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all right all right all right welcome
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back to the ex homeschoolers Club I am
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your host Jak Gooden and today I'm here
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with one of my really good friends Nick
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Burgess we have known each other for a
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very long time
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yes we've known each other for a very
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very long time uh we've been buddies for
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oh my God how long has it been we met
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during the production and play the
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Mitchells did of the uh Beauty and the
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Beast that's right because you were
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initially friends with Carly first and
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so she's like oh I got to introduce you
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to my friend Jacob I was like oh cool
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and I remember you played you were
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playing one of the wolves and I remember
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like meeting you and I oh this guy's
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cool so how long it's been since then oh
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my oh my gosh yeah so yeah so just so
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people know so our friends the Mitchells
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they would host every summer they had
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these backyard plays and it was like
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theater in the round style their their
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uh driveway was like a circle driveway
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with a grass spot in the middle and they
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would build these sets and we would do
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these these theater Productions every
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summer but yeah I knew your sister
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because uh we took a writing class
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together and then yeah I do remember
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that I remember during that show yeah uh
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after she introduced us and then what's
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so funny is like we became really good
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friends and then our dads became really
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good friends and uh yeah it's it's just
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so funny and our dads are still like
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best friends to this day which is um
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hilarious I feel like I hear more about
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your dad than than about yeah um yeah I
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hear about I hear about your dad and
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then through that I hear about you um
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just in talking to my dad but dude
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that's crazy that's been that has been a
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long time um that we've known each other
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but yeah we grew
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up pretty much in the same homes School
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group I mean you like I I guess tell me
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like your homeschool Journey like did
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you have you always been a homeschool
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kid did you go to public school or
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private school or anything yeah so uh
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growing up my parents opted to
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homeschool us uh like from you know
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preschool all the way through high
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school um so yeah I was one of those
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kids that was homeschooled my entire
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life um my I have a couple older
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siblings that were able to go to uh high
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school for a couple years so like my
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older brother Justin he really wanted to
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do Sports and so since we were
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homeschooled and in a Homeschool Group
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there wasn't really much for him to do
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Sports and so they opted to let him join
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a local high school so that he could
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play sports and then my oldest sister
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she did I think the last two years of
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high school at an actual public school
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um but then like me my uh sister who's
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just you know Carly Just older than I am
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and then my younger brother Ben we were
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all homeschooled through high school all
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the way yeah I didn't I didn't know that
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I didn't yeah I didn't even think about
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that but yeah no cuz cuz yeah there
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wasn't any sports I mean there was a
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couple Community leagues for soccer and
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stuff like that but there wasn't like a
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whole lot of
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I mean there is no Sports I mean you my
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I convinced my parents that Airsoft
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became our Sport and so they funded my
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my airsoft stuff and then we would play
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frequently uh both at derry's house and
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then also I know your grandpa had his
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his has his Ranch in ohigh um that we
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would go play and gosh we had so many
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airsoft guns was insane it was gnarly I
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think at one time I had like seven but
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like the majority they were all they
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were all like spring so it's like you
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know you're having to pull the slide
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back every time you needed to fire but I
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was going to ask you do you remember so
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we have this photo I'm going to I'm
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going to have to see if I can find it
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but I know we did like a photo shoot at
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one point we laid out everybody's guns
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and uh we just had like a ton of them
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and then you guys like made bags of
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flour to look like cocaine and we like
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and taped it up and we had like these
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bricks of Coca it was totally not like
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okay but we play like games like protect
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the president we we do like you know
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recreate all kinds of stuff right I can
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remember cuz yeah we did that picture I
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think that was on my grandparents
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driveway I think I remember we did that
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picture in the driveway but yeah I
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remember like playing protect the
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president like you know you'd have the
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Americans the CIA groups and then you'd
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have like the terrorists and I can
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remember yeah can remember like our dads
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would basically be the terrorists and
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you'd hear them over on the other side
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of the field just like
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screaming we go you know what was great
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about your grandpa's H playing at your
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grandpa's house too was like he also had
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all of like the Gators and the quads and
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all that stuff too so like not only were
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we running around but some of the times
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we were driving those things around
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shooting each other off of like and
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stuff yeah yes the go-karts Gator yeah
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exactly so oh my gosh I can't yeah it's
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so funny but yeah I I always tell people
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I'm like that was my sport in high
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school like I had my league and we were
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the airsoft League and we would go play
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uh you know every it felt like every
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weekend but it was definitely a lot it
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was at least once twice a month yeah I
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wouldn't say that much yeah do you
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remember that TI you you you walked
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right by a rattlesnake you remember that
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oh dude that was that was terrifying
