Episode 1519 Interview with Walker Ferguson Creating Custom Mindfulness For Everyone

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1,

[00:00:03] Walker Ferguson: 519 of the

[00:00:04] Scott Maderer: Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:06] Walker Ferguson: So, I'm Walker Ferguson, and I challenge you to invest in yourself. Invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to keep moving forward is key, and one way to be inspired to do that is listen.

[00:00:26] Listen to this podcast, this amazing podcast. The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my great friend Scott Maderer has been amazing, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be on the show, and I cannot wait to see. How many lives he touches throughout his life.

[00:00:47] Although some of our views may be different and, you know, we definitely think very differently and I think that's a blessing in disguise because. He brings things to the table that I never could and vice versa, and it's a new way of thinking. So I think the most important thing that's really [00:01:00] helped us being open minded, it's not like bashing someone's beliefs or bashing someone for the way they think and really trying to put them, put yourself in their shoes.

[00:01:08] Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, Then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:41] In today's podcast episode, I interview Walker Ferguson. I ask Walker about what caused him to reinvent his self and his identity from being an athlete to becoming an entrepreneur. I also ask Walker how he's bringing custom mindfulness to everyone. And Walker also shares with you what he's faced [00:02:00] and learned as he's navigated reinventing himself.

[00:02:03] I have a great book that's been out for a while now called Inspired Living. Assemble the puzzle of your calling by mastering your time, your talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about that book over at inspiredlivingbook. com. It'll take you to a page where there's information and you can sign up to get some mailings about it as well as purchase a copy there.

[00:02:26] I'd love to see you get a copy and share with me how it impacted your world. Walker is a student athlete and entrepreneur, excelling both on the field as a safety for Wake Forest University and off the field as the co founder of Ascend, a meditation and wellness app that uses AI. His journey combines leadership, innovation, and resilience as he navigates the challenges of balancing athletics, and business and being a college student.

[00:02:56] Walker is passionate about creating tools that empower personal growth [00:03:00] and wellness while sharing his insights on teamwork, focus, and building something impactful from the ground up. Welcome to the show, Walker.

[00:03:08] Walker Ferguson: Appreciate you having me on. Excited to be here.

[00:03:10] Scott Maderer: Absolutely. I'm glad to have you as well. And this is one of those topics that we're going to talk about today that I've talked about various times around, meditation, wellness, those sorts of ideas.

[00:03:23] It's definitely something that falls into what I consider the stewardship category of stewarding our mind. So when I think about that, we'll get into that in a minute, but first you have an interesting story about how you got to this point of deciding and being able and putting an app out into the world.

[00:03:43] Would you share a little bit more than I shared in the intro about your story and what brought you to this point today?

[00:03:49] Walker Ferguson: Yeah, no, for sure. Starting out, I grew up in Richmond, Virginia, two sisters, really lived in the same house my entire life, played anything with a ball growing up, like you name it, football, basketball, baseball, like literally anything lacrosse.[00:04:00]

[00:04:00] My sister's actually a really good swimmer too. So I tried swimming. She always kicked my butt. So I stopped doing that very quickly. But yeah, like I said, put anything with the ball growing up and then in high school, I really had to hone in between two sports just because of dude, like the seasons, like fall, spring, all that good stuff.

[00:04:15] And then winter was like my lifting period. So really focusing on football and lacrosse. Football was like my first real love growing up as a kid and that kind of shifted towards the cross as I got older. I thought I was going to play lacrosse in college, had a couple offers COVID hit the schools that I wanted to go to, or the schools that offered me, I didn't necessarily want to go to, and the ones I wanted to go to didn't have roster spots anymore because they got cut from 12 to 4.

[00:04:37] So I was like, okay, what do I do now? First time really facing adversity in my life. Didn't have that senior season in football either. Luckily, my phone was getting up my junior year. So I played, got played football, loved it. Wake Forest ended up offering me. Came to Wake in the summer of 2021 to get my degree in economics and I ended up minoring in communications, senior here now but that's where I met my business partner, best friend and co founder Hampton Tanner.

