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Hello everyone and welcome to the Within Range Coaching podcast. I'm Ranger, a certified

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holistic success coach, and in this podcast, I break down the journey entrepreneurs face

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as they start their organizations, overcome roadblocks in their way, and create an impact

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that lasts. We talk with entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and purpose-driven community members

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just like you. Together, we learn how to grow our impact and develop ourselves as the people

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behind the mission. My intention is to help more people, help more people. And remember,

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if you're curious about expanding your impact, growing a community, or defining your mission,

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vision, or values, we can chat off the record. You can find my info in the show notes or at my

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website withinrangecoaching.com. We're also looking to build our sponsor community with

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organizations and individuals who align with our values of fearless innovation, social responsibility,

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and courageous candor. If you're interested in helping us highlight individuals doing great work

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in the world and share these values, reach out to me directly at ranger at withinrangecoaching.com.

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I know you're just as eager to get started as I am, so let's jump right in. Good morning,

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good afternoon, and good evening, everybody. And welcome to another episode of the Within

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Range Coaching podcast. I'm your host, Coach Ranger, and today we have a truly special

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conversation lined up just for you. We're diving into the world of Renaissance Fairs,

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community building, and the incredible power of giving back. Joining us is Daris Gibbons,

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the executive producer of the Medieval Mayhem Renaissance Fair in Arizona. In this episode,

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Daris shares her journey of creating an immersive educational experience that brings joy to people

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of all ages, while also supporting a cause that's close to her heart, the Mountain of Hope

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Foundation. Get ready to explore how passion, creativity, and philanthropy come together in

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the most magical of ways. Let's jump right into the conversation. We are joined today by Daris

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Gibbons. Daris, thank you so much for joining us today. Ranger, thank you for having me on. I

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definitely appreciate your time and your mission. So it's an honor to be here. Yeah, for sure. I

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appreciate that. And I mean, people have already been able to tell by the intro and the thumbnail

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and all that kind of fun stuff. But you are the executive producer for Medieval Mayhem.

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Renaissance Fair. Renaissance Fair. There we go. Okay. So the Medieval Mayhem Renaissance Fair,

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which was the first Renaissance Fair I've ever attended. And I volunteered at Yeah, right. The

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House of Voodoo Reptile booth while I was there. So I got to see I don't know, kind of firsthand as

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not only an attendee, but kind of, I guess, behind the scenes. It's like a little bit of behind the

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scenes. Yep. It's like not even behind the scenes of the event, but like behind the scenes of a

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small portion of the event. So it was like behind the scenes, behind the scenes. It was weird. But

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yeah, thank you for coming on today. Because I know you guys have a nonprofit aspect that you guys

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raise money for a few different nonprofits. And I'd love to just kind of hear a little bit about

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what you do. But if you could just go ahead and start off with what your intention for today's

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episode is, and a little bit of background on yourself, I'd appreciate it.

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Well, background on myself, I was raised as an only child by a woman who owned her own advertising

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and public relations firm. And then my stepdad was in radio and sales. But with that came a lot of

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events. So I did events all through growing up. It wasn't an obvious field for me to get into until

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my husband, I was working as a massage therapist in a little tiny business that was a nursery, a

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little coffee shop. And then there were some outbuildings for people who were doing other

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types of businesses, but needed a place to do them. So I was practicing massage out of one of the

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outbuildings. And we were looking for a way to promote that venue. And I asked my husband for

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suggestions. And he said, Well, why don't you do a Renaissance fair? Famous last word. All right. So

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we just wrapped up our 17th year. And over the course of time, as as the event grew, my husband

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and I are very passionate about education. And the first event was done for fun. From there on out,

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it kind of became what we would call today an immersive educational experience. So one of the

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things that we're big on is the trades. And so we love sending people out. We've got blacksmiths

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out there. We've got people weaving spinning wool, weaving fabrics, making things right on site,

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right next to your booth, I guess a couple booths away was Howard Noble, who does armory and

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he makes armor the old fashioned way he pounds that metal colt. And then with him was Noah, who

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does wire wrapping, and jewelry that was incredible. But all these things are done by

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hand. So we want to give props to all the trades out there, which goes along with why we started

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our foundation was we're education based nonprofit foundation. And we encourage lifelong learning.

