Dave Ramsey is weird. He's proud to be weird because "normal" is broke. According to Dave, "debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice."

As a result of going deeply into debt and ultimately filing for bankruptcy years ago, he learned how destructive behaviors can keep people from achieving their financial goals. He now devotes himself and his company, The Lampo Group, to giving others the confidence to win with money.

Dave spreads his message through his New York Times best-selling books, a daily radio show, Total Money Makeover live events, and Financial Peace University, a small group program where families learn together. He helps walk people through the "Baby Steps" (borrowed from the movie What About Bob?) to live within a budget, get out of debt, and take control of their financial lives. He even recommends local professionals "with the heart of a teacher" through his Endorsed Local Provider program. They are all people who are experienced in helping his listeners through many different life issues, including marriage counselors, CPAs, realtors, insurance agents, and investment advisors.

Dave was kind enough to take time out of his very hectic schedule to answer some questions for XMFan.

XMFan: In preparing for this interview, I was reading other interviews that you have given. I happened to run across what may have been one of your first online interviews, with Ann Devlin in 1997. In that interview, you mentioned that your company had 25 employees at that time, you were just about to pay off your mortgage, and you were just under a million dollars in net worth. How does it make you feel to think about how far you've come in just 9 years?

Dave: We've been very blessed. It's amazing. Our team has grown to nearly 160 people; "The Dave Ramsey Show" is on more than 260 radio stations with more than 2 million listeners weekly; and more than 250,000 families have gone through Financial Peace University. In our office we talk a lot about the Momentum Theorem: Focused intensity over time multiplied by God equals unstoppable momentum. We've worked hard for 15 years and now we're an overnight success.

XMFan: You frequently say that the way to learn how to be rich is to ask a rich person. You also cite such motivational personalities as Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Stephen Covey, Larry Burkett, and Thomas J. Stanley, not to mention the Bible. But is there a particular person who stands out as an inspiration as you came out of bankruptcy and as you crafted your debt-free message?

Dave: I read a lot of books and talked to a lot of people but Larry Burkett was a definite influence.

XMFan: Did your religious awakening come about after you found yourself in financial trouble, or did your situation cause you to come to the realization that the Bible held the answer to financial questions?

Dave: I met God on the way up but really got to know him on the way down. After hitting bottom, I went on a quest to find out how money really works, how I could get control of it, and how I could have confidence in handling it. I read everything I could get my hands on, including the Bible. I discovered that there are more than 800 scriptures that talk about how to handle money God's way. This helped change the way I look at money and my relationship with money.

XMFan: What made you decide to devote your life (at least a good portion of it, so far) to teaching others?

Dave: I have the heart of a teacher. Talking to callers on my radio show and teaching people through live events is why I get out of bed in the morning. I've done stupid with zeros on the end. I want to help other people avoid the mistakes I made.

XMFan: After you wrote your first book, what made you decide to make radio such a major outlet for your message? Were there any struggles at first, since you didn't have a background in radio? What did you do to overcome them?

Dave: It really just happened. I was a guest on a local radio show talking about real estate. The station was amazed to see the phones light up. When that host left the station, which was in bankruptcy at the time, I took over his time slot. We made some mistakes along the way but we learned from them and kept going. The most important thing has always been that we help people.

XMFan: For those of us who haven't attended one of your Live Events, how do they differ from your radio show? You mention that you run around the stage for five hours, but what else do you do to motivate those who need that extra push to take control of their financial life?

Dave: The radio show is random. It's just life playing out on the radio. While the theme of our show is consistent people's life circumstances vary and therefore the show is a bit of a melting pot. There is a clear cut mission to the live event. There is a clear beginning and end. Families leave the live event knowing what they need to do in order to win with their money. As a result of having a plan (often for the first time) we also see a lot of stress removed from families and as a result relationships also begin to heal. This money stuff is hard. Not having a plan with it puts so much pressure on families and as a result really strains relationships. At these events, we laugh, we cry and I think people realize that the problems they're facing are pretty normal.

XMFan: Since we're an XM-related discussion forum, music is one of our favorite topics here. You talk frequently about enjoying Contemporary Christian music, but do you have any other musical favorites?

Dave: Contemporary Christian is what I listen to most often but I certainly work some Classic Rock into the mix.

XMFan: Who picks out the bumper music on your radio show?

Dave: I don't have good taste in music so the longtime Senior Producer of "The Dave Ramsey Show," Blake Thompson, is responsible for picking the "hip" bump music.

XMFan: Every day, you go through all of the ways your listeners can catch your show-internet streaming, podcasts, AM/FM, as well as satellite radio. What were your expectations when you first agreed to air your show on XM and Sirius? Have there been any surprises? How does owning and distributing your own show affect your relationship with affiliates?

Dave: Our company wants to help people. We want to get this message out anyway possible. So we want to make sure it's available through multiple streams. XM has done a great job getting the word out about their product and, as a result, our show is heard by a lot of people everyday via XM. I really didn't have any expectations with satellite radio. It was a new product and the verdict was out for a long time. I will say that the audience has grown very quickly and the listeners are very passionate and loyal. As far as owning and distributing our own show, there are certainly benefits. We still have the ability to move quickly. We can make decisions and implement changes without having to go through all the red tape. I think that has benefited us in a huge way.

XMFan: Your book The Total Money Makeover is obviously still very relevant, despite being a couple of years old, but do you have any new books in the works?

Dave: Right now I don't have plans for another book.

"The Dave Ramsey Show" can be heard weekdays on XM-165 Talk Radio from 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. For more information on what Dave Ramsey is all about, please visit http://www.daveramsey.com.