[00:04:59] And [00:05:00] like that relationship that you just like instantly, like you mess with somebody and it's just the synergy is just like unbelievable. That was that relationship, right? We just stayed up like super late at night. Their moms were both realtors. Dads both came from farming families in the middle of nowhere.

[00:05:12] Mine, Virginia is in, and we would just bounce ideas off each other. Oh, do we want to do a restaurant? Do we want to do a brewery? Like we would come up with so many different ideas, but as young freshmen, obviously, like nothing really hit, but the beautiful thing was like, we built that relationship and we knew we were going to do something together.

[00:05:26] After college, we just didn't know what it was going to be. So fast forward a little bit. I'm in my sophomore year now. And this is before I knew how to breathe, meditate, where I was mindful, anything like that. And I went through a really tough time. Hampton did as well. We're in our own different facets, but.

[00:05:40] I'd always put my identity in like my sport, whatever that was at the time. And that kind of made me who I was, and that was the first time that I really, I wasn't playing, still on scout team, wasn't traveling. Grades weren't great. Things on the home front were ideal and we got out of a four year relationship and Hampton was dealing with a lot of stuff too, but.

[00:05:57] That was the first real time in my life that I was just [00:06:00] lost. I was like, who who am I? Like my identity was gone because I was always like this athlete, right? And then when that got taken away, I was like, what do I do now? You know what I mean? And so Hampton and I embarked on that journey together.

[00:06:10] And that's the first time that, I really learned how to breathe for the first time. We both took different approaches. I'm a Christian guy. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. And I've meditated a lot on scripture and I would read the word. Try to, and breathe and understand like what God was telling me and Hampton had gotten more into stoicism, read the book of meditations, figured out what the body scans were, walking meditations and taught me so much throughout the process.

[00:06:30] But I either was in the past depression or the future anxiety, but I was never like in the present moment. So that was like a beautiful thing. And I was like, wow this is pretty awesome. Just focusing on what I'm doing and being mindful of it throughout my day. And that gave me a sense of peace and happiness.

[00:06:43] And then at the end of the day, I realized football is like just a game, like my sports just a game. That's not like who Walker is. So that kind of was like the first time in my life that I was really happy all the time. Not just for a couple of moments when I was playing my sport or when something was going right.

[00:06:56] Luckily for us at Wake Forest too, we had a premium subscription to the app [00:07:00] calm through our athletic department. And we absolutely loved how it gave, base meditations, base sleep stories, but nothing felt specific for what I was going through. And let me preface like nobody beats like a Matthew McConaughey or like Adam Scholar boys.

[00:07:12] It's just those stories, they put you right to sleep. They're amazing. Kudos to them. But they were just basic. They didn't tailor to what I was going through. So when Hampton called me in February of 24, at this point he's transferred to Georgetown. Cause he's dude, I just gotta get out of here.

[00:07:26] Kinda get a fresh restart. For football, just for life, cause we were going down a bad path at the time. And When he called me, he's dude, I know we're going to do. And I was like, all right, what's that? He's we're going to create a meditation app that essentially uses artificial intelligence to give users personalized meditations, personalized sleep stories, or what we call meditation plans, which essentially you can put in a specific goal and action steps, and you can see yourself achieving that goal in different facets, right?

[00:07:51] So as soon as he told me that I was all in 1 because, I always knew I was going to do something with Hampton and to the idea was there. And the proof of concept was there from the surveys we sent out. [00:08:00] So I was like, I was all for it. And it was also more importantly, a need, right? It was something near and dear to my heart.

[00:08:04] Something I wish I had as a resource. When I was going through those tough times, so that's how I got into the health and wellness space, how I got into breathing meditation and yeah, that's how I how it started.

[00:08:16] Scott Maderer: So there's a ton of great stuff there and I want to circle in and pick on some of them and unpack a few things, but let me start here.

