Blue Collar Catholicism: Servant Leadership Fixes Business (and Politics) | Kyle VanDuser

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Welcome everyone to doing business with a service art podcast. I'm your host, Steve Ramona. I'm thrilled to have you join us today. This podcast is dedicated to exploring the idea of doing business and living life with a purpose, serving others and yes, achieving success. We believe that we make we we believe that when we make approach our when we approach our work and our lives, that's tough to say, with a servant's heart, we can truly make a difference. Don't you want guys make a difference out there? My guest is going to show you how in so many great ways. We create a show for you because we want everyone to be motivated, inspired, and educated to make an impact in your world. Start small, we'll go big later. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a community leader, or simply someone looking to bring some more purpose into your daily life, this podcast is here to support and uplift you. And let's, you know, before we dive in, I want you to think about who you're going to serve today and what impact will you create today. The key word is today. Let's not wait till tomorrow. Let's start today. Today's episode is brought to you by our amazing sponsor, Pantheon Alliance. Picture yourself joining an elite community of thriving business owners from a variety of industries, all working together to create a powerful referral marketplace and mastermind. It's an incredible opportunity to expand your network and elevate your business to new heights. As I say, my monologue impact and talking to my guests before the show, I'm pretty I'm fired up. This guy is gonna blow you out of the water. He's gonna give you some great tips. So have a patent paper ready because you're gonna want to take notes. I've got mine sitting here ready to roll. Kyle, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Hey, thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. Servant leaders uh out there, just keep doing what you're doing. That's my first word of encouragement. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

You know, amen, uh, Kyle, that you said that. And you talked about that, why you wanted to be on this podcast. And I think the world would change if we move towards servant leadership than just be solo or be on our own. We need community. Um with that being said, you wrote a book, I believe it's a book, Blue Collar of Catholicism. That's right. Yeah. Interesting title. I'm so excited to learn a little more about it.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Yeah, so far, uh it's it's been a nice hot topic um for a lot of people. Uh, they see Catholicism and a lot of people scare away from it. But um, as Steve and I were talking before the show, I mean, uh you can you can look at Catholicism as a simple label and it tells exactly what you believe doctrine um and differences, but that doesn't mean that we don't have common ground, a foundation to kind of build on. Um, and so what I wanted to do with this book is I wanted to create a common ground for all Catholics specifically to build their evangelization platform on. Um, and it it kind of goes back to this servant leadership, this blue-collar mentality of who am I serving today? Where am I fulfilling a need? Um, and it goes back to the blue-collar mentality. And so I like to say that I'm an expert in a lot of things or a jack of all trades and a master of none. Um, but I feel like one of my niche things is having a blue-collar mentality. It's always working, it's always fulfilling a need. Uh, one of the quotes I put in my book is my dad always said that your ministry is the next person in front of you. And if you're looking past that person, you're missing an opportunity to serve, you're missing an opportunity to lead and to possibly fulfill a need that only you can fill. And so that was something that I kind of wrote this book about was don't look past your inner community or your little sphere of influence and try to do things outside that maybe, yeah, you're called to do those things, but your most important thing is the people that are in your sphere of influence every single day and moving outside of that. And so it's this blue-collar mentality of feed the people around you by serving, by leading, by example, and then let that grow out to the rest of the world. So that was kind of the essence behind the book and why I was excited to be on the podcast because it kind of ties in so in so many ways.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

