58. Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast featuring Mike Denslow

Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast with Paul Casey

Speaker 1:

"Sometimes to begin a new story, you have to let the old one in." Author unknown. I am Cynthia Marquez and I am a Tri-City influencer.

Paul Casey:

And if we must assume, the only thing I would say is to assume a positive intent. So if there's a gap between why that person behaved as they did and you don't know the answer, fill in that gap with positive intent and check it out.

Speaker 3:

Raising the water level of leadership in the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington, it's the Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. Welcome to the TCI podcast, where local leadership and self-leadership expert Paul Casey interviews local CEOs, entrepreneurs, and non-profit executives to hear how they lead themselves and their teams. So we can all benefit from their wisdom and experience. Here's your host, Paul Casey of Growing Forward Services. Coaching and equipping individuals and teams to spark breakthrough success.

Paul Casey:

It's a great day to grow forward. Thanks for joining me for today's episode with Mike Denslow. Mike is the originator of Love the Tri, a sticker I have on my Hydroflask right here. And he's also a branch manager at Homebridge. And a fun fact about Mike is he's a creator. He can see stuff that is not there and make it happen. Mike, just give us a little glimpse of that real quick.

Mike Denslow:

I was telling you before we started the show that I like things that are just in my brain and then seeing them and touching them. If it takes a few days or if it takes months, that accomplishment of just the tiniest little idea, that spark, and then making it happen. I just love it.

Paul Casey:

Yeah, that is awesome. I can't wait to talk more. We're going to dive in after checking in with our Tri-City Influencer sponsor.

Speaker 5:

Mario Martinez, Northwestern mutual. Mario, what types of services do you offer?

Mario Martinez:

Hey Paul, thank you for letting me be on here. We run bifurcated practices and that we focus in two areas of a financial plan. The first one is, we do protection pieces which include life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance. Really the things that people should be focused on to protect their families, their businesses. And on the other side of our practice is we do investment services. And on the investment platforms, we do both the brokerage platform and we do the advisory level services. So depending on what someone's looking for as far as guidance on their investment strategies, we can curtail and build a strategy for them to make sense.

Speaker 5:

Mario, how can people get in touch with you? The easiest way is you can reach out to me directly on my business cell phone. It's 509-591-5301. You can send me an email at [e-mail] or you can reach out to us on our social media platforms, the easiest one being Mario Martinez Northwestern Mutual on Facebook.

Paul Casey:

Thank you for your support of leadership development in the Tri-Cities. Well, welcome, Mike. This is the first time we’ve met, but I feel like I know you because the Love the Tri stuff is all over the Tri-Cities. And even my pastor and my church wore I Love the Tri shirt. I think he called you on a weekend because he was speaking on how our church wants to love the Tri-Cities. So that's pretty funny.

Mike Denslow:

Yeah. I've met him in a Starbucks parking lot with a shirt and a hat and some stickers and did a handoff. Yep, well, happy to do it.

Paul Casey:

Pretty cool. Well, tell us a little bit about your journey. How can our Tri-City influencers get to know you in a snapshot? And why you love what you do.

Mike Denslow:

Well, born and raised in Tri-Cities. Grew up in Pasco, graduated Pasco High, went away to college, started a family, wanted my kids to grow up in Tri-Cities, just like I did, and moved back. Wasn't gone very long, really. And came back and after I got out of college, I got into the computer field for a while and ended up starting BOSS Computer Solutions with a friend of mine. And we did that for a while.

Paul Casey:

I didn't know that was you.

Mike Denslow:

Yeah, yeah. And we did that for a while and then it was time for the next thing. You do something for awhile, then got antsy. And guy that I went to high school with recommended getting into the mortgage business with him. And so that's been 15-and-a-half years ago now and I love it because I love helping and educating people, I love math. And the mortgage world, you wouldn't think this, but it's actually very creative because everyone's credit score and income and background, and everything's different, right. And so every single day, you're helping people.

