Ever Onward Podcast

Leading with Impact: Jim Everett’s Journey from YMCA to the College of Idaho | Ever Onward - Ep. 61

• Ahlquist. • Season 1 • Episode 61

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Some leaders build businesses—others build communities. Jim Everett spent over 40 years with the YMCA, including 29 years as CEO in Boise, before becoming co-president of the College of Idaho. He has helped raise over $300 million for community initiatives, coached championship swim teams, and served on numerous boards, all while staying deeply committed to mentorship and service. His career is a testament to the power of leadership, resilience, and giving back.

In this episode, Jim and Tommy explore the lessons learned from a lifetime of leadership. They discuss the mentors who shape us, the challenges that test us, and the small moments that define a legacy. Through stories of loss, perseverance, and personal growth, they explore how preparation, gratitude, and service create lasting impact. The idea of “putting hay in the barn” serves as a reminder to invest in relationships, prepare for life’s challenges, and appreciate every opportunity.

Beyond his professional achievements, Jim has been recognized as CEO of Influence, Big Brother of the Year, and Salvation Army Citizen of the Year. He has also coached for over 20 years in the Special Olympics, proving that true leadership extends far beyond the office.

What You’ll Take Away:

•Lessons in leadership, mentorship, and community building

•The role of service, generosity, and lifelong learning in creating a meaningful life

•How to navigate adversity and turn setbacks into growth

•The impact of mentorship, outdoor adventure, and personal development

Jim’s journey proves that true leadership isn’t about titles—it’s about the lives you touch. Whether you’re leading a team, mentoring others, or looking for inspiration, this episode offers practical wisdom and powerful stories that will challenge you to think bigger and serve with purpose.

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Speaker 1:

Today on the Ever Onward podcast, I have one of my mentors and dearest friends, jim Everett. Jim has an incredible story. He was the CEO of the YMCA here in Boise for 29 years and an unbelievable story career there. I can't wait to catch up with him on that. After retiring from the CEO of the YMCA, uh, jim went out to the University of Idaho, first as a swim coach and then he's been the president, co-president with uh Doug Bingham for the last six and a half years. Uh, this guy, um, uh, in my life uh is one of the greatest leaders, uh, one of the greatest uh mentors and examples of community service and I cannot wait to catch up with him, jim Everett. Prior to Jim, we'll hear from Mark Cleverley and Holt Haga for our AllQuest update.

Speaker 2:

Good morning. We're here for another AllQuest update. I'm Mark Cleverley, Chief Leasing Officer at AllQuest.

Speaker 3:

Holt Haga. Vp of Leasing at AllQuest Development. Holt Haga. Vp of Leasing at AllQuest Development. So.

Speaker 2:

Holt this morning we were talking, kind of want to give an update on not really an update, but just talk about our process with our tenants and making them feel like one of our partners, because they really are. You think about these buildings that we build and it's a long-term relationship. We try to hold these things for a long time and take care of them, and so just wanted to talk quickly about, you know, our process and how we make them fill and what they can expect when they come in to one of our projects.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know it's pretty interesting, so it's. You know, one of the things that that sets us apart is just the way that that we treat our tenants and our partners right. You know, we've got a deep, deep sense of gratitude for, for the companies we work with and you see that from start to finish, right from everything from you know how Brad Smith runs his design department to Corey Hall and construction runs his design department to Corey Hall and construction. Um, brian Taylor and uh and Cody on our property management side, and um, obviously, uh, kakoa, you and me on the on the leasing side, but um it it really just. You know we, these are, you know, like you said, these are long-term relationships and we value these relationships.

Speaker 3:

Um, and and one of the things I think is interesting is when you is, when we first meet with a company that we're a tenant, for example, that we're working with, and we hear some of their concerns and their horror stories, in some cases with other landlords in the market, and I just think it's what should be common practice. Sometimes isn't, but we take it very seriously and I think one of the things that we do actually is we we don't, you know, tell you how great we are, we. We oftentimes will say talk to our tenants, you know, talk to some of our, some of the of our partners and our subcontractors, and and, and get a sense of how we do business, because we take a ton of pride in it and the partnerships that we develop, and these are long-term relationships.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I would even suggest anybody listening to this and when we send this out, but go to our website. And on our website we have these tenant testimonials, um, that we've done over the years and just trying to capture what how their process went, and every single one of them we'll talk about from start to finish. It's not just our team on the leasing side, it's not just the property management team, but they talk about everything. And I think six years ago, when we really kind of ramped up and started building a lot, it was we brought Brad in and had him in-house because we knew that that was a critical piece. And then we brought cory in um to do.

Speaker 2:

You know, cory originally was brought in to do tenant improvements and now it's transformed into, you know, even bigger. But it started with that and it started with we knew we needed to take care of our tenants. Uh, because without them, it, you know, we don't fill these buildings up Right and we don't have these really good relationships with these companies. And you know, without, without the whole team, it's just it doesn't, it doesn't work.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, right, yeah.

Speaker 2:

We lose, we lose, you know, traction, we lose momentum, and it just, yeah, it doesn't feel as good as it does right now when we have them in here.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, and these are, you know, real estate transactions. These are, these are very complex transactions, right, I mean, these are, these are some of the most complex transaction. A big real estate, you know, a lease is, it's a big deal. A construction contract to build a building? These are, these are sophisticated contracts, and I think the trust component is a critical element, because there's so many opportunities for disagreement or I don't want to say opportunities, but there's so many ways that there can be disagreements or you know, kind of gotcha moments. You know where something's left out of a contract and I think a lot of companies and landlords will approach it like from the standpoint of just saying no, it's not called out in the contract, whereas you know, countless times we approach it from the standpoint of what do you feel is fair? And that's our starting point, right, and then try to figure out a mutually agreeable solution. I think that that mindset really does set us apart.

Speaker 2:

I agree. I agree. Well, let's go keep killing it. Keep it rolling, baby, yeah, buddy.

Speaker 1:

Jim welcome.

Speaker 4:

Welcome, tommy. Thank you, glad to be here.

Speaker 1:

This is going to be really fun. In preparation for this, I thought I don't know a guy quite like you.

Speaker 4:

I appreciate that. I don't know if that's good or bad.

Speaker 1:

You're so good, I've known you for a long, long time. I don't know if that's good or bad. You're so good, I just I've known you for a long, long time and you just, you never stop.

Speaker 4:

Ever. I'm pretty lucky, Tommy. I've been given a lot of opportunities and there's lots to do, as you know.

