Trevor Broughton: [00:00:00] I thought I knew all of it, and I bombed it. And, uh, all of a sudden I let down everybody, let down myself, my family, my boss, you know, I actually didn't tell anybody but my wife for quite a while.
Um, I didn't know how I would even keep going. .
Riley: Today, I welcome, gosh, one of my best friends in the world, Trevor Bratton. Trevor, I, um, I'm [00:01:00] super excited to have you on the show, man. There's, there's a, we've, we've lived a lot of life together and, you know, a big chunk of it at a distance, but still, man, we just always can pick up right where we left off at any given time.
So, I highly value friendship. I'm, I'm looking forward to talking to you on the podcast today. Um, yeah, welcome to the show, man.
Trevor Broughton: Likewise. Thank you my friend. Um, I'm nervous as all get out, but I'm also excited because, uh, I get to hang out with you, you know, whether it be across the bloody internet or, or, you know, hanging out in the woods somewhere. So
Riley: have these conversations, you know, on a private personal level all the time where we're just chitchatting and shooting the breeze and talking engines and, dirt bikes and fishing and, you know, whatever. But I, uh, it'll be fun to have people get to listen in on some of the shenanigans we get to talk about.
So,
Trevor Broughton: it, it'll be interesting at least.
Riley: Well listen, uh, talk to the audience here. Tell us [00:02:00] about your growing up, where you grew up, what, what life looked like as a kid.
Trevor Broughton: Starting out, uh, McCall, Idaho. So lived there till I was, uh, I wanna say 11 or something like that. 11 or 12. And, uh, life was good. Um, the trees up there, the lake. We, uh, we rode our bicycles all over the woods. We, uh, we hiked the woods. We just really never were inside and the house was so small that my mom never let me inside anyways, so it was good to, to have places to go.
So I grew up just pedaling everywhere I went. Uh, we jumped off the docks into the lake. We'd, uh, we'd ride the woods. We'd go get lost in the trees. It was, uh, it was a good childhood.
Riley: Beautiful.
Trevor Broughton: Um, yeah. Then my dad took a job in Pocatello, Idaho. That was a little less exciting. Uh, I won't say less [00:03:00] exciting, but less enjoyable.
Um, desert, um, you know, Southwest, just not my cup of tea for a lot, a lot of years. Um, different, uh, oh, let's say different demographic too. . So I guess it was a good experience moving down there. Met a lot of people. Um, went to high school there, met you there, met my wife in, in, in a coffee shop my senior year, so we weren't. I married yet, but of course, uh, that three years later that did happen.
So that was pretty good.
I, uh, I tried to go to college there. I was 12, I think.
Riley: getting
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: high,
Trevor Broughton: Yeah, man. The worst time of any kid's life, right?
Riley: I, I mentioned on a. Another episode that when I was 12 years old, two days before I started junior high school, I was expecting to go [00:04:00] in there and, and be talking to all the babes and you know, all these older gals that I were smoking hot. And two days before that I rolled a, a four wheeler over on my face and knocked my front teeth out and ended up with 39 stitches in my chin and, know, walked in there a bloody, swollen mess instead of the, you know, stud.
I thought I was so,
Trevor Broughton: Well, that's what four, four wheelers are good for. So.
Riley: Yeah, you guys will catch notes on that once in a while on this. Trevor's been a dirt biker his whole life and a, on a two wheeler and what's the name?
Trevor Broughton: Uh,
Riley: have some wheelers, don't ya?
Trevor Broughton: oh man. Six pack rack with wheels. Um,
buggy.
Riley: Getting
Trevor Broughton: there's a pile off on.
Riley: Oh crap, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it. Okay, so you're 12 years old man, and you, you moved to Pocatello culture change and,
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: you hit[00:05:00]
and now you're in high school. And you, you mentioned you, you met your wife Katie, at a coffee shop. Tell, tell me about that.
Trevor Broughton: Yeah, there was a cool little Christian coffee shop in town and uh, I was kind of newly a Christian, so I was kinda frequenting those, those kind of venues. And actually the vibe was pretty good back then at Pocatello for, for that kinda scene. So popped in there with some [00:06:00] buddies. We were out spinning donuts in the mall parking lot.
It was January or something like that. And uh, I stepped in for coffee one night 'cause that's what you do. And, uh, there was, uh, my wife hanging out with a bunch of friends and I actually thought she was quite a bit older than me and thought she was married to the guy next to her that she was hanging out with.
And turns out he was just a friend and you know, he was actually married to somebody else. So, um, yeah. And then what, a week, maybe two weeks later, she ends up calling me. That was pretty cool. A little less work on my end. Yeah.
Riley: when was that? What year was that?
Trevor Broughton: I was a senior in high school, so 19 95, 96 actually.
Yeah,
Riley: man. So before we
Trevor Broughton: yeah,
Riley: um, I kind of had the impression that you and Katie had been dating for quite a while before that, but that, that wouldn't have been very long [00:07:00] before you and I
Trevor Broughton: No, it was, it was real soon before her birthday, which is in Feb. So yeah, it was, it was pretty quick.
Riley: Um, okay, so you guys met and you said three years later you got married, so you had
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: amount of
Trevor Broughton: Yeah. It was, uh, it was, it was, you know, young, young and dumb kids. I, uh, I proposed pretty dang quick, which was just ridiculous. But that's what you did when you were, you know. 17, 18 years old back then, so,
but we didn't get married for another three years, so it was, it was a long engagement, if you will.
Riley: So
Trevor Broughton: then I got friends like you guys getting married and I had other friends getting married, so it just seemed like their thing to do back then.
Riley: well, I think that is the thing to do when we're all, you know, 18 years
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: 20 years old. And,
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: at the time you were working in, I'm trying to remember how your work life went. 'cause [00:08:00] you, you were, you
Trevor Broughton: Oh dude.
Riley: for a did some rain gutter for a while and.
Trevor Broughton: Yeah. I was all over the map. So I actually started when I was like 15 moving pipe for my buddy's dad, or my, my dad's buddy. Um, John Olmsted, I wanna say was his name. And, uh, he owned a little, uh, a little ranch out south of town. Um. Actually north of town, forgive me, uh, out near the reservation and he raised miniature ponies and he had quite a bit of land.
So my dad would drive me out there 'cause I was too young to drive at five in the morning and I would put together sprinkler pipe for three or four hours in the morning.
Riley: man. For,
Trevor Broughton: And uh, that was kind of fun.
Riley: who don't know, Pocatello, Pocatello is very agricultural. So you have the town itself, but then, I mean, it's just straight up bordered by agriculture for a hundred miles in every direction. So yeah, moving pipe was a, a thing. A lot of us did.[00:09:00]
Trevor Broughton: Pick and rock, pick and rye. I used to go to McNabb farm with a, with a buddy of mine and pick rye. And in a wheat field there is always some mixture of seeds that go in and so you'd be able to walk the fields early in the morning. You're soaking wet. It's cold as crap. And uh, and the rye stands just a bit taller than the wheat.
So you're able to pull that and put it in a sack on your back and just kind of clean the fields.
Riley: man.
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: to but I did. I did some bucking hay and that was a good time.
Trevor Broughton: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That is, makes you strong real quick, man.
Riley: for
real, I
was pretty thankful
didn't have to do a lot of that, but those guys who did were some tough, tough son of guns, man.
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
And then after that, I, I joined, uh, Kimberly Nurseries. I got a job on the sprinkler crew over there, and I was the greenest of green. I was, you know, 17, 18 years old, digging ditches with these guys. And, uh, [00:10:00] and it was the craziest group of people. I mean, I had a bunch of the felons in their orange jumpsuits digging with me, and I had guys going to school for their PhDs.
I had people with PhDs and master's degrees digging with me. And it was just the craziest group of people. And, uh, you know, guys smoking weed in the, in the, in the, uh, the, the trench. And they see me watching 'em, and they're like, if you say anything, we'll kill you. You know? I'm like, oh, okay, cool. I'm just a kid.
