How many of us would have the courage to turn our backs on what was soundly forecast as a future payout of several million dollars in retirement and stock options to follow what our spirit was calling out to do? The answer to that question is quite clear – just look around at the people you know, see, and read about.
Not many.
But that doesn’t apply to Jordan Gerding. And his story is even more remarkable considering his is not even 30, yet. He just recently left his job in the family construction business his grandfather and father have been building for decades, to venture into the unknown and uncertain world of entrepreneurship.
It might sound scary – and maybe even unwise – to those who need the certainty of a regular schedule, structure, and paycheck. For those who march to a different drummer, and are awake and attuned to their own inner voice, staying in the imagined ‘safety’ of a steady job can actually be a very life-sucking, soul-killing choice.
Jordan didn’t make the leap blindly. In fact, he was very methodical, strategic, and conscientious about the financial implications of his choices, potential, and future, then crafted an exit strategy that he presented to the company’s Board before putting his plan in motion.
Today’s conversation is perfectly representative of how real-life, meaningful conversations unfold organically. While Laura and Jordan started off exploring how he mapped out his future (rare for many, and rarer still for someone so young!), they find themselves exploring self-awareness, coaching, and the various tools they each use to first understand themselves and then share that gift with others in their lives and work.
If you’ve ever heard your inner voice calling you to something else, something beyond the ‘norm,’ something that might even scare you a little (or a lot!)… If you’ve asked yourself, “Should I follow my calling / passion, or do what everyone else says I should do?” You owe it to yourself to spend this next hour with Laura and Jordan and contemplate the lessons that arise…
Really consider the idea of trading comfort and boredom with pursuing your passion and enjoying the fullness of life.
You can learn more about the tools Jordan and Laura use at these links:
Jordan on Facebook
jordangerding@gmail.com
StrengthsFinder
Explore Strengths with Laura
Enneagram
Kolbe Assessment
Perry Marshall
80/20 Sales & Marketing Book
Jordan’s Bio
Jordan is a young man who has recently stepped out of his corporate job with his father’s general contracting construction business, Gerding Builders, into the adventure of self-employment. He is entering into a career as an executive coach to pursue his passion of helping business owners and entrepreneurs understand their unique giftings, strengths, and passions and then developing their team around them to support them in their weaknesses and blind spots.
In stepping into his own business, Jordan is now a fourth-generation business owner in his family. He takes great pride in the legacy of his family in business that focused on valuing relationships, honesty, integrity, character, and leveraging resources to help those who cannot help themselves.
Jordan has been especially impacted by his father, Tom Gerding. He watched his father join on as a partner in the company he currently serves as CEO over and grow it from a high 7-figure revenue business to breaking the 9-figure revenue mark while growing their net profit percentage to double the industry average. His father did this without compromising his values of integrity and character, focusing on relationships first (both within the company and outside of the company), and giving back to the community.
Jordan has the practical experience in holding fast to his character and values in an industry where profit margin percentages are in the single digits, contract language is tight, and mistakes can quickly add up to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. In his last year with Gerding Companies, Jordan was the Project Manager over more than 20 million dollars-worth of work with over 90 subcontractors (other companies hired to do specific scopes of work) between the projects. He has first-hand experience in balancing maximizing profits for the company, prioritizing savings and service for the client, and standing up for subcontractors when additional payment is deserved for additional requested work; all while not sacrificing integrity, character, or values.
Jordan knows that the business world is no fairy tale, and his coaching and guidance comes from real world application and results. He desires to bring the insights he has gained from watching and working closely with his father along with the high impact tools gained from trainings and certifications to help high integrity, high character business owners and entrepreneurs take the helm in their industries with the goal of making integrity and character the expectation in the business world not the exception.
