The Foundation Under 35 Years of Creative Work — Noah Elias

Noah Elias has spent 35 years building the kind of creative career most people think isn't possible. He's painted for Disney, Lucasfilm, and Lexus. He was voted one of the top 25 artists in the world. He's built companies, written books, and coached entrepreneurs for decades.

But this conversation isn't really about the résumé. It's about what's underneath it.

We talk about the question most successful people can't answer, why he was his own worst bully for years, and what changed when he stopped performing for God and started trusting him. He breaks down the difference between a coach and a mentor, the three phases of life he takes every client through (consumer, producer, investor), and why he blocks 5 to 10 every morning as the most important work he does.

We also get into money. Why you can't live a radical life of generosity while you're broke, what a gospel patron is, and how he thinks about turning everything he's been given into something that multiplies.

If you've ever felt like your work is who you are, this one's going to poke at that.

In this episode:

• The desert question: who are you without the title
• Fear and shame, and why he wrote Fear Hunters
• Coaching is for a season, mentors are for life
• Performing for God vs. trusting him
• The 5 to 10 a.m. root system
• Consumer, producer, investor
• Gospel patrons and generosity
• AI, trust, and why depth wins from here

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Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Who are you and what do you have to offer? And people can't give an answer. They're like. So what do you do for a living? I establish roots. How do you do that? 5 to 10 a.m. What do you do? I meet with the director.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

You were voted top 25 artists in the world by Art Business News Magazine. Your creations have grown to partnerships with the Walt Disney Company as well as Lucasfilm.

SPEAKER_05 0:26

Show me how professional you can get at trusting God. Yeah. And how many performances out of the window? Okay, so what is my focus then? Literally, this is why people stay distracted in Doom Scroll. They don't want to face.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

That's right. Noah Elias. Noah, you are extremely you're one of the most diverse creatives that I think I've ever met. And uh I did this in an episode with Joshua Silverberg where I actually read his bio because it was so good.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

And I was reading your bio and I was like, I gotta read your bio. Yeah. So uh I'm gonna make Noah sit here and listen to me talk about how amazing he is, and then we'll but it'll give you guys context to the conversation because I think it's important you understand the depth and the experience and really the seasoning that is on your life. So uh, Noah, you are the founder and CEO of Great Flood Publishing, Noah Studios. You were voted top 25 artists in the world by Art Business News Magazine, and you're the creator of The Kid in Me, which tells the adventure of the kid in each of us through the eyes of a child as a father of five. I love hearing that.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Uh your previous projects include Lexus, Toyota, MTV, Microsoft. Uh, you were recently voted by Microsoft as one of the 10 most influential companies under 10 employees, which I would be proud of that personally. Like, not like under 10. I I think that's actually that's pretty profound. Uh, you're the founder of NOAA University, which helps equip and empower entrepreneurs into a successful business and lifestyle. Uh, you're the author of the best-selling book, Speed Bumps, and the life's trans life transforming book, Fear Hunters, which helps people remove fear and shame from their life so they may live in their true identity and calling. Uh, your creations have grown to partnerships with the Walt Disney Company, which we absolutely need to hit on. Okay. Costco, as well as Lucasfilm. Ooh, Lucasfilm. Definitely some things we could talk about there as well. So, dude, thank you so much for sitting down and being here with me and having this conversation. Transparently, you and I have been trying to get together for a long time. Um, and uh we we have a lot of our circle's the same circle. Oh, yeah, but we just keep we we haven't come together like I want to. I need to come down and see you. Totally. Um you have uh a unique ability in that you are a creative and you're a business person, a business mind, if you will. And I want to get into your journey, I want to get into some of your frameworks and the way that you think, the way that you've built what you've built, the way that you've established what you've established, the values behind that and under underneath that on the on the foundation of what you built. But I want to start with one question that I think a lot of creatives ask, and um and or it at a minimum that I'm curious about. Um when it comes to being a creative and a business person or business minded, which which comes first for you?

SPEAKER_05 3:55

Well, I'm trying to think what happened for me first. For me, especially on a creative standpoint, I think you know you could be a single mom and you're still a creative. It's like you got to get creative every day to make this thing happen. Like I think we're all creatives to some degree each and every day. For me as a kid, it started with passion of proving. And I believe we all start with that first. It's that spark. And then we realize, oh my gosh, like I have such a passion for this that all I want to do is this thing. Now, if I can monetize this thing where it can actually pay me, so that I can get paid to do what it is I actually actually love. I don't care if you're making pies or laying tile floor. If it's truly what you love doing and your heart comes alive doing it, then you're like, wow, and I can make money from that. Most creatives, whether you call it in the arts, and I would really want to know where that line stops. Like, that's why I think everybody's creative. If you just kind of lump everybody into one creative bucket and just say, um, you want to make money from it, I wanted to be able to prove for myself that creativity and commerce can coexist, like one in the same. Because everybody would say, you know, artists, people that are doing things creatively can't make a living at what they're doing, or they're always going to be starving. And so I for me personally, I wanted to debunk that.

unknown 5:14

Gosh.

SPEAKER_05 5:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Do you I think a lot well, I think what's unique about you though, within this context, is a lot of creatives can feel stuck because they don't have a business mind.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

And you have straddled this career, really, that you've established over a long time. Is it okay if we tell people how old you are? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

55.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

55. Guys, this is what I want to look like when I'm 55.

SPEAKER_05 5:46

Thanks. Yeah, I put a lot of work into it, dude. Like you have no idea. You have no idea. That's like a big part of the video. Noah, you look at me. Pretty close. Thanks, dude. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

You really, really, you really do. But I think at 55, I'm I'll be 45 next week. So nice. Um I would say at this stage in my life, you start to look back at the experience and the season of your life. Yeah. And really not out of a place of pride, but out of a place of serving people, you really want to start to to turn around and help people in in a greater way with the experience and the the life lessons that you've had and things like that. But when it comes to being a creative, um, I absolutely want you to tell me some of these stories about like what you've done with Disney and stuff like that. But but how did you develop as as a creative and a business person? And is that one reason that you've been so successful? Or what are the frameworks within that that has allowed you to be successful? Because, like I said, I just think there's so many creatives out there who are extremely, extremely gifted, but they don't have the business mind to take them where they maybe need to go. And I would just say, like, what would you say to those people? And and maybe you could unpack some of the lessons that you've learned over life over time.

SPEAKER_05 7:04

Without a doubt. And I'm thinking of I'm gonna act, you know, as a viewer that's watching this, I'm gonna act as if I am talking to, and everything I've created in my life is me talking to the 20-year-old version of myself. Okay, so I first start there. So just know that if you're watching this or listening to this, that that is kind of the framework. And so you kind of put yourself, maybe you're even 60 listening to this. I'm 55, but let's just go back. Because if you can rewind the tape, you can go, man, what is my and now if you're young listening to this, you could be going, what is my future self thanking me for that I did when I was 20?

unknown 7:38

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 7:38

So I'll share a little bit of the framework there. When I was 20, I actually did, um, I actually did write a letter to my future self at 50. And who is he? What does he look like? How does he act? How does he what does he weigh? Who's where is he? Is he standing on his front lawn? What does the house look like? What does he have? Like so without vision, you know, the Bible says is that without vision, uh a people perish. Your life will perish without vision, your family will perish without vision. Um, and what I'm teaching you now is a small nugget of what I do with my clients and the coaching that I do. But when you look back on life at 20 and you're looking ahead at what life could look like, you're kind of looking at this code to crack and you're kind of going, man, how do I solve this riddle? Is it possible? And so you're you're either going to go through life guessing or you're going to find frameworks and or proven methods that did it. And the only way that you're going to do that is if you find people that did it. Now, you could try to teach yourself in a book, watch a course, watch a biography, and you can learn a lot from biographies. You can look in God's Word, which is a masterclass of what not to do and what to do, right? For me, I went, man, I have my faith, but I need to surround myself with people that have the results that I want. So I started getting in rooms and I started hunting people down. Can I take you to lunch? Can I take you to lunch? Can I pick your brain? Can I pick your brain? Now, you starting off in life, are gonna have to look at, I'm gonna have a spiritual coach. He might have the results that I want. I gotta need a mentor in there. Excuse me. I'm gonna have a physical coach. Guy helped me get my body where I want it to be. I'm 55 and just waiting at my high school weight. Come on. That doesn't happen like winging it. Sure. Like you get a you got to get dialed in a protocol that way. Then you got to go into finances. Okay. I need I need help with stewardship, but I also need a world-class team. And then I got to find somebody on the creative level in my craft. So you have your craft and you have the business side of it. I think too many people focus on going to college to learn a craft. I'm like, great, you learn how to draw, but it doesn't teach you how to do life.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 9:44

