Jon Lane on Integrating Purpose and Work

RJ Caswell: Well, welcome to Cereal for Dinner with... A real exciting episode today with Jon Lane. Jon, welcome. Jon Lane: Yeah, thanks for having me, RJ. I'm excited. RJ Caswell: I'm excited too. We're going to jump right in. So just like the other episodes, we're going to do this fast and furious, but I think... It's going to be a great listen for folks as they learn from you and your experience. So... Softball question as we as we get started. Jon, take me back a little bit in history. And what was your first job? Jon Lane: My first, okay. My first job, other than kind of informal stuff, maybe like mowing lawns for neighbors was I was a grocery bagger at a Kroger supermarket in the town that I grew up and that was my first job. RJ Caswell: First job. All right. Bag boy. I like it. So... How long but how long were you there? how long did Was that was there your high school job throughout high school? Jon Lane: Yeah so Did that senior year of high school. Kind of through my senior year into the summer so that was yeah so it wasn't too long and There's a funny story in there of how that job ended, which we could go into. RJ Caswell: Oh, you guys see it now. You can't. You can't tease us and then not share it. Jon Lane: So... So they asked, so I had put my two weeks in because I was going back to college or I was going to start college. So I was like, I don't have much time left And so. I they wanted me to change the kind of sign outside where you can put the letters up to congratulations. So-and-so Kroger pharmacist of the year and I was like how funny would it be if I put congrats Jon Lane Kroger bagger of the year took a photo of it, sent it to friends or sent it to people. So I did that and then I immediately changed it you know I was a good employee okay or thought I was but after it, cause I put my two weeks in earlier that day. And after that little experiment they asked that I not. Come back through this do we so it was great Yeah. So I don't really know if I could count that as being fired or just. They're like, we're good. RJ Caswell: Yeah, we're... we're Yeah, but we're fine. Thank you for your service... that actually, I have to you know laugh a little bit because that's not the Jon Lane I know, although I would have to say. That doesn't... Seeing that. Big. Of a deal but well so in that job you were there for a while What are some things you learned, positive, negative, good, bad, that really... Shape how you either view work. Or... culture, people, whatever they might be. So those first jobs, I think, stay with us. At least for me, I can say it has. For you, what have you carried with you? from that first job. Jon Lane: Yeah, it's a great question. I think one of the biggest things was just how to serve people and interact with people. I mean, I grew up in the church and been involved in volunteering and doing stuff you know like that but in the job really you know it's It was kind of a lesson. Am I going to show up and do the bare minimum and just. Collect to you know paycheck and so I have gas money or whatever but I you know this was in that time in my life my senior year was really where I started to you know follow the Lord and really take that more seriously. You know, there's a sanctification process. You know, I was changing the sign to put my own name up there, but. I felt like a real real challenge of... How can I serve people well in this role? And a lot of times what that looked like, there was a lot of elderly people that came in on the shifts that I worked in. And just learning patience and just how to care for people. I think that. Was something for me. That. I really started to see it's like, okay, work is not just showing up and doing the bare minimum. It's an opportunity. If you're going to spend hours and hours doing something. How to make it worthwhile and sometimes I struggled with I'm just bagging groceries like this doesn't matter like I want to be doing something bigger, more important, all these things and My family and I feel like the Lord were like, no, this is important. All work all work has dignity and it's important. So That's one of the big lessons I learned. RJ Caswell: That makes a lot of sense, and I can see that in you, even though in your career arc to this point and what you do professionally as well as what you do personally and in how you spend your time that aligns with how I've... known you. I am curious though, hearing that you're a bag boy. Based on my interactions with... the grocery store for, you know. 30, 40, 50 years. Did they actually train you how to bag? Jon Lane: Yes, they did they did. We had to watch a lot of videos of if you know if this stuff comes down what are you going to put in first what do you Going to do all that. I thought I think I was a pretty good bagger. Bagger of the year, even, some would say. RJ Caswell: Some may say, yeah, I even have a picture to prove it. Jon Lane: But... My biggest gaffe in that though was putting not like the bottles of wine but the much bigger kind of I don't know what you call it it's like a huge thing of wine And I kind of, I wasn't thinking, I just put it in a single. Plastic shopping bag. And I saw someone walking away with it and I saw it starts to come out of the bag, shatter. All over the place so I must not have been paying attention to that part of the video. RJ Caswell: That video, right. Yeah, yeah. So good. All right. So that's where you started your your kind of professional journey. But I heard a few things even in there that you shared about the importance of relationships, that customer interaction, even how you