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Levi Smith, CEO of Franklin Building Supply, an employee-owned building material supply company headquartered in beautiful Boise, Idaho, interviews founders and leaders about the stories of companies you may be surprised to learn either had their start in Idaho or now call Idaho home. In every episode, you'll hear how a cast of characters overcame daunting obstacles and had the persistence it took to succeed. New episodes drop every 1-2 months. Thanks to our Season 1 sponsor, Trus Joist, for their generous support.
Hi. This is Ain't That Something, and I'm your host, Levi Smith, CEO of Franklin Building Supply. We're an employee owned building material supply company headquartered in beautiful Boise, Idaho. I'm a former ranch kid from Texas who found his way to Idaho and into leading this storied company. We're proud to be part of the fabric of communities we operate in and want to help share stories of other companies doing the same across this great state.
Levi:In each episode of Ain't That Something, I interview founders or leaders about the stories of companies you may be surprised to learn have either had their start in Idaho or now call Idaho home. In every interview, you'll hear about an interesting cast of characters, learn about daunting obstacles, and be inspired by the persistence it took to succeed. Get ready to be surprised and entertained with each episode of Ain't That Something.
Jason:Yeah. The Korean cowboy in Southwest Wyoming. Right? And he he grew up you know, his parents and family for seventy eight years almost have owned the cowboy shop. So when you're raised in the cowboy shop, you don't really have a choice but to love cowboy
Levi:boots. Right? In each season of the podcast, I wanna tell the story of a nonprofit that's having a significant impact on the lives of individuals in Idaho and increasingly beyond. So in today's episode, I interview Jason Vickery, CEO of Title One. But the story that we explore is of the Jay Foundation.
Levi:Now Jason lost one of his closest friends to suicide years ago and wanted to do something constructive about that for other people that might find themselves in a similar situation. So in creating this foundation, they've been doing great work across Idaho, Wyoming, but increasingly beyond to help address the mental health crisis and specifically suicide. As we get to the end of the episode, we'll share information about how to get connected with the Jay Foundation or even make a donation if you'd like to support their work. For those that do make a donation, if you use the keyword FBS, Franklin Building Supply and a business partner both Jason and I work with, HUB International on the insurance side, we're doing a dollar for dollar match up to $2,000 to help generate additional resources for the foundation for the work that they do. So now enjoy my conversation with Jason Vickery, founder of the Jay Foundation.
Levi:Well, Jason, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today. I appreciate you joining us. Before we get into the story of the Jay Foundation, I wonder if we could back up just a minute and you could share a little bit about how you grew up, where you grew up, as we start to understand your story that then threads into the Jay Foundation that we're gonna get into in a little bit.
Jason:Yeah. Well, Levi, thanks for having me on. Super excited to be with you today. And yeah, my journey started back in small town Wyoming. So I was born and raised in Pinedale, Wyoming, and just had an awesome childhood, grew up on a ranch back there and a really neat place to grow up.
Jason:A little chilly in the winters for sure, but
Levi:Is it as cold as people imagine it is?
Jason:Yeah, it's cold. Yeah, the ice box of the nation. And there's definitely days where it's that. Growing up, you look at the weather channel and even today, and it's like Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming, where I'm from, those are kind of the three spots that usually- That's the tight race. Yeah, the race for sure.
Jason:So great spot, you know, great community, growing up with about 1,400 people. So kind of our claim to fame was we were 99 miles away from a stop sign, a fast food restaurant and a shopping mall. And that's kind of how we liked it.
Levi:There you go. Yeah. Now, you have a small family, big family?
Jason:Yeah. So our immediate family, I have my mom and dad and then my sister. So I have a younger sister. Our extended family was definitely big. So the Fear Barp family reunions, that's kind of the greater Vickery family, very big family in a lot of generations there in Wyoming and a lot of cousins, distance cousins.
Jason:So, yeah, they're, those reunions in the summer were were quite large. But my immediate family only got one sister. So
Levi:Okay. But the bigger family sounds like you got a lot of representation there in Wyoming and some real roots and sort of heritage there in Wyoming.
Jason:Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Levi:Now, I grew up on a cattle ranch as well, but at the opposite end of the weather spectrum. So while you were complaining about the cold, you know, for probably six months of the year, I was complaining about the heat for six months of the year down in Texas. Yeah. But as two guys now who who look back, I think probably fondly on growing up on on ranches got to ask what what were y'all raising? Is it a commercial purebred operation?
Levi:Give me a little bit more.
Jason:First of all, lot of a lot of Texas plates in Wyoming in July and August. So we come up and get out of With good reason. Yeah. For sure. Really good reason.
Jason:But kind of the joke in Sublette County, my dad shares a story when he was in college, he was in an ag class and, you know, was The ag instructor was going around and here's all the different things you can grow in Wyoming. And the instructor said, Is anyone from Sublette County? And my dad raised his hand and he said, Well, you can't grow anything. And so it's a very simple county as far as what you can do because there's just not a lot of options. And so our ranch sits about 7,400 feet elevation.
Jason:You know, I brought some friends over from Idaho one time and one of them asked, you know, When's second cutting? And I said, well, it's next year, you know, because you only get one cutting in.
Levi:That's not a thing.
Jason:It's just not a thing, yeah. And so for us, we ran Black Angus, still run Black Angus and we're cutting and, you know, that's kind of just the way it is there, but just, yeah, an amazing place to grow up. Lot of those, you know, as you know, growing up on a cattle ranch, a lot of those things that you learn on a ranch and as a kid, you don't necessarily love it. There's some great, great things that happen from that.