So I would say first and foremost, the first part of the framework is who are you following that have the results, not just in your craft, not just in your finances, not just in your parenting? Who has the whole package of the life that you want? I was in church looking around, going, some of these people have some of the nuggets I want. But I had to start surrounding myself with people that had the whole package together, and they were harder to find, but I had to keep searching and looking for them. And eventually they started coming into my life. And I because you just start to start to hunt them down because you want to extract out of them the gold of how they got what they got. And you also hopefully can get that through a biblical worldview, not just a secular guy that's crushing it. I want to be around a person that has every outcome that I want-a rad marriage, tons of money, giving a ton to the kingdom, living and lit and leaning into risk. He's far from done. He's got a ton of shelf life. He's got he's getting new friends every year. His influence is expanding. I'm like, I knew I wanted that at 20. Wow. Yeah. And I was living in a warehouse at the time. It was a gnarly 22-year season of coming off of a divorce, hamster wheel of success. It was dark, but I knew what I wanted. I just had to get out of the hole.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 11:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Did those mentors change as you aged? Mm-hmm. Yeah. From one season to another.

SPEAKER_05 11:11

Yeah, like my mentors. I have one that's 35 years strong. I've got another one that's 35 years strong. I've got another one that's like 20 years strong. Those are my top three. And so I draft off of these guys. Good mentors. You know, coaching is for a season, mentors are for life. And so a lot of the clients that I work with go from being I'm coaching them to now I'm mentoring them.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Wow. Wow. Yeah, I one of the things I always say is you need a counselor for your past and a coach for your future. Right. Right. And I think in in some ways the coaching space has been um maybe watered down by people that are more enamored with the idea of the title than the actual life experience. Totally. And um has that been uh has that been something you've had to navigate?

SPEAKER_05 11:58

Yeah. Well, and I had to look at it as uh I'm a huge firm believer that if you want um if you're gonna hang out with me, this is not therapy and I'm not your friend. Um I'm gonna help you become who God's called you to be, not help you do more in life. And most coaches are will are gonna either help you untie a knot and then help you get free. Like, let's say, for example, um you get liberated. Like liberated from what? And then typically you're liberated from to go liberated to something. Yeah. Right? So you got to start thinking like, what are you actually doing as a coach? The transformation that I want to be able to provide is the metabolization of the truth. Wow. So it's one thing to know of God, it's another thing to know him personally, it's another thing to metabolize the truth to where I'm actually seeing the physical outcomes in your life. Like, dude, I can see it in your parenting. Your body looks different, your finance, your bank account, your time, your calendar, like you just you're winning, right? And so for me, I'm not looking to help solve an in just an immediate problem. I'm helping you to look at life as a whole. My dream is to look at anybody that I've worked with over the course of the time that we've been together. Like, how can I help you stand before the judgment seat of Christ going, I didn't miss the mark of who God called me to be. And um I'm standing. I'm standing there with a sense and an understanding that not only did I not miss the mark, but I didn't climb the ladder of success of just my own personal preservation. Uh, there's three phases that my mentor and I have unpacked was consumer uh uh producer to consumer to investor.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Producer, consumer, investor.

SPEAKER_05 13:47

Right. Okay. Those three phases of your life. Everybody, not everybody will get to the third, but my job is to help young people as soon as possible realize that they're an investor right now. It has very little to do with money. So my whole thing is transformation, but transformation of what? Liberation from what and to what? And I believe if you really look at what Jesus' business was, he really looked at people and cared less about where they'd been and what they're doing now, and more about the opportunities of what is to come. Because otherwise, why would anybody want to rearrange their life for what? Liberated from this sin management to what? Great, you got me freed up, rad, but I have no idea what the purpose more of my life is. Where am I going? So that work right there, that transformation of maximizing every square inch of your life to becoming a performing asset for the kingdom. But I do I just want to frame this so that everybody understands like the context of anything we talk about. I made the mistake of 15 years doing, not from grace. I wasn't doing it for grace, I was doing it because I want to keep God pleased. I wanted him happy. Have you ever heard the book The Cure? Mm-hmm. Yeah. So pleasing God, trusting God. Yeah. You please him by trusting him. Yeah. Where I got it wrong was you take a type A achiever, go getter, let's make it, let's build it, let's do it, let's run through walls, let's get things done, willing to fail. Like that was like a drug. And so when I say to the achievers that I work with now, put all your doing aside. If you never do a thing again, you're beloved, you are adored, you are in grace, and you can just now you want to go do because of the grace. You see the difference? Yeah. So I don't mind you achieving. Let's just make sure you're achieving is from the right posture. And the way that you do that is by metabolizing the truth and then saying, because I know him, I'm so stoked for what dad's done for me. I just want to make my dad's name great. That's a great, that's a great reason to get out of bed every morning. But if you're doing it, just man, I just want to be right with dad. I just want to be make dad happy.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Don't want him to be mad at me.

SPEAKER_05 16:00

Oh, that's it, dude. Trust me. And I fell into that. So long answer, but that's essentially the foundation.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Let me get let's get granular on that for a second, because I think nobody would disagree with what you're saying. I think where a lot of people are unclear is how to walk that out on a day-to-day basis. Yep. And um what what what would you break this down for me? Let's get a little bit more granular. Is that okay?

SPEAKER_05 16:27

Yeah, fully. Yeah. If um it's really interesting. If I if I go to you and I just say, Cody, you're not gonna do I'm not gonna allow you to to find your identity and what it is you do for a living. If I dropped you out in the middle of the desert naked with nothing to define who you are, no car, no clothes, no position, no title, you can't give me a scorecard of everything that you're doing. Who are you and what do you have to offer? And people can't give an answer. They're like, I haven't they haven't they can't even get that quiet. They have, I mean, typically they have to go to Bali or a mountaintop experience to get it. Without a doubt. Yeah. It's literally this is why people stay distracted and doom scroll. They don't want to face they they can't just look in the mirror, they can't keep looking in the mirror. Self-examination, the revealing of the heart, yeah, is the most unnerving thing ever. But nobody likes the way that they look. You know, it's like good grief, take your shirt off and stand in front of the mirror naked and go like how do you feel towards that dude or that that girl? And you're like, you're probably bullying him or her all day long. You're like, I called it, I was nobody the enemy didn't need to like beat me up. I was kicking my own ass every day. Like I was my worst bully in my self-talk, and my I was just shaming and bullying myself into who I wasn't, how come I haven't? You know, that's why I wrote Fear Hunters, that fear and shame that stand between you and who God's called you to be. That pragmatic daily, how do I go through the day then? If I if I remove my doing, now my performance is out of the window, okay. So what is my focus then? Show me how professional you can get at trusting God.

unknown 18:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 18:14

So then you gotta go. If your full-time job is trusting God, and it can't be defined in what you do, well then you gotta ask yourself, how good are you at that? But then what's really amazing is, as Brendan Manning talks about it, you can become a pharasidic, self-righteous perfectionist on trusting God. Now I'll make it that a metric. And so what I realized was I just built all these spinning plates of false idols and had to repent daily of that. So if you want to say, what do you what's your daily? The death of self. I need to crucify. I mean, now when you read Paul, this makes real sense. And then you start going, dude, I I made that into performance. I turned everything into performance because then I'm keeping a scorecard and I'll never forget what John Lynch said in that book. He just says, when you're running that kind of lifestyle all day long, forget sand management. You're just trying to empty yourself. And you're like, look at how much I've repented, look how much I've done this, look how much, and you still have your hand on the faucet of how much God loves you. You're the one determining how much. Wow. So then I'm like, well, then I can't do that even. Now I gotta move that over here. Am I cool with just being being a loved, beloved, cherished, adored. You know, if when you're as small, youngest if little Noah can't crawled up in my lap and I'm smelling the top of his head and kissing on him and chewing on his ear and just like loving him, adoring him. Well, he might go, Dad, I want to go do this, and I built this and I cleaned the house for you. And I'm like, that's us. We're like dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad. And we treat God like that, transactional. And and he's basically saying, Noah, just like little Noah, he's just being like that tree is being a tree.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:13

