Brant Hansen

Brant Hansen  0:00  
I think we're missing like even even like church culture we're missing what masculinity actually is. We're actually really really confused. And I'm taking a shot because as much deconstruction that goes on and there's good we need to have deconstruction of toxic ideas and domineering masculinity or whatever, like, but where's the construction? Like, where's the what are we actually shooting for? Like, what's the what's the top of the puzzle box so we can look at it. Okay, that's what we're supposed to do. That's the vision. Yeah. And so I'm taking a shot at that by saying I think I think I can propose something that is remarkably resonant with with men and women when they hear that this is what women want men are supposed to be.

Trevor Tyson  0:42  
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Trevor talks podcast, you know, where we talk to real people about real topics and real stories. Today's guest is an author, nationally syndicated radio hosts an advocate for healing children through cure International. He's won national Personality of the Year awards for his work and his offbeat and quirky radio show, which airs on more than 200 stations, his podcasts with his friend and radio producer, Sherry Lynn, the brand and Sherry odd cast has been downloaded more than 10 million times. 10 million people. I'm not even joking. It's been 10 million times. His new book. The men we need is available everywhere right now. And I'm so excited to have him on the show. Please help me welcome Mr. Brant Hansen! Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. I feel welcome. I'm like at this point, after doing this deep dive that I was telling you before we started recording, I'm like,

Trevor Tyson  1:46  
is this healthy for me to be doing this interview? Because everybody's gonna be like, alright, Trevor doesn't know what he's doing. We need to go listen to Brant. This episode can be called Brand talks episode. I'm like, dang, dude, you've been around?

Brant Hansen  2:02  
Well, yeah, I was just, like, two days ago, I became a grandpa and I'm totally feeling my age now. So I shouldn't be I shouldn't be going towards that mentor role by now. Like that aged me instantly just two days ago, like become a grandpa. So yeah,

Trevor Tyson  2:19  
I haven't congratulations. You want to talk about your grandkid? Most grand Paul's want to talk about their grandkids. So yeah, well, I'll start is worth one

Brant Hansen  2:27  
of the one of the chief characteristics I would say so far is that she's very small. She's like eight pounds and for humans, that's That's tiny. She's very short as well. And she's she gurgles and her name is Scout. Scout. Yeah. Like To Kill a Mockingbird? Yeah, it's pretty cool. And I'm very proud of my daughter and her husband, and they're gonna be great parents. But it's it's really, really fun. Like to have a baby. I really like little kids. So like, I've missed this a lot. So yeah,

Trevor Tyson  3:02  
come on. Well, that's an amazing milestone to go through. It's like, I haven't had my first child. I haven't been married. I'm not dating. So I'm a little bit aways from that. But what tips do you have for any potential grandfathers out there?

Brant Hansen  3:18  
Oh, well, let's see the experience that I've accrued in the last 40 to 48 hours. Enjoy the time because it goes so fast. Like two days ago. I never like she's already added an ounce.

Trevor Tyson  3:35  
Soon. Yeah, it gets away grown like a tree.

Brant Hansen  3:39  
Yeah. So you know, I'll draw on my experience with that. But so far, it's just so sweet to have a little baby rested on your chest again, like sitting on the couch. I mean, come on the sidewalk. Very

Trevor Tyson  3:50  
awesome. And this will be the tagline for the next book on being a grandpa. But first want to talk about the new book that you've just recently put out. And you called it the men we need. What can you tell us about the book and how this message came about?

