Interview with Damon Dixon

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, Dr. P. Dr. Wayne Purnell, your host, your guide and your coach on this journey with me today, a really special guest. This is a gentleman I've had the pleasure of talking with a few times. And every time, his story is just so deep and rich and where he came from is, is pretty incredible. Most of us would aspire to have the, the journey he's had. Right now he is the chief of staff for BYU athletics, but he didn't start there. He's, he's had some triumphs along the way. We're going to talk about the leadership journey. Damon Dixon, welcome to one One Sharp Sword. That's easy for me to say. Here you go. Welcome.

Hey, Wayne, how are you? Great to be here. Super excited.

Yeah. Well, I'm excited to have you. Thank you. I, Damon, we've had some good conversations already and today's another conversation. This time we're letting an audience in on what we talk about. And I'd love to talk a little bit about your leadership journey. You didn't start as chief of staff for BYU athletics. You found your way here. But it wasn't just finding your way. I mean, you, you started, you started in biotech, right?

Yeah, I started biotech, but before biotech, I served in the military. For some time.

Yeah, for some time. All right, I, here's what I want to do. I want to start with your why. Because what you told me about your why was just, it captured me. So what you told me is, well, do you, do you know it off the top of your head? Because what you, the riff you gave me was amazing and I, I wrote it down. What did you tell me? Do you remember?

I do. Can I, could I start with my journey on how I found my why?

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Yeah. So I, getting ready to transition out of the military after a 30, 33 year career, including my time at the Naval Academy. Yeah, I, I, we did a lot of leadership development and one of my, one of my great leaders, Admiral John Ocon, we had a book club we were doing, and one of them was Start with why by Simon Sinek. Great book. I love the book. And it was everything you do, start with why. And this was toward the end of my career. And so as I was getting ready to transition, I broke the book open and read it again and I'm like, you know, What I need to figure out what my why is. Why does Damon Dixon get up in the morning and do the things I do? And I started researching it a bit and looking at it, and one of the, one of the guidance that I saw was go find a friend, a great friend, not a family member, and ask them why you're a good friend. So I asked one of my good friends and he said, damon, you make me want to be a better person. Oh, wow. That's like the ultimate compliment you ever could want. And so I, I thought about that, and then I thought about my time serving in the Navy. And what excited me was when my people promoted, grew, got awards, just did great things. Watching my people, I don't know, celebrate their successes really excited me. And I thought about it and then I thought about this. This is a journey back of what I did at the Naval Academy playing football, what I did when I was leading. And it, and it was, it was, it was all about performing above my potential, right? I. And I let me. I'm going back even further. So coming out of. I grew up in the Bay Area. Coming out of high school, I had a dream of playing Division One football. You can't tell, but I'm 5 foot 8, 165 pounds. And I had a dream of playing Division One. And I, Stanford, UCLA, those were my two go to schools. I had just become baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, a Latter Day Saint. So I was also looking at BYU at the time, and none of those schools want any, you know, but the academies were willing to take a chance.

So I went Academy 165. So that's, that is something. And here's the thing, you said something that I just want to bring up, right? That you were. That you were living and playing above your potential. Which is a remarkable thing to say, right? Because it's like, no, you know, most people go, my potential is unlimited. I just don't know what it is yet. And. And it's like I was playing above my potential. And so 5, 8, 1, 65, you're like, I have this dream. I want to play Division 1. Amazing. And you went for it and.