Paul Casey:

It's like a puzzle, right?

Mike Denslow:

Absolutely a puzzle. And you're helping people with typically the largest transaction they're ever going to have in their life. And they don't look at it as a transaction. They look at it as, "I'm buying a house." Or, "I'm refinancing a house." Or whatever. And it's very much more rewarding than I expected it to be. But that's what gets me to here, is Pasco High and the love for the Tri-Cities and wanting my kids to grow up here. And now one of them's here, one of them's in Seattle, but they're adults paying for themselves.

Paul Casey:

You mentioned the word antsy in there. I keyed in on that word because creatives often have this inner juice that after a while doing the same thing, you’ve got to start something new. Has that been a pattern in your life?

Mike Denslow:

Not really. I wasn't a job jumper or anything like that. I think I was just looking for more. And in that particular case, something more rewarding. And then it ended up being so much more than I expected it. It seemed like a good career. And I had other people I knew who did the mortgage field and then it just, wow, you close a loan for someone and, "Thank you so much." That happened over and over again. "Oh wow. You explained that better than another person that I talked to." And getting it down to, "Well, did you think about this?" And one of the first questions I ask people is, "Well, how long are you going to be in this home?" And they're like, "What's that got to do with anything?" I'm like, "Well, you can buy down points or you can do this, or you can do this." There's all these different things that we can do to structure it so it makes more sense for them. And they're like, "Oh."

Mike Denslow:

And I had one educator tell me, "You should teach a class on this." And the funny thing is I come from a family of educators. My dad was a teacher for 30-plus. My mom was a teacher. Uncle was a teacher, grandparents were teachers. And I never really thought about it, but it became my style.

Paul Casey:

It's in the genes. Yeah, my parents were teachers too. So there is an art about breaking something down into a way that's understandable.

Mike Denslow:

For a lot of different people and educations and backgrounds, right. So you got to be able to explain some something to somebody who's in a trade and an engineer and maybe even English as a second language too.

Paul Casey:

Yeah. Of course, you have to size people up pretty quickly to see what they need and then custom communicate with them.

Mike Denslow:

Yeah. And you do that long enough you don't think about it, right.

Paul Casey:

It's just natural.

Mike Denslow:

Yup, exactly.

Paul Casey:

Well, what's been some of the biggest hurdles? Well, just give us maybe one hurdle you've overcome in your career because as you're on your journey to success, you hit some speed bumps.

Mike Denslow:

Yeah, good question. Well, it's tricky. You and I talked about some different things that have happened before. And in my world, I would say, when you're dealing with competitors that maybe 100% truth isn't what comes out. And so, especially early in your career, when you're going into a commission field, you lose out on some business because somebody else tells something that they want to hear. Then they're almost done with the loan and then they find out it not to be true, but it's too late to turn around. And so when you're relying on this commission business, and all of a sudden, you're dealing with unethical behavior, that's hard. I mean, but it's not like you're going to change who you are and go down to their level. But the first few years of getting into this business, that actually it was in the computer business as well. Just getting out in the real world and finding out that everybody doesn't want what's best for people, and having to accept that. And then, how are you going to be better?

Paul Casey:

Yeah. How to still operate out of your core values no matter what somebody else does?

Mike Denslow:

That's right, yup.

Paul Casey:

What do you think your biggest ongoing challenge as a branch manager is right now?

Mike Denslow:

Oh, good question. Well, right now, 90-plus percent of us are working from home. And so it's keeping that bond with the people that work in our office. I try to reach out through Skype and phone calls and those kinds of things. But when we're all in our office, we have things cooking. We're going to have birthday desserts in the lunchroom. And you have that decompressed time with people, "Hey, how are your kids doing?" That kind of thing. And now, hey, you don't know what somebody might be going through. Whereas you could visually see it if they were in your office. So it's that disconnect right now. The COVID, I would say, disconnect that we're all probably feeling from regular office people.

