The Catch Window

Everyone Said This Was Stupid… That’s Why It Worked

• Omega Stallworth • Season 1 • Episode 5

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0:00 | 46:58

Most people wait until something makes sense before they act.

But the truth is… by the time it makes sense, the opportunity is already gone.

In this episode of The Catch Window Podcast, Omega Stallworth sits down with Dylan Raymond to break down the decisions, risks, and moments where going against conventional thinking was actually the move.

They dive into why the biggest breakthroughs in business, life, and performance often come from actions that feel uncomfortable, uncertain, or even “wrong” in the moment.

If you’ve ever second-guessed yourself, waited too long, or felt stuck because something didn’t fully add up yet… this conversation will shift how you make decisions moving forward.

You’ll learn:
 • Why waiting for certainty is the fastest way to miss your opportunity
 • How to recognize when “this doesn’t make sense” is actually a signal
 • The role of intuition vs logic in high-stakes decisions
 • Why most people follow the crowd and never break out
 • How to build conviction when nobody else sees what you see
 • The mindset required to act before it’s obvious

Because the truth is…
 the best opportunities rarely feel safe, logical, or widely accepted at the time.And by the time they do… it’s already too late.


Connect with Omega

Instagram: @omegastallworth
 LinkedIn: Omega Stallworth
 YouTube: @TheFitnessEmancipator

Connect with Dylan

Instagram: @dylan.raymond

Subscribe for more conversations on business, performance, mindset, and recognizing the moments that change everything.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to the Catch Window Podcast

06:19 Integrity in Operations and Decision-Making

12:08 Solving Problems as an Entrepreneur

17:54 The Importance of Humility and Continuous Learning

23:11 The Lies We Tell Ourselves in Business

30:52 Finding Your Path: A Journey of Faith and Opportunity

37:54 Lessons from College: Embracing Fun and Learning

46:02 The Value of Early Work Experience


Tags

#entrepreneurship, #mindsetshift, #businesspodcast, #successmindset, #decisionmaking, #riskreward, #selfimprovement, #highperformance, #wealthbuilding, #entrepreneurlife, #businessgrowth, #opportunity, #personaldevelopment, #leadership, #motivationdaily, #podcastclips, #successhabits, #thinkdifferent, #mentalperformance, #growthmindset, #ceomindset, #businessstrategy, #startuplife, #founderstory, #discipline, #winningmindset, #selfbelief, #takeaction, #opportunitywindow, #catchwindow

SPEAKER_00

All right, y'all. Welcome to the Catch Window podcast. Uh for those people who are new to the channel, new to the podcast, the catch window is all about seizing opportunity. If you're familiar with American football, a receiver, tight end, or running back, anytime we catch a pass, the catch window oftentimes refers to our ability to make a play on the ball, but it's also an opportunity to seize on the ball, right? Whether it's for a touchdown, whether it's for a big gain. So this podcast is all about in the business world. You know, there are people who have this catch window, whether it's the opportunity to seize capital or acquire a business partner or scale business in some way. This is all about not missing that window of opportunity. And, you know, we talk with people here who have seized that opportunity. And our goal here is for the listeners and viewers out there to get some value from these conversations so you can learn how to uh when these windows of opportunities open, you'll know how to seize them and how to make sure you don't miss them. So uh without further ado, Dylan, uh you mind telling us, you know, just a little bit about you, who you are, you know, and your background. What's up, man? It's good to see you.

SPEAKER_02

Thanks for having me on. My name's Dylan Raymond, and uh I've done a lot of random stuff, but most recently I'm a flight operations coordinator at a small operator out in uh Colorado in Denver. Um and I got there really by the grace of God. There's I mean, my catch window was kind of kind of a god thing. So we'll talk about that a little bit. And uh I'm not as much into the fitness, healthy eating side, but I try you know, I try. But uh uh yes, a little bit about me. Went to school at GCU, Great Canyon University, and then started in management because well, started um at an expert network firm with management consultant clients, and then um, you know, wanted to jump into the aviation world, got a private pilot's license, and then got too expensive and started stalling down there. But uh yeah, a little background there and thanks again for having me on, man.

SPEAKER_00

Heck yeah. We're happy to have you, man. Happy to learn a little bit about your story and and it'll definitely it's a blessing people are listening. But uh first thing I kind of want to start with, man, and I know you're in flight operations, like I guess what separates the people who stay, you know, steady under the pressure of a job like this from the ones who kind of quietly burn out, even if, you know, they're both highly competent, you know, highly successful people.

SPEAKER_02

Uh I think it comes down to passion. And I think you gotta kind of be a little bit of a psycho to be in flight operations or or do something like that. You kind of have to like chaos a little bit and like not being bored. And I think a lot of people fit that bill, but um yeah, I think it's always uh liking what you do. And if you can love what you do, it's even better, you know. That's that's kind of the ticket for me.

