Riding the Waves of Change

[00:00:00.00] [ROCK MUSIC] 
[00:00:03.70] REID HOLZWORTH: Welcome to The Insurance Technology Podcast. I'm your host, Reid Holzworth. Joining me today for this special episode is Mr. Jim Hackbarth himself. The legend. 
[00:00:13.35] JIM HACKBARTH: Wow. 
[00:00:14.16] REID HOLZWORTH: The legend, the man. 
[00:00:15.14] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:00:16.08] And this episode, it's going to be a little different. Jim's going to be interviewing me. Because this is it. This is the last one. And this is the end. And so this is going to be fun, man. I'm excited. He's going to ask me the same questions that I've been asking everybody since the very beginning of this. So welcome, man. Thank you for doing this. 
[00:00:33.86] JIM HACKBARTH: Well, Reid, I'm flattered that you would even ask me. I mean, maybe you asked 20 other people and they said no. So you said, we'll ask Jim. He'll do it. But I am absolutely flattered. And I've always been a big fan of the podcast and a big fan of yours and everything you've done. So let me start off by asking you, let's talk about your childhood, where you grew up and all that stuff. 
[00:00:57.85] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:00:58.70] JIM HACKBARTH: So I'd love to hear about that. 
[00:01:00.47] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, so I was born and raised in Southern California, Laguna Beach, California. Yeah, parents, kind of weird story. My dad was in the defense industry. Did a lot of different things, frankly. Really ran a mercenary company. No joke. Did a lot of special ops training and that kind of stuff. 
[00:01:21.71] JIM HACKBARTH: Oh, wow. 
[00:01:22.48] REID HOLZWORTH: Primarily with Marines and whatnot. 
[00:01:24.60] JIM HACKBARTH: OK. 
[00:01:25.26] REID HOLZWORTH: So I grew up with a lot of military ish people around, although my dad was always civilian, never actually enlisted. 
[00:01:31.62] JIM HACKBARTH: OK. 
[00:01:32.03] REID HOLZWORTH: And yeah, it was kind of a weird situation, especially during the war, desert storms, gone, all of that. So yeah, I don't know. It was a weird upbringing. Laguna was a very different place to grow up in. 
[00:01:49.19] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:01:49.61] REID HOLZWORTH: Beautiful beaches, great environment. But yeah, it was my hometown. I loved it. Grew up going to the beach every day. It's great. Gotten a lot of trouble, had a lot of fun. It's cool growing up in a tourist town. There's always tourists doing fun stuff. And I was always looking for fun. 
[00:02:08.36] JIM HACKBARTH: Did you learn to surf as a kid? 
[00:02:10.04] REID HOLZWORTH: You know, it's funny. I didn't really learn to surf. Like, I can, but I would never call myself a surfer. And a lot of people don't realize this, but I was a skater kid. My older brother was actually professional skater. And so I grew up with him and all of his friends skating with, like, Alva and Christian Hosoi and Tony Hawk and all these guys and going to big events and whatnot. And so I kind of hung out around with all those guys. 
[00:02:35.00] JIM HACKBARTH: Right. 
[00:02:35.30] REID HOLZWORTH: And in Laguna, there was kind of like this rift back then. Like everybody hated skaters. And the surfers too, skater would be like-- so we'd make fun of them. When you fall, you just fall in the water and super easy. And so it was like always just kind of riff a little bit. Kind of lame Now that I think about it. I wish I would have. But I grew up going to a beach. The closest beach to my house was Victoria Beach. Victoria Beach is really where skimboarding started. 
[00:02:58.90] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:02:59.67] REID HOLZWORTH: And so I grew up skimboarding, bodyboarding, boogie boarding, pretty much everything, snorkeling, everything, but just not surfing. 
[00:03:07.31] JIM HACKBARTH: Do you have brothers or sisters, or? 
[00:03:09.11] REID HOLZWORTH: Older brother, six years older. 
[00:03:10.97] JIM HACKBARTH: OK. 
[00:03:11.45] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, and I grew up basically unsupervised. And so I would say a lot of my upbringing, my brother kind of raised me in a lot of ways. And so yeah, we're still pretty close. 
[00:03:26.11] JIM HACKBARTH: So when you were 10 or 12, what did you-- at that age, what did you aspire, say, when I grow up, this is what I want to do. 
[00:03:34.61] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, and I've said this a few times on the podcast, I always wanted to be a forest Ranger. Yeah, I was a really nature kid. I was always out in the canyons and hunting around for stuff, lifting up logs when I was little, what's under here, and catching lizards and snakes and all kinds of things. I had a lot of pets. And I've always loved animals and I love nature. And I loved kind of having the role of being this forest Ranger and protecting that. And it's pretty cool. I actually met a game warden the other day, and I was talking to him about it, and I was kind of reminiscing on that. I still think that's a pretty cool profession. I really respect those guys that do do that. And so-- 
[00:04:11.08] JIM HACKBARTH: You could still do it. 
[00:04:12.42] REID HOLZWORTH: I could, but I don't know if I want to these days. 
[00:04:14.38] JIM HACKBARTH: It's hard work. 
[00:04:15.55] REID HOLZWORTH: I could go do that without having to have a boss to tell me what to do. 
[00:04:19.14] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. Tell me a little bit about your high school years. I mean, did you get in trouble? Were you a hell raiser? Were you good in school? 
[00:04:27.43] REID HOLZWORTH: I was a complete fuckup, 100%, totally. I learned at a very young age, because my brother was pretty bad, too, that basically you could do nothing and they would pass you. 
[00:04:38.70] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:04:38.96] REID HOLZWORTH: And so I basically did nothing. I got straight F's. I did not do well. But I showed up to school every day. It's funny. I never really skipped school. It's because that's where everything was going on. 
[00:04:49.30] JIM HACKBARTH: It's where all your buddies were. 
[00:04:50.28] REID HOLZWORTH: The buddies were, the girls were, like, why would I not. I just would sit in class and read magazines, literally. And so they kicked me out. Yeah, I got kicked out of school. 
[00:05:00.16] JIM HACKBARTH: Out of high school? 
[00:05:01.35] REID HOLZWORTH: Well, I actually got kicked out of Middle school, and they set up a program for bad kids my year, no joke. And so it was awesome, actually. It's kind of bad saying it. It was pretty awesome. But when I was in middle school, they set up a program for little hellions like us that just refused to do anything. And we would go to school from 9:00 AM till noon every day. And the high school swim coach, Laguna Beach High School, he was our teacher. And so we did half days. And then on Fridays, we get to swim in the pool. I was like, why would-- like, no, this is like-- 
[00:05:36.15] JIM HACKBARTH: I don't want to miss this. 
[00:05:37.27] REID HOLZWORTH: Right? A food truck would come every day and we'd eat tacos off the food truck. Like, this is amazing. It's like all my buddies were there, too. 
[00:05:44.71] JIM HACKBARTH: That is pretty cool. 
