Latest / Abbey the Podcast Lady / Embrace Uncertainty, Inspire Others: Jim Tracy’s Secrets to Success in Speaking & Podcasting

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Embrace Uncertainty, Inspire Others: Jim Tracy’s Secrets to Success in Speaking & Podcasting · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:05
  Hello, and welcome back to another episode of
• 0:07
  Abby the Podcast Lady. We have another guest
• 0:10
  on. I have been loving having guests on the show
• 0:12
  lately, and it's all thanks to Podmatch, who
• 0:15
  has been hooking me up with some really great
• 0:17
  guests, and I'm super excited for you to meet
• 0:18
  today's guest. We have Jim Tracy joining us.
• 0:22
  All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate and
• 0:24
  I'm so grateful to be on, Abby. I am so excited
• 0:27
  to be hooked up with you. You came through on
• 0:29
  Podmatch, and I'm like, this is an immediate
• 0:31
  yes. This seems like such a good fit. We have
• 0:34
  a lot that we can get into, starting with the
• 0:37
  fact that we are both from the Midwest. Yes.
• 0:39
  Yeah. I spent a lot of time on Highway 23 going
• 0:42
  through your town because my wife was in Duluth
• 0:44
  and I was in the northeast corner of South Dakota.
• 0:46
  So I wore some slots in that road. And someday
• 0:49
  maybe they'll fix them. Yeah. Not till after
• 0:52
  winter now, though. Exactly. Yes. My husband
• 0:55
  works road construction, so he's off for the
• 0:56
  winter. It'll get fixed next year. Well, Jim,
• 0:59
  you have quite the incredible background. I was
• 1:01
  looking at your website and seeing everything
• 1:04
  that you've done. You have been a tower climber,
• 1:06
  a welder, a snowcat operator, a dog trainer,
• 1:10
  a jet pilot. You've pretty much done it all.
• 1:13
  Yeah. Well, that just means I'm really old. Experienced,
• 1:17
  experienced. And you know what else it means?
• 1:19
  It means you don't get to quit. I mean, people
• 1:21
  who don't get to do a lot didn't try a lot. And
• 1:24
  so I'm encouraging everybody, just keep going.
• 1:27
  I like that. So out of all of those titles, which
• 1:30
  one came first? Start at the very beginning.
• 1:32
  What's the trajectory been like on this? Well,
• 1:34
  I guess the first one would have been Welder.
• 1:36
  I was a welder up on the Iron Range of northern
• 1:39
  Minnesota. And I met this girl and I asked her
• 1:43
  if she would marry me. And she said, you have
• 1:45
  to ask my dad. And so I went and asked her father
• 1:47
  and he said, okay, welder, where are you going
• 1:50
  to college? And I'm like, anywhere you want,
• 1:52
  sir. If that's the price of entry, I'm all in.
• 1:56
  So we went back to school, went to married student
• 1:58
  housing, got out. No local jobs for me, so got
• 2:02
  a job in the big city of Minneapolis. From there,
• 2:05
  moved to Denver and built houses and did lots
• 2:09
  of different stuff. Swore I'd never move to Seattle.
• 2:12
  Moved to Seattle for a job. Only spent 27 years
• 2:16
  there, but there we started a business, climbing
• 2:18
  towers, and that led to snowcat operation and
• 2:21
  the dog handling and lots of different stuff
• 2:24
  that was really... a part of where we lived and
• 2:28
  who we hung out with. So it was great. My dad
• 2:31
  is going to love listening to this. And he's
• 2:33
  also going to pull in, I told you so, when I
• 2:35
  was figuring out what I wanted to do with my
• 2:37
  life as a high schooler. He was, one, pushing
• 2:40
  me towards being in the National Guard because
• 2:42
  they would pay for your school. But two, even
• 2:44
  still to this day, I am 30 years old. I haven't
• 2:46
  been in college for over a decade now. And he
• 2:48
  still looks at me and goes, you know, Ab, there's
• 2:51
  always jobs for welders. You should really learn
• 2:53
  how to weld. It's a perishable skill, though.
• 2:57
  You can quote me on that. I'm going to use that.
• 2:59
  Dad, it's perishable. There you go. But you know
• 3:02
  what? It's coming back because AI can't really
• 3:05
  take over welding. Robots might be able to a
• 3:07
  little bit, but not custom stuff. Exactly. Learn
• 3:10
  how to weld, Abby. What are you thinking? I know.
• 3:13
  I'm wasting my time podcasting. I should be out
• 3:15
  welding something. That's amazing. Well, I also
• 3:19
  was scouring your website and I see you do a
• 3:21
  lot of public speaking. And I would love to kind
• 3:23
  of hear what it was like transitioning from more
• 3:26
  of the trade side of things to more of the public
• 3:28
  speaking side of things. Because I think a lot
• 3:30
  of people don't really necessarily see a connection
• 3:33
  with those two right off the bat. So what was
• 3:35
  that like? Well, one of the things I found is
• 3:37
  that when you enter any industry, there's kind
• 3:40
  of a void of leadership. And so in our industry
• 3:43
  association, I got asked to join the leadership.