[00:08:24] So you and Hampton have a lot of things in common and that relationship that clicks. And yet it also sounds y'all have some things about how you look at the world differently. And in part, because I think there's so much nowadays where I see a lot of voices about, if somebody's not exactly like me, it looks like me acts like me believes like me, talks like me does everything exactly like me.

[00:08:47] I can't like them. They're the enemy. How did y'all kind of reconcile that? You had core things that you agreed on and that you were. Together about and then you also had some worldview things that you looked at a little differently.

[00:08:58] Walker Ferguson: Yeah, no, [00:09:00] 100%. No, I think the most important thing is like the heart posture.

[00:09:02] We both have very similar values and we have very similar heart like to love and serve others. Although some of our views may be different and, we definitely think very differently and I think that's a blessing in disguise because. He brings things to the table that I never could and vice versa.

[00:09:16] And it's a new way of thinking. So I think the most important thing that's really helped us, and obviously it's not always sunshine and rainbows and we'll get in a bicker match here and there, but we're always figured out, because of the love we have for one another and, the belief we have.

[00:09:28] But I think the most important thing is being open minded, it's not like bashing someone's beliefs or bashing someone for the way they think, and really trying to put them, put yourself in their shoes, I'm a firm believer in seek first to understand then be understood, right? So put myself in his shoes, understand, okay, why is he thinking that way?

[00:09:44] Then when I can empathize, I'm like, Oh, okay. That's why you were thinking that way. Then he, and vice versa. Then he's able to be like, Oh, I could see why Walker thinks that way. And then we move together towards that solution, wherever that may be. But that's definitely been super helpful.

[00:09:56] It's just being open minded and empathizing with one another.

[00:09:59] Scott Maderer: [00:10:00] Yeah, I think that idea of actually seeking to understand people is overlooked by a lot of folks today, unfortunately. So let's talk a little bit more about how how your faith influence kind of your approach to meditation and what, what you did and what you got out of it from coming at it with a faith view and a faith world

[00:10:21] Walker Ferguson: lens.

[00:10:22] Yeah, no, 100%. To backtrack a little bit about my story. So I grew up in a Christian household. Mom's Catholic, dad's Presbyterian, and I was baptized Presbyterian and then got the Eucharist and confirmation in the Catholic Church. So I split between like sometimes I'd go with my dad, sometimes I'd go with my mom to church.

[00:10:39] But, I grew up, went to church every Sunday, and everything was smooth sailing in my childhood, to be honest with you, nothing really. I didn't have any of those hardships early on. I'm very blessed and fortunate. So as I grew in my faith journey throughout, my life until that point, sophomore year, I realized that I knew about Jesus, right?

[00:10:55] I went to church, I did these things that a Christian should do per se, like in the image of someone else, but I [00:11:00] didn't have that personal relationship with Jesus. Like my faith wasn't, I didn't know who he was, right? I knew about him. I knew all these details. But like I said I didn't have that personal relationship and then so my foundation wasn't set right.

[00:11:13] I like to think of it imagine like you're on a beach and we go to the Outer Banks every summer and there's this big Navy base, right? With this bridge. And the pillars are so far cemented down in the sand that like, if tsunami comes or waves to whatever the storm may be, smacks houses down, everything gets destroyed, umbrellas flying everywhere, businesses going to ruin.

[00:11:29] But those pillars never move no matter what, because there's their foundation set, right? And my foundation wasn't there yet because I hadn't, developed that relationship. So when that, when those tough times hit me sophomore year, I didn't know where to turn. That's when I turned, to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[00:11:46] And, through meditation, I was able to get closer to him because for me, prayer was speaking to him, and meditation was sitting in silence and listening to what he was telling me, right? From there, he brought me out of some of the darkest times of my life, and, to be honest with you, and I say [00:12:00] this to every listener out there if Christian, whatever your beliefs are, he's always with you, right?

[00:12:03] No matter what you're going through. And that foundation that faith is really what's propelled me, to get through some tough times and overall, really started my meditation journey and allow me to expand further and grow my spirituality through the foundation

[00:12:16] Scott Maderer: because I think a lot of times to, some people of faith look at meditation is somehow.

