Episode 976: Invest in Yourself - Interview with Kyle Sullivan creator of Unleash the Champ - Part 1

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 976 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:07] Kyle Sullivan: I'm Colonel Sullivan. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, talent, and treasures, to live out your calling, having the ability to find and live your championship.

[00:00:21] Run is key in one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this. The inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Mader.

[00:00:30] so I think it's important to understand that like our yes is on the table. However, that flushes out is not our job and not our concern. Ours is to be obedient and go, all I'll step out of the boat. All right, I'll go across the. Alright, I'll sling that stone. And when we do that, then it activates with back.

[00:00:53] Scott Maderer: Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to [00:01:00] 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 column. In the inspired stewardship podcast, we'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:19] And today's interview with Kyle Sullivan. I asked Kyle about his journey from drug dealer to pastor and onto business owner. I asked Kyle to share with you why he jumped from a stable job. He loved to being self-employed. I also asked Kyle to share what he means by stepping into your championship run and lots more.

[00:01:40] One reason I like to bring you great interviews. Like the one you're going to hear today is because of the past. In learning from others. Another great way to learn from others is through reading books. But if you're like most people today, you find it hard to find the time to sit down and read. And that's why today's [00:02:00] podcast is brought to you by audible.

[00:02:01] Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial. There's over 180,000 titles to choose from. And instead of reading, you can listen your way to learn from some of the greatest minds out there. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast.

[00:02:29] What does a D one athlete drug dealer, husband, pastor, father, and founder of a coaching company have in common, you might be surprised to learn that these are all stages of life for Kyle Sullivan, it's quite the journey and all paths have built upon it and led to the creation of unleashed. Kyle founded, unleashed the champ to create powerful coaching experiences for people and organizations that lead to discovering and stepping into the champion.

[00:02:57] They were created to be with over 10 [00:03:00] years of organizational leadership and team development, leading thousands of people, plus a growing desire to learn at all. He strives to inspire people everywhere to unlock the cages they are in and unleash the champ. Welcome to the show, Kyle,

[00:03:16] Kyle Sullivan: Hey Scott, I am super excited to be on today and to have

[00:03:19] Scott Maderer: this conference.

[00:03:21] Absolutely. It's great to have you here. So I set this up a little bit in the intro, but you had a little bit of a weird, crazy, a different whatever word you want to use, depending on how nice you want to be journey from. I love how you put it from drug dealer to pastor, to now business owner in between that.

[00:03:41] Yeah, I became an athlete, did a few other little things. So would you share a little bit about that journey and how that has led you to where you are today?

[00:03:51] Kyle Sullivan: Yeah, Scott when I hear all of my story together, I'm like, man, I really have been through some stuff. And [00:04:00] part of it is. Forced, decisions.

[00:04:02] I made others decisions that were made for me, but through all of it through. The D one athlete which really was, I saw as a D one athlete in cheerleading after playing baseball and football, my entire life. I shifted to that because I just couldn't make it in college and college athletics. So I did cheer because I'm allowed to a lot of energy and got to hang out with a bunch of pretty girls.

[00:04:28] So it was great. In the midst of all of that is when I get introduced to drugs and I'm already a naturally energetic person. So something to magnify my personality, oh, I was all ballad. And that just continued to get further and further until I got jumped at a drug deal. And that's where I said, you know what, maybe this.

[00:04:51] This is not what I want. So got involved. The church gave him my life to Christ almost. Knew Jesus was like [00:05:00] immediate and just started taking steps to that. That led me over the course of. 11 years I was a pastor, went back, got my degree, started working in churches, got to be a part of amazing organizations with global reach is.

[00:05:16] And then in October 5th, 2019, 12:47 AM. My whole world changed. And that's when I held my baby girl for the first time. And I knew Scott. I wanted to give her presence of time, not just presence of the things I had, no clue house don't do that. And then this little thing that we have been involved in for the last, I don't know, 18 months called COVID happened.

[00:05:43] And I believe that with disruption allows for reflection. And it was in that time where I got, I was working from home. My wife's working from home, my little girl's four and a half months old when all. Stuff happens. And I got to see all these [00:06:00] milestones and when our staff made the decision to come back to the office, I felt two words it's time.

[00:06:09] And so being 51% sure of this dream, I'd been sitting on Scott for three years. Okay. It's time to go. It's time to launch it and unleash the champions. Born culture. Coaching was born and it's just been me being available obedient and having the courage to take the right next step. Even if I can't see 10 steps ahead.

[00:06:34] Scott Maderer: Yeah. I was talking to a friend of mine earlier this week and something you just said resonated with something he said. And so I want to see if this resonates with you one of the things he said as he struggled for a long time with hearing God saying, you need to do this.