Yeah, yeah, I went for it. I was one of these people. My parents taught me early to set big goals. And it started when I was, I don't know, 6, 7, 8, 9 years old up in the barrier. And swimming was a. Was a big deal. Names like Matt Biondi and they were in our community. And, and I don't know, I, I just, I just always Wanted something big. And I had. My dad played college football, my grandpa played college football playing the pros. So I had this vision that, hey, this is who I want to be. I want to follow in their footsteps. And it became who I was. And so I set that goal, and the academies were interested, and so I went to the Naval Academy. And funny is, I couldn't even get straight into the Naval Academy. I had to go to the Naval Academy prep school, which actually was a blessing in disguise. I wasn't a good enough player or my grades weren't good enough, but I went there and I just. I just thrived. It was. It was amazing. It was hard. It was. It was, you know, not what I expected. Had no idea the military wasn't. Wasn't something that I was aspiring to be a part of. But I went to the academy, played football, did amazing things way, way beyond, like I. Like you said, beyond my potential. It was pretty cool because I was a wide receiver. And at the time, the academy just brought in an offensive coordinator, Greg Briner, and he kind of ran the west coast offense. So we were throwing the ball a lot, and he had me coming out of the backfield, and I caught a lot of passes. One of the quarterbacks, Jim Kubiak, was one of my great friends, and he and I both went to the prep school together, and we worked hard, we grinded together, and so he knew exactly where I'm going to be, and so I set some records there. And the academy doesn't throw as much as they do as they're running the option and different type of offense now. And so it's exciting to see them, you know, doing so well. But so I went there and I matched my. Go ahead.

I want to just. I want to. I want to share. What you shared with me is two things. One, you said in a previous conversation, you said I wasn't a great athlete, but I did set these big goals, and I love that. I love that. The other thing is you in. You went on to catch 51, like, right? You did.

You.

You had 51 catches, and you did it again a second year, right?

That's right. Yeah.

So, I mean, I just. I wanted to. Maybe that was taking the. Maybe that's where you were headed with the story. I just wanted to, like, celebrate that this. You know, you. You had these huge goals. You lived into, like, really fulfilling them in. And I think this is the leadership journey for pretty much anybody. You know, I talk about. Listen to the whispers, and it's like, it's Those things that people set aside for someday and for you, it was like, I, I have these goals, I have this dream. I want to be this, I want to be a receiver, a wide receiver. And you know, you did, you made a difference, but you also had setbacks, so talk a little bit about that too, because just like you, you broke something along the way too, right?

Yeah, absolutely. There were setbacks all along the way. I mean, I could, I could, I could, I could go on. I think it was toward the end of. So at the, at the, at the prep school we played, we had a, it was like, it was like getting a red shirt year. And so we had about 11 games and things went well. There was about three of us wide receivers who were about the same. Mike Jefferson, Tom Pritchard, I think we're all about, had the same amount of receptions right before we graduated from the prep school to go to be at the academy. I, I, I was, I was in the locker room training and I, I broke my ankle and had two screws put in it. And so when I showed up as a freshman at the Naval Academy, I'm on crutches. Well, Mike Jefferson and Tom Pritchard. Tom Pritchard went on to become the, one of the first starters as a freshman at the Naval Academy, and Mike Jefferson was also a great receiver there. So it was, it was tough.

Tough.

Be. I was actually, I remember, never forget the, the first game I was, I was marching with the brigade to watch the football team play. And, and that was, that was hard. You know, I was, I wasn't necessarily part of that team. And so seeing these guys that I, that I played with before and, and I wasn't part of that. So it was, it was, it was if a difficult first few games. Eventually I got healthy and made the team, but never, never actually played my freshman year.

You did become a starter.

Yeah, it wasn't until my junior year a few things happened that I, I was able to win the starting job. And that was, that was one of my goals. You know, I talked about this, this gold journey, setting the goal to play Division 1 football. Send a goal to become a starter. Had a great junior year. And this is, this is a kind of a cool story that I'd love to share is, is in between my junior and senior year, the, our coach, George Chump, brought in this leadership group that talked about goal setting mission statements, and we kind of created this personal mission statement. And so personal mission statement was something that you were good at and part of your dream or your vision of where you wanted to be. And after I started, my next personal goal was to become an All American. Hindsight. That may not be a worthy goal because it's an outcome and it's not really in your control, but nonetheless, that was who I was. And so my personal mission statement was, I am an all American wide receiver and catch every pass thrown my way. I had pretty good hands and could catch most things that Cougs was throwing at me. And I teamed that with my goal and I put it in my uniform pocket. I had it on a three by five card, wrote it down, and carried it everywhere I went and became who I was. First one on the field, last one off. And that just became, I'm going to do everything I can to make this goal become reality. Never achieved that goal. I did things that were way above what most people thought I could do as far as on the field. So in the end, it all worked out, and I'm grateful for it, but that was kind of who I was.

