1 00:00:17,199 --> 00:00:21,239 We're back with another edition of the Federalist Radio Hour. I'm Emil Jasinski, 2 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,920 culture editor here at the Federalist. As always, you can email the show 3 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,920 at radio at the Federalist dot com, follow us on Twitter at fdr LST. 4 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,079 Make sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcasts into the premium version of 5 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:36,640 our website as well. Today we are joined by coach Bill Courtney. He 6 00:00:36,759 --> 00:00:42,320 has partnered with the nonprofit Iron Light Labs to launch an Army of Normal Folks, 7 00:00:42,399 --> 00:00:46,280 a movement, a podcast. You may know Bill Courtney has the founder 8 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,840 of Classic American Hardwoods. In two thousand and three, he became a volunteer 9 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,759 football coach in America's third course zip Code, and yet thirty one out of 10 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,640 thirty two seniors in his last two seasons went to college. All of those 11 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,759 successes on and off the field were the subject of the doctr Memory film, 12 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,719 which ended up winning an Academy Award back in twenty twelve, called Undefeated Coach, 13 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,200 Thanks for joining us, Thanks for having me, Jay Dog. I 14 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,480 was just gonna say I was gonna tell the listeners that before we started recording, 15 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,840 I always asked what people prefer to be referred to as and you said 16 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,079 you know anything, Coach Bill. I think you also said even fat butt, 17 00:01:19,359 --> 00:01:22,439 which I wasn't gonna go with. But then you said you were gonna 18 00:01:22,439 --> 00:01:26,799 call me jay Dog, which I love family. I don't even know how 19 00:01:26,799 --> 00:01:30,159 to pronounce this last name, but you would do it. If you grew 20 00:01:30,239 --> 00:01:34,239 up Memphis, you would have immediately been a Jay Dog. See in Milwaukee, 21 00:01:34,359 --> 00:01:40,400 everyone knows that pronunciation pretty well. It's just sinski. I think, 22 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,400 yeah, yeah, it's pretty good. I think jay Dog's way cooler. 23 00:01:45,599 --> 00:01:49,319 I agree with that. I'm gonna go with that from now on. So 24 00:01:49,519 --> 00:01:53,599 so, coach, tell us about your background. For folks who didn't see 25 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,159 Undefeated, let us know that. You just bring the audience up to speed 26 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:02,319 on how you ended up doing the film, how you ended up coaching, 27 00:02:04,079 --> 00:02:07,120 how you ended up actually this is a lot, I know, but founding 28 00:02:07,159 --> 00:02:09,159 your business, all of that stuff. Where'd you come from? How'd you 29 00:02:09,159 --> 00:02:16,039 get to where you are? I grew up in Memphis. My business is 30 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:22,360 Memphis. I'm a Memphis Tennessee guy. Dad left home when I was four. 31 00:02:22,759 --> 00:02:25,919 I had no relationship with him at all. In fact, he died 32 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,280 earlier this year, and I got a phone call telling me about it after 33 00:02:30,319 --> 00:02:38,080 the fact. Mom was married and divorced five times. For Daddy shot at 34 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,479 me down the hallway. I had to dive out of window to say to 35 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:46,039 myself that night. And so the reality is that's how I grew up. 36 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:51,599 I went to Ole, miss the University of Mississippi. It's about about a 37 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:58,439 mile I mean, excuse me, about an hour south of Memphis. Got 38 00:02:58,439 --> 00:03:02,919 a degree in psychology in England and really wanted to go into the developmental psychology 39 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,840 field shot psychology. So when I graduated, I came back to Memphis and 40 00:03:07,759 --> 00:03:13,000 enrolled at the University of Memphis to start working on my doctorate. Needed to 41 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,080 pay the bills, and I took a job coaching football and teaching school for 42 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:22,639 a living. And candidly, that's kind of where my passion always was because 43 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:28,879 of the way I grew up. My coaches and my teachers, specifically my 44 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:36,400 coaches. They were the counterbalance to the trauma and ridiculousness that I was living 45 00:03:36,599 --> 00:03:44,120 growing up. And I saw that I saw teaching and coaching not really as 46 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:54,159 a profession but a calling and an avenue to give back in ways that changed 47 00:03:54,240 --> 00:04:00,719 me and stabilized me as an adolescent. When I needed it, and so 48 00:04:00,759 --> 00:04:03,479 I started teaching and coaching while I was working on my doctorate, and I 49 00:04:03,639 --> 00:04:10,560 ran into this person named Lisa, And if you saw me, you would 50 00:04:10,639 --> 00:04:14,560 understand I'm just kind of a dopey guy and Lisa's a straight up dime. 51 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,199 And so you know, I married her because what else am I going to 52 00:04:19,319 --> 00:04:24,040 do? And we're in the South, and Emily, I don't know how 53 00:04:24,079 --> 00:04:27,920 much fishing you've done over your life, but if if you're on eight pound, 54 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,639 lots of it, lots of it, all right, Well, you're 55 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,720 if you're on an eight pound, eight pound test and you light into a 56 00:04:33,759 --> 00:04:39,920 thirty pound slab, you're doing everything you can not