Casey Kendal

Guiding conversations with community leaders.

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And Rocket Space, an event and meeting venue in the heart of the East Valley with a full service four person podcast studio. Another guiding growth day and today we've got somebody amazing with us. Why don't you tell me about him?

Yes. This guest started his career as a copy machine salesman in downtown Los Angeles and eventually found himself here in Gilbert, Arizona where he founded Prosperity North Advisors in 2015. He holds an MBA from GCU and is a very proud husband and father to two boys. He is a bass guitar playing fisherman and family man. Welcome, Casey Kendall.

Thank you.

There we go. And he's fresh down from the mountain today, I hear.

Oh, yeah, I was fishing this week.

Were you? What kind of fishing do you do?

The kind of swim, you know.

Trout fish.

Okay. Is it catch and release or.

I kept one.

Okay.

I only like to keep what I'm going to eat.

Is it the hand roll, bigger than the hand you keep it kind of thing?

It's more about like whether you don't.

Even have to answer. It's a silly question.

Minnesota guy. I know these things.

Yeah.

Yeah. But you're up in Pine Top, right, Where the fish are plenty.

Yep.

We.

We fished at Sholo.

Okay.

And then four. Full Hollow Lake.

Yeah.

Awesome. And you do this with your kids?

Yep.

Okay.

Yep. Seven and five. And they are. They're boys.

Yeah.

We played in the mud this week. We went fishing. We did a lot of cool things.

I love that.

So we're gonna get going on our program here and what we start with is what we call rapid fire round. Okay. So here, I'm gonna let you go first.

Okay. Here we go. Would you rather travel to the past or to the future?

Oh, I'm gonna. At this point, I'm gonna say future.

Okay.

Okay. What is your hidden talent?

I can play the bagpipes.

Oh, that's awesome. Hip hop or rock concert?

Rock.

Have you ever lived abroad?

Yes.

What is your go to snack?

Ice cream.

What makes you hopeful?

My kids.

Are you a thinker or a doer?

Doer.

If someone was to play you in a movie, who would you want it to be?

I don't know his name, but he's from 90210 and he was like Steve in that. And then he was on the Sharknado series of movies.

I n 0 yes. I and that's it. That'd be fun. What is your favorite pastime or hobby fishing?

Let's say that I would have guessed that one. And last question. Glass half full or half empty? Half full. Welcome to the club, my friend.

I love that Gilbert. City Lifestyles is a locally owned publication whose mission is to find and share great stories in our community and help build a stronger, more vibrant local experience.

Become a digital subscriber@citylifestyles.com Gilbert. Okay, well, let's get right into things. We know nothing about you, do we?

We don't. We have so much to learn today. All right, well, let's talk maybe about fishing. Where did that start? Have you always been a fisherman?

Yeah, my dad and grandfather were really big fishermen. My grandfather had a 38 foot fishing boat out of Long Beach, California. So I spent a lot of time on that. I probably learned how to park it in a slip when I was 11 years old. So we used to go to Catalina and do a lot of fishing there. Done that in Mexico as well. Even fished in Hawaii. My dad was a big freshwater guy, so that's where I get like the, the trout fishing and, and that aspect of it. So we've kind of combined that. My wife's not really a big fisherman, but she likes to hike. So we park far away at the lake and then hike to it.

There you go.

What a blessing to have that time and those memories with your, your dad and your grandfather.

Yeah, yeah. Actually, I lost my dad in 97. I was 19 years old, but obviously made a big, big enough impact on me that I've carried it forward.

So you've been in the insurance industry for a while. Tell us a little bit how you got to that path.

Yeah, so I think in the intro, copier salesman. I, I started selling copiers after getting laid off from construction. And so my uncle, who is my mentor, said, wow, you have a, you have a great personality. You should be a sales guy. And I thought, okay, well, I got laid off from construction and that's really hard to do. So two weeks after that conversation, I was working at Xerox, knocking on doors, walking up and down the mean streets of Burbank and North Hollywood. From there, with a company like Xerox, you either kind of go one of three ways. Either stay, go the technology route or go the medical route. And at the time, I, I didn't really have, I'd say the Education or the desire for the medical route, like going to pharmaceuticals or anything like that. So I went into technology, specifically tax and accounting technology, and found myself in international taxation, domestic taxation, audits, everything that I never studied for. I was selling software and services. So it. Actually that's the reason that I lived abroad. I secured a position with a Dutch firm. Firm. And I lived in Amsterdam for six months. Had a. An. Well, an apartment or a flat as they would call it. Rode a bike, lived with a French guy. My wife said, don't start World War iii. So it. I have quite the stories from my time in Amsterdam.

That sounds awesome.

