Transcript 0:00 Hey, guys. I'm really happy to have Tim Schmoyer on Titans, uh, today. Uh, Tim, I've been following for three or four years. 0:09 Uh, as I've, uh, jumped into starting my channel, it didn't take too long for me to find Tim on- online and his Video Creators, uh, group and his teachings, and I really resonated with an authenticity and style of how Tim shared. 0:28 But there was something else underneath of that that kept attracting me to come back to him and his group. I would like to use this particular episode with you, Tim, 0:37 to, uh, kind of pivot into a little bit deeper conversation. So with that, welcome, Tim. Hey. You wanna- Thank you. 0:45 [laughs] You wanna tell us, uh, tell us a little bit about what you're currently doing, and then we'll get into sort of your path and your journey as we talk about, uh, how this connects to my channel. 1:00 Well, currently I am, uh, working at a company called vidIQ. 1:04 I'm the chief creator coach there, and I am- uh, I have this audacious goal of, of helping our 3 million weekly users of our YouTube software to all have a one-on-one human coach to coach them, work with them, support them as they, as they grow their channels, and give them, uh, direction and advice and strategy and support and encouragement and all, all the, all the things. 1:35 So, uh, yeah. I'm, I'm... Uh, we haven't gotten to 3 million yet, but we're working on it. [laughs] We are. It's a, it's a big mountain to climb, and I'm excited to see it happen. 1:45 And I have to say, I personally benefited from that. Um, I did have a personal coach through that organization. Yeah. And it was very helpful, and it was a great balance. 1:54 You know, I come from a technology background, years of it, but it was a great balance between, [sighs] 2:02 not so much technology, but, uh, but how to present, how to package an episode, how to make sure I was more deliberate about, uh, speaking to, to the audience. 2:13 But also, at the same time, and I really appreciated this, was, uh, both the nudging and the encouragement. So there was a real good balance there. Uh, so if anyone is considering this, uh, you're not gonna get beat up. 2:27 You're gonna be encouraged, and you're gonna get the information you need. So- Yeah... there's my plug for you, Tim. Cool. Thank you. Yeah. 2:34 [laughs] But as we were going back and forth, so we can get right into this, as we're gonna go back... 2:39 We were going back and forth, my, my typical pattern is to ask my guests about their career and life transitions and kind of what prompted the changes in, in direction. 2:52 And I've really been trying to tease out a concept of getting connected to one's unique gifts and making sure there's alignment with 3:02 not necessarily your skills, but what you're good at and how it ties into passion, all those things. Mm. 3:08 Um, but as we were going back and forth in email just talking about doing this episode, you, you said something which I thought was intriguing but very powerful, and I wanted to sort of get into that now, and that is that yeah, you've changed things you've done, where you've showed up, what your jobs were, if you will, but your mission has remained constant- Yeah... 3:29 throughout all those changes, and I, I'd like to get into that a little bit. Can we- Yeah... dive into that, Tim? Yeah, yeah. So I, I grew up in a, in a pastor's family. 3:41 My dad was a pastor and, um, I went to Bible college, went to seminary. 3:46 I thought I was gonna be in youth ministry my whole life because the thing I just really loved was seeing people reach, seeing their lives changed and impacted. 3:57 And I loved that in youth ministry because I could work with a, with a family, with a couple, had some teenagers or something, and I just loved hearing the stories of, like, "Man, my teenager has... 4:08 Like, their attitude is changing," or, "Our relationship is growing deeper now. Like, thank you for what you're doing for our family." You know, I just love those, love those stories. 4:17 And, um, so I decided to go into full-time vocational youth ministry, uh, with the, uh, the goal of, like, how do I just reach people, change lives, make a difference, uh, for people and, and their families? 4:32 And, uh, so I... When I was in graduate school, I had a little blog, uh, that I'd just started. This was 2005, I believe, and I don't think Facebook was a thing yet. I think it was still, it was still MySpace days. 4:46 MySpace. Wow. Yeah, if you remember those, those- Yeah... those days. 4:50 Um, and I was in graduate school, halfway across the country from my family, started a little blog, and I started using it the way that we use Facebook today, um, just to give them updates on, like, what I was doing and things like that. 5:04 And, um, I started, uh, yeah, just posting just personal stuff. And, uh, then I'd email the links to friends and family back home and like, "Hey, here's, here's what I'm doing," right? And 5:18 I started just writing about what I was most passionate about, which at the time was youth ministry, and so that blog grew, became most widely read blog on the internet in the youth and family space, um, and, uh, ended up with two publishing deals with, uh, two different publishing companies who reached out to me asking me to publish, which, which was very convenient. 5:40 And then I self-published two books there too. But backing up a little bit, before all that thing grew up, I was, I was also finding, um, uh, YouTube had become a thing. 5:49 And so YouTube started, uh, in September, I believe, uh, in, in 2005, and my first video was March 2nd, 2006. 5:58 And so I was just publishing videos at that time of my girlfriend at the time, her and I going out on dates and going out to the park, going out to the playground, going out to do just fun stuff, hanging out. 6:08 And, uh, I'd embed those videos in my blog so that my friends and family and other people could see what we're up to and meet this girl I was dating. 6:17 And before long, other people started watching these videos, and I was like, "Who? Why? What, what's going on here?" Mm-hmm. Like, "How are they finding me? Why are they commenting on my videos? Who is CatLicker72?" 6:32 [laughs] "Why do they keep commenting on my videos?" You know? Like [laughs] And so I was getting a little concerned, 'cause remember- Yeah... back in MySpace days, you don't use your real name on the internet. 6:41 If you do, people will hunt you down and kill you for some reason. And so [laughs] I was like, "Well, how are people finding me? Why do they keep coming back?" And started reaching out for answers. 