In this podcast, our guest speaker Rod Bourn provides valuable advice and insights for aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to make a career change. He discusses the evolution of his book idea and how he was able to turn it into a reality. He emphasizes the importance of networking and finding mentors who can guide you through the process of becoming an author. Rod also shares his writing process and offers tips on how to overcome common obstacles such as writer's block and the challenge of translating ideas into written words.
Overall, Rod's story is an inspiring example of how taking risks and pursuing your passions can lead to success and fulfillment. His advice and insights are sure to be valuable for anyone who is looking to make a change in their career or pursue their dreams of becoming an author.
Meet Our Guest: Rod Bourn
Rod is the owner and founder of "Downset Lead," an amazing organization dedicated to leadership development. His book, "Downset Lead," serves as the foundation for his company, and it's a story of leadership, challenges, and the lessons learned during his career.
🔑Key Takeaways
1. The Evolution of a Book Idea
Rod's journey into authorship began during his 15-year career in human resources. He shared that many of his days were spent investigating workplace issues, often involving adults who behaved like children. Over time, he started collecting these real-life stories, realizing that "truth is stranger than fiction." These experiences became the inspiration for a book initially titled "What Were You Thinking?" However, as life evolved, so did the book's focus, transforming into a guide on leadership.
2. The Power of Mentors and Networking
Rod emphasized the importance of seeking guidance and mentorship when embarking on the journey of writing a book. He encouraged aspiring authors to reach out to those who have already tread the path, as authors are usually eager to share their experiences and insights. Networking and building relationships within the writing and publishing community can be invaluable.
3. The Writing Process: Finding Your Flow
Rod acknowledged that everyone's writing process is unique. He shared his personal approach, which involves speaking his thoughts into a recorder while taking walks and then editing the recorded content. This method allowed him to capture his thoughts more effectively, especially when his mind was racing faster than he could type.
4. The "Why" Behind Your Book
Rod's most crucial piece of advice for aspiring authors is to clarify their "why" for writing the book. Understanding the purpose and audience of your book is essential. He highlighted how a book can serve as a supercharged business card, helping you stand out in your field, attract attention, and share your wisdom and knowledge with others.
👉🏾Highlights
- Valuable advice on becoming an author
- Insights on networking and finding mentors
- Evolution of a book idea
- Importance of understanding the "why" behind your book
- Rod's journey from HR to entrepreneurship and authorship
- Testimony to the power of pursuing passions and taking risks
- Insights and advice valuable to anyone looking to make a change in their career or become an author.
Rod's story is a reminder that our careers can evolve in unexpected ways, and our experiences can become a source of inspiration for others. Whether you're considering writing a book or embarking on a new career path, remember that your journey is uniquely yours, and sharing your story can make a significant impact on others.
Watch Full Episode
Resources
- Rod Bourn Linkedin
- Downset Lead: Explore Rod's organization and discover valuable resources on leadership development.
- "Downset Lead" Book: Dive into Rod's book to gain insights into leadership challenges and opportunities.
- Watch: Unarmored Talk Playlist
- Mario's Socials: Parade Deck
- Support My Nonprofit: Still Serving, Inc.
- Email: [email protected]
Full Transcript by BuzzSprout
(00:00)
Welcome back to unarmored talk podcast. Thank you so much for listening and watching each episode and continue pleased to share with your friends and family members and colleagues. And don't forget to leave a rating or review if you feel this is a awesome show.
(00:17)
And you can connect to all of my social media on the parade deck just looking at show notes or you can put in the search engine Mario P. Fields parade deck and get all access to my social media. Well, let's get ready to interview another guest who is willing to remove their armor to help other people.
(00:38)
Welcome back. Welcome back to unarmored talk podcast. I know it's been a couple of weeks. You guys know there were two weeks we bring on a wonderful guest who's willing to remove their armor to help people develop an accurate way of thinking.
(00:53)
And today's guest is an amazing man. I've known him it seems like forever. What's going on? Rod born. What's up man? Mario is awesome to see you as always. I when your name's on my calendar, I'm like it's going to be a good day.
