Latest / MountainWest Capital Network: Welcome to the Winners' Circle / Building a Company That Lasts | Chad Fraughton’s 33-Year Cornerstone Story

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Building a Company That Lasts | Chad Fraughton’s 33-Year Cornerstone Story · MountainWest Capital Network: Welcome to the Winners' Circle

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: And this is where it gets fun because, you know, again,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: some of your darkest days are dawned to the grace
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: of lights. Then I said, okay, I'm going to put
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: a spin on this because that's what good creative people do, right?
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: They take the same idea and reuse it. And now
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I'm sitting here at the age of 55 doing work
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: with the biggest of big companies and they're right across
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: the street.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: You're listening to the Mountain West Capital Network podcast, your
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: gateway to the winner's circle. I'm Sherry, the executive director
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: of Mountain West Capital Network.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: And I'm Jason, president of the Mountain West Capital Network
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: and managing director at Protivity. Every episode, we sit down
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: with Utah's most visionary business leaders to uncover the ideas, risks,
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: and wins behind the state's fastest-growing companies.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Mountain West Capital Network is best known for the Utah 100,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: our flagship event that recognizes the state's fastest-growing businesses. But
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: behind every number is a story, and that is what
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: this podcast is all about.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: You're not just tuning in to hear what's happened. You're
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: stepping inside the winner's circle to understand how it happened.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Today, we are pleased to be sitting with Chad Frotten,
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: the founder and CEO of Cornerstone Technologies. Chad has over
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: 35 years of experience in the live event and field
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: marketing industry, and his work at Cornerstone has encompassed 33
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: of those years since its founding in 1993.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: With Chad at the helm, Cornerstone Technologies has become one
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: of Utah's premier event production companies. He has led the
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: production of multiple large-scale experiences with budgets exceeding $ 25 million,
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: creating stunning audiovisual environments. Chad is brilliant in creative design
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: and an expert in technological innovation, making his contributions to
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: this space invaluable.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Chad is also an executive member of both Silicon Slopes
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: and Atlantis Foundation. On top of founding Cornerstone, he has
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: since branched off with five sister companies, The Forge, Destinations
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: by Design, Entertainment 2.0, Event Lab, and Evolve, and a
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: few other companies outside of this industry, including his newest venture,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: High Star Ranch Entertainment Venue. He is a graduate of
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: the American Film Institute and an avid outdoor adventurer and
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: an all-around thrill seeker.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Chad, welcome to the Winner's Circle. Well, thank you for
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: having me.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: We are so happy that you are here with us today.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: This is a story we've been wanting to tell for
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: a really long time, and now we have a podcast.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: And so, of course, you're going to be one of
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: our first people that we bring on. So, Chad, this
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: is going to be a challenge because I can't imagine
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: how you would answer this, but how would you describe
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: what you do in one sentence?
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: I think, you know, if you describe me, I think that, um,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: I would like to just think I have, I have
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: a really big heart and that's really focused on servicing
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: and helping people achieve their goals. And I think a
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: lot of times I'm the luckiest guy in the whole
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: world because I get to hear, you know, either companies
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: are on the rise that are finding their, their foothold
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and finding their greatness and they share big ideas. And
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: I think that I'm a collector of all that. And
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I think at the end of the day, you know,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: creating these moments and time that are memorable because everything
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: I do is very temporal, you know, and, um, I
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: will be celebrating a, uh, a giant momentous moment. And
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: literally four hours after it happens, it's tore down and
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: loaded onto 75 trucks and gone, you know? And so
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: I don't get to celebrate a lot of those, but I,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: I do think that I am very lucky in the
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: sense that I've been able to do that my entire life.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: And I've never really done it for anybody but myself.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: And so I'm very lucky that people have chose me
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: to help them on their journey.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: I think that's awesome because if I were to, having
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: known you for as long as I have, that would
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: be how I would describe you as well. You do
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: have a big heart. And when I interact with you
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: or anybody that works with you, it's a family. People
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: love you dearly. I think you're one of those people
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: that when you walk into a room and if you
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: were to say, who in here thinks Chad thinks of
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: them as their best friend. And I think there's a
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: lot of people that would say, no, he thinks of
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: me as his best friend. No, it's me. And fighting
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: would ensue. But you are amazing, and you do have
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: a big heart.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Personal insight. I think I get that
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: gift from my father. He was a big part of
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: my life. And I remember being at his funeral and
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: people sharing that same sentiment. that no matter when they
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: talked to him, he always made them feel like they
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: were the most important person alive. And it was interesting
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: to see the friendships that he had with the people
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: he had it with. And I remember in that moment,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: to be honest with you, I think that was really,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: I think I took a lot of that for granted.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: But then when you see, you know, when you really
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: realize that through the eyes of your father and him
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: not being in your life, your mortal life anymore, that
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: that it made me realize that's what I want to
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: do more. And I think, I felt like that was
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: a kind of a, not necessarily a directional change in
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: my life, but it made me, it made me think
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: about the importance of that, you know, and, and, and
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: what you can do if you have a, just a strong,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: good heart and what you can do, because really being
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: in the company that we are in, in a service industry,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: that's really the only thing that, that differentiates ourselves from others.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So, yeah, we'll get to that a little bit too. Yeah.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: I think, you know, first off, again, Chad, we're so
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: excited to hear your story. Maybe you can just start
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: with how it started and just walk us through kind
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: of the history of Cornerstone.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh. I got to make this quick. Again,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I feel very, very blessed for how this happened because
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: I think I'm a huge Malcolm Gladwell fan. if you've
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: ever read any of his books, I feel like I,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: I could have written the pages of outliers, um, because
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I believe that I took advantage of opportunity and to
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: the nth degree. And I worked so hard to do it,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: but my story is pretty simple. I was given a
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: lot of opportunities. And I think originally I, I was, uh,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: I had, uh, sustained an injury. I was playing, uh, football,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: college football and, and sustained an injury that, that, ended
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: that that chapter in my life and um and i
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: kind of came back to utah and found myself working
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: at a very large software company at the time and
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: uh i was working like late night security while i
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: was going to school to be honest with you because
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: i could do homework um that was allowed and and
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: it was just a really good moment um and or
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: an opportunity i should say not a moment but but
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: I just didn't take that for granted. You know, being
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: who I was, I would go around and all the
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: executives that were working late night, I would take them
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: a treat or I would, you know, make them laugh
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: with a joke. And my favorite thing was really to
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: just scare him to death. Like I would literally scare him.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: And one night I scared this gentleman and he's like,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: and he was just literally scared to death, but he
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: was also laughing. Thank goodness. And so I, um, He's like,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: what are you doing? And I said, well, I'm scaring you.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: And he's like, you know what I mean. What are
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: you doing? I said, well, I went to school. I said,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: I want to be a recording engineer. And every college
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: counselor I had said, you'll never make any money at that.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: And they laughed at me and said, not even the
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Osmonds could make money at that. And so, of course,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to tell Donnie that, right? Or Marie
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: that or Doug, you know, or the second generation. But
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: I laughed. And so they convinced me I had to
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: be an electrical engineer. And, you know, I would have
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: been locked away in a basement and I would have
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: never saw the light of day. And I would have
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: never been able to share my array of sunshine with anybody.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: So it was kind of, it was kind of interesting,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: but he's like, well, come work for me. He's like,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: he's like, uh, um, he was over telecommunications ironically. And