Brant Hansen  4:06  
Yeah, so I'm not the guy that would normally write a book like this. I'm not, I'm not into outdoorsy. So I actually have neurological problems I can't see straight and so I can't hunt or anything. I don't have a problem with that stuff. But last time, I was on a motorcycle, I ran into a parked truck. And that's not a joke, like I totally did. And so I can't pull that off. There's a lot I played the flute. There's a lot of things that would disqualify me from writing this book, or probably any really manly. Yeah. But I think we're missing like even even like church culture. We're missing what masculinity actually is. We're actually really really confused. And I'm taking a shot because as much deconstruction that goes on and there's good we need to have deconstruction of toxic ideas and domineering masculinity or whatever, like, but where's the construction? Like, where's the What are we actually shooting for? Like? What's the what's the top of the puzzle box? So we can look at it. Okay, that's what we're supposed to do. That's the vision. Yeah. And so I'm taking a shot of that by saying I think I think I can propose something that is remarkably resonant with with men and women when they hear that this is what women want men are supposed to be. And so I put that forward as an idea. And then to kind of flesh that out what that looks like. And that's what the men we need is, but it's all based on the idea that God gave Adam this job as keeper of the garden. And so I unpack what that actually means. And the cool thing about that is you can, it doesn't matter whether you're artsy, or you know, outdoorsy, or what, it doesn't matter. You can do this. And it's incredibly fulfilling, and it's life giving to the people around you, the vulnerable people around you get to flourish. And that's what's cool about it.

Trevor Tyson  5:54  
Yeah, and the interesting thing is, I've never been your average guy, I don't like fishing, I don't like hunting. I'm not good at sports. And I hate the taste of barbecue. Barbecue. Barbecue sauce, I hate the taste of it. If I'm eating barbecue is going to be dry rub, you know, there's got to be good seasons. I've, I've never wanted to catch the football. If I see something flying at me, I'm gonna run the other way, like or get out of the way from it. And I up until maybe a few years ago, I was always wondering, like, there was always that toxic masculinity thing going on. And I was heavily impacted negatively by that like, oh, yeah, sure, guy, you do this. And, you know, there was a lot of picking on like, in my younger years, just because I didn't relate with all of those things. Like I'm not gonna fall I'm not baseball, none of that. It wasn't my thing. But that doesn't make me any less of a man than I was created to be. Like, yeah, when I was four or something like that, I'd prance around. Like I heard Shanaya Twain's man, I feel like a woman the first time and I was sold, I didn't know whether I wanted to be Shanaya or marry her yet. But right, right, I was game for it, you know?

Brant Hansen  7:06  
Well, this is just it. Because this is actually really good news. If you think about that. And these terms, like what keeping the guard and really mean. So it does mean you keep people safe around you. And but that's that's beyond just flexing and having a gun or whatever this is we're talking about, with your words, like, the people around you should be more secure. Because you're there, your neighborhood should be safer, because you're there, because you're paying attention because you care about people. But like, you don't have to fit all this other stereotypical stuff in the weird thing is even in church culture, we have the we still have this stuff. And I had to tell my publisher upfront, like, they were like, What do you want, we got some ideas for the cover of the book. I'm like, do not do like a silhouette of some guy climb in Iraq or whatever. Because because I don't do that. And nothing again, nothing against it at all. But if you're if you're a programmer, you're an artist, you're like, what, whoever you are, this role is resonant. This idea that like what a gardener does, is there species that can exist in a garden that would not survive and survival of the fittest wilderness. But you create a space in your life where your sphere of influence is, they do survive, and they flourish and bloom, we're talking about the vulnerable, the weak, the people who are counted out, if you do get married, it's your wife, it's your kids, it's, it's your neighbors, it's people you work with, whatever your whatever your position in life is, it still counts. And as I talk to guys about it, they generally are like, that's it. That is what I'm supposed to do. I supposed to do that. And when I talk to women about it, when women read this book, they're like, that's exactly it. This is exactly what resonates with us about what's actually even attractive in a man. So you can be ripped, you can be, you know, totally jacked, incredible abs. But if you actually make it, let's say you're married, you make your wife feel less secure, she'll actually resent your abs. She'll find you less attractive because you're actually a threat to the garden. You're actually an intruder. She needs it to be secure. But like if you're flirting with other women, or you're constantly idolizing your own body or something like that, now, you're not attractive. Conversely, a guy who's not that great looking or anything not remarkable, if he does exude this, women are drawn to it. A wife is very attracted.

Trevor Tyson  9:36  
There's hope.

Brant Hansen  9:40  
It's dreamy. Like I'm telling guys like that's not why you should buy the book, but it is true. Like women see this and they're like, that's what a man is supposed to be. I get it.

Trevor Tyson  9:49  
Yeah. And where did all of this come from? Like these are such needed topics. This sounds very personal to you. Where did this come from?

