From Combat To Commerce: The J.R. Spear Story

A childhood spent sweeping mats and teaching adults at age ten forged a voice that wouldn’t wait its turn. Then came the hard lefts: a high school spiral, a grandmother who parked at a recruiter’s office and wouldn’t budge, a Navy path that led to serving chaplains with the Marines, and a blast in Iraq that changed everything. JR Spear came home with scars, a renewed faith, and a determination to build a life that served his family and his calling.

We dig into how he rebuilt from zero as a first-time business owner, failing fast until a mentor handed him a simple blueprint: run micro one-day events, deliver real value, and make clear tiered offers. One workshop closed over $270,000 in contracts and flipped his beliefs about sales and structure. From there he scaled boot camps across multiple states without paid ads, relying on consistent events and a follow-up system that prioritized people over pressure. JR breaks down the inputs that matter—offer design, event flow, retention vs acquisition cadence—and how to keep momentum when you don’t have a big audience.

Equally powerful is his approach to relationships. Networking, he says, isn’t a hunt, it’s hospitality. Bring three gifts to every conversation: a referral, a resource, or an invite. That simple practice turns strangers into friends and friends into partners. Threaded through it all is his creed—commitment, resilience, excellence, execution, discipline—and a faith that reshaped his marriage, leadership, and sense of peace. If you’re ready to grow with integrity, this story gives you a playbook for micro events, service-first networking, and staying grounded when success arrives.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Meet JR Spear
• 1:54 Martial Arts Childhood And Early Leadership
• 6:59 Trouble, Wake-Up Call, And Grandma’s Ultimatum
• 11:14 Navy Boot Camp And Switch To RP
• 18:15 Iraq, Injury, And Choosing Family
• 22:00 Starting A Business With Old-School Hustle
• 26:15 The $270K Event And Offer Stacking
• 31:35 Scaling Bootcamps With Micro Events
• 35:25 Faith Shift And Lasting Transformation

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:57

Welcome back to the all-purpose power for an all-purpose life, where we are and how we are listening to one-on-one with Mr. U. Thanks again for making us part of your week in studio with us today. I'm really excited about this man. JR Spear, business consultant, author, founder of Free Consulting, and founder of the Business Leaders Network. JR in the building. How are you, sir? I'm good. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it, Mr. Yu. Pleasure is mine, man. Glad to have you here, man. I'm excited about kind of getting into some uh awesome conversation with you. Uh, we always start our show off customarily. We're asking you about your childhood, your background. If it's messy, we can handle it. No worries, share whatever you want to share. Let's know where you come from, man. What life like you is young, young JR?

