256. Randy Garn on Relationship Capital, Fly Fishing, and Personal Integrity

When I speak, it's to drive. I mean, I want to lift mankind. I want to change people's minds. Be like, I can do more. I can be more.

I've spent the last three years learning from some of the most ingenious fund managers around. And now I've decided to take the plunge and start my own fund. The real question is, how will I do it with no investors and without an Ivy League degree? This podcast is going to give you the answer. Join me and follow along as I share mine and other stories as we start and build multimillion dollar investment fund Bridger Pennington. And this is investment Fund Secrets. All right, people, welcome back to the show. Today we got with us Mr. Randy Garn. Randy, welcome to the show.

Bridger, bro. So good to be with you, man.

This is gonna be very fun.

This is super fun. I love watching you grow.

Yeah, it's. Well, you came and spoke at our event, what, two years ago, One of the best speakers we've had. And it's incredible to see your, your career in private equity and markets as well. That's why I wanted to have you come on to fund launch, but also your career. We talked about with people and how you work with people. You're a best selling author, New York Times best selling author, high performance. Like you've partnered with Brendan Bouchard. All these incredible people around the world and it's just cool to see your stuff. But I want to kick this whole show off. I want to talk about fly fishing first.

Okay.

And nature. You constantly post about fly fishing. You're fishing, you're in the woods, you're on horses. Like walk me through why, first off, why that and what draws you to that kind of stuff?

You know, I think for me it's ensuring that I'm grounded and you can have all the success in the world. And you and I both know tons of people that have a lot of money, but they're not as happy as they could be. I literally, I try to just keep joy in my heart. I try to live in a beautiful state, as Tony Robbins says. And for me, being in nature, I literally try to get outside every day. Whether that's like a freaking killer run in the morning or it's a hike or on weekends, you know, I'll need to just go clear my mind so that I can think clearly. I don't think people take enough time to put away their phone and to put everything away and just literally have nothing going on. It's my state of meditation is nature and I'll tell you, my best ideas ever have come from when I was actually hiking or fishing or running or doing a triathlon. Like, that is when my best thoughts and thinking come. I got to be in motion. And so that's why. That's why I'm out there.

That's cool. We saw each other at a triathlon.

Yeah.

What was that one? Actually, we did Utah. The Echo Lake.

Yes. The Echo Lake was, like, the second.

Triathlon I've ever ran in my life. I did, like, the sprint. The little one.

Yeah.

And you had ran, like, the bigger one or whatever.

Yeah, I did the Olympic. Yeah.

I about collapsed at the end, and you were just like, this is amazing. I'm training for my next. Like an ironman. I think you did right.

Yeah.

Which is amazing. Funny enough, I listened to a guy. I was on Instagram. He's talking about this, and he said, you know, we talked about going out in nature, and a lot of us think we go outside a lot, and we don't. Like, for instance, today I got in my car. I think I'm outside, but I'm really in a car with a windshield. I get to work. I walked 30 steps from my car to inside, and I've been inside the whole day, but I look out windows and I look out windshields, but I'm actually not outside. And we actually spend a very little percent of our time. Most people, even though they think they're outside, they're really not. That's pretty interesting.

Well, I try to. I mean, honestly, Bridger, I. I take people out fly fishing that. I mean, some of the world leaders I've taken out, I. I love that, because I love that. Teaching people a new skill and a new trick. I mean, a really fun mentor of mine said, like, you know, millionaires, golf, you know, billionaires, fly fish or whatever. I'm just like, dude, I'm just a really nar.

That's what it is.

But I love taking people because there is something just like when you're a little boy, like, I can tell you so many times on people's desks, what do they have? They have a picture of them with their dad fishing.

A big fish.

Yeah.

It's just a memory that you can never forget. And I don't know what there is about it for me, but it reminds me of my dad growing up. You know, my dad was a high school football coach for 33 years. And in the summertimes, we had a horse ranch and a cattle ranch. We'd go feed the horses then we'd go out fishing. So for me, it's like. It's a skill that I have. And I love to, like, teach people that stuff they've never done. Never be boring. Never be predictable. That way you'll always be memorable. And I literally was just on a call, just right before I came here with a really famous actress and her husband. I took them fly fishing, and now we're like, best friends. And she's got a new book that she's launching. She called me so excited about it. They're coming back. So it's just like, you create those memories and you can have friends for life. So for me, I actually love taking people out to nature. Better than going to lunch, going to dinner. Takes me two hours to go catch a fish, get back in the truck, and literally have an experience that is world class. And so I think for me, it's like, I've really studied a book called the Experience Economy by Joseph Pyne. And it's like, you know, if they like you, they'll listen to you. If they trust you, they'll buy from you. If they have an experience with you, they'll never, ever leave you. But if you transform and change their life, then they'll be a disciple of yours and shout your name from the rooftop, from wherever. That's the way I try to live my life.