Paul Casey:

Yeah. Having to check in virtually, you just can't see it all anymore. But we have to keep trying, right. We have to keep trying to read her employees' body language and our customers' body language.

Mike Denslow:

Absolutely. You adapt, and then that's all you can do.

Paul Casey:

Yeah. Well, let's pause here because I want to know the story of Love the Tri. So how did that come to you? And take us through that journey.

Mike Denslow:

Oh man. How long is the show? Well, I always had a creative streak. I wouldn't say I'm the best draw-er or artist or anything like that, but I knew that I wanted to create something and it's probably going to be clothing and t-shirts and hats or something. And I was home one weekend and my wife was out of town for travel and I was eating lunch and it was just like, you know what? I just flown through Seattle or Portland airport. And I saw the I Heart Seattle. I think it probably originated in New York or they become famous for it, right. The I Heart New York. And I thought, "Well, why don't we have anything like that in Tri-Cities? Somebody should do that." And then I started thinking, "Well, Tri-Cities doesn't really exist on a map." Officially, because it's Pasco, Kennewick, Richland.

Mike Denslow:

And is there a Tri-Cities governing body? No, we're multiple cities. We're two different counties. Who would ever pick that up? And there's the Tri-City Visitor and Convention Bureau, which I found out about. And they're there doing it a little bit, but it's just a different thing. So I started thinking, "All right. Well, what would I call it?" And no joke. I mean, I thought about it for 15 minutes and I just said, "Love the Tri." That's the only name I ever considered going. And well, what would it be? And sunsets. Something, it's not business, it's not golf, it's not atomic, it's not wine. You know what I mean?

Paul Casey:

We have the best sunsets, yes.

Mike Denslow:

Right. But if you're not from here, you don't spend a lot of time here, what's really nice about living here? And the sunsets are amazing. And I was like, "Okay. Love the Tri. Sunsets. Check, check. Done." What would I do? Oh maybe t-shirts and hats. And what would it look like? And I started drawing a few things. And then here's another discussion. I've been a volunteer for water follies and boat races for a long time and I thought of Atomic screen printing. And I said, "Oh, I'm going to go sit down with these guys." And Brent over there as the lead designer. And he said, "We have people asking about this all the time. And we've always kind of thought, 'Oh, it'd be a fun project.' But we're doing shirts for this event and this event and this event." And they just never really set aside the time for it. And I said, "We'll do this and that. What do you want to do?" And it just started gaining momentum.

Mike Denslow:

I got a friend of mine to help build a website and the store. Atomic helped finish up the logo. I start the logos and the designs. I go, "This is what I want it to look like. And this is what I want it on." And they gave me these catalogs and then it just started coming together. And then it was boat races. Four years ago, I brought some hats and t-shirts and tank tops. And I gave them to some of my friends. And then I saw this woman walking among the thousands of people on the Kennewick side at the time. And she had one of my tank tops on and I looked at her and I said, "Oh, I don't know who that is. She bought one of my tank tops." And it was so cool. And I get a kick out of every time. You drive down the street, you see somebody with a Love the Tri sticker in the back window and everything.

Mike Denslow:

And I also thought, with doing the mortgage business and everything and successes there, I said, "What better thing to do with Love the Tri is to then donate all the proceeds back to local nonprofits?" Kind of a different angle. And I got that idea a little bit from Blake Mycoskie who created Toms. And I read and seen him speak and read his book and philanthropy. Entrepreneurship through philanthropy is what he called it. And so I was like, "Yeah, I'll just donate all the profits back." And that's been super fun. Oh my gosh, Boys and girls club and the Cancer center and veteran groups and domestic violence shelters.

Paul Casey:

Do you rotate who you donate to?

Mike Denslow:

Yeah, every year. And right now, donating to Second harvest and the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission. So going to dropping off checks when people don't expect it, they're like, "What's this for?" And it's been super fun. And a lot of people know about Love the Tri and they see the hoodies and the t-shirts and the hats and the different things. And then on social media, I post good photos, cool photos from the area as well, but they don't know about the donation part. And as soon as people hear that, "Oh, that is so cool." So you buy basically a $20 t-shirt, probably cost me $10, then I'm going to donate that $10 profit to a local charity.