Yeah, no, that's excellent. And I want to call that out. This is, you know, you. You said, I'm an all American wide receiver and catch every pass thrown my way. And that became your identity. You grew into it, you know, and it's like having this massive goal that you said you didn't have control over. You didn't have control over whether somebody was going to pick you or whatever, but you had control over. Out working, out, hustling, being, you know, being first on the field, being last off the field, you had control over that, you know, because otherwise what people do. And I think this is. I think this is really important because what you did was the foundation of amazing success. It's what I call exponential success.

You.

You build and you build and you build, and all of a sudden something happens for you and. And it's like you. You're laying down, basically, you're laying down the reps till you. Till you can't get it wrong. It's. Forget which either athlete or actor or songwriter said, you know, you practice so much not until you get it right, but you practice so much till you can't get it wrong. And when you have a goal, you keep it in your pocket, you read it every day, you say it out loud, it does become who you are, and you become that thing that's. So many people miss that. So many people miss that. It's like, I'll become that thing later. You know, let me. Let me go off and get a. Do the thing I should do and it's like you, they're not exclusive. There's great overlap. Do the thing that's going to get you stability. Great, do that. But also live into that thing. You're the only one that has that calling, right? That unique, that unique thing inside of you that drives you. And, and so you've got to honor that and become that. I, I just, I love that. I love everything about that.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I. So I guess my point, I'm trying to get to my point of my why. And so that mentality that I took playing football at Navy, I took right into my naval career of how I did business, how I perform missions, and the task I went about, which was maximizing everything I can to be the best outwork out, hustle. I love those words. Those are the words that I use. And so I'm into my career about five years and I decide that I'm going to go get an MBA on my own. And I had a mentor, maybe it was seven years, a little bit in a mentor. He eventually became, I think he was my boss at the time. He was a Navy SEAL that became a naval oceanographer and naval meteorologist, which is what community I was in. And he said, damon, why, why are you thinking about getting out of the Navy? The Navy is a laboratory of leadership. Every day you learn a leadership principle and every day you get to practice it. And you know what academy is truly a laboratory of leadership and the Navy is that. And I'm going through my career and I was so focused in on mission and getting my tasks done. I'll never forget me as an ensign on my first ship, running around with my flip chart tasks I've got to do. And yes, I had a team that I was leading, but it wasn't so much me about really diving in and loving and making this team great. And I'm like, Bruce, I missed it. And that kind of changed the course of my career. And from then on I was like, you know what, you're right, it is. I needed. And that's when I started focusing on my people and my team and really wanting to get the most out of my team and the people that I work with and to make them better. And it wasn't just my team, it was my colleagues that I worked alongside with to make them better. And so as, as I get to this, this, this, this why of. You know, I had a friend tell me he make me want to be a great person. And I thought what I loved and what I did, and it only made Sense, which was to inspire all I come in contact with so that they maximize their potential. And I. Because that's what, that's how I lived and that's what I think made the people and my teams. My team's great. And so that's my why. That's the long story of the why it took us.

Say it again. So say it again. Right, right.

To inspire all I come in contact with so that they maximize their potential.

Yeah, I think that's amazing. Right. So it's, that's what gets you up in the morning and moving people forward, lifting as you lead. It's. These are, they're huge, huge statements. You said, you told me nothing inspires or nothing excites me more than seeing my people grow, succeed, and promote. And it's like, that's, that's pretty darn great. Right? That's. That's like, you know, you're, you can't do it for them, but you can certainly be there to, to help along the way. Yeah. Yeah. So these days, you know, you're, you're looking at leadership development for, for yourself and for some of the others that you're working with. What else is going on? What else, you know, do you want to. Do you want to share?

Yeah. You know, that, that point. I can't. As you talk about it, I had that. Like I said, in military, there's a lot of opportunities to learn about leadership. And one of those times I was stationed in, in Italy and I, I was getting ready to transfer back to the States. And before I did, they. It was like kind of in a mid junior officer or I guess I was. I was a commander in the Navy. And they brought me back to. For a leadership confere. They had Liz Wiseman, who wrote the book Multipliers. I'm not sure if you've ever read it, but that book, that book really, really helped me because it was multiplying the talents around you, which is kind of what I built my leadership framework on. Right. It wasn't like, I'm never the smartest person in the room, but my ability to make teams great and make those around me perform better than they actually can. More their potential. So that the whole team, it's not just a 2x, it's a 4x, it's an 8x increase of, of what you can do. And so that, that, that thought process and mindset framed who I am today. And, and as I transitioned out of the, out of the, out of the service into, you know, corporate America, that was kind of that was kind of my, I don't know, my elevator pitch of what I'm going to do and help make these organizations that I work with great.

