Interview with Christine Barnhart

You're listening to One Sharp Sword cutting through to what Matters Most with outfluencer Dr. Wayne Purnell. Welcome to One Sharp Sword Cutting through to what Matters Most. I'm your host, guide and coach on this journey, Dr. Wayne Purnell. And today, today is a special day. I've got Christine Barnhart with me. Christine is known as the Supply Chain Whisperer. Which, which is great. I love that. The Supply Chain Whisperer. We can learn so much about the leadership journey when we look at different verticals and when we look at Supply chain, you don't think about it. It's behind the scenes. This is one where you go, oh, I wish I had a xyz. And when you order it, suddenly it's there. There's magic in that and Christine knows all about that magic. So today we welcome Christine Barnhart. Welcome to One Sharp Sword.

Awesome. Thank you so much, Wayne. I'm super excited to be here today.

I am super excited to have you. Seriously, you've your journey. I, I have notes in front of me. I may be right. I will be. I'll and, and taking notes along the way and, and I'll pause you for the leadership brilliance that you bring. You've done this quite a long time. You've, you've been in, you're not going.

To make me admit how many years are you?

Come on, you've done this quite a long time. And I mean you started as a child of course, so. And you've been in various organizations and each one offers you new insights and you offer them new insights and along the way, I mean that's part of the human journey. We, we go and we engage and we grow and so what I'd love to do is to back up a little bit and find out, you know, just to share. I love sharing part of the human journey. Before we get into well, what, what is it you're doing now? And yeah, right, you didn't wake up and go today I'm going to be the head of this really long title that I didn't write down.

I love it. So what can I tell you this morning, Wayne? What do you want to know?

Well, okay. So I love, when we first spoke, you talked about being not only loving cabernet but you talked about I do love Cabernet. See, you talked about being just like your, your heart is in such the right place which is one of the reasons I wanted to have you here. The, you're civics minded, you are looking to lift others and you know, one of my Things is lift as you lead. And so let's, let's talk about your journey a little bit. And usually I'll start with like, what influenced you growing up? Did you get into college for a certain direction and go, well, that's not it? Or like, yeah, I knew exactly what it was. So that's, that's where I'd love to go. Like, let's, let's back up. Not to the point of let's begin with your mother, Andre. Not that, but let's go with, you know, like what influenced you growing up that allowed you to have such a good heart and soul, such a good kind of, we've got to help each other kind of mentality.

Well, first I would say I think I'm, I'm pretty fortunate. My parents were quite young when they had me, like 18, 19 years old. But they had a really, really strong like family unit. So super close with my grandparents, my aunts and uncles. I am the oldest child and everything that comes with that. Right. But for me, I think, you know, influence started really early and it was Girl Scouts. So I am a fourth generation Girl Scout. My great grandmother was one of the women that helped stand up the first organizations in Evansville, Indiana, which is where I live. So, you know, a long history of people being, you know, part of the community and giving to others. But I give a ton of credit to Girl Scouts and then team sports later as I got older for helping to give me confidence and, you know, make me more self reliant and resilient and I'm, I'm pretty lucky. School has always come easy to me. I didn't, I didn't realize that that was a gift, I guess until I was and actually until I had my own children. And I have one child who is exactly like me, learns very easily and one child that just learns differently. Right. So school was always super easy. I, and I did well. Like, I mean, I had good grades and advanced classes and whatnot. I think for me the struggle was I was pretty balanced between math and science and like English verbal and so trying to figure out like I didn't have a calling. Like I hear people that talk about, oh, I wanted to be X, you know, I want to be a doctor, I want to be a lawyer. I didn't have a calling, right. I wanted to make enough money to support myself and I wanted to do fun things and I wanted the work to be interesting. And so my uncle was an engineer and my best friend's dad was also an engineer and they both kind of pushed me in that direction. So it was my first real experience with mentors. If I look back, I've had a ton of them since then, but they were like, hey, we think you should be an engineer. And I listened to that and ended up in engineering school as an electrical engineer. And that was really, for me, where the path started was at the University of Evansville.

Amazing.

Yeah.

So you have a degree in ee?

I'm an.

