MUST WATCH! Difference Makers Discussion Bunny and Bill Keeler

You know, I can see when it starts recording, so you didn't have to count me in. But I do appreciate that, Mr. Keeler, very much so.

The old media guy.

So this is going to be. My cheeks already hurt just from like the three seconds of can't stop smiling. So I can't wait for this difference makers discussion. So we have Bill Keeler with us for this difference makers discussion. And while Bill has an amazing voice and is an amazing talented business owner and business professional, he also has some other gifts and talents that I was hoping he could do something that not many business or difference makers can do and start a difference makers discussion off with an intro song like some cheesy late night talk show. But we're not going to be cheesy and it's not late at night. So without further ado, go ahead, Silver Fox, take it away.

I know you're an Eagles fan. All you get is that was all that was in my contract.

So. No, that's not all that's in your contract. You better keep the guitar pretty close.

All right. You know, my rider says that I get a bottle of bourbon and a bag of Cheetos. So every time I play. I know.

Well, I think I've covered you on the bottle of bourbon a couple times. Bag of Cheetos.

Not sure I'll be looking for cheetos. Delivered by 4pm how are you?

I am so much better now. I have a surprise for you.

As opposed to the intro you threw on me? Yeah, what else? Bring it. Let's go. It's Friday. I have no idea what is coming next.

That was it. That's it.

You're not gonna play that?

Really?

It?

No, I can't play. So I sent you a bag of Cheetos. This is signed by Patty Loveless.

How cool that is.

So. And actually I got this at a charity silent auction. I think I want to say it was like a horse thing that I was doing. But anyway, I really wanted it and obviously I won it. And it's sitting in my. I didn't steal it, but it's been sitting in my closet. And so I was thinking while we were gonna do this difference makers discussion, I was like, you know, first off, I really need to learn how to play this because I've had this guitar for over 30 years, probably, mmm, maybe 25 and I have no idea how to play it. But my 8 year old now has a guitar and she is playing it and she has zero lessons either. So you can imagine how that sounds. And little known Extra bunny guitar Fact is that my uncle plays guitar all the time, so Ann sings all the time. He owns a business. So I just, I wrapped all of that together for you there.

I'm like your uncle. I own a business, I play guitar and I sing.

Okay. That's the second time this week that you've gone between calling me your sister and now saying that you're my uncle. And since we most formally refer to each other as work husband and wife, I'm really uncomfortable with the way that you've taken this conversation now.

Yeah, it's the isolation. It's throwing off the entire vision of my org chart in my relationship. So.

So first off, you tested negative for Covid, Correct?

I tested negative for Covid. My wife tested positive. I took the test about 16 days after symptoms. She took them four days after symptoms. We had all the same symptoms. My doctor said, you just got a false negative. So I had it. But I won't be listed in all those columns you see up on the news screens. I'm not one of those numbers. My wife is. Which means later when they give everybody that had it really good parking, I won't get that. So she'll have to drive going forward.

So I have a follow up question to that. In the aspect that you're okay, though.

We're okay. Actually, we were incredibly lucky and we're tremendously grateful literally every day we watch the news and hear about it. We had pretty mild symptoms. I mean, we weren't in the hospital. We were sick for about three weeks. Just felt awful and incredibly achy and tremendously low grade fever and tired as can be. But yeah, you're talking like a Monday.

I have sympathy pains in my throat right now and I'm wanting to cough, but I don't want anybody that's listening to this to think that I have symptoms. So itches and.

I didn't even mention a cough. And you've made up a sympathy pain which has now made me want to cough. Hang on. You brought it back around.

Are you sure that wasn't the fact that you've confessed to me that you're dusting off all of your guitars because now you're just sitting in your man cave.

They are all out. I won't show you, but yeah, I've been pulling guitars.

Can you show us?

Can I what? Can I show you?

Can you show us?