Levi:Yeah, agreed. I mean, I think most adults can look back on their childhood, right, and think, man, there's some things that I didn't appreciate. But I think especially, you know, I don't think it's just nostalgia. I think looking back on growing up on a cattle ranch, just connection to the outdoors, to physical space, being exposed early to hardship, just basic life and death with animals on the ranch and having to make this work. And you know, everybody living in close proximity to one another in terms of the family or maybe the folks working on the ranch, but you're a good bit of ways from the from everybody else.
Levi:And that's that's a unique context to grow up in.
Jason:Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And you hit on it even, you know, as a kid, just learning what death looks like, you know, with a baby calf. You know, that's so hard, you know, as a kid but you know, those life lessons it teaches you. Yeah, our kids are getting to the age where, you know, our oldest will be 12 this year.
Jason:And so it's definitely getting them more time back there. That's a goal we've made. And so, yeah, I'm excited for them to get to spend time this summer with their grandparents and great grandparents. And as parents, we've got to teach those traits, but there's just something about doing it on the ranch that, you know, hyper focuses some of those amazing things that I learned. And again, I fought a lot of them as a kid.
Jason:You know, I didn't like certain And, you know, you look back and you're like, okay, that was one of the best.
Levi:Hard to fully appreciate that. Now are you going to send them back in the dead of winter too?
Jason:Yeah, we don't go back a ton. They do go back every year for at least a few days in the dead of winter to make sure we can experience it. But yeah, it's I'm kind of hey, we're going to go back in the summer. You know, they can't drive there by themselves. So I gotta go in the winter too.
Jason:And I don't like going back
Levi:into winter. Right. You wanna pull in when all the Texans are pulling in too.
Jason:Exactly. Maybe like a few weeks before the Texans, but yeah, far before.
Levi:So today you and your family live in Twin Falls and you work in the title industry. Help me understand just how you went from a ranch kid in Wyoming to moving into that industry where you're at today. You sit in president's seat there leading title one today. Just help me understand that transition and journey.
Jason:Yeah. So in fourth grade, I had these big dreams of one day I want to lead a title and escrow company when I grow up.
Levi:Like every fourth grader does. I mean, I can't believe you and I had the same dream and vision in fourth grade.
Jason:Yeah, no, definitely. You know, for me, was really cool how it happened. And I really didn't know a ton about title and escrow. Most people don't, right? And it's a very unique industry.
Jason:It's not one that you can go to college for. I always loved real estate. I had a great mentor growing up in Wyoming, a guy named Tim McKinney and just great family friend. And I remember he handed me Rich Dad Poor Dad back in high school and said, hey, you need to read this. And, you know, that book really and that kind of his mentorship changed the way I thought about real estate investing and and just passive income in general.
Jason:And so real estate was always something that was really attractive to me. Now with that, I didn't really know what a title company was. Didn't know what they did. And so, you know, spent some time working in college athletics. I went into lending for a couple years and then had just a really unique opportunity to make the move to title one in 02/2015.
Jason:And, you know, there was some, some leadership opportunity here in Twin Falls in the Magic Valley, and kind of the vision was sold to me and and, got really excited. I got really excited about, you know, at the time, title one was was dead last in the market, I think about eight or nine percent market share. And so there was something about, hey. How do we how do we take a team from last to first and build something special here and create a culture? And, you know, we've been able to do that and, you know, through my time at Title One, just had a really, really unique set of circumstances that allowed me from going to essentially starting in 2015, August of twenty fifteen to, you know, at the end of twenty eighteen announcing that, I was gonna step into the role of president.
Jason:So three years of title and escrow, three years of leadership experience, I was not ready or equipped to lead the company, but we figured that out as we There you were. Yeah. Here here we were, keys to the car. Remember I was 30 years old when I stepped into that role, I was thinking like, what the heck are they thinking? And talk about impostor syndrome.
Jason:It was lying on well there for a while.
Levi:I can imagine that. I mean, I think, you know, then you're bringing all that, you know, ranching experience that we just talked about and college athletics experience and stuff to bear as a young leader, but now in a business context and, you know, a lot of change in a short period of time.
Jason:Yeah, for sure. And then, you know, the biggest piece was stepping in that role, started 2019, right? Get through that first cycle and thinking like, okay, I'm starting to get it figured out. And then COVID hit, right? And so the minute you finally feel like, all right, I'm getting this down, you know, COVID hit and really turned the world upside down.
Jason:In so many ways, it was the extremes of like, hey. Are we ever gonna close a deal again to, like, we can't keep up because so many people are moving into our footprint. And just the, yeah, the amount of people and transactions, it was absolutely crazy. So Yeah. Really, really neat season and crazy season, but glad that, you know, we were able to kinda navigate.
Jason:And I look back at just kinda some of the muscles that were built during that time. It was pretty special.
Levi:Yeah. That was an early test.
Jason:Yeah. For sure.
Levi:Played out in a similar way across the country. But in Idaho, to go from, like you said, everybody wondering whether we're going to have any new starts, any transactions close in your world. Then all of a sudden, three or four weeks later, everybody's just trying to keep up. There's essentially a good eighteen month period where that's what everybody is doing. Just didn't stop for a solid eighteen months.
Jason:It was wild for sure.
Levi:So let's go back to growing up in Wyoming. You end up having a really close friend of yours, Jay being who I want to hear more about and understand. So help me understand how early did you and Jay meet? How did that friendship form? How was he described by his group of friends and the community that you had there in Wyoming?
