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Layton Jones
$100,000. Ideas make $100,000. Oh, yeah. Million dollar ideas make a million dollars. Yes, sir. So I always tell people for the roadmap, they go, what's your roadmap? My roadmap is start at the end and whatever that looks like in your life. If it's, I want to make $100,000, say, okay, we'll start at 100 and work backwards.
Ray Gutierrez
Layton Jones is a purpose driven entrepreneur,
Layton Jones
community builder, and the visionary behind Jones Farm.
Ray Gutierrez
Drawing from his belief that success is
Layton Jones
measured by impact rather than profit, he
Ray Gutierrez
inspires others to pursue meaningful work, strengthen
Layton Jones
their communities, and build legacies rooted in one of the biggest mistakes I see in early entrepreneurs. They're like, I gotta have everything perfect, and when it's perfect, I'll start it. You'll never start because it's never gonna be perfect. I didn't know what I was doing in half of these businesses, much less all of them. You know, I get in there and you literally figure it out as you go, and then you find better ways. Trying to be successful is rewarding, but when you can make someone else successful, I don't feel like there's any greater feeling than that in business.
Ray Gutierrez
My name's Rudy Moore, host of Living
Layton Jones
the red life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your piece every single week.
Ray Gutierrez
If you're ready to start living the
Layton Jones
red life, ditch the blue pill, Take the red pill. Join me in wonderland and change your life.
Ray Gutierrez
Welcome back to another episode of the living your legacy podcast, the red life edition. For inside Success, I am Ray Gutierrez. Joining me today, fresh off of Nashville and fresh off of his legacy makers interview is bumper on Leighton Jones from Layton Jones Farms.
Layton Jones
The company's name, Jones Farm.
Ray Gutierrez
Jones Farms.
Layton Jones
Jones Farm Farm. Yeah.
Ray Gutierrez
Nice, dude. Welcome to the show.
Layton Jones
Well, glad to be here.
Ray Gutierrez
Right on. You are very. You're in a very Tuesday mood. I love it.
Layton Jones
Yeah.
Ray Gutierrez
My friend, how do you feel? You just finished filming your legacy makers episode.
Layton Jones
Yeah, it was wonderful. It's great. It's a lot to get off my chest and kind of, you know, take it easy now. Yeah.
Ray Gutierrez
Is there anything you'd like to share with us here in the decompression zone?
Layton Jones
I think I just went through it all, so now I'm just trying to kind of get back into the swing of things, you know, back to present day.
Ray Gutierrez
Give us a sneak peek. What are we going to learn about you in legacy Makers?
Layton Jones
Man? I'm excited to share what we got going on with Jones Farm. Like I said we're, we're a multifaceted business, has got a community building aspect going along with us. And so we've got everything from weddings and retreats and cabin rentals and we've got a hundred acre farm that we're developing out for more cabin rentals and we'd like to give back to through retreats and men's group and women's group for them to come rent the space from us. So we're building all that out right now. But in the process of building this whole thing, we just kept creating business after business that kind of fed the, the general business. As you're starting to build some of these things, you start to realize that, man, I got to cut cost everywhere I can because everything's so expensive. And then a business was created. Right on.
Ray Gutierrez
I'm pretty sure the reason why everything is red is because Rudy was trying to cut costs in color. Yeah, yeah, bad joke, bad joke, bad joke.
Layton Jones
Buying in bulk.
Ray Gutierrez
Yeah, for sure. Gosh, it's, it's funny what you do with a piece of land and some infrastructure and you're, you're feeding families villages. Talk about the very beginnings of seeing this plot land and seeing that vision.
Layton Jones
Yeah, man, it was. I don't know if the vision was all there. The first day we go out there and it's just old tires and mosquitoes and overgrown land. Yeah, it's been, it's been wild to see, you know, it kind of transform. But in the early stages, it was, I think, a dream, you know, of just kind of like, we'll get married out here, we'll have a wedding or two. And then as the phone calls start coming in, it's more like this is kind of a business and it just. Business after business starts evolving and growing. So it's been really cool to see the community get behind us and kind of come in and, and really just have our back. So we're excited to share more and more with them. Right on.
Ray Gutierrez
Are you family operated? Are you hiring staff from the community? What's your, how do you recruit?
Layton Jones
We're basically an entrepreneur staff. So everyone's a 1099 that comes on. They're, they're a contracted worker that have a different lane, a different role to play. So not only are we growing our businesses, we're teaching young entrepreneurs how to run a business.
Ray Gutierrez
Nice.
