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Jeff Towberman [00:00:05]:
Hi, this is Jeff Towberman. And when I’m not coaching high school baseball, I’m listening to John Garrett on What’s Your “And”?.

John Garrett [00:00:16]:
Welcome to episode 657 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? And 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. 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 see how much it means that everyone’s reading it, writing such great reviews on Amazon, thank you so much for those, and more importantly, changing the cultures where they work because of it.

John Garrett [00:01:05]:
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 please don’t forget to hit subscribe to the podcast. You’re gonna 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, Jeff Towberman. He’s the finance supervisor and controller at the North Saint Paul School District in Minnesota, and now he’s with me here today.

John Garrett [00:01:28]:
Jeff, thanks so much for taking time to be with me on What’s Your “And”?.

Jeff Towberman [00:01:31]:
No problem. Thanks, John, for having me.

John Garrett [00:01:33]:
It’s gonna be awesome. It was it was great speaking at the MASBO conference a couple of months ago, and so appreciated you being in the audience and now being with me here today. So this is gonna be fun.

Jeff Towberman [00:01:44]:
Yeah. I’m I’m thrilled that, we’re we’re making this happen.

John Garrett [00:01:48]:
Yeah. Totally. Well, I have some rapid fire questions. Get to know Jeff on a new level here, right out of the gate. So I think it’s probably an easy one, especially for you. Favorite sports team?

Jeff Towberman [00:01:59]:
I think, Green Bay Packers kinda stand out there pretty good. So it’s

John Garrett [00:02:03]:
Okay. Alright. There you go. No. Totally. I I used to live in Milwaukee, and the Packer nation is legit. I mean, they’re all about it. That’s for sure.

John Garrett [00:02:11]:
It’s a unique place to see a game. That’s for sure.

Jeff Towberman [00:02:13]:
Yes. It is.

John Garrett [00:02:14]:
It’s a different vibe. So how about a favorite color?

Jeff Towberman [00:02:16]:
Green, obviously.

John Garrett [00:02:18]:
Green? Yeah. There we go. Alright. This 1 might be also easy. Least favorite color?

Jeff Towberman [00:02:22]:
Oh, it’s purple. You know, I

John Garrett [00:02:23]:
It’s true. Over here.

Jeff Towberman [00:02:24]:
The the Vikings over here. No no way. Purple is my least favorite.

John Garrett [00:02:29]:
I knew that was gonna happen. How about a first concert?

Jeff Towberman [00:02:32]:
First concert. I was at the, Def Leppard Tesla concert.

John Garrett [00:02:38]:
Wow. Okay. There you go. They’re probably touring together now.

Jeff Towberman [00:02:42]:
They still are together. I don’t know that they’re together, but they’re still 2 aren’t.

John Garrett [00:02:46]:
Yeah. In the heyday. That that man, that’s awesome. That’s so cool. Your computer more of a PC or a Mac?

Jeff Towberman [00:02:51]:
PC. Mac gives me a headache. I’m much more PC guy.

John Garrett [00:02:55]:
Totally. I’m the same. Like, I don’t know how to do it.

Jeff Towberman [00:02:58]:
And your, you know, your quick keys are like the opposite. So it’s like you get used to 1 on the PC and then you go, it’s not even.

John Garrett [00:03:05]:
It’s not worth relearning. Exactly. Totally. Totally. Ice cream in a cup or in a cone?

Jeff Towberman [00:03:10]:
I like it actually in a cup, especially, you know, we have out here in the Midwest, the cherry berries of the world, and you get to add toppings. So, you know, I like the, frozen yogurt ice cream with, like, gummy bears, you know, that when they get gump, they get kinda cold and they’re chewy kinda thing. So those are I definitely like it in the cup. So

John Garrett [00:03:28]:
Yeah. You get a little bit more. Maybe you could sweet talk him into putting the cone on top as a hat.

Jeff Towberman [00:03:32]:
There you go.

John Garrett [00:03:33]:
Are you more early bird or night owl?

Jeff Towberman [00:03:35]:
I would have said, you know, a long time ago, a night owl, but I’m much, much more of an early bird. They make fun of me here. Cause I opened this school building up here about 04:30 sometimes just to

John Garrett [00:03:46]:
Oh my Lord.

Jeff Towberman [00:03:47]:
It’s audit season. So, you know, kind of best time to get stuff done between 04:30 and 07:30 when nobody’s here. So

John Garrett [00:03:53]:
Okay. No. That’s impressive. How about a favorite number? Any number?

