EP 47 Pure Inspiration at JAG (Jobs for America's Graduates)

We're not choked up, you're choked up.  Wow!  The guys spend an afternoon interviewing students at JAG's (Jobs for America's Graduates) National Career Development Conference (NCDC).  In this episode, you'll hear how lives changed, doors opened, and how a group of young people is making the most of their opportunities, all because of JAG.

A list of Guests Interviewed:  Bailey, Jamarcus, Gabe, Madison, Caleb, James Jackson, and Lane Faulkner.   

Video of Steve getting an award (at Appx 1.48:10) here:  https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=2093927045342003&rdid=3ziMBc5LK1ucOUqR ...Oh, and Johnny C Taylor spoke too. 

Learn more about JAG at: https://jag.org/
Learn More about Money Moves University at: https://moneymovesuniversity.com/
Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/

Creators and Guests

Host

Fantastic Tony Benjamin

I am a unique HR leader with more than 20 years’ experience working for some of Utah’s oldest, fastest growing, and most well-known companies. My experience includes Superior Drilling Products, Air Medical Resource Group, Control4, Ovivo USA and Deseret Book. I am a regionally recognized authority on building successful cultures and am an alumni speaker at DisruptHR SLC and DisruptHR St. George. I have earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix, a Bachelor’s degree from Utah State University, and am a certified Professional of Human Resources (PHR). I'm married to a woman out of my league, have three brilliant kids I doesn’t deserve and, although I travel a lot, live in Vernal, Utah.

Host

Steven "Big Deal" Smith

Steve will be the first to tell you that recruiting is marketing. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance at Brigham Young University and started his career in recruiting in Feb 2005. In 2008, he took a risk during a recession to help start a new company with Ryan Kohler, called ApplicantPro, a full suite HR platform for small to mid-sized businesses. In March 2025, ApplicantPro became iSolved Talent Acquisition, now serving 177,000 clients and close to 9800 employees. Before the merger, ApplicantPro made the Inc 5000 list 12 years in a row, Top Places to work in Utah 3 years in a row, and Steve was named the Small Business Utah HR Achievement Award winner in May 2024. iSolved was also named an Indeed Platinum Partner in 2023, 2024, and 2025 and is one of only ten ATS platforms in the country to obtain that designation. SHRM-CP & PHR certified, Steve currently volunteers on the Utah SHRM State Council as the immediate past State Executive Director. His book, The Hiring Tree: Laws of Applicant Attraction, was released in early 2023, and has helped thousands of organizations across the country rethink their approach to hiring. If you need help understanding the principles and role of SEO, marketing, and AI when it comes to attracting job seekers, Steve provides a solid framework for hiring effectively.

What is The HR Life Podcast?

The HR Life Podcast is a show about the work-life experience of those of us in Human Resources and business leadership. This long-form podcast is a conversation, casual, and not always the corporate line. Hosts and guests touch on everything from serious or even controversial topics to the absurdity of modern American business practices. Your hosts are Tony Benjamin, owner and founder of The Grange Strategic HR Consulting, and Steven J. Smith, Author of The Hiring Tree: Laws of Applicant Attraction and all-around important guy. Guests include the best minds in the HR world. Join the show weekly.

Tony Benjamin (00:10.669)
Welcome to the HR Life Podcast, a podcast about the work-life experience of those of us in human resources and business leadership. Your hosts are fantastic Tony Benjamin, owner and founder of The Grange, Strategic HR Consulting, and Stephen Bigdeel Smith, who is so important that people literally ambush him with awards. Hey, Steve!

Steve-o (00:26.99)
That's a brand new one too

Tony Benjamin (00:39.775)
That's right, that's right. Well, am I wrong? I mean, you're highly decorated.

Steve-o (00:43.202)
You're not wrong.

Steve-o (00:48.076)
Yeah, so we are at the Jobs for America's Graduates Conference today, May 1st. So it's May Day for those of you who like the May Day stuff out there. And last night they had opening ceremonies and so I've been here since yesterday. And they surprised me with the Catalyst Award. So when they started this conference about five years ago, I was actually at the first conference. And the goal was to help students and get them

Tony Benjamin (00:54.537)
That's right, Mayday.

Steve-o (01:18.558)
Basically, what jobs for American graduates, this will be easier to explain this with the story. Basically, it's a national program that helps students who are not always in the best of, I guess, circumstances in their high schools. A lot of them struggle. They have families that struggle. And so they have specialists throughout the country that basically teach the students, they give them job skills, hands-on experience, and every year they decide to have this national conference, and it's called the NCDC.

Tony Benjamin (01:23.829)
Thank

Steve-o (01:47.982)
where all the students can come together and actually not only put those skills to the test, but they can also meet with employers, almost like a job fair, and they can practice things, do interviews, things like that, and just basically take the skills they've been learning in the classroom and actually put them into action. And so because I've been involved since the beginning and I've been volunteering for them since the beginning, last night they gave me the Catalyst Award and embarrassed me in front of, you know, 1,800 people, and yeah, and presented me this award. So kind of fun, but...

Definitely a surprise, but it's been fun. It's been fun to be involved with the students. It's been fun to watch the growth of this program, because when we first started, was way back in Texas five years ago, I think there was maybe 400 students, 500 students. It wasn't very big, and it has tripled since then. So it's a big deal, way bigger than me.

Steve-o (02:56.13)
Yeah.

Tony Benjamin (03:03.629)
There we go. Maybe I wasn't... Oh, you couldn't hear anything I said. Ha! Well... I was...

Steve-o (03:07.662)
I can hear anything you said. We'll have to cut that part out. I was like, wait a minute. Why can't I hear you right now?

Tony Benjamin (03:13.457)
I was saying how cool Steve looked, but since you know, since it's all done now. But no, what I was going to say is everybody here is all dressed up and it looks fantastic. There's people taking pictures. You can tell they're from all over. They're getting to know each other. There's a buzz in the room. People are dressed nice. It looks really cool. It's quite an environment. We're here at the Grand America in downtown Salt Lake, and it's a wonderful place for all this. Everybody looks great. We're going to have on a bunch of people and interview them.

Steve-o (03:16.735)
Ha

Steve-o (03:35.278)
Yeah, beautiful. Beautiful.

Tony Benjamin (03:43.371)
get to know them and hopefully we'll leave them mostly in order. So I'll have to insert the read somewhere but other than that we're gonna try and do this live so we're gonna hang on here everybody and we're trying this a little bit differently today so if it comes out a little bit differently or whatever then well we'll just that's right we'll see how it all goes that's right so

Steve-o (03:48.163)
hahaha

Steve-o (04:04.59)
So be it we're gonna wing it Yeah, and when Tony says they're all dressed up this is a suit and tie affair like this is not a like these students are dressed up like they're ready for business and and it's pretty impressive because like I said a lot of these kids are coming from homes that you know might be broken or just circumstances that are not always the best and and yet Jag has

Tony Benjamin (04:14.825)
That's right.

Steve-o (04:31.062)
For over 40 years, they've been working with these students to try to help them learn some of these hands-on skills to give them the best chance possible to enter the workplace. And for some of them, about 50 % of them to just simply go off to college and maybe get a degree that people in their family have never gotten before. And so a lot of them are kind of first timers in that sense. So pretty important, the transition these students are trying to make and the skills and things that they're learning. And so it's just been fun to watch them.

evolve and grow over the years that I've been involved with the program. So yeah, so we're going to talk to some students today. Austin will join us later. He's one of the presidents. They have a president. They have a student body president and board, if you will. So we're going to talk with Austin as well. And I believe there's a few other candidates, too, that are vying for positions next year. We might have a few of on as well. So yeah.

Tony Benjamin (05:13.001)
Wow.

Tony Benjamin (05:20.953)
Okay, cool. I like that. Okay, here we go everybody. This is what we're gonna do We're gonna hold here and we'll be right back with our first guest

Tony Benjamin (00:01.085)
Okay, here we are. We've got our first guest with us today, and her name is Bailey. Hi, Bailey. Hey, how are you guys doing? We're awesome. Look at Steve, the smile on his face. He's doing good. Love to bring smiles.

Steve-o (00:01.402)
Here we are, we've been our first guest with this today. And her name is...

Steve-o (00:09.982)
Yeah, ready to rock and roll.

Steve-o (00:14.286)
I even have the creases in the eyes, you know. It's the good smile.

Tony Benjamin (00:18.977)
That's exactly right. Gonna give him laugh lines trust. Good, good. Good so Bailey you're from South Dakota is that right? I am indeed.

Steve-o (00:23.703)
Yeah.

Tony Benjamin (00:30.421)
That's very cool. So tell me, tell me where in South Dakota. I am from a small town, I'd say. I'm from Lyman County. From Lyman County? Yes. Where is that? Now, I've been to South Dakota a bunch. sister lives there in Rapid City. So are you on the other side of the state or are on that side of We are on West River. We are kind of like dead middle of the state, I'd say. Kind of along the Mississippi River.

