Virtuous Innovation: Bringing Minds Together To Create A Better World With Visionary Innovator, Shelton Mercer III

In a world full of turmoil, despair and darkness, you need to carry the light. Season three of the Get Attitude podcast is where we will ignite your mind, your heart and your attitude. And welcome to the Gap. My name is Glenn Bill. I am your host of the Get Attitude podcast. We are in season three. Our theme is Carrying the light and today's guest I want to attended a something called Hobnob in downtown Indianapolis. I saw this guy get onto the elevator, I'm like, this dude has some light in him. And I knew when we met, we ended up meeting later in the meeting as oftentimes happens when people's energy synchronize and I said man, hey, I got this podcast, we started talking and I am just so, so excited to have you learn and and understand and get inside the heart and mind of this guest. Our guest is an award winning fortune 100 bred entrepreneur, innovation pioneer, philanthropist and speaker. His name is Shelton Mercer. He has founded, led and exited venture backed companies in tech, media, impact and sports as well as entertainment. In addition to virtuous innovation, that's one of his companies. Shelton is the founder and chairman of the Mercer Advisory Group and Mercer Innovation and creator of mios, the Mercer innovation outcomes system, which merges innovation, invention, incubation, collaboration and commercialization. MIOS has propelled entrepreneurial ex enterprise ecosystems to new heights. By creating and empowering multiple innovation districts, hubs and ecosystems worldwide. He is bringing the light to all sorts of communities, all sorts of states, all sorts of counties. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to talk to the one and only Shelton Mercer iii. Shelton, welcome to the Get Attitude podcast.

Hey Glenn, so good to see you my friend.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you being here. Let's just jump right into this thing called attitude. I'd love to know. You obviously have an expansive outreach to a lot of different people. When you think of attitude, I'd love to know, how do you define attitude? What's the type of attitude you look for in the people that you ultimately employ or help? And who was your original attitude coach?

Well, you know, attitude is a state of being and what I've always learned, I use a life motto, if you will, which I call which is live on purpose. And so for whether it's some of those pieces you read off of the bio there around innovation and inspiration, for me it's about purpose. It's knowing who you are, it's learning and embracing what your values and ethos is and then living that out. And so my life is all about purpose. It is about I Know early on I was taught by my dad, who was my original attitude coach, who has been in my life since I came out of the womb. I share his name as the third. And I saw that guy get up and go to work for 12, 14 hours to make sure he could send my sisters and I to good schools and put us in a good home and sacrifice and give and serve the community and serve his family. And. And so when we go about purpose, he had a purpose that was to raise three amazing children, provide legacy. And so as I go into everything I do, whether it's in building companies or traveling the world and trying to empower communities, it's all about this is part of the purpose. And so everything that I'm doing is connected to my. Not just my destiny, but literally the air that I breathe, the beats of the heart. Had a great mentor as well, Carson Pugh, who said to me that if you would turn that motto into a true lifestyle, your life will be amazing. And so do everything you do, do it on purpose.

And so what is your motto and what is your purpose?

Yeah, so that's again, that live on purpose becomes something that I've embraced and that becomes, for me it's about uniting the various disparate ways of the world. I mean, what we're doing with virtuous innovation is an example. We're uniting corporate and capital and venture backed Silicon Valley startups and innovators and researchers from universities all over the world to solve big problems. And so I see my purpose as one. Yeah, I got some really great ideas that I've pushed into the universe. And now I live my days finding ways to unite partners that can collaborate so we can tackle the things that are in our society, whether it is helping to create the next generation of innovators who are launching companies or helping communities figure out ways to solve problems that affect us in our everyday lives. All of those things coming together, we live as conveners, as collaborators, as connectors for the ways, the new ways that we can solve some of the challenges we have in our world.

Cool. And so let me take it this way. The person that's listening to us right now may go, hey, that's great, Shelton. I have no idea what my purpose is. I don't know how to find my purpose. Can you talk a little bit about how maybe you found yours? Or what advice could you give to somebody who's sitting there going, this sounds awesome, but I don't know how to find my purpose. Like what's step one, two and three? If you're somebody that doesn't know your purpose, what would you tell them to do?

