Employee Retention Expert: Exact Formula So Your Employees Never Leave | Clint Pulver

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The Secret to Workforce Retention: Clint Pulver’s ‘I Love it Here’ and the Power of Mentorship

In this episode, Clint Pulver, Emmy Award winner, speaker, pilot, and author, discusses his book 'I Love It Here,' which reveals insights about effective leadership and employee retention. He shares how the Undercover Millennial Program helped him understand the reality of the workforce and bridge the gap between leaders and their employees’ experiences. Pulver emphasizes the importance of mentorship over management, augmenting leadership development, and recognizing employees' contributions. He recounts his journey of overcoming a debilitating eye condition to fulfilling his dream of flying and starting the Dream Machines Foundation, offering helicopter experiences for children with disabilities.

To get your copy of 'I Love It Here' use one of these links: Paperback https://a.co/d/dzmO2Y3 / Audiobook https://a.co/d/0bJbH8J

www.clintpulver.com

00:00 Introduction: Capturing Workforce Reality
00:14 The Importance of Company Culture
00:47 Mentorship vs. Management
01:22 The Journey of Writing 'I Love It Here'
04:49 The Undercover Millennial Program
09:19 Universal Truths in Workforce Research
15:33 Growing People, Not Just Employees
17:25 The Power of Recognition
21:44 A Personal Story: The Drummer
24:11 Advocating for Employees: The Key to Loyalty
24:55 Building Momentum and Implementing Change
25:53 Consistency and Small Steps to Success
27:35 The Importance of Mentorship
30:27 Balancing Entrepreneurship and Personal Life
37:00 Overcoming Personal Challenges
37:42 Rediscovering a Lost Passion: Aviation
43:40 Creating Impact Through Dream Machines
45:58 Final Thoughts and Future Endeavors

To check out the helicopters Clint and Shawn have on order visit www.hillhelicopters.com

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Transcript

 ​Employee Retention Expert: (Clint Pulver) The Exact Formula So Your Employees Never Leave

 The uniqueness of, I love it here was found in capturing that perspective, helping leaders to understand the reality of a workforce that they sometimes don't get to see. And we did it in a way that captured the truth. What damage is being done to businesses when leaders just completely ignore the company culture?

It is the foundation of significance in a business, not just success. Well, let's give a big Culver's welcome to Flint Culver.  It's not about being the best in the world. It's about being the best for the world.  As a leader, 67 percent of all turnover could be traced back to the number one reason why people choose to stay.

Also the number one reason why people choose to leave. And so being a leader and, and not so much even a leader, I call them the  versus management. How do you become in an organization, the person, the individual that people trust? People when they're with you, they go, I like myself best because I'm with you.

You're someone that represents the opportunity of what I can become, what I can grow into. That's what mentorship is. You cannot become the mentor until the mentee invites you into their heart. And that is what is winning right now in business.  Emmy Award winner, professional speaker, pilot, an excellent author, Clint Pulver.

Why? Why did you write the book? I love it here. How great leaders create organizations their people never want to leave. That's a great question. I never set out in this journey to write a book. Being an author is no joke. I'll never do it again.  It was one of the hardest things I've ever done writing a book, but I'm really glad that I did do it because I think it captures a unique perspective in the realms that, you know, the perspective that a leader has versus the reality of an employee experience is usually a night and day difference, right?

What a leader thinks and perceives. in their business versus sometimes the reality of what an employee experiences every day. There's a gap because there's not a lot of an incentive for an employee, especially when things aren't going well to walk up to an employer and say, Hey, listen, Doug, I think this could help you.

You know, every time we win as a team, you take all the credit. And then every time we lose as a team, Doug, you, you, you take all, you take all the credit, right? You are, you know, you are, you blame everybody. Happy Tuesday, Doug. Like most of the time, team members don't hear that, right? Instead, an employee will just leave.

They'll leave. They'll leave the business or worse. They mentally check out and then they stay. And the uniqueness of I love it here was found in capturing that perspective, helping leaders to understand the reality of a workforce that they sometimes don't get to see. And we did it in a way that Captured the truth in a, in a beautiful and authentic and real approach that gave leadership an insight into something that has moved the needle forward now in thousands and thousands of companies across the globe.

And so, That's why I wrote the book wonderful, you know to amplify this a little bit What damage is being done to businesses? When leaders just completely ignore their people the company culture in your opinion. What what's happening? Yeah, and leadership is so key because it is the foundation of all Significance in a business, not just success, there's a big difference between that.

And as a leader, 67 percent of all turnover could be traced back to you. You're the number one reason why people choose to stay. You're also the number one reason why people choose to leave. And so being a leader and not so much even a leader, I call them the mentor. Right. When people hated their jobs, when I would go in undercover into an organization and people were frustrated, they always talked about a manager.

They always described the leadership, but when people loved their jobs, they described a mentor mentorship versus management. How do you become in an organization, the person, the individual that people, when they're with you, they go, I like myself best because I'm with you. You're someone that represents the opportunity of what I can become, what I can grow into.