6:49 Nobody knew at that time. There wasn't even such a thing as social media yet. And so, uh, I, I connected with a couple other guys who were trying to, uh, solve this, uh, same problem. And, 7:00 um, before long, that channel kept growing, and my girlfriend and I kept making videos. And then we- 7:06 I proposed, and we put that video on there, and then our h- our honey- or our wedding, and our honeymoon, and first house, first... Like, all these things, and we kept going. 7:15 And we s- and before long, we were reaching about a million people a month, which back then was pretty unheard of. Sounds like a reality show, Tim. Yeah. Now, we would call it vlogging. Oh, yeah. 7:23 But back then, that wasn't a word. We were just being awkward in public with a camera. [laughs] So we, uh... Yeah, we... 7:31 And I just loved it, because I was hearing so many stories of life change coming out of stuff that we were putting online, people who didn't commit suicide. 7:40 I think I had this aha moment when I got this email from a lady, who basically said, like, "Hey, Tim. Uh, you guys don't know me, but I've been watching your videos, and I just got married two months ago. 7:51 We're already struggling in our relationship. I don't know if we're gonna make it. Uh, then I saw that video of you and your wife, where you talked about how you're learning to love each other better." Hmm. 8:01 "And I shared that video with my husband, and we talked about it, and just wanted you to know that we have hope again for our marriage. Just thank you for doing that." And I was like, "That video? That video did that?" 8:11 [laughs] You know? Like- [laughs]... that wasn't, like, an intentional goal or outcome. We were just, you know, being ourselves and talking about stuff. And so after... And I can tell you lots of stories, but- Sure... 8:21 uh, they started to add up, and I started thinking, like, "I am seeing more life change happening here on YouTube than I think I'm seeing inside the church." Amazing. 8:32 And I was like, "I think if I actually want to make an impact and make a difference, I, I wonder if YouTube's a better place to do that." Mm. 8:42 And, uh, so I was working at a church at the time, and, um, that ended, um, pretty poorly, unfortunately. And I launched out on my, uh, on my blog. At that time, it was youth ministry blog and on YouTube. 8:58 And, um, and, uh, I, I thought I was gonna get back into youth ministry. I s- you know, doing the whole church interview thing, and... But I was just so gun-shy to do it again based on previous experiences- Sure... 9:09 I'd had there. 9:10 And, um, I, uh, I was living off of my blog and off of YouTube, um, for about a year and a half before taking a job here in Cincinnati and moving to this area to do YouTube strategy for, uh, a video production company and their clients. 9:26 Um, so I did that, and part of me felt, like, a little bit guilty for, like- Hmm... I'm gonna make a career change here. And I never really consciously made that decision. It was a little bit more of a, a- ronic. 9:40 Yeah, I need some time off, I think. Like, I'm... I'll, I'll, I'll get back to youth ministry, but I just need something to, like, hold us over for right now. 9:48 Um, my identity, my, what I saw as my value and everything was wrapped up in that whole industry and- Yeah... stuff, and which was unhealthy. But I mean, just put a pin in something, Tim, because- Yeah... 10:00 I think this ties back to this long arc of mission and your, your tagline about make- you know, changing lives. I've- Yeah... already forgotten it, but you know- Reach people, change lives, yeah. Okay. 10:13 But what you noticed was, I mean, it's one thing to get sort of the, the juice about people following you and, and all that, you know, dopamine hit. 10:24 But what you connected to was, "I'm actually having more impact and influence on people's lives here," right? So it, it wasn't like, "Oh, this is completely brand new. I've decided to completely change who I am." 10:38 You, you didn't do that at all. You know, it was like, "I am noticing that I'm having more impact- Mm, mm... in this area." And then, as you just said, you were trying to say, "Okay, I'm... 10:51 That's true, but now I'm starting to feel guilt about," you know. So there's already sort of this separating which, in today's, uh, environment, people put together, 11:07 in a way, mission and, and career and job into one thing. And then they- Yeah... get really confused. Yeah. And in my coaching, I find that actually I... 11:16 People show up saying, "I'm not fulfilled in my job," and, you know, "This sucks, and I'm not getting recognition," and blah, blah, blah. 11:24 But what they really didn't do is they didn't really think about what those really essential things that- Yeah... that you didn't have that clear idea of mission. 11:32 They had an idea of making money and maybe being recognized, but they didn't have anything that was worthy- Yeah... of a whole life, you know? So anyway, that was just an observation. Yeah. 11:43 I wanna put a pin in it right there, so. Yeah. It's, it's the difference between, uh, like, am I pursuing a job? 11:52 Am I pursuing, like, a w- work, or am I pursuing a personal mission that I feel like is really important to me and, and I'm really passionate about? And so 12:03 at that time, I was thinking of, "This is what I do," as opposed to, "This is who I am," [laughs] you know? Yeah. 12:10 And when I was focused on, "This is what I do," I show up at a church building, and I lead these programs or whatever, you know. Um, 12:18 and, a- a- and the meaning behind that was like, yeah, I get to reach and change people's lives, hopefully. But, um- 12:25 I started to make that transition, I think, to being more mission, pursuing a mission as opposed to pursuing a career when I realized like, oh, I can actually make an impact over here too [laughs], you know? Yeah. 12:39 And so that big... Yeah, that has always been the through line of that mission, as maybe we'll continue to draw out here. Um, spoiler alert. Sorry. [laughs] But yeah. And so as I, um... 12:51 I worked here in Cincinnati for a production company for a year, and then at the end of that, they were like, "Tim, we love you. We're no longer gonna be going this direction, though. 12:58 We think you should start a business doing for other people what you've done for us." And I'm like, "I don't know anything about business. Like [laughs] I don't even know what a business model is. I, like... 13:08 I don't know." Uh, so they, they helped me for six months, get started, get that business off the ground. 