Purpose After Passion Fades: John Mellencamp and Van France

Have you ever felt like you're just going through the motions of life without purpose? That gutting lyric from John Mellencamp—"life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone"—might hit closer to home than you'd like to admit.

This episode explores the profound difference between merely existing and truly living through purpose, connecting Mellencamp's sobering observation with the revolutionary work of Van Arsdale France, Disney's forgotten culture architect. In 1955, France transformed Disney and eventually the entire service industry with one beautifully simple idea.

This seven-word mission statement changed how thousands of employees viewed their work, from parking attendants to costumed characters.

France understood something vital about human motivation that applies powerfully to our journey of aging—purpose transforms mundane activities into meaningful contributions. When we lose the initial excitement of youth, purpose becomes our compass, guiding us through what could otherwise become zombie-like existence. As I share my own purpose statement—"make a positive difference in someone's life every day"—I challenge you to reflect on yours. What gets you out of bed each morning? What gives your actions meaning beyond routine?

Whether you're feeling adrift or simply curious about finding deeper fulfillment, this exploration of purpose might be exactly what you need. Subscribe now, leave a comment sharing your thoughts, or reach out directly through the contact information in the show notes. Remember, aging isn't about being old—it's about growing with purpose and intention.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Bill Monty's Guide
• 1:03 John Mellencamp's Gut-Punching Lyric
• 2:27 Van France: Disney's Culture Architect
• 5:13 Creating Happiness for Others
• 7:34 Discovering Your Life Purpose
• 12:20 Closing Thoughts and Connection

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Bill Monty's Guide for Getting Older. Hello and welcome to Bill Monty's Guide for Getting Older, the podcast where we explore the beauty, challenges and wisdom of growing older. I'm your host, as you might have guessed, bill Monty. Today we're going to be talking about purpose and life and making sure that we have all of those priorities in the right order, and we're going to accomplish this by looking at two different people One, a celebrity whom you probably are aware of, and one a man who you should be aware of, but I'm pretty sure you've never heard of him. I'm talking about John Mellencamp and Van Arsdale, france. So grab your tea or your coffee, maybe a little slice of something sweet, and let's talk about life and purpose.

Speaker 1: 1:03

The idea behind this episode of the podcast came from listening to a song driving to work the other day in the car. The song Jack and Diane came on by John Mellencamp and the line now, this is a song I've heard many, many, many times. This line suddenly just stuck out for me times. This line suddenly just stuck out for me and I'm going to quote life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone, and that really kind of punched me in the gut Life goes on, but long after the thrill of living is gone. What does that mean? Well, I think it means that there are people for whom you just continue to get up every single day and do what you have to do, to just make it long enough to crawl back into bed at the end of the day. But why are you doing it? Are you doing it because life goes on long after the thrill of living it and getting up in the morning and doing everything is gone? Are you just walking through life like a zombie? I can honestly say I believe there are a lot of people who are doing that, and I think I have a way around it.

Speaker 1: 2:23

And for that I need to tell you the story of a man named Van France. His full name was Van Arsdale France and, whether or not you know it, you are probably familiar with the work that he did, because the work that he did was so important that one of the largest figures in the entertainment industry and some of the largest hotel chains have taken what he did and embraced it, because of the simplicity of what he taught and the complexity of how to get it done. Let's talk about the remarkable story of Van Arsdale, france, a name you might not recognize, but whose influence still echoes through Disneyland and Disney parks around the world. But rather than being on stage or an animation, van France worked behind the scenes, helping to define something just as iconic as the parks themselves Disney's employee culture. Van France was born in 1912. He didn't start his career with dreams of castles and theme parks. He was a labor relations expert. He had a background in human resources and training from his work in the US Navy and later with some manufacturing companies. What he brought to Disney, though, was something unique, a vision that would align with Walt Disney's storytelling magic, with real-world management.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Let's go back to 1955. Some of you are hearing right now Disneyland is turning 70 years old. It was 70 years ago that Disneyland opened in Anaheim, california. Walt Disney knew he was building something unlike anything before, and he understood that it was not just about bricks or rides or Mickey Mouse. It was about people, the cast members, as Disney would call them. Walt believed the success of the park would hinge on how those cast members interacted with guests, and that's where Van France comes in.

Speaker 1: 4:23

He was hired in 1955, just a few months before Disneyland opened His job. Create a training program for the original Disneyland employees. Now, this wasn't just about how to sweep Main Street or how to operate a ride. France saw something bigger. He understood that Disneyland was not just a theme park. It was an experience. And for that experience to be consistent, the people delivering it had to understand why they were doing what they did. They had to understand why they were doing what they did what they did.

Speaker 1: 5:08

He created what would eventually become Disney University, a groundbreaking concept in employee orientation and training. His goal was to teach the culture, not the tasks. In his own words, france said you can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes people to make the dream a reality. Sound familiar? Well, that quote is often attributed to Walt Disney, but it actually was Van France who said it. He captured the essence of Walt's vision and made it a reality through structured training, culture building and storytelling. His training model became the blueprint for onboarding across all Disney parks, from Tokyo to Paris to Shanghai. Cast members began their journey with a version of France's traditions class, a rite of passage that connects them to Walt's original dream. But what makes all of this more interesting is how his work influenced the entire service industry. Decades before employee experience and company culture became buzzwords, van France was championing the idea that happy, well-trained employees create better customer experiences. Today, companies from Ritz-Carlton to Apple borrow from Disney's employee playbook a playbook that Van France helped to write.

