How This Man Escaped The Corporate Ladder

The Parable of the Talents is one of the most famous stories ever told. Brandon Johnson decided to live it. He had a corporate career, a pension, and a clear path forward in a traditional 9 to 5 job, but chose a purpose-driven life instead. He walked away from all of it not because it was easy, but because staying felt like burying everything he was actually built for, choosing purpose over paycheck and a true career change.

In this episode of Talents, Brandon opens up about the real cost of leaving security behind, quitting a stable job, escaping the corporate ladder, and what nobody tells you about that transition. He shares the reality of a career pivot, the risks of leaving a secure job, and the mindset required to build a creative career and find fulfillment over money.

This one will challenge how you think about talent, risk, and what it actually means to invest in your calling, especially if you feel stuck living for the weekend, searching for your purpose, or trying to break out of the 9 to 5 and build a life aligned with your calling. #Talents

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I am so sick of living for the weekends. Monday through Friday is literally just me trying to like clock in, make money to live, pay the bills, and I only got to live on Friday and Saturday if I was lucky. I'm not gonna be able to do this forever. You're on the assembly line in four 12, 13 years, it's you know, and it's paying good and all that. Full benefits. It's just hard to see on the other side of that. And you'd have to walk through this long tube. And I can tell you, I have walked through that tube, there's no telling how many hundreds and hundreds of times. And the thought of doing something different didn't really even occur to me. Why am I here? Like, I really want to quit. My goal was thirty. If I would have stayed there, I would have 26 years.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Wow. You're now the director of video and streaming for Jesus Culture. Yeah. Uh how is it being uh the brother to a human Ken doll?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Um it well I was gonna say creates it creates eating disorders, and I'm sorry, bro.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

All right, Brandon, you have found a career in production in one of the most unique ways I think I've ever encountered anybody. It's in production. Most people in production go through uh a whole series of uh education and trying to get on with the right production company, and it's it's something that they they they take years to work at and accomplish. You came from an assembly line at Ford. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Yeah, I was at the Chicago Assembly Plant in Chicago. Uh I had about, I think it was about 15 years when I left there. So I was halfway retired. Um, and basically my wife and I, we, you know, got a word that there was something out here for us. Um, you know, uh Becky Johnson, who's my sister-in-law, uh, she's now the lead pastor of JC Sacramento. She uh had mentioned one time that somebody was looking for a job out here or or needed an assistant. And she's like, had mentioned that maybe I would be a good fit for that. So when she suggested me, she's like, I don't even know why I suggested that, you know, because I was like halfway retired. I had been at the same job for 15 years. Like I was kind of in cruise control at that point.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

At that point, it's considered a career, really. Like you have a career with Ford.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, it was a full benefits. Like I loved my job, you know. I know it was like assembly work and all that, but it was consistent. It was uh, you know, paid the bills. My dad had 30 years prior to that, you know, working out there. I had my older brother who worked out there, my sister-in-law worked out there, my other brother worked out there. So it was kind of a family thing. So when she had mentioned me coming out here, it was like, why would he, you know, drop everything that they said? Yeah. Uh but it planted a seed. It like gave me like when she had mentioned it to me, it just like there was something that like just lit up in me. I'm like, oh, maybe there is life after Ford. Like I'd never even considered it from the time I was 20 years old until you know, at the time I was 33, 32.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

So from 20 to 35, yeah, you were with Ford.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Some of the most pivotal years of your life. Yeah, really. Okay, you said you enjoyed it. Uh good company to work for. Yeah. Even all of that. What wasn't it for you?

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Um I think I was a creative. Like, so I spent like seven years prior to coming here. I had like gotten super involved in my local church, and I was like the worship leader, the guitar player, the youth leader. Like me and my wife just kind of did a little bit of everything. Yeah, we did everything. And I really started getting just bought out for Jesus, to be honest with you. And the problem was I was spending three or four days a week at church, but then also working, you know, 50 hours in a factory. I drove an hour and 20 minutes each way in Chicago traffic. So it was hopefully it was only an hour and 20. So I got to a place where it was like I almost had to choose.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Like, what did you actually do? Like, what was your job?

