Core Values, Work-Life Integration & Putting Family First with Brad Johnson [Front Row Dads Member Takeover] – EP 198

Justin Donald: What's up, Brad? So good to chat with you.

Brad Johnson: Good to be here, Justin.

Justin Donald: I'll tell you what. We've been having some fun offline before we hit the record button. And it's quite comical that with our busy schedules, it takes us scheduling a podcast to get our normal catch-up, which back in the day, we used to have a regular, recurring weekly call. So, it's fun to catch up and chat and see what's going on.

Brad Johnson: Sometimes you just have to schedule a podcast to catch up with a friend. So, here we are.

Justin Donald: I love it. Well, this goes back to both of our philosophies of, "Hey, let's have a cool conversation," and anyone and everyone is welcome to listen in. And I want to showcase some of the cool stuff that you're up to. I'd love to share some of the things we're up to. And I really want to highlight you because you have been such a great influence on me. And you've really been a family man first, businessman second, for many years. And I want to highlight that, I want to recognize that and I want to talk about it today.

Brad Johnson: Well, as we were talking before we hit record, I just consider this a conversation between two friends wanting to level up and learn from each other. And the cool thing about a podcast is we record it and put it out to the world and hope it helps a few people out there listening in. So, I'm game to go wherever you want to go, man.

Justin Donald: I love it. I love it. Any big family trips that you have going on this summer? Obviously, it's fun talking business and we'll talk business. We got to talk about what's going on with each of us, but let's make sure we're putting the priorities first. What's going on with your fam?

Brad Johnson: So, this was an Enneagram 7 random idea that I think will end up being a, well, it's already been a win but it hasn't happened yet. So, I have an eight-year-old daughter. So, my family dynamic real quick, for those unfamiliar, married to my high school sweetheart, Sarah. Let's see, this year, gosh, now this will be 19 years. Next year will be 20. And so, we dated for seven years before we got married, and then we have three kiddos. Kiddos. I mean, you just saw my son. He's taller.

Justin Donald: He's bigger than you are. He's bigger, taller, stronger.

Brad Johnson: I think that's probably using the term loosely. I don't know about stronger. Probably faster.

Justin Donald: Okay. All right.

Brad Johnson: But, 14, almost 13. So, boy, boy, and then our youngest is a girl, so eight. And so, our little girl, Nellie, she, like most girls that are eight years old in America, is a hardcore Swiftie. Is Savannah a Swiftie?

Justin Donald: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And by the way, Savannah has shortened her name. She now goes by Anna, and she is 11, and she is definitely a Swiftie. We've watched the Eras Tour that you can watch, I think it's on Netflix or maybe it's...

Brad Johnson: Disney Plus.

Justin Donald: We probably rented on Prime.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. So, on that Swiftie note, we're located just west of Kansas City, so we also have the Travis Kelce effect going on.

Justin Donald: Oh yeah. Yeah.

Brad Johnson: So, obviously, every Chiefs game this last season which defending Super Bowl champions, for those of you NFL fans out there that forgot, back-to-back. Was the Chiefs your team?

Justin Donald: I love the Chiefs.

Brad Johnson: You're probably Rams. Were you a Rams guy, St. Louis?

Justin Donald: No. Well, I'm from Chicago originally so I'm actually a Bears fan. So, this is a year where I can actually get excited for the first time in pretty much my adult life.

Brad Johnson: Since '85.

Justin Donald: Yeah. It's been a long time. But I am a huge Chiefs fan and Patrick Mahomes fan because he trained his dog in our dog training studio when we owned it and was just an incredible guy. And I just think the world of him and how he shows up.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. It's been a class act and it's not easy to be a class act when you have that level of exposure at all times. But, yeah, so anyway, we're watching. All of a sudden, Nellie wanting to watch every NFL game because, of course, they're flashing to Taylor Swift every five minutes. But anyway, so Sarah took her to the Eras Tour. And when it was in, not live, but in the movie theater. And then, of course, she wants to show her dad and watch it. And so, like I'm the typical 43-year-old dude that's heard a couple of her songs on the radio and hadn't really thought much more about it.

But I have to tell you after I watched the 3.5-hour Eras Tour performance, and for those of you unfamiliar, the Eras Tour means she goes through every album, every era of her music, blown away by just the level of entertainer, how seriously she takes it. I mean, we're talking like Michael Jackson levels of entertainment would be the closest comparison that I can say when he was in his prime.

Justin Donald: And it's long, it's 3 to 4 hours long. I mean, she goes hardcore and just crushes it. So, you're a Swiftie?

