In this episode of the Tactical Empire podcast, hosts Jeff Smith and Shawn Rider reflect on their recent Inner Circle meetup in Scottsdale, Arizona. They discuss the successful layout of the event, the impactful presentations from various speakers, and the valuable lessons learned during a challenging group hike. The conversation emphasizes the importance of leadership, personal growth, and community, while also highlighting the significance of being open to new opportunities and experiences. The hosts express excitement for future meetups and the growth of the Tactical Empire community.
Chapters
00:00 Reunion and Reflections on the Inner Circle Meetup
02:59 Insights from Presentations and Key Takeaways
06:11 The Importance of Leadership and Soft Skills
09:01 The Power of Personal Stories and Perspectives
12:07 Lessons from the Hike: Overcoming Challenges
15:02 The Value of Community and Support
17:49 Looking Ahead: Growth and Future Opportunities
EPISODE 171 MP3
[00:00:00] Welcome to the tactical empire where no nonsense advice needs winning strategies to help you conquer every aspect of your life. Welcome to another episode of the tactical empire today. I'm joined by Sean Ryder and we're back together reunited at last. What's up, brother? It's been over a month since we, uh, have been together on the podcast.
It's good to see you. Good to see you, man. But I, but I say that, and I just saw you in person, uh, last week. So, uh, man, holy fucking shit. Uh, we just had our second in person Category Empire Inner Circle meetup of the year. We get together in person twice a year. Back in April, we were in Birmingham. Last week, mid October, we went to Scottsdale, Arizona.
And man, uh, I don't know if I have the right words to describe how that went. So I'm going to throw it over to you and, uh, let's talk to the people about what came out and what [00:01:00] happened at that inner circle meetup with the men. Yeah, man. Yeah, uh, it was really good. It was really good. I think they'll continue to get better each time I've been hosting meetups for a while and you never really kind of know how it's gonna go I'm not the most organized individual so it's kind of scattered But I do have an overall vision for what it wants to look for what I want it to look like and I feel like I have zero regrets about that one it went off Like, everything was spot on, like, the best I could have hoped for, I feel like.
Um, just because the speakers came and they showed out, um, like, they poured into the guests and, like, really left them with some thought provoking things. Um, you, you presented, Chris Williams presented. Obviously, Kirk Weissler was tremendous. Um, I think he really stole the show early on. Uh, I don't think the guys expected that out of the gate [00:02:00] at all.
Yeah. Um, and so, uh, day one was just tremendous. And I think that it really opened some people's eyes to like what we were doing. I think that people expected money. They expected to talk about finances and crunch numbers and be like We didn't do that at all. I didn't realize that until you just brought it up.
I mean, on side conversations, obviously, but there was not one presentation on finances. Yeah. And, and from that standpoint, I felt really good about it because like, I do say all the time that like money's the easy part. Yeah. It's all this other shit you got to work on, the soft skills and, and understanding your business and how you can dial in, like tweaking out the next 10 percent of net profit in your main thing.
Um, there's also just, I think people oftentimes get too singularly focused with like, you The scoreboard with regard to finances. And, uh, we didn't hit on that too much. We hit on like leadership more than anything, I would say, if you wanted [00:03:00] to put it in one big bucket. Um, and so it was great. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't know your thoughts.
Yeah. I mean, from a macro level standpoint, I said it to you during the hike, but I said it to some of the other guys when they asked me how it was going, I said, I said, this is probably the best layout that we've ever had in terms of cadence. On the the two days, uh, and we can count the night before and the last night as its own separate things But like the layout of what we uh had for the group was awesome Then as you say as you said like we could have a perfect layout But if the guys that are presenting don't show up and show out and if the people don't Ask thought provoking questions or respond at the end during the q a you could only go so far with having a perfect layout So I'm very, very happy with the layout that we had.
So I think we'll probably rinse and repeat that one moving forward. And for those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, uh, you know, most of the men flew in on Wednesday night. You know, we have a dinner, uh, big groups together. Maybe we split her off and go somewhere else. And we come back and have a drink or two or whatever.
