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Josh Sterling [00:00:05]:
Hi. This is Josh Sterling. And when I’m not coaching soccer, I’m listening to John Garrett on What’s Your “And”?.

John Garrett [00:00:10]:
Welcome to episode 627 of What’s Your “And”?. This is John Garrett and each Wednesday, I interview a professional who, just like me, is known for a hobby or a passion or an interest outside of work. And to put it another way, it’s encouraging people to find their “And.” Those things above and beyond your technical skills are things that actually differentiate you when you’re at work. It’s the answer to the question of who else are you beyond the job title. And if you like what the show is about, be sure to check out the award-winning book. It’s on Amazon, Indigo, Barnes and Noble bookshop, a few other websites.

John Garrett [00:00:47]:
All the links are at www.WhatsYourAnd.com. The book goes more in-depth with the research behind why these outside-of-work passions are so crucial to your corporate culture, and I can’t say how much it means that everyone’s reading it and writing such great reviews on Amazon. Thank you so much for those. And more importantly, changing the cultures where they work because of it. And if you want me to read it to you, that’s right. This voice reading the book. Look for What’s Your Hand on Audible or wherever you get your audiobooks. And please don’t forget to hit subscribe to the podcast.

John Garrett [00:01:15]:
You don’t miss any of the future episodes. I love sharing such interesting stories each and every week, and this week is no different with my guest, Josh Sterling. He’s a wealth strategist at Camas Advice in California, and now he’s with me here today. Josh, thanks so much for taking time to be with me on What’s Your Hand.

Josh Sterling [00:01:32]:
Yeah. Thanks, John. Really, appreciate you having me on and, looking forward to a cool conversation.

John Garrett [00:01:37]:
Absolutely. This is gonna be super fun. I love soccer too, so this is gonna be great. Not quite at the coaching level. They won’t let me, I don’t think, but it’s all good. Yeah. Yeah. But I have some rapid fire questions here.

John Garrett [00:01:47]:
Get to know Josh out of the gate.

Josh Sterling [00:01:49]:
I have a

John Garrett [00:01:49]:
little bit of fun here.

Josh Sterling [00:01:51]:
Awesome.

John Garrett [00:01:51]:
Maybe an easy 1. Favorite color? Blue.

Josh Sterling [00:01:55]:
Yeah. Straight up ocean. Every I just like blue. Blue eyes.

John Garrett [00:01:58]:
Everything blue. Everything There you go. Right? Same. The line too. How about a least favorite color?

Josh Sterling [00:02:04]:
Red.

John Garrett [00:02:05]:
Red? Yeah. It’s the opposite for whatever reason.

Josh Sterling [00:02:08]:
I don’t know if it’s the opposite, but it seems like it. No. No. Right. It’s just 1 of

John Garrett [00:02:12]:
those where it’s, like, blue and red seem to be like always at odds. And, yeah, I don’t know why either.

Josh Sterling [00:02:17]:
I don’t wear red. I don’t have anything red. I don’t know why.

John Garrett [00:02:21]:
Yeah. No. I’m I’m the same. Cats or dogs?

Josh Sterling [00:02:24]:
Dogs. I got 2 dogs. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:02:25]:
Love Oh, there you go.

Josh Sterling [00:02:26]:
Yeah. And my wife’s allergic to cats, so that doesn’t work.

John Garrett [00:02:29]:
Oh. Well, then there we go. Decision made. Yeah. When it comes to puzzles, Sudoku, crossword, jigsaw puzzle, Wordle maybe. I don’t know. Whatever the new ones are.

Josh Sterling [00:02:40]:
Like, old school puzzles, like, put the pieces together on the table. A jigsaw.

John Garrett [00:02:43]:
There you go. Saw. Yeah. I’ve been that picture. Yeah.

Josh Sterling [00:02:45]:
Yeah. Absolutely. That’s that’s all me.

John Garrett [00:02:48]:
That’s awesome. Very good. Do you prefer more hot or cold?

Josh Sterling [00:02:51]:
Hot. I’m a hot weather guy. I wanna be at the be warm. I I’ll take a 105 over 35.

John Garrett [00:02:58]:
Oh, okay. There you go. Done and done. Yeah. How about a favorite actor or an actress?

Josh Sterling [00:03:04]:
I don’t know if I have a favorite. I mean, I will I’m big into, like, action and and sports movies. I mean, I don’t know, like, Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone, maybe. I don’t know. Girl

John Garrett [00:03:14]:
Maybe but mostly because of the movie. Because of

Josh Sterling [00:03:16]:
the movie. Not that I think he’s, like, Academy Award winning.

John Garrett [00:03:19]:
Well, though, he yelled yo he yelled yo Adrian. I mean, that was pretty pretty good. That was amazing acting.

Josh Sterling [00:03:25]:
Yeah. Yeah. I don’t I don’t know if I really have a favorite actor.