Brad Johnson: Yeah. So, I sit there. Yeah. Well, I think I probably am, honestly, if I'm being honest and there's definitely a high level of respect. And so, I watch this and I see my little eight-year-old daughter and there's these phases of childhood where there's these magical moments where it's almost like, I remember Disney when the kids were little where the character's almost real and they're looking at up at them in awe. That's kind of Taylor Swift to her right now. And I sit there and I'm like, "This is going to be one of those generational moments." It already is. It's kind of taken over the world. And I have to capitalize on it. And those tickets are insane. She's an eight-year-old.

And so, I talked to Sarah. I'm like, "We really have to send her and to watch her live during this tour before it's over." I look at tickets. What's left in the US is absolutely insane. And so, we're like, "Okay. Well, this is going to be a Christmas present, a birthday present." We're like combining them now. And so, then I go over, I look overseas and this is apparently a thing. The tickets are a third of the price.

Justin Donald: That's right. And some cases even less. The Paris show is way cheaper.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. So, I'm like, okay, well, we had a foreign exchange student from Milan a few years back. There's two shows in Milan. So, I'm like, what if we combine visiting Linda, our foreign exchange student, with seeing Taylor Swift? It's actually less including the flight to go see her over there. And so, booked a girls trip. Sarah and her are going over, so they're going to go over for the Milan show middle of July. I'm going to be home with the two boys. Just said, "Let's make it a girls' trip for them." And so, the guys are going to go to St. Louis, see our mutual friend, John Ruhlin, see a couple of our Triad members. And so, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm just kind of putting the agenda together for the guys' trip. And I know we were just talking, you know, that used to be your stomping grounds, your backyard.

Justin Donald: Yes. That's awesome.

Brad Johnson: So, any tips? We're super open to them.

Justin Donald: Well, you know me, I'm a top-five list kind of guy. I've got all my favorites in every category, and I'll share that gladly. We just got back. I know we love talking about travels and going all over the world. I mean, one of our favorite trips when we went to Italy was inspired by your trip where we took your itinerary and did a whole bunch of what you had down there when you took your whole family that one year. But we kind of did this epic trip to Greece, that we just got back from. I'm still not back in the normal time zone. I'm waking up at 2:00, 2:30 in the morning. But it was just an incredible way to spend, A, Father's Day and, B, my birthday, which neither of which I have ever spent out of the country.

So, we did some island hopping, spent some time in Athens, went to Porto Heli, which is kind of like the Monaco of Greece, and just hit up some of the less-known but really cool islands, while we were there. So, we are just getting back. This is, I mean, I'm just getting back into recording some podcast episodes before we head out to our next trip.

Brad Johnson: Cool. Like, if you had to sum up, because Greece is on the list, have not been there. I've heard amazing things. But if you said, "Hey, if you go, this is the one thing to make sure you do," what would that be?

Justin Donald: I mean, it's so tough to say that. So, we've been twice, and I feel like we still haven't even covered like, I mean, 6,000 islands. There's 6,000. I think 228 or 226 are inhabited. So, I feel like there's so much to do but to see the Parthenon, to go to the Acropolis, see the Parthenon, see all the stuff in Athens is really a spectacle, really cool. That's the touristy side of it.

Brad Johnson: Did Athens predate, like the civilization there, did it predate Rome?

Justin Donald: I believe so.

Brad Johnson: I thought that was it.

Justin Donald: I believe so, yeah. And there's so much history. Even from a biblical standpoint, that was really cool experiencing that. And having Anna with us and getting a chance to talk about some of that I thought was really cool, where Paul was and sharing some of the message, going to Corinth, seeing the Corinth Canal, which is really quite impressive. And we got a chance to do a helicopter flight from Athens over to Porto Heli. I mean, if I had to say something to do, check out the islands on the Porto Heli side like Spetses and Hydra. I mean, those were really cool experiences.

Brad Johnson: Well, I'll just borrow your itinerary from that trip when we go. How about that?

Justin Donald: I like it. I like it. Yeah. Well, I feel like over the years, we've done a good job of doing cool family experiences, traveling the world, getting some culture, sharing the highs and the lows with each other, and getting a chance to copy each other. And by the way, I'm reminded also of the trip that we took when we went as adults to BlackBerry Farm. That was an incredible experience. Incredible resort. Easily a top three favorite in the US. Probably number one for me.

Brad Johnson: Yeah.

Justin Donald: Great food. Michelin star.

