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Malony Bartush [00:00:05]:
Hey. This is Malony Bartush. And when I’m not running the mile a day challenge, I’m listening to John Garrett on What’s Your “And”?.

John Garrett [00:00:16]:
Welcome to episode 643 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, the 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? 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 [00:00:48]:
All the links are at www.WhatsYourAnd.com. The book goes more in-depth with the research behind why these outside 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 nice 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 “And”? on Audible or wherever you get your audiobooks. And please don’t forget to hit subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss any of the future episodes.

John Garrett [00:01:17]:
I love sharing such interesting stories each and every week, and this week is no different with my guest, Malony Bartush. She’s the Director HR Communications at Pentex Energy, and now she’s with me here today. Meloni, thanks so much for taking time to be with me on What’s Your “And”?!

Malony Bartush [00:01:33]:
Thank you. I’m excited to be here.

John Garrett [00:01:35]:
This is gonna be so much fun, but I have 17 rapid fire questions. Get to know Malony on a different level here right out of the gate. So hopefully, you’re buckled in and ready to go.

Malony Bartush [00:01:45]:
Buckled.

John Garrett [00:01:46]:
Alright. There then. That sounded not convincing, but we’re going.

Malony Bartush [00:01:49]:
Him. I am. I’m ready.

John Garrett [00:01:51]:
Okay. Alright. Sunrise or sunset?

Malony Bartush [00:01:54]:
Oh, man. So I don’t actually require a lot of sleep, so I like them both.

John Garrett [00:01:58]:
Oh, wow. Okay. That is the opposite of me. So good for you. Like, how about a puzzle? Sudoku, crossword, a jigsaw puzzle maybe?

Malony Bartush [00:02:07]:
Maybe some old school Tetris.

John Garrett [00:02:10]:
Oh, you know what? I like that answer. That’s good. That’s really good. How about a favorite color?

Malony Bartush [00:02:16]:
Yellow.

John Garrett [00:02:17]:
Yellow. Nice. Okay.

Malony Bartush [00:02:19]:
Everything’s happier in yellow.

John Garrett [00:02:20]:
Yeah. How about a least favorite color?

Malony Bartush [00:02:23]:
Gray. It’s gross. It’s not even a color. And it looks bad when you’re sweating in.

John Garrett [00:02:30]:
Right? Oh, oh, yeah. Well, there you go. Now that’s the truth. How about your first concert?

Malony Bartush [00:02:35]:
Oh, goodness. Probably Toadies maybe.

John Garrett [00:02:38]:
Oh, okay. That’s nice. That’s going back. Yeah. I like that. Yeah. I remember them. I had that CD.

Malony Bartush [00:02:45]:
Oh, they’re great. I still listen to them.

John Garrett [00:02:47]:
How about a favorite actor or an actress?

Malony Bartush [00:02:50]:
Paul Rudd. I think he’s cute, and he’s hilarious. He’s just awesome. He seems really nice, like a good person too.

John Garrett [00:02:56]:
Yeah. Like a a person that you could hang out with and not feel like he’s being pretentious or whatever. How about toilet paper roll? Over or under?

Malony Bartush [00:03:05]:
Over. Definitely.

John Garrett [00:03:06]:
Okay. Mhmm. Are you changing it when you see people have it under?

Malony Bartush [00:03:10]:
100%.

John Garrett [00:03:11]:
Oh, okay. Alright. Because there’s different levels of over. You know, it’s like making everyone else see they’re wrong.

Malony Bartush [00:03:17]:
Yes. Oh, yeah. Mhmm. Right. Thank you. Me over if you don’t wanna change.

John Garrett [00:03:24]:
That’s awesome. Would you say more Star Wars or Star Trek?

Malony Bartush [00:03:28]:
Personally, neither. I’ve never seen Star Wars, but I have an older sister, and she made me watch Star Trek growing up. Like, half of the card days.

John Garrett [00:03:35]:
Right. Okay. Alright. Your computer more PC or a Mac?

Malony Bartush [00:03:38]:
PC. PC?

John Garrett [00:03:40]:
Yeah. I’m same. Yeah. How about a favorite day of the week?

Malony Bartush [00:03:44]:
Oh, goodness. Friday, I think. I love Fridays.