Jason:Yeah. So Jay, I don't even remember when I first met because we were literally babies, you know, in a small town. Everyone kind of knows everyone. But my dad and Jay's dad, Bob, were close in the rodeo world. And so, yeah, Jay and I, you know, he was adopted from Korea at a super young age.
Jason:And not just me, but so many others. He just was a really, really special friend. You know, he had a unique ability to just make friends with so many different types of people, you know? I look at just the friend group in in Pinedale alone, he's kind of that glue to a lot of different personalities, you know, and just had this amazing ability to love up on all people from a really from a young age. You know, he just always the life of the party.
Jason:You know, I I've got some old footage of a, you know, like a eight or nine year old party. It was my birthday party, and, you know, it's the old video cameras. And there's just some footage of just him pure comedy, you know? And he just was always that guy. So fun.
Jason:Everyone wanted to be around him. When you were going through it, he was the guy that would sit there and walk you through it as well. And so I just yeah, I remember not just myself, but others, when they were going through the journeys, you know, he was the guy that was sitting there, listening to you talk for two hours and getting you through that. Just an amazing friend. He went off to the University of Wyoming and, I came over here to Idaho and he had an awesome kind of path ahead of him, had a great job.
Jason:Actually moved up to Vancouver, Washington. And in 2016, he took his life to suicide. Just a day that rocked our world, flipped everything upside down for everyone that knew Jay. I mean, it was amazing the impact and reach he had on people. And so that was a tough, tough season for a lot of us and still remains tough.
Jason:I was talking to Jay's mom the other day and it's, call it, it's nine years later and it just doesn't seem to get a whole lot easier at times. Right? And so, yeah, just an amazing friend. You know, we were able to, you know, kinda bring light to the dark situation that was Jay's passing, and we started the Jay Foundation. And that's been a a real blessing.
Jason:It's a a very hard blessing for sure, just the work we do and just because the work we do doesn't necessarily, like, replace that pain or hurt in the loss of Jay.
Levi:Right.
Jason:Been really neat to just see, others find purpose and light through his story and his journey. And the Jay Foundation has been, you know, just an amazing transformative, you know, passion in my life of, you know, how do I make sure not to forget who my buddy Jay was and, you know, help other people that may be going through a journey that he was on.
Levi:When he committed suicide in 2016, it it sounds like what I'm I'm I'm interested in hearing you unpack this a little bit more that it's just, you said, just a total shock to you and everybody else. Was it a situation where you know, you, other friends, his family didn't see this on the horizon at all? Was he struggling at that time? You know, what were kind of the circumstances that then impacted how all of you also received that news? Because in the case of suicide, we're going to get into work y'all do on mental health and suicide prevention the programs that I'm excited about what y'all are doing in Idaho and Wyoming in particular, but spreading a bit beyond.
Levi:There's all these what if questions and guilt and thinking, man, did I miss that conversation or this moment? Kind of take me back to that time. What were you and others thinking?
Jason:Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, I'll never forget the call that I got from my dad and I just remember screaming as loud as I could. You know, I was just in such shock and disbelief. And I think that was, you know, pretty much everyone. Everyone that knew him, I I don't think anyone saw it coming. Yeah.
Jason:I think it's you know, suicide is such a crazy swing of emotions, but, you know, the regret you live with, the what ifs, the you know, we don't truly know the why. I think you live with those things, you know, forever. And, yeah, working through and processing those and and trying to, you know, not just beat yourself up over it too. Right? Because that's a really easy thing to do.
Jason:But, yeah, probably one of the last friends I would have thought was going through something, you know. I had talked to him earlier that week and yeah, just, you know, I really like felt like he was on top of the world in so many ways, you know, just on the brink of actually, you know, an opportunity to go out to Virginia and take a bigger role within this company he was working for in Washington. And so, just a really, really tough deal. Yeah, and I don't know if that makes it easier or harder if you know the why and could see it coming or not, but we definitely did not.
Levi:Yeah, it makes me reflect back a little bit. I had one of my closest friends under a different set of circumstances die a few years ago. Some of the things you said about Jay, one of the things that stood out to me is we were there with the family as he was in his final hours and everything after that. And the sense was that everybody thought my friend Aaron was their best friend. And I just kind of remember that feeling.
Levi:You just had that type of impact on people that, as you described, Jay being the guy that would bring levity to a situation, the guy that would sit with you for hours, you know, walk through things. Was that the feel that everybody thought, well, Jay's one of my best friends, but you've got tons of people that think. And I say that as a real, of course, just awe inspiring compliment to my friend Aaron that I think about, but it kind of sounds like that's a little bit of what you're hitting on when you describe Jay.
Jason:A 100%. Yeah. It was crazy how, I mean, how many people truly, and even you see people that have met like Jay once or twice, you know, through the foundation, I see that all the time. You know, I run into people and they're like, Oh, I met Jay one time. And, you know, he just And so people didn't have to spend a ton of time around him to feel like, Oh, this is a guy that's in my corner.
Jason:But yeah, I mean, had a wide friend group, right? He, I think he made each one of us feel like we were the most important part of his life. You know, his mom shared stories about when he'd come back from college, you know, he'd get there at 10AM and she wouldn't see him till 10PM because he had to go visit this person and visit that person and go check on this, you know, and that's just who he he was. The other thing that and I hit on on a little bit earlier, but he he had this unique ability to find friends from all sorts of different backgrounds. Right?