And it's powerful because what did I say in my monologue was make you know, serve your world today, your world. It's the same thing. That's why I'm excited to have him on because audience, think about that. You can't go talk to Joe Biden or Elon Musk. You'll you're just not gonna be able to. But you can talk to your neighbor next door, the person at the grocery store, impact their lives, or be a blue-collar Catholicism uh mantra to serve others. Right. Makes it simpler, you know, kind of elephant phrase, you know, take a little piece of the elephant. I'm not a big fan of that, but but it's true, take a little piece at a time. Yeah. So we talked yeah, exactly. I I'm very excited to learn about these four pillars. I call them pillars. But talk about those we talked about before the show, because I think the audience needs to hear it.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah. So when I I started my business, Cyprus Island Enterprises, um, and it's a it's a business consulting was the technical term that you know you filed under Florida State taxes, basically. But um, what I've kind of branched out into doing and what I think that God has called me to do and given me the skills to do is to show people in every area of their life. So the four pillars that that Steve's talking about is you know, your business, your personal life, your spiritual life, or your and then your mental life, your emotional life. And so those are the four pillars that we talk about in the book, too mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. Where in that sphere of influence or that that part of your life and your makeup are you actually not building? Where are you failing? Where are you actually, or you're working so hard and not gaining anything out of it? Um, and so then we have to get back to the basics in that. And so what I started the business as um was consulting for businesses, and what it got to was as actually one-on-one conversations with business owners, people, friends. Um, and it was during a time that a lot of businesses were struggling. So that was the main pull, but it was because the people that were behind those businesses were struggling as well, because uh it was actually right during the time of COVID. So obviously a lot of things happened, a lot of things changed, and a lot of people struggled. And so you really got to see people at their most vulnerable points. And it it was that point where it's like, okay, you're ready to do something new, you're ready to start fresh. We don't need to re-invent everything you've done. We just need to get back to the basics, reaffirm the strat the foundation that you've built upon, get back to the foundation and continue to build and restructure wherever we need to restructure. And so a lot of times that started as a business contact of hey, I really need my business to grow. But then as we got to just talking to the business owner or the person or whoever it was, I did a lot of political campaigns, so calling it a business, but we ran a lot of political campaigns. So the candidate just getting to who they were and firming them in their belief, what they wanted to do, why we were doing what we were doing, and it helped us to kind of actually grow on a positive note. And maybe that we didn't grow as fast as they did at the beginning, but we actually started to grow instead of to digress like they were doing during COVID or during these tough times. And so um, it was really cool to work through that vulnerability and help people actually get out of it and move forward.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

You said people a number of times during this description, what you do. I love that because we're in the people asset business. No matter what you do, you might work with one people, you might work with a million, but it doesn't matter. Asset means they're gonna grow if you think of finances. That's what I like, and that's we're serving does, and that's what you teach people or educate people on, right? So your political career, I won't get into it. It's interesting to me going from politics to a business coach, but you must have learned something there besides what you just mentioned earlier that's helping you as a business coach today.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Yeah, something something really interesting that I learned, and I think a lot of people relate to this, regardless of what side of the aisle you're on or whatever it happens to be, whatever your policies are. What I learned was the biggest problem with politics is not corruption, it's not this, it's not that. It's it's not it's a lack of servant leadership. When I was working for a couple of candidates, they were so worried about themselves getting elected that either they were willing to say or do whatever they wanted to do, or they were stressed out to the max trying to stick to their principles and and policies. And so what I realized is where politics could actually work, I don't know if this will ever happen, but where it could actually work is if if if candidates were so were more worried about getting the next generation of politicians into their seat instead of remaining in their own seat or by just knocking somebody out of their seat. And what you know, you see these, and I don't want to call them career politicians because I feel like some people think that's a negative thing or a positive thing. I think the problem is that they're so focused on that's their career, that they're not actually mentoring and leading the next generation of politicians. And so when we get a good politician, if we ever have gotten a good one, you notice how there's nobody to fill the shoes when they term out or when whatever it happens. Like we've had good presidents, we've had bad presidents, we've had bad leaders, we've had good leaders. No one's ever actually set foot or prepared the next person to step into those shoes in those seats because they're so worried about themselves. And so there's a lack of servant leadership in politics that a lot of businesses get into too. You see businesses skyrocket immediately, but they weren't actually mentoring the next generation to take over their retirement. And so you see a CEO retire, and what happens? They usually sell their company to some other CEO that's up and coming because they forgot to mentor the next person. Um, one of the things I talk about in my book, too, is how the church and our our faith is actually kind of like a small business. It's it's a dad, our father, God the Father, who passed on the business to his son Jesus, and then he passes it on to us. And it's our job as as men and women to pass it on to our children. And if we don't do that properly, then the business dies, or it gets bought and resold by somebody else, you know, and that's and that's where things can start to get a little screwy, it can start to get misconstrued, and it could start to water down what the actual essence of that business was. So that was something I learned evaluating that.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

