Richard Walsh: Entrepreneurship and Family

Summary

In this conversation, Richard Walsh shares his journey as an entrepreneur, discussing the challenges he faced, including mental health struggles and the impact of his business on his family. He reflects on the lessons learned from failure and the importance of balancing a warrior mindset with being a nurturing figure in his family's life. Richard emphasizes the significance of personal growth and the need for support in both business and family dynamics. In this conversation, Richard Walsh and Christian Brim explore the complexities of faith, fatherhood, and modern manhood. They discuss the biblical figure of David, the importance of understanding the fear of God, and how spirituality can be integrated into coaching. The dialogue also touches on the societal impact of fatherlessness, the challenges of extended adolescence, and the legacy that fathers leave for their children. Ultimately, they emphasize the need for men to take responsibility for their roles and to build a community that supports one another in their spiritual and personal growth.

Takeaways

• Entrepreneurship is fundamentally a mental game.
• Experiencing failure can lead to significant personal growth.
• The identity of an entrepreneur can become intertwined with their business.
• Recognizing the impact of business on family is crucial for balance.
• Lessons learned from past mistakes can shape future success.
• Ego and pride can hinder effective delegation in business.
• The importance of being present for family over material success.
• A warrior mindset can be beneficial in business.
• Balancing the roles of warrior and poet is essential for personal fulfillment.
• Marriage requires continuous effort and communication. David's story illustrates the power of repentance and redemption.
• Understanding the fear of God is crucial for a relationship with Him.
• Incorporating biblical principles into coaching can benefit everyone.
• Work should be seen as a calling, not just a curse.
• Fatherlessness is a significant issue affecting today's youth.
• Extended adolescence is a growing problem among men.
• Legacy is defined by the values and teachings passed to children.
• Depth in spiritual understanding leads to broader impact.
• Community support is vital for personal and spiritual growth.
• Men must embrace their roles as protectors and providers.

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Transcript

Christian Brim (00:01.708)
Welcome to another episode of the Chris project. I am your host Christian Brim. Joining me today is the esteemed Richard Walsh. Richard, welcome. Good to see you again.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (00:12.113)
You too, Chris. Great to be here.

Christian Brim (00:14.604)
Well, I know a little bit of your story, but why don't you introduce yourself to the audience who may not know you?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (00:23.326)
Yeah, so I've been an entrepreneur for about 35 years. was in the Marine Corps, came out of the Marine Corps, started working.

Decided working for myself was a much better way of doing things and working for others So I started doing that actually in a landscape Format that became custom water features specialized in that I end up adding Steel sculpture to that that I'm kind of building a life of its own as well and it was a world-class exhibits things of that nature became internationally recognized Ended up. I was a boxer champion boxer. I was a black belt. I'm now a best-selling author. I'm

I do business coaching now with Sharpen the Spirit Coaching and that is the tiniest little nutshell I can make.

Christian Brim (01:07.798)
You did condense it very well, I'm impressed. Because there's a lot to that onion, I know, from my previous interview with you on the profitable creative. So I would like to dig into some of the challenges and obstacles that you encountered as an entrepreneur. And I'll let you pick what you want to share, but.

dealing with some of the mindset issues, the mental health issues, any of those struggles that you encountered.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (01:46.909)
How many hours do we have, Chris? Okay, I get it. I'll tell you, entrepreneurship in itself is a mental game.

Christian Brim (01:49.378)
Well, we're only gonna spend less than one, but.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (02:00.431)
of its own. I spent my first 20 years building that first water feature business and then 08-09 came and everything collapsed around me. I wasn't doing the right things in my business. I ended up losing everything, losing my business, losing my home. Had six small kids at the time, four years and younger. My wife had to relocate. That was a little bit challenging.

Christian Brim (02:21.41)
You think?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (02:21.627)
That whole experience, yeah. So from a mental aspect, I'll tell you on that was I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn't want to do what I did. So at least I had that for a starting point. I'm like, can't go back. I'm not going to go backwards. I tried to save that business. It didn't work. Then I realized I didn't want to do that. That's not what I want to do. It had become my identity, which is a really big thing, I think, for men especially.

Christian Brim (02:30.99)
Hmm.

Christian Brim (02:35.982)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (02:46.616)
Mm-hmm.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (02:51.325)
we become what we do, right? Because what's the first question I want to ask you? What do you do? Right, so it becomes who we are and I realized it had really become who I was. Like without it I didn't exist. I won all the awards, I'm on the committees, I'm all this stuff out front and I always had a shirt on, I always had a hat on, And I realized, I really came to that conclusion, like that obsession with myself.

Christian Brim (02:53.132)
Yes. Yes. Yeah, yes.

Christian Brim (03:02.67)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (03:18.877)
Okay, caused a myriad of problems. Not only not asking for help because I was gonna do it, because I'm the man, right? But my kids also were watching me, even at their very young ages, I realized...

