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John Garrett [00:00:00]:
Hey, this is John Garrett. I’m passionate about making work more human, especially in this age of AI. I don’t just host this podcast, I also help organizations put people first. Through my keynote speaking, coaching and what’s your and implementation programs. To learn more or to connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram, I invite you to join the movement@whatsyourand.com now let’s jump into this week’s conversation.

Steve Ferguson [00:00:28]:
Hi, this is Steve Ferguson and when I’m not tearing up the racetrack, I’m listening to John Garrett on What’s Your “And”?™.

John Garrett [00:00:34]:
Welcome to episode 705 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, best-selling book 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 say how much it means that everyone’s reading it and writing such great reviews on Amazon.

John Garrett [00:01:26]:
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 audio books. And please don’t forget to hit subscribe to the podcast. You don’t miss any of the future episodes. I love sharing such interesting stories each and every week and this week is no different with my guest, Steve Ferguson. He’s the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Protection Plus and now he’s with me here today. Steve, thanks so much for taking time to be with me on What’s Your “And”?.

Steve Ferguson [00:01:56]:
Thanks for having me, John. Looking forward to this.

John Garrett [00:01:58]:
Yeah, it’s been so cool hanging out with you at a couple of the BDO Alliance area meetings and meeting you. So I’m excited for this for sure.

Steve Ferguson [00:02:06]:
Well, I’m excited to start doing this because I’ve actually used your tool running around talking to people. I’ve used this as a way to identify people and start remembering why they’re different than the other ones in the room. So this has been a very exciting journey for me.

John Garrett [00:02:20]:
Wow. Well, that means so much, man. The episode’s over. We’re done, everybody. I’m totally teasing. I’m totally teasing, man. No, that means a lot. Thank you so much for that.

John Garrett [00:02:30]:
I feel like it’s only fair that we start with some rapid-fire questions. Get to know Steve out of the gate. Ones I’ve never asked you. Actually, the couple times we’ve hung out, maybe an easy one. Do you have a favorite color?

Steve Ferguson [00:02:40]:
Green.

John Garrett [00:02:40]:
Green. I like it. Okay, how about a least favorite color?

Steve Ferguson [00:02:44]:
Black.

John Garrett [00:02:45]:
Black. Oh, interesting. Okay.

Steve Ferguson [00:02:47]:
All right.

John Garrett [00:02:47]:
How about. Are you more early bird or night owl?

Steve Ferguson [00:02:50]:
I actually have no clock now since I travel so much. You know, 46 weeks a year, I’m on the road. I just wake up whenever the alarm goes off and I go to bed whenever my head hits a pill. So I can sleep anywhere and wake up anytime. So I don’t have a time.

John Garrett [00:03:05]:
Good for you, man. No, I can feel that a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. How about. Do you have a favorite actor or an actress?

Steve Ferguson [00:03:12]:
Favorite actor would have to be Don Cheadle.

John Garrett [00:03:16]:
Oh, yeah. Okay.

Steve Ferguson [00:03:18]:
I don’t know what it is. Anytime I see him in something, I’ll just. I have to watch it. He. I don’t know. He just draws me. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:03:24]:
No, that totally works. How about toilet paper roll? You going over or under?

Steve Ferguson [00:03:28]:
I always heard from ex girls I dated when I was young that I did it wrong. So I guess I am under.

John Garrett [00:03:35]:
That’s funny how you deduced that?

Steve Ferguson [00:03:38]:
Well, I was corrected by girls I dated that I hung the toilet paper wrong on a number of times. So remember that lesson.

John Garrett [00:03:45]:
That’s very funny. And since you’re a Chicago guy, do you have a favorite Chicago deep dish spot?

Steve Ferguson [00:03:49]:
Well, there is only one true one. That’s Pequods.

John Garrett [00:03:52]:
Oh. Oh, okay.

