Inky Johnson & J. J. Mazzo on Perseverance, Purpose, and the Discipline to Keep Showing Up

In this powerful compilation of The Burn Podcast, Ben Newman brings together two deeply moving conversations that center on faith, perseverance, and the meaning we assign to adversity. First, Ben finally sits down with Inky Johnson, a conversation years in the making. Inky shares how a career-ending injury became the foundation for a life of purpose, leadership, and impact. He breaks down why behavior always precedes belief, how humility fuels true discipline, and why faith—not circumstance—is the anchor that allows you to endure life’s hardest moments. This is not a story about football; it’s about choosing to give suffering meaning and refusing to waste the lessons adversity brings.

Then, Ben is joined by mortgage-industry leader, coach, and author J. J. Mazzo, who opens up about the messy middle—imposter syndrome, financial pressure, family leadership, and faith—while unpacking the principles behind his book Perseverance Principles. J. J. shares how transparency, grace, and standards helped him rebuild during seasons of shame and uncertainty, and why leading at home is the ultimate test of character. From donating his book proceeds to charity to building a mission-driven coaching company, J. J.’s story is a reminder that perseverance isn’t just about surviving—it’s about serving, growing, and choosing light when darkness feels overwhelming. Together, these conversations deliver a clear message: when faith anchors discipline and purpose fuels action, perseverance becomes possible—no matter how heavy the moment feels.

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Connect with Inky Johnson:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inkyjohnsonmotivate/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inkyjohnson
Website: https://www.inkyjohnson.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@InkyDJohnson

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Connect with J.J. Mazzo:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jjmazzo_/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1438883589&ref=_ig_profile_ac
Website: https://www.impactelitecoaching.com/
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Chapters

• 0:00 Finding Purpose After Catastrophic Injury
• 2:45 Humility, Winning, And The Daily Burn
• 5:05 Turning Adversity Into Meaning
• 8:00 Sponsor: Q Logics Business Systems
• 9:20 Behavior Precedes Action
• 13:15 Faith As Framework For Resilience
• 18:16 Writing Perseverance: JJ’s Book Journey
• 23:50 Principles For Hard Times And Imposter Syndrome
• 26:45 Hope, Support Systems, And Not Quitting
• 29:15 Leading At Home Through Darkness And Renewal

Transcript

unknown: 0:00

I'm a dead boy and do I don't do that. I'm a dead boy and don't do I'm a dead boy and do I don't do I'm a dead boy and do you know?

SPEAKER_02: 0:14

Welcome to the burn.

SPEAKER_00: 0:16

My guy, man. I'm honored. I'm grateful. I can't thank you enough, man. As you know, man, you're somebody that I have a tremendous amount of respect for, just in terms of what you do, but also, man, who you are, you know. And so I'm honored to be on, man, and thank you so much for the time.

SPEAKER_02: 0:33

There's a fire and a passion you have. Where does that come from for you? How have you continued to carry that on?