That's what mentorship is. You cannot become the mentor until the mentee invites you into their heart. And that is what is winning right now in business. It's not so much the pay, the perks, the incentives. Many companies do that really well. But when you, when you throw in the mix of mentorship and becoming the entity and the person that, because of you, that individual doesn't just survive at work, but they actually thrive.

That's game changing. That is a crucial piece in the element of employee retention and creating a workforce culture that people never want to leave. How did you come about? This insight, I know you, you talked about the fact that you wrote this book and it was one of the hardest things you've done. And so obviously there had to be a passion behind getting this information out to go through that, that hard process.

So what was the initial motivation for doing this and how did it all come? Yeah, so I was a part of a mastermind group with a bunch of other CEOs and executives, and this was six and a half years ago, and we, we went on a trip, a business trip. To New York city to go and learn from other entrepreneurs, other business owners, CEOs, execs, presidents, people that were, were creating dynamic cultures.

And one of these individuals, I wrote about them in the first chapter of the book, owned a large sporting good retail store. And we're in the store in Manhattan with his employees all around us, you know, all the, the sporting apparel and the gear and everything's around us and where he's talking to us about this dynasty that he's created.

And I just, out of curiosity, turned it over to Q& A for a little bit, and I just asked him a question. I said, so tell me about your, your strategy with business within relation to how you manage your employees. Cause constantly he was talking about how he's had to change his business ideals and his business marketing and his business strategy to meet the demands of an ever changing marketplace.

But when it came to people, I asked him, I said, have you had to do the same thing? And he said, no. He said, no, no, no, no. He's like the way I treat employees today, same way I treated them 20 years ago. And we get results. And I was like, okay, that, that makes no sense to me as someone who's been a leader, who's worked with people, who's had employees, like people are ever changing.

The world is ever changing. Like you've got to adapt. And so we thanked him for his time. We had about 45 minutes to kill until we needed to be to our next location. I had nothing else better to do. I'm in the store. I literally am dressed how I'm dressed right now. I had a backwards hat on, was wearing a hoodie.

I just was bored. And I walked up just out of curiosity to the first employee that I saw. And I said, Hey, I'm just wondering, what's it like to work here? And the employee got really quiet, kind of started to look around. Like it felt like an illegal drug exchange. And he said, dude, he's like, I can't stand, I can't stand the job.

Like, every one of us, dude, we're all just numbers. And I was like, I was so, I was like, tell me more.  And I'm like, why are you still working here? And he's like, I've already applied to three other places. As soon as I get a chance to leave, I'm gone. And then, and then I was like, okay, well, maybe this guy's just having a bad day.

So I went to the next employee. And the next and the next. And then the 45 minutes that I had, I interviewed six of his employees. And at the end of those conversations, five out of the six of those team members said they would not be working for this guy in his store in less than three and a half months.

You guys, that was the light bulb moment. That was the moment when I was like, Oh my gosh, he has no idea he has not. And I wanted to tell him. So bad. I wanted to just be like, Hey, just so you know, Jeff, uh, you know, sir, it's a nightmare for your people here. Like, they are not happy. They are not like, and your ideal of where you think this company is, is, is not in sync.

And that is when, that was really, that was the day, the origin story of when I started the Undercover Millennial Program. Because of my age and the way that I approach these employees in a unique format where it wasn't an employee survey It's not a one on one manager meeting like a performance review This was just maybe a potential hire Someone that was looking for a job someone that was even a customer and they told me everything they got real they got authentic And God that was six and a half years ago, and we've worked with over 250 organizations, and I've interviewed over 11, 000 employees now undercover.

And that's what led to the foundation of the book. And it's been a beautiful thing to be a part of. It's been a ton of work, but man, we've captured really something that no other leadership book has ever created before. It's such a unique perspective, Tony and I, you know, we've, we've owned businesses together, done mergers and acquisitions and all kinds of crazy stuff, probably why I had gray hair at 42 years old,  but you know, we were so big on company culture that we focused on one on ones, we focused on a personal connection with our staff, but it never occurred to me.

To even take the approach that you did. Can I put in a undercover person to examine the true feelings of my staff? And if so, what are they going to say? You know, it never, never occurred to me. Of course, most of our staff was spread across the U. S. in non retail spaces, which was remote, you know, remote workers working from home.

So what would you say to that business owner that wants to have that insight, but you know, they're spread across maybe the U S or the world, they have remote workers. How do you get that information beyond the survey, beyond the one unique thing that we've found and now doing this for as long as we have, I don't do the research as much anymore.

We do it from time to time and for different companies that are industries that I'm. I'm still curious about or would just love to be involved on the undercover side. But after doing it for as long as we did, there were trends that emerged. And I don't care if it was a remote workforce, if it was retail, if it was the construction industry, the medical, it didn't matter.

There were universal truths that came about through this research that applied to any sphere of the workforce. And that's what I wanted to capture in the book. I didn't want it to be a. You know, a generational book. I didn't want it to be a book that, that had a, an expiration date. I wanted it to be something that was timeless, perennial, that just, you would read it today and you'd read it 20 years and it would, from now.

