From Amish Farm to Top 100 Speaker with Dave Kaufmann

[00:00:04] Welcome to the Wisdom Parlor, a thoughtful discussion of important ideas among people who are committed to succeeding in life. This is a gathering of leaders from a variety of industries, and our role here is to help you reach the top 1% of your field of choice. I'm Jim Cathcart, so come with me and let's discover how much more successful you could be.

[00:00:37] Well, welcome folks to the Professional Experts Podcast, where we feature people who are making a pretty hefty living out of being an expert. So this is coaches and speakers and consultants and authors and specialists, podcasters, people who are taking their expertise, even performers, who are the center of their business is them. They are the product.

[00:01:04] So I, throughout the 48 years of my professional speaking career, was putting me out there as the product, the Zig Ziglar Corporation. I wonder what their product was. Well, it was Zig Ziglar. Why Zig Ziglar? Well, they weren't selling Zig. They were selling the impact Zig had on people, and he was the personality that brought that unique perspective on life and success.

[00:01:30] So I decided years ago to call my company Cathcart Institute, as opposed to calling it, you know, Leadership Excellence Institute or something generic like that. Well, today we have a guest who I'm very proud to bring to you, and that's one of the certified professional experts, one of the very first ones. And his name is Dave Kaufman.

[00:01:56] And Dave Kaufman is not only an expert, but he's built five companies. Well, he's built more than that, but he owns five companies. He flies his own plane. He was handpicked by the Zig Ziglar family to continue the legacy of Zig Ziglar. He is one of only 10 master certified DISC trainers. He's a remarkable guy.

[00:02:21] I spoke at his EDGECON conference in Nashville a year or two ago, and then I did a mastermind retreat with him and his inner circle of folks down in Key West. And I just love spending time with Dave and with Tony and with your whole team, Dave. So welcome aboard. Nice to have you here. Thank you, Jim. It's an honor to be here, and I love spending time with you and Paula as well. I remember Key West was amazing. I know my clients really loved it as well.

[00:02:52] Yeah, that was cool. And it was fun being roommates. Yes. Yeah. In Airbnb where you and Tony and I got together. That's right. Love of becoming an expert and developing expertise and building a whole career out of it. Yeah.

[00:03:18] So when you started out, did you have any idea you'd be doing the kind of things you're doing now? Well, it depends on when you when I started out at age 13. I got to tell you this. At age 13, I told my dad that I think I'm going to be involved in something that is not typical. And, you know, to understand what not typical means, you have to understand how I grew up.

[00:03:43] I grew up on an Amish farm and, you know, I was expected to take on the farm, you know, milk cows, build furniture, do something typical. And he said, well, what what is it? What do you feel? And I said, I don't know. I feel like there's a group of people going this way. And it's my job to help him go that way, to help him shift directions. And he immediately thought I was going to be a preacher.

[00:04:10] He wasn't too he wasn't too far off base. But he said, are you going to be a preacher? I said, oh, I hope not. I mean, I never even thought about that. But I was just like I knew that I was not going to do what everybody behind me always did. So that's kind of how I started off with that in the like the background running in the background noise that I'm going to do something. Different than any of my family.

[00:04:37] And so when I when I left the Amish and the Mennonites, I, you know, 21 years old, I got into sales and I felt very fulfilled. But that feeling, that calling was always out there. When I started speaking and coaching and doing what I'm doing now, it wasn't out there. It was all around me. That separation is profound. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:05:02] Leaving that community because that community encourages, as I understand it, people to stay within that community and to continue that lifestyle. So tell us a little bit about that that breakthrough moment. Yeah. So our community was a little different than a lot of other Amish communities and Mennonite communities. We were a little bit more free to kind of explore and do your thing.

[00:05:32] But, yeah, it was it was a decision. It was a decision that was somewhat difficult to like clearly break away. So at 21, I actually moved out and went to Alabama, northern Alabama. And that's where I learned how to water ski barefoot and also how to fly airplanes. Oh, yeah. New skills everybody needs day to day. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly.