Brant Hansen  9:59  
Well I think a couple of things. Honestly, my producer is a brilliant woman. She's single, and she's in her 40s. Absolutely brilliant. She comes from a family of tough guys. And she was a little stunned that she was even working on a show with a guy like me, like, totally different. Playing with puppets on the air and stuff doing weird stuff. I do miming on the air on the radio. And like, there's no, there's no way to describe it. She's like, This is so strange. But then what she says she wrote this in the introduction to the book, because she was the one that encouraged me to write it. She's like, I spent 10 minutes in this guy's house, and like, this is different. His daughter, his wife, they feel safe with them. It's very different. And she said, No, that's it's weird to see masculinity play out that way. Because she was raised in a more dramatic setting. And honestly, that's the other place for me. So was I, like, my dad was a pastor, but had a lot of problems. I have forgiven him, I love him. But we went through a couple of divorces, we had some institutional settings in there, we had a lot of trauma and drama. And I kind of thought, You know what, I'm not going to be like when I get to be a dad or husband if I ever get married. And so that that has something to do with it, too. I think that we're, that's that's where a lot of this comes from.

Trevor Tyson  11:32  
Yeah. And the healthy conversation that can be brought into this is like, no one is going to have those perfect parents, like, I love my parents to death, like I see them almost every single day just because I love them so much. But there are things that happened in your childhood that maybe they didn't know, like when it comes to mental health. Up until maybe 10 years ago, there was no real spotlight and maybe even sooner than then that's when I really started struggling and like there was no accountability on that level yet, like now it's more of a notes thing, like medication is less taboo therapy is less taboo. But growing up, I didn't really have that outlet to express that because I had three brothers that were super masculine wrestling, state champions, all that stuff. And I was just like, yeah, no, like, not at all. That's not me. And so I was the oddball out. But hearing you say this, and hearing her share his experience through it all, is fascinating to think about the diversity of men there are out there, whether their husbands, dads, single, whatever, like, you can look at a person and in a very unjust, judgmental way, obviously, tell that they're different from you. And that's an interesting thing to point out. Why do you think 2022 was the perfect season for that?

Brant Hansen  12:55  
For being able to point this out to people like this, for the garden thing? Well, I mean, there's the larger, there's the larger societal discussion about gender, and a lot of that can be good, a lot of it, I think it's harmful. But like, I, when I wrote this, I'm like, I don't want to write an academic treatise, because there's people that are more educated than me, they can put it in that space. And I think that's all that's all wonderful to, to discuss that from, from my perspective, from a different perspective. Sure. What I was trying to do, though, is is on the ground, guys don't know what they're supposed to be doing. Like, so it's more like trying to write Proverbs, obviously, that scripture, I'm not writing scripture, but trying to impart wisdom, to how actually how to live in a way that is life giving to people around us and make sense so that we have some kind of vision for our lives. Because if you don't know what the vision is, what the heck, we don't think people know. Like, there's there's entire very well thought out academic books that are written from a Christian perspective, deconstructing, you know, masculine, toxic masculinity, it's good, but it's like, okay, but what's the construction again, like, what are we supposed to be doing? That is distinctly masculine. Because God's image is masculine, it was male and female. There has to be beautiful aspects to both those things that are that are distinct those words must have some content. And it's interesting to me that he started by giving Adam this job, he gave Eve this amazing role of a razor it's er, it's used elsewhere in the Old Testament describe God Himself, coming to rescue with his armies. Like, we translate that like one time the Old Testament, we translate it helpmate. And it's not really fair, because it doesn't capture the significance of her role. I mean, she's made a Ko rule with Him, but He has this job of keeping the garden and when they blow it. God comes looking for him. It says, Adam, where are you? What happened to you with Would you do, like I made you to be the keeper this place? So I think there's something beautiful that I think I think now is the time because we lacked so much clarity with it. And I do hope it's a blessing to, to consider it.

Trevor Tyson  15:12  
Yeah. And I do, like fully believed that it is and after hearing your take on the garden, and what it means to be a keeper and even the little bits that you've shared about your story so far, it really drives me to want to hear like your story. Like the story behind Brant Hansen, the guy who you may hear on the radio or on the I'm second videos, Ted Talks, like, Would you mind sharing your story with us?