Right? And when my son can sit in my lap and just know that he's loved, regardless of what he does, that is completely the opposite of what our logical mind in this day and age says. Yeah. I mean, everything you look at says do more, yeah, become this, become that. Yeah. And so it's no wonder we don't truly get to know dad. And and I love this sequence. Listen to this. There's two phases before even what most people teach is be faithful, prove your trustworthiness, God will give you more and entrust you with more, and you will continually ramp up and be more blessed, eternal rewards and favor. Okay. Oh wow, that's conditional. But I I then did some self-examination, and if I really rewound the tape, here's what it is, dude. Why would I ever be faithful to somebody that I don't trust? Well, then how do I get to trust somebody? I'm only gonna trust somebody that I know. And if I'm not spending time with I'm never gonna know this person. So then I go back to square zero.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:28

That basically says, I've leapfrogged belief, one that he exists, two, that I spend time with him and get to know him, three, to put my full trust into him, to then be faithful. Holy smokes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:44

I and this isn't just my own commentary. When I look at Abraham, I think everybody's missing the point. They see Isaac being laid on the altar. That's not really the issue. Rewind the tape back. It was really that Abraham believed. So that he could then trust.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 22:02

And he only does that because he knew him.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:04

I'm not going to give you my son on an altar unless I really know you and I trust you. And I, dude, I believe you'll raise me. You're going to raise my son from the dead. That's how much I know you.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:15

Yeah. And I'm not going to get to know you five minutes a day. Right. I'm not going to get to know you like scrolling my Bible out for five minutes. Like, you got to spend some serious time doing right-alongs, not because I'm supposed to read my Bible. And like, dude, when you get out of doing, and when you've dismantled self, when you've dismantled your false self, the poser, the imposter, and you dismantle identity in business, when you I dismantle identity in achievement, and you get down to the brass tacks of I trust you with my life. And I trust you so much with my life that I will move heaven and hell on my calendar to make you my number one client and getting to know my dad. And I'm going to make my life adapt around that relationship. Because without that foundation, my house is literally on sand. Yeah. I don't care how great I'm being a dad and performing and all of that. The best thing I can do for my kids and my protocol personally from 5 to 10 a.m. is establishing deep roots and teaching my clients to establish deep roots. That that is your actual job. And then what you do 10 to 2 is what you do for a dollar. So I flip the script.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 23:29

From here on out, pragmatic, today, I'm going to teach you how to professionally trust God. And that means your your true work, your focus, deepest work is establishing deep roots of your integrity. 5 to 10 a.m. Wow. That's the greatest gift you'll give your kids, and the greatest gift you'll give your employees. You'll work less, you'll make more. You'll be who God's called you to be.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

So your 5 to 10 is reserved.

SPEAKER_05 23:57

It's a non-negotiable.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:59

That is my job. So what do you do for a living? I establish roots. How do you do that? 5 to 10 a.m. What do you do? I meet with the director. Right? Wow. And I don't want to consume, I don't want to produce, I want to invest.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Wow. What does that mean to you? Invest.

SPEAKER_05 24:24

Invest means that I'm working so much less and I have so much more time and I'm able to take the resources because we're working smarter and more strategic. That we're now working in collaborations, that we can now invest in the kingdom with our calendar and with our money and with the talent and what we've got. The smartest thing that I can tell anybody listening right now, we all have the same purpose. And here it is. Yes, it's love God. Yes, it's to love people. Yes, it's to make disciples. But the if I were to just summarize that, it is your number one primary purpose in life, without question, going back to my 20-year-old self, your number one role in life is to develop people. It's not develop real estate, it's not to develop churches, not to develop stuff. The number one asset that will convert for the longest, biggest outcomes will be people. And so then I go, now I want to crush it in real estate. Why? Because I want to buy as much time with people. It's Schindler's list. I'll melt my ring if it means I get more people.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 25:26

So that's when I say like leverage every square inch of your life as a performing asset for the kingdom. What if you actually just this is what I do with my clients, I whiteboard every single thing they have, what they believe to be an asset. And then I go, let's convert that and that. We're converting monopoly money into kingdom stock. And then when we can convert that into how they help develop people, you start to realize if you were to leave today, you get royalty checks. Paul's still getting royalty checks. Why? Because he installed it in people in his downline. So I'm gonna know how rich you are by how many people are on your contact list, how engaged they are with you, where your time goes and where your money goes. That's gonna reveal to me how rich you are.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

Everything.

SPEAKER_05 26:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Yeah. Yeah. That also it tugs on your heart in a way that most things don't. We can talk about anything you want, and you're like, man, I love Cody's heart. I love, but when you start when you start tugging in this conversation of money, oh yeah, generosity, yeah, uh, it it it reveals where someone's at.

SPEAKER_05 26:29

Oh yeah, holes in the boat, myself included though, be it, but but it's the true standing on the scale, and it's the tail of the tape. Because like if you can't sit here and defend yourself, and I I take that off the table, then there's only gonna be, I'm gonna look at the dashboard of your life. So I do a vital science audit on people, and it will reveal where the deficits are. And that's like, great, now we know. It's just like in AA, you know, I came to believe that I was powerless over X, like finances, and my life had become unmanageable. Came to believe that a power greater than myself could restore me and sanity. And you start to realize, like, all right, let's get this dialed and then that dialed. But why are we getting it dialed? We're getting it dialed so that we can take what God has entrusted to us with our story, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and help develop people. Your story, Cody, is the greatest asset to help heal and to help rescue. And if my dad has put you and I on purpose here on this planet, every viewer, every listener to this pot is basically, and I'm actually you can't unsee or hear what we're talking about. Once you know what I'm about to tell you, come on, you're in trouble. Why has God have you listening to this right now? That like Superman, if you've been placed on purpose, you have a purpose on your life. Yeah. And and I love the way that destiny is defined by John. He says this destiny is three concentric circles overlapping into a Venn diagram. And it is one, your fulfillment, you coming alive. That's playing piano, beautiful. If that's running a business, a multi-billion dollar fund, beautiful. If that's digging ditches or planting gardens or mowing people, it doesn't matter. Your fulfillment and your heart coming alive. Maybe it's dancing. Um the second part is God glorified. I'd put that at the top. Man, you're fulfilled. Wow. God is glorified, but the third is this. This is the one that if you don't put this in, it's all in vain. If I'm just on this earth being fulfilled, and God is glorified through, there's one missing component, and that is the welfare of others.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

Interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:42

Now, if I just gave that as like a pin and put it on everybody and went, hit these three every single day, look at your 5 to 10 a.m. routine and ask, those three, are those three things hitting? And most would start off telling me, forget about the God glorified thing and forget about the welfare of others. I am far from being fulfilled. But if you really want to start finding your fulfillment right now, stop focusing on yourself getting preserved. Go serve others without question, and you're gonna find the spark in the fulfillment. Why? Because just like um extreme home makeover where they said move that bus, what happens when everybody moves the bus? Everybody starts getting uncorked.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:25

Fulfillment.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:27

God glorified our father's actual DNA is generosity. So the reason why you and I light up when we're just giving and why we're being generous with our time and our talent is because that is the nature of our father coming alive.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 29:43

So I'm gonna look for those spots. I'm like, if I get a guy that is tied in a mental knot and he's like emotionally constipated, I'm like, dude, let's just do an experiment in the next seven days. I want you to go serve the crud out of a guy that's on life support, meaning in business or mentorship. And he's his heart starts beating again. He's like, dude, I'll do this for free. And I'm like, hello.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Wow. So that's how destiny our our our focus is off of self.

SPEAKER_05 30:09

Without question. That's why Paul said, it's no longer I that live. I just want to bleed. I want to bleed out each and every day. Why? So the more I'm out of the picture, the more he can fill me up, and I can just take the spirit that he's entrusted to me, and that's the purpose for my life. And I would pray that everybody hears that because the moment you start doing that, you're going, man, have I made this way more difficult than it needs to be.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Yeah, that's so real. Uh, I want to sit on this just for a second because I'm so I'm so curious. When I listen to this kind of advice, my questions personally are always like, okay, get get deeper. And what I mean by that is so, okay, all right, I got it. Five to ten. Within that five to ten, are you working out? Yeah, you want to hear it? Are you are you coming, are you getting new ideas? Oh, yeah. Are you, you know what I mean? Like I want to know, like, because people hear that and they're like, okay, most people hear that and they go, okay, so I gotta go sit in a closet with my Bible open for five hours. Totally. And uh I want to know what that looks like for you.