[00:05:46.21] REID HOLZWORTH: So I guess I was, yeah, raised by wolves a bit. [LAUGHS] 
[00:05:51.60] JIM HACKBARTH: Do you stay in touch with any of those folks? 
[00:05:53.54] REID HOLZWORTH: No, no. I don't stay in touch with really pretty much anybody from my past. Yeah, yeah. 
[00:06:01.46] JIM HACKBARTH: Move on. So did you have a job? Did you work in high school? 
[00:06:05.13] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, oh, yeah. I was always working. I was always hustling. Actually, the very first job that I had is I worked at a dive shop, Laguna Beach dive shop. And my first job was filling dive tanks, actually-- 
[00:06:16.46] JIM HACKBARTH: Wow. 
[00:06:17.10] REID HOLZWORTH: --for the dive shop. And then my second job, I worked at Baskin-Robbins in Laguna. And yeah, and that was it. So that little crappy jobs. Real jobs, I don't even know. I think this is my first real job, to be honest with you. 
[00:06:34.68] JIM HACKBARTH: Oh, come on. That's not true. 
[00:06:36.61] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:06:37.31] 
[00:06:37.74] You had plenty of real jobs before you stepped into where you are now. 
[00:06:41.68] REID HOLZWORTH: I've done a million different things, really. And I was always just trying to figure out my way, find my way. My first business, I've said this in the podcast before, when I was really young, my dad was an entrepreneur, he was doing defense stuff, but that's really what he was doing. He was doing it on ghis own, his own business. And so I kind of had that entrepreneurial spirit. And I started my first business when I was a little kid. And I got a business license and I got a wholesale contract to sell pet supplies to pet stores. And so I like sold basically nothing. Like a little bit, but it's a cute little kid thing. 
[00:07:11.29] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:07:13.05] REID HOLZWORTH: But yeah. So I was always trying to hustle. I'd go now to Tijuana and I'd buy bags of seashells and then I'd bring them back to Laguna, and I'd glue magnets on it, and I'd set up a little stand and I'd sell those to tourists. 
[00:07:26.27] JIM HACKBARTH: You're kidding. 
[00:07:26.91] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh yeah, 100%. I was like a little blond kid, bowl cut. And they're like, oh, this cute little kid. He found those shells, and they'd buy the hell out of it. So I made good money doing that. And so I was just peddling that stuff. But I did a lot of those things. 
[00:07:38.21] JIM HACKBARTH: Do you still have some of those? 
[00:07:39.93] REID HOLZWORTH: No, I don't. I wish I did. My mom might have. 
[00:07:42.51] JIM HACKBARTH: That'd be cool. 
[00:07:42.89] REID HOLZWORTH: Come to think of it, I bet my mom does. 
[00:07:44.65] JIM HACKBARTH: Oh, yeah. So your parents are still living and everything? 
[00:07:46.57] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. Oh yeah, yep, yep, yep. 
[00:07:47.73] JIM HACKBARTH: And they live in Southern California? 
[00:07:48.99] REID HOLZWORTH: My dad lives in Southern California. He moved from Laguna. Now he lives in Northern California, North of San Francisco, Mendocino, which is super cool. My mom lives in Madison, Wisconsin, which I live in Milwaukee, so. 
[00:08:00.56] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. You said this is your first real job. I know that's not 100% true. What did you do after high school, and what was your first real job then? 
[00:08:08.82] REID HOLZWORTH: Honestly, my first real job was I started my own construction company at very young. I was probably 19 when I started doing construction. I started in painting, painting people's houses, stuff like that. I just learned the trade really young and I started making money doing it. And yeah, I mean, I've learned most construction trades. And so I did that because it's just great. It's knowledge that nobody can ever take away. And like, I could always get a job doing that. 
[00:08:37.88] JIM HACKBARTH: And you still do that stuff? It's fun. Don't you? 
[00:08:39.78] REID HOLZWORTH: I do do a lot of that stuff. I don't really do the labor as much anymore. I do enjoy it, but I really like the stuff that I actually enjoy doing with my hands, I love landscaping. I do a lot of landscaping stuff, like real stuff. 
[00:08:51.52] JIM HACKBARTH: Still today? 
[00:08:52.46] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, yeah, I own a cat skid steer and I do a lot of big cool stuff, like yeah, big dirt work and stuff like that. It's fun. Yeah, I have some property, and so. But yeah, no, I did that for years. It's good. I liked it. It's something to be said about doing something with your hands and producing something with your hands, as opposed to the business I'm in now where it's kind of hocus pocus. 
[00:09:18.60] JIM HACKBARTH: You just have to be a pretty face now. 
[00:09:20.31] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:09:20.76] JIM HACKBARTH: Exactly. So tell me, how'd you pivot into the insurance? 
[00:09:26.60] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, it's a funny story. 
[00:09:28.07] JIM HACKBARTH: How did that ever, I mean, go from building houses, painting-- 
[00:09:31.39] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:09:31.61] JIM HACKBARTH: --to then insurance. I mean, what was that leap about? 
[00:09:34.37] REID HOLZWORTH: Long story short, I was doing a bunch of work in Jacksonville, Florida. Pretty decent sized company. And I was doing a lot of remodel work. I had a lot of investors. At that time, I did all kinds of stuff. I did restoration work for Paul Davis restoration, like fire, flood, stuff like that. We would come in and do all the work. I actually was on TV show DIY To Rescue a couple times. Yeah, those home improvement shows or whatever. And like, we came in and saved the day, that kind of stuff. I did the Bennigan's restaurants before they all closed down, remodeled them all. Yeah, because they were trying to revamp them before they went away. Steak and Nails, Five Guys, I did a bunch of stuff. 
[00:10:15.08] Anyways, so one of my customers, great customers, good friends of mine, they were real estate investors, buying homes, shopping centers, stuff like that, flipping them. And we would do all the construction on them. And they bought a little small insurance agency on the North side of Jacksonville and basically started scaling that business. I did the work on it and whatever, and when the market fell out, like the construction-- 
[00:10:39.80] JIM HACKBARTH: Construction? 
[00:10:40.09] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, it fell out hard. I still had work, but I was back in the field, working dark to dark every day. My son was just born, and like-- it was just gnarly, man. And these guys at that time took this little tiny agency, it's Brightway Insurance, what became now Brightway Insurance, and they scaled the hell out of it. And Michael and David Miller were like, dude, you should get your insurance license and learn this business. 
[00:11:06.85] JIM HACKBARTH: Jump in with us. 
[00:11:07.41] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, and so I sold the construction company. And my wife at the time, ex-wife now, she got her license, 220 producer license, same with me. She went to work for corporate, and then they gave me the South side office of Brightway to run. And I didn't know shit about insurance. I mean, I took the test. 
[00:11:24.39] JIM HACKBARTH: Right. 
[00:11:24.71] REID HOLZWORTH: But I knew these guys for years. They had faith in me that I'd figure it out. And so I did. And I was at Brightway for a while. And it was awesome. I learned a lot. I learned about the systems, all of it. It was completely different. I never had a real job like that, where you had to dress up in khakis every day and [INAUDIBLE]. And so it was different. 
