53: How to Differentiate Your Business from the Crowd: Having that X Factor
Behind Their Success: Ep 53
Kristen: [00:00:00] Being something to someone. Is a lot more important than trying to just be bland and appeal to everybody
Paden: Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Behind Their Success podcast. I'm Peyton Squires, the host. And this morning we have on Kristen and Kurt Luidhart. They are the co-founders of The Prosper Group, a digital marketing agency established in 2006. Their leadership has driven the firm to raise over 500 million for Republican candidates contributing to the election of 103 Congress members, 15 U.
S. senators, 15 governors, and one. U. S. President. recognize as the leading experts on Liberty Spenders, which is a 5 trillion market of conservative Christian consumers. They help businesses align their marketing strategies with the values of that demographic. Good morning guys. Welcome on the show.
So kind of just tell me, uh, what you guys do and, what are you guys doing currently? All
Kurt: so we are now 18 years in business. The two of us started our company in 2006, as you [00:01:00] mentioned, like a lot of people.
We started working in politics because we thought, well, you know, we're going to change the world and been doing this for 18 years. Uh, we've worked for a lot of really amazing, wonderful people.
Who are really out, uh, spending a lot of time and effort trying to make the world a better place. but in the last few years, we've started thinking about business owners. In fact, recently, I think someone articulated to me something I've never really thought about. He had personally, counted his number of employees, his number of vendors and his number of clients that came up with a number of 1500 people.
And he said, you know, those 1500 people, I am impacting every day. I'm, I'm helping them pay their bills. I can, share my faith with them. There's I'm impacting them. And it occurred to me. all these politicians we've helped elected, they go out to D. C. And then they have to fight over inches, right?
We're in a [00:02:00] very, antagonistic environment right now. A good politician gets one or two things done if they're lucky. Exactly. And But these business owners every day have impact. Like this gentleman, we talked to recently of 1500 people that are dependent on them, some of them for their livelihoods, for their jobs.
They're paying for kids college. They're donating and contributing to charities in their local area. And we thought, you know, maybe it's time instead of just working for politicians and causes, yeah. We got to work for businesses. And the other intriguing insight we had was that there's a increasing number of consumers who are considering values when they're purchasing a product.
So not just whether or not they think the widget is better than the other widget, but they want to know, do the values of the company I'm buying from match my values. So we thought, let's do a deep dive and all these political people that we were talking about. Interact with all the time. So we took our voter [00:03:00] database of 300 million people, and we did a big nationwide survey, and we scored them all to determine which are the ones which are these consumers who are Christian or conservative, which is where our expertise is are making decisions this way, and we identified 76.
5 million people we call liberty spenders who, when they're doing business with you as a business owner, they're asking questions. Do their values represent mine? Are they donating to? Christian or conservative causes or vice versa. Are they do they care? And we actually saw an example of that. Just this just yesterday, when walmart received some backlash from a large number of their consumers, when it was discovered they were doing all sorts of things with, with their customers, money donating to causes they didn't support.
And so they, uh, these consumers are making decisions that way. It's why Walmart backed down from that stuff. And it's, uh, that's really what we're spending a lot of time on these days is helping businesses to capitalize on this [00:04:00] market of 76 and a half million people who spend 5 trillion a year and find a way to do business with them.
Paden: Yeah, that's, interesting stuff. I mean, you're, you're kind of. Your whole business model is wrapped around, well, you know, I, I'd say a niche market. I mean, it's a huge market, connecting businesses, right? With that, yeah,
Kristen: if I could add another flavor to it, Payton, because Kurt's great about showcasing the trends and where we saw some opportunity.
But, just being transparent, you know, it's just, our hearts are really, we just really feel, called and we really feel like there's opportunity to help a lot of business owners who, again, we've, we've been there, we've owned. Multiple companies we've started and exited multiple. We've had some great successes.
We've had some colossal failures along the way. And I just know that so many entrepreneurs and, and fellow business owners that we talked to, they just feel like they're stuck. They feel like they're stuck chasing, their goals, their, revenue goals. And it's just very transactional. Um, and once you hit it, you got to start over and [00:05:00] hit it again.
and we just saw an opportunity to help people like that, you know, by using this strategy. And so for me, yes, there's this giant opportunity. There's this giant market. There's a way to differentiate in a very crowded. Polarized marketplace. This is a great strategy. But for me, the extra added factor X factor, if you will, is that for a lot of owners, this is another way also to add fulfillment to what they do to where it's not just transactional, but they can see this as a way of saying, you know, what?