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: back then they were digital phone systems, you know? So
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: there was a software application that ran them. And, and
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: he's like, I'll teach you everything you need to know.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: And by the way, you know, it's like, you know,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: this is 1990 and I'm, I'm 20 year old, 20, 20,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: 20 year old kid, maybe 19. It doesn't matter. But, um,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: he's like, you know, and I'll, and I'll pay $ 125, 000
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: a year to do that. And I was like, well, Yeah,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: I'll do that. And so I learned it in like
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: 10 seconds, you know, literally. And I did that for
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: about eight months. And he then came to me and
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: he said, he called me in his office. And he said,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: I've got an opportunity of a lifetime for you. And
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: I said, okay, hit me. And he said, I just
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: came from a meeting. The company wants to start a
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: think team group that will build experimental software. And application
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: is what he said. So IP. And I said, okay, well,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: what does that look like? And why would I be
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: a candidate? And he said, it's right up your alley.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: He's like, we're going to send you away to school.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: We are going to teach you everything that you need
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: to know, because what we're going to do is very,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: very experimental and very cutting edge. And so that's when
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: I got sent to the American Film Institute in Hollywood, California.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: And at the time it was sent there as a,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: as a broad educational platform and, But then I got very,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: very focused and they paired me up with a very
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: famous audio design engineer that built studios by the name
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: of Chips Davis. And if you look Chips Davis up,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: it probably nobody knows who Chips Davis is unless you're
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: in the business. But if you look him up, he
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: was infamous in building like Lucas's sound facilities. He built
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: the jazz ranch in LA and was just a giant
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: in the industry. And I was very, very lucky to
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: have him as a mentor. And so I studied under
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: him and that was just an amazing opportunity. And that's
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: why I kind of compare it to the likenesses of
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: what is outlined in Outliers is because I was given
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: these immense opportunities. And the one thing I would say
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: is I never, ever took them for granted. I always
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: tried to work the hardest I could, learn the very most.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: In fact, a lot of guys that I work with
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: would make fun of me because I literally would read
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: the manual. And, you know, and the technology, I mean,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: some of these manuals were.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: That doesn't surprise me at all.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they were printed, you know, and so
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: they were like phone books. And, but I wanted, I
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: had a really... a strong thirst to be the very best.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: And I think that's really what it, what it came
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: down to, um, or at least be in the field
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: of given the, given the people I was rubbing shoulders with, I,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: I wanted to be able to have conversations. And I
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: think that's important because, you know, you, um, from the
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: time that you're a child, your parents encourage you to
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: have the right friends, right? In business, we, we teach,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: you know, who are the first, first six people in
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: your contact list, you know? So, so these things were important.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: And I knew that from a very, very young age,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: I knew that that, was important. So I went to Seattle.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: We built three recording studios there. We built them during
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: the grunge era. So I got to meet a lot
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: of the big bands that were coming out of that area,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: got to see and observe them and recording of some
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: of the most iconic albums of that, of the nineties,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: to be honest with you. And, and I'm living my dream.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Like I manifested this and it, and it happened. And, and, uh,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: you know, and, and I, and I guess I'll just
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: stop and pause right there. Um, because that's where it
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: got really fun. Um, I remember thinking like, you know,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: we always hear that, you know, of course you should
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: listen to call, you know, your counselors, of course. And
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: you should listen to, to people that you respect or
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: your elders or however you want to define it. But,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: but man, if you have a dream, you chase it
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: and you never, ever, you know, because even if you
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: don't capture it in the moment, if you still can
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: manifest it, you can, you, it may happen 20 years down,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: down the road.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: But it'll happen. And, uh, and so I, I came
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: back to Utah and started building, you know, starting to
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: apply what I've learned. And we build a lot of
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: beautiful studios. We built digital recording facilities that were one
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: of one, um, digital recording studios for film and video.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: And at that moment in time, as the tech world knows,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: we were acquired. And so all of the discipline now
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: had been purchased by another software company. And this is
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: where it gets fun. I mean, because, you know, again,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: some of your darkest days, right, are dawned to the
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: grace of lights. And I feel like that was a
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: really big, important thing. And at the time, I was
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: young enough that I was somewhat ignorant to it. But
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: they asked me and my former business partner as engineers
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: to write a business proposal. And this was long before
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: the internet, right? So thank goodness my business partner was
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: still registered at BYU because we went down and took
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: over the library and we learned how to write a
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: business proposal. And I'm sure it was horrible. I'm sure
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: it was horrible. In fact, it was so horrible it
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: got me fired like a month later. But the funny
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: part of this is I was always the youngest guy
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: at the table. So they march us in. Our senior
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: vice president flew in from Silicon Valley and she sets
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: us down and there's 20 of us. And I, I
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: look at that as almost a, almost a comedy too,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: because I'm like, who in the world fires mass amounts
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: of people in the same room? Like now if you
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: apply it to modern day, like, Holy cow, that would
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: be the, that would be an HR nightmare. Right. But
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: they did it. And, uh, it was funny. It's funny
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: to look back on it, but, but, um, you know,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: and I know I'm like the group cheerleader and I
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: think it was cause I was so young. Cause my,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: my colleagues were, were guys that had, and not to
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: say that I didn't, I mean, I had a mortgage,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: I had children, but I was young and I, and, and, uh,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: maybe it was just my mindset. Um, but I'm sitting
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: there amongst people that are emotionally like distraught, trying to
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: figure out probably what the next chapter in their lives were.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: They're probably, I know I'm in my twenties and, and
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: they're in their forties, you know, so it's much different game,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: but I was the cheerleader and I'm like, guys, this
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: will finally allow us to go on and find our greatness. Guys,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: we no longer have to worry every Christmas that do
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: you buy Christmas or not? Because are the shareholders going
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: to fire us all or not? You know, like, so
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: these are real world problems, right? That everybody goes through
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: to today. And especially with the, with the tech influence here.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, these are real things. The giants of today
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: are the ghost towns of tomorrow, right? I mean, they
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: really are. And so it's, I go home and this
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: is a Thursday. This is a Thursday. And I think,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: I want to say it's like February 12th. And I
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: go home and it didn't sink in what my reality was.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: I went home. I told my wife, you know, kissed
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: my kids, was hanging out with my kids. I'm like, wow,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: I haven't had a day off forever, you know. And
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: then I wake up the next morning. I'm like, oh, wow,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: I got to find a job. And they, of course,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: they've given us the severance. But this gets funny. Yeah.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Of course, they give us a nice severance. At the time,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: I would say very respectful severance. And so, of course,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Chad doesn't put it in the bank. Of course not.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Chad goes and buys a company. So you're going to
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: die laughing. But I go from being this technologist, like inventing.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: And I never really talked about what we were inventing.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: But what we were really inventing was what now is Siri.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: So it was voice recognition and voice to text and
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: a lot of that technology. And that was 1991. So
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: see how long that takes to come to market. The
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: other was an embedded technology that is very similar to
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Bluetooth and which, which was very, very cool. And so, um,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: those were, and then an edutainment software. So, you know,
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: education and, and, and entertainment and, and all these things
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: have purpose because this is really what my life has become. Um,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: and as a steward of that and, and a steward
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: of technology. And so, um, again, I'm, I, I, I
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: did buy a company, and you're going to die laughing
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: when I tell you, but at the time, the concrete
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: curbing craze was at full tilt, right?