SPEAKER_00 4:22

My last job there, I was putting bumpers on in the body shop. So it all first started. What model on like the Taurus and the Explorer? So, like the cop cars that you see right now and all that stuff. I for sure the early models, I guarantee I put the bumper on them. So that but that was also like the pinnacle. Like, I was in body shop where it's easier and you know, the jobs ain't as hard. The car actually stops in front of you. You do your job, you hit a pedal, and then it sends it back. Where I came from on in chassis, the first 10 years I was there, the car moved constantly. So you were either walking forward the whole time you're working on the car, and then every 48 seconds you would go to the next car and do the same thing. So you're chasing your your work all day long.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Wow. So I love that it was a step up. I've arrived when I got to bumpers.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

That's amazing. You know, it's so funny, is I feel like so a big part of my message is um that the world that we're living in, the playbook of of today, you know, when it comes to to money and stewardship, it it's outdated in the sense that it was created for the industrial revolution, which was really where we got our our factory lines and assembly and and and ever and everything that you did like the last hundred years was created for. Yeah. And we're moving into a world now where that playbook doesn't work. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

We're losing it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

We're we're we're we're losing it.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

So it's kind of cool that you were your manufacturing jobs, your union jobs, your, you know, just making things, you know. I mean, it's it's way more common, obviously, in middle of America versus what I've seen out here since I've been in California. But yeah, I mean, even like where I grew up, it was Steel Mill City. I grew up outside of Gary, Indiana. So like that's where all the U.S. steels and all that stuff, but they just kept closing down every year. And before you know it, it's just, you know, like all these places are becoming ghost towns.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Was there ever a point in those 15 years where you were concerned about job security?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Yeah. Um, mainly, I don't know if you remember the whole Firestone thing that they happened with the tires where they were just blown up out of nowhere. When that happened, Ford's stock just kind of plummeted. And then uh we were getting, I would basically work like a week, and then sometimes you'd be laid off for two weeks, and then you'd work a week. And it got a little bit hairy. And then it also got to where fast forward, I was basically kind of grandfathered in on the contract that I was in. So I was making like top tier, like as you know, like what everyone had been making or was hoping to make for like the last 60 years, you know, getting up to the top. Well, eventually that company was bringing in lower tier workers and they would cap out half of what I was making. So where I was at on the pecking list, so if they lost a shift due to low sales or whatever, I was right on that bubble where I just barely made it. Wow. So there was there was times for sure when things got slow where it was like, man, I I hope I have a job still.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

So at 20, you get hired with Ford. Are you uh what'd you do before that?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Um, so at that point, I was already, I joined the military when I was 17. Uh at that point, I'd already been in the Army National Guard for three years. Wow. So the first three years I was at Ford from 20 to 23, I was actually finishing out my military career, kind of, you know, what in the National Guard at that time. And then even from 23 or yeah, age 23 to 25, I was still in the Army Reserves, like on a reserve list. So that's kind of what I had going on. Or prior to getting into Ford, I was going to Purdue and was in the military. But then my dad, who worked at Ford, um, basically got me a job in a Ford. And it's just, you know, it was a good paying job, full benefits, it's a union.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

So it was like at 20, that had to have felt really good.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

It was great, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

I didn't know that you could join the military at 17. Yeah. I thought you had to be 18.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Yeah. And well, your parents have to help you out on that signature. They can so yeah, basically, not a good student. Um, end up getting a GED, like, had signed a contract with the government, like, hey, I will have a GED by the time I turn 18.

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

So the first year I was in at 17, I was basically promising, like, hey, with by the time I hit 18 years old, I'm gonna have a GED ready to go, but I was still going like to uh their unit and like learning there and all that stuff. So they gave me a one-year credit, and then literally I turned 18 in March and I was in boot camp by April.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

That's that's a that's a um you're jumping right in to to the fire. So when you well, thank you for your service, by the way. Oh, appreciate it. Um when you get the job with Ford, what's that first week?