I'll go over here and dig this hole instead.
Riley: them when there was a trench. I already dug that.
Trevor Broughton: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That ditch witch man.
Riley: Um, so you went from there to the ring gutter world.
Trevor Broughton: No, actually I did a couple of transitions there. I, for some reason, um, one of the gals who ran the nursery actually liked me. Uh, and she gave me a job on the [00:11:00] off season in the nursery, just kind of working on plants and waterfalls and building bridges and doing kinda random projects around the greenhouse.
And so then in the summer she kept me on, instead of sending me out with a sprinkler crew, I just stayed in the nursery and, you know, learned trees and plants and uh, and, uh, flowers. Um, just some really cool experience learning, uh, learning all about the, the zones that we were in and the watering and just kinda the plant types.
It was, it was kind of fun.
Um.
Riley: and I a, like a water feature, little rock fountain
Trevor Broughton: Yeah, man,
Riley: was that I don't remember.
Trevor Broughton: it, it, it was a display and I ended up planting moss and all kinds of things on it and displaying, having little displays for, for flowers and other kinds of kinds of plants. Uh, it was terrible. I mean, I looked back and I'm like, these people were insane for giving this kid just the [00:12:00] shot to just go wire these massive red lava rocks to this, this framework that he, he scabbed together outta scrap in the backyard.
And, uh, and then I ran a pump and a couple of pumps and it, it turned out okay, but I, I still, still kinda look back and think it was crap.
Riley: Well, what, it's your first project you've ever done like that? You know, it was, we had a good
Trevor Broughton: Yeah. Oh, yeah, it was a good time. Um, and then from there, yeah, I, I, I tried my hand at Landscape design because I had started drafting at Idaho State University in their, in their drafting class. And, uh, and the management found out that I knew how to draw, and so they hired me as a landscape designer, which was a terrible idea on their hand.
Um, I ran around, drove around and, and talked to people about their yards and drew some things. And, and the guy who was managing that, he, he was upset that, that [00:13:00] I was kind of coming in on his own. And so there was no help given, like, I was literally on my own. And, uh, I floundered bad, um, probably cost the company some money on some jobs.
And, uh, you know how that is trying to estimate when you don't know what you're doing and, and maybe you don't. I don't know.
Riley: I've done a lot of estimates.
Trevor Broughton: I know you have, but, uh, but at the end of that season, the, uh, the owner of the company kinda came to me and he goes, you know what? Yeah, this, this isn't gonna work. Uh, you can go back to the nursery, but, uh, but you're not gonna be doing this anymore. And I, I think that's the one and only time I, I think I've ever been, been let go.
So.
Riley: You know, I don't know that I knew that part of the story. You kept that pretty close to your vest. 'cause I, I,
Trevor Broughton: Well, you know, there's a pride thing there. Yeah. So it was all good. And then, uh, and then I, I did, I don't know [00:14:00] how I got the job over at a, b, C, you know, doing seamless steel gutters, hanging 'em over my head all day and, uh, year round. That was pretty wild. Um, hanging up there on a ladder and the rain and snowstorms and hanging these gutters and trying to get 'em hung and level before the, uh.
Before they filled up with water, dumped all over your head?
Um,
Riley: Huh?
Trevor Broughton: yeah. Yeah. When the first thing that the, the owner of that company said to me, he is like, this is so easy. The only thing you need to know is water runs downhill.
And I went, okay. Well that's cool. It, it is. Except in Pocatello there's some really weird houses where you, you know, the bubble on the level says it's flowing downhill, but the water ain't going there.
So, um, I dunno what to say. Maybe it's a vortex or something.
Riley: a gravitational anomaly going on there. Um, I remember [00:15:00] when we were working on the parsonage of your parents' church,
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: I remember
a screw through a piece of gutter, but you were holding it not quite paying attention and put a screw through your finger. That still stands out to me as probably one of the more, I mean, I've shot myself with nail guns and it just goes in fast and clean, right?
Trevor Broughton: Yeah,
Riley: did not
That seemed like it would be terribly painful.
Trevor Broughton: it, it wasn't great, but, uh, it, it also wasn't the worst thing I felt. Um, I was hanging on the corner of the roof, right? I was leaning over the edge of the roof and I was trying to screw the end cap on. And, uh, and I put the screw in and my finger was just right underneath it, and it shot right through my middle finger, like all the way down in, and I, I remember a sharp pain and I tried to pull my finger away and I couldn't get my finger off the gutter, so I was stuck pretty good.
So I had to put the drill in [00:16:00] reverse and, and back it out.
Riley: my
Trevor Broughton: And then I remember sitting there for a little bit, just draining blood into the gutter, trying to figure out how to stop this thing from, from bleeding. But, you know, working with sheet metal and stuff that just, that happens. Everybody gets cut up, your fingers and your hands are just, they become leather, right?
Big, bulletproof leather, leather gloves and uh, and you don't worry about that stuff anymore.
Riley: up 'cause I, you know, um, the audience doesn't know this, but at the same time you were doing gutter. I was working for a competing seamless steel siding company I didn't do gutters, but I, I did the siding part and yeah, I remember, remember after you get started working with sheet metal and you go into, you sit in a hot tub or just a bathtub and your hands swell up like raisins, but
Trevor Broughton: Mm-hmm.
Riley: now and you
Trevor Broughton: Mm-hmm.
Riley: on your hand.
You didn't even realize, realize you had constant
Trevor Broughton: Oh. Everything opens up and,[00:17:00]
Riley: It's a,
Trevor Broughton: uh, but you got some rad forearms. That's, that's the great part about sheet metal work. Running tin snips on both sides. Man, your grip is second to none at that time.
Riley: guys and, you know, tin snip guys and, and, uh, dairy cow milkers,
Trevor Broughton: Yeah,
Riley: they don't even do
Trevor Broughton: yeah.
Riley: a wild time life. It's funny because, you know, I'm 18 years now away from sheet metal work, but my, my grip is still legit. It's.
Trevor Broughton: I, I tend to have an okay grip myself,
so I don't know. I don't know why it stuck around, but I'm thankful for it, you know, saved me a couple of times.
Riley: my juujitsu buddies always whine about my collar grips. Dang it. When I, when you
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: 'em Yeah. It's exciting, man. Oh, so talk
Trevor Broughton: Oh, that's, that's fantastic.
Riley: on
Trevor Broughton: Um,[00:18:00]
Riley: career
Trevor Broughton: no, no. I, I, I, I had this wild hair. I knew I needed to do something. I was, uh, I was actually talking to my dad at one time and, uh, he was, excuse me, what I was gonna do. 'cause I was still living in his house and he was like, yeah, we gotta do something. Either you gotta, you gotta go to school or you gotta go, you know, figure out what you want to do.
I don't, it wasn't brutal like that, but it was, it was matter of fact, right. And, uh, kind of prodding his son along to get up and figure something out. So, uh, I, I liked what he did. He was a detective for the state of Idaho undercover, you know, plain clothes cop, unmarked car, cool stuff in the trunk. I, I loved that.
I thought that was really, really cool. And I said, well, you know, I, I'll go to post, I'll do what you did and, and, and kind of be like you. And he goes. There's one thing I ask. It's that you, you don't do this.
Riley: Well, [00:19:00] okay, I want to just chip in here and give you a second. 'cause I, you know, I hear that emotion coming 'cause you lost your dad here a few years ago. Um, he was a great man and so that prodding you're talking about. Of him kind of nudging you forward, but also helping you as a young man to understand that that line of work is not just the cool guns and the, know, the cool kit and,
Trevor Broughton: All the cool stuff. Yeah,
Riley: a lot of other
Trevor Broughton: yeah.