approach work around your faith, which is around excellence and doing things well and showing up and serving. How has that followed you through your roles? And we'll get into some of your just professional roles here in a minute because I think it's a fascinating journey as well. But have you as you reflect, How have those things carried through? either college all the way through your work. Jon Lane: Yeah. That's a great question. I think. For me... I always, yeah, it was always just kind of impressed on me through those experiences. And I would say too, especially. My older brother And my mom and dad just watching them work and the way they worked. Yeah, I think there's always been this sense in me of. How can I show up and serve other people, whether that's on my team, like people I'm working with. Or the customer or the client whoever it is that. I've I've always had this you know, this Drive I feel like in me words I want to do something that matters. I want to do something that lasts. I want to do that and sometimes you know there can be a shadow unhealthy side of that where it's like look Look at all these things I'm doing. Look how you know I'm doing these great things. But the healthy side of that, I think, is what you know comes from you know my faith and from... from the Lord of how do how do I step in here and make a difference like My job, here's my role, here's my title, here's my responsibilities. That'll change with any job, but what are the things that I... always want to be doing and tried to carry that through. Not always perfectly, especially in my younger years of. You know sometimes it's like I wish I you know was compensated more I wish I had more hours I wish that you know all these things but that was always kind of the common thread there of trying to have importance beyond just the responsibilities. RJ Caswell: And when I think about at least some of the roles you've had, I think when we first met, it was years and years ago, and you were with... Hope International on the... you know, a finance role, but it was a very right mission organization. Hope does microfinance around the world for marginalized communities. So you're in a finance role, right, defined. Professional role with Need expertise but around purpose. And I know even some of your transitions from there. They always were the organizations that, at least culturally or in their mission were something that were very purpose-driven not just making widgets or selling more to sell more. And I'm so I'm sensing that was really early on for you that Gosh, you could do any job but trying to figure out how to align it with something bigger. Jon Lane: Yeah. No, I'll tell I'll tell a quick story about that too. And this kind of gets into someone who's had had an impact in how I think about work and my career arc. I had a... professor in college, financial planning professor named Dr. Kurt Cornfield he's you know a fantastic professor even better person He,... You know, I was weighing with him when I was in college, do I want to go into financial planning full time? Or do I want to go into kind of economic development, community development work? and he was really yeah just a good sounding board for me fast forward to as you said I was at Hope International and I was thinking about stepping back into the financial advising financial planning world and I called him and was just catching up with him and asking him if he knew anything out there and He told me, he said, Jon, I'm gonna tell you something. You will have to go work for either a firm or a place or a person who's mission driven. He said, because I know you, I've seen you know you over years and different seasons of your life you will not last in a place where it's just typical. You know wealth management or financial advising there has to be some kind of mission and purpose That's going to drive the work And it was a good a reminder and kind of like warning to me because at that point I was kind of just looking for anything and again it's like and I think I it could have worked anywhere But it was just a reminder, he said. From the outside someone objective like I know you I know what you're about. So here's my warning to you. RJ Caswell: Yeah Well, and so there's something behind that, though. He saw something or knew something different about you to connect those dots what do you think? It was. I mean, a college professional only gets to know students at some level, not usually very. Intimate or behind the scenes or on a Saturday. But he obviously... was insightful or observant enough to know. This is Jon Lane. He just goes into wealth management at XYZ. He could do it, but it's probably a shelf life to it. Verse. Jon you need to make sure there's a alignment around mission if you're going to do financial planning is what I'm hearing. What do you think it was? Jon Lane: Yeah, I think during my college years there were certain opportunities where it would maybe be in a summer doing an internship or something like that where I kind of went a different direction instead of doing kind of a financial planning or wealth management internship. I interned with an organization in Honduras, actually that summer and was talking to him about that. And, you know, he was, you know, excited, excited for me, but I think he was always. Like he could always see that. I was you know you know, was able and gifted to do the finance work, like all of these things, but there was something else an itch that I always needed to scratch I think and I think he saw whether that's in a financial planning role or a role that's completely different. I need to... I have this