13:14 And, um, at the end of it, when I, uh, when my, uh, time there was done, they gave-- At the end of that, end of that six months, uh, I was making $10,000 a month. And I'm like, "Oh, cool. 13:25 This is twice as much as you guys were paying me. [laughs] I should've quit my job a long time ago." 13:29 [laughs] And, uh, as that business continued to grow, what I, what, what, what drove me in it was I, I thought I, I reached my million people a month, and I had the impact, but there's plenty of other people out there who have stories I don't, I don't have, who have, uh, missions I don't share, who have, uh, yeah. 13:50 The... Like, what, what would it look like if I could help other people reach their million people a month? Then I could maybe potentially start to scale life change. 13:59 Like, I could maybe only reach a million people, and with a couple stories, and I have a couple things that maybe are helpful. But what if I could help other people reach their million? 14:10 It's like, okay, now we can really make an impact, reach more people, and change lives. So I started an agency, 2013, Video Creators. And 14:18 over the course of about 10 years, uh, that grew and we had a lot of success with that, did a lot of big, uh, deals with, um, Disney, Warner Brothers- Huge... eBay. 14:31 Yeah, a lot of Fortune, um, 100 companies, all the way down to new creators who are just getting started. Uh, and I loved it. Uh, so our, our vision was to see, was to work with 10,000 life changers, we called them. 14:44 Like, could we... I- h- how do we identify life changers? It was someone who is, uh, mission-oriented, people first, and results driven. 14:52 And if we worked with someone who matched that, those criteria, we'd internally mark them as like, this person's a life changer. 14:58 And then our goal is how do we get them to their million people, um, i- a month and help, help them scale their, their mission that they're, that they're pursuing. Uh, and so it was working. We had, uh... 15:09 Yeah, we worked with a lot of creators and, um, and so still, like, the mission here is reach people, change lives. And now I'm like, how do I equip other people to reach people and change lives? 15:22 And, uh, actually I don't remember the stats now, it's been a little while, but it was like something ridiculous, like 40 billion views or something [laughs] we could take r- credibility, uh, responsibility for through our clients and things like that. 15:34 Uh, then, uh, in 2021, I believe. I... Maybe '22. I don't remember. I got an email from someone who was like, "Hey, we wanna, we wanna acquire, we wanna buy your business." [laughs] I'm like- What? [laughs]... "What?" 15:52 [laughs] And so I reached out to a couple guys, a couple other people I knew who were more familiar with mergers and acquisitions than I, than I was. I'm like, "What do I do with this?" And kinda, kinda curious. 16:01 And so had some conversations with that company. Um, and before long, other people were like, "Tim, we weren't, we didn't know you were open to selling." And I was like, "I didn't know that either until just now." 16:11 [laughs] Uh, before long, I had five companies interested, you two being one of them. Uh, I had offers from three. Mm. Two? No, three. Yeah, three. And, uh, a- and through that process, 16:26 I realized I, one, kinda bored with what I'm doing. Like- Hmm... I didn't know what was next. I, I kinda lost vision for what am I doing here. Like, I've already done a lot of these big brands- Yeah... 16:39 and most of the, uh, a lot of the big creators on YouTube, and, and it's just kind of... Like, what's more? Just more of the same, kinda? Like, I wanted a new mountain to climb. I wanted a bigger vision. 16:48 How can I scale life change even more? Hmm. And so this company, vidIQ, came along, and, uh, as one of the... He, he was like, "I didn't know you're off- open to selling." 16:59 And so, uh, uh, they gave me an offer, and I took that offer because I was like, I think I'm gonna need help with, uh, software- Hmm... building software to really help reach impact creators. 17:14 I'm gonna need access to more creators. And the idea of how do I build a one-on-one human coaching program for 3 million [laughs] users. 17:22 At the time, it was 2 million, I believe, so we kept growing, but now it's 3 million. Wow. Uh, what does that... I was like, okay, there's my new mountain to climb. Now I'm excited again. 17:30 Now there's, like, a, a bigger vision. So how do I continue to reach people and change lives? And so now I'm coaching the coaches who coach our coaches. 17:38 [laughs] Uh, you can figure out all the, use of those verb and a noun in there. But, um, yeah, so that's, that hopefully, I think, is going to be... And it already has been. 17:50 Like, I probably can't share numbers here, and if so I won't. Right. But, uh, we have already reached and impacted and worked with, uh, far more creators here in coaching than we did 18:05 maybe not quite total in 10 years at vidIQ, but pretty close. Hmm. We did that just in our first few- Years... yeah. Yeah. Our first year. Amazing. So we are, uh, impacting and reaching more. 18:17 And, and I, and I love that the coaches I'm working with also have that, uh, a similar mission. They love helping people and making a difference and making impact. 18:25 So, um, I still think there's a lot of room for us to improve and-... 18:29 uh, what we're doing there and make a bigger impact, and, and no one's ever done this type of coaching program before at this type of scale, so there's a lot of, a lot of lessons along the way, a lot of, uh, learning opportunities that I'm really leaning into. 18:43 I think we're probably at, like, 15% of the way there. When I, like, when I picture the vision, I think we've, like, scratched the surface. So career changes along the way. 18:52 Um, one from youth ministry to my own business on YouTube, and then from selling my business to doing this even bigger coaching program. Oh. 19:00 But the mission has stayed consistent throughout the whole thing, and I think that's how I see what I do now. 19:07 It's not just about the work I actually do or the industry I'm in or the job I hold, but it's the mission I'm pursuing wherever I'm at. 19:17 And, and that mission, uh, I'm just reflecting on kind of you taking us through that, impacting that journey. It's been the same mission, but it seems like what's changed is 19:29 you kind of pushing the boundaries of how you can have even greater, uh, impact and engage more people and enable more people to change lives. Uh, that seems like that's what's been keeping you excited, you know? 19:44 Yeah, I get bored after a little while. [laughs] I'm like, okay. It doesn't take me that long to get bored, so- Yeah... I can understand. But still, um, yeah. That might be, like, an entrepreneurial drive maybe. 