October 11, 2024 • 48 mins
On this episode of the Growing Our Future podcast, we meet Colton Kyle, president of American Sniper, discussing themes of growth, leadership, and the importance of discernment. Colton shares his journey, emphasizing the significance of gratitude, vulnerability, and effective communication in leadership. The conversation highlights the value of asking questions and seeking truth in an age of misinformation, while also reflecting on the lessons learned from agriculture and personal experiences. In this conversation, Aaron and Colton discuss the importance of connections, competitive edges, and living one's faith in business. They explore how personal relationships can enhance professional opportunities and the significance of authenticity in branding. The dialogue emphasizes the need for young people to find their unique advantages in a competitive world while also highlighting the role of faith and purpose in achieving true joy and fulfillment.
Story Notes:
- Colton Kyle: A Journey of Growth and Leadership
- The Importance of Discernment and Asking Questions
- Vulnerability and Leadership Traits
- Effective Communication and Strategic Thinking
- Gratitude and Life Lessons from Agriculture
- The Power of Connections and Timing
- Finding Your Competitive Edge
- Living Your Faith in Business
- The Importance of Personal Connections
- Understanding True Joy and Purpose
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFAFoundation will take on a
journey of exploration intoagricultural science, education,
leadership development andinsights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who providethe fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, AaronAlejandro.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or
whenever you may be tuning in tothe Growing Our Future podcast,
hey, we just appreciate youstopping by.
You know time's one of thosethings.
We can't save it, we can'thoard it.
The only thing we can do withtime is spend it, and so the
fact that you're stopping by andsharing some of your time with
(00:51):
us, let me tell you it's anhonor.
We appreciate you being here.
The podcast itself, growing OurFuture, you know, I tell people,
if agriculture's taught meanything, it's taught me this If
you want to know what thefuture is, grow it.
Well, how do you grow a future?
You've got to plant the rightseeds, you've got to take care
(01:11):
of those seeds and then you'vegot to harvest it and then share
it with other people.
That's what this podcast isabout.
We bring on people that Iconsider subject matter experts,
people with incredible stories,testimonies and seeds of
greatness, things that, if welisten, we can find something
that we can plant in our lives.
Today is no different.
(01:31):
I have been looking forward tothis interview.
I remember reaching out to thisyoung man's mom.
She said, well, he's got to dothese other podcasts first.
I said, okay, let him do themas soon as he gets them done.
I want a shot at him and we gothim.
(01:55):
Today we've got Colton Kylewith us.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Colton Kyle president of theamericansnappercom Colton
, thank you for joining us today.
Thank you very much for havingme.
I'm looking forward to this.
I am by no means an expert onanything, but I do my best.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes, you are, you've got a testimony and we're going
to talk about that testimony.
That's what you're an expert on, so I always think that that's
really kind of fun.
Sometimes I ask the kids in theFFA.
I said tell me about yourbusiness.
And they always look at me andthey say, well, mr Alejandro, I
don't have a business.
I said, yeah, you are, you'reit.
(02:25):
I said what time do you go towork in the morning?
What kind of customer servicedo you deliver?
I said you are your business,and just like you, colton, I've
been following your brand andI'm telling you that that is
extraordinary to have a business, it's extraordinary to live a
brand, and that's the reason whyI wanted you on this show.
(02:45):
We're going to talk about that.
We start every episode off thesame way, though, so I would
like to start this episode offwith a simple question, and that
is Colton, what are yougrateful for today?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Today, I could think of a million and one things to
be grateful for.
Specifically, this morning Iwas able to work out with my
girlfriend, and so I'm verygrateful for an able body that
I've been blessed with, that Ican go to the gym and work hard
and reap those rewards throughthe rest of my non-training
activities oh that's good.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Ability to get out, get a little blood flow.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
With people you enjoy hanging around.
What.
A lot of people don't have thatopportunity.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, and with people that you enjoy hanging out with
.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Agreed Good company.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I was going to say what a better deal than that?
Not many, yeah, I'm with you.
I'm like you.
I like I don't know about you Ilove the great outdoors.
Yep, I love, like you said, tokind of get the blood flowing
and good company and live in acountry and under an umbrella
that allows me all thoseincredible freedoms and
(03:57):
liberties and opportunities, andI just can't be thankful enough
that this is where God allowedme to be born and to raise my
family here, and so I appreciateyou sharing that.
Yeah, absolutely, colton.
We talked a little bit.
You know, before and after we'lltalk some more, but you know,
(04:19):
everybody's got a testimony,everybody's got a story and
sometimes we kind of find ourpaths through those testimonies
and we find our paths throughthose stories.
And you know there will bepeople that might tune into this
podcast which may not have abackground, they may not have a
full understanding of who youare, maybe your lineage, your
(04:44):
background.
So if you could, colton, justkind of take us through a little
bit, then tell us a little bitabout Colton Kyle.
Where did you grow up, how didyou grow up and how have you
found yourself into thisposition that you're in today
with American Sniper?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yes, well, I'm Texan, so I'm going to claim to be
Texan Technically.
I was born in California, butthe first soil that my feet
touched was Texas soil.
My dad made sure it was broughtto the hospital, because he's
proud Texan, and so I considermyself to be a proud Texan as
well.
So I'm still in Texas now and Iprobably will be for a little
while at the very least.
(05:21):
Little while at the very least.
I am 20 years old.
I graduated high school twoyears ago and since then I've
been working on the AmericanSniper brand, so I run the brand
.
My mom has given me theopportunity to do that, and as
much as American Sniper who ismy father, chris Kyle has been a
figure and a book and a movie.
(05:43):
My mom has done enough with itso that it could stay a brand
that way, in case my sister or Iwanted to take on that role as
part of our inheritance.
We were able to, and so I hadthis great opportunity to do
that, and that's what I've beendoing these past two years.
So, as you mentioned, mywebsite americansnipercom Right
(06:03):
now I have merchandise on there.
I've got some more thingscoming soon, specifically
merchandise expanding on that,but also in the next year or two
, I expect to have some tacticalgear available and maybe move
into some firearms and somethings like that.
I'm passionate about that, soI'm excited about that.
That's what I do now On theside as well.
(06:24):
I'm really passionate.
I'd say my main passion isapologetics and if you're not
familiar with that, that is thereasonable or logical defense of
your faith.
So explaining to people who mayhave different worldviews,
different backgrounds, or maybeeven Christians, and expanding
on what my faith is and why,logically, I believe that and
(06:45):
there is, it's integral to yourfaith is the faith part of that?
And believing in things thatyou don't see?
There's also a large part ofreason and logic.
And, most likely, why does itmake the most sense that
Christianity is the truth?
Because everything takes faith.
Everything takes some belief.
You have to make assumptions atsome point to believe anything
(07:06):
at all.
So I just believe that my faithtakes the least amount of faith
or belief in trusting thingsthat you don't see, and I think
atheism and other religions takea lot more faith, um, than mine
does.
So I know that can be kind ofconfusing, but that's my passion
, that's what I like to do.
So I like to read and haveBible study and listen to many
(07:31):
great speakers and authors andthat kind of thing.
So that's a little insight intoColton Kyle.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I love it.
By the way, this, right here,is exactly why we do this
podcast, by the way, colton, soyou know the one thing that I
tell people that you cannotargue with, and that is
somebody's testimony.
Nobody could ever come alongand say, colton, that didn't
happen to you.
That would be a foolishstatement.
The beauty of a testimony isit's built around all of those
(08:01):
things, those experiences, thosevalues.
But something that you said andthis is the reason why I share
this, this is what I want peopleto kind of take away from these
podcasts is learn to listen towhat the speakers say.
The guests say what they share,and one of the things that
you've just shared that I reallyhope people are listening to is
(08:22):
discernment.
You have a real mature sense ofdiscernment, and I think that
is an incredible attribute, andI hope that young people will
ask questions.
It's okay to ask questionsbecause I think it's in that
(08:43):
asking questions that you findanswers, where you become a
better discerner.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Is that fair to?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
say that.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
I totally agree.
Yeah, I think questions anddoubt is understandable.
Everybody has doubt atdifferent points, about
different things.
But earnestly and honestlyseeking answers, I think you'll
find the truth.
Jesus says if you seek you'llfind the truth, and the truth if
you seek you'll find the truthand the truth is Him.
So I'm all about askingquestions and asking the hard
questions, because if somebodydoesn't know that they should
(09:15):
say I don't know and I'll helpyou.
Look, and there will be thingsthat go unanswered, but there
will be a lot of things thathave good answers that in the
very end you can find comfort in.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
So one of my favorite verses in the Bible.
I was speaking to a bunch ofkids down in the Houston area
the other day and they asked mesome pretty interesting
questions by the way Kind ofsurprised, yeah.
They asked me about howimportant is faith to leadership
.
I really appreciate thatquestion.
And then they asked me theysaid do you have a favorite
(09:45):
Bible verse?
And I said interesting that youwould say that.
I said I sure do.
I said I got lots of them, butI got one in particular and it
really kind of goes to what youjust said.
It's James 1.5.
It says if any man seeks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives it
freely to all men without castand judgment.
So that means anybody If sothat means anybody if you need
(10:09):
wisdom, you just got to ask andthere's an opportunity there to
gain insight.
But discernment, I think, isreally important for today's
young people because I think intoday's world of media, social
media, entertainment, there areso many different touch points
that can try to sway a valuesystem, sway an opinion, that I
(10:30):
think having that element, thatleadership tool I'm going to
call it a leadership tool thatleadership tool of discernment,
I think can keep your compass inthe right direction.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I think we used to be inthe age of information and now
we're in the age ofmisinformation.
So many things out there and somany.
It's so easy to deceive people,kind of with the rise of AI and
just with presenting thingsthat aren't facts as if they are
facts and, in our short form,content, how we don't fact check
(11:04):
hardly anything or spend timeresearching anything.
We just trust who who claims tobe an expert, without even
finding out if they are anexpert.
