Serviam Investors: Powering Conscious and Purpose-Driven Business

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What's working on purpose anyway? Each
week we ponder the answer to this question.

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People ache for meaning and purpose at
work, to contribute their talents passionately

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and know their lives really matter.
They crave being part of an organization that

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inspires them and helps them grow into
realizing their highest potential. Business can be

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such a force for good in the
world, elevating humanity. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration to help
usher in this world we all want

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Working on purpose. Now. Here
is your host, doctor Elise Cortes.

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Welcome back to the Working on Purpose
Program. Thanks for training again this week.

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I'm your host, Doctor release cortestjo
on you live from Dallas, Texas,

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which is home base for me.
By way of introduction, if you

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don't know me, I'm a management
consultant specializing in meaning and purpose. I'm

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an organizational loco therapist, social scientist, author and speaker. You can learn

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more about me at leastcore test dot
com or gustoshnow dot com. If you've

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been tuning in for a while,
then you know this program is a thought

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leadership series that enlightens and inspires listeners
and viewers with insights from distinguished business leaders,

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authors and subject matter experts. By
listening in, you're part of the

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movement to create inspirational leaders and enlightening
workplaces where we can thrive and do business

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that betters the world. Glad you're
here with us today. Are Ron Barger

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joining us from Dallas, Texas and
Andy eb joining us from Oleitha, Kansas.

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They've joined together to form Serving Investors. We'll be talking about the current

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world awakening and the birth of this
new offering distinguished between traditional and servant investing,

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and learn Serbium's unique approach to working
with companies they support. Rod and

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Nannie welcome, working on purpose.
Good to be here at least, Thank

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you very much. Absolutely, let's
dive right in. So before we talk

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more about your organization, let's talk
about where this all came from. So

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I want to open with how the
world is awakening and what's your perspective on

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how the global COVID nineteen the pandemic
has changed and awakened the world and business

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in particular. So let me start
with that. And you started with an

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easy question and it will take long, maybe only an hour. So many

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people have been talking about this,
but as I had looked at it,

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and I read and I observed this
year, and I think it's more than

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this COVID nineteen. I mean,
this is something this year is framed by

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COVID nineteen, but there's been so
many of the things have occurred, the

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racial inequality issues, the national natural
disasters that have occurred, hurricanes and the

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fires out west. So this has
been a very very unique year, and

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I think I would describe it as
a hinge here. And you've heard more

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people talk about that it is one
thing's going to create massive change, and

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particularly you think about business. It
has disrupted business in so many different ways

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and revealed things that have historically have
not been revealed. So you think about

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the pandemic, the globalization at that
ground to a very quick hault, and

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I think what you're seeing is the
COVID nineteen pandemic is accelerating some themes that

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have already started happening. You know, you've got globalization. People now see

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how connected we are, and now
they're thinking about supply chains, and now

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you think about multipolar kinds of economies
as opposed to a global kind of economy.

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You've got behavior of consumers being dramatically
changed and retailers and business have been

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struggling to create ways to connect to
them. So now you have this very

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quickly emerging space of digital experiences and
physical experiences and the hybrid those you or

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what are driving some of the behaviors
you've got. You've got the issues that

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are happening in real estate. Office
space in downtown's and central business districts are

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being impacted severely. You're seeing homes
the home market is going crazy, and

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you have people who are moving from
large metro areas to other locations. And

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then you have all the all the
impacts that's having on education and what we

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learned from that and how that may
change education in the future. We've got

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all the issues you know coming out
of out of transportation and how that may

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be change. And then you've got
the whole issue of the expectation of governments

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and companies. And so this is
unleashed a large reset I think of opportunities,

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and frankly, I think that's the
that's the takeaway from this is that

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in this moment, there's opportunities in
chaos, and opportunities will be arising in

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such a moment that I think it'll
be it'll be an opportunity for people to

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lean into this. Yeah, if
I could add something to that, you

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know, I think one of the
biggest challenges that businesses face is getting in

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your own way and being resistant to
change in your organization own own ability to

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evolve and change. And I think
if I would have to say, as

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a business owner, I'm thankful for
COVID because it's it is just forcing us

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to do things differently. It's forcing
us to think differently. It's taking us

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into new territories that are not comfortable, and businesses need to do that.

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Businesses get so I know, speaking
from my own experience, businesses get so

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stuck in what we know and what
and what we believe the way the world

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works. And so, as a
business owner that that does love innovation,

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that does love disruption, I'm thankful
for COVID because it's going to take us

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in unknown places and that sounds fun
to me. I can appreciate that comment.

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Andy. I can tell you that
my book Purpose Ignited wouldn't be out

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without the pandemic, and neither with
the new platform. Gusto. Now,

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so I'm with you and Ron to
your points just won't acknowledge. I really

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I wanted to open this conversation with
really presencing just some of the forces that

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are at work here today, because
I think it helps situate somewhat what the

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two of you have done with Servim
Investors. So thank you for that start.

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So next, I happen to know
that both of you, both he

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Ron and Andy, are our longtime
Conscious Capitalism adherents and members, So I

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would I think it makes a lot
of sense for this conversation for each of

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you to share the critical points of
your journey into conscious capitalism and the merits

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you attached to this philosophy. If
you can just sort of briefly, which

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would like to go first? Andy? Sure? So you know, when

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I first got introduced to the conscious
capitalism community, it's like I found my

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tribe. You need too, Yeah, And I think many people who are

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actually all of a sudden they been
operating a certain way, They've been living

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with purpose, they've been living with
values, and you kind of sometimes feel

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alone in the world as it relates
to how you see and make sense of

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the world. And when I first
came in the conscious capitalism community, I

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knew that was my home. And
I think a lot of people when they

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hear of conscious capitalism, they think, oh, there's some misconceptions as it

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relates to that, But fundamentally,
conscious capitalism for me is a cornerstone of

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how I look at business being a
force for good in the world. You

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know, I believe inherently that that
business, when done consciously, when done

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right, when done with great values, allows us as human beings to live

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with a higher purpose, allows us
to be engaged in meaningful work, and

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allows us to create the transform,
the transformation we seek to see in the

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world. And conscious capitalism for me
is my belief of the pathway to that.

