Dr. Travis Parry (00:00.974)
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Travis Parry Show. Today we have with us Tim Joyner. Tim is a catalyst for growth, personal, professional, and organizational. Tim's a serial entrepreneur that invests in business, real estate, and people. He has founded, acquired, andor sold more than 20 companies, ranging from marketing and advertising to manufacturing and retail.

Tim Joiner (00:01.175)
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Travis Parry Show. Today we have with us Tim Joyner. Tim is a catalyst for growth, personal, professional, and organizational. Tim's a serial entrepreneur that invests in business, real estate, and people. He has founded, acquired, and or sold more than 20 companies, ranging from marketing and advertising to manufacturing and retail.

Dr. Travis Parry (00:28.716)
To SaaS and Technology Consulting. His success comes from his ability to listen with deep curiosity, strategize based on data and research, and then communicate solutions with clarity and precision. Welcome to the show, my friend.

Tim Joiner (00:28.939)
To SaaS and Technology Consulting. His success comes from his ability to listen with deep curiosity, strategize based on data and research, and then communicate solutions with clarity and precision. Welcome to the show, my friend. Thanks, Doctor Parry. It's good to be here. Absolutely. So with that intro, you gotta fill in the blanks. Talk to us about how you got here.

Dr. Travis Parry (00:49.236)
Absolutely. So with that intro, you gotta fill in the blanks. Talk to us about how you got here.

Tim Joiner (00:57.131)
Yeah, it's it's a story that I would not have written ten or twenty years ago, couldn't have imagined it probably. But I kept preparing for opportunity before I had it. And then when opportunity showed up, I seized it and here here I am. So I'll give you the short version. I started I've never really had a real job. I've always been an entrepreneur, grew up in a pretty entrepreneurial family. My dad had rental property and coin operated laundry equipment.

owned a dry cleaners. And so I spent a lot of time, I was homeschooled, I spent a lot of time hanging out with my dad, learning from him directly. And from the time that I was old enough to hold a paintbrush, you know, four or five years old, I was painting closets in his apartment buildings. And, you know, he taught me how to prepare an invoice. Literally the first invoice I wrote was in crayon, you know, painted two closets, twenty five cents each, fifty cents or whatever, and, you know, collected my two quarters. So that was a long time ago. So

had a lawn mowing business, I had a computer sales and support business. I started building websites in high school and then I started hiring people that were better than me. It turned into an ad agency. I bought another ad agency to get some capabilities that I didn't have and then another one and have just continued to try to be prepared for opportunity. And then when it shows up I've I've seized it. And so now, you know

thirty years after my first venture, I've done a bunch of things, ended up either building or buying and in many cases exiting. I think I'm working on company number twenty one right now. So lots of variety, lots of interesting stuff. Not all of them successful, but on the whole it's not been a bad life.

Dr. Travis Parry (02:41.314)
Yeah, experience like that. That's awesome. especially kudos to you and your your dad, teaching you from a young age about real life skills, right? That invoice I'm sure comes in handy.

Tim Joiner (02:41.514)
Yeah, experience like that. That's awesome. especially kudos to you and your your dad teaching you from a young age about real life skills, right? Yeah. I invoice I'm sure comes in handy. yeah. There's so many things. I mean, it would be impossible to enumerate everything that I learned from my parents, but all kinds of all kinds of incredible experiences that I had growing up that you know most kids probably don't have access to. So they get lots of credit.

Dr. Travis Parry (03:10.572)
That's awesome. Fellow homeschooler dad, so I feel ya and know that there's, you know, great ways to teach your kids when they're young to be entrepreneurs. So fantastic. Well tell us, speaking of entrepreneurs and business owners, what do you see?

Tim Joiner (03:10.782)
That's awesome. Fellow homeschooler dad, so I feel ya and know that there's, you know, great ways to teach your kids when they're young to be entrepreneurs. So fantastic. Well, tell us, speaking of entrepreneurs, business owners, what do you see as some of the biggest problems, issues, challenges that business owners face when they're trying to grow and scale their business without completely losing

Dr. Travis Parry (03:29.166)
as some of the biggest problems, issues, challenges that business owners face when they're trying to grow and scale their business without completely losing their health and their relationships.

