Ep 12: The 3 Little Pigs: Lessons from Bacon Bits and Wilber

In this episode of The Drive, Craig Harvey and Evan Proach use the Three Little Pigs as a framework for something most people don't expect from a children's book: a real conversation about what it takes to build a business that survives when things go sideways. Evan reads it to his daughter and makes sure she understands that bacon and bits are lazy, Wilbur does the work, and the wolf always shows up eventually. The question is whether what you built can take the hit.

The bulk of the conversation is Craig and Evan unpacking what "brick" actually means in business: Belief, Resilience, Innovation, Character, and Knowledge. It's honest, a little rough around the edges, and grounded in real experience, including delivered death benefit checks, passed-on shortcuts that cost millions, and the kind of hard-earned perspective that only comes from staying in one lane long enough to actually master it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, Craig Harvey here in the driver's seat for the drive. Have you ever gotten punched in the face from someone or something that you did not see coming? We're going to talk today about building a financial house and how to withstand the hurricane winds that are coming. You can be ready as you tune in to this episode of The Drive. All right. Welcome back to the Drive. I am so excited, riding Shotgun today. He is no stranger to this podcast. Evan the model Proach. How are you doing, big boy? Dude, I'm excited for this talk. I'm relaxed, as you can kind of tell. So looking forward to getting into it. Good, man. You're looking good. We're talking. Look, look, this kind of started with us as fathers talking about stories we read our children. And you were telling me before we came on air, you read Luna three to four bedtime stories a night.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

For some reason, I don't know where she gets it from because I'm not a book guy, right? But she loves bedtime books. So if there's one thing daddy can do, I can I can read some uh some books. I try to stick to 20 pages under, but at the end of the day, I choose the right books to read to her. Like books with like a lot of pictures of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

I'm telling you what, whatever books these people are making for kids, there's like 50 pages. I'm like, this can't happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

So Luna's three. She's three. Yeah. So Rockford is uh 19 months. You can tell him a young dad counting in months still. I read whatever book he brings me. But what he's been bringing me lately, and you and I agree that this is a great book. Dude, I'm telling you, there's a business lesson in here we're gonna dive into, and it's on believe it or not, the three little pigs. Yeah, the big bad wolf. You read Luna, the story of the three little pigs.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

So I'm a sales guy, so I sell her into what books I want to read to her. Why? You know, I'm 38, so I'm teaching a three-year-old some uh some business within these children's books. So yes, I read that and I make sure to emphasize on certain parts of the story that I know in life she will at some point in time deal with.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

So let's just say there's the there's three brothers in this book or in this story. Let's say you've got Bacon, Bits, and Wilbur. Yeah. And Bacon builds a house based on a substance of his choosing. It happens to be straw. We just happen to have some straw here, Evan, uh, on the set. Uh, and then his brother uh you've got bacon, you've got bits. Bits built out of sticks. Yeah. He chose, he chose to build with stick his house. And then there's Wilbur. There's this older brother, let's say, and he chooses the substance. He chooses uh the the composition of brick by which to construct his house. Now here's what I know. Bro, we're all in business to build a financial house.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

And I have seen people build out of these three choices of of composition, of substance. Some some houses are built out of straw. Some houses are built out of stick, and then some have put in the effort and the work and and and the wherewithal to to be brick worthy.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

So when I read this book to my daughter, I make sure she knows there's three brothers, right? They all know each other, they're from the same family. They go out to do the same thing, want to achieve in that in that in that woods, right? In that life that they might have, they want to build a house. But I make sure she knows bacon and bits. They're fat, they're lazy, they want to play, they want to do everything that they want to do. And the problem is, and this is so funny, because yes, we just so happen to have the straw, the hay, the sticks, the bricks. You know how easy it was for me? Check this out. It took me 20 steps out of your house to go and collect this and to go and collect sticks. It took me almost a mile, literally, to travel through this allotment to find brick. And when I when I just by doing that earlier today, I just I'm thinking as I'm walking and I'm searching how many people aren't willing to look and to be consistent and work hard to eventually build what they need to uh build out of. You know what frustrates me, bro?