SPEAKER_05 31:11

You well, first you act like you have 500 million in the bank. You wouldn't do what you're doing today if you had half a billion in the bank. You would be like, what's the purpose of my life? You start asking those questions. I'm like, great, go for a walk. My protocol in the morning, 5 a.m., go straight to the gym, train. Typically, you bring my son is most ideal. I want to set the pace for my son. I don't want to see him. I want to be the Jesus he wants to follow. He's not gonna get to know that guy unless he's with that guy.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 31:36

So that's a non-negotiable.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_05 31:38

Okay. Uh devotions during that time. Sometimes we listen to a sermon. He needs to get the truth into his bloodstream. So he's got to be exposed. Second of all, he needs to be around men. He needs to be he needs to be seeing physically in the real world examples of what men look like and how they act and how they walk and talk. And when we're at the gym, I'm praying with my buddies out on the patio. So before seven, Noah has not only done something extremely hard, overcome something really hard, taken care of his body, been around a community, been in prayer, outwardly focused, right?

SPEAKER_00 32:10

I was just gonna say that you're outwardly focused.

SPEAKER_05 32:12

Outwardly focused, right? And you did, and you just set your metabolism for the rest of the day. So now you're gonna crush it physically, and you're already in the spiritual, and your mental is in a good spot. Noah's on the spectrum. So this helps him with some of his son's name, no also no. He's big, but we call him a little bit. I know I was gonna say, I've seen him. He's giant. Um so we come home, and typically I'll go on a five-mile walk. And on that five-mile walk, I call that establishing roots. So that's deposits. Each and every day is a deposit on your future self. Ben Hardy says this, Dr. Ben Hardy says, you're either putting debt on your future self or deposits on your future self. And it and today, like the ADE version of me is all contingent upon what I've decided to do today. Okay. So did I create debt on them? Okay. So I go out on that five-mile walk, I'm listening to scripture on that because I process very ears. Yeah. And I process very well moving.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Yeah. Most people do, and they don't know that.

SPEAKER_05 33:12

Yeah. And so then all my clients aren't in text threads. I have some one-on-one clients, then I have my group clients. And so as I'm walking back, I hit the turnaround part, I'm walking back. And dude, I'm in nature. I'm getting actual morning sun on me, which helps with sleep, HRV. I'm tracking everything on my whoop for six years. I know exactly the spots to just be able to measure all of this on the physical because it affects my mental. So as I'm walking back, I'll start texting them, nurture for them. Because when you're when you're mentoring and coaching and discipling, which is essentially what it is, discipling, discipline.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:49

Right? You're outworking them. You have to set the pace for your wife and your kids and the people that you're leading.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:59

Are we practicing what it is we're saying, thinking, intending, we're gonna be? It's like everybody says, How much do you weigh? It's like, oh 140, step on the scale, 168. Dang, you know? So I get home from that walk, five miles in, it's not even nine. Noah, quality time, great snack, burned tons of calories, metabolism is up, clients are served really, really good. But here's the magic part that happens. Then I'll just be talking with the Lord, and I'll be like, hey dad, what's on your heart? What's on your radar? And then I'll be like, help me to see things as you see them, help me to see everyone and everything. Who needs prayer right now is coming to mind. And like, this isn't devotions. This is like, I imagine like closing my eyes in the spiritual realm and looking down the hall, and I can see the flicker of the fire of my father's study. And I can hear him like wrestling the newspaper. And I just go in, I sit like in the chair across from his desk. I'm like, hey dude, what's what's on the radar today? And like, he's got the world to deal with. And I just don't think very many of us are asking him what's on his heart and radar and help me to see what that is. Like, what's the headlines in your paper today, dad? Like, and I used to go in there going, Man, I hope I'm not you're not pissed at me and you're gonna freaking spank me.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:27

Now I'm it's not a call to the teacher's office or the principal's office. I think that's how most of us see God, and I did for a long time. Yeah. But then when I realized I get to, I can't believe I'm here. Second, I can't believe he's kept me here. I should go, like, I should be gone. So not only does he just give me this grace and I'm eradicated from sin, now he's like invited me into partnership with him. And I'm like, bro, this does not make sense. So I'm really alert and I'm hyper-aware and super sensitive to go into his office and be like, dude, I can't believe, one, I'm in your office, two, that we get to do this, and three, I'm actually liable for this responsibility and mantle. And so, and he just goes, Who did I put in front of you? You got 3,000 people in your contact list. You got this database, you got these businesses, you got multi-entity structures, you've got Disney, you've got publishing, you've got all these lives you touch, and now with AI, which is a whole nother animal I can go into, but each and every one of us is a media agency. We're bigger than any megachurch individually, and we have that reach and that touch, and dude, we will be held accountable for that. Potentially, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Yeah. You know, it's interesting because one of the things that I felt God challenging me to this last year, I did a what I call a think retreat. Yeah. And I called it a think retreat because most times people would say, Oh, I'm gonna go fast and pray for 24 hours or 48 hours. And I think that sounds really noble, but for me, I'm like, I I kind of just want to think too, you know. So I I call it a think retreat, and obviously there's praying and there's fasting going on there, but I felt like the Holy Spirit challenged me to live a life of surrender. And I'm like, well, God, of course. Like that's that's the journey that I'm on. But he's like, no, what does it mean to surrender to me daily? And if I'm being transparent, I think the struggle I've had with that is so I'm like, okay, what does it mean to surrender daily? All right, I'm gonna start my morning surrendered, thinking about surrender. The struggle for me, if I'm just being transparent, has been when I'm trying to live when I'm trying to come to him surrendered, I'm very me focused.

SPEAKER_05 38:04

Without question.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

And so it feels like this is about me. Like I'm coming to you, God, but this is actually about me.

SPEAKER_05 38:11

Again.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Trying to trying, yeah, trying to, and and I've uh and it it's really opened up a paradigm to what you're saying right now of your time, your five to ten isn't just about you. It's about it's actually more about others, I would say, for at least half that time, over half that time. And I would challenge, I'm challenging myself through what you're saying, that is what surrender looks like.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

You know, at the core of it. But I actually think that a lot of people sit around like me, we're like, I got I just surrendered, whatever you want to do today. But the whole time it's about me in that conversation. So I'm just challenged by what you're saying. Uh how often do you get um ideas uh in the morning?

SPEAKER_05 38:59

Yeah, so that's the last part of that. And so watch what happens. So one of the treks that I do is around Crystal Cove, and there's like, I don't know, three million people living above that cliff. And Crystal Cove is one of the most epic stretches of beach in California, and nobody's there. And you're walking by yourself in the morning, just like going, wait, what? I came around this corner and the Lord's like just boom on my heart. See all these grains of sand and it's billions of them, right? He goes, That's how many ideas I have for my kids, but nobody comes down here to get them. Those walks is establishing deep roots. You do not get a great cup of tea by trying to dunk that thing for one second. You have to steep. And like even us sitting here recording, and it's like killer and the air conditioning is on, and like you gotta get to the point where you can slow down time so much where you can hear the clock tick across the room. Stillness. Yeah. This is why Jesus went out and just saw time with dad in the morning and at in the evening. One day, one long prayer all day. But like proactive seeking you put okay, watch this. If you don't do this, he's either gonna put you in the desert or you can choose to go to the desert. And when I mean desert, I'm putting myself in a place for downloads to happen. I don't want to wait for circumstances to heat up. Yeah. But at this stage in life where things get so sophisticated and so much responsibility and so much weight and so much, it's gnarly, right? And I use the word surrender. So I started shifting that surrender into I'm more because surrender sometimes like I give up, a white flag, right? So I'm more looking at it, like when it comes to business and the stakes are high and I've lost touch on every little thing that I'm trying to control, conceding. Yeah. And so Morgan Snyder says, great, it's like I dedicate, I consecrate. And the less of me, like he needs me to own my stuff, he needs you to own it. It's like, and with authority, not self-righteous confidence, not self-righteous cockiness, but self-righteous, or or I should say, righteous confidence in who God's called me to be. Yep. You see the difference? And there's nothing more attractive than a person who goes, I know who God's called me to be, I need to own it, and it's not for everybody, but I'm gonna leave everything out on the field, I'm gonna be who God's called me to be. And I just somebody needs to hear this, and and it's a good reminder for both of us, but when we first come out of the tunnel on team God with that jersey, and you're like, I'm no longer in the stands, I'm no longer in the tailgate, and I want to go have an encounter with God, and you throw on that jersey and you run out of that tunnel and you run on on that field, and you're a brand new believer, and you're fired up, and you're playing offense, and then you're playing defense, and then you're playing special teams, and then you're playing every position, uh-huh. And the Lord blows the whistle and he gives you this one, and you're like, uh-oh. And he calls you over, and you're just and yours gas, and he's like puts his hand on your shoulder and just looks you right in the eye in a tender, loving care, and he's like, Cody, how you feeling? You're like, Dad, I just want you stoked, dude. I'm just so stoked to be playing for you in this game, and I'm like playing offense defense. And he's like, I didn't actually play offense defense. He's like, I want you to play. But this is where he got my attention. He goes, hey dude, I have a specific position for you. And you're gonna go from playing every play, you're gonna be playing less, but when you play the plays that I've designed for you in your assignment, you're gonna get Super Bowl rings, dude.