Tim Joiner (03:40.235)
their health and their relationships. Yeah. So many different flavors of problems that show up. But I think when I look around and I see exactly what you said, people that are, you know, really talented, really hardworking, they're trying to scale a business, but they're burned out. They're sacrificing other areas of their life. I think it comes down to a a handful of things. One of them is always the kind of

leaders that they're either that they haven't f figured out how to hire the right people or they haven't figured out how to develop those people or they haven't figured out how to delegate to those people. So it's it's always involving team or almost always involving team. I I think people that struggle to delegate, sometimes the problem is them. they haven't learned to communicate effectively. They haven't learned to give enough context or explain the desired outcome. sometimes it's because they're delegating

Tasks instead of delegating outcomes like what it w they're they're trying to tell you exactly step by step how to do it instead of saying what you want done and letting them run. but a lot of times it's because you're delegating the wrong people. Either you're delegating to C players because you think that's all you can afford and you haven't figured out how to hire A players, or maybe you've just got somebody that the wrong seat on the bus and you're you're delegating task A to a person who's really good at task C and vice versa. So

But it usually comes down to how they're working with the team. there could be other problems too, their mindset and how they think about growth and they're trying to grow by working harder instead of by working smarter, all those things. But it usually it sooner or later it comes down to leadership development and team building.

Dr. Travis Parry (05:31.023)
Yeah, I like that you recognize the mindset issue, but also understand that a lot of times it is an organizational issue. I call delegate the D-word. This has shown up more times on this podcast than any other concept. When I asked that question about growing scaling, most people really struggle with, you know, how to delegate, what that looks like. So

Tim Joiner (05:31.231)
Yeah, I like that you recognize the mindset issue, but also understand that a lot of times it is an organizational issue. Right. I call delegate the D word. This has shown up more times on this podcast than any other concept. When I asked that question about growing scaling, yeah. Most people really struggle with, you know, how to delegate, right? It looks like. So

Dr. Travis Parry (06:00.223)
You've had some wins, you've had some losses. Tell me how has delegation, when done the right way, helped you grow and scale your businesses?

Tim Joiner (06:00.446)
You've had some wins. You've had some losses. Tell me how has delegation, when done the right way, helped you grow and scale your businesses? Yeah. So my relationship with with the D word has evolved a lot. I remember hiring my first real employee. I had, you know, I hired my friends in my lawn mowing business when I was a kid, but my first like actual W two employee,

I remember I was I was just so busy because back then I was in the web design business and I was the writer, I was the developer, I was the designer, I was the you know, the sales guy, I was everything. And I I was just too busy. And so I hired somebody to to help me. And so, you know, I hired a helper basically, somebody that could that had the skills that I needed to be able to do some of the things that I was doing.

and that worked pretty well. And then I hired a few more helpers and eventually had four or five people, but but I was still delegating tasks, which meant I was responsible for everything. And I had to remember everything and organize and coordinate everything, communicate everything. And so once I got past, I don't know, four or five people, I was carrying this enormous burden and I was dropping ball, even though I had good help that knew how to do the thing, I was still carrying the responsibility. So then I decided, all right.

Instead of hiring just for skill, I've got to hire for responsibility. I've got to hire people that will take you know, own this thing and not only do the thing, but they're gonna do it reliably on time. They're gonna communicate with the other stakeholders that the thing is done or whatever, and I don't have to carry the burden of responsibility for it. And so I kind of learned how to hire a little differently and hire for responsibility. Eventually I learned to hire for

Outcomes. So instead of delegating the task, I wanted to delegate here's what I want this thing to look like. Look, if you're hiring the right people, they're better at it than you are. Let them figure out how to get the thing done. You just def the you define the vision, what you want for an outcome and let them get it there. And then I would say the last evolution for me was hiring for ownership, where I want, at least among my senior leaders, I want people who think like an owner, who think like I do.

Tim Joiner (08:24.372)
I don't even have to define all the particulars of the vision because they know the master vision. They know our values, the culture that we're trying to create. They know what we believe about how we care for our team and how we care for customers and how we do the right thing even when nobody's looking and all those things. And so they're gonna make good decisions in the best interest of the organization. and I don't even have to paint every detail of the vision. So it went from hiring for tasks.