[00:12:21] Not spiritual or not part of a spiritual journey, and it certainly can be treated that way, but it doesn't have to be treated that way. And I think that's important too, because I'm a big believer in meditation and mindfulness exercises as part of my. My faith experience as well.

[00:12:37] But I don't think everyone always looks at it that way. Have you experienced that or seen some of that pushback on it or not? Oh, for sure.

[00:12:44] Walker Ferguson: There's a, definitely a huge misconception about what meditation is. Most of the time you think of the word meditation, you think of the Buddha.

[00:12:50] But, there's multiple different time performs a meditation. There's different forms of mindfulness at the end of the day. It's all perception, right? It's what you believe to be true and how you utilize that. Jesus, I [00:13:00] truly believe Jesus was the greatest meditator.

[00:13:01] Just the reading scripture and. Who he was, right? He took a nap in

[00:13:05] Scott Maderer: a, at a boat in the middle of a storm. Yeah, exactly. He's a pretty chill dude.

[00:13:10] Walker Ferguson: Yeah, exactly.

[00:13:11] Scott Maderer: So yeah. One of the things you said earlier is that your identity was wrapped up in you as a, an athlete, you as a football player, lacrosse player the, these were you, who you were and that kind of shifted as that got taken away from you.

[00:13:26] What would you say your identity is anchored in now?

[00:13:30] Walker Ferguson: First off my faith, like my foundation, but loving and serving others, that's when I really found my purpose and why I'm on this earth, it's how can I make someone else's life better? And one of my defensive coordinators at wake forest, my senior year coach, Brad Lambert gave me a definition.

[00:13:45] And he said the true definition of a man is how you treat someone that can do nothing for him. And I really contemplated on that one and, meditated on that. And I was like, that's how I want to be remembered. I want to be remembered as somebody that. did everything he could to help someone else out, literally could do nothing for him in return.

[00:13:59] And to [00:14:00] me, that's the definition of servant leadership and how I want to be remembered.

[00:14:04] Scott Maderer: So when you think about what you learned from athletics and now you're working, entrepreneurship and building, trying to build this app and build a business. What have you seen as kind of similarities and what is different about those kinds of approaches to the world?

[00:14:21] Walker Ferguson: Yeah, I think there's a lot of similarities. Obviously the main difference is you're not, you're competing. Obviously you're competing with your competitors and the business world, and you're competing with yourself every day, but it's obviously not on an athletic field, right? So it's a little bit different.

[00:14:34] As well as the team's a little bit different because my whole life, it's always been all guys, right? I've never been on a team with females before and now I have them on a set and they're unbelievable and they bring so much more to the table. But regarding similarities, there's so much, right? I think the first one is just the mindset, that competitive mindset.

[00:14:50] As an athlete, you're always, you have a sense of urgency in your head. You're never satisfied, right? You're thinking about what is this guy doing to be better than me? What is this guy doing to outwork me, right? And those like tendencies in your [00:15:00] head, you can translate straight to entrepreneurship, especially with a startup.

[00:15:03] You're going fast, right? You don't have time to waste. You got to be constantly thinking of more innovative ways to get yourself off the ground. So that's like the 1st main thing. The main thing that's really propelled me, though is 2 keywords that really define who I am and throughout my athletic journey, especially wait for us.

[00:15:19] And then how I've carried that directly to entrepreneurship. And those 2 words are discipline and consistency. And, you need both and both. You can really propel your life and giving them positive direction wherever that may be. First one discipline, you learn that right away at Wake Forest, you're on a roller at 530, you have to do things you're not used to be doing.

[00:15:37] And you can't go out and do things right. You have to do your, you have a very strict schedule. You got to eat at a certain time, do everything at a certain time. You have to make sacrifices, right? I think sacrifice is super important. That comes straight with discipline. You have to sacrifice time with friends, right?