Those are character building opportunities too. I mean, first of all, selling copy machines in downtown LA and then Amsterdam. I mean, I can't imagine all the amazing life lessons you learned in those two phases in life.

I've had dogs chase me. I've had the cops called on me. I had a law firm invite me in. Oh, come on in. We'll buy a copy right now.

And that was all last week, right?

Pretty much. And then the Burbank PD escorted me out. So in that industry, it's expected because you are as. As I would call it now kissing a lot of frogs. You got to kiss a lot of frogs to find those princesses or princes, whatever, whatever you're doing. And turning over a lot of rocks. I still do that today. That's what I do.

Okay, so let's go back a little bit, Mile. So your parents going into construction, was that kind of your first foray into the working world or was there something before that?

No, I've. I've worked since I was 16 years old.

Okay. Okay.

Okay. So my. My mom and dad wrote me a check on my 16th birthday for a hundred bucks. I thought I was. I thought I was the man. 100 bucks. Oh, my gosh.

Cha Ching.

And my mom said this is for you to start a bank account. I still have that bank account. It was started in 1994, which is. I'm very proud of that. So started that. And she was a Lutheran school teacher and she taught kindergarten. And one of her students parents owned a McDonald's. And three days after my 16th birthday, I was frying burgers at McDonald's. But I learned a lot. Did you know if you burn your hand, you can put mustard on it and it will soothe it?

I feel like I just saw one of those obnoxious videos on social media about all of these. Yeah, this was way life hacks, right?

Sarah knows what to do if you get stung by a Stingray, too.

Oh, so ridiculous.

That doesn't have anything to do with mustard, though.

Also, I've never been stung by a stingray, so no worries there.

Okay, so you're in there and you're working at McDonald's. And that's actually, you know, that's surprising because with my kids, I actually suggest that they work service industry first right away, just to get some of the life experiences. You get a lot of feedback, don't you? Like, good, bad, ugly, all that stuff happens.

Absolutely, absolutely. In fact, I would say life lessons just from take care of yourself. Like, don't smell those types of things. Yeah, that I think. And not that all boys would stink or anything, but.

Just. Just Ben just. Yeah, he's stinking.

I think it just establishes character and responsibility and, you know, I waited tables, I bus tables, I bartended.

Yeah.

Everything that needed to get done.

Okay, so you mentioned in the beginning, before your dad passed, that he had a huge influence in your life. Talk about that. Like, I have a feeling. I know, but tell me what that means to you.

You know, it's one of those things I saw my dad. My dad worked for the state of California for 38 years. He. When he passed away. Passed away pretty suddenly, but he never took a vacation. I mean, we would go here and there and do different things at different times, but it was in short bursts. My parents. There was a. I've got like four brothers, so there was a lot of us. And my parents had this rule that we would never go further than a tank of gas would take us. So when. When we were growing up, call it budget, call it whatever, we just didn't go a lot of places. I've. I've. I've corrected that in my life. You know, I just got back today from. From the mountains. But the biggest influence was. Was working hard and. And it. If you're sick, go to work.

Yep. Work ethic.

Yeah, you'll feel better. And that's really what's been instilled from my old man.

It's interesting then, that you call. You refer to it as work ethic, because I actually find myself actually fighting that urge on a regular basis. I don't know.

She doesn't have work ethic.

No, I'm saying my parents, Same thing. Threw themselves into work, were extremely dedicated at all costs. I think we spoke to Wally Delucki at a previous podcast, and he shared how I think he had taken five sick days in 30 years or something like that. And I'm fighting to not fall into that. It's a battle to make sure that I do make time for myself and my family. I wonder if you struggle with that or if you've.

I think where I struggle with that is restless. Restlessness, meaning I can't just relax. We got up to the mountains on Sunday, and by Tuesday, I was still filling out certificates of insurance for my clients. But that's what needs to be done. And it's really because when you're on your own, when you're in that entrepreneurial role, nobody cares. And somebody else will do it if you're not willing to do it. So you have to get it done. And that's just where I'm at.

That makes sense because you said in your profile that failure, but not personal failure, says failure to fully service my clients is one of your biggest fears. And that totally resonates with that. I get that now.

Yeah. Yeah. And I'm leaving here to go get signatures. Yeah.

So you said. We asked you some of your pivotal moments in life, and you said in your business life. First cold call, first closing sale, my first day as my own boss, and a trip to Hawaii in 2000. So first day as your own boss. I'm a little curious. How is that pivotal to you? And also, I want to know the trip to Hawaii in 2000.

Start with the trip to Hawaii.

Okay.

Yes, please.