Yeah, you know, I like telling stories. Cool. And because I think stories are, give us more color than just the tips and techniques and we can get to those. Some years ago I started my career in big corporate enterprise corporations. I was working for a large corporation, young guy, you know, they handed me a corporate card and say, go conquer the world. I'm working with some of the biggest companies in the world. And at that time I was working with ge, Lucent Technologies. I was there working on these massive multi continent, hundreds of thousands of people impacted by these millions and tens of millions of dollars being spent. And I'm young, I got a brand new family, I'm not even 30 years old. And the company that I was working for, Lucent, fell into some hard times around stock issues and so they were looking for people to move on. And I was getting burnt out already at a young age working this GE project. 600 sites, 130,000 people around the world. All day I'm on the phone, I'm traveling on a plane, I'm missing my family. I'm just doing the thing. And I realized that I was doing all of this for something that was chasing after some bit of riches. But the company was worth $30 billion and I wasn't nowhere near that. So I decided to, they decided. At the age of 30, I decided to leave corporate. And it was a tough decision and everybody should, you know, my family sometimes looked at me like, what are you doing? My last day in corporate was August 31, 2001. I had many clients that were in the financial district in New York. And we all know what happened nine, 11, 11 days later. And you know, that, that, that shifted my focus. It made me realize that everything I do has to be about again. I need to find things besides chasing a corporate dream, trying to climb a corporate ladder. And while I have mad respect for many of my colleagues who are now running corporations, they, we do, we collaborate together. I decided that I was going to do things that were more fulfilling and had more of a purpose to them than just that bottom line of reaching a great Wall street report. And so sometimes it's those moments, right, that shake us. And certainly I was moved. I had friends that were lost in the towers on the tragedy. I had colleagues that were affected and we all lived through that time. What I decided to do was take a year off of work, be with my family, learn how to be a dad, learn how to be involved in just A day to day life and not traveling the world every week. And it shifted my perspective that everything I was going to do from there would be something that I would own and that I would be able to steward as a person that was giving back to the world. And so it's not always about the tips and techniques, but sometimes it's about paying attention to the moments that shake our lives and can help us realize that there's a different course we can take.

I like that how when you think about the adversity that you faced, or that I wouldn't call it a reckoning, but an awakening, that you said something needs to change. And I think there's a lot of people out there right now unhappy with work, unhappy with their position in life, maybe unhappy with how they view things. How do you deal with adversity when it comes your way? And what advice could you give those people that are unsettled, that maybe don't have the financial means to take a year off? You know what I'm saying? There's a lot of people that feel stuck. So I'd like you to speak about adversity and speak about being stuck.

Yeah, I mean, look, we've all just come through one of the most historically disruptive periods of time through the pandemic. And so pandemics have a way of shifting the entire future for us. And so while we all went through the last few years in a different way, I have a lot of folks connected to me whose lives have been changed, whether through illness or through loss of lifestyle and life income. What I always say to folks is that you don't have to do this whole kind of flowery tulips running through the garden. You can't ignore it. And so one of the things that happens when adversity comes is, is what we follow a model and that is we stop and we actually feel what we're going through. It is so important to, to not become inhuman when we go through adversity. Like a lot of times you can, you can, you'll read these great authors and I've got some great inspiration and they'll tell you the tips and techniques and you can, you know, put your mind in a certain space, certainly preparing your mind daily. And you're in your, in your body by exercise and good living and taking time to have good thoughts in your mind. But there is a point when adversity comes that you have to face it, you have to deal with it. And you have to say that I am so insignificant when it comes to the world and what I mean by we live in a vast universe, right? My problems are huge. The universe. My problems seem huge rather, except when I look at them in the scope of the universe. And so when we confront what we're dealing with, and then I say when you confront it, you need to connect with folks. So how do you connect with people who care about you? First thing that I do when I go through a rough time today is I used to go through isolation. You know, we used to do this thing. I'm the captain and commander of my life. I know what's going on. There's an ego thing. When you're a young rising leader, you don't want to let them see you sweat, as the commercial would say. But I've learned that connection, when you are going through it, the people who care about you, the people who love you, people who know you tell them, hey, man, I am dealing with something that is knocked me off my feet. And watch how they respond because the people who care about you will respond to your adversity and they'll say, let me get in there with you. I may not be able to experience the same thing, but let me grab arms with you and let me connect with you. And then we go through it together as a journey and we confront it. So after we've continued to stop and look at it and connect, we got to confront what we're dealing with and that's how we come up with the journey to get through it. And so I would say to folks, you lose the ego, lose the pride, but connect with people who care about you. Because a lot of times we are isolated in our own adversity. And when we do, the connection of people who care, it provides that extra level of love and acceptance and warmth that we need to help us fix our minds to get a plan together to get through what we're dealing with.