Riley: goes And so,
Trevor Broughton: Oh, absolutely. And he knew, he could see where law enforcement was going and where the politics were going, and he just knew that it was gonna be, it was not ever gonna get better, you know? So he, uh, he was wise, uh. I appreciated that.
Not at the time, 'cause I was like, dude, I wanna do cool stuff.
But, you know, [00:20:00] so I started, uh, started looking around and thought, well, I like to draw and I don't really like people that much. So, which also another good reason I didn't go be a cop, but, uh,
um, I, I like to draw on, I had an okay class in, in high school that I, I drafted in and so. If Idaho State had this school program where it's, it's drafting and design, and so I'm like, okay, well, you know, they say they've got, you know, the marketing material right, of all these colleges is a hundred percent placement rate.
You're gonna make all this money as soon as you graduate. It's, it's great. So I got into this class. I actually had to take a bunch of remedial math classes before I got into this class because I was horrible at school. Like, I barely crawled outta high school man
by the skin of my teeth. I got outta high school, school just [00:21:00] wasn't my jam.
So I, uh, I got into this class though. A couple of what was funny is half my high school graduating class was in these remedial math classes. So I'm like, maybe it wasn't me all the way. Maybe maybe there was some failure in the education system back then. I don't know. But, um. Got in and did two years in that class.
And, uh, and it's one of my, I, I did okay in parts of it and I, I utterly failed in others and my focus was elsewhere. I, you know, I wanted to get married. I wanted to go play softball and rugby and football in the summer when, when summer school was going on. And I, there were other things to do. There was dirt biking and there was mountain biking and there was hunting and all the great stuff that Idaho is, is good for.
And, uh, one of my biggest regrets is I didn't actually finish that program. I, uh, I was a couple credits short. I didn't finish my math exam 'cause I just didn't think I, [00:22:00] there was any chance in the world that I was gonna gonna pass that class. So I just walked away. And seriously, one of the dumbest things I've ever done in my life.
And I still regret that all the way now, you know what I mean? Not that it matters now, but it's just leaving things undone, if that makes any sense.
Riley: I think we all have those things, you know, every, kind of go-getter type person I've interviewed and, not even just on this podcast, but over the years, always has that thing in the background. Uh, one of the common things that you mentioned is just kind of struggling with the, the school, you know, the, the way public school system operates.
You know, being chained to a desk all day as a, as a young man, that's, that's almost impossible. And if they're entrepreneurial minded, forget it, man. It's like those people generally do not thrive there. That there's exceptions always. But uh,
Trevor Broughton: Oh,
Riley: I.
Trevor Broughton: absolutely man.
Riley: but [00:23:00] there's that, those things that, you know, you leave undone and sometimes we honestly struggle with those longer than we should.
'cause you said something there that I thought super important is that kind of haunts you even still now, even though it doesn't matter anymore. Right.
Trevor Broughton: Yep.
Yep.
Riley: it
you. And so talk about that a
Trevor Broughton: Yeah,
Riley: what, you about that and why do you think people hang onto those kind of things?
Trevor Broughton: I don't know why. Um, I've always been driven that way to where I need to do it perfectly. Um, have you ever taken those, uh, those, um, tests, whether they be online or written or whatever, that tell you what, what side of the brain, you know, you do most of your thinking on, or this or that? Um, I don't know how legit they are.
I don't put too much water in 'em other than every single test I've ever taken splits my brain right down the middle, [00:24:00] like I am dead nuts. 50% left, 50% right. Um, I find that amusing 'cause, because I see that in my world now is that, uh, I am super, super creative. I get into the flow, I get into the groove, and I can just jam in the creative mode.
Um, and then there's days when all I do is pick up the minutia of my job and find the nuts and bolts and figure out how a detail is gonna work. And. And how, how something goes together. And so I think that's kind of fun. And maybe there is some legitimacy to these things, I don't know. But, uh, but I think that, that, that engineer side, the, that side of my brain that's so detail oriented is just, it's so against failure that, that still haunts me, I think.
I don't know.
Riley: I dig that man. What you're saying there, 'cause that, that can be, I can think of plenty of those instances in my life where I'm just like, man, why didn't I just freaking do that? [00:25:00] And several other
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: have been on here have
thing. It's like, why did I not just
Trevor Broughton: Hmm.
Riley: that one little bump, one more little, you know, I could have shown up for two more weeks.
I'd have been good. I would've had the, had the credit or whatever it is, you know. Um, tell me this, 'cause I haven't, haven't asked you yet. What is, audience sake, what is your actual job now? What are you doing these days?
Trevor Broughton: I am the lead architect for a firm in Ogden, Utah. We do primarily commercial projects, but also some high-end residential, but we have a little bit of a niche where we do Christian churches. And, uh, and I, I have that because my previous job to the, to this firm was, was with a company that just did churches and schools and traveled the country and actually the world.
I went down to Kelly, Columbia, um, did a couple of other trips internationally to design some things, and I, I used to [00:26:00] travel the country designing churches with schools. So, um, that's still kind of my niche and my calling. I still want to do those. That's where the sweet spot is for me. But, uh, I love the, the variety now.
Like I get to design all kinds of crazy stuff. It's, it's pretty fun. So yeah, I'm, I'm the lead architect for a firm now. Um, been, that's gotta be questioning why, how I got there
without being able to finish a drafting class.
Riley: talk about how you got there though, because it's been a long journey, man. We're talking now, you know, you were college age, 20 years old, you know, going through
those classes and,
and then, man. Now we're, both, what, you're 47 this year, gonna be 48, is that
Trevor Broughton: Yeah. Thanks for reminding me that. Yeah.
Riley: than you, so there's that, but, but a fair amount of years has passed. And, uh, talk about what that, what that journey has looked like [00:27:00] until to, to this lead architecture position.
Trevor Broughton: So I got a job, um, just re rewind, just a touch. I got outta school and I decided that sucked. I wanted nothing to do with drafting. I didn't want to do any of that. And I got a job with an excavator. [00:28:00] A buddy in our church was, uh, had an excavation company, Jim Estelle. And, uh, I got to run backhoes for a living.
And I thought that was pretty dogg uncool. I could read plans at least, and, uh, and I could dig ditches. I had that experience. So I did that for a year. And, um, man, that was, that was a lot of fun. I remember doing some terribly stupid things, you know, tipping, uh, tipping over heavy equipment and being in holes that I had no place in being in.
And, uh,
um, had a lot of fun, learned a lot of things. And then, and then I got a phone call one day from a engineering firm in Pocatello that, uh. That had received my resume because during school, one of the jobs was sending out resumes to local firms. And I, I had to do some interviews with a few, and they treated me like dirt.
You know, I, I remember one specific place, they're like, why would we hire you? You don't know anything. And I went, [00:29:00] it's an assignment, bro. I'm here because I, I'm getting credit for being here. And he was just blunt as all get out. He is like, you, you have no place to be here. Go away. Um, but this eng engineered systems of the firm that, uh, that called me and they said, Hey, I've got this older resume.
Are you interested? And it was starting to get hot, you know how it is, you know, a hundred degrees out there in Poey and, uh, open excavator, no air conditioning. Jim always had the one with the air conditioning and heat. So I went, yeah, what the heck? It's yeah. Worth a shot. I'm gonna go sit in an office instead.
So I sat in there and, and, and actually got married. Went on my honeymoon and came back. And that very Monday I started at engineered. So that was, I mean, tons of things happening one right after the other. So I started that job and walked in and, and one of the guys there, my mentor was, uh, was really fun.
He'd started on AutoCAD when [00:30:00] he was, I don't know, when he was just born basically. And he was the fastest drafter I've ever seen in my life. And he was the hardest dude too. He just, perfection was his thing. So he would redline drawings and he would be like, no, I don't like the angle of that line. You know, so it was art to him and it was precision and I kind of, kind of got into that.