Okay. I do have some values that I'm already living out in my business, how I'm treating my employees, my customers. Why don't I be more upfront about that in my marketing, build that into how I do business. And I'm going to be happier, you know, doing the same things that I've been doing for a long time, because I feel like there's some alignment with.
With mission or what I want to accomplish. And so, for me, that's really where it gets exciting. And, you know, we want to add value to your listeners today. And so, for me, that's the, the X factor is not only is this a great [00:06:00] way to build your business and grow revenue, and protect yourself against competition.
but it also, if it aligns with you, Oh, add so much fulfillment to what you're already doing.
Paden: yeah, it adds to the fulfillment, but yeah, you're, you know, you
certainly, uh, definitely a mindset of that, of looking, to companies that have, You know their shared values, right?
and whether that's you know, you guys always obviously have a niche market and you know Maybe there's other niche markets for different brands obviously to align with but the whole overall strategy there is Yeah, I think can be breaking for business owners to stand out and really express themselves you know in the marketplace
Kurt: Absolutely.
We call it conviction driven marketing And you're really looking at connecting with consumers on the point of their convictions, which is a little counterintuitive because us Xers for sure grew up with our parents telling us there's only two things you don't talk about with particularly strangers, not [00:07:00] even sometimes with family, the Thanksgiving table.
Let's stay away from religion and politics. And now what we're saying to people is why don't you actually connect with those? with people on those values, because it happens to be some of the most powerful, most emotionally, compelling and identity level values that people experience. And so connecting with them brings a power to your marketing and to your relationship with your customers.
That doesn't happen. They're no longer saying. Well, you know, I liked this thing, but now the competition is 10 percent better or 10 percent cheaper. So now I'm gone, but customers who've connected with you on the level of convictions, they're going to stay. Some of them will drive a little farther to work with you, pay a
Kristen: little
Kurt: more, and they really want to see you succeed.
the most obvious example are companies like Chick fil A and Hobby Lobby, which are really big brands. You know, Chick-fil-A, I think does something like $28 billion a year, or Hobby lobby, seven and a half billion both in the US and you [00:08:00] know, we're the kind of consumer, we're gonna drive a little farther and pass a couple of chicken places to go to Chick-fil-A.
Paden: And they hold their employees to a certain level of standard and, and whatnot.
Kurt: Yeah. They're, it's built into their ecosystem. We tell folks you can't. You're not a charity. So you can't say, Hey, I happen to agree with your values.
I have a crappy product. Why don't you buy it? That's not going to work. and so to Kristen's a hundred percent, right? I think a company that shares my values like Chick fil A, but who has a crappy. Chicken sandwich isn't gonna last, right? And they happen to have, in my opinion, the best one. But I also, I'm also willing to travel a little further.
and we still work with them despite the fact they're not open on Sundays, which just happens to be the day when I feel cravings most for, for a chicken sandwich and the same with Hobby Lobby. They're also closed on Sundays. And so it's been more than once where we've rearranged our schedule. So we could shop there on a Saturday or a Monday or a Tuesday.
Because we want to support what they're doing. And so I think it's a really [00:09:00] powerful strategy to connect with people in that way.
Paden: Yeah. And I think, just the listeners to be able to take away like that concept of like, create an identity and standing, you know, standing for something, you know, whatever that is, whatever aligns with you as a, you know, authentic, uh, leader and business owner, right.
Or the brand, right. and by doing that, you're going to. naturally, probably alienate some people, right? Because you're aligning with something that maybe some of your client base won't. But the idea is you're aligning with something that, your ideal client base, the majority by aligning with something, you know, it's a net positive, right?
Not a net negative, right? Yeah,
Kristen: there's a lot of There's a lot of consumers out there. It's a big, big world. And so there's a lot of business to be had. And there's plenty of examples has been going on for a long time. Patagonia is a great example of somebody who's been doing that and their marketing is very clear.
