Welcome to The Adaptive Mindset. I'm Bret Gallant, cybersecurity thought leader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we don't just talk tech. We unlock the strategies, stories, and mindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and thrive in a digital world. Let's get started. Welcome back to The Adaptive Mindset. Today, I have Joshua Lee with us. Joshua is the founder and CEO of First Light Studios, an e-commerce growth agency that has helped manage over $100 million in online revenue. He specializes in helping long-established, values-driven brands successfully expand into online marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, and social commerce without sacrificing the integrity that made them successful. Rather than focusing solely on sales, Joshua partners with founders who care about quality, sustainability, and people-first leadership. His expertise lies in helping businesses modernize while protecting their reputation, culture, and legacy. He also speaks openly about leadership, faith, entrepreneurship, and balancing business success with family life. Welcome, welcome to the show, Joshua. Thank you, Brett. Yeah, great to be here. Excited for a conversation. Yeah, yeah. No, there we have, uh, there's some similar threads that we have, and I, I really, uh, I really respect, uh, and I'm looking forward to this conversation. Yeah, yeah, me too. Just the early things that we talked about, it's They're exciting things to me. Exactly. Exciting topics. Yeah. So, um, tell us, tell us a little bit about your journey. Like, what led you to found First Light Studios? And, you know, tell us, tell us a little bit more about you too. So yeah, absolutely. Um, I grew up, I would say, you know, going back to the beginning, grew up in humble beginnings. Parents came over from Korea. when they were teens in Northern Alaska, up in, uh, it's Delta Junction, but it's like super cold up there. It's like Northern Alaska. Yeah. And, uh, you know, just, um, didn't have much growing up. Uh, both my parents just modeled hard work and integrity the best they could. And, uh, just from a young age, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I didn't know there was a name to it and I didn't know what it was. Um, but I just had to, uh, really, I didn't get any allowance money or, or anything like that. And the things that I wanted to buy, I kind of had to get it for myself somehow. Yeah. And so I started to, I, I don't even know how I ran across eBay at the time. Um, but this was a couple years after they, I think they had launched. maybe like 5 or so years after they did. And I started using eBay to sell things that I was able to buy locally for cheap. And something about that experience just triggered something that stuck with me till I was an adult. Fast forward, ended up going to college, did some work in finance, spent a couple years Um, overseeing deal flow and deal sourcing for a venture capital firm. And, uh, one thing led to another, launched my own private label brand on Amazon back in 2017, January 2017. Uh, and, um, you know, I guess 9 years later, I'm, I'm still, I'm still, uh, help. I'm still doing the same thing, which is crazy, crazy to, to think. But, um, I started First Light Studios 5 years ago out of a need that I saw and, and also just some really interesting, uh, pandemic opportunities that came about. But I would say last year was the first real year of entrepreneurship for me. The first 4 were just figuring it out, not really knowing what I was doing, no systems. sort of, you know, flying by the seat of my pants, really. And, and, uh, and so last year was the first real year to, to do it right. And so this is kind of the second year I would really say of, of, uh, being in business. But yeah, it's a little bit of the history. And, uh, that's interesting. Your entrepreneurial story is tied to your youth. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think it's also personality too. Um, you know, growing up, I think I had a lot of friends that, particularly in Asian culture, in Korean culture, they're like, hey, you can be a doctor or try to be a doctor or lawyer. Right. Very stereotypical, but it's actually very true. Um, at least back in the'90s. And, um, yeah, it's probably still true now, but it's lessened up, I think. Um, Just 'cause with social media, I think people are, they think different now and they're influenced differently. And, but anyways, um, I didn't necessarily wanna go down that path just 'cause I, I knew that it's not something I really wanted to do. Yeah. Um, and so it didn't, it didn't feel right with me to do something just because I'm being told to do it. Um, I really wanted to do something that I felt like I wanted to do and I, I couldn't put a name to it at the time, but Now looking back, I know that there was just a disconnect between, you know, what I desired, you know, what I was created to do versus what I'm being told to do, which I think a lot of people, they never have the chance to actually do that thing. And, um, they hold back when they— there's that pull, something that they want to do, and sometimes they hold back for fear or what society or what their peer groups say to do. Absolutely. To go