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yeah I walked right past it and I was
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wearing shorts I mean I had sneakers on
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but you know it still could have gotten
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me but yeah that thing was long too it
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was a massive yeah it was a good like
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three three and a2t snake he was just
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like stretched out just walked right
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past him I was like Jacob watch
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out yeah I think I'm thankful that yeah
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he was he was stretched out he wasn't
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coiled up so I think that also played in
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my favor because he was just kind of
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chilling and he wasn't really in in uh
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attack yeah he wasn't in like defense
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mode he was just kind of like what the
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heck's going on there's like people
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walking next to me oh my gosh that was
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so good I mean I I recently had der on
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and we were talking about playing in his
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backyard and his dad was part of the
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police department and so they would you
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know every now and then police officers
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would show up and they were always
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surprised by cuz our airsoft guns looked
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like real guns aside from the orange
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tips but like I mean we had AK-47s and
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g36s and m4s and you know we had all
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kinds of like 911s and like we we had so
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much stuff and some of it was like metal
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and like felt real I mean you would
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never know that it was not a real gun if
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you had just taken the orange tip off
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like there's no there's unless you're
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like really holding it and like looking
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at it if you were just to the UN Trend
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eye you'd be able to be like oh that
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looks like a real gun to me yeah exactly
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it's kind of wild to think that our
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parents like let us play with that kind
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of stuff
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um but I mean we did kind of grow up in
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the country so yeah you know there there
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is that we also played with well I say
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we played with we responsibly shot guns
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regularly yes and and owned guns um so
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you know we but I know a lot of us went
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through gun training and stuff like that
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like we understood that this is not a
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toy the way I was taught is like this is
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a tool that you know initially our first
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ancestors were like you know they use it
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as a tool um yeah but you know now it's
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used for recreational use and whatnot
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which is great but yeah know we were
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taught like you do not you know you do
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not point this at anybody like your
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finger is only on the trigger when
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you're ready to fire you always keep the
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barrel Le the point is straight at the
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ground or up in the air that kind of
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stuff but yeah exactly all that safety
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stuff yeah my grandfather played into
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like being really safe uh like he would
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have us shoot a tin can with a BB gun
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and we had to hit it 10 times in a row
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before he let us actually go out with
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like a real gun to like you know shoot
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squirrels or rabbits or anything like do
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he whated to make sure that we could
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like hit it and not let us suffer or
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anything like that that's so cool too
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that you had somebody who was willing to
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like teach you the proper stuff like I
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went and did classes at a shooting range
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and stuff like that but um and then I
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learned a lot from you guys as well but
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just on how to handle things and how to
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take care of things and stuff like that
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so even when I got my first shotgun I
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was like okay like here's here's what I
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need to do and um you know and all that
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kind of stuff but anyway going back to
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the school stuff so you were
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homeschooled all the way through I know
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that one of the things we were talking
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about was the for a good chunk of it it
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was just kind of like you at home with
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your siblings all day every day um and
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it wasn't until later that you guys
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joined uh The Homeschool communities
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that we have like achieve and group
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Solutions which so achieve was kind of
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like it was the association of Christian
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Home Educators of inter County which
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kind of provided things like extra like
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um what am I looking about field trips
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school
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dances um graduation that kind of stuff
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and then group Solutions was kind of a
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it was like a classes kind of a thing so
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parents tght classes at this thing and
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it was kind of a it was almost like
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going to real school for yeah it was it
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was like a
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right right so around what time did you
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guys join that kind of stuff I think we
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started doing
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that uh was probably
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in probably seventh or eighth grade okay
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maybe or maybe just into High School it
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probably was the beginning of high
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school is when we joined group Solutions
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okay what what was like the big shift or
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what was like I don't know what was kind
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of I maybe you don't know cuz I mean it
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was your parents this decision but was
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there like a big um moment that was like
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okay we're going to go from like we're
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at home all the time doing school to
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like now we're going to go be around
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people and and do that was there what
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was that change obviously we were part
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of achieve and then my uh my I don't
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know how but my mother got turned onto
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the idea of doing her pain or attending
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group Solutions um uh so I think we just
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had like a discussion about it she just
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kind of laid it out like hey like do you
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guys want to want to do this do we want
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to go and do this um and I remember
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being all about it because uh it just
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got me out of the house and I was able
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to like hang out with more of my buddies
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uh because I know like you your your
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sister and like I remember bunch of the
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other families that were able to you
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know put their kids in the
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same in classes one us so I remember it
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just being like I was super excited it's
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like I get to go to public school like
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that was something that I really uh