I could, yes. All right, so you saw the one so out just in case I need to do something on the spur of the moment, because who doesn't? And Then the almighty band room number.

Of that looks like a closet.

Well, okay, you might call it a closet. I call it a band room. So when we built the addition on the house so I could live here and we put this in, I said, wouldn't it be cool if I had a band room? And my wife said, yeah, let's build a closet. So maybe. Maybe that's true. But it fits all the guitars. So the goal is to get enough guitars to need a bigger band room or bigger closet.

Oh, my gosh. So Goldfish just totally had a brain fart. And we need Goldfish to come back because what I told you we started with this whole conversation with the Eagles. And you know that the very last thing that I did before I socially isolated was went to a Eagles concert.

Thus the choice of intro song.

So.

And take it easy, by the way. Thematic.

Yes, yes. And so it's not Glenn Frey, because he's passed on. And why can't I think of. Help me.

Don Henley.

No, it's not Don Henley. We're talking about guitars. Why would you go to Don Henley?

Because you went. It was a derivative of Glenn Frey guitars. Who are we talking about?

It's not Don Henley.

Joe Walsh.

Thank you, Joe Walsh. No, Joe Walsh. 100% Joe Walsh. Okay. So I told you during the concert that I don't even want to know what, like, his house look looks like because he changed more guitars. Like, he changed the guitars more than, I don't know, something that I can compare to. That changes a lot.

So he changed his guitars every song?

Multiple times during a song.

He didn't used to do that. Why do you think he does that?

I think because people pay me. I love you, Joe Walsh.

To play that guitar.

I love you, Joe Walsh. But I think it's because you're really damn good at playing a guitar and that you're really cute, but nobody understands what you're saying when you're singing. So all you've got is the guitar. So. And maybe he also just wants to spread the love maybe between all the guitars.

Maybe.

How many guitars do you think Joe Walsh has? And I'm probably gonna need you to sing the answer.

How many do I think he has? I think he has a hundred guitars.

That wasn't singing the answer.

It wasn't. It's a hard song to sing to. How do I do that? My guess is Joe Walsh has over 100 guitars. Very unpracticed. It's better when I sing the actual song, but I'm guessing he takes 100 on tour, and they give him $1,000 a show if he plays any of them one time.

So that's probably why he does that.

That's entirely why he does it. You know how miserable it is to switch guitars every song? Miserable?

No, I mean, if that's your art, like, if that's your artistry, though, I mean. Okay, so let me compare it to what I love to do. If you had eight long out on the beach and you're like, hey, Bonnie, like, take this longboard out. Like, I'm gonna have my favorite. But depending on the conditions, depending on the waves, depending on what kind of beach we're at, depending on if it's rocks or sand or any of that kind of stuff, like the amount of whitewash, I wouldn't be. I would be okay with, like, changing my tool that I was using. Now, horses. I probably don't really want to change horses, but, I mean, I've got trail riding horses. I've got horses for barrel racing. So if it's a different kind of.

Song.

It does make sense.

So way back in the day, like in the 70s, the day.

Was it a Wednesday? I need to know if it was a Wednesday.

It was possibly a Wednesday. Joe Walsh probably missed a lot of days in the 70s. My guess is he changed guitars a few times every show. Like, Bruce Springsteen used to never change his guitar. He played the same guitar for three and a half hours in concert. That's what bar guys do. But now you know. So you do. You would change guitars. Think about it from a business standpoint. Your guitar is a coaching tool, right? So you would employ this guitar that applies to this situation. So Stratocasters for these songs, and Les Paul is for those songs, and an acoustic guitar is for these songs. But then you set up your night so you don't have to change guitars. So you play the four Stratocaster songs in a row. Change guitars, bring it on, right? Joe Walston changing guitars every time. And I promise, he unstraps and hands it and somebody hands him another guitar and he hears Cha Ching. And I'm sure it's song appropriate, but you could play any number of guitars on any number of songs. Joe's no dummy. And you're the first person in the history of the world that's called Joe Walsh cute.

