From Grit To Resilience: Building An Authentic Voice That Lasts with David Ask

What if you stopped chasing magnetic north—the shifting pull of trends, approval, and quick wins—and locked onto a true north you can actually describe? That’s the pivot David Ask lays out as we unpack the real difference between grit and resilience, and how creators can build a voice that lasts in a noisy podcasting world.

We start with David’s retail success story and the hard lessons that came with it, then move into a simple, powerful model: grit is the long push toward a worthy outcome; resilience is the speed at which you bounce back to your shape after a hit. The shape matters. Without a defined identity—values, convictions, and the work that gives you goosebumps—every setback feels personal. With it, you rebound faster, choose better, and keep shipping even when guests cancel, interviews fall flat, or formats change.

Along the way, we draw a line between starting with who and starting with why. When you start with who, your why stops being borrowed from giants and becomes grounded in your own strengths. That shift powers a virtuous loop: acting as yourself creates a specific dent in the world, and that feedback reinforces your identity. We talk about resisting the urge to copy big shows, using authenticity to guide content and guest choices, and reframing on-air mistakes as human moments that build trust. We also explore how to raise grit at home and in teams by “mining for gold” in others, revealing their strengths instead of performing for applause.

If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, or creator trying to build a durable show, this conversation gives you practical cues and a deeper compass. Define your true north, bring grit to the climb, and use resilience to return to form quickly when you fall. If this resonated, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a steadier compass today.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Guest Intro
• 0:41 StatGuardPlus Journey And Early Mindset
• 4:09 True North Vs Magnetic North
• 7:48 Signs You’re Off Your Plumb Line
• 12:26 Defining Grit And Resilience
• 15:42 Embracing Authenticity In Public
• 19:29 Start With Who Before Why
• 24:16 Don’t Copy Giants, Be Yourself
• 27:02 Values, Goosebumps, And Raising Grit
• 30:08 Family, Impact, And What Truly Matters
• 32:25 Contact Info And Music Side

Transcript

Carl: 0:04

Welcome to Communication Connection Community, the Podcaster's Podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern-day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people who make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news, updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. Strap in, it's going to be one amazing ride. Let's dive into today's episode. David Ask, he's the driving force behind StatGuardPlus.com, a product showcased in over 3,000 retail giants like the Home Depot and Lowe's. Alongside this success, David is passionate about understanding the difference between grit and resilience and why so many misunderstand true authenticity and identity. Uniqueness of purpose and understanding, our True North identity changes everything. David is the lead coach for Dr. Andy Garrett's True North Blueprint, which helps people become the most resilient people on earth. He's working on his new book for Fathers called The Guardians of Grit, How to Raise Uncrushable Young People. In his spare time, David sings. Yes, he does sing. And on stages, uh all over the country. I'm assuming you mean all over the US of A. Not come to Canada yet. David's voice has been compared to Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban. Very, very cool. By the way, I should also say he is a podcaster and a sought-after podcast guest, and we are so glad he's joining us today. David Ask, welcome to the podcast. Honored to be here. Thanks for having me. I'm so thrilled you're joining us because today this is something we haven't covered. We've talked about podcasting and speaking and communication, how all those things are important in business. But I don't think we've talked about in greater detail what the difference is between resiliency and grit. And we certainly haven't shared factors in or how it plays into the world of podcasting. So I'm glad you're here to share about that. But first, let's talk about your success with StatGuardPlus.com because to say that it's in over 3,000 retail giants is that in itself, I'm assuming leads to our discussion about resiliency and grit. So tell me about the journey that led to the success.

David: 2:28

You know, of course, during the process of landing Home Depot and Lowe's, of course, I wasn't necessarily thinking about being, you know, real gritty and, you know, resilient as it were, required that. But those are some things, you know, some tools, as it were, and concepts that I really learned, you know, in in many ways the hard way. I think a lot of my ability just to keep going was necessarily the right motives. I was just afraid, you know, be a failure and look like an idiot, as opposed to, you know, maybe somebody who had really done some internal work and was really, you know, I guess on mission, right? And really passionate about, you know, doing what I was doing and a much younger man, you know, when I was doing those things. And even since then, I've been surrounded by some people that have really helped me to kind of build that self-awareness and inner constitution and understand, you know, why I'm doing the things I'm doing. But um, a lot of the uh the internal narrative was forged in fire back in the day, you know, about 11, 12 years ago when I started that business. Yeah, that's a one heck of a story to get to 3,700 stores.

