No, you press through, you persevere, and you actually get to use this in your story later to encourage other people and give them hope when they think their moment, their life is at its darkest point. Hello world, this is Just Being Intentional with Thomas Harris. I am your host Thomas Harris. Thank you for being with us today. Welcome to the show. First thing I would like for you to do for us is to like, subscribe, comment, please on our YouTube channel.
That will help us get some feedback on what we are doing here. So I greatly appreciate your feedback. Today we are going to do something a little bit different. We are going to sit down with my lovely producer Stewart White and Stewart, tell us what we are going to be doing today brother.
We are going to talk about a recap on shows we have done, people you have interviewed and what you have learned from that, what the feedback has been, and also just talk about some of your favorite moments on those episodes. So I am excited about it because we have gotten to get some really good guests. I don't know many podcasts just starting out that get to get the kind of guests that you have gotten so far. We can chalk that up to Just being intentional. Absolutely. Absolutely.
We did a recording before just two of us, we haven't released that yet. It's on the shelf right now, but that's good material as well. But we wanted to do this little recap here to just talk about the episodes that we have out there already. So let's do it. All right. Well, so I wanted to ask you a couple questions. So let's go in reverse order actually.
I feel like our most recent episode where you interviewed Andy Erwin, Andrew Erwin, and for those of you who haven't watched or listened to that episode or don't know who Andy is, Andy works for Kingdom Story Company. He's the founder of it. He's the CEO. He has produced, directed some of the biggest, faith-based movies that are out there. And they're really like one of the few out there who are making faith-based movies that for lack of a better way of putting it, don't suck.
They don't just not suck. They actually are really, really good. Yeah. We went as a church to see the latest one from Kingdom Story on Sun Hero. And I told Andy in the interview that I was pleasantly surprised. I knew it wasn't going to suck, but it greatly exceeded my expectation that I'm sitting in the theater just misty. I don't know if it was like pollen in the theater or anything. Yeah, it's probably just allergies. Yeah, but I was definitely suffering some eye leakage, if you will.
But it was really good. So I would highly recommend people go on to see on Sun Hero and have the pleasure of meeting some of the small-bone family who are the stars of the film. So yeah, go see it. Yeah, for those of you who don't know too, the small-bone family, their music family here in Nashville, originally from Australia, you find that out in the movie. But Rebecca St. James is the oldest sister in the movie. And she is still a Christian artist, but she got her start back in the 90s.
I remember her. I think I went to like half a dozen of her concerts, you know, because she would be, she was kind of ubiquitous. She was at all of these places all the time. And I just remember thinking, man, she's good. And she kind of came along along the same time that like a Lannis Morse had her big breakout. And a lot of people tried to say, oh, you're just coughing, her and she hadn't even heard her before. She's like, maybe she's been on the radio when I walked through somewhere.
But if you watch the movie, you kind of see they didn't really grow up listening to other people's music and that thing. And then now you've got for King and Country, which are her younger brothers, that they portray in the movie. And actually one of them plays the dad in the movie. Right. So it was good. And in that interview, there were some really great moments. I think for one, you love movies, you love cinema. But then there's Andy who kind of has like the Trump card on loving cinema.
Like he knows all these like nerdy factoids that he can geek out on. Right. I mean, I'm a, I'm a, I consider myself a movie buff. I get really deep into, you know, what, what the movie is about and all of the, the whole production behind it. But Andy, Andy took me to school in now. Yeah. We got a much greater, you know, understanding of the film industry. So I got some catching up to do. Yeah. I loved his one. He shared about how the Star Wars school screen was just even became a thing.
That's so good. We actually, we made a YouTube short out of that clip. So, and I think it got almost 2000 views like pretty quick, you know, probably because the Star Wars, you know, right. But that was, that was really cool. So go back and check that episode out and check out the YouTube clips too because you can find those on our channel there. So before Andy, we've had a few different guests.
Who, who do you feel like is one that comes to mind that you're just like, man, that interview really stuck with me? I mean, obviously the Andy Erwin one because Andy was actually the first guy that I asked to be a guest on my show.
And when I was strongly considering doing this thing, I had been chopping it up with Andy a lot because, you know, the connection with film, you know, I have, I have a script that I wrote years ago that I had him and his team take a look at, give me some pointers and see what, what, how much more work I need to do on those. So that's been incredibly helpful.
