Serving the Spiritual Needs of First Responders with Jeremy Wade

When the law falls heavy on those tasked with upholding it, what becomes of their hearts and minds? Jeremy Wade, a former Seattle police officer and now the guiding force behind Mission First Alliance, opens up about his transition from the front lines of law enforcement to leading an organization that heals and supports the spiritual needs of first responders. His experiences during Seattle's most volatile periods shine a light on the human side of the badge, exploring the toll that high-profile incidents and evolving department protocols take on those who serve.

Policing isn't just about enforcing the law; it involves navigating a sea of policy changes, public perception, and personal trauma. Jeremy weighs in on the impact Department of Justice oversight has on officers and communities alike, dissecting the narratives of crime spikes and the struggle to maintain a robust police force. Under his perceptive gaze, we learn about the pivotal role sergeants play in morale and the support systems necessary for officers to thrive amid adversity.

In our unguarded conversation with Jeremy, his transition from the force to faith-centered leadership embodies the epitome of servant leadership. The establishment of Mission First Alliance is not just the chronicle of one man's calling but a testament to the power of aligning passion with purpose. As the Alliance garners national recognition for addressing the spiritual void in first responders' lives, we're reminded that sometimes, the most profound leadership lessons are gleaned from ancient scriptures, pointing us back to the timeless wisdom of Jesus Christ.

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Transcript

Jeremy Wade: 0:00

Yeah, absolutely. I think God designed us for a purpose and apart from Christ. If we don't recognize that, we're missing out. We're missing out on what God is calling us to and a higher purpose, and yet Jesus was the perfect servant-leader example.

Travis Yates: 0:19

Welcome to Courageous Leadership with Travis Yates, where leaders find the insights, advice and encouragement they need to lead courageously.

Travis Yates: 0:29

Welcome back to the show. I'm so honored that you've decided to spend a few minutes with us here today, and I'm super excited about today's guest. Today's guest is Jeremy Wade. He's the Executive Director for Mission First Alliance, but before that he served 13 years with the Seattle Police Department. While on that agency he was awarded the Officer of the Year and the Medal of Valor. He worked in patrol in the training unit, he was a peer support coordinator and he assisted in developing the department's first wellness unit. Jeremy Wade, how are you doing, sir?

Jeremy Wade: 1:06

Yeah, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.

Travis Yates: 1:08

Well, man, I met you last year and just super excited to meet you. You've been an incredible blessing and I wanted to kind of just start off your story of going into law enforcement and we'll get into the story of why you aren't in law enforcement and what you're doing now but just kind of tell us that story of how you ended up in Seattle working for that agency.

Jeremy Wade: 1:28

Yeah, I was born and raised in that greater Seattle area, loved living in that area and then, once I was interested in law enforcement, seattle was the only department I wanted to work for, was the first department I tested for and was blessed to get hired by them just a few months later. So yeah, it was an awesome opportunity. At that point in time I had been married for a few years. We just had our second child, born a week before I started the police academy, officially got hired and uh, just was all in and and jumped in with both feet so this would have been 2012, 20, I don't know 2010, 2011, somewhere around there.

Travis Yates: 2:14

You'd started at the agency and I would assume you saw a lot of changes from that day forward. Kind of explain to our audience, because they see what's on tv right, and Seattle was obviously not painted in the best of light. But kind of explain kind of audience because they see what's on TV right, and Seattle is obviously not painted in the best of light. But kind of explain kind of how the job was when you got there and kind of what you started seeing firsthand.

Jeremy Wade: 2:34

Yeah, I got hired in the end of 2008. And, yes, a handful of years later from when I had gotten hired, there was a number of changes, everything from the Department of Justice settlement agreement and oversight to just a number of changes which impacted the morale on the department, impacted the just operations, procedures, policies just many changes. So, yeah, I started at a unique time I mean 2009, when I was first starting on the streets. I just experienced a number of things where we had Officer Timothy Brenton murdered and killed just hours before my shift in my precinct, and then the Lakewood four officers and then Deputy Kent Mandel in Pierce County, and so there was just a slew of officers that were killed in the line of duty. Some critical incidents that I had early in my career that challenged me in my resolve to do the job, and then just a whole bunch of internal changes within the department too, yeah, made it challenging in those early years.