SPEAKER_00 4:10

You you never know who's legit or who's full of shit until that big bad wolf comes. Now, before I get into this wolf blowing and coming and trying to hurt and trying to destruct and trying to be this hurricane of just think about building your whole life a house and and and an entity coming and just blowing it down. What I love about my daughter is so funny.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

She can't wait. This is true. She cannot wait for the big bad wolf. Before I get to the pages in the book, when he comes in, she's like, Daddy, you didn't read about the big bad wolf. I'm like, honey, slow down. It's coming. But I want to make sure I slowly read the book so she understands going fast, going quick, being lazy, being cheap is not the way to do it.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

So that's the point. Like all three of these houses looked stable from the external eye. All three houses, man, they had it going on. Well, when I think about social media, right? All these pages look similar. That's right. Dude, I look, don't get me started. I'm trying to stay calm. And but but it does frustrate me, bro, because I was, I just, I was never one uh to be that $30,000 millionaire, as I call them, that that that that you know fakes a watch or or puts on uh some kind of a of a garment that they don't really own or drives a car that that they they rent or or they they film at a home that that isn't theirs just just to create the perception of a reality that they're not. And so here's here's what I know. Again, when we talk, let's just say straw, what does that mean in our business? Now you and I chose insurance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

So yeah, what it means in business, it's more of like the get rich quick, right? So like like my daughter wants to get quickly through the book to the big bad wolf. So many people in business want to just they want to sprint to, they they want to bypass certain levels or say just what they're building their house out of, and you cannot force it. Simply, uh a house out of break comes with time.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Dude, uh not not to get off subject, but uh do you remember the talk I gave about the doors? Oh, yeah. And about how initially you've got to go through that manual door, and then there is the spinning door, which is timing, and then you get to that automatic door. Dude, that's this business. Yeah. And so many times people want to jump right to that automatic door without having built through the levels of knowledge, of vocabulary, of understanding, of, of, of trial, trauma, uh, turmoil, that they're able to have a little bit of that, that, that, that, that cartilage, yeah, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Well, it's just like when I walked out your front door, I looked straight, I found the straw, I found the hay. And I looked right and I found the sticks. So it's like people don't want the time. They don't want to have to wait for it to be their time. They don't have to be preparing and preparing. So when their time comes, they try to force it to get rich quick. What seems easy is not always what's best.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Dude, the sticks to me is whoever it is that's just building a business based on recruiting, having not sold themselves. And I am such a proponent of this. I'm gonna die with this freaking gavel in my hand, with a judge saying, you know what, you're out of order, you're in contempt, okay? Because I know it's true. There are so many people selling a dream they're not living. They, they, they are preaching a sermon that they have no idea the reality of what it is. What do I mean by that? Real quick, when I talk sticks, I I've met guys that are trying to hire to something they have no idea how to coach, how to mentor, how to develop, how, how to implement change and and favorable action that creates, let's say, sales for the individual that works with them. Bro, that that is a recipe for disaster when the wind blows.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Well, it is because look, if you're building a business, if you're building teams, if you're in business to build teams, okay, it's not easy. It takes time, it takes conversations. And if you're building a team where it takes more people, you got to find more people to do something that you don't like to do, or that you can't make six figures just simply being great at doing, that house may look, may look strong, but when that wind is blown, when that big bad wolf comes, you know, and my daughter does know uh as well. And I I bet you a lot of the audience knows what kind of happens, it doesn't last, man.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Man, I've had wolves blow no amount of preparation, uh political persuasion, no amount of of you know pol whatever it might be that you think is a protector. Pain isn't prejudice. It will come and knock on everybody's door. And so again, we're all building when I say a financial house, it's it it has more to do with the depth of what goes into what you're building. So we've got some bricks here. Did you get these for us? I did, dude. It was like a mile down the road. Appreciate that. Yeah, you look a little sweaty. No, I'm you're good, you're good. So so when we talk about brick, I want to talk about the composite. I want to talk about what makes up brick. I want to talk about what it is that because I can just tell you, Wilbur hated his life more than I will tell you bacon and bits. Bacon and bits were partying, bacon and bits, we're on the beaches, bacon and bits, we're going to concerts.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Bacon and bits were making fun of Wilbur. Literally in the book, they're making fun of Wilbur. So when I talk to my daughter, I'm like, look, there's gonna be things that you do in life that others are saying you should not be doing that. Why would you be doing that? You're stupid, you're silly for doing that. And I know people where I've worked with you for years that are at a partner level, at a seven-figure level, and people in their family are the ones that were saying that. So it's not, it's gonna come. You have people, you have bacon and you have bits in your life.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Dude, this just fires me up. I'm I'm folks, we're talking about a children's novel here, okay? We're talking about a children's book, but it resonates with me because it depicts life, bro. The whole time I was missing vacations, I was missing weddings, I was missing things I wanted to be doing. You don't think Wilbur wanted to be with Bacon or Bits, sunning on the beach, you know, eating, you know, playing the fiddle, whatever it is they're doing, versus building and constructing a house that long term will stand when inevitably trouble comes. Absolutely. He, be it Wilbur, would have traded places. But when that wolf came and Bacon and Bits' houses were blown down, whom did they run to? Yeah. They ran to that older brother, didn't they? They did. They ran to that older brother. I want to get into what it was he built, because this is really the crux of our conversation today. And I think the B and brick has to stand for belief. Yeah, for sure. It has to stand for belief. I want to give you first crack at this because belief is the bedrock. Belief is the foundation of what it is when everything else falters and fails and goes by the wayside. There's a belief in you of not just what you're doing, but who you're doing it with and who you're doing it for. Yeah. When I talk about that, what does it mean?

