John (3:04)

Okay, so doing things right, that never happened until I was probably 40 years old.

Andy Elliott (3:14)

Talk to us about that. Just a little bit about, you know, about maybe how you grew up or, you know, like, maybe some of the mistakes you made or like just influences, you know, you know, just run. Don't hold anything back. What I love about my audience is they love to grow, they love to change. Just hold nothing back.

John (3:33)

Okay, so growing up, I was the youngest of 10. So I got four brothers, five sisters.

Andy Elliott (3:42)

Wow, that's crazy.

John (3:43)

Grew up Catholic, so I knew about the Lord, but I never had a relationship with him. And that was huge for me. And that plays into my testimony down the road. So everybody says the youngest kid gets the most attention. Well, that was never true in my family. So I created my own attention. And it was always in a bad way. My dad, he was always present. He always worked just raising 10 kids. And so I was always wanting his attention. But in order to get dad's attention, you had to go out in the garage and go to work. He was a body man, so he worked on cars all of his life. Life. He would go to work as a full time job. And then we ended up building him a shop at the house. So when he came home, he would work. Once he got home, he'd sit down, eat dinner, and then go out in the shop and work. And so in order to talk to dad, you had to go out in the garage. Well, then he would put you to work. Well, as a young kid, you know, I didn't want to go to work, so I didn't have a relationship with my dad. And so finally, one day, I finally wore him down. And I talked to him. It was pheasant hunting season in Minnesota. I said, come on, dad. Let's go. You know? And he. He's like, okay, okay. So he finally agreed, you know, And I was so excited. I went inside the house, got. Got his vest ready, put the shells in the vest, you know, got the shotgun ready. It's like, I'm gonna go ahead and load it. So I load the shells and the shotgun, you know, and I set it by the front door or by the back door, and his Vesta sitting there, and I'm going out to tell dad, you know, think I'm ready to go, you know? And then I stopped for a second. I looked at the gun. I was like, huh, I wonder if the safety's on. And being. I was probably 10 years old. 9. Probably 9 years old, not knowing anything about gun safety and checking the safety to see if it was on, I knew enough about it, but I pulled the trigger instead. Boom. And I blow a hole through the ceiling in the house, in my sister's bedroom is right above it. And I was so scared, and I just ran crying. I hid in my closet. And it was in that moment I knew my opportunity that I had with my dad that I just blew it. And I felt just the shame, you know, and just embarrassed. I just felt terrible. And so I'm hiding in my closet, I'm crying, you know, and dad comes in the house. He's like, what the heck? You know, what happened? What happened? And he wasn't mad, you know, my dad. My parents never fought. I never, ever. I never heard an argument from my mom and dad, ever. And. Which is probably a bad thing, because I never. I don't deal with conflict very well. I've had to learn how to deal with conflict, but I never saw it played out in a healthy manner. So that was. That was big. So I never saw that. But it was in that time. And feeling that shame. And that shame that came upon me at that time just ruled my life forever. I was nine years old. I was walking over to my best friend's house across the cornfield, and I found a Playboy magazine back when they had magazines. And from that moment on, my walk to my best friend's house was never the same again. And so being nine years old now, I feel that urge to, you know, want to look at more pornography. And having four older brothers, it was always readily available, you know, so then I get addicted to porn. And then that led to smoking cigarettes, and then Smoking weed, cocaine, and you name it. And so I never did well in school just because. I just never did well in school and then doing. Having my addictions. By the time I was 12 years old, I was drinking and smoking all the time. By the time I was 14, I was full blown alcoholic. I just, I didn't care about anything about, just about not feeling how I used to feel and just having that shame. I never, never once dealt with that shame. It was always mom and dad would send me to a behavior, to a psychologist, to whoever trying to help. Instead of dealing with the issue, I was always dealing with the symptoms. And so I was put in inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment. I mean, they were trying everything they could to help little Johnny, but it's just nothing ever worked, you know. And so I carried that into my teenage years years. And then I discovered methamphetamines and that became the drug of my choice. And then I lived with that addiction for over two decades. I mean, it's just, it's amazing that I have any brain cells left whatsoever. I've ministered to many people that have been in different various addictions. And I've seen some only being in it for just, you know, six months to a year, two years, and their mind is just gone. You know, it's in those moments I'm just so thankful to the father for protecting me, you know, because he has much better plans for me, you know, much better future.

Andy Elliott (9:19)

Yeah.

John (9:20)

