Mark Krajnik - A CEO Dad’s Playbook For Gratitude And Emotional Intelligence

A lot of dads want to be more patient, more present, and more consistent, but “try harder” is not a plan. 

Mark Krajnik brings something better: a repeatable mindset that starts with gratitude, grows through emotional intelligence, and shows up as real leadership at home. Mark is the CEO of Performance Mindset Associates and the author of The Transformation Tree, a story designed to help kids and adults recognize the “worry weeds” like doubt, envy, blame, jealousy, and negative self-talk, then replace them with curiosity, kindness, generosity, and a positive mental attitude. 

We also get into the kind of resilience you cannot fake. Mark shares a gripping story from his teenage years when a freak accident nearly cost him his arm and a doctor told him he would never play football again. The comeback is about persistence, humility, and poise under pressure, and it connects directly to fatherhood: how you respond when life punches first, how you ask for help, and how you stay part of the team even when your role changes. Casey adds his own injury story and the leadership lesson of vulnerability, purpose, and choosing growth over bitterness. 

From there, the conversation turns into practical parenting and marriage advice: showing up for your kids, building traditions that stick, listening instead of just hearing, and having the courage to ask your daughter for real feedback. We talk empty nest emotions, dating your spouse, and why the best “quarterback of the home” mindset is calm, coachable, and human. 

If this hits home, subscribe to the Quarterback Dadcast, share this with a dad who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find these conversations. What is one worry weed you are ready to pull this week?

Transcript

Welcome To The Quarterback Dadcast

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hi, I'm Riley.

SPEAKER_02 0:04

And I'm Renner. And this is my dad's show. Hey everybody, it's Casey J. Cox with the Quarterback Dadcast. Welcome to season seven. 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 were raised, 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 sit back, relax, and listen to today's episode on the Quarterback Deckcast. Well, hey everybody, it is KC J. Cox with the Quarterback Deckcast. We are streaming along here in season seven, and uh our next guest, actually, he might have found me through the wide world of LinkedIn, and I was intrigued to learn more about him thanks to my friends at a deck point. Janelle, for uh for, I guess, on act of introducing our next guest who is the fellow quarterback, everybody. He's not he's not the tiger from Occidental. He did play quarterback. He he was the, I would think, considered the Dan Marino of Occidental College. It's the one and only Mark Brainick. He is the CEO of Performance Mindset Associates. He's building some global speaking network amazingness, which, well, we'll let him tease later in the podcast. The guy has thousands and thousands and thousands of followers that look up to him to follow his wisdom. But with all that said, that has nothing to do with why we're going to have Mark talking. We're going to have Mark on today to talk about Mark the dad and how he continues to work hard to become that ultimate quarterback or leader of his household. Without further ado, Mr. Kranick, welcome to the quarterback DadCast.

SPEAKER_05 1:44

JC, thank you for having me. And a quick note, Janelle Beeler and I are very, very passionate about our San Francisco 49ers.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

How you know I lost internet last year. Whatever happened in the Super Bowl? The Super Bowl with who? I mean, last year I can't remember who won. Um, the Seahawks. Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_05 2:03

Uh Drew May sophomore year. Yeah, the Patriots came out of nowhere and uh and won the Cole AFC, which was a shock. And uh the Seahawks, that defense was crazy good.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

How good is this rivalry between in the NFC West right now, man?

SPEAKER_05 2:20

Well, the I I think outside of Arizona is probably not in the conversation, but the Rams, everybody's predicting have a home Super Bowl. Seahawks are defending champs, and the Niners, although they've been to four Super Bowls, they haven't won since '93, but they have the team this year. And it's if they can pull in a couple last-minute uh add-ons here and before the season starts, I think we got a good shot at least to be a contender.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

I love your guys' QB. Yeah, Brock. Sneak of just Mr. Mr.

SPEAKER_05 2:49

Irrelevant.

Meet Mark And Some 49ers Talk

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Man, he's just gritty. I love, I love gritty people. All right, for sure.

Gratitude Apps And The Transformation Tree

SPEAKER_02 2:54

Mark, we always start out each episode with gratitude. So tell me, what are you most grateful for as a dad today?

SPEAKER_05 2:59

So, you know, it's fun because gratitude for me is extremely important. Um, Dave Meltzer played college football with me. He's an international speaker as well, and he talks about gratitude all the time in his podcast. But it's really the foundation of how I lead at work. I've always been a servant leader. Um, but gratitude for me, and this is the honest truth, I use two apps every morning. And I've got an 806-day streak. So this has been going on for a little bit. Um, the first one is How We Feel. It's a it's an app that has four different quadrants, and it was created by the CEO of Pinterest. And I started using this when I was back at Amazon, and it really labels all of your emotions, and then it gives you kind of work throughs, it gives you little short uh videos and things if you need them. Um, but it's been very good at at kind of starting the day, and I always put blessed and gratitude as my first two. And then the the second app I use, which you think is kind of funny, is uh Finch. It's a little bird app. It's called Finch F-I-N-C-H. And I've been on that for over two years now, and it's a cartoon, and you go on journeys and you travel to different countries and answer questions, how you're feeling today, and you you you have this bond with this fictitious uh animated bird, and then you invite your friends. So my daughters got me to use that, and we were the only three people in my circle that use it, and so we share uh different emotions and you know, send support or send you know rest or calm or whatever we're going through. We we share that together, just me and my two daughters. And then the other big thing for gratitude for me is I wrote recently the transformation tree. It's a children's book for all humans. I've got a copy here just to show the viewers here, whoever's watching it. But if you can see that, um, it was number one on Amazon's children's classics, new releases. Um, I just it just came out beginning of May. And it's a story that I wrote for adults, but in a children's book format. And the reason I say that is it's for all humans, is I want the parents, the grandparents, the teachers, the coaches, the aunts and uncles to read this to the kids because they'll learn more than the kids. The kids will be able to label their emotions, and they're called worry weeds. So your worry weeds are doubt, envy, blame, distrust, jealousy, all those negative emotions that we put inside our head, negative self-talk, limited thinking. And you learn how to pull those worry weeds and then nurture and bring your transformation tree to life by putting things like curiosity, learning, positive mental attitude, gratitude, generosity, uh, kindness, positivity into your tree. And so it's just a journey through understanding. Everybody has worry weeds, but you have to tend to your garden and pull those weeds. And then every day you can grow your transformation tree. And really, my goal with that, Casey, is to inspire millions. My daughter says hundreds, let's start small. I I just think big, but inspire millions to bring more kindness, gratitude, humility, respect, and positivity into the world. So that's why I wrote that. Um, and my daughter, who lives in Amsterdam, Cali, who's 26, uh, she did all the illustrations for it. So it's an extra special meaning to me. And I dedicated it to my mom, who passed right before uh uh Thanksgiving last year, and uh she was my inspiration for the book. She taught me everything I know about credit.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

So good,

Casey’s Gratitude And Empty Nest Shift

SPEAKER_02 6:35

ma'am. Well, I tell you what I'm most grateful for today, a couple things. Um I'm grateful for a structure in my day of positive habits. Uh got up this morning at 5.08, went to the the old man gym workout. My wife calls it curves. I said, we don't go to curves, honey, you smart ass. It's uh, but it's like essentially fitness area, we're not gonna get hurt. Um a lot of good banter. Uh came home, I was on I was a guest on a podcast, and I had like two like really, really, really, really, really powerful coaching calls with clients of mine today that was like, fill my tank when you see people get unstuck. It's like the best, best feeling in the in the ever. But what I'm most grateful for, my daughter is well, my kids are home. I got my son home from college, but my daughter and one of her great friends there at college orientation today.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Oh nice. Congrats.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Oh my god. I'm about to become an empty nester, but just to watch them, just like you know, they they drove over last night. Um, they were took a picture of them spawning in the car. Like they're going to, they were just, I just I'm so excited for this next journey of them. I'm I'm sad because the house is gonna be really, really quiet. And, you know, as you know, when my daughter's home, I get to go rebound or rebound for her. So I'm gonna ask maybe ask my wife to pick up a basketball and I'll go rebound for her to kind of like relive those memories. But just grateful for for that, and it um just warms my heart and then get it get a talk to a guy like you today to even kind of take it to another level. So um, okay, you talked about Callie a little bit, but I want to even go a little bit deeper inside the huddle. So you're playing quarterback at home. We've got the he's got the jersey on. Now, this is an audio-only podcast, so I'll make sure that book. Oh, yeah, that's fine. Yeah. We're gonna put we're gonna put that image in the show notes. We're gonna link it in comments so people can go pick pick

How Mark Met Elizabeth

SPEAKER_02 8:19

that book up. But tell us about how you and your wife met and then talk about who uh is in that that core huddle of yours.

