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SafeTalk with SafeStart
SafeTalk with SafeStart
S14Ep1: 2025 SafeStart Forum Opening Keynote: Songwriting & Safety The Power of Storytelling
What happens when a Nashville hitmaker's approach to crafting chart-topping songs collides with workplace safety?
Meet Jimmy, the country music songwriter behind hits for Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, and George Strait. He's our opening keynote speaker at the SafeStart Forum this year, and he explains the similarities between writing a hit song and telling an impactful safety story.
Host: Danny Smith
Guest: Jimmy Yeary
Hello and welcome once again to SafeTalk with Safestart. I'm your host, Danny Smith. I'm very excited about today's episode as we're featuring our opening keynote speaker for the 2025 Safestart Forum, and this year we'll be meeting at the Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 28th and 29th. For those of you not familiar with the forum, it's an annual event featuring a curated agenda offering sessions that you just can't get as effectively anywhere else. The focus is on how we can manage human factors to drive down injuries, drive engagement up and drive culture forward. It's designed to be an interactive, provocative and relevant presentation for all people, regardless of your stage in your human factors journey. For more information about registration, agendas and other exciting news about the forum, go to safestartforum.com or you can contact your client manager. Okay, back to the subject at hand. Or you can contact your client manager. Okay, back to the subject at hand
01:07
I'm really pleased today
to introduce Jimmy Yeary, who, as I mentioned, will be presenting our opening
keynote. Jimmy is a singer-songwriter from Nashville who has written hits for
artists including well names. You're probably going to recognize, if you're a
country music fan or even slightly familiar with country music, Folks like
Kenny Chesty, Martina McBride, Rascal Flats, Lee Bryce, Tim McGraw, George
Strait Well, I could just go on and on. I guess it's a very, very impressive
list. So, Jimmy, first of all, welcome to the podcast. And I hear going to
Cincinnati is going to be kind of like going home for you, since you're
originally not too far away from there where you were raised, right?
Jimmy Yeary Guest
01:46
Well, that's right. Thank
you, uh, Danny, first of all for having me. Yeah, that's right. I you know I
drive through Cincinnati take the bypass there, 275 hit 50 heading east and I
go about 40 miles uh east and where there's nothing but cornfields and guilt, I
like to say there's a church every 120 yards.
Danny Smith Host
02:10
That's a great line. I
love it.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
02:13
I've yet to put that in a
song, but goodness I need to. Yeah, I just spent a lot of time in Cincinnati.
I've lived in Cincinnati, Wilmington, Kettering, Xenia, Dayton, Just yeah. But
I love going home, and my mom still lives on the same property that we were
raised on, and so that's pretty cool to pull in that same driveway.
Danny Smith Host
02:34
That's awesome. You know,
I remember hearing your opening keynote a couple of years back at the ASSP
Safety Conference in San Antonio, Texas, and as I heard you speaking, I
immediately thought about how much your approach to songwriting really mirrors
the way we at SafeStart utilize storytelling as a teaching tool in our
processes. So if you would take a moment and just talk a little bit about how
crafting a song is just so similar to storytelling.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
03:04
Well, listen, all
songwriters are different, and I specifically love to write songs that are
stories. The successes I've had in songwriting have been the story songs, and
so I've become somewhat known as a storyteller in the songwriting country music
community, and so these artists, more times than not, when they come to me for
a song, they know that I'm just. You know. There are writers that will write
you a song about ending up in a cornfield drinking a bunch of moonshine with a
girl and cutoffs, but chances are if you're coming to me it's because you know
you're looking for a story, and these stories are songs.
03:54
I listen, I love to help
people, I truly have a passion for giving, utilizing the experiences I've had
and the lessons I've learned, put those in stories, and that unwavering
principle is always true, and that is if I tell you my story, you start seeing your
story, and that's the premise of what I love to do and the premise to
storytelling. Songwriting for me, is just storytelling and in those stories, if
I feel it, you feel it. So, telling my story, each of us, telling our stories,
enables us to be more authentic and vulnerable. And that emotion, when you feel
something, other people feel it and the connections happen, whether you realize
it or not.
Danny Smith Host
04:41
Absolutely. Yeah, I grew
up on country music and I'm a bit older, so old school country music for sure.