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You know, I really feel,
you know, there is something that

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I believe is deep inside of all
of us as human beings, this desire

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to contribute, this desire to have
purpose, this desire to engage in the

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world in a way and bring out
what is in our heart and put that

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in the world as thoroughly as possible
with the deepest amount of integrity as possible.

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And work when done right, which
I believe is expressed in the principles

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of conscious capitalism, it's the best
vehicle that that gives me as a human

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being to be able to step into
that. So I'm very, very committed

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to that community and will be for
you know, my business career as I

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engage in this splendid ron. So
I'll go back and say that my journey

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started when I was a young boy
in southern Illinois watching my dad, who

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was a small business owner in a
small town, who was a plumber.

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I had a plumbing company, and
I watched the way he treated people.

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If you think about the foundations of
conscious capitalism, it's about treating all of

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your stakeholders well and taking them into
consideration, and in essence, it is

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a small town way of thinking about
things. You have to treat your customers

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right. You have to treat your
vendors right, you have to treat the

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banker's right. You have to treat
everybody in town, and everybody knows your

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reputation. And there is a wholeness
that I grew up with having seen that

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in my father and seeing other people
in that community. And there came a

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point in time after I left Goldman
that I took a year off lower year

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off, and I spent a lot
of time exploring conscious capitalism, reading,

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understanding it, talking with people,
and it really solidified what I felt my

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heart. It brought words to what
was in my heart, and it brought

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concepts to what I thought. And
so I took that and when I went

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to the next place of my journey
to Orrix culture, we created values.

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We created an organization that became a
conscious capitalism organization that was supporting that and

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and so that's the way I've expressed
it. But I think this is something

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that is very fundamental. It's very
fundamental, and it's not it's not something

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that is to be thought of as
complex. It's doing what's right, it's

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doing what's good, it's doing what's
caring for everybody. And so that's that's

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that expresses what I believe My philosophy
is beautiful. I'm aligned with mine as

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well. And I love how you
angered it back and how you grew up

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and how you watched your father to
conduct his business. That's that's beautiful.

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So the next thing I want to
do now, since we talked about conscious

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capitalism, now I want to distinguish
servant leadership. So your I'd love to

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hear your perspective on how how this
philosophy or approach to leadership and doing business

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is different from others, and why
you chose it well, let me let

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me first say I think there are
a lot of servant leaders in the world,

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and sort of the way that I
would I would say is it's about

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serving. I'm a person of faith. I believe that we're called our purpose

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is to serve. And my journey
has been one where I've every step along

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my career I've had opportunities to see
it, observe and also to interact with

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people. And what I came to
understand and often we believe, is that

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everything we do in business is through
people. And the servant side is if

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you're serving those people, you grow
them, if you enable them, if

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you support them in a way that
they could do and become the fullest expression

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of themselves, then your business will
do amazing things. I'm a high culture

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guy. I'm a high culture guy. You know, culture eats strategy for

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breakfast every morning. You know everyone
turned that. But I firmly believe that

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is if you have the people you
and you were attinued to their needs and

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they know that you support them,
and you can grow them and to make

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their life more full, It's remarkable
what can be accomplished and how you serve

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people. You have to constantly think
about that. You know, there are

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sometimes you have to serve them from
the front when things are really bad,

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and when things are really going good, you step in the background and let

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them take the credit and let them
take the accolades because they are the ones

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who've actually done it. And so, you know, you talk about serving

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investments. There's books for them.
I think it was first coined by Robert

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Greenley, if I believe, in
nineteen seventies, and there's a lot of

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books that have been written about it. But you know, fundamentally aligns with

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with sort of my heart and my
own perspective is there are so many people

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that are more talented than me,
and my job is just to help them

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and support them and get out of
the way. I'm very much aligned with

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the whole notion of helping them grow
and thrive and become their very best.

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And as you might remember, I
also wrote that in my book, So

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you took it much further than me, but I really appreciated and admired that

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perspective and aligned with the tremendouslyight.
Okay, so now that we've laid the

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basics of really some of the key
philosophy that I think undergirds what you're up

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to here. Now. I want
to tell I want to hear the story

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of how Serving Investors was born.
I know it was early this year,

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in twenty twenty, alongside the emergency
of the pandemic. So tell us the

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story of how it came to be
born. It really came to be born

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a lease through our own personal experience
as a business provider in the business that

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we operate, and it was born
out of struggle. And you know,

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as a as an independent business owner
for over thirty years being in the senior

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living business, we've interacted with a
variety of investors and financial institutions cross our

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time, and we've seen how much
impact that the financial community, how much

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impact the investors of businesses affect the
purposes of the organizations that they've invested into.

