How to Achieve Sustainable Success in Business After Burnout with Entrepreneur Ral West

Ralph Estep Jr. 00:00
Do you ever feel overwhelmed trying to juggle your business, your family, your faith and finances? Well, my guest today knows exactly how that feels. She's built several successful companies over her 40 year career, but paying the price in burnout and broken commitments along the way. 

Ralph Estep Jr. 00:16
Well, before we get started, let's ground our conversation in scripture. And that starts with Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 through 7. Which reminds us this. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Welcome back to the Ask Ralph podcast. Mastering your finances with a Christian perspective.. 

Ralph Estep Jr. 00:52
I'm your host Ralph Estep, Jr.. And today, I have the privilege of interviewing longtime entrepreneur, Ral West. Ral has started multiple business over her 40 plus year career, including a company acquired by Alaska airlines back in 2008. 

Ralph Estep Jr. 00:52
She's a well-respected speaker and author on topics like goal setting, productivity, leadership, and customer service. But it hasn't been all smooth sailing. Ral hit rock bottom more than once under the weight of overload and overcommitment. She's here today to share what she wished she knew earlier about sustainable success. 

Ralph Estep Jr. 01:30
Ral, welcome to the show. I'm so happy you joined the Ask Ralph podcast!

Ral West 01:34
Thank you, Ralph. It's a pleasure to be here.

Ralph Estep Jr. 01:38
Now, I know you've been doing this a long time. In our pre interview, you talked about you've been at this for 40 years. So take us back to what originally drew you to the world of business and entrepreneurship.

Ral West 01:49
 Okay, I was born into an entrepreneurial family. My father was an entrepreneur and actually my mother's parents were entrepreneurs. But I grew up with a father who is known for being the father of Alaska tourism. So I grew up being very attached to Alaska. My hometown is Seattle. But I was making trips to Alaska from a very early age. 

Ral West 02:13
And in the early 80s, I was offered a job in Ketchikan, Alaska, which is the southernmost city in Alaska. And it was to be a director of marketing for a tour company. So I, after much consternation, took the job and after about a year there, I decided, this is not for me. And I decided to move even further north to Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska, and I opened my own little business. 

Ral West 02:41
It was a marketing consulting firm specializing in tourism. And it was there that across the hall from me was a gentleman operating his own very small business, and he ended up being my husband.

Ralph Estep Jr. 02:54
So I guess you could say he kind of fell into your lap for lack of a better way of saying it.

Ral West 03:01
Yes. Okay. That's a good way to say that. And he took stock of what I was doing. And I happened to be at that point representing some tourism companies from Hawaii who were trying to sell to Alaskans through Alaskan travel agencies. And he saw me flying off to Hawaii regularly on business trips. And he said, I like Hawaii, I want to go there for free. 

Ral West 03:25
So, you know, he kind of figured out a way to do that, started a business and later I joined him in that business and we operated that business for 25 years and the real crux of the business as it, as it grew was to operate wide body charter jets between Alaska and Hawaii. 

Ral West 03:45
And at our peak, we carried like over 35,000 passengers a year between Alaska and Hawaii. So it came time to sell the company because Alaska Airlines was coming into the market. We knew they were coming and we decided this would be a good segue to sell the business to them and let them buy the market instead of winning it from us, which would cost us both a lot of money. We decided that their pockets were probably deeper than ours. So this was a good way to do this. So in 2008, we sold the business to Alaska Airlines.

Ralph Estep Jr. 04:22
Excellent. So you built some incredible businesses over the years, it sounds like, but what got you into this whole journey of dealing with people in overwhelming and burnout situations?

Ral West 04:34
Well, it is said that you are best a teacher to the person that you once were and I was very definitely the overwhelmed entrepreneur. I was juggling so many balls, you know, my business, my nonprofit endeavors, my kids, my home, you know, travel, everything. And, I didn't get much sleep. I was pretty much always exhausted.

Ral West 05:01
I was overweight because I never took care of myself. I was out of shape. My husband and I just kind of said hi in passing. It's a wonder we ever conceive the second child, actually. Life was just very difficult. I remember having to hire somebody to come and cook meals for us because before that it was McDonald's and Chinese and pizza.. 