Steve Ferguson [00:03:54]:
The other ones, they all want. They all have a claim. But Pequods is at a whole nother level. And there used to be one prior to that Burt’s. But he is the one who formed Pequods. But he’s passed. Somebody bought his restaurant. But he is the originator of Pequods.

Steve Ferguson [00:04:07]:
Started his own. He passed them Pequods really adheres to his original recipe. The best.

John Garrett [00:04:12]:
Okay. Yeah. I have not been because I’ve done all the apparently touristy ones.

Steve Ferguson [00:04:16]:
You’ve probably done Lou Malnati’s, Geno’s East Uno’s, right? Yep. And they’re. They’re fine. But that’s not. That won’t bring you to the next level.

John Garrett [00:04:23]:
Yep, there you go. No, and I’m a next level kind of guy, so thank you for straightening me out. Like I like that. How about puzzles? Sudoku, Crossw? Jigsaw Puzzle?

Steve Ferguson [00:04:31]:
Jigsaw. My wife and I do enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles.

John Garrett [00:04:35]:
There you go. Like it. Okay. Star wars or Star Trek?

Steve Ferguson [00:04:39]:
No, Star Trek. A little bit of Star Wars. Until I heard. I love the first three. Then I saw the first of the prequel. Is that the prequel that came out then? And, and then it didn’t do anything for me. And I saw one of the, the follow ups and I just kind of. It lost me.

Steve Ferguson [00:04:58]:
It was ruining the first three so I’ve stuck just with the first three.

John Garrett [00:05:01]:
Yeah. And I honestly haven’t seen anything since the first three because I’ve heard this and I don’t want to ruin it. So I’m like, you know what? I’m good. Like I’m good. And you know, the risk reward is too, too high. Like, you know, it’s, it’s at best I’m going to come out even. And I’m like, no, no, I’m already even. So how about I just call it a day? Your computer? More PC or Mac?

Steve Ferguson [00:05:21]:
Oh, only PC. They’ve, I’ve tried. They’ve. The company is pretty much Mac and they always try to put me in them and finally they get, they throw up their hands and they agree there’s no way you can put Steve in a Mac I can’t use. I don’t have an iPhone. I don’t have anything to do with Apple. I did have an ipod that I was very happy with until they took that away. So I am a, I’m a lost creature in the Apple ecosystem.

John Garrett [00:05:44]:
No, you’re my ghost of Christmas future man. Because I also have no, no Apple anything. How about ice cream? You go in a cup or in a cone?

Steve Ferguson [00:05:52]:
A massive boat.

John Garrett [00:05:53]:
Oh yeah.

Steve Ferguson [00:05:55]:
I consume massive amounts of ice cream. I once in, in sixth grade we used to have a contest at school and whoever sold the most of the wrapping paper, they had an ice cream party for after lunch. And the rule was as long as you were eating ice cream, you didn’t have to go back to class. So lunch ended at one and I proceeded to sit there and I wound up eating through a three gallon tub of ice cream until 2:45 and they had to send me home. And it frustrated the teachers because one teacher had to sit in the lunchroom with Me. So a class didn’t have a teacher because of me, so I am an ice cream consumption.

John Garrett [00:06:37]:
God, this is amazing, man. I love it. Like, I thought I was legend, but that’s. That’s epic. That’s really, really fantastic, man. How about a favorite animal? Any animal at all?

Steve Ferguson [00:06:47]:
Manta tees. I love manatees. Outside of a dog, so. Manatees are really cool. There’s just something about them. As a scuba diver, you love being around them. But ye. It’s a.

Steve Ferguson [00:06:58]:
Manatees are really neat.

John Garrett [00:06:59]:
Yeah. Yeah, totally. How about more talk or text?

Steve Ferguson [00:07:02]:
Oh, you don’t want to text me. It might take days to get a response from. You’re better off calling me first then a computer with email text. I literally. That is. People laugh when they. When they say, oh, I sent him a text. And anyone on my team would start laughing and say, well, expect an answer next week.

John Garrett [00:07:19]:
Right. There you go. You might as well have sent a letter. That would have gotten there faster.

