From Small-Town Values To Becoming a CEO - Dave Kooiman

What if the fastest route to a meaningful life is slowing down for the people at home?  Today, we welcome the founder and CEO of Arena Staffing, Dave Kooiman.

In our conversation, Dave opens up about small-town roots, a painful college cut, getting fired, and the surprising breakthroughs that followed. The result isn’t a hustle story; it’s a playbook for building a family culture with clear values, humble leadership, and daily presence.

We start with gratitude and the simple joy of being together—church, school, coaches, and late-night game watching. Dave introduces us to his family’s world: a long love story with his wife and three kids on different paths—golf, cheer, flag football, and baseball. When his daughter lost the spark for club soccer, he didn’t double down. He listened. That choice reframed attitude and effort at home and became the seed for the “Kooiman Compass,” a visible set of family values—Kindness, Obedience, Opportunity, Initiative, Mission, Appreciation, Non-judgment—posted in the kitchen to guide everyday behavior.

From there, we head into the hard stuff. Dave relives getting cut from college soccer for being “not all-in,” a lesson in commitment that stung for a year but forged resilience. Later, a corporate firing pushed him to launch Arena, a skilled trades staffing and headhunting firm in the AEC space. We unpack risk, personal guarantees, and the early years of living lean. The quiet hero is his wife—steady belief, tightened budgets, and a simple charge: “I’ve got the kids. Figure out what’s next.” Her support didn’t just save a business; it safeguarded a family.

The throughline is presence. We talk about guarding evenings, coaching golf, and choosing a family Scotland-Ireland dream over a buddies-only trip. We confront ego, set boundaries, and remember that happy homes make better teammates at work. If you care about faith-driven leadership, parenting with purpose, or practical ways to build character at home, you’ll find tools you can use tonight—questions to ask your kids, values to post on the wall, and a calendar that finally reflects what matters most.

If this conversation nudged you to put family first, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. Your support helps more dads find the courage to lead at home.

Transcript

Welcome And Season Setup

SPEAKER_05 0:03

I'm Ryder and I'm Ryder. And this is my dad's job. Hey everybody, it's Kate Kos with the quarterback. Can't wait for this season as there's a lot of great guests ahead. If you're new to this podcast, really it's simple. It's a podcast where we we interview dads, we learn about how they're arrays, we learn about the life lessons that were important to them, we learn about the values that are important to them, and really we learn about how we can work hard to become a better quarterback or leader of our home. So let's step back, relax, and listen to today's episode of the Quarterback Deck. Hey everybody, it's Casey J. Cox with the Quarterback Deck Cat. We are in season seven, as you well know, and uh our next guest is uh a gentleman I met in the wide world of my staffing uh entrepreneurial journey, uh speaking journey, and uh thanks to uh Elizabeth Simonoff, who I met through um a conference, and um she and I uh hit it off. We had to did a little um a thing with her and her team, and then she introduced me to her boss, the one-well, Dave Coyman, who I met. Uh and he and I fight he and I hit it off because we talked about golf, we talked about life, we talked about some of your things, and you have to spend time at a conference. Next thing you know, I'm speaking at the conference and met his fantastic team. But that's not uh why we're having him on, everybody. We're having Dave on to learn more about Dave the Dad, how he's working hard to become that ultimate quarterback or leader of his household. Uh so without further ado, do, Mr. Coyman, welcome to the quarterback dad cast.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Thank you for having me, Casey. Great to see you.

SPEAKER_05 1:35

You bet.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Hey, hey, and congratulations on your Seahawks. You're welcome for Sam Darnold. Oh, so Vikings, all us Vikings fans are sitting here going, where was that playoff Sam a year ago? He beats the Rams now, couldn't beat him last year. So congrats.

SPEAKER_05 1:49

Oh, I appreciate that. We are recording everybody in January 26th. Uh, this episode will come out a little bit. When this episode does come out, you the CLC Hucks will be Super Bowl champs, which would be which would be nice to see. Um, but I guess the first question are you Dash the Defender from Dort?

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Am I Dash the Defender? I am not, but thank you for asking. I'm not sure we didn't have a Dash defender back then, but we did have a gorilla that no one ever knew what was. He would make appearances and run across the basketball court or run across and no one ever knew, and we would chase him down and no one could catch him. That we had a gorilla back then. I think they need to bring that back uh 25 years later.

SPEAKER_05 2:32

Here we go. Okay, joking aside, we always start out start out each episode gratitude. So tell me, what are you most grateful for as a dad today?

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Who as a dad today? Um I'm super thankful for um a church that my kids get to be a part of, uh, a Christian school that they're gonna be part of, their teachers, their coaches that all surround them. And um it takes a village to raise a kid, and and uh super grateful uh that my kids actually talking to my alma mater that you just mentioned, um, that there's a possibility. So um I'm I'm thankful for great kids and a wife that that um raises them. I mean, she quarterbacks a home uh as best I can while I come to work and uh I get to come home and have fun with them and um be with them all. But I'm I'm super thankful for the family and and and and the example that was set before me um to do the best that I can raise these kids.

SPEAKER_05 3:17

Love it, love it, ma'am. Well, I'm grateful. I'm coming off a weekend where we got extended time with my son. He um he was home for like supposed to be home for like five days because he has how his college schedule sets up. And we had with Martin Luther King Day, he had extra time, and then he ends up getting the flu, like legit testing for the flu. So we were like trying to like hoard him off the house, make sure none of us get it. Yeah, and thankfully not gonna went that happened. But he ended up getting like another four or five days, and then last night we got to have him and uh my daughter and my daughter's boyfriend and a bunch of friends over. We watched the NFC championship as you mentioned earlier, and it was just freaking an awesome, awesome night. So I'm grateful for that that time we got together because it was uh a lot of a lot of a little nervous at times, but uh luckily the boys got it done.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Got it done. It's awesome. Yeah, that's I mean that stadium is the 12th man's real. I've I've been to the Vikings games there a few times, and it's loud and the way that thing is designed, it's it's impressive. So um, yeah, I mean, but you don't get to play there uh for the Super Bowl, you gotta go down to San Francisco. But I think you guys will be all right.

SPEAKER_05 4:18

I I don't want to be that guy, but I I had the same feeling when the Hawks beat Denver, you know, 12 years ago, 13 years ago, and I was like, I just I think it's gonna be a blowout. I just I don't I don't think it's gonna be a blowout, but I definitely I know we're already favored, and just defensively, this team is so good.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

It is good.

