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Up Your Average is the “no nonsense” podcast made for interesting people who think differently. Learn to navigate your life with unconventional wisdom by tuning in to Keith Tyner and Doug Shrieve every week.
None of us got to where we are today on our own accord.
Others paved the way, others offered help, encouragement, and sacrifice so we might see
the things that we see, we might know the things that we know, and we might express our
God-given talents to the world.
Welcome to the Up Your Average Podcast, where Keith and Doug give no nonsense advice.
To level up your life.
So buckle up and listen closely to up your av.
Good morning and welcome to another Up Your Average.
We are working in two spots today and it seems to be common that when we do this we have
some technical difficulties.
So I'm the culprit.
I'm traveling today and Doug and Caleb will be jumping in as quickly as they can.
uh I just want to welcome you and just thank you for joining us today.
This is um i a somber day.
It's the uh
25th anniversary of 9-11.
And it is a reminder that freedom doesn't come freely and that there's a cost for what we
have in America today.
We want to thank all of our service people across the world for what they do to give us
the freedom that we have.
It's clear when you watch the events unfold twenty-five years ago.
that there is evil in the world and that evil wants to steal our freedom.
And so just a just a praise to those people that have fought to preserve our freedom, a
memorial to those who died on September eleventh, and just a celebration for those of us
who look to the future with boldness, confidence, and hope.
And so as we think about
9 11 and the 25 years since then, it's a memorial not only to the enemies against us, but
it's a celebration to the possibilities of the freedom of America.
I think when I reflect on that, one of the things that I did frequently, and I would
encourage you as well, is when you think that the fear is as high as it is.
often the the safety is as high as it is.
It's it's kind of a counterintuitive thing.
But what we would do is if we traveled to New York City, which we did quite a bit after
nine eleven, we would actually stay down in the financial district because uh a couple
things.
One, I wanted to honor the people that that died, and I also wanted to honor the people
that lived and that they were going to rebuild that.
And so in the months and years that followed
we were honored to be down there staying and watching the development and the uh
resurgence of life down in the financial district.
And so Doug and I both traveled to the Pentagon and saw the damage there shortly
thereafter, I think in two thousand six, maybe five years after, and then on the way home
from that trip to the Pentagon, we journeyed over to uh
Shanksville, Pennsylvania, um, just outside of Pittsburgh to see the memorial there.
And if you've not been to either one of those, I'd encourage you to do that just as a
reminder of the cost of the freedom that we do have.
They're both um very worthy places.
They're both both very um sombre and yeah
I think life giving places to remind us that um there is a future in the midst of
difficulties.
So the the I d I don't know if I have anything else to say about that.
Doug's gonna jump in here shortly and and the up your average today wasn't really a a
whole hour long or half hour long uh memorial to nine eleven, but simply a chance for us
to um
Just reflect on it and let others know that we we think it's a big deal, that our country
is what it is.
So let me uh kick off the conversation and then Doug can jump in as soon as the technical
difficulties are alleviated and and kind of help you think about some things that are very
critical.
I I thought of the quote that um Sir Isaac Newton said.
as kind of a springboard in today's conversation.
He said, if I've seen farther, it's by standing on the shoulders of giants.
And the idea that none of us got to where we are today on our own accord, that others
paved the way, others offered help, encouragement, and sacrifice so we might see
the things that we see, we might know the things that we know, and we might express our
God given talents to the world in need of our skills.
So that quote just always made me think of the people that have come before me, encouraged
me and offered me uh direction, encouragement and help along the way.
There was another quote that came to mind from John Dunn.
John Dunn said, No man is an an island entire of itself.
Every man is a piece of a continent, a part of the main.
In case you don't know John Dunn, he's the same guy that said uh for whom the bell tolls.
And so his quote about no man's an island wasn't so much about that we need the help of
everybody.
His was more fatalistic in that that once uh our days pass, we're no longer part of the
main and that our contribution to civilization, our contribution to progress is behind us.
And and that's not really the motivation of today's topic.
The motivation of today's topic is I traveled south down to Heavensville for first of all
to celebrate my sister's birthday last night we had dinner, and then secondly
Uh a close friend of mine is retiring from his days as a financial advisor.
And uh so I wanted to bring this conversation to honor him and to really point out the
importance of the shoulders for which we stand.
Doug, have you joined us yet?
Can you hear me?
I can.
I can't see ya, but that's not necessary, I suppose.
Well, you know, we we've we've had the tech department working overtime over here, but I'm
glad you can hear me.
And for someone driving down the road, it doesn't even matter if they can't see us.
So it's all good.
Yeah, definitely have been the benefactor of several people marching forward chasing their
passions in front of me.
