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Spartan Leadership with Josh Kosnick
Leadership and business coach Josh Kosnick has conversations with some of the greatest minds in leadership both in business, community, and politics. Guests provide insights from years of experience, delivering powerful messages to help you live a more inspired and impactful life.
Spartan Leadership with Josh Kosnick
Ian Sperry: Launching Leaders & Building the Kingdom | Spartan Leadership Podcast Ep.187
In this episode, host Josh Kosnick speaks with entrepreneur Ian Sperry, a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and owner/operator of Christian Brothers Automotive franchises. Ian shares his journey from ministry to business ownership, discussing how culture, leadership, and faith interplay in his life and work. The conversation explores Ian's podcast, Kingdom Flow, which features stories of faith-led entrepreneurship.
00:00 The Power of Leadership and Culture
01:08 Addressing Veteran Suicide: Spartan Valor Foundation
03:32 Introducing Spartan Leadership Podcast
03:51 Meet Ian Sperry: Entrepreneurial Journey
06:23 Overcoming Challenges in Business
21:24 The Importance of Culture in Business
35:56 The Importance of Being Led as a Leader
37:28 Creating Leaders with Ownership
41:03 Balancing Leadership and Personal Care
43:47 The Power of Prayer and Support
46:15 Starting the Kingdom Flow Podcast
59:46 Hearing God's Voice
01:03:50 Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership
01:05:05 Connecting with Ian Sperry
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culture is infectious. It's going to infect you one way or another. I know myself enough now, I'm confident enough in myself and my ability, that I cannot allow an employee To dictate how I'm going to run my business. is your leader, a launching leader? does he have a goal to launch you one day? leaders are launchers. If you have a real leader in your life, they're always going to want to launch you into what God has for you. More than what you have for them. The problem with focus is you're so focused, you miss your blind spots. We can win in business and we can win in life. If God just put us on this earth to do one thing and to only win at one thing, man, that is not an abundant life. It's never the problem. It's always something underneath the problem. That's really the problem. Money is a great tool, but a terrible god.
On average, 22 American veterans are taking their own life every single day. And we find that to be unacceptable. These men and women fought all over the world in some of the harshest conditions for our country, made it home and come home without a mission, a purpose, and without a lot of support from our government and are left to die. Again, we find that unacceptable. And unfortunately our government isn't taking this problem seriously enough, or certainly aren't acting quickly enough to save our brave Americans. However, there are some amazing charities that are taking action and we want to come alongside them to help be their fundraising arm. So we're excited to announce Spartan Valor Foundation. At Spartan Valor, we're taking the guesswork. We're taking the decision fatigue away from you because there are thousands if not millions of charities out there. We wanted to take that decision fatigue away and give you a spot and confidence that you know that these dollars are getting right to where they need to do the work that we need to do to save these brave American veterans. Our mission, should you choose to accept, is to find a hundred ambassadors that are willing to find a hundred people to contribute a hundred dollars. Our goal in the first year is to raise that million dollars and on veterans day, 2025, we want to donate that a million dollars entirely to four highly qualified charities. And I know you might be right on board with this mission, and you might be excited to get started. But I want you to hold on to that checkbook just a little bit. Right now we're looking for ambassadors. Ambassadors that choose to accept the mission and find other Americans that believe in this cause, this great cause, to save more American veteran lives. So if you're one of those people that want to raise their hand to be an ambassador, We're looking for you in January, 2025, we will start accepting donations. So hold on to that checkbook just a little longer. If any of you want to learn more, please visit spartanvalor. org. You can see the great work that we're about to do, the community we're about to build and the mission we're going to embark on together to save our American veterans. Again, go to spartanvalor. org.
Josh:Welcome back to Spartan leadership. I'm your host, Josh Kosnick, and we're thrilled to have another great episode and guests this week. If this is your first time tuning in, welcome. We are a leader to leader podcast where I get to chop it up with some of the brightest minds in the entrepreneurial world and leaders all over the country. And today will be no different. I got my new friend, Ian Sperry. Calling in from the southern state of Texas. So we're exact opposite weather right now, me being in Wisconsin, but, uh, we're going to have some fun with y'all today. Let me give you a little backdrop on Ian. Ian and I got to meet at the kingdom leadership event out in DC at the museum of the Bible. And we hit it off. It was beautiful. He had his wife and newest baby girl with them. And, uh, yeah, It was a beautiful thing to witness and we just got to talk about business and God and life and and I was like, hey, we gotta, we gotta get on the podcast and have some fun. So let me give you guys a little backdrop on Ian. A devoted follower of Jesus Christ, a Louisiana native and recent Texas transplant, Houston, right?
Ian:Yes, sir. Right outside of Houston. Katie, Texas.
Josh:Awesome. And his journey took him to Texas to own and operate Christian Brothers Automotive. It's a car repair franchise that's not up here in the north that I know of yet, but big down south Christian Brothers Automotive, just so y'all know, was recently ranked as number one automotive franchises by J. D. Power, number two by Forbes. So in just four years, he had transformed one underperforming location into three highly profitable franchises, employing over 40 people, but beyond business. Ian's true passion lies in kingdom leadership and discipleship in the marketplace and the church. But ask him what brings us most joy. I know it already. It's his wife, Michaela, and their four kids, Caleb, McKenzie, Luke, and Hazel. Ian, brother, welcome to the show.
Ian:Thank you, Josh. I really appreciate you having me on. And, and yeah, the weather I think is a little bit different here in Houston. I'm, uh, I'm a big runner. And so this morning I woke up hopefully thinking it was going to be a little chilly and it was, uh, 90 degrees and a hundred percent humidity in the middle of November. So I almost posted something on my Instagram and said, is, is, is global warming real? Question mark. So, um, it is, yeah, it's great to be here and I love what you're doing up in Wisconsin, man. And I think we really hit it off at that, at that leadership event and just honored to be a part of what you're doing.
Josh:Well, we're happy to have you. I mean, to put it in perspective for you on my rec this morning, it was 36 degrees. Uh, it is now, it's now about 60 degrees sunny. It's beautiful. I love fall weather. Uh, but yeah, in the morning I was in a hoodie and coat while you're out sweating in 90 degrees.
