De-Influenced with Dani + Jordan - Should Influencers Pay Their Kids?

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

Happy Wednesday!! We have such a good episode for you. We’re talking about whether influencers should have to pay their kids when they appear in their content, how we “pay” our kids and yes… Stella and Stratton do technically pay taxes. Plus, we share what the heck this mystery trip to Midland, Texas was. OH and we go over what really happened at our Doctor’s appointment last week. Finally, we’re giving you our thoughts on the It Ends With Us alleged cast drama, which we want to hear your hot takes on this too. Make sure you’re following us on Spotify or wherever you listen to De-Influenced and leave us a comment with your thoughts! As always, checkout our socials ⁠@deinfluencedpodcast⁠ on Instagram and TikTok, maybe you share our clips and content with family or friends who may not know about us… That’d be pretty cool. We love you De-Influencers!! XOXO

Hello and welcome back to your favorite podcast, De-Inflensed. Hi. Hello. We're back. I survived your wrath in that doctor's room. Oh my gosh. Stop. After you publicly shamed me.

Where? Online or in the office? To the internet. Yeah. I didn't know you still watch my stories. I did. I watched that day. I laughed.

Do you watch my stories every day? Not every day, no. Why? That's so weird. You think that's weird? I find it odd. Really? Yeah.

Why would you not watch my stories every day? I feel like so... I just don't really watch anyone's stories. They don't even your wife? Well, babe, I love you. I'm living the story with you. I like our version of the story. Aren't you worried of what I'm talking about?

No. No? No, because there's nothing that we can talk about and I think we'll prove this today. Oh God. No, stop. There's nothing that we can talk about that I will care about the opinions of others more than I do right now, which is zero. Well, I admit I had a crazy moment, but I wasn't wrong for what I was feeling.

I was, and I really wasn't wrong for any part of it, to be honest. Okay. Let's just not talk about it. I don't think you're wrong either, to be clear. I wasn't wrong, but I did the way I didn't even handle it poorly. I think I was straight up, but I didn't say anything. mean. I handled it well. It was just a little outside of myself. Yeah. And then I was really upset with you for like the next, I don't know, maybe 12 hours. No, on the plane to Midland, you literally looked at me

and you go, can you just not talk to me or look at me right now? I did not say that. I told you I don't like whenever you stick your tongue out. That's true. He'll say things and then he'll stick his tongue out and like bite his tongue. Like I'm like, and I'm like, and I'm like, I hate when you do that, like, don't do that. And then he was like, he goes, like this, like, whoa. But yeah, it just, I was, yeah, I really should have known because on the way to that doctor's office, you, I think that the verbatim, what you said to me was, babe, like, I had been talking for like 60 seconds and you were just silent. And then you go, babe, you know, I love you, but I just really don't want to talk to you right now.

at least I preface. You did, and I should have known going into the doctor's office that I should have been on my best behavior. Yeah, well, let me tell people what you did. Okay, you tell your version and then I'll tell my version. Okay. And we'll decide who's crazy. Okay. Okay.

We will. You're already kind of pissing me off again. Okay. So I go to my doctor's appointment. It's like my 17 week checkup. I have been feeling so bad. Like, and trust me, I've been pregnant two times before. I've done through the first trimesters.

But what's happening in my recent, like the last three or four weeks is I hit this point of exhaustion, y'all where like I can't even function daily. Like, I have to hit the hay. Stop. You're already laughing. I want to punch you. It's not funny. This is so annoying.

I'm so sorry. It's, I don't know what it is about this topic that just get the giggles. Stop. Stop. I'm so mad right now. Okay. So, Jordan, I'm literally good punch you. Okay, I'm sorry.

Stop, I'm talking. I know. So I get so. Your feelings are valid. Okay. Okay. I get so tired and I have to, I've been taking like two hours. Stop, Jordan.

Don't even look at me. I get like, I have to take two hour naps every day. And it's like really, I know. that it's like there's something wrong. So I'm looking forward to this appointment and I finally get to tell my doctor, but like, you know when you're pregnant, obviously, like, everybody's going to be like, oh, your gums are bleeding, you're pregnant. Oh, you're tired. You're pregnant. Oh, your head hurts. You're pregnant. Like, you're pregnant is the answer to everything. But I'm also like, I could have a deficiency in iron. I could have a deficiency in some type of mineral. Like, and unless

I explain and advocate for myself and take it seriously, then this doctor is just going to say, oh, you're pregnant to every single, like, issue that I have. So I'm, like, really trying to, like, let her know how tired I've been feeling. Like, it's, like, fatigue to the next level where I feel like I can't even put the kids in bed at night. Like, I'm so tired. And as I'm telling her this, like, you know, the doctor kind of, like, looks at Jordan is like, oh, yeah, like, has she been, you know, and Jordan laughs. It goes, well, you know, she's pregnant. And then the doctor kind of giggled back because Jordan was laughing. This is the big debate.

I want to just be clear about this story. The big mystery, and I am so sure that I'm right that I almost want to call the OBGs. I was there. I watched it happen. No, no. You said, oh, well, well, the doctor goes, really? Like Jordan has she been sleeping a lot more? And Jordan goes, well, I mean, she is pregnant.

No, no. The big debate is, did she laugh first? I don't care who left first. Why would you even say that? Because she laughed first. So I laughed. say that's inconsequential to this argument. She wasn't laughing. She was smiling. Yeah. And then I started laughing and then you accuse me of making this whole. No, okay. So let me tell the story. So then he says,

oh, well, she's pregnant. And I look at him and I go, you're annoying me right now. Right. Is that I said? Yeah. Yeah. I said, you're annoying me right now in front of the doctor. The doctor goes, like, whoop, you know. And I'm like, I'm trying to explain how I'm feeling and you're minimizing it. Like you're making it not a big deal. So therefore, she's not going to get my blood work taken or like blood work ordered because you guys are just laughing, you know, blaming the pregnancy. And so then I was like, you're annoying me. Like I'm so upset because I'm trying over here to like take care of myself and you're

minimizing it. So then I snap at him and then in the appointment, he goes, once again, he goes, and I was like, I like roll my eyes. I was so angry. So then we get in the car and this is what pisses me off the most. It's like he just acts like everything's normal. And so this is the part where things got a little crazy. Can we talk before we get to the car scene, can we talk about the doctor scene for a second?

Does it matter? I don't know. I think it does. It doesn't matter. Like, you're like... I'm defending my honor here. No, you're wrong. Like, you're just wrong.

Like, you shouldn't have said anything, to be honest. And you should disagree with me. Okay. Fair. Right? I mean, it's my body. Like, I'm telling her how I feel. What, you don't know how I feel.

