Todd Rimer 00:04
Welcome to the Up in Your Family Business podcast where we dive into the heart of family business with intimate interviews, expert insights, inspirational stories, valuable resources, and practical tips to help grow your family business.
Todd Rimer 00:17
Our guest for today's Up in Your Family Business Podcast is Jeff Boone. Good morning. Good morning, Jeff. Jeff and his wife Lynette own Cowpokes, a full line work in western outfitters retailer with locations in Anderson Indiana and Cloverdale Indiana as well as Jeff Boone Auction and Realty in Markville Indiana.
Todd Rimer 00:36
Between the two-family businesses they employ over 50. Is that correct? Their daughter Mackenzie, their son Gunner, and their son -in -law Caleb are also active within the family business. Today Jeff will be sharing his experience and perspectives concerning a very important topic within family business.
Todd Rimer 00:56
It's the family relationship work -life balance and the ways to maintain a healthy work life balance within a family -business context while considering the interconnectedness of family and work roles.
Todd Rimer 01:08
So again Jeff, good morning and welcome.
Jeff Boone 01:10
Oh thank you, appreciate you having us here. Appreciate you being here okay.
Todd Rimer 01:14
Let's just jump into the questions. My first question for you Jeff is how and when did you first become aware of the importance of maintaining a healthy work -life balance?
Jeff Boone 01:26
Well, that's a challenging question. I got to dig back deep into my years here and see I think that kind of probably started as a child growing up around my grandfather and his business in the auction business.
Jeff Boone 01:42
He was an auctioneer, and he started that business back in the 50s. And so when I was born, I was basically born into the business right away. I think the very first auction I ever attended was a month old.
Jeff Boone 01:55
So, my mom dragged me over to an auction my grandfather was having. And it's always been just second nature to me that we were in the auction business and I kind of watched him day in and day out really balance what he did.
Jeff Boone 02:08
He tried to make sure that he was spending time with his wife and with his family and his church and everything that he felt was important to him and so he was good at balancing things out and I think that was probably something that I took on early and understood that early and tried to carry that try to carry, that through as we began our businesses.
Todd Rimer 02:29
Interesting man a month old yeah that'll get the senses going, won't it? I guess so. Of course, you get smacked on the butt and then a month later you're here under an auction. There's a lot of rattling in your head.
Todd Rimer 02:40
So, you knew it so basically you knew at age one month what your life's fate was. Maybe I guess I did.
Jeff Boone 02:46
I don't know.
Todd Rimer 02:47
That's awesome. Okay we all know that family and work roles are often intertwined in family business, right? So how do you navigate, you and Lynette navigate the challenges of wearing multiple hats within the family, and the business?
Todd Rimer 03:00
How do you balance those?
Jeff Boone 03:03
Well, I think it's a boy you know. I think that every day is its own day, right? You just kind of get up and tackle what's ahead of you. What's on your list, things you gotta get done, goals that you got to get met, certain timeframes.
Jeff Boone 03:18
And I just think we work well together in that respect in terms of, she can be very focused and driven on her task. I'm kind of the fly by the seat of the pan's kind of guy. I know what I need to do and I try to get it done and you know with a couple different businesses and a lot of different things that are happening every day we just try to as the as a challenge comes that direction just trying to tackle it then and try to work with our rest of our family and our crew because we've got such a great crew I mean you we talked about our immediate family that's there but you know from day one when we started cowpokes my mom was involved my grandmother who's not here with us anymore but my Mom is and she still works with us every week.
Jeff Boone 04:00
And she's been a really important part of, of just, just the cowpoke portion of the business, and then also in the auction business. It was her dad, who is my grandfather who started the option business and so she, again, has been around it all her life.
Jeff Boone 04:14
And so, she understands that too. And, uh, she helps us with that. And you know, I think, you know it's just you know as, as we all those challenges and those tasks become part of your day and the week ahead of you and the month ahead of you because you know some of these events that you have to don't go to and some these auctions you have coming up you start preparing for them early right and delegation I think is a big part of it you know having a having crew and a staff that you can trust and you know is going to do a great job and turning a lot of those tasks over to them in the past maybe you tried to do them all yourself and then as things grew and time went by and you began to find these key people and bring them into your organization that you you're like okay hey this is something that we're going to you know put on your plate and then you've quickly learned that you know these people can really do these things in fact many times they've done way better than you can do and I think that's probably the key is delegation
Todd Rimer 05:10
okay so building off that I've told you before that I really one of the stories about you and your family that really caught my attention and really impressed me years ago was that was your ability to recognize that there's a time to kind of shut things down you know work is work now it's time for family and I love how you and your family for the most part since you've had your children all these years 20 some years you guys meet and I believe today still meet for dinner almost every day how do you when did that become important to you and more importantly than that how is it that you're able to be so busy from the time you wake up I mean I'm sure it's very demanding with Cowpokes and the auction very busy so not how do you keep that commitment to having dinner together every night and how are you able just to shut things off and let work be behind you and just focus on your family for the rest of the day because I know as business owners you we can get sucked into thinking about business 24 -7 like especially with today's technology, a lot of us work all the time.