Ian:That's right. Yeah, it's a little bit different. Hopefully the weather is coming here soon. I'm hoping so. Uh, we can, we can, we can hope and pray in about a week or so we'll get some of that cold front. So
Josh:yeah, we'll see. Well, I want to start off, uh, because You know, I love talking to entrepreneurs and you've done such a good job. One of the things that stood out to me with Ian, when we were having a conversation is he's already been in a position or gotten himself into a position where he's got a great leadership team where he's able to spend a lot of time with his family, but let's start towards the beginning. What got you on the path to entrepreneurship?
Ian:Man, that's a great question. Um, so I known since I was a young kid when I was actually doing my interview process for Christian Brothers, we have three locations across the country. Like you said, Forbes and J. D. Powers rank this number one or number two every, every year. That was actually one of the questions they asked me, the owner of the entire company said, Hey, what, what made you know you want to get into entrepreneurship or what made you want to become a business owner? And I remember, so I am, I'm 35 years old. And so when I was about 10 years old, I've worn the same size shoe since I was 10. I've worn a size 13 since the age of 10. And. Um, I, I, I remember, uh, one day when I, when I was at school, my mom, the size of finest size 13 was not very common. So my mom would buy me two or three pairs of shoes at one time. And I remember one day, this guy, one of my friends named Tori Marshall, he's the exact opposite of me, super, super tiny, skinny guy. He said, man, I love your shoes. And I said, Oh, thanks, man. Thanks so much. I appreciate it. And we get to talk and he goes, man, how much, how much would you sell me your shoes for? And I said, man, you know. I started looking, doing some calculating at 10 years old and I ended up selling them my shoes for about 40 and my mom had bought them for like 25 at a sale rack. Right. So I had made about 15 bucks on my first transaction at 10 years old, but I remember my, my mom, I was in, I was in the shower and I hear,
and,
Ian:and. And, um, it was my mom screaming at me because I had called my mother and he wore a size six. I wore a size 13 and so his mom called my mother screaming at me wondering what the heck was going on and why was I selling her kid my shoes. Um, and so I've always known from a young age that I love making money. I love, uh, I love what money does, uh, for, you know, future generations for my family for future generations. I love what money does for the church. Um, and so just something engraved in me from a young age. Um, just love hustling, love growing businesses and, um, just yeah, so I got into it very young and then, uh, you know, started started rocking and rolling from there, selling shoes, selling Um, I mean, I would sell these, these used basketballs, just a lot of different things. Oh, I played basketball growing up. I would sell used old basketballs to other kids. And, um, but yeah, that's how I got into it and knew I had a passion for it when it was from a young age.
Josh:I just imagine that friend of yours, they had to be like clown shoes on his six feet,
Ian:bro. It was people don't nest. They, they, they questioned whether or not that was a true story. I wish we had digital cameras back then. It was hysterical. I mean, absolutely hysterical. And, um, yeah, but a hundred percent real story that it was, it was really, really funny.
Josh:So from our conversation, you didn't have a, uh, a background in automotive or fixing cars or anything of that nature. So what made you choose Christian Brothers Automotive?
Ian:Yeah. So I actually thought I was going to be, first, I thought I was going to play college basketball. Um, had a couple offers coming out of high school, ended up bumming my knee out my senior year in district. Um, still had a couple opportunities to play ball, uh, Lord, really heart, um, when I was 18, that I should, that I should go into this leadership development program. Um, I grew up in Louisiana under the leadership of pastor Steve Robinson. Amazing man. Um, and they started a program called lead college. It's now, uh, COTK college. And so I got, um, I thought I was going to be a pastor. Honestly, Josh, I thought I was going to be in ministry. I actually was in ministry for two years doing, uh, we had one of the largest youth ministries in the state of Louisiana, about 600 people a week. Um, I helped, um, as an associate pastor in that ministry and for, um, getting married or about to get married and the church was going through this transition. And of a building campaign, it was in 2008. So we were trying to raise 20 million in 2008 during the financial crash. And it was just, it was just a crazy, crazy time for both entrepreneurs and the church world. And, um, I remember this exit appearing, right. And someone telling me, Hey, you might need to, uh, if you want, I wanted to raise, I wanted to get some more money. And, um, I remember someone telling me, Hey, if you're really looking to get some more money, you may want to. To get out of, of the church and get into the, the working, the business world. And I, like I told you before, I'd have passion for making money. And so, um, got into oil and gas, long story short, grew very quickly into that, in that arena. And then, um, Christian brothers, uh, my brother in law at the time was working as a Christian brother. Didn't know what it was. And he, um, explained that. Man, this business was, um, very profitable, yet was very, um, Christian business. I mean, we're funded, we're founded on Christian principles. You know, I have this, for those that are listening, this is my, uh, Christian brother's, you know, little weight on my desk, and our, our, our verse, our core verse is love your neighbor as yourself. And so, for me, it was like this, this, this world collided, uh, man, I can I can be a part of a Christian organization that loves it, that truly loves the Lord doesn't just say that they are Christians to be Christians, but that acted out every single day. And I can make and fund my passion for, for business at the same time. And so, um, when that was presented to me, it's been an easy journey would be an understatement. I actually put. I had a, I, I had put a LOI on a business that was four miles down from my house. Um, a letter of intent to buy. We were going through the process, long story short, had resigned from my job. And, um, about four or five weeks prior to closing the, the current, or the business owner decided to invest more money back into the business. And, um, man, it was a crazy, crazy time. I don't know if you want to go into that side of the story, but it was just, It was crazy. So I had this opportunity to own a business in Louisiana and that was taken from me. And so we were really praying and trying to figure out what God wanted us to do. And the current, uh, CEO or the previous CEO said, Ian, um, like to present to you about 10 other locations across the country on where we would like you to, to, to open these businesses. And I said, okay, send them over. So they sent me a list of 10 locations that were transitioning ownership. And my wife and I prayed over every single one of those locations. And we would draw a line in each location, somewhere in Georgia, somewhere in Florida, we would draw a line over each location when God told us not to go. Okay. And so at the end of the 10, I called this guy, Josh back. And I said, Hey, Josh, God has not told us to go to any of these spots. Um, but he's also told us to open a Christian brothers. So I don't know what to do. And he, I'll never forget this. He told me, he goes, Ian, right now we have nowhere else. You'd have to build a new store and we're not building any more in Louisiana. And so right now we have nothing for you. And so he said, I would suggest you go back to your boss and ask him for your job back. Now I had one young child at the time, and I had another one that was eight months. So we were about to, she was eight months pregnant. So she's about to give birth to the second. And I was just, I was physically, gosh, I was physically exhausted, physically stressed out, physically just, I was, I was, I was a wreck. And I got a call. I remember I'm an early riser. Gosh, I wake up really, really early. I knew that. And so I got a call, um, super early in the morning, 7 15, this guy, Josh calls me about a week after he had just had that conversation. And he said, um, he said, Ian, I have to present something to you really quickly, and we got to move quick. We have this place in Copperfield, Texas that is coming available for sale. And he said, honestly, there's a, there's a, there's