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And fundamentally, when you look at
things like conscious capitalism and what you

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see a lot of the companies who
are involved in organizations like conscious capitalism,

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you see businesses pursuing higher purpose and
meaningful work in stakeholder orientation. But the

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capitalism part of that, particularly the
Kappa toll, doesn't necessarily always embody that

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the conscious capitalistic philosophy of the businesses
that they've operated in, and I think

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over the course of time, over
thirty years, I've experienced and seen shareholder

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orientation from the investment community in the
financial community, I've seen that stranglehold great

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businesses, great businesses that have great
operations, great businesses that have great culture,

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and really limit the expression that these
business kids can live into their purpose

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and as a purpose driven business,
living this year after year after year after

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year, and seeing the things that
we want to step into but can't because

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the financial community is not necessarily supporting
that purpose in that way. We felt

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that though it was time for us
to start thinking differently about that. We

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start as thinking that there needs to
be a different way to support businesses that

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truly live a higher purpose. Because
our belief is that if you really believe

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in conscious capitalism, if you really
believe that business is a force for good

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in the world and has created more
positive societal change than any organizational institute in

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the world that we know, whether
it's government or anything, it's business that

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is done consciously, that is done
with purpose. If you believe that,

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then the capital that funds those businesses
need to have that same philosophy and that

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same commitment to higher purpose, and
it's challenging to learn how to get capital,

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to get investors who are bought in
and that such and so this is

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a conversation that we fully don't know
how to fully bring into the world,

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but we know that we're living in
it. We're experiencing what it's like without

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it, and we feel that there
is a need and a higher calling for

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us to figure out how to manifest
that in the form of the financial community.

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And that's what Ron and I are
attempting to try to step into and

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solve in a meaningful way. That's
how it's birth. It's fantastic. Andy,

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I'm a fan, I'm in I'm
in disciple. Let's cover our first

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break. I'm doctor Leise Cortes,
your host. You're down here with Andy

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Eby and Ron Barger of SERVIUW Investors. We've been talking a bit about the

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awakening of the world, what's been
happening, the underlying philosophies of serving investors

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and how it came to be.
After the break, we're going to talk

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about the differences between traditional and servant
investing. Stay with us and we'll be

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right back. Doctor Elise Cortes is
a management consultant specializing in meaning and purpose

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and inspirational speaker and author. She
helps companies visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders

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and develop purpose inspired leadership and meaning
infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance,

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and commitment within the workforce. To
learn more or to invite Elise to speak

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00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:45.559
to your organization, please visit her
at Elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about

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how to get your employees working on
purpose. This is working on Purpose with

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00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:02.720
doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our
program today or open a conversation with Alise,

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send an email to a lease Alise
at Elise Coortes dot com. Now

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back to working on Purpose. Thanks
for staying with us, and welcome back

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to working on Purpose. I want
to give a quick announcement and chairing with

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you that I'm excited to say that
my first falling book, Purpose Ignited,

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How Inspiring Leaders, Unleased Passion and
a Lay Cause, is coming out.

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It's on Amazon now and it's available
on November seventeenth. That was definitely part

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of the pandemic. Let me tell
you, I wrote the whole book really

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to help readers transform into inspirational leaders
who radically in linem in the workplace and

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elevate the contribution of business across as
stakeholders. Now back to the program.

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If you're just joining us, My
guests are Andy eb and Ron Barker of

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Serve of Investors. I'm your host, doctor Releise Cortes. So now we

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want to pick up gentlemen if we
can with helping our listeners and viewers understand

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the differences between traditional and servant investing. So first, I think it makes

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sense for us to talk about your
unique approach at serving investing and help us

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understand how traditional investing Works' just do
that first, traditional investing first, so

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we can lay that foundation, it's
components and its approach. Sure, so

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at least what we have done is
we have looked at investing and we've broken

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them down into into five categories.
And so let me touch on those categories

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with traditional investing. And the first
the first area that we talk about is

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what's called income and impact, and
we could also be talked about as success

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and significance. So many people want
to invest and they want to maximize their

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returns and they take those they take
those profits that they make in the investment

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and they decide, well, maybe
I want to do good with it,

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and they give it to a philanthropy
or they do something else with it.

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And so that is a very common, compartmentalized way of thinking about it.

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Investing, it's it's you you make
money someplace and then you move to another

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and try to utilize it. The
second area is what we call the investment

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vehicle. And in traditional investing,
it's not transactions. It could be any

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number of things. It could be
it could be equities, it could be

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bonds, it could be real estate
deals, it could be any number of

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things. But it's it's all about
the transaction. Now, realize I'm making

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some really broad assumptions, and these
are very broad categories, and there are

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other people that look at this a
little differently, but this is sort of

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the frame that we think about it. The next area is what we call

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relationship, and that is the traditional
investor is in relationship just the investment manager.

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Now they have a private private wealth
management person, they may have a

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stockbroker, they may have somebody that's
bringing the deal to them, but the

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relationship is with that manager and everything
flows through the manager and that's the end

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of the relationship. It's very it's
very limited. The next component is what

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we call the time horizon. Most
traditional investors think about the investment space as

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a short term space. They want
to maximize their return as quickly as possible

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and then utilize those funds. They
have a short term maybe up to seven

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years. Generally, it's very short
term in the way they approach their investing.

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And the last area is the actual
return. And in traditional investing,

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it's all about maximizing the financial return. It's all about getting as much as

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you possibly can profit from that particular
transaction. And those particular spaces are ones

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that we have spent a lot of
time thinking about how to contrast and I

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know we'll talk about that a little
bit further. Awesome, that was a

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great way to just lay the foundation
for our listeners and do yours. Thanks

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Ron. Okay, Now I want
to get into you take a particular stance

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on a conscious capitalism and supportive purpose
drip business and I want to hear more

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about that and you will you take
that one, yeah, as it relates

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to conscious capitalism investing in purpose driven
businesses. You know, the question that

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we're holding that we don't quite know
the answer is what if capital came to

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serve the higher purpose of business,
What would happen in the world, what

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would manifest, what would be available
to all of us if capital came to

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serve. And so when we're thinking
about things like Servium investors, we're thinking

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about to be the type of a
partner, be the be the stakeholder,

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be the financial stakeholder that a conscious, purpose driven business doesnig And I think

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when you look at like the landscape
of businesses in America, there's a lot

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of businesses that don't deserve an investor, that is that is pursuing a higher

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purpose because they're not embracing the principles
or embodying the principles of conscious capitalism expressed.