(01:07)
I don't care if it's raining snowing cats fighting me. I know it's going to be a good day. Hey, I feel the same way you see I'm smiling. I'm blushing with my eyes man. You know, I got a permanent tan.
(01:18)
But hey everyone, I'm still your host. My wife hates when I say that, but I'm gonna say it anyway. I am still your host Mario P. Fields. And before we get into today's topic, thank you guys so much. Remember every time you share, download, follow this podcast.
(01:34)
But most importantly, when you download or you go on the YouTube channel on that podcast playlist and watch any episode or any video, you are helping make a difference for tomorrow's professionals, you're supporting still serving incorporated.
(01:49)
I'm going to say it every episode because you guys are making an impact. So anytime you've listened to an episode or watched an episode and you see me doing a check cutting, you know, a check donation ceremony, For whatever program we're doing under that amazing nonprofit.
(02:03)
You are a part of that You are part of that so thank you from the bottom of my heart All right done with the admin you guys know the deal. Let's get right into it Right do me a favor man. Can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?
(02:18)
Before you do that Shame on me and everyone because he might not talk so much this this don't even feel like an episode So shake shame on me. He is an owner We talked so much man. He's the owner He's the founder owner of lead ninja wouldn't amaze amazing organization his slogan You guys ready for this and his football season too by the way Downset in lead, but here's a cool thing.
(02:44)
He's the author as well in the title of his book It's called down set lead, but but the book Came first Right right right for the company right take it away man cheers man appreciate it Mario So yeah, my company is Downset Lead and the name came from the book, which the idea came first.
(03:06)
And I know we're gonna talk a little bit about that, but let me tell you the book idea came from, because my first career was in human resources. And I tell people that's why I don't have hair anymore.
(03:20)
It's because I spent 15 years, there's a nice progressive career, right? But a lot of that time, Mario, was doing investigations of 30, 40, 50, 60 year olds who acted like three, four, five, six year olds, couldn't get together, couldn't play nice in the sandbox, right?
(03:40)
And doing investigations. And I started collecting stories, after like the third or fourth investigation, the line truth is strange in fiction, right? And it's true because I'd go in and I'd start asking questions and not interrogating, but dig in deep and find out what really happened.
(04:03)
And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me, this happened in this building and it got so bad. I got to the point where I would say something to like, all right, Joe, so before I fire you, I got one last question for you.
(04:16)
What were you thinking? And then Joe would be like, ah, you know, he'd give this explanation to, you know, this is why I thought it was a good idea. I thought it'd be okay if I did this. And I was like, you got to be kidding me.
(04:26)
So I started collecting all these investigations. Of course, I changed the names to protect the guilty. And my idea was when I felt I had enough, I would just publish a book and the title of the book would be, what were you thinking?
(04:40)
And this was as I was a young man, early in my career, and then life starts happening, right? You get married, you have kids and the job gets bigger and deeper and everything else. And I still kept collecting stories, even though about 15 years in my career changed, I got more into leadership development and that was a big change.
(04:59)
that kind of stuff. But as I went back to revisit everything that I had wrote and thought about, okay, what is this really all about? It's about leadership, and a lot of those cases, it was a lack thereof, there was a vacuum, it was a leadership vacuum, and that's why these particular instances happened.
(05:20)
And so I thought, well, let me take all of this good stuff that I made and write a book that is more about leadership because that's, again, my career went more in that direction where I was doing development and programming to help develop more leaders, especially young ones, but as I got older, then older ones as well.
(05:43)
To the point now where I'm working from the gamut from folks right out of high school or college to folks who are just getting ready to retire, but the main message is true. I know you pretty well and I know the stuff that you celebrate and you cheer for and it really is about what are the opportunities to become a leader and what are the challenges that you're likely to face and let's talk about those in this book and that's how the book developed and the book, the title, all that came before me going out on my own and so I just said you know I love the name of the book, I love how Downset Lead sounds, that's what I'm going to call my company and I'm Lead Ninja of Downset Lead.
