From Tragedy to Triumph

0:01 Hello, and thank you for tuning in to A Sharp Outlook on. K4HD Radio and Talk4TV. I am Angela Sharp, your host. Our armchair discussions with industry experts will give you the steps, tools, and information to be successful in business. And to prepare you to be your best self. Hello, I'm Angela Sharp, and welcome to A Sharp Outlook. And today we want to talk about.... How do you go from tragedy to triumph? And in this episode, we're going to be sitting down with Nick Anderson, the driving force behind One Accord. While many know Nick as a top-tier business consultant, his journey began long before the boardrooms and strategies. And we're going to dive deep into Nick's early life, explaining how he navigated his the devastating loss of his father as a child.

1:05 And Nick is the CEO of One Accord, a consulting firm helping small and mid-sized businesses business owners build stronger, more valuable companies. At one accord, he leads the firm's advisory work in strategy planning, leadership development, and enterprise value creation, guiding owners through growth, succession, and exit. Before entering consulting, Anderson spent 25 years in banking leadership. He holds a master's degree in nonprofit leadership from Seattle University in 2018, was named the Puget Sound Business Journal Under 40 List 2017, and is an alumnus of 2015 of Seattle Civic Leadership Program, Leadership Tomorrow. And so we are really happy to have Nick on our show today. and discussing how he became so successful in his business after going through a very tragic moment of his life. The show is going to be, you know, how that profound experience can become the foundation for the empathy, leadership style, and unwavering commitment to helping others succeed. And right now, We need voices to help

2:35 others succeed who are struggling. We want you to listen to this podcast, share it with others, and let them know that there is a way of being able to find one's purpose. I want to invite Nick to join us right now. Welcome, Nick. Good to have you. Thanks for having me. Great. What I want to do is, because you have achieved a lot, I'm jealous. I wanted to be on the 40 list, but that's okay.

3:16 I want to go back to the beginning of your life and what was the environment like at home when you were a child and how did that The things that occurred shape your life, initial understanding of what it meant to be a man and a leader. Tell us your story. Oh, wow. Those are some big questions. Thanks for asking them. So home for me was a modest living arrangement. I think mom, dad, and I, my biological father We shared 780 square feet in what was kind of a World War II era military housing that had then been, you know.

4:08 In the years since became a neighborhood. But it was home. I remember only because I had a photograph of this that my grandfather, who's a woodworker, constructed for me an airplane And if you can imagine, it was probably four feet long and three feet wide. They hung it by ropes from a tree, and I would sit on it like a swing. My grandfather was a World War II Marine fighter pilot. But that was in the backyard. There were trees in the backyard, and there was this swing in the backyard, and that sounds like lovely Americana.

4:53 I also remember my mother and my father arguing. More than anything, if I think about their relationship, that's what I remember was fights. And my dad left when I was four. And I used that language intentionally. What was actually the truth was that my mother invited him to leave, told him to leave. At four years old, three years old too, of course, I wouldn't understand why. Right. Didn't understand what fights meant like that.

5:36 Didn't understand his mental condition. And I have said that my biological father was both mentally ill and chemically dependent. I had this thought just the other day. The first time I saw touched, smelled marijuana. I think I was eight years old from dad's sock drawer. Cause I was in there snooping around in a place where I probably shouldn't have been. So at four years old, uh, I remember dad leaving and the way that the home was constructed, there was a, there was a street and we walked downstairs to the front door and I remember him walking up the stairs and not understanding why daddy was leaving.

6:33 Yes. Um, you know, the story goes on, but that's, those are some points of the origin story. And, and so, you know, mom raised me mom, uh, very strong woman in her own lived experience. Uh, didn't have it easy. She lived in a number of, places in and around the Seattle area, many homes, many, um, many father, many men, uh, in, in her life. My grandmother was married five times. Um, and so here, here we were just, just mom and me when I was four.