But I wanted to make sure that I, you know, if I was going to do this thing, I was going to invite him as guests and he said his words were, I'll jump on your show in a heartbeat if that's what you're doing. So that's definitely something I wanted to do. And that's what I gravitated to in my opinion. I thought that went to smooth this. One, him just being that guy that's so used to it being an, you know, in that arena, you know, interviewing in front of a microphone.
But yeah, I mean, I, the other people I've known, you know, for years longer than Andy, but initially, that's the one. Yeah. Well, something, one of the early episodes, actually, the interview with Eves, Eves, Kachuela, he was somebody you were connected to because of MVP, which is merging vets and players, right? Yep. We think, you know, they're talking about getting a chapter started out in Nashville, which is where we're based. Yep. So that'll be really cool.
I'm sure you'll have a big part in that. But Eves story and his experience in his life was heartbreaking. It was inspiring, but him going through the suffering that he had been through and just the fact that his story and we should say at this point, just trigger warning, this episode talks about suicide. But he tried to shoot himself with his own gun twice with two different bullets, two rounds that neither one went off and he showed them to us, right? That was like what?
And so like seeing the dimples on the primer on the back and neither one of these went off, like statistically, the probability of two in a row, not working, even one is absurd. But what were your thoughts on that actually? You probably have a better shot at Russian Relay, you know, than that, you know, just two shots, like that's not supposed to happen. But thankfully, and I'm glad that Eves recognized that this was not something he was supposed to do.
Unfortunately, it doesn't pan out the same way for others that are attempting to take their lives. Very grateful to have met Eves and got to know him, you know, unfortunate tragedy losing one of his twins. He's been through a lot, you know, you know, for some of my peers that have gone through war and also had to come back and then continue to face those traumas of trying to fit in, you know, it makes continuing on that much more difficult.
I'm just trying to do my part to continue to build on community here, out here in the Nashville area, putting a lot of work into getting something going on with MVP here. And I get feedback from the decision makers of MVP and they know I'm the front runner out here and, you know, just something I'm passionate about. So I want to see us continue to succeed. It's not about me, it's about what the mission is and I'm just trying to be a tool to help further that mission.
And I was just told that recently that MVP is now going to be recognized as a charity in Nashville. So that's a huge big step and I got a couple of events coming up that I'm going to attend myself to shake some hands and hopefully get my hands in some people's pockets, you know, so that's what we need. We need funding for that. Speaking of Eves, I wanted to just make mention that there is a GoFundMe page for his daughter, Kaya, and we'll put that link in there.
It's in the first episode as mentioned, the GoFundMe page, but I wanted to, you know, keep the awareness up on that and see how people can jump in and help them with their medical and funeral expenses.
We've seen a few people contribute to that and it's huge, you know, he lost his twin daughter who was born with all these complications and it's just one of those heartbreaking things, but if we can help alleviate the cost and the expense on that and give him some hope and see that, hey, there are people out there who really care, who may not even know you, but they just have a heart for you. That's a big deal. The Nate Boyer interview, I thought that was really cool.
Like tell us about who he is. You kind of, this kind of leads into it because of MVP. Yeah, Hollywood Nate started calling Hollywood Nate because he's big time now. Yeah, there was a time where Nate was starting to grow in a little bit of popularity. As I, trying to tie you down for a second before you go to Hollywood on me, but fortunately we've kept in touch and we check in because of mostly because what I'm doing out here for MVP.
So I keep them in the loop of all the efforts that I'm making as well as the executive in the program. I was so honored to meet Nate and to see his passion for helping our veterans and also linking in the athletes. That's part of the program is linking up the veterans and the athletes. And I'm very fortunate that I get to continue to have a relationship with Nate and he's a great guy. He's a humble dude. We're going to keep working together.
And if you haven't seen his movie MVP, the movie, that was a great story as well. And I thought he did a great job with the shoestring budget that he had for the amount of money that was put into it. It was really done really well. So I'm proud of him for not only producing and directing, but his acting. He showed he has some acting skills as well. But yeah, Nate is doing a lot of things. A lot of things. And I'm just glad I get to keep knowing him and keep growing this thing called MVP.
It's always cool to see what a good story can do. Like if you're decent at acting and you have a good story, you can make a good movie. You don't have to have this millions and millions of dollars of budget. And that's what they had. They had a strong story and he told it well. He acted it well. And he got people behind it. Some big name actors to start it. So that was pretty. And so Vestor Stallone. Yes. So Vestor Stallone. I had the pleasure of meeting him. Who is that again?