SPEAKER_00: 1:37

Yeah, so I have a very uh different lifestyle than most people because I grew up in the entrepreneur world. My mom always owned a martial arts school out of St. Louis, Missouri. And so my my entire life was like literally going to school, then hang out at the martial arts school. And I've been I've been training since I could walk, so you know, young age, probably two or whatever it is, three years old, and just kind of grew up in it. And I didn't know anything different. And I I remember when I was a very when I was really young, I was probably like eight years old, nine years old. And uh I asked my mom, I said, Hey, how come I don't play any sports? And she goes, Well, you do, you do karate, you do martial arts. And I said, That's not a sport, everyone does martial arts. And she goes, Well, no, it is a sport. And I I did like as I when I was seven, I started playing football, and then when I got uh the third or fourth grade, I started playing ice hockey and stuff like that. But at that time, I just thought it was like a lifestyle. I thought everyone did martial arts, like who doesn't do martial arts? Because that's all I knew. We would be living in it, we'd be sleeping in there, we'd be cleaning the mats and training, and it was just a family atmosphere, and that really showed me a lot of developed me for who I am today because I've been teaching classes since I was probably nine or 10 years old by myself, like leading big groups of adults by myself, and I don't know anything different. And so learning public speaking, learning how to lead people, learning how to you know take control and demand a class and do and telling grown men when I'm this young little kid, hey, do this, do that, kick this way. And I was really good at that. And even when I was in middle school and high school, I was very fortunate where I would travel to other schools in my area. I mean, in St. Louis County where I grew up, there's a lot of schools. I mean, it's overly populated. There was probably like, I don't know, five, six high schools within a 20, 30 minute radius of where I lived or whatever. And so I would travel to different schools and take over a class for the whole day and teach about awareness or self-defense or something about that that uh that style that can help the the everyday person. And of course, I did this with my mother, but a lot of times she would come there and then I would just take it over. And I just had that type of presence. Now I do got four sisters, so I'm I'm the only boy. I grew up in a house of five women. Unfortunately, my my parents divorced when I was three years old, and so it was it was a very rough childhood from that standpoint, but I didn't know that it was rough because that's all I knew. Like I didn't know that we grew up lower class citizens because my mom just always made sure we were taken care of that we were always fed and we were very nurtured and loved and and had all those different things. But uh, you know, I I like any child, you know, I went through rough patches hanging out the wrong crowds, doing dumb things, and got me in a lot of trouble. And and uh I walked, I walked away from my faith, you know, with with Jesus when I was in high school, and not saying I ever lost my faith, I just started not caring, had this mentality thinking like, oh, Jesus will forgive me later. You know, we're we're tight like that. You know, I could go smoke the pot and you know, he'll forgive me later or whatever like that. But it led me down a really dark road. And I ended uh I didn't know where I was gonna be growing up or what I was gonna do. And so, you know, one time it got really bad, and I ended up getting handcuffed and having to go go to jail, and and uh it was just an overnight thing, it wasn't anything crazy, so it was just an overnight thing, but it was definitely a wake-up call and then getting fired from jobs, losing my license, couldn't drive. And so there was one day that I was a junior in high school, and uh my grandma was there or came over to my house. She was a huge piece of my upbringing in my and growing up. She came over and I said, Hey grandma, you know, I I don't I can't drive and I don't have a job. I got fired for my job and I need I need some money. Can you take me to some pawn shops so I can sell some of my stuff, make some money, pay off some of my warrants and my tickets that I gotta pay off? And so she did. I loaded up the car. It was early in the morning. We're driving down Limburg Boulevard in South County in St. Louis, Missouri. And she pulls around a shopping center, and I I look up and and it's the recruiter's office for the military. And I was like, hey, I was like, grandma, why are we here? She goes, she she's like, get your ass on my car and don't come back until you sign up for the military for a branch. I don't care what service. I sat there and I was like, you know, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not gonna say no to my grandma. So I knew that was always that was that was like on the plate. I'm not saying no to my grandma, but what branch am I gonna sign up for? So I'm going through my head, I was like, okay, I don't want to go to the Air Force because I just had a stigma about them. I was like, okay, I'm not smart enough. And then I would never go to the army just because I felt like anyone could do the army, but then I didn't want to go to the Marine. Wow. Well, this is my thought process of the time, and I didn't want to go to the Marine Corps because they just worked too hard. And my uncle, he was a Marine, and my grandfather was retired 22 years Navy. I was like, okay, I'll go do what my grandpa did and went in the Navy. And and I signed up with the same job my grandpa did because I uh you know, I graduated high school with a 1.2 GPA. I wasn't the brightest kid. I bear they only gave me a diploma because they knew I was going to the military. But uh, but when I signed up, I I went in, did my ASVAB, didn't have a lot of choices. So I just did what my grandpa was