(06:26)
I love it you know and earlier I said slogan because I love, I just love the name, I mean I'm so professionally in love with the name and then so you guys if you haven't checked it out check out his company Downset Lead and also his book of course Downset Lead but let's jump right into it.
(06:44)
We see Rod today, author, owner and lead ninja of Downset Lead, looks like the journey of becoming an author was just rather smooth was it Rod? It was not oh my friend it was not smooth at all. Let's talk about it man.
(07:03)
Yeah so I believe the adage that everybody has a book in them, everybody does, everyone's got a story, I mean it's your life, it's your perspective, it's your learnings and it may be something that's been welling up in you for a while, you know I'm 50 now and it's like I've got enough you know professional, personal, you know the various things that I've had to deal with in my life and everybody's different and you can argue that some people certainly have had more difficult journeys for sure but it really is getting your story out and sharing it because it's kind of cathartic in a way it's almost therapy to get this book out of you whatever it is and you're sharing, you're sharing sharing y
our wisdom, sharing your knowledge, and there's very little that's better than that.
(07:58)
Am I right? Yeah, and you know, I like how you said, everybody has a story. Yeah. And I love how you said, you just gotta get it out. You gotta make that choice and get it out. And when you made that choice, when you said, you know what, enough is enough.
(08:14)
I'm 25 now, Mario's 15, but enough, and I love your haircut. But enough is enough. I am going to get my story out. When you made that decision, at any time during this journey, did you go, what the heck am I doing?
(08:35)
Yes, yes. And at those points, this is where you need to have mentors. And you and I have had lots of talks. You know that mentoring is huge to me. I think it's a panacea for... 80% of what ails the world is if we had mentor ships lined up where they really need to be.
(09:00)
But finding someone who's been there, done that. Now, obviously there are people out there who are editors and publishers and, you know, writers, ghost writers and a lot of them are very good. Some of them will be more than happy of taking a lot of your money and delivering.
(09:21)
Really, I paid X amount of dollars for this. Right. And you need to be true to yourself. And I interviewed authors, I did a lot of that, Mario. And I would really encourage anybody that's out there that wants to write a book, talk to an author, reach out to somebody.
(09:40)
Because what's the one thing that everybody loves to talk about the most themselves, right? All right, all right, yeah. So, but if you go out and you're like, hey, Mario, Saul, you wrote a couple of really cool books.
(09:53)
Would you mind if we got together for half an hour and you just told me where to jump on, how to do this and what are the big things? Folks, 90% of the time folks like Mario, me, anybody else, like, yeah, absolutely.
(10:06)
But you're gonna buy me a cup of coffee. I'd be more than happy to talk about my experiences in this. And very few people are totally solid with everything in the book building process. So you find someone who's an editor, you find someone who's an author, you find someone who has worked with VA's over in the Philippines or India or wherever to do the artwork or to do whatever it is.
(10:36)
And you start putting that together. And this is where it helps to be really organized and to literally have files for, okay, this is for my art, this is for my book. you peer reviewed group that I'm doing.
(10:56)
And that way, whether it's old school on paper and files or you're doing everything online and you're using whichever and there are tons of tools out there to help you write a book, that's what you need to do is you need to find these people who will help guide you through and you need to be very judicious and ask, well, how much will it cost?
(11:19)
How much can I expect to pay? Because again, there are some people that cost very little but what are you gonna get for that? And there are some people who will be very happy to take all the money that they think you have and you just have to find what sits right with you.
(11:34)
Yeah, and like how you highlighted, networking and the mentors and folks who have experienced who have gone out there through this journey of becoming an author and in sharing. those real life relevant skills as either mentor coach or both or your network.
(11:59)
And so did you ever, you know, during this journey, you know, did you ever reflect on some portions of your book and go, you know what, I need to go back and just complete and change that. Yes. Yes. So for me, my book, I think has a really nice flow to it.