Steve Ferguson [00:07:23]:
Yeah, the pony express might be a better way, right?

John Garrett [00:07:27]:
I love it. Do you have a favorite cartoon when you were a kid?

Steve Ferguson [00:07:29]:
Fred Flintstone.

John Garrett [00:07:30]:
Oh, nice.

Steve Ferguson [00:07:31]:
I still have Fred Flintstone artwork all over my house.

John Garrett [00:07:34]:
There you go. Okay. All right. How about a favorite number 77. Do you have a favorite sports team?

Steve Ferguson [00:07:41]:
Unfortunately, the Dallas Cowboys.

John Garrett [00:07:43]:
Oh, okay. You know, when I was a kid, I was a huge cow. I mean, Tom Landry, you know, when Danny White was a quarterback. You know, they had Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker, all those guys like when I was a kid. And then. Yeah, and then Jimmie Johnson years was when I sort of faded.

Steve Ferguson [00:07:57]:
Well, my second cous played on the first super bowl team as a very little boy. I got to meet Roger Starbuck. I got to meet. His roommate was a guy named Bob Hayes. Bullet Bob Hayes. They used to send me Christmas cards. So I got sucked in. And once you have me, I’m.

Steve Ferguson [00:08:12]:
I’m unfortunately very loyal. So they kind of got. Even though I can’t stand current situation, I can’t change colors.

John Garrett [00:08:19]:
Since you do travel so much. Planes, trains, or automobiles. It’s kind of a trick one to travel planes.

Steve Ferguson [00:08:25]:
But there’s nothing more that I love than being in automobiles.

John Garrett [00:08:28]:
Exactly. That’s what I was like. It’s gonna going to be automobiles, but either way. And the last one, the favorite thing you have or the favorite thing you own.

Steve Ferguson [00:08:35]:
The favorite thing I own is I have a 1993 Dodge Viper number 349. It was a passion. It was a car that changed my life. Because when I first saw the Clay model. I fell in love. I literally worked two, three jobs actually to build up enough to acquire that car. I got on a list to own it, and then I wound up becoming the founder of the Viper Club of America and the past national president. So I was a car enthusiast, but I couldn’t live in that scape yet.

Steve Ferguson [00:09:03]:
But that car, I believe, made me what I am in a lot of ways, because that car created the drive in me to have more.

John Garrett [00:09:10]:
That’s amazing. What like, wow, that’s super cool. I mean, from the beginning, you said.

Steve Ferguson [00:09:16]:
You saw the clay model, 1988, December 22nd. I know the date. It came in a magazine. It was on Auto Week. It was a clay model. It came out. I remember seeing it, and it just blew my mind. And then a month later, it showed up at the Detroit Auto show, and it was in road and track then.

Steve Ferguson [00:09:32]:
And that’s. It just. It was a drive of mine. And that was really a passion that really drove my automotive passion to a whole nother gear.

John Garrett [00:09:39]:
That’s amazing. I love it. Well, let’s jump right in. I mean, that’s perfect. Segue right into the cars. And. But how did that get started? I mean, that’s more of an in between part, I think, in the middle of your story. But yeah, but how did this get started? Were you always a car? Did you grow up like that or was it later?

Steve Ferguson [00:09:55]:
I grew up in a high rise, Lakeshore Drive in Chicago. And because when you live in a high rise, you know, I typically took buses, drove bikes. There wasn’t a lot of car stuff, but there was a. A couple in the building, a dentist and his significant other. And the significant others was a guy named Jim. And all Jim did was read magazines all day while Dr. Porter was away at work, being a dentist. And I would see Jim in the downstairs when we were waiting for cars because we had a garage and they had garage attendants that would bring it.

Steve Ferguson [00:10:27]:
And he always saw me kind of ooh in and on over cars. When I was young, between, I would say around 10 is when I first met him and Dr. Porter. And he goes, you really like cars, don’t you? And I said, yeah. And he goes, well, I’m going to start dropping off some of my magazines. I get to you. Well, every Monday when I would get home from school, there would be anywhere from, I’d say, two to 10 car magazines. And he got them in from around the world.