Jeff Towberman [00:03:57]:
34. It’s on my license plate. It’s something that I just a long, long time ago, I it just seemed to be everybody that I really liked. Mike Schmidt, Nolan Ryan, Charles Barkley, you know, they all just seem to be that Kirby Puckett and they all just seem to be that number 34. So it kinda stuck with me.

John Garrett [00:04:15]:
That’s awesome. No. I I all those legit. Yeah. Totally. How about a least favorite vegetable?

Jeff Towberman [00:04:22]:
I just don’t like cauliflower. I just don’t it’s bland. It’s you can’t it’s not even like, you know, growing up in California, we had broccoli. We’d my wife thinks it’s weird, but we, you know, we put may Hellman’s on it, you know, a little mayo on it.

John Garrett [00:04:35]:
Oh, okay. Or butter. Yeah. We would put ketchup on broccoli. My dad would do that.

Jeff Towberman [00:04:39]:
Yeah. That’s maybe even worse than mayo, but, you know, at least at least cauliflower though. I don’t even know how you eat it. Maybe cheese, but

John Garrett [00:04:47]:
Yeah. And and they try to make it into rice to sneak it in and now get out

Jeff Towberman [00:04:51]:
of the crust. It’s like, yeah, no dice.

John Garrett [00:04:53]:
Pizza crust. Yeah, exactly. No. I’m with you on this 1. Since you got the accounting background, balance sheet or income statement?

Jeff Towberman [00:04:59]:
I kinda like the balance sheet. I’d like to know, you know, benchmarking and whatnot so you can see what you’ve got all the time, you know, not necessarily as, you know, at this date. You know what I’m saying? At the end of the

John Garrett [00:05:11]:
Point in time. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff Towberman [00:05:12]:
Time type of thing. So

John Garrett [00:05:13]:
No. No. That’s great. Plus, you know when it’s done because it it balances. There we go. Exactly. Star Wars or Star Trek?

Jeff Towberman [00:05:21]:
You know, it’s funny because the very first move I ever saw was Star Wars.

John Garrett [00:05:24]:
So Oh, okay.

Jeff Towberman [00:05:25]:
I’m gonna go with Star Wars. The truth is I’ve not seen the newest ones. I’ve seen 1 you know, the first three, and that’s it because I just don’t wanna ruin it.

John Garrett [00:05:35]:
I’m with you with that a % because I I heard some mixed review, and I was like, don’t ruin it. That those episodes, what, I guess, four, five, 6 is what they’re calling them. Those were great, and I don’t wanna, like, go downhill from there, and we’re good. Plus, they’re great. I mean, they’re they’re great movies. What’s a typical breakfast?

Jeff Towberman [00:05:53]:
During the week, it’s usually, like, just a Nutri Grain bar type of thing in the morning. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:05:57]:
Because it’s at 04:30 in the morning. Like, it’s

Jeff Towberman [00:06:00]:
Exactly. I actually even though I’m as you can tell, you know, I’m a a little bit bigger of a guy. I’m not exactly a, breakfast person, but when on the on the weekends, I love to cook it. So, like, when the kids come over or whatnot, I like to cook breakfast. So

John Garrett [00:06:15]:
Nice. Do you have a go to?

Jeff Towberman [00:06:17]:
I kinda like French toast. It’s kinda tough, you know, tough to beat French toast with some bacon and syrup. So again, we live up here in the Midwest where some of the best maple syrup exists. So, yeah, it’s kinda hard to beat that.

John Garrett [00:06:29]:
That’s why I love it. And I’m coming over next weekend. How about 3 more, favorite actor or an actress?

Jeff Towberman [00:06:35]:
Rufus Sewell, we’re currently watching the diplomat on, Netflix. And he’s just really good. I mean, there are a lot of people like that. If I had to put 1 that a current 1, if you had to make me, I would say Will Ferrell, if you’re looking at a funny 1. I mean, it’s 1 of those things where Step Brothers comes on, it seems like every other day or well, it’s kinda hard to not watch that.

John Garrett [00:06:58]:
Absolutely. And even if you only duck in for five minutes of it, it’s gonna be a good laugh, you know, somewhere in there. So definitely. How about a toilet paper roll? Is it over or under?

Jeff Towberman [00:07:08]:
I kinda go with the under. And I think the main reason was I don’t currently have my son does, but I don’t currently have a cat. But when it goes over, it’s too easy to roll off the roll, I think, you know, then the other way. So I think that’s why And my

John Garrett [00:07:22]:
kids too.