So discernment is yeah, it'sincredibly important and
powerful.
I really like when you mentionedjames five part of the.
The end part of the verse is hegives it freely, without
casting judgment.
(11:25):
So it doesn't matter who youare, what your background is, uh
, if you're, if you'resupposedly the most holy
christian, if you're somebodywho's been in the church for a
long time and has done all theright things, or if you're
somebody who's never been in thechurch and doesn't know who god
is or what he's supposed to belike, when you start asking
questions and you're honestlyseeking answers, god's going to
give it to you and he's notgoing to look down upon you
(11:46):
because you shouldn't know thesethings, because you've been in
the church, or you should knowthese things because you've
heard it, or anything like that.
Um, it really speaks to hischaracter that he gives that
freely and his knowledge abouthimself I had a friend here.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
I live in north North Texas, I live in Wichita Falls
and I was 23 years old.
I just moved to this community.
By the way, colton, get thisI'm 23 years old, I'm the
district director for a memberof Congress.
I got four offices.
I've got an office in Denton,wichita Falls, lubbock and
Amarillo.
I'm the gatekeeper and I hardlyknow anybody That'd be like
(12:22):
being 23 and being thegatekeeper for Marcus, marcus's
brother.
You know it's like it's crazyto think that that's what I did,
but when we think about youknow, discernment and and
knowledge and wisdom and justmaking yourself accessible.
There's also another trait inhere, a leadership trait, and
(12:45):
this one's tough for people.
It's vulnerability, becauseI've got to be a little bit
vulnerable to be a potentially alittle bit wrong.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Does that make sense?
I've got to be a little bitvulnerable, you know.
The other side of that is, youknow, I tell kids all the time,
be open minded, but just don'tbe so open minded your brain
falls out.
So I mean I want you to be openminded, but I want that
discernment and I want thathumbleness of vulnerability to
(13:17):
say, you know, maybe I don'thave all the answers, maybe I
need to seek wisdom.
Another thing that I share,colton, which is another reason
why I wanted you on the show awise mentor of mine once told me
he said, Aaron, he goes alwayshave 10 friends older than you
and 10 friends younger than you.
(13:38):
The ones that are older thanyou are going to tell you where
we've been.
The ones younger than you aregoing to tell you where we're
going.
And I've never forgot that.
And so when I moved to Wichita23 years old, there was a doctor
here that befriended me and Ibefriended him and he was a man
(14:00):
of faith.
We did a lot of work withFellowship of Christian Athletes
.
He's just a good man and weused to go over to his house
every week and, you know, othermen would come and we'd sing and
do Bible studies and stuff andhe got cancer and he passed away
.
And I remember we came over tohis house after that and we were
all sitting there and everybodysaid, well, you just got to
(14:22):
have faith.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And I was mad.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I'm sorry, I'm human.
I was mad and I said it's notright.
I said Jerry's one of thefinest men that I've ever known
in my life.
He's one of the most incrediblemen of character that I've ever
known in my life.
It's not right.
So I was mad.
I got up and walked out by theway and thankfully it's not
right.
So I was mad, I got up andwalked out by the way and
thankfully my brothers stillloved me.
(14:46):
They knew I was just mad.
But I happened onto a book andthe book was called by John
Fisher.
It was called True BelieversDon't Ask why.
And the don't is crossed out.
Okay, good.
(15:06):
So I remember it must have beena God thing that I just happened
to walk by that book and Igrabbed that book and that's
what the book is about is askingquestions yeah and I do a lot
of stuff with teachers where wetrain teachers, and they get on
the bus and I give them a work,a work manual, and the first
thing in their work manual isthe word question.
And then below it it says whatis the root word of the word
(15:27):
question Go on an adventure.
So to hear you at 20 years oldtalking about going on an
adventure, of learning, ofdiscerning and then being bold
enough to share.
I think there are some realintriguing leadership tips there
(15:48):
for young people.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Because they could duplicate what you're doing.
They might duplicate it in anengineering space, they could
duplicate that in a medicalspace, in a law space.
I mean, I can think of severalthings.
In other words, I think Godgives us concepts that are
scalable.
Yeah, absolutely so.
That's good stuff.
(16:12):
What you shared.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
And then I have a few things on leadership and
important leadership qualities.
I'd say the first one iscommunication, so to speak, to
your vulnerability.
You do have to be vulnerable,but to be able to express that
effectively and communicateeffectively, if you want to lead
somebody, you have to let themknow where you want them to go,
(16:35):
or what you want them to do, orhow you want them to do it, and
if they don't know any of thosethings, then you really can't be
a leader.
So I think communication, andeffective communication, is
incredibly important and I thinkyou know that when you run into
a leader, that's an effectivecommunicator, that you really
understand what they're sayingor how they're feeling or what
they want you to do, then you'reable to do it so much better.
(16:57):
And then on top of that, socommunication is the, I think,
the first thing and then, oncepeople can understand what
you're trying to tell them, thenthat goes into how you
communicate and and how you'retreating others.
Strategical thinking isobviously incredible, incredibly
important to manage multiplepeople, but then faith and part
(17:22):
of that being compassion andlove and patience for people,
because, like you said, I'mhuman, we're human, and when you
lead people you're not leadingrobots and it's easy to say it's
kind of cliche, but really youhave to understand that people
are human and they're going tomake mistakes and they're also
going to do things better thanyou would do them and you have
(17:44):
to be okay with that and andharness that power of of
people's strengths andunderstand their weaknesses and
be able to play into that.
But having patience with anypeople that you're over as a
leader is incredibly importantbecause when people know that
you care for them, they want todo better work for you and they
want to yeah, they want to runhead first with you as you're
(18:07):
leading the sharps keep going.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
You're doing good.
What else do you got for me?
Make some more leadership tips.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
That's great stuff well, I mean that's.
I just think that's the base.
And then it's kind of like yousaid, it's a quest and you kind
of find your own answers as youask your own questions.
Um, and I could probably talkforever about anything if you
wanted me to uh, just kind ofinherited that, but, um, yeah, I
mean, I think it's effectivecommunication and strategical
(18:36):
thinking, which not everyone isis blessed with in the way that
they can manage people, um, butI do think that's important.
And then what anybody can learnis how to treat others.
And when you show people love,they understand and they respect
that.
And if that's missing adeadline or something, that may
seem detrimental and you say,well, I want to discourage that.
I don't want people to notfollow through or to make
(18:59):
mistakes, but, um, the man who'sthe most grateful is the man
who's been forgiven the mostright, and so the person who's
going to work the hardest foryou is going to be the person
who you've forgiven the most,that owes you the most.
And so at a certain point, asan employer specifically,
there's a, there's a place todraw the line for people who are
repeat offenders of somethingand they're not learning and
(19:22):
they're not growing, but someonewho is.
I have a kind of a mentor whotold me they got to be smart,
humble and hungry.
And anybody who works for youneeds to have those three traits
.
Smart, if you can read, you'reprobably smart enough to do any
job, because most things can betaught.
And if you're humble and youcan respect authority and
(19:44):
respect orders, then you canwork hard.
And then hungry means they haveto want it for themselves and
you can kind of stoke hunger andstoke that fire.
But someone who's lazy andchooses not to be hungry, you
just at some point there has tobe a line drawn.
That doesn't mean you give upon them as a person, but maybe
as an employee.
So that's some of some of mythoughts on leadership, I
(20:07):
suppose.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Okay, we can stop there.
That's good.
No, that's the.
I really related to a lot ofthat, by the way.
So you know my mom and dad.
I grew up there in theMetroplex and my mom and dad
divorced when I was six.
My father passed away when Iwas 10 and I got into a lot of
(20:34):
trouble and I got sent to aboy's ranch.
And if I'd got sent there I'dhave never met the FFA.
I'd have never met the FFA, I'dhave never been state president
, I would have never gone tocollege, I'd have never had the
incredible life We'd have neverhad this podcast.
But to your point, I'm verygrateful.
I'm grateful for the love of mymother that realized she didn't
(20:54):
have the tools she needed help.
I'm grateful for a place thatgave me opportunity and an
organization that gave meopportunity.
And, to your point, I thinkthat that being grateful
provides some energy to getthrough tough times.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
It does, you know it?
It allows us to to reflect andsay you know, yeah, it's not
good.
I had a girl on this podcast.
Her name was Madeline Barber.
She was from Bernie, texas.
She sold a pig at the countyfair.
She sold this pig at the countyfair for $35,000.
(21:36):
That's a lot of money, Colton,that is.
She turned around and donatedall $35,000 to St Jude's
Children's Hospital.
That's impressive.
She was a cancer survivor, yeah, oh yeah.
And she said you know, theysaved my life, I want to save
somebody else's.
And I think that, to your point, when you have that kind of
(22:02):
humbleness of humbleness, thatkind of ability to be smart
enough to recognize that, andthen the ability to work hard I
mean, that pig didn't feeditself.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You know I tell people all the time.
When people ask me about whatseparates our ag kids from
everybody else, I said it's realeasy.
The reason why I like your dad,by the way because in the world
of agriculture, if we don't doour job, something does.
So when you can teach a kidearly on that we got to get up,
whether we want to or not, wegot to feed it, we got to water
and I know it's a pain mydaughter she's tiny and she was
(22:40):
a senior cheerleader at a big 5Aschool Guess what?
She had to get up and go feedheifers.
She had to water them in coldand in heat.
But now that she's a nursetoday she's so good at her job
because my son too.
They're so good at their jobsbecause I think there's things
that they learned, that thingsdepended on them, that they were
(23:02):
able to carry on into otheraspects of their lives.
And I remember when I readAmerican Sniper and I read about
your dad's growing up in theFFA and talked about wanting to
be an ag teacher initially whenhe started to go to college, it
was it's the craziest thing.
I think I share this with you,but I'll share one more time
(23:24):
since we're on the air, but Ihad been trying to find a way to
get to talk to your dad and, ofcourse, with the explosion of
American Sniper, it just gotharder and harder to find ways
to get there.