John Garrett [00:03:28]:
Totally fair. No. That’s awesome. I love it. This is an important 1. Toilet paper roll over or under? Over. Yeah. It’s it’s how it should be, I think.

John Garrett [00:03:37]:
But every once in a while, you get, you get somebody that’s a little bit off.

Josh Sterling [00:03:40]:
Doesn’t it just roll off anyways if it’s under? Like

John Garrett [00:03:43]:
Well, apparently, if you have cats and they play with it, then it doesn’t roll off as much, I guess. Oh, got it. Got it.

Josh Sterling [00:03:49]:
Got it.

John Garrett [00:03:49]:
Or if you have kids, maybe, or whatever.

Josh Sterling [00:03:51]:
Remember, I’m a dog guy, so it doesn’t matter.

John Garrett [00:03:53]:
Right. So it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to worry about it. Yeah. Star Wars or Star Trek?

Josh Sterling [00:03:58]:
Star Wars 100 times over. I don’t I’ve never watched Star Trek in my life, and I’ve watched every, you know, everything about Star Wars, every new show that comes out of it. Yeah. I love Star Wars. Wow.

John Garrett [00:04:09]:
I’m too scared to go past the original 3. Oh. Just because it I’m like, don’t ruin it. Yeah. You know? Like I mean, even all

Josh Sterling [00:04:15]:
the stuff that’s out now, like, on Disney, you know, Mandalorian, you know, Jedi, like, all the I’ve seen I’ve seen them all. Star Wars by a landslide.

John Garrett [00:04:22]:
Your computer, more PC or Mac?

Josh Sterling [00:04:25]:
PC for sure. I don’t understand that Apple cult. I have an Android. I have, PC. Right? I don’t understand it. Although, I can’t talk to anyone on, whatever the what’s the camera thing that they all do

John Garrett [00:04:38]:
that Oh, FaceTime or whatever? FaceTime.

Josh Sterling [00:04:39]:
Yeah. So I can’t do that. And somehow, when you’re an Android user, it doesn’t work good in group text messages somehow.

John Garrett [00:04:45]:
Yeah. Well, it changes the color of your message. Yeah. Yeah.

Josh Sterling [00:04:48]:
I don’t really care because I like to live in that world.

John Garrett [00:04:51]:
Right. No. Very much. Like, I’m I’m cool either way because I’m Android as well. How about oh, this is a fun 1. Least favorite vegetable?

Josh Sterling [00:04:59]:
Brussels sprouts.

John Garrett [00:05:00]:
Solid. Yes. Baby cabbages? Yeah. I mean, I don’t

Josh Sterling [00:05:04]:
even understand the purpose behind them, really. I mean, I guess if you

John Garrett [00:05:07]:
put a bunch of

Josh Sterling [00:05:07]:
salt pepper on them and you eat them, it’s good. But Yeah.

John Garrett [00:05:10]:
You got the raw salt and pepper.

Josh Sterling [00:05:12]:
Yeah. There’s people that love them, you know, but that’s by far my

John Garrett [00:05:16]:
They put their toilet paper upside down too? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. How about ice cream, in a cup or in a cone?

Josh Sterling [00:05:24]:
In a cone, in a waffle cone. That’s my favorite.

John Garrett [00:05:27]:
Oh, okay. Upgrade. I like it. Yeah.

Josh Sterling [00:05:30]:
I’m adding to your questions now, John.

John Garrett [00:05:32]:
No. No. That’s totally acceptable. This is how it goes, man. Totally acceptable. This one’s a tricky 1. Cheeseburger or pizza?

Josh Sterling [00:05:40]:
If I had to pick, I’m going cheeseburger. Yeah. I like red meat.

John Garrett [00:05:44]:
Okay. Alright. How about a favorite number?

Josh Sterling [00:05:48]:
3. 3? Yeah. I’ve been 3. I played my youth soccer career with number 3. I played 3 in high school. I was number 3 when I played in college. Threes in every 1 of my passwords somewhere. It’s, like, 3.

John Garrett [00:06:00]:
That’s good. I like it,

Josh Sterling [00:06:01]:
man. Did

John Garrett [00:06:02]:
my email even. So yeah. That’s awesome. There you go. How about a favorite band or musician?

Josh Sterling [00:06:11]:
I mean, I love probably, like, Zeppelin. I grew up, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Let the they used to have the let the let out. I lived in Southern California. So I I listened to Zeppelin a lot growing up. My favorite song is not with Zeppelin, which is interesting, but Zeppelin is probably something that I grew up with just loving.

John Garrett [00:06:28]:
Yeah. Love it. Alright. How about chocolate or vanilla?

Josh Sterling [00:06:33]:
If it’s ice cream, I’m I’m definitely going vanilla. Anything else, I’m going chocolate.