Carl: 3:27

Well, congratulations on that success. I, you know, I certainly can't sidestep that at all because you don't you don't get to that level of success without some resiliency, but also some failures, some headaches, some heartache. But then also, isn't it true that when we're in that space as business owners or entrepreneurs, that there's the fear of failure. So, but if we put our head down and go to work, something's gotta stick eventually. And I I don't mean let's throw a spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks, but but keeping the the head down and working, and it's like, okay, that didn't work, but I gotta try something else. Otherwise, you're going to get a job like everybody else, right?

David: 4:03

Yeah, and it's you know what's interesting is about seven years ago, six years ago, I met a guy named Dr. Andy Garrett. He's in my entrepreneurial mastermind group, and you know, he started kind of breaking these concepts down, you know, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, you know, identity, authenticity, resiliency, grit, the difference, that kind of stuff. And how do you really establish those things, you know, from an internal, you know, set point, an internal compass? In fact, you know, he names his course that we walk people through, you know, the true north blueprint. So I kind of like to, you know, start painting the picture, you know, with regards true north versus magnetic north. The imagery, right, really helps distill what's happening, you know, inside of us. So, you know, if you have a compass, right, you know, you want to find north, well, what is it doing? It's reading the magnetic field around it in order to find north. So you'll notice when you're walking through the woods with a compass or even your home for that matter, it's not arrow, as it were, is not uh 100% north ever. I mean, well, maybe for just a split second, right? But it doesn't stay there. It's constantly kind of moving back and forth. Whereas, you know, true north is a fixed point. It's like GPS coordinates, you know, that you can describe in absolute detail to pinpoint accuracy. And so what's fascinating is, you know, when someone walks you through, as it were, a curriculum, right? They ask you the right questions in the right sequence, you can really dial in, you know, that internal plumb line, which again is everything from values, convictions, you know, motivations, right? Your why. And I like to say, what is it that gives you goosebumps? It's all of that stuff that makes you unique so that you can literally grab onto that and start using it from an internal perspective as opposed to, and Carl, this is what I suffered with when I was starting my business, right? I was so extrinsically motivated. Meaning I'd wanted, I'm getting really vulnerable here. I just wanted to be somebody, or at least not be a nobody. Well, you know, what's the real question there, right? Who was I handing the keys to? I wanted people around me, you know, to tell me, as it were, or give me some sort of feedback that, David, you've actually done something with your life and you've arrived, or you've done, you know what I mean? And it's exhausting because the feedback we get is never enough. And and since then, I've been able to, you know, position, you know, my driving force to people like it's it's Seth Godin. People like us do things like this, and I want to have this type of an impact, you know, in this particular arena today. It might be a little bit of a different arena tomorrow, depending on what I'm working at. But those things have a cohesiveness to them that have the David Ask-shaped, you know, dent on them. So that's that's kind of a deep way to say that you know, understanding that internal compass is really, really important. I'm glad you shared all that.

Carl: 6:57

And I do want to comment on the you've arrived. And do we ever really arrive? Yeah, no. Or is it when we arrive, guess what? The bar has now shifted yet again. So it's like I have a coach that tells her this all the time. Well, you're at this level, guess what? You'll only be comfortable there for so long before you'll be ready or you'll be thinking that it's time to get to the next level, or there's something that'll charge you, and maybe it's a spouse, maybe I don't know, maybe it's circumstantial of uh economy or a changing industry. I work in the podcasting space and it's ever evolving. So if you were to ask me, you know, five or six years ago, how did you launch your podcast? It would be a completely different answer then to what it is now, because now it's all video, video, video and SEO, and make sure you have this in your show notes and all this stuff that did it matter back then, of course it mattered, but it didn't matter as much, you know. So there's that. The other thing I wanted to mention too, or ask you this question is how many people are stuck on magnetic north versus true north? And is it an easy in your experience? Is it an easy fix to get people to shift accordingly their internal compass?