If I'd have been smart, I wouldhave started with the most
obvious.
I'm fixing to tell you whatthat was, but I didn't obvious.
(23:46):
I'm fixing to tell you whatthat was, but I didn't About the
time.
I finally finally found a way.
Then the tragedy that happenedhappened and I was at a loss
because I was so eager to wantto share that story and then,
luckily, I found my way to yourmom and then we got to reconnect
and I told Tay, I said you'vegot to come to convention.
I want you to see what Chris'slife was really all about.
(24:11):
All that, colton, all that cametogether.
This is where the story getsreally crazy.
Ready for this, all that comestogether I was asked to go to
Level Land, texas, and speak ata banquet in Leveland, Texas,
out in West Texas.
I show up at Leveland and thisag teacher that I have not seen
in years gets out of his truck.
(24:33):
He starts walking over in mydirection.
I've not seen this guy in years.
You know what he said.
He said, aaron, I saw where youwere doing that tribute to
Chris.
I saw where you had beentalking to Taya.
He said, aaron, I was Chris'sag teacher.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Now what are the odds , colton, that all of that came
into alignment?
Everything that I just sharedwith you, within probably three
months, sled up.
So that's why I say, anytime wethink, you know, I like to
think I'm a pretty goodstrategic thinker, anytime I
(25:19):
think I am.
I remember the guy upstairsbecause he's a lot better than I
am.
Oh yeah, he's really crafty atwhat he does, but there's just a
lot of really good stuff thatyou just shared there.
And you know another thing thatyou shared and I'm going to
kind of turn this back intoAmerican Sniper a little bit
here you know, one of the thingsthat we like to tell people is,
(25:41):
when the opportunity arises, Ineed my sharpest tools.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, okay, when, when and if I ever need it, I
need my best tools.
They, they have to be ready togo, and so I'll ask you a fun
question Do you happen to knowhow many high schools are in the
state of Texas?
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Oh man are in the state of Texas.
Oh man, I can only imagine.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
I'll take a random guess and say like 6,000.
Listen, you did good.
It's just over three.
Okay, that's still a lot ofhigh schools, though Most people
are way low.
Most people are way low.
Colton, you did good.
3,000 high schools.
So, of those high schools, howmany of them are going to have a
graduating class this year?
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Well, all of them.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Every one of them.
So everybody's going to be out.
They're going to be looking fora job, a scholarship or an
opportunity.
So the question that I askyoung people is what's your
competitive edge?
What separates you from yourcompetitor?
Sometimes it could be littlestthings, a firm handshake, a yes
or no sir, yes, ma'am, no ma'am.
(26:51):
Those can be little things thatgive you a competitive edge.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
But I do believe that young people have to have
something that sets them apartfrom their peers, of course.
So, at your age, starting yourkind of professional career with
a lot of incredible experiencesunder your belt, what would you
share as some examples ofcompetitive edges that you think
young people could employ togive themselves an edge in life?
Speaker 3 (27:21):
I have to think about that and I will get to that.
I have kind of overarching.
Um, I have a bible verse here.
Sure, whatever you do, work atit with all your heart as
working for the lord, not formen.
That's colossians 3, 23.
Uh, that's in the niv version.
Um, and I was even.
(27:44):
I had a Bible study last nightand we were even talking about
this very similarly what I'mgoing to get to, but I can't
remember who said it.
It was a Christian in the 1600sthat was significant for being
a public figure, but he saidalong the lines of a good
Christian cobbler is not a goodChristian cobbler because he
(28:06):
puts little crosses on his shoes, but because he makes the best
shoes.
And so I think that's that'swhat the verse is speaking to,
and that's often what I thinkabout when I'm doing business or
coming up with ideas.
Is that, well, I need a way toshow my faith and I want to.
I want to honor God and allthat he's done in my life and
(28:27):
show him like look, I'm notforgetting about you.
I don't want to take part insomething pagan that's godless,
but I want to live my faith, andif it's something I'm
dedicating so much of my lifeand time to.
It's my business.
I need a way to incorporate God, and so what's given me a lot
of peace is that my values andhow I operate and how I do
(28:49):
business are going to be basedon my faith.
So that's first and foremost.
Many people should be able toknow that you're a Christian
without knowing that you go tochurch without you saying that
you're a Christian or anythinglike that, but just because of
the way that you're so lovingand the way that you treat
people, the way you act in goodfaith and you keep good on your
word, I think those are allincredibly important and those
(29:13):
are ways that honoring God inthe way that you do business.
You know if you are, if you'rebreaking laws and you're
cheating people, but you'reputting Bible verses on your
clothing, you're not honoringGod at all.
In fact, you're cheating people, but you're putting Bible
verses on your clothing, you'renot honoring God at all.
In fact, you're making amockery of him.
So I think it's important toshow your passion and dive into
(29:34):
your passion.
You know God's given you apassion, whatever it may be, and
he's put that there.
You don't have a longing and ayearning to go into agriculture,
to be a skateboarder, to gointo business, to be the best
chief financial officer of afirm you could possibly be,
unless God has placed thatpassion in you.
(29:55):
And so we, I mean we can't getby.
If we're all preachers andmissionaries, the world wouldn't
survive, we wouldn't be able toadvance.
So for some people, that'stheir calling is to be a
missionary, for some people tobe a preacher and a pastor.
For a lot of us, our calling isto dive into the mission field
(30:17):
that God has given us, becauseanywhere we go is going to be a
mission field.
They're going to need toencounter you and, through you,
jesus, no matter where they are,and so that's an opportunity
for you to show your faith.
And then you need to do goodwork as if you're doing it for
god, because you are.
He's giving you the opportunityfor that, he's giving you the
passion for that, um, and wecan't explain how all these
(30:37):
things work out and when we'reanother and things just fall
into our lap and we're in theright place at the right time
for things to happen and, likeyou said, that's all because of
the number one strategical mindout there, which is God.
So, just living out yourChristian faith and your walk in
your daily life, in the valuesthat you operate in, I think is
(30:58):
the best way to honor God andthrough that you'll have a
competitive edge.
You'll be the best at whateverit is that you choose to do, uh,
because that's what God has foryou, and then I believe that
you'll have God's blessing inhis favor.
And if you run into roadblocks,um, it could be an opportunity
for you to persist.
It could be an opportunity foryou to change where you're at
(31:20):
and what you're doing.
You know that's very individualand based on your relationship
with God and how he's talking toyou.
But, um, I'm trying to think ofspecific examples.
I know when I speak to peopleand people think highly of me,
it's because of, uh, threethings.
One of them I know I'm blessedwith, and that's just God given,
and then the others I believethat anybody could do and work
(31:42):
towards.
Um, I'll start with how Ibelieve God has blessed me is
immense focus, and so if I'mworking on something or I'm
speaking to someone, they havemy focus, they have my attention
and I'm retaining theinformation in front of me.
That's number one.
Now, number two and I believe alot of people can do that and
you can improve on that.
(32:03):
I just know that I'm blessedwith that ability.
Number two like you said, afirm handshake goes a long way.
If I shake anybody's hand, itdoesn't matter how old or young
or what gender.
Their handshake will tell me alot about them.
Eye contact when I'm speakingto somebody, I know, when I'm
(32:23):
writing, if I'm texting somebody, if I'm completing an email, if
someone has poor punctuation orpoor grammar.
That bugs me.
A lot of people in mygeneration don't care for
punctuation and grammar andspelling, but it really bugs me
and it tells me that someoneeither does or doesn't care
enough to put that effort intothat area of their life.
(32:44):
And while they may not value itas much as I do, I still know
that there's a.
I believe that there's a properway to do some of these things
and you know, casual situationsdiffer from formal situations,
of course, but I believe that'spart of the living at your walk
and doing the right thing.
So I said the handshake, I saidlooking someone in the eyes and
(33:07):
then I believe, if you canrelate, a lot of these are going
to be personal.
I think personal interactionsare much more important than you
can bond with somebody that way.
But if you can relate tosomeone, if you can even if
you're being interviewed oryou're submitting a resume or
whatever it is if there's anopportunity for you to take a
peek into the other person'slife and ask them a question or
(33:30):
two just personally, that makesa big difference.
At the end of the day,everybody just wants to be seen.
We have a I forget who saysthis, but my mom's told me but
we're all wearing an invisiblesign on us that says see me,
please.
We all want to be seen andknown and recognized and as an
(33:50):
individual, so you're wearing asign that says I am Aaron,
alejandro, I want to be known, Iwant to be seen.
And you may not be expressingthat all the time, but when
somebody answers that call, whensomebody does that, you feel so
refreshed and relieved and feellike you can really bond with
someone.
It makes a big difference.
Um, so, being able to personallyconnect with people, I think
(34:13):
oftentimes, when I've thought ofthe business or corporate or,
um, some world, or it seemshighly competitive I've I've
thought of it as losing itshumanity a little bit, that is
just entirely performative andthat everything you do is based
on your performance and how youdo the best, which, like I said,
your performance is important,and that will come based on what
(34:36):
God has given you, but beingable to personally relate with
people will get you so muchfarther than you could expect.
When you run into people thatseem just so incompetent at what
they do and you're like, howdid you get here?
It's probably their personalskills and work right, and so if
they're lacking in one area,they've made up for it with
their strengths and theirability to speak to people, and
(34:56):
anybody can get better at that.
Anybody can personally investand care about someone else's
life, or at least a little bitof it.
That you know, and so I thinkthat doesn't necessarily work
for college applications orresumes, but anything person to
person makes a huge difference.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
If I haven't told you lately.
I really like you about the wayI'm going to confess something
here, because everybody's goingto my staff in particular is
going to get a kick out of whatI'm about to say Interns,
everybody that worked for me.
When they get their internmanual and their intern
checklist across the top it'sgot three words.
It says details, details,details.
(35:38):
Because I'm a real detailsperson.
