Keith Costello | Bank CEO Discusses the Power of Perseverance, Community & Giving in Business #12

Keith Costello has built and exited multiple banks. Working daily with entrepreneurs and business owners in South Florida for decades has given him a unique perspective and a lot of great insights into what makes for a successful business and life. He's also big into philanthropy and deeply values giving back to his community, including his friend's non-profit, Sebastian Strong, created to help families like his when having a child battling cancer. 

Connect with Keith and give to Sebastian Strong: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/keithcostello1_help-kids-with-cancer-do-i-need-to-say-more-activity-7325201645145911297-CazM?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAuRUcBJdD35UpTJbcWzG__59Fuf64Rn4s

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Transcript

LAC_E12_KEITH COSTELLO_Audio

[00:00:00]

[00:00:00] Introduction and Guest Welcome

Keith: Every day you get up and there's like, something hits you in the face and you gotta, okay, you gotta just keep going. You gotta figure out here's how we're gonna deal with it and, and move on.

Wes: Alright, good. Keith, thanks for coming in. Great to be here. 

[00:00:18] Keith's Banking Journey

Wes: Wes like a champion, known you for many years and you're a guy that's been around Fort Lauder a long time, specifically in the banking industry, and I thought you'd be a perfect guest for us to go over what you're seeing going on in the world right now in banking in South Florida.

Kind of an exciting time to be here and, um, you know, from the Army Banking Bank, many, many years. Another, was it your third startup that you're doing? Second 

Keith: startup, 

Wes: third bank that I've been the CEO of. Okay. Got so in locality. Second startup at a time when maybe some people might, thinking about. Turning down the wick a little bit, you're full steam ahead with locality.

Like what's driving you, in your day to day and wanting to build a new bank? 

Keith: Yes. So it's a purpose in, in my life. It's, uh, know when I think about what gets me outta the bed in the morning and what, what, uh, I see about going about my day. And it's really about helping local companies and what drove us to start a bank.

Uh, and, you know, 'cause I was 65, so as you said, you know, where most people might be hanging up their cleats, um, I, I still wanted to stay in the game and wanted to stay in the game in a way where I could continue doing what I like to do for the, as long as I wanna do it. Which means, you know, I've had friends who work in big banks who start banking with me and.

They hit 65 and they say, Hey, you know, sorry, there's a door. thanksfor everything. And, uh, I didn't want to have that happen to me. Yeah. I wanted to continue on. A

[00:01:58] Starting a New Bank During COVID

Keith: nd I think when I think back to why we started the bank, you know, it was during Covid and, you know, we were talking before we got going here today about how you're doing the podcast during co, how different everything was.

So during COVI, I had a non-compete 'cause I just, I was a CEO of First Green Bank. It was a headquartered out of Orlando. Mm-hmm. And we built that bank up and we sold it to Seacoast. And that was in October of 2018. So as a result of that sale, I had a two year non-compete. And it was really an eyeopener because I definitely realized I did not want to not do anything.

Yeah. I did not wanna retire. I did not wanna, you know, I don't really have any real hobbies. I do CrossFit and you can only do that. For a very short 

Wes: period of time, 

Keith: and then you called, I gotta do the rest of the day. 

Wes: That's considered a hobby, by the way, that abuse that you put yourself through. 

Keith: But, uh, but during covid it was, it was clear, you know, right after the PPP program, we all remember that.

And so I was on, had a [00:03:00] non-compete and my phone is blowing up as I'm just hanging out, you know, by the pool with all these people that I had as previous customers saying they couldn't get, not only could they not get PPP money Yeah, they couldn't get a phone call. They couldn't get a response from their bank.

And I'm going, oh my gosh. You know, this is pretty bad, you know? So, yeah, I was calling, I was trying to refer people to other bankers that I knew to try to help 'em out, but my non-compete ended. I remember exactly when it ended. 10, 20, 20 20. October 20th, 2020, it ended. And so I, I went to a lot of people. In the community that I knew, like from the Broward workshop, and basically said to them, do you want me to start another bank?

Because I saw this going on. I saw a lot of, and it wasn't the big companies, you know, Keith Kig, I, I love him. He didn't have a hard time getting his banker to call him. Mm-hmm. You know, AutoNation? Yeah. You know, right. They got all the money they need, but it's the mom and pop, and even you call mom and pop.

I mean, some of these companies are doing a hundred million dollars a year, right? Mm-hmm. But to, you know, when it comes to the pecking order, they're not. And then when you get down to the really, the small businesses, those people just don't get their phone calls answered when there's a crisis. So that was the impetus.

We went out and we raised money from those people. They're all business people that own our bank shareholders. I put up, you know, personal money and I asked them, like, I went to 19 people. I said, you know. Will you match? You know what I'm putting in? And that got us going with $19 million initial commitments.

And then we ended up raising 38 million to get open. That was in June or January of 2022 we opened up. 

Wes: Okay. January of 22. W

[00:04:52] Challenges and Perseverance in Business

Wes: ith so much going on post covid, I, I think that, you know, banking is, especially in modern year, has been highly regulated. Did you feel like it was bold at the time to be opening a new bank, coming out of Covid and so much uncertainty or did you feel like these, these were relationships that you had, it was almost more, uh Sure bet kind of thing.

Like how, how did you feel about that? 

Keith: Yeah, I mean, it's never a sure thing, right? Right. Especially when you go out to raise money, you just don't know. And there had been a couple banks that tried. There was one that tried to start and they couldn't get the money raised just prior, about a year before we started.

Uh, but having done it before, and then also I had two successful exits. So I felt pretty confident that we could raise the money. Um, and I also felt confident in our ability to be able to satisfy a need. You know, really when you start a company particularly, um, you wanna be solving a problem. Yeah. And to me that was a problem.

That, and we, you know, our mission is to empower local [00:06:00] companies to maximize their potential. So it was really all focused on those local businesses that are underserved by larger banks. 

Wes: Did you feel like you were a breath of fresh air, you know, opening the bank and bringing these relationships back in that you had so many over the years?

I still do 

Keith: every day. That's, you know, and you ask what keeps me going. I mean, every day we bring, when I hear somebody saying, oh, you know, this is what I've been looking for in terms of a bank relationship, we're so happy you guys opened up. Uh, those types of things that we hear that. Every day that keeps us going.

Wes: So for, I mean, I would imagine for many of your, your clients that they're with you, they feel like they're a big fish in a small pond, right? Like they feel like they matter, they're important. They are. Whereas to the bigger institutions, they're just a number. Yeah. Our, 

Keith: our client, we have a lot, you know, we do SBA lending as you know, 'cause we've cooperated with you on some SBA loans and, you know, some of those companies are only doing a million to two or $3 million in revenues, you know?

