1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,600 Hello, my name is Leslie Kane. 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,280 I am the host of the Why Not Today podcast. 3 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:08,720 This is a podcast to celebrate people who have been courageous and said, 4 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:09,920 why not today? 5 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:11,960 I started this podcast in honor of my father, 6 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:14,560 Patrick Kane, who often did say, why not today? 7 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:16,360 I am based in rest of Virginia, 8 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,000 a planned community right outside of Washington DC, 9 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:20,800 and thanks for joining us today. 10 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,520 So my guests today, and I always say I'm excited about my guests, 11 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:24,680 and I am always excited. 12 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:26,320 My guests today, 13 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:31,160 kind of started in talking about her being guests several years ago, 14 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,960 and I'll never forget, I was walking out by my house 15 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:36,120 and ran into a friend of mine. 16 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,480 He's like, I want to be on your podcast. 17 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:41,520 And I'm like, what have you done courageous? 18 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,840 And he was like, I don't know, but you need to talk to Mina. 19 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,080 And he was telling me, so my guest today is Mina Lux, 20 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,520 and he was telling me about your story of your traveling. 21 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,280 And so I reached out to you, and it was literally a year or so, 22 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,160 because you were going through a lot of life. 23 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,320 I mean, I'm to find out you literally like, 24 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,920 I can throw a rock from my door and hit your house. 25 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:05,520 That's how close you live to me now. 26 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,280 And we met several years ago at a chamber. 27 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,880 I do distinctly remember one Christmas, 28 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,480 right before Christmas, coming into your office 29 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,360 and chatting with you and just talking about downtime. 30 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:19,720 And I just, I don't know, I felt a connection there. 31 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:24,040 And then, you know, you being here and walks and life happening 32 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:25,320 and really have connected with you. 33 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:28,240 And I'm super excited to finally have you as a guest 34 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:29,520 on the podcast. 35 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:31,840 And you did an adventure. 36 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,440 And we talked about that in some of your purge stories. 37 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,480 So, Ms. Mina Lux, introduce yourself quickly with like a, 38 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:41,440 and about your bio and a fast, fun fact. 39 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:42,520 Okay. 40 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:43,360 So thank you, Leslie. 41 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:44,440 I'm so excited. 42 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,600 I really enjoyed watching our friendship grow over the last 43 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:49,680 couple of years, and it's been a long time coming 44 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,240 to get to this point. 45 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:52,320 So I'm excited. 46 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:53,880 We're finally connecting. 47 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:55,280 It's awesome. 48 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:56,960 Fun are a little bit about me. 49 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,440 I've been in this area most of my life since I was nine. 50 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:00,680 I kind of grew up in Springfield. 51 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,880 I've been arrested for a couple of decades now. 52 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,760 And so, Native Virginia, Virginia, 53 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:10,760 and had a little bit of an unusual background, 54 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:12,680 which will kind of tie into my story. 55 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,000 But a fun fact is that I think I was a really angry youth. 56 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,200 I didn't realize it, but I was a metalhead. 57 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,000 First concert I did was Judas Priest. 58 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:22,040 And, oh, wow. 59 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,040 I never thought I'd be in there. 60 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,040 I never in a million years would think that. 61 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,040 That's fun. 62 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:29,040 All right. 63 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:30,040 So let's talk about courage. 64 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:32,040 What does courage mean to you? 65 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,040 So courage to me means, you know, 66 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,040 really following that intuition, you get that gut, 67 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,040 you get that little instinct of a pull towards something 68 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,040 that's usually very uncomfortable, 69 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,040 or just makes no sense. 70 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,040 You're like, I don't know why, but I think I need to do this. 71 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,040 And not having, you know, not taking the time to like talk 72 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,040 yourself out and be like, OK, I'm going to be led by that 73 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,040 feeling and that intuition and see where this goes. 74 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,040 I feel like courage just requires that of us to really attune 75 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:06,040 into what is next for us and start going for it and figuring 76 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,040 out where it's going to land. 77 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:10,040 So believe in that. 78 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,040 And just trusting that gut that tells you to do something. 79 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:14,040 Yeah. 80 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,040 And I have found really, I mean, 81 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,040 my life basically has followed that path, but really with this 82 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,040 podcast, like it is leading me to people and conversations. 83 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,040 And who would have known that conversation I had with, 84 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,040 we'll call him out in case he listens to it, Raj, 85 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,040 which is a whole other crazy coincidence. 86 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,040 But whoever would have known that that conversation would 87 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:38,040 have led to, you know, not just you as a guest podcast, 88 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,040 but reconnecting his friends and we've been through journey 89 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,040 together in the last couple of years. 90 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,040 And just following that gut, like, and I did keep reaching out 91 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,040 to you, just kept popping up in my head. 92 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,040 It wasn't that I was stalking you to go for a walk or to see you, 93 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,040 but when you popped in my head and I really tried to be true to 94 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,040 that in my world when I think of somebody to reach out. 95 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:57,040 Yeah. 96 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:02,040 And I was going to say, and I think that's courage to not like 97 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,040 get in your head and say, well, they're going to think I'm 98 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:06,040 stalking them. 99 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:07,040 I'm bugging them. 100 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,040 I'm like, I just felt like we had, we had a connection. 