Paul Casey:

That is so cool.

Mike Denslow:

Why not? If you Love the Tri, pour back into it.

Paul Casey:

Yeah. You did it, Mike. Some people did have ideas, but they don't put them into play. But you hit the go button on it.

Mike Denslow:

Yeah. It's very rewarding. It's my passion project. It really is. And I love doing it. I don't have enough time in the day.

Paul Casey:

Sure. Because it's just you, right? You don't have a team doing this.

Mike Denslow:

No. I've had helpers from now and then running errands and different things, but Kadlec has done a great job selling our stuff. Greenies, Tri-City Visitor and Convention Bureau as well, but right now, Greenies is really the only one that's open because the others are not as come in and buy stuff kind of things right now. Well, I've had a lot of fun partners. I've had release parties with DJs and all these different things and I'm just winging it. Just fake it till you make it.

Paul Casey:

Well, you said passion project. So what do you mean by that? And as the listeners listen to you say it, they can feel your passion in it. Would you recommend everybody have one?

Mike Denslow:

I think so. I think when my children were young, I was involved in whatever they were doing. So sports and choir, whatever. And now that they're adults themselves and have their own families, what was I going to do with my time? I'm helping with the water follies and the boat races and that kind of thing. And I've done that for a while and okay, what else? I don't know. I'm just not one of those people just sits around and doesn't do things very well. So I think people who have a passion about our community should figure something out. Either volunteering, do you have a charity that you're really behind or something like that? Why not? Spend some time, percentage of your time giving back to your community. I think it's a great idea.

Paul Casey:

Very cool. Now, most of influencers I know have a bit of a visionary inside of them, whether that's in your day job or your dream job. So where do you take time to dream about the future for your organization, for Love the Tri, for your own life? What does that look like?

Mike Denslow:

Well, for work, I have a great manager and she has a great manager and I have a monthly call with them. And right now in the mortgage business, a lot of good things are going on. And so we're very, very busy. So we're in the management. How do we manage all these different things that are going on right now? We talk about the future, but it's more about handling things now, marketing and that kind of thing. I like doing that, which helps with bringing in future business. But if I'm thinking visionary, it's typically more on the creative side, on Love the Tri and those kinds of things. I can imagine a day when I'm retired and spending a lot more time on it and what we could do. From scholarships and programs and getting other businesses involved. Just endless.

Paul Casey:

Let's get a whiteboard out right now. Let's start playing with these ideas.

Mike Denslow:

Absolutely. I'm up for it.

Paul Casey:

Well, hey, before we head into our next question, behind the scenes a little bit in Mike's life about his typical morning routine, let's shout out to our sponsors. Barracuda Coffee. Born and brewed in the Tri-City since 2003. At Barracuda Coffee, it's people first, then great coffee. Barracuda features freshly roasted coffees from their own signature roastery, Charis Coffee Roasting Company. With fresh coffee always on the shelf from all over the world, you can taste the distinct floral flavors of Latin American coffees from countries like Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras. Savor the delicate Berry notes that are dominant in African coffees from Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, or Kenya. Or go for the full earthy tones of the South Pacific coffees from Timor, Indonesia, or Sumatra. Ask your barista what's fresh and try something new today. Barracuda has two locations over on Van Giesen in Richland or on Kellogg Street in Kennewick, and you can find them on Facebook.

Paul Casey:

So Mike, what's your typical morning routine look like? Before you go to work, once you arrive at work, do you have any rituals to start your day out strong?

Mike Denslow:

Yeah, I would say I'm a ritual-based person for sure. Get up, eat, and then check email at home. Shower and then get going. Lately, been working a lot from home, but when I wasn't, that was still the same routine. And then after that, I get a blank sheet of paper out and I look at yesterday's sheet of paper, which was at one point, blank, and the day before.