(12:24)
And that's the thing that comes easy for me is I can see process. I, it's, you know, everyone's got a couple of really good gifts. Mine is processing. I can see how things on a large scale will go. And so as I was doing this and looking at, okay, go write the best chapter you can and then compare all the other chapters to that.
(12:52)
And I can remember Mario having my editor, for example, pushback and he said, you know, you have this one chapter that is five pages long. Your longest chapter is 13 pages long and your average chapter is eight pages long.
(13:08)
Do you want to add some to this five page chapter? And it's great pushback. And that's what you need is you need people to challenge you when you're doing this. And as I'm looking through this, like, is, you know, does this chapter read as good as I want it to, as I know it should.
(13:28)
And because ultimately, and literally your name's going on this, right? And you're going to be judged by this. Right. And so you need to make sure again, that's why having a proofreader, having an editor, you know, that everything flows because people are going to open up this book.
(13:44)
And if it doesn't read smooth, if the story is all jumbled, that reflects on me at as a professional and they're gonna like, well, I really wanna hire this guy. This guy can't write, you know, why would I hire him?
(13:59)
So you wanna make sure that, because, Mario, one of the things that I learned right off the bat is that 98% of us, when we write a book, that first book, you need to understand that you are not going to become a New York Times bestseller.
(14:16)
But what you're gonna get is you are taking, instead of your business card, you are super powering your business card. Because all I need to do is like, hey, Mario, how you doing? My name's Rod, good to meet you.
(14:31)
You know, boom, boom, we talk a little bit. I'm like, hey, let me give you my book. And you're like, wow, okay, so I could have had Rod's business card or I've got a book, which, you know, it's not that thick.
(14:44)
It's readable, you know, and you're walking away. People are walking away with... a super power charged business card. And they're talking about you and they're sharing the book. They're giving it to their boss to say, look, we need to have Mario come in and talk to our group.
(15:02)
This is the book that he wrote. Take a look at some of the stuff he's got in the book. And that's what he's gonna share with our, and that's what writing that first book I think is really all about. I love, I like that.
(15:14)
Some of you guys got, we have business, it's all to myself. I mean, Rod and I talked offline, I'm on that journey. We have the QR code, a business card. Let's step up the game. Take that authentic whatever it is that you have inside the brain and let's conceptualize it into a book.
(15:33)
And how long did it take you from beginning to the end, Rod? Where now you were standing back, having a beverage of choice going. I did it. We did it. Yeah, so. Like I said, I started writing this back when I was a young man, but when I say writing, I was collecting the stories and then life happened.
(15:56)
But when COVID came around, so, and that was what, early 2020, that's when I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna take advantage of this, this book, having this knowledge in me and that I wanna get it out has been really eating me for the last several years.
(16:16)
Let me put this together. So I started working at probably the middle of 2020 and I released at the end of November of 21. Now, I wasn't working every day on that book. I've got full -time job. I'm out there consulting, coaching, speaking, all those, all the fun things that I get to do that I'd really love about my job.
(16:38)
So I wasn't working every day on that, but there were times when I would shut myself down for the entire weekend, close the door, don't bother me and I'm knocking out this book for the next 48 hours.
(16:51)
boom, boom, boom. And then you come up for air. And then you push it out, you push what you wrote over to somebody like proofread this morning, what do you think? And they give it back to you. And then it's, you know, back under, you know, and you work on that for another, you know, six hours at one time, you know, you have to block time off.
(17:07)
And that's the thing, Mariah, is you have to learn how you work best, how you write best, because writing and doing all that author stuff is different than what you normally do work wise, most likely.
(17:21)
I'll give you one quick example. Yeah. I'm one of those people that my mind races too fast for me to be able to keep up with it. When I was young, I had a major stuttering job of a problem because, and I learned it's because you think too fast when you try to speak as fast as you think.
(17:39)
And what I learned is that translates over, I can't write, I can't type as fast as I think. And so what I would do is I would do whatever I need to do to get myself into thinking mode about what I want to write about.
