Episode 266 April Shprintz Air Force Vet Overcomes Challenges To Achieve Dream Career Transcript

This transcript is from episode 266 with guest April Shprintz.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we are focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community. Whether you’re a veteran, active duty, guard, reserve, or a family member, this podcast will share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio, and now let’s get on with the show.

Scott DeLuzio: Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Drive On Podcast. Today my guest is April Shprintz. April is an Air Force vet and owner of Driven Outcomes and is a mentor with the nonprofit Warrior Rising, which helps veterans in business. So welcome to the show, April. I’m glad to have you here.

April Shprintz: Hey, thanks for having me.

April Shprintz: I’m excited to be here.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. So. For the listeners who maybe aren’t familiar with you and your background, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

April Shprintz: Sure. So I, like you said, was in the Air Force for a little over seven years, then spent about a decade in the financial industry supporting banks with different types [00:01:00] of marketing and other products, and then was recruited to a really successful startup in the banking industry that after uh, some time there, 7 billion IPO.

April Shprintz: So I was very fortunate and it put me in a place to start my own firm about six years ago, where I helped scale small to medium sized businesses, so revenue up to about a hundred million. And also helped train people on leadership and mindset. So

Scott DeLuzio: first off that, that’s, A lot to unpack there. There, there’s a lot of stuff that you had going on you know, going from the Air Force to you know, private or to the the industry that you were working in and then, you know, starting your own business.

Scott DeLuzio: Let’s take it a step back and talk about how you got into the Air Force to begin with.

April Shprintz: Sure. So I was probably least likely to have joined the military or might have been voted that in high school and grew up with just a really humble background and had, as we often do when we’re [00:02:00] teenagers, put all my eggs in one basket for dream school and got accepted.

April Shprintz: But the scholarship that I received was still leaving as much money for for me to pay as my entire family made. And that included my income and it just really felt financially out reach. So I ended up paying to go to a school that had offered me a free ride because I had, you know, set my sights on, I’m going to this one school.

April Shprintz: It’s the best for broadcasting. And it was a great, humbling experience. It’s also where I met a veteran who just offhandedly mention, That the Air Force was paying for him to go to school, and I had just never paid attention to recruiters. And at that point my circumstances had changed and I was all ears.

April Shprintz: And when I found out that you could also be a broadcaster, I literally left the class I was in where I was talking to. It was very dramatic. I stood up. I have somewhere I have to be, and I left to go to the recruiter’s office. It was a little anti-climactic because the [00:03:00] recruiter’s office was closed. I went to school at night, but I did go back the very next day and said, I want to be a broadcaster and I want to go a S A P.

Scott DeLuzio: It’s funny, when I joined the military, so I was in the Army National Guard, and at the time I knew there was a difference between the National Guard and the Reserves, but I didn’t know how much of a difference. I knew they both did the one week in a month, two weeks, a year, and everything like that. I just, I think I just put in Google, like the closest Army recruiting office, figuring they could point me in the right direction.

Scott DeLuzio: And I walked in the door and I said, yeah, I want, I want to enlist I wanna be an infantryman. And they said, well, we don’t have infantrymen. I was like uh, yes you do. There’s a national guard infantry unit right down the, the road here. And they’re like, well, yeah, that’s National Guard. That’s not reserves.

Scott DeLuzio: I was like, well, I feel like an idiot. And I just walked out tail between my legs. . How about as anti as as it gets there, I was like, I, I was ready to sign the papers [00:04:00] that day. I was, I was in a hundred percent and I was like, okay, now I feel like an idiot. So, I kind of understand where you’re coming from there with that you know, wanting to just pull the trigger right then and there and then having to wait till the next day.

Scott DeLuzio: But o o overnight, did you. I mean, literally you had time to sleep on it, but did you have time to reconsider what your options were and whether or not that was actually the right thing for you?

April Shprintz: You know, it’s interesting, I had plenty of time because broadcasting is one of those career fields that you have to audition for.

April Shprintz: Mm-hmm. and so, and then you’re, you’re always on a delayed entry program to go in when they’re doing the actual school for broadcasting. And they only did at that time, maybe two or three a year. So I ended up having quite a bit of time. Cause first I had to wait for the audition to come back and I even failed that first audition and really went through what was for me, my biggest personal failure at that point.