And so I talked to my best friend. I'm 19 years old and I'm running from the law. I've made up many lies why I've ended up in Texas, but I'm running from the law. I'm 19 years old. Talked to my best friend and I said, man, let's get out of here. He didn't have any idea why I wanted to leave. So we sold everything we had. He had a car, we had nothing, you know, had like 300 bucks and that was it. Had no idea where we were going to go. We just got in the car and left. We were headed south. I tell everybody, trying to get away from Minnesota winners. And so we ran. Ended up running out of money in Dallas. And I just stayed there ever since. And my friend left like four months later, but I stayed there. And then in that I just, I got a job. I was working one to try to find a place to live, but really just to support my habit, you know, I had no work ethic whatsoever. 19, even though I grew up working, I just, I had no work ethic. Because it was still dependent upon. I used to work for my older brother in construction. So I had no work ethic whatsoever. And just getting in trouble. And then I get in trouble. I'm in, I'm in Dallas. I stole a toolbox out of somebody's truck. They had me on camera. They have a Super Bowl Sunday, I'll never forget. They had me on camera. So I couldn't get 10ft away from the truck. And I'm surrounded by security, you know, so I go to jail, I call my mom, she bonds me out, you know. And that was the, that was the biggest thing is I would always call for help and they would always get me out of trouble. So never did I ever deal with myself and my own issues ever. Not one time. I'd always call, they would get me out, call, they would get me out. And that happened numerous times just throughout life. And then finally I go to prison. Go to prison for I think six months for methamphetamines. Just small amount, do my time, get out, I go right back to jail again, you know. And then throughout, throughout the years, eventually just lots of methamphetamine use. I learned how to work because the more I work, the more, more I could do drug wise and, and whatnot. And so, man, the last time I went to jail I ended up getting a three year sentence. And it was crazy. There's a story in the Bible where Joseph, where his brothers throw him in a pit, right? And so I scope out this building. I'm down in Galveston and I scope out this old abandoned building and the doors are blown off. And I go in there at night and I'm looking around and yeah, there's some stuff in there to steel, copper. And so I come back the next night and so I'm walking across this building, right? And I turn my flashlight off. So where the bay doors were, I'm going to where the, where the electrical boxes were. And so I'm cutting across the building. I'm halfway, I'm right in the middle of the building. It's pitch black, can't see anything. And all of a sudden I just stopped. Like if you step off a step, you know how you fall like that? I did that. But I fall in this pit. There is literally like a 10 foot by 10 foot by 10 foot deep pit right in the middle of this building. And I thought I broke my leg, I messed myself up. Oh man. And so now I'm thinking, but when I fell, I turned my light on. So that helped me so I was able to get out of there that night, but I'm in this pit and I'm moving around. I'm thinking, what in the world am I doing? You know, know, I'm wiggling my stuff. I thought my leg was broke. I couldn't hardly move. And looking at the stuff that's in there, I fell on an old 55 gallon drum. There was a chunk of a steel ladder that's in. I mean, just all kinds of garbage in this pit. And I'm just disgusted, you know, and I'm trying to get out. I can't use my right leg at all. So I'm stacking stuff up and I'm trying to get out of this pit. And just literally. And I was able to put enough stuff on and I was able to get my fingertips up to the top and then pull myself out that way. And then I turn in. I came. I'm an addict, man. Two, three days later, I come back to finish that job so I could hit a lick and buy more dope. And so it was such a God thing. So I do that. I come back two, three days later. Whatever. Well, they had me on camera somewhere and then they watched me come into a scrapyard. And then they arrested me for stealing copper. And that's what ended me. Put me in Galveston County Jail. That had been like 2007 or 8. And so I get arrested and it was the greatest thing. And I was just. It was such a God thing. I was absolutely disgusted with my life. I just. I wanted to die. Had absolutely no hope whatsoever.

Andy Elliott (14:48)

Wow.

John (14:48)

I'm living with the. Living with a gay guy down in, down in Galveston. He's got this little appliance business, you know, and I would fix up the appliances and then sell them. He had a room I would stay in, but I just wanted to die. I was too much of a coward to just put a bolt in my mouth. And so I determined I'm just going to drink myself to death. And that's what I set out to do. Literally, I made that decision. Yeah, I made that my goal. And so literally, I drank a half a gallon of rot gut whiskey every single day for the next 10 months before the Lord finally said, enough is enough.

Andy Elliott (15:30)

Are you kidding me?

John (15:31)

No, I just, I was. I have never been so depressed in my life. I mean, no hope whatsoever. You know, I've heard a statement, you know, you can live, you know, three days without water, you can live seven days without food, but you can't live a minute without hope. And that's Where I was, I was just. I just. I had no hope. I had. I hated my life. I hated everything about it. I. I was married, had two beautiful boys. I completely destroyed that with those relationships. Along the way, I left my first wife for, you know, chasing after another woman. Just literally just walked out on my two boys and just. I had so much. I would sit back for years, and I would drive over to where I knew they were, and I would just watch them from a distance and just. It was so hard. It just ate at me. It's just. I just. And that didn't help. I mean, I loved going to see him, but it just drove my addiction even further because. Just because of the shame that just kept compounding through all of that. Oh, it was just. I mean, the enemy had me so close to just being. Just wanting to die. And so here I am. I'm in jail. Thank God. Jail saved my life. And I'm in Galveston county jail, and I call him my black angel. So I'm laid up in my bunk, and I'm just reading secular books, you know, And Freddy, he would come in, he's like, hey, John, I see you reading. You know, I said, like, I. I can't read or write. Would you mind, you know, if you could you read to me so I could learn about the book? I'm like, sure. You know, sit down. No, have a problem. And so I was just sitting, read to Freddy, and like, two, three weeks goes by. Whatever. We do that pretty much daily. And one day he comes in with the Bible, you know, he's like, hey, would you mind reading this to me? I'm like, sure, whatever. You know, sit down again. I knew of the Lord, but I never had a relationship for a minute with him. And so I'm like, yeah, sure, sit down, whatever. And so I start reading that to him. And it was during that time, those next few weeks, that whatever was in my heart was that seed that was planted back from, you know, going to church when I was a little kid was starting to get watered. That or just plain desperation for wanting something, wanting some kind of hope, you know? And so. But it was through that that began the process of the transformation of my heart. Just a couple weeks later, still in county jail. And there was a Mexican pastor came in, and there was. They were doing their worship, and it was so beautiful, the Mexican worship. And I know there's going to be Mexican worship in heaven. It's just. It's that beautiful. I love Mexican worship. And so just this sound. It was just resonating. To my soul. And I went inside and growing up Catholic, you know, and raising hands and doing all that was just weird. So I never. That was never a thing. And I walked in there and it was just. I just closed my eyes and was just soaking it in. It was so beautiful. And I raised my hands up and that little Mexican pastor, he was probably, I don't know, four little baby dude, four and a half, maybe five feet tall max, you know. And I'm just sitting there, but he comes over and he just grabs a hold of my hands and I just melted. I just melted. I sat and I bawled like a baby. I cried so hard. And it was in that moment I asked the Lord to forgive me and to have a relationship with him. And that's when I gave my life to the Lord. And it was so awesome. It was so awesome. I still had a lot of stuff to deal with. I mean, I still had a three year prison sentence to go to, but it was in that moment I got so blessed with the unit that I went to in Texas. I was able to go to a faith based unit and just. I learned. I was so desperate to learn what it was going to be like to become a functioning member of society because I had never been that ever. I'd always been just an addict my entire life. And so I'm learning how to do that and I'm pursuing my relationship with the Father. And it was so awesome. It was so awesome. But during that time, you have access to pretty much anything you want to, even in there. But I had no desire to. None. When I gave my life to the Lord, he completely, completely took the taste of cigarettes, pornography, alcohol, meth was just gone. Just. It was out of my. It had no taste for it whatsoever. And that was such a miracle. Yeah, but that was.

