The Nick Bare Podcast - 135: A Conversation with Jon Langston

Episode Date: August 21, 2025

Country artist Jon Langston visits HQ and joins the show for a special bonus episode—we discuss how faith, fatherhood, and fitness transformed his path from football to country star. He opens up about chasing dreams in Nashville, the lessons of perseverance, and what it means to fully commit to growth.CHAPTERS:00:00 Introduction and Warm Welcome01:21 Transitioning from Military to Business03:04 Musical Beginnings and Breakthrough04:52 Moving to Nashville and Early Struggles06:51 The Importance of Being Coachable19:09 Life in Nashville and Music Industry Challenges34:42 Finding Focus with Horse Blinders36:55 The Challenge of Comparison40:42 True Friendship and Support43:01 Health and Fitness Transformation49:03 The Journey of Running55:44 Marriage and Personal Growth01:00:18 Embracing Independence in Music01:06:00 The Power of Flexibility and Speed01:09:16 Joining the BPN FamilyORDER MY BOOK HERE:https://www.amazon.com/Go-One-More-Intentional-Life-Changing/dp/1637746210FOLLOW:Become a BPN member FOR FREE - Unlock 20% off FOR LIFEhttps://bpn.team/memberIG: instagram.com/nickbarefitness/YT: youtube.com/@nickbarefitnessOzora Farmshttp://ozorafarms.com/Jon Langston IG:instagram.com/jonlangston/

Today on the podcast, we have John Langston. What's up, man? Good to be here. Thanks for having me. This is pretty crazy, honestly. It's full circle for me. Absolutely. And then we'll get into it.

Epic morning, though, so far. It's awesome. So we started off on the track, Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, 800-meter repeats, which for me is like a staple workout. It's actually called Yaso. 800s. So the traditional like,

yeah, so 800 workout is 10, 800 meter repeats, 60 seconds of rest in between each. So we hit that workout,

came to BP and HQ, you and me and French just did some cold plunge sauna sessions. Much needed. Yeah, dude. Like recovery is just as important as the training right now.

Threw back some food, recording this, and then we're going to the gym afterwards. This is an ideal day for me. Absolutely. So what are you doing in Texas right now? We're going to visit some family down here.

My wife's family, we got some family down in Houston so we're passing through to figure it would come and say what's up. It's my first time here at the new HQ. It's awesome. Yeah. It's pretty awesome, man. Well, the way I wanted to start this conversation, you know, when I transitioned out of the military in 2017,

this was a very pivotal point of my life. And I started BPN 2012. spent four years to activity army. Nine months of that, I was over in South Korea, building the business. When I transitioned out of the army in 2017, that's when I went all in on BPN. 2017 was one of the best years of my entire life. Like, there are so many core memories between me, Preston, and Joe, who you just met, Joe Pivots.

And it was just us three trying to figure out how to turn this passion, this dream, into a business. and what it has become today was never part of what we expected or the journey. But in 2017, I have so many memories about that year. That's the year I came across your music. And I played the same songs of yours over and over and over again. Forever Girl was like, was instillest to this day, one of my favorite songs. That's awesome. So I just wanted to share that with you because I think music is so powerful that it can take us back to these memories and these core moments of our life and allow us to relive those.

Like when I listen to Forever Girl, I think of myself driving my truck, leaving BPNHQ, 10 p.m. at night, hot summer, windows rolled down just being like, this is it. Nistalgia. We're doing it. Yeah. That's awesome. So that's what it takes me back to. That's cool, man. I mean, yeah, that song, man, that that song changed my life. When I was in college, I was playing football at Gardner Webb and had my last concussion and couldn't play anymore. So I figured to be a guitar, started playing, learning how to play and started playing just random gigs, you know, here and there, just begging bar owners to help me play.

I wrote Forever Girl by myself and it changed my life. Put it up on YouTube. My buddy's really, yeah, man, you need to put that song. out. So I, that Christmas, during Christmas break, I had a buddy who had like a basement studio. We recorded that song for like a couple hundred bucks. It was crazy. And it changed my lot. Like I put it up on, I literally had to Google how to put a song up on iTunes. I had no idea. And, uh, and yeah, like a couple months later, get a call. It's like, hey, man, everyone loves a song. You want to come open for Chase Rice at our frat party? I was like, all right. That's wild. That's crazy. I never played a show, no, never played a full band show.

in my life. And we played the show, and at the end, we play Forever Girl, and there's 800 college kids there screaming every single word. And that's when I knew. I was like, up until that point, it was just like a, it was a fun hobby. It was like something I love to do, but I didn't know it was going to be anything with longevity towards it. And, but right then I knew when I was like, all right, people are singing a song that I wrote down on paper, and they're screaming the words back to me. This is the craziest, coolest feeling I've ever felt my life. life. And I was, you know, at a time it was all football, football, football, and then it just changed in that moment. It was found purpose, and I found something that I love to do, and it was

a feeling like a new dream, you know, so it was really cool. And I was like, man, I don't know what I'm, how I'm going to do this. I don't know what I'm doing, but let's move to Nashville and figure this out. So it's been a wild ride. When you were in high school and in early college, like, where did you picture your life going. What was the... I thought I was just going to... A football coach or something or taking over my dad's business. What was that business? It was an equipment rental business. And so I just figured I'd go to college, play football,

either go back home and take over his business or be a football coach somewhere. It was never music, ever. Was music part of your life growing up, though? Here and there, like, I took guitar lessons in eighth grade. and and but I never was like man I want to be a country music singer when I grew up and never said that but I always like enjoyed like writing poems like growing up like I was always good in like English and writing those type of like stanzas and stuff like that in school and I always found myself excelling in that but I never thought it would translate in a writing music do you know you had like

the ability to sing it took a while I mean I always enjoyed it like by myself in the in the car the shower blah blah you know not around people And then I remember I was in college, I was writing songs, and my roommate was yelling out, he was like, gosh, man, like, well, you shut up. This is, you know, it was just one of the, I was just practicing in my room, you know, she was being obnoxious with it. And one day, you know, I was just watching YouTube videos, just learning how to play and sing in the same time. And he poked his head and he was like, hey, man, that was pretty good. And I was like, all right, I'm on the right path. And it just took practice, man, just like anything else.

You know, in football, you know, I kind of took a lot what I learned in my football days into, like, my music because I was never the fastest, biggest or strongest, you know, but like I was coachable and I was, I always had to like work to get, you know, to get better every day. And that was the same thing with music, with writing, with singing, performing live. And I just kind of carried that over into my music. That is such a important trait for someone to have is to be coachable. Like, we find that in the business all the time. I think that's something that I've accepted and realized early on is, I didn't have all the answers. I still don't have all the answers.

