the OTHER DOOR: UNCORKED with DIRK BEVERIDGE

What if the biggest threat to your business isn’t inflation, automation, or competition—but the fact that your people, and maybe even you, are half asleep?

In this UNCORKED conversation, Tim Windsor chats with the rebellious, inspiring, and fully awake Dirk Beveridge, founder of the Fully Alive Movement. This isn’t your typical leadership discussion. Their talk challenges toxic narratives that tell us to put ourselves last. They question the lie that you can't love yourself first and lead others. And they shatter the idea that “there’s no I in team” with the honest truth: if you’re not whole, you can’t serve your team or the world well. 

Throughout the conversation, Dirk shares what he uncovered over four summers and 55,000+ miles in an RV visiting distribution and manufacturing companies across the United States. His revelation: the stark truth that 80% of workers are overlooked, underinvested in, and quietly longing for more—and what leaders must do to address this. 

Tim and Dirk explore the power of entering through the metaphorical (and literal) “back door” of leadership, relationships, and organizations—to uncover the people and stories hidden within. Dirk also makes a strong case for restoring family as a sacred metaphor in workplace culture..

This episode is a rebellion against numbness, a manifesto for change, and a direct punch to the underbelly of complacency.

Tim Windsor
the UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast – Host & Guide
tim@uncommodified.com
https://uncommodified.com/
  
PRODUCERS: Alyne Gagne & Kris MacQueen 
MUSIC BY: https://themacqueens.ca/

Transcript

PLEASE NOTE: UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast episode transcriptions are raw text files and have not been proofed or edited. They are what they are … Happy Reading.

© UNCOMMODiFiED & TIM WINDSOR

[00:00:00] What if the greatest threat to you in your business isn't the economy, your competition or even, , your talent pipeline, but whether you and your team are fully alive and awake? What if productivity, efficiency, and execution? All the things we've been trained to chase, we're blinding us to one thing that's actually the thing that unlocks all success, that's human potential and possibility.

In this episode, I sit down with someone who's not just asking those kind of questions. He's awakening himself first and others to answer them. My guest has traveled over 55,000 miles across America, connecting with frontline workers, CEOs, HR leaders, and emerging talent along the way, and uncovered a powerful truth.

When people are just getting by companies flatline. But when people come alive, when they become fully alive, when they feel a sense of belief, clarity, momentum, and purpose, they transform and so do their businesses. This conversation isn't about just some kind of other leadership framework or a corporate training fad.

That's not [00:01:00] what it's gonna be about. It's about leading and leaning into a movement. The fully alive movement. It's a rebellion against the grind, a rally and cry to step up and wake up so that we can move forward. So if you're ready to reclaim your energy, your courage, your joy, and you're ready to wake up and become fully alive, you are definitely in right place today, my friends.

Hey, Welcome back to the Unmodified Podcast. I'm Tim WinDor. My guest today on the show is Dirk Beverage. Dirk, welcome to the show.

Tim, I am so honored and thrilled to be here, my friend. Oh my goodness. Thanks so much for having me. 

And just a, you know, just quick connection point here. So, my son connected with Dirk a number of years ago in the industry that he was in. He saw Dirk at an event and really had an affinity to what Dirk was doing. Started following Dirk's world, encouraged me to do the same.

And it was my son, Chris that connected Dirk and I. And so I have a lot of faith. This conversation's gonna be an amazing conversation. Of course. But before we get into it, let me tell you a little bit about Dirk, my friends. Dirk is a self-empowerment coach and keynote [00:02:00] speaker who is empowering working professionals to reclaim control, clarity, and energy so they can lead themselves and their teams with purpose and momentum.

And he is on a mission. Focused on a mission, a mission to awaken 1 million people to the power of self-empowerment and the joy of becoming fully alive. And so let's kick this conversation off. It's an uncorked conversation with a drink. I'm having a coffee 'cause it's Friday afternoon. What are you having, 

I am gonna have a water, if you don't mind. 

No water's good. You, it's, it's the elixir of life. Dirk, you gotta have water. Plus, you've been consulting in the water industry for a long time. So you gotta, you gotta support the cause my friend. 

No doubt about it. Hey, I will say this, this is relatively new for me. Uh, today I'm looking at my morning journaling, and Tim, today is day 314. Of being alcohol free. So, so 315 days ago I would've had a beer with you But, uh, so today it's cheers my friend. 

Well, water is good and that's a good journey to be on. I think I might have to get on that [00:03:00] journey eventually, Derek, who knows? But the cosmos might be saying something to me for for sure. So, alright, listen, let's start this here. I always like to start the conversation with a question.