So.

Great.

So some of the leadership management positions you've held, you don't have to say which companies necessarily, but talk a little bit about the positions you've held, if you don't mind.

So in the, I mean, Basically, I did 33 years in the service. I had some great tours there. One of them was, like I said, I was an oceanographer, meteorologist, but I did a lot of other things. For whatever reason, I always find myself in the middle of operations.

Yeah.

In. Go ahead.

You're doing mentorship now though, right? Also these days, don't you. You're. You're mentoring kids.

Yeah, you know, I'm obviously one offs people that I come in contact with from athletes that I'm watching or seeing or folks in church that I meant that I, you know, I work with, I mentor them and help them grow and achieve their goals. Right. So absolutely, that's part of it.

And so if, you know, if you were to have a mentee ask you, wow, Damon, like, what would be the three keys to success? You could share. What would you tell somebody that you're mentoring?

It depends what they're trying to achieve. First thing, as I would do, as I said, I say set goals. I mean the same thing that my parents taught me, right. I mean, set goals. Because if you don't have a. And, and, and, and it's probably even before that is, is create somehow a vision. What, what is something. I mean, how do you set a goal? It's something. What do you like to do? What are you good at? What makes you happy? Right. Those kind of things to see, to really get people. Because once you have a direction that you're going to achieve, then you can put a plan together to achieve that objective or that goal. And I think that's, that's what I love is the journey. You know, one, one of these, somewhere along the line after, after serving for some years after playing football, I still had that competitive juice and I got into triathlons and I had a friend that I worked with was. It was a triathlete that's swim, bike and run and there's all sorts of distances. And he, he said, hey, I'll buy, I'll build you a bike. Because I, you know, I can run and I can swim, but I, I never really got into bike riding. And so he built me a bike. And from then on I Had this vision of, like, gosh, you know what? There. There's. There's a. There's all sorts of distances. And then it became like, I did a sprint, and then I did an Olympic distance, and then I did a half Ironman distance. And then they have this thing called a full Ironman. And so I had a vision of, you know what? Someday I want to do a full Ironman. And, you know, I set that goal. I had that vision of doing. I vision myself. And I was actually able to get onto the Navy triathlon team and compete in the Ironman World Championships in Kona because of that. And that was one of those things that I set these big goals to achieve. And so back to your question. What are those three things you're going to talk to? One is, set these goals so that you can put a plan together to work to get them. The next piece I would be, is. Is really find a mentor. Find lots of mentors. Find people that want to help you. There are people out there that want to help you. And. And from then on, it's all about, you know, it's about loving people and helping people be better. Because if you put. If you do that, if you put God first in your life, everything's going to work out. And that was also part of my mentality moving forward. And so those. The three things that I would tell someone is, is set big goals, put God first, and get a mentor, and love people.

That's a. That's amazing.

I guess that's.

That is for. And who's counting? It's. That's great. Set big goals. And before that, you said, find the thing that you're happy about, right? What makes you happy. And so many people put that off. And that's what I like. I keep coming back to that, Damon, because so many people do put that off. Oh, I'll be happy later. Like, I gotta do. I have to do this work? And it's like, well, yes, and the work you do can make you happy. All right? So when you're aligned, when you're in this place of I am doing the work I love, and you know, when you talk about love people and. And help them get better, it's like, that's. That's so great. Because isn't that what we're all doing, right? Even if it's the. Even if it's a job you can't stand right now, somewhere in that job is something that is helping another person. And if you can find that and let that motivate you, it's good. And tap into that. Right. So set goals, find a mentor, love people and. And follow your spiritual path for yourself. Whatever makes sense to you. It's. Those are great four steps. Love it. I love it.