SPEAKER_05 8:27

Yeah, so this is a fun story. So, and this goes back to December 18th, 1989. So I was a uh highly underpaid actor and model in Hollywood, grew up in Los Angeles, and um I needed money because I gotta get paid. So I became a doorman bar back at a local new bar that my future wife was the food and beverage manager at, and she graduated East Carolina, drove across country, moved to LA by herself, took this job at the Hilton Hotels, and it was adjacent to a Hilton Hotel in LA. And uh, long story short, she taught me how to bartend at the lobby bar, so then became a bartender and made really good money on weekends and and evenings. Um, but she asked me out on our first day, because at that point, even though I was a year older, uh managers couldn't date associates, right? Yeah, fired. So you had to be real kind of sad. She asked me out. She drove, stopped for gas, she paid for gas. I pumped the gas, she paid for dinner. It was with her family for a Christmas event in in mid-December. Um, and I when I'm leaving her, I'm thinking, she's a keeper. Um, so so that's how we met. Uh three months later, we moved in together. So we've been living together for 37 years, married 33 years, and uh it's been the greatest journey of my life. So she's my soulmate, life partner, everything that I ever could have dreamed of in a in a uh life uh she's got so the extended huddle is goes way back. I mean, we're going back to Savannah elementary, Muscatel Middle School, and Rosemead High School in Southern California, LA area. And um, I have friends that I was friends with in kindergarten and first grade today. So over 50 years of friendship. We're all celebrating the Big 6-0 this year, so it's been a kind of a fun year uh because everybody's kind of hit a different point, some late last year, most of them this year. And so that's a big part of my friend group. And then my roommate from Columbia University, my freshman year, we were he was the fullback linebacker, I was the quarterback at Columbia, and he's today my best friend. Now he's an attorney and was a school principal and all the all the things he did in his career. But he's attorney now, and he's the most disciplined person I ever met, but he's the one I go to for a lot of advice. And then through my softball career, I played softball for 25 years after college football was done, and at a pretty competitive level, we were fifth in Las Vegas um in the national championships back in '91. And uh one of those players, uh, Tony Richardson, uh, was an attorney, but he became a judge in LA. So he was one of the top of the top legal guys. And we've been playing fancy football for 30 years, and softball. We played for 25 years together. But he's the smartest, humblest person, undergrad at Harvard, Stanford Law School. Uh did Arnold Schwarzenegger's taxes when he was the governor, you know, all the things this guy has achieved, and he's just the most uh humble and smartest person he's always willing to give. Um, so those are my my core people in the huddle. And then Callie and Stella on top of Elizabeth, my wife, or the great Elizabeth Short, are in my opinion, Stacy, the reason I was put on this earth is to create these two humans because they're so intelligent, they're so beautiful, and they take after their mother, by the way. But they're they're very uh passionate and compassionate. They're loving, caring people. And uh I I think we did a good job there. I think that's a feather in both Elizabeth and app. Uh Callie moved to Amsterdam two years ago, Stella moved back to Charlotte, and then this this last week moved to the Raleigh Durham area. And she's a uh registered behavioral assistant, I think it's called. Um, but she helps with uh kids on the spectrum with autism uh on a daily. So she's an amazing person, high patience, just such a caring person. And Callie's the finance tax, you know, international business person. So um it's just fun to be able to have those FaceTime calls because that's what we do. And funny side note, we love Survivor in Love Island. So we're into this reality stuff. So every time the nine o'clock Love Island, USA airs, Stelle always calls us and we're on FaceTime with her. Callie doesn't because it's in the middle of the night, six hours ahead in Amsterdam. But during Survivor, we're all on the phone together on the Wednesday. So it's just fun, and we do that on the regular. So we're we're always doing FaceTime calls and keeping in touch and and sharing all the places because Callie's traveled to probably seven countries already in Europe. She's global, she's traveled more than I have.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

So wow. Well, I uh you're already you're already inspiring me, my man, because I just turned the I turned 50 in March. Um and I I hope to have your energy and passion at 60, man. So you're leading by example. Appreciate you already

Optimism, Health, And Staying Young

SPEAKER_02 13:31

for that.

SPEAKER_05 13:31

Well, here's the secret, Casey. Here's the secret. Because my daughters are I act 29, I think 39. I'm very much keen into what's happening today and technology and all the different culture side of business and people and talent. I look 49, but I'm actually I was 59 up until May 26. So darn it, I could keep that 59. I was trying to hold on to that decade for a while.

SPEAKER_04 13:55

But it's just really about you know, health, love, travel, food, and music. Right?

SPEAKER_05 14:05

Those are the keys for me that I'm passionate about. So if I'm in a bad mood, I'll put on some great 80s big hair band music and just be laughing and singing. I I it just you know, I'll find a way to come back from any kind of setback. I I have relentless optimism, and so that kind of keeps me kind of focused and young.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

I love optimism. I always tell people like if if optimism was the United States, and so l Seattle, it's called far left of not pun intended, but far left of um like we'll call that pessimism, and then Boston being far right would be optimism. I'm like in Bermuda of optimism, like just na naive optimism.

SPEAKER_05 14:48

I can sing a song from Bermuda. I've been Jamaica, where we want to take you. Huh?

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Is it for Beach Voice?

SPEAKER_05 14:54

No, it's just the it's the local song. Bermuda is another world. 700 miles at sea, and the way the people greet you is like a friendly messy. You touch a flower in the morning, you listen to a bird sing. So that's kind of the deal, but it's just Bermuda is another world is the name of the song. But when I was 13, I went there with my family on a vacation. And I haven't been back, and I don't know why. Because it's gorgeous. Pink Sands. Awesome people.

SPEAKER_04 15:21

So I'm not a singer, so I do like to sing.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

I I I'm a self-taught guitar player, and last night I learned to play a new song. Little Shaboozie Everybody. With Really? Yeah. Self-taught. And I was like, I was and I was like starting to get a little head bobbed. My wife's like, that actually sounded pretty good. I'm like, are you just saying that? I'm I'm the good the whole guitar game plan was just to be learnt to play four chords, and then like when you're around the five uh campfire having two soda pops. But now I'm like, I just I go on sports. Sometimes I play a lot, sometimes I play a little, but I'm in it, I'm in a jam session now where I like to play like you know, five, ten minutes a night. And it's fun. I love it.

SPEAKER_04 16:00

Okay, especially self-talk.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Well, I wanna uh well uh sorry for your mom's passing. Um I lost my dad uh December 29th, 19th, 2021. Um gotta actually everybody can't say this, but I'm gonna show hard here. This is one only Mike J. Cox um holding a picture of everybody. This is this is me and my dad when I'm rocking number nine at Central Washington University at Southern Oregon University, where actually my son is down there playing golf right now, Go Raiders. Um, that's where he at Southern Oregon, but we were the Wildcats. But so I know it sucks to lose a parent. Um my mom is still with us, she's ripe old age 76, mom. And she always says, You never give me enough love on the podcast. Mama give me some love now. Thanks for being a great, a great mom and crazy.

SPEAKER_04 16:42

Moms are the best.

Childhood Values That Still Lead

SPEAKER_02 16:44

But bring me back to what was life like for Mark, and I want to learn about what was childhood like and the values that your parents instilled in you that have impacted you in your life.