It wasn't learning like it wasn't school, it was actually doing and learning how I was doing things. And, uh, and that, that resonates with me. So I'm, I'm learning things as I'm going through, you know, about myself and how I learn and how I operate. And, uh, and that's one of 'em is that I, I don't learn from books and I don't learn from lectures.
It's doing, getting in there and getting dirty and figuring stuff out. That's, that's how my brain learns. So that was pretty cool. [00:31:00] Um, a year into that, um, the church I had been going to said, Hey, you draft, can you design us the shed that we can keep all of our tools in? And then we're gonna build a new building.
And we hired this architect from Utah and. And, and he'll stamp and review your drawings and all that. But, but can you just draw this, the shed with this picnic pavilion? So I said, yeah, why not? Again, I way over my head didn't know what I was doing, copying details out of books. Um,
but man, I I just going for it.
Yeah. '
Riley: a second. cause
shed, and technically it was a shed, but it's not exactly like what people are picturing this little 10 by 10 outbuilding. It was, it was much larger than that. And it was, it was a bigger structure than just a shed. We should, we should call it a garage.
Trevor Broughton: Okay. Okay. Well, we'll call it a garage and it's, if I'm not [00:32:00] mistaken, it's still the only building built on that property right now.
Riley: it's, well, last time I was there, it was still the only building, but.
Trevor Broughton: Yeah. So it did get built. Um, Dan came down. He was, he was the, the architect that we'd hired and he, he looked at my drawings and. I didn't know this at the time, but he had started a new business and he was just looking for, for meat to draw basically warm bodies. And so he said, I'll give you a job. And I went, Ooh, A way outta Utah.
Uh, or I mean a, a way out of Pocatello. And I'm like, Utah is not my ideal place, but I'm, I'm willing to give it a shot. Again, no, no hesitation when it comes to adventure. I've never, never really had that problem. So a week, two weeks later, I gave my two weeks notice and then, uh, and then. I was here in Utah and I, I started working as a drafter.
I thought I was gonna be doing mechanical, and turns out he thought I was gonna be [00:33:00] doing architectural. So, uh, again, learning, not knowing anything about what I'm doing, but just, just, just going for it. And, you know, now because I'm doing Christian churches and schools and, and stuff, there's a mission. So I've got, I've got something that, that I can focus on.
And, uh, I focused hard, man. I was, I just, it was a small company. I think I was employee number 11. We had a ragtag bunch of people. Um, most of them really didn't know what they were doing either, so it was just a whole bunch of goofballs trying to figure stuff out. And uh, and we ended up growing too. I mean, he grew this company up to about 130 Strong, which is a pretty big architectural firm out here.
Um, and his business was churches and schools across the country. So I traveled and got to start going on these design charettes, they call them in, in architecture. It's a, it's a fast paced design [00:34:00] process where in my case I would jump on a plane, fly out to this client, um, all over really, and, uh, and spend three days with 'em.
The first day I'd really just listen to them and their needs and, and try to figure out what's going on in this, in this building, in this place. And then I'd go home and I would draw all night long and all day the next day, and the next day I would present, or, or the, the architect over me would present.
Really? Um, I was just the CAD monkey back then, but, uh, but they would, we would present, um. And then we'd go back and listen to 'em and they'd tell us, you know, I, I like that. I hate that. You know, this is wrong. This is right. You know, we'd go back and I'd draw all night long, all day the next day and present again.
And, and I would do that a couple times a month. And, and this was pre nine 11. So traveling was actually fun, you know, um, you could [00:35:00] just walk right up to the gate, you could jump on the plane. You didn't have to strip or get fondled by TSA, you just got to get right on the plane. It was great. And it was fun.
I was learning, man. I was, I was elbows deep in this, just learning everything. It was, it was super fun. And I got to see. All kinds of different cultures. You know, I spent a ton of time in Georgia and Kentucky and uh, and Florida and Baltimore and Guy all over. Um, and as I, as I grew in that company, I kept going and, and pretty soon I was running the shats and I was, I was going out without an architect and it was just me and, uh.
Sometimes you'd run in, it's a group of eight people, which is super easy to do, right? And sometimes that night you'd show up and they'd mic you up and put you in front of 300 people in an auditorium and you'd present whatever you're thinking. Yeah. So I learned about public speaking, had some really incredible [00:36:00] mentors back then that would take me to dinner afterwards and be like, Hey, you said, um, a lot.
You know, you said, uh, uh, yeah. Or they'd say, you did this really well. You, you try working on this. Keep your hands outta your pockets. Do this, do that, you know, don't do this anymore. And man, it was great. I got to learn so much. But in the meantime, I'm traveling, you know, two, three weeks outta the month.
And my poor wife is sitting here in Utah with no friends, no family, no, you know, she's working too. But then we have kids and, and all of a sudden my kids are crying when I start to travel. And, uh, and so I'm like, I gotta make a change, right? I can't be gone all the time for my kids' lives. So, ended up making a change there.
But that was, that was precipitated by a kind of a tough [00:37:00] con conversation with the owner at that time. Um, I had hit him up and I said, Hey, I really want to know where I'm going on this company. At the time, I was the lead designer. Um, and, uh, I said, I, I'd love to know what, what's next? You know, where do I go from here?
I'm still pretty young, you know what's next? And he goes, nothing. You just, you just keep doing what you're doing. That's your place. I'm like, whoa. I'm young and I've already hit the top. That's, that's kind of lame. Um, I said, so, but what about getting my, my architecture license? I hear that you can do it through experience and this and that.
And he goes, oh yeah, you can't ever do that. Nah, don't worry about it. You can't do that.
Riley: So Okay. Because,
Trevor Broughton: That didn't sit so well as you can imagine.
Riley: imagine that set well at all. Plus, this is coming from a guy who you highly respect, [00:38:00] right?
Trevor Broughton: Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, so that kinda rocked my world a little bit. I went home and told Katie and I'm like, man, that's, this is not the end, right? I can't, I can't just do this. So I was interested in, you know, maybe getting into the sales side, maybe getting into this, that, you know, there's so many facets to, to these big companies and I just thought, man, I.
It is time to move on. I'd been there 12 years at that time. So I'd gone from, from just basically a, what did I say? A cad drafting piece of meat to, uh, to the guy running all the, the designs for the build, for the, for the company, at least on the church side. We had other people doing schools. Um, but yeah, I started looking around and I started looking at, uh, some contacts that I had and, uh, and Mark, the, the owner of this company, mountain West Architects that I, that I'm [00:39:00] with now, he had actually been a partner over there and he had gone through some of the, some similar type of situations.
And he had left about a year before, uh, before this conversation happened and, uh, and started a firm here. And, you know, something that resonated between he and I is that we did all this work out around the country and we've never done anything in our backyard. Like we didn't know. Anything about our local, you know, environment.
We didn't know the planners and the inspectors, we didn't know anybody here. So that kinda started to, to bug both of us. And so he moved on and started this firm and then I, I approached him and just said, Hey man, I, I've had this kinda realization that, that I'm not where I belong anymore. What do you think, you know, do you think, do you think I could jump in and join you?
And he's always been that guy that kinda, kinda builds everybody up. He's, he's really fantastic that way. [00:40:00] And, uh, and yeah, he's like, I would love to have you, but I can't afford you right now. He's like, so, so hang on and let me grow my business a little bit. And, uh, we stayed in touch, kept having dinner from time to time.
And yeah, he, he did call me finally and says, okay, man, I think, I think we're ready to go. Let's, let's do this.
And so, uh,
Riley: that
Trevor Broughton: that was probably two to three months overall. Really, it wasn't that big. So Grace, gracefully, gracefully, I, I'm glad because that was torture. Once you've made up your mind that you're done somewhere to keep forging forward and pushing and trying to deliver the best services.
Right. And be, be what you, what you know is Right. It's, it's hard to push through that.
