EXPERIENCE 137 | Flying into New Frontiers with Leadership Trainer, Speaker, Coach, Podcaster & Author Cameron Singh

I was introduced to Cameron Singh by our mutual friend, Fort Collins Mayor Emeritus Wade Troxell, and we've enjoyed some wonderful conversations in the few short weeks since. During the first, Cameron shared his experience in the aviation industry, how he'd come to Northern Colorado and the vision of creating a world class private plane services company with Discovery Air, a Water Valley company. He was serving as the Director of Business Development and was the point person for bringing the many pieces together on this multi year project. And he shared even more about his passion projects. Leadership training, coaching, writing books, and creating leadership podcasts. We hit it off and set a date to record his podcast about two weeks out. A few days before the podcast session, Cameron texted to share that he was no longer with Discovery Air. And do I still want him to do the show? He was all in on the leadership path, out of the nest of secure employment and ready to test his wings. Of course, I still wanted him on. After he got into the podcast and Cameron shared more about his journey, It was clear to me that he was on the right path, for him, and that his journey of personal growth and passion for supporting others in their journeys was a true calling. Cameron's first book is called Navigation and Discovery, and listeners of this episode will pick up many nuggets from his career journey and the why conversation that unfolds. If you're ready, the time is now. So please listen and learn and be inspired by my conversation with Cameron Singh. Welcome back to the Loco Experience Podcast. I'm here today with Cameron Singh and Cameron is a leadership coach and author and a partner in the TC advisory group. Um, and he brought me a book, which is super cool. Are you going to sign it for me? Yes, I will. Yeah. I forgot to sign it. Yeah. You asked me to say what my first question was, and that was the first question that popped in my head. So we'll get you a pen right after. Um, so why don't we just start with a quick description of. TC advisory group. Yeah. So, uh, TC advisory group is a leadership training and development company that we started earlier this year and, uh, partnered with some other folks that, uh, we had mutual interest and passion in leadership and we're all from the aviation industry, but, uh, our leadership that we do is applicable really into any field. Thank you. industry, any organization. So we provide, uh, leadership training and coaching at all levels of the organization. And, um, we provide that both on an organizational level, team level, department level, or on an individual level. Is this your toolkit? That you've developed over time as in your career in aviation plus other things or what's the format or yeah So, uh the partners in the business, we're all maxwell certified coaches speakers and trainers Yeah, uh, so a lot of uh the tools we uh, the foundation of everything that we do is from there Yeah, uh, but we also intertwine that with our personal experiences Uh in in leadership fair enough. Yeah. Well and you were introduced to me as the something something airport Uh, with the Water Valley Company and that's a, a new change, uh, just last week that you're out of the nest of a corporate day job and a fledgling, uh, fully self employed person. Yeah. Yeah. It's a pretty exciting times. I'm actually looking forward to, uh, what's, what's to come in terms of being self employed and really enhancing and expanding my own personal ventures. Yeah. You know, there was a season when I was, uh, both a financial advisor with side. We had, you know, three chapters, we're working toward getting a fourth. And my friend John Shaw from DaVinci Science said, uh, which one thing are you going to be the best in the world at Kurt? And I was like, well, you know, Thrivant Financial guy with a thriving side business of Loco Think Tanks. And I was like, I'm just, just not sure. For most people, if it really were, we're not all Elon Musk. And so I think you made the right move based on the passion I heard in your tone. And, uh, so tell me about the book just a little bit. What's, uh, what's the foundation there? And it's your journey, is that right? It's kind of semi biographical of sorts? Sort of, yeah. Well, um, I've been always wanting to, so the book is called Navigation and Discovery, A Path of Navigating and Discovering Through Journey of Faith. And I've, I've had the pleasure of experiencing Leadership roles at a very young age. I had the privilege of having experiences living around the world, and aviation has really taken me. So many different places, so many different experiences, a lot of chaos, a lot of change. And, uh, it has both affected me both professionally and personally, and it was on my heart really to share my story and journey. And so this book really covers a little bit of myself growing up, uh, how that was. Uh, I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Okay. Uh, how my interest, uh, developed into aviation. And also, um, my experience in high school and through college, and how I navigated through those years to figure out what exactly I wanted to do, uh, and how faith was a journey of that, because that's a huge part of, of my life growing up, and, um, And yeah. So, is this, like, intended to be for others to also help guide their path, even though they might not be getting into the aviation industry? Exactly. It's more so to, to equip people with the tools, saying, hey, this is my story, uh, I hope you learn from my challenges and my struggles, my mistakes. Uh, my failures because, uh, I talk a little bit about as I entered the workforce of how challenging it was, um, finding my way within the industry, within the company that I was with, and how do you stand out, um, the different things that I learned over time, uh, to, usually when you look back on them, right. And then to position myself for growth and the trajectory of growth and, um, I try to put it as authentic as possible this story. It's not sugarcoating. It's not beating around the bush. It's like, hey, I made this mistake. This is how it was. This is what was going through my mind. This is how it affected me personally. So I talk about a few times how I faced burnout. At, you know, at 21, at 22. Did you return to some of the concepts in that book as you were evaluating, uh, your potential departure from, uh, a study paycheck? Yeah, actually, uh, I'm writing my second book right now. Okay. And that's where it truly came forth, is when I started talking, because the second book that I'm working on, uh, is, talks a lot about, My first years in leadership and my years being a middle manager and being in aviation and how that experience was. And I realized, you know, going through the process of writing this first book and the second one and being partnered with this leadership company, that's what I truly want to do. Long term aviation. Don't get me wrong. It's, uh. It was a very rewarding career journey, and I'm not leaving the aviation industry, but instead I'm going to give back to the industry with, you know, giving my lessons learned through my personal story, and then going back and providing training and leadership training and development and coaching within the aviation industry as well. When you, like, leadership is such a big word, right, like, what's, what's your definition of leadership? Let's start there. I'd say leadership. I actually just had a conversation this morning on IT leadership. I know it's very cliche, but leadership doesn't mean that you need a to have a leadership title. Only you're able to lead wherever you're at, no matter what your role is, no matter if you have a job and lead, you are able to have that influence and leadership in. everything that you do on a day to day basis, you know, whether you're a family person, whether you're a community member, church member, uh, within your organization, do you have the power to lead in really any sphere, um, that... Yeah, what I'm hearing there is leading yourself is one of the... First and foremost foundations there. I, I, there was a coach one time that did a workshop that I've, I've repeated a lot that leadership is anything that anybody does that influences the behavior of somebody else. Uh huh. And it, that felt very second person y kind of. Uh huh. But now when I process it a little bit, it's like, well, if I show poor personal leadership. habits, uh, as a leader with actual people that report to me and stuff. I, my, my behavior is influencing other people, even though it might not be by my intention. Yeah. I think I found that a bit too late. Fair enough. Yeah. Well, we learned things. Uh, what would you say on the, on the Maxwell front? What's that, you know, I've heard of Maxwell. I have an experience that you were encouraging me to, you know, you should get yourself some, some skills up, up leveled there. Uh, what's got you so passionate about their program and network and, and how has that impacted you? Why were you introduced to it? Yeah, what I really like is, is John Maxwell's character. I was, I was... Uh, very much attracted to the way he writes, the way he speaks. And I really wanted in the way that he talks to people and he's able to attract such an audience from, cause he, he's a, he's a believer, but he attracts people from all different walks of life and all different ages. And from your 16 year old all the way to person that is reaching a hundred to pursue Maxwell coaching and training. Interesting. And I was just inspired because, um, When I was moving up in the aviation industry in my first leadership roles I didn't know what leadership was and that's why I went and studied it because I was like I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm not prepared for it. I want to go learn what leadership was all about So that is actually stemmed out of studying leadership and going to pursue it a little bit further. It's like I learned all this stuff. Yeah. But what am I gonna do to add to society? What am I gonna do to add to the body of knowledge of leadership? And so this book is an example of this, and it was actually through encountering through a, a very close friend of John Maxwell, uh, Dr. Sam Chand, who is a publisher and helps publish books and is focused on getting the message out. And he's also a leadership guru. And so just being in close proximity to those two individuals made me wanna do the same. And really for, for the, the next generation is bringing along the next generation behind me because Leadership is not easy. Yeah, I was going to say, do you think there's some kind of a, an impression among youth that leadership is like something that old people do? Or something? I don't know. Yeah, I think there's Like they want to lead themselves, I think, a lot. But a lot of, there's a lot of lone wolfiness out there in terms of like personalities and things, maybe. Yeah, it's a different world nowadays. Like my younger sister, she's in a different generation. And just seeing how different that the younger, meaning I'm a millennial. So then, uh, what's the generation after Gen Z seeing how they're so different in terms of their loyalty to organizations. Um, I think a lot of people. I've seen are more towards, uh, being an entrepreneur and starting their own business and, uh, even if that means freelancer or things like that and, uh, going out and living life to the fullest. Yeah. And I think that's where digital