Todd Rimer 06:19
I mean, I find myself trying to get away from it, but I find myself working evenings and weekends sometimes, and I need to find that work -life balance. It's a struggle for me, which is why I think the subject's so important, not just for my personal reasons, but I think a lotta business owners suffer through that.
Todd Rimer 06:34
So again, how do you, why did you make the decision to make dinner? That's the thing that we do to keep that balance, and how do you shut things off and make that transition into your family after the work's done?
Jeff Boone 06:48
Well, I'll say that I'm to be completely honest. I am guilty of Really never shutting that business mindset. Okay, so I think that thing runs. All right 24 -7 in my head I know it does in Lynette's, okay but here's what I did realize early on is that we had the opportunity to get ourselves together, our family together almost every night, right?
Jeff Boone 07:15
And that's the one time that we can get everybody together as a group. We try. It doesn't always happen, but nine times out of ten it does, maybe even more. But it was something that recognized that, hey, we have this opportunity to get our families together.
Jeff Boone 07:29
So, let's make sure it happens, right. Let's make those plans to get together and have dinner. we cook a lot the whole family does so we share some of those tasks and it's an opportunity for us to get together and just kind of recap on the day you know just see what happened here what happen there you know what experiences did you have what phone calls what conversations and a lot of it is work -related right and so we don't necessarily shut it off at the table and then a Lot of families do that and I think I kind of appreciate that I see how that would be is very important to a lot of families but you know because our lives and our businesses are just entangled together if that's a word but I think it is you know they're they are entwined but so it's just an opportunity for us to all kind of get on the same page what happened to them that day and so in and basically it you it really you know reaching out to find out what bothers you today what happened you and then kind of touch on things that we need to do in the future and what maybe some of our goals are, I mean, that's one of the cool things is that our whole family shares the same, same common goals.
Jeff Boone 08:37
You know, this is, these are important to us, you know? It's our faith, it's, our, it' s our work, it is our other friends, it is other family. And so, it is just a great time for us to be able to all get together and do that.
Jeff Boone 08:49
And we really appreciate and bless the fact that we have that opportunity to do so.
Todd Rimer 08:55
If inter tangled is not a word, it should be. I like inter-tangles. I'm not sure. I'll make it up. That's good. So, did you notice a difference when your kids were younger? Did you find yourself? It makes sense now with your children officially being part of them.
Todd Rimer 09:12
They've been just like you were part of the auction when you're a kid. I'm sure both of your children were a part of the business for a lot of their life, right? Okay. So as far as the family dynamics, have you seen a change?
Todd Rimer 09:24
You know, it's one thing. You know they're little, they are going through school, but now they’re adults. Do you see when it comes to the conversations you have at the table, have those changed much?
Todd Rimer 09:36
Since they've now become adults and officially, how does that change anything you've seen there?
Jeff Boone 09:42
Well, I think even as children, when they're young, we did take the time when they were really to focus on explaining to them what's important to us, what makes us as adults as we grow up responsible.
Jeff Boone 10:01
What are the things that we find are important to character development and growth? And so, really, those things haven't changed. We still discuss those all the time. It's just different levels, right?
Jeff Boone 10:17
And a lot of people say when their children are growing up, they say, oh, I just hate for them to get any bigger. I love this. You know, just love it when they're little. I always, like Lynette too, we always really appreciated the changes in age and growth to watch them develop into from children into teenagers and then into their they're all in their 20s now you know Mackenzie and Gunner and Caleb and so it's so cool to see them turn into young adults that really took those things that we tried to teach them and put them into their lives and it makes you really proud to say that they embraced those things we try to instill in them and see them now interact with other adults and to take on major roles in the business and it makes you proud.
Todd Rimer 11:05
I think about what you know with your businesses. I'm assuming that yours and Lynette's principles, your values and why you believe in I am assuming those are inter tangled throughout the businesses right.
Todd Rimer 11:17
So, my guess is when you were at the table talking about business wasn't such a bad thing right because through those conversations you had, your kids were learning not just by the business, but they were probably learning about those values and principles.
Todd Rimer 11:31
You probably talked about the way business is done, the way you approach work. I'm assuming all those were built into your conversations, right? So that was probably actually a very positive experience.
Todd Rimer 11:42
So, we can look at it as we're talking about work instead of life, but again, work life is intertwined, right, but my guess is your kid learned a lot by hearing those stories that you and the network shared at the table I would guess.
Jeff Boone 11:55
Oh, I without a doubt there's no doubt that they did. I think they paid a lot of attention, and you know it's and again it is just evident today now that we see them you know involved in our businesses that really did truly take a lot of that information and put it to get used today.
Todd Rimer 12:13
Okay all right so for this next question I have for you it is about conflict now I'm not assuming you have conflict, but I think most people have conflict just on different levels. I read an article recently and an issue of Family Business Magazine and I just want to read this to you and says 29% of families report discomfort in discussing financial topics.
Todd Rimer 12:40
Nearly half of those surveyed reported experiencing family conflict and 41% saying roles and responsibilities of family members as the biggest reason for disputes. So it doesn't sound like you guys are experiencing it.
Todd Rimer 12:52
I would love to hear your thoughts on that. How do you guys talk about now your kids are older? I'm hearing you guys were adults. Now they're adults? What do those financial discussions look like as it comes to business?