SPEAKER_00 42:58

It's potent, it's powerful.

SPEAKER_05 43:01

Depth, steeping, yeah, great ideas. I'm going back to the question that you gave me. Great ideas are what I call the game plan. I'm not gonna get the game plan unless I can go steep. And the and the more professional I get at being quiet and quadrupling my time off, everybody thinks that you're chilling or you're on vacation. No, the smartest thing that you can have me do is drive 10 hours to our beach house. Why? Because I'm gonna steep with dad and get extraordinary ideas like walking on the beach. What does that do? That establishes deep roots. So when I do go to do a painting for Disney, I don't walk in on an empty cup. I'm like, if or if I'm asked to go speak or do what we're doing here, yeah. Dude, you're just overflowing because you and dad have been hanging out for so long. And then dad goes, Hey Cody, um, what if my plans for you wasn't to play for this team? I don't even want you to play in this league. I want you to. Help me run my organization. Wow. But I can't help you run this organization if you're playing all the time. Your shelf life is maybe two more games. But if you want to play in this game of life with me and my kingdom and you want to be here 40 years from now, let alone in eternity for billions of years, what's your root system like? Can you play for a little while and crush it? Or do you want to play the big, big game for a very long time? I just realized that's I had to make a different decision in life as to how I was going to live. Because once I get back from my 5 to 10 a.m. swing, the ideas I cannot type fast enough. Write this book, write this blog, talk about my verse. Dad just foom foom. He's just feeding me.

SPEAKER_01 44:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:51

And so that's where you're in flow. Flow state lasts about three and a half hours. And that is when time disappears and you would do it for free. And you're going, whatever this is, I just want to stay here. You see the difference?

SPEAKER_00 45:06

Yep. 100%. I want to ask you something that you keep saying. Mostly because I feel like I'm supposed to. Great. Um why, how long you keep referencing God as dad? How long have you done that and why?

SPEAKER_05 45:27

Why does that strike you?

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Because I think people are afraid to use that.

SPEAKER_02 45:34

Why? He's Abba.

SPEAKER_00 45:41

No, I I I I'm not like I don't say that like I have a problem with it. I say it though because I think uh father feels like a uh a very appropriate like thing that you hear in the church is you know, father God, this, that. And then you have some people who say daddy. That one's always been unique for me. I've never been able to couldn't do it. But you have referenced God is dad, and I and he is, by the way. Yeah. But I actually I I think that um it comes out of you so naturally in in this conversation. You haven't gone back and forth to, well, God challenged me to this, or or you know, the father, da-da-da. You go dad. And I'm just I and maybe there's nothing there's tons of that, but I I think I think there's something there that that I'm really curious for you to unpack.

SPEAKER_05 46:39

I projected onto God my and this most people do this, they look at their earthly father's relationship, and they that's how the context of their relationship with God is. Wow. So they go, this is how I am with dad, that's how I see God, because that's the only reference of what a dad looks like.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:59

And mine was a um, he did everything he possibly could within his means to try to be a dad. But he was limited in his resources, limited in his capabilities and in his ability. And I don't hold that against him. I've forgiven him, I've taken what I could get, and it was very little, and the things that I have are sweet, but he was just, he was um, I bring massive honor to him, but I also know that he was playing from a deficit that really was difficult. Substance abuse, drug abuse, alcoholism. Um, but he was an earnest Hemling, he was the mightest touch, he was gifted, he was talented, he was extraordinary at like so there's a lot of great things. But then once I got to know God on God's terms or on my terms with him, and um also got to be around my mentors, Bob and George and Dave, and all these guys that have modeled what a tender, kind, grace-filled, unconditional love. Um It's like Cody, I love you. Excuse my language, but I don't give a rat's ass what you do for a living. That's when you those are the men you want to be around.

SPEAKER_01 48:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 48:12

When I'm in the car with my best buds, or we're sitting at the lodge having a cigar, and like I'm like going, I've known all these men for 35 years and they don't give a rip. They they actually don't even ask what's been the latest on what you do. Right. Right? They care about who I am as a man. And so when I got to know God in that way, I'm like, oh my gosh, this I've defined my whole life about just not getting in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 48:38

So when my relationship with God isn't about a performance thing, and it's like I'm worthy of his love, and to be to be able to call somebody dad, yeah, it's like I remember when I called my mother-in-law for the first time, I'm like, hey mom, there's something there. Like now we're on a whole nother level, and that is just a a a precious tenderness that I believe if you really want to be great, it wasn't the way that I thought it was gonna be. I thought being great was gonna be based on something that I could measure from a tangible outward thing. Greatness comes from within of how deep my roots are with truly knowing dad and his characteristic. And then when you read his love letter in the Bible, you start to go, look at what dad's been talking about all along. And nobody's been pursuing me more than him. Yeah, he doesn't let up on me. All he cares about is my well-being and me getting dialed and ordered and things getting annoyed. He's like, nobody's on the sidelines more and in my corner more than him. And I'm like, I've undermaximized this relationship.

SPEAKER_01 49:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 49:58

To your to your point of transactional.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 50:01

And he's just like, I literally like I joke around with Jesus all the time. I'm like, dude, I'm gonna, when I see you face to face, your forehead's gonna be pretty frat, flat because you're just like, I can't believe they did it. I can't believe, you know, so I'm always like, Dad, it's you're like, I just I mean, it's very real to me. Like, I can be in a room and I'll be like, the father, son, holy spirit sitting right here with legions of angels around, and like they're all going, finally, dude, they're all they're they're all talking about the fact that we're really here. Wow, you know what I'm saying? So I walk around, like if I'm at a Disney event, like I'm like going, it's so beautiful to have my family here with me. I'm never alone. I'm on a plane, they're hovering right outside the window. Like, I'm like, this is so then Cody, I'm like, it's so funny because like you know, read the bio. I'm like, that's the outward stuff. Yep, yep. This is a whole internal climate that if you can establish those deep roots, now when like re like the world sets in at 10 a.m., now I go into like let's make a dollar, yeah, let's go coach people, let's go, but I'm so I've already had my day.

SPEAKER_00 51:10

Yeah. Yeah. The most important part of your day.

SPEAKER_02 51:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:15

I think that analogy of uh an in-law calling an in-law, uh mom or dad, that's such a great example because it exposes a it exposes a vulnerability, yeah. It exposes an acceptance. Yeah. And yeah, I actually think it's harder for a lot of people to call God dad than um than maybe we're aware of. But I actually, as you're talking and as you're saying it, I actually think it's so profound because it's really it shows the posture of your heart, it shows the tenderness of someone's heart. And uh yeah, I'm I'm super moved by that. Yeah, because because for me, I think it's uh you know, I'm same same situation, like you know, I came from a uh my dad loved me as a kid, but very broken. Uh left when I was 13. Yes, um, came back to the Lord when I was like 30, yeah, and then went crazy for God for five years and then passed away of cancer. Yeah. Um but when you say that we equate our relationship with our earthly dad with our, you know, I'm just like, wow, that's I want to sit here and unpack that for a second and go, like, how am I doing that? Yeah, what does that look like for me? Um, but I do. I think that it's like I would ask a lot, I want to start asking people that like, can you call him dad?

SPEAKER_02 52:47

Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_00 52:48

Like in in not not just like in a like you you just talk about him like you just say dad like 25 times as we're talking. Yeah, he's and it's um he's in the other room. Yeah, I think that's so profound.