John Garrett [00:03:47]:
Okay. There you go. Very yellow. Very Friday.

Malony Bartush [00:03:50]:
Yes. Very happy. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:03:52]:
Yeah. How about the least favorite vegetable?

Malony Bartush [00:03:55]:
Green beans.

John Garrett [00:03:56]:
Really? Yes. That’s interesting.

Malony Bartush [00:03:58]:
They’re just sad. Cauliflower’s the best. Green beans are the worst.

John Garrett [00:04:02]:
Wow. Okay. That’s interesting. That’s okay. Alright. There you go. How about a favorite number?

Malony Bartush [00:04:08]:
Probably 21. That was my basketball number. And it’s just a good solid number. And it happens to be drinking ice too, so that was good.

John Garrett [00:04:14]:
There you go. Win win. Yeah. How about a a favorite sports team?

Malony Bartush [00:04:18]:
I’m Texas, so I I think I have to say cowboys or I have to move out of the state. I don’t know exactly. But

John Garrett [00:04:25]:
I’m not sure anymore with those cowboys.

Malony Bartush [00:04:27]:
I’m really not. Goodness. I did see back in the mid nineties some really good, you know, skill set back in the day, but I’ll keep waiting.

John Garrett [00:04:34]:
Right. There you go. It’s been a while. It’s been a while. How about are you more pens or pencils?

Malony Bartush [00:04:39]:
Pencil. I’m full of mistakes, and I hate scratching them out. So I love a good eraser. I’m full

John Garrett [00:04:44]:
of mistakes. At least you’re honest.

Malony Bartush [00:04:46]:
Yeah. Yeah. I’m really good at making mistakes.

John Garrett [00:04:48]:
That’s it. Right? Well, hey. You know, I might as well be good at something. How about your ice cream? I love ice cream. In a cup or in a cone?

Malony Bartush [00:04:55]:
Cone. Cup is just a waste. You gotta have a cone.

John Garrett [00:04:58]:
You gotta eat everything.

Malony Bartush [00:04:59]:
Yes. It’s all messier, but it’s so good.

John Garrett [00:05:02]:
Yeah. But it’s all right there. So since you’re HR, I gotta ask, is it a once a year annual review or is it just tell it to my face when I do something?

Malony Bartush [00:05:10]:
Tell it straight to the face. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time and not correcting the issue.

John Garrett [00:05:14]:
That’s a good point. Yeah. I mean, remember 10 months ago when you messed something up?

Malony Bartush [00:05:18]:
Yeah. I wanna talk about that today.

John Garrett [00:05:21]:
Right? Yeah. Right. I’m gonna tell you right now. That that’s how it should be. Alright. And the last one, the favorite thing you have or the favorite thing you own?

Malony Bartush [00:05:29]:
Oh, goodness. The favorite thing I own. I would say my cat, Herman. He needs nothing from me. He doesn’t even meow. He’s just a good cat. He just sleeps. And I have a busy wild world and so it’s so refreshing to have something that doesn’t really need a

John Garrett [00:05:43]:
lot. Yeah. Okay. I like it. How long have you had Herman?

Malony Bartush [00:05:47]:
6 years, I think. Maybe. Okay. Yeah. Somewhere around there. 6 or 7.

John Garrett [00:05:51]:
It sounds like a grounding and like a calming influence.

Malony Bartush [00:05:54]:
Yeah. My husband calls you my pacifier because he just sits there and he’s just cute and he’s just easy. You know? He doesn’t ask me for anything.

John Garrett [00:06:01]:
There you go. Everyone else in Malony’s world, take note. Be a little bit more like Herman. There you go. Yeah. So let’s talk about running in this mile a day club, and how did you get started running?

Malony Bartush [00:06:14]:
Well, I guess if I went back a little bit further, I wasn’t really a runner until senior year, and I decided I wanted to do anti senioritis. And so I took on additional things that I’d never done before, which included cross country. So I started running, and I I loved it. I kinda kept running from there. But then when I was pregnant with my second child, I wanted to be able to run throughout the pregnancy, and so I decided to run a mile every day during pregnancy because then if I did it every day, it would never be hard. I would never feel, you know, the growth of the belly. So that that kinda started it, but then this mile a day challenge, it’s the summer challenge. So every day of summer, I run a mile.