Todd Rimer 13:04
Is it a pretty open conversation that you have? And when you do have conflict, how do you resolve whatever level of conflict that might be?
Jeff Boone 13:15
Well, that's one thing we didn't really discuss around our kids growing up. We really didn’t discuss financing. We dandiest talk about any of that, any financial issues or troubles. When we started Cowpokes back in 1993, and we’ll probably get a little bit of this here with some of your other questions, but we started out very cash poor.
Jeff Boone 13:33
You know, we really did not have any operating income. We did know that we needed it. So that was a learning curve that you know we had to get adjusted to and so early on in business it was there was a lot of challenges and we didn't want to put that weight onto our children because they were young at the time right very in fact they weren't even born when we first started right but as we got no further into business we really didn’t discuss that now that they they're adults really there's nothing off of that off the table you know it's we pretty much we can we can talk about anything and I think that is again you know its education it’s learning you it is important for them to see these things that that we really didn't know about.
Jeff Boone 14:13
We didn’t understand that it’s everything from your business finances to your personal finances and those are things we had to learn sometimes the hard way in business and now we try to share with those what some of those hurdles might look like before they must get to it.
Jeff Boone 14:30
So, I think it's important. Open dialogue is very important and does that cause conflict? Not really. I don t think so. Just being out there in the open for us all to discuss Allows us for you know, there's not the surprises that I think some people run into You know we being in an auction business now we see so many times where there are family disputes particularly about financing finances, you know about inheritances and you have different levels of, I don't know how to say this, but you've got, it seems like so many times when we're in the business that we are in, many time we go into situations where someone passed, right?
Jeff Boone 15:21
And so, there's, probably going to have to edit this because I'm chopping this all up. It's okay. It is fine. Basically, what we run into are situations where somebody passed, and they have family members that are dealing with all of this stuff and they're dealing with bank accounts and mortgages if you have to be paid and all these things and a lot of times there's no will.
Jeff Boone 15:48
Sometimes there is. Sometimes, there are trusts that were set up and don't understand how all this works and probate and everything else that goes along with closing out someone's estate. Is that something that we need to discuss internally as family members because you know with businesses there's going to be secession plans or need to be succession plans right and so I think that just that open dialogue and everybody understanding what this thing looks like in the future is going to eliminate a lot of those disputes and those problems later on and I think if everyone not only just people that are small business owners and have family involved in their business but just us personally and you know with our estates and with you know our things that we think about you know what's going to happen when we're gone or something should happen to us today or tomorrow or 20 years from now and how's that going affect our children and is that leaving them a problem behind is that going to create family disputes absolutely it can and we see it happen all the time and it's it's a shame that that money can tear our things can just tear families apart and we do see that happen a lot.
Jeff Boone 17:01
So, I think preparedness is very important and open conversation is very important.
Todd Rimer 17:09
Wonderful. It doesn't sound like, so you guys don't really, maybe it's because your kids have been around for so long, but so, you guys, from what you can say, don' t really experience conflict within the family business, within a family?
Jeff Boone 17:20
You know I say I can't say that we don t. We do. Yeah, I mean there's you know it’s there’s always conflict right of some degree and it's, you know, whether it is, hey, forgot to tell me about that, or, well, yeah, got a lot on my mind today, I'm trying to make sure I communicate with you well.
Jeff Boone 17:37
There's that. There are situations where somebody feels like you dropped the ball and you try to bring that to their attention, and sometimes that might aggravate them or get them riled up a little bit.
Jeff Boone 17:48
But all in all, those are quickly solved, they might be little, small disputes and they And you just, again, you try to take care of them right now, air it out, move on. And that's been something that we've tried to be good at doing.
Jeff Boone 18:01
And I think that really helped us a lot.
Todd Rimer 18:04
Yeah. When I saw those numbers, I don't know if I was shocked, or I just don’t know. It's unfortunate. 41%. That's tough. That’s a big number. I know, that's what I thought too. My next question for you is balancing quality time with family and the demands of the business can be challenging.
Todd Rimer 18:22
So how do you talk about dinner, right? But that's only one aspect. How do I ensure? That the time spent with your family is a top priority again, I mentioned earlier. We go . I mean we can go into any day right thinking that we're in control of our day. I'm going to get up.
Todd Rimer 18:41
I'll do this then this then this is, and I've shut off There are a lot of moving parts with people and processes and things like that. How would you? It sounds like you guys have done a great job. I don't know how you've done it, and it's fantastic No matter what's going on in the day.
Todd Rimer 18:55
We're having dinner together now that might be at five o 'clock. That might Be at seven o clock, but you're making it happen, But how? Like I told you I make the mistake of I'm not I Don't prioritize very well I need to do a better job of balancing my time.
Todd Rimer 19:09
I Need to have more time for other things. I Need To have More Time for it sounds silly but just for reading I Need, To Have more Time for Time with Christ. I don't pray as much as I should. I'm not reading the Bible as much as I should, and those should be priorities.
Todd Rimer 19:23
It's amazing how much business sometimes can suck you in because it is important. Our employees are relying on us to get the job done. And if we need to work extra time to get to a job, we're going to do that because we care about our company, we about employees, we'll do whatever it takes, sometimes to a fault.