SPEAKER_05 53:00

And and and I want to I really want to land or kind of put a bow on it because I know we've got a lot other things to unpack, but I think you know, with AI and everything that's happening right now, let's just think who might be watching this: an up-and-comer in high school, an up-and-comer in college, a person that had a career for 30 years, and believers are unbelievers. But let's just talk believers in that context right now. What's gonna be standing in three years or five years from now? Meaning what's the cream that'll rise to the top? It's gonna be a person. If you want to be great and if you want to go big, and if you want to be extremely significant and successful at the same time, it's gonna be a person that leverages the tools to become a media agency to make our dad known through their story. What you and I are doing right now is what the human heart is craving. One, that our dad exists, two, that I see him and other people, three, that I can get strategies to go deeper with him. It isn't about can I make AI slop and just put any content out there? I have a heart for creatives to leverage every square inch of their life and time to go share this story. So my thing would be how great can you become at doing your story, showing that God exists, that he is real. Your story isn't fake. It is actually a true story. Yeah. This is why he put the testimony in our heart. So three years from now, if you used AI to expand your territory and to get that word out, you think God might be excited about partnering and helping make that possible with you? You get to build and assemble the bike on Christmas morning with dad. If you and dad get together and go, Dad, I want to go take the influence you've given me in the heart of where I get fulfilled in teaching kids guitar. Lord, can you help me? I'm gonna use all of AI to help make that expand. Yeah. Because here's why. If there's no real person behind it, it's it's what I call fast food. You cannot microwave transformation. And so when you look at what we're talking about here, people are looking for depth, and the currency of the future is trust. So, how much are you on a daily basis? I would say anybody on here, if you have a phone, text message, email, getting the word out, making content, filming a selfie, talking, how much are you actually depositing into your future self and the future of the world to then go, oh, this person's been doing this for a while. Yeah. So for the last 20 years, without AI, I've been wanting to make deposits because God laid it on my heart when I was 20, even further back, make deposits now on where you'll be 50 because it's all going to converge.

SPEAKER_01 56:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 56:14

And so that's why I'm saying if you can really get to know dad, you're gonna have extraordinary ideas on how you can take dad's message through you out to the world, whether you're a multi-billionaire, millionaire, helping wealth management, stewardship, building funds, hedge funds, multiple businesses, real estate, marriage and family counseling, it doesn't matter. You have to start seeing things the way that he sees them. So if I get a tool like AI, all I want to do is leverage it, not it leverage me, to get my dad's message out. Is that helpful?

SPEAKER_00 56:51

Yeah. I mean, I I think it's extremely helpful. Uh I was just talking with uh Danny, my um he helps produce the podcast, and um I have like four titles for him, so I'm not sure which one to use at the moment.

SPEAKER_05 57:06

Um this army knife.

SPEAKER_00 57:08

But um just we were talking through some ideas and I was sitting with another friend that was sort of an earshot of the conversation, and uh he goes, Man, I haven't been able to get AI to do some of the stuff that you're talking about. And I said, Well, I think at the end of the day, AI is as useful as its user. That's correct. So if you don't know how to direct, how to prompt, how to um, how to, how to how to tell it where to go, essentially, uh, it'll it'll be as good as you you your ability. Without a doubt. In that way. So I think I think what you're saying is is so accurate. And um I think what you're saying though is actually a little bit more of a challenge of how are you approaching AI and how are you utilizing it, and um with what with what value you know are you putting on there?

SPEAKER_05 58:07

One of my John one of my good buddies, John, said this. He's like, we can look in a business enterprise and go, what's our return on investment? And then you get in the Christian faith-based world, it's like KOI, like kingdom return on investment. Really, what it is now is um return on influence. What is the return you're getting on the influence that God's entrusted to you with other people?

SPEAKER_01 58:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 58:33

And if that's one person right now, let's not overcomplicate this. Jesus' model was great. Great. Three, twelve, seventy.

SPEAKER_01 58:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 58:43

If I accomplish that in my lifetime, three at depth, twelve inner circle, and then they take and go to the 70. I look at that model and I go, if it worked for him, yeah, it can work for me. Yeah. And like, and let's not overcomplicate this. And if he decides to expand the territory, amazing. But we we none of us get to be excluded from that. We've all been called.

SPEAKER_00 59:07

What is your take on? What's your take on the difference between doing work to make money versus doing work that you love to do but it doesn't make money?

SPEAKER_05 59:29

So uh say the question again?

SPEAKER_00 59:31

Well, I just I think a lot of people get stuck in a land of I feel called to do this. I have to do this because this is how I make money. Right. They never bring the two together. Yeah. And that's one of my passions. That's one of the areas that I try to help people come unstuck and clear on. Yes. Um, but I think there's this notion of like success, even with my purpose, is only viewed as success in a certain way. Totally if it's fully monetized or you know.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:08

No, to me, full success and cracking the code is um full freedom. You've been liberated. Like, what does that mean? You get to do whatever the heck you want. That's the rich person. I get to do whatever I want whenever I want. Because any any billionaire or like so-called, I don't even know why we use those terms, like a billionaire. What does that mean? Just because he's a billionaire doesn't mean he's free. Right, right. Right?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:30

I know a lot of people.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:32

I know a lot of yeah, yeah. We both know that. Yeah. So uh what I'm getting at is the free guy is like, oh, everything on my calendar is on my terms. Well, you're the richest man in the world. Yeah, and every single room I'm in, I'm the one with the most leverage. Why? Because I don't need anything from anybody.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:48

Now you're the buyer. Yeah. Everywhere, all the time. Yeah. That's what most billionaires actually want is leverage. And they think because they have money that they're going to be able to have leverage. Nope. It's the guy that goes, I don't need your billions. I'm already rich. When you're in the kingdom of God, you are a gazillionaire. I don't need a thing from anybody.

unknown 1:01:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:11

But I want certain things. Yeah. So when it comes to doing the work, first and foremost, I just, that's what I did. I went, How many hours are in a day? I went, well, I need to do client work. So I'm just going to book myself as a client. And so I started doing all my clients' work to raise money to fund the work I really wanted to do. And then what happened is all my clients started to see the work that I was doing for myself and went, wait, I want that. And then I charged a premium for it. And then I quadrupled the prices and started realizing the more I could, because I'm like, wait a minute, I want to duplicate myself. Posters, limited editions, paintings, prints, and then with coaching courses, you got to duplicate yourself to where you're making money while you sleep.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:50

And so that's what I started to do was the work that I really love to do. The sooner you do it, it's actually what everybody actually wants you to do because they're going to hire you for it.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:59

And you can charge whatever you want for it. And never forget the jump from like $2,000 a painting to $60,000 painting to $100,000 a painting. So like when those go and you're like, holy mackerel, people are just no problem. Yeah. Like, why in the world did I not do this 10 years ago? You know what I'm saying? So it's like we could have got there way quicker. But here's here's what I try to tell people. You are not going to be able to live a radical life of generosity financially being broke. And if you're saying you want to solve big problems that do require some finances, well, they're either going to be some of your finances raising some of it from other people, collaborating and getting other people to give, right? I can do it all though. Some of mine, some of theirs, some of theirs combined. So when we started our work that work in South Africa, rescuing children, that was the ultimate end goal, we now wanted to invest and be gospel patrons to where we're now taking our platform and investing God's resources into the right places. So we started being de facto parents for children in South Africa that have been orphaned due to AIDS, 3.5 million children. And for the price of one children in the child in the U.S., I can adopt six children, put them in a home, and do it in 90 days. Wow. So the conversion rate on KROI, you can start to realize how the investing gets now. That's the true aim. Establish deep roots with dad, become a professional truster, be an investor, mindset all day long. Now it's more like how do I get kingdom collaborations happening versus how do we go sell more product? You see the difference? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:34

Talk talk about uh we both this, you know, just part of our circle is just this the gospel patron. Yep. Um most people outside of of your circle I talk to don't, they've never even heard of it. Um, which always blows my mind because you know, when when Dave you know first brought that to me, it just it floored me. Yeah. Um, what is a gospel patron?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:00

Gospel patron is a person um that is, I mean, you could just for context for easy understanding for people. Um, and it's one of the stories in the book. Imagine a doctor that is very wealthy, right, who happens to be a believer, but he partners with a guy that wants to do Bible translation. Well, he says, Hey, take a room in my house, I'm gonna pay for your food, I'm gonna put you up, and you take care of the Bible translations, but I'm your patron, I'm gonna help underwrite you to help fulfill this. But together in our collaboration, our partnership, he can't do it without him. He can't do it. Like, you see what I'm saying? So he goes and works on people all day, and he works on Bible translation, but together they fulfill the great commission and get the word out. Um, my friend uh John Reinhart, who wrote the book Gospel Patrons, and has an incredible ministry, um, that's all they work in is helping people understand, learn, and get trained on how to leverage their business as a mission and whatever territory God's entrusted to them. How can we start investing, not just producing revenue, producing outcomes, and consuming them? Because we can get tied up in just consuming the blessing that God's given us, right? But God's blessed us, not as Randy Alcorn says, not to increase our standard of living, but to increase our standard of giving. So what if we now can But but here's the thing like it's not all crispy crunchy, it's like, oh no, just give everything away to the kingdom. Yeah. The Lord's been like we've I I like style, I like nice things, I like to do things at a certain standard and a certain way of doing things because I believe that's attractive and beautiful, and people won't want to come into that environment. We've built our ministry that way and our our backyard that way to like serve people in excellence. Why? So then we can have a conversation about what they can do with their territory and start to become investors in the kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:53