19:55 It might be a little bit how I'm wired to... Not that bigger is always better, but it's, yeah, I just, I just wanna have new challenges. I wanna work on new things and- Something else, uh, popped up in my feed. 20:10 You have a new newsletter. Yeah. And, and we should talk about that in a second. Let me just, uh, finish the little mini story here. So the whole idea of rhythms came through, I think you had a, 20:23 a newsletter go out around- The video. The newsletter has... That, that'll come out in probably two weeks, but the video- Oh, okay... yeah So it's... 20:29 Yeah, but anyway, I definitely saw, uh, you speaking and talking about rhythms you had implemented- Yeah... 20:35 I think related to the church you're attending now or the one you were speaking at, um, how, um, the, the festivals that are celebrated in the Old Testament, how you and your family have put them into place. 20:49 I'm gonna tie this into our discussion in just a sec. But the r- whole concept of rhythms, uh, we've heard so much about habits. 20:56 I'm a big fan of, you know, Atomic Habits and, and, uh, great material, but how do you actually practically keep your vision alive and your mission alive, if you will, and keep it in front of you 21:12 so that you're continually, uh, checking yourself against it? 21:17 And, uh, so yeah, so talk about that a little bit, rhythms, and of course you had the, I'm gonna drop a little teaser here, the death calendar [laughs] that I saw you- Oh, yeah. Yeah... practice. I... 21:30 So there's another theme that we haven't maybe brought up yet that, that has run through my- Mm-hmm... life, and that is wrestling. When I was, uh, in Peewee league- Oh... I wrestled in Peewee through, uh- Huh... 21:44 the middle school, then high school, and then I coached. I did a little bit of wrestling in college and then- I did wrestling in junior high, actually. Oh, did you? Cool. Yeah. 21:52 We should go at it, see who wins, but- [laughs] Right... but, uh- An Iowa ride. [laughs] No, I was not an Iowa guy, but I would have, would have loved to be. They're, they're, they're amazing. 22:03 But, uh, yeah, and so and then I, I coached, I was assistant coach out of high school. I was a youth pastor at a church, um, and they were a wrestling team, and did that for a few years and, 22:13 uh, and now I do jujitsu, which is like- Oh... it's not wrestling, but it's the closest thing for adults. And so on a physical sense, I love the, the, the struggle. 22:25 You know, the, the, like, y- it's a one-on-one struggle. But metaphorically, I really like wrestling with ideas, with, um, concepts, with thoughts, with values, with these things. Uh, I, I, I worked with... 22:41 I think anyone who actually believes in coaching should have their own coach, [laughs] you know? So I have, had a professional pr- uh, life coach I was working with for a while, and at the end of our... 22:49 I think we worked out for like nine months or something, and, uh, at the end of it, he was like, "Tim, I have never met anyone who wrestles with life like you do." Hmm. 22:57 And I was like, "Is that a compliment [laughs] or is that..." I wasn't sure. 23:01 I think he meant it as one, but, uh, I, I, yeah, my head is always taking these ideas and these thoughts, um, that impact my life and my family and business and they mostly r- tend to revolve around business, around family and faith type of things. 23:18 And I, I just wrestle with them because I think it's a very worthy endeavor to take something and get down to the root of, like, what's the wisdom that's found in this principle or... And so, 23:31 uh, I've started a new project on my website at timschmoyer.com where I'm like, "Uh, hey guys, I don't know who wants any of this, but [laughs] probably nobody, but- I'm putting it out there... 23:42 I just wanna wrestle out loud with- Yeah... and get back to my roots of blogging again. I just wanna wrestle out loud with some of the things I'm, I'm personally wrestling with, and the thing... 23:52 And, and some things I have wrestled through and came to some conclusions on. So, like, the rhythms would be an example of, of that. 23:59 Uh, that was a probably, like, a 10-year journey of wrestling for my wife and I, and, and how do we live rhythmically in a way that, uh... Maybe another way of thinking rhythmically is, like, systematic. 24:14 No, that's not the word. Rhythm's the right word. But where you, where you have this repeated thing going on. 24:19 You have all these annual rhythms, monthly rhythms, um, weekly rhythms, and when you live these rhythms, they create a system or a process that- Gives you the desired outcome. Anyone who's a business owner- Yeah... 24:33 knows that systems are important, right? 24:36 And not that we've systematized our life to the point where we're robots, but there's these, these annual, weekly, and monthly rhythms that come up that we're like, "Okay, this is what we do right now because it, it creates this result in our relationships or in our family or in our faith." 24:53 Um, yeah. Well, to me- So, yeah... it's kind of like you, a combination of intention and, and, uh, and kind of optimizing the process for getting to the result you want. 25:06 So you, you set up these things that you know will aid you in, so you intentionally, proactively set up these things, these patterns- Yeah... these rhythms to help you get to where you wanna- Yeah... be, right? 25:21 Well, yeah. I don't know if it's where I wanted to go. Okay, wrestle with it. Go ahead. [laughs] Well, yeah, I, I don't [laughs] I don't think it's where I wanted to go. I think it was more of a, 25:31 "Oh, here's something in the Bible that says this is how I should live. Let's try this." Right. "Oh, my gosh. This is really amazing and fruitful." Mm-hmm. "Let's try then this other thing it says, too." 25:41 And we just kinda kept going that direction, and we're like, "Oh, maybe these things haven't lost their value just because they're labeled old." Old. 25:50 Like, maybe they're old in like the really valuable sense of the word old, [laughs] you know? Um, not in the throw away, discard sense of the word old. Time tested. And, uh, yeah, that was... 26:03 Uh, and so as we started living into those, we started seeing the results, the fruit of those things, and we're like, uh, "Let's, let's do more, more of this." 26:11 So that one was more of like probably one step of obedience after another, and rather than it was like, "I wanna get there, and here's a tool to, to get me there." It was like- Mm-hmm... 26:21 I wouldn't have even thought that this type of thing could be this amazing. Mm-hmm. Like this, it wasn't on my radar. I just started following what the Bible outlined, and I- Mm-hmm... 26:30 we arrived here, and I'm like, "Oh, my gosh. This is awesome." Oh, yeah, I was... I give myself, there's... I, I can't take too much credit for that one. 26:37 That was just one, one step at a time type of a thing, rather than like a vision and how do I get there type of thing. Right. I get it. I get it. Yeah. 26:45 You know, we've talked about, we're throwing out a lot of terms and, and they're, they're, they're used differently by different groups, you know? [laughs] Mission, vision, purpose. Absolutely, yeah. 26:56 Um, maybe take a couple minutes and talk about our thoughts on, on those things. 