And it would still be applicable. It would still be relevant. The magic. I think it's really important to understand the magic was, was found in the research. Not when I would go into a workplace that was dysfunctional or when everybody was unhappy or everybody hated the boss. No, the magic was found when I would go into a workplace undercover and consistently every single employee would say, I love it here.

I love it here. I love it. I mean, how's like, would you recommend? I love it here. I love my job. Why? Why? What were those leaders doing, whether it was remote or not remote, whether it was a temp job versus a high level law firm or a, uh, an office that had been established for years, like didn't matter. What were those leaders doing to create that kind of buy in?

You know, a place where people didn't just love the job, but they actually loved who they were while they were at the job. So if I had a leader right now that was trying to figure out, you know, how do we do this? How do we understand this more? There's a lot of key elements. I'd first say, read the book, right?

Get the book, read the book. That's going to really break down a lot of the key elements that we found. But first and foremost, so many, so many organizations don't have leadership development. They don't have proper leadership development. They don't know how to create. Leaders that understand how to care, how to connect, uh, leaders that are not just credible, but competent, uh, leaders that have the ability to become the mentor in the story.

Oftentimes, you know, we promote somebody that crushed it in sales. They're a high performer. And so the next obvious step is to promote them into leadership. So many leaders are put into a leadership position, not because they wanted to be, but because they wanted more money and it was just the next natural step in their career and we throw them into a position and you say, okay, good luck lead, you know.

Treat people the way that like manage properly, you know, maybe we give them a little orientation class  Maybe we do a little book club once a year like there is not proper Leadership training in so many organizations and then and then companies wonder why why people are quitting so many bosses Well, it's because we're not providing adequate support and training on helping those bosses to become mentors.

That would be the first thing I would start with. How to, how to develop and advocate for your leadership team today. So Clint, help, help me out with this. So the majority of, of jobs are provided by small businesses and small businesses are typically struggling just to, a lot of them stay afloat, make enough money to To make it all worth it at the end.

So how can we, I know there's probably two different paths to go. One with the big corporations with a lot of departments and you're bringing all these department heads together and trying to provide leadership training internally. But if you're a small business owner and you're trying to provide leadership training to your small team, is there a difference?

And if so, you know, what, what would you suggest as far as the small business entrepreneur, Trying to create a foundation where they can create those. There's many great leadership development programs that are out there from the Dell Carnegie program to, you know, even what we've created. We, I would, I go in as a professional speaker, we train and we teach organizations on the research that we found, but we created a masterclass series that has a full curriculum.

So it's not just the, I love it here book, but we have an, I love it here workbook that creates actual curriculum. That allows leaders to develop and basically it gives them their own leadership training program. Every corporation is different. Every need is different from a small business to a massive franchise.

The goal is, are we implementing something that is consistent? The coolest part, here's the coolest part about leadership is that it matters. The hardest part about leadership is that it matters every day. Every day, consistency in that, in that training, consistency in helping leaders to keep the main thing, the main thing, you know, and then there's elements of just things that I would be, I would be as, as the owner of a business, I would be focusing on what are we doing to spark the possibilities for our people.

Meaning, number one, how am I growing my leadership? How are you growing your people? And it's not just, it's not just up the chain. It's not just up the ladder, but like, how are we creating a dynamic where we're not just growing employees, but we're growing people or people that because they work for you, they might go home a better dad from work.

They go home a better mom and in doing so we create better families. I worked with a large dental chain clinic and we had this interesting dynamic when I went in and did the undercover research because the dental world is a high burnout, high turnover industry. Like you're sucking blood, spit, you're sucking blood.

Shots need like nobody wants to see you. It's the dental industry. It's just hard. And there was a chain in California. They had the highest retention rates that I had ever seen in that industry. And as I was doing undercover research, every single, every single hygienist, when I asked like, why do you work here? 

Why do you stay here? You could make more down, down the street. You know, they'd say, I love it here. Why? They always talked about Becky. Becky was the general manager of all of the dental offices. And after the research, I said, okay, I got to figure out what's going on with Becky. I sat down, I interviewed her and I said, what are you doing to create a dynamic where your people are empowered?

They're, they have a sense of ownership. They want to stay their lowest. She goes, Clint, I'll tell you why. She said, I first understood that I had to grow people, not just employees. I said, what do you mean? She goes, my hygienist, for example, she said, I can't pay them anymore. I'm paying them a competitive wage.

It's not in the budget. It's not.  We just can't pay them anymore. I also can't promote them. I can't like, unless they go to dental school, there's nothing else in this field that I can do to, to excel their career. She said, but I realized that I could help them get out of debt. And I said, what are you talking about?

She goes, here's one example. She said, I enrolled every one of our hygienists into Dave Ramsey's financial peace university. We'd paid for it. We provided it. We also provide counseling. We provide six months of free diapers. We provide like, she just, she taught. And so 37 of these dental hygienists out of the, I mean, there was probably a couple hundred, but 37 of them had completely paid off their home and were completely debt free because of Becky.

Like that's, that's a perfect example. Like, how are we growing people? Do you have a growth development plan for every individual on your team? Meaning where do you want to go? What do you want to do in this company? What is it? More money? Is it time off? Is it flexibility? How  do I get to the part about you?