And I can't remember I I it might have been um
My my brother in law who who gave me the dad joke, um that he was named after George
Washington.
Oh really?
What's his name?
his name's Jib.
Doesn't it sound like George?
Yeah, he was named after George Washington.
And so you know, se several several of of the um folks that have have helped me over the
years, I have come after
them, they have put their blood, sweat, and tears into their careers and their pat and
chased their passions and suffered through it and and cared enough to share along the way.
And so I'm extremely grateful for people like that.
And I'm grateful for the people who stand on the bridges uh as you as you're driving down
I 69 to help us remember our past.
On September 11th, they're always there.
waving American flags and and that's a great reminder to me of of of the past.
And then it's also a a a conversation starter for my sons to say, hey, this is this is
where we were.
Hard to imagine.
But these people care so much that they come out every year and and help us remember the
past.
That's really cool.
And I suppose a lot of those have passed after twenty five years, because if my
recollection is still good, is that a lot of those folks were a little more seniored in
the day.
So it's probably a new crowd of people that are doing that now.
Did you see the drones that they did over New York City?
I did not.
They did you see it, Caleb?
I think so, yeah.
Where they outlined the
Twin Towers.
Yeah.
Oh really?
That was that was beautiful.
Yeah, I d I just briefly saw it and didn't know what it was, but that's yeah, that's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So special.
So Caleb is someone who was not uh on planet Earth um when nine eleven happened.
Correct.
So uh that's it's a whole different experience for Caleb than for you and me, Doug.
Yeah, I don't know anything different.
So Yeah, I get it.
Yeah, I get it.
Yeah, so in two thousand one, you think you go back and you think about uh who has
influenced you since then, Keith.
Uh we've met several amazing people in the business.
And if if we just start from where we are right now, one of them would be Stan Weinstein.
w we didn't we didn't know Stan in 2001.
Uh I had read his book before 2001.
I think you had as well.
But he's someone who's you know, we've been able to stand on him and learn from him and
think deeply about investment portfolios, how how markets work, how supply and demand
works, and how those affect charting.
And so
Yeah, Stan would be a guy who's poured tremendous amount of time and hours into us and
couldn't be more grateful for him.
Man, what a what a wonderful man.
And when I was reflecting upon the shoulders for which I s stand, uh there was uh an award
I got that you guys have that our friends won't be able to see.
Maybe we can include it in the show notes later, but it it was
a plaque that basically showed that that the people standing today are standing upon the
accomplishments of those who came before them.
And it's just a humbling thing to appreciate that other people care enough to to invest in
you.
They care enough to um do business with you.
Like our clients uh that that have done business with us all these years.
th they're the shoulders for which we stand to help the new clients or the clients you
know, of twenty forty or whatever, the people that Caleb will be helping.
It's it's all of you that have have been so gracious to us over the years.
And so my my my first memorial though, Doug, has to go pre nineteen or yeah, nine or two
thousand one.
Uh I have had this sitting on my desk.
I don't know if yeah we can for quite a few
years it says, let the next five years be your fest best five years, and it says Steve
Gorman down there at the bottom.
And most of you probably have no idea who Steve Gorman is.
And Steve is the reason that I'm sitting in Bethel Church's coffee shop today.
He used to be a leader in this particular church organization until he's shifted somewhere
else and
When I opted to grab coffee this morning in Evansville, I thought this would be a good
place.
Steve's put a lot of time, energy, and love into this organisation.
And I'm here in Evansville to celebrate his career as a financial advisor uh with the
traditional firm Merrill Lynch.
He's spent probably forty-five years helping people around the city of Evansville and
probably around the country.
And I um just want to honor Steve.
As somebody who's poured into me over the years.
I think five years is a reasonable time to look forward and say, this, this could be my
next, you know, my best five years.
Five years gives you enough time to say, yeah, these are some things I need to get done
and accomplish them.
And to uh say these are some things I'd love to do or love to experience, or maybe my wife
would love to experience this, or my kids might be.
mature enough to handle that.
And so five five years is a great vision outlook.
I wonder if that's something he's always had in mind or if he just chose to celebrate at
the that time that he gave the the uh glass award to you.
I you know, I'll ask him that when I see him today.
He he uh is one of those shoulders that in the the nineteen eighties our role was called a
stock broker and I just thought
That title was really cool.
I d I don't know.
I don't think anybody really uses that anymore.
I would bet maybe our friend Stan does, but a stock broker is a difficult role.
It's a role that the media created that made you an adversary.
people like Charles Schwab and organizations like that um marketed the idea that you need
to watch out for yourself because these people are gonna take advantage of you.