John Garrett [00:06:37]:
Yeah. That’s a good breakdown. I like that. I like that. Yeah. That works. How about favorite TV show of all time?

Josh Sterling [00:06:44]:
Yeah. That would be, Big Bang Theory. Still watch reruns with my wife.

John Garrett [00:06:47]:
Oh, yeah. No. That’s a great show. That’s an amazing show. And there’s supposed to be, like, hidden jokes for physicists on, like, the blackboards and the things that in their equations and stuff because they had, like, actual physicists on the writing staff.

Josh Sterling [00:07:02]:
I wouldn’t have picked up on any of that, but

John Garrett [00:07:03]:
they had put but they had plenty of jokes that I liked. And just

Josh Sterling [00:07:06]:
the whole the whole concept of the show and I mean, Sheldon’s amazing and, yeah, it’s it’s really, really funny. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:07:12]:
Yeah. Yeah. Really, really funny. And the last 1, the favorite thing you have or the favorite thing you own?

Josh Sterling [00:07:18]:
Well, I would have to go with my 2 dogs right now. Yeah. I mean, I’d let me yeah. So I got Maui and Hula. They’re 2 English labs, 4 years old, and they’re the the center of our family, and they’re awesome. And yeah.

John Garrett [00:07:32]:
That’s great. And I love the names. Very warm weather names. There you go.

Josh Sterling [00:07:36]:
Yeah. We we named Maui while when we were in we actually purchased him while we were in Maui. So yeah. Done. We didn’t bring him from Maui. We bought him in California, but we made the purchase while we were in Maui.

John Garrett [00:07:47]:
I love it, man. That’s that’s so great. So let’s talk soccer and how you got started coaching, but also playing, it sounds like, with the number 3 growing up. So you just grew up always playing?

Josh Sterling [00:07:59]:
Yeah. So I started in a league in Southern California, which is pretty much, I think, across the country still, which is called AYSO Rec Soccer, and I played

John Garrett [00:08:07]:
Oh, yeah.

Josh Sterling [00:08:08]:
Yeah. I think I was like maybe 4 years old. I played for a year or 2 in in rec, and they had like a little all star, team, and I got selected for that. And I saw pictures and had knee pads on, which no 1 wears anymore. For some reason, back

John Garrett [00:08:22]:
then, I

Josh Sterling [00:08:22]:
thought it was needed or at least I did. Or my parents did. So, yeah. I was pretty good at it as a little kid, and then, there was a local I grew up in Irvine, California and there’s a local club, which is now 1 of the top 20 clubs in the in the country called, Irvine Strikers. Played for the Irvine Strikers, you know, all through, club all the way and played high school soccer, varsity for 3 years, captain all league, did pretty well as a player and played on the state team of Southern California. I got invited into regional camp. So I played a lot and then went on to play in college, played at Sonoma State University up here in Northern California and played there for 5 years. I actually redshirted when I came in my 1st year.

John Garrett [00:09:07]:
Oh, okay.

Josh Sterling [00:09:08]:
And I ended up at Sonoma State. In 91, they had lost in the division 2 national title. And when the coach called me, I, by the way, being a Southern California kid, like, had never even heard of Sonoma States and, like, little Right.

John Garrett [00:09:23]:
Because Northern California is just different. Might as well be Oregon or Yeah. Exactly. Canada or Washington or something. Right. Exactly.

Josh Sterling [00:09:29]:
I’m like, I have no idea where you are, But cool. I’m glad that you’re interested. And, you know, I was more looking at San Diego State and UC Santa Barbara and, you know, what what I call the flip flop schools, which is a school that you can go to flip flops in, you know, love those areas. So I had to look up and I’m like, oh, wow. Like, they were in the national title game. This team’s good, You know? And flew up, went on a recruiting trip, and, yeah, fell in love with the with the coach in the area and redshirted and played 4 years there and was captain of the college in my last year and all conference. And so, yeah, I played a ton. And then I was studying while I was at Sonoma State.

Josh Sterling [00:10:03]:
I was actually in kinesiology pre physical therapy. So I was going to become a physical therapist and I was gonna work with like Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott and, you know, all these awesome, you know, athletes. And I did my internship. In the meantime, I started coaching some soccer, you know, doing camps with little kids and stuff. But Right. I started working in physical therapy, and I worked with a lot of elderly people, you know, that broken hip, you know, have a hard time walking, you know, arthritis, you name it. Right? It was interesting because they didn’t wanna get better. Well, they wanted to get better, but they didn’t wanna work at getting better.

John Garrett [00:10:40]:
Oh, sure. Yeah. Is there a pill I can take to make this work?