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Oh yeah. Uh horrible.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Did did you feel like like okay, so ignorantly I have like this perception like assembly line, you're just another number. Yeah. Like you know, is that all true or I would it was mixed.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

I say horrible because it's the most you you want to talk about some hard work. When you're on assembly line, I don't care what job you're doing, it is brutal. Like you could be on the easiest job ever, but you're doing every 48 seconds, you could be wiping windows, you know. But every 48 seconds you're wiping windows. Well, by the time you're done with that, you know, by the end of the day, your arms are ready to fall off. So if you're hanging tires all day long, you're doing two tires per car, you're doing 600 cars a day, you're putting on 1200 cars, five lug nuts per tire. So it's just your first like two weeks out there, you're like, why am I here? I like I really want to quit. But when you get hired and you get hired as a 90 day year, so if you make it past 90 days, that's when you get into the union. So it was like really unfortunate. A lot of people fall out. Oh, tons. I mean, there'll be their first two weeks, they'll like go to lunch and you they'll come back and or I'm sorry, you'll go come back from lunch and then the person won't be next to you, like they just bounce and they're out. Too hard. It's so hot. You can't do it. It's very hard. And you're also, you know, if it's Chicago, it's Chicago. So if you're in the summertime, there was no AC, you're wearing coveralls, you've got fans that are blowing hot air on you all day, and it's just the most brutal work ever.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

At 20, what made you say this is what I'm gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

I think, well, one of the reasons why, you know, I really kind of looked up to that job was because my dad worked there my whole life. You know, like he literally paid the bills. Um, and we lived great off my dad working there, you know. But I had to get to that 91 day. And until I was at that 91 day, it was nerves, it was can't get sick, you can't miss no days, you can't be late. You run into a train and you're late and you're not on that assembly line at 6 a.m. when it starts, they know you're not there. Wow. Because immediately there's a part not getting put on that car. So it was but I was extremely thankful and like blessed to get in that job.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

What did that season of your 20 to 35 is such a uh formative uh 15 year span? Yeah. I mean it really is, and that's there's so much that you you really come from a young adult, a child, yeah, you know, a man child into this world, and um and that's when you're starting families, that's when you're having kids, that's when you're uh choosing your careers. Um what did that season teach you about yourself and the giftings and the talents on your life?

SPEAKER_02 12:05

Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Well, I can tell you, between kind of that and you know, working in a factory, um, between the army and working in a factory, it's like my work ethic right out the gate. I didn't grow up in church. So I would say that like my moral compass and my foundation, for sure I had great parents, but like ultimately a lot of that also came from the military, you know, being taught honor, loyalty, you know, selflessness, all these types of things. So that I kind of had a foundation there. And then it just it really put a work ethic in me that was I was just I was a go-getter. So when I got out at Ford, I mean, I did the same exact thing. I mean, I hit the ground running, I worked hard, I'd work on my on my breaks to learn other jobs. I was doing everything I could to advance, and I did. I mean, I advanced really quick out at Ford. So I would say just walking out of that, even like if I look at myself now at the job I'm at now, you know, I have a lot of people who are always complimenting me on my work ethic and all that stuff. For sure, that's where the ground was laid, you know, working in those factories 11, 12 hours a day, days when you're like, I don't know how I'm gonna get through this day, but you just knuckle down and you know, you just kind of, you know, you get a lot of grit living that type of life.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

So uh 20 to 35 is with Ford. You're now the uh director of video and streaming for Jesus Culture. Yeah. Um the top level position within the organization for production, yeah, which is a is a is a pretty esteemed position, man. I mean, like you've really uh you've really done well uh building that up. I think as you're talking about Ford, I think like stu stewardship is uh is something that you you instinctively knew that hard work ethic, stewarding with what's in front of you. Yeah. Where do you think you learned that? It feels like a lost art sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Yeah, man. My dad, my dad was just I mean, he always went the extra mile at everything he did. Like he just had a work ethic, you know, day. I mean, I'm sure there's so many times where he did not feel like getting up and driving in a blizzard, going, you know, to Chicago to make ends meet. And, you know, he was also a musician and played every Friday and Saturday, you know, for Bonnie at that time to bring in extra cash. So there was he, you know, he had six boys. Yeah. So I think a lot of that just came from like I love that you just brushed over six boys. Yeah. Oh, and he had six boys too. There's a lot of us.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