Steve-o (00:31.406)
So tell me.

Steve-o (00:39.251)
Amen.

side of the street or you are.

Tony Benjamin (00:57.919)
Yes. I do know where Brookings is.

Steve-o (00:58.358)
You know where Brookings is? Yeah, my great grandmother lives there. Yeah.

Tony Benjamin (01:04.321)
See lots of connections, right? Lots of connections. That's good. That's good. So tell us about you. Well, I'm a freshman. This is my third year in JAG and I'm competing in the PBL. What is the PBL? It's a project-based learning experience. Love it. Super fun.

Steve-o (01:24.844)
Yeah, so describe what you do in this type of, because we have a lot of competitions that are taking place here at JAV, right? Because the students are taking what they've been learning in the classroom and then they come here to compete. And do you guys actually get awards and stuff? I'm just curious. OK, OK, so they hand out awards. And so what is your project?

Tony Benjamin (01:40.181)
Yes.

So what is your project? So we decided to do Jingle and Mingle, Resolving the Hunger. It was a slideshow presentation that myself and my team worked on. And then we made a little speech to go with it. It's timed. And they decide which one had the greatest impact on the community, followed the best guidelines, and who just had the most fun with it, I think. Wow. OK, so time. How much time do you have?

Steve-o (02:05.774)
Wow. Okay, so how much time do you have?

Tony Benjamin (02:09.875)
So we have a maximum of seven minutes and a minimum of five.

Steve-o (02:13.73)
So you got to do an entire presentation in seven minutes, between five and seven minutes. Wow.

Tony Benjamin (02:17.024)
Yes.

We want to leave people wanting more. That's the right way to do it for sure. Absolutely. I always leave Steve wanting more. He wants more of my time than I'm willing to give for sure. I bet he does, Tony. I bet he does. That's exactly right. Thank you for talking to us. I appreciate it. say that the competition is the what again? The PBL. PBL. Yes. OK, very cool.

Steve-o (02:22.382)
Short sweet into the point. That's right.

Steve-o (02:43.886)
So why, Bailey, why did you get involved with Jack?

Tony Benjamin (02:50.931)
So I come from a family where my parents are divorced. And I saw all these kids doing JAG. And it looked kind of cool. So I walked into the classroom scared, out of my mind. Thought it was going be another boring class. It wasn't. It was like a required family, but everyone actually likes each other. It was amazing.

Steve-o (02:54.638)
Okay.

Tony Benjamin (03:10.721)
I think we actually might like each other more than you and Steve like each other. Well, that's probably not a high bar. So I don't know. Steve tolerates me. He's kind of in a different league. If you don't know this, Bailey, Steve's a big deal. Oh, yeah. Like, he's a big, big deal. Everyone knows Steve. I bet he does. Steve knows himself, and a few people know Steve. That's exactly right. That's beautiful way to put that. Thank you.

Steve-o (03:13.678)
Whoa

haha

Steve-o (03:23.625)
The big.

Steve-o (03:32.362)
That's exactly right. That's beautiful way to put it. Thank you. Oh man.

Tony Benjamin (03:37.269)
But yes, JAG has impacted me further better. I took it just curious, didn't know really what it was about, found a whole career section that I like, whole bunch of friends that I never thought I'd talk to, and just a given family.

Steve-o (03:55.086)
Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, that's really what it's all about, right? Making a difference in the lives of kids that sometimes we're not coming from the best of circumstances, right? Yeah, so that's awesome. And that's what this program is all about. Like I said at the beginning, kind of introducing this, which is why I love meeting the students here. It's been amazing to hear their stories and kind of what they've been through and where they're headed. Because I mean, you have a bright future ahead of you. hope I mean, you're only a freshman. Yeah. So that's cool.

Tony Benjamin (04:05.569)
That's what this.

Tony Benjamin (04:11.809)
been amazing to hear their stories and kind of what they've been through and where they're headed.

I hope so. Yeah. It's okay. I've been mistaken for a senior three times.

Steve-o (04:24.812)
Wow, okay. Cool.

Tony Benjamin (04:27.691)
Well, congratulations on being here. We're excited to meet you. You're awesome. Good luck in all your competition and what you're doing. We're excited to hear more. As the day goes along, come and see us, OK? And if you end up with extra food or something that you don't want or whatever, Steve will eat it. He'll eat about anything.

Steve-o (04:44.77)
Wow.

That's it.

Tony Benjamin (04:48.097)
That's, yeah, he is kind of like a real life raccoon. You're right, you're right. But yeah, anyways, we, by and see us. Good luck in everything you're doing, okay? We wish you all the best and welcome to Utah. Thank you guys so Enjoy it a lot. It is beautiful here. Perfect. All right, thanks Bailey. Thank you.

Steve-o (04:54.318)
Okay. Perfect. Thanks Bailey.

Steve-o (00:01.26)
All right, welcome back to the HR Life podcast. We've got our next guest on the hot seat here, the red seat, Gabe. Gabe, what's your last name?

Tony Benjamin (00:06.056)
My name is Gabriel first name, but my last name is got to logo and a lot of people have such a hard time pronouncing my name Some people say gal ego. Some people say gal ego. It's got tea logo. So GA got got tea logo G a TI logo and For some reason they have a hard time saying that I don't know why

Steve-o (00:22.328)
Wow!

Steve-o (00:28.205)
Wow.

That's okay, it is what it is. So, okay, so we want to ask you a few questions about JAG. How long have you been involved with JAG?

Tony Benjamin (00:35.01)
about Jack.

So I've been around JAG for around three years already. I started in my freshman year and this is going to be my third year joining JAG and I've been enjoying it so far.

Steve-o (00:50.51)
Okay, now where are you from?

Tony Benjamin (00:51.93)
I'm from St. Francis, very far from here. It's in South Dakota, so I'm in the state of South Dakota in reservation. Wait, wait, what part of South Dakota? Where at? I'm at the reservation, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Reservation in a tiny town called St. Francis, and that's where I've been growing up for years.

Steve-o (00:58.71)
OK, another South Dakotan. OK, cool.

Steve-o (01:14.136)
So you grew up on the reservation.

Tony Benjamin (01:15.752)
I was born in the Philippines. I was born in Philippines, but I grew up in the reservation. So basically the decade of my life from infant to basically a child, about to be adolescent, is Philippines. But then my mom found this job and she ended up going to America. then my dad and me ended up going to America too. And during those years, we were in the reservation.

Steve-o (01:23.916)
Wow.

Tony Benjamin (01:45.736)
I basically grew up in the Philippines, but I was raised in the res. Wow. Yeah. That is awesome. It is very awesome.

Steve-o (01:51.299)
Wow, that is awesome. Okay, so what attracted you to JAG? I mean, why join? Why get involved?

Tony Benjamin (01:59.12)
So I joined JAG because of curiosity. I didn't really think about it much. You know, I had a lot of persuasion from my advisors and they really wanted me to join JAG. So I was like, you know what, why not? And after that decision was probably the best thing I've ever done in my entire life because I got to meet new people that are really sociable, really easy to get along with. And it improved my sociability, improved my skill to just talk and talk.

Steve-o (02:09.464)
Mm-hmm.

Tony Benjamin (02:29.114)
and talk because I mean, at least from what... Wait, wait, wait. You mean this ability to talk wasn't just natural, like you had to develop it? Yeah. Because it's impressive now. It is really impressive. The thing is though, in general sense, I mean, I was pretty social. It's just like I had a hard time fitting in because I was in a different country, right? So it was hard for me to like really, really get into zone to how to talk and socialize in a different environment.

Steve-o (02:32.814)
We're ready.

you've had to develop because it's impressive now. It is really impressive. thing is though, in general sense, I mean, was pretty...

Steve-o (02:52.578)
you

Tony Benjamin (02:58.954)
because of JAG, I was able to improve on that.

Steve-o (03:04.93)
Wow, that's important, right? I mean, those are important skills because eventually when you get in the workplace, I mean, you're gonna have cultural differences in the workplace as well. So it's not gonna be any different from what you're experiencing now. So it's good that you're learning that now so that when you eventually enter the workplace, it's gonna be so much more effective for you. That's awesome. So what is the most important thing that you've learned besides the social aspect of it?

Tony Benjamin (03:23.312)
It gets easy. Yeah, it's more efficient. I love it.

Tony Benjamin (03:32.36)
the size of social aspect.

Steve-o (03:35.022)
What is the thing that has really stood out to you the most in the last three years as you've participated? Is this your first NCDC or have you come all three years? This is actually my first time. OK, so first time. And what has that experience been like so far?