Josh Sterling [00:10:44]:
Yeah. Or just like, you know, I’m like, hey, we got a game on Sunday. Like, we gotta go, you know, like, but they didn’t really have a game on Sunday. So I it actually sort of turned me off on PTE because I’m like, where are all the athletes coming in here that, like, you know, need to get back on the field or the court or the the ring or whatever that they’re doing. And in the meantime, I started coaching soccer for a camp organization here called Zima Brothers Soccer. And there was 4 brothers and 1 of the brothers was the head coach at Sonoma state. And how quickly I got into coaching a youth soccer team. And I think I was, 22 when I started coaching kids, like, on teams.

Josh Sterling [00:11:19]:
And I was coaching competitive kids, not like the recreational teams that, like, every mom and dad has to do because they don’t have enough coaches. These are people, and then they were paying. They were paying us for the for to do it, like paid trainers. You know, maybe every parent was chipping in $25 on that. And, like, wow, this is pretty cool. I’m a college kid. I’m making good money. I’m wait having to wait tables or do these other things and quickly, like, move through that into, like, becoming a director of the local soccer club.

Josh Sterling [00:11:46]:
I was, you know, co director with another person that had been a little bit more experienced than me. And during all that time, you know, going through the PT, I went to Sonoma State and told the kinesiology department, like, I’m not going into PT. I’m going into soccer. And they’re like, okay. Well, so, I ended actually actually doing my senior project at Sonoma State on how to run a youth soccer club. Everything from yeah. Everything from the finances, to the methodology, to the curriculum, to core values, mission statement, you name it. You know, the whole kit and caboodle with basically business planning for a youth soccer.

Josh Sterling [00:12:27]:
Now now this was, let’s jeez, that was 96. So I don’t know how many years that is, but a long time ago, you know, youth soccer clubs were just sort of becoming Yeah.

John Garrett [00:12:37]:
A thing. I was gonna say there’s not a lot then.

Josh Sterling [00:12:39]:
Now, everybody’s got a mission statement and a methodology, and it’s a way different situation now. So then I started that, and then I ended up merging that club with another club in town and starting a bigger club.

John Garrett [00:12:52]:
Wow.

Josh Sterling [00:12:52]:
Yeah. It was it was incredible. I mean, and then I got hired 2 years later after I left Sonoma State as a player. I came on as the assistant coach and became eventually the head assistant coach. Coached at Sonoma State for 8 years. In 2002, we won the division 2 national title.

John Garrett [00:13:09]:
Congrats, man. That’s incredible.

Josh Sterling [00:13:10]:
It was incredible. I mean, first time in school history that the men’s program won a national title. Still haven’t won 1 since. Incredible, incredible experience to just go through the NCAA playoffs and, yeah, hoist the trophy at the end. I was also working in what’s called the ODP and ID2, which, you know, soccer people know what that is. But basically, I’m working with kids that are, you know, trying to move from a regional level into the national team of their age. So I was working all over the place, helping kids, you know. So I was recruiting kids as a college coach now.

Josh Sterling [00:13:47]:
I was helping promote kids out of youth because I was still running the youth, and then I was working with kids that were trying to make it, you know, through

John Garrett [00:13:52]:
the ODP and That’s amazing, man. I mean, that’s a lot of soccer. That’s why

Josh Sterling [00:13:56]:
I got out of it, though, because it was a lot, you know, and I ended up having kids later in my soccer career. And that was the big deal was I had a kid and I wasn’t going to be it was my first son, Carson. And I wasn’t going to be all over the country coaching and working with other people’s kids and missing my own kids, you know, soccer. So I ended up pulling back, and that’s how I got into my current career is, I went a different direction that kept me home.

John Garrett [00:14:24]:
Yeah. No. I think that’s so fascinating because when it was all soccer all the time, you didn’t really have an and because it was just all consuming. But now by shifting gears, you’re in the wealth strategy space for a career but soccer is still a part of your life. You can’t just like cut it off and and not do it. And so, it’s still there.

Josh Sterling [00:14:46]:
Yeah. And it’s what brought me into wealth strategy because what I ended up doing, the transition moment, was I ended up starting a department in, the firm and partners that I’m with now, which was college planning. So I actually worked with parents and a lot of them were athletes on, you know, everyone thinks there’s all these athletic scholarships. Right? Because you have the and there are a lot. But majority of the kids that are playing college sports are not on scholarship.

John Garrett [00:15:14]:
Or partial Or partial

Josh Sterling [00:15:17]:
you know, and we all know how expensive college is. So I actually got into wealth planning and strategies. Through that, I was helping people. How do they afford college? How do they go about this? And then that turned into utilizing, you know, certain strategies and whatnot. And then that brought me into working with people of wealth. And then, yeah, now I work with wealthy business owners and wealthy large estates and high net worth individuals, but the transition actually came from soccer. So, if it wasn’t for that, I would have never probably been where I am today.