I mean, they're so passionate about, protecting the environment, doing things on climate change. and so there again, people can shop at [00:10:00] Patagonia who don't. You know, care about that. But for those that do, it really connects with a, with a certain level of consumers and they've done very well doing that.
So to your point, it can be any level of spectrum and it doesn't have to be controversial. It doesn't have to be partisan. people that just, you know, are upfront about supporting veterans. There's something controversial about that, but for those people, it makes you feel like it can just add a little bit of a, of an X factor.
So there's a number of ways to do it. We're not, we're not trying to tell people to, to be something they're not or, or any of that. But, even if it does turn off some people, you can do some analysis about your customers to see where they stand. if you're, if you feel, worried about that.
but again, being something to someone. Is a lot more important than trying to just be bland and appeal to everybody. Yeah,
Paden: because then you don't stand out. Like nobody sees you for anything, right? Well, then you're competing
Kristen: again on the, on the margins of things that are just, don't, don't enhance loyalty or any of those things.
Kurt: Yeah. We live in a world where you develop something really awesome. You sell it on [00:11:00] Amazon for, Two months and month three. There's a Chinese knockoff you're competing against. They don't respect your patents. They don't respect your intellectual property. You can't go after him. And so you have to find a way, I think, to differentiate beyond some of those features and benefits because they're so easily copied.
And this is where I think there's a real opportunity for distinction. And like Kristen says, there's spectrums of it. Even to go back to my first two examples, Hobby Lobby is very, very upfront about their Christian faith and actually put it in their marketing. Every Easter there's Hobby Lobby ad in our newspaper.
Talking about, Jesus, right? So that's very upfront, very faith oriented. It's in their marketing. Chick fil a, not so much. So you get it. Cause they're closed on Sundays. Their owners have spoken publicly about their faith, but their marketing is all about cows saying you should eat more chickens.
So it's
Paden: there,
Kurt: but not as a, yeah. So you can choose the spectrum. There's a great [00:12:00] company in Texas called a Patriot mobile. Which has built up 150, 000 wireless subscribers in competition with Verizon T Mobile and Sprint. They're probably a company worth, you know, 150 to 200 million dollars. So a big success.
They're very upfront about it. They say we're America's Christian and conservative wireless provider. So they're very upfront about it. But then you take a company like black rifle coffee. Kristen was talking about veterans, the black rifle coffee, uh, has a very sort of kind of pro military, marketing campaign.
They blow a lot of crap up in their marketing. They do a lot of like cool stuff. They're shooting guns all the time. Yeah. And they're very veteran friendly. There's nothing controversial about supporting veterans, but it also speaks to an audience that really cares about that. The fact their name is Black Rifle Coffee probably turns off a few people who are not gun owners and want to see more restrictions on that.
But they've also, they also built a 1. 7 billion company in the face of competition of much [00:13:00] better known brands like Starbucks. And I, you know, how would you do that if you just said, look, I have better coffee? yeah, no
Paden: one's, no one cares. Yeah,
Kurt: they don't. And I, I'll tell you, I've, I've had Starbucks.
I think they're okay. They're okay. There's a lot of companies out there, though, who have better coffee and there's, they aren't beating Starbucks, you know, there's a coffee shop on every corner you're competing with if you're black rifle. And so, I think that's where. There's a lot of power in this approach.
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Having all the success you've had,
Kurt: you know, I think a business owner having a abundance mentality, feeling like there's lots of business to be had around every corner, gives you an ability to be a great networker and a great developer of beneficial relationships, which I think has really been our strength, particularly when we, we built a business in politics.
And the feeling in the political scene is you're always in intense, [00:15:00] dangerous and difficult competition with all of your competitors. and there are people who I'm convinced in our business think it's their job to make enemies. And in our, every employee, I tell them the first day in, it's our business to make friends and to be friendly with everyone in the space, with everyone in the industry and to expand our network.
And I think that's, what's really helped us to. And people love dealing with us. We don't have that same kind of mentality like, well, if, if we don't get this client, there's nothing else to be had. And I started out a little bit of that when we first started, I thought, Oh, there's only a limited amount of business.
Every time somebody else wins, that's money off of my plate, but it's,
Kristen: it's never
Kurt: been that case. There's, there's plenty of work to be done and these relationships you can develop when you're not feeling that kind of, You know, clinched up feeling like, oh, of scarcity. Uh, I think that's what we've been good at.
