EP 17 // Ryan Fritz

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, guys. Welcome to episode number 17 with actually, my bestest friend, Ryan Fritz. We discussed a little bit on our past, on how we've been friends for so long, but more importantly, we really discussed Ryan overcoming a very big mountain of student debt that he took on through his college career and through that experience, on how it's opened up Ryan's eyes in a more financial literate way, and how he's really been strategic on businesses that he started, investments he's made, and how he's overcome that to set his family up for financial success. What's up, you guys? Michael, with the Proper form podcast, episode number 17 with, actually my bestest friend, Ryan Fritz. [00:00:55] Speaker B: Come on. [00:00:56] Speaker A: What's up, dude? How you doing? [00:00:57] Speaker B: Great. Great, brother. It's a. It's a beautiful Thursday. Now I'm hanging out with you. I'm honored to be on. [00:01:02] Speaker A: It is a Thursday. One of the other guys said it's a little Friday. [00:01:06] Speaker B: Many Friday. [00:01:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I've never heard that. I've heard Friday Eve. But anyways, so episode 17, proper form podcast. Excited to have you. This is actually, I guess, like, your first podcast you've ever been on. [00:01:19] Speaker B: Yeah, first podcast I've ever been on. Kind of cool, because number 17 was what I wore when I played quarterback at Dow Middle School. So shout out to Dow Middle School. [00:01:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:01:29] Speaker B: Honored to be here. Excited to chop it up and expose some fun. [00:01:35] Speaker A: Yeah, not expose too much stuff because we do have a lot of history together. All the way back to. Real quick. What, like upward basketball? [00:01:42] Speaker B: Upward basketball. First Baptist Church, McKinney. We were, like, in first or second grade. [00:01:46] Speaker A: Yeah, you were a lot better basketball player and you played through high school. [00:01:51] Speaker B: So I was not great, but I had fun out there. [00:01:54] Speaker A: I was good at defense. [00:01:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Real quick. Mike Michael was phenomenal defender, obviously. He was like all state, all whatever, cornerback at Boyd. [00:02:02] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:02:02] Speaker B: This dude would just hound the heck out of the offensive player and, like, steal a bunch of balls, and he would just not know how to slow down and go for the breakaway layup and just all backboard every single time. But we would just learn to follow him. And you get a quick rebound and a quick put back, and then you're off the other way. [00:02:21] Speaker A: There you go. [00:02:21] Speaker B: So let him run. [00:02:22] Speaker A: I would try my best to, like, what I wouldn't do is I wouldn't. As my momentum is going forward, like, pull my arm back as I lean, laid up, I would just kind of let it go, but then momentum still. [00:02:32] Speaker B: Taking it and just that body control. [00:02:34] Speaker A: Taking off the backboard. But it was a great defense on the football field. Yeah, I agree, defender, but. Well, man, what I specifically want to dive deep into with you is I really, on a serious note, applauded and looked up to you and your just consistency and your tenacity and your drive for pursuits of what you want to do and whether that's sport careers. You like, die hard wanting to go to OU and going into college. With that came some things that I want to dive deep into. Your pursuits for Katherine, which is now your beautiful wife, your pursuit for your kids, and then also in your career. So if we back up a little bit after we graduated from McKinney Boyd High School, you ended up going out of state to OU and you paid for all of that, right? [00:03:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So obviously, you know, growing up where we grew up, just a perfect example of just, just where we grew up. It's a beautiful town, west side of McKinney. You know, my first car was a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 250,000 miles on it. Red Charlie is what we called her. My wife's first car was a brand new BMW. So, you know, just like. And then Michael had a sweet Acura and I'm just rolling around this red box that, you know, it was great because I was scared to push on the gas too fast. I was scared the transmission was going to fall out. So anytime we had to go anywhere, it's like, Michael's got the sweet system, he's got a fast car. Let's go. Yeah, but, yeah, man, after high school, actually went up to ou. The first degree I majored in or when, when I walked in as a freshman, I was a double major, geology, geophysics. And then, you know, I changed the petroleum engineering, obviously. You know, Jim, your brother in law. Yeah, excuse me. Had a. I don't want to say he, you know, convinced me to do it, but my grandfather's been in oil and gas his whole life and I wanted to be like him, you know, from a professional standpoint. And then, you know, Jim kind of didn't corner me, but he's kind of like, hey, bro, you should pursue this. So, you know, engineering degree, petroleum engineering. After two years, got through the weed out classes. The worst class ever. It's called Reservoir Rock Properties. And you learn about porosity and permeability of a rock and all the formulas that come with that, mechanics and material, all these physics, all this stuff. So I got through that and my grades are okay, but obviously it's engineering, so it's not like communications. But I Was like, man, I don't know if I want to do this for the rest of my life. So I switched to another engineering field, which kind of coincided with kind of how I'm wired. You know, this all about efficiency and making sure you're maximizing. [00:05:12] Speaker A: Yep. [00:05:13] Speaker B: So I switched industrial and systems engineering. I also did a victory lap at OU to get an extra football season in. It was great. When we were there, we had, you know, Baker. So that was fun the last couple years of school, watching them ball out. But, yeah, OU was great, man. I lived with Anson, who was our buddy, our best friend from. From high school. And getting to walk through life with him up there was. It was rewarding. You know, we were both involved, heavily involved with young life. He was. You know, I was always loved watching him play that guitar and the way