So developing people to become investors in the kingdom and to use their business and lifestyle to do it to me. That might be the most funnest business of teaching people how to be gospel patrons.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:06

So yeah, I remember when I first read the book, what just floored me was just this idea that most of the great revivalists throughout history had somebody behind them backing and supporting the mission. So you never knew about you never knew you always knew about the revivalists. You never knew about the guy behind him that was funding everything that was happening. And that really is what a gospel patron is. It's somebody and I think that uh what hit me so in the in the in the gut with that one was this reality that so often we make our version of success is like I gotta be the revivalist.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:50

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:52

And it's like, no, sometimes you're actually called to be that businessman behind the revivalists, supporting the revivalist, and that's that that makes you no less.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:03

Okay. Huge. So exercise I do with my client is this you're not allowed to start anything from it's like in my new book, um KOS. It's it's literally like in in one of the chapters where it's like you're not allowed to start anything from scratch. You're not allowed to be the revivalist. So if your hands are tied and you gotta sit on your hands, who are you gonna collaborate with to get done what you need to get done and you have to get it done in a year instead of 10?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:34

No, I love that.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:35

So now everybody gets really creative. They start going, I know this up-and-coming kid. Uh-huh, exactly. Tell me more. And now you start to realize they start going, ooh, dude.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:48

I could they they start having this paradigm shift where they go, I could have a portfolio of assets of people that can do what I'm hoping to do. I don't have to start from scratch, but I can give them my wisdom, I can give them my money, I can give them my strategy, I can give them my other connections. That's when you become an investor, full portfolio dashboard where you're like, I'm not only gonna connect people, I'm gonna put my money in some. And now you're literally like angel investor. That's a gospel patron, dude.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:20

So when you start to see life in that dashboard, it's like the matrix, and you're you can't sleep, dude, because now your goal is on earth, you just took what you thought you were gonna do in 30 years, you're gonna do it in one year, and now you see the exponential hockey stick of impact of how much you're gonna collaborate and impact the kingdom. And it had very little to do with you because we associate, it only matters if I work hard. Like that means it's got value. No, yep. I believe the Lord goes, do this as strategic, as smart, as focused, with the least amount of effort on your part as possible.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:56

So then you just go, okay, who do I know?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:58

It's all who.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:59

Oh, that's so good. And that's something anybody can pick up tomorrow.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:04

Dude, permission granted.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:06

Right. Like that is that is so easy, and that's so profound and powerful. Dude, we got to unpack uh some of the influence that you, you know, we you talk about influence, yeah. Um, and influence and impact. You've done some, you've had some pretty awesome opportunities and clients and in and with some some influential organizations as well, one of them being Disney. Oh, yeah. Um I remember I take all my kids on a 10 trip when they turn 10. Yeah. Um, I've done four now. And uh my oldest is actually about to be 18, which is wow blowing my mind. Regrets, dude. Um but I took my 10, my my last Penelope, she wanted to go to Disneyland. So that's that's what we planned, and that's where we routed, and we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. Oh, yeah. And when I got into the hotel, um, there's like a little welcome packet, like a little gift package for you. And I pull it up, and it's a piece of your art. And I was like, this is so cool that there that your art is in every room when guests check in. Yeah. Um, so you've had a pretty well you you mentioned uh co you mentioned earlier you know, I charge 20,000. You were talking about painting. Painting, so just for clarity, in case anybody didn't catch that, you're also a painter. Yeah. Um tell me about some of those projects. Tell me about Disney. What have you done with it?

SPEAKER_05 1:10:36

Oh 20 years we celebrate uh actually 21 years now. And so uh when I started the publishing company, uh that meant publishing meant like posters, limitation prints, framed canvases, you know, building paint at once and sell thousands of them, right? It's like a record label, right? And most would think like Thomas Kincaid. So just thinking about that model, we do the same thing. And so we sell art to Disney and uh do events at theme parks. I have one next weekend again. Uh at theme parks, Alani in Hawaii, we've done cruise ships, we've done online, we've done over those 21 years, we've done some unbelievable projects. But to say that um all of those combined have amounted to a huge body of work of hundreds and hundreds of images. And so whenever I go and do a show, we'll have like maybe 75 images, 35 images, depending on the size of the space. And then I get to meet people, love on them, take pictures, dedicate pieces to them, and and then it's also meant some huge projects for Tron Legacy movie release and store openings and Pirates of the Caribbean Anniversaries and World of Color and um you name it. There's so many initiatives every single year coming out with Disney. But it's it's more than that. It's been full makeovers of Disney properties, it's been consulting and coaching and advisory, it's multifaceted, it's not just the publishing part, but it's also been having the privilege to come alongside and help them with shape some of the vision and um visual storytelling. And um, I mean, dude, from a kid selling art at 16 to the rooms, and every time I do an event, I'm standing there going, Lord, what what is happening right now? This does doesn't make any sense. And I just keep imagining like dad just saying, just like, stay grounded. Wow. Just keep staying grounded and realize that your hand's not on the faucet. And so that's what I do. I just like I'm gonna mess up, I'm gonna go big, but I'm gonna I just like hey dad, is it cool if we that yeah, go for it? Like it's a lot of that. Yeah, you know, yeah, real time. It's it's every day. Stakes are high, it can be debilitating.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:48

I was just gonna say it with a 21-year relationship. 21-year relationship doesn't last with an or organization like Disney unless you're doing something right.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:02

But dude, it's been uh it's there's been times where it's just been gnarly. I mean, it'll be economic, you know, shifting in trends and all that kind of stuff where the the goalposts has just been moving and you're like like Luke Skywalker fighting that thing with the blinder on, and you're like, what? Um but I mean in like a special, there's been huge things where you know standing on the Costco floor, but you're like in Costco where you shop and you have your own collection in there, and you're like going, I'm at Costco with Disney, like two of the huge biggest names. Yeah. But then it's a great it makes for a really fun story. Um, you know, and then there's other things like painting the cars for the fast and the furious and God allowing other things there and working with Rob Deerdick and stuff in Vegas at Hard Rock Hotel and this this journey of what the Lord shaped over the years to then leading to names like Disney and Make a Wish Foundation and Um Chalk Hospital, Children's Hospital. I just it's almost like you just remain available and the Lord's like, go in there, do that, go over here, do this, go over here, do this. And all that kind of adds up to like the stuff. Yeah. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:11

Do you have any favorites? Any any projects that you've done that you look back on and you go, man, that's one I'm just really proud of or really loved non-Disney on Disney, doesn't matter? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:23

Oh gosh, man.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:27

There's The Kid in Me is my own trademark and IP uh intellectual property where I trademarked the name the kid in me, and it was what did Cody want to be when he grew up.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:37

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:38

And so I would interview people and I did an experiment. And remember when you just said, like, you know, how do you do the work you love and you do it for free? So I had an experiment one time and I said, I want to sell a hundred thousand dollars of art in one night at a fine dining restaurant in downtown Disney, non-Disney work that had nothing to do with Disney. Okay. But I interviewed 20 couples and I said, I'm hosting this dinner, VIP. Would you like to come, fill out this form? And by the way, I'm working on a new series, but I need to get your intel. And I would ask the and it was the form interviewed you. What was your favorite sidekick? How would you reenact how you wanted to be when you grow up? Doctor, fireman, whatever, painter, artist, whatever. And they filled that out. And what I did was I took all that information and I painted those stories through my kidney style, which is like Norman Rockwell, Meets, Calvin and Hobbes. Yeah. And it was just my dream look that I wanted to do. And I painted all those stories. Nobody knew it. And then I I draped them all in black, put them out on the patio, and then right at dessert, I mean, we filled the place, and right at dessert, I said, So there's a guy in here. He wanted to be this. And I just started going down the store, and the next thing he knows, he's like, he just starts crying because he's being seen. And then I go, So, buddy, this is what I painted, and I I pull the curtain down. And dude, everybody at the table's looking at him, but you got a grown man just like uncorked, just like, like he can't even talk. He literally can't compose himself.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:07