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And one of our taglines is not all education looks the same. So not everybody's cut out to go to

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college, we're a family of tradesmen. And over the years with the foundation, we've struggled to find

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donors. So my husband and I have pretty much been funding it ourselves. But this particular event is

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like our, our big gala every year as a fundraiser. And so proceeds from this event go directly to

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scholarships, we don't use it for operating expenses, we don't use it for anything else, it

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goes directly to our scholarships, which are beneficiaries are Arizona veterans and first

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responders who become disabled in the line of duty, and their families. So what do I want people

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to get out of it, I guess, being able to be creative, learning how to manage yourself before

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you can manage everything else. And that requires lifelong learning, it requires exploring different,

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different areas of self in order to learn to have the tenacity to keep going, have the ability to

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work with other people and teams and take ideas and suggestions, grow them. There's a lot of

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research in my business, or businesses, I should say, because I handle the production, but I also

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am the executive director for the foundation. So it's it's nonstop.

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That's amazing. Yeah, it sounds like there's so many different facets and things that you wouldn't

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even really think of when it comes to a Renaissance Fair. I mean, kind of from the outside, like very

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removed from it when you're not in the weeds, I guess. I guess, like my to kind of just go back,

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so you're on your 17th year. Can you re explain why your husband suggested it in the first place?

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Like, have you always been in Renaissance Fair?

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We are Renneys and we had moved from Phoenix to Sholo and we had not been to the Arizona

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Renaissance Festival in several years. And we're of the mind any excuse to dress up. So, yeah,

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that's kind of where that inspiration came from was we missed going to the Arizona Renaissance

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Festival. And since then, we've been to several other festivals around the country. And while

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the event is known across the country and literally has seen international waters, we were

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sponsors for the first Renaissance themed cruise back in. I can't remember when it was like six or

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seven years ago. So we were sponsors for that and we got to actually go on a cruise or first

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honeymoon and make connections. And it was a working cruise, but it was fun.

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Hey, everyone, just a quick message. You know that my mission with this podcast is to share stories

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of influence and impact so that we can help more people help more people. But to do that,

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I need your support. Please rate, review and share this podcast. If I could ask for just one favor,

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it's to just leave a review. It takes about 10 seconds and a few clicks, but it means the world

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to me and could inspire someone else to make a difference. Thank you so much. Now back to the

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show. The other thing I want to ask you about with the Renaissance Fair, the way that you're kind of

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describing it, because I know we talked a little bit about the way that you're describing it,

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because I know we talked a little bit about a little bit before we hopped on the recording,

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but you mentioned that a lot of it is improv or that's something that you're very much familiar

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with. And it reminds me, I did an interview with the Santa Breckenridge. They're a married couple

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out of Mississippi that do miss or Santa and Mrs. Claus together. They went to Santa school. They

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did all this crazy. They tell me that as soon as they step into on stage in the arena, whatever,

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Santa said it was. In character. When they're in character, you prep for it, but as soon as you're

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in front of a kid, it's all improv. Is that kind of how it feels with you guys too? You kind of

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train beforehand or how do you kind of develop those characters? Yeah, we kind of develop the

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characters. SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms, what is probably the best known group,

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that does historical recreations. So with us, we kind of, my character, Bronwyn Hawke, is a Scottish

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Viscountess. So our event website tells the whole backstory on Wyverton Shire and how Viking saw a

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lady across the field while he was raiding her village and stole her away. And there's a big long

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story behind it. So you kind of come up with the backstory and you imagine, okay, if I were this

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real person, how would I react? What would I say to people so that you actually, it's almost like

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a personality shift. You become this character and then everything that happens, questions and

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people improving and playing and harassing on the field and that kind of thing, just kind of comes

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naturally after that. Once you've spent some time with your character, if you will. I've only had

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five official acting lessons, I think. And unfortunately, I don't have time to take more,

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I would love to, because it's a lot of fun. But yeah, you just kind of immerse yourself in your

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character and act as though they would act in any situation.

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Gotcha. So I guess I don't do cosplay or dressing other than little things, one-offs here and there.

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So for you, what does it take to kind of do that show? What does it take to kind of

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do that shift in your mind when you're in character? Is it like, is it the...

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Initially, it took a lot of concentration to do it and improv was not necessarily easy.

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But after 17 years, I can certainly go from one to the other very easily and I can answer a patron

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as executive director, or I can harass the pirates and tell them they need to get back to their own

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little hangout joint outside the pub and leave my royal court alone. So that's...

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It's just practice. It really is just practice and switching back and forth.