Speaker 1:

There is. But I just you're such a great example. I mean I think you know, when I first met you, you were running the YMCA and everyone, when I remember, when I first got to town, everyone was saying have you met Jim? Have you met Jim? You got to meet Jim. You got to meet Jim. And then when I met you, like every single thing I was involved in you were involved in and you had all this energy and you spent so much time there at the ymca.

Speaker 1:

So I want to start there a little bit, because I think, you know, I think for younger people and I've done it a couple times life is, life is long, life is long but it goes by quickly, absolutely I don't. Maybe a couple old guys, we can talk about that, but but I do think, um, especially in today's world, people get so worried about well, here's my path, well, our paths, you know, as long as you're passionate about people and the things you do, whatever you can probably. In fact, I gave a talk to some young men last week and that's what I told them. I'm like, listen, focus more on people and serving and less on how you're doing it, and you'll probably be happy in a lot of ways you do it.

Speaker 4:

Great advice.

Speaker 1:

But I look at you and just so much time at the YMCA. But it started in Michigan.

Speaker 4:

It started actually in Ohio. My first one was in Ohio.

Speaker 1:

Talk a little bit about your upbringing, because I've never dug into, kind of what makes you tick, and I'm going to try to today.

Speaker 4:

I'll go back before my career. I did grow up in Michigan and family of five. Pretty good life growing up until I was eight years old 1960. So that's 64 years ago for me now and everything was good until one day I came home from school my brother and I and my mom wasn't there to meet us at the door and spent the evening at my neighbor's house and didn't think much of it. I was only eight. My mom came home and met us there and brought us home and sat us down in our room that we shared and proceeded to tell us that our dad had passed away, room that we shared, and proceeded to tell us that our dad had passed away. He had cancer and we should have known him, but we didn't talk about it.

Speaker 1:

And I went to do a tailspin. Tommy, I don't know how old was he, he was only 42. Whoa, 42 mom. What kind of cancer.

Speaker 4:

It was melanoma.

Speaker 1:

Melanoma.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, much more treatable now. We know a lot about it now, as you know, as a doctor, catch it early, right. Yeah, catch it early, right? Yeah, catch it early. And so I was in the third grade that year. I just kind of checked out. I don't know if I was technically depressed, but I was as depressed as I've ever been.

Speaker 1:

Were you close to your father.

Speaker 4:

Very close, but I wish I had more memories, if I could go back, for one day and spend time and learn more about my dad, spend more time with him.

Speaker 4:

I do remember one phrase he told me sticks in my mind. It was if you play your cards right and I'm not a big card player, but I think that's a big part of life. You know, it's what we were talking about. Don't you can have all the plans in the world, but sometimes things come along and you've got to be prepared when I was a swim coach. I'm jumping around but I like to say the hay's in the barn at the end of the season because it is, but in life you've got to be putting hay in the barn all the time, because you don't know. In athletics, you know when the game's coming, you know when the competition's coming and you know when a project's coming, you know when a test's coming in school. In life, you don't know what's coming, and so you better have, you better get better every day. You better get prepared for those things that you can't foresee.

Speaker 1:

So anyway that happened. I'm going to stop you a couple times, but I think that's powerful because I got. We got some things going on in our family right now with one of my children, and one of the things we spend a lot of time talking about is you just never know. You just don't know Because you can be clipping along and you almost have to live life with gratitude for those times when it's not chaotic and challenging with just hurdles everywhere, right.

Speaker 4:

Gratitude is gratitude. You've got to be grateful every day, but that's when you're putting hay in the barn all the time.

Speaker 1:

Because you know you may not see it but it's going to be around one of the corners and you don't even know what it's going to be. But this concept of just being prepared and almost expecting, I don't know. I was talking to him about it. You kind of expect things to go bad, so I was talking to him about it, you kind of expect things to go bad, so that when they do.

Speaker 4:

You're like, okay, yeah, and I think you can learn. So this has a better ending. I mean, it's tough. I wish it never happened, but I'm who I am because of that Third grade.

Speaker 4:

I checked out I should have failed the third grade, got into fourth grade, not reading at grade level. We know now what a disaster that is for the rest of your life and for your education. But I ran into two people. My mom was awesome, but I needed somebody outside my family as well, and my siblings were great, but I was in a bad place. But the next year, fourth grade, they didn't pass me along. I shouldn't have.

Speaker 4:

I ran into two people a coach, bob Martin, my football coach, and I wanted to play football like my older brother had played. One problem he needed to weigh 60 pounds and I weighed about 53 pounds at the time. So I came home from school excited First time my mom had seen me excited about anything. So we fill out the flyer, get down to the bottom, find out there's a weigh-in in two weeks about ten days maybe. So I went on an eating regimen Well, I don't know how many. If you can remember when you were nine years old by now I'm nine. I could eat anything. I'd put on a pound and I'd lose it.

Speaker 4:

So the day of the weigh-in, my mom had a plan but she didn't tell me about. The table was filled with bananas and water. I think I ate 14 bananas. I drank as much water as I could drink, got on the scale, weighed about 57. Well, that wasn't going to make it. So she sewed these little packets of BBs she was a seamstress and we put those in my uniform and I thought we were fooling everybody. I've got the picture of that team and my coach wrote on the back our little secret. And so you fooling everybody. I've got the picture of that team and my coach wrote on the back our little secret. So you know I was the smallest guy on the team. Legally I shouldn't have been on that team.

Speaker 4:

I wasn't particularly fast, I wasn't particularly tough, not what a coach is looking for. But I will never forget Bob Martin. Every practice he found time to come up and pat me on the back. I played in every single game. I even started on occasion. End of the season, we played a game in Tiger Stadium where Detroit Lions played. My heroes were there. Halftime game. I don't start, but we score a touchdown, I get to go in for an extra point Because I was small. I was a running back Line opens up a hole large enough my grandmother could have run through it and I score an extra point in Tiger Stadium. I prance off that field. They announce my name.

Speaker 4:

I went from feeling like a nobody to feeling like somebody. I never saw Mr Martin again after that season and I didn't recognize what he'd done for me until about 10 years later. Then, the other side of it, I had a teacher named Nancy Runciman. Now he's kind of the softy, the great, not the typical football coach. He cared more about me as a human being than he did about football.

Speaker 4:

Well, mrs Runciman knew I was in for a rough road if I couldn't get reading, so I had to stay in from recess, I had to go to school early, I had to stay after school sometimes and she just wouldn't give up on me and I got caught up. That year I did better in school every year, including all the way through college. Again, I didn't realize what a profound impact she had on me. That shaped my life. That drove me to want to be a mentor for other kids, to be in an organization where we mentor lots of kids and I've always gotten to do that and at the college we say the key to success in college is having a mentor and two good friends. Oh, I love that. Simple as that. Now you can have more than one mentor.