SPEAKER_05 16:53

Yeah, so I was actually born in Morristown, New Jersey. Um, but when I was four, I remember the fireflies and icicles. That's all I remember from New Jersey. So nothing, you know, really comes back. Moved in a uh two-door uh 67 Camaro convertible from New Jersey to Rosemead, California, Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, back in like 1970. Right. So middle class suburb of LA on Guest Street, you know, and had friends literally five houses down and you know, half a mile down the same street. Walked to school from Savannah Elementary, Muscatel, and and Rosemead High School. Lived in the same house from age four to age 18 before I went to Columbia on on an academic scholarship. Did turn down Stanford full ride to follow John Elway, but it's just a side note.

SPEAKER_04 17:43

Not a smart 17-year-old, but still, and Jack, his dad took me on the campus tour. But that's a side note.

SPEAKER_05 17:50

Um, but the idea is the growing up, I had both parents were there until about seventh grade. My mom and dad got uh divorced, but my mom was always my rock, and you know, the values that uh that she instilled and the stability that she brought um by keeping us in the same house in the same area with the same friends, the same school, was very foundational for me. She's she's brought me really my positive mental attitude. My my company's name PMA for a reason. I worked backwards from that to to form Performance Mindset Associates, and it's kind of a daily practice, not a slogan. I'm I'm a I always call it TGIM. Thank God it's Monday attitude versus TGIF. I have both because I like to have fun, but every day is a new opportunity to learn, teach, grow, uh, meet new people, make an impact. So I look at that kind of like you do, that that that optimism, that positivity. I think another thing she taught me was persistence and and really resilience because that's who she was. Um keep showing up, especially when it's hard or you're facing adversity. Uh so persistence and resilience are are key for my values and my traits, you know, and what's instilled in me. Um grew up as a Catholic kid, so went to all the Sunday school classes and things. And I think the morals that you learn, whatever religious background you have or whatever you believe in, I think are very foundational as a as a youth, right? So you grow up, I went to this thing called Boys Christian League, uh, which is now I think called Perry Youth League in Arcadia, California. So it was kind of 75% sports and 25% Bible. And that was kind of how it broke out. But from, you know, kindergarten through sixth grade, I went there almost daily. And I played every sport growing up. So I learned sports at a young age. Um, but another thing that I that I have is a value is really family first. And a lot of us think this way. Um, but work and success never come before the people you love. And I lost that for three years. When I was working on at a corporate level with a company uh a few years back, I traveled 85%. So three weeks and a couple days a month, I was gone, and then 12 weekends a year. So that added up really quick. And that was when Stella and Callie were young, maybe one, two to four years old. And uh I missed a lot. I missed a ton. And I looked back and I said, for what? What did I help someone make money? Uh it was just uh, you know, I look back and just did a self-reflection, and I did miss a lot. I learned a lot and I grew as a as a business coach and a consultant, but but really I've changed now to more of a family-first mindset over the last you know 10, 15 years. Um, and then I think really the last bits of advice that my mom gave, which I think are is important for listeners to hear, uh, is first let people be different, right? We all come from different backgrounds, different experiences, we all have bias, we all have prejudice, we all do different things different ways. And just respect people being different instead of trying to control everything. Uh the second thing is this too shall pass. I always said that because when you hit those pitfalls and you're you're at the lows, it's not gonna last forever. But guess what? The success isn't gonna last forever either. So everything's temporary and this too shall pass. So don't get uh complacent. Get out of your comfort zone. And then the last thing was never sweat the small stuff. And I think this is the big one because as my mom Gloria would teach me, she said, you know what? Do you remember uh the report that was due uh last you know last month? No, the one the one you were stressed about, the one you called me about. No, what are you talking about? Oh, well, you were so stressed about at the time. Now it so it's all small stuff, and most things in life, outside of you know, marriage and and birthdays and anniversaries and celebrations and promotions and and your people, your friends, your inner circle, that's the big stuff. That's the important stuff, that's the large stuff. But most things are small stuff, so just realize not don't sweat the small stuff. You know, get rid of that stress and anxiety in your life.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

A lot of gold there, man. Your your mom was a wise woman and uh rest in peace, Gloria. Yeah, thanks for raising a great young man and for sharing wisdom that he's sharing with all of us. Amen. A couple that hit home for me, um, persistence, showing up, and resilience. I mean, I have stories for days on those, but I'm curious for you. Like, tell me a story uh of how you had to learn one of those values.

A Freak Accident And A Comeback

SPEAKER_05 22:20

Let's talk about resilience. And this, I'm gonna try to keep it brief, but 16 years old. One week before my junior uh varsity season in football at Rosebead High, I started as a sophomore, was a freshman team quarterback, got promoted up to varsity, my sophomore year, played the whole sophomore year. We won the league championship. Wasn't a great team, but we played well when it counted, and we won the championship my sophomore year. So coming into my junior year, we're highly rated in California. And California is separated by northern, central, and southern sections. So we're the Southern section, like number two seed, you know, so we're in our division. Uh my dad's friend, uh, when we were at a family gathering in Rosemead, said, Hey, I need help with some construction projects, and I pay this amount. Oh wow, I can pay for my my high school team pictures, and my mom doesn't have to worry about it because I was kind of a single parent at that point. And so I thought, this is a great way to make money before I start the season, and it'll be a little workout. Okay, awesome. So we go to earthquake-proof, five storefronts in Eagle Rock, California. And they were the ones with the real thick glass on the street, and then a little hallway, and then the door to enter the store. So you had electronics or shoes in the display windows, and you go into the store. Well, that wasn't code in California back in the early 80s. So you had to make it cinder block front with just a door in the windows. You couldn't have that structure without the cinder block being up front. So we had to break out all that glass. So the first four, I'm up in the scaffolding throwing these cinder blocks as hard as I can. That's kind of fun. Breaking glass, breaking stuff as a 16-year-old, this is great. And then on the fifth one, we had four guys with us, and I go down and you stand behind this giant wooden door until the bricks are done, and you safely hand the bricks back up, and then there's you got to shovel the broken glass into wheelbarrels and take it out to the dumpster. So pretty simple process, but we had to get all this demolition done. At the last few rows, um, I walked out of the doorway and I leaned my left hand onto the wall of glass where the shoes would be displayed or the electronics would be displayed, was just a part of the glass and didn't look up. I had a hard hat on and gloves on, and I grabbed the glass that was in the trough that you had to throw out to because you didn't cut anybody.

SPEAKER_04 24:40

So I'm my gloves.

SPEAKER_05 24:41

I throw it and it a about a three-foot by two-foot guotine of glass fell from the top and came down my right arm. And I got a scar, it didn't. I I thought I would use my hand again. I thought my arm was gonna get cut off or die. It missed my main mil my main artery by one millimeter, the doctor said in in that four-hour surgery. Um back then it was rotary dial. So nine, one, one, you know how long the nine took? It was like forever. So the one one was great, but the gentleman, this gentleman named Scott Frakes, who was a family friend, jumped down, saw what happened. I immediately sprinted. I looked at it, put my dirty glove over the giant gash, everything my heart beat, blood was squirting to my eyes. And I sat down in the office. I I don't think I ever ran faster. I was a 455 option quarterback, but I don't I probably ran a 4'2 at that time. I sat in the office where I knew the phone was, but there was no one there but the kids doing the demolition. So I'm leaning against the wall on this stool, and my pants were completely red, trenched. And Scott jumps down, takes his shirt off, ties a tourniquet, holds it over my head, and basically saves my life. Stops the bleeding. Wow. He called 911. I just remember watching the nine take forever, felt like 10 minutes. They the ambulance, even though it was no cell phones or smartphones back then, uh, got there in less than 10 minutes, which was amazing, like seven minutes they were there. And they, you know, put the the medication on it, you know, got me in the journey, got me over to the hospital. Dr. Michael S. Can performed a six-hour surgery to get the attendance back. Nerves never grew back on the back of my hand. And he said, uh my mom, I remember mom coming in, just tears pouring down her eyes, thought I was gonna die. And and it was a really come to G like this is my life. I love football. What the heck? This is my right arm. I can't oh so the doctor plainly said, you will never play football again and um you're lucky to be alive. So now this is when the resilience story starts. So I squeezed a racquetball every day, even that first day. I squeezed the racquetball for seven straight weeks. I had an arm and a cast. I was the co-offensive coordinator with the coach, right? I was the co-offense where I just climbed up to the towers with one arm and and and helped all the plays and read the defense and such. Um they said I never play again, so I started throwing left-handed.