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really liked about being part of achie
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was being able to be around other kids
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and socialize um because before then it
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was just you know yeah we were just at
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home it was just our siblings which I
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mean I love my siblings I'm still close
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with all my siblings um and so you know
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it was fun and then you know you'd have
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the aspects of like you know recess was
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in your own room you could do whatever
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you want um and then you know my mom was
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really good at teaching us and you know
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helping us out with our schoolwork and
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homework and all that stuff when she was
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you know in good enough shape to do so
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obviously from her uh some of her
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medical conditions ten of would put a
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damper on some days and so we'd be kind
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of like doing it ourselves whatnot which
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we we made we made by and it was fine
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and uh but then yeah being able to join
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achieve and group Solutions was huge for
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for me yeah I mean I remember you guys
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kind of coming into the group and
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starting to get to know you guys more
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and and it felt very much like cuz a lot
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of us had known each other from like I
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mean some of some of these people have
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known each other from like kindergarten
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I knew a lot of these people I started
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being homeschooled at second grade
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second grade so um and I didn't even
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join groups I think until third or
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fourth grade and so you know so some of
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these people as I had known for a little
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bit and then yeah and then you guys
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coming in at like seventh e8th grade
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kind of level I remember kind of being
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like who is this family like where did
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they come from from and then you guys
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knew like you guys had obviously been in
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the ohigh valley um and I was like where
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where did these people come from it was
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like it was just so mysterious to me and
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uh yeah and I remember I remember some
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of the moms were like cuz cuz I had my I
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had my buddies my buddies were Darry and
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Ben and we were like the Three
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Musketeers and uh and one of the moms
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was like started being like oh you
00:12:21
should invite Nick to come do this stuff
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and we're like no but we're like we're
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like the best buds like we are the guys
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the three the three musketeers exactly
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we we yeah and I was like but but I'm so
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thankful that they pushed us to like
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really have you and Ben kind of come in
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because first of all you guys are just
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awesome but uh but I'm so thankful that
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we were not stubborn about like no like
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I have my friends and I don't want
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anymore kind of a thing um because I
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would have missed out on a great
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friendship uh that
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way I was going to ask because yeah I
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remember your mom kind of being sick
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sometimes and things like that and so
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was were your older siblings kind of
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like taking over like teaching you at
00:13:04
that point or like how what did that
00:13:06
look like cuz I know it wasn't until
00:13:08
later that my parents kind of would just
00:13:09
start handing me textbooks and say hey
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like here's your textbook like read
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through it you know and take these tests
00:13:14
or whatever you know were you guys doing
00:13:17
that already at a younger age or or did
00:13:19
you have like your older siblings kind
00:13:20
of put helping you know teach you guys
00:13:23
so we kind of had like that kind of
00:13:26
stuff at a at a younger age basically
00:13:28
like like like writing assignments and
00:13:31
writing books and stuff like that so we
00:13:33
would kind of be able to just like you
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know my mom would step the stuff in
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front of us and we'd be able to just
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kind of like go through it um and she
00:13:39
would be there obviously to help us
00:13:40
teach or to help teach us um and go
00:13:44
through those uh situations but then
00:13:46
yeah on days when she you know wasn't
00:13:48
you know sick or uh either was working
00:13:51
or something like that then mainly it
00:13:55
would be like my oldest sister she would
00:13:58
sometimes help out with that kind of
00:13:59
stuff um and then I remember uh she just
00:14:03
remembered this um we had some really
00:14:06
close family friends of my parents that
00:14:09
also uh was doing like home schooling
00:14:10
with their children and so we would go
00:14:12
over to their
00:14:13
house I want to say like every Friday
00:14:17
every Thursday or maybe it was every
00:14:18
other Friday and she would basically
00:14:21
help teach us you know different
00:14:23
subjects uh usually that was on days
00:14:25
when my mom was working the same day
00:14:27
that my dad would be working so that way
00:14:29
we weren just home alone because we were
00:14:30
too young to be home alone so like
00:14:32
either we go up to my grandparents house
00:14:34
um which was a thing we did every week
00:14:36
for years or uh we would go over to this
00:14:39
you know really close family friends and
00:14:41
she would help teach us and whatnot uh
00:14:43
but then yeah my I don't really remember
00:14:45
Justus doing any of that it was all on
00:14:47
Britney Britney was like Mom number two
00:14:50
kind of yeah yeah she was like Mom Mom
00:14:53
number two for sure I was going to ask
00:14:55
you too like was your dad always super
00:14:58
involved with with you guys as like
00:15:00
homeschool kids like and what I mean by
00:15:02
that is like my dad was he was always
00:15:05
the principal but he was like for the
00:15:08
first couple years of us being
00:15:09
homeschooled he wasn't like super
00:15:11
involved like my mom chose all the
00:15:13
curriculum she did all the teaching and
00:15:15
he was really just there for like
00:15:17
discipline you know we got out of line
00:15:19
he was there for that and it wasn't
00:15:21
until I don't know maybe sixth grade it
00:15:24
might have been a little sooner than
00:15:25
that but where he really bought into the
00:15:27
whole home school thing and then he was
00:15:28
like oh no I want to have like some say
00:15:31
in like what educa you know what
00:15:33
curriculum we're using and like also
00:15:35
like if you need help with math if you
00:15:37
need you know whatever he started to
00:15:38
kind of also become a teacher granted he
00:15:41
would go to work all day but you know
00:15:42
when he got home he was there to tutor
00:15:44
us was your dad kind of like involved
00:15:45
like that or did he have a period where
00:15:47
he was like no that's like that's your
00:15:48
mom's thing and then like when I you
00:15:50
know I'm the principal kind of a thing
00:15:53
to my knowledge and like looking back it
00:15:57
was mainly just my mom who like picked
00:16:00
all that stuff uh because my dad would
00:16:02
be working all day um and the days that
00:16:05
he was off we would either uh like do
00:16:08
yard work with him I think that was
00:16:10
probably what like his contribution to
00:16:13
like the H school thing was like
00:16:15
bringing us alongside and having us H
00:16:16
with yard work or you know doing little
00:16:18
repairs around the house you know home
00:16:21
project uh I think that's kind of what
00:16:26
he would help out with and yeah he would
00:16:27
definitely help out with discipline
00:16:29
um but my mom also was like on top of
00:16:32
being like you know the principal as
00:16:34
well so they kind of like shared that
00:16:36
role um obviously if we were like super
00:16:37
out of line then you know like in the
00:16:40
moment my mom would like take care of it
00:16:42
immediately um but like you know lighter
00:16:44
lighter Duty stuff she'd be like hey
00:16:46
just wait till you're you know when your
00:16:47
dad comes home like no you're G to get
00:16:50
disciplined or what not you get spanking
00:16:52
or something like that and I just
00:16:53
remember being like Oh that's no no
00:16:56
please you know what's so funny your mom
00:16:58
is like one of the sweetest people I
00:16:59
know and she always like she sends me
00:17:02
the sweetest messages and stuff all the
00:17:04
time but um I I have seen her a few
00:17:08
times kind of get to that I don't want
00:17:10
to say it's a breaking point but I've
00:17:11
seen her get the the stern face like the
00:17:14
you know you need to listen to what I'm
00:17:15
saying and uh and I'm always like I'm
00:17:18
always like oh my gosh uh christe's uh
00:17:21
christe's getting serious okay let's uh
00:17:23
let's listen and like I'm 27 now like
00:17:26
I'm like I'm My Own adult but if your
00:17:28
mom got that face be like yes yes ma'am
00:17:31
yep yes she has she has that fiery
00:17:33
Spirit we also had friends who you know
00:17:36
before we joined groups like we'd go to
00:17:37
somebody's house or whatever and kind of
00:17:40
you know do school on a day where my Mom
00:17:41
needed to run errands or my mom needed
00:17:43
to do something else you know but that's
00:17:46
you know it's good it see and that's
00:17:49
what's cool about The Homeschool
00:17:51
Community is that once you start to get
