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Adam Shay [00:00:05]:
Hi. This is Adam Shay and when I’m not playing in the mountains, I’m listening to John Garrett on What’s Your “And”?

John Garrett [00:00:16]:
Welcome to episode 661 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. Because so many people are going around calling themselves their job title and no no you’re more than that. That’s for sure. If you like what the show’s 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 [00:00:53]:
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 for real. 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 so you don’t miss any of the future episodes.

John Garrett [00:01:23]:
I love sharing such interesting stories each and every week. And this week it is no different with my guest Adam Shay. He’s a former accounting firm owner who’s now coaching business founders through his company Share the Knowledge out of Wilmington, North Carolina. And now he’s with me here today. Adam, thanks so much for taking time to be with me on What’s Your “And”?.

Adam Shay [00:01:41]:
Thanks for having me on. I look forward to it.

John Garrett [00:01:44]:
Yeah. It’s gonna be a blast. Super fun. I live near the mountains, so I know a little bit, but not to your level. That’s for sure. But, I do have some rapid fire questions I need to, ask you before we get started. Get to know Adam out of the gate here. Do you have a least favorite color?

Adam Shay [00:01:59]:
Red.

John Garrett [00:02:00]:
Red. Yeah. Mine too. I don’t know why.

Adam Shay [00:02:02]:
It’s stop, so it’s not go, so

John Garrett [00:02:05]:
Oh, it’s stop. Oh, there you go. I like it. How about a favorite color then? Blue. Blue. Yeah. That’s mine too. And it doesn’t mean go, but it should be.

John Garrett [00:02:12]:
But it’s just the other side of a police siren now that I think about it. How about puzzles? Sudoku, crossword, jigsaw puzzle, Wordle? I don’t know. Whatever is out there now.

Adam Shay [00:02:21]:
Crossword.

John Garrett [00:02:22]:
Crossword?

Adam Shay [00:02:23]:
Yeah. Just kinda typically, we do those on trips. A lot of times in the mountain trips. And so when we’re back at lodging or wherever we are, and so it just kinda ties me into that.

John Garrett [00:02:33]:
Yeah. That’s awesome. Nice. Okay. How about when it comes to books? Audio version, ebook, real book?

Adam Shay [00:02:38]:
Real book.

John Garrett [00:02:39]:
Real book. Yeah. And then you messaged me that you had my book. I accidentally left it on an airplane, got another copy. So thank you so much for that. Yeah. If you had the Kindle or the e or the audio book, you wouldn’t have done that. Okay.

John Garrett [00:02:50]:
So thanks, man. You’re spreading the love. I appreciate it. How about a favorite band or musician?

Adam Shay [00:02:55]:
I’d say U2.

John Garrett [00:02:57]:
U2. Nice. There you go. Always good. How about a favorite actor or an actress? Jason Bateman. Oh, man. Yeah. He’s always good and stuff.

Adam Shay [00:03:07]:
He’s funny. He can be serious. He’s just I don’t know. Wife likes him too, so we we just kinda enjoy watching his stuff together.

John Garrett [00:03:14]:
Nice. Yeah. No. That’s great. How about Star Wars or Star Trek?

Adam Shay [00:03:18]:
Star Wars. I have never watched any of Star Trek.

John Garrett [00:03:22]:
Fair enough. What’s a typical breakfast?

Adam Shay [00:03:24]:
Usually a RX protein bar.

John Garrett [00:03:27]:
Oh, alright. There you go. Quick, but, filling. How about a favorite number? Any number?

Adam Shay [00:03:33]:
7 and 42. Those are my two boys. They’re, one plays baseball. He’s number seven. The one that plays soccer is number 40 2. And so those are my two favorite numbers.

John Garrett [00:03:43]:
That’s awesome. Were they your favorite numbers before, or they became because of this?

Adam Shay [00:03:47]:
They became. 42 maybe came about through Jackie Robinson sort of just, like, tribute or something from the one, but that’s the one that plays soccer that wears the the 42, which is a baseball number.