he, like, uses his gifts from the Lord to just, you know, just. Just be the man out there. And so I was a young life college leader. So I was kind of in a. Not in a weird spot, but a place where I was ministering to people my age, possibly even older, maybe a year younger than me. So getting to walk through life with some guys that were, you know, in. In crazy spots. You think about it, probably the darkest. One of the darkest places in America is in. In a fraternity house. And I was a member of fraternity there. Lived in the house for a couple years and just trying to be light to the guys out there. And a crazy part of my pleadship or my college career is I didn't have a sip of alcohol till my 21st birthday. [00:06:27] Speaker A: That's right. [00:06:28] Speaker B: You know, I had. I had to deal with my dad. You know, I don't. Yeah. He was like, hey, dude, if you don't drink till you're 18, I'll give you a thousand bucks. I was like, okay, sign me up. And then, you know, I got to my 18th birthday, gave me a thousand bucks. I was, you know, on the sidelines watching you play. I forget we were at some school in Flower Mound. I think it was my 18th birthday. And then after the game, me and my family went up to Choctaw. Yeah. I took my thousand bucks, blew 200 of it real quick. I was like, this is stupid. But then, you know, turned 21, had my first drink. It was a Crown and Coke. It was great. And I was like, this is wild. But, you know, that's just part of my college story. While I was there, you know, I always joke and say I was the only Division 1 athlete in this room. Sounds really stupid. But at some of these big schools, they have like scout teams for the basketball team. So I was actually on the girls scout team. So I got to run, pick up, you know, or I got to practice with those girls. I got treated as a D1 athlete. Got to sign up for all my classes early. Got like one protein bar a day. Got some free shoes, got some free swag. But the best part was, yeah, preseason and post season, my senior year, my fifth year there, OU's boys team went to the final Four. So like all fall and all spring, when they weren't practicing, I got to play pickup with the guys. So I'm playing against like Buddy Yield who's been in the league for forever. Having to guard him was miserable. He just worked me. But like, those pickup games in the summers were so much fun and the springs were so much fun. So part of my little OU college journey. [00:07:57] Speaker A: So cool. Yeah, man, that's like a crazy flashback. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:01] Speaker A: Well, dude, you mentioned and I think there's some, some light I want to touch on. [00:08:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:05] Speaker A: Your dad is a freaking rock star. And even like your old Jeep, he's a pretty cool car fanatic guy and has always worked on cars. Worked on Mustangs. [00:08:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:13] Speaker A: Is he still doing that? [00:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So, you know, he, he grew up a little different than us. He's one of eight. His dad was a pastor and his mom was a nurse. And when he was in high school, he used to say he used to race his car for refreshments. So I always thought it was sodas. Turned out it wasn't sodas. But he had a Dodge Dart. 1970 Dodge Dart. I think it was green. And he said the only drag race he ever lost was to a 69 trans am. So he said when he was successful, that's what he wanted for his first, like, big boy. Like I did it purchase like, some people want a Rolex, some people want he, you know, Porsche or whatever. He was like, I want a 69 trans AM. So he bought it, you know, and that's where I first started to fall in love with cars. I was actually me and him took the trip up to Missouri to go pick it up, put it on the back of a trailer. But yeah, he's still doing that. So he had a couple of those, you know, bought them and sold them. In high school, we actually bought myself a 68 Mustang to restore. The guy we bought it from was trying to turn it into electric car. So he's like way, way ahead of the game. Right. Trying to be elon in Richardson, Texas. But that ended up, you know, not really working out. He had a couple other projects that he was working on. So my senior year, I don't know if you remember that, about that 1970 F100. [00:09:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:28] Speaker B: I mean, him fix it up. Lots of good memories in that truck. Lots of, you know, I just felt like a boss in that thing. Even though I was just an 18 year old. [00:09:36] Speaker A: It was awesome. [00:09:37] Speaker B: Skinny dude with earrings and a mohawk. But you know, those are years ago, man. [00:09:42] Speaker A: You, you touched on like, I think this, this obviously known you for so long. This resides in like just who you are and your character. Like your dad betting you a thousand dollars to not drink. You're like, yeah, that's easy. Now someone might see that, oh yeah, you were just doing that for the money. But a lot of it was just like, you have a lot of drive and knowing you of like when you commit to something, you commit to something, right? And so if you could, how, like, were you even aware of going into college at ou, Changing majors, doing an extra lap. Like looking back now, do you feel like you, if you would have understood the weight of some of that school debt that you were taking on, do you feel like you would have made that decision? [00:10:27] Speaker B: Man, I, I think about that all the time. Like, obviously my wife, who I'm sure we'll touch on later, she's just been incredible and just been, you know, team Fritz the whole time. She's like, I love you. And she's been, you know, stepping step of me, helping me knock out this debt. So without her, none of this stuff would be possible. But you know, looking back on it, I'm like, man, I probably would have went and you know, I had an. I could have gone to Blinn and you know, had a good time with you, lived with you and. But like, I just felt like OU was the right place for me at an offer to go be a walk on at Colorado School of Mines to play basketball there. That was crazy expensive. It was like 65,000 a year. And I was like, that sounds like a lot. But you know, I offered to go to Arkansas, like $2,500 a semester, which is a lot less than OU was. OU is about 30, 35 a year. But you know, when you're 18 years old and you go to school. My parents were incredible to me, but they're