to let that line break, 57 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,439 right, You're reeling it in. That's right, that's right. So 58 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,480 that's kind that's kind of me metaphorically. I mean, I'm an eight pound 59 00:04:46,519 --> 00:04:50,920 test and I lit into this thirty pound slab named Lisa, buying as hell. 60 00:04:51,079 --> 00:04:55,360 So the only thing I knew to do to keep on the line was 61 00:04:55,439 --> 00:04:58,759 start having kids. So we had kids, four kids in four years, 62 00:05:00,079 --> 00:05:06,480 and that was great and beautiful in my family. But teaching school and coaching 63 00:05:06,519 --> 00:05:12,079 football for seventeen thousand dollars a year with a wife and four children, while 64 00:05:12,199 --> 00:05:15,759 also spending money to try to go to school to get a doctorate. Just 65 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:23,120 the calculus didn't work on it, and so I left teaching and coaching as 66 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,959 a profession. I had to abandon the idea of becoming a psychologist, and 67 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,279 I got into the private world. But in the city of Tennessee, you're 68 00:05:30,319 --> 00:05:34,839 allowed to if you take a bunch of classes and get certification. There's a 69 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:41,240 handful of us in the state. You can be what's called a certified non 70 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:47,879 faculty coach, which covers you under all the TSA regulations and insurance, and 71 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:54,480 the schools can bring you into coach and you can do that without actually being 72 00:05:54,519 --> 00:05:59,439 on the faculty if you go through this accreditation, which I did because again, 73 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:06,399 you know, making money became a paramount requirement for this family, this 74 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:11,839 very young, growing family. But my passion was still coaching, and so 75 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,560 in two thousand and one I started a lumber company off my couch. Was 76 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:21,560 seventeen thousand dollars in my pocket and we now have one hundred and thirty employees. 77 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:26,600 We do business in forty two different countries. I have a fifty acre 78 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:31,279 manufacturing facility here in Memphis, as well as my domestic sales offices, and 79 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:36,680 I have international offices in Shanghai, China and Coachman City, Vietnam, and 80 00:06:38,199 --> 00:06:42,480 we did about eighteen million in sales last year, so I've been very blessed 81 00:06:42,519 --> 00:06:46,360 there. But at the same time, I continued to coach because that was 82 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,759 my passion, and the reason I ended up at Manassas is because it's only 83 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:55,439 a mile from where my plant is. And when I got to Manassas, 84 00:06:55,519 --> 00:07:00,279 I found seventeen kids on a team that won four games in ten years. 85 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,959 Their previous ten years record was four wins and ninety five losses. We started 86 00:07:03,959 --> 00:07:10,160 coaching, and seven years later some goofy guys from La wearing skinny jeans and 87 00:07:10,279 --> 00:07:15,000 scarves. And for those of you not from the Southeast, nobody wears scarves 88 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,759 in Memphis is too hot. But they did because I think that was cool. 89 00:07:19,879 --> 00:07:23,560 I guess I don't know. They show up and they say they're gonna 90 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,759 make a movie, and I'm like, okay, well, we'll see this 91 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,720 on channel three hundred and sixty two when Wednesday at two am buried on your 92 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:36,839 cable channels, and they left Memphis with five hundred and fifty hours of film 93 00:07:36,959 --> 00:07:41,040 edited, and a year and a half later, I'm walking down the red 94 00:07:41,079 --> 00:07:45,480 carpet with P Diddy and George Clooney and we win an Academy Award, which 95 00:07:45,519 --> 00:07:49,800 is ridiculous. And that led to speaking engagements, which led to my book 96 00:07:50,199 --> 00:07:55,800 Against the Grain, which is done very well, which led to more speeches, 97 00:07:56,839 --> 00:08:03,240 and you know that's it. I'm a guy from Memphis who grew up 98 00:08:03,319 --> 00:08:07,399 without a pot tapean or wanted to throw it out of got lucky and married 99 00:08:07,439 --> 00:08:11,759 a beautiful woman who I'm still married to thirty two years later. We have 100 00:08:11,959 --> 00:08:15,959 four children. Twenty eight, twenty seven, twenty six, twenty five. 101 00:08:16,279 --> 00:08:20,759 I've been blessed beyond anything I ever deserved, with an amazing company full of 102 00:08:20,839 --> 00:08:26,399 really hard working, dedicated, good people, and I continue to coach football, 103 00:08:26,439 --> 00:08:30,959 and somehow my passion landed on the radar some guys who made a movie 104 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,919 and I accidentally ended up winning an Academy award, which led to books and 105 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:41,399 speeches and interviews, and to get you all the way up, about a 106 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:46,919 year and a half ago, I was being interviewed about something and that particular 107 00:08:46,039 --> 00:08:52,440 day I was extremely frustrated Emily because I can't remember exactly what happened, but 108 00:08:54,759 --> 00:08:58,759 some national thing had occurred. And I remember watching Fox and News Max and 109 00:09:00,039 --> 00:09:07,000 CNN and CNBC's coverage of that, and it was like four different planets about 110 00:09:07,039 --> 00:09:15,279 a very obvious thing that happened that was any common sense, clear thinker could 111 00:09:15,399 --> 00:09:24,879 understand the dynamics of that issue. Yet it was completely represented differently