And every business owner needs to be asking this question right now. Every employee that you work with and that works for you, they're asking the question, let me know when it gets to the part about me. And sometimes we hear that as business owners and we think, well, those, you know, entitled little shining stars in my life, you know, like everybody wants more, everybody needs this where it's not so much about entitlement as it is about just good business, right?

How do we bring this sense of humanity back into what we do? How do we grow people? How do we create a vision that sparks the possibilities of what somebody might become or could become, or they get to live a better story because they work for you. So the growth is just one possibility. The other side of this is recognition.

Recognition, like helping people to feel seen for what they do and that who they are and their efforts are enough. Vocal praise. Here's the craziest that one of the things in our research, vocal praise was the number one thing that employees wanted more than anything. Like the, the, the, that a boy, that a girl saw what you did.

Keep it up. Like appreciate all that you're doing. What if we could systemize? That's another thing I'd recommend to a business owner right now. How do you systemize recognition in your, in your business? Thanks. It's where every Wednesday, you know, you put a reminder in your phone that you're going to just text somebody.

You're going to say, thank you. You're going to recognize somebody for what they do. One manager that we interviewed undercover, he would, he would, he would write the family members of the employee, a letter, just thanking them for the daughter that they raised or the son that they raised like little, little, little things in all of the 11, 000 interviews that I've conducted undercover.

Not once. Did an, did an employee ever say to me when I would ask, what's it like to work here? And they would say, you know, I love it here. And I'd say, why never did they ever say, you know, I just. I love my company because we're just, we're so good at time management. You know, we're just, we, we slay it, you know, we run the best meetings.

We always start on time. You know, our P and L statement is off the charts. I just, it's amazing. Like nobody ever mentions anything. What they talk about are the six months of free diapers. What they talk about is the thank you card that you wrote. What they talked about is the moment when, you know, they were struggling with anxiety or depression and, and the company provided counseling, they provided support.

When somebody passed away, Mills showed up at the house. Like, little, simple moments where people felt safe. Scene. How do you create the potential and the worth of an individual to the point that they see it within themselves? That's a crucial foundational piece to creating significance in the workplace.

I had a CEO one time  and I asked him, we were doing tons of acquisitions and I asked him, how are you focusing on the culture of the new acquisition employees that are coming into this existing culture and incorporating them in and making them. People, right? They're a part of this team. And he said, I kid you not, this is what he said to me.

Well, we send them these really sweet swag bags.  And I was like, well, you,  you've completely missed the point and all of these acquisitions are, their world is, is completely changing, right? Because they signed on to be with company A and now they're going to be with company B and it's a critical moment in their career.

In their life to be incorporated appropriately and to be treated like an employee. You have this quote that you repeat in the book, that it really struck me. It said, stop trying to be the best in the world and start trying to be the best for the world. That hit home for me because we often see the Elon Musks of the world. 

We want to be the best, right? But in reality, if we can just focus on being the best for our world, we can think beyond the swag bag, if you will, and start thinking about the people behind the Face or whatever the work that they're doing. Talk to me how you came to that realization of being the best for the world.

I'm sure after a thousand, 11, 000 interviews, you start to see the true nature, the human nature. Yeah, I think at the end of your life, I don't care what anybody does in this world. No one's getting out alive.  At the end of your life, you're going to be surrounded by two things. You're going to be surrounded by the woulda shoulda couldas, or you'll be surrounded by the do it, did it, done it's.

And there is a massive difference between living a life that is successful versus a life that is truly significant.  Significance has a, has a, has a sacred realm in that it is not so much about you as it is about what you're doing to striving to, to really create a better story in the lives of other people.

And then that's true leadership. That, that, that, that is a legacy that I think when a leader taps into that and realizes that you're a, you're a storyteller. Not in the stories that you tell, but in the stories that you help other people write. Like that changes the whole dynamic and you never forget those people.

For me, I, I was a kid in school that I, I struggled to sit still. I still have a hard time sitting still. I just, I constantly moved. I, I would tap. I had a hard time focusing and everybody saw the issue. Everybody saw the problem. They saw this limitation because I couldn't sit still. And I got called the twitcher in school.

I got bullied. A lot of kids would call me the tapper. And one day I had a teacher and his name was Mr. Jensen. And he told me to stay after class. He clapped. He said, listen, young man in the back, I need you to hold still. I also need to see you after class. We're going to have a conversation. And I remember thinking like, this is it.

Like I'm getting kicked out of school as a 10 year old, like this. I'm, I had been to the principal's office, constantly told to sit on my hands and the bell rings, class dismiss. Everybody leaves. It's a completely empty room minus me and my teacher. And he pulls me to the side and he says, listen, could you tap a lock?

You tap in my class and you tap in everybody else's. You're constantly moving. You're, you're the kid that's on the list right now. He said, but here's the deal. He said, I, I've watched you. And he goes, it's crazy. He says, you'll, you'll take a pen and you start writing. You, you work on an assignment. You write with your right hand and then you tap with your left hand.