like, hey, like this is something like, we would love to pay for your college, but we just can't right now. And I was like, that's fine. You know, Dave Ramsey Always says, you know the reason why. You know, on an airplane, they tell you to put your oxygen on before you can help somebody else. You got to take care of you and yours. And I was like, I didn't understand it at the time, but I'm at peace about it. And, you know when you're 18 years old and you're signing that financial aid packet and you're like, oh, you know, 35 grand a year, you know, it's no big deal. I'll come out making 150, 200 grand. I'll just pay it off in a couple of years. I'll buy myself a new car. And then you walk out of school, and you're like, hey, that's not real. But, you know, like, in hindsight, it's 2020 going back. I probably would have gone somewhere cheaper, knowing what I know now from just a financial literacy side of things. But, you know, I don't regret it. I talk to Katherine about it all the time. Like, man, I should have gone somewhere else. But she's like, you wouldn't be in the same position. You wouldn't have made those connections. You wouldn't have got that internship with GE you wouldn't have gotten on that leadership program and graduated at the top of your class if you didn't go there and take your licks. And, you know, you wouldn't be. I probably wouldn't be as financial literate as I am now if I didn't. If I chose not to go to school there. And I think it's a great lesson. Like, putting it all in hindsight is, you know, it sucks. It sucks stroking that check every month, but that's life. [00:12:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. And you've been unbelievably diligent with writing those checks. [00:12:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:12:44] Speaker A: And, like, if you could offer, like, any wisdom to. I'm. Obviously, there's, I'm sure, kind of two boats. There's people that may listen, that are maybe getting into college, that are taking on a lot of that same type of debt, but they're excited for the memories and the experience you're about to have. Or there might even be people on the other end that are like, you and I, that are married now, have kids, have all these other bills and expenses, and maybe aren't being as diligent with servicing that debt. What do you feel like has been a pivotal piece in you being consistent with you just. I mean, because you've been attacking it, and you are almost done. [00:13:15] Speaker B: Yeah, almost done. [00:13:17] Speaker A: Crazy. [00:13:17] Speaker B: We got, like, 20% left, so nothing too crazy, but you know when Katherine makes fun of me. But we were on our honeymoon back in 2016 or so long ago, which is crazy. I was reading, you know, a financial literacy book and Catherine's. I was like, talking to her about. I was like, I got these plans. We're gonna do this. She's like, dude, can we just enjoy the sun and the cold drinks? I'm like, yeah, yeah, you're right. But I'm like nerding out over this book, reading it. But, you know, going back to your question, kind of like, I guess you're asking like, where did that drive to just be diligent on it come from? It's really like. I started my financial literacy journey post college and really, actually it was my senior year. I took this class called Engineering Economics by Dr. Scott Moses. I haven't talked to him in forever, but, you know, he was instrumental in like, teaching me about, like, the calculation of interest, the calculation of debt, debt to income ratio. And just like. And it just kind of opened up my mind and I just started reading and doing a lot of self taught, kind of, you know, not courses or curriculums, but, you know, I would listen to the Financial Freedom podcast. I would listen to Dave Ramsey on my way into work when we were out in West Texas. And that's kind of right where it really kicked off. And, you know, Catherine was. Catherine's a year older than me, so she's a cougar. She's gonna hate that I said that, but she was a teacher. She graduated from LSU with a teaching degree. So her first year, she taught kindergarten at Bennett, so she was one year ahead of me. And then I took my victory lap. So that second year, she actually taught at Bennett too. We always joke that she got a master's or masters at OU because she would come up every weekend and hang out with all the friends and just enjoy that college life. But, you know, she. She's just been lockstep with me the whole time, like she was a teacher. So we were fortunate enough that, you know, she was very diligent. After college, she. She lived at home for two years, really, you know, set a foundation for Catherine and I. Like, we knew we were going to get married, right? [00:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:17] Speaker B: And so she was like, hey, like, I'm going to put away a lot of this money so that, like, we can be set up for the future. And so I'm forever indebted to Catherine, just her sacrificial love for me. Not necessarily financially, but just like the weight and the Allowing me to. Like, I knew. I was so sure that I wanted to marry Katherine when I was in college that, like, I portrayed that to her, like, at, you know, a year and a half, probably before. A year before we got engaged, like. And so she had that thought in the back of her head, like, hey, this isn't just for me. You know, it's for us. And, you know, I always make fun of her. Her first big girl purchase. When she got her first check teaching in McKinney, she went out and bought that Jeep Grand Cherokee she's still in now. She's going to see this and want tell me she needs a new car. But, you know, when we got to West Texas and I was out there for my. That leadership program, you know, I was just like, I hate debt, like, from the financial literacy like, that I've been learning. I was like, let's just stroke a check and get rid of this. And so we've been very fortunate, you know, our whole lives, either buying cars from friends and family or whatever, that we've never really had a car loan. So going back to your original question of, you know, how did you stay so diligent? For me, it was just about keeping expenses low, looking for other ways to make money. Crazy story. I remember, you know, the first, like, sense of entrepreneurship I really got was flipping iPhones on Craigslist. [00:16:34] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. [00:16:35] Speaker B: Yeah. I remember going to one of Megan's. Michael's. Twin sister