Not that there's anything wrong with the stuff out there today, but I remember,
uh, one of my favorite old school artists, uh, way back was, was tom t hall.
Uh, they called the storyteller, right, that was his. Yes, uh, and I think
every one of his stories told a story, or songs told the story, if I can say it
that way.
05:03
It's just the way he
wrote, you know, and I remember some of the great things he wrote about. Like
you know, one of the great lyrics just sticks in my mind. I remember the year
that Clayton Delaney died. Nobody knew it, but I went out in the woods, and I
cried, you know it. Just, it just conveys that emotion, right, and that's so
true. I remember one of our consultants, kip Boggs. He just recently retired.
He often talked about taking people on what he called that 18-inch journey from
their minds to their hearts, and I love that phrase because it means so much
what you've talked about with your successful songwriting. So, tell us about
that emotional connection that you try to make with folks in your songs, in
your songs.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
05:41
Well, nothing proves the
importance of authenticity, like Tim in my life, certainly like writing songs,
because, again, people are, are really smart and they can tell when you're
trying to fool them and you know they just can and they love people, really
love authenticity and we live in a time where, where it's just, people are
starved for it. You know, everybody's cool, they look cool, everything's just
really brushed over, real pretty and everybody looks perfect. And when you see
somebody, you know a little bit, a little bit flawed, oftentimes it it's uh,
it's, it's attractive actually, and so just, uh, just always remembering that,
uh, the importance of, of that authenticity in in songs, and just trying to
capture that, because, again, it's just that's really I think about that all
the time. I just try to be am I helping somebody? You know when I'm, you know
by, with words I'm saying or songs I'm singing, you know who am I helping? So,
really just having that intention of trying to again, just to feel, to tap into
that authenticity, yeah, I think that helps a lot.
Danny Smith Host
07:01
You know, we learn
vicariously. We always say you learn through stories, we learn and teach
through stories, and it's a great way to do that. I mean historically. I mean
that's the way, you know, a lot of people have conveyed messages through the
years you know, back to the early years of mankind.
07:16
And you know, I don't know
about others, but sometimes I find that, you know, I go through things, and I
think to myself you know, oh, I'm the only person that this has ever happened
to. Obviously, that's not the case, right, I'm not that special, but we all
think that from time to time. Yes, but when somebody tells a story, or, as you,
write, a song and that touches somebody, it just reminds folks hey, we're all
in this thing together. Right, we're not alone. It gives you a chance to just
reflect on similar things that have happened to you, similar experiences that
you've had, and just remind you, you know what's happening in your life. And
for us, as we're teaching some of the things that we teach, it gives us some
points to work on too. But I love that idea that it just makes us feel like,
hey, we're not alone. Why do you think that's so important? Just to getting
messages across to folks.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
08:08
Well, you hit on it
perfect. We all, extraordinarily, have this intrinsic need not to feel alone.
Everybody wants to be able to go. Hey, that's me, I've been there, I've done
that, I've gone through that, I've experienced that, whether that's a triumph or
a tragedy, it's just knowing, it's just daily reminders that we're not alone.
08:29
I mean, oftentimes I tell
songwriters and storytellers and anybody trying to make these awesome
connections that if you just understood that what you just said is that, if you
just understand that sharing a part of yourself and reminding people that, hey,
I'm not the only one, whether it's maybe you're feeling a little bit of anxiety
sometimes and you share that with somebody. Or maybe you talk about your crazy
kids that you want to, you're about ready to choke out because they're just
driving you nuts or just stuff that we don't really talk about a lot of times,
but hearing that oftentimes just reminds us wait a minute, I'm dealing with
another human here, I'm not by myself, and that really feels good, and
oftentimes that's the greatest connector and people follow those, not that they
necessarily agree with, but those they trust in your stories is capable of
doing that agree with, but those they trust in your stories is capable of doing
that.