Jason:So in one of our our core values that the foundation is inclusive, and and we talk about, like, you know, at the foundation, we love people for who they are. We meet them where they're at, there is no judgment. And that's really who Jay was. You know, he he had this ability to find people from all walks of life, all beliefs, all backgrounds, and he didn't care. Like, just he was gonna love you.
Jason:And he was kind of that, like I said, that glue guy that brought us together. And I think looking back at our friendship, you know, I I probably learned more about that from Jay than anyone I've ever learned, you know? And and growing up in a small community without a lot of diversity, you know, that was something that he he did a really good job of of just bringing people together. He had an ability to connect with people so so quick, you know? And, there's a story in in college, I wasn't there for it, but college, go out, have a good time, right?
Jason:And he has a case of beer and he's walking into what he thinks is this house is where a party is gonna be, right? All right. Walks in, he's got his, you know, case of beer. And well, evidently it's the wrong address. He doesn't know this.
Jason:And so he's walking in trying to figure out like who's going where. So there's a kid and he finally figures out, oh, there's a guy in the shower and he's like, hey, sorry to interrupt. Like, is this where the party's at? And you know, he's got his case of beer.
Levi:So he's in a strange house with a case of beer, interrupting a guy's shower.
Jason:Walks in and the guy's like, Well, no, but And Jay's like, Well, do you want a beer? You know, and hand him his beer. Next thing you know, that's where the party went that night, right? And so that's just who he was, you know, a complete stranger in the shower, no radar of having a beer that night. And you know, Jay, that's just how he was, who he was and connected with a a lot of people.
Levi:That's a lot of connectivity in one person and a lot of gravitational pull.
Jason:Yeah, for sure.
Levi:It was, you know, to be able to your point, be able to connect with that wider range of people, handle the wide array of kind of situations and circumstances that you're talking about. I appreciate you sharing about Jay, and I know you do through the foundation and other contexts. But for me, I just want to say thank you for sharing some about who Jay was, the impact on you and others, and he's somebody I wish I'd had the opportunity to meet. I'm not sure about, in the shower with the random person offering me beer, but in another context.
Jason:You couldn't control how you were going to meet him and what it was going look like. So there was the story behind it all.
Levi:Just a force of nature.
Jason:He would have loved to go down and hunt in Texas like that would have been right up his alley and so I'm sure you guys would have got along just fine.
Levi:When he dies in 2016 from suicide, there's the shock, I think you told me, you know, is your morning with others and you're, you know, at the funeral and in those early days, something inside you said, I'm going to do something about this or I'm going to do something with this to both honor Jay, but to try to head off at the pass other people who could be on a similar journey that others may not know about, or there's an opportunity to help connect with them and intervene. So take me back to that moment where you sort of had this resolve to both honor Jay and then to do something as constructive as possible with that loss and trying to help others avoid the same.
Jason:Yeah, you know, and it really, it was the day of the funeral, you know, just working through all those emotions and such a pain and hurt, you know, for so many of us there. And I remember being out at Jay's parents' house, and I just looked at my wife, Paige. I was like, I can't do this anymore. You know, I don't wanna be around people. I don't wanna look at these pictures.
Jason:I just wanna be alone. And as we were heading back into town, I had her drop me off at the the cemetery. And I just I spent the rest of the afternoon there and just was in a massive amount of hurt, right? And I think we all deal with loss and and things differently and Sure. You know, I just I I've never cried so hard as I did that day and, you know, I I never lost anyone really close to me like that.
Jason:I definitely not lost anyone to suicide. And so I think just the emotions of, you know, being young. I was 26, or 27, excuse me, when it, you know, when it happened. So I was still young and had just didn't have enough life experience. And so I just remember sitting there that day and and just saying like, dude, I'm sorry.
Jason:I don't I don't know exactly what went on, but I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry that I missed it. I'm sorry I was was too busy. And, you know, I just I remember saying, you know, we're gonna bring something good from this. And, something good, something amazing, something transformational.
Jason:Those were the kind of the three things that I shared. Something good, something amazing, something transformational is gonna come from this. And I just really wanted to try to bring light to a really dark situation. And, you know, as I continue to reflect on that, just the culture of of Wyoming growing up and the culture of the West really is, especially as us males, right, like, it's just something we never talked about. And I share it a lot, like the foundation, it's not the foundation of softness or entitlement or weakness.
Jason:Like it really is, you know, finding ways for people to have bold conversations around really tough topics, you know? And it's something I'm still learning and navigating, figuring out what that looks like. But especially as us males, right? Like us males, we'll talk about shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain, but God forbid, we talk about brain pain. And there's a reason we're four times more likely to take our lives than females, right?
Jason:Is we refuse to talk about it and builds up. Then, you know, we're in a spot where it's really hard to come back from. And so just trying to, you know, change the culture, right, of so many great things about the Western way life. I love the cowboy way life. I love living in the West.
Jason:I'll never live anywhere else. I love it out here. But that's like the one tweak we're trying to make. You know, 10 out of the 11 top states for suicide per capita are right here in the West. And, you know, West Virginia is the other one, and it's essentially like a a West state, you know, out out East.
Jason:And so, yeah, I think there's just some real change that we're trying to drive there. And I think it's working, you know, in a big, big way. And I think it's just really neat that the cowboy boot, the Jay boots kind of the symbol of that change.
Levi:So Jay was known far and wide from the earliest days for always wearing cowboy boots. I mean, that's just, you just put those two things together, cowboy boots and Jay.