Mike Denslow:

And I start pulling things over that either weren't accomplished or need some more attention to some level. And so I take that sheet of paper and I'm writing down names and ideas and follow up and all sorts of different things. And it's funny because it's evolved into, this is kind of the work side, that the regular work side. And then there's the Love the Tri side and personal side, and it's a much smaller section. But that's absolutely, "What do you want to accomplish today?" And then throughout the day, I'm adding things to that list. People I need to follow up. "Oh, that's right. I need to take that licensing thing or this or that or whatever." And then that's the daily go back to. If you have a free minute, I'm looking at my list going, "Okay, can I check this off? Can I check this off? Okay." I emailed them or I left them a voicemail, so they're going to be circling back. And then that's every morning then.

Paul Casey:

So that's nothing fancy, just a sheet of paper.

Mike Denslow:

Nope, just a sheet of paper.

Paul Casey:

So it's not a fancy planner that's got little quadrants in it. It's just refreshing your to do list, then.

Mike Denslow:

I haven't had good luck making it digital. I've tried it on the phone and then in the Outlook and different things and it never worked. It's a breathing document. That is a piece of paper on a pad right there next to my keyboard and my mouse.

Paul Casey:

Yeah. Handwriting probably makes a brain connection.

Mike Denslow:

I don't know. It places a spot in my brain. Because I have a good memory and I can like, "Oh yeah, boom." And I just pull it out and put it there. And I use the previous couple of days' cheat sheets to help move it forward.

Paul Casey:

Influencers, one of you has to make a planner for Mike that has quadrants. Follow up with email, Love the Tri. No, just kidding. I love that. That sort of a brain wipe, but it's also a refresh and setting a new course for the day. So nothing falls off the radar.

Mike Denslow:

And then at the end of the day, everything has been touched.

Paul Casey:

That's great.

Mike Denslow:

And you stop when you're done. Not just when you're tired. You stop when you're done.

Paul Casey:

Yes. Which brings me to my next question. How do you do that and not burn out? How do you have this everyday grind plus this passion project and still keep high energy?

Mike Denslow:

That's a very good question because I'm not a caffeine person, but it just keeps happening. I don't know. It just must be in there somewhere, something I was born with. I don't take a lot of vacation. At the end of the day, my wife and I eat dinner. And then we try to relax either on the couch together or sitting outside together. But if it's 15 minutes or an hour and a half, just some amount of time just talking. I mean, undoubtedly, some stuff will come out from the day kind of a thing, but just that time and that'd be a time that I would talk to my kids on the phone potentially, or they would come over or whatever other family.

Paul Casey:

Defrag. Just sort of defrag thing.

Mike Denslow:

Yeah. And I like the creative time. The creative time doesn't feel like something that would add to the burnout. So if it's been a crazy week in the mortgage world and a lot of stressful situations, creativity will help. And just, "Oh, what about this? What about that?" I've got a million ideas. I've got scripts in my head. I'm not a writer, but, "Why don't they have a movie like this? This would be fun." It doesn't stop except musically. I like music, but I don't play it. And my singing is lip-sync.

Paul Casey:

Yes, yes. So it's like putting a hot coals on the fire for you when you do something creative as an entrepreneur.

Mike Denslow:

Yeah, yeah.

Paul Casey:

And influencers, they're not know-it-alls, they're learners. So where do you go to for the wisest advice? So people here in the Tri-Cities, maybe they've been mentors or another idea people, or is it people that maybe in your industry or authors or motivators, where do you go for inspiration and good advice?

Mike Denslow:

I would say definitely not within the industry typically. I mean, I'm looking for self-motivation. I read a good amount and when I find something I like, mostly non-fiction, but sometimes fiction as well. I like biographies, that kind of thing. Tim Ferris, big podcast guy, big author. I like his stuff because it's short and sweet. He's got a book, Tools of Titans.

