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Featured Guest:
Patch Crowe Director of Media, The Good and The Beautiful Performing Artist Published Date: March 15, 2026 In this Wisdom for Wannabes interview, Jackie Morreale hosts a compelling conversation with Patch Crowe, a creative turned business leader, and current Director of Media at The Good and the Beautiful, as they explore the power of purpose, intentional media consumption, and living a life aligned with core values. Discover insights on pivots, media boundaries, and the impact of technology on personal growth. Listen to/watch the full podcast recording, or read the transcript below: |
Full Interview with Patch Crowe:
"Life will guide you where you need to be if you're honest and authentic with yourself. If you give it time and stay true to who you are, it has a way of bringing you exactly what you need."
- Patch Crowe (Wisdom for Wannabes episode 46, 03:00)
Great quotes from the interview:
(More great quotes throughout the transcript in blue below.)
- On family and success:
“If everything else in my life faded away, I could look back and say I did something really beautiful with my wife and my kids.” - On authenticity and connection:
“People connect with you more when you are you.” - On media and intentional living:
“My hope is that people can look at their lives and say, ‘I chose the life I’m living—media isn’t choosing for me.’” - On courage and pivots:
“All I need is one step in the light and I trust the next step will be illuminated after I take it.”
(More great quotes throughout the transcript in blue below.)
Listen to music by Patch Crowe on Spotify
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Key Takeaways:
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Patch Crowe performing on stage with a youth choir above
Interview Transcript:
Jackie Morreale (00:00)
Hello and welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes, the podcast that seeks to find wise words in business, beauty, and betterment. I'm the host, Jackie Morreale. Today's guest is none other than Patch Crowe. Hi, Patch!
Patch Crowe (00:14)
Hello, thank you.
Jackie Morreale (00:14)
A creative turned business leader who's built a life at the intersection of passion and purpose. Born in Brisbane, Australia, Patch fell in love with music early in his life.
At 11, he moved to the United States and, at 17, joined a touring boy band, performing around the world. At the height of that journey, he made a bold pivot, stepping away to serve a two-year mission in Scotland and Ireland, an experience that reshaped his perspective on life.
He returned home, built a family, and chose a more stable path, earning degrees in business and spending nearly a decade in tech. Today, Patch brings it all together as Director of Media at The Good and the Beautiful, where he combines creativity and strategy to share meaningful messages about intentional living and media. He is also co-authoring a book on healthy media consumption and personal boundaries, and I can't wait to read it.
This is a conversation about pivots, purpose, and building a life that truly aligns. Welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes, Patch Crowe! Excited to have you.
Patch Crowe (01:22)
Wow, incredible research, Jackie, you are on top of it.
Jackie Morreale (01:41)
Well, it's rare that somebody really checks all the boxes and business, beauty, betterment. You have so many things going on. You have this incredible life story, this incredible career, as a musician, as a business leader. I'm so excited to learn more about you. Welcome to the show!
Patch Crowe (01:45)
Thank you so much for having me.
Jackie Morreale (01:48)
If you can just start us off with a little bit of background. I tried to capture it, but a little bit about you, where you're from, what you do? In your own words.
Patch Crowe (01:52)
You covered it very well.
My name is Patch Crowe. I'm the Director of Media at The Good and the Beautiful. I was born in Brisbane, Australia. I moved to Utah when I was 11 to come and live with my dad for a little bit. That little bit turned into 19 years. I came to live with my dad and just ended up staying here.
I love music. I'm really passionate about business and creativity. I'm married. I have three little kids. My wife and my kids are the absolute light of my whole life and world.
Jackie Morreale (02:21)
Hi, kids. Family is such a meaningful part of your story.
Patch Crowe (02:25)
Yes. Right now, my biggest passion has come from a personal side that has molded into the business side. It is my passion for being more intentional about media consumption. This was something that started on my own. I saw a glaring hole in my life that I was creating myself, and I wanted to be better about it. That has seamlessly transitioned into my professional life as well.
Jackie Morreale (02:48)
When people hear your story from boy band to business to media, what do you hope is the strongest take-home message?
Patch Crowe (02:56)
That is a great question. I hope the strongest takeaway that people get is that life will guide you where you need to be if you just give it time. If you're honest, if you're authentic with yourself, life will pull you there eventually. I have an interesting story: I had a job opportunity with The Good and the Beautiful to be their Director of Media after working in tech for so long. I talked about this with one of my buddies, and he said, 'Wow.' And I hadn't thought about this. He said, 'It's pretty incredible that you gave up music to be with your family. Now, because of the decisions you make, life has given you maybe the perfect opportunity.'
Just to be clear, I don't think of it that way. I think every good thing in my life is because of my wife and my kids. Whatever I 'gave up', I more than made it back in the life that they've given me. But it was an interesting thing for me to think about. I do think because I've been patient and I've tried to be authentic in my life; life has come back to give me what I need.
Jackie Morreale (03:56)
He sounds like a really good friend to come up with an insight like that. It also sounds like a full-circle thing for this role to have happened at this time in your life.
Patch Crowe (03:58)
He's a great friend.
Jackie Morreale (04:07)
Before we get too deep into the career, into the timeline, how everything shifted and came back around, let's do some quick-fire questions. Find out some of your favorite things. Whatever you have off the top of your head, are you ready for this?
Patch Crowe (04:13)
Perfect. I'm ready.
Jackie Morreale (04:16)
Favorite song of all time, Patch Crowe? Could be one of yours.
Patch Crowe (04:19)
Right now, Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini, by Rachmaninoff. It's a nostalgic one for me. It's from a movie that I watched a lot growing up. Now every time I hear it, and I just heard it again recently, it just hits the top of my list.
Jackie Morreale (04:35)
Love that when you hear a song like that that you used to love, and it just hits you different. Favorite song to sing or perform?
Patch Crowe (04:39)
There's a song called, His Eye is on the Sparrow, from Sister Act 2. I've never performed it live, but singing in my shower. I really go for that.
Jackie Morreale (04:50)
Love it. Favorite artist or band? Here's your opportunity to shout out somebody who's doing great things.
Patch Crowe (04:56)
I think Ben Rector, right now. He's at the top of my list. I love Ben.
Jackie Morreale (05:01)
Favorite place you've traveled?
Patch Crowe (05:03)
Japan, easily.
Jackie Morreale (05:04)
This was for work, or for pleasure?
Patch Crowe (05:07)
I first went for work. I loved it so much, I had to take my wife back. We actually just got back a couple of weeks ago.
Jackie Morreale (05:13)
Maybe one question will lead into the next. Favorite meal?
Patch Crowe (05:16)
Not this time, tacos.
Jackie Morreale (05:19)
Nice. Favorite way to spend a day off?
Patch Crowe (05:22)
I'm always going to spend it with my kids. If we can get outside, that's the best-case scenario. If not, just doing anything with them is what I want to be doing with my time.
Jackie Morreale (05:30)
Favorite family tradition?
Patch Crowe (05:32)
I don't know if this counts, but my wife and I stopped really doing gifts, and we do experiences. I like that a lot more. I like going to cooking classes with her and traveling instead of buying things for each other.
Jackie Morreale (05:45)
Gifting memories. So beautiful.
Favorite creative outlet? Perhaps outside of work, since you do have a creative job.
Patch Crowe (05:46)
If I can be writing music or singing, that's number one. Within the last couple of years, I have taken up sewing, though. I'm a huge fan. I really enjoy sewing.
Jackie Morreale (06:03)
I'm shocked! Sewing.