[00:06:52] And his answer was well, then you need to tell me how that's going to turn out as opposed to. [00:07:00] Yes, and he says, it's only as I began to realize that faith walking in faith really just means saying, yes, not asking how is this going to turn out? Does that resonate

[00:07:11] Kyle Sullivan: 100%? And I think so often I think there's a difference between God's revealed and God's released.

[00:07:17] So there's a lot within unleashed. The champ that I see in my mind is going to happen, but it's not yet the time for it to be released. So the reveal has happened to me three years ago. I w it was revealed that I wanted to get into coaching. I wanted to get into consulting. It was not released until three years later.

[00:07:41] And so I think it's important to understand that like our yes is on the table However that flushes out is not our job and not our concern. Ours is to be obedient and go, all right, I'll step out of the boat. All right, I'll go across the sea. All right. I'll sling that stone. And when we do [00:08:00] that, then it activates what that can do.

[00:08:03] Scott Maderer: Right. It sounds like you were pretty comfortable as a pastor. Again, co disruption happened COVID and other things. Without COVID, without any of that, you were living out what I think at that time you felt in some ways was your calling.

[00:08:16] What then led you to actually take that leap to consulting? What led you from that moment of revealed to release? And of course you're doing all of this with a newborn at home too, just in case anyone mentioned that time, miss that timeline there, this is with a newborn at home too. So what gave you the courage to do it?

[00:08:35] Kyle Sullivan: Yeah. Scott, it, it really was. God just saying it's time and not to oversimplify. It are over spiritual as it, but it really, I, and I still feel like I'm living out my calling, I think it's important to understand a difference between a calling and an assignment. So our calling is what we'll put on planet earth to do when I took some time and really formatted.

[00:08:58] Okay. [00:09:00] What am I put on planet earth to do is to lead and develop people to discover and chase after the champion that is waiting to be unleashed. So I did that as a. I did that. Working at a restaurant in college, I did that and I'm doing that now, running a business and building a company. My aside,

[00:09:21] Scott Maderer: even as a cheerleader, if you think about

[00:09:23] Kyle Sullivan: it, my assignment is what has changed.

[00:09:28] And so if you think about it, like in the view of, in a classroom, so you're taking a class, your class doesn't change your assignments change. As you learn, as you grow, as you develop. Your assignments get harder, your assignments get different, but it doesn't mean you're not still in the class. And so my calling is the same, my assignment and how it flushes out.

[00:09:53] That's what shifting that's, what's changing. And for me, it really was just. Okay, good. I hear [00:10:00] you. I confirmed it with my wife because Phillip was that's important. Don't go quit your salary without your wife's like awareness.

[00:10:08] Scott Maderer: Probably a good idea to get her

[00:10:09] Kyle Sullivan: number for, we're not, this is not a marriage podcast, that's free for the listeners.

[00:10:12] Scott Maderer: And we'll respond. Trust me. We talk about marriage and relationships all the time. You can't talk about time and money without talking about marriage or relationship.

[00:10:20] Kyle Sullivan: And so it just was going okay. Hey, I think this is going to work. I believe God has to go. And

[00:10:28] Scott Maderer: Actually, let's go back to the marriage thing for a minute, because that actually is important.

[00:10:31] So when you went to your wife and said, I feel like I've got this calling, I've got this chance to take this leap and God is calling me to do it. What, what was that conversation like?

[00:10:41] Kyle Sullivan: So she sh, like I said, she was working from home. I'm working from home. I text her. And I said, Hey, you going a meeting?

[00:10:49] She said, no. And so I hollered across the house, we're in two separate parts of our house. And I said, Hey, come here. And Scott, I'm just a rip, the bandaid kind of guy, give as good. I'm going [00:11:00] to rip it. If it's bad, I'm a rip it. We just rip it a go and adjust. And I said, she goes, yeah, what's up. I said, I think I just told me to quit my job and like any good wife.

[00:11:12] Oh, no one, like when you like listeners and Scott, you know what, like when you like your wife gets a cup of octaves higher, you gotta, you just, okay, you're treading lightly. You're treading lightly fellas. And she said what are you going to do? And I said, I've been thinking about this coaching consulting thing for awhile.

[00:11:30] And I think now's the time. And Scott, I call my wife's the silent killer. She doesn't say a whole lot, but when she does. Whether I like it or not typically, it just how God has used my wife to humble me. It just is. So she gets a smirk on her face and says, I think he may be the last person to realize what you should be doing.

[00:11:48] And I'm like, what do you mean? You could have told me, all this stuff. And she goes, how do you do when people tell you what to do? Okay, fair enough. And [00:12:00] she just said, I just knew that God would tell you when the right time was to go. And yeah, let's do it.