You know what's interesting is, is in my. In my career, and I haven't really talked about it that much, but I mean, God's. I see God hand, as I look back at it, I see God's hand in every person that I talk to, every mentor that I had, every job that I had led to something else. And let me just. If I could just share a story. So I'm in. I'm in MBA school. In MBA school, early on, they had a leadership class, and you had to map out your career and where it went and where you wanted to go. And this is kind of that whole vision and goal piece. And. And I'll never forget the class. And I had an end state of, you know, I wanted to be in as an athletic director at some point. And. And there was a job in the Navy that I remember when I was playing football. There was a deputy athletic director at the Naval Academy as a military position. And so I thought, okay, my military career, that's a. That's a. That's a job that I want to have right before I transition out. And so I put my. My. I built my career of where I'm going to go, what I'm going to do to get to this position. And so here I am getting ready. I'm, I don't know, 23 years in, 24 years in, and this job becomes available, and I go. And I had been. I'd been networking and staying close with the athletic Earth and Naval Academy. His name is Chet Gladcheck at the time. And I went and interviewed with him, and one of my fellow actually teammates had the job before. Before I got there, and he was getting ready to transition and had a great interview. And Chet's like, yeah, we want to offer you this position. I said, wow, this is amazing. There was one thing. It was a job for a Navy pilot. I wasn't a Navy pilot, so I was not allowed. Even though I got offered the job, I was all excited. There was a board that met that determined whether I could go to this job because I wasn't part of that community, and I couldn't go. So my dreams. Talk about a setback, is here's the dream job. I've actually put this whole plan over 25 years together, and it didn't happen. And you know what? It just Wasn't part of the plan for me. I went on and did. I did amazing things after that. My boss put me in great positions and for whatever reason at that time, that wasn't the right job. I went on and I transitioned out of the military and I thought that the mission of saving lives is a big p. Mission of what we do in the service. And I thought that biotech company I found was Kite Pharma and they focused on curing cancer. And I thought that was a great. A great mission purpose and what I wanted to do and. And drive to. And I, I was. I don't know. I. It just. It just made all the sense. So I went to the biotech community. Well, it was great. It was with Kite. I love Kite. Kite was an awesome. An awesome start for me. After the military, I had a great team that I was working with. Unfortunately, things happened there and. And my job was eliminated. And so here I am looking for a position. Well, that's. This is. Just comes full circle and my ability to. Went back to one of my mentors, talked to him, he connected me with somebody in BYU athletics and little big loan, here I am, I found a position and. And it might not have been at the right time. It was. That was probably about 10 years ago. So 10 years later, here I am and I'm. I'm doing something that I love and I'm happy about. Right? That makes me happy. I love sports. I love leading, helping people. So it's all good.

This is. I mean, you've said some amazing things, right? So for you, for you. And different people will hear this differently for you. God's hand was every. Was in it every step of the way. And I'm a big believer of this. Something better that we don't always know what the next step is. We get attached to this outcome of I really want this thing. And. And it's like, well, maybe when that thing doesn't happen, the next big thing is supposed to like, keep going, right? Keep going because you never know. And so, I mean, you've. You've become involved in this great athletic organization. I'm in. You know, personally, I'm in a little over my head with this because I'm not the biggest sports guy. And so I don't know all the questions to ask you. That said, the journey is. Is the thing. And you know, it's like, what got you here was a lot of. A lot of hard work, a lot of belief, a lot of faith. And I mean, it's great. And you're gonna, you're gonna build on your successes and you're gonna build on the lessons. I don't even, I don't call them failures unless you do it twice.

Right?

Everybody can make a mistake. And if you make a mistake, it's usually something you can recover from. What's the lesson? And so you build on that. It's like, this is, this is awesome. So, so yeah, now you're, you know, in, in your role, you're overseeing ops again, right? Operations.

Yeah. I mean, BYU athletics, you call it ops. Call it, call it, call it what it is super exciting. It's, you know, as you were talking, it made me think about. I, I have a, A phrase that we use in our family and it's, it's. You talked about effort and you talked about God's hand. It's work as if everything depends on you and pray as if everything depends on God. And that's. That, that's kind of been the mantra of, you know, me and my wife, my two daughters, of what. What makes us happy and what makes us succeed and successful and do well. So those, those, those phrases, I think, really helped me in, in, in life.