Brad Johnson: Dude, that was not only is it an amazing property, that when we went, that was my second time. Michael Hyatt, our mutual friend, had introduced me to it the first time. But it was also a massive inflection point in my life, which I'm wearing the DBDL hat right here for those watching on camera.

Justin Donald: Do business, do life.

Brad Johnson: Part of that was born from the conversation we had when we were taking the hike when it started pouring on us. But, yeah, it was like, "Hey, I was leaving my previous chapter to start my new chapter," and I didn't even know what the next chapter was going to look like yet but I remember yourself, myself, and my co-founder, Shawn. Like, life's too short to not do business with people you want to do life with. And I remember that phrase just stuck, and it just kind of rattled around my head and became one of the missions we're on here at Triad, so.

Justin Donald: Well, I love it. Well, to know that I even had any sort of influence or spark is very humbling. And what you guys have done building that company out to the size that it is to the size team, the size of assets under management in the short period of time that you have is truly incredible.

Brad Johnson: Well, thank you. Literally, you were in the conversation before we even knew what it was, before there was any LLC formed, before even the idea that we were going to partner in business. So, you were there at the ground floor before the ground floor existed.

Justin Donald: I love it. So, does that mean I'm a partner? I think that's what that means.

Brad Johnson: You are a partner in spirit, for sure. Not equity, not on the cap table, but definitely in spirit.

Justin Donald: I think your team is missing out. That's good. Well, I'm so happy for you guys. So, what's new and exciting in the business right now?

Brad Johnson: Man, every day. I'll tell you what was really fun. I think culture, you know, it's kind of a cliche thing in business these days, "Oh, you got to have a great culture," but it's so true. Vision and culture. So, where are we headed and how are we going to get there with the team that actually wants to interact, you know, do business and do life together? Yesterday we had the first ever Triad Olympics. And we, early on, the truth is that first 12 months, Shawn and I, like we were college buddies. Like, he's been a brother to me like a legit like lived with me for a while. And we've always loved each other but there were many seasons in, especially in that first 12 months, we didn't like each other. We were really struggling to communicate as business partners.

We were, you know, we'd worked alongside each other but never been business partners. And to have to actually meet in the middle and communicate in a healthy way, we just struggled. We really did. And one of the things that we realized that was eating us alive as we scaled from, well, three and a half years in, we have 85 team members. So, that's some pretty quick growth as far as getting people to work together and get along with each other. And I remember our culture like we wanted it to be amazing, but it sucked where like people were struggling to communicate, show up to work, and we were just getting bombarded before we even got to the office each day. And we made the decision to hire Kenzie, our Director of Culture, to focus on our team as a client.

So, I think a lot of businesses focus externally on their clients and how to acquire them and drive revenue. What we realize is we were never going to be able to do that if we didn't have a team that could actually deliver on the promises. And so, we made an intentional decision to hire her. Fast forward, yesterday, we're doing these office Olympics. I'm doing synchronized chair dancing with the team, which I would never do. And I'm super uncomfortable getting in front of a group and doing all this. But to see the team connect and have fun together and not take themselves too seriously, by the way, we did get second in synchronized chair dancing.

Justin Donald: Well done.

Brad Johnson: My show choir from high school, it all came flooding back. But, yeah, that was cool. That was yesterday. The team had a blast. Kelly, on our social teams, feeding it all out to the internet. And I think that's how you attract great talent is, man, I want to work there. That looks like a lot more fun. They're doing stuff that they don't do. I don't feel like I'm recognized and seen in my current business. And we see that a lot with talent that's joining here is like it just do business do life spoke to me. You guys are doing both. And so, yeah, that was yesterday.

Justin Donald: That's awesome. What an honor also to have your best friend as your business partner. And by the way, I remember that first year because I remember playing mediator with you guys, where it was like we got to learn how to communicate effectively with each other. And, yeah, that's tricky. I mean, I've gone into business with friends and it is not easy, but I think that if you are committed to the process, committed to what's best for the relationship, that great things can happen and you can work it out. And you guys clearly have done that, which is awesome to see.

Brad Johnson: Well, and I think there's a realization at some point, this business is bigger than the two of us. So, it's actually pretty selfish to let our own personal agendas or egos get in the way of delivering on the mission, you know? And you just have to learn and grow as things evolve and as you figure out how to be a leader and you make mistakes and screw things up and try to own it. And, yeah, man, like that's my realization as an entrepreneur. I'd coached entrepreneurs for over a decade. It's a hell of a lot harder to be one, you know, to not be the professor in the classroom, actually be in the trenches doing it.

Justin Donald: That's right.

Brad Johnson: And you have to learn every day.