April Shprintz: A lot of learning from that. And [00:05:00] interestingly thought that I was either not going to go into the Air Force or I was gonna have to go into the Air Force and do something I didn’t wanna do, and I was really waffling on on what I was gonna do, but just waiting for that same delayed entry date, which was about six months in the future, and was very fortunate because my recruiter asked me to help someone else.

April Shprintz: It. And most people were like, why would you do that? You’re so upset you didn’t make it. Why would you help someone else? That’s like salt in the wound. And I’m like, gosh, well somebody should get to go. So in through the course of helping him prepare for his audition and he actually had broadcast experience, he’d been on the radio, but I was really good at the administrative things and my recruiter had never had someone audition before.

April Shprintz: So we learned a lot in the process and this gentleman changed my life because as we go through the process, What had come back on my voice audition that my voice was nasal and very tinny. He said, look, I’m in broadcasting. I know what that means. That’s not true. You [00:06:00] should really think about auditioning again.

April Shprintz: and I, you know, was still kind of wounded and I don’t wanna put myself out there again, but what he said really resonated. And I had another broadcaster, a local news anchor actually, that I took TaeKwonDo with, review the tape in case. And it was a tape back then in case I could do something, take vocal lessons, whatever.

April Shprintz: And what was so awesome is when she had the engineers listen to it, they said, yes, she must have been in an empty. With no furniture and no carpeting on the floors. It’s not her voice, it’s the way that she was set up where she was recording it, which my recruiter and I had no idea. So all we had to do was get into a studio and then I was able to go in.

April Shprintz: So I was never rethinking should I go into the Air Force? I was rethinking, have I dreamed too big? Is this beyond my capability?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, that, I mean, that is interesting that you could have just said, [00:07:00] okay, well this is obviously not for me. I failed this, this time, and you could have just moved on to something else.

Scott DeLuzio: Whether it was something else in the Air Force or some other career entirely. But you kept with it and you, you figured out what the actual problem was, wasn’t necessarily with you. It was you in that environment that was the problem. Right. And so, You know, now that you have gone through this, this other interview, or sorry, audition I’m, as I’m assuming you passed because knowing your, your background, you’ve, you got into the Air Force, you were in broadcasting what was that like?

Scott DeLuzio: Being in broadcasting in the Air

April Shprintz: Force? Oh, I gotta tell you, I lived in a slight fear at any moment that if someone found out how much I loved what I was doing, they would quit paying me because it was, in my opinion, the best career field you could possibly be in. I got to go so many different places and really highlight the people who were the actual hero.[00:08:00]

April Shprintz: Of the military, so I got to meet those special forces folks. I got to talk to the pilots who were doing the things that really mattered in the time period that I was in, and I felt like that was tremendous. The other thing that made the Air Force easier for me than I think it was for a lot of other people is broadcasting was one of those career fields where while rank absolutely matter, And we still followed all of those protocols because it was such a small career field, and it was so different in the case that, you know, you might be an E one, an Airman basic, and you’re telling a four star general how to get his uniform to look right on camera.

April Shprintz: It was just this great equalizer for me, and when I got out of the service, And I was interacting in business environments. It made it much easier for me to do things with C-Suite individuals because I didn’t see them as any different than me. I saw them as just a little bit [00:09:00] older, and I think that a lot of people might have a reverence or a fear or a limiting belief that they can’t talk to those people.

April Shprintz: That, for me, because of the experience that I had in the Air Force, that was never even a.

Scott DeLuzio: That is, that’s a great thing to be taking away too, from your military career into the civilian world. Because you’re right that people do have those things where they, oh my gosh, the boss is coming or the, the, the president or the c e o is coming, I, i they lock up and they’re, they’re not themselves.

Scott DeLuzio: They’re right. They’re definitely not cool, calm and collected. They’re anything. They’re the exact opposite of that. It’s gotta

April Shprintz: never. But I was myself, .

Scott DeLuzio: Well, yeah, but you know, when you see those people, it, it’s almost like you have pity on those people. Like, oh my gosh, this is, you really think that highly of this person.