I'm a double E. You're a double E electrical engineer. That's amazing.

That's wire jockey.

That's so good. So most people don't start out with, I know what my calling is. I know my purpose. Most people have to bump into a few walls or be guided. I was one of the lucky ones where in seventh grade, I actually knew that I wanted to do something. In psychology, it was sort of like that. Right. So people talk to each other and help each other and like, I had a. A way of understanding people early on. But most people start where you are, you know. And you were also very fortunate to have guidance, right?

I did, yes. I. Yes. So, so lucky to have really strong role models that, you know, were able to kind of look at me overall and say, you know, I think this would be a really great place for you to start. And they were right. I still think like an engineer. I haven't done true engineering, I mean, at least not electrical engineering in many years, but I solve problems like an engineer. Right. I. I take a step back, I look at the whole situation, I gather data, um, and then in a logical and methodical way, kind of break things down until I get to a solution that, that works for me. And honestly, it drives probably my family crazy because I do that in every single aspect of my life.

It's that it's not a bad process. I mean, that's the process I use when I consult with an organization. The reason that it works is that a perspective of stepping back is not something, again, most people can do in their own lives, in their own organization. You know, when my. My saying is, you can't ask a fish what water is like because they don't have a. A reference point for not water.

That's true.

Right. So you're in a. Your practice is one of perspective, which I'm a huge fan of. It's one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you is. Is so you would say magical things like that. Right. So problem solving, step back, look at the whole picture, gather data, then gather more data because you're always missing Something and then say, okay, this is a, this is a possible path and be willing to test it. Love that. I love that.

I think the be willing to test it thing is actually really important. Wayne. I see a lot of people that are really risk adverse and they miss opportunities and they miss learning experiences because they don't want to fail. They don't. They, like, they have inertia to some extent. Right. And I think for me, I, you know, I said it up front, I had a really strong family unit and now I complement that with really strong friends and peers. And so I have a safety net. And I know that I have a safety net. I'm really thankful for that. It gives me this ability then to, you know, put myself out there and take some risks. And there are definitely roles that I've had that I was not very good at, that, you know, quickly had to pivot, be like, yeah, maybe this isn't the right path for me, but that's part of the, that's part of the journey. And I think we, I wish people understood that more and were, were able to really embrace it.

Let me unpack that a bit. When you say that you have a safety net, you know, for some people that's, well, I have X number of dollars in the bank, and for you it's, I've got people that, what if I imploded? I could go to, like, yeah, no, yeah.

So, you know, I think in today's day and age, like, your network, especially professionally, is super important, but for a lot of people, they think that that means, like, who do I know? Right? I don't think it's who do you know? I think it's who do you know and who is willing to speak on your behalf, who's willing to give you advice because they know that you're going to be receptive to it. Who is willing to recommend you to others. So for me, I mean, look, I'm privileged. I do have a financial safety net as well, but for me, more importantly, I have like an emotional safety net. And these are people that I know, I trust. They want what's best for me. Sometimes what's best for me is for them to hold a mirror up and say, hmm, are you, are you sure this is what you, this is really who you are, or this is really what you want? I mean, it's not always, you know, roses. Right. But those are the people that I think you really need to surround yourself with.

This is huge. I'm making a quick note before I lose that this is huge. In that you say it matter of factly. And I. I like the people that I work with, understand it logically, but they don't often do it in practice on a regular basis. To have friends, to deliberately put yourself in front of friends or create the friendships at the depth where you do hold up the mirror for each other.

Right.

You have that comfort. It's a comfort enough to be uncomfortable.

It's a vulnerability. Right now, look, it's not that I don't have scars and that I have always been this way. I was 30 years old when I got divorced, and very frankly, I thought I was stupid, I was ugly, and that no one would ever love me. And it was a really hard place to be. I had two small children. I give a ton of credit to Whirlpool, who was my employer at the time, and the. The relationships and the people there that supported me and they built me up and they. They sent me around the world to work on projects because they saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. Beyond that I had, you know, great family. I actually, at that time, could have counted like, good friends on one hand because I was extremely isolated and. Which is actually not a natural place for me, looking back, like, I had allowed that to. To occur. It was part of the reason, I think I was so miserable, because I like people now. That doesn't mean that I'm always an extrovert because people wear me out too. Right. But. But I do. I like the interaction. I like to. I want to talk to you. I want to know about your family. What do you love to do, what interests you? Like, I like that. So I embarked on that journey at about 30 to really, like, prescriptively, how do I make friends and how do I grow a network of people? But I was. I was in a dark place before that, so.