Speaker 1: 6:32

So what can we learn from Van Arsdale, france and what he did, and how does that fit in to today's episode? Well, first, that culture doesn't happen by accident. It's built carefully, deliberately, and it starts with how you teach people about the why behind the work. Second, van France reminds us that people are the product. At Disneyland, yes, there are amazing rides, but the real magic it's how you're treated, that warm smile, the helpful hand, the extra tut. That is Van France's legacy. And finally, he teaches us that the best work is often invisible. You might not see the training manuals, the classes or the systems, but you feel their effects.

Speaker 1: 7:16

In many ways, van France was Disney's architect of experience. But the most important thing that he did, he taught people who were going to work for Disney about purpose. Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone is gone. What they noticed was after a while at Disneyland, after Van France got the training program up and running and then he left. He came back and noticed that you could see some of the cast members standing off to the side smoking a cigarette. Some of them, the hair wasn't combed, their attitude wasn't right. The guy who was walking behind the horses that walked down Main Street cleaning up after them, the person that was helping you park the cars in the hot sun they didn't exactly seem thrilled with their job. These were not the people getting the accolades and the happy faces of the children and the parents who had brought the children. These were people who were working. How could he get them to understand the importance of being a part of the entire vision for the theme parks?

Speaker 1: 8:33

He believed that Disney's purpose for employees or cast members, was to make people happy. He emphasized that every employee, no matter their role, contributed to delivering a consistent magical guest experience. He distilled this into one clear purpose. So you've heard of mission statements for companies, right, and they're usually about two, three paragraphs long. They're kind of boring and not one person in the company can recite them. They don't live them. They're there for board members, they're there for raising contributions, whatever it might be. He made one simple statement that applied to everyone. It applied to the young girl dressed as Snow White, it applied to the person who would help you on and off Dumbo's ride, it applied to the person cleaning up after the horse and it applied to the person standing in the hot Orlando sun. Our purpose is to create happiness for others. Our purpose is to create happiness for others. Purpose should drive everything a cast member does, and that understanding why you do something was just as important as how you do it. I was recently up in Orlando, just came back from a trip yesterday to Orlando. While we didn't go into the park, we went into Disney Springs and we encountered many employees. Each one to a T was living that purpose to create happiness for others.

Speaker 1: 10:14

So my challenge to you, my friends, is to figure out what is your purpose. So my challenge to you, my friends, is to figure out what is your purpose If you're just getting up in the morning to pass the time until you get to go to bed later on at night, if the thrill of living is gone for you but you're still alive, maybe what you need to do is take a page from the book of Van France and figure out what your purpose is and make sure that that is the reason you're getting out of bed in the morning, because once you have that purpose defined for you, it's going to drive everything else you do, your attitude at work, your attitude towards your family, towards your friends. What is your purpose? I can tell you mine.

Speaker 1: 11:02

I decided a long time ago, when I first learned about Van France, actually, and I said I need a purpose. What is my purpose? My purpose is to make a difference in someone's life every day that I'm alive. It might be a very small action that no one will talk about or think about, but I'm aware that I've helped someone, that I've made a difference. Maybe it's a smile, a kind word. All I need to do to fulfill my purpose is to find a way to make a difference in someone's life each day, and once I do that, I find it easier to try to make a difference in everyone's life, and I do mean a positive difference. There are a lot of people making negative differences in people's lives, so try to make a positive difference. What is your purpose If you're walking zombie-like through life right now? My friends, I suggest that you look up Van France and that you think about the purpose that he gave to the employees at Disney and how you can take that and apply it to your life.

Speaker 1: 12:06

I want to thank you for joining me today on this episode of Bill Monty's Guide for Getting Older. It is the purpose of this podcast to be sure that we provide friendly, helpful and entertaining advice about the journey of growing older. Remember, it's not about being old, it's about getting older. I want to thank you for sticking around to the end of the podcast. As I have mentioned before, it does help us with the platforms that we are on. It tells them that people listen all the way to the end, which means they will put us in front of the ears of others.

Speaker 1: 12:41

If you could be so kind as to leave a comment, to hit the subscribe or follow button if you haven't done so already, it's free. You don't have to pay anything to do that and it will alert you when the next podcast episode becomes available. You can always reach me at BillMonte04 at gmailcom or by scrolling down into the show notes to the SpeakPipe tool, where you can leave a free 90-second message for me and I will get back to you. And, by the way, if you miss my voice, please join me at TalesFromSouthFloridacom and hear my other podcast, tales From South Florida. I think you'll enjoy what we've got going on over there too. And until we talk again, please remember and if you want to use this for your purpose, that's okay with me Be safe and be kind. Feeling colder, not sure what to do without a friendly shoulder, you're not alone, so start feeling bolder. Welcome to Bill Monty's guide for getting older.