David: 8:07

It's a really great question. I mean, I don't know what the percentage is, but I I would dare say that in my experience that probably 90% of people, you know, get up in the morning and it's maybe I'll back into it this way. They get up in the morning and it's they're looking for you know approval. They're hoping their boss or their parents or you know someone gives them some type of feedback, and until they get that extrinsic, you know, hit, as it were, you know, then not they have some insecurity. They're not sure if they're doing what they quote unquote should be doing and you know, all that kind of thing. So what I think is fascinating is you know, when Dr. Andy kind of explained it to me this way, when someone is operating, you know, out of that true north plumb line. Actually, let me let me back into it. How do you know you haven't found that, right? How do you know you haven't lasered in on that? This sometimes is a better way of distilling that is, you know, you're gonna suffer probably some imposter syndrome, right? You're gonna be show up in a room or with other people or other podcasters, you're gonna start comparing yourself to other people and just, you know, think somehow that I'm lacking or I'm not good enough. You're probably gonna have a deeper sense of anxiety. You might and you know avoid certain people or places because of that comparison, right? You're just so desperately seeking some external, you know, force. You're you might become apathetic towards certain things, right? Procrastination, feeling like you're stuck, maybe depression, right? If it gets bad enough. Well, how do you know that you're operating from that plumb line? Well, on a basic level, you start to feel more genuine, right? You get up in the morning and you're like, hey, it feels really good to be me. I can describe the guy who just woke up and the dent that I want to have in the universe, the type of people that I want to hang out with, the types of conversations that I like to have, the things I'm gonna say yes and no to. I've already predetermined those things as opposed to, you know, licking my finger and holding it up in the wind. You're gonna feel a bit more free, resilient, compassionate, you know, have clarity of purpose. You're gonna feel like your more best, you know, your best self is kind of emerging. You're trusting yourself more. That sense of clarity is there. And those two positions, right? Anxiety, imposter syndrome, apathy, avoidance versus genuine, courageous, compassionate, resilient, free, you know, it's Dr. Andy says, follow the clues. How do you know you're operating? Well, follow the clues. So it's not to say, by the way, that on any given day we, you know, we don't an off day or whatever, an off week for that matter, we're human. But I would say, what does the course of you know 90 days look like? Or six months or a year? Is your life defined by apathy avoidance, you know, fatigue, imposter syndrome, or is it defined by, you know, clarity, resilience, joy, mission, purpose, you know, feeling natural in your own skin, that kind of thing. And there's a big shift. And it's amazing when you have identified that stuff, right? Identity, that's where we get that word. You identified all of the things that make you you, and you start operating in that way, you remove that question mark, right? That question mark is kind of gone that you feel, but guess what? Everybody else feels that question mark as well. We've all been around people who are just, you know, coming out of their skin nervous and you know, they might even overcompensate for certain things, or they get, you know, really irritated really fast, or you know, and it's again, it's a clue. It's okay, we're human, and nobody you know showed them how to do that. But I would say to answer your question, I think it's a rather high percentage of people that are reading the room and desperately looking for someone else to say that yes, you're good enough.

Carl: 11:46

Wow. A long way to the answer, but you hit on a real list of things that I think as solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, even successful businesses, we all deal with it. Massive companies deal with that all the time. And sometimes the person or the the thing that needs taking care of the most is you. It could be a team thing, it could be a health thing. Like full disclosure, I mean, I'm going through that right now with sleep apnea. How is that affecting me in the business world? Not in the business world, but in my own business head, you know, things like that. So you never know. Affects everything, but those things affect the calibration of the compass, as it were, with where you're going. So bigger question is why are we talking about this on this show? And how is it related? How are we relating you know resiliency? Firstly, we'll go back to the difference between resiliency and grit, and how is it playing into the podcasting space? So let's go there because you've been a guest on many podcasts, you've been a host. So let's define it. What is the difference between grit and resiliency?

David: 12:48

You know, Angela Duckworth wrote a book called Grit. You know, she's kind of, I would say she's probably the world's, you know, authority, you know, in our time on grit. And I think she distills, you know, the word grit down into this idea of, you know, doing hard things over a long period of time because it's worth it, right? You've deemed what's on the other side of that hill is worth fighting for, climbing that hill. Here's the interesting thing though, is grit, as far as this idea of a long period, you know what? That might be 24 hours, depending on what the situation is.

unknown: 13:21

Right?