Travis Yates: 3:54

Yeah, the marketing materials didn't exactly line all that out, did they?

Jeremy Wade: 3:59

No, no, it's hard to know what to expect. And even the whole academy you don't really know what to expect. You kind of get told one thing and you know, and then you get out there and you realize it's something else. I loved the opportunity, a little bit later in my career, to be assigned full time in our training unit and training all of our brand new officers, or seeing them while they're at the academy and training all of our brand new officers, or seeing them while they're at the academy. And then, yeah, leading into leading our peer support team and training the Department of Resilience and Wellness and starting our wellness unit.

Jeremy Wade: 4:37

I feel like I just had a renewed sense of purpose in a lot of things, to be able to give back and to come alongside those you know that were starting their jobs, starting their careers, those you know that were starting their jobs, starting their careers, because we all come into this career with the job, with the aspirations to make a difference. You know that we want, you know, to, you know to have a high sense of purpose, a high you know. It's so easy to start to lose that sense of purpose and wonder am I even making a difference? And the job to just start to change us. And I had recognized, because I went through that in my own life and in my own career where I had to wrestle with that and had to come out the other end so that it didn't negatively affect me in a lot of ways, which I was seeing on a lot of my coworkers- Well, it's interesting.

Travis Yates: 5:27

you talk about going in the wellness unit and your voice even kind of lit up when you talked about that, because we've had a few guests on where this is a big fault in law enforcement, where we don't take people's love for other things or people's passion or expertise and mold that into the job. So somebody, somewhere, recognize that that was your passion and that was your skill set and they actually molded that training and that wellness with you and put you in that assignment, versus what we see so often, which is we have people on the wrong bus. They're there for other reasons other than their expertise, and so that obviously was a big tipping point for you to probably love your job more than you imagine.

Jeremy Wade: 6:07

Yeah, absolutely. I think that was some of the best advice I was given in my first few years by a veteran squad mate. You know, just to say don't get stagnant in your career. You know, in law enforcement, don't, don't just work. You know the same beat in the same area, you know. Challenge yourself, you know. Take the extra trainings. You know. Try same beat in the same area, you know. Challenge yourself, you know. Take the extra trainings. You know. Try to move around, do different things over the span of your career.

Jeremy Wade: 6:30

And I feel like that was by far some of the best advice I was ever given, because I think that in law enforcement, if you just get stuck in that grind of day in and day out, shift after shift, dealing with the same people over and over again, it just it starts to wear on you. But if you're challenging yourself to take the next training, you know. Improve your skills, try the next thing, you know. Move around to different positions. You know, in the department, I feel like it challenges you in a way that is growing you, which we need, and that there's more out there and that there's more opportunities. But then I think you can start to find your fit too of what is the best fit with your skill set and what's going to be the best fit for you in the department too, and keep you fresh.

Travis Yates: 7:19

Yeah, I would really recommend that leaders listen to this.

Travis Yates: 7:22

You know I go back and forth because we have some departments that have mandatory tenure in a unit and they have to be removed at a certain number of years and that can work.

Travis Yates: 7:33

But I also think that leaders get lazy and they'll leave people in a position for years upon years, upon years and I don't care how good you are at that position. After 5, 10, 15 years you're not as good as you were when you started and you get a little tired. And it makes the department better when you have personnel that have a variety of experiences, like if a detective goes to patrol, he helps patrol with what detective needs, and if patrol goes to detective, he can help patrol with what patrol's dealing with, and it makes the department better. But we have so many agencies where, well, people spend 20, 25 years in narcotics or in training or wherever else and that person they may think that that's what they want to do, but it really is like you said, it's not branching them out to learn other things and they end up leaving a department where they should have a whole bunch of experience, but they really just have a tiny fraction of experience.

