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The Good News with Angie Austin has become a daily staple with loyal listeners. The show is a refreshingly different nationwide radio program that offers upbeat content, filled with inspiration offering hope to enrich your day-to-day life. Angie and the Good News Team will make you laugh out loud and even cry a little, all the while keeping you entertained and informed. Tune in for your daily dose of The Good News with Angie Austin! The Good News with Angie Austin airs M-F on KLTT AM 670 (95.1 FM in the northern Colorado) at 2 p.m. The Goods News Team is made of of Eric Reamer, Rachel Mains, and Traci Rock.
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 01 :
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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.
In this episode of The Good News with Angie Austin, Angie and her guest, Grace Fox, chat about the unique bonds formed through radio broadcasting and friendships that span years. They dive into the complex emotions tied to children growing up and leaving home, sharing personal stories and insights around the concept of empty nesting. Amidst the discussion, they highlight the importance of maintaining diverse relationships that enrich our perspectives and lives. The conversation shifts to one of Grace's books, Fresh Hope for Today, which offers a spiritual outlook on life's evolving paths. By drawing from her travels and experiences overseas, Grace presents a thought-provoking view that aligns our day-to-day struggles with a broader understanding of God's plans. Angie and Grace explore how everyone can find solace in faith, even when the path isn't clear. Later, Angie brings in Jim Stovall to discuss his 'Winner's Wisdom' column. They explore practical approaches to productivity and the significance of implementing a purposeful life strategy. Whether through maintaining lists or developing a proactive mindset, this episode provides listeners with lasting wisdom and encouragement to embrace life's unpredictability.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now with The Good News, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 05 :
hey friend it's the good news with angie austin and grace fox always look forward to our visits i feel like she's an old friend but really we've just been doing radio for two years but i feel like we've known each other a long time welcome grace fox thank you for having me angie maybe one of these days we'll be able to actually meet in person would that be fun yes i actually want to do that because it's funny you mentioned that i have this friend dr cheryl lentz we've done interviews for probably about 10 years And we've tried a couple of times to meet, but we've kind of made it like a goal of ours. And my co-host of many years, Michael Pelka, he and I finally met at Denver International Airport on a layover of all things. And we sat and had a sandwich and laughed and took pictures because we'd had so many guests over the years and we wanted to show them that we'd finally met.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it's funny how we could do stuff like this for a long time. There's a lady who contacted me probably... I want to say eight or ten years ago after her son got married. And she was really going through a hard time thinking, I don't know what my role is as a mom anymore because he's not around. What do I do? I had written an article years before about being ready when your son gets married and how to navigate that as a mother-in-law. She found that online and contacted me. And we have been friends ever since. So we've never met in person, but we've got this great relationship back and forth.
SPEAKER 05 :
oh i love that you know um speaking about kids leaving my son's not getting married but he just moved out to go to college because he'd done the fur he commuted and he did some online classes the first semester so anyway i moved him up to my school university of colorado boulder where my grandmother went to school to be a teacher my father went to school there he went to law school there he got his phd somewhere else he was very into education Even though, oddly enough, we were estranged for like 35 years because he had a major alcohol issue and was a violent drinker. One thing I definitely got from him, though, was my love or I should say appreciation of education. So he was actually... We... I guess he met my kids when my son was maybe eight because my son asked if I had a dad because I didn't have anything to say that was good. So why say anything, right? So anyway, he ended up being a really spectacular grandfather. He didn't drink anymore. He was very intelligent, very articulate. He was a speaker. He announced all the basketball games. He worked in education. his entire, you know, adult life pretty much. So anyway, my son now is following in grandpa's footsteps too, because he went to the same school and myself and now my son. So I think that's kind of cool. So anyway, my husband said to me this morning, he said, it's sad. I go, oh, that the puppy is leaving in a week because we've been raising this puppy for a friend. And I said, oh, that the puppy's leaving in a week. He goes, no, Riley. Like he left and then the next one's going to leave and then the next one's going to leave and then they'll be all gone. It'll just be us and the pets. I thought, cause I'm not sad yet. Cause I, you know, I'm going up there tomorrow to bring him some things. It's only, you know, an hour away. But I'm sure as time goes on and more of them start to leave, it's a, I see what people say about the empty nest syndrome or whatever. They get a little depressed because their lives have many, many cases revolved around their children, you know?