SPEAKER_00

So 100%, man. I love that. I love that. I think uh yeah, I think that's missed out, you know, on most people who when they choose a career these days. I think we all look proudly, we know we gotta pay the bill to make money, and I think you know that's that's important. But I think oftentimes people end up getting stuck doing stuff they they truly hate uh because they forget that part, you know. There is a world where both things can kind of coexist, right? Where you can be doing the things that you enjoy and that you're passionate about, and that passion comes out of you and creates opportunity for you to make more money, gain capital, whatever that that kind of looks like, man. So no, I love that. I think that's awesome. Do you think you know identity or discipline or even self-control kind of plays a part in that as well?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I think uh Yeah, I think discipline's definitely definitely important. You know, in high school and in college, I loved socializing, loved partying, loved doing all the stuff. Um and, you know, still like to have fun, but you know, in the aviation world, you can't, you know, there's you know, strict rules, drug tests. Um you know, you gotta be on top of your game at all times. And I think if you love something enough, you kind of clean clean your act up a little bit and you go after what you what you love. And then you also, you know, you get older, you um get married or you don't get married, um, and you just start to uh your priorities just start to change a little bit and you, you know, realize the the benefit of hard work and chasing what you really like to do and love to do and finding a way to intersect providing for yourself and your family and and kind of having fun while you're doing it. So um but yeah, discipline plays a huge part in uh in anything you do really, but especially professionally, I don't I think that you won't succeed at a level that um you want to if you don't have at least a basic fundamental level of discipline that can that can you know that's above every well, not that's above everybody else, but that's uh yeah, you need to have you need to have discipline. I didn't say that very well, but I think you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, I thought that was great, man. And I I I think you touched on something that's super powerful there, and you kind of said it when you first started, you know, kind of talking. When it's something you truly care about, um you're willing to cut away some of those distractions and some things that will keep you from it in order to get there. I call that the difference between a choice and a decision, right? A choice is someone saying, I have many options that I'm weighing. A decision is saying, no other option anymore but this one. Um and I think when you make a decision, um, I think that that eliminates a lot of distractions when you you in your head decide there's no other option but this. And I think that's the power of a decision. I think discipline has a lot to do with that. I mean, a lot of like even that that Latin root, I believe it's Latin. Um you can don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure it's Latin. Like dis means to cut away, right? Discipline to cut away all action, right, that that is contrary to what's good for you. And a decision is to cut away all options, right, that are contrary to what you're wanting. So I think it that's plays such a that plays such a role, whether it's, you know, catch window podcasts, right? So whether it's sports, you know, athletes who can compete at the highest level, whether it's my background, right, health, fitness, coach, consulting, people who want to achieve and want to be the healthiest, feel the best, have the best focus, right? They have to make a lot of decisions. You know, I probably shouldn't have this extra glass of wine tonight, right? I probably should turn my phone off, go to bed at a decent time, right? There's little decisions that we make that will allow us to propel ourselves forward, not miss this window of opportunity. And I think it's no different than what you're saying. Um so I love that. I love that, man. Um and kind of kind of back to what you do, you know, when it comes to obviously, I'm sure with a job like this, there's a lot of high pressure moments, there's a lot of crucial moments, decisions you're having to kind of make with what you're doing with passengers, with the aircraft. I I guess what is what would you say is the difference between like your operational analysis, right? And then, you know, as a as a believer, as a Christian guy, spiritual discernment. Like how do I guess how do those two play together in in your world?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I think the word for me is integrity, because integrity is such a great thing to have in the workplace and it will benefit you even if you don't have a set of values like Christianity. If you want to go somewhere in the workplace, you know, integrity will typically get you there. Um, so selfishly, like if you want to selfishly climb, um, if you have integrity, you'll do that. But then if you have the set of values that the Bible gives us and that um Christianity gives us, you know, it you you're already hopefully you're already doing that. Hopefully you already want to act with integrity. And uh and so it's you know, maybe it's not natural because it's hard to do the right thing all the all the time and especially when no one's watching. Um and I fail at that all the time. But um you know, if you if you keep if your intent is to do that all the time, then you'll find yourself doing it more often than not. And uh um yeah, operationally with like clients or aircraft owners or charter guests, it's um yeah, I mean, we we're a company that prioritizes the owner, so it's it's a little bit um it's a little bit different from like just a charter company. Um so if an owner wants an aircraft and the charter guests are you know on the tarmac, they're about to get on the plane and an owner says, Hey, I want my plane back, like we have to go out there and say, Hey, sorry, sorry, man. I know you paid like a frick ton of money for this trip to Cabo, but you're not going. This the owner wants this plane back. And uh I haven't run into that yet, uh, which is good, but you know, that could happen, and I'm sure when or if that happens, that'd be a you know an interesting, uh, interesting de-escalation uh with the with those people with those charter guests. But um yeah, integrity's the word for me, man. You know, I try to I try to do best I can, but you know, um yeah. I wanted to ask you a question, man, if you don't mind. Yeah, yeah, of course, of course. You're like a real deal entrepreneur, man. You know, you uh it's a scary thing. Like I talk to people who are doing stuff like what you're doing, and you know, the W-2 job is cozy, man. Like you get, you know, you get the stable paycheck and you get the the health insurance, and you know, you can kind of be comfortable in that. And that's something that I'm trying to figure out myself. Like, how do you, you know, what made you take the leap into what you're doing? I mean, you've been doing it for a while, but um, you know, you've been you've been really successful doing it, especially recently. So how did you, you know, when did you start? Um, and did you know that you would be here now? And, you know, um, how did you get to the point where you feel comfortable or are or are you comfortable with, you know, the nature of what on what entrepreneurship is, man?