Jeff Towberman [00:07:22]:
Exactly. For sure. So 1 day, I think I just decided to do the under than the over.

John Garrett [00:07:27]:
Yeah. No. That works. And the last 1, the favorite thing you have or the favorite thing you own?

Jeff Towberman [00:07:32]:
Outside of my family? Obviously, I think that’s an easy 1, but I think the favorite thing I have is my 7 year old Pomeranian. She is kind of 1 of those things. I listened back. I don’t remember who it was exactly, but they asked you the question about speaking to animals versus or I don’t remember what was

John Garrett [00:07:50]:
going on.

Jeff Towberman [00:07:51]:
Could you speak to animals or know all the languages or whatever it was?

John Garrett [00:07:53]:
Totally. I want animals all day

Jeff Towberman [00:07:55]:
every day. Exactly. Yeah. So I mean, just to be able to listen to there’s no judgment. There’s no

John Garrett [00:08:01]:
It’s unconditional love

Jeff Towberman [00:08:03]:
Exactly.

John Garrett [00:08:03]:
Every minute of every day.

Jeff Towberman [00:08:04]:
Exactly. So I I get a lot of flack from some of my other family members that, like, I go to the bank and I say, you wanna go to the bank and she gets excited. So, you know, it’s 1 of those things that, you know, I just just so, yeah, it’s I I would have to say her. Shout out to Willow.

John Garrett [00:08:18]:
There you go. Yeah. I was gonna say, what’s her name? Just in case she listens. Here we go. Like, it’s it’s all good. No. That that’s fantastic. I love it.

John Garrett [00:08:25]:
But, let’s talk baseball. And how’d you get started with that? Was that, like, I imagine growing up playing baseball and then

Jeff Towberman [00:08:31]:
Yeah. So it kinda goes even further back than that. We’d lived in California till I was about 7, I believe, 6 or 7. And we’d gone back every year. And and my grandfather, 1978, I believe it was. So I was like 8 years old, had won some tickets to, San Francisco Giants game. And I know you’re a Cardinals fan or used to be.

John Garrett [00:08:54]:
Yeah. No. Still.

Jeff Towberman [00:08:55]:
It just happened to be I remember it was in July 0. I don’t remember what it was, but they played the Cardinals. It was Vitablue who probably should be in the hall of fame that isn’t. And I remember it was Bob Forsch. I don’t know how I remember that, but I do. They played the Cardinals and and Vitablue, I think he shut them out 3, nothing or something. And I remember thinking, wow, this is awesome. But it was 1 of those things of, you know, getting to be with my grandfather at the time and just sitting around and learning how to keep score and, you know, just doing that whole piece of it.

Jeff Towberman [00:09:25]:
And it just, you know, as that site, honestly, I think that’s part of the reason why I like numbers, you know, is because of being able to relate to that. That and a hobby of maybe going to the Mall Of America here in Minnesota and sitting and just watching people. A baseball stadium is a great place to just watch people.

John Garrett [00:09:42]:
Oh, totally.

Jeff Towberman [00:09:43]:
It moves a little slow sometimes, hence the pitch clock. But yeah. So I I instantly kind of fell in love with the game. And then I grew up in a town that of 2000 people. So there wasn’t a whole lot to do. You know, as my mom would always say, not a whole lot to do or see, but what you hear makes up for it kind of thing. And so there was always that baseball mentality that we could, you know, as kids, we could just get together and, you know, kinda goes back to the, you know, what they would call neighborhood teams. I hear stories, you know, about even in the town I live in, New Richmond, it’s 10000 people and how this neighborhood would play that neighborhood back in the day and stuff.

Jeff Towberman [00:10:18]:
And so it was just 1 of those things that I just kinda fell in love with. And then some would agree to disagree, but I had a very Wisconsin hall of fame baseball high school baseball coach, and he just made the game extremely interesting. It was all about being a part of it, understanding it, learning it. And, you know, town of 2000 people, you didn’t have to be that good to be good at it type of thing.

John Garrett [00:10:42]:
Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Jeff Towberman [00:10:43]:
So yeah. So, you know, since I was about, I don’t know, 12, 13 years of age, 14 years of age, I always wanted to coach, to help coach, to, you know, be a part of that and teach the younger crowds and whatnot. And I was a senior and not to be braggadocious, but I hit a couple home runs in a game and I came off and these two, 7, 8 year olds can I have your autograph mentality, you know, and I

John Garrett [00:11:07]:
was That’s awesome? High school.