• 3:46
  team, and it was a national trade organization,
• 3:50
  and I found myself on stage. And when I was up
• 3:53
  on stage, I just got an incredible vibe from
• 3:57
  it. The thing that really led to public speaking
• 3:59
  is one day I got off the stage, and this is in
• 4:02
  front of 2 ,000 of your peers, so there's quite
• 4:04
  a bit of pressure. But I got off the stage, and
• 4:06
  this guy comes up to me, and he goes, you know,
• 4:08
  you spoke to us like four years ago, and you
• 4:13
  told us to do something. I took your advice and
• 4:16
  I started a business and now I've got like 74
• 4:19
  employees. And I just wanted to say thank you
• 4:22
  because you've changed the entire trajectory
• 4:24
  of our family history. And I was like, wow, if
• 4:29
  you can impact people that way from a stage and
• 4:32
  you have a gift for inspiring people and you
• 4:36
  don't use it, shame on you. So that's what led
• 4:39
  to this stage. Frankly, that's even what led
• 4:42
  to the podcast somewhat. That's incredible. And
• 4:44
  hearing it come from someone else saying that
• 4:46
  you have changed the way that their family is
• 4:48
  set up for generations to come just based on
• 4:51
  words you spoke and inspired into someone else,
• 4:54
  that's powerful. Yeah. And also, it is inspiring
• 4:59
  to the person who's coming off the stage. So
• 5:01
  actually, if you're in an audience and you enjoyed
• 5:04
  somebody speaking, don't hesitate to go up and
• 5:06
  tell them, what is it about what they said? that
• 5:09
  hit you in a way that impacted you because it's
• 5:12
  valuable to somebody come we don't always know
• 5:15
  if what we're saying is resonating with some
• 5:17
  people because you know you get applause and
• 5:20
  that's great but real honest feedback is is uh
• 5:24
  priceless I have a lot of clients who are public
• 5:27
  speakers with podcasts and I hear them say that
• 5:30
  too. It's like, they're like, a lot of the times
• 5:32
  I feel like I'm going up there and I'm talking
• 5:34
  into a void because yes, they clap. Yes, they
• 5:37
  look engaged, but afterwards no one says anything.
• 5:40
  But every now and then there'll be that one person
• 5:42
  that comes up and says, hey, what you said hit
• 5:45
  really close to home and it meant a lot. And
• 5:47
  it means a lot on both sides, which is so powerful.
• 5:50
  I love that. For sure. The other thing is, is
• 5:52
  if someone's sitting at the back of the room,
• 5:54
  and they're signing books or something like that,
• 5:56
  go and have a conversation with them. Because
• 5:58
  speaking is by its very nature a bit of a lonely
• 6:02
  business. Because think about this. I get on
• 6:04
  a plane and I fly somewhere and I go to a hotel
• 6:07
  alone and I eat alone. And then I go to a venue
• 6:10
  alone. I'm working in my mind. I spend hours
• 6:14
  for every five to 10 minutes on stage just in
• 6:17
  my prep work. And I'm working through that because
• 6:19
  everything is individual for an audience. But
• 6:22
  when I step on that stage, it's the first time
• 6:25
  really that I'm not alone. And then I'm looking
• 6:28
  out over this sea of people. And the only thing
• 6:30
  I can see is the seven lights that are pointed
• 6:32
  right at my pupils. And then I get down and I've
• 6:36
  expended. I'm a pretty high energy speaker. And
• 6:39
  so when I get off the stage, man, I'm sweating
• 6:41
  and I give it my all. But then people come up
• 6:44
  to you and people start arguing and stuff like
• 6:46
  that. But when you sit down at a table and start
• 6:49
  signing books for people, don't be afraid. If
• 6:52
  you're in the audience, don't be afraid to engage.
• 6:53
  We love and want to talk. I think. That chunk
• 6:57
  is getting clipped out of this podcast and posted
• 6:59
  everywhere because we're getting into what I
• 7:01
  like to call conference season and people are
• 7:03
  going to be going to these places, seeing these
• 7:05
  people talk. So that's just some really valuable
• 7:07
  information to one, not only let the speaker
• 7:10
  know. that what they said was important. Let
• 7:13
  you share your opinion with the speaker, but
• 7:15
  also just like create a connection. You never
• 7:16
  know where a new friendship is going to bloom
• 7:18
  just from stopping by saying hi during a book
• 7:21
  signing afterwards. I think that's just really
• 7:23
  good advice. It is wonderful. And not only that,
• 7:26
  what happens from that is people come up to me
• 7:30
  and they're like, I wish I could have someone
• 7:32
  get you to come to my other organization. I'm
• 7:34
  like, okay. Let's make that happen. Here's my
• 7:37
  business card and here's how to follow up. And
• 7:40
  so there's some instruction manual because people
• 7:42
  aren't, you know, there's bureaus, sneaker bureaus,
• 7:44
  and there's event producers and things like that.