Justin Donald: So, what is like if you had to say, "Here's what we've done really well from a success standpoint. We're feeling real good about this," but then also, where are you going? What's your compelling vision of the future? Where do you see Triad long-term?

Brad Johnson: Yeah. You know, what's interesting is one of the biggest pain points for our prospective members and our current members is, actually, I think an entrepreneurial problem. And we call it the red line of success where you're grinding, you're trying to grow a business, and you're focused on revenue or production or whatever your metric is for growth at the sacrifice of everything else, at the sacrifice of your own health, your own well-being, your marriage, being a father to your children. And it's almost like a teeter-totter that all the weight is on one side and it's completely out of balance. And I think even work-life balance is a myth because unless you lock your iPhone up every night, which I know we've gone through seasons of that too, have been good for us.

Justin Donald: Yeah. We both have. It's hard to keep it locked up, though.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. It's work-life integration is the truth. It's how does the business serve your life, not become your life. And if you don't have people around you that keep you in check, tell you the truth, truth and love together, and give you real feedback to say, "Dude, you're out of whack and you've got way too much focus over on this side of the equation and not on the do life side of the equation." And trust me, that first 12 months I was way out of whack. I mean, it took my wife sitting me down and saying, "I think we need to go talk to somebody." And unfortunately, I was humble enough, and I'd had mentors in my life where that I had kind of gotten away from that stigma of I grew up on a farm in Kansas. It's like you don't talk about your feelings, you don't cry, you rub some dirt on it and you move on. And when that's kind of how and, honestly, a lot of dudes are brought up that way.

And if I hadn't had mentors and people in my life that had just been down that path and said, "Hey, therapy is okay. It's the healthy people that talk to someone," and I think therapy just needs to be rebranded. It's coaching. It's coaching your own mindset, coaching in the most important relationships in your life. Just like guess what? You're a business coach. I'm a business coach. You want to work on your golf swing, you go get a coach. You want to get in better shape, you go get a trainer, a coach. But yet we resist coaching in the most important areas of our life because of our egos and because we're guys.

Justin Donald: Yeah. There's a stigma around it, right? It's almost like, maybe you feel less than or weaker because of admitting that you need some help. And like you, I mean, Lifestyle Investor was born just a couple of years before Triad, right? And so, I was in the thick of it for a while and you and I got a chance to share ideas back and forth. "I'm doing this." "Oh, cool. We should try this." And it's been fun building a business together at the same time and having someone there but then also the accountability to say, "Hey, are you pouring in too many hours to that business? Are you showing up for your family? Are you showing up for your friends? Are you showing up for your spouse?" And I feel like we've done a really good job of that with each other.

But we've also been in a season where we hired Dr. Kelly Flanagan, you know, Front Row dad, amazing guy, and said, "Hey, Jennifer and I need to learn to communicate better together. There's something off. Something with the cadence. Maybe something, maybe a heart issue. And we both need to own it, and we need to say, 'Hey, we're not going to let anything get in the way of the most important thing, which is our relationship, our marriage.'" And I know you and Sarah feel that same way. And by the way, it's also great to have a partner, a spouse that is as in it as you are or in our wives' cases, luckily, at times, they're even more in it than we are. And they can give us some good that our wives are very discerning.

And I've learned to turn on that part of my brain to say, "Okay. Tune in here. Because your wife, you know, she get something here that you don't see, you don't get, you don't feel, and you need to pay attention."

Brad Johnson: What if she's right?

Justin Donald: That's right. What if she's right? It's a great question. So, I'm glad that you're open and willing to do that. It's been a game-changer for us and I know it's been a game-changer for you.

Brad Johnson: Well, I just sat down with a guy named Chris, 26 years old, killing it, just killing it like was a millionaire by 21. Not that that's like the standard to judge life by, but he was really successful. He's a go-getter and doing it in sports cards, by the way. He bought two houses with sports cards just because that's his game and he knows how it works. But anyway, he's engaged and he asked me. He's Like, "Do you have any marriage advice?" which how wise is that question before you're married, right?

Justin Donald: So good.

Brad Johnson: And I said, "Well, here's some marriage advice for you. Start therapy, start couples counseling your first year of marriage, not your 10th or 15th."

Justin Donald: That's good.

Brad Johnson: And I said, "It took a point for us to be really like we're in a doom loop of we couldn't even communicate because there was so much blame and because so much pressure, and I just wasn't showing up like I needed to. So, we had to like unpack that before we could get back to healthy and then make progress." Right? Michael Hyatt says, "Therapy is to get to baseline. Coaching is to get to like success from normal to success." Well, we were like digging ourselves out of a hole just so we could get to normal.