Steve Ferguson [00:10:51]:
So all of a sudden I went from knowing what Chevy’s, GMs and Chryslers were to knowing what global cars were. And so I started reading up on it. I got it. It kind of drove this passion of wow, there’s this whole car world out there I don’t know anything about. And because of where I live, you don’t see these types of cars. So it really kind of drove it. And I went from my. My first car was $325 beater and I always kind of wanted more.

Steve Ferguson [00:11:16]:
But that’s where it really started was at about 10 years old when Jim started dropping off car magazines for me to learn about the car world.

John Garrett [00:11:23]:
That’s awesome, man. Yeah. I mean, as a 10 year old kid, I mean that, you know the, you go to like the, the, the school book fair or whatever and they always have the Lamborghini poster or the, you know, something like that, you know, like that’s around that age. Absolutely. You know, and, and that’s awesome. But then it went from just like having cars and tinkering around with cars to like racing and taking them to the max. And, and how did some of that journey go?

Steve Ferguson [00:11:48]:
So it was in 1988, I had a car. It was a 86 Mustang SVO, which was a European version of a Mustang that they had developed in Europe. It was a four cylinder but with a turbo. It was actually faster than the Mustang GT at the time. But it was unique in that it came with a Hurst 5 speed coning shocks on it, which was really designed. It was really designed more for suspension and turning rather than straight line speed. And I was driving down Oakton Road in Chicago or outside of Chicago in the suburbs. And there was this community college that was having an autocross and I stopped at it.

Steve Ferguson [00:12:20]:
And I’d never seen an autocross in person. I read about them. So I stopped and they allowed me to joined the club that day. Had to join to be able to get on the liability waiver. And I all of a sudden started driving like, this is really cool. And then as I grew up and got the Viper, part of the issue with The Viper is 38 of those cars never made it home from the dealership originally because people would get in them. And at the time I had come out of a Corvette into the Viper. Well, it was almost 150 more horsepower and almost 200 pounds more of torque.

Steve Ferguson [00:12:50]:
So these people would get in this car without understanding and comprehending the power and had no abs, no anti slip, nothing. It had safety features and people would smash these cars up. And it became evident that one of the smartest things we could do as a car Club was to teach these people how to drive these cars. So we, instead of letting them do it on the street, we started renting out racetrack. We would bring the people out. We brought in professional instructors to teach them how to drive the cars. And in that evolution, because of my involvement, I became more and more active in it. And then because of that, I evolved from just not only a driver.

Steve Ferguson [00:13:26]:
I did a lot of time trial races. I became an instructor. It afforded me all kinds of experiences from driving. And I’ve probably driven 50 racetracks around the United States, some legendary ones. Watkins Glen Road America, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Willow Springs. I’ve been up in Monterey, at Sonoma, I’ve been able to go out and drive all these tracks. But as an instructor, I actually got to drive somebody’s F40 Ferrari once. That was a million and a half dollar car.

Steve Ferguson [00:13:54]:
And the guy we got in the car and he’s like, hey, would you mind showing me how to get the. You know, how I should drive this? And I was like, you don’t have to ask me twice.

John Garrett [00:14:01]:
Right, Exactly. Holy cow.

Steve Ferguson [00:14:03]:
And actually went my own. We had an event called the Viper Ferrari wars, and I was an instructor, and I get in somebody’s Ferrari, I sit in it, and I immediately. I look at him. I start introducing myself, and I start going, when you pull out, here’s what you’re going to want to do. And I kind of looked at him, and I’m. I just started staring at. Because I recognized them. I just couldn’t put a face with the name.

Steve Ferguson [00:14:23]:
And he just shook his head and he goes, yeah. He goes, you probably have realized who I am. I go, you know, I know your face. I just can’t put a name with it. He goes, yeah, I’m Jimmy Chamberlain. Well, then I started talking like a little girl. Because that’s the drummer of the Smashing Pumpkin.