Riley: you know, that's a, that's an interesting thing you just said, man. Um, I ex I've experienced that like in endurance races, right? Where in your [00:41:00] mind you've got it set that, hey, finish line should be right up around this corner and you come around that corner, that finish line's not for another mile or half mile,
Trevor Broughton: Mm-hmm.
Riley: a quarter you got more than you planned on. You've checked out already, right? There's that, what do they call
Trevor Broughton: Absolutely. Yeah. Um, yeah, that's, that's an interesting point. It's, it's a, and that's from so many years of, I mean, I, I did push through and I still had happy clients when I left, but, uh, and I've still got a great relationship with all the guys there. I, I want that to be known that I just, I really do. I respect all love them.
they're still brothers.
Riley: you that's, you know, you're talking about three months at a place where you've mentally checked out, yet
as a, as a, you've gotta still what you're being paid to do. So what's that look like?
Trevor Broughton: Ah, it was just, it was a little bit of torture and a little bit of, uh, just, [00:42:00] uh, just buckling down. Right. Just, just knowing what you need to do is Right. Um, and part of it comes from, I mean, we didn't touch on it at all, but I, I spent my childhood kinda doing, you know, I think, you know, some judo and then, and then, uh, mountain bike racing and things where, like you said, that endurance kicks in and you've just gotta go and you gotta just keep finishing or else, um, there's nobody back there in mountain bike racing.
Back in Poy in the nineties, there was nobody to pick you up at the end. I don't even think they had sweepers back then. So you just, you had to finish.
You just had to finish.
Riley: Well,
Trevor Broughton: So maybe some of that, I don't know.
Riley: earlier if you know that that math credit you didn't get, that ticks you
Trevor Broughton: Mm-hmm.
Riley: today. You know,
and I think did that play into it where you're just like, I'm not doing that again, man, I'm gonna finish this time.
Trevor Broughton: Maybe, maybe subconsciously it, it may have, um, that fear of failure again, that fear of, of letting [00:43:00] people down is probably my biggest flaw.
Riley: Wh why
Trevor Broughton: So, really great from a customer service standpoint, right?
Riley: Are you just talking about from
Trevor Broughton: Sorry, what was that?
Riley: think that's a flaw?
Trevor Broughton: Oh, because it drives me sometimes to places I don't need to be mentally. Right. So, um, once I started with this firm, I, you know, kept pushing through and it was great. And then Mark was really pushing me to go ahead and get my license. 'cause I had worked under him for a long time, so I had my hours. I mean, I've been doing this for, you know, 20 years.
So I knew what I needed to know. I, I thought, um. And, and he was pushing me hard. So I finally went ahead and started it, started the process. Um,
I had a lot of doubts, you know, because I just [00:44:00] not good at school, right? We've talked about that, that I just, no good. Um, so there's huge fear of failure there. Um, but I started studying, I started working my tail off and I, I actually traveled to, I've got a family cabin up in the, up in the woods. So I drove my bike like nine hours to get to this cabin.
And I read this massive, massive pro practice book, um, in that, in that week. And then I came home and I'm like, okay, I, I got this. I'm gonna take this test. And if anybody knows the a RE, the architect exams are, there's, there's series of six tests. And they're all between three and six hours long. Um, they're, they're brutal, frankly.
Um, so I took my first one thinking, and it was according to the internet, the easy test, right? So I took my easy test and I bombed it. Dude, I thought [00:45:00] I, I read that book. I thought I knew all of it, and I bombed it. And, uh, all of a sudden I let down everybody, let down myself, my family, my boss, you know, I actually didn't tell anybody but my wife for quite a while.
Um, I didn't know how I would even keep going. . Um, took me about six months, honestly, to get my crap back together and give it a go. And, uh, actually figured out again that I don't learn that way. It's so, it's so crazy that you can forget that you don't learn a certain way. So I actually, by the grace of God, kind of found this really cool program that, uh, that's very visually driven and it's to help people pass the a RE, right?
So I, I, I hired this firm and it's a series of videos and, and everything is sketched and [00:46:00] animated and graphical, like an architect would probably understand, you know, and everything freaking clicked. So I took the hardest test first. The next round passed it, and then I scheduled another one after a couple of weeks and passed that one and another one.
And past that. And so I'm like halfway done. But, but to get through this process, I'm still working a full-time job. I'm still a full-time dad. So I'm getting up at 4 30, 5 in the morning and I'm studying, I, I'm watching these videos and doing the study until about seven 15. And then I jump in the shower, jump in my car, run to work, and work till six.
And then I go home and I start taking practice tests and start doing that kind of stuff. And that lasted for, for a couple of months. Um, and I was burned out, man. I was done. So the final three tests, I, I got a wild hair and went, I'm [00:47:00] gonna schedule one for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
So I did, and I scheduled those, and that was the most brutal weekend I've ever had in my life. Just get up, study and then hit this test for four hours. Um, go to bed study, hit the next test for four hours and then the final one. And somehow I passed all three of 'em. It was incredible. I, I was just fired up and was so excited.
'cause then I got to go dirt biking later that afternoon with the, with the kids. That was like the perfect weekend ever.
Riley: kind of got all the hard stuff out of the way, and
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
But it was that driven fear of failure.
Riley: I find that really interesting, man, because I said, we've all had those experiences where something just doesn't really go our way, and there's that. [00:48:00] That feeling like you just got the wind knocked out of you and, you know, you mentioned it taking six months to kinda
Trevor Broughton: I.
Riley: even get your
together where you thought you even wanted to try again. And those times, man, I, gosh, I have that, uh, those experiences like that, you know, I wasn't able to, I got sick at the beginning of this year, wasn't able to do my juujitsu black belt test. And,
Trevor Broughton: Hmm,
Riley: I had that
that same feeling just like, man, my confidence got knocked out from underneath me. And you know, I, I don't know where you went with that, but just, I had just had to finally go, you know what, it'll happen when it happens. you know, it's not like I'm any dumber today than I was yesterday. I just, this is, this is where we're at and we just gotta keep going. You know? And yeah. And it was super discouraging, but it sounds like a little bit of the same thing you're, you're talking about it's discouraging, but we just gotta keep on keeping on.
Trevor Broughton: absolutely. Yeah. And, and I may be a little [00:49:00] dumber than I was 'cause I've had some head injuries in the past, but, uh.
Riley: Oh God. Well
Trevor Broughton: Um, but yeah, it's timing's everything,
Riley: what do you think in that, in that run, your career run has been the biggest challenge to you?
Trevor Broughton: balance, balancing, um, work life and home life, really trying to maintain a successful marriage and not be absent for my kids' lives and be a part of what they're doing and still keep up here on, in the office, you know, in front of the customers, trying to keep, keep their lives and their projects as a, as a priority and, and yet make my family feel like they're a priority.
And I've had, you know, tons of failures and successes in that, in that realm. So that's probably the hardest I'd say.
Riley: and I think maybe this is where you're going with, with what you just said, but you've [00:50:00] mentioned that, desire to please people three or four times now in the conversation and what have you done like as far as conscious level? 'cause I, I've, I've gathered just by watching you over the years that you've, you've begun to figure out how to place boundaries on that and how to say no sometimes. was that a conscious thing for you or what, what, where'd you learn that?
[00:51:00]
Trevor Broughton: I.
I, don't know. I think it's probably just trial and error over the years. Um, I've picked up a, a ton of hobbies. I've picked up a ton of things and, you know, I'll, I'll start to head in that direction and I've, I've had to, to put those things aside, um, multiple times, you know? Um. Just because they [00:52:00] start to take focus away from, from what's what I feel is truly important, which is, you know, the family and then, and then the career really.
Um, those two things are kinda kind of that juggling act. And, uh, and I've, you know, I am kinda like not quite to the point where you are, where you, you can, you are incredible because you can commit to something and you just go in. And, and I've always noticed and admired you that you've had this incredible sense of balance and, uh, and I strive for that too.