Andy Elliott (21:00)

That's amazing.

John (21:02)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (21:02)

There's scripture around that that talks about being removed. Know like him removing like the things you once desired, the flesh wanted. And now they just disgust you?

John (21:15)

Absolutely disgust. Yeah.

Andy Elliott (21:16)

Is that weird?

John (21:18)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (21:18)

You know, like something that you can be so familiar with now just disgust you.

John (21:24)

Right. And I look back, that's the power of God. Totally. And I look back now and there was so many. I can't even. Most of them I've forgotten because I just. I've done so much damage to my brain. But anyway, there were so many times in prison where I would see the hand of the Lord just to increase my faith. I would pray about something and it would happen, you know, and I would pray with somebody and their family members would come and visit them, or they would get a letter that they hadn't had a letter and years, you know, and so many times we had so much favor in the unit. We had a truckload of seeds that came in, seeds that came into the unit. And me and Todd, we prayed about it, and then we went to the warden, like, hey, would you let us do something with these seeds? Like, what are you talking about? It's like, well, we heard about them, but we would like to transform the prison and make it beautiful. You know, he's like, that's a great idea. Let's do that. You know, but it wasn't just plant or flower seeds, but there was also plants. But we literally. We literally put a garden right in the middle of the unit. We had no tools, and we were out there with a 1 gallon, like a can of beans, you know, and just literally chop in the ground with this can. I mean, it was pretty much mainly me. Maybe my hands were bloody, but it was just. It was a man on a mission. And we're going to beautify this prison. We're going to. We're going to give it over to the glory of the Father.

Andy Elliott (23:03)

Yeah.

John (23:03)

But when we got done and that. And that was back in 2008 or nine, whatever, and that. That is still going on today.

Andy Elliott (23:12)

Are you serious?

John (23:13)

That's so awesome. Yeah, it is still going on today. I can't believe so. I know. That was so cool. But we put flowers all over the prison. We did that whole. That whole garden thing. But it was more importantly. What I'm getting at there is seeing the hand of the Father, just increasing my faith and preparing me is what he was doing. Totally preparing me for life. That was coming ahead. And I say that, but it was about. So once I got. Once I paroled out, I went to an amazing ministry in. In East Texas Calvary Commission. And they primarily deal with prison ministry. It's like one of a kind in America. It's. It's phenomenal. And so. And I was. I. I had gotten parole, but I hadn't gotten my acceptance letter yet. And I was like, I went to him. I was like, I'm. I'm not. I'm denying my parole. I'm not accepting it because I know if I go out that door without a place to go, I'm dead. I might as well just put a bullet my head. I know me. I know what's inside. I'm not going to go there. And so they allowed that. And so. But it was like, two weeks, month later, whatever, I did get accepted. And so then I was able to parole out. So I got my letter, and when that letter came in again, I just cried. It's like I knew the Lord had a greater plan for my life, you know, it was so awesome. And so I got out. And then, man, I get to the ministry, but let me back up. So even in that and to increase my faith and to just solidify it in my heart was I had met the Lord, had put so many people who had been to this specific ministry and either got mad, whatever, and left. Family members, you know, they see somebody doing so good, well, now they want them back, but it's not in the Lord's time. And they would take them out of the Lord's will. I mean, take them out of that ministry. And now they're either dead or back in prison again. I can't tell you how many people I met. I was at Calvary and I left. I was at Calvary and I left. So that happened so many times. And so I had solidified it in my heart. I made a commitment to the Father. It's like, I don't care what they do to me there. I am not going to leave that ministry until he says it's time. And it's just. It was so important to me because I'd seen so many people. And after being there for six years, I was there and trying to minister to these men and let them know and talking to their family, don't take him out of here, because this is what's gonna happen, you know? And you would talk to him again and again and again. And there's so many that I know personally. They were friends, and now they're dead. Wow. Or they're back in prison, the same thing, you know.

Andy Elliott (26:11)

Never escaped it.