Brant Hansen  15:40  
Oh, no. Well, I don't know where to start. But I'll tell you, I mean, I am, I am on the autism spectrum. So I share that with people. That's been a lifelong revelation and a very helpful explanatory device in retrospect, like, so like the woman I'm married to, we're about to have our 32nd anniversary. She's the only girlfriend I've ever had. I didn't date anybody in high school. We were best pals in college, and we're studying one night, no romantic nothing. Because I've never like never had any sort of girlfriend really. And I turned to her and just blurted out, I love you. We're just, we're just good friends. And she was like, thanks. And so it kind of took off from there. But that's me. And it's wild that I wound up in radio doing what I'm doing. But what helps, I think is if you have what we used to call Asperger's, or autism spectrum disorders called you can be very blunt and very honest, to a fault. I mean, my mom used to tell me, you don't have to be honest all the time. Like I can just say everything bluntly, but it makes for a really compelling radio. And I am being honest, and I don't I'm not I'm not trying to hurt anybody. I asked God, Please let my my words add value to people not curse, not subtract value want to be a blessing, I curse. And I think he's answered that I think it's very unlikely that I didn't even set out to be a radio host per se. I was a newsman, and it just it mutated this direction. But it is a pretty sweet story in retrospect. Because I get to use all this and you mentioned it in the bio this is this is me, I think trying to be a keeper of the garden my own way. But I get to use my entire platform for these hospitals that are all about Jesus and healing kids that have these disabilities. They go from not walking they're 15 years old can't walk and now they can because they got a surgery that never could have afforded otherwise we do it for free. We pray over them the surgeons pray over them in the hospitals their parents are loved, like counseled prayed with kept they like they get to stay there they're fed. These people are love like never before other people were all told they're, they're cursed. And that's why they have a disability or disabled child. So we say no, you're not cursed. God loves you, and we're going to heal your child. And we did it by the 1000s. Late last year, we did 13,000 surgeries, all overtly about the gospel. And we're in countries that are some of them are 99% Muslim, and we heal their kids. And we tell them about Jesus. And to me, that is I get to use my words to buttress that work. And that's protecting these little vulnerable blossoms. They get to blossom. So I think it's, I think it's neat that I've gotten to do that. I think every I think everybody has opportunities like that. And they're always gonna tell us if you if you want him to you ask him to, he'll use whatever skills you have, to His glory as a keeper of the garden if you just if that's what you want to do. And that's I didn't plan it. And that's how it worked out. So I didn't mean to go on for too long.

Trevor Tyson  19:12  
No, I love it. And it's funny to hear the similarities. I'm very awkward around women too. That's great. I mean, not in the dating scene at this point. But that's, that's not just you, man. I'm 24 It's like, I always get the question, which it used to be annoying. And now I use it to like play a joke. You know, I think it's funny. Like when you're gonna start dating, it's like, I don't know, she ain't here yet. Like, I can't figure I that's the only answer I have. And it's okay. Like for the longest time, I used to think like, oh, I need to start dating because XY and Z and it's like there is no blueprint to success. There is no roadmap to how your life should be going. Some people become successful in their career before the age of two. Only five some people blossom around the age of 35. Like Psalm 4550, you never know what God has in store for you, you just have to trust and know that he has something for you. And if you feel him calling, my golly, go after it. Right? You

Brant Hansen  20:15  
know what, I have a lot of respect for what you're doing too, because a lot of guys just kind of check out into themselves. And so you're creating stuff. Yeah, like you're, you're putting things out there, again, to add value to people's lives. If that's, that's not normal anymore. Like so. So you're gonna be growing and becoming the man that you can be in. But honestly, you know how it is like a lot of guys they are. They're not gonna grow up.