That's a lot of brothers.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Yeah. But it's, you know, just seeing that like what it takes to um, you know, if you're given something, you do the best you can with it, you know. That's just always been instilled in me. I definitely got a lot of that from the army too. The army was pretty pivotal in my life, you know. I literally just turned 18 and I was literally in the presence of drill sergeants for the next 10 months of my life because I did boot camp, but then I did the schooling after that. And the schooling was a long schooling, so it was like 10 months long. So I had drill sergeants for like almost a year. And that'll whip you in a shade.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

What's amazing about you is I've seen you in stressful moments uh like carry you can carry a tense moment. Like if you if you're like I gotta get this done, you put you know how to put your head down and get done.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

But for the most part, dude, like you're nothing like a drill sergeant. Yeah, you're like a huge teddy bear that's uh always helping people, loving people. I think it's fascinating that you spent so much time within Ford in in that career, uh which uh didn't really bring any of those strengths maybe to the table. Yeah. Uh but you were consistent at it. Yeah. Okay, so now you're uh you're director of video and streaming for Jesus Culture. Yeah. How do you go from assembly line in Ford to the position you're at now?

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Like I'll give you an example that immediately comes off top of my head of like just the different culture that I was coming from to where like when I first came here, and so I obviously came from Northwest Indiana to California. The very first, I think it was the I don't know, after the third day of being here, um, someone asked if I wanted to go help the video director at the time, if I wanted to go help him sort hard drives. I'm like, yeah, I'm in. So I come in, it was Chris Jones, who I absolutely love. Love him. We both know. Yeah. Um, I came in, was helping him out, and you know, a little time went past, and I looked over him, hey man, um, can I go to use bathroom? And he kind of looked at me like completely taken back. Like, what do you mean? Can you go use a bathroom? He's like, dude, you never have to ask to use a bathroom here. So that was like just the culture shift. Like, there was no, I'm on an assembly line. You don't walk away from me, you know. Your your job goes all day long. So even though I was like volunteering, I was like, I didn't want to like stop the work like midway and have to go use a bathroom, and here my work is sitting idle.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Here you are in your mid-30s asking for permission to go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Yeah. And I'll be real shift. Even today, like, you know, I I'm pretty good about filling an eight-hour day. Like, I I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna put my work in. You're not sitting on your hands. That's who I am, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Okay, but but walk us through how you get to where you're at now. Like you're you're on the assembly line at Ford, and now you're in this position.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

So here's the funny thing. So I was, you know, I was at that church. Um I loved Jesus culture. I loved Hillsong United. I was just getting wrecked by worship. My brother is Derek Johnson, he's one of the worship leaders here in Jesus Culture.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Derek Johnson, aka the human Kendall.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Derek is literally he's the best. He's he's awesome. Yeah, he legitimately is. I loved him. He was he was out of here. He was around with Jesus Culture at the time. And um, I would also sit around and listen to Chase podcasts. You know, I'd be on the assembly line. I'd be listening to the podcast uh with Zach, Becky, and uh Banning, and I would just be daydreaming of like, man, I bet you they're in a studio and there's a glass that they're looking through, and there's a producer. Fast forward when I showed up, it was Chris Jones at a closet in a closet with Becky and Derek with like a light barely you can't even see it there. But yes, I was I was really attached to Jesus Culture. And um basically Becky was working for Jesus Culture at the time, and a position had came up where someone needed an assistant, and she had mentioned my name. And it just when she had mentioned my name and told me that, she's like, I don't know why I said that. I said, Well, I don't either. And then it, but it did kind of like hit me for a second, like it just put a seed of hope in me. And I told my wife that, she's like, Why couldn't you move to California? I'm like, Well, I've got 14 years at a job, you know, we got a home, you know, we've got a daughter that we're raising. It just honestly felt impossible. But she's like, you know what? She's like, I think if you stay here, you're probably never gonna thrive. Like, there's something better for you than, you know, going into a factory every day. And, you know, just uh at the time, I was really creative. I was playing guitar all the time and just really wanted to be in ministry, you know. So fast forward, we were like, okay, let's see what it looks like if we go out there. The job that I originally was gonna apply for, it wasn't what I thought it was, which happens to be uh Cody's assistant. My assistant was yours. So and it just once once it got put out there, though, of like, hey, it's possible to do something different. And there was also JC Sacramento was coming to Sacramento. So J Jesus Culture was up in Reading, and they were gonna plant a church in Sacramento, and they were gonna do that in 2014. And at the time that this was going on, I think it was 2012. So the goal was to sell my house, sell my mom's house, and all of us get out here before the first week of the church opening. Wow. And I think we miss it by a week. Wow. So I just basically said a big yes. I didn't know what I was gonna do when I came out here. I had military and factory experience, and I literally gave up a job that I can promise you that people in Chicago would love to have. I was on the line with tons of people who had degrees seniority. I had tons of seniority, I was in a union, I was guaranteed a retirement. Like there was a lot of reasons not to walk away.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