101 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:11,040 I didn't know what it was. 102 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:12,040 Yeah. 103 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,040 And I just felt like I loved about the perseverance in that, 104 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,040 um, not stalking and feeling. 105 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,040 I thought they cared for, you know, 106 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,040 and I was going through a tough time in my life and was kind of 107 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,040 more of an introvert and just taking some time to, 108 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,040 to figure myself out and you reaching out on a periodic, 109 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,040 but nice spaced out. 110 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,040 I was like, okay, you know, I'm still in her world and I still 111 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,040 matter to this person that I'm just getting to know. 112 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:35,040 And so it was just, 113 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,040 it was a beautiful way to show. 114 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,040 Um, and to feel cared for by your, 115 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,040 by your not getting into your head of like, 116 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:42,040 you know, what's going on? 117 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:43,040 And then, 118 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:44,040 when I was talking to her, 119 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,040 when I was talking to her about what it was, 120 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,040 what I was hearing and I was like, 121 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:49,040 what the hell is going on. 122 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:50,040 She's not really responding. 123 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:51,040 You know, 124 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,040 I was going through something and you were just giving me the 125 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:54,040 I didn't, 126 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:55,040 I didn't really know where they, 127 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:56,040 what's going on. 128 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:57,040 Yeah. 129 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:58,040 And so yeah, that's absolutely courage. 130 00:04:58,040 --> 00:04:59,040 Listen to that intuition. 131 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:00,040 Listen to that voice. 132 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:01,040 I would say, 133 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:02,040 listen to the first voice, 134 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,040 not the second voice that talks to you out of the first voice. 135 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:05,040 Yes. 136 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,040 Do the thing and, you know, why not today? 137 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:08,040 Yeah. 138 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,040 So let's talk about your adventure. 139 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:11,640 Is it synergy design? 140 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:13,200 Synergy design and construction. 141 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:13,700 Yeah. 142 00:05:13,700 --> 00:05:15,640 It's a design-built firm right here. 143 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,160 Yeah, it looked like construction girl. 144 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,760 You play with my girl. 145 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,600 So, but you did, had an adventure. 146 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,160 So let's talk about that and what, how do you want to, 147 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,840 you know, what motivates you to do that? 148 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,800 And let's talk about the adventure and what you learned 149 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,080 through the adventure. 150 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,720 And I'm kind of tying in how it ties to me 151 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:38,680 and I always talk about my dad and it definitely ties 152 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:39,440 into my dad. 153 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:40,240 So. 154 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:40,720 Perfect. 155 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:41,360 Yeah. 156 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,480 So, so my adventure, well, you know, this adventure, 157 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,440 I should say, started back in around 2019. 158 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,120 I was turning about to turn 50. 159 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,240 So I think I was just really looking at my life 160 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,560 and looking at what was going on for me. 161 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:56,200 You know, they talk about midlife crisis. 162 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:57,600 I didn't feel like it was a crisis, 163 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:59,640 but I just really started looking inward and saying, 164 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,200 you know, am I happy in the relationship, 165 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:03,840 the marriage that I was in at that time, 166 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:05,960 am I happy with my business and where it's, 167 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,400 where and how it's showing up right now? 168 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:10,720 And I didn't have any answers. 169 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:12,880 I just knew that I was kind of frustrated 170 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:14,480 and wasn't sure what to do. 171 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,040 And I was out to dinner with my husband at the time. 172 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,400 And it was something that, you know, 173 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:20,920 I'll talk a lot about spirit or whatever. 174 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:22,880 I feel like spirit just came right out of my mouth. 175 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:24,160 I said, I said, I don't know. 176 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:25,960 I just feel like I need to take a couple months 177 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,080 and drive across the country by myself or something. 178 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,480 And it literally came out and I was like, who said that? 179 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,680 I haven't been thinking about this my entire life. 180 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,640 Like it wasn't something that was like written down 181 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,560 in my goal or my journal. 182 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:39,720 Not your bucket list. 183 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,800 No, it just shot out of my mouth. 184 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,680 And next thing you know, you know, the next day he asked me, 185 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:47,520 he's like, so if you figured out when you're leaving, 186 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,120 because he knows me when I get my mind 187 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,640 it was something I kind of just do it. 188 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,440 And I said, yeah, I think this October, it was 2019. 189 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,280 I was like, I think leaving the end, 190 00:06:57,280 --> 00:06:59,360 the beginning of October and then coming back 191 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:00,920 right before the holiday would be perfect. 192 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:02,240 And so that's what I did. 193 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:07,240 And 2019, October, whatever the first Monday in October was, 194 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,080 I hit the road and it was so fun. 195 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,960 What a perfect time in the world to have done that. 196 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:14,520 Not if you would have waited, 197 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,040 it would have been a whole different world. 198 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:17,200 Yeah, I had no idea. 199 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,120 You know, I came back at the very end of it and COVID hit. 200 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:20,960 Like I just hadn't, 201 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,200 it was literally right before COVID happened. 202 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,320 So how much time between when you've blurted out, 203 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:27,600 I want to go across country 204 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,320 until you've gotten your car in left. 205 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,280 And you're running a business too. 206 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,400 Like pulling yourself out of a business. 