Scott DeLuzio: Not, not to take anything away from them and their accomplishments, but you’re almost treating them as if they’re like the judge, jury, and executioner of [00:10:00] your career and. You’re blowing it right now, the way you’re, you’re behaving, right? Well,

April Shprintz: it’s uncomfortable when you do that because the time that I did do this, I, Costco was one of my clients when I was in my first corporate job, and at that time, Jim Senegal was the c e o and I fangirled over Jim in a way that was tremendously uncomfortable for him and tremendously uncomfortable for anyone in the.

April Shprintz: So whereas I didn’t lock up, I was so effusive that I believe that had he not known that my company worked with his company, there could have been a restraining order . So I, I totally understand those people in

Scott DeLuzio: different scenarios. Yeah, sure. Sure. , but, so you got to, you got your dream job basically, and you’re working, working in the, with the Air Force, doing this broadcasting.

Scott DeLuzio: Now fast forward to when you get out of the Air Force. Mm-hmm. , was the goal to stay in broadcasting or were, were you looking for something else at that point?

April Shprintz: So initially the goal absolutely was to [00:11:00] stay in broadcasting from a really young age. I think I was seven when I first started saying, you know, I wanna be Barbara Walters.

April Shprintz: I wanna be a news anchor. Big time in New York. That whole thing, when I got out of the Air Force, it also coincided with me getting engaged. And at that time my then fiance had two small children and we took custody of them shortly after when I got out of the Air Force and I was still interviewing with television stations and I had a station manager say to me, look, you have absolutely got the potential to be an anchor here and then move on and, and do all the things you wanna do.

April Shprintz: I just need to understand if you understand what you will give up cuz you will be here second. For the first several years of your career, and if you do better, even longer. And in addition to that, I know that you know you have stepchildren, so you’re not always going to be around for them. And in addition, if you’re doing a story on a three-year-old child that got kidnapped, you need to be [00:12:00] able to stick a microphone in the mom’s face and ask her how she feels.

April Shprintz: And that was such a tremendous. Term from the kind of coverage I had done in the Air Force, and it was the first time I really felt that if it bleeds, it leads mentality. And this was long before there was fake news and it was so sensational, but that’s what I felt, just that grossness that wasn’t in line with my personal values.

April Shprintz: So between wanting to have a more traditional schedule so that I could be a good stepparent if this was a role I was stepping into, and also just that underlying feeling of. I love broadcasting. This doesn’t feel like broadcasting led me to go into business. And I was actually very fortunate cuz I had taken on temporary roles while I was interviewing because I got out of the Air Force pretty quickly because they were doing a drawdown and they said you can leave in two weeks to [00:13:00] six months if you want to leave it, let.

April Shprintz: Pretty much just if I wanted to. And I was like, oh, this is great. Yeah, I’m gonna do this. And they were like, how much notice do you wanna give ’em? Now, a smart person, Scott would’ve said, six months. That will give me plenty of time to land a great job and do this the right way. But me being impetuous, and the last time I looked for a job, it took two weeks.

April Shprintz: I was like two weeks. So I found myself needing to be able to contribute to my family’s finances. And so I did temporary roles as an assistant while I was interviewing and happened to be in the company that ultimately would hire me, and that was super fortunate because as you as a veteran know, and as as all veterans know, it’s very difficult to translate your military experience to.

April Shprintz: and I ran into that a great deal where people kept saying over and over again, oh, well you don’t have the. For this particular role, because you’ve never done it [00:14:00] before, and not understanding that what our military members have, which is so fantastic, is the ability to learn a skill faster than most anyone else and more leadership background than anyone gets in a civilian role.

April Shprintz: So I harassed that company into hiring me after HR said I wasn’t qualified because I was already in the company. I was scheduling lunches with executives, , and I was just gonna get ’em to hire me one way or the other. And it was a little bit of a bull in a China shop type of, you know, war of attrition.

April Shprintz: But it worked and I, I loved working there, learned the entire business, and ultimately became their top salesperson.

Scott DeLuzio: And you made it happen. Someone told you you couldn’t do it and you made it happen. So I’m counting right now, just through this conversation twice that someone said no. And you said, well, the hell with that.

Scott DeLuzio: Yes, . And we’re, we’re gonna make this happen. And so I’m, I’m curious how high this tally is gonna get [00:15:00] by the end of the episode. Cause we’re we’re, we’re only roughly halfway through the episode, so,

April Shprintz: Well, I think it’s important, Scott, that I mentioned that this is not true for just me. This is true for anyone.