a problem with the ownership and the franchisee. It's not super amicable at the time. And this owner is looking to sell and agree, have an agreement signed by the end of the week. And we need to know if you're going to, to purchase this. And I said, well, where the heck it's Copperfield, Texas. And they said, North Katie, South Cyprus, uh, right outside of Houston. And my pastor who I worked for years and years ago in ministry had just planted a church in Katie. And so I was 15 minutes down from where the shop was. And so I called my wife who was eight months pregnant that was dropping off my son to daycare because she was a teacher at the time. And I said, babe. This is what's happening. What do you think? And she said, Ian, let's pray about it. So we prayed about it on the phone as she was driving. And I have a reason behind the story I'm telling you. But, um, and she said, she said, Ian, I feel in my spirit. We need to do this, but you need to tell him yet. So this is a God honest story, Josh. I called the guy back and I said, send me the P and L's. Let me look at everything. We looked at everything the next morning we signed on the documents to purchase this business. And I bought this business sight unseen. Never been to Copperfield. Never. I had my brother in law who worked for the business going back and forth on the interstate, FaceTiming me to show me the building. Never, never bought it. But I want to, I want you listeners to hear this. This is, this is, people ask me all the time, you're 35, you have multiple seven figure businesses. Um, I'm an investor in some other businesses and it's, it's, God is just completely, and I say this with complete humility and complete reverence to him. They asked me, Ian, how, how have you gotten to where you've gotten so quickly? And this is my answer. They're expecting some secret sauce, right? They're expecting some secret, you know, thing that I do that other people don't. And this is what I tell him every single time, reckless obedience. I have learned, I have learned to hear the voice of my father. And when he says, go, I go, he says, stay, stay. He tells me to do. I am recklessly obedient. What does that mean? I don't care what it looks like, who tells me, no, I don't care if it seems to be the craziest thing in the world. If my God tells me to do it. And I get confirmation from my accountability, my pastors and my friends, and I get more importantly, uh, uh, approval from my wife because the Holy spirit's going to speak the same thing to her that he's speaking to me, if that happens, I am recklessly obedient and I move without even hesitation and I've learned that at a young age and, and, and. And that has been the gift that God has given me on my life is when he speaks, I move. And so we moved over here. I, I, I think I was the youngest franchisee to ever be awarded a franchise in the company's history. The average franchisee in that history or in the industry has a X amount of millions of net worth. 55 years old, right? I'm 28 years old. All my money is rolled up in my house that I had just renovated. I had to sell my house to get the down payment for the business. 30 days. I had to be opening that business. Told us to do, we moved, we put our house in the market in 11 days. It sold for 10, 000 over asking the price. And I was, I was in Copperfield, Texas. I was in Katy, Texas, right outside of Copperfield. I was in Katy in 28 days.
Josh:Wow.
Ian:And God has just completely multiplied it. And what we bought was this, honestly, a turd of a business that anybody looking at it, Josh, if I showed you there, I should have kept the original P and L if I showed you the original P and L, you would have said, don't touch it with a 10 foot pole turned into for the size of the business. One of, if not the most profitable business in the entire company.
Josh:Wow. I mean, that's just
Ian:an
Josh:incredible God led story. Uh, so what, so you take over this, what is in your words, a turd of a business. Yeah.
Yeah.
Josh:And so I'm thinking of, I got a coaching client right now. Uh, that's become a friend and he bought a second franchise in a, in a different, you know, field. Sure. And, you know, obviously when you look at taking over an existing business, you get the PNLs and a lot of times when you're looking at those PNLs, stuff doesn't match up when you get there.
Oh, yeah.
Josh:You know, and so, and culture a lot of times is awful as well. And so you take this over, you take over existing employees. What would you say in your first year as you're trying to shine this turd, if you will, what were some of the key things that you did to start making steps towards being a profitable and be having a culture that you want to have?
Ian:Man. Um, first year was interesting, man. It was, It was, if I'll be lying, if I said it wasn't a fear driven year, I was, I was moving, um, out of fear of failure. Um, and so what I did, some, some things I did wrong. To answer your question, Josh was I held on to some of the employees too long that were there from their previous culture. You know, uh, culture is infectious. It's going to infect you one way or another. And a lot of those guys had a lot of quote unquote cancer within their culture. And I, because of talent and ability and my lack of confidence and talent and ability in this area, again, I, I still to this day, I don't change oil. Um, I don't, I don't rotate my tires, right? I don't know. I know the industry better now for sure. But when I was, when I got in there, I mean, I had no idea what I was doing. None. And so I relied on, um, I thought because they were talented, They were the right culture. And, um, I held on to some employees too long. And so what I had to realize, I told myself, I made myself a promise. Um, I said, I will love my employees. I will give all that I have for my employees, but I will never allow an employee again to manipulate, to manipulate me based on my lack of experience or understanding within any given area. Does that make
Josh:sense? Yeah, it makes a ton of
Ian:sense. It was, it was. Because they knew something more than I knew, I held on to them longer, thinking that, um, if I let them go, I was going to fail. And, I realized this, Josh, that, um, I'm not going to fail. I refuse to fail. It's, it's, it's because I am, I am, I know myself well enough now, I'm confident enough in myself and my ability, that I cannot allow an employee To dictate how I'm going to run my business. And, and so that was one thing that I did too long. Um, I tell people this a lot. I'm not the greatest like inventor of ideas. Um, I think we need to know where our lane is in life. Um, I thought I was going to be this idea guy that, you know, you see and you hear about all these guys that, you know, the Elon Musk of the world, right, that want to, you know, create a self driving car and want to send people to Mars and all this kind of stuff. I thought I was that because it was a cool thing to be. Um, but I realized around the age of 30. Man, I'm not an idea guy, but I can take something that's that that is broken and I'm really, really good at fixing it. And so if you're coming, you know, I'm now, you know, I take on either coaching clients or that are looking for me to be these idea guys. I'm not, I'm not that guy. But if you give me, for lack of a better term, a turd, I can help shine this thing up really, really good for you and I can create something out of this. And so, that was another thing that I had to realize, Josh, was, um, to not reinvent the wheel, but to fix the wheel. Find out the areas where you could fix and you could, the guy that you're talking about that's buying these franchises, go in and find out, find out. Where there are areas where you can fix and you can grow Um, and you can you can change some things up. And so I don't know if that answers the question
Josh:No, it does. I want to key in on your first point is jim collins has taught us through good to great right people right seats And so oftentimes you may have a right seat person, but a wrong person. And what that means is what Ian was describing earlier is they're competent, they do the job well, but they're wrong for the culture. So that means they're the wrong person, but right seat. You can have the opposite of that, which is the right person that fits the culture, but they're in the wrong seat. Meaning they're not competent in what they do. And if they don't have, if you can't find them a seat that fits their skillset and their unique God given unique abilities, then unfortunately they got to go as well. So the goal is to find them the match of the two, that they're the right culture fit or the right person. And you have a seat for them, meaning their core competencies line up with what you need in the business.