John Garrett [00:15:50]:
That’s incredible, man. And I love how the soccer makes you better at your job with the wealth strategy because, I mean, it’s like you said, you were dealing with athletes. Not only were you 1 back in the day, but, you know, a lot of the people that you were coaching and and and training with and and all that. So you’re able to do your job better because of your hand as opposed to just a generic wealth strategist that comes in and tries to talk to a family.

Josh Sterling [00:16:15]:
No. No doubt. No doubt. I mean, when you’re dealing with high net worth individuals, I’m 1 of their advisors. There’s usually I mean, we’ve got attorneys, CPAs, investment advisors, property and casualty insurance people, like the largest states and large businesses have many of us. So you have to be able to play on a team. And sometimes I have to be the captain and lead the team. And other times, I just have to come in and just be the left defender and do my role within the team.

Josh Sterling [00:16:45]:
And so there’s no doubt that coaching and playing had a lot to do with my success because of the type of people I work with. It’s not a 1 man show. They have so many advisors, and we all have to work together and coordinate. Derek

John Garrett [00:16:59]:
Yeah. And you can relate to them, you know, their child’s journey as well to know what the journey looks like because you went through it.

Josh Sterling [00:17:08]:
Yeah. I know. A 100%. You know? And it’s a crazy, in some ways, transfer, but in many ways, coaching. You know, everyone’s gonna talk to you now. If you talk to any person, that’s a financial advisor, you know, they’re gonna talk about, well, I provide advice. You know, I don’t sell anything. I don’t know.

Josh Sterling [00:17:24]:
And we sell our advice because we get paid, but they’re gonna talk about advice. Well, what is advice? Advice is coaching. That’s all it is. It’s like, hey, I’m gonna coach you on how to manage your finances. I’m gonna coach you on how to transition out of your business. Whatever it is, and there’s emotional part of it. I mean, it is incredibly similar when you really break it down. It’s just different topic, of course.

Josh Sterling [00:17:47]:
I’m not telling him, like, how to break down a 433, you know, and Right. Practically do it. I might tell them on, this is the best way to sell your business, but it’s still a conversation. There’s convincing. There’s education. There’s coaching. There’s other team members. So, you know, I think it’s why you see a lot of professional athletes can become really successful after their careers.

Josh Sterling [00:18:09]:
Some not so much because they maybe don’t have the right people around them, but people that have good people around them and had a good career and truly understood what team sports were. It’s not just their name that they’re selling. They have a lot of experience in working within teams and and motivating people. So I think that’s why you see a lot of that.

John Garrett [00:18:28]:
No. I I love it and you’re so spot on that you’re just coaching them. The players still have to play the game, you know. Like, you could have the best strategy, you could have the most amazing whatever, But if it’s not executed or if they choose not to do it or if they whatever, you know, like, at some point you your hands are off the wheel and you have to be like, hey, you guys gotta take it from here type of thing.

Josh Sterling [00:18:48]:
Yeah. And it’s been interesting because I was gonna say I I left. So then I left, like, I mean, I ran a couple of clubs and I completely left soccer, like, a 100%, like

John Garrett [00:18:56]:
Oh, so you went all out?

Josh Sterling [00:18:57]:
I was, like, out out. I got brought back in for about a 3 year period. The local club wanted me to do some consulting, and then I ran the club while I was running my wealth strategy business, which was crazy because it was so Yeah.

John Garrett [00:19:08]:
That’s crazy.

Josh Sterling [00:19:09]:
So it was 2 things. When my son was born, I got out because I wanted to be around him. Then when my son became part of the club, he actually was his 1st year. He was 8 years old to play competitive soccer in the Santa Rosa United Club. And I was running the club at the time twofold. 1, my business was taking off. I had no more time. And 2, I didn’t want to be in charge in a club that my son was playing in.

Josh Sterling [00:19:32]:
So I just didn’t want that. So I just stepped away when he was 8 years old and, you know, I volunteered and, you know, I sat on boards and committees and, you know, people would pick my brain, but I had nothing to do with day to day or coaching or anything. And then May of last year, the local high school coach from the Windsor High School, which is the school where my kids go in in the city that I I live in, stepped away. And I happened to be gonna have a meeting with the athletic director and asked the athletic director. I was gonna give him a couple suggestions on some things that they can maybe do and how we could raise money and, you know, so on and so forth for the program. They told me that the coach had been let go. And I’m like, oh, well, what am I doing here? And I said, well, we wanted to pick your brain. So they picked my brain for about an hour.

Josh Sterling [00:20:16]:
And at the end, they asked me if I wanted to coach the team.

John Garrett [00:20:19]:
Oh, wow. Okay.

Josh Sterling [00:20:20]:
And I said, alright. Well, that’s interesting. I hadn’t really thought about that, but let me talk to my family. And they said, hey, can you make us a commitment? And I said, well, it depends. And they said, will you promise to either a, coach the team or b, be on the hiring committee? I said, oh, yeah. I mean, I’ll promise you I’ll do 1 of those. No big commitment. I’m I’m fine.