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That's really cool. That's interesting. Kind of like putting yourself in a completely different

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mindset, I guess. Yep, completely different.

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Interesting. Okay. But yet still a part of you.

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Yeah. And it sounds like... So I guess when you're creating that character, is it like you're

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researching the history of the area? How much of it is just kind of like you're making things up and

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actually basing it off of real characters from history?

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It's not necessarily a real character. I did the research on Scotland and what was going on.

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And this actually comes from medieval times when Vikings were running around and doing all their

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wonderful pillaging and whatnot. So around that time, which I'm not going to quote an era because

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I'm not 100% sure on it, but we do tagline that the event is where a thousand years of history

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comes to life because we run from the fall of Rome to the end of the Renaissance.

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And everything in between, we're not a historical recreation. We are in the spirit of.

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So that's why Vikings and pirates are playing on the same field because pirates are technically

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post-Renaissance, just post-Renaissance, but post-Renaissance. But people attending don't

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really know that. So it's kind of based on the era and what was going on in Scotland with that

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population, how things were. The field that we rent from the city transforms into Wyvertonshire,

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which is basically Dragon County translated. And so everything there is about dragons.

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And that's where the fantasy kind of comes into it. But also the beliefs of the people back in

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those days play into it. People believed in wisps and fairies and dwarves and gnomes and

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elves and everything else. So that was part of the practices back in the day, as far as their

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spirituality and their religion. And then came the Renaissance, which was the biggest religious

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conversion movement that has ever been. And so we combine everything together. So there's a bit of

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there's a bit of historical research, but it's always in the spirit of. And as a Scottish lady,

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I normally, you know, I would not don belly dance garb, but it's hot out on that field.

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And belly dance garb is nice and cool and moves well. So I wear it on the field. So

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that's awesome. I really like the way that you kind of say like the it's in the spirit of,

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because you're like, I'm no historian. I haven't hit that phase of my life yet, whatever.

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But you know, like you're saying, it's all these different, you know, like the pirates, the

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Vikings, the fairies, because I mean, your background right now has the fairies. And that's

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what I was kind of curious about, too, is like, with that, it's like that mythical realism almost.

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Is that right? Yeah, it's it's bringing that fantasy to life for people. We tout ourselves

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one of our taglines for that is escape reality. You know, step back in time, you learn things,

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whether you're aware of it or not, you would not believe the feedback that I get. Do you know,

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I did not know. Do you know, I didn't know. I didn't know that. So I know that we're

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getting education out there and expanding people's minds and the kids. You know,

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childhood is all about magic and bringing that kind of magic to life for the kids.

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I mean, how many kids went crazy in the reptile tent? So they were just kind of. Yeah, they were

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all over it. I mean, we had the fairies walking around with the snakes and everybody loved the

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tortoise walking around, taking his walks on the field and stuff like that. So it brings that magic

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into an experience for kids and adults. Adults just don't like to admit it.

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I was going to acknowledge that as well. It's like there's so many different like, I don't know

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how many of the adults are going to sit there on little steps and watch the fairies do their bubble

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things. But when they're walking around, they're definitely like side on like and like they're

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they're enjoying everything as well, because that's kind of what I was like the first impression.

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It's like, oh, they have things for kids and they have things for adults,

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but it's all still very intermixed. Like you still see the kids like in the armory, like looking at

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things and learning. And that was the other thing was it's like the while the entire event isn't

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necessarily historically accurate because there's so many different whatevers. It's like, it's like

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its own little micro slice because they're going to know all the history. They're going to know all

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the cool like there's the board game lady. She they have like those old timey board games like

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the oh yeah, the Merry Merchant. She custom she custom makes all those games on leather with the

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pieces. So you just cinch it up. You got the pouch the game and it can literally hangs off your belt

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and you can pull it out and play a game at any time. But yeah, she does a lot of historical

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research on the games and they are real games that were played through many different eras

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by many different cultures, which yeah is that to me is is amazing that she does all that.

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And she's also on our board of directors and does a lot for us on the board too. So she's a busy

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lady. Yeah, I actually won one of the little board games from the raffle. I got it sent back home to

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my fiance's house. So I haven't had a chance to mess with it or play it yet, but I'm going to put

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her link in the show notes as well. Oh, awesome. Yeah, she would. She would love that because yeah,

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that's and until you sit down and play the game, you really don't realize how much fun it is.