No, that's insane.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:08

And what's gnarly is like I finished, like everybody's in tears. All their stories have been said, and they're out on the patio, and I just go, so just to let you know, like, we're raising money for South Africa work with the kids from tonight. Zero obligation to buy. Because I painted them in a way that they could be universal, that they could be whether if they don't buy it, it's still going to be universal. Everybody will still own one somewhere, and we still sell them today. But what was crazy was the dude that leaves, goes out there and starts buying other people's art. He's like, I love this one. I'm like, hold on. This like her story, right? So it was we more than met that number that night. But Chantel and I looked at each other and I go, babe, this is that's that's a moment in life where you go, I didn't need to prove this, but this is a sign of when God puts something on your heart and you can't ignore it, and it's in your gut, and it's a fire and it's a spark, and you just go, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna risk and I this could flop. But instead of me painting what I thought everybody would want, meaning like, I'm like a DJ, I'm gonna roll what I want to roll, and like the wedding is like going, Why are you playing this stuff? Yeah. No, I want to I want to find out what makes the heart for the person on the other end. And if I tell that story well, that's good. The best art is when you can share and articulate somebody's story. And so I translate that, what we just did there, into everything, even with Disney. Come on. So even with coaching, it's about you getting in connection with him. It's not about what I know, it's about what I already know you know with. Yeah. And let's just connect that.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:47

So if you can do that through whatever product you're doing, they're the hero.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:52

That's so powerful. The uh I love that story so much. Um how long ago was that?

SPEAKER_05 1:18:00

Oh uh we did it a few times. Did it?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:04

When was that story?

SPEAKER_05 1:18:07

2017, 2018, maybe? Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:10

So not that long ago. No. Gosh, that's right.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:12

No, everybody was there and it was killer. It was so much fun. And I'm like, let's do this again at the Ritz Carlton, and we did, and then let's do it at our house in our backyard, and we did. And it was just it's just a model now that I teach all these other artists. I'm like, I'll show you how I did a hundred grand in one night and didn't give any money to a gallery.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:27

Like, anybody can do this. Yeah. But you can do this if you're like a baker and you you want to open up a bakery, you know you can do a pop-up at your shop at your house.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:35

Just find out what everybody loves and blow their mind and love on them and surprise and delight. But this this psychology is a big like masterclass that I teach, and like we bring this into churches and companies and cultures. This is how you this is how you make the client like this is an actual thing. Yeah. This isn't just like a one and done. This is like, this is on all the time.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:58

Well, there's purpose and intentionality behind it at a way deeper level than you know. I think what you're talking about really speaks to the fact that some people just need to go do something. They've got a dream, they've got a vision, that's right, they've got an idea. That's right. And they're sitting here going, I don't know where to start. And most of it is fear or whatever is keeping them from moving forward.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:25

They got to get around the right people.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:27

But your your your story, your journey is so cool, but it wouldn't be cool if it was just a bunch of ideas you had in your head.

unknown 1:19:38

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:39

All I all I want to do is expose what God can has done, continues to do. I it's by his grace. And I mean, it's such a cliche saying, it's like, oh, by God's grace alone. But I'm like, bro, I can truly tell you is his not only saving grace, but his grace that continues to allow me to stay here and continue to do this. Yeah. If I can show others how to to do that, I think that's the greatest work that we can do while we're on this planet.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:06

Yeah, 100%. Well, man, in closing here, um, can you just speak to the I want you to speak to the creative that we just talked about. Has an idea, has a vision, feels stuck, yeah, maybe feels passed up, uh, maybe feels like they don't have they've got the creativity but not the business side of it. What do you, what do you, what's your advice in closing here? Well, give us some parting words.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:38

Yeah, sure. Uh I wrote for that exact purpose, I wrote a book called The Profitable Artist that is for that to answer that. Because I used to have people come up at a Disney event, it's like, hey, what should I tell my kid? They want to go into college and they want to live their dream and they want to hold on. Before you do that, sit down as a family and watch this course or read this book or whatever. Or both of you read the book, right? Because mom and dad need to understand their kid, and their kid needs um to understand mom and dad with the calmer side, can they make money at this dream, right? So the parting words for me for me would be before you start going out and executing, just start building anything. The smartest thing is to execute a great architectural drawing. What do you want to build? You don't want to build just a great craft, like meaning draw skill. There's the skill part of life. If you're a speaker, how well can you speak? How great are you? Like there's one thing to be able to do that, it's another thing to have the commerce, the business. And most don't teach you how to do life. So one would be get around, get around people that have the results that you want and the outcomes that you want. And it's from a very, very good source. And if you don't know, ask. And the smartest thing that you can say, this is what I did as a kid. Who do you know? Who do you know? Because I'm trying to, who do you know? Because I'm hoping to, who do you know? That needs who do you know? That's how you do it. And so, very pragmatically, get around the right people that can help you get the answers of the things that you're looking before you go execute and build. This can be very costly, spend a lot of money, and uh, and lose a lot of time. Everybody says, Oh, master, 10,000 hours on this task. If it's on the wrong task, bro, that's not a good use of 10,000 hours.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:29

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:30

So, what if you just got around people that you can draft off of and get mentored by that can show you and illuminate what's possible? And dude, online right now, it's never been easier to send a direct message. Hey, I need help. Yeah. Smartest thing that you can say. I don't care how old you are, I need help. In what? And then pushback. People that will push back. Tell me why. Why do you want that? And then once I get you that, then what do you plan to do with it? Just nobody's willing to do that kind of work. That's why churches are great, communities are great. Host a creative meetup. Get as many creatives as you can in a room and do what you and I are doing, and just rip and and and spiff off of each other and just ask each other the hard questions. Get messy with each other. Yeah. And before you start building, though, like exercise restraint on sayings like, this is what I'm thinking of building. And and I would just always say, start with the end in mind.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:22

Great, I get you what you want. Then what? Well, then I do this. Okay, and then what? Well, then I do this. And then what? And then they go, I'd be empty. Exactly. Great. Should we go down that road? No. Let's go back here and find out why. What did you look to prove there? Spend most of your life just proving. Yeah. Rather than like really finding out the heart of are you being or are you proving? And I lost a lot of years just trying to be somebody. I thought I was being, but it was actually for other people. I was proving it. And so it's like wrong road, detour, go back. Like, so there's a lot of that. But get around people who've gotten like they have the battle wounds, they have the scars, and they got the medals to prove they've gone through the trenches and then they can help you.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:09

Most of those people want to help you.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:12

That's exactly right. And I mean, I'm not young, but I'm not old. But really, what I want to do is wave the lantern for the people coming down the pipe I just crawled out of and show them, hey, you can you can not only do this, but you can you can do some really tough things. Yeah. Very tough things. And I'm gonna not only show you how to do it, but then you're gonna be able to show other people how to do it, probably even better than I did.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:38

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:39

Right? And so that's where it gets really exciting. If you're just look at your life right now, everybody watching and listening, just ask yourself this. Like, how much are you doing life with other people? Life was not meant to be doing a solo mission. It's meant to be done in collaboration and rubbing off. You like you and I from today, I'm better leaving here today than I came because of our rubbing, of us rubbing off on each other, right? I'm thinking differently, I'm looking at life differently. I'm I'm challenged, I'm sore, I'm pissed. I'm I'm I'm not gonna be the same. Mission accomplished, right? Yeah. So can you be that person for other people? That's where it gets bananas, dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:26

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:27

There's a parting word.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:29

Noah, uh, one thing I can say for certain about you is since the day I met you, you have been so intentional and selfless, even just with me uh in your communication with me, uh, and your invitations, and and uh, you know, what you're saying today is nothing that I haven't seen you walk out firsthand. I think uh we live in a time where what you say and what you do don't always line up. And uh so when I meet a friend like yourself who I'm watching do it, uh I get I get so excited, I get so encouraged that we're all gonna be okay here. You know, we're all gonna be okay, but let's get around it. So um thank you so much for just taking the time and hanging out with us. Um we are going to, he has a ton of resources, books, things like that. So I'd love to, if you're okay with that, please. Um we'll link all of that in the uh description of this episode so you can get access to all of that. There's certain things that he's referenced and you're wanting to get those. Um you just you can't have my painting. Yeah, right. That's that's my painting. But uh dude, thank you so much. You're welcome. My pleasure, dude.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:38

Stoked.