Layton Jones
And so, and we're trying to get them more involved and we call it leveling up. So every time someone comes in and they think this is their base pay, they find a Way new way to help the team and then they make more money just because everyone has something cool to bring to the table. And we don't like ceilings. We don't want to cap. We want to be able to make as much as we can and help each other out as much as we can.
Ray Gutierrez
I would hate to say cast, because we can't. We literally casted you for legacy makers. But where do you pick your talent from? Are you looking for artists? Because you're near Nashville, so it's just beaming with artists.
Layton Jones
Yeah, but it's been. It's been a journey, buddy. Believe that. I mean, just, I've been through hundreds of people.
Ray Gutierrez
You got to kiss a lot of frogs, as they say.
Layton Jones
Yes, for sure. And then, you know, you go through a lot of these things and there's been a lot of great help along the way. But then there gets to a point where you're like, okay, you see something different in someone and then they kind of take the bull by the horns, if you will, and take the reins and kind of do things that's not asked of them. And then we have a 90 day review period. So we take that. We'll. We'll pay you like an employee and here's your money. And then once you become that entrepreneur spirited person, we're going to either give you the spot or we're not. And you know, the ones that we have now stuck with us and built in and done wonderful. So I'm very proud of them.
Ray Gutierrez
That's amazing, man. It sounds like you're. This sounds like a thriving operation. How does, how do you find someone that has the entrepreneur spirit versus someone that's just self employed?
Layton Jones
I put them in the trenches.
Ray Gutierrez
Nice.
Layton Jones
I tell them every day, I said, look, if I got to do it, you got to do it. And I said, and I'm not too good for any of these jobs, from shoveling dirt to poop, to, you know, getting your hands dirty cooking the burgers or serving the. Or, you know, doing the tours for the weddings. Whatever it is, we do it all. And so when they go, what do you want me to do? I'm like, everything, you know, and so it's one of those all at once yesterday. And they'll laugh at me because it's very much that way. Like now, now, now, now, now. And they're like, there's no time, like, what the present. Let's do it right now. Let's don't wait. So you kind of create that energy, if you will. You leave from the front and yes, sir, if you're not going to. If you're not going to do it, why would they listen to you and why would they do it? Yeah, so that's kind of thing. What I look for them is, are they willing to get their hands dirty? And if they are my type of person. Right on.
Ray Gutierrez
Gosh. What. How do you build a curriculum? Do you build a curriculum? Is it just kind of like every day is a new day? How do you build entrepreneurs?
Layton Jones
Every day is definitely a new day. And some days are better than others. I tell people all the time, it's not going to be unicorns and rainbows. Every day out here is going to suck a lot of the times. But if you. If you stick with it and you want to build something bigger than yourself, something that lives on past you, then just get in the trenches and figure it out, you know? And people are like, what do you mean, figure it out? I'm like, look, I didn't know what I was doing in half of these businesses, much less all of them. You know, I get in there and you literally figure it out as you go, and then you find better ways. What the. One of the biggest mistakes I see in early entrepreneurs, they're like, I gotta have everything perfect. And when it's perfect, I'll start it.
Ray Gutierrez
Yeah, guilty.
Layton Jones
Never start. Yeah, you'll never start because never. It's never going to be perfect. I'm going to be working on that place forever. And if it's not me actually swinging the hammer, it's just always things to do. But there's no better ways to find the flaws in your business than to get in the trenches and figure out what's wrong. Because, you know, like, you can have everything buttoned up, everything perfect for that wedding or that event, and then you get there and, oh, we forgot this. We forgot that it's going to happen. So when you get into the trenches, it's going to tell you real quick what you need to work on for sure.
Ray Gutierrez
How do you test for that? Do you kind of design an event where it's like, well, let's remove the water in the air here. Let's see how they operate. And they can still survive. Then they're great employees. How does this work? What's your philosophy?
Layton Jones
No, because sailing is not always the problem. If you get in there and you mess up, I don't worry about how do you. How do you bounce back? How do you rebuild? You know, being an athlete my entire life, you don't win every play right on you're playing with people that are just as good or better than you every single day. So we take that and we learn from it. When you get knocked down, get back up.
Ray Gutierrez
Yes, sir.
Layton Jones
You know, that's, that's kind of the beauty of it. And there is no right or wrong way to do it. There's just better ways to do it. So you may do something for a very long time ago, this works. It's not broke. And they go, it's not broken. I'll fix it. Yeah, but if you find a better way, would you maybe pivot? For sure, for sure. You know, if some guy's selling you something at $5 and you find it for three, you're going to keep buying it for five. Yeah, yeah, you're going to buy it for there.
