Ben Jones – Stories about Family and Parenthood

Claudia Henock 0:04
Hi, everyone! Welcome to Your Most Precious Thing, the show that talks about the stories behind the items we hold near and dear to our hearts. I am your host, Claudia Henock, and let’s meet our guest for this week.

Claudia Henock 0:19
Benjamin Jones is a serial entrepreneur and an international keynote speaker. Over the past 5 years, he has been able to educate thousands of people and help them harness the power of online marketing to grow and scale their businesses. He has been in online marketing for over seven incredible years, and he co-founded the following businesses: Youth in Business, Titan Marketer, and Coaching for Experts.

Claudia Henock 0:45
Hi Ben, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?

Ben Jones 0:48
Yeah, really good. Claudia. How are you guys going?

Claudia Henock 0:51
Doing really good. So let’s start this episode with my typical question: What would you say is your most precious thing?

Ben Jones 1:00
Probably my family, I guess, would be my most precious thing.

Claudia Henock 1:05
Can you tell us a little bit more about your family to the audience?

Ben Jones 1:08
Yeah, sure. So I guess probably two things, probably my family and my relationship with God, I think that’d be pretty, pretty close together. But my family more because, like in more of a like an immediate sense. I mean, I’ve got four kids. And I think like, the most important thing that you can do is, you know, help the next generation along.

Ben Jones 1:33
And I mean, that’s how we all lose some form of immortality, right? So yeah, so I mean, like, my kids are super important to me, I got a 14 year old, 11 year old, and 8 year old and a 4 year old or something, so and then finding the time to give them correctly. And obviously my relationship with my wife, I mean, we had our wedding anniversary last week, I think we’ve been married 18 years.

Claudia Henock 1:56
Oh, congrats!

Ben Jones 1:57
Yeah, so you know, like, I mean, that’s probably like in terms of like, sequence of most important things. I think, you, my family like, and then the relationship with God gotta be probably, it probably my first one. But I mean, immediately when you asked me, I think it would definitely be, you know, familiy is the first thing that comes out, so.

Claudia Henock 2:18
Yeah, and that’s totally fair. So your most precious thing was a little bit more interesting, because a lot of my guests so far have more focused on more like physical items, such as like a wallet, a photo, a precious stuffed animal from their childhood. But I would say more of like the non physical items such as like time, family, youth, you could say is, as another option too, are just as important as like, the physical items to because family is important to you. Like, you have four kids, you just celebrated your wedding anniversary with your wife, and you have all these connections with the people that you love in your life and the stories you can tell.

Ben Jones 2:58
Yeah, I think so. I mean, also, it’s a bit special for us to like, physical things are nice, but you get to a certain point where, you know, everything was taken away tomorrow, what would be the one core thing you keep? And you probably find it’s the relationships you have with other people. And like, for me, my immediate family is probably the most important thing that I’d like to keep. Like if you had to lose everything tomorrow, what would be the one thing that you would keep? I don’t think it would be a physical item.

Claudia Henock 3:24
Yeah, and that’s definitely just another really interesting perspective to hear from as well. But my next question is, what’s your favorite memory that you have of your family so far? It could be any story of any of our kids,something that you and your wife did, or like a family vacation? What would be your favorite story that you tell?

Ben Jones 3:45
Sure. So I think like, obviously each of your children’s births are super important, right? I think that there’s something that burns into your memory pretty hard. I mean, just recently, we went on, in terms of family, like complete family, we just went on a, like a skiing holiday, like couple of months ago, which was pretty cool. How we’ll spend a couple of weeks together, just, you know, learning how to saw, my younger kids learning how to ski and snowboard and whatever. So that was pretty cool. I really enjoyed, like, the quality time section there. I mean, we do simple things like, you know, where we live in Western Australia. We have like, a day where we just do boating. Like I usually don’t particularly like Saturdays and Sundays, I try not to do work. So that’s usually like family time, or like catching up with friends time. So I mean, that that’s usually like important, like, you need to make time for that. I guess in terms of like, what is the most important like some big, big memories? Definitely the births of children, like holidays you take with your kids. I mean, you never I guess I won’t go there.

