Coaching, Leadership, Accountability

Dan 0:30

Dan Pifer, Inspire Leadership and Life Coaching, and the client list is the widest spectrum you could imagine. So everything from C-suite, C-suite executives, military leaders, both enlisted and officers, professional teams, business owners, professionals in general, parents, high school and college-age students, and student-athletes.

Aliyah 0:54

So what do you do exactly?

Dan 0:55

I'm a coach. I'm an executive leadership coach, and I work with people to help them identify their leadership strengths, lean into their leadership strengths, help them navigate challenges that are in front of them, and become the best version of themselves. That's the short of it.

Aliyah 1:09

I love that. Why does that matter?

Dan 1:13

Leadership shows up in everything that we do. When people hear executive coach or leadership coach, they think the professional side of things. And if you think about it, take a step back for a second, leadership shows up in every aspect of life, whether it's you as a parent, you know, you're naturally a leader to your family. If you're a husband, you're a leader with your wife, or vice versa. If you're a parent, you're a leader to your, your children. If you are a part of any community-type group or a recreational sports team, there's leadership within all of that. But then, of course, there's the professional side of it. So leadership's important, and one of my pillars of leadership is accountability has no rank. To, uh, took me a second to, uh, come up with that. Accountability has no rank. And what that means, in short, is that it doesn't matter what, what your position is, what your formal title is in any of those situations, you can step up and you can be a leader. And being a leader is simply, helping make decisions or making decisions, facilitating movement forward in a positive direction to accomplish a goal. It's that simple.

Aliyah 2:11

Where did that philosophy come from?

Dan 2:14

A lot of it stems from the Marine Corps, so that's where I first got my taste of what actual formal leadership was.

Aliyah 2:22

When you said rank, that was a dead giveaway.

Dan 2:24

Yep.

Aliyah 2:27

So you spent much of your career in high-pressure environment- Where the, the decisions that you made, they actually mattered. How did those experiences shape the way you think about staying calm And leading when things get difficult

Dan 2:46

So I always, I always remind myself, no matter what's going on or how crazy things may be, that in this moment, we're not talking about things blowing up, bullets flying around, people dying, any of that craziness, right? So that, that immediately kind of brings everything down a notch, 'cause it's like, okay, what's the worst that can happen right now in this moment? And typ- typically it's maybe somebody's emotions are high, maybe we miss a deadline slightly by a short period of time. Uh, it's, it's just really trivial type things that we're talking about. And in just considering that in the moment, it immediately slows everything down. It allows you that opportunity to kinda take a few deep breaths and consider what's in front of you, and then start looking at the different options. You know, which, which direction do we wanna go? Why do we wanna go that direction? And then we make a decision.

Aliyah 3:33

That's interesting in terms of why that was kind of the first thing that you thought of. Do you feel like we're in a society or a culture or a, a time period where people are making decisions almost as if the bullets are flying 24/7, not being able to pause? Or give me your thoughts around

Dan 3:54

Yeah, that's a interesting question. I think that's always been the case. I don't think it's any more prevalent now than it's ever been. I think what we see now, though, is a lot more of those decisions being highlighted. And I-- if I had to point the finger at something, I would point the finger

Calm Decisions Under Pressure

Dan 4:10

at social media. You know, anyone catches, catches a, a s- little bit of insight on something, it's right away gets shared and spreads like wildfire, fire through social media. Um, so really I don't, I don't think it's any more significant now than it's ever been. You know, what it all comes down to is, is people understanding, you know, the, the decision-making process people being able to slow down and think through decisions, consider all the possibilities, and make decisions that actually matter as opposed to, you know, letting, letting their emotions when stress is high or emotions are high kinda dictate what they're gonna do or what they say.

Aliyah 4:51

It's hard when you're in the moment unless you've had formal training or experiences, yeah.

Dan 4:55

Absolutely.

Aliyah 4:57

What do you believe makes someone truly effective at building trust and bringing out the best in people around them?

Dan 5:02

Uh, so what I do as a coach is truly dependent on building trust. So in my opinion, building trust, part of it is who you are, what you've been through, what your experience is, the type of character that you have. So your ability to be able to connect with people relate to them, and share some commonalities so that you can find that middle ground as you start to engage with them, and that trust starts to form. And then from there, it's, it's the being able to communicate in a way that you both understand each other. And that's not always easy because sometimes we wanna communicate in the way that we're comfortable, but we don't wanna consider how the other person might wanna communicate. And we all, we all send messages in a certain way, and we all receive messages in a certain way. And in order to build that trust, the communication piece, you have to be able to be adaptable and adapt your communication style, whether it's sending or receiving information, to the other person that you're building trust with.

Aliyah 6:00

Do you do training or have you done any studying around the different ways how- You have to first know that person's communication style before you can adapt to it, yeah?

Dan 6:13

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you, you f- you figure it out as well. I mean-

Aliyah 6:16

That's what I was gonna ask. Are there faster ways besides- "Here, take this personality test"?

Dan 6:21

Uh, yeah, there's, there's a feel to it. There's you know, I, i- in, in another, another life, you know, perhaps I would've gotten into the psychology field because I enjoy figuring people out. You know, I like figuring out what makes people tick and tock. Uh, as a leader, it's looking at what motivates people, what inspires them, what's important to them, and then being able to figure out how I can get them to achieve the things that I want them to achieve or do-- accomplish the task that I want them to accomplish, right? So taking that idea and taking a step back, the idea of just learning people, like learning who they are, learning what they're about, what they believe in, being curious, and that's, that's the key, is being curious about the other person that you're trying to communicate with, build trust with, or get to know. That's how it all happens. If I'm curious about you and I'm willing to sit there and consider all of the things, why do you respond to questions in a certain way? Why do you have this belief? And I'm not judging or anything off of that, I'm just simply curious about it. That's gonna help me more quickly learn about you and how you best communicate so that I can communicate with you more effectively.

Aliyah 7:27

I love that. You work with executives, professionals, teams, and young adults. What do you find are some of their biggest challenges that they face when they're trying to become better leaders?