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: There was a craze.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I literally could go in an afternoon, like for
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: two or three hours, and you made, and I can
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: still repeat this, you made $ 1. 90 a foot, a linear foot,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: off of this curb. And then if it was the
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: square type, you made $ 2. 10 a foot. And it was cash. George,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: it was cash. Don't tell Uncle Sam. But but it
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: was funny to me because I mean, at that point,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, the salary that I was replacing was so
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: simple to me. And to be honest with you, I
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: got in shape. Yeah, it was fun. And I had
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: fun and I got to meet people or whatever. And
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I think that helped me come out of my show.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: But I didn't do that as like a full time thing,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: because literally three days after I got fired, I got
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: rehired for the same exact position. But as a contractor
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: by a company called Bush Creative. And if you're not
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: familiar with Bush Creative, they are a fully-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: and they are the creative company behind that company. So
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: all of your Bud Bowl commercials, all of the– in fact,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: I did, and I produced a lot of the Bud
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Bowl and the Frogs, if you remember the Frogs. Yeah,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: I do. Definitely. But what I was in charge of
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: was the theme park development. And so the experience within
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: the experience, which now we call experiential. So I learned
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: the art of that. And there is an art to that.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: That's a science, actually. That's not just an art. It's
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: how people react to environments. They're predisposed nature to explore
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: space and how they do. Like you can almost calculate
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: how people walk through an experience. So I learned just
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: the art of that. And I apply that to today, right?
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Because all these things are experiences. And I laugh because
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: I'm sure that if you looked it up in the dictionary,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: and I'm laughing right now, Um, that word existed, but
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: did it really, you know what I mean? Like we,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: we were pioneers in that without even knowing. And, um,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: and that's kind of what made it beautiful because we
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: were doing things that nobody else had done so quickly.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: About a year and a half flies by and they're
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: really pressuring me. They really wanted me to go back
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: to St. Louis. And at this point I had two
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: small children and I had grown up here my whole life.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: You know, I had went to Arizona for a little
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: while to play sports, but my home was here and
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: I'm like, I have no desire to leave here. Um,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: and I remember sitting there, um, in the basement of
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: building J, um, at my desk. And I remember thinking
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: to myself, like, I don't want to leave. How could
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: I ever stay here? And that business proposal popped back
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: into my brain. But I said, okay, I'm going to
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: put a spin on this because that's what good creative
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: people do, right? They take the same idea and reuse it.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: They call it unique and original. Yeah.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: No one's the wiser. Right.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: So I did. And I was fortunate enough that at
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: the end of the day, I was able to do it.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: the time, a very infamous and beautiful woman by the
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: name of Crean Clark was my mentor. Well, she was my,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: if I would have been an employee, she would have
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: been my direct report. But I had a relationship with Crean,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: a professional relationship. And I admire her so much.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: She is such a fantastic human. She's amazing. And I've
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: got the, I've, and you know, and over the course
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: of my life, I've got to honor her in many
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: of the programs that I've been able to produce. So,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: so it's all, it all comes around. But I, I
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: call her and I said, Corrine, can I still like
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: 30 minutes of your time? And she's like, of course.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: And she's like, where are you? And I'm like, I'm
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: sitting at my old desk. And she like, she's, she
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: kind of laughed because I think she knew, but she
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: probably forgot, you know, that we really never left sort
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: of thing. But she's like, of course. And she's like, well,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: meet me up at, you know, building K. And I
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: was like, okay. And so I go up there and
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: I thought I was the whole time because I wasn't
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: a salesman.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: You know, I felt like I had a good idea,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: you know, and I had built it and lived it.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: But my whole thought process was keep it short and
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: keep it simple. And so I developed really what I
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: would say. And I think it was probably four bullet points,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: to be honest with you. I had my proposal, but
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: I said, Kareem, I don't want you to read this
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: because it's all kind of irrelevant and it's really not prepared.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: And I don't mean to waste your time. It's more
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: or less just reflecting an idea off on, on you
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: and respectful. I said, you don't have to give me
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: an answer today. Like just, I want to just have
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: you consider it. And if anybody, if you know Kareem,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: she doesn't, she, she's smart enough that it's like it, it,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: if you make sense, it's, it's, it's done. Yeah. It's blessed.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: So I kept it simple. And I said, Kareem, if
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: we could do this, You know, you've got all this
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: immense amount of equipment at the time. I actually even
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: knew what it looked like on the book. So, you know,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, you have X amount of dollars and
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: it was in the millions. You know, this wasn't a
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: small project. And I said, your options at this point
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: are to sell it just on the open market for pennies,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: literally pennies on the dollar. And I even, I even
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: guesstimated as to what I thought, and it would have
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: been accurate. I mean, I knew that world inside and out,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: but I said, that's, that's the choice. We're at a crossroads.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Or you can trust in me to take this and
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I will go out and I will find clients. I
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: would love to be your first client and continue to
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: do what I'm doing in the field marketing realm and
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: help you and, and do everything I've always done for
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: you because I know it's still a need. And they
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: had hired another company to kind of do that. They'd
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: outsource that and which is a local based company here. And, and,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: and we'll talk about that. But, I said to her,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I said, you know, there's, and she just stopped me
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: and she's, I was three bull, you know, I was
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: three points into my four and she's just stopped me.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: And that's how wonderful she is. She just stopped me
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: and she said, she looked at me, she said, is
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: there a downside to this, Chad? Or is there anything that,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: that would not, this would be smart to do, right?