I still don't have any of the answers, really. But if you put yourself in a position of humility and being coachable, you open yourself up to being able to do so much more. Absolutely. I mean, that's, I mean, it was, it's pretty crazy that we're talking about this because, you know, when I moved to Nashville, I didn't, I was just, I dove in head first, no idea what I was doing or what to do. And I met Red Akins, you know, and he, he reached out to me on Twitter on a DM and I was like, are you kidding me? My heroes, like reaching out like he heard my music and wants to hear more and end up living with him for a year. and I just, he was like my coach.

He took me under his wing and just coached me like, you know, how to write a song and like how to write a hook correctly and just make a song make sense. Instead of just, back then, I was just writing whatever I thought sounded cool or whatever and just forming a song, forming a story. And it just took practice and practice and practice, still practicing to this day to try to figure it out. I mean, every single day is I'm learning so much about the music industry and like everything, you know, She's trying to get better, but I'm getting off track here.

But yeah, he was my, like, without, like, having that coach or whatever, without him being my coach in that sense, like, I mean, I don't know if I would have excelled or anything without, you know, without his guidance, without, like, him just kind of point me in the right direction. Was he charging you, or was it just? No, I mean, yeah, I paid rent for sure, but it wasn't your regular Nashville rent. He was pretty nice about it. And thanks, Brett.

Appreciate it, buddy, if you're listening. That's pretty rare, actually. You know, what I found is a lot of times, I find myself in positions where someone will make themselves available that wants to help. And initially, oh, this person actually wants to help.

And then you either get an invoice that lands in your email inbox. Or it's like, well, for me to continue, this is what it's going to cost you. This is the investment you're going to have to make with me. Right. Like, man, I thought you were just, like, doing this because you believed in me. He was, he was, from the get-go, he was just believed in me. And I think that's all I needed to give me the confidence, like, okay, someone believes in me.

I got a chance at this thing. And, you know, when I went over to his house and played him some songs, he looked at me and said, I think he got what it takes, but this town is tough. And I don't want you to tuck your tail and run back home to Georgia when it go and gets tough. Like, I'm going to help you. But I'm not going to sit here and stick my neck out for you if you're just going to, you know, when it gets tough, you quit or just, you know, leave me hanging. I was like, I told him, I was like, man, this is all I want to do. I've never felt a purpose like this ever.

And I'm in it for a long haul. I'll be the hardest worker you ever met. And he's like, all right, I'll sign you to a publishing deal. And four months later, it was a co-venture with him and Sony publishing. And I've been there ever since. It's pretty crazy. That's incredible. Yeah.

Wild. So you're in Georgia at college. So I went to college in North Carolina at Garda Webb, but I was, I didn't finish. So I was on scholarship playing ball, got hurt, and I was like, well, I'm doing the music thing. And at that time, you know, I was going everywhere just anywhere but class. I was fully into this whole music dream. After that one show with Chase Rice, I was like, man, I was going up to Boone, North Carolina App State, met Luke Combs, and we were playing, you know, Klondike.

We were playing all these, like, little bars here and there, and he came down to Garda Webb, and we played the Mexican restaurant, and, you know, after football game one night. And it just kind of snowballed into this, like, this dream. Like, okay, like, this is fun. I'm having a great time, like, writing songs with my friends. And what gave you the... confidence to make the move to Nashville and go all in? Well, so...

It's a huge decision. Huge decision. I was, you know, I was doing all this in that spring, and I was like, well, I wasn't going to class anymore, so I was like, I'm not going home to tell my mom I'm not finished in school. And I don't want to keep on trying to, you know, I wasn't going home to tell my mom I wasn't finishing school. So I went straight to that, never been in Nashville in my life.

and I googled a cheap apartment outside of Nashville. Found one. I had enough money set up from iTunes money that was making off Forever Girl. Put a deposit in, packed up the dog, got a U-Haul headed there. Are you making good money off that song? Not crazy, but like my first check I got for Forever Girl.

It was, I mean, I spent it all on a dog, a trailer, and a four-wheeler. It was, I was, I never seen that much money come into my account ever. Does iTunes still pay out like that? Not like they used to. I mean, people aren't like buying on iTunes, but back then, like, it was before like streaming was like huge. And so, I mean, I remember getting my first check.

I was like, oh, my gosh, like, I'll probably never see this money ever get. I'm going to get what I always want. I want to get a dog on a four-wheeler and a trailer. I'll be set for life. But, uh, well, yeah, like, I'll probably, like, I'm not. I just kept working the social media game and just saw how my songs were growing. Forever Girl was taken off. And it was coming in consistently.

So that's what gave me the, I guess, the, gave me the courage to make the jump to Nashville. I was like, okay, I got a little floating money that I can move to Nashville and, you know, play college, you know, town shows on the weekends and figure it out. And so, but God's good, man. That song has changed my life in more ways. and I can even say. But yeah, that's the reason I got a Nashville is because of that song. I like the acoustic version of that song the best. I agree, but there's, I agree.

That song, are you talking about the 2015 version? I'm not sure which version is. It might be. So there's two versions out. I have a hard time finding one of them. I think it's the original, 2013. version is, I think, is the one that is hard to find because on Apple, it's like one of the top songs.

And on Spotify, the more acoustic version is one of the top, like two or three songs on there. But that acoustic version, it's got piano and stuff in it. And I call, you know, I love that version, but I want to put out a third version. Oh, yeah, I'm down for this. So we can get into this. but I'm coming out with a record next year but after the record I want to put out an acoustic EP with some throwback songs

and also maybe a couple new ones I love all things acoustic dude like that is my acoustic shows for me too are my favorite do they do like radio shows those like guitar pools I guess in Austin yeah there's a

there's a spot in Cedar Park it's called a hotspot where it's like they'll bring in a few different artists maybe just are on stage and they'll each play one song acoustically those are my favorite type of shows to go too.

Those are fun because it's like you get to play shows with your buddies you ain't seen in a while and cutting up. There's no like pressure on those type of shows. It's just you know you get to trade off

tell stories behind the songs I think that's the coolest thing about those shows. Yeah. It's like I think that's what you know people country music fans want to hear what made that song,

like how that song come to be. And I think that's what's really cool about country music is there's such a story behind each song and each one is so different. And when you go to those types of settings, you know, the artist is able to like, hey, this is how this song came to be. This is who I wrote it with.