April Shprintz: you can do anything you believe you can. Because if you couldn’t do it, it would never occur to you. So if you hit those roadblocks or you hit those people who say, no, I don’t think this is the right fit for you, they just don’t have all the information. Right. Let’s see how we can give them some more information.

Scott DeLuzio: Right, exactly. And especially when you’re talking about veterans, like what you said, we’re very adaptable and flexible. We’ve clearly demonstrated. Capability to learn a job. We, whatever the job is that you had in the military, you were broadcasting, I was infantry. Other people were the financeer, artillery, whatever it was that you did in the military, you had to learn that at some point.

Scott DeLuzio: And you don’t go into the military knowing a hundred percent of your job and, and [00:16:00] how, especially not how the military does it. You, you may have been a broadcaster before joining the Air Air Force. Right. But yeah. Wasn’t but you, but you don’t know how the Air Force does things and, and the Air Force is gonna do it maybe differently than, you know, your local news station might do it.

Scott DeLuzio: So, so you definitely had to learn something. So, every single veteran up there You cannot underestimate your ability to learn it. It’s just you’re going to be able to learn a new skill, a new job, and you’re gonna have to too, because most civilian companies that are out there, unless they’re maybe in a defense contractor, that type of of role, you’re probably not gonna be doing things the way the military did it anyway.

Scott DeLuzio: So you’re gonna probably have to learn. A different way. Un militarize the, your thinking and, and the way, the way you do things. And so you already have an advantage over any of the other civilians who might be applying with the same set of cri skillset that you might be having. You have that advantage because [00:17:00] you’re, you’re flexible and, and you’re adaptable.

Scott DeLuzio: You, you can adjust to the situation and learn new things rather quickly. And that’s a great asset to have and I think for employers who are out there who are listening, Is something that you should keep in mind as.

April Shprintz: Well, I think you bring up a really important point, Scott, that the military member knows that anyone who’s ever been in the military knows that.

April Shprintz: But a lot of the issue comes with that, not translating. So because of that one, I think that it’s really important that veterans, even before they get out, start to network with the people they know. Because all a veteran needs is a warm introduction. Cause if someone spends the time to talk to them, they’re going to understand what an asset they can.

April Shprintz: Mm-hmm. . And if you reach out to any veteran, and I’ve had tons of veterans reach out to me over the years, and I will always talk to you, I will always spend an hour and speak to you and understand what your skillset is, cuz I’ve got to understand that for myself. And then if there is anyone I can [00:18:00] refer you to, I will a hundred percent do that.

April Shprintz: And I think that’s one thing that is incredible about a veteran network. I don’t have to know. To feel comradery with you and want to help you. And I think the majority of veterans out there are like that. And I think people should always feel free to reach out to folks and then not underestimate that someone in their family, someone, their friend group, someone they went to high school with, could know someone in a company they want to work for.

April Shprintz: What is so important is for them not to just submit a resume, not to just fire off cover letters because those aren’t gonna translate.

Scott DeLuzio: Exactly. Yeah. That those connections are crucial and I think we oftentimes just silo ourselves. We don’t reach out and talk to those people, even reaching out on LinkedIn or mm-hmm.

Scott DeLuzio: just make going to a networking group and connecting with people having that in-person face-to-face contact with, with certain people. And I know from doing this podcast, I’ve, [00:19:00] this is. Gosh, 260 some odd episodes into the, the podcast. And so I’ve talked to a lot of veterans mm-hmm. . And I know that when we start talking at the very beginning of the conversation to the end of the conversation, it’s like we’ve known each other forever because we’ve, we just has have that common bond of being veterans where mm-hmm.

Scott DeLuzio: We’re just able to connect at a way that you can’t necessarily connect with certain civilians who. Understand that they don’t have that military connection. And it’s an incredible thing. So if you’re hesitant about reaching out to somebody who’s, who’s a veteran, like a maybe a, a mentor who might be able to help you out in a certain industry If, if they’re a veteran, it’s so much easier to just connect with them, just reach out to ’em.

Scott DeLuzio: Like, Hey, I served in, you know, army, Navy, Marines, air Force, whatever you’ve, you served in just looking for another veteran to, to kinda guide me through this transition period or whatever it is that you’re going through. Right. I don’t know too many veterans would be like no. Hell with that guy.