It feels like what you're describing is what you've moved from was you had a job, yeah, and then you had a whole bunch of purpose that you would do outside of your job.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

So you do your job and pay your bills, and then you would go do all the things that you actually got purpose in, absolutely calling in.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

And it feels like what you've done is you've shifted to where now I have a job that I get to uh pursue my purpose and my calling inside of. Yeah. And I think what's so uh significant about that is most people in your circumstance would just be stuck.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

They would go, I I got like you said, I've been here 15 years. I have seniority, I've I've got this and this and this and this and that like you're you're 15 years, bro. Like you're you've outdone your generation for the average length of a job.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

You know, like I mean, that's that's a really long uh window. Did you ever correlate the purpose piece with your job?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

With Ford? Is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Yeah, or the fact that your job with Jesus culture wasn't just a job, it was there was more of a purpose behind it. The per what the purpose of your job with Ford was to pay the bills.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Yes. So can I I I'll here's a great example. I uh I remember some my older brother also who just retired from Ford, he Just hit his 30 years. So I mean, wow. It's my family in it to win it. I got a sister-in-law there. It's got about 25, 26 years now. Um, if I would have stayed there, I would have 26 years. So I remember pulling up because I'd carpool with my brother. So we both lived an hour and 20 minutes away. So we would carpool every morning. And we pulled up into the parking lot. And I remember just being like so exhausted. And I remember saying, Man, I can't wait for the weekend. I'm just like tired. Or no, it was my brother. I'm sorry. My brother said, Man, I can't wait for the weekend. Something was going to happen. I'm like, yeah, me too. Like, I'm exhausted. And I had this moment where I looked at him and said, dude, I am so sick of living for the weekends. Like my Monday through Friday is literally just me trying to like clock in, make money to live, to pay the bills, to basically, you know, to live the life that I'm living. And I only got to live and do the things that I love doing on Friday and Saturday if I was lucky. And I told him, I'm like, I don't think I'm gonna, I'm not gonna be able to do this forever. And he's like, Well, what are you gonna do, man? Like, almost like, well, this is crazy talk, you know, because you just didn't think that way. You didn't when you've been at a place for 12, 13 years, it's, you know, and it's paying good and all that. It's just hard to see on the other side of that. Yeah. But I had a moment where I'm like, man, I'm giving up five days a week to live two. I've got to figure out a way where I'm living at least five days a week and maybe, you know, burning up a couple, you know, through the week. So that literally like was around the same time that Becky had kind of planted that seed of like, hey, maybe there's something out here for you. So you felt you felt stuck. I felt stuck for sure. I felt stuck in a way of like, I don't know if I felt stuck. I can tell you when you park in the parking lot at Ford, there's a railroad that would go in between the parking lot and the building, and you'd have to walk through this long tube. And I can tell you, I have walked through that tube. There's no telling how many hundreds and hundreds of times. And the thought of doing something different didn't really even occur to me until I was about 13 years in, and Becky had mentioned it. Never even occurred to me until Becky had mentioned it. Wow. It was that big of a seed. It wasn't even wasn't even thought of. My goal was was 30. There's that's all there is to it. I wasn't going nowhere. I was content, as in it's paying the bills. This is all the life I know. So here I was.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Do you see the correlation though? Have you ever thought about this? The correlation between when you when you're when you're like, I don't want to just look for the weekend. Yeah. And then Becky comes in.