[00:11:48.22] JIM HACKBARTH: And you're out cold calling on people or they're coming in? 
[00:11:50.48] REID HOLZWORTH: Everything. All the above. I'll never forget it. My first day in the office, I've told this story before, no joke, I walk in the office and they're like, look at this guy, golden child here. These are like seasoned insurance people like who's this idiot they just brought in that doesn't know anything. And so we get this walk in that comes in. And he knew Adam, the dude that had the agency before, and walked in, high net worth, all this stuff. He's like, I need this, this, this, this, this. And I sat with this poor soul for the entire day. They weren't really helping me. They're like figure it out, boss man. And so yeah, I know. 
[00:12:31.38] And so yeah, I did that for a couple of years, learned the business. They were going to give me the franchise, which was awesome. I mean, great dudes, great guys. They built an amazing business and they've crushed it. But just kind of that entrepreneurial spirit, I wanted to be in control of my own destiny. 
[00:12:49.51] And I really got into the system side of it. And true story, I was out to lunch one day with David and Michael, and I'm like, you guys are crushing it. Like, why don't you build your own system? Because we were talking about the limitations of the systems we were using, not to name names. And if we could do this and we could do that, then I could do that and I could do that and that would help, blah, blah, blah. Not to get in the details. And I'm like, why don't you guys just build the system. And they looked at me and laughed like, dude, we're not a software company. What are you talking about, man? 
[00:13:20.15] JIM HACKBARTH: Did you know anything about tech then or not? 
[00:13:22.47] REID HOLZWORTH: Not well. Not really, not really. I dabbled in some stuff. Like a few years prior, my grandmother passed away, and she left me a little bit of money in the stock market. Not much. And so I got into day trading pretty hard for a while, and I actually lived off the money for a bit. And with that, I started, when you're trading, you watch all these screens, you're watching indicators all day. And so I'm like, if I'm watching these bands for things to break out and whatnot, why I just write a little script that will execute my trades for me. This is pre HFT stuff, I mean, so I thought, and high frequency trading, like algorithmic trading. And so I learned C Sharp and C++ very lightly, like developing some scripts to trade with. 
[00:14:10.01] But that was the only thing. So like I think ever since I was a little kid, I would always take things apart and put them back together. A lot of people say that. But I wouldn't just put them back together, I'd put it back together so it was better, faster, more fun. And yeah, so I just kind of dug in. And I realized really quickly when I was at Brightway how important the software and the technology was to the business. It was critical. It was critical. And by making small changes within the system, the impact to the end users, my employees, was huge. And so that's what got me really interested in it. And so yeah, so that's kind of where that bug started. 
[00:14:49.70] And so ultimately, I was like, you know what? Thank you, guys. I appreciate the opportunity. It's been amazing. And I decided to walk away and start my own agency. And I did well at Brightway. I did a really good job. We were crushing it. And it's like I thought because I had that clout, and by leaving that agency, that I could just go start an agency and everybody would appoint me. 
[00:15:12.38] JIM HACKBARTH: Sure. 
[00:15:12.56] REID HOLZWORTH: And they were like, yeah, whatever, Reid. Yeah, good job over there. But no. 
[00:15:15.54] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:15:17.56] You're a nobody, one man band. I'm like, oh shit. And so I did that for a bit. I started selling more like life, health, that kind of stuff, doing that. PNC as well at the same time. But markets were pretty limited for the stuff that I wanted. And so I ended up partnering with a dude that I had met. And him and I became business partners. And then that's where it really blew up. We started our own agency. He already had an agency. We teamed up 50-50 on the business. 
[00:15:48.25] JIM HACKBARTH: Was he older than you or just-- was he a mentor or not or just? 
[00:15:51.19] REID HOLZWORTH: No, no, he was a little bit older than me. He's like a younger dude, successful dude, did some good things, and he ended up buying a little small agency and just kind of figured it out. And he was looking to scale the agency. And we did. And so similar to the Brightway model, we franchised it. And that was pretty crazy. I went through that whole process, legal, everything. 
[00:16:13.33] Becoming an actual franchise, people don't realize how much paperwork and legal stuff you have to do to be a franchise entity, and then to be able to sell franchises. And so we did that, started generating leads on franchises.com or whatever. It was, all that stuff. And yeah, we sold a bunch of them, trained all those people. It's funny, I still see those people around, and they're like still doing the same thing. It's awesome. 
[00:16:37.16] JIM HACKBARTH: How old were you then when you got into that? Said I'm going to-- 
[00:16:39.98] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh man. 
[00:16:40.66] JIM HACKBARTH: This is the path I'm on. 
[00:16:42.00] REID HOLZWORTH: I kind of suck at this, 20s, I don't know-- 
[00:16:45.91] JIM HACKBARTH: Really? 
[00:16:46.41] REID HOLZWORTH: --mid 20s. Yeah, I'd say maybe early seconds. Not seconds. Yeah, but you had no fear. No, I think it goes back to just like as a child, just surviving on my own. 
[00:17:00.36] JIM HACKBARTH: Figuring it out. 
[00:17:01.08] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, like a difficult thing-- I was asked what was a difficult thing you dealt with when you were a kid. Like, I didn't have parents really growing up. I mean, they were there, but my dad was always gone, man, doing Rambo stuff, whatever he was doing. And my mom was just kind of really not there. And so I was what you'd call latchkey kid. So I had no parental supervision. Like, we could just do whatever whenever, however, it didn't matter. And so that's kind of where I fell into the bad kids in that way, because they were the only kids that could hang out and do that kind of stuff. 
[00:17:30.08] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:17:30.96] REID HOLZWORTH: And so I had a lot of independence very early. And I had a lot of confidence, that said. And so yeah, I just kept pushing, man. 
[00:17:41.93] JIM HACKBARTH: But you could have gone a different route. You had a lot of independence. You developed confidence. 
[00:17:46.98] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:17:48.01] JIM HACKBARTH: But you could have went the other route and not having so much confidence and just going the other way. 
[00:17:54.45] REID HOLZWORTH: This is true. This is true. But I think for me, I didn't really have a choice, you know what I mean? Yeah, and I was never satisfied with what I was doing. Like, I kept trying to climb, climb, climb with the resources that I had available to me. And so yeah. 
[00:18:13.33] JIM HACKBARTH: But at an early age, you were developing those leadership skills. 
[00:18:16.57] REID HOLZWORTH: I think so, yeah. 
[00:18:17.51] JIM HACKBARTH: You may not have called it that then, and maybe people didn't talk about it. 
[00:18:21.33] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean even when I was a little kid, because when I was real young, I did a lot of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, all that stuff. And I don't care what people say, I think that's a great program. I think it's good for kids. I've had my kids do it. Like I get all this drama that's with it, but I think it's good. And for me, again, I wanted to be closer to nature. And so that's why I was always into it. So early on, I remember parents being like, you're going to be a leader one day. And I'm like, whatever, man. Like, I don't know what you're talking about. 