This is, you know, I was, I got broken up with and she left me and my dog died and, you know, all this stuff. And you hear the whole story. And, but you hear it. And it's such a different, you know, setting where it's just the guy and the guitar and it's the story.

I think that's what makes it so special. So I agree with you. I love the acoustic stuff. Yeah, the shows I really don't care much for are like the overly produced or like the transitions are perfect. Yeah. The set list is the same.

Like there's nothing set in between. Yeah. My favorite ones are it's like, it's just someone with their guitar. It's raw. And it's really raw and their stories shared. And like, changes to the set list around.

Like when we saw, when we were in Nashville, actually, me and Steph went and watched a bunch of different shows, and it went to a few writers' rounds, which we really enjoyed. It wasn't fine. But the show that we saw at the hot spot in Cedar Park, this was probably a year and a half ago,

you should actually try to play there. That'd be a super cool venue for you to play at. But it was Randy Hauser, Dylan Scott, Tyler Hubbard, Kit Moore. What a lot of. It was, that's crazy. It was a great lineup. That's awesome.

And it was just like a really fun show to be at. Dude, Randy Hauser sings his ass off. When he sings like a cowboy, that's my favorite thing he does. Dude, that's my first time seeing him live. He's crazy good. He is crazy live. It's awesome. When we were, we went to see a show at Red Rocks earlier this year.

It was our first time ever being at Red Rocks. It was a hearty show. And Randy Hauser opened up for him. And dude, that guy, like, his voice is so good. and he brought his son out on stage to sing a song with him. And since having kids, I can cry it. You can drop a pin

and I can cry. So I'm watching this, Randy Hauser brings his son out and they start singing the song together. Instantly, I could feel this lump form of my throat. My eyes started to swell up. Steph looked over me. She's like, what are you doing? What's wrong? I was like, I can't

like hold it in this emotion around. I just started bawling, crying, dude. Watching Randy Halis just belted out at Red Rock. with the sun. It's amazing. Man, but yeah, for me, live music,

I like the more intimate experience. Get it. Where it feels like custom. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Yeah, man. I mean,

I feel like when you get, I'm guilty of it because of those produced shows and like, I want everything to be perfect and like the transitions and everything.

Those are fun, especially for those settings where it's like, like when we were open up for Luke Brian, like we got 30 minutes. I was like, how do I fit in as many songs as I can in this 30 minutes? Actually, I think it was 25.

And I was like, so we would like play half of like a intro going straight into like right go wrong time and then forever grow up. It was just like bam, bam, bam, bam. Thanks. I'm John Lixon. Have a good night. Yeah, it's fast. It's fast.

But like when you get in those settings where he's like, you know, it's, you're right. It's just so you can have those powerful moments. instead of, you know, hey, it's me, I'm John, like, please light my music, you know, when you're just trying to get your name out there, that's part of it. And, like, you know, you're just trying to get in and get as many songs as you can. And there's time, place for everything. But those acoustic shows, man, like, like those good tarples, those are fun. Yeah.

I enjoy them. When you got to Nashville, was it as hard as you were told it was going to be? Yeah, I mean, dude. there's so many everyone's good everyone's great like there's so much talent in that town and competition's crazy and you know and not only is like is it hard the road's hard the getting in the rooms are hard but like just getting people on board with you like is your team is huge in in Nashville like having a group around you that champions you that believe in you and your vision as an artist, a songwriter, all the above. That's like the biggest

thing is having people in your corner. And like I was, I'm so blessed like to have like guys like Red Aken's, Luke Bryan, like those guys that were championed me and like, you know, you know, taking me under their wing and really show me how it's done. And, and, you know, it's hard to sustain and hard to keep up in the town sometimes when, you're riding every single day and you're on the road 150, 160 days out of the year, 150 shows sometimes, you know, like it got pretty wild in 2017, 18, 19, were the busiest years of my life and barely ever home. And, you know, you got to take care of yourself and you got all these things.

It's tough out there. But I enjoyed every single second of it. But, I mean, the competition's crazy. and to be, you know, fighting for spots and fighting for any type of, like, you know, playlisting or any of that stuff. It's, it's a, I mean, it's cutthroat out there, sure. Do you find that's one of the hardest parts in the music industry is that once you kind of punch your ticket and get started, you better bring it.

It's like you got to keep that fit on the gas for as long as possible. Absolutely. Absolutely. Because, like, once you let off, someone is going past you. and someone's going to take that spot. Everyone's fighting for that spot. So once when you have it, do not let go and just keep going. And I feel like, you know, that's, I mean, a lot of things happen.

Like, COVID, like, was a huge, like, let off the gas for me because I was off the road for a whole year. And that really put a hurting on our touring and stuff. And getting back in the swing of things after that was a challenge, but we're in a great place now. It took a while to bounce back from COVID. but with new music and stuff like that. But just overcoming that adversity was huge. And it was a lot to overcome. But that's what I learned about, you know,

putting your foot on the gas, keep going. But yeah, it was, that was a tough time. But I learned a lot, for sure. Have you seen a lot of artists or do you have friends that just couldn't sustain that, like a level of effort and just fell off in that process? No. If anything, I saw a bunch of my buddies like Morgan Wall and just, boom, just during that time, just kept hammered, kept putting his foot on the gas.

And you see where he is now. I mean, that was inevitable. But guys like Hardy, like I remember, like, talking with him, I was so jealous. I was talking with him because we were all off the road. And he was down in Florida playing shows. I was like, man, this lucky son of gun. Like, I was like, I want to be out there too. And, you know, he just found a way and just kept hammering.

And, you know, it was very inspiring to see my buddies, like, just keep hammering, keep going. And, you know, we eventually got rolling again. It just took a minute. And it was, but it was just awesome to see guys, like, not let their foot off the gas. Yeah. For sure. Do you have to stay pretty connected? Yeah, I mean, we're all, like, dads now, you know, as you know, like, it's hard to get all the boys together and, you know, like we used to.

But, yeah, I mean, we're during, you know, a few years ago, we had to. the softball team. We all, you know, played a few seasons. Played a few seasons. That was fun, you know, just all coming back together, hanging out and just cutting up. And, you know, we don't really get to do stuff like that. That started with COVID, too, because it was like, well, we're off the road. What we do?

I'm like, let's play some softball. So, that was fun. And, you know, but, but yeah, I mean, we all, you know, we're all pretty tight. And we try to, like, you know, have each other overcookouts and stuff like that. but, you know, it's harder now being, have families and stuff. Different seasons life, different seasons of life.