SPEAKER_04 27:12

So I could throw a good spiral about 35 yards left-handed.

SPEAKER_05 27:15

And um the uh offensive coordinators, gentlemen named Jim Zan, John Dunnoy was the head coach, just amazing people, just great mentors would write out the other team like B Mark Keppel or whoever were playing or their high school, and put the uh the athletic tape over my cast. So I was like rooting for our team as well, you know. So it just made me feel part of the team stuff. In week eight, I came back not to play quarterback, I'm still skinny and weak, but I came back, played wide receiver, played halfback, um, helped the team.

SPEAKER_04 27:50

Um we went into the playoffs, CIF playoffs.

SPEAKER_05 27:54

And in the second round, the this guy Derek Bland, who took over for me at quarterback, uh hurt his shoulder. Uh and he still kind of worked through the pain. It was his left shoulder and he threw right-handed. So look, he did a phenomenal job filling in for me. We had a great record. And so we go into the semifinals of the Southern Section CAF state championship, and he in the first quarter gets knocked out. So I have to come in and play quarterback. We win the game 14-7. I throw the game winning touchdown. We go to the championship, win that the next week, and you know, just a great team. So we were state champs with a gimpy right-arm quarterback who then my senior year had a great year, was Mission Valley League player of the year with Steve Ubarra, my wide receiver. We beat Joe, uh, sorry, Pat Hayden and J.K. McKay's record for a hundred. They had 106 receptions their senior year as a quarterback wide receiver duo. We hit 107 with Steve Ubarra and myself. So we broke that state record. He was at Bishop Amont before he went to USC and then on to Rams. J.K. McKay played for his dad on the Tampa Bay Bucks. Um, so it was just a great senior season, and I didn't have to pay for college.

SPEAKER_04 29:03

So so the resilience came through the pain, the defeat, the journey, and the road back.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

I love that you can remember like that yesterday. You're a great storyteller. I love that you also, um, whether you know it or not, and everybody, but I'm picked up on it, there's a lot of humility in that story, even though there was a lot of um a lot of um accomplishments you listed, but you listed your teammates, you listed your coaches by first and last name.

Sponsor Break Then Back To It

SPEAKER_00 29:31

Hi, this is Kathy Ortone. I'm the director of talent management at Co-Works Staffing Services. Co-Works is one of the largest staffing firms in the United States with operations in all 50 states, over 60,000 temporary field talent. We are devoted to the success and growth of our employees and our clients. We are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year and are proud to have a legacy of treating people the right way, doing the right thing, supporting our communities, and putting field talent first. Our team places candidates in administrative, light industrial, call center, distribution, third-party logistics positions with additional opportunities to our executive search, creative staffing, and luxury beauty and fragrance divisions. We had the pleasure of having Casey Jacox deliver a keynote presentation and training workshop to our sales team this year, and I have to tell you, it was exceptional. Casey is funny, he is engaging, and he is approachable. What sets Casey apart is that he really walks the walk. He lives what he teaches. He spent time with us outside of the workshop, really taking the time to get to know our people. He shared information about his personal life, about his family, creating the foundation for authentic relationships, one of the core elements of the strategy he teaches. Casey left our teams feeling motivated, energized, and armed with the actionable tools to transform their sales performance. I cannot recommend Casey enough to any or any organization looking to grow and unlock their full potential. If you want to learn more about coworkstaffing, please visit our website at coworkstaffing.com. Now let's get back to the podcast.

Casey’s Injury And Finding Purpose

SPEAKER_02 31:07

Um I can't remember if we I know we had a brief call before we decided to record, but um uh did I tell you about my injury? No, not. So we this is very I know some apologize to listeners, you heard this before, but I gotta tell Mark this because it's it's very similar in the universes. The universe has brought us together on purpose. So um resilience is something that I think about, and I use I use adversity when I go through tough times. I reflect on times I've gone through adversity to to follow what what your mom taught about things this shall pass. And um, so my going into my junior year, I had a chance to be our starting quarterback, and uh we luckily, long story short, worked my ass off gym lifting twice a day, went to all these camps. Anyway, ended up beating this kid out named Shane Cronen, sat out of Shane wherever we are. Um going into my senior year, we're thinking life's gonna be great, we're gonna have all these great things happen. Um, I go to the University of Washington camp because my buddy went there because he got invited to go. I was just like tag-along guy. They go, I'll go, yeah, I'll go. It sounds fun. And then I was now I was throne with like D1 receivers, and so that elevated my game. Well, at the end of the camp, they're they're announcing uh like awards, and then and my buddy got one. I'm like, oh, cool, and I'm not at all thinking they're gonna say I was just wasn't even on my radar. And then they go, and and the well, most outstanding quarterback camp is Casey Jacobs.

unknown 32:25

What?

SPEAKER_02 32:27

Like, and I I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. And so I go to L and I'm talking to a guy named Jim, Jim Lambright, got him Dick Baird, and Lambrite's like, hey, you know, here's here's tickets to all of our home games. Um we expect you to send film uh your best game we think you think you played in October, November, I mean September, October, November. Um we're gonna be at your games, we won't know. So I went from like not being recruited to like now I'm getting sort of like, oh my God, what's happening? Well, we have a great summer, we're lifting, team's doing great, going to this thing called a jamboree. And so the state of Washington, the jamboree is like a like a small little game before the regular season starts. And the last play of the Jamboree, I get for some reason I get put back in. Well, there's a reason the universe forgot. Someone said, Hey, we're gonna go back in and you're gonna you're gonna go through this experience. Well, I end up breaking my foot in four spots. Um uh lost my senior year, was in surgery two hours later. Um world world moves on, everybody. And Shane, who was gonna play tight end that year, had to go play quarterback for us. Shane would be put into quarterback, he would take us to the state playoffs for a Simon 20 years, he'd break our single season passing yardage record, and he was named second team All-League quarterback, all things that I was hoping to achieve. Now, three games into the season, I'm I'm like the worst version of a captain. In my head, I'm thinking, God, I hope Shane gets hurt. I hope the team sucks. I hope everybody loses. I want everybody to feel like me. Immature just filled with immaturity and not leadership. And something inside of me said, You're gonna go talk to Coach Marty Osborne. So I went to coach and I said, I just said, Hey, can we talk? He goes, Yeah, what's going on, man? He said, I go, hey, I just want to let you know I'm I need some help. And I am I am um embarrassed by my behavior, embarrassed about what I want to say, but I'm I'm I told him all these feelings, and he just looked at me, he goes, Man, I'm so proud of you. I go, why in the flying F would you be proud of me for what I just said? He goes, Because you're asking for help and that's what vulnerability And like you who went up in the booth, he goes, he goes, We gotta find a role for you. I go, Coach, I gotta freaking I can't run. What what am I gonna do? He goes, You know this playbook better than I do. Why don't you go up in the booth, help me call plays? And right when he said that I had I it was like I get goosebumps telling the story. Exactly. That's awesome. I had meaning, I had purpose. And what's fun bringing this back to fatherhood is like I now my kids are old enough where they can like understand these stories, understand the adity, and in full circle, my daughter who's gonna go play college basketball, right? Play college football at Central Washington. Nine games into her senior year, she blows her knee out. ACL, MCL, meniscal. So she lost her senior year. Dude, that first week, I'm not telling you how I I cried a ton. Yeah, for sure. I was so emotional. I mean, I literally couldn't even see her without starting to cry. And then she was like, Daddy, okay, I'm like, yeah, I go, I am. And I'd like, I just said I just it's bringing back everything I went through. And I just and I'm like so proud of her, how her resilience and how she's handled this. And my wife and I talked about it. So she goes, I bet a lot of it is, honey, because of how you shared all the challenges, things that you went through. Then she probably said, Well, I I know my I don't need to do that with my dad, but if I do do that, that's okay because he's already been there. But I think resilience is something to think about often. Persistence, obviously, it impacts us in sales and leadership. And if you want something, go get it, right? And don't be comfortable in the sidelines, get uncomfortable in the game and go and go find it. So I it's funny how we have similar, I mean, similar stories a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 35:42

Absolutely. That's awesome. Yeah, but then you're then you're included, you're part of something bigger than yourself, and it gives you purpose in that moment of the coach saying, Hey, you know the playbook better than I do, so let's join forces and make this happen. And you guys were successful, everybody working together.