John Garrett [00:14:36]:
Exactly.

Steve Ferguson [00:14:37]:
Yeah. So I was like, you’re kidding me. So I actually taught Jimmy Chamberlain how to drive his Ferrari. So that was very exciting for me.

John Garrett [00:14:42]:
That’s so cool, man. Yeah, because, I mean, some of those cars, like, I mean, they’re rocket ships, you know, and especially with no safety features, then it’s even crazier. And, yeah, just regular civilians. And like you said, you came out of a Corvette, which is already power, and it’s, you know, way more powerful than that. It’s like, what? That’s nuts. Yeah. I didn’t even, like, realize that until you were just talking it through. But what such cool experiences, man.

John Garrett [00:15:05]:
And like, that has to just make you feel like so alive when you’re just flying down the track like that. It does.

Steve Ferguson [00:15:10]:
And it creates, well, like my wife likes to say, it creates this isolation that I seem to crave because I’m a talker in life. You know, my job is I go around talking to companies and people all day long, but it seems like I gravitate. I love speed and I love thrills. And so my three favorite hobbies is I love hyp performance driving. I love to scuba dive and I love to drive. I have a snowmobile. So in the winter I. So I put these things on where I can’t talk to anybody basically for an hour.

Steve Ferguson [00:15:38]:
And I go out and I do something, I enjoy it and I get this thrill, this adrenaline rush that you really can’t get when you’re. I don’t get that explicitly when I’m talking to somebody.

John Garrett [00:15:48]:
Yeah, absolutely. Man, I, I think that’s fantastic. Like, that’s so cool. And do you feel like any of this translates over to work or is it more of a reprieve?

Steve Ferguson [00:15:58]:
To some extent, but people kind of gravitate to my stories when it comes to, when I start talking about some of the experiences I’ve had scuba diving, you know, like I, you know, Bora Bora diving, I dove with sharks, you know, I dump in the water and I see, you know, five lemon sharks underneath me and it’s like, wow. And I remember the instructor saying, you know, make sure you don’t flail away. You got to go right at them because they’re predators. They don’t not used to something coming at them. Well, that all sounds fine and dandy, but when you’re going after a nine foot lemon shark and you’re swimming at them, you don’t feel all that smart, right. Especially the first time you do it. So. But those are great stories to share with somebody.

Steve Ferguson [00:16:37]:
So I, you know, my thrilling experiences and thrills are great experiences. Plus, you know, with like especially the high performance driving, I was doing that all over the United States. So it got me to a lot of different cities and locations. I’m kind of a foodie, so I like to, you know, so when I’m there, I like to eat different things. When I get in conversations with people, I may have been in their town or they could, at least they’re familiar with that particular racetrack and maybe a meal around there. And so it allows me to bring what I do into conversations more so than people would think.

John Garrett [00:17:10]:
I think that that’s so fantastic because that’s what people are going to remember. I mean, people always ask me about all the people that have been guests on this podcast, and I said, you know, I could go down the list, and I probably couldn’t tell you most of their jobs, and especially now, years later, but I could tell you all of their aunts, like, every single one of the people that have been on the guest on the podcast. Because.

Steve Ferguson [00:17:30]:
And I’ve seen that.

John Garrett [00:17:31]:
Yeah, and you have seen you do that.

Steve Ferguson [00:17:33]:
Literally.

John Garrett [00:17:34]:
Actually, you were an example in one just a little bit ago. So it’s such a powerful thing of just, you know, who are you as, you know, Steve, not as, you know, worker, job title, person, you know, and it’s deeper and richer and more profound and it’s stickier type of a thing. And so this is something that does come up in conversation with clients and colleagues and what have you. They know the side of you.