Our network, particularly in this, on our [00:16:00] side, the business is really unparalleled. Of course, we've been doing it for 18 years.
Kristen: Well, there's always new people coming in, so you can't ever rest on your rest on their laurels as they say.
I'm sure a number of people when you have, and they talk about this, I'm sure they talk about the importance of mindset. You know, he talked about an abundance mindset, but that's just so key. I know for me, when I'm. Struggling or I'm focusing on what I don't have instead of what I have. It just impacts everything throughout the day.
And so whether some people start with, meditation or, or thinking about gratitude or any of those things, mindset for yourself and for your employees, you know, we bring in, and we've done training on this for our employees because it impacts them. It impacts how they behave at home with their spouses, with their children, with their extended family.
and the better off they can handle. difficult situations, they can be resourceful, resilient. I find that in and of itself, you know, so basic, but it's actually quite challenging. that skill set alone is going to serve you [00:17:00] no matter what comes your way. And you add that to not thinking about scarcity.
It just opens your eyes then to think of new opportunities. You're, you're more willing to be flexible. when the market shifts, which as we all know now, it's like everything is changing so rapidly. Technology's changing AI. So if you can't, you know, be flexible and open minded, you know, that's going to hurt your ability to grow.
And frankly, the relationship side has allowed us to do joint ventures, strategic partners, other kinds of deals with our own competitors that other people haven't because they're not afraid to work with us. They're not threatened by us. We don't bash them. So all of those things together, I think are really helpful.
Paden: Yeah. Mindset, we've talked about mindset a lot on this, a lot on the show, um, that in, in networking, right. You know, you guys say your network, it's so true. Like how you're always just like one relationship away from, from changing, you know, your entire trajectory of your life.
And like, I was not even realizing that like, in [00:18:00] my years of running my own like tax practice, meeting with, you know, thousand plus entrepreneurs, how much How much I was developing a network there and how that would be. but after doing it for over a decade now, now you really see the fruits of, you know, all those seeds you planted a long time.
My clients are out doing amazing things in businesses and making money and doing cool stuff. And I get to be surrounded by a lot of cool people. It's awesome.
Kristen: Well, I tell you, if you've been patient, Like you said, doing that for 10 years, if you capitalize on that, but trying to think about how you can serve first, how do you add value?
I mean, the referrals, the network, now you have to be disciplined about it. And that's one thing that we find a lot of business owners really struggle with is maybe they are great at networking or they're great at serving and they add value to everybody they meet. They're terrible asking for referrals.
And so these are things that, you know, if you can, you know, find a way to build that into your [00:19:00] system. wow. I mean, it's just, it's unbelievably powerful, especially in a professional services industry. Like you're in, like we're in, we're not selling a widget, right. We're selling ourselves in a service.
I mean, that's everything.
Paden: So, um, you know, on your all's journey here, would you guys credit as, the best decision you've
Kurt: I think our best, all of our best and worst decisions are always about people, right? being willing to hire the right people, even if they cost a little more, and being a little picky about them.
has led to bringing on quality, amazing people that have, have been able to pick up the ball and do things important for the company and on the other side, you know, not paying attention to people issues has been some, you know, can often lead to some of the worst problems, right? And so, that's one.
And I think kind of related to it, Kristen mentioned it. We had, uh, at some point. in 2019. we, I remember just feeling [00:20:00] this feeling like we're not breaking through in some fashion. you have to realize it. Sometimes you start with thinking it's somebody else's problem, and then you realize it's really your problem.
And, that was right around the time we, went to our very first Tony Robbins event and that's, and we had never really, everybody, Sort of learns about having a good attitude when we talked about that in elementary school. But, it never really occurred to me how much my state and mindset, you know, he totally talks about state and what state you're in every day really impacts everything.
And it was, it was so obvious when he's talking about it on stage. I'm thinking, I don't understand why I had to pay 500 to get it hammered just to get like a normal average everyday thing. But it's just so obvious, like when I am in the right state and Kristen's in the right state, we have a wonderful marriage when I'm grumpy, it has nothing to do with her, you know, I'm focusing on something that, puts me in a bad mood or to Kristen's point, focusing on what we don't have, [00:21:00] it doesn't matter what she does.