Yeah. But we're able to lend to them through the SBA program and, you know, we love those clients. Yeah. And they, you know, part of it is the, as as you know, from, as you've been in banking, it's getting them to then open their accounts with you and open those deposit accounts and those, and then it becomes a real relationship where they're actually helping us by keeping their deposits there.

We're lending them money. Then we both grow and it's, uh, it's a great process. I mean, I just can't say enough about, you know, the whole community banking scene. I have to mention one thing too, because as I sit here with you, when I worked, when I first started in banking at, I worked at NCMB. Mm-hmm. Which, you know, with Charlie Frankel, who's a good friend of your family, and the very first, one of the very first customers I had was your father and your uncle with the Ferrari dealership.

And I knew that hopefully you've got a few stories in there somewhere. There's some stories there. Yes, absolutely. Uh, you know, and I remember because that was in the private banking group, and it was like the showcase when the, when the guys would come down from Charlotte, they always wanted to go see the Ferrari dealership.

Why wouldn't you? 

Wes: Why wouldn't you? I was probably running around there and Right. And diapers at some point. I think you were, you know, Charlie was such an incredible guy. Oh yeah. And, um, a mentor to me and just a wonderful, wonderful person. He, he, and he was. He was larger than life in personality, but also in stature.

Right. And he, he was one of those, uh, adults that always paid a particular attention to me. And as a kid, that's very, that leaves an impression on you. Yeah. You know, asked me about, you know, how tennis was and things like that, which isn't always the case, and you certainly wouldn't expect as a kid. And then, you know, as I got older, he'd tell me some stories about my uncle and him going to the, the hurricanes football games and stuff, and the wild times that they, they had as, you know, I mean, following the hurricanes in the eighties, you know, I mean, that was, those [00:09:00] were right, those were the glory days.

Right. A

[00:09:02] Mentorship and Influences

Wes: nd so that was, um, that's sounds like you, you got a great start and you had, you know, some good direction there, which, you know, so let's talk about, one of the things I got most excited about and the idea of speaking with you is that I think we share some commonality in the types of people that we service and that we work for.

And that's business owners. Right. And in a lot of cases, they're local for me. I have a lot of, you know, local clientele, but national as well. But, um, really that empirical sort of experience of working with so many of them, some partnerships, some family businesses, and you, you get to see and pick up on trends of those who are successful versus those who are sort of good to great, you know, that, that good versus great and would just really wanted to dig in with you on, you know, the business owners that you deal with.

What are the commonality, you know, like in terms of traits and attributes and practices that you see that stand out of those that really are successful and get ahead in business. 

Keith: So by far, and, and I also have a podcast where I, yeah. Where I interview and, and talk with entrepreneurs and, uh, so not just from the people that I've dealt with as clients, but also for, from some that I've, I've talked to on my podcast.

I think what I've seen overwhelming, uh, characteristic of those that are successful. There's a lot of things, but I would say the dominant, uh, trait is perseverance. Yeah. Just they don't quit because when you start a business or you are running any kind of a business, you're always going to be confronted with problems.

You're always going to have something that hits you. I, I, I don't know how many people have seen Landman. Have you seen that on Paramount Plus? 

Wes: Yeah. We're watching it. Yeah. 

Keith: Oh. So, yeah. So I would say to people like, I'm the landman of banking. Like, it's like every day you get up and there's like, something hits you in the face and you gotta, okay, you gotta just keep going.

You gotta figure out here's how we're gonna deal with it and, and move on. And, uh, Jocko Wilnick is a, uh, you know, a, a character who, who, uh, has a great, it's like when somebody would come to Jocko and say, you know, something bad, something really bad happened. Mm-hmm. He'd go, great. Yeah. Opportunity. Like to, like, so how you frame.

Uh, things that happen that seem like they're disasters. How you frame that in your own mind, whether you go, oh my God, we're ruined, and what am I gonna do? Or you go, great. Like, that's an opportunity for me to, to solve a problem and to learn something. So I think that that perseverance and drive is the, the biggest characteristic that I've seen.

Have you read, 

Wes: um, is it Shoe Dog that Phil Knight's book? Yes. Yeah. He, that was like one banking crisis after an next for them. They never had enough money. Right. And there was, there was a manufacturing component, a supply component, chain issue too. But like I read that book and I was like, that was like 15 [00:12:00] banking crisis in a book.

And it's so true that he found a way to persevere through all that. And it's inter interesting looking back. 'cause I knew none of that and think that, that Nike was just this like golden child that never had any issues. And 

Keith: you know, if you dig into any of those. You know, success stories, you're gonna find a similar, like, same thing with Starbucks.

I mean, Starbucks very nearly so, um, Howard Schultz's father-in-law, so he, he left his company because he, I forget where he is. He's working for some company and they gave him a three out of five on his, on his rating. And he's like, I'm not a three out of five, you know, that's like, yeah, I'm not gonna live with that.

So he goes out, start Starbucks, and his wife's, uh, his wife was basically supporting him and she's pregnant and his father-in-law comes to him and he goes, you know, Howard, this is not working out. My, my daughter's miserable. You know, you need to quit this Starbucks thing and you know, go get a real job.

And so Howard's like, all right, I will. He goes back to his wife and tells her, you know, that he's gonna quit. She goes, you are not gonna quit. You are going to keep going. So we owe Starbucks to his wife. Wow. Telling him to get back out there and stay in the game. But, uh, you know, every, I think, and, and there's probably a millions of other stories like that that we don't know, right?

But somewhere somebody had the perseverance and the grit to just like, figure it out and keep going. 

Wes: That's really neat. I love that. And, um, watching the masters this weekend. Yeah. I think whether you're a golf fan or not, I think, I think the, the Thursday Friday rounds actually got pretty abysmal ratings, and it was 28% below last year from what I heard on the radio other day.

But Sunday's ratings were through the roof. And I can't remember a time where I saw a leader of a tournament falter like Rory did, and but recover at the same time in the manner in which he recovered. Yeah. And I've been watching golf a long time and that pitch shot he hit on 13th in the Rays Creek. I was dumbfounded.

And that the announcer said he was aiming 25 yards to the left of where he hit that ball. And given that looked like the most scariest pitch shot I've ever seen in golf. So I'm not one to judge, but you know, you, you just not used to seeing guys do that. Tiger had one like that on, on on 18 when he won in 2019, and he executed it perfectly and, you know, joke with your friends, that ball would be in the crowd if it was me or, you know, 10 feet in front of you with the big, you know, divot or whatever.