was which was an aviation boatsman handler and uh it's a fuel man, a purple jacket on a on a ship. Fortunately, I never even experienced that job because you know, from the time that my girl I signed up that day until I went in. So I was like 17, I was still a junior in high school. You know, God really transformed my life. He grabbed my heart. I got plugged into church shortly after. I got plugged into a different community. I and you know started doing the right things and and seeking the Lord and just really found this heart and this love for worship. And I I was always into music, and you know, you can kind of see a guitar in the background. But I record and play music now, and it just it's something that it's been really uh a passion and desire of mine, just a hunger. And it started around that that same time frame. And so I got plugged into the church that that I was at that my mom was going to, met some awesome people, and actually a few of them are still some of my closest friends today, and that and I was what 17, 18 at that time. End up going on a missions trip. And then when I went to boot camp in uh October of 2003, right after I graduated in in 2003, went on missions trip out of high school, then went to the military boot camp shortly after. And when I was in boot camp, I I knew I didn't want to do this aviation boatmates thing, but I found out about this job as being an RP and it was a religious program specialist. And as an RP, our only job is primarily to provide security for the chaplain during time of combat because chaplains are non-combatants, they can't even carry weapon for defense. And so they had someone like that for me uh to be able to do it. Now, here's here's the cool thing was was when I was in boot camp, you know, my my entire personality, my entire life changed. And I was like, I don't want to go, I don't want to be in the Navy. I was like, I I want to switch over to the Marine Corps, and I I'll never forget there. We have about 75 or more people in my company, and we're all standing at the edge of our racks one day and at attention stance, and our drill instructor comes down and he's this tall guy, bald, I don't even remember his name, bald guy, uh coming in there really mean, just like always a frown on his face, and just always means business. I broke ranks and I walked out in the middle floor, stood in front of him, and I said, uh, you know, hey petty officer, how can I switch over to the Marine Corps? Because you know, this is this is too easy and not what I expected in front of everyone. He didn't say anything to me. He looked down at me, did an about face, and walked away. And I was like, What? I was being serious because at that time I didn't know how the military branches worked. You know, I I thought the Marine Corps is a department of the Navy. Why can't I just go to the Marine Corps and and switch? I didn't realize that they each have your own separate contract that you're with them, you had to fulfill it and stuff like that. And so, you know, I got I had a little talk about it for my senior chief, and he kind of chewed me out a little bit. It's like you can't do that. And I was like, okay, sorry, I didn't didn't really know. I was just young, innocent, and ignorant. And uh, but I found out about this job as an RP while I was in boot camp when I would go to like chapel on Sundays. And as an RP, you can actually serve on the green side. They call you an FMF RP, Fleet Marine Force. You could serve on the Marine Corps side uh as an RP. And uh the only other job that you could do with the Marine Corps is a corpsman. I was like, I don't like needles, I don't want to deal with that. No, I don't want to be in the medic. So I found out about the RP. I ended up getting my my job MOS switched over and ended up spending my whole time with uh the Marines and loved it ever since. I mean, uh I I had every intention of making a career and and staying in for my full 20, but I I did four years and out uh and you know, mainly because I had a really bad experience in Iraq in 2006, 2007, where on February 7, 2007, I survived a suicide bombing at a walking checkpoint in Barwana, Iraq, where a guy killed himself about seven feet from me. And even today, my whole body on my right side is still pretty messed up. I get like I have TBI, I have tinnanitis, my right arm's not uh I I live with pain 24-7 in my back. And wow, it's it just really, really messed me up. And and I still could have stayed in because I have all my limbs and I could have could have done whatever. So I didn't get medically discharged, but it definitely woke me up. It was like, okay, do I want to do this again? And and at this time, you know, I met my wife, uh, who was my girlfriend at the time when I was stationed in Quanica, Virginia in 2004, and I was like, you know, I think having a family is more important to me than than risking my life like this every day. And uh I I didn't know I was gonna come back alive. I I remember so many days being over the sandbox to just tell myself that you know what, this is it. I I just I just know that I'm gonna I'm I'm I'm gonna die over here. And so because I was like when that happened, I was getting seeing bombs after bombs and you know, people get injured and hurt all the time. And I was like, you know, just a matter of time before it happens to me. And uh luckily I ended up coming back on you know on May 31st, we got back from deployment, and then I ended up getting discharged July 10th that same year, and that's where I started my first business in 2007. So it's been it's been quite the journey, but you know, a lot of everything that I went through from childhood to the military had shaped me to the leader and to do the things I am today. Because if I wouldn't have been able to do what I do today if I didn't go through all the experiences that I went through before, and it's really helped develop me as a leader, as an entrepreneur, as you know, just just the all all-around individual of who I am. So I'm very grateful for that.