Like, don't defend just that effect that I'm pregnant. But she laughed first. No, nobody was laughing. Nobody was laughing. You shouldn't have said. anything. You should be like, Danny, I don't know. Do you feel like you're sleeping more? No, I acknowledge that. You know what? Next time my lips are shut and sealed. But she did ask me the question. And here's why I think she was laughing and then therefore I laughed is because you are taking

two hour naps a day. Okay. And we all know you. You don't like taking two hour naps. You want to be going, going going. And so what Joy Cuddy. I feel so horrible that I feel like I have to lay down. Like that's miserable whenever you feel like you can't even like feed your kids dinner because you're so tired. No, I know. But what she was getting at was, Danny, are you really feeling overly tired or do you just not want to be taking two-hour naps? Like is this a Danny versus Danny situation?

No, I feel sick to like I feel sick so I have to lay down. Yeah. Yeah. And you would know that because you're not me. No, that's true. That's true. But she then smiled at me because she was like. like it's Danny versus Danny.

No, it's not. And then I started laughing. Yeah, I'm getting pissed off again. I'm really getting pissed off about people telling me how I'm feeling. You're so right. Okay.

So she should not have looked at me and laughed. And honestly, I'm going to call her today and I'm going to say, listen, what you did was wrong. It got me in trouble for 48 hours. And if you do not. No,

this is where it gets really so ridiculous. Okay. I just wish this. I wish there was a character. everybody didn't even explain the car scene. So, like, we're headed home and Jordan's not talking. And I'm like, you better freaking apologize for what you just did in there. And he doesn't acknowledge that he did anything.

So I'm unaware. I'm like thinking about tomorrow. Or halfway through, I go, I'm upset with you. You wouldn't know why. Like, I had to bring it up. I'm the one bringing it up, okay? And he's like, yeah, tell me what I did. And he's already giggling like he's giggling like he's giggling.

Like he's like laughing. And I'm like, babe, it's not funny. and we both start hysterically laughing. Like, we are like dying laughing. And I'm like, babe, it's not funny. Like, kind of like we are now. Yeah. And then the laugh turns into sobs of like tears.

Yeah. And I'm like, I just don't feel good. And like it literally switches so fast. Like the hormones just went like one spectrum to the next. And then I'm like, I don't feel good. And then like as I'm just crying, laughing, I'm like still giggling. Like I was so, it was so weird. Like it was weird.

Yeah. So it was funny because I, in that moment we started laughing because you looked at me and then I started laughing and then you go, you're annoying me so much. And then you started laughing matching my laugh. And in that moment, I remember looking ahead to see if the light turned green. And I said, this is so sweet. This is like a funny pregnancy moment that we're going to like remember forever. And then I look back to my right.

And then there's tears rolling down your face. And I'm like, oh, I have to totally pivot here. And so I was like, I'm so sorry that you feel this way. It's not fair. And then I was still convinced in my mind that, yes, you're struggling with pregnancy. And so I was like, babe, let me pull off at Walgreens. Let's get you some electrolytes. But I really had to get out of the car because I could not stop laughing.

And I knew that the more that I laughed, the more hours that were going to be added. to this reconciliation between us. And I got out of that car and I just walked into that Walgreens and I just started busting out laughing. We didn't talk for a day. And then in the closet, I was like, we had to leave for Midland the next day. I was like, and so many good things happened that day. It was like, babe, come on.

We have so many good things happening. Like, let's just not fight. And then you were like, well, do you know what you did wrong? And then I started laughing again. And I couldn't help it. And I can't help it now. It is true. Your body is so harsh right now.

I mean, it's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not even funny. It's not fair. What you are going through as a pregnant, beautiful woman is not fair. Thank you, babe. I appreciate that.

And honestly, when I watched your stories about publicly shaming me, I laughed too. I literally go, Stella, look at what mommy posted. Oh, man. Why did you show Stella? Oh, yeah, she was sitting by me and she goes, Daddy, why are you laughing? I go, just what mommy posted. She's mad at me.

And then I honestly, I was like, she's going to be out with her friends. It's going to be fine. Yeah. Well, and then there was like, that day was like the roller coaster of emotions. I then went straight to see it ends with us with all my girlfriends, which is a remake of the Colleen Hoover book. It Ends with Us. And, man, I just have to say, like, before you see that movie,

movie, just don't wear any mascara, don't wear any makeup, go with your girlfriends, just expecting you crying. The last time I cried like that was when we saw the whale. Do you remember that? Yeah. Oh my gosh. You just couldn't handle when he just gets up out of his chair. You just break down crying.

I still like, I can't. Yeah, it was like the same level of crying, but I will say, and I don't know if it was just I was pregnant and it was like me and Ellie, but like literally I feel like our friend group was like so loud. Like we were crying so hard that it was like embarrassing. Like I was like, guys, we have to get it together. We're going to get kicked out of here. But Ellie was like, Ellie couldn't even stand up.

Like Ellie was, we actually cried so hard that we like were out of napkins that Tiffany had to pull a diaper out of her bag like because she had some extra diapers. And we were using the diaper to wipe our tears and blow our nose because we were like crying so hard. Is that just a bunch of pregnant people like in the room? I don't know. I couldn't figure it out. But then I went to the movie actually that side. No, we went to the back.

bathroom after and like there were all these like 18 year olds in their crying so we're like okay cool like it's not just us like it's a sad movie yeah um which if you read the book like you know it's sad but it's about like a domestic uh it's about domestic violence like a victim of domestic violence and but the way that they man the movie was so good like i i'm gonna be honest i was such a hater going in because when they remake any books into movies i just am always skeptical I'm like, this is going to be so freaking cheesy. Right. Like, there was a lot of hate that Blake lively was getting online, not Blake lively,

but the movie in general for like what she was wearing in the show. Like, no, like she wasn't, people didn't picture her as the character. And I don't think that I did too, but like, I was like, I feel like people will love, like everybody always loves Blake lively. Like she can't do anything wrong. But the who they chose to play the young version of Blake lively, her name is Lily in the book. And then, like, and, like, and. It was perfect casting.

Like everybody in my opinion was perfectly cast. Yeah. So, but it's, it is, it's gut wrenching. There's a lot of drama with that movie right now. Like what? Do you think I would like it? Probably not. Yeah, I think so.

Is it like a rom-com? No, it's not, it's not like a comedy, but, yeah, I do. Really? I do feel like you would like it. Okay. You don't really like any movie that's not. like action or you know so I it may be but I think because like you like Blake Lively like you like it you know she's really good in the movie too I will say I've never felt like

she's been like a great actress like I just love her I love her as a person she's beautiful she's like but I never really thought oh Blake Liley's in like she was really good in this movie there's this scene that that Ryan Reynolds wrote and it's so funny that I found out that there's a lot of maybe it's it's like it's people are saying that there's drama between the cast because of this scene but there's this scene that kind of like towards the beginning that Ryan Reynolds wrote when both of the main characters are up on a rooftop and I remember sitting and thinking she's acting the scene out so well. like it is written so well.