To hiring for responsibility, to hiring for outcomes, to hiring for an owner mentality. And man, when you get a team full of people that are making good decisions without you, number one, it's a lot less stress, better quality of life. Number two, you can scale so much faster because there's not one guy doing all the thinking and deciding. There's a team of great people that are all rowing in the same direction. so a lot more fun, a lot more profitable.

a lot less stress and and I would I don't know if that answered your question. It was kind of a long rambling answer, but that's how I've evolved in my delegating and it looks a lot different today than it did twenty years ago.

Dr. Travis Parry (09:33.838)
Yeah, that's great. I'm gonna pause this for a second. Your video, we lost the feed twist frozen. Would you mind just kicking that video feed off, kick it back on?

Tim Joiner (09:33.974)
Yeah, that's great. I'm gonna pause this for a second. Your video we lost the feed to it's frozen. no. Do you mind just kicking that video feed off? Kick it back on. Yeah. That's weird. It's still frozen? Yeah, it's still frozen. How about on your end? No, everything looks great on my side. But yeah, I'll

Dr. Travis Parry (09:50.24)
Yeah, it's still frozen. How about on your end? Does it look like it's not frozen?

Just try. That's better. Yeah, I'm not sure why. I've got a mark on it. My team will connect these two and cut this out. Not at all. Nah. Mostly people will listen to this on the podcast. But for those people that want to, you know, watch it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let me remark this right here.

Tim Joiner (09:56.599)
Just try. How about now? That's better. Okay. Yeah. I'm not sure why. I've got a mark on it. My team will connect these two and cut this out. You need me to back up and say any of that over? No. Okay. Mostly people will listen to this on the podcast. Okay. But for those people that want to add in some B roll or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let me remark this right here.

Dr. Travis Parry (10:25.794)
Well said, Tim. Yeah, I I like this progression of going from tasks up to, like maybe not down to, but up to like this owner mentality, which brings back up what you previously talked about mindset. When it comes to delegation and mindset, what have you typically found has been problematic?

Tim Joiner (10:25.962)
Well said, Tim. Yeah, I I like this progression of going from tasks up to like maybe not down to but up to like this owner mentality. Yeah. Which brings back up what you previously talked about mindset. When it comes to delegation and mindset, what have you typically found has been problematic?

Tim Joiner (10:52.682)
probably lots of things. I think there there's a certain amount of arrogance that most of us have. Look, if you're an entrepreneur, you're probably a highly capable person, right? You've probably had some success in life. You figured out how to do a lot of hard things that most people can't do. And if you're not careful, you end up assuming that in any room you're the best. which means by the way that you're in the wrong rooms. But that's another talk for another another time. But if

If you're not careful, you can assume that nobody can do it as well as I can. and either that means you've done a really terrible job of hiring A players, because you ought to be hiring people that are better than you, or you're just really arrogant and, you know, conceited. And so I think the mindset is that if I want it done right, I have to do it myself. And that's just not true. I think that's one of the

Big things that I see a lot of, probably other things too. Yeah, I've seen this quite a bit. And I will say, I'll add to this that a lot of that actually is subconscious. They're fighting, they're fighting this I'm not good enough mentality that I hear so much. And the actions and even their words and the mindset that comes off.

Dr. Travis Parry (11:54.285)
Yeah, I've seen this quite a bit.

And I will say, I'll add to this that a lot of that actually is subconscious. They're fighting, they're fighting this I'm not good enough mentality that I hear so much. And the actions and even their words and the mindset that comes off consciously a lot of times is, well, I'm so good. It's kind of the other end of the spectrum.

Tim Joiner (12:18.774)
Consciously a lot of times is well, I'm so good. It's kind of the other end of the spectrum. Almost like they're trying to convince themselves that this true so that they can operate at a high level. Yeah. Follow me on that? Yeah, for sure. I I think sometimes too it's that they they have they confuse doing it well with doing it

Dr. Travis Parry (12:27.904)
Almost like they're trying to convince themselves that this true so that they can operate at a high level. You follow me on that?

Tim Joiner (12:48.746)
with doing it as good as they would do it, with doing it the same way that they would do it. A lot of times people take an alternate path to get to a certain outcome and we assume that if it's not the way we would have done it, that it's wrong. And you know, that's usually not the case. So if you've consistently delegated either to the wrong people or you haven't given them enough context or you've criticized them for the way they did it, even though they got to a good outcome or

you didn't have A players to begin with or whatever, like then you can easily conclude if I want it done right, I have to do it. Or like you said, you're trying to convince yourself. but I I think most of that is it's a combination of mindset and team building. Yeah, totally. So backing up just a little bit, I was thinking about an example of this. Math. Math, you

Dr. Travis Parry (13:34.509)
Yeah, totally. So backing up just a little bit, I was thinking about an example of this, math. Math you like I'm helping my daughter at home the other day 'cause we homeschool and we're doing math together.