Todd Rimer 19:43
So as an owner of two businesses in a family, how did you manage to how do you managed to say this is a priority and I know your faith is strong and so how you how, do, you make that a, priority to balance those two,
Jeff Boone 19:57
well, that's hard I feel like you Were reading, my mind because those are all the same things that you just said or the, same, things, that are challenges To, me in everyday life and I think Lynette as, we'll You know Should I read more, should I be in the Bible more?
Jeff Boone 20:17
Should pray more. Yes, try to do a good job at that. But those are all things that, I think if you're a businessperson, if you’re a family member, your good father, your brother, good sister, whatever, you try and pick apart your flaws, right?
Jeff Boone 20:37
You're always trying to grow; you are trying to get better. If we're not noticing these things that are issues with us. So, we feel like our issue is with this, you know. We're not going to get any better at it, right?
Jeff Boone 20:47
We are not going to be aware of it. And so, if we're not aware, somebody else probably is. Where does the conflict come from? Well, it comes because you're paying attention to the things that probably are more important to your family members than you realize.
Jeff Boone 21:02
And, so I think, the first awareness is what are some of the things that I should be doing better and if I think if we're trying to focus on those things and improve on those, things then we are going to be better people to the rest of our family and to our business.
Jeff Boone 21:19
So, I think you nailed it by just saying it and saying, you know, hey, these are the things I shouldn't be getting better at, and these are things should I be focusing on more. And so those are how you're ultimately going to help your family, help your business, help that relationship between the two-stay solid and to grow and improve.
Todd Rimer 21:44
We're always told that even though we're supposed to serve other people and take care of other people we need to take care of ourselves. It's kind of like the thing in the airplane where they say if you know if you’re the parent you need to make sure you're able to breathe because if you can't breathe you get you protect your child right okay.
Todd Rimer 22:01
So that might be a little bit dramatic, but my point is to be a leader. I think it's important. Yes, we need to take care of those around us. But if we're not, it goes back to that work life balance.
Todd Rimer 22:16
So yes, I mentioned prayer, I mentioned reading the Bible, things like that. but there are other areas of self-care that I wish I could do better. Before we got on here, you mentioned this morning, you went out, no, you made sure that you worked out this warning.
Todd Rimer 22:30
Every day I want to work out and it's one of those things where it is a priority for me, and it’s funny the way we use priority. We say things of priority, but do we live out what our priorities are?
Todd Rimer 22:40
I don't do a good job of self -care with how I eat, I do consistently work out, you know what I mean? I consistently have quiet time. So, in addition to those other things, we talked about, how do you prioritize, what does self-care mean for you?
Todd Rimer 22:55
And how do you make self-care a priority every day? How do you do that?
Jeff Boone 23:00
Well I think the answer to that really is trying to focus on just having a few minutes to myself and that to me is I get up I have my little routine every morning when I get it up and I try to make my way out to the gym which is just right outside our door and so it's convenient and it is easy and we talked about earlier you know it eliminates helps eliminate some of those excuses right and now I do need to get out there and found that I had some issues years ago my vocal cords and I spent a lot of time on a microphone and so I have some polyps that that came up and then I had to have those removed and during that process I was I was brought away by the doctors that you know there's certain things that I need to focus on and some of that was the diet and the diet affects your body which affects other you know certain portions of your by like your vocal chords for instance which it was bought to me that one of the first places that your stress goes in your body is to the vocal cords because it's tightening.
Jeff Boone 24:00
Seriously. Wow. And I had a speech pathologist that told me that and she, as I was working with her and she said, you know, hey these are, here's a couple things I'd like for you to do. One, if you're sitting on food and coke and things like that, get that out of your diet.
Jeff Boone 24:15
We don't want that. You don't need those causing problems with your vocal cords and then stress is a big issue and so Kind of got that's when I really dug in said oh, you know what? I probably should start exercising a little bit more and trying to relieve some that stress and I found that quickly it worked It helped me heal up my vocal cords, which is big portion of my support in my job You know hard to be an auctioneer if you can't speak.
Jeff Boone 24:40
Yeah, and there was there were a lot of problems there So we those have since gone away and not thought you know if I'm this works so I want to continue to keep doing that and then what I've found was is that just getting up and getting some exercise every morning if I cannot every morning but most mornings that you know my stress level started to drop I was clarity was better my day just went smoother I felt better you know I feel like there was a sense of accomplishment right off the bat so even though it might be sometimes 20 -30 minutes sometimes it's an hour and 15 or maybe a little bit longer but the most time it is in that hour range if I could have that time to myself and kind of kind you clear my mind a little bit.
Jeff Boone 25:18
I don't think about work all that much at that point. I try not to put my headphones in and roll. That's kind of my personal self-care time. You know, and then at the tail end of the day, I tried to kick back and relax a little in bed and just unwind, you know before we go to bed.
Jeff Boone 25:37
Those are the two things that I've tried to do. And I think it's helped a lot. I noticed that too.
Todd Rimer 25:43
My father, when I was 16, had open heart surgery or triple bypass and that'll kind of shake you up when you learn you know the reason he had that yeah genetics was a part of it but how we ate when he was growing up he lived on a farm a lot of fatty foods anyway I've since I was 16 I'm always over my life I'd been looking for ways to be healthier and you over my I have cut out certain foods I've have different practices.