Yeah. But that was so neat to see and there's been a lot of conversation that's come out of that that like, and, and somewhat Rory's comments that like, you know, he's reminding himself like, I'm still winning this tournament. I, I, I still have an opportunity to win this tournament. And really, um, it was up to him to do it and he went to 18 and all he needed to do was make par and he made bogey.

Then he went back and played the same hole again and played it [00:15:00] brilliantly. It was really refreshing and inspiring. Yeah, I think, and I, I don't have a particular feeling on Roy, positive or negative, but at that point I wanted to see him win and he did. And that was such a cool thing to say and, um, to, to witness.

And I think that was really an interesting observation on your part. U

[00:15:18] Veterans and Community Support

Wes: m, Keith, you see a lot more, I think, um, of the conversation in the business world, I think around veterans and to how, um, we can better help veterans, um, especially those coming out of, you know, combat, right? And how to getting integrated in society and, you know, find their purpose in sort of this civilian world.

Do you think that, um, your service in the army has helped you in any way get to where you are? Oh, 

Keith: without a doubt. Professionally, yeah, without a doubt. It has. And I ended up in the military, um, really because my. Family didn't have enough money to send me to college. Okay. So it was, so I applied for an Army ROTC scholarship.

So it wasn't like I was saying, oh, you know, I want to get in the Army. I want to spend my career in the Army. Um, but it turned out to be just a wonderful experience for me in terms of, you know, when you're 22 years old, we're all some more than others. We don't know where we're going. I didn't know where I was going.

So for me to go into that environment and have that type of leadership training, I was a young, you know, officer, uh, was incredibly, uh, beneficial to me in my career. I think it's a real, it's, you know, so I was never in any combat as I, I joke with people, I say the only fights I got in the military were in bars.

But, uh, you know, but I'm fortunate for that because, you know, we see what happens when people end up in combat. Yeah. And unfortunately, it's a tragedy how the veterans that come back that are, that are. War heroes are treated when they come back. Yeah. And there's such a high suicide rate. Yeah. It's, it's really devastating.

Um, so if, anyway, I didn't mean to digress, but it does, uh, uh, you know, there are a lot of groups out there that are trying to help veterans now, and I think it's, you know, whatever we can do for that. Cause you know, we owe 

Wes: those people. Have you, have you done or seen the honor flight, and I'm sure you're probably aware of I have, yes.

I have my, uh, my wife's gotten our kids and I that to, you know, make posters and go greet them. Yeah. And they get back to the airport twice. And, um, that's really something that you, the average person should definitely witness person. I think what the 

Keith: Panthers do is just incredible. Yeah. I mean, those guys are so, they're all veterans and obvious, so patriotic and, you know, recognizing some of those veterans, uh, you know, it brings a tear to your eye.

I mean, you see some of these old veterans get up and they're just like, it's so meaningful for them. 

Wes: I went to, um, the recognition ceremony at the Panther Sing for Bob Arrington. [00:18:00] And that was one of the neatest things ever. I mean, he served in as a pilot in Vietnam and, um, just, just was incredible. And I love that they do it in the middle of the period, so it's not in between periods to where people are gone and outta their seats and like, you have their attention.

And people were clapping it seemed like, for 10 minutes. Wow. And so I'm like, you know, we, we need more of that. And honor flight is such a neat thing for, for those you don't know, you know, they, they escort and chaperoned these, you know, war veterans up to Washington, DC for the day and walk 'em through all the memorials and stuff, and very emotional.

And then when they come home, they, um, they have a welcoming and DJ and, you know, the, there's hundreds and hundreds of people there gathering and cheering for 'em. And I'm reminded because I wasn't alive at the time, the, the reception that many of these veterans got after Vietnam. 

Mm-hmm. 

Wes: This was like a long time coming for them, you know, very emotional.

You see a lot of tears. Oh yeah. A lot of ones that are holding them back, but not by much. And that's a, that's a really, um, incredible thing. So, you know, you talked about, and on this show we talk a lot about mentorship. 

Mm-hmm. 

Wes: And, um, the first episode, when I reintroduced the podcast into the in-person version, I interviewed Bob Denison, who's been a lifelong friend of mine and built up the largest yacht brokerage in the world and sold it.

And, um, he had shared with me one day we were lunch, he said he, he, his first day at YPO, he walked into his first meeting and he was greeted by one of his, you know, cohorts and shook his hand. He said, who's your, who's your coach, your mentor? It was like, as if that was so, that was so like, such common staple, you know.

And so we talk a lot about mentors in this show, and I, you know, read plenty of books to know, um. Did you have a mentor? Did you have multiple mentors? What did they do for you or mean to you? And, you know, how did that help you get to where you are today? 

Keith: So I mentioned Charlie Frankel, who, uh, really ended up, that's how I ended up in banking, really meeting Charlie Frankel and then working with him.

He was a great early mentor for me and just a, a wonderful human as you know, terrific person. And then when I left Nations Bank and I went to work at Citi National Bank when Leonard Abby owned it, so that Leonard Abby, uh, it was a family owned bank and city national today is 25 billion. 20 billion. Big bank for, for Florida.

Um, back then it was 800 million when I joined it in 97. Yeah. And Leonard really was, uh, had grown up in a banking family. His father had started the bank and. Leonard took me under his wing, really, and taught me, because when you work in a large bank like Nations Bank was, which is the predecessor to Bank of America, [00:21:00] you know, you know, one little slice of that business kind of siloed, you're just like getting loans and you know, bring whatever working with clients.

So I was educated on the entire, it was like going to school when I worked at City National because I got to see how all the different areas of the bank worked and it really opened my eyes up to community banking and the difference between working in a community bank and working in a large financial institution.

And, you know, it's, uh, it was clear to me that that was what I wanted to do. That I didn't wanna work in a large organization and I didn't want to serve because previously I had been working just with, you know, I was working in private bank, I was working with wealthy clients, um, and I felt like. You know what?

These people really don't need me that bad. Right? They can find plenty. It goes back to the same thing during I was talking about PPV, right? The big companies, the very wealthy people have banks falling all over themselves. Yeah. Trying to help 'em, right? They all want, and it becomes a matter of a lot of times, price.

You know how, how cheap will you work? For me, I thought to myself, I want those people on my side of the table. I want those people to be my investors in the bank. Yeah. I wanna be with them. And what I want to do is I want help the people who really need banking services. I wanna help small, medium sized companies that are underserved, that don't have five banks lined up trying to help 'em and focus on helping them because that to me is a problem that needs to be solved and.