[00:06:00] And so I got into sales right away in a company over there. And that's where I learned to the art of sales and loving people. That's where I realized that, wow, I really like working with people, driving tractors and running cows and stuff. That's great. But working with people, I got so much energy off of selling and communicating that I knew that was kind of the path that was going to take me to where I am today.

[00:06:30] So what did you start selling? What was the first thing? The first thing I sold was a storage shed. So I worked for a company that built backyard storage sheds and we sold them. We had a big lot. And later on in my sales career, I got the company into Home Depot and we started selling buildings, sheds to Home Depot. That was a coup. Yeah.

[00:07:01] Yeah. Well, so then when did you discover and how did you enter into this field of doing training and development? Yeah. So in 2008, I was working for a company. And if you remember what happened in 2008, the economy plummeted. And I was promised a new job, the world in a pickup truck. And I accepted that offer. And three months later, everything crashed. They walked into my office and they said, you're done.

[00:07:31] We can't have you anymore. And so I had started a small company about six months before that, a cleaning company. Home cleaning, that kind of thing. That's right. Residential cleaning services. And I had three or four employees that I would work on it on the side as I was working for this company. And I remember I had just gotten married to Tony in 2008 as well. So a new wife, a new business and a new job.

[00:08:00] And the new job fell off. And I remember sitting on the couch telling Tony, I said, holding up the little business card for our cleaning services. This is it. If I jump off and go 100%, will you jump with me? And she said, yes, let's go. And so I hired a coach, Howard Partridge. He's on my wall of gratitude over here. You know, Howard, that's where I met you. That's where I met you at the event.

[00:08:26] And so he started coaching me in this business and we grew it into a very large business. And people started coming to me and saying, will you do to my company what you did to your company? And I said, I hired a coach. Go hire a coach. He said, will you be my coach? So it literally started out of the success of my business through Howard Partridge.

[00:08:49] And then I actually joined Howard with his company for about a year and was coaching for him and his company. And yeah, just that was how we got started in the coaching. I started with Earl Nightingale the same kind of a way. You know, I got the tapes and listened to the recordings of Earl, got inspired by that, and then started selling them door to door in Little Rock, Arkansas, and then ultimately went into that business.

[00:09:18] And I was just thinking about it the other morning. When I wake up, I always have a flood of memories and great new ideas in the morning. And I remembered years ago, Paula and I went to Phoenix, Arizona to the anniversary party celebration of Joel and Judy Weldon. And Joel and Judy Weldon were good friends with Earl and Diana Nightingale. Okay.

[00:09:46] My mentor from arm's length, long distance. Sure. You know, and so we're at that event. And I remember I was dancing with Glenna Salisbury, who's a, she's passed away now, but she was active in the National Speakers Association and became its national president ultimately. Well, this was 1989. 1989. And she said, while we're dancing, hey, Jim, are you involved in the National Speakers Association?

[00:10:16] I said, yes, I'm really involved. She said, well, who's the president of it these days? I said, well, that would be me. Oh, my God. I said, no, don't be embarrassed. You had no reason to know. You know, that's a great story. And I look across and my wife, Paula, is dancing with Earl Nightingale. Wow. Earl Nightingale, the dean of personal motivation.

[00:10:46] You know, one of the people that inspired Zig Ziglar. Yeah. Just one of the giants of this field that we enjoy today. And like you, you know, I had a chance to be in the presence of great thinkers and great minds. And to be able to extend that legacy is quite a blessing. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So we've got viewers now that are interested in hearing our stories and amused by that, but they want to learn from that.

[00:11:14] What can they do in their own world? So how did you walk us through the evolutionary process of your whole, you know, Dave Kaufman business and empowering people and so forth? Yeah. So, you know, Howard introduced me to DISC. He said, you really need to learn DISC to learn how to communicate to your employees because I'm a very dominant, decisive, dogmatic, determined person.

[00:11:44] I'm a high D. Let me say for our listeners that aren't familiar with DISC when you hear it that way. It's D-I-S-C. It's William Moulton Marston's concept of measuring personality through observing behavior. That's right. It's D-I-S-C. Okay. Right. And so I started learning DISC and I started seeing myself in a completely different way.