Steve Ferguson [00:18:00]:
Most of them do, because I’m kind of an open book, unfortunately, I probably talk too much. And I talk. I have no problem sharing about my life. It’s whether they find it exciting or not. I always say it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. So I kind of say it, put it out there, and some people will find it exciting. And every once in a while, you run into somebody that isn’t interested in it. You know, I’ve had good enough experiences.

Steve Ferguson [00:18:23]:
I, you know, I don’t have any children. You know, we’ve married 32 years. We never had kids. And not only do I have the. The sports cars, but we’ve actually owned nine minivans because we’ve had English Mastiffs, so we had seven of them.

John Garrett [00:18:36]:
Oh, wow.

Steve Ferguson [00:18:36]:
You really can’t pick that dog up. So you have to have vehicles that they can get into, in and out of, you know, so the Mastiffs have always been a good topic of conversation because it’s such a unique dog breed. I have. I find that I’ve lived an interesting life, and I always have pretty funny stories that I can share, so I don’t mind sharing them.

John Garrett [00:18:53]:
Yeah. And how does it feel when people ask you about the cars or about the scuba trips or, you know, about the dogs or, you know, is it kind of like, oh, they know me as. As me. That feels kind of like I’m valued.

Steve Ferguson [00:19:05]:
No, I think that it is good that they get to know you because, again, I do like when people remember you. And that was one of the things that gravitated me to. And, you know, the company I work with. One of the cool things I’ve told you their owner. You know, we have a meeting every Thursday with the entire company. There’s 200 of us and they ask what are you doing? Personally? They don’t, they don’t want to know what you’re doing at work. What exciting happened to you today? Some people, you know, engaged, I got a baby or hey, my kid just graduated. I love the aspect of reaching out and actually the, and I think shows that you care.

Steve Ferguson [00:19:39]:
You know, walking in a room, I seen you walk in a room. And everyone’s in the accounting industry and, and it just is not the most exciting industry, but the, and pulls that excitement into the room. It literally, it’s like bringing helium or air into the system where otherwise it’s just nothing there. So it’s so cool. So identifying who you are and what you are, whether people are asked or not, I think is a great ploy. And you know what, if I in a room with 10, 20 people and I share my story, I believe they are going to remember me over the other 18 in that room that didn’t.

John Garrett [00:20:11]:
Say anything very much. So. Yeah, I mean, because even when you know some of these, you know, networking events. Okay, everybody, we’re going to pass the mic around, introduce yourself. Yeah, I’m not going to remember anybody. Like, I’m just not, I mean like it’s how many, how many insurance people, how many accountants, how many attorneys, how many computer programming, whatever. How many can I remember? Like after two, I’m like, you know what? Just zero. I’m now like just done.

John Garrett [00:20:36]:
But if it’s, hey, I do this and I love to race high performance cars. All right, I’m going to remember you because that’s pretty cool. And I’ve got follow up questions on not the job part, but on the cars. Yeah, tell me about it. Or the scuba where those are fun, engaging moments that just bring more human to this corporate space.

Steve Ferguson [00:21:02]:
It brings their walls down, I feel.

John Garrett [00:21:04]:
Yeah, exactly. And so how much do you feel like it’s on leadership to create that space? Like it sounds like you guys have at protection plus versus how much is it on the individual?

Steve Ferguson [00:21:13]:
I think it’s key and leadership’s got to understand it. They’ve got to embrace it and want it and it, you know, I know at least us as a company, it’s, it’s invaluable and they see it again. You know, when I heard what you were doing, it was just so exciting that like, wow, somebody else is out there actually preaching what we’re trying to do here. It’s invaluable in my. In the type of company we’ve built, we’ve grown extremely fast, you know, and it’s not for everybody. But I do believe that the. It’s part of the reason we get the type and quality person we get, because we care about who we have in there. We want to know everything about them.

Steve Ferguson [00:21:47]:
We don’t want them to feel that we want. We always say that your job is kind of personal, you know, you’re involved in this, so you need to know them personally, you know, So I do believe that good leadership sees this as a value and gravitates to it. And a lot of times, good leadership just doesn’t even know it exists. It has to be told or shown to them. You know, Again, that’s why you’re so invaluable in what you’re doing right now, getting out there and teaching these people that you yourself can make a big difference in this industry. Ren. Because a lot of this doesn’t happen, from what I’ve seen. And, you know, your messaging needs to be out there and out and prevalent in our groups and circles.