So I would like to know what this fully alive movement thing is. That's one thing I wanna understand, Dirk, today. And the, also, the other thing I wanna know is what has brought you to this moment in your life and your journey? I, I'm interested in that. So what is this? Fully alive movement. And why is Dirk finding this at this moment in time in his life and for others?

Yeah. Uh, such a great series of questions there and, and let, let me start by saying this from a business perspective. All right, Tim. Uh, what I've discovered is that 80% of employees. Are overlooked, underserved, and underinvested in. All right. Now how did I come to that conclusion and how does that lead to the Foley Alive Movement?

I truly believe that as leaders, we have the responsibility and the opportunity to help these employees. [00:04:00] Not just the emerging leaders, not just the leadership team, not just the sales team. These 80% that are keeping our businesses running. I believe we have the responsibility and the opportunity to help them thrive and flourish, not just at work, but in life.

Okay, now how did I come to that conclusion? Coming outta COVID. I came up with a crazy ass idea. I went to Camping World, bought a 38 foot RV without telling my wife wrong thing to do. Alright. It was a long night, man. Long night, but. Then my brilliant partner, Bethany Heppler, she, she and I created this brand called We Supply America.

We wrapped this RV with We Supply America, and for the last four summers I've been going across this country from Memorial Day to Labor Day, crossing this country from sea to shining sea, stopping that primarily independent family owned, employee owned distribution and manufacturing business. [00:05:00] And Tim, after 40 years as a consultant, keynote speaker, uh, strategist and innovator for these types of businesses, after 40 years of walking in the front door of these businesses for the last four summers, I've parked the RV in the back 

and I've walked in the back door, and I've walked in through the loading docks and the receiving docks, and I've met the average employee.

These 80% that are overlooked, underserved, and underinvested in. And what I have discovered is that we as human beings, we're yearning. We have a yearning inside of us for something more. Many cannot articulate it. Many have not even said it. Many of us are struggling [00:06:00] quietly and silently, but we had this yearning and we know that there's something more to waking up, punching in, clocking out, going home, and doing it all over again. And so what happened, Tim, is four years ago I went out to champion the noble calling of distribution with that r. Over the last four years, we've made 32 documentary films, plus 32 CEO films, if you will, and we left with no business plan. We left with no revenue model. We went out with this column we thought to tell stories about distribution and manufacturing, and we did that.

But what I learned is that our stories. Really aren't about the businesses. They are, 

Yeah. 

but they're about the people. They're about [00:07:00] the people who keep our country supply. 

Yeah. You know, Dirk, I mean, I love I and I, I love that framework and I resonate with it a lot. I often say to the businesses and the people that I work with leaders, I say, the one thing that you have to understand, even though it might be difficult for you, is that in a lot of ways your business doesn't exist.

I mean, if we think about a business, I mean, take a big business like Apple, 

Yeah. 

You know, when you call up or you go into a store, you don't talk to Apple. Apple doesn't serve you. It doesn't make things, it doesn't answer the phone. It doesn't give you service, it doesn't answer your tech support calls.

Apple doesn't do that. People do. People do. And, and so we get lost in the corporate branding and the branding on the, you know, over the front door, that sign we get lost. And the, the company seems to be that, but in odd ways it isn't. And so I, I so resonate with this idea because once we've transform our opinion that the business in itself is, is an construct, it's a brand, but actually it's the people [00:08:00] and the wisdom.

And what I love about what you just said is walking in the back door instead of the front 

door. And again, if you're listening in, I always say to your listeners, you're listening for a reason, and I'm just gonna challenge you even right now in this conversation. In what area of your life, personally or professionally, do you need to walk in the back door?

Do you need to not go into the front door? The, the facade on the street, the street facing thing? But to go in the back door of, of, of a relationship or an experience and actually ask yourself a subset of different questions. It is a powerful, provocative metaphor, Dirk and I love it. And so again, if you're listening in, that's my first challenge today.

What door are you walking in to observe this thing you're trying to figure out? And maybe part of it is walking in another door. And so you walk in this door, you go in the back, you start having these experiences dark. And you, you, you come to this understanding or you start to see that for some reason, from your perspective, people aren't fully awake, they're not fully [00:09:00] alive, something's happening.

What, what, what does this look like as you start having this experience?