Like it was amazing. And then I found out that Ryan wrote that portion of the movie. Which is that was interesting. Is that part of the drama? So, okay, there is drama because the entire cast has been promoting the movie. They're going, you know, all over doing photo shoots and doing events.

And Justin Baldoni, who plays one of the main characters but also is the director, I believe. Fact Check, director or producer? Director. Director. Okay. So Justin Baldoni, who's one of the main characters, also director, is not doing any of the press with his fellow cast meets.

Hmm. So, and not only that, but like most of, like Blake lively, Colleen Hoover all unfollowed him on Instagram. Oh. This is real. Yeah. And then when they did like the big premiere, they all showed up to the premiere. and Justin Baldoni did not take pictures with the group.

Like he was totally separate, only took pictures with his wife. Everyone is pictured together. You know, they always have like the main characters together. And Justin, who is literally like the main character is not in any of the photos. Huh. So then there's this kind of like cryptic interview that one of the co-stars do. I forgot what her name is, but she's also like, she plays Blake Lightley's best friend. And they ask, like, you know, how is the filming of the movie?

And she's on the red carpet. And she's like, yeah, basically, I'm watching Justin Baldoni direct. And, you know, he's also acting. And I'm watching it all go down. And I just would never want to do that. I never want to, like, basically play two roles. I saw it all go down. And it's, like, way too much.

Like, she kind of like. Who said this, Blake? Blake Liley's co-star. Okay. Like one of the co-stars who plays Blake Liley's best friend. And you can tell it, she's kind of taking, like, little jabs at Baldoni saying like, you know, him being director and actor was way too much to watch and I would never want that to happen again. Like, you know, kind of giving jabs. And so a lot of

people were also upset online because then I was like, I got to figure out what's going on. So it went down like the TikTok, TikTok rabbit hole. A lot of people are upset with Blake and Ryan because they feel like they used this opportunity to promote Deadpool, which she, Blake is like, Blake Lively is also in, and then also Blake Lively's new hair care line. And they feel like it should have just been celebrating like the message behind the book and also bringing awareness to domestic abuse victims. And instead it was like, you know, she's not really advocating for the message. She's just trying to sell her hair care brand or she's just, which I mean like that, that, That messaging, I think, is a little bit further of a stretch because I think Blake lively is just, like, doing her best.

But it is such a sensitive topic with the movie, like what they're talking about. So it's like, you know, but I wouldn't fall. It's not like a reason why I wouldn't support Blake lightly in the future. Couldn't that just been like bad timing? Or are they saying it was like calculated timing on her part? Well, babe, it's definitely calculated timing. She launched her hair care like the week before the movie premiered. Oh.

Like, of course they're trying to capitalize on it. Yeah, for sure. But like, I'm just like, I don't think that's necessarily like a horrible thing as long as you communicate the messages for both. Did Colleen unfollow Blake lively too? No. Everybody's like, seems to be against Baldoni. So then I saw this article that is totally not a reliable source. I literally think it was like Perez Hilton.

So I'm not saying that this is what it was. But like there was a headline that was like Baldoni was borderline abusive to Blake lively on set, which I think it was more like probably like, verbal abuse, but then you go to the comments and, like, let me tell you, Baldoni has his crew and his, like, Baldoni fans, like, apparently he's done a lot for, like, the community, like a lot of, like, he's done, like, TED talks and, like, he's, like, a big advocate for, no, just, like, I guess females in general, like, apparently he's, like a really great guy and does a lot to, like, I guess, amplify female voices. Like, I don't know, he does a lot. And people really defend him. Like they are like if you look at the, you know, you never know like the actual, um,

like percentages of people that are hit like who's just being the loudest. But I'm just saying online like if like that out the outside perspective, it's like everybody's team Baldoni. You know, everybody's like against like. But I think it's like one of those things too where it's like Blake is hitting that point where she is kind of like when Taylor Swift hit that point where it's just like, oh, or even Reese Wetherspoon, oh, she can do nothing wrong. And not everybody's just waiting for her to do something wrong. And so it's like, let's just find the one little thing that she does wrong. And it's like, oh, she launched her hair care brand instead of talking about domestic abuse victims, you know. And it's like they're trying. And maybe that is true. But it does seem like

sometimes I feel like people are just trying to team up to find the thing. What if all of this was just a strategy to promote the movie? I've thought about that too, but it's too damaging. Really? Yeah. I think what's happening to both of the, both sides. It's getting like a little out of hand and I think it's very frustrating because it's taking away like from the point in the heart of the movie. I don't think that this is a movie that people would want to play these games with. It's like a very like serious top like topic. You don't think. Yeah. And this is also a very personal story. It's like Colleen Hoover's parents story. True. I think that this is just how you sell movies these days though. Like I think

that you have to have some element of outrage or controversy or, or I don't think you're going to sell tickets. Like, even us talking about this on the podcast is going to drive so many ticket sales. Yeah. But I would say, not from our podcast. I'm saying the conversation. Yeah, we're a big movie. I'm saying like from.

No, I would want to like if I saw all the drama. I actually saw the movie before the drama because and then I talked about the movie on my stories and then like everybody in my stories was like, well, have you seen the drama? I know. See, I think it's like like some movie studio per, you know, promoter has realized this formula of like you have to kind of stoke outrage amongst this demographic of no offense predominantly females most likely it's not even average it's also like when glen powell was apparently dating sidney's exactly and she was like engaged right at the time

she was like they were not dating but as like a layperson like i would have just seen that from clips or read the headlines and been like oh wow that's so crazy i gotta go see the movie now because and that's got to be like a timeless strategy for or like rom-coms. Yeah, you got to stoke the fire between the co-stars. I agree with you. I just don't believe that they would do that for this movie. Once again, it's just too serious.

Yeah. It's like it's not a comedy. But sometimes I think promoters probably play with fire, which is the strategy. And sometimes it's working. And maybe it gets people burned like maybe bigger than they want it to. Maybe they're feeding these messages to the media, but maybe the co-stars like didn't even know that they're going to be brought into this narrative. because I just can't imagine that Blake would be cool with this. But they, I don't know.

I think that like what Ryan Reynolds, her husband is known for is. Oh, and then there was a part. Okay, so sorry, before you go on, people were upset because, or people were saying that Justin Baldoni was upset because Ryan Reynolds inserted himself and wrote that scene. And that apparently Blake lively is, this is all, you know, speculation.