Megan. Shout out Meg's. She had. We would always go to their soccer tournaments because it was, like, a fun weekend away. And, you know, Randy would always spoil us, you know, pizza and stuff. So we would always go to the soccer tournaments, and the girls on our team were obviously so cool, and so we would go these tournaments. I remember, like, we were driving out to West Texas, actually Midland, for one of the. For that soccer tournament. And I'm, like, messaging this guy. Like, he's like, hey, I'll buy your phone. I'm like, I'm gonna make 70 bucks on it. What about where I make 150? He's like, yeah, sounds good. I was like, all right, I'll meet you. And that was, like, the first taste of, like, the hustle, and I kind of got addicted. Yeah. It's just a funny story. I remember. [00:17:12] Speaker A: I totally forgot about you doing that. [00:17:14] Speaker B: Yeah, dude, come on. [00:17:16] Speaker A: That is insane. [00:17:17] Speaker B: I had that one phone that slid up this way and slid up that way freshman year. [00:17:20] Speaker A: And then the Sidekick. [00:17:21] Speaker B: Not that one. But it was. It was something different. But, yeah, I Thought I was a baller and then I got an iPhone freshman year. I was like, this is sick. [00:17:27] Speaker A: Yep. [00:17:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:28] Speaker A: Well, man, as you getting closer and closer to servicing that debt, as you've progressed in Kali, your. Your work career from going to Midland doing GE to then now, you're really pretty cool, kind of. Is it an executive position where you are now. Has your view kind of changed in regards to debt? Like, do you still just despise debt? Do you see it as a tactic to get into other opportunity? [00:17:54] Speaker B: Yeah, so my attitude towards that is, I think it's a necessary evil. Obviously, I didn't have the capital to purchase my house in cash. Right. You have to finance things like that. But, you know, consumer debt, the credit cards and stuff like that, like, I try and stay away from it as best I can. Obviously, if there's a gap, Lord willing, there never is. But you have that as a backfall to, like dial into. But like from. From now owning my own business and like, business debt. Like, if. If the point of going into debt for your business is to increase your income at a later date, like I think, and you're. And you can service that debt, meaning you can pay it off on a monthly basis and you're not falling behind or whatever. I think I don't have a. Like, you know, I don't ever want to be associated because I feel like it is a necessary evil. I hate owing people money. I think that's one of the worst feelings in the world. So that's why the student loans kind of been eating me up. A mortgage you can kind of live with because we locked in when the interest rates were low. So. But, you know, I'm not a huge fan of it. I highly suggest against it. Obviously, you know, a lot of people have different philosophies where, hey, they don't touch their debit card, all their paychecks go into their checking account. They use them and their wife use one credit card to get the rewards. And then every month on the 1st, they pay it off. Like, if that works for you, rip it up. I just have never been a huge fan of it. So. Um. But, you know, I do believe it's a necessary evil. I haven't. We haven't had the chance to really dive into real estate investments or anything like that where we haven't, you know, been able to scale our income that much. But, you know, I would love to, you know, future. We've talked about this just dreaming together, but, you know, flip a couple houses and obviously that takes capital and obviously you have to go into debt to do so. So, you know, that's something I wouldn't be opposed to. But I think there's other ways for me right now. My, my life, my journey, my financial journey, to use our cash in other ways. [00:19:42] Speaker A: Yep. [00:19:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:43] Speaker A: Some sort of game plan. [00:19:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:44] Speaker A: End goal. [00:19:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:46] Speaker A: You know, steps to, to get there and obviously, hopefully, Lord willing, if you're doing. Taking on debt or doing some sort of flip that, you know, the hope is obviously be in the green at the end. [00:19:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:57] Speaker A: All of that. Well, what, what's. I'm sure you and Katherine are probably dreamed about what you're going to do when you guys are done servicing that is that I'm obviously a very strict, you know, kind of budget plan guy such as you guys thinking savings. [00:20:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:17] Speaker A: I mean it doesn't have to be crazy, but like, yeah, I told, I. [00:20:21] Speaker B: Told Katherine when the student loans paid off, like I just want to. I'll probably cry just because it's, I mean, of joy. Just because like I honestly would view it as a celebration of just like her, her diligence and her like, you know, commitment to me and like loving me for who I am and not what I have or what, what debt I carry, what. You know. And so, you know, I would love that. [00:20:43] Speaker A: Doesn't just have to be financial debt. A lot of people got other. [00:20:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And other debts. Yeah. And you know, I, Once it's done, you know, I told Katherine I was like, once my student loans over, you can, you can stop working like right now. She's a teacher. This is her 11th year. I'm biased, but I think she's the best teacher in the world. I see the way those kids light up when they see her. So it's fun. She actually works at a school here in McKinney that services three to five year old kids that you have to qualify to be a part of their school. And I tell her every day she's doing the Lord's work. I mean she's pretty much like half social worker, half teacher. And sometimes she can just be that glimpse of just light for those kids. She can be that mother for seven hours a day. Like it's tough, like it takes a toll on her. But you know, she comes home, she's exhausted and then she just goes into rockstar mom mode. And you know, seeing her do that makes you fall in love with her a little bit more every day, you know. So going back to your original question, can you rephrase it? [00:21:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Just like, I mean Kind of