The Pursuit of Purpose Chris Kiefer

In today's episode, we have Jason Swanson, who is originally from Oklahoma City, born to a music-lover family who encouraged him to follow his passion. He went to college and studied music technology. He became intrigued by finger-style guitar and later became a pro at this skill. The thing that's most impressive about Jason is that not only is he like world-class in music production, but he also shoots and edits all of his own videos, and the video that he produces is equally as impressive from just like storytelling and cinematography standpoint. He gets the fulfilling opportunity to lead the music at his church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.



Questions/Topics in This Episode:


What are you focusing on and notable in your life right now?
Meeting or having time with stars doesn't mean you are as big and valuable as them. People will always have to make their way to the top. You have to love what you are doing, and what you are passionate about even if no one cares.
How do you balance being an entrepreneur with being a business operator? Have you got a plan actually to take your business seriously?
Would you say that the resistance you do feel is the same on the music side that comes to avoiding the things that you can do? Or do you go and be natural in being creative, doing more desirable than business?
How do you like to leverage email marketing and what is its objective?
Don't let perfection be the enemy of productivity.
How has becoming a father influence your creativity?
When you’re talking to other musicians about the creative process, what are the consistent things that you hear that are top of mind?
You have a responsibility to be a steward of the ideas that flow through you. The more you feed it, the more it will grow.
“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. -Maya Angelou
Seth Godin's Startup School
Self-discovery is more of a process than a process. You will never achieve success if you don’t think you are the best. You can do anything if you have that little tiny voice in your head.



Closing Questions:



-Top 3 book recommendations?


The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin
The Alchemist by  Paulo Coelho



-Movie recommendations?


The Big Short (2015)
Knives Out (2019)



-How should people connect with you?


Email: jasondswanson@gmail.com
Website: jasonswansonmusic.com

Today, we have Skyler Kressin, a CPA with Masters in Tax law and partner of Dominion Enterprise Services, who offers strategic tax planning. He previously worked with local firms in Southern California. He then moved to Idaho and joined a friend's startup firm where he worked full-time in February 2022 as a head of a department.



Questions:


Is joining the previous company your first entrepreneurial venture?
In the idea of household economy in reference to Christian commonwealth, what do you mean when you say 'household economy' and why is it an interesting thing to talk about these days?
In our modern society, some of the angst is around working really hard, day in and day out, to build someone else's vision.
We are all trying to raise children that are going to do meaningful things in the world, but also we wanted to have meaning in our lives. We are not just limited to past meaning to the next generations. Men and women both feel the struggle in different ways.
If you don't have an investment, where do you put money for the future?
What do you do with your money to spend it strategically? What other vehicles are there aside from real estate to invest in? 
Besides directly investing in small businesses, what are your top 5 ways that you try to keep your money in the local community?
What are your thoughts about hiring virtual assistants?
Have you taken your kids to participate in the family as dominion?
There is a danger in treating your family like business partners. Do you have a mission statement for your family? What's the next step in formally strengthening the family for the sake of the business to thrive?
When you invest with your family, you're investing in your children's formation.



Closing Questions:

-Book Recommendations:


The Last Safe Investment by Bryan Franklin and Michael Ellsberg
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by  Matthew B. Crawford



-Movie Recommendation


Master in Commander
Song of the Sea



-How should people connect with you?


LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/skressincpa
Website: www.dominionenterprises.com

Introduction:

Today we are joined by James Fry and my special co-host, Natalie Kifer. We had a wonderful yet informative conversation about family life, parenting, and the beauty and danger of marketing. Together with his brother and their wives, James Fry co-founded the Brown Button Estate Sale Services. Having a strong will to offer a better alternative in this industry, the couples pooled some money and opened for business. Then they went one step further and co-founded an industry association dedicated to advocating best practices and raising standards.



Questions/Topics in This Episode:


What is the intangible thing that you love about your business?
Adding to the new service that you have, was it more of a technical or logistical solution in your processes that can be used if something happens?
Are they a unified brand? Or as far as brand awareness, are they two different brands?
What are the top 5 most absurd, crazy, or things you never anticipate that someone would have that you've been able to sell?
There are a lot of things that are valuable to one and another person's trash.
Are you interested in Seth Godin?
Is there a motivation behind the yellow glass and be recognized with it?--It can be for an aesthetic look and is like a trademark.
One of your company values is visual excellence, is that strength for both you and your wife? Are you aware of the aesthetic or does one of you drive into it more than the other?
How do you make it happen in the in-person space at the state sale? is it staging things or do you bring your own items?--To make a state sale really pop requires a lot of things to be constantly moved helping the interior designer realize their vision.
With regards to music, do you have a playlist or does it change depending on the house or environment?
Talking about your brand and the things you have done, what was the first brand that you remember connecting to and seeing a potential brand?
Do you remember at what age you first start recognizing a commercial that is just trying to sell you?--In modern streaming, we have the choice to see or not the ads unless it is LIVE.
There are also benefits to allowing kids to use old-school devices and from their perspective, it is like a new technology.
Of all the things that you know, what do you feel could potentially be a leading expert on?



Closing Questions:

-Movie recommendations?


Lincoln (2012)



-Top 3 book recommendations?


Atomic Habits by James Clear
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Carl Newport



-How should people connect with you?