And yet, Steve cheered me on in my early twenties to get into this business and I'm
grateful that he did.
And uh his journey is probably four or five years ahead of mine and and so watching his
career unfold and watching how many hundreds and hundreds of people he's helped with his
wisdom and advice has been a constant motivator to continue doing so myself.
How did you meet him?
Steve went to the same church I did when I was a teenager down here in Evansville and he
somehow kept an interest in me even though he's a number of years older than me.
I'd like to say twenty, but he may or may not ever watch this and that would be offensive
to him.
I think it's probably closer to eight years older than me.
So imagine you're a teenager and somebody eight years older than you takes an interest.
That's really humbling at that point in my life.
Yeah, that's that's a big deal.
That's cool.
Yeah.
So I thought of as I was prepping my thoughts today, Doug, I thought of the shoulders for
which we stand.
I think clearly the the all of us, you, Caleb and myself, we stand on the shoulders of our
parents and our grandparents.
Um our spouses are a big deal to the fact that we can serve clients.
I know for me
the the early years were really hard in this business for me, like emotionally,
intellectually, I I can't even really begin to express how difficult they were, but Connie
was Connie was and is a constant cheerleader for me to keep putting one foot in front of
the other because you and I both know that it would have been easy to um exit stage right
at any point in time.
For sure.
Yeah.
And and you mentioned the clients early on.
Keith, I was thinking in 2001, I knew very few of our clients.
Maybe five or ten.
And so to have a whole bunch of new friends and people who've trusted us over the years
and poured into us and and given us feedback, uh, it's just been amazing what the clients
have taught us.
They've they've walked through their own lives with us so that we can see things
differently and and learn to think differently ourselves.
And so I am just extremely grateful, just just like I am for Stan.
I'm extremely grateful for our clients.
Um another person that comes in in in mind for me is a guy that you initiated contact with
at a Hardy's restaurant.
And he really helped us uh have this belief that we could do it.
that we could do things differently as far as managing money goes.
And um that guy at the Hardy's restaurant turned out to be one of the most successful Wall
Street investors that I've ever known personally.
And we're still friends today.
Yeah, Brian is a great man and his zeal for the investment world and specifically the
stock market, I th I think personally is what has kept him active and
intellectually sharp as attack.
Yeah, no no question about it.
Um a a couple other guys come in mind.
Uh you know, we've had Mitch Anthony on our podcast.
And um we've we've definitely benefited from Mitch Anthony's way of thinking and he's
helped us redefine what retirement is and helped many of our clients.
They they don't even know who he is maybe uh unless they came to the client event that
twenty years ago or whenever that was.
But um Mitch Anthony has a book out, The New Retirementality and his vision is, hey, why
don't you look at your retirement a little differently than just going to the golf course?
Nothing wrong with the golf course, but uh why don't you look at it a little differently
and he's he's been a great shoulder to stand on.
He's been awesome, yeah.
So so you you know, if you look at the roles and then those people in those roles, you
know, their parents, your spouse, your children, um
I I put down coaches, friends, mentors, employers, teachers, and authors and the authors
is where Mitch fit into that.
One of the um really cool ones of the shoulders is my mom, mom and dad, but my I think
when I walked away from Texas Instruments, because in the eighties, if you had a job with
a Fortune five hundred company.
you had arrived.
Like those were hard to come by.
And when I walked away from one one of those roles, it was just my parents couldn't
comprehend that.
And so jumping into this business with Hilliard Lyons um was really a challenging time.
And then and and one of the one of those shoulders over there is our friend Ken Moore,
again who is in his nineties and sharp as attack from I think just the idea of
staying intellectually challenged along the way.
So the um opportunity with Hilliard Lyons was spectacular.
And then a mentor who came along beside me was a a a good friend John Jeter.
And John has poured into both of our lives.
And so the the possibility to uh spend more time with John is he offered me an opportunity
to to start a business and I had
approximately ten dollars less than my rent the f the upcoming month and and so my mom, I
don't know where she dug it out, whether it was out of her underwear drawer or whatever,
came up with ten thousand dollars.
And that was my initial investment to start the business ISU securities.
And um the the forum credit union put up the rest of the money, but um just the economical
help from my mom and dad
uh at that pivotal point in my life was a big deal.
Ten we had ten thousand dollars.
Ten thousand dollars today may not sound like a lot, but when when when they came up with
that money for me, that that was ten thousand dollars was a good chunk of money.
Yeah, that that is super cool.
I uh Keith on the standing on shoulders, someone else I think of, he visited us this week
and he's not in the
financial services business.
He's in the he was in the insurance business.
He was a military guy.
