Dan Aberhart opened this session from a hard place -- a company erased to zero with an email, a new start, and somewhere in that stretch, the inner work that changed what he measures himself by. Corliss Rassyle, founder of Lead Conference Canada and keynote speaker, joined him to do what Dan called the conversation agriculture is not having out loud. The session moved from Corliss's mother standing at an Easter griddle saying "I've done nothing with my life" -- despite raising eight kids and building a farm family -- through the Five A's framework Corliss has used in rooms of 200+ to interrupt the belief systems that chain people to external scoreboards. What listeners take away is not a strategy for the balance sheet. It is a set of tools for the person carrying it.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses farm financial stress, identity, and mental health in agriculture, including reference to suicide rates in the farming community. If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available. Numbers are listed at the end of these notes.
Three to one is the male-to-female suicide ratio in agriculture. Most of the people carrying the hardest financial weight in farming right now are also carrying it alone, measuring their worth by what they produce. Corliss Rassyle has spent decades working in the space between what a farm earns and what a farmer is worth. Dan built this room for those people.
Topics and Timestamps
0:00 -- Cold open
1:30 -- Dan's disclosure: a company erased to zero and what the new start required
4:00 -- Welcome: who this room is built for and the three-to-one ratio in agriculture
5:00 -- Mom at the Easter griddle: "I've done nothing with my life"
6:30 -- Why we get the measure of success wrong and where it starts
9:00 -- Saskatchewan is resource-rich -- so why do so many people in agriculture feel unfulfilled?
10:00 -- Subconscious programming: the belief systems formed in childhood still running adult lives
13:00 -- The 1,111 vision: how Lead Conference Canada came to be
15:00 -- Sitting in the back row of the venue: the moment the number confirmed itself
17:00 -- Workshop begins: Corliss takes the room
22:00 -- The question to sit with: what belief are you holding about yourself right now?
23:00 -- Thoughts create emotions, emotions create actions, actions create results
27:00 -- The Five A's: Aware, Acknowledge, Assess, Affirm, Accept
29:00 -- The five most powerful sentences: I am, I can, I will, I release, I forgive
30:00 -- Acceptance: Corliss's brother and the question "Why won't you let me help you?"
33:00 -- Dan's experience: what happened when a room of men did this work together
37:00 -- Same rain, two different meanings: the drought and the wedding
38:00 -- Corliss's divorce: rebuilding one step at a time from a two-bedroom apartment
43:00 -- Love what you do: Corliss's father and 60 harvests
47:00 -- 86 tickets on launch day vs. a goal of 1,111: what fear does and what vision does instead
52:00 -- Mom gives permission for the TEDx: "You should use it to help people"
54:00 -- You have full power over your story
55:00 -- Corliss's programs and how to connect
Resources Mentioned
TEDx Talk by Corliss Rassyle -- search "Corliss Rassyle TEDx" (Dan to confirm link)
Lead Conference Canada 2026: corliss.ca/led2026
Called to Lead (self-paced personal development program): corliss.ca
Do More Agriculture Foundation: domore.ag
Saskatchewan Farm Stress Line: 1-800-667-4442
This episode is brought to you by Bone Trail Originals, Crop-Aid Nutrition, Hammond Realty, and GRIPP.
Connect with Corliss Rassyle
Website: corliss.ca
Lead Conference Canada: corliss.ca/led2026
Connect with Growing the Future
Website: growingthefuture.ca
YouTube: Growing the Future
Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast
LinkedIn: Growing the Future
CRISIS SUPPORT
If you are struggling, please reach out.
Canada -- Talk Suicide Canada: 1-833-456-4566
Canada -- Saskatchewan Farm Stress Line: 1-800-667-4442
Canada -- Do More Agriculture Foundation: domore.ag
U.S. -- Call or text 988