nomads. Right. Yeah. And I think that's where, um, society seems to be leading, especially the younger generations, but not realizing, I think a lot of them. go in that direction because they realize because of their circumstances, they might not be able to, um, pursue leadership or even think leadership is, is possible. Well, and for a lot of people, education. Seems to be a part of that and, and you know, colleges are increasingly out of reach for a lot of families kids, you know, even with, uh, some pretty good financial aid and things like that, even if it's a lot of loans, people are like, I just don't know if I want to have 200, 000 in loans when I get done with my economics degree. Yeah. So, and then they start to worry, well, is leadership out of reach, you know. Um. I feel like we might as well, like, unfold this story as a story should unfold, which is from the beginning. Uh, tell me about, uh, your kindergarten class in, were you in San Francisco already? Yeah, yeah. Born and raised? Born and raised in San Francisco, so kindergarten. Bel Air Elementary School. Okay. We'll never forget it. It was in, actually, the small town that I grew up in, in San Bruno. Okay. And, uh. Which is where from the city, I was just there last spring. It's actually right next to the airport. Okay. Yeah. Yep. The airplanes take off right over our city, uh, going out to the West and, uh, kindergarten. I remember first day I cried. I didn't want to let go of my parents, but I met so many great friends that, uh, went to elementary school with, um, really loved it. And, uh, it was a joy to. To just be in a great community and like a lot of those people I still am in touch with like on Facebook Really? That's cool. Get to watch their growth. Do you uh? Did you have older brothers or sisters or anything? No, I have a younger sister, six years younger than me. So you were, uh, the guide in that space. So, um, what kind of a kid do you think you were in those, those days? Like, were you very studious? Were you a charmer? Yeah, I was a pretty charming. I was more of it I vote it was weird because I think I was more of a nerd and a mix of a charmer at the same time All right, so I had these like Harry Potter glasses I had these Harry Potter glasses, which made me look really really smart right and And cute, I'm sure. Yeah, I guess so. You seem like a teacher's pet kind of one. Not by your efforts necessarily, but just by your character. I was, I was a teacher's pet. I was always the teacher's favorite. And, you know, student council president and stuff like that. Fair enough. Yeah, talk to me about that journey. Were you, uh, that's high school obviously. Was there athletics involved? Was there, uh, business things? Like, what was, what was the nature of your... School journey. Yeah, so in middle school, I got involved with golf. Oh Picked up actually the wrong set of clubs from I think it was like I was walking my grandpa down the street on a walk And we found a set of golf clubs that said free. Yeah, and it was right handed golf clubs, but I'm left handed It took me like two years to figure out that you're supposed to have there's a different way For left handers or left handed. Yeah, you saw somebody playing left handed like Oh, wait a second. I'm right with my left. Yep. Yeah. I played a little baseball too in, in July. Oh, really? Cool. And, uh, and then I played varsity golf for all four years in high school. And, um, went through that and... What was your best handicap? I never kept track of it. To be honest, after college I never kept track of it, nor do I know what my handicap was then. Interesting. What was, uh, what was your family dynamic? Were your folks, uh, you know, tech workers? Were they entrepreneurs? Yeah, so, uh, my parents, they immigrated from Fiji. Oh, from Fiji. Fiji and the Pacific Islands. Okay. Um, but our heritage is actually Indian. So... Oh, interesting. My great grandfather is from India. And, uh, so, they immigrated here when they were in their late teens. And... So did they have, like, were they, I guess, adapted to the Fiji culture and stuff? They were speaking Fijian and whatever instead of Indian? Or maybe they carried both a little bit? Yeah, they had the little dialect with, like, Fijian and Indian. Fijindian? Yeah, exactly. Something like that? A little Spanglish version of Fiji and Indian? Yeah. So, um... Interesting. Yeah, so... Is that common? Does Fiji, like, have a heavy Indian... Subpopulations. It's very common because what happened years ago. I actually did the ancestry DNA thing a little bit of the history. So when India and so when Fiji was under the British same thing as India, right? They brought slaves from India to Fiji to help with the sugarcane. Mm hmm because they've Fiji is very big on sugarcane and farming. Right. And so they needed people to, to work. Right. So my grandparents were, and the pesky diseases killed off so many of the native Fijians Exactly. That they needed to import some more labor. So my great grandparents, I hate to say that, but yeah. Were, uh, brought over on a boat from Interesting India. Okay. Yeah. Well as slaves to Fiji. As slaves. Yep. Well, and then like did they have an independence movement Yeah. Too then? Mm-hmm. and then once, I think once India after World War II probably was independent, British was like me. Yeah, then Fiji became independent. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I don't know anything about it except for I want to go, like, based on the pictures, for sure. Yeah, it's a beautiful island. You've been, I guess, a few times. Yeah, a few times. Cool. Um, so where did we jump off? Oh, so they were, yeah. So, uh, we, we really grew up as a very, very close family. It was the four of us, my mom, my dad, my sister, she's six years younger than I. And then, we grew up very close to my mom's parents, which would be my, what do you call that, the maternal grandparents. Yeah, yeah, yep. Yeah, so it was about six, six of us. So you spent a lot of time with them. Spent a lot of time with them growing up. Uh, and so it was really the six of us growing up and very, very close, very, very open. I would say we were kind of the non traditional Indian family. Uh, my parents, um, you know, they always spoke English. They were very modern, modernized. And I think it was because they, they came here so early in their like teens. Um, so they experienced, uh. The U. S. Yeah. Very differently. For sure. And they really took on the culture and they wanted us to also live the, you know, the American dream and be modernized and not, not really stuck in the, I guess the. Indian culture and traditions that there are. Right. And when all the castings and things like that is, you can be burdened by that, or, I, we've, we've talked a little bit about faith previously, but was coming to a Christian faith part of their journey, or was that previous to theirs? Exactly. So that was a part of their journey through really my mom is she became a believer, uh, early on in her gradeschool back in Fiji. Wow. And so it stemmed a lot from that because traditionally, you know, and, uh, at a time Traditional Indian would be someone of Hindu descent, so a lot of the values and culture and traditions come from that religion. And so we didn't necessarily grow up with that. Yeah. And so we grew up with, you know, growing a church and different ideals, different beliefs. Yeah. And, um. You'd almost subscribe to the notion that you're, you feel a closer kinship to a white Christian fellow like me. Exactly. Than somebody from India necessarily, that's not of that perspective. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, interesting. It was really awesome. And, and being raised, we were still raised with a lot of great values and stuff like that. Um, you know, I think a lot of what I experienced in. Today is, and a lot of the seeds were planted 25 years ago. The seeds. Yeah, the seeds were 35, whatever. Yeah. The seeds were planted years ago. How old are you, by the way? Uh, you are not today. Oh, 30. You're 30 now. 30, yeah. Okay. Yeah. I forget some of that Yeah. This is, uh, you know, not that relevant necessarily, but uh, it seems like based in our conversations that you're younger than I might have imagined. Mm-hmm. uh, so. You're getting close to the end of high school? Yeah. You got good grades, scholarships, anything like that? Was there anything that you were focused on? I'll take it back a little bit. Sure. So, growing up at the airport, by the airport, San Francisco airport, Uh, out of my bedroom window I saw all the jumbo jets taking off, uh, over to the Pacific Ocean. Probably don't even hear them. No, no, I, it became like, I live by the railroad tracks, it became so normal. People are like, do you hear the trains? I'm like, I haven't heard a train in 10 years. And so on the weekends, uh, we used to go and watch the airplanes on the waterfront and do picnics and stuff like that. And this was when my sister was in the picture. And so really I always been intrigued with aviation and, uh, we had some, a local airport nearby where they had a museum. So we used to go there often. And, um. When it came to high school, I joined this class called AVID where they help you It's like a college prep course and where they help you prepare for for college Yeah, where you should aim yourself when you get there and all that. I was like, I want to become a pilot I want to be become a pilot fly for United just like the airplanes, you know flying over the house And so that was gonna be my original route. Yeah Yes in high school. I was an okay student it was a It was trying to, it was hard trying to figure out what I wanted to, what I actually wanted to do because I found that... Becoming a pilot, the flight training was super expensive back then, it still is today. Yeah, yeah. Uh, the demand was different then, back then, than it is today as well. Right, I remember. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, so, I was like, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do? There was airlines laying off pilots and stuff in those days. Yeah, they were laying off, and, and so, it was quite the journey to try to figure out what I really wanted to do in high school. Not just that, but figuring out where I wanted to go in terms of school. Yeah. So, where did that settle in then? Yeah. Um Yeah, so so you took the the you're winding up with high school. Did you go to a join an airport or something like that? Oh, yeah, go to school at the same time. So I so what I ended up doing is I took a discovery flight I think in the junior and when I was a junior in high school, okay, and so I really loved really loved the flying. And that was part of this avid program. I was part of that avid program, took a flight and really loved it, but realize that, you know, it might not be something that I could actually pursue due to the cost because you put the cost of tuition, learning some things, you know, like on top of flight training. And I knew there were other opportunities like air traffic control. So I was, I was learning all the other stuff that you could do, like airport manager and there's other aviation. Um. career pass, um, and I only knew like the commercial side, which is the airline stuff, and, you know, you could go work for an airline and stuff like that. Sure. And, um, so I finished high school, and I also was going to my local community college at the same time. Oh. So I was doing a little bit of both. Get some credits, yep. Yeah, so, um, I graduated high school with my diploma and also my AA. Oh, wow. So, um, I was already had two years of, of GE general education under my belt. So that was great. It sounds like you had some pretty good focused student time. You're downplaying your work a little bit. When you, when you had an aim, then it was good after it. Yeah. Well, the only reason why I did that, cause I was terrible at the AP courses. I fl I failed like every AP course. Oh, really? No. Yeah. But I did well in the community college. We didn't have that where I grew up. Yeah. They just had classes. Yeah. Uh, where were we? So, yeah, so then, uh, I went to San Jose State University, which is the only public university in California that offers aviation. And so, that was going to be the most, like, cost effective for us as a family because, uh, thankfully, I was kind of privileged that my parents paid for school. Okay. Um, for my undergrad, which was great. Uh, it was a blessing. They had me live on campus, which was even better. Oh, wow. Even though it was just an hour away. Yeah. It was nice. I got to experience the freedoms of life. Yeah, yeah. Any, uh, any stumbles or loneliness or things like that or was it easy for you? It was, I was more looking forward to the next thing, you know, moving out of the house. Of course, it's not easy when you're sheltered, uh, you know, under care of my, my parents, uh, my grandparents, so. I was like, uh, I was scared because I was from such a small town, but. After like a week, I was like, Oh, this is awesome. And then after like a year and a half, I was under, uh, like suspension almost on my grades and stuff. And I got a DUI and I had to turn it around. I was like, Oh, I maybe shouldn't take quite so much advantage of my freedom there. Yeah. So that's what I did. I took advantage of the freedom that I had. And, uh, I experienced the, really all the worldly pleasures there is to offer in college. Yeah. And, uh, Am I going too fast? No. Okay, and then I ended up my first semester being on academic probation. Oh, so your story wasn't that much different than mine. No, my GPA was a 1. 2 and guess where the letter got sent to? Home. Yeah, 2. 13 was, uh, was my GPA after a year and a half, but yeah. So pretty much it so what happened the letter said if you don't really fix it in the next semester Yeah, or I think it was within a year. You get pretty much kicked out if I don't pull up my GPA over 2. 0 you know and Cuz it was really hard Not only the the course was the course was hard because remember I had two years of general education under my belt So I went in taking all right all the major courses, right? I was taking a community college Uh, college credits transferred. But they didn't really prepare you like No. They might have, like, I was taking like two science classes and one math class, and I'm not a math and science guy, and so I've failed like every of one of those courses. Failed in accounting, failed in finance. Really? Uh, yeah. It was like always, well, this is good. Like this is good inspiration. Like, don't fail kids, like work hard and whatever, but also recognize that. If you fail here and there, that doesn't mean you're a failure. Yeah. Uh, it's one of the important things to learn in life. Yeah, so that, that was really hard to, to kind of, my parents get in the letter. They freak it out? Trying to explain. I was like, it's really, really hard. And what was their response to that? Um, they were understanding. Really? Surprisingly. Okay, good. Um, I, I was actually surprised with their reaction, cause I thought they would be upset, but, you know, they realized it was my first time out of the home, and... Yeah. You know, it's, it's hard, um, not only on the personal side, but also, like, education wise. Yeah. They realized, you know, I was taking difficult courses, and they were, they were always supportive. Yeah. No matter if I did good or bad, like, that's the one thing I have to say, is that they were always, always supportive. Did you turn it around? Yeah, I did turn it around. It wasn't easy, because I had to change my habits a little bit. I had to, the library was my second home. Yeah, instead of the, the bar. Yeah, so, like, Living in the dorms is really hard to study. The dorms, right. Yeah, and we had a very friendly environment, too. Like, everyone on our floor knew each other. Yup. I loved my floor mates, and we were all good buddies. Right, and you can't always play foosball if you want to pass accounting. No, no. So, you know, when they're, they're, you know, hanging out in the room playing video games at like, Nine at night. There's no way of studying it. So yeah, I spent a lot of time in the library and really getting focused and The next semester I did a little bit better But it wasn't quite there yet. I think I really turned around Sophomore year. Okay, and I think that's when I was able to center myself even in my faith again Mm hmm really find myself, you know, who I who am I is As a believer, where's my relationship with God and that had a lot of to do with me really turning it around and, um, and finishing strong and really focusing on after college because when it came to my second year of college, uh, I realized I was almost done. Right. Yeah. And I was like, what am I going to do after? I got to figure it out. And so that, that was, that really helped me, um, Kind of set your focus. Set my focus and behave. Yeah, fair, fair. Um, and was that like a general aviation degree then or what was it that you completed? Uh, it was uh, aviation with a, with a emphasis in like operations. Okay. So focus a little bit on the operations side. Sure. It was very broad, learned a lot in that, in that program. And uh, gained a lot of good contacts and networks. Yeah, yeah. So what was that, uh, next step in your journey then? The next step, so it was my last semester of college. You know, you take your senior capstone course. And, you know, it's time. Pretty much easy stuff. Yeah. Whatever. You get senioritis and stuff and figure out, you know, I need to try to figure out what I'm going to do. Right. So, one of my professors, um, Victoria Collum, Professor Collum, she was teaching a, a class and she was involved in this local, local aviation group. They used to have networking luncheons every year, uh, every month, actually. And, uh, she always encouraged her students to go. And so I was like, you know, I need to meet people. So I'm like, I'll show up. And oftentimes I was the only one that showed up. Only student. Only student that showed up. So I just kept coming and coming and going to these luncheons. Then they needed some help with, like, they needed some volunteers to help with, like, audio video. Teacher's pet kind of stuff. Teacher's pet kind of stuff. I was like, oh, I fit well in that. You know, help people check in. Yeah. So I'll do that. So I got involved and started to meet, meet more people and, uh, actually became a board member for this organization. And, um, that's how I encountered my first job in the industry was, um. I met one of the, the local managers of, uh, what's called a, like a F B O, which is a fixed base operator. Operator, okay. Uh, where they, uh, handle private aircraft and Oh, and just that No airlines coming around kinda thing? No, no. It's at San Francisco Airport, but it's on another side of the airport. I see. And so he is like, Hey, I need a, I need a, some help. It was like coming to my office on Monday. Yeah. So I went to the office on Monday, did the interview, got hired. I don't think I even graduated. I was already working. Bada bing, bada boom? Yep, yep. So tell me what's operations mean in that kind of a capacity? Yes, so I started out actually working the front desk of a, what I would call a private jet terminal at San Francisco Airport. Yep. And so it was... Oh, so these are like private... People that own private jets and stuff, right? Like, it's not just your crop dusters and things. These are Lear's and whatnot. Yeah. These are people that own their jets. They charter it, they, uh, manage it for maybe a billionaire or something like that, and, you know, being, uh, unique in San Francisco, you know, you see a lot of the, the tech stuff that you encounter a lot of different people, a lot of events happened in San Francisco. And so the first year I was really like starstruck over time you get. You get that gets, yeah, whatever. It's just Mark Zuckerberg, whatever, whatever. But then I realized, um, after a few months, I really liked this part of the industry. Yeah. Because it was, I liked the, Before that, I think I was very shy and timid, but it being in the workforce really got me out of my shell and I really love the relationship building. I saw frequent customers that were coming through both the passengers and the pilots or in the flight. You probably get to know a lot of the pilots and stuff. Cause they're there every Monday morning at 10 or whatever. Yeah. So you get to see some frequent faces. And I just started working a lot of overtime because I just love what I did. I live like three minutes from work. So I was like, I'm going to work as much as I can save up. And I, I just enjoyed the job. I was like, this is what I want to do for long term. And, uh, and you know, looking back 10 years later, like, I'm, I'm so glad I went that route in aviation because it, it, it brought me into some really cool places and cool experiences. Yeah. Tell me about the, like. The progression at that place, because you started front desk. Did you move up quickly? Did that change? Were you there a long time? Yeah, so, um... I thought I was gonna be the boss like in a few weeks. you had a degree. I mean, I was like, I've got a and, and you're a wait, you're, you're not Gen Z. You're a millennial. No millennial. Yeah. Yeah. If you were Gen Z, you would assume that, but you were ahead of the curve from there. I was like, I've got a bachelor's. I can, I can run this place with my eyes closed. But, um, come to know that I, so I started applying for stuff like within a few weeks. So I applying for like the manager positions and then, uh, my, our vice president of HR, Judy Cook, actually. Uh, she's still a good friend of mine. I call her my signature mom, which is actually the company I worked for back then. Um, and she's like. Son, like you need, you need to, you need to have patience. She's like, I know you're eager to grow. I know you want to grow and I know you really love your job, but take some time and actually learn the position, learn the business, go and experience some of the other roles and, um. My manager agreed as well, like, experience some other roles in the business and learn it more. And, uh, also my, my team members, you know, a lot of them were, had a lot of experience with this company. Sure. And they really rallied around me and helped get me up to speed in the business. And, you know, they appreciated me helping them out, you know, working extra hours. And so, um, they really, they knew I wanted to grow in the company, so they wanted to help me. Think about, or tell me about the, the operation. Was there... 