Dan 7:41

Ego is a big one. Uh, a lot of, a lot of times, a lot of times, especially when we start talking about, senior executives, it's the, the resistance to sit there and acknowledge that, obviously if they're at, if they're at, say, just using a C-suite example as, as an executive, a C-suite executive that's achieved a lot. They've had a successful career. They're in their position. They're a CEO, VP, director of, of whatever it may be. That's great. That got them to where they're at. But if you're wanting to work with a coach, then you have to be willing to sit there and say that, "I still have blind spots, and I wanna, I wanna identify those blind spots, but I haven't been able to identify my own my own, so that's why I'm gonna work with this coach." In order to do that, though, in order to build that trust and build that confidence in the coach and that relationship and be fully immersed in that engagement, you have to be able to set your ego aside. You have to be able to sit there and say that, I have achieved success, but I truly believe in my heart of hearts that I can do more, and I understand that I'm not perfect, and I'm not-- I don't have all the answers, but I'm willing to sit there and allow somebody to help me explore the possibilities so that I can find those answers." And I always like to highlight, you know, there's, there's a list of, of celebrities, household names that, that people hear. Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates. There's you know, celebrities, musicians, uh, Leonardo DiCaprio the rock band Metallica. There's, there's this whole extensive list of people who have incredible success in life, and they work with coaches. And I like to highlight Tony Robbins because everyone knows Tony Robbins is the guy that's

Building Trust Through Curiosity

Dan 9:16

rah-rah and, you know, people pay all kinds of money and spend the weekend with him, and they come out of his conference and they wanna, they wanna take on the world, you know? But he himself, in all of his fame and all of his success and his ability to do that for other people, acknowledges that he can be better, that he, that there's blind spots that he is not able to identify on his own, and that if he can have somebody come in and help him identify those blind spots, he then can elevate himself and separate himself even further from his competition. So it goes back to being able to set that ego aside, and once you set that ego aside and say that, I'm not perfect and that there's more that I can learn and I'm open to it," that's when the work can be done.

Aliyah 9:55

You said you like human psychology, so I'm interested. What is your definition or thoughts around ego?

Dan 10:04

That's a good question. You're gonna stump me with that one.

Aliyah 10:08

Cause it's like ego is such a-- It feels like a bad word, but it's not necess- Mm-hmm. It's not really.

Dan 10:14

Yeah.

Aliyah 10:15

But it can get in the way.

Dan 10:16

It could get in the way. Yeah, I w- when I think about ego, I think of... it's a level of confidence where there's, there's a fine line and that, that- It, you can go either way. You know, it could be that your ego can fall on one side of that line where the confidence is overconfident, and that's where you can get into trouble because you believe that you know it all. You believe that, that anything you say is right and that you have all the right answers and nobody else can correct you and nobody else knows better than you, right? That's the kinda the, the dangerous side of ego when we look at it. But then there's that, again, if we flip on the other side of that line, there's being confident enough to know that you're good, that you're an expert, that you can walk into a room and you, and understand how good you are, but you also can have a healthy respect for anyone else in that room, and you accept the possibility that no matter how good you are, that there may be somebody else in that audience that is as good if not better than you. And I think that's kinda where that, that sweet spot with ego comes into play, where we can look at it either negatively or fav- or negatively or positively.

Aliyah 11:30

Yeah. I like that definition. One of the ideas at the center of your work is being able to see what others miss. What does that look like in practice when you're coaching someone through a difficult situation?

Dan 11:44

Yeah, that's, that's the fun part about coaching. I use the word curiosity a lot. A, a lot of times when, when people are navigating life, they see things from a certain lens. They look through it and they're like, "This is the problem. I know this is the problem, and I believe that this is the path forward." They're in it. They're literally in it. And maybe they have people giving them advice. Maybe they have people sitting there saying that, you know, they're, they're a friend, they're a trusted confidant, they're a family member, and they're kind of feeding into that a little bit, right? But what they're not able to do is take a step back and get curious about what that problem is. So as a coach, that's the fun part, is I get to ask the questions and I get to challenge their beliefs. "Okay, you believe this to be the problem. Why do you believe that to be the problem? You believe that these are the factors that are playing into this situation right now. Where do those beliefs come from? What about this? What about that? What are the possibilities if we were to go in this direction? What would it look like for you if we were to try this instead? What are some other things that have worked in the past that are similar that might not fit into this, and how could they possibly be applied to this situation?" So it's just a whole bunch of curiosity, and getting somebody to be able to take, take a step back and be curious, something that people don't typically do on their own, is where all the magic happens. That's where they sit there and they start learning about themself. They start learning about their problems, and then they start being able to formulate a path forward that they're able to be accountable for, that they're gonna take ownership of, and that they're gonna press forward, and that's gonna help them accomplish the things they want to accomplish.

Aliyah 13:11

I don't think people understand the power of asking the right questions. Yep. Sounds like you've got this.

Dan 13:15

It's, it's, it's amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Aliyah 13:17

Communication is a major part of your coaching work. What are some of the biggest communication mistakes that you see leaders making even when they have the best intentions?

Dan 13:27

Listening. Absolutely. It's 100% listening. I have a program called "The Edge Series." It's a five-part series on communication and the very first segment of that is called Third Level Listening, and it talks about what actual effective listening looks like. And I like to break it down just most simplistically. Level one listening is you listen to respond. You know, you're sitting there, somebody's talking, and you're already formulating a response, or you're already thinking about how you've been in a relatable situation before, so you're not really hearing everything. The second level, level two listening, is what I call parroting, okay? That-- This is what people categorize as active listening. If you're talking to me, I'm sitting there nodding my head, I'm repeating back to you like, "Oh, yeah, yeah. I hear you. You did this, you did that," you know, and they believe that that's active listening. Are you actually listening or are you just really good at hearing things and repeating them back? That's parroting. Level three, the magical kind of listening. This is when you can sit across from somebody and you listen to what they're say, or, th- listen to what they're saying, and then

Ego, Blind Spots, And Coaching

Dan 14:26

as the words come out, you're processing the words and you're grabbing the words, but then you're also hearing the things that they're not saying. You're listening to the tone in their voice, you know. Is, you know, did they get excited as they were saying it? Did they kinda Slow down. Did maybe their body language shift a little bit? Did the tempo of their voice speed up or did it slow down? What are the things that they're not saying, right? And that kinda goes back to that curiosity piece. When you start noticing this and you're able to effectively listen, you can get curious about the things that not just you're hearing, but the things that are being said that you're not hearing as well. Leaders just some, just struggle with that idea. You know? They hear the words and they think that they got it, and they're ready to make a decision or they're ready to give direction. But my question is, and I challenge all the time, is what are they actually saying? What are you missing? And that, that goes back to listening.