Danny Smith Host
09:27
Yeah, that's so true, and
we often encourage people to share stories, not just about something that
happened to somebody they knew or somebody that they heard about or something
like that, but we ask them to share stories, specifically our consultants and
our client trainers. We ask them to share things about stuff that's really
happened to them, real stories that have happened to them personally. And
sometimes I think folks think, well, my experiences aren't good enough,
particularly in the world of safety, I think, because we all see the speakers
who have unfortunately had the tragic things that have happened, you know,
where they've lost a limb or lost an eye or something like that. And sometimes
we think, well, my stories aren't quote unquote good enough because, well, the
outcome wasn't severe enough. But that's really kind of a warped way of
thinking, you know.
10:08
But everybody's story is
important, right, For us. It may not be something where there's this horrible
injury, it may just be a really close call, right, but it's something where we
convey some of that knowledge and you see those patterns, right, and it's the
same thing you do with your songwriting. You know, it may not be that I went
through the exact same thing that you hear about in your song. But, man, it
reminds me so much of something that's happened to me, yes, and it makes me
stop and think, you know, and sometimes that's what we're trying to do and that
again, I just think, you know, using those stories, using those songs to just
paint that picture it. Just well, you said it. You know, we talk about the
stuff we've experienced. It's just authentic, you know, and that's, I think,
that's so important right.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
10:49
Well, and that's a great
point, you know you talk about safety. Again, that's so awesome that you would
remind people that telling their stories are important. Well, why? Well, the
reason why is because if you don't tell your story, you're just not going to
feel it at the level that other people are going to feel it. I mean, I was just
having this talk with my son about the dirt bike that he's been riding lately
and I just had it fixed.
11:17
But I remember trying to
help him to understand the dangers associated with that. But it was only when I
reminded him of a time when I was young and I hit a little hole in the ground
that I didn't know that was there and flipped a bike and the bike didn't land
on me I didn't break anything, but it landed about a foot from me and I
remember thinking if that had hit me, oh God only knows what would have
happened to me. But when I told that story, I was going back in time and
reliving my life and telling my story and I felt it. And meeting my story with
his potential story is what caused him to go. I could see it in his eyes, man,
I could really get hurt on this thing, so those stories are so important.
Danny Smith Host
12:01
That's right, yeah, and it
gives him that time to pause and reflect and think about what he's doing,
right, that's incredible. Yeah, yes. One last question for you here we always
like to talk about. You know, some specific takeaways that people will get from
sessions at the Safe Start Forum. What would you say would be one or maybe more
takeaways that folks could expect just from your keynote?
Jimmy Yeary Guest
12:24
I believe people walk away
from this talk and really understand the significance of their story. I don't
believe most people have a clue how powerful and magnificent their story is.
You know, I could take I feel like I could take any life in any room and write
hit songs for the rest of my life. I would just tell that person, Danny, I
would tell your story. I could take any life in any room and write hit songs
for the rest of my life. I would just tell that person I would, Danny, I would
tell your story, I could write hit songs, but nobody can tell your story quite
like you can. So just leaving and paying attention and being aware of your
story, and then you know, one thing I ask people to do is, when they leave is
to start being more aware of their story of the day, like what's happened to
you today. That is significant and at the forefront of your heart and your
mind. If somebody says, how are you doing? What do we normally say? We go, I'm
good.
13:15
Your wife, everybody,
kids, oh, they're great. Your job, the career, it's great. And then but there's
no connection where I could have stubbed my toe 20 minutes earlier. I might
should say that my big toe hurts every time. My heart beats because I just stub
my toe, but I'm pretty good. Thanks for asking, but that's a story that
oftentimes can be the most valuable thing. You have to connect with other
people because it reminds people they're not alone. There's a human in the room
and there's a human interaction and authenticity shows up. And so having them
take that away. Think about that. What's happening in your life right now? Be
prepared to answer, not that you're doing good. Give a reason why you're doing
good. If things are crazy for you, give a reason why. Start sharing your story
and your relationships will significantly change and increase in value.
Danny Smith Host
14:06
That's amazing. I love
that. Jimmy, thanks so much for your time today and for joining us and, above
all, thanks for agreeing to come and kick off the SafeStart Forum for us in
October. Again, I'm really, really excited about this. I think folks are going
to love this experience of the forum in general, but certainly of your keynote.