SPEAKER_02 36:00

Yeah, and I learned so much about the game of football. I learned, I mean, I thought I maybe never gonna play again, but Central Washington was like the only school that said, hey, it was I was still like was an NAI Division II type school. We went end up D2 when I after I um my during my sophomore year, but going through that, I was like, I can get through now. I I felt like I had a s I had like an armor. I'm in like there's that's nothing. Bring it bring it life. What do you got for me? And um showing up. Um I we've done episodes where we've talked to a lot of dads. Sometimes, like there's dads we'll talk about, like sometimes just showing up matters.

SPEAKER_04 36:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:38

You might not have all the answers, you might not know what to say, but I think just when your kids know you're there, it means the world

Showing Up For Daughters

SPEAKER_02 36:45

to them. Um as you as you reflect back on how your mom taught you that and then to life as a dad, talk about what showing up meant to you as a dad.

SPEAKER_05 36:53

So when I was younger and and just dating and we were kind of getting engaged with Elizabeth, I wanted four kids, two boys, two girls. I wanted a quarterback, wide receiver, uh, lacrosse player, and a cheerleader. That was my goal, right? That was kind of my vision of my life and you know, being a Catholic, you know, Pollock that that figured, yeah, that's gonna be the perfect four kids. Well, kids are really expensive, so I'm glad I met great Elizabeth. She wanted no kids. Um, and so we were a good six years into our honeymoon because we held hands, skip stones, PDA all the time.

SPEAKER_04 37:25

And then he said, I'm ready. And I said, Okay, ready for what? She goes, have a baby. Let's go. Let's let's let's go.

SPEAKER_05 37:36

So uh so uh you know, kind of that turned into I'm ready for a second, and that was it. So we had two daughters and they're literally my world. But you know, showing up for them is is very important to me because I didn't really have a father figure until my mom remarried and until my high school coach kind of you know showed me the ways and taught me poise under pressure and a lot of the other, you know, things that you learn as a quarterback. But uh a fun story, uh, two things. One, uh Callie decided she wanted to play lacrosse in her sophomore year at Uff High School, where the May Butt brothers started their college, you know, Drake May is the quarterback of the Patriots. All those brothers went to school with my daughters. Um he went Drake wound up transferring to Myers Park and Charlotte, but he was at he was at UF his freshman year.

SPEAKER_04 38:32

But all the other brothers went UF.

SPEAKER_05 38:35

And um I was like, you know, I I wish I knew about lacrosse when I was playing college sports because I would have been really good at lacrosse. This is like I was fast, I was smart, you know, I can do things, you know, field general stuff. And uh so I asked the coach, I said, Hey, can I be the voice of the Huff High School Girls Varsity lacrosse? And the the just timing was the gal that was the voice, her daughter graduated, so she wasn't coming to any games. So yeah, perfect. So I got in the booth, and for six, almost seven years, seven seasons, I was in the booth, my wife was a spotter and lived vicariously through Callie and Stella. Stella made varsity as a freshman, and Callie was a senior captain. So Callie and Stella were on the field together playing defense, so it was number one defense, Stella Kreinick, and then number 17 captain on defense, Callie Kranich, you know, and so you you know, and I always announce for the other team too, so the other families were all excited and included. But but the fun part of it, I carry every practice during the week, we were so involved with their lacrosse season travel across all the things they did growing up. And uh and one of the things why I I profess I'm one of the best top girl dads on the planet is when a female turns 21, that's a big deal, right? You're you can legally drink in the U.S., you're you're having fun. You're gonna want to go out with your girlfriends and and friends, and and you're not gonna have the rents, you don't want the parents around. My daughter, I brought up this idea, I said, Hey, you and your sister have never been to Vegas. Me and your mom went there all the time when we first met, and we've been out there maybe 20 times. Um, why don't we plan a family trip on your 21st birthday? Oh, that'd be great. So I go on LinkedIn and find MGM and Pow Group VPs of this and that, have a free bottle of champagne waiting at the uh chandelier bar, you know, in in Vegas when we get there at the hotel for Marriott. And the six days in Vegas were some of the most memorable times we had as a family. The girls dressed to the nines with their mom, and we went to you know, three speakeasies, we went to Hell's Kitchen and Amalfi by Bobby Flay and RuPaul's Drag Race Live and just events that were geared for exactly what Stella wanted on the plane before we landed at McDonald Airport in Vegas. I had the whole plane saying happy 21st birthday to Stella. I ahead of time sent out pictures and uh and notes about Stella to the uh MGM uh VP of Entertainment. So he got one of their folks to get us set up at Hakasson. And so when we got there on the night of her birthday, the DJ had happy 21st uh birthday, Stella, over the DJ booth saying, Stella is a birthday tonight, you know, whatever doing and then the girls brought out the big signs, posters of Stella, you know, whatever pictures I sent them with the uh fun fireworks and everything. And it was probably the most memorable family time we've had. And we went to this five below bar, everything was made of ice. It was just a fun new event. I didn't spend one dollar. I like to play poker, but I didn't spend one dollar on gambling. I just, it was all about her and her experience. And we literally had the best family vacation in Sin City that I've ever experienced in every time I've been there. Um, so so showing up, I like to plan things. So we planned a trip to visit Callie last uh March and April in Amsterdam. Um, and me and Callie surprised Stelle and Elizabeth with a five-day trip on the train to Paris. They had no idea we were in Paris to. Just going to Amsterdam for 14 days to see Callie, learn what she's doing and where she goes, and and kind of you know get a little more in tune with her new European lifestyle. And uh we were at dinner two nights before we go, because we figured they got a pack, they don't want to stress them out. And we just shared, we I had a card and with the Eiffel Tower on it, and they read it together, and uh they were just floored. So we took a train down to Paris and had the best five days in Paris as a family. It was just we enjoy time together and we love to hear the stories, right? We love to share the stories and hear the stories. So um, but yeah, I think you know, just being there is is half of it, and the other half is listening, which would probably be an area for that.

Hearing Versus Listening As A Dad

SPEAKER_02 43:14

You know, it's interesting about l listening. So I um I I in one thing as a I'm sure this speaks to you as a you know business person, I think there's people who are really good at hearing, and there's people really good at listening. And I learned the difference in that skill when I was in my sales card and sales leader and my book, When Relationship Methodal Self Hug There. I wrote the difference between hearing and listening. And I think hearing is um subconscious, listening is conscious and skill that people don't realize you can actually get that. And recently I was talking to there's a situation came up where um someone in our life said that um you know, their dad doesn't always ask to do things with their daughter.

SPEAKER_04 43:59

Or doesn't and And it made me think like I had that like that self-reflect my daughter f me and um like I like my son and I we golf all the time together. That's our thing.

SPEAKER_02 44:08

Now my daughter re rebounding is our thing. Like she loves that's when we can talk, we um but you know, and she goes to my wife for a lot of things. Then I went to my wife. Again, I think this requires us like put it being uncomfortable, being vulnerable, dads. Like, if you if you you want to know something, put yourself out there. And I was like kind of scared to know what the answer might be, but I said it to my wife, I said, Oh, right, right. Like, oh, have I ever done that? She's like, No. I go, I'm gonna ask. So we were rebounding yesterday, and I go, you go, hey, Ray, I got a question for you. Go, have I, I know that this is like our thing, like a little fun thing, and sometimes I've tried to take you to coffee, and sometimes you say yes, sometimes you say no, and um, you know, I think we have a very strong family, but like I just I go, have I ever like made you feel like that there's like like I don't want to ever do things with you? And she's like, she's like floored, but yeah, why yes? I go, because I want to make sure I'm getting better as a dad, and I don't want to be complacent, and I want to make sure that I'm you know, if I'm teaching and I'm coaching people to to embrace being humble, vulnerable, curious. If I'm trying to get out of my comfort zones and grow, like that's part of my heart's bullshit if I'm not gonna be the one to do it too. And so I'm I want your feedback. Like, are there things that I can and she was like so blown away that I asked her, and I and I hope that like she remembers that like 10 years from now, like that her dad asked that. And I'm just so freaking grateful, Mark. She's like, there was nothing. Either she's lying to me, which I hope not, but she was like, no, dad, this is and I go, and I then I said, if there's anything that you ever feel like that dad can do a better job of, yeah, green, like call me out, please.