Aliyah 15:17

That is fascinating. I feel like this should be taught in schools. I also feel like this is a special-- Tell me if I'm wrong or if you think I'm wrong. I feel like it's not something that everybody is able to do

Dan 15:35

I think it comes, it comes more naturally to some people. I think that if you're made aware of it, my belief is if somebody takes the time to explain it to you and make you aware of it, like anything, you know, any habit you can break, it's possible for you to break it. For some people, you just gotta figure out how that looks for you, how you're gonna navigate it. But I believe if you're aware of it and you intentionally try to practice it, you can become better at it. You can be more proficient at it. But if nobody takes the time to break it down and explain it to you or even show you, model it for you, how it looks, how it works, you know, and the effectiveness of it, then some people, yeah, I mean, they might not have, have a real strong chance to, to be a real good successful listener.

Aliyah 16:19

Yeah, and that affects all parts of your life, not just in business for sure.

Dan 16:22

Yep. Yep.

Aliyah 16:24

You teach the importance of listening, asking the right questions, and avoiding the advice trap. Why can it sometimes be more effective to ask a better question than immediately offer a solution? And clarify what the advice trap is as well.

Dan 16:41

The ice-- the, the advice trap is exactly what I was just explaining, where somebody hears words and they're like, "Yep, I got it. Here's the direction you should go. This is how you fix it." What they may have missed is what the rest of the problem actually is. Maybe there's underlying factors that have not been considered. Maybe that person who's sharing the information with you, uh, they're sharing with you not because they're looking for the answer, but they're more so looking for the opportunity just to vent and say it out loud so that they can think out loud, and they wanna process it. And you as the person that's sitting on the other end of it, you're hearing the words, you're hearing the problem, and you're like, "I wanna fix it." Right? So the, the advice trap is falling into that right there, where you hear something and you, you have this innate need to fix it, as opposed to taking a step back and going back to the curiosity. Curiosity is key. Being curious about what that person's navigating. Why are they navigating it? What do they see, see as the problem is? Is there an opportunity in here for them to learn something about themselves or learn something about this problem that may, they may not have learned on their own? Is there an opportunity for you as the other person to learn about the same? Perhaps the problem, what it appears to be on the surface, is something much deeper. And if you take a step back and you, you take a m- take an extra moment or two to be curious about that person or, you know, why this is a problem, you might learn something that you did not know, and you might help them learn something that they didn't know in that moment as well.

Aliyah 18:10

So I have a little bit of a nosy question for you.

Dan 18:12

Sure.

Aliyah 18:14

I know you kinda gave me a surface level of why you got into this but what's the, like, childhood linked connection to why you got into this?

Dan 18:25

I've never really thought of it from a childhood perspective. If I had to think about it from the childhood perspective Maybe it was because I didn't have somebody like this. Pa- parents always believe that they're good listeners, and many times parents do a pretty bang-up job at parenting, but at the end of the day, parents also have this belief that they know what's best. They have this belief that they know their kids better than anyone else. They have this belief that they know what's best for their kids. But a lot of times, parents just don't ask simple questions, you know, like, "What's important about that to you?" Talking about, kids making a decision between, whether they're gonna go in the military or college or, uh, the trades or whatever it may be after high school. Nobody-- I don't wanna say nobody, but many times parents don't ask that young adult, like, what's important to them. Like, where do they see themselves in five years? Why do they see themselves there? And I just, I guess I think, think back to my childhood, and I made a lot of decisions that were probably pretty rushed, pretty emotion-filled, and uh, my parents were exceptional. You know, they were great parents. They did an awesome job. They taught me things, you know, that I should do, shouldn't do. They modeled, things that I should do, and they also modeled things that I shouldn't do, you know? So learned a lot from them. But at the end of the day, uh, there just, there was never really a resource like me, like what I do now, available to people, young adults, kids, you know, to be able to ask those questions and challenge their beliefs. And I think the, the coolest thing is to sit there and challenge a young adult's beliefs and, you know, the look on their face, one, when you do it because they're surprised, because nobody asks them questions like that. And then two, watching them take a step back and actually think about what's important to them or think about what they imagine their life looking like five years down the road is a really cool thing. It's powerful. And so I didn't have it, and, you know, I guess as a kid, I think about being able to do this not just for other young adults, but applying it to any role and any position. I'm confident I could walk in the room with anyone at any, any level and engage with them in a, in an effective conversation, a coaching conversation and, you know, ask them questions that are gonna have them walking out of that room saying, "I learned something about myself I didn't know," or, "I learned something about whatever's in front of me that I didn't know because of that conversation with Dan."

Aliyah 20:49

Yeah. I mean, if you're coaching everything from C-level to high school students, that's means really humans, we're all the same, right? Yeah. At the end of the day. Like our fears, our things that motivate us.

Dan 21:02

Yep.

Aliyah 21:02

Thanks for sharing that.

Dan 21:03

Of course.

Aliyah 21:04

I'm always-- I feel every person, whatever their career is, it's usually linked back to something, an unmet need in childhood-

Dan 21:12

Yeah

Aliyah 21:12

that they're now kind of pursuing.

Dan 21:14

Yeah. Yeah. No, it's a, it's an interesting question that I never really put thought into. Pretty cool.

Aliyah 21:19

Uh, leadership often requires having difficult conversations and holding people accountable.

Dan 21:24

Mm-hmm.

Aliyah 21:24

You also kind of have that stature of, like, that bad, not bad, but I wanna say badass, but no cursing. Having, like, that stature, right? How can someone maintain high standards while still building trust with the people they're leading? You're obviously leave-- or you're leading by example- For sure. But how can somebody else maintain high standards while still building trust with the people they're leading?

Dan 21:51

The important part of all of that is getting to know your team. Understanding that each person is an individual. Everyone looks at, looks at things differently. Everyone has different beliefs. Everyone has different motivators and drivers in life, things that inspire them. They have different goals. Like, there's no two people that are alike. No matter how, how much people may seem alike on the surface, everybody's different. And you could look at a highly functioning team and, on the surface you'd be like, "This team crushes it. They meet their goals, they hit their numbers, they do all the things. They look like they're having fun together," all of it. But if you actually take each person in that team and you have a one-on-one conversation with them, you'll find out very quickly that they're all different and they're all doing the things that they're doing for different reasons. So as a leader, what's important is being able to recognize that each person is an individual, and being able to sit there and adjust your leadership style to who they are. It's not just the, the Marine Corps way is, "I'm the boss. I have the rank. You're gonna do as I say when I say to do it, no questions asked." That's effective in certain environments, in, you know, a war zone, combat zone, for example. If we're talking about bullets flying, bombs blowing up, that type of thing, yeah, in that moment somebody has to make a decision and we have to get everyone moving in a certain direction. That's the time and place for that. But in most instances, that's not the case, and we can sit there and we can take a minute to sit there and, and get to know each person on the team. We can understand why they're here today. You know, some people it's money's a motivator. Some people it's time off. Some people it's, you know, they are truly passionate about the mission, whatever it may be. Everyone has their own motivators. Everyone has their own individual beliefs and understandings and way of doing things, and in order to build that trust within the team, you have to understand who those people are as individuals and be willing to sit there and adapt your leadership style to who they are in order to get the best out of them.