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Most all of them are strategy games. So it encouraged strategic type of thinking and thinking

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ahead, which, you know, is another form of learning. So it all comes as my husband and I used to teach

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our kids. Everything comes back to education. Exactly. I was going to say, you know, the not

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all education looks the same, whether it's the the board games, whether it is the historical

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reenactments of the like the fighting. Yeah, the fighting demos, the and all those guys belong to

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different guilds that are historically accurate. So though the weaponry may be blunted to ensure

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these guys can make it home and go to work on one day, the fighting moves, the techniques,

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the armor that they wear and how they fight is 100 percent accurate as to the time frame of when

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armored knights roamed throughout Europe. Interesting. Yeah. And see what I mean? It's

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like those like micro, historically accurate things. I think that makes the whole event so

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interesting and fascinating because like what even like the the the the the the the the the

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the like were the reptile people that next to us was the bug or there's a bug person nearby.

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Oh, the right next to us was the oh my goodness, the mushroom guy, the mushroom guy. Yes. And

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and yeah, what what does he make? He makes a lot of tinctures and and he's got I had one of his

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lion's mane infused coffees. That's just it's absolutely delicious. But yeah, he makes a

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variety of things and offers locally. He takes people out on hikes to forage for mushrooms.

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So it's it's an introduction to something that was used way back in the day, but that can still be

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used to this day for health benefits and just even for, you know, cooking. So yeah, it's it's

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kind of it's a fun microcosm in a macro setting, if you will. And I think that's the other interesting

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thing, because it's kind of like something that I really like with the podcast or with my coaching.

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It's like, I want to help more people help more people. And like there's like that aspect of like,

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you know, event organizers that allow these other vendors to come in and do their thing.

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Because like what there's the coffee guy that's themed like the Renaissance coffee guy, basically.

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I was like, yeah, fairy tale coffee, fairy tale coffee. And he was fairy tale coffee when when

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he first applied. I didn't even know he was up here. Yeah. But yeah, that was awesome. I love

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having Austin up there out at the event. So yeah, he's my coffee guy. And it's like, where else

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in the morning with the cup? Yeah, or a few times during the day with healthy other fun things he

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has. Oh, yeah, he's got such a huge variety of things that he can do. It's amazing. But yeah,

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it's like where else I mean, you could see these people at craft fairs, I'm sure or farmers markets

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sometimes, but it doesn't really make sense. Not in a setting like this. Maybe that's just me being

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a little bit more. Yeah. Some of it is and actually our mushroom guy does work a local farmers market.

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And our coffee guy works other events, you know, here locally as well. And it's a cute little

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novelty kind of in a farmers market arts and crafts type show. Another event that we have up

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here is called solo days, which is a fundraiser for our local Chamber of Commerce. And that is,

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you know, basically, it celebrates, you know, everything that's available up here. So like,

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all kinds of businesses come and set up. But this is themed. And so it's actually harder to find.

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But the other thing that we do along your lines, you wanting to help people help other people is

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we have in the House of Voodoo is one of them. Other nonprofits that set up, we do not charge

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them to set up because we're nonprofit and we need to get our name out there. So Greyhounds of the

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Royal Realm is one of them that teaches kids about the breed Greyhounds and why they were the royal

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breed of choice at one time by the English crown. And House of Voodoo, all our fighters,

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their guilds, they are all volunteer, they spend money out of their own pocket to be there.

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I'm trying to think who else?

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Is that the fighters? Is that realms of history?

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There's realms of history, but then there's also the Adrian Empire, which is part of a group called

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or no, it's Umbria from the Adrian Empire. So yeah, both of those groups join together.

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Realms of history is kind of the one that oversees all the rules and regulations,

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because that's way too complicated for me to get into. It was like, okay, I give you a fighting

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arena and you handle everything. And he's like, okay. So that's kind of how that goes. But yeah,

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any of those organizations are welcome to come up and join us in those fighting.

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So we've had members of the Society for Creative Anachronisms. And I'm trying to think,

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I think it was called ACL, but they've changed their names since then. I can't remember what it

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is now, which stood for American Combat League. And they're a little bit more aggressive hands on,

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less padding and more aggression kind of thing. But they're a nonprofit. Oh, I know there's like

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three or four others that I'm forgetting off the top of my head.

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No, you're good. It's not a test, but no, it sounds like bringing in all these different

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nonprofits and these other organizations that support you in your mission, kind of, again,

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giving them a platform, giving them an opportunity to kind of show off their skills, because

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I'm not sure if House of Voodoo could throw a Renaissance fair right now. So,

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sure they could. But it's hard, I'm sure.