[00:12:10] I started understanding why I do what I do, the decisions I make and how I process. And it became so interesting to me, the study of people, because I told you earlier, I love people. I love to be around people. I like to go to the airport early just to watch people. Yeah. And so I just I kept studying it and and, you know, took level one certification, level two, three, four, all the way up to master trainer with DISC.

[00:12:39] And I just I made it my thing. I made it my my core part of expertise and really just like I think I think our society today, Jim, is missing mastery. It's missing excellence in a certain thing. And one of my mentors, Delatora McNeil, I think you know him as well.

[00:13:02] He told me, he said, listen, an oak tree and you know something about an oak tree does not come out of the ground with 13 branches. Yeah. It comes out with one and it it breeds massive credibility to hold the eventual 13 branches. And so that's one thing that I was blessed early on in my career is to become a master at one thing and build that credibility.

[00:13:28] And so it's kind of like the principle going deep with a few so you can impact the many. And I think our society, I think we need to get back to becoming a master at one thing and really honing in that that being an expert in a certain area. Because that gives you credibility to go out and do other things. Yeah, that's been my whole concept with the Cathcart Institute in recent years.

[00:13:57] We've of course, you can go all the way back and started with the acorn metaphor and my book, The Acorn Principle. But the concept of certifying professional experts is not to certify someone in building a house cleaning business or in landscape design or in rocket science. Let them develop their expertise in a clinical way or a technical way in whatever path is available to them.

[00:14:27] But my specialty is developing their professionalism and helping them become skilled at the things that will make the big difference in whether they thrive in that field or struggle for a long time. That's right. I love what you're doing. Well, one of the things I love that you do is you put together EdgeCon and it's kind of like Comic-Con for the comic book enthusiasts.

[00:14:50] But this is for people that are living on the cutting edge, people that want to grow and stay involved and be where the action is. And you bring together a lineup of speakers and you spend a lot of time with the folks yourself on stage one-to-one. And it's just, it's a breeding ground for growth. Yeah. And I loved being there and just being part of that community. Yeah. Not but.

[00:15:16] And a thing that I observed about it is the culture that you've created is one of encouragement, one of openness, one of growth, one of dignity, one of faith. Yeah. You know, it's not a place where everybody has to act like they don't believe in God. It's where you can openly express your faith without anybody feeling like, oh, you're trying to sell me your religion. You know, no, it's not that.

[00:15:46] It's just good people getting together and spreading the good. Yeah, absolutely. It's a great culture. It's a great brand. I'm really excited about it. We're going to be really focusing on growing it. We want to get it to a thousand members. And that's going to happen here in the next two years. We're putting a lot of money behind the brand. And so I'm really excited about EdgeCon. We got some great speakers.

[00:16:12] You're coming back, whether you know it or not, but you're coming back. And, you know, we had James Smith. I don't know if you know, hit that name, but James Smith was amazing. We've had a lot of your friends, Don Hudson, Victor Antonio. That was so cool for me to introduce him to you, even though you both knew each other, but never met each other. That was, what, two years ago? Two years ago, National Speakers Association.

[00:16:42] And for those who don't know, Victor Antonio is a sales guru. He lives in Atlanta area. And he's widely known, and he's really big online. You can find him everywhere. Well, I'd known him and followed him for years. And he'd known me and evidently followed me for years. So we're in the convention of the National Speakers Association. A couple thousand people in the audience. Big deal. Big deal. I'm backstage.

[00:17:10] And he's giving a speech out front. The reason I'm backstage is I'm going to come on the platform next. And during his speech, he's talking about the evolution of sales philosophy over the years. And he goes back through history, and he has all these images of books and faces of people. And then he said, the OG of relationship selling, Jim Cathcart, and puts my book on the screen, unbeknownst to me. Yep.

[00:17:40] And he didn't know I was in the audience. And so afterwards, out in the hallway, in the middle of the crowd, Dave comes up to me. And he says, Jim, there's somebody I think you ought to meet. And he introduced the two of us, me and Victor. And Victor said, I want to do a project with you. And that project became the 2024 revised edition of Relationship Selling. There you go.