I'm a, I can be. Just grumpy and it affects our everything in our life affects our marriage that affects our business. It affects our employees who pick up on our states. We kind of pass them on. So I would say that's the other big thing for for me.
Paden: Yeah, that's great.
Kristen: Definitely about people. And, you know, coaching is another big thing.
A lot of, again, business owners, it could be lonely, at the top and you're striving and doing that. And so, whether it's, you know, networking groups, business round tables, there's so much, but I have just become, I am obsessed about, getting coaching, getting that external feedback, building that into, um.
What my staff get to experience as well. We invest a lot historically. I mean, we have invested a lot because I just really believe in it. And when you have your people operating at a high level and I get it, it's hard to track, it's not a direct ROI, but it's absolutely there. And so I would say for you yourself as the executive leader [00:22:00] coaching, and then looking at that for your employees is.
It's absolutely worth its weight in gold.
Paden: Yeah. Yeah. That's, yeah, that's great. You know, and talking about, yes, you're never going to scale anything without hiring great people to, you know, investing in yourself, self development, you know, we talk about that a lot here as well of like, you know, I'm in, I'm in a mastermind group.
I spend a lot of money on self development. Yeah. and it's worth every penny, right? Because like, you know, it's investing myself, it's investing my skillset, you know, that's about the only thing people can't take away from you is your skillset, it's, huge in that. And, and that's a common theme that, uh, you know, we have on these interviews all the time is.
The people that are successful is the constant curious, curiosity of wanting to develop and getting better. And, and, you know, your standards you set in your business. Um, or like the highest standards they're going to be in the business. And meaning like your standards, you set up here at the very top as a leader or only going to have to, [00:23:00] right.
As, as you go down your hierarchy and all your people, your standards are only going to get diluted a little bit, right? Because people aren't going to live to your standards maybe as a leader. So the constant bottleneck is you as a leader, having to up your standards, up your game, so everybody else below you can.
Yeah, I think
Kristen: it's. I forget if it's Edmund Burke. I know it's one of your favorite codes, but you, you cannot lead further than you've gone yourself. So that's key. So if you want everyone else around you, or you want your business to improve, you have to do that for work first. And then the other principle we had learned actually was a, it's an expression that, Tony uses is can I, C A N I constant and never ending improvement.
and I know for, again, a lot of businesses, it just can feel overwhelming. I got to improve this, this, this, this, this. And it's, where do I start? How do I do it? And if you can just make incremental steps, little by little, 1 percent better, 1 percent better, 1 percent better, it's a compounding effect. we understand the principle of compounding with our money and other things.
The same is [00:24:00] true with your effort and making those improvements. And, so anyway, just what you said is amazing. And the masterminds are, are key.
Paden: Oh, yeah. Yeah, that the biggest thing for the masterminds is not even like any tactics or practical things. I've even taken from it. It's really just being around other winners and like, just seeing what's possible.
I mean, literally being around people and be like, Oh, wow. You're doing 10 X what I'm doing. And you're just a normal person. Oh, I can do that too. Right. I mean, that's, that's
Kristen: cool. And what are you doing that I'm not doing?
Paden: Like I come from, you know, small rural Missouri, like, you know, I didn't know any millionaires growing up or whatever.
Right. And being around those types of people, you realize that they're not necessarily any different than you. Right. They have different skill sets, made some different decisions, but like you can do exactly what they did. Um, if you start making the same decisions, you're
Kurt: right.
Kristen: Yeah. Your peer group is everything.
And you know, I, there's been studies done about this, that [00:25:00] you are. You basically are the average of your peer group. and so if you elevate your peer group and that can be difficult, it's not, we're not trying to tell you to cut off people of your life, but if you elevate your peer group and you get around that, it, it just has an impact.
Um, if you're around a lot of negative people, it's really hard to break through that and succeed. And you're around people that challenge you, that believe the best in you, that tell you to be the best version of yourselves and hold you accountable. Your life will be exponentially better.
Paden: Yeah. Yeah. Cause you'll just naturally, like we're all human beings.