27:01 Uh, I mean, usually mission, lots of times, at least organizationally, mission is, is utilized to sort of a shorter h- time horizon, and then you have vision being sort of the longest arc out there. 27:13 Um, of course, we hear purpose all the time. We got Simon Sinek and his- Yeah... you know, start with why and what's your why. 27:21 So when you talk about mission, mission, where do you, where do you place that with these other concepts? Yeah. Um, I think about vision that's, like, pretty far out- Pretty high... of what does it look like 27:37 at some point in time. Mission, I think of it as, like, what's driving me to get there? 27:43 Values, I think these are the filters I use to start deciding what is an opportunity and what's a distraction, 'cause sometimes those are very hard to tell the difference between, right? [laughs] Mm-hmm. 27:53 And so core values help me understand who do I partner with, and, um, yeah. And then purpose is, um, more of a, um, this, this is provides meaning to me. So I don't know. 28:09 Maybe, maybe there's not maybe a whole lot of difference between purpose and mission. Um, but I do see the others as a little bit more- Yeah... distinct. Yeah. Yeah. 28:17 The other thing I've, I've, uh, recently kind of revisited, and I, I mentioned it earlier, uh, and, and that is Atomic Habits and why the author has slipped my mind. 28:29 Um, but anyway, he talks about asking yourself the question, would a, would a person of this identity choose this behavior? Or what's natural for a person of this identity? 28:42 And I'll just use the faith, uh, the faith question, if you will. So as a believer in Jesus Christ, 28:50 is this the kinda thing I would want to undertake, or is this the kind of behavior that I would want to have as, as part of, uh, who I am? 29:00 And I thought that was very powerful because lots of times we talk about forming habits as, uh, you know, you wanna get in shape, you wanna lose weight, so I'm, you know, I'm gonna exercise every day. 29:12 And the l- the question isn't... Uh, it's about sort of the result, but not who you are, you know? It's kind of like, if I do these things, it's very external. 29:22 If I do these things, then therefore I'll get to where I wanna be, versus I am, I am the person and, that is, has these attributes, if you will. I just thought it was a very powerful distinction. 29:34 I don't know what you think about that, or if you have wrestled with that whole concept of identity to help. Yeah, identity- James Clear. Sorry about that. [laughs] Um, 29:47 well, what, yeah, what, what I'm thinking is, like, identity is like, uh... So some of the examples you use would be, like, yeah, the weight loss one. I want to lose weight, and so I do this, and- Right... mm-mm. 29:59 And there could be a sense of identity around, um, what I'm supposed to look like maybe, um, or feel like or something like that. I think of identity a little less of aspirational, though. 30:11 Like, this is what I'm try- like, I ne- I want to lose the weight. I think of it- Mm... a little bit more as, like, just what is. Like, let's just be honest about what it is. 30:20 Like, um, now, if you're honest with yourself about [laughs] your identity and you don't like what you're saying, that's a different conversation. 30:29 But, uh, yeah, uh, identity does shift and change over time as we grow and mature and have different experiences and things. But, um- Yeah, I, I, I don't know. I haven't really wrestled through that one, to be honest. 30:42 But I, I don't think of them as aspirational. I think of it as more of a clarity of this is who I am, and if there's so- something that I don't like, then, like, there's probably a value issue somewhere. Hmm. 30:56 Of, like, I, I want to... I say I value this, but I don't really. Uh, like, I say I value working out, but I don't really value working out, 'cause I'm not doing it. 31:06 Or I, I don't value working out, but I value how I look like even more. [laughs] And so that's what's driving me. Yeah. You know, something like that. Yeah. Well, I mean, this is a, this is a... 31:15 I mean, I- I'm going faith-y in, in this episode. 31:18 [laughs] But this is, this is a very common discussion, um, uh, in the Christian world, you know, ab- about grace and works and, you know, about the writings of, of Paul versus maybe it's, you know, the Book of James. 31:34 You know? So, so there's this, you know, I say this, you know, you say you're this person, you know, a believer, and yet you do these things. But if you do these things, you must be deceiving yourself, because 31:49 you shouldn't be doing these things. Yeah. So it's, it's the, you know, being made in the image of God, and then there's living that reality. Yeah. 31:58 And I think that that tension is, talking about wrestling, is part of, part of, uh, you know, the spiritual formation and, and growth process that we all go through. Yeah. I take that to, to mean, like, motives matter. 32:12 It's not just what we do, but why we do it. Why. Are we trying to earn something, or are we reacting in a appreciation, gratitude for something? I think that, that matters, um, that motive. Yeah. Yeah. 32:25 So sorry to take us too deep there. I- No, that's fine. [laughs] Go wherever you want. It's your show. [laughs] All right. So, um, so I think we were in the middle of... 32:36 No, you, you went through the, uh, the merger acquisition, uh, with, with that and, and the scaling of that. Um, a little bit about you and your family, if you don't mind. Okay. 32:48 Since you go out public on this stuff, I figured you don't mind, but, uh- Oh, yeah. What, what do you want to know about? [laughs] You have a, kind of an interesting, uh, life. I mean, you're, you're out in the country. 