So you've been a great example for me there. And I've, I've also been able to surround myself with some incredible people. Um, I always try to find guys that I feel are. I will say better people than me. That makes any sense. I feel like they're, they're stronger, they're, they're smarter and, uh, and they're more put together.
So I try to surround myself with [00:53:00] those kinds of people constantly. And I, I think a large part of that is, is that, is I've surrounded with myself with successful people that are, that are driven and, uh, and good at what they do. And, uh, and they have a good sense of balance, if that makes any sense. So,
Riley: man. You know, I think that's important for everybody to hear is the people you surround yourself with matter, right? You, you
Trevor Broughton: absolutely.
Riley: if you're, if you're the top of the game, if you're the top of the crowd you hang out with, the only thing you have to look at is down, right? So yeah, you have these people, we call 'em mentors, right?
People who have, who have been there and, and I don't know about you, but. Not every person that I would consider a mentor is a mentor in every area.
Trevor Broughton: Absolutely not. You nailed that one.
Riley: Yeah. I've had guys [00:54:00] that are like, you know, they're a mentor as far as being like a triathlete. Like I can look up to
Trevor Broughton: Mm-hmm.
Riley: as a triathlete, but their marriage is terrible. And so they're not my mentor in their marriage. You know, I'm, I'm looking at it with, with different eyes when I see that, you know, that's, and so we have these relationships in our world that, you know, they have pluses and minuses, right?
Everybody's, you, you use the term, better people than me. Maybe they're better at some things than you. They're not better
Trevor Broughton: Fair enough.
Riley: you we all have our, our shortsighted sides, right? Our blind spots, you know,
Trevor Broughton: Mm-hmm.
Riley: stick. Those same guys on a, on a drawing of a. You know, some, some drafting work and watch, watch. Now all of a sudden you're the mentor, right?
Trevor Broughton: Right. Yeah, exactly. But, uh, but I like, I do like to find things in people that I admire, and then I do like to, [00:55:00] to pursue a relationship with those guys to where I can learn from 'em. And I, I guess that's the, the end goal, right? Is to continue to learn from people and have them be positive, uh, influences in your life.
So, and I've got a pile of those. I'm, I'm super grateful. I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world because of that, um, surrounded by just incredible men. So,
Riley: Well, you've done some, so you talk about that, that work life balance and kind of keeping up with your family and stuff, and, and you've done something here recently that I kind of, I take a look at again from the outside and I go, man, that's freaking cool. And, and it's. You and your son have, he's racing mountain bikes and he's a beast. I don't understand the physics behind what happens there 'cause he's a big dude, but he,
Trevor Broughton: yeah.
Riley: like a And it's weird to me. I, you know, I'm a mountain biker too, and so I understand the physics of how difficult it is to push weight up a hill [00:56:00] man. And he's bigger than I am. And he's way faster than I am. But, but you have, you have gotten on the trails with him and, and started, you, you guys spend a lot of time mountain biking together. So talk about that. And the
Trevor Broughton: Yeah. Yeah.
Riley: with
Trevor Broughton: Well, it's, it's varied, right? The challenges, because I'm old and I'm broken. I've got a lot of years of bad decisions and good times behind me.
Um, man, yeah, I've got, uh, I've got, I've had two ankle surgeries. My last ankle surgery, I had to, I, I had lost one of the, the ligaments in there. I had broken it and just let it die because I'm stubborn and I don't go to the hospital. So I just lived on with a busted ankle. And, uh, so I had this great doctor reattached and put a cadaver hamstring in my ankle and rebuilt my ankle.
So I got about 80% capacity there. Then a year ago I smoked my knee again. [00:57:00] Um, ended up three meniscus tears, um, some bone chips and a bunch of other things. And a, um, relocated or dislocated patellar tendon. So I had to have all of that stuff repaired. And so I'm struggling to hang with this kid who, like you said, is a monster.
Um, he's six two and, and just, he's just a beast on a mountain bike. He, I've always been pretty good at downhill on a bike, you know, I just, that lack of fear, I can kind of turn stuff off. Um, and this kid snaps at a corners, like I can't, I can't hang with, um, he actually snaps out of him and I'm like pedaling in trying to chase him down.
But I'm on an e-bike now because I'm just, my knee just won't handle it anymore. I don't know that there's any meniscus left. So it's that, that kind bone on bone and, uh. But it's incredible to go watch this kid grow and, uh, and become the monster that he is. [00:58:00] So it's fun. We do a lot of trail riding. Um, we get to ride in, in Oregon this year and ride some of that really cool dense low meat mountain stuff.
And, uh, oh my gosh. I feel like I need to relocate my, my, my life again to go live over there. Um, it's incredible. Um, but it's fun to watch him grow and, and just become the man he's gonna be. Um, part of that is I've gotten him into the gym too. I've always been kind of a Jim monkey. I've one of those gentlemen that I mentioned just huge in my life.
He's always been just larger than life, I guess I could say. Right. Um, he pulls rocks for, well, he is gonna pull truck for 26.2 miles this fall.
Riley: gonna be on
Trevor Broughton: Uh.
Riley: a couple more episodes.
Trevor Broughton: Oh, nice.
Riley: We're gonna talk about that truck pole. So, uh,
Trevor Broughton: Oh, that's good.
Riley: You're in for a [00:59:00] treat when you get to meet this guy,
Trevor Broughton: Oh my gosh.
Riley: of a preview.
Trevor Broughton: Oh, the most gentle giant, um, intelligent beyond belief. Um, he's got degrees in, I don't even know, biomechanics and physical education and all kinds of other stuff. He does, uh, he does, um, deep tissue massage. He's a black belt and Brazilian jiujitsu. Um, he's done strong man. He is done just, he's, he's a monster of a volleyball player too.
Just terrifying to be on the other side of the net of this dude, if I, and volleyball can be terrifying when you're standing against these guys. Um. Just strong man. Like you wouldn't believe. Like I've always been pretty strong. I've, I've, I've lifted and I've always again followed my, surrounded myself by these monsters.
And so me being strong above average, strong [01:00:00] is still about half of what these guys are. That's what's fun about it.
Riley: Trevor, you mentioned he's gonna be pulling a truck for a marathon distance. So 26.2
Trevor Broughton: yeah. Yeah.
Riley: harness
and a rope pulling a diesel pickup across the sa the
Trevor Broughton: In the salt flats. Yeah.
Riley: October, I believe. He told me. Um, yeah, you gotta know this guy and it'll be fun to get on the episode.
So that's a preview
Trevor Broughton: I will. Yeah. Yeah.
He's a wild ride. You guys are gonna enjoy him a lot.
Riley: Um.
Trevor Broughton: those are the kinds of guys I try to surround myself with. Yeah.
Riley: Yeah. So that's, yeah. Living up to anything even remotely in, in the world he operates in physically and kind of one of those dudes that just kind of does what five people do.
Trevor Broughton: Mm-hmm.
Riley: just
Trevor Broughton: Absolutely. Dude, [01:01:00] shark Tank with that guy is always a blast, right? You, every year for his birthday, we'd, we'd put him in the, in the middle and five to seven guys would just jump in with him every two minutes for, for whatever age he was 45 minutes straight. And just, he, he never came out on the worst end of that, which was, it shocked me Every time
Riley: It's pretty cool stuff,
Trevor Broughton: he
Riley: So you found mentors, um, what, what gets Trevor up in the morning these days? Man, I.
Trevor Broughton: old age man. I, uh, after the toll, the, the whole a RE exam thing. I'm stuck. I wake up at 5:00 AM Anyways, now, um, I've always been kind of a late night guy and after that whole process, it like rewired my brain. So now everybody in my home sleeps in and I'm up at five regardless. So [01:02:00] I, I love that time. Now that's my quiet time.