[00:15:51] To get to where you want to be. So being disciplined is huge. I carried that right into entrepreneurship. And then most importantly. Consistency like that word gets so overlooked, but being the same person [00:16:00] every single day, whatever time you set to wake up at that time, whatever your routine is, do that in the morning, right?

[00:16:05] Go to the gym do what you need to do. And don't do that for a week, 2 weeks, a month, 3 months, 5 months, whatever keep going because something that's temporary isn't gonna make lasting change. If you continue to do those things, I've already seen in my own life and how I propelled myself. Those would be my two keywords, discipline, consistency, and I've learned that straight from athletics and carried that right now in entrepreneurship.

[00:16:24] And that's been really able to help the startup.

[00:16:27] Scott Maderer: So when I hear that, I'm going to, I'm going to add a third word and ask you how it fits into that too. How about the word into intentionality?

[00:16:36] Walker Ferguson: I love it. I think you got to be intentional with everything you do, right? Don't just go through the motions.

[00:16:41] That's a great, that's good. It all goes back to mindfulness, right? Doing everything in the present moment. So yeah, definitely be intentional in everything you do. And you definitely learn that through athletics. And you can translate that right into any facet of your life,

[00:16:51] Scott Maderer: because I think, and the only reason I would add that word is as maybe something to consider is I have seen people that are very consistent, [00:17:00] but not very intentional about what they're consistent about, because you can be consistent about sitting on the couch, eating potato chips and, binging netflix, that doesn't necessarily move you forward all that great, for sure definitely

[00:17:12] Walker Ferguson: put your good.

[00:17:13] Consistency with intention in the right way towards the goal,

[00:17:18] Scott Maderer: because the attention that you're talking are the consistency you're talking about is that idea of you, when you're in football, you're in the weight room Tuesday at two or whatever it is, every Tuesday, that's it.

[00:17:29] That's where you are. If anyone wants to find you, you're there

[00:17:32] Walker Ferguson: thing. Yeah, I did not. Yeah, do not take my word. That is not what I meant. So the catchy potato chips.

[00:17:41] Scott Maderer: So let's talk a little bit about ascend and the app and what you mentioned earlier, the idea of using it to be more tailored for people in terms of their personal experience with it. Talk a little bit more about. The app itself and what does that mean when you say quote, tailored to someone?[00:18:00]

[00:18:00] Walker Ferguson: Yeah, no, a hundred percent. So if you think about Netflix or like other streaming platforms, you know how they have loaded movies, and anybody can watch this specific movie. That's essentially what calm and headspace do, they have loaded meditations where anybody can watch or listen to essentially that meditation, similar to a Netflix. Resend differentiates itself and offers that, personalized tailored experience is using AI. You can literally type in a query, right? So I could say I'm about to go on a podcast. I'm a little bit nervous. Can you help me call my nerves and visualize myself speaking fluidly?

[00:18:30] on the spot, right? Then you would hit next, select a voice, a background, and then a length of your meditation. And instantly on the spot within five seconds, it will spit that meditation out literally for you, for whatever input you gave it. So that's that personalization aspect is the app meets you where you're at.

[00:18:46] So whatever you have going on in your life, you want to kill a presentation, you're dealing with something in a relationship, you want to get a job promotion, like literally whatever it is, you can put that in the app and get a meditation. Tailored for you. So that's the big differentiating factors.

[00:18:59] It meets you where [00:19:00] you're at, no matter what.

[00:19:02] Scott Maderer: So what have you seen as you've been working on this app? And, of course you're going to school. You've got a couple of things on your plate, one or two, for those of you that have been out of college a while, cast your mind back, you've got a lot.

[00:19:17] So what have you seen in terms of. of success and what have been some of the challenges that y'all been facing as you've been trying to work on this and get it out into the real world in the market and that kind of thing.

[00:19:28] Walker Ferguson: Yeah. I don't really believe in like challenges or problems because I don't believe in failure.