SPEAKER_00: 0:40

I would say um it comes just from the journey to getting to the point to where I connected to a different purpose. And what I mean by that is I never thought I would be doing the work that I'm doing. And so I remember speaking to a young man, Ben, and he was like, Man, what do you mean? Like you never thought you would be speaking? I was like, Yeah, man, I never thought that I would be speaking, you know, the rooms that I'm in, traveling the way that I'm traveling. I never thought I played ball. I thought I would just go off, play ball, have a career, fade off into the sunset. And so the way that has happened and the things that have happened is humbling. You know, like when people come up to me and say, hey man, I watch a video with my son. Hey, man, I sent this clip to my daughter. Hey, man, we were having dinner the other night. Me and my family, man, and we watched this and we talked about it. Like that's humbling for me because I never thought that I would be doing what I'm doing. And so when things happen and transpire the way that they transpire, every time I go into a room, I feel as if I'm there on assignment. Every opportunity I get, I'm there on assignment. It's almost as if, you know, my injury happened. Then a lot of people look at that day and that that incident and say, okay, man, he got injured. Like it's a football injury. But my life changed. And a lot of people don't realize that. Like my life literally changed. I almost lost my life. I was literally fighting for my life. Like a lot of people see the paralyzed right arm and hand. They don't think about I got cut six times down my left eye. They don't think about I got cut one time across the left side of my neck, one time across the right, twice through my right ribs, cut out my right peck, bottom of my armpit to the bottom of my hand, 350. Like they sliced and diced me and gutted me like a fish. My life changed. The next day I woke up, I didn't even look the same. And so for one path to end and another path to begin that you never imagined, it's a certain level of humility that comes along with that. Like I tell people, people that are elite at what they do, just winners, man, like people that know how to win. Any situation you throw at them, people that know how to process it. Like I feel like one of the traits that every winner has is humility, right? And the type of humility that gets up every single day and competes with the person that they were yesterday. The type of humility, it doesn't matter what they've accomplished. The type of humility, it doesn't matter how much money you got. The type of humility, it doesn't matter how many games you won. It doesn't matter what you did last year. The type of humility that gets up every single day, and they're grateful for the opportunity, and they get up and they sharpen that axe to try to be better. They got that burn, man. And you say burn, that that's that burn, baby. That's that burn, man.

SPEAKER_02: 3:28

It just I I love I just love hearing you speak because it's the passion piece. And this is where so many people they have what what you just shared. They have that fire in them. They just haven't connected to it because most people, I want everybody to hear me now. Most people, when you face challenge and adversity, you make a choice to not go find your greatest strength. So picture this. Inky is on the phone with his mom, getting ready to take the field at the University of Tennessee, projected to be a first-round draft pick, money buttoned up, everything is gonna be taken care of, gonna take care of the family, and goes and experiences the injury that he just expressed to you. And then he makes a choice to allow that to become his greatest strength. And that is what you now feel when he speaks and when you're in his presence. Inky, why what? Why? Like, you know, my mother dying, I would give anything to have my mother back. I and my mom, the strength she had to divorce my dad, who is a drug addict, alcoholic, manic depressive, bipolar. When I'm a six-month-old baby boy, and she's got the courage to have divorce, and then she dies from a rare disease. Like, I could have given up on life too. I could have decided that, like, this just isn't for me. I'm just nobody would blame me if I went down the wrong path. Nobody would have blamed you. You had your life taken away from you, the money to but we just decided to fight. And I now realize my greatest strength is the adversity that I faced. Why do you think people struggle to take their adversity and allow it to give them perspective for strength the way that you have?

SPEAKER_00: 5:19

I think um I think it's challenging, man. Like when people go through struggles, adversity, opposition, change, uncertainty, you know, oftentimes we spend a lot of time just trying to figure it out. Like, why am I going through this? Why did I have to go through this? What does this mean? And I think the gift of adversity and the gift of opposition and the gift of struggle is oftentimes it gives you time to reflect. And so even in my own life, just speaking from personal experience, every time I go through adversity and opposition, I reflect. And I remember when I went through my injury and my arm got paralyzed. And I was like, man, okay, what is this? Like, what does this mean? Like I get up one day and I can no longer use my right arm and right hand. I was right hand dominant. What is this? And I'm reading, and it was saying, Life is not a quest for power, life is not a quest for prestige, but merely a quest for meaning, right? And it said, How do you give suffering? How do you give adversity? How do you give opposition? How do you give uncertainty meaning? You give it meaning by the way that you respond to it. And oftentimes the reason that it's so challenging when we go through struggles, adversity, and opposition to process it and respond in the right fashion is we don't give it the right meaning. That's why I said my arm and my hand was paralyzed, my heart isn't. My arm and my hand is paralyzed, my dedication isn't, my commitment level isn't. That was just me giving meaning to the struggle. That was just me giving meaning to the adversity. That was just me giving meaning to the opposition that I was dealing with. Something to get me up every single day and put me in a space and place with my perspective to help me process what I was going through in such a fashion that I would give it meaning. Like I got something wrote down in my pad, like I always have my journal with me. It says you always can control what you feel about what happens to you. Right. Oftentimes we hear the quote that says, Life is never about what happens to you. It's about how you respond to it, right? But regardless of what happens to you, you always can control what you feel about what happens to you, right? How you process it, the meaning that you give to it, in spite of struggle, in spite of adversity, in spite of opposition. I think oftentimes it's a matter of perspective and perception and foundationally, what's the meaning that you're gonna give to your struggle, right? Are you gonna waste the experience or are you gonna use it, right? Are you gonna waste the opposition or are you gonna use it? And so that's what I would say about it, man.