Trevor Tyson  20:44  
No. And hearing you say that means a lot. Like I said, before we started recording, like, seeing all that you've been able to accomplish not even just in career, but hearing your story. So like, I, when we started connecting for this last week, it was like, am I going to be interviewing a mentor, like, you're looking at your credentials, your family life and everything. From my perspective, it's just like, This guy's been out there. He's doing it. And I love what you're doing with cure International, because, like, obviously, you've been with the way FM's of the world and done radio for years. But now, you're able to use your giftings your God given gifting the calling that he's given you for your life. And when I hear you talk about caring, or national, number one, I could tell it's personal to you. Number two, it's encouraging to know that like, there are partners out there that love what you're doing, and that you can use your gift to help save lives. So where does partnership come about? And how does it feel to just be able to wake up in the morning and know that you're doing media that matters? True? Okay,

Brant Hansen  21:52  
so true story. I they asked me to be an emcee at a Toby Matt concert, and I'm a terrible MC. You know, normally, like, take somebody with Asperger's and say, the MC, rap Hip Hop show. favorite thing to do? So they normally go out there, like, How's everybody doing? You know, you get all the crowd excited. I don't do that. Like, I have a microphone. I feel like I don't need to yell. Like, yeah, I can just like, well, how is everyone this evening? You know, like, so. Anyway, they asked me to do that. And they said, hey, when you go out there, make sure you tell everybody here's among the announcements, text, this number to cure, and they can give $5 or whatever. Like what Wait, wait, what's cure, and a lady was there from cure. And she explained it to me and I, I was like, what? This is backstage, like where the food is. There are permanent hospitals that are overtly about Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom and healing the sick. Which is exactly what Jesus told us to do. These are permanent hospitals. Yeah, orthopedic surgeries, neuro surgeries. This is what we do. And we train local surgeons. So people from Uganda become brain surgeons. And we do it all in the name of Jesus is what we do. And I'm like, I have lived, weird Christian culture my entire life. I need that. Yeah. I need to I need to see Jesus. That sounds like Jesus to me, like healing, people need to go back into their villages and people are freaking out. Like, how is he walking? Like, what happened? We said he was cursed, like who did this? That's literally what happens all the time. Like, that makes sense of all the other goofy stuff we do. That makes sense. And so I asked him, Hey, can I visit a hospital? Like, yeah, we're playing an open one in the Holy Land. And the next year, I'm like, it was sort of Palestinians and Israelis. That's really interesting. I'll plan to go there. That'd be a good promotion that fell through and they called him like, Hey, how'd you like to go to Afghanistan instead? I was like, nope. But they talked me into it. And I wound up going back repeatedly, to Kabul, it staying in neighborhoods there. And then at this hospital that was all about Jesus is for women and children. In Afghanistan, were women are the, like the bottom of the status barrel. And we were training them to be surgeons. Like they couldn't even get medical care before. You know, what the Taliban was in was in charge. Now they are again, but there was that window there. But I got hooked on it then. And so I would make trips to these hospitals and then convince whatever stations I was on to do something formed to spread the word and raise money to pay for surgeries. And so that's how it started now. Now, everything I do basically, is loops back to that because I think it's the best expression of gene uses I've ever seen in my life. And I want people when they think of Christians to think of that stuff, because we are doing that, but people didn't either didn't have a PR department. And I said, How come I haven't heard about this? And they're like, well, because we're doctors, we're kind of busy. And so I was like, hey, I can help.

Trevor Tyson  25:16  
I had never heard of it before this, that I know of anyone that I know of. And hearing this is like, okay, so you said they're in Afghanistan, obviously, stuffs hit the fan. Over the past year in Afghanistan. Are they still operating the hospital in Afghanistan amongst all this?

Brant Hansen  25:37  
No. And yes, yeah. So what we do is we tell people about Jesus, we tell people about the Kingdom of God, and why we're healing them. And we're very overt about it. Because we think it's both and right. It's like, it's not just enough to do something nice. It's not just enough to have a bunch of words and like the miracle of healing, giving people a glimpse of the kingdom of God, like, healing is a trailer for heaven. That's what healing is. That's what Jesus does it right. So. But we weren't able to do that in Afghanistan anymore. And actually stayed with the same guy when I went named Jerry, a pediatrician from Chicago. He would serve the poor in Lawndale, Chicago and suburbs, West Chicago, and then he would go to Afghanistan half the time, he was in Cabo, great guy, hilarious, Big White Sox fan, Filipino American guy. And I didn't go back after I left. After being with him, I stayed with him and one of our security guards at the hospital when went on his own jihad, and he machine gun Jerry, and killed him and then killed two other doctors in the parking lot at the hospital. I haven't been back. And we've had to take a lot of we still support it. We have people who were with cure, who now run it. But we're not able since we're not able to share the gospel right now. We didn't want to be raising money, like from people that are like, Hey, we share the gospel and then not actually be doing it

Trevor Tyson  27:15  
would only be half of the mission. Yeah. Well, from the workforce

Brant Hansen  27:19  
never left. So I want you to know that. They're still there doing the surgery, we're still like, but yeah, it's just it's just, it's been spun off to another org that we started.