[00:19:33] I believe that If you keep trying again and again, you're eventually going to figure it out as long as you don't quit. So I don't use the word failure per se. But definitely there have been a lot of obstacles for sure. Just learning, right? Like I'm a 22 year old guy. I started when I was 21.

[00:19:48] A lot has come up. I've learned so much over my journey. I'm so grateful. And from getting a provisional patent to trademarking logos to getting on the app store to, filing out paperwork and doing, hiring independent [00:20:00] contractors and all that good stuff. You learn so much about the process.

[00:20:02] So I think the most challenging piece is probably. Just every single day when something new arises, making sure to make sure that I'm being proactive, right? I'm figuring out a way something. I don't know how to do it. I'm like, oh, there's no way I can do that. Reshaping my mind to being like, okay, there's so many resources out here.

[00:20:19] So many people I can connect with to be able to solve that problem. And, Hampton's the same way, he. He's a genius and he does such a good job. Anytime we have someone on our plate like an obstacle, we always find a way to figure it out. But challenge wise, I would say it's just whatever comes up.

[00:20:33] 'cause there's so many different things that come up, up throughout the week, right? Each week's a new week success wise, that's the fun stuff to talk about, right? , it's the who before the what, right? You gotta get the right people on the bus. So when you get the right people on the bus starts rolling and life's all about synergy.

[00:20:48] Life's all about people, and I am extremely grateful and forever, in gratitude too. Our team has sent I truly believe we have the best of the best people. And that's why we've gotten to where we are gotten on the app store [00:21:00] in three months and gotten had success really quick. It's because of having the right people.

[00:21:04] So to start out the journey when me and Hampton, knew what we wanted to do, we were like, we don't know how to code, right? I'm not a calm side guy. He's not a calm side guy. So we found, life's all about relationships. Keep saying that over and over again, but it's so true.

[00:21:18] We found our CTO Colin Graydon through Hampton Spanish class. He was 29 years old. He taught himself computer science, came back to school at Georgetown and he's just an absolute, super smart guy, super humble human being and unbelievable guy. He's taught me so much of my life. And he brought on Gordon Grambush who's a rising junior next year at Georgetown.

[00:21:37] He's also a genius and they built the MVP over the summer. So we had the right people on the bus right away when we had the four core team. Cause we had two people doing business operation things, business facing things. And we had two people that knew how to code and build the app. And then as we progress, we added two more people on the growth team, Xavier Simpson and Sam Loper.

[00:21:56] And we hired another two developers as well for Figma UX [00:22:00] design by Shinobi. And then Jesse for screens and they do an unbelievable job and everyone works so well, communicates so well together. And then I'm really excited too 'cause we just brought on A-A-C-M-O Morgan Oldham a gymnast from Auburn and she's unbelievable what she does.

[00:22:13] So yeah, I would say the success is getting the right people on the bus and then having that trust, right? Because if you don't have that trust, you don't have anything when you can trust someone to do their job. It makes life so much easier.

[00:22:25] Scott Maderer: So where is this end available for folks right now? If somebody's hearing this as Hey, I want to go check it out.

[00:22:30] Where can they actually find it?

[00:22:32] Walker Ferguson: Yeah, I know. 100%. All you got to do is open up the app store and just search for some meditations. It'll pop up, give it a download, try it out. Let me know what you think. And we're also with that by the end of the week, we should be in the Google Play store as well.

[00:22:44] So we'll be accessible on Android as well as iOS.

[00:22:48] Scott Maderer: So it's on a phone. It's a phone app. Is there any challenge in putting meditation and a mindfulness app? And here I'm not talking about the, how to get in the app store kind of challenge. Digital distractions and phones is also [00:23:00] one of the biggest things that pulls us out of being in the present moment.

[00:23:03] How do you see that conflict between, it's a phone app and yet phones are also a source of distraction. 100%.

[00:23:10] Walker Ferguson: The way I look at it is, people are going to be on their phone regardless, right? People are going to be on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, whatever that may be. But it's like this is a perfect resource where you can divert a little bit of that time instead of the brain right on the social media and wasting your time puts yourself in a position to use something on your applications you're already going to be on that is going to excel your life, whether reduce stress, reduce anxiety.