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. Wow, what a great question. Turning it on the the podcast host. I love that. No, that's awesome. What a great question. I mean, it's it's honestly such a good question for what this podcast is all about, right? Like I said, whether it's finance, whether it's your world, whatever form of business, um I think questions like this need to be asked, and I think the responses are so crucial. So for me, uh it kind of goes back to the word what you're saying. I was actually going to talk about that uh, you know, that word integrity. Um, and you say, hey, I really want to be integral, so it's something that I really focus on. I learned from a great teacher, and I I love his stuff. Uh his name is Myron Golden, and he talks about this a lot, you know, where your attention goes, your intention follows. So it's what we set our minds on, it's what we focus on, where we'll start to set our intentions on, and you know, whether that's improving, whether that's getting better. And that's that's where getting better and improving kind of starts. And I see it no different in business, right? Um, if all I care about is just I I want I want a bunch of money, um, and everything I'm thinking about is just myself and what I want, um, I'm gonna find myself failing. And and I believe I'm not knocking every entrepreneur, but I be for I believe for the most part, while why entrepreneurship does not work or why it won't work for most is most people go into kind of thinking about what they want, right? I mean, and it's not bad to obviously want money and we need money to survive in this world, right? It's not bad to want stuff for yourself. But entrepreneurship, the core principle and foundation of it is what can I do for someone else? The most successful entrepreneur, I don't care how good or evil they are, right? They understand because they hate people, they understand I must find something that can help someone in order for whatever my business is to succeed. So whether that's in health, wealth, or relationships, it's finding something that will solve a problem for someone at a deeper level to where they are compelled to want to pay you for that solution or for that help, right? You know, and it's not always something super deep, right? Like Coca-Cola sells a soda, right? Like I'm not, it's not necessarily you gotta be life changing, right? But if I'm thirsty, I'm gonna get myself a drink. So here's the drink, right? So it's something, it's, it's, it's all about that, understanding that core principle of like one, I'm in this to solve someone's problem, right? And for me, the problem I solve is uh, you know, whether it's uh, you know, I've I've worked with doctors, I work with teachers, I work with moms, I work with CEOs, I work with VPs. Um and my goal is if you're looking to elevate your health, if you're looking to not wake up and with a brain fog and and and spend most of your day moody and tired, and you hate seeing the you know, the cortisol belly, you you hate not being able to fit into those old suits or those old clothes you used to be able to wear. I can I can solve that for you and I can solve it in a way to where this problem never comes back. And that that that's been my obsession. You have to obsess over people's problems and entrepreneurship. Um so to answer your question, that that is why I've been able to sustain it. That's where a lot of the successes come from, because I figured that out. And I'm not saying it's easy to figure out, like I said, we all get into it. This is me included, thinking about man, I can maybe make all this money and have no boss and just travel and all these things. But then you realize that at the at the crux of it, it is all about just being able to solve someone's problem at a really, really deep level and being able to speak it and and communicate it in their language. Um, so I would say if you do that, that that is where this success lies. I I don't care who you are, what color you are, what tall, short woman, man. If you can find a problem that people struggle with, like a very, very painful problem, and you can create a solution around that problem, um, you're gonna succeed. And and I think that's the the key to entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And I think like what I've, you know, and I'm not a client of yours, and maybe maybe I should be, because I could definitely get some uh need some help in that area. But uh what I think impressed me the most about what you're doing is you're working with all these super busy people. And a lot of these people just don't have the time. Or and you know, it's there's always time, right? But you know, you just have to kind of carve it out. But the these folks that you're working with, I mean, they're mom, moms do not have time. I mean, you're I I mean you're kind of feeling that a little bit. Your boy's the cutest thing on earth. Like your life has changed like crazy. But like these CEOs, these VPs, these doctors, whoever you're working with, they're working long hours and they're responsible for a lot. And to squeeze in something that you know they're not typically used to and you make it easy for them to do that, I think that is what impresses me the most about what you're doing, because um yeah, I I have a more open schedule than a lot of those folks, and I find myself saying, Well, I never have time. And the truth is you do have time and um you just gotta you just gotta squeeze it in. I think you do a good job of carving into people's time windows and getting getting results for them. So I think that's really cool, man.

