From the Bronx to leader

Chapter 1: The Role of AI in Modern Work 00:00 Just about every role is going to be augmented with artificial intelligence in the future. And it's a scary thing sometimes when you think about it. 00:09 But augmented means work alongside, right? And that's gonna be the real key difference with just about anything we do. 00:16 It's designed, when used right, to make complicated things or things that took a long time to do that in many cases we really didn't wanna do ourselves, to make it so that we can do it. 00:38 Hello and welcome to the Degrees of Success podcast. I'm your host, Freda Richards. And today we have an incredible guest, Stephen Paskel. Chapter 2: Steven's Journey: From the Bronx to Phoenix 00:47 Stephen earned his MBA here at University of Phoenix and has an incredible career spanning from technology to leadership to entrepreneurship. 00:57 Help me welcome Stephen Paskel. Your journey from the Bronx to Phoenix. 01:05 It's just very inspiring. In the midst of that, you ended up getting your MBA. Can you tell me how you ended up choosing University of Phoenix? 01:13 Yeah, so it was a journey from the Bronx, right? I moved out when I was 16. 01:19 I really didn't want to go, but my mom, she was battling cancer at the time and in remission. 01:26 she, in retrospect, I was halfway through high school. I had gotten a scholarship to go to a really high-end high school, which was unique for someone from the Bronx. 01:36 There was a lot of competition. So I didn't want to go. I'm like, I'm going to move back second. turned 18, but we moved out here. 01:41 And I think my mom was, sensing things as moms tend to do. She passed away, what, nine months after we were out here. 01:49 So that was part of it. She wanted to get me out of the projects in the Bronx, got us set up out here. So I had to start working early, right? 01:56 So it was a difficult time, but I started working my first real job that I lasted 23 years there. I was 17 at the time. 02:05 So since I started working right away, my original trajectory was gonna be... most likely go to college, the traditional after high school, but I needed to start working first. 02:14 So then as I started my working career, realizing the need for higher education, what sort of, how can I do it? 02:21 Because I was working full time, doing some volunteer stuff as well, how could I get it all in? 02:26 Entered University of Phoenix, heard about a program where, wow, it's flexible, you can work from home, you can do it online, so I can be doing it late at night. 02:36 So I heard about it and I was. Tuition reimbursement, didn't have to pay out of pocket. There was some deferment there too. I'm like, okay, I might have to slow play it, but I can get started. 02:45 So I finally decided to get started and got me into my bachelor's program. Where does that dedication come from? Because that clearly takes a lot of dedication. 02:53 Whether you take the fast route or the slower route, you still have to keep pushing. I know that you're the youngest and you have your sisters 10 years older and brother 15. 03:03 That's pretty good. Brother's 14. He's done the homework. Yeah. No. Yeah. So, you know, it's funny you say that because I, so definitely not, not me, right? 03:13 You always, any type of success you get in life, I'm sure there's exceptions, but there's always a team. There's always a bunch of folks that led you along the way professionally and personally. 03:23 And it was funny. I was reflecting with my, my sister and my brother, because you're right. 10 years, 14, 15. That's a, that's a big difference. So. 03:30 They took apart and raising me in different ways that I didn't even realize until I was older as well. uh So first I'm gonna give my mom, right? 03:37 Because as tough of a time as she had, especially towards the end, she was really, my dad did the best he could. He always had a hard time holding down a job. 03:45 Wasn't through a lack of effort. He had a rough upbringing and all that stuff too. My mom was the one that was consistently at work, whether she was sick or not, whether she was battling cancer or not. 03:55 Ironically, that was probably the reason why it advanced as much. We didn't have insurance. She didn't wanna take time. was a rough time. So that sort of dedication, you got to see it. 04:04 I saw my brother, right? um He had some of the same challenges. Had to start working right away. He was a programmer. Not an easy thing to do, but stuck to it. 04:12 My sister and her way too. So you get all those examples and you get your, even the crew that I had in Arizona that took me in, especially when I lost my mom at an early age. 04:21 That's a very, things can go either way, right? And I'm sure we've all faced that. There was points in our life he can go left or right. 04:28 someone takes an interest or multiple people take an interest in you and that helps you along the path that you want to take. And those examples of commitment showed, right? 04:37 You don't, and you know, the things that uh are toughest in life sometimes are the things that make you resilient, that show, right? 04:44 When you don't have a choice, you either work or you eat, you either work or you don't have a place to live. You realize early on that uh like slacking off isn't an option. 04:54 So those types of things, the difficult things sometimes shape you. And I think that helped me in my journey because it took me a while to get my bachelor's. It took me quite a while, but it got done. 05:03 it did. I did the 10 year plan. oh I did the 10 year plan. So I did the tuition reimbursement back in the day. I think I started in 2001. 