I'm always like take care ofthe details and to confess and
to show you my humbleness and myvulnerability here, colton, I
want everybody to know that Imessed up an email to Colton
when we were setting up thispodcast and I'm sitting here
laughing now because he'stalking about this and I'm
(35:59):
sitting here going yeah, I'm theone that messed it up.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
We all do.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
I have this thing set up to populate the time, the
date and everything for thepodcast, and I was scheduling a
bunch at the same time and, bygosh, it scheduled the wrong one
and Colton caught it and hesaid now what time am I supposed
to be?
I'm like Alejandro, you bigdummy.
You didn't even do your owndetails, details, details.
Real quick.
I wanted to ask you.
(36:22):
That was gold, by the way.
I just wrote down several notesof what you said.
Focus, details, see me please.
Uh, that's one of the thingscoach nate hearn talked about
today when he and I werevisiting is.
He said people need to hearwhen they're doing a good job,
because when they hear thatthey're doing a good job, that
what you're doing is, you'revalidating that gift that god
(36:44):
gave them.
You're validating that thatcompetitive edge gave them.
You're validating that, thatcompetitive edge that God gave
them.
Um, I got to share this onewith you, cause your mom shared
it and I just love this to death.
Uh, you know anybody named KentStudebaker?
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Yes, I do.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
I love this quote the Bible is not a rule book, but
rather a recipe for happiness.
Yeah, that's pretty good quote.
By the way, yeah, that's mygrandfather, so I know.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
I just thought I'd share that with you because I
think that was such a greatquote yeah, I think it's a, I
think it's a recipe for true joy, um, because and I believe
that's what he meant buthappiness can be fleeting and
it's good to revel and enjoyhappiness and the simple
pleasures, but true joy isfounded purpose and, uh, you
cannot find a lasting purposeunless you are faithful and you
(37:40):
have a relationship with jesus.
So, um, I I 100 agree.
I think the deeper you diveinto the bible, the less it
seems like a rule book andthings to follow, um, but saying
, look, these are not things foryou to do to get into heaven,
but this is how you can bringheaven to earth, this is how you
can have kingdom in your lifeand have joy.
(38:00):
And so, when, when these thingsgo wrong this is not me
punishing you, this is youreaping the consequences of your
own poor actions.
And when you do these thingsright, you'll see.
You'll see the blessing that itcut that comes with it, because
it's not god striking you down,saying, oh, you messed up, okay
, here's your punishment.
It's god saying, look, I'vegiven you everything you need
(38:22):
and you do these things rightand you'll see the way it works
out.
Um, and most of the time,that's just going to be.
It's going to be in your head,it's going to be in your heart.
Um, the biggest stresses and thebiggest joys that we have have
very little to do with ourphysical surroundings, but
really our relationships, uh,our relationship with the lord
(38:43):
and our relationship withourselves.
We can really be at peace withourselves and we know who we are
and what God thinks of us.
And I've found great peace andsolace in that and, just the
last year, really understandingjust how much God loves and
cares for us and that it's notso linear that it's if A then B,
if C then D, but I love youunconditionally, no matter what,
(39:08):
for who you are.
And then, because you know thatand because you know you've
been forgiven, then I choose towalk in a way that glorifies God
and is saying look, I'm just soglad that you've given me the
opportunity to do this that I'vemessed up time and time again
and I still have the opportunityto do good and to honor and
glorify you.
I want to do that rather than afearful saying I'm going to do
(39:31):
these things because if I don'tthen I'll go to hell.
Right, it's.
It's definitely relationshipdriven.
Like I said, the man who's beenforgiven the most, is the most
grateful and will do the most inreturn.
Um, and that's, I believe, howwe're supposed to live our lives
and act and see ourselves ashumans.
You know, paul renames us.
Instead of sinners, we're nowsaints, knowing full well we are
(39:54):
sinners, but we don't carrythat title.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
We carry the title of saint because that's who God
says we are well, I just thinkit's another example of the
difference between negativityand positivity.
What's going to attract morepeople?
Speaker 3 (40:08):
Yeah, they're both infectious.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, exactly, but the positive one is the one that
attracts more people.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
Yeah, yeah, have you read.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
By the way, just sitting here listening, have you
read John Gordon's One Truth?
I've not.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
I've read very few, um, faith-based books and I'm
kind of starting my journey.
I've started with dr frankturek.
I don't have enough faith to bean atheist.
It's an apologetics book.
He's an apologist, uh.
And then I'm reading cs lewismere christianity and then, yeah
, I love it, I love sis, she's,I love.
(40:47):
I'm going to continue readingthrough his classics and then
move from there.
I have not.
I'm really fascinated with CSLewis and now NT Wright, just
recently Tom Wright and Dr FrankTurek.
He's on YouTube, so that's howI found him.
He's on YouTube, so that's howI found him, and so he kind of
relates to my generation in thatway by being on social media
(41:13):
more actively.
But those are the guys thatI've read.
And then I'll be honest my momhas read a lot and I have read
very little outside of that.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
So I want to.
Of course I was late to theJohn Gordon bus.
They we had him.
He was the keynote speaker atour convention this last year
and he and I were talking and Ihad to apologize to him.
So, john, if you're watchingthis, I'm apologizing again.
He's written, I think, 17number one bestsellers, but his
latest book he and I weretalking about it and I think you
(41:39):
would really enjoy it it'scalled One Truth and what he's
talking about is how, when weget away from the truth that's
when we typically start to haveproblems we lose our discernment
.
And if we could just staycentered into what we know is
true, then everything kind oftakes care of itself.
And anyway, I just thought ofyou when you said that, so I
(42:01):
wanted to share that with you.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
Yeah, no, it does.
I mean we act on the truth.
We'll see the way the world'ssupposed to be around us and
we'll also recognize what's notright.
When you bring light to asituation, you show those
imperfections.
You can see the things that arewrong, but you also see the
things that are right and ithelps you address that.
So it may be scary to bringlight to a situation.
Hey, the perfections but it'snecessary.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
We have that discussion sometime with the
young people.
I always tell them the truth isconfrontational, yeah, but it
doesn't have to be mean right,you know what you know what I'm
saying.
It doesn't have to be mean, butit still can be the truth.
Um, okay, the other thing thatI want to compliment you on one
of my big deals everybody thatknows me on social media knows
(42:47):
me by my handle is Live yourBrand, because I'm a big
believer in living your brand.
I'm a big believer in what youshare, what you post, what you
comment on, all the things thatwe do, all the touch points that
we have.
They become your brand by theway, and so when I was doing my
search on you that's one of thethings I wanted to compliment
you on is it's very clear thatyou're living your brand.
(43:10):
Thank you, and I think that's agood thing, because consistency
creates credibility.
So the more consistent we are,the more credibility that we
create for our brands.
So when we live our brand,obviously and consistency
creates credibility Then if Italk to you, I'm apt to trust
what you say.
(43:30):
More right, because you've beenconsistent.
So I just wanted to complimentyou on living your brand.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
So thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
We might have to come back and do a part two, because
I think there's several otherthings you and I could just take
off and talk about.
But we need we do need to wrapup today.
But before we wrap up, everyyes gets a fun question.
Okay.
So here's your fun questionColton Kyle, what's the best
concert you've ever been to?
Speaker 3 (44:00):
okay, that is a.
That is a good question.
Unfortunately, I've not been tomany.
I think I can remember two.
I may have been to three.
I went to a mercy me concert.
It was my first concert and Iwas probably 10, so I don't
remember it all that well.
Um, and then I went to a reallysmall, really small concert.
(44:23):
I mean there were maybe 50 ofus um in the crowd and my
friends found this band thatthey really liked.
They were a lot smaller.
It's called harbor as theenglish spelling, so
h-a-r-b-o-u-r.
Um.
They're just kind of like indie, uh, indie pop punk, kind of um
, and so, like that, I got ashirt for merch and I I found
(44:46):
all the band members and gotthem to sign it because there
were not very many of us, right,um.
So that was probably the bestconcert that I've been to.
And my girlfriend lovesconcerts, so she's been to like
niall horan.
Uh, she would love to go tocody jinx um, of course I'm
forgetting now, but MorganWallen.
So she's been to some reallyfun ones.
(45:10):
And I love music.
I listen to it all the time,but concerts are a little
overwhelming for me, so I justlisten at my house.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
It's okay, that's good stuff.
I'm curious about yours.
Oh, don't get me started.
I'm a big live music person.
I'm a diehard Jimmy Buffettbuffett fan.
Yeah, that's good.
I'm a diehard, uh, brucespringsteen.
Don't agree with either oftheir politics, just it's their
music, their talent that I like.
Yeah, but yeah, I just lovelive music and uh, but if you
(45:40):
were to get a hold of myplaylist, you would be, you
would wow.
He's got everything fromChristian to Tejano to a big
band sound like Sinatra, uh, allthe way that country music,
classic rock I've got the wholespectrum and Mercy Me's in there
, obviously.
(46:01):
So yeah.
Yeah, thank you for asking,though, uh listen, I just want
to tell you again how much Iappreciate you sharing some of
your time with us today.
I know I'm not the only one tosay this, but really proud of
you, and I hope you keep up thegood work and you keep being a
(46:24):
positive influence on the folksaround you and share your wisdom
so that people can bediscerning and keep sharing
seeds of greatness where peoplecan grow into oak trees of
success.
Thank, you.
Speaker 3 (46:38):
I really appreciate that.
I'm honored to have theopportunity to speak to you.
I've really enjoyed ourconversation.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
We're going to keep going.
We're going to keep talking.
Okay, ladies and gentlemen,thank you for taking time out of
your schedule again to join ustoday.
We appreciate you sharing someof your time with us.
Remember, you know, ifagriculture has taught us
anything, it's taught us.
If you want to know what thefuture is, grow it.
It requires a little work.
You got to plant the rightthings and, and then you got to
(47:06):
harvest it and feed, feed others, feed yourself and feed others,
and just doing that just makesour world a better place, and we
appreciate you coming by todayand joining Colton, and you know
again, have 10 friends olderthan you, 10 friends younger
than you.
