Join Angie and her guest as they shift from the playful tale of Angie's accidental venture into puppy breeding to analyzing workplace expectations with millennials. The conversation is peppered with humorous real-life instances and poignant observations about leadership qualities across different ages. The episode also covers Scott's approach in his book, emphasizing self-awareness and collaborative learning as key elements of leadership.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 05 :
Scott Montgomery is back, and we are talking about his book, but we're also talking about a companion guide that's going to be released, and we're talking about my puppy.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, I love it. All three good things and ways to start the new year.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, my puppy is named Daisy, and tell us about your book with the new companion guide. Explain all of that to us.
SPEAKER 04 :
So, yeah. So, How Did You Get Here? Lessons Among Conventional Success is a book I published a couple years ago. We've been going over each chapter today. It's leadership. And in 2025, I've decided enough about my stories and my perspective from my book, and let's talk about how you go there.
SPEAKER 05 :
How you go there.
SPEAKER 04 :
I love it. How you go there. Instead of how did you get here, it's how you go there. And we're going to break down each chapter into three or four exercises that we can perform individually in our living rooms. We can tear out pages and put them on the refrigerator. or putting together workshops that align with the workbook that we'll be able to do, hopefully starting this summer, and move the energy of all these topics to people executing them for themselves.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. So for the workshops, will you be doing them, or will you be giving them the materials to lead them?
SPEAKER 04 :
We'll be giving the materials in the workshops, and we'll be leading through scenarios and hands-on training. I'm going to have a leading the classroom. I'm also interested in getting involved in leading the classroom on some of the chapters. And we're making it interactive. I think learning is more fun collaboratively. And for some, it would be better to just have the workbook.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, I want to lead a couple of classes. I think that'd be a blast. Will you have people travel around and do it?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. I love that. You are the first one on the list. I'm not even kidding then. So careful what you sign up for, Angie. We love you and you know that.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, I have to say that it's interesting. I do better in groups than like one-on-one, but I don't mean like a group, like a party where I don't know anyone, where like I'm interacting with people, where I get to like use all my comedy tricks, really get them going with my hilarity. And then, but it's funny. It's like a group though. It's an interesting, weird skill where, you know, one-on-one I'm fine, you know, but if I go to a party where I don't know anyone, you'd be surprised. I'm not really the life of the party. But if I know a group of people and I'm like there assigned to be with them or getting to know them, it's a whole different ballgame. I think it's so much fun to have like group conversations or if I get together with like a group of like old high school friends or whatever, you know, I mean, get ready to have your sides get sore from laughter.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and that's how it's done, right? So, you know, I think it's such an important aspect of learning. Good, good. And please do. Yes, I will absolutely be asking you to lead some of these. It'll be so fun. So you'll be reimbursed travel and hours. So this would be great. It would be so fun.
SPEAKER 05 :
I have another girlfriend that did weather as well. But we both trained at Groundlings, which is a comedy. In fact, Will Ferrell was one of the teachers when I was there. He was in the troupe. And then Sherry O'Terry. And so they train like a lot of SNL type people, but it's a specific skill. So anyway, we, oddly enough, we both went to University of Colorado Boulder, didn't know each other. We both became weather woman, didn't know each other. We both applied for the same job in San Diego, still didn't know each other. She got the weather job. I got the anchor job. And then I went to this apartment building to try to get a La Jolla apartment that fit the budget of, you know, a young weather person in San Diego doesn't make a ton of money. And he said to me, the new weather woman at Channel blah, blah, blah, just got the apartment before you.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I'm like, who is this woman?
SPEAKER 05 :
Who is she taking my job? Went to my school, got my apartment here. So then, of course, I met her, Scott, and we've been the best of friends for like 20 years. It's been such a blast. And so she does this type of stuff that you're talking about right now with her Groundlings training and even goes into prisons and teaches women how to do certain things that would help with problem solving, you know, without violence, et cetera.
SPEAKER 04 :
We literally just left. There's a program called Kairos that one of my employees champions in Indianapolis in the prisons. And Worldgate just donated $5,000 to that. training this quarter to make sure that people are doing what you just said. I mean, our overlap, Angie, is crazy.
SPEAKER 05 :
See, no, she's stealing your life now, too.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, fair enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's true. Your surroundings are similar to mine. There you go. That's crazy. You did the growlings together, you said.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, no, we did it at different times. Yeah, we did it at different, yes, it was just, thank goodness we finally overlapped where we finally met and didn't just like follow each other around in life. But hey, before we start working on leadership, I wanted to tell you, because I sent you a picture of my, of the puppy. So I don't. want people to think i'm a breeder because i'm not but i'm an accidental breeder i adopted a pomeranian this white fluffy pomeranian that the breeder said we're not going to breed her because she's got an overbite or underbite you know where your bottom teeth stick out it's hilarious and so i'm like oh cool yeah i'd love to have her i don't care about breeding that's not you know i'll i'll buy this dog to not breed and great so i'm taking the dog for a walk and la-di-da's and it's great to have this wonderful dog and a puppy falls out of my new dog onto the sidewalk and i'm like oh my And gosh, I adopted a piñata. I run inside and I FaceTime the breeders and I'm like, you said you weren't breeding her. I'm like, oh my gosh, she said she had four puppies on my bathroom floor. Well, one on the sidewalk, but in the snow, so one was Snowball, one was, you know, like Snowflake, you know, they were all like, you know, snow names or whatever. avalanche and um so i have these four dogs and they were a sweet couple and they're young and they don't have a lot of money and they kind of just breed a few of their pets right and so i let them sell the dogs because they're pretty expensive dogs actually so then they said well let us give you one of our puppies from a really high-end dog and then in a few years we'll bring one of our studs down and you can have another litter for us if that if you if you'd like this dog and i was like i Oh, I would like this puppy. You know, thank you. It's just a beautiful dog. Had it for two years. So she just had her litter and she had one puppy. That's the picture I just sent you. So a retired teacher from Greeley, Colorado has adopted that dog. And so, and it's, you know, it's interesting. There's so much joy in the ones that I did have. One went to a handicapped man who stays home all day with the dog. Another one, you know, this retired teacher, like the stories of where these dogs went. I keep in touch with all of the owners of those four. And, uh, Yeah, so I became an accidental breeder. I mean, I'm really not. They're not my dogs per se, but that's how it happened.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you're fostering the growth and the community, and people need dogs. I mean, you're bringing up an interesting topic. So they're adorable, too. Look how cute these are. I know. I'm looking at the pictures.
SPEAKER 05 :
It's like a mini Malamute or Samoyed or Husky or whatever. They're just like a little miniature sled dog. It's like a one-pound sled dog, but they're so fluffy. Yeah, one pound. they'll be like four pounds probably all right so that's why i i ran a little late to reach out to you today because i responsibilities go along with puppies and i my my son went up to camp he moved up to campus and so that's the goodbye photo that i sent you you know these kids they get very attached to their pets do you you've got three kids you guys have pets as well well i thought you sent a picture of my son because our sons look just like each other oh my gosh that's funny
SPEAKER 04 :
I mean, the same age, same college tuition, all the stuff, right? So that I'm like, wow, that's funny. Is that my son holding that dog? Yes, he's super attached to our dog. Our dog is a Labradoodle.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, they're the best. My neighbor has one of those. They're so sweet.