Tony Benjamin (03:40.681)
This is actually my first time in this yeah

I think the best thing I've learned is the amount of advice of, you know, after graduation that I get from many of these workshop sessions. And also, yeah, I think that's mainly it. It's finance, so there's a lot of topics and advice for finance, but also what to do after graduation. Those two main things, it's finance and inspiration on what to do after graduation. So for example,

For finance, learned about, you know, yesterday, I forgot his name, but he was the CEO of some company. I forgot his name, but he was talking about finance and I got to learn a lot about finance. And the other time, it was one of the sessions on where do I live, and there was also a lot of aspects of...

of what to do after graduation. because of that, I really improved a lot.

Steve-o (04:50.51)
No, and those are important things to learn. I I know when we talk to high school kids especially, oftentimes they don't understand finances at all. And so the fact that you're getting some of these skill sets ahead of time before you even enter the workplace is a pretty big deal. I mean, that's important to have those types of skill sets. No, that's awesome. That is awesome. Yeah, don't know. And questions, I feel like I'm doing all the talking.

Tony Benjamin (05:13.36)
Any questions? now, do you have a role with JAG? I do, yeah. I'm actually the state B representative for South Dakota. So I'm part of the state office with the president who is... actually, not yet. I'm actually not a state B representative. I'm a state B elective. So I got nominated. I got voted to be the next state B representative because currently we have a state B representative right now in this room.

Steve-o (05:37.986)
Yeah.

Tony Benjamin (05:43.227)
She's not here right now, but she's the state representative currently, but next

Steve-o (05:49.356)
and you'll replace her, in essence.

Tony Benjamin (05:50.597)
and yeah, after she's done being... But you don't have to be the parliamentarian. I am not a parliamentarian, Good for you, because that sounds boring. It does. Just saying. Well, mean, yeah, parliamentarian is still a pretty important role, but I mean, it really depends on your opinions, really. Like, it's all in preference. you may like to talk a lot more, so maybe you want to be a president because they have a lot of speeches, or you want to be the one dealing with, you know, the side things, so like parliamentarian or secretary. But for me, I just want to represent, you know, so I just...

Chill yeah, that's really cool. Well, I'm glad you're involved. Thank you for being with us I think it's I think it's really cool gave it's been a pleasure to meet you and And enjoy your time here. Just one last question Never you well, I was about to say what do you think of the mountains, but you're in South Dakota? So you you the black hills out there your game? The mountains there man is crazy, but you know compared to South Dakota I would say this is probably the

Steve-o (06:22.123)
awesome

Steve-o (06:41.944)
Yeah, he knows the mountains.

Tony Benjamin (06:50.41)
Best ever. Like I've seen a view this... I've never seen a view this amazing before. Like it's extraordinary. Because you have South Dakota. Pretty cool mountains. You have Denver. Okay, Denver is pretty cool too. But Utah... it's... It's next step. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve-o (06:58.36)
We have some.

Steve-o (07:05.214)
The mounds are like right on top of us. Like Denver, you gotta drive four hours to really get out to the mounds, but here it's like literally half an hour.

Tony Benjamin (07:11.784)
So if I were to rank it, it's like South Dakota, Denver, and then Utah. And then the best. As long you don't become a Broncos fan, I'm not offended by that. Listen, Broncos did pretty well last year. Oh, here we go. OK, come on. Let's admit it, man. Let's be careful now. All right. We're not going to go to that debate. We're not going to do that debate. All right. We're not talking about opinions of NFL teams. Apparently not. right. Gabe, thank you for being with us. It's been a pleasure. Congratulations on being here. We hope you enjoy yourself. Thank you so much.

Steve-o (07:15.438)
the

Tony Benjamin (07:41.853)
Excellent. Yeah, thanks, Gabe. Yeah, thank you.

Steve-o (07:42.061)
Yeah, thanks, Gabe.

Steve-o (00:00.64)
Okay, welcome back. have our next guest, Kayla from Louisiana. Is that correct?

Tony Benjamin (00:00.929)
Okay, welcome back. have our next guest, Kayla from Louisiana, is that correct? Yes, sir, I'm from Louisiana. What part of Louisiana? I'm from Lake Charles, Louisiana, and I just currently moved to Prairieville, Louisiana. Okay, so your story is quite interesting. Your specialist came to me earlier and had mentioned that you have quite a history.

Steve-o (00:07.372)
What part of Louisiana?

Steve-o (00:13.056)
Okay, so your story is quite interesting. Your specialist came to me earlier and had mentioned that you have quite a history that kind of got you involved with JAG. And depending on how much you wish to share, I want to hear this story. It just sounded really intriguing to me. So tell me how you heard about JAG and why you got involved and what it did for you.

Tony Benjamin (00:25.556)
And depending on how much you wish to share, I want to hear this story. It just sounded really intriguing to me. So tell me how you've heard about it.

Tony Benjamin (00:36.407)
Well, the way I got started with JAG was I was honestly a troubled person, I would say. Not in the ways where I just couldn't follow rules, but I felt like I didn't have a reason to follow rules. I didn't have like a sense of purpose, if that makes sense. So without a sense of purpose, what am I really striving for? So what do I want to do? And since I didn't know that, I just was doing anything with my life, living life day by day, just always fighting.

always angry it was just not good and so I was getting in trouble all the time I got expelled in ninth grade I was with the wrong crowd yes sir I was introduced I was introduced to Jag and Tim Gray by my teacher miss Rhonda Johnson

Steve-o (01:09.574)
So, with the fights and things, I mean, were you actually getting in trouble at school? Gotcha. So I imagine you probably were with the wrong crowd, didn't have good friends, and just kind of go along with it, right? Okay. Okay, so when were you introduced to Jack?

Tony Benjamin (01:32.095)
She actually got me started and that was the first time that I felt like it was something that I knew I wanted to do. I didn't know exactly what it was I wanted to become when I got older, but I knew I wanted to become successful like Ms. Johnson.

Steve-o (01:45.408)
Awesome. And so what has kept you there? Like why stay?

Tony Benjamin (01:47.127)
Well, Miss Johnson, she kept instilling in us that we had to strive for the best. What's the point of keep on going and trying your hardest quote unquote if you're not trying to strive to be the best?

Steve-o (02:04.814)
And how has working with your specialist and even with the students in your group, how has that impacted you and changed what you were before?

Tony Benjamin (02:08.021)
specialist and even with the students like in your group, how has that impacted you and changed what you were before? Can you reword that one more time? So how has it changed you? Like tell me how have you changed been different since you've been doing JAG?

difference is crazy. Honestly, like my anger, I'm able to control it. I'm able to think before I act now because I actually have something to lose at this point. So I don't want to just throw away my life over something dumb like I used to do. But now, I actually, I want to become successful. I want to go to college. I'm going to finish high school. And I kind of have my life planned out now.

That's cool, dude. That's really cool. So I had a similar moment when I was growing up a point where I can look back on it and I can say in this moment right here my life changed like at that particular time my life changed became something different and it was similar I had a teacher so when I was in ninth grade They came to sign me up for debate or when they came to sign me up for high school, right? I was in ninth grade They come to sign me that there and I raised my hand and I said what do you have to do to get into debate? Because it looked kind of fun

and my teacher didn't like me and she said to me kind of the opposite of you in that case but I said what do I have to do to get into bait and she says only the really good students get into that so I signed up just to tick her off and it worked and my life has never been the same it's a total Tony maybe you're exactly right so I get it like you can look back at one point right so that that's cool that's a really good story so what do you want to do well right now I'm not sure exactly what I want to

Steve-o (03:32.526)
Which is a total Tony move

Tony Benjamin (03:47.965)
do but Miss Johnson she got me an internship in my 10th grade summer. It was at the 19 JDC which is a courthouse in Baton Rouge Louisiana and this experience it really changed my life honestly I'm not sure if I want to still become an attorney because it's not personally for me but I know that I want to continue education and get something farther.

Steve-o (04:10.132)
That's a cool internship. Wow, I what did you learn while you were there? Like, what was the biggest thing that you got out of that internship?

Tony Benjamin (04:14.967)
The biggest thing I would say is communication because I was talking to people every day. I was talking in front of courthouses. I was talking to judges. I was talking to attorneys. I was working with attorneys. So honestly, my biggest thing would be communication. Beforehand, I couldn't really talk to people. I was a mean kind of standoffish person that wasn't approachable.

Steve-o (04:39.554)
Wow.

Tony Benjamin (04:40.961)
Well that's not the case now, so good job. Good, good, yeah, that's awesome. And I agree with you, I think half of this world, half of what we can accomplish in this world comes out of our mouth. Well, do you know who the sophists were?

Steve-o (04:43.434)
I agree that is definitely not the case now.