I think because we had done that in two other banks, you know, we're able to convince investors to, to join us and mm-hmm. You know, to invest in what we're doing. And so what do you think was your biggest takeaways from Charlie? From Charlie, I think it was all about, like, Charlie really opened the door up about what banking was all about for me.

I had been working at Merrill Lynch prior to that. 

Okay. 

Keith: And I went to, my timing seems to really suck. I went to work at Merrill Lynch in 1987, which if people think we had a stock market crash lately. Yeah. They've seen nothing. That was when the market dropped 25% on Black Monday. Yeah. And I was working at Merrill.

I remember that as a kid. Oh, it was, it was horrific. And, um, you know, so I'm working at Merrill Lynch and I'm, and I'm also, at that time, nothing is Merrill Lynch. Great company and great training, great sales training, and I learned a tremendous amount. But what I found out back then was a commission business.

I also, it goes back to do I feel good about what I'm doing? Do I really feel like I'm serving people when I am moving a stock from this, selling this to buy that? And no, you gotta sell that to buy this. Yeah. Um, so I can make some money, [00:24:00] otherwise I'm not gonna make any money. And today that's shifted to a feed business, so it's not the same as it was then, but I didn't feel good about it.

So I, I was working out at a gym back in those days. I was still working out early, early on in the, uh, Broward Financial Center, which is, you know, that 500 Broward Boulevard that Yep. That, and at that time, that was like the newest, hottest building in, in Fort Lauderdale. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, now it's like a relic.

Yeah. 

Keith: Um, but I was working out on that gym. That's where I met Charlie. And we just started, we struck up a friendship and started talking about, he started talking to me about banking and. Convinced me to, to go to work at, uh, what was then NCMB. And Charlie at that time was running all of southeast US for private banking.

Had a big job there at, you know, and uh, so he really took me under his wing and got 

Wes: me started in banking. Yeah, that's great. I mean, for those of you who don't know, Charlie Frankl was a legend in the banking world and a very, very tall, very prominent man, very deep voice, great tennis player, huge great tennis player, you know, shake your hand and you know, your eyeballs almost pop out.

But, um, very dear friend and my uncle specifically, but also my father and you know, my dad always tells me back then banking was, was different too. Yeah. You know, they just to have that relationship was critical for their growth because, you know, the car business is very capital intensive, right? Real estate and parts inventory and used car inventory and floor plan.

And if you're not borrowing money, you're probably not growing. Yeah. And Steve and Tom borrowed money and Yeah. You know, that they were, 

Keith: they have to go count those Ferraris, man. 

Wes: Yeah. And, and you know, they're all here in a competitive market. I mean, Ferrari obviously, they're more insulated than most other, you know, everyday brands.

But, so what about, what about your mentoring? D

[00:25:50] Mentoring the Next Generation

Wes: o you, is that a role that you undertake now that you've got all the experience under your belt and, you know, 

Keith: so it's interesting. I have two co-founders of Locality Bank. So one is Drew Sdo, who's grew up in Fort Lauderdale, knows a ton of people here. A lot of people know Drew, he's the Chief lending officer.

And Corey LeBlanc is a guy from Louisiana, who's our Chief Technology Officer. Chief Operations Officer. And we recruited him because, uh, we wanted to really create, we didn't want to just do a typical community bank, 'cause most of 'em don't have very good technology. Mm-hmm. We saw coming out of Covid. The heroes of PPP were community banks and fintechs.

Yeah. Those are the ones who got the, the loans done for people. Yep. It wasn't the large banks, although I'm sure they got, they got some done, but it was just overwhelming. Right. And the community banks got 'em done because they were using pencil and paper and working 24 hours a day. Oh, yeah. And the fintechs knocked them out because they had great technology.

So we're like, well, we want to have better than average technology. We want to, we want to, uh, really focus on [00:27:00] that. Because coming out of covid, remember nobody was going to a bank. Mm-hmm. Nobody's going to anything. So we wanted to make sure, so we came out and we said, we're gonna be digital first. And what we've seen as after three years in business is now people.

Yeah. They, they want digital. They want an app, they want all those, the online banking. But you know what? They also wanna come see you. Yeah. And it seems like more than ever people are coming back just like we're sitting here now. But anyway, that wasn't your question. Your question was really going, going back, uh, and what, what was your question?

I got spun up. Are you 

Wes: mentoring anyone now? Like are you paying it back? Yeah, 

Keith: so I was talking about these two guys. Uh, so to some extent, you know, those guys are, I'm 68 and those guys are in their early forties, you know, so to some extent bringing those guys in because you know, how much longer am I going to work at the capacity?

I'm, I'm working pretty hard right now. Like Jamie Di Diamond says I'm working seven days a goddamn week. I dunno if you heard that, but No, that was a, uh, anyway, I'm digressing way too much. I'll keep going. So am I mentoring those two guys? You know, to some extent, yeah. Because I want them to be able to take over this business.

I'm not gonna, you know, and maybe step into, I still wanna stay in the business, still wanna stay involved. But right now I am working really hard and I, you know, I'm 68. I dunno how long I can keep up that, probably another five years or so. But, um, you know, I like working hard, but at some point you just, you know, you can't conquer age.

So other people, I did have, I had a guy reach out to me who is like 28, who knew my daughter Halle. Uh, 'cause my kids all grew up here and um, and he's a guy, he was on my podcast, he started a clothing brand. Yeah. Called Yif. No. And, um, yif no stands for yo, it's effing nice outside. So, 

Wes: wow. 

Keith: That is his brand.

That's a real acronym. 

Wes: Okay. 

Keith: He came up with it and he came out and he has done these popups where you go in and you sell merchandise and he's done 'em like all over the world. He done 'em in London and New York and very entrepreneurial young man. And, you know, he's given me like the, the clothing is really cool too.

It's like I, he brought it in, I looked at it, I'm like, oh, I'm never gonna wear this. I'm wearing the yif no stuff all the time now I gotta, you know, so I was really impressed with him. So he asked me to mentor him, so I'm gonna start that. I also told him, I said, so at first I said no. 'cause I said I got too much on my plate.

I really can't mentor anybody. And then I thought about it, I'm like, you know what, this guy's really entrepreneurial. So I said, you know, I'll mentor you. Nick Witcher is his name. I said, Nick, I'll, I'll mentor you, but I want you to do something for me. I wanna start an emerging leaders group at Locality Bank.