I do. I think he's like, can you say. Can I say Joe Walsh is cute? And then you play Joe Walsh cute music. Ready?

Yeah, let's do that.

So I do think that Joe Walsh is cute.

Do that for any artist you pick, they'll just keep doing a little cute lick. I don't think that should be.

I think it was probably more important to make it Joe Walsh specific and not cute specific, because that didn't sound Joe Walsh at all.

Did not. It was my least powerful Joe Walsh impression that in the playing Joe Walsh. Walsh with an sh. Yeah.

You said Joe Walsh.

I said, it's Joe Walsh. Pull your hair back.

You sound like Joe Walsh right now.

I could never be in the state Joe Walsh is in in a professional day. No chance. Although actually he's a recovering addict at this juncture. He has totally got himself clean. Has been for years. So good for Joe Walsh.

Yeah. And I'm super proud of Joe Walsh. And like I said, I think he's adorable and cute and I think that he is one talented human being. There we go. He's one very talented human being.

Yes.

It was just when he steps up to the microphone, it's like, I know why you play get guitar most of the time. Because, you know, other than the abalone part, we as an entire. Like, you could see the entire stadium was just like.

Did.

Did you. Did you get what he was saying? Is there subtitles somewhere? Can we put subtitles up? I. That was. Yeah. So I think it took. When you. When you watch this video, Jo Walsh, know that we love you and that I'm still listening to my LPs, and that there is no one, nobody like you.

So I'm going to bring it full circle for you, right? I'm going to bring it all in as a difference maker. Right? So Joe Walsh got brought into the Eagles because Glenn Frey, who was the taskmaster, and Bernie Leddon, one of the original Eagles, who was the chicken picking, banjo playing, real country rock guy. Glenn Frey wanted to go much harder rock. And he and Bernie Leddon had enough, literally enough fist fights that he decided he wanted to replace Bernie Leddon. And somebody recommended Joe Walsh, who was already a big star solo. And Glenn Frey said, let's see, we pick up a lot of guitar skill, even though Bernie Leddon was a great guitar player. So that helps me. We lose a little on vocals. He already knew we were not getting a singer, but we were getting a crazy person who could play great guitar. And that's Joe Walsh. And he's a good songwriter. He's written some great songs.

So you said, bring this all around. A difference maker.

He made a difference in the Eagles.

Okay, there we go.

I wanted you to ask. I want you to beg for it. There it is Joe Walsh, the difference maker in the Eagles.

You know who else makes a difference in the Eagles?

All of the Eagles.

And you don't have. You might. You might want to get your guitar ready because I'm about to say the same word again.

No, let's. All right. And I'm supposed to play a lick. I hope you pick one. I know. All right, let's go. Who else makes a difference in the Eagles?

Deacon Fry. Because he is really cute.

Diggy probably didn't have any songs, but his dad sure did, so. Boys, he's a spinning.

Oh, my gosh. So it creeped me out in. I'll retract that. So 2018, I went to go see the Eagles at the Nat Stadium, and one of my all time favorite songs is Take it Easy. And my dad and I used to play that all the time. And so, you know, of course I obviously, Obviously, spoiler alert. Knew that Glenn Frey would not be singing that song. But I also am one of those people that looks up the set list before I go to the concert. I just gotta know I spoil it. I do. I spoil it. So I knew it. No, I don't do that. That'd be weird. So I knew it was coming. And so you hear the music. So go there with me real quick. So. So you're in this outdoor baseball stadium. You hear this music from your childhood, from your early adulthood, from the ride up from my house to D.C. just to hear this concert. And then all of a sudden, you hear Glenn Frey singing which song? And Take it easy. And you open your eyes and it's not Glenn Frey. It's Deacon.

Deacon Fry.

It was. What is like, a really positive word for haunting.

Haunting.

