1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,480 Welcome to the Why Not Today podcast where we celebrate courage, determination, and the 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:08,920 power of saying why not today. 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,520 I'm your host, Leslie Cain, and in each episode we dive into inspiring stories of individuals 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:18,740 who have taken bold steps, faced their fears, and embraced the possibility of today. 5 00:00:18,740 --> 00:00:22,760 From entrepreneurs to artists, dreamers to doers, we explore the moments when they said 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,520 enough waiting, why not today? 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,680 Join me as we uncover the heartwarming, the audacious, and the transformative. 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:34,440 Whether it's pursuing a lifelong passion, overcoming obstacles, or simply choosing joy, 9 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:36,800 our guests share their journeys and inspire us all. 10 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:42,520 I started this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Cain, who often said why not today. 11 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,080 And remember we're just one decision away from changing our lives. 12 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:51,120 And so welcome to the Why Not Today podcast again, and really why not today? 13 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,600 I'm kind of evolving as we're going. 14 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:57,960 This is almost three years, and I really feel like why not today is a movement, and a movement 15 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,840 to encourage people to live their life, live their lives with courage, and pursue their 16 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:03,920 dreams. 17 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:08,400 And so I love all the stories that I've heard, the story behind the story, the why not today 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:09,560 moments. 19 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,200 And so my guest today is Tom Thomas. 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:13,200 Did you go by Tom? 21 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:14,200 Tom? 22 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:15,200 Tom is good. 23 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,160 Tom, Tom Schweitzer. 24 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:23,160 And I heard about you about a year ago at the social collectives team. 25 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:28,880 And then I've had several people say, oh my gosh, you have to have Tom on your podcast. 26 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:35,400 And then we happened to be at a gala about a month ago, and somebody walked, you walked 27 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:40,240 up with your co-founder, and I'm like, oh, and we tried to connect and we couldn't. 28 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,200 And so I'm so excited to have you on. 29 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,400 And I love the connections. 30 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,840 Another good friend of mine, Kelly, well, Kelly Goose is now I know, or Kelly Barr, you 31 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:49,840 worked with. 32 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:54,000 Just fun to see all the connections in the community, and I'm excited to have you on. 33 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,120 You've got some amazing why not today moments and stories of courage. 34 00:01:58,120 --> 00:01:59,800 And I love what you're doing. 35 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:04,520 And it aligns with my heart with working with special needs and my sister Amanda, which 36 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:06,600 we've got to get in the fold of you. 37 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,960 So Tom, introduce yourself a little about you, not your whole courage journey, not your 38 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,000 whole just who you are and a fun fact. 39 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,040 And then we'll get into courage. 40 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,840 Leslie, thank you for having me. 41 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:21,760 I'm very honored. 42 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,440 And so I'm a music therapist. 43 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,280 I'm the co-founder of a place to be in Loudoun County, Virginia. 44 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:29,960 We are 15 years old. 45 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:37,000 We're a nonprofit organization helping the world find community belonging and hope working 46 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,240 with people with and without disabilities. 47 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:41,240 I'm an actor. 48 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:42,240 I'm a writer. 49 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,680 I'm a lover of life. 50 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,240 Fun fact about me, about my family. 51 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:55,440 Maybe my I'm related to a very large Italian family that owns an amazing amusement park 52 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:57,760 outside of Altoona, Pennsylvania. 53 00:02:57,760 --> 00:02:59,080 Oh, well. 54 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:05,000 And also we have a spaghetti sauce that is international called Del Grosso sauce or La 55 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:06,080 Familia. 56 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:07,720 So I always find that's a fun fact. 57 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:08,720 Oh, that's a fun fact. 58 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,120 Do you have the family recipe that you share? 59 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:12,120 I do. 60 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:13,120 I do. 61 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,640 But I think around here you can get it. 62 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:21,440 I got it at Wegmans, Martins and probably Walmart, I think. 63 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,200 Harris Teeter was holding it for a while. 64 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,480 But yeah, so that's because you're going to learn all the other personal things about 65 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:27,480 me. 66 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:28,480 So I love that. 67 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:29,960 Well, I might have to look for the sauce. 68 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:30,960 Yeah. 69 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:32,520 Not know the Italian background. 70 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:37,760 And we are doing for the first time my sister's hosting Christmas Eve and we're doing seven 71 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:38,760 fishes. 72 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,360 I guess an Italian thing. 73 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:42,720 So you will smell for seven days after. 74 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,800 Oh, well, we're doing it at her house, so yay. 75 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,080 Yeah, that's the thing in our family too. 76 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:54,040 We always were like, whoever hosts that night, let them host it. 77 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:55,040 And it's such a good night. 78 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:56,560 I love the seven fishes. 79 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,960 Well, when we're done, you might have to give me some suggestions and ideas. 80 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:00,960 So she just sent an invite. 81 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,040 I'm not sure what we're doing, but I think it'll be fun. 82 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:04,040 Huge missions. 83 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,360 Yeah, you want to bring an outfit that you can put over, an outfit, and then you take 84 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:09,360 that off. 85 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:10,360 Okay. 86 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:11,360 Good tips. 87 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:12,480 So love that. 88 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,800 And I love that you said community, involvement, and hope. 89 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:18,360 Community belonging and hope. 90 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:19,840 Belonging, even better. 91 00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:22,960 And that's really what I am about and love all those. 92 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:27,960 So all right, what does courage mean to you, Tom? 93 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:33,000 Courage to me means, it means vulnerability. 94 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:40,360 It means that you're not afraid to reach deep inside of what is vulnerable inside of yourself. 95 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:53,200 Where your darkest thoughts, your dreams, the part of yourself that you have some fear about, 96 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:59,800 where loneliness resides, where there's a hole, where you dig inside of that part of 97 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:07,680 yourself to make a difference in the world for others. 98 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:13,840 And I think anybody that has, the people I admire very much in my life who have had courage, 99 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:20,280 so many people either faced with some sort of trauma. 100 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:24,640 And we both, I'm sure you and I both have tons of friends, either cancer survivors or 101 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,200 something is going on or a car wreck. 