Presence & Profitability

This is Hans Schile from the Finishing Well Podcast.

On Finishing Well, we help you make godly choices about Medicare, long-term care, and your money. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Friends, I feel like I'm holding a newborn baby in my hands. That's right.

You're not hearing cooing and awwing and crying. You're hearing the sound of a book because my buddy, Phillip Kelly Jr., has written this book, Presence and Profitability, Understanding the Value of Authentic Communications in the Age of Hyperconnectivity. This is a treasure. I'm excited to read it. Now, I know a little bit about it because you and I sat together. It's been almost over a year.

We were at the Mayflower Rural Hall. You told me about this, Phil. I thought, he's never going to write a book. No one ever gets to the finish line, but you did it, brother. Congratulations.

I did. You are an inspiration because you gave me your book. I knew it could be done. Just based on what's happening in the world, I'm a very proactive guy. You and I grew up together.

We've always both kind of been that way. I had something to say. It's great to see a finished work. I'm very excited.

Congratulations. This book, it's much needed. More and more people are using their phones.

Their phones have replaced relationships. The word authentic, authenticity, is all throughout your book, Phil, even from the perusal I've made so far of it. I'm excited to take a deeper dive. After I've taken the deeper dive, I'm going to have to have you back on the show. I'm Stu Epperson.

This is Truth Talk. My buddy, Phil Kelly, lifelong friend forever. He was really the trailblazer at Mount Tabor High School hitting that game-winning shot against Reynolds.

He can't not avoid the game-winning shot. It's the shot like the Leitner shot. It's the shot by Phil Kelly to beat Reynolds. They weren't happy, were they? All our Reynolds buddies. 15 minutes of fame.

It was a beautiful thing. He's still talking about it. He and I have played a lot of basketball together. More importantly, he's been a real friend and mentor to me in business.

Tell a little bit about who is Phil Kelly Jr.? I want to get into the book a little bit, why you wrote it, but tell us who you are a little bit. How would you kind of do a biographical sketch of yourself from family, growing up, school, business, etc.?

Well, yeah, I'll kind of start. This is a Christian radio station, which I'm thrilled to be part of. I grew up in a wonderful family. I went to church often, but I really did not find Christ in that environment. I found him through Young Life, and I went from being a very introverted kid who loved sports. I've always loved sports, which is where you and I connected, to lacking self-confidence, to literally, I was born again the moment I met Jesus and just became a confident individual immediately, even in my young days.

I talk about it in the book, my trajectory changed with that level of confidence. So, I've just felt blessed with that. Again, I have a great family. I've gone to some good schools. I have an undergraduate master's degree from Georgia Tech, a pretty good engineering school down in Georgia, and an MBA from Clemson.

Great school, pretty good at football, although not so much this year. But I grew up in print. Never planned to come back, but my mother and father started a business, a really small printing company here in Winston-Salem.

I came back by accident to join them and left a really good job down in Georgia with a sizable pay cut, not much vacation, and found that I just love the world of print. And then, of course, there's been all kind of new technologies. Like you said, we're all kind of ruled by the cell phone and online experiences. But again, in my belief system, I believe we are all created in the image of God. And that's a pretty major statement in that when we, I challenge a lot of people, look at yourself in the mirror and say, I'm great at something.

You'll find you'll have a hard time doing that. Most people will divert their eyes from looking at themselves and telling them they're great at something. Well, Jesus really has instilled with me, not a self-confidence, I call it God confidence.

And that with him, I can do all things. So with that kind of basic belief, I'm also a businessman. I'm a big believer in capitalism.

There's a lot of talk about how that's bad. Capitalism is a wonderful moralistic based, by the way, biblical based societal tool. And I love the founding of the United States of America. So I don't apologize for that.

I in fact celebrate them. So this book is written from a business success standpoint, both corporately and for us as individuals, but also about personal empowerment. I don't believe the internet rules me. I do know, cause I use the data that comes from Facebook and this cell phone, that they do study me. They do try to do things that try to make me act certain ways, but I'm in control of that.

This brain that God gave me, these gifts that God gave me, I am ultimately in control of that. So if instead of it ruling me and me accepting that, I empower myself by using it, all of a sudden through these technologies, I have friends that date back years. You and I happen to live still 20 miles apart. We can't get out of Winston-Salem, can we brother? But every morning I wake up and my college roommate is a hedge fund manager living down in Florida.