And good for you for coming out. Good for you for having the fortitude to know that you could climb out. Here's the other thing. Like, I will pause you along the way or at the natural pause to. To kind of highlight some of the things that you've just said that are. That are so. So normal and natural for you and aren't for so many people that there's this, you know, this sense of I could take discomfort as long as I know I'm going to grow from it. Right, Right. And that's. Right. That's a. That's not a thing that most people do. Most people will find psychological safety, and for them, that means. That does mean isolation for Them, that does mean putting up walls. Vulnerability, the root word, the etymology of vulnerability is the ability to be wounded. And so when you were vulnerable, you actually allow yourself that openness, which means trust is a huge factor. And it means that, you know, most people don't actually have more than a handful of friends in their inner circle. And that's reasonable. Right? How many, how many people are you going to say, yeah, I'm available to be wounded by you. Right. So it's like, I trust you to hold me if I need.

Yeah. I also prescribe to. I don't think it's a single circle. I think it's, it's concentric circles. And actually it's a bit of like, you know, sometimes certain circles, like, you know what I mean? Like, and I think the circles are kind of always moving. I definitely have, like a core group of women that I'm super, super close with. We, we do girl trips together and we send each other stupid stuff, you know, during the day and whatnot. I have a similar group like that of women from a business perspective, like a professional. I call them pro friends. And then, then I have other people that, you know, I, I love them, I care about them, maybe I don't talk to them as regularly, but, but we're still there for each other. We still nurture each other, we still support, enjoy each other's company, that kind of thing. But, but, you know, I often tell young people in particular, like, it didn't come for me. I'm kind of an out of sight, out of mind kind of person because I get really focused on whatever the next thing is. So I have to remind myself on a regular basis to like, stop and I'll go through, I'll get on LinkedIn and I'll. And I'll go through my connections on LinkedIn and I will reach out to people that I haven't seen or talked to in a while. I do the same on Facebook on the. My friend's side. Right. So, so that, you know, it doesn't end up being three years and I'm like, I haven't talked to Julie in three years. You know what I mean? So, but, but again, it's a methodology, right? And so that's me taking that kind of engineering mindset and applying it in a way that it just helps me kind of in my day to day.

This is success. I mean. That's right. So there are, there are tricks, tips, tactics, real tactics to, to live this life of success. And one of them is, you know, when you're so driven and your calendar is so full that to actually schedule, like, this is the half hour where I'm going to go back and just reach out to the people that haven't said hey, like I haven't said hi to in forever. If it's not on the calendar, it's not likely to happen. And early on, when I was doing relationship work, it was something that I would tell the guys in the relationship. Like, open your calendar. This is the date that you're going to, what? Send a special text, send a card, like, let her know that you actually care. Put it back in your mind until it becomes a natural thing. And so you're doing this with your friend groups and your business groups. That's a. I really like, I'm, I'm highlighting this, this is a success tactic. Like the things that you've done to get to your, your level of success. It's not accidental. You don't, you don't wake up one day and go, today I'm going to run this part of this organization. It's like, no, no. Right.

So, you know, I think it's a, it's a progression and you take steps, you know, along the, you know, you just have to put one foot in front of the other. Right. And then be willing to learn every single day.

Like, that's the key. I want to, I want, I just want to highlight that statement you have. Right. It's one foot in front of the other. That's a deliberate thing. It's not like, well, I'll just keep going. It's. No, no, it is deliberate where you're stepping and it's a deliberateness about not just a willingness but an. It's an active process to learn. Right. What am I learning about myself? What am I learning about my organization? What am I learning about my industry? What am I learning about industries that are adjacent to mine that I might adopt so that I can make mine even better. Right. So. So it's the expansive mindset that I think is really, really important. And you've trained yourself to do that, which is why I paused. Like, wait, Christine, that was.