SPEAKER 06 :
My husband laughs about that. He said, you have to be careful who we say this to. But when our final one left, it took him about 10 minutes to get over being sad. And he said, it's not that he was glad the kids are finally gone. It's just that, you know, he misses them. We still miss them all to this day. And they left a long time ago, all three of them. But it just is a different season of life. And so he was ready for that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I'm looking forward to some of the traveling and other things, and even with them, you know, in their time off, because we're still going to have many years while they're in school, and they'll have breaks to do things with, you know, with me. And I already bought a pass to go to Nashville a lot to see my daughter, who's going to school at Christian University there next year. So I have one of those, you know, flight passes where I can go see her a lot. Speaking of travel, I wanted to mention something to you. We're going to talk about... Today, Fresh Hope for Today, one of Grace's books, and we're talking about a heavenly perspective, but because we've talked about her time in Nepal and my neighbors from Nepal, and then I went to my son's, he's actually in kind of a Christian dorm. It's run by a Christian ministry. It's right across the street from the university, which is like 40,000 kids. and this ministry caters to a lot of um international students so there's kids you know like i think his roommate's going to be from denmark whether from china jamaica india japan etc so they're from all over the world and uh when riley uh went to get shown around we met this really great young man from india and uh his name's uh partha and so he's showing us around and it came up with he was a christian and we're christians and he leads the bible study and He and my son go to the same like, you know, center, Bella Center, where Young Life meets and then his Christian group meets Partha's. So anyway, in talking to him, I said, yeah, it's going to be hard, difficult because, you know, I talk to my son every day. We're really close and we like to chit chat. I mean, he already FaceTimed me this morning for like 45 minutes and he's like, oh, you have to go. I'm going to be lonely. And I'm like, you're fine. Go take your nap. You know, I've got to work. And so anyway. And Partha said, I don't have the privilege of talking to my parents. And at first I didn't think I understood him. I said, what did you say? He goes, well, I don't have the privilege of talking to my parents. He said, both of my parents have died and I don't really have any family. And so because I was asking if he went back to India. And so I thought, oh, okay, well, he's definitely going to be the extra kid in the family. So I already told him to come. He's like getting his PhD in like mechanical engineering or something, you know, like super brainy. And so I already made him cookies and sent him up to thank him and told him we'll have to have him come over for dinner. So I think it's going to be a really great setting for my son to meet other Christians, but really people from completely different walks of life, you know.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, there's so much to learn when you can do that, when you have the opportunity to get to know people who are from a different background. And they don't always think the same way that we do, but that's how we learn and grow is to get to know other people. Where they come from, their cultures. It's a great experience.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited to see, you know, who he'll become friends with there. It's a really neat, you know, set up the way they've arranged it there with so many international students. All right. So let's talk about Fresh Hope for today. And the devotion is a heavenly perspective. What's this about?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, this is something that I came up with after traveling so many times overseas. There's a route that our planes often follow when we go to Europe and that is up and over the North Pole, that area up and over Greenland and then down to Eastern Europe. And so when we come back, it's always the daytime. And I love going to the back of the plane and just looking out the porthole window back where the flight attendants are in that area of the plane. You can look down. and see what's going on down below. Because most of the times when we come back, it's clear. I don't know why. We're just lucked out, I guess, with weather. But it's just clear. And we're flying at, say, 35,000 feet maybe. But we can see. all the way down like we can see the mountains we can see the snow on the mountains we can see the water down below but the ice we can see the cracks in the ice that's how clear the view is and i've often thought as we're flying there that uh yeah that's a bird's eye view right i've flown over the netherlands in the springtime when the tulips are in bloom and we've seen the fields of red tulips and yellow tulips it's just absolutely gorgeous i've flown over the hillsides in Nepal. And you see the thatched roof hut sitting on the terrace hillside.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER 06 :
I've seen, it's just stunning. I've seen so much from the air. But then I think that's so different from the view I get sitting on the plane, sitting on the tarmac at an airport and just looking around at the buildings and the concrete. And I think, you know, it's kind of like life because When we are walking with the Lord, he will do things in our lives that we don't understand. And it's like trusting him that he's got the bird's eye view. He's the one that is there who can see long distance and he knows what he's up to. As humans, we're the ones that's like sitting on the tarmac and we've got this very limited perspective of what's happening around us. And so when we go through hard times, to be able to remember that he's the one who sits in the heavenlies with that bird's eye view. And he knows where he's taking us. He knows what that journey looks like. And we don't. But it's a matter of having to trust during those times, knowing that he's got a plan.