So. Well, Deacon, on top of the fact that you were wearing a baseball jersey, I think it was a Nats jersey. And you're incredibly cute.

Just one chord for that.

You also. I will admit this, you also made me cry. Because, I mean, I know how. Like, there's so. I'm. I'm an entrepreneur. My dad's an entrepreneur. There's really no way that I could ever like my. My dad. I think he said that he's proud of me. I know he's proud of me. I hope he's proud of me. But it's not like I could go and run a garage door company the way that my dad did. Like, I can't. There's no apples to apples. Like, I'm running a company. I'm running several companies. But, like, there's no real apples to apples. But For Deacon Fry to step out on that stage and sing his dad's song. And then they play at the end of the song, like, just a clip of Deacon sitting on his dad's lap and his dad, like, singing him the song and playing the guitar. I was just done.

So what do you think is most powerful about Deacon Fry? Let's make this a business legacy conversation. What do you think is most powerful about Deacon Fry stepping into that space? And did he step into it or does he own his own?

So I think that it's his own space. I definitely think it's his own space. And I think that if you're. So my grandfather has a trucking company. And, you know, my uncles run it now. So my grandfather, sons, obviously, my uncles run this trucking company. So one of the most powerful things is that I'm pretty sure in most family owned businesses, the second generation is judged against the first generation. And from what I can see with the Eagles, this is a family that Deacon grew up with that when his dad passed away, opened their arms, their hearts, and the stage to help him heal and are not in any way, shape or form judging him against his dad, but saying, really good point. You're gonna make me cry. But like, just saying, you know what, you are making your dad really proud. And to hear that from people that spent so much time with his dad. And yeah, I mean, if I started running my grandfather's trucking company and somebody came up to me and said, like, you're making your grandfather proud. It was somebody that had been like one of the drivers that had been with my grandfather's company for. I mean, those guys have been together, what, 40 years?

The Eagles?

50.

50. 19. 70.

Yeah. So, you know, I don't think there's anybody. First off, I don't think my grandfather's company is 50 years old. It might be pretty close to it because I think it's the 70s, but just. I can't. It blows my mind to just have that energy of not being measured against your dad and not having that conversation, but to be able to be surrounded by this family that loved your dad so much and then think about the hundreds of thousands of. I mean, it's. Well, I'm gonna say thousands of fans as he sings that are sharing that moment with him, thinking, your dad would be so proud. But now imagine the millions of Eagles fans that are like, your dad would be so proud. Like, that's just. That's got to be an incredible feeling. And, you know, I. I'm. I'm Emotional from a daughter of an entrepreneur and a granddaughter of an entrepreneur. Imagining my dad and my grandfather being proud of me. And I was emotional that night. And even when I saw them in March, because I was thinking I was equating it to my own personal situation. So I'm empathizing, but I'm also thinking, like, what a powerful healing process to go through together to have these people who knew and loved your dad in the Eagles family and then the fans to be there for you. Like, just amazing.

It's such an interesting conversation about business and legacy. I don't think for bands it works the way it could for a company. And I think Deacon Fry's is actually accomplishing something unique. So here's why I think that. So think about the UCrops. The UCrops had by the second generation, they really blew it up. You know, Bobby Youkrop took over from his father, who founded it, and really launched it into what we know as the Ucrops brand and business. And the third generation came along. They were involved, but it wasn't the same for them. Right? And so that's why it dissipates. Like Adolf Jewelers is another example, right? Ronnie Adolf's mother started it at a kiosk in Willow Lawn, and he took it, blew it up, and made it that big store. But by the time he was ready to retire, his kids weren't interested, although they took a version of it. And it's got a different business name. But from inside a company, all that transfer you're talking about, it really has to work because everyone inside is counting on the next person, the legacy person, to be able to keep it the same, but also make it something different and better and continue that evolution. But outside the Ucrops, the people walking into you crops, we didn't recognize the change in that dad to daughter or grandfather to granddaughter, we didn't recognize it. It's mostly internal. But a band, they might have felt something familial inside and welcomed Deacon Fry, right? He wears the baseball jersey just like his dad did in the late 70s. He's got the long hair just like his dad had in the 70s. And he's. I almost feel like he's giving up his own identity to try to step into his dad's for everybody, which actually, I don't think he needs to do. He's proven himself now, right? Your tears are proof of that. But imagine if a band like. Take the Beatles, if the Beatles, four children got together and went on tour. Zack Starkey on drums and Not Julian Lennon, what, his younger brother Yoko's son, whose name just completely. Sean Lennon on guitar, and Paul McCartney's son on bass and George Harrison son Donny Harrison on guitar. And they went out in their father's roles and they look just like him and played. Would we be as moved about that? Would we feel we were watching the Beatles? Would it be the same?