102 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:31,120 And our life is so fragile right now, our lives. 103 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:37,800 And there's so much chaos going on that I think it's the best time to be courageous and 104 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:39,800 it's a really hard time to be courageous. 105 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:47,840 And so I learned courage a long time ago when I learned that I would have to dig inside 106 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:53,800 to really find who I am and then to see what I could dig up, what I could excavate from 107 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,160 myself to go out and help other people. 108 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,000 That's my, that's sort of the definition I see. 109 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:06,840 And we can just stop now because that's an, oh my goodness, I love that. 110 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:07,840 And so true. 111 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:12,000 And I was just listening to a podcast and I said, talk about loneliness and that's just 112 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,600 something that has hit my heart so hard that people are so lonely and our world is upside 113 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:19,640 down and we're just talking about a situation. 114 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:24,000 We're not going to go into the situation right now because hopefully by the time somebody 115 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,000 listens to this or 20 years from now when you listen to this, it's a matter. 116 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,640 So we're not going into it, but I think you said, yeah, this world is upside down. 117 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:38,840 It is upside down and loneliness is obviously more in a crisis. 118 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:45,080 And that's, so when you are mission here at a place to be community, belonging and hope, 119 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,720 belonging that middle word is so important. 120 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:53,000 And there are studies that have been done now on, you know, what is belonging, how a 121 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,520 person's life is forever changed when they belong to something. 122 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,920 And at the end of the day, Leslie, that's all we're trying to do. 123 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:03,720 We're trying to wake up in the morning and belong to something. 124 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:11,120 And that is something we are extremely, we're very passionate about here that everybody 125 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,200 that walks through our doors here at a place to be feels like they belong. 126 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:20,520 Well, I think the whole belonging thing, it's the connections to like, if you can find that 127 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:24,160 mutual connection, that was something my dad was brilliant about, like getting to know 128 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:25,160 people asking questions. 129 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,600 Like, can you find that mutual connection? 130 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:32,320 Like I went immediately when we first met, you told me you grew up in Altoona. 131 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:37,800 I'm like, oh, we drove past Altoona, you know, I stopped at McDonald's or, you know, nothing 132 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,680 more than drive through, but a media life out connected to you. 133 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:42,680 Hopefully not McDonald's. 134 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:43,680 Get that. 135 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:45,680 It's in the news. 136 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:50,080 So, but yeah, we'd stop there on the way to go skiing. 137 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,080 And but that was immediate connection. 138 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:53,880 Yeah, you went to Blue Knob, right? 139 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:54,880 Yeah. 140 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:57,000 Did you ski there? 141 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:58,000 Yeah. 142 00:07:58,000 --> 00:07:59,800 Well, no, I was not a skier. 143 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,120 I went there with I went there with friends to watch them ski. 144 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:04,120 Okay. 145 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:08,000 So yeah, our good friends of our family owned those mountains. 146 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:09,000 Okay. 147 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,080 So that's exactly I mean, connection is it right? 148 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,160 And that is what we are missing. 149 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:15,160 Right. 150 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,920 And if you can find that connection, you went to the same school you even if it was 151 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:23,040 20, 100 years apart, you find that connection. 152 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,240 And I think once you can find that you build that trust with people. 153 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:27,240 Totally. 154 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,960 And so, and you feel like you belong, which is exactly. 155 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,840 And something that connects, you know, and that's the thing that we're having a problem 156 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,160 with in the world right now is, right? 157 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:39,720 How do you connect to other people? 158 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:41,800 And people are shut down. 159 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:43,480 A lot of people are shut down. 160 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:45,240 A lot of people don't know how to connect. 161 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:51,120 And when you work with the populations we work with, which you know very well, if you're 162 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:57,400 in a minority, if you're in the world of disability, connections are hard. 163 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:03,520 Try being in a wheelchair and how isolated you feel most of your day anyway, or autism 164 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,600 that has trouble communicating. 165 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:13,000 So what we do here is the moment you walk in, we want you to feel like, you know, without 166 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:19,400 the religion, you're at church, you're here as a community, gathering place. 167 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:23,280 And that's what we, that's what we hopefully do for all of our clients here and all the 168 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,440 performers we have here at a place to be. 169 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,200 And music is such an important thing. 170 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,200 I met somebody the other night in an event and he walked up to me, introduced himself, 171 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,200 so what do you do for fun? 172 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:36,800 And not what do you do to make money? 173 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:38,680 I don't, he says, I don't care about that. 174 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:43,400 I'm like, well, what I do for fun is actually a business when I talked about the podcast. 175 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,560 And he said, the reason I asked that question is he said, a couple years ago, I was in ICU 176 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:51,840 dying and I had to call my daughters and tell them, no, I'd probably never see him again. 177 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,120 And obviously still on the side of the earth and doing great. 178 00:09:55,120 --> 00:10:00,920 But he said, ever since that moment, he's like, I've been passionate about asking questions, 179 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:02,600 getting people to know people. 180 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:04,320 And we talked about the music. 181 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:09,600 And he said that when people that he know, unfortunately are dying, cancer, something, 182 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:14,160 he creates a music playlist for them of their favorite music and shared that with them. 183 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,040 He said he had a good friend passing away and he was pretty unconscious and he played 184 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,120 his, their favorite song that they had as friends. 185 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,560 And he said he opened his eyes and so music is so powerful. 186 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:28,960 So I want to get into the whole place to be and how that came about, but I want to go 187 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:30,560 way back. 188 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:35,320 You told me your first why not say moment and it goes back to the starfish I always wear 189 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,960 and you never know who that one person that's going to make a difference. 190 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,160 It's going to take your life completely pivotal. 191 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,440 And you told me a story and I can remember it vividly when you told me where I was sitting. 192 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:47,880 So it was a why not say moment for me. 193 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:53,520 So share that first why not say moment that changed the trajectory of your life. 194 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:55,280 Sure. 195 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:59,680 Born and raised in Altoona, Pennsylvania in the 70s. 196 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:04,160 Very gray, dismal time in Pennsylvania in Altoona at that point. 