Welcome back to the FITFO Podcast! In this episode, I sit down with Lucas Mijares, the dynamic CEO and co-founder of Zion Capital, to unpack his journey from humble door-to-door salesman to leading a quarter-billion-dollar financial firm—all while raising six kids and fostering a home built on strong values.

Lucas Mijares gets real about the lessons learned from marrying young, the challenges of balancing fatherhood with entrepreneurship, and the importance of character over legacy. We dive into topics like instilling resilience in kids, the art of being present in a distracted world, and strategic life decisions that shape both family and business.
Whether you’re a parent, a business leader, or just seeking inspiration to pursue your own path, this episode delivers candid advice, hard-earned wisdom, and a whole lot of motivation to figure things out, at home and in the office. Enjoy!

Time stamps:

00:00 Intro Balancing Success and Parenthood

04:42 Starting Over: Reinventing Life Together

06:43 Optimism Drives Sales Success

10:05 Legacy Beyond Business Ownership

15:13 Parenting, Coaching, and Growth

16:06 Building Resilience in Children

21:15 Prioritizing Focus Over Distractions

24:52 His Wealth Management Approach

29:06 creating your own legacy

32:46 Building Success Together

37:59 Teaching Kids to Tithe

41:39 Prioritizing Family Over Career

44:37 "Intentional Fatherhood"

47:40 Resilience and Leadership Lessons

50:12 "Life's Challenges and Growth"

52:56 Fatherhood Conversations Inspire Growth

In this episode, Bryan sits down with Cody Alimondi—author, mental coach, and founder of House of Jester.

They dive deep into the art of role-based hiring, discovering one’s purpose, and how mindset separates high performers. Cody shares the frameworks behind his new book “Dealer’s Choice,” and offers actionable advice on finding fulfillment, building culture, and becoming the kind of leader—and human—your team needs.

Timestamps:

00:54 Cody’s journey from college athlete to author and mental coach.

08:04 The importance of purpose in life

13:17 How cultivating curiosity and interests leads to passion

20:46 Cody’s advice for getting started with writing and publishing a book.

28:00 The keys to fulfilling work: autonomy, self-directed teams, and incentives.

32:56 The difference between motivating versus managing

37:54 How non-monetary incentives—like prioritizing employee health—can transform workplace culture.

44:14 Cody's LINDA hiring framework and its impact on role-based recruiting.

55:36 Why hiring should be a thoughtful, personalized experience—and how to get it right.

58:00 Where to find Cody’s books and follow his new brand, House of Jester.

59:09 Sneak peek: Cody’s upcoming book profiling misfits who became mavericks.

Resources & Mentions:

Follow Cody on LinkedIn

• Books mentioned: Man’s Search for Meaning, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Good to Great, Bird by Bird, Work by James Suzman, Outlive.

• Dealer’s Choice – Cody’s new book

• • House of Jester – Cody’s newest project; follow @HouseofJester on Instagram
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Welcome back to another year of FITFO, Figure it the Father Out, where I interview amazing Moms, Dads, and thought leaders to uncover the compelling stories at the intersection of family, entrepreneurship, child development, health, technology and many more arenas we face in life. Today, I'm thrilled to have Joel Beasley, the "Modern CTO," join us for a deep dive into his multifaceted life journey.

His podcast has over 100K listeners and has become known as the place where CTOs hang out. Check out his weekly podcast where he hangs out with interesting Fortune 500 CTOs in Aerospace, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics + Many more industries.

In this episode, Joel opens up about the profound impact of parental influence, emphasizing how children tend to mimic their parents' behaviors. He shares his personal philosophy on work-life balance, detailing how he organizes his professional life around his family to ensure quality time with his children. Joel discusses his unique hiring insights for a Chief Technology Officer (CTO), stressing the need for cultural fit and a deep understanding of delivering customer value.

More from Joel:

ModernCTO Pod: https://moderncto.io/podcast/

Website: https://moderncto.io/

Timestamps:

00:00 His podcast launch and how he gained Microsoft CTO as a listener.

08:22 How to grow a podcast

13:51 Balancing podcasting, entrepreneurship, and parenthood challenges.

18:18 Move to the country

21:50 First Tech Endeavor

27:47 Homeschooling approach

38:25 Started a podcast after finance software success.

42:17 How to Balance work and family life

54:41 Books that transformed his journey

01:08:00 Hiring and different ways to distribute equity

01:14:15 His next venture...