Patch Crowe (06:05)
Fitting patterns together, picking fabrics.
Jackie Morreale (06:07)
You patternmake?
Patch Crowe (06:09)
Yes, all of it. It's been a really fun hobby. I just got a serger.
Jackie Morreale (06:12)
I wish I had a serger. Do you make clothes or... what do you make?
Patch Crowe (06:18)
Yes, clothes. That's my main thing right now. I'm making a dress for my one-year-old daughter right now. That's the current project. I like going to thrift stores. Her dress is made from a picnic blanket. It's just so fun.
Jackie Morreale (06:26)
Super fun. Shocked, so far. I can't wait to see where this conversation goes next.
(Continued below)
Hello and welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes, the podcast that seeks to find wise words in business, beauty, and betterment. I'm the host, Jackie Morreale. Today's guest is none other than Patch Crowe. Hi, Patch!
Patch Crowe (00:14)
Hello, thank you.
Jackie Morreale (00:14)
A creative turned business leader who's built a life at the intersection of passion and purpose. Born in Brisbane, Australia, Patch fell in love with music early in his life.
At 11, he moved to the United States and, at 17, joined a touring boy band, performing around the world. At the height of that journey, he made a bold pivot, stepping away to serve a two-year mission in Scotland and Ireland, an experience that reshaped his perspective on life.
He returned home, built a family, and chose a more stable path, earning degrees in business and spending nearly a decade in tech. Today, Patch brings it all together as Director of Media at The Good and the Beautiful, where he combines creativity and strategy to share meaningful messages about intentional living and media. He is also co-authoring a book on healthy media consumption and personal boundaries, and I can't wait to read it.
This is a conversation about pivots, purpose, and building a life that truly aligns. Welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes, Patch Crowe! Excited to have you.
Patch Crowe (01:22)
Wow, incredible research, Jackie, you are on top of it.
Jackie Morreale (01:41)
Well, it's rare that somebody really checks all the boxes and business, beauty, betterment. You have so many things going on. You have this incredible life story, this incredible career, as a musician, as a business leader. I'm so excited to learn more about you. Welcome to the show!
Patch Crowe (01:45)
Thank you so much for having me.
Jackie Morreale (01:48)
If you can just start us off with a little bit of background. I tried to capture it, but a little bit about you, where you're from, what you do? In your own words.
Patch Crowe (01:52)
You covered it very well.
My name is Patch Crowe. I'm the Director of Media at The Good and the Beautiful. I was born in Brisbane, Australia. I moved to Utah when I was 11 to come and live with my dad for a little bit. That little bit turned into 19 years. I came to live with my dad and just ended up staying here.
I love music. I'm really passionate about business and creativity. I'm married. I have three little kids. My wife and my kids are the absolute light of my whole life and world.
Jackie Morreale (02:21)
Hi, kids. Family is such a meaningful part of your story.
Patch Crowe (02:25)
Yes. Right now, my biggest passion has come from a personal side that has molded into the business side. It is my passion for being more intentional about media consumption. This was something that started on my own. I saw a glaring hole in my life that I was creating myself, and I wanted to be better about it. That has seamlessly transitioned into my professional life as well.
Jackie Morreale (02:48)
When people hear your story from boy band to business to media, what do you hope is the strongest take-home message?
Patch Crowe (02:56)
That is a great question. I hope the strongest takeaway that people get is that life will guide you where you need to be if you just give it time. If you're honest, if you're authentic with yourself, life will pull you there eventually. I have an interesting story: I had a job opportunity with The Good and the Beautiful to be their Director of Media after working in tech for so long. I talked about this with one of my buddies, and he said, 'Wow.' And I hadn't thought about this. He said, 'It's pretty incredible that you gave up music to be with your family. Now, because of the decisions you make, life has given you maybe the perfect opportunity.'
Just to be clear, I don't think of it that way. I think every good thing in my life is because of my wife and my kids. Whatever I 'gave up', I more than made it back in the life that they've given me. But it was an interesting thing for me to think about. I do think because I've been patient and I've tried to be authentic in my life; life has come back to give me what I need.
Jackie Morreale (03:56)
He sounds like a really good friend to come up with an insight like that. It also sounds like a full-circle thing for this role to have happened at this time in your life.
Patch Crowe (03:58)
He's a great friend.
Jackie Morreale (04:07)
Before we get too deep into the career, into the timeline, how everything shifted and came back around, let's do some quick-fire questions. Find out some of your favorite things. Whatever you have off the top of your head, are you ready for this?
Patch Crowe (04:13)
Perfect. I'm ready.
Jackie Morreale (04:16)
Favorite song of all time, Patch Crowe? Could be one of yours.
Patch Crowe (04:19)
Right now, Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini, by Rachmaninoff. It's a nostalgic one for me. It's from a movie that I watched a lot growing up. Now every time I hear it, and I just heard it again recently, it just hits the top of my list.
Jackie Morreale (04:35)
Love that when you hear a song like that that you used to love, and it just hits you different. Favorite song to sing or perform?
Patch Crowe (04:39)
There's a song called, His Eye is on the Sparrow, from Sister Act 2. I've never performed it live, but singing in my shower. I really go for that.
Jackie Morreale (04:50)
Love it. Favorite artist or band? Here's your opportunity to shout out somebody who's doing great things.
Patch Crowe (04:56)
I think Ben Rector, right now. He's at the top of my list. I love Ben.
Jackie Morreale (05:01)
Favorite place you've traveled?
Patch Crowe (05:03)
Japan, easily.
Jackie Morreale (05:04)
This was for work, or for pleasure?
Patch Crowe (05:07)
I first went for work. I loved it so much, I had to take my wife back. We actually just got back a couple of weeks ago.
Jackie Morreale (05:13)
Maybe one question will lead into the next. Favorite meal?
Patch Crowe (05:16)
Not this time, tacos.
Jackie Morreale (05:19)
Nice. Favorite way to spend a day off?
Patch Crowe (05:22)
I'm always going to spend it with my kids. If we can get outside, that's the best-case scenario. If not, just doing anything with them is what I want to be doing with my time.
Jackie Morreale (05:30)
Favorite family tradition?
Patch Crowe (05:32)
I don't know if this counts, but my wife and I stopped really doing gifts, and we do experiences. I like that a lot more. I like going to cooking classes with her and traveling instead of buying things for each other.
Jackie Morreale (05:45)
Gifting memories. So beautiful.
Favorite creative outlet? Perhaps outside of work, since you do have a creative job.
Patch Crowe (05:46)
If I can be writing music or singing, that's number one. Within the last couple of years, I have taken up sewing, though. I'm a huge fan. I really enjoy sewing.
Jackie Morreale (06:03)
I'm shocked! Sewing.
Patch Crowe (06:05)
Fitting patterns together, picking fabrics.
Jackie Morreale (06:07)
You patternmake?
Patch Crowe (06:09)
Yes, all of it. It's been a really fun hobby. I just got a serger.
Jackie Morreale (06:12)
I wish I had a serger. Do you make clothes or... what do you make?
Patch Crowe (06:18)
Yes, clothes. That's my main thing right now. I'm making a dress for my one-year-old daughter right now. That's the current project. I like going to thrift stores. Her dress is made from a picnic blanket. It's just so fun.
Jackie Morreale (06:26)
Super fun. Shocked, so far. I can't wait to see where this conversation goes next.
(Continued below)
Beyond 5, featuring Patch Crowe (right)
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Patch Crowe, during his time as a young performing artist with Beyond 5
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(Continued)
Jackie Morreale (06:31)
Favorite book?