I'm getting excited because that's such a powerful message, and I use this analogy, and I'll use the Jesus Hitler. Jesus had 12 disciples to get his message out, he didn't do it alone. 12 people that met how many people? Millions, billions of people over these years. Right. Let's use a negative side, but still powerful. Hitler, he had 20 generals, right? That's all he talked to to get the message. It wasn't a good message, right? I I love that you're saying that because I talked to a large, you know, companies are doing really well. They all have an exit strategy. Maybe it's two years, maybe it's 20 years. Right. You're saying so. Politics really bridges over to business. It's the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Yeah, yeah. What's your exit strategy? Who's next? And who's next to carry on the legacy that you've built up? Yeah. That's why you don't see a lot of politicians, their kids don't take over because they actually spend so much time away from their kids. You never see politicians where their kids take their seat or their job because they weren't mentoring them in the same way that a lot of businesses don't even mentor their own kids or their own prodigies or their own, you know, employees coming up. And so, yeah, it's it goes back to people are our biggest asset, and we're we're actually letting them squander. It becomes a depreciating asset instead of an actual valued asset. Amen, Kyle.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Oh my god, I love this. This is awesome. What's awesome too is your title, your business, Cypress Island Enterprises. It caught my eye. It's very cool. How did that come about?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Yeah, so this is funny. So, and and I don't want to repeat myself too much, but this is this is what I talk about all the time. One of one of the chapters in my book is the three most important people in your life. Okay. And it goes back to our faith. You have uh the Apostle Paul, you have the Apostle Barnabas or Saint Barnabas, and then you have Saint Timothy. Three people in your life. You have Paul and Timothy who are mentors, you have a mentor and a mentee, and then you have uh Barnabas, who was an accountability partner. And so in your life, you should always be mentoring someone, you should always be mentored by someone, and then you should always have accountability partner kind of on your side that's always keeping you on the straight and narrow. So somebody helping you grow, somebody helping you replace yourself, and then somebody that's keeping you where you're supposed to be, keep you in the present. So past, present, future, basically. Um, and so the when my wife and I were creating this business, she was like, What do you want to call it? I was like, I don't know. I mean, I really like having this structure of three people, so let's look at Barnabas. Everyone knows Paul and Timothy, not a lot of people know about Barnabas, and I think one of the most important people in your life is an accountability partner. So I was like, Oh, let's see what Barnabas. Well, Barnabas is the patron saint of Cyprus Island where he's from, it's the third largest island in in the in the Mediterranean. Um, and so I like the number three. Obviously, that's a biblical number. You got Saint Barnabas. He went back there to be the patron saint, got, and he actually got martyred on the saint on Cyprus Island. Um, and that's why there's a church erected in his you know memory there. And so I was like, you know what? It's kind of cool. I don't want to, I'm in a very tropical state, so I want something that's kind of tropical that kind of shows like you know a little bit of fruits where we're from, but I don't want it to be some like Key West logo or something like that. And so I ended up choosing Cyprus Island, and that's why it's spelled that way. So it's actually the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, not Cyprus like Cypress palms here in in Florida. So that's kind of where we got that.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

Yeah, you know, I most of the time when I ask this question, there's always a cool story coming from that's a really darn cool story. I love it. Um it was a fun process. So let's tie it by accountability. Uh you know, I think people don't really all successful people I've talked to. I mean, making billion dollars, hundreds and millions of dollars, they've all had mentors, they've all been mentees, and they've all been accountable to somebody.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