Speaker 1:

I love that.

Speaker 4:

But that is, and it's not just college, tommy. You think about us. It's life. We've had mentors.

Speaker 1:

Still do, Still do. I'm old, I'm old until I die. I'm dying to ask you because did you have the same? Were you born with that motor that you have and we'll get into the motor, the Jim Everett motor? But did you have that motivation from a kid?

Speaker 4:

Did you?

Speaker 1:

like you talk about these times.

Speaker 4:

You didn't, I did not, you know I had, but it was these things, these things that shaped my life, sometimes tough things, but I became grateful for people that were there for me and it drove me to want to be there for other people, and that drives me today. I think I'm on the other side of the ledger. I got a lot of paying forward to do. I had so many people that got me to where I am today and it's been I'm not.

Speaker 4:

I got to do a commencement speech one time and the title of it was I'm the richest guy in Idaho and I believe that it won't see me on a list of monetary wealth, but so many people have helped shape my life and put me on that path that I didn't even know the path was there. The jobs I've had aren't ones that I dreamed about, other than being a collegiate swim coach.

Speaker 1:

That's the only thing that was ever on my list, graduating from college that I wanted to do, but I think it's good to hear for people listening when they get it Like there's a few people. In fact, I write your name, like if anyone ever says who's your hero, no, who's your example, I write Jim Everett. I mean that's not hyperbole, and so to hear that. I think sometimes people think you are born with it, that it's DNA, but I think there are more people that through experiences, through gratitude, through developing this desire and this yearning to give back, that it never stops right.

Speaker 4:

I hope it doesn't. I don't think it will for me. I can't fully retire, I'm still working, and then I call it. It's not really work, it's a calling. I don't look at it. I guess today's Wednesday, it's not hump day for me. I get to go to work, I get to come see Tommy, I'm going to have lunch with students today. I Tell me I'm going to have lunch with students today. You know, that's just. I pinch myself every day.

Speaker 1:

So I do want to hear how you got into the YMCA, because that was where you spent three decades right? Yeah, it's another interesting story because I didn't have.

Speaker 4:

I was going to go to graduate school. I was all set to go to graduate school. I got married my senior year of college to my wife, now 51 years Congratulations. She's a patient woman, amazing partner for me. And we were all set to go to California at University of Pacific. One of my mentors in college had moved out there and wanted me to get into a PhD program and I was pretty excited about that. Well, you're an MD, and this was a little while ago. But my wife went in for a checkup and was told she probably couldn't get pregnant. Two weeks later she's pregnant Doctor said it's going to be a very challenging pregnancy. You can't go to California. She said to him well, doc, we're not going by covered wagon and he said you shouldn't go.

Speaker 4:

So I had to quickly change plans. I had forgotten I had thrown in an application to the YMCA and I got a call from a guy named Jack Sizemore, the most casual interview I've ever had, and I still don't know why he hired me. But he hired me to be. Really I didn't realize it was a swim coach, was what drew me into it, but it really was running the operations of the Y. I'm still not exactly sure what he did some fundraising, that kind of stuff but I was at 22 years old, 21 years old, running a Y. I learned there that I can't do it all. I've got to form a team, I've got to get people.

Speaker 1:

So this is going to come full circle today for us. I've never asked you this either, so where did the desire to be a swim coach come? Were you a swimmer?

Speaker 4:

Yeah, so I wasn't a very good football player and I grew late. I became an All-American swimmer and I had coaches that were great my college coach. It's interesting too, because in those days swimming was a very minor sport in the world of athletics at small colleges. I went to Albion College and my swim coach was the running back coach for the football team. I knew more about swimming than he did, but one of the most phenomenal mentors, human beings I had to try to swim through a brick wall for that guy, Bob Wickstrom, another mentor in my life. So you know in college.

Speaker 1:

So that was your true love, that was. I loved it and you had a great mentor and so it was.

Speaker 4:

but what I learned is you know, when I got an opportunity to coach swimming, I'd been out of it for a long time. Technically, I probably needed to brush up, but it wasn't about swimming. It never is. That's just the medium you use to help young people develop into the human beings they're going to be. I knew I wasn't going to have any Olympic swimmers and later I hope we get to talk about Colby and what he does and about athletics at our level, which I just love. I've got a few stories I'd love to share about what it means for these kids, but it meant a lot to me. It was a big part of my college years and it allowed me to get an education.

Speaker 1:

So you take this job not knowing that this is going to lead to this? Really really storied career. Like, I do want to spend some time there because some of the things you accomplished with your team while serving in that role at the YMCA are just amazing. But you started there. Then talk about how you ended up in Boise.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I started there and my wife and I met in Colorado at a dude ranch. She grew up on a farm and we both loved the West. We'd been there once and it was love at first sight. She was love at first sight and the mountains were love at first sight, and so we'd always had a little desire to move West. And the Y at that time had a paper copy. Every two weeks you'd get a vacancy list of job opportunities. It was interesting because I had just applied to a job in Appleton, wisconsin, and was really excited about it Great one and I was number two. Didn't get the job. I'm bummed. Two weeks later this thing in Boise opens and I come outside unseen. I come here and.

Speaker 4:

I'm doing something by the river, by the library, and I see an eagle in downtown Boise. I see this river that's pristine. I can look up at the mountains. This is amazing and fortunately got the job so what year was that that was?

Speaker 4:

1977. Came here and just the community. I have no idea how we afforded a house. I was making, I think, $6,500. At that time. We had, I think we may have had two kids or at least had another one on the way. But people did so many great things to help us and so I just the why was reeling me in and I became a lifer, as they say. It just was. I got to do so many great things. Another mentor, daryl Scott I had there, and every year at the why, when you become a CEO, you get a new boss every two years and I've gotten to work with some of the most amazing people.

Speaker 1:

So you became CEO. In what year?

Speaker 4:

Then I went back to Michigan which I didn't think I'd do, but my boss, Daryl Scott, we did a capital campaign and he said, hey, how would you like to run the Y while I'm doing this campaign? It doesn't happen that way anymore, but he actually moved off-site so I ran the Boise Y. I never had any aspiration to do that. I did it for a while. This is kind of fun. Then there was an opening back in Michigan.