SPEAKER_05 45:39

Yeah, that's great. And then so she has that boundary, right? She knows that she can do that if she wants to. I Callie and Stella are pretty much my therapist now. I've I've become kind of the the fun dad as well because my wife was the person laying down the law and being strict because I was traveling so much when they were young. And so she did a lot by herself. So, you know, that's another reason why she's called the Great Elizabeth. But um, but the kids are like my therapists now. I mean, they're like, you know, if my wife and I are bickering, Stella jumps in, you know, you shouldn't. She's a psych major from App State University, right? So she's like, you should do this. And so it's kind of fun to listen and learn from my daughters. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 46:22

That's awesome. I think we're all always can be coachable. We always can learn. And I I look at life like you look at life too, like every day's an opportunity in my gratitude journal. I'm not like I would say I'm not a religious guy, but I'm a really, really spiritual guy. Yeah. In my gratitude journal, the same thing every morning I say, God, thank you for waking me up today.

SPEAKER_04 46:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

I'm just I'm grateful for what today is gonna have. I don't know what's in store, but I can't wait to see what's gonna happen. And yeah, I it's amazing when you start with that mindset, man.

SPEAKER_05 46:47

I love that. I I start with Lord, thank you for your favor, and then whatever, fill in the blank every day. I pray, and it's usually very specific about something and you know, a health issue or, you know, uh family member or someone traveling or whatever it might be. But um, it's it's just amazing that when you have that spirituality and you hone it in and you believe it, it does go a long way because it fixes a lot of the holes in your life and it makes you feel uh accomplished and thankful and appreciative of what you do have versus what they have or what you want and you don't

When Announcing Goes Off Script

SPEAKER_05 47:30

have it yet.

SPEAKER_02 47:30

So really quick side note about announcing. Uh I've no, I've definitely not shared this on the podcast, and I can't believe I'm gonna share it, but I think you might find it funny. So I a lot of my friends in high school were soccer guys. Yeah. And so I uh thought I was a big major league movie fan, Bob Euchre. Yep. Just a bit outside. Try the corner and missed. So I yeah. I decided to uh I would do play by play, I would do announcing soccer at the stadium, and the announcer of the stadium, it's usually like goal by number 14, Brent, whatever. Monotone. I decided I decided to sneak in a little play by play. Smith up the up the up up the line to Fanel Fnell crosses score! Like doing that. And they're like, but it's like live. And then I thought it'd be fun to be able to say, I'd whisper in them in the phone, on like, I'm like, rare, rare, rare, middle of the game, and I'd keep saying their name to they look up and I'd be I'd have the window open in the booth, I'm just waving at them. And they're like, What are you doing? But the one where I got fired, we were playing a team called the Auburn Trojans. Now, being a 16, 17, uh immature kid, which you know, sometimes you know the people call it the dirty mind, just the immature mind. Our athletic director up there, Rest in Peace, Ron Grimm, said, I go, Mr. Grimm said, Do you think it'd be funny if I introduced him as the Auburn condoms? He's like, uh, Casey, no, that would not be funny. I go, coach, I'm just totally joking. Would not so now it's in my subconscious. I go, hey, welcome to tonight's contest between your camera chargers and the Auburn condoms. I mean Trojans. Sorry about that, everybody.

SPEAKER_05 49:05

So that made it even funnier.

SPEAKER_02 49:08

Dude, I heard the freaking eruptor, eruption from the lap, and I'm like, oh god. And I just, I'm like, sorry. Right. And let's just say halftime. I was uh Casey, we're gonna have to say good night. I had this is now junior year. I got I had to go um apologize to our athletic director, I had to go apologize to their school. I and now this thing called like, what was it called? Like the club, the club, not the club, but some club that like would be like school spirit.

unknown 49:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

They made signs, true story. They made signs, bring Casey back. Because you got canned. Yeah, and they wouldn't do it. So I said, I had to go to Mr. Grimms. I go, how can I I want to be able to announce my senior year for my buddies? And they're like, you gotta go meet with a guy named Dave Lutz, who was the athletic director of the whole school district. I had to drive to the school district and apologize. He's like, hey dude, we're gonna let it go. Just don't don't be that dumb.

SPEAKER_04 50:01

I'm so sorry. I have some respect.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

Yeah. But we still freaking laugh about that today.

SPEAKER_05 50:07

Uh you know, I almost I was I was just short of that. I didn't have that uh impact, but I did not get fired, but I should have. So I was in the booth and I was responsible for the music before halftime and after the game, and we had a track that was the clean version. Pretty pretty good at that. Well, one of the best teams in the state was playing Huff. Huff was ranked fifth, right? So they were good, not top two or three. We're playing the number one team, and they come in to our place. We lost to them probably, you know, 20 to 6 when we played them at their place, and they're coming to our place now. And uh they were playing keep away, and there's no time, there's no clock in women's lacrosse. So if you can just keep possession, you can just keep possession all game and win one-nothing.

SPEAKER_04 50:51

One at so they took an exorbitant amount of time passing it behind our goal back. So I put on a on the loudspeaker. Oh my god, so good.

SPEAKER_05 51:02

And it was the funniest thing I think I've ever thought of or done, but I had the most uh vicious referee words I've ever heard from the field, and then the athletic director came and busted into the you know the the press box and such. And I I it was only on for 10 seconds, but it was hilarious to me. Um they said, if anything wraps like I'm never gonna be set put on this campus again, that kind of thing. So um, but it was like so boring, like just play, score some goals.

SPEAKER_04 51:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:38

Do you think do your daughters remember that story? Yeah, oh yeah. That's fantastic. For for younger dads out there, tell tell us what what would be an area your dad gave me wish you could do over.

A Parenting Blowup And EQ Growth

SPEAKER_05 51:49

Yeah, here's a good one because I teach emotional intelligence now. In fact, I took a uh assessment this morning for a new partner of mine and scored an 89, which there's four components and the averages. So I was 85 last year. I just got in and so I'm moving in the right direction for you. But this story is when Stella was seven, and we were in eastern North Carolina. I had a Mustang and expedition, it's important. My wife and I take Stella to the county fair, right? So there's fire trucks, and you throw a fishing pole over the board and they get candy on the hook and eats the candy immediately. And oh, let's get another Coke. And so she's on a sugar high timestamp. She wants to get this new Wii game because she just got the new Wii console. And so we stop at uh GameStop and she gets her new game, and she's in the back seat, which in a Mustang only seven-year-olds can fit anyway.

SPEAKER_04 52:45

Um, and so when we get home, um I park in the driveway and I put the car in park, and I start to open my door.

SPEAKER_05 52:56

Well, she behind me lifts up a seat, pushes the seat forward, so I fall into the uh steering wheel, and she throws a door out, takes out the passenger side of the expedition, giant dents on the doors of the front and back of the expedition. Dented my door on the Mustang as well.

SPEAKER_04 53:18

And uh how do you think I reacted? Uh you lost your shed.

SPEAKER_05 53:24

That's that's probably an understatement. So um she didn't need a lecture, she didn't need anybody to tell her she did something wrong. She just wanted to go play her game. I lost you, that just cost me. Well, that's why we have insurance people, right? It's an accident. It's an accident. I curbed her enthusiasm times 100. She threw the game in the trash on the way into the house and cried in her bedroom for two or three hours. She wouldn't talk to anybody. She was so distraught. And I'm thinking, wow, I had what I call the rat brain, right? I just went to the immediate reaction. I didn't reflect a second. I just reacted very poorly and loudly and used profanity as regret as well. And the idea was all she wanted to do was go play her game, and she was having the best day ever up until that point. So I ruined her day. And I never forgot that. So I used that as where I that's the lowest of the low. I probably was a zero emotional intelligence person at that point. Thank God she's 24, so while um, but since then I focused on self-awareness and motivation and social awareness and emotional awareness and all the things that go with the EQ uh learning sector. And I decided to integrate that along with neurolinguistic programming and and you know to enhance communication when I teach business professionals because the I I noticed self-awareness in business is probably highly uh uh underused. Listening is probably a close section. But but the idea of having a high EQ is more important, unless you're in a really high tech role or med medicine, your EQ is probably more important than that.