Travis Yates: 8:26

So let me ask you this, Jeremy.

Travis Yates: 8:28

You mentioned the Department of Justice and we've talked about that a lot on this show. Very few people are talking about the destruction of the Department of Justice. That's not what this episode's about, but it is interesting that you got there a few years before the DOJ came into town and they're still there, and they've been there over a decade. Seattle has spent close to $300 million and the DOJ is trying to brag about how compliant they are, but we all know in reality what that city is now like. How quick downhill did the department and the community go once the DOJ landed in that city?

Jeremy Wade: 9:01

Uh, very quick. It has a very quick impact because of the vast changes. You know, the vast changes to policies and procedures and operations and just on the patrol level, you're just asked to do so much more and you're not given more resources to do it. So it feels like you're being asked to do more with less. So it happens quick and it challenged me and I loved the opportunities that I had later to, like I said, train new officers, talk about resilience, talk about wellness, and I would say just the approach that I took. Well, number one, I had to wrestle with my identity, you know, of just who I was and how the job was impacting me and changing me, and who I felt like I was at work and who I was trying to be at home. I just felt like there was a division, you know, in two different identities. And then the other aspect of it too, I feel like for me, I just took the route of what can I do and what's in my control and what's out of my control. So there is no shortage of whether it is a police department that has, you know, department of Justice Oversight or it's a department that doesn't. I feel like across the board law enforcement that I've talked to all over the country. There is no shortage of things that we can complain about, that we can get frustrated about, you know, whether it's in the communities you know that we're serving and those that we're dealing with, or internally inside the department. And even when I was doing that training, I think that it's so easy for us to gravitate towards the critical incidents and trauma and PTSD and say that all of these things are things that we got to be aware of and we got to address and we got to deal with.

Jeremy Wade: 10:59

Yes, we do, but the vast majority. When I would survey hundreds of officers in law enforcement across the Seattle Police Department and other departments, it is far more the internal stress, the operational stress and, like social, political stress, that pays a toll on us way more than the critical incident stress. Most officers I'll talk to they're like I can deal with the critical incidents, I can deal with the job, I can deal with the worst of the worst calls, but it's the internal stress, you know, it's the accumulative stress, that pays way more of a toll on them. And so then that's where I would, you know, kind of start to steer the conversation. Well, you know the majority of that kind of stuff that's causing you the most stress is outside of your control.

Jeremy Wade: 11:48

You know what is in your control. What do you have control over? What can you focus on? What can you change? What can you, you know, do and spend the most time and energy and focus there? So, yes, to answer your question, you know the changes were vast and they were quick, you know when the Department of Justice had oversight in the Seattle Police Department. But I definitely tried to go in another direction, both for myself, you know, just to be able to maintain my positive mindset, but then also to come alongside others and kind of help them along the way too. But then also to come alongside others and kind of help them along the way too.

Travis Yates: 12:23

Yeah, and if anyone's listening that has a question about consent decrees, go back in our podcast and listen to the interview with Bob Scales and then look at the titles. I've talked about this a couple of times and I don't even need Jeremy to answer this, because it's the same place everywhere. All of those vast changes do nothing for the department positive. They do nothing for the community positive. It makes crime go out of control. It makes police morale and police recruitment almost impossible to improve on. And I don't even need you to answer Jeremy. I know that's the case because that's the case everywhere. There's nothing good that comes out of it. And you're just one person of everybody I've talked to who's been under this that says the same story.

Travis Yates: 12:58

But, interestingly enough, you talked about the leadership. I mean ultimately talked about the leadership. I mean ultimately, leadership can trump almost anything. So talk about how the leaders in Seattle dealt with all of this trauma and chaos and things that were happening Obviously a lot of it out of their control. How did they deal with that and what was the message sent to the line officers from the leaders?