SPEAKER 05 :
And you talk in the devotion about someday we'll understand why God allowed or orchestrated certain events in our lives. And until then, we must trust that he knows best. And I love your little ponder section. You say, ponder, how might God's view of your circumstances differ from yours? I think it's difficult for many of us to really see things that way when we're caught in our own grief or selfish view of the world that's much smaller.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, I think so. I think that's really hard, especially when we're caught in grief. I found out this morning that one of my friends lost a very close friend last night. The guy was 45 years old. He got sick on Thursday, died last night. And yesterday I got word that one of my friend's son-in-laws passed away suddenly. So he was getting over bronchitis. He's 46 years old. just getting over bronchitis but he came in with his family after church yesterday morning and had a cardiac arrest and he's gone in his 40s left five kids yeah 40 he's 46 so left five kids the oldest one just in his first year of university and so in 24 hours one man 45 the other one 46 gone just like that it was in my circle and and i just uh you know i'm kind of reeling from that and i'm thinking god why would you allow that i'm sitting on the tarmac right now looking around going, boy, I don't get this. And God's the one who sees the big picture and he knows what's going on and he gets it. But at this time, there's so many people grieving for these two men who don't get it. And that's where we have to trust and know that he's up to something. We don't get it. But someday, maybe, maybe. But when we're in that position to be able to just say and admit that I don't understand what you're doing, But, well, help me see this through your eyes. And that is a really good prayer to pray. Help me see this through your eyes. And then watch as he unfolds that.
SPEAKER 05 :
I really like the book that you quoted, too, in this particular devotion, Experiencing God, Knowing and Doing the Will of God by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King. and the quote is quote there will be times when you do not comprehend why god allows certain things to occur and that is to be expected he is the infinite god while we are limited human creatures he sees the eternal ramifications of everything that happens we don't and so we are supposed to you mentioned you know pray about you know, God seeing the details that we can't see, and we're more limited in our view, like the tarmac view of the concrete and the, you know, little carts driving around and all the luggage. So our vision is limited, and that we want to have the strength to trust, you know, God's perspective.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. I just really appreciate that quote as well, because we all have times when we don't comprehend why God is allowing certain things. But But that is to be expected because we do have very finite minds and finite perspectives. But to just keep going back to that, that God sees something I don't. And so, God, help me see this through your eyes.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I know you've got more coming out as well. And again, if you want that particular book, GraceFox.com, GraceFox.com, Fresh Hope for Today. And then what's next? You've got The Names of God, another book coming out in your series? Yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. It's a three-book series. So Names of God, Living Unafraid. It's a small group resource studying seven names of God. That came out last July. This July, it will be Names of God, Knowing Peace. So I'm working on the videos now that will accompany the book. There's a video for every chapter. And then as soon as I've done that project, I'll turn my focus to Names of God, Growing Strong.
SPEAKER 05 :
Boy, it's a good thing those kids have moved out because you keep yourself so busy. I always appreciate you, friend. GraceFox.com. Thank you. God bless.
SPEAKER 06 :
Take care.