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Oh yeah. Event production is not for the meat.

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And I will say that it's typically a team effort for most events. However, I am a one-man operation

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who reports to a board. So I do 98% of everything that you see on that field I'm responsible for

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putting together. Everybody shows up on set up and take down day and for the event, which I

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definitely can't do all by myself. But yeah, most of it is all the organizations and all that sort

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of stuff, behind the scenes stuff is all me. And that's a lot of work.

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Welcome to the mountaintop. Are you an entrepreneur or nonprofit leader ready to make a bigger impact

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to support you to holistically grow yourself as the person behind the mission. Oh, and one more

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thing I forgot to mention. At the time of recording this, the community is completely free. That's

255
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right. You can get started for zero dollars down, but that won't last for long. All you need to do

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is go to school.com. That's S-K-O-O-L dot com forward slash never dash peak, or hit the link

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in the show notes to claim your spot on the mountain. Again, be sure you get in now because

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I cannot wait to see you there and witness the peaks you'll reach in just a few weeks.

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00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,240
I bet, could you give like a like a consolidated like what,

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because I'm sure the planning for the next event starts probably during the current event,

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or well before the current event. I tell people ask, you know, well, how long does it take to

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put that together? I said a year and a half, and it happens every year. So yeah, you do the math on

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that, and I'm working on two years at the same time, always. Interesting. Is it just like,

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I'm assuming a lot of it is like what, permits or safety kind of stuff? I know from my experience,

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anything? Those are kind of the easy parts. Okay. Going through and finding vendors, recruiting

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vendors, making sure there's a platform that's easy for them to sign up on, getting our talent

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booked, and getting any like accommodations that they might need booked, drafting contracts,

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sending out contracts, booking time on all four of our performance areas. I love having the

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fairies there, and I hope every year that they come back. Budgeting, yes, there's planning

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meetings with the city, and in those is, you know, all our first responder stuff, all our legal

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stuff, all getting the insurance, getting the alcohol, getting the stuff for our dry dock bar.

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The list is endless. So that would be a quick snapshot of what I spend my time doing.

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Yeah, and I'm sure there's some listeners that are probably going, man, I would never want to do

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that. But then there's those few ones that are like, man, that sounds kind of fun, or

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up my wheelhouse, maybe not fun is the right word. But you know, there's people that are into doing

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all the organizing, because it's for a greater something. Like, it's not just organizing event

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for the sake of an event. It's the fundraiser, it's the experience, it's the community that you're

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fostering. Well, and a lot of people have asked, you know, well, why do you do it if you don't get

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paid? Yeah. And it's like, I realized because I want to bring joy to people, even if it's only for

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a few hours, I want to bring joy to people. I love going out on that field and seeing the smiles,

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hearing the laughter, the little kids, you know, seeing them run across the field, either bubbles

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in tow, or, you know, crawling on the ground with the tortoise, and hearing all the giggles and the

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screams, watching the, our royal court will do floggings, their whole other group that's volunteer,

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as well. And they're, you know, they've been amazing. And so I will have to say that I, I would

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not be nearly as organized had I not joined an international association called the International

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Festivals and Events Association, and received my CFEE certification, which is, oh, it's, I think

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they give you like four years to complete it. But I did it over COVID. So I completed it in two years.

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And basically, it's a condensed, intense version of a college course in event production, that

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covers every aspect you can think of it with it. And we have, there's a lot of support there. So

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when I need, when I'm having a problem or whatnot, we've got affinity groups, I've got friends that I

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can turn to and say, Hey, what did you do about this? Got any ideas for me? And truly, you know,

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it's, it's like a family of its own. And hopefully out at Mayhem, you kind of got a sense of the

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family aspect of it. I mean, truly, there's a lot of Mayhem family out there. And for us, this is

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like a family reunion every year.

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I did kind of speak to that. It was funny seeing people while we were setting up the booth, me and

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one of the other volunteers that were there were kind of doing, we're doing things and everybody

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else was coming up and saying hi to the director and to her friends that were there too. So it was

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just like, well, like, that's fun. It reminded me of like,

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You take them back! Good to see you!

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I haven't seen you since last time. It reminded me a lot of like my, my county fair growing up,

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because I was doing, you know, FFA and 4-H and stuff. So it was like every year we'd see kids

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that we hadn't seen since last year or families. So that's kind of what it reminded me of was that

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community that everybody sees once a year.