Paul Casey:

Yes, I read that one. 606 pages.

Mike Denslow:

Exactly. But it didn't seem like that because everything was maybe three or four pages per person that he interviewed and he just took the highlights, right.

Paul Casey:

Yes, which is brilliant.

Mike Denslow:

Exactly. It's CliffsNotes from podcasts. And you took all these successful people and how did they do it? Right. And, "Oh yeah. I just want the CliffsNotes. I don't want the full story." That's been a good one. So I would say reading. I've got a lot of good friends in Tri-Cities that have done similar things and created a business and been successful, that kind of thing. So I like following up with friends and then reading. I think reading is underrated and I'm not a Kindle guy or anything like that.

Paul Casey:

Hardcover book.

Mike Denslow:

Not just the book and turning the pages. I want the trophy in the end. Because I've got a room that's got all the books that I've read and it's the mini study library at the house. And I want to add the trophy. Every time I finished, I'm going to put a trophy up on the shelf and I'm reading Yogi Berra's biography right now that my daughter and her husband gave me for Father's Day. And love it. So different industries, different people. Past, present, whatever, doesn't matter.

Paul Casey:

Yogi Berra. 90% of the game is half mental.

Mike Denslow:

That's right.

Paul Casey:

Those funny little quotes that you will have.

Mike Denslow:

I’ve read up til he's about 26 years old. And he hasn't even started with any of those. He's not known for any of those things yet. So I'm ready for those things, but it hasn't happened yet.

Paul Casey:

Tim Ferris, good stuff, tim.blog is where you can get his blog. And Tools of Titans, Tribe of Mentors I read this year, which is another 600-page book, but like Mike said, don't let it intimidate you because it's these little three or four page chunks of these great influencers and their habits. They asked the same questions actually. So it’s like, "What do you do when you get overwhelmed? What advice would you give a college student today? How do you say no to people in a respectful way?" And you just get to hear 50 people give the answer.

Mike Denslow:

And ultra successful people, too, right. How did you do it? And I think the key for him is that we've all looked at that. We've all seen someone, Richard Branson or somebody ultra-successful. His biography was great, by the way. And you look and you're like, "Oh, I wonder how they did it. They must have had rich parents or something and just followed them." And then you find out, "Oh no, it was just this one idea. And they pushed it a little bit further than anybody else. And then innovation happened and then everyone loved it. And they were then ready for that massive growth and the amount of energy." And basically, the planning that it would take to make that successful. They just wouldn't let it not be successful. And a lot of consistency there among most of the people.

Paul Casey:

Right, I agree. I agree. You also mentioned earlier in the conversation, your boss and boss's boss are, would you say inspirational?

Mike Denslow:

Absolutely.

Paul Casey:

So what makes them so inspirational?

Mike Denslow:

Good question. They're very good listeners. And they can wipe everything clean of what's going on at the time. And at the end of every conversation I have with them, they say, "Is there anything else that I can do for you right now?"

Paul Casey:

Oh, great question.

Mike Denslow:

And both of them do it. They're both strong, smart females, very well-known in the mortgage industry, even nationally. My boss has been in it, I'd say, probably about 25 years. And then her boss is more of 35 years. And so there's just no challenge they're not willing to take on. And, "Well, I'm having this problem with this." Or, "I'm so frustrated with this." They listen with purpose and then they act. They don't jump in. Okay, let's solve that problem right here, right. And I try to do that, but I'm still an impatient listener. I'm getting better. But when I know the answer, "Oh, I'm ready. I know what the answer is." And that goes back to elementary school and the flashcards. I was killer at that.

Paul Casey:

That should have been your quirky thing we talked about. You were a rock star at flashcards.

Mike Denslow:

Okay. Quick Facebook shoutout. Somebody posted a photo of our third grade class a couple of years ago. And this one girl, I haven't talked to her in 30-plus years. She put on there, "And Denslow was always killing everybody at the flashcards."

Paul Casey:

You were a fave.