SPEAKER_02 11:52

So for me, belief, a couple different ways. I I wanted to find somebody I believed in as a leader, as a mentor, right? And what just how I was raised, my belief was not built off of what people just said, what they promised. It was what they showed. So at the end of the day, I believe by following actions, I believe by following somebody that went before me and still works just as hard as me in the trenches, kind of with me. Does that make sense? So in insurance, that's what our life has looked like. You lead from the front. You got to be the highest rating agent, the top seller of your organization. You're the one that's spending the extra time building that house, building your business, building your uh belief in it. And once you get to a certain part of your belief, because you've seen what it's done for you, you've seen what it's done for your family, you've seen what it's done for other people's family, then that's when people can see that belief in you.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

I believe in fire because it's burned me. I believe in water because it's almost drowned me. I believe in gravity because every time I jump off of something tall, I quickly sink to the bottom. I believe in taxes because I've had to pay a lot of them. And dude, I believe in NESB because a man with an experience isn't at the mercy of a man with an opinion. And so belief for me is a learned behavior based on historical data that teaches me to trust what's worked and to doubt what has perhaps looked good, but it was hay. Look good, but it was stick. And here's the freaking funny thing about trust and about reality. Until that boat gets in the water, you really don't know it floats. Until that plane gets in the air, you don't know that it flies. They tell you it's a plane. But until it's in the air, until you're in the foxhole of business and you are able to forge belief when there is the presence, people always talked about loyalty to me. You really, you really do not show loyalty until you have a reason to not be loyal. So once something goes negative, once something goes awry, once, once, you know, haywire hits, the winds are blowing, and you're like, you know what? I can trust this guy. I believe in this guy. We're encouraging people right now, build your house on belief of what it is you're doing, on the industry that you're in. Dude, I've delivered death checks, Evan. I've walked that death check 10, 15, 20,000, $25,000 to the Miss Johnson or the Miss Smiths or the Miss Tammies of the world, that that check was the answer to every question that she was being asked. That that emboldens a belief in you, dude, that that that it burns in your brain. It burns in your brain. It it stands stronger than the wind blows. Yeah. So when somebody says, you know, insurance is this or that, that may be your experience. I hope it's not. Yeah. But it's not my reality. You you've experienced that.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Well, look, I've uh I'm in an industry that's been around over 100 years. So through time, I can believe that before it got so great of a timing, right, with the baby boomers getting to be age 65, man, it was around for over a hundred years. It is for people that need it. And I'm a true believer that not everybody doesn't need it. So having a lead system, right? When you're providing a product, it builds belief, right? Because every single day in our system, at least, there are people that are popping up on your CRM saying, hey, I need this. I'm I'm inquisitive about this. I need help with what I currently do have. That is what helped my belief. When I said I didn't want to get into sales because I did not, it helped me see that look, this is a problem that there needs to be a solution for. And uh, if I could be great at it, I will make great money and I'm building my house out of brick because I had that belief in what I'm serving.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