John Garrett [00:03:58]:
Right. Right. Because I was gonna say, wow. 42 on soccer, that’s really getting up there. Like, they normally, yeah, it’s pretty rare to get up that high, but you you can make whatever number you want. Like, I love that. That’s awesome. How about, yeah, former accounting firm owner, gotta ask you, your balance sheet or income statement?

Adam Shay [00:04:12]:
Balance sheet. I think it’s business owners underappreciate it, underpay attention to it, and it really kinda tells things.

John Garrett [00:04:20]:
Yeah. Yeah. It’s hard to hide stuff in there. Ice cream. You go in a cup or in a cone?

Adam Shay [00:04:26]:
I am going cup because I’m gluten free, and so it’s tough to find gluten free cones, but I’d take one if I could find them. But usually, I’m given the cup option.

John Garrett [00:04:37]:
Yeah. No. That that’s an excellent reason. There you go. How about, cats or dogs? Dogs. Dogs. Nice. How about, PC or Mac computers? Do you have a favorite day of the week?

Adam Shay [00:04:49]:
I would say Saturday just because obvious reasons it’s the weekend, but also just just good family time and just kinda good to relax and recharge. I’m probably a recovering workaholic, and so it’s a good reset to actually enjoy the weekends these days.

John Garrett [00:05:05]:
And shut it off. Yeah. No. Fair. That’s, that’s totally fair, and it’s good that you recognize that, and it’ll be interesting to see how your aunt plays into that. This is a fun one. I like this one. Cheeseburger or pizza? Pizza.

Adam Shay [00:05:18]:
And that’s a tough one. It it depends upon the day, but I’ll go pizza again and with any kind of topping for the most part, and I I don’t hold it against you if you choose to have pineapples on your pizza. Right.

John Garrett [00:05:34]:
But you’re inside judging, but you’re not outside holding it against me. Okay. Fair. Okay. And the last one oh, no. Two more. Toilet paper roll, over or under?

Adam Shay [00:05:43]:
If you say under, I know we can’t be friends, so I’m going over.

John Garrett [00:05:46]:
Alright. So, dad, I am judging you outside. I like that. Cheers. That’s awesome. And the last one, the favorite thing you have or a favorite thing you own? So my

Adam Shay [00:05:56]:
great grandfather played, what was the equivalent of Major League Baseball in the 1880s, and I have one of his tobacco baseball cards, and so that’s pretty special to me.

John Garrett [00:06:07]:
That’s incredible. That’s super awesome, man.

Adam Shay [00:06:10]:
Took a lot of eBay monitoring to find and acquire.

John Garrett [00:06:13]:
I was gonna say how did was that a family thing or no? You you went out and found it and then, yes, wiped it up. That’s really cool. Really cool. Yeah. So let’s talk mountain time and, getting out did you grow up doing this, or is it something that you came into a little bit later in life?

Adam Shay [00:06:29]:
Probably a little bit later in life. When I was in college, I went to college in Charlottesville, Virginia, which is in the foothills of Virginia and just really got into kind of hiking then and also worked at, I’ll say, a ski resort in air quotes. I was at Virginia ski resort, but worked at Wintergreen for three years of my college, just kind of doing that. And so I enjoy getting out into the mountains, hiking, mountain biking, and snowboarding. Although, as you noted, I currently live in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is basically the beach. So I mountain time is trips to mountains of North Carolina, Virginia, And then usually once or twice a year, we also try to get out west to near you in Colorado or out in Utah or Montana and just kinda get out either summertime hiking trip or a snowboarding or skiing trip. So

John Garrett [00:07:17]:
Yeah. I mean, that’s the thing about the mountains. It’s always good. You know, in the winter, obviously, there’s the snowboarding and the snow and sports and things like that. And in the summer, that snow melts and it’s waterfalls and rivers and, you know, nature, and, you know, it’s very green and and it’s cool. So yeah, and then living on the beach isn’t a bad place. That’s for sure. The mountains are here, and you can come visit anytime.

John Garrett [00:07:38]:
You know? It’s not like they’re going away. So that’s pretty cool, man. And and so do you have any favorite trips that you could think of or or favorite moments on a mountain that you know, in in your life?