[00:18:09] And it's all stimulated by you, Dave Kaufman. Thank you. Yes. Now, that was a great time. You know, I remember seeing him come out, and he saw me and recognized me. And then he saw who was beside me. And boy, I have pictures. I mean, you guys acted like you're long friends. And it was just really a cool moment to see that come together. So I actually have a copy of that signed book. I think you and Victor both signed it and gave it to me.

[00:18:39] So I appreciate that. You bet. So yeah, that, you know, just EdgeCon over the years just had some tremendous speakers. Myron Golden, Delatora McNeil, Don Hudson, Jim Cathcart, Victor Antonio, just to name a few. Yeah. I'm really excited about that. I want to inquire about something. EdgeCon is one element in your mix of five businesses. What's your current business model?

[00:19:09] So that people can see, okay, yeah, I see that I could learn, say, from Dave and become certified under him. Or I could follow Jim and teach his programs or whatever. But at that next level where you're in your own business and you're the expert now and you're selling your expertise, what are the different ways of being in business? Right. And I could really have legs. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:19:36] So I do a lot of speaking and that's kind of a marketing arm. That's how I get people into my business coaching firm called Empowering Small Business. And there we coach on the six pillars of business. We coach on marketing. We coach on sales, operations, office, relationships, and leadership. And we have 10 systems under each one of those six pillars that we can actually implement into a business.

[00:20:05] And I typically work with companies that are in the manufacturing and service industries with employees. And so that's the modality or that's the six pillars that I coach on is marketing, sales, office, procedures, relationships, and leadership. So speaking of- Pardon the interruption. Sure. I want the listeners to notice this.

[00:20:29] Now, I've talked about how Cathcart Institute's built on one particular market, one particular skill set and realm that's my lane. And it's professional experts. Dave just told you his. And he came from an industrial or trade background. And he understands manufacturing. He understands farming and agriculture. He understands machines. He understands sales.

[00:20:58] You know, like at the Home Depot level, you know, those kind of products. And so he's got a wide, wide path of potential clients that he already speaks their language. He doesn't have to learn their lingo. He talks their language and thinks their way going in. And he's built his business around teaching what's essential to survive and thrive in those businesses. That's right. Yeah.

[00:21:24] Besides the speaking that you do and you promote yourself to speak at company conventions, trade shows and associations and such. And you sell these assessments when you're doing consulting for your clients. And you do that for individuals, which gets a person into the pipeline. I got my profile from you and therefore we're in dialogue.

[00:21:50] And for companies where they have you come in and do assessments of all their people and you tell them about their team, why it works and why it doesn't work and what they need to do. That's right. Yeah. A lot of companies, they call me because the business owner feels like it's the employees that aren't behaving in the business. It's them that need fixing. It's them. You're right. It's never them. It's always the leader.

[00:22:17] And, you know, to see their face when they realize that, oh, my gosh, I was the problem. And, you know, I believe everything trickles down from the top and leadership is, you know, everything rises and falls on leadership. And so, yeah, to go into a company and help them develop their culture and to start seeing all of the boats pointed the same direction. And before that, they were going all different directions.

[00:22:47] And it's just such a rewarding process to be involved in. And it's individual work, but it's collective as well, because, you know, if you work with individuals inside the company and they all start turning their boats towards the destination, you're going to get there a lot faster with a lot more energy. It's easier to go together than alone.

[00:23:11] And so it's a very rewarding type of work that I do is to help change the culture of a company. Now, let's assume that everybody watching this has already gotten into the business like you and me in our earlier years, and they've got a business going. And now they're looking at what are the next growth stages that they need to go through.

[00:23:35] You went from being an expert and a speaker and a trainer and consultant to where you had multiple businesses addressing different needs. And you have your inner circle where you bring the people together in your mastermind and have them doing some really cool things throughout the year. And I'll explore that, too. But tell us how the matrix fits together. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:01] So, you know, we have different levels of coaching that customers can purchase. So I believe there's three stages of business. There's the infant stage. There's the adolescent stage. And then there's the mature stage. And so when I speak, I offer a free strategy call. And basically, I can tell on what they write out on that strategy call form if they're an infant by the questions that they're asking.