Jeremy Wade: 13:22

Yeah, I think that leadership is so important and I think that first line of leadership, you know, the sergeant level really can dictate. You know the morale can really make a big difference on an entire agency. And I think Seattle is probably no different than most. You know that there were some really good leaders, you know, and then there were some that you know that struggled, you know, with all the changes. I think that the ones that lead well, just have that servant leader mindset and that they were the ones that were there to serve their troops, to be there for them, you know, day in and day out, you know, stick their neck out for them, you know, versus the other ones that were, you know, kind of looking out for themselves more than the guys that they're serving and trying to lead.

Jeremy Wade: 14:19

So I saw, you know, the wide range, you know, of leadership and I think that one of the challenges that I see in law enforcement is just that in so many areas we are reactive. We're just so reactive and it's by the nature of the jobs Like we all come into law enforcement and you know and we learn to react. You know to react to what you know the needs are in the community react to the 911 calls. You know, we are just by nature very reactive and I think that the leaders that lead reactively are always behind the eight ball. So I think it's such a challenge and such an opportunity to lead proactively, to support your officers and for them to feel supported when I would talk to so many of the young officers coming in. They need in today's world, they need to be reminded so much more of their sense of purpose and their sense of support. I mean, I think that we come into these careers and the younger generations are coming into these careers with the assumption that they are going to make such a grand impact, that they're going to make such a big difference on their communities and just by the nature of the job, day in and day out, a lot of times we don't see the impact.

Jeremy Wade: 15:39

You know, we don't feel it, we don't get thanked, we don't see. You know you're just there for such a small snapshot, you know, in someone's lives and it just starts to feel like you're not making a difference. Officers feel appreciated. To make them feel supported and to make them see that the impact that they are having, even when they can't see it, I feel like they need it so much more. And when they don't get it, when they don't feel supported and they don't feel appreciated and they don't feel like they're making a difference, is when the switch starts to get turned off and they start to think about doing something else. You know, go to some other job where maybe they can make a bigger impact and where they can be appreciated and they can see the difference that they're making.

Travis Yates: 16:34

Yeah, and what you mentioned about leaders is a core tenet in our Courageous Leadership program, which is anticipate continually challenged assumptions and the status quo continually. Like you said, don't be reactive. Reactive, but continue to look ahead and anticipate. And and you know what strikes me as you're talking, jeremy, is is what we always talk about is leadership has nothing to do with authority. It has nothing to do with rank, because I could imagine if a sergeant at a squad table would say the things you just said to their troops hey, you don't control this, you can make a difference, find your purpose, you Help the citizens that you go. I mean, I could imagine that kind of verbiage from a supervisor or someone of authority would do wonders, because you're sitting here talking about it. You didn't have a rank, but I could imagine how much that helped other people. So at some point God led you away from the Seattle Police Department. I'm sure the DOJ didn't help, I'm sure the environment didn't help, but you felt a calling to leave.

Travis Yates: 17:29

At 13 years Now, people that aren't police officers listening to this probably don't understand what that means. That is a huge leap of faith, everyone knows. For most agencies, 20 years is the magic number you get a lifetime pension at 20 years. It may not be what you want, but it's lifetime money every month. 20 years You're seven years from that, yet 13 years. You decide I need to leave and you founded Mission First Alliance. So just kind of tell us that thought process and what you and your wife were discussing during that time period.