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: And she asked me the question. And of course I'm like,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm not going to say heck no, you know, like,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: but I said, honestly, Karine, if you believe in me,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: then no. And it was at that moment in time,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: she's like, well, then write the one page up and
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: let's do this. And at that point that that was
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: such and I probably get a little bit emotional. But
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: at that point, I became one of the biggest companies
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: in production space in the nation with that one moment
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: in time. And so, again, I kind of just go
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: back that that is such an incredible journey. You know,
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: it's really almost full circle. And it's like, I never
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: gave up. Even when it was like, probably right down
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: to like, I could have walked out of there. And
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: I could have walked out of there and took on,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: you know, a normal job, I guess, if you will.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: But I never stopped believing in what I felt like
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: I knew. I feel like I knew what I wanted
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: to do. I just didn't know it because there really
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: wasn't an industry at that time. Like we really kind
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: of built But the work that we had done, and
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: this is where I'll end it, the work that we
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: had already done, you know, the first company I worked
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: for was absolutely trendsetting. And they had done things that
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: really nobody in the space had done in the sense
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: of even at trade shows, they did live performances, written, script, directed, produced. Like,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: they were amazing. And then Novell had taken over and
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: they were doing really amazing things, too. And I think
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: that they had learned and observed, or maybe, again, I
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: wasn't in the early ages of that, but they were
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: very similar. And so it was such an easy in.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: We were really growing almost, I think the first year
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: we grew over 400%.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: And for all you venture capitalists, you're going to really
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: love what I did, but I never even secured funding.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: In the 1990s, as we all remember, I probably would
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: get 10 credit cards in my mailbox every single day.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: And I was lucky that I had really good credit
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: as a young child because I literally would max them out.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: And I would, I would land these projects. I would
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: go buy everything that I needed to do to fulfill them.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: And then I would starve to death, but I would
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: take all the money that I earned, you know, just
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: keep a little teeny bit, whatever I could for a salary.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: And then I would put it right back into paying
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: it off. And that, so that 400% growth paved way for,
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: for assets after asset after asset. Now, mind you, I
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: did have Novell stuff and that helped kind of bridge
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: that gap. But, you know, a lot of people think
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: the barrier of entry is so low on events, but as,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: as a production company and, and to have, you know,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: we have 155,000 square foot warehouse that 40 million ish
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: in assets that, that, that age so rapidly. I mean,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: within a year that will be completely overturned, you know, like,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: the reinvestment is just crazy. That's, that's why it's such,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: so expensive, you know, but that was really my story.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Just one that completely blessed. So like going back to
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: the Malcolm Gladwell book, like if you read those pages,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: it's riddled with opportunities. And the reason I think I
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: gravitated to it so much is because when we were
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: doing that, I was literally pushing Bill Gates on the stage.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: I was literally the pages of even Zuckerberg. And, and,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: and what we know is modern day social media was
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: all intertwined with that. I've, I've met every single one
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: of those people when they were nobodies. Huh. And, and
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: that's kind of what's beautiful today is like, I feel
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: like that's, that's what I've always taken such great care
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: to is because there's, it makes me proud to be
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: in Utah.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Because I spent the good majority of my younger life
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: when I was building this company brick by brick in
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: the Bay area or in big, big markets where big,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: big companies existed. And now I'm sitting here at the
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: age of 55 doing work with the biggest of big companies.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: And they're right across the street, literally from you guys.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: So it just makes me proud to, to have been
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: able to stay in Utah, but not only stay in Utah,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: but just see what Utah is now. And where it's going.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: And I think that's the front row seat to the
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: greatest show ever, period. So it's beautiful. I love that.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: I love that. It's fascinating. It really is.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: Maybe one thing I'd love to understand is, you know,
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: obviously you've built a significant company over these years, 30
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: plus years. What's been important in building the culture and how...
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: Have you been able to attract the right people? And
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: I know that you have fantastic people. We've benefited at
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: the Utah 100 events and Entrepreneur of the Year and
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: other things that you've done so well. How have you
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: been able to attract the right people? And what's core
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: to building.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: A successful company?
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Gosh, you know, the right people. First of all, I
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: would say that culture is the most important thing. part
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: of any successful organization. And it's the hardest to achieve.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: You can never rest on it, even when you think
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: you have it figured out, right? Like, you know, being
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: 33 years, it's different. Generations, you know, they view it differently, right?
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: And so you really have to keep your finger on
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: the pulse of it. And I hope I have it
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: figured out. I think I do. Because if you would...
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: You look at Cornerstone, I have people that have been
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: with me for over 30 years.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: We always laugh about this. I should say this. You're
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: either Cornerstone for life or you're there for one year
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: or less. You either have it or you do not.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: And I think that's the beautiful part that I really
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: want to get to because I think you have culture
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: figured out if you see longevity because the good majority
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: of all my people are 12 plus year veterans. And
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: now I'm starting to see with a tear in my eye,
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: I'm starting to see these people retire. That's the one
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: thing about being a very young entrepreneur is you, it's
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: sad because your life cycle, it's like that perfect dog, right?
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Like the minute he's perfect, he passes away, right? We
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: all laugh, but it's sad. I'm not crying. I just
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: lost a dog. That's why I said it. But no,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's like to see these people
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: that meant so much to me. But when you talk
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: about employees, I honestly believe that employees find you. I
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: think if you create the right culture, I think you become,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: because we're so connected, we are so connected. And And
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: I'm not just saying like social media. I'm not just
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: saying like we're the ultimate glass door. And that's a
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: plug for glass door. But you're the most, you know,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: like you know this. I mean, Sherry, how long have
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: we been connected?
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: You know, I was trying to think about it. And
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: I've been with Mountain West for 20 years, 21 years maybe.
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: And probably I don't really remember a time. without you.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: And I was actually trying to think this morning on
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: my run, I was like, how, how do we find you?