Christian Brim (03:18.957)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (03:27.736)
Right.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (03:33.519)
If I continued on this path of this is first, this is me, everything goes to this, no matter how many hours or whatever it is, right or wrong, I'm doing it, they were gonna follow in my footsteps, because Morris caught and taught with kids. And I knew if I continued...

They're gonna end up with broken marriages and failed relationships and struggles throughout everything, right? They might do good at business maybe, but everything else in their life is gonna kinda be trashed. So that was the day I literally walked in and shut the business down. We were gonna end anyways.

Christian Brim (04:05.582)
So, okay, let's dig into that because how old were you at the time?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (04:12.701)
That was 08, how was I, 40 something, 39, 42, 43, something like that.

Christian Brim (04:19.446)
Okay. I, I would not have had the insight to see the ramification. And I didn't honestly have the insight to see how my behavior was affecting my children at that time as it related to the business. Like

I how did you how did you gain that clarity? Like what what was it? What was it that triggered that for you?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (04:50.599)
To me it was an epiphany one morning, I woke up and to me it was like this window that God gave me to see the future. That's the only way I can explain it. was because I'm not a panic guy, I'm actually.

Christian Brim (05:00.077)
Mm-hmm.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (05:05.657)
unusually calm in emergency situations. really, my arm fell off. Let me just get that and take it to the hospital, you know? So yeah. So I was calm with that, but I started realizing, like, whatever that window was, that epiphany that came to me was I have to lead my family. You know, I mean, I have six kids who loved to see me when I came home, hated when I left, all this stuff. so I'm thinking, they don't care what I drive.

Christian Brim (05:11.458)
The Marine Corps does that to people.

Christian Brim (05:24.738)
Hmm.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (05:34.791)
They don't care what kind of house you live in. They don't care how much money I make. All this stuff that I cared about, like I'm not saying it's not important, but when you put it in perspective, like through a child's eyes, I wasn't giving them the one thing they wanted.

Christian Brim (05:44.972)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Is there is there something that is there something that made that clear for you? Like with your children? Like, I remember a story one of my pastor said long time ago about his his coming home and he had made the commitment to play ball with his his son. And he came home and his son was sleeping on the couch with the glove in his hand.

And that was kind of like that moment that he was like, I screwed up. Like I did not do what I should have done.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (06:26.109)
Mine was my four-year-old chasing my truck as I'm leaving in the driveway, crying because I'm leaving. And I'm looking at him in rearview mirror where he's already small. But hey, it's business. I got to go. And I just watched him get smaller and smaller. And I'm like, what am I doing? You know? Yeah.

Christian Brim (06:30.796)
Hmm. Yeah.

Christian Brim (06:40.258)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, those are gut check moments. Definitely. So when when you experience I often find the dynamic with the spouse interesting, at least it has been in my case. How did your how did your wife react to that situation?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (07:03.651)
losing everything. Yeah, it was.

Well, she has some hindsight, okay? So they like to... As I tell my kids, I'll say this for the record, said, marriage is work and it's always work. Okay, it's never not work. You're gonna have, so she's telling me the things I should have done that I didn't do because, listen, I had billionaires telling me what I should do. I didn't listen to them. You think I'm gonna listen to my wife?

Christian Brim (07:25.091)
Yes.

Yes.

Christian Brim (07:32.195)
Yes.

Christian Brim (07:37.282)
Right? No, you're not.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (07:39.069)
Okay, so I get putting things in perspective. Yes, she knows now. But I do listen now. I do listen. go to her for counsel, so I learn my lesson. But she's like unbelievably tough. mean, she has six children under four years old and not afraid to take them out. You got a five kid wagon, another kid on her hip, and she's at the Botanic Garden.

Christian Brim (07:41.784)
She should know that. She should know that. That's her.

Christian Brim (07:57.389)
Mm-hmm.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (08:05.329)
walk around, pulling around, doing some all the time, traveling across the country with them. Let's go here, let's go there. We did a 40 day road trip with six little kids. We did all that stuff because she's who she is. So she was really able to adapt and roll with it. Of course she didn't like it. We went from basically high end suburbia, she's a born and raised in Chicago, to the farm. So if you know Green Acres, we kind of went Green Acres on it, So it's a very deep.

Christian Brim (08:20.173)
No.

Christian Brim (08:29.88)
Yeah.

Did you have a party line or did you have your own phone? Yes, okay.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (08:34.621)
Tin cans and a string, baby. So we get there and it's, you know, like I said, I loved it. I'm like, we had a neighbor a half mile one way and a half mile the other way. Nothing in front or behind. I'm like, this is awesome. This is like.

Christian Brim (08:50.979)
Right?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (08:51.869)
You know, the kids can pee off the front porch. I mean, this is freedom. I'm like, this is freedom. That's the one side we get. Shoot off the back and do that off the front. OK, so, but we're there and she's like, she's an extrovert. I'm actually an introvert. You know, so she's like, after about a year, she's like, there's no one here. I have no friends. I mean, she was really, really down. I mean, just not her normal self. you know, so I call it having the talk, right? I'm finally like, listen.