Yeah, it becomes a habit, right. You don't, you don't think about it anymore. Right. You just do it because it, because it's become part of, of kind of your day to day routine.

Yeah. Like, I mean, I, the analogy of brushing your teeth, right. When you first started doing it, you had to be taught and then it was a struggle and a fight. And like anybody who's had kids knows that piece and now it's, of course you're gonna brush your teeth because you don't want to be right. Like, the alternative. The alternative is gross. Yeah. The other thing you said, like, I want to go back to the. The divorce where you actually had this, am I good enough? Kind of flood. I'm not worthy. I'm not lovable. I'm. You know, there's, like, all this stuff. The. The shame, the doubt, the. The internal judgment. And I'm calling that out because that happens not just from a divorce. That happens sometimes when the project you really wanted to have happen falls through or the job you really wanted or the person you thought you were connected to, whatever it is. There are things that set you back, and you start to wonder about yourself. And two things that you said. One is, you didn't say it quite this way, but it was sort of like, even through the doubt, you knew that there was some value. And the other thing that you said was that you had outside agents, you had the company, and you had family and friends that were like, hey, try this. Go here, do this. And I think that's also caused you to be a model for others where, you know, if you can, like, I will say things like, you can borrow my belief in you, because right now, you can't see your value. I see it. Borrow my belief in you. Let's go. And I think that's so valuable that, you know, you've been in mentorship roles going back to the Girl Scouts. You. It's the right. You've. You now lead girls, you lead women also professionally right to their next. Big next. And I think that's huge. I think that's so important. So I just. I wanted to call out some of the processes along the way that have. That have really shaped your success and that while we look at, you know, oh, supply chain whisper, it's like, there's this powerhouse behind that moniker, you know, And. And that power is not accidental. And I think that that is. That is something that, you know, if. If each audience member, as you're listening to this, as you're watching this can. Can go, okay, what do I need to be deliberate about next?

Right.

So, yeah. So what is. What is your next? Or what were you. What were you gonna say?

No, I mean, I. I don't know what's next, Wayne. And that's somewhat intentional. I don't stress out about stuff like that anymore. I. I kind of just go with it. And so as long as I feel like I'm learning, I'm engaged I'm interested then, then that's the path that I'm going to continue to go down for, for as long as those things are true. And then when it's not true anymore, that's when for. Look at. Okay, well, how and where do I pivot? And it's. I do think it's interesting, you know. So the first 12 years of my career, I did with Whirlpool Corporation in very engineering centric. Different kinds of engineering, but very engineering centric. And I started to go more and more down that kind of path of subject matter expert and specialization in. In engineering. And I got to a point where the next promotion, I was going to be an individual contributor. And I would probably have been locked into that then for the rest of my career. And I was like, man, that doesn't really work for me because I like people, right? And I'm comfortable bringing people together. And so that for me was really the first big, big pivot. I'm so sorry.

That's awesome.

Boomer. I can't play right now.

We love animals on the show. It's good. This is. I was wondering if, if a little boomer would show up.

My husband is working from home today too, so they're going outside to play. He's very persistent, so he brought me his ball. Sorry.

Of course. Yeah, no one can't. That's so good.

But no, that was my first big pivot. And that was when I made the decision that maybe Whirlpool wasn't where I needed to stay. And again, you know, engaged in those mentors and the network and did a complete pivot then out of engineering and into my first supply chain role. And that was at me, Johnson Nutrition and had incredible mentor there. She was. So she was really attuned to the industry. She, you know, a couple years older than me, she had raised her kids. It was like, it was a, a really lovely experience where she was helping me grow and, and learn about a different area of the business. And you know what? I fell in love with supply chain. I get to use all of the engineering chops, but I get to see how, how, how things get to people. And I also get to see how companies and the choices and the investments that they make really impact communities. Right. I believe. And it's the reason that I've kind of ended up the last couple of years where I have in terms of companies, I believe supply chains are what will solve the problems in the world. They will. It will ra boats, it will bring people out of poverty. It will Help us ensure that we're being good to the planet. Those types of decisions are made by supply chains. And, and I want to be a part of that. I want to make things better. So that's for me, I get to like, I found a personal passion and I get to do it in like my everyday life. That is, that's a beautiful thing.