Ian:Correct. Yeah. I I've seen Josh that I can really, I can work with culture. Right. I really can. I can. It's a lot harder for me to take someone who's very confident and competent, but has a terrible culture. It's very hard to woo those people in, right? It is. It's not impossible, but I've realized the more competent and the more gifted they are at their ability, but they have the wrong culture. It normally doesn't work out. But I can take somebody with good culture. Right. That is a good culture fit and I can either find the right seat for their butt to be in or I can create a seat for them to be in. And so I think it's real important when we're evaluating the people that work for us. Um, we've got it. We've got to have a scale. We've got to be able to see where they're at in both areas. I mean, you can't, obviously you can't have a bit, we don't have the businesses that I have or we have because I've got guys that can't produce that's, that's the exact opposite they can produce, but we really try to. Really, really focused on the culture. And we've taken quite a few people that have had very little experience in the brand or in, in the, in the environment, in that sector of cars. And we've, we've taken them and made them into phenomenal employees. And in fact, I'm, I'm graced to be able to have two people that have worked for me that have started from the very bottom and now their own, their, their business owners themselves in the same brand. And so we, we've taken, you know, guys that have started off as service writers that are making 12, 13 bucks an hour, and now they're business owners and they're making hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in their own business. Right. And then they're doing amazing things. And so I've had two of those guys come through our, our, my, my businesses. And I'm a big believer, Josh, God told me when I was really young that I was going to be a launching pad for people's destinies. That, that I saw a picture of a, you know, I don't know in the terms, but you have these, like, I think of top gun when they're coming in and they're coming down, right. And they, they land on the ship, right. And all of a sudden they land on that ship and then they shoot back off. You know what I'm talking about? Yep. You track it with me. And I thought that was gonna, I think that is a picture of my life, but I don't want to necessarily hold onto these people. I want to be launching pads. And so I want just like that, that, that, uh, that plane that's coming down, that jet that's coming down. I want them to hit my business, my culture, my endeavor. To give a hundred percent when they're in that moment, that time. And then I want to launch them out to what God's called them to be. You remember this, uh, a good leader is a launching leader will launch their people. A good leader will see the talents, gifts, and abilities that God has given their people. He will hone them. He will shape them. And then he will, he'll launch them. That leader will launch those employees. And so that's what I want to be to my employees. We have some amazing, amazing men and women working that work from our organizations and, and I want to be a launching pad. And I think that's what a key, any, anybody that's working a W2 job and under leadership, this question, is your leader, a launching leader? Does he launch, does he, does he have a goal to launch you one day? And, um, I think that would be a, a real good question to ask for, for long term tenure, uh, with wherever you're at.
Josh:And that's a hard one for leaders because especially as small businesses, which you and I both run, people are our capital and they help us drive the engine that makes the whole business go and allows everyone to live the lives that they lead by getting the paychecks and doing the work and all that stuff. So it is a hard one to let a leader go or grow them into a person where they want to go and buy their own franchise. See, see them go. And you think about the gap because we always have the people that quit, that don't work out, that have a life circumstance where they need to move across the country and we gotta fill that gap. Sure. And that's the number one thing is if someone goes, they lose a person, whether it's illness or family or otherwise, they're like, well, we're gonna, we're gonna, where am I gonna find the talent to replace that person that's gonna set me back six months? It might be even longer. But here's what I've noticed. I've noticed that every loss that I had as an employer. I found someone that was even better the next go around. It's like, God perfectly placed them at the right time. And not, not every time. Like, there, I have, I've had, I've had misses. But the next person that showed up was the exact person I needed for the time that I needed them for.
Ian:100%, Josh. It is, you know, I'm a believer. You're a believer. And, and I'm a big believer in what you sow, you will reap. I'm a big, I believe that our God was a giver. And so I need to represent our God by being a giver. And this is how I think about this. If I give this employee a way to what we're doing, if I give my time, my talent, and my treasure that is housed in this employee, If I launched in and give them away, I truly believe that God will sew back to me and give back to me someone that is going to be even better than what I gave away. And like you, um, been, there's been a few times where I have prematurely hired someone out of fear or frustration and it not be the right fit. The majority of the time when I've launched someone out and launched them into what God has for them, God has always provided someone that is an individual before that it fit my culture, the situation that my business was, I don't mean better, um, talent wise, but although that has happened to, there's been better talent that's come in, but whatever my businesses have been going through at that particular time. They got has always provided someone to match what's needed. And so, um, it's, it's never, it's, it's really truly looking back. It's happened a few times. And, um, he's, uh, this happened recently. One young guy that was working for me. I tried to, he was, he was in his early twenties and really looking for a mentor. So I was helping him walk through some things. And, um, and he was really catching it, man. He was really, really doing well. Uh, he had an opportunity and he came to me with it and said, Hey, this guy reached out to me and I think it's a, I think it's a good thing for me and my family. I think I need to take it. We looked over it. We prayed about it and I agreed with him. I was like, man, I think this is something you really need to do to grow and you need to try it out. And so he ends up doing it, but I was super bummed. Number one, cause he was a great culture fit. Number two, cause he was really getting it and he was turning into an all star and lo and behold, literally 24 hours later, we had a. Salute animal stud of an employee. That's been in this industry for a long time, drop off her SMA. And we hired him within 24 hours and he is doing amazing. So I could have done two things. I could have been a controlling leader and manipulate my position of authority on this individual. He's 22, newly married. I could have offered him more money, manipulated him, told him to stay, say you're making a terrible decision for my game, I could have done that. Instead, we looked at it and we prayed about it together and we decided it was the best move for him. So I let, I gave him away again, time, my time, my treasure. So my money and then my talent that I've given to him, God gave something back to me. Um, that was even that was in that case, that was even better. And so again, leaders are launchers. And if you have a, if you have a real leader in your life, they're always going to want to launch you into what God has for you. More than what you have for them.