Josh Sterling [00:20:39]:
Went home, you know, talked to my son, Carson, who’s a senior, and then Parker, who’s my other son, who’s gonna be is an 8th grader, will be a freshman next year. And, of course, my wife. My wife played soccer at Sonoma State too. She was even a better player than I was. And, you know, she coached a little bit in the day and as a school teacher. But so we all spoke and, they all said, go for it, dad. Go for it, Josh. You know, like, go coach.

Josh Sterling [00:21:03]:
So I’m like, alright. So, yeah. So this year, the season started in so talking about my and it was like it was my before, but it was always in my blood. And, you know, like I said, I brought it out and working with all my clients and coaching and teamwork, all the stuff we talked about. So I coached Windsor High School this year, kicked off the season in November. They had 4 wins the year before, didn’t make the playoffs, last place in league and everything. So I thought, oh, well, only thing we can do is go up. Right.

Josh Sterling [00:21:35]:
Let’s go for 5.

John Garrett [00:21:36]:
Let’s go for 5. Right?

Josh Sterling [00:21:38]:
Yeah. So, we just finished the season in heartbreak fashion, but we had, 12 wins. Wow. We went from 4 to 12, 5 losses. That’s incredible. Yeah. We made the playoffs. Home playoff game, which hadn’t happened in close to 13 years.

Josh Sterling [00:21:53]:
We won the 1st playoff game in the in the last 13 years. We lost heartbreak, golden goal or last, you know, sudden death, some people call it, in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. So we were almost in the almost in the semis and set a school record of only allowing 13 goals in 20 matches. So it was incredible. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it was it was an incredible so, you know, I was completely out for, I mean, I would say 15 years.

Josh Sterling [00:22:18]:
But it what was crazy, John, is it was like riding a bike. I mean, it was like I had so much experience and there was a little rust in the beginning. And I think the kids, you know, and what we can and can’t do and say and do. I mean, you know, there’s there’s some things like that. But I have kids, so I’m familiar with that. But it was about trying to inspire kids, try to get everybody on the same page, have them believe and have the self confidence in themselves and a little bit of soccer tactics. And they just wanted to to know that somebody cared and believed in them. We raised $35, 000 for the program through corporate sponsorships and individual sponsorships.

Josh Sterling [00:22:58]:
We got all new goals. We got $20, 000 worth of equipment, sweats, jackets, like, the kids didn’t even have rain jackets. We play in the winter. It’s like 40 degrees and pouring rain. So so they just all bought in, and it was it was really, really cool to see this. And it was incredibly because it was something that I felt like was missing, you know. So anyways, that was a lot of blabbering, but that’s No.

John Garrett [00:23:22]:
No. I I love it because I was gonna ask you what was the difference of the 15 years before where you were around soccer peripherally, but not in it versus, yeah, this last year where you were in it.

Josh Sterling [00:23:36]:
The big difference for me is when I was sort of peripheral or in it, I was a volunteer, I sat on boards, I was a team manager. I dealt mostly with parents. And in youth sports, it can be yucky.

John Garrett [00:23:49]:
Right? I could not I mean, I could not do that myself. Good for you.

Josh Sterling [00:23:53]:
Yeah. So then this experience with the high school, the reason it was so good for my soul, it was just roll your sleeves up, and it was back to, like, team. It was about a family. It was about a group of kids. It’s about trying to achieve things. I you know, and I talked to him about a lot of things. Like, I taught him about social media and, you know, like, hey, what you’re putting on your social media, you know, could be very harmful for you. Like, here are some things to learn about.

Josh Sterling [00:24:17]:
Here’s marketing. We started an Instagram page and I I do the marketing. So I’m teaching them, like, look at the marketing, like positive messaging. And, you know, I’ve taught them about that. We did goal setting, and they set a bunch of goals. And then I said, okay, well, what’s the process now? You gotta have process goals now. They’re like, wait, what are process goals? I’m like, well, you can say we wanna win 10 games. How are we gonna win 10 games? Like, we’re gonna work harder.

Josh Sterling [00:24:39]:
We’re gonna train extra. What are we gonna do to do that? Like so I really wanted to bring out, like, way more than just x’s and o’s with them because, 1, I think our society needs more of that for our youth. And then, 2, it’s just rewarding to see them and whatnot. So, yeah. So my story is I had an and, I left it, and it came back. Exactly.

John Garrett [00:25:05]:
No. I mean, because like you said, it’s in your blood. You can’t not do it. You know, if I told you, like, you know, for the rest of your life, you could never do, you know, wealth strategy anymore, I’ll figure something out. Alright. You know? But if I told you you could never do soccer again or be around it again, that’s gonna hurt. That’s gonna be almost impossible to pull off. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:25:25]:
Because it’s that’s who you are. And and I love how you’ve commingled the career and soccer so much. I mean, you know, your soccer experience and coaching experience comes into play at work and then, you know, strategy and all these things that you’re bringing in in the business acumen to these high school team is is awesome. And so, you know, to think that we live in a world where you can only be 1 thing is ridiculous. I mean, you you you you hear multiple things all at the same time.