I've never heard of him. He seems like a nobody. He was in a movie called Rocky, I think. Oh, is that what it was? Was he the Russian guy in that? Stallone actually wrote this script for Rocky. I know. His story. It's kind of that. He is sort of the Rocky of cinema, if you will. Yeah. His whole story. He's not tall though. No, he's not. Not at all. That's so funny. Most of these action hero guys are not very tall. Last week, there was an actor that I met.
Same guy like you've been around acting for a long time, but not tall. It's just like the common thing. It's like all the women, six foot four, all the men, five, two. They're just super short. I don't know what it is about Hollywood. Good thing they have special effects. Let's talk about kind of where we want to go in the future with the podcast. We have some guests. We can kind of allude to who some of those are, some people. Some maybe aren't locked in, but we're working on them.
You want to share a little about that? So one of the biggest challenges is the scheduling. Got Stuart White schedule. I got my schedule and in the potential guest schedule. Just trying to link all those schedules together. I got a bunch of verbal yeses, just matter of tying people down. Some people are like, I'll be available in a couple months, but really powerful stories, great interviews. But there are some people I really, really thought would be great as a guest.
Some people would love to listen to. People like Andrew Irwin and Nate Boyer. Then some people that are not well known, but have a great story to share. We're going to keep moving with that and I'm excited. I think there's a couple of ones that I'm hoping, and maybe we won't drop any names right now, but we've got some people in the music business with amazing stories.
And currently, even still playing out how those stories will look, you've talked about a few different people who have gone through some of the cancel culture stuff to do with not saying the right words about the thing at the time and getting completely dethroned from their role or their job. And then now it's like, oh, they weren't, they were right actually and everyone else is wrong.
So some stuff like that, but all of this under that umbrella of intentionality and intentional to speak the truth, intentional to tell the truth after the fact. And then even like being intentional with not holding a grudge and being intentional with making amends, being intentional with all that stuff. There's a lot of ways that intentionality comes in. And we've talked about this too, as like describing the show to people, like, okay, so what being intentional for what reason?
And really trying to say, could you be intentional to do a bad thing? Right. But obviously that's not what the show is about. But intentionality really, like I find it coming up all the time now, it's like when you you see a cyber truck for the first time or something and then every now it's like, I see them everywhere. Yeah. Right. So you're refrigerator down and put four wheels on it, push it or that's a cyber truck. Crazy.
Yeah, that, you know, since I started, since we started doing this, I've been hearing the word intention or intentional intentionality has come up a lot more often since, since we started to do in this. Even in conversations with people, I hear them say it and it's just kind of the light bulb goes off and like, yeah, I'm like, I was really supposed to do this, you know, and just meeting you was like being intentional about meeting someone and then asking them what they do.
And then they say, oh, my wife and I, we help people with podcasts and it's like, oh, okay, it was supposed to happen. It was meant to be. And that's one of the things you find out when you're being intentional is like, there's things that are meant to be. But how do you know that if you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing? Right. And to intuitively know those things we were supposed to do, we just, we, some of us are not self-starred, self-starred with that.
And sometimes we need a good swift kick in the pants to get us going. And we should encourage one another with this whole thought process to propel people forward. And not just keep it for yourself because I mean, I don't know how you feel, but it's not fun for me to be successful by myself. I want to bring others along to share and celebrate your successes. Yeah. Yeah. It's like having all the money in the world and nothing to spend it on and knowing to enjoy it with. It's just not the same.
Yeah. Unless you're like Mr. Burns or something like that in the sense it's, but okay. So I'm thinking about where we're headed in the next. I mean, we're moving into the summer, but I'm already thinking of the fall, you know, and right now we're working on getting 10 to 12 episodes, you know, finished here. And then that's kind of our first season at least. And then rolling into more things.
But we've been talking about this idea of sponsorship with people and figuring out like how can, how can we make this show self-fund, if you will? Like, it's not about making millions. Like Mr. Burns again. It's really just about being able to afford to keep making a show that if it's blessing you, if you're finding it encouraging, if it's helped you in any way. And I know there are those listening who are like, oh, yeah, I guess I never really thought about that. But where are you at with that?