00:17:53
plugged in with it they're there for you
00:17:56
for whatever you need right yeah but uh
00:17:59
so so group Solutions I know that was
00:18:01
also a big part for you in like the
00:18:03
socialization aspect so like one of the
00:18:05
biggest things that people say all the
00:18:07
time about homeschoolers is that we're
00:18:09
antisocial weirdos we do not know how to
00:18:11
interact with people I've met a couple
00:18:13
of those kids I have been that kid where
00:18:15
it's like you know I can't look you in
00:18:17
the eye I don't give a good handshake um
00:18:20
you know when I talk to you I mumble
00:18:22
under my breath kind of a thing but you
00:18:25
know what would you say that like go
00:18:28
starting to go to group was like a big
00:18:30
Catalyst for you to kind of become more
00:18:31
of a a people person and like gain some
00:18:34
of those social skills or what do you
00:18:36
think was a part of The Homeschool
00:18:38
experience that kind of got you to that
00:18:39
place of like you know being quote
00:18:42
unquote not a homeschool kid right not a
00:18:44
homeschool weirdo in the social sense I
00:18:47
think for me it was good because I was
00:18:50
able
00:18:51
to and
00:18:53
like you know act like myself I wish my
00:18:57
parents were
00:18:59
you know super encouraging like just you
00:19:01
know be yourself don't like like you
00:19:03
don't need to conform to like the people
00:19:05
around you to do stuff or to act a
00:19:06
certain way or whatever so I was like
00:19:08
raised to just totally be okay with
00:19:10
being myself um and so going to group
00:19:13
Solutions and just being myself was a
00:19:15
really cool way to just see uh like how
00:19:18
other people would react to you know my
00:19:21
behaviors or you know my humors or
00:19:23
whatever and something stuff like that
00:19:25
um which also allowed me to just kind of
00:19:27
see like okay maybe I should shouldn't
00:19:29
act this way or like okay you know it
00:19:32
was a good learning good learning curve
00:19:34
for me to like get feedback from people
00:19:36
that weren't my immediate family yeah
00:19:39
well I think the thing with when you're
00:19:40
at home with your family all the time
00:19:42
and it's just like in my case it was
00:19:44
like three to four of us you know you at
00:19:47
least had a a few more people than that
00:19:48
but like yeah picking up on social cues
00:19:51
is different than from like you don't
00:19:54
pick up on social cues from your your
00:19:55
family quite as much as you do from
00:19:57
other people right like
00:19:59
um like I think about the fact that it's
00:20:00
like when I'm pushing my sister's
00:20:01
buttons I'm pushing her buttons and I'm
00:20:03
I'm avoid I'm ignoring all of the things
00:20:06
that if I was talking to you and I
00:20:07
noticed that you started to get agitated
00:20:10
you know that's a social cue for me to
00:20:11
kind of like okay it's time to reel it
00:20:13
back a little bit you know and so I
00:20:15
think things like group Solutions were
00:20:16
super helpful for for both of us to kind
00:20:19
of be like like you said it's like be
00:20:22
yourself and see how people react to it
00:20:24
but then you start to learn those social
00:20:25
cues of like okay hey this person wants
00:20:28
to out of a ation they you know or
00:20:30
they're uncomfortable or it's very
00:20:31
obvious they need to go do something
00:20:32
else okay like learning how to dial that
00:20:35
in I think for me it was good to learn
00:20:37
like because yeah I would be just with
00:20:40
my family members and then I would like
00:20:42
go to group solutions to be able to see
00:20:44
like you Derry and Ben and all them and
00:20:45
I just be like want to just spend all my
00:20:47
time with you and then yeah learning
00:20:48
those cues of like okay yeah like it's
00:20:50
time for like you to go do your own
00:20:51
thing and you to go do my own thing uh
00:20:54
which I think took a little while for me
00:20:55
to kind of figure out um there were
00:20:57
certainly
00:20:59
times where like I it was hard for me to
00:21:02
pick up on social cues uh partially
00:21:04
because of my you know disabilities like
00:21:07
you know since a really young age I've
00:21:10
I've struggled with like dyslexia and
00:21:11
stuff like that
00:21:13
um haven't like been properly diagnosed
00:21:16
by a doctor but from you know growing up
00:21:20
and you know certain certain things and
00:21:23
like not picking up certain social cues
00:21:25
that it's kind of parent that like okay
00:21:26
I struggled with you know slight
00:21:28
dyslexia or whatnot um and so like I can
00:21:32
remember just like certain you know
00:21:35
saying certain things and like not
00:21:38
understanding what I'm saying and then
00:21:39
seeing how people react and they're like
00:21:41
whoa like what I'm like what do you mean
00:21:44
what and then you know I can remember um
00:21:46
like just like an older friend groups
00:21:48
just kind of picking on me a little bit
00:21:51
because I was a little different um uh
00:21:54
and so like you know I was super close
00:21:57
with certain certain people here in the
00:21:58
valley and then uh I don't know it just
00:22:01
felt like as I was getting older there
00:22:02
were times where I'd get kind of picked
00:22:04
on but then uh just kind of moved away
00:22:07
from like hanging out with some of those
00:22:09
people and then like going with group
00:22:11
Solutions everybody was like so much
00:22:13
nicer and sweeter yeah and you know the
00:22:17
moms and dads that were there were
00:22:19
really good about correcting us like in
00:22:21
a loving way and not like scolding or
00:22:23
whatnot um yeah I think for me it was
00:22:25
learning those social cues um and just
00:22:29
kind of like knowing when
00:22:31
to allow myself to be like super Goofy
00:22:34
and silly and hilarious and then like
00:22:35
when to hone it in and be serious and
00:22:38
you know get my work done and do stuff
00:22:40
like that hey that's SK that's skills I
00:22:43
still learn to this day you know yeah
00:22:45
yeah you never stopped learning them
00:22:47
exactly exactly no but yeah I'm with you
00:22:50
because like I totally and everybody's
00:22:52
different right you know it's like you
00:22:53
just got to learn to like to roll with
00:22:56
the punches right and roll with the
00:22:57
waves and and kind of experience
00:22:59
everybody and I think that's one of the
00:23:00
things that public
00:23:02
school you know in talking with my
00:23:05
friends who went to public school a lot
00:23:06
of them talk about yeah like the getting
00:23:08
picked on or the you know getting made
00:23:10
fun of because of a certain thing you
00:23:11
say or whatever and that certainly
00:23:14
happened inside of the homes School
00:23:16
group um I don't want to say less than
00:23:20
it kind of felt like less than but you
00:23:23
almost kind of need that to help get you
00:23:25
to certain places in your life because
00:23:27
you cuz you got to you have to be able
00:23:29
to understand like okay well why are
00:23:31
they picking on me you know and why why
00:23:33
why do they feel the need to right and
00:23:35
some people are just bullies but like
00:23:37
you know is it you know is it really
00:23:39
something is it nothing you know all
00:23:41
those kinds of things and you start to
00:23:43
you start to get like stretch of spiral
00:23:46
exactly exactly and you know I
00:23:50
mean it's one of those things where
00:23:53
again it's a learning process and like I
00:23:54
remember when I got to school my my
00:23:57
biggest goal when when I first got to
00:23:59
college was the fact that I was like I
00:24:01
don't want anybody to know I was a
00:24:02
homeschool kid so when people would ask
00:24:04
I would say oh I went to private school
00:24:06
um because that wasn't a lie I did go to
00:24:08
a private school it was a private school
00:24:09
of two um and it happened in my living
00:24:13
room kind of a thing but I for the
00:24:15
longest time I didn't want anybody to
00:24:16
know about it and so I kind of tried to
00:24:19
reinvent myself and it I think I overdid
00:24:24
it a little bit too much and I lacked
00:24:25
some of those social cues that were
00:24:27
needed to kind of be like okay I need to
00:24:29
exit or I just need to shut up in this
00:24:31
moment or you know any of the the normal
00:24:33
stuff right and I had a professor sit me
00:24:35
down and was just like hey like you got
00:24:38
to learn to just like be cool like be
00:24:41
cool in the situation and like don't you
00:24:43
know don't do this kind of a thing and I
00:24:45
was so appreciative of that because she
00:24:47
came from a place of like it wasn't from
00:24:50
she wasn't trying to hurt me she was
00:24:51
trying to help me right and she was just
00:24:53
kind of being like you're doing a you
00:24:55
you're a little extra right now you know
00:24:57
and and you just need to kind of like
00:24:59
let's just cool it down just a little
00:25:00
bit um and so once it started once I
00:25:03
started to feel more comfortable and
00:25:04
started to tell people like oh I was a
00:25:05
hes school kid and like all this stuff
00:25:08
you know I think one of the worst things
00:25:09
you can hear from somebody I don't know
00:25:11
I hate this is when someone goes ah that
00:25:13
makes sense when you tell them you're a
00:25:14
homeschool kid and they go ah that makes
00:25:15
sense it's like something's wrong with
00:25:17
you and I'm like no I would rather when
00:25:19
people hear that they go oh that's super
00:25:20
cool like tell me more about that you
00:25:22
know like why does that make sense what
00:25:24
what do you mean yeah exactly like oh I
00:25:28
knew I was being weird or I knew I was
00:25:30
acting strange but dang yeah anyway so I
00:25:35
wanted to touch
00:25:36
on also like post homeschool you know uh
00:25:41
we took very different paths um I went
00:25:44
to a four-year university did a
00:25:47
bachelor's degree and then um I know you
00:25:50
have G gone into like the trades which
00:25:51
like totally makes sense for you cuz the
00:25:54
for the entire time I've known you
00:25:55
you've always like worked on engines and
00:25:56
just been like obsessed with taking
00:25:58
things apart and putting them back
00:25:59
together exactly kind of thing I
00:26:01
remember you calling me one day and
00:26:02
being like hey dude I need to like
00:26:04
switch the uh gas tank out in my Bronco
00:26:06
like can you come help me and showing up
00:26:08
been like yeah we we like totally
00:26:10
switched out of gas tank and I was like
00:26:12
dude I totally forgot about that dude
00:26:15
that was awesome I ah yeah it was you it
00:26:19
was you me and my dad I think so yeah so
00:26:23
just to give a little bit more context
00:26:24
too so like Nick's grandpa has a ranch
00:26:27
up in Ohio
00:26:28
where we grew up and he's got big
00:26:31
property but he's also got like a big
00:26:33
barn with I mean every tool Under the
00:26:35
Sun practically and he's got a lift a
00:26:38
car lift in there and so yeah we I mean
00:26:42
you guys would always tell me about like
00:26:44
oh yeah we fixed this on the car we did
00:26:46
that and yeah you texted me one day and
00:26:47
you were just like hey I need to do this
00:26:48
like you want to come help out and I was
00:26:49
like sure and yeah we took we took the
00:26:52
gas tank out and totally replaced it yes
00:26:56
that was the most mechanic I've ever
00:26:57
felt in my entire life
00:26:59
life well I'm glad I was able to provide
00:27:01
that for you man so tell me a little bit
00:27:03
about like CU you're a mechanic now
00:27:05
you're deell engine mechanic I am and
00:27:07
but like what is that what did that
00:27:09
process look like kind of like is it a
00:27:11
certificate is it a degree like what
00:27:13
does that look like and then like how
00:27:14
long did that take and and what kind of
00:27:16
jobs can you do with that yeah so uh
00:27:19
obvious the route I ended up choosing
00:27:20
was you know I grew up doing so much
00:27:24
work with my grandpa and his farm
00:27:26
equipment um and I uh you know book
00:27:29
learning and like you know school was
00:27:34
never easy for me because of just like
00:27:36
the learning disabilities that I had um
00:27:38
but I found that I was very much a like
00:27:41
visual learner and Hands-On learner and
00:27:43
so by like helping my grandfather work
00:27:46
on his farm equipment I got really into