SPEAKER_02: 7:50

This episode of The Burn is brought to you by our dear friends and partners at Q Logics. Now, you know I don't co-sign things I don't believe in. And I believe in John Chirando and the team at Q Logics. He's built multiple nine-figure businesses, real integrity, real character, the kind of guy you want in your corner. But here's what happened. All that expertise, all that knowledge, it was just his. Locked in his head, his decisions, his team. You couldn't access it. So John created Q Logics. He basically said, How do I make everything I've built available to people who actually need it? Here's what that looks like. Q Logics helps you see the blind spots in your business, the gaps you don't even know you have. You don't know what you don't know. They're your tour guide through that. Q-Logics helps you build systems that make your business work better or they ask better questions so you're approaching it in the most effective way. And Q Logic has access to a network of businesses and resources, real connections, real synergies that can accelerate what you're building. If any of that resonates, go to Q-Hyphen Logics, L-O-G-I-X.com forward slash Ben. Fill out a form. Their team will research your situation personally, then they'll tell you straight, can they actually help? Thank you to our friends and partners at Q Logics. Make sure you find out more about Q Logics and your opportunity to win more with them today. And I I just I I love the the perspective, the words, and then I love the action. So that that's one of the things that I love is that you don't just bring words to individuals, you help them think about whether it be mental agility, perseverance, but the the action that you must choose. And there's another video that I remember like there, there's the initial video that came out, and then the second video, I always think about this with you. You were out in your driveway doing a workout, ATL Atlanta Heat, and you're you're going up and down. I think it's a new house you're in now, but you're going up and down this driveway carrying medicine balls. And it's like most people who can't use their right arm would never be like, hey man, I'm gonna go get this working with these big old medicine balls, right? They would just choose to do something else. Like, let me get on this exercise bike and just pedal. So it's action that you choose to take even when something's difficult. That it's way harder for you than me to do that workout, but you don't look at it that way. You go, I got a workout to do. So, how important is it to make sure that you don't just mentally get yourself locked in, but you back it up with action to prove to yourself that you can. How important has that been for you?