Who have you spoken to and what has kind of been the feedback you've heard from people? First off, I mean, it's very encouraging to hear the feedback from folks that have listened to the show and subscribe. I mean, it's not a ton of subscribers, but it's all the platforms. So I really don't know how many people have heard it. But I hear random people all the time that say, oh, yeah, I checked out your show. I'm like, oh, you heard about it.
Like, you don't know who's paying attention, you know, you have to be intentional about subscribing or liking or sending comments. But for those that are not, which is most people, they're at least listening. And then I have those times where someone gives some feedback. So I know I'm going to say, I'm just going to start us out there. I don't think the show sucks. Yeah, I don't think it does. Because I think after every episode, I feel a little bit better about it and I feel more comfortable.
And those of you have heard the first one, which is probably the most people, at least on YouTube, they watched that one. That was the hardest one because it was the first one. And I was the most vulnerable and to have a bright light in the camera in your face, it was very intimidating. And I got through it and I wanted to keep going. I just feel like this is something I'm supposed to do.
And I'm not looking at being a Joe Rogan level or Sean Ryan level, but being intentional about because it's something I'm passionate about and something that I've been assigned to do. And there are other things I need to do to bring more awareness to the show. We talked about that, some social media stuff, so I'll be doing that. But as far as the sponsorship side, I'm still learning this thing. I'm just trying not to mess it up too bad with my voice and my speech and the words I deliver.
But just getting people on the show that I think are going to be important enough for people to know about and sharing their story. So I don't know. There's a lot to it. We will end the season at the 10 or 12 we talked about. And I'm trying to just continue to nail down the schedules with those that I've already asked. I got verbal confirmation. But so far, I think we've got some really good guess for the show. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I think something we've discussed a little bit.
And we'll maybe begin to introduce is adding a Patreon type funding where if you enjoy the show, you can sponsor it for like five or ten bucks a month or whatever. And with that, you'll get special access or a million, whatever. You know, if you have that kind of money, you'll be wanting around. One million dollars. Yeah. One million. Then that would also give you bonus material, like these types of episodes where it's the follow up and that kind of thing.
We may end up having that be something only for subscribers. And that's just stuff we're kicking around also seeking people who are like, hey, I really like what you're doing. I want to advertise my book or those sorts of things. I know there are people out there. And then I've experienced this with my own podcast too. Guests start reaching out to you.
And sadly, for mine anyway, I would say 90% of the guests or people I would never want to interview because I'm like, I don't think you've even listened to this show because if you had, you would know, right, this is not your venue to go to. And who knows what else you could lead to? You know, I mean, I'm an optimist. I think I look at the big picture. I'm always looking at, wow, there's that horizon. There's some greatness on that horizon.
I just had to keep going on the journey until I reached that point that I'm journeying to. But to help from the audience, word of mouth, all those things will help us to get to somewhere. We haven't even explored. But I'm open to all the possibilities of doing something great with this thing. All right. So here's one that I think some people are interested in.
Have you thought about writing a book that kind of tells your story and talks about intentionality, flipping this idea with more detail than perhaps we can go into in any one episode? Yes. Actually, I thought about writing a book years ago, but I felt like I wasn't ready at the time. I felt like there was some more work to be done before I get to that point. But I always had this idea that I'm going to write a book about my life. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I can see if you will.
But I've done a lot. I've experienced a lot. And there's a lot that I haven't even told in that first episode. There's a whole lot more to the story that I didn't share. But it's who I am. It's what made me who I am. The good and the bad, I embrace both because that's part of how my story was written. So I'm a firm believer in the idea that all of our lives, the stories have been written already. So the only thing I'm doing is narrating what's already been written in real time.
So I'm just big on that. And I think my story is interesting enough. Even though at one time when I was younger, I didn't think that it was interesting at all. But now that I'm older and I've paid more attention, we have the beauty of hindsight to see if this didn't happen, then that wouldn't happen. Right. And none of it was wasted. People often give up at the points where it seems it's hardest at that moment.
And you're a testimony to the fact that no, you press through, you persevere, and you actually get to use this in your story later to encourage other people and give them hope when they think their moment, their life is at its darkest point or something. And I appreciate that because that really I think is kind of the power behind what you're really saying with just be intentional. Like be intentional to not waste those moments. Don't waste your life.
Don't let it fly by and think about where you want to go, where you want to be, and aim for that. Aim for something. And if you have this history of struggles of suffering or any of these things, those can be redeemed. Those can be used to provide so much more power behind your story now. And I think that's something too in your life. In the short time we've known each other, I've watched you, you've got a daughter who's getting engaged. You've got, she's engaged. Who is engaged?