Jeremy Wade: 18:02

Yeah, after a couple of years on the Seattle Police Department, where it took me over two years to meet another Christian in the Seattle Police Department, a department of fourteen hundred it paid a toll on me in ways that you know. You hear when you first start it could impact you, the job could impact you and I just kind of dismissed it. But it was definitely changing me where my faith was important to me. I grew up going to church but I didn't know what it looked like to be a Christian and a police officer. I was even told by one of the veterans in my squad that I looked up to the most you know where. You said I don't think you can be a Christian and a police officer and it kind of like took me back and I actually responded. I was like I don't know how you can be a police officer and not be a Christian and still have hope in the midst of everything you see and you're dealing with day in and day out, and I feel like God was just stirring in me at that point and a couple of years in, I remember just surrendering my life to the Lord in a way that I never did before and just trusting the Lord, regardless of the cost and I thought that there was going to be a cost in a department where I didn't know of any other Christians, what would it look like to live out my faith? And God just did the exact opposite. God just kept stirring me and growing me and giving me amazing positions in the department and just growing me to see that this was the mission field that God was calling me to. And we prayed for years Lord, you know, I'm here, I'm available. And for years the answer was you know, wait, and I've got you exactly where I want you. And then the last few years, our prayer just became God, make it clear when and where you want us and make it clear if you want us to step out faith. And he made it abundantly clear through a number of circumstances. One of them was the vaccine mandate of a condition of employment, and there was other circumstances too.

Jeremy Wade: 19:49

But we just felt like God was saying go and to step out in faith and to serve our nation's 4.6 million first responders. And just, we stepped out in faith to do it through some of the ministries that we were involved in at that time. And we could see that there was such a need because when I first surrendered my life to the Lord and I looked for others to follow, I looked for examples, I looked for resources, I looked for others to come alongside and support me. As being a Christian police officer, I struggled to find any across the country. As being a Christian police officer, I struggled to find any across the country, and then my chaplain was actually discouraging me in certain ways and not encouraging me, and so I just I could see that there was a challenge.

Jeremy Wade: 20:42

So over the just over the years, we could see that there were more and more ministries out there and got involved in some of them. But once we stepped out in faith, we saw what the greatest need was was for there to be an alliance, because there's ministries all over the country and chaplains all over the country and churches that have a heart for first responders around the country, but they're all doing their own thing, they're all working independently, they're all isolated, they're very little collaboration, very little support amongst each other and then, to compound the issue even more, most of the first responders and their family members don't know that any of them even exist and they just feel alone. No-transcript the hope of Christ to our nation's first responders, because together we can have a greater kingdom impact. And we're just seeing God growing this rapidly, because I think that there is such a need.

Travis Yates: 21:50

Yeah, man, and it's an amazing story and everything you said is absolutely true. Just like many churches that operate independently, you have a lot of independent ministries that operate independently and secondly, a lot of those independent ministries are not under churches. So you just, you know, everybody hears the bad stories that are out there, right? But obviously this is a grand, great story. But I love what it says right on the front page of the website missionfirstalliancecom. It says uniting and equipping all who have a heart to reach our nation's first responders for Christ. I mean, what a mission field. Because I can, I want to kind of speak to the people out there that maybe don't understand this, probably almost everybody.

Travis Yates: 22:30

But you know, when you're in law enforcement, there's almost this cultural ideology that, well, I don't need to follow Jesus, I don't need to go to church, I don't need a religion because I'm doing the Lord's work. You know, blessed are the peacekeepers. We take that out of context, right, and you'll be around police officers that think they're Christians, that think they're doing the right thing, but of course that is antithetical to what the gospel actually talks about. And so you're speaking to a lot of men and women that think they're good. Right, jeremy. They think they're fine, they're helping people and they may be good people in that sense in their community, but obviously God's standard is somewhat different, and so you not only decided to step away from the Seattle Police Department 13 years, but you decided to go into a mission field that's probably one of the most difficult mission fields in the United States you can step into.

Travis Yates: 23:20

How was that early on? Because one thing that I have always found out is if God is leading you somewhere, yes, he's going to lead you there. You have to obviously do the work yourself, use the skills he gave you, but you also he's going to confirm that calling. Kind of talk to us about the early days of the Alliance and that confirmation that you received.