We'd like to think that we're these like. Fantastic, rational, like great decision makers to like human biology. Right. And we want to fit in the group. And if you want standards, the easiest way to do that is to change your environment, uh, that just has the standards that you want to set for yourself, because eventually you'll feel bad enough if you're the only person in that group, not living up to that standard.
So guys, Kind of looking back early in your career, [00:26:00] if you guys can go back to 2006, you're starting, starting your business, what is one piece of advice you'd give yourself?
Kurt: So, um, I think it would be to seek a lot of advice. You're, that kind of goes into the coaching and the masterminding thing. But, uh, making sure you're talking to people who've been there before. You know, in 2006, I feel like me and I was such a baby back then. I wish I was in my twenties again.
And, uh, you know, you think, you know, so much, uh, I've read a lot of business books, so I of course felt like I, I had all the tools and if I had it all over again, I would make a better practice of sort of presenting what's going on in my business more frequently to people who've been there, maybe an unofficial board of advisors, somebody who could tell me, Hey, I, I tried that before.
Maybe you should think about it this way. so I can look back and say, you know, there's a number of things we just didn't do right that I think if I would [00:27:00] have asked a few questions 1st, I could have avoided some strife. and that's not it. It's always always been a great talent of mine. because it requires me to slow down And so, uh, that's one thing I would do
Kristen: especially starting out. You just really want to prove. I mean, everyone's different, I suppose, but I know a number of entrepreneurs, there's some sort of chip on their shoulder. There's something driving them to prove that they can do something if they want to better their lives or better than what they had growing up.
Or they want to again, they have this great idea that they just know is going to help, um, in their industry or something, or solve some unique problem. Yeah, the mentoring and being willing to ask when you don't know, and even when you think, you know, double check it. those are things I wish I had done more of.
I just was so determined that I was going to figure it out. And I thought I had to figure it out alone. And you just don't, you just don't. And you're too, you know, again, we were very young and so we just didn't know. We didn't know what we didn't know. but I [00:28:00] think, seeking more of that out and I think not.
Um, some coming to fear and letting that hold you back from asking questions or seeking advice from people. That was a big thing for me. I just really wanted to prove it. I wanted to do it myself. and it, it took me a lot longer to learn things that I could have, you know, I could have cut all kinds of time.
and so now when I think about. When I'm afraid of something, and we don't, we don't think about that. We just think we're stressed, you know, really, we're just scared. That's really what a lot of stress is. and so I'm just fearing things that haven't even come to be true. This is silly. Again, it goes back to mindset, but talk to some other people, find a mentor.
and you'll, you'll save yourself a lot of, a lot of heartache. Yeah.
Paden: Yeah. No. And, and Kristen, I, I'm guilty of everything you just said there myself. You know, I, I. started my business over a decade ago and I spent probably the first five years running kind of a solo practice on my own. And I thought, kind of say, Oh, I want to figure this all out [00:29:00] on my own and whatever, and yeah, honestly, it was probably just a bunch of insecurities.
Like, you know what I mean? I was afraid that I was maybe doing something wrong or what, you know, whatever. Right. and yeah, get over that, uh, has been big and also allowed me to grow now a real firm and have a team and I can be a leader, you know, and now, now a lot of my day is focused on how can I be a leader?
Of my team, right?
Kurt: Yeah. You know, something Kristen said, I think makes me think of something else that's important to share. I think, you know, ultimately at the core, all of us are seeking some sort of identity, something that creates a justification for our existence. Why are we here? How do we know that what we do matters?
And, Even though I'm a person of faith and I know deep in my heart that I matter because I was created by a God who loves me, who loved me so much. He was willing to come on the cross and die for me. Even though I know that, even though that's the [00:30:00] ultimate proof of who I am and why I'm important. I often found myself thinking I really needed to prove it by being successful, by making more money.
But, you know, I hear a speaker talk about real estate and what he'd built. I think, well, we got to do that, right? Cause that's, that's, that guy looks cool.
He's cooler than me. And, and, and I, you know, I, I don't, I wouldn't say I was out accumulating sports cars or anything like that, but it, you know, I had my own definition of.