See, but I think it. For me, it was different because I'm not watching a reincarnation of Glenn Frey. Like, it's the one thing where I think that Glenn. I think that Deacon is wearing the jerseys, and I think Deacon's being Deacon, and I think that's his choice. He's not doing it because, I mean, maybe it's because it's what the fans want, but it's. When you watch him, you're gonna have to YouTube some of the. Some of the shows because when you watch him, he's such a. He's such a small, all humble personality, and he is honored and like, humbled to be sharing the stage. And I think he doesn't have an ounce of. I've got something to prove, you know, and for the listeners, the UCrops family is a grocery chain store in Virginia. I'm not sure if it's farther than Virginia because I'm not from here. But if you're wondering what ucrops business is, and I think in business, though, there's such a competitive analysis that it's like, okay, you're the second generation. Like, you're taking over. In Deacon's place, he was not taking over. He's just stepping in, coming apart. Like, he's just becoming a part of it. And so, you know, it would be like if I introduced my daughter as one of the consultants or if my daughter was one of the speakers for, you know, A Better Place Consulting, I think that she would take the stage. And people may or may not relate her to me, but at the end of the day, she's going to be her own thing. And she's just adding to the difference that A Better Place Consulting makes, but she's not trying to be me. And that's one of the things that it's hard as a parent and a business owner, that I'm not trying to raise my daughters to be me. I'm not trying to raise them to be entrepreneurs. My parents didn't, you know, push me towards this entrepreneurial career. Actually, I tried to steer well away from an entrepreneurial career. You know that. But there's. It's. I don't Know that business is as healing as music is. But I do know that the empathy of knowing that you're another business owner out there in the world, this world, and being able to call you and say, hey, Bill, you know, like, this is what's going on, and this is how I'm feeling about it in today's time, especially, is probably as close to healing as Deacon stepping up to the microphone and petrifying to be that vulnerable and singing one of his dad's songs.

Right. You know, I think you hit on a lot of topics that are of emotional value. So music is very emotional. It takes us to a place we are in, and it reminds us of places we've been that were meaningful, sometimes dark, but years later, still meaningful. He stepped into a space to replace somebody who was enormous, and it was his father. So the courage to jump in that space, much less that space out, related to him. Right. To help something carry on, and it kept something going for us. There's a lot in that that is to be honored. And no wonder you were tearing up. You know, I'm a music snob. You know that, right? I'm a purist, so I love Deacons there. I'm not a fan of Vince Gill being in the band, but that's a whole nother conversation. Nothing against steel.

Why did you ask for him in here?

Nothing against.

You know what?

The Eagles.

The Eagles were gonna share this video until you went there.