from all 112 00:09:24,919 --> 00:09:30,519 these different viewpoints. And so I was particularly frustrated that day, and I 113 00:09:30,639 --> 00:09:39,080 got asked about what I thought could fix the proverbial it in quotation marks it, 114 00:09:39,879 --> 00:09:45,039 and I said, you know, the every day we drive by and 115 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,519 every city in the country, Memphis, Baltimore, Saint Louis, Chicago, 116 00:09:48,639 --> 00:09:54,080 New York, pick a city, and we drive by these neighborhoods and we 117 00:09:54,120 --> 00:10:00,120 looked down the road, or we drive on the on the flyway, we 118 00:10:00,159 --> 00:10:05,320 look down the viduct and we see to despair and disenfranchisement and poverty and loss, 119 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,759 and we think to ourselves, you know, somebody had to do something 120 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:15,960 about that one day. And we say it with true concern in most of 121 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,679 our hearts, but we say it as if the sentiment matters, and the 122 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,039 sentiment doesn't matter. And my suggestion is we kick that review mirror about fifteen 123 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,919 degrees to the left and look ourselves done, and that they say, maybe 124 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:33,759 I could do something about that one day. And I submit that our government 125 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:39,799 has proven woefully and adequate and serving the most disadvantaged among us, and the 126 00:10:39,919 --> 00:10:46,080 smart people on CNN and Fox Newsmax and CNBC and all the rest of the 127 00:10:46,879 --> 00:10:52,799 national media, they're not fixing anything. They're just talking to choirs trying to 128 00:10:52,799 --> 00:11:00,320 continue to divide and bring into their listenership more power and money. Social media 129 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,240 is not fixing anything, you know, I really think it's just going to 130 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:09,720 take an army of normal folks, just normal people with normal problems, seeing 131 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:16,320 little corners of the world that they have a passion for whatever's going on in 132 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:22,679 that, and the skill set to do something. They're just looking at themselves 133 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:24,360 in the mirror and saying, you know what, maybe I can help a 134 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:28,080 little bit. And if we had hundreds of thousands of people across this country 135 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:33,879 and a literal army of normal volks serving, we could fix the proverbial li 136 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:41,159 it. We could change the trajectory of this divisiveness and this victory all that 137 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:43,240 we seem to be surrounded with every day. And so when I said that 138 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:48,080 nine interview. I went about my business, and about eight months later, 139 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:52,000 this guy with Iron Light Labs out of Chicago that you mentioned at the top 140 00:11:52,639 --> 00:11:54,320 called me and said, I can't quit thinking about what you said in that 141 00:11:54,399 --> 00:11:56,639 interview, and I thought maybe I cussed. I was like, what do 142 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:01,840 you What did I say? And he reminds me and he said, I 143 00:12:01,879 --> 00:12:07,080 want to start a podcast where you're the host and you interview normal people all 144 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:11,879 over the country that have done extraordinary things, and we start bringing to light 145 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:20,399 these stories of a diverse group of people doing these things, and in doing 146 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,360 so, try to build a movement and actually get people to not only listen 147 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,440 and be entertained, but also be inspired to join this army of normal folks 148 00:12:28,519 --> 00:12:35,240 in community doing things across our country, absent government, absent all the political 149 00:12:35,879 --> 00:12:45,600 and media banter that divides us, and just celebrate doing positive things in our 150 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:50,080 community and build this army that you talked about. And I thought, okay, 151 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:52,360 I'll give that a shot. Sounds pretty good. And you know, 152 00:12:52,399 --> 00:12:56,159 Emily, we've been as high as number ten in the country on Apple's charts 153 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:01,720 and we only released about ten weeks ago, so it's crazy. So your 154 00:13:01,799 --> 00:13:05,120 question was, where'd I come from what I do way I coach football, 155 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,399 what do I do for a living? The movie and the podcast. I 156 00:13:09,399 --> 00:13:11,559 think I just answered all of it. I was gonna say it was a 157 00:13:11,639 --> 00:13:20,200 very civil question. Thanks for listening to the Federalist. This is Sarah Carter, 158 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:26,039 Fox News investigative columnist. Folks, can you believe that My Pillow is 159 00:13:26,039 --> 00:13:31,080 celebrating their twentieth anniversary? 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There you'll find not only this amazing offer but also deep discounts on 169 00:14:11,039 --> 00:14:16,080 all My Pillow products, including the My Pillow slippers, pet beds like Peek 170 00:14:16,159 --> 00:14:18,960 and Mazie are sleeping on right now, blankets, and so much more. 171 00:14:20,279 --> 00:14:24,519 Get the best night sleep my pillow dot Com backslash Carter and use promo code 172 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,919 Carter, sear t er or call one eight hundred and six eight five seven 173 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:39,080 two two one my pillow dot Com backslash Carter promo code Carter. So I 174 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:43,960 want to ask about the story of Sam Quinn because you told that story in 175 00:14:43,559 --> 00:14:48,240 an article for the Federalists recently, so some of our listeners may have seven. 