Ben Jones 4:47
But the other one would be with my wife would be probably getting married. But I think what we did when we were first married is we actually have saved up for a year, and went traveling around the world for a year. So we did things like, yeah, we drove from one side of America to next and spent five months doing it and spent four or five months driving around Europe and Africa for a couple of months. And Israel and a couple other places. So, like, that was really cool. And I think in terms of like, like memories and experiences, that was really good, because it really helps us work out the roles in our relationship, like who’s got what, you know, who drives the car, who does the directions, who manages the finances, like, that was probably the best thing I think for our relationship was, was, obviously the experience was fantastic, but, you know, by the time we got home, like, you know, a couple of months in, we’re ready to kill each other. But by the time we got home, because it was just us like, all the time, but by the time we got home, we were able to basically finish each other’s sentences, you know, like, you could do this together all the time, you know, so that was probably, like, I guess, to summarize, the question would be, I would say, obviously the birth of your children, getting married, and then like the big trip I took with my wife, and then family holidays we take with the kids.

Claudia Henock 6:04
That’s really cool that you mentioned that you’ve like traveled all over the world. Like, have you been to like all seven continents at this point?

Ben Jones 6:11
I haven’t done Antarctica, so no. So we actually like to take the kids internationally, at least once a year. So I’ve been to a few countries, like it’s obvious some people that are like, really super well traveled and spent 10 years doing it. And there’s still so much of the world that I haven’t seen, right. But no, we saw, I can’t remember how many countries we did, then it would have to be plus 30 or 40, or something. So, but it was a great experience, I guess then, but then sort of growing older, like, you can continue that traditional, like I think the world needs to be seen, not read through books. So yeah, so I mean, that’s something like we really try, and just have a particularly like with our kids to get them to have a bit more perspective on on, you know, like, global events and what’s going on. And yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s way more fun.

Claudia Henock 7:00
Yeah, there’s definitely an importance to see the different countries of the world, or even to see more parts of Australia too, because I visited like different parts of the United States, for example. And it’s so different from like, my home state, for example, where you go from like, East Coast to the Midwest and be like, “What is this? Why is this so different?” And so I assume that’s like the same thing with just either traveling within the same country, or like traveling all the world is like, there’s always a good way just to expose yourself to different cultures and different people and just different parts of the world, essentially.

Ben Jones 7:33
Yeah, 100%. So, the cool thing with Australia is literally that if you got Australia and stack it on top of America from like, New York to LA, it’s the same size, right? Like, it’s, it’s, it’s absolutely ginormous, right? That we have like, currently 20 million people, whereas America has like, 300, and something or whatever. And so we’re just this massive place without anyone living here. So yeah, it’s a bit mental. So when you go to different places, like the climate changes, and like the people are a little different, but not not so contrast as the States, you know, like the state’s very big cultural differences between different parts of America, which is fantastic. You know, I really love my time in America and being back heaps of times. And yeah, I think it’s just so fascinating.

Claudia Henock 8:17
I always find it really fascinating too, and I’ve been really fortunate to, like visit different parts of Europe, and I wish to be able to, like see more of the world myself. So that’s something that I want to improve on as well. But, but to go back on topic a little bit. So I know every family has those, like silly stories that they always talk about, at family reunions, or like family dinners. What’s the one silly story that you have about your family? It could be anything, just like a silly memory that just may have like, cause you like, freak out or something in during that time, but it’s just something that you laugh about?

Ben Jones 8:55
It’s really interesting question. So, I mean, I do like, within Australia, like I do take the kids out prospecting a fair bit, sow black for gold. So in Western Australia, there’s a lot of gold and I actually own a company where we do gold detector rental and whatever. So we will, the kids like to go out and do that quite a bit. In terms of like, silly stories and things there are quite like, because obviously it’s camping for you know, few days to a week, there are a lot of things that come up there, just you know, mistakes people make or you know, you’ll be eating in like, nighttime and kangaroos will jump out and scare the pants off you. You know, or, you know, just we take some motorbikes out, people fall off motorbikes, and so I guess like those sorts of things are things we’ll sit down and joke about like we’ll go out. I remember the time when and yeah, I think those are really good particularally my three older kids are boys right? So, so it is kind of cool we go out there and, and do that and there’s lots of funny stories and things that happen there. Which is quite cool, I mean, the other thing I’m into is boating like we go out and boating and fishing and there’s usually funny stories of like remember that crazy time we decided not to go in and like waves of crashing and over the boat and people were nearly falling out. And you know, we nearly died like those sorts of stories are pretty cool too. So I guess it’s more like, yeah, it’s usually like events that have happened and things like that.