SPEAKER_01: 12:51

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, yeah. To a degree, I understand like I've seen it before, but it wasn't in my family particularly, but I saw that. How did what was your mindset coming from a family of entrepreneurs then going into the military where you're not able to really work out that entrepreneurship legacy that you had going on in your family and then come back to it afterwards? Tell me what the thought pattern was like, okay, you know what? I watched my family do this all these years, which is all that I know, and I'm going to a place where I don't have basically any control like I would as an entrepreneur, and I'm basically under authority. Tell me what your mindset was, tell me honest thoughts once you found out that you were not only after you enlisted, but when you were actually in it, and you know what? You were basically separated from your previous entrepreneurship life. What were your thoughts, J? How how were you feeling about this? What were you going? What was going on with you? How are you feeling about this?

SPEAKER_00: 13:44

I was always in trouble, even in the military. So, and it and it was always because I felt like I had to be in control. And uh, and I was a good team player, I knew how to be in ranks, I knew how to play the game and the system and stuff like that. But you know, a lot of a lot of that thought process of like, oh wait, I get to do what I want when I want. I mean, I was always mission focused, so it's like, okay, I want to do this, so I'm gonna go do it, but I forget protocol a lot of times because I'm just an action taker where it's like, okay, you know what, I'm just gonna go do it, get it done, and whatever. And then find out it's like, oh, well, you got to do this first before you could do that, and you have to check out here before you can go do that. And so I always found myself in trouble. And and you know, I look back and I'm like, man, I was such a dumb kid, even while I was in the military. And I'm like, if I if I would have just followed a lot of the systems of protocol, I wouldn't have gotten as much trouble. I mean, just more wisdom that I have now. I got more gray hair, more bald spots in different areas of my face, and you look good, man.

SPEAKER_01: 14:37

Stop it.