[00:23:33] Or help you visualize a goal and help you, live a happier, healthier life. For myself, for other people, I've talked to users once I've been using it, it's a no brainer. So that's what I would say.

[00:23:42] Scott Maderer: Yeah. And by the way, for those that are listening now, you should be able to find it on the play store because we are recording this a little bit in advance.

[00:23:49] Based on what Walker just said, it should be available by the time you're hearing this. So don't think, oh, I have to wait a week. No, it should be there already. They're working on that. So I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of [00:24:00] my guests, but before I go there and ask those questions, is there anything else about you, your journey or the app that you think is really important to share with the listener?

[00:24:08] Walker Ferguson: Yeah, I would just say regarding my journey, I would just tell everybody out there that, it's always dark right before the light. And just to put one foot in front of the other, cause you never know how close you are to success. And to living a life, you've always dreamed of.

[00:24:20] So just keep going. And then regarding the app, I do want to mention that once we're on the Google play store, four to eight weeks from there, we're going to do a completely new rebuild adding a homepage information page. Giving people prompts and videos to make the user experience so much better.

[00:24:35] So stay tuned.

[00:24:37] Scott Maderer: Awesome. So my brand is Inspired Stewardship, and I run things through that lens of stewardship. And yet I've discovered over the years, as that's one of those words, that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. And so with that thought of you talking about, trying to understand others and their view of that word, when you hear the word stewardship, what does that word mean to you and what's its impact had on you?[00:25:00]

[00:25:00] Walker Ferguson: Yeah, no, when I heard that word, it's putting yourself, putting someone else above yourself, right? How can you serve someone else and make their life better? For, like I said earlier, for no personal gain, right? I feel like so many times in life, it's always, if I help you, how can you help me? All that.

[00:25:16] That's not stewardship, right? Stewardship is, to me, at least, is how can I help someone else, live a happier, healthier life? How can I be the best mentor? How can I be the best friend? How can I help someone that can't help themselves? That's what stewardship means to me. Awesome.

[00:25:31] Scott Maderer: So this is my favorite question that I like to ask every guest imagine for a moment that I invented this magic machine and with this machine, I was able to take you from where you are today and transport you into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years, but through the power of this machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life and see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left behind.

[00:25:56] What impact do you hope you've left in the world? Thank you. [00:26:00]

[00:26:00] Walker Ferguson: That I loved and served others. I gave my time and my fortune to help anybody in any way I could and brought more people to the Lord's kingdom.

[00:26:09] Scott Maderer: So what's coming next? What's on the roadmap as you continue on this journey?

[00:26:14] Walker Ferguson: That's a great question.

[00:26:15] I think there's a lot. I really think it's limitless. I'm a true believer that anything you said, if I can believe it, I can achieve it. Anything you set your mind to and use the talents that the Lord's given you, you can achieve everything in life. That's my goal is every day.

[00:26:25] Just wake up and become a better version of myself. Just become 1 percent better every day. But I have a lot of exciting stuff for us and a lot of future growth opportunities with universities. That's on the radar. Awesome.

[00:26:35] Scott Maderer: Yeah. So you can find out more about Walker Ferguson and the app that we've been talking about Ascend over at ascendmeditations.

[00:26:45] app. Of course, I'll put a link to that in the show notes as well. Walker, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:26:51] Walker Ferguson: Yeah. So my call to action would be, love one another loves all we have at the end of the day. And find a way to make someone else's life a little bit better today.

[00:26:59] Go out of your [00:27:00] way to be a servant right to steward somebody. And, help them live a happier, healthier life. So that would be my call to action. Just love one another and make the world a better place.

[00:27:12] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode please do us a favor. Go over to inspiredstewardship.

[00:27:36] com slash inspiredstewardship. com iTunes rate, all one word. iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your time, your talent, and your treasures.[00:28:00]

[00:28:00] Develop your influence and impact the world.