And I said, "So, you should start now where you're like in love, you're in this honeymoon phase, and learn how to communicate in a healthy way and how guys are different from girls and how you specifically are different from your fiancé and your communication styles. And start to learn that now because, man, it would serve you so much better through marriage." And he's like, I just talked to him the other day, he's like, "Hey, we signed up for therapy." I was like, "Awesome, dude. You're going to love it." It's just considered a weekly coaching session on how to be a better husband and a better partner.

Justin Donald: That's so good. And I think also something that was really fun that we got a chance to do together, you know, several couples, but you and Sarah, Jennifer and I, Hal and Ursula Elrod, and some others.

Brad Johnson: Michael and Gail.

Justin Donald: Yes. Michael and Gail. That's right. The Hyatts. I mean, it was an incredible, incredible group. And what we did is we spent time in the company is the Family Brand and creating family values with Chris and Melissa Smith. And it was a total game changer and just an incredible way to look at the family different and actually kind of create an ethos and a cadence and standards and ways to unite and unify each person with rally cries. I mean, just such a cool program that they offer.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. Actually, I thought we might get into it today. So, I actually pruned ours out.

Justin Donald: Oh, nice. Oh, good. Let's totally get into it.

Brad Johnson: It's funny. So, I've got my son here today. It's a day at the office. Mom took the other two to go hang out with her parents. And so, Bron hung out with me this afternoon, and he sat in on his first business meeting at Triad. So, that was fun. I'm sure he enjoyed every minute. And it came up. I got asked from one of our interns, "Hey, what advice would you give me if you look back and were giving yourself advice at this age?" which I thought was an incredible question from an intern.

Justin Donald: Good question. Yep.

Brad Johnson: And one of the pieces of advice I gave was one of our Johnson family values, which was get uncomfortable and do hard things. That's where you grow. And Bron probably gets tired of hearing it because it's on repeat a lot in our house, but it served me really well at those pivotal moments of which we've talked about a couple already.

Justin Donald: That's right.

Brad Johnson: And I've already seen it start to serve our kids really well. So, that's one of the core values we preach on a lot.

Justin Donald: Well, it's cool that the Family Brand kind of came into fruition the way that it did because Chris Smith has kind of had this brand, the Campfire Effect, where he helps businesses create identity and create a culture and shared aligned values. And then him and Melissa were like, "Well, isn't it even more important to do this as a family?" And so, that's where that was birthed from but I'd love for you to share the rest of your family values.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. So, we've committed these to memory as a family. And that's one of the things that I didn't want it to just be one of those things we went through and then a year later we're like, "What was that one again?" So, we're still working on it. I won't say we're all the way there, but so Johnsons have each other's backs, which, by the way, we use this all the time when, "Ah, do we have to go to Nellie's softball game?" "Yeah. Johnsons have each other's back. She was at your football game. She was at your band concert so we're going to her softball game."

So, Johnsons have each other's backs. Johnsons speak kindly and check in with each other. Johnsons provide a safe place to speak about anything. We call that the 5133 rule because that's the number on our house, that one specifically. I think one of the biggest fears I have as a parent is our children not being able to open up about like the tough conversations, the sex conversations, the drug conversations, the I'm depressed conversations. All of us humans go through these different seasons of life where we actually need good counsel. And unfortunately, I think a lot of families, there's a lot of shame and judgment where they won't actually come to you.

Justin Donald: That's good.

Brad Johnson: They want those conversations. And where do we want them? We want them to get that advice from us, not from the internet or some friend that's probably going to lead them down the wrong path. And so, that one's like especially close to us. We say it a lot, the 5133 rule, like you're free to speak about anything without judgment in this house. And it's hard to do as a parent too because, naturally, sometimes you want to judge and that's something Sarah and I work on a lot, and we're not perfect of that but we're really striving to create that sort of environment.

Justin Donald: That is so good. Preach it. I mean, this is real life. This is good.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. You want me to keep going?

Justin Donald: Yes. I do.

Brad Johnson: Okay. Johnsons are committed to making memories together. I think that one helped influence that Italy trip because I was like, "I'm going to regret this if we missed this opportunity." And I think that's one of the things, as I've gotten older, I used to be a lot more focused on materialistic stuff once you start making decent money because it's all the stuff you never, I was a poor farm kid, middle of nowhere Kansas. So, it's all the stuff I couldn't get when I was a kid, the car I couldn't drive, the shoes I couldn't buy. And I've realized that stuff at the end of the day really doesn't make you happy. But what it does is experiences with people you love. And so, we've tried to allocate a lot more of our funds to creating that. And I know that I'm preaching to the choir here because I know you do that thing.