Ral West 05:24
And I recognized that that was not a healthy way for my family to live. So it was, it was quite all consuming trying to run this business as a mom and pop. And I definitely feel for the people who are in that situation and I know there are many because it kind of comes with the territory of being your own boss and running a business.

Ralph Estep Jr. 05:48
I see that in my practice every day. I deal with a lot of small business clients and they'll consistently ask me, Ralph how do you balance family and business? And I tell them, not sure i'm the right person to ask that of and i'm honestly not sure there's even an answer to that. What are your thoughts on that?

Ral West 06:04
That is a very difficult dilemma because you feel the pull of everything that needs to be done in the business and prioritize the family up somewhere close to all these demands from the business is hard because you get the thought, or at least I used to, that "Oh, they'll be all right." You know, "They'll still be there." And "I just need to take care of this one thing, I just need to do this." And my husband got so tired of me working until 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning. And, you know, are you ever coming to bed at that sort of thing? And I just thought, well, you can just deal with it, but it really hurt our relationship. 

Ral West 06:46
And it was difficult for our kids. They would come to the office oftentimes after school and we'd say, just go. Do your homework because we're still busy, and sometimes we're still at the office until six and seven o'clock in the evening. And that was hard for them. And they certainly learned a lot about what it took to run a business, but I can't say it was the best upbringing for the children.

Ralph Estep Jr. 07:13
I went through a very similar circumstance. I come from a family of accountants. And when my wife and I started our own practice, we had this very same thing. I, I laugh about it. Now we actually put an office inside of our office and we called it the kids playroom because our young kids are basically there all the time.

Ralph Estep Jr. 07:29
So, what were some steps you took to start to overcome that and start to square that off a little bit?

Ral West 07:36
The big breakthrough came in about 1994 actually. We had been studying with Robert Kiyosaki, who is now known for being the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad. But we started taking courses from him in Anchorage back in the late eighties.  This was before he wrote the book, and we had lunch with him on the Big Island one time when we were in Hawaii. And he said, you gotta get this book. It's called the E-Myth by Michael Gerber, said, you need to read it. And we were flying to Honolulu that day. So we stopped at the bookstore and grabbed a copy of the book and started reading it immediately. 

Ral West 08:12
 And by the time we got back to Anchorage, we had devoured the book and we said, Oh, my God. This is what we need because the book was all about creating systems and, basically making sure that everyone in the business was hatted, if you will, with a particular job responsibility and that you were very, very clear about what everybody needed to be doing in their job and it took a few years. 

Ral West 08:41
We were learning as we went along and we gradually created systems. We built our team. We nurtured the culture and we learned how to delegate better. We learned how to use all kinds of leverage and we eventually were able to step back and no longer be the mom and pop with our arms all the way up to our elbows and shoulders in the day to day.

Ral West 09:06
And we actually got to a point where we could hire a chief operating officer and a chief financial officer who took over the day to day running of the business for us. And they did a fantastic job. They built on the foundation that we had created. Our culture was very firm at that point, and we did not want that to be changed. 

Ral West 09:27
So we taught them how we wanted it to be run. We had developed the metrics, all of the measurements that would enable us to see how the company was doing, no matter where in the world we were. And we were able to step back so we were able to buy a home on Maui and spend more time away from the Anchorage office. 

Ral West 09:49
We even moved to Bellevue, Washington for a while and said, okay, you guys are doing great. You know, we're going to go spend more time. We're closer to where my parents were living in their elderly years and the company just kept growing and growing and growing. So it worked out beautifully, but it was a major effort and very purposeful decision to create those systems and get ourselves out from underneath the daily operations.

Ralph Estep Jr. 10:17
And was it hard for you to let go of that control of something that you had basically birthed into life? I can imagine that had to be difficult to even though you'd said you built systems, you built a culture, But was it difficult to relinquish control?

Ral West 10:32
It was actually more difficult for my husband than for me. It was really his baby and I kind of stepped into it a little bit after he had given birth to it. And also I kept myself quite busy with being the chair of a non profit board for a private school and so on and so forth. 