Speaker 4:

We thought, well, it'd be good to get closer to family, and went back there and went to St Joe Benton Harbor, probably the most segregated community in America. There's a river that divides the communities and it was just an amazing experience how we were able to pull that community together, and so I love that. And then an opening came back for Boise for the CEO job and we had a great experience there. But we missed Boise and you don't often get to go back and interview for it. I still remember that interview and people that I knew and all the candidates were here at the same time. So I'm saying hi to all these people.

Speaker 4:

I felt a little bad for them, but it was far from a shoe-in that I was going to get it. In fact there were a couple. There was a lady who headed up the committee was kind of dead set for some reason because people were saying, oh, you've got to hire Jim, and she was dead set. That's not what we're going to do. Well, I'm lucky enough to get the job, and 29 years in that role. So 29.

Speaker 4:

29 as the CEO of this Y we had just the downtown Y I mean.

Speaker 1:

so we got a lot of stuff to get to, but in that time if you think of the impact of the Y, so you have downtown, then you open up. West Y which was a huge endeavor. And then the one I want to really talk about, because it was so dramatic for me, is when you did the Caldwell Y. I mean you look at that community impact study, but there's just it's been fun.

Speaker 1:

I don't even know how to summarize or talk about on a podcast what might be interesting for people the impact of the YMCA, the impact of these nonprofits and the role they play in the community. What should I ask you? It's been fun.

Speaker 4:

I mean Caldwell was a lot of fun because that was a community. That is funny. Both times, I mean, people said we couldn't do it with the West Y. We had never raised more than I think about $1.2 million. We were going out for $13.5 million and things fell into place. People just this community, stepped up and we had great leadership. Gary Michael and Ray Smelik, david Turnbull were some of the names.

Speaker 4:

I remember going to David Turnbull I'd never met David and said we're building a Y, we think this is the best location. Hp would like us to be out in this neck of the woods and they had made a nice gift. They weren't dictating anything but we said can we work with you? We'd like to get a good deal on some land. He said, how about free? He gives us the land and then he gives land, land for the park, and that developed a relationship that's gone on for all those years with david and the things he's done. So there's a synergy with all this. Yeah, you meet people and great things and partnering is huge. We couldn't do it all, but we could. We could create some cool partnerships. So that was, that was a big step for us to get some confidence that we could do some things. But then caldwell was so let me set this up.

Speaker 1:

If you look at just statistics in Caldwell, idaho, and you look at challenges, crime rates start there. Violent crime, yeah it was. And a community that was really suffering and kind of tearing itself down. And you can point I know that I've talked to other people about this and because it's so, it's so dramatic. There's some other things that happen with good city leadership absolutely, um, there really was, yeah, but then there's this timing of the ymca coming in and bringing the community together and I think the combo of the ymca and colas's mayor and then garrett in Colas as mayor.

Speaker 4:

I think it was the right time. But we were told that that would never happen. They said there wasn't enough leadership in Caldwell. Which the Caldwell leaders? They're just so humble. It's kind of a throwback to a different era.

Speaker 4:

They don't beat their chest, but they just okay we'll show you and we went about that and it was the right time and crime rate was was not good that nobody wanted to go to that community. I'm now with the, with the, with the college of idaho, and it was a liability. Being uncalled, people were were afraid to send their kids there. Um, what? What the wide did was brought it brought the community together. And scott curt a ton of credit. He was the CEO out there. We didn't call him the CEO, we called him the executive director, but he was very independent.

Speaker 1:

I think we've had both of you on the list, but he's a dynamic.

Speaker 4:

Scott's an amazing guy and what he?

Speaker 4:

did is he just? He did so many things. He's fluent in Spanish, he has a commitment to the Hispanic population and if you walked in that wine little things that make a difference If you walked in that wine and Spanish was your language, we didn't have to go look for somebody. If you started speaking Spanish, there was going to be somebody with an earshot. So he just made it this welcoming place and I can tell you, when you move into a community like that, often Tom and have done that the less advantaged community thinks this isn't for us. They're building this for the other people. We don't get to come. And Scott just made it very clear that everybody was welcome at the Y and it grew. The crime rate dropped precipitously and now you go. You've been to Caldwell. That was the genesis, I think, for the uncovering of Indian Creek, the Indian Creek Plaza, all the things.

Speaker 1:

And it's being carried on today by Jerem. A couple of things Great leadership. I think Garrett was there. 24 years, can't say enough about the guy.

Speaker 4:

Best mayor on the planet?

Speaker 1:

I think I just think he so authentically called well and served the people. And how do you get through it? I do want to tell one story, because you took me out there and I remember I hadn't met Scott before and obviously, like, the respect for you is through the roof. And I go out there and I sat it was a day he was doing a little talk never met him before and I will never forget sitting there and just having goosebumps on top of goosebumps and chills and tears and and thinking, oh my gosh, this is the most incredible community impact thing and he just was connecting and it's so good.

Speaker 1:

I remember walking out thinking, my goodness, we're so blessed to have this community and the commitment from individuals that change things. If you think about life right, just think about like all of, because we'll transition into what you're doing now. But you think of 27 years, Jim, 29, 29, yeah, 27 is the CEO, right?

Speaker 1:

No 29 is the CEO 29. Sorry, um, you know I the the impact you've made on individuals, that's communities we started at. But then do you know how many hundreds of stories of people I know that, know you that are like, oh, that guy saved my kid's life? I mean think of the people, the families and then the individuals that you've been able to impact over your career at the YMCA. I know a guy like you looks back and you're so humble, but you've got to be proud and grateful.

Speaker 4:

I'm extremely grateful and I've done nothing. But the one skill I've got is surrounding myself with good people. Scott, hiring Scott Curtis boy. That was a hard process. He finally called me and said knock it off.

Speaker 1:

I don't want to do this because you're pressuring me, I to do it because it's the right thing and fortunately I can. I could actually hear him saying that we did.

Speaker 4:

we did hire him, but yeah, and I knew Scott from high school and he was on our board and but that you know it's just getting those right people in the right place and and teams get things done and and yeah, the life Scott's changed and continues to at the youth ranch and I'm really proud of that. The people that have gone out and and either stayed with the y david durrow is doing great work at the y now and and and we talked about mernan colas and I've had jerome wagner out there kind of trying to do the same, not kind of it is doing the same stuff with a focus on youth and families. So, and I'm just I'm, I'm extraordinarily grateful it does, I'm, I'm a story. I thought you're gonna say I've got a hundred, I got a thousand stories and I love telling stories. I think stories are the way we develop a culture and and so back to my original story. So what we did at the at the Y is we told everybody and new employer orientation, don't talk about at-risk kids that nobody wants to be an at-risk kid. We know they're out there, but we're gonna talk about all the promise kids every kids have promised. And if you don't believe that this is new employer orientation, just quietly walk out the door. We'll pay it for their time here.