Malony Bartush [00:07:00]:
And I I started it years ago. It’s because I hate the summer heat.

John Garrett [00:07:06]:
And in Texas, that’s, like, extra hot.

Malony Bartush [00:07:08]:
It’s so hot, and I would avoid it. I I mean, I can totally stay in my house. I can bake, cook, clean. I can avoid outside. And I I hated going outside, and so I decided this was the way I was going to get acclimated and adjust myself is I forced myself to go out there for 1 mile every day of summer. And I’ve been doing it for years now, and now I don’t mind summer. Actually, I I look forward to running. I ran you know, it was a 107 degrees 2 days ago, and I ran in the heat.

Malony Bartush [00:07:36]:
It was an amazing run. So it’s funny what you can do if you just force yourself out of your comfort level.

John Garrett [00:07:42]:
Yeah. And how much of it is in our own mind versus reality?

Malony Bartush [00:07:47]:
Mhmm.

John Garrett [00:07:48]:
Yeah. That that’s amazing. And so I mean, it’s just, like, at home around or when you travel, you get in a run as well?

Malony Bartush [00:07:54]:
Mhmm. It’s everyday. I don’t skip a day. If I’m under the weather, I run a little slower. If I’m traveling, then I might run on a treadmill. But in general, every day is outside. I run-in the rain. I run-in the heat.

Malony Bartush [00:08:04]:
I run-in the whatever it is. I run at 5 AM. I run at lunchtime. I run after work. I run with people. I run by myself. It’s whatever works after that day, and I just make sure that I run at least a mile. It’s usually 2 every day.

John Garrett [00:08:18]:
That’s amazing. And so the mile day challenge, so it’s but it’s grown, it sounds like. How did you spread this?

Malony Bartush [00:08:25]:
So for years, I did it just by myself. It was just something that I was taking on just to, you know, not hate summer. And then a few years into it, at least 2 of my close friends, they also took on the challenge. And they would, you know, they would run on their own. We didn’t run together every day. And then last year, I opened it up on Strava, and I had about 30 people on Strava or somewhere around there. We all did the challenge together. Well, this year, I made a group on Facebook, and there’s a group on Strava, and there’s well over 200 people.

Malony Bartush [00:08:56]:
It grew significantly. Yes.

John Garrett [00:08:58]:
Yeah. That’s a lot of people that hate summer.

Malony Bartush [00:09:01]:
Yeah. No. No.

John Garrett [00:09:02]:
I’m just teasing. Like, obviously, that’s not the goal here. But that’s impressive. Like, that’s so cool that you’re like, hey. Come join me. This is the thing I’m doing, and now you have 200 plus people that are doing it. That’s so awesome.

Malony Bartush [00:09:16]:
And it teaches them too. It’s mind over matter. You know, getting out there every day, it’s not convenient, and it can get mundane, and it can get you know, it it will be hot or it will be raining or whatever. But it’s putting yourself above that discomfort. And it’s once you see it and once you get past that wall or that barrier, man, the other side of that is just amazing what you can live or what kind of life you can live.

John Garrett [00:09:38]:
That’s so awesome. Do you have any, like, cool moments or memories or some of the runs that you’ve done that are more memorable?

Malony Bartush [00:09:45]:
So many. I felt people run their fastest time. There’s so many people who message me and say, I haven’t ran since I haven’t ran a mile since high school. I haven’t gotten out since I had this baby. Whatever it is, and these people are just really taking it on. Coming up soon, we have a challenge that it’s the steepest hill in our area. And we have 20 or 30 people who are gonna take on that hill, and we’re all gonna run it together, and then we’re gonna go it happens to be at the base of a winery, and so we’re gonna go celebrate there afterwards. But these, you know, 30 people who wanna take on this hill, and it’s terrible.

Malony Bartush [00:10:20]:
It’s a really hard hill. But people are excited to go and do it just to challenge themselves and to, you know, know if they’re bettering themselves.

John Garrett [00:10:27]:
That’s awesome.

Malony Bartush [00:10:28]:
Yeah. I’m really excited about that one.