It's not saying this is true. but like allegedly Blake lively is difficult to work with because she was a producer on on set and apparently she's like very not controlling but like she's not just like going to give in and like there was just like like tension for sure and so apparently people are like why is Ryan Reynolds coming over to like like he has his own movie like stay in your lane and like let Baldoni do his work but I think that Ryan Reynolds is such a known behind the scenes and honestly not even behind the scenes these days I think he's known as such a prominent marketer. Like, I was reading a story about how he got Deadpool to happen.

And, you know, if you look at Deadpool, it was like the first R-rated super movie, superhero movie that they did. I don't remember who did. I think it's Disney, right? Yeah, I think it's Disney. But it was like he had a really hard time getting that to sell up the ladder. And he basically begged for. for the movie to happen.

And the executives were like, no, we're not going to do it. It's too out there. So there was like a leaked footage on the internet of like a Deadpool scene. And a lot of people think that he leaked it to get the movie made. And then he did the most outrageous stunts to promote this movie. Like, you know, really played into the relationship with Hugh Jackman. He really like, if you've ever watched the movie, it's really crass. And so.

Isn't it really like bloody too? Really bloody, really crass. And so he like really played into the outrage to promote the movie. And it was a huge success. Yeah. And so, and he's done the same thing with like Mint Mobile. He did it with his gin. Like he's a very successful leveraging outrage and marketing tactics to do this.

And you can see that trickle into Betty Buzz, which is her, her drink brand. When she like did her commercials for this, she was like, it like, like, the way that they did her, like she broke the fourth wall and was like talking to her. And it was like very Ryan Reynolds. Yeah. It was very Ryan. So I think he probably has an influence on a lot of her projects. I think he's a very smart guy and he knows how to leverage outrage. If I were him, I would, I think that probably what happened was he was like, listen, let's promote this movie. All of you guys go unfollow Justin Baldoni. And like, let's just see where the narrative goes. I love your conspiracy theory mindset. I don't think it's a conspiracy theory. I don't think it's a conspiracy theory. That's all you have to do and you don't know where the narrative's going to go, but it's such a good way to promote the movie. He's like, guys, everybody to go unfollow Justin and Justin don't take any pictures with us.

Let's see what happens. Justin is the director of the movie and a star of the movie. He gets points on the back end based on how many ticket sales there are. You've got to believe that there's some possibility that he agreed to this and was like, okay, I won't take pictures with you guys. Let's keep this internet narrative going and like let's sell tickets to this movie. It's genius. It's genius.

I'll give you that. It is crazy if Baldoni is like a character that can like, if he can separate himself that much from his own person and like from his brand and who we like. But most people aren't like that. Those people are more genuine. I think all Hollywood actors are. I think they're trained to. I think they're more normal and sensitive than you think.

Maybe. I think that Blake Lively is probably like upset and crying about some of these things. Yeah. It's kind of like when I like the conspiracy of when Brazilian bum bum cream, what's it called? Oh yeah, the, uh-huh, a Sol de Janeiro. Yeah, Sol de Janeiro. I told, I said that like a competitor leaked it.

Like that's probably like conspiracy. This one doesn't, you're leaning conspiracy. This one doesn't feel conspiracy to me though. But maybe it's too much genius applied to a more simple, you know. I think it's genuine drama. Wow. Yeah. And Colleen is like, she's just an author.

She's not like a Hollywood superstar. Yeah. She's not going to unfollow Baldoni unless there's something like really going on. Yeah. And honestly, it's like it's, it is upsetting a lot of people. I don't know. I don't know. It is kind of giving Rand Reynolds a little bit.

I know. Think about it. What do you guys think? Leave a comment. Speaking of, speaking of actors, I had a really interesting conversation with our CPA. Okay.

Yeah, that's where the most interesting conversations happen for George. and in his daily day-to-day basis. No, the tie in here is, did you hear about this bill that was passed in Illinois for child actors? Oh, yeah. But not child actors, influencer child actors. So like basically parents who put their kids in content,

there was this bill that was rallied for and I think passed in Illinois. And it basically granted, it outlines that if you put your children in content, you have to give them a percentage of the revenue. Oh, that is crazy. I'm going to, actually, I don't want to mess this up. I'm going to read this. So new Illinois law requiring payment for children featured in content. On July 1, the state of Illinois officially enacted an amendment to its existing child labor law,

which specifically states that children under the age of 16 are entitled to a share of the revenue from their adult guardians vlogging content defined in the bill as content shared on an online platform in exchange for compensation. according to law, if a child appears in at least 30% of a parents or caregivers' social media content over the course of 30 days, the minor is entitled to monetary compensation. Adults are required to set aside those funds to be put in a trust, which the minor can access when they turn 18. The law also allows child influencers to take action against parents who failed to properly compensate them for their work. So basically what's so interesting about this conversation is, and I'll be totally transparent about how we handle this. And everyone is, I think, in the influencer space with kids, this is like new precedent. So I don't know if there's a playbook for it, but here's how we handled it is we have a salary for our employees, obviously, and then we have a 401k profit share.

So our employees make a percentage of the profit. and then they also like have a 401k match by us. Okay. So we about a year ago when our kids turned one or whatever, one and two, we basically decided to put them on payroll. So we said, okay, listen, this is a way for us to compensate our kids to build a nest egg for them moving forward. There's a clause in our like for all of our employees that you have to be here for a year

before you're eligible for the 401k profit share program. So Stella is now eligible for that. So Stella has a 401k account and a profit share that she gets money that is, for right now, it goes into a protected account that we control when she gets that. So it's kind of like a trust where we say, hey, we don't want to get her to get this until she's 35. Okay. Right. So what's so interesting is that the 401k profit share and how much we're able to contribute is

based on her salary. So like right now, like their salary is like, you know, it's low, right? It's like 30,000 or 40,000, right? Because- More than what I was making my first couple years out of college. It has to be the, the really confusing thing for influencers right now is it has to be qualified by the IRS is like fair and reasonable. Okay. So like you can't make a case, I don't think, for a child of that age making 100,000. So we said, okay, 30 or 40,000. And so with this bill, I actually called our CPA and I was like, hey, is this enough precedent to increase her salary so that we can fully max out the 401k profit share? Because right now we can't based on her salary level. And so it just opened up this really interesting discussion around should we increase her salary. And so let me tell you the pros and cons of how we do it. If I were to have increased our kids salaries, there's probably precedent to do it now because of Illinois. But if I increase their salary. Right now, we only increase it enough to max out their 401k. So there would be left over funds that would go into, don't quote me on this, but it's like a child protected bank

account. Okay. So let's say we pay them 100K a year now. And so now there's overflow money that's going into this bank account. Well, that bank account goes to them regardless when they're 21. So you can't control it like a trust. Don't like, don't love that. What if they're not in a good place? So our CPA was basically saying, hey, here's why I don't advise that you pay them more because it is going to be going into this thing and you don't know where your kids are going to be at or if they're going to be ready for a lump sum. And he says, I see it all the time where parents with good intention put a lot of money in this parent guardian bank account, but then no matter what, the state has to give it to them

when they're 21. So that was like a really interesting thing. And so as we talked through this like Illinois bill, I like still. I'm trying to figure out like how I feel about it. Question. So let's say that you pay your child. It sounds like they have to pay. It says if did you read the second paragraph according to the law?