00:27:49
it and it became like something that I
00:27:51
love doing uh and it came really easy to
00:27:55
me and I was able to just like you know
00:27:57
my the way my brain works it's very much
00:27:59
like my grandpa's I'm able to like look
00:28:00
at something and I can basically deduct
00:28:02
like oh yeah that's how that works or
00:28:03
like I'll take something apart be like
00:28:04
oh okay that totally makes sense um and
00:28:07
like a lot of times he could explain
00:28:09
something once to me and because he was
00:28:12
able to explain it in a way that like
00:28:14
really like you know sat well with me I
00:28:17
was like oh yeah that makes total sense
00:28:19
and I never you know he never had to re
00:28:20
explain it to me ever again I remember I
00:28:23
was probably 12 we took a tractor and
00:28:26
like split it in half to put a new
00:28:29
collection it and put it back together
00:28:31
and till this day I know the guy who
00:28:33
ended up buying it for my grandpa and it
00:28:35
still runs like a champ and so then from
00:28:38
that point on After High School it took
00:28:42
me it took
00:28:44
me a good couple years to really figure
00:28:47
out what I wanted to do and how I wanted
00:28:49
to do it um at the time I was working so
00:28:54
uh my parents were super supportive with
00:28:56
me taking my time um as as long as I was
00:28:58
working they're the way they saw it it's
00:29:00
like you're you're either working at a
00:29:02
job or you're going to school um so
00:29:06
since I had a job they were they were
00:29:08
very much like hey man like we're not
00:29:10
going to force you to do anything that
00:29:12
you don't want to do especially if it
00:29:13
ends up not working out we're not going
00:29:15
to force you to pick a college and you
00:29:18
know study something that you're
00:29:20
probably never going to use or whatnot
00:29:22
um and they knew that I was very
00:29:24
mechanically
00:29:25
inclined um and so they had talked about
00:29:27
like you know have you ever thought
00:29:28
about like taking a trade like being a
00:29:31
woodworker or a uh you know Electrical
00:29:35
Plumbing whatever you know and obviously
00:29:37
they thought hey like you could become a
00:29:39
mechanic like there's you know there's
00:29:41
universities that specialize in being
00:29:42
able to just become a c a mechanic and
00:29:46
so I thought about that and you know
00:29:48
looked into it here and there and
00:29:50
then I eventually saw or found out that
00:29:54
ventur college opened up or reopened
00:29:57
their diesel technician program so I was
00:30:00
looking into that and it was the classes
00:30:02
were cheap um and it would ended up
00:30:04
being a two-year program and so I had
00:30:06
signed up for classes and
00:30:10
uh it ended up being like really really
00:30:14
fun I remember being like super anxious
00:30:17
my first day getting down there um and
00:30:21
just like not knowing what to expect uh
00:30:24
not knowing like oh what's my instructor
00:30:26
going to be like what my classmates
00:30:27
going to be like like uh but you know
00:30:32
first day I was there probably 45
00:30:34
minutes before the class started and
00:30:36
then I continued doing that through the
00:30:38
entire time that I was taking classes it
00:30:40
was usually me and two other guys that
00:30:43
would get there like Wicked early and we
00:30:45
would just hang out in the Parky long
00:30:46
chat uh but then my instructor like he
00:30:49
was
00:30:51
super funny and he made learning real
00:30:54
easy he was a technician himself he
00:30:56
worked for Caterpillar for for years
00:30:58
worked on buses for years um and so he
00:31:01
just made learning fun and it was he was
00:31:06
able to like cater it to my mind in a
00:31:08
way like it was really easy for me to
00:31:09
pick up on you know how things work and
00:31:12
going into these classes I already knew
00:31:14
quite a lot um and he was really
00:31:17
impressed he would like talk to me on
00:31:18
several occasions he's like dude
00:31:20
like like how you haven't you know you
00:31:23
didn't start this sooner man like you
00:31:25
could be like in the industry like at
00:31:26
this like if you started blah blah blah
00:31:28
blah blah he's like dude you got so much
00:31:30
potential I was like thanks man I just
00:31:32
you know this is you know I grew up
00:31:34
doing this stuff and he's like dude
00:31:35
you're like way ahead of the game um and
00:31:38
so you know I ended up doing really well
00:31:42
in all the classes that I picked the one
00:31:44
class I was the most concerned about was
00:31:46
uh electrical like electrical wiring and
00:31:50
different electrical components cuz
00:31:53
like that was just really foreign to me
00:31:55
and I always struggled with electrical
00:31:57
issues on my own ours um and so I was
00:31:59
like oh man this class is going to just
00:32:01
suck I would have probably do really
00:32:02
terrible um but I ended up doing I ended
00:32:05
up thriving in that class and like was
00:32:07
able to understand it and was able to
00:32:09
apply it to like working on my own stuff
00:32:11
and I ended up getting you know a and
00:32:13
all those classes and whatnot um and so
00:32:16
yeah you can uh when you take the course
00:32:20
um you can take just the classes related
00:32:22
to that course and get a certificate
00:32:24
like a certificate of completion that
00:32:26
you took the course but then if you want
00:32:28
you could do General Ed along with that
00:32:30
and you would get like a degree uh but I
00:32:34
didn't necessarily want to do you know
00:32:35
General Ed I felt like I didn't have to
00:32:38
and so I ended up you know opting to
00:32:40
just take the classes um and thankfully
00:32:42
the job I worked at my boss was super
00:32:45
super supportive of me taking these
00:32:47
classes so like she was able to work
00:32:49
with my schedule and uh you know it
00:32:52
wasn't like oh you're gonna be here only
00:32:53
two days a week well sorry I gotta let
00:32:54
you go it's like oh you're gonna only be
00:32:56
here two days a week totally fine like
00:32:58
know hey I'm going to give you a raise
00:32:59
so that way you're you know still making
00:33:02
hopefully enough money to you know get
00:33:04
by yeah and I ended up making some
00:33:06
really good friends in that class and I
00:33:08
end up doing I did really well in that
00:33:11
class um a lot of the guys like I just
00:33:14
you know I was kind of like the class
00:33:16
clown I was always coming up with just
00:33:18
like on liners and Dad puns and like
00:33:21
everybody was just like dude what the
00:33:23
heck like where all these dad jokes
00:33:25
coming from you're not even a dad like
00:33:27
what the heck
00:33:28
and so like I was just like you know it
00:33:31
was really hilarious I just was able to
00:33:33
get the whole class to laugh at times
00:33:34
and whatnot and U couple of guys that I
00:33:37
got really close with uh I like oh yeah
00:33:39
you know I'm homeschooled like oh what
00:33:41
no way you were homeschooled like yeah
00:33:42
like oh was like wasn't like and so um
00:33:47
and you know at that time I didn't
00:33:49
really have much an issue telling people
00:33:51
I was homeschooled and like you know
00:33:53
getting their you know oh what that
00:33:55
makes sense oh no wonder you're so weird
00:33:57
I'm like oh that's just how I that
00:33:59
that's that's you know that's how I am
00:34:02
that's where I came from that's that's
00:34:03
just who you are yeah that's who I am
00:34:05
and so I was I just I was able to just
00:34:06
embrace it and no matter what any people
00:34:09
said you know I didn't get any negative
00:34:12
reviews or anything like that I was
00:34:14
never teased because we were all
00:34:16
adults um but yeah it was a really
00:34:20
really cool program um unfortunately the
00:34:23
last couple classes I had to take was
00:34:27
right when Co started and so it uh it
00:34:32
got really difficult because we had to
00:34:34
then go to zoom meetings for the class
00:34:36
and because of covid the lab
00:34:40
portion had to be like really strict uh
00:34:44
because we would have class in person at
00:34:47
college and then later in the day we
00:34:48
would have the lab which was at like a
00:34:49
trucking Center so they had like all
00:34:51
these trucks for us to work on they had
00:34:53
these big engines on these engine stands
00:34:54
that we would learn how to do Stu with
00:34:56
um and usually we just have the whole
00:34:57
class there we were able to work on with
00:35:00
teams and whatnot and get things done
00:35:02
but then with Co happening it was like
00:35:04
okay like your lab time was cut in half
00:35:08
and like the class was cut in half so
00:35:10
like the first class first section of
00:35:11
the class would up and then after
00:35:12
they're done second section of the class
00:35:15
so it ended
00:35:16
up it was tough it was really tough and
00:35:20
I barely made it through those classes
00:35:22
but I was able to graduate and you know
00:35:24
get that certificate and then because
00:35:27
that
00:35:28
that certificate and taking those
00:35:30
classes it apply uh it accounted for not
00:35:32
accounted it uh
00:35:35
basically the two years of
00:35:38
classes uh equaled one year of
00:35:41
experience at you know at like a shop or
00:35:43
something like that so when I went bu to
00:35:46
different places I was able to say hey I
00:35:47
took these classes you know this is what
00:35:49
I learned this is how I learned it and
00:35:51
then they were able to kind of figure
00:35:52
things out and then I went and applied
00:35:53
at the place that I obviously started
00:35:55
working at and uh they ended up hiring
00:35:58
me and now I'm I'm I'm still with those
00:36:00
people and I'm still working with a lot
00:36:01
of the same uh co-workers which has been
00:36:04
really cool it's so cool too because I
00:36:08
mean I didn't think about doing a trade
00:36:10
until I was already in college um and I
00:36:13
was like hating my life doing general
00:36:15
education so I don't blame you for
00:36:16
skipping those classes cuz they felt
00:36:19
like a waste of time yeah to be quite
00:36:21
honest but but what um but I never
00:36:25
really pursued it because I mean I was
00:36:26
already there and then by the time I did
00:36:29
one year I was like okay I'll go back
00:36:30
and do a second and then by the time I
00:36:32
was done with my second year I had
00:36:33
figured out that I could do school in
00:36:34
three years so I was like well I'm
00:36:36
already halfway done I would be dumb not
00:36:38
to just like suck it up and go do the
00:36:40
third year and then if I do decide to do
00:36:42
a trade I mean then I bonus I also have
00:36:45
this higher education right and I have a
00:36:47
I have a business degree so then down
00:36:49
the line I could own my own business and
00:36:51
kind of have done you know kind of
00:36:53
prepped for that also kind of a thing
00:36:56
and uh but then once I got out I was
00:36:58
like I don't I don't really want to do a
00:37:00
trade I mean I still think about it but
00:37:02
you know it is something that looking
00:37:03
back on I'm like man I really wish that
00:37:06
I would have at least just looked into
00:37:08
it more because I think there's some
00:37:09
really cool programs also like you said
00:37:10
it's like two years you get you walk
00:37:12
away with a year of experience to put on
00:37:14
your resume um and you know I mean the
00:37:17
trades are slept on hard right
00:37:19
everyone's going to college and the
00:37:21
trades are suffering because nobody
00:37:22
knows how to do them anymore it took me
00:37:25
probably two or three years before I
00:37:27
like made the jump to go and actually
00:37:29
start applying places um mostly because
00:37:33
like the place where I was working right
00:37:35
when I graduated I told my boss hey I
00:37:37
want to give you some time to like find
00:37:38
somebody to replace me um and then that
00:37:40
ended up turning to like three years
00:37:42
mostly because I was like you know I was
00:37:43
comfortable where I was at um and I was
00:37:45
afraid you know at the time I was like
00:37:47
afraid of change and it was like oh you
00:37:49
know was really
00:37:51
daunting um so that kind of played into
00:37:53
not wanting to start applying places and
00:37:55
so like you know again my parents were
00:37:57
really patient um but they were always
00:38:01
you know they were good to remind me