John Garrett [00:10:30]:
Yeah. And plus then you can meet more of them in person.

Malony Bartush [00:10:33]:
Right. Yeah. And it’s funny. Sometimes I will see some of the people who are taking on the challenge because I I see them on Facebook, but I’ll see them in person and they’ll stop and they’ll say, are you Malony? And I’m like, yep. I’m the running weirdo. That’s me.

John Garrett [00:10:48]:
Right? That’s cool though. It is. But you know, I mean, just because it’s like you you just threw it out there and then, you know, people gravitate towards it. You could’ve just kept it quiet in in your own thing or whatever, but it it there’s a deeper, richer thing now.

Malony Bartush [00:11:03]:
It’s more than just running.

John Garrett [00:11:04]:
Yeah. You’re all there for each other and it’s encouragement and, yeah, living your best life type of things and helping people do that.

Malony Bartush [00:11:11]:
And even the the groups say, they’re so supportive of each other. And we have somebody this week. He’s going on a religious retreat, and he literally can’t run for a few days. And so somebody said, well, I’ll do an extra mile for you on this day, and I’ll okay. I’ll take on Saturday, and, oh, I’ll work for Sunday. And just so supportive and so amazing. And it’s seeing these people, these greater versions of themselves. It just makes me happy.

John Garrett [00:11:38]:
That’s so cool. And and so do you feel like this mindset that you get from running, like you said earlier, that, well, I can accomplish anything or, you know, even just seeing the ripple effect of, you know, your intentions, does any of that translate to work?

Malony Bartush [00:11:53]:
Oh, for sure. I guess people would probably call me stubborn, but driven also works, however you wanna put it. But it’s that stubbornness and that drive that, you know, will make you through this challenge, but it also that’s evident in work too. You know, there’s some really hard times. I’m HR. Not every day is, you know, sunshine and rainbows. So it’s that drive knowing that the greater good is on the other side of whatever obstacle, and sometimes they’re tricky. You know, there’s tricky days.

Malony Bartush [00:12:18]:
So I think it’s that same mindset that it goes throughout life, throughout work, throughout whatever.

John Garrett [00:12:24]:
Yeah. I mean, some of those days are those hills. Yeah. And there isn’t always a winery at the bottom.

Malony Bartush [00:12:28]:
I’ve noticed that too. I keep looking.

John Garrett [00:12:31]:
Right? And and he the day doesn’t tell you, hey. You’re getting ready to do this massive hill.

Malony Bartush [00:12:36]:
Yeah. Hey. By the way. Case. Yeah. Right? At least

John Garrett [00:12:39]:
in the running, you know what’s about to come.

Malony Bartush [00:12:41]:
Starting the finish line.

John Garrett [00:12:42]:
Right. Yeah. I mean, unless a storm comes out of nowhere or whatever. But yeah. I mean, but that mindset that you have is totally different than others that, you know, don’t do that. And they have a different end. You know? So they have a different mindset.

Malony Bartush [00:12:54]:
Yeah.

John Garrett [00:12:55]:
And so is this something that that you talk about at work? Like, the running side of you? Or the

Malony Bartush [00:12:59]:
Oh, for sure. And I have some coworkers who were also doing the challenge. And 2 of my, you know, really close coworkers, they’ll be at the base of the hill with me on Sunday. And so it’s just a great group, and that’s kind of how I’m known. You know? And I’ll have other coworkers who will come to me if they wanna make changes in their, you know, diet or they wanna make changes to their fitness level or or this or that. And and we have I have a workout group or I work out with a group at lunch every day, and we all push together. So that’s very evident.

John Garrett [00:13:26]:
Right. Yeah. Go talk to the stubborn lady.

Malony Bartush [00:13:29]:
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

John Garrett [00:13:30]:
I’m not stubborn. I’m driven. Like

Malony Bartush [00:13:33]:
If I keep saying it, it’ll be true. Right?

John Garrett [00:13:36]:
Right. Absolutely. Totally. But I I love that. You know? Just the impact that we’re able to make on other people’s lives, you know, at work. And even though it that has nothing to do with your job, it makes you better at your job. I would imagine even in especially in an HR role where it’s, you know, making sure that, you know, the people around us are living their best life, then they’ll do their best work.