(17:55)
And I would pick up this and I would go for a walk and I would talk into this. And then I would send it to me. I would open up that email and I would edit what I just spoke about on my walk for the last 45 minutes.
(18:09)
And it worked really well for me. I like that. I might have to try that. Yeah, man. How much are you going to charge me for that too? That's 10%. I tell my friends all the time, Mari, because I'm one of these people.
(18:23)
Do you remember the movie? Oh my gosh. It's slipping my mind. Hopefully I'll remember before we're done here. But it was this guy who, he's like, I'm an idea guy. I'm an idea guy. And he had a tape recorder taped into his, the collar of his jacket.
(18:39)
Whenever he had a really good idea, he'd tape record it and be like, you should feed mayonnaise to tuna so that it was easier making tuna fish sandwiches. Click, you know, and stuff like that. But I'm an idea guy.
(18:51)
And so like, I'll always, my good friends that I hang out with, it's like, we're talking about something. I'm like, you should do that. And I'm like, that's a great idea. And I tell them, that's 10%.
(19:00)
And I'm still waiting for my first ever 10% drop. But 10% buddy, 10%. Invoice me with a net 30 and I'll take care of it. Yeah, brother. So looking back at the entire journey, you know, doing some reflection back, if you had to give one out of all the advice, if you had to give one piece of advice to someone who's about to start, what would you give them?
(19:30)
Why are you writing this? The why. Why are you writing this? For me, like I said, and for a lot of business people, I think it's a great opportunity to create a super powered business card. I use it to you attract attention and get more work.
(19:52)
I also wrote it because I like to teach and I feel there are lessons. But who's your audience? Why are you writing this? Why are you writing this for them? And every time that you start a chapter, keep that in mind and every time you finish the chapter, reread it and make sure that that chapter fills the void as you're building up to fill that hole as to why you're writing this book.
Would you mind if we got together for half an hour and you just told me where to jump on, how to do this and what are the big things? Folks, 90% of the time folks like Mario, me, anybody else, like, yeah, absolutely.
(10:06)
But you're gonna buy me a cup of coffee. I'd be more than happy to talk about my experiences in this. And very few people are totally solid with everything in the book building process. So you find someone who's an editor, you find someone who's an author, you find someone who has worked with VA's over in the Philippines or India or wherever to do the artwork or to do whatever it is.
(10:36)
And you start putting that together. And this is where it helps to be really organized and to literally have files for, okay, this is for my art, this is for my book. you peer reviewed group that I'm doing.
(10:56)
And that way, whether it's old school on paper and files or you're doing everything online and you're using whichever and there are tons of tools out there to help you write a book, that's what you need to do is you need to find these people who will help guide you through and you need to be very judicious and ask, well, how much will it cost?
(11:19)
How much can I expect to pay? Because again, there are some people that cost very little but what are you gonna get for that? And there are some people who will be very happy to take all the money that they think you have and you just have to find what sits right with you.
(11:34)
Yeah, and like how you highlighted, networking and the mentors and folks who have experienced who have gone out there through this journey of becoming an author and in sharing. those real life relevant skills as either mentor coach or both or your network.
(11:59)
And so did you ever, you know, during this journey, you know, did you ever reflect on some portions of your book and go, you know what, I need to go back and just complete and change that. Yes. Yes. So for me, my book, I think has a really nice flow to it.
(12:24)
And that's the thing that comes easy for me is I can see process. I, it's, you know, everyone's got a couple of really good gifts. Mine is processing. I can see how things on a large scale will go. And so as I was doing this and looking at, okay, go write the best chapter you can and then compare all the other chapters to that.
(12:52)
And I can remember Mario having my editor, for example, pushback and he said, you know, you have this one chapter that is five pages long. Your longest chapter is 13 pages long and your average chapter is eight pages long.
(13:08)
Do you want to add some to this five page chapter? And it's great pushback. And that's what you need is you need people to challenge you when you're doing this. And as I'm looking through this, like, is, you know, does this chapter read as good as I want it to, as I know it should.