[00:12:05] Scott Maderer: I, and listers have heard me tell the story before that, Mike, when I quit my job, my conversation with my wife, what very similar actually her comment was about time.

[00:12:16] So that was how that conversation went. She knew it before I did. So one of the things you talked about earlier is, this idea of instilling in people. Idea of them having their own championship run being, calling out the championship within them. So what is that, what does it mean to people?

[00:12:32] Expand on that idea a little bit. What does it mean to have a championship.

[00:12:36] Kyle Sullivan: Yeah. So it's my sake on, people will say purpose or destiny life calling about direction. I call it championship run because the imagery of that is like right now on a huge college football and college football, mostly, but NFL just football in general.

[00:12:56] So right now in locker rooms, [00:13:00] all across the country at the college and pro level, these teams are going on. You know what our goal is, the championship everybody's undefeated right now, season doesn't matter. We are zero in zero, and we have a chance to make a run. And but to make that run, you have to have a plan in place.

[00:13:19] And so the championship run for me is going okay, I know what I want to achieve. I know the steps I need to get there. And all of us have our definition of that championship run, a division two school. Isn't going to say our championship run is to win a national championship. We're going to beat Alabama.

[00:13:40] And I don't do that. So it's appropriate to the place you're at and where you want to go. But your championship run is always evolving every year, every quarter, every month it's building upon itself. And so it's never static. It's always fluid. It's always moving and it's always evolving as you grow [00:14:00] and change and develop.

[00:14:01] Scott Maderer: So with that in mind, what then holds. Back. Cause I would think, again, I'm a coach too. We both deal with a lot of people and a lot of folks will come to you and say, I'm not living out my purpose. I'm not living out my championship run. I'm not not pushing through and doing what I want to do.

[00:14:19] That's oftentimes why they're coming to talk to a coach. So what is it then? That's holding people back from doing it.

[00:14:25] Kyle Sullivan: Yeah. I think that the. Most holds people back, is they aren't sure what that is for them. So they will say I'm not living out of my purpose or I know there's more in me, but then the next question is, so what specifically is that?

[00:14:44] I don't know. Because I think we get into a cage of conformity and comfort and security. And when it takes somebody rattling the cage and opening it up and going, Hey, here's, what's [00:15:00] possible. Hey, here's what you could do. If you chose to do it. And it, and so you have to create a new narrative. You have to create a new reality.

[00:15:11] And so people got to see it in their minds before they can experience it with their life. And so the first step is going, what do you want? No holds bar I'm I got the magic carpet at call me a Latin in the genie. What do you want? And then you can get really good as selling yourself on that future.

[00:15:33] It's not enough to just create a plan and hope it works out. You have to become somebody new to experience things new in your life. And it's so elementary to think that, but what do we know as the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result. That is what so many of us do.

[00:15:58] Oh [00:16:00] Monday, I'll start going to the gym new years. I'll start making better habits. Oh, I'm really going to go for it. It's like all of this. And what we've learned is what if tomorrow doesn't come, it's got before we hit record, we're talking about manic loss that we've experienced. I bet they thought they had more time to.

[00:16:22] And a phrase that was real popular, it's oh, Yolo. And it was typically what you said before you did something stupid.

[00:16:28] Scott Maderer: No. Say in the south, we've had that phrase for a long time. It's called here. Hold my beer. Beer

[00:16:33] Kyle Sullivan: Kamala. Exactly. Hey, I'm from Louisiana. So I

[00:16:36] Scott Maderer: get it.

[00:16:36] You got the same day. Yeah, there

[00:16:37] Kyle Sullivan: you go. And it's but there's part of that. That really is. And so it's getting people to just say, Hey, if everything that you've been conditioned to believe was thrown off, what would

[00:16:48] Scott Maderer: you do?

[00:16:49] You can follow Kyle on Facebook is Kyle John Sullivan or find him over on his website@kylejsullivan.com. He's also active [00:17:00] on LinkedIn is Kyle John Sullivan. And on Instagram is Kyle J. Sullivan. All of course have links to all of that over in the show notes as well. Carl, is there anything else you'd like to share with.

[00:17:12] Kyle Sullivan: Yeah. One of the things that I'm learning most in my current assignment of my championship run is that oftentimes we want peace. That's what we want in decisions, but peace is rarely proceeded without action in obedience. And so understanding that the piece you want you'll gain when you take action, not just when you think about it.

[00:17:37] 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 [00:18:00] inspired stewardship.com/itunes rate.

[00:18:05] 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 develop your influence and impact the world.