Ladies and gentlemen, you justgot to see a little bit about
where we're headed.
(47:26):
So, colton, thank you so muchfor sharing Everybody else,
thank you for joining us, and wewill see you down the road
until we meet again.
Go out and do something greatfor somebody.
You'll feel good about it and,guess what?
Everybody's going to benefitfrom it.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the
Growing Our Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by theTexas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthenagricultural science education
so students can develop theirpotential for personal growth,
career success and leadership ina global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFAFoundation will take on a
journey of exploration intoagricultural science, education,
leadership development andinsights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who providethe fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, AaronAlejandro.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or
whenever you may be tuning in tothe Growing Our Future podcast,
hey, we just appreciate youstopping by.
You know time's one of thosethings.
We can't save it, we can'thoard it.
The only thing we can do withtime is spend it, and so the
fact that you're stopping by andsharing some of your time with
(00:51):
us, let me tell you it's anhonor.
We appreciate you being here.
The podcast itself, growing OurFuture, you know, I tell people,
if agriculture's taught meanything, it's taught me this If
you want to know what thefuture is, grow it.
Well, how do you grow a future?
You've got to plant the rightseeds, you've got to take care
(01:11):
of those seeds and then you'vegot to harvest it and then share
it with other people.
That's what this podcast isabout.
We bring on people that Iconsider subject matter experts,
people with incredible stories,testimonies and seeds of
greatness, things that, if welisten, we can find something
that we can plant in our lives.
Today is no different.
(01:31):
I have been looking forward tothis interview.
I remember reaching out to thisyoung man's mom.
She said, well, he's got to dothese other podcasts first.
I said, okay, let him do themas soon as he gets them done.
I want a shot at him and we gothim.
(01:55):
Today we've got Colton Kylewith us.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Colton Kyle president of theamericansnappercom Colton
, thank you for joining us today.
Thank you very much for havingme.
I'm looking forward to this.
I am by no means an expert onanything, but I do my best.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes, you are, you've got a testimony and we're going
to talk about that testimony.
That's what you're an expert on, so I always think that that's
really kind of fun.
Sometimes I ask the kids in theFFA.
I said tell me about yourbusiness.
And they always look at me andthey say, well, mr Alejandro, I
don't have a business.
I said, yeah, you are, you'reit.
(02:25):
I said what time do you go towork in the morning?
What kind of customer servicedo you deliver?
I said you are your business,and just like you, colton, I've
been following your brand andI'm telling you that that is
extraordinary to have a business, it's extraordinary to live a
brand, and that's the reason whyI wanted you on this show.
(02:45):
We're going to talk about that.
We start every episode off thesame way, though, so I would
like to start this episode offwith a simple question, and that
is Colton, what are yougrateful for today?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Today, I could think of a million and one things to
be grateful for.
Specifically, this morning Iwas able to work out with my
girlfriend, and so I'm verygrateful for an able body that
I've been blessed with, that Ican go to the gym and work hard
and reap those rewards throughthe rest of my non-training
activities oh that's good.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Ability to get out, get a little blood flow.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
With people you enjoy hanging around.
What.
A lot of people don't have thatopportunity.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, and with people that you enjoy hanging out with
.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Agreed Good company.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I was going to say what a better deal than that?
Not many, yeah, I'm with you.
I'm like you.
I like I don't know about you Ilove the great outdoors.
Yep, I love, like you said, tokind of get the blood flowing
and good company and live in acountry and under an umbrella
that allows me all thoseincredible freedoms and
(03:57):
liberties and opportunities, andI just can't be thankful enough
that this is where God allowedme to be born and to raise my
family here, and so I appreciateyou sharing that.
Yeah, absolutely, colton.
We talked a little bit.
You know, before and after we'lltalk some more, but you know,
(04:19):
everybody's got a testimony,everybody's got a story and
sometimes we kind of find ourpaths through those testimonies
and we find our paths throughthose stories.
And you know there will bepeople that might tune into this
podcast which may not have abackground, they may not have a
full understanding of who youare, maybe your lineage, your
(04:44):
background.
So if you could, colton, justkind of take us through a little
bit, then tell us a little bitabout Colton Kyle.
Where did you grow up, how didyou grow up and how have you
found yourself into thisposition that you're in today
with American Sniper?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yes, well, I'm Texan, so I'm going to claim to be
Texan Technically.
I was born in California, butthe first soil that my feet
touched was Texas soil.
My dad made sure it was broughtto the hospital, because he's
proud Texan, and so I considermyself to be a proud Texan as
well.
So I'm still in Texas now and Iprobably will be for a little
while at the very least.
(05:21):
Little while at the very least.
I am 20 years old.
I graduated high school twoyears ago and since then I've
been working on the AmericanSniper brand, so I run the brand
.
My mom has given me theopportunity to do that, and as
much as American Sniper who ismy father, chris Kyle has been a
figure and a book and a movie.
(05:43):
My mom has done enough with itso that it could stay a brand
that way, in case my sister or Iwanted to take on that role as
part of our inheritance.
We were able to, and so I hadthis great opportunity to do
that, and that's what I've beendoing these past two years.
So, as you mentioned, mywebsite americansnipercom Right
(06:03):
now I have merchandise on there.
I've got some more thingscoming soon, specifically
merchandise expanding on that,but also in the next year or two
, I expect to have some tacticalgear available and maybe move
into some firearms and somethings like that.
I'm passionate about that, soI'm excited about that.
That's what I do now On theside as well.
(06:24):
I'm really passionate.
I'd say my main passion isapologetics and if you're not
familiar with that, that is thereasonable or logical defense of
your faith.
So explaining to people who mayhave different worldviews,
different backgrounds, or maybeeven Christians, and expanding
on what my faith is and why,logically, I believe that and
(06:45):
there is, it's integral to yourfaith is the faith part of that?
And believing in things thatyou don't see?
There's also a large part ofreason and logic.
And, most likely, why does itmake the most sense that
Christianity is the truth?
Because everything takes faith.
Everything takes some belief.
You have to make assumptions atsome point to believe anything
(07:06):
at all.
So I just believe that my faithtakes the least amount of faith
or belief in trusting thingsthat you don't see, and I think
atheism and other religions takea lot more faith, um, than mine
does.
So I know that can be kind ofconfusing, but that's my passion
, that's what I like to do.
So I like to read and haveBible study and listen to many
(07:31):
great speakers and authors andthat kind of thing.
So that's a little insight intoColton Kyle.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I love it.
By the way, this, right here,is exactly why we do this
podcast, by the way, colton, soyou know the one thing that I
tell people that you cannotargue with, and that is
somebody's testimony.
Nobody could ever come alongand say, colton, that didn't
happen to you.
That would be a foolishstatement.
The beauty of a testimony isit's built around all of those
(08:01):
things, those experiences, thosevalues.
But something that you said andthis is the reason why I share
this, this is what I want peopleto kind of take away from these
podcasts is learn to listen towhat the speakers say.
The guests say what they share,and one of the things that
you've just shared that I reallyhope people are listening to is
(08:22):
discernment.
You have a real mature sense ofdiscernment, and I think that
is an incredible attribute, andI hope that young people will
ask questions.
It's okay to ask questionsbecause I think it's in that
(08:43):
asking questions that you findanswers, where you become a
better discerner.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Is that fair to?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
say that.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
I totally agree.
Yeah, I think questions anddoubt is understandable.
Everybody has doubt atdifferent points, about
different things.
But earnestly and honestlyseeking answers, I think you'll
find the truth.
Jesus says if you seek you'llfind the truth, and the truth if
you seek you'll find the truthand the truth is Him.
So I'm all about askingquestions and asking the hard
questions, because if somebodydoesn't know that they should
(09:15):
say I don't know and I'll helpyou.
Look, and there will be thingsthat go unanswered, but there
will be a lot of things thathave good answers that in the
very end you can find comfort in.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
So one of my favorite verses in the Bible.
I was speaking to a bunch ofkids down in the Houston area
the other day and they asked mesome pretty interesting
questions by the way Kind ofsurprised, yeah.
They asked me about howimportant is faith to leadership
.
I really appreciate thatquestion.
And then they asked me theysaid do you have a favorite
(09:45):
Bible verse?
And I said interesting that youwould say that.
I said I sure do.
I said I got lots of them, butI got one in particular and it
really kind of goes to what youjust said.
It's James 1.5.
It says if any man seeks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives it
freely to all men without castand judgment.
So that means anybody If sothat means anybody if you need
(10:09):
wisdom, you just got to ask andthere's an opportunity there to
gain insight.
But discernment, I think, isreally important for today's
young people because I think intoday's world of media, social
media, entertainment, there areso many different touch points
that can try to sway a valuesystem, sway an opinion, that I
(10:30):
think having that element, thatleadership tool I'm going to
call it a leadership tool thatleadership tool of discernment,
I think can keep your compass inthe right direction.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I think we used to be inthe age of information and now
we're in the age ofmisinformation.
So many things out there and somany.
It's so easy to deceive people,kind of with the rise of AI and
just with presenting thingsthat aren't facts as if they are
facts and, in our short form,content, how we don't fact check
(11:04):
hardly anything or spend timeresearching anything.
We just trust who who claims tobe an expert, without even
finding out if they are anexpert.
So discernment is yeah, it'sincredibly important and
powerful.
I really like when you mentionedjames five part of the.
The end part of the verse is hegives it freely, without
casting judgment.
(11:25):
So it doesn't matter who youare, what your background is, uh
, if you're, if you'resupposedly the most holy
christian, if you're somebodywho's been in the church for a
long time and has done all theright things, or if you're
somebody who's never been in thechurch and doesn't know who god
is or what he's supposed to belike, when you start asking
questions and you're honestlyseeking answers, god's going to
give it to you and he's notgoing to look down upon you
(11:46):
because you shouldn't know thesethings, because you've been in
the church, or you should knowthese things because you've
heard it, or anything like that.