Ral West 10:53
And he had a little bit of an identity crisis, but, he came through it and found other things to do. We actually, once we sold the business, we pivoted into purchasing small cruise ships and leasing them to a cruise operator in Alaska. So he got quite involved in that. And then after the cruise ship, industry took a big hit with COVID. 

Ral West 11:18
So then we did our next pivot and now we're investing in multifamily apartment complexes throughout the southern states and the US. So we're, we're always finding something else to do. We don't do retirement well. In fact, my husband says I have flunked retirement several times.

Ralph Estep Jr. 11:36
And I think that's hard for entrepreneurs. I've had so many clients that have retired or quote retired and said, you know, they're going to sell their business. They're going to step aside and they just have this idle time and they truly can't figure out what to do with themselves. But it sounds like you folks have learned to pivot and with COVID and all those sort of things, move into different areas, but I guess you're learning as you go. Is that what you're telling me?

Ral West 11:58
Oh, absolutely. I mean, that's one of the things I'm addicted to and I'm not ashamed of it at all. I'm addicted to learning and growing and and I refuse to retire. I mean, certainly of the age where most people are retired, but I don't want to. At the same time, I like living the life that we have created. 

Ral West 12:18
We've created this dream life, or as, as our friends say, you guys are living the dream. You have your two homes, you have your yacht. We actually have our yacht parked in the water at our own dock here in Sitka, Alaska. And we don't give that up. So if we're able to manage our businesses and have the systems in place and have the team there to help us, we can keep going and we can still have the life that we want to have. 

Ral West 12:45
And now I'm paying a lot more attention to my physical health, workout regularly, just eat better, eat a lot better than I used to, and I'm just feeling more energetic and healthy than I ever have.

Ralph Estep Jr. 13:01
So I know you created this digital course called Overcome Overwhelm. Let's talk about that.

Ral West 13:07
Thank you. I'd love to. So Overcome Overwhelm, create a smooth running business with less stress. This was actually born from a suggestion from my youngest adult daughter who said, mom, you need to teach people how it is that you and dad have created this dream life. 

Ral West 13:26
There are people out there who really want to know how you do it, how you're able to manage so much and still have this beautiful life. And I thought about it for a good while, because I thought, Hmm, do I really want to take on another business? But then what kicked in is my realization that I am passionate about business. If I'm at a cocktail party and somebody starts talking about business, I just get lit up and I just jump right in. 

Ral West 13:53
It's just fascinating game for me. And so I thought, well, what better way to utilize that passion? And I've always loved to teach. So I thought, okay, this sounds like a good idea. But doing one on one coaching or doing in person teaching would not fit my lifestyle very well. So I learned about doing these online courses and I have taken courses on learning how to do an online course and have gradually learned how to navigate that industry, which is a very growing industry, and now I'll be able to offer a reasonably priced course that summarizes my 40 years of experience and distilled what I feel are the six essential secrets to business success.

Ral West 14:42
I've created an article, that's a PDF, that's downloadable, so that people can get an idea of what those six essential secrets are. And this way I can get the message out to a broader range of people, a bigger audience and help more people to get out of that overwhelm and learn how to enjoy their life as well as have a successful business.

Ralph Estep Jr. 15:06
So what do you think are the biggest causes of overwhelm? What do you think those things are?

Ral West 15:14
Well, number one is not being able to say no. Um, you know, we, us, overachievers tend to always want to do everything that's put before us. And we have to learn that we just can't, that we have to, Choose and focus on certain areas and not get carried away with trying to do everything. 

Ral West 15:37
And that leads me into the need to be able to delegate. But there's an art to delegating. You can't just say, here, go do this. You have to set it up so that the person that you're delegating to knows exactly what it is you want them to do, how you want them to do it, and so that you have a system in place to monitor, you know, and have some accountability for how they're performing that task. 

Ral West 16:01
And that's what we do. I mean, we have a numerous income properties, and we have a property manager, and I set up systems so that I can monitor what she's doing all the time, and What the rents are and what our occupancy is and, I set up folders with all the documents that she needs is with written procedure manuals.