It's funny, I had a mentor tell me. He's like, you can take me Bridgers, you can take me to lunch 15 times in the next month, or you can take me heli skiing once, and we'll be better friends after heli skiing than we are going to lunch 15 times this month. To exactly your point, which I think is so cool. What's the best spot? Where do you like to go? Well, actually. Well, don't give us the very best spot. Give us the third or fourth best spot so we don't ruin your best spot.

But I've got a couple of notelum creeks, dude.

But we're in Utah here. Do you like to go to Wyoming or Idaho or mostly just local here.

In Utah, you know, I've got, you know, here I go on the Provo river, which is beautiful. And then I've got some beautiful spots in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana that we like to take people to and on some private. Private tours and private events.

So.

So, I mean, it really comes down to. It's like the thing about fly fishing, too. It's like mastering the art of. It is the art of, you know, catching fish. Like, it's. You have to Know the depth of the water. You have to know what are they eating? You have to know, I mean, what time of year is it, are they spawning? So it's just like market conditions. It literally like fly fishing. You look at like, what's hitting today, what's hot today. You know, it's the same as market conditions. You have to know and understand before you invest in something, before you invest in somebody, is it an upward trend? Is the market hot? So it's literally the same exact things that it's multi dimensional. You have to know many things. It's just not putting a worm on the hook and doing it. It's just like, like you're, you're literally learning a skill that's going to catch that fish on artificial lore. And so, so it's the same thing with investing. You have to know what's happening, what's happening in the marketplace. And so there's so many fun things that I teach just around that skill set.

Yeah.

That can relate to business and marketing and investing and people.

So I love it. That's fantastic.

Yeah.

Okay, so different topic here. I want to hear about when you decided to put your face out there. I think it's an interesting moment in a lot of people's lives. And I had a moment like this where I was like, it is so scary to go on live or make a video of yourself or be on a podcast or write a book that you're like, I'm going to try to make this book amazing. It's a lot easier to just stay in your shell and stay in your lane. It's a way different type of person like you that have gone out and said, you know, I'm actually, I'm going to build big businesses, but also put my face on those businesses as well. What was that moment for you that, that switched of, I'm going to brand myself, I'm going to be online, I'm going to be a figure.

I don't really see myself as a figure yet, but I think it's really important for me. It's. I want to share goodness for me, as long as I can be truthful and honest and really share the things that make an impact in people's lives. That's what I want to do. I just made a decision that I'm going to share things that matter to me. And what I do is I will study or I'll read and I'll be like, man, that impacted me. That's what I share. And that's really. It was a really Good mentor of mine. I mean, Brendan Burchard's a good friend of mine and I see him, what he's done and with his life. He is such a prolific content. I mean, he does so much great content.

Yeah.

As I was like, I wanted to share with people things that would help lift and build them up higher. Like our family motto was me lift thee and thee lift me and we'll ascend together. I was like, if I can help other people, that's what I want to leave my life and my legacy as I want to be a good dad, a good father, a good husband, a good business leader and make a difference. And so the things that I share are the things that make me feel good, the things that like I feel that are made an impact for me and I just share. It's almost like a little journal for me now.

Yeah.

It's. So document the journey. There's a few things I want to unpack there. It's funny, Brendan Bouchard, you brought up. Yeah, I actually. I aspire to be a speaker on stage and stuff like that. And we throw events now.

Yeah.

I went through his world's greatest speaker training. No, actually I got it from a friend. This is years ago because I want to be a speaker and I literally. I think I've. I don't know if that's whatever I logged into his. With his logins. I probably should go pay. I said I should send. I should go buy all bread and stuff because it changed my life, that course.

Yeah.