after it. Yeah, absolutely. And, and you actually don't know how far away you are until you actually start, start to pursue the thing. You, you don't realize that it becomes a journey, a very long journey. Um, yeah, it, it took me many, many years. I mean, I tried different entrepreneurial ideas back after college, even you know, thinking about things during college, um, you know, there were so many times where I tried to do entrepreneurial things, but I just didn't know why I was stopping myself. Yeah. And there are these powerful social dynamics and, um, powerful ways that we're— we've created habits around doing. And so to cross that threshold into the unknown is really challenging and difficult, which makes the leap into entrepreneurship even more difficult sometimes. It's interesting. You said, I caught this when you said this, you know, the last year was the first real year of entrepreneurship. What exactly do you mean by that? Like, Yeah, I think I've heard it before where, you know, in social media there's this term going pro. You're starting to go pro. Yeah, I heard Dan Martell say that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love Dan. I think the going pro, I did— I never really looked into it or understood what people meant, but But to me, what it means is it's when your identity becomes tied to entrepreneurship. It's when entrepreneurship is who you are in a way where the fish in the sea, it just breathes in water. It's just who they are. You know, it's like, it's, it's part of you now. And there's no, there's no hesitancy. There's no question about it. There's no, Having to defend yourself. There's no fear. It's just part of who you are and what you're designed to do. And that comes through, at least for me, that came through a lot of time and work in understanding who I was, what my strengths were, and what I wanted to accomplish long term, particularly in this lifetime. Which I don't know if I'll have the privilege of living till I'm, say, you know, 90, but putting in the time and the work in at least figuring out a direction and at least making the decision in my own mind if I'm going to commit to certain actions in a certain direction. Yeah, it's, it's the, it's the affirmation of that commitment. It's the depth of that commitment that you make to yourself that allows you to go pro, I think. Literally, it's like you're, you're all in. And it's, it's not even that you're, you're like burning the boats. There's this, that phrase, you know? Yeah. From Think and Grow Rich. Yeah. Burn the ships. Yeah. Early on, I burned the boats. Like when I jumped into entrepreneurship, I had a full-time job. I quit it and I did this startup thing, which wasn't a great idea. I could have done both at the same time. But that was my way of burning the boats and really like not look— I can't look back from here. Which wasn't a wise thing to do in hindsight. But I think there's kind of no burning the boats for me anymore. It's just part of— it's just part of who I am. Yeah. I'm an entrepreneur and that's it. Yeah. And, and, and it, you know, it, entrepreneurship, I think it just means that you love to create, you love ideas and you, yeah, it's a, I think it's— So it's, it's interesting. Like, yeah, I like, had like your mindset must have grown so much in, like, from the early years of making that burning the ship moment to where you are today, where you're, you're, you know, you're fully embracing it. Like, what's the biggest mindset shift that you've had over the years and maybe today that, that you've taken with you that you wish you've known Now, or has that shifted where you are today to where you were, you know, when you first started your entrepreneurial journey? Oh yeah, 100%, big time. Um, I would say the person that I describe myself as, how I would explain myself, how I think even 2 years from now is drastically different. It really wasn't until 2 years that my, my personal growth journey started to go, uh, parabolic. Oh yeah. And it was due to some, some hardship that I experienced, uh, like a top 3 hard times in life situation in my personal life. And, um, having to go through that, um, it, it was, it was like rocket fuel and it helped me accelerate you or— Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I personally believe that in order to go far and long, yeah, you, you do need to be willing to go, to go deep. Yeah. Within, within yourself, with, you know, as, as deep as possible into the, the dark crevices of your life. Um, you know, I'm not trying to go too philosophical. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. But the, you know, that, you know, you mentioned Dan Martell. Dan Martell said, you know, the depth you're willing to go with yourself Is, uh, that, that determines sort of the outcome of— It can fuel you. Your mess is your message too, Joshua, you know? 100%. Yeah, you know, 100%. Yeah. So that, like, did that, that personal experience— and I don't know if you're willing to share, and that's okay, but But it certainly has shaped you and allowed you to go deeper and realizing, would it say, a different meaning to what you do, or, or, or more, you know? For sure. Yeah. Um, when we— if, if we do reconnect at another point, I probably can share then. Yeah. Um, right now Yeah, I'm not able to. I understand, man. But I, I will say that it was— it created the most suffering, and, uh, it was, it was a, it was all-time worst, worst time in life. And, um, I can feel it right now, Joshua. Yeah. And, you know, it, it's still something that I'm working through. But, uh, was this the defining moment that shaped the way you approach business then? Or is it— You know, it, it's redefined how I approach business. It's really re— it's really refined it. Yeah. Um, and, um, but, but I would say it, it was You know, um, I do want to answer that question and then answer this question, but, you know, going through a very difficult time and season, you do have a choice. Yes. Uh, you, you can use it to become the best version of yourself. Yeah. Or you can, you can do nothing with it and you can allow the feelings to overcome you. And it really does become an opportunity for you to have a bit more willpower, which you can work on towards building better habits. Yes. Yeah. Because your, your habits, your unconscious mind is really what determines who you are. It's the set of actions that you take on a daily basis. And so for me, I developed a few new habits. But in that, in that season where, you know, I was— I went— it was just a dark time. Um, I really had to, you know, talk with God and figure out Who am I? What is my purpose on earth? What the heck am I doing with my life? And, um, really got some clarity around that. Yeah. Really through being able to, um, envision a future version of myself that's greater than who I am and working towards that. But then also being able to identify with that person right now, today, and being able to— Yourself, you mean who you're destined to be? Yes. And, and, and, and pull it forward, you know, pull it towards you into the present. Yeah. It's a scary thing to do. Yeah. It's not manifestation. It's not manifestation. No, no, no. It's understanding your strengths, your weaknesses, who you are without all the baggage, you know, how you act, how you feel, how you talk, being able to imagine that. Yeah. And bring that to today despite the problems, the challenges that you might be facing in business or your personal life, you know, Um, could be health, could be marriage, could be relationship with kids, you know, aging parents, what have you. Um, if you're able to do that despite current circumstances, yeah, and you're able to do that every day, that'll change your life. Yeah. Yeah. From my experience from doing it. My second year. Yeah, I know. I, I, I, I second that because I've been doing that myself, so I, I get— I, I understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you in— are you in Dan's group, or— I am, yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Oh, nice. How long you been doing that? A couple years now. Oh, okay. Yeah, okay, awesome. So yeah, it's, it's certainly helped shape who I am, who I'm becoming. And, um, in my own season, my own season of life, I've had some pivotal moments where, um, things have hurt hard in personal life. Yeah. And, um, I got the grape privilege, at least because part of the— I believe, Joshua, that you got to work harder on yourself than your job. Yeah, 100%. I've certainly been doing that. As of right now, I've released 130 pounds. Wow. Let's go. 100%. But the thing that I got to say, and this is not a place where I want to share right now publicly, right today. But I've shared it other places. I had the great privilege of saying to Dan in person when I was at an event, an AI and Social Selling Summit, I got the privilege of saying to him, Dan, because of what I've learned from being in your program and working on myself, I'm the person who I need to be most right now. Amen. I pulled, I pulled back into my world. Yeah. Because I worked so hard on myself. A relationship, a relationship that's so dear and important, special. Yep. Back into my life because I just kept sending love. I kept working on me and stopped making it about me. And, and, you know, you're a person of faith. I put it in, in, in God's hands. Yeah. But I kept working on me, working on me and what my beliefs were. So I, I can identify 100% what you were saying earlier. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, yeah. And I can identify and I appreciate, you know, being ready to share that story, you know? Yeah. And one day I'll share my story a little bit more publicly. But right now, it stays within me. For sure. But I understand the working and how it shapes us. These moments that happen to us, they happen to us for a reason. And it draws that future version of you, that person who you've been working on, that person who's driving you, that's being the person you needed to be most. And for you, I'm assuming, like, it shaped who you are on your entrepreneurial journey, but I'm gonna go on a whim and say it's shaping who you are as a person on how you show up in your life. Absolutely. Yeah. So, yeah. Thank you for sharing, Brett. Yeah. Yeah. Like, so I, you know, I get it, you know, and I, and I, I think I would encourage everybody to embrace what you said too. Like, you know, Keep working on yourself, you know? Yeah, absolutely. And, and, uh, there's so many, so many things that I could, could share there, but I think, yeah, it's so, so powerful when we're able to talk under the hood a little bit, what's going on underneath the face. The smile, the business. Yeah. And even beyond that, it's the courage to be able to face yourself and your circumstances and do the little work that you can do at the time. Yeah. And, and, and really let time compound the result, you know, little actions over time. But I say doing the hard stuff though, that little thing, it seems like little, but when you, when you do the hard things like that and doing the little work, those are hard and it makes things later on get easier. Absolutely. Yeah. You know, 100%. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. Well, Brett, I'm, I'm, I'm super glad to hear that and I'm excited for You know what the next 3 years is gonna look like even. I mean, total, you know, total transformation if it's only been a year or 2. Oh yeah. And you're where you're at. Well, yeah, but look at yourself like, well, that year, you know, in the last year in entrepreneurship where you, it got real, you know, for you. Yeah. Like, yeah, we're shaping you to go where you're going. Totally exciting, you know? Yeah, it is. Yeah. And there's, there's so much, so many things that, you know, so, so many things that have led to that. It's not just, you know, an identity thing. It's who you are. But it's, it's other skills and tactics that you learn too, and you implement and you practice. Like, oh yeah, um, yeah, no, but it's such a personal part of growth. Like, I think just in the last few years for you, your mindset belief has grown, like, you know, who you are and who you're becoming. Yeah, that's right, that's right. Yeah, yeah. And, and then a big part of it for me is, um, you know, a lot of times when, uh, in the past I would have a business deal come up, like a really big business, like an opportunity, great, great prospect going through the sales process, you know, month 6, 7, 8, I'm like, oh, you know, when's the, when's the shoe gonna drop? I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna drop the ball here. And I'm always surprised when the deal closes. Yeah. That was a couple years ago. And I think now it, the mindset's changed where it's like, I don't really think that because I've worked on I've worked on allowing myself to receive. And what that really means is, if you have a faith background, it's receiving the good things God has planned for you. Yes. If you believe in God, you believe he's a good God, as he's promised. So good that, you know, he gave Jesus His Son to die for you is what I believe. That's the depth of his love. I have kids, so I understand that. He's trying to give you good things. Just, just take it. You just got to be open. Take it with joy and recognize it and recognize, recognize the gifts, but also recognize the times when you're given something to learn from it. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, what do you mean by that? Oh, just— I, uh, whatever that pain that you had before. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. The pain that I had, okay, that I talked about, that was given to me for a reason. Yeah, interesting. You know, you know, like One day I'm gonna be able to help somebody through that. Yeah. Because of what I learned through that, that was what I needed. Yeah. Later on, it defines you. And, and at the same time, taking back what you said, you know, about your faith, like being recognizing to receive, right? But also recognizing those times that, you know, when things are hard, you're given that for a reason. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And, and it's hard. And that's really challenging, right? Oh, God. Being able to see the gift in some situation that just seems absolutely terrible. Oh, pain is terrible. Yeah. It's painful. You know, I've avoided it a lot. You know, in my past, I've had a tendency to avoid it. sort of do a little bit of positive, uh, toxic positivity sort of a situation. Like, hey, just ignore it, it's gonna be all right, you know, everything's good, you know. I just got shot in the arm, I'm good, don't worry, just keep going. Knocked down and get back up again, like that song. Right, right, exactly. Yeah, but it's like, you know, there's a time and place for that, but— and, and, and, and you know when When it's not, when something in the back of your mind's like, oh, this is kind of serious. Like, yeah, I know it 100%. Let's— oh yeah, what's that? It's like, I feel like it's not quite focusing. Am I a little blurry or I'm good? No, you're good. You're 100% good on this end. You're, you're, you're crystal clear. Okay. Yeah, I've never seen anybody so clear. So let's shift this up a little bit. You know, we've had a great conversation so far, like one of my favorites in a long time. But let's get a little tactical for a little bit, you know, focus on some of the things that people can learn from you too, from your experience. Yeah. You know, I, I had this question written down, Joshua. Like, many, like, many businesses, successful businesses, uh, struggle with digital transformation. What— why do you think that is? Like, like— Well, I think