SPEAKER 04 :
Westminster is listening to the mighty 670 KLT Denver.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin and Jim Stovall with The Good News. We're talking about his Winner's Wisdom column. And this week it's Think and Do It Now. And it's one of his favorite topics and mine as well because I've really enjoyed over the years, maybe a decade or so that Jim and I have been radio friends. I really enjoyed getting to know about his parents. And he lost his mother not that long ago and then his father in the last year. And this is kind of a look back on, in particular, your father's life. Is that right, Jim?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it's been a difficult adjustment, but I'm so grateful, you know, as someone that writes books and movies and columns and talks to people like you on the radio about things in life I think that mattered. You know, I realize if everybody had been raised by my parents, I'd have to go get honest work. I don't know what I would do because, you know, so much of what I talk about, write about, make movies about is a reflection of them and Today, you know, my father ran an organization, a nonprofit, with about 400 employees. And so he was a great executive, a great manager. And he was a huge list taker. I mean, he said, you don't go to the grocery store without a list, so you don't waste your time. You know, don't do your life that way. You know, you have to have a list of things you're going to do and make sure you get everything done every day. And, you know, he was really big on that. And He had these little notebooks he would give out to all these people. You could fit it in your shirt pocket. And on half of them, it said, think. And then he had another one that said, do it now. And I just thought they were two different sayings on there. And years later, I found out, you know, he told me, no, Jim, it's not random. There are some people I give the ones that say, think. And there's other ones, people I give the ones that say, do it now. You know, there are people that... They have a knee-jerk reaction, and they need to stop and think before they act. I want them to think about what you're getting ready to do before you act, because if you don't have time to do it right, when are you going to have time to do it over? And then there's other people. They just get the analysis paralysis in there. They sit around forever and never do anything, and those people get the little notebook that says, do it now. Oh, that's funny. I mean, just make a move. Do something. That would be mine.
SPEAKER 05 :
I would need the do it now because I've been meaning to clean my closet now for weeks. I need the do it now.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and at some point, you put it on your book, and you just, okay, I'm going to do it. That makes it serious. There's something about writing it down, and I have a list every day of things I'm going to do. And I'm sitting here right now with it on my desk. I can't read it. Beth wrote it for me, but I still, there's something about in our society, having it in writing makes it real. You know, if you go somewhere and they say, well, they promised me this. Well, did they put it in writing? If you got it in writing, it's real. It's really going to happen. Well, if you write down for yourself, this is what I'm going to do today. It gets more real. It gets harder to do or not do. And, uh, It's okay to do or not do things, but when we have a plan we ought to implement. And, you know, that's what Dad was talking about was just, you know, if you're going to live your life, live it on purpose. I mean, you know, you don't go to the grocery store. Why would you live your life, you know, missing stuff or forgetting stuff? just because you didn't write it down. And how often do we, oh, I meant to do that, or I knew I wanted to call her for her birthday, or I should have sent him a card, or I forgot that event I really wanted to go to. And you miss so much of life, not because it wasn't possible for you to go, but you just didn't get it down. And that's the things that really frustrate me.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, yeah, I am. I think that having the list and, you know, I've got one and it's got like pretty important things on it and I might not even get to any of them in the week, but I know like it's there and that, you know, I've got to get that physical therapy arranged for my kid or whatever. braces or you know x-rays for something or whatever but it's a pretty long list and there's a lot of stuff on it but i gradually kind of pick away at it maybe not as quickly as others but since i've got it that the list i mean nothing ever gets completely neglected yeah and it you know there's just so much learning to get it done and uh
SPEAKER 03 :
you know, and then as you know, I have a pending list. I mean, there's stuff I know I want to do, but it's not fitting in right now. So I put it over on my pending list and the 15th of each month, I look at that and it, well, is it time to do that now? Or do I look at it again next month? Is it time to do that yet? And there are things that all of a sudden now it's time to do that. And, uh, And then I have a project list of books and movies I want to make and projects I want to do. And I believe great ideas or inspiration is a divine gift. It comes to us. And if you don't write it down, you're going to waste it. And then you're going to wake up one day and say, oh, yeah, I always wanted to do that. Or what's really bad is when you have a great idea to do something and you forget about it until somebody else does it. Wow, I had that idea six years ago. Well, the difference is they did and you didn't. And that's, you know, you just don't want to be in one of those situations.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, no, you do not. Now, when you say the 15th, I mean, I know you have a whole team around you. Do you have someone specific that really helps you with your organization? Do you have, you know, people that, you know, when you say the 15th, is that just you, you remember, or do you kind of have an organizer in your life, personally?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, it's on the calendar. Okay. On the 15th of the month, it's on my daily list of things to do. Go over the pending in the project list. And since I am blind, I can't read or write these things, I have a list here, and I have one at home. And so Beth helps me here in the office, and Crystal, my bride, helps me at home. And I don't separate personal from professional. I mean, people here in my office, they know when it's my brother's birthday or it's time for me to go to this appointment. It's all together there. Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