20 people 50 people like what's the is there a bunch of different landing strips and things like what? What are all the people doing in a company like yeah So in a in that type of company where you're handling private jets what I would call When private jets go to a private jet terminal, yeah, and so you have your operations folks your outside folks Yeah, are you know your baggage and wheeling up the yeah stairway thingies and what up the carts and doing all the different Fueling up the jets. Fueling and, um, servicing the lab, you know, that's where you really get your hands dirty. Sure. Uh, and you help out with bags and, uh, but it's a lot of customer interaction too. Yeah. It's not like on the airlines. So it's almost like a hotel ish environment in some respects. It's like a hotel environment, sort of. So it's a lot of like, um, Like very high end services. Yeah, like our customer service training was based on the Ritz Carlton standards. Oh, nice. So, um, and then your indoor folks, which is the, the customer service side. Um, you have valet, you have your concierge, you have like, uh, People just taking care of stuff for these wealthy people. Yeah, and then you have your front desk, which I was working at. Yeah. And that's kind of your hotel front desk. Yeah. And where you make all your reservations, pay your bills. Yeah, yeah. Get the services that you need. Yeah. I need to be able to take off on Tuesday the 16th at 9 a. m. Exactly. Yeah. Or whatever. We would need to take phone calls, answer emails. It's for scheduling stuff because it's not like a, you call a, actually you don't even call hotels to book stuff. Not anymore. Um, now, like. People were back then, people were calling us to make all, we would take care of all their stuff like hotels, rental cars, they would call us to do everything because that was the expected. That's what was the service that we were providing. Yeah. So, um. So it was pretty cool. It was a lot of work a lot of mistakes, too Trying to you know, get all the detail because in that business, it's all about the details sure like I mean one of the times You know If you don't get a meal, right if you don't get a catering order, right if you don't get the fuel, right? If you don't get something right that could ruin the entire flight for right for the person. Yeah, it's happened several times like What do you mean the fuel, right? Uh, so sometimes they, there's different verbiages for fuel and different aircraft do, do fuel differently. Okay. So if you overfuel an airplane by mistake. Yeah. Whether you get sidetracked or you just get distracted or you miscalculate. Okay. Um, that could mean. It's hard for them to get off the ground. Yeah, they can't, they can't leave. So they have to like burn it off. Oh, really? They just sit there. Yep. Yep. Crazy. I did that with the rocks airplane one time. Really? So he was in town filming, uh, the rock, the rock. Yeah. So he was filming San Andreas. Sorry, the rock. So he was filming San Andreas. Remember that? And I overfueled his airplane. He was just in and out for the day, and uh, I over fueled his airplane by a lot, like a lot, a lot, a lot, like. And because he had so many people on board and so much luggage and stuff, like, it would either leave some people behind or burn some fuel off. Exactly, and those, those type of aircraft, like the jets, they're a bit more sensitive when it comes to weight. Yeah. And balance, so yeah. Interesting. Yep. How many times have you been in the air, do you think? On a jet? Yeah. Uh, actually, maybe like five times, I would say. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Including like commercial and everything? Oh, I lost track. You were a ground guy, but you've been traveling all over the country. Yeah. Doing coachings and leadership trainings. and whatever. Well, aviation. Vacations. Aviation brought me. I used to travel a lot for work. Okay. Yeah. I traveled like crazy. Well, it sounds like we have more chapters in this career path. Tell me about the travel zone. Like, was that with the same company? Yeah. Ground based thing, weren't they? Yeah, it was with the same company. So, uh, I was working for one of the largest operators in the world. So they have like 200 private jet terminals all over the globe. Gotcha. And, uh, so being a part of a global network, right? And I wanted to grow. They're like, hey, go help out at this location. Oh. Go help out this special event. Uh, like Superbowl, you know. I'm starting to see how this plays out, not to break your bubble, but you became an aggregator of best practices from different parts of the whole operation. Exactly, so they're like, you know, Superbowl, that attracts a whole bunch of private jets to wherever it's happening. Like, go help out, um. We hosted Superbowl at one of our locations that was start, start up in, uh, San Jose. So we hosted that and, you know, doing those type of stuff. I loved it. Uh, I love traveling, going to different conferences. Um, it brought me to places that I would probably have never traveled to on my own. Sounds like they've, they invested in you as well through different leadership trainings and stuff. They're like, hey, uh, Rocky over here really wants to learn more. outside of just the day to day, and so let's send them to this thing and that. Yeah. Or was it everybody? No, it was, it was specifically me, because day one I was able to meet with one of the executives that just happened to be in town. Yeah. I was like, this is what I want to do. And, I was like, I want to become, like, uh, like a leader in the aviation field, and learn more, and stuff like that. And then do training for these other... Eventually, it sounds like. Yeah. Departments and divisions or whatever. And then, so he really rallied around me. His name is Eric and he's still a good friend of mine. And so he helped me really have those opportunities to not only go to these industry conferences to network with other people in the company, but send me off to other locations to learn whether it was for special events, for newly acquired locations, or there'll be times where there would just be consistent short staffing. Yeah. Yeah. I think the, something that. I'm drawn to in this part of the story is that, like it was through your travel and interaction and sampling of these different things that, that really equipped you to become kind of a leader trainer because you, it's not just by sitting at your desk and focusing on the thing or even sitting in your own terminal and focusing on the problem that you're really going to have the timeless teaching kind of stuff. It's by kind of seeing those, where those principles really apply broader. Mm hmm. Yeah, I think it really helped me Focusing in everything that I did. I always focused on relationship building whether it was Someone in the industry or within the company or my co workers. It was focusing on that first And I think that's what really helped me helped People rally around me and advocate for my growth and it really helped support me In my growth and just learning more about the business so that I could move on to the next step, whatever that was. Yeah, so You were with this company quite a few years then? Ten years. Oh, wow. Okay years. Yeah Oh, so starting when you were just a real puppy. Yeah, I started, I started, uh, one week after I turned 18. Okay. Yeah, legal, legal to work. Yeah. And so you had this journey with, with this company, and then, like, your chapter turns to, to northern Colorado, and tell me, like, Is that already now? And how does that play out? Like, well, yeah. So, um, so that, that time of that company kind of brought me on different parts of the world. East Coast, west Coast, the Caribbean, abroad. And I ended up, my last role with them was in Chicago. Okay. So I went from the Caribbean to Chicago. Okay. That's a hard one. And uh, and then I realized I was looking for more growth. different, different, uh, area of growth. And so I left that organization and wanted really to learn different aspects of the business. Uh, so I wanted to learn a little bit of kind of the behind the scenes of, uh, what happens in the operations. So, how do you develop, uh, like a private jet terminal? Uh, the different... Oh, okay. You want to go deeper. Right. More on the business side and the development side. And so I got that experience over... with a consulting firm for a couple of years and then I realized You know, I want to do some more and, uh, I joined the company over here and no co and, um, a developer that was building a, uh, private jet terminal and, uh, got some really good experience there as well and, uh, really enjoyed that. But. Came to a point where I was like I really want to pursue my own venture. Yeah, so this is this This is the the Fort Collins Loveland Airport and and it's you know You could read in a newspaper Martin is working on this terminal Martin Lind and Water Valley Company So he's trying to build like I guess kind of that same kind of a white glove service terminal Is it does it exist now or is it? Like, in hopes of existing at that level. I mean, I'm sure it's not San Francisco Airport level. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, actually, um, with, with my background, I helped, uh, start up a brand new location for my, the first company that I was with in San Jose. Okay. Which was a fairly similar sizable campus to... But a big company. Yeah. That's done it a bunch of times. Exactly. So, um... Yeah, it was like six hangers, like huge hangers, and a huge terminal, very similar to what's going on at this airport. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, the Northern Colorado Regional Airport. And so, um, it's gonna be an amazing project, especially with the growth that NOCO is experiencing. Yeah. Uh, not only on the development side, but the business side. Yeah. And, uh, really excited for the future of this airport. Yeah, very cool. Yeah. So, uh, and as that played out, you're kind of like, okay, love this. I really am getting the bitten bug on Maxwell Coaching and Elements. Was that going way back to then or was that also part of this transition consultancy stuff like that? I think it always was in the back of my mind. I think more so, um, this new book that I'm coming out with, um, I talk a lot about of my experience in the Caribbean and how that was. That was really... A life changing moment for me. Kind of formative? Yeah. Yeah, a life changing moment. That's where... I started to live a little bit rather than be focused on my career. Oh, workaholicism? Yeah, yeah. I started to live life and, and really ingrain that Caribbean culture and lifestyle. And then you go back to Chicago, you're like, well screw this, this doesn't work. Uh, so I, I learned, I learned a lot through that experience. But there's having some balance, right? Part of the Caribbean lifestyle does have that. you know, work hard and then play. Yeah. So having some balance and then I realized, you know, this leadership stuff, I started to do a lot of that stuff, uh, in the Caribbean because I saw such a need for it. So one of the things that we hosted, we hosted the country's first millennial leadership conference, and so that brought millennials within the country. uh, we did a one day conference. Your organization? No, uh, I, I personally partnered with, uh, I think it was like the employers federation over there. Okay. And so I propose this idea as like, Hey, this is something I see that we need and we just did it. And I did that outside of work cause I saw such a need for, for leadership being taught there. Okay. And then tell me about this. Yeah. Like this is just you side hustle. So, what kind of a conference did you, did you pull together? Yeah, so it was a, it was a one day conference with, uh, people, young people within... Aviation industry only? No, this is all over the place, right? No, it was from all, all industries on the island and got about two, three hundred people in the room. And with this... And what island is this? Uh, this is Antigua and Barbuda. Okay. Yeah. Barbuda. Barbuda, yeah. Barbuda. I've been to Barbados, but I, yeah, I don't know where. So Barbuda is where Princess Diana used to vacation. Okay. Yeah, so, um, a lot of the stuff that's there is like named, there's a bar called like Prince Harry's. Interesting. Or something like that, yeah. Where is it geographically? Is it? Like, off, just off the U. S. Virgin Islands or something? Uh, it is north of Barbados. Okay. And south of Puerto Rico. Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah, right in that zone. In that zone, yeah. Yeah, must be a pretty small island though, I suspect. Very small. I mean, to go from one side to the other island is like 45 minutes. Wow. An hour. Yeah. Yeah, so a population of a few hundred thousand or something probably. Just about, yeah. Wow, so, yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. That's pretty cool to be that much of an impact maker. On Little Island, like, like that, right? Yeah, so I, and then, uh, I got introduced to Travis, who is my partner in the leadership business. So we always stayed in touch, but we really could never do anything because I was so busy in the Caribbean. Sure. Different time zones, and time was always changing, and I was busy with, with work, and just enjoying life. And, you know, COVID happened, and then so I was caught up in other stuff. And how was that for airport operations? We had nothing. We were, we were shut. Boring. The airport was shut down for six months. Really? So, but thankfully we kept everyone 100%. We were the only location in the company that kept everyone on payroll. Really? 100%. Wow. And uh, We, we had like, um, humanitarian flights, you know, that brought in like mask and vaccines and all that stuff. Yeah. Um, but, so the airport was still open for those, but, um, Pretty interesting times. I didn't realize it would just go to zero, but I suppose, I mean, there was nothing going on. There was no events to go to, etc. No, and imagine like curfew. You only could go grocery shopping from like 8 a. m. to noon. Really? So, you would have to stay in line for like an hour and a half. Oh, interesting. To get in the store. Right. Forget about checking out. That's a pretty poorly thought out concept because all these people in line are like, cough, cough. Yeah. Yep. Anyway, I digress. Yeah. Just like, not change anything. It would have probably been safer. Exactly. Uh, but that's uh, one of my things is when the more people try to fix things, the more they... Fucks it up sometimes. Um, but I digress. So, um. What were you talking about? This transition into Chicago. Yeah. And kind of, and the, the, the sprouts of really turning your attention to this are, are already there. Exactly. So it was already there where I'm like, I want to do some leadership and make impact and. Yeah. Really help the, the community. Not only just leadership training in general, but like most of the young people, I'm very passionate about young people and which is why I wrote this book. And I'm like, I want to do more. So in Chicago, um, I had more time on my hands, uh, you know, time zones weren't an issue. So Travis and I were like, you know, let's just go on this a little bit. Let's, let's work on this. So we started with a podcast. We started with the leadership download podcast, and so all we did was we used to go on. for like an hour, hour and a half and talk about you guys edit though. Right. Uh, little, little, okay. So it's pretty long for him. So yeah, pretty long form. And, uh, we just started talking about leadership, our experiences, some of the books that we're reading and just sharing our heart for leadership with the hopes that someone's listening out there. And, um, so we just. Published it on YouTube, and then, nothing, we saw really no traction. It was like, a year later, a year later, we're like, oh wow, people are actually listening. But it's not just young people, it's like, executives in our industry are listening. And we're like, oh wow, we're actually going somewhere. So I continued, you know, the day job in aviation. And, it was a tough job, actually, aviation. It was, it was... Yeah, well, and Fort Collins lives in an airport, it's... Kind of in a weird place, in general and stuff, and Mark is doing his best to try to be a catalyzing source of getting it good. And even while I was in Chicago and just recently moved to Denver a couple years ago, and I was like, I need something more. And so we started to think about, you know, people were asking, what else do you have to offer? Like, they said, you're giving too much away for free. Yeah, you need to charge for this stuff. And so it started, it took us probably about two years to formulate an idea and what we wanted to do. And that's, that's really where TC advisory group started. The idea of it is like doing this as a business and, uh, it's still, it's, We've, we've developed a good core business model, uh, we've got good people partnered in the business that I dearly trust. Um, like, I was like, I'm only doing it with people that I trust. Cause you know, business partnerships could be, could be pretty shaky sometimes or even shady. Is your other partner... More experienced in this industry of actually making it his full time Yeah, yeah, so he actually got laid off in the from the industry probably maybe a year ago Oh, I see and so he's already kind of full throttle been doing it full throttle to get you Yeah to jump trying to get me to jump and so you know now I have the the time to really really focus on it and it's uh, It's such a relief, but it's also, it's, in the back of your mind, you think it's very nerve wracking to think about, you know, being self employed, but it's something that I've always wanted to do, and I think the timing is right. Yeah. Well, I recommend you listen to my podcast with Richard Fagerlund, if you haven't already. Oh, okay. Uh, he had like a fresh baby and quit his job, and... Did what you're doing, uh, a long time ago and gave a hundred free keynotes and da, da, da, da, uh, but he's got, you know, one of the more successful, uh, strategic planning kind of groups around. So, uh, you can do it. Yeah. And I think what really helps is really having a good circle of support around you. Totally. Like the people that I've met here in Northern Colorado, um, I've met so many awesome people and you know, some of the names and. Sure. They're just a phone call away and they're really supportive, even though they're like, they don't know, understand the leadership stuff. Some do, but they're like very supportive and very willing to give their feedback and thoughts, uh, because leadership is also a very sensitive topic. A lot of people don't necessarily want to talk about it because it feels they might feel inferior, like, Oh, they're, they're going to challenge the way I lead the business or. They're going to challenge, you know, people are going to start challenging me. Let's talk about that a little bit. Like what are some of these principles? You know, so I'm a, let's say I'm a company of whatever. I'm a, I'm a pizza shop with 14 employees. You know, part time, full time, whatever. Like what does leadership mean in a, you know, just a simple, small business concept like that. And what can a group like yours do that actually impacts leadership? And then is it for everybody? Is it for the leader management team only? Is it for, yeah. Yeah. So it's for all, all. levels of the organization, um, depending on the way the, the person, the contract works, the way the contractor, the leader comes. I like to actually go back to, to a show that I used to watch. Okay. Uh, called The Prophet by Marcus Limonis. I've watched it a couple times. Yeah. So, um, I really learned a lot from his, the way he, uh, navigates through that show where he has that people pro People process product model. He focuses the first on the people. Uh, you know, fix, does the fix there. He, uh, goes and fix all the processes, which sometimes there's too many and almost inhibits you to delivering the right product. And so I really took on that model. And one of the thing, one of our approaches that we do if, um, a leader comes up to us and says, Hey, um, I need some help. I don't know what it is. Cause that's oftentimes what we get. They need some help. They think they know what they need, but they don't know. So where we start is, uh, doing the disc assessment. Oh yeah. Okay. We do the Maxwell disc assessment. Uh, Travis is our certified trainer in that. Does the Maxwell have like a, uh, a special version of disc or something? Yeah, it's, it's a little bit of a different version. They just cut a deal with... Discs to not pay as much on each one or something, probably. So, uh, we, what we do is we have the entire team go through the disc assessment and then we bring them through a series of workshops, four or five different workshops and where the team members really starts with knowing themselves and then building the skills to interact together. Exactly. So let's take your example of a pizza shop, five, six people, you do the desk and start working them through this process where they not only start understanding themselves, but understand. Each other and the way they work, their strong suits. And oftentimes what we found is like people are in the wrong positions. The person that's answering the phone is better at, I don't know, accounting or something being behind the scenes rather than in the forefront of the operation. And it's, and then that's where we're able to. Um, give the diagnosis. Once that process is done, it's like, Okay, this is where you need help. Whether it's communication, um, or whatever thing that we feel that the team needs. So that's kind of our... And then some one on one engagements from there even? Uh, sort of. Potentially. Maybe more one on ones with the leader. Right. But it's more in the group setting. Yeah, but it's also kind of that examination, uh, assessment. Yeah. Okay, this person that you've got. At the front desk is just not very happy trying to screw on a smile every time Yeah, but she could be really great in the back of the house. Yeah, or whatever. Yeah So we we found that better than just giving out a menu of services and this is what we offer and you pick and choose It's like no, we'll go through this introductory process diagnosis a couple few weeks kind of thing potentially So we've, we've found that, uh, very beneficial for organizations too, because oftentimes, uh, you know, leaders working with a team for years and years and years, it doesn't truly understand their team until going through this process. Like, Oh, that's why you always act that way. Yeah. That's why I need to talk to you differently. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And then also people understand the leader better. Like, Oh, this person is not good at that. Yeah. So maybe I can help him in that. Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. We've, uh, you know, uh, we. Spoken our previous conversation. I've we've been doing the hallow stuff. Yeah here at loco but before that we did other things too because I think it's It's so important for people to recognize that there are different kinds of thinkers and personality types and like if we interact with every person in our lives the same, we're going to have a lot different outcomes depending on who we're interacting with. Yeah, for sure. And it's going to make your life as a leader very difficult. For sure, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, growing some awareness in, in those leaders and those managers is clutch. So, um. Yeah, what else, uh, what else would you have to tell me that kind of is your pointer set on from here? You're, you're semi focused on aviation industry clients and things, or at least that's where you, you can make a lot of impact easily? Yeah. I suspect. So on the business aviation side, you have a pretty good network of people. Yeah. And, um... I would say that industry is a little, still a little bit behind the curve in terms of developing, uh, leaders and really the next generations. I mean, I remember when I started in the industry, uh, back in 2012 and I walked into conference rooms for these industry conferences, all you see is just white hair. Yeah, there's more white hair and they're probably, uh, white skin too. Yeah, that too. I didn't want to mention it, but yeah, that too. But now the industry is just so diverse and like all different aspects, but, um. Well, and bringing that together is important, but maybe not quite aware yet. And there's more that still needs to be done in the industry, which is why I don't want to leave the, that's where my heart will be in aviation for, you know, the rest of my life and will continue to pursue. And I think that's where I can make some really, we can make some really good impact in the aviation industry, um, primarily, and of course in the other fields as well. It's really team. Impact, right? Like you're not a, if I wanted to hire you to be my coach, my one coach, that's not really what you do. You're more of a team kind of a functionality kind of thing. Yeah, we do that, but we're not really focusing on that quite yet. We're more in the, in the team. Or if you're working with a team and the leader needed some extra help, that's more likely. Exactly. That's, that's what. Like this team is never going to come together until you change your ways, mister. Yeah. That happens. Yeah, so. Well, I think, uh, you've got a great story. It's good to have you here in Northern Colorado. We're going to transition to the later segments here in a moment, but I'm going to call a short break and then we'll come back at it. That works, yeah. And we're back. So, as you know, we always talk about faith, family, politics around here. Uh, we've already touched on your family a bit. But, uh, would you like to expand a little bit into that? You're a single guy, is that right? Yes, single, single. Unattached? Girlfriend? No, no, nothing. Not even? No, it's been, uh... Eligible 30 year old alert here, ladies. Yep, yep. In NoCo. In Northern Colorado. Yep, yep. He's not leaving. Not anytime soon anyway. No. No. But I think that's been the best part about it is, uh, I have a pretty good inner circle of friends and, um, just been trying to live life to the fullest, um, and trying to live it as much as I can because that's something that I learned from my parents is, um, they had me very, they had me early, early in the early twenties. Yeah. And. They say they wish that after getting married, they would have explored a little bit more. Uh, done a little bit of stuff. Yeah. Felt very tied to the obligations. Exactly. So, they pretty much encouraged me, you know, don't rush it. Well, you've been all over the world. Yeah. They're like, go live it. And, you know, there's no pressures unlike the typical Indian culture. Like, go get married, have kids. Well, and don't wait too long, because all the best cuts are taken after, you know, Wednesday afternoon. Yeah, yeah, that's true, that's true. Um, so, like, talk to me about your sister. You mentioned you're very close still. Yeah, so we are super duper close. We talk every day on the phone. So she's six years younger than me, so that would leave her at twenty five. And she took the route that my parents wanted me to go through, which was the medical field. Okay. So she's doing that and, uh, she lives at home. And, uh, she is, uh, we, she's actually visiting here in a couple weeks. Oh, cool. Yeah, so, um. Yeah, we are super duper close and, um, yeah. Proud of her for, uh, working in that field or getting close. Is she out of school? Yeah, she's out of school. Okay. Yeah, so, it's been, uh, awesome. I think more so, you know, growing up you have that, Uh, love hate relationship, right? Sure. You go, get after each other. Uh, but then once you grow up and, you know, once you reach your 20s, you're like, okay, it becomes that brother and sibling relationship becomes a little bit more serious. Yeah. Meaning, uh, you're able to have those, like, adult relate, adult, like, conversations. Sure. And stuff like that. And, um, so now we're focused on, you know. Going traveling places together and, and, uh, really encouraging each other, you know, like if there's a time when I don't call her, she'll know something's up or she'll get upset. Like, Oh, you're too busy. Yeah, that's cool. So I know every, every day she gets off of work at six o'clock my time. So she's expecting a call. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's great. She's a call while she's driving back home. That's nice. That's nice. Your folks are. Still with us and things. Yeah, they're out there in San Francisco. So yeah, so they live in San Francisco And then my grandparents are still out there. So I talked to them a lot too. So we're very very close tight knit family Yeah, have they been out here? Uh, yeah, so they they helped me move up here when I moved to uh, Loveland. Okay. So when I moved, did the move from Denver up here, um, they loved Colorado. Yeah. I took them to Estes Park. Is there a part of you that's tempted to be like, go back to San Francisco region? Oh no. Not at all. You hear that Gavin Newsom? No. You can't compete. Uh, it's, it's changed so much. I have to say like, we're at the town, the small town that I grew up in by the airport. Yeah. Um, in, in that little city. You won't believe, like, YouTube's headquarters is in their little town. Oh. Like, the headquarters is there, so Walmart. com headquarters is there. And Google, uh, has just expanded in San Bruno. Wow. And so... So why don't your folks and your sister split? Um, they like it out there. Yeah. They, they, they like it. They, they've... They like being in the known. Yeah. Yeah. They like being the comfortable. So that's very good for them. Um, but the cities around there have just changed so much. Traffic is terrible. And, and, uh, I remember there was a, an apartment complex down the street, um, back in the day when they first opened, it was like 500 a month for like a one bedroom. Now that same one. 2500? No, it's like 4, 000. Yeah. How long ago? Yeah. Uh, ten years ago, I'd say, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's... Should've bought that building, young man. I know, I should've bought that, I should've bought all that land that was available. Right, all that bare, vacant lots that were nothing to use for. I know, and now there's like... Multifamilies going up everywhere, and it's just crazy. Pretty wild to see that kind of stuff happen. But it's, it's, it's changed so much I would never go back. Yeah. I think to live there. So, um, when you find that, uh, that special someone, what are the things that, uh, that you'd be looking for? Oh boy. Uh, one of the first things You might be listening right now. Yeah, yeah, if you're listening out there. Um, I would say one of the first things is faith. That's one thing I'll never, I will never compromise is I need someone that has the, the same hunger for, for God that I do and same belief in God that I do. I think that's, that's really my one non negotiable. Okay. And, um, someone that truly believes in, in. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, because. Well, and in you. Right. Uh, as a, as a. Yeah. 20 year veteran of marriage. Like the biggest thing that a bride can do for a husband almost is believe in that person. Yeah. And I, I meant also family, like someone that values their own family too. Mm. Cause I've seen there's a lot of, a lot of even just my friends growing up. Sure. You know, a lot of them, from what I observed, they didn't really value. They didn't really value what their parents did for them or the people that surrounded them or helped raise them. They didn't really value that. And I really want to look for someone that values their, their, their parents or whoever, um, that supported them growing up. Yeah, that's appreciated. Yeah. Um, do you prefer to talk about, uh, faith or politics next? Let's do... Politics and then come back to faith. Okay. Yeah So talk to me about politics in the airline industry General is there like are there things that they're lobbying for and things that affect it? Whatever. I mean, it's an interesting dynamic of You know, especially in the private jets things, like all those guys are carbon tax, uh, avoiders, right? And there's like all this pressure of the times I guess on that industry and yet people want to get places to do stuff Yeah, the private aviation side has taken a lot of hits. I would really especially in the recent years It's more prep more more Um, I guess heated in Europe right now. Okay. Um, so there's, there's countries that really don't want private jets at all, period. So, I mean, there are protests going on in, in Europe at these like private aviation conferences where people are going into airports and like spray painting and Right. Vandalizing private jets. Climate killer. Yeah. Whatever. Climate killers. stuff like that. Interesting. So it's getting pretty heated out in Europe. I was just speculating on that, by the way. I had no knowledge of it. So it's getting pretty serious now, but some of that is trickling over here now. Um, it's not as prevalent, but I think, you know, back in 2008 when GM and, uh, you know, all those, the car manufacturers showed up at, at Congress. Yeah. That really took a toll on the private aviation industry because one of the congressmen's or congresswomen said, you know, how did you get here to DC? And they said in their private jets, right? And so they're asking bailout money when they were flying in there. 