Building Purpose: Leadership, Family, And The Long Game

We close the year with gratitude, clarity, and a challenge to lead from the inside out. Success becomes the person we’re becoming, not just the things we build, and we thank our team, families, guests, and listeners for sharpening that aim.

• reflection on purpose over profit 
• alignment across home, work and community 
• healthy fear versus unhealthy fear 
• lessons from failure, not losses 
• risk, resilience and the stretch zone 
• gratitude for Victor, team and families 
• service work and giving back at scale 
• listener impact, messages and support 
• setting a stronger, clearer standard for next year

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Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And Year Wrap
• 2:40 Purpose Beyond Business
• 5:20 Accountability And Living One Life
• 8:30 Gratitude And Family Milestones
• 12:00 Embracing The Suck And Healthy Fear
• 16:10 Lessons From Failure And Risk
• 19:45 Shoutouts To Team And Producer

Transcript

Ty Cobb Backer: 0:00

Welcome back, everybody, to Behind the Tool Belt episode 314. I am your host, Hi Cobb Backer, and thank you for joining us on this Wednesday edition. We will be back after our short intro from our sponsors.

SPEAKER_03: 0:33

It's reality. Built in the trenches, forged through mistake people, paid forward scarns, no shortcomings, just real leaders doing real work. Every week, we pull back the curtain on the weight of real leadership. If you're still standing, you belong here. Please welcome your host of Behind the Tool Belt, Ty Cobb Backer.