Meet Dave: Marriage And Kids

SPEAKER_05 4:37

So anyway, all right. Well, bring me inside the Coyman Huddle. You talked a little bit about Wes, you talked a little bit about uh your wife, but talk about how you and your wife met and then a little bit about each child.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Okay. Uh yeah, so my wife and I, believe it or not, I taught high school for two years. I did not teach my wife. I think there's a lot of people that think everybody, but we actually met when I was teaching a computer applications class in the year 2002-ish, I think is when it was. She walked into the classroom as a freshman in college, not a senior in high school, to meet her old friends on Christmas break. And I was like, who's this smoking hot girl at my door right now? And I hope she's not in high school. And she said that she wanted to, you know, hang out for her friends. I'm like, we got five minutes left in class. You can grade some papers. And that's the first time we met. Um, and then four years later, we kind of started dating. Um, but it was just kind of through mutual friends that you know, we kind of like, oh yeah, I met you one time before. And um, I was a young teacher that moved from Iowa to Southern California. She went to high school out here, so I was teaching at her alma mater. And um, yeah, so we just kind of we we went that way. I mean, I think at one point, um, I don't tell the full story, uh, if my parents listened to this podcast, but she said she had never been to Mexico, so I had a buddy in town and said, Hey, let's go down to Mexico. So we went down to Mexico and hung out in uh, I think Rosarita and for a weekend and came back up and then I asked her out. Um and we went the first night we went on a date. I'll never forget this. I was a school teacher making 35, 36 grand a year, didn't have much money. Um, and I went to Benny Haha's and I'm like, oh man, I'm I'm for sure gonna spend a full night with her. And so we go, we have dinner, and she goes, okay, see you later. I'm gonna go dancing with my friends to this country line dance play soon. And I'm like kind of expecting an invite that I'm gonna go, right? And nope, denied, bought her the dinner, she left without me. And I didn't give up though, called back. You know, we didn't have cell phones back then. You leave a message on a phone or whatever, and um, we ended up going out uh again a few weeks later down to Santa Monica, back when 3rd Street Promenade was actually a thing. Now it's not really a thing. Um, and then it's been history since then. I think we dated for three or four years, got married in 2006, so this is gonna be 20 years this year. So uh 2006, my wife um worked as a paralegal for a long time. She is now um taking care of our household at home, uh domestic engineer, whatever you want to call it, but she takes care of the kids and gets in where they need to be and takes care of me, and uh it's been fantastic. And then our oldest is Wes. He's a junior in high school. Uh so he is 17 years old. He uh loves golf, so he got the golf bug uh like I did. He is on the basketball team as well, so um they uh they got a pretty good team this year. Hopefully, they make the playoffs and make a little bit of run this year. He's a he's a reserve, uh, uh, but he loves being part of the team and uh he has a lot of fun. Good kid, good student. Um Ella is my daughter. She is uh a freshman and 16, just got her permit. So um been driving with her a little bit every once in a while. So she's uh she's doing that long-term soccer player. Uh decided she was kind of sick of it, so she just took on cheerleading. So she's actually on the cheerleading team this year, and she flagged flag football. Uh CIF's recognized girls flag football. So she did that as a freshman this year. So she's open to everything, and uh uh she's a great kid. I absolutely love Ella and love bonding with her. And then my youngest is Reed, um, R-E-I-D. He is a seventh grader and he is 13 years old. Um, is die hard, passionate about baseball. Um, try to get him to go to the golf course with Wes and I quite a bit, and he does every once in a while, but he is just in love with baseball and loves doing that. So he's in seventh grade. So three kids, boy, girl, boy.

SPEAKER_05 8:33

Now, was your wife an athlete?

SPEAKER_01 8:35

She was. She played soccer.

SPEAKER_05 8:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Yep. So she played a little collegiate soccer and until I think uh she broke her wrist for the second time and she said, I'm done. So but I think she played one year of college, but she was a great player. Uh Terra Christian Girls Soccer's always been good. So her name is definitely on the wall of the gymnasium a few times with some CIF titles.

SPEAKER_05 8:56

Wow. Um, and who's our is are we are we Padres fans? Are we Angels Dodgers? Who's our squad?

SPEAKER_01 9:03

So I'm a Twins fan.

SPEAKER_05 9:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

So I'm born and raised. When I was 10 and when I was 14, we won the World Series. So I was living in Northwest Iowa. We were three hours away. My parents would take us to the Metrodome, and we would go get the$3 cheap seats and run around and set up there. So winning it at, you know, that was the height of collecting baseball cards. This was Kirby Puckett, Kent Herbeck, all those days. So I still a twins fan of this day. I've kind of made my kids twins fan, but I think with the Dodgers winning so much, I think Reed is leaning towards the Dodgers more than anybody else. Um, but yeah, I'm I'm still a twins fan, but the kids lead Dodgers for sure.

Baseball Cards And Nostalgia

SPEAKER_05 9:42

So random, speaking about um baseball cards. So my when my son was sick recently, he was so bored because it was like we're just trying to like keep him just like bro, you you can't make this thing worse. You gotta like just chill. And so he literally somehow I even didn't know that I had this in the house somewhere, but he ran across like old baseball cards I had that somehow were in like his room or somewhere he found them. He's like, Dad, dad, dude, you got a you got a Jordan rookie baseball card. I didn't even know it. He's so he's like, then yeah, he went through this like obsessive, like for two-hour stint of just like collecting. I said, Well, bro, make me a spreadsheet, let's see what we got. You know, I mean, I had uh like a bunch of cards that like I mean it was just so funny watching them go through. And then I I used to have um, I know I used to have a Griffey card. He's like, I remember having this thing, and I think but again, I think we got rid of those and gave them to your your uh cousin.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

He's like, damn it. Uh I mean we we work so I mean I remember buying the packs with the bubblegum and I think it was 1987 tops year. They had the wood graner on the outside, Mark McGuire, it might have even been Jose Concico, Barry Bonds, all these rookie cards that year. And I'm collecting in a little homemade wood thing, thinking that I'm gonna keep them in mint condition, right? And work so hard to get like 750 cards, and then find out that my buddy just went to the guy down and paid 25 bucks for the entire set and just had the entire set. But anyway, I don't I don't know if people, you know, wasn't there only Beckett magazine where what's this rookie card worth? I mean, a card's worth what someone's worth willing to pay for it, but I I don't know if people pay for the cards or how it works anymore.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

Neither do I.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

They're downstairs in my house. My parents finally made me take them back because they were gonna throw them out. And I'm like, no, no, no. So they took them out. They're just downstairs in my basement. I don't know what I'm ever gonna do with them.

Growing Up In Iowa And Faith

SPEAKER_05 11:29

Um, okay. It's now time to uh turn back the clock a little bit. And I'm I want to learn about what was life like growing up for you and um talk about the impact mom and dad had uh had had on you uh from a values perspective.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yeah, uh grew up small town northwest Iowa, or in city, Iowa. Um, you know, if you wanted to rob a town, you'd come there on Sunday morning and everybody was in church. You know, it was it was 5,000 uh people. Um my parents grew up in southwest Minnesota. Um, so they grew up working hard on farms. Um my dad uh is known to say I never want to milk another cow or do anything, so that's why he went and got a college degree and became a teacher. So he was uh he was a Christian school administrator his entire life. Um never made a ton of money, but he he made up for it by working really hard in the summertimes and doing construction. In fact, he built all three of our houses there. He would buy property and build them. So um, you know, I can tell you from learning from my grandparents and my parents, I just learned how to work. Uh, I learned a work ethic. Um, you know, so I mean, I think that's the best thing he could have ever taught me was how to fend for myself. You know, I'm going through it with Wes right now and going, hey, I don't, I'm not gonna call the college recruiter, you've got to call him. I'm not gonna figure out your financial aid packet, you gotta figure it out, right? My dad made me made me earn it, right? He started me at a young age. Uh, you know, if I wanted to buy something in town, I had to figure out how to earn it, right? Whether it was working for him or working for somebody else. Um, so you know, learned, you know, learned my faith with them, right? Growing growing up and going to church twice on Sunday. And man, was I mad that I had to go to church on Sunday night, but uh, we call them holy habits. Um, you know, someone always said on holy habits, you give up. And Casey, we talked about it a few weeks ago too, right? Um, you know, they they tell me holy habits, right? And to stay grounded and remember um, you know, what's really important in life, right? And that Jesus died on the cross to save our sins. And I'm so thankful to have grown up in that in that home and um being able to do that. You know, my mom was, my mom worked for the local newspaper and uh the advisor and the Capitol Democrat. So she went to work on a regular basis. I was the youngest. Um, but you know, obviously she cooked for us, kept clean, she took care of me, did my laundry. Um, but same thing, you know, learning how to work hard for her. My mom was always good. She was a prayer warrior and learning how she cared for people in the church and reached out to them. So, you know, she was always empathetic to others and always caring about others to this very day, right? I mean, she cares about um, you know, my friends out here in California that she doesn't really RC. She hears something, how are they doing, reaches out, sends them cards, sends them e cards. Uh, she's always been fantastic. So um, yeah, I I was very, very fortunate to have a family that um that raised me. I was the youngest of three. My brother was uh six years older than me. Uh you met my brother. He is now my uh I talked to an engineer and come in to be the COO of my company, which is super blessed. And then my sister was four years older than me. So um, you know, we didn't grow up crazy close because we were quite a ways apart. Um that's what's kind of cool where Jeff and I get to work together now. Um, but yeah, it was it was a very established moment. But at the same time, you know, you you grow up in a small town, you're you're living in a sheltered world, you don't really know what's going on. And you know, we we love living in California now. We love growing up, uh our having our kids grow up here and having the oceans and the mountains and the options and the Lakers and the Clippers and the Dodgers and the golf courses. Um it's just different. Um but for me, um, I had a great childhood growing up for sure.