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I think the approach of what we're
talking about is when you consider these

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businesses that are meaningfully pursuing purpose,
that are meaningfully that are a conscious business,

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that are growing, evolving, learning, shaping organizations, they deserve something

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different they do. And if we
as Americans, if we as business leaders,

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of all the different things that need
to be brought in the world,

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those businesses purpose is what needs to
be brought in the world because that brings

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us the ability to create sustainable transformational
change that raises the tithe of all of

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us. And so I think that's
when we're thinking about investing. We're thinking

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about, for these conscious, purpose
driven businesses, what does their purpose deserve

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from their financial partner? And we
want to live into that question and see

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how Syrium Investors can help lead the
way of showing that pathway. I love

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it, and I really also appreciate
and admire both of you for just literally

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like listening to your heart and letting
letting your spirit be be guided and brought

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forth into this unknown space. I
really appreciate that I did something similar when

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I jumped off a clip to come
and pursue what I'm doing. So I

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really admire and appreciate that and wanted
to make sure I steward it. So

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I'm right here on the sidelines with
you. There's a there's an old There's

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something that Ron and I talk about
that we learned as a part of a

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participant in the Stay and Leadership Academy
in Dallas, and they introduced us to

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a word called coddy womple, an
Old English world word, and it w

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stands for is traveling to an unknown
destination in a purposeful way. Yeah,

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we think of like what we're trying
to burth into this serve and investing.

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We kind of don't know where we're
headed, but we're going to move there

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in a purposeful way. It's kind
of like what's going on in COVID.

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COVID. We don't know where the
world's headed, none of us do.

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We don't know. But if we
become more in close contact with that purpose

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that's inside of all of us,
and travel and move forward and don't stay

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stagnant, but move forward in a
purposeful way, we think we'll get where

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we want to go. Completely agree, I know that's what I'm doing,

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So I guess I got to agree
with that, right. I don't know

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I'm doing it too, Okay,
So next for our listeners and viewers,

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I think it makes sense for us
to fully distinguish servant investing from digital investing

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side by side. So well,
one of you take that, and if

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you do have the old English a
word of cadialamle, I've got throughout baltering

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because we are dancing with a lot
of passion as well as we go through

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business. So the servant investing side, I'm going to contrast it to traditional

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investing and The first thing is on
the income and impact, and in our

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world we call it the integrated cycle, because you are investing in an entity

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that is going to make impact in
the same time you will get income from

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it, and so as opposed to
having friction between between between investing and then

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taking that money and deploying it elsewhere, you're pulling your capital into a business

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to make impact at the same time
you make return. The investment vehicle,

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which is the second category, is
very purpose driven. We're investing in conscious

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businesses committed to societal transformation adianized.
As you have heard release are very very

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much supporters of conscious capitalism, and
we believe there are so many businesses,

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as Andy so eloquently said earlier,
that are purpose driven, that are conscious,

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that are doing great things, that
need to be released into this world

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to be able to do that purpose, and so we want to pick those

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that are supportive of that concept,
but even more importantly that will be transformational

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to have impact. The third area
is the relationship. As I told you

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earlier, in the traditional investing,
that's simply what the investment manager, the

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investor has a relationship with the investment
manager. In servative investing, there are

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a couple of different relationships. There's
being in relationship with the work and in

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what we call the community of servants. And so let me explain. By

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being in relationship with the work,
what we want are the people who are

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investing to actually get to know and
be a part of the journey of the

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societal transformation that the business is in. We want them to come and understand

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their challenges, to be part of
their conversations in terms of overcoming those,

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to learn more about the journey because
the things that we're trying to change are

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massive, they're societal, they're impactful. And the more that you can learn

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about those kinds of those those kinds
of issues, the more that I think

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you will be touched by it.
And then the second piece of this is

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the community of servants. We want
to create a niche that's servant investing,

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of a group of people that have
a servant heart, that a servant's mind

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and are willing to come together and
help us build out the concept of serve

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investing. And so, you know, as as Handy said, we're cintivo

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right now, and we want to
bring other people of like minds and like

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arts together and sort of form this
future niche of investing because we think it's

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impactful into the world and so great
we needed. The next area is the

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time horizon, and our horizon is
long term. And by that it doesn't

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mean we intend to hold the investment
or our activity with the business for infinite

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period of time or for fifty years. It's we're going to hold it as

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long as we as we are necessary
in order to grow the business to the

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point where it can be released and
freed and liberated to go live into its

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purpose more fully. Because so many
people say explained it earlier, businesses are

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constrained by capital and they're constrained by
not having the right growth trajectory at this

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point in time. If we can
kind of accelerate, that be a catalyst,

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if you will. And then when
they get to the point where they

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are ready to be liberated, we
want to let them go. We're letting

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them go for the long term.
And then the last the last section is

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called return, and we talked about
traditional investing. It's about maximizing financial return

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in an R. In an our
concept of serving investing, it's about good

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returns, the finite returns and infinite
returns, the finite or the monetary returns,

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the money, the returns that are
easily captabal. The infinite returns are

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the fact that you are playing in
a space of creating impact that is infinite,

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and also the impact that it may
have upon you. As you get

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to know more about the work and
you are changing the world, the world

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is going to change you back,
and being around the community of servants will

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also change you. Change your heart, change your caring capacity, change the

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way that you look at you look
at the world. And that's what we

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look at in terms of ultimately being
the return out of servant investing is about

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the good returns of finite and infinite. Wow, that is such an interesting