SPEAKER_00: 14:38

Come on, yeah. But it just, you know, I I look back and I'm like, man, I I wish that I knew then what I know now. And I know we always hear that, but it's true. And because back then, JR knew no wrong. Like, I was always right on everything that I that I did. And I'm like, I was wrong on almost everything. And I was like, I wish I was a little bit smarter than, you know, when I came back from from Iraq, and and I remember walking, I walk with my wife, and and she was asking, so like, so what do you want to do? And I was like, you know, I don't know. I like I don't want to get a job, like I don't want to work for anyone. And I got and so I was like, Well, I guess I can teach martial arts. I don't know anything about business, uh, but I knew how to teach, and I knew how to teach really well because I trained Marines and sailors while I was active duty in the military as well in their math training. And I taught at martial arts schools in every city of where I was stationed at. I would go to like local place and take over classes and teach and stuff. So I always kept that up. And so I I started a martial arts school in St. Louis, and uh and I was an utter failure in the beginning. Like I was barely making$500 to a thousand dollars a month and able to keep the lights on, and I I was bad, and I didn't know what I was gonna do. So I I mean, I I had some savings from when I was deployed in the military, so I was living on that, living on credit cards. Now, granted, I wasn't married at this time, so there was really nothing, no one depended on me but me. So that that helped out quite a bit, and I was always a hustler. We're like, I always found odd jobs and things I can do. It's like, okay, let me go make an extra$1,000 doing whatever. So I always found something to do. But what ultimately changed for me, you know, was stepping to the entrepreneur entrepreneur world was hiring a coach, and I didn't know anything about the coaching world. I was like, you to for you to learn something, I thought you had to go to college, which I was going to school at the time too. I I I actually registered for Bible college in St. Louis uh while I was in Iraq to make sure I had a good transition. And I only did Bible school for one semester and realized I could do worship leading and ministry without a degree. So I ended up after one semester, I ended up switching to a business degree and got my bachelor's in business. And so, but I thought for you to learn anything, you had to go to college. You had to go to school. And then my mom at the time uh introduced me to this uh this mastermind organization for martial artists called Maya. It was martial arts industry association through Century Martial Arts, which anyone that knows martial arts, Century is like one of the biggest vendors for martial arts equipment and gear, but they also had Maya, which was their consulting program. And they used to, I don't think they do it anymore, but they used to host the the super show every year in Vegas, which was really cool. And uh I ended up joining them, and my coach Mike Metzger at the time changed my life. He showed me three things that transformed my life and my business, and ultimately the same principles as what I still do today. And it was how to host one-day events, how to create messages, how to create offers, and how to sell those offers at the events. And I come from very much old school martial arts where you know people pay 50 bucks a month. There's no we're anti-contract everything, you don't get anyone locked in because it there's that that sense of if they want to come, you just serve them well and you you teach them all that they'll just keep coming back. Yeah, well, in today's society, that doesn't work, and people have a hard time commitment, people have a hard time showing up. So little Johnny gets sick during the holidays or whatever, like that, and we hope that they come back. And if they don't come that month, we don't get paid. Family goes on vacation, we don't get paid. Soccer season starts, we don't get paid. And so, so it was a really hard way to do to to run a business. But when he showed me, Mike showed me how to create these uh agreements and these contracts, he was like, We got to create a black book club program and a master's club program. And I was like, What is that? Well, blackbelt club was it was three programs there's a basic program, black book club, and master's club. And the basic and the black the basic program was a 12-month program. Edward starts on the basic program, blackbelt club and master's club was a three-year program. And it was it was learning how to stack offers with different value and determine which program that they actually uh got into. And so I created this. I was sweating, I was like, this ain't gonna work. I was uncomfortable. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't want to sell anything. I was like, because I didn't have the belief myself that anyone's gonna be locked. I was like, I'm not, I would never pay for a 12-month contract or a 36-month contract. So why would anyone else? So I I had to get over myself and change my own belief for who I was as a business owner, not as a martial arts, but as a business owner. And so when I when I had to shift my own belief, I was like, you know what? I'm paying you a lot of money. I was like a thousand bucks a month or whatever it was, ten thousand a year. I forget what I paid for the for Mike to work with them. But you know, I was like, I'm paying for you, I'm gonna trust the process. So that's what I did. I trusted the process. We created these programs, I hosted my very first event. There was no social media at this time, so it was all guerrilla marketing to get people there. Buying flyers, going door to door. I put them on cars and and parking lots, and I was I was a hustler, man. And I got like 20, 30 kids there, and it was it was a packed house. I mean, tons of energy, super exciting. Uh, everyone had a blast and a great time. And then it came to the time to sell. Finish the event. I take the parents to the back room and I'm handing them these papers. I am sweating, I'm like beat red, I have sweat dripping down, I'm out of breath, not from yelling at the kids just because I'm like almost having an anxiety attack, thinking, like, what are these people gonna say? And I kid you not, I walked away with more than$270,000 in new contract sales from that one event. That's amazing. And that changed my life, man. That changed everything, and that's where light bulbs went off. I was like, wow, if I could do that here, I wonder if I can do this again. So I started doing events every month. I did two events every month. I did a paid event and a free event, one for retention and one from generating revenue. Every single month, I would do two events, and that exploded my business quick. And then I ended up selling the business after a few years and started uh outdoor group fitness called PowerFit Bootcamp, implemented the same process, my one-day events. We moved to Virginia in 2016, and uh, well, let me say this in my boot camp business, less than 18 months. I expanded to four cities you utilizing this process. So I was the biggest boot camp at St. Louis, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, had more than 50 locations and 30 instructors working for me by only doing this process. No social media, no paid ads, only one day events. And then I uh end up closing it down when we moved to Virginia in 2016. Started my consulting business, and I'm still doing the same process today. I travel all over the country. I'm hosting one day workshops, events, networking things, retreats all the time. I was just an Omaha. Last week, a couple weeks before that was in Florida. I got another one playing in Florida and Tampa in January uh 2026. And so I'm I'm doing what I what I teach. And this is what I teach I want to do. This is what I still do myself. And it's my my core offer for what how I uh help people start growing scale their businesses through these micro in-person one-day event experiences.