I get to, to spend some time on the back porch, drinking some coffee and just kind of thinking about what's going on, you know, getting my then on, if you will. Um,
it's good. It's calming.
Yeah,
Riley: a favor? 'cause you
on that back porch man, and people don't realize where you live. You live up against the Wasatch Front mountains and the view out your back door is ridiculous.
It's,
Trevor Broughton: Yeah, that back porch is pretty hot
Riley: amazing, man. So who, who in your
Trevor Broughton: uh.
Riley: has influenced you say?
Trevor Broughton: Oh, man, that's a tough question, Ry. Um, I don't know that there's any single one.
Not to, to avoid your question too hard, but I think it's just a, it's a conglomeration of people, um, like you said, [01:03:00] aspects of admiration for different people and their talents and assets. Yeah, I don't know if there's any single person that's, that's really driven me, um, or, or helped me realize myself. I think it, it is more of a, a group village type process for me, if that makes any sense.
Um, and I can name probably 50 of 'em if you want, but that'll get old and boring.
Riley: No,
Trevor Broughton: Nobody on.
Riley: I, I think that speaks to something though, man, because you know, I've, in this conversation, I've heard you mention a few people and just the mention of their name, I see the emotion, well, upright. Um, I think we all share that. I think there's that, uh, driven, people can all speak of mentors, man, and they can all speak of that, [01:04:00] how they affected their life and, and, and There's some deep emotion in there, man. And you're not, you're not the only person to do exactly what, just what you just did there. Um, where gosh, you start realizing how years later the effect a certain person's had on you and just the, yeah. It's like, it's amazing. It's amazing to hear. So what I want people to take away from this is just the. Find those mentors, find those people who can challenge you. Find those people who can hurt your feelings by telling you the truth. Right. listen to 'em. And it, you know, you, you've, you've mentioned several of those people who have just pushed you on, you see a, an area of weakness in your own life, and then, but you find somebody to stick there who's gonna challenge you and help you grow through that and, you know, great.
Trevor Broughton: You, you, you mentioned one person and I, I rebut with, it almost feels like a disservice to each of those other people to name one. Does that make sense?
Riley: I could [01:05:00] see it, but No,
Trevor Broughton: That's fair.
Riley: think, I don't think, I guess I wouldn't take it that way, man. I, I would, uh. You know, 'cause I know some of the guys you're talking, or, or you know, you, you haven't named names, but I know some of the guys who have been involved in your life were close enough there. And I, I think each one of 'em would be proud of what the other person's done in your world.
Right. Um, that's the thing about it that I've noticed about people who are getting crap done or never resentful about people who are asking them
Trevor Broughton: Yeah, no,
Riley: they're never critical. encouragers. You know, it's the people who are always critical of us are always the ones who, the people who want to tear us down are, are, are never out there killing it. Right. You know, this is why you speak so highly of Arlo is 'cause he's not that kind of dude. You know, I've only sat and talked to Arlo a couple times in my life, but I could just, he's [01:06:00] not that kind of dude, man. He's gonna build you up.
Right?
Trevor Broughton: no. You're, you're in for a.
Riley: gonna be a great time. So look forward to it, man. Trevor, what's a, what is a book that you would recommend everyone read?
Trevor Broughton: Hmm. I am gonna feel pretty dumb here 'cause I forgot the name of it, but it's, uh, it has to do with choosing discomfort. Um, actually it was a gift from Arlo. Um, it's, it's about, and I, gosh, I cannot remember the name of it for the life of me, but, uh, it's basically living in discomfort to grow. And, uh, and I've learned that in my creative lifestyle where things begin to get stale, right?
You, you kinda run into what's called a, like a writer's block or something like that. And, uh, because you're just going through the groove, doing your thing every [01:07:00] day. It's the monotony of kind of doing the same thing even though everything's different. And I found that, um. That sometimes I need to get out and, uh, and I'm one of the weirdos that loves to, to go out and I'll, I'll jump on my adventure bike or whatever and I'll ride and I'll live in the dirt and I'll, you know, camp to the stars and live uncomfortably for a period of time.
Um, have a couple hundred near death experiences along the way, you know, and, and, uh, and I come back and I'm refreshed and, and that, that discomfort has, has sparked something in me that creates creativity and drive to continue to be, um, to serve and to, to, to deliver better services to the people that I'm, I'm working with and working for.
Riley: You just, [01:08:00] you just hit on something there that a little off subject, but you sorta not because you were off subject, you were
Trevor Broughton: It's okay.
Riley: But something off subject. How's that?
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: that time when you're by yourself, you're out there doing something that's very uncomfortable, comes, right? just had
Trevor Broughton: Mm-hmm.
Riley: where.
Well, this podcast, the idea to start this podcast came on a 20 hour drive I'm just, I'm on a freeway out in the middle of freaking Oklahoma somewhere, and there's nothing but grass for as far as I can see in any direction. And that little white line is clicking by man, and I'm don't have the radio on.
I don't have a podcast plan. I'm just, just tire noise. Right. I'm thinking after a couple hours of that, I started getting very creative. Um, [01:09:00] talk about that a little bit, man. What, what's your thoughts on that idea?
Trevor Broughton: Oh, it's absolutely a thousand percent. Um, I, I just had a, I had a, a, a project, um, in, in Northern Colorado that, that had been arranged for me outside of my, my timeline, if that makes sense. Um, in a vacuum. Some other people made some decisions and, and all of a sudden I had to be at this project at Monday, 9:00 AM and uh, I had already had a family vacation planned in the mountains of Wyoming, clear up near the Nevada border.
And, uh, there was no way I was gonna be able to get all the way home. It's a 10 hour drive and then turn around, get a rental car and run all the way back there and, and not neglect my family. Right. And cut this trip short. So [01:10:00] my lust for adventure and discomfort spawned I, I threw my adventure bike in the back of my truck and we drove the truck up and, uh, had a great time with the family.
Good, good times. And then we unloaded that son of a gun and I rode that thing for nine hours straight. Um, it was fun because I got to choose the new dirt road that I'd never been on in my life. And it was occasionally urs, you know, riding along the ridge lines, um, probably as I shouldn't have been alone.
But, uh, but it was good. It cut off like 40 miles a freeway, so it was worth it. Um, all dirt ride down. It's 52 degrees up on top of the mountain, just, you know, wondrous on the, in the, in the Bighorn mountains of Wyoming. Drop down into the plains of, of Wyoming, and it's 102 degrees on a motorcycle, almost no wind protection.
Um, just hammering [01:11:00] down the freeway. And, uh, and the whole time I'm headed down to this project, um, I'm, I'm just in my own head. I don't listen to music when I ride. I, I literally just put my earbuds in and it's, it's all in my own head space. And I, my wife calls me a little bit of a psychopath because of this, but, but I'm good.
I, I love it. It's, it's my, it's my space. Um. So I ride this, this 102 degrees, and then as you hit Laramie, the, the, this, the clouds come rolling in and it's lightning and rain and hail and snow and wind for the next hour and a half. And, uh, and I get to my hotel and, and I'm refreshed. Believe it or not, I took a shower and I feel great.
And, and that project was, was a riot. I just was filled with creativity and, and excitement and just that, that discomfort of freezing my can off in the rain and snow was just, I don't know what, [01:12:00] it spurs something I, you know, you can call it monkey brain, you can call it whatever you want, but it just, it, or lizard brand, whatever they call it.
But man, you, it spawns something inside of us that, that allows us to be more creative and get into places of our brain that we, we can't access when we're comfortable, if that makes sense.
Riley: noise, right? It's just that, that being entertained,
Trevor Broughton: Yeah.
Riley: but when you just have that, you're in that zone. It's a beautiful thing. So, yeah. awesome, man. Um. This podcast, it's called the Go Earn Your Salt Podcast. And when you heard that term, when you, when you hear go earn your salt, what does that mean to you?