[00:24:30] I can tell if they're an infant, an adolescent. So that ultimately determines what program I offer them if they're interested in coaching. And so then we go through the coaching program. It's a six-month engagement. And typically, a lot of our clients renew for another six months as well. We've had clients renew for four years in a row just keep with us.

[00:24:56] And so we've taken companies that, you know, our sweet spot is five million and working up. Our largest client to date was a billion-dollar company. And so we were able to really help them with their sales team.

[00:25:13] And what I did is I used Zig Ziglar's seven-step sales process and then combined DISC on how to use that process to a D-type, I-type, S, and a C-type. And their sales just went crazy after that. So that's actually a really great program that we offer is the sales part.

[00:25:36] We took one company from 12 million all the way up to 40 million in a year and a half time just by helping the leadership reach down to their people in a very serving way rather than a dictatorial way. And so I believe if you're not ready to serve, you're not ready to lead. It's one of my principles. Leading is serving.

[00:26:04] And so we actually changed the culture from the top down and their business exploded. And so it's a really rewarding program that we offer because the change that happens and the impact that happens for generations because of our work, I don't know what that's going to be yet because we're only 10 years into it. But we've seen a lot of success with our companies.

[00:26:31] And that's going to change, I believe, eternity forever. So what's the driving – what's the kind of the heart and soul of your business? Is that it? I think so. What you do is a branch off of that. That's the main tree, so to speak? Pretty much.

[00:26:51] I, you know, obviously I'm a believer and I believe that our job here on this earth is to make an impact in eternity and to help other people make an impact in eternity. And so our mission for empowering small business, the coaching, is to help small business owners find freedom in their business so they can spend more time with their family and friends.

[00:27:25] Very good. So freedom to succeed is more than just about success. It's also about freedom.

[00:27:51] And, you know, your business is not your purpose. Right. It's not. A lot of people say, yeah, I found my purpose and it's my business. No, it's not. Your business is the vehicle that takes you to your purpose. There you go. And that's what that book is all about, freedom to succeed. Mm-hmm. Use your business to become successful, to have freedom, to do what it is that you're created to do. Yeah.

[00:28:21] It's kind of an in and out because it's freedom to succeed and then succeed so that you have more freedom. Absolutely. Yeah. That's it. That's it. I love that message. Well, something that I notice that I hope our viewers notice is that the people that have been doing these interviews, the certified professional experts, are good people. That this isn't about greed.

[00:28:50] This isn't about self-indulgence. This is about making the world a better place, having a sense of meaning and satisfaction in your life. Yeah. Yeah. So that you succeed with integrity. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just, it's so heartening to me when I hear stories like yours, Dave. And I, you know, I think that's a guy I could spend quality time with. Yeah.

[00:29:18] That's a guy that I would love to just hang with. Yeah. He probably has a good family. I want to know them too, you know, and in your case, I know you do. But that's the whole point of all this, that the reason we're here is to allow life to emerge more fully through us. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. That's the key. And, you know, there's so much in our industry, especially in the speaker world.

[00:29:48] You see so many people, it's about them. It's about, you know, you can, you can get to the top by pouring money or into the fire, you know, and you can, you can, you can fuel your way to the top. But there's, there's a few, I'll just say a few in our industry that have worked with integrity and worked with diligence and have, have, have slowly climbed to the top.

[00:30:16] But that slow climb is what gives you the endurance to stay there, that integrity. And so I've seen a lot of people just pour money onto the algorithm and get themselves all the way at the top and boom, they're huge. But in five years, they just, you don't hear about them anymore. So I always look for, you know, people like yourself, like Don Hudson. You know, I, as soon as I met Don, I was like, that's a guy that I want to want to speak at EdgeCon.

[00:30:46] And just an amazing guy. Exactly. Yeah. You know, because he's relatable and he's, he's gone through the struggle to get to the top. Mm-hmm. And so it was, let me see what the number is. Don is certified professional expert number six. Number six. Yep. And I am number 12. Yep. There you go. Number 12 right here. I love it. Yep. Yeah.