SPEAKER 04 :
They're so sweet, and I call them cat. She's more like a cat. She's just a lap cat dog. And he's as attached as I think he likes her better than he likes any of us.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, that's hilarious. Yeah, my son used to say about Butch, that's our really macho Pomeranian, the big fat one. He would always say when he was in high school and he didn't have the best experience a couple of the years, where before he grew six foot four, he was dinky and got kind of picked on. And he used to say when I'd pick him up, he's like, oh, Butch is my best friend, Mom. So I just think it's good for these kids to have pets and those relationships they have. All right. So many people. Yeah. Let's break down your book. We've been working through all the chapters and we've covered so many. I really enjoyed communication. And I love it that in your business, you hire people oftentimes that you've worked with before, which is such a luxury to work with someone, be impressed by who they are, how they work and go, hey, I have a company now and you are my favorite coworker and I want you to work for me now.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and, and oftentimes they're clients too. So the, you know, the philosophies of how we've been doing business together, you know, played out for whether the client, and then we can perpetuate that with new clients with that same relationship in house. So, yeah, it's been really, um, it's been representative of some of the chapters about relationships and how you partner with people and moving the ball forward. But yeah, it's been, it's been quite a journey and I love that you appreciate that. Thank you. And, and, and it's really about leadership, which is what we're talking about today too, which is the last chapter. I'll combine eight and nine today for our listeners. Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
And again, how did you get here? Lessons of unconventional success. And then as we've been breaking these down, we're going to continue to now break down the new book, which is a companion guide releasing very soon. How do you go there? So to actually, you know, how to do it. All right, cool.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and you know, it's fun about that for me. The most fun when you bring that up as I hear www, how you got here. HowYouGoThere.com is spelled exactly the same as www.HowYouGoThere.com. Oh. How you got here and how you go there aren't so very different. Yeah. How you look at it.
SPEAKER 05 :
You are really getting a kick out of yourself this morning, aren't you?
SPEAKER 04 :
No, no. Well, yeah, sure. Can you also be getting a kick out of me so it's not weird? Sure.
SPEAKER 05 :
But it is funny sometimes when you laugh at yourself and someone else is like, you are really getting a crack. You're cracking yourself up, aren't you? All right. So leadership. Let's go there because it seems like this is kind of a passion of yours to be a good leader.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I think also it's a passion of mine to pay it forward. Right. So the book has been really good at defining and talking about my views and experiences on leadership. Right. And the companion guide is about people unpacking their own version of how they want to take their leadership. So the dynamic shifts in the companion guide. But, yeah, in the book, I definitely talk about it. how it's inspiring and motivating others, you know, towards achieving a common goal with a positive end result. And that's really what leadership is all about, regardless of the topic and inspiring the next generation and leading with different ways of awareness is what I thought was important to talk about. So you can learn about self-awareness to your point about being really impressed with myself on how you got here and how you go there. And, you know, being able to laugh at the humor of these things, being self-aware is really one of the pillars for me of leadership. And I'm not following the book. I'm just talking candidly about how that's what we're unpacking in that chapter. And being self-aware and then also the people you're leading, having them be self-aware allows for a common language in how you can get better at leading and moving towards that common goal by not triggering but rather supporting the varying styles. So it's really what I go to in leadership is about self-awareness. Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
Leadership about self-awareness. And I think I see some old school leaders running into an issue with some of the younger people. I was just at, I was in Phoenix and I was at a fairly high end resort because I wanted the kids to be able to use their like water park. So we stayed at night at this like pretty extravagant place. And so I'm sitting there and I'm listening to these millennials talk to like an older uncle. So it was like, They were on vacation and it was some 20-somethings along with like the parents and grandparents that were more in the, you know, 50s, 60s, 70s range. Okay, so the young people, I heard one of the guys say to the older uncle, you know, I just think it's going to be a lot better. I'm looking forward to seeing what's going to happen like when this older generation kind of starts dying out because... I didn't even think I heard it correctly when this older generation starts kind of dying out because you know if you work for a guy that's been you know in the job is a boss for like 30 years it's a lot different than working for someone who's been in it like five years that's like closer to my age in other words like championing the young leaders well my husband who is now 50 he thinks that some of these younger people are so soft like the other day they voted when they went to Vegas about where they were going to stay. And they had a place off the strip, which was respectable, but kind of more of like a family kind of place and $200 instead of 500 for the night. And they came to them and said, we voted and we want to stay on the strip. It's a little bit more expensive, but we voted. Like, oh, well, it's our company, but you voted. So we're going to pay more because you want to stay on the strip. Or like some of them went out for dinner And my husband, and then another one took a group out again for dinner at their expensive steakhouse. And then he said, hey, it was my treat. There were three of us, but I was wondering if you guys could pitch in on it. So my husband sends me the bill because he said, yeah, I'll pitch in like 50 bucks each. I'll help you out with the dinner. That didn't even cover the glass of wine. The glasses of wine were $67 a piece. In all of my life, Scott, and I'm not a drinker, but I've maybe had a glass of champagne or I'm thinking $12 is maybe what I paid for a glass of wine, right? I'm not exactly like really going for it when it comes to being extravagant with alcohol. So $67 for each glass of wine. And then of course, you know, all the appetizers and the shrimp and the lobster and then this and that. And I was like, oh my gosh, like who are these people, right? I guess my point to this is leadership, what some younger people think is good leadership and what some older people think is good leadership. Like my husband wants you on time at work. If he's having a meeting with his co-founder and you walk in in the middle and you just stand there staring at them and interrupting their conversation. He thinks that that is rude and that is something you shouldn't be doing. Like the way he views things and some of his younger employers view things as good leadership. They're very different.
SPEAKER 04 :
Very, very different. You know, it's funny.
SPEAKER 05 :
We have to take a break. We have to take a break. And so we'll be right back. Of course, I've used up all of our time. We'll be right back with Scott Montgomery.
SPEAKER 03 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Scott Montgomery is with us. We're talking about how did you get there? We've been breaking down all the chapters today. We're talking leadership and also talking about his company, Worldgate, and then his new companion guide, How Do You Go There? Okay, what you think is good leadership closer to my age and my husband, you know, at 50, and then the younger people. Yes, some of them don't like our leadership at all.
SPEAKER 04 :
I had a really good opportunity having graduated from University of Virginia in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, and I have stayed in touch. And I actually hosted a moderated event over the topic of the varying generational communication styles. And we had a panel of someone that was 55-ish like us. We had a panel of the next round of generation of 40-year-old leaders coming in as us 55-year-olds get to, quote unquote, die out now in the next couple of years.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, as we start dying off.