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: How do we find each other? I don't even remember.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: I don't either, but I'll, you know, like, and I
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: have the worst memory ever, but I remember the first
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: time we ever met was across the road from the
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: salt palace. And it would be where the, don't judge
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: me if I mess this name up is open barley
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: is now maybe. And we were, we were in a group.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: And, and, and, and that's, yeah, that, I'm 99% sure
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: that's when we first met. Yeah.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think probably 20, I would say I've
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: known you at least 20 years.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: But, you know, we're talking about employees now, but let's
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: just pause and let's talk about, you know, good people.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: If you're a good person, good people find you.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: Yes. I.E.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Sherry. For real, you know, it's like, and that's what,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: and that's what binds you. Yeah. You know, like I,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: I have, I have, we have built what we have built.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: With really very little business development. And I know that this,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: the whole podcast will probably gasp because a lot of
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: people it's, it's all about the business development teams or whatever.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: I would argue that it's all about relationship because the relationship,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: like no matter where, and I'm going to be bold
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: here and I love you. So if you, if you
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: think differently, don't correct me, but no matter where the
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: relationship from the day that I met Sherry, 2020, four
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: years later, arguably, whatever it, no matter where Sherry would
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: have been, I would have been working with Sherry. I'm,
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: I'm 99.9% confident in that. And I think the people
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: come in and out of your life. And I think, again,
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: I'm a big, big believer in this, that, um, these employees,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: they find me, but it's my job and it's my
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: honor to work alongside of them and, and see them. I,
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: I tell, I tell our people all the time, I'm like,
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: the way I view business is that we live in
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: a little teeny ecosystem and a little teeny bubble and
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: we choose every day what that climate is. And if
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: we choose it to be San Diego, then it's San Diego.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: And if we choose it to be the Arctic, it's
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: the Arctic. So, you know, choose wisely, you know? And
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: I think, I think that's why people are either with
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: me for life or they're not because, you know, if,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: if you're prickly or you're cold or you're like living
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: in the Arctic.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: And a, If you're like that, then, uh.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Then, uh, yeah. Like, you know, go do it. You're
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: probably going to do it alone.
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: You know? And, uh, but I have had, and that's,
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: that's really where it kind of really gets, it touches me.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: So if I get emotional, I apologize, but, but man,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: I have been blessed. I've been blessed with the most
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: incredible people. And most of them are not from Utah.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: You know, I, I always tell people, they're like, well,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: how was Utah? Why Utah? And I'm like, why not?
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: You know, because like, it's an island as far as production,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: it's an island. You know, if you don't have it
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: on the island, if you don't have, that's why we
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: own all these companies. Like if you don't have it,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: you need it. So I feel like, you know, I
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: feel like every time we've needed something, we build another
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: company around the need. And ultimately those are about the relationships.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: And ultimately they're, they're about helping our clients achieve what
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: they need to achieve. But, but, but to put a
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: pin in it, like, culture is everything but i i
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: view culture you know there i i believe business as
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: as an owner has such an amazing responsibility it's not
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: it's not making sure that the check's clear yeah that
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: that is i wouldn't even say that's in the top
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: 100 i mean it is really understanding a person understanding
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: what they want out of life and and seeing if
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: those two things align with what your vision is. And, um,
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: and I think that's why, you know, like, you know, we,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: we're 125 strong. I can't sit in the seat of,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: of some of these amazing people you probably had on
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: your podcast that have thousands of people, you know, that you,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: you can't reach and touch, but in my little teeny,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: you know, in my little teeny ecosystem, it's sunny and
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: 70 and I can touch a hundred people. And that's
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: what I loved about the first place that I ever
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: worked was, um, my first true job was we were
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: an amazing group of humans that really truly cared about
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: one another. And that was what that whole work environment
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: was about.
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: Well, and I would say you get that sense when,
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: you know, when I show up on site or even
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: before that, as we're trying to prepare an event, and
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: I've been lucky enough to work with a number of
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: people from your team who also to this day are
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: still my great friends. And I can see them on
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: the street and just want to hug them because I
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: know and I love them. And not just that, but
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: when we are working on an event, whether we're honoring
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: Robert Redford or Josh James or Ryan Smith, all we
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: have to say is Cornerstone is producing our event and
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: there's an understanding right there and then of how that
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: event is going to go, the trust level that they
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: have for your team, and the happiness that you experience
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: when you're in, when you interact with your team, whether
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: they're building the set or taking down the set or
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: working with you on a chat, a sound check. I
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: believe everyone that I've been able to work with handles
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: things the way you would, which is, that says so
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: much for you and your leadership and your example, but
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: also the ability to attract those people that are like-minded.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: And I've, again, I've experienced that firsthand. I'm grateful. And
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: one thing I wanted to touch on two is some
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: of your team, they're your family.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: They are.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: And I know lots of places and I can almost
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: guarantee that I'm going to see Cooper and he's going
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: to run up to me and he's going to give
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: me a hug and he's going to be with his
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: family and he's going to talk to me for a minute.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: And so talk to me a little bit about that because,
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: you know, family businesses can be hard and they can
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: be a challenge for a number of reasons. So do
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: you want to touch on that a little bit? Yeah,
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: of course.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: Yes. Before we do though, I want to, you said
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: two names that mean the world to me. I just
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: want to, I want to touch on that. So Ryan Smith,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: like what an amazing man.
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: Like we've been in so many journeys together and we
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: still are. And I see, I see all this stuff
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: that he's doing with five for the fight. And I
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: see all this stuff he's doing for Intermountain.
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: You really watched him grow.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. And do it in such grace and style.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: And man, I'll tell you if there was a, a ever,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: The need for a Utah mascot, it would be Ryan Smith.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: And he has been so wonderful for me. And Josh, like,
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: you know what, Josh?
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: Like, I remember you calling me one day and you
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: said to me, you said, okay, we're going to induct
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Josh James. And what is it going to be? well,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: how do you see that? And I said, he's a
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: rock star. We're going to do a rock and roll
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: hall of fame. And that's what, I mean, it was
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: that quick. Cause that's the way I always viewed Josh.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: You know, he went from young.
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: At the hotel for that.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But you know, what's more fitting.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: You know, that guy, like any guy that names his event,
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: Doma Palooza, that guy is a guy that I'm going
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: to love, you know, but, but from the early ages,
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't do business today with Adobe if it wasn't
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: for Josh James.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: And I've been with Adobe for 17 years now.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: I actually am celebrating my 18th year with them. I
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: was just down in Las Vegas at the Sphere and Allegiant.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: The stadium, like working on some of their stuff. But
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: those two men are really, really important to me. And I, sorry,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: I paused. No. No, you need family. Let's talk about family.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: I think, but. By using an example, my father was really,
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: really big in my life, like very impactful. You know,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: like I would say, you know, my first job was
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: working on my family farm. And I'll tell you what, man,
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: that was every year that I would come back after
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: the summer. my coaches at all these like, Oh, good job, Frotten.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: It looks like you've been in a wake room. And
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: I was like, no, I just went to a prison
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: camp called K Frotten and I survived and I'm here now,
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: but that's what he was to me. But man, he
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: taught me the, uh, the level of service. And he
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: taught me that if a man's willing to give you
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: a dollar for your pay, you give him a dollar
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: 10 worth of value. And my dad said that over
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: and over, I need that shirt. I need that hat.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: I don't know what I need. That's amazing. Yeah. But,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: But first and foremost, there's only one person in this
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: whole world that is the reincarnation. of my father. And
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: that's my nephew and my nephew, Clint. He joined the
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: team two years into it and he had no experience
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: in it, but, but Clint, and I know, you know,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: him Sherry, but, but Clint, everybody's like, Oh, do you
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: have a brother? And we're only separated by five years.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: So yeah. Yeah. Like he was like my brother. We were,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: we really grew up. Like his mom told me one
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: time that I could never play with him again. Cause
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: every time he came to play at my house, he
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: always got, a broken arm or because we were crazy
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: kids like that adventure in my bio oh man that's
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: not a word that is a that is a lifestyle.