David: 13:21

You might be running a marathon. That might be two hours. It might be, you know, 90 days where you're getting your business going and there's all sorts of uncertainty, and you got a cold call and you got to do all kinds of stuff. It might be, you know, you're having a hard time in your marriage, uh, you know, raising kids. And but again, let me put a pin in that. So resiliency though is is, and this is the way Dr. Andy describes it, this idea of bouncing back quickly, right? You get knocked down and you get back up. But here's the difference. He likens it to a uh like a basketball. So that basketball, you know, you bounce it on the ground really hard for just a split second, it loses its form, but then it bounces back to what? Uh a describable shape. You know, it has a uh literally a circumference and everything that you can measure and pinpoint with accuracy. And that's where this idea of true north comes into play, you know, when talking about you know grit and and resiliency. You actually, in order to build intrinsic, you know, grit, as it were, as opposed to people pleasing and applause or or shame and fear, you actually start describing, you know, that plumb line. So for instance, when you get knocked down and you get back up, you're not getting back up just for the sake of getting back up. You're getting back up and you're taking on the form and hopefully a really quick moment to who you are, right? You know, who and what, right? It describes, hey, okay, I actually let me tell a quick story. There a friend of mine, we were at church here a few weeks ago, and she's walking, you know, across the sidewalk and it was raining, and she slipped, right? So she lands, you know, on her backside in the water. Well, so many people would be so embarrassed. And this person has got such a wonderful inner constitution and is absolutely so solid with who they are, they thought it was funny, right? They were just like, was that just awesome or what? Like they didn't, you could tell, like they were glad it happened. Whereas some people, you know, they would slip and fall and they would leave. They would be so filled with shame and, you know, oh, I'm dirty and all, you know, whatever it is. But they were like, was that hilarious or what? And there's a we can kind of blow by something like that, but I'll be honest, I think that things that happen in a split second and now we handle them, you know, really start to, you know, kind of shine a light on, you know, what's going on in that plumb line. Have you established that? And so for me personally, I love this idea of establishing a plumb line with a lot of grace wrapped around it.

Carl: 16:00

My favorite thing about that story you just shared is that it's probably a line from several movies that people have played on before where somebody falls or something doesn't go right the way it's supposed to. And if that were me, and I've probably done it before, not realizing, say something like, I meant to do that, or and now for my next trick, or it's not exactly the finish I was hoping for. Like something that takes something that's uh, you know, say serious. It's not like she flight of stairs and is in severe pain and needs to be rushed to hospital. You slip on the ground, probably happened to many people many times. But the analogy that you gave of people who are just like, Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed, I can't believe that happened, versus, Wow, what'd you think of that move I just did?

David: 16:46

So and it's almost like this idea of isn't it just fantastic to be human? And and when you and here's the cool thing, right? We all know people. Andy Garrett or Dr. Garrett calls you know this type of a person an authentic exemplar, like authenticity, authentic, right? And he says that those people, not only when they walk into the room, and we all know people like this in our lives, right? The room gets better, wiser, safer, stronger, you know, more joyful, things like that. And sadly, there's kind of a small percentage of people that we can kind of be like, holy cow, that person is just exuding with just beautiful authenticity. It's those people, right, who tend to, you know, laugh at themselves really quickly and be like, oh my gosh, isn't it just great to be human? They're not like so wrapped up in performance-based living. It's just and and here's the cool thing, right? It's the way that they just simply act and be. It's an invitation to that world. It's an invitation to their inner world. And there's something curious about that. I just find that so attractive.

Carl: 17:48

Speaking of performance, though, I will share this too. I remember seeing Robin Williams not on stage in person. That would have been a thrill. But anyway, seeing him on stage with one of his shows that he did, and he's part way through his monologue, and I can't, I don't remember which one it was. But he says, wait a minute, I remember this one. And there's a slight pause, and the room, he's like, Wait a minute, okay, okay, yeah, here's this. This is a guy that was so slick and polished, and you know, you thought he was a and then and then he but he made a few other mistakes in that same routine, but he just let it slide. Whereas some people would be like, Oh my goodness, I made a mistake, and and they'd crawl under a rock and die. And we see that in business, we see that in podcasts too, where people make a glaring error and they think, Oh my god, that's it, I'm done. And hopefully, hopefully they're not. Hopefully, they're not done just because of something that was a human error, not an error that's cost a reputation, not something like that, but they screwed something up factually or they said the wrong word. Yeah, join the club.