SPEAKER_00: 10:35

Man, um it's it's extremely important because I think action is everything, man. Like, you know, like when people say things and if there's no action attached to it, it's hollow. But I firmly believe like behavior always goes before action, right? Behavior always goes before action. How we speak, how we see, how we process, just the behavior that we have about certain things, it always precedes action. And so my behavior about opposition, my behavior about life, my behavior just about the quest of just trying to be a better individual has always been every single day I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna just try to figure out how I can be better today, right? The aggregation of marginal gain. Getting up every single day and looking for marginal ways to become better as a man, right? That just doesn't mean, oh man, I'm gonna get up every single day and try to just come and be just so great. No, I'm looking for marginal ways to become better at what I do. That's always been my behavior, right? Behavior precedes action. And so the action always follows it up. My process, how I respond, how I show up, that's always been me. And so even when, like we were just talking prior to recording, just about a situation and an incident that I went through and I said something to you. I said, Man, you know, I'm just trying to be obedient to the process because I know how I am. I'm a competitor, I like to move, I like to go, right? And I went through something to the where they were like, hey man, you need to rest, right? You need to sit down and just chill and just heal and go through your process and take advantage of this time. But I'm not wired that way. I'm wired every single day almost. I get up and I work out. Every single day, I'm doing something, unless something interrupts that. That's how I'm wired. And so for the first couple of days, if I could be honest with you, Ben, my dad had to be at the house, my mom had to be at the house, my cousin had to call me. Of course, my wife is at the house. And all of them that morning, when I woke up, when I got home from the hospital, they were like, hey man, sit your butt down. We know, we know you're gonna try to get more. Sit down, no, uh-uh. What you need, right? And that's how I'm wired because that's my behavior, that's my process, and that's how I think about life. It's all action that has to follow up the words. And oftentimes, man, it can be challenging. But I would say, man, give yourself a shot. I told a guy yesterday, I said, Man, courage, it the quote that says, courage is not always the voice that roars. Sometimes courage is a small still voice at the end of the day saying, I'm gonna try again tomorrow. And sometimes in our action, when we try things or we're trying to adapt new behavior or adopt the new normal, sometimes it's challenging because you're trying to change, you're trying to steer the ship, man. You're trying to change behavior, you're trying to change habits. And so sometimes it could be discouraging, but keep showing up, man. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. You deserve it. Not anybody else, but you deserve it.

SPEAKER_02: 13:34

One, one, one final question. You you referenced uh a handful of uh actual verses, it sounds like to me earlier. You said you were reading, but uh on the burn, we are open with faith. So uh I'm cool with you being open with faith because we are open with faith on the burn. So you were you were quoting from the Bible.

SPEAKER_00: 13:56

That's true.

SPEAKER_02: 13:57

How important, and I'm in the Bible every morning myself too. And uh, for those that that don't know, you know, I'm a I'm a Jew for Jesus. So John Gordon, our dear friend, which is where we got connected originally through his Power Positive Summit, he brought me to Christ in 2008, completely changed my life. So he and I always joke, we're Jews for Jesus. You hang with us, you'll be all right, you're duly protected. So we're open about faith on the burn. But how important has faith been? I think sometimes people in the world today they they hide or they do it behind closed doors rather than recognizing once I realize the power of my faith and I could have an open voice with faith, and I don't even have to say it from the stage, people know it. Just like when you said it, I knew it. He's reading from the Bible, it's coming from his mind. That's the Bible. Like, so how important has faith been for you to know that no matter what adversity comes your way, your baby girl, your baby boy, which I say baby girl, baby boy, our kids are about the same, but I remember those first videos they came out. We were joking before we started recording. I'm like, it's been so long we've been connected. Like, I remember when your kids were like this. How important has faith been for the strong marriage, the great father, the great businessman, the great entrepreneur, for you to continue to fight through adversity.

SPEAKER_00: 15:14

How important has your faith been? Man, it's it's it's everything, Ben. Like, and also, man, let me say this. I'm glad you brought up John Gordon, man, for connecting us. John is sort of the earth guy, man. Great dude, forever grateful for him connecting us and just having that thought. But um, man, my faith, it's been vital just in my development, in my walk, in my journey in terms of just processing things. Like um when my injury happened years ago in college, I was in spiritual discipleship. And I had been in spiritual discipleship for three years prior to my injury, you know, career in an injury when it happened. You know, I was already processing things differently. I was already talking differently, I was already seeing life a little bit different. And so when it happened, my response was based upon three years of spiritual discipleship, which I'm grateful. You know, the guy is James Mitchell. Right now, he's the chaplain and spiritual advisor for the Patriots. But at the time, he was working with us in college, and he's still my guy until his day. But it put me on a path, man, that helped me see myself outside of athletics, and it helped me just bring order and structure to my life. It gave me probably the most important routine, just in terms of my development, my growth, and just my mental engineering when I encounter situations that sometimes didn't make sense, that sometimes was hard to process and understand, not only with me, but indirectly with my wife or with my children or with the family member or with the friend. You know, it's one of those things that's been vital just in terms of me processing things and always being able to bring life back to center, you know, and look at it with the right perspective and always knowing that, hey, man, um, some good can come out of this, right? It's like optimism. I was studying optimism because you hear people talk about, you know, being positive or being optimistic. I'm like, man, what is being optimistic? Like, what is that? And it was like the ability to stay fully committed to a belief system and always understand that things are gonna work out even when things are hard. Wow. And that's that's James chapter one. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of any kind, testing of your faith goes on to produce perseverance, perseverance must finish this race so that you may be complete and lacking nothing. You won't need perseverance if you're not gonna go through any challenges. And so, by the way, when it's saying perseverance, it's letting you know you're gonna go through challenges. That's Romans 8:28. When it says, and we know that all things work to the good of those who love the Lord who are called according to his will and his purpose. And so every single day, being able to take life and process it and just bring it back to center, situations and circumstances bring it back to center, shaping my perspective and understanding that man, things are gonna be okay and being fully committed to the belief system that God is still good, man. God is still good, in spite of God, is still good. JJ, welcome back to the burn.