John Garrett [00:22:23]:
Yeah, well, I appreciate it, and it’s encouraging to hear you guys are doing it anyway, you know, and seeing the positive ramifications of it. Even more importantly, that it’s not a well, it’s nice to have. It’s a no, no. This attracts talent. This keeps talent. Like, this is huge for the culture of our organization and the growth and the rapid growth that we’ve had. This is a key piece of the foundation and that matters. So it’s so cool to hear that.

John Garrett [00:22:49]:
So it’s encouraging to me, anyway, to know that, like, oh, this works. It’s not just a no, it does. Harvard study, make believe, you know, like whatever type of thing. So do you have any words of encouragement to anybody listening that they feel like they have an and, but no one’s going to care because it has nothing to do with my job type of thing?

Steve Ferguson [00:23:05]:
Well, I mean, again, I think all people that, you know, some people are shy, which I obviously am not, but some people are a little apprehensive about sharing their story. My wife is not apprehensive, but she grew up in a. You know, you don’t talk about what you have, what you do, you know, you kind of keep it isolated, you know, and if that’s where you’re comfortable, fine. You know, she was just at an event with some people. Pretty high. A very large company, United States, privately owned. But she knows some of the people because my wife’s a yoga instructor, and she was in there, and they’re all talking about, you know, political things and stuff. And she just sits there and she’s very quiet.

Steve Ferguson [00:23:39]:
Me, she said. The first thing she says, I’m so glad you weren’t there. Because I would have made sure whether they agree with my opinion or not, I would have provided it. But she comes from a very reserved background, you know, and it makes her content that way. But I don’t believe anyone’s ever treated her enough from businesses she’s been into where they want to get to know her. They know her as a yoga instructor when she worked the corporate world, but no one got into her personal stuff because it was, you know, she was always taught not to share that. I just think it. I don’t know.

Steve Ferguson [00:24:09]:
I always feel freer as a person when I know everybody around me. Whether they like me or not, they know me. That’s, to me, is invaluable, because at least they know what they’re getting. I don’t like dealing or talking to people where I don’t feel like I can know them or I have to be sensitive to say something. Because at least if you know what they are, it’s a lot easier to deal with people and work with them. I feel if you know as much about them as possible, than to hope you’re doing things and hope you’re not offending things. And, you know, so I just find it advantageous from my perspective.

John Garrett [00:24:40]:
Totally. No. And also, too, that what’s your end isn’t super deep, personal creepy. It’s just half a step below surface level of just, hey, when you’re not here, what are you doing? Like, where would I find you if you were not at work? You know, what lights you up and it’s not, you know, cynics.

Steve Ferguson [00:24:59]:
Why?

John Garrett [00:24:59]:
I mean, that could cause an existential crisis. Do you really get into why do you exist? Oh, man. Holy moly. You know, type of thing where it’s just, no, no. What lights you up and it can change, you know, like, right now it’s cars. Next year, it’s something else. All right, cool. You know, like, it’s pretty.

Steve Ferguson [00:25:15]:
Going to be motorized scooters. I know in the future that. Because I’ve already started scoping those out because at some point, my driving capabilities will diminish and I need to find the next challenge. Motorized scooters. I’m all in.

John Garrett [00:25:26]:
There you go. Look out. That Walmart trip’s gonna get crazy. That’s awesome, man. Well, this has been so fun having you be a part of this, Steve. But I feel like it’s only fair since I peppered you with questions at the beginning, that we turn the tables. Make this the Steve Ferguson podcast. Do do do, do, do do or whatever.

John Garrett [00:25:43]:
Intro. So I’m all yours as your guest. So thanks for having me on.