Scott DeLuzio: I’m not gonna , [00:20:00] I’m not gonna help that guy out. You know, I’m, yeah, of course we’re gonna help help you out. And well,

April Shprintz: and if they don’t, if they don’t help them, that has nothing to do with the person that reached out. Right? Right. That is not about you. You go to the next veteran because you’ve just gotten, you know, the one bad apple.

April Shprintz: That’s good. Now they’re out of the way. Go to the next.

Scott DeLuzio: exactly. That that was gonna be the next point is, is if, if you can’t find that person in that first person, that you reach out to find somebody else. Cause there’s. So many people out there who will help you? Yes. No que no questions asked, really, you know, and they, and they aren’t expecting anything in return necessarily.

Scott DeLuzio: They’re just, they’re, they wanna be helpful, you know? Now speaking of being helpful your work with warrior Rising and your business driven outcomes they sort of coincide with the, the types of work that you do. And so tell us how you’re working to help other veterans through the work that you.

April Shprintz: Absolutely. So Warrior Rising is a fantastic organization. It was started many years ago by a gentleman by the name of Jason VanCamp. He is a former Army Green Beret, [00:21:00] and he is really just this. Big hearted person that wants to give the opportunity to any veteran to earn their future. And so he started Warrior Rising as a way to help any entrepreneur get really the background, the training, the understanding of the things that will make them successful.

April Shprintz: What’s really remarkable is he has used his special operations forces training to turn that into training you to run and own your own business. And all of this is a free service to the veterans. And there’s not only curriculum there. There’s almost an MBA type program when you go through another program called that to ceo, and we also do monthly mentoring sessions where folks like me who are either entre.

April Shprintz: Of their own or have specialized areas that they can help you in, whether they’re a cpa, a lawyer, et cetera. They will advise you and mentor you on those [00:22:00] areas of your business, answer your questions, and really promi provide that great community that veterans might be missing when they transition. And then they also, as they go through those programs, can be selected by mentors like myself.

April Shprintz: Others who are in the organization to go to what we call a business shower, and it’s just like, it sounds, it’s a little like a baby shower, but it’s all about business, so they can go to that business. Shower Warrior Rising pays for everything but their airfare, they get themselves there. Once they do, they’re issued a laptop.

April Shprintz: They are given head shots, a marketing video for their businesses, created help with their website and seo, and they also have the opportunity to pitch their business to mentors, board members, and other selected representatives to get a $20,000 grant to help their business. So if there’s anyone listening, warrior Rising is the number one largest veteran supporting organization for entrepreneurs.

April Shprintz: And you can apply to be a part of it just by going to [00:23:00] warrior rising.org.

Scott DeLuzio: Well, that’s great. I was reading up on Warrior Rising in my prep work for this episode and finding out about all the, the great things that they do, and it’s really incredible that there is such a big network of people like yourself who are donating their time to help out these people.

Scott DeLuzio: Get them started on the right foot in their careers post-military. And it’s really, to me it’s, it’s a great thing knowing that there are, there are those people out there like yourself who, who want to provide this service to the, the veterans and, and serve the veteran community.

April Shprintz: Absolutely, and I’m probably the least impressive person involved.

April Shprintz: So just know there are incredible people who donate their time willingly, and we get so much joy out of helping these folks. I have a, a couple of mentees who their businesses have already passed seven figures and watching their success, and what’s so great is [00:24:00] that their success is in businesses.

April Shprintz: They’re even more success with others because they’re hiring veterans. They’re hiring spouses of veterans or active duty service members, and they are providing real value, not just to whoever is purchasing their product or service, but the communities in which they live. And it’s such a fantastic symbiotic relationship that is the closest to being in the service that I’ve encountered in the 20 years since I was in.

Scott DeLuzio: And I liked something that you said earlier is that it gives the veterans an opportunity to earn their future. It, it’s not a, here it is gift wrap for you in a, a nice, neat package. You, you have to earn it. And I think the best way for someone to a appreciate the amount of work that goes into getting to a level of certain level of success is to actually earn it.

Scott DeLuzio: That is going to have [00:25:00] a whole lot more meaning to that individual than if it was just handed to them. And so that it’s a, it’s a great way to provide that service to the veterans is, is actually making them earn their future. And the amount of work that they. Amount of work that they put into it is going to very likely coincide with the amount of benefit that they get out of it at, at the end.