Tony Benjamin (04:58.583)
Yeah, the sophists. They're Greek philosophers. I'm not sure. Okay, here's a little primer. So the sophists believed that the more you talk, the more people think you know what you're talking about. and they would kind of take advantage of that. Don't do that way. But they were right in that how we speak and communicate opens up all the world to us. So, but anyways, there you go.

Steve-o (05:12.686)
Very simplistic.

Steve-o (05:21.186)
Yeah, love that, that you learned how to communicate. mean, think about it, you were speaking with lawyers and judges. I mean, those are high level officials in our system, right? And speaking with those types of people, you probably had to learn how to speak to them and not just to speak with them, right? Yeah, yeah, because those are different kinds of words, different vocabulary, all the things. So that is awesome. That is awesome.

Tony Benjamin (05:31.063)
Yes I did.

That is awesome. is awesome. Yes, sir. Well, cool. Caleb, thank you for being with us. Let's do this. Let's ask you this. If there's one thing that you want to tell and let everybody know about JAG, what is it? I would say if you've never tried JAG, try it one time.

I feel like one time would actually change your experience because if you see the hands-on learning, you'll actually want to do it. For me, I can't learn in a lecture setting. When people are just talking and talking and I'm not hands-on, my brain's not processing what I'm learning and I'm not able to break it down. And that's all I have to say.

Steve-o (06:17.134)
I mean it's amazing to me being as young as you are that you already understand that about yourself. That's a big deal like that. That's really important. So the fact that you already know that about yourself says a lot about JAG and this hands-on approach that they have. That's phenomenal. That is fantastic. So I'm using the fantastic for Tony over there. That's right. Thank you.

Tony Benjamin (06:32.702)
I'm using the fantastic

Well, you can borrow my word if you want to because Caleb's fantastic. What can I say? That's cool. Caleb, thank you for joining us, man. You did really good on the podcast. You know, you should put it on your resume. You say I've been on the H.R. Life podcast with Stephen Smith. His nickname is Big Deal for a reason. So just saying. I'm gonna put this on my resume as soon as I leave. That's right. That's there you go. Yeah.

Steve-o (06:51.118)
That's right.

Steve-o (06:55.47)
His nickname is Big Deal for a reason, so just saying.

That's right, that's right you put me down as a reference too, so there you go

Tony Benjamin (07:05.793)
Alright, thanks Caleb for joining us, we really appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

Steve-o (00:01.1)
All right, everybody, we are back with our next guest. We've got Jamarcus from Alabama. Hello, Jamarcus. I said that right. OK, good. OK, so Alabama. What part of Alabama?

Tony Benjamin (00:06.516)
Hey, yes you did you

Tony Benjamin (00:14.277)
I'm from Connecticut County, Evergreen, Alabama. It's more in the south.

Steve-o (00:18.015)
Yep, about an hour out from Mobile. Is that what you said earlier? All righty, awesome. Yeah, we're going to get that nice yes sirs here. On the West Coast, we don't say the sirs so much, but I grew up with my mom from Alabama. I'm very, very used to that. OK, so.

Tony Benjamin (00:20.326)
Yes, sir.

Tony Benjamin (00:28.244)
Okay, yes, we're very manner manner mannerable

Steve-o (00:34.496)
My understanding is that you are running to be president-elect for next year. So JAG apparently has a student body president, right? And a secretary, a president-elect, and what's the fourth one? You know there's a fourth one. Okay, parliamentarian. So describe that.

Tony Benjamin (00:44.189)
Parliament's hearing you.

That's the boring person that has to know all the rules all the time just just that's why he doesn't want to be that one

Steve-o (00:54.828)
Hahaha

Steve-o (00:59.116)
that's a great point. So, Jamarcus, why? Why run to be president-elect? This is a pretty big role.

Tony Benjamin (01:06.397)
Yes, it was because I have previously served in state officer positions and local positions that I've made a big impact. I've had students come and tell me that just seeing me come from a small town and do so many great things has inspired them. And to know that I can show that and showcase that on a bigger scale, on a bigger level to more students, more people, and just be more of an inspiration on a greater scale is really what pushed me to.

run and I have so many innovative ideas that I feel need to be heard. that's really mainly what inspired me to run for this position.

Steve-o (01:41.428)
Okay, so you're speaking really like okay, how old are you like what grade are you in?

Tony Benjamin (01:46.129)
I'm a senior and I'm 18 years old.

Steve-o (01:47.694)
Okay. And when did you start getting involved with Jack?

Tony Benjamin (01:52.017)
my freshman year. So I started high school with JAG.

Steve-o (01:54.007)
Really? Okay.

And why? What drew you to it? What kind of brought you to Jack?

Tony Benjamin (02:01.359)
If I'm gonna be so honest, they came around when I was in eighth grade at middle school before we graduated. And they were like, pick a elective. And so I didn't know, I was like, okay, I'm gonna just pick this one because I don't know what to pick. And so when I got into the class, I was like, I just picked something. But I met my specialist, she introduced me to competing in career preparation. And from there, it was like a dream. It's like the past four years have just flew by and they've been amazing.

Steve-o (02:29.486)
And what have you learned the most? What is it that has really kept you going? Because sometimes you start in something and then after a while you give up on it. But this, you've really stuck it out. So what has kept you there?

Tony Benjamin (02:34.525)
Sometimes you start in something and then after a while you give up on it. But this, I you've really stuck it out. what is...

Seeing the program evolve, seeing how the students can change, seeing how it...

is needed. Before JAG came to my school, you never heard of people traveling all across the state being great, but when it came to my school, it gave the students hope to see that they can do something great. And just seeing the impact that JAG has and seeing how much of a driving force it is for so many people, what a pillar it is in so many people's lives, is really what kept me going and kept me in the program. I fell in love with it and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Steve-o (03:19.719)
We had somebody earlier describe it like a family.

Tony Benjamin (03:19.826)
We had some.

It's definitely a family. Specialists, our specialists become mothers and fathers. People from across states become brothers and sisters. And it's just like one happy family. I met somebody yesterday from Arizona that I'd never met before. And we sat and talked like...

nobody else. Like, I knew her for years and that's just how much of a family we are. We can go to each other for anything even if we just met each other and that's what I love that this program can connect so many young people so easily and make it so easy for us to advocate for ourselves.

Steve-o (03:55.384)
Yeah.

That's so awesome. Now you said the word specialist. What is a specialist?

Tony Benjamin (04:03.493)
specialist is so

technical definition is the person that teaches in the JAG classroom and also travels with us and helps us with everything JAG related. But to me a specialist is way more than just a teacher. It's a person that becomes part of your family. Like I said previously, somebody that's always there. can't tell you how many times I've talked to my specialist about stuff that's not JAG related, stuff that has nothing to do with school or anything that she's helped me with. And specialists are just the

people that are there for us when we need them to anytime, any day.

Steve-o (04:42.862)
That's awesome.

Tony Benjamin (04:45.157)
So, okay, so now we gotta get to the important stuff. Okay? You're from Alabama. You're down in the South, where all the good music comes from. So what kind of music do you like? I kinda like all types of music. Okay, that's a very generic answer. I don't buy it. So tell me what you really like. I mean...

It doesn't really matter. It's all about beats for me. I like bass. I like music with a nice beat to it. That's my kind of music. There's really not one type of genre or one artist that I really like. I listen to all types of music. And it just has to be feel-good music. But I definitely like inspirational music, music that hypes me up to win. It just gets me in the mood to just be great. And so that's what type of music I like.

Well that's impressive because I'm the opposite. I like depressing music.

That's my thing. Like I'm a blues guy, right? Old blues and stuff like that. Give me a little Pink Floyd. You get where I'm going, right? I get where you're going. Okay. All right. But you live in like the cradle of good music. So that's why I got to ask. You're from down south in Alabama. It's not just enough to say Alabama, but you got to say like south Alabama. Yeah, so they understand. I could definitely say.

We do come from a lot of good music. We love music. We love to get up, sing, dance. We love creating in Alabama. We love to create. It's cool. It's cool. It's really cool. So I put you on the spot. So that's OK. It's OK. Jamarcus, thank you for being here with us. This has been really cool, really great.

Steve-o (06:20.334)
Good job. Good job. Thank you for being here with us. This has been really cool, really great. Welcome to Utah. Before you go though, what do you think of the mountains and stuff? You've never seen something like this I guess.

Tony Benjamin (06:26.491)
Welcome to Utah. Before you go though, what do you think of the mountains and stuff? You've never seen something like this, I'd guess. They're phenomenal. I was on the plane flying in and I was like, whoa. And my person I brought with me, she was like, is that snow? I was like, I don't know. I don't know. This is my first time here. And was like driving into the city, seeing all the mountains. It was amazing. It was like something out of a movie. It is. It is. And it's not even a horror movie.

Steve-o (06:51.022)
Nice. It is. It is. And it's They do film a lot of movies here. there you go.