Jeremy Wade: 23:39

Yeah, there's been so much confirmation along the way and, yes, I do agree. I think that this is one of the greatest mission fields in our country right now and one of the most unseen mission fields in our country right now. You know, 4.6 million first responders and their family members and, yes, I think that there are many that might think that they're good, that might have some knowledge, you know, of Christ, of the Lord, go to church when they can, when their shifts allow them to, but have not, they're not living mission first for Christ. That's why we came up with the name. I love that military phrase mission first, people always. And I think that we are very mission driven people and and there is a calling and there is a higher sense. You know a purpose and there is this sense of like I'm doing good and I am helping people, and so that you know I, and it's so easy for us as first responders to look at all those that we're helping and we're better off than they are. You know we're not doing this, we're not X, y, z, you know. So I think it is, yeah, just kind of, kind of a trap. You know in a way, and just see that there is such a need. We believe there's no research, there's no service statistics, but we believe it's less than 10% of our nation's first responders that are Christians, and probably well under that, that are living mission first for Christ. I mean mission first to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, you know, above all else. I mean it's just so easy for me where I struggled in my identity, you know, and so easy for me to put that mission of being a first responder, being a police officer and serving and protecting, and this noble calling above my relationship with the Lord, above even my family and above so many things that are good and just because I'm sacrificing, I'm sacrificing for others, but it just, it's something that we just end up putting above others. You know so quickly. So I think it is such a huge unseen mission field.

Jeremy Wade: 25:39

And then, yes, we did see so much confirmation early on in starting this. We saw some of the national ministry leaders recognizing that there was a need. And so we have on our board of directors a US director with the Navigators First Responder Ministry and we have someone on our board of directors with the Billy Graham Ministries. That was their law enforcement director and we could see us even apply for a 501c3 status, where it usually takes nine to 12 months. We got official approval in less than three weeks. Even just a couple of weeks ago, I was given a personal invitation to attend the National Day of Prayer in Washington DC to represent our nation's first responders. We've seen the alliance grow from just a few months ago, at the end of last year, when we opened up membership for organizations and chaplains and churches, individuals, first responders, to where in the first few months there was about 30. And then in just the last month that's doubled and we're about 70 that have signed up and want to be a part of this alliance. So we have seen so much confirmation. We've seen so much just.

Jeremy Wade: 26:53

I'm getting that just sense of urgency and it really just feels similar right now, in our climate today, in 2024, like it did in 2020.

Jeremy Wade: 27:01

You know just where it feels like.

Jeremy Wade: 27:02

There's this calm before the storm, you know, and what's that storm coming, you know what can we do, and I think that there is this need for prayer, this need for hope in Christ, this need for those that want to come alongside and support our nation's first responders with real hope.

Jeremy Wade: 27:22

That's where we want to bridge the gap between those that have a heart for our nation's first responders and those that are out there serving and sacrificing day in and day out for them to not lose hope. And I think it's just so easy to lose hope, you know, in these jobs and in these careers and just feel like they're stuck in the middle. I'm talking to especially law enforcement all over the country that has just seen the divide, the divide in the agencies that they work for and the governments that they work for and the leadership that they work for and the morals and the integrity you know, going in a direction that doesn't align with their values, and they're wondering how long they can keep serving and they're losing hope and and they need hope and they need the body of Christ to rise up and come alongside them, for church leaders, for business leaders, for individuals to be coming alongside them in prayer and coming alongside them in pointing them towards real hope in Christ.

Travis Yates: 28:24

Yeah, I can't argue with any of that and I think your percentage is probably right. I think law enforcement is a very religious organization profession, but it's not. But I think when it comes to sold out for Christ, an actual Christian, that's a different story. And if anybody listened to this, there's going. Why are they talking about this Jesus stuff and this Christianity stuff?

