From Perfect Cut to Personal Breakthrough: kory Ballard’s Courageous Journey of Recovery and Growth

In the latest episode of the Courageous Crossroads podcast, host Jeff Johnson interviews kory Ballard, sharing insights from his personal journey and professional success. Corey reflects on his upbringing and his entrepreneurial beginnings with Perfect Cut lawn care, which he expanded significantly before selling in 2021. Throughout the conversation, he discusses the importance of courage in overcoming fear, the influence of mentorship in his life, and his struggles with alcoholism that led to a transformative moment of self-realization. Now sober for over six years, Corey emphasizes the significance of personal accountability and the necessity for genuine change, advocating for honesty and support in recovery while inspiring others to consider their motivations and legacies. The episode serves as a compelling exploration of resilience, mentorship, and the pursuit of a meaningful life.

Kory Ballard, an Iowa native, is a devoted husband to Lindsay and a proud family man. As the founder of Perficut, a leading lawn care company, and the president of Ballard Incorporated, which caters to the lawn care and landscaping industry, Kory has established himself as a highly successful entrepreneur. Known for his unparalleled work ethic, he has built a remarkable career rooted in hard work and determination. Kory’s journey is one of redemption and transformation, inspiring others to pursue positive life changes. As a sought-after speaker, he shares his insights and experiences, advocating for the success and growth of fellow entrepreneurs.

You can find Kory on the podcast The Green Grind at
https://thegreengrindpodcast.libsyn.com/ site

Thank you for listening! We hope you feel inspired and encouraged by our conversation today. If you did, be sure to share this episode with others.

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See you in the next episode! Be blessed!

Full Transcript

Intro:
Welcome to Courageous by Crossroads Apologetics, a look into what motivates us to step out in courage and the everyday bravery of men and women like you. In each episode, we hear a personal story of bravery centered around this. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And now, your host, founder of Crossroads Apologetics, Jeff Johnson. 

Jeff Johnson:
Welcome back to another episode of the Courageous Crossroads. I am super excited for you to hear my next guest, Corey Ballard. I’m reminded of a C.S. Lewis quote. That’s one of my favorites. Okay. The truth is, it’s hard to find a C.S. Lewis quote that isn’t my favorite. That guy. So many profound things to say about the human condition. But one of his quotes that I love so much, I actually turned it into a poster, and I got it down in my workplace, and it says, you can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. And isn’t that just a beautiful picture of courage? Doesn’t that embody what courage is? To be able to. Some people might say repent, but to be able to stop where you’re at, reflect and take a look and go. 

Jeff Johnson:
I’m not happy with the way that this is going. Decide to swallow your pride and to take a turn and point your life in a different direction. And I think that has a lot to say about courage. And that’s all I’m going to say about our next guest, Corey Ballard, who’s a dear friend of mine, and I cannot wait to hear what he has to say about courage. Okay, Corey, so welcome to the Courageous Crossroads podcast, formerly known as the Courageous Podcast. 

Kory Ballard:
Glad to be here again. Yes. Okay, can we tell the quick backstory. 

Jeff Johnson:
Jeff, or no elephant in the room. Do you want to tell it or should I? 

Kory Ballard:
Well, I. Yeah. So Jeff just came to me. I had done the podcast maybe three months ago, and Jeff came to me, and I could tell you had maybe a little bit of embarrassment, and you said, hey, I got to tell you something. I think I lost your podcast. And I took that as it probably wasn’t very good, and you threw it away. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s what you thought? 

Kory Ballard:
Yeah, no, I didn’t think that, but it does happen from time to time. And so you said, hey, can we do it again? And here we are. 

Jeff Johnson:
You were the first one that I recorded, Corey. And then I can’t believe I went back to look for all these assets, and I cannot find. 

Kory Ballard:
You’ve recorded over me the Corey Ballard asset. I’ve recorded over you someplace. 

Jeff Johnson:
I’m like, oh my goodness. 

Kory Ballard:
So anyway, it happens, you know, we do that. We have our own podcast and there’s been. We had one really good one and we recorded over it and I was so embarrassed to tell the guy, like, hey man, is there any way we can try to recapture that magic? And it was tough because you have to try to you. 