John (26:12)

No. No. Because it was just. It wasn't their time, you know, and so. But all of that was to prepare me. So now to fast forward to. To my future bride. So I met my bride there. Absolutely amazing. She was a year ahead of me. There's a long testimony in that. But we got married. We had courted for a few months. We weren't able to associate for the first two years, but after that we were able to communicate and talk. Talk. And so what does that mean?

Andy Elliott (26:51)

For the first two years, you weren't able to.

John (26:53)

So there was. There's a women's side of the ministry and there's a men's side. The only time you really had interaction with each other was, like, at meal or church, something like that. But it was so we could get our hearts right, you know, and get prepared, you know, so they. It wasn't like separated, weird. It was just. It was, it was an absolute necessity. Necessity. This is in preparation.

Andy Elliott (27:16)

Yeah.

John (27:17)

You know, for, for life. And so it. There's no distractions. I'll say it that way. It takes away the distraction. And so we were able to. Once we're able to communicate, we started talking and we knew. I knew because seeing, seeing her for two years had been never having a conversation with her. I knew I wanted to marry her just in observing. So the first, the first date, the first time we able to. To go, not really date, but court, whatever. I asked her to marry me. I said, I'm in this forever. I said, if you're not, we just need to end this. And she's like, I am too, you know. Well, it was beautiful. So we got married a couple months later. Literally. It was awesome. And. But the enemy just never stopped working. Right. And so she had supposedly all these UTIs, but only one time did she ever have a real uti. But the doctor would kept prescribing the same medication, Levaquin. It's just, it's absolutely demonic. And it gave my wife permanent nerve damage. Permanent nerve damage in her pelvic floor. The floor. So she went from full time ministry to the ladies to being completely bedridden in three months after we got married.

Andy Elliott (28:41)

Holy cow.

John (28:41)

It was terrible. Yeah. And so. But it was through that, just because of the area that it was mainly, mainly taken over. It gave her so much pain. We weren't able to come together, you know, like you would think a new couple should, you know.

Andy Elliott (29:02)

Right.

John (29:03)

And so it was through that I had gotten addicted to pornography again through that. Not that it was her fault. I don't ever want her to think that. But it was my own struggle and for myself. But I was able to overcome that again. But it took time. But she wasn't able to stand, sit. She couldn't go to church, she couldn't listen to music because of the vibration. I mean, anything would set that nerve off. It was just, it was so demonic, man.

Andy Elliott (29:33)

This is why she was pregnant.

John (29:35)

Yeah. No, she wasn't even pregnant. So this is right after we got married. And so she dealt with that for over a year and a half.

Andy Elliott (29:44)

Wow.

John (29:45)

Over a year and a half. And so we're still at the ministry. And then there was a time, but it was prop. This is crazy. This was just the Lord increasing my faith so I could deal with these issues that were coming up to not just lose it, you know, And I see that and it's just, it's so awesome. Not that I wish that upon my bride by any means, but I just, I see how the hand of the Lord at work. Yeah. And so through that, I forgot where it was. So, so through that.

Andy Elliott (30:20)

Now your wife is still in the ministry, right?

John (30:22)

Yeah, so we're still there. But it had been, it had been prophesied over my wife for like five years that she would give birth to a son. Well, I'll back up a minute. She was married previously, but her husband had passed away. And then it was in that, down that road, the enemy knocked, literally knocked on her door and some guy was broke down and you know, needed some help on his car ride or gas or something. He said, I can't pay you, but I have some energy, you know, which was methamphetamines. And so my wife, after just losing her husband, was in a, was in a vulnerable place. She'd never smoked, she'd never done anything in her entire life. And so she went down a path that it, albeit short, but she still went down a path. And so anyway, it's just crazy how the, the enemy is. He's always very patient and he doesn't.

Andy Elliott (31:18)

He doesn't care who you are.

John (31:20)

No.

Andy Elliott (31:20)

Male, female?

John (31:21)

No, not at all.

Andy Elliott (31:22)

Good looking, ugly, smart, dumb.

John (31:24)

No, no, he's very patient. And so, so he's waiting around. So she, she, she takes the bait, you know, that just went down a whole road on her own. But so we are together. It's prophesied over her that she's going to give birth to a son. But once her first husband passed away, her body just shut down. She hadn't had a period in like nine years, man. I mean, just done. She'd been to the doctor. You're in post menopause. It just, it is what it is. And so for her to be prophesied that she's going to give birth to a son, it's like, she's like, well, it's going to have to be the Lord, you know, know. Well, sure enough, so fast forward, we had, I had taken my bride to numerous doctors, man. Pick a, pick a, pick an ologist. And we had been there, you know, trying to find out what's going on with my bride. And none of them had an answer. It's, it's not a, it's not a urologist, it's not a gynecologist, you know, it's it's none of these things. So she ended up self diagnosing herself. And you can literally count on one hand how many doctors deal with this in America. Literally there was like four or five, and there was one right here in Arizona. And so we were able to book an appointment and we came here, we went to see Dr. Hibner, and he did diagnose pudendal neuralgia, the very name. Pudendal in Latin is shame. I mean, the very thing that I've dealt with my entire life, shame. And never been able to conquer that, you know, just the enemy would always use shame to just rule my life and just wreck hell in my life, you know. And so. And now my bride has been diagnosed with this shame disease, you know, or whatever you want to call it, from, From. From. From medicine.

Andy Elliott (33:19)

What year was this? Is this like 2012?