So if a child appears in at least 30% of a parent or caregiver's social media content over the course of 30 days, the minor is entitled to monetary compensation. Yeah. So if your child is in 100% of your content, they're entitled to at least 50%. Right. And that's obviously probably of your net earnings. Like are these children taxed? Yeah.

So like Stella and Stratton pay, they have tax returns. So do they have tax deductions? No. So like, but you do pay them on your net earnings after taxes? I don't know. I think that that's a good question, but I think that that's like like probably two in the weeds. Like my question for you. It's not two in the weeds.

especially if you run your own business because it's like how does that well I'm just I would say that if this Illinois law was rolled out to all social media creators across the country it would be very very large amounts of money that are being transferred to the children and what's hard about this law is that most likely that would be transferred to them when they're either 18 or 21 right so you know I think there was something specific in the bill that said like the time frame and it was early it was like 20. or 18. So what it's doing is it's basically saying we as the state are trying to protect your children, but it's it's it's taking the power away from the parents of how to individually manage the

inheritance and the the wealth that you're trying to transfer your children and when you do it. Right. So it's really, this is my opinion, but I think it's mask and a really pretty thing. Like, well, take care of the children, but then it's like your child could be in a really bad place when they're 18 and then they inherit, let's just say millions. It's just, I don't know. Yeah. And it's like they're going to go spend it all. Right. And look at the stories of what happens when kids get that inheritance too early. And this is like every family who has a business or runs a business. This is what they think about all the time is like what how do we do this? When is the right time to do it? Now I say that like I am very much like I don't want the state or the government

commenting on how I raise my kids at all. Like I just want, like I understand you're trying to protect them. But then on the counter argument, I'm curious your opinion, I do understand that you hear stories like Shia Laboff and like all of the child actors who were royally screwed by their parents

because their parents quote unquote manage them and then they're really hurt later in life. Because they're just spending all their money before they inherit it. Is that what typically happens? No, because I think that like a lot of the times what you see is, and I'm generalizing it, but with Hollywood actors, you see them become child stars, their parents leave their jobs, manage them. So then these children are then left to

provide for the families. Okay. So then they take away their childhood essentially. Right. They take away to childhood. And then what happens is like a manager comes in, like forces the child or convinces the child to emancipate themselves from their parents. So all of the money then transfers to this 18 year old. And then I feel like nine times out of 10, those child actors seem to be more screwed up than not because they've emancipated themselves from their parents. Now they're getting all this money, but at 18 years old. They don't know what to do. They don't know what to do, right? Because they also weren't, they're not like normal.

They're like famous celebrities that are probably sheltered in different, you know, it's just like not normal. So, so yeah. And so basically I feel like what the state of Illinois is doing is saying, hey, listen, we are going to protect this story that happens. over and over again of these parents who become greedy against their children and steal the money. But like, what it doesn't leave any room for is nuance. Like, how do we know that the, the parent managers of these child actors weren't trying to advocate for the best, right, for their kids? Like, protect them and put it into trust and all these things. I think that we hear the bad stories. But if we were good intentioned parents over Stella, who's a child actor, this bill would

completely rid of us, of our rights to handle it the way that we want to, because it's basically the state automatically saying, this is the formula, here's how it's done, here's how much you're going to give her, and here's when you're going to give it to her. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. It doesn't, it's like nicely wrapped in a bow and I do agree with what it's arguing for, but it changes so much about the way parents have rights over how they want a parent. Right. it's definitely complicated conversation um my gut reaction is to just say let kids be kids and like don't even go there you know but then it's like what about if you have this child like probably shy la buff that's like mom i want to be a disney star like i want to be an actor like you're gonna want to

support your kid and whatever they want to do right and then like you have these kids that are like i want to be like dude perfect mom and they're out there like you know every day doing trick shots and they're like 14 years old and you're like helping them film and you want to help them get going. But like so you almost can't you can't help it at the end of the day. No, I want to make this more tangible because I would say that the the less than 1% hater community that we refer to a lot. I feel like one of their main criticisms is like you're capitalizing on your kids. And not to us in particular.

I don't hear that message like on our. No, not for us, but I think that for family creators, especially in the YouTube space, like the vlogging community, I feel like that. that is one of the main narratives of like that's when you show your child like your child's having a breakdown or a temper tantrum instead instead of like putting the camera down they're like filming the whole thing right so think about those family vloggers that we won't name but like we know that they're out there or the criticism i don't know most of them i don't know them well yeah i don't either but i know it's like a narrative out there like the people who feel like they're it's always

so funny when when followers think they're more protective of someone's children than the parents is always like a weird dynamic. But like let's take that criticism. And I feel like they would say that this is a solution. They would be like, oh, you know, let's just say Danny. They don't say this about you. But like, oh, Stell and Stratton should be compensated. If they're not, it's like morally wrong at their age because they're in Danny's content.

Like, do you agree with that? I don't agree with that. They should be compensated. Yeah. There's so many reasons why I don't agree with this. Okay, say them. But I don't know. I also, I'm kind of being put on the spot.

So I don't want to have like a strong stance on this because I could be educated and persuade probably. I don't know. This is just like my gut reaction. Number one, like the biggest thing is like probably what you said. Like I don't want to be forced to give my child money at any point. Like I want my children to learn how to like make their own money and do their own thing. I want to support them in their goals and dreams. But also like I going like being in a sorority and like in that Greek life when, you know,

I was from when I was like 17 or 18 until when I was like 21, there were a lot of kids in there that got into like drugs and alcohol and like really bad places. And the last thing I want to do when my, if my child is having like a drug, problem is give them a million dollars yeah i mean that could literally kill them like it could be the worst thing that ever happened to them and so yeah like there's so many nuances and as a parent i would hope that the government would trust that i would take care of them in the way that they would yeah like when they would need to because it's all about timing like it's so like some kids like just need more time to grow up and um but i understand like the the the same thing that's the

of like, you know, trying to like be fair for them. And, but I don't know. I just feel like they're not the ones who bought the cameras and bought the house and like learned all the the hard work that it took to produce the content and not like, so why would they be compensated? And honestly, like, what I'm teaching them is more valuable than money. Like what I'm teaching them, they're going to be able to take and use to make their own money.