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way to distinguish the two. And
what I really also appreciated applause is and

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I say this also in my book, and if you got to that point

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in Iran as you pre read,
is that what if we don't strive for

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this, we are going to miss
it. But there's something in the striving

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for something so much higher that I
really applaud and appreciate. And when we

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do that, we have a much
better chance of getting there. So I

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really appreciate the striving and reaching that
I hear both of you talking about Thank

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you, Elie. You're welcome.
Let's grab our last break here. I'm

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Elise Cortez, your host. We
are in the air with Andy eb and

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00:31:26.200 --> 00:31:29.680
Ron Barber of Serving Investors. We've
been talking a bit about the difference between

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traditional and servant investing. After the
break, we're going to hear more about

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00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:34.759
their approach and the impact they hope
to make on the world. Stay with

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00:31:34.839 --> 00:31:41.400
us, we'll be right back.
Doctor Elise Cortes is a management consultant specializing

386
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:45.839
in meaning and purpose and inspirational speaker
and author. She helps companies visioneer for

387
00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:53.079
greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose
inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate

388
00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:59.599
fulfillment, performance, and commitment within
the workforce. To learn more or to

389
00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:04.720
invite Lease to speak to your organization, please visit her at elisecortes dot com.

390
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:15.720
Let's talk about how to get your
employees working on purpose. This is

391
00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:20.480
working on Purpose with doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our program today or open

392
00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:27.359
a conversation with Elise, send an
email to Aleise Ali s at eliscortes dot

393
00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:37.920
com. Now back to working on
purpose. Thanks for stating with us and

394
00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:40.200
welcome back to Working on Purpose.
Another announcement I have for you is that

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00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:45.839
we've launched Gusto now. It's a
growth and transformation e learning platform featuring leadership

396
00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:47.880
and professional development courses and we do
it in English. Spenders and porges.

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If you're joining us now, My
guests are Andy Aby and andyeb and Ron

398
00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:58.000
bargerup serving investors. I'm your host, Doctor Release Cortes. So as we

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kick off this last and final segment
here, I think think it would be

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really good for our listeners and viewers
to hear the credo that we were talking

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00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:07.119
about. Ron, Andy, So, well, what have you read your

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00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:13.319
credo? Yeah, sure, I'd
be happy to alise just a little bit

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00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:19.119
of background on this credo. You
know, this is something that we're stepping

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00:33:19.160 --> 00:33:27.319
into out of service. You know, we believe that every one of us

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00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:30.880
has something inside of us that is
trying to come in and through us,

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00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:37.400
and it is our job as a
human being to come in close contact with

407
00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:45.640
that and to actually hear that voice
or that calling that is deep inside of

408
00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:51.799
us and bring that out into the
world. And so it might be interesting

409
00:33:52.519 --> 00:33:57.720
approach. But when we were building
this investment vehicle, we were like we

410
00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:01.519
want to do it differently. We
don't want to just be eat this random

411
00:34:01.640 --> 00:34:07.239
financial institution. We want to feel
the heart of what a servant investor is

412
00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:12.519
like. And so this is what
we call the Creto of serving investors.

413
00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:17.400
I'm going to read it. Here's
for you. The world deserves a different

414
00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:24.239
type of investor, an investor who
is unapologetically driven by a higher purpose,

415
00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:32.559
who cares, deeply, plays big, believes that business can change the world.

416
00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:42.400
What if capital came to serve?
What if capital came deliberate? Think

417
00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:49.840
about the returns, both finite and
infinite. Isn't this the investor the world

418
00:34:49.880 --> 00:34:57.920
deserves. We are that investor I
will serve, so that the makings of

419
00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:02.119
that creto are deep into of us
and it's built into the actual name of

420
00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:09.519
the organization. Servium is Latin for
I will serve, and it comes from

421
00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:16.400
the Christian tradition of a story in
the Bible where God was sending his angels

422
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:22.280
down for a task and Lucifer and
angel at the time said, non Servium,

423
00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:28.880
I will not serve, and Saint
Michael said, Servium, I will

424
00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:37.440
serve. And our credo is essentially
a declaration of our heart service our stand

425
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:42.159
that we're willing to take in the
world. It's a stand that we believe

426
00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:46.760
needs to be birthed into the financial
community, and we intend to serve.

427
00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:52.199
Sounds good to me, Andy,
sounds great to me again, all the

428
00:35:52.199 --> 00:35:54.960
more reason that I wanted to share
your message because I think it's really important

429
00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:59.559
and it's certainly certainly something worth celebrating
and putting forward. From my betash point,

430
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:02.760
thank you for rendering out the way
that you did. Yeah, well,

431
00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:07.079
let's talk a little bit about your
operational model and your approach going forward.

432
00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:10.079
So the first thing I want to
understand is is how will you decide

433
00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:17.480
which companies to invest in? What's
your criteria? Well, I believe for

434
00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:21.960
that it's kind of a little bit
of what I discussed earlier, is that

435
00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:25.719
not every business deserves to be a
part of this type of approach, because

436
00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:31.440
this is a very active, engaged
investor. So an investor who is willing

437
00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:37.599
to be engaged with the work to
risk themselves in caring to be involved,

438
00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:43.079
to lend their own experience and skills
to that in which the investments in which

439
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:47.199
they're investing in. So the clear
delineation is that a lot of businesses don't

440
00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:53.440
deserve it, and I would have
actually says in most businesses don't deserve it.

441
00:36:53.960 --> 00:37:00.719
And there's a huge difference between the
embodiment of the businesses of what they're

442
00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:07.039
expressing and what they're living. And
so somehow we have to come in close

443
00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:13.639
contact with the embodiment of the expression
of values and purposes of these businesses,

444
00:37:14.119 --> 00:37:17.519
because businesses that deserve this type of
approach are what we believe and describe as

445
00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:24.159
conscious, purpose driven businesses. And
there's a lot of gray area around.