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Yeah, we have literally watched kids be born and grow up in that event.

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We've got, I know we've got three, four kids off the top of my head

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that have never known life without the event.

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That's amazing. And that's just over the 17 year history of...

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Yep.

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That's so interesting.

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Yep. So they've literally grown up.

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How funny. That's so fun.

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Yep.

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Okay.

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And that's what it's about is family.

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Yeah.

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You know?

317
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I know. That's so interesting. That's so cool. I know the, the girls on our way up when we're

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packing for everything, you know, it's always frustrating packing for an event, but the whole

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time, even though they're like sweating and like kind of, you know, cursing at the boxes,

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they're like, I can't wait to see blah, blah, blah. Like, I can't wait to get there. Like,

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let's like, hurry up, we got to get there. You know, it was just, it's so like the excitement

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for them was also very, it was exciting for, for me just to be kind of like, okay, well, packing

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sucks, but they still have a good spirit. So I think we're doing all right.

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Yeah. And that's one of the reasons why for the cast we do. And when I say cast, I include vendors

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in that.

326
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Yeah.

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And that's one of the reasons why we do the potlucks on Friday and Sunday nights is for that

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camaraderie. That's where we get to know each other and build those relationships that then

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translate outside of the event. And then again, then there's our closing toast where we give

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recognition and celebrate the end to another year, look forward to the next year and kind of close

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everything out on a calm, fulfilled exhale, if you will.

332
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And a little sigh of relief as you.

333
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:25,640
Yeah. It's like, okay, we made it. It was a good event, you know, made money or not made money.

334
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We had fun. We built relationships and like I said, they, they continue on outside of the

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event year round.

336
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:41,080
Gotcha. And then I know that that's so fun that it's like the, I don't know, that last little

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moment, it was like, it kind of felt like a very movie moment, like thank you to everybody doing

338
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the toast, the dancing, the huzzahs. It was like a fun little, it was like a really good closure, in

339
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my opinion, of the event. Because I know a lot of other events I've been to, it's kind of like,

340
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well, it's five o'clock on Sunday, pack up and go home.

341
00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:00,920
Yeah.

342
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:01,960
See you guys next time.

343
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:09,960
Yeah. And that closing tradition actually came from our original queen. Her name was Tina

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Talkington and we just lost her this last year before the event. It was very unexpected. So

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it's, it will always be a raise a glass to her. We wouldn't have an event if she didn't meet with

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us after the first event and encourage us to keep going and help us keep going and build a royal

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court for us in those early years. So that song, A Health to the Company, is something that she

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started at closing for our event and will continue in honor of her. And all of those we've lost over

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the years, because we've lost a lot of people. I'm sure. And I think that also just showcases the

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importance of kind words from one or two people that, you know, I'm not sure exactly what the

351
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situation was with her that first year, but to have a conversation that's so impactful to the

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point that we're 17 years in and still going. And I mean, that's amazing.

353
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Yep. I know she will be proud. She knew that we were still going, even though she,

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in her personal life, was unable to fulfill duty as queen for several years. But I know that

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this event is a legacy that she leaves behind. And she offered help. She had connections that

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she offered help. She had connections in the Rennie world here in Arizona. And we basically

357
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said, yes, please. And she helped to guide us to what we are. And that's the power that one person

358
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can have. I mean, you know, we've grown into a large enough event that, you know, I can go to my

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local municipality and go, okay, here is the economic impact that this event, specifically this event,

360
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is generating for your city. Here are the people that we are reaching, you know, across the country.

361
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One of our vendors comes from East Texas. And yeah, he was like, count me in. I'm here. I love it.

362
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And we were a trial for him this year. So yeah, it certainly, it just kind of goes to show that

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how many lives one person can touch when you just pass it on, whether it's pay it forward, pay it

364
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back. But reaching out to your fellow human in the spirit of support, rather than the spirit of

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competition, makes a huge difference. And I think that that also, it's not just, I think,

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00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:10,680
the way that I kind of see it is like that ripple effect, right? Like the stone in a pond,

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like it ripples out. But it's also when that stone hits the water, other water moves, and it also

368
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creates smaller ripples all over the place. And I think that that's the other thing too. It's like

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the power of one person to create that impact, but also to empower others to continue to make

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that impact. Exactly. And then it goes over the entire surface of the pond and beneath and however

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else you want to, I don't know, but like just what you're saying, like, you know, cross country,

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like country lines, state lines, like all over the place. Like this is an event that's been,

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you know, it's not just the whatever 40-ish, I don't know, making up numbers, vendors that show

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up. It's all the guests, the people that see it on social media, the people, you know, like it's...