Christian Brim (08:54.476)
Right, as God intended them to, yes.

Christian Brim (09:14.207)
Mm-hmm.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (09:21.245)
You just gotta suck it up. Like this is where we're at, this is what we have to do. We're figuring it out. I know it's not the most fun, but let's get things rolling again. We'll get it. You can go to Chicago and see, you know, we're only an hour and a half away or whatever. And so it was really kind of that, there's another gut check there. I just had to be a little bit firm because I'm like, can't change where we're at right now. It's a process, right? And if you've never been through the business building process, she came in where things were good.

Christian Brim (09:43.244)
Right. Right.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (09:51.163)
business established, all this stuff. At that time we'd been married like nine years maybe. So this is all new. And I'm telling you, if you haven't been through it, it's not fun. There's a lot of...

Christian Brim (10:03.158)
No, it gets back to those vows of better or worse, right?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (10:09.021)
That's right, a whole lot of worse. so, but we did it. Started figuring things out and getting through stuff, know, and the kids are growing and doing that stuff and she really focused on that. We ended up homeschooling our kids all the way through, you know, so we had that. it took a number of years, but then finally she was like, you know, would never change it. Never go back. It was so great what it had become because of Freedom for the Children and everything else.

Christian Brim (10:37.976)
Yeah, I think in my life, the things that I didn't want to go through that I didn't like to go through, I wouldn't. I wouldn't trade those experiences because they're formative. They not only do are there blessings in those things that you wouldn't have known, like, you know, you, you're, you're, you're

but the change in yourself from those experiences and you know, there's, I look back and say there's no way I could have gotten to be the person I am now if I hadn't gone through that. Like there's no shortcut.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (11:27.143)
Yeah, I agree. That 08, 09 experience never changed it. You talk about correcting, okay, a huge corrective experience, that was it. That changed the whole trajectory of my life.

Christian Brim (11:44.558)
So you pick up, you move on, and you start other businesses. How did that experience shape how you approach entrepreneurship and business now?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (11:57.917)
because I realized I was doing everything in the business. Again, it was me, was a lot of I. I did this, and I do this, and I do that, and it's kind of a theme. You I wasn't sharing. I'm not a good sharer, so I decided I'm gonna share now. I'm gonna give a whole bunch of people a lot to do, you know, so that I can, my goal was really simple, Christian. I just said, if my wife calls me and says she needs me at home, I can be there in 15 minutes. That was my goal.

Christian Brim (12:01.527)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (12:06.946)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (12:25.346)
Right? Okay.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (12:27.771)
I don't want to say I'll see you at five, I'll see you at seven. You I got to work ahead of this. That was my goal. So, you know, kind of a broad picture, that's what it was. So how do I create a business like that? So I really focus on taking all the mistakes and failures that I had in my first business and let's not repeat them.

Christian Brim (12:45.08)
So you said you don't, you weren't sharing. In your mind, what was the reason for that? Like why did you have trouble sharing with others or delegating to others or relying on others, whatever that aspect was?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (12:59.773)
because I hit.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (13:03.619)
I had a tremendous ego, tremendous. And I'm telling you, ego and pride, they're intertwined. It was all that. It was all gonna be up to me. I'm gonna do this. I'm the protector, the provider, all these things, right? So I'm gonna make sure it's me who does it. I will not share the credit with anyone else.

Christian Brim (13:06.584)
Hmm.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (13:25.135)
Okay, now I didn't like verbally say I won't share the credit, but that's the outcome, right? It was always about that. To me, I can't be wrong, it's my business. I mean, that was my mindset. I'll figure it out, even if I'm wrong, I'll fix it.

Christian Brim (13:34.445)
Hmm.

Christian Brim (13:39.756)
Well, here's a I didn't share this with you before the show, but there's there's a interesting study that was done on male entrepreneurs, and they put them in MRIs and did brain scans while they showed them images. And the part of their brain that lit up when they showed them pictures of their business was the same part of their brain that lit up when they showed them pictures of their children.

And I don't know what exactly you can take away from that except that I think that that personal identity thing, like if your kids were to screw up at school or misbehave in public or whatever, like that's a reflection on you as a person, as a parent, as a father. I think that's how that's intertwined with the business. if something fails in the business,

it really is you that's failed, like as a person. And some of that's hardwired into our brains.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (14:50.385)
Yeah, I think you should submit that as the definition. That's really well said. I really think you're 100 % right on all that. Because it's hard to be an entrepreneur, start a business, grow a business, and not consider it, it's your baby. I birthed it, I raised it through its infant stage, I want to get it to maturity, I want to turn it loose, and I want to be proud of its future accomplishments.

Christian Brim (14:54.264)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (15:08.472)
Yeah, right.