Scott DeLuzio: So if they don’t put the blood, sweat, and tears into it, then they’re not gonna get, you know, the, the big seven figure you know, reward at the end of the, at the end of the journey, right.

April Shprintz: Hundred percent and that, that I’m sure was something that Jason was very intentional about in giving people the opportunity to get what they want through hard work and dedication and just giving them the resources in the community that they may not have access to.

April Shprintz: And it has opened an incredible amount of doors for these veterans. With access and relationships and introductions that they may feel they are behind the power curve on because they’ve been in this [00:26:00] small community that represents such a small percentage of the overall population of the United States.

April Shprintz: But here’s a bridge. Here are people who have gone before you and built businesses and want to help you be successful. And the harder you work towards your own success, the more that we’re going to help.

Scott DeLuzio: Exactly, and I, I tell that to my kids all the time when they’re struggling with something and it seems like they’re just quitting and expecting the answer or a, a handout of whatever the solution is to their problem.

Scott DeLuzio: I tell them, look, I’m not, I’m only gonna help you as much as you’re willing to help yourself. And if you’re sitting there just quitting on yourself, well then, I’m gonna probably not give you all that much help. And so you’re, you’re gonna be on your own. And of course, I don’t really like that answer, but you know, it’s, it’s true.

Scott DeLuzio: You know, if, if you’re seeing someone who’s not willing to put in the effort, then you, you sort of ask yourself, why, why am I gonna spend all that effort helping this person if [00:27:00] they’re not that invested in it either? So, I think it’s definitely an important lesson to, to instill in people. And, and especially the, the veterans who know the benefit and the value of hard work.

Scott DeLuzio: It, it’s, it’s a good thing that we don’t let those people slip into that easy way out of, of getting that quick fix or quick answer to to whatever it is that they’re, they’re dealing with. A hundred percent. Yeah. So tell us about, Your business driven outcomes and what you do with that business as well.

April Shprintz: Sure. So a little similar, right to what we’re doing with Warrior Rising. I help to scale companies and also help teach entrepreneurs how to scale their own company as well, and I accelerate them. So one of the things I realized early on in starting my company by happenstance, because I didn’t actually know what I was going to do, I started a company to help people.

April Shprintz: I didn’t know how I was gonna help them. And then I had someone reach out to me that was a friend of a friend asking me to [00:28:00] turn around a failing. Us. And because I’d had experience in that when I was in the corporate world, turning around, failing divisions, helping unhappy customers, those sorts of things, it all played into the skills that I would need to help folks.

April Shprintz: And what has been incredible is I’ve been able to develop away through the generosity culture, which is the foundation of everything, teaching folks and companies to pour into their people, their clients, and their community. To really accelerate their revenue, accelerate their growth, while creating an environment within the company where everyone wants to be a part of it or do business with them.

April Shprintz: And again, I’m gonna use that word symbiotic again cuz I think it’s important, have this great symbiotic relationship with the community in which they serve, whether that’s local or regional or global, and being able to help them do those things and do it quickly. And then step out and let them have the glory is really more [00:29:00] fun than anything I ever could have imagined doing.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And when you take care of the people in your business, so if you’re a leader in, in a business, a president, c e o or, or even just, you know, a, a manager of a division or, or something like that, if you take care of the people who work for you, they’re gonna take care of you too. And that will include taking care of your customers and taking care of.

Scott DeLuzio: Every, everything in the day-to-day business that that goes on, they’re gonna want to take care of you because they’re gonna enjoy working for you. They’re gonna love the job that they’re doing, and it’s just gonna make a much better work environment and, and that will help. Everyone succeed and rise up together.

Scott DeLuzio: And that’s, that’s a great thing. And so I, I appreciate what you’re doing because I think more businesses need that sort of message and, and will definitely be you know, a lot more successful if they are taking care of those those other things that they may overlook from time to [00:30:00] time.

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

April Shprintz: Absolutely. And to add to what you were saying, and because you’re a parent, you’re gonna understand this so well. Pouring into your people models for them, how you want them to treat your clients. And you can tell them all the time how you’d like the clients to be treated, but ultimately they’re going to copy what you’re doing.