05:11 um My employer at the time that covered $5,000 a year, which covered almost four classes. No, what did it start out? 05:19 Almost four classes. That's right. So I was taking four classes a year to get that tuition reimbursement without having to pay out of pocket. 05:26 Then it had to go down to, right, inflation hits everybody. Then it went down to three classes per year. But I did it. 05:33 And I remembered when I started it, I'm like, it's gonna take a while, but 12 credits here, 12 credits here, nine credits there. Chapter 3: The Importance of Education and Dedication 05:41 And before you know it, it may have taken 10 years, but I got my 120 credits and I was able to get my bachelor's. 05:47 and then you made the choice to get your masters as if life hadn't already still been difficult, right? I mean, not necessarily difficult, but definitely convoluted. 05:56 have littles, Relationships. Tell me what it looked like to balance life and work and school around that time. 06:05 Yeah, and you know, that's a great question. think so. Why did I do that? Because at that point I had a good job, right? 06:11 And ironically enough, the job that I landed after my first one, back then they required a bachelor's degree to get it. 06:18 So if I didn't take that step, even though it was a long journey, even though it was a hard journey for my bachelor's, if I didn't take that step, even though I was more than 06:26 qualified to do the job, I wouldn't even had a seat at the table to apply if I didn't have my bachelor's degree. So pointing. 06:35 That's sort of same reasoning, right? Did I necessarily need a master's degree? You're not, but you never know what you're gonna need. 06:42 And I'll tell you what actually set me over the line. 06:45 It's ironic enough, it was one of my peers, she was just about to retire, ah and she was talking about she had just got her master's and she was teaching part-time at the university. 06:57 And I'm like, oh, if you get your master's, you can teach? I didn't know that. So in the back of my mind, right, probably goes from my upbringing, the challenges up front. 07:05 I'm like, so if I get my masters, if nothing else, and I like teaching, I've always had a training background, that training's been a large part of my corporate success and the opportunities. 07:14 like, well, could always, worst case scenario, I could always teach. And I like doing that. 07:19 So that was the trigger for getting the masters, which in addition to opening up opportunities to teach if I want to, and I've gotten reached out a couple of times for that. 07:29 uh Again, when you're putting yourself out there in the world to compete in a highly competitive market, the more you can show, right, sometimes the degree is one thing, that 07:40 dedication to complete it, that field of study, is sometimes when all things are even, that can put you over the edge. And I've seen that a few times in my career already. 07:48 Let's talk about your career because we know that it is long-spanning. Not only that, you also are interested in so many different things. 07:56 You have your own business in IT, you're a public speaker, you're currently uh in... I'll say, tell me all about it. 08:04 Tell me about this journey that you're on. Yeah. Now, I don't recommend it for all because it's not of a... 08:11 It's a lot of long days and it takes some time. But I got to tell you, even the University of Phoenix helped prepare me for all these things I'm doing at the same time. 08:19 Right? Because I had to work and had a family and go to school and sometimes get my papers done at my window of doing schoolwork was like from nine to midnight. 08:31 Right? Because I got a priority, right? Family got to take care of the kids. I have an 8 and 11 year old, so these are the times you don't get back. 08:39 A lot of people mentored me along the way, reminded me of that. So, got to take care of that time. So my prime time was from 9 to 12 sometimes to get stuff done. 08:48 But it gave me structure. I'm like, this is my time, I need to do it. I got to get it done. And that helps you when you're doing multiple things. 08:56 So, whether it's the full time job that you got to give, right? You got to give your employer their due. good job, you have other people that are responsible for you, that's part of my brand. 09:06 That's part of what I want my boy's brand to be, right? Paskel says they're gonna do something, they're gonna do it, the best of their ability, bring along people along the way. 09:14 So you gotta give them their time. um So how do you start your own business and keep it going? So even that sort of structure, right? Chapter 4: Career Development and Mentorship 09:21 With the University of Phoenix, working with other people, which was a big part of my journey, especially my bachelor's program, working with learning groups and teams, how do you do that? 09:31 whether you're talking about a corporate environment where you're leading leaders or an entrepreneurial environment where you're leading others, getting people on board, setting that culture, getting everybody on the same page so that you don't have to be there all the time. 09:42 Right? That's how I was able to start CMIT Solutions at Biltmore, keep that going, where I don't have to worry about it during the day because I have a team that's working on that. 09:52 And it allows me to do other passions. Financial literacy is a big one. I'm working with some of my... 09:58 My friends over the course of time, started our own little cohort in a nonprofit, which has given me an avenue for pursuing something else on the financial side in the future too. 10:07 So it's been a challenge, but a lot of the foundational stuff I learned from the University of Phoenix. 