SPEAKER_05 14:53

Now are mom and dad still with us?

SPEAKER_01 14:55

They are, yep. So yep, my dad retired at a at a pretty young age. He retired, I think he had a little bit of a heart scare. Uh, he had heart history in his family. Thank goodness my mom doesn't, but he did. So he's been living healthy, but um, he finds ways to do work. He still was driving bus for the schools for a long time, Bibles for Missions, Zestos which deliver food. He would always find whatever nonprofit you could find. He would have an office at that nonprofit. And then he still mows at the golf course. Um, they are 77 years old, and I think my mom could tell him tell me how many nine-hole rounds they do every year from I mean, pretty cool there right now, but they still play a ton of golf. And uh, in fact, that's kind of how I learned golf is they needed a coach at the high school team like in 1984. I think I was seven years old, and my dad said, I'll I'll be the golf coach. And so I learned at the same time my dad did, and and uh that was super cool to grow up golfing with him for sure.

SPEAKER_05 15:49

Now, are they still back in the Midwest?

SPEAKER_01 15:51

They are, Orange City, Iowa, yep.

SPEAKER_05 15:53

Okay. Were they ever Barnstormer fans?

SPEAKER_01 15:56

You know, that's Kurt Warner, right? Yeah, so we never really followed arena football. We were just always died hard Vikings fans. Vikings fans, that was it was a Sunday tradition. Go to church, come home, be disappointed, and be mad from noon to three every day because the Vikings would just disappoint me. So we didn't, I mean, I honestly, I don't even know if I knew what arena football was when I was there.

SPEAKER_05 16:17

Uncle Rico story, you ready for it?

SPEAKER_01 16:19

I'm ready.

SPEAKER_05 16:20

So I actually got um cut by the Portland and then almost got picked up by San Jose and then decided to hang it up in would have been 99 because I was like, I didn't want to make 40 grand a year and then work in a warehouse for six months and have probably bad insurance, and then uh, but I once I but I I literally had an arena tryout and um I it was super fun for a little bit, but I just didn't had a chance to go overseas. But yeah, arena league, it was like big for a while. I mean, huge ESPN.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah, I mean, I I don't know what year it was that Kurt Warner. I mean, you should have gone and worked at high v food stores, right? I mean, obviously, you watched that movie, The Underdog, right? Kurt Warner going on to win the MVP in the Super Bowl. It's a pretty crazy story.

Hard Lessons In Commitment

SPEAKER_05 17:01

Um, okay, so the game of golf, you you learned that with your your pops. Your dad was a teacher. Now, were you handy growing up, or did that was that a learned skill?

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Yeah, I am not handy now. Just ask my wife. Um, but my dad was always handy. I I would never call myself handy. Um I just I I could do the work. I worked construction with him, you know, I would help learn how to roof houses, do all that kind of stuff. I mean, one year we paid for our entire year of college because a thunderstorm came through and we roofed as many houses as we could in the summertime with a bunch of teachers and buddies. But I was never the the the most handy. I mean, I wasn't the finished carpenter. You didn't want me doing the trim and the base. I you needed to keep me on the rough side of the house or the demo side of the house for sure. But my dad definitely could.

SPEAKER_05 17:44

Nice. What um so besides a work ethic, um I think I even said that you're I'm triggering for me stories that I I had to learn things the hard way. But like um, can you think of another other value or two where you had to learn learn something through a story that maybe you share with your your kids as you grew up?

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Yeah, you know, I think one of the one of the toughest stories for me um, and my dad kind of walked it through with me. And ironically, it was one of those teachers that helped us roof those houses. He was my high school English teacher, but he was also a soccer coach. So in the fall, my freshman year, the soccer was in the fall and golf was in the fall. So another college had recruited me and said, you can play both. Here's a scholarship for both. So I went through there and said, All right, I'm gonna do it. And um, you know, went through tryouts. He had four days, you would run in the morning, you would work your butt off, and I built all this camaraderie, these guys from Washington and Idaho and Wisconsin, and I was like, man, college is so awesome. I'm gonna be part of this soccer fraternity, and it's awesome, and I love this. And, you know, in fact, I'm scoring goals. I think I'm gonna even maybe even get a chance to start my freshman year and love it. And at the same time, I'm gonna do golf, and I still get to go play in the golf matches, and I do both. You know, it's like this is awesome. And then literally, uh, they posted the list of who made the soccer team. And I remember walking up, my roommate looked at me and I wasn't on the list. I'm like, Well, what do you what do you mean I'm not on the list? Like, you know, so I call the coach and I go, hey, like I'm good enough to make this team. He's like, Oh, yeah, you're good enough to make this team, but like you're not committed. You you you want to golf. So I'm like, well, why didn't you tell me that? He's like, I didn't know I had to tell you that. You just found out right now. And I was just so mad because I could have been practicing golf, I couldn't do anything, and I worked hard, and and then I became friends with all these guys. Like, I mean, friends to this day still, right? Like, I played indoor soccer in the offseason, but it's probably the most mad. And like, you know, it just I learned the lesson, and I would call my dad, and my dad would just go, Yeah, I mean, I could have told you Bill was gonna do that to you. But my dad didn't tell me Bill was gonna do it to me. He they let me learn, right? And like, what's the value? What did you learn from it, right? Like, well, hey, life's not fair. Yeah, you know, coaches are looking for devoted people that want to be part of the team. They don't want someone who's half in, someone that's not all in, right? And being and and being committed to a team, right? And so either I was gonna commit to the golf team or I was gonna commit to the soccer team, right? Um, but yeah, I mean, that was for years. I I mean, I the whole college, every time I went and you know, I would see my roommate and go, they would go on a soccer trip and they go to this, and I'm on the golf team, and let's just face it, you know, golf, you got five or six guys, it's just not the same as a as in a team sport, right? Um, so yeah, that that was that was a hard learning lesson that I mean I still remember it vividly. I remember walking into that place, and my name, I mean, first the embarrassment of the first time ever getting cut from a team, yeah, right? It's like, what? Right? Like, what you know, but but yeah, that I mean, for my dad to allow that to happen, and and then it's like they almost planned it together, like, hey, Dave needs to be a humble lesson, like let's teach him, right? But yeah, I learned from it for sure.

SPEAKER_05 20:46

Do you ever talk to your dad about that to this day?

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Yeah, and I actually, believe it or not, um, talked to his name is Bill Algersma. I talked to him and had coffee with him a couple years ago. He now works still in the skilled trades, teaching high school kids how to do the skilled trades, and I've been talking to him about that side of it. But yeah, I mean, I'll never be in so mad. I mean, that that was that was not a fun experience for sure.

SPEAKER_05 21:08

How long did it take you to get um to change your mindset or your attitude about that experience?

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Man, I think I was bitter for probably a year and a half. I mean, even the second year, I wanted to come back and prove him like, hey, I can do this, right? You know, and I think probably until I think my sophomore year, we actually qualified for nationals in golf. And so, like, then we've got to go play Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and do that. And I was like, okay, this makes sense to actually commit all my time to do this. But yeah, it was bad. I mean, I, you know, I was I was jealous of my friends that they went on these trips and they'd go away and they were pretty good. And I would go play indoor soccer with them in in in the off season. But yeah, it took a while, Casey. You know, at that age, you're you're so young, you're 20 years old or 18, 19 years old, you're just not mature, you're not processing life lessons or all that kind of stuff. Uh, so it took a while for sure.