00:38:02
like hey like when are you going to
00:38:03
start applying and I was like oh you
00:38:04
know they were they were really patient
00:38:06
very kind and loving um but then my I
00:38:09
remember one day I my instructor reached
00:38:12
out to me he's like hey this company you
00:38:14
know giing equipment they're looking to
00:38:15
hire an eex man they called me asking
00:38:18
for guys that I think would be good for
00:38:20
the job and you were the first person
00:38:22
that came to mind so I think you'd be a
00:38:24
great candidate and I think you should
00:38:25
really go down and and apply see that
00:38:27
the way things work at this point now is
00:38:29
like it's all about who you know you
00:38:31
know that's that's been my business too
00:38:33
is like once I started to get tied into
00:38:36
the podcasting industry and meeting
00:38:40
these people it's all about oh I know
00:38:42
these people and lucky lucky I kind of
00:38:44
lucked into I work my first show that I
00:38:47
ever got was like the guys that ran that
00:38:50
show they're well known in the podcast
00:38:51
space and so they are connected and
00:38:53
they're master networkers so they know
00:38:56
everybody and and so even when we split
00:39:00
up originally and now I'm back with one
00:39:02
of them uh kind of redoing the the same
00:39:05
show that we used to do but it it was so
00:39:09
cool cuz now when they let me go they
00:39:12
were like oh like we're definitely we
00:39:14
can't pay you anymore because of just
00:39:15
where the business is but like who do
00:39:17
you want to be connected with like we
00:39:19
got you kind of a thing and so I said
00:39:20
you know I sent them a list I said hey
00:39:22
can you help me get connected with all
00:39:24
these people and lo and behold boom it
00:39:27
just like started happening I got a job
00:39:29
pretty quickly after that making kind of
00:39:32
is about to say money maybe a little bit
00:39:34
less but like it is really a networking
00:39:36
thing so to have a professor who vouches
00:39:38
for you to get into a job it just feels
00:39:41
nice right when someone's kind of like
00:39:43
oh I got the guy for you you know
00:39:44
exactly um it it just feels nice and you
00:39:47
know and you're also that kind of guy
00:39:49
too where it's like I know that down the
00:39:51
line when you guys are looking to hire
00:39:54
or you know somebody you hear about some
00:39:56
job you're going to be like oh yeah I
00:39:57
know this guy who you know he's a great
00:39:59
mechanic or he's a great you know
00:40:01
whatever you should check him out you
00:40:03
know and you know and the thing
00:40:07
is Nick you are like such a trustworthy
00:40:09
person it you know I know that you
00:40:11
wouldn't purposefully give someone a bad
00:40:13
suggestion and I think most people know
00:40:15
that uh most people who know you know
00:40:17
that uh about you and so you know your
00:40:20
word is your bond right yeah yes and uh
00:40:24
that's super cool though well and it's
00:40:26
cool because before we started recording
00:40:28
we were talking about you know you
00:40:30
worked up from like the base level of
00:40:32
like basically just dealing with rental
00:40:34
equipment when it came back and like
00:40:36
very minor stuff to now you're like
00:40:39
you're kind of running the show well not
00:40:40
running the show but like you
00:40:42
are is your job title like mechanic or
00:40:45
my job title is shop mechanic whereas
00:40:48
before it was just rental inspector that
00:40:50
was the job title gave me um but yeah
00:40:54
now that I'm actually shop mechanic
00:40:57
like different responsibilities you get
00:40:59
to play on engines and stuff all day yes
00:41:01
I get to I get to work on a large amount
00:41:04
then like what's cool is working for
00:41:07
like equipment rental company rather
00:41:09
than just like a you know if I were to
00:41:10
go work for Caterpillar or John Deere um
00:41:13
like working for Caterpillar I'm just
00:41:14
going to be working on caterpillar
00:41:16
specific equipment so obviously like
00:41:19
they send you away to get brain to work
00:41:20
on their stuff um or you know they have
00:41:24
specific kinds of materials that you use
00:41:28
um but what's cool with working with an
00:41:30
equipment rental company is the like
00:41:33
vast variety of different kinds of
00:41:37
equipment different brands uh like it's
00:41:40
like nothing's ever the same like you
00:41:42
know I'll work on anything from scissor
00:41:44
lifts that are having some sort of
00:41:45
electrical issue to you know huge
00:41:48
excavators that need you know new
00:41:51
hydraulic cylinder seals or you know you
00:41:54
know this excavator needs new tracks or
00:41:57
hey
00:41:58
you know this engine needs new injectors
00:42:00
or you know just like hey something's
00:42:03
going on with this thing go you know
00:42:04
figure it out see what you you know see
00:42:05
if you can fix it um or see if you can
00:42:08
you know diagnose it and then order the
00:42:09
parts and then fix it and so it's it's
00:42:11
been super super fun and uh like the guy
00:42:16
that I work with that they hired the
00:42:18
company hired from like another part of
00:42:21
the country he has worked in the
00:42:23
industry for like 10 years and so he has
00:42:26
you know he knows a lot of people he's
00:42:28
worked with tons of different kinds of
00:42:29
people and so when we started working
00:42:31
together he saw a lot of potential in me
00:42:34
and was constantly just encouraging me
00:42:36
and like telling me like dude like don't
00:42:37
you worry like it's gonna happen you're
00:42:38
G to get that job title sooner rather
00:42:40
than later so he was always really
00:42:42
encouraging and he was like dude you
00:42:44
have like you have what it takes to be
00:42:46
game whereas the other guy that I had
00:42:49
worked with he didn't have what it what
00:42:52
it took um and obviously he was let go
00:42:55
and then I was able to fill his position
00:42:57
yeah and not make mistakes based on for
00:43:02
for someone who's coming out of high
00:43:05
school right and they're thinking about
00:43:06
maybe doing a trade they're considering
00:43:08
college that kind of thing what would
00:43:10
you say like was you know
00:43:14
where what should what should they be
00:43:16
looking for I mean what you know what
00:43:18
kind of program should they be looking
00:43:19
for you know to get into a trade and
00:43:22
like you know what what type of person I
00:43:24
guess does it take to really
00:43:27
want to do that I guess yeah that's a
00:43:29
great question so I for me
00:43:35
uh it's you know as simple as like are
00:43:39
you good with being on time are you
00:43:41
trustworthy are you teachable for
00:43:44
somebody who's just come out of high
00:43:45
school and is like thinking you know big
00:43:49
colleges are not for me I would much
00:43:51
rather just pick one thing and use that
00:43:54
like you know going into a trade I would
00:43:56
say
00:43:58
like you know if you're coming out of
00:43:59
high school and you're like oh I really
00:44:00
want to get into you know framework or
00:44:04
carpentry I would just start going
00:44:07
around to different places like you know
00:44:10
any kind of companies that specialize in
00:44:12
carpentry or I mean go in and just talk
00:44:14
to those people and like say hey you
00:44:16
guys have like you know a not a
00:44:20
mentorship
00:44:21
uh an internship yeah an apprenticeship
00:44:24
yeah apprenticeship programs are huge
00:44:27
and a lot of times an apprenticeship
00:44:29
program they take you on as apprentice
00:44:31
but they will also still pay you um like
00:44:34
I know one kid who's in high school uh
00:44:36
at the church that I go to he is taking
00:44:38
one of those Apprentice ships and yet
00:44:39
they're they're paying him but they're
00:44:41
teaching at the same time and so like if
00:44:44
that's the route that you want to go
00:44:46
apprenti ships are huge and I would
00:44:48
strongly look into those and and suggest
00:44:50
that um but also look around to see what
00:44:53
is offered in terms of the specific kind
00:44:56
of
00:44:57
trade you want to look into like check
00:44:59
out your your your local community
00:45:01
colleges and see what they have like you
00:45:04
know go to their job fairs and like find
00:45:06
those kinds of booths that offer trades
00:45:09
and just talk to those people and just
00:45:11
uh right walk into businesses just say
00:45:13
hey what do you guys do like how would I
00:45:16
go about getting hired here what would
00:45:18
you look for in somebody and then also
00:45:20
just like being on time like showing up
00:45:23
you know early in fact a lot of places
00:45:26
will hire you keep you um like if you're
00:45:29
on time if you are well dressed and you
00:45:32
know even somewhat well manicured and
00:45:35
well-mannered
00:45:36
and um just hum like for me I'm really
00:45:40
humble at work like I I don't hold
00:45:42
myself I like in Mighty I'm like okay
00:45:45
yeah like I know a lot but I know
00:45:48
there's still a lot that I don't know
00:45:50
and I am totally willing and ready to
00:45:52
learn from any mistakes that I make um
00:45:55
and owning up to those mistakes if I
00:45:57
make one and just moving forward and
00:45:59
hoping I don't make a big enough mistake
00:46:01
where they Cann me yeah but yeah just
00:46:04
like being willing to learn not being
00:46:07
afraid to not being afraid to fail
00:46:10
because failing is another way of
00:46:12
learning um and just like taking the
00:46:15
initiative and really being finding
00:46:17
something you're passionate about and
00:46:18
then just pursuing that passion um that
00:46:21
was how it was for me like I'm very
00:46:23
passionate about working on stuff I love
00:46:25
seeing something that's broken and being
00:46:27
able to fix it I love fixing things I
00:46:29
love the feeling and the pride that I
00:46:32
take in like yeah you know this machine
00:46:35
wasn't running I was able to get it
00:46:37
running like I it's like this feeling of
00:46:39
accomplishment I was talking with my mom
00:46:41
the other week and my mom is part of a
00:46:43
Master Gardener program and they have a
00:46:46
community garden in ohigh and they had
00:46:49
some kind of equ some kind of piece of
00:46:51
equipment that was like busted and not
00:46:53
running
00:46:54
properly and yeah and called you and was
00:46:57
like Hey like could you recommend
00:46:59
somebody to fix this or you know and you
00:47:00
were just like oh let me like come take
00:47:02
a look at it and uh and you know she was
00:47:05
like I felt so bad cuz like we couldn't
00:47:07
pay him and like we gave him like
00:47:09
tomatoes or you know they gave you
00:47:10
something um and and um but you just
00:47:14
came and you fixed it and you are now
00:47:15
like the hero of that group of people
00:47:17
because you fixed this thing that none
00:47:19
of them knew how to do and it's amazing
00:47:21
because that's what I've realized is
00:47:23
that it goes back to that networking
00:47:25
thing and like you said being willing to
00:47:26
go into companies and ask questions you
00:47:28
never know who you're going to meet
00:47:30
right exactly I have met people that
00:47:32
have resulted in huge deals for me and
00:47:37
that and I've met people that I know at
00:47:38
some point it's going to come back uh in
00:47:41
my favor you know because I did
00:47:42
something good for them and that's just
00:47:44
the thing if you can show up and be
00:47:46
consistent and be trustworthy and loyal
00:47:50
and on time and give value right um and
00:47:53
sometimes you do have to expect a little
00:47:54
in return right we everybody's got to
00:47:56
get paid some point you know if you do
00:47:58
if you do nice things for people it will
00:48:01
always come back it's it's kind of that
00:48:03
Karma uh mentality right you put good
00:48:05
out in the world good comes back to you
00:48:07
and uh but yeah I really liked what you
00:48:09
had to say about just like go take the
00:48:12
initiative to ask questions of people
00:48:13
because a lot of times people are
00:48:15
totally down to talk about what they do
00:48:16
especially if they're passionate about
00:48:18
it right um they can go for hours on you
00:48:21
know for me it's podcasting you get me
00:48:23
started on podcasting stuff oh my God I
00:48:25
could geek out for hours um and just go
00:48:27
down the rabbit hole of microphones and