That's what you do from that. You're the Barnabas side of this pillar, right? I keep using pillar, but you know what I mean. Yeah, I think people should have coaching in business. What's your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Oh, I think that's exactly right. I think most of the most successful people I know have a coach. And it's funny, you're like, oh man, these guys are the best business people I've ever. Well, nobody gets there on their own. So whether they currently have a coach or they're they had one, that's how they got there. And again, it's it's this opportunity to be mentored by somebody. It you'll learn so much more than reading a book. I mean, I'm a big book guy, I wrote a book, I like that stuff. I have tons of books at home and in my office, but there's just something about that traditional historical knowledge that you get from somebody else's examples who's been there before, and you can really get a testimony of hey, this actually works, do it this way, you know, and that that that's it's almost it's it's almost priceless to have that kind of experience in your life.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Yeah, I I love it. That I mean, that's a perfect example of coaching. You know, whether it's Kyle, I'm not we're not here to promote, but whether it's Kyle or somebody else, or maybe it's a family member, have somebody to make you accountable. Whatever, whatever you're trying to lose weight, trying to build a business, trying to be more spiritual, you know. My pastor is my mentor in my spiritual side and all that. Um, but what's interesting, your college experience is Ava Maria University. It's one of my favorite songs. Is that where the university name came from? But tell me about that experience.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Yeah, so Avi Marie University is very unique. Um, it's it's it's named after uh Avi Marie, which is Latin for Hail Mary. So it is a Marian consecrated university. Um, it's you know devout Catholic, it is a Newman Guide officiated school, so it actually does follow the teachings of the church. There's only 15 of them in the world. Um and so that's pretty unique to us. But our founder, Tom Monaghan, is the uh founder of Domino's. He also owned the Detroit Tigers um in the 80s when they won the World Series. And so he's had a very successful career. And one of the biggest things, and I get I get to interact with him pretty frequently, which is an amazing blessing. It's one of those things where he's not my technical mentor, but anything he anytime he opens his mouth, I'm listening, you know. Yeah, um, I'm hearing stories and all sorts of things just uh on how his life has been affected by what he knows, what he's experienced, and and and all those things. But one of the most impactful things he said um is he said, you know, I was a billionaire when he sold dominoes, he made billions of dollars. And he said, I was a billionaire, and I got the call to give it back to the church in some way. So he created Ave Maria University. We're actually in a town called Ave Maria. So he actually created his own town, you know, named after our lady. And it's an amazing area. So if you've never been in Naples, Florida, or if you've been to Naples, Florida, and you haven't stepped outside the outskirts to Ave Maria, it's awesome. It's a really cool town, it's beautiful, beautiful church, everything. Come on by, I'll I'll show you a tour. But um, what he was able to do with his billions, he said, I was a billionaire, I gave it all away, and I became a trillionaire. And that's that's exactly what we're talking about on this podcast is he invested in what God wanted him to invest in, which was people. He was trying to create a space for the church, the Catholic Church in particular, specifically, to grow the next Catholic Church. The university is the biggest way to do that. Pope John Paul II said universities are key, Catholic, authentic universities are key to the growth of the Catholic Church. And so he was like, Okay, cool. If that's how I get the next generation of leaders, this is how I have to do it. And now he says I'm a trillionaire because of it, because I invested in people instead of things, instead of collection. And he had he had the greatest car collection probably ever collected. He had the, you know, he owned the Detroit Tigers, he's won a World Series, he's he's owned an Indy car, he's won Daytona 500, Indy 500, all these other, you know, races, maybe not Daytona, but the Indy 500, he's done all those things. And only now does he see the true worth in what he was actually invested when he started investing in people. Um, and that's what a lot of people, even at Domino's, like franchise owners, they love him because they know he invested in them, and he knew that's why his business was so successful because of the investment he did in people. And so that's something I've I've learned from him. And it's just a special place. We kind of have his energy and his charism, you know, around the university, which is it's almost in uh, you know, in it's encouraging, it's in it's enthusiastic, it's intoxicating to kind of roll in this university and kind of carry that with us.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

I love podcasts because you never know what direction you're gonna go to. Right. I mean, that's an incredible story. Audience, I'm gonna recap. Billions, he gave probably spent hundreds of millions, maybe a billion dollars on the university. He's now a trillionaire, he's not homeless and and destitute spiritually. He's you know, he's a multi-trillionaire, but in essence, and people need to understand that you can serve and still, like I said in my monologue, you can serve and still achieve success, whatever that looks like to you. Maybe not be a billionaire. So, what you you've gone through a lot here. So I'm sure you have a piece of advice. What's a piece of advice you're gonna give an entrepreneur, especially right now, uh as they're rolling in their business? Maybe they've been around a few years or just starting out.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Yeah, I think the biggest advice I always give to everybody, uh, especially when they're just starting out, is you individually have something unique that nobody else can offer the world. And most people are trying to find that out there. It's like, how can I impact millions right away? Start with the people around you. There's something that you can offer to the five or six closest friends of yours, to your family members, to your neighbors, to whoever, whoever it is. There's something unique that only you can offer. Offer that, start offering that and watch how things start to grow and watch how things start to move. Because if you're too busy trying to be something that you're not made to be or serve where you're not meant to serve, you will never be successful. And if you are successful, you'll be exhausted doing it. And so you are meant for a reason, you're meant to serve one individual in one specific place. Go find that and then pour everything out into it. Um, one of my favorite quotes is the goal of this life is to find is to figure out what your gift is, and then the purpose of this life is to go give it away. And that's what it is. Find out where your gift is, what your unique gift is to the world, and then go give it away. Don't hide it in the closet, don't wait for Christmas. Go to go tomorrow and give it away as much as you can, and you'll continue to give it away over and over and be successful.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

That is the you know, thank you for saying that because I I mentor businesses and entrepreneurs, and we talk about that all the time, and you know, you you hear it probably when you talk to people. I'm not making any money, Kyle. I gotta pay bills. Right. Have faith. It's a long-term game. And there's I won't get into other suggestions. There's things I tell people, I'm sure you do. There's always ways to get to make that, but you gotta think long-term. The old phrase, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. And that's what that's what we're saying. Uh meeting people. Um, I want to get a little personal.

unknown 21:35

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

You brought sports into this conversation, which I'm so happy you did. I see you wear a shirt that says football. Oh, they have a football team, Ava Marie?