SPEAKER_05 21:58

Have you shared that with your kids? Kids?

SPEAKER_01 22:00

I don't think I've shared that with my kids. Yeah. I have not.

Parenting Through Setbacks

SPEAKER_05 22:06

It's interesting when like I think like when we talked about, I mean, I've shared this with people. Have you heard this heard what's going on in my life with my my year? My daughter had a really brutal injury. And so we she and I have that in common now of losing our senior year. And um, I remember telling my kids my story when you know years ago, and it probably was one year out the other, but now that it's like really hitting home for my daughter, it's like it's been kind of cool like to we haven't had a ton of talks about it, but like what are times where she'll bring something up, or um, or just knowing that hey, dad's dad's been through this before.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 22:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

I mean, that that's huge. The fact that you've been through it, I mean, it's it's gonna be challenging. There's gonna be lonely days, right? And then, you know, hey, do you stay part of the team? Do you go to all of them? Do you do you stay committed, right, to stay part of that chemistry in the center of the team, or are you just gonna sit at home and and cry and and you know, you hope they take the ladder, right, and be part of it because that you know, you need people around you. Like we were born to have people around us, right? Um, but that's the worst part. When you're not part of that team, it's it it stays for sure.

SPEAKER_05 23:06

She sits right next to the coach. Uh it was funny when we were when I was with you last last week. My wife sent me a video. She was doing her PT where the she normally would be sitting with the starters getting warmed up. She was sitting on the court in her warm-up doing PT with the starters as their stretch, and she was doing PT.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_05 23:24

So it was like you know, super feel good, feel good moment because you know, these these anyway. So I always, you know, ask you about your kids because I think it'd be interesting to see how because sometimes your kids they don't they see mom and dad, and oh, life's great and we gotta do all these cool things, and but then there's but those moments shaped you.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Yep. Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm learning from my daughter right now, right? I mean, I mentioned like I I really wanted my daughter to go the path of soccer. I think she was good enough to play at varsity as a freshman and she was rising the ranks in the club level, and you know, I didn't TED talk her. I didn't tell me how's it going, explain to me, describe me what's going on. And she just didn't really like soccer right now, right? And and so I I actually learned from her, right? Uh in the standpoint. Um, but yeah, I think there's there's also a lot of like it's not over yet, right? She she, you know, she's got a long way to go. She's, you know, 15 years old. Right. Right. But I but I'm proud of her for recognizing, you know, what she wants to do. And she is the life of everywhere she goes. She makes people laugh. She's great. She's making a little money babysitting now. I'm not traveling all over Southern California to to soccer games right now. There's definitely a silver lining in it for sure.

SPEAKER_05 24:31

Yeah, it's interesting how we um and I've done a lot of episodes on youth sports and mindset. And you know, we're this is going to be episode near 350, which is kind of hard to hard to believe, but but exciting at one point. But it's sometimes we as parents forget that the the the most best metric of success that we all should be thinking about. And I hate to be preachy here, mom and dad, but imagine if we all instead of worrying about how many goals they scored or what they shoot, it's like, hey, are you happy? And are you a good person? And I think like just interviewing so many dads and I get free therapy out of all these lessons, it's like it's reminding me that, like, you know, and shit, my daughter might never play hoop again. I I hope that doesn't happen selfishly because I love watching her compete and it's so fun. But if you might decide, hey, yep.

The Koyman Compass Family Values

SPEAKER_01 25:14

It's yeah, we don't need to get into the youth sports brokenness right now. It's crazy, right? Yeah, absolutely. I'm I'm I'm super thankful for a grounded wife who recognizes it too, and you know, and it's um but yeah, I mean, I look at the baseball thing, it's it's nuts right now, but my kid loves it, right? Like he loves it, so I'm gonna support it. But if he ever comes to me and says, Dad, I'm I wanna take a step back, okay, let's let's talk about it. I I care more about who they are as kids, right? I care more about their attitude and their effort, right? At least that's those are the two things that they can control. You know, they got, you know, unfortunately they're blessed with you know my speed, right? And so, you know, I mean, certainly they have some athletic ability, but you know, they aren't gonna be division one athletes, that's for sure, right? And um, but yeah, I'm I'm just I'm proud of all three of them for sure.

SPEAKER_05 26:01

That's awesome. Well, as you and and your wife were raising your kids, obviously, I know faith's a big, a big important um element of your life, but besides faith, and we please talk about it, but like what what are what would be the values that are super important to you as you raise your kids?

SPEAKER_01 26:17

Yeah, it's it's it's a great point because we were kind of having some issues on attitude and effort, which was tied to soccer and where she wasn't happy, right? Uh so my daughter and I actually went to dinner and you know, we kind of had like, hey, tell me more, explain more, and then I was kind of feeling it for it. I'm like, um, you know, we came up with the core values at Arena, right? Like, um, and we're talking about attitude and effort on the soccer field. And um, to be truthfully honest, I think I wanted um I wanted her to excel in soccer. I cared more about going to games and seeing her playing in college, and she just wasn't having it. And we kind of sat down and we talked about coming up with core values, similar to core values we have at Arena, where we have authentic relationships, excellence, nurture, and all in. Uh, we came up with the Koyman Compass. Uh, the Koyman Compass was super simple, and and my hot her and then my boys kind of agreed to everything. Um, and it we spelled out Koyman, K-O-O-I-M-A-N, and we came up with kindness, obedience, opportunity, initiative, mission, appreciation, and non-judgment. And and we try in the household and we have it hanging up in the kitchen. And every time I don't pick up my clothes or don't do my dishes, I'm not being real kind to my wife and either of the kids, right? We talk about opportunity uh within the school and within sports. We about take talk about initiative and being a cause rather than an effect in life. Um, we talk about not being judgmental of others. So if we're in the kitchen and we're starting to talk about teammates or others or teachers, we can see that on the wall and we try to live off that. Uh, so those are the values we definitely try to live uh live by in the Coyman family. Oh, by the way, I have another unbelievable story I just thought of, I gotta tell you. So I poured concrete with my dad, right, all the time. So a lot of times towards the end, it was just me always setting up the rebar and everything. So we were about three three blocks away from where we lived, and my dad came back and I had set all the rebar. And if you look at rebar, you gotta tie each one. You gotta do these wire ties, wire ties, it's hard, and then you gotta put a little piece of concrete so it's up two inches. So I had done this entire three-stall garage and did it, and on the ends, I kept the rebar about eight inches away from the side. And my dad wanted them four inches from the side, but I literally tied all these rebar, and he looks at me and goes, No, four inches from the side. I'm like, Dad, no one's gonna know. It's indoor, it's the in, it's not the outdoor drivewall, we don't need to do that. And we just had this knockout, drag out argument, and he just sped off. And you know, I just did one of these things where I'm I want to kill him. And so I just I just lay down on the uh, I just lay down. I'm so mad I just lay down. Up comes my mom on her bicycle, like, hey Dave, what are you doing? Are you are you getting paid right now? Right. So my mom busts me, right? Like, and she's like, she's like, like, oh, dad came home all fuming, so he didn't want to talk about it. And I'm like, well, he could come here and help me. This is ridiculous, right? And like going back, and then when my mom told my dad that I was literally laying down on the job, and there was there was no child labor laws, there was no, hey, I'm not gonna pay you thing. It was next level and a learning experience about like, hey, like in the future, you're gonna have a boss that tells you to do something and you need to know how to do it. You're gonna have bad bosses, you're gonna have jerks, you're gonna deal with people, right? And sometimes my dad was a jerk about that kind of stuff, right? And I had to learn from it, right? And just deal with it. Like him putting a, but I mean, I remember we were pouring concrete sometimes and I'd be going slow and he would kick me in the ass and like, let's go, dude. And and I learned that stuff from him, but it was it was hard and it was frustrating as a kid, but I can look back at it now and go, hey man, I'm glad he, I'm glad he didn't go. Oh, David, are you okay? Oh, David, you just go sit over there, right? You can tell me how to work. Um, but yeah, I'll never forget that story, too.