100 million dollar jets each and every one of them. Right. And so they're like it's kind of double standard here Like what are you doing? Yeah, and so that really took a toll on private aviation back in 08 when when that happened interesting And so a lot of companies started to get rid of their private jet interesting a lot of these big corporations Also, were you you kind of joined the industry when it was in a tough time? Exactly. Yeah It was kind of getting out of that time. It was just kind of on the cusp of But got hit pretty good. It got hit pretty good. Uh, people were From politics, in some respects. Right, right, from politics. Interesting. People were ashamed to have a private jet on their balance sheet. Yeah. So people were getting rid of it left and right. And, but I think over time people realized, especially with, um, with, uh, COVID Right. That really Set off the industry because a lot of people weren't wanting to fly in the airlines and the cost of that's going up So people are like might as well buy a small charter jet for me my family go to Mexico. Yep, so my Charter a jet or buy my own and share it with a couple people, right? And so people are a little bit more open about it in today's world Well in TSA become continues to be a pain and stuff exactly just drive right up I imagine and just like get in your airplane. Yeah, I mean you just there's probably some levels of yeah inspection or whatever, but actually no So I could pack my my my pistol that I don't actually exist if anybody asks Yeah, yeah, you could, you could take it on board. Um, you have a lot of ease. I mean, I've done it a couple times or you can just go and literally park your car at the door of the aircraft and go in, go to your next destination, have a car with her waiting. And it's just so, so easy. But on the, Politics side. It's uh, it's a more people are open about it. More people are getting comfortable with it. Um, I would say there's a lot of issues right now with the carbon stuff. Like you mentioned the fuel I think now now companies that have these These assets of private jets are now saying, okay, we have these jets, but how do we, how do we, um, make it more sustainable? So justify the use and the value. So there's actually been a lot here at the Colorado, uh, state level legislation with, uh, fuel and things like that. So now a lot of these operators are, are moving forward with sustainable aviation fuels. Oh. Uh, so that's. Cause you can make, it's like basically a diesel, right? Like it's a biodiesel if you want. Yep. So, um, it's now, you see sustainable aviation fuels go into the mix and there you, you'll be able to get some tax credits on the back end. And so you see a lot of these private jet terminal operators, such as the one I worked for before, uh, providing that. And so, um, You see a lot of, a lot of that now. Should we jump out of the industry and just talk about politics in general? Uh, what, uh, you got, uh, Biden or Trump is your favorite candidate? You know what? I used to go one way. Yeah. But, uh, growing up I used to be really heavy in politics. Okay. I loved, I loved politics. I loved every, loved every single thing about it. Really? I would follow every election. I would follow the local politics. I actually, before I moved out of, uh, California, I really wanted to campaign to be mayor. Really? Yeah, I was really intrigued by politics and that was one of my backup, like, career routes. Yeah, yeah. It was like film and then photography and then politics. Interesting. And so I was always interested. I was such a fan, did so much research on it, like, news. I was always watching the news any chance I could. Okay. And, um... So, my, like, ideals have always been, I would say, on the Republican side. Okay. And, uh, I've always, uh, just cherished the ideals that they have. Because, uh, it, the, the values definitely align with my faith, too. Sure. And a lot of their beliefs, uh, From, like, the abortion protection and things like that. Exactly. And spawn government in general. Yeah, it aligns with that, but... I mean, the, the last, I don't know, four, five, six, eight years or whatever. Um, it's been like a real challenge to figure out, you know, who's right and who's wrong. Yeah. So You're a closet libertarian too. Yeah, yeah. So, I, I kind of just listen and listen to both sides now. Okay. I, I, I try not, not going one way or the other today, today. Yeah. I would say it's, it's more trying to figure out like the ideals. How do we actually Live together if we have different values exactly is one thing I because it's obvious to me that we have Significantly divergent values. Yeah as a nation right now, and you know, yes We can try to work on the hard work of bringing values back together. Yeah, you know God's work in our work And, like, we still need to stay united as a nation with disparate values. Yeah, I think I was very prideful of my ideals and beliefs, especially when it was the 08 election. I was very prideful of being a Republican and having these ideals, and But, and I wasn't listening to what everyone else was talking about, right? The other side, the other parties. And so now it's, I've kept an open mind in terms of listening other people's ideals. And I think that's really shifted. It helps help me shift on a personal level to be able to understand and really. Love on people for who they are and that comes that stems from faith, too It's loving people for who they are and meeting them for their at for sure rather than talking down on them because I think back then I had the ideal of I'm my way is the right way and your way is the wrong way and So I've really taken a backseat at that and like, okay, what is this person saying? What is the opposing view saying? Yeah, because I realized You know, no one's really a right and no one's really wrong. Yeah, there's a lot of dilemmas in the world. There's a yeah, it's just people are just not listening to each other. Yeah, because they're too prideful of their ideas their positions and their Fame or they're the way they look. Yeah, being right. Being right. Because if they get, if they get, the virtue signaling stuff. Right, because if they get proven wrong Then they might not get voted again or something. Yeah, I don't know. Has anybody ever told you you look like a young Vivek Brahmaswamy? No. Not really. Not really. But he's kind of that younger person of you that you were just talking about that's so Convinced of his own convictions at least in the way he talks and presents it that there's no room for somebody else Yeah, and I you know, I tend to agree with a lot of what he says, so I don't disagree um Cruz back to faith faith. Yeah. Yeah, so you you mentioned you kind of inherited your family's faith that your mom Initiated even back in grade school or whatever in Fiji Is you how do you how would you describe that? Is it was it mainstream denominational or your? Are you Catholics? Are you Protestants? Are you, like, what's the, you didn't really define it necessarily. I never defined it. Well, you don't need to put God in a box. I'm not making you. Yeah, so, uh, yeah, so, um, I'm a Christian, non denominational. Okay. And, uh, grew up in the church, going to church. There's one small church in your neighborhood Yeah, it was actually a fairly large church in my neighborhood. Okay, yeah. Um, but, you know, I never really understood it. It was just like this thing you went to every Sunday. Right. So it Mom, get ready, yelling at you. If you want to stay on mom's good side, you get your butt to church. Yeah, sometimes we're getting 10 o'clock church, that was our time. We're rolling in there at like 10, 15, 10, 20. With mom with a red face, and you guys with red bottoms, perhaps. Yeah, yeah, going to Sunday school and stuff. But, I never really understood it, to be honest. Uh, never really understood what it was all about. And that's because, um, so my dad is, uh, Identifies himself as a Hindu. So his side of the family is all, uh, Hindu. So I was very divided growing up because I didn't know I thought your mom was going to bring him along for the ride, but that didn't happen. I didn't really know what was right. What was wrong. Um, a lot of the influence, uh, with faith came of course, from my mom dragging us to church. And so, you know, I had great friends growing up and in the church too, but still never really. Like I guess really took it on. Well, I don't think you really Maybe there's some people that are contrary to this, but I think until you really face up with doubt You can't really face it, you know embrace faithfully. Yeah in some ways. Yeah, I don't know Yeah, so I never really knew what to believe because even by people at school I went to public high school and stuff like that, you know I realized a lot there were a lot of atheists a lot of different faiths or backgrounds I'm like what what to believe in well in San Francisco region is a very increasingly liberal Mm hmm area that probably what like 30 percent or 40 percent would be at most and you also were afraid to talk about your faith Right because you would be just hounded and people would be against you Especially yeah back then in California. You're right It was very like very intense in terms of talking about faith and you know at school You can't really talk about it. Really? It's right and so It wasn't until really college where I really, truly understood faith. Okay. It was through, back then it was called Campus Crusade for Christ. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, um, oh, it's not anymore. No. It's called Crew now. Oh yeah. I guess I knew that. Yeah. Yeah. it's called Crew. Trying to be a bit trendy. Uh, but that was really life changing is, uh, when it was going down, trying to find a Christian, uh, It's called the Christian Community. Some kind of community. Yeah, my mom was like, you gotta find a Christian community. Your grades are shit. You need to get yourself some friends that don't take you out drinking, or play foosball on you. Yeah, you gotta find a Christian community. I was like, okay, I'll go. I'll go. Then I met these two young guys. Uh, Paul, I'll never forget them, Paul and David. And, uh, these guys were working for Campus Crusade for Christ at the time. And used to show up at my dorm room at random times. Hey, are you coming, coming to the weekly meetings? I'm like, I'll come, I'll come. And it really didn't take, I wasn't very consistent my first year in college. The second year, in the fall, I went on a retreat with them. And, uh, that was a life changing experience that I'll never forget. It was actually... The 27th of September in my sophomore year, so that would have been 2011 that I rededicated my life to Christ. Mm hmm, and that's because I realized I felt a sense of emptiness because I was experiencing all the worldly things and I actually started to understand faith through that retreat and Through the the sermons that were at that retreat and I realized I needed to make a change so for the For the one foot in yeah kind of Christian out there, which there's probably you know, literally millions I mean, they're not all listening to this podcast Might be dozens listening to this podcast But what like what was that meaning to you? Like what was was it? Oh, is it emotional response? Was it a reasoned response? Like what was the? Catalyst to that recommitment for you. I think it was that I needed to Not look for Approval from other people. But look for approval from, from God. Something more useful. Something more useful and Actually higher than you. Right. Actually higher than me. Cause I think that's what I was looking for. I was looking for approval from people. For sure. I was looking for Yeah, teacher's pet the whole time. Right. Right. Trying to. Especially, you know, being a millennial. That's funny. Right? When you think teacher's pet, that's kind of, I mean, I said that a little bit slanderously. Yeah. You received it. Yeah. Right? And, but if I said Jesus pet or God's pet or something like, oh, thank you. Like, I do my best. Yeah. And it's, uh, interesting, at least for those of us that have, have a faith carry. Yeah. Well, I think the key was too, I had a really good community and crew. Uh, I had a really awesome people, uh, that I was surrounded by, and where we could be open, authentic, we could say whatever was on our mind. And I couldn't necessarily do that with the people I was hanging out with and, you know, experiencing the world and going out and partying and stuff like that. I couldn't really have those conversations because half the time, um, You know, it was, we're in a loud environment, so we're not even really... You don't even take time, don't make space to acknowledge those hard things, and challenges and places. Realizing that a lot of people that I was hanging out with back then was, a lot of people, due to trauma, they were trying to suppress... Sure, their trauma and like they're growing up and stuff like that experience to go out and party I was like, I want to be with this community of people that you can actually have an awesome conversation with and be in