I think that's great, right? It's like, have a plan, know when to let go and be willing to do the work.

Right?

Because. Because there are people that try and over control everything. And it's sort of like you don't know everything and you don't even have to know the how that things are going to happen. You just have to know what it is that you want and the next step shows up for you, and then you do that and then the next step shows up for you. That's the work. And you've been doing that the entire time. So that's part of the journey that I wanted to celebrate with you is, you know, like everyone's leadership journey to wherever they are now, it's not done. And also as, as you look back, you go, yeah, this thing, this thing prepared me for this thing. And, and that's why I'm a big fan of. Well, great. So this or something better. What are you after? And if you don't get that, that's where faith comes in. Like this or something better. It's the next thing, right?

Absolutely. I've been in. I've been in some really challenging times. Tough times, hard times. When I was no longer with Kite, I didn't know what, where it was going to end. I was, I was, I was doing everything I can. I had some great mentors. Jen Carroll was one who coached me up and, and, and she always told me drive to my passion. And I'm like, well, I'm, you know, I kind of reinvented myself in biotech. I want to stay with biotech. And little by little one thing happened after another and it, it just, you know, you, you, you. I guess I'm just grateful for all the things that have happened. And it does take effort and God loves effort. God wants us to work hard and he, he applauds that and he rewards us as long as we're living like we're supposed to live and do what we do and love him. And anyways, so that, yeah, I think what you're saying is spot on.

So great. So great. What haven't I asked you that you were thinking we would be talking about? Is there anything that you want to share that we haven't touched on?

You know, I talked about mentors and I just want to share my journey after the military to find my position at Kite Pharma. And, and it kind of goes with my why piece that we talked about earlier. Yeah, the military had a program that put you as a, basically an intern, a fellowship with a Fortune 500 company or any company. And, and it was great. It was a three month journey that I was still, I was actually on my terminal leave time of my military and I got to be with a company. So I was fortunate enough to. I looked at a few different organizations. All of them were BioTech. Amgen was one, Kite was one and Genentech was one. And I had a lot of mentors. And one of them was from Amgen. His name was Jeff Chisum and he was like me, a former retired Navy captain. And he gave me three great things to do on my internship. 90 days focused in on it and I, I decided to join Kite, by the way. And he said, you want one third of your time doing the job that they want you to do, one third of the time networking and one third of the time, you know, prepping, interviewing and trying to get a, trying to, trying to land that job. So when I went to Kite, there was no guarantee of a job. It was like okay, 90 days. And to be honest with you, most of this internship was more for the junior, the person who got out of the military five or 10 years, but I had been in like 29 years. And so I was a little anomaly, a little more senior and, and I just took what he said and I executed it. And he talked about networking and I used to like networking, used to put the Cackles on my neck go up. Oh, I gotta stand, stand with this group and be social and hold a cup in my hand and talk to people. And I found through the military they had this great program and someone recorded a book. It was a 20 minute networking meeting. It basically walks you through how to hold a quick, tight, quiet meeting. And so I executed that plan and what Chef Jeff taught me, he said he talked to 100 people before he actually got a job. So I set a goal. I'm going to talk to 100 people over 90 days. 100 people, I'm going to network with them. So the 60th person I get to 60, I've got my elevator pitch down. I had everything, I mean, 60 times I'm talking to you. It's a quick five minute elevator pitch and then you ask some key questions. I think in one of your former podcasts maybe the guy, right, that just got released here talked about networking and studying the person and studying the organization and, and that's what I did. I mean that was like my job. I would spend, I would spend probably 30 minutes to an hour on each person I talked to preparing. Anyways, I ended up getting to At Kai. It was the, he's called the head of technical operations, I kind of term it the chief operating officer. He was over 3/4 of the company. And he actually, I sent him a note, I said hey, I'd love to meet with you. And he said yes. I'm like what? Oh my gosh, this is amazing. So I got on with, with, with Chris McDonald and, and I explained, you know, what I did in the service, some of the things I've kind of talked to you about before Wayne and, and, and he said, he said wow, this is amazing. And, and he basically said we want you on our team. I'm like what? And I was, I was shocked. And it was like I, I just couldn't believe that that that came about. And I had interviewed with different jobs for Kite at that time and I was hoping to hear if I got this certain one. It turned out I didn't get this the specific job in supply chain at Kite, but went back to Chris and I said, well, I'm going to hold you accountable to what you just said. Kind of threw a little bit of leadership right back at him. And sure enough, so he found a position for me, for me at Kite and we had a few other interns that also got hired there. And so it was just that whole journey ended up talking to over a hundred people at Kite. But on that 60th one, you never know who you're going to talk to that's going to help you out and be there to help you. So that was, I guess one of the things I wanted to share is that networking and talking to people and really creating allies and basically, you know, I don't know, serving and winning hearts. That was kind of, it's kind of my, that's kind of another piece of what I, what I think out of life.