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: So we could talk about that.
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: For that theme like isn't it where the adventure begins
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: so that's where the adventure begins was with me yeah
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: so but no um but clint like you know and
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: i i told clint i warned clint actually i said
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: you know what clint like you know, and I didn't
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: know anything about business, but I had sensibility. And I said,
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: you know what the problem is, Clint, I want you
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: to come work for me. I mean, he, at a
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: very young age, Clint was leading an entire, he was,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: he was actually doing fiber installation, like for a very, well,
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: Brandon Fugles.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Family. Yeah. And he was doing fiber installation and they
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: were building out, oddly enough, the same backbone that we
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: used and how I got hired with Bush Creative is
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: The reason they did that is because they did a
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: big installation of a fiber backbone that went literally from
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: here to the East Coast. And we were, we were actually,
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: it was for the Olympics in 2002. And, and so
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: we're perfect. We jumped on that and that's how we
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: were doing a lot of our distance learning. And that's
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: why Bush Creative jumped onto those opportunities. So again, but
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: Clint's installing this and he was, you know, Clint at
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: this time was 20 years old and, you know, running
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: a crew of, veteran construction fiber guys. And I'm like,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: of course you can come and run a pirate ship
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: with me, you know? And so that's where it started.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: But I warned him, I said, bud, I think, you know,
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: if in order for us as a company to have
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: credibility and for me to, to have credibility with my people,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: you're always going to have to work 10% harder. And
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: that's just the way it is. Um, but you know,
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: I'll say this over and over again. He is so
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: much like my father. It's, it's, it's really, Oh man,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: I'm going to cry. You're going to make me cry. Um,
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: it's really awesome because it's every single day. I remind
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: myself of how blessed I am to, to work with
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: him and work alongside of him. And he reminds me
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: so much, my daughter, my father, and the way that
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: his mind thinks and his rationale in the moment. And,
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: and he's very logical mind. So his, that will kill you,
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: you know, if you know, um, really hard to be
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: creative around him because he's like very literal. Um, but
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: I love him and he's a machine. I mean, he, he, again,
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: he has so many relationships. Um, you know, I mean,
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: he's still to this day, he probably some of his
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: biggest clients that he's known them. They probably been, I'll
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: bet you some of them at five held five different
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: positions at five different companies throughout the U S and
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: they take Clint wherever they go. And I think that's
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: why we're blessed. But, but then yes, I was blessed
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: with Cooper. I think, you know, again, Cooper held the,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: he still held to the highest of standards, but I am,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: and this just isn't my words. Every single client that
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: knows him, they instantly inform me of how proud I
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: can be of him. And as a father, to go
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: from your child saying, oh, I met so-and-so and they
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: know you, to these people coming and saying, no, you're
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: related to Cooper. How are you related to Cooper? He's
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: my son. And then when they tell you that they're,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: that they, my gosh, you've raised one of the most
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: amazing people that I've ever met in my whole life.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: Like that is the validation. Like I could, I could,
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: I could disappear tomorrow and I could live with that. So,
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: you know, and every client wants to hire him. And
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: I always, they're always like, we're going to hire him.
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm like, then he won't get his inheritance.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: I don't think that's going to, it's probably not going
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: to work out very nice for him. But you can
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: hire him if you want. You guys are probably going
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: to laugh at this, but I could go on and on.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: My youngest son works there as a creative. And I
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: love working with him. And Cooper is wildly creative. God,
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: he never ceases to amaze me. But Cody is too.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: Like Cody, I've been very blessed. But I come from artists. I,
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: you know, um, if you look me up, like I'm nobody,
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: but like my uncle was a sculptor and I'm not
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: just talking like small time stuff. He's, he did like
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: the baseball hall of fame, all the bronzes outside of
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: baseball hall of fame, football hall of fame. He, he
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: did all of the work inside of the Mormon temple
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: in San Diego. He's been commissioned all around the world.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, he's their artists, you know, like, and my,
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: my father was an amazing artist. He could draw things and,
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: I can make stick figures, but I have this wild
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: and crazy brain that can dream it up. And then again,
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: I've been lucky enough. I found the people that could
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: translate my crazy thoughts into drawings and CADs and design.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: But my son is, my youngest son, Cody, is wildly amazing.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: He has such an amazing disposition. I mean, I think
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: I love people and then I see him interact with people.
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: And that, that kid, he's like my mom, my mom
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: was an angel. Um, truly. Um, and then my daughter,
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: oh my gosh, my daughter runs her own company. She
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: does a really cool company. I'm going to plug you Allie. Um, uh,
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: it's called curation co and what she does is she
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: does for busy executives and families. Like she does curation
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: of trips and travels and fashion. And yeah, she gets
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: all of your information. and puts it in and then
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: she curates experiences or she'll curate your wife's, uh, anniversary
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: present or whatever.
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: If she needed to. Yeah. She would. Yeah.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: Right. So, but, but no, she's just, she comes in
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: and does a lot of project work for us too.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: But first and foremost, like I think all of them
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: are just, they've grown up to be most, the most
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: amazing parents. And so, you know, it, it works, but
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, You know, nepotism is real. And I think
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: where you, you know, a lot of people would just,
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: you know, shriek, but you know, so long as you
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: set a standard, um, and again, that's culture. When you
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: go back to culture, like you have to have a standard,
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: you know, and, and, um, of, of, of, you know,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: and rules and regulations and processes, but, but man, like
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: there's not, there's never been a time where I, where
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: anybody's been able to you know, say, oh my gosh,
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: they don't deserve to be where they're at. They don't
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: deserve to, to, to, to be where they're at. I
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: feel like at this point in my life, I'm lucky
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: that they've chose to work for me because Cooper could
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: go anywhere and I'm sure that he could probably make
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: more money elsewhere.
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's the thing too, right? Like they have, they
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: have choices, they have options and the fact that they
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: choose to be with you, I think is just a
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: huge testament to who you are. And I think it's,
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: it's unique. I love it.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: But I made them work.
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: I tease Cooper because he's going on 20 years with
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: me and he's only 31. So I made my kids work.