Adam Shay [00:07:49]:
A couple summers ago, we took a trip in July to Glacier National Park and did a bunch of hiking there. It was really awesome. Some long hikes. I lost a toenail as part of the processor

John Garrett [00:08:03]:
trip. Oh, man. How’s that happen? Is it like stubborn?

Adam Shay [00:08:06]:
No. Just boots were too small. Hiking boots were too smaller and just kinda walking downhill and stuff a lot.

John Garrett [00:08:12]:
Right. Yeah.

Adam Shay [00:08:13]:
These aren’t like sit at the cabin type of vacations. I think we did, like, 50 miles of hiking in, like, five or six days. And, but Yeah. Had some good good hikes, got to see some lakes with glaciers out at them, got to walk through a tunnel through the middle of the mountain, which we ran out of water, my youngest son and I, on the way up there, and it was hot. Like, people don’t realize how hot Montana can get in the summertime and especially, I think, their record heat when we were there. This is really cool to see something that big, that beautiful, that natural. The other thing people don’t realize if they’re not into it is a lot of times in these popular parks or these metropolitan areas, you gotta get out to the trailhead at, like, 7AM to get a parking spot to get out onto the popular trails.

John Garrett [00:08:58]:
Yeah. You gotta get out early. And then even some of the people that do the fourteeners and the stuff out here in Colorado, I mean, storms come through and lightning, and you’re the only thing up there, so you’re gonna get hit. So you gotta be coming down at a certain time. Plus, yeah, with the heat and all that stuff, you know, it’s getting out there early, you know, before the sun’s on top of you. What’s that feeling when you see something like a glacier that’s, like, that massive or these mountains that, you know, when you think you got to the top, it’s like, oh, no. There’s another one that we didn’t even see. That’s how big it is.

John Garrett [00:09:30]:
Like, what’s a thought?

Adam Shay [00:09:31]:
Yeah. I mean, it’s just inspiring. It’s kinda peaceful and relax relaxing. And so part of my struggle as a kind of business owner and entrepreneur was, like, turning my brain off and really unplugging, you know, and being present in the moment. And I’ve really found like when I’m in the mountains, I’m able to do that much more easier and just kind of leave the rest of the world behind. And a lot of times too, when you have that clear mind, you have that piece, you’re not supposed to be thinking about work or business, but sometimes great ideas come to you because you’ve cut shut down all the noise.

John Garrett [00:10:06]:
Yeah. Absolutely. And I mean, it’s amazing how, you know, just doing your end, how that makes you better at your job. You know, it makes you a better professional, whether it’s, you know, the mind space and getting away from that, or it’s, you know, coming up with an idea that just surfaces because you’re not always thinking about it. And so those really great ideas stay down because they’re not able to bubble up because of all the other layers that are there. And so it’s really wild how much our outside of work, hobbies, passions, interests, really who we are, impacts what we do at work, then it’s cool that you’re able to experience that and realize that that it’s not just a throwaway. It actually is making me better in in life. Yeah.

Adam Shay [00:10:48]:
And it helps you develop those connections with people, both your teammates, your clients, whatever it may be. And so I I’m really active, like, pretty much post daily on LinkedIn. And, you know, sometimes I talk about trips on there even though you’re maybe supposed to only be talking about business, but kind of bridging the gap there between business and personal and just developing those personal connections.

John Garrett [00:11:11]:
Yeah. And I mean, your posts bring it back to, you know, work and your professional life and who you are. So it’s not a Facebook post, but there’s no reason why people shouldn’t know, like, all the parts of you, you know, or at least other parts of you. There’s another business coach out there that can coach entrepreneurs and business founders, but not one that loves mountains this much. And if you come across one that also you know, a a potential client that also loves mountains, well, you guys are best friends right then.

Adam Shay [00:11:41]:
Yep. Exactly. And I can share my trip I you know, if they have never been to Glacier National Park or Grand Teton National Park, I can, like, share my itinerary or kind of plans and what we did and help them out in that way too.