Justin Donald: That's powerful.

Brad Johnson: You have thoughts on that one or do you want me to keep rolling?

Justin Donald: Well, I mean, I feel like we could just hit the pause button for a moment here because this one may be one of the more important ones but I also think all these things that you're mentioning, these can be the rally cries and the values of your business too or with the people that you're closest with, like everything that you have said truly resonates. And I do think any time that we are focused in our relationships with creating lasting memories and experiences, we are just strengthening that bond. So, I love that. I love that. Yeah. Keep it going.

Brad Johnson: Cool. The Johnsons stand up for things we believe in and a lot in the group that we were in with Chris and Melissa, that would kind of be their religious one like, "Hey, we believe in God," which we do at our family. And I just kind of wanted to, when Sarah and I talked about this, we wanted to be like bigger than that because there's other things we believe in that we want to stand up for. And we know what happens when you don't stand up for things you believe in, and you just kind of follow the crowd. So, that one was really important to us. We already talked about Johnsons get uncomfortable and do hard things and the Johnsons are leaders who make a difference. We want to be leaders, not followers. And we want to know what we stand for.

And I think the make a difference part on there is serving others. You know, I think I've seen you give to others without the need for recognition. You're not putting it on some poster or some billboard. And I also want to be that family that makes a difference for others but doesn't even need the recognition.

Justin Donald: I love that.

Brad Johnson: And then the last one is we take ownership. And that one was really important to Sarah. I think she put that one on there for me. She's like, "Yeah. So, Brad, are you going to apologize for that and own that so that the kids see you apologizing and owning that?"

Justin Donald: She's crafty. Sarah's got the moves.

Brad Johnson: Oh, she's real crafty. Yeah. She's real crafty.

Justin Donald: Hey, those are awesome. And I feel like for anyone that doesn't have the time or resources to go through Family Brand, you just have laid out a beautiful model of what people can use. I mean, steal from the best with pride.

Brad Johnson: I mean, hey, I will give them. They don't even have to steal.

Justin Donald: Yeah. That's good.

Brad Johnson: I mean, I've borrowed so, I mean, the 5133 rule actually borrowed from an advisor I met a long time ago named Phil, and it was his family's rule and it was his address number on there. So, I definitely borrowed that one.

Justin Donald: That's good. I like that. It's so catchy. I love that you're prioritizing your family. I think that's so powerful. I think back to the first podcast we ever did, you were one of the first people I interviewed, period, ever. Actually, you were literally the first person I ever interviewed in my podcast.

Brad Johnson: Well, I remember back to you being before Triad, the DBDL conversation, we talked, well, it was our COVID-born random Zoom with Ryan Levesque, you, me, Shawn. There are a few others that roam through there, but it started to be like a happy hour/let's nerd out on investments and life and all that. And I was like, "Dude, you should do a podcast." Like, this stuff would be a great podcast. And you basically kind of took a lot of that format and your shows evolved, obviously, but, I mean, you're very curious, you're a deep thinker, you're well-read, and you ask great questions. That's all good recipes to make a great podcast. And you're a great networker. So, you have an incredible network. So, that's a lot of the ingredients for a great podcast right there.

Justin Donald: Well, I appreciate it. I would not be where I am today without you and your ideas. So, like how I was able to provide a spark of inspiration and an idea of do business, do life. You really got me over the hump of podcasting and give me the idea that I should do it, try it out, don't commit to it long-term, just record six episodes and see what you think. And then even walk me through a couple of different strategies of an outline. And then even just the idea of like, "Hey, I think you're onto something here with Lifestyle Investor." You know, you said that early on with these investment calls and happy hours. And so, as you've paved a lot of thanks to me for some of the business ideas or inspiration, I can say the same of you for the Lifestyle Investor podcast but even the Lifestyle Investor mastermind and brand.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. Well, I remember I think you were doing, was it Mike Koenigs that you had done some early work with?

Justin Donald: Yeah.

Brad Johnson: And I think out of a strategy session, if I remember right, or a brainstorming session, Lifestyle Investor kind of was one of the phrases that came out of that.

Justin Donald: That's right.