It's your job, and it's my job as the leader of any organization to loan belief to those that don't know yet. Dude, I loaned you the belief that I had. Think about it. Think about it, dude. Think about back in the day when I was telling you, bro, I'm not gonna do you wrong. This is not just a viable industry, but but this this entity called NESB is going to be remembered for the work we do in the lives we change and the promises that we keep. And so did you believe kinda, but you know what you really did, in my opinion? You borrowed my belief. You looked at me and said, okay, this guy's so crazy about it. He's either freaking nuts and the greatest liar in the world, or I'm gonna borrow his belief until I grow and create my own.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

This is actually how I did it. You were older and you were wiser and you were in an industry longer than me with better results. So I got to, yes, steal the belief that you had in an industry longer than me, and I saw your results, right? I I I could I could believe that. I got on a closer level to where I knew it was real. So for me, immediately when I talk to somebody that may say all these great things, I don't believe you. I I need there to be storms or I need to see what storms you've weathered to believe in the house that you built because I wanted to build it like you.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

So we have the B for brick. The R is resilience, resiliency. Um, and let me just say resilience or resiliency isn't about what you say, it's about what you so show. Break down the word uh uh resilience here, if if you could, Tucker, so they can see this. When you look at this word resilience, what what do what do you see here? S-I-L- Look at it. S-I-I-S-E-N-C-E silence. There's a quiet confidence in resiliency. There's a quiet belief that doesn't have to be shouted, it doesn't have to be yelled, it doesn't have to be posted on social media. It doesn't, because there's an internal damn a resiliency. Because look, I'm gonna say it again. You can't stop the wolf from coming and and absolutely trying to destroy what it is you've built. Those wolves come in crazy places and and and directions, do they not? Yeah, in all kinds of shapes and forms. And wow, I I think about the the the storms and the we talk about wolves, and obviously he's trying to blow the house down, but sometimes that some bitch will bite you. Uh the things that that attack you that you never ever saw coming, you've got to have resiliency. Yeah. And and and again, I want to say it again. Resiliency isn't in what you say. It's in that silent, quiet confidence that you have.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

So it makes me think about NESP. How silent was NESP? How silent, honestly, Craig, have you been? This is the first time you're in a podcast. I'm a ghost 13, 15 years. Leave me alone. But what's so why I believe in it and why hopefully listeners will believe in it is so much time has gone by of us being silent, where the only people in that know how great this opportunity, this industry is, this team is, this jersey is, are people in this industry. And like for me, the the industry I grew up in, I believed it, right? I I experienced, I had resilience built in me in sports for sure, because a resilience is like if you start in an industry, if you start in a game and you are say leading, or if you're behind, it doesn't matter by the time you get to the end. You don't want to ring the bell too early. You want to be resilient enough before you don't take yourself out, but you make sure that bell rings or dings and uh and you've given it your all.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

So to me, it's about keeping showing up. Like, like keep showing up. Resilience is look, when I say keep showing up, keep answering the phone, keep showing up on time, keep not leaving early, keep doing the right things. I don't believe you can do the right things continuously over time and and experience the wrong result. And I think what happens, there's this lack of resiliency. There's this lack of when it gets tough, we quit. When it gets tough, we start over. When it gets tough, we just, you know, turn the page or we do something new. Hey, you know this. The bigger you become in any organization, when your phone rings, it's usually bad news. Yeah. Like one of the shitty things about growing this great organization is you know, people don't call to congratulate you. People don't call to say good job. You don't need that necessarily. That's not my point. My point is you better get ready as you get what you asked for. That when your phone rings, it's bad news. Yeah. When your phone rings, the wind is blowing. When your phone rings, the wolf is at the door. And what I'm saying is to be able to instill resiliency. Remember, my job was to instill belief in you because it's my house. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Your job is to instill resiliency in the people that that join your house as a leader, as a manager, as someone that is an owner of an organization.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