Tony Benjamin (06:56.734)
Yeah, anyways, welcome here, Jamarcus. We're thrilled to have you, man. Good to get to know you. Thank you. All right. Yeah, thank you for having me.

Steve-o (07:02.146)
Yeah, thank you for coming and spending some time with us.

Steve-o (00:00.918)
Okay, we've got our next guest with us, Madison Garcia, New Jersey.

Tony Benjamin (00:01.133)
Okay, we've got our next guest with us, Madison Garcia, right? Yes, hi everyone. New Jersey. Of course, Madison Garcia, President-Elect of Jag New Jersey State Career Association. Man, she owned that right there. Did you hear that? I did hear that. It's cool. It's cool. You're from New Jersey. I like it. You're a Jersey girl, that means. Of course, we from Jersey. Like, we out here, get lit!

Steve-o (00:12.234)
Man, she owned that right there. Did you hear that? I did hear that. It's cool.

Steve-o (00:23.438)
Ha

Yeah.

Tony Benjamin (00:27.137)
Thank you, you just made my day right there. Of course, New Jersey always out here. We the best state out here, of course. Of course. Okay, so President-elect, that means you'll be President next year. What grade are you? I'm a current junior in high school and next year I will be succeeding the role of State President. State President? Yes. Wow. For the entire state of New Jersey.

Steve-o (00:29.357)
It's awesome.

Okay so President-elect that means you'll be president next year what grade are you in?

Steve-o (00:43.982)
For the entire state of New Jersey Wow

Tony Benjamin (00:47.713)
Yes. Now, I, know, Jersey has a reputation. Are dead people voting in your election? I don't know about that. I mean, I can't tell. I can't vote yet. So I warned you Tony's going to ask some weird ones. Yeah, very interesting to say the least. They're out there. OK, so so how?

Steve-o (00:58.51)
I warned you Tony's gonna ask some weird ones. They're out there. Okay, so how long have you been involved with Jack?

Tony Benjamin (01:08.397)
So this is actually my first year being involved with JAG. JAG is only like juniors and seniors at my school. So when I was making my schedule at the end of sophomore year, my counselor, because it's a new program, like this is only our second year in JAG. And my counselor, he was like, oh, it's called like there's this new program, it's called JAG, like I think you'd be a great fit for it. What do you think? And I was like, sure, let's try it out. And now I'm in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Steve-o (01:12.364)
Really? Okay.

Steve-o (01:34.286)
Is this your first NCDC then? Gotcha. Okay, cool. Cool. So what attracted you? I mean, why join? Why get involved?

Tony Benjamin (01:35.479)
Is this your first NCDC then? Yes, this is my first NCDC.

Well, last year when we had the first ever cohort of JAG in Rawway, New Jersey, I saw that they were having all these experiences like they were, like Mr. Bunyan, which is my specialist, he was always posting like all of their social networking events, like they were always going to these cool places, and they looked like they were all having a great time, not so much because of the fact that they were all heading out every single day out of school, but because they were always networking. that's a perk, right? Of course, of course, always. But it's definitely like the networking,

Steve-o (02:10.644)
Yeah, definitely a perk.

Tony Benjamin (02:14.447)
I'm very social person and I thought that JAG could be a beneficial place for me to put all of my social skills to good use.

Steve-o (02:22.464)
No, that's awesome. And you know, we've had several guests now talk about the social aspect of it. They've described it as a family. I assume you feel the same way.

Tony Benjamin (02:29.636)
Oh, of course, Jag New Jersey, we are the biggest and the greatest family out there. It's definitely a very tight-knit community because you're all here for the same reason and you all want to support like your peers. So it's very definitely tight-knit, I would say. Okay so, and I know our listeners cannot see this, but you are wearing, you have your badge so we all have these badges, but you...

Steve-o (02:44.622)
That's awesome. That's awesome. Okay, so and I know our listeners cannot see this but but You are wearing you have your badge. So we all have these badges, but but you in particular have about 30 pins Maybe less maybe more. don't know. I haven't counted them, but you have a lot of pins

Tony Benjamin (02:57.549)
have about 30 pins, maybe less, maybe more.

Steve-o (03:05.118)
on your lanyard here. And I've noticed there's quite a few students around here that also have pins. So what is the pins? Because I feel like I'm almost at the Olympics, where they collect pins.

Tony Benjamin (03:07.602)
And I've noticed there's quite a few students around here that also have pants. So what is the pants? Because I feel like I'm almost at the Olympics.

Okay, so every state is given their official state pin and the point of these pins is you're supposed to trade them with people from other states and you're supposed to collect the pins and you're supposed to have a collection to show that you've interacted with somebody from that state or you've been to that state. Although I won't lie, some people are definitely kind of send you with their pins even though the point is to trade them. I personally like since the moment I got to this hotel, I have been on the rush. I've been trying to collect every single state and I'm handing New Jersey out like crazy.

Steve-o (03:35.0)
you

Tony Benjamin (03:45.295)
always tell people, here, you can rock some of the best state out here. Like, you know, we're from Jersey. Like, we all from Jersey.

Steve-o (03:50.073)
So you're like owning this. That's awesome. Okay, so that, you know, think about that. I mean, from a conference level, Tony, we do a lot of conferences. We don't do anything like that in the HR world. We certainly aren't trading pins.

Tony Benjamin (04:03.021)
No, we need to figure that out. We need to figure that. That's a great idea. Hey, and as a matter of fact, since we're calling out people, let's just call out Georgia again. State Council in Georgia, let's just call them out. You guys gotta step up too. If you guys do pins, we'll do pins, and the next time we see each other, we'll exchange pins. So Georgia just randomly out of nowhere, we're challenging you on pins.

Steve-o (04:04.908)
We really do.

Steve-o (04:12.504)
That's right.

Hahaha

Tony Benjamin (04:28.257)
Well, definitely. It's an experience I recommend because it not only connects you like, of course, you get to collect cool pins, but you also meet a lot of cool people from different states. And honestly, one of the biggest parts about like the pin trading that has shocked me is definitely hearing a lot of the Southern accents. Like me personally, I don't think I have an accent even though I'm from Jersey, but a lot of the Southern ones, they're strong. And I'm like, whoa, like it's different to here because like you don't hear that in Jersey. I love that that's what she means. That's right. That's right.

Steve-o (04:30.552)
Hit!

Steve-o (04:52.296)
I love that that's what you notice.

Tony Benjamin (04:56.397)
Trust me, you got an accent. It's a cool accent. Matter of fact, I would say your accent is cool. Does that make sense? Like, it's just, it's Jersey, so it's just cool. it makes perfect sense because I'm from Jersey. Way to lean into it. That's awesome. That's awesome. Very, very cool. So, so, okay, so you come out here. What's the first thing other than accents you noticed about Utah?

Steve-o (04:59.47)
Matter of fact, I would say your accent is cool. Does that make sense? Like it's just it's Jersey. So it's just cool. Oh, it makes perfect sense. She just owns it. That's awesome. That's awesome. Very, very cool. So so OK, so you come out here. What's the first thing other than accents you noticed about? Mountains, very, very. I got off the plane. was seeing.

Tony Benjamin (05:21.343)
mountainous, very, very mountainous. Like I got off the plane, I was seeing a lot of dirt, a lot of mountains, a lot of water, and I'm like, hold up, like where's the city? Where's the factory? Where's the highway? Like where is Route 19? Like I'm a little lost out here because I'm used to seeing straight highways and roads and cities and factories everywhere. So it was definitely like it was was refreshing to get a new like perspective that you could see something else besides just straight roads all the time.

Steve-o (05:29.377)
You

Hahaha

Steve-o (05:47.758)
I assume this is your first time on the West Coast, or at least in Utah. My first time in Utah. Yeah, yeah. That's cool. Everybody always talks about the mountains. It's very true.

Tony Benjamin (05:50.957)
My first time in Utah, yes.

Tony Benjamin (05:57.005)
because it's very beautiful. Like we got off the plane and I have a beautiful hotel room view. So like I get to open up my curtains every morning and I see the nice like mountains. I'm like, damn, like that looks close. Like I feel like I could walk to the mountains. I'm not gonna lie.

Steve-o (06:08.738)
You probably could. They're only half hour away. Seriously, they're real close here in Utah.

Tony Benjamin (06:13.293)
Not even that. You could get up to Ruth's Diner in probably 15 minutes or so. you can get away tonight up Immigration Canyon, which is directly east of us here, is a little diner called Ruth's Diner. It's the bomb. It's the place to go.

Steve-o (06:15.182)
Yeah. That's true. Yeah, that is very true.

Tony Benjamin (06:33.707)
Yeah, that sounds good. Another thing. of course. I wish you would. Now, another thing I've definitely noticed is that so in Jersey, right, if you search up a place and it tells you it's a five minute drive to New Jersey and it's like, that's walkable. Like I'm just walk. But we searched up. I think we searched up in and out because we wanted to try it because it's our first time in Utah. And it was like an eight minute drive from the top. We're like, we can walk that. And we look it up. It's like a two hour walk. And I'm like, what the like that was crazy to me. Definitely.