207 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,320 Exactly, we were running the business together. 208 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,040 We have a very strong team. 209 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:38,880 And so I knew that I could, you know, 210 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,440 log in remotely and be a part of client meetings if needed. 211 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:44,640 But I also knew I was very supported by the team. 212 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,600 And Mark knew that, you know, my husband at the time knew 213 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:51,440 I needed to follow my, follow what was leading to me 214 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:53,400 and leading me in that direction. 215 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,080 So, you know, he supported that decision as well, 216 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,760 even though it meant kind of uncertainty for us. 217 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:00,800 Yeah, so how long between when you made the decision 218 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:01,800 and when you got the road? 219 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,560 It was like three weeks, four weeks, within a month. 220 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:05,400 Yeah. 221 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:06,240 Okay. 222 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:07,360 And then we went on. 223 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:09,480 I was going to say, did you plan it ahead 224 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,560 or you just jump in the car and go? 225 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,040 Yeah, so I planned it ahead. 226 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,400 And of course me, I'm an entrepreneur. 227 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,080 So I first started turning it into a work thing. 228 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:19,960 So I'm like, okay, I'm going, I love, 229 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,480 I'm weird to talk about, I love videos 230 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,840 and I love interviews and I love that type of stuff. 231 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,960 So I brought my camera crit with me, a bunch of outfits. 232 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,760 And I decided I was going to go around the country 233 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,000 and interview women construction owners. 234 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,280 You know, like me. 235 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:37,440 So I'm like, oh, I'll just do like some video, 236 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,320 like not podcasts, but just interviews. 237 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:40,520 And I don't know what I'm going to do with it, 238 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:41,880 but that's a great thing to do. 239 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:43,280 So I started charting my course. 240 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:44,960 I'm like, oh, I'll go up the East coast 241 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:46,960 and go visit so and so up in Boston. 242 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,680 You know, I just, I found a couple people 243 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:52,400 kind of around the country and just started kind of spacing 244 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,080 them out of what I thought I would do. 245 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,280 So yeah, it was a little bit of planning in that regard 246 00:08:58,280 --> 00:08:59,920 of just like where I was going to be when, 247 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:01,240 at least the first couple. 248 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:02,920 And I was like, I'll figure out the rest. 249 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:04,200 Did you reach out to friends? 250 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:05,240 Did you stay with friends? 251 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:06,360 Did you stay hotels? 252 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:07,720 Did you have a camper? 253 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:08,560 It was a combination. 254 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:10,800 I wish I had had a camper back then, 255 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,840 but it was a lot of Airbnb, some hotels, and then some camping. 256 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:16,880 So when I got over on the West coast, I loved to camp. 257 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:18,840 So I brought my tent and that type of stuff. 258 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,120 So I camped as much as I could. 259 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:20,920 It was October. 260 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,960 So, you know, going straight up into the Boston 261 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,000 and main area was chilly. 262 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,920 So I, and yes, I did stay with brands. 263 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,440 There was a former employee used to be a carpenter of ours. 264 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,080 He was up in that state in New York, so I stayed with him. 265 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:34,920 You know, as people started understanding 266 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,000 what I was doing on Facebook and everything, 267 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,440 I just started getting these invitations left and right, 268 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:42,080 oh, if you're coming my way, you know, 269 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:43,880 and sometimes I would like go their way. 270 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,120 I'm like, okay, I'll just stay with this person. 271 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,520 So just started having a life of its own. 272 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,840 Did you stay in places very long? 273 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:52,960 You were gone. 274 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:54,440 So you were gone three months? 275 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:55,280 Two months. 276 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,920 I did it in two, and it was funny just to circle back. 277 00:09:58,920 --> 00:09:59,760 I ended up not. 278 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,320 I did like one or two interviews with people 279 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,040 and I realized this isn't about work. 280 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:05,680 You know, this is for me. 281 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:07,360 You know, this is the one time 282 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,000 not many people get a chance to do this. 283 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,280 So I put my camera equipment in the trunk. 284 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:14,080 I was like, I don't, I'm not doing that. 285 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,560 I'm gonna follow my heart and follow where I was being led, 286 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:20,320 which was work related. 287 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,280 So yeah, I ended up going to friends. 288 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:25,560 I ended up staying in Sedona for almost 10 days. 289 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:26,520 I fell in love with that. 290 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,480 I love the West Coast. 291 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:32,040 So I went up to, well, part of the journey too, 292 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,680 what I started realizing is I wanted to go to a lot of places 293 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:37,040 that I was little because I said I grew up in Springfield 294 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:38,400 since I was nine, but before that, 295 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,000 I lived in eight places before the age of 10. 296 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,320 I was gonna say, wasn't there a story 297 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,240 about your mom and her travels? 298 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:45,240 Yeah, exactly. 299 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,200 So I had a very unusual upbringing. 300 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,480 My mother, I never knew my dad and my mother was a hippie. 301 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:52,320 Literally, I was conceived at Woodstock. 302 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:56,840 And so whenever many, many jobs and I grew up, 303 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:58,400 or I was born on the West Coast. 304 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,320 So I lived in a lot of different places over there 305 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,720 in Missouri, Oklahoma, like I said, 306 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,160 eight places before the age of 10. 307 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,000 So I, and she was a long haul truck driver 308 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:13,400 as one of her last career or whatever. 