SPEAKER 1 :
Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
And then the young guys were sitting there. And in this example, what we got to witness was how the younger generation isn't communicating effectively like you've described. But I'm finding that a lot of them are thirsty for that mentoring and interaction and the I don't want to work at home in a silo. There was sort of that run of millennials. It was like, I don't want to be a part of anything, and I don't want to have to work hard, and I voted, so I get to do it my way. There's really another round of folks coming in that are really starting to say, hey, I appreciate being appreciated, and I get that I want to be a part of that, and is there a way that we can also have our own autonomy? I thought it was an interesting panel, and I was really excited to partner with my alma mater, and I think it's a great topic that also came up in the International Coaching Federation Coaches Conference, this topic of leadership and how the different generations are looking at it different ways. And what I'm unpacking in my position and in my views is that there really is a common ground to us old guys that are dying off and the new guys that are coming in. There is this slight sliver of folks, and they're called millennials, so I don't know the exact birth year, that kind of disrupted the apple cart around COVID and and they became entitled. And it sounds like that might be who was sitting two lounge chairs over from you. But I think they were really all singing from the same sheet of music when it comes to leadership and style. Like I have a real issue with coming in late and late isn't on time, early isn't on time rather, or being on time is not on time. 10 minutes early is on time in my book. You know, when we're getting together, I'm starting you about 10 minutes before you're ready for me if you hadn't noticed. And that's just what people do to get going, right? And at my firm, We put together – and this is something I want to make sure people understand about the book, How Did You Get Here? At my firm, we put together a list of behaviors that actually spell Worldgate Way. And they're basically a hierarchy of what we're talking about. It's not showing up 10 minutes early per se, but what it is is things like willingness, open-mindedness, responsiveness, generous, welcoming, adaptable, yes, and, thoughtful, ethical, diverse. And what we did is we spelled out World Gateway and then put the behavior next to it, and it leads you to being on time to meetings. And it really doesn't really knit-knat 10 minutes before a meeting. It sort of broad strokes a common language. We actually have a tent card we give all new hires that I actually also put printable in the book. So when you're talking about leadership, it's about these behaviors, and it's about styles, and it's about understanding your audiences. Whether it's the old guy who's dying off talking to the young kid that doesn't know what he's talking about, which is equally as bad as the young kid saying the old guy isn't in touch. It's learning how to be in conversation and growth patterns in a common language. And for me, the word behaviors. is really important in leadership, as is compassion. Both sides of that coin. So it's a big topic.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, it's interesting because my husband has had quite a few bad experiences with some of his younger employees, but then I've had producers, a lot of them in their 20s and 30s, who've been phenomenal. My current producer, Luke, and also Trevino, I had for many years, but some other ones that I've had at Crawford Broadcasting that really, I mean, they were... I think when you're a producer, you have to depend on yourself. And if you don't do your work, it's immediately the spotlight's on you. You know, there's no team per se doing the show or your responsibilities. And so it's been a different experience for me with my younger co-workers and producers, et cetera, that I've worked with than he's had. But one of the funniest ones that he's had was he was doing this job interview and my husband said, are you in a car? Yeah. You know, are you in a Lyft or an Uber? And he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got these tickets at the last minute for the Rockies game. And so, you know, I'm on my way to the game in the back of the Uber doing the job interview.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, nice. Yeah, doing... Really prepared, really focused, really, you know, right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Like, so I said, do you immediately just get off? He goes, yeah, within, you know, a minute or two, you know, I got off the phone. Like, he could have rescheduled it. Like, that would have been the best bet, not to do it in the back of the Uber. That's not really showing me or a go-getter that, hey, I'm going to the game, and I can fit in the interview on the side. Like, whoo, look at me, you know. But, yeah, he's had... Showing me your focus is on other things, right. And there's been a couple where, like, this one guy was like... Yeah, well, I just want – is there – I want work-life balance, which is probably not something you bring up at the job interview. He said, I want work-life balance. Like, if I want to go do yoga, I want to go do yoga. If I want to go get a coffee, like, I'm going to go get a coffee. Like, that's not, like, a selling point for you when you're looking for a job. Like, how can I think about me first before the company? And so when he comes home and tells me at some of the interviews, I'm just dying. Like, how badly do they not want the job? Like, do they just have to – To get their welfare, do they have to prove they went on a job interview because they're obviously not trying to get the job?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, my experience opposite of that was that one of the most recent interviews I had was for an administrative assistant to support my day. And I interviewed three or four candidates, and one of them came in and sat there, leaned up in their chair. They were on time and eager to go and proceeded to say, I'll do anything you want. I was like, okay, anything I want. Thanks. Like what skills are you bringing? Like they tried to broad stroke it. Right. Like how eager I am. Well, the opposite. What skills do you bring? Like why do you want this job? Where is the hook that makes me think we're going to be a good collaboration? It's not in the back of the cab, and it's not you saying you're going to do everything you want, anything I want. That's weird. Both are weird. You know what I mean? There's a weird factor. And in the middle, it's kind of like, well, here's my experience. Here's what I do. Here's why I want to do that. And I'm sitting upright in the chair, and I'm presenting myself professionally. That's the 10-minute interview. So we're talking about polarity. So I was just suggesting I had the opposite experience in the most recent times of I didn't even know where to go with the interview. I'm like, okay, so anything I want. So how do I even ask you who you are and what your principles are and what your interests are and why you want this job? I didn't even know where to start.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, and I wonder, too, if people are—any job interview I've been on, I pretty much got offered the job. Does anyone teach these—you know, teach them how to do a job interview? Because when my husband explains some of them, I feel like they've just really never had any practice or worked with anybody or even Googled, what do I do on a job interview? You know what I mean? Like, just the basics of— How to behave on a job interview. It's interesting to me. My oldest son, the one that runs his own business, he's very good at dealing with adults and actually probably likes adults more than people his own age. Although now at 19, I guess he's starting to be around adults as a rule, not just high school kids.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER 05 :
And so, yeah, he he's he's great. Now, my middle one, not so sure. You know, she's she's got ADHD. So she you might be talking about some very serious topic. And she'd be like, Mr. Montgomery, did you get a haircut? Look, it's great. You know, she just like spin off onto some random like. staring at the ceiling fan, you know? So I'm not sure how she'll do, but that reminds me that as she heads off to college next year, I am going to have to work with her on how to sit down and speak with like coaches one-on-one. We've worked on that, you know, teachers one-on-one advocating for herself because I'm telling you the job interview skills or even just communicating with adults and peers and bosses doesn't come naturally to some.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, most. And back to your 19-year-old, it brought up for me that my 19-year-old, who's a freshman at Alabama right now, literally came home for Christmas break and was like, Dad, literally said these words to me. I can't even believe I'm giving the opportunity to share this as a generational thing for them, like you said about your son. But he sat in my office and he said, I've applied for three or four different societies and things that I want to get involved in at college, and I didn't get the job. And I realized, I didn't get the entry job or whatever it was that he was signing up for and interviewing for. Could you help me with how to interview better? I am not self-confident. I'm not aware of what I'm supposed to do. And I started to say, look, it's about focusing on the topic you're interviewing about, and then they'll ask you about you personally. Answers are related to whatever, X. And light bulbs were going off. And I then thought, is there an interview class in Alabama that we're supposed to be signing up for? And I haven't seen one yet, to your point. It's really important because it's part of the communication. It's part of leadership. And your 19-year-old is in a perfect spot, as is mine.
SPEAKER 05 :
I wonder if there is something like, there's got to be videos or something that they can look at online that kind of teach the basics of, you know, how to conduct yourself in an interview. I mean, that really would be a great thing for a kid. And to do like the mock-up interview where maybe you bring it in and you actually interview him and let him know how he did.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's exactly what I was going to do. So I've got my corporate headquarters staff here, and I was literally going to – we didn't get time this go-around, but at spring break or shortly after, I'm going to put him in the conference room, and I'm going to have him interview for one of our job postings. And no one's going to know who he is, and I want them to give me the feedback.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, I love that. I love that.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's opportunistic. It's a good – right, so just sort of deviating from our topic but sort of in line with our topic. I think it's important the next generation does learn – And it's also not an assessment of your entire life and self-value and worth. You're talking about a job. So you come in to be an administrative assistant and you tell me you'll do anything for me. That's not mapping, you know, or I'm in the back of the car going to the ballgame and I'm really dedicated to working for you. Those two things don't gel.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, right. Those two things. These two things don't go together. Was that Sesame Street? We learned that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, exactly. And people don't realize that you don't have to tell everything all the time about everything. Just funnel it down. Talk about your administrative skills. Talk about the thing you're doing. And then what experience do you have that maps to why they would care about bringing you on board? And if you're likable, you're done. And if you're less likable than the guy in front of you, then so be it.
SPEAKER 05 :
There is this one guy who's on TikTok and he basically talks to young people about, you know, succeeding at college and, you know, read the syllabus, read the darn syllabus.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know exactly who you're talking about. I started following him.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, he's got dark hair and glasses. Glasses, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
And he has so many great tips for young people. And he must have like 1,200 up by now. He'll be like, tip number 1,253 or whatever. But every one to me is valuable. And I'm sure he runs over some. Harlan Cohen. Harlan. Yes. Harlan Cohen.
SPEAKER 04 :
687,000 followers. Wow.
SPEAKER 05 :
simple topics latest one that's pinned is read your syllabus that's the one i sent to all three of my kids and what's funny this morning that's so funny that is so funny yeah i sent it to him and i even did the because i don't curse but i did it said read the effing syllabus just because harlan's just like giving you simple tips to get it through your head and so i said to my son My girlfriend's kid just read a syllabus, and it said if you send me an email that says candy in the subject line, I'll give you 10 extra points or whatever. I'm like, so read your syllabus. They might be putting something in there to give you extra points to make sure you are reading it. All right, Scott, we're almost out of time, so give us the best way for us to reach you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, www.howyougother.com.
SPEAKER 05 :
How you go there is a new one, and how did you get here is the old one. So they'll go hand in hand.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, the parent is the how did you get here, let's understand it, and then how you go there is the workbook companion guide coming out in a few weeks. Awesome. Thanks, Scott. Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
SPEAKER 01 :
welcome to the good news with angie austin now with the good news here's angie
SPEAKER 02 :
Hey there, Angie Austin and Jim Stovall with the good news. Hey, Jim.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is great to be with you as always.