I appreciate that, but, you know, so go back to it. Bands change members. It happens all the time, and sometimes it harms them, but often they thrive. Sometimes they grow. The Stones change members and grew. The Eagles changed members and grew. The E Street Band changed members and grew. Tom Petty hardly changed members, right? Changed a drummer, changed a bass player, remained a superstar band for 35 years. Companies do that too, right? So I think the question is, when somebody comes in, what's that mean for the organism that is the organization, whether it's a band or UCrops or your company or my company? And I always look at it like the answer is, it is absolutely going to change it. So when I've been in bands and we've lost a bass player and brought somebody in, the idea that that bass player has to be exacting of the prior players so we don't. Change is a mistake. That's a mistake in our perspective. Like, it's a new ingredient in the soup. It is going to change it. The key is, did we bring in an ingredient that keeps it in the right flavor or even better? And I think that's what makes a difference from an internal hiring standpoint. You have to not only accept the change, but welcome the difference it would make when you don't do that thoughtfully, that you end up with a terrible keyboard player that thinks he's the same singer. And sticks. See, I did it. I got snobby again. I went right down the or.

So you're gonna play a couple seconds of intro to one of my favorite Eagles songs, and then I'm gonna tie this up with a band member business correlation.

So I don't know the song.

You do know the song. It's the one that I asked you to play the solo for. And you just sent me the intro because you were learning the solo.

And I just want to make it very clear I have mastered that solo.

Okay, well, you can end with that solo.

That's for another cause. So I think you're talking about. Is this right? Sat. I almost sang for you. I must did it, but the Cheetos aren't here. You. I didn't get it. I was so close.

So the Queen and Freddie Mercury of the business world is Apple and Steve Jobs.

Okay, I'll go with it.

So there's the people, but there's also the energy and the culture and the morale and that the positive stress and tension that exists in business that is kind of this magic recipe for success. So it's not about having the same person or replacing or any of that kind of stuff. I think that the same tension that Deacon feels stepping up to the microphone is probably what is the energy that we feel in the music. And so the passion that Steve Jobs had for the technology and for delivering on Apple's brand promise is why it was so good. And, you know, the fact. And, you know, you watch interviews with Freddie Mercury and he said, you know, I got everything that I wanted and I sucked. It was the tension within Queen that made Queen what it is. And so right now, if you're a business owner or professional and you're feeling that stress and you're feeling that tension, now is that magical time where you can use that energy to make a difference.

I agree. I'll add one in there with you as well. So I recently watched a. About 10 years old now, but it was an Elvis Costello series where he would bring other rock stars in and talk to them about their careers and play. And he brought in the police. And it was like 2012, right? Way after the police had been the police and they'd gotten back together and they were notorious for despising one another. Right. Throughout their entire career. And even decades later, after they reunited, he was interviewing him, and you could see they were trying to be fun for the crowd, but every little shot had a true barb to it. But in that they literally were saying, like, the drummer who was the boss of the Police said, this is my band. Like, we need this. This is us. And they. And you could see Sting sort of. You know, Sting make sort of a face like, no matter what difficulties they had, everything they did together was in great part a result of that. And what they created was so huge. And he said, we will always be the police. And Sting nodded his head, and he. Sting, Right. And that's the truth. Like, that tension you can talk about, like, if you can focus on this is difficult. I'm angry about this. I'm mourning this. I'm suffering that I don't know what to do. What do I count on? Oh, yeah, we're still the police. Yeah. Okay. That's worth remembering. And I don't know any Police songs on guitar, so I might have taken a track that I'm not able to finish the way you want. I could play, though. You know, let's get back to all the glory days. Was gonna sing, but no Cheetos.

They're on your porch. I. Maybe a squirrel might have stolen them. So I'm gonna let you play us out of this, and then you can choose to stop the recording when you're gonna play us out of this. And I'm gonna put this guitar up on my lap so that I. Yeah.

It makes it look like you're playing. You strum, and I'll play in the background. Down low.

Yeah, well, we're. We're in this together. No, you. You bring that guitar up. Be loud and proud with it. Well, I'm trying to record, and I've got to get this.

Oh, we got lots of things recorded. All right, we're gonna go out here. You ready? And recording is 3, 2, 1. Thank you.