SPEAKER_01: 21:47

Yeah, I love that. I want to get a little bit more about your network and view of networking and what you've been doing with workshops and everything. But I want to ask you a question about what you said earlier. You were talking about how you kind of uh had an attitude change about your faith. I love to hear what that looked like and and how it's changed because I know I know I hear a lot of people who have testimonies and stories about what they happened to them, but what I really hear is the change that took place. What's different now than what happened before, you know, in your life. How did how did it actually change you? So you talked about the attitude change you had about your faith. Kind of get into that a little bit briefly for me if you if you don't mind sharing that again.

SPEAKER_00: 22:26

Yeah, well, if you want to go deeper, I mean I'll never forget like it was during a Christmas time frame and when I was 17 years old, and I was uh I was at church and well, October time frame. So it was during Oktoberfest, the church that my my mom and my family went to, they put this huge thing on where they bring like the rides and games and activities. They it was huge. I mean, there would be thousands of kids there. I mean, it was a pretty big deal. And I came there with a sack of weed in my pocket, and I was probably stoned even when I was there. And I met a girl, and I was like, whoa, it was a cute blonde chick. And I was like, man, I gotta get to know her. And I I'm I'm a very bold individual. I went up and talked to her even at that that age, and and her name was Elizabeth, and we ended up being good friends uh you know for a long time, and we're still Facebook friends, I but I haven't seen her talk to her for probably 20 plus years, and and but it was it was funny how God works because I ended up meeting her, and she introduced me to a bunch of people at that church that kept inviting me back to church, and I was like, these guys seem pretty cool, like they're down to earth and they want to play sports, and it just it's cool how God really captured my heart and really shifted naturally without me forcing it. And uh she was one at a time. Well, so so this girl, Elizabeth, she uh she probably doesn't even know it, but I I asked her for her number and she's like, I'm homeschooled. And at this time there was no cell phones. She was and so she wouldn't give me her house numbers. Like, no, my my parents don't like me giving out my number and stuff like that. And I think she's younger, me, probably one or two years. And I was like, Hey, cool. Well, when are you coming back to church? She goes, Oh, well, I'll be here for the Friday service. You should come. I said, Cool, where are you gonna sit at? So I showed up Friday, went to where she was sitting at, and she wasn't there. And I was like, crap, okay. But the people that I met there, a guy named Josh, Eric Saventon, who is still a close friend of mine today, and um I met this whole group and I ended up hanging out with them. And it's cool how God can really take a situation to really start planting seeds to grow. And so I start going week after week. We end up going like two or three times a week. So I'll be there on Wednesday night youth and Friday services with my with them and Sunday morning, and it was during a Christmas play. I'll never forget I'm I'm sitting on the very it's a it's a pretty big church. I mean, and so I'm over on the far right side, and it's during the the worship session, and I'm with my my buddies, and uh it was at the end of the service, and the pastor was, you know, he did an altar call, and at that time, you know, he would call people up, raise their hand, and sometimes they'll come up to the front of the service or not. And there's probably three or five thousand people during this church service. And only thing I remember is I'm standing on the right side, and it's during worship, and I opened my eyes, I'm standing up there in the front with Pastor Jeff in front of the entire congregation. I'm like, how in the heck did I end up up here? And it the only thing I can really say is like the Holy Spirit really grabbed me and transformed me that life. And then I was confused because when I was leaving church, I go in my pocket and I had like a sack of weed in my pocket. And then so I ended up throwing it away in the trash can right outside, and I had no desire ever to do it again. The friends that I was hanging out with, it was like they never even called me, they never even checked up to see where I was at. And it was like, God removed all those people out of my lives, and I wasn't even it wasn't even forced. It was like, okay, you know, these are people I'm hanging out with every day, and now none of them even had a care knowing of where I am, what I'm doing, or nothing like that. And I really felt a difference inside of me because I'll I'll uh the week later, I'm going to school, and uh you gotta keep in mind, I I I used to skip probably 60, 70 percent of the day. I mean, I I would I wouldn't even never go to school. I would I went to choir and office running and all the all the fun stuff. But I I was I was in occup, I was in choir class and I'm sitting there and there was a kid uh next to me, and I turned and I smiled at him and said, Hey, what's going on? He about jumped out of his seat almost like can because like you're actually being nice to me. Like, what's up? And uh, and at that moment, I never knew how much of bitterness and angry, anger that I had over me, or maybe I was a bully and didn't even realize I was being a bully, and just how much God really transformed me to show his love towards other people, and it just happened overnight. And I that that feeling of hatred, I didn't really carry it with me anymore. That feeling of like, you know what, where I'm frowned up like this all the time, where just never happy, it just was gone. And just no, just going out there and just really serving and wanting to love people and care for people the way that God created them to be was very different, and and that's where the transformation truly happened in my life. And no, I've I've had ups and downs over the years. I mean, gosh, even I just came out of big darkness with me and my wife and my family just a few years ago. And the enemy, the when I say the enemy, I mean the devil, but the the enemy really wants to come steal, kill, and destroy anything that God wants to has his footprint on. And he wanted to destroy our marriage, and he was he was he was there. I asked my wife for divorce and separation, all these different things. And and she started, and when I when I asked her for that, that was the very first time I ever seen her, you know, beg for me and ask for me to stay. And that's when I felt like the shift. I was like, how did I even get here? And it was it was a crazy time, and it was it wasn't a quick process, but over weeks and months, she was praying for me, like in her in a quiet time. And as she was praying for me, I felt my heart soften. I I learned how to love her again, I learned how to love my kids again. I learned how to be present, I learned how to be a great husband, I learned how to be a spiritual leader, I learned how to be a great father, and not just that, how to lead people and my clients and my team by the grace of God. And, you know, I at this time I put down the guitar for about seven or eight years, and then I started picking it up again. This is like two or three years ago, and that heart for worship started coming back, and that passion, that desire, and just wanting to disciple or just wanting to really further God's kingdom uh through worship and music and discipleship has really that that joy just always came back.

SPEAKER_01: 28:42

So yeah, uh it's a big story. Yeah, it is. I got uh got time for a few more questions. I want to have you answer those briefly. I want to definitely get some of this out of you here, yeah. And I want to come back to one point you made also. You were introduced to me by a mutual friend of ours as the Master of Workshop, which is like a really big title. Yeah, I'm interested because I'm you and I had discussions about doing some things together, some collaborations. I still want to do that. I'm in South Carolina still, you're not here anymore, but we got an opportunity to do some things still. All right, so for me, real briefly, what do you think is your biggest understanding or big biggest takeaway when it comes to networking? We've all done it wrong, we've all done it the wrong way. What's your biggest understanding or biggest takeaway about networking today?