375
00:39:57,720 --> 00:40:06,120
Yeah, the people who, you know, click that share button and raise that awareness. We've had, you

376
00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:10,040
know, some people say, oh, well, you know, Renaissance fairs aren't my thing. And it's like,

377
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have you ever been to one? No? Then how do you know? And then you know, it's like,

378
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how do you know? And then they come out and they experience it. And they're like, I had no idea

379
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that this was so awesome. So now I'm going to date myself. There was a shampoo company called Breck

380
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back in the day. And their commercial was, and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends,

381
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and so on, and so on, and so on. And they would split the screen and, you know, show more of the

382
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:53,880
same girl. But yeah, that's how it works. And, you know, we definitely try to stay on the side of...

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And one of the things that makes it harder is people who have a bad experience will tell

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everybody. People who have a good experience are less apt to actually share that information.

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And so a lot of people have good experiences, but they don't think to share that. And I think

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that's where it really matters is, you know, we're so quick to criticize and we are so quick

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to condemn, you know, something that we don't like, or we don't understand, or we don't agree

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with, as opposed to focusing on, you know, okay, well, I don't necessarily like this,

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but what do you like? And people know what they don't want. They don't know what they do want

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a lot of the time. There was a fellow in one of my networking clubs back in Modesto in California,

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and he owned a cleaning company. And his little one of the things that he would say to us is like,

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my job is to make sure that nobody knows that I work there. Like, if I do my job right, nobody

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will think about it. But if I miss one bag of garbage, if I, you know, miss a little thing,

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a dust on the ground, they're going to know about it. And then they're going to tell all their

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friends. Right. And that's the hardest part is when I do a good job, nobody thinks of it.

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And when I do a bad job that they want to just tell, he tells you. Yeah. And I mean, I've noticed

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that with myself too. It's like, I go to a restaurant and it's bad. And I'm like, my first

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thing is I'm going to leave a bad Yelp review, but I get a lot of bad reviews. And I'm like,

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a bad Yelp review. But I go to restaurants all the time and I have a great experience. And I never

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think of that. So that's something I've been trying to correct in myself is like, okay,

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00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:39,880
leave a good review too. Like those are what people need. Just like I want good reviews with

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my coaching business. Like other people want that too. So I think that that's another good thing for

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00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:50,440
folks who remember that are listening right now. Like we're all trying our best to make it, leave

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the good review, tell the friends, share on social media. Cause that's the other thing too. Shares are

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free. Like it, it, it, they're priceless. They really are. They're priceless. It's not even like,

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I think that, you know, if I make a post and somebody shares it, I'm going to make a thousand

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00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:11,240
dollars sale. That's not the thing. It's like even just like seeing that as like an entrepreneur or

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a nonprofit leader, it's just like, okay, somebody like cares enough to share like that, that just

409
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:26,200
helps. Well, somebody cares enough to help us get our message out. Exactly. And you know, that's, we

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will do some online fundraiser type things. I know most of our board members will do a fundraiser for

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their birthday on Facebook. And I think it's been a few years since any of us have been able to hit

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our goal. I get it. You know, the economy sucks, but the willingness to share and get the information

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out about the foundation and that we exist. Yeah, we need help to help the group that we're trying

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to target because there's a need for them. And I think that serving the people who put their lives

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on the line for us every day is a worthy cause. You know, when they suffer a loss that they can no

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longer do their job, they deserve all the help that they can get and government resources are limited.

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And so, and even we can only do, you know, service the state of Arizona. You know, we can't do this

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nationwide, at least not at this point, because we're not that big and we're not well known.

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So yeah, those shares, they matter. And it's not a matter of maybe the share will bring me

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00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:46,360
a new donor. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But it is at least getting the little bots out there

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to, you know, people who are, who, you know, being those little Google algorithms.

422
00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:58,360
Yeah, let's get the Google on this on our side and the SEO and all the other,

423
00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:04,840
all the other, the million other things you have to know as a event person and business owner. It's,

424
00:45:05,720 --> 00:45:11,000
it's overwhelming for sure. It is very overwhelming. And you know, some things you just,

425
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:18,600
I got to shake my head and go, why, why am I doing this? Oh, yeah, it's the happy faces.