Ty Cobb Backer: 0:58

Hey, hey, welcome back, everybody. What's happening? Today is episode 314. We are wrapping up the year. I believe pretty strong. We already have an amazing guest lined up for our first week in January, our first week in 2026. And we have already set out to make 2026 our bitch. So having said that, today is a special one, episode 314. And this is our last and final episode of the year. Now, it is crazy. Absolutely mind-blowing. It truly is. Week after week after week after week. I love the intro, Vic. I love that thing. Um, it speaks volume, it speaks truth, it speaks um, it's speaking my language. You know, it's uh this is this is where this shit is built, you know, and and what what this show has done for me is it's kept me sharp, it's kept me uh learning, it's kept me on wanting to learn and and continuously learning um so I can stay on top, stay on top of the new products, uh shit, new new um things about myself that I learn on a week-to-week and day-to-day basis, and all that good stuff. And and I think I think by um ending ending out the year here, I want to maybe do a little bit of reflection. Um I don't know, gratitude, growth, talk about some growth, and maybe we'll dabble a little bit into you know what's next. But if you've been following us for a while, you know that uh we don't just talk about business on this podcast. We talk about relationships, we talk about leadership, we talk, we talk, we talk people, right? We talk faith, family, mindset, growth, and and what it really looks like to build something meaningful and not just successful, you know, something with with with purpose, okay? Because that's what we set out to do. We get more intentional about the purpose, I think, you know, weekly, you know, especially after we we do the podcast and stuff. And it usually, you know, stirs up, you know, uh some ideas and and some areas where we lack sometimes. And and uh and usually it's the conversations that Vic and I have before the podcast. We go live, um, we talk about you know what's going on in our personal life, we talk about what's going on in our professional life, and it kind of keeps us on track of not losing the purpose and not losing the whole point of why we do this, you know, and the why behind this, you know, uh behind until about VC Backer, you know, all of the other ventures that that we've explored, all the the ventures that we're involved with today, and and making sure that we're leading by example, holding ourselves accountable because we can't hold other people accountable if we're not holding ourselves accountable and to a higher standard, especially if we expect others to be held to that standard. We we we as individuals need to hold ourselves to a standard. And I think this podcast has done that for for myself, and I know it's done that for Vic too, because we're not gonna just sit here for an hour dribbling our lip and then essentially live two different lives. You know, I've done that when I was younger. I I lived I've lived two different lives. So I don't know, today isn't gonna be about sales numbers, not gonna be about marketing strategies, it's gonna be about reflecting, gratitude, acknowledgement. Um, because none of this, and I mean none of this, happens alone. We do it as a team, it's a wee sport, and I truly believe that. So as I look, you know, back over the last, I don't know, several years, shit, several weeks, actually, you know what I mean? I am overwhelmed in the best possible way. I truly am. This year, this year has stretched me, it's challenged me, it's forced me to grow as a leader, as a son, as a business owner, as a husband, as a father, and a grandfather. And uh probably should let the cat out of the bag. I'm gonna do it anyhow. We actually have two more grandchildren on the way. So family's getting big. And one of them is gonna be a boy. I just found that out today. So the backer name, the backer legacy will continue on. But um, but here here's what I I know for sure. Okay, growth, growth happens and it lives in the stretch, in the suck. I've heard I've heard Vic say that, embrace the suck. And what I mean by that is is there's a couple, there's a couple, a couple things. I always go back to revert back to most people run from pain. Okay, most people live in excuses, most people live in blame, they blame other people. Uh my life sucks because of so-and-so, or whatever the case might be. However, where real development happens, where real growth happens, where you feel fulfilled and most successful. And I'm not saying success is monetary, I'm saying success is feeling fulfilled, feeling okay about you in your own skin, because I know for a long time I felt very insecure. I know I was I was an insecure person. I I had carried around a lot of unhealthy fears. And today I want to say that I I do have fears, however, they are mostly healthy fears. And I don't know if you know the difference between unhealthy, I'm sure if you thought about it hard enough, the difference between unhealthy fears, like I don't have to worry about the red and blue lights behind me. You know, um, that's an unhealthy fear. And and and a healthy fear is is oh shit, I'm running late for work, you know, just just a small little example. Or I'm gonna let my family down. Um, you know, things, things like that. So today, if I suffer from any type of fear, it's usually uh healthy fears. But um this year for me, there there had been you know a lot of wins, a lot of lessons. There were moments where you know things went exactly exactly as planned. And then there was moments where it absolutely did not, where it just fell to shit. And but but here's what um has has happened, right? That's I I talked about the the stretch, the suck. Okay, so this year had uh we had uh incredible uh conversations, okay, on this podcast. We we brought on leaders from across the trades, from shit marketing to sales to finance to leadership development to and and and beyond. And we expect to um have a lot more people, good, good, good, good guests on the show and starting next week. But um the our guests that have come on the show, um, a lot of these people I know personally, and a lot of these people I've I've leaned on and I've watched them go through difficult times. I've watched them gamble um in business and take risk and and take chances and fail miserably. Okay. And, you know, I think a lot of people live in that fear of like, what if I fail? What if I don't make it? And I think that's what holds a lot of people back, and that's that's the difference between um greatness and and and mediocre is that the willingness to to take a risk, but but more importantly, that that that overcoming that fear of of failure and what people might think if I do fail. Okay, because I think we all worry as much as we don't want to admit it, we all think about have the thoughts of what people might think of us. And I think most of you know how I feel about that, and I won't go too far down that rabbit hole there, but but uh these people are are are who are in the trenches every day, you know, building companies, building teams, um, building themselves, more importantly, you know, and when I said we had a lot of wins and we had a lot of lessons over the years, not just this past year, but but over the years, I've had a lot, a lot, a lot of lessons. And I think a lot of people call these lessons losses or failures, and it's so far from the truth, and that's why I call them lessons. Some of them might be expensive, some of them not so expensive, but the quicker I find out, figure out what may have gone wrong, or why did it not go as planned, the sooner I may be able to apply these lessons to future ventures and help somebody else along the way. And truly that's what impact's all about is is is helping other people out. Um and that's why we do this. So, anyhow, I want to take a moment here to um publicly thank somebody. His name is Victor, Victor Uri, who who is sitting here behind the scenes because this podcast doesn't happen without him. So I want to give him a big shout out. He produces, you're welcome, my friend, my friend, my brother. You promote it, you edit it, you support behind the tool belt, and thank you. Your consistency, okay, your commitment, your belief in this platform from day one, even before day, yeah, from day one. Okay, um this this thank you matters more than than you'll ever know. And and to our our teams across the companies, um, you know, because because without you guys, um none of this would happen. You know, Beyond Toolbelt wouldn't happen, T C Backer wouldn't happen. I'm incredibly proud of you, Vic. I've watched you grow leaps and bounds, strides, um, overcome, you know, health scares, um, family issues, work obstacles, um, navigate through finding your place here. You know, we've moved you around a little bit, and not that you didn't do well, um, but you didn't feel fulfilled. And I hope you feel fulfilled now.

unknown: 13:47

I absolutely do. Thank you.

Ty Cobb Backer: 13:50

You're welcome, brother. You show up, you care, you serve our community at a high level, and uh you all you do it with purpose. So thank you. And that's the real success. That's what real success looks like in a nutshell. Okay. Um, I want to give my family a big, big shout out. Okay. Because none of this works without them. Big shout out to my wife, Janna, my CEO of everything, my partner, my rock.