SPEAKER_05 29:57

Your kids know that one?

SPEAKER_01 29:58

They don't know that one. I that that's a good one for Grant and Grandma to definitely tell them, but my mom definitely remembers that one for sure.

Work Ethic Stories From Construction

SPEAKER_05 30:04

That's what's fun, is like I've all these people I've interviewed. Sometimes I ask that's obviously a second time I've asked you at that question. It's interesting when because sometimes we just dads don't think to tell our kids these stories because we're going too fast or like whatever. But sometimes like it'd be interesting if you decide to do it. Um you could use our friend Ted. Hey, tell me about would it be hell if I share a story about when I was an idiot as a kid? Yeah. I bet you'd get uh six sets of eyeballs. What? Yeah, dad, tell me. Um for sure. Sometimes it's even like now I think about you know, I have a 19-year-old in college, 17 at home, as um, you know, sharing my stories of either getting fired by a a job, or when you said getting cut, I remember getting cut in eighth grade. No, seventh grade baseball. First time I ever got cut. And I remember I was like, where's my name? Did they use Invisible Inc. Like gotta be there someplace?

SPEAKER_01 30:52

They must have missed it. They must have missed it for sure.

SPEAKER_05 30:55

But that's where I learned that experience there. That's where I learned a lot about mind and the words we tell ourselves and self-belief. And then it got re-really, I think, uh filed into me later in life. But sometimes I don't think we as parents give our kids enough of that belief at home and just like if you believe in yourself, you're already better than most. You know, just having the having the whether it's on the golf course, the test, driving, where whatever it may be, just having that self-belief is something we can definitely um absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

I mean, t teaching a kid to have confidence and encouraging them, and um absolutely is one of the most important things we can do as parents.

SPEAKER_05 31:35

Where do you think so? You obviously founded founded a company, you've been in, you've been in the uh staffing industry for a while, but where did the the entrepreneurship or the bug of being an entrepreneur come from?

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Man, I just to be candid with you, I I don't I don't think anyone ever goes and says, I'm gonna be an entrepreneur and I'm gonna go risk everything and I'm gonna take all this, I'm gonna take my credit cards away from my wife and Dave Ramsey and give her a bunch of cash. Like no one says I'm gonna do that, right? Like, unless you're in a position where you're kind of forced to, right? Now, I had always kind of thought about it. I I would see other buddies that had small businesses, and I'm like, wow, they do really well. I mean, I think I got this big corporate job and I'm traveling all over and spending the company's money and taking clients out and going to games and everything. But I'm like, what is hold on? He's that guy's only got like two employees, and I think he does really well, right? So I think I would kind of see where I would kind of start to think about it. And then as my kids starting to grow and I wanted more time, I wanted to be able to golf more. I didn't want to deal with middle managers and and and bosses. So I always kind of thought about it, but I was always kind of scared to do it, right? And then I would even have, I ended up on the board at my church, and the pastors go like, hey Dave, I think I think you're a guy who could kind of start his own business and and grow something. You should really do it and encourage it, but until you're really forced to, right? Um, and and and I took a job um with a company where um, you know, I ended up getting fired. And uh it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I took the job and um, you know, got fired for different reasons, but it was either, hey, go back to corporate America and try to figure it out, or like, hey, let's let's buckle down and let's figure it out. And um, it was hard. I don't know if I could do it again. I mean, it was two or three years of just grinding and getting after it, and that was in literally we are gonna be year 10. Um, my marketing gal was just sending over our logo and what we're gonna use for our 10-year anniversary next year. And um, it was a grind. So I I can't say I really, you know, I was the lemonade stand kid or the guy, you know, doing this, but I always had salesmanship and I always had interpersonal skills, and people always told me I should be a salesperson. But like in the Midwest, salespersons were kind of frowned upon, right? What it they didn't look at it the way I look at it, like salesperson is what make the people the business go around. I mean, you were a sales guy and staffing, you you made it happen for your company, right? You you build relationships, it's not like you're just going out there selling trinket or a used car salesman, some would call it, right? Yeah, you you made it happen. And and so I think I always kind of had that negative view of sales until I started realizing, like, wait, I do sales every day, right? I had to sell my wife and on how to do it, right? And it should build that piece out. So I think as I was growing it, um, you know, when I started the company, um, I realized that I was gonna manage the sales piece and I just need to hire people to handle the recruiting piece and the operation stuff. Um, and that's kind of how it began. You know, like I would sit here and go, yeah, man, I always dreamed to do this. No, no, no, I was forced to. And it was, it was, it was picked two roads, go back to corporate America and and start and go work for someone else, would have been the more secure, safer route to go financially at the time, or go try and do it on my own. And uh, that's what I did. And it was scary, man. I mean, if my wife knew the personal guarantees that I signed and uh all that money I put out there with the risk, it it was definitely scary. It's not for everybody for sure. And I I you know, my dad says, I don't know how you sleep at night, and uh, you know, because he comes from that new west background, we we take a lot of risk in this industry for sure. But with risk comes reward.

Entrepreneurship After Getting Fired

SPEAKER_05 34:55

Right. So when you said that, you're making me think about a gentleman who I interviewed, his dad, um um a cabinet company, actually, here a company called Belmont Cabinet. And they're up in um like the Seattle, there they do work worldwide. Shout out to Casey Bell and um his his family. But in that uh in that journey when his dad was early in the along the lines, he actually ended up getting in business with a couple folks. And one, they were shady dudes, ended up stealing everything, guy lost everything. He's literally on in he tells a story. There's a video out there that he literally is in you know in the kitchen floor, almost curled up in a field position, crying. And his wife came over, puts his arm around him, she says, I'm betting on you. And is to me, it's like the most powerful thing. So, wives, if you're listening, sometimes I think I'll speak for myself. Like when my wife says, like, man, dude, you're I thank you. I'm so grateful. Like, we're doing it. So it's like we all need a little bit of pick me up and attaboy from time to time. Is and um so as I share that, like when you went through that, um, maybe give your give your wife some props if you can think about a story or two back then when you got through that. Cause I'm sure there's a dad listening out there that maybe is has gone through that or is going through that or might be thinking about going through it that we might be able to help out.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'll never forget it. We we decided to go camping. We were just like, let's go camping, right? And I and I'm sitting here, I got two kids in private school, I gotta pay for that. You know, I mean, obviously, we got a little bit saved up, and you're thinking about all the stuff you need to go through, and we just decided to go camping. And and the worst possible thing that can happen is my phone was in my pocket, and my wife grabbed again, I left my shorts on the floor. My wife washes clothes so quick, she put the phone and the clothes in the dryer. And we went to find my iPhone because we couldn't find it because we're gonna go camping, and I needed a phone because I needed to start figuring out if I was gonna take a job or I was gonna do whatever. And I'm sitting there without a phone, and and God had that plan, right? And literally, we're looking to find it, we can see it bouncing around the neighborhood. So I'm going around the neighborhood and I go to this person's house and I accuse them of stealing my phone, and we called the cops because that's where it showed the phone was. And literally, my wife had the camper, we had a pop-up camper, she had it put up, the door was hanging open, she came around the neighborhood, came whatever. She's like, I have your phone. It was in the washing machine, right? And it was just like like we were so like, wait, I'm the breadwinner, I gotta figure out how to do this. We were so out of sorts. And we just went down to San Diego and she goes, I got the kids. I'm gonna be at the beach, my happy place. You just you figure out what's next. I believe in you, I trust you, right? And I remember just going to Cardiff by the Sea library, and I literally was going, KC and going, how to start your own business. I was going like old school, this is in the year 2016. I just went to the library, like, how to start a business and right and going through, right? And my wife just said, I got the kids, you you figure out what's next, right? And so, you know, trying to figure out like, okay, am I gonna start my own business? Am I not? Right. And then getting other staffing owners calling me, like, hey, I hear you're available, you want to come work for me, right? And going blocking that out. But yeah, I mean, her encouragement and then her ability to affect her lifestyle and live like we made 40 grand a year for like a year or two, not every woman could do that. Right. I don't think many people know that she actually did that, right? That that's not easy. I mean, buying stuff for your kids, buying stuff for yourself, the clothes. I mean, we went down and we literally sacrificed and we kept all the money in the company, like because we wanted to get to self-funding on as soon as possible. So she sacrificed a love. And that alone shows the support that she believed in me, right? Like, hey, she was willing to do it. We weren't fighting about it. She just she knew what she had to spend, and that's what she spent, and we made it work. And and and it it it paid off for sure.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