Malony Bartush [00:13:56]:
Yeah. And people sometimes, they hide themselves from the better version of themselves. And this is just a reminder, like, hey. Just give a little more effort and find some joy, and you can be that version. It just takes that push sometimes.

John Garrett [00:14:10]:
That’s the thing with the whole what’s your end. And, I mean, we were fortunate enough to cross paths at a conference in Nashville where I was speaking, and it meant a lot that you reached out to, you know, be a part of this. And it’s amazing when people ask me, you know, well, why do you think people don’t have a hobby? I think they’re just so scared to find out who they really are. Like, they’re scared to peel back the layers. You know, if I just am a work title or a work thing, then I don’t have to, like, go deep inside myself.

Malony Bartush [00:14:38]:
Right. And it’s easier to stay vanilla, and I get that. And I I think I tried that for a while, and I know I’m a lot, but I’m just ready to to be all that I’m supposed to be. Is that the army? I didn’t mean it to be a Right.

John Garrett [00:14:52]:
But that’s absolutely true. And now the mile a day challenge just added 50 pound backpacks. Yes. Is it Alan?

Malony Bartush [00:14:57]:
You do have some people who will be rocking it or whatever that’s called.

John Garrett [00:15:00]:
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. But you’re right. But, I mean, it’s like, hey. Like, are you living life, or are you just existing? You know? Like, just live. There’s more joy. There’s more energy.

John Garrett [00:15:09]:
There’s more excitement. All of that. Yeah. And and so many people, I mean, too are saying, well, you know, I’ll wait for that, you know, when I retire or when I whatever. And it’s like, well, don’t wait.

Malony Bartush [00:15:21]:
No. Do it now. It’s in there. It’s waiting to get out.

John Garrett [00:15:25]:
It is. It really is. I mean, it’s knocking. It’s like, hey. You put me in the cupboard and, I’m still here. Remember

Malony Bartush [00:15:32]:
I’m not going away.

John Garrett [00:15:34]:
And it’s whatever your thing is.

Malony Bartush [00:15:35]:
Mhmm.

John Garrett [00:15:36]:
And I think it’s great that it’s a mile a day. But if it’s a mile a month, then that’s your thing. You know, whatever it is.

Malony Bartush [00:15:41]:
Yeah. You do you, but really do it.

John Garrett [00:15:44]:
Right. But actually do it. And I think it’s great that you’re a living example of this and and encouraging others. How much do you feel like it’s on an organization like yours, like Pentex, where it sounds like people do share their ends or the organization cares about people having ends? Or how much is it on the individual to just start small and maybe amongst your peers?

Malony Bartush [00:16:05]:
Well and I think I’m spoiled. I happen to have a pretty amazing workplace culture, and so all I know is that everybody there does share their hand. You know, people volunteer and they have these passions and they have these hobbies and everybody we know about them and we support them. And so I don’t know if that is the norm. I would guess probably not. I just have been there so long that it seems like my norm.

John Garrett [00:16:29]:
That’s incredible. And sadly, it is not the norm.

Malony Bartush [00:16:31]:
Well, I’m not the norm.

John Garrett [00:16:33]:
That’s so cool that that’s a thing there, you know, because, I mean, usually people get in their own heads of, well, that’s not why I’m getting paid. This isn’t my job. This isn’t, you know, whatever. But getting to know each other is actually how work happens or happens better and more efficiently.

Malony Bartush [00:16:48]:
So Yeah. When everybody actually connects.

John Garrett [00:16:51]:
Yeah. Absolutely. And so that’s really cool that and it’s top down because sometimes too it can be, like, well, all the c suite knows, but it doesn’t really go vertical down to the entry level person or whatever. But it sounds like it’s everyone there.

Malony Bartush [00:17:06]:
Yeah. It’s it’s across the boards.

John Garrett [00:17:08]:
That’s so cool. And and do you feel like that makes an impact or makes a difference?

Malony Bartush [00:17:12]:
Oh, for sure. Because you feel welcome and able to be yourself, whatever that is. You know, like I said, a lot, but that’s totally invited there. Be a lot. Come here. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:17:24]:
Yeah. Right? I mean, it’s better to be a lot than be nothing.