You're living your purpose, right?

Yeah.

Every day you're living your purpose. And it's not just, oh, supply chain, it's. There are humans, good humans behind the supply chain process. Right. And so what you've talked about, most people don't think about how, how things get to us. Right. So it's sort of like there are all the little parts that need to come in, that then need to be assembled, that then need to be packaged, that then then need to be stored, that then need to be inventory, that then need to be picked, that then get labeled and then get sent out. And all of that is part of the magic behind the scenes.

It is, it's so fun. I'm on the board of directors for the association of Supply Chain Management and we co produced a documentary that is literally in the last two weeks came out on Amazon. So you can go out and find the chain. C H A I N Right. And I think there's six episodes and it's, it's really, really good. Like as somebody that's in supply chain that understands it, I'm like, yes. Like, I can now like send this to family and friends when they're like, now what is it you do?

Like, that's awesome. That's really, that's really great. I want to go back to something because this is really, this is big in terms of kind of a personal process that affects your professional process. And, and back again, learning, engaged, interested. You had the ability and still do have the ability to do an internal check for each of those. Again, this is a deliberate process that then becomes a practice that you're just become used to.

Right.

I'm calling it out because it is not always visible. Right. So am I learning? Good question. So if you're not sure, on a scale of 1 to 10 today, did you learn something? Right. Am I, do I feel engaged? On a scale of 1 to 10, give it a likert scale, like rate yourself. Am I, am I still interested in what I'm doing? And that could be anything from the food you eat, like meal planning, to the people you associate with, to the job you're doing. Are you learning? Are you engaged? Are you interested on a scale of 1 to 10. It's a great inventory to, to run for yourself.

Yeah.

The career pivot meant that you actually believed in yourself enough to let go of what you knew, what was safe. Because most people would have gone, wow, individual contributor. I'm in this for the long haul now. Like, this is my life and it's safe and I will show up and I will get my paycheck and it's a good paycheck and ta da, life is good. It's very routine and suddenly it's dull. And you know, 20, 30, 40 years later you go, what have I done? Where's my life? Right. And you.

I mean, I think, you know, some people are built differently and so if that's what works for them, great. It didn't work for me.

Didn't.

And, and I, and I would say, I think part of it is I now, and I'm. That I'm older. I now listen to my body more because your body will tell you if something's not working for you. How are you sleeping? How's your stomach? Right? Like, how's your head? Do you have like, are you getting headaches? Do you feel bad? Like, my body, when I was younger would tell me when things were not right in my environment for me. I didn't always listen. Now I do, right? And so, yes, prescriptively I think about these things, but I also, I'll be like, you know, like, I'm not sleeping well. What's going on with me? Right? Like what, why is that? What's happening? What is it in my life that is like preoccupying my brain? Right. And so I have to ask myself those questions too.

This is great. It's, that's the engineer part of you. Let's deconstruct this. Let's work backwards. If this is the result, what caused this? And what's a path that's different for a lot of people? I think that pain becomes normal and it's like, oh, on a scale of, you know, really painful to moderate ache, I guess I'm, you know, just above moderate ache today. Yay. And it's like, that's not health.

No, it isn't that. Life's too short for that, in my opinion. And, and look, look, I. You're never going to be a hundred percent happy and engaged and, and like, you're not gonna like everything you do. Especially from a work standpoint, every single day, even now, there's things that I'm like, oh, put this off until the end of the week. Because I hate doing expense reports. But by and large, you know, like 80% of the time, like, you know, it should feel good and you should feel like you're accomplishing something. And, and if you're not getting that, then maybe you need to reassess. I also would tell you I think I'm a bit of an outlier. I don't mind change. I kind of like it. The chaos of change works for me. It's why I have been in. I moved to technology now into consulting, where I'm one of those people pushing companies to change because I know that change is hard and that you got to be pushed a little bit. A lot of people don't thrive on change, and. And so you gotta kind of move them forward and dangle out some carrots to get them on a path. And so if I can help them do that, then why wouldn't I? Because changes, I'm not gonna say it's comfortable for me, but it's a space that I'm comfortable existing in.