Claudia Henock 10:15
Yeah, I was kind of curious because one of the favorite stories that my mom actually likes to tell about me, for example, was when I was younger, we used to live by local farms in the area, where you can bring like kindergarteners or like preschool classes. And there was one time where the teacher wasn’t paying attention, so I ran through some, ran through some Teepees and hid the hay a little bit, and the teacher wasn’t paying attention. And when my mom actually warned my teacher that I tended to do that, but when the teacher wasn’t paying attention, she was freaking out, and everyone was looking for me while I was just chilling in the hay, just like having, having a good time. So I understand for a story like that, that may cause like a parent to like, freak out during that time. But I know like when, after that event happened, and all the kids are fine, it just turns into like a funny story that we tell at the dinner table that sometimes we use, we used to embarrass our kids about.

Ben Jones 11:18
Yeah, I mean, there were, they’re always just like little incidences. I mean, we’ve done things like lost kids overseas, that was pretty stressful. Like, we lost one of our kids in an airport one day. I think it was in Bali, actually, for a couple of hours. That was pretty stressful. It turned out that just, you know, set relaxed, laid on a table that we were at and had a nap. And then we went back and was still sleeping. It was pretty stressful. It probably wasn’t three hours, it felt like three hours. I mean, if it was half an hour, maybe that would probably would have been it. Yeah, that was pretty crazy. But um, yeah, I mean, nothing. I mean, I don’t know if I’ve answered your question well but…

Claudia Henock 12:01
I think it did answer the question, actually. Because I know, like, every single parent has those type of stories, and everyone’s perspectives are different, like depending on different experiences as well. So it’s really cool hearing, essentially your perspective, because I’m someone that doesn’t have children, you have four kids, so it’s really refreshing for me to hear it from like a parent’s perspective. What’s the one thing that you want your kids to remember, from the years that you’ve been with them as a parent?

Ben Jones 12:32
The one thing I want them to remember? The one thing…

Claudia Henock 12:40
It can be multiple things. Let me actually rephrase the question a little bit. What’s the one thing that you want your kids to remember, as they get older about life?

Ben Jones 12:52
I guess there’s a couple, but I’ll do my best. I guess probably in order of things, I guess I really want them to remember that, I can really like them to develop their own spiritual relationship with God. Like, I think that’s really important. So, you know, if I’m ever not there, they always have the ability for, you know, to get answers to prayer, and that sort of thing, that would be very important to me, the other thing would be the confidence, and happiness, they’re probably two things that I really want them to take with them. So one is that if they think they can, they can, and have the confidence to pull it off. Because a lot of people just be like, “Hey, you know, I have this idea or this thing, and, you know, I just don’t know if I’m enough.” So, and that’s what messes a lot of people are. So I guess for me, it would be like confidence would be one and the happiness they find in it. So happiness is really important, because if they’re happy, they’re living their own life and not living somebody else’s, right? So I guess, like in order of things, you know, looking at it, I guess, their relationship and the ability to receive spiritual inspiration would be like, point number one, point number two would be looking at, really want them to be able to, you know, have the confidence to achieve the things that they want to achieve. And then lastly, you know, and happiness is mixed in with the confidence, right? So like, being happy with the direction that their life is going, I think if they, if I can instill that in them before they become adults, you know, there’ll be happy, able, capable, and, you know, they’ll be able to sort themselves out.

Ben Jones 14:24
Like, we have another business, where we literally teach kids how to start businesses, right. So all my kids have some form of business in some way. So for me, like, I really like them to find something that they’re interested in, whatever it is, and create their own income around it. And I feel like if you can do that, I call it learn the skill set of an entrepreneur as well, they can turn their ideas or what they want to do into some form of income and they will never really had to work doing something that hate for the rest of their life, right, so but that’s actually not, like a lot of people probably think that’d be my primary thing, but I think the other tenants that come before it, um, are really important, so.

Claudia Henock 15:03
Yeah, definitely really important to have the confidence in oneself to be able to achieve their goals and dreams, and be able to do what they desire with life is really important.

Ben Jones 15:16
Yeah, so that’s really key to me. And I guess, you know, like happiness has to, has to come first, right? Like you could be doing things and you’re not happy though. You only get one life. And so I’d much rather than be doing, I don’t care what it is, underwater basket weaving, that’s their thing, right? But being happy doing it, and have the ability to provide for themselves and be independent, and you know, not only like physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. So I guess that’s, that’s probably the things I’m looking at there.

Claudia Henock 15:52
Absolutely, that’s really important. Just being able to be happy with oneself and have the confidence in oneself to achieve their goals and dreams is really important. And that’s, and that’s something that everyone should be able to have to achieve, especially if a parent wants to have that for a kid that’s really important too.

Ben Jones 16:12
100%.