David: 18:48

Exactly. And it's again, it's so neat when somebody, you know, can just let that stuff roll off because it's you're what are you doing really? You're giving yourself grace, but you're also giving other people permission to just enter into that, you know, that more authentic space.

Carl: 19:02

Podcasting is a long game, not a short game. And you definitely need some resiliency. So, how is this playing in in your experience? But then also, you know, what can you share with podcasters? Because most podcasters that we work here at Podcast Solutions Made Simple, they're business owners, they're entrepreneurs, they're successful business owners for that matter. So, what are some of the things that you can share with them that can help them in this area?

David: 19:27

Yeah, so man, a great question. You know, the first thing that came to mind, and and again, Simon Sinek, you know, he wrote the book Start with Why. Again, probably a wiser man than I am. It's a and he's you know wildly successful and so on. One of the things that I like to say is, how about we never start with why? So I'm gonna back into your question, you know, for podcasters this way. What if we started with who? So why is that important? Well, if you've not established, you know, again, identify, right? Word identity, if you've not identified all of the things that, you know, make you you, guess what? Your why? It might be someone else's, it might be Joe Rogan's, it might be Carl Richards' why, it might be your dad's, your older brothers, or some mentor. So what's really fascinating is when you've radical clarity on who you are. Let me jump into the deep end of the pool here even further. You know, where do we get the word authenticity? Comes from the word author, right? I didn't make me. I didn't choose my skin color, my eye color, my taste buds. And here's the fascinating thing. We don't choose our personalities. Those of us who have kids or siblings know they come out of the gate really hardwired. And I'm talking, my two kids are teenagers now, but you know, when Parker was born, I mean, within just a matter of weeks, like you can just sense his his little essence, right? And when Kate was born, I mean, they're they're just so different. My nephew's four boys, I mean, they're so vastly different, but within weeks and months, you can tell so yeah, such differences in them. And here's the cool thing with kids, right? When they're one, two, three, four, five years old, you know, unlike us really savvy adults, kids aren't thinking about being authentic, right? They're not thinking about identity and they're just doing their deal. Until what? Until you get punched in the face, right? You get humiliated, picked on, or whatever that is, or abused, you know, hopefully not. And then you start questioning everything. Am I good enough? You know, are those things that I love, those things that I'm bringing to the world, those things that give me goosebumps, is somebody going to laugh at those things and shame those things? So I'm getting back to your question here. So I think it's vital that you identify, write it down, who you are authentically, right? And here's what's fascinating is then your why makes sense. So if you're a podcaster, and again, I'm sure you've got thousands of listeners here, when someone sits down to say, I'm going to put together a podcast and a platform so that I can make the world a better place, you better have a why that's really tied to who you are. Because guess what? You're going to have people, and Carl, I'm sure you've had this many times, right? That just cancel on you. They don't show up, right? It kind of takes a little bit of wind out of your sail. Or you have a guest that comes on and for some reason they're in a bad mood or whatever it is, and you're like, that didn't go very well. How about this? You have a hero that you want to interview, and you finally get that person, and it just doesn't go well. It doesn't land right, or they're in a bad mood. You know what? You're gonna have to have that intrinsic motivation, your why, to stay with it and to stay the course so that you have that particular dent in the universe, right? Your impact, yeah, that you want to have. And by the way, this is another Dr. Andy thing, right? He calls it the virtuous loop. When you understand who you are and you see your particular, you know, dent, well, guess what? It's the feedback you get from being yourself and seeing your dent, it reinforces who you are. It's that clean fuel that kind of reinforces who you are, your why, your what, your how. You get to see the, you know, the Carl Richards, the David Os-shaped dent, and it reinforces that. But again, if you if there's some vague idea around what that is, you know, you're gonna run out of steam rather quickly.