I'll, I'll answer the question directly, and then I'll back up a little bit and And provide some context from what I've learned. Yep. Digital transformation is difficult. It depends on the business that you're currently in. A lot of businesses, particularly legacy businesses or businesses that have been around for a little while before the digital age, they're operating on broken or clunky software that You know, somebody's managing and has been cobbling together, you know, like for instance, like a payroll solution. It's like you do stuff in this portal, you do stuff in this portal. Maybe you, you went to an all-in-one portal, but it just kind of works and there's some manual work in between and, and there's a person that manages that or, or a team. Digital transformation, it means that you're uprooting your entire process and It's not just a tooling part, it's not just a retraining part, but it's a willingness of the team to relearn and recommit and to do things a different way. That's the challenging part, because not everybody on the team is going to want to be transformed in their role. And that's why I believe most transformations actually fail, because If they have a team, somebody's gonna have to be courageous enough to really observe and understand what's being done, the attitudes and the outlooks of the, of the team, each individual team member, and bring people on or, or take people off. Yeah. And that, that, that's actually very challenging, particularly for smaller to medium-sized organizations. Um, so there's a people There's a process, there's obviously a cost. Yeah. Digital transformations sometimes can take years. Like, if you're, if you're moving to NetSuite, that could take years, as crazy as it sounds. And, um, NetSuite, uh, not gonna talk about NetSuite, but, but that, that's the gist of it. And I think Um, broadly speaking, if we just take the digital out of transformation— Yeah, yeah. If we talk about physical transformation, spiritual transformation, yes, um, mental transformation, that means that there has to be a hunger to want to change, to want to transform. Somebody's not going to transform if they don't want to. As an individual. And leadership could want it, but if leadership has not brought the whole team on board, yeah, and there's going to be part of the team holding back, then that transformation is— Exactly. Yeah, because at the foundational level, a company is just a group of people working towards one thing. Yes. And if the group of people are not aligned, you're either gonna go super slow or you're just not gonna make it. Basically, you'll eventually make it or you're just not gonna make it. And so there's a lot of nuance to that. I think the EOS Traction has a great framework for Making sure there's the right people in the right seats. Yep, yep. And then creating a bar. You know, there's sort of a metric system that you can rate your team on. Yeah. Sort of a willingness to learn, the aptitude, the ability. Yeah. And those are kind of the 2 main ones, but you kind of score it based on that. Yeah. And then there's kind of a bar for that. So that's how you would implement it to figure out if somebody's on, you know, needs to be somewhere else on the team. But I think transformation is it, the hunger piece. You can't, you know, you can't lead the horse to water. Like you can't like force it to drink the water. So, um, I find that's very interesting. There's a lot of parallels what we were talking about earlier. There is, yeah. It's very interesting. I think that's true for anything in life, you know, like— Yeah, you know, it is. Like, and, and that, that's also the frustrating, challenging, um, really difficult part too, is that sometimes you want someone to change or, or something to change for someone else more than they want it themselves. And that can cause a lot of grief, a lot of pain, um, just, just, uh, a frustration sometimes even, um, and just this, just sadness to know that that person could be so much more and they're choosing not to. It's interesting, like, the parallels from what we were talking about earlier too, like, even, even with this With struggling with digital transformation, sometimes you want, like, in your personal and your business and your entrepreneurial journey, sometimes you have to let go, let go of things to allow something in. Yes. And the digital transformation, sometimes you have to let go of old mindsets, old habits. Oh, 100%. Especially what you said, sometimes members of the team have to go. But there has to be a willingness of the team to go on board, willingness of leadership to go. So yeah, that's, there's the, like you nailed, like that's the struggle right there. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. It's, and, and, and, um, I, I mean, personally, I think there's a great opportunity The, you know, the silver tsunami, if you will. Yep. Yeah, we're sitting in the best time right now. A lot of baby boomers retiring, their kids don't want the business. That's happening a lot, and a lot of those businesses need digital transformation. Oh, but, but what that requires is that a leader come in to do this hard work. It, it sometimes it's not as difficult, but sometimes it can be Really a turnaround, which— Which is to change. Yeah, willingness to change and, and to sort of gut the team, gut the process. And, you know, being the person that has to drive all that, that's very taxing. That's very draining. You got to be wired a certain way. And I, and I think that's why there are sort of Turnaround CEOs that do that professionally. Um, but, uh, I don't know many. I know a couple, but— Yeah, yeah. But every time, uh, when they talk about it, they've got horror stories for sure. And personally, it's something that I do want to try. Um, but You know, at the same time, it's, um, anyways, don't know how we got on that tangent, but— No, no, no, there's a great opportunity. I brought us there. There was parallel. Um, I just, the, um, I want to touch a little bit more on what you do have, but the, this question, and I, I think based, like, we could go on for hours, but the biggest mistake Like what, like in your mind, what's the biggest mistake companies make when they're entering Amazon or Walmart? I see it 2 ways. The first way is that a company tends to rush into it. So they're like, hey, all our competitors are on, our wholesalers are selling on, um, We need to get control of this. We're we're losing market share. We should be able to get more sales, and they just jump on with no plan. That's the worst way to get on because there's just a lot of mistakes that you can avoid by doing it right and and launching with a plan. I think so. So really, it's more of a timing, more of a preparedness, and the second part is more broadly. There's got to be alignment across the organization. Again, this kind of goes back to my earlier answer, but a lot of times, say, a mid-level or senior leader could know all about Amazon, but then at the board level, they have no idea and there's a gap in understanding the new way that business is done versus the old way. The new way is that they're customers that are buying online directly. And that's where you wanna spend some time in. The old way is, hey, we've got a core set of customers that we have relationships with. That's how we grow our business. It's through this network. Yeah. That is still true, but that pool is shrinking drastically. And I'm just talking about manufacturers that sell products to, uh, that end up in the consumer's hand versus an, you know, an enterprise, you know, not talking about machine parts, um, not talking about, you know, silicone you may be selling to factories, B2B, but really if you have a B2C product that you sold through distribution wholesale, that's shrinking, consolidating. Opportunity is in e-commerce going direct to the consumer. There's the mindset shift, the business. And the model, even the financial model, it's different going wholesale. Yeah. Product's $50, sell it to wholesalers for $25. Yeah. A little bit of freight, that's your margin. E-commerce, you know, um, you're really selling it yourself. Then you've got to layer in ad costs. Yeah. Potential return percentage, fulfillment fees, referral fees. Yeah. And a lot of times you don't make as much, you make less than you did doing it the old way. So the alignment, the commitment, the understanding in that gap is a blocker that, that can take, that can actually take Over a year because they're not talking about it all the time. They're thinking about it. Yeah. And, um, because they have other initiatives going on too. So, you know, a lot of times it's like, hey, we're not, we're not doing e-commerce this year, maybe next year. And it's like, dude, why wait? It's already there. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's where the growth is at. You gotta pivot. You gotta— Yeah. At least be open to it to see it. It's there. But I mean— For sure. Yeah. I mean, take your time because you do have to. But that alignment piece, the gap is almost too big. So a lot of times it's challenging. We have a lot of manufacturers that we've talked to that were just waiting in the wings. Sort of. Yeah, large manufacturers and, you know, a national brand, they're just not wired. They're just not wired that way right now at the board level. Yes. So it's like, all right, let's have the conversation in 6 months, 6 months, 6 months, 6 months. But You know, for, for, for us, we're just— we're a lot— we're giving people an opportunity to— we believe strongly in the results that we bring and the value we bring through our service. And so it's like, hey, here's an opportunity for you. We're not trying to sell you something, but if you want to actually sell online the right way, have a great handle on your profitability and what it takes, and to be able to work with us to even train your own team to think about it in the right way. Yeah. Um, you know, I, I don't see how working with us would be a loss. It's actually the best for your company. And, and I strongly believe that. It's so interesting you say that. And I see this because I, I see in you that, you know, and this is something that I realized myself for what I do, okay? When I'm talking to people and there's parallels what I do, but everything I've done, I, I know I do it because it matters. Yeah. what you're doing and you see it and you know the opportunity is there and you have this so much of an incredible belief in what you do and you see what these organizations can benefit from, you're doing it because it matters. It matters that, hey, here's the opportunity, here's what I see this, and if you just work with me, you know, and they may not be ready yet. Yeah, it matters that you at least give them the offer. It matters that you show up. It matters that you talk to them. It matters. Yeah, that you have that discussion. It matters that you follow up. Yeah, you know, absolutely. Yeah, I— and I think, you know, I think the people that I interact with, yeah, it's supposed to be for a reason. Yeah. And so I try to treat every interaction accordingly. Yeah. Well, this conversation today with you and I happened for a reason. 