[00:31:14] And we've got Victor Antonio in there and Brian Tracy and Les Brown and Tony Alessandra and Nito Kubain and Patricia Fripp. And that's, it's quite a lineup. Yeah. Yeah. And you definitely belong. It was such a treat having you at, at the summit in La Jolla. Yeah. That was, that was amazing. And then I, I don't know, you should come to my office because I have a whole corner of my little desk right here dedicated to Cathcart. I got this.

[00:31:43] I got, I got the little computer. There you go. And then I got, I was in Texas with my mastermind group and I found this giant acre and I picked it up and I said, that's going in my Cathcart corner. Got this. Oh, great. That's cutting board with my tree engraved. Yeah. That's it. So I have a whole Cathcart corner over here. Thank you. I'm honored. That keep all my stuff. I really do.

[00:32:10] And you've been a, you've been an inspiration to me as well. And to a lot of my clients and, and audience at EdgeCon and we'll, we'll do some fun stuff together. Yeah. What do you, what do you monitor day to day? What are the dials on your dashboard that you keep your eyes on and, and run, run the Dave Kaufman empire from up there in the sky in your airplane? Yeah.

[00:32:36] So in the business, you know, obviously the financials you have to make sure that that's, that's there. And that's, you know, when I'm using a flying analogy, it's, it's on autopilot. We've built it to where, you know, money comes in and we know what we're spending and we don't have to worry about cashflow. Like we did maybe seven or eight years ago, trying to get this thing off the ground. Really what I look at is, are my clients being served with integrity?

[00:33:06] Are they being served with the best coaching? You know, I have coaches that work for me as well. So we're monitoring that. And are they succeeding? Are they, are they actually being more successful than they were last week? Let me stop there for a second. Cause I want to put a big spotlight on that. Yeah. The success of a teacher is never measured by the classes they teach.

[00:33:35] It's measured by the students they reach. Yeah. The success of a business is not measured merely by its growth, but by the effect it has on its customers. People come to me for speech coaching sometimes. And they say, I'm afraid of public speaking. I tell them, no, you're not. You're afraid of judgment. Yes. You're afraid of being judged. And the reason is you're thinking about you instead of your audience. Yeah.

[00:34:04] So the success of your speech is how many people in the audience went, whoa, now I get it. Yeah. I can do that. Excuse me. And they go implement it. Yeah. Instead of, wow, that was a great speech. That's right. Nice, nice concert. But are you still singing the tune a week later in your head? That's right. That's right. Yeah. It was really nice. So we came back from Honduras two days ago.

[00:34:32] And at my front steps, there was a big box. And I was like, what did I order? You know? And I opened it up. And it was a really nice cutting board that had my name on it. And I opened it up. And it was a company. So there's three individuals that own five companies in northern Indiana. And they're very large companies.

[00:34:56] So all of those companies' employees were there at this event that I was speaking at for a whole day. They hired only me to speak to them all day. It was a lot. And they all wrote thank you notes. And a little note. Every employee from every company. So I got a stack of thank you notes about that tall. And, you know, when I see that they're still remembering the message. Because they would say something that I said.

[00:35:25] Like one guy wrote, it impacted our marriage. This was a business talk. But what I said, something I said impacted their marriage. And so that's the, I think that's the measurement of success is how do they change their life? And how does it impact their life for the better?

[00:35:45] And, you know, we get, we're blessed to be a tool, to be a kind of a tool in his hands that bring that message. And it's what I said at age 13. It's to help them go from there to here. And I think that's, that should be everyone's. Amen. Everyone's magic. If you're a plumber, it's not about putting the pipes together and digging holes.

[00:36:11] It's about, you know, increasing the lifestyle or helping them have a better lifestyle. And, you know, if, if, if society would understand that and we would all serve each other. Heaven would be here. Yeah. Yeah. Right. You know, as a speaker, it's, your speaking is not about your content. It's about your intent and your impact.

[00:36:41] Yes. So the same thing you just said, it's, it just strikes me again and again in these interviews that being a good person, if that's your goal, it's never going to be about you. It's always going to be about others. Yeah. About life in general, be a better doorway for life to emerge through you.