10:13 You're clearly doing an excellent job because from what I've read in your leadership, you are raising up other leaders so quickly that they're leaving your team. 10:23 yeah, the fun stuff, the fun stuff. Yeah, and you know, I learned, again, learned that early on. 10:29 ah There's a couple of ways that you can go about stuff, right? 10:33 You can go about life trying to hoard as much as you can, whether it's knowledge so that people have to go to you, whether it's your talented folks because you wanna keep them within yourself and you wanna keep moving yourself up, or you can take the other approach. 10:48 ah whatever's been given with me, I try to share with others. 10:53 You share how organizational games work, how networking's so important, how education for a purpose, right? 11:01 Not just to get it, but what's the intention in getting that? You develop others, um they flourish out, and your network just increases, right? 11:10 I've had folks that have left me going on to bigger and better things and other institutions, sometimes in the same one, and then what happens when they're doing that same thing? 11:19 opportunities open up. And sometimes the people that I'm leaving are going to other folks that I've worked with along the way that are now given back as well. 11:28 And it changes careers, changes lives, it just uh things tend to come around. Absolutely. 11:34 I hear you say that networking is important, but more so I definitely heard you say that mentorship is important. 11:41 You're making sure that you're a man of integrity and you're passing that on to your children so that they can be men of integrity in the future as well. 11:47 Tell me what mentorship means to you because you're currently mentoring people. What did that, how did that affect you? 11:54 What mentors have you had in your life and what tips did they give you to help you push to this place that you're at now? 12:01 Yeah, so mentors are big and we can talk about sponsorship too, a separate thing, but mentors are big. And I'll talk for myself for just starting out. 12:07 She was an HR officer at the time. I still remember her like it was yesterday and we're talking almost what, 30 years now? 12:16 She was the one, right? I did an interview with her. 12:20 I was trying to go from the branch to the technical help desk that for my first real like IT related job where I was going from six bucks an hour to 12.24. 12:31 And not only did I get that job because she gave me a shot, but she gave me tips right from the beginning of how to show up, both in person, when I was at home, how to prepare, how to dress for success, how to show up from the beginning. 12:48 So not only did she help me get my first opportunity, but she helped set me up. I never forgot her name, never forgot her. 12:55 Long after she retired, I still reached out and told her because she checked in on me as well. Again, little portions in life, right, where you can go left or you can go right. 13:04 You have no opportunity, you get a little one where you get to show yourself, but it's not just getting the opportunity. Once you're there, what are you gonna do with it? 13:11 And that's where mentors can be so key. When you're open to it, and that's been the big thing too, right? 13:16 When you're open to it, people that have been there before, that have seen it, and that somehow, sometimes have made the mistakes that they've had to learn through, when you're 13:26 able to get that gold, and really take it in and you're able to avoid some of the pitfalls, but go right towards some of the benefits. 13:35 It can literally be a life changer. And in every major role that I've gotten, those mentors have been there along the way. 13:43 And when you see that and you see how it's changed my life, how it's given me opportunities that, again, a kid from the projects in the Bronx didn't have. 13:52 I have opportunities that I talk about my brother and sister all the time, right? Brother is so much smarter than me. mean, computer with programmer and all that other stuff. Chapter 5: Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities for Small Businesses 14:00 I got to share stuff with him 14 years older than me that he never was privileged to get. And it wasn't because again, I can't program. 14:08 I tried being a programmer. I don't have the talent. He can run. But just suddenly those things, those bits of gold that you get can just shorten the path that you have to take by so much. 14:20 So mentors are so important and oh being open to it. And then looking to give back. That's the other thing I've made a point of. 14:29 It's not just taken in, right? And you never know when the person that's mentoring you either needs mentoring or suddenly you can open up a door for them because you know their character. 14:41 You know their work ethic. And I've seen that. And I never thought I would have saw that earlier in my career, but I've seen that so often. These people that I looked up to that gave so much to me. 14:50 Suddenly I was in a position to give something back and That feeling is priceless as well. That's when that circle is really fully coming all around. 