Okay, Shelton, so thanks so much and sharing with us that story about leaving that corporate world, which I'm sure a lot of people are going through and having the self belief to really fill your purpose. One of our 10 attitude boosters in the book and that we talk about when we're doing keynote speeches is this thing called believe in you. I'd love to know, where did you get the self belief to do it? What's your concept of self belief and how do you think you could help people that are listening today believe in themselves? What's that mean? Is there a trick? Is there a formula to truly believing in yourself?

Yeah. So I think what I was alluding to earlier. Purpose defines everything. I think often, uh, we're raised to be these folks who go after things. And, you know, I was. And while I am very grateful that I was, I learned how to accept who I am early. You know, I still came up in a generation probably similar to you, where it was like, listen, you got to figure out, you know, find a career path, you know, go to college, do well to get good grades, get a good job, and then, you know, chase after whatever you can do. I think some of the beauty about even what you've been doing in your world of inspiring people and creating commerce, that takes something beyond just this whole kind of, I'm going to be a thing, a label, a title. Wow. And so for me, it's been about when I was about. Oh, my goodness. I use an image on one of my social media to a couple of platforms. It's a young boy sitting on top of a roof with a, with the cityscape, it's really Los Angeles in the background with a Superman cape on. I mean, it's a, it's a red blanket.

Awesome.

And a little costume, right? And people always remark and say, why do you have that, that, that, that image on your social. And I say, you know, when I was a kid, I always wanted to fly. And so I, a few times probably almost broke some bones thinking I could try to be Superman. And that fictitious kind of hero worship thing is not something that I would prescribe for people, but it's aspiration, right? So that aspiration for me, one day I want to be able to fly. And so I'm going to. I've got Superman paraphernalia. I've watched every movie. I've got T shirts and belt buckles. And I use that image to remind me of that little boy who said, if I could fly, then I could see the world and I could change the world. Now, I never was able to fly in human form, but I have been all over the world. I have been in boardrooms, in these global corporations, but down on the street levels of places like Haiti and Central America and other places where people have most desperate situations you can imagine. And so for, for what I would say to folks is this is, is don't chase after being a thing. Don't chase after a title. It's about finding out again, who are you fully and completely and what motivates you to be your highest and best self. And that sounds really lofty. And so we say, okay, how do you take some, some, some. Some techniques to do that, start doing stuff. You know, when I was, when I was in high school and college, I took on. I was a carpet salesman at one time, I was a lifeguard at another time. You know, I did a door to door salesperson at one point in my life. You know, I've had a diversity of experiences that have helped me see the world. Volunteer for a purpose in your backyard, something that you care about so that you can get some real world chops on what it means to give back. All those things have shaped me to now, yeah, I can determine what I want to do and how I want to do it. But those early days of discovery, right, Seeing the world flying around, being that little boy in the cape and saying the world is here for me to explore. Let me find out what's there and then pinpoint the ways I can have the most impact.

I love it. And I'm going to keep with that theme as we finish this interview and as we've done with many, many spectacular people. So I hope you'll play and have some fun with. I know you're truly doing some unbelievable things in the real estate development side of things and in the corporate development side of things. Just real quick, if people want to look you up, if people want to follow you, if people want to get in touch with you, what's the best way for them to get around you or to see what you're doing on social.