[00:18:47.93] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:18:48.92] 
[00:18:49.90] But no, I was, because I was always like, all right, guys, come on, we're going to go do this, we're going to do this. And so I think I learned some of in that. And that was around a lot of people where you just really had to be independent and you had to manage situations, and very difficult situations sometimes. And so yeah, I don't know. 
[00:19:08.26] JIM HACKBARTH: When you talk about difficult, give me some examples, and maybe you don't want to go that deep, but what are some of the hardest things that you endured before you got into the business world as a child that helped lay the foundation to form who you are today? 
[00:19:24.24] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh, man. I mean, yeah-- 
[00:19:25.34] JIM HACKBARTH: I mean, you said you kind of raised yourself. I mean-- 
[00:19:28.23] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:19:28.65] JIM HACKBARTH: And the challenges that go with that, it's lonely at times. It's like being a leader, you're lonely as a leader at times. 
[00:19:33.91] REID HOLZWORTH: I'll just say that-- I'll put it this way, I've learned people and really nasty, bad people. 
[00:19:42.48] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:19:43.01] REID HOLZWORTH: And what they are, what their traits are, and I can sniff it out. 
[00:19:46.07] JIM HACKBARTH: Yep. 
[00:19:46.29] REID HOLZWORTH: And I learned that not because I wanted to, but because I had to. 
[00:19:50.43] JIM HACKBARTH: You had to survive it. 
[00:19:51.23] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, I had to survive it. And again, I had a lot of freedom, but what comes with that is a lot of stuff comes out of the woodwork. And so no, I've been in a lot of difficult situations. And so yeah, not to get too far down that road. That's a story for another day over some cold ones. But yeah. 
[00:20:09.87] JIM HACKBARTH: But those help form who you are today though, too. 
[00:20:12.39] REID HOLZWORTH: 100%. 100%, yeah. 
[00:20:14.21] JIM HACKBARTH: Like you said, you can sniff things out. 
[00:20:15.87] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. Like people say, like, oh, I don't regret anything. I regret some of the things that I did and got into. I think if I did it over, I'd do things way differently. 
[00:20:22.30] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:20:23.17] REID HOLZWORTH: I would have taken a much different path. I wouldn't have been such a fuck up in school. I would have gotten great grades. I would have done bigger things. I think I could have used my mind in a different way in an early age, as opposed to being scrappy and really having to fight for everything. 
[00:20:36.92] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:20:37.34] REID HOLZWORTH: I mean, I was the kid that every teacher, every human, everybody was like, you're going to amount to nothing, you're going to end up in jail. And I was thinking about that today. That's I think why even today when people are like, no, you're not going to blah, blah, blah, because I'm like so different than the norm in a lot of ways. I'm just like used to it. I'm like Teflon with that. It's like, OK, whatever. And I don't really-- we'll see kind of thing. 
[00:21:01.12] JIM HACKBARTH: So you were forming to become a leader early on in your life. You may not have done it on purpose, but you were thrown into situations and you endured it and all that. Let's pivot to more not today, but to the current business environment. 
[00:21:13.84] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, [INAUDIBLE]. 
[00:21:15.15] JIM HACKBARTH: What does it mean to be a leader? I mean, that's a big general question, but what does it really mean to be a leader? 
[00:21:23.63] REID HOLZWORTH: I asked this a lot to the guests, and I'll say this. I always ask people, do you consider yourself a leader, first and foremost. I didn't really consider myself a leader until probably four or five years ago. And I think that's because-- I was leading, and I have been a leader for quite some time now that I know what I know. But I think I was just hustling so hard, I never thought about it. I was just like the mission, the mission, the mission, the mission, the mission, getting the mission done. 
[00:21:56.15] A leader is somebody that can lead people, you know. 
[00:21:58.37] JIM HACKBARTH: Yep. 
[00:21:58.72] REID HOLZWORTH: I think that there's a lot of different types of leaders. I think a good leader cares about the people, not just about the bottom line. And I think that when you really care about the people and not always the bottom line, that bottom line will get completely blown out in a good way. 
[00:22:17.81] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah, it'll take care of itself. 
[00:22:19.09] REID HOLZWORTH: It will take care of itself, because the people are engaged. The people-- it's a different energy within the business. And so it's a real responsibility. As I've gotten older and there's been more and more and more people that I'm responsible for, it's a lot of stress. It's hard. It's not easy. And I think it's easy for a lot of people to throw in the towel in some ways. You don't realize how much pressure it is, especially in the startup world. 
[00:22:48.78] I mean, in all the little crappy businesses I've had, and even the good ones that I've had, I mean, just the payroll for everybody, like, oh wait, we got to get health insurance for everybody. There's so much responsibility. And that means that myself and my family is going to suffer a bit to be able to provide those things for those people, because that's what they all need, and that's what we need as a group. And so I've made a lot of sacrifices that said-- 
[00:23:16.03] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:23:17.12] REID HOLZWORTH: --for the team. 
[00:23:18.50] JIM HACKBARTH: Well, it served others well too, that you were in that role. I know you won't pat yourself on the back, but I've seen it firsthand of how you take care of other people. And I recently talked to somebody that we both know, and this person had worked with you. And I said, tell me about Reid and his leadership skills. How would you describe him. Boom, real fast. I mean, it was like, don't think about it. Just tell me the first words. Things like genuine. 
[00:23:50.18] REID HOLZWORTH: That's what I get-- I was going to say that's what I always get, number one. 
[00:23:53.65] JIM HACKBARTH: It was like he is one of the most genuine people that I've ever had the chance to work with or for. And this person said, I never felt like I was working for him. We were working together. 
[00:24:06.62] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:24:07.85] JIM HACKBARTH: Innovative. 
[00:24:09.01] REID HOLZWORTH: Boom. 
[00:24:09.65] JIM HACKBARTH: Always ahead. Always looking down the road as a leader and say, what do we need to do different today so that we can survive tomorrow. And that person spoke from-- and then the other one which I've known and I've seen and you even-- fearless. 
[00:24:26.48] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, I can be a little fearless. 
[00:24:28.44] JIM HACKBARTH: Fearless. Like, what are you doing? We're going to do it, and all that. 
[00:24:32.74] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, sometimes it's a little much, but yeah. 
[00:24:35.32] JIM HACKBARTH: But through the relationship that we've developed, some of the skills that I've seen, very inspiring to people. I know you're humble. You're not going to these compliments, but you're very inspiring. I mean, it's just like the glass is not empty. It's half full. And we're going to do this to get us that. And the other part of it is, and you've said this, people come first. You've always been very giving. And I'm not just talking about financial treasures, but I'm talking about your time. Very giving. And somewhere along the line, you learned that, and it's either people that you were around or you picked that up. 
[00:25:16.62] So as you see some of these young people or young companies that are starting up, I guess, what's the, and I think you've already said it, but I'd like to hear it again, what's the key advice you'd give them as a leader as they develop their leadership skills. 