So we made texts. My best buddy is a big CFO. I'm captain of the USA long range rifle team.

So I may check in with my fellow captain in Ireland, or I'm going to the world championships in South Africa. I have college buddies that are the head of IT for Intel and head of this Asia district of FedEx. Well, those people are literally around the world.

Well, I can reach them on a text, on this phone. So how do I empower myself? How do I empower a group, a team or a group of people to use technology in wonderful ways to change business, to be more profitable? And then as a Christian calling, how do I do it to change the world? I do believe one person acting through God's belief can literally change the world.

And if we all do that, if we team up in doing that, it's all up to us what happens. So the book is by itself is from the business perspective, but it really starts in a place of strength on an individual level. Well, and that's the inspiring voice of my good buddy, Phil Kelly Jr., the CEO of Salem One, just in a company, I love how you describe it, growing corporate communication solutions company. And you guys are providing definitive steps forward for success minded individuals in corporate boardrooms that will establish an effective presence. There's that word presence for profitability and growth. So what we have right now is we have a bunch of tails wagging a bunch of dogs with a smartphone, kids under control, their mood changes, what they see, their whole day changes, the way a husband smarts off to his wife, the way a boss will ream out his whole corporate office there because of something he saw in there. But you're saying let's take control and let's be the dog wagging the tail. And these devices and these social media and other dynamics and the digital spectrum are there to serve us.

We're not there to be their slaves. The book is presence and profitability, the author Phil Kelly Jr. Philip, let me ask you this question very simply. A lot of folks listening, what is it you want them to get out of reading this book? Again, I don't want to give them too much that they don't read it, but I want to give them enough so that they know this is a must read that needs to be on their bookshelf. Yeah, I'm going to answer that three ways because it really depends on the perspective of the reader.

First, there are a lot of books that are feel good books about communication. And I really did not write it from a feel good standpoint. I wrote it from a success standpoint. So for anyone in a corporate leadership position, you're under lots of pressure these days for success. And I do believe there's profitability in maintaining presence within your company within your corporate culture. By the way, your employees will enjoy more presence in your corporate culture. And then they'll exude that to your clients, clients. And there are lots of examples in this book of how many places do you go now that have lost presence, I use the example of McDonald's, you go to McDonald's, and you're punching in your order in a computer, you go to Chick-fil-A, and the lines wrapped around the store with an army of people serving you, you know, which one do you feel better on. So it is written to corporate leaders who want higher levels of profitability. I also think there are a lot of us individuals who want to succeed in life. Okay. Like I said earlier, I do believe we're empowered by God Almighty, each one of us individually. And so I want to empower folks for success.

The world is giving a false sense and the business world a false sense of work from home and send an email. That's a terrible place to be. And it's not good for you, by the way. Okay. You communicate so much more. God gave us 42 muscles in the face. I talk about this in the book. There are 42 muscles in the face. Can those expressions on those muscles come across in a phone call or an email? No. Do those muscles matter? Of course they do. They are the nuance.

The world is also kind of driving us apart through electronic communications. The reader of an email, if I write an email, I have no idea how Sean has taken that email. If I go, well, I think he should have read it the way I meant it. I'm a narcissist. You know, I don't know if he smiled and goes, yeah, man, I think that's right.

Or he goes, I don't, you know, or he grimaces on his face. So it is about individual success and leadership and empowerment. And then again, I love your show. I do love the Christian side of it. I don't mention, I do mention in the acknowledgement side. Can we come back to that? Cause I want to talk about how your faith has influenced your business and how really you're trying to connect folks to faith, but there's a power of the gospel with presence.

I mean, we're here because of God's presence in our life, but what a tool and what a way to inspire a fortune 500 executive or just a soccer mom who just wants to really manage the home and, and, and serve in, in her job or business, maybe someone who has a home-based business. We'll come back with Phil Kelly in his book, presence and profitability right over this on true talk. We'll pop a picture up to at my website or my Facebook page or my Instagram as well, where Phil is everywhere. I mean, you're all over the place and he's a marksman.

Wait till you hear about this. We're going to talk about some gold medals in a second here with Phil Kelly coming right back on truth talk. What do you do if you're a successful businessman, a follower of Jesus Christ, a family man, a world-class marksman, and I'm not exaggerating that. And you've had all the success, but you want to share it with others and you want others to be present. You want others to learn from your mistakes. You want to make others better, whether it's a business person or a pastor.