00:48:29
and uh interfaces and show titles and
00:48:32
all kinds of stuff like I can just go
00:48:34
down that rabbit hole exctly the other
00:48:36
thing that I wanted to kind of jump back
00:48:37
to that I think you didn't gloss over it
00:48:40
it was important but you said how your
00:48:42
parents have supported you all along the
00:48:45
way and given you like the time and the
00:48:47
space you needed to kind of like decide
00:48:49
what it is that like you wanted to do um
00:48:52
and and just giving you like a safe
00:48:54
environment to kind of like pursue that
00:48:56
right there was a you know there was
00:48:57
obviously like you have to be working a
00:48:59
job or you have to be in school or
00:49:00
things like that but it's so cool to
00:49:02
have parents like that my parents were
00:49:03
kind of the same way they were like okay
00:49:04
when you turn 18 you got two options you
00:49:07
go to school you get a job that's it you
00:49:09
know and uh as long as you can show that
00:49:12
you're doing one of those like you know
00:49:13
you can hang around and um if you need
00:49:16
to stay at the house for a while you can
00:49:17
do that too and things like that but it
00:49:20
was it was motivating to have someone on
00:49:23
my side who was kind of being like well
00:49:25
what do you want to do and after college
00:49:27
I moved home for a year and they were
00:49:29
there they were like I mean my dad gave
00:49:31
me a year I moved in and he was like
00:49:33
okay you got one year to kind of figure
00:49:34
this out and after a year we're either
00:49:37
going to start charging you rent or
00:49:39
we're going to kick you out like you
00:49:41
know so kind of they lit enough of a
00:49:43
fire under my butt to get me moving but
00:49:46
they were always there for if you know
00:49:49
if things weren't going my way or I
00:49:50
needed to Pivot like they were just
00:49:52
there to support and your parents I will
00:49:54
say have been some of the most
00:49:56
supportive people in my life um as far
00:49:59
as like it was an unpopular opinion in
00:50:02
my well in my opinion it was unpopular
00:50:05
of me to want to move across the country
00:50:07
to go to college a lot of people told me
00:50:09
don't do it it's a waste of my time it's
00:50:10
a waste of money um your family was not
00:50:13
one of those people who told me that
00:50:15
they just always were like we're super
00:50:17
proud of you and whatever you go to we
00:50:19
know you're going to like be a rockar at
00:50:20
it and I always appreciated that and
00:50:24
because you know that's what you need to
00:50:26
hear in life I mean granted you
00:50:28
sometimes got to get kicked in the butt
00:50:29
a couple times but you know you need to
00:50:31
have some some people on your side that
00:50:32
are encouraging you to go after the
00:50:34
things that you really want and when you
00:50:36
make those decisions to really like push
00:50:38
you to say yeah that's the that's the
00:50:40
thing it's obvious no for sure they were
00:50:43
always really supportive of me taking my
00:50:46
time and I think they that stemmed from
00:50:49
a place like when I was really really
00:50:51
young I was very opinionated on what I
00:50:55
did and didn't do
00:50:57
and like if I didn't want to do
00:50:59
something I just wouldn't do it or you
00:51:02
know like I can remember like for
00:51:03
example
00:51:05
my my mom when I was a little kid she
00:51:08
had signed me up for peeee soccer and I
00:51:11
wasn't really much of a sports person
00:51:12
and until this day I'm not really into
00:51:14
sports at all except for maybe like rock
00:51:16
climbing yeah not the tradition Stu like
00:51:19
the traditional Sports yeah yeah so she
00:51:22
had signed me up for peeee soccer and we
00:51:24
were only like halfway through the first
00:51:26
practice this and I decided this wasn't
00:51:28
for me so I just went over and sat down
00:51:30
next to my mom on the sidelines was like
00:51:31
I'm done and she's like all right well
00:51:35
uh this wasn't for you and then later on
00:51:39
she had signed me up for basketball
00:51:41
because she worked at the recreation
00:51:43
department and so she was able to get
00:51:44
really good deals for you know us kids
00:51:48
to like we want to do basketball or
00:51:50
soccer or baseball or softball she was
00:51:52
able to like make that happen for us for
00:51:54
like little to no money and so uh she
00:51:56
had signed me for basketball at one
00:51:58
point and like every one of my other
00:51:59
siblings played basketball or like flag
00:52:02
football or something like that and so
00:52:04
she's like oh honey I I signed you for
00:52:07
basketball I was like h no no I'm good
00:52:10
I'm good she's like no but honey I I I
00:52:12
already signed you up so you have to and
00:52:14
I was like well unsign me um but she I
00:52:17
was just like very much like no I don't
00:52:19
I don't want to that's not for me I'm
00:52:20
not going to do that and so I think my
00:52:22
parents my parents like okay yeah um
00:52:26
we're not going to force him to do
00:52:27
anything because if it's something he
00:52:28
doesn't want to do he's not going to do
00:52:29
it and you know that's how it was they
00:52:32
gotta they had to wait till you came to
00:52:34
them and said hey Mom I want to play uh
00:52:36
basketball yeah or like hey I wna you
00:52:39
know I want to get into rock climbing or
00:52:41
I want to get into whatever they were
00:52:44
they were super like you know when I
00:52:46
made a decision to do something they
00:52:47
were all about it and all for it yeah
00:52:50
which is just kind of funny like
00:52:52
remembering those situations or like
00:52:54
having my mom tell me those stories of
00:52:56
like oh my gosh that makes so much sense
00:52:58
that's hilarious I love mid practice
00:53:01
just walking off the field and being
00:53:02
like I'm done that's that's hilarious
00:53:04
isn't for me and it wasn't like I was
00:53:05
pissed or anything like that I was just
00:53:06
like yeah no like I uh and like the the
00:53:11
like the coach was really adamant about
00:53:15
stuff like that and so I was just like I
00:53:16
don't like this guy I'm done um I
00:53:19
remember it was like that I took tenis
00:53:22
lessons too but that was something that
00:53:24
I wanted to do I was like Hey I want to
00:53:26
try tennis and so my parents are like
00:53:27
okay yeah this is great yeah so like me
00:53:30
Ben Carly and I remember doing it was
00:53:32
like the Mitchells and uh like the lamos
00:53:34
and stuff like that but I remember like
00:53:36
I just was so
00:53:38
uncoordinated with sport like I did not
00:53:42
do well in that sport I either was
00:53:44
hitting the ball out of the court or I
00:53:46
was like hitting it like not near hard
00:53:49
enough or whatever and I remember the
00:53:50
the instructor just was constantly
00:53:52
getting like frustrated with me because
00:53:54
I just wasn't either like listening or I
00:53:57
didn't know how to do what he was
00:53:58
teaching it was just really really funny
00:54:00
at the time you couldn't track you
00:54:02
couldn't track with it that's so that's
00:54:04
so funny but like so when it came to
00:54:06
like sports I never really was into
00:54:08
sports because I wasn't really much of a
00:54:10
competitive person I didn't really like
00:54:12
being competitive because I would
00:54:14
sometimes get way too competitive and I
00:54:17
didn't like how I got when I got
00:54:18
competitive um but then like you know if
00:54:20
my buddies were like Hey we're going to
00:54:21
go do disc golf or we're going to play
00:54:23
we're just going to go to the tennis
00:54:24
courts and whack the ball around I was
00:54:25
like oh dude I'm slow down let's do it
00:54:27
and so it's like you know if I'm not
00:54:30
playing like if I know I'm not playing
00:54:32
to like win I'm just playing to have fun
00:54:34
then I can totally enjoy it and have fun
00:54:36
with it um so I've been able to do that
00:54:38
with buddies like you know dis golfing
00:54:40
or Ultimate Frisbee or going and just
00:54:43
hitting the tennis ball around with some
00:54:45
friends you know that kind of stuff I
00:54:46
could really I could get behind it I
00:54:48
enjoy doing but when it came to like
00:54:49
playing
00:54:50
competitively it's so funny because
00:54:52
there's such a difference in you and I
00:54:54
I'm the firstborn kid you're number four
00:54:56
out of five um and it's just funny the
00:55:01
because
00:55:02
like the way my brain works is like my
00:55:05
mom also signed me up for tennis and and
00:55:08
I enjoyed playing but it wasn't I'm kind
00:55:10
of with you I I felt so behind from
00:55:12
other kids and I just there's certain
00:55:14
things I just couldn't pick up and so I
00:55:16
got frustrated and ended up quitting but
00:55:18
like but I had to like see that season
00:55:22
through right whatever was paid for I
00:55:24
was like had to see it through and so um
00:55:27
and that's just partly like the way I my
00:55:29
brain works it's just that firstborn
00:55:32
people pleaser kind of a person and
00:55:34
that's my own issue that I got to work
00:55:36
on but it's just so funny to hear you be
00:55:37
like oh yeah I just like walked off I
00:55:39
was just done you know and it's like I
00:55:41
could I could never right I could just I
00:55:43
could never um picture doing that so
00:55:46
that's that's so hilarious I was going
00:55:48
to ask you um and kind of like kind of
00:55:51
coming to an end here but like so with
00:55:54
all of your experience at this point
00:55:57
both now homeschooled not you know being
00:56:00
almost a decade out of homeschool you
00:56:04
know if you were to have kids or you
00:56:08
know if someone came up to you tomorrow
00:56:10
and their young family and they're like
00:56:11
hey we're thinking about homeschooling
00:56:13
would you recommend homeschooling or
00:56:14
would you homeschool your own kids or do
00:56:16
you think You' put them in a public
00:56:18
school system or private school what do
00:56:22
you have any thoughts on that I me from
00:56:23
the home
00:56:24
school you know part
00:56:27
I would certainly recommend it um
00:56:29
especially with you know how public
00:56:33
schools are you know nowadays and just
00:56:36
like some of the things and some of the
00:56:37
values that they're taking away um that
00:56:40
I would want my kids to
00:56:42
know um just some of you know schools
00:56:47
these days are policies and whatnot I
00:56:48
just don't really agree with and so I
00:56:51
would opt more towards homeschooling uh
00:56:53
my own kids too um but there's also so
00:56:56
part of me that would almost want to put
00:56:59
my kids in public school just so that
00:57:02
way there's hopefully more kids like me
00:57:06
or like more kids like you that are out
00:57:07
in the public school system fighting for
00:57:10
uh you know the things that I had when I
00:57:12
was in public school um you know for me
00:57:16
being a Christian just like having kids
00:57:19
my kids uh growing up with the same
00:57:21
kinds of the
00:57:24
same views as me you know having their
00:57:27
own their own spin on their views you
00:57:29
know I don't want my kids to be perfect
00:57:30
cookie cut cut cookie cutter cutouts of
00:57:33
myself they are totally entitled to be
00:57:34
able to believe what they want but
00:57:36
hopefully like I'm able to raise them in
00:57:39
a way where you know they have their own
00:57:41
relationships with Christ and they're
00:57:42
able to like you know share that with
00:57:46
the kids around them if they were to go
00:57:48
to public school um to be able to be
00:57:50
that light in a place that's like going
00:57:52
very
00:57:53
dark um so like that would be the reason
00:57:57
for me to put them in public school but
00:57:58
then there's a part of it that's like I
00:58:00
would want my kids to be protected and
00:58:02
so that's why I would mainly want to
00:58:03
have them homeschooled but then there's
00:58:04
a part of me that's like but I don't
00:58:05
want them to turn out like the sheltered
00:58:08
kids that are like oh hi my name's
00:58:11
Jeremiah yeah that kind of stuff you
00:58:13
know I would want them to be in the
00:58:16
world but not of the world you know yeah
00:58:20
so I mean that goes back to like the
00:58:22
whole our whole conversation about group
00:58:24
solution so and I always tell people
00:58:26
this too I mean you got to figure out
00:58:27
what works for your kid first of all but