• 7:47
  But the real connection happens between the audience
• 7:49
  and the person who's actually doing their level
• 7:52
  best to entertain, inspire, and impact an audience.
• 7:56
  bringing, in my case, all I have to offer is
• 8:00
  the wisdom that I learned through training by
• 8:02
  trauma. And when I bring that to the table, you
• 8:05
  guys get cheap tuition. I like that, cheap tuition.
• 8:08
  So let's get into some of what your keynote speeches
• 8:10
  are because I was thumbing through them on your
• 8:12
  website and there's like... honestly, all of
• 8:14
  them, I would gladly sit through. Like if you
• 8:16
  wanted to just do a marathon of them, I would
• 8:18
  gladly sit front row because they sound so amazing.
• 8:21
  So give me the rundown on your keynote speeches
• 8:23
  because I think they're just fascinating topics.
• 8:25
  You know, some of the best ones actually don't
• 8:28
  even come from me. I was supposed to do this
• 8:31
  speech in Denver and I called them up and you're
• 8:34
  dealing with a committee and I'm like, so I do
• 8:36
  this thing on leadership. It's natural for you.
• 8:38
  It's good to do the seven C's of leadership.
• 8:40
  You guys are going to love it. And they're like,
• 8:42
  actually, We don't think we want that. And I'm
• 8:45
  like, hmm, hey, Jim, time to listen. And so I
• 8:48
  said, what is it you're looking for? And they
• 8:50
  said, well, the market in our industry is incredibly
• 8:53
  uncertain right now. Everybody's nervous about
• 8:55
  their job. People who come to this conference
• 8:58
  aren't looking for someone to tell them how to
• 8:59
  lead. They're looking for someone to tell them
• 9:02
  how to survive. Like, whoa, okay. And so I developed
• 9:06
  a keynote called Embrace Uncertainty. And it
• 9:10
  really surrounded trying to put a little salve.
• 9:13
  on the uncertainty of the marketplace. And if
• 9:16
  you think about it, whatever your business you're
• 9:18
  in, if you think interest rates are going to
• 9:21
  go up or interest rates are going to go down,
• 9:24
  you're right. If you think the government taxation
• 9:27
  problem is going to get better or get worse,
• 9:30
  you're right. If you think that regulation on
• 9:34
  a local level, whether it be building permits
• 9:35
  or... Or planning and zoning is going to be altered.
• 9:39
  You're right. And so if we prepare and embrace
• 9:43
  that uncertainty, then we're way ahead of our
• 9:45
  competitor who's sitting and he's still fretting
• 9:48
  about it. She's still worrying about it. And
• 9:50
  what we're doing is preparing for the eventuality
• 9:53
  that change is going to happen. And if we embrace
• 9:57
  it as something that can give us a competitive
• 10:00
  advantage, all of a sudden change is our friend.
• 10:03
  We can embrace uncertainty. And I talked to it
• 10:05
  from a perspective of, I had a really super bad
• 10:09
  ski accident. And at one point, I don't want
• 10:12
  to give away the whole thing, but the doctor
• 10:14
  said, I told the doctor what he was going to
• 10:16
  do. You're going to fix my leg. It's going to
• 10:17
  be two days. He goes, actually, if we don't operate
• 10:20
  in the next two hours, you're going to lose your
• 10:21
  left leg. And I was like, what? Okay. All of
• 10:24
  a sudden, all of a sudden, doc wins. Jim's opinion
• 10:26
  doesn't matter. And so, but that was a very uncertain
• 10:30
  time in my life. And out of that came incredible
• 10:34
  victory, including with my grandkids. That's
• 10:36
  absolutely amazing. And you're so right. Like
• 10:38
  when I saw the title of your Embracing Uncertainty
• 10:41
  keynote, I'm like, it's so true because we can
• 10:43
  sit here and try to predict what's going to happen.
• 10:46
  But whether a prediction comes true or not, something
• 10:48
  changed, something moved. There's always uncertainty.
• 10:52
  Yeah. And if you anticipate uncertainty and you
• 10:55
  get ready for it, you're going to be 10 steps
• 10:57
  ahead of whoever didn't. And that's really most
• 10:59
  people. Because most people, I say it this way,
• 11:02
  worry is like a rocking chair. It might keep
• 11:05
  you busy, but you're never getting. That is the
• 11:07
  perfect visual. It is so true. And if we spend
• 11:10
  our time moving towards an objective instead
• 11:14
  of rocking back and forth, guess what? We're
• 11:17
  going to be ready, more ready. than anybody else
• 11:19
  for it gotta get up out of the chair and start
• 11:21
  moving there you go i love that so in all of
• 11:25
  your speaking do you have like a certain event
• 11:27
  that's like really stood out to you as one that
• 11:29
  was a really memorable one of your favorites
• 11:31
  that you've ever done you know There are so many
• 11:34
  favorites. There are some that you just remember
• 11:37
  because they were primary for a reason. One that
• 11:41
  I remember was the first time I stood in front
• 11:44
  of my peers and it was a trade association. Like
• 11:47
  I said, there's 2000 people out there. We had
• 11:50
  an auction. to raise money for fallen tower climbers.