Josh Sterling [00:25:55]:
Being 1 thing, John, sounds boring.

John Garrett [00:25:57]:
Oh, totally boring. It’s not really boring, you know. And and very limiting. I mean, you know, you would not be nearly as good at your job or as good at coaching or playing back in the day if you were just that only. You know? I mean, you you burned yourself out even you said, you know, early on when it was all soccer all the time. You’re running, you know, all these things, doing all this coaching. Like, it was just like that’s not healthy and sustainable.

Josh Sterling [00:26:22]:
It’s interesting because, you know, people will point certain things out and that, you know, people always say, hey, Josh, you’re really good at public speaking, you know, like, how did you ever get really good at public speaking? You know, you speak in front of all kinds of advisors and wealthy people, and I’m like, I don’t know. Just speak? And then I was thinking about it. Well, you know how many irate parent groups I spoke to? Like, 100 of parent like, I’d have 500 parents that were at a meeting that I had to talk about or we had an issue issue on a team and they’re really upset with how the club or the organizations handling. And I’ve got to be prepared for it. And I don’t know what questions they’re gonna ask or if I’m gonna have all the answers or not. So like all of that, like if you have whatever your and is, it’s either you already know and you’re pulling that into whatever career you have. Or if not, I advise people, look at it. Because I promise you, whatever you’re doing as your end, it is helping you and shaping what you’re doing in your career, whether you know it or not.

Josh Sterling [00:27:22]:
So try to know it, right? Try to know it and try to pull it in and use it because it’s not something that should be hidden. That’s why you got your podcast. You’re trying

John Garrett [00:27:31]:
to tell everyone, hey, it’s not supposed to be hidden at all. Not at all. And I I love that, man. That’s such a great way to wrap it up. Like, it’s there whether you know it or not. So find out what it is and leverage it. Yeah. And while it’s only fair since I rapid fire questioned you right out of the gate here that we turn the tables and make this the Josh Sterling podcast.

John Garrett [00:27:55]:
And, I’ll be your guest. So thanks for having me on. So, yeah. So if you have any questions for me, I’m all yours. I’m on the hunt scene.

Josh Sterling [00:28:02]:
So let’s let’s start with a couple of quick rapid fires here. So I know you’re a big college football fan. I know where you where you went to school. So what college football team do you hate the most?

John Garrett [00:28:13]:
USC, 100%. All day, every day, 247, no matter what. Like, I know you’re a big fan and you’re a great guy, but you didn’t go there so that’s probably why you’re still okay. But, yeah, I voted USC all day every day. ESPN tries to make it Michigan Notre Dame and it is not. It is USC Notre Dame. And Notre Dame’s played Michigan like 24 times maybe. And we’ve played USC, like, 80 something times.

John Garrett [00:28:37]:
So it’s USC for sure.

Josh Sterling [00:28:39]:
Alright. So we’re gonna take football, and we’re gonna take soccer off because we’ve talked about both of those. Favorite next sport?

John Garrett [00:28:46]:
Oh, wow. Without football and soccer. That’s tough. I guess baseball but playoff baseball. So like which is a different thing, like, where now all of a sudden, like, the stakes are high. A 162 games, I can’t possibly pay attention Exactly. For that long. Like, that’s ridiculous.

Josh Sterling [00:29:06]:
They should do the baseball season in, like, a 30 minute podcast, and then we’d all listen to it. Right?

John Garrett [00:29:11]:
Amen, man. Like, I mean, I’m all for, like, 6 innings, then I would totally pay attention. Hockey’s super fun too, though, just because it’s insanely hard to play. Like, I mean, it’s crazy. I mean, you’re sweating, but you’re freezing. You’re on ice, but you’re you’re like, none of it makes sense, and yet they’re doing it so gracefully and set with such skill that it’s it’s crazy. So I don’t know. Probably yeah.

John Garrett [00:29:35]:
Maybe hockey, I guess, just because I’m just like this is nuts. But playoff baseball is awful also, like, it’s just so intense, and I love it. Like, just the emotions and the the magnitude of every single thing is just, you know, like, season’s over.

Josh Sterling [00:29:49]:
I’m right there with you. I’d probably pick if I mean, football and soccer are my 2 favorite by far too. I might might go March Madness though, because March Madness is

John Garrett [00:29:56]:
that’s that’s a good too. Yeah.

Josh Sterling [00:29:57]:
Too. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:29:58]:
Yeah. That’s a good 1 too. Yeah. Yeah.