Ral West 16:24
This is how you rent an apartment. This is how you check a tenant into a new apartment. This is what you do when that tenant exits, just very, very clear step-by-step procedures.

Ralph Estep Jr. 16:37
And I think you alluded to the biggest obstacle that, and what you're basically saying, correct me if I'm wrong, is that this takes an investment on the part of the entrepreneur, the business leader to really dig in and understand their processes and procedures and convey them in a clear and concise way.

Ral West 16:57
It took some doing to learn how to do that because it's not something that comes naturally to most of us. So it took some very concentrated time and effort to learn how to break the processes down into steps. I remember one time, my marketing department at Hawaiian Vacations, our, our big company, they were asking me, well, "How did you know that it was the right time to increase our advertising spending?"

Ral West 17:28
And I just know. And that wasn't good enough because that was not a system. So it took me, I think, probably a few weeks to really stop and analyze. And that was my own thought process. Like, okay, what was it that tipped me off to the fact that an increase in marketing spend or advertising spending is what was needed right now.

Ral West 17:53
And I finally came up with a metric, and it would be so many days in a row that the statistics, the sales calls, the sales volume, if it started trending downwards for three consecutive days, that meant we spend more on advertising. And then the marketing department said, Oh, okay, we get that. We can do that. 

Ral West 18:14
So then I was able to step back a little bit and not have to have that decision rest on me. And I didn't have to pay such close attention every day to what was going on. And the more you can empower your team to make decisions in the way that you would, the more freedom you have.

Ralph Estep Jr. 18:32
Yeah, I'm glad you used the word empower. I'm a graduate of the Dale Carnegie course. And one of the things we talked about in there is getting away from job descriptions and getting into position results descriptions. Is that something that you attribute as successful as well, rather than telling people, cause I hear you saying a lot about systems and the way we do things, but I also liked the word you used empower.

Ralph Estep Jr. 18:53
And I've always found, and I would, I would listen for your opinion too. Is empowering people and allowing them to get the results that you want them to get, I think it builds that team, that team-oriented approach.

Ral West 19:06
Absolutely.  And that goes along with, I still use the word job description, but what I like to say also is that you have to give them a clear picture of what a good job looks like. What is that final valuable product that you are looking for. And my husband would say that we need to create the snow fences. 

Ral West 19:36
We live in Alaska. So the roads have snow fences. And as long as they're in the road, in between the fences, we're doing well. Robert Kiyosaki would call it the fruit bowl theory of business, where you have a bowl with very rigid sides, whether it's wood or glass or whatever the bowl is made of, that's a pretty firm boundary. 

Ral West 19:57
But the fruit within the bowl is free to be whatever it wants and in whatever order it might be. Grapes, bananas, apples, whatever you have. So you give them that freedom. But within certain constraints and boundaries and, principles. Another thing my husband came up with was his work ethic.

Ral West 20:18
And that is work spelled W E R Q. The W stands for win win, the E stands for efficiency, the R stands for responsibility, and the Q is quality. So we inculcated this principle, this work ethic into our team. And we taught them to use it when they needed to make a decision. As we were in a business where we were delivering customer service.

Ral West 20:44
We get thousands of customers every year. And there'd be times when they would be a screw up for whatever reason. Sometimes it was our mistake and sometimes it wasn't, but nevertheless, we needed to come to a resolution that was a win-win for them, and for us. 

Ral West 21:01
We needed to use the most efficient method possible to deliver that, we needed to take responsibility for what our part in it was, which included fixing something that needed to be fixed, apologizing and also making sure that our vendors or anybody else involved took the responsibility as well. 

Ral West 21:20
And we needed to make sure that, bottom line, the customer was receiving the quality product that they bought and paid for and expected from us. And given those guidelines, our people were, again, empowered to make some decisions without us having to be over their shoulder the whole time.

Ralph Estep Jr. 21:38
And it sounds like you're talking about a mindset and I don't know about you, but I look around in the current world we live in and customer service is terrible. 

Ralph Estep Jr. 21:47
Every day, I just want to scream when I deal with most businesses. How did you develop that culture, that mindset of really exceeding expectations for customers?