446
00:37:24.199 --> 00:37:28.840
The only way that you really know
what's going on is you have to be

447
00:37:28.840 --> 00:37:31.480
in relationship with that business. You
have to be in relationship with people,

448
00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:37.000
the relationship with the work, and
that doesn't come through an arm links transaction.

449
00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:42.360
It comes side by side, hand
by hand. Hands are dirty involved

450
00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:46.960
in the interactions of the business.
So that's what you mean by engaged investors.

451
00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:52.440
Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I've earned a business or big

452
00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:55.880
family business for over thirty years,
and many times when people start thinking about

453
00:37:55.960 --> 00:38:00.639
investors, they're like, just get
them out of my way, en are

454
00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:04.840
my business right? And I think
a lot of us business owners would say

455
00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:12.960
that that is unless an investor came
by your side to serve. Imagine that.

456
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:16.840
Imagine you running a business and the
people that we are as business leaders

457
00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:23.239
normally nervous about because the capital has
a big degree of influence of what actually

458
00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:29.400
happens. Imagine if they were by
our side. And so we want investors

459
00:38:29.679 --> 00:38:32.159
who are active. And when we
hear active investors, that kind of has

460
00:38:32.199 --> 00:38:37.400
a negative context, but not active
in service, not active in purpose.

461
00:38:37.519 --> 00:38:42.280
Coming investors who are in service to
the higher purpose of that business. And

462
00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:45.599
so that is a very engaged relationship
building. And I know that in my

463
00:38:45.719 --> 00:38:51.760
experience when I've had investors who are
by my side who are going through the

464
00:38:51.880 --> 00:38:58.119
muck and mud and are experiencing that
makes them a better investor because they know

465
00:38:58.239 --> 00:39:02.199
the investment that much better. They're
able to bring more meaningful solutions. They're

466
00:39:02.239 --> 00:39:07.320
not sitting on an ivory tower second
guessing things or bringing in their comments.

467
00:39:07.639 --> 00:39:12.599
They're bringing in their ideas, their
vision, their love, their expertise in

468
00:39:12.639 --> 00:39:16.239
a way that better serves the organization
because they're in relationship with it. So

469
00:39:16.760 --> 00:39:22.719
that is for us, the difference
between an active and engage investor that comes

470
00:39:22.760 --> 00:39:27.960
to serve. Beautifully said, So, as I was thinking about our conversation,

471
00:39:28.039 --> 00:39:30.480
gentlemen, I was thinking to myself, well, you know, as

472
00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:34.079
I thought about what you're saying here, being side by side and engaged and

473
00:39:34.119 --> 00:39:35.960
such, I started thinking to myself, well, hold on to you to

474
00:39:35.960 --> 00:39:39.039
a second. How is that different
from, say, how a venture capitalist

475
00:39:39.079 --> 00:39:43.280
would be engaged in managing business?
And I know that there's a difference,

476
00:39:43.320 --> 00:39:47.400
but let's hear you declare that and
distinguish that for us. Well, let

477
00:39:47.400 --> 00:39:52.400
me take this one. And so
I think the first thing is when you

478
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:57.840
think about traditional venture capital, they're
not here to serve. They're there to

479
00:39:57.880 --> 00:40:02.280
make money, period, end of
story. They're there to build a business,

480
00:40:02.519 --> 00:40:07.480
get it to a point where they
can do something and monetize that investment,

481
00:40:07.719 --> 00:40:13.000
either the investment of their time or
the investment of resources or investment of

482
00:40:13.039 --> 00:40:17.559
their money. So what they've done
is to create effectively the traditional investment model

483
00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:23.159
of maximizing their return. That's not
our purpose. Our purpose is to come

484
00:40:23.199 --> 00:40:30.199
and understand, spend time, serve, support, build, and then when

485
00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:35.920
it's time, release the organization.
Even if it's not the most maximized return

486
00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:39.800
that we can can obtaining. It's
about freeing them to then deliver their purpose.

487
00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:46.000
Our gain is not sure. Our
gain is a long term. Our

488
00:40:46.119 --> 00:40:52.320
game is not being able to extract
every last dollar of every investment. That's

489
00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:58.639
not how we look at this.
We look at this as we're here to

490
00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:04.800
support a business to live the purpose
to transform the world, and that's our

491
00:41:04.840 --> 00:41:08.360
service. That's how we explain this. And so are we different than a

492
00:41:08.440 --> 00:41:15.199
venture capitalist, Yes, we will
we engage. Venture capitalists may not necessarily

493
00:41:15.239 --> 00:41:17.760
have investors alongside with them, you
know, they're a sponsor and they may

494
00:41:17.800 --> 00:41:22.639
bring We're going to bring the investors
in the fund with us to it.

495
00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:27.599
There's a concept that that Andy was
alluding to that we we call go and

496
00:41:27.639 --> 00:41:31.840
see, but it actually comes from
the concept in Toyota that's called chibuchu,

497
00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:37.079
which is go and see. You
have a question, you go answer the

498
00:41:37.159 --> 00:41:40.000
question, and where the question is. You go to the line and see

499
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:45.119
where the question is being asked.
And that's what we want for our investors

500
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:49.920
as sponsors will certainly be there.
We want to bring the investors alongside to

501
00:41:49.960 --> 00:41:54.039
get their hands dirty like Andy and
discussing them. But it's going and seeing

502
00:41:54.079 --> 00:42:00.559
and answering for yourself the questions that
are arising in the business. Full much

503
00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:04.000
better job that I could have ever
done trying to distinguish that for myself.