John Garrett [00:11:54]:
And vice versa. You know, if you’re going somewhere where they’ve been or whatever, that’s really cool. And and is it something that you’ve shared all your life, or is it something that later on in your career, you decided to open up more about these other parts of Adam, if you will?

Adam Shay [00:12:09]:
Yeah. I I think I’ve definitely been more transparent about other parts of Adam’s later in life and just kinda as you I don’t know. So, like, business and work focused that in addition to my family, obviously, but so business and goal focused that I don’t know, I think I was just maybe impersonal or afraid to share my private side of life and my personal interests and things like that. But I really have realized and come to realize, like, how important that is and how you’ve got to understand people from a personal level as well as the business level to, really develop those business relationships with. And I have a lot of folks I call business friends, their friends that have developed out of business, you know, at this point.

John Garrett [00:12:54]:
And how did that come about? Like, did you accidentally tell someone that you went on a mountain trip and then, oh, crap. Now you know. Sort of a thing? Or you just sort of a little bit at a time?

Adam Shay [00:13:06]:
Yeah. Maybe a little bit at a time. And then I turned 50 last year. And so you sort of do a lot of, I mean, it’s cliche, but I have found myself doing a lot of self reflection. You know, I haven’t bought myself a fast car or anything else, but just kind of, you know, thinking about priorities and what’s important in life. And, you know, my kids are in middle school and in high school, and so you realize you also only have so much more time with them as well. And so it’s just kind of trying to refocus priorities and and sharing those priorities with others so that they understand what’s, you know, what’s going on in your life.

John Garrett [00:13:44]:
And what do you find as far as, like, the relationships go, like, in the business side of before sharing the other parts of Adam and then now, is there a difference to those relationships, or are they the same?

Adam Shay [00:13:58]:
I think they’re deeper and stronger. And before, they were maybe more transactional and impersonal, obviously, just because you weren’t I wasn’t sharing that much. And so and the other thing is the cool thing, like you share your and they share theirs, and you learn, like, other cool things you never knew about. Like, I have a coworker. He took three to five years to build a pizza oven at his house in his backyard, and that’ll be you know, he he finally finished it. Now he’s, like, brings in pizzas and breads he cooks and bakes to the office.

John Garrett [00:14:30]:
Yeah. You’re hired. Like, just bring that in on the interview. You’re done. Like, let’s do this. You know? That’s amazing. Yeah. But, I mean, you gotta really, really love pizza.

John Garrett [00:14:38]:
And the level of knowledge that he has on making a pizza is obviously stratosphere. And so, you know, get them talking about that, and they they light up. You know? People are they’re animated. They’re alive. You know? You feel activated as a human, you know, with those parts. Because you’re doing those for free or paying money even. You know? You’re not getting paid to do this. Like, this is something that’s deep inside you that you can’t not do.

John Garrett [00:15:04]:
That’s the level of it. And and so if you can tap into that, like, why not? I mean, that’s a the fountain of, you know, energy and enthusiasm and all the good stuff.

Adam Shay [00:15:14]:
And and along the lines of kind of what we’ve been talking about in just your book and podcast is, like, I believe, you know, the the cliche thing to do when you meet someone at a, say, a neighborhood social or something is what do you do? Everyone by default answers what they do for a living. But, like, that shouldn’t be the answer. It should be, like, I enjoy doing this or I enjoy doing that. But it’s like culturally, we’ve still got a long ways to go on that. But if you answer, like, not with your job, but what you actually enjoy doing, I guarantee you have a much longer and deeper conversation, and that person’s gonna remember you.

John Garrett [00:15:48]:
Yeah. I mean and I’m sure you’ve had examples of that and, you know, and it could be both. That’s why I said and. You know, I’m a business coach and I love going to the mountains. You pick which one you wanna talk about. You know? Like, yeah, what’s the follow-up question? Business coach? No. It’s not bad. It’s mountains.

John Garrett [00:16:03]:
What? We live at the beach. What are you talking about? Are you crazy?

Adam Shay [00:16:06]:
Like, this Especially for twenty years when I said I was an accountant. That’s even worse than business coach probably. So as far as people’s interest in talking with you about what you do.