309 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,120 And she had died in an accident at a particular bridge. 310 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,520 So I went to the bridge where she passed, you know, 311 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,760 and let that go through and allow myself to grieve 312 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,000 and really kind of delve into that part of my life 313 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,400 and my connection to her and disconnection 314 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,480 because that was a long time ago. 315 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,400 So it became a real big healing journey for me. 316 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,720 Did you start out thinking it was gonna be that way? 317 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,320 No, I thought I was gonna interview women. 318 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,400 That's amazing how that happens. 319 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,920 Oh my God, the path just totally opened up 320 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:47,120 and changed for me. 321 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,760 And I felt so loved and supported by the people 322 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,000 that were reaching out and giving me a free place to stay, 323 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,600 you know, right after I went to that bridge, 324 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,800 my friends like, oh, my friend's got a beach condo in Oregon. 325 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:00,760 You can just use that because it's all season 326 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,560 and was gifted this place to stay for three nights. 327 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:06,400 It just allowed me to again, process and go on 328 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,480 to a deeper level of all that pain 329 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,400 that needed to be processed. 330 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:12,760 And you were working through the courage 331 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:14,520 of the intuition too that we talked about 332 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:15,640 in the very beginning. 333 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:16,480 Yeah. 334 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:18,360 Like just being led. 335 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:20,680 And yeah, you planned it, but it hadn't been interesting 336 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:22,600 how we have a plan and then God throws it up in the air 337 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,520 and says, I'm gonna take you this way instead. 338 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:26,480 Exactly. 339 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,080 Totally shifts the plan and the open up of people. 340 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,400 And I think when you're open, then people are very generous. 341 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:35,160 Yes, so much so. 342 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,160 It's like that energy is met, you know? 343 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:41,040 It's like you're open so then the path just kind of opens up 344 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:43,360 and people meet you where you are. 345 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,320 I stayed with people and in places I never would have 346 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:48,920 if I'd been on my work journey that I had started at. 347 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:50,480 Yeah, so true. 348 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,640 We need to let go and fill our cup. 349 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:56,600 And that's one of the things I've been talking about 350 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,280 a lot with people is we need to fill our cup. 351 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,320 We are just exhausted, surviving. 352 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,040 And after the last three years of really surviving 353 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:06,520 and having to recreate businesses 354 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:08,240 and do so many different things. 355 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,040 And I think people are looking at, okay, what's next? 356 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:12,160 And what can I do? 357 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,680 And I've thought about this trip adventure many times. 358 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,640 When I was 16 years old, 359 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,680 I don't know what possessed my father to do this 360 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:25,680 or my parents, but they bought an RV. 361 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:30,400 And we went cross country for five weeks. 362 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:32,080 Five, yeah. 363 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,200 That's crazy enough, he owned his own business. 364 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,240 So he could work on the road. 365 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,280 And it's funny how much I'm so much like him 366 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:39,840 because the last few years I have done 367 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,160 not necessarily travel cross country, 368 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,560 but literally we had some stops of places 369 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:48,600 where he grew up in California and different things. 370 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:49,960 That was where he was from. 371 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,840 But a lot of it was like we would get up in the morning 372 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,320 and we would grab the then camper book. 373 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,680 He promised my mother that we would stay 374 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:00,480 in hotels majority of the time. 375 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:02,880 But we actually, I think we stayed in one or two, 376 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:03,720 stay in the camper. 377 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,760 Now the other really crazy thing about the story, 378 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,080 and I need to interview my mother on this about this, 379 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,680 is there are five of us kids at that point. 380 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:13,720 My youngest sister, the first four of us, 381 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:15,760 I was 16, so Chris was 12. 382 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:17,880 Amanda wasn't born yet. 383 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,640 Catherine was five weeks old when we left. 384 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:21,960 Five weeks? 385 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:23,120 Five weeks. 386 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,480 She spent the first five to 10 weeks of her life 387 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:28,080 on the road in the camper. 388 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:29,120 Is that crazy? 389 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:31,200 And I didn't appreciate it, 390 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:36,200 like the fact that my dad took five weeks from work 391 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,160 to go on a road trip with us. 392 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,120 And literally we would get the camper book out 393 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,360 when we woke up because we were teenagers 394 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:45,800 and pick where we wanted to go, stay, 395 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,840 because based on what pools and what amenities they had. 396 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,800 And then we'd stop at early afternoon 397 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,800 and my dad would go to the payphone and start working. 398 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,000 But so many cool lessons and looking back, 399 00:14:58,000 --> 00:14:59,960 that I thought I really want to duplicate it. 400 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:03,080 Actually, after Raj told me about you, 401 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:04,640 that night I went to bed and I made a list 402 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,440 of the why not today road trip. 403 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:07,280 Oh, wow. 404 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,840 In all the places, and I know people all over the country, 405 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:11,400 all the places I wanted to go 406 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,960 and see and eventually I'm gonna have to do it. 407 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:15,800 Yeah, absolutely. 408 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:16,640 Yeah. 409 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:17,960 But I always wanted somebody to go with me, 410 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:21,000 but I'm thinking it's probably gotta be a solo journey. 