But um our friend, our our friend Randy, who we who we leased a a building or we we leased
rental space.
He he was across the hall from us.
One of the things Randy did for us during that time was provided a lot of laughs.
And you gotta be able to have some fun while you're working and and during that season
Randy, he just provided tons of laughs.
I'll never forget he came over one day and he said, I hey, uh he had a nickname for me
that I won't repeat.
But but he he said he called you dad.
He called you dad, dad, which stood for something.
And he says, Hey dad, I I bet I can do more push-ups than you.
And so we had a push-up contest and he did more push-ups than me, and I think he was 75
years old.
And so just to be able to have some laughs and cut up and you know, that that just that
makes the workday so much more fun.
And so we we've had some people like that over the years, but nobody quite like Randy.
And so maybe i if i if you're listening to this, maybe you've had a Randy in your life,
someone that uh you could tell some workplace stories about and and you just you just
giggle every time you think of them.
I think one of the great things Gimbal has been
good at is having a welcome mat out um for people to stop in.
you know I I'm kinda anal and don't like disruptions, but at the same time I do like that
welcome mat.
And I think of our friend Pete.
He used to drop off what, Titsy Roll Pops or Cha Chachi that he would go get it somebody
else's business and bring it to us and then take our fins and things and go drop off
somewhere else.
Pete was a hoot and he was a great guy.
So um Caleb, who who jumps to your mind?
Like I know that you you haven't had a lot of time to like stretch yourself on the
shoulders of great people, but there there have been people in your life that have been an
influence.
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I think we touched on some of them.
parents for sure.
Been a huge blessing and a help to me.
Uh the other one
we touched on with spouses uh with Judah.
I think early on in our relationship, I don't think I was as confident or as out there as
I am now, which I still am not, but I think getting into a relationship made me want to
grow as a grow as a person, become uh more confident just in myself.
And just grow.
So I think that was a huge help in my uh late teenager years and early twenties.
Um, and I don't know if she even realizes that.
Uh I also put Bob Warren.
I don't specifically remember here and there I remember some stories, but like one on one
or any of that, but just his influence.
on myself through you, through Leviner, and uh through the hill down in Murray, or I guess
Harden, Kentucky, um, which is still going.
And um with my three years at Murray State, I was still able to uh feel the influence of
him and go to Tuesday night bible studies and
And have that community around while uh being down at school.
Uh what is it ten ten years ten years after his death?
It's pretty crazy.
Yeah, Bobby I don't I'm sorry.
Go ahead.
You go ahead.
Well, I was gonna say the last uh bit of people is uh men from church.
You have rusty
Kennedy, Charlie Ward, Michael Langmack, and and a bunch of others have just poured in
into me throughout the years and uh just loved on me and helped me get where I am now.
And I'd say even with Micah uh just showing me
The love of woodworking and a hobby I can uh do years years down the road.
One of those funniest people that has the gift of pouring into other people and and kindly
and patiently is John Hilficker and I just remember him sitting on the co pilot of a forty
two foot R V while you're driving it.
I don't remember if we were in New Mexico or where we were and
We were.
Yeah, and and I remember Charlie Ward uh saying the video what was going on is what they
call in illegal to the world evidence.
So yeah, that was that was a beautiful thing.
Watching John teach you to drive an R V was just an unbelievable thing.
Yeah.
I wanna jump back to Bob go ahead.
I was gonna say that was something I I think I had just gotten my permit and driving this
big rig.
Yeah, that was beautiful.
I th there was another time he was teaching your sisters to drive on the Dalton Highway,
which is the road between Fairbanks and the Arctic Ocean, where there are no guard
guardrails, mostly no pavement.
And I I think it was you that finally said, Dad, make quit.
So it was a lot of fun.
Uh jumping back to Bob Warren.
He he was definitely a giant whose shoulders I stood on and I'm grateful that I crossed
paths with him.
Bob taught me
Um he taught me a t idea, he called it the principle of the cross, and the idea was that
as you live selflessly, you're really gonna live.
If you do things for what other people get out of it rather than what you get out of it,
that's where life begins.
And he taught me many other things and just a great friend and just
To be able to to pay it forward for the influence Bob's had in my life.
That that's been an honor for me.
Yeah, I think it when you look out the next five years, to go back to Steve's plaque, when
you look out the next five years, um, humility is probably the number one ingredient for
someone's shoulders that you're gonna stand on.
And um and so it'll be really cool to see who comes in our life in the next five years,
and we might be able to be a support base for them or they might be a support base for us.
But it is based on relationships and it's it's based off of what can the other person get
out of this?
W how can we help them move forward with what's important to them?
Yeah, I think you're right.