John (33:22)

That would have been. Yeah, 2012. And so. And the only thing that they have to offer surgical wise, because what it did, it took all the tendons and ligaments in her inner pelvic floor and just made them rock hard. So the, the nerves that are there, they can't glide through like they're supposed to. And so anything would set it off. And so the only surgery was absolutely brutal. I mean, they would literally just gut you out and then sew mesh up in there, you know, and. And that was it. And like, we're not going to go there, you know. And so there was a time after that where she wasn't hurting so bad and we were able to come together. But how the Lord works. And she conceived a son.

Andy Elliott (34:08)

Oh, wow.

John (34:09)

Yeah. I mean, it was a. It was a total miracle. I mean, she hadn't had a period of nine years. And now she's pregnant. Yeah, now she's pregnant. But it was through the pregnancy of that again, it's just another increasing my faith, you know, to deal with. To deal with life.

Andy Elliott (34:26)

That's crazy.

John (34:27)

And so. But it was through the pregnancy, the female body releases a chemical called relaxin and allows their guts to move around and transform, you know, to make room for the baby and all that. So what. What man had no clue to do, you know, the father did. And had we not been convinced, because my bride was 40 years old when she had her first kid, said, well, because of your age, you need to do a C section. Well, knowing now, I would have never allowed that. It's like, no, the Lord's bringing this baby into the world, and the Lord's gonna complete the process, you know, so she's not 100% better, but she's probably 60% better, you know, through that. But she's able to function completely normally. And. And so, yeah, it's just been a big, big ordeal through all of that.

Andy Elliott (35:23)

But that is a crazy, crazy, crazy story, by the way, every one of you. What I love is I didn't even ask what you're doing now or explain that. I explained most people quit before their best life ever gets here. They don't quit. How many people would have quit? 99.99% of the world. And here you are.

John (35:49)

Amen.

Andy Elliott (35:50)

And so you get out and you said that, you know, this opportunity of you trying to find what to do next, you did not see in roofing, but you got a phone call.

John (36:02)

Right, right, right. Yeah. So I've done, I've done remodel all my life. Some form or fashion of construction all my life. And then one day out of the blue, Will calls me up. He's like, hey, you know, how you doing? You know, and for small talk, he's like, hey, you really need to check out roofing. You know, I think because of the work that you do, it might, it might serve you well. You know, me being a blue collar worker that I am, I'm hands on, do it myself. And the first place my mind went was putting on a black roof in Texas in August. You know, I'm like, I'm out, man. I work hard enough as it is. It's like, I don't even want to go there. He's like, no, you need to sell them, man. You need to sell them. And so. And it was crazy. Just another God deal. It was literally like one, maybe two days at the most. Later, one of my previous customers in this gate of the community said, hey, John, you know, my mom or dad died, whatever, said, we need to put a roof on the house to sell it. Do you know anybody? I'm like, well, yeah, I do. And so I call Will up. I was like, hey, I got a roof. He's like, what? You're kidding. Told him the story. He's like, well, that's awesome. So I was like, I don't know what to do. You know, I don't have a crew. I'm not going to do it myself. And so that was the beginning of how that got started. And then I just went back to my previous customers and inspected their roofs and yeah, things just blew up from there. It was, it was pretty awesome.

Andy Elliott (37:36)

It's insane, bro.

John (37:37)

Yeah, yeah.

Andy Elliott (37:40)

Hey guys, sorry to interrupt the video as you're hearing Me and John talk about, number one, his testimony. You're hearing us talk about this opportunity. You know, maybe this video was made for you, okay? Maybe John went through what he went through in his life to change his life, to build this incredible opportunity, and now he's going to hand it over to you and that you can literally create a whole new life right now. I want to tell you this. Everybody's one handshake away from changing their life. They're one phone call. They're one opportunity away. Okay? And I don't think you found this video by accident. So if you would like an opportunity to team up with John, to work with John, it's a great. It's a great level 10 earning opportunity. But he's such a good leader. It's such a great organization. It's just. It's the greatest vehicle to give everything that you have to in life. It's good for you, it's good for your family, it's good for your kids. It's good for you financially. And if that's you right now, there's going to be a number on the screen. You can just text John. That is John's personal cell phone number. Very simple. Okay? Text him, say hi. Saw you Andy's podcast. I'd like to know about this opportunity to come work for you and do well. That's it. And be a part of the team. And then John will reach out to you personally. So I love you guys. I appreciate it. I just want to put this out there. Maybe this was made for you and this is your way out. This is what you've been waiting for. Okay. Appreciate you guys. Text the number. Let's get back to the video. Have one of the best testimonies ever. And you know what I love is that you're really good at telling it. You know, like most people, they don't study people, they don't study the problems people have. I love studying an underdog or an overcomer. I love studying the comeback kid. That's what you are. You just. You come back, right? Like from 9 years old, shooting that damn shotgun in your house all the way to, you know, finding your wife. And, you know, here you are.

John (39:33)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (39:34)

And talking to Will and neighbors, you know, or your previous customers are looking for a roof, and you just got off the call with Will and then you start doing that thing.

John (39:44)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (39:45)

And then now you're this new born again man. Right? I mean, super disciplined, super loving. You know, I know the way you feel about you and your kid, the way that you feel about. And your wife about your future. What's happening? What is some advice you'd give to someone if someone's struggling right now because you know it all too well.