197 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,800 I lived in a very crowded neighborhood. 198 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,520 My mom was very ill. 199 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:17,120 She was obese and had diabetes and a very severe heart condition. 200 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,080 My dad was paranoid schizophrenic. 201 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:27,360 I was an only child and my household was pretty much hell. 202 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,520 Although my mom made sure to make beautiful moments for me and I was loved. 203 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:33,360 I was loved by the rest of my family. 204 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,800 I was loved by the neighbors. 205 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:42,600 Around eight years old, I always fascinated about the church that was across the street 206 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:43,880 from my house. 207 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:50,400 And one of my my father being schizophrenic, one of his triggers was religion, which is 208 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,480 a very common thing for paranoid schizophrenia. 209 00:11:53,480 --> 00:12:01,120 He had complete conversations with God, with the devil. 210 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:06,000 But I would hear this beautiful music pouring out of these stained glass windows across 211 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:07,480 the street at the church. 212 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:09,320 And you would hear the organ. 213 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:15,120 Every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, all week long, I'd hear the bells. 214 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:21,400 And at that point in my life, I slept in the living room with my mom. 215 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:22,880 I slept on one couch. 216 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:23,920 She slept on another. 217 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,640 My couch was up against a big window. 218 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:28,200 That's where I felt safest. 219 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,840 My mom felt I was safe, my dad was also abusive. 220 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:35,400 And at night, I would pull back the curtains and I would stare across the street at that 221 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:37,160 church and I would pray. 222 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:43,640 And as I say in my show, I used to pray to, I thought it was a radio tower because remember, 223 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:48,800 radio was really big, seven, eight, and I thought the steeple of the church was a radio 224 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:49,800 tower. 225 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:56,440 And I myself, if I live that close to a radio tower, you know, I must have amazing reception. 226 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:59,600 So I thought that God, God, we hear bears a little bit louder. 227 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:01,600 Love that thought process. 228 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:02,600 Yeah. 229 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:07,800 So one Sunday morning, I just, I couldn't take my house hold anymore. 230 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,120 I couldn't take the screaming. 231 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,600 I couldn't take the abuse. 232 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:16,560 And I was in my pajamas and I heard the music from across the street and I ran out as fast 233 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:18,920 as I could across the street. 234 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,080 I went up to the steps. 235 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:27,160 And at the top of the steps, this part, all of this is actually how it happened. 236 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,800 And this next part, sometimes people hear this next part and they think, oh, no way. 237 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,600 I also think there's no way this happened, but it did. 238 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,360 I got up to the top of the steps, the big red doors open, and there stands this Sunday 239 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,560 school teacher. 240 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:47,960 She has a three-piece skirt suit and she had a big, tall beehive and these little cat glasses. 241 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:52,800 And she asked me, what took you so long to cross the street? 242 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,440 We've been waiting for you. 243 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:59,520 And to this day, you know, I don't know. 244 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,960 I don't know if she saw my face in the window throughout the years, but her name was Erdine 245 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:04,960 Grissinger. 246 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:05,960 She died in her midnight. 247 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,080 I was going to say, she's still alive. 248 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,360 Oh, she, she passed away, I think it was probably about 10 years ago, but I did get to see her 249 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,040 before she passed away. 250 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:15,200 Wow. 251 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:16,200 And there was it. 252 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:20,520 And I walked into her Sunday school room and there was a piano. 253 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:25,240 The first piano I ever touched and she sat beside me and she, you know, it's kind of 254 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:26,240 cool. 255 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,200 I have one here. 256 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:35,240 And I played and, you know, all she had to do and oh, and she was, she played a song 257 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:40,120 for me. 258 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:44,040 And every time she'd play a song, she'd end the song with what she called a grand finale. 259 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:50,280 So it could even be amazing grace. 260 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,200 It would end like this. 261 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,800 Love it. 262 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:01,680 And if you're listening and not watching, he looks like somebody with a grand finale. 263 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:02,680 He's funny. 264 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,840 And then I stayed there with her for about eight years every Sunday. 265 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:07,840 I never missed. 266 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:09,040 She taught me how to play the piano. 267 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,120 She taught me how to sing. 268 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,520 She without knowing it was a music therapist. 269 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:16,400 She was music therapy to me. 270 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,400 And so, yeah, that's when my life was saved. 271 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,280 That's why not today. 272 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,480 And I mean, that eight year old who I was, I was like, why not today? 273 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,480 I'm going to cross the street and follow the music. 274 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,160 And yeah, so that's to hear that story. 275 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,640 So that started to directory your life obviously turned around. 276 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:38,640 She made such a difference. 277 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,880 And you also shared how she had food for you. 278 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:42,880 Oh, yeah. 279 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:48,400 So she also she caught on fast, you know, that I didn't really have a great home to 280 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:49,760 go back to. 281 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:56,640 So when Sunday school was over about 1145, she would pull out her lunch and she would 282 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:01,080 like by mistake, she packed two sandwiches and she would say like, oh, oh, my, look 283 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:02,080 at this. 284 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:03,080 I packed two sandwiches. 285 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:04,320 You should stay here. 286 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,080 She would ask me to water her plants. 287 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,120 Anything to get me to stay longer. 288 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,680 And I would stay all afternoon. 289 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:16,640 I mean, there were times I don't know, you know, that when I got older, I became head 290 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:18,280 of the youth choir. 291 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:19,280 I did shows. 292 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:23,600 I became so I had a reason to be at church from nine to nine. 293 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,000 Like there were nights I didn't go home until about eight or nine and I never had to come 294 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:35,040 home, which, you know, almost brings me to tears to think about how many kids, even children 295 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:40,400 today, they'll do anything to stay out of their home because there's something. 