Hi, I'm Leslie Vickery, the CEO and founder of ClearEdge, a company dedicated to transforming the business of talent through our three lines of business ClearEdge, marketing, recruiting, and rising, that help organizations across the recruitment and HR tech sectors grow their brands and market share while building their teams with excellence and equity. I believe we were one of Casey's very first clients. He helped our sales and account teams, really those people on the front lines of building and developing client relationships in so many ways. Here are a few. He helped us unlock the power of curiosity. For me, it was a game changer. I was personally learning all about tenant-based. It's temple, explain, describe, questioning, and that really resonated with me. We also learned about unlocking the power of humility and unlocking the power of vulnerability. Casey taught us to be a team player, to embrace change, to stay positive. He is one of the most positive people I know. He believes that optimism, resilience, and a sense of humor can go a long way in helping people achieve their goals and overcome obstacles. And I agree. Casey's book, Win the Relationship, Not the Deal, it is a must read. Listen, whether you're looking for coaching and training, or a powerful speaker or keynote, Casey is one of the people I recommend when talking to companies. The end result, for us at least, is one of Casey's clients. Our own clients would literally commend our approach over all of their companies. From the way we were prepared in advance of a couple to how we drove meetings to how we follow them up. It sounds really basic and I nimble, but let me tell you, it is a standout approach that led to stronger relationships. I encourage you to learn more by going to case jcux.com. You have nothing to lose by having a conversation and a lot to gain. Now, let's get back to Casey's podcast, The Quarterback Dadcast.

SPEAKER_05 40:50

How how did you not um, or how did you balance whether it's fear or anxiety or excitement, yet still do your best to be a present dad during that time?

Spousal Support And Sacrifice

SPEAKER_01 41:03

Whew, yeah. I mean, I I would like to say I was an amazing dad yet, but I I mean I was working my butt off, right? I was going to the office every day, but we definitely had, I mean, was that 2016? So 10 years ago. So West would have been seven. So we would have been seven, five, and three, uh, is what the kids were. So we, you know, my wife was a trooper, right? You know, I I I would come home, you know, I'd be, you know, I'd be the fun dad who come home and she'd be the one disciplining them and doing everything. And then I'd be going to work early in the morning, coming back late at night and trying to. She definitely took full took took full charge of it. But yeah, I definitely still on the weekends, especially, I would definitely not work the weekends. That's when I would get it in, going to church, and then trying to be involved in the youth sports. And, you know, I tried to do the coaching thing, Casey, and it was tough for me to deal with other people's parents, right? Like I wanted to coach for my kids so I could control their playing time and doing that and all that kind of stuff. But I also in the back of my mind was like, I need to go build this business too. So I can't commit to practices two, three nights a week, right? So my wife was a trooper, right? Getting west to practice while still worrying about Reed, who's three. And um, no, I mean, I I I tell you, I if I went back and um I probably wasn't the best dad those years because I I was focused on the business. I mean, I I can remember times where you know there was probably times where my wife looked at me and said, Hey, you're putting arena before the family. Uh and I was, and I and I was hard to hear, right? And and if I was gonna give advice to any other entrepreneur who's gonna do it, dude, do not ever put your work before your family. Right. I mean, I have this opportunity right now, Casey, to coach my kid in golf. Dude, I I don't care if I gotta meet with the biggest client in the world that's gonna change the trajectory of our our future. If I gonna spend time with my kid for two more years watching him on golf course and I actually get to be part of it and coach him and help him with this course management, he doesn't want me to talk about his swing, but if I get to do that, I need to make the decision that for two to three hours every day for the next two or three months, my company doesn't need me. My kid does. And I think that's that that that's what I would give the advice to anybody. Like, do not sacrifice time with your wife, do not sacrifice time with your kids. I see too many marriagers and marriages where we just make the excuse, well, that nonprofit needs me. Like we our egos get in the way, right? Like I've got to be there, right? And we sacrifice and we use it as an excuse when the reality is yeah, it's it's our ego talking and and and and and it's so that would be the best advice I could give to any dad. Don't don't ever sacrifice family time for sure.

SPEAKER_05 43:37

I I love it. That's gold. Well, you made I don't know if I don't know if I've ever told you this story when I was so when Ryder was like I want to say two, maybe two and a half. Yeah, because I think Riley was it was like two and a half, maybe three and like six months old, because they're two and a half years apart. Um and this was right where like my career was starting to take off. This is before um K Force bought. Paul Kenyan back in 2000. Well, no, it was like 2004, 2006, would have been 2007. So it was after K-force. And I remember like life was great for them, you know, on the pr on the outside, you know, money's rolling in for the company, things are great. But I'm leaving at six, I'm getting home at 6 45. I'm getting 15 minutes with the kids. I'm like, this is awful. And I mean, I could just feel the like like just almost like depression building and frustration building and building. And I remember um I finally went to and I had like an hour-long commute. So I remember finally going to my boss. And people, there's many people who've listened to this episode. I'm sorry you can hear it again, but Dave hasn't. So shout out to Angela Ronica, my one of my best bosses ever. I remember going to her, I'm like, hey man, I need some help. Like I am freaking miserable. She's like, What? What do you mean you're miserable? Like you're number one guy in our company, you're doing awesome. And the fan clients, it's like, I'm I get that. That part's going great. With the not part going great is I don't feel like I'm being a good dad or good husband, and I'm freaking miserable. She's like, Well, what do you want to do? I'm like, I don't know. I don't, I don't know, I'm leave. I but I just, is there anything else I don't even know what to do? And she's like, Well, why don't you leave it for? I go, eh, it's as in a bank. I can't leave it four. She's like, why can't you? I'm like, she goes, You don't trust us. I said, Well, no, I I trust you guys. She goes, Well, you have a phone, right? It still works. I'm like, Yeah. She says, Well, then we'll call you if it's important. And but leave it for and you got to retrain us, you got to retrain your clients, you're still gonna be available. And it was one of the best gifts she ever gave me. And it's fun to give this to other people when I was at K Force. Like I would like to get other younger people to do it. And you know, you had to really be self-accountable yourself, self-disciplined to know like sometimes I didn't always get to do that. But when I did do that and commit to it, like my career went to another level because I had balance, I had presence, I was and from those two and a half hours that like I could get good family time, weird. My employee, our team stepped up. Weird people could do more things that probably I didn't think they could because I was doing too much. But I I hope there's a younger parent that listens to this and we just get them to think a little bit because yeah, it is your ego, man. You nailed it.

Balancing Startup Life And Fatherhood

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Yeah, and well, and and and again, I always look at my employees too, right? And and sometimes I probably cross the line with asking questions about personal lives when we're trying to figure out what their capacity is to do the work. You know, if someone's got a good home life, a happy life, the happy wife, happy kids, right? And they're part of it, they're gonna be that much better of an employee. Also, they're gonna be here, you know, dealing with drama or working residents. Like it's a lot easier if you can, you know, look at your wife, be in a good place, go to work, come back and do that. And I can't honestly look in the mirror and say, I always had that in the nine or ten years I've been doing it, right? And I and I regret that, um, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 46:31

So that's how we had grace, buddy.