Aliyah 23:47

Do you mind running me through your process of how you work with executive professionals? 'Cause I feel like before you can help guide them, they have to understand their team, right? Or maybe there's a different process of how you go about it, but walk me through it.

Dan 24:05

As far as coaching? Like how

Aliyah 24:07

I would- Yeah help a person? Like, so an executive a C-level suite comes to you. And they're like, "You know, I'm having trouble with getting my team to do what I need them to do. Mm-hmm. They're not doing as I say. I tell them to do X, Y, and Z- they're not doing it.

Dan 24:23

Yep.

Aliyah 24:24

W- what's your first step?

Dan 24:26

Fir- first thing I establish with any of my clients is I'm not, I'm not here to give you the answers. I have experience in life, and it might be relevant in this case, but my goal is not to give you answers. If you're looking for that, that's mentorship, and that's a completely different conversation, and that's something I could offer. But the reason why we're having this engagement at that point is because you're looking for a coach, right? So I need you to accept that I'm not gonna give you the answers. First part. Second part is I need you to understand that I'm gonna challenge your beliefs. I'm gonna challenge the way that you look at things, and I'm gonna ask you ch- difficult questions that, that many people probably won't ask you or may be afraid to ask you. I'm gonna ask you those, and I want you to be honest with me and open with me because when you're honest and open with me, you're being honest and open with yourself, and that'll allow us to actually explore what is really going on here and the possibilities around, possible path forward. So once we establish those, those baseline and we sit there and say that this is the expectations that we have for each other, this is how our engagement's gonna go, then we can actually get into doing the work. But there has to be that, that, that conversation where we establish those, the, as we would say in the Marine Corps, left and right lateral limits. You know, this is, this is what you can expect me. It's gonna fall, it's gonna fall within these left and right lateral limits. But if you're expecting this and it falls outside, you're not gonna get this. If you're expecting that and it falls outside on that side, you're not gonna get that from me as well. Once we establish that, we get to work.

Aliyah 25:51

I feel like every relationship, whether personal or professional- should have, uh, what do you call it?

Dan 25:57

Left and right lateral limits.

Aliyah 25:58

Okay. Every relationship should have one of those. So your coaching emphasizes emotional discipline and decision-making under pressure. What can people do to create more clarity when they're overwhelmed or facing a difficult decision?

Listening, Questions, Advice Trap

Dan 26:18

Slow down. Really, that's what it is. Slow down, breathe. Be a- be able to give yourself a minute, understand the significance of the situation that you're in right now and understand what's, what's at risk in this moment. In this very moment, what's at risk? And if the answer is nothing, if we're not talking about, something being imminent, like something happening, like if I don't do this or answer this thing right now, you know, somebody's gonna, poof, disappear off the face of the planet, but by slowing down, allowing yourself space to breathe, it does a lot of things. You know, it allows you to start, one, oxygenating, oxygenating your brain. You know, your brain needs oxygen. When you start-- When the emotions start getting high, you get that shallow breathing, uh, your brain isn't fully oxygenated, so it's hard for you to really start processing things. So even in, even in a combat situation where things are going crazy, it's, it's being able to, to take a step back and just literally take a deep breath in and let it out, you know, and slow everything down. Your heart rate slows down, your breathing slows down, your brain's oxygenated. Now, now, now you have the ability to start processing what's in front of you. So In, in short, slow down. Slow down take stock of what's in front of you, and then consider all the possibilities.

Aliyah 27:29

Love that. You've worked with leaders at very different stages of their careers. What have you learned about the difference between someone who has a leadership title and someone who actually knows how to lead?

Dan 27:46

The question that I l- I love to discuss with people or the debate that I love to have with people is are leaders born or are leaders ra- or made? Are they born or are they made? And I always try to bring up the idea that when you watch kids playing on the playground, there's kids that the other kids tend to radiate towards. You know, there's kids that say, "We're gonna play this," and the other kids are like, "All right, great. We're gonna play that." And the way I see it is that's a form of leadership. You know, there's a reason why those kids are looking up to this other kid or kids and radiating towards them. Now, is that refined leadership? No, it's not. You know, it's just they have certain features or attributes or characteristics about them that have other kids wanting to follow them, and that's, that's kind of the most basic definition of leadership. People wanna follow you and, you know, take your, take your direction and do the things that you're inspiring them to do. Uh, now if we start talking about leadership within an organization where you have some people that are moved into a position and they have a title and they start, they start acting as if they're a leader without actually understanding what true leadership is, that's when things get dangerous because they're taking that title or that rank or whatever it may be and they're making decisions and they're trying to influence people without understanding who those people are. They're not establishing the idea of commander's intent, which commander's intent is, this is what the mission is and this is what mission success looks like. These, these types of people that sit there and say, "I have the rank so now you have to do as I say," you know, they're not giving, giving the team the opportunity to to understand the commander's intent and align to it and figure out how they're gonna work together to achieve that. Whereas there's individuals... I mentioned before, accountability has no-- or lead- leadership has no rank. Sorry. With the idea that leadership has no rank, I don't need certain rank on my collar. I don't need a title on my nameplate on my desk. If you're a leader, you're somebody that's gonna be able to sit there and speak up and influence people, inspire people sh-share ideas, share concepts, and be inclusive, get the group to move in the direction. That doesn't require a title or rank. It's just natural skills and abilities that, that you have or skills that you perhaps have worked to, uh, identify and sharpen that allow you to be that person that's gonna get the group moving. So it doesn't come back to to a, a rank or title or anything like that. It's just the person or people, excuse me, that have those skills and those attributes and they're able to apply them to whatever environment the team is in.

Aliyah 30:30

Can I go back to your kid on the playground?

Dan 30:32

Sure.

Aliyah 30:34

Do you think that kid...