Steve-o (06:34.158)
Get your specialist to take you.

Steve-o (06:59.278)
That's because of all the lights. There's literally a stoplight every block and so you have to stop every block.

Tony Benjamin (07:08.951)
Yeah, I noticed that like I peeped it I was like there's too many lights here. I'll mess with it. No That's really cool. Thank you for being with us. This is really cool. You're obviously winning the the pin contest We want to say that's cool. So Yeah, so congratulations on being here. I think it's awesome. You're here and good luck in what you're doing I hope it goes well for you. Okay

Steve-o (07:19.054)
I would say so Madison you've got lots of pins

Tony Benjamin (07:31.627)
It was nice being with everybody today.

Steve-o (07:32.367)
Yeah, thanks. All right, we'll head out

Steve-o (00:00.844)
All right, so we have our next guest here, but this is kind of a unique one because at this point we've only talked with students, but today we are now, or right now, we're actually going to talk with one of the presenters that presented here at the conference, James Jackson, and he is quite the story, so I'm gonna let him tell a story. So if you could introduce yourself real quick, tell us who you are, what you do right now, and then why you got involved with JAG.

Tony Benjamin (00:07.366)
Today we are now.

Tony Benjamin (00:11.356)
presenters that presented here the conference James Jackson and he is quite the story so I'm gonna let him tell a story so if you could introduce yourself real quick tell us who you are what you do right now and and then why you got involved with Jack yeah man see where do I begin yeah I'm a local based out of Salt Lake City been here all my life undergrad University Utah and I think as an Aggie I won't

Steve-o (00:38.734)
and I think... as an Aggie I want to go back here. I was BYU so there you go. an Aggie but we'll leave you over Yeah, you leave me over here.

Tony Benjamin (00:41.276)
My cousin's an Aggie but we'll see you over there. I thought it the BYU stuff. know, but I guess where it really starts where the connections start making happen is I founded the Utah Black Chamber in 2009. Led that organization for about 13 years while on the side, well on full time I was in the financial industry. So I spent 25 years in the financial industry and then decided that I just wanted to be more community development, more full time.

Steve-o (00:50.786)
guess where it really starts, where it connects.

Steve-o (00:56.76)
That is awesome.

years in the financial industry and then decided that I just wanted to be in more community development, more full time. And so I transitioned out of financial industry in 2024 and then ran the Minority Business Development Agency here in Utah for about a year. And then of course the government administration changed and decided that they'd be fund that. And so ever since then, I've just been out in the strategic advisory consulting world. But I've always been on the academic side because I've a lot of teaching.

Tony Benjamin (01:10.812)
And so I transitioned out of financial industry in 2024 and then ran the Minority Biz Development Agency in Utah for about a year. And then of course the government administration changed and decided that they'd defund that. And so ever since then, I've just been out in the strategic advisory consulting world. But I've always been on the academic side too, doing a lot of teaching. I'm an adjunct at Salt Lake Community College. And I teach one class there, which is personal finance. And being in the banking industry and just my own background, that's why I've...

develop the passion of teaching money to especially to the kids of today because it was a lot different back with us right is you know we knew what life was like without internet and without a without cell phones so our transition our transition into adult life was a lot easier so with accessibility also comes our consequences to where the kids when they graduate from high school they have a clue on how to do life right and so that's what my personal finance class teaches is like how to do life as well as managing their money

Steve-o (01:42.823)
Yeah. It was a lot different back with us, right? We knew what life was like without internet and without cell phones. So our transition as an adult life was a lot easier. with accessibility also comes with consequences to where the kids, when they graduate from high school, they have a clue in how...

So that's what my personal finance class teaches is like how to do life as well as managing their money. And so when I started teaching a little bit more, I was inspired to develop my own curriculum, Money Moves University. So I just launched that earlier this year and it's a curriculum designed to...

Tony Benjamin (02:08.462)
And so when I started teaching a little bit more, I was inspired to develop my own curriculum, Money Moves University. So I just launched that earlier this year, and it's a curriculum designed for college universities and as well as banks and community organizations to adopt for their own to teach to their own community. And then Kendall Hunt Publishing reached out to me, and we're going to also expand that to its own full-blown college textbook.

Steve-o (02:19.416)
for college universities and as well as banks and community organizations to adopt for their own to teach to their own community. then Kendall Humbushing reached out to me and we're gonna also expand that to its own full blown college textbook. That whole course will be available in the fall.

Tony Benjamin (02:34.684)
And so that whole course will be available in the fall. So we're in the process of talking to Southern Community College, University of Utah, and really want to engage with the HBCUs as well. Those college universities who deal with a lot of the underserved communities who really, really need the financial literacy education. So outside of that, I just talked to a lot of businesses, small businesses, nonprofits, and help them become better versions of themselves through a lot of training, consulting, education.

Steve-o (02:41.708)
and really want to engage with HBCUs as well. Those colleges and universities who deal with lot of underserved communities, really, really need the financial literacy education. So outside of that, I just talk to lot of businesses, small businesses, nonprofits, and help them become better versions of themselves through lot of training, consulting, education.

Tony Benjamin (03:04.772)
Helping them raise capital to find opportunities do a lot of vendor relationships. So come with a I come with a little bit of Yeah.

Steve-o (03:05.038)
raise capital, find opportunities, do lot of vendor relationships. So I come with a little bit of stuff. Yeah, kind of a plethora of stuff. And what you say is actually really important. We had a guest earlier, I think it was a Gabriel, they had talked about how one of the most impactful classes he had was the finance class. I imagine it was yours that he actually took because he had talked about how understanding that for him was really important as a high school student because

I mean, there's not a whole lot of classes in high school that even touch finance at all.

Tony Benjamin (03:33.56)
No matter that I think solid community college probably does it more than other universities right because we our personal finance class there's a couple of us instructors that we teach and then there's a lot of adjuncts like myself and there's also those that do concurrent enrollment that teach personal finance in the high schools and there's about 20 of them so as far as that like I talked University of Utah earlier

Steve-o (03:43.244)
Yeah, yeah.

Steve-o (03:48.12)
Couple of persons.

Steve-o (03:53.967)
that teach personal finance in the high schools. There's about 20 of them. as far as that, I talked to the University of Utah earlier and they I don't think we teach that class. I like, well, that's a problem. It is a problem. I agree. Especially today, the way I see it and just the way the world is, because right now, of course, inflation is outpacing cost of living. So I think it's more about what

Tony Benjamin (04:01.318)
and I I don't think we teach that class. I was like, well, that's a problem. It is a problem. Especially today, the way I see it and just the way the world is, because right now, of course, inflation is outpacing cost of living. And so I think it's more about what you do with the money than how much money you make at this point. That's really important. So when I onboard employees into a company, and we talk about HSAs and how to save money and all that, and I say, look, when you're young,

Steve-o (04:18.963)
That's really important. So when I onboard employees into a company and...

Tony Benjamin (04:29.562)
have a super high deductible. You go to the doctor once a year or something, save money in your HSA. And then to really get it home to them, say, I introduce them to the rule of 72. And I say, if you save money for a few years, then I do it for the rest of my life. You're farther ahead than me. And it blows their mind. Matter of fact, I tell a lot of people that the number for employees,

The number one financial decision you'll make in your life is your health insurance, which is stupid, that's, unfortunately, that's kind of the way it works, Yeah.

Steve-o (05:04.608)
That is much more important later on when we get older, that's for sure.

Tony Benjamin (05:07.184)
Well, when you think about the number one reason why people go into financial turmoil is because of medical bills, right? And so, yeah, so I do talk about that a lot in my class about three critical things when it comes to personal finance. Discipline, responsibility, and health. You get those three things down. I'll teach you the numbers all day. I actually just finished my manuscript for a little mini ebook that I'll get published here soon. It's called The Wealth Playbook, and it's like a 45 page book about

Steve-o (05:12.682)
Amen. Yep, that is true.

Tony Benjamin (05:36.349)
how college students, by the time they retire, they'll have $8,000 a month of retirement income. Based upon, and it's just based on starting with the medium household income, right? So they're just, they're not being doctors or lawyers or anything like that. It's just your household is take home five grand a month. And I'm gonna build out the roadmap on how by the time you hit 65, you'll have $8,000 a month for about 20 years. Yeah.

Steve-o (05:42.67)
That's a big deal.

Steve-o (06:02.734)
That's awesome. And you know, that's probably why Gabe talked about this class because it really impacted him. He's like, wow, there's actually a future here and hope that it doesn't matter what I make if I follow these plans.