Christian Brim (15:18.861)
Yeah.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (15:19.097)
even if I sell it, right, that's the letting them go, get their own apartment, move on with life, right? But I want to be proud, my son now is in the Marine Corps, he's been in for a year, just graduated MSG school, he's going off to Garden Embassy, know, third hardest school in the Marine Corps, did all that, he's been a whole year of just...

Christian Brim (15:22.904)
Right. Right.

Christian Brim (15:27.5)
Nice.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (15:35.837)
and he's home right now for two weeks, know, and then get the head out, but it's that, right? It's like, man, just, went to that Sergeant Major, the Marine Corps is handing him a cert and everything else. like, this is, that's what it is. That's the feeling. The scan would be lightened up the same way with my business and my son, so yeah, that's exactly it.

Christian Brim (15:48.418)
Right. Right.

Yes. Yes.

Yeah, I had a this is a completely off the wall. How did you name your coaching business?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (16:08.451)
I'm quite the warrior-minded guy. Again, I'm a protector, things like that. So for me, sharp in the spear, you take care your gear, your gear takes care you. You know, let's say a dull knife only cuts skin. You need quality tools, right? But I wanted to hold onto the warrior mindset, because to me, battle's a business field. I mean, the business of the battlefield, it really is. So our tagline's honing entrepreneurial warriors on the battlefield of business.

Christian Brim (16:11.448)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (16:22.36)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (16:37.723)
because there's.

Christian Brim (16:37.974)
And do you work, I'm sorry, do you work exclusively with men? No, okay. Do you tend to work with men more? Yeah, okay.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (16:42.333)
No, I'll work it for me.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (16:46.897)
Yes, yes. Obviously things resonate. As a coach, not every coach is good for every client. I've fired coaches, I've fired clients, clients have fired me. We get it, right? I always use the example, like you get a head football coach for the NFL, goes to the Bears and has two or three terrible seasons, can't win nothing. They trade him, he goes to wherever, whatever other team, and two years later he's won in the Super Bowl.

Christian Brim (17:14.104)
Green Bay, of course. If he was at the Bears, he went to Green Bay.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (17:15.325)
Yeah, that too, yes, yes. That's right, he has to. And then they go to the Super Bowl. And everyone's going, well, how can he use the worst coach ever? No, it wasn't that. It was a team. It was a mindset. It was a philosophy of that team that he didn't jive with. He couldn't connect right, but he could go to that place and he could thrive. Because nobody is a head coach for an NFL team and not know what they're doing.

You just don't, you're not randomly picked off the street, okay? So you're pretty much, know what you're doing, you got to that place, but now it's about working with the team. I think that's the best comparison I can use.

Christian Brim (17:39.905)
Right.

Christian Brim (17:51.852)
Love it. I actually, you sharpened the spear, it reminded me, and again, this is just completely off the wall. Did you see the movie, it's probably 20 years old, Tip of the Spear, about the missionary down in South America? Okay, yeah, great movie, great movie.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (18:07.537)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (18:11.527)
Yep. Yep.

Yeah, but that's just it. And tip of the spear, sharpen the spear, same principle, right? Because we're out front, we're in battle, and spears, a lot of times, were not thrown. They were used up close and personal. I have one that I can't pronounce the African name of the actual spear I have. That's the logo for my company. But it has this name, and they say the name, it was named that way because of the sound it makes when they run it through someone.

Christian Brim (18:22.754)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (18:29.358)
Mm-hmm, right.

Christian Brim (18:43.746)
Nice.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (18:44.413)
Okay, so I'm like, okay, that's gonna be my spear. So I saw it, it's a really cool, but it's got a shorter handle, you know, it's maybe three and a half feet long, plus a, you 12 inch blade. But you see that and like see, and like the Spartan, same thing. Why do you have such short spears? Because we like to be up close and personal. We wanna be in it, so I think of it that way.

Christian Brim (19:07.222)
Yeah, and, and I, I think we do, as male entrepreneurs, I think we do resonate with the idea of, of business being battle. I oftentimes tell my wife as I'm leaving, I'll say I'm going to go Sleigh Dragons. Because that, you know, that that resonates with me and it and it makes sense. I find a lot of times though, that

that's hard to translate back into the family. Like setting that spear and shield down and being, I don't wanna say a different person, but a different role. How do you approach that?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (19:56.859)
I think, and this is not my term, it's being the warrior poet. That's what you're describing. How are you the warrior poet? Which means I read great books. I know poetry, I'm a romantic. I do romantic things with my wife and men. We climb mountains together. We go to battle together, we train together. To me, that's romance, we cook.

Christian Brim (20:03.088)
Mmm. Yeah.

Christian Brim (20:08.974)
Yes. Yes.

Christian Brim (20:16.536)
Yes. Right.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (20:23.207)
We enjoy great music, stuff like that. That's romance in the classical sense, right? So it's that warrior poet, I believe is the best description of it. You gotta have both.