Speaker 4:

But we can't have people here that are going to give up on kids. Somebody didn't give up on me when it would have been easy to. Mrs Runciman wasn't getting paid to stay after school and come in early and all those things Didn't get her break at break time. At lunch she stayed with me because she wasn't going to give up on me. Mr Martin wasn't. We've got to do that.

Speaker 4:

It doesn't always work, I'm not. There are times where you get disappointed, but you've got to make the effort and I know I mean you've adopted kids, you've taken kids that they just need an opportunity. That's all we're looking for. That's all anybody wants. I don't believe in handouts, but handups make a huge difference when somebody believes in you more than you believe in yourself. So it shapes the way you try to do everything.

Speaker 4:

And our camp was the same way. We'd take kids there and I got a million stories from camp kids that showed up that were contemplating suicide and got to camp. And just because people were kind and remembered their name, one wrote us a letter and said you know, I came to camp thinking I was going to take my life, but I got here and people are nice to me and people remember my name and I'm not going to do that and a letter that he had written to his grandma when he was at camp and she shared that with us. I mean, that's powerful.

Speaker 4:

Sometimes we need mental health counselors, we need all this, but sometimes we just need a society that's kinder and has more empathy for people and less angry. So I like to try to simplify things and to me that's a huge. I look at you, know leaders like you. Empathy is a big part of your leadership style. You want to get to know people and it's far different than sympathy. We're not talking sympathy, we're talking empathy and, as Cubby said, seeking first to understand, then to be understood. You're a great listener. You love stories.

Speaker 1:

Well and gosh. I just you know people follow, people they do, and I think of and sometimes I think back to people that have been super impactful to me. And Jim, you are one of those guys. I just and the impact you've made on my life and I think back to you know that job offer and you coming here. It's impossible to quantify the impact of just your goodness and what you've said today, kindness and the lessons you've learned and the people. So it's really cool to kind of reflect on that. I was just thinking through West Y, then the camp I know it's a big deal Caldwell.

Speaker 4:

And then South.

Speaker 1:

Meridian Y and all the things that I've watched you do. But but one of the things that that I wanted to maybe have you talk about a little bit, because I've been around a lot of people that are leaders, that that you know they're leaders right and they're they may be you know they're well-respected, they're approachable, they're know they're leaders right and they're they may be you know you're, they're well respected, they're approachable, they're, they're they're wonderful and they lead and they're you know they're larger than life and there's that for sure with, with, with, with Jim Everett, and for sure.

Speaker 1:

But give advice to those people that are listening about being both, because you're that for sure, but you're also you've never lost sight of the one and I've watched you, like in so many. I'm going to get to what you're doing right now, because when we went out there, it was overwhelming, because we're walking through the halls going to the basketball game at the College of Idaho and you probably grabbed five kids. You pulled them in, you put your arm around them and you would tell me such individual stories about those kids and their eyes were bright and they were smiling. But what I want to get back to is what do you do to keep your focus on the one that, like it's? It feels to me like you're always looking for someone that's struggling, someone that may need something extra. Do you have any any advice for those that may be listening of how to do that?

Speaker 4:

Don't forget where it came from. I don't like the the phrase. You know I'm a self-made man. None of us are. If you got to where you got to where I've gotten to, you had a lot of help along the way, and so to me, it's an opportunity, it's a responsibility to try to help people that are in different places in life that just need somebody to be that. Mr Martin, mrs Runciman, I could go on and on for all the mentors I had, sharon Allen, I mean it's just people that have been there that didn't need to do what they've done for me. So I think I'll go to my grave remembering that I'm pretty darn lucky and I want other people to have those opportunities. And I hear stories and share stories. I got one just yesterday.

Speaker 4:

I ran into this girl from Haiti. She's on our campus. We get a lot of international students. As you know, there's a donor that pays for the majority of their education Well, almost all of it and this girl's from Haiti. Haiti's not a great place to to grow up. Uh, she comes to the college. She just told me yesterday that she has gotten into cornell veterinary medicine school. I mean, I just that brings me to tears. I think about a girl growing up there. She's gonna go to cor. We've got to figure out how she's going to afford it. She's got to go to the University of Pennsylvania. You know medical school, you know veterinary medicine school may be even tougher to get into.

Speaker 4:

We've got another kid from Somalia. He's a domestic student but his family came here from Somalia, went to the Boise schools, graduated brilliant kid, abu Karim Muhammad. He worked for two years for NIH. He just got into Cornell MD PhD program, full tuition housing. The kid's going to go on and do amazing things. He's going to. You know I love the choices we've got in education. Now we need the CWIs, we need the technical schools, but higher ed's getting beaten up a little bit right now. And cure for cancer, cure for Alzheimer's, those are going to come out of places like ours. We've had a Rhodes Scholar, fulbright Scholar, truman Scholar, goldwater Scholar, all Idaho kids. We're 60% Idaho kids. We need it all, but I'm really proud of what we do. Well, you.

Speaker 1:

It's always about the one with you, it is. And it's always about running to people in their time of greatest need, right? I think it's been a tremendous example for me. I'm going to tell you like this is a true story from yesterday for me and I'm going to add it to the Jim Everett stories. So I'm sitting at my desk at the end of the day. Yesterday I had a really busy day.

Speaker 4:

When don't you?

Speaker 1:

Tommy. But I was looking through I thought, oh, podcast tomorrow. So I usually get guest bios and a little bit about you which I didn't need for you today. But I've sitting here and I thought, oh great, I read through your bio and in that moment I was going through my emails and someone had sent me a really long, well-written email Jim, and it's a senior in our community that needs help with something, and it's so specific and it's a big ask.

Speaker 1:

And I literally had read the email, I flagged it so I could go back to it and in my head I'm like I just can't. There's like a point I can't say no, no, I was opposite. I'm like there's a point which you can't. There's like a point I can't say no, there's no, there's no. I was opposite. I'm like there's a point which you can't do anymore. I just I, I just I. I have no, there's like nothing left to be able to go solve that problem. And, jim, I read your thing and I went to that email and literally said I'll set up an appointment, I'll come check, and I don't know where that's going to go, but anyway, you never stopped inspiring.

Speaker 1:

Because that's what you would have done. You would have read that and said I'm going to go help and so gosh, it just never ends, jim.

Speaker 4:

Thank you for what you do, tommy, and I know everybody's looking to you to help and let's get back to um.