504
00:42:04.039 --> 00:42:07.800
So thank you. Ron. Okay, so we've been talking about and hearing

505
00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:09.960
about what kinds of companies you might
want to invest in, and of course

506
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:15.199
you you've helped us understand that not
everybody is worthy of such a such a

507
00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:19.719
beautifully gloved approach. So let's talk
about the investor's side. So you say

508
00:42:19.719 --> 00:42:23.079
that SERVI Investors isn't for all investors, So how would you characterize your best

509
00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:30.920
fit investor? I'll take that one, and I think the best described this.

510
00:42:31.079 --> 00:42:35.159
I'm going to share a quote with
you that I think is very meaningful

511
00:42:35.239 --> 00:42:39.840
for us that is kind of an
organizing thought as it relates to the types

512
00:42:39.880 --> 00:42:44.039
of people that we want to be
involved in, and it comes from Steve

513
00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:50.079
Jobs. It says we attract a
different type of person, person who doesn't

514
00:42:50.079 --> 00:42:52.719
want to wait five or ten years
to have someone take a giant risk on

515
00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:57.800
him or her, someone who really
wants to get in a little over its

516
00:42:57.880 --> 00:43:01.760
head and make a dent in the
universe. We are aware that we are

517
00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:07.760
doing something significant, We're here at
the beginning of it, and we're able

518
00:43:07.800 --> 00:43:12.400
to shape how it goes. Everyone
here has that sense that right now is

519
00:43:12.440 --> 00:43:17.039
one of those moments that we are
influencing the future. And I think a

520
00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:23.599
person who would be interested in becoming
a servant investor as we've described it would

521
00:43:23.639 --> 00:43:30.920
be able to say that quote that
we're not about, you know, just

522
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.800
one who wants to wait five or
ten years for these things in which we

523
00:43:34.840 --> 00:43:38.440
all see and believe. Many of
us know that business is a great force

524
00:43:38.480 --> 00:43:43.239
for change in the world. But
if you have resources and you have capital,

525
00:43:43.599 --> 00:43:47.760
what are you doing about it?
Is the capital that you're investing really

526
00:43:47.800 --> 00:43:53.440
reflective of that belief? And if
you're willing to do that, you might

527
00:43:53.480 --> 00:43:57.760
need to get a little bit over
your head, take a different approach,

528
00:43:58.159 --> 00:44:07.079
think different, come to serve and
if that service and give that service most

529
00:44:07.199 --> 00:44:12.000
thoroughly and with the deepest amount of
integrity is possible, that's the way that

530
00:44:12.039 --> 00:44:15.079
we believe we might want to make
a dent in this world. That's what

531
00:44:15.119 --> 00:44:17.360
I'm doing this for. I'm not
doing this for I want to make money,

532
00:44:17.400 --> 00:44:21.039
I want to be successful, I
want to live a better lifestyle.

533
00:44:21.079 --> 00:44:23.480
I want all of those things,
But none of that stuff is what gets

534
00:44:23.519 --> 00:44:28.159
me excited in the morning. I
want to be a part of something that

535
00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:32.840
makes a vent, that shapes something
that leaves us world better. And the

536
00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:40.400
old forms of investing for me is
just not fun enough. It's not interesting

537
00:44:40.519 --> 00:44:45.880
enough, it's not fulfilling enough.
I won't leave changed, the world,

538
00:44:46.159 --> 00:44:52.280
won't leave meaningfully changed. To do
something that's different, be a part of

539
00:44:52.320 --> 00:44:57.880
something that's so much bigger than me, and play my small piece in that

540
00:44:58.400 --> 00:45:02.880
play for me as a serv investor. And so for me, if nothing

541
00:45:02.920 --> 00:45:08.280
else, I'm creating servant work around
and I are creating serving investors for us

542
00:45:08.679 --> 00:45:13.320
because that's who we want to be
in this world. And maybe people will

543
00:45:13.400 --> 00:45:16.440
join us. Maybe we're in over
ahead, maybe not. I don't care.

544
00:45:17.480 --> 00:45:21.760
That's who I'm going to be.
No. I like it, Andy,

545
00:45:22.079 --> 00:45:24.440
I like the company that I'm keeping. Uh. Now, you've already

546
00:45:24.480 --> 00:45:28.760
been documented throughout the course of our
conversation today. But just on the off

547
00:45:28.840 --> 00:45:30.719
chance this is a different answer or
you want to build on what you've already

548
00:45:30.719 --> 00:45:34.519
been saying, I do want to
ask what what do you envision the world

549
00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:40.400
looks like when Serve Investors has realized
its purpose. Let's both take that.

550
00:45:43.159 --> 00:45:46.519
I think I think the least as
you've indicated. There's been a lot of

551
00:45:46.559 --> 00:45:51.559
what we've talked about is about the
future and the purpose and the use of

552
00:45:51.639 --> 00:45:57.440
servum into this world. I think
about it is how will how will serve

553
00:45:57.519 --> 00:46:01.079
them be used? I hope it's
used long after Andy and I are both

554
00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:07.280
gone, that people will be carrying
this idea. They'll take they'll take the

555
00:46:07.320 --> 00:46:12.800
concept of serving investing, and it'll
be something will become widely used around the

556
00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:16.400
world because it's purpose. It's about
service, it's about changing the world,

557
00:46:17.119 --> 00:46:22.199
and and it's and it's changing worlds. It's changing the world in the business

558
00:46:22.239 --> 00:46:27.320
side, and it's also changing people's
lives. And so when this thing is

559
00:46:27.320 --> 00:46:31.559
fully expressed, it's expressed by changing
the world for better, which I think

560
00:46:31.599 --> 00:46:36.519
what we're called to from from our
faith and from from our purpose. I

561
00:46:36.519 --> 00:46:40.079
think it's about helping people grow in
their own journey and their own understanding of

562
00:46:40.119 --> 00:46:44.440
the world and how they want to
put their service and their heart and their

563
00:46:44.519 --> 00:46:49.159
soul into this place, not just
to extract value, but to give value.