April Shprintz: Just like kids, right? We may tell our kids that we want them to do all of these certain things. We want them to be better than we are, but they’re gonna be very much just like us cuz they’re gonna model what we’re doing. And sometimes we see that in a way that really. Proud . And then sometimes we see that in a way that thinks, makes us think, yeah, I’ve, I’ve really gotta work on that habit.

April Shprintz: That’s not ideal. Same thing in the business world. And it is incredibly powerful how you, just by modeling to them what it’s like to truly value and empower and help. Then get that same experience for your clients, which helps not only grow your customer satisfaction and they’ll want to do more business with you, but it turns those clients into [00:31:00] evangelists for you.

April Shprintz: And that is incredible because I have worked with companies that no longer have to do outreach because they’ve developed such incredible relationships with their current clients. Their current clients are the best recruiters for them of new ones.

Scott DeLuzio: Exactly. Yeah. That word of mouth is really. Really impactful and powerful when you have a customer who’s satisfied, they’re happy with the work that you’ve done, and they tell other people about you and the, the type of work that you’ve done that just spreads like wildfire.

Scott DeLuzio: Like it just, just keeps going. And because then that next person if they’re satisfied, they’re gonna tell another person and that will just compound and grow and grow and grow. And so yeah, you, you can, you can. Start putting back on some of the, the marketing budget too. If, if you have if you have such good word of mouth marketing going on there through your, your clients.

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

April Shprintz: hundred percent, I think it was, I don’t think it was the current chief marketing officer, but the former chief marketing officer at [00:32:00] Chick-fil-A said that marketing is the price you pay for an inferior product or service.

Scott DeLuzio: That makes a lot of sense, right? Yeah. Because if you, if you have to go out and tell everyone about it and how great it is, then then nobody else is doing it, which means that maybe it’s not all that great to begin with.

Scott DeLuzio: Right. There you go. Now you have a story on your website about you as a child, which I loved. It, it talks about acceptance of, of who you are. And I wanted to bring it up because sometimes it’s hard to accept things for. What they are and to see clearly enough to find your way out of a situation.

Scott DeLuzio: And several times in this episode, you’ve, you’ve talked about, okay, this is where I’m at, but I’m gonna push through and I’m gonna make something better of whatever this situation is. I’m gonna accept it. Like this is where I’m at, but. I’m, I’m gonna make something better of this situation. Would you tell us a little bit about that story and how that’s kind of played a role in this overall theme that, that I’ve kind of been sensing through this story here?

April Shprintz: I think, are you talking about the the Rock story? [00:33:00] Yes. Yes. Okay. So when I was six years old, and this is actually both the title and the first chapter of my book, magic Blue Rocks, but I had a schoolmate tell me that I was poor. And he actually did it in a, a very kind way. He was an incredibly intelligent child and he was very analytical.

April Shprintz: And it came up because he said that my pants were too short. My parents needed to buy me new pants. And I, you know, in that way that a six year old just knows the way that the world is for them. Said, yeah, you only get pants once a year when school starts. So like, that’s not a thing. And he said, oh, okay.

April Shprintz: You’re poor. And not with judgment just now, he knew why I wasn’t gonna get new pants and we went through this whole thing. Cuz to me, I had this visceral reaction of shame and oh my gosh, that’s a terrible thing to be and I don’t wanna be that. And as he took me through the questions, I realized that I was indeed poor and I, I had to do something to fix it.

April Shprintz: And at that time I [00:34:00] thought, okay, I can’t get my mom involved in this. I was raised by a single parent because if she knew how to fix this, then we wouldn’t be here. So let me just handle this. And I wanted to start a business because on tv, the people that looked rich that I admired had businesses in, in particular, George Jefferson who had those, you know, Jefferson Cleaners.

April Shprintz: And he was moving on up and I was like, that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna start a business. But then I thought, oh gosh, you know, I don’t have a bike. So, and I don’t have anything to sell, so I’m looking around the house trying to find something to sell, and my sister’s there and she’s like, you can’t just get our stuff and sell it to the neighbors,

April Shprintz: And I would’ve argued with her if I thought any of the stuff was good enough to sell, that I was willing to part with. But like, if it was good enough to sell, I didn’t wanna get rid of it. So I did find a marker, a blue marker, and then I went out into the driveway and I saw all this gravel. And it’s funny, I have always thought you could do anything you believe you can do.