Trevor Tyson  27:30  
Got you. to This is crazy. Like, there's this whole other world of media out there that has a meaningful message to it. And it's not just being formed through ad dollars and support the show with this like, no, like, you're actually fulfilling the Great Commission with the media work you're doing. And that's encouraging. It really is. Well, good.

Brant Hansen  27:54  
Think creatively about that for for you and your, your trajectory and your career, because, and I'm not just saying this, I don't I try so hard not to just say religious phrases and cliches. Good. I don't. I can't stand it. Especially with my background of having sermons three times a week, and being scared at home. Yeah. You know, my dad was a pastor. Like, I don't want to hear Christian stuff out of my mouth. If I don't mean it. Yeah. So when I do talk about this, like, I'm telling you, ask God do pray about this stuff. Ask him, he's looking for partners. This is what when he partnered with Abraham, he was looking for a partner. He's been looking for partners, which sounds flippant, like, well, we're on the same level, we're not on the same level, but he does want to partner with us. So ask him. And so I do think you'll find you'll look back five years from now or maybe two or something and be like, Oh, my gosh, didn't see that coming. But look what I get to do for the for the vulnerable, and using stuff that I've already been given that I enjoy doing.

Trevor Tyson  29:05  
Yeah. And it's wild over like, the past few years of doing this, like, the amount of stories that we hear of people overcoming like, specifically in like, not taking their own life or like going to therapy like mental health has been a huge thing in my life. And that's what I'm more so on the vulnerable spectrum from us. Like, we all have our unique pieces. And I love that you're pointing that out like yes, you're with your more people can join, like, let's all do this together, but realize that God has a unique sense of purpose for each and every single one of us and as beautiful as diversity in the kingdom is diversity. Not only a media but not everybody needs to hear my story. Not everyone needs to hear TobyMac story. Not everyone needs to hear this out and the other all of our stories matter so much and are so equal in that sense, nobody's better than the next person. But about

Brant Hansen  30:05  
sorry, I mean, interrupt. I know you're gonna go ahead. I'm excited about what you're doing think it's easy for me to see like these like the before and afters where these kids are will blow you away, especially when they're in video. She's dancing. Wow, she was six years old walk a few days ago, her legs were upside down practically. But in your your situation, when you're encouraging people in with the stories that you're telling like that people are like, Oh, I did, I did get help. I needed that things are different things are getting better. There were there were brighter days ahead. However, you're that's the same thing. That's, that's a bloom that needed care. And needed needed a space so that your space that you're creating, it's in cyber land, it's wherever but it's real. Like, yeah, you're getting a space where people get to flourish because you said yes. Yeah. And that's, that's what that's what I'm talking about. So I think that's, I get like, that's way more manly my opinion. Then benching 450. Like, I just I don't I think that other stuff is a distraction.

Trevor Tyson  31:19  
And it doesn't sound fun at all.

Brant Hansen  31:21  
It's not Well, I do bench 450. But

Unknown Speaker  31:23  
the point is, I knew that but yeah, no, but that's a that's a side note. But

Brant Hansen  31:30  
am I jacked? Yeah, but that's not the point. The point is. It's funny because those things are the trappings. They're the outward signifiers of sleepover. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Trevor Tyson  31:45  
Dude, it's fascinating. Everyone gets so caught up in, oh, the physical aspect of this man is a whole lot more masculine than that guy. But that guy, let's say, you got somebody scrawny, like me, but I'm showing the heart of the Father that's masculine, you totally and