So we've actually already referenced that. My uncle and I was laid off from construction. Didn't really know what I was going to do. Had a plan to go back to swinging a hammer, but knew that I wasn't going to last doing that. And my uncle, who has had a very, very successful career in the medical field selling devices and being in surgical operating rooms and stuff like that, pushed me on a retreat in Hawaii to. To explore my own personality and to take care of myself by becoming a sales guy and kind of the rest is history, so to speak, when it comes to.

Is that when you decided to go back to school and get the MBA and all that kind of stuff?

Yeah. So I was actually one of the very first graduating classes of online at nau. So I got my undergrad at nau. It's probably a joke on what my degree is in.

Do you tell?

Lay it on us.

So I graduated from NAU with a degree in cultural diversity with the emphasis on ancient Latin American history, mostly because I didn't want to do math or accounting. And that's why I spent 12 years in accounting.

That's why I'm an art major.

Yes, exactly. But then went back and backed it up with the MBA from gcu. But it was at that moment in Hawaii that I thought, you can take care of yourself. You don't have to. Have to swing a hammer anymore.

Go ahead.

No, I was gonna say, and your uncle helped you to see this in yourself?

Absolutely. I still bounce things off of him very, very frequently.

That's what I was gonna dig into as well, is your uncle's role in that particular process. So you're sitting around Hawaii, you said you can't surf. Right. So that's where this kind of came up.

I will tell you that I can serve, but I can't serve.

Okay, I won't believe you.

Thank you. No, yeah, it was. It was kind of one of those, for lack of better words, like, come to Jesus meetings of. Of. You've got to get your stuff together here. If you want a family and want. Want anything beyond this. Not that there's anything wrong with construction. It absolutely has its place. It just wasn't for me.

Yeah, I get it. I'm making an assumption here that your uncle kind of assumed the role of your father then.

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

Okay.

I love that in our conversations, and we've done enough now that I'm picking up on a trend that so many times we make the assumption that the parents in someone's life are the ones who are the most influential. And then time and again, we hear these anecdotes of stories where it's not always the parent, it's the uncle, it's the teacher, it's the neighbor. And it just. It makes me even think, like, for your own sons, who, besides you, is that person in their life?

That actually scares the crap out of me.

Right?

Yeah, it does. I have a really, really good relationship with. With my mom. I talk to my mom on a regular basis, probably two or three times a week, whether it's via FaceTime or. Or just a text message. So when I look at those types of relationships, I think that you lean on someone for different reasons and go to different places for that support.

Absolutely.

So let's circle down to your. Your entrepreneurial endeavors here. The starting of the business that takes a little bit of. In everybody, Right. Like, not everybody's fit out to do that. What was the motivation behind that? Was it through the schooling, the MBA process, or. Where'd that come from?

No, I actually pursued the MBA to get back into the Fortune 500, the Fortune 100 type of world. In my previous tax and accounting world, I've actually advised 26 out of the 100 Fortune 100 in various ways, primarily tax or international taxation. So I wanted back into that world. I felt like my education, I needed to back it up a little bit. But when it came to the entrepreneurial, I was working for a large firm in Phoenix selling insurance. It was my first experience in insurance, and it was a great education, except I was a minnow in a pond of sharks and I was chasing huge, huge whales. And it was a very, very difficult, lonely life. I anticipated at some point going out on my own because I knew that I had the experience, I had the wherewithal, the drive, the desire, everything that you need to have in that entrepreneurial role. And then Covid hit, and it was one of those happy pushes that allowed me to spread my wings. And as devastating as. As an event like a worldwide pandemic is, I used it to my advantage fully. Yeah. And still. Still am.

That's good. I mean, that's. I hear a lot of those stories, and it gave us a lot of the window to breathe a little bit. Right. Because the stress of everything slowed down because we had to and we had to adjust. So there you go. Starts this new business, right?

Yes. And it takes a support system. It takes a lot of planning, and I'll let you know when I can rest on it.

Okay. Any influences in that process that come to mind when you think about doing this process? Was your uncle involved? Was anybody else involved? Is like, who'd you kick this around with?

Definitely, definitely. My wife is heavily involved. I would say beyond the. The financial aspect of her supporting us throughout this time, it's. It's really the emotional support that she's offered. In fact, last week I was making phone calls because that's what I do, make phone calls, knock on doors, going through my process. And I'd probably gotten about the fifth or sixth hang up, and I was feeling a little distracted. And she gave me that virtual pep talk, pep talk, and grabbed me by the collar type of thing and said, you're the best person I know at this and do it.

Oh, that's awesome. So you're running a business, you're raising two boys, you have a wonderful wife who supports you, and you also serve our community. And I'd love to dig in a little bit on that and how you came to be a commissioner within the town of Gilbert and what you've learned through that process.