We're not out, you know, on Broadway until 3 a.m. throwing it down anymore, you know. We're, you know, we're at home with our wives and hanging out. And, you know, but it's, this is a good life, right? Yeah. Yeah. Is there, uh, is there anyone in particular in the industry that you look at? You're like, dude, that guy works or girl works so hard.

Because someone who, like, really stands out. like the way they got to the top is like this person just just does it or is it just like people catch the right break is it yeah i mean a guy who works his absolute ass off and i'll say lou brian you go watch his documentary on how hard he works and what he's done and what he's done and and like from i kind of got to see like how he works and how he just loves on people and gives back to people and like how he treats his crew and how he really just his work ethic is crazy like I have so like people don't really see the behind the scenes and like he's doing a thousand things at one time and that's where I really learn like if I really want

to be a superstar I need to be like that guy because he just absolutely is relentless And he looked at me, he goes, buddy, you got to write every single day. You got to play your shows like, it's the last one. Like all these cliche things, but if you really think about it, I was like, man, this guy is top of the world. He's multiple time entertainer of the year. Like, he knows what he's doing. And I see that he's worked his ass off to get where he is.

And, you know, country music can seem so glamorous and all the hurrah on him, whatever. but it's really gritty. It's really like just getting down and digging down deep in a lot of areas of, you know, getting up every day and really being creative. And, you know, when a guy like that, like when he's got a family at home and he's still 100 miles an hour doing American Idol doing, you know, doing all his headlining tours and doing all these working with the farmers down in Georgia, all these things that he's doing, it really, I was like, man, I really got a long ways to go. And I really, but like watching him work, that really inspired me for sure.

Steph and I went and watched him play at Bridgestone maybe two years ago at this point and the show that we were at he was sick and he was losing his voice and he had cups of water all over the stage and every chance he got he was like grabbing a drink of water he was coughing in the middle of the show

he actually had to end up like calling the big performance and just pulled the band down and they went to the end of the stage and just did like whatever his voice could get through. But like we were pretty close. Like we were probably 20 feet from where we were standing. But you could see the frustration in him. Like he really was disappointed in himself that he couldn't provide the experience that he wanted for people. And you could tell it crushed him, like at his core.

I remember that show because our. we had the same manager, and she was like, it was bad. Like, she said he was super sick, but he wanted to play anyways and did the best he could and fought through it and, like, and just knowing him, like, you know it was killing him. And but, like, the fact that he still, like, went out there and gave 100% and even though he knew people were going to be throwing on TikTok, oh, he's doing this, doing that, but, like, he's giving that everything he's got, you know, that's a testament of who he is. I had so much respect for it.

Absolutely. You could tell you wasn't like a little cold. He was sick. And he was out there just giving it everything he had. And just being able to watch someone do that, you know, like that's passion behind your work. That's truly caring for the person that is receiving it and paying for that experience.

I felt bad. Yeah. I felt bad. He was like struggling through. I mean, a lot of people go from all over to go to those shows. They spend a lot of money to pay for a hotel and all the gas and the tickets and find the merch and stuff. And they come to see a show.

And when you think about it, it's like, man, this is about them. I've had to do that a bunch of times. And there's been a few shows where I just couldn't do it. And I was like, there ain't no way I'll be able to sing one note tonight. Yeah. And luckily, I've only had to cancel two shows ever in my career so far. But there's been a lot of times where I've had to dig. down deep and just looking at a guy like that and like, you know, he, he'd be out here

giving all his God. And I've had to tell the fans be like, listen, I'm giving all the guy, thanks for sticking with me, thanks for singing along with me, helping me out through these songs. And, um, because the road will take a toll on you, man. I mean, people think it's all, you know, glamorous or whatnot. And like a lot of the, you know, six out, you know, six years, I was in this band, just like, just road-doging it. with my best friends in the world just having the time of our lives, but it's rough,

a lot of flat tires, a lot of, a lot of, uh, regs we got hit by a drunk driver one time. And, you know, just a,

just all kinds of crazy stuff happened, man, it's just like, you know, get you down, you know, especially like, you go travel like,

you know, 10 hours to go play a show and 20 people show up and drive back home. It's like, what am I doing? Yeah. There's been a lot of that too.

A lot of, uh, you know, a lot of, like, am I even doing, like, is this even worth it anymore? I've had, you know, so many mental things that, you know, they come with the chasing that kind of dream. It's like, man, am I, is this even right what I'm doing? Is this where I should be going? Should I be, you know, eight hours from home? I got a little newborn baby girl at home and I'm out here playing for like 10

people sometimes just to like try to like make a living and do all this. Is this worth it? Like, I'm spending time away. Like, there's been so many conversations. It's like keep digging, keep driving. And, but then there's the shows that, you know, we sell out and it's like, oh, this is all worth it. You know, it's just it's that constant grind, constant battle of, you know, of trying to figure out, like, is this the right thing to do? And, you know, I think it comes with a lot of, like, prayer for sure. and, you know, with the understanding of like, okay, this is what the hand I'm dealt like, of course,

not every single show is going to sell out, but like, you know, it came to a point where I almost, I almost quit music. I almost just said, I'm done with it. Like, I was very low point in my life. Like, you know, a lot of stuff personally were happening. And I got to the point where I was like, I just wanted to quit everything. and uh you know that's when i had a that's when i had like a transforming self-transformation i guess when i turned to just surrender to everything to god and i was like man like i can't do this alone

anymore like i'm tired of just trying to force i'm trying to force success i'm trying i'm tired of just all these like this is going wrong because i do this they're I should be doing this. When I finally came to peace, was like, okay, this is what I love to do. And I'm not having fun anymore. Like, I'm just like killing myself out here. When I finally just surrendered and just, I found peace and start having fun again. And when I turn my life to God and just said, I can't do this anymore by myself, that's when it all turned around.

for me. I mean, there's so much power and belief. Absolutely. Not just in yourself personally, but also just in God having a plan for you. You know, and if like, if you don't have that belief, then the journey might not be worth it.

But like those are the moments where like you have to turn to faith and just be like so driven behind your purpose to reinferring. force. I'm on the right path. There's going to be suffering. There's going to be hardship. There's going to be struggle. It's cliche, but everyone knows, like, on the opposite side of struggle is where growth occurs. There's no one that has achieved success that hasn't gone

through the mud. I mean, I had so many years within BPN where I was like, is this, is this the path I'm supposed to be on? Like, I'm looking at all my competitors and all these are people building businesses. I'm like, I'm so far behind where they are at. I can never get caught up. It's going to take me decades and decades to get called up. Is this like, is this really what I'm supposed to be doing? This is going to turn into what I hope it will one day.