[00:25:29.10] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, man, so much, man. I mean, I think it's never really about you, it's about the team, first and foremost. 
[00:25:36.98] JIM HACKBARTH: Yep. 
[00:25:39.31] REID HOLZWORTH: Always, always, always honor your word. And not that you can always honor your word, because shit happens. 
[00:25:45.54] JIM HACKBARTH: Oh, absolutely. 
[00:25:46.49] REID HOLZWORTH: Own up to it. Don't be a bitch. Like, seriously, there's a lot of that. And that means a lot of different things, but you know what I mean. 
[00:25:55.89] JIM HACKBARTH: Oh, yeah, I do. 
[00:25:58.99] REID HOLZWORTH: Don't be selfish. I mean, I get it. And I think that there's a lot of people that become leaders, that get put in a leadership role, and they're not natural leaders in that way. And they have to learn to be. Don't be just telling people what to do and how to do it because you're the new boss. Work with them, together. I learned these skills because I was a scrappy dude and I didn't have a lot of money and so I took what I had and I used what I had to the best ability and I really promoted people in that way. And I'll tell you, as a leader, it's been really, really awesome. One of the most satisfying things is to see all of these people and what they've done now in their careers. And it's wild as I've gotten older, now they're becoming great leaders as well. And so that's really cool. That's really, really cool. 
[00:26:49.20] JIM HACKBARTH: Looking back-- I mean, you're not old, but looking back, we've all had in our lives when you hit the pause button. And I call them hinge moments. I reflect upon that Robert Frost poem, The Road Less Traveled. 
[00:27:05.17] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:27:05.87] JIM HACKBARTH: You come to a path in the woods, and it could be a specific event, it could be people or someone that you've met, it could have been by accident or happenstance-- 
[00:27:18.49] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:27:19.45] JIM HACKBARTH: --that you had no idea, but what are some of the hinge moments that you've had in your life-- 
[00:27:24.83] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:27:25.25] JIM HACKBARTH: --going back or even current that have made a real difference when you look at saying, that person or that event changed the trajectory of my life. 
[00:27:35.10] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, for me, it's all people, man. When I really think about that, I can't really think of when I had this decision-- there were a couple big decisions and things that I've had to make that would have changed things, but I think it was always people. Early on when I was a kid, people that had mentored me, kind of took me under their wing a bit, like OK, you're like a little hellion, you're lost or whatever, let me teach you some things about life. 
[00:28:02.14] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:28:02.53] REID HOLZWORTH: Like things that your parents aren't teaching you, this kind of stuff, in a very good, loving, real way, without them trying to get anything out of it. I would say, man, there's been a lot of people in this industry. When I think about the people in this industry, number one, I'd say Dennis Chookaszian. 
[00:28:20.35] JIM HACKBARTH: Oh. 
[00:28:20.80] REID HOLZWORTH: Dennis Chookaszian, and then David Rowe, and then yourself, honestly, Doug Roll [? or you. ?] 
[00:28:26.06] JIM HACKBARTH: I don't belong in that group. 
[00:28:27.26] REID HOLZWORTH: No, no, I'm dead serious about that. 
[00:28:28.88] JIM HACKBARTH: Well, but those are, you know, Dennis, who you and I could talk forever about, Dennis and David. 
[00:28:33.68] REID HOLZWORTH: 100%. 
[00:28:34.31] JIM HACKBARTH: I mean, you talk about leaders that lead with their heart. 
[00:28:37.37] REID HOLZWORTH: Yes. 
[00:28:38.06] JIM HACKBARTH: And I know this, you could pick up the phone and call them today, they'd pick up on first ring. 
[00:28:42.64] REID HOLZWORTH: Yep. 
[00:28:43.02] JIM HACKBARTH: And you'd do the same. 
[00:28:44.88] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh, absolutely. 
[00:28:45.60] JIM HACKBARTH: I know you'd do the same. I've been on the other end of that. 
[00:28:48.24] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:28:51.38] JIM HACKBARTH: And especially in today's world with all the different things going on, it's the people and the hinge moments that create. And then I love what you said about how you have seen some of the people that you've worked with and-- 
[00:29:04.78] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:29:05.12] JIM HACKBARTH: --maybe helping them through those hinge moments, you can go this way or that way. 
[00:29:08.96] REID HOLZWORTH: I think Dennis, David, yourself, and you guys' whole crew, I think it's just that whole leadership style of how loving Dennis was and how that went to all of you guys and how you've become leaders and even spread that in that way. It's pretty amazing. And then all the doors that were open because of that. And it's funny, when I think back to those days, it's not like I called on Dennis, I called on David, like, hey man, I want to tell you about this thing, just kind of like fell into place and then we all became great friends. And I still hang out with Dennis and his family and talk to David and all these guys. Yeah, I mean, that was awesome, man. 
[00:29:53.49] I would say after that, those early days, and then a lot of customers, friends, and people in the industry, and I would say Taylor Rhodes was a big one, that was a real-- I mean, people know the story. I told the story when I interviewed Taylor. When I met Taylor, I was quitting. I was like, dude, I'm out of here. This place sucks. 
[00:30:16.50] And this is before he was in the saddle of CEO of Applied. And he's like, dude, just like-- we had a 30 minute lunch meeting or an hour long lunch, and we ended up sitting there for half the day. And it's funny, it's just again, it's like, this is a good dude. This is a real leader. You can feel it. And he asked me, he's like, man, just give me 90 days. That's it. And again, I had no golden handcuffs, nothing. And I was like you know what? I'll give you 90 days, man. Look, here. I am, 6 years later. 
[00:30:42.35] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:30:43.05] 
[00:30:43.48] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:30:43.88] REID HOLZWORTH: He totally [? sails ?] me. 
[00:30:45.50] JIM HACKBARTH: I remember the first time you and I met. I mean, I get a phone call from David Rowe, and he told me about you. And he said that he and Dennis are getting involved with you, and would I meet with you. I said, absolutely. We talked on the phone. And before I knew it, you flew into Columbus. 
[00:31:03.30] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:31:04.96] JIM HACKBARTH: And we just kind of hit it off. 
[00:31:07.06] REID HOLZWORTH: I remember that. 
[00:31:08.44] JIM HACKBARTH: And it was in the early days, too, of Bold Penguin. Remember Bold Penguin? 
[00:31:12.77] REID HOLZWORTH: --Penguin together, yeah. 
[00:31:13.53] JIM HACKBARTH: And then you said-- 
[00:31:14.31] REID HOLZWORTH: Gosh, I'd love to meet Bold Penguin. I said, well, let's just down the street, we'll walk in and we'll meet him. That was the first time I met him. And you were like, wow. Yeah, it was wild. 