Um, it really speaks to hischaracter that he gives that
freely and his knowledge abouthimself I had a friend here.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
I live in north North Texas, I live in Wichita Falls
and I was 23 years old.
I just moved to this community.
By the way, colton, get thisI'm 23 years old, I'm the
district director for a memberof Congress.
I got four offices.
I've got an office in Denton,wichita Falls, lubbock and
Amarillo.
I'm the gatekeeper and I hardlyknow anybody That'd be like
(12:22):
being 23 and being thegatekeeper for Marcus, marcus's
brother.
You know it's like it's crazyto think that that's what I did,
but when we think about youknow, discernment and and
knowledge and wisdom and justmaking yourself accessible.
There's also another trait inhere, a leadership trait, and
(12:45):
this one's tough for people.
It's vulnerability, becauseI've got to be a little bit
vulnerable to be a potentially alittle bit wrong.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Does that make sense?
I've got to be a little bitvulnerable, you know.
The other side of that is, youknow, I tell kids all the time,
be open minded, but just don'tbe so open minded your brain
falls out.
So I mean I want you to be openminded, but I want that
discernment and I want thathumbleness of vulnerability to
(13:17):
say, you know, maybe I don'thave all the answers, maybe I
need to seek wisdom.
Another thing that I share,colton, which is another reason
why I wanted you on the show awise mentor of mine once told me
he said, Aaron, he goes alwayshave 10 friends older than you
and 10 friends younger than you.
(13:38):
The ones that are older thanyou are going to tell you where
we've been.
The ones younger than you aregoing to tell you where we're
going.
And I've never forgot that.
And so when I moved to Wichita23 years old, there was a doctor
here that befriended me and Ibefriended him and he was a man
(14:00):
of faith.
We did a lot of work withFellowship of Christian Athletes
.
He's just a good man and weused to go over to his house
every week and, you know, othermen would come and we'd sing and
do Bible studies and stuff andhe got cancer and he passed away
.
And I remember we came over tohis house after that and we were
all sitting there and everybodysaid, well, you just got to
(14:22):
have faith.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And I was mad.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I'm sorry, I'm human.
I was mad and I said it's notright.
I said Jerry's one of thefinest men that I've ever known
in my life.
He's one of the most incrediblemen of character that I've ever
known in my life.
It's not right.
So I was mad.
I got up and walked out by theway and thankfully it's not
right.
So I was mad, I got up andwalked out by the way and
thankfully my brothers stillloved me.
(14:46):
They knew I was just mad.
But I happened onto a book andthe book was called by John
Fisher.
It was called True BelieversDon't Ask why.
And the don't is crossed out.
Okay, good.
(15:06):
So I remember it must have beena God thing that I just happened
to walk by that book and Igrabbed that book and that's
what the book is about is askingquestions yeah and I do a lot
of stuff with teachers where wetrain teachers, and they get on
the bus and I give them a work,a work manual, and the first
thing in their work manual isthe word question.
And then below it it says whatis the root word of the word
(15:27):
question Go on an adventure.
So to hear you at 20 years oldtalking about going on an
adventure, of learning, ofdiscerning and then being bold
enough to share.
I think there are some realintriguing leadership tips there
(15:48):
for young people.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Because they could duplicate what you're doing.
They might duplicate it in anengineering space, they could
duplicate that in a medicalspace, in a law space.
I mean, I can think of severalthings.
In other words, I think Godgives us concepts that are
scalable.
Yeah, absolutely so.
That's good stuff.
(16:12):
What you shared.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
And then I have a few things on leadership and
important leadership qualities.
I'd say the first one iscommunication, so to speak, to
your vulnerability.
You do have to be vulnerable,but to be able to express that
effectively and communicateeffectively, if you want to lead
somebody, you have to let themknow where you want them to go,
(16:35):
or what you want them to do, orhow you want them to do it, and
if they don't know any of thosethings, then you really can't be
a leader.
So I think communication, andeffective communication, is
incredibly important and I thinkyou know that when you run into
a leader, that's an effectivecommunicator, that you really
understand what they're sayingor how they're feeling or what
they want you to do, then you'reable to do it so much better.
(16:57):
And then on top of that, socommunication is the, I think,
the first thing and then, oncepeople can understand what
you're trying to tell them, thenthat goes into how you
communicate and and how you'retreating others.
Strategical thinking isobviously incredible, incredibly
important to manage multiplepeople, but then faith and part
(17:22):
of that being compassion andlove and patience for people,
because, like you said, I'mhuman, we're human, and when you
lead people you're not leadingrobots and it's easy to say it's
kind of cliche, but really youhave to understand that people
are human and they're going tomake mistakes and they're also
going to do things better thanyou would do them and you have
(17:44):
to be okay with that and andharness that power of of
people's strengths andunderstand their weaknesses and
be able to play into that.
But having patience with anypeople that you're over as a
leader is incredibly importantbecause when people know that
you care for them, they want todo better work for you and they
want to yeah, they want to runhead first with you as you're
(18:07):
leading the sharps keep going.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
You're doing good.
What else do you got for me?
Make some more leadership tips.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
That's great stuff well, I mean that's.
I just think that's the base.
And then it's kind of like yousaid, it's a quest and you kind
of find your own answers as youask your own questions.
Um, and I could probably talkforever about anything if you
wanted me to uh, just kind ofinherited that, but, um, yeah, I
mean, I think it's effectivecommunication and strategical
(18:36):
thinking, which not everyone isis blessed with in the way that
they can manage people, um, butI do think that's important.
And then what anybody can learnis how to treat others.
And when you show people love,they understand and they respect
that.
And if that's missing adeadline or something, that may
seem detrimental and you say,well, I want to discourage that.
I don't want people to notfollow through or to make
(18:59):
mistakes, but, um, the man who'sthe most grateful is the man
who's been forgiven the mostright, and so the person who's
going to work the hardest foryou is going to be the person
who you've forgiven the most,that owes you the most.
And so at a certain point, asan employer specifically,
there's a, there's a place todraw the line for people who are
repeat offenders of somethingand they're not learning and
(19:22):
they're not growing, but someonewho is.
I have a kind of a mentor whotold me they got to be smart,
humble and hungry.
And anybody who works for youneeds to have those three traits
.
Smart, if you can read, you'reprobably smart enough to do any
job, because most things can betaught.
And if you're humble and youcan respect authority and
(19:44):
respect orders, then you canwork hard.
And then hungry means they haveto want it for themselves and
you can kind of stoke hunger andstoke that fire.
But someone who's lazy andchooses not to be hungry, you
just at some point there has tobe a line drawn.
That doesn't mean you give upon them as a person, but maybe
as an employee.
So that's some of some of mythoughts on leadership, I
(20:07):
suppose.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Okay, we can stop there.
That's good.
No, that's the.
I really related to a lot ofthat, by the way.
So you know my mom and dad.
I grew up there in theMetroplex and my mom and dad
divorced when I was six.
My father passed away when Iwas 10 and I got into a lot of
(20:34):
trouble and I got sent to aboy's ranch.
And if I'd got sent there I'dhave never met the FFA.
I'd have never met the FFA, I'dhave never been state president
, I would have never gone tocollege, I'd have never had the
incredible life We'd have neverhad this podcast.
But to your point, I'm verygrateful.
I'm grateful for the love of mymother that realized she didn't
(20:54):
have the tools she needed help.
I'm grateful for a place thatgave me opportunity and an
organization that gave meopportunity.
And, to your point, I thinkthat that being grateful
provides some energy to getthrough tough times.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
It does, you know it?
It allows us to to reflect andsay you know, yeah, it's not
good.
I had a girl on this podcast.
Her name was Madeline Barber.
She was from Bernie, texas.
She sold a pig at the countyfair.
She sold this pig at the countyfair for $35,000.
(21:36):
That's a lot of money, Colton,that is.
She turned around and donatedall $35,000 to St Jude's
Children's Hospital.
That's impressive.
She was a cancer survivor, yeah, oh yeah.
And she said you know, theysaved my life, I want to save
somebody else's.
And I think that, to your point, when you have that kind of
(22:02):
humbleness of humbleness, thatkind of ability to be smart
enough to recognize that, andthen the ability to work hard I
mean, that pig didn't feeditself.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You know I tell people all the time.
When people ask me about whatseparates our ag kids from
everybody else, I said it's realeasy.
The reason why I like your dad,by the way because in the world
of agriculture, if we don't doour job, something does.
So when you can teach a kidearly on that we got to get up,
whether we want to or not, wegot to feed it, we got to water
and I know it's a pain mydaughter she's tiny and she was
(22:40):
a senior cheerleader at a big 5Aschool Guess what?
She had to get up and go feedheifers.
She had to water them in coldand in heat.
But now that she's a nursetoday she's so good at her job
because my son too.
They're so good at their jobsbecause I think there's things
that they learned, that thingsdepended on them, that they were
(23:02):
able to carry on into otheraspects of their lives.
And I remember when I readAmerican Sniper and I read about
your dad's growing up in theFFA and talked about wanting to
be an ag teacher initially whenhe started to go to college, it
was it's the craziest thing.
I think I share this with you,but I'll share one more time
(23:24):
since we're on the air, but Ihad been trying to find a way to
get to talk to your dad and, ofcourse, with the explosion of
American Sniper, it just gotharder and harder to find ways
to get there.
If I'd have been smart, I wouldhave started with the most
obvious.
I'm fixing to tell you whatthat was, but I didn't obvious.
(23:46):
I'm fixing to tell you whatthat was, but I didn't About the
time.
I finally finally found a way.
Then the tragedy that happenedhappened and I was at a loss
because I was so eager to wantto share that story and then,
luckily, I found my way to yourmom and then we got to reconnect
and I told Tay, I said you'vegot to come to convention.
I want you to see what Chris'slife was really all about.
(24:11):
All that, colton, all that cametogether.