Jeff Johnson:
Right. 

Kory Ballard:
It was like. And I’m so. And we’ve had a few that we’ve lost on purpose. But, you know, so anyway. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay, I get that. So anyway, the very first one that you did. 

Kory Ballard:
Yes, sir. 

Jeff Johnson:
Was incredible. Life changing, unbelievable. However, it’s lost to all time, so we don’t have the benefit of that. So we’re just gonna have to jump back in. 

Kory Ballard:
Sure. 

Jeff Johnson:
And go again. But I really appreciate you visiting with us here today about the topic of courage. Can you tell people about your backstory, a little bit about your family, what you’re doing, your business, whatever? 

Kory Ballard:
You’re sure? Yeah. Corey Ballard grew up in Ankeny, Iowa, Graduated from Ankeny High School quite a few years ago. I won’t age myself too much, but Lindsay Jo and I are married. We have an 11 year old and a 9 year old. Finley’s our girl and Levi is 9 and my oldest daughter is 20 from a previous marriage. So Skylah had a chance to go to University of Iowa or Iowa State and last minute chose to go to Aveda and do hair. And her mom has a really nice high end salon in Des Moines and she’s working there and absolutely loving it and doing great. So that was an interesting deal because I really wanted her to go to college because I didn’t go to college. And of course. Go Hawks. Right? That’s right. 

Jeff Johnson:
Go Hawks. 

Kory Ballard:
So that was tough, but at the end of the day I just wanted her to do whatever makes her happy. And she’s super passionate about that industry and had a great avenue to get right into a great career. And so she’s been doing that now six months, I believe. And we’re in the process of looking to buy her a townhome here soon. And so yeah, we live here in Grimes and we’re building a new facility for one of my companies called Ballard Products here right in Granger, which is like six minutes from our home, which is going to be amazing to be six minutes from the. I don’t know if it’s good or bad to be six minutes from the office, but yeah. And my, you know, I started a lawn care company way back when I was 14 years old. 

Kory Ballard:
Just started Mowing grass and built that company. It’s called Perfect Cut. It’s the blue trucks. If anybody listening pays attention to what’s going on out there, at least in our area, but ultimately built it into a really nice company with three locations. Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Omaha. And just shy of about 200 employees during our peak. And then actually sold that company in October of 21 to a national. And my business partner and I. He’s still actually on. And I’m on until April 1st and I’m done, actually, Jeff. Which is, you know, been kind of interesting. 

Jeff Johnson:
It’s gonna feel. 

Kory Ballard:
Yeah. You know, when you start a company from scratch and you sell it. We really didn’t. I didn’t have any intention of selling it. It just. The timing made sense and financially it made sense. And I wasn’t running the day to day, and I hadn’t been running the day to day for probably six or seven years. So, yeah, it’s kind of like selling one of your children. It was my baby, maybe. 

Jeff Johnson:
You started that company in high school. 

Kory Ballard:
Yeah, started it from scratch. And so I’m done April 1st, but I’m still gonna stay on with the team a little bit, our strategy team. And, you know, they would like me to be a part of that as much as I want to be. And at least from a visionary standpoint. And, you know, I still care tremendously about that company. I mean, I love Perfect Cut. I love our people. And that company continues to grow, but it’s just a little different now when somebody else owns it. And it’s still. When I see a blue truck drive by or it’s still. I forget sometimes people will say, hey, you on Perfect Cut? And I go, yeah. And then I go, no, actually, I don’t. I don’t own it. But not anymore. But yeah. 