plans or ideas, what you guys want to do, the kind of strategic, strategic ideas of like. Yeah, I just don't even have to think about writing a check for two years. [00:21:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:49] Speaker A: And that goes into savings. That. Because you're, you're also very diligent about investments and money growing on its own and all that kind of stuff. [00:21:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So, like, you know, my financial literacy journey has taught me a lot about how the stock market will appreciate on average about 10% a year. If you look back at the past 150 years, it's about 10% a year. So you have the drops and you have the climbs. Right. So my thought is if you just stay consistent, buying, you know, regular, whether it be your 401k Roth IRA, whatever it is, you're going to eventually, you know, obviously inflation bites into that a little bit. You know, it was, you know, 5, 6%. Now it's, we're hoping it's down closer to 2 or 3 with, you know, administration changes, some of this, you know, trying to cool off the housing market and all that fun stuff. But, you know, for me, you know, investing has been a part of my life where when we look at our monthly budget, we look at our incoming, we look at our expenses, student loan, house, car, groceries are crazy right now. Maybe going out to eat with Michael and Sophie every once in a while if they would ever call us back. But when we look at a key part that I've always been told is you have to pay yourself first. So that's like at my job, I have a 401, right. So they give me a free match up to 6%. So I choose to maximize at 6%. I also choose to max out my HSA. It's a triple tax advantage. Right. So he goes in pre tax, it grows tax free and you can use it for medical expenses. And so that's another form of like a tax free growth that I think is there's the reason why they cap it is because it can be so beneficial for you long term. And so that's something that I've been, you know, heavily investing in. Like if I wanted to liquidate all my assets right now and stroke a check for my student loan, I could. But going back to that financial journey that I learned, you know, when I was 23 years old, it's, you never want to rob from your future self to pay your past self. And so that's kind of stuck with me. Like there's been, you know, some chatter in our family like Catherine wants to quit teaching Right. So she's like, you know, maybe I should, you know, cash out on my retirement, take the hit, and just pay every student loan. I'm like, it goes against everything. Like, I understand, like, you're hard in that. Like, you want it to be done, but, like, that goes against everything. I believe. So, you know, we try and stay diligent with the investing. You have to pay yourself first. You know, I'm trying to. I don't want to get too nerdy on here, but I'm a firm believer in bitcoin. It sounds really weird and sounds like I'm a crypto bro, but just with the simple philosophy about supply and demand and how I think it's going to appreciate over time and with government adoption. The US Government, state of Pennsylvania just announced today they want to have a strategic reserve to offset their pension. When Nixon took us off the gold standard back in the 60s, inflation went crazy. And so hopefully the leadership that's going into office, they see a strategic bitcoin reserve as a way to offset. We used to be on the gold standard. So if we had $10 trillion worth of currency in circulation, we'd have $10 trillion of gold. Now we don't have any. So it's not backed by anything. So if you could hold something that stores value and there's a cap on it. Right. There's only going to be 21 million of these things ever made. 19 million have already been mined and a couple million have been lost. So if you think about you're owning 121 million, you know, if you have one of them, which is a great goal to have, then, you know, Lord willing, supply and demand. Unless every country in the world comes and says, hey, we're going to ban this, then it's got legs. So that I'm just thinking, you know, long term, it's been on a tear these past couple weeks, so I've been pretty happy. [00:25:24] Speaker A: Yeah. That's crazy. [00:25:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:26] Speaker A: That is definitely a little bit of a. A hole there. [00:25:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So that, that, you know, that, that. I know. Going back to your question, but going back to your question is just pay yourself first. Yep. And then the way we. What we choose to do with the Delta is, you know, if you follow Dave Ramsey's plan to a T. Like, me and Katherine would never go out to eat. We'd drive one car. You know, we'd. You know, Everett wouldn't be in this, the mother's day out school that he's in, you know, but, you know, me and Katherine decided from A younger age when we got married. It's like, we gotta live a little. Like, you always make fun of me because you're like. You travel more than anybody I know, and that's something. That's what I save for. It's not things, but memories. And so, funny story. Our oldest son, Everett, he's three and a half. And before you turn two, you can be a lap child and fly as many times as you want. So I think his first year of life, he went on 26 flights. [00:26:22] Speaker A: Really? [00:26:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. He's spoiled rotten. You know, we have family that have been very successful and have houses, different places, and we've been fortunate enough to, you know, go visit them. And our family's been incredibly gracious with family. Vacations are. Family memories are, like, super important to them. So it's passed down to us, which has been fun, you know, making memories with the kids. Like, the first time ever, we threw him in the snow in Park City. He's, like, trying to catch it with his tongue. Is the funniest thing ever. But, you know, Charlotte, our youngest, Katherine, was out on maternity leave. I was out on paternity leave. And, you know, it's hot as Hades here in Texas, right? So we're like, let's go to the mountains for a couple days. So we flew Charlotte out when she was a month old, took her to the mountains. It was beautiful. Like, night, you have to wear a jacket. Like, in the morning, you have to put a jacket on to go walk and get your coffee. And, you know, those are some of the things I'll never forget. But we try to make, you know, in our budget, we