Todd Rimer 26:14
It really it what you know we have a team huddle every week at our company and sometimes I'll share words of wisdom that I find in a blog or I will share health tips because there's so much that goes into that balance like work -life balance to me is not just a thing of time it really is a lifestyle it's how you live and you know a lot of our employees have they have kids and they have other demands, and it can be hard.
Todd Rimer 26:40
And, you know, we don't always talk to each other about business. I mean, so I'll share spiritual stories, I will share advice on health, because it always leads to a healthier life balance, it leads to more productivity.
Todd Rimer 26:53
The better we feel physically and spiritually and mentally, the Better will perform and the better will navigate this thing called life. So, I think that's really good that you find time for that. If you don t mind, just give us a glimpse in your life, what time do you wake up
Jeff Boone 27:06
in the morning all over the board my wife's probably she'll be laughing when she hears this because sometimes it's in six o 'clock hours sometimes at seven o'clock hour usually not any later than that you know but sometimes in that six to seven o’clock hour I want to get myself to where I'm doing a little bit earlier getting after a bit earlier and spend a little more time doing some things like we talked about reading a little bit more because usually what I find is I I've running all the way the last second yeah before I need to go out the door and head off so I push it a No, that's you know, it's I'm not real super structured.
Jeff Boone 27:39
Like I said before I'll kind of fly by the seat of my pants Kind of a guy, you're not just I would never have guessed that.
Todd Rimer 27:47
Because it I mean you don't you were laid back, I Mean you are easy -going But I figured you or just an easy going laid -back guy who had a very structured you had to because you have two Businesses you a part of I wouldn't ever have guess that you would kind fly -by -the -seat.
Todd Rimer 27:59
Yeah.
Jeff Boone 28:00
That's me Okay, does that drive Lynette crazy sometimes absolutely because she's structured, She's structured.
Todd Rimer 28:07
How about your kids? Where do they fall?
Jeff Boone 28:09
My daughter, Mackenzie now, extremely structured, she's, uh, so there's a, you take procrastination. That word does not exist in her, in our head, no, no. She attacks it. Here it is. Let's tackle it right now.
Jeff Boone 28:21
It's got to get done. I'd say, sissy, we've got, you know, four weeks before that needs to be done, not doesn't matter. Let us get it done today. You know? That's her. My son, he's a lot more like me.
Jeff Boone 28:31
You know he's he is definitely more laid -back and fly by the seat of your pants for sure and that's I don't know sometimes I feel a little guilty about maybe teaching him those things but at the same time I really want I really our family and our friends and are our extended family who are employees in the businesses to have that same sense of laid blackness you right another one in words I know that exists but you know can you can you still perform your job and do it really well and at a very high level and yet not completely exhaust yourself with worry?
Jeff Boone 29:11
I don't want our crew to do that. I just want them to be very efficient in what they do, be good at what they do, and I don’t want to always dwell in this misery of deadlines and just a lot of pressure on them.
Jeff Boone 29:31
So maybe it's a flaw sometimes that I'm that way. I know a lot of people, a lotta businesses are very much more strict and very cut and dry. But I also see and I just because of all the business owners that I know and employees and other businesses and their communication outside the business and you hear a lot of those complaints, and you think I don't want to be that I don't want to bet at boss, right?
Jeff Boone 29:54
I don’t want to be that guy that puts that type of pressure on his employees, I want them to come to work and I want to enjoy what they do every day. And I hope that they do, you know, because if you're going to get a lot more productivity out of somebody that loves what they're doing, where they are, then you are somebody that says this is just a job and a paycheck.
Jeff Boone 30:14
So, we try to try to create that environment and make it fun, enjoyable, every day and, I think the results at the end of the day show that it works.
Todd Rimer 30:26
That's interesting. All right, before we have a couple more questions for you before, we get to the last one I wanted to ask you going sticking with your family We've talked a little bit about your kids have been a part of the business for a long time and they gradually I'm assuming they at what point did they express it's one thing to be a Part of business and their younger at, what age did, they say to you I want to Be a, part, of this this auction I’d want, to, be a part of Cowpokes because not every it is a shame but Not every generation is able to pass the business on.
Todd Rimer 30:59
You're very blessed. I forget the percentages, but I think most business owners, when they have children, want to pass it on to their children. The fact that both of your children are in the businesses, that must make you so happy and proud.
Todd Rimer 31:11
I would assume, correct? Absolutely, yeah, so.
Jeff Boone 31:14
If I said no, we would have problems. Yes, true, that's true. I probably,
Todd Rimer 31:18
That was probably a dumb question, right? Sorry about that. You get it. Of course, you're excited, I bet you don't. So, but at what point, because I know, you know I spent a lot of time learning about family businesses and I knew sometimes kids feel pressure, this expectation and some kids don't want to be a part of the business and you got to let them be.
Todd Rimer 31:39
Do you think your kids became part of the business because there was an expectation, or do you just think they just love the businesses? And they knew at a certain age this is what I want to do, I want to do what mom and dad do.
