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you're now listening to Secrets the kingdom strategies in this podcast we'll discuss Bible marriage business Marketplace leaders Bridging the church in the marketplace so you can advance the kingdom hosted by an apostle retired lieutenant colonel CEO I'm aappa I am Dr Sam I'm so excited to welcome to Kingdom strategies my good good friend and army officer Gavin Berkeley he's a powerful man of God and a business man I appreciate it brother um it's awesome to be here Dr Hayes I know we've we've talked about it for a while and it's it's an honor to be here awesome well I'm excited so let's dive on in so in this first segment we're going to talk about faith Gavin I know God has been calling some of us especially when we are young when I look at you I reminded of Joshua how God mentored him into the warrior so tell us how did God call you so um I I was lucky enough to to grow up um with faith being a you know a staple of my household back in um Western Pensylvania um I I came from a great church and at 13 years old I was baptized um in uh April of was April of 20 uh 2010 or 2011 yeah so I remember I was 13 years old um so Christ had always been you know a part of my life and then as as you get older and you go to college you get out of the house you know sometimes we tend to you know it we can kind of distance oursel um from Faith um just with how life goes and you know being away from you know kind of like what you're used to um but I definitely started to um find what Christ is looking for is that relationship that personal relationship with you and that's that's the stage right now that I'm in is is you know I've always been a Christian um kind of what I'd call a dog tag Christian from from that that good book um by Granger Smith uh he he brought that to my attention I thought it was such a such a fitting thing um so I would I've always I always proclaimed to be a Christian but um but now I have a a personal relationship with Christ um and that's that's where I am now in my faith so it's always been a part of my life but um but definitely amazing to see what's what God's been able to do that's awesome I I tell you you know as Smith pointed out you know that dog tag Christian status we can definitely turn it in and become more of him and walk in that space you know so as you grow Grew From 13 into the man you are now who helped you along the way was there a Moses that kind of showed you the way or was it the Holy Spirit or a combination who were your mentors so absolutely um and that that's a big thing uh for me I'm I'm very big on mentor mentorship um and I've been super blessed and fortunate to have a ton of mentors in my life and you know not only especially in the military um there's countless but you know just like going back to my church uh the Church of the Brethren back in in Myersville Pennsylvania had I was fortunate enough that you know one of my pastors was also you know my wrestling coach growing up so I was like I I was with him practically every day there's pictures of of him holding me when I was you know when I was born he was there um and just been able to maintain those relationships and I find now as you know as I move away I always try to have a strong group of of men in my life um that kind of emulate what I want to what I want to be whether it be you know not only a disciple of Christ but but you know a husband father somebody that I can look to um and you know sharpen each other and then I believe that I can also make them better um just like you know 20 proverbs 27:17 um I think company uh has a lot of men like that too so absolutely awesome so so now now you're telling us used to be a wrestler so what weight class oh I I my lowest weight was probably when I was a freshman in high school I was Believe It or Not 140 at the time my uh my last two years of college uh I was I was heavyweight which is uh 285 is the is the cap I was never that that heavy but probably around 230 was about as heavy as I got so I've been all around wow so as with your weight you went from a 180 to a heavier division over time you know as I'm looking and listening to your story especially with God and and how this pastor walk you through those spaces I mean were there's some pivotal moments in your life where where God said hey let me be your coach absolutely and I had to um you know you have to you have to listen you have to you have to be still and listen when Christ is trying to to speak to you and I I'll say a lot of times I thought you know throughout my walk that that you know as my plans and his plans were you know it was they were they were congruent they were you know exactly how it was supposed to be um and he will he will quickly tell you that you know hey that's that's not that's not exactly how this works um and sometimes sometimes you have to learn the hard way with that but um but yeah absolutely yeah uh there's a just a little over a year ago um you know I I had plan I had big plans the military was was a was a big part of my life um and you know I had been I'd gone on a few trips with uh where where I where I'm at down in in Fort Stewart caused me to be you know away for for 15 months and kind of had my sight set on and you know going and doing you know some some special stuff in the military and um was going through a lot of a lot of personal turmoil in my life um and I say all this too It ultimately comes back on me um you know and I I I take full accountability for my actions but I was putting a lot of eggs in my in in in different baskets I was I was getting my fulfillment from other places um you know I was trying to I was trying to fill the void that I had in my life from you know losing losing a um a spouse at the time who you know wanting to deciding that you know she was going to go a different direction yeah um and I tried instead of instead of feeling that void how I should have and going back to my upbringing you know and feeling that in Christ I I turn to other things and I turned to to alcohol and you other vices and to to fill that void um and it and it led to you know should have should have led to losing my life um back in in April of 23 when I was in a I was in a very bad car accident um and it was you know alcohol