That makes sense. Yeah. And then, okay, so Crystal was the one, your wife, that helped you all through college. She was kind of your right-hand man, woman, per se, that you graduated one and two in the class. Of course, her above you, because if she's helping you, she wants to make sure she gets that upper, that one leg up on you. And so you two were, you know, first and second in the class. Yeah. She's continued over the years to be like the person who assists you kind of is your teammate through life when it comes to organizing, keeping track of things and, you know, keeping your life orderly at home as well.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, when she goes out of town or on her trip, she has her projects. She does. And she'll get everything organized before she leaves so that I can survive. And, yeah, I mean, it just, you know, we do things together and we have a little chat. different distribution of labor just because of my situation. And, but there's a lot of things I cover for her and she'll cover for me. And, you know, it's just, it's just great to get everything done and, and feel like, you know, okay, I'm ready for tomorrow. There are so many people, they've got all these random things in their life that, and they never feel like they can relax. They always ought to be doing something. And, you know, it's just bad, you know, it's nice to get everything marked off my list, get tomorrow's list and, and go home and realize, okay, I get to play until tomorrow.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, you're so busy. Is your relaxation reading that one book a day that you do?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, part of that is I read my book every day, and yeah, it's relaxing, but it's also my business. I mean, I've written over 50 books, so reading books is kind of my business, and it's what I do. So it's a little business, and it's a little pleasure all at the same time.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hmm. Just as a side note, my mom's been reading these Rick Bragg books, and one of them, somebody's man, somebody, whatever his mom's name was. So let's say it's Susie's man. But this particular book I read maybe 15 years ago, and I thought, oh my gosh, that really reminds me of my mom's life. So she just called me the other day and said... you've got to read one of these Rick Bragg books. They're so good, and it just really makes you think, and it kind of reminds me of my own life. And I've always thought to myself that as I've interviewed my mom here and there over the years, thinking maybe I'd write a book that he'd be the great person to do it with. I just really enjoy his writing style, and I don't read like you do. In fact, I'm embarrassed to tell you, and I'm sure I have before, that on my Audible, I start a book at night, and right now I'm listening to one on the... Aster family from, you know, like, I think it starts in the 1700s. And it's about the original, you know, Aster, a man who grew to fame and prominence through his, he was a, I didn't know this, he hunted beavers. He was a beaver trapper, a beaver trapper, I should say, they hunt them per se. Anyway, that's how he made his really millions and then Manhattan real estate. But I keep coming back to chapter three, because I'm falling asleep during the There's an opera house riot, and so I keep falling asleep. I don't know how I'm falling asleep in the riot, but so I keep going back to that. I've been listening to it now for several weeks, and it's really interesting. It's written by that CNN anchor who is related to the Vanderbilt family. Yes. It's such, I mean, I love it. You've probably already read it knowing you, but it's Anderson Cooper. And so anyway, it's a great book, but I don't go through them once a day like you do. It probably takes me at least a month, if not six weeks, because it's kind of my way to fall asleep. But I also find it a fascinating way to fall asleep because I feel like I'm learning about history as I fall asleep.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and it's fine. And, I mean, you might try speeding it up just a little bit if you can. And, you know, I find if my mind's wandering too much, it's because it's not going fast enough. Oh, that's a good idea. If you're not going fast enough, you don't have space to wander. You have to really focus on what you're doing. And Audible will let you do that. And since you mentioned the Audible, I – follow the New York Times bestseller list every week, and I check out their book review, and there's a book coming out in March I got an advanced copy on, and it's simply entitled James. And this guy went out and rewrote Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the slave Jim. And it's called James, and it will be out in March. And it is magnificent. The only thing wrong with this book is I didn't think of it. That's what's wrong with that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Wow. Okay, I'll get that one because I have four. It's expensive, Audible, but I have a hard time giving up my credits, but I have a lot of credits right now. So, okay, I'll get that one. mention one more thing since we're talking about your parents and you know your marriage and that great example your parents had you know of a great marriage living into their 90s your grandmother was also the grandmother that wanted to give you her eyes when she found out you were going blind she thought she could somehow you know like medically give you her eyes after she watched her spring flowers bloom then you were gonna get them and you had to explain that no grandma you can't give me your eyes whose whose mom was that that was my father's mother
SPEAKER 03 :
Her name was Eileen Stovall, and she lived in Springfield, Missouri, a little town there, and lived to a ripe old age. And she's the one that also gave me the Golden List. That's right. She was an amazing lady.