Patch Crowe (06:33)
Habits of the Household, by Justin Eerley, great book.
Jackie Morreale (06:36)
Soon to be your book that you're authoring, I hope. Soon to be.
Patch Crowe (06:38)
Yes, that was a good plug. I should have done that instead.
Jackie Morreale (06:41)
Are you allowed to give out the name of your book that you're publishing soon?
Patch Crowe (06:44)
Don't think so yet. I don't want to get in trouble if I'm not supposed to.
Jackie Morreale (06:41)
I don't want to get in trouble either, but I'm excited to see the book authored by Patch Crowe, coming out soon.
Favorite quote or mantra, if you have one?
Patch Crowe (06:55)
My favorite is very long, but my second favorite is, 'Being loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.' That's by Lao Tzu.
Jackie Morreale (07:09)
Life lesson that you keep coming back to?
Patch Crowe (07:11)
The one that I have to remember the most is the only thing that exists and just being present. The past is in the past; the future hasn't happened yet. The only moment that I have is right now, and what am I doing with that?
Jackie Morreale (07:26)
I love that perspective. Although you just said you like to keep it in the present, let's take a trip back in time and talk about your early life and what happened before this major pivot.
Patch Crowe (07:30)
Yes, of course.
Jackie Morreale (07:37)
If we go back to the beginning, being on stage as a musician. What did touring early in life teach you about confidence and connection?
Patch Crowe (07:46)
I didn’t learn it until much later than I should have.
I came from a theater background. When I made it into this boy band, and we were performing, I thought I had to play a character.
I had to be the person that everybody wanted to see. That came from a place of not having confidence. Later on, I learned that people connect with you more when you are you. There are people who need Patch, the real one, but I'm not really giving that to them. I'm giving them what I think they should be seeing.
That person just didn’t have the depth he needed. I wish I had known that about confidence and connection at that time in my life. Because of those experiences, it's helped me have more confidence now and be able to connect in much better ways.
Jackie Morreale (08:32)
Hindsight is 20/20, right? Trying to expect your 17-year-old version of yourself to understand who you are, and how you can be authentic...
Patch Crowe (08:36)
Yeah. I tried to give him a lot of grace. He didn't know what he was doing.
Jackie Morreale (08:43)
Yes! He was a very talented, brave person to go out of the country and go touring with other musicians. So much putting yourself out there. Whatever the journey has been to get you to this person that you currently are, Patch Crowe, it has worked. You really are an amazing person.
Patch Crowe (08:49)
Thank you so much.
Jackie Morreale (09:01)
Absolutely. This would have been the dream that most people would have thought of as where their life was going. But instead, you pivoted to serve a mission in Scotland and Ireland for two years. Huge decision. How did you know that this was the right one?
Patch Crowe (09:10)
We had been a band for a while. We had been touring and performing together for over two years at this point. I was dreading having to make a decision.
In the culture that I grew up in, serving a mission is very, very important. There's a lot of pressure that's put on people to go out on a mission.
I was really confident that my mission was going to be music. That was what I felt like I had been called to do.
I was really dreading this moment. Most boys my age go out when they're 18. I was already 20. I was in a band. I was doing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I thought it would be a very, very difficult decision.
When it came down to it, we were moving houses. We were sitting in an empty room. All of us, all the band members, were sitting around each other. We were making decisions for the future. I don't want to sound cliché, but it was the easiest decision I feel like I've ever made. I felt so confident. It felt so right to me.
That doesn't mean it's an easy decision to make, but I knew with a level of confidence I hadn't really had before that this had run its course. It was time for the next chapter of life here.
Jackie Morreale (10:23)
What did your time on your mission in Scotland and Ireland, after you'd already made that decision to go, teach you that you still use today?
Patch Crowe (10:32)
As a religious person, there are a lot of spiritual benefits that come from it. But the most unexpected ones were all about my personal development, all about my empathy, and all about my outlook on life.
I got to go to a country that I'd never been to before, where people live very different lives. I got to go and live with someone whom I may or may not have liked, depending on who my companion was at that time, who had different viewpoints and different opinions. I got to talk with people literally all day long who disagreed with me and then find ways to grow together.
I had to have a schedule, do my own laundry, make my own dinners, plan my days out, and I had to make sure I was going to bed on time and waking up early. From a personal standpoint, when I came home from my mission, I felt like I had a crash course in getting married, almost. I was ready for the next step: living with somebody who's different, having different opinions, learning how to mold this life together, and planning together.
That was the biggest benefit for me, seeing what life looked like afterwards.
Jackie Morreale (11:35)
Now, how do you balance your ambition with your presence?
Patch Crowe (11:39)
It takes introspection because people who are ambitious just feel it so strongly. We just have a drive. There's something that has to be done. Maybe we need to take a step back, but a lot of us feel like we're the only ones who can do it.
That's where that ambition comes from is we just feel like we were made for something more.
For me, presence comes when I realize what my ambition is for. My ambition is not for myself. My ambition is for the life that I want to create for my wife and my kids.
My ambition is for the people on the other side of the content that I create and how they resonate with it. I believe I've been given these gifts not for myself.
The easy part is to look at ambition and see how much it can do for me. That's really easy for me to do. I get lost in that a lot. Presence comes when I remember, Hey buddy, this is actually for others. How can you tweak this so that you're doing things for the right reasons again?
Jackie Morreale (12:34)
I have to say, it sounds like your mission just kept right on going.
Patch Crowe (12:41)
I think so.
Jackie Morreale (12:41)
As a follow-up, what does success look like to you now versus earlier in your life?
Patch Crowe (12:47)
Success has changed so much. It's probably just the theme of my life, not to sound like a broken record, but genuinely, my wife and my kids, that is success to me.
If everything else in my life faded away, I would be able to look back and think, Wow, I did something really beautiful here.
Does that mean I don't want to be successful in business? No, I want to be very successful. I want to work hard. I want to achieve things. I want to make things the best that they could possibly be.
But I don't measure myself by that success. I measure it by how kind have I been to my kids today? How much have I listened to my wife? How much have we planned for our future?
Those are the things that I base my success off now. In a perfect world when I'm not triggered that day.
Jackie Morreale (13:33)
Thank you for that, because it really did sound like a pretty perfect world. I'm sure every day is a little different, but it's really beautiful to define success based on your family, your legacy, and planning for the future, as well as what you're doing right now for The Good and the Beautiful, off the charts, business success in every different way that there can be. I really look forward to the Summer Reading Program that you guys have in store and spreading all sorts of good media out to many families around the world.
(Continued below)
Jackie Morreale (06:31)
Favorite book?
Patch Crowe (06:33)
Habits of the Household, by Justin Eerley, great book.
Jackie Morreale (06:36)
Soon to be your book that you're authoring, I hope. Soon to be.
Patch Crowe (06:38)
Yes, that was a good plug. I should have done that instead.
Jackie Morreale (06:41)
Are you allowed to give out the name of your book that you're publishing soon?
Patch Crowe (06:44)
Don't think so yet. I don't want to get in trouble if I'm not supposed to.
Jackie Morreale (06:41)
I don't want to get in trouble either, but I'm excited to see the book authored by Patch Crowe, coming out soon.
Favorite quote or mantra, if you have one?
Patch Crowe (06:55)
My favorite is very long, but my second favorite is, 'Being loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.' That's by Lao Tzu.
Jackie Morreale (07:09)
Life lesson that you keep coming back to?
Patch Crowe (07:11)
The one that I have to remember the most is the only thing that exists and just being present. The past is in the past; the future hasn't happened yet. The only moment that I have is right now, and what am I doing with that?