411 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:22,920 It's nice to be able to do that. 412 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,120 It really is just to kind of have that time for yourself. 413 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:26,960 Yeah. 414 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:28,800 And I love getting in the car and driving. 415 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,680 So, all right, so lessons learned. 416 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:33,400 Oh, lessons learned. 417 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:36,840 Or your favorite places, your favorite people or... 418 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:37,680 So what are the things... 419 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:39,600 Did you make new friends that you never knew 420 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,000 and are you still connected to people on the road? 421 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,000 Well, yeah, so a couple of questions there. 422 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,040 So my favorite place I'll share it was, 423 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,280 I decided to go when I hit California 424 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:50,080 to a number of the places that I'd lived. 425 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:51,560 And so I went to this one place, 426 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:52,600 it's called Sunset Beach, 427 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,440 it's right near Huntington Beach, right in LA. 428 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:59,200 And I pulled up, I just found the place. 429 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,600 Like I looked online to figure out what it looked like. 430 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:02,600 I remembered it in my mind 431 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:04,680 because it was my happiest childhood memories. 432 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:08,240 And I just pulled up and I went to the beach, 433 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,920 I just started crying because I just felt that energy. 434 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,440 I was like, oh my God, I remember these volleyball nets 435 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:16,560 and the sand type of things. 436 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:17,960 I knew I was in the right place. 437 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,160 And then I walked directly to my house 438 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,560 that I had not seen since I was seven years old. 439 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:24,240 Like I just went right to it. 440 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:26,960 So that was my favorite place. 441 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,320 I ended up staying there for two nights in a hotel 442 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,680 and like ended up going to this little bar 443 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:33,160 that was in this little community. 444 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:36,200 And I had a drink for mom with the locals. 445 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,320 And so it was really, really cool. 446 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,880 Lessons learned, oh my God. 447 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,080 Again, obviously following your gut 448 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:44,920 and that type of thing, 449 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,920 allowing yourself to be really open to whatever happens 450 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,760 and to allow yourself to put yourself out there. 451 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:54,160 Cause I could have done this very quietly 452 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:56,720 but I went ahead and put it on social media. 453 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,400 And I'm not a big social media person. 454 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:00,160 I don't post a lot. 455 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:01,000 But I said, you know what? 456 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:02,120 I'm putting it out there. 457 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:03,560 And that's what opened the doors for me. 458 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,160 And so, yeah, somebody that I didn't know that well, 459 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,560 I knew of her and we had met at networking events 460 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,320 is Sam Horn, who's like a author of a bazillion books. 461 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,720 She's extremely famous. 462 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:15,640 She was like, oh my God, 463 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:17,720 if you come to Colorado, come and stay with me. 464 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:19,120 And I stayed with her for two days. 465 00:17:19,120 --> 00:17:21,160 She opened up her home, we went out to dinner. 466 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,200 She gave me writing tips on how to write a book. 467 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:26,480 And I mean, she was just so generous. 468 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:28,120 And so, you know, it's just, 469 00:17:28,120 --> 00:17:30,640 I had that happen over and over and over. 470 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,360 I might need her contact information for my podcast. 471 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:37,280 Absolutely. 472 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,480 Yeah, so, yeah, there's no words. 473 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:41,640 No words. 474 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,280 People are very generous and people want to help. 475 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:46,000 And what we don't ask. 476 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:46,920 Yeah. 477 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,520 And so being open to asking, 478 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,720 and I love that you put it on social. 479 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,560 And, you know, I love and hate social media 480 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:56,560 that I didn't even know about any of this. 481 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:58,800 You know, all these things were happening. 482 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:00,040 Right, I know. 483 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,680 It's connection, but then it's not. 484 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,520 So it's like, how do you ever gather enough information? 485 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:06,800 You just wait for the algorithms 486 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:08,600 to put the right thing in your feed. 487 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:09,960 So it's a little odd. 488 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:11,360 Yeah, exactly. 489 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:14,200 So I don't want to talk about bad things, 490 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,440 but did you have any struggles or anything 491 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:22,240 that took the courage to plow through with you? 492 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,240 Yeah, I think it was an interesting time of my life. 493 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:27,200 And we can go back to kind of when we met. 494 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:28,920 And I was kind of going through it, 495 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:30,280 that we kind of hinted at, you know, 496 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,040 I came back from the trip and then COVID hit 497 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,360 very shortly thereafter. 498 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:38,080 And so I just kind of went back into my life, you know, 499 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,320 went back into my business, went back into my marriage 500 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:41,720 and just said, okay, I feel better 501 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,120 because I just did all this healing. 502 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:45,800 So it's like, okay, then everything must be fine. 503 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,080 Cause I just kind of went back to life as it was, 504 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:49,600 especially when COVID hit. 505 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:51,280 Cause it was just like, oh my God, the world's ending. 506 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:52,560 Like what's happening here? 507 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,800 So it took me a couple more years to realize, oh no, 508 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,200 I do actually need to make a choice 509 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,160 and a decision to leave the relationship. 510 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,000 And then actually put more energy back into my business. 511 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,280 So I ended up, you know, getting a divorce 512 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,400 and that's when we met and was kind of going 513 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:10,560 through that process. 