Latest / Be the Bison / When Success Becomes the Storm
Transcript
- Andrew: Jason. Hey, welcome to ⁓ the be the bison ⁓ podcast where interview leaders like yourself and share the stories about like the bison that love to go into the storm when there is one, what we'll do is we'll talk about maybe a storm that ⁓ you've gone through or going through and ⁓ a little bit about that, how you got through it, then ⁓ maybe ⁓ leave us a nugget or two. So before we do that, Jason, let's give the audience just a quick ⁓ intro. If you would take maybe a minute or so and just give us the the highlights. Jason: Okay. Yeah, I'm Jason Wilch. I live in Austin, ⁓ married, two wonderful kids. I've been in business for quite a long time. That's the only thing I've I've known. I'm in the automotive business. I've owned Auto Focus, which is a media marketing company. ⁓ for the last 15 years, I've been running a team of 30 plus people, and I've gotten into other aspects of the automotive business, such as tech and actual physical restoration services. So that's what I've been doing the last 15. Andrew: Fantastic. Well, I can tell you look a lot younger than me. So that that's exciting to see the next generation of leaders coming up and automotive, what an exciting space to be in these days with technology and investments ⁓ here in the US and automotive and exciting place to be. All right. So I I suspect the reason why we're talking is you have a storm that maybe you've gone through or gone through. ⁓ why don't you teat up for us and ⁓ give us a little insight on on that storm. Jason: Okay. I think ⁓ the storm that I'm thinking about the most is, you know, early on in my career, I wanted to almost keep up with my competitors. And so I made some financial decisions, some hiring decisions, some all-out operation decisions ⁓ based what I thought our numbers should be, not necessarily God's. And ⁓ so that has done is it did it took a couple of years to actually go into the storm. now I'm currently ⁓ didn't hit the number that we thought. Now dealing with some ⁓ fine blowbacks and consequences of the financial decisions, the hiring decisions, and you navigating through kind of ⁓ team members keep, to bring them on, to move them around. you know, I don't to disrupt their lives, I don't want to disrupt their families, but it's a It's a storm that I have to face. There is no running away from it. as well as some of the the financial decisions. To me, the biggest storm is the people, because that's what makes the company great. That's what ⁓ moves everything along. And I'm very passionate about the people that I that work with me and for me, especially the team. Andrew: maybe some analogies would be right, ⁓ you think about the the bison going into a storm. They typically don't go into it alone. They go into it as a herd, you know, kind of that family mentality, that that team mentality. So I love what you're saying about that. But so two years, and kind of making that analogy to the storm, maybe you thought you should go in this direction, but you actually, because of the storm, maybe went in the wrong direction or not the best direction. Can you maybe talk a little bit more about what that looks like in terms of your decisions? Jason: Yeah, I think what I thought wasn't again ⁓ the right thing. luckily, you know, like the bison going through the storm, he is not alone. So I do have some of my executive team that do love Jesus. And ⁓ they've been pretty open ⁓ figuring how to weather that storm together, which has been pretty amazing. But ⁓ and luckily I can kind of rely on them. I don't have to go at it alone with my team. You know, obviously with God, I don't have to go with it alone, even though I kind of let him be more in the back seat than in the front seat with me. But I mean, again, I'm blessed that at least my team, some of my team loves Jesus and we're able to do this together. those decisions definitely made ⁓ turns, 90 degrees that I was not expecting, wasn't preparing for, didn't prepare for. Andrew: So so let me ⁓ maybe jump on that a little bit. So making a wrong turn or two. Now do you think that you're kind of still stuck in the storm right now? or you feel like maybe I'm starting to see a little bit of the sunshine at at the end? Where where do you think you are? Jason: that's a good question. And I I've been praying about that. I I think I'm I'm still in the storm. I can see my way out, but I think God has given me the ⁓ and direction. ⁓ it's kind of He's given me the prompt. He's given me, hey, this is what you need to do. Now it's up to me to obey each step to actually ⁓ out of the storm. Not unscathed because I've I've learned a lot, but I have peace that there is a way out. It's just hard to see it. but in God, like I know there's a way out. It's gonna be a struggle. There's gonna be some, you know, fighting. But Andrew: Yeah, kinda what comes to mind is, you know, the the the sky or the clouds are still gray, right? It may not be pouring down as much anymore. Right. Maybe that that's ⁓ that's kind of ⁓ subsided some, but it's still gray and I'm still trying to find my way. Is that a is that a good way to describe it? Jason: Yeah, I would say so. The the the the hit is has passed. Yeah. So I think it's it's know you're you're you're waiting for the for the gray clouds to to go away and the sun to start shining. So yeah. ⁓ Andrew: So t if somebody's listening to this, what some practical things that maybe you as as the leader or together with your your team, ⁓ what you doing right now to to get through those ⁓ great Jason: Yeah, absolutely. I think is is really big, ⁓ internalizing it and ⁓ naive and expecting it to ⁓ itself without talking to people about it. as entrepreneurs, as owners, you can tend to be lonely because there is no one at the top to talk to besides God. So luckily and thankfully, I've had people to talk to about this, let them know, and I'm not being judged. ⁓ based on the decisions. It's, hey, we're a team. Let's go at this with a team. And so I think being open and communicating what's going on, being honest is definitely better, ⁓ easier than keeping it inside. You think keeping inside is easier because you're not having to get in the competition, but letting it go, man, there's it the weight of the shoulders is, you know, definitely. Andrew: So what I'm hearing is good open, authentic dialogue communication with your team. Are there any is anything else that you you would like to share or think think of that would be helpful to get through those gray clouds? Jason: sure. There a Bible verse I was reading the other day about God's will, because I'm I'm really focused on that, trying to figure out, okay, God, what is your will for my life? And He says this a lot, ask ⁓ not ⁓ and you will find, knock and I'll open the door. I think it's just seeking God wills first, asking Him the you should go. And even if it's not clear, knowing that living in the spirit. I'm still do I'm still going the right way as long as I'm relying on him first, not my own decisions, and not also confirming to God that is my decision based on your will or is it based on my will? Like God confirm that my way is right. It's God, what is your way? that's a big practical advice. And it's just it's ⁓ trusting God that if you do your what you can do, like God do the rest. And that's That's what I'm talking about right now. Andrew: Well, thank you for sharing that. So I'm hearing a couple of things. One is, you know, being open, good communicator. Two, speaking of communication, communic communicating with God and trusting in what God's will is, you know, for this and getting through it ⁓ the better path. how optimistic are you ⁓ about those gray clouds finally ⁓ going away and and parting and seeing a little bit more sunshine? Fant fantastic. So renewing the mind daily or probably sometimes several times the day and ⁓ don't let the clouds or you know what what you see out there kind of kinda get you get you bogged down, right? Keep pressing forward, you know, like the beautiful strong bison do. ⁓ Beautiful. ⁓ if you had ⁓ a nugget or two to leave ⁓ behind ⁓ with this experience, what would you like to to share to that entrepreneur that may be listening? the the power, the love and the and the discipline, right? ⁓ boy, isn't that true for entrepreneurs, discipline, you know, with all the things coming at you. Yeah. You know always leading with love. Right. Beautiful. Well, ⁓ Jason, thank you for the conversation today. ⁓ really appreciate you sharing authentically ⁓ about still being in a storm. ⁓ most of the conversations have been about one that's already happened, but thank you for that. so if you ⁓ like ⁓ to listen to this story or others, if you go to solidleaders.com, click on ⁓ be the bison, we'll have this interview and others. so Jason, Thanks so much for ⁓ the conversation today. Hope you enjoyed it.