Jeff Towberman [00:11:08]:
And I was like, this is pretty neat. And, you know, just to be able to expand that and and teach that. And then I went to school at a division 3 school, you know, played a year and then thought drinking was much more fun, you know? So, you know, it’s just kinda

John Garrett [00:11:22]:
It’s more of a summer softball league

Jeff Towberman [00:11:23]:
thing than

John Garrett [00:11:24]:
it is baseball team.

Jeff Towberman [00:11:26]:
Yeah. And then when I had kids, I had a son and much more talented than I ever was. But, you know, I was able to coach him, you know, all the way up and he played division 2 actually at UMD, which is, Minnesota Duluth, which, you know, I take all the credit for that. And so, you know, legitimately, you know, he was to being able to show that, you know, beginning to end mentality. So I had coached not only at the youth level, but some of the junior varsity level, some of the, what we call Legion or VFW ball. Oh, yeah.

John Garrett [00:11:58]:
Oh, totally. Legion ball is is huge.

Jeff Towberman [00:11:59]:
Yeah. And so we junior legion, senior legion, which is basically high school kids. And then when I got here at the school district, there was a position open at 1 of our high schools. We have 2 high schools in our district. I had applied for it just to apply for it to see. And I went through the process and thought, you know, this is pretty neat. You know, before I said I didn’t get that job, but somebody was looking out for me, I think, because then the other high school gentleman had to step down for personal reasons and I did get that job. So now it’s been 1 of those things for, you know, it’s kinda like the general manager season right now where you kinda get to pick out hats and uniforms and do things with the kids that weightlifting that, you know, is unofficial, you know, baseball stuff that’s, but still, you know, be involved in it.

Jeff Towberman [00:12:42]:
And, yeah, it’s been 1 of those things where, you know, for the last, I don’t know, forty years, thirty years, that’s been just always been a passion of mine and I just was honestly kinda almost a dream come true so far.

John Garrett [00:12:55]:
Yeah. No. I mean, that’s so awesome. And and, I mean, you know, enable to share that passion with wave after wave of kids. You know? Like, I mean, if you go up and add up all the kids that you’ve coached and shared the passion of baseball with, that’s pretty awesome. You know, the the ripple effect of that is huge, and that’s really cool. And, I mean, do you have a favorite memory of a game you played in or a game you coached that comes to mind, some of your favorites?

Jeff Towberman [00:13:21]:
Yeah. You know, it’s I think, hands down, at least to this point, my son was probably, I don’t know, let’s say 10, 12, but we had an all star game and they asked me to coach because we had won the prior year or whatever. I don’t remember how or why. And

John Garrett [00:13:37]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff Towberman [00:13:37]:
There was a kid on that team and he just ran out to the center field and he I mean, it was just this great kid, you know, just whatever. Yeah. I like to have fun. I mean, let’s be real here, you know, especially at that age and competition’s good, but I think baseball and we have probably touched on this, but I think baseball is, is a lesson in life. There’s a lot of similarities to me. And he was 1 of these kids that just put in everything and, and was whatever. And after the game, his mom and his grandma had come up to me and thanked me for being involved and, you know, just kinda talking to him. And it had turned out that winter prior to that, his father got killed in a snowmobile accident.

John Garrett [00:14:19]:
Oh, man.

Jeff Towberman [00:14:20]:
And I knew nothing of it. I didn’t know anything about it, but just the fact that I was able to work with him. And then he tried out the next year for traveling baseball, and it was 1 of those things where whenever he tried out, he was making that team because Yeah. Not because of what had happened, but because of the kid that he was. What he showed, I think, resilience, if nothing else, to kinda tighten the bootstraps and get back up at a 10 year old kid level to be able to do that. And that’s really struck me a lot. And it’s a lot of the way that I’m not necessarily yeah. Everybody likes to win.

Jeff Towberman [00:14:56]:
Don’t get me wrong. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. I’ve had multiple meetings, if you will, but we started a or I should say I started a leadership group, development group, we call it with my seniors, just so that they understand that there’s more to life than just baseball and work and whatever. And that’s why I think listening to you kind of struck a chord in a sense that, you know, what’s your end, what’s out there that makes you, I think is extremely valuable tool. And it’s something that, like I said, just to sit down with, you know, 17 and 18 year old kids and look at them and tell me, what do you want to do? What, you know, I’m here to help. Tell me, let me help you get to the next level. And whatever that may be, you know, I got a welder and I got a kid who’s signing letter of intent on Wednesday and I got, you know, all these other things, you know, and it’s I wanna be known as that guy that says, hey, you know what? Coach Toberman was able to to help me get to whatever I need.