Dan 30:36

You said that you debate this, don't you? I love it. I love it.

Aliyah 30:40

Do you think that kid, his ego allows him To lead, and he was not born a leader, but through experience, he knows that after the first time he spoke up, the kids... I'm asking 'cause my son is one of these, right? He can go to any group. If there's kids there, he's kinda running it.

Dan 31:05

Yeah.

Aliyah 31:05

And I'm fascinated 'cause I have another son who's not like that at all. And I'm like, 'How did one become like this and the other one is not?'

Dan 31:12

Yeah.

Aliyah 31:12

And I think it has to do with his ego and what he can accomplish, even though he's, like, the biggest scaredy-cat when it comes to, like, certain things, but-

Dan 31:20

Yeah.

Aliyah 31:21

So w- is it really born? What, what is your thoughts? Do you think leadership is something you're born with or is it-

Dan 31:28

Yeah, absolutely. Created? I mean, you know, he, he has those, those traits, those characteristics about him that he's able to get a random group of kids in order to follow him and do the, do the things that he wants them to do, whether it's play tag on the playground or go play basketball or soccer or baseball or whatever it may be. He has those traits. He might not recognize it. He might not be using them in the most effective way, and they might not be as refined as they could be, but those traits exist, but there's a- also all different types of leaders. Leaders, leaders look different, you know? There's some, some that, you know, will al- always put themselves in f- in front of the team, you know, and say, you know, 'I'm gonna model this, and this is what we're gonna do, and this is why we're gonna do it this way.' And they're gonna explain it, and they're gonna get buy-in from the team and that's their leadership style. And then there's some that can sit, sit in the back and be more strategic-type leaders, where they have the same, same traits and characteristics and skills. However, they don't need to be in front of the room. They can sit there, and they can empower the team to do the things that need to be done in order to accomplish whatever task they want to accomplish. So going back to the, to, to your son, talking about the playground idea, yeah I, I do think that he has leadership, leadership skills and traits about him that could be refined and polished and sharpened and used in a, in a very positive way. I think also, if we're talking about ego, the success that he's had in be a- being able to get people to do what he wants probably is building his ego. The question is, is are we building it in a way that's favorable or unfavorable, you know? And that's the part that's worth paying attention to, really.

Aliyah 33:10

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like if I were to, like, pick a button of which leader I wanted to be- I would wanna be the one in the back who can empower everybody else to do the thing versus always having to be the one that's, like, rallying the troops.

Dan 33:24

And I, and, and I would ask you the question why, but we don't have to do that now.

Aliyah 33:30

So you also coach high school and college-age young adults who are trying to figure out their direction. What are some of the biggest pressures young people are facing when it comes to making decisions about their future? And how do you think parents play a part in that?

Dan 33:50

You just said the, the biggest pressure right there. It's parents. Parents believe they know what's best for their kids. And in some instances, maybe that's right. You know, maybe, maybe these young adults need that, I, I put it in the bucket of mentorship. They need somebody to sit there and say, "I've walked this path before. This is how it played out for me. And, I don't want this path because it's clearly not a good path to be your path." Sometimes that's needed. But in other instances, and I think, I think a, a lot of young adults and parents fall into this category, the parents just simply believe that they know what's best for their kids, and they don't take the time to ask the questions. You know, there's this area, especially Northern Virginia, there are a... I ran the numbers not too long ago. I think, I think over 60 some thousand high school student athletes in this area. And many parents believe that, their student athlete is gonna be the next professional, um, superstar in whatever sport they play. And I'm not saying that that's not the case or that can't be the case, but statistically, that's just not possible for all 60 plus thousand of them to be that athlete. Now, is there potential for them to play at the next level, at the college level? Sure. You know, there's Division I, Division II, Division III colleges. You know, could they possibly play there? Sure. Does it mean they're gonna get a scholarship? Not necessarily. But the i- the idea that that they believe this, parents are willing to sit there and invest ridiculous amounts of money into skills camps and travel teams, and they're willing to sit there and work all week and then spend the entire weekend traveling just to make sure that their kids have the opportunity to get the visibility with college coaches and scouts and all that so that they can play at the next level What doesn't happen though is those same parents that believe that just because their kid is enjoying it now or they enjoyed it for a period of their life, they're not having that conversation with, with that young adult and asking them why they're playing that sport. Or, they're a military family and they believe that their kids should go in the military. They're not asking them what's important to this kid. Do they wanna go in the military? Uh, where do they see themselves in five years, you know? And, and maybe it's, maybe it's I wanna be, you know, uh, working in an IT company because I think technology is great and I enjoy it for these reasons or whatever. But the point is, of all of this is the parents believe they know what's best for the kids, and they're willing to go th- to tremendous lengths to guide these young adults down this path without even taking a moment to ask these kids the important questions like, "What's important to you? Where do you see yourself in five years?" "What do you want to do next?" And it's incredible when you ask these young adults these questions, the types of responses that you get from them.

Aliyah 36:43

I'm sure. I feel like as well, you get to play with the whole fact that AI technology is changing the future of the jobs that kids going through high school right now are gonna be able to get in the next four to eight years. Um, and then on top of that, you've got The, any sport obviously you're gonna learn good skills. You know, so no matter what it is that you do after that, you're gonna have, you know, teamwork, discipline, you know, stuff you can carry with you. But then also that expectation of the parent where it's like, "I've spent six years of driving you around and tens of thousands of dollars-" Yeah. and you didn't make it into..." I mean, I'm sure there's on the academic level as well.

Dan 37:27

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, uh, you know, Virginia, Virginia Tech or U- UVA, great schools, you know, but some, some parents are like, "The if my, my y- son or daughter is accepted there, you know, it's gonna show, you know, how, how much more exceptional they are than the rest of the kids in Loudoun County or Fairfax County." You know, and it's like, i- is that really where your kid wants to go? You know? Is that, i- is, does, do those schools offer the things that they wanna study and learn about? Does it offer them the opportunity to have the experiences in life that they wanna learn or have? And a parent, parents are just believers that they think they know what's best. And I've, I've had, on the flip side, not just the conversations with, with these, you know, high school and college-aged students, I've had the conversations with parents. And I get a chuckle out of it because so many times in these conversations with parents, they'll tell me what they, what they know to be true, and they're confident about it. "I know this." And I ask, "Well, how do you know?" "Well, it's my son," or, "It's my daughter." "Okay, but how do you know?" I know them. You know, I've raised them for the last, 18 years. I just know." I'm like, "Okay, but you're not answering my question. You're saying, 'I just know.' How do you know?" And when I finally get them to stop and actually think about that question and give me an answer, many times, if not every time, they come back and say, "Well, I don't know how I know." And then the next question is, "What would it look like for you to ask them that question tonight when you get home and see them?"