(13:28)
And because ultimately, and literally your name's going on this, right? And you're going to be judged by this. Right. And so you need to make sure again, that's why having a proofreader, having an editor, you know, that everything flows because people are going to open up this book.
(13:44)
And if it doesn't read smooth, if the story is all jumbled, that reflects on me at as a professional and they're gonna like, well, I really wanna hire this guy. This guy can't write, you know, why would I hire him?
(13:59)
So you wanna make sure that, because, Mario, one of the things that I learned right off the bat is that 98% of us, when we write a book, that first book, you need to understand that you are not going to become a New York Times bestseller.
(14:16)
But what you're gonna get is you are taking, instead of your business card, you are super powering your business card. Because all I need to do is like, hey, Mario, how you doing? My name's Rod, good to meet you.
(14:31)
You know, boom, boom, we talk a little bit. I'm like, hey, let me give you my book. And you're like, wow, okay, so I could have had Rod's business card or I've got a book, which, you know, it's not that thick.
(14:44)
It's readable, you know, and you're walking away. People are walking away with... a super power charged business card. And they're talking about you and they're sharing the book. They're giving it to their boss to say, look, we need to have Mario come in and talk to our group.
(15:02)
This is the book that he wrote. Take a look at some of the stuff he's got in the book. And that's what he's gonna share with our, and that's what writing that first book I think is really all about. I love, I like that.
(15:14)
Some of you guys got, we have business, it's all to myself. I mean, Rod and I talked offline, I'm on that journey. We have the QR code, a business card. Let's step up the game. Take that authentic whatever it is that you have inside the brain and let's conceptualize it into a book.
(15:33)
And how long did it take you from beginning to the end, Rod? Where now you were standing back, having a beverage of choice going. I did it. We did it. Yeah, so. Like I said, I started writing this back when I was a young man, but when I say writing, I was collecting the stories and then life happened.
(15:56)
But when COVID came around, so, and that was what, early 2020, that's when I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna take advantage of this, this book, having this knowledge in me and that I wanna get it out has been really eating me for the last several years.
(16:16)
Let me put this together. So I started working at probably the middle of 2020 and I released at the end of November of 21. Now, I wasn't working every day on that book. I've got full -time job. I'm out there consulting, coaching, speaking, all those, all the fun things that I get to do that I'd really love about my job.
(16:38)
So I wasn't working every day on that, but there were times when I would shut myself down for the entire weekend, close the door, don't bother me and I'm knocking out this book for the next 48 hours.
(16:51)
boom, boom, boom. And then you come up for air. And then you push it out, you push what you wrote over to somebody like proofread this morning, what do you think? And they give it back to you. And then it's, you know, back under, you know, and you work on that for another, you know, six hours at one time, you know, you have to block time off.
(17:07)
And that's the thing, Mariah, is you have to learn how you work best, how you write best, because writing and doing all that author stuff is different than what you normally do work wise, most likely.
(17:21)
I'll give you one quick example. Yeah. I'm one of those people that my mind races too fast for me to be able to keep up with it. When I was young, I had a major stuttering job of a problem because, and I learned it's because you think too fast when you try to speak as fast as you think.
(17:39)
And what I learned is that translates over, I can't write, I can't type as fast as I think. And so what I would do is I would do whatever I need to do to get myself into thinking mode about what I want to write about.
(17:55)
And I would pick up this and I would go for a walk and I would talk into this. And then I would send it to me. I would open up that email and I would edit what I just spoke about on my walk for the last 45 minutes.
(18:09)
And it worked really well for me. I like that. I might have to try that. Yeah, man. How much are you going to charge me for that too? That's 10%. I tell my friends all the time, Mari, because I'm one of these people.
(18:23)
Do you remember the movie? Oh my gosh. It's slipping my mind. Hopefully I'll remember before we're done here. But it was this guy who, he's like, I'm an idea guy. I'm an idea guy. And he had a tape recorder taped into his, the collar of his jacket.