Brant Hansen  32:01  
when he will agree with you. But again, they don't let this is why I think women need to read this book. Like I would like them to and I've gotten a good response. One guy, one guy is having the girls in his in the youth group read this in their own groups. I think that's brilliant. Because they deep down get it. But no one's articulated it to him either. It's a same problem. So I've done this in its You would be amazed. Maybe not you would get it. But it's really funny. When I've spoken to large groups of people at colleges or high school kids or whatever, I will be talking I can't remember what the topic will be. But I'll show some pictures of some real guys from the news that I just Googled guys rescuing things are people. And so it's real guys. Like there's a there's a like a Korean soldier who's got a an old lady on his shoulder, he's taken her out of a burning village, there's a guy flying a helicopter rescuing people off a roof. And after Katrina, there's guys in a ditch getting the baby out of a car. All of these guys, there's a there's a guy in India, who's caring for a child who's on the street. He's, they're all different ethnicities. None of them are male models. They're all real guys. Some of them are overweight. Some like they just like normal guys. None of them stand out. And I show these I just fire through these slides real quick. Like, here's this there's this. There's this. There's this. And I stop afterward. I'm like, Hey, question for the ladies here. Are those guys attractive? And almost before I can finish the question, there's this vociferous? Unanimous, yes. Like a guy's take note of that. Because women Intuit what we're supposed to be, I believe that like they're brilliant. They intuitively know what we're supposed to be. So they're trained in some ways to look for these signifiers of strength and protection, like he's willing to be brave because he rides a motorcycle or he's got big, big biceps. So he's, he'd be willing to fight off somebody like, but those are so fleeting. Yeah, because it's really about the character, the guy. But it I'm telling you, women are looking for that. And in a few, any guy who embodies that is going to be a hot commodity, no matter what he looks like. I'm convinced of that, honestly. And I think women listening right now like, dude, just right. So yeah,

Trevor Tyson  34:36  
that's insane. And to kind of close this thing out, I really have grown to love ending these episodes with asking a question that's unique to you. Like, I'm not asking this to every single guest that comes on the show. So as someone who struggles with communication and has made a career within the realm of communication, what is your message to those that may be dealing with the same issue? issues that you've overcome in your life. Oh,

Brant Hansen  35:03  
I'll say this. Okay, I'll even widen that out. Like, your weakness is your chance. Because if you're awesome, well, then you're awesome. Like, if you're if you're just an amazing athlete, or something, and like, wow, he became an amazing athlete. He always wasn't amazing. Now, he's amazing. Isn't he amazing? Like, okay, but if something happens in spite of your flaws, with your fly like, well, that's God. He gets the credit for that, right? It's interesting to like, they brought a blind guy to Jesus, there's an obvious weakness, and they're like, Whose fault is this because they believe they have a disability, a weakness, you're cursed. That's what our culture believes, to all cultures. That really, you're you don't measure up, you're cursed. And they asked him who is responsible, his parents are him who sinned. And he's like, he's not cursed. This happens so that God can be glorified. Like your weakness, whatever it is telling you becomes this, this opportunity for God to get the credit. And hopefully, there's, we're all a mixed bag with motives. We all are, including me. I don't know if I've ever had a pure thought in my entire life. But there's not at least a grain of me in there. Like that said. That said, there's a lot of me that it really is like, I hope people don't walk away going, Wow, brands really awesome. More than like, wow, Jesus is really interesting. And he's really awesome. And I'm glad Brad gets to be my brother in this. But yeah, I'm not following him. I'm following Jesus. So I hope that answers the question. It's, it's amazing to watch that happen, where God will use your weakness, because that's how he is made strong. That's how people see him. Yeah,

Trevor Tyson  36:55  
man, what a better way to end that show. Like, I don't think there could have been a point in time that we could have ended so perfectly just hearing him talk about Asperger syndrome and all of the things that he's experienced in his life that would nine times out of 10, you would think it would hold you from having a career in communication, but to be as well established as he is with TED talks, massive radio success books. Essentially, having a life a lifelong career in communication with overcoming those obstacles is beyond encouraging to me.