Jackie Morreale (07:26)
I love that perspective. Although you just said you like to keep it in the present, let's take a trip back in time and talk about your early life and what happened before this major pivot.
Patch Crowe (07:30)
Yes, of course.
Jackie Morreale (07:37)
If we go back to the beginning, being on stage as a musician. What did touring early in life teach you about confidence and connection?
Patch Crowe (07:46)
I didn’t learn it until much later than I should have.
I came from a theater background. When I made it into this boy band, and we were performing, I thought I had to play a character.
I had to be the person that everybody wanted to see. That came from a place of not having confidence. Later on, I learned that people connect with you more when you are you. There are people who need Patch, the real one, but I'm not really giving that to them. I'm giving them what I think they should be seeing.
That person just didn’t have the depth he needed. I wish I had known that about confidence and connection at that time in my life. Because of those experiences, it's helped me have more confidence now and be able to connect in much better ways.
Jackie Morreale (08:32)
Hindsight is 20/20, right? Trying to expect your 17-year-old version of yourself to understand who you are, and how you can be authentic...
Patch Crowe (08:36)
Yeah. I tried to give him a lot of grace. He didn't know what he was doing.
Jackie Morreale (08:43)
Yes! He was a very talented, brave person to go out of the country and go touring with other musicians. So much putting yourself out there. Whatever the journey has been to get you to this person that you currently are, Patch Crowe, it has worked. You really are an amazing person.
Patch Crowe (08:49)
Thank you so much.
Jackie Morreale (09:01)
Absolutely. This would have been the dream that most people would have thought of as where their life was going. But instead, you pivoted to serve a mission in Scotland and Ireland for two years. Huge decision. How did you know that this was the right one?
Patch Crowe (09:10)
We had been a band for a while. We had been touring and performing together for over two years at this point. I was dreading having to make a decision.
In the culture that I grew up in, serving a mission is very, very important. There's a lot of pressure that's put on people to go out on a mission.
I was really confident that my mission was going to be music. That was what I felt like I had been called to do.
I was really dreading this moment. Most boys my age go out when they're 18. I was already 20. I was in a band. I was doing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I thought it would be a very, very difficult decision.
When it came down to it, we were moving houses. We were sitting in an empty room. All of us, all the band members, were sitting around each other. We were making decisions for the future. I don't want to sound cliché, but it was the easiest decision I feel like I've ever made. I felt so confident. It felt so right to me.
That doesn't mean it's an easy decision to make, but I knew with a level of confidence I hadn't really had before that this had run its course. It was time for the next chapter of life here.
Jackie Morreale (10:23)
What did your time on your mission in Scotland and Ireland, after you'd already made that decision to go, teach you that you still use today?
Patch Crowe (10:32)
As a religious person, there are a lot of spiritual benefits that come from it. But the most unexpected ones were all about my personal development, all about my empathy, and all about my outlook on life.
I got to go to a country that I'd never been to before, where people live very different lives. I got to go and live with someone whom I may or may not have liked, depending on who my companion was at that time, who had different viewpoints and different opinions. I got to talk with people literally all day long who disagreed with me and then find ways to grow together.
I had to have a schedule, do my own laundry, make my own dinners, plan my days out, and I had to make sure I was going to bed on time and waking up early. From a personal standpoint, when I came home from my mission, I felt like I had a crash course in getting married, almost. I was ready for the next step: living with somebody who's different, having different opinions, learning how to mold this life together, and planning together.
That was the biggest benefit for me, seeing what life looked like afterwards.
Jackie Morreale (11:35)
Now, how do you balance your ambition with your presence?
Patch Crowe (11:39)
It takes introspection because people who are ambitious just feel it so strongly. We just have a drive. There's something that has to be done. Maybe we need to take a step back, but a lot of us feel like we're the only ones who can do it.
That's where that ambition comes from is we just feel like we were made for something more.
For me, presence comes when I realize what my ambition is for. My ambition is not for myself. My ambition is for the life that I want to create for my wife and my kids.
My ambition is for the people on the other side of the content that I create and how they resonate with it. I believe I've been given these gifts not for myself.
The easy part is to look at ambition and see how much it can do for me. That's really easy for me to do. I get lost in that a lot. Presence comes when I remember, Hey buddy, this is actually for others. How can you tweak this so that you're doing things for the right reasons again?
Jackie Morreale (12:34)
I have to say, it sounds like your mission just kept right on going.
Patch Crowe (12:41)
I think so.
Jackie Morreale (12:41)
As a follow-up, what does success look like to you now versus earlier in your life?
Patch Crowe (12:47)
Success has changed so much. It's probably just the theme of my life, not to sound like a broken record, but genuinely, my wife and my kids, that is success to me.
If everything else in my life faded away, I would be able to look back and think, Wow, I did something really beautiful here.
Does that mean I don't want to be successful in business? No, I want to be very successful. I want to work hard. I want to achieve things. I want to make things the best that they could possibly be.
But I don't measure myself by that success. I measure it by how kind have I been to my kids today? How much have I listened to my wife? How much have we planned for our future?
Those are the things that I base my success off now. In a perfect world when I'm not triggered that day.
Jackie Morreale (13:33)
Thank you for that, because it really did sound like a pretty perfect world. I'm sure every day is a little different, but it's really beautiful to define success based on your family, your legacy, and planning for the future, as well as what you're doing right now for The Good and the Beautiful, off the charts, business success in every different way that there can be. I really look forward to the Summer Reading Program that you guys have in store and spreading all sorts of good media out to many families around the world.
(Continued below)
Watch Patch Crowe Performing "If You Believe" Live:
(Continued)
Jackie Morreale (14:00)
Let's talk more about business, creativity, and purpose. You are blending business and creativity in your role at The Good and the Beautiful. What are some of your goals for your team, the home school community around the world, and education in general in your role?
Patch Crowe (14:15)
I deal with the media side. That's a huge talking point right now across the world: How is the media having an impact on society as a whole, especially young minds? How is it impacting young minds? You want to make smart goals as much as you can. You want to have measurements and metrics.
Our high overarching goals are kind of ethereal in a sense. We want to make the world a better place. It's hard to really put a stamp on what that means all the time.
But from a homeschool standpoint, we see that we've been able to! There is a place for us in that world. We really have been able to give so much value, light, and goodness in that space.
On the media side, how can we continue to do that? There are not a lot of options out there for people who want to be consuming certain types of media; media that is clean and non-offensive, media that promotes goodness. There are people in that space who are doing it, and we just want to add another voice to that space and be a light as much as we can. There are a lot of incredible things that are coming. We're excited to push those initiatives forward.
Jackie Morreale (15:21)
Excited to see what those initiatives are. Has your time in tech taught you anything about leadership and resilience that you are applying to this role at The Good and the Beautiful?
Patch Crowe (15:31)
One of the big things is that tech moves so fast. Everything is changing all the time. It was really unique to come into a setting where OKRs and our KPIs are just not the same as they would be at a tech company. We're dealing with humanity in a different way.
I'm dealing with media, I'm not necessarily looking at what's our annual recurring revenue and how many calls is my team making, like I would when I'm managing a tech team. There are a lot of things that I think we can bring into the conversation about media.
It isn't just about, let's create the best quality media that we can.
A lot of it is following the data. It's looking at trends. It's looking at what people want and what they're getting and what they're not getting and filling the holes that you see.
It's interesting to move into a space where I then get to take some of the skills that I've learned in other places and apply them to the media world.