296 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:41,400 Yeah. 297 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:48,480 And if she didn't give me that refuge, if she didn't give me the literal sanctuary, 298 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,560 I know I would not be here. 299 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:52,760 I would not I would not be in my own sanctuary here. 300 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:57,400 I sit at a place to be while right across the hallway, there are two or three children 301 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,120 having music therapy. 302 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:04,760 And that that I do like every morning I wake up and I think, you know, it's about connecting 303 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:05,760 our stories. 304 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:07,320 Leslie said about connecting, right? 305 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:10,840 Like how do we make it of our lives and ourselves? 306 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:16,960 Well, people like storytellers, people like people that have a story, but everybody does. 307 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,880 But we have to be awake and open. 308 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:21,120 Like I it took me years. 309 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:25,720 It took me into my late twenties to understand the importance of how my life was saved. 310 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:30,960 Then when you find that moment when somebody opens a door for you, when somebody gives 311 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:36,920 you something that propels you into the next chapter of your life, our duty is to then 312 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:38,640 help somebody else. 313 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,120 There was a there was a pastor in Upperville, Virginia. 314 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:44,240 So I moved, went to college. 315 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,680 I did go to college and went to Shenandoah University to be an actor. 316 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:49,400 I went into music theater. 317 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,720 But then I started to teach in Middleburg, Virginia at a private school. 318 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:59,080 And that's another Godwink, you know, how did I find that job just happened to be a kid 319 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:04,040 that was in a camp that I was teaching and the headmaster came by and saw me and said, 320 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,640 Hey, do you want to be in my office tomorrow for an interview? 321 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:13,600 But there was a pastor, you know, I've now lived in Middleburg for 31 years. 322 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,600 This pastor passed right before I moved in. 323 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:22,440 And all I heard Leslie, the first year I started to teach in Middleburg was, Oh my, you remind 324 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:24,120 us of this pastor. 325 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:25,120 His name was Dick Peard. 326 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:26,760 Oh, you you're so much like Dick Peard. 327 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:33,240 Well, I found out I was honored to be compared because this man was an amazing man. 328 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:40,680 But he said one statement in a graduation speech that he gave that I use all the time. 329 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:45,440 When you find your place in this world, help others find theirs. 330 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:51,120 Okay, I repeat that when you find your place in this world, you find your place when you 331 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:56,680 find your place in this world, help others find theirs. 332 00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:03,240 Those two sentences boil everything down to why we're here. 333 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:09,320 Now in some of us, I'm very, you know, although I grew up very poor, there was abuse in my 334 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:10,320 house. 335 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:12,480 I'm going to tell you, I was still privileged. 336 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,760 I was privileged because I had love around me. 337 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:16,080 I had teachers. 338 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:18,520 I had mentors. 339 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:20,200 I had I had the church. 340 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:21,840 I had God, whatever. 341 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:23,920 And I believe in, I believe in everything. 342 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:30,880 But whatever God I was told, I kind of created in my head, you know, I had to create him, 343 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,760 you know, when I went home, because you have to have something to hold on to. 344 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:39,040 And you know, it was great to hear the church's version of God. 345 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:44,920 But as I grew older, I say this in my book, God grew with me. 346 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:50,160 So my definition when I was a child was sort of, you know, it's what you're taught, what 347 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:55,480 the Bible teaches you or what somebody preaches, but as I got older, he kind of like went along 348 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:56,480 with me. 349 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:03,720 He kind of adapted because this all I think of God is love. 350 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:04,720 That's it. 351 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,880 And so, and the love guided me to this day. 352 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:13,240 And so that when I started teaching at in Middleburg, that saying just those two sentences, 353 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:17,920 when you find yourself, when you find yourself in this world, help others find theirs, that 354 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:24,960 was the end all for me. And that's hence where some of my service came from. 355 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:29,600 And I've always wanted to help children. 356 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,480 This is something I think I told you about Leslie too. 357 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:37,440 And I don't share this one all the time, but I'm a very proud person to share this now 358 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:42,560 is I was also in Easter Seals until I was seven. 359 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:49,120 So I was in a classroom full of people that are diagnosed disabled. 360 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:56,080 And I found a certificate that a schooling certificate in a shoe box that I put away 361 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:57,880 a long time ago. 362 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,600 And it said it was for Easter Seals. 363 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:08,720 And it said I was diagnosed with MR, which is mental retardation, because they didn't 364 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:14,200 have I I've always known I'm probably somewhere on the spectrum somewhere. 365 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:20,560 But I couldn't say my S's, my T's, my R's or my W's and my last name was Switzer. 366 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,000 So they didn't know where to put me. 367 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,760 And plus this energy you're seeing right now, I had that energy. 368 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:27,680 It was like a five year old. 369 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:32,000 And I wanted to create and draw and paint and dance and sing. 370 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,720 By second grade Leslie, my teachers understood me so well, you know, it's the old fashioned 371 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:44,320 school in 1978, whatever that was, you know, big old brick building, cement hallways. 372 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,880 My second grade teacher was so brilliant. 373 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,400 She knew I had ADD and ADHD. 374 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,560 I don't know what they called it back then. 375 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,200 And she knew I love to dance. 376 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,520 So my mom bought me a pair of tap shoes. 377 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:02,520 So between classes, she would let me get my tap shoes on and I would just tap myself 378 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:07,120 up and down that long hallway for like three minutes and then she'd be like, Tommy, come 379 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,680 on back in. 380 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:10,680 So that's what I mean. 381 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,200 Like I didn't have a privy life with money. 382 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,920 I didn't have a home that was safe. 383 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:22,480 I was also a fat little kid, made fun of. 384 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:24,760 But I had privilege of love. 385 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,520 And I think that that is when we're looking for the resilience, right? 386 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:35,120 And I know we have, we've lost a lot of the power of resilience in our world too. 387 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:39,080 But some people don't have that much love around them. 388 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,400 Some people aren't understood or hugged. 