Well, you write a book and the book is called presence and profitability. And the author is Phil Kelly Jr. Phillip Kelly Jr. Phillip with one L and he's a longtime friend of mine. We're on the back porch of Maddy cakes. It's a beautiful fall day.

Phil Kelly. This book has been a real, is going to be a real blessing to a lot of people, but this has been a journey for you to write this. This, this is like birthing a baby, isn't it? It really is.

I've never done this before. So learning the process, consolidating ideas, it's a real process to it. Yeah. And you, you know, you talked a little bit about your faith and how young life really connected you to Christ, where you just people closer to your age, just sharing the Lord with you in life and whatnot. And, and now you're writing a book to help a whole lot of people connect with God's presence ultimately, but we are controlled by these, these devices. You've got people on their phones all the time. You've got people trying to have a meal and they're looking at their phone and they're, you know, I've been, I've literally taken pictures of our family.

First. I laughed at other people's family than our family. We're all sitting there and I've got pictures of all of us looking at our screens. So Phil, there's gotta be a way for like, we used to use illustration earlier for the dog to wag the tail instead of the tail, which is wagging the dog like crazy. We're controlled by these screens and it's literally driving our country into chaos.

Absolutely. I literally talk about those examples. And of course, what everybody talks about is the kitchen table. The kitchen table used to be the place where the kids and the parents came together. You talked about today's events, the knowledge of the, the senior parents was passed on to the kids. The kids asked questions, could challenge politely with questions, the parents, and it was a really time of communication, the best family time there was. And now the caricature, of course, of everyone, including the parents sitting around with their cell phone and finding out what the latest Kardashian trick is, you know? So I literally talk about that in the book and I do have a passion for kids, but I also talk about in the book, everybody talks about kids being hooked on technology and getting lost. In my world, the adults have surpassed the kids in business and how we act and how we communicate with them.

Some of the grownups need to grow up too. Exactly right. And I mean it positively. I don't mean it negatively, but to answer your question, with a focus on making sure your, the word is present, but that you have a relational value in all your communications. That's what is so empowering.

That's what kids are missing by the way. But that's what a lot of us adults are missing too in the way we connect with old friendships. You know, on one hand, you and I, we've been a long time and you and I can text each each other and for meeting up, for meeting for this interview, that's wonderful stuff, but that's not relational value. Only when we get together, we laugh, maybe share a challenge we're both having in our families or our personal lives. You can't do that over text or an email. That only comes through personal contact. So, you know, I think if we will each keep that, that push, that, that acknowledgement, we have relational value in things. The world would change if we would all do that. I love it.

And we're going to get into that and talk about how our faith impacts that, especially the book is presence and profitability. The cars you're driving by, there's someone that just honked me. They saw my honk. If you love Jesus bumper sticker, cause we're on the back deck of Maddie's cakes in advanced North Carolina, beautiful fall day, sipping some coffee, looking at that cheesecake.

We're gonna have to take a picture of that cheesecake. It's unreal. And you know, this is kind of a neat time just to sit down and talk to my friend who just wrote his book, the presence and profitability, Phillip Kelly Jr. Now the subtitle, I love understanding the value of authentic communications in the age of hyper connectivity. And then look at these chapter titles. Chapter one success is always found on the dance floor. One sentence description, just one sentence description of each chapter.

Put yourself in uncomfortable places and love it. Okay. The connectivity explosion, one sentence. My success in life is not dictated by the number of Facebook friends I have.

Oh goodness. The presence deficit chapter three. Someone liking me on Facebook has no presence presence whatsoever.

I have not impacted their life any. The psychology of presence chapter four. Jesus Christ created us uniquely and we all have unique human traits. And that is what you want to get to know in life.

The more friends you connect with, the more humans you connect with on a basic psychological value is what will determine the value of your life. Wow. Now section two, communication deployment mistakes, chapter five, hiding from technology and connectivity. There are lots of us older folks that want to hide from the use of technology.

That's a mistake. This cell phone can connect me to people around the world every day in a way where I do maintain presence. So don't hide from that. Don't reject it because it can be bad. Make it part of your life. Chapter six picks up on that hiding behind technology and connectivity. Yes, but never let this get in the way. A lot of people go in a meeting and set it between themselves and who they're talking to.