SPEAKER_04 55:16

So that's the lesson I learned.

SPEAKER_05 55:18

Didn't repeat that ever, Cali or the state, but that was a huge uh mistake, a flaw, um, you know, no empathy in the situation, you know, zero tolerance, and and it was just awful. I was an awful dad at that moment. And I learned from that, never repeated that. I rarely raised my voice. If I ever raised my voice or used that dad voice, my girls would start crying immediately, even though they didn't know what they did. If I used that tone, they knew exactly something bad would map, and nothing, you know, physical or anything, but it's just like, why didn't you? But I probably use that voice three times.

SPEAKER_02 55:54

Well, you're not alone. Uh we we've all been guilty of that. It's funny. One of my um good buddies, Darren Balmore, shout out to D Nice. Uh I think episode nine. We're on now, episode we'll be in the 360s when your episode comes out, Mark. We did an episode on just saying sorry as a dad. Like the impact of saying I'm sorry. And truly meaning you're sorry. And and but I think we do that. We teach our kids that you know it's okay to mess up sometimes. We gotta go go do something about it and own your mistakes. And I don't know about you, but I threw I threw quite a few interceptions in and during my college career, and everyone's but you you you learn from it, you know, and that's why it's I it wasn't the goal today. I want to throw four picks, that'd be a blast. Can't wait.

SPEAKER_05 56:33

You know, I don't want to read the coverage, I don't want to do a pre-snap read. I just want to throw the ball. Right.

SPEAKER_04 56:38

Chuck, as far as I can.

SPEAKER_02 56:40

Um if you think about your uh your family and um kind of like the the values that drove your daughters um that have created the the women

Three Traits Mark Sees In His Girls

SPEAKER_02 56:54

than they are today. If you depict three, tell me what come to mind.

SPEAKER_05 56:58

Um I'm gonna say tenacity, and Stella would laugh at that because I always say you have to have tenacity playing defense, you know, because she was left-handed and Callie's right-handed, so it was almost perfect because all the stars are right-handed, so Stella would be a great defender because she'd go to her strength with their strength, you know, the same way. Um, but tenacity, I think, is the first. And that's just getting up when you get knocked down, you know, being present, you know, doing what you can control and doing it to the best of your abilities. So I think tenacity is the first thing. The second one, and this one was tough for me as a kid, but having a high degree of self-confidence. Um, I kind of was the guy you love to hate in high school. I was the the class president for two of the three years coming into my senior year and then associate student body president both semesters, you know, unanimously voted, you know, in um my senior year. I was in the future business leaders of America for the state as the state reporter. I was elected to one of four offices for that. Um, I was the captain of all the sports teams, quarterback captain, football, track, basketball, baseball, four-sport athlete, and and I actually won Mr. Legs my senior year. And everybody booed me at the uh the assembly because there was three finalists, and they said, and the winner of uh Mr. Legs competition, Mark Kranick. And they all booed because uh I kind of they loved to hate me because I was always that I wasn't trying, I just worked out a lot. I was just like I ran a lot, I I took care of myself later, but I didn't have a lot of confidence. I actually I had confidence, I would already be Tony Robbins, right? I just never had that level of confidence, um, who's a great motivational person and uh who I kind of would love to be.

SPEAKER_04 58:47

He's taller, uh deeper voice and scarier than me, but he's still amazing, very motivational.

SPEAKER_05 58:56

But I think that uh having that confidence in knowing you're enough and being able to grow your self-confidence through your actions and through your preparation so that you know that you have the answers and and the competence to to succeed in whatever you choose to do, work, you know, personal, whatever it might be. And then I think the third one is is really something that I learned as a quarterback always under pressure. Um, and Coach John Dunaway, like a father figure to me, he's the one that promoted me my sophomore year to be starting quarterback and such and was there with me the whole high school year. He he was the one that said, you have to do these three things for me. And thank goodness I had that in my life because that was the foundation of my high school. He said, number one, maintain 3.5 GPA or higher so you can get a good scholarship check, got that. 3.8 degree, number six in my class. Okay. Um, two, make sure you win a championship every year in football. Mission Metal League champs, my sophomore and senior year, state champs, my junior year check. And then always be yourself, right? Those were the three things you wrote in my yearbook coming into my sophomore year, right? So this is like way back. And so that was kind of the catalyst to how I learned how to set goals and focus on how to achieve that. But then when things happen, like Mike Tyson said, everybody's got to plan until you get punched, right? When things happen, some people just cower fold, forget, move on, get distracted, whatever. Having that poise under pressure to move forward despite the chaos around you, and not panic when you should panic, just stay calm. You have you know all the variables coming out, defensive trying to hurt the quarterback. And you have to focus on the goal. So that poise under pressure leads to focus. And I think those are monumental skills that my daughters do possess. And it's just fun to watch living vicariously through their lives.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:54

It really is.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:56

It's awesome, man. How? Um, okay, a couple last questions, and we'll get in the lightning round, get you out of here

Takeaways Dads Can Use Today

SPEAKER_02 1:01:03

on time. If you were to summarize what we've talked about today, that dads can take um action, put into their own life. Um, tell us two or three things that come to mind that would summarize what we talked about.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:16

So I think, you know, three things that that dads need and can use from today's session, if you will.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:27

Uh first is the belief that uh you can uh grow as a human and bring more kindness, positivity, uh, gratitude, humility, and respect into your life and those that you love. So going back to that initial transformation tree that I the book that I wrote, um, I think all dads can benefit from that just simply because we get caught up in life.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:56

Bad things happen, uh people aren't always nice. Um don't get caught up in that.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:03

Focus on nurturing your transformation tree and bringing that kindness and that gratitude into the world. So I think that's the first thing. I think the second thing is is resilience and persist persistence pays off. So you're you're gonna hit some bumps in the road, you may not react to a certain situation as a father that you that you should. Um, but you can always ask for forgiveness. I think you brought that up, which was an excellent point. And and just be authentic, you know, be yourself, you know, be real, um, have raw emotions. It's okay to cry too. I mean, I've cried in front of my girls multiple times. And it's it's refreshing to see the strong father figure, stereotype, whatever you think you should be, as a real human. So I think being resilient, persistent throughout your life, and being able to say, I'm sorry, and ask for forgiveness or forgive somebody that maybe you got something that you didn't expect from or were disappointed by would be number two. And I think three is have fun. You know, be engaged, be there, be at the events, the recitals, the the you know, dance or plays or sports or or activities, or you know, my my oldest daughter was in eighth grade uh math competition and they won it for the state of North Carolina out in Greensboro. And we were living in Eastern Carolina. We had a driveout, and her team of four won the whole thing. Um, and we were there and she got the trophy, and you know, and it was just amazing. But this is like their whole life as they grow, they grow fast, guys. They really grow fast. My kids are 26 and 24 teaching me when I'm not following through on what I say I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:47

So they hold me accountable for the things that I say versus I should be doing. So those are the things I think would be the summation of this thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:59

That's gold, brother. That's gold.

Empty Nester Advice That Helps

SPEAKER_05 1:04:01

Um, selfishly, what's one piece of advice you have for me as an empty nester, which I'm about to it, you know, it's bittersweet, but um, you get to invest more time in yourself and your wife. And I all and again, I've been married 33 years as of May 29th this year, and I date my wife at least twice a month. So we always go on dates. You have more time selfishly to do the things that you enjoy or that makes your heart sing. So embrace maybe new hobbies or extend this uh podcast and and you know, kind of do an extra episode every month or something, but do the things that you enjoy and embrace them, and then make sure you keep in touch with your kids and call them. I got I got chastised by Callie and she's in Amsterdam. I said, You haven't talked to you in over a week. She goes, Well, you haven't called me. You're right. I haven't called you either. But she's busy and she's six hours ahead, and I don't interrupt her work day. You know, so I found reasons why not to. Just reach out, stay in touch with your kids because it's just so joyful to see them go through life, even when they're down, even when they break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend. You're there, you listen to it. Don't try to fix things. Guys always want to keep scoring fixed things. Women like to be heard, understood, and feel like you're present. And that's the Venus-Mars difference, right? So it don't always you don't always have to fix things, dads.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:30

You can just listen.