SPEAKER 02 :
You as well. We're talking about your winner's wisdom column and this week it's the price of tuition. But I thought we'd start with, you know, Michael Pelka and I've done radio for like a decade, I think now and not quite maybe, but we did a show together for years and we'd never met in person and we just met in person today, as you know. So we had to send you a picture right away because Mike met you through me and we both talk to you every week now.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and, you know, it's amazing because in person I've never met either one of you, although as a blind guy myself, it's not a lot different, you know, but it's kind of out of sight, out of mind. But, yeah, I think it's so cool you guys got together. sent me the photo, and it's actual evidence that there is really a Michael Pelka.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
So that's good to know.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, and you know, it's funny because he was exactly like I thought. I mean, he's exactly like I thought he'd be, and speaking with him, we did a four-hour show every weekday, and I've seen a lot of his posts on social media and he's always golfing and I knew exactly what he'd look like, but he thought he'd have a very short period of time. Cause he said that Denver airport's too big and that he had to like, he's like, I'm getting all my steps in. I'm taking trip now, planes, trains, and automobiles. He's like, I'm barely going to have time to talk to you. So he walked by the table and he said, nice to meet you. And then kept walking out. Like he had to leave that quickly. And I'm like, it's classic Mike.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that's Mike. And it is. And, uh, And he actually emailed me after the meeting with you and told me he got to meet you. But unfortunately, he was delayed. So his show is backing up from Tuesday to Wednesday this week. So, yeah, it's not as easy getting around as it needs to be. And that airport is – It would have been nice if they'd have built it in Denver.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, it takes a long time to get out there. I mean, the first time I drove there, I was like, wow. It feels like it's almost in another state, but it's way out on the plains. It feels like you're driving into the eastern plains. But, you know, they've started bringing Denver out to the airport. They've continued to build out towards it. So they're actually starting to build neighborhoods not that far from the airport, even though it used to be in the middle of nowhere. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and I will always be grateful for that. I owe one of my movies to that. I was staying at the Brown Palace there in Denver, and there was a movie producer there we'd met, and we just had not been able to come to terms on the deal. And he said, well, I've got to go to the airport. And I said, well, we have a car. We're going to fly out a little later. We'll take you. Well, because it's an hour, by the time we got through the city traffic and got out there, we were able to put together the whole movie deal, all the points, everything, and everything. If the traffic had been any worse, we could have written the script right there in the car. Oh, that's hilarious. So I will never complain about that airport.
SPEAKER 02 :
uh, you know, with, um, you know, driving out there for Mike, I was, I don't know how it worked out, but I was over two hours early. So I'm like, do I go home? And I'm like, no, it's too far because it's so far out there. But, um, he told me that he'd read your, um, the book that you made into your first movie, the ultimate gift. Cause he's trying to read 50 books this year. And I'm like, oh, Jim reads a book a day. And of course he knew that already. And, uh, I said, well, how, how was the ultimate gift? He goes, well, he made a movie out of it. I'm like, yes. I'm aware. And he says, it's great. It's great. They made a, it was his first like big movie. I'm like, yep, yep, yep. Remember I introduced you to Jim. So I know all this. So anyway, uh, he really enjoyed your book. He's trying to read, I think one of your books a month.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and that, that's great. I just, uh, Mike is the, the two of you together was, was just absolutely fascinating. The yin and yang of, uh, of human existence. It was quite an experience talking to both of you. And, uh, and it's, it's ironic because, uh, You know, I talk to you about my column and then I talk to him about my column. And it's a completely different conversation. It is absolutely different. And for me, it's like, you know, as a blind person, if I go somewhere, I experience much of it through them. And there are some people, you know, you want to take to the party, the fair, the parade, the circus. That's you. There are some people you want to take to the lecture, you know, the museum, whatever. That's Mike.
SPEAKER 02 :
He's so sharp.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, he is. But for you, everything's a day at the beach. Everything's great. And Mike, if he finds the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, he's analyzing, why didn't we get two of these?
SPEAKER 02 :
Right, right. He's going to question the pot of gold and make sure it's legit.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. And find out whether or not it's a Republican. Oh, he had, you'll have to ask him too. When you get your private time with him, he has three ideas of who he believes Donald Trump will choose as his VP candidates. So ask him about that next time you talk to him. It's pretty interesting. All right. And we'll see if he's right. Right. All right. Well, I've got two kids that are looking at colleges right now. So let's talk about your column, the price of tuition.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you know, as you know, through the Stovall center for entrepreneurship at the university, uh, I interact with a lot of kids, and we have students from over 100 nations right now on campus, and it's really rather amazing. Tuition is unbelievably expensive, particularly from some of these people that come from third-world countries. I mean, going to college in America is quite a thing. But I always tell them, please remember, the price of tuition is the same whether you learn the lesson or you don't. And, you know, we all know about tuition and going to school and learning things in school. But in life, it's the same way. You know, life is always teaching us lessons. And failure is the tuition we pay for not learning. And you keep learning until you get it. So you keep failing until you get the lesson in it. The great philosopher Billy Joel once said, I am the entertainer. I had to pay my price. The things I did not learn at first, I learned by doing twice. And if you don't want to learn from Billy Joel, I get it. Churchill said that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it. You either learn from history or you get to do it over again. So I always tell people, you know, every time there's a problem, a challenge or whatever, that's a lesson learned. and you can learn it and not repeat it yourself, and you can help other people not repeat that. And then the converse is true. You can learn from other people's mistakes, and you don't have to burn your head on the stove if you just watch somebody else do it. You can say, you know, I believe I'll just bypass that lesson and check that one off and move on.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love that. And, you know, to see every failure, every trip, every stumble as a lesson, learning experiences, I think something that's becoming more trendy. It seems like for many years, many of us thought that failures were, you know, possibly a reason to quit. And now it just seems like part of the journey.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I mean, failure is fertilizer for the future. And every time something happens bad, you know, the whole world's praying for that great idea. Angie, the only thing you got to do to have a great idea is go through your daily routine, wait for something bad to happen. Ask yourself, how could I have avoided that? And the answer is a great idea. And the only thing you got to do to turn that great idea into a great business is ask, how can I help other people avoid that? And the world will give you fame and fortune and everything you ever wanted. If you'll just help them solve their problems. And as in most things, uh, It ain't about you, and it ain't about me. It's about them. And solve their problems, and they'll give you anything you want. And my late great mentor, Zig Ziglar, always said, you can have everything you want out of life if you'll help enough other people get what they want out of life.
SPEAKER 02 :
I like that. You use a lot of quotes. In fact, you've got a book, another book coming out about famous quotes and speeches. And you talk about Winston Churchill and talking about learning from history. Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it. And I feel like many of us do that. We just keep doing things the same old way. And expect a different outcome. And we just get stuck in a rut like our brains wired a certain way. And we just thought, well, we'll try it again this way. We'll try it again this way. And so you talk about in the article when you're raising your kids or teaching students or whatever, that you shouldn't allow a mistake to be made without a change. You shouldn't allow a mistake to be made without a corresponding change. So stop doing it the same way, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I don't quote him often, but Clinton said that never let a good crisis go to waste. And that's what he meant. I mean, hey, all this garbage, there's got to be a lesson in here somewhere. And because if we keep doing the same thing we've been doing, we're going to keep getting the same thing we always got. So when you or your kids or your students or anybody makes a mistake, the first thing, what did you learn? And what are you going to do different next time? Otherwise, we're going to be sitting right here at the scene of another accident having this same conversation.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now, when you talk about the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship, I know you made a big donation and that was a, you know, a goal of yours from, you know, a young age that you wanted to make a big donation. Your name, you know, is a part of the, you know, building, et cetera. Now, what's your responsibility in terms of teaching these kids? Are you teaching them? Are you mentoring them? Like, how does that work? And is it just volunteer? Is it because your names, you know, associated with the program? How does that all work?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I'm very glad to say we have professors and teachers and wonderful people there who work with the university. I do have an office there, and I lecture some of the classes, and I teach and mentor the kids. But, I mean, you have to have academic standards to be an accredited university, so thankfully we have people that are really, really good at that, and I try to stay out of their way. But I am excited to get to work with these young people who – you know, it's amazing. They haven't yet figured out what's impossible. And so they end up doing some things I would not have even thought feasible. And I watched them do that. And they just didn't know you can't do that. And that's an amazing thing to observe. And, you know, the energy they have and the excitement. And they're growing up in a different world. You You know, I'm working with people that, you know, were born after 9-11. I mean, it's a completely different environment. And, you know, they never have known a world without cell phones and digital media and total connectivity around the world. And, you know, that's been a big part of their lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, yeah. Well, and I love that, you know, you defer to the, you know, professors, but I'm sure that the kids also really want to pick your brain about, you know, what you've learned. And I know you have a big contest every year, too, with the students, not you per se, but just in general. Can you tell us about that?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it's called the Launch Competition. We do it every year. We just finished our fifth one. And, you know, think Shark Tank. But it lasts a whole year, and kids actually start real businesses. And then we bring in venture capitalists. We bring in investors and different people. And then we have a panel of expert judges that we bring in. And the kids put on a real business pitch for this new venture they've started. And it's not like playing Monopoly. These are real companies these kids have started. Truly amazing. And, you know, to see what they can do and, you know, really, really begin to change the world. And I always remind them, you know, education, particularly at this level, this is not something, you know, we're going to learn today and maybe someday in the by and by we're going to do some. Three of the five largest businesses on planet Earth started in somebody's dorm room. Three of the five. Wow.