Oh, Tim, um, a a i I, I love. I love your riffs, first of all. Okay. I love what you're pulling out and, and the metaphor, what does it look like? Um, Tim, I think maybe the best way I can describe this is, I go in these back doors and you go to these warehouses, you go to these manufacturing facilities, and you, you sometimes meet individuals.

Who are tatted up. Right. , And I gotta tell you something, I used to shy away from that, from acknowledging that, but maybe on the third or fourth stop when I saw more and more people tatted up, I said, hell, there's something there. You know? And, and so one of my favorite questions was. [00:10:00] Hey, you, you know, after, after we meet and all this, right?

Maybe my third or four questions, but it's, Hey man, I, I see your tatted up. I love him. And I said, do you have a favorite? What do you think their response is? Every time? Yes. 

Yeah, I got one.

Just about every time, right? About three people said, no, Dirk, they were all mistakes. But anyway, and, and Tim, the stories you hear.

Here 

Yeah.

I, I have heard about more people's grandmothers. Truly, I don't know about what it is, but I've heard more about more people's grandmothers with tears flowing in their eyes as they're thinking about what their grandmother has brought to them to raise them or whatever it happens to be. And here's the key is every individual you meet has a story 

Yeah.

and they want to tell the story. 

Yeah.

And [00:11:00] here's the thing, Tim, you hear those stories and every time I'm listening I'm saying shit. It's like I'm talking not listening, because we all have similars. We're all different. We're all unique. We're all on our own journey. But you, you mentioned the word awaken. I don't know if I should go here, but I'm gonna go here.

All right, 

Uh, let's go here.

I truly believe, I, I believe I've come to believe through, through these interactions I've had, I truly believe to a degree we are all asleep. 

Hmm. 

is a noisy world. It's a chaotic world. It is a demanding world, and everybody. Is being told who to be. 

Yeah. 

My employer is telling me who to be. My wife is telling me who to [00:12:00] be.

My kids are telling me who to be. Society is trying to tell me Washington DC is trying to, everybody is trying to tell me who to be. And when you meet a stranger and you ask 'em about their tattoos or whatever it happens to be, and you hug a stranger. I mean with real love. You, you, you see, you, you see these people, me 

Yeah, 

who, who knows that there's something more 

Yeah. Dirk, I mean, I, you know, I love this. I mean, there's a couple things here in the conversation that I just wanna tuck into a little bit and, and let's explore them. And again, listeners, this conversation. And none of the conversations I have are rehearsed or scripted. We, we've, I always tell my guests, and I said this to Dirk before we start, is the conversation we're supposed to find, will have, will find us.

That's, that's what I really believe. And so [00:13:00] I just see some really interesting themes here and I wanna park on them. And one is, you know. I've often thought about the wonderful movie Awakenings , uh, the Robin Williams movie, and this idea of people , we're sort of slumbering around in our worlds.

And I think there is a powerful truth to that. I think we all have that propensity and, you know, in my world, I think about this idea of un commodification, of living our unique self. And I and I, and one of the things I talk about is what I'll call the anesthetizing power of sameness. , 

Yes, 

it's a sleeping drug.

So this, this quest for homogeneity where we all have to look the same, sound the same, where we all have to ha have no tattoos, or all tattoos, or all the same tattoo that homogeneousness is a, is an evil and impressively evil force, I think because it causes us to slumber about who we really are and who we were created to be.

It, it, it it's a sleeping sickness. I think that we do have, I totally agree with that and I [00:14:00] love the fact that you unlock that or you see awakening in people's eyes when you ask them, don't tell me the facts about who you are, but tell me your story. It's story and narrative. And I do think in our culture, one of the things that I think the sad part of our culture is we've wandered away, , from story and narrative.

As the primary way that we experience the world or think about it. I mean, ancestrally in our country, Canada and your country, our countries were storytellers. They, they, they told story. They didn't have written documents. They told story and story is such a powerful thing for actually understanding things beyond the essence of these facts, that we have the story of someone's life and actually being interested in that.

It's interesting that that's sort of the, the moment that starts to bring that awakening. I think that's a really powerful idea and truth there. Okay.

Well, I, I love it. Thank you. And. Tim, I, I, I think your work, right, and our work is colliding. Right. [00:15:00] And I think it's so important and, and here's why. Okay. Let me, you used the word evil.

Tim, I, uh, I rebelled hard against Adam Grant. You know, Adam Grant. 

I sure do. 

And, and I love Adam Grant. Adam Grant's brilliant. Adam Grant, is, you know, New York Times bestselling. All my books have not sold as much as his, just for the record. Okay. There's two things. I, and I actually hired Adam Grant twice before he was Adam Grant.