SPEAKER_01: 14:31

Thank you for believing. Believing in the vision, even on the days.

Ty Cobb Backer: 14:54

Oh man, did I know it felt heavy? Thank you for your patience, your wisdom, and your unwavering support to my kids and my grand my grandchildren. You are my why. Everything that we feel, everything I push through, everything I strive for is for you. So y'all keep me grounded. You remind me of what actually matters to my mom and dad and our extended family. Thank you for your strength. I posted something the other day, I don't know, a week or two ago, and um, oh, it was the day it was the day of the 21 Turkey salute. And um, that shit takes a lot of work. You know, a lot of behind the scenes work. And Vic, you were right there beside me, and some days I wasn't even there. Um, that shit takes a lot of work, and it takes um a lot of strength and courage to to put yourself out there like that to to help that amount of people um on that that type of scale. Okay. And um dealing and working with the public, um it's not easy, and and wanting to give back um is not easy, but but I think I got that. I know I got that from both my dad and my mom. And I really felt, I think I looked at my hands, and for whatever reason, I realized how much my hands, it's so crazy. Like the the palms of my hands look like my dad's. My dad's got these big, big hands, Jilly Mits. You know, yeah, like you don't ever want him to grab a hold of you. Okay, but yet the tops of my hands re resemble my mom's hands, and whatever I was doing, I was looking at the tops of my hands and I thought, man, I'm getting old. Like I'm getting old people's hands, but I was like, they look like my mom's hands, which isn't a bad thing. At first, of course, I was like, Yeah, I got girly hands, but my mom had worker hands, like she was a worker. Both my mom and dad are the hardest working people I know. Anyhow, but she's given me, you know, and what's cool about it is I know she's up there right now, she's looking over us, she's looking over all of us, and um, is is help guiding the way, you know. But um success means nothing if we don't have people to share it with. So I love you guys from the moon and back, and finally to our listeners, our viewers, our Zach Fishers, our David KXs. Those of you guys, the Chris Bakers, the Shane Degueris, those of you guys that were here at the very beginning of this and are still here, whether it be in spirit or we're here to support and push and keep us on track and hold us accountability accountable. Um and the day, the the the John Devils of the world out there, I love you too, brother. Um, big shout out to all you guys that uh help us um push us and and make us want to be better. And uh thank you for allowing us to learn from you guys as well, too. But uh whether whether you've been listening since episode one or you found us just five minutes ago, thank you. Thank you, thank you, Chase, Fisher out there. Thank you for trusting us with your time. Thank you for sharing the episodes, thank you for sending messages, stopping me at events and telling me that uh you know the podcast, you know, has helped you, you know, through a tough season or gave you, you know, clarity or inspiration when you needed it most. So thank you for everybody out there. You know, this podcast exists because of you guys. We keep doing this every week because of you guys. And and I don't take that lightly. So so thank you um very much. And um, you know, I guess that's with with some closing thoughts here. We'll go ahead and um, I haven't been on here very long, but I just want to I just want to close out the year strong. And uh we got an amazing guest um next week, and I've been doing you know my due did my due diligence um to make sure it's a great episode, um, to pull some good, great questions um from this gentleman to help inspire, teach you guys. Um, you know, I kind of do this, you know, selfishly too, but publicly, you know, so you guys can also get what I get out of it as well by having these these amazing guests on you know our show. So, you know, as as we close out the air, I want to leave. You with this here. It's success isn't just about what you build. Okay. It's about who you become while you're building it. It's the journey. It's who you become along the journey. It's not necessarily the destination and when you get there. It's it's who you become on this journey to greatness, to success, whatever success looks like for you. And unfortunately, like a knucklehead, a knucklehead like me, I continuously move the goalpost. And I keep striving, I keep building, I keep moving, and um, I keep learning, I keep growing. Um, I keep trying to lead with you know humility and courage. Um, and uh I would expect everyone else to do the same, you know, and uh remember, remember, don't have to, you don't have to, you know, figure it all out. Just keep moving forward. And uh, anyhow, from our families to yours, from our team to yours, thank you for an incredible, and I mean an amazing and incredible year. This this episode, 314 episodes, our final episode of the year. Thank you for for joining us and uh thank you for for the continued support. Um, but we'll be back next year, stronger, clearer, and uh with more commitment than we have ever brought. You know, we want to bring real conversations from real leaders. So until then, stay safe, stay grateful, keep building from the inside out. God bless y'all, and we'll see you next year. And this is Behind the Tool Belt. Thanks for joining us.