Jeff Boone 31:50
Well, I don't know that our kids really had any choice in the matter. But I will say this, as we had children and as they began to grow and having conversations with other business owners, so many times I got a lot of advice that was this.
Jeff Boone 32:07
Don't pressure your kids into getting into the business. Don t make that their only job. Make them go on, make them to college, live on their own. make them go and take another job someplace else because they're not going to appreciate what they have unless they see how life really is out there in the business world being an employee you know under someone else's under someone else’s fist basically and I thought about that a lot nothing that's right probably right it's probably good advice and I think it still is and I think for a lotta families that has worked and as they've brought their as they brought their children back into the business after they went and did something else there is really I think there's really good evidence that that works really well and I've seen it work well for people but and for us we never we've never really encouraged them to do that you know I mean from the time they were born they were in a car seat one that's or you know whatever you no bassinet or whatever you and they or the car seat carried right out of the truck and thrown into her office yeah and they were they were in there beside her while she was working in the office you know and so we would take them to some of the off -site shows that we would do for cowpokes and you would make a little break room area and we'd shove them in there you or sometimes it'd be right behind the counter and then next thing you they're old enough that they can you know barely standing on a box looking over the register taking money and putting it in you in a registered event or a show or something like that and or my son was you were standing behind a hat counter we're shaping hats and he's doing a little bit of it, and there's something about a seven -year -old shaping hats behind a hat counter that catches people's attention.
Jeff Boone 33:51
But they were basically learning the business as they grew up. And so, I think once we got past a certain point, and I don't know what that age was, but probably somewhere in their early teens for sure, they already expressed, hey, this is stuff that we want to do.
Jeff Boone 34:07
My son said, "Hey, I want to be an auctioneer. I want to do what you do, dad. You know, I like it. Have fun. And so, I mean, the bottom line is we're blessed, right, you know to have that. And I know of so many business owners that don't have a family member coming in to take over what they work so hard to build.
Jeff Boone 34:25
And sometimes it's multiple generations. And there's this there is this void and they're going we have nobody to take over this business. That's our family. And I think that's painful to them. And I'm so glad we are not in that position.
Todd Rimer 34:38
you know as I hear you describe all that thing that really struck me was you know here we are talking about work -life balance it sounds like the reason you're able to continue to maintain that is your kids grew up in the business they probably share the same values sure see the world you know a lot of same perspectives you guys share a lot at the a of the thing mentalities right so I'm assuming that because of that, because you are in same world looking at things the same way going about your day in similar ways that probably and again keeping in mind the dinner together it sounds like you guys are just kind of in step with one another which probably helps maintain that work -life balance now they're older right you, guys, are all kind of living the same lifestyle and even now not just back then.
Jeff Boone 35:23
Yeah we're we really are and they may disagree but I feel as if we are all in -step together and I think it shows you know I I think it shows I mean, we hear we here customers tell us, you know, that they see these things that They see the fact that we, to them, You know it everything looks like it runs very smooth, you know from the outside looking in, and we all know as business owners that that's not always the case, sometimes looks like a total train wreck on the inside.
Jeff Boone 35:54
It feels like that. feels like this. So, you know but I think I think if everybody is in sync and everybody's you know, following each other's steps. I think that it does, it does look smooth. It does work well.
Jeff Boone 36:09
And that ultimately is what you're after, right? Is that you want that for us, and we talk about this a lot, It's about the experience, we want our customers, is our customers come into our business or part of our businesses, whether it's walking into the cow post for the first time, or it comes to one of her auctions, that, at the end of the day that that experience and they can walk away and say, wow, that was cool, you know, or, they did a fantastic job.
Jeff Boone 36:34
They did a great job, and they'll compare, right? They'll compare to other stores, compared to other auction businesses. And we, again, as part of our goal that we try to embed into the kids' heads and we still talk about to this day all the time, how do we get better?
Jeff Boone 36:51
How can we be better at everything that we do? Because ultimately what that's going to do is deliver a high -end and experience for their customers.
Todd Rimer 37:00
Yeah, yeah, I like that. Okay, well, work -life balance, big subject, important subject. We could probably sit here for hours getting insights and perspectives from you and still not cover everything, right?
Todd Rimer 37:12
And you have a lot of differences, there are probably a lotta books and everything and blogs and everything written on it, but I appreciate you sharing your personal experience. But I've asked you some questions.
Todd Rimer 37:23
Like to give you an opportunity to just speak freely. So, my last question for you would be if you were to give advice to other Family business owners particularly those who have children, maybe What piece of advice would you give them?
Todd Rimer 37:39
What would be the best advice? To maintain or at least approach a family, you know work -life balance.
Jeff Boone 37:47
This is probably this piece. Of advice will probably catch a lot of people off -guard and it's probably not what you normally hear when you're listening to the podcast or you reading books or you trying to research the subject right about business but my single piece of advice is to have God in your life and I'll tell you why just briefly but if you've got God the center of your life, and you believe in the things that he says, if you believed the thing in the Bible, if you believe that Christ is your savior, and you begin to develop that faith, you're going to find that you are going do what God asked you to do, which is to pray.