SPEAKER_00 21:43

We do, yeah. Yep. Oh, yeah, I'd love to be more. Yeah, we have uh we have uh 24 varsity sports, so we compete at the NAI level, so it's separate from the NCAA, but they're pretty equal in most ways in most most sports. So yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Okay, okay, audience, hold me accountable. I'm gonna come see you because that that fires me up. I love small schools, small programs. This is cool. So you're having dinner. You've got three seats. It's a four-table, you know, four-seat table. Who will be in those three seats? What kind of restaurant would it be?

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Okay. Are we talking living or dead? Living or dead. So I keep forgetting that.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Thanks, Calvin. No, that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

I just want to make sure. They're not to be alive. Three seats and where are we eating? Oh, that's good. Um so I would I would probably start with the uh Apostle Peter. Um I would probably go with Oh man, this is tough. I have so many heroes in my life. You know, it's probably a toss-up between Jarr or Tolkien or C.S. Lewis.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

We can throw a second, we can throw a Ford chair in the first. Okay, you can go four.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Just hearing them converse would be hilarious. Uh um and and impactful. Um and then uh probably St. Augustine. Um, I think those would be my my three three or four. Um, because I would just like to hear the the theology behind all of what they and and the practices. I mean, they all come from four very different backgrounds and had four very different experiences of of our Lord, and so I would like to, you know, just hear those conversations and I'd probably just sit and listen. We'd probably be at a nice barbecue place because I love barbecue, and so we'll just get a bunch of brisket and ribs and throw it in the middle of the table, and I'll probably just eat and listen.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

And I'm not a listener, and I'm not either, but that's I always tell people if I could meet a a sports star like Willie Mays just passed away, if I could have sat down with them, I would just love to just listen. Just listen. And you know, I'm not a jersey wearing guy and things like that, which is fine people too. Um, that's that's really cool. What a what a dynamic group and and and different group between those four. That's very cool. Yeah, I love that question because I really learned deep what you think. And when people say it's tough, I love that. Yeah, see people go, ah, it's this, this, and this. It's not that it's bad. It's like okay, they've been thinking about when it's tough because you have so many people that you would love to talk to or listen to. So we're coming to the end here. How can people get a hold of you, Kyle, and learn more?

SPEAKER_00 24:33

Yep. So I have my website, Cypress Islandenterprises.com. Um, and you'll probably get a pop-up immediately to buy my book, but it's it's on Amazon, so it'll take you to a link to Amazon. Um, but anywhere on the website, you can get more information about me, some of the services I I provide, as well as um here at Avemar University, I'm the director of alumni relations. And so I do a lot of alumni events all throughout the country. Um, and I'm always traveling. So if I'm traveling and you want me to come talk to your business or or on your podcast or any of those things, I'd be happy to do so. Uh, or we can jump on a Zoom anytime. Um, so those are things. I also have some specific talks that I give to youth groups, small groups, Bible studies, um, all those things from my youth ministry background. So um, but you can find all that information on my website, Cypress Islandenterprises.com.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Uh, this has been fantastic. Kyle, thank thank you, and God bless you for being a true servant's heart and doing what you do. It's it's so awesome.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

No, thank you, Steve. Thanks for all you're doing. I mean, this is this podcast is probably doing a lot more than you actually get credit for, but you'll get credit one day in heaven, and that's that's the that's the blessing we're all looking for. So that's what I say.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

The legacy. Yeah, when I knock on that door in heaven, you know, and I call serving, and I tell audience all the time serving is God's currency, and you can get this. It's it's going in that pot for God. When you knock on the door, he's gonna look. Oh man, you have 10 million coins. Okay, you know, can I come in, but here's where you're gonna go. Just how I see it, kind of unique and different, but if it motivates people to do things, uh, don't forget my TV show, Together We Serve, every Friday at 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. Pacific, 5 p.m. Eastern. I hate time zones, I forget them all the time. Um, and then comment on this. I'm gonna put this on YouTube in the next couple days. Make it put a comment on there, good or bad or different. I'll get it to Kyle. If you need to reach out, his information will be in the show notes. So I'll be able to connect you or you'll be able to find it there. But I would suggest reach out. I'm sure he would talk to you for 15 minutes and just maybe answer a couple questions for you, or maybe you hire him to do some wonderful things that he's doing. And as always, me and Kyle, thank you so much for watching and listening to this episode. We'll see you all in the next episode of Doing Business with the Servants Horror. See you all.