Tim Joiner (13:45.653)
Like I'm helping my daughter at home the other day 'cause we home school and we're doing math together. And I was really encouraged by where she's at with fractions. Most people hate fractions. I'm like, I wanna help you with fractions. She was like breaking down, she was even crying, she was so frustrated. I'm like, This is a great opportunity. I want to go help her. And I loved it. It was so fun. Because I was showing her different ways to get to the same answer. Yep.

Dr. Travis Parry (13:51.591)
And I was really encouraged by where she's at with fractions. Most people hate fractions. And I'm like, I want to help you with fractions. She was like breaking down. She was even crying. She was so frustrated. I'm like, this is a great opportunity. I want to go help her. And I loved it. It was so fun. Because I was showing her different ways to get to the same answer. And she was so confused by the way like the book was telling her to do it. I'm like, but yeah, sweetheart, you could do it this way.

Tim Joiner (14:13.052)
She was so confused by the way like the book was telling her to do it. Like, but yeah, sweetheart, you could do it this way or this way. Right. And you're gonna get to that outcome. Right. What I did love is by the end of the session, the book was actually asking for several ways to do it. Like now it's your choice to choose w the way you wanna do it. And now she's like, Well, now she had to be creative. She's like, Okay, I like doing it this way better than that way.

Dr. Travis Parry (14:19.828)
Or this way. And you're gonna get to that outcome. What I did love is by the end of this session, the book was actually asking for several ways to do it. Like now it's your choice to choose the way you wanna do it. And now she's like, Well, now she has to be creative. She's like, Okay, I like doing it this way better than that way. Like, great, knock it out. And it's so freeing.

Tim Joiner (14:42.72)
Right. Like great, knock it out. Right. And it's so freeing when you allow people to be creative, to take their own paths. And sometimes actually most of the time, if you're hiring well like you were talking about, they will come up with ways that were better than the way that they were taught. Yes. Right? Absolutely. I got a you got time for a quick story on that? Let's go. So one of the first times that I hired somebody

Dr. Travis Parry (14:47.682)
When you allow people to be creative, to take their own paths, and sometimes th actually most of the time, if you're hiring well like you were talking about, they will come up with ways that were better than the way that they were taught, right?

Dr. Travis Parry (15:07.822)
Let's go.

Tim Joiner (15:13.492)
better than me at something I was good at. So in the beginning I started hiring like it was easy to hire a better designer because I'm not a very good designer. It's easy to hire a better developer because I'm not a great developer, right? And but there came a time where I hired somebody that was better than me at something that I was actually pretty good at, or so I thought. And he had just been there for a few weeks.

We were gonna run a discovery session for a client. This is a big strategic meeting. We ask lots of questions. We craft the strategy. This is my baby. I'm really good at this. I do this for a living. And I was gonna be on the other side of the country meeting with another client. So he was gonna have to stand in for me and run this discovery. And so I scheduled this big long meeting with him to teach him how to run a discovery. And so I came in loaded, you know.

All these plans and PowerPoints and stuff. I'm going to teach him how to do it. But fortunately, before I did any of that, I said, Well, you know, you've been thinking about this for a few days. Tell me what what's your plan? How do you want to approach this thing? And he opened his mouth and out fell the most beautiful plan for this dis. I mean, he had named exercises and workshops, and it was so much more creative and interesting than anything I'd ever done. I got the job done. but

It was amazing. And after he laid it all out, I just said, That sounds perfect. Do that. Meeting adjourned. And it was such a lesson for it was amazing. It was like, wow, this is going to be so much bet I should never run another discovery in my life. He's he's so good at it. And it was a ri it was kind of an an identity crisis. Like, man, if I'm not like, what am I gonna do around here? But it was it was also so freeing. So anyway, I love hiring people that are

better than I am and turning them loose to do things not the same way that I would, but the way I mean, let them shine. That was that was the first time, but definitely not the last. Well that great example. So I know you coach, you mentor, you help high performers. Talk to me about the formula that you would prescribe and how to grow and scale using, you know, delegation and

Dr. Travis Parry (17:16.654)
I love that. Great example. So I know you coach, you mentor, you help high performers. Talk to me about the formula that you would prescribe and how to grow and scale using, you know, delegation. And as one of those points or all of the points, why don't you give us a high level of where you typically are helping people?