514 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:12,160 And then purchasing them out of the company, 515 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,880 running synergy, you know, we've had this for 15 years 516 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,520 and I've been running it for myself now a year and a half. 517 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:19,840 And honestly, we've never been doing better. 518 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:21,120 The team is incredible. 519 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:22,440 The clients are incredible. 520 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,080 And I just had this whole new life and energy to me, 521 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,600 really being able to kind of steer it the way 522 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:30,640 and the direction that I want based on the foundation 523 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:31,880 that we had created together. 524 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:36,040 So it really all ended up in the end, great for everybody, 525 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,160 but it took me a couple of years to figure it out 526 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:39,240 even after my trip. 527 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,920 Cause I just kind of went right back into that old cycle. 528 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,280 For the hardest part, that second level of courage 529 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,360 was making a choice to leave that relationship, you know, 530 00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:49,080 kind of in the eyes of everybody, 531 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,240 a lot of people in rest and know us and know our journey 532 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:53,360 and knew of my trip. 533 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:55,400 And then two years later to say, oh no, 534 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:56,520 I actually am leaving. 535 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,240 Like it was, it was a little odd. 536 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,200 And that took probably the most courage I've ever had my life 537 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,280 was to make that choice. 538 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:04,120 Yeah, yeah. 539 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:05,160 Yeah, definitely. 540 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,640 And we all like that. 541 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:09,760 And I can see how happy you are 542 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:11,880 and how much you love your business. 543 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,360 And you know, those of us that own our own businesses, 544 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:16,000 we do love our business and we love to work. 545 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,120 And you know, one day I reached out to you 546 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:20,360 and it'd been a Sunday, I think, 547 00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:21,600 and you said you went to the office 548 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,680 and just worked to lighten some night. 549 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:25,360 And that's when we love what we do 550 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:27,360 and we have that passion, we want to work. 551 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:29,480 It's not work, it's really good. 552 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,800 And I have a good friend of mine that works 553 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,680 for the school system and people that work like that nine 554 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,760 to five that whatever hours, they don't get it. 555 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:42,640 And I'm like, yeah, I work seven days a week, 556 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:44,920 but I can take three hours off on a Tuesday. 557 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,680 And you know, I have that flexibility 558 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,800 and I love what I do and it's fun to me. 559 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,040 And hell, it's fun for you. 560 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:53,880 Yeah, absolutely. 561 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,920 I love the flexibility of being able to get my hair done 562 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:58,240 on a Tuesday in the middle of the day. 563 00:20:58,240 --> 00:20:59,600 Or if I need to go to the grocery store, 564 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:01,600 there's no lines because I'm not in the evening. 565 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,960 There used to be a lot more flexibility 566 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,280 or a lot more ease in doing things during the week. 567 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,800 But now it seems like everybody is out all the time. 568 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,280 There's nobody that works in Northern Virginia. 569 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:16,960 Fair enough, fair enough. 570 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,680 Anything else you want to share about your trip or? 571 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:21,960 Well, I will tell you, so I think it's fun 572 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,440 in that when I got over to the West Coast 573 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:26,240 as part of my trip, I love going down 574 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,240 the Pacific Coast Highway, so the whole California. 575 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,760 We did that in a 25-foot RV, by the way. 576 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:33,920 25, oh my gosh. 577 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,680 And at 16, I drove a lot. 578 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,440 My mom drove for 45 minutes 579 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,120 and my dad and I drove the rest of the time. 580 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:40,960 Oh wow. 581 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:42,800 And I was like, just got redrivers. 582 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:44,280 It was a great experience then. 583 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,000 Yeah, you're a great driver, I'm sure, because of that. 584 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,520 I don't know. 585 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:52,160 Yeah, when I was over there, I was like, I love this, 586 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:53,800 but I was kind of on a time schedule. 587 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:55,240 I had to go like to meet somebody else 588 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:57,000 that invited me or whatever, so I'm like, 589 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,760 I'm coming back here and renting a camper 590 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,280 and really spending some time on the West Coast. 591 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,280 So I actually did that just a few weeks ago 592 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:05,280 right around the holidays. 593 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,480 I flew over to California, rented a camper, 594 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,520 and spent 10 days over there visiting a friend 595 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,560 and then going out to Yosemite and just really enjoying myself. 596 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:17,520 And so that was kind of a bucket list of promise 597 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:19,040 that I had made to myself. 598 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:21,080 And I got so inspired, because I've always loved camping. 599 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,200 I mean, usually in a tent and everything, 600 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:24,320 but I came back, I'm like, all right, 601 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:25,760 I'm getting myself a little camper. 602 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:29,520 So I literally just bought a like a two-person camper. 603 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:31,080 It's one of those teardrop campers. 604 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,160 I can tie it or tug it behind my Jeep, 605 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,280 which was another thing that I purchased last year. 606 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,440 So just finding that new energy 607 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:40,800 and what really lights me up. 608 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:41,640 So I'm excited. 609 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:43,800 Yeah, I have a nice little camper that I can camp on. 610 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,160 And in the weekends, I can't wait for the nice weather. 611 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,960 I'm not a camper, but maybe you'll convince me to try it. 612 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:51,800 There you go. 613 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,400 So how would you encourage somebody else 614 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,120 to go on the trip, for do the thing, 615 00:22:58,120 --> 00:22:59,960 is to listen to their intuition, 616 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:02,240 to be correct and say, why not today? 