Tony Benjamin (06:09.5)
There's actually a future here and hope that it doesn't matter what I make if I follow these plans. Yeah, like when I talk about it, like I what they've learned. Go to school to get good grades, you've got to get a job to earn the money, and then with the money earned, then you go figure out what to do with it, right? Instead I say, I take them through a goal workshop. Right now, 50 goals, five zero, right? If everything you want to achieve in life, from what you want to achieve tomorrow to what you want to achieve 10 plus years from now.

then we build your whole wealth plan based on those goals you want to achieve, right? So now you know exactly what you want your life to look like. Now it's going to figure out through how to get it. What type of skills, experience, education, connections, resources, whatever do I need. Build your life that way. So much better. Well, thanks for being with us. This has been good. We ought to stay in contact. I'm on the board of directors for the

Steve-o (06:57.454)
No, that's awesome. That is awesome. Cool. Well, thanks for being with us. This has been good. We ought to stay in contact.

Tony Benjamin (07:08.092)
Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce. I live up there in Vernal and it was we ought to stay in contact and talk more sometime. This has been really good. Thank you for what you're doing here. I think this is great. The fact that you come and present to people here or to the kids here. I think it's been really good. And obviously, as we heard from Caleb, it made a big impression on him. So yeah. And what's funny is like, I'm not even talking about personal finance here. My presenters workshop is called Meds for Success. So meds is acronym.

Steve-o (07:09.742)
Okay.

Yeah.

Steve-o (07:17.186)
Thank you for what you're doing here. think this is great. The fact that come and present the people here, the kids here, I think it's been really good. And obviously as we heard from Caleb, it made a big impression on him. It did, yeah.

Tony Benjamin (07:37.146)
Mindset exercise diet and sleep and how you instill those daily habits to help build success for life, right? I base everything upon this those particular four four things and then that's how you do Well, so that's what my workshop is gonna be about Very cool. Very cool. Thank you for being on with this much appreciated. Yeah from being here

Steve-o (07:44.0)
Nice.

Steve-o (07:49.517)
Yeah, I know that's awesome. Very cool. Thank you for being on with this. Much appreciated. it's being here. Is there anything else you want to promote before you go? Anything else we should know about? Well, yeah, I think...

Tony Benjamin (07:58.895)
Well, yeah, I think Money Moves University will have its own podcast coming out in later later in the May. So I'm looking excited to put that together. So say the name of it again. Money Money Moves University. Money Moves University. Yeah. So you can go to moneymovesuniversity.com to learn more about what what that's all about. And yeah, it's it's going to be a force here within the next few months with the kind of the conversations happening, having between college universities, banks and potentially even an NFLPA. So stay tuned.

Steve-o (08:11.402)
Money Moves University.

Steve-o (08:27.833)
Cool. Now you're talking my language. Alright, thanks man.

Tony Benjamin (08:28.379)
Now you're talking my language there. Alright, alright, thanks man.

Steve-o (00:01.154)
All right, we are back with our next guest and we actually have another adult again. kind of a change from this. Whatever, we've had some incredible students so far. We some good ones. Okay, so Lane Faulkner is with us and Lane has kind of a unique story because Lane was a teacher. Well, actually, I'm to let her tell the story. So Lane, introduce yourself and then give us a little background and a history of where you came from and what led you to JAG.

Tony Benjamin (00:02.554)
Thank goodness. Thank goodness. Whatever, we've had some incredible students so far. Okay, so Lane Faulkner is with us and Lane has kind of a unique story because Lane was a teacher. Well, actually I'm gonna let her tell the story. So, so Lane, introduce yourself and then give us a little background in the history of where you came from and what led you to JAG and why you decided to get involved.

Steve-o (00:29.654)
and why you decided to get involved.

Tony Benjamin (00:32.246)
Sure. Okay. So I'm Lane Faulkner. I'm the head of marketing for Jag National. yeah, as you mentioned, Steve, I'm a former teacher. really thought I was going to be a lifer forever. I majored in English and got my master's in education and I taught high school English for, gosh, 12, 13 years. And nothing happened to you? Like you're not dead, you're not permanently maimed or crippled and you survived. That's cool. Well, I am still highly medicated.

So there is that. Look, show me a teacher that's not medicated and I'll show you a liar.

Steve-o (01:05.962)
Wow. At least she's honest.

We're being real right now on the HR life podcast here we go

Tony Benjamin (01:16.052)
It's just a, you know, it's a byproduct of the job because you have to be, you're not just teaching, you're a therapist, you're a psychologist, you're a surrogate parent. Yeah. I was about to make the joke of that. That's exactly what we are, right? People ask me how my day is going and I say, I don't know yet. I'll tell you when it's over. Yeah. And there's a lot of emotional baggage that comes with that. You take it home and it kind of weighs on you. And so, you know, I left the classroom in 2012

Steve-o (01:25.962)
Sounds like HR.

Steve-o (01:30.018)
Yeah.

Steve-o (01:35.52)
Yep. Yep.

Tony Benjamin (01:45.868)
2015 and I actually started my own business as a college admissions consultant as an independent one. So I still have that as a business high school students and their families hire me to walk through the college admissions process and kind of make it as easy as possible. So as I was building my business, I really got into marketing and in doing so I connected with Jag, Tennessee. I live just outside of Nashville and they needed

somebody to come on board and help out with social media and to build a website and to really help expand their program. I worked with them for about six years just as a contractor. And then I came on board full time with them as the director of strategic outreach and communication. So really I was kind of leveraging my connections and experience in the education world in Tennessee along with my storytelling abilities to help expand the program. And so proud to say that, you

We went through an entire rebrand and in the two years that I was there, we doubled the amount of programs. So went to from about 22 to 50. So it was, had some significant growth there. And then from there, I've transitioned over to JAG national and to the marketing team. And so now I really get to tell all of the stories across the United States and not just our students in Tennessee.

Steve-o (02:54.956)
Wow.

Tony Benjamin (03:11.502)
That's really cool. There are some amazing stories we just heard from Caleb a little while ago and talk about his story was amazing. Yeah, it was life changing for him. It was really cool. that's great. Where is it's Caleb from Tennessee? He's in Louisiana. From Louisiana. I mean any kid that you talk to at this conference.

Steve-o (03:11.564)
That's cool.

Steve-o (03:19.266)
Yeah. Life changing for him. Yeah.

He's in Louisiana?

Tony Benjamin (03:33.198)
They all have such unique walks of life and challenges that they have overcome to be able to be here. And it's honestly the most inspiring couple of days of my year. It reminds me of the best parts of teaching. Yeah, see that's cool. My mom was a teacher all growing up, and so I literally lived with that. What's growing up is living with my mom as a teacher. she was very much about the kids. I think that's what attracted me to Jack.

Steve-o (03:47.778)
Yeah, see that's cool. I mean, my mom was a teacher all growing up and so I literally lived with that. That's growing up is living with my mom as a teacher and she was very much about the kids. I think that's what attracted me to Jack five years ago when I started getting involved and doing some of the resume help in some of the classrooms and the very first NCDC that happened in Texas. I got involved there and it was life changing. Now I do this every year. So there you go.

Tony Benjamin (04:01.754)
years ago when I started getting involved in doing some of the resume help in some of the classrooms and the very first NCDC that happened in Texas. I got involved there. was life changing. Now I do this every year. So there you go.

That's awesome. Yeah. And I mean, obviously we've talked about this, but yeah, you are a fixture at these events and we appreciate all of your support. One more reason why Steve's a big deal. That's that's that's Steve's just a big deal no matter where he goes. He's the guy to know that's that's exactly right. That's right. So you don't know this lane, but on our podcast.

Steve-o (04:34.548)
Apparently, I...

Tony Benjamin (04:40.076)
at the beginning of every podcast, we do an intro and I make up something. I just make up something random and he always has a story about it and it turns out that it's true. So I don't even have to write. don't even. I just throw it at him. That's that's right. So you're the most interesting man in the world is what I'm hearing. Right.

Steve-o (04:51.394)
Like we are seriously about 50 episodes in and he has yet to make up something that I don't have some story for. don't know how, but I don't know about that much, but I have quite a unique background, I guess you could say. I've traveled a lot. I speak at a lot of conferences and yeah.

Tony Benjamin (05:13.594)
sometime get him to tell you about the endangered species in Las Vegas. That's worth a tale.

Steve-o (05:17.724)
yeah. whenever I'm introduced at a conference as a speaker, the way they introduce me is they say, this is Steve Smith and he was fired from his first job for illegal activity. And then I have to tell the story. It's a great leader because immediately the entire audience is like,

Tony Benjamin (05:33.914)
It's a beautiful lead in though. I love it. a great lead in. Because immediately the entire audience is like, what? Especially because I'm speaking with lot of HR professionals. And so these HR professionals are like, wait, you got fired from your first job for illegal activity? OK, we got to hear this story before we get more. It works really well. That's awesome. It's a good marketing ploy.

