the tide was pushing all these starfish on the beach and um this little girl's trying to grab them and throw them all back in the ocean just scrambling and just sweating trying to do this and someone came up and said hey you know you're never going to be able to save them all. She said but I can save some of them. You know and I think that that's we've got to be comfortable accepting that limitation. And it doesn't feel good. You know when you want to make a huge change to any organization, you know, we come with it at a very limited perspective but we have to be willing to capture that success and and recognize that change you know where we are capable of making it instead of lamenting the fact that we've not made as wide scale change as maybe we wanted to in the big scheme of things.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Yeah you know a small win is still a win what they say right yeah right well we talked about that that on the last show Joel about you know along the journey whether that's uh fatherhood entrepreneurship life in general I I think we get caught up on focusing on the next and the next and we we don't stop and smell the roses we don't appreciate the small wins that we have and and how those impacts can compound we just we think hey now we got to push we got to push we got to push and so I I think that's that's right on target.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Awesome well um I don't have any more questions Jonathan do you have any more questions for Rod?

SPEAKER_01 31:42

No this has been fantastic man I I really appreciate you joining us uh we we knew you'd have a lot to give um and and uh and a lot of things to talk about so so this has been been very wonderful for me yeah me too um I appreciate the invite I was definitely a little nervous as any time I'm in front of a microphone or camera um so I guess I'm half as nervous now because I'm only in front of the microphone but uh but yeah um if I can give a quick um uh public service announcement pleasure yeah I'm having a little s slack on my end but uh I just wanted to pub that we're doing our annual uh the Dads of Nashville Georgia organization is having their annual back to school bash July 25th at B Tree Park on B Tree Avenue um from 10 a.m to 3 p.m and we have several sponsors we'll be giving away uh school supplies free food uh water slide music games um it's kind of a good feel feel good moment for us to be back in the community um definitely the community I grew up in and um I probably at the age of you know five six seven years old you know you always wish you had someone coming around to do stuff so it's always a pleasure and a um a humbling experience to get back and uh and give back.

SPEAKER_04 33:26

So um you know we appreciate Dr. Wade for being um also sponsor the last few years. So you know him and um and many others. So you know we've we've grown from out of pocket um sponsoring our own events to you know people seeing your passion and your dedication and then you know knowing that their um their give back is going to a good cause at the end of the day. So that's it's always good. So we appreciate that by the way.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Absolutely and and I'm gonna be there so there'll be a celebrity appearance for me. Yeah I'll be there signing autographs.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

No nobody wants that I mean if you would give out free prescription pads or something like that you might get more attention. Yeah that gets dangerous now awesome well that I think that's it from us unless one of y'all has something else but Rod thanks so much for taking your time uh out of your busy schedule to uh goof off with us a little bit today uh thanks for everything you do for the community and uh for your feedback on all these topics for very valuable information you're more than welcome great to talk with you Joel glad you're doing well man awesome all right well I think that wraps us up for today for the long burn thanks again to Roderick Smith check out the Dads program if anyone's listening around uh Nashville Georgia you know find a way to get back to the community and be a part of what's going on um I think Roderick would probably love to put you to work right well thank you guys we'll close it out for today and you can catch us next time on the Long Burn. Y'all have a great weekend