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: You know, in the summer, you know, they came and
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: they worked in the warehouse and they learned everything from
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: the ground up. But, you know, the one thing I'm
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: looking forward to the most, I hope in my lifetime,
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: because I felt like they followed my dream to a degree.
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: You know, I mean, I do think that they are
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: loving what they do. And I think that they were
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: exposed to things and they loved it. But I hope,
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: I hope, I hope, and I'm manifesting this, that I
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: get to be a part of their journey and possibly
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: fund it. You know, I would love for them. I
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: tell them all the time. I tell my employees this
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: all the time. If you've got a good idea, I
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: better hear it. And if I get an opportunity to
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: invest in it, I want to. And I mean that.
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: People come to me to leave. I always tell them,
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: are you going on to do something better? And if
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: they can say yes, then I'm happy for them. Yeah.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I hope I, I hope I get an
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: opportunity to invest in my kids and follow them and
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: see their, their journeys and their dreams be everything that
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: I feel like I was blessed with. Yeah. So.
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: One, I guess one final question that I have. Just,
• 48:21
  Speaker 3: just your thoughts on kind of the future of events
• 48:25
  Speaker 3: and the future of, I mean, human connection. Obviously we
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: went through the COVID pandemic.
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: Who the cornerstone was my first call, actually.
• 48:34
  Speaker 3: It was amazing what you were able to accomplish even
• 48:37
  Speaker 3: during those crazy times. But what do you see as
• 48:40
  Speaker 3: a future of human connection and events? And, you know,
• 48:45
  Speaker 3: obviously you've been able to be involved in not only
• 48:50
  Speaker 3: locally with significant events, but also nationally, internationally. Some of
• 48:56
  Speaker 3: the things that I learned about, you know, your involvement
• 48:59
  Speaker 3: with Some pretty exciting things. I don't want to steal
• 49:02
  Speaker 3: your thunder. But maybe highlight, what do you.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: See as the future?
• 49:07
  Speaker 3: What do you see as the growth opportunities ahead for you?
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh. Well, the future, you know, being around
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: for 33 years and being, again, I mean, really in
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: that technology. space, like it is evolving. COVID just simply
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: proved to me that our industry was never affected by
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: any kind of economical downturn. And historically, entertainment has never
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: been affected by economical downturn because like most people want
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: to go out they want to have a good time
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: they want to have an experience you know even during
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: the great depression things that that first were entertainment boxing
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: you know dancing celebration movies you know cinema and really
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: i thought it was bulletproof up until up until covet
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: but really the future of it is is really quite
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: simple i've never saw it and this is not a
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: doomsday thing i have never saw it evolving at the
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: speed that it is evolving at Um, and I think
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: that events, traditional events from everything that I can see
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: right now, which is an, uh, you know, we're, we're
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: doing over 800 events per year. I mean, some years
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: we've done as many as 1500. I've never, ever saw more,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: more disruption in, in what people are trying to do.
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: You know, experiential is a real thing. Um, brand, the
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: way that they are going about their business, um, is
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: completely different, but it's exciting. Like we are, we, we
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: are blessed in the sense that we saw the trend
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: because we are so tied in with our, you know,
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: it's kind of like what you just said, you, the
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: minute that COVID happened, what you experienced was Zach's same
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: thing that we experienced. I never missed a beat. Like
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: I literally had clients saying, what are we going to do?
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: And I went home and I, and I wrote and
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: produced basically, uh, basically a television program. That's all it was.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: You know, and I told him, I said, here's the
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Reader's Digest. This is what we're doing. If you know
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: that term, you know.
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: I remember your answer to me was, don't you worry.
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: We've got this. We have an answer. I was like, okay, thanks.
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: It was amazing. It really turned out.
• 51:17
  Speaker 3: Extreme.
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, it was a lot of people don't know this, but,
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: but again, you, you know, that was my past. That
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: was not foreign to me. That was like, that was
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: like 1981 calling, you know what I mean? So we
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: just turned the pages back and we were, we were
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: good to go, but we, you know, you guys know this,
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: but I mean, we built from the ground up our own,
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: we programmed our own software.
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: Whatever. Oh, and I'm proud of it. I, I, I
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: actually just sold it to a NIL company that's using it.
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: Oh, okay.
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're producing a product with it for the
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: NIL and athletes.
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: It's kind of a miniature ESPN, too, if you want
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: the plug.
• 51:54
  Speaker 2: You've got so many things. But it's exciting, you know?
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: So the future, though, the future. I've never saw so
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: much disruption. I was on the phone this morning with
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: an experiential company that's out of London recently. And Cornerstone
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: had talked about acquiring them about three years ago. And
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: we still might. We still might. That's kind of what
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: the phone call was, was discovery. But the experiential model
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: is where everything is headed. It's not going to replace
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: some style of events, but the presence of it is
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: more and more important. And that's what I see. But
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: we're positioned for it. And I'm certainly excited for it.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: I think there were five major transitions within Cornerstone over
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: the 33 years. And this one will be the most
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: significant for sure. But I think that we already had
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: identified in what a lot of the brands are doing.
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: I believe there will be a huge upheaval in social
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: media and social media marketing. And we won't get into that.
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: That's a very big subject, but we're prepared for that.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: I think the things that we're excited about, though, is
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: We are really starting to grab hold of facilities. I
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: brought up the High Star Ranch.
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: And we're creating.
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: Love that place.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Well, so.
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: So much.
• 53:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: So I am a partner in that.
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah. That is a dream place.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 53:21
  Speaker 2: To live there.
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: So this might be a plug or it might sound
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: like a plug, but we're building a 200 room hotel there.
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: It will be completely a health and wellness facility. Hopefully
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: like the Chopra Center. Love you, Deepak. Um, and you know,
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: we're really going to focus everything around that and it
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: will be an entertainment Mecca. And, um, and I know
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: that we're onto something. I mean, the investors, it was
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: not a hard to find money. Yeah. It was like,
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: who are we going to accept money from? And it's
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: really exciting, but it's all experiential. So we believe that
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: that's the future. Cornerstone is now moving into things that
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: like You know, I never really thought that the production
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: business would land us in the hotel business, but that's
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: right where we're at and owning our own venue. You know,
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: like I think like you see a lot of the
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: trends that a lot of, especially the festivals, they want permanency, right?
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: Like people are like, why should we go and experience
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: a festival that's a moment in time when if we
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: had a facility, you know, and again, this works against
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: the brick and mortar, the anti brick and mortar movement
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: of old, right? Of four years ago. it's exciting. And so,
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: I mean, I really think that that's the future and
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: I'm excited. We are so well positioned for it. And
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: I think we're way ahead of the curve, but that's what,
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: that's where we're headed. And that will be probably its
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: own division that will run separately, but we're in a
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: lot of properties now. Like we manage a Smithfield park.