I went through. He did a whole. People haven't seen it. So three day event. They did live and recorded it about how to be a speaker, how to speak, how to tonality, how to use body language. And it's absolutely changed my life as a speaker on stage. And Brendan is a guy that's. I just, I think has done a phenomenal job of. Of helping put people out there. And one thing that I don't know if it was in that course or somebody else said, but a lot of people get nervous to speak.

Yeah.

Until they do exactly what you said. Until they say in their brain. I'm not. I'm not speaking for me. I'm speaking to serve this audience.

Yeah.

What can I share? What goodness can I share? What can I help? There's going to be someone in that crowd that I'm hopefully going to touch and change their heart or their life or change their family. And all of a sudden speaking becomes really not so scary. It becomes you're doing a service and you're helping and giving and contributing, and it's really fun, and I love that.

Well, and I also think for me is it's like, I want to share goodness, but you're exactly right. And a really good friend of mine, Ethan Willis, you know, kind of is the same way.

He.

I mean, you may not have heard his name, but he's such impactful and powerful speaker. An amazing man, amazing business leader. I mean, when he speaks, he commands the room, but he's not really selling anything. Like, I'm not really selling anything either. You know, like, when I speak, it's to drive. I mean, I want to lift mankind. I want to change people's minds, be like, I can do more. I can be more. You know, we started a company that was really in the personal development space, and I was working with Zig Ziglar and Dennis Waitley and, like, all of the greats back in the day. And now. Now we're working with all the greats now.

Yeah.

So it's like. It's. It's. What. What is your message, and I think it's important for people to know is that if. If you can make an impact and you can build a platform, whatever that may be, if you are selling something awesome, but even if you're not selling something, if people don't know you, they don't know where to find you either, you know, so. So for me, it was more like, if I'm going to be honest and true, I want to lift and build people up to be better, but at the same time, I have to be. You have to be careful, because now I have more opportunities than I know what to do with. So you just have to be really, really selective with where you spend your time, what you do, who you know do things with. It's really important.

Yeah, I love that.

I want to go back to something you said. You said you have a family motto. I've heard you speak on stage about this. And something. I just. People, listeners. I respect Randy. Not as a business person. I do respect you as a business person, but more as a family man and a man of faith and a character and all the stuff you're talking about. Walk me through how. What you do in your family. And actually, funny enough, this Monday, I did a whole training on home court advantage. I love it from you. I said, there's a guy named Randy Garney. He's coming in this week. He talks about this concept called home court advantage. So talk us through this. What you do with your family, family motto and home court Advantage?

Yeah. Well, there are a couple things that my dad shared with me when I was getting ready for college. He said, randy, learn how to do, do as much as you can for as many people as you can, as often as you can and expect nothing in return. Like that's literally like, do as much as you can for as many people as you can, as often as you can and expect nothing in return. And I really thought about that and I like, you know, I really put that towards my life. And so I try to do that with my kids, I try to do that with my family, I try to do that with my business partners. But I mean with home, I ensure that the last thing I want to do is have a bad relationship with my kids. And so I actually have made that a massive priority that I'm going to have huge success in business. I don't mind making money. In fact, I really love when people make money because if their hearts are in the right place, they can give it away and make an impact for people. But for me, I never want to be that dad where they don't have a relationship with me. And I think one of the greatest things that I wanna do is those that know you the most love you the most. And I want you to think about that. Like for me, the home court advantages and I've managed hundreds of people, I've hired and fired tons of people, I've built companies, I've been in leadership positions. But the most important thing for me is to be a father. And if I can have my kids be successful, then that is, that's winning to me. I've actually done a good job as a real leader. If my kids can be self sufficient.

Yeah.

So for me the home court advantage is simply this. If everything's not all right at home, nothing's right. And it's hard to have success in business if things aren't good. On your home court advantage, you can.

Still win, but it's a lot harder. You're on a away team, it's way easier if the home court is figured out. Things at home are good.

But you know what though? You can still win financially.

Everything else, you're not winning truly.

Yeah, but like holistically are you winning? And that for me is like, I didn't want to be like you. I don't believe you ever really have a real work life balance. But I do believe in work life harmony because sometimes I have to work late, sometimes I've got to get contracts done, sometimes I got to get up early and get Stuff done. But I do always try to. Saturdays and Sundays are sacred for my family. And then I also try to be present when I get home. And I'm like, the most important thing, the most best gift that you can give to your kids, your spouse, your wife, and your family is to be present with them when you're there. So learn how to put things down, put your phone away. And I'm really trying to do a lot better at that.