389 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:45,200 You know, we come into this place, a place to be all the time and it's like a, it's a 390 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:46,800 massive hug. 391 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:48,400 Not everybody has that. 392 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,960 And so that is bringing us to today. 393 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:56,640 That is where Kim Tapper, my brilliant co-founder and I, she has her own story, which is amazing 394 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:57,640 of how she got here. 395 00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:59,880 And we're really excited to have her on the podcast as well. 396 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:00,880 Yeah. 397 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,960 And we have two totally different stories, but we ended up together. 398 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:10,480 We're also, we knew at one time we were like only 2% of men and women who run an organization 399 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:13,280 together and we're not married. 400 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:14,720 It's quite peculiar. 401 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:21,160 And we also, we've been best friends for 22 years and we finish each other's sentences. 402 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:26,080 And but we both knew that the world needed more love. 403 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:33,400 So music therapy is when I went into, she went into psychology and life coaching and 404 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,520 we started to see the same clients. 405 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,240 They go see her. 406 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:39,360 They go see me. 407 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:42,240 I write a song, we perform it. 408 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:46,080 And you know, our first year, Leslie was 2010. 409 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,320 And between the two of us, we had about 23 clients. 410 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:50,320 We kind of looked over. 411 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,440 Let's talk, I mean, we've talked around a place to be. 412 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,480 So I know there was a moment, another why not say moment where you started it, but talk 413 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:01,320 about how you started it and exactly what a place to be does and your mission. 414 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:02,320 And it is a nonprofit. 415 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,600 And what you're doing it then, I know you're changing lives and I know just talking about 416 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,560 all the things and I can relate the connection. 417 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:13,920 My sister Amanda, who has Down syndrome, born in 82, people asked my parents that they were 418 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:20,000 going to keep her because at that point they institutionalize many kids with Down syndrome. 419 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:21,500 That's what they do. 420 00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:25,160 And so my parents are like, no, we actually have a letter and stories. 421 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,840 My dad shared about the day she was born and people are like, do you want to be in the 422 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,360 hospital away from the normal mothers? 423 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:34,160 And they said Amanda was going to be special. 424 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,040 My dad's like, I have five other kids that are special. 425 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:38,040 And so it's funny. 426 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:43,160 I was just messing with a friend the other day and Amanda was in the car and sent a message 427 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,440 and my friend's like, you know, Amanda just makes me smile and Amanda makes everybody 428 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:48,840 smile. 429 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,760 And the joy Amanda brings and I just went to her workplace and our old boss was there 430 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:54,080 and she's like, I miss Amanda. 431 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:58,720 Can I call her to just hang out with me and do I'm like, yes, you love that. 432 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,160 But yeah, so we just need that love. 433 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:03,160 And all right. 434 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:04,160 So that was a tangent. 435 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:10,760 So tell me how did a place to become about that quickly that night when I met your sister, 436 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:11,760 you can. 437 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:12,760 Oh yeah, you'd better. 438 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:20,200 Well, authenticity, you know, any of us that are blessed and honored enough to live or 439 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:27,760 work live with any of these individuals who maybe have autism, Down syndrome, and then 440 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,480 there are many hidden disabilities. 441 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:36,040 The resilience they have, the authenticity they have, we need to learn from them. 442 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:37,040 Yes. 443 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:41,120 And then I have all but all the bag is like one time I was with a friend and we were walking 444 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:44,760 around the lake with Amanda and Amanda's like, Oh, captain flipped over the sailboat and 445 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,600 they went all the way over like this was 20 some years ago. 446 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,400 I'm like, I mean, the things she remembers and my friends like, you know, she doesn't 447 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:53,720 have all she's not worried about where meals coming from. 448 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:54,720 She's not worried. 449 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,360 I mean, she does worry about some things, but she had all the crap in her head that 450 00:25:58,360 --> 00:25:59,360 we do. 451 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:00,360 Yep, exactly. 452 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:04,600 And she can just be who she is and be honest about who she is in her feelings. 453 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:09,440 Like when my dad passed away, she was sad and she was and even to this day, it's like 454 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:14,080 I miss my dad, I'm sad and she says the things that we might not be vulnerable enough to 455 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:15,080 say. 456 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:21,840 Yeah, I would say that in Down syndrome could can be sometimes an autism, obviously, there's 457 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:32,400 a portal that some of these different populations live in that are very blunt, truthful, don't 458 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:38,200 have a lot of veneer and not a lot of screen, you know, 459 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,080 Yeah, maybe I'll call you out. 460 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:41,760 Oh, Catherine Greg too much last night. 461 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:47,760 She's, you know, and she's watching and she's paying attention on social media too. 462 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:49,280 She knows everything about everybody. 463 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:50,440 Oh my God. 464 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,440 Just kind of fun. 465 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:54,320 It gives her some fun things to do. 466 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:55,320 Yes. 467 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:56,320 All right. 468 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,360 So place to be how did what was that why not summary moment and how did that. 469 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:06,800 So how it came about is for 14 years I was teaching at the Hill School in Middleburg, 470 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:07,800 Virginia. 471 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,640 Yeah, but I was giving voice lessons acting lessons and I started to work with arts for 472 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:17,400 all which was called very special arts where Kelly and I have worked together. 473 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:24,760 And that was my first real in involved moment where I got to work with people with disabilities. 474 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:26,800 My first show was Cinderella. 475 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:32,080 It was this was all started in our area by an amazing woman by the name of Alice power. 476 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:33,360 And she wanted a new director. 477 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:38,320 I came in and to be really honest with you very unlike my days when I was six or seven 478 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,200 years old in Easter Seals. 479 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:46,520 I hadn't spent a lot of time with people with disabilities until this came about that night. 480 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:55,040 That cast had approximately 45 individuals, maybe 1015 will chairs in front of me. 481 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,800 I was overwhelmed. 482 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,880 I did not know what to do. 483 00:27:58,880 --> 00:27:59,920 And then what you do. 484 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:02,520 Why not today? 