John (40:08)

Oh, man. Text me. I'll be happy to be happy to share the faithfulness of the father, you know, or just be there to hear. To hear somebody else's story, just to hear somebody out. That's just huge, you know? Yeah. Something happened to me when I was younger that. I mean, I was. I was molested when I was younger. I was probably 12 years old. My new people, my new friends, everybody knows that, you know, that's just part of my testimony. But that was a big part of just another block of shame in my life, you know? But since then, the very individual that did that to me, I was able to lead them to the Lord. And it was. It was so beautiful. It was so beautiful because I would. I would see him, you know, and he would always stay distant, you know, And I had forgiven him a long time ago, but he didn't know that, you know, and so I was able to talk to him and. Yeah. Let him know that I've forgiven him.

Andy Elliott (41:26)

No, that's. That's crazy. And just being vulnerable, you know, A lot of people only tell the stuff that they want to tell. Right. And what I love is you have a great life right now, and you want everybody to know all the ugly, the bad, the craziness. This is what life is.

John (41:42)

This is life.

Andy Elliott (41:43)

I mean, most people don't want to talk about life. Yeah, they want to talk about what they want to talk about, but you're laying it all out there. Do you know Steve Weatherford? You know who he is?

John (41:52)

No.

Andy Elliott (41:53)

I'm going to send you his Instagram. We're done here in a minute. Guy's got almost a million followers. He was an NFL football player, and he ran a life. He won the football. We won the Super Bowl. He's. All he wants to do is try to figure out how to fill this void in his life, and he can't seem to do it. Tries money, sex, drugs, winning, fitness. He tries everything, dude. Still, he wins a Super bowl, everybody's partying, and he's like, I hate my life. And he's like, this is not how I should be feeling. And he was molested when he was younger, and he didn't ever tell anyone until he was 36 years old. He's 41 right now. He saved probably millions or maybe even hundreds of millions of people's lives just by sharing his story, right? And, you know, when he shares a story, it kind of makes people a little awkward in the room. You know what I mean? And he's like, this is life.

John (42:59)

It's very awkward. Yeah.

Andy Elliott (43:01)

Yeah. But he's like, this is life. And he says every time he shares a story, this is crazy. But when it's over, like, a hundred people or a third of the room will come up, and they're like, I was molested when I was a kid. And it's a really common thing, you know, Very heartbreaking, but I've done the same thing. Yeah.

John (43:25)

The first time I ever did that, I was in prison. Prison. But we had our own little group. You know, there's probably like six or eight guys. And I had spent just really three days just really. Just pressing into the Lord. I'd never done that before. And I did that. And we were in this prayer circle, you know, it was just before lunch, and we were prayed out, and I just. I couldn't move. I just. I just couldn't move. I'm like, guys, I need to. I need to share this. You know, I've just. I've never shared this with anyone, Anybody before in my life. And there was a guy looking right across from me, and I'm just sitting there, and I told him about what had happened to me when I was younger, and he just broke down and was crying, and then he had confessed, you know, that the same thing that happened to him. Well, what the enemy does is he convinces us that we are the only ones, you know, that you can't be forgiven of that, you know, the shame, it's just too much, and it's just a tactic, you know? But I said, no bullshit, you know, kick the enemy in the teeth. I shared that. And what the enemy meant to destroy me with was the very same thing that set not only me free, but the man standing right next to me, across from me, set him free as well. And what I learned in that moment is that. And I've done some studies on that, but boys are molested just as much, or if not more than girls are. I mean, it's. It's sickening how it happens. It's crazy because I've shared that with so many people, and I've had so many men come up to me afterwards and just say, thank you for sharing, you know, the same thing happened to me. Thank you. And the same thing happened to me, you know? And it's beautiful.

Andy Elliott (45:12)

He tries that. He tries to bury you in shame.

John (45:14)

Yeah. Tries to bury you in shame and convince you that you're the only one. And it.

Andy Elliott (45:19)

You're.

John (45:19)

No, you're not.

Andy Elliott (45:20)

No, no, not at all. Dude, I watched this, and this is off topic, but this is, you know, you're. You're, You're a strong guy. You work out hard, you know, you push yourself. You know, you're on this journey right now. And, you know, I always say, like, I want to be a threat to the enemy. Like, I want to be a threat. You know what I mean? And there was a study I was reading, and it was research. It was. They interviewed these pedophiles and they. And child. Child molesters. They interviewed them and they said, how do you choose your victims? And, you know, it's pretty crazy when you watch this stuff.

John (45:57)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (45:58)

And a common answer they found was they look at the fathers, and if the fathers are distracted and busy or the fathers are weak, they molest their kids because they know that the parents are too busy. And, you know, I thought about that and I thought, man, I'm going to make sure I'm a threat.

John (46:19)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (46:20)

I'm going to make sure. If someone think about messing with one of my kids, I'm going to make sure they know, you know, you don't want to touch my kids.

John (46:27)

Right.

Andy Elliott (46:28)

And I think that we're in a society with a lot of weak, you know, a lot of weak men, a lot of weak people, you know, And I think it's a time for everyone to get strong, start taking care of themselves again, you know, get close to God, and it's time to become a threat, you know, for good. Absolutely right. And that's what you are now. You know, you're a threat. You know, what was your problem? Your, you know, your adversity, you know, you. You took and you became a renegade for God. Right, right. Straight renegade. I mean, you said kick him in the teeth, right? Like, I love that, you know? And I think Christians, they need to be strong. I think they need to be great leaders. I don't think they need to be cowards and be weak and quiet. You know what I mean? I think they need to get out there and, you know, make a difference, stand up. And it's not the church. It's. It's, it's. Again, it's just being a Christian. It's being a reborn again. Christian, you know, I'm saying, you know, a sinner saved by grace, feeling very simple, you know? And so anyways, man, I love, I love your story. Super crazy. You and mama get married, you got your nine year old boy, you're happy. One of the happiest guys I know. I always see him. I see you and your wife, you're on this new journey. You guys are like on this recreation journey, kicking old habits, doing this recreating again. You're on fire. And you know, killing mediocrity in your life is of like your mission for 2025. And one of the things I want to say is it's rare to find real people. Real. Okay. I work for a lot of people in my life. I don't think I knew anything about them. And number one, I never had a relationship with any of them. And I love the way that you lead. I feel like a lot of your team has a real relationship with you. I feel like you know who they are, you, you know their families, you know what their goals are. Your goal is to help them hit their dreams. And this great company, which is priority roofing, this great company. I love that. You know, sales industries are across all different types of sectors. But finding a great industry that has a great organization with a great leader is all really rare that all three of those click and run together.