Jeff Boone 38:29
Pray about everything. Worry about nothing. There are so many things to worry about in business. So many, so many things to worry about. You can worry yourself to death in the business, in fact, most of the time you probably won't even get started in a business because you'll be afraid to take that first step.
Jeff Boone 38:43
Be afraid of failing. Yeah. And you pray about everything, and you ask him to turn things over to him. Say hey, give me the guidance You know Help me with these decisions Help, me, with every aspect of the business and, you can pray, about, everything you, want to pray of anything any small detail you know He's there to listen and You'd be amazed at how, many of those prayers get answered you'd, be, amazed how Just with sometimes just within minutes sometimes it stays sometimes those, prayers never come true but there's a reason why they don't, right?
Jeff Boone 39:16
And then soon you start to realize that these are the things that I should focus on. And these things I think he wants me to do. You start living your life in that way. And if you live your live that that you're going to begin to live your business that way and things will change just dramatically and drastically when you accept the fact that you are not in charge, there's that ultimate power and there are things he wants for you and he wants you to be successful and he want you do well and he wanted you to touch other people and so we found that that's the one single thing in our lives take business and set that aside but just our lives in general that has the biggest impact and it's there's a sense there is an overwhelming sense of peace that comes with all of that because you know when it is all said and done it's going to be just fine.
Jeff Boone 40:13
It's all going to work out. We talk about that all the time. There's a problem. What's, okay, there's problem, great. Okay, fine, let's...it's going to work out. They'll be fine." You know, and you can start your day with prayer, try to do that.
Jeff Boone 40:25
You close your date with prayer. Try to do that but he wants us to address these things during the day, all at the time and so that's it. I mean that is the one piece of advice. If you've got him there, you know no matter what happens to your business, you’re going to be fine.
Jeff Boone 40:41
And ultimately, you've got that peace of mind that there's eternity, right? And that's where we ultimately are going to end up and we're all going to speak to God at some point So we can do it now or we could wait and do a later but you know, that is where peace comes from and that it's going to help your business more than anything else
Todd Rimer 40:59
Do you find it? Forgive me. I just want to ask you a question. Do I think balance is a mindset, It's not just a practice, it's a mindset. Do you feel that your Christ -centered lifestyle, does that give you a certain level of peace where you're able to be more discerning and you are able make better decisions?
Todd Rimer 41:19
You know, sometimes we can get real emotional and we get really hyped up and not be as focused and if we start looking at more of the problem and the solution, do you find that, do find your faith and finding, do think that plays a big part in your ability to have that balance in your life and make those decisions that actually impact your life in those around you, would you say that's the case?
Todd Rimer 41:43
100%. Yeah.
Jeff Boone 41:45
That's, that it has, you know, it, and it's grown, right? And so, I don't want people to think that, just, boom, yeah, no, I'm not a believer in tomorrow. I want to be able to, yes, that happens. But I think that our faith grows over a period.
Jeff Boone 42:00
And I am so blessed that not only Lynette, but both of our kids and Caleb as well, Mackenzie's husband, are very deeply rooted in faith. In fact, at a much younger age, you know, they started that at much younger than I did.
Jeff Boone 42:20
And even though my grandfather was an extremely faithful man, that's where it really took a lot of his business ethics and things because he was a strong follower of Christ. But I probably didn't hold that level of faith like I do now.
Jeff Boone 42:35
I know I didn’t. And so, it’s been a growing learning experience. So yeah, it helps me make better decisions so that there’s less conflict. These are directions in my mind that God wants me to go. And so, if he's in control, he is driving this truck.
Jeff Boone 43:00
I'm just along for the ride.
Todd Rimer 43:03
You keep sharing the stuff that makes me want to ask you another question. You must stop giving me these great answers. I heard you mentioned that your kids have the same faith. And I think it's true that they share a lot of the values and principles that you do.
Todd Rimer 43:19
You can't help but in a family business, and I know this is not directly related to the topic we have today, but something you said made me think of the word legacy, right? So I just want to just spend a moment on that because I think it's an important word for family business owners, especially Yes, Cal Post is successful and you want that business to continue auction and everything but you mentioned I Don't want to speak for you.
Todd Rimer 43:42
I'm going to ask you a question. Would you say that that balances that peace that you have through your faith and passes that on to your children who now live out that same faith in that same balance in their life.
Todd Rimer 43:57
Would you say that's your greatest legacy or would you define it a different way?
Jeff Boone 44:02
I'm just kind of really, I hate defining my own legacy. I hope that hope, that that is what somebody says about me when I am gone, right? So my grandfather when he passed, we never used the word legacy around him when he was alive ever I mean that I can think of it was when he passed that we started using the word legacy and said wow look what this guy left behind you know he started he started from nothing as a you know trading livestock and farming you know long time ago and he built he went out in his whole cattle pasture and he uh started throwing some gates and old farm equipment out there and next thing you knew he was having auctions out there and then he conducted thousands and thousands of auctions during his lifetime and he touched so many people and I would have people coming up to me all the time after he passed he said you're not going to believe what he did for me you know you wouldn't believe the things that he did from me and how he led me to Christ he didn't even realize it you know and How he Touched so Many People and all of a sudden we were talking about that's his legacy, right?