Yeah. So I mean I think the biggest thing for us is this virtuous innovation which we created actually as a, I started as a talk and we've now got a full website and a company, a public benefit corporation that we launched during the pandemic. But that talk was for me to bring my worlds together you mentioned. Yes, the corporate and real estate side around innovation centers. We've helped create over 10 innovation districts and centers around the world. Thousands of, I'm sorry, millions of square feet, hundreds of acres, thousands, tens of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in venture capital for the companies who've come through our innovation ecosystem and so that work could still continues. I've built my own companies as well, which we're proud of. But they can find me virtuous innovation there. I'm on every social. My name, you can just put it in the little Google machine and you'll find Twitter and Instagram and LinkedIn and all that cool. But yeah, we're very proud of what we've been able to push forward and we always want to connect with new people because obviously always looking for who are the next generation of virtuous innovators in the world. There.

Awesome. And my wonderful, wonderful producer got on that site. And whether you saw it or not, for those of you who are watching us, which we are on Spotify and video and YouTube, you will see some of the beautiful work that Shelton has done. So the point of this podcast is to help people bridge the gap from where they are to where they want to be, to help bridge the gap from who they are to who they want to become. And one of the exercises that we do with our guests is this thing called knowledge through the decades. And we want to walk through your life with you and ask you at each decade, what was the attitude lesson you learned? And so many times as we walk our esteemed guests through, we find our listeners walking right through with you. So if it's okay, are you up to playing, Can I ask you some questions?

Let's do it, man.

All right. So you probably don't remember being born, but when you think about either the birth of your kids or being or coming into this world as a baby, what do you feel the attitude lesson is in birth?

Wow. So, thankfully, my mother reminds me that I was born on a snowy day in March every year, my birthday. So what I do remember is joy. Right? The fact that she is is every year, without fail, the moment, the minute that I was born, my mother sends me a text or calls me and says, on this day, x amount of years ago, I'm not going to use myself. But X amount of years ago, on a snowy day in March, you came into the world. And so that has shaped me. And then my relationship with my kids are. They're my most. They're my number one relationship. Noelle and TJ are my greatest startups. I tell everybody awesome. And seeing them come into the world helped me share that joy of what it means to have children enter into the world and be blessed by their lives.

My children are my greatest startups. Let's make sure that we put that in the meme for this. That is so beautiful and so cool. I want you now to tell us about you turn 10, right? The great Shelton turns 10. I'd love to know if you remember. That puts you right around third or fourth grade. I'd love to know what your attitude Lesson was at 10. Was it from school? Was it from the playground? Were you bull. Were you in trouble? Who taught you an attitude lesson at 10? And what was it?

So. So here's the fun part. I was actually in fifth grade, so I was an Overachiever.

Oh, wow.

But I was that kid. However, here's a great story. I was. So you and I met. I'm. You know, we're both in that six feet and over realm now. But I was short growing up. I was a little guy, and I wanted to play basketball, and I was pretty good. And I. And I. And we played, and I could beat everybody, but I didn't have the hype. So the coach would always, you know, be reluctant to put me in the game because I was this little guy. So every time I could, I try to score all the points I can.

I love it.

But the biggest lesson I learned is that I probably got my first taste of what it meant to disrespect someone in authority and have them show me grace. I was in fifth grade. I had a teacher. I never. I'll. I'll. I'll call up Ms. Harris. There's. She gave a lot of homework, and I hated homework. And so she would discipline us at times, and she had us. If we didn't do our assignments, we had these groups. I wrote something in my journal, and a little thing, and we had a little journal, and I forgot that. And it was an insult to her. I called her name. It wasn't a profane name, but I was angry with her. And I think I wrote, Ms. Harris is a bum or something, or. I don't know. And I forgot that she was checking the journals that night. And I left it in my desk. All my work was there, but that note was there. And I couldn't understand the next day why I couldn't find my journal. And she called me to her desk and she said, I want you to read this entire. To the entire class. Whoa. So it caused the ruckus. But she was so gracious to me and taught me the power of second chances because I then became like a class leader. And I'm sitting here with you today, so something worked out.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

I mean, the attitude of Grace, certainly not practiced, certainly not honed, and certainly not front and center for a lot of people in today's world. So thank you for bringing that to our attention. That's a beautiful message. Let's go to 20. You're out of high school. Maybe you graduated from high school at 16. Maybe you're out of college at 20. But talk to me about, where were you at 20 and what was your attitude lesson at 20?