I wonder. That's a deep thought you just brought up is the people that know you the most should love you the most. Right. That's almost a scary thought. If you're empty or hollow inside, that's a scary thought to say. Well, if people really knew what I was thinking and going on, they would hate me. Right. And that's a cutting question for everybody, I think, to think, man, if people really knew the closest people to me, the people that know me the most, if they knew everything that was in my life is, am I in harmony in all aspects of my life? And hopefully they do love you for. And they're gonna love you regardless, hopefully the people around you. But, yeah, you know, if they had a. We're all living glass houses, right, that people can see through. People that are close to us at least can see through things. And I think that's a very deep, cutting question. And I love that.

Well, even on the road, you think about it, like, how do I get so much crap done? A lot of people say, like, randy, how have you done so much in your life? You know, at the same time, I'm very strategic about my calendar. But even when I travel, like, I don't go to the parties after. You know, I remember going to, you know, when I was young and really going, thinking, like, there's all these, like, parties after. You know, you go to events and things like that.

Yeah.

I now would way rather get home, FaceTime, my kids, make sure they're in bed and, like, get stuff done than go out and waste time or to do things. So I'm just, like. I'm just, like, very, very, very conscious with my time and my calendar and ensure that I'm doing it with the people that matter most to me.

Yeah.

I've also got on my phone my 25 favorites. Like, those are. That's who I'm doing life with.

And that's your favorite, like, starred contest.

Yes.

Cool. Yeah. Yeah.

And, like, I check it all the time. Like, hey, let's make sure that I'm doing it. And then I audit that. Am I Spending time with my business partners, my family members, those that mean the most to me. I do an audit on my time. Am I literally spending time with them?

Wow. Interesting. What a cool way to do. Because there's some people in your life, at least my life. I'm like, oh, they're a great friend. And I haven't called them in six months, but in my mind, they're a great friend, but I just haven't allocated any time to them. And probably in a year from now, they probably won't be that great of a friend anymore. I love that. What a cool thing. We were speaking at an event together a couple months ago, and you. You shared a great story on stage. I loved. I would love if you share it again about a time when you came home from work and you were busy and came in the door and all that kind of stuff. I'd love to hear that story of how. What a mindset you've made to make a change, how you're going to interact with your kids. You remember that story?

Yeah.

I want to tee it up for you. I don't want to give away the secrets of the story, but you had said that you used to work a lot. You're busy, you're a young dad, and you finally had this shift of, I need to be present when I'm home with my kids.

Yeah, Well, I mean, it is there. There was a time where, you know, and I've got six kids and I've got two sets of twins, so it is like, a lot of people ask, dude, do twins run in your family? I'm like, yeah, they run all over. Freaking house. You know, it was a time when I had my four kids and I had my. My little daughter. Hallie is an. She is an amazing singer, and she was trying out for Hell Center Theater for one of the parts of the Christmas Carol and like. Like a lead in it. And like, as the little. The little, you know, Eponine or whatever it was. I can't remember what she's been in in so many. But I remember I was working on a huge deal. It was a really hard day at work. A lot of things were going on. It was like 2009, you know, kind of when the economy was all crazy and everything else. Like. Yeah, it was. It was a crazy time. I was, you know, I had a really hard. I was a leader in our church. There was just so much going on. I remember coming in, I'm on the phone, and I'm on a huge call, and I remember my Daughter running up to me, and she's like, dad, dad, dad. She's so excited. And I'm like, listen, I'm on the phone. Can you not see like, I'm on the phone? Just give me a minute here. And then I just, like, pushed her off. And I'm like, yeah, Stan, Yeah, we got to get this done. Like, what's the matter with this? And I go in my office, and I'm still on the phone and everything, and my wife walked in, and she's like, you just broke your daughter's heart. I'm like, char, I'm trying to close this deal. And she's like, that doesn't matter. She's like, your daughter just got the lead in the play, and all she could think about was all day long, I cannot wait to tell dad that I just got the lead in the play. And that's what I'm talking about, the home court advantage. I'm saying, like, I'm not perfect. I'm trying to be the best father, husband, business partner I can be. But that day, I screwed up. And I don't care if that was a million dollar deal or whatever. I had to go up, and my daughter was crying and bawling, and that's like, for me, like, even thinking about that, I'm like, man, I will never put myself in that situation again, because she's what matters to me. This will come and go. I know how to earn money. I know how to do business deals. I know how to do partnerships. But the relationship that I have with my kids, my family, my best friends, that for me, I really do feel like that is an eternal unit. And whatever associations I have here on earth, that will be the association I have and I believe on having a heaven here on earth. And for me, after I die, heaven would not be heaven if my wife and kids were not there. So that's what that literally is like to know Randy is you know, that I'm going to prioritize my kids and my family, but I'm also going to kick butt at business. So it's a good harmony.

