WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:03.450 Maggie, welcome to the show. Tell me about your 00:00:03.450 --> 00:00:09.429 vision. My vision is talking to people about, 00:00:09.529 --> 00:00:12.849 my vision is community. So it's really about 00:00:12.849 --> 00:00:17.230 helping people be in relationship with one another. 00:00:17.350 --> 00:00:21.129 And there's a number of ways that that can happen 00:00:21.129 --> 00:00:23.929 for everyone. And my vision is to be an encourager 00:00:23.929 --> 00:00:27.989 of that. Tell me more about that. Sure. So one 00:00:27.989 --> 00:00:30.250 of the things that we did while we were doing 00:00:30.250 --> 00:00:33.310 our we did a boat trip called the Great Loop 00:00:33.310 --> 00:00:37.090 and it took us about nine months and we got to 00:00:37.090 --> 00:00:39.710 leave Chattanooga. We went downriver, went across 00:00:39.710 --> 00:00:42.109 the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, up the East 00:00:42.109 --> 00:00:45.329 Coast, into New York, through Canada and then 00:00:45.329 --> 00:00:47.350 back down the Great Lakes and back down the rivers 00:00:47.350 --> 00:00:50.570 home to Chattanooga. And in that we got to meet. 00:00:51.049 --> 00:00:55.009 so many diverse people right so we you have people 00:00:55.009 --> 00:00:56.990 that are different from the region different 00:00:56.990 --> 00:01:03.490 experiences different ages and um it was so life 00:01:03.490 --> 00:01:06.010 -giving to be able to get to know them and to 00:01:06.010 --> 00:01:07.849 be in relationship with people and just hear 00:01:07.849 --> 00:01:10.030 different experiences that people have had it 00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:14.590 was wonderful yeah that's awesome um before i 00:01:14.590 --> 00:01:17.310 met your husband and talked to him right i had 00:01:17.310 --> 00:01:20.379 no idea you could actually do that I know. Right. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:23.879 Most people don't. Only about 250 boats a year 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:28.060 do it. So we had our own boat. And it's one of 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:30.640 those things that you do kind of you're on your 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:32.680 own boat, but you're not doing it alone. Right. 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:34.459 Because you're traveling in community with people. 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:37.900 Yeah. So did you like when you travel was just 00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:40.159 you and your husband that went along the road 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.700 trip in your own boat? And it's like your own 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.510 little space that you do that. it was kind of 00:01:45.510 --> 00:01:47.450 like a tiny house on water it was us and our 00:01:47.450 --> 00:01:49.890 dog so we were in about 290 square feet for nine 00:01:49.890 --> 00:01:54.769 months that's amazing and uh how like i might 00:01:54.769 --> 00:01:56.250 be like i don't know this is getting me into 00:01:56.250 --> 00:01:58.870 details about it like yeah what's probably the 00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:01.090 biggest boat that can fit through all those places 00:02:01.090 --> 00:02:03.849 oh that's a great question um our boat was small 00:02:03.849 --> 00:02:08.229 so we were a 29 foot ranger tug and we had um 00:02:08.229 --> 00:02:11.189 it's called a draft so we were two and a half 00:02:11.189 --> 00:02:13.669 feet deep so we could go in pretty shallow areas 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:16.699 And being pretty small, we could fit in a lot 00:02:16.699 --> 00:02:18.460 of different places. I think the biggest boats 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:22.560 are probably, I would say we're on the small 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:26.439 side. Larger boats would be maybe 45 or 50 feet 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:30.039 long. And then some people have a five foot draft. 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:32.520 And so you're limited by actually the height 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.960 of your boat. There is a bridge in, let's say 00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:39.610 it's in Chicago, that you have to be under. I 00:02:39.610 --> 00:02:41.770 can't remember exactly what the footage is, but 00:02:41.770 --> 00:02:43.870 you have to be under that level to be able to 00:02:43.870 --> 00:02:45.509 fit under the bridge. Otherwise, you can't do 00:02:45.509 --> 00:02:49.050 the whole thing. So I think our height clearance 00:02:49.050 --> 00:02:51.430 was probably when everything was down, probably 00:02:51.430 --> 00:02:55.750 11 feet, 10 feet, maybe. That's awesome. That's 00:02:55.750 --> 00:02:58.250 amazing. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. Sure. 00:02:59.250 --> 00:03:04.569 So tell me more about the vision. How did you 00:03:04.569 --> 00:03:07.069 end up in the community aspect of things and 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:08.789 what's about the communities that you like to 00:03:08.789 --> 00:03:12.389 build? Sure. So I have always found hospitality 00:03:12.389 --> 00:03:18.770 to be an avenue for that. And so one of the things 00:03:18.770 --> 00:03:20.530 that we would do while we were traveling is we 00:03:20.530 --> 00:03:22.370 would have something called Dock Tales. And that 00:03:22.370 --> 00:03:24.949 is just where boaters would gather at the end 00:03:24.949 --> 00:03:27.729 of the day. We'd sit outside at the marina or 00:03:27.729 --> 00:03:30.189 a public park nearby or wherever we had docked 00:03:30.189 --> 00:03:32.949 and just trade stories about. how the day went 00:03:32.949 --> 00:03:35.009 what was the hardest part of the day what was 00:03:35.009 --> 00:03:36.689 the most fun part of the day what we were looking 00:03:36.689 --> 00:03:39.430 forward to and just share information and so 00:03:39.430 --> 00:03:41.930 one of the things that we did uh coming home 00:03:41.930 --> 00:03:45.069 from that is that we decided we wanted to do 00:03:45.069 --> 00:03:48.430 a regular kind of docktails type thing back home 00:03:48.430 --> 00:03:50.189 in chattanooga and so one of the things that 00:03:50.189 --> 00:03:54.659 we did is to gather up um the i We gathered up 00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:56.780 people for dinner parties, basically. So I had 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.879 wanted to have I think the first year we came 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:01.780 back, I think I wanted to have like 24 dinner 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:04.219 parties. And that was a little ambitious. So 00:04:04.219 --> 00:04:07.300 we didn't have that many. But one of the things 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:09.520 that we did do is we probably met with different 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.719 people once a month and tried to introduce people 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:16.040 that we knew to people that didn't know each 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.939 other, which was really fun to explore that and 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:22.740 to build relationships that way. In 2025, we 00:04:22.740 --> 00:04:25.459 started off the year and decided we'd twist it 00:04:25.459 --> 00:04:28.379 just a little bit and just have a relatively 00:04:28.379 --> 00:04:31.699 stable group of people that we would meet with 00:04:31.699 --> 00:04:35.939 once a month. And it's been fabulous, right? 00:04:36.019 --> 00:04:39.060 We've gotten to visit with people who are really 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:41.759 involved in civic organizations and some that 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.139 are in the medical profession and some that are 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:49.379 like Bruce in the tech profession. So it's been 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:52.839 a marvelous way. to encourage one another in 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:54.259 the things that we're doing and to introduce 00:04:54.259 --> 00:04:56.199 people like we are the common thread we knew 00:04:56.199 --> 00:04:57.620 all these people but they didn't know each other 00:04:57.620 --> 00:05:00.519 right you know and to help facilitate those relationships 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:03.459 has been great that's awesome that's amazing 00:05:03.459 --> 00:05:06.980 so when you mean that you're on a boat ride and 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:09.519 you're going along and and meeting people like 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:11.579 it's like a group of people that traveling together 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:14.819 in their separate boats or like and this all 00:05:14.819 --> 00:05:17.300 planned together or like you just randomly happen 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:19.620 to see a bunch of boats going to doing the same 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:23.800 thing you are doing Right. Right. So the trip 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:27.180 is seasonal. So there'll be you will come down 00:05:27.180 --> 00:05:30.879 the center of the country in the fall, go across 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.399 the Gulf of Mexico and Florida in the winter 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:35.459 and then have to head up the East Coast in the 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:37.540 spring and then summer somewhere in the north, 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:40.740 whether it's in Canada or, you know, the Great 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:44.480 Lakes up there or the Erie Canal. And so people 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:47.199 start at different times of year based on where 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:49.699 they are living or where they put their boat 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:53.420 in. And so we recognize each other because if 00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:55.180 you're doing the trip for the first time, you're 00:05:55.180 --> 00:05:57.759 flying what's called a white burgee. A burgee 00:05:57.759 --> 00:05:59.240 is just a flag that goes on the front of your 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:01.720 boat and it has the Great Loop symbol on it. 