And even the moments where I question that is just the belief of I'm on the right path. I'm going to keep pursuing this path. I'm going to keep working towards his vision. And eventually you dig through the mud. and you get the other side and there's never a moment where it's like snap the fingers, oh, like this is what I was waiting for. It's like this dimmer switch that slowly turns on

of I'm seeing the forest of the trees now I'm seeing the fruits of the labor. Things are starting to work out in my favor because you went through the tough times, the struggle. That's crazy you say that too because me and my tour manager and JD, he would always say, man, put your horse blinders on and worried about the other artists and what they're doing. They got their own journeys.

They're doing that, you know, their success, their journey is a whole lot different than ours. And because, you know, once when I kind of like realized that, I was like, man, I'm worried too much about what other people doing. Oh, they're putting out music whenever they want. I should be, you know, all these things that, like, distracting me from, like, what I need to be doing right in front of me. And once when I, you know, like surrendered and put those horse blinders on, it's when I was like, I was writing the best music that I have in a long time. I was happier because I was just focused on what I needed to do and nothing else. And having those horse blinders, I wasn't, you know, I didn't have any distractions.

I still, I had to constantly remind myself every single day. All right, horse blinders on. I ain't worried about what everyone else is doing. What do I got to do today? And once when I, you know, started getting. and that rhythm is really when started having fun again. Because in this industry,

like being on the road stuff, like there's no like structure. Like I, me personally, I need structure my life. So like when I have my horse blonters on and I have like, okay, I'm doing this, this and this. When I have a routine, when I have, it's when I win day by day.

And once when I started incorporating that in my life and staying consistent with that, that's when I started to, you know, have better relationships. relationships in my life have, you know, better confidence to myself and just was more productive and like, and it just like it snowballs, right? And, and so that's when it's, you know, when I, so I always just, you know, so I always look back and think about what JD says when I put your horse blinders on and, and do what you got to do. And that's what, I mean, that's what I've been in a corporate in the past couple of years and it's really helped me for sure. I'm a big fan of this podcast called Founders. It's hosted by this gentleman named David Senra. And he talks about the greatest athletes in the world,

entrepreneurs, founders, world leaders. And there was this recent episode I was listening to. I can't remember exactly what episode. But he used the same analogy of horse blinders of pursuing a vision of yours. or a goal or building a business in this case. And it's so easy to remove those horse blinders and look to the people to the left and the right of you and compare where you're at and where they're at.

And it's so much easier said than done. You know, just don't let that bother you. Don't watch what they're doing. Avoid it. Again, it's easy to say that. But then you're on social media and you're talking to people. And it's like, look,

at where they're at, look at what they're doing, look at this song they just released, look at this business they just sold. And like instantaneously, you feel bad about where you're at. But when I actually implemented the horse blinders and this podcast with David Center, was explaining how when this founder of this business actually put up the horse blinders and stopped worrying, completely stopped worrying about competition and just focused on what they were building who they were serving and how they were going to get there, everything exploded for him. And there's this lightness that comes along with it. Like you, me and French, we're in the sauna talking about like the lightness you get when you surrender everything to God.

Like deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Like the lightness you get from that, that's where you get this clarity and this depth of thought. I have never been able to be proactive and productive of any pursuit, whether it's like a fitness goal, leading my family, building the business when I've been focused on other people and I've been distracted by all these are the things that take away from the clarity of thought and depth of this is where I'm going. These are my core values. These are my beliefs. This is what I want to accomplish and do. Let everyone else do their thing. And everyone, like, one of the, one of the, things I've learned in life is, and I used to struggle with this so badly, that I used to think that

someone else's win took away from my win. It's like, you know, compared to the music industry, like this artist is crushing it, that means that I'm not crushing it. But that's just nonsense. Like, everyone can crush it in their own space in a way and someone else's win doesn't take away from your win. Absolutely. And like when I actually started believing that in a, a adopting that, my whole mindset around competition and comparison and where I'm at right now and where I'm trying to get to, it changed. It just felt lighter. There was less stress. There was less anxiety. There was less pressure. It's like, I've surrendered at all. Now let's just go pursue in the right path. I mean, it's really, like you said, I think the toughest thing for me is like, you know,

because it's easier said than done. We've got social media. We're always, you know, constantly having to be on social media, you know, and seeing all that. And then once when you find that piece and stuff, it's like, cool, happy for them. You just like kind of switch it into like, awesome, good for them. And that's what I've kind of definitely told myself and definitely have tried to practice more of just being happy for other people and just, you know, like they're crushing it.

It's awesome. Not just like, like you said, like, they're crushing it. I'm not, you know. And it's so easy to fall into that. And that's been one of my biggest struggles for sure. But it's definitely a constant bell every day. But you're right, man. I'm having fun again and finding peace and what I'm doing.

And I feel like so many people in all areas of life can relate to that for sure. Yeah, I was listening to this Alex from Ozzie podcast a few weeks ago. He was talking about how you can really identify who, your true friends are. And like sometimes you'll have these friends who are, I don't want to say less successful, but like they're, they're not, they're along, say like you and your friend are on the same journey. And your friend isn't as far ahead of the journey as you are. So they're rooting for you. They're like, dude, I'm like, I want you like, or you're rooting for them. Like they're they're behind you. You're like, dude, I'm like, I'm so happy for you. I keep going. Like,

I'm, I want you to win. And they start getting closer to where you're at. And you're still rooting for them. And then they surpass you. And you stop rooting for them. That's not true friendship. Like, your true friends, even when when they surpass you, you should be so proud and excited. Hype them up even more. And hype them up even more. Yeah. Absolutely. And that's also hard to do. Like when, when, you know, you have someone who, who's a world champion something and then they get

surpassed. They don't want someone to be the world champion above them. They don't want someone succeed whether they're friends or not. But I think that's

like one of those moments where you guys sit back and be like, I should be really happy for them and proud of them so I'm going to be. Absolutely. Those are the moments

where you find out who's actually your friend is when you, you, in some cases, surpass where they're at if they start rooting for you and cheering for you and supporting you still,

it's a good friend I think that's what it's so awesome about country music community and like because I feel like everybody is just cheering on everybody

to like you know I'm sure there might be a few out there you know whatever like might be just put on show

who knows I don't know I haven't come across that but like you know my friends like the guys I'm close with

like we're all just hopping each other up yeah and we might be like dang like you know they got this new tour like man I wish I had a tour like you know you can get into that but like for the most part I feel like

you know a lot of guys like you know the country music community is so you know that's what I love about country music because everyone's cheering on everybody that's awesome it's pretty cool so I want to talk about your transformation with like health and fitness and I'm assuming that like this lifestyle as you previously mentioned it gets crazy really fast you sign a record label, you go on the road, you're on road like six years, you're on the bus at all times, late nights. At what point in your career touring, playing music, did you realize? Dude, something's got to change. It's probably, man, a couple years ago, I was playing a show down to Florida and, man, I was having a blast.