Steve-o (05:39.362)
What? You know, especially because I'm speaking with lot of HR professionals. And so these HR professionals like, wait, you got fired from your first job for illegal activity? OK, we got to hear this story before we get going. So it works really well. It's a good marketing ploy. You know all about that,

Tony Benjamin (05:54.658)
Yes, I do. So, Lane, tell us about JAG and give us like the official marketing pitch. Since that's you, wanted to tell us all about JAG or the important things about JAG anyways. The important things about JAG. you know, it depends on which angle we're going at here, but I...

Steve-o (05:58.434)
Yeah. Like the official marketing pitch. Yeah, I want to tell us all about Jack. Yeah.

Tony Benjamin (06:16.521)
I always say that JAG is sort of the connection between employers and students. We talk about the skills gap, we talk about the generational gap, and I always kind of liken it to, remember men are from Mars, women are from Venus, right? How we speak these different languages. Was that a book? It was from the 90s, you remember? Okay, Steve is inept when it comes to certain cultural touch points.

Steve-o (06:36.696)
Was that a book?

Steve-o (06:44.96)
Yes, I unfortunately

Tony Benjamin (06:46.396)
Like he's never seen the movie Predator. yeah, just like, right? Like, yeah, I don't know, right? So just ignore when he says stuff like that.

Steve-o (06:53.144)
Sorry.

Yeah, there are certain things, Lane, I am not a big deal.

Tony Benjamin (07:01.166)
Well, that was a cultural phenomenon in the 90s. I'm sorry you missed out on that. But it was a relationship guru that was trying to help bridge this divide between men and women who just couldn't seem to be on the same page. And so I always liken the skills gap to kind of like that, that we have these two different generations, right? We've got our employer generation, whether it's the Boomers or your Gen X or even millennials. And we speak one language.

Steve-o (07:03.554)
I'm

Tony Benjamin (07:31.2)
in our current generation that's rising up, they speak a different language. And so we need a translator that is going to be able to help these two entities bridge that gap and be able to get these students from A to B and serve both interests. so, and I really think like the...

The heart of that distance there is really technology. Those of us who are not of that generation, we're digital immigrants. So I still remember our first microwave. I still remember my parents having eight track tapes. And I remember getting my first home computer. But I also went to college with a floppy disk and I left with a digital portfolio. That's how fast it changed. And so I've had to grow up in this

Steve-o (08:01.774)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Tony Benjamin (08:20.828)
the sort of adaptive environment. But our students, these are digital natives. They literally were born into a technological environment and that is just naturally going to create these gaps. And so how can we have conversations? How can we build in frameworks that bridge that gap? And that's essentially what JAG does. Not just in terms of technology, but in how we just communicate with each other. How these kids can show up with the same

skills that we all got baked in into our everyday existence by our parents and our communities and everything. But then also, you know, I've had wonderful conversations with employers here who are doing incredibly adaptive and agile things with their training modules, with their recruiting processes that are meeting students exactly where they are, the platforms where they are, and I think that's got to be the solution there to bridge this gap.

Steve-o (08:57.152)
Yeah, so true.

Tony Benjamin (09:21.988)
No, that's exactly right. My kids have completely different experiences growing up than I do. Even though we did things like we didn't have game consoles in our house and we made our kids go out and play and all that sort of stuff. But most of their friends didn't, right? And was a completely different thing. yeah, you talk about digital names. My kids loved to read when they were young, but they do Amazon Audible now, right?

Steve-o (09:21.997)
Yeah.

Tony Benjamin (09:51.952)
nature of it. it's just a different, it's a completely different world. So.

Steve-o (09:51.99)
Yeah, it's so different.

Steve-o (09:56.61)
Have you seen that AI meme from Friends? You know the introduction of Friends, the music and you see the Friends, the things that they do in that introduction when the show starts? Somebody did an introduction for Friends of our day and all of them were just on their phones the whole time. At the fountain, everywhere they were at, at the cafe and everything, they just were on their phones the whole time.

And was kind of making fun of that, but it's a good point. mean, most of the students of today, they don't know what it's like not to have a phone. That's all they've known. And so a lot of that communication that takes place on their phones, it's not that they're not communicating. They're just communicating differently, maybe even more effectively in some ways, a much shorter stints as opposed to like long conversations. And so because of that difference, we have to recognize that there needs to be a balance there.

Tony Benjamin (10:22.074)
And it's kind of making fun of that, but it's a good point. mean, most of the students of today, they don't know what it's like not to have a phone. That's all they know. And so a lot of that communication that takes place on their phones, it's not that they're not communicating. They're just communicating.

Steve-o (10:56.974)
Okay.

Steve-o (11:03.832)
Yeah, yeah, I can hear fine.

Yeah, I'm not kicked out or anything. We're still recording. We're like at 11 minutes so far. So OK. But anyway, so I've just noticed that even though it's this new technology, I think it's important that that communication gap is visible to us, that we recognize it, and that we address it in the workplace. Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

Yeah, and just as an example, like I'm to brag on my kid because today's his 17th birthday. Oh, fun. So a little sad to be here and missing it out. But, you know, he's he's high functioning autistic and wow. And he he is so technologically driven because somehow, I mean, that has just been baked into him. Like that's that is what lights him up. And so he's actually a nationally competitive e-sports gamer. He has actually

going to nationals this summer. He has gone every year. And that's a thing. It's a whole thing. Yeah. You can get a college scholarship. There are recruiters. is. Wow. It's crazy. But you make up a good point, though, because there's even in some workplaces now, they're trying to gamify certain learning activities and modules and things like that. So there is some relevance to this. And that's kind of where I was going with it. You know, that having industries recognize that there are skills because,

I'm a middling not a gamer and I'm honestly not a fan of them, but I am supportive of his interest Absolutely, but and I do recognize that there are skills that he has gained Going through this entire process not just in You know dexterity in his his thumbs, but he's a leader. He's a coach He's learned problem-solving teamwork collaboration And so I all the skills we need yeah, and and it's been really cool to see this sort of journey

Steve-o (13:01.378)
and I would love to see employers be able to take some of these elements that kids gravitate towards, but they've also grown skills in and be able to embed that within their own institutional frameworks. Yeah, no, that's so awesome. You know, some of the students we've talked to so far, one of the things that they've talked about is the hands-on experience that they're gaining in the classroom. And when they come here and they do some of these competitions and they participate, they're actually putting those skills to the

test if you will and I don't know if they're completely real environments but to them it's very real and what they're trying to do in these competitions is show that I understand this principle, understand the skill, I understand why and how to do it and so it's been amazing to kind of hear some of the students talk about those experiences and so I'm glad they're getting this hands-on experience in a place like this, an experience like this. And I think that really is this one, well there's so many great things about JAG but that really is

of the secret to it because as a former teacher I understand better than most that 99 % of their day is spent sitting and passively listening to teachers and so the JAG classroom is the place where they actually are not sitting and passively listening. it's not a lecture. It's not a lecture. They're doing hands-on stuff. They're engaging with employers. They're doing project-based learning that is igniting curiosity and helping them

learn more about themselves and their uniqueness and help in turn that helps them identify their career paths. And so we know that when students feel, when they feel valued, when they are seen for who they uniquely are and not who we want them to be, that builds trust in the classroom. And when we have that level of trust, the growth is phenomenal. And we see that in jazz classrooms across the United States over and over and over again.

since 1981. Well, and it's like last night with Johnny C. Taylor, my favorite part was the last question at the end when he asked the students like, what do you want from us as employers and what was her response? was, we want a chance. We want a chance. Give us a chance. And to me, that was extremely valuable and insightful from the student that that's what we want is that chance. And I feel like when you give them these hands-on experiences, that is you showing that I am giving

Steve-o (15:30.816)
you this chance to show who you are. And it's just phenomenal. It's been fun to be a part of. So yeah, just this morning we spent the entire morning. We had some pre scheduled interviews between some of our corporate partners here and our students having cross generational conversations about the future of work and just about you know this gap. And it's been really cool to see them ask questions of each other and say you know what do you what are you looking for if you're at a career

who's that one kid that you're like I've got to hire them? What's the intangible there? Or you know how are you adapting your career practices to help our generation assimilate into the workforce? And so you know this is such a cool incubator for those conversations. Yeah no it absolutely is that's awesome. Well Tony I know we lost you for a little bit. We'll do some edits later and all that stuff but do you have any other questions?

All right, we'll end there. Thank you so much for being on today. We really appreciate it. I know I kind of ran into the hall and said, hey, bombarded you. Say, come speak to us. But knowing the role that you're in, this really gives us some insight. I I did a little introduction at the beginning to talk about JAG and my experience and what I know. But this has really given us some really good nuggets. So thank you. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. OK. Thank you.