was involved um and it was coming back from you know a day out with with with some some good buddies of mine um and I decided to go out on my own uh and I had my at the time my my best friend in the world who was who was my pup um he was with me too and I remember you know leaving and the next the next thing I saw was I was waking up in a hospital in a hospital bed and the most terrifying moment of my life having absolutely no clue where I was and a moment that stuck with me um you know for for months afterwards that that I would wake up and and be reliving that moment another thing uh Dr Hayes that from that book I mentioned about the dog tght ction with uh Granger Smith he talks about um the slideshow that would play in his head a lot um and that very moment and you know we refer to it as a couple different things PTSD is one of them especially very strong in the veteran Community but it was that that kept playing in my head um constantly constantly reliving it over um and then you know waking up to find that you know that what had happened to me i' completely you know fractured my hip um you know I'm just strapped to this hospital bed you know I I had hurt other people in in in that event as well um and I all this unbeknown to me just I'm in this hospital right now um but was surrounded by so much love um from you know then they didn't have to be there they didn't have to be there uh you know friends and family and um and it just I could never I could never repay that um and I know I'm going on here a little longer too from your question but uh but yeah I remember I remember sitting in that in that space um just I was very angry with god um you know a lot of a lot of the things I had set these sights on like I'd mentioned like hey I was supposed to do this I was supposed to you know go be a Green Beret and you know do all that stuff to to validate you know this life of you know doing hard things um and you know I just you cursed at him like you know why why couldn't you have just taken me I have all these things going in my life like instead you know it's my best friend that that was taken from me the the thing that I look forward to coming home to every day and showing me love um you know and you could have just could have made it easy on me and just taken me and the days that had gone by um you know I had lucky to have some good friends take me in um and I got to the point where I I had to go I got a call I had to go pick up my stuff um from from my vehicle and that was a pretty that was a pretty uh tough day um I remember getting there and you know being filled with a bunch of emotions and when my buddy dropped me off I I got there and the guy that owned the yard uh opened it up and they were just kind of all in disbelief it was the first time i' had seen you know my vehicle and just looking at it you know we're like yeah somebody survived this like it doesn't make any sense um and the guy that owned it said you know hey he and I don't know if I don't know if he was a man of Faith or not but he just looked at me and said do you go to church and I said I do but um you know probably not as much as I should and he's like yeah i' I'd start going if I was you wow um and you know everything was like there was nothing left of it but there were two things in it and one of them was and they were perfectly intact too um one of them was a daily bread that was in the the driver's side door that I had gotten from Camp Mcall um at at train um and I just always kept it in there and the other one was a blanket in the back that um my pup used to used to sit on and it was and it had Proverbs 35 and 6 on it um and there I always had it on my head gear in high school you know going you know when I was wrestling I had that I had that verse you know trust in the Lord with all your with all your heart lean not on your own understanding um very much all of my life up to that point was my own understanding I thought that you know I was kind of in control and it was like that it's just things like that that are very hard to explain you know those are the two things and and you know it was a little dirty but I remember you know putting it through the wash and it and it came out brand new and I was like the you know the everything with that too just like you know it was washed clean just like just like our sins you know when we when we turn them over and accept the gift of Grace that that Christ has given us um and it's just it's it's stuff that you can't really explain but I guess I Circle back to the question now um but yeah that's that's kind of uh my walk and and kind of where I am now uh that I've been able to get to a a personal relationship with Christ and listen and listening to him leaning not on the understanding that that I had wow I mean you given us so much and I I just want to say thank you and I appreciate that you're here alive with us here today to hear this because I I know for a fact you're going to inspire and help those who are in similar spaces um we will unpack this more but when I when I look at you and and and hearing that how would you tell your younger self you know what would you say to him when he got angry with God or when he felt living the space of not living to your own understanding what would you tell someone who is listening as you're speaking to your younger self of what you've walked with and now you're in a sweet spot with the Lord I'd say you need to it it's about it's about faith um you have to have faith in in what you don't see and it was just like whenever whenever Thomas demanding to see Christ hands you know he sees him but he's like I I you know I won't I won't believe it's him until I see his hands and you know it's like blessed are you who have seen But blessed are those who who have not seen and still believe um I'd say that you know you just have to you have to Place full trust in that and you can't you can't go through life you know trying to you know it's good to plan to plan ahead and put put yourself in a great position to have goals and and do what you want to do but you can't get too lost in that you have to just you know stay stay the path that the Lord has set and he's he's going to reveal it to you um we do our part but but in the end just to to be still