[00:37:09] And if that's through doing a beautiful performance, if you're a performer, fine. But do that performance as a service rather than just self-expression. Yeah. Yeah. Even if you're a painter, just put your heart and soul into that painting so that nobody can ever look at it without feeling it. That's right. Instead of just seeing it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so what is it about the life of Jesus?

[00:37:37] I mean, what, 6,000 plus years ago? And, you know, even people that don't really believe in him know who he was and is. Why, why was that? Versus, you know, somebody like, even like Zig Ziglar, you know, died in 2012. There's people in the world that I, in my audiences that I'll ask, how many of you know who Zig Ziglar was? And there's some people that have no clue. Right. So what's the difference?

[00:38:07] Other than Jesus being God and Zig Ziglar, I really think it's what we're talking about. Jesus served other people 100%. It was never about himself. If it was about himself, he would have stayed up there. Yeah. Right. But he actually served other people. Everything he did was for other people.

[00:38:31] And it's astounding to me is I was talking with my preacher at church the other day about this. When you look at, I mean, forget about religion and whether you believe, you know, all the things that people get hung up about religion on. Let's just look at the uniqueness of this individual, Jesus. Yeah. First off, the Bible, the only record we have of his existence, is the most scrutinized,

[00:38:59] the most tested and challenged, most thoroughly studied printed work in the history of humanity. Yes. And it withstood all the challenges. The people that say, well, the Bible teaches so-and-so, excuse me, have you read it? Well, I read it. Have you read it cover to cover? Right. No. Next conversation. Right.

[00:39:26] Because that's useless to talk to somebody that they're talking about. Second, the person says, yeah, I read it. Did you read it as a skeptic looking for exceptions? Or did you read it as a student looking to learn from it? Yeah. That makes a big difference. And that's going to separate whether we have a further talk with that person. Okay. But let's get away from the Bible and let's look at Jesus. Okay.

[00:39:51] Never once in his entire life did he ask for anything for himself. That's right. Never once. Never once did he own anything. Yeah. He didn't travel more than 50 miles from the place of his birth. Right. He was born in a barn. Yeah. His family had no position. In fact, came from the lower echelons of society. Right. And were a tribe that people kind of looked down.

[00:40:21] You know, what good thing ever came from Nazareth? Right. Yeah. Yeah. And yet, the impact of that life, who never held a position, never got a salary, never all the things that people aspire to, has impacted the world resoundingly ever since. And people say, yeah, you're just trying to sell religion. No, I'm not. No. Those that object to religion were probably force fed it when they were a kid.

[00:40:50] And they see it as a very rigid limiting thing, as opposed to opening yourself so life can emerge through you. Right. So let's take this out of the context that anybody would say, whoa, no, you know, and just get it in the context of, do you believe life exists? Yes. Do you believe that there is a life force that exists throughout existence? Yeah.

[00:41:15] Do you realize that you and a puppy and a plant and any living thing is a portal, a doorway for life to emerge? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Then more life's going to emerge if you're good people. Yeah. Than if you're selfish people. Right. Yeah. And that's why you ought to listen to Dave Kaufman. Yeah. Because you never get the kind of audience response he got from that box on his front porch.

[00:41:44] Yeah. From an audience that says, boy, that was great material. It was, man, you cared about us and we can use this. And we just want you to know how much we thank you. That's it. Yep. That's it. It's about love and true love is never self-serving. Love is always outward focused. And that's what EdgeCon is about. That's why I do what I do.

[00:42:12] Because I want, you know, I want everyone that comes in contact with me to be changed for the better. I want them to improve. I want to improve. It's not that I'm the agent. I'm simply the tool that the agent works through. And so I want, I guess that's probably my word is love. I love people. I love people enough to study them and to figure out why they do what they do.

[00:42:42] And then show it to them and say, you know, use this to impact the people that you love. So it's all about love. Yeah. It certainly is. Bill Gove was the first president of the National Speakers Association. The founder was Cabot Robert. And Cabot never served as president intentionally. He was kind of like George Washington. He didn't want it to be. Right. And so Bill Gove came in. Bill was a brilliant speaker, hilarious as well.