As we get ready to kick things off here, I got to say, folks, I am extremely
fired up for this event. It's going to be phenomenal. Mark your calendars If
you haven't already get to save the date on your calendar it's October 28th and
29th. Check out our website. It's safestartforum.com. You can register there,
or you can get more information there or from one of your client managers. So
again, thanks for Jimmy Yeary for joining us today, and thank you for joining
us. I'm Danny Smith for SafeTalk with SafeStart. Have a great day.
Danny Smith Host
00:08
Hello and welcome once
again to SafeTalk with SafeStart. I'm your host, Danny Smith. I'm very excited
about today's episode as we're featuring our opening keynote speaker for the
2025 Safestart Forum, and this year we'll be meeting at the Hyatt Regency in
Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 28th and 29th. For those of you not familiar with
the forum, it's an annual event featuring a curated agenda offering sessions
that you just can't get as effectively anywhere else. The focus is on how we
can manage human factors to drive down injuries, drive engagement up and drive
culture forward. It's designed to be an interactive, provocative and relevant
presentation for all people, regardless of your stage in your human factors
journey. For more information about registration, agendas and other exciting
news about the forum, go to safestartforum.com or you can contact your client
manager. Okay, back to the subject at hand.
01:07
I'm really pleased today
to introduce Jimmy Yeary, who, as I mentioned, will be presenting our opening
keynote. Jimmy is a singer-songwriter from Nashville who has written hits for
artists including well names. You're probably going to recognize, if you're a
country music fan or even slightly familiar with country music, Folks like
Kenny Chesty, Martina McBride, Rascal Flats, Lee Bryce, Tim McGraw, George
Strait Well, I could just go on and on. I guess it's a very, very impressive
list. So, Jimmy, first of all, welcome to the podcast. And I hear going to
Cincinnati is going to be kind of like going home for you, since you're
originally not too far away from there where you were raised, right?
Jimmy Yeary Guest
01:46
Well, that's right. Thank
you, uh, Danny, first of all for having me. Yeah, that's right. I you know I
drive through Cincinnati take the bypass there, 275 hit 50 heading east and I
go about 40 miles east and where there's nothing but cornfields and guilt, I
like to say there's a church every 120 yards.
Danny Smith Host
02:10
That's a great line. I
love it.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
02:13
I've yet to put that in a
song, but goodness I need to. Yeah, I just spent a lot of time in Cincinnati.
I've lived in Cincinnati, Wilmington, Kettering, Xenia, Dayton, just yeah. But
I love going home, and my mom still lives on the same property that we were
raised on, and so that's pretty cool to pull in that same driveway.
Danny Smith Host
02:34
That's awesome. You know,
I remember hearing your opening keynote a couple of years back at the ASSP
Safety Conference in San Antonio, Texas, and as I heard you speaking, I
immediately thought about how much your approach to songwriting really mirrors
the way we at SafeStart utilize storytelling as a teaching tool in our
processes. So, if you would take a moment and just talk a little bit about how
crafting a song is just so similar to storytelling.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
03:04
Well, listen, all
songwriters are different, and I specifically love to write songs that are
stories. The successes I've had in songwriting have been the story songs, and
so I've become somewhat known as a storyteller in the songwriting country music
community, and so these artists, more times than not, when they come to me for
a song, they know that I'm just. You know. There are writers that will write
you a song about ending up in a cornfield drinking a bunch of moonshine with a
girl and cutoffs, but chances are if you're coming to me, it's because you know
you're looking for a story, and these stories are songs.
03:54
I listen, I love to help
people, I truly have a passion for giving, utilizing the experiences I've had
and the lessons I've learned, put those in stories, and that unwavering
principle is always true, and that is if I tell you my story, you start seeing your
story, and that's the premise of what I love to do and the premise to
storytelling. Songwriting for me, is just storytelling and in those stories, if
I feel it, you feel it. So, telling my story, each of us, telling our stories,
enables us to be more authentic and vulnerable. And that emotion, when you feel
something, other people feel it and the connections happen, whether you realize
it or not.
Danny Smith Host
04:41
Absolutely. Yeah, I grew
up on country music and I'm a bit older, so old school country music for sure.
Not that there's anything wrong with the stuff out there today, but I remember,
uh, one of my favorite old school artists, way back was, was Tom T Hall. They
called the storyteller, right, that was his. Yes, uh, and I think every one of
his stories told a story, or songs told the story, if I can say it that way.