We get a good night's sleep. [00:04:00] We woke up on Thursday and, uh, basically guys have time to walk, work out, have breakfast, we network, and then we get right into the presentations. We had, uh, you know, three presenters plus you, Jeff, opened and closed, uh, the front end and back end of the day, not necessarily with presentations, but, you know, you say your words.
And then, uh, you know, we go, go back out on Thursday night and then, uh, Friday, we didn't really have any planned presentations. It was a physical activity, which we'll probably talk about here in a little while, uh, for the first half of the morning. Then the guys had some downtime and then we went to, uh, a restaurant and we ordered food and did a real quick, uh, end of meetup exercise to get their minds right.
Um, and then this week is how they filter through their thoughts and their initial goals. So I really, really liked that. It was not two days of presentations, not two days of meetings, which can get very monotonous and repetitive. We did not do that. So I absolutely love that layout. Um, do you want to talk about like some of the main point takeaways from, you know, either all the presenters or just one of them, and we'll kind [00:05:00] of bounce back and forth on what we took away from that.
Oh man, there were so many good nuggets, I don't know. I got, I got a bunch of reading recommendations, I, I, I think everybody did a great job with their presentations, I mean, like, Chris's was especially He did a great job. First time he's ever presented that particular speech, and I thought he really did a great job I know he was real nervous about it The the takeaways were exactly what he wanted them to be And and I gave him much feedback after he was done.
I thought that was tremendous But I really like when people besides me like tell the guys to really dig into their stories and and how they're You How they're mentally showing up with regards to like, we have a tendency to, uh, put chips on our shoulders or build these big stories about either other people or situations or like what we're doing or what we're trying to [00:06:00] accomplish.
And a lot of it's really just us. And I thought he did a good job articulating that to like question everything, which is the, the simplistic way that I present it, which is like, you should always question every single thing. Like no matter what sky is blue. Okay. Is it really blue or am I just telling myself a story type thing?
And, uh, I thought he hit that really well. And it's refreshing to me to sit in the back of the room and watch talented people present to people and, and see like light bulbs turn on for people as it resonates with them differently than me, because like I present most of the time in the group, right. And so, which is why I was kind of unwinding myself from that.
I, I took a chance on the. The schedule and the itinerary this time and and I thought it worked out amazingly and so to your point Yes, we're gonna it's gonna be more of this Um, and and which allows me to move to the edges and mentor As needed [00:07:00] if you will, um kind of because i'm I enjoy the networking side of things I enjoy letting other people take the take the stage And, um, cause everyone hears from me all the time.
And so it, I feel like it's better coming from other people from time to time. Cause you just hear things differently. You pick up different nuances of what you're learning. And so it's, it's not like that anything was revolutionary that we were hearing. But, um, coming from a different perspective, it can resonate.
You can put it in your toolbox a little differently. And I, I love that. So I was super happy with everything, but like your stuff about simplicity is always an important reminder to stay like crystal clear on not complicating what you're doing. I have a tendency to do that. I had a tendency to do that tremendously before.
Cause I'm like, well, if I can do one thing, why don't I do fucking 20 of them at once? And it creates chaos in your life, but I'm like a chaos [00:08:00] chaser. So like, I know that about me. And so like I have to unwind that particular aspect of my personality and be more, uh, measured and deliberate about what I'm taking on.
And so like, I, I loved what your presentation brought about. And then Kirk's presentation was kind of just a Heinz 57 melting pot of like everything. He's like, okay, I saw you guys. I watched this. I talked about men. I brought some books to tell you about stories and things like that. And it was. But, but it was really impactful and, and the, the level at which he spoke and the energy.
That he brought it was it was just different it changed people's perspective. I think I think people really resonated with it What a talented speaker though. Honestly, I was blown away. I've seen him talk before I've been around him a lot But what you [00:09:00] guys got in that room was just what I sensed from him initially the very first time I met him Which was just like He's, he's running on a different wavelength, like his energy when he enters the room is different.