desire to. See... human lives flourish around the globe, whether it's in the community other places. And there's lots of ways to do that. And I think we can get into that of kind of the different roles that I've had. And I think he just started to see. If I'm going to be motivated and driven and really. Do my best work. There's got to be another element there, not just a cog in a wheel it XYZ place. RJ Caswell: Right. Makes sense so but let's Let's talk through that then about your idea to really want to inspire, encourage, equip, whatever word you want to use around human flourishing. I think that's an important point for you. That's a big driver that God's just wired you for. It's probably embedded in the nature he's given you through himself. How has that followed you then through your choices of not only career path, but actual? organizations. Up until now, and right now, you're an advisor with Impact Foundation, which in many ways I feel like is a combination of... many of your previous roles. Jon Lane: Yeah. I think... Over, the Lord is... giving me the benefit of, you know, over time, whether that was through college or into the professional world to see the power of. Not only the gospel first and foremost but the power of capital flowing to the right places to be able to change lives. And I think that's always something that's stuck with me where I've got this. You know side of me where I'm like I really enjoy the finance economic side investments all these things But to what end? That end is to... you know produce human flourishing and I think there's so many things in the world where we think it's a fine you know, financial issue, a capital issue, the capital like I, and I struggle sometimes with having a scarcity mindset and I feel like. You know, good mentors and people around me in the Lord are like no it's we got to have an abundance mindset and I think I've had these experiences over time of seeing if we can align capital In a way that. Is good for humanity like that's what I want to be a part of and it kind of figuring out working how do I work in those spaces and in that area and sometimes it's been as a financial planner working with generous families sometimes it's been on the service side of helping entrepreneurs around the globe and sometimes it's what I'm doing now of kind of bringing some of those together. But I think that's kind of the thread that. I've... followed and what like the breadcrumbs I think the Lord has showed me along the way. And so just trying to take the next right step and all that has kind of led me to where I am. RJ Caswell: Well, and so a follow up question is because what you're doing now, share a little bit about. That piece you just said, right, it almost would you do with Hope International serving global entrepreneurs around the world. To your work as a financial advisor in a faith-based practice, working with wealthy families who are trying to be good stewards and deploy their resources. And now... Impact Foundation, and we'll put that website in the show notes for folks. But what does that look like for you? almost using both of those pieces. Take Give a flavor of what you're doing with Impact Foundation now, because I do think they are a very unique organization that if you just read their website real quick, you might not understand exactly what they do. Jon Lane: Yeah. No, it's... Great. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to share about that. And I yeah, it's been it's been great. Been there about six months. Really, really enjoying it. But essentially what Impact Foundation does is. They want to help people leverage their charitable capital, their charitable dollars whether that's in a private foundation or a donor advised fund, wherever it might be and use those funds to invest in redemptive. Businesses, enterprises and organizations around the world. And that's what we specialize in and that For me... I kind of exist as a bridge between these families who want to, again, be generous and be open-handed with what the Lord has entrusted to them with Maybe you know when I was a financial advisor, it was looking holistically at their whole picture. Now it's looking at you know the charitable dollars you know kind of the there are other parts of the balance sheet And. Helping them deploy those dollars that aren't being actively granted out to their favorite charities and churches. Instead of leaving those dollars just invested in public markets and in Amazon and NVIDIA and whoever it might be, being able to take those dollars. And invest those into redemptive enterprises, whether that's affordable housing you know, could be a small business like a coffee shop could be a construction company could be any kind of impact driven business in their community or around the world and helping them invest in those things. Because there's... over 1.4 trillion dollars. And donor advised funds and private foundations that Just sits and as RJ Caswell: What Say that number again. Jon Lane: It's like And it might even be a conservative estimate, $1.4 trillion. RJ Caswell: With Yeah man It's crazy. Yeah. Jon Lane: And so. Part of it is, you know, you and you and I have talked to being involved in the nonprofit space. I would love to see a lot of those funds just get out the door and get into the nonprofits and churches and organizations that are doing incredible work. And we also know... At the same time. There will be money that is not being actively granted out. And so what we want to do is help people say, hey. With that money that's not being granted out right now that you have long-term plans for there's actually something more