• 11:53
  And the auctioneers that we were going to hire
• 11:56
  wanted 30 % of the take of it. And I'm like,
• 11:58
  that's a lot of money. So I learned how to auction.
• 12:01
  And so the first time you step in front of your
• 12:03
  peers and you're now an auctioneer, it is pretty
• 12:07
  daunting. And so I remember that one. My first
• 12:09
  health care, when I went out of my comfort zone
• 12:12
  and talked to an organization. about healthcare.
• 12:17
  Like, wow, this is going to be, this is really
• 12:19
  going to be hard because they're experts and
• 12:23
  I'm not. But what I was giving them was the patient's
• 12:26
  perspective. Now I'm the expert and they're not.
• 12:29
  And so we're able to take our shared experiences
• 12:33
  and put them to use for good. The same thing.
• 12:36
  I did a banker's conference and As the bankers
• 12:41
  are there, you know, usually you sit in front
• 12:43
  of a banker and you're waiting to say yes or
• 12:45
  no on a loan and you have zero positions of power
• 12:48
  and influence. And now I'm trying to help them
• 12:51
  serve their clients better. And I know a lot
• 12:54
  about serving clients simply because I've had
• 12:56
  to do so for about 40 plus years. And all of
• 13:00
  a sudden they're listening to me like I'm this
• 13:02
  objective authority. And it is because I am.
• 13:05
  I operate from my frame of reference so they
• 13:08
  can see where other people sit, stand and occupy
• 13:11
  the customer seat. And when that happens, it's
• 13:15
  really a beautiful thing because we both learn
• 13:17
  from it. Yeah, it's getting that other perspective
• 13:19
  that they don't usually have. And you're there
• 13:21
  and now you're in the expert shoes, which it's
• 13:23
  got to feel really fun. Yeah. And one of the
• 13:26
  things is, is there's a lot of people out there
• 13:27
  like celebrity speakers. They stand up and they
• 13:30
  give the same speech every time. And it generates
• 13:34
  an applause because it's cool. It's a shared
• 13:37
  experience. But I don't want to relate a shared
• 13:40
  experience so much as I want to relate. I want
• 13:43
  to take them on a trip through my eyes with my
• 13:46
  neurons to the place and how I felt and what
• 13:50
  triggered it. So if it was a good feeling, what
• 13:53
  triggered it in the health care thing? I encourage
• 13:56
  people. to be a hero. And you know what? When
• 13:59
  there's a hero in healthcare, in healthcare,
• 14:02
  people who come for your services are always
• 14:05
  vulnerable. They're always sometimes at their
• 14:09
  most vulnerable and so are their families. And
• 14:12
  they get very little part in the decision -making
• 14:14
  process. So when you want to be a hero to them,
• 14:18
  give them information that's accurate and timely
• 14:23
  and... gives them some semblance of control over
• 14:27
  the whole process that's born into them. It's
• 14:30
  really, when all of a sudden they see that from
• 14:33
  the perspective of someone who's literally laying
• 14:36
  on a table, all of a sudden it becomes an asset
• 14:40
  for them. And from the administration all the
• 14:43
  way down through the physicians and the nursing
• 14:46
  staff, all the way down to the CNAs and the janitors,
• 14:50
  any one of those people can be a hero. It's awesome.
• 14:52
  I love that. Truly think that it's what's wonderful
• 14:55
  about your keynote speeches and your attention
• 14:58
  to detail with it is it can be applied to so
• 15:00
  many different sectors. You're not just talking
• 15:03
  to the people that you've worked with for 40
• 15:05
  years. You're branching out to the health care
• 15:06
  and all those other ones. And I think that's
• 15:08
  really cool because the principles can be applied
• 15:11
  to even the person listening to this podcast
• 15:13
  right now wanting to start a podcast like you
• 15:15
  can just. cherry pick those things that really
• 15:17
  mean something to you and apply them to your
• 15:19
  life. You know, in podcasting, everybody tells
• 15:22
  you to pay attention to the algorithm. And I'm
• 15:26
  like, I can't even spell that. I don't even know
• 15:28
  what it is. You know what I want to pay attention
• 15:30
  to? I want to pay attention to the people who
• 15:33
  want to listen. And I want to be so impactful
• 15:36
  that they go, hey. Did you hear this guy? This
• 15:39
  old dude on YouTube is changing the way that
• 15:43
  millennials think because he really wants us
• 15:46
  to love the Gen X or the Gen Ys. And when we
• 15:49
  can do that kind of thing, I mean, we're cross
• 15:51
  -generational pollinators of niceness. It's awesome.