I remember I heard you share that story. And I remember thinking that to myself, I'm like, I'm gonna. So I'm gonna make sure when I come home, I'm gonna walk in the door fully in state, in a beautiful state with my family. And if I'm not in that state, I'm gonna drive around the neighborhood twice. I'll finish that call in my car. But the moment I step in the door, I'M gonna be a present, dad. And none of us do it perfectly. But I remember that impacted me that story a lot how And I only have an 18 month old kid. We're just getting our family started right now. But that's an amazing lesson. I love that. So Randy, walk us through. You mentioned. I'm just hitting your whole life here, but walk us through how spiritual things, your thoughts on spiritual things, God, how that affects your family, everything. I'd love to hear your take on spiritual things and spiritual things within business. Some people think money's the root of all evil. I shouldn't make money if I'm a spiritual, God fearing person and they kind of conflict each other. What's your thoughts on money and spiritual things in God? Being a man of faith, I think.

That, I think that, you know, definitely God wants us to succeed in all aspects of our life. I think the most important thing for me and as I talk with people that it's all individual for every single one of us. And you have to find out what your Polaris point is. And we wrote a book called Prosper and I did a ton of research on what prosperity means and what prosperity means and what our research was is, you know, finding that it's a balance between money, happiness and sustainability.

Interesting.

And so for me it's like, are you living a prosperous life? Are you making the kind of income that you need to make and is it aligned with what drives you and makes you happy? And is it sustainable? Can you do it over the long term? Is it good for others? Is it good for the, you know, world?

Interesting.

So if you don't have those, that's a three legged stool, bro. I promise you. Like, because if you're not making the kind of money that you want to, it's literally hard to live in a spiritual state. Clayton Christensen's a really. I mean, I've read all his stuff, all those books he wrote about the paradox and basically it's hard to have that full spiritual, you know, aspect if you can't learn, be self sufficient and.

You'Re in a scarcity mode.

You're in scarcity mode. You're fighting all the time. You can't. It's hard to leave your life. You know, my dad would always say, dude, if you don't have your own goals, someone else will use you for theirs.

Yeah.

And so if you learn how to make an income and it's balanced with what you love and you can do it over long periods of time, then that's where you get in that healthy state, you know, And I've been fortunate in life. Like, I'm not stressed about finances. I'm not stressed about those kind of things. I can only eat so many meals. I can only wear one, one pair of pants. I'm not, I don't have a ton of worldly possessions, but I have a lot of riches. And for me, like people and experiences for me are way more valuable than a Ferrari or a boat or you know, three homes. I actually kind of like keep it more simple and impact lives and I'd rather do charities and other things. And so. But for some, some people, like having a freaking awesome car is great and I'm actually, that's good for them if that's what drives them and makes them happy. But as long as you're doing those things that make an impact in the world, that's how I think on the spiritual side, are we aligned with what God created us to do?

Interesting.

Are we really living up to the full measure of our creation? And are we conscious that the people we're surrounding ourselves with is where we should be? That's where my true joy and happiness comes. I'm working with my best friends and a lot of people say like man, never know work, never work with your family or friends. Bridger. I only work with my best friends and I only hire on people that I want to spend time with that work with me.

Yeah.

That's like a critical piece of my success and prosperity.

I love that. So go back a little bit. You mentioned that the three legged stool happiness right there. You attributed happiness to growing and giving, right?

Oh, 100%.

That's what drives true happiness.

Happiness is progress. Happiness is progress. Happiness is growing. Happiness is stretching. Happiness is the war. Happiness is the battle. As long there's nothing more frustrating working as hard as you can in the wrong direction. That's why I'm saying like know your Polaris point, know what direction you need to be going and then work so hard to get it and get rid of everything else.