you know, I was drinking all day. We were on the water and, you know, I saw this, you know, a video of me. And I was like, man, like, I just, I don't like that guy. That guy is just, he's a little reckless right now. And I just came to that realization. I was like, man, I've been pretty reckless for a long time with my health, with like my attitude, my, just every, all areas of my life, I've just been kind of winging it.

and just not the guy who I wanted to be. And it started with, you know, just, you know, I'll back up a little bit. So growing up playing sports and being active, and when I came out of football, I went straight into music. And it's, you know, late nights at the bar, you know, traveling all the time and just getting out of that structure. and I lost all structure in my life. It was sleeping whenever you want, wake up,

all these things, and it wasn't until I had my daughter is when I was like, okay, I need to start straightening up. And even after that for a little bit, it was a process. A lot of wake-up calls, probably too many. And there's a song that'll be coming out

either soon or on this new record that it kind of explains that was one of those wake-up calls. But remember that day? I was like, something's got to change. Something's got to change. And that was a wake-up call. And then a few months ago, I do okay and start straightening up

and not drinking as much or like try to eat right or try to wake up at a decent hour and get some stuff done or whatever it may be. And then I felt like I was flirting with the idea for a long time. And it wasn't until it was like, all right, I'm just going to, I've always kind of like running here and there. It would just make me feel good for like, around a couple miles and then, you know, flush out the 17 beers I had from the weekend. And then I'll be good for the week and then do it all over again, you know. But like that wasn't the lifestyle like I was new that was setting me up for success in my life or anything.

It wasn't good. some people can just roll like that and they're great for but for me personally I knew that that was not the way. So like fitness at that point was essentially a cleanse. It was a cleanse. It was like a Sunday I get home from the road. I go on my two mile three mile run go sit in the sauna and I'm like I sweat it out my my craziness and you know you know be good for the week and then do it all over and it just was this constant cycle. And I think when I saw that video of me down at that show,

I was drank way more than I should. I was like, I just got, something's got to change. And so I started 75 hard that next week. And I just quit drinking for like 80, it was like, I went more than 75 days. I went 80 days without, I felt the best I ever did. But like I was, you know, just going on walks every day or just working out twice a day, doing that whole deal.

and I felt amazing. I was like, this is crazy. I haven't been this long without alcohol and shoot since I was probably 19. And, you know, and it just, like, I loved how I felt. I love how, what direction that was feeling like. And then, man, I just found your YouTube. And I was like, man, this guy, I look up to this dude. I've been watching, I was like, man, like, I want to be like, this guy's running.

He's got his life, like, he's building a business. Like, that is so inspiring. And it all starts with, like, getting right and taking care of yourself. And I knew I was like, I am not taking care of myself. I'm doing these crash diets, these crash cleanses. Like, a lifestyle change needs to happen. So I just, like, started running just little here, little there. And then I kind of got the bug.

And, you know, I just, it. just took off from there and I just felt I started the longer I ran the more I had clarity and the more I got that runners high or whatever you want to call it I started becoming like creative and the more I started falling in love with running and stuff like that it was like that lifestyle began to slowly switch from oh I don't want to go eat all this because I you know I'll feel like crap tomorrow I want to get a good run in tomorrow and then that's what I was like oh man, what's happening here? Something's clicking a little bit.

And it just kind of snowballed into this love for just taking care of myself. And then I got baptized last year. And it was a whole transformation of like getting my life in order. It started with just getting healthy. Well, remember the first time we ran together? Yeah. First time I ran, the first time I ran 11 miles, I was scared as, I was like, man, what am I doing here?

I have no business. It's when we were living in Nashville. It's the first time we ever linked up. Shelby Bottoms Park. Yep. Shelby, East Nashville. And I was in marathon prep. I was like, hey, let's go for a run. I got 11 miles on the schedule today. You're down.

Yeah, I'm down. I mean, you like, obviously was the longest run you ran at that point. I mean, you, you like, you push through. Yeah. I remember that last mile, you were like, there you go. I was like, you have no idea how hard I'm not pushing around. No, you got it done. I fully respected it, man. That's cool.

You came out and just like threw down. And, you know, we talked pretty much the entire, entire run. Right. And the journey's tough. Like, getting started, no matter what you do, but I think this is like the beauty of fitness and health is like, the hardest part is getting started. and you get started and you find your rhythm

and you find your routine and then all of these things like you said they just start to fit together it's like you're not just running because you know running is good for you but you actually start craving running and for people who aren't runners they hear that and say you crave running

and it's not necessarily like the way you feel during the run but when you finish the run like when you finish those 10 miles on the track this morning it's so rewarding. Absolutely. And we put in all this work as the sun's coming up to set us up for success the rest of the day. And now we have to make these smart decisions around our diet to support that run so we can wake up the next morning and run again or train this afternoon.

And like all of these things in terms of like food choices and diet and training and sleep and, you know, like avoid. avoiding alcohol or at least consuming in moderation, like all these things start to fit together and they benefit every aspect of your life. But it just takes time. That's what I've learned probably the most. It takes a lot of time because like it's crazy how much work it takes to just be okay at running. But it's fun. I enjoy the journey. I enjoy the efforts it takes to get better. And it's fun. I mean, I just have fun with it.

And I don't think of it as like, God, it's like, I'm looking forward to my runs every week. I'm looking, you know, yeah, there's some days. I'm like, I do not want to do this today. But the feeling you have after you complete it after you didn't want to is weighs a whole lot more than anything. Yeah. And like you said, it's like, you know, it just set you up for the rest of the day and like, you know, some,

one of my buddies is like, what are you training for? I'm like, I mean, I'm just, I don't know. Like, I just enjoy it.

Like, it's a whole lot better. I sing so much easier on stage. Now I'm jumping around, running around. Like, singing on stage is easy now. It hasn't never been easy.