Christian Brim (20:23.48)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (20:34.498)
More like David.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (20:37.309)
Yes, yes, that is the king warrior. He's a favorite of mine. I'll put it that way for sure. That's it. Big sinner, big repentant. That man adultery, murder, he did it all. He checked all the boxes. still, the redemption.

Christian Brim (20:45.25)
Yes, a man after God's own heart.

Christian Brim (20:52.216)
Yes, yes.

Christian Brim (20:57.239)
Yeah.

Yeah, it is. No, he's a crazy character. When you start looking at

It's almost like, you know, when I was learning about the Christian faith, that David's fall was really kind of minimized. Like, it's more of like, he is the triumphant king and, you know, unified Israel and all these other things. But to me, that's the beauty of it is that, like, through all of that,

he still was a man after God's own heart. Like, and part of that was the screwing up and the repentance. Like, you know, knowing that I screwed up and admitting it and just falling on the mercy of God. Not to say he didn't suffer consequences. He absolutely suffered consequences for it, right? But it still was his heart that he repented.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (22:03.389)
Also some.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (22:07.835)
I think most people know them as the warrior king. But until you spend time in the word and really read about it, that's when you get the full story.

It's all cool on the little cartoons and the little whatever and to talk about it real quick on stage. But when you dig into it, I mean everything with Absalom, his son, it's an incredible story, right? I it's movie worthy, never been made a movie, I don't think. But it could be a sequeled one, you we were talking about The Godfather earlier, you so I think it could be a multi-series. But it was so.

Christian Brim (22:27.99)
Yeah, it was nasty.

Christian Brim (22:35.958)
No, not that I know of.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (22:44.985)
It's so amazing when you see that because you understand the relationship between man and God and how he creates that. had a relationship. And that's why the repentance was such a big thing, because he understood. When people talk about...

You need a fear of God. It's not a fear of like, because he's going to be angry and he's going to punish me. It's the separation. It's fear of being separated from God. That's what the fear of God is. And David understood that. And when you read the Psalms, listen, he's whining, right? It begins with him, so and so is after me, this guy, this, and then.

Christian Brim (23:08.717)
Hmm.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (23:21.277)
But you're here, Lord. You're this. You're this. You're this. And you're here. And I have everything in you. And it's like total faith, right? Because the only thing that pleases God is faith. And so you see the faith of David with the 600 guys. Three times you could have taken out, man, why does his name slip me right now? No, no, the first king. Oh my gosh. I can't think of it right now.

Christian Brim (23:40.942)
Not Solomon, what was, it was started with an S though. Yeah. I can't remember it either.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (23:51.739)
This is terrible. Stop the show. I'm just kidding. It's not his son. my gosh, I can't believe it. Anyways, but that whole thing, right? Like he never, he didn't remove God's anointed. They had that wherewithal. You talk about like me, like that one point when you know like it's your kids and this whole thing, but he had that, right? He had that understanding and that is hard to grasp.

Christian Brim (23:54.112)
We'll remember it after the show's over.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (24:18.897)
Here's a man who's trying to kill you multiple times. You have him right there and you're just cutting off part of his cape and while he's taking care of business and then the spear of the head with the water jugs and then the whole thing. You know what I mean? That's some incredible restraint. Restraint for one, but also an understanding that's almost unfathomable.

Christian Brim (24:26.542)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (24:36.568)
Yes.

Christian Brim (24:42.264)
Yeah.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (24:43.595)
because God's anointed.

Christian Brim (24:46.488)
I was, we were talking about the Godfather and I think, stick with me here, because I think this is an interesting contrast. Because I think one of the things that really intrigued me about the Godfather, about that dynamic was his idea of manliness and manhood and head of the family, right?

It always captivated me. It still does like this. But at the end of the day, Michael only would rely on himself, right? And that was his failing. It was not his devotion. It wasn't his abilities. It was his self-reliance.

was his fatal flaw.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (25:46.813)
Yeah, I agree. think that's what I learned after that collapse in 08, 09, everything else. And I really discovered the Lord and started looking at this going, yeah, this isn't me. I'm only here because of him. Right? Like all the dumb things I did, I go chronologically in my life, I'm like, there's only providence is the only reason.

You know, because I meant for something else, you know. I mean, he me before he formed me, right? He's born for a time such as this. And I'm like, okay, I get it. I get where I'm supposed to be. get what I'm supposed to do. And it's really important that I fulfill this, you know, and start understanding who I'm truly serving. So that was a big thing.

Christian Brim (26:30.072)
So do you incorporate spirituality into your coaching?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (26:37.585)
Here's how I do it, so I adhere to biblical principles, okay, because they work, whether you're a believer or not. So I can't go wrong if I do that, right? They're gonna work wherever they are. Now, if someone, I'm not telling people what they should believe or anything else, but if they're a believer, we ramp it up. So it becomes even more intense. If they're not, but then they're questioning, I bring them along. You know, people know where I stand.