485 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:03,520 I have been. 486 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:04,520 Yeah. 487 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:09,520 And I can remember Leslie, I it was at the Hill School, we're in the theater area. 488 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:16,600 I welcomed everybody and also one of my first time seeing parents with handcloths wiping 489 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:20,000 up their children's saliva. 490 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:27,240 Children bent over hand flapping screaming at I didn't have a lot of training. 491 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:32,440 I went into the bathroom and I looked at myself and I thought, who do you think you are? 492 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,680 Because for a moment I thought, I'm an actor. 493 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,520 I'm into theater. 494 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:39,360 I want to go to Broadway someday. 495 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,640 Like, you know, and who do you think you are? 496 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,280 And I can remember what I was wearing even I was wearing a white sweater. 497 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:48,160 I looked at my natural day moment. 498 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:49,160 Yeah. 499 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:50,160 And that was it. 500 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,240 Then I went back and I took over. 501 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:55,360 And so that started that. 502 00:28:55,360 --> 00:29:01,800 And then about four years later, I was given a voice lesson to a young man who was 13. 503 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,640 His father had taken his life just weeks before. 504 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,080 Kid comes into a voice lesson. 505 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:14,120 He asks me to start to help him write a song that he gave me a poem about his dad. 506 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:15,680 He said, could you help me write a song? 507 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:17,080 I said, sure. 508 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:21,080 That one half hour of voice lesson went on for two hours that night. 509 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:22,880 So I knew something was happening. 510 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,920 Like I was like, oh my God, this is where I do my best, right? 511 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:32,920 And that night I was in Shenandoah University, you know, they have a professional summer 512 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,360 series of music theater. 513 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:40,480 And I played Horton the elephant there many times. 514 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:48,200 So that night I was playing Horton and I still am a big, I love Shenandoah Summer Music Theater 515 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:49,840 and I help out wherever I can. 516 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:51,800 But that night I was on a net. 517 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,920 If you remember the story of Horton, he tries to hatch an egg up on a nest. 518 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:57,800 I'm in an elephant outfit. 519 00:29:57,800 --> 00:29:58,880 I'm on a nest. 520 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,280 I'm singing a beautiful song called Salah Saloo. 521 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:07,480 But it hits me and I'm watching hundreds of people who pay to watch me sing as an elephant. 522 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:11,240 And I thought about that boy all during the show. 523 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,840 I could not get the kid out of my head. 524 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:17,240 I went home and I thought, I'm a music therapist. 525 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:18,520 That's it. 526 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:24,080 And then I went back to school that next term and, you know, it's a four year program. 527 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,760 We are trained just like a regular therapist. 528 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:28,640 We take anatomy. 529 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:30,600 We have to, it's almost like the bar exam. 530 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:35,400 When you're done, you have to, you have to get accreditation and certified. 531 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,520 And at that time, right before that, I met Kim Tapper. 532 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:45,360 And Kim was running another nonprofit in DC at the time and she came to dance at the 533 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:46,360 Hill School. 534 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,960 I needed a choreographer. 535 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:49,960 We talked, we talked. 536 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,360 We were like, oh my God, I feel like we knew each other our whole lives. 537 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:54,360 Wow. 538 00:30:54,360 --> 00:31:00,120 So then after that night of hoarding the elephant, I went back to school, but as soon as I graduated, 539 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:07,720 she and I opened up a place to be in 2010 and started out with 23 kids between the two 540 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:08,720 of us. 541 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:09,720 And today we sit here. 542 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:17,360 It's 275 families per week, 14 full time music therapists. 543 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:23,320 And we are a nonprofit and I unfortunately, unfortunately, spent a lot of my time right 544 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:28,440 now raising funds because we have never turned a child away because of financial reasons in 545 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:29,440 15 years. 546 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:35,240 But Kim and I, we both have between the two of us, this is financial aid. 547 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:42,160 We have to raise close to a million dollars a year because we are paying certified therapists 548 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:46,240 and we have been working that are living in Loudoun County. 549 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:52,480 So yeah, we're doing our best and everybody that works here is working because of love. 550 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,400 You know, they're not working here because they have great salaries. 551 00:31:55,400 --> 00:32:00,080 They're working here because right before I walked in here, there's a young man here 552 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:05,640 that is nonverbal, but he's not nonverbal when he goes in there with one of our music 553 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:07,600 therapists and sings. 554 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:09,960 So that is one of the difference you're making. 555 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:10,960 I love it. 556 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,400 And I want to get involved. 557 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:14,800 We want to get a man involved. 558 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:19,240 We want to spread the word and get you support. 559 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:25,080 And I know we're recording this and it's coming out in December of 2024, but there's a couple 560 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:26,080 things coming up. 561 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:30,960 So if somebody listens to it real time, like what's going on in December of 2024 with the 562 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,360 place to be in December 2025, it'll probably be happening too. 563 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:35,640 And there's other things to get involved. 564 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,480 But I thought timing wise, let's share a little bit. 565 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,160 I can share it in the show notes too. 566 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:41,160 Like what's going on. 567 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:42,160 Okay. 568 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,640 So the biggest one, we have Charlie Brown Christmas. 569 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:45,640 That's this weekend. 570 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,640 So that's very soon. 571 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:49,000 That's Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 572 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:54,520 You can go to our website, a place to be VA like Virginia.org, a place to be VA.org. 573 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:59,760 But the thing I would invite everybody to is my, this is my Christmas. 574 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:04,320 It's December 22nd, Sunday, December 22nd at two o'clock. 575 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,000 It's at Salamander resort. 576 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:11,080 The resort is nice enough, kind enough to give us the entire ballroom. 577 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:16,760 We usually have about 300 to 400 people show up, 500 at one year. 578 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:18,520 And it is our concert. 579 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:22,600 And this year, the theme is vintage variety show. 580 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:28,840 If you remember the Andy Williams shows from the 60s, 70s, and it stars our children. 581 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,520 And keep it about 85 minutes. 582 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:36,500 So you can get in at two o'clock and you can get in your car before it gets dark. 583 00:33:36,500 --> 00:33:39,240 We hand out tissues on your way in. 584 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:44,880 It's a very happy, happy tears, very moving experience. 