Jackie Morreale (16:24)
It sounds like you have the perfect balance between left and right brain. How can someone start setting better boundaries with the content that they consume? Is the place to start at The Good and the Beautiful, with you?
Patch Crowe (16:39)
Speaking from my experience, I noticed in my life certain things that I did not like that I was doing.
How many times have we been looking at our phones, and your kid is saying, Hey, Dad, hey, Dad. And I just say, hey, just give me one sec, just give me one sec. I'll listen to you in a second, just give me one sec. I'm responding to an email, or I'm scrolling, or I'm doing something that's so unnecessary.
I noticed some of these behaviors in my life.
We started making rules as a family, no phones at the dinner table, especially for somebody who can't get out of his email inbox. No phones at the dinner table. Make sure that you're present, no phones when we're putting the kids to sleep. We don't want to scroll with them, and hey, watch this funny video. We read books with them instead.
So we started making rules as a family, right? I just thought, it would be interesting if I... deleted everything off my phone that didn't have to do with work or living a personal life. So I deleted everything from my phone. I thought for somebody who feels like they're doing pretty well at this already, this is going to be pretty easy.
I was unbelievably shocked at how hard it was for me.
The constant pulling out my phone. My fingers would immediately by habitual instinct, swipe to the exact spot where Instagram used to be. I would click on the empty space of it being there.
I would sit on the edge of my bathtub brushing my teeth at night, and my hands would be jittering, just thinking I need to be watching something. I can't just sit here with my thoughts. I'd be driving in the car, and I'd think I have to put music on, I have to put an audiobook on, I can't sit here in the silence.
As someone who felt like they were doing so well, it was so startling to me how not well I was dealing with removing all of this from my life.
This is a very long-winded way to answer your question…
First thing people need to focus on is that you have to recognize habits in yourself. If you don't think it's unhealthy, there's no reason for you to change. If you recognize that there are things that are unhealthy, what are the mechanisms that are in place that are allowing you to continue doing that?
If I open my phone and I say, just need to text my wife back. And 20 minutes later, I say, how have I been scrolling on TikTok for the last 20 minutes? All I was doing was texting my wife. There's a habit. There's a mechanism that's in place that's allowing you to continue that behavior.
It takes some introspection. It takes some steps. You have to want to change, to begin with. Then, putting some boundaries in place starts to allow some of this to be mended a little bit.
Jackie Morreale (19:04)
It's hard to reflect on our own habits. You really have to want to change. How many times do you go to do one simple thing, and then you open your phone or your computer, and you're just sucked in? I appreciate the long-winded answer because I think we all feel that way. It does affect those relationships if it does affect us being present at home.
In terms of kids, because we both have them, what kind of media do you hope that kids are surrounded by as they're growing up?
Patch Crowe (19:33)
It's a great question. My hopes for my kids are that they are able to consume media that brings joy to their life, that adds light and learning and understanding, that models a life for them that they would be interested in living, that teaches them behaviors that they would want to exhibit as a functioning human in society, that they have good role models of how to communicate with people, that they see people of different colors and races and socioeconomic backgrounds, and they learn how to live a beautiful and full life with people that are different than them.
Those are my hopes for the kind of media that they can consume.
There's a lot of great media out there. Media can be used for a lot of good. I'm not a stickler on media to say, hey, all of this is bad. Just get rid of it, delete it. I work for a company that produces media. We are trying to add light to the space instead of telling people, put your shutters up, bar the doors, don't ever let anything into your home.
We just need to be more intentional about what it is that we're letting into our homes.
Jackie Morreale (20:43)
The name of your company is The Good and the Beautiful. As you said, you don't want to say, ‘This is bad; you're done with media.’ No, this is good content. This is light. This is informative. And it's fun. You have a really nice balance in the content that you are creating. Keep fighting the good fight for kids around the world to have that option.
So you're co-writing a book right now. So excited for you. Can't wait to read it. What is the core message of your book?
Patch Crowe (21:05)
Thank you.
First off, this is never something that I thought I would be doing in my life, writing a book. But these are things that I've felt passionate about in my personal life. It's a lot of research that I've done as an individual, for myself, a lot of research that I've done for my family, for my kids.
The owner of The Good and the Beautiful is co-writing it with me, Jenny Phillips. We've spent hours and hours and hours doing research in putting this together.
One thing that we found a lot was that there's not really a space for people to say, ‘Hey, technology is actually incredible. This is a huge benefit as a consumer and as a creator. There's so much light to be shared in this space.’ No… a lot of it was very fearmongering, a lot of stats and studies about how dangerous this is, and a lot of the board-your-windows-and-lock-your-doors type mentality.
I think the pendulum just swings; it can't always be all good all the time and it can't always be all bad. We wanted to write something that had a space to say: You have the ability to choose a more beautiful and intentional life.
We want to give you some things that you may not have thought about before that may be impacting your life. We want to give you some boundaries that you can set for yourself. We want to allow you to do a little bit of a reset to see how I feel if I remove some of these things from my life. Then, how do you reintegrate them back into your life? I don't think it's a reality for everyone to say, get rid of this all the time.
I don't think we want to do that either. There's a lot of joy that comes from the media. There are a lot of lessons that we can learn. There's a lot of beauty that's out there for us to partake of. We wanted to share something that allows people to do an inventory check, learn some things that they hadn't learned about themselves, and reintegrate themselves back into a more intentional life with media being a part of it.
Jackie Morreale (23:01)
Shout out to Jenny Phillips, co-author. I can't wait to read what you and Jenny have put together. It sounds profound, really, in this digital age that we're working in, living in. The fact that you just said technology is amazing! It is, let's admit it. And it's moving so fast.
Why do you feel that this conversation that you and Jenny have crafted for this book is so important right now?
Patch Crowe (23:25)
It's a question that a lot of people are feeling, and they're not asking themselves. People are feeling more anxious. People are feeling like there's more noise going on. People feel they don't have enough time for things.
People are feeling all of the effects of what this does to you. It's hard to sit down and ask yourself this question.
We just wanted to be another voice that hopefully pierces through some of that and says, Hey, here's potentially a solution to some of the things that you're feeling. If we don't start asking ourselves the questions, we're not going to get to the root of what we're actually experiencing.
Jackie Morreale (24:03)
If your book could change one thing in someone's life, what would it be?
Patch Crowe (24:09)
My hope would be that people are able to look at themselves and say, I chose the life that I'm living. Media isn't choosing for me.
(Continued below)
Jackie Morreale (14:00)
Let's talk more about business, creativity, and purpose. You are blending business and creativity in your role at The Good and the Beautiful. What are some of your goals for your team, the home school community around the world, and education in general in your role?
Patch Crowe (14:15)
I deal with the media side. That's a huge talking point right now across the world: How is the media having an impact on society as a whole, especially young minds? How is it impacting young minds? You want to make smart goals as much as you can. You want to have measurements and metrics.
Our high overarching goals are kind of ethereal in a sense. We want to make the world a better place. It's hard to really put a stamp on what that means all the time.
But from a homeschool standpoint, we see that we've been able to! There is a place for us in that world. We really have been able to give so much value, light, and goodness in that space.
On the media side, how can we continue to do that? There are not a lot of options out there for people who want to be consuming certain types of media; media that is clean and non-offensive, media that promotes goodness. There are people in that space who are doing it, and we just want to add another voice to that space and be a light as much as we can. There are a lot of incredible things that are coming. We're excited to push those initiatives forward.
Jackie Morreale (15:21)
Excited to see what those initiatives are. Has your time in tech taught you anything about leadership and resilience that you are applying to this role at The Good and the Beautiful?