05:03
It's just the way he
wrote, you know, and I remember some of the great things he wrote about. Like
you know, one of the great lyrics just sticks in my mind. I remember the year
that Clayton Delaney died. Nobody knew it, but I went out in the woods, and I
cried, you know it. Just, it just conveys that emotion, right, and that's so
true. I remember one of our consultants, Kip Boggs. He just recently retired.
He often talked about taking people on what he called that 18-inch journey from
their minds to their hearts, and I love that phrase because it means so much
what you've talked about with your successful songwriting. So, tell us about
that emotional connection that you try to make with folks in your songs.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
05:41
Well, nothing proves the
importance of authenticity, like Tim in my life, certainly like writing songs,
because, again, people are, are really smart and they can tell when you're
trying to fool them and you know they just can and they love people, really
love authenticity and we live in a time where, where its’s just, people are
starved for it. You know, everybody's cool, they look cool, everything's just
really brushed over, real pretty and everybody looks perfect. And when you see
somebody, you know a little bit, a little bit flawed, oftentimes, it's
attractive actually, and so just, just always remembering that the importance
that authenticity in songs, and just trying to capture that, because, again,
it's just that's really, I think about that all the time. I just try to be am I
helping somebody? You know when I'm, you know by, with words I'm saying or
songs I'm singing, you know who am I helping? So, really just having that
intention of trying to again, just to feel, to tap into that authenticity,
yeah, I think that helps a lot.
Danny Smith Host
07:01
You know, we learn
vicariously. We always say you learn through stories, we learn and teach
through stories, and it's a great way to do that. I mean historically. I mean
that's the way, you know, a lot of people have conveyed messages through the
years you know, back to the early years of mankind.
07:16
And you know, I don't know
about others, but sometimes I find that, you know, I go through things, and I
think to myself you know, oh, I'm the only person that this has ever happened
to. Obviously, that's not the case, right, I'm not that special, but we all
think that from time to time. Yes, but when somebody tells a story, or, as you,
write, a song and that touches somebody, it just reminds folks hey, we're all
in this thing together. Right, we're not alone. It gives you a chance to just
reflect on similar things that have happened to you, similar experiences that
you've had, and just remind you, you know what's happening in your life. And
for us, as we're teaching some of the things that we teach, it gives us some
points to work on too. But I love that idea that it just makes us feel like,
hey, we're not alone. Why do you think that's so important? Just to getting
messages across to folks.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
08:08
Well, you hit on it
perfect. We all, extraordinarily, have this intrinsic need not to feel alone.
Everybody wants to be able to go. Hey, that's me, I've been there, I've done
that, I've gone through that, I've experienced that, whether that's a triumph or
a tragedy, it's just knowing, it's just daily reminders that we're not alone.
08:29
I mean, oftentimes I tell
songwriters and storytellers and anybody trying to make these awesome
connections that if you just understood that what you just said is that, if you
just understand that sharing a part of yourself and reminding people that, hey,
I'm not the only one, whether it's maybe you're feeling a little bit of anxiety
sometimes and you share that with somebody. Or maybe you talk about your crazy
kids that you want to, you're about ready to choke out because they're just
driving you nuts or just stuff that we don't really talk about a lot of times,
but hearing that oftentimes just reminds us wait a minute, I'm dealing with
another human here, I'm not by myself, and that really feels good, and
oftentimes that's the greatest connector and people follow those, not that they
necessarily agree with, but those they trust in your stories is capable of
doing that agree with, but those they trust in your stories is capable of doing
that.
Danny Smith Host
09:27
Yeah, that's so true, and
we often encourage people to share stories, not just about something that
happened to somebody they knew or somebody that they heard about or something
like that, but we ask them to share stories, specifically our consultants and
our client trainers. We ask them to share things about stuff that's really
happened to them, real stories that have happened to them personally. And
sometimes I think folks think, well, my experiences aren't good enough,
particularly in the world of safety, I think, because we all see the speakers
who have unfortunately had the tragic things that have happened, you know,
where they've lost a limb or lost an eye or something like that. And sometimes
we think, well, my stories aren't quote unquote good enough because, well, the
outcome wasn't severe enough. But that's really kind of a warped way of
thinking, you know.