Carl: 23:14

I think, David, one of the challenges that business owners, entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, we work a lot with real estate, real estate professionals as well. What they face is in this space, and with this particular medium, we're talking podcasting here, is they hear examples. They take the Joe Rogan that they listen to, or they're listening to the Tony Robbins whatever podcast it is, or the Oprah Winfrey This, or that, and they say, I want my show to be just like that. Well, the challenge is there's only one show just like that, and it's the Joe Rogan experience, or it's the you know what I mean? So a challenge is, and it goes back to knowing your why. If you want a show that's just like that, it's never going to be, it's never going to happen because it's it's not yours to have.

David: 24:01

Exactly. Yeah, well said. And and here's the interesting thing, you know, we always hear, and it sounds so cliche, right? Just be yourself. You know, I live in Nashville, and of course, you know, there's a million people coming here to get famous, right? And do their thing. And you will hear people all the time, you know, there's one of you. We don't need another, you know, whatever the famous person's name is. We need you. And of course, I mean, why is that hard though? Why why? Because what if you step out and you you're acting in your authenticity, but then you get some knucklehead that gives you some poor feedback or mocks you. That hurts. That is the reason that we, you know, we, even as young kids, right, we start wearing a mask. We start putting on, you know, kind of playing a role, as it were, because we're just so afraid that, yeah, what if, you know, what I have to offer this world is not quote unquote good enough? When of course it is. I would encourage any podcaster, and feel free to call me, I'll be happy to help connect dots, whatever I can. When you start dialing in on exactly who you are and identifying those things, you're not only going to see your podcast, right? But you're going to see your relationships with your family and friends and even yourself get so much better.

Carl: 25:14

I love it. And it's so true. And we've talked about the why before on this show, but never to this depth. And usually the why when we're presenting it, we're talking about why do you want a podcast? What's the goal? What's the outcome you want? Who's your audience? So we do that deep dive, but we're not there to do the inner why stuff. We're not there to figure out that part. Uh, we can a little bit, but that's again knowing who you are and knowing what you're bringing, what you want to leave behind. What is that that you're bringing forward to the space? And I think that there's again so many podcasters, and I've seen this also in the broadcast space. I mean, again, spent 25 years in radio broadcasting. I've seen and heard a number of broadcasters who, especially in their in their younger years, when they're coming out of college, I'm going to be the next Ryan Seacrest, or I'm going to be the next dating myself here. I'm going to be the next Wolfman Jack. I'm going to be the next whoever it is. I'm going to be the next. But again, there's only one of those individuals. So is that your why? Is it because you want to be just like somebody else? Where's the authenticity in that? Number one. And the only person who can get away with that, well, maybe there's more than one person, but is if you're an impressionist like Rich Little. Yeah, okay, you want to be 76 people or 140, 30 voices he's done over the years because that's what you're doing, but that's part, that's the art. That's not, he's still as Rich Little, he's still an authentic individual, and here's what makes him authentic.

David: 26:42

Well said. Again, I just feel like it takes courage, it takes a little bit of work, right? To identify, you know, your values, your virtues, your convictions. Those are different things, by the way. And a lot of people lump all that stuff together. You know, your strengths and how do you want to apply those things? And I always like to say, it's, I think I got it from a Nissan commercial. What gives your goosebumps goosebumps? You know, they're just that stuff that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. You know, it's like, man, that's awesome. What is it that puts that lump in your throat in a good way? What is it that makes you furious? And if you start, you know, doing the hierarchy of all of those things, you know, mind, body, and spirit, I mean, it's amazing, you know, how very unique we are, right? We've got a fingerprint, you know, that's different, a retina scan and a DNA that can never be replicated. And man, when you start to, I'll I'll say it this way, when you start to honor all of that beauty and uniqueness, you know, that's and by the way, I'll kind of get a little bit uh touchy-feely here. Why why am I writing a book for dads, right? You mentioned, you know, the book at the outset, Guardians of Grit. Well, what would it look like for dads, right, to look at their sons and their daughters for that matter, too, right? And say, you know, hey, I see something in you so great. Let's get the shovel out and mine for gold and identify all of the beauty and riches and courage and tendencies and all those things that make you you, because whatever you're into, I'm into. We're gonna get behind that and lift that up. You know, it's like literally raising, raising someone. It's causing them to rise. Not some version that you want. It's causing them to rise into the person that, you know, God made them to be. That's the kind of stuff that just absolutely lights me on fire. I'm so grateful. You know, I've got a thermostat guard with a combination lock, right? The Stat Guard Plus that's in 3,700 retail stores. We're the first ones in the world to have a thermostat guard with a combination lock. You know what? I'm thrilled with that. Don't get me wrong. But you know what I'm more thrilled with? I'm thrilled that I've got a people that have helped me be a better human, be a better dad, be a better husband. I've been married 25 years. I've got a son who's in college in his second year, he's 19. I've got a daughter who's, you know, 17 and a senior in high school, and she's concert master at the Vanderbilt Children's Orchestra. More than that, my two kids, you know, can look in the mirror and smile. Right? When something's going wrong, they can come to dad, my wife for that matter, and raise their hand and say, hey, I don't feel like I'm quite tracking today. Can we talk through something? I've got a wonderful relationship with them. That's the stuff of life. The other stuff, again, I'm thankful for that we live in a space-time and history where we can do extraordinary things if as long as you stay with it, right? Because it's if you want to do that, it's gonna be really freaking hard. But the other stuff, that internal life, is where it's at. And we all know that. That's not the, you know, I heard somebody say the other day, matter stuff, right? Matter matters. But what matters? Now you're talking.