Aliyah 39:02

I'm actually taking notes from just what you're saying mentally- of like, I need to talk to my 15-year-old a little more and ask some better questions.

Dan 39:10

Yeah. It's, it's wild. Absolutely wild. Yeah, and it's and what's even cooler is when I have an opportunity to follow up with that parent afterwards and they tell me what they learned. And lo and behold, I'm never surprised when they sit there and say that the belief that they had wasn't true, and that in fact it was something else. And then how the conversation ensued and it was one of the best conversations they've ever had with their, you know, teenage son or daughter. Like, it's, it's absolutely amazing. But yeah, that's what I get to do.

Aliyah 39:40

I think it would be fun For you to host like a workshop series for both the parent and the kid, and have, do something together and then separate and then come bring them back together. Yeah. Because it sounds like it's not just a... When you coach, you're not coaching just the student athlete. It's like you gotta get the parent on board and involved as well.

Dan 40:05

Yep.

Aliyah 40:06

That's fascinating.

Dan 40:07

Yeah. I'd love the opportunity to do something like that. I'm been trying to find ways to get in with Loudoun

Aliyah 40:12

County. Loudoun County. I was gonna say, you gotta get into that Loudoun County. Definitely. I'll, I'll look through my resources and contacts- Okay 'cause I think that would be so valuable for

Leading Individuals And Tough Talks

Aliyah 40:21

kids in this area and just the parent, parents as well.

Dan 40:26

Yep. They have parent-teacher nights, you know, back to school nights any of that. You know, give, give me the venue with the parents and the, the, the young adults, be happy. Yeah. Be happy to do that.

Aliyah 40:36

And once you do one, that'll be... Yeah. Awesome. You develop programs like the Access Method and the Edge Series to help people better understand their strengths, communication styles, and leadership habits. What do you hope people understand about themselves after going through that work?

Dan 40:54

The Axis Method is, is really cool. It's an assessment. When people hear assessments, sometimes they cringe a little bit. But assessments there's a ton out there. There's, uh, StrengthsFinder, Gallup StrengthsFinder. Uh, there's uh, there's the DISC, the Hogan, 360, Myers-Briggs. There's a ton out there, and they're all great tools and resources, and they all provide data, and the data looks different based on, you know, the assessment. My favorite is StrengthsFinder, and the reason why is it's a very simple assessment. It takes about 20 minutes to do. And the questions are, are very simple, very basic, and then the results that you get from that are easy to read and understand, right? What I do with the Axis Method, though, is I take those results and I take them a step further. I have the conversation with you to understand who you are right now, who you wanna be, and some of the things that you're navigating in life. And then I take those strengths and I help you understand how those strengths show up in the things that you do day to day, and how they show up and they may support you in achieving the goals that you want to achieve. And then I also provide, provide to you how some of those strengths could also create friction and roadblocks as you're trying to work through those things. And when you become aware of those strengths, what's cool is that you can sit there and be like, "Okay this is my, my..." I'm trying to think of a, a random strength to use as an example right now. This is my communicator coming out. You know, when you feel the need to sit there and, and communicate al- almost to a fault, you know, where it's, where it's you, you have to be able to step back and ask yourself the question, you know, I use the acronym WAIT: Why Am I Talking? You know-

Aliyah 42:32

Oh my gosh, I need to have this em- I need this tattooed on my forehead.

Dan 42:36

It's why am I talking right now? Is communication in this moment necessary, or, or is this a time for me to just kind of step back and sit there and, and take stock of what's going on, or just sit in silence? You know, maybe that's what the other person needs, is they need quiet in that moment to sit there and, and process what they just heard or what they're going through right now, and you just need to sit here quiet and just listen. You know, but it-- the Axis Method is all about those strengths, you know, and how you can lean into 'em, and what you need to be aware of as far as how it can cause friction, uh, both day to day and as you work, work towards your goals.

Aliyah 43:08

And then The Edge Series

Dan 43:10

The Edge Series is all about communication. It's all about, you know, be- being able to listen, foc- that f- that, that third level listening. How do I, how am I best listening to what's being said and what's not being said? Then how to follow up with asking the right questions and how to ask questions and then not falling into the, the advice trap or the inference trap. And then I have a framework at the end, The Edge Framework, that you can basically just use in any type of conversation that you're having, and it just basically brings all those concepts together so that you can focus intentionally on having effective conversations with people.

Aliyah 43:48

So this stuff sounds like it would be really, really helpful in business, right? Building leadership- Mm-hmm all the stuff. But I have a, a more important question than all of that. We have your stunning wife sitting across the room from you right now. If I were to ask her, she is married to somebody-

Dan 44:07

Mm-hmm

Aliyah 44:08

who is an expert and who helps coach people. How do you think that it's played into your relationship?

Dan 44:16

Yeah, I don't know. I'd be curious what she says too. Um, no, it, I- I have to sometimes remind myself, listen to my own advice. You know, do the things that I work with people to become better and more, more proficient at. You know, we've had some, some really good conversations where, you know, I've, I've intentionally sat there and just, just listened, you know. Where I've sat there and asked her questions. And I think in those moments, sometimes she was waiting for me to sit there and say, "This is what I think you should do," the advice trap, you know? And as a, as a man, that's something that, uh, many men struggle with, you know, in a, in a relationship. Uh, but, you know, I try to be conscious of it and I try to fight that, that, that want, desire, natural drive to solve her problems and, you know, focus on what I do as a coach, which is, you know, ask the questions, listen, and, you know, let her, kinda dictate how the conversation's gonna go. If she wants advice, she's gonna ask me for it. Mm-hmm. So that's kind of the fun part about a lot of the work that I do as well, and you kind of brought, brought us into this right now, where, you know, the, the Axis Method, knowing your strengths, how they show up day to day, how you can lean into them. Well, if I know my strengths, she knows her strengths. We know how they, how they show up for each of us, you know, and she can sit there and adapt the way she engages with me, and I can adapt the way she engages or I engage with her, so that we can leverage our strengths and lean into our strengths together. But we can also be aware, and this is part of what the Axis Method does, I actually offer a re- a, a debrief of the Axis Method where I do it for couples, where I can help you become more aware of how your strengths might create friction in your relationship as well. Yeah. So she would probably sit there and say that, that I'm pretty good about doing what I, what I teach and what I share and what I, what I do with people. I'm not perfect, so I'm sure she can point out times where I could do better.