potentially redemptive you could do with it and that's what we exist to do. RJ Caswell: So... yeah I'll make a plug for you. So if anybody's listening to this and that's you, you have capital, charitable capital that's just sitting there and you're not sure how to approach it. I would encourage you. To reach out to Jon Lane. You're not going to find anybody who's going to be more humble, but also have a skill set and the expertise to guide you through that. So not what this podcast is about, but it's a good plug, I think, for the Jon and the work he's doing with Impact Foundation as well. So just a few more questions and we'll wrap it up. One is... And you might have already answered it, but it might be a different person. If you think back. And this could to be somebody you met last year. It could be. 25 years ago. Who's somebody who believed in Jon Lane? before you really believed in yourself. That saw something in you. That you didn't either notice or believe to be true about yourself. Jon Lane: Yeah. That's a good question. I think it was my older brother. His name's Joe. He, you know, he and I grew up you know, in the same household, very you know similar upbringing, obviously. And he We grew up in church. And. But he... Towards the end of his time in high school, I'm a couple years younger than him. He... really started walking with the Lord and really changed his life and got really serious about just being on mission and it was interesting because he would he would reach out to me and just tell me you know like Hey. Have you thought about this have you read this book all these things and I was kind of like what I don't I don't understand what's going on but he patiently poured into me for years and just was affirming things in me like I see the potential you have I see. How the you know the Lord has wired you I've seen how you're gifted in all these areas and along the way you know we're in totally different kind of industries and things in life he's a Young Life area director and he's RJ Caswell: In Longview, Texas. I know exactly. Jon Lane: Yeah, we got a little connection there. And He,... Bye. You know, he's always been just a great sounding board and someone just to pour into me as an older brother so I think yeah he's the first one that comes to mind he's always kind of the one of like you got this you can do this or you know if I'm doubting myself he'll help me zoom out and see the big picture So yeah. RJ Caswell: Well, you'll have to send him a link to this podcast so he can hear the hear the shout out to Joe Lane. I just think such a testimony to see, right, think of those people in our lives that... Maybe we need to thank or reach out or we haven't thought of in a while. Something tells me you think about Joe probably more frequently than than maybe other people's stories. But to think about, yeah, somebody saw something in me. And it. Maybe didn't radically change trajectory, but it sure helped you see yourself more accurately. So thank you for sure that on. On Joe. All right, so... We're coming to the final question, which you know is always an exciting question for me to ask. And interesting variation of answers already, just in the early episodes of this. Podcast. But I pretty much frame it the same way so far for everybody. That. You're in the grocery store, maybe. Ingles, is that what it was, the original Ingles? Jon Lane: Kroger. RJ Caswell: Kroger, Kroger. Jon Lane: It's basically the same thing RJ Caswell: So Sir, yes. Kroger Well, I think I think Kroger's probably a step up from Ingles, but I don't want to offend anybody with that. So... So you're in Kroger, not many in Charlotte there are a few around, I think. But you're in wherever, Kroger, Ingles, Harris Teeter, Publix, you know, in Charlotte, North Carolina, we're getting a Wegmans that I haven't been to yet but you're but you're But you know you have nothing for dinner. You know there's nothing in the house. And so you're in the grocery store. And. You're on the breakfast aisle. That's full of cereal. And you already got the milk. And you're going to go home and have a bowl for dinner. What cereal? is Jon Lane. Going to have for dinner. Jon Lane: Hoof Yeah, when you told me the name of the podcast, I figured this... this Question might be coming. I'm going to get it's probably cheating. I'm going to give you two answers. But. If that's allowed. RJ Caswell: What? Well, we'll see. Go for it you know I'm not cutting you off yet. Jon Lane: Okay. So... if I'm going to eat the cereal like instantly right after it hits the milk It's going to be Cookie Crisp. That was a favorite of mine. RJ Caswell: Cookie Crisp. Jon Lane: Grown up. But if the cereal is going to sit a little longer and get a little soggier, it's going to be Frosted Mini-Wheats. You know, they're too hard and they kind of tear your mouth up if you eat them right away but if you know If you wait a little a little while, that's a really good cereal too. RJ Caswell: So, okay, we have this, the first two-cereal answer. I'll let it stand. This time we have we have Cookie Crisp for... The non-soggy version. If you're going soggy version, you're going... Frosted, is it the Mini-Wheats or the old school big ones? Jon Lane: Frosted Mini-Wheats yeah not the RJ Caswell: The Mini-Wheats. I I'll approve of that. Yeah, the big ones are just way too big. Way too big. So I would agree. Awesome. Well, Jon, thank you for joining. I'm so appreciative. We'll have some information on how to folks to connect with you and Impact Foundation in the show notes but Thank you. And until next time, that's Cereal for Dinner. Jon Lane: Yeah, thanks for having me, RJ.