Tim Joiner (17:32.969)
As one of those points or all of the points, why don't you give us the high level of where you typically are helping people? Yeah, I for better or worse, probably worse, I I am pretty broad in my interest. I studied humanities in college because I was interested in lots of things and I wanted to understand how the world worked and be able to relate to a lot of people. I'm a very curious person. And so

Every founder or entrepreneur or business owner that I work with is is quite about quite a bit different. And the kinds of things that we're working on is different. So I know, you know, some coaches or consultants come in and like they have this one thing that they work on and they're brilliant at it. And, you know, maybe I'd be more successful if I were more focused. But my approach is really to ask great questions, hopefully questions that they are not asking themselves, questions that maybe they've never been asked or never thought of before.

And I give them the space to dream and think about, you know, possibilities maybe that they've never entertained before. And then I I just help them problem solve and figure out like, well, what's standing in the way of that really big thought that you've never thought before? Like, what if we wanted to actually turn that into reality? How would we do that? And so I'm asking lots of questions, giving them space to think and wrestle through problems. And certainly I'm bringing my experience and knowledge and skills to bear on it.

But but every engagement is different 'cause every entrepreneur is different, facing different things. There are though themes like team building, leadership development, delegation, those are certainly ones that that show up a lot. But my approach is really just to ask questions and and follow the conversation wherever it goes.

Tim Joiner (19:24.01)
I love it. Very conversational, very smooth flowing. What would you say is the most important aspect of asking great questions? And you mentioned this in your bio too, like you're very curious. Yeah. Is curiosity part of this? Yeah, I think so. I have a natural advantage because I'm I'm naturally curious. I don't have to work very hard to ask questions. my parents tell me that one of my favorite phrases as a kid was

Dr. Travis Parry (19:24.834)
Very conversational, very smooth flowing. What would you say is the most important aspect of asking great questions? I mean you mentioned this in your bio too, like you're very curious. Is curiosity part of this?

Tim Joiner (19:54.207)
I'm I would start out a question. I'm just curious. You know, the plumber comes to the house to replace the boiler and I'm standing there watching. I'm just curious, why did why'd you do that? How'd you how's that work? So I ask a lot of questions naturally. But I've also developed that skill. I've read book one book that was particularly influential is I think Toward a more beautiful question, I think is how it was worded. so I've tried to be intentional about it, but

Nowadays I try to ask questions that are thought provoking and and like mind expanding. so I c you know, some people collect like baseball cards or whatever. I I collect questions. I love good questions. I was with Richard Kosh about a year ago. He's the author of the eighty twenty principle and has done a lot of amazing things. He's worth, I think, one point six billion dollars or something. He's a pretty impressive guy.

And he asked me a question that that was nobody'd ever asked me before. I thought it was really good. He said, in the last twelve months, Tim, what single hour was the most valuable for you? Like in what hour did you create the most value? In the last twelve, there are a lot of hours, Richard, that happened in the last twelve months. Which single hour was the most valuable? And that set off a whole conversation about like how do I create, I mean,

turns out there was an hour that was really, really valuable. And how do I create more of that? so that's just one simple example of like really thought provoking questions. And I try to bring those to the people that I work with and ask them, you know, what if if if we wanted a business that was not two times bigger next year, but ten times bigger, what would that look like? And what would have to change? Or, you know, I had a business partner once that was trying to operate

This mobile business, a technology business, and he was hauling a I think it was a twenty one foot trailer behind this big Ford F 350 or whatever. And he was hauling welders and saws and all kinds of stuff. And the trailer got stolen from a hotel parking lot. And there was an insurance snafu and there was it anyway, it was a big problem. There's no insurance, all this stuff's gone. He's stranded somewhere a thousand miles from home. And I said, Rich, I I

Tim Joiner (22:18.804)
This is a good opportunity. I want you to try a thought experiment. You're stuck in this hotel. You got nowhere else to go. I want you to take this afternoon and figure out how to run this business out of the back of a Prius. And he kind of laughed. And I said, No, I'm serious. Like, reimagine this thing. What and as it turns out, we didn't operate out of a Prius, but we did operate out of a Ford Escape. And we literally figured out how to completely reinvent it. It was so much more profitable, so much more nimble. It was a huge improvement over that.

twenty one foot trailer or whatever it was. But anyway, my point is that I try to ask questions that most people don't ask. And a lot of times it yields some pretty creative thought. You know, I I use a process of hypnotherapy to help people get past their blocks and belief systems. And one of the greatest tools in that process, it really is a questioning process. Yeah, I don't teach, I don't interject. It's just question, question, question.