• 15:55
  I like that. Cross -generational pollinators
• 15:58
  of niceness. There you go. Just like a bee, we're
• 16:00
  buzzing around and we're making sure that we're
• 16:03
  pollinating with niceness. That's so cute. So
• 16:05
  let's get into your podcast because I, like we
• 16:08
  talked about earlier, I love the name, The Grampian.
• 16:13
  Iconic, absolutely iconic. Tell me everything
• 16:16
  about your podcast. How'd you get started on
• 16:17
  your journey? Give me all the details and all
• 16:20
  the lore. Okay, well, the podcast, The Grampian
• 16:23
  didn't come first. I was actually in our shop
• 16:26
  in Western Washington and I went out to the shop
• 16:29
  and I saw this dude there and I thought, wow,
• 16:32
  and I didn't know him. And I asked who he was.
• 16:36
  And he looked at me. He says, I'm not going to
• 16:39
  use his name. I'm so -and -so. And I work for
• 16:40
  you. And I was like, word. I have somebody who
• 16:44
  works for me. I don't even know their name. Usually,
• 16:47
  I knew everybody's name, their wife's name. I
• 16:49
  knew most of their kids. And all of a sudden,
• 16:51
  we had multiple locations and had people. So
• 16:55
  we immediately started what we called Legacy
• 16:57
  Radio. The name of the company was Legacy Telecommunications.
• 17:00
  And we did a live radio show. where it was call
• 17:03
  -in, and it wasn't literally on the radio, but
• 17:06
  it was kind of like in a talk radio format. Some
• 17:09
  of my guys came to me, and they're like, you
• 17:10
  can't do live. People are going to ask questions
• 17:12
  that you don't want to answer. And I'm like,
• 17:14
  I think I can handle it. I'm pretty sure. So
• 17:17
  we're doing the very first one, and the guy calls
• 17:20
  up, and he's like, hey, Jim, I was just wondering
• 17:22
  how much you make. And I'm like, great question.
• 17:25
  But before I answer your question, let me ask
• 17:28
  this. How much do you make? And he said, I don't
• 17:31
  really want to say in front of all these people.
• 17:33
  I'm like, me neither. Next question, let's go.
• 17:37
  And I found out that it was okay not to answer
• 17:40
  and not to have the right answer. But this is
• 17:42
  a way that I engage my people with my thought
• 17:45
  processes for 15 minutes every week. And we merged
• 17:49
  our companies with some other company and it
• 17:52
  became bigger. And all of a sudden, now there's
• 17:55
  almost a thousand people that align from Seattle
• 17:57
  to South Florida. And everything south of that
• 18:01
  line, we have to engage them. And so we started
• 18:04
  a podcast with video. And we couldn't do it live
• 18:08
  because we're in different time zones. So we
• 18:11
  started embracing the video portion of it. We
• 18:14
  called it On Radio. And we did like 80 episodes
• 18:16
  of that. And the people loved it. And then when
• 18:19
  I got ready to retire, I was like, I really miss
• 18:21
  that. I really miss touching people, even if
• 18:24
  it's through this electronic medium. And that's
• 18:28
  what started the new podcast, but we didn't know
• 18:30
  what to call it at first. I was with my grandson,
• 18:33
  Wesley, and we were at a lake cabin. Loved in
• 18:36
  Minnesota, but we were in Washington. We were
• 18:40
  in a lake cabin and we were playing cribbage.
• 18:42
  And for you young folks, that's a card game where
• 18:44
  you use a board to count pegs. If you need lessons,
• 18:47
  go back to the Midwest. Yeah, it's a very Midwestern
• 18:50
  game. Exactly. Anyway, I beat Wesley at cribbage
• 18:54
  and Wesley is a very competitive young man. He
• 18:57
  stood up with a start and he said, you're not
• 19:00
  grandpa. I'm like, what? You're not champion.
• 19:03
  What are you talking about, man? He goes, you
• 19:05
  are the grampian. And it stuck. And I would never
• 19:09
  be so bold as to name myself the grandpa champion,
• 19:12
  but I really loved it when Wesley gave me that
• 19:15
  handle. And so when we started a podcast, we
• 19:18
  said, hey, let's call it the grampian. And Wesley,
• 19:21
  if you go onto the podcast, is my very first
• 19:23
  guest and he tells you about how it happened.
• 19:25
  That is so sweet. So how many grandkids do you
• 19:27
  have? 19. Oh my goodness. That includes a brand
• 19:31
  new granddaughter -in -law, but she's a grandkid
• 19:33
  now. That is so exciting. What's their age ranges?
• 19:37
  Two twins just born three months ago and 22 on
• 19:42
  the oldest side. Oh my gosh. And just married.