Kory Ballard:
So, you know, ran that company for many years and again, grew up from scratch. And I just learned a lot of lessons along the way of leading people and, you know, and growing a company and, you know, and today I get to work in the industry doing, you know, something different. With the Ballard product line, I won’t get way into that, but we sell accessories throughout the US to lawn care companies. And I’m extremely passionate about. Get an opportunity to speak at events. And we have our own podcast where we talk to lawn care owners and business owners and get to share their stories as well. So that’s something that’s really fun to keep me connected at the industry. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re just a real. A very successful entrepreneur, Corey. I’VE known that about you ever since I’ve known you. And when I found out that you were the one that started, perfect cut. You know, my chin kind of hit the floor a little bit because that’s not a small business. I mean, that’s a well known, well respected business. I’ll do my best to put the green grind link in the show notes so people can get over there to see you. But you’re such a hard worker. As we ease into the topic of courage. I’ve heard you say before that you’re just gonna outwork the next guy. Does courage relate to that somehow? 

Kory Ballard:
Well, you know, that’s interesting, Jeff. I was thinking, you know, I don’t claim to be the smartest guy. I just, I worked really hard. I continue to work really hard. And I think my thought all along was we’ll just outwork everybody, you know, when they’re taking breaks, on, when they’re not working weekends and when they’re taking breaks, we’re just going to keep out working them. And, you know, I don’t pretend that I did this all on my own. I had great people around me. I was fortunate enough to surround myself with people that were just really good. And I don’t know, sometimes I think I was lucky and sometimes I think that maybe I just was able to draw really good people in and tell them what I was trying to accomplish. 

Kory Ballard:
And my story and you know, Matt always says had an incredible knack for. You were just really driven and people just wanted to work. They wanted to just be a part of whatever you were doing. It didn’t matter if were doing lawn care or today selling accessories. People just wanted to be a part of your energy. And so, yeah, I mean, I just, you know, I like to work hard. I work. I don’t work near as hard as I used to. I may tell you that we’ve kind of refocused our time on our family now, which has been incredible that we get to do that today. But yeah, you know, it just, you know, surrounding myself with really good people, staying focused. 

Kory Ballard:
You know, people always ask me all the time about, you know, what’s the magic sauce to business or being in shape or a great marriage or all. And I just. The word I consistently use is it’s consistency. You know, you can’t get in shape in a week, you can’t get rich in a month, you can’t build a great company in a year. It just takes years and years of grinding and not Quitting. There were so many times when, man, it just got really tough, and we just. Would. We just refocus. And, you know, I’m kind of old school. I’d make a list of, you know, where are we at today? 

Kory Ballard:
What are the things that are, you know, what are the hurdles in front of me, and what do we got to do to get through them, you know, and so we just stayed really consistent throughout the years. And, you know, again, I don’t own perfect cut today, but, man, it’s been a. What a. Sometimes I go to our meetings, our team meetings or spring kickoff or fall kickoff, and there’s 200 men and women in our facility. And maybe this happens at your company, Jeff and I just look around and I think, wow, like, I remember sitting there with two employees and three employees and four employees and thinking, someday I’m going to be big, you know, or someday, you know, we’re going to have something special. And today it is so special. And that’s not my doing. That’s. That’s. God, that’s great, people. 

Kory Ballard:
That’s probably some luck, timing, hard work, and just surrounding myself with, you know, great people and really some really good mentors along the way as well. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s great. When you think about courage, when you think about that topic of courage, what do you. What do you. What’s first to mind with you? What exemplifies somebody as being courageous? 

Kory Ballard:
Oh, that’s a tough one. You know, I think, you know, courage, I mean it. Sometimes I actually think of the opposite of fear. And I’m just going to back up real quick. One of the things that has driven me probably so much in my life is fear. The fear of not being enough. I don’t know if I said this on the last time, the last podcast that we threw away, but I don’t know if somebody ever said this to me, that, hey, Corey, you’re not enough. But I always had this in me that I felt like maybe I wasn’t enough. I always had a lot of fear, and I think some level of fear is really good. Fear of not being enough, fear of not being successful enough, fear of what other people think of me. 

Kory Ballard:
And what I’ve come to learn over the years is, first off, nobody’s really thinking of me. They’re thinking of themselves. But to be courageous, I think you’ve got to be uncomfortable, you’ve got to lead, and you’ve got to take chances, and you’ve got to be a person that people trust and believe in. And I Mean, encourage is a tough word when I think about it, because it can be. I mean there’s, you know, I should look up the definition and we can read it out loud. But you know, I just, I think of, you know, being, you know, courageous. And again, I always think of it as leading people. 