33:00 Don't you have chickens? Don't you have a farm and, um, a whole bunch of kids? And tell us a little about Tim's life- We have-... be- outside of technology. We had... 33:12 My wife and I somehow managed to have seven kids in eight years. Um, our oldest right now is 15. Our youngest- It is possible... is seven. It is possible, in case you were wondering. It's, it's quite the feat. Um, 33:26 and, uh, yes, we had a pretty intense season of life there for a while. Uh, we have just five acres, and- Mm-hmm... we, uh, try to live and eat somewhat in a healthy lifestyle. 33:39 And, um, what that's turned into for us is we now raise all of our family's meat for the year on our own property. Wow. We raise our own chickens and turkeys and, uh, lamb. 33:51 And, uh, and we do buy a half cow from a, some, a neighbor down the street, uh, twice a year too. Um, so we grow a lot of our own food, and we, uh, um, yeah, homeschool our kids and work from home. 34:04 Yeah, we, we were, we were, uh... 34:07 Before the pandemic hit, we were homeschooling and working remotely and everything, and then that hit, and we just found out that everyone refers to our way of life as quarantine, quarantine. [laughs] You know? 34:18 So- [laughs]... it was like, "No, we're not cult-like. It's not that bad." But yeah, we like it. We like, we like it out here. Cincinnati, Ohio area. Yeah. Is it, is it i- in Ohio or in Kentucky? I wasn't sure. 34:30 Kentucky. Yeah. Kentucky. Yeah. So it's just like s- and I'm, we don't wanna reveal exactly where you are. Oh, we're in the suburb of, of- Of-... Cincinnati. We're just- Yeah... 34:39 across the river on the Kentucky side, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I had some friends that lived in Covington, so I remember going up the highway and seeing the big Florence Y'all- Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm... uh, water tower. 34:50 I don't know if that's- Yeah... still there or not. It's still there. Yeah. Yeah. W- Barb and I went to, to college in Williamsburg at, uh, Cumberland. And so yeah, so we used to drive by there. 35:00 We're upstate New York, so we- Yeah... passed by there all the time. Had friends, like I said, in Covington, so that's cool. It's beautiful up there. Yeah. 35:07 Uh, w- we're in Florida now, West Coast, Port Charlotte, doing my remote semi-retired gig. And I have a similar story in terms of, um, uh, mission be- but I didn't really have a good clear idea of what it was. 35:22 I mean, I spent 35 years leading IT and biotech and pharma, but I kept finding myself being much more interested in people than technology, and having- Hmm... conversations with people, and being interested in helping 35:37 people find out who they are and make sure they were in the right slot, you know. And that first it started out with my staff, and then I 35:45 got a lot of help with a p- with a coach as well, as I was going through a tough transition. Hmm. And thought to myself, "Oh, I wanna do that." So I started doing that on the side, and I found like I re- this is 35:57 kind of what I've been doing all along, really. I mean, helping people change, organizations change what they have in place. 36:05 And so I've just continued that, and this is where I get into this whole, uh, discussion with my guests often about understanding and getting connected to your gifts. And a lot of time, people aren't even... 36:16 They're, they don't have a, they're don't come from a place of faith. Hmm. 36:19 But they do agree that people do have these natural talents and skills, and, and often when you, when you have conversations, people are frustrated. They're working against the grain. 36:29 They're, they're pushing that rock up the hill and, and they don't know why they're exhausted, you know? Hmm. 36:34 Um, so it's a good common shared concept for having, I think, deeper conversations about I wanna live a life that's fulfilling, you know? Yeah. I wanted my life to matter. Um, and most people share similar... 36:49 I mean, your mission sta- mission statement is some of that same territory. I wonder what you think about that. The territory of m- meaning and purpose to our work? Yeah. Yeah. It does give me meaning. 37:00 Um, I don't think- But doesn't it challenge people that you engage with a little bit to live a deeper life? Maybe. Yeah. 37:07 I, I guess I don't know how it's impacting others, to be honest with you, that, that, my personal mission. 37:14 Um, uh, I f- I think while that mission is still true, I think the shift it's been making over the past few years for me is, uh, I really need to reach my kids and impact their lives, too. 37:29 Uh, I know that's often an externally focused type of thing, but, um, my wife and I have been, um, more and more intentional about how we raise our kids 'cause our oldest are in their young teens now, and- Oh, it's good that you're doing that... 37:43 don't have as much, uh, time at home [laughs] you know? We're started talking about colleges with our oldest and our two oldest have jobs now too, and it's, you know, so we're, we're getting to that season of life. 37:54 And so- Well, you, you made a pivot when your, your business was very intense, your own personal video creators. 38:04 You know, observing that your, your, your job can overtake your entire all hours of the day, your entire life. 38:11 I worked in a very intense career where I, you know, people would call me in the middle of the night 'cause something was down somewhere ar- around the world, and they wanted it fixed instantly. 38:20 And, um, that was very challenging. And I have to say, I have regrets because I just think I put too much emphasis on making the buck and having a great career. I just, you know, I'm just being honest here. Yeah. 38:35 And so I think it's good that you're... And I mean, they're, it may seem like they're getting really old to you, but, you know. Well, I didn't say I'm doing it well. [laughs] I'm just saying it's on our radar. 38:47 And- It's on your, you're wrestling with it- Think about it... and it's on your radar. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So this- Very cool. Yeah. 38:52 So it's, um, because ultimately, what I believe, i- if you wanna really wanna reach people and change lives, like, I can scale it through YouTube and through coaching and others. Yeah. 39:06 But I can have a multi-generational impact if my kids grow up as mature people who make good choices and decisions, who go on and have kids, who reach people and change lives. 