It's keeping their emotions in check, right? That's your job to do. Like, so I think about Wilbur, because we're still talking about building that house out of the three pigs. You know, he had to have so many emotions going through as he's working, as he's staying diligent, right? As as his brothers are making fun. And I've seen so many people that they they just have a weak mindset. They they don't have the resiliency, and resiliency take time, it does. But uh, at the end of the day, that is the R in brick.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

I like innovation for the eye because, yeah, dude, I get it. Um belief is the bedrock, it's the foundation, it is uh the catalyst that that kind of creates it's the yeast in the bread that rises because without that, you're dead. Resiliency is Got to be in this formula. But then innovation, dude, you've you've been innovative and you you taught me something about just not sitting back, being useful, finding a way to make a difference in in the arena and in the organization that that you're with. And you've done that through innovation, not necessarily reinventing the wheel, but but but creating look, anything new creates momentum. We've said that for years, man. Yeah. That that new creates momentum, new creates energy. Innovation is huge. Not that you're changing and and you're absolutely removing what it is you do, but being innovative in the way you sell that product.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

So here's how I take it. I was told once by a very smart person that sales is spelled C-H-A-N-G, change.

unknown 22:55

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

And being in sales, things are always changing. Being innovative is just trying to keep up. I would say, damn near, be ahead of the curve. One thing with NESB was the lead system. How we had we stayed ahead of the curve when it comes to leads. And I when I say it stole that in a different way, it was bringing swag to the team, right? Having us all look the same, having us all dripping the same way when we're out there in the field. Look, Deion Sanders says what?

SPEAKER_00 23:23

You look good, you play good, you play good, they pay good, they pay good, you get to pay to look good. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

And we're building a house based off of our sales. So being innovative enough to bring a culture together with something as simple as that. And on the other end of uh things, something that I'm not even great at, but understanding that organizing your book of business. You know, when I, when I when I really realized that there's insurance companies that have been around for 60 plus years, that their their only lead system is working their book of business. And when it comes to our agents are collecting on average 300 clients a year, on average, that's a lead system. You know what I mean? So being able to track that, being able to facilitate, work that, right? Farm that, if you will, has uh it has been innovative.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Simple as that for our sales gets stale. And one of the things that we have accelerated our growth in doing is making sure that as to the best of our ability, it didn't get stale. Didn't get moldy. We kept the mold, that's right. Yeah, we kept the mold off the bread in trying to create something new, create something vibrant, create if it's a if it's a if it's a challenge, if it's a contest, if it's something that that moves the needle emotionally to where the individual or individuals think differently about what it is they're doing. For me, it's a think team too, man. I had a I have a think team. You know, God did give you two ears and and and one mouth, one brain. But dude, when you can put people around you that can have ideas and and broaden the way you're able to see an opportunity to open up uh just a path that you thought was closed, but because that think team was allowed to just, hey, I I welcome bad ideas. Please, it's gonna take 15 bad ideas to get that one great idea that's gonna accelerate and move the needle to a place that that we would have never been had we not kind of had that think team. And so as we as we finish on this this this theme or this eye of innovation, I think it's important. Look, it's not about what's now, it's what's next. And and when you get successful, Evan, it's so it's so freaking hard. Because I want to live in the now because I don't want to change it. I'm making more than I've ever made. Things are great, there's no problems, you know? Hey, there's no wolf, right? Let's live here, let's camp out here, let's move in here. But inevitably, that some bitch finds you, and and and you've got to be innovative. You've got to be innovative. That's what goes into this house. It's the brick. And it's not now, it's what's next. I I I want to stretch the now as long as I can.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

While knowing that next is coming. Next is coming in any industry, in any level. Um I want to get to the C because I know the C means a lot to you. It's character. Yeah. We're talking about belief, we're talking about resiliency, we're talking about innovation. But what you have to put into the house, the financial house you're building is character. Dude, you got to do it the right freaking way. And if not, it's gonna tell on you and your reputation will beat you across the nation.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