SPEAKER_00

Heck yeah. Yeah, I love that. Uh on the top of that, I I might as well give you in a little bit and all the beavers, a little bit of my secret sauce, right? There you go. It's all about the focus, right? If we focus on I need to work out, I need to eat better, I need to do all these things, we're never gonna do it. That's a goal-oriented mindset, and goal-oriented mindsets are setting us up to fail. But if we become more objective driven, whereas in I want to be this person and this is what this kind of person does, we'll find it a lot easier to transform ourselves. It's all about where you shift your focus to. It's all about your focus. So, and I'll give an example, right? If I say, man, I really wish I wasn't fat. Man, I really, I really, I know I need to work out. I'm probably never gonna do it. Right. But if I go, man, I have 30 minutes when I wake up at, you know, I wake up at 6 a.m., I I get my I have to start like getting ready for work at like, you know, 7.30. So let's say, okay, I get up, have a little bit of time to kind of, you know, wake myself up, drink a little bit of water, whatever, have maybe a little smaller snack. And I have like 30 minutes. I it's just 30 minutes, but I have 30 minutes to do something for my health, whether it's walk, lift some weights, I that that's my time. That's my 30 minutes. I'm gonna set a timer for 30 minutes and I'm just gonna start. I don't care what it looks like. I'm just gonna do what I know I can do. That's a very that person, right? Let's say those two people, who's more likely to actually be the one who gets in better shape and starts to get healthier, right? It's gonna be the person around who says, I got 30 minutes. Let me let me set a timer. This is my objective. This is I'm gonna take it one day at a time, and I'm just gonna do this. And and I'm using health and fitness as an example, but this is just life, right? This is, you know, if if you look if you're a person who's who's Christian or religious, right? Whether it's you want to grow in your faith, if you want to grow in your wealth, right? It's just being able to set one simple objective and do it consistently enough to reap the benefits of doing that thing. And that's all it is. I like to say in what I do, a lot of people think health and fitness or whatever they're wanting to do is they're having to add more to their plate. I say you're not, I say true objective-driven mentality or true growth is when you're not needing to add more to your plate, you're just expanding your plate. Just like, just like you'll catch window, right? You're not, you're, you're just expanding that window. You're expanding your ability, you're expanding who you are. And when you start to grow as a person, you're able to do more. Like because you are more of a person. You're you've grown in whatever area you wanted to grow in. And because you've grown, you can do more. And because you can do more, you can then have more. And that's where the results come in, whether it's health and fitness, whether it's wealth or whatever that you know the case may be.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, for sure, man. And I think, I think a lot of that is just surrounding yourself by people that are smarter than you too. That's what I've always tried to do too. And I think that, you know, that's also a service provided you have that you provide is that you have this area in which you are a true expert in. And a lot of these people who are your clients are not a true expert in the area that you are. And so you add this, you know, um, and it makes it easier for them because, you know, you advise them and they don't have to find and search for all these things. And like for me, like with uh, you know, this is a little bit of a finance show, right? I mean, um, with personal finance and investment, like I got a buddy out in South Carolina who's uh who's an investment analyst and he's just a brilliant guy. He just, you know, he knows where to invest and when to invest and all the things. And me being surrounded by him has grown that piece of my personal life into something that I wouldn't have been able to do by myself. Um and then even, you know, my wife, she's a teacher, just her, her patience level versus my patience level has grown me into something that, you know, I'm a lot better now than I was a couple years ago. So um, but yeah, surrounding yourself with people that are smarter than you, I think is like if I've if I've gotten any good professional advice, it's like that's it. It's like someone once told me your goal is to be the dumbest person in the room. Because if you're the dumbest person in the room, like then you're gonna learn a hell of a lot in that room because everyone's gonna give you something that you can hold on to. So um yeah, man, I think that's that's the ticket too, for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Man, that's good. I love that. I love that. That's so awesome. And and I think it speaks to something that most people struggle with. And most people aren't even aware that's what's really holding them back. And the word for that is humility, right? It takes humility to be able to put yourself in a position like that where you're all the where you are the dumbest in the room, right? And and that is where true learning begins, right? I mean, it's just like what you're saying, right? There's there's a level of awareness you must have with your own shortcomings and problems to put yourself in a position like that to really learn and grow. Man, I just in in your field, or just honestly for anyone out there hearing this, how how do you do that? Like what is a good practice you do to remain humble, you know, anchored in Christ and kind of shield off the ego in order for you to really grow?

SPEAKER_02

I think my wife is the biggest helper in that area, uh, keeping me grounded and and um keeping my pride in check, I think, is so she helps me a lot with that. But outside of you know, the home and in the workplace, I think it's honestly really easy because I'm newer to this uh to this world kind of. And so I I feel like, you know, I have tons to learn and I do. And like I don't, because I'm so new to this world, it's pretty easy to look around and see, you know, all these smart guys and gals around me and learn learn a lot from them because that's just kind of what the reality is right now. I think where it will be challenging is like 10, 15, 20 years later in my career, when I feel like I start to have it and I feel like I'm kind of the man or whatever it is, um, like that's when I think, you know, I'll need to go out and actually look for people that I can learn from and um and stay humble. But for now it's it's pretty easy because everywhere I look, you know, I'm learning stuff from from people all over the place. And I think it's just because I'm so new to to the industry I'm in. Um but yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I love that, man. And you think um to I like to that point of like as you grow and as you get more experience in this, you know, this this area, uh yeah, I guess it's so easy to get tied to performance metrics and and just your execution in your job. Uh I guess this is a little bit more forward-speaking or future speaking. When you do get to that level, I mean, I guess the the qu the answer might be in what you already said, but I guess how will you stay grounded in that? You know, when I guess the challenge where ego can kind of creep in, how do how do you manage it or how do you feel like you will manage that?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I I think it's just keeping the same attitude that you had when you first started. Like I'm just here to learn and I'm here to grow. And if you stop, you know, having an intentional mindset of learning and growth, you'll kind of stagnate. And, you know, I think you'll I think you naturally become, I think people that stop learning and growing become more arrogant, whether they know it or not, just because you know, they think they know enough to just keep rolling with whatever they're doing, whatever that may be. Um and I think just and as far as tool like actual action items to do that, I'll I don't know, man. I mean, I'm not I'm not quite there yet, but I think um I just want to try, I know my goal is to try to wake up and continuously learn and and grow. And I think when I stop doing that, I'll be in trouble. And when I do, I don't know if and when I do that, I don't know how how I'll approach that or tools to go out and stay in that mindset. So I, you know, I'm looking forward to that when it comes. But um yeah, I don't have I don't have a whole lot of good advice there, man, honestly.