Of what it would cost and you know, we'd go to a finance conference and they would talk about man Wouldn't it be awesome to build up a nest egg that you could live off of and so you're starting to calculate these giant numbers Like well, I want to spend a million dollars a year So if I want to spend a million dollars a year I need to have a nest egg about 50 million dollars because then I can live off of this percentage and And you're starting to put all this stuff in because in some way For me, at least, it proved that I, I mattered and that I was accomplishing [00:31:00] something, it was progress, and it also took me 20 years, uh, uh, to, of that sort of hamster wheel to realize I was turning myself into a very miserable human being, and I think maybe with the kids coming, because kids are an ultimate obstacle to that kind of thinking.
Because my kids aren't utilitarian. I get, I get love from them. They love me. I love them. We enjoy our time, but nothing I am doing with them is contributing to my nest egg. In fact, it's reducing my next egg. The time I spend with them prevents me from working on my or the money you're
Paden: spending,
Kurt: right?
Paden: And
Kurt: so when I had kids, I felt this conflict and I started feeling a building resentment of my Children because they were getting in the way of of that. And there was a moment when I just felt smacked over the face on that. a spiritual revelation. [00:32:00] where I was reminded, like I am pursuing, I've created these sort of counterfeit gods, if you will,
Paden: that I've made
Kurt: more important.
And so I think if I were to go back to mini me in 2006, I'd say, you know what, it's good to have dreams and goals. You should have them, but just know there's no ultimate satisfaction in making, um, 2 million over a million. and the moment you get to 2 million, you realize there's somebody making four and then you see the person making 50 and you, all, all you do is you'd be immediately, yeah, there's no end to it.
It's like a, you're, you're hungry and no matter how much you eat, you're never satisfied. So I think that would have saved me from a lot of stupid decisions too, that I made for. For status and success, you know, and it drove
Kristen: us to achieve those things, but ultimately it wasn't rooted in. I want to hit this level because of the impact I can make.
Now, [00:33:00] once you trade that, you have the same drive to build and to grow, but It's a very different meaning And a very different reason why. Yeah,
Kurt: So just realizing I don't need this stuff right to make meaning. I actually don't even need, you know, Kristen's right when you feel like you're doing good in the world, but I actually don't even need to do that to know that I'm worth something.
Right. And for me, that was the thing. And I still struggle with it, right? Because everything in the world is telling us that Go buy more stuff. Go get more stuff, stuff. You're not good. Yeah. As a man, I'm always comparing myself to every other man in the room. You know, who's got the, who's kind of the coolest, who's got the biggest status?
Who's, who's in the best shape? I don't know. Whatever. Well, I don't wanna miss
Kristen: out on this, this new hack that write this new funnel hack or this new. This new way to grow my business this way. I got to learn this new thing. And
Kurt: but that would be something I would say to 2006.
Paden: yeah, that's all great stuff. And it's just, I think everything, everything we can like talk about on this [00:34:00] podcast and this episode as well, it's just like, ultimately it's like become self aware as possible. Right. Become self aware as possible. And that's going to allow you to, um, navigate the world in the bed.
Like that would be the ultimate superpower. If you were like,
Kurt: yeah,
Paden: ultimate self aware, you could pretty much accomplish anything. Yeah. Yes. Well guys, this has been a fantastic conversation. I appreciate you guys coming on. you know, what's the best way people can connect with you? Um, get to know a little bit more about you, your company, uh, Liberty Spenders.
Uh, what's the best way they can reach you guys?
Kristen: Well, we did make a special landing page just for you, Peyton and your folks. So, uh, if you're interested in what we were sharing about conviction driven marketing or Liberty Spenders, which is who we talk about with this audience, you can go to Liberty spenders.
com slash BTS. And we've got some goodies there for you. We just wrote a book. We're giving it away for free. So you can learn more about that yourself. You don't ever need to talk to us again, but if you're curious to learn more, you can get it there.
Paden: Well, guys, I appreciate you. This has been a fantastic [00:35:00] conversation and listeners.
We will catch you next time.
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. If you found it valuable, please rate review and share it. That is the best way to help us build this and reach more people as we're trying to accomplish our goal of help creating more healthy, wealthy, and wise entrepreneur. You can follow us on social media by searching for me @padensquires or going to www.padensquires.com on the website and social media. We're always sharing tips of personal growth and there we can actually interact. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks guys.