Josh:Yeah. What I love about you talking about leaders or launchers is I think a lot of us have heard the term leaders create leaders and that's true. A true leader creates other leaders. But sometimes they go the path of manipulating to keep their own gain in, right? Like you were mentioning, sometimes they create those leaders and then hoard them by manipulating a situation, whether it's paying them more money or demeaning that other job offer, or whatever it may be. So I love the mind frame kind of switch that you're able to launch and keep your own ego and own Selfish needs out of it to be able to launch them into whatever is best for them, wherever God is calling them.
Ian:Yeah, that hasn't been easy. It's been a practice that's had to been learned and a lot of prayer times with conviction where I've manipulated. I mean, again, we're all in process. Um, but. I've finally been able to really embrace that. And it's, it's, it's really proven fruitful in my life.
Josh:Yeah, that's amazing. So what do you, another area that I see a lot of business owners, a lot of entrepreneurs struggle in is leadership development. Are there any specific things that you're doing that you think you're doing well to create these leaders so that, because the other side of that is when we don't create the leaders, we're never able to really, Turn off the clock. We're always on. We're always like, if, uh, we're in D. C. together. You know, if you don't create those leaders, you're checking your phone, you're checking your email, your trailer is the world falling apart back there. So what have you, what steps have you proactively taken? Maybe some areas you've gotten it wrong and some areas you've gotten it right in developing their leaders.
Ian:And the first thing I would say is leaders need to be led. And so I cannot expect to create good leaders if I'm not being led by someone else. And so I have purposely put in my wife and I. Okay. Um, Ivy and Benet Marsh, um, are our marriage coaches. So we meet once a week with them. And so, uh, we've been doing that now for three years. Um, I also have some really amazing, uh, Paul's in my life. Uh, the Bible describes, you know, Paul, Barnabas and Timothy, Paul being someone pouring down Barnabas, someone pouring across and a, and a Timothy. pouring, um, you pouring down into someone else. So I've, I've got some really amazing Paul's in my life that are, that are two or three steps ahead of me, both, um, In all areas of my life, marriage, spiritual, financial, all of them. And so I think the first thing for us as leaders to be led, you know, I was telling one of the people that I coached today, I had a coaching call with one of our, one, a business owner, and I said, the security that it brings in my team and my teams and my management to know that I am being led and it's not, I'm being poured into so that I can pour into. And so the security that it brings my organization, you can't put a price tag on it. So I will, they know about the fact that I have coaches. They know the fact that I have leaders that I get information from. They know that I'm submitted to other people. You gotta understand, we as business owners and entrepreneurs, we're focused, focused, focused. The problem with focus is you're so focused, you miss your blind spots.
Mm hmm.
Ian:And so I need people in my life, see my areas of fault. And help me grow as a leader. So, and then return, I can grow leaders. And so that's the first thing leaders need to be led. The second thing I think for, for the actual, how do I create leaders? I I've noticed within this, I need, I need to create leaders that have ownership without having ownership sense. Like they need to feel like they own this department. They need to feel like they own. This area of the business, they need to have enough control and enough, um, ability and, and, and, and freedom to be able to control certain aspects of the business. And so the way I have my business right now, I have a general manager and then I have multiple, the manager underneath that general manager and then it, so on and so forth. But I have given them ship without giving them ownership in two ways. Number one, I've given them ownership. On how they lead. We have say in how things go throughout my business because I trust them and I've put them in that position. Number two, the way in which I run my business from a profitability standpoint is they share in the profit of my business. So when I take my owner distributions, they get a piece of it. So they are, they, they have a small piece within that window. Does that make sense? Are you tracking with me?
Josh:Yeah, totally.
Ian:So they have, so I, I've, they have to, you're going to have talented. How my, one of my biggest fear was if I create a leader, who's more talented said than me. What am I going to do? This is, this is, this is key here. What am I going to do if I create someone? So my general manager is better at running this shop than I am at running this shop. Getting someone better than me. So then what value do I add my team? Rich where they're poor, make them rich where they're poor. They know more. This guy knows more about cars. He knows how to sell better than me. He knows all I can go over the list. He's a, he's a better organizer. He's amazing. He he's amazing. He's going to own multiple businesses. One day rich where he's poor.
Josh:That's awesome.
Ian:How's your marriage going? Finances. Let's go through finances. Hey, how are you treating your kids? I can't, I'm not going to tell. Yes, I'm going to, my vision is very clear where I want the business to go. As the head leader, I have to have the vision, but the implementation of how that goes. This general manager is running this business, but I'm making him the value that I'm giving him is beyond the business that I'm giving him spiritually, financially, a leader within his home to his kids. I'm making him rich where he's poor. It creates a unit and a bond between the owner employee. And so it makes that great leader that I've helped cultivate. It makes them want to stay because they're getting, they're getting something outside of just, just a job. Does that make sense?