176 00:14:48,759 --> 00:14:52,120 I wrote an op ed and you guys were kind enough to print it 177 00:14:52,159 --> 00:14:56,000 for me. A little inside baseball actually from our end on the editorial side. 178 00:14:56,039 --> 00:15:01,000 When that op ed was submitted, editors, multiple editors, so that 179 00:15:01,039 --> 00:15:05,240 they were brought to tears when they had read the draft of it, that 180 00:15:05,279 --> 00:15:07,440 it was just incredibly moving. Our team was honored to run that story, 181 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:13,600 and I think it's great, A great story from your army of normal folks, 182 00:15:13,159 --> 00:15:16,679 Coach. So if you could tell all the listeners here a little bit 183 00:15:16,679 --> 00:15:20,919 about your friend Sam Quinn, that would be great. When I started my 184 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,639 business in two thousand and one. Now, I remember I told you where 185 00:15:24,639 --> 00:15:26,919 I came from, right, So there's no family money. It was literally 186 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:33,360 winging a prayer we started. I opened the doors to my business September one, 187 00:15:33,519 --> 00:15:41,440 two thousand and one, ten days later was maybe the most catastrophic event 188 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:46,559 our public and culture has had since maybe even Pearl Harbor, right, and 189 00:15:48,159 --> 00:15:54,279 the world shut down. Now my plight, and that hails in comparison to 190 00:15:54,360 --> 00:16:00,159 the people and families and the Pentagon and the World Trade Tower in New York 191 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:04,759 and all of that. And so I am in no way comparing myself to 192 00:16:04,799 --> 00:16:10,039 that. I'm just saying the fact of the timing is I started a business 193 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,960 with very little capital on a wing and a prayer ten days before nine to 194 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:18,519 eleven. And I was pretty convinced I was going broke the minute that happened, 195 00:16:18,519 --> 00:16:22,879 and we persevered and made it through. But I was, you know, 196 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:29,080 running old used equipment that I bought at auctions and you know, duct 197 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:33,399 tape and baling wire and really just barely keeping it going, try to generate 198 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:41,080 some cash flow. And I started with eleven employees and word of mouth, 199 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,519 you know, and they were common labor. I'm in the hardwood lumber business. 200 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,960 We manufacture hardwood lumper and man, it is hot when it's summertime, 201 00:16:49,039 --> 00:16:53,919 it is cold when it's wintertime. There's nothing pretty about the work we do, 202 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:59,919 with hydraulic oil and saws and lots of noise and sawdust in the air. 203 00:17:00,559 --> 00:17:07,240 It is an old school, hard working manufacturing environment and you need common 204 00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:11,079 labor that's willing to go to work. And Sam Quinn was one of those 205 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:17,960 first eleven. Sam grew up and was a marine. When he left the 206 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,119 Marines, he got off track. And from the time he left the Marines 207 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,240 in his mid twenties to the day I met him when he was forty years 208 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:30,799 to old, he'd fallen into addiction, alcohol abuse, some trouble with the 209 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:36,200 law, and was living at Lighthouse Ministries, which is a kind of a 210 00:17:36,279 --> 00:17:41,240 halfway house. And that first day he went to work. And after a 211 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,119 couple of weeks, I noticed this forty year old guy out working twenty two 212 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,920 year old guys and was kind of impressed by and I gave him a fifty 213 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,240 cent an hour raise, and I told him just keep your head down. 214 00:17:51,279 --> 00:17:55,400 If we can build this minute business and it goes somewhere, I need people 215 00:17:55,440 --> 00:18:03,119 like you, and maybe a week later. All of our lumbers run on 216 00:18:03,279 --> 00:18:08,920 production lines. If you'll just imagine just conveyors and chains and everything moving lumber 217 00:18:10,079 --> 00:18:15,599 through saws and all this stuff will what the very beginning of a production line 218 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,799 and the lumber business, there's a thing called a tilt hoist that actually takes 219 00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:22,799 a full pack of lumber. It tilts it at a forty five degree anger 220 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:29,359 angle and then hoist it up so that boards slide off the top of the 221 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,440 packs, layer by layer to become singulated onto the chains and the conveyors so 222 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,119 that you can surface them and rip them and do all you need to do 223 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,759 to make it ready for shipment. And that thing broke. It is a 224 00:18:41,799 --> 00:18:49,799 big, heavy piece of machinery with lots of voltage, a massive hydraulic unit 225 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:55,759 with a ninety horsepire electric motor on top of it that drives the hydraulics to 226 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:00,720 the pistons to lift all this weight. And it crashed. And without it 227 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,519 you can't get