Mike Denslow:

I was like, "Yes."

Paul Casey:

Yeah, it's funny. I did a Tim Ferris and I asked all my coaching clients the three top leadership skills to keep in mind; I would say active listening was the number one answer. I'm just validating what you said with your awesome supervisors.

Mike Denslow:

Well, you think about it. I mean, are you a boss or are you a leader, right? If you've seen the boss that's pulling everyone along. And then the boss that is sitting in the carriage and everyone else's pulling them along, what kind of boss are you?

Paul Casey:

Yeah. The leaders are more of the arm-around, so to speak, of what can I do to help you, which is a great posture for a leader. If you had a leadership philosophy that you'd put front and center on a bulletin board or an entrepreneurial philosophy, I'll go either side of the brain for you on this one, what would those messages say?

Mike Denslow:

Again, man, you're hitting me with the good stuff here. On the creative side, on the passion project side, nothing is not worth exploring, right. "Oh, that's a dumb idea. Someone would have done it by now." Oh my gosh, cross that off because we would never have innovation if that was the case. And on the work side, I'd go back to the listening piece. And even when it's crazy busy getting that focus and that's going to the disconnect of working from home right now, is having someone feel your level of focus when you were listening to them but yet you're not in the same room. So listening, and no ideas are bad ideas. But explore everything and then pick the best one.

Paul Casey:

That is good stuff, because that's going to help all new leaders, people that are leading right now grow and gain more influence.

Mike Denslow:

Listen intently, right.

Paul Casey:

Hear, hear. So Mike, how can our listeners best connect with you and connect to Love the Tri?

Mike Denslow:

Well, social media. There's Love the Tri on Facebook and Instagram that I'm updating all the time. Lovethetri.com, I just released a new website. What was that? Oh, it's probably been four or five months now maybe, but that's another place to see our products and kind of the idea of Love the Tri. And then professionally, email [e-mail] for anything and everything basically mortgage and real estate related.

Paul Casey:

Fantastic. Thanks for all you do to make the Tri-Cities a great place and keep leading well.

Mike Denslow:

Thank you.

Paul Casey:

Let me wrap up our podcast today with a leadership resource to recommend. Earlier in the podcast, I talked about the Tribe of Mentors, how to say no. And I just finished a book by William Ury, The Power of A Positive No. And the concept of the book is saying No out of a yes. Out of a yes to your convictions and your values and maybe even your view of work-life balance. Then from that, you say no, and you do it in a very respectful way and then you invite people with another yes, so to speak, that allows them to not leave your presence feeling all bummed out, but that, "Hey, I tried to set you up for success or build a bridge so you can still get what you were asking me about accomplished." Love the book, The Power of A Positive No by William Ury.

Paul Casey:

Again, this is Paul Casey. I want to thank my guest Mike Denslow from Homebridge and Love the Tri for being here today on the Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. And we want to thank our TCI sponsor and invite you to support them. We appreciate you making this possible so we can collaborate to help inspire leaders in our community. Finally, one more leadership tip for the road to help you make a difference. Influencer Travis Bradberry who's the author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0. He said emotional self-control is a result of hard work, not an inherited skill. Till next time, KGF. Keep growing forward.

Speaker 1:

Thank you to our listeners for tuning in to today's show. Paul Casey is on a mission to add value to leaders by providing practical tools and strategies that reduce stress in their lives and on their teams so that they can enjoy life and leadership and experience their key desired results. If you'd like more help from Paul in your leadership development, connect with him at [e-mail] for a consultation that can help you address your current challenges and create a strategy for growing your life or your team. Paul would also like to help you restore your sanity to your crazy schedule and getting your priorities done every day by offering you his free Control my Calendar checklist. Go to takebackmycalendar.com for that productivity tool, or open a text message to seven two zero zero zero, and type the word Growing.

Speaker 5:

Tri-Cities influencer podcast was recorded at fuse SPC by Bill Wagner of Safe Strategies.