SPEAKER 05 :
That is crazy.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let's don't wait around. I mean, you know, look at where, you know, Bill Gates came from and look at where Steve Jobs came from and look at what these people were doing. These aren't people that waited until, you know, all the lights were green before they left the house. These are people that left the cave, went out and killed something and brought it home. And it's time for you to go do something.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love it. One of our friend Mike was saying, why don't you get your kid to go on Shark Tank? Wouldn't that be cool? And I thought, wow, that would be cool since he has had his business since he was, you know, a kid. All right. Jim Stovall dot com. Jim Stovall dot com. We'll talk to you next week, friend. Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
I look forward to it. Thanks, Angie.
SPEAKER 02 :
Colorado Springs is listening to the Mighty 670 KLT.
SPEAKER 05 :
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SPEAKER 02 :
Hello there, friend. Angie Austin with the good news. Cal Phaibus is joining us. He is an author, but he has quite an interesting background. We're going to talk about his new book, and we are also going to talk about how he got there. And he is actually a Colorado guy and, you know, lives kind of in my neck of the woods, actually. So many of you listening may already be familiar with some of his desserts, interestingly enough. Welcome to the program, Cal Phaibus. Well, thank you. Thank you, Angie, for having me. All right. So you it's just funny because as we were talking in the break, we were talking about I want to move to Laguna and I live in Colorado and you have a house in Laguna Beach in California and also one here. And I had just had these advisories pop up on my phone about Laguna real estate. So I was like, oh, you're already living my life, Cal.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it's actually Laguna Niguel, which is just just a little. inland from Laguna. So it's about a five-mile drive to get to the beach from here.
SPEAKER 02 :
Down that little canyon.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's a nice little condo. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, the weather is so beautiful there.
SPEAKER 06 :
It is. It's like perfect almost every day. A little chilly at night in the winter.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, yes. I used to live in Marina del Rey, and I agree with you. The beaches, I mean, people would be surprised to hear that, but it is a little chilly in the winter.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, so we walk the beach a lot, and you've got to take a coat and Make sure you have a hoodie or something because the wind blows.
SPEAKER 02 :
So tell us about your book. And then I want to get into a little bit into, you know, you and your background. So many people want to become authors and have other careers like you did and, you know, are afraid to take that jump, you know, to write a book.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. And I've always had stories in my head, you know, but I never really thought too much about it. writing them down because I was busy with my career and, you know, raising a family. But I started to write a book and I found out I could do it.
SPEAKER 02 :
And fiction, is that your thing, fiction, that you wanted to write a novel?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, I only write fiction. So the book that we're going to talk about today, The Angel and the Amazing Life of Maggie Love, is my second book that I've published. And it's centered around a character, a woman that has killed 20 people in her life. And the first line in my book is, Maggie Love is finally dead. An angel who kind of narrates the story is in charge of Maggie, and his job is to simply save her soul. Now, how is he going to save a woman's soul that's killed 20 people? Well, he's determined. And he's going to find out how. And he does that by taking her back into her life and making her relive the crimes again. And she kind of has a lot of deja vu. She remembers, I've done this before. I get to do it again. She's actually excited about it. And the angel's job is to just try to get her to repent. And she won't do it. She feels she's totally justified with every murder she's committed. So it is a mystery story, but the mystery isn't really who did it. The mystery is whether or not her soul is going to be saved.
SPEAKER 02 :
Ah, okay. And then is this for you? Are you doing a series of books? Have you written more already? How are you going about this?
SPEAKER 06 :
I haven't written more. I'm working on another book, but it's not related to this one. I do have an idea for a sequel for this one, so there may be a series.
SPEAKER 02 :
And then your background, I was talking about that. You're a retired chef, and you've invented thousands of desserts for high-end restaurants, and you did not go to culinary school, which is unusual, I guess, for, you know, like I have a pastry chef in the family, and I know a lot of people specifically go to school, but you learned cooking. In a bakery, a small bakery in California. And then just to add a little bit more, and you can go into more depth, that you work for this big dessert company, Stephen Charles, which I wasn't familiar with. And there's one right down the road from me where I guess they do their major shipments. I can't just go in there and buy desserts. I think like big trucks go in there and they send them to like high-end restaurants. So talk a little bit about that, how you got started at the small bakery in California and then how you became so well-versed in creating these desserts.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I didn't go to culinary school. That's true. I learned by just doing it, by getting up at 2 in the morning, going to work, baking every day in a small bakery, just learning the trade, learning how ovens work. Nobody ever taught me anything, learning how to read recipes. learning how to create recipes, which is even more important. And I have an older brother who was a natural entrepreneur, and he's just able to start companies and build them up to be very, very large. I went to work with him, first as a production guy, and then eventually, you know, we kind of figured out that I had a little bit of talent at creating desserts and creating recipes.
SPEAKER 02 :
So cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
So I did that and we started to get into some major chains. The first big chain that we got into was the Red Lobsters. Since then, we've been into Olive Garden, Chili's. When we finally sold the company, our biggest customer by far was Starbucks. Oh, my goodness. And we have one very successful dessert in Starbucks. Well, there's actually different flavors of the same thing. And it is the cake pop.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, I knew you were going to say that. My daughter, she's 15. Faith, she's addicted to those. We get those all the time. They're so good.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, they're not very expensive. They're small. But, you know, people seem to love them. And we were making millions, you know, towards the end of my career. We figured out how to automate it. And, you know, nobody had ever done anything like that before. So we had to, you know, basically design the machines and
SPEAKER 02 :
know in the early years it was all done by hand wow but now now it's all it's all automated and same product that is so wild okay so um it the um i just actually ate a dessert last night from um olive garden it was like a oh gosh it was my daughter's but i'm probably gonna get in trouble for finishing it and it was um you know many layers you know chocolate chips and then dark chocolate and then a white layer and then a another chocolate layer and then like a cookie bottom so I'm just curious, because I think that'd be so fun, and I'm sure there's stress involved, and I know that especially doing the production for millions of cake pops isn't always fun, but how does the process work for you to come up with a recipe?
SPEAKER 06 :
The creative process is hard to describe. You have to see it in your head, and you have to taste it in your head, and You know, you put something in the oven and you think you got it and then you taste it and it's just not right. And then you do it again and you do it again and you do it again until you got the product that you want.
SPEAKER 02 :
That is so cool. I never thought about it, that you'd picture it and taste it in your head. You'd picture what it's going to look like, that cake pop, and then you know what it's going to taste like, but then it's too dry, then it's not vanilla enough, then the coating's too hard or whatever, and so you just keep retrying it. Oh, that's cool to know, because one of my kids is always looking at Instagram and finding recipes. Okay, that's another interesting thing you do. Besides being a retired chef, selling that company, working in a small bakery in California... Then you also, you know, become an author. But what's this about being a cartoonist?