John Garrett [00:16:16]:
Right. I mean, is there a faster conversation stopper than I’m an accountant? I mean, not only is it a conversation stopper, they walk away. Like, I I do a joke, and it’s from true story. When I fly and people are always like, oh, so what do you do? And when I used to say I was an accountant, people put on their noise canceling headphones. They don’t even ask a question. It’s done. We’re not even talking for the next three hours on this flight.

Adam Shay [00:16:41]:
And if they do ask you a question, they ask you a tax question whether you dealt with tax or not.

John Garrett [00:16:46]:
And I don’t know any of it. So I’m like, Well, I don’t know. What do you think? That’s so cool, man, to hear just that little bit of opening up, how fruitful these relationships are, where now you have friends that wouldn’t have existed before, and business and opportunities, and just making the world a better place in the end, you know, just from sharing just a little bit and then continuing to share and then opening up. And as long as there’s nothing illegal or super taboo, then why not? I mean, like, who cares? I’m sure you’d rather talk about mountains than balance sheets anyway. So, you know, like, why not type of thing. And and how much do you feel like it’s on an organization to create that space where people can share their ands? Or how much is it on the individual to just maybe in in their peers, share just a little bit or get started that way?

Adam Shay [00:17:35]:
Yeah. I mean, that’s almost like the chicken and the egg question. Like, I think a little bit of it, you know, it’s like what builds company culture, what doesn’t, like, definitely tone at the top and people at the top being willing to share, like, what they’re interested in and just kind of what they talk about, not just work, but also showing interest in people as a person and asking them questions about that. You know, I think a lot of people are maybe bosses or leaders or sometimes hesitant to do so because they don’t wanna feel like they’re prying too much into a person’s personal life. But, you know, people do wanna share what they’re doing. And if they don’t, then they’re just gonna say, no. I didn’t, you know, I don’t do much outside of work or I didn’t do much or whatever.

John Garrett [00:18:17]:
Yeah. But then it’s, hey. Are you okay? Like, because you do nothing? Like, nothing at all. Alright. Well, you know, we should work on this.

Adam Shay [00:18:26]:
And a lot of times, unfortunately, you do come across business owners and entrepreneurs where you’re like, work is their life. That’s it. Maybe they have their family, but your kids I’ve I’ve said this before on LinkedIn. Like, your kids are not your hobby. Like, that’s not healthy for anyone. Like, yes, you can share interests. My boys love going to the mountains, love hiking, love skiing, snowboarding, stuff like that, but they’re still not my hobby because that’s, like I said, not healthy for anyone.

John Garrett [00:18:51]:
No. I appreciate you saying that because when I speak, I love to do, like, a word cloud of everyone’s ands in the room. And it’s such a fascinating thing and really cool to see on screen on paper just like bam, this is it. And I tell people not kids, not grandkids, not family, you know, because be selfish, a little bit. But also, the the kids I’ve had stay at home parents that have read the book and reached out and said how much it impacted them because all of a sudden they’re not soccer mom or lacrosse dad anymore. They’re I don’t know what I do or who I am anymore. If you put your identity into something else besides yourself, then it can go away quickly. And I do get it, when you’re an entrepreneur or you’re a small business founder.

John Garrett [00:19:36]:
There’s a lot of skin in the game, and there’s a whole lot of that. And then a lot of that does come from your passion, but, you know, things are better when you have something else also. And it doesn’t have to consume your time every day, but, you know, quarterly, I go on a mountain trip. Alright. You know, you could still have your business and do your thing. If and if not, then maybe it’s not for you. If it takes twenty three hours a day for you to run this thing, maybe just go back to corporate because you’re not good for anybody. Do you have any words of encouragement to people listening that maybe feel like I have an and, but no one cares, or my job is taking up all my time.

John Garrett [00:20:12]:
How can I possibly do something else?