SPEAKER_01 46:34

100%. 100%. Yeah, and you talk about experiences, it's it's funny. My wife, um about two weeks ago, she came to me and and we're uh we we believe in experiences, right? So we're not trying to buy things like we're going to Italy with the kids, and we're so excited to do that um here at the end of the school year. Uh but next year I turned 50. Um, for my 40th, we went and did Bandon Dunes with all my buddies. It was great, it was awesome. So we always said we were gonna go to you know, Ireland and Scotland and Britain for my 50th, right? And and that's the plan. But a lot of us have had kids and a lot of stuff has happened since then, right? And so I'm kind of like talking to a few buddies and other people, and you know, the guy that doesn't have any kids is where like, hey, Coyman, we're going, right? We get this trip. And then my wife sat me down two weeks ago and she's like, Hey, you have to make a decision. Is this gonna be a a Dave Coyman and buddies trip? Were you guys gonna go, you know, drink some beers and have fun and do it? Like, I I don't want Wes to be a part of that. Like, because I want Wes to go because being able to do this time with my son and go and hopefully play St. Andrews and go do this stuff right and kind of do this thing, she's like, You gotta decide, is this gonna be a family thing or is this gonna be you know, bachelor party type thing at 50? Right? And like when she told me, I was mad. I'm like, how dare she tell me this to me? Like she like this, and right, and now like I'm like kind of going through this. I've kind of gotten into scripture the last couple weeks and this Bible study and I'm going through it, and like, and now just talking to you, I can sit here and go, dude, I want this to be a family thing. Yeah, I love my buddies, but I I can play with those guys hopefully times, god willing, five, 10, 15 years down the road. Dude, I 100% want my family to go and I want to go hang out with my wife and my kids after playing the golf course and talk about it. And I I want my youngest kid to play every once in a while. I want to do this as a family, right? I mean, I'm 50. There's 17, 15, and 13, right? Like, it's time to spend time with family, right? We only have so many times in these years for sure. And I and it, you know, hearing you talk about all the time. I mean, there's people probably look at you crazy, like, what do you mean you go and follow your kid golfing all the time? Like, dude, you you get it, you recognize it, right? I mean, that's why it's heartbreaking for you to watch your daughter not be able to play, right? Because you loved it, right? You're so involved with it, right? And and you learn that through that experience where you were super unhappy at work. Like, you only get so much satisfaction from money, right? It's super satisfaction from being getting positive reinforcement at your work. You can't, you can't, you can't replace love and and and your family with work for sure.

SPEAKER_05 49:00

I I I well I learned it from my parents too, because they were I remember the day I got cut in seventh grade, I can still remember my mom not thinking like, what? She's like, Oh, okay. Well, you tried your best, right? I'm like, I thought, I mean, I thought they were gonna be mad. And even I think about like my dad, my red shirt freshman year in college, I was a third string quarterback for NFL football fans. Again, John Kitna was a starting quarterback then. Um, and I was a third string quarterback in second round playoff game. We're playing uh Harden Simmons in Texas, and my dad shows up for the team playing. I'm like, he didn't tell me best back when he had phones. He just shows up like, like, why you're going? I'm like, yeah. I'm like, well, dad, I don't play, I'm the third string quarterback. He goes, I know, but I want to I want to watch you warm up. I mean, just like the grind, dude. He almost get like tear thinking about that. It's like um, and even like we Ryder and I, we had some tough love in one of his tournaments. This actually, the tournament I was supposed to go speak at TechServe, I said, I said, I'm really, really sorry, and up finally getting a new buddy, Chris Mater. Shout out to him. He took my spot, he's freaking stud. Um, but I remember I'm so glad I was there because Ryder played great, but then had a really, really tough round. Body language kind of went south, which is a no-no in our house. Uh, attitude went south, and so we had this like tough love moment where we had tears. And I just I remember kind of getting into him. I'm like, bro, I don't care if you shoot 100 or 68. Do I want you to shoot 68? Thousand percent. But golf doesn't define you. I always say there's two things I guarantee. Sun comes up tomorrow, and I'm probably gonna love you more tomorrow than I do today.

SPEAKER_02 50:36

For sure.

SPEAKER_05 50:38

Um we could we could we could keep talking about stuff forever. So love it, man. So let's let's as we get ready to wrap up here, I want to make sure that people um learn a little bit about uh arena. Okay. You talked about how you you went out there, uh, I've seen your culture, um, amazing people. I was grateful to be with you guys last week. And it's just, I mean, talk about a good, just a good group of people. And so people have never heard you talk about what you guys do, how can people learn more about you so we can make it easy for them to follow you?

Experiences Over Things And Family Trips

SPEAKER_01 51:08

Yeah, uh we are a skilled trade staffing company um and a headhunting firm within construction. Um, mostly within the architectural engineering construction space. Uh, you know, everything's got a three-letter acronym, so you call it the AEC space, is where we work. Uh, but we're trying to get kids into the trades and uh we trademarked we construct your future. Uh so we're trying to help get kids into the trades and learn a trade and go get hired on by a company and be an electrician for life or be a plumber, or hey, maybe they don't want, maybe they want to be a heavy equipment operator, maybe they want to install blinds, maybe they want to own their own company someday, right? We just want to know and be a resource and a gateway to the trades and the construction industry so that anyone can learn it and go that way. Like we're obviously working with non-union contractors, we're non-union, but if someone wants the union, we can educate them and then go, hey, here's the difference between merit shop and union, you make that decision, right? Or, you know, and most people are influenced by, you know, their parents or cousins or whatever it may be. But that's what we do. We we we are primarily on the West Coast. So California is our is our biggest state because that's where I live and where we started. But we are in Arizona, we are traveling all over. We got data centers in Michigan, we've got uh stuff going in Arkansas, we're following clients, we're starting to do more and more traveling trades. Um, but we we take on uh the payroll, the burden, the risk of hiring people and we call it try before you buy, right? So hey, order electrician and have them work for for 90 days and uh and then hire them on your payroll. And then we also help the the out of state contractor rather than have to pay per diems come into here and you need 15 electricians for six, seven months. We help you find them find those people. And then on the headhunting side, you need a CEO, you need a superintendent, you need an estimator, you need a hired gun for a project. Um, you name it. We we tell people to wave their magic wand for the client side. What are you looking for? And then we go to the talent and we go, what are you looking for? And then we try and make that match. Um and we try to stay in our niche, which is construction. Um, we do have a few on the direct hire team that work in a little manufacturing and in different stuff as well, uh, but predominantly we're 90% construction. Love it. And then uh arenastaffing.net is the website. Um, we're slowly adapting to Instagram. I do believe we got Instagram going. Obviously, on LinkedIn is probably the easiest way to go and look and and find out more about follow us there, and you'll see a lot of posts and the job openings and everything that we have going there.

SPEAKER_05 53:31

So cool. What I what I love the most about your company is um the world needs more people in the trades. And we we don't, I always joke, we say we don't need guys like me who can talk and type, we need people who can fix stuff. And um, I I love when I hear buddies who are like their kids are getting the trades versus software or Megan, there's there's plenty of people who can do that. And I think the more we can get people in. So I think it's awesome that your um and your your your pops has got to be proud. A guy that did construction, worked his ass off all summer, and now he's your dad's projects are gonna be staffed appropriately now.

SPEAKER_01 54:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 54:05

Um okay. If you were to summarize what we talked about today, that maybe a dad or a mom or someone could listen, they could say they can take maybe three um actionable themes um or words that they we could they could summarize that, man. This episode, man, I I got this, this, and this out of it. Uh tell me what comes to mind.