That's great. That is great. It. You are an outlier. There are, you know, the, the. Those that are driven for more typically go, okay, I've reached a place of comfort. And I know that the next be it. It lives just beyond the bounds of that comfort I've created for myself. Stability is what most people look for. So when I, When I work with leaders, I will help them couch their. Their communication around change. In terms of. For the sake of stability, we're going to engage in these. These few tweaks to the way we do things.

I might say. I think there's a difference between stability and comfort, I think. Oh, definitely still have stability, but you got to make yourself a little uncomfortable.

Definitely, you know. Yeah, yeah, no, I'm. I'm with you. I'm. It's for those that are. That are afraid of change. They need the language of stability. Yeah, and I'm totally with you that I think that each of us, and probably each of our. The audience members that are listening and watching to this, I think are in a space of, okay, what could I do to make myself grow just that bit today?

Yeah.

You know, I'm a big fan of the word or the phrase risk. Well, I never, I never taught my kids, like, I never told them, oh, be careful, honey. You know, for me it was like, you're smart, like, risk. Well, go out, like, try new things. Risk well, with the understanding they're not going to play on the freeway. They're not going to, like, do anything to Harm themselves, risk. Well, yeah, that's great. I like, change is a, is a strong statement. Do you find then that you will stir things up for the sake of stirring things up? Because there are, there are people that like change?

It depends on the situation. I try to be situation aware, but yes, to some extent now I, you know, like, I would tell you probably 10 years ago, I would have been like, let's have a debate. Like now just with the political environment in the world. I will have those debates, but generally it has to be in a safe place with like people that I know that I can have a discussion with. So in that case, you know, I'm kind of assessing the situation and saying, yeah, like that's just not. It just wouldn't be good, you know, for me to, to just openly, you know. So it depends. It depends.

All right, so. So change is different than stirring the pot.

Yes. Oh, yes. Okay.

So you're a purpose. Right.

Stirring the pot sometimes is, you know, like, what are you, are you just trying to get people's hackles up?

Like, there's enough of that out there.

There is, there is enough of that out of there.

Yeah. So. So change for you is about growth, which is awesome, I think. Cool. We haven't talked much about supply chain. Is there something beyond what we've discussed that you want to bring just in terms of this is what it is and what I do or, you know, talking about it globally is, is good.

I could pretty much go wherever you want. Wayne, like, is there something about supply chain that interests you? Like, or a question that you would have, like, I have worked on with some of the biggest supply chain companies on the planet. It's always interesting to kind of pull back the covers and see how do they organize, how do they think about their business. And, you know, I think, you know, I hear a lot of people that they complain about, you know, big business and, you know, profits and greed and whatnot. And I would tell you that most people that are working for these big companies, they're just trying to make good decisions. They're trying to balance, you know, how can I get the best product possible for the lowest possible price to my customers? And they're very driven by that mission. So I think in general, the industry gets a bit of a bad rap and, and they're just, you know, they're just trying to do the best, the best that they can with the data and the information that they have available. And if you understood the number of trade offs and pieces of data that millions and millions of pieces of data and factors that they're trying to account for. It's part of the reason I think we live in such an exciting age with artificial intelligence, because we're able now to bring information and context and insights to these professionals so that they're not, you know, drowning in rows and columns. Right. Like, I mean, I came up through supply chain where Excel was like the most sophisticated planning tool, you know, on the planet. And look, I still love Excel, I still have a passion for it, but you could be really mundane trying to go through all the data. And now we're, we're able to kind of serve things up for people so that they can make better decisions faster. That's exciting.

That is exciting. It, it just is. I love the concept of companies, meaning the people in the decision making roles. Companies. Right. So there's always people behind companies are making the decisions based on best product, based on lowest cost, based ultimately on customers. What do customers want? And that's a very human consideration. And it's different than what will they buy? You know, where. Oh yeah, right. It's what do they want? What, what do people want? And I think to approach pretty much anything that way, it's like, how can we enhance the lives of, of those we touch? That's, that's noble. Really.