100%. Yeah. And this, you know, the early part and the latter parts of this conversation will help somebody. I believe that. I strongly believe it. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And that's, that's You know, I think that's, that's a big part of what I hope for as a result. Yeah. In terms of getting on podcasts and just speaking. Um, so yeah. Interesting. We're gonna have to, uh, have to wrap up here in a moment, but, uh, in this, this These all the— these conversations always go in great areas. But I'm curious, you shared with me that you've been a guest on podcasts. Would you say that being a guest on podcasts has changed you, impacted your life in some ways, and what you're learning or what you're getting to share? For me? Yeah. It's sharpening my, my skills in speaking, in being able to think. So, so I used to have pre-canned answers. Yeah. In some of my podcasts that I would memorize and I would say it kind of like it's a marketing spiel a little bit. Yes. Which, which actually, if you watch some interviews on Oprah and such, Those are all pre-rehearsed answers a lot of times, pre-rehearsed stories. So with celebrities, you'll hear the same exact story. And that's just part of PR that people don't recognize. It's the narrative that you're telling the mass and it's the story. Yeah. And so that's why in those settings it makes sense. I think what I'm learning here and how being a guest has, changed me. I wouldn't say it's changed me drastically, but what it allows me to do is when I come on a podcast, I want to bring my best self to the podcast and channel that, that future version. Yes. And, and for me personally, when I see that future version, I do see myself in some public arena, not politics. Could be business. Yep. Could be, you know, church-related. Could be— I don't know what it is. Yeah. But I just envision myself being able to influence a lot of people and That's sort of my 30-year outlook. And so— Joshua, I feel that for you. That future is coming for you. Thank you. Yeah. And it's not something that I, I've made up. It's just, it keeps coming to me through different years of my life. Oh yeah. And you know it, you feel it because it's, it's, it's there for you. It's, it's waiting for you to claim it. Yeah. 100%. And it is something that I've, I've been afraid of for such a long time, actually. Oh, yeah. Since I was young, which is super interesting. Could talk about that another time. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Because for a huge part of my life, just until the last couple of years, I avoided sort of the public spotlight. Yes. And so for that reason, but now I'm, I'm actually stepping into it, as you said, and I'm still building confidence in that. And that's kind of where the podcast has, has helped me. Um, and at the end of the day, I'm doing it so that I can use my, my gifts and my abilities to really help someone else in need or to give somebody something that I say maybe that they needed to hear. And I, I think you hear that a lot, um, but that is really my intent behind it. I don't, I don't plan on— You can feel that out. Monetizing it or anything like that. I feel that off you 100%. Like the, uh, The thing, the takeaway I would encourage anyone to sit with and, you know, wrapping that up is what you were saying. The takeaway is who's missing out because you're not showing up, you know? Yeah. So when you're showing up today, speaking with our audience, showing up on other stages, you know, and learning sharing what you've learned, but drawing people into your world. And I want to thank you for today. I really appreciate this conversation. It's certainly what I needed. I know our guests are going to need it. But how can people find you and connect with you? What's the best way? Yeah, if you want to learn more about what we do or just chat, you can go on Instagram. DM me. Yeah. @1JoshuaLee, right? Yeah. Yeah. Just shoot me a question or if, you know, whatever you want to talk about. Happy to be a resource. Yeah. Yeah. Josh, I, like I said, thank you for today. This is one of the highlights of today, having this conversation with you. So, yeah, me as well, Brett. Really appreciate it. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah. Thank you. So great to be here. Thanks for tuning in to The Adaptive Mindset. If you found value in today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who's ready to thrive in the digital age. Stay secure, stay adaptable, and I'll see you next time.