Ral West 21:59
Oh, well, you hit upon one of my pet peeves. My daughter says, Mom, you're getting fussier and fussier about customer service the older you get.  And I said, well, maybe it's because I, in my years, I have experienced some very, very excellent customer service. And I've also experienced the exact opposite. 

Ral West 22:20
And like you said, it just makes me want to scream. So. We realized early on that, I mean, we were in a people pleasing business. We relied on repeat customers that were not, you know, the population in Alaska is not that big. We needed to have people who were going to Hawaii over and over and over again. So we needed to make sure that they were happy. 

Ral West 22:40
And we taught our people too, that there's a thing called a valuable final product. And for us, it was a tan, happy, passenger getting off the airplane back in Anchorage saying, I'm ready to go to Hawaii again.  So the customer service was geared to creating that experience. And we also knew that people had a lot of other choices. We may have been the only airline flying between Alaska and Hawaii, but they could have chosen to go to Mexico or Disneyland or buy a refrigerator or remodel their house or whatever they could use their money for other than going to Hawaii. 

Ral West 23:16
So we knew that we needed to earn it. We needed to earn the privilege of having them spend their money with us to take them to Hawaii and give them a vacation that was everything they dreamed of. So that became just a rock solid part of our company culture. 

Ral West 23:34
And we created systems around that. I remember sometimes we would have flight delays. They're unavoidable. There's a mechanical or something. And with the type of air service that we had, if the delay lasted too long, the flight crew would go dead. Because it was the same crew that left Honolulu, brought the plane to Anchorage, and then that same crew had to go back to Honolulu, and the FAA had maximum number of hours that they could fly. 

Ral West 24:04
If the crew went dead, We would have to wait another, eight hours or whatever it would take for them to get the rest and be able to fly again. And it's like, Oh, my God, you know, I mean, it's somewhat easier for the passengers that lived in Anchorage. We could say, go home and so forth. But sometimes, people were flying in from Fairbanks or from the Bush or the place where they needed to have a hotel. They needed meals.

Ral West 24:27
We had to create systems to have quickly have vouchers. We even had bottles of water and baby formula and diapers at the airport when there was a delay because people would say, I'm not prepared for this. So we just jumped in, we would have cash on hand.

Ral West 24:47
So instead of using a voucher, which, Some restaurants may or may not want to take, we would just say here, here's 20$ or whatever it is and take care of their meals for them. So we developed those systems so that at a drop of a hat, we had a team. Every flight, we had a team that was on call.

Ral West 25:06
And if there was a delay, that team would be called in and they knew exactly what they needed to do to prepare, to provide for those passengers so that the pain would be

Ralph Estep Jr. 25:19
And it sounds like what you're saying too is you had to do a really good job of casting your employees. And that seems to have gotten really difficult.

Ralph Estep Jr. 25:27
You know, a lot of my listeners are small business people who are really trying to build their business and they're really struggling to find good people. What are some things you recommend they look for when they're looking for people for their organization?

Ral West 25:41
Yes, that's a great question. And nowadays, getting good labor is really an issue. It's kind of difficult to fathom that really, because it's a different world. But I think the more clear you are on your culture and what you expect from your team, and the better you're able to communicate that to a prospect, the better that you can allow them to select.

Ral West 26:13
And then I always also use the philosophy of kind of fire them before you hire them. It's like, okay, this, this, this, and this is not going to cut it. You need to produce this. This is what a good job looks like. And this is what we expect of you. And if you can do all of this, then you'll be a great member of the team and here's how we're going to reward you for being a valuable member of this team. 

Ral West 26:37
 And we had very extensive profit sharing and bonuses and rewards and we would celebrate. We would celebrate the win if we met our profit objectives, boy, we would have a big party. In fact, I remember one time we took the whole team to Las Vegas for the night. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And gave them money so that they could just have a good time, whether they wanted to gamble or not, they could just have a great time in Las Vegas. So they love that. 

Ral West 27:07
In fact, they called themselves our Ohana. In Hawaiian, Ohana means family. And they are still, even though it's been a number of years since we sold the company, they still call themselves the Ohana and we still have get togethers and reunions amongst the Ohana members. It's really quite heartwarming.