Okay. So I know him. And he's, he's a beautiful individual. Truly a beautiful individual. But there are two things that I'd love to sit down and talk to him about. All right. And one of 'em goes to this word evil that you talked about maybe about six months ago on social. He came out with a video where he is [00:16:00] interviewing somebody, and these two concluded Adam and this person he's concluded, concluded that research tells you.

You that being a parent does not make you happy. And I gotta tell you something. They got data to show that. Okay, to my mind, that's evil. This is evil. Coming to the surface, it's evil. Trying to shape the story and to shape a narrative that says, as a parent, you cannot be happy. And I gotta tell you something, I'm a parent.

Has it been a struggle? Yeah.

Has it been wonderful? Yeah.

Mm-hmm. 

And for the last 31 weeks, I, uh, after going to, , Athens, Greece and walking the steps of Socr, Plato's and Aristotle, I hired my tour guide Jo Athens. John and after the last 31 weeks we're diving deep into philosophy, and he [00:17:00] and I talked about this and what he helped me understand is that, is that these researchers.

Are taking a pure scientific 

Yeah.

view of certain things, and we're losing humanity. We're losing the interest in why people are getting tatted up. We're losing the interest in understanding the struggles and the heartache and the goals and the dreams and the yearning that we all have. And so I think you're bringing out the fact that, that these conversations are critical.

I agree, and we do need to fight back and push back on a lot of the narrative 

Yeah.

that is causing us to be asleep. 

Yeah. I, I totally agree with that and I think, you know, you talk about parenting and I think that's where it starts. Obviously. I think part of the challenge is that if you look at those workers that you [00:18:00] walk in and you see in the back door of those businesses. 

Yeah. 

They are all obviously highly influenced like we all are by their, our upbringing, our, our parental structure, all of these things.

And unfortunately, and I, I'm guilty of this too. I have two adult children now. You know, I'm glad that, that we still, we're still friends, 

which is awesome. We're great friends today. We weren't always great friends along the way. But the reality is, is I didn't do them, , a good service at times because sometimes I parented them a little bit into a box.

I parented them into a way I wanted them to believe or behave. And what I realized, you know, and I have to admit this to myself, I did it partly because I saw them as a reflection of me. And as people looked at them, I felt that they would judge me as a result of that. And so I wanted to push them in a certain way and so that I could feel good about myself.

And I think that I, I, you know, I'll just be honest, as a parent, that wasn't the right strategy. And what I'm learning over the years now is to discover the wonder of my children fully alive, fully [00:19:00] awake to who they are in their unique expression. And it's different, and it's vibrant, and it's complicated, and it's messy, and it's wonderful.

In all, all wrapped up into one, and that's just a small microcosm of people, but we have all of these people, a, a generation of people, if we're not careful, or generations that are sleepwalking through life, as you said, punching a clock, doing their thing, and they're not fully alive or awake to the larger impact that they can have.

They dichotomize their lives. They, you know, they're a work person and a home person, which I don't believe in. We're a person. And we're, and you know, part of this, I think comes down to our feeling of insignificance. You know, there, I, I recently had a conversational podcast with somebody and I, I quoted this from a book that I read years ago called, it's called Getting To Maybe How the World Has Changed.

And the one thing the authors in that book say is, is that oftentimes the thing we wanna do to make a difference, we convince ourselves it's so insignificant. That we do nothing. So [00:20:00] the fear of our insignificant contribution makes us sit down, fall in line, shut up and say nothing, or do anything different to create change, and then change is impossible.

And so awakening to our potential and our ability that we have choice and empowerment, and the ability to move things towards the destiny that we want them to be, whether it's in our society, in our businesses, is a critical function that we all, I think, have to. In my opinion, we've gotta wake up 

to because we have tremendous potential.

Humans are amazingly wonderful and wily creatures.

uh, it's amazing and, and Tim here. Here, let me add to that. Right, I mean, so, , tell me what, you think about this. , Why are we asleep? Why do we, follow the rules, follow the expectations of, of this noisy, crazy ass world? right. , Just yesterday, I, I was doing some thinking with [00:21:00] Athens, John actually, and we looked at Socrates statement that the unexamined life is not worth living.

Ho. Now you, you see that quote on LinkedIn all the time, but when you stop and you think about it, 

Yeah.

that's heavy stuff first, the unexamined life, and then it's not worth living, so we won't. We, we could unpack that a lot too. Heavy things, but here's my point, the unexamined life, right? We are conditioned, I believe, 

Yeah.

to subordinate ourselves.