lumber run. And if I can't get lumber run, I 228 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,640 go broke, especially when every day and every board matters early on in my 229 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:12,400 business. And so it was clear that it was yet another weekend for me 230 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:18,640 and my maintenance manager and my key guy, crawling around all over equipment getting 231 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,640 it running through the weekend, to try to run on a Monday. And 232 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:26,799 we all went home, got in a sandwich, got to change your clothes, 233 00:19:26,799 --> 00:19:30,160 and came back for just an hour and started working on it, welding 234 00:19:30,319 --> 00:19:36,880 torches, electrical stuff. It's nasty, dirty work, you know, crawling 235 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,519 around on concrete, over metal chains, all of it. And I'll look 236 00:19:40,599 --> 00:19:44,519 up about six o'clock and Sam's standing there, walking over to me and said, 237 00:19:44,599 --> 00:19:47,279 Sam, what are you doing? And he said, I'm going to 238 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:49,079 help you. Tildoy said Sam, We're gonna be here. We're probably gonna 239 00:19:49,079 --> 00:19:55,240 see the sunrise three times before you know. I can't pay you. I 240 00:19:55,279 --> 00:19:57,279 can barely pay you straight time. I can't pay you time and a half, 241 00:19:57,279 --> 00:20:00,480 and I sure can't pay you all weekend. Go home. And he 242 00:20:00,599 --> 00:20:03,799 said, Bill, this is my company too. I don't want you to 243 00:20:03,839 --> 00:20:07,759 pay me. And he threw down his box and he got to work. 244 00:20:08,799 --> 00:20:15,160 And we literally finished that thing about six fifteen, six thirty am Monday morning. 245 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:22,359 Our shift starts at seven and covered in grease and oil, exhausted and 246 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,480 chain starts up and after all that he goes back to the line and spends 247 00:20:26,519 --> 00:20:32,160 eight hours pulled the lumber all day before he goes back home. I could 248 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:40,000 not believe that guy's commitment and willingness. And over that weekend, you know, 249 00:20:40,039 --> 00:20:42,279 there's nothing else to do but talk. I found out about his past. 250 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,160 I found out about a brim marine. I found out about the troubles 251 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,039 you found himself in. I found out he really was trying to right himself, 252 00:20:49,839 --> 00:20:53,880 but he couldn't get a license because of the problems he had with the 253 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:00,759 law. Noting nothing overly felonious or anything, but you know, not paying 254 00:21:00,799 --> 00:21:06,720 tickets. Stuff that mounts up on a guy. And the next two years 255 00:21:06,759 --> 00:21:08,920 we went to work with an attorney friend of mine, getting all of that 256 00:21:10,039 --> 00:21:17,279 handled, got himself into AA. He became sober, and twenty years later, 257 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:22,279 Sam is a homeowner, married, not living with somebody shocked up and 258 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:30,799 an actual marriage certificate, married three children, a homeowner, and a very 259 00:21:30,839 --> 00:21:37,720 important manager at my company. And Sam died six weeks ago of cancer. 260 00:21:37,839 --> 00:21:45,880 And Sam was so dedicated that he would schedule his chemo at six thirty or 261 00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:49,920 seven, the earliest they would schedule it, and he would get to work 262 00:21:51,039 --> 00:21:56,640 at some time between seven thirty and nine am and put a bucket in the 263 00:21:56,759 --> 00:22:03,240 corner so that he could continue to managed and run his irresponsibility. And the 264 00:22:03,279 --> 00:22:07,519 buck in the corner was because the chemo would make him sick. And he 265 00:22:07,559 --> 00:22:12,160 wouldn't even take off for that, and I begged him to, and he 266 00:22:12,279 --> 00:22:18,400 just kept saying to me, don't you, don't you ever, I do 267 00:22:18,519 --> 00:22:21,119 not want to leave. Don't make me leave. Don't make me leave. 268 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:30,519 And he literally worked until the day he died of cancer. He inspired me. 269 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,599 I have never seen and when I say faithful, he was a Christian, 270 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:40,759 but I mean faithful more to his wife and his children, faithful to 271 00:22:40,799 --> 00:22:44,960 the people around him he worked with, faithful to his job. I've never 272 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:52,359 seen him more committed, faithful, dedicated human being and tough than Sam Quinn. 273 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,200 And I miss him today and I'll always miss him. And the world's 274 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:03,559 a smaller place without a minute. But the truth is, that's the power 275 00:23:03,319 --> 00:23:07,240 of a normal person. If we had an army of Sam Quinn's. The 276 00:23:08,039 --> 00:23:15,079 proverbial it gets fixed in three months. We sit there and we talk about 277 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,559 all these A listers and names you know, and people on Fox and CNN 278 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:23,519 get on there and destroy each other. And I understand politics is a full 279 00:23:23,559 --> 00:23:27,680 contact sport, but it's gotten to a place that if you don't think like 280 00:23:27,839 --> 00:23:32,039 me, worship like me, look like me, or believe like me, 281 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:38,039 you're my enemy. And that's destructive. Normal people don't think that way. 282 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:44,359 Normal people don't act that way. Normal people can celebrate running other's differences. 