SPEAKER 05 :
the golden list of all the things you're grateful for, that she'd hear your complaints after you wrote your golden list and then you didn't have complaints anymore. Now, so you not only had great parents, but from my understanding, you had really wonderful grandparents as well, in general.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, I'm very, very fortunate. And thankfully, three of the four of them lived long enough to where I got to know them really well. So it's really great. I remember my grandfather, my father's father, telling me, you know, When I was nine years old, I'm sitting in his living room, and he said, it's been an amazing life. He said, I was born in 1900, and I came to Missouri in a covered wagon, and now we're sitting in my air-conditioned house watching my color TV while a man lands on the moon. And he said, this has been an amazing life. And he lived another 25 years past that. And it was just, but to think, you know, a guy that all he knew was that he came to a new place in a covered wagon, and then he sits there and watches somebody land on the moon. I don't know of any other generation or time in the human experience when people have done something like that.
SPEAKER 05 :
I just think it's cool. I love hearing about your family and because mine was quite different from yours. It's neat that we travel in the same circles. And I believe because of my faith, maybe I did turn out more like you because I did have a foundation that wasn't necessarily like earthly through my parents, but that I had a good role model per se in learning about, you know, faith and being kind to others and treating people as you'd like to be treated. So it's all good, Jim Stovall. Now we're in this, we travel in the same circles.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you know, as Gandhi said, everyone is my superior in that I can learn something from them. And, you know, there are people we learn I want to be like them. And then there are people that you learn, wow, I want to be something other than that. And you and I are on opposite ends of that. But we both learned from our families.
SPEAKER 05 :
Indeed. Jim Stovall dot com. Thank you, my friend. A real blessing to have you on every week.
SPEAKER 03 :
Be well.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
In this episode, explore the compelling insights of Hannah Austin, CEO and co-founder of She Shatters, as she narrates her transition from high-pressure healthcare executive to a wellness advocate. Discover the groundbreaking Burn Bright formula that aids individuals and organizations in overcoming burnout and reigniting passion in life and work.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hi friend, Angie Austin here with the Good News. I have been checking out a book lately that I want to share with you. The author is Hannah Austin and she is joining us. And I really like the idea of learning how to live an extraordinary life. And that is what her book is all about. Learn how to live your extraordinary life. Welcome to the program, Hannah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, Angie, for having me.
SPEAKER 04 :
So it's Hello Head, Meet Heart is the book. Give us a little, you know, a nutshell description of the book.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. So this book is about rising from the ashes of burnout to leap towards your extraordinary life. And I wrote this book during COVID as I hit the darkest moment of my life. And frankly, Angie, I was contemplating suicide and ending it all. So I had nothing left. My tank was empty. And I didn't know what was wrong with me. So I started to research books, articles, and podcasts. And there wasn't a book for me to turn to. So I decided to write one.