426
00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:26,600
It's the, the little light bulbs that go on. And it's the ability to take the financial benefit of

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00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:34,520
that and give it to somebody in need to help another family. There's a, there's a saying,

428
00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:40,360
I think it might be a good way to kind of kind of wrap up the podcast there. But those who say money

429
00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:46,600
can't buy happiness, haven't given enough away. And I feel like that's a good one. Yeah, yeah,

430
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:52,600
that's a little, that's for the Post-it board for sure. Yes, definitely. But yeah, no, Darius,

431
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:57,160
thank you so much for spending some time with us today. I think that there's a lot to kind of like,

432
00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:03,240
I don't know, think about in terms of just the, the impact of, you know, doing an event that means

433
00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:07,880
a lot to you for a cause that means a lot to you. Like it sounds like it's checking a lot of boxes,

434
00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:14,840
not only the Rennie side, but also the nonprofit and giving side and the causes that matter. So

435
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:20,440
I think that that's really impactful and interesting. Yeah, I strongly believe in

436
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:28,120
philanthropy. Name Richard Branson, one of my heroes, mostly, and a big part of that is because

437
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:35,240
he was a high school dropout. And, but he was, he was similar to me. He was a serial entrepreneur,

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00:46:35,240 --> 00:46:44,600
man. And he just kept going and nothing stopped him. And he gave back, you know, he, he nurtured

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00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:53,960
other people to do things and invited and supported other entrepreneurs and in huge variety of, of

440
00:46:53,960 --> 00:47:01,480
different businesses. And so when I grew up, I want to be like Richard Branson. I love it, but yeah,

441
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:06,360
awesome. So Darius, if people want to follow along on the journey of medieval mayhem and

442
00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:11,960
donate or attend a future event, what would be the best way for folks to get in contact with you and

443
00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:23,080
check you out? For the event, the website is azmayhem.com. And for the foundation, there were,

444
00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:29,320
there's a link on the website that will take you to the foundation website, but the name of the

445
00:47:29,320 --> 00:47:37,400
foundation is Mountain of Hope Foundation. And the website is mountainofhopefoundation.org.

446
00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:45,400
Perfect. Yes, unfortunately it's all spelled out. Sorry. I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it as

447
00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:53,400
moh.org, but it was already taken. So dang it. For ease of listeners, I put everything in the show

448
00:47:53,400 --> 00:48:00,520
notes, so it'll be down there and folks will be able to easily check it out. So yeah. And you can

449
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:07,960
follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We have both. We're a little quiet on social media right now,

450
00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:12,200
just because we're gearing up for our next fundraiser, which takes place in December,

451
00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:19,240
which is also themed. It's called a Dickens Dinner and Dessert Auction. And so we learn all about

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00:48:19,240 --> 00:48:25,640
Christmas in the Victorian era and why Charles Dickens is the father of the modern day Christmas.

453
00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:32,440
Interesting. That sounds like a whole other episode, but awesome.

454
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:33,800
No, it's just a dinner.

455
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:35,080
It's just a dinner.

456
00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:36,520
It's just a dinner.

457
00:48:37,160 --> 00:48:40,280
Perfect. But yeah, no, Daris, thank you so much for taking the time to hang out.

458
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:47,000
Thank you for taking the time while you're on your journey for the interview. I appreciate

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00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:48,120
your time, definitely.

460
00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:50,680
Yeah, no problem at all. I'm just walking.

461
00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:55,800
Aren't we all one step at a time? Just take the next step. You don't have to see the whole

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00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:59,800
staircase. Just take the next step. Martin Luther King Jr.

463
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:01,000
I love it.

464
00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:06,680
And that's a wrap for today's episode. I hope you enjoyed our chat with Daris Gibbons and got a

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glimpse into the inspiring work she does through Medieval Mayhem and the Mountain of Hope Foundation.

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It's amazing to see how one person's passion can ripple out to create such a profound impact on the

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community. If you want to stay connected with Daris and learn more about the Medieval Mayhem

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Renaissance Fair or the Mountain of Hope Foundation, be sure to check out the links in the show notes.

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Remember to share this episode with friends and leave us a review if you liked what you heard.

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Your support helps us keep bringing you these incredible stories

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and helps us with our mission to help more people help more people.

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Until next time, remember to have fun, stay safe and be yourself. I'll catch you guys in the next episode. See ya.