Where To Find Mark And What’s Next

SPEAKER_02 1:05:33

That's gold. Um, Mark, tell us how uh how can we learn more about the performance mindset work you're doing.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:44

I have two websites, and you can go to uh performancemindset.co, so just.co, and that gives you the fractional, you know, chief human resource officer services for startups and small medium businesses, along with some leadership development. Development and executive coaching. The new launch that you mentioned earlier is the Mark Kranick, M-A-R-K-K-R-A-J-N-I-K.com. That's a new site, and that's promoting what I've done since 04. Global motivational and keynote speaking to enterprise and retreats, uh presence club base hitter trips, things like that. Um, or uh leadership development workshops. So those are the two places you can go to get that. You can email me through Mark at performancemindset.co if you want to get a hold of me directly. But it's all on the website there. I want to kind of focus on the dads and and really the the sons and daughters out there that uh really appreciate all we do for them.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:46

Love it, man. How can people, besides those two websites, are there social platforms you're on and people have been intrigued, they want to learn from you, they want to connect?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:53

Yeah, so yeah, on Instagram, Mark EMark1988, M-A-A, M-A-R-K-Y, M-A-R-K 1988, and then the transformation tree, it's transformation tree, is another uh IG address that I use um quite often, and then just my name on on Facebook. Um and I'll I'll start doing video content so TikTok will be coming soon, but I know it's not my primary audience, it's just fun. And so I've got uh something that I'm doing with a podcast I'll be starting in August called the Apex Factor Pep Talk series. Apex stands for attitude performance excellence and that X Factor, that six cents, the Joe Montana in the pocket. Um and the Pep Talk is uh a performance enhancing podcast. So it's a podcast that 10 minutes of me talking at you in the first 26 episodes or two 13 series uh episodes, um, they'll just be me talking at you for 10 to 12 minutes. So it's talking about resilience, talking about preparation, talking about discipline, whatever the the topic is of that episode. Um so it's easy to go walk your dog or take a quick run and listen to something that's going to motivate you as a coach would before you go on the pitch or the court or the field. Um so that's that's another thing that will be coming out um along with the markcranick.com uh website.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:16

So good.

Lightning Round And Rapid Laughs

SPEAKER_02 1:08:17

All right, my man. It's now time to go into the lightning round where I show you the neg negative hits of taking too many hits and college, not bong hits, but football hits. Your job is to answer these questions as quickly as you can, and my job is to try to get a giggle out of you.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:31

Okay, first things first though, before we start, I've had ten concussions and I'm Polish, so take it easy.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:38

Okay. True or false, you do voiceover work for John Gruden. False. That was true.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:47

Um true or false, you were uh the Oxy the Tiger, mascot in Oxy the Tiger.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:53

No, but I knew who she was.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:55

Okay. Favorite comedy movie of all time is Fletch.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:00

Heavy Chase, 1984, greatest comedy.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:03

Fletch is a classic. I quote it to this day. I've seen it 38 times. David the Afro? Did I mess that up? Um last book you read was?

SPEAKER_05 1:09:18

So that was the uh new Emotional Intelligence by Dr. Travis Bradbury.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:25

Okay. Um if you were to go on vacation right now, just you and Elizabeth, sorry girls, you're not going, just mom and dad. Where are you taking her? Amalfi Coast, Italy.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:32

We were there on our 25th wedding anniversary on Symphony of the Seas cruise and can't wait to go back.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:38

Okay. Um, for all your followers on LinkedIn, what would be one genre of music that might surprise them that you listen to?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:45

Um, I am a new country uh you know Luke Combs Morgan Whalen lover.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:56

Um I I enjoy the new country sound. Uh, anybody from Nashville? In fact, here's a funny side note the Transformation Tree actually wrote lyrics to a country song on the last two pages of that book, hoping that a fantastic, you know, uh superstar duet would pick it up and and uh record it for him. But I wrote the lyrics to extend the message from the transformation tree.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:21

There you go. Um, if I was to come to your house for dinner tonight, what would we have?

SPEAKER_05 1:10:25

You know, we'd probably have steak with uh nice uh ribeye with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, and mashed potatoes and gravy because that's my favorite.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:38

Um if there was to be a book written about your life, come with the title. Mr. Quarterback. Okay. Now, Mr. Quarterback, um, I know you said you're an actor, but it can't be you. You're now the casting director. And Mr. Quarterback is is just the book is blowing out of Amazon, Barnes Noble. The airports can't keep it up, it's just no one can get a copy, so they're gonna make a movie out of it. You're gonna uh you are the casting director, Mark, and I need to know who's gonna star Trash in this critically acclaimed hit new movie.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:08

Brian Goss.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:10

But I put yeah, easy, easy and easy, easy guess or easy pick there.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:15

Yeah, he's great. Yeah, there's a few out there that are that are amazing. Um, but we just watched um his newest movie last night. Um uh oh gosh. The name of it is Hail Mary, um, which is kind of funny for football relativity, but Hail Mary is hilarious, and I guarantee you'll cry. So watch Hail Mary Brian Gosling.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:39

There we go. Okay, and then last and most important question, tell me two words that would describe Elizabeth.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:46

Amazing and loyal.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:50

There we go. Lighting rounds complete, everybody. We made it through another episode.

Reviews, Sharing, And Dad Jokes

SPEAKER_02 1:11:54

Thank you for hanging in with us, Mark. I appreciate you. Um, I'm glad that the world of LinkedIn brought us together. Uh, I know this is not the first uh the first uh time, first or the last time we're gonna talk. I know the universe brought us together for a purpose. And uh I'm grateful for all the dads who continue to listen. Um my ask of you, everybody, as I've been talking about on the recent episodes, is if you can do me a huge favor, just go to wherever you listen to this episode, find the review section, leave us a review, it'll help the algorithm so we can get more dads listening to help more dads improve their lives each and every day. Become the ultimate quarterback or leader of their household. Or if there's even things you think that I, as the host, can do a better job of to make your experiences better, please let me know. I can be coached just like everybody else can be coached. You want to end with a dad joke? I got the best dad joke ever, but let's go. Who can you?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:42

I'll go first and you go with the best ever. Mine's just good. Yours is great. Casey, how do you know a joke's a dad joke?

SPEAKER_02 1:12:49

How do you know?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:50

When it becomes apparent.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:53

Oh, well played. Okay, that was well played. I got a giggle out of you. Um, how do you get a squirrel out of a tree? Old nuts. Show him your nuts.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:05

Oh, there you go. I was like thinking he's got to come down. Close. Right ballpark.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:11

Yeah, exactly. We giggle. Mark, I appreciate you, man. We'll make sure we let people know about the transformation tree. We'll link your links in the show notes. Um, and uh, I just appreciate you being honest and sharing your vulnerability and sharing some great wisdom with us. I have a page full of notes, and I hope everybody listening at home does as well. Um, thanks so much for your time, and I look forward to hopefully meeting you in person soon. Honestly. Well, thank you again, everybody, for listening to this week's episode. And a huge favor now, if you have enjoyed this podcast, please, wherever you just listen to it, go on to your phone, the computer, and click on reviews and leave us a review, leave us a rating, hopefully five stars if you if you like it a lot, which will help us be easily to be found by new listeners that are gonna be wanting to learn more about the quarterback dad cast, learn about ways they can become an ultimate quarterback or leader of their household. And even better yet, if this episode touched it, please share it with a friend. Uh, find another episode that you liked, share that episode with a friend. We're gonna continue to keep growing this thing in quest to get to a thousand dads. So I appreciate you uh continue to listen each and every week. And thank you again for all your support and wish you uh a great rest of your day. And we can't wait to see you next week. See you everybody.