and be able to to listen wow wow I I tell you I'm blown away you know hey we got to go pay this bills for this commercial breake but we'll be back soon all right in a world filled with challenges where the path to success seems daunting there shines a Beacon of Hope led by veterans who have served in the most demanding of situations beyond the track offers more than just words we offer transformation follow us on social media or reach out today to embark on your journey to becoming a disciplined resilient leader who is a beacon for others all right y'all well welcome back from commercial break hey Gavin I I tell you that story is still ringing in my soul of what you shared about you know your experiences um and this this segment we're going to kind of go into the marketplace um because it hasn't always been Bleak there has been some bright spots in your life that uh I want to hear about um many people consider you blessed and they consider you highly favored please tell us what does that mean for you when people say that you're blessed I mean for me it's it's just being able to to really appreciate everything everything around you um I mean one of the one of the way I I count my blessings is is just the uh the love that the love that I have for others and the reciprocation that I receive um I have you know so many so many people that you know I call brother in my life and just just strong men and strong women in my life I'm just very fortunate to have them and it's it's impossible for those blessings to to be lost on me um just always surrounded by love um you know every day I get that whether it be in the form of a text message or a phone call um it's just very abundant to me and and it's it's it's Christ working through others um and it's if we if we open our if we open our eyes and you know kind of not get too much into ourselves I think that it's it's it's very Christ makes it very easy to see that on a daily basis that's awesome you know I I know that you work in two spaces primarily but there might be more I mean my mom's Jamaican so you might have a little Jamaican and you and you just you know have 50 jobs um so in the Army you lead soldiers um please tell us how do you become successful leading [Music] soldiers so uh something something that I was thinking about um with this is it it is one of the it's one of the greatest uh undertakings I believe that g getting the opportunity to lead soldiers especially you know in in an intimate form like you know being at you know a lower tier level like being an uple tune leader was such a rewarding experience for me um and and I've had a lot of great mentors that that have and I've taken kind of tidbits from them but even in business too I think that's something uh that really can can help you out so much is just you got to you got to put them before and it's it might sound crazy to say but I always tried to you know form a relationship with them um and let them know that hey you know they're taking care of if if they take care of themselves and they take care of their families cuz they you can't take care of your family usually until you know you take care of yourself and then we put the mission third and I found that um it just I I was I was very fortunate you know throughout that time to just be in high performing teams and um surrounded by great you know uh subordinate leadership as well um and it just is that one of the the greatest things about it was just getting to develop relationships with them getting to know them personally and you know that's there's no greater feeling than whenever you know one of one of my old guys reaches out to me or or shares something with me um even guys that are out now too um you know stuff about getting to see them be being husbands and fathers it's it's it's pretty rewarding whether or not I had anything to play with it it's it's really it's really awesome to see well that's awesome do you ever find yourself reaching back into your you you know your darkest days to help you know those who you lead um make better decisions in life absolutely and uh you know it's unfortunately a lot of you know a lot of people I've worked with a lot of um even even some of my soldiers have gone through have gone through similar similar circumstances um you know whether it be you know divorce or you know DUI is you know I've I've had multiple soldiers you know reach out to me about and one one uh one instance recently was you I had one of my soldiers reach out who had gone through a really tough season in life and you know he just he reached out to me and you know started asking about God um and it was you know it just it kind of caught me off guard he's like you know I I think you know my sister mentioned something about it and I know that you had said something but it was like I guess whatever I did I was able to you know shed a little enough light on him that it kind of planted that seed for him and and it was just it was an honor you know to to be able to do that like I can I can help them out with things at work but you know that's that brought me more you know probably more gratification than anything was like oh he's he's reaching out to me to to share my testimony um so that you know one day his test can can become his testimony as well um and it's just you know being able to being able to share that with him um and and being vulnerable with them too I think that they have to know uh that that you're human as well and and I think all my guys knew that they know that I'm human I'm kind of a goofy guy all my all my all my all my buddies would say the same you know I I'm kind of um you know what you see is what you get but um yeah it's being that it's being vulnerable with them being able to you know kind of I feel like they they're more willing to share things and you know kind of put that put their best foot forward whenever whenever you show that that you're willing to do that with them too that's awesome now there's another side of you um this is the entrepreneurial side of you I know you have a passion for it so so how are you using this um and and what are you and your team doing in this space so um as you can see uh with my shirt uh so a good buddy of mine who who you know as well um my buddy Chad bisty I met him