617 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,760 Yeah, I think because it's, 618 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:08,480 I'm thinking right now of the movie, The Matrix. 619 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:09,400 I've never seen that. 620 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:10,480 I need to see that. 621 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:11,960 Well, you're given a choice. 622 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,600 The guy's given a choice very early on 623 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:16,400 of going one direction or another. 624 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,720 And the guy who's offering the choice says, 625 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,240 well, you know, you know, kind of where this one takes you. 626 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:23,000 You're welcome to continue down this path 627 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,200 or you can go to this one that doesn't. 628 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,640 So I think the courage or if it's a trip 629 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,160 or if it's just taking a path that you haven't been, 630 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:31,560 it's a little bit more uncomfortable, 631 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,560 but yet it feels right to you or there's this pull. 632 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:36,960 You know where you're at. 633 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:38,680 You know where that ends, quote unquote. 634 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,120 So go that other path. 635 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:42,800 And I think that's always been kind of a, not a motto, 636 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,280 but I think it's kind of helped push me along 637 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,120 when something instead of just staying in my cocoon, 638 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:50,000 say, oh, but it's really comfortable right now. 639 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,800 I was like, no, let me just go and find out 640 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,560 where this leads and it's kind of scary, 641 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:55,840 but it's exciting and let's figure it out 642 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,640 and just know that you're held by friends, family, 643 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:01,240 you know, the energies that surround you 644 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,080 in your life here and beyond, quite frankly. 645 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:05,920 And isn't it so true that when you walk out 646 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,600 of that comfort zone and do the things that are a little scary, 647 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:11,000 that there's always blessings behind it. 648 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,080 Oh, you just never know. 649 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:14,600 And if you stay in the little cocoon 650 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,440 and don't try anything, you're missing out 651 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:17,960 in so many blessings. 652 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,600 I often quote Daniel Pink who wrote a book about regrets. 653 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:26,600 And he talked about, you rarely regret something you did. 654 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:30,840 We always regret the things we didn't do. 655 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:31,880 And so just do it. 656 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,880 And, you know, I always play the game in my head, 657 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:35,760 what's the worst thing that's gonna happen? 658 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:37,840 You know, when I put my job, it was like, 659 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:39,640 what's the worst thing that's gonna happen? 660 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:41,320 You know, the MK business didn't work 661 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:42,480 and I'd have to get another job. 662 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,320 And that was four years ago. 663 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,840 So, you know, starting the podcast, doing the things, 664 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,920 and sometimes, you know, and I know the struggles 665 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:51,760 were real for people. 666 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,920 Sometimes the why not today is getting out of bed. 667 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:56,360 Yeah, I've been there. 668 00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:59,000 And there's blessings behind it. 669 00:24:59,000 --> 00:24:59,840 Yeah, yeah. 670 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:01,600 I mean, mental health is no joke. 671 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,560 And sometimes we get to those cycles in our lives 672 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,840 that really, you know, really have us go within, 673 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,920 in and go digging and kind of get through that pain. 674 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,040 But on the other side is that freedom and that, you know, 675 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:14,800 it's almost like the seasons, you know? 676 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,200 And I think that's one thing about my trip, I'll say. 677 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,560 I got to experience all four seasons in two months. 678 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:21,440 You know, I got the snow, the weather, 679 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,160 I got the Arizona heat, you know, that whole thing. 680 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,000 Really got connected to how much we're living 681 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,040 in the cycle of life. 682 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,040 And the seasons include our internal experience. 683 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:32,880 Oh, absolutely. 684 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:34,040 About our world. 685 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:35,760 Yeah, I heard somebody the other day saying, you know, 686 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,000 you're either in a, you know, you're in a growing, 687 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,560 a reaping, you know, there's a time, you know, winter time, 688 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:44,560 it's cold, I'm not a big outdoor person. 689 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,680 And, you know, I find I kind of go in and stay in 690 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,840 and do some projects in the house and other things 691 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,040 that you put off when it's nice out. 692 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:54,400 I'm not going to be in my house. 693 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:55,240 Right, right. 694 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,800 And though taking the time to work on us. 695 00:25:58,800 --> 00:25:59,640 Yeah. 696 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:00,680 Is so necessary. 697 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:02,000 Yeah, for sure. 698 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,200 Yeah. 699 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,360 So I love all the courage and all your stories. 700 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:06,960 I know you've got lots of things we could talk about 701 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,120 otherwise, but we're just going to leave it at that. 702 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:11,560 So I always taught, when I do these, 703 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,480 I always try to trace it back to my dad. 704 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,440 And I said, you've never done, didn't know my dad. 705 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,040 And people are like, I don't know, didn't know your dad, 706 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:21,280 heard of them or I didn't know him. 707 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:23,040 But so lots of things you said. 708 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,680 First of all, I remember that day at Christmas, 709 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:26,920 I came to visit you in your office 710 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:28,000 and you kind of gave me the little tour. 711 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,520 There's somebody you worked with. 712 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,120 He's like, you introduced me with Leslie Kane. 713 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:34,920 He's like, I know your dad or do you dad? 714 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:36,000 I don't know if he was still alive. 