John Garrett [00:15:50]:
Yeah. Kinda like the coach that you had.

Jeff Towberman [00:15:52]:
Exactly.

John Garrett [00:15:52]:
And it’s cool also to hear, I mean, that story about that, you know, that 10 year old and the all star team of, like, sometimes the kids are teaching you. Exactly. And I think that that easily translates to work is where, you know, the boss doesn’t know everything. You know, just because you’re the CEO or the c suite or the executive or the manager or whatever, you don’t know everything. And sometimes people are teaching you and, you know, being open to that and being receptive to that and being vulnerable to that is beautiful. It’s very human and I I love that and didn’t wanna let that slide. There’s gotta be so many, like you said, parallels between baseball and work and life, I guess, that are out there that translate to you even in your accounting jobs, you know, that you’ve had in your career.

Jeff Towberman [00:16:34]:
Yeah. And absolutely. And I think the maybe the biggest or the best way that I always put it is everybody has a role. It’s figuring out what that role is, but it’s also understanding what everybody else’s role is. You know, there’s times where you gotta stay in your own lane. There’s times where you need to kind of veer off a little bit and say, you know, come on back. You know, I’ve had life experiences where, you know, with many years in in accounting and as I did some books and I won’t tell you who but you know the very first meeting I had with a client and the partner I had the business owner try to explain why he was expensing his Porsche payments as a business.

John Garrett [00:17:15]:
There you go. You know,

Jeff Towberman [00:17:16]:
and I’m like, wait, what is this? You know? And I was new and, you know, and and the truth is, you know, I had no accounting experience. You know, I went back to school after it took me sixteen years to graduate, so I could have been a doctor twice over,

John Garrett [00:17:28]:
I guess. You Tommy boy? I hear you.

Jeff Towberman [00:17:32]:
But I was fortunate enough that six months before I retired, Enron had happened, and it just the doors opened. And, you know, it’s 1 of those things where I think, and and not sucking up to to you, but I think 1 of my favorite things, that you have done that what’s your end has come from is the Green Apple podcast. That that a Green Apple that I think all you a great line that I heard in 1 of your earlier podcasts is that all apples start as green and some of them turn red. You don’t know when things are the way they are. And I think things have to grow. And again, I I use high school baseball. As I told the boys the other day at the leadership thing, pro athletes tend to play for the money. College athletes tend to play for the school, but high school athletes should play for each other because it’s that’s what it means to me.

Jeff Towberman [00:18:21]:
And legitimately, I don’t know that some freshmen or in Minnesota, a seventh or eighth grader can play high school baseball. I don’t know that some seventh grader that’s five foot nothing isn’t gonna be six two by the time he’s, you know, a sophomore in high school. And I think attitude is and and aptitude is extremely important. But I would also say that I’ve said for years that to me, nobody’s born with the knowledge. Nobody. I don’t care who you are. You could be the c me Jack Walsh for all I care. He wasn’t born with the knowledge, and he learned it along the way, trial and error, and if nothing else.

Jeff Towberman [00:18:55]:
And when you say that about how even the boss sometimes isn’t right, it’s life experiences that you can bring that can well round a team. And it can be a baseball team. It can be a, you know, in our case, a finance team. It could be an audit team. It could be a whole bunch of stuff that, you know, in a sense, I think that’s why I kinda like it is that it gives it that mentality of being a team and together we succeed, together we fail mentality of this is the way it is and know your role and learn what that role is.

John Garrett [00:19:25]:
Totally. No. I I love it because, I mean, yeah, in baseball, I mean, there’s the 1 hitter that’s supposed to get on base. There’s the cleanup guy that hits the home runs and gets all the media and the press. But there’s that 9 eight nine hitter that no one hears of. Like, it’s like you probably play shortstop or right field or something, and it’s like, alright, you know, but you’re a great defensive player. Whatever it is, not everyone can be cleanup hitter because, you know, we need 9 hitters. We already got that spot type of thing, and so I I love that, man.

John Garrett [00:19:53]:
And now I need to quit expensing my Porsche pants. Just kidding. Yeah. But is it is this something I would imagine your passion for baseball, is that something that came through throughout your career, or is it something that now you’re a baseball coach, it comes up more?