And I I I'd say I don't want to negate the idea that standing on the shoulders of my
children, that really uh a big motivator for me through the years has been to provide for
and direct my children.
So
Even though they maybe weren't presenting me information at the time when I needed it.
The information they were providing me was that as a dad I want to provide for them and
that they were an unbelievable motivator to me through the years.
Let's let's do a little bit of a lightning round, Doug, before we set our friends free for
the day.
how about a coach?
Is there a coach that s comes to mind for you?
Well, you know, I I would
I do have a coach that came to mind as soon as you said it.
But the um the guy that I think of is a guy by the name of John Clark.
He wasn't my band director.
He was the band director for a high school that was in my community, but he was my private
lessons teacher for the trumpet from the time I was a fifth grader all the way through my
senior year.
And John Clark was cool.
He always dressed cool.
He's just cool.
He's super confident.
he's a tell it like it is kind of guy.
And I wouldn't be here without John Clark and his weekly instructions that gave me
confidence to be a performer.
For me, that's Steve Sander.
He was my freshman baseball coach, I believe, basketball coach, one or the other.
And when I was mediocre to average, um
He was a constant cheerleader that saw the future that I could be not where I was at the
time.
So I always appreciated Steve's influence.
How about a friend that jumps to the forefront?
Yeah, so especially tied to this business, my good friend John Yeager.
John Yeager was a great student at Taylor University.
We were good friends there.
And he was uh one of the first to graduate from Rick Siemens class where you'd walk out of
Taylor with a series seven license.
And uh John won the Albert Gallatin Award at A.
G.
Edwards and Sons, just crushing it.
And he was of great encouragement to me that this business that you could make it in this
business back in nineteen ninety-eight, nineteen ninety-nine.
I think of Jeff Strauss, who lives down here in Evansville and wrote one of our anchor
articles about him.
Teaching me after my basketball career was over to shoot a jump shot.
And um I just think a lot of Jeff and and his devotion as a friend and his willingness to
uh humble himself in the presence of others.
Any mentors jump to mind?
Oh man, I've had so many mentors, but um probably the the biggest one uh is is a guy by
the name of Aaron Walker that just comes off off the
Tip of my tongue here.
Aaron Walker started a group called Iron Sharpens Iron.
And uh there was a time in my life when I was watching his Facebook videos.
He would stroll down the the Greenway somewhere in Nashville, Tennessee, and he would just
give a quick note of encouragement or life principle or business principle.
And it was just enough to keep me curious.
And that led to a relationship and a friendship with Aaron.
Big A.
How about an employer?
Oh man.
Well, of course it's you, Keith.
Yes, sir.
I have to go with Mike Haymes at Texas Instruments.
Mike was uh a go getter.
he would be intimidating to a lot of people, but he was kind enough to push me hard at a
as a young man and to challenge my thoughts, and Mike was a big deal.
How about a teacher?
Oh boy, Mrs.
White.
Mrs.
White was my junior year.
I should say my mother-in-law.
My mother-in-law was my economics teacher.
But uh Mrs.
White, I really struggled in trigonometry.
And she would come in every Friday morning and meet me at 6 AM Friday mornings to help me
get through Trig.
I I'm gonna cheat on this one.
I have Ava nurse who was my fourth grade teacher.
And she was very patient with me when I was a rebellious fourth grader.
And then Pearl Seder was probably my sixth grade teacher.
And Mrs.
Seder was the one that introduced me to the stock market and later brought me in to speak
to her students as a stockbroker.
So that was very cool.
Final role is an author.
I know you mentioned Mitch Anthony.
Any other authors you want to give credit to?
Well, I mean, William O'Neill, he he's very influential in our lives, your life, my life.
I picked up his book in nineteen ninety eight, uh, but I I didn't fully grasp it until
probably twelve years later, uh fifteen years later.
And so uh William O'Neill, Nick Murray, I mean there there's there's tons of uh stock
books that I've just loved, but lately, without a doubt, it's Stan's book.
Yeah, Stan Weinstein's been a great blessing and and getting to know him along with being
able to read his material has been a real cool thing.
And you know, probably a author that's had a big influence on me as the Apostle Paul.
His his writings have been a great encouragement and have kind of ebb ed e um ebbed me on
to uh choose to live more abundantly and fully as uh I go about my days.
And as our friends are watching this, I would
encourage you to think about those roles in your life too because there's something about
the gratitude of people that have paved the way for you that opens doors of possibilities
for your future.
And uh I just really appreciate you all hanging out with us.
It's been a lot of fun today.
Doug, any parting words?
may your next five years be your best five years.
All right.
Thanks, Steve, and everybody else.
Have a great afternoon.