We are conditioned to put ourselves last. 

Yes.

We are conditioned to. Put in that extra overtime at work because the [00:22:00] products have gotta get shipped. Now, if you miss your kids' soccer game, you, you, we gotta get this out. We're conditioned to put ourselves last. We gotta take care of our spouse. We gotta take care of our kids.

We gotta put ourselves last. We gotta take care of our God. We gotta take care of our church. We gotta take care of our country. We have to contribute to something greater than ourselves. The, the entire narrative 

Yeah.

is that you're insignificant. 

Yeah.

The entire narrative is put yourself last. Even when our kids were on the soccer field or playing hockey, what did the coaches tell 'em from this high?

They said, there's no I in team. 

Yeah.

Are you crazy today in work? I mean, leaders, right? Are trying to rally the team. So whatever they say, they say, put we before me, 

Right. 

Tim, [00:23:00] man, would you do me a favor? Get on my bandwagon, because I call It, the we before me paradox. Alright? 

I'm on your bandwagon, 

and here's the message we have to bring to everybody. 

Yeah.

Put me, I want every one of your listeners starting today. To tell them that they are the most important thing in their life. They are. Because if they are not whole, if they don't examine themselves, if they don't understand those uniquenesses that you talk about, their gifts, their strengths, their beauty, their power, if they don't understand that and live that every day, they can't ripple into the world as a force for good. 

No. 

So start with me. That's the motto. That's the mantra that I want everybody. And, and, and it's not selfish. 

No.

it's not. And, and that 

that's the critical key. 

Yeah. It [00:24:00] is sacred and you know, dur I, it's possible. The reason why Chris, my son connected us is we may have been separated at birth and raised in two different countries 

Right. 

because we, I have never, just, again, listeners, just real full disclosure, Dirk and I have never had a conversation before.

Okay. We, we had a cursory connection on email. Hey, do you wanna come on? Awesome. We've not talked at all. So this is the first time we're interacting and I, I, it's just a 

delightful and conversation because, I've always said to people the same thing I've said, you know, people say there's no I in team, but I say, but there is a me, uh, 'cause there is an m and e, there's a me in there.

But the same thing that you're talking about, I believe so strongly, is that we have converted this idea of focusing on ourself as being selfish, to your point, and actually I believe very strongly. In fact, my daughter, my, my daughter's older than my son got married last year. Uh, wonderful guy, awesome.

Andrew's amazing man. Great, great companion for my daughter [00:25:00] Melissa. But my father of the bride speech was entitled, don't Buy Into the Soulmate Bullshit Myth. That was the title of my father of the bride. And what I said is. If you guys are coming at this relationship from a place that you're looking for the other person to make you whole.

Dan, you are going to have a very difficult relationship. In fact, we need to focus on our own wholeness, our own health. Focusing on ourself is not selfish. It is actually critical so that we can do all the other things. And to your point, as we start looking at priorities and you put a lot of different things in their work and family and country and faith and God and all the things like that.

You know, I have a specific paradigm that I look at that, and some of my listeners, you know, this isn't their jam. You know, religion's not their jam or spirituality's not their jam, and that's fine. But I will say that one of the things that, you know, because I love philosophy and I love religious history and all of these things, I think part of it stems from.

Moving away [00:26:00] from Socratic thinking and some really good things and some of the religious understandings we have, for instance, that we have this idea that you know, it's love of God first and then love of others, and then love of self. I think that's foreign actually, even to the Judaic Christian scriptures because according to what I read in that historically as I've read it, it suggests to me that.

, Actually, I think Jesus himself said that I need to love my neighbor as I love myself. So if I can't love myself, how do I love my neighbor? But later on, I think in the New Testament scripture, it says, how do you love God if you can't love your brother? Okay, so, so if you can't, if you have to love your brother, so you can love God, but you have to love your brothers yourself, then self-love is a critical factor in getting the order of these loves.

In the right place, you know? And you know, this goes, takes us back to the wisdom of Sophia and the three loves and all of these things that we get from ancient understanding. But it's so critical because we've raised a [00:27:00] generation and we told them you're evil and you're bad if you love and appreciate yourself.

Yes, 

Seriously. I hate to say this Derek and listeners, but how fucked up is that, that that's 

terrible. 

It's because now we have a bunch of people who feel guilty. When they actually want to take care of themselves and it actually maybe puts them to sleep. Maybe part of that is why they're not awake in this process.