It's interesting. I mean my wife talked about this two days ago. But yeah, a lot of people we see currently looking for happiness in places where they can't find it.

Yeah.

And where they're never going to find it. And they're, they're running a thousand miles in the wrong direction.

Yeah.

And it's a sad state of affairs to see people in and they now they're over leveraged. We're seeing the economy turn and people that are, were over leveraged starting to get fleshed out, and it even compounds the downside. And you come back to hear a podcast like this, you talking about what's true happiness, where's my true center? Where's my true north? And you go, wow, Randy's a guy of true wealth. He's got six kids, a beautiful wife and family. That guy's a guy of true wealth.

Yeah.

You know, I love that for a second time. I know you're busy. I got some quick questions for you, some quick hits. Okay. What's something in the world that. In the kind of broad, macro world. So what's something in the world that scares you going forward you're worried about?

The biggest thing that scares me is how much fear there is in the world. I try not to fear. I literally. I do the best that I can. I study hard, but I just feel so much fear right now. Like, I have never felt fear economically.

War in Russia, like, or just across.

The board, like a global fear. And that's where my. That's literally where my faith comes in, too, is like, ensuring that you surround yourself with those people that are gonna be there for you in times of need and things like that. Like, I don't fear because I'm going to work it out with God's help. And so I just. As I talk to business leaders, as I talk to really, really high performers, I surround myself with people that actually drive that fear out of me. And we're going to figure it out. But as I talk to others outside my circle, I've never, ever, ever felt so much fear in the world in all my years. And I'm an old dog, and I've been through stuff.

What do you take from that, then? What's kind of the play or the move? What do you take from that going forward in business, at least?

Well, I think that, like, if you do have fear, listen to stuff like, make sure that you're feeding your mind with the right things. The right books, the right music, the right podcasts. Like. Like this fun launch podcast with Bridger Pennington is the best podcast out there that you could listen to to help you get in the right financial state of mind. And, I mean, you do so many good things. I love what you're doing. So are you listening to those? Are you listen the things that will drive faith and that will drive right knowledge? Because I think there's so much. And I don't know where it's coming from, but things are not as bad as that seems out there in the world. And it's not as bad too. As if you know how to surround yourself around people that you're going to watch out for and that are going to, that you, you literally are going to be fighting this, this a good battle together, if that makes sense.

Yeah.

Interesting. I think, I think for me is like I worry a lot about what's going into people's minds, what they're watching, what they're doing. And so I don't watch TV and I literally only read and surround myself with the things that are going to fill my mind with like joy and keep me in a beautiful state.

I love it. As a man thinketh. Yeah, right, right there. 100% comes out. What's something going forward that excites you over the next three to five, ten years in the world?

You know what excites me is innovation. Like I love chat gbt. I love, I love all the stuff that's happening. If you look at, I mean I lived through 2008, nine, 10, like, I mean Uber started there and like a lot of the companies that we know now, like literally started during another, you know, just interesting time. So for me, what gets me most excited is the new generation. Like you like, dude, I wish I could be your age again. Like, you get me, you get me excited. My kids get me excited. Like as I work with, you know, younger individuals seeing their, the candles dancing in their eyes and the fire that they have in their belly. Like the innovation that's going to happen are going to come from you guys. And so I'm really excited to be a mentor, to be a coach, to be a support to helping champion that. Whether that's investing in people or whether that's like, you know, strategically thinking about, hey man, I've already been through this, but I am so excited about the innovation that we're going to see in the next five to 10 years is going to be like nothing we've ever seen.

I agree. Actually that's. It is phenomenal. They call it the convergence of technology happening right Now. We have 5G, AI, blockchain, healthcare, they're all converging at the same time. And what we get is an exponential growth curve, which is just insane. It's cool to see all the startups and all the stuff happening like in the last year. It feels like this new age of innovation. It's pretty cool. I would 100 agree with you from a markets point of view. So I know you're in the markets you have. We haven't even talked finance on this call at all but curious. Your crystal ball people I'm sure you run a bunch of funds and you're advised a bunch of big family offices. You work a lot in this game of money.

Yeah.

What is the next 12 months, 18 months look like from Randy Garn's perspective?

You know, I think, I think the next, I think the next 12 months are going to be some of the most interesting months we've ever seen.

Interesting, how so?