283 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:49,279 And men like Sam sam Quinn. You know you look at you look at 284 00:23:49,279 --> 00:23:53,440 a forty year old black dude who was once in the military that's living in 285 00:23:53,559 --> 00:23:57,720 Lighthouse Ministries with an alcohol problem. You saw him up pretty quickly. You 286 00:23:57,759 --> 00:24:00,720 think you know what he is, But let me tell you what he is. 287 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,880 A father, a husband, a manager to business, a homeowner, 288 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:11,119 and a dedicated employee and friend. That's what Sam Quinn is, which doesn't 289 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,799 agree with the picture you might first think when you see him. And I 290 00:24:15,799 --> 00:24:22,480 think we need to start breaking down our political and societal preconceived notions about one 291 00:24:22,519 --> 00:24:26,640 another. Remember we're just normal folks and joined together, there's an army of 292 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,440 normal folks to serve one another, and we can change this place. I 293 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,359 want to ask what you think it is or why it is that people you 294 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,119 know I'm here in DC, I'm not from here, but I've been here 295 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,839 for a while and it is very different than the rest of the country. 296 00:24:41,319 --> 00:24:44,680 Why do you think it is that people who are just going about the business 297 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,920 of normal life in the United States of America have these incredible stories, And 298 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,720 I like the way you put it. They have this power, the power 299 00:24:51,799 --> 00:24:56,880 of the normal person. What does that come from in America? You know, 300 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:03,000 boy, that's a loaded long question, but I really do think people. 301 00:25:03,799 --> 00:25:08,799 Well, I did another op ed that you may not even know of, 302 00:25:10,519 --> 00:25:15,680 but to do it, we did some Pew research and it was interesting. 303 00:25:15,799 --> 00:25:18,519 For the first time in the history of our country, we have a 304 00:25:18,759 --> 00:25:25,200 fifty percent lower than a fifty percent approval rating of the Supreme Court. We've 305 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,279 got lower than a forty percent approval rating of the White House, and we've 306 00:25:27,279 --> 00:25:33,680 got a nineteen percent approval rating in Congress. Well, there's Republicans and Democrats 307 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:40,880 all throughout that all that big bunch of disapproval. Seventy percent of people in 308 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:48,200 this Pew research also said that they believe that any national news they get is 309 00:25:48,279 --> 00:25:57,440 tainted politically by whatever version of news that particular side puts out. They also 310 00:25:57,519 --> 00:26:04,640 believe that social media eighty percent of respondents or seventy seven percent respondents thought thinks 311 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:11,880 that social media is also completely tainted. But in the same breath, Pew 312 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:18,960 Research found out that the average American spends just under three hours a day either 313 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:27,720 listening to the national news on social media or inundating themselves with content either out 314 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:37,599 of New York or DC. So isn't it odd that none of us research 315 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:45,400 shows that we don't believe in the narratives. We do not trust in the 316 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:52,079 people who are crafting those narratives in DC, and it and it divides us. 317 00:26:52,240 --> 00:27:00,880 Yet we inundate ourselves with the very information and adventu all we don't believe, 318 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,559 and that divides us. I mean, we're being a bunch of sheep. 319 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:11,359 We're literally being led around by hooking our nose. Meanwhile, when you 320 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:18,519 think about all that frustration that those that the narratives create. Meanwhile, all 321 00:27:18,559 --> 00:27:23,640 over our country, there are Sam Quinns. All over our country. There 322 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:30,680 are amazing people that are doing phenomenal things and their corners the world, and 323 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:36,519 we never hear those stories because the national news and national media and the big 324 00:27:36,519 --> 00:27:41,160 political class in DC man they are incented by an enormous amount of money and 325 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:48,279 power to continue to divide us and continue to tell us things about ourselves that 326 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:52,319 if you don't think and worship and look and vote and believe like me, 327 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,440 you must be my end and me. Because they're supported by their power and 328 00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:03,960 their money to continue to bring sheep into their corner. And I think, 329 00:28:04,559 --> 00:28:08,279 I think people are sick of it. And when you can tell them a 330 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:15,000 story about Tommy Norman and North Little Rock who's a police officer who's redefined community 331 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,799 policing, don't have the problems you see when we're talking, you know, 332 00:28:19,839 --> 00:28:26,680 the national conversation about police reform and justice reform. Tommy Norman is one guy 333 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:33,279 who has changed policing in North Little Rock. Or a mallam who as dealing 334 00:28:33,279 --> 00:28:38,400 with addiction in her family, herself and her own mental illness as a result 335 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,839 of it, started a running club for the homeless, which is the most 336 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:48,160 ridiculous thing in the world. As a twenty six year old girl and now 337 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:53,720 back on my feet. Running club is in thirteen different cities and has found 338 00:28:55,279 --> 00:29:00,880 has found ways for the homeless to create seven thousand people who now have homes 339 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,839 and full time jobs as a result of the discipline and lessons they learn from 340 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:11,599 just running. There's stories like this all over the country, one after another. 