Jason:Yeah, the Korean cowboy in Southwest Wyoming, right? And he grew up, you know, his parents and family for seventy eight years almost have owned the cowboy shop. So like a true Western apparel and boot shop. And so when you're raised in the cowboy shop, you don't really have a choice but to love cowboy boots, right? And I think if you had had a choice, you would have loved them anyway.
Jason:And he did, you know, I'm sitting here today at the foundation and I'm looking at, you know, a picture and and he's got the the hat. He's probably, you know, four years old in this picture and he's got the the, you know, the gloves in the back pocket, the belt buckle, the the cowboy boots and hat.
Levi:The whole thing.
Jason:Yeah. Whole thing. And I I was in New York a couple weeks ago for some work meetings in title 1 and I was able to talk to Jay's mom and I took my Jay boots back and I wore my boots in New York. I did that for a couple of reasons. One, I just love wearing my Jay boots.
Jason:But Jay won a big, he won a big award and they had like celebration in New York. They took all the top producers to New York and you know, as a mom, you're like, oh, you know, be careful. Don't, you know, don't stand out too much. Like blend in, just try to get through it. You know, you know, small town Wyoming and Carolyn's just making sure Jay's safe and she goes, oh, don't worry, mom.
Jason:I'm just rocking my cowboy boots and my cowboy hat in New York. I'll fit right in, you know? I'll be fine. I mean, even later in life, I think, you know, probably took more pride in his Wyoming heritage and, you know, his family. The Bing family is definitely just a staple of Pinedale in Wyoming.
Jason:And so it was pretty neat. And so just, yeah, talking to Carolyn the other day about that was a good moment just to reflect.
Levi:He was probably getting the same reaction. I remember as a kid. I was older. I think I was probably high school age or something, maybe even in college, but my dad's always worn cowboy boots and a cowboy hat almost everywhere, whether it's the appropriate attire or not. And we were in Downtown Chicago.
Levi:They'd never been to Chicago before. And we were down there and I just remember all these little kids just pointing at him and they're just yanking on their parents' shirt and saying, cowboy, cowboy, cowboy. And I can imagine Jay walking around getting that reaction there in New York. Yeah.
Jason:I'm sure there were some good ones. And yeah, even just, you know, being there a couple of weeks ago and just, you know, wearing my Jay boots there, you know, you have conversations with people from all over the world in New York and so many people are curious. Right? And are nice. Those are awesome boots or what kind of boots or whatever it is.
Jason:You know? It's all leads to a conversation. And, yeah, it's been neat neat to see for sure.
Levi:The inaugural season of Ain't That Something wouldn't be possible without the generous support of Truss Joist, a division of Weyerhaeuser. Truss Joist has been a great supply partner to Franklin Building Supply with their array of engineered wood products, including their marquee truss joists, which you may be surprised to learn was invented and first sold right here in Boise, Idaho. Now ain't that something? Future episodes will drop every one to two months, so be sure to subscribe to the podcast in your listener so you'll see the next episode when it arrives. I appreciate you going into your background and sharing more about Jay because I don't think the Jay Foundation, at least for the purposes of the conversation we're having and wanting to understand from you how the foundation works, it doesn't really make sense without those stories being brought into it.
Levi:I know you share those stories as you're working with people through the foundation, but it sounds like in 2016, you resolved to do something with this in the midst of incredible pain and suffering at that moment, Jay's death through suicide. If I have this right, maybe 2022 or so, the foundation really starts to take shape. Can you describe for folks what is the foundation today? We alluded to it at the beginning of our conversation, but what is the work that it focuses on? And then I'd love for you to unpack what you all do specifically through the boot check program with seniors and high schools and boot check certified businesses.
Levi:As you said, you're trying to change the culture. There's a tremendous amount of silent suffering, as you said, especially in the West and especially amongst men. And the self reliance ends up going too far where people get themselves into a spot, into a problem that they don't believe they or anyone else can help them get out of. And when they feel like there's only one solution, all of a sudden there's a tragic loss. And as you're trying to change that culture, help us understand what the Jay Foundation does, what it looks like today.
Levi:And then I'd love to hear more about those specific programs that are really impacting people.
Jason:Yeah. So the reality is, is it just wasn't like this commitment in 2016 to, Hey, the foundation was here. And it was about a five year journey. I had gotten the 5013C up and going, put the strategic plan together, this vision. And the reality is, is it was never gonna work.
Jason:You know, the first version was actually a phishing foundation and it was not gonna work. It was really, really bad. Carolyn says it was lost and confused. It wasn't bad, Jason. It was bad.
Jason:It was, yeah, it was never gonna work. Yeah, it really broke through in August of twenty twenty one is kind of when I had my moment of like, oh, this is what it is. And it was a trip with my title one senior leadership team, kind of took them back and was getting away for a strategic planning weekend and took them to the cowboy shop. And cowboy shop was a very hard place for me to go for years because just all the memories. So took them in there and I got them a pair of boots kind of as a gift just for all their work and all their efforts.
Jason:And, you know, it was so amazing to see the joy and happiness and childlike behavior almost when they got their boots on. I just remember thinking like, oh, there's something there. There's something special.
Levi:So There's some magic in these boots.