So at 20, I was a college dropout and had gone through a situation where I was sitting on top of the World had, you know, high, more high grades, high test scores, high hopes and everything. And I partied my way out of a scholarship at University of Maryland. Oh, wow. And so, you know, you look at, and you know, because what I like to do a lot of times, Glenn, is to say, look, all the stuff that we've accomplished is a kind of a window dressing, if you will, to all the stuff behind it. It takes a lot to get a presentation together. While I'm very grateful, we've done very well, I've got challenges and we went through it and I was embarrassed and looking around like, hey, what do I do? And you know what? I was able to turn that into getting a job at the University of Pennsylvania. And then, and the finishing my degree got whisked away to Silicon Valley and started this journey. That is some of the stuff that you are showing your, your, your, your, your listeners and viewers that we've been able to accomplish. But yeah, failure at the age of 20 will shake you up really quickly.

Interesting. Very interesting.

I love it.

There's a lot to be learned from failure. And if you ain't failing, you ain't living as far as I.

There you go.

And so we're big believers. No matter who's listening to this right now, if you're feeling like a failure, just know that every person that's on this show who has achieved, who has bridged the gap from who they are to who they wanted to become, which is what sounds like happened when you were 20, we've all failed. And so failure is just an event. It's not a person, as the great Les Brown said. And if you're listening to that, make sure you grab onto that. Let's go to 30. My friend Shelton, tell me where you were at 30, what was going on in your life and what was your attitude lesson at 30?

Yeah, you know, I alluded to it earlier. It was when I was 30, would have been 2001 and that was 9 11. Right. And I had left corporate and had two little children. I think my daughter was just about 2 and my son was 1. And so, so turning 30 was a pivotal point in my life. I had left a corporate career, I'm now a dad and a husband and family. And I then got into, I was working in faith community and be and leaned into being a pastor at that time. And so that period of my life around 30 was really cathartic. I then took on some philanthropic work. It's when I really got into that purpose driven life, if you will. How you can do well and do good at the same time. So my. I would say that by 30 years old, I felt like I lived two or three decades. And I'm sorry, I lived three decades, but two or three decades in business, really it was only one. But the, the, the life lessons and the, the global travels were translated into how can I make a difference in the community around me and then in the world at large? And So I think 30 for me was, you know, when you turn 30, people no longer ask you what you want to be when you grow up. Right. They ask you, what are you doing? And I had to make a quick ability to say, I've done some things already that I'm very proud of, and now I'm going to translate them to the new place where I can have even greater pride because I'm doing things that not just make a lot of money for a big corporation, but they also provide a bridge to the purpose pathway that I was building in my life.

Yeah, I mean, so, so good. I wish I would have said this, but it was time for you to stop doing well and start doing good. Right. It's the difference between doing well and doing good that is so huge when you can move into that part of your life. And as I read your biography, I mean, the philanthropic generosities that you have been a part of are outstanding and numerous. And if we get to the end of your life, maybe we'll come back and talk about what was the most meaningful one of those philanthropic events that you've had. So congratulations to you and just another freaking gold nugget from you on that. That was great. How about turning 40? Talk to me about turning 40. What was the attitude lesson then, my friend?

The big four. Oh, right. So 40 was pivotal. 40 was when you mentioned the philanthropic stuff. So nine, 11 happens. 2001, Haiti earthquake happens. 2010. You know, when on my 40th birthday, actually a little after that, I invited an entire city out to help me package meals for Haiti and joined into a global philanthropic hunger relief agency that was servicing 70 countries around the world. And so, you know, again, that theme of doing well and doing good was there, but it was also when I actually was able to lean into having my first selling my first company and seeing the fruits of the labor. When you build something from the ground up and somebody says, hey, I want to offer you some money to buy that thing that you bought. And so sold a sports trading company, media strategy company as well. And so that taste of what it means to have that success again do well and do good. You can do those simultaneously. And so seeing the fruits of the labor of taking a chance to leave corporate and start a journey of both philanthropy and entrepreneurship and see that intertwining come together to produce some fruit was something that's driven me my next decade. Because there's more decades there, Glenn. Although I'm trying to hold on to youth for my dear life, there is another decade there. Yes. So.