Steve Ferguson [00:25:46]:
All right. Your favorite band.

John Garrett [00:25:48]:
Favorite band. Man, that’s going to be so hard. Growing up, it was definitely like Metallica. I knew all of that and that was my first two concerts. Now like Blink 182 is always good. Like you can just throw it on and it’s always great. I also love the Killers. That sort of stuff, I guess.

John Garrett [00:26:04]:
I don’t know, like I don’t have like one specific. Yeah, I guess blink if I had to pick one. They’re a good go to.

Steve Ferguson [00:26:10]:
So you’re in Colorado. So do you like snowmobiling or skiing?

John Garrett [00:26:13]:
Ah, so I’m more of a snowboarder. Yeah. Because the snowboard, I mean I’ve only snowmobiled twice I guess in my life. Super fun. But snowboarding as opposed to the skiing? The skiing. There’s too many XYZ axes on both legs. Like your ankles and your knees. And you’re wearing the snowboard.

John Garrett [00:26:34]:
Both ankles and both knees are going the same way but at the same time. And it’s a lot that easier I guess for me anyway, going back to my skateboarding days when I was a kid sort of a thing. So. Yeah, so snowboard I guess is what I would say.

Steve Ferguson [00:26:47]:
All right. So what’s the fastest you’ve ever been in a car?

John Garrett [00:26:49]:
Oh, man. So I used to have a. It’s Infiniti. I forget whenever what. What the letters were off the top.

Steve Ferguson [00:26:58]:
Of my head now.

John Garrett [00:26:59]:
It was the two door coupe. They also had a four door of it. It was.

Steve Ferguson [00:27:02]:
It’s a G35.

John Garrett [00:27:04]:
Yes. That’s what it was. Yes.

Steve Ferguson [00:27:06]:
Yeah, because that was built on the Nissan 300Z chassis.

John Garrett [00:27:10]:
Yes. But nicer.

Steve Ferguson [00:27:12]:
Yes. It was a luxurious model.

John Garrett [00:27:14]:
So I don’t know, maybe I want to say 120, but that might be stretching it maybe. But yeah, somewhere in that 110 kind of. It was on an interstate where there’s nothing around and you know, middle of Illinois and it’s straight and it’s just like, you know what you gotta see? I mean like you gotta. The speedometer goes up to that. Like let’s find out. But I guess the short answer would have been no, not fast enough. How about you? What about you? What’s the fastest you’ve gone?

Steve Ferguson [00:27:41]:
186 miles an hour on the straight at Road America in a 1996 GTS Viper GTS Coupe. I’ll never forget it, because it was like, I’ve hit that. I didn’t own that car. It was somebody else’s. And I had a different Viper, which you couldn’t do that in. And Ron said, hey, you got to try this. You. You got to try topping this out.

Steve Ferguson [00:28:00]:
And that was as fast as I could get it. That was pretty memorable. And then I also was in Germany when they took the wall down, and me, my best friend and his fiance, we drove 6,000 kilometers around the whole circumference of Germany. And in the part of France on the Autobahn. That was wild to experience that.

John Garrett [00:28:19]:
Yeah. Because, I mean, you’re going 100, and somebody comes up behind you and flashes their lights. You’re like, what? Like, how is this? Like, what are you talking about? Like, that’s super cool. I mean, 186. I mean, that’s. I don’t even know how you slow. Like, the slowdown of that is like.

Steve Ferguson [00:28:33]:
You slam the brakes hard and you’re screaming because you got to turn right into that turn at the end of that straightaway. That’s how you slow down. Because if you don’t, you go into a wall. So trust me, you figure it out real quick.

John Garrett [00:28:45]:
That’s amazing, man. Well. Well, this has been so much fun having you be a part of What’s Your “And”?. So thank you so much, Steve, for being a living example of this philosophy and part of this movement. So thank you.

Steve Ferguson [00:28:54]:
Absolutely.

John Garrett [00:28:59]:
And everybody listening, if you want to see some pictures of Steve in action 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.