Brad Johnson: And I heard it. I was like, "That's the one. It literally describes." When we first met at Front Row Dads, I remember like because I was doing well for myself but my income was tied to my time. And I had seen you uncouple those to where your income was not tied to your time or your time invested in the business, right? And I was like, "How did he do that?" And then we started geeking out on some of the real estate stuff you've done and I was learning. I was like, "Oh, that makes a lot of sense." And so, I learned a lot of that from you. And so, when you're like Lifestyle Investor, I was like, "That's the two sides of the equation right there."

Justin Donald: Well, thank you, Vivian Koenigs, for really helping to unlock that and ask me the questions that elicited that phrase and so many others that really helped that come alive. And it's funny because had we not made the commitment early on, I remember, we had met at one of the Front Row Dad events, one of your first events. I think it was your first event.

Brad Johnson: I went to the very first one.

Justin Donald: Oh, so, way, way back.

Brad Johnson: I'm a Front Row Dad OG.

Justin Donald: Okay. All right.

Brad Johnson: I think that was the second one if I remember right. Maybe you didn't get the invite to the first one. No, I'm just kidding. Definitely, you knew Jon way back.

Justin Donald: I was going to say I'm pretty sure I'm an OG. I'm trying to remember.

Brad Johnson: No, I'm just giving you a hard time. The only way I even knew about Front Row Dads was John Ruhlin's like, "Hey, my buddy, Jon Vroman is doing this thing up in Philly. I got your ticket. Let's go." And so, it's the old surround yourself with great people that works. It plays out every time in life. And so, that was my ticket in. That was how I got to know the Cutco mafia of which you were deep in that circle.

Justin Donald: That's right.

Brad Johnson: And I'll tell you what. That company has borne a lot of great humans. I mean, like, not born, but developed a lot of great humans and business leaders just with that, the training, and the frameworks. And I know you were obviously one of the guys like coaching a lot of people in that model.

Justin Donald: Yeah, it was huge.

Brad Johnson: I feel very fortunate and I fell into that circle of people.

Justin Donald: Yeah. I'm glad you did too. It was a great starting ground and stomping ground and educational path, learned a lot of life skills there. A lot of life skills.

Brad Johnson: I do owe an apology. So, Jon, if you're listening to this, which I'm guessing you will because it's your podcast, back in the early days, he had the option for a lifetime member. I don't even know if that still exists.

Justin Donald: It does not.

Brad Johnson: And so, yeah, so we were both like kind of grandfathered into that. And right as I was like, "Let's go," Triad was born. And honestly, the bandwidth was not there. So, I owe a ton of gratitude to Jon and what he's built with Front Row Dads. I'm a huge fan. I've been to many of their retreats and connected with guys like you, Justin. And so, Jon, like I still want to be a lifetime member if you allow me to, if you're listening, and I will start going back to the live retreats. So, that's on me, not on you.

Justin Donald: I'm so glad that I can one-up you here because I did commit to being a lifetime member. Only six of us committed to that, and I'm glad. But I hope Jon says, "Hey, we'll let you in. We'll let you in, Brad."

Brad Johnson: No, I am a lifetime member. I just became a lifetime member and then I stopped attending.

Justin Donald: Oh, I see. I just didn't recognize you back then.

Brad Johnson: Because, I mean, at the early season of Triad, I had no bandwidth. My wife's like, "Why don't you actually try being a Front Row Dad by being here as opposed to flying out?" And it was just one of those seasons of life which now that, you know, the foundation has really started to be created at Triad, like the bandwidth is starting to open back up again but it's definitely been one of those seasons.

Justin Donald: So cool. Yeah. Well, I'm excited that you'll be coming back to things. I mean, Jon has changed my life for the better, in so many ways. So, Jon Vroman, just total game-changer, total lover, just loves on people.

Brad Johnson: Yeah, he does.

Justin Donald: Treats them like gold, inspires them, but he's real. You know, it's real conversations. He doesn't just sugarcoat it, and he really looks for what's best. He really wants to serve. And so, he'll highlight things that are so great or impressive about people. But his humility in the way that he shows up and takes ownership of where he's at in life, it just creates such a vulnerable space for real, true relationships, true authenticity to shine through. And so, I'm so forever thankful for Front Row Dads and for amazing people that I met. You and I, at that event, we made a commitment. I remember you being like, "Hey, would you want to be accountability partners?" And I was like, "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea," because accountability partners have helped me in business. Accountability partners have helped me in my fitness and health. So, I just like accountability with family. What a great idea.

And then you and I for over a year had a weekly call that, and I mean, if memory serves me correctly, I mean, we were pretty strict on it, like we rarely missed calls. Even when we were traveling, we would check in, or even on a vacation if it worked out, we would check in. And I remember one of the first books that we did was Rich Christiansen's book, Even If Your Toes Turn Purple, which is an incredible read. You suggested that one. I think we did Family Board Meeting, Jim Sheils book first, and then we did Rich Christiansen's book, which he co-wrote with his son. Super cool.