This is where the story getsreally crazy.
Ready for this, all that comestogether I was asked to go to
Level Land, texas, and speak ata banquet in Leveland, Texas,
out in West Texas.
I show up at Leveland and thisag teacher that I have not seen
in years gets out of his truck.
(24:33):
He starts walking over in mydirection.
I've not seen this guy in years.
You know what he said.
He said, aaron, I saw where youwere doing that tribute to
Chris.
I saw where you had beentalking to Taya.
He said, aaron, I was Chris'sag teacher.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Now what are the odds , colton, that all of that came
into alignment?
Everything that I just sharedwith you, within probably three
months, sled up.
So that's why I say, anytime wethink, you know, I like to
think I'm a pretty goodstrategic thinker, anytime I
(25:19):
think I am.
I remember the guy upstairsbecause he's a lot better than I
am.
Oh yeah, he's really crafty atwhat he does, but there's just a
lot of really good stuff thatyou just shared there.
And you know another thing thatyou shared and I'm going to
kind of turn this back intoAmerican Sniper a little bit
here you know, one of the thingsthat we like to tell people is,
(25:41):
when the opportunity arises, Ineed my sharpest tools.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, okay, when, when and if I ever need it, I
need my best tools.
They, they have to be ready togo, and so I'll ask you a fun
question Do you happen to knowhow many high schools are in the
state of Texas?
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Oh man are in the state of Texas.
Oh man, I can only imagine.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
I'll take a random guess and say like 6,000.
Listen, you did good.
It's just over three.
Okay, that's still a lot ofhigh schools, though Most people
are way low.
Most people are way low.
Colton, you did good.
3,000 high schools.
So, of those high schools, howmany of them are going to have a
graduating class this year?
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Well, all of them.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Every one of them.
So everybody's going to be out.
They're going to be looking fora job, a scholarship or an
opportunity.
So the question that I askyoung people is what's your
competitive edge?
What separates you from yourcompetitor?
Sometimes it could be littlestthings, a firm handshake, a yes
or no sir, yes, ma'am, no ma'am.
(26:51):
Those can be little things thatgive you a competitive edge.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
But I do believe that young people have to have
something that sets them apartfrom their peers, of course.
So, at your age, starting yourkind of professional career with
a lot of incredible experiencesunder your belt, what would you
share as some examples ofcompetitive edges that you think
young people could employ togive themselves an edge in life?
Speaker 3 (27:21):
I have to think about that and I will get to that.
I have kind of overarching.
Um, I have a bible verse here.
Sure, whatever you do, work atit with all your heart as
working for the lord, not formen.
That's colossians 3, 23.
Uh, that's in the niv version.
Um, and I was even.
(27:44):
I had a Bible study last nightand we were even talking about
this very similarly what I'mgoing to get to, but I can't
remember who said it.
It was a Christian in the 1600sthat was significant for being
a public figure, but he saidalong the lines of a good
Christian cobbler is not a goodChristian cobbler because he
(28:06):
puts little crosses on his shoes, but because he makes the best
shoes.
And so I think that's that'swhat the verse is speaking to,
and that's often what I thinkabout when I'm doing business or
coming up with ideas.
Is that, well, I need a way toshow my faith and I want to.
I want to honor God and allthat he's done in my life and
(28:27):
show him like look, I'm notforgetting about you.
I don't want to take part insomething pagan that's godless,
but I want to live my faith, andif it's something I'm
dedicating so much of my lifeand time to.
It's my business.
I need a way to incorporate God, and so what's given me a lot
of peace is that my values andhow I operate and how I do
(28:49):
business are going to be basedon my faith.
So that's first and foremost.
Many people should be able toknow that you're a Christian
without knowing that you go tochurch without you saying that
you're a Christian or anythinglike that, but just because of
the way that you're so lovingand the way that you treat
people, the way you act in goodfaith and you keep good on your
word, I think those are allincredibly important and those
(29:13):
are ways that honoring God inthe way that you do business.
You know if you are, if you'rebreaking laws and you're
cheating people, but you'reputting Bible verses on your
clothing, you're not honoringGod at all.
In fact, you're cheating people, but you're putting Bible
verses on your clothing, you'renot honoring God at all.
In fact, you're making amockery of him.
So I think it's important toshow your passion and dive into
(29:34):
your passion.
You know God's given you apassion, whatever it may be, and
he's put that there.
You don't have a longing and ayearning to go into agriculture,
to be a skateboarder, to gointo business, to be the best
chief financial officer of afirm you could possibly be,
unless God has placed thatpassion in you.
(29:55):
And so we, I mean we can't getby.
If we're all preachers andmissionaries, the world wouldn't
survive, we wouldn't be able toadvance.
So for some people, that'stheir calling is to be a
missionary, for some people tobe a preacher and a pastor.
For a lot of us, our calling isto dive into the mission field
(30:17):
that God has given us, becauseanywhere we go is going to be a
mission field.
They're going to need toencounter you and, through you,
jesus, no matter where they are,and so that's an opportunity
for you to show your faith.
And then you need to do goodwork as if you're doing it for
god, because you are.
He's giving you the opportunityfor that, he's giving you the
passion for that, um, and wecan't explain how all these
(30:37):
things work out and when we'reanother and things just fall
into our lap and we're in theright place at the right time
for things to happen and, likeyou said, that's all because of
the number one strategical mindout there, which is God.
So, just living out yourChristian faith and your walk in
your daily life, in the valuesthat you operate in, I think is
(30:58):
the best way to honor God andthrough that you'll have a
competitive edge.
You'll be the best at whateverit is that you choose to do, uh,
because that's what God has foryou, and then I believe that
you'll have God's blessing inhis favor.
And if you run into roadblocks,um, it could be an opportunity
for you to persist.
It could be an opportunity foryou to change where you're at
(31:20):
and what you're doing.
You know that's very individualand based on your relationship
with God and how he's talking toyou.
But, um, I'm trying to think ofspecific examples.
I know when I speak to peopleand people think highly of me,
it's because of, uh, threethings.
One of them I know I'm blessedwith, and that's just God given,
and then the others I believethat anybody could do and work
(31:42):
towards.
Um, I'll start with how Ibelieve God has blessed me is
immense focus, and so if I'mworking on something or I'm
speaking to someone, they havemy focus, they have my attention
and I'm retaining theinformation in front of me.
That's number one.
Now, number two and I believe alot of people can do that and
you can improve on that.
(32:03):
I just know that I'm blessedwith that ability.
Number two like you said, afirm handshake goes a long way.
If I shake anybody's hand, itdoesn't matter how old or young
or what gender.
Their handshake will tell me alot about them.
Eye contact when I'm speakingto somebody, I know, when I'm
(32:23):
writing, if I'm texting somebody, if I'm completing an email, if
someone has poor punctuation orpoor grammar.
That bugs me.
A lot of people in mygeneration don't care for
punctuation and grammar andspelling, but it really bugs me
and it tells me that someoneeither does or doesn't care
enough to put that effort intothat area of their life.
(32:44):
And while they may not value itas much as I do, I still know
that there's a.
I believe that there's a properway to do some of these things
and you know, casual situationsdiffer from formal situations,
of course, but I believe that'spart of the living at your walk
and doing the right thing.
So I said the handshake, I saidlooking someone in the eyes and
(33:07):
then I believe, if you canrelate, a lot of these are going
to be personal.
I think personal interactionsare much more important than you
can bond with somebody that way.
But if you can relate tosomeone, if you can even if
you're being interviewed oryou're submitting a resume or
whatever it is if there's anopportunity for you to take a
peek into the other person'slife and ask them a question or
(33:30):
two just personally, that makesa big difference.
At the end of the day,everybody just wants to be seen.
We have a I forget who saysthis, but my mom's told me but
we're all wearing an invisiblesign on us that says see me,
please.
We all want to be seen andknown and recognized and as an
(33:50):
individual, so you're wearing asign that says I am Aaron,
alejandro, I want to be known, Iwant to be seen.
And you may not be expressingthat all the time, but when
somebody answers that call, whensomebody does that, you feel so
refreshed and relieved and feellike you can really bond with
someone.
It makes a big difference.
Um, so, being able to personallyconnect with people, I think
(34:13):
oftentimes, when I've thought ofthe business or corporate or,
um, some world, or it seemshighly competitive I've I've
thought of it as losing itshumanity a little bit, that is
just entirely performative andthat everything you do is based
on your performance and how youdo the best, which, like I said,
your performance is important,and that will come based on what
(34:36):
God has given you, but beingable to personally relate with
people will get you so muchfarther than you could expect.
When you run into people thatseem just so incompetent at what
they do and you're like, howdid you get here?
It's probably their personalskills and work right, and so if
they're lacking in one area,they've made up for it with
their strengths and theirability to speak to people, and
(34:56):
anybody can get better at that.
Anybody can personally investand care about someone else's
life, or at least a little bitof it.
That you know, and so I thinkthat doesn't necessarily work
for college applications orresumes, but anything person to
person makes a huge difference.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
If I haven't told you lately.
I really like you about the wayI'm going to confess something
here, because everybody's goingto my staff in particular is
going to get a kick out of whatI'm about to say Interns,
everybody that worked for me.
When they get their internmanual and their intern
checklist across the top it'sgot three words.
It says details, details,details.
(35:38):
Because I'm a real detailsperson.
I'm always like take care ofthe details and to confess and
to show you my humbleness and myvulnerability here, colton, I
want everybody to know that Imessed up an email to Colton
when we were setting up thispodcast and I'm sitting here
laughing now because he'stalking about this and I'm
(35:59):
sitting here going yeah, I'm theone that messed it up.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
We all do.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
I have this thing set up to populate the time, the
date and everything for thepodcast, and I was scheduling a
bunch at the same time and, bygosh, it scheduled the wrong one
and Colton caught it and hesaid now what time am I supposed
to be?
I'm like Alejandro, you bigdummy.
You didn't even do your owndetails, details, details.
