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Welcome to the Buckets Project! Today’s episode and conversation is with a long-time friend of mine, Pam.

Pam is a lovely lady I’ve known for 10+ years since the days of college. She is someone who always has a wonderful smile and an infectious laugh. Her positive attitude is one of many things that has inspired me to take a lighter approach to life. That approach has also taken her across the country from Texas to Alaska, to Indiana, and now Ohio. Regardless of where she resides, she finds opportunities to explore and spread her joy. She runs, hunts, hikes, etc. - whatever keeps her outside of the house. For that reason alone, we get along greatly in this conversation about what the perfect day looks like for the both of us.

I hope you enjoy the episode and take away key components of the true treasures in life. Have a great day!

Hey everyone! Welcome to the Buckets Project where I ask questions about the most important things in life to help me with my own. Today’s episode and conversation is with a close friend of mine, Zedrick. I've learned that in order to become the person you want to be you must surround yourself with the people that embody those same characteristics. In this case, Zedrick is a prime example. He is a man who humbles himself to ask for training, but driven enough to learn and become the coach. I’ve looked up to this guy from the day we got reunited 5+ years ago simply because I’ve seen him care for his wife, his brothers, and his friends like myself. I’ve seen him care for his parents, his wife’s parents, and his parents’ parents. I’ve then witnessed him become a parent. I’m curious to see the day where his kid will grow up and care for him, because he’ll finally experience the comfort of being taken care of by his family, his best friends, and mentors like he does all the time for everyone else. Hard work with him comes in the form of miles on the pavement, weeks stuck in his office, and years hand-in-hand with the people that love him most. I hope you enjoy this conversation and learn as much from him as I have day in and day out. Thanks for listening, and have a great day!

Hey everyone! Welcome to the Buckets Project where I ask people to describe their perfect day and categorize that day into their highest priorities - the Buckets. Today's episode and conversation is with an old-time friend of mine from high school, “Big Mike”. I have this image of “Big Mike” but not as the name portrays. Those in high school called him Big Mike because of his body size, but the more I think of him the more I realize I always associated the word “big” with his smile. You could never catch this man without a smile, and I’m sure the same is true today - 15 years later. In fact, I’m positive the same is true because of this conversation. I could picture him smiling as we went along, and I could picture him smiling when the conversation was over. That’s the only way I can picture him - ever. That says so much about a person when people identify them by their beaming positivity and happiness. All these years later and that same identification is consistent. I admire that trait, because I long for that trait. That whatever the circumstance - wherever in the world we may be - I want to smile regardless. I hope you enjoy this conversation and smile as much as we did. We connected on another level and there are so many lessons to be learned from two old (or at least getting there) men. Thanks for listening, and have a great day!

Hey everyone! Welcome to the Buckets Project!. I know it's been a few weeks since I've posted an episode, but I’m ready to do some catching up. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and this project, and I look forward to the great things to come. Today's episode and conversation is with a good friend of mine, Katherine. Have you ever met someone who unexpectedly didn't match the environment that you met them in? (I would assume that all of you have experienced this.) I would even say that I was the person you met that didn't match the environment we crossed paths in. Anyway, Katherine was one of those people for me. Her vibe was different from the majority of the people in the room. We met at my previous company, and we had something in common from the first day - the feeling of not matching that company. Nothing against the company, but we just had different ambitions that didn’t align with that corporation or that career path. We just followed the breadcrumbs in our individual lives and somehow ended up there - together. Our ambitions were more creative and more independent. Her ambitions were to become a successful actress in theatre. My ambitions were to become a successful writer and coach, yet there we stood in an engineering company. It’s funny where life takes you. That’s why we clicked so soon. We shared ideas and recommendations on how to better our journeys outside of work. Now, both of us have left that corporation to pursue those ambitions we once spoke of. I hope you all listen and learn from this conversation as much as I have. I hope it inspires you to follow your ambitions wherever they may take you. You’ll find that you’ll have a much higher chance of being happy, even if you have no idea where you’ll end up. Thanks again, and have a great day.

Hey everyone! Welcome back to the Buckets Project! Today's episode and conversation is with an old friend of mine, Omar. Perspective is usually defined as the lens in which you see things. In Omar’s case, we will define perspective as the height in which you see things. (This dude is tall.) Omar is an individual who was given the gift of height to look down on the physical things of the world and the humility to look up to the intellectual things that life is always trying to teach us. He is a constant reminder that you cannot have one without the other. His ambitions match his height, and his growth matches his faith - limitless. At the time of this recording, he was blessed to become a father to teach his children that success in this world is not dependent on your physical advantages but rather the effort in how you use them. He uses his advantages (physically and mentally) to help and serve others on a daily basis. For that, I commend him. I hope you enjoy this conversation and learn from him as much as I have. Thanks again, and have a nice day.

Justin Timberlake wrote in his book that he visualizes sound. Every sound effect he hears and uses in his music has a particular shape to it. This is a great example of how powerful perspective is. What some people hear is what others see. Differing perspectives then lead to varying levels of talent and creativity. Grace is a woman I’ve learned is light years ahead of me in terms of perspective, talent, and creativity. She can see music more clearly than she can read it. Not only music but she can see the beauty in others more than what she can see. That’s also what we call faith. Faith is believing in something much greater than ourselves without seeing it. Her faith in God parallels her sight in music. Her love for community is evident in her network of friends, and I’m lucky to be a part of it. I hope you enjoy this conversation and learn from Grace as much as I have. Thanks again for listening and have a nice day.

Welcome to the Buckets Project. Today’s episode and conversation is with a great friend of mine Patricia or Party as we like to call her. The beauty behind revisiting these conversations from this project is that, after months have gone by, you can have a status check on whether what you said in the past is consistent with what you are saying now. I have known Patricia a very long time (10+years) and I am quickly reminded of how grounded she was in the past and still is today. Because she is so grounded, she and her husband have fostered such a strong foundation for a wonderful marriage and photography business together. They are each other’s landing pad. Her and her husband have also been one of the biggest, if not biggest, supporters of this project. When I say this project, I’m really referring to every idea, mistake, and adventure my crazy-ass can think of. Like her mother often tells her, she can’t give as much as she would like to just yet, but she can always give a great education. She (and her husband) have educated me on the value of love, friendship, and the resiliency of never quitting on your purpose. As you navigate through this conversation, I hope you pick up many of the valuable lessons that her and I share together. Thanks again for listening and have a great day.

Welcome to the buckets project. Today’s episode and conversation is with a good friend of mine, Anthony. It’s very interesting to see two lines cross. You don’t know how long each line is, whether each line is straight or entangled within itself, and where each line starts. All you know is the point of intersection. As you ask more questions and continue to follow your curiosities, only then can you learn more about the lines you crossed paths with. I met Anthony at a single point of intersection - a previous job. Although the duties within that job for us were very similar, it was clear that the lines we followed to get to that job were very different. I learned that his line was longer (he was a bit older than I), more curvy (years in the military will do that to you), and consists of many different threads consisting of his wife and children. What’s similar? Our lines became bolder through time with the families we have gained and the experiences we have failed and/or conquered. We strive to lead through it all and learn that in order to lead we must first learn. Much of this we discuss in our conversation. I hope you learn and listen. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day. - This concludes the episode and conversation that I had with Anthony. We talked about many of the things that are important to him such as his family where he would like to travel, what he would like to do, and what he would love to learn. He reminds me that, no matter what we’ve been through, there’s still so much to learn to help us get to where we want to go. I hope you enjoyed this conversation and come back for more. Thanks again and have a great day.