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, yeah. I love to make these cartoons. They're on my Instagram. And I've developed a little bit of a following. Now, some cartoonists or, you know, maybe diehard cartoonists are kind of mad at me because I don't really draw. I'm an expert at manipulating a photo. So I can put a character into pretty much any scene I want. I can change his voice. I mean, I can change his facial features. I can change what he's doing. But I don't actually draw anything.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, that's funny. I'm on your, I found your page. And for people, it's Carl Fabus, but he goes by C.R. C.R. Fabus. And so you can see some of his, yeah, you've got a good little following. Okay. And so that's just kind of a little hobby of yours?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, they're fun to make. And I enjoyed, you know, reading the comments that come back from some of the viewers. It's very satisfying.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, I bet it is. That's really cool. Okay, so you're living between Colorado and California. You're writing novels. You're working on another book. You're, I'm assuming, traveling because, you know, a lot of authors travel around. And then you've got four kids and four cats and one dog. Oh, my gosh. I have five pets, too.
SPEAKER 06 :
You do?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I've got three teenagers.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Yeah, unfortunately we lost our dog a few months ago, but that happens, but, but, um, we still have the four cats and the four kids. And well, my, my kids are all grown up now. So two of them actually still live with me. Um, and, uh, my grandkids are actually, I have three of those and they're actually, one is going to turn the youngest one is going to turn 21 in June. Oh, cool.
SPEAKER 02 :
That's a fun age.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, a Vegas party for my grandkids when they turn 21.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, my goodness. That's so exciting. All right. Well, I always loved it because, you know, I've been doing news for over 30 years now and I've worked in L.A. for many years and San Diego, Santa Barbara, Denver on TV. And then I changed over to radio about 10 years ago. So I love asking people, you know, how they got the passion for what they do. And so you can go through your career if you want and go through, you know, talk about your writing or how you got the passion for the baking, et cetera. Where did all this come from? Tell me a little about your story.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I, you know, as a young man, I was struggling. I worked in airline catering for a while. I wasn't happy with that. My brother already had a bakery and another brother bought a bakery in Ontario, California. And I went in half with him. And that's the earlier story that I said, that's how I learned how to bake. And eventually went to work for my older brother as a production guy and turned into a chef over the years. And at one time when our company was, really in a growth mode, I had 14 people working for me. 14 people creating desserts, some were clean up and all that, but I had about six other chefs under me. And we were creating a lot of desserts, putting a lot of things out. The customer that we deal with, the customers that we deal with are very picky. Most of them have been to culinary school and, you know, sometimes they're not easy to deal with.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
But if you just keep pushing it and keep making a dessert that's really good, they're going to recognize that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
And then you get a big sale and it's very satisfying. Now, in terms... Go ahead. And as far as the writing goes, when my kids were growing up, I was telling them bedtime stories. And I made up these two bears. They're called Charlie and Harry. And I would tell them a story. And then, of course, the next night they wanted another one. I was under a lot of pressure. I had to come up with a new story like every night. And I finally decided to write them down. in the 90s, and I haven't published that book yet.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, that would be so cool. Go ahead, it's really funny, what?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it's really funny, and it's not really a kid's book. It's kind of like a book that anybody could enjoy, because it's funny.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we're out of time, unfortunately, but I want to make sure people can find you and your books and find out more about you. So what's the best place for us to find you and your latest book about Maggie Love?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, my website is crfavis, that's F-A-B-I-S books.com, crfavisbooks.com. And that'll take you to my website. And from there, you can find Maggie. You can also find my first book, which is called Rome Never Fell. And there's some biographical stuff about me and what I've been doing and a few of the interviews I've done.
SPEAKER 02 :
Excellent. Well, Cal, thank you so much. It was a real pleasure having you on The Good News. Well, thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER 06 :
It was so much fun.
SPEAKER 02 :
You bet. Thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
Join Angie Austin as she hosts a heartfelt conversation with Grace Fox, diving deep into life's real struggles as shared through compelling stories. From personal journeys of letting go to understanding the psychological roots of attachment, this episode is filled with insight and introspection. Discover how faith and perseverance can transform arduous paths into enlightening experiences. The episode also shifts focus to the pressing topic of foster care, featuring expert insights from Kristen Pratt of Foster More. Learn about the challenges and triumphs involved in fostering and how communities can step up to support this vital cause. It's an episode that underscores resilience, hope, and the courage to face life's uncertainties. Immerse yourself in engaging narratives as our guests share their personal stories of overcoming journeys, the emotional ties to possessions, and the fortitude required in fostering. With thought-provoking discussions on securing peace through faith and fostering hope through love, this episode offers both encouragement and inspiration to navigate your life path.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now with The Good News, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hello there friend, Angie Austin and Grace Fox. And today we are talking about real life struggles from her book, Fresh Hope for Today, Devotions for Joy on the Journey. Hey Grace. Hi, good to talk to you again. All right, so tell us about real life struggles.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, so I wrote this one after interviewing a friend. Her name was Nancy. She lives in Oregon, actually. And she talked to me about how she and her husband had decided to take a hike. And so they trudged, as she described it, trudged four miles uphill through the forest. And they began second-guessing their wisdom in choosing to do this hike. but she said that they persevered and they got to the top of a, when they got to the top, it was this meadow that was just filled with flowers and glacier fed streams. And she said, it was just so beautiful. They sat down and had a picnic there and thoroughly enjoyed their time. It was that kind of a space where you work so hard to get somewhere. And when you, when you finally arrive, it's just so beautiful. You don't want to leave. And that was like their experience. And, And so when I heard her story, I thought, well, that is like real life in that sometimes we end up on a journey that is so arduous. And it's maybe not by choice, but it's just something that happens. We end up on this path that is so hard. And we just don't know that we're ever going to reach whatever it is we're trying to reach. But finally, the Lord just brings us into a place of rest. and it's it's a place that our soul is longing for after all of that maybe hardship that we've just come through but where we can sit down and we can rest and we know that he's with us and we know that he's got us and he's holding us close but wow it's you know the destination of getting there and experiencing that rest for our soul is good but the pathway to getting there is sometimes really hard
SPEAKER 06 :
Can you think of examples like in your own life where that really applied to you as well? And you're like, oh, I'm going to write this because I can really relate to this.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I think that when my husband and I sent the Lord nudging us to purge almost all of our earthly belongings to move aboard our sailboat home. And we didn't have a boat. It's not like we had this boat sitting around and we could just move into it. We had to find one that worked for living aboard and find a place to moor it. It was a journey that took a lot of energy mentally and emotionally as I had to part with all of these things that I counted precious. It was a path. It was arduous. And we didn't have a long time to do it. Once we got on it, once we actually found a boat and bought it, we had like six weeks to get rid of our stuff. And it was a path that wore me out in some ways, just emotionally every day, getting up and sorting again and purging again and saying goodbye again to these things that we'd held dear. But once we completed that and arrived, moved into the boat, settled in, And realize that, wow, you know, like this was a time of really stretching our faith and growing our faith. But we saw God come through. And it was a time of thanking him for that opportunity to walk that tough path. But to come to that place of knowing full well that we had obeyed him completely. And there was peace in that, even though I'd said goodbye to all these things that I'd once held dear, there was peace in my heart and there was joy in having obeyed. And it was something that, yeah, we walked that path and it was hard, but wow, it's been worth every step.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, it's interesting you talk about, you know, peace of letting go of things that you once held dear. It's so hard sometimes to part with them. And there's some organizer lady that, you know, basically says, if you feel, if that item brings you joy, you know, keep it. And of course, if it's something you haven't, you know, used or worn or whatever for many years, you know, even if you're like, oh, I might wear that again. There's really no sense in keeping it. But I wonder why we have such a hard time letting things go. My... Mother-in-law has... The family calls her an organized hoarder. And so she has a basement that's probably 1,500 square feet. And it's the most organized basement stuffed to the brim with like 200 purses, you know, 400 pairs of pants. And they're those stretch pants that... you know like senior citizen ladies wear that you can slide on and have thanksgiving dinner and they still fit just fine in every color of the rainbow and then i'm like well why are there like 20 yellow pairs well she used to be super skinny so there's like you know three pairs and a size four three pairs and a size six three pairs and i'm not i'm like oh my gosh like you could never if you wore these pants every day like You probably, she couldn't even wear them like at the end of her life now and go through all those pants. You know what I mean? Like it's just crazy to me and she won't let us down there. Like my son really wants to go down there because he's a thrifter and he's been allowed down a couple of times like with oversight. Like she'll be down there with him. And he might get like a hockey jersey that my husband had when he was little. Or this last time my son came home with a stack of photographs of like my husband when he was, you know, a kid and in college. And then some from when we first got married, like probably 50 pictures. So that's what he came home with. But usually he gets like a little thing. I even got down there. Oh, I couldn't believe that was allowed down. But I needed one of those like shopping bags kind of like to take on the plane that... you know fooled up and she had some nicer ones down there that were like designed or whatever so I found a small one that you could maybe put like the size of like two bottles of wine maybe so that was perfect for like my snack on the plane I go oh look there's another one there's a matching one I'm thinking oh I should take both right she goes oh no no no no no don't get greedy girl And I'm looking around, right? Even three of the purses that I gave her, they're just hanging down there collecting dust, right? Like coach bags. And I'm like, are you sure you've never used that coach bag? Are you sure you want to keep that? Like I gave that to you 20 years ago. I would definitely use that. Oh, no, no, no, no. And I'm like, what? What is it? I don't understand the psychology grace behind that kind of hoarding. You know what I mean? And I know they say it can relate back to maybe losses. Like her dad was a police officer and he was killed in the line of duty when she was like maybe 8, 9, 10. And I've heard that like losing, like if you lose a child or lose something big, like somehow hanging onto these things. And I know that that's not like the Christian way to do it. We're not supposed to get our like comfort and our like, you know, out of things. They're not supposed to give us like that comfort. Right. But it's perplexing to me. Like I can't wrap my head around it, but it's got to have something to do with it giving you comfort or comfort.