Real quick.
I wanted to ask you.
(36:22):
That was gold, by the way.
I just wrote down several notesof what you said.
Focus, details, see me please.
Uh, that's one of the thingscoach nate hearn talked about
today when he and I werevisiting is.
He said people need to hearwhen they're doing a good job,
because when they hear thatthey're doing a good job, that
what you're doing is, you'revalidating that gift that god
(36:44):
gave them.
You're validating that thatcompetitive edge gave them.
You're validating that, thatcompetitive edge that God gave
them.
Um, I got to share this onewith you, cause your mom shared
it and I just love this to death.
Uh, you know anybody named KentStudebaker?
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Yes, I do.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
I love this quote the Bible is not a rule book, but
rather a recipe for happiness.
Yeah, that's pretty good quote.
By the way, yeah, that's mygrandfather, so I know.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
I just thought I'd share that with you because I
think that was such a greatquote yeah, I think it's a, I
think it's a recipe for true joy, um, because and I believe
that's what he meant buthappiness can be fleeting and
it's good to revel and enjoyhappiness and the simple
pleasures, but true joy isfounded purpose and, uh, you
cannot find a lasting purposeunless you are faithful and you
(37:40):
have a relationship with jesus.
So, um, I I 100 agree.
I think the deeper you diveinto the bible, the less it
seems like a rule book andthings to follow, um, but saying
, look, these are not things foryou to do to get into heaven,
but this is how you can bringheaven to earth, this is how you
can have kingdom in your lifeand have joy.
(38:00):
And so, when, when these thingsgo wrong this is not me
punishing you, this is youreaping the consequences of your
own poor actions.
And when you do these thingsright, you'll see.
You'll see the blessing that itcut that comes with it, because
it's not god striking you down,saying, oh, you messed up, okay
, here's your punishment.
It's god saying, look, I'vegiven you everything you need
(38:22):
and you do these things rightand you'll see the way it works
out.
Um, and most of the time,that's just going to be.
It's going to be in your head,it's going to be in your heart.
Um, the biggest stresses and thebiggest joys that we have have
very little to do with ourphysical surroundings, but
really our relationships, uh,our relationship with the lord
(38:43):
and our relationship withourselves.
We can really be at peace withourselves and we know who we are
and what God thinks of us.
And I've found great peace andsolace in that and, just the
last year, really understandingjust how much God loves and
cares for us and that it's notso linear that it's if A then B,
if C then D, but I love youunconditionally, no matter what,
(39:08):
for who you are.
And then, because you know thatand because you know you've
been forgiven, then I choose towalk in a way that glorifies God
and is saying look, I'm just soglad that you've given me the
opportunity to do this that I'vemessed up time and time again
and I still have the opportunityto do good and to honor and
glorify you.
I want to do that rather than afearful saying I'm going to do
(39:31):
these things because if I don'tthen I'll go to hell.
Right, it's.
It's definitely relationshipdriven.
Like I said, the man who's beenforgiven the most, is the most
grateful and will do the most inreturn.
Um, and that's, I believe, howwe're supposed to live our lives
and act and see ourselves ashumans.
You know, paul renames us.
Instead of sinners, we're nowsaints, knowing full well we are
(39:54):
sinners, but we don't carrythat title.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
We carry the title of saint because that's who God
says we are well, I just thinkit's another example of the
difference between negativityand positivity.
What's going to attract morepeople?
Speaker 3 (40:08):
Yeah, they're both infectious.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, exactly, but the positive one is the one that
attracts more people.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
Yeah, yeah, have you read.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
By the way, just sitting here listening, have you
read John Gordon's One Truth?
I've not.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
I've read very few, um, faith-based books and I'm
kind of starting my journey.
I've started with dr frankturek.
I don't have enough faith to bean atheist.
It's an apologetics book.
He's an apologist, uh.
And then I'm reading cs lewismere christianity and then, yeah
, I love it, I love sis, she's,I love.
(40:47):
I'm going to continue readingthrough his classics and then
move from there.
I have not.
I'm really fascinated with CSLewis and now NT Wright, just
recently Tom Wright and Dr FrankTurek.
He's on YouTube, so that's howI found him.
He's on YouTube, so that's howI found him, and so he kind of
relates to my generation in thatway by being on social media
(41:13):
more actively.
But those are the guys thatI've read.
And then I'll be honest my momhas read a lot and I have read
very little outside of that.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
So I want to.
Of course I was late to theJohn Gordon bus.
They we had him.
He was the keynote speaker atour convention this last year
and he and I were talking and Ihad to apologize to him.
So, john, if you're watchingthis, I'm apologizing again.
He's written, I think, 17number one bestsellers, but his
latest book he and I weretalking about it and I think you
(41:39):
would really enjoy it it'scalled One Truth and what he's
talking about is how, when weget away from the truth that's
when we typically start to haveproblems we lose our discernment
.
And if we could just staycentered into what we know is
true, then everything kind oftakes care of itself.
And anyway, I just thought ofyou when you said that, so I
(42:01):
wanted to share that with you.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
Yeah, no, it does.
I mean we act on the truth.
We'll see the way the world'ssupposed to be around us and
we'll also recognize what's notright.
When you bring light to asituation, you show those
imperfections.
You can see the things that arewrong, but you also see the
things that are right and ithelps you address that.
So it may be scary to bringlight to a situation.
Hey, the perfections but it'snecessary.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
We have that discussion sometime with the
young people.
I always tell them the truth isconfrontational, yeah, but it
doesn't have to be mean right,you know what you know what I'm
saying.
It doesn't have to be mean, butit still can be the truth.
Um, okay, the other thing thatI want to compliment you on one
of my big deals everybody thatknows me on social media knows
(42:47):
me by my handle is Live yourBrand, because I'm a big
believer in living your brand.
I'm a big believer in what youshare, what you post, what you
comment on, all the things thatwe do, all the touch points that
we have.
They become your brand by theway, and so when I was doing my
search on you that's one of thethings I wanted to compliment
you on is it's very clear thatyou're living your brand.
(43:10):
Thank you, and I think that's agood thing, because consistency
creates credibility.
So the more consistent we are,the more credibility that we
create for our brands.
So when we live our brand,obviously and consistency
creates credibility Then if Italk to you, I'm apt to trust
what you say.
(43:30):
More right, because you've beenconsistent.
So I just wanted to complimentyou on living your brand.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
So thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
We might have to come back and do a part two, because
I think there's several otherthings you and I could just take
off and talk about.
But we need we do need to wrapup today.
But before we wrap up, everyyes gets a fun question.
Okay.
So here's your fun questionColton Kyle, what's the best
concert you've ever been to?
Speaker 3 (44:00):
okay, that is a.
That is a good question.
Unfortunately, I've not been tomany.
I think I can remember two.
I may have been to three.
I went to a mercy me concert.
It was my first concert and Iwas probably 10, so I don't
remember it all that well.
Um, and then I went to a reallysmall, really small concert.
(44:23):
I mean there were maybe 50 ofus um in the crowd and my
friends found this band thatthey really liked.
They were a lot smaller.
It's called harbor as theenglish spelling, so
h-a-r-b-o-u-r.
Um.
They're just kind of like indie, uh, indie pop punk, kind of um
, and so, like that, I got ashirt for merch and I I found
(44:46):
all the band members and gotthem to sign it because there
were not very many of us, right,um.
So that was probably the bestconcert that I've been to.
And my girlfriend lovesconcerts, so she's been to like
niall horan.
Uh, she would love to go tocody jinx um, of course I'm
forgetting now, but MorganWallen.
So she's been to some reallyfun ones.
(45:10):
And I love music.
I listen to it all the time,but concerts are a little
overwhelming for me, so I justlisten at my house.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
It's okay, that's good stuff.
I'm curious about yours.
Oh, don't get me started.
I'm a big live music person.
I'm a diehard Jimmy Buffettbuffett fan.
Yeah, that's good.
I'm a diehard, uh, brucespringsteen.
Don't agree with either oftheir politics, just it's their
music, their talent that I like.
Yeah, but yeah, I just lovelive music and uh, but if you
(45:40):
were to get a hold of myplaylist, you would be, you
would wow.
He's got everything fromChristian to Tejano to a big
band sound like Sinatra, uh, allthe way that country music,
classic rock I've got the wholespectrum and Mercy Me's in there
, obviously.
(46:01):
So yeah.
Yeah, thank you for asking,though, uh listen, I just want
to tell you again how much Iappreciate you sharing some of
your time with us today.
I know I'm not the only one tosay this, but really proud of
you, and I hope you keep up thegood work and you keep being a
(46:24):
positive influence on the folksaround you and share your wisdom
so that people can bediscerning and keep sharing
seeds of greatness where peoplecan grow into oak trees of
success.
Thank, you.
Speaker 3 (46:38):
I really appreciate that.
I'm honored to have theopportunity to speak to you.
I've really enjoyed ourconversation.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
We're going to keep going.
We're going to keep talking.
Okay, ladies and gentlemen,thank you for taking time out of
your schedule again to join ustoday.
We appreciate you sharing someof your time with us.
Remember, you know, ifagriculture has taught us
anything, it's taught us.
If you want to know what thefuture is, grow it.
It requires a little work.
You got to plant the rightthings and, and then you got to
(47:06):
harvest it and feed, feed others, feed yourself and feed others,
and just doing that just makesour world a better place, and we
appreciate you coming by todayand joining Colton, and you know
again, have 10 friends olderthan you, 10 friends younger
than you.
Ladies and gentlemen, you justgot to see a little bit about
where we're headed.
(47:26):
So, colton, thank you so muchfor sharing Everybody else,
thank you for joining us, and wewill see you down the road
until we meet again.
Go out and do something greatfor somebody.
You'll feel good about it and,guess what?
Everybody's going to benefitfrom it.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the
Growing Our Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by theTexas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthenagricultural science education
so students can develop theirpotential for personal growth,
career success and leadership ina global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.
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