Ray Gutierrez
So, so where does, where does this, where does this knowledge come from? A lot of folks that sit in that chair, you know, go through their coaches. They drop names like Tony Robbins, Moore Rig the tears, Bad joke.
Layton Jones
Word.
Ray Gutierrez
I feel like your divine download is coming from just being alive in the
Layton Jones
dirt, in the farm, pretty much in the, in the trenches. I mean, my father was, was an entrepreneur. They've built, you know, he has their own business back in Mississippi. But, you know, you, you learn things that you do like and you learn things that you don't like and you, you finally, that's kind of part of failing, Right? And sort of every failure is your next success story, you know, because there's, there's been times that I get in the, you know, early on in my segment, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I know what I didn't want to do.
Ray Gutierrez
Yeah.
Layton Jones
Which made the pet. There's two roads, right? Oh, for sure. Yeah.
Ray Gutierrez
Yeah.
Layton Jones
And so, yeah, I feel like over this journey and just being in, being in the, at the, the athletic mode and team building and family oriented, you know, faith driven, you know, it's just been something that you just pick up and learn. And, and for me, I didn't necessarily have a, a road map, but I tell people, I told him in there, I said, you know, $100,000 ideas make a hundred thousand dollars. Oh, yeah. Million dollar ideas make a million dollars. Yes, sir. So I always tell people for the roadmap, they go, what's your roadmap? My roadmap is start at the end and whatever that looks like in your life. If it's, I want to make a hundred thousand dollars, say, okay, we'll start at a hundred and work backwards. What are our constant variables? We got 365 days, got seven days a week, 52 weeks in a year. So which. Whatever you want to sell, start at your 100,000 or a million, whatever the number is, and then divided by 365. Okay, I gotta sell one a day.
Ray Gutierrez
Yeah.
Layton Jones
At this price point. To make that number and do the same with your weeks and your. And your days. Your days, weeks, and months or whatever may be. So it makes the model less stressful when you know you're in destination.
Ray Gutierrez
Right on.
Layton Jones
Like, if I say, hey, we're going to Florida and I'm leaving Tennessee, I don't go west. Sure. Yeah. You know, so directional challenge is a big thing. Nobody knows which way to even go or start. But, you know, once you get in that car, you'll figure it out for sure.
Ray Gutierrez
Dude, that's awesome. You mentioned faith and what's it like operating under, you know, leading with fire, leading with faith? Like, what's that like for you?
Layton Jones
It definitely keeps a fire under you. You know, I mean, for me, you know, athlete, quarterback, pro athlete, did shows on mtv. All the things that you thought mattered in your life now, looking back, are so insignificant because of what you're trying to build now. And being that I've always been faith driven or had it. But when you become a man, an entrepreneur, and a husband, a father, your purpose is a little different. So you dig into the things that there's an end result. Just like I mentioned before, there's an end game.
Ray Gutierrez
Yes, sir.
Layton Jones
You can believe what you want to believe, but I believe that there's a greater purpose after this life. There's after that. And so for me, knowing that's my end destination, how I want to live and what I want to give back and how I want to be not only viewed in my community, but it kind of directs the path of my business. Now, if I do this and I do these things and I am ultimately putting out, good, good things will come back. And so it's just been a powerful thing for me. It started through our wedding. It started through our land. And then when we buried the word on Psalm 91 for protection over the land. Yes, sir. We got flooded four times last year. All cabins backed up in a flood zone to a creek with a pond on this side and a creek on this side. Wow. Water rose eight feet in one hour. Got to the bottom of our cabins, never got inside, and subsided right on. For us, it was a very cleansing of the land. It was very like, why didn't it take all those cabins just down and I mean, like, you see the things in North Carolina, you see that, these floodings all over. And then like, I would, you know, I'd like to believe we got shown a little favor in. Oh, absolutely. It definitely makes you. Whether it's that, you know, strategically as the divine or if it's more like, I see you, I hear you, thank you. Because now it puts things in perspective and you look at it from like, man, there is something bigger than me. There is something grander. There is something that I need to drive my business off of, you know. Oh, for sure.
Ray Gutierrez
And that's why I always like to. To speak to entrepreneurs that lead with faith. Because you kind of see the divine plan and the code kind of emerge all around you in this reality. And folks write poems and books about it and make movies called the Matrix. And in reality, it's. It's always kind of been all around us. It really just takes the proper education to kind of see the frequency.