try to make sure that we have a slush fund for travel and fun and entertainment. Like, you know, it's stuff I would never pay for. Kathryn thinks is important, like breakfast with Santa. It's a family tradition now. It's way overpriced compared to what it used to be, but, you know, it's memories. Right. The funny thing is, you know, you walk in, they give you a free thing of champagne. I'm not drinking this year. But, you know, last year when we went, we had just found out we were pregnant with Charlotte. So they put the food and the champagne in front of Kath, and she's like, I'm gonna throw up. [00:27:41] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. [00:27:41] Speaker B: It still costs, like, 150 bucks to go to breakfast, but Ever loved it. He got breakfast with Santa. Got a picture. [00:27:46] Speaker A: Memories. [00:27:46] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [00:27:48] Speaker A: Well, man, Everett's going on how old? [00:27:50] Speaker B: He's three and a half. [00:27:50] Speaker A: Yeah, Going on four. [00:27:52] Speaker B: Yep. [00:27:53] Speaker A: Obviously, he's got a long way to go. And, you know, Lord willing, you guys are going to continue to be successful in just your care and your careers because you guys have a lot of drive, you carry, build relationships, you're passionate about what you do. How do you see. And this could completely change in the next 15 years. But how do you see yourself starting to distill some of that gratitude and understanding into Everett as your son and, you know, your little girl too? [00:28:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, we've been extremely. I hate the word blessed, but we've been blessed, man. We've been extremely fortunate with, you know, the career that I've been blessed with so far in my career growth over the past, you know, six years since. Since we moved back to McKinney. And we're fortunate enough that we can do nice things and have nice things. And for me, growing up, that was always the case for me too. But my parents instilled in me, you have to work for this whenever it comes to age. And we start giving him chores, he's not gonna get an allowance, he's gonna get a commission. So if he works, he's gonna get paid. And that's what I want to instill to him at a young age. And we're fortunate. We live here in McKinney. Kathryn's parents are split up. So we have three sets of grandparents here in McKinney, and all of them have been pretty successful. And it's like in one weekend, he can see all three sets of his grandparents and he can go to Grammy and Pop's house and play. He can go to Tutu and Granddaddy's house, swim in the pool. He can go to the other grandparents house. Nana and Papa swim in their pool. And he just thinks it's normal. Like, dude, you don't know how good you have it. [00:29:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:22] Speaker B: And so, you know, that's something that, like, I'm trying to make a conscious effort for as he grows up, is like, dude, Nana and Papa had to bust their tail to get this. Like Tutu and Granddaddy had to bust their tail to get this. Like, you know, and just like, you know, if you don't work, you don't get paid. And. And it. That sounds so simple, but you know, it's. There's power in the word no. And I feel like hearing that at a young age will set you up for success. How many people do you know today that have never been told no? And they go to adulthood and they just can't Function. I mean, so, you know, I will. You know, I always tell Katherine, like, I want to give you the world, but, like, I could go buy you a. A Range Rover right now. But is it a smart financial decision? No, because I'm trying to set us up for success later down in life, you know, so delayed gratification is something I'm gonna try and teach Everett and Charlotte. Charlie girl. But she's also. I'm already wrapped around her finger, so she might get everything she ever wanted. So, you know. [00:30:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, that's good. I mean, David, the guy that was on here on the last episode, just talking about, you know, hit his discipline a lot is through his boys playing sports and teaching them not. Not about outcomes or their specific performance in certain areas, but, like, the character and the things that are taught in that, like, man, not always rewarding or discussing, you know, certain outcomes or plays that they hit did on the field, but how did they react off of the field or how did they pick up their player when they were down? Treat people right. Yeah, yeah. [00:30:53] Speaker B: And I, you know, I wasn't the best athlete, but I got. Got around. Right? So, you know, my biggest thing is, you know, sports taught me a lot. And, you know, this, too. Like, the teamwork, the camaraderie, like, working with a diverse group of people, like, and that's translated to my career, too. Like, I don't think I'd be successful in what I do now if I didn't have coaching, like, hard coaching. Like, my senior year. Coach Christian, ex Air Force bad mama jama, used to fly B52s. And, you know, we were so coddled as, like, you know, growing up where we grew up. And, like, you never really face adversity, right? And so Coach Christian coming in my senior year and really, like, kind of getting in our tail and, like, being real and listening to what he said, not how he said it, like, kind of flipped my mental. And so, you know, that was a great launching point for me going into college because I'm like, this isn't guaranteed. Like. Like, you're not entitled. Like, I feel the word entitlement, like, encompasses a lot of McKinney, obviously, different parts of it than. But, like, where we grew up, dude. Yeah, we were entitled to an incredible childhood. That's how we felt. We're entitled to X, Y, and Z. You know, you're not entitled to anything. You got to work for it. And Coach Christian really instilled in that into me. And my senior year kind of changed my life, to be honest with You. [00:32:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, he was a. He was a great coach. I didn't play obviously my senior year, but I remember him. And he was. Yeah, he was very strict, very direct, very professional. He did his job well. And that obviously portrayed in the performance and the respect and kind of the. The just the professionalism maybe of like, of the team, of your team, of some of the other teams out there, obviously you guys too. But I think there is also a way to be able