Jeff Towberman [00:20:08]:
Well, I I think that I’ve always been a a baseball fan. I have a hat at home that was my grandfather’s that split down the middle is the Oakland A’s and the other side is the San Francisco giants. Wow. It’s 1 of those because they, I was born in Redwood City, which is in the Bay Area and still have a lot of family that lives out there. So I know that you’ve had a few other guests on that have talked about traveling to a lot of the ballparks, and it’s something that’s always been on my bucket list, if you will. And I can’t remember who it was. And he was talking about how his worst experience at a ballpark was at the Metrodome. I’ve lived that experience.

Jeff Towberman [00:20:41]:
Trust me. You know, I, I was fortunate enough that the same high school coach, I got to play in the Metrodome twice, and I could drop a baseball from, you know, five, six feet high, and it would bounce about 10 feet here. And thought I was Kirby Puckett one time and jumped into the plexiglass, and I think my shoulder still feels it forty years later. But, you know, legitimately, it’s 1 of those things where I’ve been in the Metrodome and he was right. You know, everything faces the 50 yard line. But I will say the Park And Field in Minnesota here, and, obviously, I’m a brewers fan and absolutely love Miller Park and Love County Stadium. It’s 1 of those things where just the experience. I don’t like how much people talk, you know, it seems like it’s more of a social gathering nowadays, but I think that legitimately, I think the game of baseball is it’s an easy game to play, but it’s a hard game to play.

Jeff Towberman [00:21:30]:
And it’s our game to hit the ball with a round object coming in

John Garrett [00:21:33]:
and Totally.

Jeff Towberman [00:21:34]:
You know, with a round bat type of thing. So I I’m not gonna sit here and say that I think Barry Bonds should be in the hall of fame, but I would say that he still had to hit the ball legitimately. You know, it it is 1 of those things. But, yeah, I mean, throughout my life growing up, it’s always been something, and I was fortunate to have a son that excelled at it and absolutely loved it. And I will be honest with you. He he’s been a, JV coach for the last three years in our hometown, and he is actually next year going to be on my coaching staff. So I get to coach with my son too. And I think that’s 1 of the most exciting things to me, I think, of all of it.

John Garrett [00:22:08]:
That’s fantastic. That’s so cool, man. It’s so great to hear how much it’s impacted outside off the diamond. You know? I mean, just it’s $24.07. So for anyone to ask you, like, hey. Don’t bring the baseball, Jeff, to work or don’t bring the baseball, Jeff, well, I don’t even know how to cut that out. Like, I mean, like, it’s like, I don’t even know. It’s so interwoven in who you are.

Jeff Towberman [00:22:32]:
And now they call me coach. You know, like, I’m walking around. They’re like the old guy from Cheers. I I don’t know how this works. You know? It’s like, yeah. You know? I got, some of my subordinates, they go, hey, coach. And I’m like, what? You know? It’s kinda 1 of those things. But, yeah, it’s kind of endearing.

Jeff Towberman [00:22:46]:
I’ll be honest with you. I the very first leadership meetings when the welcome back go and the superintendent brought it up, how I was the new head baseball coach and how awesome that was. And I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but, you know, I think it’s it obviously is a big deal. So it’s, you know, it’s kinda neat.

John Garrett [00:23:02]:
Yeah. You’re making accounting cool again, man. Exactly. That’s there it is. There’s that too. So, yeah. So do you have any words of encouragement to to people listening that maybe they have an and, but they think it has nothing to do with their job and no one’s gonna care?

Jeff Towberman [00:23:15]:
Well, I think that, you know, to be truthful with you is it’s much more enjoyable when people know who you are. You know? And I think to some extent, you know, that’s more of an you know, as in Masbo when you when you gave the you know, your talk. To me, that’s really let’s be real. Work is a 4 letter word. Doesn’t have to be. I mean, you know, legitimately, you were gonna have good days. We’re gonna have bad days. And whenever you get a group of people, you know, a thousand people in the school district, not everybody’s gonna get along.

Jeff Towberman [00:23:44]:
And that’s the way I understand that. But let’s be real. There’s 9 players on, on a field at the same time. They’re not going to necessarily always get along. It’s 1 of those things where, you know, you control what you can control and you make the most of it. And I would think that, you know, legitimately people should embrace what their passions are. I’m not saying that you can be a high school coach, you know, whatever, but at the same time, be involved. You know, let’s say you love drama and you’re not going to be able to make it on Broadway.

Jeff Towberman [00:24:14]:
Get involved with your schools, get involved, you know, and, and be a volunteer at the arts club or whatever that may be. You know, there’s be involved with your communities. But what makes you, I mean, you know, do things that 1 of your latest guys likes to do running. I don’t know why. You know?