• 19:44
  Yeah. That is so exciting. And every range in
• 19:48
  between. I mean, I've got babies, I've got toddlers,
• 19:52
  I got preteens, I got teens, I got college age
• 19:55
  and 20s and high school, everything. So yeah,
• 19:58
  it's pretty awesome. The holidays must be absolute
• 20:01
  chaos, but in the best way. In the best way.
• 20:03
  You know what the cool part is, is that grandkids
• 20:06
  don't get mad at people, but kind of like dogs.
• 20:09
  Dogs keep you young if you're old. If you're
• 20:11
  on Medicare, go get a dog. It'll keep you. Solid
• 20:15
  advice. Or go get some grandkids. Because this
• 20:18
  last summer, and it goes back to my lab, the
• 20:21
  doctor told me, he said, hey, you'll never run
• 20:23
  again. And I was like, that's awesome. I never
• 20:25
  liked running anyway. But then one of my grandkids
• 20:29
  said, hey, let's sign up for this Spartan race.
• 20:31
  And I'm thinking, wow, I don't know if I can
• 20:33
  do that. You know, that turned into, you know
• 20:35
  what? I train him, but I can do that. And so
• 20:38
  we run a 5K Spartan sprint type race, one every
• 20:41
  summer. And this last summer, I think I ran it
• 20:43
  with seven grandkids. So now there were, one
• 20:47
  of them's a college football player. I did not
• 20:50
  beat him. As a matter of fact, there's none of
• 20:53
  them that I really beat. There's some that I
• 20:55
  finished with. But at 66 years old, to be able
• 20:59
  to get through that is pretty epic. Especially
• 21:02
  when you get to run it with grandkids. I was
• 21:04
  just going to say how special that is to be able
• 21:06
  to do that together as a family. Like that is
• 21:08
  absolutely incredible. Yeah, it was awesome.
• 21:12
  And we'll start prepping now for next year. Once
• 21:15
  the holidays are over. Yeah. Once I get rid of
• 21:17
  that Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas ham. Yep.
• 21:20
  That's a January project. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
• 21:25
  So back to your podcast, you're doing audio and
• 21:27
  video for it? Audio and video. And we're on our
• 21:31
  primary distribution is YouTube and Apple podcast
• 21:33
  and Spotify and iHeartRadio. And I'm going to
• 21:37
  miss five of them are all are all part of it.
• 21:40
  And I've got a wonderful fellow that produces
• 21:43
  for me in Cheney, Washington. It's just been
• 21:46
  crazy. I was I just did something. I was out
• 21:51
  to dinner with my wife and my phone just started
• 21:53
  blowing up. And it was like, usually I just leave
• 21:57
  it down, but it was like, it was really blowing
• 21:59
  up. And it was the producer and some other folks
• 22:01
  saying, hey man, you just went over 50 ,000 subscribers.
• 22:04
  And I was like, oh my word. That's a huge milestone.
• 22:09
  Yeah, that's a pretty big deal. And especially
• 22:11
  in only two years, because they told me I'd get
• 22:14
  to 10 ,000 in two years. And so we're at two
• 22:17
  years and at 50 ,000. So I'm pretty happy. We
• 22:19
  must be doing something right. I would say you're
• 22:22
  doing something right there. And I love that
• 22:24
  you're doing audio and video because as much
• 22:27
  as... I am kind of an audio podcast purist. I
• 22:31
  only listen to audio podcasts. That's just where
• 22:34
  I prefer to be. But I know how important video
• 22:37
  is. And that's why this podcast, Abby the Podcast
• 22:39
  Lady, is also a video podcast. And I produce
• 22:42
  video podcasts for people. It's so important.
• 22:45
  All that you can do with chopping it up to be
• 22:47
  reels and TikToks and shorts and sharing it across
• 22:50
  social media. The video element is so important.
• 22:53
  It's essential now. I don't think you could actually
• 22:55
  do it without it, even though I would say that
• 22:58
  there's a lot of these pods that play on Apple
• 23:01
  just because there's so much Apple density out
• 23:04
  there. If you look at the number of phones and
• 23:06
  devices and things like that. But there are these
• 23:10
  other little venues where they're playing podcasts.
• 23:13
  It's pretty incredible. I was actually, I went
• 23:16
  to a Krav Maga studio, and that's an Israeli
• 23:19
  martial arts studio. And they have my podcast
• 23:23
  playing on audio. It was really awesome. That
• 23:27
  is so cool. And there was not four people there,
• 23:30
  but it was like, hey. that audio portion is absolutely
• 23:34
  necessary. Right. It's so important. I love that.