Josh:It makes a ton of sense. And I want to key in on that because what you're doing there is so powerful. Uh, I got a good friend, Stefan, who says leaders who care more, win more. And what you're doing is the perfect example of that. And there's actual some business practicality that I'll get to as a result of this, but what you're doing is caring about them as a person. Person first, then an employee, and you're getting to know what's going on in their world and pouring into them in a way that's, hey, your wife, your kids, your spirituality are all more important than you being able to sell this thing better than me. That's right. And so it's, it's, this is a big spot that leaders miss because they're so focused, like you said, on the mission at hair, the task at hand, or we got to get, we got to hit this number or we got to do, we got to correct this with this employee, whatever it may be. And you're missing getting to know them on the personal level and understand. So here's the business practicality that I want to circle back to with this is let's say Ian's pouring into that general manager and he asked them. How you pouring into your kids? How's your relationship with your kids? And in that conversation that GM says, all of a sudden, he just gets this look on his face. And Ian knows something's about to drop and the guy says, actually, I'm really struggling with my senior year old right now. Our relationship is not, not in a good spot. And how do you think that might be affecting that general manager's work? Right. So then Ian has some clues to go, okay, he's not able to perform his best right now because he's got this heavy, heavy thing weighing on his heart. Yep. And I got to, as the leader, Ian, in this case. Got to love this human being and pour into them and help them get that relationship right at home so that they can be the best on the job.
Ian:That's right. Yeah, that is Josh. That's been one of the biggest. And listen, leaders, we can do both stability to do both. We can have a goal. We can, we can win. We can win in business and we can win in life. If God just put us on this earth to do one thing and to only win at one thing, man, that is not an abundant life. His word that he has come, that we should have life. And life more abundantly. And so that means I can win at multiple things at the same time. And a leader can lead different things. We can have a goal and have a vision, but also I can care and love for my employees, like one of my managers underneath my general manager, and I'm sorry, I put a cough drop and I have, I have had, um, some bronchitis here for, for about a week, but if it's screwing up, if it's screwing up the thing, let me know, but, um, manager that I could just tell was just, was just down and out and we ended up finding out that his. His wife is struggling. They found some spots in her lung. Um, they thought it might've been cancerous, all this kind of stuff. Young, young couple in their mid, mid thirties. And, um, we were, I mean, we were busy, busy that day and everything was rocking and rolling. Hey, we're stopping at all. Can't give me your hands. He's not a believer. This guy's not a believer. He looked at me like I'm crazy. Right. And I said, we're going to pray for your wife right now. Like, I'm We're going to pray right now for your wife. Like, okay, okay. So he just began to pray for his wife. And there was a peace. You know, it says in the Bible that God gives us a peace that surpasses all understanding. And there was a physical peace that came over his life. His demeanor changed. His, his shortness with other people changed, you know, it's never the problem. It's not, it's never the problem. It's never the problem. It's always something underneath the problem. That's really the problem. Right. And so he was short, he was all, all these issues, all this stuff was going on and he's out of character for him. You know, what's going on. My wife might have cancer. Holy Toledo, right? Like, Hey, I don't care about business at this point. I care about you. And I care about your wife. Let's get that right first. And then, once, hey, do you need to go home? Like, do you need, like, do you need some time? And so, anyway, leaders, as leaders, we can do both. We can have a goal, and we can love people at the same time. And I would say if you're, if you only have a goal, dictator, and if you only love people, you're not going to produce any money. You're going to be poor, right? So there's got to be this, there's got to be a balance. Thanks. But the way God's designed us as leaders, we can do both.
Josh:Yes, 100%. Um, man, we're burning through time. I knew, I knew we would, you and I get on this conversation so we could continue on with this leadership path. But I want to ask you about the podcast because you guys started this phenomenal podcast, Kingdom Flow. And what I want to ask is, what was, with all the, you know, business stuff you got, you got four beautiful kids, you know, wife, you got all this business stuff going on. And I know it's a similar story to me and I got four kids as well and all this business stuff going on, but you chose a very specific lane. Right. So mine's on leadership, entrepreneurship. And like I told you before, we like to throw in the political fire every once in a while, but you chose a very specific lane with the kingdom flow and you've done over a hundred episodes now, and it's having a massive impact, what was your initial fire to start that? And how has that evolved over the last 105 episodes?
Ian:Yeah, that's a great question. Um, so honestly, it goes back to being obedient. This is not something that I, I'll just be honest with you. I, not something that I wanted to do, and not something that, um, not something I find joy in it, but it's, it's hard. You know, it is, I'm, I'm a, I'm an extrovert introvert, Josh. So I, when I need to be an extrovert, I'm an extrovert, but I recover by as an introvert.
Josh:And so,
Ian:yeah, so I can play both roles, but it's, it can be hard at times. So. You know, I have multiple businesses. I have a wife, four kids, um, Every week dropping podcast that is rapidly growing. I'm in school, my theology degree right now. I, I coach some clients. So I, my need to do, I do things because God tells me to do them. And so that was the same thing with the podcast, to be honest with you. I was in my quiet time. I, every day I wake up and I, and I meet with the Lord and, um, just a quiet whisper in my soul. He told me to start a podcast. And. As I begin to pray and process my best friend, um, who would be a great, I told you about, he'd be a great guest in this podcast. His name's Kyle Jones has about, I think he's about 350 million in real estate. I mean, he's just an amazing man. My best friend. Um, he. Call on him. I said, Hey man, I need to start, God told me to start a podcast. What are your thoughts? And he just, he liked, you thought the phone dropped and I was like, Kyle, you there? And he said, man, I was praying this morning. God told me to start a podcast too. And it was just crazy. Right. And so we started this, I'm 35, he's 40. And we thought, you know, like, what do we have to, at the time when we started, I was 33 and he was 38. Now, what do we have to offer people? Right. They had this whole, I call it the Eeyore spirit. Right. Sometimes I get the, your spirit on me, uh, he, or the cartoon, uh, Winnie the Pooh, like he just kind of mopes around, right? Like we don't have to offer people. And, um, and man, we started out of a. We started out of his kind of apartment area of his house and not having a clue what didn't know what we're doing. And don't go back and listen to the first episodes because they're terrible. Cause we just don't even, you know, we have no idea what's happening, right? Like the audio is all off. We started doing it ourselves and then we quickly realized that we had to hire some people. So we have a whole team now. Um, but it's been amazing. We call it kingdom flow because I really believe life is a flow. We have got to be in the flow with. And we can't, I'm a natural hard press guy. I got to do A, B, C, and D. And the Lord's really taught me over the years that I have to go on this rollercoaster ride with him and I've got to trust him and be in the flow. And so we started Kingdom Flow and it, it, um, started off just us talking in our conversations that we had on a regular basis, we aired them out and started getting some popularity. And then we started just acquiring or getting some amazing guests on and You know, we have 105 episodes. We, um, we have Lee domain. One of my mentors was on recently. It was an amazing podcast. We have John Gordon coming up. Um, we've got some pretty big names coming down the pipe and it's been amazing. We're heading out to California next week. So we do all of our interviews in person. And so we're, we're flying out to California in a couple of weeks to go do a whole rush or a whole row of California while we're out there, um, get Chad beach on, uh, these guys that people have heard of. It's just been amazing. And so
we
Ian:do that. It's really just turned into Josh. It's really just turned into our ministry. We want to hear people's stories. We, I don't care so much about the millions and the billions of dollars, right? Like, so we've interviewed two or I think it's been two. He might not have quite been a billionaire, but I know one billionaire, most likely to, I think the other one was too. And I don't care about the billion as much as I care about the story of Christ that's in the billion.