Adam Shay [00:20:14]:
I think if you haven’t even no one cares, you just haven’t talked to the right folks yet or don’t have the right folks around you or I would still encourage people to continue sharing them, especially no matter how unique. And that’s to me, when I meet someone that has an AM that’s really unique and cool, like, it’s like I wanna learn more because I didn’t know anything about it or, like, like, just didn’t know people did that or whatever. Like, and then, you know, it’s just continue to share. And if you don’t have something, like, spend some time self reflecting about what used to bring you joy or what you think could bring you joy and then spend some time, like, getting to know people who have knowledge and expertise in that area and kinda learn from them and help them help you develop your ant.

John Garrett [00:21:00]:
I love that. And don’t be afraid to be the amateur. You know? Like, you’re brand new at this. You’re a five year old learning how to whatever it is, you know, type of thing. If it’s a brand new thing or I don’t play basketball anymore because my knees will explode, but I watch basketball or I coach basketball or, you know, I’m you’re still around it. You know, things like that that, would be easy ways to just get back into stuff that like, what lights you up when you’re when you just think about it? It’s like, oh, man. Yeah. Like that.

John Garrett [00:21:26]:
You know? Or what’s something you wanna do more of? You know? I’d love it if organizations would the annual goal planning, whatever, talk that you have with your supervisor. You know, it’s it’s always a work stuff. And it’s like, well, you know, why not outside a work goal? Like, what how many times do you wanna go ski? Okay. Let’s make sure you get two ski trips in. If it’s, you know, October and you don’t have the second one booked, well, let’s get the calendar out. Because, you know, if you’re not living your best life, then you’re not doing your best work here. So let’s make sure you’re you’re living your best life. Let’s make this happen, you know, type of thing.

John Garrett [00:22:01]:
Now, you know, I’m not paying for it, but I’m making sure that you have time for it, you know, type of thing.

Adam Shay [00:22:06]:
Yep. And, John, you will love this. So the pizza oven, like, story I was going back to, the coworker that it we had it on his annual plan, like, in goals for a couple years was to finish the pizza oven. And so he knew come review time and other times as well, but I was gonna be his accountability partner to help him get it done. And so

John Garrett [00:22:26]:
That’s so awesome. I love that so much. Because why not? You know, why not? I mean, you know, like, that’s something that’s very important to him. And if work gets in the way of something that it really matters to him, then, like, let’s figure this out because there’s a way around this. You know, it’s not like he’s slacking or not getting his work done. It’s just, you know, don’t lose focus on the thing that also matters, you know, over here that’s outside of work, and I care about that too.

Adam Shay [00:22:53]:
And I think that we added that to our process because we had one employee one year who was, like, it was quite obvious that, like, her job was everything for her. And if, say, work didn’t work out or whatever or just, like, it’s not healthy for work to be everything.

John Garrett [00:23:07]:
It really isn’t. I mean, there’s studies done at, like, Duke University. It’s anxiety and depression and everything. I mean, you can tailspin quickly if your whole identity is your job title. It’s not good. Well, I feel like before I wrap this up, I rudely peppered you with questions at the beginning. So I should turn the tables and make this the Adam Shay podcast. So thanks for having me on as your first guest.

John Garrett [00:23:30]:
Thanks. Sure. So I booked myself. So I’m all yours. Whatever questions you wanna ask.

Adam Shay [00:23:34]:
Alright. So I’m in the South, so I have to ask sweet or unsweet tea?

John Garrett [00:23:38]:
Oh, that’s hilarious. It’s definitely unsweet. And I have a story about that. My brother was a football coach at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. And I went down there to visit him the first time, and I went to a restaurant. And the waitress comes, and I was like, yeah, I’ll just have water. And she brought sweet tea. Like, it’s the default drink.

John Garrett [00:23:56]:
Like, it’s just like instead of water at a restaurant, like, everyone just here’s sweet tea. Like, And so I’d have a joke about how it’s coming out of the water fountain. Kids are swimming in sweet tea in pools in the summer. Babies are being baptized in sweet tea. It’s just yeah. I’m definitely just a regular tea because down there, it can get sweet. Do you want some tea with your sugar? It’s super sweet, and so I’ve even seen some people do a half and half, which I didn’t know you were allowed to do. But yeah, I just go with the regular, and I don’t put the packets in because that’s sacrilegious, but yeah, just regular tea for me.