I [00:30:00] wanna reach that generation. I wanna reach those 20, 30 year olds and we'll start an emerging leaders advisory board. And you've been to our advisory board meetings. Mm-hmm. You're on our advisory board, and I wanna start a group like that with 20, 30 year olds. I said, Nick, will you help me? And I, of course I recruited my daughter Halle to do it too.

I said, because they know all these, you know, 25 to 30 year olds who are starting their careers. So that was how, and, and so I said, yes, I'll mentor you, and you guys are gonna start this group for the bank too. So That's neat. I'm looking forward. So I haven't started with them yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Wes: Yeah, that's really neat. Um, I, I find that, and I'm, you know, I'm 48 years old. I'm pretty proud of many of the things I've done in my career. There's some, definitely some things I would've done differently. But, um, I think that there's an incredible appetite out there. For people who really want to learn.

And I've learned that by giving my time to some people that have asked for it, that that, um, there's a, there's way more of an appetite for even for me to help people than I would've ever thought. And, you know, because there's just so many people out there who didn't, may, maybe they e even if they did have a father that was involved in their life, maybe they weren't, maybe they weren't in business, they didn't have the skillset or the knowledge that that was helpful for them.

You know, one of my guests stood here a few months back and talked about his mentor that he, you know, started with when he was a kid because his dad was, you know, a taxi cab driver and, you know, had just immigrated to the states when he was a kid. Like, yeah, he just didn't have, you know, that particular aptitude, even though he provided and he was a great father.

So, um, it's, it's really been an eyeopener for me that there's a lot of people out there that would really be appreciative of your, your time and energy, even though. Y

[00:31:55] The Value of Meaningful Connections

Wes: ou may not think it's as valuable as it really truly is. And so that's been a really neat revelation for me because I'm, I look for those meaningful connections, you know, really to help people.

And if, if they find value in it, then I'm willing to spend, you know, some of my time to do that. Because I was really fortunate, you know, I have a great father who was very successful and, um, he had a lot of friends that took interest in me and helped me, you know, get established my footing. I mean, when I became a mortgage banker, one of my, you know, pretty much my first career at 22 or three years old, you know, a lot of his friends came to me.

Yeah. And I helped them purchase their house and refinance it. They didn't have to do that. Right. They had friends too that were in banking. I might have stole some business from you, Keith, but they were, they were just trying to help a young guy out. But I think you needed it. Right. But, you know, I, I wanted to touch back on, you know, back up a little bit.

I

[00:32:45] Identifying Blind Spots in Business

Wes: asked you about attributes that you see in successful business owners, um, and. You talked about their perseverance and sort of relentlessness, what about blind spots? What do you see in, uh, business [00:33:00] owners, you know, sort of empirically that you see that that's maybe a common blind spot that could pay more attention to, and, and raise some more awareness?

'cause that, that's kind of a lot what we do on the podcast is really some, you know, takeaways and things to think about and, you know, building value in that business and de-risking the business and, you know, does anything in particular come to mind that you see? Well, I think that

[00:33:23] The Importance of Mentorship and Peer Groups

Keith: the older you get, I think the more you, um, that I've experienced as I definitely, when I started my first bank, I definitely had a lot of blind spots. Mm-hmm. Not that I still don't, um, but what I did, and, and you mentioned YPO. 

Mm-hmm. 

Keith: So I joined a Vistage group. And that's a mentoring as well. 

Yeah. Yeah. 

Keith: So.

I've been a member of a Vistage group since 2010, since 20 2009, actually, when I started my first bank. And that has been just such a valuable experience for me. Yeah. Because you really build such great relationships and they're honest, open, candid, so that they'll, people in our group, we call each other out.

Yeah. Like if somebody is saying something that, Hey, you know, wait a minute. Yeah. How are you gonna do that? Or we question each other. We hold each other, uh, accountable for the things that we say. So I think that has helped me, uh, immensely. So, and I've noticed also a lot of the people that I talk to have those types of groups, either EO or YPO or mm-hmm.

Vistage, some type of a mastermind group like that. Yeah. 

Wes: Yeah. 

[00:34:36] Adapting to Technological Changes

Wes: We, we even had a meeting at your office one day with just various different people that, um. In my sort of circle of influence, drew was there as well, um, from your bank. And we just talked about the world is changing so much from a technology standpoint that, you know, how are you winning new business?

And I was really curious to, and I, and I invited people there that I, I know and respect that, um, that are out there winning business and always looking to evolve and reevaluate what they're doing. Is this working or is it not working? Am I doing what I, what am I need to be doing? Am I getting in front of people?

Am I picking up the phone instead of texting or emailing or doing those things? And that was really, really helpful. I mean, there, there's some really smart people out there that you might rub elbows with that and not even know Right. You know, just how disciplined and how determined they are to be successful.

And you don't know 'cause you don't ask. 

Yeah. 

Wes: You know, and so that's kind of part of what we do here is just asking the questions and learning. And it's the part that I probably enjoy the most about the podcast is it, it's. Not about me or, or what my journey is, but about yours and, and just learning, you know, about what works.

And I love also hearing what, what's changed and what is changing and what hasn't changed. You know, I think that I value [00:36:00] face-to-face communication more than ever. And I can tell you there are times in my day where I'm like, I get ready to send a text message and I said, you know what? This is a phone call or this is a face-to-face conversation.

It did. It's not, this is not meant for a text message. And I think that's probably the one thing that the younger generations probably need to grasp. And you know, when I'm talking to my kids' school in the business class and saying, Hey, some things you guys are already ahead of the game on, you know, technology is your friend if you use it in the right way, but otherwise, sometimes you gotta do this face-to-face thing.

Right. 

[00:36:32] Philanthropy and Community Involvement

Wes: And, um, so I want to hear about philanthropy. I know you're involved in a lot of non-profit. Um. Sort of causes and have been over the years, and I know some of that might evolve and change, but, um, what are you involved in now? What is your passion and why? 

Keith: So, I'm involved in some philanthropic organizations, but I'm also involved in a lot of, uh, uh, trade.

Like I'm involved in trade organizations as well. So a lot of, uh, different commitments that I've made outside of the day to day, so Okay. Um, you know, United Way, the Alexa, the Tocqueville Society. Mm-hmm. I've been a member of that for, for years. Um, I've been a member of St. Anthony's church for Yeah. You know, my kids all went to school there.

Uh, you know, still, still a member of, of that parish. Uh, I have, um, I'm a member of the Broward Workshop Board of Board of the Broward Workshop. The, uh, the board of, uh, well, I'm the incoming chair of the Florida Banking Association. Mm-hmm. So I'll start. I become the chairman of the board of that organization in June.