SPEAKER_00: 29:31

About networking. Well, first off, what one thing that I want people to understand when it comes to networking, it goes back to what God calls us to do, and it's really to love others as Christ loved the church. And when you think about that, it's we're we're here to serve other people and each other, expecting nothing in return. That's the key thing, is when people go out there and network, they they always have in the back of their mind this hidden agenda of like, what can I get out of them? What can I get from them? What can I do to you know extract them? What referral? Will they buy my services, whatever it may be? When we need to flip the switch and be like, while we're networking and connecting with people, we need to really find out. I say three things. You need to keep in the back of your pocket uh referrals. So that means you got to network to get to know people. So you need to always get to know more people and expertise for what they do. So you got to have a black book of referrals, you got to have uh, you know, a handbook of resources, but you also got to have an invite to something. Because I look at the invite almost like a barbecue. It's like when, you know, back in the day when we're we're doing, you know, your block party or you're inviting people at your house or whatever like that, it was such an easy invite to something because you're you're bringing people together for community, for collaboration, or just for fun. And when you have something on the couch to invite them to, whether a community, a workshop, a networking thing, an experience event or golfing, whatever it may be, it makes the conversation a lot easier. And so when you are out there networking and connecting with other people, you got to keep in mind that my goal is to serve this person expecting nothing in return. But my mission is to really give them one of those three things in that conversation: a referral, a resource, or an invite to something. When you do that, you're gonna feel like they're gonna, they're gonna look at you as like you're the best person in the world. You're the hero because now you just serve them. And then you just leave it at that. If they want to come and give you something back in return, which more than likely it happens that way, where they were like, man, what do I do for here? Then then be grateful for it. It's a bonus. I hosted an event in Omaha last week. There's a girl there, not qualified to be uh a potential client of mine, but I do this exercise at all my events where I do a round robin, then the speed dating, but I make them work towards giving each person they talk to one of those three things referral, resource, or invite. And so she came running up to me and wanted to talk to me. And when she did, she did exactly that. And she gave me before we got done with the conversation, she already gave me two strong referrals that are on my calendar for this week and one's on next week. And I gave her a referral as well of a very big player that can uh a bit be a good resource for her as well. And and when you do that, now you're building a friend for a life. And when you have more friends, it's not JV partners or referral partners. When you got a friend, friends take care of each other. And when you got a friend, we're all looking out for each other. What do you think she like? I want to do more for her. Hey, you know what? I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for more opportunities that I can send her way. She's gonna do the same for for me. I'm gonna follow up with her, I'm gonna check in with her. Hey, how did this conversation go? Where did it go? What could else what else can I do to serve you or help you with it? And and it kind of snowballs from there. So if you put if you really look at networking as a way of serving the other person, expecting nothing in return, it's the giver's gain. It's really the looking at people as people and not as a transaction. You're gonna your business is gonna grow that much further and better with quality referrals and connections.

SPEAKER_01: 33:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 33:04

All right, we're not gonna have enough time to get into these questions.

SPEAKER_01: 33:07

Your answers are too long, man. It's all good, all right. But I want to talk to you real quickly about relationships because we didn't discuss this during the show so far, but when we first met, I feel like there was a strong poll from you regarding relationships. So I want to ask you, how do you go about establishing and maintaining relationships? Because a lot of people don't think about that kind of stuff, they kind of just think about what you said a few minutes ago. Get what they can get out of the moment and then move on to the next thing. They don't even take the time to appreciate what's actually happening right there in the present. How does JR establish and maintain uh relationships?

SPEAKER_00: 33:45

You know, it's a challenge because you gotta you gotta look at it from like let's take it from a sales standpoint. You gotta have a sales pipeline of where you're gonna put people to, and uh and you have so you have to have something to get people into so you can nurture and build that relationship, even if there's no transaction that ever aspires from it. But so for me, like like for this, and an invite that I would have for you is like I I love doing roundtable interviews where I love to I love to bring proven people, like people that with proven offers to come together, no more than five other people, and then me. We do a round table interview where I give them an opportunity to talk about who they are, what they do, what's working for them. And and through that, we're networking on this call, but that's gonna be on YouTube, it's gonna be on all our socials, we're leveraging each other's networks, and then from there I give them an invite to join my community. And normally I give it as a gift. Hey, you know what? You came on my round table. I value your expertise for what you did. Let me invite you to my paid membership community at no cost, just because I want to keep that relationship going. And then at that point, it allows me to introduce you to some of my clients and my members and and other friends. And that that's one way that I start trying to do it. But just like what you're doing here with podcasting, it's a great way to start that introduction, to get to know people, to make see where that that conversation can lead to next. So that's one way that I do it. But other than that, pipeline.

SPEAKER_01: 35:05

Definitely trying. I love that, man. I love the answer. All right, last two questions here. All right, so briefly describe for me the cost that you had to pay from being somebody who knew it all, overly self-confident, becoming a servant leader. People hear about the transformations all the time and testimonials, people sharing their story, writing books about it, talking about it on their podcast, what have you, but we really hear about the costs. What did you have to lose?