SPEAKER_02 24:40

Yeah. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

It's almost like there's like a a uh tilling of the soil. Yes, you know, in in in preparation for something that was coming.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Yes. So when I when I showed up at Jesus Culture, when we finally moved here, I linked up with Chris Jones and literally just I was his shadow. I was coming, you know, to the office four or five four or five times a week. I showed up, I didn't even know how to turn a camera on. I would just, he would pour everything into me. I would soak it up, and I interned under him probably for like six months. I mean, just working for free, doing everything I can. I had a little bit of money saved up before we moved out of here, not much. Wow. Um, and then I was literally applying for a security job at Jesus Culture Offices, and I was like, you know, kind of filling out the paperwork. And I had talked to Becky for a second. And she's like, What are you doing? I'm like, Well, I'm actually putting in for a security job. I'm hoping to, you know, run security over here at the mall because I know they'd hired me because I was ex-military. And she's like, Hold on a second. And she was gone. And then she came back and she's like, How would you like to start off at 20 hours with tease culture? You know, a week. I'm like, I would love that because I'm also running out of money and I needed something going. But I ultimately, yeah, I kept telling everybody before I came out here, I would have been so happy to do absolutely anything in this ministry. I didn't care. I would be happy to be a janitor, uh, a uh whatever. It did not matter. Not that janitor's a bad job, but like I'm I was willing. I didn't care. I didn't have an agenda. I didn't want to come out here to be, you know, the youth leader or the main pastor. I just wanted to be a part of it. And however that looked, that was amazing. But the fact that I came out here and immediately got into video, which I was really big into. I was playing guitar three or four times a week with the church, you know, with my brother and my nephews. We had a worship band and we were playing every single weekend all around the Chicago region. We were opening up for all the bands that would come through Chicago and stuff. And that's kind of what I was known for back home was a guitar player. So to come here and then Emily Guinness is something that was creative. Turns out I actually like video production way better than I did even music production. Really? I love worship, changed my life. But like as far as like what I'd rather be a part of creatively, I've I found my lane. I mean, I literally, this is now a job I would literally do for free and often do. Like there's tons of things that I help out on the side. I don't even like money's not, I don't even care. Like I'm in it because I love doing it. And it's like here I get to, you know, I was talking about living for the weekend. Well, I'm literally in a place now where it's like five days a week while I'm at work, I like five days of the week, you know, while I'm at work. And then now I'm in Northern California, I'm really big into like enduro type stuff, like long distance backpacking, running, cardio, and everything around here is just like built for me. I mean, if I was given a chance to live anywhere in the world, I would still choose exactly where I'm at. That's probably in the exact same house in the exact same neighborhood. That's so ideal. So I love it. I I honestly feel like I'm uh man, what a difference my life is now.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

Was uh purpose for you something that you found or something that you built through just faithfulness and stewardship?

SPEAKER_00 28:10

Yeah, I think it was always in me, which is like you said, I was like, even on my free time, like I was doing Ford, but like I was spending every awakening moment I could, you know, at that church with our my band. We were somewhere, some in some church, either at mine or you know, all the ones around our reason. So like I couldn't get enough of that. And for me, I for sure thrive with a more I mean, we all on purpose. I'm not saying that, but like for me, I I would rather take way less money in life and be doing something that I love doing and it be making a difference in the world than I would be to make a ton of money with no difference, no change, and basically the world stays the same, you know, with me. So I I've always kind of been that way. And what's amazing is I don't I don't feel like I had to choose that here. Like I feel like, like I said, man, I love everything I get to do here. I love my home, everything.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

That's amazing, man. I I love your your just your heart of gratitude and contentment. I think I think that's not an exciting thing for people to talk about. Yeah. But I I believe personally, like that's uh finding uh a purpose uh and a way to use the giftings on your life in a way that leads to a just a life of contentment, yeah, and fulfillment, yeah, and happiness and gratitude is maybe one of the most underrated things that you can do. And most people are chasing we're chasing so many things, we're chasing the success or the title or the role or the money. So for you to just be in a spot where you're like I'd take less money to do what I'm doing because I love what I'm doing. Yeah, that that would be my version of success. Yeah. You're living my version of success. Yeah. I want to be you. Yeah, I want to be you. I I think there's so many people that can relate and say I I I said stuck, you wouldn't necessarily say stuck within the Ford rule, but I think there's a lot of people that maybe feel so deeply established in what they're doing that change and transition is not an option.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