when I was at when I was at Fort Benning going through the Infantry officer basic course um and he had always kind of talked about about what we do now but and we are very much uh kind of in the in the early stages of everything um but he he wanted to give back through Lessons Learned um you know between everybody in it you know it's hundreds of years of military service I'm the I'm the youngest guy that um you know was honored enough to to be asked to be a part of it um and you know give that back to whether it be you know we've had a lot of people in the military reach out to us but we've had you know people that outside the military um who in in every one of like there's SE there's seven members of us um and they're just all amazing individuals and going back to the mentorship like you talked about earlier I I Look to every single one of them um as as a mentor and yeah they they want to just they want to give back um through through the years of experience in the military but they they live a a set of of values in our in our through our company we have we have five big ones and the first one's being your attitude um because that that's the one thing that you can control every day and then two is to to be the change you wish you saw so you know whether that be from the military or through any circumstance in life um be the leader you would follow so I know Chad always says you know if you look in the mirror and you say and you ask yourself would I follow me if the answer is no you probably already know what you what you need to work on um and then four or three excuse me or yeah four this is four do something hard every day um and a lot of people would equate that to doing something physically hard which which is true um it could be that but sometimes doing something hard is picking up the phone and calling something um maybe it's forgiving somebody um something some unforgiveness that has you bound um that's that's something very hard that's probably harder than going out and doing something very hard physically um and then five is is have fun daily do something um that's fun um so and they they all live that and whenever Chad asked me and we were having this conversation as well when we were all together this weekend um he he came to me and and asked me about this if it was if it was something that I'd be interested in you know at it the lowest point in my life um you know right after everything that happened um and you know as I'm kind of you know feeling sorry for myself at the time he's like hey and and you know my reaction was you know why why would you want me you know and but he he saw something in me and he he knew that I had something to offer and again going back to that you know will it all be for nothing um and in our in our name it's it's literally says it in the name beyond the track and that could be you know whether good or bad like a lot of times we'll see people kind of rest on their Laurels and you see it a lot in the military um people will um you know rest on past successes but what about the tragedies that happened to you or the setbacks the adversity um do you just when happens it's just done you forget about it and you know you move Beyond it or do you go beyond that and use it to make not only yourself but others are better to to make others better as well because the chances are there's somebody out there living your story that you don't know of and and one day they might it might be something you say or an interaction with them that it is what they need to get them through their Darkest Day wow but every single every single one of our guys um they have you know not only are they you know amazing military careers and many of them you know I'm I'm the only one that's not but they're all you know Special Operations veterans um but they also have you know amazing stories of of overcoming adversity in their personal lives um and I just I'm really looking forward to to watching it grow and just honor to be a part of it cuz I know we're going to be able to help a ton of people man I I tell you you know when when I listen to you you I can see how God has formed you I can see how he's formed you into hurt and pain in the darkest days I can see how he's put you in position to help others reach their mountaintops so the question that I want to ask is looking back and you're seeing the dots where how God has formed you what would you say when someone's at those darkest days and they're being formed and they can't see the do and they're struggling to reach where you are now they're struggling to see the the lad at the end of the tunnel and seeing the purpose behind what has happening to the line what would you tell them well it's it's very much um yeah that that's very much from from being vulnerable and you know being ready you you have to be ready um you know we're called to to lead others um cuz cuz they're watching they're watching how you know this oh this happened to this person like we'll look at them now maybe they wouldn't have never realized it but um they see how you carry yourself and and what you learned from it um so it's it's you're going to go through the hills and The Valleys um something that that came to my mind uh with the question is you know you have to be and it might be it might sound um kind of hard to understand but you know I've learned to try to be just as thankful for um you know for The Valleys as I am for the mountaintops um because a lot of blessings can come from that whenever everything's mountain tops it's kind of it I think it can be very easily taken for granted but if you learn to you know be be thankful in any circumstance and situation um I think it it helps put it in perspective and they're going to gain a gift of perspective um that hopefully one day they're going to you know not used to not only make themselves better but they're going to make a lot of other people better along the way wow wow so good so good I mean gav we can keep talking about this but we got to go pay some bills we'll be right back strategy by Divine Design John P Kelly and Samuel L hay Jr proven strategies that win Wars this is a must read for such a time like this order now all right y'all we're back from commercial break I tell you time is flying by now Gavin when