Carl: 29:39

Oh my goodness, David, my goosebumps have goosebumps from the conversation that we've been having today. How can people get a hold of you for our listeners who are chiming in and they're listening to your wisdom? How can they reach out to you?

David: 29:51

Okay, can I be a little bold here? I'm just gonna say I just finished it. It's kind of a it's not a hundred percent done, but I've not talked about this yet. I'm gonna tell everybody. To go to my music website. So you mentioned that at the beginning. I'm actually, Andrea Bocelli was in Nashville. I was asked to sing backup for him. So if you go to David Ask, david askmusic.com, my contact information's on there, and you can get a hold of me that way. And I've got, you know, I'm I've got all this other social sites and so on, but that would be a fun place to start.

Carl: 30:22

That's very, very cool. And yes, we did mention it off the top. And also a very cool story about him. And if I'd known that we might have had a journey into the music thing as well. Because I spent years as a as a young man, teenager and young man in music, and of course in radio too. So awesome. Lived around music, grew up with music. So and music is a language unto itself that maybe we should have you back to have another conversation about music and how it's how it's a language unto itself and how it fits into communication. Also make sure your socials and all the other relevant information is in the show notes as well. That's great. David, oh my goodness, what a phenomenal conversation. Thank you so much. Before I turn you loose, though, to go and inspire another audience like you've done with ours today, I'll leave you with a final thought.

David: 31:09

Okay, so I I've often, you know, in the la I'll be honest, Carl, the last six months I've probably done fifty actually probably the last four months, fifty podcast interviews. And I like to leave people with this quote. It's kind of my favorite one over the last couple of years by Benjamin Disraeli. He's the former PM of England back in eighteen hundreds. But he says, the greatest good you can do for another is not to share with him your riches, but to reveal to him his own. And I just think, man, what a way to live. Can you imagine if everybody if that was their modus operandi, right? If their MO was to look at other people and shine a spotlight on their riches as opposed to everybody look at me and the world would be a much different place.

Carl: 31:50

For sure it would, and I think that's a great place to leave it. Until next time, David Ask, thank you so much for being my guest today. Thank you, thank you. And hey, thank you for being a part of the show today. So glad you could join us. Believe it or not, I can't work this magic by myself. So, thanks to my amazing team, our audio engineer Dom Carillo, our sonic branding genius Kenton Dobrowolski, and the person who works the arms, all of our arms actually, our project manager and my trusty assistant Julovell Tiongco, known to us here simply as July. If you like what you heard today, let us know. You can leave us a comment or review or even send us a voice note. And if you really liked it, we hope you'll share it with your friends and your colleagues. If you don't like what you heard today, well, please feel free to share it with your enemies. And if you know of someone who would make a great guest on the show, let us know about it. You can get in touch with us by going to our show notes where all of our connection points are there, including the links to our website, LinkedIn, and Facebook as well. And if you're ready to be a guest on podcasts, or even start your own show, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space and rock it. Because, after all, we're Podcast Solutions Made Simple. Catch again next time.