John Garrett [00:24:30]:
Zitto. Like, that’s punishment to me. I’m like, that’s

Jeff Towberman [00:24:33]:
Exactly. But, you know, he’s talking about running 50 miles, and I’m like, only if I can do it in a car. You know? No. It’s legitimate. It’s their passion that they like and love, and and that’s what really does make you you. I 1 of my subordinates here is, I bowl on every Thursday with my son, and he makes us look terrible. He doesn’t bowl with us, which is probably good because he’s really good. But, you know, legitimately, it’s, you know, this is what we talk about.

Jeff Towberman [00:24:58]:
We talked about it this morning. How was your weekend? Oh, is it a bowling term? You know? And that’s what makes work a tolerable 4 letter word to me is understanding that what makes us tick, what is that makes us is, if you will.

John Garrett [00:25:11]:
No. I love that. That’s so so beautiful. And, yeah, we’re humans around other humans, and we’re around them a long time, especially if you get there at 04:30AM. That’s a lot of time. I mean, I know there’s alone hours there too, but even when people are there, you know, and so why not? No. Just a little bit. You know, it doesn’t have to be super deep creepy, like get inside someone’s head, but just what lights you up and remember and then ask about it, you know, type of a thing.

John Garrett [00:25:37]:
And then that energy and that passion is infectious. It really is. And then like you said, it makes it more enjoyable and more pleasant to be around you.

Jeff Towberman [00:25:45]:
Exactly. And I’ll be honest with you. It’s the little things. You know, my director of finance and he’s going to hear this. So he’s going to know I’m sucking up, I guess. But there does not go a day goes by that he doesn’t make a conscious effort to say good morning to everyone. It’s just that little thing. It’s 1 of those just to acknowledge people, I think, sometimes.

Jeff Towberman [00:26:04]:
And going back really quick to the baseball piece of it, I’m a firm believer that not all, but there are kids that the only time that they get away from social issues and whatever that may be, whether they’re getting screamed at or their parents are screaming out of their home life or whatever that may be is that hour and a half to two hours that they have to come to practice. And it’s acknowledging that. And to me, it’s just making them feel I mean, there’s no secret on what our our mental health is in this country and especially on the kids. And I think that, you know, if there’s 1 thing I’ve learned at a school district, it’s they’re all different kids. They’re all different, you know, mentalities. And I want those kids to come and be involved, to be a part of that and understand that it’s okay to be who you are and what you wanna be. At the same time, maybe learning those lessons of of the game of baseball and and how I can use that to to know that I could be a hall of famer of being 1 for 3. Right.

Jeff Towberman [00:26:59]:
But at the same time of, you know, striking out sometimes in life is, is okay. That you’re not a piece of crud because you, you know, you can’t hit the ball with bases loaded in your bottom of the ninth. You know, it doesn’t I guess, technically, the seventh. But, you know, it’s 1 of those things where, you know, making sure that they are who they are and understanding that is, I think, probably more important to me than teaching these kids the game of baseball, to be honest with you.

John Garrett [00:27:24]:
And you’re just using baseball as a tool. Exactly. That’s awesome, man. I love it. I love it so much, and it means so much that the what you’re in message struck you and how it plays into what you’re doing, you know, with these kids as well and that mindset. And, that’s that’s so cool to hear. So cool. Well, this has been so great, Jeff.

John Garrett [00:27:41]:
I feel like it’s only fair, though, since I peppered you with so many questions at the beginning. We turn the tables, and we make this the, Jeff Toberman podcast. And, happy to be your first guest. Thanks for having me on. So whatever questions you wanna ask, I’m all yours.

Jeff Towberman [00:27:55]:
I do have a few. I was thinking about this that, you know, obviously, I think most people know that you were, acquaintances or friends with Louie Anderson and Louie’s being a menace a Minnesota native. I do have to tell you that my mom’s gonna hear this too, so she’ll probably hear this, but I used to sneak and stay up late. And when I was in the in the when I was, you know, a kid, I’ll never forget the very first time, and this is the God’s honest truth that I remember watching Johnny Carson late 1 night, and Louie Anderson was on the show for the very first time. And the joke that he was talking about the Olympics, so I assumed it was probably the Los Angeles Olympics in ’84. But he was talking about the Olympics, and he was talking about how he straightened out the uneven parallel bars and whatever. But the joke he told that I’ll never forget was he said, yeah. And I tried the broad jump, and I killed her.

Jeff Towberman [00:28:43]:
And it was the greatest joke that I’ll never forget. So my question is, you know, with Louis, and it it’d be too easy to ask you from Louis. But other than Louis, and and I know you’re on Jay Leno and stuff, and you I think you said, that you met Jerry Seinfeld too.