Josh Sterling [00:30:00]:
Alright. So I got another 1 for you. So gold or green?

John Garrett [00:30:04]:
That’s a good question. That’s a really good question. Yeah. I think I’ll go green. I’m not as I mean, gold’s more of an accessory sort of a thing. Green’s like, yeah, you could pull off a green suit or

Josh Sterling [00:30:16]:
So Notre Dame is more green than gold or

John Garrett [00:30:18]:
No, no, no. Notre Dame is very much gold. Gold and navy blue. The green is like it’s not really part of our colors.

Josh Sterling [00:30:25]:
Oh. Then I’m gonna rephrase it. Navy or gold, you’re gonna still go navy then, right?

John Garrett [00:30:29]:
Oh, navy. Yeah, navy.

Josh Sterling [00:30:30]:
Okay. Yeah. So, if you’re showing up at a Notre Dame game, you have something navy on, not gold most likely?

John Garrett [00:30:36]:
Yeah. I can’t pull off a gold. Come on, man. I’m not MC Hammer. Like yeah.

Josh Sterling [00:30:44]:
Alright. Well, so then, tell me a little bit about how did you decide and why did you decide to start your podcast? And I don’t even remember the number, but I know I’m 600 and something.

John Garrett [00:30:56]:
Yeah. 627 is you. And, yeah. So, I mean, it started because, you know, I would talk to people 1 on 1 after conferences that I would speak at, and they would say, yeah, I have a hobby, but I don’t really tell anyone about it or and all these cool people that had all these interesting things that they love to do outside of work. And I was like, man, we gotta normalize this and just kinda blow the doors off. There’s a 22 year old you that needs to hear this right now. Like, that it’s not all work all the time and that there’s other sides to who you are, and we need to embrace them and nourish all those sides and, it’s so easy for us to just let work become the dominant thing And if you really boil it down, your work identity is maybe 15% of who you are. I mean, there’s family and faith and, you know, hobbies and passions and all these other interests that you have and we forget about all of those and allow this small slice of us to become our full identity.

John Garrett [00:32:01]:
It’s really sad to watch and so many people that I interact with now and, I mean, there’s people that are getting ready to retire that they’re not sure what they’re gonna go do. And I’m like, what? Like, that’s crazy. It’s partially that. It’s also partially while you’re in it. Like you said, I mean, it makes you better at your job right now.

Josh Sterling [00:32:18]:
Yeah. It’s interesting you bring that up because I do a lot in business sales, you know, some people are trying to get out of their business. 90% of businesses that owners that sell typically regret it at some point. And when they regret it, the number 1 reason is they don’t have a plan afterwards. They don’t know, like, what am I gonna do in retirement? So it’s like and then they’re like, man, maybe I shouldn’t have sold my business because, like, that was their identity to your point, you know? And then they have, like, post mortem, like, depression even over, like, selling their business. It’s like a real thing because their identity and everything was so tied into their business. So Yeah. Yeah.

Josh Sterling [00:33:00]:
That’s that part of the of that truth. So I have 1 last fun 1 for you.

John Garrett [00:33:04]:
Yeah. Alright.

Josh Sterling [00:33:04]:
And maybe you can add this to your podcast because this is an intriguing question. Okay?

John Garrett [00:33:08]:
Okay.

Josh Sterling [00:33:09]:
Neapolitan ice cream, is it a flavor or 3 flavors?

John Garrett [00:33:14]:
That’s a great question. I’m gonna say it’s 3 flavors just because it’s so clearly delineated. I mean, it’s so clearly chocolate, you know, vanilla, strawberry. I mean You

Josh Sterling [00:33:27]:
can see the columns. Right?

John Garrett [00:33:28]:
Yeah. Yeah. Right. But they’re so clearly divided. Like, if you wanted just chocolate, you could scoop just chocolate. Now if they were to make it commingled or, you know, whatever Merge

Josh Sterling [00:33:38]:
it all. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:33:39]:
Then I think it would be 1 flavor. Yeah. That’s a great question that I’ve never thought about, and I like yeah. That’s good stuff. Makes my brain tingle.

Josh Sterling [00:33:47]:
Yeah. Good. Good. Good. Good.

John Garrett [00:33:49]:
Well, love it, Josh. Thank you so much for being a part of What’s Your “And”? and sharing this with everybody. It was super fun.

Josh Sterling [00:33:54]:
Yeah. This is awesome. Love to do it.

John Garrett [00:34:00]:
Yeah. And everybody listening, if you like to see some pictures of Josh playing or coaching or maybe connect with him on social media, be sure to go to www.WhatsYourAnd.com. Everything’s there. And while you’re on the page, please click that big button to the anonymous research survey about corporate culture. And don’t forget to check out the book. So thanks again for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or whatever app you use and for sharing this with your friends, so they get the message that we’re all trying to spread, that who you are is so much more than what you do.