Speaker 1:

So when you said, hey, I'm going to retire from the Y, it's been, it's been a long time. Uh, I think most of us who knew you, well, we're like okay, what's this guy going to do next, Cause you can't stop.

Speaker 4:

No.

Speaker 1:

You won't stop.

Speaker 4:

No.

Speaker 1:

I mean, it's just not possible, it's not part of your DNA. So it wasn't much time off and then immediately you took a role at the University of Ohio. You're right.

Speaker 4:

I knew I wasn't fully retiring. It was, you know, 29 years and it's interesting. I remember having a conversation with Roger Quarles, who's a dear friend and was a great partner in Caldwell. Roger, we shared, I said every kid's a promise. Roger said it a different way there's no throwaway kid. So we really bonded when he was in Caldwell as a superintendent. But meeting with him we were just philosophical and he said you know, leadership has a shelf life. It wasn't directed at me, but it does.

Speaker 4:

David was ready to go. I don't get to pick my successor, but I did call David Durow and say I want to make sure you're interested if I do announce this, because I knew if he was interested they'll go through a process. If they hire somebody else, they must be pretty darn good. So did that knowing that I wasn't going to. I didn't know what was going to be next To your point. I had no idea what was going to be next, but I knew I wasn't done. And then my friend Marty Holley. You've met another guy with energy. Marty's now 79. You'll see him at the game in a couple weeks and he's just always going. He bleeds purple. He calls me and says hey, we've got an opening for the swim coach job. It was like two months in and everybody told me wait six months. I couldn't Kind of.

Speaker 1:

like you, I've read it.

Speaker 4:

And I'm a bit on the impulsive side.

Speaker 1:

I talked to my wife a little bit, thought about it, but I said, yeah, well, man, and it was about this much about swimming and all this about getting to work with young college students and hoping to be like my wife, but in some way kind of a cool bookend right.

Speaker 4:

Oh, it was awesome, Like, hey, that's what I want to be.

Speaker 1:

This is kind of what inspired me.

Speaker 4:

You've got to do it, and now all of I had so much fun with that and the students were great and you know I'm an old guy and they're young and some of those generational things. I'd make some comment about something, they'd look at me like what? And then they'd tell me about something. And I remember coming in one day and I would videotape and I had my phone and this girl named Abby who was kind of my unpaid assistant she of my unpaid assistant on, she was on the swim team but she'd take care of travel arrangements and all this stuff. And I'm I got a new phone and I'm doing some filming. I said this is coming out blurry and she comes over and says well, you need to take the.

Speaker 1:

The wrap off of it, and so we could chuckle about that kind of stuff and but I had a blast, uh, doing that.

Speaker 4:

And then I thought that would probably be my retirement job. And again, like you said, life throws you an opportunity. And I wasn't looking, doug wasn't looking, but we got the for six and a half years co-presidents. We agreed we'd split the salary and we'd both work full time. We knew the college needed the help and what a joy that was. And there were a lot of skeptics on that. Co-presidents, you know you can't do that.

Speaker 1:

You know it's funny. So six and a half years, and I remember talking to you when you started it and you told me hey, there's a lot of people that are skeptical, how are we going to do this? And I thought they don. Guys were an incredible team.

Speaker 4:

Doug's doing it on his own now, and Doug's what a great human being and I've learned a ton from him. We share the same values, but we come at things a lot differently. He's much more deliberate, I'm a little more impulsive, but I wouldn't trade that time for anything.

Speaker 1:

So I shouldn't have been surprised, um, but the amount of passion and energy and drive and will you put into everything you do, it's just incredible. I don't think you know, but like I remember the first time I saw you after, like you you became the president of and I just you were ready to go. I mean you were just like you've got to get, you've got to come out here because we've got to show you this and that and the other, and it's just the coolest thing ever and it's just infectious, jim.

Speaker 4:

And.

Speaker 1:

I know it's been a wonderful thing for you.

Speaker 4:

It's been a great thing for me and hopefully for the kids and these stories. I mean, there's not a day where I don't hear a story. We had a student come back a week ago, tuesday, to speak to Tech Girls and it's interesting because she grew up in the Valley, went to Renaissance High School and almost a perfect SAT score and her dream was to go to Columbia, stanford, duke. She got rejected at all of those Came to the college kind of grudgingly we were not even top five on her list Got to play golf there. Well, it turned out she went there in an engineering we're not an engineering school but we've got a 3-2 program. Well, she got into Columbia for engineering. In the 3-2 program was the outstanding student, undergrad student there.

Speaker 4:

Then she went to MIT. She's got a TED Talk. She came back and talked to these girls about resilience and sometimes things aren't going to break your way. But she got to Columbia and then she actually got turned down by University of Washington. I thought, all right, I go again for PhD programs. It just had kind of thrown her application in MIT as a stretch school and got into MIT and she's just killing it. So for these young girls to hear. So she's doing what we talked about giving it back and coming, and inspiring kids that anything's possible.

Speaker 1:

So the Valley has grown a lot. We have a lot of listeners to this that most are in Idaho, but but I don't know how many people know the College of Idaho. So give it, we've got it pulled up for those people watching on YouTube. Good, I'll try to be quick.

Speaker 4:

We're actually the oldest institution by a little bit over University of Idaho in the state 1891. Proudly an Idaho school. So about 60% of our kids are Idaho kids. Our football team is an example. We brought football back because we knew there was a group of student athletes that wanted to continue to play, but they're not good enough for Boise State or D1.

Speaker 4:

They're pretty dang good as you've seen, but they so we have more, more kids from Idaho on our football team than University of Idaho, university of Idaho State University and Boise State combined, so we've been a niche for those kids. Fifty percent of our kids are student athletes. We have about 16 percent that are international kids and paid for by a donor, and most of those kids come from abject poverty but they need an opportunity. Eighteen percent Hispanic kids, so it's a great blend of what the world looks like.

Speaker 1:

Incredible campus.

Speaker 4:

We know everybody.

Speaker 1:

You go out there and tour it. It's just electric with activity when you've been to basketball games.

Speaker 4:

We think we're the only school in the country we've had national championship in basketball Rhodes Scholar. National championship in women's cross country Truman Scholar. National championship in men's cross country Goldwater Scholar, fulbright Scholar so there's some good stuff going on. Small, we're only a little over 1,000 students and it would be you'd have to work at not finding a mentor at the college. I even get to write a number of recommendation letters and they're not form letters. I know the kids and our faculty know those students and they love.