Like, with what happened with Silicon Valley bank, you know, who would ever predicted that? And then how the government responded to it as well? So I don't think we've ever seen a climate like this. And I think that you have to be super wise. I think we're going to be fine. But I think now you have to be super, super wise with where you're investing, who you're listening to, where you're spending your money. For me, again, it comes down to people. I invest in the right people, I spend time with the right people. Who's managing your money? Are they the right people that are like, doing that? So now more than ever, it's like competency and really, really surrounding yourself with wicked, wicked smart people. Like, if you want a really amazing book to read, I've read it three times. Is the Changing World Order by Ray Dalio.

Great book.

Yeah.

He's almost predicted, like, everything. So I listened to, I listened to Ray a lot. I mean, there's several other people that, that I, that I listen to that help me understand, like, cycles. We're just going through cycles. There's been a, there's been a hundred depression. I mean, there's been a hundred recessions and 100 recoveries. You know, I'm saying, so. And you don't lose if you don't sell. So you just, you have to be, you just have to be super wise and again, be careful not to get too fearful, but be wicked, wicked smart. Right now you got to be smarter than ever and you got to listen to the right people.

Yeah.

You've brought up people a number of times. I want to ask you, I get this question a ton and I want to hear from you because you've done a lot of business, a lot of different people.

Yeah.

How do you snuff out question just for me. How do you snuff out a business partner that's going to be really good or really bad? What's your approach if someone come to you, Randy, let's do business together. How do you do due diligence on potential partners that you're going to partner with?

Track record, they're not that that's probably one of the best.

How do you dig into a tracker? Like I mean you can go on LinkedIn. Are you calling former business partners?

You have to. Yeah, I mean trust but verify.

Yep.

Always, you know, take them out fishing, take him out golfing, you know, see how they, they really act, spend some good time with them. The most important thing for me is like their principles are they principle led?

Interesting.

And there's been a couple times in my life where I've made a bad decision which failure is really good if you learn from it. And I did business with somebody that, where their ego and self economic interests were over their principles and, and their love for people. And so I always, I have a formula that is P squared over the E squared that their principles have to be bigger and greater than their ego and self economic interest.

Interesting huh?

Because if they're, if their ego and self economic interests are over their principles then it's easy for them to justify.

Stuff to steal money, embezzle, whatever still.

Money embezzle or, or just take advantage of other people. And I watched that happen and not that and he didn't do it to me, but I watched him do it to other people. I was just like dude, I can't be a part of that. So I think that you have to, I mean and this is the thing, like you're still young. Now that I'm a little older. I like, I'm super, super, super, super careful with who I do business with and who I work with. And I'm only going to work with the elite and the best of the best. And I'm going to keep it super quiet and I'm going to be careful about it and I'm going to protect those that I do work with. But integrity, principles, trust, trust and love are the same. That's got to be a two way street. So I think those are so important because it's easy to make a lot of money, but it's also easy to make a lot of money and then all of a sudden end up in litigation and everything else and be miserable and be ang at a business partner for years and years and years. Don't fall down that trap. Ensure that whoever you do business with, you love like and respect each other and that you have complete impeccable trust and that you're all doing the best that you can.

Wow.

What a sermon right there. That's amazing. I'm grateful that I've had pretty so far incredible business partners.

Yeah.

And I keep hearing that's why I actually love this question because I keep hearing horror stories from other businesses. I'm like, man, I'm so. At least so far, I've been just. I've got Dan Young and Mason Brain. You'll meet him out here. Incredible business partners.

Yeah.

Which I'm just cross my fingers. That will just keep the tracker going. Well.

And you've got your dad too, who is amazing mentor. Yeah, he's the best.

Yeah.

A couple last questions for you. I know we'll get you out of here. This is just. I just love asking you. Best you've ever done, a worst day you've ever done.

Say that one more time.

Best deal you've ever done and worst deal you've ever done.

Oh, man. The best deal I've ever done is the one I just did.

Oh, yeah.

Let's hear about it if you can.