564
00:46:49.800 --> 00:46:52.880
And then I look at I look
at I look at all the people,

565
00:46:52.880 --> 00:46:57.719
and the rules that can happen is
that is that we are. We

566
00:46:57.760 --> 00:47:02.679
are in essence creating something that is
available to everyone to take will hopefully be

567
00:47:04.280 --> 00:47:08.239
in transformation of this globe for the
betterment, the betterment of humanity, for

568
00:47:08.320 --> 00:47:14.239
the betterment of all those people that
come in contact with them. Worthy of

569
00:47:14.280 --> 00:47:19.519
your one precious life, for sure, Andy Man, I like just what

570
00:47:19.559 --> 00:47:22.760
you said right there, worthy of
this one precious life. Like, that's

571
00:47:22.800 --> 00:47:27.119
what this is about for me.
And we don't know what that is,

572
00:47:27.159 --> 00:47:31.000
and you know it's not. There's
this thing that's inside of us that's coming

573
00:47:31.159 --> 00:47:36.719
out in through us, and it's
not our job to judge it or compare

574
00:47:36.719 --> 00:47:39.320
it to other expressions of what is
trying to merge through each of us.

575
00:47:39.719 --> 00:47:44.679
It's our job to keep it ourselves, to keep it our own, and

576
00:47:44.719 --> 00:47:47.679
to bring that into the world.
And essentially, Coddy Womble, you don't

577
00:47:47.719 --> 00:47:52.880
know where you're headed, but go
there in a purposeful way and have faith

578
00:47:53.320 --> 00:47:58.280
that that in which is deep inside
of you, it's trying to come out

579
00:47:58.280 --> 00:48:01.000
and through you. Just to out
of its way. And for me,

580
00:48:01.599 --> 00:48:06.280
that's where my focus is, and
that's where Ron's and I's focus is.

581
00:48:06.320 --> 00:48:09.519
As a part of serving investors.
That's beautiful. I do want to give

582
00:48:09.639 --> 00:48:15.440
you just a quick way to finish
the program here because we're out of time,

583
00:48:15.519 --> 00:48:16.519
and say thirty seconds or less,
what would you like to leave a

584
00:48:16.559 --> 00:48:22.800
listeners with You know, I know
you have a global program at least and

585
00:48:22.840 --> 00:48:28.119
I think the comment that I would
want to leave behind cope. We're coming

586
00:48:28.159 --> 00:48:32.199
out of this COVID pandemic and there
are great opportunities ahead. And there may

587
00:48:32.199 --> 00:48:37.760
be people that have been thinking about
what they could do, but I'm telling

588
00:48:37.800 --> 00:48:40.679
you, now's the time to live
boldly. Now the time to use your

589
00:48:40.719 --> 00:48:45.719
purpose because the opportunities of wait you
on the other side of this, head

590
00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:50.159
up, out of the fall,
look forward, and step boldly into the

591
00:48:50.159 --> 00:48:52.840
future. That's what I would want
to leave with people. Beautiful way to

592
00:48:52.840 --> 00:48:55.960
finish. I'm completely with you,
Ron. I'm Barbara and Anie e b.

593
00:48:57.119 --> 00:48:59.400
Thank you for Ednie. Thanks so
much for joining me today and working

594
00:48:59.440 --> 00:49:01.639
in purpose. It has been an
extreme pleasure to host you and help spread

595
00:49:01.639 --> 00:49:07.760
your word good work that you're doing. Thanks so much. You're welcome,

596
00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:12.320
listeners and viewers. If you will
learn more about Servan Investors in the work

597
00:49:12.360 --> 00:49:15.800
Andy and Ron are doing, the
best way to do so is to shoot

598
00:49:15.880 --> 00:49:19.880
ron An email at Ron at Serviuminvestors
dot com. Let me spell that for

599
00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:25.039
you. It's s E r v
I AM Investors so ron at Serbium Investors

600
00:49:25.119 --> 00:49:29.400
dot com. Last week, if
you missed the live show you know sketch

601
00:49:29.440 --> 00:49:31.519
ap recorded podcast, we were on
the Earth with Howard Shore talking about his

602
00:49:31.639 --> 00:49:36.079
latest book, The Leader launch Pad, Five Steps to fuel your business and

603
00:49:36.119 --> 00:49:39.320
lift your profits. Fantastic conversation,
very very enlivening many tools he gave us

604
00:49:39.360 --> 00:49:43.280
as well. Next week will be
on the air with Karen Weeks. She

605
00:49:43.440 --> 00:49:45.800
is the senior vice president at Order
Group. We'll be talking about how this

606
00:49:45.840 --> 00:49:50.400
company has been changing its people practices
to promote well being during the pandemic.

607
00:49:50.840 --> 00:49:52.639
Promised to be a fantastic conversation as
well. See you there. Remember that

608
00:49:52.760 --> 00:49:55.440
work is at least a third of
our lives, so let's work on purpose.

609
00:50:00.679 --> 00:50:05.079
We hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to tune in too.

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Working on Purpose featuring your host,
doctor Elise Cortes each week on the

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Voice America Empowerment Channel. Together we'll
create a world where business operates conscientiously,

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leadership inspires impassioned performance, and employees
are fulfilled in work that provides the meaning

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and purpose they crave see you there. Let's work on purpose.