And then in the middle of the assignment, you switch, you switch the pen. And you start writing with your left hand and then you tap with your right hand. And he looked at me and said, Listen, I think you're ambidextrous. I had no idea what that meant. He said, Can you tap your head and rub your belly? And I gave it a go.

And I could do it. I had this independence of my hands and coordination that was just unique to the tapping that constantly happened. And I'll never forget. He leaned back in his desk, he opened up the top drawer, and he reached inside and he took out my very first pair of drumsticks. And he put them in my hands and he said, Clint, listen, I don't, I don't think you're a problem.

I just think you're a drummer. And, I believe in moments, you guys. I talk about it in the book a lot. Like people don't remember days at work. They remember the moments. And this was a moment that changed my life. And that was, that was 25 years ago. And for 25 years, I have traveled and played and toured and recorded all over this world with some of the most amazing musicians as a, as a professional.

drummer. My whole college education was paid for by music scholarships. I mean, my story has massively been impacted. And because of that, we have impacted millions because of one moment where a leader decided to advocate for somebody instead of trying to develop them. That's a really important concept to understand because an employee works for you.

How do we advocate for an individual instead of just trying to get them to produce more money? That is the difference between success and significance. It's not just about being the best. It's about being the best. And that is what's winning. That is what retains people. That's what creates loyalty in a world that is constantly not loyal.

And, and, and that place where there's constant turnover and the war of talent is. That's a big deal for a lot of organizations right now.  Well, Clint, I could see,  I could see people getting really excited about what you're talking about. And it kind of reminds me a little bit of December 27th and people are really excited about going and they're going to start their new year's resolution.

They're going to start going to gym on January 1st and they're going to start doing this This routine, this new plan to change their life, change how they operate. And then I can see the first, the first time you do it is going to be a little bit like, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm excited to do it.

The second time you do it, it was like, well, this is kind of weird. The third time you do it, you kind of put it off and wait. And so how can we empower people to, who believe in what you're saying? And so. See the vision and the possible outcomes. How can we help them actually build that momentum and get in flow?

Because I I'm wondering, is this something that people are just, some people have it and are born with and some people don't, or is this something you can learn? Like, how do we help people actually implement this? It's a great question. I, a dear friend of mine. You'll, you'll love this, uh, Tony is a runner.

His name is James Lawrence, uh, often referred to as the Iron Cowboy. The dude is a monster. He lives just down the street from me. Dear friend, he speaks on a lot of stages. The guy ran 50 Ironmans in 50 days in 50 different states. He then just recently, uh, did the Conquer 100 where he ran a hundred full distance triathlons consistently in a hundred days. 📍 

  Alright listeners, it's time to put your money where your mouth is. If this episode with Clint Pulver isn't making you go, wow, I need to share this gold with my network. Then you might want to check your pulse.  Here's the deal. If you've ever griped about employee turnover, or if you just want to be the office hero who revolutionizes your company culture, hit that share button.

Post this episode on your socials. Text it to your boss. Or even play it in the next company meeting. With snacks, of course. Let's spread the word about creating a workplace where people actually want to stay. Remember, sharing is caring, and in this case, it's also career saving. So what are you waiting for?

Share this episode like your job depends on it. Because it just might. 

 Like. Just crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. And, and being a close friend and someone we've shared the stage many times together, everybody asks, how did you do it? You know, how did you do the impossible? How did you consistently perform at such a high level? And I'll never forget, he says the same answer every time.

He said, all I do is I got really good at doing small things consistently over a long period of time. I get really good at doing small things consistently over a long period of time. Now the inner workings of how that happens is what I want to talk about a little bit. I grew up on a small farm in Heber City, Utah.

And I learned really quickly that if you put a hard to catch horse in a field with an easy to catch horse, you're gonna end up with two hard to catch horses, right? Your association matters. I grew up in Heber Wrestling for Wasatch High School. The greatest wrestler of all time graduated from my high school.

His name is Kel Sanderson. If you don't know Kel Sanderson, look the dude up, he's a monster. He never lost a match in high school. The dude never lost in college. Went and wrestled for Iowa State University, the highest, like, craziest competitive wrestling program in the world.  And then he went on to the Olympic games where he took gold in Athens, Greece.

And he's now the head, head coach of Penn State University, runs the greatest wrestling program in the world. And he graduated from a high school. My dad was my wrestling coach. I wrestled for eight years and every Friday night, my dad, when I was a little kid, he'd say, come on, he said, Clint, get in the truck.

We're driving down to the varsity wrestling duels. We're going to watch Kel throw guys around on the mat, like rag dolls. And I remember one Friday night, I looked at my dad and I said, listen, dad, I don't want to go. Like we go every Friday night. I'm kind of just burned out. Like, no Kel's going to dominate.

I just don't want to go. And my, my dad, my dad, he's, he's a really good coach. And he looked at me and he said, Clint, you don't have to go. He said, I'll never make you go. He said, but I have one question for you. He said, do you want to be a great wrestler? You want to, you want to really be great at what you do.