14:58 And not only for you, probably your mentor as well. 15:01 Having the opportunity to be able to receive that from you, knowing that their hard work put you in a place, that sacrifice that they put, that they put in you, put you in a place 15:11 because of you being driven and focused and actually taking in what they say and putting in implementing it, that they now have the opportunity to actually benefit from it. 15:21 As someone who's deeply involved in both IT and leadership, What do you see as the most exciting AI application for small to mid-sized businesses today? 15:30 Oh, that's a good one. What's the most? You know what I? 15:38 And I think about this all the time. In fact, I just went to one of the professional organizations. 15:42 went to their conference uh last week and I was taking some notes and one of the and I think the person that delivered this comment wasn't even in IT, right? 15:50 I forget what she was doing, but uh I think she might have been a state representative. But one of the things she mentioned was that uh just about every role. 16:00 is going to be augmented with artificial intelligence in the future. And it's a scary thing sometimes when you think about it. 16:07 But augmented means work alongside. Right. And that's going to be the real key difference with just about anything we do. 16:15 So we think about small businesses. I start thinking about what's the service that is being provided that separates one business from another. 16:22 That's every small business secret sauce. Right. Because very often products are quite similar. Sometimes it's service. 16:28 Sometimes it's it's delivering something in a timely way that someone else can't. What's going to differentiate it going forward? 16:35 Artificial intelligence is so rampant, but it's designed when used right to make complicated things or things that took a long time to do that in many cases we really didn't want to do ourselves. 16:48 Being able to make it so that we can do it. So one of the first things I would do for any small business owner, and you don't have to be technolo, you don't have to be a technologist. 16:56 You don't have to have that background, but you have to be aware. Right. 16:59 And a lot of the stuff we're talking about, whether it's the University of Phoenix and getting uh going to classes and being made aware of stuff that you never knew about before working with other folks, we can't be scared with it. 17:09 There's free versions of it playing around with it, knowing that there's settings where, especially on the paid version, where you're not sharing it with the world because that's how it learns. 17:19 Right. You put stuff in and everybody gets to see it. There's things you can do where you can keep your information in there. That's the big one. 17:25 But the awareness piece is one using it. But then others, one of the classes I took for my personal development was literally talking about machine learning. 17:35 What are the basics behind it? What's the thought process behind it? Knowledge is power. 17:41 And I can say that working in the IT age, I'm not the IT geek that gets online when the new iPhone's coming out, right? 17:48 I'm not the programmer like my brother. Back in the day, could I put together a computer and take it apart and put it back together? Maybe. 17:55 If I tried hard, it's never been that. It's been... How do I take something complicated and make it simple? That's always been my secret. 18:02 So how can I explain something that's complicated to where anybody else can know? 18:07 And a lot of times with IT professionals, why there's a bad rap is that all these technical terms and jargons will speak in a way so that, you don't just trust me. 18:16 You don't need to know this. don't know. When we're talking about things about our future, need to be in the, we may not have to be an expert, but know how it works. 18:25 Exactly. If you were to give three tips to our listeners and viewers in regards to AI, just what would they be? 18:37 Well, the first one, again, I'm going to get you need to use it. You need to practice it. You need to. 18:44 not saying I'm not endorsing any product or anything like that. Right. But if you don't if you haven't had if you don't have a free account right now, I'd be questioning that. 18:52 And don't feel like, oh, it's already passed me. All these things are going. Sometimes the best start time to start something is right now. Right. 19:00 Those that haven't gotten their degree yet. Oh, it's going to be forever. I can't do it in four. It took me 10 it right. It would have been never if I didn't start. 19:07 So the best time to start is right now. And then two, use your network. We talked about our network or circle. 19:15 If you have that network, there's going to be somebody in there that has done it already. 19:20 So now a lot of the stuff that I've, I've the knowledge that I've gotten, the person that I use for my social media, she's the AI queen, right? 19:27 So you know what I do? We set time every other week. There's an hour and we share. She goes through shares, what she's been doing. 19:34 I refer her out because she knows so much of what she's doing, but I learned from that as well. And then finally, how can you use it as a competitive advantage? Chapter 6: Financial Literacy and Community Impact 19:44 Right? I was just talking to my uh delivery team about this the other day. We were talking about needing to come up with another advanced emotional intelligence course. 19:54 All right. Well, how long is that going to take? How much money is that going to... I'm on a call. 19:57 So, and I don't suggest doing this on a call with your team, but I clickety click and within five minutes, 20:03 I had a two hour outline on an advanced emotional intelligence course complete with uh suggested discussion items and break. 