Aliyah 46:09

I love that It's all-- I'm not saying it replaces therapy, but I feel like that's what therapy is, is communicating- Mm-hmm and learning how to communicate.

Dan 46:19

Yep.

Aliyah 46:19

And I know you don't-- relationships isn't-- I didn't wanna switch the conversation into relationships, but really leadership is, like you said, it- it's across all the different parts of your life, and where it shows up most for people are their personal relationships. Mm-hmm. So it's like once you go through this

Parents, Student Athletes, The Future

Aliyah 46:35

for your professional development, you can see it showing up in- Yep all the different areas of your life.

Dan 46:43

Absolutely. And, you know, I'm not trying to put a plug in here for it, but what I do as a coach works beautifully with, with couples, or it works just exceptionally well. And, a- a- and here's why. I'm not a therapist. I'm not a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker. I'm none of that. I don't have any of those credentials, right? But if I were to take a step back and I were to s- have a, a couple in front of me, and they're having some challenges, you know, what I do as a coach is I get curious about what the challenge is, and I can ask them each the questions, like how do they perceive the challenge? Why do they believe that to be true, right? And we can sit there together, and we can clear the air, and, and I quite simply by just getting curious with each person, we can clear the air. We can figure out like what is the friction here? What is the problem here? And then again, get curious about, you know, what would be helpful for each of you to move past this. By nature, although it's not therapy, it becomes essentially therapeutic. And-

Aliyah 47:45

100%

Dan 47:45

that's how coaching sessions are. Many times I have, I have clients sit back and say, "You know, that felt kinda like therapy, but it wasn't therapy." Yes. And just with that idea alone, I have a lot of clients that come to me just for that reason, 'cause they're like, "I don't wanna work with a therapist." And, therapists are great. You know, there's a lot of great social workers, you know, psychologists, psychiatrists, all of them. They're all great, and there, there absolutely is a need for them, and there are scenarios where I will sit there and I will, I will decline to take on a client because I'll say, "I'm not the expert in this one. You should probably be working with one of them instead." And I've done that. I've done that on more than one occasion. But at the same time, you know, when people come to me and they start explaining to me what's going on, after we have that conversation, we figure out if we're gonna be a good fit. A lot of times, you know, they, that, that comes out, where it's like, I just, I didn't wanna work with a therapist 'cause I don't know if this really is therapy-worthy, you know, so I figured I'd give a coach a shot," you know? And turns out we are a good fit because it's not-- the issue isn't, bipolar or narcissistic behavior or any, or, you know, any of those actual conditions. It's just they're looking for a sounding board. They're looking for somebody to help them understand what they're, what they're dealing with right now or, or, you know, explore the possibilities around, what they're trying to do. And- That may or may not be therapy. I don't know. I don't wanna speak on behalf of a therapist, but as a coach, that is what I do. So it ends up working great both for individuals and for couples.

Aliyah 49:10

I feel like once you get curious about why you think the way that you think That solves so many problems, like personally as well as within relationships, right? Whether the relationship is with your team or with your life partner. Thanks for letting me go down that rabbit hole. I appreciate it. Of

Dan 49:26

course.

Aliyah 49:27

I feel like men would be a lot more open to that too, just because men I found are-- Say that, "I don't wanna go to therapy. No, I don't need a therapist." But this cool looking guy that like is a Marine and like has this experience working with like building leaders, "Yeah, okay. Sure, I'll talk to him." So I think that's a really cool market that you serve.

Dan 49:53

It is. That, that's kinda what led me, led me to becoming a coach was somebody approached me and suggested that I'd be a good coach, and I laughed and I was like, "I'm covered with tattoos. I don't miss a day in the gym." I-

Aliyah 50:04

I see them peeking.

Dan 50:05

I know you're desperate. And I, I joke, I'm like, "Somebody might look at me and be like, 'This guy might have gotten out of prison a f- a couple weeks ago,' or whatever." Yeah. Um, but then when you get to know me, you're like, "Oh, big teddy bear. You know, this guy, this guy is just, a nice guy. He genuinely cares about people, wants to help people," all the things. Um, but when he mentioned coaching to me, I, I laughed and I was like, "Nah, that's not me." You know? Like, I'm not the guy. Taking a step back, looking back on that conversation, I saw what a lot of people see, which is the coaching industry itself is a middle-aged female dominated industry. That's it. You know? That's just kinda how the cookie crumbled, and that's what the coaching, coaching industry looks like. So when you take somebody with my ba- my background and you insert me into the, into the coaching industry, I start to stand out. And then when you start to take my physical appearance as well, now I really stand out. So when you compare me to, to, you know, the majority of the coaching industry, the credential that I have, my resume, my appearance, it makes me somebody that's m- more, more approachable for a wide, wider range of people. And I work with females as much as I work with males, to your point, somebody who's on active duty military, and I have a good handful of active duty military, so, US Army soldiers that I, that I work with in coaching engagements, you know, they're gonna be more inclined to sit there and have a conversation with me because they understand that I can relate to it. And I've had men reach out to me where, you know, they're sit- they sit there and, and they're willing to be vulnerable. Like, we get on a call and it's just a consultation call, and they're vulnerable with me because they see my background, they see what I look like, and I'm, I'm a dude just like them, and they're like, "Okay, if this guy's willing to listen, I'm open up to him." And yeah, so you hit the nail on the head. It's That's part of what makes me stand out in the industry, but also be pretty marketable to a wide audience.

Aliyah 51:56

I love that. You've tapped into your strengths, right? Yeah,

Dan 51:59

absolutely.

Aliyah 52:00

After more than 25 years of high-pressure leadership experience, what is one lesson about leadership that you wish you'd understand much earlier in your own career? Sorry, it's a deep question.