585 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:46,480 Cost is nothing. 586 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:48,760 We will ask you if you want to become a donor. 587 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:50,160 We have many ways you can do that. 588 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:55,200 A one-time gift, you can become part of our Firmata circle, which is like a monthly sustainer. 589 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:57,360 That can even be at $10. 590 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:02,000 Everything goes to programming and financial aid, but you don't pay anything to come to 591 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:03,760 the December 22nd. 592 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:08,920 I would just say if you want to come, get there at 130 for a good seat. 593 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,000 And yeah, just be ready to have a good day. 594 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,120 So can you get tickets or you just show up? 595 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:14,120 Just show up. 596 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:15,120 Okay. 597 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:18,200 I'm going to give me a gift to my mother, so she won't listen to podcasts. 598 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:20,000 I'm like, show up. 599 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:21,000 I love it. 600 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:22,160 Leslie, that's a great idea. 601 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:24,080 I think that is very cool. 602 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:27,320 I think a lot of people bring people back every year. 603 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:29,960 It is like much better than the HomeMark channel. 604 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:31,600 I was going to say the HomeMark channel. 605 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:36,160 It's like the real HomeMark being right in front of you. 606 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:40,280 But one of them I created, I had somebody on the podcast a couple months ago and she talked 607 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:45,600 about a local bucket list and I've always been all about bucket lists, but I've always 608 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:47,200 done a holiday bucket list. 609 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:51,800 And I have my holiday bucket list of places and one of the things I think is, Middleburg 610 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,200 is magical at Christmas. 611 00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:55,800 It is a Hallmark town kind of thing. 612 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,880 And so one of the things was to go there and I like to do things with my mom and sister. 613 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:04,240 So I think we might just have to come and just surprise her and definitely want to get 614 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:07,040 a man involved and other people involved. 615 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:12,280 Next year, Leslie, now that we know each other and our friends, my house is on the parade 616 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,160 route and I have parking. 617 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:18,440 So I will be there because I saw it the other day. 618 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,200 I'm like, oh, I wish I would have gone to that. 619 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:22,600 Yeah, you can park in my yard. 620 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:25,040 You have to get there early and you just watch it from the yard. 621 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:26,040 Well, I love that. 622 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:27,040 All right. 623 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,560 So we are a little longer, but this is so good. 624 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:31,760 Before we go though, talk about your book. 625 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:35,920 I know I heard about it when I first heard of you and you were signing copies, but tell 626 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:37,800 me about it and how we signed it. 627 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,360 Yeah, so there's two things connected there. 628 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:46,120 I was lucky enough to have a one man show off Broadway last year in 2023 called 20 Seconds. 629 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:49,000 So the book is called 20 Seconds. 630 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,760 It's only privately. 631 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:53,680 It's not published quite yet. 632 00:35:53,680 --> 00:36:00,280 We're waiting because of the hope right now the off Broadway show 20 Seconds is being 633 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:06,720 made into a Broadway type musical with people. 634 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:10,120 Yeah, it's with it's being produced. 635 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:15,520 One of our producers is Joey Parnes, who is one from the original Jersey Boys and many, 636 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:16,520 many others. 637 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:19,200 I have two amazing producers here. 638 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:26,480 Ben Graham, Frank Baltz and some people would know around here is Teresa Wheeler. 639 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:30,480 She's one of the biggest philanthropists here in Loudoun County and she helped get this 640 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:35,360 show off the ground and the show is about how music saved my life. 641 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:44,800 So by spring of 2025, it will be sold on Amazon and hopefully we will be going to publishing. 642 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:45,800 So how do I get a copy? 643 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:47,800 You have to wait till spring of 2020. 644 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:49,360 I will give you a copy. 645 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:56,080 And if anybody really wants it, they, this is how I keep my Facebook as my blog. 646 00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:57,560 Because I didn't want to do it. 647 00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:59,760 So you do great things on Facebook, by the way. 648 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:00,760 Thank you. 649 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:02,760 Thomas Switzer, not Tom. 650 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,360 Thomas Switzer and you can go right to my Facebook. 651 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,200 I keep all place to be. 652 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:11,360 And we'll share all your show, all your contact information as show notes. 653 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:12,360 Great, great. 654 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:18,000 But yeah, and then, you know, hopefully in a theater somewhere next fall, you'll see 655 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,560 the show and can get your book there too. 656 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:22,440 So, so fun. 657 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:25,120 So yeah, we'll definitely share all your contact. 658 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:28,920 And when the book comes out officially, we'll have you back on the podcast. 659 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:30,080 That would be great. 660 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,640 And one of the things that I've talked about here a couple of times that I mentioned to 661 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:39,360 you, and it's kind of a Godwink passion project to me is to really have why not today be a 662 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:41,760 movement that changes people's lives. 663 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,120 And I read something the other day and there's actually a phrase and I don't remember exactly 664 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:50,400 what it is, but talks about how the clothes we wear, if it's got words on it, how we can 665 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:54,320 live our life that way and how it makes a difference in our life to give us courage to 666 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:55,320 do. 667 00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,920 It was some organization that has t-shirts that talk about it. 668 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:01,400 That it's just not words. 669 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:05,960 Yeah, no, but so I really feel like why not today is a movement and a message that we 670 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:07,960 need to give people courage to do the things. 671 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:13,720 And so part of my passion is to partner with nonprofits that when you buy a why not today 672 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:15,720 swag percentage goes to nonprofits. 673 00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:19,920 So we're putting that together and we'll definitely partner with you guys to raise some funds 674 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:21,920 in the future. 675 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:22,920 Wonderful. 676 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:28,880 So how would you encourage somebody else to say why not today to be brave, to be courageous, 677 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:29,880 to do the thing? 678 00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:32,680 So walk across the street to the church. 679 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:36,840 I think going back to the beginning to bookend our conversation, right? 680 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:38,000 Courage, right? 