I think that's great. Plus, plus it's the doing the reps. You know, it's one thing to go, well, I have a good story. It's, or, or I, you know, people should just love me because look at, look at all the, the history I have and it's like nobody knows you, Nobody knows you and even if they know you from your social media, they still don't know you. So how are you going to show up? What is it you're going to say? And you know, you, you had a great plan of a hundred, a hundred interviews, 100 meetings, like really fast paced meetings where you could just work through it and two thirds of the way through you're like tada. You know, you got this thing. Fantastic. That's really, it's, it's great and it doesn't like it. Once you have that, once you've done those reps, it doesn't leave you.

Right.

It's, it's like networking. You could walk into a room now and just be pretty much at ease. I'm, I'm pretty sure.

Yeah. I'm just grateful for those that I've met that have taken an interest in me and, and I want to pay it forward. Right. I mean that's, that's, that's, that's who I am is. Oh my gosh, this person was so great to me. Without this certain person, I would have never had, even had this opportunity at this job. And that's where, you know, I, like I said that, that God knows what, the best thing for us to happen and at the right time and that was, that was all part of it. And so I know just meeting you, I'm, I'm grateful for this. It was what, what a great connection it's been. We've had a lot of great chats. I think that I haven't forgotten them. So I really appreciate that.

Yeah, well, I don't, you know, we're not done so it's like there's, there's more and you know, just meeting you and, and learning your story but really learning your heart, that's what made me want to have you on the One Sharp Sword podcast was really like, here's a man who lives his beliefs and is aligned in wanting, truly wanting to help others. And it's like that, that piece was like, I, you know, let's tell your story and.

Right.

And it's a different story. You know, I talk with people in the tech field and I talk with people in the finance field and I talk with people in all kinds of, of like telephone answering and, and biotech and it's just, it's so incredible. Everybody has a different story. And you came through the, the Navy for decades. You built on the leadership. You got there. You always had that dream of, of team sports, not just individual.

Right.

It's team. And you talked about the multiplier.

That.

On a team there's never just one person. Right. It's always. You're always better because of the people around you. And so all of. I'm, I'm kind of recapping the things we've talked about and you know, those are the, those are the leadership lessons that I love to draw out, especially like One Sharp Sword. This podcast, the subheading is cutting through to what matters most. And I think, you know, I'm kind of going on and on about it, Damon. And you know, for me it's. What matters most is your heart and your ability to help others and, and that's why I have you here. So, so glad you were here to tell your stories.

Awesome. Appreciate your time, Wayne. Really good.

Yeah. Yeah, truly anything else you want to share or if people wanted to reach out to you and, and find out more or you know, help you on your next big next. How would they find you?

Yeah, Love. Love to. Love to help. Help anyone who wants to chat. I want to share. I want to. I want to give back. I want to. I want to serve. I want to. I want to win your heart. I want to be your friend. So definitely want to help help out. Well, I'm not as I'm not a big social media, but I am. I am pretty avid on. On LinkedIn, so that's great.

Damon is available for. For a good chat and. Or support. So cool. Thanks for being here. Really good.

Awesome Wayne. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Yeah, good stuff. My guest today, Damon Dixon. And this is one shar cutting through to what matters most. I'm your host, Dr. P. Dr. Wayne Purnell, your host, your guide, your coach on this journey. We'll see you here again next time. Thanks for being with us. Thanks for listening. To One Sharp Sword cutting through to what matters most with outfluencer Dr. Wayne Purnell. For more information, please go to 1Sharp Sharpsword.com.