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:04.319 And so we would be traveling and we would see 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:06.740 people with that flag and we would know that 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:09.480 they were what we call loopers. There was also 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:14.279 a app that people register for so that you can 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:16.769 see who's near you. And so you can reach out 00:06:16.769 --> 00:06:19.110 to them via the app to see what they're doing 00:06:19.110 --> 00:06:21.829 and where they're staying. And so we called it 00:06:21.829 --> 00:06:23.750 loop frogging because we would encounter people 00:06:23.750 --> 00:06:26.129 that we might have seen in the rivers and we 00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:28.009 might see them again in Florida. And then we 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:29.689 might see them again in New York. Right. But 00:06:29.689 --> 00:06:31.949 you didn't we didn't necessarily travel with 00:06:31.949 --> 00:06:35.230 the same set of boaters each time. Yeah, that's 00:06:35.230 --> 00:06:43.430 it. And so that's the loop. That's amazing. And 00:06:43.430 --> 00:06:45.709 that's so fascinating. That's awesome. Yeah. 00:06:45.850 --> 00:06:48.129 Yeah. And that's that's just about the trip that 00:06:48.129 --> 00:06:52.889 we took. We we went instead of going kind of 00:06:52.889 --> 00:06:54.529 they follow the Erie Canal when they're in New 00:06:54.529 --> 00:06:56.990 York. So we just went straight up into Canada. 00:06:57.050 --> 00:06:59.769 We went up the St. Lawrence River up into Montreal 00:06:59.769 --> 00:07:03.449 and then took this little tiny waterway called 00:07:03.449 --> 00:07:06.350 the Rideau Canal through Canada and then met 00:07:06.350 --> 00:07:08.670 up with another canal and followed that through. 00:07:08.750 --> 00:07:13.230 But we spit out at just about. the the same place 00:07:13.230 --> 00:07:20.189 so that's awesome oh that's great thank you for 00:07:20.189 --> 00:07:23.930 sharing that story sure yeah it was great fun 00:07:23.930 --> 00:07:29.990 yeah um maggie what would you say is the why 00:07:29.990 --> 00:07:35.329 of what you do i think the why of what i do really 00:07:35.329 --> 00:07:39.350 is because Kind of like when we traveled on the 00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:41.889 loop and I said we were on our own, but we weren't 00:07:41.889 --> 00:07:45.610 alone. I think that it's really important with 00:07:45.610 --> 00:07:50.889 the world that we live in that it can feel lonely, 00:07:51.029 --> 00:07:53.290 but it doesn't need to feel lonely. Right. So 00:07:53.290 --> 00:07:56.110 I think I want to encourage people to be able 00:07:56.110 --> 00:07:59.910 to meet their neighbors, to really get to know 00:07:59.910 --> 00:08:01.529 their coworkers, whatever that looks like. A 00:08:01.529 --> 00:08:03.209 lot of people work from home. You know, my husband 00:08:03.209 --> 00:08:06.569 is remote. And so his coworkers, his friends 00:08:06.569 --> 00:08:09.629 are. Online. Right. You know, and I think that 00:08:09.629 --> 00:08:12.649 it's human connection is really valuable. And 00:08:12.649 --> 00:08:14.470 that's one of the things that we foster when 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:16.649 I run our conference. We run a conference called 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:22.290 Gig City Elixir and we do it to let people really 00:08:22.290 --> 00:08:24.110 be in person and get to know each other. Right. 00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:26.410 So we build in breaks in the conference and we 00:08:26.410 --> 00:08:30.430 build in time for dinner where the attendees 00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:35.049 can go to this event place. We do it at the Moxie 00:08:35.049 --> 00:08:37.320 Hotel. And they have this great outdoor space 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:40.039 and we have a food truck and there are pockets, 00:08:40.179 --> 00:08:42.620 there are little tables here and there and games 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:45.840 that people can play just to be able to set the 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:47.779 stage for people to build those relationships. 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:50.620 It's wonderful. That's awesome. That's amazing. 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:55.879 What would you say that has been a little bit 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:59.559 of impact of you living that way and connecting 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:05.690 people that way? I think it has been. Well, for 00:09:05.690 --> 00:09:08.570 me, for the conference, part of it is that people 00:09:08.570 --> 00:09:11.090 will then send us notes afterwards and say they've 00:09:11.090 --> 00:09:13.889 never felt as connected at a conference. Right. 00:09:13.970 --> 00:09:16.889 That that feels really good. And I don't know 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:20.090 that that is a focus on a lot of other tech conferences. 00:09:20.210 --> 00:09:23.570 Right. I think those relationships can happen, 00:09:23.649 --> 00:09:25.950 but I think that they happen when the stage is 00:09:25.950 --> 00:09:28.250 set a little bit more intentionally for that 00:09:28.250 --> 00:09:33.649 time to happen. And so for me. For me, it's just 00:09:33.649 --> 00:09:35.629 deeply satisfying, right, to be able to connect 00:09:35.629 --> 00:09:37.850 people that don't know each other. For sure. 00:09:38.009 --> 00:09:40.230 For sure. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing 00:09:40.230 --> 00:09:42.990 that with me. Yeah, you're welcome. I have one 00:09:42.990 --> 00:09:46.929 more question for you before we end today's segment. 00:09:48.789 --> 00:09:52.490 How did you get started on this community front 00:09:52.490 --> 00:09:54.070 of all things? Like, what was the journey like 00:09:54.070 --> 00:09:57.049 early in the days? You're an entrepreneur, so 00:09:57.049 --> 00:09:59.960 I know your husband owns. owns the business and 00:09:59.960 --> 00:10:01.299 needs to start the one side of that business 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:04.700 how did you get involved in all that oh i got 00:10:04.700 --> 00:10:08.820 involved because he said hey i i think we should 00:10:08.820 --> 00:10:11.820 run a conference and i i was like we don't we 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:17.940 don't know how to do that but i did have i did 00:10:17.940 --> 00:10:20.100 have some experience i was a meeting planner 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:22.460 in a previous life before we had children so 00:10:22.460 --> 00:10:25.419 i worked at a conference center but we just did 00:10:25.419 --> 00:10:28.220 small meetings for businesses that needed a place 00:10:28.220 --> 00:10:30.899 off -site so i did have some experience with 00:10:30.899 --> 00:10:35.399 that but um i but not much so that's that's really 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:37.440 how i got involved bruce said oh you can do this 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.340 yeah sure and so that's how i got into video 00:10:40.340 --> 00:10:42.519 editing like it's like we need to have a video 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:43.960 editor you want to do that and i'm like well 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:46.120 I guess I could learn that. And then same with 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:48.620 the podcasting, like editing that. I guess I 00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:53.740 could learn that. So it was just the opportunity 00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:56.720 presented itself and here we went. But as far 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:59.139 as the people and the connecting, that has always 00:10:59.139 --> 00:11:02.120 been a deeply held value of mine. I am the neighbor 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:04.879 that knocks on the door when somebody moves in 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:07.679 with a plate of cookies or something, right? 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.759 So I really, I try to live it. I try to model 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:14.720 it. One of the things that I thought about when 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:18.179 we were on our trip was that if you want a better 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:20.700 neighborhood, you need to be a better neighbor 00:11:20.700 --> 00:11:23.320 and to take some ownership of that. Like, what 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:25.139 does that look like for me? How am I going to 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:28.559 be a better neighbor to the young mom next door 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.899 to me or to, you know, the neighbors that might 00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:34.179 be going out of town? You know, I can offer to 00:11:34.179 --> 00:11:36.019 water their plants or take care of their dog 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:38.480 or whatever it looks like, you know, just just 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.820 to be available and to just try to remember. 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:44.159 that we all need something at some point right 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:46.299 even if it's like i might be out of salt what 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:47.879 if i just go knock on that neighbor's door and 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:50.820 ask because people like to people like to be 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:54.179 of service right so you have to ask it and uh 00:11:54.179 --> 00:11:56.500 it's a wonderful thing to be able to offer it 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:58.679 Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:00.899 that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:04.159 forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:05.960 continue to move forward. This is going to get 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:08.539 more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement 00:12:08.539 --> 00:12:10.659 as well. We'll invite people to participate in 00:12:10.659 --> 00:12:12.840 the show. And thank you for giving us your time 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:15.120 and attention. Have an excellent time building 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:17.440 out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.