And then let's just go there. Then let's go to 50, because I know you ain't 60, right?

Hell, no. No.

Okay, so I'm just.

Just a slight. Just a hair over 50.

Just a hair over. So tell me about. Did you have a party at 50? Where were you at 50? And like, what's your attitude lesson of now? What's your attitude lesson of the present? What's your attitude lesson of 50?

So here's the good thing about me. My milestone birthday seem to be coincide with global events, so. So, you know, I didn't turn 50 during. I actually turned 50, the 2021. So we talking about, you know, in the middle of the pandemic. I mean, certainly wasn't the, The. The height of it, but, you know, the world was still struggling when I turned 50. You know, people were. I live. I'm in the east coast and the West Coast. We were still shut down. I know in, in. In. In Indiana, you know, folks were having, you know, living life. I've spent a lot of time out in Indy, but we were still, you know, dealing. So I celebrated my 50th birthday, actually kind of doing some zoom stuff with family and friends. And so you were chilling. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

You were chilling.

You were chilling, but you realize that the world is. You've got to live in the world that you're in. We still celebrate it, right? And we still. It's still very memorable. But for me to be able to anchor that and say, okay, I know 50, we're in a pandemic. I know at 40, you know, I was dealing with, you know, a global catastrophe. At 30, I was dealing with my own life changes. And so I love these mile posts that you talk about because they help me think about. And then I go back to 20, and I was, you know, abject failure, you know, and 10, I was a. A miscreant and a problem. So it helps you with that retrospective to see where you've come from. And I would say that all of them are important because they make me who I am as a man, as a person. And I wouldn't change a bit of it. Of course there are things you always want to do over. But the end result is I'm a proud dad of two amazing humans. I've got some awesome, brilliant people who work with us to help us push this uniting of various sectors that are solving problems in the world now. And I'm just very grateful for it.

That's good. I just love and have written that down. You got to live in the world that you are in. And many times we always say, look at there's the world and there's your world. And if you ever want to change that world, you got to change your world with your attitude. We have just a few more minutes left. Could you maybe talk specifically? You can answer either one of these questions. What do you feel is the collaboration that you've created that has made the most impact? Right. And tell us about that or that story or if you want to, depending on time, tell us about the hardest time in your life where attitude played a role in pushing you through to the next side.

Yeah, you know, I think we, you know, we've spent some time, I think talking about the challenges and, and I think, you know, I want people to know. Yeah, life is challenges. And so, you know, I think where I am right now is the most incredible place I've been in the history of my life.

Awesome.

You know what we're, what we have endeavored to do. There's a quote that has inspired me even around launching virtuous innovation. And you know that, that it's, it's something when the work that you're doing right now you can say, I know that this is my highest and best work today. Virtualist is about again the worlds that I've been able to impact. Corporate venture backed startups, tech and innovation and academia and policy and entertainment. Bringing them all together under one roof and one umbrella with a very purposeful, meaningful way. We have collaborations now with corporations like Ford and Salesforce and, and others that are powering solutions for small business owners. You know, we're working with additional communities to build, you know, in Indy and in your backyard there we've got that, the 16 Tech Innovation District, which is not just Indiana University and Eli Lilly and Purdue and Notre Dame and other, and Rolls Royce and Cummins and all those. We've got 40 small business owners in a marketplace that are working every day, open to the public. Bakers and butchers and barbers, banks all in that place. And so the intentional building of innovation that has life to it. Innovation that you can feel is something that I'm doing right now. And it makes me get up every day with new ideas and with new vigor to make sure that we can change and shift the world that people are living in and use and work with them to shift their reality as it stands. And so whether we're working with, again, Fortune 100 CEOs and C suites where we're working with brand new college students who are starting a career and a job or a 10 year family owned business that's trying to get to their next level, all that stuff empowers me and excites me about what we're building. So virtuous innovation, man, is really about all of what we're doing. We're pushing some media stuff into the pulling world next year with some insights and storytelling around people who are changing the world. And so I would say we are looking for virtuous innovator. If you think you're a virtuous innovator, you come and look us up and be in touch. And yeah, the places and spaces we build are incredible. But we're about connecting, we're about collaborating, we're about people, we're about uniting and making sure that collectively we can solve some of the things that are facing us as challenges in the world today.