And I said, I said, yeah, I said, of course that he said, then you gotta hang out by the mat. You want to be a great wrestler? You got to hang out by the mat. I've never forgotten that lesson because how true that is, right? If you want to be good at basketball, you got to hang out by the hoop, right? You want it when you want to be good at swimming, you got to hang out by the pool.

Same thing goes for leadership. How do we consistently do small things over a long period of time? It's with the team. It's with a coach. It's with a mentor. Every great mentor that I ever met in my research was always being mentored. So I would tell every leader right now listening to this, who's your coach?

Who are you listening to? You know, so often I hear the saying, be the leader that you wish you had. And every time I hear that, I say to myself, no, no, no, be, become the mentor you are lucky enough to have. Who are those people that inspired you, that just shaped your life, that led in a way that allowed you to live a better story?

Who are the Mr. Jensen's in your life?  Are you consistently coaching from them? Are you consistently learning from them? Are you, are you going to lunch with them? Are you sharing your problems and your frustrations with them? Are you hanging out by the mat? I can't emphasize how important it is to create a board of mentors, not a board of directors, a board of mentors in your business.

Man,  it's, it's so important. Well, let's, let's shift gears just a little bit here. I'm, we all know on this podcast that being leaders and being entrepreneurs is not always roses and butterflies. And I'm, I'm sure Clint, you've been through the ringer like any entrepreneur has. So what has been your darkest moment?

As an entrepreneur, I, man, that is a good question. I think it's the dynamic of I, we lost our son about two and a half years ago and it's, it's striving to know as an entrepreneur when to shut it off. Let's be real. As an entrepreneur, we work, we work 80 hours a week, so we don't have to work 40.  It's really true.

And as an entrepreneur with that mentality. The ability to, when I'm, when I'm home, how can you really be home? How can, when do you learn to shut it off? For a time when we first began, it was just my wife and I, and like, we would go on a date night or we would go on like whatever, and it's like, she, she would look over and say, Hey, listen, like you need to, you need to stop talking about work, I'm your wife.

I'm your wife too. Like we have a family. And, and, and I, every second of every day, cause we can, we can get caught up in, in that dynamic. And so the darkest part, you know, it was when we lost our little boy and how that affected so much of just learning how to regroup and really put me in a dynamic where I just completely had to push pause on all of the things, all of the, and, and focus on really what mattered most.

And so for me as a leader, I think for the most part, as good leaders, we know what we need to do. To be successful. Most of us where it's built in us, right? You have a good coach. You, you have, you know, the steps laid out in front of you. But I found that the, the, the significant leaders are masterful at the things they need to stop doing.

And so for me, that dark moment really taught me the power of not so much a to do list in my life, but the power of a to don't list, what are the things as an entrepreneur that you need? What are the things that you need to stop doing?  So that you can say yes to the things that really matter most.

There's something to be said. In your world as an entrepreneur for financial affluence, there's something also significantly to be said for time affluence. Time affluence.  How do we create more of that? And that darkest moment really helped me to understand and learn that concept better. Thank you for sharing that Clint. 

How do you propose people to put in practicality putting together a do not do list or a don't do list? Yeah, to don't list. Yeah, I, I, I think it's really prioritizing and realigning yourself on what's the main goal. What's it all for?  Like, what are we really trying to do? The highest statistic in all of my undercover research was a 99 percent statistic.

And it was when I would go in undercover into an organization, I'd say, hey, what are the company values? Like what, what's the mission statement? Nobody knew. Like, no, like, or if they did say something, it was completely not even aligned with the company's like core values. Like, I don't know. I don't know what it is.

Uh, do your job. Don't get fired. Like, I don't know. And, and I, I think this is so true as an entrepreneur. If you're facing in the right direction, all you have to do is keep walking. But so often, As entrepreneurs and in business, we forget what that direction is. And so first and foremost, when you're making a to don't list, or even a to do list, is it aligned with the core reason behind what you do and why you're doing it?

If it's ultimately to create stability for your family and to create freedom, how can you have that today? And this, yes, there are times and there are seasons. When that gas pedal, you're, it's down to the floor, right? And you're grinding and you're pushing and you're putting in the sweat equity, but at what costs and for how long, and, and can you as an entrepreneur, that's something that I learned really quickly is when is enough enough.

Because we have this dynamic of constant scalability.  Scale, I gotta scale. What's the next mountain to climb? What's the next, instead of just do like make a goal, you met it, congratulations, take a minute, and, and take in the view. And to tell yourself, okay, is this enough? There, there's real value in that, and I don't think that that's taught as, as much as it needs to be.

And, and oftentimes, by the time you An entrepreneur realizes that they're on their second marriage, third marriage, their kids, it's a nightmare, their home, everything in their life is out of balance. And so figure that out now. I think that's a really valuable thing to consider. I have a similar philosophy and the things that I coach when I'm working with my clients.

And it's basically, I should only do the things that only I can do. And it's so easy to say, but it's so hard to actually follow through and do. And there, there are moments where I catch myself doing something that I actually really enjoy, but it's not best use of my time. So, you know, in a business framework, if I say I should only do the things that only I can do, then.