Well, he brings you along for the ride, the emotional rollercoaster that he has, uh, remembering and regurgitating these stories from his past, and that's really what it was, and that's what impressed me, because you hear, hey, this is Kirk Weisler, and he's a former army ranger, and you're like, alright, well, Jeff was an army ranger, so he's gonna be like Jeff, and this dude comes in, and he's, uh, Not saying you're not, but he's bubbly and he's smiling and he's cracking jokes and he's being goofy with the photographer doing silly stuff.
And then I think it's really hard for someone to command a room for, we gave him two hours. He spoke for two and a half, right? And that's insane for someone to command a room of men for two and a half. And I went along for the rollercoaster ride of emotions with him. And if someone said, Hey, what'd you take away from his [00:10:00] speech?
Like. You're, you're kind of right, right? We, we get people in the room and you might hear the same message that you heard from someone else, but you're going to hear it differently and it's going to hit you differently. And what he said early on was, you know, guys, I just keep finding myself being invited to things.
And he, and that was his theme, right? Like, yes, he was telling us stories about books, but at the end of each story, he just said, you know, and it's interesting because I just keep getting invited. And what that tells me is like one, you never know the next domino room, like the domino effect of the room you're going to find yourself in next year.
But if you surround yourself with, you know, you are the average of the five people that you're closest with, right? If, if those five people, if you're leveling up those people, the domino effect of the next room, you're going to be invited to is probably going to be up and above the current phase of life that you're in.
And I think that's what Kirk has recognized throughout his life. He's like, I went to watch my boss speak on [00:11:00] stage. Next thing you know, he's putting me on stage. And then, you know, that's his first time he's on stage. He's throwing up in the back room and he goes out and crushes it. Cause no one knows who the hell he is.
And then, you know, fast forward 15, 20 years, and he's being invited You know, our room, uh, a week after being at the top HOA meeting in the, in the country, speaking to them. And so like, it's interesting. I really liked that. Um, and I can go back and, and, and think of the same quote rooms I've been invited into, right.
From being super young, introverted, afraid to walk into little Caesar's pizza and say, Please. So I could get a free toy as a kid. I made my brother say the word because I didn't want to speak out loud to being a football captain on, you know, a really good undefeated football team in high school to walking on to a national championship football team and not knowing anyone at that college.
And I moved eight hours away to, to, uh, you know, being on the Dean's list when I quit football to, uh, moving to a state I never lived in to be a teacher, to [00:12:00] meeting my former business partner. To hiring a mentor and meeting you. And then like, we kind of talked about that. And I said to the guys, I said, I said, if I hadn't done a free call with this other mentor group and that person paired me with Jeff, they had 25 people to pair me with and they quote, invited me into your room, invited me to be your mentee.
Right. I, I, I wouldn't, I most likely not be on this podcast today. Right. And I think people default and you could disagree with me here. People default and say like, well, everything happens for a reason. I think that's a very passive way. And, um, you know, look, and I believe in God too, and I believe that he gives us challenges, but I think that's a very passive way.
And it, and it reduces the, um, it reduces the. Positive effects of your decisions. And so I say, yeah, yeah, things may happen for a reason, but part of that reason is because of what you're doing in your life. And so I think being open to the opportunities and being [00:13:00] open to being invited into those rooms, which again, being introduced to you as my mentor, five, six years ago, being open to the lessons that you taught me.
Being open to building a relationship with you and then ultimately being open to be invited into the tactical empire as a client and now a, a, a content partner and, and, and business partner is, is again, it's, it's what, it's what life gave to me, but I've been open to those opportunities. So Kirk never met him before this past week.
So he was phenomenal. He was awesome. Um, I'm gonna, I can talk about Chris's, I might bring that in later, but I want to shut up for a minute. Uh, what did you take away from day two? Oh, day two. Day two. Um, man, it was just perfect. I don't know. I'm still like, I'm just sitting over here like a proud dad. Like, that went exactly like I wanted it to.
I mean, it, the hike was a little strenuous. And, uh, you guys, you guys were right. I was wrong. [00:14:00] I'm never gonna change. I am perfectly capable, in my mind, that I'm just gonna, I, I mean, one thing that, like, training for special operations and going through all the selection schools that we had to go through, the, the only thing that I think I took away from that is, like, I learned the ability to never quit anything.