Claudia Henock 16:13
How would you say your spirituality has affected the way you parent your kids?

Ben Jones 16:21
Yeah, well, I think spirituality is one of those subjective, like, personal things, right. And sometimes we’d be more spiritual than others. I don’t think it’s ever like, Hey, we’re gonna be super spiritual today. And, but I guess, like, you know, as I’m more spiritual, I feel like I get more inspiration to be a better parent, as I’m less spiritual, and it’s probably not as good. And, you know, it goes on that consistent up and down. For me anyway, like, it’s, like I said, it’s a personal thing. But I think, you know, whether you believe, you know, dogmatic religion, or, you know, you’re this sector, that sector, whatever, it really doesn’t matter, like, as long as you can feel spiritual, that something can receive inspiration from whatever source, you want to grab that from right, for me, obviously, it’s very Christian based. I find that works really well, in my parenting.

Ben Jones 17:09
Obviously, it gives you some, some good ground rules to sort of work off there. And, for me, I’m not. I said, certainly not perfect with it. But it’s a work in progress, but it definitely has impacted my parenting, you know, teaching your kids how to do simple things, like just prayer, for example, right. And so, putting kids down in bed, when they go to bed each night, and making sure they do prayer and making sure they have some sort of connection, you know, spiritual connection. And I guess, like, obviously, we go to church every Sunday, and, you know, want to teach our kids, you know, Christian fundamentals. And, you know, if they grew up and they don’t, you know, that’s not for them, that’s fine anyway, but at least, you know, in my parenting that, for me, that’s important to pass along. And they’re totally open to, you know, choose to live their own life, whichever way they go when they get a little older.

Ben Jones 18:00
So, yes, I guess like in terms of, of that I find that’s really good. I do like the tribalism that comes with a lot of, I guess you’d call it like, Christian or churches or like, whatever that works, you know, you have a small community, that you’re able to, you know, spend time with, and get your kids to learn from as well. So, you know, it normalizes the, the spiritual experience in a way, but I think for the kids, you know, like I said, probably earlier is, as long as like, whether they decide to continue on with their religion part of it or not, the spirituality part of it is the most important part, like it’s their connection with, you know, God or spirituality or whatever they want. And if they can get that inspiration, and help that guide their life, that’s really my aim, as a parent to pull that off.

Claudia Henock 18:51
Wow, that’s, that’s really amazing, too. And it’s really cool to hear from more of like, a spiritual perspective as well. So Ben, I want to say thank you for being a guest on my show today, I really appreciate hearing from your perspective about parenting. So before we go, is there a way that people can contact you online? Because I know you mentioned that you’re an entrepreneur that’s based in Australia, so is there a way that people can contact you as well?

Ben Jones 19:18
Yeah, sure. So I mean, look, if you’re looking to connect with me, you can connect with me on LinkedIn as a great place to connect with me, or you know, all the usual social medias obviously, my name being Ben Jones can be tricky to find. If you wanted to check out any of my businesses, you can check out Youth in Business, where we teach kids how to start businesses before they leave school. I run like a marketing consulting company called Titan Marketer, where we help people grow with YouTube advertising as well. So you can check us out there, but usually like LinkedIn, YouTube, like all the usual social medias is a great place to connect with me. Usually my YouTube content or my Facebook content is going to be more sort of family based or like, you know around, what’s going on in my life and things like that. You know, if you wanted to see pictures of my kids or the things that we’re talking about there, probably, you know, my Facebook fan page would be probably a great place for that. But yeah, would be happy to connect with anybody wants to connect. And hopefully, I’ve been able to add value today to anyone who’s listening and appreciate your time and attention. And thank you, Claudia for having me.

Claudia Henock 20:20
And thank you, Ben, for coming on my show. I really appreciate it. And I really appreciate being able to connect essentially with the digital marketer from the other side of the world. What I really like about podcasting is like I like being able to foster new relationships with people from all the world. So Ben, I want to say thank you again for being a guest on my show and have an awesome day.

Ben Jones 20:42
Okay, thanks Claudia! Bye.

Claudia Henock 20:43
Bye.

Claudia Henock 20:47
Thank you for listening to this episode of Your Most Precious Thing. You can follow me @claudiahenock on Instagram and Twitter, as well as Claudia Henock on LinkedIn. You can also follow Your Most Precious Thing through my official website, www.claudiahenock.com, in addition to anywhere where you listen to your podcasts. Intro and outro music is Synapse by Shane Ivers, and you can find his music on silvermansound.com.