20:13 So course, right? It's like anything else. Am I going to just take that and make the finished product? No, that's what your training professionals are. 20:20 That's what your designers are for, your facilitators. But now something that didn't exist at all, I have at least given you a starting point. 20:28 And that's what artificial intelligence can do. So again, that's the thing. Get familiar with it. Use it yourself. Reach out to your network. 20:35 There's someone in there that is an artificial intelligence geek, whether they're using it at work, whether they're using it for financial means, for trading, and then find a business problem. 20:44 Make it your personal project. It doesn't have to be assigned to you. Make it your personal project. How can you use it to make your work either easier or drive value to the business? 20:54 What boss isn't going to leader isn't going to appreciate if their team member comes up to them with an idea of how artificial intelligence can take into the next level. 21:02 Absolutely. So you're not just a guru in AI, but also in financial literacy. Tell me more about your passion there and the program. 21:11 Yeah, and you're too kind to me, right? It's always a continuous learning loop. 21:15 But um again, the network, financial things that things that a boy in the Bronx never knows about um who has time to save when you're living from paycheck to paycheck or better 21:28 yet, when your parents, those around you have never had any savings account, right? didn't even have insurance. 21:35 It's just literally living from paycheck to paycheck. It's like anything else. You think about sometimes the disparity between the wealth gap. 21:43 It's not that always right. It's not always the evil person that's trying to keep someone that you don't know what you don't know. That's why mentors. 21:50 That's why this whole conversation about using your network so important. Same thing. 21:54 When I when I left, I suddenly had access to my 401k that I had spent 20 years building the best I could. 22:01 Now it can be rolled over to an IRA. What do I do with it? Do I just hand it over to someone else to manage? Well, guess what? I have people in my network that have been doing some of their stuff for a long time. 22:11 And then so they started sharing their knowledge. And then we started having our weekly investment group and we started, you know what? 22:19 This is the type of stuff that I never knew about. I spoke to my sister, my brother about again, 10, 14 years older than me. No one talked to them about it. 22:28 Our 401k, who looks at that? How many people will work at a place for all these years? saving their 401k, which is good. You never turn down free money. 22:36 That's another thing I was taught right. But then it's in one of those funds. Imagine target funds or whatever don't know exactly what it is, but you leave it there. 22:44 You don't look at it unless the market's going down and you feel bad and you look at it. But is it performing the best that it could be? Do you have other options? 22:52 All those types of things, which are life changers, how some people can be averaging a 400 % return on their 401k. 22:59 Other people, oh, I got 60%. That's great. Not when I know others are getting 400%, especially when I'm using that for retirement. 23:07 How does that go in for retirement? Do I want to work until I can't move anymore? What do I want to do? 23:14 So we started having those conversations ourselves and I started learning about things that I never knew about. Things that, well, the market's great. 23:21 And then there's other products. There's other things that people that know that's how they have generational wealth. 23:28 Because they teach others, they live Chapter 7: Leadership and Giving Back to the Community 23:32 below their means, they have a plan, my goodness, a plan, and then suddenly they're not just not only struggling, not going from paycheck to paycheck, but now they're in a position to set their kids up with the education. 23:46 Not plenty of people will set their kids up with a pot of money. And then we see that in the news, how that plays out, but educating them along the way. 23:54 So I'm like, this is what we want to do. So we set up our nonprofit and education is a big part of my life. Again, University of Phoenix helped me with that. 24:02 I had someone that's worked with annuities for a long time. She's done that for 20 years. She's always referred people for securities, ah but no one could pass the test. 24:10 So I'm like, you know what? I'm going to test. I had to take lots of tests over my time. I'm like, let me work on my Series 65 license. 24:16 So I got my Series 65 license, which gives me additional options, right? Down the road as well, which gives me options with the nonprofit we're working on putting together. 24:25 But it goes back to giving back. And now I want my 11 year old. for some of these classes that I've taken on stocks, besides just the regular investments, but now how to trade. 24:35 I'm going to, my 11 year old is now going to go through some of those online classes that I've gone through. He likes money. He likes spending it. 24:42 Well, he's going to learn how to earn it at an early age. He can read charts, right? That's what they're learning at school. 