So, like, when I say, hey, I'm gonna go do this in the morning, like, it just doesn't really resonate with me that I should, like, Check the difficulty level or maybe bring some equipment or some water and like . Well, let's read the people in, let's read the people in real quick. Uh, what was the name of the trail?
Something Peak? Uh, I, I think it's pronounced Ps psa. PS one. psa. Alright. If you're, if you're in Scottsdale or been to Scottsdale, whatever the P peak is, uh, we hiked the P peak, which is probably, I am assuming it's the second hardest trail. In the Scottsdale area. And we looked at the Google reviews about a month and [00:15:00] a half ago.
And it said that, uh, it's a very, extremely difficult trail and that if it's, you know, hot that day, you don't want to get on the trail after five o'clock in the morning, because by nine o'clock you'll be in deep trouble. But so the weather was calling for rain and either way, it was only gonna be 70. So we felt real good about the, uh, possible.
Warmer or colder, sorry, colder temperatures. Uh, but in hindsight, I think we did the trail backwards. I think we've all acknowledged that. So we hiked two and a half miles around and up this mountain before we got to the mile long summit trail, uh, to go up, you know, the, the total height was a little over 2, 400 feet.
And, um, and so we were hiking for two and a half miles before we got to the mile, uh, long, almost vertical summit hike. And so that's what Jeff's talking about. But Jeff's lesson was, you know, being special ops ranger or whatever, uh, taught him to just, when he says he's gonna do something, he's gonna do something.
So anything else before I talk about my lesson from that hike? Well, I think that, [00:16:00] like, in the future, we'll have more eyeballs looking at what we're doing, uh, that are more reasonable people, and, uh, like, it was a double black diamond, and I had no fucking idea. And, like, everybody else was, like, texting me, calling me, Hey, it's a double black diamond.
I'm like, oh, those things don't matter, they're just reviews, who cares, like, what they market. And, uh, so, fortunately for us, like, our pillars are fitness as one of the pillars. And so, like, The guys that showed up were fit, and, uh, the, the guys, it was hard. It was hard for everybody, I don't give a shit about your fitness level.
Uh, it was challenging, and it was good, though. As, as we got off and got back on the bus, my takeaway was, fuck yeah, everybody did it. No one got hurt. And now everybody's leaving Scottsdale and having this, this win in their mind that they've hiked a double black diamond this year. And like, some of those people probably never have [00:17:00] done stuff like that, right?
You have never done stuff like that. No. No. And that, that, going back, like, I loved every fucking second of that hike. Um, because I told you, I was like, like, me and my wife have talked about hiking, and it's something in the back of my head that like, I would like to do, but just being frank, like I'm not going to prioritize the time because it's not in my top five priorities to drive 30 minutes in my local area to the Appalachian Trail to hike for three hours to drive like, no, I have other priorities.
And so this was like 20 years of thinking about hiking wrapped up in three and a half hours. And I fucking loved every minute of it. Scottsdale, kudos to you guys. It's absolutely fucking beautiful out there. The weather was great. The rain held off. We had some wind. We had some shade. It wasn't 100 degrees like it was two days prior.
It was awesome. Now the lesson, the lesson that I took away is the same lesson that I've taken away from 12 years of small business ownership is so many people want to know what the future holds. And I [00:18:00] do not want to know what the future holds, because if you told me when I was 22 years old, what the next 12 years would look like, the obstacles, the struggles, the issues, the people talking shit on me, publicly, social media, whatever, and some of the negative reputation, like, I probably wouldn't have gone into it, right?
Same thing with this hike. Hey sean, you guys are gonna be out there It is gonna be as hard as the reviews say it is gonna take three and a half hours You are gonna do it backwards when you come down from the peak You're gonna go down the wrong side of the mountain and have to turn around and come halfway back up the motherfucker To get on the parking lot side And if someone would have told us that, we probably, possibly would have changed, we would have at least went the correct way to start.