[00:31:22.39] JIM HACKBARTH: But that's part of also the paying for that now as you go into this next chapter, which I'm excited for you-- 
[00:31:28.99] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:31:29.13] JIM HACKBARTH: --about your next chapter, about the whole paying forward and being that hinge moment for other people. And it doesn't have to be in this industry. It could be anything. And someone that's starting a construction company from scratch say, hey, man, let me help you. Let me tell you what you should not be doing type of thing. No, we all have it and all that. Well, what's the biggest shift as a leader that you had to make as you pivoted from TechCanary, the founder, the CEO, acquired by Applied? What was the biggest shift as a leader, because you went from an entrepreneur type company where every day mattered. 
[00:32:09.30] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh, God, yeah. 
[00:32:10.48] JIM HACKBARTH: Every day mattered. Every decision mattered. 
[00:32:12.38] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:32:12.62] JIM HACKBARTH: And now you're into Applied. And then you're in a leadership role leading Ivans. And I know what Ivans was like before you came in. I remember it. I don't want to go there now. And then where it is today, totally different. 
[00:32:25.38] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:32:25.78] JIM HACKBARTH: So talk to me about the leadership of how you had to change or pivot? 
[00:32:30.58] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, I'll tell you, because again, I was an animal like my whole life, and then I had TechCanary and we were like true startup. Just like rawr. 
[00:32:39.74] JIM HACKBARTH: Right. 
[00:32:40.12] REID HOLZWORTH: And I think the biggest thing for me, frankly, was learning how to play politics, man. And it's not in a bad way. But when you have a huge org, a lot of people, a lot going on, it's different. You got to take a step back. You have to be a bit more strategic. You have to work with people in a bit of a different way to get stuff done. Because there's people, especially like us at Ivans, it's our business, but you're still working with the broader mothership and trying to get things done and get people to change their priorities. When you're the big boss, it's like we're doing this, and you can't really do that. 
[00:33:22.69] And then for me, it was like learning to have a boss that has a boss, technically the board. And so there's all of that and that dynamic. And I really learned a lot. And a lot of people-- like there was bets on me, like you won't last six months. Like people still they always come up to me, I can't believe you're still doing this. It's wild. But I learned it. I learned how to do it. I mean, I was on Applied executive team. I was with all the big wigs doing the big stuff. And yeah, I really learned to clean up my act a little bit, polish up a little bit, which that's not much. 
[00:34:00.09] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:34:01.04] 
[00:34:02.53] JIM HACKBARTH: Well, you polished up well, I can tell you that. 
[00:34:05.02] REID HOLZWORTH: Thank you. 
[00:34:05.34] JIM HACKBARTH: It's been fun watching you these days. 
[00:34:07.06] REID HOLZWORTH: Exactly. 
[00:34:07.52] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:34:08.36] 
[00:34:10.04] But no, it's a different type of leadership. And it's knowing people in a different way and learning how to get people to change their priorities, not by just commanding, if you will. And so yeah, but it's been really good. It's been really fulfilling. And it's been great to be part of a really big organization. I'll tell you what I did love, is not having to worry about all the worries that I had, [INAUDIBLE] like payroll, this, that and the other. I mean, we had a great established business that was doing great things. 
[00:34:44.26] JIM HACKBARTH: Oh yeah. 
[00:34:44.58] REID HOLZWORTH: All we had to do was come in. I mean, all we had to do was a lot, huge, but we just got to fix it, fix what's there, bring it up to par as to what it should be and what it could become for the future. 
[00:34:56.70] JIM HACKBARTH: But you also had access to resources. But then everyone thinks that that makes it easy. It doesn't. 
[00:35:01.47] REID HOLZWORTH: No, no. 
[00:35:02.15] JIM HACKBARTH: Because it's other people's money. 
[00:35:03.36] REID HOLZWORTH: It is, it is, and you gotta go beg for it. It's not like you're just handed a blank checkbook. It doesn't work like that. 
[00:35:10.19] JIM HACKBARTH: And then you gotta be measured by it. 
[00:35:11.89] REID HOLZWORTH: 100%. 
[00:35:12.26] JIM HACKBARTH: Did you do what you say you're going to do, and what's the return and all that. And a lot of people that have never done that, they think it's easy and it's not. 
[00:35:18.51] REID HOLZWORTH: It's not easy. And what's not easy is when you're not hitting your number and shit's not going right, everybody's looking at you and being like, dude, like, is this going to work. Are you going to work. They start second guessing every decision that you've made. And that's tough. That's really tough. But it all worked out. 
[00:35:37.17] JIM HACKBARTH: Well, you say it all worked out, and it has. And people always say, hey, when I'm at this point or at that point, it's like there's this one story, it's called the train station, once I reach this level, then I'm going to do this or whatever. How do you define success today, both as a business and personally, compared to where you were maybe 10 years ago? 10 years ago, you said, if I had achieved this financially, I will have made it, or if I have done this, I would have made it. How do you define success now? 
[00:36:12.04] REID HOLZWORTH: I think how I define success now is very different than I defined it in the past. I've done a lot of work over the last five years on myself in ways that I hadn't before, and I just have such a different outlook and much more clear mind than I did. I think back then, it would have been when I get this thing, when I acquire this thing, when I buy this thing, when I have that thing, when I have that, it's like checking off boxes and stuff about things. And now it's not that at all. I think it's peace, it's family, it's love, the children, and yeah, all the people, man. And it's just peace. 
[00:36:52.78] JIM HACKBARTH: Yep. 
[00:36:53.54] REID HOLZWORTH: --nature. Just different, different outlook. 
[00:37:00.12] JIM HACKBARTH: I think I know the answer to this, but how do you give back? And how has that changed and evolved for you? 
[00:37:08.16] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:37:08.63] JIM HACKBARTH: And it's not always, say, I'm going to give someone a check or whatever. Talk to me about, how do you give back. 
[00:37:14.49] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, it's funny. I ask people this question in the podcast, and a lot of people are like, I give this charity, I do this, I do this. I don't do anything specific that. But I give a lot of my time to a lot of people in so many ways. And I'll be honest with you, man, like I've started to wean off that a little bit as I've gotten a little bit older, and it sounds a little bit funny, but I've noticed that my battery has only so much in it, and I'm giving away so much energy in so many ways, and sometimes too much in ways. But I give a lot of time. I mean, this whole entire insuretech industry and helping startups. 
[00:38:01.70] I don't really sit on boards and do that. I know so many people and so many people call on me and we just have great conversations and I'm there to help. And so I think I just am a really giving, helping, if that's even a way to say it, person. I give a lot of my time. I think now that this chapter is over, in my next chapter, it's kind of cliche, but I want to give back in major ways like I've never done before. And I think that that is really, really satisfying. And I've learned that from some of the people we've mentioned here and what they've done later in life and now I see it and I understand it. And fortunately, I'll be able to. So I'm looking forward to doing more. Yeah. 
[00:38:50.32] JIM HACKBARTH: Besides spending time with your family or doing things like that, tell us about what do you do for fun. Because You are a multifaceted cat, brother. I mean, I know some of the things you do for fun. And it's like, you did what? 