(18:39)
Whenever he had a really good idea, he'd tape record it and be like, you should feed mayonnaise to tuna so that it was easier making tuna fish sandwiches. Click, you know, and stuff like that. But I'm an idea guy.
(18:51)
And so like, I'll always, my good friends that I hang out with, it's like, we're talking about something. I'm like, you should do that. And I'm like, that's a great idea. And I tell them, that's 10%.
(19:00)
And I'm still waiting for my first ever 10% drop. But 10% buddy, 10%. Invoice me with a net 30 and I'll take care of it. Yeah, brother. So looking back at the entire journey, you know, doing some reflection back, if you had to give one out of all the advice, if you had to give one piece of advice to someone who's about to start, what would you give them?
(19:30)
Why are you writing this? The why. Why are you writing this? For me, like I said, and for a lot of business people, I think it's a great opportunity to create a super powered business card. I use it to you attract attention and get more work.
(19:52)
I also wrote it because I like to teach and I feel there are lessons. But who's your audience? Why are you writing this? Why are you writing this for them? And every time that you start a chapter, keep that in mind and every time you finish the chapter, reread it and make sure that that chapter fills the void as you're building up to fill that hole as to why you're writing this book.
(20:27)
I like that. And develop that framework for you. And like you said, Rod, and then gain a better understanding for yourself and why are you even doing it? And then sticking with that foundation throughout the journey, Rod.
(20:43)
You are doing amazing work, not just as an entrepreneur, business owner, an author, but more ladies and gentlemen, everyone. So I recommend everyone get a copy of Downset Lead. If you have not got a copy, check out Rod and what he's doing on LinkedIn.
(21:01)
I'm going to give him a chance to see how we can find him. But get connected with this professional. I've been connected with him, it seems like, since 1850. And he's been amazing in my life. One day we'll personally meet.
(21:16)
But how can people find you, my friend? Yeah, so I love LinkedIn. So the best way to find me is there. And Rod is in hot golden light, named Rod. And it's born as Jason's younger brother, taught him everything I know.
(21:31)
Then I got out of the service. No E at the end of my name there. It's B -O -U -R -N. But look me up on LinkedIn. I love to connect. My wife calls me a serial connector. One of the proud things is I was writing this, Mario.
(21:45)
I mean, getting you and Jedediah together. That's what I love doing. You do stuff. You throw good out into the world. And I believe a little bit in karma. If I can help Mario out with something, maybe on Friday I get three green lights on the way home.
(22:08)
But that's why I like using LinkedIn, is because you can see all your connections. And I can see when was the last time that I messaged Mario. And when was that? And what exactly did we talk about? And what was that link that he told me about in Boombim?
(22:18)
It's all there in LinkedIn. But they can also reach out, just Google Downset Lead. Come up, we've got a website. I've got some videos on there that are cool to watch. I've got some really cool things on Instagram.
(22:35)
I've got some cool videos on TikTok, if you want. Like just like 30 little, you know, quick 30 second little blurbs, you know, things to think about. about maybe things that help you with your business, lots of little videos on Instagram, InstaReals and TikTok.
(22:51)
Well, I truly appreciate you coming on Armored Talk podcast today, Rod. And I'm not going to take too much time so you can continue to have fun in the various things you're doing. But thank you so much for coming on the show, my friend.
(23:04)
Thank you. I love you. You are fantastic. What you bring to this world is amazing. We need more Marios. And just keep being real, my brother. Just keep being real. And I'll keep watching you and applauding you.
(23:18)
Same here. And I love you more, my friend. Because I'm the host, I can do that. But until next time, God bless you all and your families and friends. And we will see you guys. And oh, here, if you don't know, you'll hear me in a couple of weeks.
(23:33)
Until then, you guys be safe. See you soon. Thank you for listening to this most recent episode and remember you can listen and watch all of the previous episodes on my YouTube channel. The best way to connect to me and all of my social media is follow me on the parade deck that is www .parade deck .com or you can click on the link in the show notes.
(23:57)
I'll see you guys soon.