I, if you ever come to one of my shows, I'm all over the place, jumping around, and I would be gassed after shows. Like, I would be toasted. But now,

Like, it's like, I can sing easily, like, running around. Like, it's just, like, it's not just, you know, because, like, oh, I'm training for the marathon this fall or whatever. It's like, it's my life. It's my work. It's just longevity, you know, being living longer for my kids, you know, stuff like that. It's just a whole lot more than just like, just, you know, I'm just running to run or running for this marathon. It's like part of my life now. And it's just, it's really cool how it's transformed to that.

Yeah, there's people who ask me sometimes. Even when I'm not training for something, what are you training for? Or if we're out to eat and I make a healthier food choice compared to like what some other people are ordering, what are you dieting for? I'm not dieting and I'm not training for anything necessarily at certain points. But it's like there's no finish line. And I think that's like such a problematic. approach mentally to anything in life

let me just get to this finish line and then I can cheat or then I can relax and I can slow down I think part of it's building a plan and a protocol that is sustainable but like as I'm you know

as we were sitting in the sauna like I already brought up we're talking about our faith and I'm reading this book right now by Mark Comer called practicing I think practicing is the way practicing the way.

And it's talking about like prayer. And when you start like actually spending time in a quiet place, in your secret place and you pray, it's uncomfortable, it's challenging. You don't know what to say. You don't know what to like ask God for or thank him for. Like what do I do in this in this time and space? And Mark Comer says like, you just you just got to keep showing up. up. Like, there is no finish line within faith. It is a forever journey. That's awesome.

And it is so applicable to your fitness, your health, like leading a family. When I think about leading my family, like, it doesn't end when the kids turn 18 and they go off to college. It's, it's forever. So it's like, I have to build any sustainable practices that I know don't end at a certain point or age or time. But it's like I have to constantly be learning and growing and implementing and testing and refining and being humbled. Everything we're doing right now in life,

everything. If you attach a finish line to it, you've already set up yourself up for failure. I mean, I'll just iterate what you said. Like, there's no finish line of becoming, you know, you know, becoming a dad was, you know, will always be a dad, you know, but like, I feel like constantly learning every single day how to be a better husband. I mean, that's, I mean, I just got, I've been married almost a year

now, but October, November will be a year. But, uh, yeah. It's tough. Yeah. No, I mean, they say it's tough. It's hard work. But like, it is. I mean, I'm luckiest man in the world being married to Abby and it's just, but it is tough. It's like we're constantly learning, constantly figuring out, you know, issues and problems. And we're constantly growing together. And I think that's what is awesome about marriage and like what I've learned most this year. And my marriage is like, we're growing.

We're still, you know, there's no finish line, like you said. and it's going to be a constant, constant growth together, constant, you know, learning experience, constant, like just how to love each other, how to communicate.

That's been just a challenge, but it's an awesome challenge. And it's such a beautiful, like, you know, it's such a beautiful way to grow together. It's just, this October,

this October will be five years for Steph and I. Awesome. Of being married. and I think what's so interesting about like marriage and relationships is like when you meet someone when you're younger you both are individuals and to expect each one of you not to grow and change over the course of like 10, 20, 30, 40 years

and it's pretty unrealistic. So I was once told, you know, when you're approaching, marriage and and building a partnership and like really learning from it. It's like there's someone you, the person you marry, that is like one person. And you love them and you're committed to them. But you also have to be committed and prepared to love the person they become over the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years. because even the last five years like step and I have both

grown and changed dramatically like significantly we are much different people different but the same yeah because we've had life experiences we've had two kids now

we've made multiple moves you know like more than more than I'd like to admit and just like life itself provides like experience and hardship and struggle and all these things and you grow and change in that process. And one of the things that we talk about often is,

like if you get to a point in your life and there's a miscommunication or there's an argument or disagreement, and it's like, well, when we first started dating and we first got married, you said this. It's like, yeah, I did say that or do that or want that, but we've both changed over time.

I think that's the that was like a light bulb that went off my head when I was told that the person you marry it's the person you love you have to love them for who they are but who they will become in the future as well oh

that makes sense yeah so like with that being said you guys now have like this new part of marriage that you're about to experience with a baby coming here soon yeah so that will again then like change everything. I mean, we're just trying to figure it out with one kid.

Now I know we're going to have two. Like it's, uh, so if I'm hitting you up asking for notes and advice, just be ready. It's exciting. We're excited, man. We're doing December. So it's going to be here real quick. And we're excited, baby girl. We got a couple names picked out.

We don't know. I feel like it's going to be a game time decision. Yeah. I feel like we'll know when we look at her. It's going to be one of the, you know, we got two names where I think we're sold on one but I think it's going to be it could switch last second who knows I really gave Steph like a full freedom of uh naming our son nico Charlie you know our first like we went back and forth for a while but with nico's like

uh Steph you go ahead like pick some options all like I'll see where we're at and like we'll pursue one of those how do you anticipate like your career changing and the way you approach music moving forward Well, a lot of things have changed in my career this past year. Got a new booking agent, got a new manager, JD, my best friend, who's my tour manager for 10 years. He's my manager now. Gosh, so many changes.

A whole new, pretty much a whole new bank. It's just pretty much a clean house and then got my team together. It's like, all right, in this next chapter of my career, we're going to work and we're going to get after it. And I left my label too, which was huge. It's a big move. Big move to go back independent, to not have the big machine behind. I was with Universal for six years and great.

It wasn't one of those nasty splits. It was, hey, this is, I went to, I went to the Universal. I said, hey, this is what I believe is best for my career right now. take a step back from being with a big label. I need to go back independent and just kind of do it the way how I started this whole thing, go back to the basics. They were so cool. It was a clean split and everything was fine.

And I love everybody over there. They've been super huge supporters of me and my career for so long and still are. Mike Harris is such a great guy. He's running the ship over there and he's doing an amazing job. But we had dinner and we just talked and he was like, okay, you know, like we're going to part ways, but, you know, we wish the best for you. And it was scary too because it was like, I'm on my own. You know, but it was exciting too because it was like, I can put out music whenever I want.

I don't have to go on anybody's timeline but mine. And. Does that mean reason for more like freedom and flexibility? Absolutely. I mean, you know, like I wrote us that real one song I just put out like I sent you. I was like, I was in between like a couple songs and I sent them to my buddies and, you know, I couldn't pick which one and everyone said real one, absolutely. That means a great song.