April Shprintz: I mean, even that young. And I thought, you [00:35:00] know, if I color these rocks blue, they’ll be magic. They’ll be special because I know I can do anything I believe I can do. I can probably put that into these rocks and then I can sell it to people who don’t already know they can do anything. And if they have the rock, they’ll feel like they can do anything.

April Shprintz: So this felt like an excellent business plan. Got it all going. Went to school, selling the. Didn’t plan it too well because I didn’t have the greatest pricing strategy. And then when the kids wanted to buy them, they used their lunch money and I ended up having my business shut down by my first grade teacher and my mom.

April Shprintz: and my mom came to school because she was so upset to find out that I knew that we were poor and that I had handled it this way. Like I can’t imagine thinking back now because she was only 30 years old at that time. Like what did that feel like to find out that your kid had no faith in the fact that you could fix this and they wanted to do it [00:36:00] for themselves.

April Shprintz: And she just gave me this remarkable piece of advice in that moment, which was, you know, being poor. It’s just, it just is. It’s not who you are. It’s about how much money you have. And her reaction and her being sad and crying, talking to me about it, really gave me this amazing mindset focus because in that moment I was like, you know what?

April Shprintz: I am not gonna focus on things that make me cry. I am going to focus on the things that make me proud, and I’m just gonna make money until money doesn’t matter. and it was just that focus of, okay, this is where we are right now. Okay, but we can get to a new place. And how hard can it be?

Scott DeLuzio: It’s so simple when you put it that way.

Scott DeLuzio: How hard, how hard could it be? Right. And the best and

April Shprintz: worst decisions of my life have started with that phrase, .

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And it’s really, you know, it’s a flip of a coin to [00:37:00] see which way it’s gonna end up going. You know, it could, sure, it could be the best, it could be the worst, but you know what? You won’t know unless you give it a try.

Scott DeLuzio: Hundred percent. And I, I, I think one of the things I didn’t catch in the story on your website and you, maybe you didn’t have it there, or maybe I just skimmed past it. You only got part

April Shprintz: of the story. Then you can download the chapter. That’s why I told you the whole thing. I just killed the excellent

Scott DeLuzio: but one thing.

Scott DeLuzio: That you, you did get out of this was your first taste at a very young age of the Gov government oversight and regulations as far as businesses go when your first grade teacher assuming it’s a public school teacher that, you know, a government employee was now stepping in and shutting down your business.

Scott DeLuzio: And you know, so yeah, life isn’t fair, but it is what it is, and you. You picked up and you moved on and you are doing well for yourself now. And you know, why not just give it a try? Right, exactly. How are can it be ? Exactly. This was, this was great and I, I think the count is at least three or four times when [00:38:00] you’re, you, you face some sort of setback and you’re like, ah, no, I, I’m gonna keep going anyways.

Scott DeLuzio: And. Wound up better for it. You know, on this episode I’ll have to go back and listen to that to get a official tally for that. But I’ve really enjoyed this conversation and you know, everything that you’re doing with warrior Rising and just the, the inspirational story of of how you picked yourself up from, you know, humble beginnings and, and said, this is what I want for myself and this is how I’m gonna get it, and I’m just.

Scott DeLuzio: Push forward and do it, and no under, nothing’s really gonna stand in my way at this point. Right. So, I, I really do appreciate you coming on and sharing this story. Where can people go again to get in touch with you and find out more about the work that you do at Driven Outcomes and warrior Rising?

Scott DeLuzio: I know you mentioned the website earlier, but if you don’t mind just dropping that again for the listen.

April Shprintz: Absolutely. If you’re interested in Warrior Rising and becoming a a entrepreneur with our organization, that is just Warrior rising.org, you can apply right on the website. [00:39:00] And if you’d like to get in touch with me, there are a couple ways.

April Shprintz: My website is driven outcomes.com. You can also follow me on LinkedIn where I do content every week on mindset leadership and.

Scott DeLuzio: Excellent. Well, thank you again April for taking the time to join us. Really do appreciate it.

April Shprintz: My pleasure.

Scott DeLuzio: Thanks for listening to the Drive On Podcast. If you want to support the show, please check out Scott’s book, Surviving Son on Amazon. All of the sales from that book go directly back into this podcast and work to help veterans in need. You can also follow the Drive On Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.