When I started Prosperity North, I knew that I needed to become active in the community, join the chamber of commerce. That was a no brainer. Where I saw myself going is really what was instilled with me at gcu, which is that servant leadership role, and how can I, how can I facilitate other people's success while making that my success? What was presented to me through an online ad was come and be a commissioner for the town of Gilbert for the Heritage District. We have an opening. So I applied, not thinking that I was going to even get a phone call or an email back. And the next thing that I knew, I was sitting in front of the town council in an, in an interview. And it happened very quickly. They voted and I was placed as the commissioner for the redevelopment committee. And we do the Heritage District. So downtown Gilbert.

It's an important role right now.

It is, it is. There's a, there's a project that's, I believe it's 11 acres, the burger King Square.

So Heritage North.

Heritage North.

I also call it the Burger King lot. But I've been told I should not.

You should not probably get my hand slapped. Right, right.

Yes. It's a fantastic project, though.

Yes, it is. Yes, it is very, very exciting and I'm really, really happy to be part of, of the committee or, I'm sorry, the commission. I was originally placed in a one year temporary role. It wasn't necessarily like, we don't trust this guy. It was more that term. And then I was reinstated for another four year term.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

With Mayor Peterson, what do you think.

Was the biggest surprise in that role?

That's a really good question. I think the level of importance in listening to the community, beyond what's happening there, it impacts a lot of the people that are living directly in that area and then in the surrounding areas. When I originally interviewed for that role, I looked at town council and said, have you ever just talked to them? Have you ever said, what do. What. What do you feel about this? Or how would you feel about this? And so I think that that engagement with the community is really what sealed my role and really what I try to focus on not only with, with my clients, but then the community as well.

I like that you say that because I think a lesson that I've learned over the last two years is the significance of just listening and having people feel heard. I think most people are reasonable to the extent that they know you aren't going to be able to solve it all and you have to find compromise, but they want to know that their voice was heard and it's so important.

That's almost word for word what I've told council.

Yeah.

Is it doesn't really Matter the issue, it doesn't matter the outcome. As long as somebody's heard most of the time that will satisfy what they're trying to do.

And so many answers out there that when you put everybody in a room together and just listen, something beautiful happens.

Absolutely.

That's great. Sorry. Ben, did you want to say anything today?

I had a question for you. Yes, Something probably a little more interesting. What Sarah's talking about. So you've got, we're talking about guiding growth here and you have two little youngsters that you're guiding their growth. Talk to us about that, your influences and all this. What's it like?

Every day when I drop off my boys for school, I obviously tell them, hey, have a great day, I love you. The last thing that I tell them is be a good leader. And being a good leader, in fact, I had this lesson with both of my sons this week. We met some friends up there, they brought two sons. I actually have coached my two sons and her two sons on the soccer field. If you really want to learn patience, coach. Oh yeah, three to five year old.

Soccer, that's herding cats.

No, thank you.

So I, I do that, have done that, still do that. So I've got a relationship with all those boys. They all wanted to be in the lead at the hike. And I looked at my 7 year old who is beyond his years and said, leading doesn't always mean you're the one in front. And I think that resonated with him.

That's great. I like that. Okay. Talked about the future with this entrepreneurial business you've got going now. Where do you see this going? Tell us what you got in mind.

Sky's the limit.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah. So prosperity North. Boy, I've never had an original thought in my entire life. And when I say that, it's very tongue in cheek. It's, it's, it's more about what can I take all of my experiences in working with huge, huge companies. I've worked with Amazon and Salesforce and Chevron and Conical, Phillips and Apple and all of these huge, huge companies. How can I apply that? How can I apply that to the small business owner in Gilbert or in Mesa or essentially anywhere. So my philosophy, I know a lot of my counterparts, colleagues, competitors, won't talk to you if you don't have XYZ amount or if you're a new business. It's not worth it. I'll sell you a policy for 300 bucks. I'm going to make $2.50 per month for the next year. But I'm going to treat you the same way that I'm going to treat my, my largest client. And for me, it's really about, again, that servant leadership role and setting them up for success. My very, very first client, I'm not sure if I can mention his business.

It's up to you.

My very first client was a food truck and he started off as selling pickles and jerky at farmer's markets. He came to me and we met via Facebook and ended up essentially writing his business plan. And he will be launching his third food truck here in the next two weeks.

It's very evident to me that you find your success through the success of others around you. And I appreciate that about you.

Yeah, the money will come, but helping individuals, that's a different story altogether.

Casey, I've loved our time together today. I've loved learning more about you and just connecting with you in your journey. So thank you so much for being here with us.

Thank you.

Yeah, this has been a fun one. Thank you.

Thank you, Ben. Thank you, sir.

So if you like this show and you want to learn more, join our tribe, join our list and learn more about the show and all the things we have to offer. Thanks for listening today and for now. Goodbye, Sarah.

Bye, Ben.

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