Malony Bartush [00:17:28]:
Correct. Yeah. To keep it all contained.

John Garrett [00:17:30]:
Oh, man. Yeah. I mean well, because then it’s exhausting. It’s like, well, who did I tell that I run and who did I not tell? And Did

Malony Bartush [00:17:36]:
I say too much? Was I too much? Yeah.

John Garrett [00:17:39]:
Right. Yeah. And so does Pentex Energy have anything where it encourages people to share these or it just happens organically? Or is there a No.

Malony Bartush [00:17:47]:
It happens organically. I mean, we have a lot of, you know, employee get togethers and stuff, and we are just a pretty tight group for being you know, we have 60 something employees, but and we were based around a fairly small community, and so we everybody knows each other somewhat or some way, and I think that kinda helps. We were in a good community where there’s a lot of volunteerism and a a lot of hobbies and a lot of second jobs. You know, we don’t have a lot of lazy people around here.

John Garrett [00:18:14]:
Right. Yeah. No. I mean, it’s people that are doing stuff. That’s for sure. That’s cool. Yeah. And I mean, it just comes out organically.

John Garrett [00:18:20]:
That’s awesome. So do you have any words of encouragement to anyone listening that, you know, maybe feels like they have a hand that has nothing to do with their job or they don’t think anyone cares?

Malony Bartush [00:18:30]:
I’ll say this. I’d rather run a mile in the 107 degree weather than try to keep myself contained because like you said, it is so exhausting to just not be yourself. And once you just set it free and be who you are and you challenge yourself and try to better yourself, That’s real life out there, not the other version.

John Garrett [00:18:48]:
Oh, I love that. That’s real life. Mhmm. That’s so awesome. Yeah. Because we’re oftentimes people are pretending to be something that they think they’re supposed to be while they’re at work. And it’s like, no. No.

John Garrett [00:18:58]:
You’re you. You have the job title. You have the role. You have the thing. That’s who it’s supposed to be.

Malony Bartush [00:19:03]:
And once they unleash it, they’re gonna be this amazing version of themselves, and they’re gonna be more productive and happier. And, you know, and now all that shines through in their daily work or whatever.

John Garrett [00:19:13]:
That’s so awesome. So cool. And and congrats on all that. I mean, that’s so impressive. Just, you know, starting it out there is a crazy thing that you were like, hey. Let’s just do this, and then you throw it out there, and now 200 plus people are along for the ride. Yeah. Anyone listening, if you wanna jump in, we’ll have the link at what’s your end.com for people to jump in on that as well.

John Garrett [00:19:32]:
But I feel like before we wrap this up, Malony, I should, turn the tables since I peppered you with so many questions at the beginning. We’ll make this the, Malony Bartish

Malony Bartush [00:19:41]:
podcast,

John Garrett [00:19:42]:
and, let you pepper me. So I’m in the guest. I’m in the hot seat. So what do you got for me?

Malony Bartush [00:19:48]:
Okay. I I have 2 questions.

John Garrett [00:19:50]:
Okay.

Malony Bartush [00:19:51]:
First one, what gives you a boost on your less than sunshiny days?

John Garrett [00:19:56]:
Oh, wow. If I’m being honest, it’s not running. But, it’s

Malony Bartush [00:20:00]:
Probably not cats either, Edith.

John Garrett [00:20:02]:
Yeah. Probably not so much. But cats are alright. Probably music, I would think. Yeah. Probably some music. Some, like, upbeat alternative, you know, Blink 182, Killers, things along those lines. Probably music would be good.

Malony Bartush [00:20:16]:
I like that. I’m a music fan too. Like, wherever I’m going, I have music with me.

John Garrett [00:20:21]:
Oh, yeah. Alright. There you go. And what’s the other one you got for me?

Malony Bartush [00:20:25]:
Okay. So you kinda hit on this, but did you fight against your and to be normal for a while?

John Garrett [00:20:32]:
Oh, wow. Yeah. So, I mean, when I was in public accounting and I started doing stand up comedy just for fun as a hobby, I didn’t know that when people say to you, ‘Hey what did you do over the weekend?’ You were supposed to say nothing and then just, you know, ‘I didn’t do anything or I just hung out.’ so instead, I I went to Springfield, Illinois and did a, you know, performed at the funny bone. And then everyone’s like, wait, what? And so then, all of a sudden now the whole office knows John Kerry does comedy. So I guess I was too dumb to know that you were supposed to lie.