Patch Crowe (15:31)
One of the big things is that tech moves so fast. Everything is changing all the time. It was really unique to come into a setting where OKRs and our KPIs are just not the same as they would be at a tech company. We're dealing with humanity in a different way.
I'm dealing with media, I'm not necessarily looking at what's our annual recurring revenue and how many calls is my team making, like I would when I'm managing a tech team. There are a lot of things that I think we can bring into the conversation about media.
It isn't just about, let's create the best quality media that we can.
A lot of it is following the data. It's looking at trends. It's looking at what people want and what they're getting and what they're not getting and filling the holes that you see.
It's interesting to move into a space where I then get to take some of the skills that I've learned in other places and apply them to the media world.
Jackie Morreale (16:24)
It sounds like you have the perfect balance between left and right brain. How can someone start setting better boundaries with the content that they consume? Is the place to start at The Good and the Beautiful, with you?
Patch Crowe (16:39)
Speaking from my experience, I noticed in my life certain things that I did not like that I was doing.
How many times have we been looking at our phones, and your kid is saying, Hey, Dad, hey, Dad. And I just say, hey, just give me one sec, just give me one sec. I'll listen to you in a second, just give me one sec. I'm responding to an email, or I'm scrolling, or I'm doing something that's so unnecessary.
I noticed some of these behaviors in my life.
We started making rules as a family, no phones at the dinner table, especially for somebody who can't get out of his email inbox. No phones at the dinner table. Make sure that you're present, no phones when we're putting the kids to sleep. We don't want to scroll with them, and hey, watch this funny video. We read books with them instead.
So we started making rules as a family, right? I just thought, it would be interesting if I... deleted everything off my phone that didn't have to do with work or living a personal life. So I deleted everything from my phone. I thought for somebody who feels like they're doing pretty well at this already, this is going to be pretty easy.
I was unbelievably shocked at how hard it was for me.
The constant pulling out my phone. My fingers would immediately by habitual instinct, swipe to the exact spot where Instagram used to be. I would click on the empty space of it being there.
I would sit on the edge of my bathtub brushing my teeth at night, and my hands would be jittering, just thinking I need to be watching something. I can't just sit here with my thoughts. I'd be driving in the car, and I'd think I have to put music on, I have to put an audiobook on, I can't sit here in the silence.
As someone who felt like they were doing so well, it was so startling to me how not well I was dealing with removing all of this from my life.
This is a very long-winded way to answer your question…
First thing people need to focus on is that you have to recognize habits in yourself. If you don't think it's unhealthy, there's no reason for you to change. If you recognize that there are things that are unhealthy, what are the mechanisms that are in place that are allowing you to continue doing that?
If I open my phone and I say, just need to text my wife back. And 20 minutes later, I say, how have I been scrolling on TikTok for the last 20 minutes? All I was doing was texting my wife. There's a habit. There's a mechanism that's in place that's allowing you to continue that behavior.
It takes some introspection. It takes some steps. You have to want to change, to begin with. Then, putting some boundaries in place starts to allow some of this to be mended a little bit.
Jackie Morreale (19:04)
It's hard to reflect on our own habits. You really have to want to change. How many times do you go to do one simple thing, and then you open your phone or your computer, and you're just sucked in? I appreciate the long-winded answer because I think we all feel that way. It does affect those relationships if it does affect us being present at home.
In terms of kids, because we both have them, what kind of media do you hope that kids are surrounded by as they're growing up?
Patch Crowe (19:33)
It's a great question. My hopes for my kids are that they are able to consume media that brings joy to their life, that adds light and learning and understanding, that models a life for them that they would be interested in living, that teaches them behaviors that they would want to exhibit as a functioning human in society, that they have good role models of how to communicate with people, that they see people of different colors and races and socioeconomic backgrounds, and they learn how to live a beautiful and full life with people that are different than them.
Those are my hopes for the kind of media that they can consume.
There's a lot of great media out there. Media can be used for a lot of good. I'm not a stickler on media to say, hey, all of this is bad. Just get rid of it, delete it. I work for a company that produces media. We are trying to add light to the space instead of telling people, put your shutters up, bar the doors, don't ever let anything into your home.
We just need to be more intentional about what it is that we're letting into our homes.
Jackie Morreale (20:43)
The name of your company is The Good and the Beautiful. As you said, you don't want to say, ‘This is bad; you're done with media.’ No, this is good content. This is light. This is informative. And it's fun. You have a really nice balance in the content that you are creating. Keep fighting the good fight for kids around the world to have that option.
So you're co-writing a book right now. So excited for you. Can't wait to read it. What is the core message of your book?
Patch Crowe (21:05)
Thank you.
First off, this is never something that I thought I would be doing in my life, writing a book. But these are things that I've felt passionate about in my personal life. It's a lot of research that I've done as an individual, for myself, a lot of research that I've done for my family, for my kids.
The owner of The Good and the Beautiful is co-writing it with me, Jenny Phillips. We've spent hours and hours and hours doing research in putting this together.
One thing that we found a lot was that there's not really a space for people to say, ‘Hey, technology is actually incredible. This is a huge benefit as a consumer and as a creator. There's so much light to be shared in this space.’ No… a lot of it was very fearmongering, a lot of stats and studies about how dangerous this is, and a lot of the board-your-windows-and-lock-your-doors type mentality.
I think the pendulum just swings; it can't always be all good all the time and it can't always be all bad. We wanted to write something that had a space to say: You have the ability to choose a more beautiful and intentional life.
We want to give you some things that you may not have thought about before that may be impacting your life. We want to give you some boundaries that you can set for yourself. We want to allow you to do a little bit of a reset to see how I feel if I remove some of these things from my life. Then, how do you reintegrate them back into your life? I don't think it's a reality for everyone to say, get rid of this all the time.
I don't think we want to do that either. There's a lot of joy that comes from the media. There are a lot of lessons that we can learn. There's a lot of beauty that's out there for us to partake of. We wanted to share something that allows people to do an inventory check, learn some things that they hadn't learned about themselves, and reintegrate themselves back into a more intentional life with media being a part of it.
Jackie Morreale (23:01)
Shout out to Jenny Phillips, co-author. I can't wait to read what you and Jenny have put together. It sounds profound, really, in this digital age that we're working in, living in. The fact that you just said technology is amazing! It is, let's admit it. And it's moving so fast.
Why do you feel that this conversation that you and Jenny have crafted for this book is so important right now?
Patch Crowe (23:25)
It's a question that a lot of people are feeling, and they're not asking themselves. People are feeling more anxious. People are feeling like there's more noise going on. People feel they don't have enough time for things.
People are feeling all of the effects of what this does to you. It's hard to sit down and ask yourself this question.
We just wanted to be another voice that hopefully pierces through some of that and says, Hey, here's potentially a solution to some of the things that you're feeling. If we don't start asking ourselves the questions, we're not going to get to the root of what we're actually experiencing.
Jackie Morreale (24:03)
If your book could change one thing in someone's life, what would it be?
Patch Crowe (24:09)
My hope would be that people are able to look at themselves and say, I chose the life that I'm living. Media isn't choosing for me.
(Continued below)
Patch Crowe performing on stage
|
Patch Crowe solo
|
(Continued)
Jackie Morreale (24:20)
For someone who does feel pulled in multiple directions, perhaps it's creative, practical, and personal. How do they choose?
Patch Crowe (24:25)
Going back to some of the blessings of technology, we live in a time when you don't really have to.