You know, you know, so it was so easy for me early in my business career, right? What I was kind of trained to do is slow down, take time, right? Do the job right. Why? Because that brought you back clients and landscaping. The reason people came back to our nursery is because the plants that we planted, Craig, they were still living. I could have quickened and dug a tiny hole, not educated them on anything, and that tree would have looked for about two months, and then they would have called me four months later, got to bring it back out. It's dead. And now it costs me the money to go back out there and replace that. So at the end of the day, character, I was just raised by doing things the right way, treating people how you want to be treated. That's just how I was raised. So for me, in my endeavor looking for a business, a career, when I got out of college, right? And I didn't know what I wanted to do. I just simply knew I couldn't double my hours and double my income. I looked for people, I looked for an industry, I looked for a company that I just I'm like, those are good people. And I can't just tell that by a conversation. I can't tell that from a review. I can tell that by just communicating, associating myself with them. And that's how I chose the character of people that I wanted to go in business with.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Listen, bro, it's uh it's everything. Worse than joining a great company and failing. Worse than joining a great company and failing is joining a shady company and doing really, really well. That's true. Think about it. And so one of the things that that you know, I I I have a line and you know this to be a fact. I'll stab you in the face. Face. And I've said that for years, and and a lot of guys are like, where do you get some of the shit you say? I don't know. But nobody taught me that line. I taught myself that line. Like, I want to be stabbed in the face. If it's gonna be bad, tell me. Don't don't don't sneak around on the side porch or come around underneath the basement or or or try to come through the attic and whatever. No, you you tell me. And I've seen so many people in business that do not have the clout, dare I say, the character, to to to be able to be forthright and to be honest. Listen, there's millions of dollars. I dude, I mean fifty some odd million dollars. I'm not joking. I could have made had I fudged here, had I fudged there. And and individuals perhaps watching, they probably don't have the balls to watch something like this, have probably made that. Here's my question to you You're gonna take that $50 million walk on the beach alone without the relationships of the people that respect the decisions that that that you could have made, that you didn't make. And I look at those guys, Evan, I know who they are, and you know who they are. And so here's the great thing. As we're building our house, we have the chance to do it the right way, to understand that money goes so far, money spends, money, but dude, you can always make more money. You know what you can't remake your reputation. You know what you can't rebuy virginity or your reputation. Once you lose it, it's gone. Think about it. That's accurate. You're not a virgin, are you? Spot on there, Craig. I'm just saying. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

Got a little passionate there. Well, I can tell. Um, I got something quick for you. So talking about building a house. What's the most important part about building a house? Foundation. How'd you know that?

SPEAKER_00 30:18

I didn't tell you that. That's not in the notes. Because I live right here on the water. There's you know what? There's 168 pilings, 168 telephone poles that are pilings under this property, dude. And that was a very expensive uh I believe the foundation part is your character.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

Because when you were just talking to me about you can make money anywhere, you can be anybody and make money. You don't have to have character, you can make money. The problem is you're building a house on a very bad foundation. And a storm may not even come that your house will be effed. But when a storm does come on a bad foundation, good luck.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Dude, the older I get, um I care that I helped you guys get wealthy, but I care more that I tried in every capacity to keep my word. Things change in business, man. I mean, that's just the way it is. I mean, I I I I watch politics and I watch a lot of you know the left and the right and you know, different uh different ideologies. Z, W Y S Y W D. Yeah, do what you say you would do. That's right. Yeah, do what you say you would do. But even, even again, we speak from a political standpoint, things change. The winds of change blow. The wolf blows. But look, that anchor, that, that, that lighthouse of of character, of who you are, dude. This is important to me. When it's all said and done, no matter how much money we make, I want people in our business, and I think you do in your own, uh, to be grateful that they chose to work with us. Let's get to the K because dude, I I dude, belief's huge. It's just freaking huge. But without resiliency, what do you got? Without innovation, you're stuck in yesterday. Yeah. Without character, Jesus, nobody's gonna work with you. But but then would you not say that the ongoing ability to this house is knowledge? And knowledge continues to change with AI. By the way, you know, I'm not a chat GPT hyper fan. My wife is. Sometimes I'll write something and let chat do it, and I'm like, all right, all right, that was one good idea. You know, I'd like to write something for chat, by the way. You know, I'd like to, you know. It's funny, yours is, mine is, but I'm not either. I just I'm not, look, I'm old school, whatever. Here it is. Um, but knowledge, the continued development and appetite to lean in to learning what you don't know. After you think you know it all, continuing to learn, continuing to embrace and devour and and and just having an appetite for advancement mentally, not for what's now, for what's next. I think that's that's that's the house.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