681 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,040 Where do you find it? 682 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,760 It takes a big breath in. 683 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:47,040 It takes some silence and you have to go down here. 684 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:52,880 And inside there are where all of your childhood dreams are still alive, where all of our 685 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:54,600 childhood dreams are still alive. 686 00:38:54,600 --> 00:39:00,120 And so I would say that the first thing that you do is make sure that you give yourself 687 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:03,520 a space and time to feel. 688 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:10,120 Because we are moving so fast, especially when it comes to around these seasonal times, 689 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,160 that we don't stop and feel. 690 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:17,360 And as a music therapist, I would tell you that sometimes it's silence and sometimes 691 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:18,360 it's not a feeling. 692 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:22,920 And as a music therapist, I would tell you that sometimes it's silence and sometimes 693 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:26,920 like you were talking about the playlist, it's putting on a song and saying, I'm going 694 00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,400 to sit on my hands. 695 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:33,520 I'm not going to do anything but listen to this song. 696 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,680 There you will find your courage. 697 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:37,720 Yeah, so true. 698 00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:39,640 And we don't give ourselves enough. 699 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:43,440 And my word last year was space to give myself more space. 700 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:47,760 And like my ideas come when I'm going for a walk, when I'm in the shower, when I get 701 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:49,480 in my car and listen to music. 702 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:55,000 And that's because during the day, I just, I fill my space with so many things and we 703 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:56,480 don't take the time. 704 00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:03,160 And going back to your childhood dream, the childhood dream I remember is to be financially 705 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,480 in a place that I can give back and volunteer. 706 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:06,480 I'm with you. 707 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:07,480 Where am I going? 708 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:08,480 I'm with you. 709 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:09,480 I know. 710 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:15,640 So connecting back to my dad, I think he's definitely the belonging part, as I said, 711 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:18,240 just being, connecting, finding people. 712 00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:23,400 Obviously Amanda, he was a proponent of anybody with disabilities with, you know, getting 713 00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:29,840 Amanda in schools that wasn't being bussed off and making Amanda was just like anybody 714 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:30,840 else. 715 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:31,840 Yeah. 716 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:33,840 I think you're doing that as well. 717 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:39,040 And just, you know, he started a group home and just being able to give back. 718 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:41,520 And then he was an only child like you. 719 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:45,720 And so he surrounded himself with other people to fill his life and always did. 720 00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:49,640 And our house was always full of a million people because nobody was excluded. 721 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:55,440 Well, I think that you creating what you're creating with this takes all of those pieces 722 00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:58,840 of his legacy and then makes it your legacy. 723 00:40:58,840 --> 00:40:59,840 Yes. 724 00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:02,040 Keeps going, keeps rolling. 725 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:03,040 And I, you know what? 726 00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:06,680 Every episode I do, I was telling somebody the other day that like sometimes it's not 727 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:10,800 easy and you know, the podcast isn't really a financial thing yet. 728 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:11,800 Yes. 729 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:15,960 But I just keep doing consistently and I'm not missing. 730 00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:16,960 And I'm just like, you know what? 731 00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:21,040 I'm just following the path that God is putting in front of me, the people I'm supposed to 732 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:22,040 meet. 733 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:25,800 And you know, we tried to connect months ago and somebody got COVID and it wasn't the 734 00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:27,040 right time. 735 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:28,040 And so just following. 736 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:29,640 It's always the right time. 737 00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:33,800 And I felt the same way Leslie about my one man show, right? 738 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,640 So I'm 52. 739 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:38,560 So it took me to 51 to get to Broadway, right? 740 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:40,080 I never even tried. 741 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:42,920 Like that whole world up there is a world to itself. 742 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:47,560 But what you just said about your podcast took seven years to get the show there. 743 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:50,320 I never dreamt it really would be going to off-Broadway. 744 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:57,080 I had no idea that would be, you know, on 42nd Street for six weeks, doing my mission. 745 00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:00,440 And but what I did was just kept going, kept going, kept going, kept going, kept going 746 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:02,160 because don't give up. 747 00:42:02,160 --> 00:42:03,160 Don't give up. 748 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:04,160 Just keep going. 749 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:07,760 If you, and whatever ends up, at least you're doing what you love. 750 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:08,760 Yep. 751 00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:13,720 And when those coincidences happens and those Godwings and those things happen. 752 00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:14,720 Rabbit. 753 00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:17,360 Because you were living your life in alignment to your values. 754 00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:22,000 And I'll never forget exactly where I'm standing in that dull, smaraght when I met you officially. 755 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:23,000 Hey. 756 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,320 It's gonna be a one-man thing moment in my life. 757 00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:26,600 And then your sweet sister. 758 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:31,760 I mean, yeah, I'm sure we have a lot to do together and I just appreciate. 759 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:32,760 We're not done. 760 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:35,160 Hearing other people's stories too. 761 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,360 Thank you for putting that up into the world. 762 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,920 Thank you for being a guest, honored to have you on here. 763 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,000 And we'll share all your contact in the show notes. 764 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:46,640 And if anybody's listening real time and you want to go to the concert with me on the 22nd, 765 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:47,640 I'm going. 766 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:49,080 So we'll figure that out. 767 00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:54,520 So share the, share the mission of why not today, everybody listening. 768 00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:55,520 It's a movement. 769 00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:56,520 Be courageous. 770 00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:57,840 Do the things that you love. 771 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:01,120 Your little childhood dreams, the things that keep you up. 772 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:05,480 And thank you everybody for enjoying and are joining us for this inspiring journey. 773 00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,800 For every day is an opportunity to take action, chase your dreams and make a difference. 774 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:13,800 So why not today and make sure you're subscribing, liking, sharing, telling other people about 775 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:15,680 the why not today message. 776 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:20,320 You can find everything you want about why not today at whynottodaypodcast.com or on 777 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:25,160 all the social and let's make a movement and remember why not today. 778 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:26,160 Thanks again, Tom. 779 00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:27,160 Thank you. 780 00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:28,160 Bye. 781 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:35,160 Bye.