10:08
But everybody's story is
important, right, For us. It may not be something where there's this horrible
injury, it may just be a really close call, right, but it's something where we
convey some of that knowledge and you see those patterns, right, and it's the
same thing you do with your songwriting. You know, it may not be that I went
through the exact same thing that you hear about in your song. But, man, it
reminds me so much of something that's happened to me, yes, and it makes me
stop and think, you know, and sometimes that's what we're trying to do and that
again, I just think, you know, using those stories, using those songs to just
paint that picture it. Just well, you said it. You know, we talk about the
stuff we've experienced. It's just authentic, you know, and that's, I think,
that's so important right.
Jimmy Yeary Guest
10:49
Well, and that's a great
point, you know you talk about safety. Again, that's so awesome that you would
remind people that telling their stories are important. Well, why? Well, the
reason why is because if you don't tell your story, you're just not going to
feel it at the level that other people are going to feel it. I mean, I was just
having this talk with my son about the dirt bike that he's been riding lately
and I just had it fixed.
11:17
But I remember trying to
help him to understand the dangers associated with that. But it was only when I
reminded him of a time when I was young and I hit a little hole in the ground
that I didn't know that was there and flipped a bike and the bike didn't land
on me I didn't break anything, but it landed about a foot from me and I
remember thinking if that had hit me, oh God only knows what would have
happened to me. But when I told that story, I was going back in time and
reliving my life and telling my story and I felt it. And meeting my story with
his potential story is what caused him to go. I could see it in his eyes, man,
I could really get hurt on this thing, so those stories are so important.
Danny Smith Host
12:01
That's right, yeah, and it
gives him that time to pause and reflect and think about what he's doing,
right, that's incredible. Yeah, yes. One last question for you here we always
like to talk about. You know, some specific takeaways that people will get from
sessions at the SafeStart Forum. What would you say would be one or maybe more
takeaways that folks could expect just from your keynote?
Jimmy Yeary Guest
12:24
I believe people walk away
from this talk and really understand the significance of their story. I don't
believe most people have a clue how powerful and magnificent their story is.
You know, I could take I feel like I could take any life in any room and write
hit songs for the rest of my life. I would just tell that person, Danny, I
would tell your story. I could take any life in any room and write hit songs
for the rest of my life. I would just tell that person I would, Danny, I would
tell your story, I could write hit songs, but nobody can tell your story quite
like you can. So just leaving and paying attention and being aware of your
story, and then you know, one thing I ask people to do is, when they leave is
to start being more aware of their story of the day, like what's happened to
you today. That is significant and at the forefront of your heart and your
mind. If somebody says, how are you doing? What do we normally say? We go, I'm
good.
13:15
Your wife, everybody,
kids, oh, they're great. Your job, the career, it's great. And then but there's
no connection where I could have stubbed my toe 20 minutes earlier. I might
should say that my big toe hurts every time. My heart beats because I just stub
my toe, but I'm pretty good. Thanks for asking, but that's a story that
oftentimes can be the most valuable thing. You have to connect with other
people because it reminds people they're not alone. There's a human in the room
and there's a human interaction and authenticity shows up. And so having them
take that away. Think about that. What's happening in your life right now? Be
prepared to answer, not that you're doing good. Give a reason why you're doing
good. If things are crazy for you, give a reason why. Start sharing your story
and your relationships will significantly change and increase in value.
Danny Smith Host
14:06
That's amazing. I love
that. Jimmy, thanks so much for your time today and for joining us and, above
all, thanks for agreeing to come and kick off the SafeStart Forum for us in
October. Again, I'm really, really excited about this. I think folks are going
to love this experience of the forum in general, but certainly of your keynote.
As we get ready to kick things off here, I got to say, folks, I am extremely
fired up for this event. It's going to be phenomenal. Mark your calendars If
you haven't already get to save the date on your calendar it's October 28th and
29th. Check out our website. It's safestartforum.com. You can register there,
or you can get more information there or from one of your client managers. So
again, thanks for Jimmy for joining us today, and thank you for joining us. I'm
Danny Smith for SafeTalk with SafeStart. Have a great day.