7:23 Yeah. Yeah, as you're looking back at your childhood, what are some of the earliest lessons about work and character that might have stuck with you before everything changed? Yeah, mom was an entrepreneur. She and my aunt. Founded and operated a hair salon in what is known as the Northgate area. Northgate Mall used to be a thing. And they had Trendsetter Styling Salon across the street from the mall for a number of years.

8:05 And they ran a successful business. And I recall that Thursday nights were mom's night to close the salon. So she would work late. And I would stay with my grandmother on Thursdays after school. And mom would pick me up at 9. That was one of the first. Indications or, you know, signals that I had of what it, what it takes to be an entrepreneur, what it takes to be responsible for the business is you've got to be there when nobody else will. And I spent a number of days in. That salon when there wasn't a babysitter, when there wasn't somewhere for me to go. And it was fun for about 10 minutes and then boring for the rest of the day. I'll tell you what, there's not much to do.

8:56 or a seven year old boy in a, in a hair salon. Right. Once, once you start playing with the chemicals and get told, no, don't touch those, then, then what do you do? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. But you did learn, you did see the fact that sometimes work is hard, but you have to maintain that fortitude to keep going and In spite of the fact that it's long hours and it's a lot of invested time, but if that's your dream. Later in life, so not the early years, but maybe the adolescent years, when I endeavored to get a job, my first job, mom told me something that stuck. She said, if you want to work full-time, you got to work full-time at getting a full-time job. So if you want 40 hours a week worth of work, you better be working 40 hours a week to get the job. and you know that that's a nearly impossible task like how does how does one go about attempting to get work for eight hours a day but she was right i put in that level of effort and bring that all the way forward today If I want my firm, if I want One Accord to have growth and if I want all of my team to be fully employed and

10:30 growing and adding jobs, well, I bet to be working more than 40 hours a week to find new clients and grow the business. So that's a lesson that's carried forward for decades. Yes, yes, absolutely. And it's kind of a lesson. That I think... So when you don't understand how much commitment is needed to achieve those dreams, you have to put the time in. If you're wanting to receive something back, you invest, and you invest in your time, your skills, your knowledge, your abilities, just to be able to be a recipient of what's going to happen from your dedication.

11:14 I know that many of us face adversity. I think about my life, you know, facing adversity. Well, one of the things is you experience a profound loss at your young age with the passing of your father. How did that moment shape your view of the world as a young person? In every way imaginable. That's that's how. The some of the lessons that that i could say if i label them as such and here again i'm you know i'm 47 mike ended his life in suicide when i was 10 so i've had 37 years to look back and process and make sense of this yeah some time ago maybe 10 years ago i was going through some boxes of memorabilia from from that era of my life things that my mother had saved one of them was a journal that i was writing in in sixth grade and i wrote to myself that my friends were asking me the question how do you how do you do it how how do you some version of you know how are you doing this right now how are you showing up they don't understand mm-hmm The words that I put to the answer came to me later

12:45 in life from a friend, Harlan Barkas, and he would say that the only way out is through. The only way out is through. Right. I would have said back then, I don't have a choice. One of the things that I know about myself today that. Showed up in that experience is I'm a visionary. I can imagine a future that that is better than the present. That also makes me an optimist. And I would say that in. Every case I've ever, every human being I've ever met, it is true that a person's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness.

13:28 So I can over-index on optimism. But if I just bring those ideas together, in the midst of tragedy, I could see a better life, I was optimistic about it and I knew then without having the words for it that the only way out is through. I would have said I don't have a choice. At the same time, I was deeply ashamed. Ashamed that I wasn't good enough for my father to choose to stay alive.

14:09 I never thought about That way that a child takes on that kind of emotion that they feel that they have something to do with their parent making that decision. It's difficult. Children do it. Adults do it. From my observation, it's a part of the human condition. When a couple divorces. Children personalize it. When there's fighting, those around us personalize it. I've heard it said, too, that we are all just extras in the movie of someone else's life.