Website: circle-auction.com
Email: james@brownbutton.com

In this episode, I get the opportunity to talk with Jonathan Heston about setting yourself to be the best you can be while creating a positive impact on society. Jonathan has spent years of his life exploring how entrepreneurs can easily push the world forward at incredible success without losing their identity, their valuables, and their goal. He wrote a little book called The Ultimate Self. He is also the co-founder of Project Shift and Uprising Adventure with Anthony John Amyx. He has coached 6 and 7-figure entrepreneurs in life and business and is ready to bring inspiration to everyone.

Questions/Topic in this Episode:


What's the meaning of your tagline on your LinkedIn and Facebook "unshackling business owners"?
With regards to the idea of "why do I have to do the things that I do not want to do", what do you think is the reason that people are holding back? What are the common beliefs or factors on this?
What would be the first thing that you think is the biggest metric for how people get results? Very fundamentally, how do results happen? What would you say drives your actions or thoughts?
The idea of having a solid habit in place is going to massively impact your ability to make good decisions.
What are conscious drivers?
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will drive your life and you call it faith"--Cole Young
Reticular activators filter events and actions to which is important and which is not. It serves as a gate to our brain
With unconscious drivers, you have the beingness of the reactions. You also have the concept of how and why you do that.
 Is there something that you can do to uncover the conscious state of mind? Do I have to work on it with someone else?
In people's lives, there are one to three key inflection points that radically change your trajectory, what it is is a major turning point either realization, change, and a pivot in your career.
Do you have the next steps for someone to get into a journey to becoming a better version of themselves?
"To identify who you want to be or maybe who you are and be that. Spent more time being in that experience of being the better version of you"--Chris
What is something that you hold to be true that most people would disagree with?



-Book Recommendation


Atomic Habits by James Clear
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The 16-Word Sales Letter by Evaldo Albuquerque
$100M Offers by Alex Homozi
The Unlimited Self by Jonathan Heston



-Movie Recommendations


The Fountain (2006)
The Tree of Life



-How should people connect with you?


website: jonathanheston.com

Today, I speak with Matt Laughlin about building relationships with other people through coaching and psychotherapy. He is a personal, relationship & business coach serving a diverse client base who are committed to making their life, relationships, and business be an expression of what they value most. He is also the owner of BeLocal of North Idaho & CDA Real Producers. 



Questions/Topic in this Episode


Can you speak a little bit about one of the lines of many coaches in enhancing performance for a time in addressing some underlying drivers in people?
Could you define what a business or life coach is from your perspective?
Defining how to optimize yourself.
What's going on when someone is working with you, specifically, or with a coach in general, or potentially by just a group of people that are committed to bettering themselves even if it's not shared faith but shared accountability?
How would you give this type of experience of having an accountable group to the people that you've cared about in the way of figuring out how important it can be to their lives?
" People that pay, pay more attention" 
What advice can you give to people who are unaware of how to join a group or get a coaching director? Are there steps in the journey?
Defining what you have done to grow in a coaching relationship. 
Everybody has a few major infliction points in their life that significantly outweigh others, can you share a major infliction that change your path that led you to where you are right now?
What is something that you hold to be true that most people would disagree with?
How much time do you spend thinking about the future? And what is it that you think about most frequently?
" Don't carry tomorrow's burdens today"--You literally can't try and solve the problems for the next 30 years of your life right now.
- Would you say, you do decide that you would embrace an uncomfortable reality because it is the next step in the journey?



-Book Recommendations:


Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender by David R. Hawkins
12 Steps Program for People
Sex Addict Anonymous



- Movie Recommendations:


Dances with Wolves 
Braveheart
Forrest Gump



-How should people connect with you?


TikTok, Facebok, and LinkedIn
Website: https://www.mlcda.com

In this episode, we had the opportunity to talk with Mike Shamberg, the User Experience Designer for CDA Digital. CDA came from the place where he is living, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He is also a certified Yoga instructor. Learn more about him and his experiences in the field of creative design as he enjoys the journey of learning more about life, career, and family.



Questions/Topics in this Episode:


What are the major inflection points in your life that brought a change in the course of who you are? He started as a graphics designer & that biggest career shift was when he quit his job and started his own company giving him the feeling of being in line with who he really is.
Was this pre-all of that or was there a piece of this that was like in preparation for fatherhood? Not that fully ready yet, but had the opportunity to fully engage himself and live off what he is really passionate about.
When you created CDA, you wanted to help the communities in Idaho by impacting businesses and the way they thrive, is there an explanation behind it?
Given the statement that you are passionate about consulting, what is the scope of that consulting idea for you and what expertise do you have in assisting people?
"Take risks, if you succeed, you'll be happy; and if you fail, you'll be wise. And to me there's nothing worse than going through life having taken any risks and never failed at anything."-Chris
Where do you draw the line between taking risks and sticking to your skill set?
How do you relate to storytelling in the design process?
What are user experience laws and how do they work?
For you what is the idea of a creative thinker? What does that mean to you?  And what roles in the industries fall into that vs those that don't?
What routines, roles, and tools make you more artistic? What do you do to exercise that muscle?
Why do think so many people in this world don't know what they want?
Everything that you're talking about in yoga and the experiences you have outside as a teacher, how does that affect you as a business owner and entrepreneur that is trying to create and design?
How to reach clarity in your life that doesn’t come right away?



-Book Recommendations:


To Shake the Sleeping Self by Jedidiah Jenkins
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Finding Ultra by Rich Roll
Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday



-Movie Recommendation:


Star Wars



-How should people connect with you?


website: cdadigital.io
Instagram