#139 - You’re Somebody Now {Reflections}

“One day I’m gonna be somebody.” That sentence sounds ambitious, but it can also be a quiet apology for taking up space. We kick off with an Instagram reel where Gary Vee stops a young woman mid-thank-you and tells her to look at him: “You’re somebody now.” It’s a short exchange that hits hard because it names a pressure so many of us carry in work, faith, relationships, and online life.

We talk about the lie our culture sells every day: you’re not somebody until you get the promotion, the platform, the likes, the money, the ring, the recognition, the invitation, the “proof.” We unpack how that mindset fuels hustle culture, comparison, burnout, and a constant feeling of being behind. Even good goals can become a trap when they turn into a scoreboard for identity. The problem isn’t effort or ambition; it’s trying to earn a self you’re allowed to live in.

Ryan shares a personal story from the hospital in Denver, holding his newborn son Logan in the NICU and realizing, instantly, “I would die for him.” No résumé. No achievements. Just love because he’s his son. That moment becomes a window into a faith-centered truth: God’s love isn’t payment for performance. It’s given first. From there, we land on a phrase Ryan tells his kids, “I love you for no reason,” and how that kind of secure love can rewire the way we work, create, lead, and show up.

If you’ve been grinding to finally feel like you matter, let this be the reminder you didn’t know you needed: you’re somebody now. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s running on empty, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway or the “until” you’re ready to let go of.

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Transcript

The Gary Vee Moment

SPEAKER_00 0:16

What is up everybody? Hey, welcome to our Reflections Podcast. My name is Ryan, and I am here in the studio with my good friend Olivia. What's up, Olivia? Hey, I I uh I came across this reel on Instagram by a guy called Gary Vee. You may know who Gary V is. He's like an American entrepreneur and businessman and does a lot of videos and reels and stuff, and he's a very cool guy. I don't know a ton about him. So if there's some deep dark secrets about him that I don't know, forgive me or forgive him, whatever the case may be. But but this one video, man, it's so good. I saw it and it made me want to cry. In fact, he says that he'll re-watch this video of himself and it makes him cry. But he's talking to this young woman because he'll often give business, you know, like upstarts and young entrepreneurs advice. And this young woman is is asking him advice and and he's giving her advice, and the advice doesn't really matter. It doesn't even show that part of the clip. And she's so grateful, and she's got to be like maybe 22, maybe younger. And he she's like, Thank you so much, thank you, thank you. And then he's like, Yeah, no problem. He's like getting ready to leave. And he's he's very famous, you know, even if you don't know him, he's he's a famous person in a lot of these circles. And so she's like just so grateful that he spent time with her. And she goes, as he's leaving, she goes, Thank you. Like, I I know that one day I'm gonna be somebody as he's walking away. Uh as if to like apologize for taking up his time and to make him feel better for having done so by her saying, Hey, one day I'll be somebody, and this will have been worth it for you to give me this advice, you know. And I I love it. He stops like cold, you know, after she goes, Hey, I I know someday I'm gonna be somebody. And he stops and turns around and he goes, Hey, and he gets he like grabs her arms and he goes, Hey, look at me, please look at my face. And she's like, Yeah, and he he goes, You're somebody now. He goes, Yeah, you're somebody now. He goes, Look, I was somebody long before anyone knew who I was, because now he's this famous guy. And he goes, Look at my face, you're somebody now. Oh, so good. And she starts crying as though he's not just speaking to her in the moment, he's like speaking to something deep in her soul, and this maybe a wound down there, or uh just a contrary truth to all the lies that maybe she had been told, whether she's conscious of it or not. And another told by, I don't know, loved ones, parents, teachers, or just society itself.

The Lie Of “Not Somebody Yet”

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Because I I think the great lie that we're all told, especially in our culture of you know, success and and going a thousand miles an hour and being busy and up and to the right, the great lie that we're told is that you're not somebody until you know, fill in the blank. You're not somebody until you become famous. You're not you're not somebody until you become rich. You're not somebody and until your church grows to be over a thousand people, or until you've been invited to be the keynote speaker at the denominational gathering or whatever. You're not somebody until you go viral. You're not somebody until you get X number of likes on your post or your reels or your ideas, and you're not somebody until you get married. You're not somebody until somebody else loves you. You're not somebody until Yeah, fill in the blank. But man, to quote Gary V, you're somebody now. Long

A Father’s Love In The NICU

SPEAKER_00 3:34

before any of those things. I'll never forget when my first son was born as him as Logan. And it's the weirdest phenomenon, you know, holding a baby, whether it's yours or someone else's, but it's just this crazy, like this is brand new, fresh life. Like, I mean, brand new, you know what I mean? And I was holding him, and his eyes weren't even open. He's wrapped in this little blanket. I was at this hospital in Denver, and I held him. I was by myself with him in this, he was actually in the NICU. And I remember vividly thinking, I was 24 years old. I remember thinking vividly, I would die for him. I don't know why I had this thought, but I was like, I would give my life for him in that moment. No question, no question. And it wasn't bravado, I wasn't like some machissimo, I'll kill somebody for this kid. Give me my it wasn't that at all. It was like I just knew I would give my life for him. And it's probably something, I don't know, paternalistic, instinctual. But the crazy thing was, he didn't even know I existed. Crazier, he didn't even know he existed. You know what I'm saying? He had no idea. But I would give my life. He had done nothing for me, I'd give my life for him because he was my son. And I had this moment where in that in that moment, I'm I had this epiphany like this is I think how God views us. That when God sees us, it's like, yeah, that's how God thinks about us. I I truly believe that. And so when Logan grew older, I used to tell him, and then I would tell all my kids, I would tell them this phrase, I say it all the time. I would say, Hey, do you know I love you? And when they were little, they didn't really get it. And maybe I've mentioned this in this podcast before, I can't remember, but uh they would say, I don't why why? I'd say, I love

Loved For No Reason

SPEAKER_00 5:12

you for no reason. In other words, I I'm saying I loved you long before fill in the blanks. Long before, you know, you were somebody that was famous or rich or had a big church or went viral or got married or had someone love you, or were talked about, you know, or one prom queen or whatever. Yeah, I loved you long before that. I loved you when you right out of the womb, you know, kind of a thing. I just loved you because you're my son, you're my daughter. And uh my son Logan, when when um I forget why he got it for me. Maybe when I graduated from college at one point, he um he got me a gift, and it might have been a Christmas gift, but it was uh a whiskey mug, a rocks glass, and then on it he had engraved to me, I love you for no reason. I love that. I love that. So I just want to tell you today that uh uh you already are somebody. Um you're somebody now. You are somebody long before

Let Work Flow From Security

SPEAKER_00 6:12

any of the things, you know? And like do the work. Like go and build the thing, create the whatever, you know. If you want to be a business person, an entrepreneur, you want to start something, you want to, you know, be on the dance team or on the football team, or you want to get married, or you want to have someone love you, build whatever. Do all the things. Do it. That's life, you know. But only after you remind yourself that you're somebody now. So let the things that you do and create and say, let it flow out of that security of like, I'm somebody now. I'm the beloved of God long before. Uh He loves me for no reason. So let your work flow to that, not out of an insecurity of trying to become or be somebody. Do you know what I mean? Because that cup is one that will never be full enough of trying to be somebody. Yeah, because you're already somebody. You're somebody now, long before. All right, love you guys. Peace.

Closing And Ways To Connect

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget, you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 8 30, which is our liturgical gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering. Or you can check us out online at clcelkriver.org. Peace.