Ralph Estep Jr. 27:27
So let's pretend I'm one of the listeners listening today and I'm a small business person and I'm thinking, wow, this lady's got a lot of good ideas. What would you do for me? And how would you do that?

Ral West 27:39
Well, the first thing I would say is buy my course: Overcome Overwhelm, create a smooth running business with less stress. And in the course, and even with the just the six essential secrets to business success that I'll send you for free, it outlines just the basic elements of what a business needs to pay attention to. And then through the course, I walk people through, what is a system? How do you create systems? How do you build your team? How do you decide what, what data to measure and how do you measure it? How do you form your company's culture? And then how do you create systems? The kind of customer service that I like to call it world class customer service.

Ral West 28:23
So all of these are things that I can teach people how to do them, how to pay attention to them. And of course, every business is different, but these are concepts. These are like, you know, Buckminster Fuller would call them generalized principles. They're timeless, so they're applicable to any situation.

Ralph Estep Jr. 28:41
So you want to talk to people that are just getting started, but I guess you can help people that have been in business for a long time as well.

Ral West 28:47
 Oh, yes,  very definitely. It's not just for the startups. It's for people who are up to their eyeballs in a going concern and are finding that they're getting burned out and exhausted and suffering from that overwhelm. And they've got a good team, but there just may be something just, just not quite clicking. 

Ral West 29:06
And maybe they have some systems, but it's just not enough. Then I can help them, take those next steps and move the needle for them.

Ralph Estep Jr. 29:16
Now, do you have people that help them with the actual writing of the systems? Or are you providing them with a basic framework?

Ral West 29:24
Yes, I do the guidelines and the frameworks. And, you know, As my business progresses, I will probably be establishing mastermind groups and doing retreats and so forth. It would be a bit more hands on, but the course itself will be delivered online. There'll be some live Q and A sessions where they can get their specific concerns addressed. And also I'll establish like a cohort so they can be asking each other some questions. 

Ral West 29:51
Oftentimes we find some of our best answers from fellow business people. So there'll be a number of ways that they can get support. I won't just set them adrift.

Ralph Estep Jr. 30:01
It sounds like this is a real passion for you. What is the main goal? What is your purpose now in your years? You've been 40 years behind you. What do you see your purpose moving forward?

Ral West 30:12
Well, I love helping people and I am passionate about business. I'm passionate about systems. I mean I create systems for my life, our homes, My family, they just, they laugh about me and my system's like, Oh mom, that sounds like a system. And I just do it. It's second nature to me. 

Ral West 30:34
But I, even though I am past retirement age, I do not plan to retire. And I want to keep going as long as I possibly can. That's one of the reasons I'm very committed to staying healthy and physically fit and active. 

Ral West 30:48
So, hopefully I'll have another good 30 years or so that I can be providing value and offering people the benefit of my years of experience and wisdom. And along the way, I will continue to learn too. There's always more to learn. And I'm excited about that.

Ralph Estep Jr. 31:08
So tell me about living in Alaska. My oldest son is in the Coast Guard. Now, right now he's stationed in Texas, but he's talked about going to Alaska. And I said, I think that'd be a really cool adventure. Tell me about your time living in Alaska.

Ral West 31:23
Yes, well, I've lived in Alaska for over 40 years, and as I said earlier, I started off in Ketchikan, which was very, very rainy, and then moved to Anchorage, which was a lot colder, less rain, but more snow, and was there for over 20 years, and now we live in Sitka, which is further south.

Ral West 31:43
We still have a lot of rain, not so much snow and it's warmer, warmer and more daylight in the winter, less darkness or excuse me, less darkness in the winter, more daylight in this less daylight in the summer too. Anyway, you know, we're further South. So, we love it. I mean, Alaska is just one of the most beautiful places on this planet.

Ral West 32:06
And our town is very small. It's only 8,500 people. We're so proud that we have two stoplights and we used to have two and we used to have a McDonald's, but it closed. That was a shame. Maybe, but it's just, I don't know, nature and the, the Eagles flying around and the whales. And we started going to Hawaii. We decided we were going to follow the humpback whales, they migrate between Alaska and Hawaii.