To make it quote, a little easier. We wouldn't have done it the way we did it. But the way we did it allows every single man, regardless of their fitness level, to leave, as you said, feeling accomplished, doing a double black diamond. I don't know what that means, but it sounds fucking hard. And it was hard.[00:19:00]
But some of the other guys, like, yes, some of the guys in the group are super fucking fit. And it was still hard for them. The guys that were less fit, one, still completed it. Two, better leave the meetup understanding that they can move fitness up a notch on their priority list. It does not mean they're gonna quit their job so they can be these fit motherfuckers in the gym, but it does mean they're probably gonna go for a few more walks between now and the next meetup, six months from now.
It's the guys that take how they felt during that walk seriously, To see the changes that they're going to have by the next meetup in March or April of 2025. And that's what I'm fucking excited about. It did make me grateful for the work that I've put in because like, yeah, my legs started to burn as we started going up that summit, but just like a workout, my body settled into a nice rhythm and homeostasis and it did.
It was hard, but after a while, I, you kind of hit a flow state with just moving forward. Yep. And, uh, you know, the goal was to get to the top and we got to the top and [00:20:00] luckily no one blew off the top cause that wind was brutal and it was really hard to stand on jagged rocks. Oh man, what a, what a great experience though.
There was great conversations, I, I think. And, and the, the cool thing was like, cause just to be clear guys, you'll see a bunch of photographs, videos, stuff come out about this. We're not like some men's bonding group and like, but. Everybody took care of each other. It was a solid group of guys. Everybody was looking out for each other.
There was communication up and down the line. It was a good experience, and I think that everybody left having, like I said, accomplished something hard, and also understanding a little bit more about themselves and maybe hobbies they would enjoy doing with their family or introducing their family to.
But also a level of resiliency to just put your head down and finish what you started. Cause like, there was no getting off the mountain without finishing. So, that's the thing [00:21:00] I love about hiking. You are in it. If you hike 60 miles from your car, there's only one way to get back to your car, and, uh, It's, uh, I mean, it's, it's a fun thing.
I, I really enjoyed it. I hope it made some memories for everybody out there. I think it did, and, uh, so it brought a cool aspect to the group, too, that we hadn't done before, because usually we just do, like, hotel type conference room stuff. So, yeah, it really brought a An aspect that I would like to continue for our meetups for sure.
Yeah. So, you know, if you guys wanted to hear a little bit from Chris Williams's speech, yeah, we're going to have content dropping, but go back. He was on the podcast a few episodes ago talking about labels. I will give him kudos that like my takeaway as I open up a new brick and mortar business with a team that I've hired is to not make the same mistakes I did in the past, which was assuming and labeling and storytelling.
People and being a little bit more direct with the [00:22:00] conversations, a tough conversations that may need to be had. And most tough conversations don't turn out to be tough conversations. So I'm going to be very particular about how I, uh, keep labels neutral, uh, for myself, for my family, for my team members and clients.
Moving forward. I'm really excited to grow the tactical empire. As Jeff said, we're not a men's bonding group. We did not get in a big cold plunge together. Uh, we did not walk across fire together, but we did a physical challenge together, um, and it was fantastic. So we have, we have guys reaching out already.
Someone just signed up today to get in, uh, to the inner circle. After, uh, seeing some of the content that we had, we got more content coming. We're not going to talk about what the inner circle is on this episode. That's going to be the next episode. We do want to explain who we are, what we do, why we do what we do.
Um, and if you want to get in by, uh, the end of 2024 and be in the group for the start of 2025, and then get to the first in person meetup in March or April of 2025, uh, we'd love to have you. So stay tuned for the next episode. Jeff, you want to send the [00:23:00] people out with any last nuggets or send them on their way?
Yeah, like and subscribe to us on Facebook, uh, you can hit us up in the Tactical Empire community, we have the Tactical Empire business pages on every social media account now, uh, so give us a follow there on Instagram, Facebook, um, you can DM us through the Tactical Empire Instagram account, I am responsive in there as well.
Otherwise you can hit Sean or I up directly. Um, there's a lot of ways to get ahold of us now, but, uh, follow us, support us. We appreciate you guys listening. Um, if we can ever help you guys reach out and let us know, cause that's what we're here for. Have a great [00:24:00] day.