I love it. And you know, our big push is we are bringing back Global Attitude Awareness Day. It's a global call for everybody on one day to take a pledge about attitude and to, number one, move their body and exercise, which is an attitude booster. Number two, reach out and thank a person who has affected your attitude and your life in a positive manner. Number three, donate or volunteer on that day. And so we have attitude ambassadors in every state or we're recruiting them. So we're so aligned in this. And I just knew when you just said that, I'm like, my God, we're kind of doing the same thing. I think you're doing it on a much bigger scale. When I look at 16 Tech Innovation District, ladies and gentlemen, this is the culmination of what this man does. So, Shelton Mercer, you've been awesome. You've really given us some great nuggets to take to help those people bridge the gap in their life. We always like to give you an opportunity to act as if you're king or president or whatever you want to be. But there are people out there that come to this podcast, podcasts that are listening to you today that are looking, I always call it a message of hope or a message of direction, however you want. To do it. But if you can get on, get on your keynote soapbox if you want. We got about two or three minutes and just simply talk directly to that person that's walking on the beach who feels defeated, that's sitting in their car crying because their spouse left. Just whoever it may be, there's somebody that in the next two minutes, I hope you can deliver a message that will change their life. So I hate to put you on the spot, but buddy, I know you got it. Go ahead and give us your message of hope and direction.

Yeah, so I've been studying and looking at this. I like water, I like swimming, I like lakes, I like oceans, all that. I like boats, like boats a lot. And one of the things that we found is there is a reason why big boats like ocean liners and aircraft carriers don't dock in the same place as small boats, whether it's a sailboat or even a small yacht. The reason is that and the reason why they don't follow the same waterways. Because while you may be able to get in front of a big boat, if you're behind a large boat, the wake that it leaves causes more disturbance in the water than the boat itself. And so what, what's. What, what, what happens in some of these. And you've seen some of the videos, maybe you've seen them in your life where you get a big boat coming through a place where people were smaller boats, and it takes a while, but then after a few moments those boats are thrown up with waves and tossed over and capsized.

Yes.

And often it's because they are trying to follow behind a larger big hairy thing that they feel like they should be chasing. And the reality is that if you chase after things that are out there that are unknown, that you feel like are shiny, and that people are telling you you're supposed to chase, you often get caught up in the wake. There's a reason why planes don't take off right in a row. Because if a plane takes off too close to the one in front of it, it'll get caught in its turbulence wake and fall out of the sky. So the point is, this is in order for you to not to get caught in the wake of the boats, you've got to build your own boat, get in your own stream and figure your, your pathway together and not be chasing after something that somebody tells you you should chase after. Not to be looking for glory or fame because you could get sucked up into a wake, tossed about, capsized, when you have your own ability to get in your vessel, blaze your trail, carve your path, and get to the destination that you're looking for. And so we want everybody to live on purpose. We want everybody to be exemplifying virtuous living and virtuous ways of connection. And my hope is that you stay out of the wakes of big old hairy boats that you don't need to be chasing.

Anyway, I love it. That is Shelton Mercer with virtuous innovation, right? Virtuousinnovation.com you can look him up. You can see the great things he doing. If you think you're a virtuous innovator, feel free to reach out to him. Tell him that you heard him on the Get Attitude podcast. Shelton, I'm so grateful to you. Thank you for your time. God bless you very much. God bless your family, and I look forward to seeing you on the next Get Attitude podcast.