Jeff Boone 45:10
He had such a positive impact on so many people that I don't know that. I'll have that same positive. Impact. Hope I do. But, you know, I would hope that if you're, if, kind of looking into the future, that somebody would say that the legacy was exactly that that he, he touched a lot of people and he helped them.
Jeff Boone 45:31
And, um, you know he is a faithful follower and it's something that I that that person would want to emulate. That's something, that, person, would, want, to take and even grow even further. And I hope that those, those things that we talk about, bolsters the faith of others.
Jeff Boone 45:47
Gives them the courage to, to maybe do some things, a little better in their life and then to eventually reach out and touch more people. I just think it, I think if we have God in our lives, this, if everybody did, this world will be an awesome place, right?
Jeff Boone 46:02
You know, we wouldn't have the crime. We wouldn't have divorces. A lot of the mental stress. The stress, you know. We would not have all these problems that we have. And so, when we took it out of the schools, when we took out the government, took God's word out, the commandments out there, everything went downhill, and it’s just so obvious.
Jeff Boone 46:24
There’s tons and tons of evidence out there that shows it and proves it. And yet for some reason we don't go back to that and say here's the fix. This is it; this is the fix, This Is the single fix of everything in the world.
Jeff Boone 46:41
But you know it's God's plan and it so we'll ride this thing out.
Todd Rimer 46:47
Awesome. It sounds like, so you don t really think of the word legacy. You just do your thing every day. Yeah. But it does sound like it sounds like your focus on being just the best man you can be every day.
Todd Rimer 46:59
The best Christian, the best husband, The Best Father, and the Best Employer. I mean, you're just trying to... We're talking about work -life balance here, so maybe I'm stretching it here. But it sounds like you wake up every day just, how can I be the person that can beat a day?
Todd Rimer 47:13
How can I influence other people? I can make other peoples' lives better. And to me, doing that probably creates a healthy day and healthy balance.
Jeff Boone 47:22
Those are the things that I pray about and now how good I am at it. I don't know You know; I feel like I fail a lot in those respects. I mean, I’m human and I make a lotta mistakes. I'm just saying that that's who I lean on.
Jeff Boone 47:35
That's who I lean the most and hope that I hope each day that i make improvement.
Todd Rimer 47:44
Awesome. Before we end, I want to make sure people are interested in learning more about Cowpokes Work and Western visit cowpokesonline.com And you can learn about Jeff Boone Auction really at JeffBooneAuctions.
Todd Rimer 48:01
Com Jeff, I'm assuming you're not a LinkedIn guy or anything like that or a Facebook guy. Is there anywhere they can go to learn more about you personally?
Jeff Boone 48:10
You know, give me a call. My phone numbers are out there, and you could reach me if someone ever Or is looking for advice, I'm happy to give it what good it might be in business or life, whatever it may be.
Jeff Boone 48:25
I love to talk obviously, building relationships, so I am always open to having discussions and talking with anybody. I mean I've got pretty much an open door and a lot of people know that. Some people might not, but no I do, and I enjoy that so reach out no matter what, send email or give me a call on my cell phone I'll be happy to talk and pretty cool yeah but I I say it's been a real pleasure working with you as well we didn't talk about element 212 and what you guys have done with our business you know the cowpokes in particular and in the branding and the marketing has been it has a really good relationship and I really appreciate you bringing me on here to the podcast I've never done one before it was my first one so it been fun and it had been kind of digging in a little deeper into my life and some of the things with our family and how they're all associated so I appreciate you bringing me on.
Todd Rimer 49:19
Appreciate that. I will say to add on that thank you very much for saying that I think the reason we started focusing on family -owned businesses is because we just realized that those were the clients we enjoy to work with the most we I don't you know it's interesting we all come from different backgrounds different generations but one of things I see in family owned businesses is there seems to be a, it's strange, no matter what walk of life, where you came from, the values and the principles seem to very similar, why we do what we and we enjoy working with cowpokes.
Todd Rimer 49:52
And one of the things I said to you, I'd love to have you on for a future podcast, to talk about how your values, and principles, and what you believe in, what stand for are intertwined into your business.
Todd Rimer 50:02
I know cowpoke is more than just selling merchandise, right? I knew it was a lifestyle that you're proud of, Sure that you got into because of a passion, and I love but I you know in working with you all these years It is evident that cow post is more than just a store There's you know You could use there's an experience for sure and your values and principles are felt throughout.
Todd Rimer 50:21
So, Love having you as a client Love happening to family businesses as clients because it's just more fun It's easier because we have a common understanding and a coming belief. It started. I'm a cool thing.
Todd Rimer 50:34
That is So yes, but good you have a good work -life balance. So, if someone does call you You'll have time right? I'll make it if we're at the very least. If you Have to if he started getting a flooded call, you can be like Mark Wahlberg and just give it four in the morning and exercise Six or seven carefully now.
Todd Rimer 50:51
Yeah, I didn't care. That's right. Well, listen Jeff. Thank you for being here today. Thanks for sharing your personal perspectives, personal experiences, and personal insights. And again, I've said this multiple times, forgive me to those of you who are listening, But I do think this is an extremely important topic and I think you've given us a lot to think about. So, thank you very much Jeff.
Todd Rimer 51:10
Thanks again.