Um, I'm trying to think of what else. There's a bunch of other ones. Uh, chamber of Commerce were trustees of the Greater for Oil Chamber. I'm past chair of the Chamber. The, um, put me on the spot here. I should have written these down. 

Wes: Well, well, let's, let's go with your, like, your gut. Yeah. What are you most passionate about in terms, I mean, I know United Way does a lot of stuff.

Keith: Yeah. I mean, I, I think, you know, when it comes to organizations to support and we support a bunch of organizations through the bank as well. So personally, when it comes to organizations to support, I've committed to United Way just because that covers so many Yeah. Organizations, right? And there's, they're all good.

I've never Right, never met someone with a nonprofit who's not passionate about it, who's not doing good work. So by giving to United Way, I think that's a great way to do it. Oh, I forgot my latest. So this is a big commitment. Um. So I am kayaking and the keys I did this last year, so a good friend of mine, Oscar Ortiz, lost his son at the age of 15 to cancer.

And it was, you know, heartbreaking. And what they went through is just, it's horrible. Oscar quit his job, you know, he had a job with Crow, a huge [00:39:00] consulting accounting firm. 

Yeah. 

Keith: Quit his job and started a charity called Sebastian Strong, named after his son to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

Mm-hmm. 

Keith: So, and he started this event, which I did last year, which is to kayak from Key Largo to Key West over a five day period of time. Wow. So, uh, and I did it three days last year. This year, this year I'm doing it for five days and we raised over $30,000 last year for that. Wow. And this year, my goal is to raise 50,000.

So check, check my page. Uh, LinkedIn or you'll get an email from me, but that's a great cause and yeah, sure. And I wanna raise 50,000 for that one this year. 

Wes: That must be emotional to be a part of that. Oh, it was, 

Keith: it was just unbelievable. And when you land and they bring the, the families to Key West for the landing, when we, I can imagine when we all come, imagine, come in and, you know, to see those kids and their families, uh, all together, uh, at the end is just, it's unbelievable.

Wes: You don't think about losing your kid at 15 to cancer? 

Keith: No. No. 

Wes: Great you to do that. And must be emotional for him to see his friends band together and help out for a cause and do something, which is a pretty big deal. And kayak from Kilar at a Key West. How long? That's, to me, that's a long shot. Yeah, it's 110 miles.

It's long to drive. Yeah. You're always behind people. I mean, you do about 

Keith: 30, 25, 30 miles a day. And then stop and keep going. 

Wes: That's incredible. 

[00:40:34] Dedication to Fitness and Well-being

Wes: That's probably a pretty good segue into the next section, which is talking about your dedication to fitness. 

Keith: Yeah. 

Wes: I think one of the first times I got to really hang out with you was when we did the real fit thing.

Yeah. Which I think it's amazing how many great people I met through real fit. We had a, should have some type of reunion of the, of 

Keith: those guys. Oh yeah. 

Wes: I mean that was such a neat thing. For those that don't know Rio Fit, it was a competition amongst local, I would say professionals, RA ranging in age. When I started, I was 29 years old and I'm 48 now, so you know, I know you, I think I was 40.

You were in your forties, early forties. Right. And I mean at one point there was probably 50 of us week long competition, some strength, some endurance, some speed. And uh, I remember doing that first one and it was humbling. 

Keith: Yeah. 

Wes: And, but it gave me a lot of motivation. 'cause I think we did 'em about every six months.

Right. So. You had a lot of time in between to really get your game, you know, up your game. And over the course of those four, I never won, most improved. But over the four I improved very steadily, quite a bit. And that was all, I think, you know, really all about pushing yourself past your limits, but also really more than anything, not making excuses.

Yeah. Finding the time to dedicate to your fitness and your wellbeing, because at some point you're not in control of that destiny anymore. So that was a really neat thing. And, [00:42:00] you know, being around a lot of great guys like you and, and, and I can tell by some of the limited social media postings that it's still, and looking at you, it's still a big part of your life.

Yeah. And so you're, you're a CrossFit guy. Tell me a little bit about your routine and kind of, 

Keith: so I usually go at six in the morning and there's a CrossFit gym That's right. Very close to our location on Andrew's by your office. Yep. Right. So I hit that, I hit the CrossFit gym at six. And then we have a shower at the bank.

Oh yeah. So, you know, just head over to work afterwards and uh, start my day. So, yeah, it's amazing, you know, an hour. Mm-hmm. And, and you know, you go through such a hard train, I dunno how many people are familiar with CrossFit, but yeah, it's a really difficult workout. So it's kind of like you start your day that way and it's like, 

Wes: yeah, I'm ready for anything.

And I could imagine that does so much for your focus too. Oh yeah. Right. Just energy wise and, and focus and you know, adding that, you know, diet I'm sure is a, is a big part of that too. But I find that, especially when there's a cardio component, I feel like to me that's kind of like the light switch that goes off.

I feel so much more focused and less distracted when I've had some cardio component. I enjoy the weight part too, that serves a purpose. Um, and has certain benefits. But, um, and I mean, I. CrossFit, you're doing both. Yeah. You're pushing around a lot of weight and your heart rate's through the roof. So, yeah.

Um, it, I can see why, um, there's, there's so much appeal to it in that sense, and but the comradery around it, and there's a commonality with, you know, so many of the other CrossFit gym boxes are doing the same workout, right? Yes. And so, you know, it's a topic of conversation and comparison and what have you.

Um, do you think that, uh,

your mindset and pushing through that, I mean, is that, is that something that you think is part of your personality? Because those workouts are hard, have done a lot of 'em, and it's almost a little masochistic in a way, like you're just beating yourself up a lot. I mean, is that part of your personality you think?

Is that like, I like to think I'm not a masochist, but, but Oh,

Keith: I mean, that 

Wes: was a little tongue 

Keith: in cheek, but like, yeah. Yeah. But I would say I've always considered myself a very disciplined person. So really throughout my whole life I've been like that. Um, so even when I was in college and, you know, I was a boxer in college.

Yeah. And I was like, I would, you know, I was always just very disciplined about, and I've, and part of my whole life, fitness has always been a part of it for, you know, as long, as long as I can remember. So 

Wes: boxing was your sport then? Yes. Right. I remember our little like boxing thing that we had with you and Brian Mahoney and you had torn bicep and you had to strap it in and we all like, uh, you know, might have had some action on that.

That was crazy. [00:45:00] That thing, when I think about that was kind of funny. We raised it for, for charity. I think we raised money then. Yeah. And you could've won, you know, free chicken dinner or something if you would've kept all that money. 