Well, and it also, you know, one thing that I would hope people would pick up is what that means is the power is actually in the hands of the consumer. Right. Where you choose to shop and what you choose to buy has power. If you don't like the way a company presents itself or how they manage their business, don't buy their stuff and they will make a change. Right. And so I learned that a long time ago sitting in the harbor in Hong Kong watching them load sea containers and thinking, is this, is this what I want to support? Right. And so now I make trade offs in where I buy and where I shop and you know, just bought a new vehicle and did a tremendous amount of research, wanted to make sure that I was supporting the UAW and because I, you know, like, I can't complain that people in the US aren't making a living wage if I'm not willing to support a business that ensures that they're making a living wage. And so that's, you know, that's where the understanding of how things work in my personal mission really come together.

And, and you live it congruently, which is so great because it is so easy to go. Well, you know, I just, I needed this one thing.

No, that would Be disingenuous. That's not who I am exactly. Love me or hate me, but this is who I am in all facets of my life.

I, you know, so easy to love. Look at your nails too. I mean, they're awesome. Hold up your hand. Tada. Okay. So very nice. That's, that's so great. It's just, it's also like, you know, I got to meet you and we had a, we had a conversation and it was really clear that I wanted you here for all of the things you've brought in this short time. Just like you're bringing the, you're bringing a congruent good human with solid values that are really easy to read. Right. And I think if, I think if each of us lived that way, it's, it's like, what a world. Right? This is what I believe. Right.

Yeah. Totally agree with you. And you know, my thing is I, I feel, I feel like I am in a good place because I had people that invested in me that, that, that helped. You know, they gave their time because they coached a team or they gave their time to girl Scouts or, and so if I can't do something similar, like, I don't know, it just, I, I, I don't understand that. Right. I think I'm, when you get yourself to a good place, I think you're obligated, in my opinion, to give back to others. Right. And so that's, that's the space where I am in my life. Do I still want to do fun things for me? Absolutely. But I also think that I should do good things for others and to try to, you know, lift up others that maybe haven't had the success or the privilege or the opportunities that I've had.

That's amazing. It's really great lift as you lead. Right.

I like that.

Thank you. Yeah, it's, yeah. Super. Well, as we wind this down then, is there anything you thought or wished or still wish I would ask you or anything you wanted to share going in that you, you know.

Yeah. I mean, I would just say I so appreciate you having me on. You know, you don't know me really all that well, so you didn't know where I would go. And the whole, the whole supply chain whisperer thing is, is a bit tongue in cheek because there's not very much that's quiet about me, but, you know. Yeah, but, but if I can, you know, influence along the back end, I try to do that, but yeah, no, this has been great. I love it.

I love it too. Thank you, you're, you're amazing and just like fun and so smart and grounded and like everything you bring is, it is who you are and it's, it's like that's, that's the role model. Like, you know, lift as you lead, acknowledge privilege, reach out to others, help them up. You know, it's just so positive all along the way. And so I appreciate that. We've got a lot to think about and you've, you've helped to enrich me and my audience. So thank you. Thanks for.

You know what? Folks are always willing to, you know, contact me. I'm on LinkedIn. I'm, I'm pretty easy to get to if, if they don't agree with something and they want to challenge something I said or they just want to ask a question, I'm happy to. You know.

You'Re. Actually, most people are like, well, you know, if you want to reach out to me, you know, you can. You're like, if there's something you want to challenge me on, I'm here for it.

I told you. I like debate.

It's awesome. It's really great. Well, you could find Christine Barnhart on LinkedIn and. Wow, amazing. Thank you for being here. Really appreciate this. Really appreciate your insights along the way.

Awesome, awesome. Have a great day.

Yay. All right, my guest today, Christine Barnhart. This is one sharp sword cutting through to what matters most. I AM your host, Dr. Wayne Purnell, your host, guide and coach on this journey. We will see you here next time. Thanks for listening to one sharp sword cutting through to what matters Most with outfluencer Dr. Wayne Purnell. For more information, please go to onesharpsword.com.