Do you know what I mean? Like, it's like when you grow up in a family of, entrepreneurs or like really your parents are doctors or something there's you're getting added value that some families aren't like your dad's a doctor or your mom's an entrepreneur like you're getting like this like intangible value that like you can't put really a dollar to and so like it doesn't make sense to put a dollar on that you know yeah um does that make sense no i totally i'm like on the same page with you i think that every influencer who has kids that is in their content and is running a successful business.

Like everyone's at different stages of their business. I think if they're running a successful business, I think it's a wonderful opportunity to kind of build an inheritance for your kids by putting them on salary or contributing to their 401K, because that's going to compound and grow over 18 years. Yeah. I think it's such a wonderful benefit of running like a family business, which is what an influencer business kind of is.

What about if they waited and gave the kids that money when they're 40? Yeah. I'd be cool with that. No, like, are you talking about the bill or like us? Yeah. Or what if you could like decide when you give it to them? Yeah. So if you put it into a trust, you get to decide.

Like the big, so I think that every business owner should do that. And I think it's the right thing to do. And it's a really wonderful way to bless your kids and future generations of your kids in the future. Like where it trips me up is like when the government says we have to do it. Because what that is like ultimately saying is we know how to take. care of your kids better than you do. Yeah. And in some instances, with some families, they're probably right, but it cannot be the blanket

role. I feel like it's this mentality of if I would have known that when I turned 18, I was going to inherit all this money. Like what I knew about the world and how much, like you could have been like, Danny, you're going to inherit like $10,000 when you're 18. And like, I literally would be like, I never have to work again. Because I don't know how much it costs to like to run my life. Like, or to do the things that I want to do or to buy a house.

I'm not mature enough to be like, oh, okay. And I feel like having, so when I graduated, my parents told me the number one thing was like, you can never live with us again. Yeah. And we are not taking care of you financially. There was no money sitting for me when I graduated. I never had that mentality.

And like, granted, if I was really struggling, I know my parents would have helped me out. But because that wasn't an option to me, it put me in this totally different mindset of like, I got to figure myself out. So that's when like I was making under $20,000. a year, my first couple of years doing YouTube videos, I applied for affordable housing because I was like, I can't afford my rent, but I need to live in Austin so I can grow my business and

do always. And so it just forced me to think outside the box and be like a little creative. And like if I knew that I had something coming for me, you better bet your bottom dollar. I'd be like sitting chilling like just waiting for. I'm like, I just have to like survive for a couple years and then I get this big month, this big check. I would have been a totally different person. No, totally. I would say that like, a lot of first generation entrepreneurs, like they develop the grit to be entrepreneurs by, you know. Because you're like, you have to.

You have to. You have to do it. You mortgage your house. Like you're going to have no house. Like you have to make it work. I almost feel so, I almost feel, I don't want to say I feel bad for it. That's a little extreme. But sometimes I feel like the kids that like have these parents that are super successful and

really wealthy. Sometimes I'm like, man, I don't know if they'll ever know. know what it's like. No, the biggest. To like set out, do something, grow, achieve it, and like know that you did it on your own. Like that there's this like, there's just confidence that you get when you do it by yourself.

And I'm not saying every kid that's like, well, but like, you know, it's very common that these kids that go to these like really prestigious private schools and then they go work for their dads or whatever. And that's fine. It's okay. But I think a lot of them probably get to a point in their life where they're like, man, maybe I'm not doing what I really wanted to do

because this path following my dad's footsteps and going to this was so much easier, but now I'm here and like I'm not proud of myself. I didn't really do it, build it on my own. That's got to be hard. You know that money-wise podcast that I'm trying to become the host of? It's such an interesting podcast because a lot of the guests are like first generation entrepreneurs who have developed this wealth. And a lot of them are trying to figure out how to instill the same.

drive in their second generation, their kids, you know, that they had to develop their own business. And a lot of what you, the only thing that you can control, you can't control who your kids are. Like they, like God made them, they are who they are. But the levers that you can pull is how much do we give them as help? So like inheritance and when do we give it to them? And so it is like such a. It's got to be later in life, right? Generally speaking, I feel like the rule is like 30 plus. Like I feel like that's kind of the general consensus. I'm kind of a 40 plus gal.

Some are 40 plus, but this is. Because then you got to go through most of your life making it on your own. Exactly. 30 I've been like, I still have been chilling in my 20s. I'd be like snoozing. I'd be,

you know, just sleeping on my friend's sofas like living it up. And then I'd be like, okay, 30 I'm going to take it serious. But the reason you can't put a blanket rule like the government wants to on when it should be 30, 40, 20, 25, is because every family's culture is so different. So the way that you raise your kids has

so much to do with how much drive that they're going to have. They're like, you could raise your kids in a very entrepreneurial home and they like are in the business and working the business, in which case you could make an argument like my kids would do better at 25 getting this because they're going to actually use it to build and grow their own businesses, right? Then there's other families that their kids just maybe don't shake out like that. And they need it. it at 40 because they need to go fail and develop grit and resilience and all that before they get it. And then it's even crazier because it's like kid by kid, probably it changes too, right? And so point being like, I just think that this like this whole Illinois bill is like

right idea, but like really complicated when you think about the actual way they're trying to police like our industry. Yeah. And like we said, it's it's different. for every family, but something that I tried to do, because I've been influencing since I was like 19. And so when I had kids, I didn't really know what my angle was gonna be about how much I put them in the content or what I do.

But I did start to realize as Stella got older and I started to notice how she reacted to the camera. I was like, I don't want my kids to be like, I don't wanna be dependent on my kids for content. And so I try my best to like, like I don't, I'm not like, hey, I'm going to go film a brandy. Like, Stella, do you want to be in it?

It's like, no, I'm going to go film something. And if she walks in it and does something cute and funny, like, fine. But most of the kid content that I post is honestly, like, what you would film if you were just, like, taking a home video. And your kids are doing something really cute. And they're, like, jumping off a sofa. And I'm like, I'm going to film this whether I post it or not. In fact, there's so much that I film that I don't post. But I think that it could be a healthy exercise for, and because, like, and give these people grace and give me.

me grace because like I'm still figuring it out too because it's also new it's a wall bald west out here being creating content but I think it's a good exercise for me every single day and for other people every day to be like okay is am I like what is my brand like can my brand survive without my kids and if it can't then what other characters can I bring it like that's why I put my mom in a lot of stuff too or like I like having my mom around or like I like building this ecosystem outside of my kids where I can film my friends and people that are adults, you know, because I don't want people to be like, oh, I only follow you because still in Scranton, which there are those people.