Christian Brim (26:41.038)
Mm-hmm.

Right?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (27:06.545)
You know, and that's all good. And they can be where they're at. I want to help them. you know, I witness by the way I live, Christian. That's how I witness.

Christian Brim (27:13.41)
Yeah. Well, and I think this is a very interesting turn. I think that we as men, through our vocation, through what we do, actually there is a spiritual calling to it. And I kind of base it on this

understanding of the curse of Adam, like, you know, you're you're gonna have to work, the ground is going to work against you. And you're gonna have to work that's your curse. But you don't. It's it's not about the curse. It's not about the work. Although we focus on that. It's actually our calling and our our reason for being here. It's not the reason God made us that's not that that

That's the eternal thing. But as we're here on this earth, being working out God's plan through our work.

And until you get that alignment, there's a lot of hollowness in what you're doing. Because you can achieve great things. And I've seen a lot of people get to that point of whatever they determine success to be. And they're sitting around going, well, there's got to be something else. Was it?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (28:28.679)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (28:53.548)
Was it Alexander the Great when they said he wept because there were no more worlds to conquer? mean, like you get to the top and it's like, what now?

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (28:59.037)
That's right.

Yeah, yeah, with you and I go back to the work thing because God put Adam on the earth and what was his command? Work, tend the garden. This is when there were no weeds. This is when it was like, literally like it's a good time. You you work, but we've, it's the first thing we were given to do was work. We work in this part of who we are and what we should do. You know, so for me and for men especially, I mean we're providers, we're protectors, we should be the priest.

Christian Brim (29:14.092)
Right. Right. Right.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (29:31.353)
of our family as well, right? So there's a lot of responsibilities in that aspect when you look at it what we need to provide for our families. When I'm a priest, I have to introduce them to the Lord. You know, no one else. Me, yep, I grade, got pastor, we go to a great church, we do all the cool stuff, but that's on me, that's my responsibility.

Adam dropped the ball from a responsibility standpoint when he let Eve be tempted by Satan to take the fruit. He was standing next to her. And this thing could look like a koala bear, I have no idea, know? Chatting her up, chatting his wife up, getting her to do what he stood there. You know, so like, told you, so it's not, it's his fault. That's where we're at, right? We have to have the responsibility.

Christian Brim (29:52.962)
Yes.

Christian Brim (29:59.832)
Yes.

Christian Brim (30:03.468)
Yes.

Christian Brim (30:13.826)
Yes.

Christian Brim (30:17.762)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (30:21.819)
to take the role that we've been given, we're born into. So it's very important.

Christian Brim (30:28.47)
Yeah, and you know, I've been thinking about this a lot recently that who we are as men has been very muddled in our in our culture over the last, you know, 5060 years, my lifetime anyway. And you know, you look back like I told you I was reading The Godfather, right? And I'm reading this book.

And the dynamic between men and women was very different than it is now, right? And so I'm not speaking on one being right or wrong. I'm just saying that it changed, right? It's changed significantly. And it's hard for men, I think, to know really what their job is, what their role is. Who are they supposed to be? It's very confusing in today's culture.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (31:23.901)
Yeah, I think because, you know, I mean, the biggest epidemic in this country is fatherlessness. Okay, the father not being present, the father not being in the home, the single mothers, everything else, and that's why they're so confused. And that's why these kids are so angry. And that's why they're listless, okay? Because they don't, they don't have purpose, don't have a role model, they have nothing to gauge. Inside they know, it's in their DNA and what to do.

Christian Brim (31:32.012)
Yes.

Christian Brim (31:39.234)
Yes.

Christian Brim (31:49.421)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (31:49.649)
They know what they're supposed to do and yes, then now society beats that down as well. you're just too, you too much energy, too much this, too much, it takes it all the way, sucks the life out of them. Now do that in a public school setting, just using that for an example, and then add it to no man in the family, right, no man in their life. Add that, that just starts to compound. And that's why you see kids murdering each other at 11, 12 years old, 13 years old, committing crimes, doing all this stuff, it's terrible.

Christian Brim (32:12.044)
Yes.

Christian Brim (32:19.042)
Well, and I'd say that the disease is beyond those extreme cases of fatherlessness to the ones that, you know, do have fathers because I think back about my own experience and it was very important to me. My wife and I got baptized before we got married, about a month before we got married and we had our

whole family in church from birth, right? Even though that wasn't our experience. you neither one of us had that experience growing up. But that was what we wanted for our family. And because of my father is a role model and his father is a role model, I really struggled with understanding what my my role was. This was, this was all new to me, right? And the

the mistakes I made and the damage I did to my wife and to my children. Even though I was trying, like, you know, I was trying, had, I had the, what was it? What's the, I had good intentions, right? I didn't know, I didn't have that model to follow. And, you know, had to figure out a lot of that on my own.