[00:39:07.20] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:39:07.80] JIM HACKBARTH: I mean, share, I mean, what do you do for fun? Because you enjoy life and you enjoy having fun. 
[00:39:12.24] REID HOLZWORTH: I do. I do. It's like I'm Ricky Bobby. I just want to go fast. I like doing fast things. I like a lot of things with motors. And it's just a weird thing. It's not because I'm trying to impress people. I just love the fun of just ripping cars and bikes, dirt bikes and boats and all the things. And so, yeah, as everybody knows, I ride dirt bikes, I race cars, I boat, I love, love, love free diving and spear fishing. That's probably one of my most favorite things. I love just being underwater, holding your breath with the fish, and yeah, just connecting to nature in that way. 
[00:39:55.21] I love camping. I love backpacking. I used to love more like climbing mountains and doing that. But as I've gotten older, it's not about getting to the top, it's more about the journey, and it's more about the stuff that happens along the way and all the stories with your best buds and all of that. I like to party. Yeah, I don't know, lots of things, I guess. 
[00:40:18.37] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah, you mentioned about the journey. That was one of the things that I learned. And one of the guys who was kind of a mentor for me was a guy by the name of Bill Jeatran. I think you know Bill. 
[00:40:27.61] REID HOLZWORTH: [INAUDIBLE] 
[00:40:28.47] JIM HACKBARTH: He's one of the top executives at MMA, Marsh. And when he was chairman of Assurex, he really taught me, enjoy the journey. 
[00:40:38.24] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:40:39.05] JIM HACKBARTH: It's the journey, Jim. It's not the destination. You're going to get that. 
[00:40:42.53] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:40:42.81] JIM HACKBARTH: This is what's going to happen. But enjoy and enjoy the ride. 
[00:40:45.94] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:40:46.39] JIM HACKBARTH: And I still chat with him now and then. He always reminds me, are you enjoying the ride. 
[00:40:52.37] REID HOLZWORTH: That's what it's all about. 
[00:40:53.76] JIM HACKBARTH: It is, it is. And the people you meet along the way. 
[00:40:56.30] REID HOLZWORTH: I really know that. It is about the journey. It's not about getting a fortune teller to tell you what the end looks like. It's about you discovering it all the way along and having fun. And it's not. I think that a lot of people always think of they want this cushy journey and everything should be all smooth and perfect. That wouldn't make it fun. I always think about this. It's like, if I were to eat a whole bowl of crab meat, I'd be like, this is terrible. Like after a bit, it sucks. But like breaking open the stuff, like, stuff's flying and hitting you in the head, like hitting the person over there. It's like doing the work to get there. And I think that that's life, period. 
[00:41:35.30] And one other thing I'd say too, that I've really learned, is that it will all happen as long as you believe it. And as long as you keep marching towards that belief, it doesn't happen overnight, whatever it is, it's just like, I'm doing this. This is what I'm doing. And if you're driven and you're ambitious and you work your ass off, you'll get it, man. 100%. 
[00:41:56.76] JIM HACKBARTH: Yep. 
[00:41:57.59] REID HOLZWORTH: 100%, regardless of what that is. I mean, there's limitations to certain things and whatever and whatever. But yeah, generally. And it's the journey of doing that, experiencing that and then going from there is what life is all about to me, yeah. 
[00:42:11.65] JIM HACKBARTH: Well, you're about to have a lot of extra time now. 
[00:42:15.19] REID HOLZWORTH: I am. 
[00:42:17.28] JIM HACKBARTH: And I know you are excited, because when we talk about it, you just beam. But you got a great smile and you're always beaming, always positive. What's on your mind? What are you going to do? I mean, what are you thinking about doing? I mean, you got a lot of options, and you're very-- 
[00:42:32.79] REID HOLZWORTH: I'll tell you. So everybody asked me-- so we're here at Applied Net for those who don't know. We did Ivans Connect yesterday. It's awesome. It's great. So they made an announcement of me retiring. This is it for me. This is going to be the last podcast episode. And so everybody comes up to me, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? And I'm like nothing, nothing. 
[00:42:54.39] But really what I'd like to do, honestly, and it sounds like whatever, but the only thing that I'm really after right now is I've been studying for about a year and a half of violin, and I'm super into it. And so I want to really get good at that. I don't think I'll ever be like a master violinist, but I've really enjoy learning music, reading music, and then learning the instrument in that way. And I think I want to keep going after kind of music in that way. Not to become some superstar or something like that, but just because it's just another world. And it's interesting, since I've got into it, I've really pushed my kids now to try to get into music. It opens up like-- it's a different world. 
[00:43:38.70] JIM HACKBARTH: How you think. 
[00:43:39.14] REID HOLZWORTH: It really is. Yeah, oh, absolutely. You see things, hear all of it, it really is. And I wish, again, like going back, that I would have really leaned into that when I was younger. But it's awesome man. So I love that. And then yeah, really just making up for lost time. 
[00:43:55.99] JIM HACKBARTH: Violin, that's a hard instrument. 
[00:43:58.22] REID HOLZWORTH: It's ridiculous. 
[00:43:58.94] JIM HACKBARTH: Are you playing it now? I mean, do you play now? 
[00:44:01.13] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, yeah. 
[00:44:01.49] JIM HACKBARTH: And you can play a song? 
[00:44:02.45] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, oh yeah. 
[00:44:03.05] JIM HACKBARTH: And you can read music? 
[00:44:03.88] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. I mean, not like, great, but yeah. Yep. 
[00:44:06.66] JIM HACKBARTH: Did you ever play a instrument at all growing up, or nothing? 
[00:44:10.22] REID HOLZWORTH: No. 
[00:44:10.53] JIM HACKBARTH: Why would you pick the violin versus a piano or a banjo or whatever? 
[00:44:15.59] REID HOLZWORTH: I've just always been fascinated with it. I mean, the way that you carry the notes and how complex it actually is, it's really hard to master. And there's no frets, and so it's hard. I'll tell you, it took me a while-- it's funny. I was telling this to somebody earlier. I swear to you, when I first started to play, I have two dogs, two big cane corsos. And they're like the best dogs ever. They always follow me everywhere, all through the house, all the time. 
[00:44:38.85] JIM HACKBARTH: Cane corso. 
[00:44:39.12] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, yeah, Italian mastiffs-- 
[00:44:40.66] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah-- 
[00:44:41.03] REID HOLZWORTH: --big ones. 
[00:44:41.31] JIM HACKBARTH: --I know. That's a serious dog. 
[00:44:43.17] REID HOLZWORTH: When I first started to play, I swear to you, I'd open up that case and those dogs would fucking run. They would run. They were like, hell no. Like it was so bad. And even just like contorting myself to be able to do it, like, I've been injured on dirt bikes and stuff and my shoulder's all messed up, and physically, I couldn't even do it. It was gnarly. But no, I mean, now I'm able to play, I'm getting better. 
[00:45:10.44] JIM HACKBARTH: And you have a teacher, or do you-- 
[00:45:12.34] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. Oh yeah. No, yeah, yeah. I have somebody come every week. 