Dr. Travis Parry (22:57.752)
You know, I I use the process of hypnotherapy to help people get past their blocks and belief systems. And one of the greatest tools in that process, it really is a questioning process. Yeah, I don't teach, I don't interject. It's just question, question, question. So I relate to this a lot. One of the biggest things that I will learned was be genuinely curious.

Tim Joiner (23:18.676)
I relate to this a lot. One of the biggest things that I learned was be genuinely curious. If you're genuinely curious about what's going on in the mind, you're gonna help the person discover it. Right? Yeah. So there's power in good questions. I love that you collect good questions and you even gave us a good example of what somebody has asked you and an example.

Dr. Travis Parry (23:27.182)
You're genuinely curious about what's going on in in the mind, you're gonna help the person discover it. Right? So there's power in good questions. I love that you collect good questions and you even gave us a good example of what somebody has asked you, and an example that in an opportun, probably inopportune time for your business partner,

Tim Joiner (23:48.171)
That in an opport probably inopportune time for your business partner, at least in his mindset that you had a great question. what would you say holds people back from asking the right questions to really being curious about people? What are the setbacks? What are the things that keep them stuck there from asking those right questions?

Dr. Travis Parry (23:55.459)
At least in his mindset at that point, that you had a great question. what would you say holds people back from asking the right questions? To really being curious about people. What are the setbacks? What are the things that keep them stuck there from asking those right questions?

Tim Joiner (24:16.838)
That's an interesting question. I I don't know if that's if I've entertained that question before. Off the top of my head, two things come to mind. One is most people are a lot better at being critical than they are being curious. So you see a billboard on the side of the road and you don't understand it, and your first instinct is, that's dumb. That's a stupid billboard. Who approved that thing anyway? But what I find is

If you're curious and you say, huh, you know, somebody's spending $3,000 a month on that billboard. And to be able to spend that much money, they're they're probably not stupid. Like they've they've done something right to get to the point where they can buy a billboard. And I wonder why, like that's not how I would have designed that billboard. I wonder why they did it that way. And when you start asking questions like that, sometimes you have these aha moments and you realize, I'm not the intended audience, but for the right ICP.

Man, that's a brilliant billboard and you learn something. So a lot of times we're not curious because we shut down curiosity with criticism. It's just like an instinctual reaction, like that's stupid. So I think that's one reason. And I think maybe the other reason is we're it it's uncomfortable sometimes to ask questions when you don't already. I mean, it's easy to say, it's easy to ask simple questions and questions that

you already know the answer to. But when you ask a question of yourself or of somebody else and you're not sure where it's gonna go, it's a little uncomfortable. It's little bit scary sometimes. So maybe fear and maybe a a tendency to be critical instead of curious. that's what comes to mind. What what do you think? How would you answer that question? I I think it's more the fear. I think it's the fear of asking people. Especially if you're not used to asking questions.

Dr. Travis Parry (26:02.382)
I I think it's more of the fear. I think it's the fear of asking people. Especially if you're not used to asking questions. There can be that subconscious fear as if I ask this question, what would they think of me? Right? Again, as you mentioned before, critical over curious, that is an ego thing. That's a

Tim Joiner (26:14.816)
There can be that subconscious fear as if I ask this question, what would they think of me? Yep. Yep. Right? Again, as you mentioned before, critical over curious, that is an ego thing. That's a self

Dr. Travis Parry (26:31.826)
self I don't know self not a self-esteem not self-worth I'm searching here self-interest thing it's all about me it's not about what philosophers have said you know the other meaning the other person right when we're other

Tim Joiner (26:35.85)
I don't know, self not a self esteem, not self worth. I'm searching here. Self interest. Yep. Thing. Yeah. It's all about me. It's not about what philosophers have said, you know, the other, meaning the other person. Right. When we're other people focused, not so self interested or selfish, even on the extreme, I think we can be a lot more curious. Yeah.