Travis Yates: 28:46

Hey, listen, folks, if you're listening to this about leadership and you follow leadership, then you don't know where all those principles come from. You haven't read the Bible, because there's not a leadership principle that's been successful, whether it's accountability or trust or purpose or a whole bunch of things that weren't a direct derivative from the words of Jesus. I mean, you're just not studying that, right, I mean you're just not studying that, right, I mean. And so there's people that are they'll get excited about when you talk leadership, but when you transition it into the Bible, they obviously want to turn things off or they're not understanding where these principles come from. And we don't preach on here, but we are ignoring a huge facet of leadership if you don't talk about what the greatest leader on earth said to us, because that has not been proven wrong yet and many people have tried. Is that not correct?

Jeremy Wade: 29:33

Yeah, absolutely. I think God designed us for a purpose and apart from Christ. If we don't recognize that, we're missing out, we're missing out on what God is calling us to and a higher purpose. And yeah, jesus was the perfect servant leader. Example, washing the disciples' feet, serving others above himself. That is the model for us to emulate, absolutely.

Travis Yates: 30:00

I mean, yeah, everybody's going to point to Robert Greenfield and servant leadership and we all talk about that on the assessment boards, right, and that's a big, big fancy name we talk about. But you're right, that comes straight from the Bible, the essence of what a servant leadership is. And you're doing fantastic stuff, man, and Mission First Alliance is just cutting edge of what you're doing I dare to say the first of its kind, because we live in a day and age where nothing's the first of its kind. But I actually think that's what God pulled you away from Seattle just to do something first and groundbreaking. So where can people find you? Where can they connect with you? I know you have the National Day of Prayer coming up. How can they help with that? Just kind of tell them how to contact you.

Jeremy Wade: 30:41

Yeah, www. missionfirstalliance. com is our website. God is growing this national gospel-focused alliance of organizations and chapels and churches, individuals, first responders and spouses, all for the sense of community, for us to be united and equipped to have a greater kingdom impact. So there is this need to come together and not be isolated, and I think that through this alliance, we have an opportunity and I just invite those to join this alliance or to support this alliance as it's growing. We really want to bridge the gap between the body of Christ, between the churches in our country and those out serving on the front lines, and we need to be in prayer, we need to be supporting them with real hope in Christ.

Travis Yates: 31:31

And you've got a lot of cool events coming up. I know you've got some retreats coming up this summer. Talk about that. How can they find out about that? I think it's totally free. It's really incredible. Just kind of tell our audience about that.

Jeremy Wade: 31:44

Yeah, all of our stuff is free for this year. As we're trying to grow this, we're doing monthly Zoom calls to be able to bring this alliance together and create this sense of community and support and encouragement. We're doing three Leader Summit retreats around the country. Two of the three are full but we still have room in our Arkansas Leader.

Travis Yates: 32:03

Summit. Well, it would be Arkansas. Right, Arkansas is the last one to fill up. What are you in like Montana or Idaho for the other ones, a really cool place to go.

Jeremy Wade: 32:12

Yeah, Florida, Idaho are the other two, and then, and then we're doing a national networking conference in Tennessee in September. So just opportunities for us to be able to come together, learn from each other, encourage each other.

Travis Yates: 32:23

Well, I hope to be out there with you in Tennessee in September and I'm going to try my best to make it to Arkansas. It's not too far for me and you know it'd be just maybe me and you. Who else wants to go to Arkansas? I don't know, but they will find their way. Incredible stuff, and when we talk about in our leadership seminars, I want people to understand this. Jeremy is a prime example of both.

Travis Yates: 32:41

Leadership has nothing to do with authority. It has nothing to do with rank to do with authority. It has nothing to do with rank. That's exactly what you're doing right here, jeremy. Everyone can be a leader, and also the power of one. Can you make a difference? That are listening? Can just one person make a difference? Yeah, everything you see out there, whatever it is, started with one person. That little device that you may be listening to this on started with one person. So never forget that. Don't give up hope, jeremy. You're doing your part. I thank God for you. God bless you for what you're doing and thank you for being here on the podcast. And if you're listening, just remember this. Lead on and stay courageous.

Travis Yates: 33:22

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