I, I think it is, if not the reason they're asleep. Right. It is certainly at the top right. And again, it's this conditioning. So I, I think we have this opportunity and I think. I, shit, how do?

I say this humbly? 'cause I am, I, I think the world needs these conversations we're having today, Tim, because, you know, there are very powerful people with a narrative anti to this.

And can I take this into business just for a second? 

And, and so let, let's take this whole [00:28:00] thinking of living fully alive and individually. Now let's take it into business as well. Okay. And.

Tim, I've gone across this country a hundred different businesses. I've had thousands of people. I've listened and, you know, oftentimes I'd meet somebody and I, and I said, man, I get to know Rich. Rich man. How long have you been here? 20, 20 years. Rich. What has kept you here for 20 years? He says, well, we're not a number here.

We're not a cog in a wheel. I said, wow, that's great. What does that mean? He says, well, we're like family here. And you walk around and you see this beautiful, beautiful caring in some of these businesses. Now there are forces out there. Adam Grant is one of 'em. Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, is one of them.

This new amazing [00:29:00] entrepreneur, Cody Sanchez is one of them. The Society for Human Resources Management is one of them. There are these very strong, powerful voices out there saying that if you use the word family to describe your business culture. 

Yeah.

You are wrong. Stop it. You're evil for doing it. They're literally, I haven't seen anybody use the word evil, but that's basically what they're saying. 

Yep.

And Tim, I have come to the conclusion that these people are saying those things because they're invited over to Davos to sit on the stage of the World Economic Forum. 

Hmm.

They're a publicly traded company, right? They, um, none of these individuals [00:30:00] have bought a 38 foot rv, 

Mm-hmm.

traveled the country walking in the back doors of these businesses, because I guarantee you those businesses that have cultures of family. 

Yeah. 

Where you see real care look not perfect, 

No, 

but real care, real concern, where people aren't numbers, where there's a bond, where there's dignity, not just in the job or the output, but dignity in the human being. 

People give 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years of their life, 

Yes.

right? Um, with the relationships that are developed and, and all of that.

That, 

Yeah.

um, these are the places where people have, I think, in a work environment, the opportunity. It's not perfect 

No. 

to, in fact, find meaning and [00:31:00] purpose in their work, rather than just making a shit ton of money and so on and so forth. 

Yeah. You know what Dirk, so true. I, I worked with a company a number of years ago. I won't say what company it was, but we were trying to help them articulate. The culture they wanted. I think we are culture creators, I'm a weather creator, not a weather forecaster.

So we create the culture. A culture I've always said is the sum of people's actions, behaviors, and attitudes. And it's equal to, and no greater than the worst behavior, not the best, the worst behavior you allow to and exist in your environment. And we were working through some cultural stuff with them, and it came to this crossroads.

Half of them wanted to articulate that we're family and, and others didn't. And eventually they decided to eradicate the word family from their statement because, oh, there's way too much baggage with it and all this stuff. And listen, I get it for some people. Listen for me, by the way, I came from a broken home.

I came from a family that was fractured in a thousand ways that had problems that I never wanted to recreate. I had a lot of [00:32:00] baggage when it came to family, but I also recognized that within a generation I could change that if I became fully awake and alive to my opportunity. So I was raised without a father and I was my son's best man at his wedding.

That to me is what getting fully alive and awake to our power and potential is because I could sit and bitch and complain that I came from a shitty family, or I can become fully alive and awake to my opportunity. And possess the power to make a change. And within one generation we could make a change.

And now our kids and our grandkids, you know, my wife and I just, I'm turning 60, my wife has just turned 65, and we just celebrated our 39th wedding 

anniversary. And in my wife's 39th, uh, anniversary card, I wrote something to this effect. At the end of it, I said, Pam. We have understood the wisdom of the Dalai Lama who said that a wise man will plant trees under,

whose shade they will never sit. And I said, you and [00:33:00] I have planted trees. That will bear fruit for generations in our family. And this is us, and this is the power and potential that we have as we think about our opportunities and to your point, if we can get people to think broader about these things and awaken themselves to the potential that they have in business in life.

And to become fully alive and fully aware for the benefit of ourselves and others. Businesses are improved. Everything is different. Our lives is better. Society's better. 'cause at the end of the day, you know, the government and society is just us. They're, they're not, they're, they're not these impressively big things that create themselves.

We we're it. And, and we have opportunity and responsibility and accountability to live well for ourselves and others, but the sleepy sickness that we get. Also is a grand excuse. I think at times it says, I'm powerless. I can't do anything about it. I'll leave that to somebody else. And [00:34:00] clearly you're not leaving the work to somebody else.