15:00 So in the moment where my. Father was the star of his show, he was maybe a supporting actor in the movie of my life. So, of course, it's all about me. Of course, the reason he made the decision that he did had something to do with me. That's how we are wired. So that notion of not being good enough for my father, that shame of believing that, That manifested in a way that was, well, I will always be good enough. I will always be the best. I will always be someone worthy of love or choice. That was a psychological, that was a mental decision with the emotional belief that I wasn't good enough.

16:05 And so there was conflict there. And when there's conflict between. The mental and emotional, I would often just describe that to. Insecurity. So I wanted to be a way. I didn't feel that I was, so I was insecure. Caused me to do some things that you might label as acting out, but also caused me to show up in ways that looked really good. So I'm competitive and, because people like winners and I like to be liked. But I'm also a people pleaser because I want to be liked and I don't want people to leave or abandon me. There are several elements of my persona that I can attribute right back to that 10-year-old boy trying to make sense of an impossible question.

17:07 Which is why? Yeah, absolutely. You know, a lot of people feel stuck, especially these days. And they're stuck by their past. They're stuck by negative experiences. They're stuck by things that have happened with their parents, their friends, and things like that. But when did you realize that your story. what you went through, what you experienced, the emotions, the hurt, the pain, it could actually be an asset to the people you lead and coach in your business today. When did you realize that it could actually be more of an empowerment than something that actually wraps you up and you can't get loose?

18:06 There's a prelude to this story, I think. I left my high school campus early and without a diploma. So at 17 years old, I was. Doing that thing that mom told me to do. I was working 40 hours to get a 40-hour job. And I was hired by a local bank. And I was hired to be a part-time bank teller in a branch office that was located inside of a grocery store. And the grocery store branches had extended hours. So that, that ended up being the start of a 25 year career.

18:53 And in order for me to work in a bank, I had to wear slacks and a shirt, a tie. So I, I bought two, two pairs of dress pants and two shirts and two ties. And well, that combination made up six or eight different outfits. And I went into the bank putting on my costume, putting on this image that I was something that I didn't feel like I was. And at 17 years old, standing behind the counter in a bank, people made a lot of us assumptions.

19:36 Right. And in, you know, in the, in the modern vernacular, there was, there was a lot of privilege afforded to me. So, you know, today, today. I can put words to that, that may or may not make, you know, make sense to everybody, but people assumed things about me and I didn't work to change their mind. I let them do. It. People assumed that, that I, well, of course I had graduated high school. They assumed I was older than I was. They assumed that I was in college. They assumed maybe that I had even graduated college because I'm wearing a shirt and a tie. And I wasn't consciously aware of this, but I was letting it happen and subconsciously observing. And it felt good, felt really good for people to see me as the person that I wanted to be and assume that I was the person that I wanted to be.

20:44 And so. Maybe it was in that, in that time and in that space that I began to share with my colleagues, most all of whom were literally twice or three times my age. I was 17 years old, you know, professional office workers at, 35 or 55 years old would make. Sense, right? I was a kid. And for me to share my story with them and they would say things back to me that were positive and affirming and encouraging, they gave me permission to tell my story. And so that started pretty, pretty young. And then I was promoted. I was promoted into a full-time banker role when I was 18. I was promoted to become an assistant manager when I was 19. One of the youngest maybe of all time in that bank's history and certainly the youngest at that time. And even that year I was named assistant manager of the year. So now I have professional experience. accomplishments and achievements and accolades and recognition. And all the while I was saying the truth about my life. Most, most of the truth of my life. Um, and it was here again, supported, affirmed, encouraged. And,

22:23 and it was also, um, starkly different from everyone around me. Okay. The people around me would maintain the status quo kind of persona. Nobody would share vulnerable. So I became now this, a different type of person who was successful, but also transparent and vulnerable. I became attractive to people around and labeled courageous. or something like that. Yes.