SPEAKER_01: 18:16

Thank you so much, brother. Happy to be here. Thanks for your support.

SPEAKER_02: 18:19

Having you back on the show and being able to say, okay, there's people who say they want to write a book, they come up with excuses. You're in the mortgage industry. I mean, you are one of the titans, one of the, I mean, one he doesn't like when people say things about him. This is like one of the top 100 in the mortgage industry in the world. Like he is a titan in the industry, so he's been through the ups and downs, but this has not been the easiest, easiest period of time in the mortgage industry. You have launched an amazing coaching company called Impact that I've been blessed to be a part of many events, and I'm gonna have some special time with your group later on this year and into next year, which I can't wait for. So you're doing all of these things when most people would say, For goodness, like, like, why are you doing this? Like, how about you just chill out for a while and go to some Philadelphia Eagles games? You've been successful enough, but you went for it. So, why did you choose to go for it in the period of time when most people would be like, Are you seriously writing a book right now?

SPEAKER_01: 19:16

Yeah, I I for me, honestly, it was a God thing, man. It was more, it wasn't I said, Okay, I'm gonna set out to write this book. It was going through some uh business and branding exercises with Rory and his team. And as we did that for Impact, I also did it um with Elle, who is is kind of his right hand at brand builders. And we were doing it for my stuff because I was like, Who am I? What is where am I going? What is my life? You know, the mortgage business has been such a large part of my life for a long time. But you know, what's next? And I think most people my age started asking those questions. Um, not that I'm leaving or taking off or retiring anytime soon, but it was just begging the questions as far as brand. And so as we went through it, the structure of the book. Uh was there when we were done. We're like, wow, look at this. This this is there's something here. And um was able to get together with some collaborators that have a lot of experience in writing books and and put our heads together and and and wrote it. And it took about a year to really push through and and go through it. And um, you know, when you're going through some of these exercises, it's like two days of therapy. I mean, it was like four hours at a time of and I'm pretty transparent about like you know, my my success and my failures. And as we went through it, um, there was a really good story to tell here. And then, you know, then was introduced to Wiley, and he's like, Hey, you need to bring this to Wiley. Sat down with them, uh, pitched the book, they interviewed me on it, and the next thing I knew, we were getting published. So it was, you know, this was Jesus all day long, buddy. And and I've worked really hard on having and working on my relationship with him over the past four years, and and I have to give all the glory to him on this one. Um, and I was just kind of a part of it. And I hope for me it was just helping other people, man. At this point, you know, all the proceeds go to charity from this book. If we can help somebody, one, two, three people, then then I'm I'm proud of it in that way.