[00:45:10] The Future of Banking: Crypto and AI

Wes: But, um, would love to move along and talk a little bit about, I. Really the cutting edge sort of banking world, specifically crypto, um, ai, which is certainly goes well beyond banking.

Where do you, I think, at least my perception as an outsider, is it crypto sort of settled down a little bit in terms of where we see the long-term use of that. I'd love to hear, you know, kind of what your thoughts are on that. If, if it's, if it's impacted banking at all. Um, how you see regulation of that in the future.

I know that there were, there was talk of a digital, you know, currency from the government, from the US government, so I'd just, we'd kind of be curious to some of your thoughts on that. So it's, 

Keith: it's interesting because with the Florida Bankers Association, we go to Washington on a regular basis. So, um, we were just up there in February and.

So now the, the leader of the financial services committee is Congressman French Hill from Arkansas. Mm-hmm. Who is a community banker. Uh, he started a bank there. Oh. Yeah. And sold it and was very successful. So you have a legislative, uh, we, we, the, the people in the, in the, both the House and the Senate now who are leading those committees.

The Senate Banking Committee is also led by Tim Scott now mm-hmm. Who's a Republican. Those people are very pro banking. And French Hill has said, I want to make community banking great again. So from a legislative standpoint, we're, we've never been in better shape. Mm-hmm. I think, um, so where I'm going with that is both of the, those committees have stable coin bills that are being heard and there is bipartisan support.

For a stable coin bill. So this is, uh, really early in the session to, to have this much interest in a stable coin bill. And so where's it, how will it affect banks? I think mostly, if you think about a stable coin, it's a digital currency that's pegged to the dollar, right? So you don't have the wild fluctuations that you have, like with Bitcoin or Ether, or some of, you know, Dogecoin.

Yeah. Uh, so it's a, it's a stable currency, but it's digital so that you would be able to, so I think for payments, it's the thing. It's, it's coming. Mm-hmm. We're gonna be using, um, blockchain technology for, um, you know, basically to, um. Transfer money, I [00:48:00] think, sooner than we think. 

Mm-hmm. 

Keith: So from our standpoint as a, as a small bank, you know, we wanna be on top of that.

We wanna be looking at that. And I think also the other thing that we could do with digital currencies is, uh, there's no reason we couldn't have a wallet. There's no risk to allow people to store digital currencies. Um, so that's something also that we could possibly do. That's, you know, at least you are making that available to your clients as more and more, and it's not like I have, I have no opinion on Bitcoin or mm-hmm.

Di digital currency in terms of whether it's a good investment or not, I think it's very speculative. Yeah. Sure. Everybody would say it's a speculative investment, but there are people who wanna hold it if they wanna hold it, and, you know, at least you have a facility for them to store it. Mm-hmm. And it's not, there's no risk to the bank in doing that.

So I think there's a couple things that we could look at there with, with digital currency that are very interesting 

Wes: historically. Moving on to ai, historically, my perception of innovations like AI in history where it has made it easier to do a certain job, if not completely handled the job task. I know there's been some fear as to, well, it's gonna take certain jobs and, you know, what are we gonna do with that?

Rather than understanding that, like farming for instance, I mean, hundreds of years ago families were doing, you know, growing their food and, you know, making their own clothes and we're, we're, we're clearly far better off as a result of free trade and letting, you know, people specialize in that. And so, you know, is AI going that direction you think to where it's gonna take over a lot of menial tasks and things that, let's say.

I mean, we talk about it taking over customer service jobs now and, and probably not the most desirable jobs in the world where we're gonna find other uses for these people that may be more fulfilling and make our society better and provide more ser or is it truly gonna displace, I mean, obviously it's a huge disruptor, right?

And it's evolving so quickly. Like, I'm curious as to how you see this being potentially a net positive or a net negative. I think most inventions and innovations over history, um, environment, not notwithstanding, have improved our way of life and our quality of life. Right. And so just curious as to kind of what your take is on that.

Keith: Yeah, so I mean, I, I think it will improve, uh, our quality of life. I think that it will allow people to do more. And the way I've rep, so we're doing, actually, we received a grant from, uh, CareerSource Broward through the state 

mm-hmm. 

Keith: To do training. For our employees on AI because they don't want to see it displacing people, right?

Yeah, sure. You want to be able to use it. And so by better enabling people, so the way [00:51:00] I've represented it to all the people that work at our bank is this is a great opportunity for you to have an AI assistant be able to do the things that you don't want to do that are, you know, just as you were saying, the, the, the, the kinda menial, the drudgery, the menial, and you can focus on the fun, creative, working with customers, doing the things that, that really are meaningful.

The thing that I'm interested to see what happens, you know, because, you know, at some point does AI begin to replace higher level human function? 

Wes: Yeah. 

Keith: I, I mean, I don't, it's never going to. Well, I say never, who knows? There could be a bot here, you know? Yeah. Or a, uh, digital Keith, uh, AI bot that, I don't get the word Keith, but I get the digital Keith.

So 

Wes: he's, he's a little more affordable. So, I mean, maybe yeah, maybe that works. But, but 

Keith: who knows? I mean, where it'll go. Um, you know, and, and I, I mean, and you have people who are, who spread these, and I, I, I shouldn't say spread. I think there are people out there who believe, legitimately believe that it's a huge threat to mm-hmm.

Humanity. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, I mean, I don't, I don't know. I'm optimistic. I'm optimistic about almost everything, so, 

Wes: yeah. Yeah. I, um, I finished reading a book called The Rational Optimist, which after being recommended from like the 10th CEO that I read about, I decided to read it. And it's all about basically saying.

For lack of a better way of phrasing it. Everything that we've achieved in, in human civilization over the last, you know, 2000 years or so, has all been in the result of collaboration. And, you know, you think of competitive and comparative advantages, all about that specialization, but working together. And this iPhone is the result of thousands of people collaborating from sourcing and mining the materials to assembling it, to building the software, to the updates, and, you know, and transporting it.

I mean, this is, there's no way this would ever happen with one person. Right. It's collaborating together. And so to me, is AI just another evolution of that us collaborating and, and becoming more efficient at what we do. Yesterday I, I was implementing a new CRM, the CRM and project management software in one called Pipedrive.

Mm-hmm. 

Wes: And, uh, I was having an issue with importing some of the data that I had, and I've created an assistant. Basically duplicate me in chat, GPTA paid version. And, um, it's got, I got loaded all of my, my periodicals that I've written, all of my training materials, a lot of the, you know, the deliverables and the financial models that we've built as a team.