SPEAKER_00: 35:34

You know, the Bible is really the Bible is really clear that we are to die to ourselves and lay down the cross daily. And when I started really seeing, and I'm still struggling with that in areas of my life right now, but when I started looking at that from a standpoint of like, you know, where God is in control and not me, and you really surrender all, there's a different level of peace that surpasses all understanding that covers over us than anything else. God will let us do things on our own. God, and we could be really good at it. We could go out there, build a business, make a lot of money. We could do, you know, have a lot of clients, make a big impact, but at what cost? You're gonna reach burnout, you're gonna hate doing what you're doing, you're gonna, you know, you might make a lot of money, but you're miserable and you're feeling like there's an empty hole inside of you. When you finally say, you know what, I'm done. God, you're in control. If I lose clients, great, but I know that you're gonna, you're the you're the provider of all of my needs. When you do that, there's a certain level of peace that covers over you. And but the thing is we have to lay down it daily because there's so many times where old JR comes out and be like, All right, I need to go get more clients, I need to do this. And I'm like, and I can hustle, I can go get those clients, but then I'm back in that place of stress, hustle, anxiety, overwhelm, and where I'm where you got that worry. And God also says in 2 Timothy 4, 7 that God doesn't give a spirit of fear, but a power, love, and sound mind. And when we really understand the scripture of what he's trying to teach us, it changes everything. And so when I'm looking at the cost, I don't look at as what I lost, I look at what I gained. Did I have to lose a lot of things? Yeah, I had to lose myself. Did I have to lose a lot of clients? Yes, I lost a lot of clients because God's removing the people that don't belong in my community, but he's been bringing the right people that he wants me to serve. And so it's a very different mentality. But the things that I had to lose was myself. And in the end, I gained so much more. Gained more peace, I gained more love, I gained more better clients, I gained better community, I gained a better relationship with my family, my wife, and and my clients. And so there's a lot more that gained, but you know, for me, it I had to lose it all myself and say, Hey, you know what? I'm done, I'm not in control. You are.

SPEAKER_01: 37:39

I love it. You guys are meeting him for the first time, perhaps. JR Spear, business consultant author and the founder of Creed Consulting and the Business Leaders Network. You heard heard a little bit about what he does because, of course, at the end, we'll give his information so you guys can hear more about what he does and perhaps interact with him. Final question for today's show here. This is gonna be a good one. It's always a deep provoking, thought-provoking question. I always ask, okay, theoretically, I'm taking everything you've done up to this point off of the table. That means areas of entrepreneurship where you worked in pre previously, your time in the military, all of your business ventures, theoretically and temporarily off of the table. What do you think JR Spear is likely doing today outside of those things? What do you think he's most likely to be doing right now?

SPEAKER_00: 38:30

Outside of everything that I'm doing currently doing?

SPEAKER_01: 38:33

Yeah, and have done. Can't use anything you've done before. What what what we think is the most natural step for you now?

SPEAKER_00: 38:41

Do you know it's so funny, and it boils down to identity. And God calls me a worshiper, he calls me a worshiper and he calls me a warrior of Christ. And so everything that I do, it needs to glorify his name. And so, whether that's being prepared and ready to pick up that guitar and go and lead other people, and I really truly believe that's what he's called me to do, and he's just using all the other things as just a way to serve and help others. But that's that's what he called me to do today, and where I see that he's taking me till I see him because ultimately our goal and our wish is to hear the the final words well done, my good and faithful servant.

SPEAKER_01: 39:17

I love it, I love it. Thank you for being here JR. I mean, this was a fantastic conversation with you, man. Glad to hear a little bit about your life and how you overcome. And I think it's very inspirational for our listeners and viewers, man. So thank you for being transparent enough to share all that stuff with us today. So before we get out of here, give everybody uh, I guess some instructions. What do you want them to do in regards to finding you? How can they find you? Go ahead and check the last two minutes. Also, along with that, share any thoughts you may have for the listeners and viewers in the audience you may want to share with them. So take the last two minutes to go ahead and do both of those for me.

SPEAKER_00: 39:53

Yeah. So the best way to find me is you know, download my free blueprint for my uh my one-day event conversion blueprint. And all you have to do is go to www.the onedayevent.com. That's the one dayevent.com. Inside of there, I walk you through step by step for how to monetize and uh leverage micro one day events. And then in there, you'll have an opportunity to book a call with me, and then we can chat from there. And the best advice that I would love to give anyone is ask yourself, what is your creed? This is why I named my consulting business creed consulting, because creed stands for commitment, resilience, excellence, execution, and discipline. And so the question I ask is what is that one thing that you're most committed to? That you'll be resilient even through the most difficult times, showing up every day, giving your best, and having that mental and physical discipline to complete your mission. What is your creed? Because most people, our bottleneck is ourselves. And until we can actually be resilient and follow through with what we committed to, it's gonna be a really hard time to get into where we want to go. Most people stop and quit too soon, and so they never see uh that that end result that they were chasing after.

SPEAKER_01: 40:57

I love your brother. Thank you again for jumping on to the show, man. You definitely made the episode fantastic today. Thank you again. Heard how to reach out to JR Spear. We have all the information in the show notes if you guys didn't catch that just now. But thanks again for watching and listening. This is one on one with Mr. You. I'm Mr. You. That's JR Spear. We're out of here. Have a fantastic day. Thanks again.