SPEAKER_00

But hey, oh, I'll tell you what, your your advice is in how you talk, man. I mean, saying I don't know I think is the best advice you can give anybody. I think in this, in this world, especially in the business world, we think we have to always wear this image of perfection and always have to have an answer. Um and the truth is you don't. And the truth is sometimes it's good to not have an answer, right? I mean, when you're able to really start seeking and learning and growing is to first admit that you don't have the answer. Um and I and I think that's a powerful way to stay in a place regardless of the. How much you grow and regardless of how much success you have, is to always stay humble. I think that's the way, right? Is to be able to that and to be able to understand that you don't always have the answer. And there's always someone who who knows more in some way, shape, or form. Um one way I do it is I always say it's it's good to have a coach in some way, shape, or form. I'm not always saying a coach you pay for. A coach could be someone you listen to on YouTube. It could be um someone's books you like to read, but some form of, you know, learning or growth, just as you said, to where it's such a good humble reminder of like, okay, I'm still someone's still pouring into me. I'm not the guy who knows it all. I'll never be the guy who knows it all. I'm always looking to learn and grow. And it's twofold, right? It's twofold. Obviously, staying humble is is it's you're probably gonna be a lot more likable, you know, than being the stuck up egotistical guy. But also, just like we've been saying, it's where true success lies. Like the most successful are the ones who are always learning. Um and that's why. Because there's always something to be learned or understood. There's always a way to, even the things you are good at and the things you do know, there's always a way to fine-tune them and improve them. So I think that's uh, you know, it's such an important reminder. And and I think it is the solution to um, you know, what you're what you and what all of us are really looking for when we, you know, get into situations for sure, man. Yeah. For sure. Heck yeah. But man, you know, I I think about just the business world is so competitive, regardless of whatever form of business you're in, like I said, regardless if it's wealth management, if it's aviation, if it's, you know, um finance, whatever it is, man. And I I think and kind of like we're talking about ego and things of that nature, it's so easy to start believing lies is what I would call them, lies about who you are or what really matters. But what what are some of the lies you feel like kind of show up in your industry? And then how how do you deal with those lies? How do you address them and how do you prevent them from, you know, impacting your own life? Um that's a good question.

SPEAKER_02

Um I I don't know. Uh you know, part of the reason I really love aviation, I can talk about the consulting world all day and lies, because I think those two things go together pretty good. But um that was a good question, because like aviation, at least so far, and maybe I'm just so green that, you know, I'm so optimistic and I just don't see anything wrong with it, but it's just so structured that there's not a whole lot of room for BS really. Um you just kind of go, you, you know, whatever your role is, you show up and you do your job according to a set of stringent and long, lengthy regulations, and then you go home for the most part. I mean, if you're in charter sales or aircraft sales, then you know, there's some nuance in salesmanship. And, you know, I love the sales world and and there's nuance there. But I I'd want to kind of talk a little bit about consulting, and there are a lot of lies in consulting. Um, there are a lot of simple solutions that can be solved. I'm gonna, this is a terrible thing to say because who knows. But there's a lot of simple solutions that can be solved without a consulting firm. And the the consulting business model is in business because people don't know how to solve their own problems or they don't know where to look to solve their own problems. And, you know, companies spend hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars on a contract with a consulting firm to come in and essentially fire about 30 to 50 percent of their employees and then optimize their software or their workflows and then leave. And, you know, there are tools and resources out on the internet or through other people that cost a lot less than hiring a firm that uh can solve a lot of those problems for you. And I think, like you said, the word lies, and it was hard for me to to look at aviation and and see some of that, and it's probably just because I'm so new. But in the consulting world, I think there is a lot of that. There's a lot of um people that are really great wordsmiths and really great persuaders and can make you feel like you need something or feel like something isn't efficient enough. And sometimes it is, and you know, most of the time it is, but you know, they're trying to sell you that they're the solution, and the solution is most of the time in front of you, and there's an easier, cheaper, more efficient way to solve it. Um so I'm not trying to knock on consultants. I know that there are a lot of very successful uh consultants, and they're they're important because they really do help streamline, streamline a lot of the business world. But there are definitely times where it uh where it's a little bit facetious, it's not super necessary, or you know, there's a there's a little bit of lying in there for sure. So um, but yeah. So I didn't really touch aviation, but I can't.

SPEAKER_00

No, no, I love it. But it actually brings out the ultimate point in which I kind of want it to be brought to the forefront for people to understand here. The reason why you felt like there wasn't much of room or room in there for error or for Liza for well, for lack of better word, we'll say for human-s or fleshly things to get in there is you said a word called structure. And that's a huge part of what makes the most successful athlete, makes the most successful business person. It's why people succeed with what I do when I'm helping them and coaching them through their their health and fitness struggle. It's it's it's not will. You don't need more willpower, you don't need more motivation, you don't need more cat posters and more David Doggins videos, right? What you need is a simple structure that works for you. And it's it's what allows for no BS, for no errors, and it's it's what creates success in a place just like what you said, where there's not much room for lies and errors to really get in there. Um it's I think it's such a crucial part to success in any world. I mean, just like integrity for you in if you're looking to succeed in whatever you're doing, man. Um I guess like I and you mentioned kind of consulting. I want to kind of dip back into that, man. Do in your words, like, do you feel like not having integrity, obviously in some of these areas, like do you feel like it's it cost a lot of businesses, it cost people when they don't have integrity in these areas?