Josh:Yeah,
Ian:like I want to hear we hear that the end my end my less one of my heroes and you know All these guys that are just killing it and doing great things, but I'd hear leadership podcast. I hear Podcasts, but what I I don't normally hear is this billionaire and how Christ is in the center of it all right? And and so that's what we've done with Kingdom flow. We've tried to merge this Business entrepreneur in Christ, um, centered way of living and we've merged them together and, and like in a lot, uh, when, when, in the old Testament, Elijah, when he's running from, after he just did this amazing miracle calling down fire from heaven. Right. And I have a point saying this leaders, leaders always think they're on their own, always think they're on their own. And, and this is, this is, this is why we did this. Like Elijah when he's running after he calls down fire, burn, you know, kills all the prophets of Baal. Amazing miracles. Jezebel says, I'm going to kill you tomorrow. I'm going to kill you. You know that you're no storm talking about. So he says, I'm going to kill you tomorrow. So Elijah rained down fire from heaven. Okay. And then saw a cloud from the distance and it hasn't rained in seven years or whatever it was and starts raining. He gets scared and runs away. He starts talking to God. And he says, God, I'm the only one, like the only one, like me. I'm the only one like me. And God says, no, it's like you. And so us as Christian entrepreneurs, my friend and I, we're sitting here and we're passionate about Jesus. I'm on my knees every single day. I love my wife. I don't look at porn. I'm not sleeping around, right? We have, you know, I have four amazing children that I'm just. You know, passionate about seeing them grow into all that God's called them to be. I love, I love the business world. I love making money and I love giving money away to the church to grow the kingdom of God. I love all this stuff, but I felt like I was alone doing this. God doing this stuff. There's plenty of people doing this stuff and podcast. We've been able to show these people that are normally silent people because they're humble people. And we've been able to shine light on them and ask them amazing questions and realize, um, that Christ is in the center of all their success. And he's in the center of all their failures. And they have overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. We get to just capture that on film. And so that's what kingdom flow is. Um, that's what we're trying to do. And it's amazing to see body of Christ moving through entrepreneurs and leaders. It's, it's really a hidden gem within the church. It's a hidden gem within the church that a lot of people believe this is a, this is a taboo thing that a lot of people believe Christians. In order to be close to God must be poor. I want to tell you something. I want to tell your listeners this, that is a lie from the pits of hell. It is a lie. And, and the way that, that, that is just my mandate that I'm going to be a poor guy, that if I love the Lord, that it's just part of who I am, right. Or I got to go be a missionary somewhere that if I, if I become a Christian, I got to go be a missionary. That is not true. We as leaders and as entrepreneurs have a holy calling on our lives. And. And through kingdom flow, what we're doing is we're just bringing that holy calling and we're making it available for people to see so that they can realize that your listeners that are entrepreneurs, they have a holy calling that they are not created to make money just to make money. I like the nice watches. I live in a beautiful home. I love the nice cars. I love it. None of this has me, me, right? Money is a great tool, but a terrible god
Josh:Yes, sir.
Ian:And so we are put on this earth and further the kingdom. But I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll transition on this. It says in the Bible, seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and everything else will be added unto you. We think of that as a personal relationship with our Savior, and it is. It's a personal relationship. Seek first this personal relationship. But what is the kingdom of God? It's the local church.
Josh:Church.
Ian:It's the hope of the world. Okay? And God, he calls, he loves the church so much that he calls it his bride. And he's coming back for his bride. And I remember when the Lord put that on my heart and said, Hey, when you seek first, the kingdom, my local church, first this church, and you give everything you have to it, everything else you need. And so now what he's done is he's beginning to give it to me so he can get it through me.
Josh:Yes.
Ian:And so now I live my life at 35 years old with my hands held open. God, if you get it to me, I can promise you, you'll get it through me and he's never failed to get it to me. And so that's what kingdom flow does. That's what our podcast is. It's, it is, it's marrying these worlds and allowing entrepreneurs and leaders to realize. that they're not alone.
Josh:Well, first of all, I love your passion, brother. Freaking love it. Uh, secondly, uh, what you said there is so important and for everyone to hear, especially believers. Uh, and third, when Ian's talking about the church, when God's talking about the church, The local church, it doesn't necessarily mean a building and giving all your money to that building. The local church is the believers, the other, it's the people. So if you feel called that your ministry isn't giving your money or your tithing to a specific building, but you're able to further your ministry through charitable work or wherever it may be, uh, in your locality, like he's talking, the church is the people. And that's, I always clarify that because I've had so many Catholic friends that have been pushed away from the church, right, the physical building or the pastors there or priests there that push them away because of guilt and shame or whatever it may be. But the church is the people. That's who God's talking about.
Ian:Yeah. I, I, I agree with that for me. It is my, I found, and I agree with you, Josh, there's a lot of people that have been hurt by church, right? And it is, it is the people for me. I would encourage those that are listening that had been hurt by church, give, find a healthy church and give it a second chance. Okay. Give it a second chance because God will redeem it. I've been, I've had church hurt myself and it's very painful. So for me and mine, mine is my local church, Southstone Church here in Katy, Texas. We're transparent, we're open about where our money is going to, and it's almost like it's a, um, uh, a Christian mutual fund. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm giving my money to this organization, and I'm seeing the fruit of it go everywhere across our area, and God is multiplying it, and multiplying it, and multiplying it. It's both I would answer your question or answer your statement by it's both and it's the people it's the people and if you have a healthy church it's the church too and so it's both and and so I would encourage those that are listening that I've been hurt by church find a local church find a healthy local church local church get plugged back in and and watch God move on your behalf as you begin to have your pants open. Instead of having your hands closed.