John (48:46)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (48:46)

And you found it and you've built your life in it. And it's amazing and it's allowed you to hit all of your dreams and all your guys are getting their dreams and now you're looking to build your team even bigger. Is that correct?

John (48:58)

Yes, correct.

Andy Elliott (49:01)

You don't take, I don't take you as a sales guy. You seem like you could sell, but like you don't. The normal sales guy. Right. Can you explain that? Like when you in your company, that, like the sales thing in the world, a lot of, a lot of guys that seem like they work for you are more mature. They, they, you know, they can be younger and you know, want to, want to kill it. I mean, you don't, you know, but they seem like they're, they're guys that, they know what they want. You know, they're, they're, they're a little bit older, they're more mature, you know, they're more settled. It's not the typical wolf on Wall street chaos sales industry. It's more mature, driven, you know?

John (49:42)

Yeah. And that's, that's, that's the word, driven.

Andy Elliott (49:45)

Yeah. So talk about that. I want to, I want you to talk about what you're looking for and what your culture is like. So if somebody's like, man, I like this guy. What, what would they, what would they be joining when they joined you?

John (49:57)

Our culture Is amazing. Absolutely amazing. We people, our people pray for each other. You know, we use, we use an app, everybody's on it, you know, and people will put out there, you know, they have issues or whatever, but we're always there for each other, whether you. And on the sales side of it, whether you have experience or not. Because I sold Kirby's for, for two years, but I sucked at it. I couldn't sell anything for three months until I wasn't even a believer. At that time, I'm living in a double wide trailer in Irving, Texas. I'm like, man, I know I can sell this thing, but I don't know what I'm doing. And it was in that. My prayer, if you call that a prayer, that next morning it was. There was a brand new cassette tape that just showed up on my stereo console. And that wow. In that double wide trailer, what was it? Closing Techniques for Kirby Vacuum Cleaners by Zig Ziglar.

Andy Elliott (51:00)

Oh, man.

John (51:01)

And I listen, it was a three day weekend. I'll never forget because this is part of my testimony when I'm talking to new people that coming in. And I'll never forget it, but I listened to that thing at least a thousand times. Flip, listen, Flip, listen, Flip, listen. I'm sure I did a lot of dope, probably drank a lot, but that's all I did for three days. Yeah, no joke. But it was in that receiving the tools that I needed because I believed in the machine, but I didn't know what, what I was doing to sell it. Yeah, I never sold anything. But it was receiving the tools to do that. Now it wasn't long. I sold my first machine. I became the number one salesman. I had more full price deals than anybody in our office. I became the number one salesman for our region. Wow. It was awesome. I even knocked in as far. Funny. But we would always come to East Texas because it was easier knocking supposedly. And so when we're headed back to, to the office in Grand Prairie, we had always take this left on Beltline Road. And this, this little house was always on when we'd come back because we'd be 1, 2 o'clock in the morning. I'm like, pull over. I want to go talk to this guy. I'm like, what are you talking about, man? It's like it's 1:00 in the morning. It's like, pull over, man. I'm gonna go talk. I've already sold two machines that day, so I was pretty cocky.

Andy Elliott (52:19)

Yeah.

John (52:19)

And so we pull over and I go up and knock on the door. I'm like, you know, I knock on it and he opens up the door, he's like, what are you doing, man? It's like, bro, I just. I didn't want you to miss the opportunity. Every time we come by here, your lights always on. It's like, you know, it's like, what's up? You know, it's like, well, I'm a truck driver. I get. I don't get home until like midnight, you know. And so I was. I knocked in at 1 o'clock in the morning and sold another machine on the way in.

Andy Elliott (52:45)

Good job.

John (52:45)

It was awesome. But it was so cool that that's where I learned my sale.

Andy Elliott (52:51)

Your courage. Yeah, it takes courage at somebody's door too.

John (52:55)

Yeah, yeah. Without a gun coming out. So. Yeah, but it was. It was cool. But yeah, it's. It's funny. But no.

Andy Elliott (53:02)

So any. Anybody can learn to be a To. To. Salespeople are made.

John (53:06)

Yeah. But I. So on the driven thing, because reading your new book, the one you sent me, man, Recreation, Total recreation. It's awesome. I'm done. I'm not done with it yet, but it's. What I've read is amazing. But I learned the purpose between. Because I was always looking for motivated people. But it's not motivation that keeps you because like your words, like, if money is your motivator and you're not making money, that kills you. You're taken out of the game. It's being driven. It's like what drives you and what. What's driving me, you know, the very thing that's driving me, that's what I'm looking for and people, you know. So if you want to get into sales, you can't be motivated by anything. You have to be driven to a goal. And it's in. That is what. Is what I'm looking for. So, you know, you have to be a driven individual. You know, it's like being addicted to Kratom, you know, you. You helping me with on that, man. That was awesome. But I got onto it for the right reasons. I didn't want to go down the opiate road because I hurt my back. So I was doing something natural. Well, ten years later, because of my addictive personality, now I'm doing, you know, a crap ton of it every day and addicted to it. But I was driven. I wanted to get off of that, you know. And then you helping me through that, I mean, two weeks later.