John Garrett [00:28:58]:
I hung out with Leno, met Seinfeld. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff Towberman [00:29:00]:
Sure. Other than Jerry, that’s too easy. Who was the biggest name celebrity that you ever met or got acquainted with, and what’d you think of him?

John Garrett [00:29:09]:
Oh, wow. So many cool I mean, in the comedy world, I mean, that I’ve met and, I mean, like, nowadays, like, the Ryan Hamiltons and the Nate Vargasys. I mean, I was around them. You know, they’re just guys, you know, that we hung out and, you know, we did shows together. We, you know, we’re all trying to make it, you know, sort of thing. Even back in the day, Seinfeld was so cool to me, for me personally, and he’s very private. But there was once a group called the Good Humor Men, and it was guys that had been on Carson. So Jimmy Brogan, who was a Notre Dame alum, so he kinda became my Yoda, and he was Leno’s right hand for, like, the first ten years of The Tonight Show, and Henry Cho, so funny, and and Mark Schiff, who wrote for Mad About You and and all these other shows.

John Garrett [00:29:58]:
And almost all comedians and the people that I’ve been fortunate enough to meet and hang out with have all been really cool because they came from not a lot, and then they remember what it’s like to be me, you know. And so we’re all brothers or we’re all, you know, siblings in this and so so that’s been really cool for that. And the ones that I find that aren’t very nice are the ones that feel like they should be more famous, but they’re not. And so they’re just total jerks about it. And it’s like, dude, people know who you are. Calm down. You know? And but they feel like they should be the cleanup hitter and I’m the number 5 hitter instead of the 4 hitters. It’s like, shut up.

John Garrett [00:30:39]:
Like, you’re on a Major League Baseball team for the love of God. Like, what is wrong with you? And yeah. So it’s been cool. And even through Notre Dame Football, I’ve been able to write some of the award shows. Some of them nominated for Emmys and meet, you know, former players like Bettis and Aaron Taylor. And, like, Aaron and I are friends now. Like, we text and and hang on, and he does CBS morning football. And, like, such a great guy, you know, like and so so it’s cool to see, like, when you just treat them like regular people, then they’re just regular people.

John Garrett [00:31:06]:
And and they they see the coolness in you too. So yeah, so I’ve been fortunate enough to meet in Rob elbows with, yeah, some really really fantastic people. That’s what’s really beautiful about it is when you meet them and it doesn’t ruin it. Yeah. So I don’t even know if I answered your question, but I’ve been come across so many cool people. Some people that people know of, some that are like, who is that? And then but they’ve all been great for the most part. There’s a handful, but yeah. But for the most part I’d

Jeff Towberman [00:31:34]:
venture to believe that the big time funny people have really good writers underneath them sometimes and so those are the people that are the funniest sometimes. But

John Garrett [00:31:41]:
Yeah. Very much. And especially on a show because that’s the way old sitcoms used to work is, you know, you work your way up in New York and then you get a development deal and then you move to LA and then you bring 12 of your good friends, and you go write a show. You know, Seinfeld or King of Queens or Everybody Loves Raymond Right. Or, you know, all those.

Jeff Towberman [00:31:59]:
Yeah. 1 more quick 1 if I may. I know that, you you said in your book that you were glad that the people that you worked with didn’t come and heckle you. Because I assume you’ve had hecklers, so I don’t wanna that’s an e too easy of a question. But what’s the best joke you think you ever told, and what’s the worst bomb that you had? Wow. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:32:20]:
Well, probably my best joke, as far as, like, a quick joke was, I say, I ran a half marathon, which is far. And I found out by the time I finished, the winner was already back in Kenya. Like, he just I came in right to the airport. He’s like, oh, that’s how slow I was. You know? Like, there’s more to the joke, but that I think it’s pretty funny. And then yeah. I mean, the worst joke. There’s so many.

John Garrett [00:32:46]:
I mean, so many because that’s how you find out what the good ones are. You know? Awesome, man. Well, I appreciate it, Jeff. And thank you so much for being a part of What’s Your “And”? and sharing this message and just making a difference in so many people’s lives through baseball.

Jeff Towberman [00:33:01]:
Well, thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.

John Garrett [00:33:07]:
Yeah. Definitely. And everybody listening, if you want to see some pictures of Jeff from his baseball days or on the diamond Now as a coach or 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, do the anonymous research survey about corporate culture. And don’t forget to check out the book. 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.