SPEAKER 05 :
um security something like that you know that we're supposed to be secure through christ but apparently we're secure through 200 pairs of pants and 200 purses yeah the word security came to my mind as you were talking and i think that's it is that we look to things for our security but if that house burned down if that house were to burn down today how would she respond right like if she found her security in those things that'd be a significant loss for her But the one thing about hanging on to the Lord and finding our security in him is he's never going to leave us. Nothing's ever going to take him away from us. The scripture says in Romans that nothing separates us from his love. And so no matter what happens, even on those tough walks that we take through life, sometimes doesn't matter where he leads us or what he asks us to go through or what he allows in our life. still we can find hope and we can find peace and we can find joy if our security is in him and not in stuff that can be gone in a heartbeat.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and I think with so many of the people, I keep seeing these pictures because I've got so many friends in the news business in Los Angeles. And one of my girlfriends went out really early this morning. And, you know, I don't think we can really wrap our heads around the loss that those people experienced, right? And I know everybody says, well, you know, you still have your life and things can be replaced, etc., etc. But it's a whole... change of like all those lives because it's not like a house in your neighborhood burns down and oh you get rid of it you rebuild like it's so toxic up there and now they'll have problems with mudslides right but your grocery store is gone your library is gone your mechanic is gone all your neighbors homes are gone so like then you go up there and you rebuild and in the midst of all this toxic you know material that's up there and even working up there you know how how easy is it going to be to get workers that want to go through all this burnt toxic you know you know destruction that they need to throw into a big dumpster and you know start from the ground up and then the soil and i don't know just that kind of loss um you know, being secure in Christ, we're supposed to find our security there. But I can imagine when you return to your neighborhood and you don't even know if there's a possibility of you rebuilding, like, I'm very curious to see what it'll be like in 20 years. I'm assuming the oceanfront Malibu homes where those people have money coming out of their ears and they're like $10 million houses, those will get rebuilt because even if you don't have insurance money, you're loaded and you can rebuild. And the people in Pacific Palisades, you know, those are very expensive homes too in the millions, but some of them may have been in a different position of maybe owning it for 30 years and they they aren't multi-millionaires it just became millionaires because the you know real estate values went up so much but you know i'm just very curious to see what that will be like in 20 or or so years if it is all rebuilt because it is such a prime spot but i sometimes i feel like so the picture that i had when my friend sent all these pictures out today um was of just kind of despair and just kind of like a hopelessness that many of them feel about, you know, where do we go from here kind of feeling. And I think some of us have that feeling about other things in life, you know, where we end of a relationship oh gosh where do i go from here or the loss of someone a loved one you know how do i work my way through this how do i claw my way out of this i just watched a documentary um on avicii this dj who was so talented just oh so talented and he committed suicide and i just thought to myself like gosh, you were such a genius with creating music. If you didn't want to do those concerts, couldn't you just stop doing the concerts and just create with other, he was working with the top of the top of the top, you know, musicians. And couldn't you just do that? Like, couldn't you see your way out of it? And I know that that's why we have faith. I know that's why we have like the Lord to turn to. But I just think people get lost in a sea of despair sometimes.
SPEAKER 05 :
I agree with you on that. I think depression and anxiety are on the rise. And I just want to encourage listeners today to not give up, to keep putting that one foot in front of the other, just like my friend and her husband, as they were going on that path. They didn't know it was going to be four miles long. They didn't know how long it was going to take or how arduous, how steep it got. They just heard it was a great path. So, you know, the path that we end up on, we don't know where it's going to lead to eventually. We don't know sometimes how steep it's going to get. But like these poor people that have lost so much out in California, they don't know how long this is going to take before they can return to their life or what their life is going to look like. What is their new normal going to be? Where is their workplace going to be? Where are their kids going to go to school? What about their church family if they lost their church? So, you know, everything is disrupted in their lives. But to not give up hope, just every day put one foot in front of the other on that path and persevere because eventually it will even out. We don't know what that will look like. There are no guarantees, but It's going to be okay is what we want to say, right? It's going to be okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I always love, you know, your Fresh Hope for Today devotions. That's the book, Fresh Hope for Today, Devotions for Joy on the Journey. If you want some hope, it's a great book. Always enjoy talking to Grace Fox. And if you want to find her and her books, you can go to gracefox.com. Thank you, friend. Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Manitou Springs is listening to the Mighty 670 KLT.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with the good news. Well, you know, if you've listened to the program over the years, I guess I've been on, gosh, radio and TV like 25 years. So many of you know my background and I have a real heart for foster care because I spent some time in foster care growing up and really was appreciative of the families that took me in. Joining us is Kristen Pratt, and she is with Foster More, the leadership team. Welcome, Kristen.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much for having me, Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, so let's just start off, first of all, I know that there is a need for foster care. I've seen books where it's like page after page after page of kids that are looking for homes. So is this crisis in America worse now? And just tell us about the foster care crisis in general.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so... Any given day, it fluctuates a bit, but there are approximately 400,000 children in foster care in America. So it is, it has seen some slight improvements the last few years, but a lot of those kids are experiencing, you know, over two to three placements a year, the majority of them. And so there's a real need for loving, stable homes for these kids who are facing a lot of obstacles.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes. Oh my goodness. All right. So I know that you guys do some research and there was a barrier, a significant barrier preventing, you know, families from stepping forward to, I'll tell you what my mind would be. Well, first of all, I have three teenagers, five pets and off and on my 82 year old mom. But my barrier would probably be my husband. But I might be able to work on him like once the kids are gone, because they're all in high school now. But the barrier for me is my spouse, like I would do foster care. And I know it's rough. I don't have any fairy tale like version of how difficult it could potentially be. So what are the barriers that people see in terms of becoming foster parents?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I mean, that is a barrier, like your spouse, you have to both be on board. But We always tell people, too, there's a need for foster parents of all kinds, all ages, you know, empty nesters, young people, older people, single people. So there's really, you know, anyone can step up there. And one of the things that we found that people would say is that they couldn't take the time off work. So they'd say, well, my job doesn't allow for me to take that time off work. And, you know, like there's a lot that goes into that. Um, when the child is placed in the home, not only do you need that time to bond with, with some child who has by definition experienced some trauma, but you also need the time to get them enrolled in a new school and doctor's appointments and, you know, all the appointments. So you really, it's important to have that time off when the child joins a home and a lot of businesses don't provide for that. And it stops a lot of potential foster parents from moving forward when they find out that information.