Brad Johnson: We also did which was your recommendation, Strong Father, Strong Daughters.

Justin Donald: That's right.

Brad Johnson: Which you had read already and I had not. And that made a massive impact because I was just a new dad to a daughter not too many years before that. And, yeah, we did a little book study where I'd read a couple of chapters, discuss it, and I will say it was cool, like we truly did make it family.

Justin Donald: Yes. First.

Brad Johnson: And it wasn't until I think even like 8, 10, 12 months in, you know, we like to talk business too. We can't help it. And I'm like, "Wait, okay, let's do another call and talk about that." But we stayed pretty true to the purpose of the call for the longest time.

Justin Donald: We did. We did. We got to get that cadence of these calls back now that schedules have slowed down and businesses have scaled and people are in place to really run it where we're not the operators the way we once were.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. Well, I don't think I'm quite to Lifestyle Investor status yet, but we'll get there someday.

Justin Donald: Hey, man. You're building things, doing cool stuff. You got one of your biggest fans right here just watching from the sidelines and saying, "Put me in, coach. I'm ready to be put in any time." I'm excited about what you guys are building. Love your partner dearly as well, Shawn Sparks, shout out to you. Incredible guy. One of the most impressive salespeople out there. And you know what? This podcast episode was so much fun. I knew it would be but I think, I mean, I selfishly don't want this to just be for Front Row Dads. I think we should put this out on our own channels and I think I'm going to put this out on Lifestyle Investor and make sure people know all the cool stuff going on with you and all the initiatives you have to really be a family man first, businessman second, but doing well in both categories, very successful in both.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. It's interesting. I had a prior show, the Elite Advisor Blueprint, that I started at my prior employer before this chapter. And you start a new chapter, the podcast needed a new chapter as well. And so, really is my pursuit like, honestly, like the first chapter was a lot of pursuit of own personal success and monetary success. Not that I didn't like, obviously, want to serve my clients and my team, but there were parts of it that was kind of a selfish pursuit. And this one, this next chapter is about significance and serving others, and building a business that's bigger than me. And so, that old model didn't really work.

So, the new show is Do Business Do Life. And that's what's cool is I now have a format where a conversation like this that is very much on the Do Life side, not that we didn't talk some business as well. Guess what? The format works great. And that's the mission I'm on because all the money in the world doesn't matter if you don't have people to share it with and create memories with. And I know we've talked a lot about that, so.

Justin Donald: I love it. Well, tell everyone who's listening where they can find out more about you and more about Triad.

Brad Johnson: Yeah. So, on pretty much all the socials. It's @TriadPartners, T-R-I-A-D Partners. And then on the podcast front, pretty much every handle is DBDL, as in Do Business Do Life podcast. So DBDL podcast and then company website is TriadPartners.com. Personal website where the podcast lives is BradleyJohnson.com because somebody out there has BradJohnson.com and won't let it go. It's got a picture of trees on it the last time I saw it. Maybe I need to get you as my negotiator.

Justin Donald: Yes. You make really good money. You just need to buy it.

Brad Johnson: Trust me. I've tried.

Justin Donald: Okay.

Brad Johnson: So, if that Brad Johnson from Oregon, I think, is listening in and hears this, hit me up. DM me. Let's go.

Justin Donald: I love it. It's so good. Well, I have just had a blast. For those of you that want to learn more about Lifestyle Investor, just go to Lifestyleinvestor.com, podcast in the same name. And just so pleased to, so proud, so pleased, so honored, so privileged to call you a friend and to be part of Front Row Dads and to be leading this incredible organization and people that I have the privilege of doing every day in Lifestyle Investor.

Brad Johnson: Likewise, my man. On my side, it's been a pleasure. An hour went in the blink of an eye, as it always does every time we chat. So, thanks for having me on and thanks for asking great questions and going deep as always.

Justin Donald: Love it.

Brad Johnson: Looking forward to the next in-person conversation.

Justin Donald: That's right. That's right. That needs to happen sooner than later. And we'll link all these resources we talked about in the show notes so everyone can get their hands on all of those. Thanks for tuning in and wishing you the best in all areas of life, in family, in fitness, in marriage, in health, in wealth, in mindset, you name it. Go live life. Do business do life.

Brad Johnson: Be well, my man. We'll see ya.

Justin Donald: See ya.