Brian Layne  37:31  
I couldn't agree more. I think when, when anybody is faced with adversity, whether it's a circumstance or even a diagnosis, to have the courage to just keep going, as what he said, Right, right. When it ended, yeah. You know, it's, it takes a lot. And sometimes I think the ignorance of not really understanding the gravity of your situation can help propel you to because you don't really realize everybody else, like, Oh, he's got this or Oh, she's got this and, and they feel bad for you. But you're not thinking anything of it. You're just going, You know what I'm saying you're just doing it's kind of similar to your story. You know, you've hit with a lot of anxiety, a lot of depression, a lot of stuff. But you just get up.

Trevor Tyson  38:16  
Yeah, like, it was never one of those things when I started getting vulnerable about anxiety and depression, and all of the things that were going on in here. Never once was I like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna get a million views off of this message. It was like, No, I found a strange comfort, which I believe is the Holy Spirit, honestly, of just a blanket of comfort with being vulnerable. And then when, even before people started sharing their stories of how it helped them, it was therapy for me and even to this day, like every almost every single episode that we do, feels like therapy. It genuinely you're there's so many things you can relate with people on for him, having the communications issues growing up and he turned that weakness as he said, The weakness is where he found his purpose. Right. It's It's mind boggling. We all are all different.

Brian Layne  39:09  
Well, I think, you know, there's so many calls into question, what you're really doing what you're doing for, because if it's truly your purpose, no amount of obstacles, no amount of anything in your way is going to stop you from living out that purpose. Now, if you're in it for the the attention and things like that, you'll find yourself challenged along the way. But when you're doing it for the right reasons, when you're doing it to genuinely be a blessing to somebody else. It doesn't matter what's happening. You're not You're not performing for other people. You're doing what you truly are, you're you're walking it out on a daily basis. You can't do anything else because this is what you were designed to do. And so that's what I really just listened into Brandt and his son Well story, it was incredible. And that's exactly what he's doing. He's living out or Living by Design so to speak to button it up perfectly to say it without much more speculative conjecture or whatever you want to speculative conjecture grant

Trevor Tyson  40:16  
Hanson. Yeah, not to begin do it.

Brian Layne  40:25  
Go ahead, Said again.

Trevor Tyson  40:27  
Bernard take Brant Hansen,

Brian Layne  40:31  
not to be confused with handsome dad joke brought to you by

Trevor Tyson  40:39  
transparent media company in correlation with cure International. You're all we both put on no cure international bringing them up. Just the fact that Brant I brought up our tagline for transparent media with him. Media that matters, like, he's able to wake up and do his radio show and media, and all of the above with a blanket of knowing that like it's sponsored by cure internationalists, not like just the financial sponsorship to help support the show and everything. He's able to reach people with this message that cure is doing across the globe. And more recently, they were in Afghanistan up until everything started hitting the fan, you know, and they're still there. But like, they're not able to run the hospital like they were they literally had hospitals, strategically to where they could tell people about Jesus because in these under poverty, or more impoverished areas across the globe, they're not able to hear about Jesus, they're not able when you are born with a defect or something like that. It's Oh, who sinned? And who are we going to hold accountable? You're this way because somebody cursed you? And they go on to say, No, you're not cursed. This is where Jesus can be glorified, and they help them out. So I found that's one of the key takeaways other than knowing that Brandt is like, my long, older brother of some sort. I claim my own now. It's phenomenal dude, but his new book, The men we need is available everywhere because he's Brant Hansen like, go to Brandon hansen.com, Amazon, Barnes and Noble wherever you can find it. And the audio version is on Audible. Be sure to go check out his podcast with the beautiful Sherry Lynn called the brand and Sherry odd cast. Because yes, they are odd people. And we're odd to Brian, but we don't have a cool name like that. You know what kingdom business was? Dude, thank you for sitting in for this after show. I totally enjoy being able to just summarize and piece everything together. And for everyone listening thank you so much for being here. And we love you so much. Be sure to like and subscribe. Go find us on IG wherever Gator, Facebook pivot moon here done. We love you guys. I hope you know that you have so much purpose in your life. Jesus loves you. And if you need extra support, need somebody to talk to be sure to reach out to heart support death, the wife the teen HopeLine beneath the skin. There's so many people that want to speak with you. And there's so many more that we could list out. We got time for so many amazing resources. So many amazing resources are out there and we love each and every single one of them equally. But as always, we'll talk to you guys next week. Goodbye now

Transcribed by https://otter.ai