Jason:Yeah, there's definitely some magic in them. And so really, was coming out of that that, you know, I was like, okay, I think I've got this. And so I spent some time building out the vision for it. And you know, at its simplest and purest form, the whole thought and the whole idea behind the Jay Foundation was if I could have just taken an hour out of my day, bought my buddy Jay a pair of cowboy boots, had a real conversation around mental health, depression, and suicide, and we would have made a couple commitments, I truly feel like he'd still be with us. And for some, that that concept's almost too simple.
Jason:Right? And but at its simplest and purest form, and if we did nothing else at the foundation, it would be if I could have just taken my buddy Jay, get a pair of boots, spend an hour with him, and had a real conversation. Right? And then those boots are a reminder that he's loved, that he's valued, that he's needed and wanted here. And if he ever got into that spot, he can put his boots on and he can reach out and ask for help.
Levi:The boots are sort of a conduit for the conversation, but also a tangible reminder, whether you're wearing them or they're on your closet floor or in your house that the thought idea you have there and some of the impact you saw when you took this group of Title One leaders to the Bing family shop and you saw the magic of what type of conversation you could have with these boots.
Jason:Yeah. And almost even more than a reminder and accountability tool, right? Like we all have responsibility to once we get our J boots that if there's something that's really hanging there, we gotta put our boots on and have the conversation. On the flip side, we gotta put our boots on and make sure to check-in with those around us. And so kind of the the why we exist here at the foundation is to create what we call boot check moments.
Jason:And a boot check moment is a very simple concept. Right? It's slowing down and checking on ourself and checking on those around us. And there's a lot of different tools and ways that we can can do that. But again, I'm not you know, I'm I'm a small town Wyoming kid, right?
Jason:Like, we gotta keep it pretty simple in a lot of the things I do. And so the simplicity of the foundation is, I think, what makes it so impactful. But, those boot check moments, you know, have just been incredible to see what just the power, especially in a society and a culture where we are constantly, as Americans, we are constantly go, go, go. Right? Technology, you throw that in there, everything that's going on.
Jason:Very rarely do we actually, like, truly just slow down and check-in on ourselves and those around us. And, you know, all this was built based on, you know, the what ifs of what could I have done with my buddy Jay. You know? And for me, it's like if I could've just created a boot check moment for for him and for me and, you know, things could have potentially looked looked different. And so, yeah, the foundation has has really grown.
Jason:You know? I never forget the first year I thought, oh, if we can just do one pair of boots, this was 2022. So that was kind of the first year we started doing boots. And I thought if we could just do one pair per day, that would be three sixty five boots for the year. And, oh, that would be really special to be able to impact people there.
Jason:Here we are and we're three and a half years into it and, you know, we're at over 18,000 pairs of J boots and
Levi:Wow.
Jason:You know, our high school senior boot initiative continues to grow in a huge way. And so definitely did not have the vision for where it's at today. I think what we realized early is just the impact that creating those boot check moments can have, and it's been really, really neat to see so much good. And and, you know, the reality is our mission's really hard. You know?
Jason:And there's a lot of hurt and a lot of pain and a lot of healing. And so, you know, we have to, you know, make sure with our team, with our, you know, our volunteers, everyone here that we're being super intentional about checking in on on that group too. Yeah. Yeah. We've got 12 major initiatives at the foundation, which might seem like a lot, but it really leans into our inclusive core value if we want there to be an initiative, an avenue to to have everyone get involved in some form or fashion.
Jason:And so these range from our high school senior boot initiative, which is our top priority at the foundation. This next year, twenty twenty six twenty twenty five, 2026, you know, we'll probably take around 6,000 to 7,000. We'll see where it lands. High school seniors throughout Idaho and Wyoming through the high school senior boot initiative.
Levi:That's incredible.
Jason:Yeah. It's it's just been really, really crazy to see. We, you know, have a school or two from Nevada, Oregon. I'm talking to one in Utah, Iowa, and Texas right now. So that initiative is really growing and and working in a big, big way.
Jason:You mentioned earlier just our boot check certified businesses, challenging businesses to invest in their team with a pair of j boots and having the conversation and creating a culture that looks a little different. You know, I think where we've seen the biggest impact is within the trades and construction and and some of those, you know, really, really kind of hard hard nosed, hard, you know, jobs, careers, tough tough guys. Right? Like and, man, just the the impact and how some of those guys have just been amazing through this journey and how they've led themselves and families. And so, yeah, there's a lot of depth.
Jason:You know, our website's got more detail on all those. I won't go through all the initiatives today, but there's a link that's got all 12 of them on there with detail on what they all kind of consist of.
Levi:So on the boot checks, one, at a practical level, you're taking people through this conversation, through the context of or the channel of giving them a pair of boots so that the high school initiative or high school students coming to because you actually have a place in Twin, a shop in Twin Falls. I think all the proceeds, that's a small western wear shop if I I kind of understand it correctly and all the proceeds go to the foundation, but it acts as a physical place to that these students can come to. So are they getting bust in to do this? Or are you doing this? I assume you also do this at the cowboy shop in Wyoming or help me understand where are they going to get these boots?
Levi:One place, multiple places. And as you see that expand potentially beyond Idaho and Wyoming, some of these other states you mentioned, are y'all providing the talking points and curriculum, so to speak? But I love the simplicity of this and what you're seeing in the power of this. So don't want to overstate that in a good way. Are you providing that to them and they're doing that at local shops?
Levi:Help us understand how it works.
Jason:Yeah. So kind of three locations. So we've got Jay's Place here, which is a 17,000 sq feet building here in Twin Falls. It does have a retail store that's about 6,000 of that. And then just got some awesome office and collaboration and leadership space here.