• 23:37
  Like you showed up somewhere, it's playing. Like
• 23:39
  that is so special. Like I haven't experienced
• 23:42
  that since I was a radio DJ when I'd walk in
• 23:44
  somewhere and my voice was coming over on a commercial
• 23:47
  somewhere. But it's a weird feeling. Yeah, it
• 23:51
  is. It is. Especially, you know, we're kind of
• 23:53
  programmed not to enjoy or like listening to
• 23:56
  our own voice. And that's the way that neurologically
• 23:59
  we're built. But when you do it and it's in public,
• 24:02
  It's pretty cool. It really is. So with your
• 24:05
  podcast hitting those huge milestones, what's
• 24:08
  kind of next on the radar for, do you have another
• 24:10
  goal set after hitting those 50 ,000? Like, do
• 24:13
  you have another like milestone you're kind of
• 24:14
  like aiming for? You know, I want to have such
• 24:17
  a great podcast that people click on it. That's
• 24:21
  obviously number one, but to have it be interesting
• 24:23
  enough where they stay on it. And part of that
• 24:27
  is introducing guests that are really engaging.
• 24:31
  And I don't mean celebrity engaging. I mean,
• 24:33
  there's so many interesting people out there.
• 24:35
  There's a guy that I interviewed and he's 68
• 24:38
  years old. He has, his name is Gary Irvin. He
• 24:42
  has climbed the tallest seven mountains on seven
• 24:45
  continents and finished that. And then he took
• 24:48
  a sled on skis and he drug it from like from
• 24:52
  the edge of the Arctic. or the Antarctic ice
• 24:55
  cap, all the way to the South Pole. And his next
• 24:58
  goal at 69 would be to take a different sled,
• 25:03
  but that same path up north in the Arctic, where
• 25:06
  there's polar bears and open water and things
• 25:09
  like that. And he's going to do that just for
• 25:11
  a challenge. And every time he does it... He
• 25:14
  jots down notes and those notes have turned into
• 25:17
  a book for his grandchildren. Oh, how incredible.
• 25:21
  Yeah, you're sitting at base camp of Mount Everest
• 25:24
  writing notes for your grandchildren. I mean,
• 25:27
  just being there is inspiring. Imagine what those
• 25:30
  notes are going to turn into, whether it's a
• 25:32
  children's book or I don't know, but I can tell
• 25:35
  you I'm buying that. Yeah, 100%. Send me the
• 25:38
  link when you find it because I am all over that
• 25:41
  kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah, it is the power of
• 25:45
  podcasting. I mean, you meet those interesting
• 25:47
  people like that. You have them on your show
• 25:49
  and then all of a sudden you're staying in touch
• 25:51
  with them long after the show is over. And you
• 25:54
  just meet so many cool, fun people. And I learned
• 25:57
  so much from every podcast. There's actually
• 26:00
  a Minnesota kid who is not a kid anymore. He's
• 26:02
  50, sorry. But he and his wife wrote a book about
• 26:06
  their health care experience in Minnesota. And
• 26:09
  it's called Our Fear Never Sleeps. And it is
• 26:12
  such an emotional and raw description of what
• 26:15
  it feels like when there's nothing you can do.
• 26:18
  It's that healthcare thing again, but there's
• 26:20
  nothing you can do. And they've given you a diagnosis
• 26:22
  that's really, really difficult to swallow. And
• 26:25
  so he talks about understanding and then claiming
• 26:28
  what's possible. And I've learned so much from
• 26:32
  him. His name is Eric Gabrielson. And go listen
• 26:35
  to the podcast. Yeah. Thinking about it in the
• 26:37
  context of like even rewinding 30 years ago and
• 26:41
  like how we would consume these interesting stories
• 26:43
  would be like late night TV. But the bulk of
• 26:46
  them are already people who are celebrities.
• 26:47
  Now, everyday people like you and me get to share
• 26:50
  our cool experiences and hear other people's
• 26:52
  cool experiences on our own platforms and get
• 26:55
  it out for the world to consume. And I just think
• 26:57
  that is it's magical. There's no other way to
• 26:59
  describe it. Yes, ma 'am. And also the long form
• 27:03
  podcast allows you to explore it with greater
• 27:06
  depth than any late night television program
• 27:09
  or anything like that ever allowed. Because you
• 27:12
  can always click off and come back or you can
• 27:15
  say, hey, I want to listen to that again. There
• 27:17
  are so many podcasts that I listen to where like,
• 27:19
  you know, I really learned a lot. But I think
• 27:22
  I missed some stuff. I'd like to listen to that
• 27:24
  again. Yeah, for sure. I'm a repeater. If there's
• 27:27
  a good episode of something, I'm going back for
• 27:29
  it a second time around. Right on. So how do
• 27:31
  you judge podcasts? I mean, as a producer, you
• 27:35
  get an opportunity to look at things with a little
• 27:38
  bit more critical eye and a little bit more experience
• 27:42
  than the rest of us. How do you judge a podcast?
• 27:45
  So everyone is put through a different filter
• 27:47
  in my mind, but all kind of the same one. It's
• 27:49
  all based on how I know if they have an external
• 27:52
  producer like you do, who hires someone out to
• 27:54
  help make their show or if they're doing it themselves.
• 27:56
  I have a pretty good ear and an eye for it. I
• 27:59
  can usually tell if they have an external producer
• 28:01
  or not. I just love consuming audio content.