SPEAKER 06 :
Um, have you, have you, like, is this something that you try to address with businesses to try to, I know that my, my station that I worked for one of the gals on the, one of the weather women, uh, adopted a child and she got, you know, the typical time off that you would get. But in this case it was an infant, but I know some businesses do give you time off, but I would. assume with a single parent that that would just kind of like you know take that option off the plate for them to become a foster parent but do um does the foster care system help with things like um you know daycare if you're getting like a kid that's two three four that needs you know daycare during the day they do there are it depends on the state you live in but there are some you know provisions for that and that's another thing that we work with businesses like if a business has on-site child care um we ask that you know
SPEAKER 04 :
youth in foster care if someone becomes a foster parent their child can be um immediately have access to the to the facility yeah but um yeah one of the things we realized is that a lot of the businesses that were offering like you were talking about adoption paid time off for adoption or birth foster care was just overlooked because yes you know a lot of people think of foster care as a road to adoption. And so they get, you know, the time off when the child is adopted, but you really need that time off when the child is placed in the home. And the child is not always adopted in foster care. About half the time they're reunited with the parents. So we need all different kinds of homes, people that want to adopt, people that want to be there for a family that needs some support. And so we want to make sure that businesses are specifically giving that time off for just being a foster parent
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, I understand that Foster More is obviously helping with this whole workplace initiative, you know, trying to get places to make it more, you know, user-friendly to become a foster parent. Can you talk about that?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So at Foster More, we have sort of like a ladder of engagement on our website. We try to engage people in all different ways. So, you know, if you want to learn about becoming a mentor for youth in foster care, if you want to have the opportunity to pack a duffel bag or get involved and volunteer in different ways, you can start on our website to do that. And one of the tabs on the website is to become a foster parent, where you can fill out a little form, and then we can connect you with someone, depending on where you live, someone in your local area that can help you learn about becoming a foster parent. And the same thing for the workplace pledge, there's a tab on the website where you can learn more about If you're a business owner or an employee and you're interested in having your business become officially foster-friendly, you can do that on the website, too, and we'd be happy to talk more to anyone about their business becoming foster-friendly.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. I'm just wondering, you know, for people listening today who are thinking about becoming a foster parent, I know a lot of it seems like overwhelming and, you know, all the things you have to tackle to be approved, et cetera. So how do you recommend people get, you know, started on the process? Obviously your website with all the tabs, you know, a really good idea. But how can someone personally, I mean, talking to someone, that's a great idea that you just gave us. What else?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, well, again, research shows that it takes about 18 months to two years for people. Once they start thinking about becoming a foster parent, you know, do you have the idea to actually become a foster parent? So, you know, it does take, and as it should take a lot of thought for people, it takes a lot of research. So it's something you can start looking into. It's a little bit different than requirements in every state. You can start asking people about it. You can look into other ways to, to get involved and volunteer first. I mean, the need is great for foster parents, but if you want to learn more about foster care, you can volunteer. There are tons of amazing organizations all across the country doing great work. You can learn more about how to get involved in different ways. you know, maybe on the path to becoming a foster parent, as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, in your particular case, what I always love to get people's passion for things, obviously, I'm interested in this topic, because I live with families and relatives, and I only had one, quote, unquote, official foster home, but I had many places where I stayed, you know, so what what what is behind your passion for this kind of work?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I've always been involved in working with kids. I have a background in special education and I became a CASA, which is a court appointed advocate. And that's something people can look into as well, where you support a youth in foster care, you go to court with them and you're sort of their mentor and their person along the way. And so I learned a lot about foster care that way. And just, you know, the more it's something that, like I was saying, people don't talk about that much, but it's such a big issue. And once you, it's like you can't unsee, you know, what you've seen and what you've learned. And it really requires so many more people to step up in any way that you can. And I think it's something that you realize, like, we're all connected to this issue. It's not just a sort of other or someone, you know, far off that you don't know. Like you said, like almost all the time, When we talk to people at businesses, we hear stories like yours where it was like I was in foster care. My cousin was in foster care. My parents were. I was a foster parent. And so so many people are connected. And it's just not only when you provide the workplace benefits, you're also getting people to talk about it, too, which is so important. And that's why we really appreciate you having us on, too, so we can talk about it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, I'm wondering in terms of I know that there's like people are thinking, oh, foster care, you know, I'm going to have this kid for 18 years. But there are other, you know, that sounds terrible, but I said it like that. But you know what I mean? Like people are overwhelmed by the prospect of having a child that long or maybe someone, you know, like myself, who's already raised their kids, who's maybe looking at teens or something of the sort. I know you can specify what you're interested in, but is there also like emergency short-term care where you might just have a baby for a week or, you know, like shorter-term options per se? Now, one of my girlfriends, she's a nurse, her husband's a doctor. They did have a short-term situation. And then once the little girl had stayed with them for quite some time, she told me, well, we're going to adopt her. And I was like, wow, like your kids are in college, like yikes. And she said it's the right thing to do because she'd been with them for so long.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So most places you can sign up for respite care. So that's basically like giving a foster parent a weekend break or a few day break. Oh, I've never heard of that. Yeah. So that's a really cool way to sort of like dip your toe in and get involved. It's called respite care. And also there's a really huge need for people that don't want to adopt from foster care that they just want to support. Because like I was saying, the goal of foster care, the ultimate goal is is to support whole families so that kids can be reunified. And that, you know, doesn't always happen. And sometimes, you know, the best situation is for them to stay with the foster parents. But if at all possible, you try to support a whole family so that the child can be reunited with their biological parents. And that requires people to step up temporarily, right? Like that's so important. And I think a lot of times people think of it more as like a road to path to adoption, which it can be. But there's a huge need for people that want to just be there and provide a safe, loving, supportive space for a child in the family who's going through a crisis.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. We only have a couple of minutes left, but I can't believe I've never heard of respite care. Okay. So would you keep the child for the day or is this something like more like several days or do you kind of take them maybe on? I know CASA, they take them on like outings and things like that from their foster situation. So what are the possibilities for respite care for a foster parent?
SPEAKER 04 :
So respite care, you know, I think it depends on each in each state. I think it's a little bit different, but most of the time it's, you know, two, three days you're certified as a foster parent. So you would have to get the certification, like, you know, the cost of you're not, you have to have like a background check and everything, but you're not certified as a foster parent. So if you're doing respite care, you have to go through the whole process of making sure your home is suitable and everything. And then it would be, I think the time really varies, you know, it could be, Two nights, three nights a week. It's just really that time, like say a foster parent needs a break or is going on vacation or has a family emergency, you know, and they need to go out of town. So someone providing respite care would give them that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I think about, you know, business trips. Okay, we have one minute left. Tell me your takeaway. What do you want to tell people that are, like, kind of on the fence? Like, what do you want people to know if you had a one-minute elevator speech to give to us?
SPEAKER 04 :
I think the main thing we want people to know, and this is what we say at Foster Mer, these kids are amazing, and they're resilient, and they have the potential to overcome anything, and they really just need someone... to step up and be there for them. The outcomes for kids in foster care are not great, and that can change if we as a society and as individuals step up and are there for these kids.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I sure appreciate all that you do. My foster care situation was quite interesting because I come from a family where my dad has his PhDs, well-educated, but we had a lot of, he was estranged from our family for like 35 years. And then one of my brothers was murdered. Another one ended up homeless. Wow. Here I graduated top of my class. I worked full time all through high school and college. So for somebody listening, just the opportunity to stay with my foster family and other families that really cared, I think really made a difference in my life and where my first job was at NBC News out of college in Los Angeles. So thank you, Kristen, for all you do for others. Really appreciate you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much, Angie. I'd love to hear more about your story.
SPEAKER 06 :
I'd love to talk again. Thanks, Kristen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