What would you say to people in getting getting taking that leap? Yeah. And getting from getting from that place of of I I'm gonna just say stuck, even though that's I because I feel like that's probably what what what it is at the end of the day is you're like, oh, I I I feel stuck. Why do you feel stuck? I feel stuck because um I have so much time here, so much seniority, so much pay, so much, so much pension, so much all of those things. That was the way the system was designed. The system was designed to get you a good job, that you work for your 40 plus years, yeah, so that you can then finally retire and then finally start living your life. Yeah. That was the way the system was built.

SPEAKER_02 31:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

And so I think there's a lot of people that can feel stuck because they're feeling like, well, I have to hold on to this because if I let this go, it's like I'm starting over. Yeah. How did you not let that sit in the way of you making this big transition that you're in?

SPEAKER_00 31:29

I mean, uh a huge part of it was just, you know, lots of prayer and just knowing that the Lord was on our move. Like, um, you know, I wanted to make sure that my, you know, even my wife was on board. But I tell people all the time, because people know my story and they ask me, like, man, like, you know, if you were kind of established on that, like, what would make you want to walk away from all that? I'm like, honestly, it felt kind of crazy at the time. It felt really crazy, if I'm being honest. I I know people at four had to be thinking, I can't believe this dude's quitting. They go out to California. You know, everyone does that, right? They go out to California to try to create this different life. I'm sure that's what they were thinking was happening with me. But it's like just giving my yes and like knowing like coming here with basically nothing, with not a whole lot of plans, didn't have any guarantees. I had there was no guarantee to work at Jesus culture, you know, even though I had family with like none of that was I didn't get in here because of my relationships. It was I got in here because I I came every day, you know, and I showed up and I put in the work and I uh basically I listened to the Lord, you know, like, but I tell people all the time, like that big yes shows me that he's gonna bless us no matter what we choose in life. If you're going after a passion, you're going after something that's in your heart, and you just feel like the Lord's on it. I personally feel like the Lord is gonna show you favor and bless you and help you along the way and make things happen that was not even on your radar, you didn't even know it was in you, you didn't even know there was an avenue. You know, I didn't video production was not an option for someone who was growing up in Northwest Indiana, you know. That's just you grew up around manufacturing, you grew up around carpenters and, you know, people who did that type of work. So, like, just coming here with nothing and seeing what the Lord literally kind of turned my yes into, even though I had nothing to offer. I had no experience, you know, uh, of what I'm doing right now. So it's like I would do it a hundred times over. I always tell people when they're leaving jobs, they're like, man, I don't know. I'm like, listen, my yes was the greatest thing that's ever happened to me in my life. I couldn't recommend it enough. You know, I mean, there's just more for you. If you're living five days a week just to get to the weekend, man, I challenge you to kind of rethink, you know, what life looks like because I can tell you what it looked like for most of the people that I grew up around. You worked really hard for 30 years and then you retired. And then if you have health by that time, you know, you're very blessed and very fortunate. A lot of people that I was around didn't. As soon as they retired, they, you know, I'll take my father, for example. He worked 35 years. A year after he retired, he had 13 strokes. And it's like, you know, you can spend your whole life like, you know, thinking about the end in mind, the retirement, and all that stuff. But it's like, what does the Lord want for you? Is there, are you gonna thrive right now or are you gonna thrive in 30 years? You know, like for me, I'm always I'm gonna choose, I'm gonna thrive right now. He's gonna bless me no matter what. I trust in him. I know he's got me covered. I don't have to worry about finances. I don't have to worry about what's gonna happen because I'm gonna be obedient with what's in front of me and I'm just gonna go for it.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

Motion motion creates clarity.

SPEAKER_02 34:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:59

And it feels like oftentimes getting past that first step of motion, yeah, putting something in motion. Okay, I'm gonna move towards this, I'm gonna go towards this. You know, it's that analogy like how do you steer a car that's not moving? And I think so many people are sitting on the sidelines of their life.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Or the the the the the the the side of the freeway, high the life of high the highway of life, they're sitting on the side of the highway.