It keeps me focused on doing those things that I have to do as the business owner, figuring out who else I can delegate other things to so that I can have that balance where I'm able to get done the things that only I can do, make sure that everybody else is doing the things that we've delegated and empowered them and given them the ownership and autonomy to do.

But then, Allow me to step back and take those several hours off, maybe take an afternoon off and spend time with my family or go do something that really matters that gives us the results of all this hard work that we're doing. You know, cause I agree. We, we decided to work 80 hours for ourselves so we don't have to work 40 hours for somebody else, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that way.

It's just, we need to stay focused on what we actually Uh, are working on. And so I really identify with, with your advice. And I think it's, I wish I would have asked myself early on in my entrepreneurial journey, what happens if you actually get what you want and at what cost  that's, it's just, yeah, it's a constant dynamic, it's a constant check in, it's a constant, uh, and I think that's, that's why a coach is so important, right?

Cause sometimes it's hard to see the picture when you're in the frame. Right. It's hard to see the label when you're in the bottle, right? Cause you're, you just, you're in it. And, and sometimes we don't see the damage that it's causing all around us. Whether that's your employees, your marriage, your family, your health, your spirituality, all these dynamics that are so important.

Um, and to be self-aware is, is key. It's, it's, it's a constant recalibration always as you, as you adapt and grow as an entrepreneur. In the book, Clint, you mention a.  physical event that happened to you. You and I both had very similar childhood dreams. We wanted to be EMS helicopter pilots,  and I wanted that since I was a little kid.

I grew up, turned 20, got married and then had a wife that told me, No, you're not allowed to do that. And it was it was shattering to me.  Talk to us about your experience as your aviation journey then morphed into a really awesome entrepreneurial journey. And then how it is swinging back to an awesome aviation journey again.

Yeah, 100%. I was the kid that just growing up, I loved everything aviation. Uh, specifically helicopters, there was just something about the sound, the magic of being able to just lift off and hover. And it was the ultimate magic carpet ride. And I decided early on in my life that that's what I was going to do.

And I pursued that. I became a private pilot, first flew airplanes cause that was the cheaper route to go. And then I went and served a two year mission for my church. And I came home and at this point I was 21 years young, 21. And I went in to renew my driver's license and I went into the DMV and I couldn't pass the vision test.

They put your head in that little black box and I couldn't read the letters. And she looks at me and she's like, honey, can you read? And I'm like, yes, I can read. She said, then we've got a problem right now. Because you can't read these letters and I can't let you, I can't let you drive. And I was like, I drove here today.

She's like, you're not driving home. And long story short, I ended up at the Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah with a top leading authority doctor, uh, that specialized in the rare and degenerative eye disease known as keratoconus. And as a young 21 year old kid, my eyes were as bad as an 87 year olds and keratoconus.

It's a thinning of the cornea. So my, my eyesight degeneratively day after day would get worse and worse and worse, but it happens slow enough that I just thought the way I saw was the way that it happened. You saw and we have no other way to reference that, right? And, and Keratoconus patients, if we need to see something, we'll just squint.

I'll squint my eyes and I could put it into focus. And so I just learned how to adapt and I learned how to get really close. And I just thought that this was normal. And they said, I'll never forget. That was another moment in my life when the doctor looked at me and he said, you will be blind by the age of 31, 32.

You will lose your sight.  I mean, for a kid that all he wants to do is just fly and, you know, and to lose your sight in general, like I couldn't think of something just, I mean, so hard and devastating, because there I was as a kid that literally had my eye on the sky and the sky fell in all around me. And I went from having purpose and passion and direction to literally having no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life.

And so I completely had to pivot. And I started my entrepreneurial dream and I ended up going to college. I worked in the medical field for five years, wasn't super happy there. I quit my job and I jumped into this research study. I jumped into authorship. I jumped into speaking using my drums and the music background.

And I created this business. I created this, uh, This brand  that I'm now doing consistently and I'll never forget I was into two years and I received a phone call from the Moran eye center and they said, Clint, we just came out with a new procedure. It's not FDA approved. It's completely experimental. Can do.

We would love to have you be a part of the first human trial. And I said, what does this mean? Is that they said this would mean you don't go blind. And I said, I'm in, I said, I don't care. You sign me up. I'm in. And I was number 48 on the list and they did the procedure on my right eye. And then six months later, they did it on my left eye and it completely. 

worked. It stopped the progression of my eye disease, but my, but the damage was still significant. I was barely legal enough to drive at this point. And so now fast forward to, uh, less than two years ago, I went in for a routine eye exam and the doctor's looking through my medical history and you just have to do this right with, as a keratoconus patient, you go in often and he looks at me and he goes, why are you not in scleral lenses?

And I, I looked at him and I said, I don't know what you're talking about. He goes, it's a brand new lens. It's a brand new technology and it's, and it is significantly impacting the vision of people with your eye disease. And I, I got a little like, uh, I don't know, frustrated. I said to him, listen, I've done this so many times.

I've tried every lens, I've tried every product, I've tried every advancement. It never works. And he said, please, please let me try and fit after fit trial after fear of trial after six months, I'll never forget another moment in that doctor's room when he sat there, we had the new, the new shape because it's a special lens that cones your eye, it's got liquid in it, it does everything to just increase the clarity of people with, with my stigmatism, with my disease.