Kory Ballard:
You know, I always take a huge responsibility in the lives that, you know, when you own a business or when you’re an entrepreneur and you have a lot of responsibility on you when you have people that you, that rely on you to make great decisions and good decisions to protect them, protect their families, protect the greater good of the entire company and their families and their friends. And so I don’t know if that answers your question. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, no, I think that gets it. And we’re sneaking up on the question I’m going to ask you here in a minute. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? How does courage relate to morality? Because in business you have the opportunity to sell your soul 100 times a day. I mean, I hope I’m not, that’s not hyperbole, but you know what I mean? I mean, you got the opportunity to cheat and cut a corner and do whatever. And courage, is that related for you to morality, to making the right choice, the ethical choice, the correct choice, or can you be courageous when you’re kind of being sneaky and nasty too? Is that an okay question? 

Kory Ballard:
Yeah, it’s an interesting one. Right. You know, I believe that if you do the right thing, if you continue to do the right thing, that things take care of themselves, you know, and that could be financially like, you know, in the beginning of our business, you know, Matt Bowman, my business partner, I remember Matt always saying, you know, Corey, if we just do the right thing, the money will take care of itself. Right? And some people just chase the dollar. And I find that most of those people are really unhappy because there’s never content, you know, it’s never enough. It’s not the next nice car or next house. It’s not the new wife. It’s not the, it’s. They’re always chasing. And you know, and so we’ve always, and I think I’ve always. Well, that’s not true. 

Kory Ballard:
I’ve certainly done things that I’m not proud of, especially in my personal life. But when it comes to business, you know, we’ve always tried to do the right thing. I just feel like if you cheat, steal, cut corners, it might give you short term gain, but it’s going to be long term pain. You know, and I just. I don’t feel like I don’t know very many people that cheat the system of. When I say the system, it could be a lot of different things in life, but that ultimately are at peace, that are successful, that have successful marriages, that are good fathers, good friends, good husbands, good business leaders, just good stewards of the community. I feel like it always comes full circle. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, that’s. 

Kory Ballard:
You know, and I think about someone. I see people doing things that are. When I see these frauds or I’m watching a documentary, I always think. I always think, what was the game plan like? Did you not know that was going to eventually catch up to you? And then I also think, how did you sleep at night? Knowing that someday you’re going to have to face the consequences of your actions. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re going to have to look yourself in the mirror. Yeah. Corey, that’s a great answer to a tough question. Thank you for answering it, because I feel like courage and morality are tethered together. The people that I really admire are people that step out in faith and step out to do something bold and noble. And that feels like courage to me, as opposed to people that are just game in the system. Another question for you. Who in your life, past, present, do you admire do you really look up to as somebody who represents courage to you? 

Kory Ballard:
You. You know, since you’ve been in my life, Jeff, you’ve, You’ve certainly taught me a lot. But, you know, my dad. And my dad is my best friend, and it’s such a weird thing because he doesn’t embody all the things that. That maybe a father should. You know, he showed me things, and I hung with my dad. He was my best bud. And I saw things and I was a part of things that ultimately led to later, which we’ll get to, and we talk about some things that I had to change in my life. But, you know, he’s just the way he treats his children. And, I mean, if I called him today, right now and said, I’m in a pinch, he would be here as fast as his vehicle allowed him to be here. 

Kory Ballard:
And so, you know, I look up to the way he. The way he treats his children and the way he would do anything for any of us. And he’s been somebody that’s just been my rock at my highest and my lowest points. And he’s the first person I want to tell when we win something or celebrate something. Like, I was just thinking the other day, like, you know, my son’s Doing really good in the racing world. And, you know, my dad’s 70 and is he going to be here? Let’s just say Levi makes it to whatever level, right. Is going to see that come to fruition. 