00:58:30
one having parents that are super
00:58:31
involved in your education I think is
00:58:33
always important you know learning never
00:58:35
stops that was something that my mom
00:58:37
always told me was like learning never
00:58:40
stops you will continue to learn the
00:58:41
rest of your life as long as you're
00:58:43
willing to and so she learned stuff
00:58:45
along the way my dad learned stuff along
00:58:47
the way and you know so I I I just
00:58:50
always tell parents I'm like you know be
00:58:52
willing to have that learning Spirit
00:58:54
whether you put your kid in public
00:58:56
education private education whether you
00:58:57
choose to homeschool them and then I
00:58:59
always tell people if you choose to
00:59:01
homeschool your kid finding that group
00:59:03
of people who is going to be your
00:59:05
community is like absolutely key you
00:59:07
know we talked a lot about you know the
00:59:09
socialization aspect of that but also
00:59:12
just like you know having it takes a
00:59:15
village to raise a kid right and so you
00:59:17
know but also
00:59:20
like our lives were so much happier when
00:59:23
we had friends when we had you know when
00:59:25
we had Community around us yeah you know
00:59:28
I look back at high school and I'm like
00:59:30
those were some of the best years of my
00:59:31
life right because those were my closest
00:59:34
friends I had people around me all the
00:59:35
time um that I loved and adored and I
00:59:38
mean I love where I'm at now but it's
00:59:40
just some of my Fondest Memories come
00:59:42
from that time period of like I had lots
00:59:45
of friends but you know and then I also
00:59:48
had a great education you know and so I
00:59:51
yeah I definitely I value your your
00:59:53
input on on you know wanting
00:59:56
it is a it is a debacle like you said
00:59:58
it's like you don't really know till you
01:00:00
have kids but um you know you got to
01:00:03
figure it out with them but um but no I
01:00:06
value that that input you had of like
01:00:08
you know I don't know there's a part of
01:00:09
me that says yes and there's a part of
01:00:10
me that says no and you know you just
01:00:13
got to figure it out I guess yeah just
01:00:16
got to see what what comes of it when
01:00:18
you start when you start having kids you
01:00:19
know but um I guess in closing you know
01:00:23
is there anything else any cringy
01:00:25
stories anything that you're just like
01:00:26
oh my gosh in reminiscing this came to
01:00:28
my mind or any last words you want to
01:00:30
leave the people when you're when you
01:00:32
talked about like cringy stories I can
01:00:34
just it just takes you back to um like
01:00:37
the dances the achieve dances that we
01:00:39
used to go to you the
01:00:42
yeah uh I can just
01:00:45
remember some of those some of those
01:00:47
dances were they were super fun but like
01:00:51
me I was not a dancer I did not like the
01:00:56
idea I mean like mostly it stemmed from
01:00:58
like you know I didn't really know how
01:01:00
to dance and so it's like oh I don't
01:01:02
want to have to ask somebody to dance
01:01:03
and then just
01:01:04
like you know do some boring dance or
01:01:07
whatever thing but I can just remember
01:01:10
like nights when they would do they
01:01:14
would do like s
01:01:15
Hawkins and like me my little brother or
01:01:19
like Ben little my little brother Ben
01:01:20
and like Nathan Gibbons we would just
01:01:22
beine it to the bathroom because we
01:01:24
didn't want to get asked to to dance by
01:01:26
anybody we're like no we're we don't
01:01:28
want to dance so we just book it to the
01:01:29
bathroom and just weighed it out for a
01:01:31
couple minutes and then come back out
01:01:33
the dance would be over we're like oh
01:01:34
okay cool thank God so school dances for
01:01:37
us were very different from public
01:01:38
school because we it was like swing
01:01:40
dance and Ballroom were the main exactly
01:01:42
so so it was not like there was not like
01:01:45
DJ and we were bumping and grinding and
01:01:48
just like shaking it on the dance floor
01:01:49
like it was like there were steps and
01:01:51
there were you know there was there was
01:01:53
dress code there was rules exactly gosh
01:01:57
and uh yeah and then STI Hawkins dance
01:01:59
for anyone who's not familiar is it's
01:02:01
revers so instead of guys asking the
01:02:02
girls to dance it's the girls ask the
01:02:03
guys to dance and uh yeah I do remember
01:02:06
that I mean I was very much a dancer
01:02:08
like at 12 my mom put me in dance
01:02:10
classes and I just kind of fell in love
01:02:12
with it so but I definitely understand
01:02:15
the first couple times I went to a dance
01:02:16
I was like I would hide in the bathroom
01:02:18
and I would you know just sit in the
01:02:20
corner I I was like I don't want to be
01:02:21
any part of this but uh but yeah that's
01:02:24
so funny that you guys would be like
01:02:26
later we're like later it's our time to
01:02:29
our time to go but yeah I the other the
01:02:32
dress codes I remember showing up one
01:02:33
night for one dance and it was like
01:02:36
button-up shirts so we were wearing
01:02:38
button-up shirts we were wearing jeans
01:02:40
and I remember that did not qualify for
01:02:43
the dress code and they like Turned us
01:02:45
away and I remember being like that is
01:02:47
bull crap what the heck um but this was
01:02:50
up when it was at the point St Pavilion
01:02:52
and so I remember we just ran down the
01:02:54
street to David Worth's house and we
01:02:58
were able to borrow some of his slack
01:03:00
for the night and we were able to come
01:03:01
back and actually go into the dance and
01:03:03
actually you know have a good time and
01:03:04
enjoy it U but yeah I remember like
01:03:07
totally being like that's so dumb like
01:03:10
what the heck like we should be able to
01:03:11
just come and hang out and have a good
01:03:13
time I was talking with um some of the
01:03:15
girls from growing up and like because
01:03:17
for the girls it was a lot worse than
01:03:18
the guys because they also in addition
01:03:20
to having dress code they had like their
01:03:22
skirts had to be certain length they
01:03:24
usually like wear shorts underneath
01:03:26
certain amount of cleavage had to be
01:03:27
covered straps had to be a certain size
01:03:29
like it was like exactly intense um and
01:03:31
girls got turned away a lot more than
01:03:33
guys did because for us it was easy you
01:03:35
just wear like you said but up shirt and
01:03:37
most of the times jeans was acceptable
01:03:40
those few that it wasn't it was slacks
01:03:42
which most people had in their closet it
01:03:44
was easy I mean we really didn't it
01:03:47
wasn't that tough um you know I I also
01:03:50
showed up to a couple dances in jeans or
01:03:52
something trying to you know like black
01:03:53
jeans trying to like pass them off his
01:03:55
slacks and be like you know some parent
01:03:57
like those aren't those aren't slacks
01:03:59
being like well I'm already in here so
01:04:01
yeah you're like what are you going to
01:04:02
kick me out huh yeah exactly I'm already
01:04:04
dancing I already paid like I don't know
01:04:06
what you want to do um also my parents
01:04:08
were on the board of achieve so I mean
01:04:11
you know nepple baby over here
01:04:15
uh but uh yeah it's crazy it's funny to
01:04:18
think about some of those yeah those
01:04:19
cringey things like that like just weird
01:04:21
rules around you know also like
01:04:26
you know we had growing up in like that
01:04:27
Christian environment too I remember
01:04:29
youth group it was just like you know
01:04:31
guys are blue and girls are red and
01:04:33
together they make purple purple yeah
01:04:36
exactly no purple and it was kind of
01:04:38
like that at the dances too where it was
01:04:40
like you guys were allowed to dance
01:04:41
together but I had multiple times where
01:04:43
dads came up to me and they were like oh
01:04:45
your hand was too low or like I didn't
01:04:47
like the way you danced with my daughter
01:04:49
or whatever and I'm like I don't I don't
01:04:52
know what you're talking about like I
01:04:54
mean I didn't ever feel like I was a
01:04:56
pervy person and I definitely wasn't
01:04:58
like I wasn't trying to grab booty or
01:05:01
anything but it was just one of those
01:05:02
things where every now and then I was
01:05:04
like but I'm just doing like I took so
01:05:06
many dance classes I was like I'm just
01:05:08
doing what I was told to do or to do
01:05:10
just the parents just didn't like it and
01:05:12
it's just like well they come and they
01:05:14
talk to you you're like okay man like
01:05:17
whatever I guess okay sure but yeah but
01:05:22
that's the kind of side of homeschooling
01:05:23
that I think hopefully it's easy up a
01:05:26
little bit I mean obviously I understand
01:05:27
wanting to protect your kids and you
01:05:29
know make sure they have a great safe
01:05:30
environment to be in but I get that you
01:05:33
know it's it's also like one of those
01:05:35
things where yeah some of those rules
01:05:36
were just they were just dumb for no
01:05:37
reason you know and uh a little dated so
01:05:41
hopefully things have turned around a
01:05:42
little bit you know we're 2024 at this
01:05:45
point um it it be interesting to see if
01:05:48
they're even offering to do like
01:05:52
call score reunions would achieve I know
01:05:55
I know a couple groups have gotten
01:05:57
together over the years I was going to
01:05:58
try to get together my graduating class
01:06:00
one of the things I've talked about with
01:06:02
Carrie FR was putting together just kind
01:06:04
of a big reunion in general and just for
01:06:06
everybody and just saying hey you know
01:06:09
if you kind of a a range like if you
01:06:10
graduated from this time to this time
01:06:13
you know we're going to meet you know
01:06:15
this year at Sono bar or you know son
01:06:18
so's house or whatever and uh and just
01:06:21
you know hang up hang out and catch up
01:06:24
and stuff like that but um but yeah it
01:06:27
it's kind of hard I'm in Tennessee you
01:06:29
guys are all in Cal a lot of you guys
01:06:30
are in California there other people who
01:06:32
live across the states and stuff but you
01:06:34
know it is tough to get everybody kind
01:06:36
of like back together so maybe this
01:06:38
podcast will make it happen you know yes
01:06:40
who knows maybe it's like it's like the
01:06:43
like B back together and it just like AR
01:06:45
right exactly exactly well Nick I
01:06:49
appreciate you coming on so much and
01:06:51
catching up and all the cringe stories
01:06:53
and like I love talking to you about
01:06:56
like your career and that whole
01:06:57
transition so thank you for being open
01:06:59
and and sharing with us and yeah I
01:07:03
mean any last words I mean I kind of
01:07:06
already asked you that but oh yeah I
01:07:08
just uh dude like thank you for reaching
01:07:09
out and asking me this has been super
01:07:11
fun just being able to like get to hang
01:07:14
out and just like chat with you it's
01:07:16
just been Super Rad because yeah it's
01:07:17
been several years and I know we get to
01:07:20
kind of you know we'll message each
01:07:21
other every now and then on on Instagram
01:07:23
or something like that but it's just
01:07:24
been really cool to be able to just talk
01:07:26
with you and also be part of a podcast
01:07:29
this is cool I've never been able to
01:07:31
I've never been on a podcast before so
01:07:33
it's like new territory um you be over
01:07:36
here how how you know where am I putting
01:07:38
my weirdness dial you know in my mind
01:07:40
like you know but it it's been really
01:07:43
fun I've been I've really enjoyed it and
01:07:45
uh it's just been cool to go over you
01:07:48
know the
01:07:50
homeschooling perspective with somebody
01:07:52
else who's been homeschooled we just
01:07:54
talk about it it's been really R well
01:07:56
dude I appreciate you so much and uh for
01:07:59
those of you who are still listening uh
01:08:01
you know tune in next week I'm going to
01:08:02
have another great guest I don't know
01:08:04
who it is going to be yet but uh they'll
01:08:06
be there for sure and uh thank you so
01:08:08
much like if it's your first time like
01:08:11
follow subscribe leave a review all the
01:08:14
things you got to do and uh until next
01:08:16
time we'll see you yes we will
01:08:21
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01:08:32
[Music]