[00:45:14.82] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:45:14.84] REID HOLZWORTH: 100%, yep, yep, yeah. Oh, you should have brought your violin. 
[00:45:20.32] JIM HACKBARTH: We could have signed out with you playing a little song. That would have been cool. That would have been cool. Well, one of the questions I know you always ask everybody, what's your drink of choice. 
[00:45:31.79] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, my drink of choice would be dirty Hendrick's Martini. I used to be like olives. Now I do nothing. I don't like olives that much anymore. But I like a really good dirty Hendricks Martini. That's it. Other than that, pretty much everything. 
[00:45:47.75] JIM HACKBARTH: How has it changed over the years? What was your favorite drink? 
[00:45:50.17] REID HOLZWORTH: I've gone through different phases. I think I was always a beer drinker. I mean, growing up in Southern California, a lot of heavier IPA kind of stuff, different types of flavored beers, things like that. But then just like beer generally, I did a lot of brown liquors for a while. I went down like the whole Bourbon route, Bourbon neat, all those. I went down that huge rabbit hole. 
[00:46:12.45] I got away from that. Like I don't do the brown liquors that much anymore. And I don't know, something about a really clean, cold Martini. It's just nice. And then a cold beer on a nice day, there's something to be said, name your flavor. And then, of course, I guess my general, general, like when I'm out, most of the time I drink margaritas, I drink a shit ton of margaritas. And so I like margaritas. So, yeah, I guess I have a few. 
[00:46:42.60] JIM HACKBARTH: So as Applied Net comes to a close and as your tenure and time that you've put into Ivans comes to a close, what are you going to miss the most? 
[00:46:55.06] REID HOLZWORTH: The people. 
[00:46:56.10] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:46:56.80] REID HOLZWORTH: 100%. 
[00:46:57.59] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:46:58.53] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, and it's kind of bittersweet. Like I said, I really am done. I really want to take time. I really want to detach and like I said, make up for lost time, and really, really dive into some really complicated things that I'm already working on, like violin and things. 
[00:47:16.00] JIM HACKBARTH: Right. 
[00:47:16.64] REID HOLZWORTH: And so I really want to stay away a bit, but I know I'm going to miss it. I know I'm going to miss the people. 
[00:47:22.93] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:47:23.74] REID HOLZWORTH: I'll probably get dragged back in at some point, I assume. 
[00:47:26.60] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah. 
[00:47:26.80] REID HOLZWORTH: I don't know. We'll see. 
[00:47:28.04] JIM HACKBARTH: You'll wander back in on your terms. 
[00:47:29.99] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, I think it's just-- knowing my story, I've always been just always trying to just get after it since I was this high. And it'll be interesting to see now like really figuring it out on my own terms of what I really want to do and how I want to do it. Yeah, and so I may not get back in the business, but I'm sure I'll be hanging out with everybody. 
[00:47:53.19] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah, yeah, because as you mentioned, it's the people. And you start to miss the people. And then your passion for helping people. And like I said, the people I've talked with that I know know you, that worked with you and all that and how they describe you, you can't have those traits-- and those traits will be there. They are part of you. That's how you and I became friends. 
[00:48:15.33] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, absolutely. 
[00:48:15.89] JIM HACKBARTH: I mean, I'm at a stage in my life I don't like hanging around with people I don't like. 
[00:48:18.85] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, right? 
[00:48:19.49] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:48:20.28] 
[00:48:21.07] JIM HACKBARTH: I don't like it because they have traits that I don't admire. 
[00:48:23.69] REID HOLZWORTH: And you don't have to anymore. 
[00:48:24.77] JIM HACKBARTH: Exactly. You can say, I don't need any part of that. 
[00:48:27.12] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah. 
[00:48:27.65] JIM HACKBARTH: Any closing thoughts or things that you'd like to share since this is your last podcast? 
[00:48:33.71] REID HOLZWORTH: The podcast has been really fun. I started this podcast-- we started it because I wanted to give a history lesson to everybody from people like yourself and Dennis and David and Larry Wilson and Roller and all of those guys, and then also bringing in people that I know out there in the industry that are doing cool stuff and they're good people. 
[00:48:54.48] We get a lot of people that have submitted to this podcast to speak on it and whatnot. Not everybody got on. And I'm sorry for the ones that haven't. But it's been really good. I never thought that it would be as powerful as it's been right for the industry in that way. It kind of blew up a little bit in its own way. But it's just been a lot of fun. This business has been a lot of fun. Ivans has been a freaking ride. We did some really cool things. 
[00:49:22.69] JIM HACKBARTH: Yes, you did. 
[00:49:23.74] REID HOLZWORTH: And the team absolutely crushed it. And I'm really proud of everybody. It's just been a good ride. 
[00:49:30.83] JIM HACKBARTH: I remember when you called me and you told me that, hey, this is what I'm going to be doing next within Applied. And I'm going to go lead Ivans. And I gotta be honest with you, I said, what, is he crazy? 
[00:49:40.40] [LAUGHTER] 
[00:49:41.04] 
[00:49:41.77] But I've said that before about you, and I'm sure other people said-- 
[00:49:45.27] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh, yeah, 100%. 
[00:49:45.91] JIM HACKBARTH: --what's he crazy? 
[00:49:47.46] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, a little bit. I am a little bit. 
[00:49:49.39] JIM HACKBARTH: But man, did you do a wonderful job. And you left it better than you found it. 
[00:49:56.33] REID HOLZWORTH: Yes, absolutely. 
[00:49:57.23] JIM HACKBARTH: And if you can do that in every part of your life, you just left it-- 
[00:50:00.19] REID HOLZWORTH: I think that's true. 
[00:50:00.69] JIM HACKBARTH: --better than you found it. 
[00:50:01.91] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, I think that's true in most things in my life. I try to. 
[00:50:05.73] JIM HACKBARTH: And you did it. 
[00:50:06.37] REID HOLZWORTH: Because I care, actually. 
[00:50:07.80] JIM HACKBARTH: Yeah, no, you do. Everything you touch, and I'm not-- I've seen it happen. So best of luck, buddy. 
[00:50:15.89] REID HOLZWORTH: Thank you. 
[00:50:15.97] JIM HACKBARTH: I know this ain't goodbye between you and I, because you're kind of stuck with me. 
[00:50:18.83] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh, I know I'm stuck with you. I'm totally stuck with you. 
[00:50:21.35] JIM HACKBARTH: All right. Any other things you'd like to add? 
[00:50:23.75] REID HOLZWORTH: No that's it, man. Thank you for doing this. This has been awesome. 
[00:50:26.39] JIM HACKBARTH: Enjoy the ride. 
[00:50:27.07] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, thank you. 
[00:50:27.91] JIM HACKBARTH: All right. 
[00:50:28.19] REID HOLZWORTH: All right. 
[00:50:28.63] JIM HACKBARTH: See you, brother. 
[00:50:29.21] [LAUGHTER]