Kory Ballard:
It won’t be as special if he doesn’t see my son at that, whatever level that is, you know, and, you know, and when I accomplish some things that I think are pretty significant in business, like, he’s the one that I, that I want him to be proud. And my mom’s been a big part of that, too. My mom has been the business sounding board for me from day one. She’s just, she’s as smart as it gets when it comes to business, so she’s the one I call about business. But when it comes to, you know, personal things, my dad and I have just been really tight. And I’ve certainly had other mentors along the way and some for the wrong reasons. 

Kory Ballard:
And, you know, I had people in my life that I looked up to, especially in my early 20s, that didn’t have the moral compass, didn’t have the things. They weren’t the people that I thought they were. But on the outside, Jeff, it looks so good to me at a young age, right, they had the big house and the fancy cars and the lake house and the beautiful wife and the children, but they also had a girlfriend too, you know, and I thought that was cool, right, because I just didn’t know. I thought that was something. I didn’t know how wrong that was at the time. I thought, well, man, this guy’s got everything. He’s got money and all the stuff and he must be so happy. Oh, and he has a wife and a girlfriend. 

Kory Ballard:
My brain didn’t tell me that, you know, that’s not a good. That’s not a good guy, right? And my mentors were quite a bit older than me when I was in my early 20s and they were in their 40s and 50s. And I would hang with these guys and I would drink with them and smoke cigars with them and they would tell me all these stories and I wanted to be them. I wanted all the stuff they had. But what I never asked is if they were happy. I never. Or how well they slept at night or were they at peace, you know, and what kind of relationship did they really have with their kids or with their wife? 

Kory Ballard:
You know, what kind of leader were they, you know, and so I don’t know if that answers your question because I, you know, over the years I’ve just. I’ve changed the people that I look up to quite a bit. And I really look at. I look at people different now, and I don’t care what they have. And when it. When it comes to stuff, you know, I had so many people tell me, you know, Corey, if I had all, you know, if I had your life, I’d be so happy. And I was like, why am I so unhappy then? You know, because on the outside it looks so sexy and it looks so good. Right. I could dress up and have the stuff that everybody thought made you successful and important and. 

Kory Ballard:
But on the inside, it was like, man, I’m miserable to come to realize. 

Jeff Johnson:
That that’s not all that you thought it was. No, you answered the question very well, Corey. That looking up to your dad and how he represents courage to you now, I think that’s a. That’s a powerful thing. Do you think courage is rare in our society today, or do you think it’s all over the place? 

Kory Ballard:
Oh, our society today. We get another podcast on our society today. I don’t know, Jeff. That’s a tough one. There’s certainly people out there that. I mean, there’s certainly great people out there. I just don’t know. I don’t. I don’t trust as many people as I used to. I always wonder if people have maybe an alter of motive. I look at them and think, you know, sometimes I think, and maybe this is bad, but I’m always thinking, what’s in it for them? You know, what’s their angle? You know, why does this guy want to help me? Or why. What’s the motive? I’m always thinking, like, what is the motive? And does somebody truly just. Does somebody truly just want to be a friend? Do they just. You know, when somebody invites me for coffee, do they want to sell me something? 

Kory Ballard:
All the time, is somebody always trying to sell me something, or do they just want to see how I’m doing and I get to find out how they’re doing and how their kids are doing. So, you know, I mean, again, I think our society continues to change and, you know, there’s social media things going on, political things going on. I don’t. I don’t think people are built like they used to be. Yeah, you know, unfortunately, I think there’s a lot of distractions. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, well, there’s certainly. You got that right, Corey. I just. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your transparency. I mean, you just, you. That kind of authenticity is very valuable to me. And you Influence me and you influence so many other people by being able to be so transparent about everything, about how you feel about stuff. And I really appreciate that. So I don’t know if this is a harder question or if this is an easier question, but let’s come down to the Corey Ballard. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? 

Kory Ballard:
Yeah, you know, for me and, you know, my story, Jeff, probably as good as anybody, you know, for me, you know, I was on a path of destruction, you know, and again, from the outside looking in, it looked really good. You know, I felt like I had made it, whatever that looks like. I used air quotes there. I had made it. And I felt entitled. And I was running what I thought was successful business. Sometimes we had good years, sometimes we had bad years, but I had all these employees and I had things going on that I thought looked so good, all the things that I thought I wanted. And then I, over time, just continued to develop a really unhealthy relationship with alcohol. And I drank more than I should. I was a binge drinker. When I start drinking, I don’t quit. 