SPEAKER_02 35:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

They're going, God, I want to be used. God, I want to go somewhere. God, I want to do something. Yeah, God, where are you?

SPEAKER_02 35:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

And when you start to understand, like how does he steer a car that's not moving?

SPEAKER_02 35:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

Yeah. He doesn't. You have to put motion into play. And I think that's part of his design is I will meet you there. Yeah. I will meet you there. I love your story, Brandon, because it's really a story of stewardship and faithfulness. Yeah. And uh perspective that I'm prioritizing the right things. Nobody at the end of their life says, Man, I wish I would have made more money.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

Nobody says, I I wish I would nobody says that. Um you know, my my heart for uh everybody within talents is that uh we get to the end of our life, we live our life in a way that when we get to the end of our life, we hear those words well done, good and faithful servant. And uh you're dude, you're a model of what it means to live that life. So appreciate it. Dude, thank you so much for sharing your story. Yeah, it was awesome. And uh, I'm impressed. We never did let people know. Um, you you said I was supposed to be Cody's assistant, and then we just left it at that. But uh uh can you tell everybody what happened? Yeah, like what I said.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Yeah, I'll tell you exactly what happened.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

I need I feel like I need to be redeemed. Like I was the guy who rejected you. I don't want to be a part of your rejection story, okay? I'm not part of your rejection story.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

I'm thankful, no offense to you, because I love where I ended up at, which was video production, you know. Um yeah, so me and you had a Zoom call, and I remember meeting you, and I remember thinking you look like a young Jason Bateman. Um you were amazing, you were super nice. Um, I remember thinking, man, actually, I I had seen you before also on the Jesus Culture streams because you would do announcements with seeing her or whatever. Yeah. Anyhow, we talked it over, and at the end of it, you're like, Well, that's awesome, man. He's like, to be honest with you, like, I'm looking for an assistant, and um, I feel like this is probably pretty beneath you. I think there's a lot more for you, and we're also kind of the same age. So it would probably feel better, you know. Like you once you get out here. Here's the other thing, too. If I would have taken that, I had two months to get out here.

SPEAKER_03 37:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

It took me two years to sell my house. Yeah. The Lord was not on that. So it was like there was it, I don't remember exactly how it I do know that I remember it didn't feel like it didn't feel like the Lord was saying no. It didn't feel like the Lord was saying, okay, you don't need to go to California. It felt like the Lord was telling me to slow down. You know, I'm saying, rather than just like, oh, there's an opening, let me see if I can, you know, get in there. It's like, hey, that's great. There's an opening for you. It's just not this one. You know, that's honestly how we took it. Like me and my wife. Like, and she was my wife. So that's the other thing for her. It's like she had just graduated school and was an occupational therapist, and she had just started working, also, and she was feeling established. So moving out here was not an easy choice for her. So when, you know, I had that interview and it like, hey, this wasn't a good fit. There was a moment of her where she's like, well, maybe the Lord's telling us that we shouldn't go out there. I'm like, maybe, let's keep praying. And then eventually we came back around and she's like, you know, as much as it would be easier for me to stay here, and she's with her around her family, it'd just be easier for her to not never have to leave. She's like, You're just not gonna thrive here. She's like, I think we need to go for it. So it's like, well, it's like, here we go.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

I'm telling you, man, motion creates clarity, even slow motion.

SPEAKER_02 39:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

Just that thing. Man, I have so much respect for you. Um, and just for the record, I I did, I did think you were way overqualified for the job. Yeah, but I I truthfully saw more on your life. Yeah. But I could see the transition that you were in and the tension that you were you were moving in. And I I didn't want to be in the way of that. Yeah. It was like, oh, no, there's there's like potential oozing out of you, and it was just undiscovered potential for the actual like vehicle of of work, you know, the body.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

If I'd have left in two months, it could have very well it could have been really hard on my family. Yeah, it wouldn't ended the same way, probably.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

So man. Well, dude, thanks for sitting down with us. Jerome's story, all your little nuggets of wit of wisdom. Yeah, got so much wisdom in there. There you go. All right, bro. I love you, man. Thank you so much for being here with me. You're awesome. You're the man.