There is a little bit of choice that needs to be made, but one of the reasons that made it so easy for me to go into business instead of pursuing my musical career is that I knew I could always do music on the side. We live in an age where kids are winning Grammys from making a song on a laptop. There's so much that's available.
Although I didn't believe [music] would give me the life I wanted for my family, I have allowed it to be a part of my life the whole time. My kids are a part of it, and my wife is a part of it. They're along for the journey with me.
It isn't something that feels like it's burning me out as I participate in my hobby. It has remained a passion for me.
That's not going to be the case for everyone. Everyone has to choose their own path and walk the life that they want to live.
I think it's very incredible that we live in a time when you can find a way to pursue your creative side, your business side, your personal side. There is something that you can do to maintain the gifts that you've been given in all of those areas.
Jackie Morreale (25:36)
I love that response that we can have it all. And technology has brought us those kinds of blessings, such that if you do have a talent for something like singing or art, you can share what you do in very different ways that are powerful with media.
In terms of making space for living with intention, what does living with intention look like on a day-to-day basis?
Patch Crowe (25:57)
When I think of intention, I think of active choice. I think of us being an active participant in the life that we're living. It's a little bit of a mindset shift occasionally.
Oftentimes, I can think, all this stuff is happening to me. When I shift that to say, but how can I react to this situation? How am I choosing my path through this? I think that all of a sudden, all of the choices become available to us.
Talking about media specifically, choosing to do this, I think a lot of people don't have the awareness that they have a choice in that. When I lie down at night and I scroll for two hours, I may not be consciously realizing, Oh snap, I chose to do that.
These companies are designed to make sure that you stay on, and they have a team of incredibly intelligent people who are trying to keep you on. But at the end of the day, those are choices that we're making.
I think intentionality comes with recognizing and realizing the active choices that we have and being very clear about our boundaries to make sure that we can keep those choices.
Jackie Morreale (26:58)
In terms of your own pivot, which maybe some people would have been afraid to do. Would you encourage them to make a major life change or pivot if they felt called to do so?
Patch Crowe (27:09)
The key to the question you asked is whether they feel ‘called’ to pivot.
Pivots are scary. There's a lot of fear around change, and it's just not easy. It's not a simple thing to decide one day that you're going to make a massive pivot in your life and make this change.
But I'm a firm believer that all I need is one step in the light. I hope that the next step will be illuminated after I take the first one.
It's not all going to be clear. You're not just going to know that the pivot is going to make sense and it's just going to all work out for you in the end. There's probably going to be some nights that you cry yourself to sleep. May or may not be from personal experience. There may be some nights that you and your wife have conversations about whether this is actually the one that you're supposed to go.
Looping back to where we started, I really do believe that if you're honest and authentic with yourself, life will eventually place you where you're supposed to be.
Jackie Morreale (28:06)
You've lived it, pivoted several times, and here you are telling the tale. I'm better for it.
Patch, if someone is listening today who wants to live more intentionally starting right now, what is one small step that they can take to start on their way?
Patch Crowe (28:09)
The first thing that I would do to be more intentional is go through your phone and start deleting apps.
Jackie Morreale (28:28)
But I like it the way is, lol.
Patch Crowe (28:28)
You've just got to do it. There's stuff in there that is not serving you.
I think about all the notifications I'm getting all the time. Your brain goes, That is so kind that they just want to help me. But do they? Or do they want to keep you on?
They're removing the intentionality from us. They want us to stay on their app.
If you now have that with 40 apps, what are you going to do with your day?
If you have all those notifications, they're removing your choice, your purposefulness, and your intentionality from the situation.
That's my first piece of advice to people. Go through your phone and be reckless about it.
Jackie Morreale (28:51)
That's a hard one, but yes.
Patch Crowe (29:09)
If you are trying to keep an app that you use once every other quarter, please delete that app. Just get rid of it and see if you need it. See if your life is made worse because you didn't have that.
That's the first piece. Go through your phone. Just start deleting.
Jackie Morreale (29:26)
I love that advice. Be reckless about it. It feels that way. It really does feel reckless to go through and just delete.
But like you said, is your life really any worse if you don't have whatever said app that's keeping you whatever else you want to do?
Maybe you want to pick up some sort of a hobby or express yourself creatively. Maybe you've been meaning to write a book for 40-something years, and it took you a very long time to change your habits... that’s one I understand.
Patch Crowe (29:36)
Yes. I was speaking with a girl who graduated with a degree in musical theater. She was telling me, 'I really want to make audition tapes, and I want to be posting them, but I don't have time.' I said, pull up your screen time for me right now. She pulled it up, and her social media time was probably around 2.5 hours a day.
I said, 'Think about what you said: I don't have time to make these tapes that would potentially put me into the career that I've been longing for my whole life.' I don't fault her for that. She truly didn't know that this was happening to her.
It takes a painful, introspective look at our lives to say, Wow, I honestly didn't know that about myself. I'll choose to be better moving forward.
Jackie Morreale (30:29)
You said that was a recent college graduate, right? Who's grown up in the digital age with social media, with phones, connectivity on a level that's totally different from when I grew up, when we had a phone on the wall that we could ignore during dinnertime. Now everybody's got a device on the table, and it's a whole new world.
Shout-outs to people who have helped you get where you are today? Or are doing a really great job?
Patch Crowe (30:32)
There are so many people that I think are doing incredible things.
Obviously, my wife and kids, I wouldn't be where I am without them. They're the absolute best.
One maybe unexpected shout-out: My high school theater teacher, her name is Amy Morrey. She was the first person who believed in me creatively.
That has had untold benefits in my life because of it.
Jackie Morreale (31:21)
Amy Morrey. Wonderful work.
Patch Crowe (31:22)
We love her.
Jackie Morreale (31:22)
I know everybody's going to go on The Good and the Beautiful so that they can get their hands on only the best content, and they're going to go through their phone and get rid of what they don't need.
Where can people follow your journey, Patch Crowe, or learn more about these different programs that you're building with The Good and the Beautiful, like the Summer Reading Program?
Patch Crowe (31:40)
We do a lot of initiatives. At goodandbeautiful.com, if you specifically would like to be a part of our Summer Reading Program, and if you have kids out there, we do a giveaway every year.
This year, we've kicked it up a notch. We're giving away 200,000 books for free.
This is just to promote good media and good literature in the world. We love the impact that reading has on young minds. We want to be a part in giving back to that.
You can go to goodandbeautiful.com/summer2026 . We're super excited about that. Sign your kids up for it. We'd love for them to be a part of it.
We have a lot of announcements coming up as well. Follow along at: goodandbeautiful.com. We'll be posting more announcements for a bunch of different things from there.
Jackie Morreale (32:24)
Goodandbeautiful.com. Signing up for the Summer Reading Program! Hope you have some books for nine- and 11-year-olds. I'm in! I can't wait to see what else you guys have in store.
You are really a driving force for creativity, for business, for positive change in the world. It was such a pleasure to talk to you today, Patch. Thank you so much for your time.
Patch Crowe (32:27)
Thank you so much, Jackie. I super appreciate being with you. Thank you so much.
Jackie Morreale (32:47)
Absolutely. Have a wonderful day! Talk to you soon.
Patch Crowe (32:50)
Bye.
To learn more about Patch Crowe's work at The Good And The Beautiful, visit: goodandbeautiful.com
Jackie Morreale (24:20)
For someone who does feel pulled in multiple directions, perhaps it's creative, practical, and personal. How do they choose?
Patch Crowe (24:25)
Going back to some of the blessings of technology, we live in a time when you don't really have to.