23:04 And so I leaned into it more and more over time. Yes. Well, when you think about it, you started your story talking about you got dressed and you had this persona and you had this look and you had this mask on. That's right. And those people are walking around wearing this mask and behind that mask is There's trauma. There's all sorts of things. And even no confidence, insecurities, don't even believe it themselves, but they're going through the act. And what I want to say at this time is what you did, you opened the door for other people to be authentic and say, you know what?

23:55 If he could do that, What can I do? I haven't even experienced nothing like he has experienced. And I'm sitting here just twiddling my thumbs. Gosh, I'm going to get up and do something. I mean, it just kind of just. Maybe because of ego or whatever. It kind of makes others get up and want to make a difference, want to make a change, want to actually change. feel what they're trying to pretend they are. Because that within itself, it's difficult to keep wearing the mask. It's difficult to keep doing that because you're just really, you got two people inside of you that you're fighting with all the time.

24:47 The one that you want people to see and then the one that's like, no, I want to be out. I want them to see the real me. And so, but just sharing your story with others, what kind of responses did they have, you know, the empathy and the strength that helped it forge, you know, your early years so that you're even able to use those stories to take the masks down from the CEOs, the corporate executives, and all of those that are trying to achieve but they can't get where they want to go because they still are wearing a mask and not coming out from under it and getting whatever the issues are worked out to become what it is they want people to think they have become. Just go do it. Take off your mask and be you and get to the place you want to be.

25:52 I've had the honor, privilege of keynoting several events, um, sharing this story to audiences of hundreds, um, thousand, you know, and I'll have a ballroom with a thousand people and sharing, uh, here's my read on, on it. Uh, if I was to, uh, keynote a conference of, in fact, I'll be in Akron, Ohio, uh, in a couple of months this year, speaking to the international executives association, a collection of owners, founders, CEOs of companies.

26:37 My first, my first trip, I look forward to seeing the rock and roll hall of fame. So, so I imagine there'll be a few hundred people in the room and all owners, founders, CEOs, executives, and in companies. And I will share my story. And if there's 300 people in the room, I would anticipate that some number like 10% of those people, 30 or so, will hear my story and it will connect deeply because there is a shared wavelength that we will connect on.

27:18 Yes. Yes. And some number like 30 or 60, will have zero interest in the story that I'm telling for one reason or another. And that's fine and that's fair. The other 70 or 80% of the group, I would believe, are living closer to their authentic self than not. And have some level of self-awareness, have some level of self-assurance and security that my sharing of my story, because I will bring in humor and some entertainment, you know, 80% will say, yeah, that was a good keynote.

28:08 I enjoyed, I enjoyed my time. 10% will say, that was a waste of time. I don't like this guy. And 10% will become raving fans and will follow me on social media and like everything that. I post and engage. And so, you know, with that, you know, I don't, I don't take the position that my story, my message is, uh, is going to reach the masses and change the world. And I actually don't, that that's not important to me. If there's a room full of 300 and there's one person in that room that I might connect with that might, that I might give the same permission that was afforded to me, uh.

28:54 That's a good day. Yeah. Good. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, it just, it's, it's timely to be on this topic. I had a, a very deep conversation with a friend of mine, Christopher Thompson. He goes by CT, uh, and amazing facilitator, also keynote speaker, uh, leader coach guide. And we talked last night about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. And when we, When we have satisfied the base level, we have food, shelter, safety, security. We're in relationship. We're loved. We have purpose. And we get closer and closer to that self-actualization. There's a question that came up or a challenge back to a group that he is teaching right now.

29:49 And that is to say. That we, you and I, or they, his group, should not be defined by what they do. you know, you, you are not what you do and your identity, your job. And I offered back to him, but wouldn't it be great if what you do is who you are, that the work that your vocation, that how you spend your time is coming from that place of authenticity, that that the work I do reflects who. I am rather than I am a reflection of the work that I do. And I just, you know, as you say the word authenticity, that's what comes to mind.