Jason:And so that's our Magic Valley Schools all come here to Jay's Place. So they are bused in. And if you are here in September, October at Jay's Place, it is pure chaos for about five or six years. Yeah, we have about 2,000 Magic Valley students that come in through Jay's Place. You know, we by design, we try to keep the group small, so between fifteen and twenty five per group.
Jason:And so you can do the math on how many groups it is. But, yeah, those are obviously super special to be able to take them through Jay's place. We do do three or four schools in Wyoming at the cowboy shop. So kind of the local ones there within forty five minutes an hour.
Levi:And that's what Jay's family still owns?
Jason:Mhmm. Yep. Yep. So they're still back there. And Pinedale, Big Piney, Skyline, and then Farson, those four schools, we actually go to the cowboy shop.
Jason:But schools outside of that, we actually create pop up experiences is what we call them in the school. Oh, okay. We'll do a takeover at the school and, you know, we'll convert, you know, the auditorium into the boot room or the lobby into the boot room. But we kind of have three chapters to the story, right? We the first chapter is Sharon Jay's story.
Jason:The second one is where we gift these students their pair of boots. And then the third chapter is really when we talk about the mission of the foundation, creating a boot boot check culture within the schools and the tools and resources that we have at the foundation. And so, yeah, each experience is so different. You know, we were in Cuna a few weeks ago and, you know, did the Cuna caveman takeover and all those seniors got a pair of boots right before graduation and just a really incredible donor up in the Treasure Valley that made that happen. And so, that's kind of the high school senior loot initiative, how we do it.
Jason:Now what's really neat is, you know, each summer, and we're gearing up for these right now, but we'll actually identify leaders in those respective schools that are gonna be incoming seniors, and we will take them back and pour them pour into them in in our retreats. And so, you know, we equip them with all the tools, the the toolkit to bring a boot check culture into their school. We have a series of what we call teen outreach events throughout the year. You know, once people get their senior boots, we have these these pop up events throughout the year at Jay's Place or in Wyoming. They're more community community kind of pop up.
Jason:And we have a tool called the self boot check, and it kind of goes through eight categories of of overall holistic health. And we really try to design the those outreach events around each one of those those eight. And so, not only is it getting the boots, but there's, you know, these follow-up events at Jay's Place. We're working on our self boot check tool. I'm very, very excited about it.
Jason:Hopefully, this fall, you know, we'll have a really cool app and website version of this where we can go back into schools. We can go into businesses. And our self boot check tool is super dynamic and kinda creating a virtual, platform for that to be able to take it to those schools in an easier way. And within that too, we do scholarships each year for, those graduating seniors. We've got a ton of kids we work with on senior projects.
Jason:So that high school senior boot initiative is is definitely the top priority here. It's where the majority of our time, energy, money goes here at the foundation. And but it's it's totally worth it. It's an amazing initiative.
Levi:What y'all have built in three and a half years and the impact you're having, the lives that you're touching is really incredible. I love one of the things you said earlier as you're sharing the story about the foundation, just the simplicity of the boot and using it as a tool, as an anchor, as an act of generosity, connecting it back to Jay's story that resonates with kids, also resonates with people in work places. I know we've had some of our employees and people that we're connected to through the trades in Twin Falls in particular go through the program. And it's been extremely well received and does resonate with people in a way that I think is, as you sort of alluded to, somewhat surprising. Like, can't believe this sort of thing works.
Levi:But I think the connection to Jay and that story and helping people understand how that could be them or that could be their friend or their loved one. And the boot ends up connecting them to that story and that risk and that opportunity to intervene, extend care, like you said, be accountable for creating a culture that can make a significant difference, whether in a school environment, work environment, or the community at large.
Jason:Yeah. And I think, you know, the simplicity, but really the challenge of like empowering people to go change the world and take light to the world. And I think that's something that really resonates too, right? And it's that boot.
Levi:Like there's something they can do about this.
Jason:Yeah, for sure. And it's like, we're not gonna take you through this super long journey. And I mean, there's there's definitely follow-up work we do and and but it's like, it's it's simple. And then it's like actual, like, now I get to go be a part of this culture that we're trying to shift and my boots give me that confidence and the permission to go, you know? And so I think it's so cool to see how many things have come out of the foundation that, you know, just because somebody went through, I know it sounds super, super simple, they took that hour out of their day, they went through the journey and it sparked an idea or it sparked passion.
Jason:I had a guy that was in the military and he went through and he really wasn't active for ten years and he got kind of in a spot and once he got his boots, he said, you know, Jason, like this was a slap in the face for me is what it was. And, you know, for him, it really initiated change and reengaging with some of his former military buddies. So I think with the Jay Foundation experience, it's something different for everyone, right? Whether it's healing, whether it's motivation, whether it's that slap in face, right? Whether it's just that reminder that we are all loved and valued.
Jason:It does speak to everyone in a little different way. It's so fitting because that's who Jay was, right? And so those boots, when they're gifted to people, they connect with people in all these different ways. And at its core, that's, you know, that's how Jay how Jay did it with his friend groups and people he interacted with too. So it's very fitting.
Levi:Yeah. Man, it's it's a really inspiring story. Again, yours, Jay's, what's been done out of that pain and tragedy and the impact of 18,000 plus so far and the thousands you're talking about in the coming year. We want to make sure people know how to get involved or to get resources. So I think, one, we want to let people know if they or somebody else is in crisis.