SPEAKER_02

I think sometimes, I'm sure, I'm sure it does, but I think sometimes it's just ignorance and it's not even like stupidity, really. Like people just don't know what's happening. Like one of the best things you can have for a business is just a good accountant, you know, because sometimes or or just to understand that yourself, because you just don't know where your money's going a lot of times. Like most of the time, a lot, or well, a lot of the time when I was working with some of these clients, it was like they just didn't know where the money was going. And, you know, just a a good accountant, or like you said, just structure and you know, on-time reporting with, you know, financials um would have would have helped them a lot and that would have fixed their whole problem. Um and I think I think that a successful business, whether it be small or huge, um, most of the time has integrity and they and that's that's why they're successful. Um if you don't, I think it's really hard. I think it's really hard to succeed. I mean if I mean I guess if you're big enough, like you see it with a lot of these big companies. I don't want to shout out, you know, Disney, but you know, Disney is one in my mind that's like, you know, geez Louise, who knows uh what's going on there? And but they're big enough to maybe um mitigate some of that. But most successful businesses, I mean, they have to have integrity, right? Because people aren't gonna trust their product or service unless, you know, they know what they're buying into, they know what they're um what they're about. So yeah, I would I would assume so. Yeah. I mean, integrity's super important.

SPEAKER_00

So true, man. I love that. That's so good, man. And speaking of integrity, I feel like when you do have it, um, you know, like the one who's patient and endures, you know, last till the end, right? This is this is a huge biblical principle. And I I think it's the same in business. It's the ones that don't quit, it's the ones who keep going, it's the ones who keep doing things right when they feel like they can shortcut it, when they feel like they can do something different, they stick on that path because they understand at the end of it what they're looking for is there. Man, do you feel like, or I guess like I know you mentioned a little bit of, you know, God working in what you're doing now, but when it comes to what you're doing now, do you feel like there was like a a window of opportunity or decision you made that completely changed your trajectory, you know, with what you're doing right now? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Man, I was I was kind of waiting to talk about this because this is what I'm about to say is like the coolest proof of, you know, God's hand in your life. I I think. I mean, so I got laid off uh from my consulting job in I think it was January of 24. Yeah, it was January of 24. And they were just doing force reduction. My boss got laid off, I got laid off. Um and it was shocking. Like we were not expecting that. We were doing some pretty good work, and and you know, we thought our team was great. But um yeah, my boss and I got laid off. And so then I'm like, oh my gosh, like I gotta go get another job. Like, what am I gonna do? Um, and so I was searching, and that's actually when I came out to Dallas and saw you last time I saw you was uh I was out there for an interview with this insurance company. I was just interviewing everywhere at the time, just trying to find another job. And uh then I kind of realized, man, like I really always wanted to fly airplanes, like that's been what I want to do, but it just seemed so unaccessible financially or really just financially. It's just so expensive to train yourself to go and do that thing. Um and I talked about it with my wife, and we just jumped into it. Um, we spent a lot of money doing my training, and you know, I there were some roadblocks along the way that kind of hurt the trajectory of what I want to do. I wanted to fly for a commercial airline. I ended up only getting a private pilot's license and spent a bunch of money doing it. And uh, you know, I I don't love the word quit, but I did kind of quit because I I got to a point financially where I didn't feel comfortable putting my wife and I through what we were going through for much longer. So I just was like, all right, I'm gonna go back to work and I'm gonna hope to stay in aviation. And uh I interviewed for this job at uh jet links, and it was a part-time client relations job. You all you did was you'd greet clients as they come in as they arrive on these jets, and then as they depart, um, these charter, charter, charter guests. And it was so, so part-time. Like I'm talking like three hours, maybe every two weeks. And I was doing something else, you know, full time and waiting tables or, you know, trying to make ends meet in other ways. But I really wanted this aviation thing to work. And so I took this job, and this job was on the south side of Denver. I live in northern Colorado. So the commute was an hour, it is an hour and 20 minutes one way for three hours of work and then an hour and 20 minutes back for maybe like three hours every two weeks, or maybe three hours a week. And my and people in my life were like, well, why are you doing that? Like, that doesn't seem like you're you're not making money at that point. You're burning money on gas, you're putting miles on your car. And I was like, I just feel like if I do this for long enough, I'm gonna meet somebody and you know, I'm gonna talk to them and hopefully maybe they have a job for me, maybe they have a full-time job for me. And sure enough, like not even a couple weeks later, that's exactly what happened. There was a guy, his name's Tyler, and he came in uh to my boss's office and was like kind of grumbling a little bit. He was like, Man, you know, I gotta hire another flight ops guy. And, you know, we're, you know, we're bummed that we have to do that again in Q1 of 26. Like, we were hoping we could hold on to one. And my boss, and we had not worked together for more than 10 hours, man. She was like, You should look at Dylan. And I was like, oh my gosh, like that would be amazing. And so Tyler and I started talking, but she stuck her neck out on the line for me and she barely knew me. I had no direct flight ops experience, like nothing that would qualify me for this job. And sure enough, three months later, we go through the whole interview process, and and I got this job about a couple weeks ago. And if I wouldn't have taken this part-time job that, you know, was so, so part-time and and you know, didn't make sense for any reason financially, wasn't on paper worth my time or worth the money I was getting, um, I would not have the job that I have right now. And uh and that was a God thing. I mean, that that doesn't make sense. Um for my boss to stick her neck out like that, it didn't make sense. I didn't have experience. I was not qualified on paper for this role. And uh God put her in my life, and God put that job in my life to to help me move forward. And I and honestly, um it gave me so much encouragement and uh and it kind of brought back my confidence again because I think uh the past couple years were were tough doing the flight school thing and not having a full-time job and trying to figure out what we were trying to figure out. So that is like my catch window. My catch window was like taking that job that didn't make sense and kind of trusting in the Lord and and betting on myself a little bit that I can find I can find something down here. I can stay in aviation. This is what I want to do. And um and God gave that to me, and my boss, um, she was nice enough to stick her neck out for me. And um yeah, that's that's my story of like kind of how I ended up here is um some people would call it like dumb luck, but it truly was God's grace that uh that I that I have this that I have this new job. So um pr just pretty crazy stuff. I just can't believe it.