Layton Jones
And sometimes it's hard to see that because, you know, early on I was telling you, it's, you're like, self is like, I gotta have everything for me. I gotta like drive, drive, drive and push. You know, you're pushing so hard, but you're pushing and it's pushing back. When you can kind of let go and say, okay, there's a bigger plan, there's something good, the money's coming. You know, it's always money, money, money. And of course that's how we pay our bills. That's what it's gotta be about. Yes, sir.
Ray Gutierrez
You gotta learn how to sell cars.
Layton Jones
Yeah. But it can be both. You know, it can be something that's driven and through faith, through our business. And it's been really cool to be able to have that entrepreneurial spirit and build a business that allows me to give back. And early on it's like, how can I make as much money for me? And now it's like, how can I make enough money to sustain my family, sustain my legacy? And whether you call it a tax plan or a give back, whatever it is, you can create a scenario with the system to do all of those things that help everybody out.
Ray Gutierrez
Right on.
Layton Jones
It's kind of been cool and a learning journey because you don't know any of that stuff when you're getting started in this.
Ray Gutierrez
Yes, sir.
Layton Jones
You know, they say that the, it's designed for, you know, they say the rich or whatever, but they just know what game to play. That's the roadmap, right? It's the roadmap. To play. So you get into a scenario where you start creating your own roadmap and then you just. You follow that.
Ray Gutierrez
Yeah, I was. I like to say it. Let me in on the joke. I just want in on the joke. I just want to sit at the table and I can help. I can help enhance the carnival act that we call life.
Layton Jones
There's sometimes you're like. And you know, for the. For me, the faith driven stuff is like, I would like to believe that all of these ideas that I am that smart. I did it. I pulled it off. I came up with it all on my own. But I don't think so.
Ray Gutierrez
No.
Layton Jones
Yeah, I don't think so.
Ray Gutierrez
It's called the video game, sir.
Layton Jones
Yeah. No, because so now it's one of those things where I even look back on the things that we've built and I'm like, how in the world did we get here? Thank God we are here, you know, And I feel blessed. I feel humbled. I'm very excited about what's to come. And I'm even more excited about my journey with the Lord and how I'm building my own personal relationship. Because it gets to a point where you're young, you're traveling the world, you're doing these things. Me, me, me, me, me. And then all of a sudden, you get to a place where your husband, dad, father, protector, entrepreneur, and mentor.
Ray Gutierrez
Yes, sir.
Layton Jones
You're like, man, I can still do all those things. But now this matters to me so much. And I can. I can do it this way too. And that's been cool.
Ray Gutierrez
Right on. How are you mentoring? Who is like your perfect person to mentors? Male, female, everything in between. What does the next generation look like to you?
Layton Jones
Someone who's hungry, you know? No, really, you know, specific. It's more so going through those hundred crapshoots to, you know, not to speak ill of them, but it's just like they don't want it. And it's okay that they don't want it. They. They realize that they're not that entrepreneur split just. I want a nine to five. I want this. That's totally fine.
Ray Gutierrez
That's okay too.
Layton Jones
Totally okay. And some people would say they're smarter. I don't have any headache. I don't have any stress. I don't have anything, so. But there is a divine feeling when you get to create something and mentor back in, you know, being trying to be successful is rewarding, and being in creating that successful, rewarding. But when you can make someone else successful, I don't feel like there's any greater feeling than that in business, you know, so, you know, watching them flourish and watching them get excited and them telling me as a mentor, hey, my before 40 plan is now my before 30 plan.
Ray Gutierrez
Right on.
Layton Jones
I had no idea that this was going to exponentially grow overnight. Nor did I. Yeah. But that's where it gets back to building that family, building that team, building something that they believe. Well, they didn't really believe in you at first because they're like, I'll help you, but you're crazy.
Ray Gutierrez
Yeah. And that's a good sign.
Layton Jones
This is kind of cool. It's working now. They. You see them really step up and it just kind of makes it that much more interesting and that and grow that much faster.
Ray Gutierrez
Right on. How do you market something like this? Or. Or do you have a social media following? Are you live on tick tock or are you just completely secret and it's all inclusive?
Layton Jones
Well, we have a local community that. That knows about us. We're kind of waiting to drop the hammer on some big budget marketing stuff. We have new stuff coming out.
Ray Gutierrez
That's awesome.
Layton Jones
We're developing. We. Right now we're on. We have 100 acres total. We're on. Most of it's built out on the 10 or 11 acres. And we're about to expand into 80 more acres on the other side. Wow. Will be more retreat style. We'll have 75 new tiny homes over there that will be able to do large groups.
Ray Gutierrez
That's amazing. These micro homes are revolutionary.