30:38 Right. And it is not the case. Unfortunately, it just is not true. The world gets to do the work that is true to who they are. Right. Although I believe. On the whole, Society wants to wants to be there and our current Economic situation particularly in the United States and the technological evolution that everybody calls AI Bringing us so much closer to that place where we have it's it's within reach all all of us are can engage in the work that is true to who we are.

31:28 At some point. Yeah. Instead of just a job. Yeah. You know, like, like mama taught me, sometimes you just got to do the hard work of doing the hard work. That's actually my friend, Richard Bruin, but it, it, it checks out. It checks out. Right. Yeah, I say all the time here on the show, you're going to spend a lot of years doing some form of productive work. You should at least find what really makes you happy and that you enjoy doing and work hard to making that a reality instead of just showing up for 40 hours and getting a check because you're not going to be happy. You're not even really going to be as good as you probably could be at what you're doing because you're not happy doing what you're doing. Find what's in your heart to do and make that happen. Spend the energy and the time and the research and whatever it is to make that happen.

32:37 Even if it means you need to start your own business or collaborate with others in a like-mind business or something like that. But to go and be in an environment where you just show up every day, you're hating going to work. I mean, you just hate getting dressed to even go to work. That's a miserable way to spend that many hours of your time. Find what really makes, turns the lights on for you, that makes you energized and makes you feel that you are actually doing something that will fulfill your purpose.

33:17 Yeah. That's the top of the pyramid for, for Maslow. And, you know, I might, I might say back to that, um, to, to find that, that thing, um, it cannot be done sitting idly in the couch and it can't be done from a phone scrolling Tik TOK. It, it sometimes requires a person to actually do the stuff that they don't like to do. I think having a wide array of experiences, maybe that's get a job in fast food and recognize, you know, this is not the place for me.

34:03 Then get a job in retail. And Nope, this is not the place for me. Then get a job in a warehouse. Nope, this isn't the job for me. Like, Another friend of mine, Chris Patterson, who's also a business advisor and business coach, he says the words something like speed and movement create clarity. And that is that I watch some young people. Do nothing and label it as trying to figure things out. And I'm certain that you share this experience with me and that we share it with everyone in the world.

34:47 There are those nights when we can't sleep and we like the lights are out. Maybe our eyes are. Closed and our thoughts just go in circles and in circles and we can't stop the loop. Well, the way to break that loop is to do something. It's, uh, it's to write down or, uh, These days, I just grab my cell phone and make a voice note or some kind of transcription of the thoughts that are in my head. I take some kind of action. And that action, that movement helps. To bring clarity. And so for those that don't know what they want to do, those that are stuck in a job that they don't like to do, my recommended solution is take action.

35:38 Do something. You know, I was blessed to start my career in the banking industry, in the financial services industry. I've worked for some very large organizations, Bank of America, one of the largest banks in the world. The banking industry provides a lot of training and development. And so I was the the beneficiary of that. And I've gone through dozens of leadership development courses and I've gone through dozens of courses that helped me understand myself.

36:18 The Myers-Briggs assessments, the true colors, the Clifton strengths finders and all of these things. When I retired from banking after 25 years and that's, that's the way I say it. I left the retirement and I changed my LinkedIn profile. Uh, title to ski bum. And I, I did a lot of skiing and playing pickleball and there's, there's some story there, but I also created a leadership development curriculum, a six point course that is specifically designed for individuals aged 19 to 25, a very narrow age demographic because it was based on my own experience. Uh, And this curriculum I call Chosen to Lead is, or forgive me, it's called Prepare to Lead.

37:15 There's a thesis in there about what leadership really is, and it. Has to do with a choice. This six-module curriculum is based on everything that I have learned. None of it is a new idea for me. I've just repackaged it in a way that made sense to me. And that I think would make sense to that 19 to 25 year old demographic. That really was the start of my entrepreneurial career. I created that curriculum and, and I wrote a book, went on to write several other books and that's where. The keynote speaking began. And, you know, some corporate training and some individual training and coaching and within all of that, There are roots in this notion that action and movement create clarity.