SPEAKER_00

But yeah, man. Yeah, yeah. Hey, faithful endure to the end, right? I mean, there there is there is rewards, I think earthly and heavenly, and exercise in faith, you know, and faith without works is dead, right? It's easy to sit there and say, I prayed about it and that's enough. It's one thing to say I'm gonna drive an hour and 20 minutes both ways for three hours of work a week. I mean, it's so stupid, right? You know, talk about faith, right? And don't see it. Others may not have the vision for it, but that's what faith is all about, right? Is you being able to see it and have the vision for it and sticking it out until what you wanted came. No man, I think that's so powerful. And in and in this world, uh specifically, you know, we talk about entrepreneurship, we talk about business. I think that is such a huge part of what separates the ones who succeed from the ones who don't, is that level of faith, that level of I trust, I believe, and in your own abilities too. People miss that part too. Yes, of course, trust, have faith, you know, follow God, believe that God can can make a way an opportunity, but have faith in yourself, have confidence in yourself and what you can do. Um, I think a a large part of that, a lot of it ties back to integrity, right? Like confidence, like to confide in yourself means to trust yourself. And I don't think you can trust yourself if you're always telling yourself lies, right? I love this saying. They say every lie that's you've ever told, you're the only one who's heard every single one of them, right? So if you're so so and for those people out here listening to this, if you're so acclimated to lying to yourself, saying you're gonna do something and not doing it, saying you're gonna go for this thing or do this thing and not doing with it, that's what's stifling your confidence. That's what's keeping you stuck, that's what's keeping you from seizing that window of opportunity. Stop lying to yourself. Start little, start small, and start building your confidence up and put your faith, put your faith in it, right? And and stick with it and endure to the end. Um and you you might have a story like Dylan here, you know. So but uh man, that's awesome. That's encouraging. That's uh that's really amazing, man. It's it's uh no, I just love hearing that. I think it's uh that's the stuff that that encourages people and gets people gets people off their butts and get people moving um and gives them a little bit of courage to keep going, man. Um and talk about courage to people. Man, think about you in college. Yeah. What would you say to that, to you, college you, right? You know, looking at where you're at right now, what would you tell him? I would say just keep I would say keep having fun, honestly.

SPEAKER_02

But I would just say, hey, maybe uh be a little bit more, you know, chill out a little bit, but you know, but you know, but keep having fun. Cause I mean, I think I think most people like look back, or hopefully, most people look back on college like, oh man, those were the days, you know, like people and even high school, like high school was so fun. Um too, and you know, those were the days, and they are the days, but today is the day too, man. You can keep having fun and um have the same kind of I hate this, I hate this saying because it sounds so weird to me, but like the zest for life. I don't like what people I think it's kind of a weird thing to say, but like that's kind of the only words I have is like in high school and in college, you were so stoked on like you're so stoked to go out with your friends on Friday night. You were so stoked to um, you know, like I went to GCU, you're so stoked to go to chapel with your friends or have a coffee in the morning or just do stuff with your friends. You were even stoked to go to some classes because you knew that your friend, you know, was that you really liked was in there and you don't really get to see him that often. Like you can, yeah, I mean, those were the days, but today's the day too, man. Like you still have a heck of a lot of fun. And um I think if you have fun, you're so much more likely to be successful because if you start like kind of giving into the mundaness of the day-to-day life, and life is life is mundane, man. Like the the days, the days do run together, and you know, work at times can run together. But if you can find a way to just have a little bit of fun or do something maybe that you don't do not every day, but at least like maybe once a month, or um I think I think you'll be a much more fun person to be around, and I think that you'll be a more successful person in your career and your personal life just by trying to keep having fun.