Dan 52:15

Yeah, it is. No, it's a good one I think it's, I think it's the idea of seeking out knowledge. Seeking out knowledge about, about yourself, about the type of leadership or the industry or whatever, excuse me, that you're in, so that you could be better informed about all aspects of, of the group that you're leading. And what I mean by that is everyone talks about, you know, being introspective or learning about yourself, but what does that really mean? And I, I don't think, for me at least, understanding what that truly meant came until much later in life. Being able to sit there and just like I do now, the idea of working with a coach. Like you, you put young 21-year-old Dan in the Marine Corps i- in a room with a coach and say, "You're gonna work with this guy, and he's gonna ask you questions and challenge your beliefs," I would've laughed. I would've like, "No way." You know? I wouldn't have understood the, the value of being able to sit there and un- better understand myself, the way I look at things, you know, in, in, in-- with the intent of becoming a better version of myself. I didn't appreciate reading books. I didn't appreciate becoming more well-versed in different aspects of people and leadership and, uh, you know, h- how people function and, you know, different types of scenarios and how leadership can show up in different ways. I didn't appreciate that when I was younger. So now as a, you know, as, as a much more mature, wiser person in life, you know, these are things that I wish I would have understood at a much younger age, and I wish I would've had the opportunity to invest in, invest in myself, invest in leadership, and invest in, you know, being, being the best version of myself in all aspects of life, both professionally and personally as well.

Aliyah 54:12

When are you gonna write the book?

Dan 54:14

I

Aliyah 54:15

can

Dan 54:18

already see the front cover. Yeah. When I have time. When I have time maybe.

Aliyah 54:21

Looking ahead, what are you most excited to accomplish through Inspire Coaching and Leadership Development, and who are you hoping to reach through your work? I know you've got a few different audiences, but- Mm-hmm is there anything specific that you're focused on?

Dan 54:34

Uh, right now, right now my

Strengths, Programs, Tier One Athlete

Dan 54:35

focus is on the, the Tier One Athlete program, which is the program that is, uh, designed for student athletes. I-- my work, my one-to-one work is great. It's exceptional. I know that if I have the opportunity to work with somebody and they, they're open-minded about it, we're gonna accomplish great things. Uh, with Tier One Athlete, the idea of being able to impact these young, young student athletes at this age is, to me, the most exciting project or initiative that I have going right now. And the reason why is sport, sports are an incredible opportunity for for a kid, for a young adult to be able to learn a lot of important life lessons. How to win, how to lose, how to work as a team, how to communicate under stress. It's all part of playing a sport. So if I could sit there and I can now find my place within that development and that learning for these young adults and show them how leadership shows up in their sport and show them who they are as leaders, and then show them how that can be applied beyond their sport, like this is an opportunity to take these young adults and have them learn so much more, uh, outside of what the sport itself offers about themselves and, and what their potential is in life. And then these are lessons that are gonna, that are gonna continue to follow them in every step of life after the sport and after school. So that's why I'm most excited about Tier One Athlete right now.

Aliyah 56:07

I love that. If somebody's interested in that, parents watching this, what's the first step? How do they start that conversation?

Dan 56:17

Www.tieroneathlete.net. One, the number one spelled out.

Aliyah 56:22

Cool. Awesome.

Dan 56:23

Whew.

Aliyah 56:25

As we wrap up, is there anything that you'd like to add that we haven't touched on? You know what? You know, I have one question. Sure, go ahead. I w- I am the, one, I'm one of the most curious people ever. Yeah. So if you allowed me to, which I'm not gonna do, I promise, I could sit here and talk to you like all weekend. It's not even the weekend yet, but how has, how have you, and this is a personal question, how do you balance the energy that you have to show up for your clients? You have a full house at home.

Dan 57:06

Mm-hmm.

Aliyah 57:07

You're married. You're involved in your community. How do you balance it?

Dan 57:14

I don't know. I don't know. I, I think for me, so family always comes first. Any, any team that I work with, any, any professional engagement that I have, I always make it clear family comes first. No, no ifs, ands, or buts. So that's first and foremost. The second part is I always need to make time for

Energy, Family, And Closing

Dan 57:30

myself to make sure that I recharge and that I have the energy for everybody, family first and also myself, in order to be the best version of myself. Outside of that, for me personally, coaching, engaging with my clients, engaging with people to help them on their journeys and their personal and professional development is extremely gratifying. It's kinda like, you know, when an artist paints a picture and it's done and it looks great and they step back and they get to bask in all the greatness of that piece of art, I get to do that with each client that I work with and each young adult that I work with. So every time a client has that aha moment and they're like, "I just learned something about myself I didn't realize," or, "I don't know how I was missing that this entire time," like, "Thank you," that energizes me, and that, that reminds me why I do what I do. And, it feeds into, okay, I have a full schedule tomorrow, but I have two clients tomorrow night or three clients tomorrow night or r- whatever it may be. So I get excited about it, and it reminds me why I do what I do.

Aliyah 58:33

So it doesn't feel like it's draining. It, it-- See, in my head, I'm thinking it would feel a little draining to have to have- but-

Dan 58:40

Yeah

Aliyah 58:40

it kinda fills your, not kind of, but it fills your cup.

Dan 58:42

Yep. It, you know, and, and there, there are times where, you know, I get done with a session and I'm like, "Okay," I'm a little spent." But it's, uh, but it's still, you know, if I look at, if I look at the calendar, I'm like, "I got another one," give myself a minute and jump right back in. Because again, like you never know what breakthroughs you're gonna have with a client. You never know what, what they're gonna walk away with that, and it sounds silly, but what could literally change their life. It could be a realization that changes the way that they look at things, not just now, but forever.

Aliyah 59:13

Yep. Goes back to that one conversation that they had with you.

Dan 59:19

Yep.

Aliyah 59:19

That's awesome. Why do I see you, like, getting drained and then dropping to the ground and doing like 20 push-ups and be like, "All right, I'm ready to go"?

Dan 59:28

Al- although that never happened, I have, I have managed to sometimes squeeze workouts in between sessions where, you know, I end up looking at the clock when I'm downstairs in the gym and I'm like, "Oh, boy," you know, and I'm, you know, grabbing a T-shirt real quick and putting on a fresh T-shirt, you know, and just kinda like, "Okay." Good thing that I'm on a camera, so they only see me from, you know- Waist up chest up. Yeah. So it's fine, and they're not sitting next to me, so even if I'm sweaty, they don't have to worry about that. But-

Aliyah 59:53

Love it

Dan 59:53

Yeah

Aliyah 59:54

I love it. Thank you so much for being on The Alimond Show. Loved hearing your story. I cannot wait to see your program across all the Loudoun County schools, especially the high school program or high schools, um, in the area.

Dan 1:00:09

Thank you. I'm most grateful for this. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, and the questions, some of them were, were a little challenging, which I wasn't expecting, but I'm most appreciative because they made me think, and I need that sometimes.

Aliyah 1:00:23

Thank you.