Dirk? So here's my question. So now we're in, we're in 2025, halfway through 2025, and Dirk is on a mission, and Dirk is gonna take every opportunity to punch people right in the nose, in a respectful way with this message and say, guys, wake up. So, where do you see this going? Like in your mind, as you begin to visualize what this looks like and you're on this mission to wake up a million people, 

Yeah. 

what, what, where has this taken you in the next six months?

Dear?

, I appreciate the question because, , we truly are building this in real time, but there is a vision, okay. And, and to, so where, where is it going over the next six months? Over the next 30 days, you're gonna see a new, rebranding of me personally and of our organization towards the fam.

So six weeks ago, we just, launched our first step into the Foley Alive Movement. By launching our new newsletter every Sunday morning, the fam is delivered. [00:35:00] And our vision for that is you wake up six o'clock in the morning, nobody else is awake. You get your cup of coffee, you sit down, and we're going to have a very intimate conversation through that email about living fully alive.

That's number one. Number two my keynote speaking right? My keynote speaking. Some individuals have called me a, market of one with this message, if you will. Right. Um, we are. Truly focused on helping leaders and others understand that self-empowerment is a strategy that you can bring into how you lead and a philosophy into how you lead.

And so we're going to be doing that through our keynote speaking. And what we're also in the process of doing is in we're, we're actually building out our app. In our community that's gonna be launched in early 2026, where we're going to bring [00:36:00] people together in a, forum, if you will, to have very safe, open conversations about this living fully alive and being self-empowered. 

Those are parts of the journey that we're on, right. 

That's a great, that's a great journey, and again, guys, if you're listening in and you're still with us, you're listening in for a reason. Don't forget that. And so I will say, first of all, I, I signed up by the way, for the, for the FAM newsletter and the FAM newsletter. It's fricking awesome. It's inspirational, it's challenging, it's wise.

It is unique. I really, really appreciate it. I've signed up. I'm in, , again, if you're listening in, you, you gotta, you should sign up and get in. If, if they wanted to sign up and connect with you, Dirk, where, where's the best place to do that right now or into the 

Yeah. For right now, 

go to, 

take a while for this episode to go live. So let's talk about now and then into the 

Yeah.

Let's go. Let's go to dirk beverage.com, right? And, uh, you'll, you'll be led [00:37:00] to the FAM newsletter right now for that. And, , eventually the entire movement, , is going to be there as well as the fam. 

That's awesome. You know, I did a podcast a number of years ago and it was around this idea that's very important to me, and it tucks into what I think you're trying to create. And what I said is leaders who actually wanna make catalytic change. Need to create movements, not give mandates. They also shouldn't just write manifestos.

And I, and what I love about this is you understand the power of a movement, and it's the generation of power and the flywheel effect and all the stuff that can come. And man, Dirk, my strong hope for you and belief is, is that this thing is gonna ignite a wonderful fire. In, a unique way in the circles that you get an opportunity to be in, to communicate in.

I mean, you clearly are extremely passionate. You're wonderfully human. And these are great qualities again, because we become so [00:38:00] stereotyped, you know, we're so robotic, so this is the way it is, you know, and I, you know, I, I have people that say. To me, you know, well you should do it this way and you should do your podcast this way.

And I go, nah, I'm not interested all the time. You know, I get, I get people calling me and saying, well, you know, if you just stayed in the lane in your podcast, we could get you an endorsement. And I'd say, you're missing the point. I don't care. I'm not in a lane. I'm, I'm in whatever I, I, I want being fully alive for me is the wonder of curiosity takes my brain in a thousand 

places. And so I wanna be fully alive to my own experience for the benefit of others and for the benefit of myself. And again, if you're listening and I want to encourage you to do that. So, Dirk, best way to find you, dirk beverage.com, 

Yes it is. And can I, can I add just one thing, 

Yeah, please. 

to this whole point right. About this movement that we're creating the like, um, we have been absolutely flabbergasted, surprised in these first six weeks of the family. 

Huh?

Um, you know, [00:39:00] I've been moved by walking into the back doors of these businesses, 

right.

We started this fan. The fam, the Fully Alive movement because we are absolutely committed to empowering 1 million people and we know that that average individual in the back room overlooked, underserved, under, invested in. They need this. They want this, right? As I want this, as I need this, right? 

yeah,

What's absolutely surprised us is in the first six weeks.