And he said, okay, what's better one or two. I  said, two. He goes, three or four?  I said, four. He opens up both of the eye shutters  and he goes, read  the lowest line. And I looked through and just slowly said, C K E L F W Z Y N and he goes, I can't. And I said, please tell me what line that is. He goes, you just read the 20 20 line.

And I just, I, tears, just tears started flowing down my face, and I, I, I, just, um, an absolute miracle. And, and the first thought that went through my mind is, Clint, you can fly again. Like, you can now do this on a very serious level. And two weeks after that, I bought my, my first Hill helicopter and began the journey of  really rediscovering a lost past.

Passion, a lost dream. And I learned this whole experience has taught me that sometimes in your life, good things fall apart so that better things can fit together. And the orchestration of, of a God that I believe in, and he is the, he is the master storyteller and how truly it's, it's created a dynamic where now I could afford to.

Fly a helicopter and operate a helicopter and do this in a way that is significant. And my dad always taught me in life, you learn, you earn and you return. And I promised myself if I ever had the chance to fly again, I would, I would, I would give back. I would do something bigger than myself. And we just created a foundation called dream machines.

And we take helicopters and helicopter pilots and we provide helicopter flight experiences for kids with disabilities. For kids that would never have this opportunity and for their families. And we're receiving funding and donations from amazing organizations. And we're able to provide moments, moments for people to experience the magic and the thrill.

And you know, this, you know, this, Sean, when you're up in a helicopter, all the stress, all the frustration, all the worry, all the heartache, it disappears, it disappears. It is, it is the ultimate therapy session of just pure joy. Bliss and magic and hope and smiles. And, and that's what we've now created along with a beautiful docu series called Finding Hill.

That shows a little bit of my experience and the impact of mentors on my journey back into the world of aviation. And it's been the thrill of a lifetime. Well, your docuseries is very well done. I have enjoyed watching every episode.  Of course, I'm sitting here waiting for my Hill helicopter to arrive as you are. 

And  I feel like a kid in the candy store every single time there's an update on that process.  But if there's any way that I can personally help your new  your new charity to advance that, um, Obviously I live in a small town, not in Salt Lake City, Utah. But if I can help in any way, I am here to support that.

Um, I had a close friend of mine who I think lives in Utah now. Her son has autism. And she reached out to me and said, Hey, if If my son had the opportunity to fly in your helicopter, would you take him up? Absolutely. That would make my day. I think I'd probably be more excited than he, you know, he would.

And so, um, anyhow, I, I D I mean that with, with, Complete sincerity, um, when that comes around, I do have a helicopter in my backyard. I see it. So, Klant, um, you're doing Finding Hill documentary, and that can be found on YouTube. What else are you working on right now? We're doing a lot with the Dream Machines, uh, Foundation, which has been significant.

But we're, we're working on, on, on really the, the, the Masterclass series and making that better. It's a 52 video series that after I come in and I speak and I train and I help an organization, how do we keep it moving forward? Right? How do we keep the message alive? And, uh, it's been one of my greatest, greatest, greatest, uh, contributions, I think, to, to allowing a company to, to create ongoing success.

And so we're working right now to continue to revamp that and to create better and more quality content. And other than that, like right now, it's, I, I, I spoke earlier about when is enough enough. And I think I'm always going to be someone who's striving to continue to write a better story, but it's not really what's the next mountain.

It's just, how can I make the mountain that I'm on? Uh, the most beautiful amount and it can be, how can I, how can I work within my fulfillment? Because I am truly at this point in my life, uh, fulfilled, you know, the ability to have a sense of passion in what you do, a sense of purpose, the ability to provide in a way that's sufficient for you.

Really this is it. And I've worked, we've worked so hard for so long to get to this point. So thank you. Really, it's about creating more bliss within the fulfillment that we've created. And so making dream machines, uh, you know, the best for the world that we can make that making the masterclass the best for the world.

I don't know if I'll ever write another book again, but, but right now where we're at is a, is a beautiful space. And I'm very grateful for that. Where can people connect with you and also buy, I love, I love it here anywhere books are sold. Barnes and Noble, Amazon, uh, you can find it in bookstores across the country.

It's in airports. So yeah, thank you for, for that support. Also, clintpulver. com is where people can go to visit to see more about the keynote experiences that we create. Um, The tour schedule, uh, we're traveling all over the world right now, uh, speaking to corporations and organizations on, on how to create a place that people never want to leave.

And so I just appreciate you two so much. I appreciate this opportunity. I appreciate your friendship, Sean, and your new friendship, Tony, and this chance to be a part of such a great program that's helping so many. This is an honor. So thank you. We are honored to have you. And I would be remiss to, to not mention, uh, you were the first helicopter to land in my  newly found helipad.

And so that will be  on the video for sure.  Low, uh, low rotor and all. What an experience.  Great stuff. Thanks so much. Thanks Clint. Good seeing you. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next time to cut through the noise of what it really takes to be a successful entrepreneur. If today's episode hit home, share it with a friend and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss the next one.