38:07 Right, right. Right. It sounds that you have really learned a lot from your experience as a child to the point today. We have a lot of young people that are out there that need that wisdom, the experience you've been through. the fortitude to just keep on going to keep on pressing and and even being authentic during that whole period of time if you could speak to the younger version of yourself you know the one that has navigated through all of these dark days what is the one thing you would tell him.

38:59 You know, that's a fun question. It's in the ethos of, you know, if you could change anything in your life or if you could, you know, do something different. And the answer I arrive at every time is, well, I wouldn't. Because the absolute truth today is that I'm living the life that I imagined. I told you early on I'm a visionary, optimist. The life that I live today is... nearly precisely the life that I imagined that I wanted. And so what I would say. Is actually what I did say to myself. It's possible.

39:44 It's possible. Just do it. There's a speech from the 80s Uh, and it's effectively entitled, just do it. It's a speech I think given to a chamber of commerce in Texas or something. And the fellow up there says, you know, if you want that thing, you just, well, just, just do it. If you want to graduate and go to school, we'll just, just do it. If you want to start, start a business, just, just do it. And you know, Nike, I don't know if that's where Nike got it from and Phil Knight got it from that speech or if, But it's so simple.

40:24 It's not easy, but it's so simple. Right. If you want the thing, do the thing. Yeah. Just do it. Yeah. Just do it. I tell you, and that's probably a good message for today, is be envisionary. take the time to look inside yourself and, and imagine what you would love to do, want to do, do the research or go work somewhere where you can get the experience. So you can just go do it. Yeah. Yeah.

41:09 You know, and, um, on some level it's, you know, just do something. Yes. Because doing nothing now, I hadn't thought of this, you know, that the prepare to lead course that I developed, I don't actively market because it's not core to the work that we do at One Accord. But it is actually still available. Honestly, in this moment, I don't even know what the. Price tag is on the course. I've I would sell it, um, in a couple of different ways, you know, either asynchronous, somebody could buy the course and just go through it themselves. It's all online, um, uh, with me as a, as a coach. And I, I can't offer myself as a coach today, um, that demographic. Um, but I'll tell you, Angela, if there's anybody listening to this that, you know, would be interested in, um, the prepare to lead course, I would make it available again, you know, at some very approachable price point that made sense.

42:23 And the reason I'm bringing this up is I can say all day, you know, spend the time, do the research, self-reflect, but, you know. That's right. That's right. But that's right. Could you share your contact information so that those who are stuck, those who are struggling, those that have or are still stuck in the past from different situations, how can they get in touch with you? I am as active as anyone can be on all of the social media channels.

43:08 LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube. Probably the easiest way to reach me, just broadly speaking, would be LinkedIn. Nick D. Anderson, CEO of One Accord. There's a lot of Nick Andersons in the world, but somebody looking intently there. And a DM in LinkedIn. Somebody says, hey, I heard you on Angela's show, and I'd like a access to that, to that course. Um, you bet. Yeah. Great. Great. Because I, like I said, I, I, I'm staying in contact with a lot of what's going on in social media because I have grandchildren and just wanting to see what's going on for this generation and what's needed. And I am seeing a lot of, um, younger people that, um, seem to be stuck. They're not sure what they need to be doing in life. They're in it, and with the economy and different things that's going on, they're falling into like a depression. They feel lost. They don't have someone to talk with them, to guide them, because it seems that people they have talked to, they were more judgmental instead of more understanding. And more encouraging. And so