And, but I went in and asked it. I said, you know, here's, I'm having an issue with Pipedrive. And it walked me through all the steps. It took like 15 minutes. It ended up being a glitch [00:54:00] with the browser. But I mean, like, how did, I mean it knew even though these two pieces of software are not related at all.

Yeah. It walked me through how to handle all of it. At one point I got frustrated. I was like, Hey, calm down. You're almost there. Like it's, he comes my therapist, you know, but it's incredible and how much it's helped me in my podcast and just coming up with ideas and organizing thoughts and how much it's helped with.

Now it's helping with financial models, it's helping do a lot of the things. It would bog me down traditionally. Uh, it's really quite incredible. And so to your point, I'm, I'm very optimistic too. I think like anything, there could be some negatives to it for sure. And I'm hoping, you know, legislatively we could find a way to put some guardrails in place that might be necessary.

But, um, overall I think it's, it's been a hugely valuable tool to use and, and we're just, I would think we're just getting started. Yeah. Right. And so, um, love to ask you a few more questions, kind of like, as we get sort of the tail tail end. 

[00:55:05] Defining Success and Life Lessons

Wes: Um, what is, you know, you've had a lot of success in, in banking. Um, you've got an opportunity to talk about, you know, what is success to you in life as a, as a professional, as a, as a dad, as a husband, you know, what, what do you see as success when you get done with this, whenever you cash in your chips at.

You know, a year from now, or 10 years from now, like when you look back and say, you know, I, I think I did it right. 

Keith: Yeah. You know, I think where it's interesting, so I dunno if you ever read any Marshall Goldsmith's books? No. 

No. 

Keith: What got you here won't get you there. But he's got a lot of good books, and one of the things he says is, as you, you know, anything that you do in your life is to put it in the frame of what if, if my, you know, 90 something year old self was in my deathbed, how would I look back on this?

Yeah. And you know, when you frame your whole life that way, it really puts everything in perspective. Because it know, a lot of times we may get so bogged down in like some menial thing at work and we forget about our family. You know, we forget. Yeah. Now my kids are all grown up now, but, you know, it's so important, like when you have young kids and like Drew and, well Corey's kids are grown up too, but Drew's got young kids.

Yeah. So there are times when Drew's like, oh, you know, I got, I'm like, drew. That's the most important thing. Take your time with your kids because you know the business is gonna be here. We'll figure it out. Yeah. Right. So I think, you know, so really for me at this point, it's, uh, knowing what your purpose in life is.

Why are you here? Why am I here? And I feel like I know that and I feel like I'm getting outta bed every day and doing that, working on my purpose. And my purpose is my work, my family, my [00:57:00] faith, and also a little CrossFit. Yeah. No, that's great. So, but it, but you know, so I feel, I feel like it's not like looking back, I'm gonna be my say I feel like I feel like a success every day when you frame it that way.

Yeah. You know, are you working on your purpose? 

Wes: It's, um, it's always helpful to remind yourself. Sometimes it takes different ways to do that or different moments or conversations or experiences. But I saw this really amazing quote the other day from William Shatner, and I guess he recently made a trip up into space and you know, obviously a guy that was in Star Trek for many years and said, I thought he was in space all the time.

No known for that, believe it or not, they did not film that in space. I, um, he said, um, it was kind of interesting and I probably won't do it justice, but he was like, people made such a big deal about going out in space and must be so fun and sort of adventurous. He goes, I found it so incredibly lonely, huh?

And, but so mind blowing and just the expansiveness in space and the darkness and the emptiness of space. And he got back home and he was like, it made him appreciate so much this world that we have. And at the same time made him sad that so many of the things are happening that are, you know, with the environment.

Obviously conflict and things of that nature, but he's like, man, what we have is such a precious thing. We really, that was such a reminder to him. And I thought, well, what a neat thing. I certainly don't know if I'll ever make it to space to get that perspective. 

Yeah. 

Wes: But, um, that was a really, really neat quote and intro introspection from him.

Sure. You know, and so like on that same note, you've got an opportunity to tell your 30-year-old self something. What do you think that would be? 

Keith: 30-year-old self? It would be, uh, uh, really the, the same thing I just said. Really view your life. Like write your obituary. 

Wes: Yeah. 

Keith: You know, look at your life from long term perspective.

I think a lot of times we get caught up in the short term. Oh, 

Wes: I am a hundred percent guilty of that. So I'll just go ahead and take that from my 48-year-old self. Um, this is one of my favorite ones. I don't always ask it, but. I think I gave you the heads up. If you had a billboard that could say anything in the world,

Keith: what would say you did?

And I'm such a simple guy, like you're expecting something profound. My billboard would say, welcome to Fort Lauderdale. Home of Locality Bank. 

Wes: Yeah, 

Keith: because I, I want to get that billboard. I'm gonna do it at one point right by the airport there. I think they've got like a hooter sign on it now. I'm sorry guys.

Yeah, we're gonna have a locality if it's got a 

Wes: hooter sign. That's probably coming down at chapter 11. Um, just kind of last few questions, winding down. 

[00:59:55] Recommended Reads for Entrepreneurs

Wes: Are there any books that have shaped you personally or professionally? Uh, [01:00:00] I was hoping you would ask me that 

Keith: there is a book that anybody who is an entrepreneur business owner, it's a must read.

It's called Beyond Entrepreneurship and there's a Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0. So. Everybody's heard of Jim Collins. Yeah. Good to Great. Which I love all those books. Mm-hmm. Jim Collins did built on this, this was the first book that they wrote him, and I can't remember the co-author. It was him and and his co-author.

Mm-hmm. And they wrote it early on and it is such a great book. And so what Jim Collins did is he took that book that they wrote back then and he did a two point, he updated it. So it's on Spotify. Okay. You can, you can download it. 

Mm-hmm. 

Keith: I listen to it almost every day. I listen to it over and over and over because the lessons in that book are so applicable and good.

Um, well now I have to listen to it. You have to. It's like the most, I mean it is, at least do it once. I've told everybody I work with too. It's like, it's incredible. 

Wes: Keith, that's the most convicted you've been with any of the questions I've asked today. So I think it's a great time to end. 

Keith: Okay. Oh, thanks Wes.

Thanks for coming on and 

Wes: fun. It's a pleasure spending time with you and hearing about, make sure the bourbon, I 

Keith: know this is not water. This was bourbon 

Wes: we were drinking. Yeah. Straight, 120 proof bourbon. So, all right. Thank you. thanks for coming on.