And I'm like, they'll get me wrong. I'm like, they're freaking cute. But I think if you look at my feed, I don't even think there's a lot of, honestly, I only put something on my feet of my kids if it's probably organic and they wanted to be in it. But they honestly don't want to be in a lot of stuff. So I don't really put them. But then sometimes I put the camera up and they're like all over it. And it's just like, you know, so, but it is a healthy exercise for me to always look back

and be like, okay, I just did add, like, could I have done that without them in the background and made it interesting myself? If not, how can I make it interesting? Like, what can I do outside of, you know, putting the family content hat on and think like, okay, what else can catch people's eyes? It's just a healthy strategy if you are struggling with it because I know I did. Like, I'm not going to act like I've done it perfectly. People. Yeah, I think we struggled with it too, but I think you recalibrated it. Yeah. Because when you have a kid, all you want to talk about it as your kid. And then like, oh, people want to talk about too. Yeah, that's all they want to see. And then they're like, where's Stella? Where is this? And now I think it's to the point where if I don't

put my kids in it, they're not like, where are they? Like, you know, but they used to ask all the time. Yeah. And then it was like, oh my gosh, she never with her kids. And it's like, no, I am. I just don't want to show you my kids. Yeah. Well, you're just figuring it out. We're all figuring it out. So, but no, I think this feels a little crazy. A little cuckoo. A little cuckoo. I always wonder, like, okay, let's just go back. Yeah. You're 18. Yeah.

Is it 18 or 21? 21, yeah. You're 21, okay? That's the year that I think I met you. Yeah. Drinking beer for the first time. Yeah. You graduate college.

You inherit, let's just say. A million dollars. A million dollars. What are you doing? Dude, honestly, I think the best precedent that we have for what people are doing, 21 year olds are doing with a million dollars is like all this nil stuff you know you're uh chissy who does your spray tans her husband played in the like played college football and we were talking about the nil stuff because tell me what the nil stuff is i don't know what it stands for oh yeah name image and

likeness i guess but it's basically like college athletes being able to be paid now like they get paid salaries so what does it do with you because they're 21 and and getting these monies. And we were taught, TJ and I were talking about how like all these 21. But they're working hard for it, just saying. No, I do, I believe that they deserve to be paid.

But even he was saying, hey, like, I've heard a lot of stories. And like they're basically like driving down UT's campus with like lambos. So, you know, it's been a problem in the NFL for so long of like they get these huge contracts and they go broke.

But now we're giving it to them earlier. And so he said, I think the best way that the NIL should function is you should get these athletes paid, but it should go into like a trust. until they're like 30. And I was like, that's a really good idea. Yeah, I mean, that's a good idea.

But also, I'm like, it's, to me, that's still not fair because I'm like, a lot of these guys are going to be messed up for the next 10 years from their 20s to their 30s. They're going to need surgeries. They're going to need special, you know, physical therapy. And you can't wait to give them that money for that until they're 30. You know what I'm really thinking? It's like, it's back.

It's the responsibility is back on the parents. It's like if you know your kid is going to be in the, What do you call it? Athlete. And I. Or whatever, or college athlete or have some type of influence or be working. It falls back on the parents to say, hey, Timmy. When you're 20, you're going to start making money possibly.

And like what these are stories, like the horror stories of what have happened to other athletes. What me and your dad recommend you do is that you put your money and invest it into this. That way when you're married and you, you know, and paint this picture for them and educate. and educate them on like what could go wrong like yeah it's kind of just back on the parents because you can't and then you know what little timmy might decide to not listen to his parents and that's just going to be a learning experience for him yeah you know that's the best thing that you can do is equip your kids to make good decisions but you can't make the decisions for them i know it's crazy i know so like let's start talking investing with stella now speaking of which should we talk about

what we were doing in Midland, Texas? So we went to Midland. I went to Midland, Texas. I had never been to Midland, Texas, had you? No, first time. Midland, Texas is known as, just if you're not from Texas, it's oil and gas.

Oil and gas. So when you go out there, it's like, it's very flat, but it's, like, it's really nice. The people are, like, amazing. Yeah. But there's those oil, what do you call?

I think they're called oil derricks. Don't sleep on the weather. Though it's drier heat there. So if you don't know the difference between dry heat and humid heat, like humid heat basically feels like you're walking in like an empty soup bowl that just had soup in it. And it's like so like you put your hands up and there's mosquitoes and it's like wet everywhere and your hair phrase up. Dry heat is actually a lot better because it can be like, it can be really hot, but you can still feel the breeze. Yeah. You know?

So Midland has 135,000 people. That is small. Small compared to what Dallas has. millions compared to Dallas that has 1.3 million so that's what we're used to except for Jordan grew up in rockwall so you know look at the population of rockwell I think it's like 50 50 000 more than that I would say 300 it's 51,000 so midlands bigger than rock wall yeah praise my point it's like almost three rock walls but that's still way smaller than I thought it was I'm going to be honest with you.

Midland. You got it bigger? I thought it was way bigger than that. Huh. Well, the nicest people ever. Yeah. I was obsessed with our weekend there. The sunsets were beautiful.

The dry heat was everything. But we were invited to go to Midland through. Babe, I don't even know how to tell the story. Okay. It's so, I don't even know how to tell it either. Like, I feel like lately I've had. so many crazy doors open that are so like random opportunities that it'll be like a guy that we set next to an airplane or oh my gosh yes like i it's been the most wild season and honestly i'll

be like spiritual about it for a second i feel like i feel like it's been a season where i very very intentionally like i don't really know what my next big thing is but like i i've been looking for it but I've been very carefully not wanting to create it for myself. I've kind of been like, hey God, like whatever you want. Like I'm going to not be type A inagram one perfectionist. And I'm going to like let you start like just telling me where you want me to go.

And I swear ever since I've like really been like praying through that, like these really weird random doors open and these connections have been made that have just been so special. Yeah. And so I met. It was just through a connection. Yeah, and I want to like preserve this family's privacy. And so I'll call him Steve. So I met Steve through a random dinner that I was invited to.

He just happened. Like he wasn't even the core couple that I was supposed to meet with. It was like two other couples. And then he came late and Steve lives out in Midland. And you know, Steve is in the entertainment industry, like does a lot of the movies that you would see. But his family is a very. large oil and gas family. And so, you know, he was in Dallas and he was like, hey, man, like, you know, we, uh, we always have people out to our place. Like, and we like to talk

about like, like this leadership, you know, stuff and they're Christians. And he was like, yeah, we're all believers. And like, we love to like, they're very hospitable. And he was like, you should come out to Midland. And in this season of my life, I've kind of just been like, all right. Yeah. Let's cool. Let's go. And so, you know, I've been telling Danny, we're going to Midland, Danny's like, why are we going to Midlands? It's been like three weeks. And so yeah, we hopped on a plane to go to Midland. And I didn't know much. Like I kept trying to get information out of him. Like, why are we going? What are we going to do? And he just kept doing like, hey, just come hang out. They just seemed like, like, cool people. And like, we were just being like, yes, man.