Kory Ballard:
It’s just kind of who I am. I’m like an all or nothing type of guy, if you didn’t know that. I’m just gas pedal all the way down. And so my early 40s, I was drinking in excess. I wasn’t being a good husband. I wasn’t being faithful. I was, I wasn’t a great dad. I thought again, I thought that because I provided things, the home and the vehicles and all those things, that qualified me as a good dad and that qualified me as a good husband. And I just, you know, I wasn’t present. And so, you know, I woke up one day, I was taking a motorcycle. I did some motorcycle rides all around the country. I went all the way to Alaska in the tip of Mexico, and I did some adventure riding. 

Kory Ballard:
And I thought I was doing that too, try to find myself. I convinced myself and my wife that I’m going to ride this motorcycle around the country and I’m just going to do some soul searching. And the truth of it is, Jeff, I was just trying to get away from reality. And that way I could travel and I could also drink the way I wanted to drink in hotels and bars and restaurants. And I could just get away and no one would know what I’m doing because I’m by myself. I’m all over. And the last trip I took, I jumped on my motorcycle and I was heading to Kansas City. And I’d been drinking, so it’s a miracle that I made it there without dying to be 100% honest. And I ended up in Omaha. 

Kory Ballard:
And I don’t know if you know a lot about maps, but I went the wrong way. That’s just. I mean, Kansas City is not Omaha. Yeah. So I must have took the wrong exit coming out of Des Moines and came to an Omaha. And I spent a couple days in a hotel casino and gambled and. And did what I do, right? And I woke up the second to the last time I drank. I woke up and I looked in the mirror, and I don’t know how long I stood there, Jeff. God, it felt like an hour. But I just. I looked in the mirror, and I just didn’t like the guy I saw. And I was, you know, bloodshot eyes, hungover, maybe still drunk. And I just thought, is this it? Is this your story? Is this who you want to be? 

Kory Ballard:
Lindsay was on the verge of moving out and leaving me, and she had every right to. It’s amazing she stuck around as long as she did. She was basically raising our young children on her own because I was never there. I was working and playing. Right. And hanging with the boys and justifying it every day to her that’s just how life is. You know, I make the money, and I’m the guy, and that’s what you do. And I didn’t ask for permission. I just did what I wanted to do. And so my life was coming to a tough crossroads, and my business partner at Perfect cup basically said, hey, Corey, I can’t be a part of this anymore either. And he had. 

Kory Ballard:
He had actually quit drinking several years before that, and were drinking buddies, and he had quit drinking maybe three years before I decided that it was no longer going to work in my life. I had a conversation with him, and he was tough on me. It was some tough love, and that’s what a guy like me needed. I got back, and of course, the guy that was there for me was my dad. He picked me up and drove me around, but he didn’t know how to help me, and he didn’t know how to fix me. I finally just asked for help. I finally just said, you know what? This just isn’t working. And I had toyed with stopping drinking a few different times, but I was never serious about it. And so at that point, I just surrendered. 

Kory Ballard:
I said, I need help, and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fix my marriage or not. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fix my business or not. But for the first time, I did it for me. I was no longer going to not drink to keep Lindsay happy or to get some heat off my back. I just said, I’ve got to get sober. And I didn’t know what that looked like either. In the beginning I thought, I’ll just quit drinking and I guess life will be boring and there’s nothing fun that’s going to happen anymore. Because it just had been a part of my life from a very young age. I watched it with my parents and my grandparents. 

Kory Ballard:
I come from a long line of people that drank and it was just destructive in my life. I asked for help and committed myself to go to a treatment program. And I went to treatment for 30 days and actually like 21 days in, they said, hey, your insurance ran out and so you have to go home. And I said, absolutely not, I’m not ready to go home. And they said, well, you’ll have to pay out of pocket. I just said, I always keep a check in my wallet. Fold it up really tight just in case. And I just said, here’s a blank check. Tell me what the number is and I’ll write it. Because I knew that it was for me, it was life or death. I was not ready to go home. 

