Jason, delighted to be talking to you. You're all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah, it's great to reach out across the country across the world. Now, I'm curious, and I'm sure some of our listeners are curious. You had your dream of becoming a Las Vegas star, you are an entertainer, a dancer, a singer, and you hit the offer that you wanted. And you turned it down. Why was that?

 

 

Well, George, I think that when we begin our careers, we have aspirations and dreams to do something great. My dream aspiration was the Las Vegas headliner show. And my wife and I, after three years of doing the performing and so forth, she and I went to Las Vegas for an offer, we didn't realise it was going to be this offer, we thought it was just, you know, come be a part of one of our shows, and we'll kind of coach you along. 

But it was really this offer of we're going to take over your career, we're going to tell you what you get to do what you get to perform. All the producers were there of the other shows that we had seen that were fascinating and wonderful. But they didn't necessarily align with my values. 

And I established my career with the intention of being a performer entertainer that families could enjoy together. Grandparents wouldn't have to be embarrassed when the performer said something that was, you know, embarrassing to the grandchildren. And so I decided to do a family friendly performance. Unfortunately, my values didn't align with the intention of the casinos. 

The casinos wanted to embrace the new theme of Vegas at the time, which was what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. So things were a little bit more adult, if you will. And we could not come to a compromise despite the fact that they thought I was the next great performer that would be a headliner in Vegas, and they were going to take over my career. 

But we walked away from that opportunity. And it may sound like I'm just saying it was a simple choice. It really was not. It was it was a game changer for me, because then I was blacklisted from the city from doing a headlining show there ever again. And I then turned my sights on being a performer and speaker for corporate events, which wanted family friendly entertainment and wanted something that was appropriate for all ages. And so that's become my career and that is the story.

Now I find that fascinating because what you thought was your dream and what you worked for when it was handed to you. You it wasn't quite what you thought it would be. Now you had to make this, which I am guessing was a difficult decision because here's a chance to, here's the chance to be the star, big money, big fame, all you got to do is maybe tell some dirty jokes or something like that, who knows what kind of things, but it didn't mesh with your values? I'm guessing it wasn't an instant decision. Did you? You and your wife talk this over for some time?

 

Oh, certainly. I mean, at the time, I was just living gig to gig as a performer hoping to get the next opportunity. And so when all of a sudden you have your future lined out ahead of you, it's quite the experience to say, wow, they liked me enough. They think and believe in me enough that I could be this guy. That was a huge coup for us. And then equally, to say to ourselves, what do we stand for? What do we want our legacy to be? Someday we'll have children, we said way back, then, what is going to be the thing that they'll know us for? And are we able to live our principles or values, the foundation that we've created, and keep a promise to ourselves? Because George, I made a promise years earlier that it would always be a family friendly experience. And, you know, we can certainly change as we go. And I get that. And I have other peers that have accepted those types of huge offers. And I've watched their lives. And I'll be candid with you. I'm grateful I made the choice I did. It would be very hard to speak, I think about the power of keeping a promise to ourselves if I hadn't made that choice.

 

Now, speaking of promise, your book is called the promise to the one who or what is the one in why is that significant?

 

So yeah, the book, let me grab it right here. The book has a has a pretty mountain on the cover. So it's kind of easy to find when you're at the Amazon store. But the promise to the One A lot of people go what is the one? Is that your boss? Is it the company you work for? Is your customer? The one is you. The one is yourself? So what's your promise that you've made to yourself? And what potentially have you maybe broken in those promises throughout your life? That's what this book asks. And it's really a practice and a read of discovering what makes you happy? And what is your true purpose in life? And what are some of the promises that you made when you were young that maybe you've forgotten? As well as what are some of the opportunities that are coming your way that maybe you need to turn away and keep a promise to self? Even if it means yes, the opportunity is great, you might make millions of dollars are way better living. Whereas in my case, you know, we've gone through life where I've even had years that were so down, I've had to cash out the 401k just to survive, my life would have been way different had I signed the Vegas contract. So it's not to say that a promise makes everything perfect. But rather it makes everything peaceful. Because our harmony is our integrity. And promises are a very important part of our lives.