Ral West 32:38
So, we need to do that, too. So I just would not ever want to live any place other than Alaska. And it's nice that I'm able to get away to Hawaii in the winter when it gets a little damp around here. But speaking of the Coast Guard, our, daughter's fiance is in the Coast Guard and they met, yeah, they met here in Sitka because he was stationed in the Coast Guard here with Coast Guard base.

Ralph Estep Jr. 33:04
So you mentioned a little while ago about something you can offer the listeners. You want to talk about that and how they would accomplish getting that from you?

Ral West 33:11
Sure.  Yeah. It's a, a downloadable PDF called Six Essential Secrets to Business success. It's a little bit of a time twister, and they would get it by going to www.ralwest.com/secrets. Or if you can't remember all of that just ralwest.com The website will give you a form to sign up and we will send you that for free.

Ralph Estep Jr. 33:37
And I'll put that in the show notes so that when this gets released to everybody There'll be a way for them to click right on it. So what else do you want to share with us today?

Ral West 33:47
Well, I think I would like to share that it's always possible. There are no such things There is no such thing as a dead end do not give up. Hope You My mother used to say, where there's a will, there's a way. So, you know, keep that positive thinking going. Know that you are able and capable to do what it is that you need to do.

Ral West 34:17
And have some faith in yourself. And give yourself some grace as well. And anything is possible.

Ralph Estep Jr. 34:25
Yeah. And I, and I do a Christian podcast. So I, I definitely try trumpet what you just said. Have you ever come across times in your life when it's been hard and you felt like, I just don't have enough in the tank to make this work and how did you push through those things?

Ral West 34:40
Absolutely. Absolutely. There've been a number of times. I remember one time in our earlier years where we didn't have an airline to, to give us the lift to get across to Hawaii. And, We couldn't sell anything. So we went out to lunch one day and, we were using our credit cards, taking cash advances on the credit cards to make payable.

Ral West 35:04
And it was like, Oh, Oh my, maybe we should just close the doors. we don't have any debt. Maybe this is what we need to do. But we thought about it and thought about it. And we realized that there was something bigger there and that people of Alaska actually need to be able to get to Hawaii easily.

Ral West 35:24
They need that break from the winter doldrums. They need that sunshine and that, and that R& R. And it was almost like a calling or public service to continue to do it. And so we dug deep and found the courage. We took some great risks, but we had faith that it would work out. And my husband even pledged his mother's retirement account.

Ral West 35:51
She was a school teacher and he pledged that retirement account as a guarantee for a charter and one of the first charters that we did. And he was sick with worry about that, but he also just, put everything into it and he hit the streets and he made sure that every seat on that charter was sold.

Ral West 36:11
And it was. And we did well. So we are very, very, very grateful for the good fortune that we've had. And we both have a daily practice of a gratitude prayer because we have been so fortunate. And there's nothing like being grateful for all that we have.

Ralph Estep Jr. 36:31
I tell people that all the time. It's so easy to get pinned down in what you don't have. But how many times do we look around and say how grateful for what we do have and I think that people's whole mind and their mindset can change when they realize just how blessed they are With what they already have.

Ral West 36:52
Absolutely. Yeah, even in the in the darkest times, There are things that we can be grateful for. And we've all had our issues, whether it's health or business or whatever.

Ral West 37:04
You know, there are just times that, that are a struggle. And I think that you need to dig deep for your confidence and faith and just know that it's going to work out the way it's supposed to. We also have a little saying that, there are no accidents and sometimes these bad things happen for a reason and there's a silver lining out there somewhere.

Ral West 37:27
We just have to wait till it's revealed to us.

Ralph Estep Jr. 37:30
And you got to learn from those things. Absolutely. Well, Ral, I just want to thank you again for being on the show. Like I said, in the show notes, I'll give all the contact information. Was there anything else you wanted to add Ral?

Ral West 37:41
No, but I just very much appreciate the opportunity to talk with you, Ralph.

Ralph Estep Jr. 37:51
Well, thank you. I appreciate you as well.

Ral West 37:55
Thank you.