I think you gotta be careful with knowledge, right? Just because Jack of all trades, master of none, like you can have a wealth of knowledge. I know I haven't, but I had a wealth of knowledge with insurance. And I had to leverage that from other people. I had to leverage that through my experiences, but I did understand knowledge is power in this business. The reason that most people don't make it within 18 months is they don't make any money because they have no knowledge on what it takes to sell the product. So at some point in time, as you're building your team, as you're building your business, as you're building your house, you got to be more knowledgeable. You could be the smartest one in the room. You gotta be the smartest one in the room. And what does that take? It takes probably trying to be knowledgeable on one subject so much easier. Man, if I could go back to school, Craig, which I was a C at best student. Well, if I only had to take science all through high school, I'd probably be an A student, right? But once I am an A student, guess what? Then it's the right time for me to maybe focus on another subject, another industry, another income stream. I just noticed so many people try to get so smart in so many different areas, but none of them bring in the income. And at least for me, 38 years, I got really knowledgeable in one thing.

SPEAKER_00 34:18

Dude, I've done two things in my whole life, bro. Two things, my whole life. I told you. I worked at one place, left, went to another, got into an industry with a gentleman that fired me. Probably wished he didn't, but he did. Thankfully, thankfully he's cool because that's and then we started this business. Dude, I I've had to commit to reading. Like, dude, reading to me is like running. Ooh, you don't like running. I don't tell. Well, shut up. What are you talking about, bro? I'm not sure. You're wearing a silk shirt. Not many people can pull off a silk shirt. Okay, whatever, whatever, whatever the craft. The camera adds 10 pounds. The camera adds 10 pounds. Somebody edit this shit. Not these cans. All right, here we are. Uh the the truth of the matter is, as much as I hate running, believe it or not, I hate reading, but I force myself to read. I should force myself to run. And and just some easy like notes here. If the average book is 300 pages, 10 pages a day at 30 days, you've read a book a month.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:15

10 pages a day. 10 pages a day. It's 12 a year. So, so you know I'm a highlighter, right? So knowledge is also about what? The application of information. That's knowledge. Knowledge isn't just exposure, right? Think about it. It's the application of information. You you you've seen me highlight different talks that I've given throughout the years. All that is is a memorization tool that helps me not just familiarize, not just just glamorize. Look, I want to know what it is that that I need to articulate or I need to learn. And so I would I would ask you, commit, commit. 10, think about, dude, 10 pages a day for 30 days. Look, you can read 12 books a year if you commit to 10 pages a day and then highlight what it is that speaks to you.

SPEAKER_02 36:07

So off topic a little bit, but I I just literally a week ago um met for the first time where my grandfather worked his family, the guy's family business. And my grandfather built houses. I thought he was a carpenter. He was, but he also built houses. He he built my parents' house. And I remember as a little kid being there just playing in the mud and throwing the rocks and the sticks and the straw, right? I didn't, I wasn't using bricks back then, right? I couldn't even lift a brick. But he told me one thing, and this is literally last week. He said that my grandfather was the smartest one, most knowledgeable one, and he ran their organization because he was the most intelligent one.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

The smartest one in the room becomes the wealthiest one in the room. I I dude, I used to I used to pride myself on the grit and on the intensity. It's more consistency. But but but it's more the intelligence and the applied intelligence of of what it is that we're learning and we're continuing to try to learn. Evan, as we come to a close here today, by the way, dude, you freaking crazy. This is gonna be a podcast. That's great. I didn't know. I didn't know. Not in that, maybe. Here we are talking like like children's novels and shit. Like who's gonna tune into this? We'll see. We'll we'll find that.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

This might be the the highest. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

Can we agree brick costs you more to build? Oh, yeah. Can we also agree that brick takes you longer to build? Can we lastly agree that brick belief? Resiliency, innovation, character, and knowledge protects you from that bad frickin' wolf that inevitably is going to try to blow down whatever we're building. Build on brick. You'll be glad you did. Thank you for tuning in to the drive.