SPEAKER_02: 21:10

Fine, I just I I want to mention something because I've you know been around the book world for a long time and you know, been blessed to write eight books, and I can share that I I've kind of run the gamut from literally self-publishing my first three to now having you know B and C publishing in a publishing arm and helping people, you know, write books and publish books. But I was a Wiley, well, I guess I wasn't a former Wiley author, once an author, always an author. But my first big contract was with John Wiley and Sons for Own Your Success in 2012. And I'll never forget that moment to where they accepted the manuscript. And you're like, wait a second, this is a top five publisher in the world. This is not like, hey, I'm gonna hop on Amazon, write a book, and be published in 24 hours. This is like the real deal. So I couldn't be any more proud. And that's what I want to highlight that because when somebody hears me, oh, he's on the burn, so of course he's gonna say the book was amazing. Like, that's how amazing this book is. That the first book, the first go-around, the first try, it's being published by a top five publisher in the world. So I just I think it's absolutely incredible and and excited for you. And a lot of it, it's the it's the message, it's the book, and I think it's the timing, in my opinion. Um, tell us why you chose because I think a lot of people, they'd write their first book, and it's like, let me tell you who JJ is. And I might tell you I've been through some hardships. Why did you decide to go all in on perseverance? Why do why are you so transparent in the book? Why, like, I mean, you give it, you give the real story of the ups and downs, the the having absolutely no money to high levels of success. Why did you choose to just go all out and say you're getting the real story?

SPEAKER_01: 22:56

Yeah, I think um they got most of it. It got to a point where I was giving them more and they said it's too much because you'll depress the reader. And I was like, What do you mean, depressing the reader? This is like totally this is my life. I'm good, like I've owned that part, but I I get it. So most of most of it's in there, uh believe it or not. And so we we ended up uh at the end of the day, it was perseverance because that's what I realized that that that it happened through all the years, and I think the timing of it was perfect because in 08 and 09, for instance, one of the the toughest times during the great crash, uh great recession, going through that period of time was one of the hardest. And I look at today that we're what we're in in our marketplace, and it's very, very similar. It's different, but it's very, very similar. And because of the the differences was then I didn't have these principles to push through. I was actually living the principles. And today I have those principles, and things look much, much different. And so the timing of it was like, wow, these are the things as I as I dove deep into my story, these were the things that I didn't realize that were being taught to me and that I was learning through them. What if we could share these with people so that they had not just a book and my story, but a playbook on how to go through hard things going forward, whether you're in real estate, mortgage, which people will be able to identify to that pretty well, obviously, because of my my background, but anyone to be able to go back to these seven principles and be able to revisit them depending on where they are in their hard times. Writing about perseverance, honestly, was probably one of the worst things I could have done. It's like asking God for patience because you're like, oh, perseverance, because you know I'm gonna be you okay. You want to talk about perseverance, then cool, we're gonna put you through some more stuff for perseverance. So having to relive the stories over and over again. I mean, you're rewriting chapters eight, nine, ten times was very, very hard, and persevering through a lot of those things. Having to persevere through selling a book is really hard. And imposter syndrome, not being good enough, not feeling like you're good enough, reliving the shame. Um, all of those things required a lot of perseverance, uh, more so than I ever imagined, the more I'm putting myself out there. So it was it was a double-edged sword for sure.

SPEAKER_02: 25:18

Well, I'm uh uh in addition to my prediction of this becoming a wildly nationalized, national uh bestseller, perseverance principles, I'm gonna make another prediction. I think your name is gonna become synonymous with the word perseverance. And it was something that somebody shared with me that when I came out with the book, The Standard, now, given, of course, the word perseverance has been around for a long time. There were plenty of people who were saying the standard, I mean, for years and years and years. But having now written the book called The Standard, and you know, the success that we've been blessed to have with individuals like yourself and Alabama football and the Philadelphia Eagles and being part of championships at that level, there was just something that happened. It was like now, like the standard, it's a blessing, it's humbling, it's like a synonymous thing. I think that's gonna happen with perseverance, and it's so deserved. Because one of the things I love about you, JJ, is that through the ups and the downs, you're just a real dude. You're like the you just you make people laugh, you know. You could we we've cried together, although, you know, we we look like really tough guys, you know, we go to the same barber, but we both we've cried together. But like you really do, you live perseverance. You you you know life has not been easy, but you've kept fighting. What's the one thing you could tell the listener who's really struggling right now? Like they just they just want to quit. It's the person who wakes up and he's like, yeah, like this person's been through it, but they don't understand and they feel like the world is against them and they will never ever get ahead again. What can they expect from the book? And what's something you can share with them right now to let them know that that there's hope and they can persevere too?

