Hayes BarnardFounder & CEO

It crushed my confidence for a long time. People made fun of me for being the kid who flunked first grade. I had dysgraphia and dyslexia but nobody knew what that was back then. People just thought I was dumb. So I overcompensated with sports and personality, and that drive to prove myself carried into business later.

A couple of teachers stepped in. My gym teacher, Ron Edwards, became like a father figure. He knew I loved football, so he’d take me to meet players like Jim Hart and OJ Anderson. That gave me an outlet and some hope that maybe I could be good at something.

A level five leader has empathy, compassion, and the ability to empower others instead of micromanaging. Many of them come from challenges—learning disabilities, daddy issues, or even near-death experiences. That adversity builds resilience and makes them willing to sacrifice and stick it out when things get really hard.

A lot of smart people become control freaks. They say, “I’ll just do it myself, faster.” But then they never scale. You’ve got to give up control to go up in leadership. For me, having dyslexia forced me to surround myself with really smart people and celebrate their talent, instead of trying to do everything on my own.

I learned urgency, discipline, and how to grind. It was competitive, like a pro sports team. The bottom 20% got cut, the top 20% promoted. All that mattered was results. It taught me that work ethic and numbers matter more than pedigree or background.

Because I saw people leaving Oracle to start their own companies—Salesforce, NetSuite, PeopleSoft. I was inspired. Even though I had a cushy paycheck, I wanted to build something meaningful, even if it meant starting over with risk.

We brainstormed all kinds of ideas—buying a hot tub company in Tahoe, starting car washes. But we realized our real edge was selling complex products online. That led us to mortgages, which became our first big company.

We refused to do subprime and reverse amortization loans. Everyone else was chasing volume, but it didn’t feel right ethically. Walking away from that volume saved us. We survived because of discipline and not taking the bait when “the devil doesn’t tempt you with spinach.”

It was brutal. I would literally throw up in my driveway before walking inside to see my family. I was depressed. They say you’re not a real CEO until you face near-death for your company. That was my moment. I just prayed to get through it and promised I’d use the experience to do good things later.

When your soul is crushed, that’s when new ideas come. I thought back to my mom renting our whole lives. Helping families save money on mortgages, insurance, and energy bills gave me purpose. That mission guided the diversification.

Every company faces a crushing valley—policy changes, interest rates, tariffs, whatever. Most people quit in that valley. But if you stick through it, that’s where the real value is created. The competition dies, and you come out stronger, with muscles you didn’t have before.

It was like seeing level 11. I thought I had a strong work ethic, but Elon companies push sacrifice to another level. It’s like live ammunition—you go all in, or you don’t survive. He had a magnetic ability to inspire people to give everything for the mission.

Back in Missouri, people told me to relax, stop being so excited. Out West, I was surrounded by believers—people with big ambition, people who thought they could change the world. Once I found that energy, I felt like I could do anything.

I’d tell him don’t just chase financial success. Think about time success, mental health, physical health, and relationships too. You can grind yourself into sickness chasing money. The real goal is happiness and balance, not just financial wins.

Yes. Most of the really successful people I know carry sadness too—broken families, lack of connection with kids, or just burnout. Money doesn’t fix that. Relationships and love matter more than wealth in the end.

Compassion. I realized he did the best he could. He had addiction issues, but meeting him taught me closure, forgiveness, and gratitude for the drive I gained by being raised by my mom. Sometimes what feels like your biggest valley turns into your greatest gift.

To connect the hearts of people for good. Whether through clean energy, water, or just sharing my story, I want to create positive change. That’s the real legacy I want to leave behind.