Speaker 4:

You know, in academia there's a lot of pressure to do research and that's good stuff. The research we do is collaboratively with the students. So our faculty they don't want to be locked in a lab by themselves, they want to be around students teaching and so it's a fun place to be. And then the athletics you know you've been there, tom, and you'll be there on the 21st, but we're going to name our arena the Elgin-Baylor Arena and On the 21st we're going to name our arena the Elgin Baylor Arena and a lot of people I said probably these young folks over here don't know who Elgin.

Speaker 1:

Baylor was yeah, you got to like it's kind of sad, right Elgin Baylor, like when I was growing up that was like he was the guy and he was an alumni. So big ceremony, yeah, big ceremony.

Speaker 4:

He came here. So I didn't see him. I'm proud of this 1954. We've always been a place for opportunities and so he came out. We had six African-American players on our team in 1954. Well, that didn't. He came out here because no one else would give him a chance. He was the best basketball player in the world. First time he ever drank out of a drinking fountain was in Caldwell, idaho. So that changed his life. And those integrated. So that changed his life. And that's those kind of stories that are his first number one draft pick to be a player of color, first guy to score 70 points in the NBA, first guy to score 60 in a playoff game that 60 point record held for more than four decades and and just a nice human being. So I'm excited about that. We're on a hopefully I don't want to jinx it, but we got a team capable of winning another national championship.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk a little bit about it. So I just want to get your take. I mean, we've had him on the podcast because when you took me out there we got to go in the locker room and this guy is he's something else. There's a real deal, and then there's Kobe, kobe. He is the real deal and it's fun to watch what he does.

Speaker 4:

What a great coach.

Speaker 1:

And a great mentor and a great mentor and the way he interacts with those kids, the way he loves them, the way he. There's so many great things going on, but it looks like there's a shot, right.

Speaker 4:

It's basketball and one game will eliminate you, but we definitely have the potential to do that. We've got a veteran squad coming back. We lost Jake O'Neal. It's interesting to see Jake. Jake's playing at Idaho State now and turning out numbers because he's getting to play more. I mean, as you know, Colby, you get to play about 20 minutes, so Jake's playing a full game at ISU and he's leading rebounder. He got 19 rebounds in a game the other day. The coach for UCLA spent five minutes talking about Jake after the game and Jake epitomizes who we are. And oh, I could talk about tons of these kids, but not the fastest, doesn't jump the highest, not the best shooter, but is well-prepared, as tough as anybody you're going to see, yeah, and there are some great basketball, great athletes Stratton, rodgers.

Speaker 4:

Stratton Rodgers can fly. Yeah, johnny Redford, it's a fun team, samadji, so you'll see them all. We've got a new kid, a Belgian Baylor scholar, named Utrillo.

Speaker 3:

Morris.

Speaker 4:

It's a great in any given night.

Speaker 1:

You know some guy may not have a great day, but that's what makes us good, I think the night I went there they hit like 30 three-pointers. It was unbelievable.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, you came to a very good night.

Speaker 1:

I'm on fire, so I can't wait to be Well, one story if I can share on basketball.

Speaker 4:

So two years ago we won the national championship and I like where we are because our the whole national tournament, the first two games we get to host, I hope and we probably will. So you stay at home. So we're not, we're still in school, are going to class, regular routine, those two games. Then you go to kansas city and it's one week the whole tournament. You play two games early in the week and then he plays friday and saturday back to back and then you're back in school on Monday. So when we won the national championship two years ago, we're there. We win the semifinal game Friday night. We're the first game. So we stay around and scout the next game to see who we're going to be playing, get back to the hotel about 9.30, get to eat. Coach talks to them. They get to see their parents.

Speaker 4:

A kid named Caden Handron, who just epitomized that team, never shows up on the stat sheet. Scobie Montana. He runs a camp up in Scobie. Everybody in the town shows up for that. He's a rock star. When we had the national championship people from Scobie, I think the town had to be empty because they all were at the national tournament.

Speaker 4:

Anyway, he goes on this computer at 10.30 at night. He's going to play the biggest game of his life the next day and finds out that he has homework that's due at midnight and from a professor who had canceled class to fly back to watch the national championship. But at the College of Idaho you're not going to give kids just a day off. They had to give them homework so he could have called that professor he's in the same hotel, could have called Colby and said hey, we're playing tomorrow. Can I get a? Can you give me a break on this? He didn't either. He finished his homework, turned in at about 1155, went to bed, woke up, started on the national championship and won.

Speaker 4:

That's the kind of kid I want to hire. You know he could have found an excuse, but why I got an hour and a half? I'll knock this out, I'll get it done and I'll go show up and play a game of my life. And he did so. It's just so much fun. The lessons you learn. We believe we're not going to get, and I'm glad we're where we are. It's interesting right now what's going on in college. It's sports, but in college, at sports, and it's uh. But our kids are there for four years and and the bonds they develop with and they get a great education. Just jumping around from team to team is I, I.

Speaker 1:

You know, it is what it is uh, it's in a strange place right now.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, but I love, I love the fact that we know these kids, and uh, and and uh.

Speaker 1:

It's fun to cheer for them hey, this went went by really fast. There's a bunch more things I want to get to, but I do want to ask you a couple specific things because I'd love our listeners to hear your take. So I don't know what you call them life hacks or habits or secrets of success, or there's a lot of things to talk about. You've been doing this a long time, a leader for a long long time, community leader, ceo, leader of people. Do it as well, jim. Again, as well as anyone I've ever seen in my life, any people, god ask you this that you mentor. What are some of the advices or suggestions you would give to do it over a long time?

Speaker 4:

I appreciate you saying that, Tommy. There's a lot of wonderful leaders and.

Speaker 4:

I learned from all of them. I think one of them is just having that mindset of still wanting to learn, to be curious, and you're one of those guys. I mean, look at your career. You're a doc. I mean you're always looking for what can I learn from other people? So surround yourself, be open, read, listen.

Speaker 4:

Gratitude is huge. You know, I love there's a video called Celebrating what's Right with the World and it's by DeWitt Jones and it's great. It shaped my life as I watched that and it kind of aligned with where I was thinking. But you've got to celebrate those great things. It doesn't mean you're a total Pollyanna and I may be a little bit on that side. You pointed that out a couple times but I think you don't have the energy and I think that's the story you just told. I mean you're at the end of the day and it's tough day and and you only get the energy when you're uplifted and you're and you're looking for the good and then you can tackle those things that need to be fixed. So, uh, find the gratitude, remember where you came from, never forget.