Andy Elliott (54:23)

Yeah, you killed it quick, bro.

John (54:25)

Kicked it in the teeth. But being driven and driven, you know, driven for the right.

Andy Elliott (54:31)

What drives you? I know what drives you.

John (54:33)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (54:34)

Your dog, your. Your son.

John (54:35)

My son.

Andy Elliott (54:36)

Your son drives you. Your wife drives you.

John (54:39)

Absolutely. And my people.

Andy Elliott (54:41)

Yeah. And God and your team. And. And I think you're proud of you. I think that's a big deal. I think. I think you're proud of you, man. I think that, you know, you're finally becoming who you always wanted to be.

John (54:55)

Absolutely.

Andy Elliott (54:56)

And I think you want to share all these booby traps and things that the devil wants to try to take you out with. And if we can today, number one, find anybody that's like, you know, man, you know, I want. I want to. I want to change my life. Good. Change it. You don't have to run with him to change your life. You can change your life right now. That's called a testimony. Secondly, if you're like, man, you know, I need to. I need to surround myself with people who care, you know, a lot of people. You know, your problem is you don't have anybody really care about you.

John (55:27)

Right.

Andy Elliott (55:28)

You know, had you had priority roofing in your 20s and people who cared about you and wanted to see you do greater, even their 30s, I mean, you might have made some different decisions, you know, but if you don't have those, people always say, remember, surround yourself with bad influence. Like, bad things are going to happen and, you know, or trying to get the wrong kind of attention, like from when you're young.

John (55:48)

Right.

Andy Elliott (55:48)

You know, it's like, you know, when people work with your company, you guys, you know, you recognize greatness, you recognize overcoming things and, you know, being a good person, taking care of your family and, you know, it makes me want to do those things really good.

John (56:01)

Yeah.

Andy Elliott (56:01)

And not do the bad things. You know what I mean? And so, guys, I want. I want everybody to meet John. Amazing man. Such a good man. Such a great story, by the way. It's. It's. It's real life. You know, it's. It's cool when you see it, but it's like, man, that was real. You had to go through all of that to get to where you are now. And if you can relate in any way, shape or form, if you feel like you're looking for your opportunity, something cool to change. John lives in Texas. You still are in the Dallas. Is it Fort Worth? Where you at now? Where are you at now?

John (56:38)

East Texas.

Andy Elliott (56:39)

East Texas.

John (56:40)

Yeah. Hour and a half from Dallas.

Andy Elliott (56:42)

Okay. Yeah, in Texas. Hour and a half away. Got a super strong team looking to build it. Wants to take other people on this journey with them, this awesome journey, change your life. You know, incredible culture, incredible earning opportunity. You can earn really good money, but also you can be around people who care. And, you know, I always say, like, it's really hard to hate your life when you love your job.

John (57:09)

Yeah, totally.

Andy Elliott (57:10)

You know, I know a lot of people that, you know. And by the way, it's hard to have a bad home life when you got a good work life. You know, a lot of people go home, they got a crappy work life. That's why they go home. They're piece of craps at home because they hate where they work. And so, like, you know, when you find the right place, man, it just feeds all these other areas. So if that's you and you've made it to this end of the video, there's gonna be a number below. Guys, super simple. It is his personal cell phone. It is John's. Shoot him a text. You know, John's the kind of guy, you shoot him a text, you need help, and you don't even want to work for him. He'll help you. That's the way he is. But if you're looking for an opportunity, shoot him a text. And I think just talk to him about it. He'll tell you a little bit more about it, you know, and, you know, I think there's 16 priority roofing, you know, little branches or something. Or you're in 16 states or something. I think there's some 16 offices. Sixteen offices, and each one of them are just a little bit different. And they're all ran by integrity and good stuff, but they're all ran by different leaders. And, you know, I tend to talk to John a lot. I love what he stands for. I love that, you know, because of what he's been through. Like, I love your grace for other people, you know, like, you know, you want people to be great, you're going to demand that they're great. But also, you understand what happens in life because of all the stuff you've been through, right? And I just love that, man. I wish, you know, I wish, you know, when. When something happens and, you know, you understand what mistakes look like. You understand how people feel. Shame. And so when something's going on, man, you're like. You're quick to recognize, like, come here, man. I got you. Let's go. We're going to get through this. I love that, man. That's. That's true leadership. And people don't operate like that anymore, man. It's very rare to find. So you guys want to totally change your life? Have a crazy opportunity. Make sure you text John right now. And John, man, dude.

John (59:05)

Whoa.

Andy Elliott (59:06)

What a story, dude. I love it, man. God's using you for big stuff. And if you've made it to the end of this video, it wasn't by accident. If you found this video, it wasn't by accident. And I want to say one last thing. Maybe this. Maybe this video wasn't for you. Maybe this opportunity isn't for you. Maybe it's for someone you know. Maybe it's for someone you're like, dude, I know a guy that would kill it with him. Share the video. Just share it over to him and give him an opportunity to check it out and meet John. So love you guys. Have a blessed day, and we will see you in the next video.