Kory Ballard:
I needed to finish my 30 days because I felt like the last. I was finally at the point where were having a breakthrough and there was a counselor there. And for the first time ever, I was just honest. I had wrote a letter to my mom and my dad. I didn’t even give it to him. But just writing the letter was just about my childhood and the things I saw. My parents got divorced at a really young age and I saw quite a bit of chaos and just different things going on. I had this counselor that finally just forced me, maybe forced me or maybe I was just ready just to get frickin honest for the first time ever about what was going on. And what I figured out was I didn’t really have a drinking problem. I had a Cory problem. 

Kory Ballard:
And I was trying to fill all these things and numb all these things with alcohol. And so I got serious about it and committed to it. I haven’t had a drink in almost six and a half years now, have no intention of ever going back to that life. That life. And the crazy thing is I loved drinking. And it wasn’t about. Some people drank to get drunk and numb the pain. I loved all the things about It. I loved the conversations. I loved being the guy’s guy at the bar, talking about sports and women, and I liked feeling important. When I go to the bar, I’d always buy drinks. And people thought when I was buying drinks, it was to get them drunk. I was buying drinks to feel important, so they thought I was the guy. Right. 

Kory Ballard:
And so, you know, drinking was just something that I really was just a big piece of my life that it just no longer was working. And so. Long answer. Sorry about that. But, you know, for me, just for the first time in my life to make a huge change, and then years, you know, several years into sobriety, you know, I had to really change the way, you know, I had some issues in my marriage, and I just had to really change because just getting so. I thought just getting sober was going to fix everything. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Kory Ballard:
I couldn’t have been more wrong about that. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Kory Ballard:
And so, you know, today, man, my marriage looks different. My. The way my. My relationship with my kids is different. The way I run a business is different. The way my friendships are different. My outlook on life is different. My empathy for people. Everything is so different today. 

Jeff Johnson:
Beautiful answer, Corey. And I’ve seen you in your sobriety, reach out and help so many other men. That’s one of the things, you know, again, I mean, I don’t want to slobber on you too much, but that’s one of the things that I admire so much about you, Corey, is that you’re giving this away. And the courage that it takes to own your story and to change those behaviors is really powerful. I mean, has that act of courage, being able to put the plug in the jug and really take a hard look at yourself, that’s fundamentally changed you. 

Kory Ballard:
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it’s changed everything. And I get to share that story with anybody that I see that’s struggling. And maybe I don’t help as many men as I want to, but, man, I’m certainly open and I’m really honest. Anytime I talk to somebody that’s struggling, I tell them my story. Because I think, again, I think people, when they see my life, it doesn’t look like the story I tell. They think it must be perfect, right, to have the nice stuff because it looks pretty on the outside. And when I tell them that I’m just like them, and I was waking up in hotels and I was doing all this crazy stuff, and I wasn’t a good dad, and I wasn’t a good father or a good husband, and I wasn’t Faithful. And people are like, you have a beautiful wife. 

Kory Ballard:
And I’m like, it had nothing to do with her. I was trying to fill some hole in me that alcohol couldn’t fill and women couldn’t fill and cars and watches and houses couldn’t fill. Nothing could fill that hole that was inside of me. Today, it’s so different. I don’t need. It’s weird. I don’t need people to think today that I’m successful or unsuccessful. I don’t care. I just want them to think I’m a good guy and that I’m here for them. And then I’m honest and I’ll tell them the truth. I don’t have a watch on today. I used to wear these fancy watches. It was. So you thought I was important. I know what time it is. My phone tells me right here. It was all a facade to make people think I was something different. 

Kory Ballard:
And today I don’t need that, which is such a different person than what I was even, I don’t know, two, three, four, five years ago. But again, just taking the alcohol out wasn’t the fix. But today I look back and think, man, I wouldn’t. I can’t imagine going back to that life again. 