Speaker 4:

I don't care how you know important people try to make. I'm just a regular guy and I'm a lucky guy and I got a lot that I want to continue to do. So I'm thinking about that and thinking of purpose calling. I've never had a job in my adult life. I had a few growing up that were taught me. I don't think I want to do that. I worked in a factory one time and we need people to do that Wasn't my gig. You know what's my calling and I've been so lucky to every single job. I look forward to coming to work. I look forward to my colleagues. I didn't like and I'm glad we've got choices in remote work and all that, but I love coming and being around people. I get energy from that. I feed off that and then take care of yourself, you know you can't.

Speaker 1:

Will you touch on that, how important health is and some of the things you do?

Speaker 4:

It's critical.

Speaker 1:

I've always, I think, in order for, like, listen, for you to have the energy and drive and all you have a lot of it is because you've got to have that mind, body, spirit thing going. Talk a little bit about what you've done to stay healthy, what?

Speaker 4:

you've done to stay healthy? Yeah, how old are you now? Yeah, from a fitness standpoint, I mean, it's every day If I don't work out, I'm not, it's every day, right.

Speaker 1:

And how old are you, jim?

Speaker 4:

I'm 72 now 72. I can't even I mean this I did triathlons pretty competitively up until my 60s and mid-60s Probably you know. Now I'm just training for life. You know, I just want to stay healthy. I want to play with my grandkids. I want to be able to. If they say, let's hike to Sawtooth Lake when I'm 80, I want to be able to do those things.

Speaker 1:

So you try to do some cardio.

Speaker 4:

I try to do some cardio and strength training as I've gotten older is important to me too, so that reading for pleasure, too, is something that is an escape for me. I mean, we get so much reading for business you can't get to it all. You're just the emails you have to read, tommy. So I try to take some time to read, and I love historical fiction, I love history. I'm reading, and most people read it years ago For some reason. I didn't. I'm reading Team of Rivals right now.

Speaker 1:

Oh, isn't that great.

Speaker 4:

Great book. I got to teach a class on leadership.

Speaker 1:

This year at the college. That's one of my favorite books.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I think it's awesome.

Speaker 1:

Do you diet supplements? Do you do these? No?

Speaker 4:

no supplements. I try to eat really healthy. I just try to eat a balanced diet. My wife's got celiac so she's gluten-free, so she makes you eat?

Speaker 1:

well, yeah, she does. That helps with the carbs.

Speaker 4:

And we've got, I'll tell you our cafeteria at the college. I think I don't know if you've eaten there?

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, I did.

Speaker 4:

It's amazing. And there's good, healthy choices there. So I just try to make sure I'm taking care of myself, getting enough sleep. That's a challenge sometimes. Sometimes I can't turn my brain off and uh, but I try to be disciplined around that. Getting outdoors, I love, I love Idaho. I've been here, I've been born. I'm not a native Idaho and I grew up in Michigan, but this is home.

Speaker 1:

This is where I'm going to, I'm going to live out my days. It's a beautiful state. Where's your go-to?

Speaker 4:

I've got a bunch of them, but two of my favorite places on the planet. One is the Bighorn Crags. If you've not done the Bighorn Crags, you need to do it. You need to schedule probably a week, because it's a big area.

Speaker 4:

But that is just a spiritual place place too you go up there and you just you're in awe. Every time you're going around the corner you're looking, what am I going to see next? And 52 like that's amazing. I love the. I love the white clouds too. A lot of people haven't done the white clouds and so big boulder lakes if you, if you're able to get in there it's those both of them are you're going to have to do some hiking and we like to backpack. Love the McCall area People don't know how much is up there and Lick Creek. We all know about McCall and the lake and all the fun there. But you go up to Lick Creek and there's some amazing places. Clyde Lakes we went into that one time so I got a lot of places I like to. We don't travel a ton. I haven't been to Alaska. I want to get there. But if I never left Idaho, I still got a lot of stuff I want to see.

Speaker 1:

You know, the older I get, I don't want to go anywhere else. I don't even honestly. If you look at what you just mentioned, several of my favorite places, and even up, you know Seven Devils on this side, yeah, seven Devils. And you go up in North Idaho, elks, gorgeous, elk City, all the way up. And then you go up Coeur d'Alene and that whole area with.

Speaker 4:

Priest Lake. Priest Lake.

Speaker 1:

And then you go the other side and you got Swan Falls and everything up towards Jackson Teton. It's just unbelievable. You don't really need to ever go anywhere.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, you don't. You're looking out the Owyhees, the Owyhees, the.

Speaker 1:

Owyhees are an absolute gem that almost nobody goes out to, and they're spectacular, they're spectacular.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I could spend the rest of my life just trying to find all the spots in Idaho I haven't gotten to see. So that's important to me and grandkids Time with the grandkids I've got three now how old are they. They're 14, 12, and 6.

Speaker 1:

Perfect ages they're all perfect ages.

Speaker 4:

You know, I got to take my granddaughter when she was 13 on a middle fork salmon trip Another of my favorite places. It was awesome. She wasn't going to do the ducky, she was the youngest one on the trip and I was kind of pushing to do it. And then the next day she shows up and she's there and there were two older girls there that kind of were her mentors and they were doing it. So she did it. She went through some white water and to see her, she's amazing. She's a very gifted but she's a little shy and timid about some things and to watch her getting out there and powering down through some rapids and my heart's pounding.

Speaker 4:

You got to make it and she made it in flying colors and so it's, it's just I again I cannot say how fortunate I feel and uh, and and appreciate you know telling me that you didn't say that first time you came out to Caldwell. The next day there's a check in the mail and and you get pulled a lot of different directions but you're always trying. And the other thing I love is you're always looking down the road. You know Native Americans and we've got a kid on our team Beaver, st Clair. Native Americans look seven generations ahead. Every time they made a decision it was about how is this going to affect? We need to have more of that mindset. You know we're. So what's going to happen tomorrow? What's you know? And I know what you're working on in transportation.

Speaker 1:

We've got to be doing that now. Well, thanks for being part of that, jim. Well, first of all, I would say for anyone listening to this, it may be because I'm getting old and there's younger leaders, there's kind of a whole new set of kind of young guns in town. If you haven't taken Jim Everett to lunch, you should. It would change your life. He's easy to find. And then, secondly, I just want to tell you, in my life I've never met a guy like you, and I appreciate so much at this point decades of just rubbing shoulders with you, watching you, modeling you, asking you questions, having you be one of my mentors. It's a, it's been an honor having you on, and I love you.

Speaker 4:

I appreciate you so much. I'll be right back, tommy, and you've been the same to me.

Speaker 1:

Thanks buddy, thank you, thanks everyone.