SPEAKER_01 54:25

Oh man, family first. You know, you know, you know, God first, family, and then and then your work comes, right? Like God, God's always gonna provide. But man, taking care of your loved ones and and making sure you're involved in their life and empowering them and being part of it. Um, family first, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 54:42

That well, that we don't even need three. That's just a good enough one right there. That solves so many of the problems. Family first, everybody. Okay, it's now time to go into the lightning round. This is where I show you the negative hits of taking too many hits in college, not bong hits, but football hits. Um your job is to answer these questions as quickly as you can. My job is to try to get a giggle out of you.

SPEAKER_02 55:01

Okay, sounds good.

SPEAKER_05 55:02

Um, true or false, Michael Geller turned you down to go caddy for Jordan Spieth. True or false, you do you've played golf against just a Jordan Speeth's caddy.

SPEAKER_01 55:14

100%. I played golf against Michael Greller for eight years. And Michael Greller, if you would ever listen to this, would acknowledge that. I don't know if he ever beat me. So that is the truth. I love watch, I love watching Greller is one of the best caddies on tour. I hope Jordan comes back and makes a comeback, but it's super fun for my kids to be able to see a guy that we know when we go to the tournaments, and you know, Jordan even gave Wes uh, you know, it's an autograph ball, so it's super cool. Greller is an unbelievable person, he's a good dude. And you know what? You should try get Greller on this podcast. If I can help with that, I will try help. He he is fantastic.

SPEAKER_05 55:47

I will accept your offer, sir. Okay, sounds good. Well, he's because he's proud of Chambers Bay, too.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

Absolutely. Got married at Chambers Bay.

SPEAKER_05 55:55

Yeah. Yep. Um, what would be one genre of music that might surprise your employees you listen to?

SPEAKER_01 56:01

God, we are going to Morgan, I call it Wayland, Morgan Wallen. My kids love Morgan Wallen. I'm a sneaky country fan. Like when I worked construction back in the day, I acted like, oh, I can't believe you guys are playing this country music. But you know, Garth Brooks, Brooks and Dunn, all those ones. Yeah, I mean, I I'm I'm a sneaky country person. I don't listen. Yeah, I mean, but my kids are into it. Like it's it's pretty funny that my oldest, I think that's what they predominantly listen to. It's pretty funny.

SPEAKER_05 56:32

Favorite comedy movie.

Presence, Ego, And Work Boundaries

SPEAKER_01 56:34

Oh, old school. I mean, come on. It's that's one. I mean, I can't my kids probably it's almost were the point where I could watch it with them, but it's still kind of inappropriate. It's like, hey man, this guy's mean maybe he needs to go to college and then I'll I'll explain him. But it old school is, I mean, I man, I could, you know, come on, man. We you know, Frank the Tank and Bed Bath and Beyond. That is awesome. You took him on the neck of the juggler.

SPEAKER_05 56:59

Yeah, I told you my earmuff story too last week.

SPEAKER_01 57:02

That's right, you did for sure.

SPEAKER_05 57:04

That would resonate. Um, last book you read was oh man, win the relationship.

SPEAKER_01 57:12

I did not, I was not so you knew that was coming.

SPEAKER_05 57:15

I did not. I thought well, I knew you read it. I thought there might be other one other when you read it. That was that is a yeah, but the one moment right there.

SPEAKER_01 57:21

The one the last one before that, I think I have it right here. Um it's actually this one.

SPEAKER_02 57:28

Um sorry, it's got a second.

SPEAKER_05 57:34

Who there we go? Who?

SPEAKER_01 57:37

Yep, who yeah, by Jeff Smart and Randy Street. So it's uh it's it's a good book, man. Okay. But I'll be honest with you, I'm uh I am a skim reader. Um, I've got a little bit of ADD. Um, but I will tell you the best book that I've ever read that had an impact on my life. That in fact, my buddy just came up to me the other day. He he he got Gianbare disease, so he's kind of been paralyzed um from the down he's coming back. The Slight Edge. Hands down The Slight Edge is for anybody, if you have not read The Slight Edge, go read The Slight Edge is one of the best books ever out there.

SPEAKER_05 58:10

Jeff Olson. Yep, absolutely solid book. Um, if there was to be a a uh a book written about your life, tell me the title.

SPEAKER_01 58:22

Dude, this is gonna be funny, right? How to wing it in life and be successful. That is straight out of my wife's mouth. I was reading a book in Hawaii and sitting there that was talking about take it a day at a time. I can't remember which one book it was. And my wife looks at me, she goes, Why do you even read those things? She's like, You should write a book on how to wing it in life and be successful.

SPEAKER_05 58:45

Okay, well, how to wing it in life be successful, believe it or not, is killing it now. Okay. Even though you do teach your employees to practice, which we taught them last week, and I know you're gonna keep doing that. But how to wing it in life be successful is uh Hollywood's found out about how great of a story this is, and they want to make a movie. You're gonna be the casting director, and I need to know who's gonna star the one only Dave Coyman and this critically acclaimed hit new movie that Netflix is gonna pick up.

SPEAKER_01 59:07

Oh man. I mean, I mean, I I want to made I want it to be a comedy, so I mean, I would throw Will Farrell out there, it would be hilarious to do it. I mean fantastic. I mean, have it have an anchor man, you know, come on and do that and just you know, you know, make fun of, you know, golfing on the golf course and starting a business and doing being in sales.

unknown 59:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 59:30

Him selling trade staffing would be so funny.

SPEAKER_01 59:34

I mean, remember he was kicking and screaming too. Remember, he was a soccer coach. I mean, Will Farrell to me, you know, is like I I wish we had more movies like that. Um, now I don't even know what our kids even watch.

SPEAKER_05 59:46

Um well, my kids watch Will Farrell. I've I've essentially said you watch this, you're grounded. Um I'd like it. He's on my believe it or not, you can't see us. There's a goal board behind me that and Will Farrell is on my my wish list.

SPEAKER_01 59:56

That's awesome. Oh, if you can get him on. Awesome. I would love to know more. It's lightning round, but give me give me three more that are up there.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:04

Um Jim Nance.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:06

Ooh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:07

Um Jason Bateman.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:11

Oh, yeah. I I actually listen to that podcast every once in a while. Jason Bateman's hilarious. He's one of my favorite actors for sure.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:18

Well, he golfs too. I think, I think I could match his sarcasm. He's obviously much talented actor than I am, so I'm not comparing him.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:23

But I think I can is he member at Bell Air down here, Riviera?

SPEAKER_05 1:00:28

I don't know, one of those high roles. I think he's maybe LA Country Club.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:30

Yeah, I think he might be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:32

Um, okay. And then last question, the one of the most the most important questions. Tell me two words that would describe your wife.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:40

Beautiful, selfless.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:43

Okay, there we go. Lightning rounds complete. Uh we both giggled. We told stories. Uh, I learned a lot about you. This is the power of listening, everybody, asking questions. You don't need always a script. Uh, an hour later, here we are. I learned even though I spent time with you last week, brother, I learned a lot more and I'm very grateful for your time. Everybody at listening home, if you've not taken time to leave us a review or share an episode with another dad who you think could could uh be impacted by these types of conversations, please do. There's 3 almost 50 episodes out there from interviewing uh NFL football coaches to announcers to teachers to stay-at-home dads. It does not matter what we all do. Sometimes our male ego says it is what's more important is how we're working hard to become a better father, better, better family man first, better dad, um, because we are shaping the next generation of people that are going to come after us. So uh man, I can't thank you enough, Dave. It's been an honor to spend time with you. And um, I know our paths will be hopefully crossing in soon and hopefully uh on the golf course in a father-son match.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:40

Absolutely. And you're giving me strokes. Let's not forget that.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:44

Uh agreed, that's a great.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:46

Okay, all right. Thanks.