Jeff Johnson:
Say something encouraging here before we close to the person that is out there that’s on the precipice of either. I mean, Corey, you can speak to people from a lot of different perspectives with the life that you’ve lived and the courage that you just embody, but whether they’re going to make a leap with a business investment or a major change in their life, or maybe somebody that’s struggling with drugs and alcohol or something like that. Somebody’s getting ready to do something, but something’s holding them back. How would you. What would you say to that person to have them embrace that courage and push through? 

Kory Ballard:
Oh, that’s a tough one, Jeff. 

Jeff Johnson:
Only tough questions here. 

Kory Ballard:
I know that’s a tough one because when I think business, my brain goes to business, right? Or then it goes to. I mean, at the end of the day, you have to decide, you know, what type of life do you want to live and what type of legacy do you want to lead? And how do you want people to remember you? And, you know, and so I always just ask people, what’s the why? What’s the reason? You know, I want to do this new Ben. This new business venture. Why? Well, I want to make more money. But why? You know, I always ask people, why do you want to do these things? You know, and so my question for people a lot of times is I want to know what their why is and what gets them up and what gets them excited. 

Kory Ballard:
I just had a conversation with somebody about a job, and they were saying they could make 30% more than what they’re making now. And I said, but you’re going to be miserable. Are you willing to do that and be unhappy? Like, are you willing? Well, but, man, I’m going to make 30% more than I’m making today. I’m like, but, you know, we both had this conversation. You know, you’re going to be miserable. You already said you’re going to hate that. And, you know, you’re going to be hating Fridays and praying for, you know, you’re going to be praying for Fridays and hating Mondays, right? So I don’t know. I don’t know if that answers. 

Kory Ballard:
It’s like, I think it’s, you know, and if you’re married, I think, you know, it’s super important to have your, you know, if your spouse isn’t on board with you, if you’re thinking about a new business venture, you better make sure your spouse is 100% on board. You know, do they have your back? You know, are they on board? Because it’s going to be tough if you start a new business or whatever that looks like. You know, if you’re struggling with drugs and alcohol, you know, are you. Do you really want to get sober? And why? And what does that life look like? And then. And there’s so many people that will help you. None of us do this on our own. Whether it’s business, there’s so many great mentors. There’s programs out there. There’s people out there to help you. 

Kory Ballard:
I just encourage people to look at their resources around them and surround themselves with people that are winning. I try to surround myself with winners and people that are going to challenge me. And I surround myself with people that are going to tell me the truth. Because I had for many years, the people around me, they didn’t tell me the truth. I needed people to tell me the truth. I need people to say, listen, Corey, you gotta pull your head out of your ass. Like, what you’re doing is not right. And I do that to people now. And it’s cost me some friendships. But if I see somebody doing something that I don’t believe in, I just tell them the truth. 

Kory Ballard:
I don’t find it, you know, I don’t find it amusing anymore if somebody’s doing things, you know, if they’re cheating on their wife and they think that I think that’s funny or cool or amusing. I don’t, and I, you know, I don’t find those things funny today. And, and so, yeah, I don’t know. Again, that’s a tough one. I, you know, I just, I think about what kind of life do you want to live and what kind of legacy do you want to leave? 

Jeff Johnson:
Looking at your legacy, surrounding yourself by people that you with people that you find courageous, that embody the kind of life that you want to be living, I think that’s a great way to encourage people that are getting ready to take that leap and step out in courage. Corey Ballard, man of courage. Thank you so much. I’m saving this tape. I’m locking it. I’m gonna hit save right now. 

Kory Ballard:
You don’t get a third round with me. That’s it. This is it, buddy. This is all I got. 

Jeff Johnson:
Corey, thanks so much for joining us. 

Kory Ballard:
Thanks for having me. All right. 

Jeff Johnson:
See ya. 

Outro:
Thank you for joining us today on Courageous. If you’d like to hear more about the work and ministry being done at Crossroads Apologetics, please visit our home on the web at crossroadsapologetics.org Would you or someone you know like to be featured on Courageous? Send us an email at info@crossroadsapologetics.com or info@crossroadsapologetics.org telling us about the most courageous thing you’ve ever done.