Episode Details
November 22, 2024
0 seconds
- The Role of Sports in Shaping Competitiveness – Both Jeremy and Doug credit sports, particularly football, for helping them develop a healthy competitive mindset.
- "Winning the Day" Philosophy – Success starts with performing at your best daily, a mindset encouraged at Fluent Conveyors.
- Overcoming Physical and Mental Challenges – Jeremy had to prove himself despite being smaller than his teammates, while Doug learned to recognize and plan for his shortcomings.
- Balancing Competitiveness and Personal Commitments – Jeremy discusses how his competitive nature sometimes goes too far and how he works to keep promises to himself and his family.
- Breaking the Cycle of Empty Promises – Both hosts reflect on learning from their past and ensuring they follow through on commitments to their loved ones.
- Using Mistakes for Growth and Resilience – Learning from past failures helps build confidence and serves as a model of strength for others.
Featured Quotes
"I've learned that my competitive edge pushes me forward, but I have to balance it by keeping the promises I make to myself and to my family."
Jeremy Axel
"Recognizing my shortcomings and failures early on helped me plan for the future competition isn’t just about winning, it’s about growth."
Doug Cox
Episode Transcript And Overview
Today’s episode of Never in Reverse focuses on competition and self-improvement. Beginning by discussing their early experiences with competition, Jeremy and Doug both point to sports as the key force that allowed them to experience a positive competitive environment. Sports also served as an escape from the more difficult parts of their childhoods.
Healthy competition is key to the culture at Fluent Conveyors. It allows team members to stay motivated and maintain high performance. Despite being a competitive environment, Fluent Conveyors is not cutthroat – it is also a congratulatory and motivational environment where team members know that their coworkers want them to succeed.
Moving from competition to personal growth, Jeremy notes how his hardworking nature sometimes put him at odds with his obligations toward his family. He had to shift his perspective and recognize those obligations as just as important as providing for his family. Doug also had to make a shift to keep his promises to his wife and children.
Timeline Notes
What does a competitive environment mean to you? Doug says that he found his competitive edge in high school as he began playing football. It was a competitive environment because he knew that there were people on the sidelines who wanted to take his place.
Reaching your goals starts with winning the day, or performing at your best every day to make progress over time. At fluent conveyors, the environment promotes motivation and competition.
Jeremy believes that his childhood and his inherent nature give him a competitive spirit. He performs well in competitive environments and has learned how to get an edge over his competitors.
Jeremy also found his competitive edge through sports. Because he was physically smaller than some of his teammates, he had to prove himself to keep playing.
Doug also learned how to recognize his shortcomings and failures to plan for them in the future because of sports, allowing him to improve as he moved into high school.
Jeremy recognizes that his competitiveness can also go too far at times. He has learned to keep promises to himself and his family to make sure he is fulfilling his obligations to the people around him.
Jeremy has also learned to deliver on his promises. He noticed himself making empty promises as his family had when he was growing up and reflected so he could break that cycle.
Similarly, Doug cares deeply about fulfilling the promises that he makes to his wife and children. He does not want his kids to look back and think of him as someone thye could not rely on.
Using your mistakes to improve can help stop you from doubting yourself in the future. It also helps you model strength and resilience for others.
Notable Guests
Bill Fairman
Fund Manager, Private Lender
Bill Fairman
Fund Manager, Private Lender
A best-selling author, national speaker, and serial entrepreneur with 30+ years of experience in mortgage banking.
Over the years, Bill has worked closely with hundreds of high-net-worth individuals, helping them strategically grow wealth as a Fund Manager for more than 13 years.
He’s also a trusted voice in the industry, serving on the Government Relations Committee of the American Association of Private Lenders.
Nick Kiridzic
Founder and CEO
Nick Kiridzic
Founder and CEO
I'm the founder of StaffHero, where we help growing businesses scale without the chaos connecting them with skilled remote assistants and automation systems that save time and cut costs.Before this, I spent over ten years in healthcare and business development, constantly spotting the same problem: amazing teams burning out under the weight of busywork. That’s what pushed me to build StaffHero.
Now, I focus on helping business owners get their time back and build systems that let them grow with freedom and focus.
Paul Glover
The No B.S. Executive Coach
Paul Glover
The No B.S. Executive Coach
Paul Glover is No B.S. Executive Coach, whose mission is to Challenge the Best to Become Better.
He is also:
• An Ex- White-Collar Felon.
• A “Recovering” Federal Trial Lawyer.
• A Subject Mater Expert on failing and recovery.
• Who is a TEDx speaker, Vintage Speaker, Forbes contributor, and an author whose book, WorkQuake™, is endorsed by Marshall Goldsmith, a Top 10 Business Thinker.
• An Executive Coach With 30 years of experience who advises and coaches executives in organizations with up to $1 billion in annual revenue.
• A Starbucks addict, and
• A Chicago Bears fanatic.
Adi Klevit
Founder | CEO
Adi Klevit
Founder | CEO
Adi Klevit is the Founder of Business Success Consulting Group and the host of the Systems Simplified podcast. With nearly three decades of experience as an industrial engineer and process consultant, she has helped hundreds of growth-focused companies systematize their operations to scale successfully.
Known as “The Process Guru,” Adi specializes in designing and implementing turnkey systems that reduce dependence on the owner, empower teams, and increase profitability. Her clients range from fast-growing trades businesses to multi-location professional service firms, and she is a trusted advisor to CEOs across the U.S.
Joe Dillon
Divorce Mediator & Founder
Joe Dillon
Divorce Mediator & Founder
Joe is a pioneer in divorce mediation who has been helping couples navigate the end of their marriages with dignity and financial wisdom for over 17 years. As co-founder of Equitable Mediation Services, Joe combines his MBA in Finance with specialized training from Harvard, MIT, and Northwestern University to guide couples toward agreements that protect both their emotional wellbeing and financial futures.
Joe pioneered virtual divorce mediation in 2011, nearly a decade before others adopted online practices during the pandemic. His results speak for themselves: Equitable Mediation Services maintains a 98% case resolution rate, significantly higher than the industry average of 70%.