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: We do a ton of events there. So we're contracted
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: with the, with Salt Lake city and we run that.
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: Ryan at the Delta center, like, Thank you, Ryan, for
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: hiring us. We do all the touring acts, which are
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: the concerts that you go to that are being routed
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: and on a tour schedule. And what we do for
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: them is we provide all of the touring labor. So
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: all of the rigging, the sound installation, the lighting installation,
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: special effects, things of that nature. If the act is non-touring,
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: meaning that they don't have a current tour underway, then
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: we do all of the production. So we bring in
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: all of the equipment, all of the gear, all of
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: the labor to install it and dismantle it. And that's
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: been a blessing. And we just landed the Maverick Center.
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: So now we're doing all the production of the Maverick Center.
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: And then the High Star Ranch is done. the fourth installment.
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: So we see that as very important and I'm so
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: excited for the Olympics.
• 55:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: And I was here in 2002, man. And I, I
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: survived it and I loved it and I, I, I
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: cannot wait.
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: So we all got to figure out how to get
• 56:05
  Speaker 2: that new Olympic coat where for the next 30 years.
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: Right. Exactly. I think he's the guy. I think that's
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: the guy. that's the guy right there. I was hoping
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: for the, remember the roots?
• 56:17
  Speaker 2: I've got it. I might, I was something that my
• 56:19
  Speaker 2: mom left me. Yeah.
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: I think we could have made Prince really proud with
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: that beret.
• 56:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 56:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Got to bring it back.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: So, but, but that's what I think. I mean, I
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: think it's an exciting time and I think it's, you know,
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: and I'm not just saying that, like, I think disruption
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: is so awesome. And I think that's just the technologist
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: in me. It's like, figure it out, you know, and, And,
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: and I don't think, I don't think it's AI. I'm
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: probably the only guy. I mean, of course it is, but,
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: and we use AI right now, but I believe it will,
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: there's a moment in time. And I think I'm not
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: going to, I'm not going to talk about what I
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: think it is, but, but it's going to be a
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: fun time. And I think, I think what's going to
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: be really fun is to see analog come back and
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: I'll leave it at that because we, we, as humans,
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: we desire connection. It's why we're sitting here right now.
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: And it's why we, just shared this hour long journey
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: with one another because that's what we crave and that's
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: what we love. You know, we love to be, we
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: love a good story. We love friendship.
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: We love humans. We love that contact with humans. And
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: so that's, that's exciting. And I think that's what life
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: is for us more and more. It's creating those moments.
• 57:28
  Speaker 2: It's what makes life meaningful.
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 57:31
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: I do too.
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: I love, I love your story. And we touched on
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: just a small part of life. who you are and
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: what you've built. And I didn't know how we were
• 57:41
  Speaker 2: going to be able to narrow it down. And we
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: can have part two. I hope we talk to you
• 57:48
  Speaker 2: and some time down the road again, because you are,
• 57:53
  Speaker 2: what I love is you're very positive. You pivot easily.
• 57:58
  Speaker 2: You look at challenge and you run to it. And
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: we've talked to other entrepreneurs that do the same. And
• 58:05
  Speaker 2: so- But your big heart is something that I'm grateful
• 58:09
  Speaker 2: that we have this friendship. And there's a reason why
• 58:13
  Speaker 2: you're doing all of this in Utah, because you're something
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: that people believe in, too.
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: Where else can I do it, honestly?
• 58:20
  Speaker 3: Right, right.
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: I guess that's what I feel like. I feel like
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: we're more blessed than we know sometimes.
• 58:25
  Speaker 2: Gosh, we really are. Yeah. Well, thank you so much,
• 58:28
  Speaker 2: dear friend, for joining us today. It means the world
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: to me and your passion for your work is uplifting
• 58:33
  Speaker 2: and it's inspiring. As I said before, it's just a
• 58:37
  Speaker 2: small part of who you are is what you do,
• 58:40
  Speaker 2: but also what you do is who you are, I think.
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: Thanks for sharing your story with us. So we're proud
• 58:45
  Speaker 2: to highlight your work and be able to be just
• 58:48
  Speaker 2: a small part of all the things that you're doing.
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: Chad, for our listeners, how can they connect with you?
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Well, the social web we'll share, we'll
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: share all the, all the URLs and everything. Um, but,
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: but really, really what I would say is like how
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: you connect with me is support, support your, your, local
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: artists you know support your community whether you are going
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: to a silicon slopes summit like you're supporting cornerstone if
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: you're at the arena watching a mammoth game you're supporting
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: ryan smith and cornerstone you know if you end up
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: going to the bees game and you enjoy it like
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: because it's a you know, a fun concert or a, we,
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: we had a rodeo there the other night. Yeah.
• 59:34
  Speaker 2: I heard that. Yeah.
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: With luchadors. Like who does that?
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: We do.
• 59:38
  Speaker 2: You do.
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: You know, like how lucky are we? So, so, you know,
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: I just come and support us that way, you know,
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: like it really, I mean, again, that's the funnest part
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: of all this is, is being able to do the
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: fun things that people love and they have leave with memories,
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 59:52
  Speaker 2: It is fun to be able to go to an event.
• 59:54
  Speaker 2: And I always, Play the game. Where's the Cornerstone team?
• 59:58
  Speaker 2: Who do I know here? And if I'm at Sundance
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 2: or whatever, I just.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I should. I should thank Chad, too, because Chad Linebaugh, Sundance.
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: Thank you for everything. Him and his staff. He's been
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: a friend of mine since I was in seventh grade.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Really?
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Growing up in a small town, I
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: always knew Chad would do something amazing. And so we're
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: honored to be in-house at Sundance, helping them with. all
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: of their production needs there at the resort. And it's
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: just been a great opportunity to work with them over
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: the last almost 15 years now. So, and I always
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: run into Sherry when I'm there.
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 2: I love the Sundance team.
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 2: To everyone listening, thank you for joining us. A special
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: thanks to the LaunchPod team, Johnny, Christine, Rachel, Cole, for
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 2: producing our show, Zachary Reed for his vision and direction
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 2: as producer, Katie Brown, our operations specialist for keeping us
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 2: in line and on track. And Garrett Lawson and Kevin
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 2: Jessup for serving as the MWCN podcast chairs.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 3: And don't forget to leave us a five-star review and
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 3: subscribe to stay updated on Utah's fastest growing companies and
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 3: the leaders shaping our business future. There is nothing we
• 1:01:16
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• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: Rate, review, and share. Welcome to the Winner's Circle.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 2: Thank you.