to. Like, this can be a very loaded kind of topic, but we can't control what we're born into. But there is a. There is a way to maybe be an entitlement or even to be able to come over adverse. To come over adversity and just the way you're brought up and have an appreciation for it, but also have, you know, a drive and a work ethic and know that that's just not like handed over, if that makes sense. [00:33:02] Speaker B: Yeah. And. And somebody said this to me. I forget who it was. We were in high school. Like, someone's already. Someone's always out working you and someone's always had it worse than you and made it farther than you. And so it just kind of puts things in perspective. Like, I was fortunate enough. I had a loving family. There was always a roof over my head. I always had clothes, I always had shoes. There's people that come from a broken family, broken home, that didn't have all those things that have like turned themselves into like super successful people. So it's like, if they can. Yeah, exactly. [00:33:30] Speaker A: Maybe had it better. [00:33:31] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. And so it's just like, if they could do that, why can't I? And I really think, you know, that launching point of that mentality, it started going into senior year. After junior year, new coach came in and said, hey, I don't know what yalls off season workout program was before, but you're doing performance course with a football team and that had never happened before. Do you remember that? [00:33:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:51] Speaker B: And like going that summer with coach Malk and those guys, like, my body changed, like. And you know, I saw the work, the work you put in and this, the, you know, the fruits of your labor and your mindset probably, dude, mindset 100%, then just getting grilled by coach. And then it was great. I mean, senior year, I mean, we had a good time. Senior year, it was. It was like, you look back on it. We took Everett up to Boyd for one of the theater club was having like a breakfast with superhero pizza with superheroes. And we were like walking down the hallway. And I was like, man, it just brings back so many good memories because we were fortunate, man. We had a great community. Like we had guys trying to walk with the Lord. We had, you know, successful sports teams for the most part. And like we were involved in pals. You know, the community we had from that was I really feel like set us up for success. [00:34:39] Speaker A: We had, I mean, completely biased. I've said this many times, but I still think to this day we had one of the best classes. And honestly a bunch of. A couple of the classes before us and even under us were. Were really good too. [00:34:52] Speaker B: Oh yeah. [00:34:53] Speaker A: And I mean, I think those do kind of come in waves and there's parent aspects that come into that in regards to how kids are raised and entitlement and appreciation and a lot of other factors. But we had a great. [00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah. And I also think, you know, we were so fortunate with Scott's involvement in our life. Y. Scott Rhodes married both of us, was the officiant at both of our weddings. Michael was the best man at mine wedding. I was the best man at his wedding, which was a blessing. And you know, dude, just, you know, having somebody talk to you about Jesus when you're 14 years old, 15 years old, and you always have that self check of like, you know, I met the Lord at Crooked Creek Ranch when I was 15 years old. I also met Catherine at Crooked Creek Ranch that same summer. So you might find your wife at Young Life. There you go. But like, you know, I really feel like I can see it now because. Or I could see the gap because Young Life kind of fell off after we left in McKinney. Like, no offense to anybody, but like, you can kind of see how, you know, if. If a solid group of high school kids, both guys and girls, aren't walking with the Lord, how that can deter their steps in decision makings, whether that be the partying or having fun or whatever it is. Like I never wanted to do that. First of all, I wasn't drinking, but like that was never something that I ever yearned to do. And I really do it's believe because I was like really trying to walk with Jesus and like I was obviously flawed in many different ways, but you know, just that involvement and just like having a community like you, Anson, you know, Scott and all those guys just like, you know, our Sunday night campaigners at Flip's house, like, how would our life look if we didn't have those? [00:36:32] Speaker A: Yeah, well, it's just like it just. It takes an army to raise kids To. To raise youth. And I think, yeah, like you said, we were just grateful and blessed to have so many different voices and people pouring into our lives, or that's our parents, our sports coaches. Obviously, Scott was probably the. Honestly, the biggest one there because everyone listens and takes from everyone in different ways based off of past experiences, fears, failures, whether it could be from a guy or a girl or someone that they might view as kind of like their parent. Maybe they didn't have a great relationship with their parent. Like, there's so many different filters that are come. That come through, but I think that's something that's really helped us through our growth as men. And we're definitely still flawed and. And messed up and constantly fighting our battles every day, but it's just the. The consistency of kind of mentorship and pouring in that we've done. And then I also want to. Us continuing to try to do that with people younger than us. Yeah, it was big. [00:37:39] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I think about, like, when you're talking about, like, influences in your life, like, when you're in high school that really, like, shape who you are. Like, I think about. I think about your dad. I think about Jim Wilson, Anson's dad. I think about Scott. I think about my dad and the coaches that we had. Flip, you know, like, if I didn't have those guys in my life, like, I probably wouldn't be living right. Yeah, you know, for sure. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Definitely, man. Well, dude, I know any other things that kind of you. You think or that you see yourself maybe doing that your dad did or. Or you did or didn't do that you're kind of excited to maybe distill and do with Everett as he grows and you pour wisdom into him and financial literacy wisdom into him. [00:38:21] Speaker B: Yeah. I think one thing that I could be better about is definitely have a little bit more patience. He's three and a half years old, and he's not the best listener right now. He's just a wild man. Yeah. But really just. I think something that my dad did for me that meant a lot was like, he was always like, dude, I love you, and he would, you know, when I would screw up on the field or on the court or whatever, he's like, you know, still love you. You still had a ball or game. You can't let one mistake, like, define you and just, you know, there's grace in that. But there's also just that. That sense of like. Like, how many people do, you know, tell their dad they love him every time they Talk to him, you know, like, I have that relationship with my dad. When Katherine's car didn't start this morning, her battery died. I called my dad. I was like, hey, can you meet me there and jump this? And he's, you know, he's eager to help, you know, and that's one of the huge blessings of, like, being back in McKinney is just getting to spend time with him. But, you know, just being there, you know, as a father now, seeing the other side, just like trying to love somebody unconditionally, even when they tick you off or you're exhausted from a horrible day at work. There's three years old. Right. They don't know what kind of day you had. They don't know what's going on with your business or what's going on at your nine to five. They don't know. You know, just trying to be gracious with our time and patient. That's something that I feel like I could work on. But, you know, just loving on Everett and just trying to encourage him that he. To be the best he can be. And I think that's what my mom and dad always said to me is like, you may not be the best, but you better try your best. So, you know, that's what I'm trying to do for E. Man. And it's so fun to see him grow up and be a little turkey all the time. Little speaker. [00:40:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, man. Dude, I really appreciate you coming on and just sharing some of your vulnerability with kind of your journey. But also, dude, just. Yeah. The success and the blessings you had, and it's, you know, it's. It's a cliche kind of thing to say, but it's like, I feel like we're just getting started. [00:40:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Come on. [00:40:23] Speaker A: I mean, literally, with our families. [00:40:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:24] Speaker A: And a lot of business ventures in ways like, yes, you've been in kind of an executive role with a company, but you also have some other businesses that you work and you hustle on and provides more income and allows you to pay off those debts even more. But also just, you know, that work ethic and that drive has always been a part of who you are. So that's. That's going to continue to play. [00:40:45] Speaker B: And that's kind of what I'm hoping. Like. Like Everett and Charlotte C. Is, you know, like, daddy's working hard so he can provide for us. Like, I don't want ever them to. I don't want them. I don't ever want them to think that it was all just handed to me, like, I want them like, I own a roofing company. We haven't talked about that. It's not a huge magnitude, but it's something that I'm really proud of. And I want ever in Charlotte to see that, like, daddy's busting his tail so he can provide the best life for me and my family. You know, speaking of college, I don't know how much it's going to cost when they go to school, but I'm. [00:41:18] Speaker A: Like, brother, yeah, we'll see what college even looks like in 20 years. [00:41:23] Speaker B: But, you know, I just want them to see that hard work. I want them to see the determination to set the family up for success. Like, my heart, like, I don't want a Lamborghini. I don't want any nice cars. I don't want a huge house. Like, I. I just want that freedom that comes with being financially free and, and being able to say, you know what? I don't need to take these calls. You know, I don't need. I. I don't have a boss that's checking in. Hey, how was this? How was that? You know, I want that freedom to, like, to. To buy my time back because, like, you only get so much on this earth and you need to maximize it. So. You know, I had a heart to heart with Scott a couple months ago. It's like, am I not living right? Like, I cannot stop thinking about, you know, the accumulation of wealth. And he's like, dude, you got to be a good. Like you said, you got to be a good steward with what you have, and you have to. You know, there's nothing wrong with wanting more for you and your family. Like, if you had different ambitions, like, you know, I want to, you know, buy a yacht, and I want to, you know, live this life. I want a condo in Miami so I could party. You know, that's different than being like, I want my wife to quit working. I want her to have a nice car. I want to eventually retire on 10 acres in a one story farmhouse in McKinney, which probably really hard to find now, but you know, you know, those are the goals. Like, I don't. I've never been like, hey, I want 10 Rolexes, or I want a diamond ring. Like, I need a gold chain. Like, I'm happy. And I think that's another thing that plays into just the financial literacy part of things, like being content, which I feel like a lot of people don't have. So I try and be content. Like, I don't ever go buy new stuff for myself. Catherine and my mom are like, hey, can I get a Christmas list? I was like, I don't want anything. Like, I don't need anything. I'm totally happy. And they're like, that's no fun. I'm like, eh. But, you know, they're gift givers. Yeah, they're gift givers. That's one of their love languages. Mine is not. Yeah, but, you know, that's great, dude. Yeah. [00:43:13] Speaker A: Well, man, I appreciate you jumping on and doing your first podcast with me. I feel. I feel gratitude and gratefulness that you felt confident enough to come on with me on the proper form podcast. And hopefully it's not your last, whether that's here or on a different one. [00:43:29] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe I'll get nominated for the next one or something. [00:43:31] Speaker A: There you go. Well, man, thank you guys so much for listening to the proper for po proper form podcast. I'm having a rough time. Episode number 17 with the Ryan Fritz. Thanks so much, man. [00:43:42] Speaker B: Love you, bro.