You know, I yeah, I think, and this may, you know, some some people may listen to this and say, Oh, my God, that's misogynist. You're a knuckle dragger. I have been called those things. But but to me, what you're saying is, is, is very true, like the a lot of the problems in our society come from men, not just not being fathers, but not being men, like and and and

I acted like an adult child for a long time, right? You know, and that's where a lot of men end up is they're perpetually stuck at 13 or 14 acting that way rather than then being the man they were made to be.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (34:34.717)
Right, it's called Extended Adolescence. Okay, that's it. You're 30, you're playing video games with all your buddies online and doing this for hours on end at night and the whole thing, get it for sure. And I'm in the same boat as you, so.

Christian Brim (34:37.462)
Yes, that's what I had.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (34:52.059)
My dad worked an extreme amount, right? Three jobs and I was little, you know, they became a golfer, so I worked all the time. My mom was at home. So, and I realized again, Morris Clotton taught, what did I do? Worked all the time, work was it, work, work, work. I remember, I remember being in my dad's office at the golf course and behind him on the wall was just awards and plaques and all this cool stuff, because he was really great at what he did. And he started as a guy washing golf carts.

Christian Brim (34:55.214)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (35:05.281)
Mm-hmm.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (35:21.789)
and works his way up, you know? I mean, he had kid when he was 19, and another kid, another kid, another kid, you know, and that whole thing. outside all that, he was doing all that. So, my decision as a father, first as a husband, then as a father, was not to repeat those things, right? I had to do things differently, you know? So, that's why, again, at that four-year stage with six kids, I'm like, that was part of the epiphany, too, like, okay, well, I'm going down the same road.

Christian Brim (35:37.954)
Yes.

Christian Brim (35:49.304)
Yes. Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (35:50.129)
this will be there. So I think that was all part of it. But yeah, then we had to learn, well, what does it actually mean? What does it actually mean? Like, yeah, I'm a tough dude. I'm a Marine. I'm a boxer. I'm a black belt. I pretty much take out anybody and enjoy it. But what does that really mean?

Christian Brim (36:03.084)
Right. Right.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (36:08.701)
You know, how does that translate into protecting your family? Protect isn't just a physical or that it's literally like the surroundings. You have to protect your baby. Who are they exposed to? Where do we live? Where do we go to church? You know, what activities do we do? What am I actually teaching my children? That's protection. Okay, that's how you protect your children. We give them a biblical worldview. I give them but more critical thinkers because a lot of people think you're just these.

Christian Brim (36:26.424)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (36:35.793)
things stuck in a house you never go out. My kids are more socialized than anybody. They've been across the planet pretty much, so they can do all this stuff. But really, what are they being exposed to? How do they analyze this? How do they actually have critical thought so they can understand this and explain what they believe and share this kind of stuff? So that's protection.

Christian Brim (36:54.424)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (36:54.715)
That's actually protecting my children. So it took me a while to figure that out, Christian, but when I did, I'm like, okay, this is, know, people always say if TV was on, a commercial would come on, And so we'd watch the commercial and it's whatever, 30 seconds a minute, and I go, now, so let's talk about this commercial. Okay, like what's the actual agenda? Why do they want to save the planet? Why do they say this and why do they say that? Is that true? And I make them walk through it.

Christian Brim (37:12.984)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (37:22.373)
So I'm that obnoxious dad who only cares about the commercials. But it was really good because it's an exercise. It makes them think. They don't turn off when those students come on and just absorb it. They actually get to question it. So when someone's advertising something, they now question it. What are they really selling? That kind of thing. So it's a little off, but yeah.

Christian Brim (37:40.706)
Yes. Well, I mean that and that's, that's a very important wisdom that you have passed on to them because most people don't they're passive about their lives. know, entrepreneurs generally are not passive. They are people that want to make changes. And I think, you know, having that

being an entrepreneur is a heavy responsibility in that regard, because you are called to see things as they could be not as they are. And leading people to fulfill that vision of changing things for the good is a huge responsibility. And if you're thinking that it's just about, you know, my success, the

my alcholades, my money, you know, whatever, whatever measure you're using to measure success. You're, you're missing the point. Like, to your point, you've got to get your ego out of the way.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (38:58.621)
Yeah, 100%, I think, because people ask me, I've been on lot of podcasts, Best one being yours, of course. But they'll ask you, what's your legacy? What kind of legacy you want to leave? I'm like, well, it's not business. like, my business is great and all that stuff. Mine are my children. That's my legacy. And it has to live on for multiple generations. Like what I teach.

Christian Brim (39:19.042)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (39:27.121)
what I've shared with them, how I've taught them how to think and examine things, how to behave, all that stuff has to get, so it's not just what they do, but what they will teach their children. It has to be in that kind of thing. Right.