39:22 Not that they, I need to impose my, you know, personal mission onto them. Mm-hmm. But I think it's just this idea of, um, uh, my kids are gonna outlive me, hopefully. [laughs] You know? Yeah. 39:34 Go longer than me, and they will be meeting people I will never meet. They will be in situations and industries I am not in, and, uh, leaving and making an impact in ways I never can. 39:47 And so it's like, all right, so I could do some coaching and make a difference in other people's lives, but these people live with me, and I with them. 39:55 And how do I raise them in a way that, uh, they feel like they're enabled to pursue what they wanna pursue and, and, uh, and do it with excellence and make wise choices? 40:08 Um, so for example, my older two kids, we've s- uh, they're starting to, um, learn how to do investing and mutual funds and bonds and stocks and stuff, and they're doing pretty good. [laughs] You know? 40:22 [laughs] So, uh, like, that, that type of skill. Not that that that's gonna equate to maturity or anything. Right. But, uh, but yeah, those different, like, types of life skills and things. So I don't know. 40:32 I, I don't, I c- I haven't... I can't articulate that one as clearly, but that's where my wife and I have been leaning, though, is- Mm-hmm... towards that direction. That's awesome. Yeah. 40:42 So, um, y- you're still, uh, on track, um, with your current company and y- you're shooting for, what was it? Three, three million... What, what is the- Three million creators- Mm-hmm... 40:56 uh, who currently use our software every week. Yeah. And we're like, how do we help each of them have their own one-on-one coach? Can you tell us a little bit about that program? Um- Sure... how does it work? Yeah. Uh, 41:09 so, like, what is it, like, from the creator side? How, how does it- Yeah. What does it-... look like?... look like? You know, it's, we're just... That's a lot of people. Yeah. Well, we're not at the three million yet. 41:19 But, uh, yeah. So we have a team of YouTube coaches that, uh, my team and I have trained, and we are working with creators who go to vidIQ.com/coaching and, uh, register there. 41:32 And they get paired with a YouTube coach who's aligned with their niche and their goals and the challenges that they feel like they have. 41:40 There's a little coach matching, uh, profile, uh, cute quiz that you go through, and it matches you with the coach on our team who would be the best fit for you. And, 41:49 um, yeah, then you get connected with them, and, uh, they take a look at your channel and give you a quick little audit, uh, some feedback on here's what's working, here's what's not. 42:01 Um, and usually just a couple questions, clarifying questions as well. And all this happens over asynchronous video chat, so it's, uh, um, video messaging back and forth. Kind of like text messaging, but with video. 42:13 Yeah. Although you can use text if you want. Yeah. Um, and, uh, yeah. And so then together you come up with a plan. All right, what are we gonna work on here? 42:21 What needs to happen on this channel to get more views, more subscribers, turn into a sustainable growing thing? And you come up with a plan for that together, and then, uh, start working on each of those phases. 42:34 You know, here's step one. Here, let's do that together. Okay, step two. And just, like, having someone hold your hand and support you through it so you're, uh... 42:41 Our goal is to take all the guesswork out of growing your channel so that it's, uh, you have someone there just with you each step of the way showing you what to do next and kinda light, shining a light into all the fuzziness and, of, like, what happens next? 42:53 What do I do here? How do I respond to that? You know, is this good content? How do I improve it? Uh, all that stuff, so. Yeah. I, I found it to be a very practical approach, too. 43:04 At first, I wasn't sure about the asynchronous aspect, 'cause most of my coaching is live. Yeah. But, um, [clears throat] But I found it to be very practical. 43:14 You know, you'd have a question, you'd get a, you'd get a, a, a return video, or most of the time what mine was video- Mm... message back and speaking directly to my question. 43:26 And the other powerful thing was because of that, uh, union with vidIQ's really rich tool set, you know, it, it was very practical 'cause then you- Good... 43:38 you know, point directly to what tool to use and, you know, where to look in the analytics, the extra level of analytics capability the vidIQ gives you. Yeah. Good. 43:48 Um, that it, it was really a powerful combination, I thought. Yeah. W- I don't think we've cracked the code yet, so to speak. Yeah. There's still a lot of improvements- Room... changes to make. 43:59 So, uh, there's enough people who want synchronous calls that we're looking to figure out what that looks like too, and, uh, and other people who, um, want faster responses. 44:09 Uh, we try to u- have response time within 24 hours. Although- Right... um, uh, lately it's been improving, uh, which is good. It's been a little bit more back and forths during the day, but- Mm-hmm... 44:21 yeah, there's a lot to uncover. A lot to figure out there and uncover and unpack. Yeah. Yeah. 44:26 Well, I, you know, it could be that some, you know, might have some layering of things, so you might have some group stuff layered in or something like that. Yeah. 44:36 We get a lot of Uh, but I, I just, I thought it was great. I mean, I came in pretty early days, uh- Oh, okay... and I think I was in, uh- Thinking of how early, it's changed significantly. Oh, I'm sure it has. 44:46 But it was still very valuable. I, and I found, okay, I just need to apply some of this stuff, so I'm gonna go away for a while- Mm... and work on it, and then re-engage when it, when the time is right, you know? Cool. 44:59 So it was, it was really good. It's good. Uh, let's see. Other closing thoughts. We talked about rhythms, we talked about mission, how it fits into some of these other concepts. 45:12 We talked about the long arc, uh, that, uh, although you'll refine your mission over time, maybe get more clarity over time as you go through your life and your life experience and your wrestling process that you're doing, um, tends to be a lot more static. 45:32 Uh, where you show up may change, but the mission probably doesn't change very much. Shouldn't, hopefully, change terribly, but it could- Yeah, it could change... could morph. There's nothing wrong with that. Yeah. 45:43 Nothing wrong with it. Um, yeah, so I think the big question at this point would be if you were to look back... This is my look back question, so you know where I'm going with this. 45:54 What, what, uh, things would you suggest to folks as they're going through their career and their life, um, that they consider? 