SPEAKER_00

I love that, man. I love that. Is there anything you would tell him to pursue harder?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I think well, it's hard because I didn't I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. Like I knew I kind of knew that I wanted to be in sales um in whatever industry that that brought, but something to pursue harder. I mean, I was in esports in college and I loved doing that. I put a lot of my time into that. Um my gosh, and that was a whole lot of fun. We built a Valorant program at GCU Valorant's like a do you know what Valorant is? It's like a first-person shooter esport game. It's kind of like Counter Strike. Um, so we built that up over there, and you know, me and a couple other people worked really hard at that, but I couldn't really say, could I pursue one more thing? I didn't really know that I wanted to be in aviation, or I didn't think it was possible, really, for me. So I mean, maybe I'd say I wish before college I would have pursued aviation, but I just didn't know. So it's hard to say, like, oh, you know, I wish, you know, college would have pursued aviation. I just, I just didn't really know. So if I knew, that'd have been cool. But uh no, I don't think so. I think I don't have a whole lot of regret. I tried to work hard in the things I was doing at the time. And you know, I dif I think I look back and I think that I definitely could have worked harder in certain moments, but I think when I look at the whole picture top down, I'm pretty, pretty grateful and stoked for my college and high school years and um, you know, made a crap ton of mistakes, but had a lot of fun and um learned from learned from everything I did. So I I don't think that changed anything.

SPEAKER_00

That's awesome, man. That's awesome. I love that. Yeah, I think I think the key word is always learn. Always learn. There's always a lesson to be learned. Um, you learn from the successes, you learn from the failures. And I'll say you learn even more from the failures than you do the successes, right? So no, I love that, man. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Can I can I ask the same question to you real quick? I know, I know it's kind of like what you know, in college and high school, what did you look back and do you wish you would have pursued something a little harder, or are you kind of pretty stoked with, you know, your experience and you know what you learned and what you did?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I share a very similar perspective to you. It's like, on one hand, it's like, yeah, you could say that, of course, right? Like I always say I regret never trying to play baseball. Right. So it's like, okay, what could have come of that, whatever. But on the other hand, I agree with you, Ryan. I mean, like you you worked hard at the things that you were doing. Like it wasn't like I wasn't slouching, I was given everything I had. And I think there's so much you learn through experiences. That's why it's just best just to start, like whether it's fitness, whether it's work, like work that inconvenient job, you know, for a summer, for a year, right? Just start because the experience is where you start to learn so much about what you want, a lot about yourself, like what you want or your passionate about, um, what skills you have, where you can solve people's problems. And I think it grows you as a, as a, as a business person, but also just just generally as a person. So I kind of agree with you. It's like, yeah, you know, there are things I wish I would have tried, maybe, you know, a few things here and there. But for the most part, life happens, right? And I think it's important to stop letting life happen to you and start looking at your life, looking at the past of it, take what you can from those past experiences to further improve and to start living life as you move forward instead of just letting it happen. Um so I I would agree with you. I I definitely think I would say, no, like it's uh everything that needed to happen, maybe in the moment, you know, you question some things, you know, you have some hard times, but I mean, they made me who I am today. And, you know, as I continue to grow and learn, I'm gonna keep. Getting better and better, and I'll just keep looking back and probably saying the same thing.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Dude, I I kind of changed my mind. I have one, I have one big regret that I talk about. I talk about it all the time with my life. So you were a football player and you are much bigger, stronger, faster athletic than I am. But I I love football, man. I love football. I played it in my freshman year of high school and I was a shrimp. If if someone's watching this and we went to high school together, you know how small and pale I was. But I got a concussion my freshman year of high school, and I just got beat up so bad, dude. I was so small. So the varsity guys were just killing me. And I wanted to give up, but I loved it. And my mom was kind of like, dude, you're getting your ass kicked, man. So excuse my language. Like you should probably think about not doing this next year. And then eventually, like we kind of decided, like, you know, I'm not gonna play football going forward. That is my biggest regret, man, because I ended up growing a little bit. Yeah. But um, I just wish I would have played more football in high school because tackle football is like the best thing in the world, man. Like it teaches that sport teaches you so much about life and adversity and and those conditioning days, dude, those two days. Like those are that's the real deal. That's good life experience. And then to kind of switch gears and then I'll stop talking. But one more thing I'd say is if you if there's any like 16-year-old people watching this right now, get if you have an in-and-out burger near you, make that your first job because that was my first job. And I got my first consulting job out of college because the hiring manager looked at my resume. And out of all the stuff I did in college and all the jobs I had after that, he didn't look at any of that really. He was like, Oh, you cleaned toilets at In N Out Burger on your, you know, you got the job on your birthday, on your 16th birthday. That's why I want to hire you. And I was like, no way. Um, so In N Out Burger, I'll shout them out too. Get a job over there at 16 years old, man. That was a cool wow, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, dropping gold nuggets right there for the young folk. I love it. I love it, man. That is awesome. But Dylan, man, uh, appreciate your time. Appreciate all all the all the wisdom you instilled, man. It's it's just such valuable stuff. If anyone wanted to just reach out or follow along with your story, your journey, man, where where can they do that?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I'm not uh I mean, I'm on Instagram, Dylan.raymond. You can shoot me, I think I'm public on there, so you can shoot me a DM or whatever. I try to I try to check it, check stuff as much as I can. But you know, I'm trying to I'm trying to stay off social media as much as I can, but that stuff's addicting too, bro. That's a time killer. But man, good to good to see you too, man. And um yeah, thanks for taking time. I appreciate it. Heck yeah, dude. It's a pleasure.