Dr. Travis Parry (26:54.958)
people focused, not so self-interested or self-ish, even on the extreme. I think we can be a lot more curious. And letting go of of that fear of what will people think of me. So I I tend to to jump into that mindset issue, right? And thanks for turning that question right around on me. You're good at this. What would you say?

Tim Joiner (27:05.33)
And letting go of that fear of what will people think of me. So I I tend to jump into that mindset issue, right? And thanks for turning that question right around on me. You're good at this. What would you say is maybe the one, two, or three things that people can start doing right now to be more curious so they can have better questions.

Dr. Travis Parry (27:24.675)
is maybe the one, two, or three things that people can start doing right now to be more curious so they can have better questions to ask.

Tim Joiner (27:35.238)
Questions to ask.

Tim Joiner (27:39.223)
that's another good question. I think that if you're not naturally curious, I I'm I'm a big fan of gamification. Like I I find that if you can turn something into a game, you can keep score, you can set little micro goals for yourself, it it tends to influence behavior pretty effectively. So you know, for example, a game that I play, it's not hard for me to play this 'cause I'm

kinda naturally good at it, but because I told you I'm curious. But when I have a lunch meeting with somebody or dinner meeting or whatever, a game that I play is I want to make sure that I finish my food before they do. And what that means is that they did most of the talking. They were too busy talking, answering my questions to eat. And so I'm looking at an empty plate and they've barely started. That's a good meeting. It means that, you know, I'm

I'm trying to aim for a 70-30 split. I'm talking 30% of the time, they're talking seventy. So you can play little games like that where you're trying to get in a certain number of questions or you're trying to get to a certain outcome or whatever. But being intentional about asking not just any question, but thought provoking, interesting questions, it it it actually makes you more interesting too. I don't know, have you read the

The little tiny book called The Dan Sullivan question by any chance. yeah. Yes. Dan Sullivan question all the time. Yeah. So, you know, in short, he says, Travis, if we were back here in three years reflecting on the intervening three years, what what has to have happened both personally and professionally for you to feel really happy with your progress? Something like that. And he goes on to describe in the book, you know, a lot of times people will talk for twenty, thirty, forty minutes and you just sort of nod. that's interesting. Tell me more about that.

Dr. Travis Parry (29:06.223)
yeah. I used to dance all in question all the time.

Tim Joiner (29:32.382)
And at the end, what do they say? Wow, you have been so insightful. And you haven't said anything. But people think, wow, that Tim Joyner guy is really interesting. He's really insightful. He's really helpful. And all you've done is prompt them with questions. So you know, you you people want to talk about themselves. They feel good about, you know, if they can brag and talk and give give all this brilliant wisdom and tell people all these impressive things. But honestly.

If you want to be valuable, ask good questions. I love it. I think that's a great place to stop for this podcast episode. Asking good questions, being curious, being able to delegate, you know, that's helped you and it's helped who you've coached over the years. But if people want to get in touch with you, Tim, and they wanna learn more about how to be more curious, how to delegate better, how to grow their businesses.

Dr. Travis Parry (30:05.742)
I think that's a great place to stop for this podcast episode. Asking good questions, being curious, being able to delegate, you know, that's helped you and it's helped who you've coached over the years. But if people want to get in touch with you, Tim, and they want to learn more about how to be more curious, how to delegate better, how to grow their businesses, how can they reach you?

Tim Joiner (30:33.116)
How can they reach you? Yeah, the easiest way is my website, Timjoyner.com. joiners with an I like Indian. you can also email me, Tim at timjoiner.com. I try to answer all of those and be happy to connect and see if there are ways we can create value together. Fantastic. Thank you for being on the show. Thank you for making the time to share with us your expertise. Yeah, my pleasure. Anytime. So guys, if you've enjoyed this.

Dr. Travis Parry (30:50.84)
Fantastic. Thank you for being on the show. Thank you for making the time to share with us your expertise.

Dr. Travis Parry (31:00.195)
So guys, if you've enjoyed this, please like, share, subscribe, do all the things. And until next time, remember, live life on purpose together.

Tim Joiner (31:02.423)
Please like, share, subscribe, do all the things. And until next time, remember, live life on purpose together.​