Layton Jones
Yes. Man. It's crazy. And so being 18 minutes from downtown Nashville. Yeah. We're getting family reunions, class reunions, you know, and then there's not many places, even hotels that can sleep, you know, six people per cabin. 50 to 75 cabin. You're talking four or 500 people on site. Nobody has to drive. We rent. We're going to be renting golf carts and e bikes where you take them to your cabinets all. And we're about a month away from kind of putting it out there. But this is kind of, you know, preliminary, but where it will be labeled the first and only rural resort outside of Nashville. Wow. It'll be really cool, dude.
Ray Gutierrez
I. I already see it. You were met as fasting. I can see the vision board come to life.
Layton Jones
Three years. Like I see it.
Ray Gutierrez
I can tell.
Layton Jones
Crazy. I'm like, maybe.
Ray Gutierrez
I know.
Layton Jones
And it's gonna be awes. Awesome. Yeah.
Ray Gutierrez
Sign me up. I can already see like the best haunted houses all year round. And like your own version of a TED Talk out in the rural area. And like folks, when I lived in, when I lived and worked in San Francisco, God, folks would pay a fortune to like fly out to these areas and like, and feel the dirt under toes and give a very illuminated speech. Yeah, it's a whole experience, man. Gosh, God bless you. I hope you're up charging as much as you can. How can folks learn more about this amazing place and learn more about you, sir?
Layton Jones
You know, we're on Facebook, Instagram and Tick Tock. We have all these things. We, we're, we're getting more into our marketing of that. It's Jones Farm. Nashville is our, as our tag. But yeah, man, we're going to be doing some more news outlet stuff. So we're kind of slow playing the build out because once that becomes in the local news channels, then we're doing a global launch. And then so we, some of our businesses ship all over the country and then people come from all over the country to stay at our resort and retreat. So it's going to be really cool to kind of do a global launch with that when the timing is right. But we are kind of being a little smart on the front end to say, look, we don't want to open that door because we have all we can handle right now.
Ray Gutierrez
Sure.
Layton Jones
And I don't want to open that door. Here they come. And now I can't supply. Yeah. So this is one of those things where we're just being. Because we're going to do a soft opening in early spring and beautiful full launch in the, in the, in the summer. So we'll be able to sleep anywhere from four to 500 people on site. That'd be really cool. Wow.
Ray Gutierrez
Well, I'm looking forward to your first camping festival. Those are always amazing. Yeah, man. Is there anything you'd like to say before we wrap up and kick you out of here?
Layton Jones
No, man, I think it's been great. Everything's been wonderful. It's great meeting you guys and I'm happy to get the story out and share with everybody kind of what's to come. And I look forward to it. Right on.
Ray Gutierrez
I'm going to close you off here. Says this is Layton Jones and he's built a community driven business that brings faith, family and purpose together, creating lasting impact. Thanks, man.
Layton Jones
That's it, man.
Ray Gutierrez
That is Layden Jones and I am Ray Gutierrez and we are inside success.
Host: Rudy Mawer
Guest: Layton Jones (Jones Farm)
Date: May 19, 2026
This episode features an inspiring deep-dive into the entrepreneurial journey of Layton Jones—founder of Jones Farm, a 100-acre multifaceted business outside Nashville. Layton takes us through his evolution from humble beginnings, overcoming perfectionism and self-doubt, and building an enterprise rooted in faith, community, and practical entrepreneurship. The conversation explores how vision, resilience, and servant leadership can foster both personal success and create generational impact for others.
On Getting Started:
"You'll never start because it's never gonna be perfect." – Layton Jones (00:29, 06:39)
On Purposeful Entrepreneurship:
"Trying to be successful is rewarding, but when you can make someone else successful, I don't feel like there's any greater feeling than that in business." – Layton Jones (00:54, 15:06)
On Leadership:
"If I gotta do it, you gotta do it. I'm not too good for any of these jobs, from shoveling dirt to... doing the tours for the weddings. Whatever it is, we do it all." – Layton Jones (05:08)
On Faith and Building Legacy:
“There’s a greater purpose after this life… And so for me, knowing that’s my end destination, how I want to live and what I want to give back… it kind of directs the path of my business.” – Layton Jones (10:42)
On Practical Roadmapping:
“$100,000 ideas make $100,000. Oh, yeah. Million dollar ideas make a million dollars. Yes, sir.” – Layton Jones (00:00, 08:42)
Layton Jones exemplifies “living the red life” by aligning business with bold vision, hard-won practicality, a foundation of faith, and a passion for mentoring others. His story offers entrepreneurs a template for starting imperfectly, building iteratively, leading with service, and scaling impact—while always keeping an eye on legacy and community.