It's a great song. Thanks, dude. And I was like, I was fired up because everyone said the same song. And I was like, all right, well, I had the freedom just, all right, let's put this one out. I didn't have any other, you know, I definitely reached out to see people's a opinions, but I was, you know, decision maker. It wasn't like I had to go through all the red tape or someone else's time like, okay, well, we have these releases and, you know, we can do this and we have this date, this day. And I was like, man, I could put it out whenever I want. And I love having that

freedom. And I love having the, you know, being fired up about a song and being able to put it out right then and have the creative direction. Because, you know, if I was like, you know, oh, we'll put out real one. I can't put it out for the next six months. I was like, I'm going to write 20, 30 more songs until then I might be fired up about another one. Let's get it out. And I have this plan for this song right now.

Like, you know, you might, the energy I put out, the energy I put towards like one song might not be the same in six months. You know, it might not be as fired up about it. It might be on to the next subject or next song that I'm fired up about. So it's cool and it's very, I feel like in where I'm at, my career is very effective to be able to have that freedom to just put it give the give the fans that have been with me for the past 10 plus years the amount of music they deserve and like you know I have all these songs that have just been compiled for so long and I feel like I'm finally being

able to just dish them out whatever and it's really cool it sounds similar to the the the book publishing space actually how was that by the way uh it was a it was a good experience it was just a experience. Where, like, the publisher that I worked with, Ben Bella Books, great publisher, a great team to work with

super helpful through the editing process. Like, the editors that I, the copywriters and the editors I worked with were very thorough. Like, when I,

I submitted my manuscript and I got it back, I didn't know what to expect. It was like, maybe there's like, 30, 50 edits, 6,000 edits. Now, some of those

were like, grammatical errors. That's still overwhelming. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. Dude, I remember looking at these thinking, I'm never going to get through 6,000 edits. But what's,

well, I say there's like similarities in the book publishing, what sounds like the music publishing space, the manuscript was done, edits were completed, and I was ready to like, let's send it. Let's print it and let's sell it. But then they have to look at what books are coming out,

in the next 12 months, how it fits into their schedule. So we didn't release it for another 12 months after it was done. So the whole process ended up being about two years from like starting the book

to publishing the book because it's not it wasn't part of my timeline. Like I had to work with their timeline. It's frustrating. But that's just like publishing as a whole. Yeah. So you do lose some freedom and flexibility

and then like for me to be able to, if I wanted to write and release another book, there's a certain timeline in which I have to wait to let the first book breathe. So like, you can see how like it does limit you in some sort of capacity. Yeah, that, I mean,

I feel like striking when the iron's hot is like crucial and like, it sounds like it in that space too. Because I mean, say like, On social media, you have a song that's blowing up on TikTok. Like earlier this year, that Find You song, I just had the acoustic version out. I already had the full band version done, but I was going to plan on, you know, just teasing the acoustic version first. And that went crazy on TikTok.

Well, I had the freedom. I was like, hey, got on the phone. I was like, we got like a million views in like a couple days on this fine new acoustic. like we need to get this up on Spotify and all the other platforms ASAP. And like, you know, who knows how long that would have took, you know, if I made a call to a label like, hey, you know, like, well, there's, I'm sure we would have figured something out. But, I mean, just the fact that I could just be like, all right, let it rip.

Like, that was like so much fun to me. And like, it's making the whole, like, creative process and, like, being independent it's just enjoyable that like, you know, I can do whatever I want and not just be at the mercy of somebody else. I feel like there's power to that. And also it gives like power to fans. They created the demand. They said, we need this song now. I was able to give it to them. And there's, and those fans, I mean, they've been with me for so long and, you know, there have been so many times long, I call the drought, where I just wasn't able to put out any music.

And I feel like that was like really hindering the momentum we had. And now, like I said, like staying consistent with the music rollouts and just staying on top of that. I feel like that's crucial, especially today's and then day and age and how people consume music. Yeah, being able to operate with speed, like the team here knows, like they have an internal role. don't send me something if it's not ready to be posted.

Because if someone sends me like a photo that I think is like, looks really good or a video that's super cool or a podcast clip, I will post it instantaneously. Right. It's almost a joke where like, like we literally sent this to you five seconds ago and it's already posted. Yeah. Well, I think that's cool though because like a lot of people,

a lot of companies like, you know, like you're in control, like you post that. Like it's coming from you. And I feel like that's part of VPN, you and your brand. Like, this is you. And like, you're saying, hey, like, I'm in control. Like, I'm posting whatever. It's not like you have, yeah, you have a team, like a digital team.

But, like, it's you. Like, you're posting. You're actually the one pressing post. Yeah. And I think that's super cool. And that translates for sure. It's sometimes people reach out. They're like, can you connect me with your assistance so we can get something scheduled.

Really? That's me. Yeah. We can talk. And like, I got my calendar pulled up right now. Like, what do you want to put on the schedule? Yeah. Well, we got to coordinate with, like, your team.

Like, no, I'm good. I got Instagram on my phone. Yeah, let's do it. It's so funny. It's awesome. Well, dude, I appreciate just, like, your commitment and buying to me, my mission, BPN over the years. I mean, like, the hat you're wearing now you've worn in music videos. Yeah.

You know, it's, like, so cool to see that. And it's been so cool. Just, like, feeling the love and support from you. Absolutely. And to have you as an official partner, BPN now, is, like, super meaningful for us. And we're excited to support your journey. I appreciate that, man. Like, I mean, when I started watching your videos a couple years ago, man, it was really cool.

I was like, man, I feel like me and he would be buds. Like, I felt like, you know, we hit it off. And, like, on that one run, I was like, dude, I feel like I know this guy forever. Yeah. And, like, we just have such a connection with, like, goals and dreams and, like, your CEO and building this brand and this company. company and what you stand for. I was like, man, that's super inspiring. That's how I want to be in my career, my business model. Like, everything that you stand for is like, man, like, I want to surround myself with people like that. And the fact that you believe in me and, like, as I believe in you,

and like, it's just really cool how our worlds collide and how everything goes full circle. I just want to say, I appreciate you. And being a great friend and just being awesome and just, you know, know, having me on board be a part of this BPN team. You know, it's a, I never thought, like, I would be part of something like this, but it's so cool that, like, that there's a space for a guy like me in this industry or this space is like, hey, like, yeah, I do music, but, like, I'm also, like, committed to, like, change my life. And that's, I feel like that's what y'all are all about.

So this brand's all about. It's for the committed. Absolutely. Like, we don't have to be professional athletes. but it's a commitment towards like the journey the goal, the purpose, the beliefs, the values, our family,

the mission, like all of those things. Like, we're a brand for the committed and everyone's journey looks a little bit different but like we're all fighting that mission. That's awesome, man. I appreciate you, man. Appreciate you, brother.