Trevor Broughton: It means putting the work in, um, going above, beyond, uh, pushing through. Um, like I said, I've done a lot of things over my life. Just, just ridiculous. [01:13:00] Ridiculous things that we've, we've not gotten into. And, uh, uh, maybe next time. But, uh, but every single one of 'em is just pushing through. Um, when, when, if you stop, you may die.
If you, if you push through, you won't gain that, that, that, uh, that edge on your competition. If you push through, you just, you earn something that, uh, that everybody out there can't relate to.
Riley: Oh man. That's beautifully said. Oh, um, you wanna move on to some lighter questions?
Trevor Broughton: Sure, man,
Riley: Well, you mentioned, uh, you mentioned the adventure bike thing, but what's your, what's your absolute and favorite pastime?
Trevor Broughton: I've got so many, um. I love the dirt bike. I loved a mountain bike. Um, I [01:14:00] love just being in the gym, doing strong man type stuff. Uh, watching my kids grow and get strong. I mean, my, my 17-year-old just joined the thousand pound club, so that's, that's incredible for me to go see that kind of stuff happen.
Riley: gym rats, what the heck is a thousand pound club?
Trevor Broughton: Oh, it's your, your squat, your deadlift in your bench equals a thousand pounds, whatever configuration it is. So, uh,
Riley: So,
Trevor Broughton: kid is, is 17 and he is out pulling me on deadlift. Now, I, I claim it's because I'm old and broken, but I don't know.
Riley: 98 pound bench press is a, uh, I got a long way to go in the other two to, to get to a thousand, huh?
Trevor Broughton: Yeah. Yeah. You gotta, you got a waste to go bud.
Riley: All right. So you, you go to a restaurant and you order a hamburger and they put the veggies on below the patty. Is that okay? Is that even moral?[01:15:00]
Trevor Broughton: This is gonna hurt your feelings because, uh, I, uh, I don't eat bread. Um, I have some weird situations. So every burger I eat iss either lettuce wrapped or it don't matter. I just throw it on the plate and rock and roll.
Riley: are surrounding the patty.
Trevor Broughton: Absolutely, man. It, it don't matter whether it's on top or bottom 'cause it's, it's there.
Riley: a gun. All right. We'll just cut that crap outta the episode. I don't even know. I mean, we're obviously not
Trevor Broughton: That's fair. Yeah. Yeah. That friendship is gone. I'm,
Riley: it out. Uh, have you ever been in a fight
Trevor Broughton: yeah. Yes. I've been in, in quite a few actually. Um, thankfully most of them were long, long ago. Nothing recent. Um, had a couple of close calls, but, uh, but yeah, it's something, I hate to say this, but I think [01:16:00] everybody should probably experience at least once in their life.
Um, there's nothing like being hit man and having your every plan that you thought you were gonna be, this, this badass warrior just goes to hell.
Um,
every kid fantasizes, like they're, they're gonna be amazing, right? When the, when the thing actually hits and, uh, and all of a sudden you're scrambling. Um,
Riley: we joke about that a lot in the juujitsu world, right? About the, the guy who sees red and then, you know, the first time he gets on
Trevor Broughton: oh yeah.
Riley: like, I can, I'll just see Red man. And, then that first time he into a Juujitsu match, he, he understands, oh, seeing red doesn't help me at all.
Trevor Broughton: Oh man. Every little guy in Juujitsu with more than a white belt is, is proof of that. They just. I, they're dangerous, they're flat, dangerous. And if you don't know what you're doing, you're host.
Riley: man. Uh, scariest moment of your life.[01:17:00]
Trevor Broughton: Um, I don't know if you heard about this one, but, uh, mother's Day, quite a few years ago, family and I took off. Uh, I had just detailed and spruce spruced up my wife side by side so that we could, you know, just that's a nice thing for her, for Mother's Day. And she said she wanted to go for a ride. So we took off and went up in the mountains.
You know, it's Mother's Day, so it's, it's cold out. We got some light jackets on and, uh, and we're up in the mountains of Utah bouncing around. We've done that a ton of times. And, uh, we ended up getting stuck. And I, I buried the side by side in a snowbank. Um, uh, lo and behold, when I detailed her rig, I took all the recovery gear out.
Didn't think to put it back in, didn't think to put anything back in. So we were, we were without, I mean, I, I've made a kind of a [01:18:00] halftime career of going up and recovering people for years. It's just one of the things I like to do is go up and, you know, pull people out of this dumb decisions that they made.
Well, I was, I was in the middle of a dumb decision on a Sunday night at 5:00 PM and the sun's going down and so we, uh, we dug for about an hour and then it started to, to rain and snow and we're at 9,000 feet. Um, so I made the decision to send my family down the mountain. I said, get out, just follow the road and go as fast as you can.
And I dug for another hour until it was dark and I was soaked, couldn't get the rig out. So I started to run and I, I ended up catching them at about mile 12. Ran down this mountain. We ended up going 14 miles. Um, my boy was in like, converses. Um, it was freezing cold, pitch dark. [01:19:00] No moon, of course. 'cause you couldn't have a moon to see the, the trail on.
And, uh, and yeah, that was probably the scariest time thinking that I probably killed my family.
Riley: How
Trevor Broughton: But we, uh, we broke into a barn and I was, I, I found it down below. I broke into a barn. I was gonna, gonna sleep. In the hay bales and just try to keep everybody warm for the night and figure out a fire at some point.
Um, and then Jeff, before we went to bed down for the night, I had, uh, I was dying of thirst, so I, I said, okay, let's go, let's go see if we can find some water. So we, we step out and there's a, there's a little county road there. Um, and these just as soon as we got to the road, these lights come around the corner and, uh, so we're like waving sticks and rocks and throwing things and trying to get this guy's attention.
And, uh, it turns out it was the, the county Sheriff's department. [01:20:00] Um, my wife had somehow gotten a message out to one of my friends who was search and rescue, um, at. The one point where she had half a bar of service and, and he got a per partial message and was able to start sending people out. And so we were, we were rescued at like 2:00 AM uh, frozen and covered in mud and wet and soaked.
But, uh, but it's something, uh, that the kids will never forget. Right. Uh, keep pushing, keep pushing on.
I mean, they might be traumatized for life, but, uh,
Riley: You know, I bet you
Trevor Broughton: but keep pushing on.
Oh, man.
Riley: it'd I,
Trevor Broughton: Uh, no. Um, it's, it's funny now, but it's not a fun memory. Um, no. No, uh, my son was little, little [01:21:00] tiny, and my daughter actually, she was running triathlon at the time for junior high, so she was like, this is great.
You know, 14 miles is no big deal. Um, but my son was really young and he was struggling and my wife was struggling through this, and yeah, it was, it was a bad deal.
Riley: That's legit. All right. Uh, what's next man? What's a, what's a bucket list challenge you have for your future?
Trevor Broughton: Um. Possibly, uh, um, owning my own business, maybe starting, uh, starting a firm, maybe purchasing a firm. Um, kinda seeing what, what comes next in terms career wise. I wanna travel more. I want to be flexible enough to work hybrid to where I could work from, from the top of a mountain. Um, my job is, is pretty flexible that way, and I'd, I'd love to be able to tailor my career to facilitate that, [01:22:00] if that makes any sense.
I, I think it could be a lot of fun. Um, and, and again, going back to that creativity, if I'm a little dis uncomfortable, then maybe that creativity will, will flow a little more freely.
Riley: I hear where you're going with that. Little career, career discomfort, maybe, huh?
Trevor Broughton: Yeah. Yeah.
Riley: All right, my friend. Well, listen, thanks for coming on. It was an honor to have you.
Trevor Broughton: Thanks for the opportunity, um, and the discomfort. I, I'm sure some creativity will bloom from it.
Riley: go earn your salt, my man.
Trevor Broughton: Thanks, my friend. Bye-bye.
[01:23:00]