There is a little bit of choice that needs to be made, but one of the reasons that made it so easy for me to go into business instead of pursuing my musical career is that I knew I could always do music on the side. We live in an age where kids are winning Grammys from making a song on a laptop. There's so much that's available.
Although I didn't believe [music] would give me the life I wanted for my family, I have allowed it to be a part of my life the whole time. My kids are a part of it, and my wife is a part of it. They're along for the journey with me.
It isn't something that feels like it's burning me out as I participate in my hobby. It has remained a passion for me.
That's not going to be the case for everyone. Everyone has to choose their own path and walk the life that they want to live.
I think it's very incredible that we live in a time when you can find a way to pursue your creative side, your business side, your personal side. There is something that you can do to maintain the gifts that you've been given in all of those areas.
Jackie Morreale (25:36)
I love that response that we can have it all. And technology has brought us those kinds of blessings, such that if you do have a talent for something like singing or art, you can share what you do in very different ways that are powerful with media.
In terms of making space for living with intention, what does living with intention look like on a day-to-day basis?
Patch Crowe (25:57)
When I think of intention, I think of active choice. I think of us being an active participant in the life that we're living. It's a little bit of a mindset shift occasionally.
Oftentimes, I can think, all this stuff is happening to me. When I shift that to say, but how can I react to this situation? How am I choosing my path through this? I think that all of a sudden, all of the choices become available to us.
Talking about media specifically, choosing to do this, I think a lot of people don't have the awareness that they have a choice in that. When I lie down at night and I scroll for two hours, I may not be consciously realizing, Oh snap, I chose to do that.
These companies are designed to make sure that you stay on, and they have a team of incredibly intelligent people who are trying to keep you on. But at the end of the day, those are choices that we're making.
I think intentionality comes with recognizing and realizing the active choices that we have and being very clear about our boundaries to make sure that we can keep those choices.
Jackie Morreale (26:58)
In terms of your own pivot, which maybe some people would have been afraid to do. Would you encourage them to make a major life change or pivot if they felt called to do so?
Patch Crowe (27:09)
The key to the question you asked is whether they feel ‘called’ to pivot.
Pivots are scary. There's a lot of fear around change, and it's just not easy. It's not a simple thing to decide one day that you're going to make a massive pivot in your life and make this change.
But I'm a firm believer that all I need is one step in the light. I hope that the next step will be illuminated after I take the first one.
It's not all going to be clear. You're not just going to know that the pivot is going to make sense and it's just going to all work out for you in the end. There's probably going to be some nights that you cry yourself to sleep. May or may not be from personal experience. There may be some nights that you and your wife have conversations about whether this is actually the one that you're supposed to go.
Looping back to where we started, I really do believe that if you're honest and authentic with yourself, life will eventually place you where you're supposed to be.
Jackie Morreale (28:06)
You've lived it, pivoted several times, and here you are telling the tale. I'm better for it.
Patch, if someone is listening today who wants to live more intentionally starting right now, what is one small step that they can take to start on their way?
Patch Crowe (28:09)
The first thing that I would do to be more intentional is go through your phone and start deleting apps.
Jackie Morreale (28:28)
But I like it the way is, lol.
Patch Crowe (28:28)
You've just got to do it. There's stuff in there that is not serving you.
I think about all the notifications I'm getting all the time. Your brain goes, That is so kind that they just want to help me. But do they? Or do they want to keep you on?
They're removing the intentionality from us. They want us to stay on their app.
If you now have that with 40 apps, what are you going to do with your day?
If you have all those notifications, they're removing your choice, your purposefulness, and your intentionality from the situation.
That's my first piece of advice to people. Go through your phone and be reckless about it.
Jackie Morreale (28:51)
That's a hard one, but yes.
Patch Crowe (29:09)
If you are trying to keep an app that you use once every other quarter, please delete that app. Just get rid of it and see if you need it. See if your life is made worse because you didn't have that.
That's the first piece. Go through your phone. Just start deleting.
Jackie Morreale (29:26)
I love that advice. Be reckless about it. It feels that way. It really does feel reckless to go through and just delete.
But like you said, is your life really any worse if you don't have whatever said app that's keeping you whatever else you want to do?
Maybe you want to pick up some sort of a hobby or express yourself creatively. Maybe you've been meaning to write a book for 40-something years, and it took you a very long time to change your habits... that’s one I understand.
Patch Crowe (29:36)
Yes. I was speaking with a girl who graduated with a degree in musical theater. She was telling me, 'I really want to make audition tapes, and I want to be posting them, but I don't have time.' I said, pull up your screen time for me right now. She pulled it up, and her social media time was probably around 2.5 hours a day.
I said, 'Think about what you said: I don't have time to make these tapes that would potentially put me into the career that I've been longing for my whole life.' I don't fault her for that. She truly didn't know that this was happening to her.
It takes a painful, introspective look at our lives to say, Wow, I honestly didn't know that about myself. I'll choose to be better moving forward.
Jackie Morreale (30:29)
You said that was a recent college graduate, right? Who's grown up in the digital age with social media, with phones, connectivity on a level that's totally different from when I grew up, when we had a phone on the wall that we could ignore during dinnertime. Now everybody's got a device on the table, and it's a whole new world.
Shout-outs to people who have helped you get where you are today? Or are doing a really great job?
Patch Crowe (30:32)
There are so many people that I think are doing incredible things.
Obviously, my wife and kids, I wouldn't be where I am without them. They're the absolute best.
One maybe unexpected shout-out: My high school theater teacher, her name is Amy Morrey. She was the first person who believed in me creatively.
That has had untold benefits in my life because of it.
Jackie Morreale (31:21)
Amy Morrey. Wonderful work.
Patch Crowe (31:22)
We love her.
Jackie Morreale (31:22)
I know everybody's going to go on The Good and the Beautiful so that they can get their hands on only the best content, and they're going to go through their phone and get rid of what they don't need.
Where can people follow your journey, Patch Crowe, or learn more about these different programs that you're building with The Good and the Beautiful, like the Summer Reading Program?
Patch Crowe (31:40)
We do a lot of initiatives. At goodandbeautiful.com, if you specifically would like to be a part of our Summer Reading Program, and if you have kids out there, we do a giveaway every year.
This year, we've kicked it up a notch. We're giving away 200,000 books for free.
This is just to promote good media and good literature in the world. We love the impact that reading has on young minds. We want to be a part in giving back to that.
You can go to goodandbeautiful.com/summer2026 . We're super excited about that. Sign your kids up for it. We'd love for them to be a part of it.
We have a lot of announcements coming up as well. Follow along at: goodandbeautiful.com. We'll be posting more announcements for a bunch of different things from there.
Jackie Morreale (32:24)
Goodandbeautiful.com. Signing up for the Summer Reading Program! Hope you have some books for nine- and 11-year-olds. I'm in! I can't wait to see what else you guys have in store.
You are really a driving force for creativity, for business, for positive change in the world. It was such a pleasure to talk to you today, Patch. Thank you so much for your time.
Patch Crowe (32:27)
Thank you so much, Jackie. I super appreciate being with you. Thank you so much.
Jackie Morreale (32:47)
Absolutely. Have a wonderful day! Talk to you soon.
Patch Crowe (32:50)
Bye.
To learn more about Patch Crowe's work at The Good And The Beautiful, visit: goodandbeautiful.com
Patch Crowe during a photoshoot in the UK
Continued reading, recommended by Patch Crowe:
200,000 Free Books! Learn about the Summer Reading Program, by The Good and the Beautiful
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Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms. November 9, 2021. By Justin Whitmel Earley (Author).
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