Be Present, Get in the Game: Brad Noll's Huddle on Phresh Laundry
Mindset · From Student of the Game
Be Present, Get in the Game: Brad Noll's Huddle on Phresh Laundry
In this solo Huddle, Brad Noll looks back on his Student of the Game conversation with Theoplis Smith III, the Fort Wayne artist known as Phresh Laundry. Brad will not spoil how Phresh got his name. He says that part of the interview is a sermon on its own and will bless somebody.
Brad calls Phresh a visionary with a body of work that has drawn national attention, from a collaboration with Spike Lee to murals around downtown Fort Wayne. Brad has two one-of-a-kind Phresh paintings in his office, both created on the spot. But this Huddle is less about the art and more about the habits behind it.
Preparation and Connection Are for Everyone
When Brad asked Phresh for the fundamentals of being a creative, the answer was preparation and connection. Brad thinks every small business owner and relationship builder should hear that, and he asks two questions. Do you prepare enough? Do you connect enough?
Enough, he says, is not about comparing yourself to someone else or simply wanting more. It comes back to your goals, and Brad believes everyone should have them. Preparation and connection are how goals get accomplished.
He also challenges the idea that only artists are creative. "We are all creative," Brad says. The question is whether you give yourself space to create. He suggests carving out two hours a week to be quiet, listen, and prepare for the week ahead.
“Stop sitting on the bench. You're not waiting for the bus. Go get in the game.”
Brad Noll
Get Off the Bench
Brad is blunt about what keeps people from acting. He believes it is usually fear: fear of how we will feel, how people will think of us, or how we will look. "If we're being honest, I think it's selfish," he says of sitting back.
He gives listeners the same line he gives his kids. "Stop sitting on the bench. You're not waiting for the bus. Go get in the game." If you made a plan for the new year and it has stalled into procrastination, Brad says it is not too late. Whether you hear this in February, June, or October, get back in the game.
When You Are Present, You Are Powerful
Phresh stressed that being present is crucial for growth and learning. Brad's family chooses a word of the year as a filter for every area of life: spiritual, family and relationships, business, finances, and personal. A couple of years ago, that word was present.
Brad connects it to something Charles Fernandez said earlier in the season: those who are present are the most powerful. Picture the family dinner where someone is on their phone. They are not very powerful. Brad tells his team he is there to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and if that dinner was you last night, he is happy to afflict you a little.
He learned this early in his career. Showing homes alone, he would get calls from sellers and buyers in the middle of a tour. He realized the phone had to go in his pocket or stay in the car. "By being present, I became powerful," he says. He admits he is not 100 percent there today, but he is better than he was five years ago. Brad also points listeners to the moment Phresh gave his flowers to his dad, a role model who was present in his life.
Beauty From Pain, and Relationships That Win
Much of Phresh's work comes from pain, including the challenges of growing up as a young Black man, building a business, and raising a family. He uses the paintbrush to bring joy, evoke emotion, and bring people together around social issues. Brad notes that Phresh's work reaches well beyond Fort Wayne, but he chooses to stay and commit to this community, and his vision is to keep teaching the next generation.
Phresh also talked about the people who carried him through hard seasons, including his wife. That is the heart of the podcast, Brad says. Healthy, consistent, organic relationships win. And when you are stuck, he suggests a new question: not how you will get out of the situation, but who can help you through it.
How Can Busy People Prepare Better?
People often ask Brad how he gets it all done while running a business, hosting a podcast, and being present for his kids, while his wife, Lindsay, runs her own business. His answer is preparation. His habits are simple:
- For every one-hour meeting, he spends about an hour preparing the day before or that morning.
- Before a buyer call, listing appointment, or coffee, he looks people up and learns what they are into.
- He keeps the phone away when someone deserves his full attention.
- He uses a word of the year to check how he is doing in every area of life.
Brad closes with a phrase Phresh shared: there is beauty for ashes. If you feel like you just came through the fire, he says, there is still beauty ahead. And as Brad likes to say, if you don't know the struggle, you don't know the strength.
▶ Listen to the full episode
The Huddle with Brad Noll: Phresh Laundry, on Student of the Game.
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