44:42 just having you here, that opens up a voice that those that are stuck, those that are struggling, those that don't know how to get out of that negative voice that they're in right now, you know, they need someone to talk to. They need that help. And sometimes it can't be a family member. or maybe it can't be one of your closest friends because they're in the same position you're in. Well, it's reach out. Yeah. That's a, that's a story I resonate with in my, um, in my professional career, I noted, or I can look back and say that, uh, I found a father figure in people that I worked for. Now my mother, um, when I was, uh, 11 remarried. So dad left when I was four, he was a weekend dad until he ended his life when I was 10. Um, my mother remarried, uh, a man, she remarried the man that she married. I called dad, Jim is my dad. Um, and so, you know, I had a very good loving father from the time I was 11 until he, uh, he passed away a couple of years ago. Um, but I also recognize that, uh,

46:16 Jim was, Jim was a blue collar guy. I aspired to be a white collar guy. So I found executives in the banks that I worked on, um, men in leadership positions, uh, and, and really kind of attached myself or there, there was, you know, some, subconscious role playing there that they weren't aware of. I probably wasn't even aware of at the time. Here's the thing that I would take away from that. I would listen to these men and think to myself, well, I want to be like these guys. They're wearing a $ 2, 000 suit, driving a new Mercedes, making the big bucks. And they would say to me, the kid, they'd say, you know, the most rewarding part of my career is helping you, they helping me, helping the next generation.

47:18 Discover our full potential. And I tell you, when they would say that, I thought to myself, you're lying to me. BS. Like the most rewarding part of your career is your, is your quarterly bonus, right? Like, but, but what I decided was, at the wise age of 19, let's say, is if these guys talk like that, I need to start talking like that, even if I don't believe it. The little bit of fake it till you make it. It was a little bit of, you know, I'm going to be like the people that I admire. So at a very early age, before I had any place in doing so, I oriented myself to becoming that, that mentor, that developer, that, that coach. And I would, you know, maybe I was 20, 21, 22, and I'd hire, you know, new tellers into the bank that were 18 and 19.

48:17 And I'd say, you know, this is the best part of my career is helping you grow in your career because mostly full of it at the time. But here I am today. And I can tell you with a hundred percent integrity that I, being a mentor to someone who has the drive, the energy, the passion, there are a few. Things more rewarding than that. I think because I've had a long journey and I can say within myself, Regardless of all the wonderful companies I've worked with and the titles and the compensation, I can't say it was terrible. But the one thing that I have found in life that was the most rewarding thing that actually made me feel good, it's nice to get my pay. but when I have spent time with somebody that's down at the lowest level that they can be, and I talk to them, and I see the lights come on, and I accidentally run into them crossing the street.

49:36 Angela, Angela, Angela. I'm in college now. I'm like, what? And I've talked to so many people, I don't quite remember them. How do I know you? I used to be in the drug addiction center and you used to come and visit there. There's nothing that gave me more satisfaction to know that the words that I spoke, that I had spoken many. Times, actually changed a life. That is the most rewarding thing. I say it all the time for those that have the financial wherewithal. You would find more happiness and joy if you shared and helped someone.

50:23 That is less fortunate. I know there is a leader listening to this right now who is performing at high level but is secretly crumbling on the inside just like You once were. I would like to invite them to contact you so they don't have to wear that mask any longer. I really appreciate you being on the show today. You have given great advice. You have given people the ability to be honest with themselves and to just go do it. I just want to say this is a sharp outlook. We're here every Monday at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, 11 a.m.

51:20 Eastern Time. We're here to give you information for encouragement, for empowerment, so that you can be your best self and to be successful in whatever it is, your own business, your job, your life, being with your children, whatever. The one thing that is important, though, is information. And so we try to bring you information from experts. But while you're out there searching the web, look for information that empowers you. Whatever you do, stay informed. I want to thank you for joining us on A Sharp Outlook. We have been informed and energized to take the next steps.

52:08 We have posted links to websites and videos to learn more on today's topic. Please join us again next week for another thought-provoking conversation right here on K4HD Radio and Talk4TV. Listen to the podcast on all the podcast apps. And until next week, stay informed.