Adam Shay [00:24:29]:
And I gotta ask you, since you’re near the mountains yourself, skiing or snowboarding?

John Garrett [00:24:33]:
Snowboarding. Yeah. I grew up in Ohio in a, quote, unquote, ski resort, like, just like yours in Virginia. So I skied then because that was kinda before snowboarding was a thing. But now I’m older, and I just feel like skiing, there’s too many x, y, z axes happening with my knees and my ankles and all the things where snowboarding, at least, it’s all pretty much like one axis, and they’re both going the same thing the same time. And just keep your hands in a fist so you don’t break your wrists and, we’re good. Plus then you can punch the little kids that are flying around you. But but, yeah, definitely snowboard.

Adam Shay [00:25:07]:
Cool. What advice would you give someone that’s considering launching a podcast? Like, how tough is it to do? How much time, like, getting started?

John Garrett [00:25:15]:
Oh, that’s a great question. It’s not necessarily hard or take a lot of time. I would say the hardest part is just know why you’re doing the podcast. Like, why are you doing it? And you’re not doing it to become rich and famous. You’re doing it for another reason. And so know why you’re doing that, and then that’ll help fuel everything that goes into it. And then I would also suggest to create some sort of a structure, some sort of bones to the show that then you can put different meat on each episode. But there’s a format to it, if you will, a little bit.

John Garrett [00:25:50]:
It can be loose, but that way, then you’re not reinventing the wheel every single episode. And then also record three to five, in advance so then you’re not sweating the next one. They’re recorded. They’re done. The editor or you are polishing it, and then it’s in the can and ready to go. That way then you’re not worried about, oh, man, I have one coming out tomorrow. What’s it gonna be? I don’t know if those are helpful. A couple of tidbits anyway.

John Garrett [00:26:16]:
But definitely, why are you doing it? And the numbers, that’ll freak you out. Like, don’t worry about that. Like, if you’re doing it for another reason than becoming famous and rich, then which should be your actual reason of doing it is these other reasons. You know? For me, it’s sharing everyone’s story because this what’s your end message is our message. It’s not mine. It’s ours. I just happen to be the mouthpiece for it. It’s your story.

John Garrett [00:26:41]:
It’s all the other 600 and plus episodes that I’ve had on. It’s it’s our story. And so it’s how do I share that and also curate these stories to be able to share with people. For the people that come up to me and after I’m done speaking at conferences or at events and, you know, they’re like, well, I think it’s great that you have two people that have ands, but I don’t think a lot of people do. And I’m like, well, let’s look at the Instagram. Boom. I think you’re wrong, you know, type of thing. And then it also the people that are in the room that haven’t shared or don’t think they can share have hidden that part of themselves for, you know, abandoned parts of themselves for security, they think.

John Garrett [00:27:19]:
Then they start to realize, like, oh, yeah. You know, that does matter. So it gives me confidence when I am, you know, presenting to all staff events or partner retreats or things like that that I’ll fight you on this. Like, I’ve got 600 plus stories of people that believe this too. You know? So that’s mine. But for different people, it’s different things. And it can also it doesn’t have to be an evergreen forever thing. Do 10 episodes and see how it goes.

John Garrett [00:27:45]:
If you hate it, delete it and deny it ever happened. Like, you know? Or if you love it, then keep doing it. Or do 10 every six months and then dump them like Netflix. Here’s 10. Boom. Go nuts. Or like me, where it’s, you know, every week or two type of thing, you know, have a have a cadence do it. It’s helpful.

John Garrett [00:28:06]:
Well, thanks for having me on your show, Adam. I appreciate it. Thank you for coming. But but, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for being a part of What’s Your Hand, for reading the book and reaching out and saying, hey, I wanna be a part of this as well because that that really means a lot, and you’re a living example of this.

John Garrett [00:28:20]:
So thanks, man.

Adam Shay [00:28:21]:
Thanks, John. I’ve enjoyed it.

John Garrett [00:28:27]:
Yeah. And everybody listening, if you wanna see some pictures of Adam on the mountains or connect with him on social media, be sure to go to www.WhatsYourAnd.com. All the links are 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.