Josh:Yes, sir. Totally agree. All right, there's, uh, two more questions. One, yeah. Two. One is my one, one is a DD question. Mm-Hmm. because you've said it a couple times. Yep. Uh, and I want those to that are listening that haven't I, you've said about God's voice and listening to God. Yep. And I know there's someone listening that hasn't identified that voice that's going Yeah. Ian and Josh are talking about, you know, listening to God's voice.
Yeah. I
Josh:don't what's God's voice. I don't feel like I've ever heard God's voice. Talk to that person.
Ian:Yeah, I mean, it's, so that's a, that's a, that's a great question. Um, so for me, the word, how do we hear the, how do we hear God's voice? So number one, we hear it through the word of God. So we, when we read, we have to allow, we just don't need to be the ones reading the Bible,
read
Ian:the Bible. We need to allow the Bible to read us. Okay. And so whatever you're, whatever you're going through, as we begin to read, I pray every morning, look, speak to me through this book, your written word, speak to me through that. So that's one way that I hear. I hear the Lord. That's one way that when I'm dealing with something with a client or when I'm dealing with something with an employee, or when I'm dealing with something, with a decision, I open the Word and I and I, and I read it the second way that I hear the word or that I hear the Lord, and we're using that as a. When we say most people when they say hear the Lord, they think it's an audible voice, right? And, and, and, and that is, that is 99 percent of the time, not the case. Um, not saying that it doesn't happen. I've, um, experienced some, some, some interesting things over the course of my walk with the Lord, but, but it's very minute, Josh, very, very, very minute. And so that's the first way is through the word. Second is through accountability, Christian accountability Take the word, know where you're at and speak into your life. God will use people. Okay. They will use people. God will use people to speak to you. So that's number two, how I hear the Lord. And then third is through prayer. And in the prayer time, I call it the way I like to describe it. I'm not a college educated guy. I barely graduated high school, but the way I describe it is a spiritual gut check. Okay. It's this gut check in my soul, right? When I knew to open that business in Texas and to leave it, God didn't tell me. to go. He did not say, but say it, the Lord, you go and move today. You didn't say that. It was something in my gut, in my bones, right, that I knew was from the Lord. And because of that, it turned. God will always confirm what his word is doing. Example. If it is from the work from the Lord and the Lord told you to do it when you step out faith and do it, there will be confirmations in how things play out. If it was the Lord or not. Does that make sense?
Josh:Yes, sir.
Ian:And so those are the three that it's through prayer. It's through the reading of the Bible, and it's through accountability. I would say, if your listeners who are believers say they don't hear the Lord, I would challenge them. How often are you reading your word? How often are you praying? And what kind of spiritual accountability do you have in your life? And if they say, Oh, I don't have much of that. Do those three things or do one of the three start off with one of the three and watch God speak to you. And I would say if those that are doing those three things, I bet you they're not saying they can't hear from the Lord.
Josh:That's so good. Thanks for sharing that. I just knew I had something on my heart. It was saying there's going to be some someone that's listening that says, I don't know that voice yet. So last question I always ask everyone is, and this could be on anything that we've spoken of or anything that's on your heart. What's an unpopular belief that you hold to be true that you think others Or most others would disagree with.
Ian:I would say, and I've, I've, I've used this with a couple of my coaching clients, everything rises and falls on leadership, everything. Listen to me, everything rises and falls on us as leaders. If there's something in your organization, that's not working. It ultimately starts with you. If there's something in your family, that's not working. A lot of times we want to blame our kids. We want to blame our wife. We want to play the game of shoulda, woulda, couldas. And we need to look in the mirror and say, as the leader of the home, if you're a male, as the leader of the home, it's on me. And so I think that is very, in the culture we live in today, we're pointing fingers at everyone else. Everyone else is the problem. I don't have enough sales is the problem. I don't have enough good employees is the problem. Everything rises and falls on leadership. And if we can understand that and we can grasp that, we can look at ourselves in the mirror, correct ourselves, correct our unbeliefs or disbeliefs in us. And then we can go and address the symptoms.
Josh:Yeah, real good. Real good. Well, I know you just are fresh to Instagram, but where, where's the best spots to, uh, for people? Yeah, man.
Ian:Yeah. So it's, I am, it's so crazy. I'm, I'm the age I am and I, and I grew up on this stuff and I can't stand it. So I'm just starting to, to really, I actually, we pay someone else to do all of our stuff, but so I'm new to Instagram. It's Ian underscore Sperry. Um, and I also have my Facebook. I need to update my LinkedIn. Honestly. I need, we're doing that next week. I'm updating all my LinkedIn stuff. And then, uh, you can follow our podcast, um, at kingdom flow podcasts. Um, it, I hope, I hope it would, it would, it would bring some good to some of your listeners and
uh,
Ian:yeah. So that's that. Ian underscores fairy and then at kingdom flow podcast are the probably the two best you could find us on YouTube too. We film all of our stuff. So if you're, if you're a YouTuber and you want to watch it, you can watch all that stuff there too.
Josh:Yeah. Well, everybody give Ian a follow and check out the podcast. It's a different lane, like I said, and it's a really good one. If you want, uh, God to start speaking into your life. Start hearing some of these stories. And like you said, uh, making money and being spiritual and being Christ led are not mutually exclusive. So this would be a good spot for you to hear those stories and understand what we're truly led to do as human beings, as Christ followers. Dude, this has been such a great conversation. Thanks for taking the time.
Ian:Absolutely. But I enjoyed it. We got to get you down to Houston, get in the studio here at Kingman flow too. So we, we had to set something up. Oh, I can come up to, uh, Wisconsin and get up, not, not, not when it's cold, but maybe
Josh:you got that thin blood. You're going to have to come in the summer.
Ian:I appreciate it. And, and, and thank you so much for having me on.
Josh:You're very welcome brother. All right, Spartans, you know what to do. Share this episode far and wide. Uh, get this message out there. Remember the good and great are the enemies of possible lead like a Spartan today.