• 28:06
  I listen to so many shows every single week.
• 28:09
  And when I find one I really like, I just latch
• 28:11
  on to it. And I can always tell the little intricate
• 28:14
  things they do, like if they're doing their introductions
• 28:17
  live and they're playing sound effects live or
• 28:20
  if they're adding it in post. I have a pretty
• 28:22
  fine -tuned ear for that kind of thing. And I
• 28:24
  love sitting and not necessarily picking it apart
• 28:27
  and determining whether things are good or bad.
• 28:31
  Picking it apart and trying to think about what
• 28:33
  their process was to make it and deliver a finished
• 28:35
  product. You know, that's my goal with the podcast.
• 28:38
  You asked earlier what the goal is with the podcast.
• 28:40
  And I want to make it better. Every time we step
• 28:42
  out, I want to make it better. To that end, I
• 28:45
  had a grandson call me recently and he's like,
• 28:47
  Grandpa. I'm like, yeah, man. He says, I got
• 28:50
  to tell you something. You're probably not going
• 28:52
  to like it too much. I'm like, okay. I'm listening.
• 28:55
  He said, your audio sucks. Okay. Wow. I actually
• 29:00
  had a couple where I accidentally disconnected
• 29:04
  my studio mic and it was going through the computer
• 29:08
  mic. And what he was doing was saying, hey. Technically,
• 29:13
  you better get your stuff in a group because
• 29:15
  this is not working. And that's priceless because
• 29:19
  I would have never known. My producer should
• 29:21
  have told me, but he's in the throes of things
• 29:24
  too. I've had that before too, where clients
• 29:27
  will send me... piece of audio and I'm like,
• 29:29
  your microphone wasn't plugged in. And they're
• 29:31
  like, what do you mean it wasn't plugged in?
• 29:32
  I'm like, either it was loose or it wasn't plugged
• 29:35
  in. Like something went wrong. I'm going to do
• 29:36
  everything in my power to fix it and make it
• 29:39
  sound perfect. But just so you know, there's
• 29:41
  only so much I can do with computer audio. You
• 29:44
  can only make so much ugly pretty. There's only
• 29:48
  so much lipstick we can put on the pig before
• 29:50
  we got to send it out in the show ring. There
• 29:52
  you go. Yeah, that's great. Well, I really appreciate
• 29:56
  you taking the time to come on my show today.
• 29:58
  I'm so thankful that Podmatch got us hooked up.
• 30:00
  I like to wrap all of my guest interviews by
• 30:03
  asking the same question. And that question is,
• 30:06
  what is a podcast that you've been listening
• 30:08
  to lately and really enjoying that isn't your
• 30:10
  podcast? Wow. It's very difficult to pick. I
• 30:15
  am. a bit of a podcast junkie. So I will tell
• 30:19
  you that one that I really like lately is Josh
• 30:23
  Kosnick in his Spartan Leadership podcast, simply
• 30:26
  because he does a little bit deeper dive into
• 30:29
  the why. And that has been something that I've
• 30:32
  truly enjoyed. Also, I really love the raw and
• 30:36
  the searching of Sean Ryan. That's probably an
• 30:39
  easy one because, you know, he's so huge. But
• 30:43
  the reason he's so huge is just authenticity.
• 30:45
  And yeah. But I would say the one I enjoyed the
• 30:49
  most recently is probably Josh Koznik, the Spartan
• 30:51
  leadership. Great recommendations. I'll make
• 30:54
  sure I get those linked in the show notes as
• 30:55
  well if people want to go check them out. And
• 30:57
  also in the show notes, where can everyone connect
• 30:59
  with you, get in touch with you, book you as
• 31:01
  a speaker, all that great stuff. The, T -H -E,
• 31:04
  thejimtracy .com. J -I -M -T -R -A -C -Y .com
• 31:07
  or find me on YouTube. I'd love to have you.
• 31:10
  I'd love to have you listen. Make sure you like
• 31:12
  me first. You're a pretty likable guy, Jim. I
• 31:14
  don't think you're going to have a problem with
• 31:15
  that. Also in Minnesota, there's a place called
• 31:18
  Nationally Speaking. Yes. Nationally Speaking
• 31:22
  is a booking agent back in the Midwest that has
• 31:26
  done a fantastic job for me. Oh, you're part
• 31:29
  of that organization? Yes. That's amazing. I
• 31:31
  met them. So the voice of the Minnesota Vikings,
• 31:34
  Paul Allen, was on the podcast. And Paul and
• 31:36
  I have developed kind of a friendship. And they
• 31:40
  represent him. And so they picked me up as well.
• 31:43
  That's amazing. Congratulations. That's a huge
• 31:45
  honor. Thank you. That's great. Well, thank you,
• 31:47
  Jim, so much. This has been so much fun. And
• 31:50
  we'll have to do it again sometime because you
• 31:51
  were just a delight. Thank you, Abby. You are
• 31:53
  an amazing podcast lady.