Malony Bartush [00:21:03]:
Ignacy’s bliss.

John Garrett [00:21:05]:
Yeah. And it was also like, well, I’m just me. You know, this isn’t illegal or super taboo, so I think it’d be fine for me to say this. And if you don’t like it, well, then I I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, that’s

Malony Bartush [00:21:17]:
Don’t come watch me.

John Garrett [00:21:19]:
Right. Exactly. So yeah. So I never did, but I did see that it made a a huge impact on my career. I mean, everyone knew me.

Malony Bartush [00:21:28]:
And had a positive impact. Right?

John Garrett [00:21:30]:
Yeah. Exactly. A positive impact. I mean, I was hand selected to be on the largest financial services client that PwC had. I mean, that’s huge. Yeah.

Malony Bartush [00:21:38]:
That’s

John Garrett [00:21:38]:
And so it’s like my career wasn’t suffering from it. If anything, it was the opposite. And so many people that have been on the podcast, same stories. People have gotten jobs specifically because of their aunt, you know, or made that connection because of that. Or now all of a sudden, you know, someone 8 levels above me knows me, which would never happen, you know, type of a thing or whatever. So yeah. I mean, I never never did, but I also just didn’t know that that was an option. And then I started to notice people around me, and I’m like, no.

John Garrett [00:22:06]:
Tell them you’re a pilot. Like, why would you not say that? Well, I don’t know if they’re gonna what are they gonna say? Like, you’re fired because you fly planes on the weekend? Get out of here.

Malony Bartush [00:22:15]:
That’s illegal. You can’t be fired for them.

John Garrett [00:22:18]:
Right? Yeah. Yes. Finally, I have proof. It’s just a fun way to just get to know people and I mean, and I was doing a lot of, like, internal audit work, and I’d have clients tell me you’re the best auditor we’ve ever had. And I was like, I don’t know if that’s good or not, but I’ll take it because as an auditor, you know, not everyone’s supposed to like you, but I I saw Yeah.

Malony Bartush [00:22:34]:
Not only so.

John Garrett [00:22:36]:
Well, yeah. I was like, I think they should. But anyway, yeah. But it’s I think it does matter. I mean, you know, because the organization hired the whole person. You didn’t hire just the work part, you hired all of it. And if the organization isn’t making sure that all of the person is doing okay, then the work part’s gonna suffer.

Malony Bartush [00:22:54]:
Oh, yeah.

John Garrett [00:22:55]:
And so I think it matters so much for leaders and just even your small group to just make sure that are you doing okay? Like, are you living your best life? Are you fully activated as a human? So there you go. Two questions. I think I made it through okay. Yes. I didn’t even sweat, so it’s even better than running. Like it’s I I figured it out. It’s just because I played soccer growing up for a long time, so I’m okay running. But forced running was always punishment.

John Garrett [00:23:24]:
Running laps, running wind sprints, running shuttle run, like all that is it was always punishment to me. And so for some reason, I still equate that. But maybe if it’s a challenge, then it’s different.

Malony Bartush [00:23:34]:
Right. Yeah. I bet you’ll be part of it next year. Right?

John Garrett [00:23:37]:
Right. Exactly. But, not in Texas.

Malony Bartush [00:23:40]:
No. Yeah. It’s a little warm here.

John Garrett [00:23:42]:
Yeah. A little toasty. But I think it’s incredible and everybody listening, if you wanna be a part of the mile day challenge or jump in now, be sure to go to the links at www.WhatsYourAnd.com. Everything will be there. So thank you so much, Malony, for being a part of this. This was so much fun.

Malony Bartush [00:23:55]:
Well, thank you for having me.

John Garrett [00:23:59]:
And everybody listening, if you wanna see some pictures of Malony out running or connect with her on social media, like I said earlier, go to www.WhatsYourAnd.com. Everything’s there. And while you’re on the page, please click that big button, do the anonymous research survey about corporate culture, and don’t forget to read 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.