I hear you talk I hear that you have figured it out you have figured it out when it comes to fitting faith into business together what are your insights you can share with us with someone who's trying to figure it out so that's a great question um and again you know very very early in the process but a lot of times you see people they they think you know the twoth things you know faith and politics two things you don't want to get into business um you don't you don't want to you know advertise in business but um I think it I think it very much it comes out in your personal stories and it very much is a part of kind of what makes us um it what makes us a little different um you know just like just like Christ had disciples like we're out there to you know our mission is is to go out there and develop more disciplined resilient people who are accountable to themselves and those who depend on them um and I think if you look at you know the examples of the people who followed Christ you know they very much were that for for one another and they led by example um so that's that's that's what that's that's what we're out there trying to do um and yeah it's been it's been really awesome to see uh just a few of the things we've been able to do already um and see the difference that that it's made uh to some people wow so so you're actually seeing the seeds you're planting in these individuals um and and you're seeing the beginning of a beautiful Journey wow that's positive so when I think of the Lord's Prayer thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven it's talking about alignment with his will how do you advance the kingdom once you're aligned and what would you suggest to others so well a great a great thing that ties in with that and and the last one is I think um God's will so his will will be done and it's it could go back to even what we talked about earlier you know it's it's not it's not your understanding not lean not on your understanding um patience is a hard thing um and we learn it in many different ways um it's something that I've worked on in in you know my whole life I was not really a patient person but I've learned to to wait and and God will lead you where you need to be um you know sometimes we get frustrated um as well like Chad and DeAndre and and Ken and all of us you know we were like you know what why isn't this like this is this is really cool this should be taken off but you know we we sit and we remember like hey it it's it's not our timing it's not our timing it's his timing so I would say you know just you can't you can't be quick to get too frustrated you need to keep sewing those seeds and and just know that you know his will will be done at h on his timing yeah yeah you know one of the things you just said makes me think about the Lord I mean he's outside of time right and so when he speaks and he's and he's telling us to do stuff it's going to happen it's going to happen when he needs it to happen and me it's so powerful how important is it to you to collaborate with others especially in the marketplace to advance the kingdom who may not look like you or believe like you so I mean we' found already that it's it's huge um collaborating and networking is is massive um it's you can't you can't do it um you can't do it on your own um you need to you need to reach out and you know everybody has gifts and abilities and we've we've been fortunate at this point we've had a lot of amazing people who have who have crossed path with us um and they're people too that that share they might unnecessarily look like us but they share a lot of our same values um and they want to see they want to see that change they they see a need for it um and you know whether it be their season of life or the state of of the world right now they see a need for this um and and it's huge we we're always you know constantly trying to to make that connection with others and and keep those relationships you know Foster strong relationships and and just keep keep sharpening one another wow so so when I look at everything we talked about today uh the Lord just kind of making you be still in your darkest days where he can just remind you of who you are his son you know taking those moments and weaving in from leadership as an army officer to an entrepreneur where now you're planting seeds that gave you life and now how you are weaving that will in and just embracing it and going for the ride I know we talked about a lot but is there anything else that you want to tell the people before we go on to prayer I just well one I want to take the opportunity uh Dr Hayes to just thank you for for letting me come on um thank for letting me you know share my story there's there's so much more uh to my story um and you know I'm I'm very much a work in progress and I know that that the Lord is not finished with me and he's not finished with you um we're always a work in progress and he he desires a personal relationship um for each of us and you I'm I'm very excited to see see where everything goes uh see as as our company grows um and to to continue to you know to build to build strong people um you know strong fathers husbands uh mothers you know B you know Business Leaders um soldiers whatever it may be um and you know just to give back and if people can learn from from my experiences then you know it wasn't it wasn't for nothing and God's will will be doneen so and always so uh would you do us the honor of closing us out and just praying for us in any way you see fit uh as you get ready to end this podcast absolutely you be an honor dear Lord we thank you for this time that we could come and get together Lord um we know that your will will be done Lord we ask that you continue to let us Foster the relationship that you call us to Lord Jesus Lord that you desire that relationship with us and that you watch over all of us watch over our families and let us be the person that they that they need and that they deserve Lord and that we glorify your name through our actions day in and day out and in your name we pray amen amen amen well Gavin thank you so much if you have any questions hit us up at samuel.or questions sam.org I tell you I'm excited uh and I can't wait to hear your feedback all right thank you