Those that are raising their hands at an accelerated rate 

yeah. 

are leaders. 

Wow. Powerful.

And Tim, I gotta tell you something. , We capture the email address, right? Blah, blah, blah, boom. Oh, and then, okay, now the sign up. Seven questions. We are blown away by the percentage of people that are answering all seven questions and. [00:40:00] The vulnerability, the honesty that people are sharing of what they're carrying. It's blowing us away 

Wow. It, you know, it's like you've tapped into a frequency, you know, an attenuation in, in the, in the soul and spirit and psyche right now of, of, of our culture and our time and people. And I do think that, you know, there is this interesting thing about harmonics and stuff. And every once in a while you strike something and it just reverberates down.

A channel in people's hearts and minds, and it's pretty clear that you are banging on a drum and you're, you're ringing a note that is clearly resonating with people and we understand the power, frequency, and sound. And so you are dialed into a frequency, that people are starting to attenuate to as well.

And I can't imagine. What [00:41:00] this is gonna look like at the end of year one, year two, year three, in this journey. But I'm excited for, for your work, Dirk, and, and, and being connected along the way. And I also wanna say just publicly that you know, my son isn't your average 33-year-old. He wasn't the average 21-year-old, he wasn't the average child.

He always thought different things and sort of fit into a very different way of looking at the world. And I will say he's not. He's not a pushover when it comes to being impressed, but I will say that he came away from the experience that he had with you a number of years ago, so struck, so impacted, and I know he's connected with you a number of times.

And the one thing he has said to me is that he was amazed is that you were so busy. You're doing all these things, but , you reached back to him and connected with him in a human way, and that was deeply impressive to him. And what I would say about that is, and what I would say to your listeners is this.

This thing that Dirk is doing isn't just some kind of facade and some [00:42:00] kind of thing just so he can crank on another $5 bill from some machine. This is clearly who you are and who you were created to be, and it's part potentially of a predetermined, but mostly predestined future. I think that is the most exciting part of this journey.

And as you find your place in this world and what you need to be, I think you're gonna have the tremendous, impact. And I would just say to everybody listening, wake up and walk in the back door and observe what's going on because everybody's got a story. And you got a story, and it's time to wake up and tell our stories, connect them together, and walk into the future and create the better place, the better world, the better business, the better communities that we want, because no one else is gonna do it.

It's time for us to wake up, step up and step in. And Dirk, it's an absolute privilege to have chatted with [00:43:00] you today. I'm gonna give you last word to my listeners one. If you could just say one other thing to them today. That you want to crystallize in their mind, what do you want to leave 'em with?

So I was at a 4th of July party, what, two weeks ago or so in. It's so funny too, when we go to these parties, everybody goes over there. I stand over here because you know, all that social talk. I, I don't like it. I just, I stand over here until somebody wants to come and talk about this stuff, right?

And my friend Nat came over and we started talking and he sees the fam and sees all this and we start going into something and, and he asked me, he says, um, so Dirk, what's the end game? You do all this stuff, you work on yourself, what's the end game? And here's my response, right? I said, Matt, I don't know, but here's what I do know.[00:44:00] 

Here's what I have concluded. I told him, I reminded him, he knows this, that two years ago I held my father with?

my mother as he took his last breath. 

Hmm.

And I saw my father transition and so that moment has been on my mind a long time, those two years, 

Hmm.

and I thought about my last breath.

And what I've come to the conclusion that when I take my last breath, my last thought is going to be did I become the person? I was born to be. 

Hmm.

I know that's going to be my last thought. I know I'm going to ask myself, did I leave, did I live and did I love Fully alive? 

Hmm.

And [00:45:00] that's my greatest hope. My greatest wish for everybody is to wake up.

Is to put in the work because it is hard and it's never done. It's a lifelong journey of becoming the person you are meant to be. 

Sure.

But when you do, Tim, you've said it three or four times on this interview conversation. Better than I could ever say it. You talked about the infinite possibilities and potential.

That resides in each of us and it's, we owe it to ourselves. We owe it to ourselves to see what we're made of and who we're born to be. And I would just encourage every single one of us to put in the work to truly understand who you are, what [00:46:00] your gifts are in this world, and go and live joyfully, fully richly, and become.

That best version of yourself. 

Wow, Dirk. Powerful. , Typically I'd have a closing. There is no other closing. You've heard the closing. Ladies and gentlemen, if you listened in, you listened for a reason, get out there. Thanks for listening. Have a great day. Cheers, Dirk. Appreciate your 

Tim, thank you so much, man.