Put the airplane mode on. Stick it in your pocket and always have human relationship with whoever you're talking to. Eye contact's big. Okay, chapter seven, how did my brand end up there? Quick sentence of that one.

I know you enjoyed that chapter. Always keep control of where you are. If you put your brand online, it's scary how quickly your brand will connect to evil online.

Don't ever let it go there. Chapter eight, transactional versus experiential communications. From a business standpoint, we all get very happy when someone buys something. But too many are letting that be through a computer or a kiosk. Always say thank you. Always look somebody in the eye. The value's huge. Around the home stretch, for sake of time, we've got to be quick on these.

No, you're doing great. Section three, presence fuels profitability. Chapter nine, always take the path of highest value. Invest in relational moments with human beings, whatever it takes. Chapter 10, focus on relational value.

In all that you do, whether online or in person, relationships can happen through technology. Do whatever it takes in whatever avenue you have. Okay, I like this one. This will mix it up though. Chapter 11, org charts must change. That's a very business focused chapter. Organizational charts and decision making have to change. Every organization or company has to understand the totality of their communications.

Many of them have no idea what kind of different communications are going to different. There's a lot of practical stuff in this book, which I'm excited about. The conclusion, take us home with this. I'll see you on the dance floor and then take us to your faith in Christ and how that has made a real difference in this.

Sure. It's a personal statement. It's a challenge in that I'm not a good dancer.

I have lots of flaws, but you can count on me always being in the middle of the dance floor, always seeking out those relational moments. And that comes from a streak that I get through Christ. When you bring it to the Christian believer standpoint, if I empower myself with that understanding and I always connect with folks with that intention, just think what that means. And if you will do that as a fellow Christian and you'll do it, Dave and Sean, if we'll all connect that if one person can change the world, imagine what a group of people can do on that. So it's a challenge and a statement that that's where I'm going to be. And I hope to see everybody there with me.

Okay. He's trying to mobilize an army of people that will put down the screen and pick up the relationship and press the flesh and look in the eye and inspire and connect and start to build some more relationship, relational capital. The book is presence and profitability. The author, Phillip Kelly Jr. The subtitle, understanding the value of authentic communications in the age of hyperconnectivity. Now this book is chock full of a whole lot of stuff more than we covered, but we hopefully gave folks a little taste.

We whetted their appetite. Phil Kelly Jr. Take us home with maybe your faith in Christ. You talked about how when you really connected with Christ, you became born again, your life changed, your values changed, how you looked at everything from family to business, everything changed. How do you incorporate that into challenging people about presence, ultimately about priorities? What would you say taking us out of here in terms of the priority of presence and priority of the Lord and everything?

Sure. Well, I think all of us, especially I love this country. And I believe it's time for the Christ based community to take the world back a little bit. And my Christianity, the empowerment God has given me, it comes in the terms of confidence and nobody rules my world. Jesus Christ was the creator of the universe and earth and you and I, and no one else is in charge but him. Well, I see day after day, I meet kids, but I meet adults who lack self-confidence. I hear the statement, the world's gone crazy and it's out of my control.

No, we, the people from the constitution and Christ gifts to us, we were all uniquely created by God. That is such an empowerment tool. And if we all stepped into life every day with that empowerment feeling, just imagine how the world would change.

I believe there are better days ahead if we all own that and step into the world and not let those that want to lead us a different way go that way. Control it yourself. You've been given that power. And so that's where my passion comes from. I've had success in business by incorporating that. I've had success and I should say I've had failures too. I've had success and failure individually, but I sleep better when I act with the power God has given me. Amen. Philip Kelly Jr. Thanks for hanging out with us on Truth Talk today.

I'm Stu Epperson. The book is presence and profitability. Best way for folks to pick up the book? Amazon.com. Barnes and Noble is on all major online realities. Phil Kelly Jr. dot com. You can also find how to order it on that website. All right. Phil the love with Phil Kelly Jr.

Right. And hey, go buy one of these books and be encouraged by presence and profitability. Thanks for this book. Thanks for blessing us and for coming on the show and encouraging people to feel better about their life and their business and all these things.

This really covers a whole lot. Phil Kelly, longtime friend. God bless you, man. God bless you. Always good to hang out, Stu.