Levi:Your website has fantastic resources, and I love that that's front and center, you're making sure that that's easy for people to get to. But it'd probably be a good time for us to spell Jay's name because that's easy for people to type in something different. So when we say Jay, we're talking about Jay spelled J A E. Yeah, right. J A E Foundation is the website and jaefoundation.com.
Levi:They could go to the website, as you said, find out about the programs in their local areas with businesses or the school or other things you did. As you said, you got 12 initiatives. If people elsewhere across the country are interested in doing something like this, they can also reach out to your team on through the contact us on the website and and and learn more and and start that discussion. Is that available?
Jason:Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, you know, our growth on our website, again, when we first started the simplicity of it because we had a vision of 365 boots, and that was kind of it. Right?
Jason:And it's really grown and evolved. And so our website again, yeah, www.jfoundation.com, jae. And, yeah, everything you're you're gonna need is on there. It's got, you know, resources for families that lost loved ones. It's got, hey, what do I do in a crisis situation right now?
Jason:I think one of the the best things that happened was the simplification of the 988 number a couple years ago. And Yeah. I know I encourage anyone if it's if a right now crisis, that 988 number can get you to so many great resources no matter where you're at in the country. And the people that really work those lines and are on the other side of those are just amazing, amazing people. But yeah, for for us, you can learn more about our retreats.
Jason:We have a huge week called BTHO week in September. You know, that's got more details on there. We have a a new fire group. It's one of our initiatives where families have lost loved ones gather once a month here at, the Jay Foundation at Jay's Place and are able to work through tools and resources to help them in in their journey. And so all those initiatives, all the contact will will be on there.
Jason:And, yeah, if you wanna reach out to us, like I said, we had a having conversations with a family out in Iowa right now that wanna bring high school senior boots to a local school out in Iowa. So, yeah, we we had at our our fundraising event in April, we had people from 40 states, you know, throughout the country, six countries come into Twin Falls. And so the reach has been incredible and Yeah. And and, you know, just a lot more to learn on our website and
Levi:That pop up model, you know, with the schools in particular, that model travels well. Exactly. That's something that you can scale. So that's exciting that you've got people that broadly, not surprising hearing Jay's story about how he connected with everybody, that it's connecting with a wide array of people and more people are interested in leveraging this model that you've really uncovered, connecting, you know, this story and information and resources and helping individuals, many of them by putting the boots on their feet and just love everything that you're doing. I just want to tell you on behalf of other businesses that, you know, with a lot of people like you're describing who could be suffering or have challenges that could go unnoticed, as you described the sort of Western culture and some of the things that we love about it, but also need to change about it.
Levi:You take in the initiative and I know it's not just you, you, your wife and others and people that have donated and helped make this happen. But the impact in these three and a half years and thinking about what the impact could be over the next three and a half and more on culture is really exciting.
Jason:It's been way, way bigger than I ever thought it would be. And to your point, like it's just taken thousands and thousands of people have each done our part, you know? And that's what I say all the time. Like we each have our part in this whole thing and that's why it's working is because everyone is doing their part. And, you know, that's the $20 check we received from Massachusetts from a grandma that said, I don't know what happened with my granddaughter today, but she went through and got these senior boots and I've never heard her like that, right?
Jason:And to the cooks, to our volunteers, to people that come in and teach line dancing, you know, and we do all sorts of different things. And to the Levi Smiths of the world that host a podcast and say, Hey, come share Jay's story. And so I think that's what's so cool is there is an army behind this thing and we're gonna continue to march in a big, big way.
Levi:We wanna also be part of helping resource y'all a little bit better. Wanna encourage folks before I get into that, just go visit the Jay Foundation site where you can find out more and you can find out how to get involved and in your own way, take some action. Don't be passive around this as an opportunity for you, as we said earlier, to do something in big and small ways. But we also want to do something really tangible in terms of helping with the donations. With the podcast, one of things we're going to do is if people go to the Jay Foundation site, and I think you got to click the Contact Us button and then you say, I want to donate.
Levi:And if you want to donate there, you say, I want to make a financial donation. If folks will put the keyword FBS in the comments of their donation, Franklin Building Supply and then a partner, you and I both work with, Hub International Insurance. We're going to combine to do a dollar for dollar match up to $2,000 to try to put more resources in the foundation's hands to be able to impact more people. So just a small way for us to further get behind what you're doing, say thank you, but to also challenge people listening to this, go to the site, donate whether it's $20 or $200 put FBS in the comments as you make that donation and HUB International and Franklin Building Supply will will do a dollar match up to $2 so we can double some donations there.
Jason:Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you guys so much. Yeah. You guys and Hub have been amazing.
Jason:So thank you. And we, yeah, I appreciate that in a big, big way.
Levi:Well, Jason, thank you for sharing your story today, Jay's story and more about the Jay Foundation that is impacting the lives of people in Idaho and Wyoming, but increasingly beyond. I'm excited for more people to learn about what you're doing, whether through this medium or others. Again, I want to say I really appreciate what you, your wife, Bing family and others have done to help make this foundation what it is today and love the vision that you've got to have even more impact and transform culture around this issue. So thank you for the time and thank you for sharing today.
Jason:Thanks for having me on. It's awesome to visit with you.
Levi:Thank you for listening to this episode of Ain't That Something. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider subscribing to the podcast in your listener and sharing the podcast or this episode with others. Thanks again to our season sponsor, TrustJoyce, and to our guest for graciously sharing their time and story. So go start, create, or build something surprising so I can share your story. Until next time.