341 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,559 And as we tell these stories, we are saying, look, I 342 00:29:15,599 --> 00:29:19,319 don't care if you're Christian or Jewish or agnostic, or black or white, 343 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:23,839 or Hispanic or Asian, or male or female, or right or left or 344 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:30,319 demo Republican, all that stuff that these power people in New York and DC 345 00:29:30,799 --> 00:29:37,799 use to craft narratives to continue to bite us, to serve their own power 346 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:41,400 and their own wealth. I don't care about any of that because it doesn't 347 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:47,319 matter which group you come from. There's one thing we can all celebrate in 348 00:29:47,519 --> 00:29:52,039 unity, and that is the simple service of another human being in our country. 349 00:29:52,839 --> 00:29:56,160 And if you really do want to fix it, drop the narrative that 350 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:00,799 you're being fed and let's start looking low school at people who are doing amazing 351 00:30:00,839 --> 00:30:03,880 things to our community. And regardless of how they look, how they vote, 352 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:08,319 what they think, I can celebrate you if you're doing something good for 353 00:30:08,359 --> 00:30:15,160 another human being that needs it. And that's the power of an army of 354 00:30:15,279 --> 00:30:19,200 normal folks. We can't be divided by the narrative, and we can take 355 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:25,400 back control of the narrative by celebrating the good that we can do. And 356 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:30,599 so you're a coach, and the experiences of Undefeated, which millions of people 357 00:30:30,759 --> 00:30:37,400 have watched, I want to ask whether those or how those inform your perspective 358 00:30:37,519 --> 00:30:41,359 on the power of a normal person. You know, if you had to 359 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,720 coach someone who wants to be a part of this army as you're talking about, 360 00:30:45,759 --> 00:30:51,400 wants to channel their power into you know, being just one more normal 361 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:55,559 person out there who's doing good. What would you tell people if they want 362 00:30:55,599 --> 00:30:56,720 to start this in their own lives? What do they need to do? 363 00:30:57,279 --> 00:31:03,119 Do you think? One, shut your mouth and listen. You don't go 364 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:08,079 in to serve somebody by telling them all they're doing wrong and how your perspective 365 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:12,960 is dead nuts, right, Because until you really seek to listen and understand 366 00:31:14,039 --> 00:31:19,880 those seek those you seek to serve, Until you get their perspective and why 367 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:25,359 they may be where they are in the first place, you can never be 368 00:31:25,799 --> 00:31:32,480 authentic in the work that you do. And to do that you have to 369 00:31:32,519 --> 00:31:37,279 ask lots of questions with an open, civil, non threatening mind and listen. 370 00:31:41,559 --> 00:31:47,119 Too often we see an area in need and we already think we know 371 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:51,359 the answers of how to fix it without first understanding the root and the perspective 372 00:31:51,359 --> 00:31:56,119 of the real problems. When I first went to Manassas, I'm a perfect 373 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,160 example of how screwed up a wrong approach. Z. When I first went 374 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:06,519 to Manassas, you know you heard how it came up. Yet I figured 375 00:32:06,559 --> 00:32:08,640 out a way to get a scholarship and go to college. And once in 376 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:14,880 college, I've worked three jobs and had a scholarship and got out of college 377 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,079 and got married. And look where I am now. And before I went 378 00:32:17,119 --> 00:32:22,920 to Manassas, I would have told you that we have a free education system 379 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:28,000 in this country. It's the freest country in the world, with money all 380 00:32:28,039 --> 00:32:32,079 over the place and just tons of opportunity. And it still was the greatest 381 00:32:32,079 --> 00:32:38,279 place on earth in regards to the freedoms and an opportunity. And I do 382 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:44,960 believe that, And I believed if you, if you, if you were 383 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:50,839 stuck in poverty, you just weren't fully taken advantage of all the opportunities our 384 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,839 country has to offer. That was my mentality, and not from a white 385 00:32:53,839 --> 00:33:00,160 paternalistic standpoint. But where I came from, I didn't have anything. Well, 386 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:01,759 once I got him an assets, I found out that's a croc. 387 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:12,240 There are barriers two entry. There are systematic issues that do exist that make 388 00:33:12,279 --> 00:33:17,119 it much more difficult for some people in our culture to pull themselves out of 389 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:22,240 the way. And I'll give you an example, because I would imagine some 390 00:33:22,319 --> 00:33:27,599 of your listeners right now might have got a little hairstick up on their back 391 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,720 of the neck when they hear that. One of my guest name is r 392 00:33:30,799 --> 00:33:37,640 Sha Cooper Marshay grew up in West Side Chicago. He could see the top 393 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:43,519 of the Sears Tower from his apartment, and as a twelve or thirteen year 394 00:33:43,519 --> 00:33:46,640 old, his life's biggest dream was to get to downtown Chicago and see Sears 395 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:53,079 Tower. Now he live five miles from downtown Chicago and his dream, his 396 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:59,599 dream was something simple as getting five miles to go see downtown Chicago and see 397 00:33:59,599 --> 00:34:04,680 Sears. But he couldn't because migrating through the neighborhoods to get there meant he 398 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,440 would have crossed four or five or six different ganglands and he probably wouldn't have 399 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:12,239 survived the hype. He wasn't allowed to go more than a couple of blocks 400 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,599 from this house ever. And I asked him, I said, our say, 401 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:21,039 why can't you learn when you're from West Side Chicago? Why can't you 402 00:34:21,079 --> 00:34:23,199 go to school and learn and get yourself out of the way. And he 403 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:30,760 said, Bill, we had a fan in our apartment that the blade was 404 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:32,920 out around a little bit, and so it clicked. So when the fan 405 00:34:34,039 --> 00:34:36,119 goes around, it's click click, click, click click. And if you 406 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,079 walked into our sche's apartment having never been in it, you would have heard 407 00:34:39,079 --> 00:34:43,719 that clicking, and it would have driven you nuts. But our sha never 408 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:45,360 heard the clicking. And the reason I never heard the clicking is because after 409 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,400 living in that environment for a week or two weeks or whatever, you just 410 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:54,079 ignored the clicking because you need the cool air. And he said, I 411 00:34:54,320 --> 00:35:01,199 never left my apartment without smelling weed and crack smoke. I saw. I 412 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:06,559 couldn't even make it down the hallway of my apartment without some junkie shrewn out 413 00:35:06,559 --> 00:35:10,639 in the hallway. I've stepped over pulls of blood. I watched people get 414 00:35:10,639 --> 00:35:15,400 beat in the street. I've seen people shot and killed. I've seen people 415 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:22,440 defend themselves and shoot and kill another. The sounds of sirens and the whales 416 00:35:22,519 --> 00:35:28,599 of mothers losing another son were commonplace. All of this was no different to 417 00:35:28,639 --> 00:35:32,800 me than the clicking of that fan. It just became so monotonous and so 418 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:37,679 normal that I didn't even think about it anymore. And he said, I 419 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:45,239 was thirteen. People go after Afghanistan and a rock and come back with PTSD 420 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:50,119 and need all kinds of help to get over the trauma and the devastation that 421 00:35:50,159 --> 00:35:52,840 they've seen and learned, and rightly so they need that help and we have 422 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:58,079 to support our veterans that way. But as a thirteen year old, he'd 423 00:35:58,119 --> 00:36:00,559 seen all that those men had seen, and all they were told was to 424 00:36:00,599 --> 00:36:06,400 go to school and get an education. He's like, when you live that 425 00:36:06,599 --> 00:36:10,480 and you're just trying to survive, you're not thinking about who discovered America. 426 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:15,360 You don't know the three boats that the pilgrims came on. You don't know 427 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:20,800 what half of fifty percent is. You can't learn in that environment because you 428 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:29,599 are. You are traumatized by your environment. And when you understand that, 429 00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:36,559 then you also can understand why my mentality was wrong when I first got to 430 00:36:36,639 --> 00:36:40,599 an Assis and why it's changed, and also why if you really want to 431 00:36:40,639 --> 00:36:46,159 help, you first have to understand the truth on the ground where you want 432 00:36:46,199 --> 00:36:49,800 to serve, and the only way you're going to stand the truth on the 433 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:54,000 ground. We serve is you ask questions, observe, shut your mouth with 434 00:36:54,159 --> 00:36:59,719 telling people what you know, and listen and learn. And then when you're 435 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,480 full equipped with that knowledge, you can serve and lead and make a better 436 00:37:02,519 --> 00:37:09,679 life. That is incredible perspective, important perspective. Coach Bill Courtney is hosting 437 00:37:09,679 --> 00:37:15,360 the podcast An Army of Normal Folks. Bill, thank you so much for 438 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:19,159 joining us and for sharing some of these amazing stories. Thanks so much for 439 00:37:19,199 --> 00:37:22,840 having me, Jay Dog, Jay Dog, I'm gonna roll with it all 440 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:24,880 right. Well, you've been listening to another edition of The Federalist Radio Hour. 441 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:30,239 I'm Emilijasinsky, Jay Dog, culture editor here at the Federalist. We'll 442 00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:34,039 be back soon with more. Until then, be lovers of freedom and anxious 443 00:37:34,079 --> 00:37:40,320 for the fray right. Were you wrong?