It's, you know, it's just. It's an amazing, amazing partnership that I'm working on right now. And you'll hear about it coming out. There's going to be some really explosive stuff happening here in Utah. And honestly, I think my whole career has kind of led up to where I'm at right now. And with everything that I've done that you can articulate, all the human performance and partnerships and relationship capital that I've built up over the years has just manifested themselves this last week. The worst deal that I ever did is that we went public back when I was growing my business and we went public with some people that were more corporate raiders. It was almost like a reverse merger. We're crushing up in business. We're doing everything and we actually ended up. And this was the best learning lesson of my life. And a lot of good things came out of it. But it was three years of just pure craziness while our business was exploding and growing. But we ended up going public and ended up having to buy that whole company back because it was with some people that were. That didn't have integrity. That was the worst deal I've ever done because I let. Because I believed in other people. I'm like, oh, man, these guys are so smart. They're prominent X amount of millions of dollars. We're gonna have tons of marketing and leads. Like, they have all the competencies that we need as a business to grow. Ended up being completely. They saw young guys that were crushing it and doing it. And I even remember myself, I'm like, man, this just seems too good to be true. We never ended up getting our money, really.

They ended up really they never got paid out on any of it.

No, no. I mean, it was just amazing. So we ended up buying the company back.

Oh, my gosh.

But it was a good learning lesson. It was the most expensive learning lesson I've ever had. So again, you look at those things. That was a bad business deal. But was it. But I learned so much from it that I never want to put my trust in other people's faith. And I always want to be in the driver's seat, you know, So I really learned a lot from that. If that wouldn't have happened, then we wouldn't have got really good at the lead generation. I wouldn't have met the people that are in my life now, you know, I wouldn't have had that experience so that I could mentor other people. Never to go down that route. Make sure you trust, but verify your documents. Make sure you know exactly what you're getting into. You listen to your spidey senses that, man, you don't feel good about this deal, but it is going to make you a lot of money in the long run. It didn't. Right? It actually. But I just got my mba. I got a major bank account the other way, you know, so. So you just. So that was a really bad business deal that, again, we fought through. And it made me a better person because of it. And I'll never make that a mistake again. And I'll never let people that I work with on their advisory board or friends, like, make that same mistake.

Yeah.

So interesting. Just following up on that. How would you have structured it differently? Was the documents. Did they not allow you to have your shares that would go public? Like, was it just. Was it on a legal side of.

Things or was it true?

Integrity was legal. Just the legal side wasn't done the right way.

Yeah, well, they were not. They were not honest. And so it just took some time. So what they said, what they were going to do didn't happen.

Didn't happen. Okay. Didn't line up with the documents. Gotcha.

So we were able to verify that and be like you guys. But. But again, I. You never. I mean, I always say, like, attorneys are. You know, it's like in Idaho. I grew up in Idaho. It's like two farmers fighting over a cow and the attorneys milking it the whole way. I mean, that's like most of those revenues all went to legal stuff instead of, like, growing a real business. And if they would have just been like, man, we have some amazing, like, young men here that are crushing it in life and business and have integrity instead of. They wanted to just overtake the business. And so you just have to, you have to be super, super wise with who you work with, who's strategic, what capital do you take? All money's not the same color. And so you have to just, you have to, you have to really understand that when, especially as you're like, either taking money or, you know, investing in other people, like, you just have to make sure that you do it completely right and that you get everything in writing as well. That's well documented. And even if you do just know that, that you also, if they're not integris, then it's not going to end up well.

Yep.

So interesting. Very interesting. Okay, final two questions.

Yeah.

What's the best way to people to follow you or find you online or connect with you?

Yeah, they can just go to randy. Randygarn.com you can find me there or, you know, however, I'm on Instagram, so.

Randygarn.Com or finding Instagram, you put out a lot of great stuff. I love, I love following your stuff around. Okay, final question. We'll get you out of here. If this was your final podcast or show you've ever gonna do, you're gonna die tomorrow and you wanted to leave the world with a last word. So one of my favorite things throughout, like scripture, old things that I read is the dying testimonies of, like, ancient prophets or figures, like, what was the last thing they shared on their death. But I think it's so interesting to hear. So, Rand, if you knew you were gonna die tomorrow, your last show that you can share and you can share, politics, family, religion, science, whatever you want to share would be most valuable to you. What would that be?

You know, I think for me is that I wanted to, I would want to be known as a servant, leader. I would want to be known that because of my life, other people's lives were better and blessed. And so I'm trying to do my best to live my life that way and that people are always more important than things.

Hmm. I love it.

Randy Garn, everybody. Thank you for coming on today.

Thanks, buddy.

Amazing.

Appreciate it.

Go follow. Go to randygarn.com go check him out. You guys are amazing. Randy, thank you again.

Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it.