46:04 What kind of advice would you have to others who would be on the, on the video right now or listening to the podcast? 46:10 I think it's just helpful to reflect and like what, what's the through line that's kind of driven most of the decisions and choices I've made? Uh, not on a micro level, but a macro, like a high level. Yeah. 46:23 Uh, career choices, um, places I choose to live, uh, people I surround myself with type of thing. 46:31 I think it's just, it's just, uh, it's helpful to do that because if you can start to see the through line, like, "Oh, I tend to gravitate towards blank," then as you look forward into the future, like where is this going, it kinda gives you a little bit of some guide rails to kinda know what's going to work well for you and how you're wired and what you enjoy and get excited about and things. 46:55 So I think without having that through line and you look into the future like, "What's my next career going to be?" Or, "What am I..." It's, it's a little, uh, 47:04 it's probably overwhelming 'cause it's like everything is an option. 47:07 [laughs] But if you can narrow it down a little bit based on the current trajectory, uh, I think that's like the value of history in general probably is like- Mm-hmm... 47:16 you know, what has happened so far to lead to this point? And based on that, where is it, where is that trajectory pointing into the future? And so I think, I think that's worth, 47:26 you know, probably a few hours of time, solid afternoon or something to sit down and reflect. Uh, the way I, I do something like... 47:32 And this works differently for different types of brains, but the way I like to do it, I just have a stack of Post-its and I just, anything comes to mind, I just write it on a Post-it, stick it on the wall until I've probably burned through, [laughs] you know, a pack of Post-its or something. 47:43 And then I sit back and start trying to like overlap them together. Which, which ones, like, oh, these kinda have these theme. 47:50 I'll do another different color Post-it and like label this stack here as like that type of thing and that type of thing until I've kind of have them in groups that make sense to me. 48:00 I'm like, "Okay, that's what these things mean," or, "That's the implication of these," or something like that, and then that starts to help me take a lot of things and start to kinda synthesize it down to a few main principles that are- Mm-hmm... 48:13 now actually helpful. So no one else has to do that. That's just what works for me. Yeah. Yeah. I, I think that's really good. I mean, I, I'm an improviser and I've sort of, um, 48:26 took advantage, looked for opportunities as they came to me along the way, and probably wasn't as reflective earlier in my life. 48:36 And, um, organically, I'll call it, came to the kind of a similar kind of process where I, I would actually, uh, at key moments of transition in my life or at, uh... 48:50 I qu- wouldn't say I did this every year, but I certainly think about it every year, look back and say, "Okay, what was good? What wasn't good?" [laughs] Yeah. What do I, what do I wanna move towards? 48:59 What do I wanna move a- away from? 49:00 I don't think it has to be so rigid, but I think ha- being more, um, have more awareness about it and asking yourself some key questions at least to try to gain clarity and continue to refine that over time, I think Similar kind of process. 49:17 This- Yeah... you did sort of a brainstorming process with categorization and- Yeah. Um, it just, I think a lot of people just sort of beep bop their way through life- Yeah... 49:28 and then don't get reflective and about it until it's kind of, you know, they're well down the road. Let's put it that way. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah, makes sense. Yeah. I don't know. Hope that helps. 49:42 Yeah, I'm sure it will. It's been great talking to you, Tim. I really appreciate it. Yeah. Um- Thanks for having me. Yeah. It's, uh, you've, you've got a really interesting journey, and- I try to keep it interesting... 49:52 you're lai- you're laid back about it, but you've accomplished a ton and, um, you have helped a lot of people [laughs] clearly. Thank you. Yeah. And one of the big things I appreciate about you is you're you. 50:07 You're not trying to be somebody other than you. And- Not anymore. I used to, but yeah. [laughs] Yeah? I, I made a post about that, I think, actually last week because of the- Oh, oh, di- I missed that one. 50:17 I'll have to go back and look at that. Oh, that's fine. No, no, no. Yeah, just more about, like, I feel like I started to become the person I thought people wanted. Like, when I started- Oh, yeah... 50:25 getting some success on YouTube, I'm like, "Oh, this is what the person need to, need to be in order to be, have more success." 50:31 And so I started tempering other parts of myself and moderating them online and, uh, in order to keep having the success I was experiencing. But now I'm like, "You know what? 50:40 I wanna go back and talk about other things that are important to me, like faith and family and- Amen... business and systems and processes and all that kind of stuff." 50:48 And I think people see through that a little bit, you know? Yeah. They want to see the- I was a little surprised. It ha- it had a good response. And I'm like, "Okay. Well, all 12 of you, here we go." No, I'm kidding. 50:56 [laughs] A little bit more than that, but it was, uh, it still, though, it was, uh, affirming and, uh- Yeah... also a little bit intimidating of like- Ah... "Shoot, they're actually listening. All right. Here we go." 51:08 [laughs] Well, uh, so again, as we sign off, o- one last time, uh, how can people reach you? Where, where are you most easily found? Uh, yeah, timshamory.com is my personal blog now. 51:19 It's where I'm writing about the, the things I'm wrestling with and just trying to boil down and get to the practical wisdom that comes out of these things, um, p- primarily relating to faith, family, and business, so. 51:32 Awesome. Yeah, timshamory.com is where you can sign up and get those wrestlings, I guess I'll call them. [laughs] Oh, cool. Thanks again, Tim. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Thank you for being on Titans. All right. 51:44 Hey, thanks for joining me today on Titans of Transition. I hope you enjoyed the episode. Please check the show notes for additional information.