SPEAKER_01: 27:03

Man, I would I would tell them if they feel that way, they're not alone, and they there are more people around them than they realize that feel that way. Um, that's for sure. And people the people that you look at and you would never think that. Uh, I would tell them that read this book and it will help and give you some clarity. Um, most importantly, per uh principle four, just tapping into a support system. Because when you're going through hard things, and I remember in 09 going through things where I just I wasn't I was still contemplating being alive. And there's been more than one time, but it was the support system around me where I felt that I could, whether it be my therapists, multiple of those, or my close circle, or people outside my closed circle, that I could just feel that they understood what I was going through. There are so many resources now where you don't have to be alone. And I think that's the most important thing that if you just did that and started there, you would be in a much, much better place just reading that.

SPEAKER_02: 28:05

You have uh a beautiful family, two beautiful daughters, beautiful wife Kimberly, who I think is absolutely amazing. Um persevering through growing up in a marriage and battling, raising kids and teenagers getting getting them into while you'll soon have two in in college, right? It's not easy. Um, what do you say to that person who has that big responsibility of, I have to be a leader in the home. I have to continue to be an example. And sometimes it's hard enough to just be raising, you know, kids and being in a marriage. When you face some of what you faced, I mean, literally like waking up to I'm like the business is failing, like we're not gonna make it. There's no money, they're gonna repossess everything we have. But having this responsibility where I have to be a leader, like there's no other choice. What were the things that you thought about and what are the things that you that you think about today? And I know that there's tremendous amounts of financial success because you've worked so hard and built teams of amazing people around you. But what would you say is the most important thing for just enduring as a leader in the home? Because I think that's a lot of uh I think that's a place where a lot of people they they delegate, they try to give it away, they try to hide, they try to get lost in work and forget to be a leader because they what advice would you give to that person where it's like you got to maintain your leadership at home no matter how tough it gets?

SPEAKER_01: 29:38

Yeah, I mean, I remember going through, and this is not stuff that I'm super proud of, but even raising the kids, there was a lot of self-medicating that I did, a lot of depression that I was going through, things that I just I hadn't even dealt with uh during that time, and it probably did a really great job covering it up. I think um there's a lot of people that are there, and you just have to say that that's okay. You know, you it's a decision that we have to make at a certain point to be able to change our habits and behaviors and having a reason to do so, and there's no better reason than the family. So, no matter how much you think you've screwed up in the past, you can restart whenever you want. Um, Christ has made that really clear to us. Like you can be in the worst place and choose and start over again. And I would say I thought I was gonna screw my kids up, or that my kids were gonna get screwed up way more than I did. And I think that's every parent. You get to a point where you see your kid in a certain light and you're like, man, I really did not screw this up as much as I thought I would. You know, and it's usually seeing them talking to other people in the world, acting like human, uh amazing human beings, or just sitting down and having conversations with them, and just you have this epiphany of like, man, I did not screw this up. So one, don't be so hard on yourself. Two, you can decide to make a change and change course. And three, they are the best reason and excuse to do so at any period of time because it's never too late. You know, there's people that I know that are very close to me in my life that were able to rekindle relationships, and some of us that weren't able to rekindle relationships, and I think if we could go back and rekindle those relationships over again and just start with grace and forgiveness, we would do so in a second. So just have the grace and forgiveness for yourself and then be able to move that forward and just understand the light will always beat the dark, always, every single time, the light will beat the dark. So as long as making sure that you are doing everything you can to bring the light into the house and into yourself for them, uh it'll beat through any darkness that you have.