Sorry, I get married. 49 days. 49 days. No one's counting that, right? And you've got this thing where you're working and you're helping veterans and you've got all these things. I'm like, man, this is really cool. But if you had looked at your life 20, 30 years ago, you might have been like, well, this guy's not going to go, nothing will happen for this guy. Right.
I think a lot of the times I'm being intentional, I don't even realize that I'm being intentional because it's become such a practice of mine. Like, these are things I need to be doing. And this is the things I was, I was wired to do. I was built to do these things. Not perfectly. You know, there's, there's a lot of stuff I still need to work on. And that comes with being a husband and a dad, you know, the work never stops.
And for the other things that God has created me to be, you know, when I'm actively participating in those things, it's just, it's just automatic. It's just like I'm on autopilot. And it just feels good when you're living a life of purpose. And that's through that, you're being intentional when you're living a life of purpose. When you know that you were created to do something, when you recognize that I've been given gifts and I need to actively, you know, work out those gifts.
You don't get gifts to just keep them to yourself. Gifts are, they're meant to share, you know, the Bible talks about it. You know, some people have the gifts, the gift of hospitality. I think that's my wife. Sometimes I think she does too much when she's hosting. Like, that's, that's not important, but it is to her, you know, to me is not. Because like you're doing too much, but that's her gift. It's not mine, you know, and I try to just continue to, you know, do what I know to do.
Yeah, that's awesome, man. Well, we're kind of coming full circle there. We've hit on the shows you've done and everything and where your life started, kind of the very first episode and now where you are. What do you have to say to our listeners as we're closing out here? Yeah, obviously the topic of suicide is, you know, it hits home for me, not only because my dad, but because of our veterans.
And I've been connecting with some people that can share their stories about, you know, dealing with suicide, you know, family members or veterans in general because it's such a, such a heavy topic. So I want to continue to do some work in Adirina and keep connecting with people. I'm looking to connect with the woman who lost her son at the age of 20. She was a, he was a, in the military and so we're going to talk. So I want to keep doing that.
Also on the storytelling side, I still want to write stories. I like the idea of writing a book. That's a great idea. I mean, it was already something on my mind for the future and, you know, the future could be today. Yeah. Who knows? Future starts now. Yeah. Just doing this and, you know, I want to shout out to my mom because I was just thinking of just because we're talking about past episodes touching on the topic of abortion and that, you know, my wife, not my wife, my mom, edge that out.
My mom, who made the brave decision as a 16 year old to go on and do the right thing and have her child, even though she was going to struggle. So big thanks to her for bringing me into this world when she knew her life was going to be hard. So without her, I wouldn't be here. So I wanted to make sure I touched on that. The importance of that, like I was given life and it asked to be here like anybody else. But since I'm here, I'm as well do something that's productive. Mm-hmm.
That about sums it up. I mean, this has been a great chat. We try to sit down and do these things every couple of episodes, two to three. Maybe we'll do it more often. Maybe we'll get the Patreon and the support stuff going. But for those listening now, if you want to help support the show, really the biggest thing you can do is what Thomas said in the beginning.
If you can like, if you can subscribe, if you can share it, you can leave a review, leave a comment, any of those things on whatever platform you're listening on. And then, you know, share it on your social media stuff. If you're like, hey, this show really touched my life in some way. You know, share that, tell people. That's one of the biggest things. You know, we have it on YouTube and we have just the regular podcast audio version.
And YouTube kind of has its own natural built-in marketing a little bit. But podcasts really audio wise don't. They don't have like this medium to reach people based on their likes and their interests and stuff as much. You know? It's more organic on discovery. So unless you're running ads or something on it, you're not going to get discovered right away. And, you know, unless somebody like huge, like Elon Musk tweets about it or something like that.
Maybe we'll be intentional and try and get them to tweet about it. But Elon, what's up brother? Hit us up. Yeah. We'll just, we'll hashtag the heck out of this episode. Maybe we'll get somebody's Tesla and drive up and say introduce a show through a Tesla. Yeah. All right, folks, we appreciate you listening and we greatly appreciate your support. Please remember to like, subscribe, follow, leave some comments, reviews, all that good stuff.
We appreciate it and love that you took the time to listen to us and just want to ask that God continues to bless you. And until next time, Adios. [Music]