And so. Come to spend the weekend with us. So we got there. And crazy thing is this, they're the sweetest, kindest, most down to earth people like, so fun. And they told us that. And they told us that. that week they had sold their company for over $10 billion. I was like, really, this week? Like, and I know nothing about this family. And I'm like, what do they do? Like, babe, you didn't tell me any of this. And I was like a little intimidated because I was like,

what am I getting myself into? Then I hear that fact, like, as we're driving out to their house. And I'm like, oh my gosh, like, did I pack the right things? Am I wearing the right things? Like, what are we going to be doing? Are the girls going to like me? Oh, my gosh, you would have never known they were the most down to earth kind people serving us.

They made us dinners and breakfasts and like just totally took care of us. And like it's so cool because I feel like there's a lot of families like that in Texas that are so under their radar. And I think it's just because they know what matters in life. And so the dad of this company was really, really good to Jordan. He sat down and he's like a businessman and he had created this like leadership program that he wanted to kind of mentor both of us on about how to create like a really good culture within your company and how to keep employees around and take care of them and create these structures for them.

And so, but also like because he knew we were believers, like intertwined it with faith, which was like really cool. And it was just special to be around the family because like I said, they knew what mattered in life. They knew like they knew the struggles that we were probably facing being influencers just because since they're such a prominent family they get like similar conversations thrown at them but the way that they've like tackled all these things and like stayed true to who they are and their faith like one of the coolest things that he kept on bringing up he's like too uh too much that is given much is like expected and like basically when god gives you a lot like whether it's fame or money or resources like god all

also has a lot of expectations for you. There's a lot of responsibility that comes with that. And so although it might seem like, man, I want to win the lottery, it's like, you better be careful because like if God gives you that money, like he's going to, he has like some plans for you. No, I literally asked him, I go, so we sold your company this week. I was like, that's a big deal. I was like, how are you feeling?

You know, thinking like, like I'm a, he's like, I'm going to go travel Europe. No, he was. No, he goes, literally the thing he said is he said, you know, I have a pit in my stomach. He goes, I've got a pit in my stomach because I know that this is the responsibility to steward this really starts now. And I was like, wow, I was like day up. But you can tell us. I was like, you could have taken a couple days to be like I'm a multi-billionaire.

But it was so, I mean. He takes it so seriously. He gives so seriously. He gives so much. And then I can tell that he doesn't just like, you know, give because like and just give money to people for just clout or whatever. because like y'all he literally spent like almost the entire weekend with us like you know this guy has better things to do no he didn't even really know who we were it was his son that invited us and he was just so interested in in serving and educating and listening to us and I'm like why are you

doing this and you just know it's because he has like a reason so much greater than himself like he wants to just serve and serve yeah I you know if I if you ask me why we were there. I still don't actually know. And it's so funny because when we got there, you can tell this happens a lot, right? With the son, you know, he just kind of brings people through and you can tell that the culture of their family is to serve.

And it's to serve in a very, like I would say, Christ-like way in the sense that it's not about serving by being and speaking to the masses. It's about inviting people into their home. And, you know, they had, they live on this, this really kind of like idealistic, really cool kind of like neighborhood that is just all their family. It's like all the brothers and the cousins all live within this neighborhood. And this, you know, I looked at this guy who's probably what, mid-70s, you know, and he's got all,

he's got like 20 grandkids running around him and he's sitting and having us in his home and just teaching us about who Jesus is and, you know, what Jesus says. And he's like almost a theologian with the Bible. He's very well versed in the Bible. and how, you know, like, God calls us to be, you know, Christ's like even in our business dealings and to build cultures that, like, represent Christ and stuff. And it's just... But his teaching, sorry, like, his initiative actually wasn't faith-oriented. It's something that anyone could adopt.

It's, like, all about servant leadership. And anyone can adopt it, which is also cool. But then he, because he knew we were Christians, like, infused his faith into it. But I thought that was cool, too. Yeah, it's so crazy. It's like, I don't know how to explain it. It's happened to me like three or four times where I feel like God has opened a door and put me in front of a very seasoned, like, a Christian business leader.

And like, it has informed so much of our principles and, like, how we run our companies and how we think about our people. And, you know, I don't know. It's just wild that that door opened, to be honest. It's an opportunity of a lifetime. to like have learned from someone like that who probably has his stories of like in his 40s you know because he's always like had that company right and he probably has the stories of like yeah like I was overworking and I was you know putting my value and then like to have someone that's like been through

it and then now has sold his company and this is where he's at it's very encouraging to see that there are people out there like that yeah you know it's like I don't know it's just so wild the most thing is for me and I think like us walking away is like if someone of that scale can operate at that pace then it kind of made me really question the pace of like not our family in particular but like it made me want to be very watchful over the pace of our lives because this is a guy who built a 10 billion plus company and at the end of the day his time on a Friday and Saturday is spent with us and his grandkids and his family around him. Yeah. And it's like they, I don't know if you noticed this about Midland, but the pace was much slower than a Friday or Saturday would have looked here in Dallas.

And there's just something like really simple and special about it that I'm trying to, no, I've honestly, I'm like, Nashville, prosper. The girls were telling me that they had to drive to Lubbock to get their hair done. And I was like, that's not going to be an option for me. But anyway, so many people were asking like, why were we in Midland? And that, That was the crazy. Yeah, we didn't even know explain it. And then we also wanted to like respect the family and not be like, this is where we're going. Like we didn't know.

We didn't know. And so, uh, so yeah. And it was just, it was really cool. It was a special weekend. Yeah. Hopefully we go back. Anyway, we have talked to y'all's ear off today. We've been filming for over an hour.

So here's the. deal. What I'm going to need for everybody to do is I'm going to need for you to go open your phones right now and go to the Instagram app. Okay. Oh. Are you following? I'm falling. My phone died. And then I want you to go in and type in D-influence podcast search. And then I want you to hit that blue button follow. Yeah. I'm surprised. You're you're you're you're passionate about the Instagram this week. You want to push? I'm always passionate about the Instagram. No, I know, I know, but it's like TikTok. Oh, and then go to our TikTok, too.

What am I? Oh, keep going. BD influence podcast on TikTok. What? Yeah, why not? Leave a review on Spotify just while you're at it. You can comment on Spotify now. Well, I know, but also like five stars.

Yeah, and five stars would be nice. Yeah. Anyway. This podcast ain't free. This is your token to listen. It's all we ask. All we ask is a good follow up. Okay.

Well, we love you guys. Hope you have a great week and we'll talk to you later. Bye.