24:47 And now how about him getting that sort of knowledge headstart, something where he can earn on the side and have a career that can follow him wherever he goes. 24:57 Closely followed by the eight year old. and my niece's nephew. So that's the type of life changing where you want to talk about like narrowing down the wealth gap between different, knowledge is power. 25:08 And when we can share that, then everyone's lives can benefit. So that's why that's been a passion. 25:14 So I know you have a great passion for uh obviously IT and then clearly putting back into the community, ensuring that to shorten that wealth gap between the communities. 25:26 In the black community, you're also a leader. Tell me more about you being the president of this association. 25:34 Yeah, so, and again, when you start talking about opportunities, I'm blessed, right? There's not, I've learned that along the way as I've gone up. 25:44 There wasn't a lot of people in senior that had gotten to the professional level that I've gotten to. So with that comes certain responsibilities as well. 25:52 Don't have to do it, right? But with that comes certain responsibilities. And it's a privilege to be honest with you. Because again, to who much is given, much is expected, and you've got to pay it back. 26:03 And I know I got pulled in early on at Allstate when I was there. I think I was there a year and I got pulled in to be the president and the chair and to help. 26:11 But again, it's to share what's been given. And it's also to amplify and give other people an opportunity. 26:21 I'm so blessed to be a part of that organization, brought in speakers from some of the other professional organizations so that people can talk about. Chapter 8: Living with Purpose and Intent 26:30 And in some of these cases, still, it's people that are older than me that are getting this information for the first time. But it gives them an opportunity to know. 26:38 It gives them an opportunity to share. And again, we welcome to everybody, right? We've got a very, when you start doing programs on financial literacy, which is my hallmark program while I was leading that group, we had stuff there every year. 26:50 We got the most participation across the enterprise because these things benefit everybody. But especially for those that haven't had it. 26:58 This is the type of stuff that transforms lives. It's hard to have a bad day, right? 27:03 We all have bad days, but when you can go to the well and you hear someone thanking you for sending this up with me, I haven't even been contributing to my 401k, let alone getting the company match. 27:14 I can't believe I haven't done that, but now I'm going to. Brought in speakers from the University of Phoenix who are still active, right? 27:21 And suddenly resume making classes or some of these career paths where people didn't think that they could. have a professional journey. 27:28 But now, right, I can only take four classes before things have gotten a lot better with some of the programming now where tuition reimbursement goes a long way. 27:35 And now suddenly they're starting to take down that path as well so that they have additional options that they wouldn't have before. So it's, yeah, it's been great. 27:44 You are so inspirational and I know that all of the listeners and viewers of this particular episode are going to be so taken back and simply inspired by your drive. 27:56 If you were to ensure that there was nothing left on the table and you got one thing across from this episode to the viewers and listeners, what would that thing be? 28:10 We live in a difficult world, right? It's challenging at times and it could be pressing. Remember, most people are really nice people. Most people want to help. 28:19 Most people, we all want to succeed. Most people want each other to succeed, right? By default, we don't go out starting our day, how can I keep you down? 28:28 How can I hurt this other person? There's always exceptions in every group, right? There's the 0.1 % in every group, but everybody wants people to succeed with that knowledge, right? 28:41 Use it as your power. Use your network. Be intentional. What do you, what's important to you? 28:49 Is it a title? Is it money? Be honest, whatever it is. What's important to you? What are you willing to give to get there? 28:56 Are there things you aren't willing to give up? Then know that. Know that. Be quite intentional, honest with yourself, with your network. 29:05 And then as you're going through it, think about what you're leaving behind. You may not have kids. It may be a friend. It's somebody in your life that you love. 29:13 Right. When you're gone, if something happened tomorrow, what would they want to know about you? What would you want it to be? And Mike, I have an eight and 11. 29:21 I mentioned that before. That's the drive. Right. I want I hope to be around. want to see them through all their life's achievements and all that other stuff. 29:29 But if something happened to me tomorrow, I want them to know without a shadow of a doubt, I did everything I could for them and I set them up. 29:37 And when you are able to live your life that way. There's no regrets. Things may not, you may not always get the job you want. 29:42 You may not always get what you want at the time, but not only are you not going to have any regrets, but you're going to have a team around you that's pulling for you. That's going to help you get it. 29:50 All you have to do is do the work. And somehow that brings us to the end of this episode of the Degrees of Success podcast. 29:58 Don't forget to like and subscribe. I'm your host, Freda Richards, reminding you that your next chapter might just be your best one yet. 30:06 See you soon.