community and Do stuff where you don't Need to yell or be in this like party scene. It was so refreshing, you know, going out into the mountains and going on this retreat and I'll never forget the moment where I realized I was like living on the wrong path. I thought it was this other life that I could be living and then this and then come to the crew. I could live a different life, but not realizing that. It's not really allowed. It's kind of like that split person I was talking about that wanted to do both Thrive and Local Think Tank. Yep. Yeah. You know, one foot on each boat is going to just split you in half, kind of. So, realizing that I needed to pursue a higher purpose and, you know, of course it wasn't perfect from the point I dedicated it to, right? It was a rocky road, of course, and it still is a rocky road. Um, but, um, and... You know, being a Christian is, is not easy in today's world, but one of the things that, um, I've always... I guess practice and always look for is like having the right people around you to support me in faith. And, um, I've Surprisingly, I found so many people in business of faith. Especially here in northern Colorado. Yeah. I'm just like amazed by the people that I've encountered in business because in the aviation world, you don't really see really fate at Like at the forefront, like very few are very open. Well, in a big corporate, it's usually kept at a lower level, but you know, in a small town and a small company. Hard to hide the fact that yeah, you know that leader's going to church every week or whatever, right? Like like even my former boss like meeting you and a few others around this community It's just been like awesome to just know that it's a little bit more prevalent. Yeah. Yeah, it was funny I lived in Colorado Springs for yeah, two and a half three years three and a half years. I forget and there it was almost like Where it on your sleeve. Oh, do you go to first Prez or what? You know, it was like the first thing you talked about is make sure you establish your God credentials down there in the business world. And here it's definitely a lot more low key and in some ways more authentic, I think. Yeah. More authentic. Like you see it in the works of people. Like, I'm like, why is that person so unique in what they do and then come to find when you like meet with them for coffee or whatever, like, Oh. They're a person of faith. I'm like, oh, that all makes sense. That's informing the way they operate. Yeah, exactly. Fair. Yeah. Have you, uh, come around to a loco experience that you think worthy of sharing in this context? A crazy experience from your lifetime? A crazy experience? Yeah. I've had quite a few. Is there one that, uh, you'd like to share in this, uh, moment? Oh, a crazy experience. Did you get in a fight with a rock or anything when you had to burn off all that jet fuel? No, I didn't see him. So you're just like, sorry, bro. I totally overfilled your plane. Yeah. A crazy experience. I would say, so we, in San Francisco, we used to handle cause air force one. So air force one, uh, you know, the, the president always visits San Francisco, the, the Bay area, no matter Republican or Democrat. Right. So, um, I guess. That, that was a crazy experience being at the forefront and handling those aircraft and being right there and seeing how those operations run. I mean, it is insane and it's... Like the security detail rolling in. Insane operation, the way they do that security detail, the airplanes that come beforehand. Right. With the helicopters and with the SUVs, that was a crazy experience. Oh no, here's another crazy experience is, uh... Since we're talking about politics. Sure. It's on my mind. Donald Trump. Okay. So Donald Trump when he was running for president He was coming to San Jose, California for his first Exclusive donor meeting it was being held in a private jet terminal So we had like Elon Musk Mark Zuckerberg and like all the heads of the Silicon Valley Walking into our building and so he was having his first donor meeting Zuckerberg was there Yeah, he was meeting with Donald Trump in the first donor meeting in our brand new private jet terminal that we just opened up Wow. And, uh, so it was really awesome. Like meeting. Yeah. It's quite a status play right there. Yeah. It was quite, I mean, just seeing the Trump airplane on our ramp was like amazing. His pilots were awesome. I'll never forget John. I still have his contact to this day and see him at some places. That's one of the things that doesn't jive with me sometimes about Donald Trump is because supposedly he's a terrible person. Right. And, and yeah. Like, those that really love Donald Trump, most of them are pretty awesome. You know, Giuliani, he's a little bit over the hedge right now, but like, for the most part, he's had really awesome people around him, and that just wouldn't be the case if he was a complete narcissistic maniac like he's painted to be. Yeah, so his pilots were the best, and then as, once Donald Trump was leaving, this is what happened, so Donald Trump was coming back early from his, uh, Conference that he was having in downtown or okay, not conference rally rally rally. Yeah campaign rally in San Jose and so I sent the pilots to in n out so they grabbed a car went down the road to in n out and And then we realized oh crap like He's coming early in advance like then he was supposed to I'm like the pilots are in and out. So next thing I see the pilots running from one side of the ramp with their in and out burger with their in and out bags. They are hustling over and right when they get to the steps of the aircraft, they put their in and out up and there comes Donald Trump. Coming back to the airplanes. And he actually, the pilot actually wrote about that experience in an article, probably a couple of years ago about that experience and in San Jose. And, um, I got to interact with Donald Trump, actually, that, that was a crazy experience because he normally, you know, when, when. High profile people come through on, on jets, big or small, high profile, not high profile. Um, they kind of mind their own business and go up. You're, you're just a little brown guy serving them. Right. Our, our, our customer is more like the pilot's flight attendant. Cause they're the ones preparing for their people. Yeah. And all the minions, right? Right. You don't even noticeable. You're just a minion to, to them, like the owners, the aircraft owners or flyers. And, uh, He, so Donald Trump is cool to see him. He got out of his whatever car and then went up the steps, but he stopped halfway. Uh, he looked back and then he came back down cause, uh, so I was a supervisor back then he saw the team and he came back down and talked to us and he goes in his jacket, uh, his suit jacket and hands a stack, uh, to us. He's like, you know, thank you so much for like money. Like it was probably a thousand dollars cash. Uh, from his suit pocket and he's like, you guys, this was an amazing experience. Thank you so much. Wow. I think it was like, it was like one of his first like campaign rallies in that area. And I'll never forget that. And I will only judge him based on that experience because I only know that I only know him by that, you know, every other lens is colored. That experience, your lenses are right there. Yeah. My lens always goes back to that is, uh, he made the time and effort aside from what was going on. I mean, it was terrible protests that were going on in San Jose. Oh, right. It was one of the worst throughout his campaign. And, uh, but he was still in good spirits. And just to see that, and, uh, I'll never forget that crazy experience. I think, uh... Yeah. I think he almost... Yeah. And I think he's okay with it. I think he's at peace with it. And I kind of expect it to. Yeah. We'll see. But the one thing, the one thing that I look up to him is his, is his heart for God. Yeah. And it's shown by the advisors that he surrounds himself with. Yeah. The pastors that he surrounds himself with. Um, you know, I follow a lot of the notable pastors across the globe and they often share Their, uh, words about him, and I'm like, wow, it's, aside from all the politics and stuff. Any of the crazy narcissistic son of a gun, don't get me wrong. No, but, uh, seeing his faith and his, his, how faithful he is. And how he treats people. And how he treats people. That's cool. Yeah. Um, if people want to look you up. How did they find you? How do they find me? Uh, you can go to my website, cameron singh.com. Okay. And that's, uh, Cameron Singh with an H at the end. S i n g h s i n g h.com. And uh, that's pretty much how you can connect with me on there. Follow me on social media, LinkedIn, LinkedIn, uh, also Cameron, Nathan Singh, if you do a Google search, it'll all come up. Um, what's your Instagram, uh, feed full of mostly. Um, it's one thing that I like to do in addition to my content. Uh, I really like to post a lot of encouraging content. So I've, I follow a whole bunch of people. And so oftentimes you'll see in my story that I like posting stuff that's encouraging to people in their daily lives. So I do a lot of resharing rather than original stuff. Um, but, uh, Mine's food pics and dog pictures mostly, some nature. I love posting, uh, when I go on travel. So I'll post like every step of the way when I go and travel. So yeah, people obviously know when I'm not traveling Here's some inspirational quotes. I'm not in Fiji right now. Right and also a whole bunch of podcast content So, you know, I run a podcast and oh, yeah, what's the name of that again? What's it called? The prop? Oh, no navigation and discovery with Cameron Singh So, um, I often post reels and good quotes that, uh, the guests that I bring on, I bring on pastors. I've had an astronaut, I've had people from all different walks of life and I just love, um, sharing, uh, you know, even if you can change one life with something like social media that makes it all, all, all enough. With your story. Yeah. And actually there was a case that it was, I was really astounded by it. It was, I shared something on LinkedIn, uh, about a month or two ago. And, uh, there was a student that was on my LinkedIn profile that I was connected with that got the notification that I was attending an event. It was a faith based event and, uh, that person, I realized he bought my book and then I saw him at the event and he's like, oh my gosh, he was like, this book, like, I enjoyed it so much. And it was, he was like, it, He was like, I've never seen someone so bold about their faith and share their struggles and he, we met for coffee one day and he shared about the stuff that he's going through and stuff like that. That's cool. Then you just, just that made it all worth it. Yeah, just that, that you can make the difference in one person's life. Yeah. It makes it worth it. It's a bit cliche, but it makes it over and over and over again, you know, building airline terminals and things is great. But if you can impact teams and happiness and fitment and peace and love. Yeah. And help people really, uh, Know that they can strive for more like you don't need to limit yourself based on you know Where you came from or upbringing it's like so you can strive for higher. Yeah Yeah, and you know just by one piece of encouragement can put someone on well sometimes when you're dissatisfied It's just it doesn't mean you're in a lower or higher spot. It's just not quite the right spot Mm hmm. And so keep moving keep the legs pumping. Yeah, look for a crease Guys be a young man Appreciate you. All right