[00:43:11] And a sales trainer for 3M before he got into speaking. And Bill said in one of his speeches, he said, the greatest compliment you can receive is this one. I like me better when I'm with you. Wow. Wow. Isn't that good? I like me better when I'm with you, Dave Kaufman. Yes. Yep. Same here. I like that. I really like that.

[00:43:40] Bill Gove. Okay. Yep. Wow. So what you, you know, you could be running this, this podcast very well in my stead. What do you feel our listeners and viewers who are interested in being or becoming more of a professional expert need to hear the most? What can we, how can we help them the most from this point in this conversation? Sure.

[00:44:10] I go back to what I said earlier, become an expert in something, you know, and really build that credibility and hone in on that one thing and become known for that. And then through that, you'll have so many opportunities coming to you because of that credibility. So I would say mastery, hone it in, let people know that that is your expertise. And because, you know, here's the deal.

[00:44:39] When you, when you're diagnosed with a terminal disease, you don't go to a general doctor. You go to a specialist. And so I think every, every listener should, should ask themselves this question. What am I a specialist in? What is my expertise? And then go and, and, and, and even dive further into that and, and let yourself be known as an expert in that area.

[00:45:07] And then I would say, ultimately go get certified in that area and become a CPE, just like I am. Jim can definitely help you. And it was so cool to get this alongside Brian Tracy. He was there in the room with me when I got it. So it was really cool. Well, so mastery, become a master at it. Excellent. And become the best at that, whatever that is for you.

[00:45:35] And I believe there's room for everyone. I think you're right. I do. Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about how people can engage with you. Okay. The easiest ways for people to engage. I'd like you to answer two questions. Sure. How do they reach you? Sure. And second, why? Should they do so? Okay. Okay. So several ways to reach me. Dave at Dave Kaufman speaks.com is my email.

[00:46:05] Also, my website is Dave Kaufman speaks.com. So you can reach me. It's two F's. Two F's. That's correct. Yeah. I can see it on the screen behind you. That's right. Right there. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So Dave Kaufman speaks.com. And then you can get from there. You can get anything that you need to get ahold of me. Social media, all of that stuff. I'd love to have you guys follow me on social media. It's very social. You'll see pictures of my airplane.

[00:46:33] You'll see pictures of my Honduras trip that I just took. You'll see videos of the hurricane coming through Sarasota. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And why should they connect? Well, there's several reasons. Number one, I want to talk to you because I love you and I want to help you grow your business. And I think that I have something unique that I can share with you that can impact not only you,

[00:47:02] but the people in your organization and can change the culture of your business. And we offer a free strategy session. It's a 30-minute call with me where we ask you some questions previously. My assistant does that. And it helps me to determine what we're going to talk about. And I want to solve a problem. One of the questions is, what is the biggest challenge in your business?

[00:47:29] And so I don't pretend to know everything, but I believe with you and me on the phone call, collaborating and talking, I believe we can come up with a solution that's going to make a big difference and it's not going to cost you anything for a 30-minute strategy call. So that's all on the website as well. I just want to connect. I just want to connect and help you. I love it. Well, folks, that's what a professional expert looks like.

[00:47:54] And that's the reason I'm so proud to call myself colleague with Dave Kaufman. So thank you for tuning in today. This is the Professional Experts Podcast. And we are here every month with another certified professional expert, just like this one. That's right. And going to show you the ways that you can take your expertise and make a rewarding life out of it

[00:48:20] that is not only rewarding for you, but it's satisfying and fulfilling for those you touch. Right. Thanks for tuning in. And thank you, Dave. Thank you, Jim. See you. Thank you for joining us today in the Wisdom Parlor, a thoughtful discussion of important ideas among people who are committed to succeeding in life.

[00:48:48] If you are committed to making more success happen in your own life, go right now to my website free.cathcart.com and download my free e-book and then watch the video. If you decide that you'd like my assistance in helping grow your success, then come with me and let's discover how much more successful you can be.