715 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,520 He may have been alive at that point, 716 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:39,400 but somebody that worked with my dad years ago. 717 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:43,560 So my dad's background was actually architecture. 718 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,800 That's what he went to school for. 719 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,320 He ended up doing more city planning. 720 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:50,480 So you definitely have that connection. 721 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,200 Obviously the trip that he did this adventure with us. 722 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,160 And he grew up in California. 723 00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:58,800 He grew up in LA. 724 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,680 And I remember on our trip going to Huntington Beach 725 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:04,120 and driving past there. 726 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:06,720 And it was summertime, but I remember going in the ocean 727 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,480 when it was like, it was freezing. 728 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,280 And then also just the remote working part of the trip. 729 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,280 That was like what he did. 730 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,680 And, you know, not having a plan, which I love. 731 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,680 Well, and I love that his remote working was like 732 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,400 way before it's time. 733 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,240 Like if you just picture him had a pay phone, you know, 734 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:25,840 doing business like that is just- 735 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:26,920 Yeah, he was so ahead. 736 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:28,760 If you look back so ahead of his time, 737 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,240 because when I was 10, my grandfather passed away. 738 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:33,080 Okay. 739 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:34,000 In California. 740 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,880 And literally I remember coming home from school 741 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,400 and my mom's like, pack your bags. 742 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:39,960 We're going to California. 743 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,280 And my dad was on a trip and actually we met him 744 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,840 at the bottom of the hill in the cab. 745 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,160 And he jumped in the car and we all went to the airport 746 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:49,480 and we went to California. 747 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:50,960 And that was in October. 748 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,120 We stayed there until March. 749 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:54,960 Oh, wow. 750 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:56,640 March, I think. 751 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,320 We stayed in my grandfather's house to settle the estate. 752 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:00,480 And honestly, my parents, 753 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,560 my dad wanted to move back to California. 754 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,160 Yeah, that was his goal. 755 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,560 But he, my mom stayed there with us kids, 756 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,680 which I remember he, it was funny. 757 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:10,600 She has four kids. 758 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,040 There were only four of us at that point. 759 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,680 And like literally packed suitcases. 760 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,320 So she went to Toys R Us and popped the trunk open 761 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:19,760 and it was like Christmas. 762 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:21,600 I love it. 763 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,080 But, oh my gosh, we had so many fun adventures being there. 764 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:26,800 But he flew back and forth 765 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:28,640 because his business was all over. 766 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:30,720 And he worked remotely from there. 767 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,400 And then I remember being his kids, we'd go on trips. 768 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,160 We didn't necessarily go on spring break. 769 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:36,960 They just pull us out of school and we'd go on trips 770 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:38,840 if he had a job in Maine. 771 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:40,360 So we all went to Maine. 772 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,800 And I remember going to LL Bean in the middle of the night. 773 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,280 You know, because you go shopping in the middle of the night. 774 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,680 So yeah, we just jumped in the car and whenever 775 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,920 we just traveling, yeah, he did remote work 776 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,920 long before remote work. 777 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:53,960 Right, yeah. 778 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,200 What a great foundation for you. 779 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,160 Like what a great, just, you know, upbringing that you had. 780 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:00,800 And I know everybody has their challenges. 781 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,200 I'm not by any means perfect childhood. 782 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,960 But at the same time, it's like, what a great foundation 783 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:08,800 and what a roadmap he gave you so early in life. 784 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,440 That's such a, again, back to the blessings. 785 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:12,680 Yes, absolutely. 786 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,120 And as I'm getting older and realizing the things 787 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,280 and as I'm doing this podcast and talking about him more, 788 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:21,600 it's just really eye-opening that I am very much like him. 789 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,320 And following a path and yeah, I'm going to do that trip 790 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:25,440 one of these days. 791 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,240 So, well, thank you for being our guests. 792 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:32,800 If anybody listening, watching, please go subscribe. 793 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,760 Especially I heard the other day that if you subscribe to Apple, 794 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:37,560 the podcast on Apple helps the numbers. 795 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,800 But review it, rate it, share it with a friend. 796 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:42,960 We're starting to do some fun things locally. 797 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,240 If you're listening from the North Virginia area, 798 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,800 we, I'm kicking off Why Not Connects Lunch on Thursday. 799 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:52,720 And my first guest is Ms. Mina Lux teaching about Fungish Way. 800 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:54,120 Yay. 801 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,840 And I'm going to do some other things to gather people 802 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:58,800 and connect and build community. 803 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:00,240 And then maybe take it on the road. 804 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:01,680 Maybe that's my road trip. 805 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:03,160 Oh, I love it. 806 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,480 I do have Why Not Today T-shirts and cups if anybody wants it. 807 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,320 You can find them on the website, which is just 808 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,000 winottodaypodcast.com. 809 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:12,160 And keep coming back. 810 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,160 We are now on a weekly episode. 811 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,760 And I think I'm going to start adding one week with just me, 812 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:21,280 sharing lessons I've learned through this process. 813 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:23,320 So thanks again, Mina, for being my guest. 814 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,600 And thank you for everybody for listening and watching 815 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,200 the Why Not Today podcast. 816 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,640 And as I always say, why not today? 817 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:34,640 Thank you.