Christian Brim (39:37.25)
Yes, what's really what's really ingrained in them not just something they believe because someone told them to

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (39:44.989)
Yeah, again, it's my walk. You can tell your kids all the right things, but if you're not congruent with your walk, all they're gonna do is how you walk. That's what they're gonna imitate. They're not gonna imitate what you say. They'll only imitate what you do, guaranteed.

Christian Brim (39:47.149)
Hmm.

Christian Brim (39:56.514)
Yes.

Christian Brim (40:01.186)
Was it St. Francis of Assisi that said, spread the gospel, use words if necessary? think it was, yeah, I don't know.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (40:12.093)
And I talk to that a lot. have a pastor at church, older gentleman, pretty old now. And it's always about, and I'm like, we have to, because we have a men's group, right, and all that stuff. was the head of that for a while. I have a Bible study and things. I'm like, we're all messed up. Every one of us is messed up to a degree. said,

Christian Brim (40:33.58)
Yes.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (40:36.859)
But we're really messed up. A lot of guys are really messed up. Like, we want, we got, let's fix these guys here. Let's go deep with these guys. Let's fix these guys so they can be the example. So they can walk the example because they'll never, they can go out and tell everyone about Jesus and then go to the club and then hang out and do this and sleep with these three girls and do it. And like, they're not winning souls. Okay, but when they're walking the walk.

Christian Brim (40:54.082)
Right? Right.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (41:05.277)
they will win souls, they don't have to speak like you're saying. So that was always my goal. We need to grow this, get all these people. I'm like, why? I said, we focus on depth, God will handle the breath. Let's go deep. There is the gate, that's right. That's right. So as long as you gotta reset some people, you get caught up in the world, the marketing methods and everything else, I go, this isn't.

Christian Brim (41:18.574)
narrow is the path.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (41:31.557)
As some friends of mine in the Benham Brothers always say, church isn't a bounce house, it's a boot camp. Okay? It's like we're not here, it's not Sunday Funday. Okay, we're here for legit reasons. Okay, you go deep in the Word, all the Word of God, we wanna share the complete truth, you know? Some of it's gonna hurt, you know, but that's what we're here for so we can go out and continue or stay straight and whatever. But yeah, it's a big responsibility, Christian, when you look at it.

Christian Brim (41:37.95)
House. Yeah.

Right.

Christian Brim (41:51.319)
Yeah.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (42:01.031)
Fatherhood manhood right all this stuff. You know are my men's Bible study, which is actually tonight. It's called. I named it remnant Just for the reason it's not we're not gonna be the biggest Okay, but it's gonna be guys and we're doing amazing things with a few people We're changing each other's lives We're helping guys who need the real help like with the marriage with the family that we have different ages and wisdom And when you bring believers together like that

Christian Brim (42:09.134)
Hmm. Hmm. No.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (42:29.287)
things change, it's a May and Magister stories, it's so cool. And there's like five of us now, and six of us, and seven, and whatever, but that's, there's so much power in that, because again, we're all, we're shoring each other up to walk that walk, to be protectors. I mean, guys come to my house, we shoot, we wrestle, we do the whole, we are the warrior poets. That's what we do, we kind of run the security team, which, know, like, we're that, right? But we're also, we're just God-fearing men who want to walk that walk, love our wives, love our children.

Christian Brim (42:38.318)
Sure.

Christian Brim (42:49.155)
Yes.

Christian Brim (42:53.453)
I love it.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (42:58.907)
you know, give them the best that they can have, you know, understand and have that, that relationship with God. And that, that's an incredibly big calling. And be an entrepreneur. And run a successful business, scale that. And coach a bunch of people in their business, you know, so like, but that's what makes it great. Those are the great things. And like you said about vision, it's Habakkuk 2-2. Write the vision playing on tablets so man can take it and run.

Christian Brim (43:08.076)
Yeah. Yeah.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (43:26.237)
People can be able to run with it. The vision doesn't have to be complicated, but there has to be vision. Like you were saying, you gotta know where all this stuff is going, why you're actually doing this, no matter what.

Christian Brim (43:31.533)
Yes.

Christian Brim (43:40.404)
wise wise counsel and I would love to have you back on and we could go into even more depth on some of these topics. Maybe we'll just you and I will have a virtual coffee and have that conversation. But thank you very much for your wisdom, insight and candor. Tell people how to find you if they want to learn more about end of the spear. No, it's not sharpen the spear.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (43:54.204)
Love it.

Richard Walsh | CEO & Author (44:04.509)
Sharpen the, that's right, I'll get you at the end of the spear, but it's gonna be sharpen the spear. Sharpenthespearcoaching.com, best place to go, a lot of great stuff on the website. Reach out to me, sharpenthespearcoaching.com, we'll keep it simple.

Christian Brim (44:09.165)
Yes.

Christian Brim (44:20.014)
Thank you again, Richard listeners. If you like what you heard, please rate the podcast, share the podcast, subscribe to the podcast. If you don't like what you hear, let me know and I'll replace Richard. Maybe me. I don't know. Until then, ta ta for now.