SPEAKER 04 :
So in terms of what you were burnt out from, explain what went on that made you feel such despair.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, so I had been in the healthcare industry for 20 years. I loved my job. I started at the age of 20, and I worked myself up. And, Angie, it was working. I mean, the hustle behind the scenes, you know, being the first woman in the room in some meetings and instances. So during COVID, I was in charge with building mass hospitals and morgues for one of the largest health systems in the country. And I was working 50, 60 hours a week. I wasn't taking care of myself, no breaks, no lunches. And frankly, I just started deteriorating from the inside out and I collapsed in the hospital I was managing.
SPEAKER 04 :
It doesn't surprise me when I, you know, we all know what the circumstances were like then and that kind of pressure. People are like, lunch? You know, why would you need lunch? Like, come on. But then the people taking care of the system were falling apart.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. And, you know, I didn't tell anyone. I mean, that's the reality. Right. As a manager, you feel like you have to be strong, and you need to take care of your team at the cost of yourself. And I was one of those people, and I take full responsibility for it, but it was really a dark time.
SPEAKER 04 :
So what is the biggest lesson that you learned from this burnout journey and recovery journey from feeling so lost that you maybe didn't even want to go on?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I mean, the biggest lesson has been that I'm human too, right? I'm a human first, a manager, a wife, a mom second, third. And so it's really important that those people, Angie, and I know you probably get this, we are perfect on the outside. No one can see us sweat. We're paddling frantically behind the scenes. But sometimes we feel like we can't really be honest with ourselves and, frankly, the world about if we're hurting or not. So I think it's really around being authentic, letting people know you're human, you're hurting, you need help as well, and getting that help. And that's what this book is about, a warm hug, a hand offering help at a time where people are having their darkest moments.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, so let's break down some of the things that you wrote about in the book, Hello Head, Meet Heart. Take us through some of the steps that if we're feeling burnout or we want to make a change in careers or just come back from that brink of despair, what are some of the things you teach us?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, so I created a six-step burn-bright model. I'm a very operations mind, and so I married my mind and heart in this book. And so the first step is really – Take stock and stop and pause. So many of us are going through the motions. We're moving on to the next guest or radio show or into the next meeting or Zoom meeting. We don't stop and say, is this pace working for me? Is this a long-term viable solution? Then the next step is, you know, discovering the why. What are those patterns in your life that are showing up for you that are limiting you from going to the bathroom, sleeping well? You know, is technology too much a part of your life? And then the third step is really exploring your options. Is there ways to conserve your energy? What boundaries do you need to set in your life? And then who do you need to have in your team, right? Project manage a team of CEO professionals for your executive board, your executive personal board, to figure out how they can support you living your best life. And then lastly, it's developing a plan. Angie, how many of us can develop plans at work and develop plans for our kids, but we need to learn to develop a plan for ourselves and our life to conserve our energy for the most precious resources, frankly, ourselves.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. And it takes a lot of determination to develop that plan and follow through, you know, to put that phone down at night or to set that boundary. Because I think as women in the workplace, we've been taught that maybe we do need to go the extra mile to be respected as much as a colleague, like working as a news anchor, a weather woman, reporter, field producer at big networks when I work When I sat next to a male anchor, I did feel like if he left at nine that I still couldn't leave until noon, even if we'd gotten up at 245 and gotten there because I had to work harder to get that same level of respect. So you do, I think, push yourself towards burnout and with your families as well. I don't think it comes very easily to many of us.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I wanted to literally write a book that is a self-help book that actually helps. But I know that's an oxymoron. But I remember, you know, being a young girl in my 20s, 30s, and now my 40s, looking for books to help me with the how-to. Like, it's great to say, be mindful, be meditative, don't listen to your phone, don't look at your phone. But it's another thing when you're addicted to those things, right? And so my book is really... It asks you questions that actually may get you start to think about new ways. And it's also exercises. I asked you to do exercises in the book that make you think about things from your head and your heart standpoint. And that's when finally Angie, the puzzle pieces lock into place and you realize, wow, I can move my priorities. And Hannah just gave me a, literally a script. to set a burnout prevention plan and created a boundary plan for my coworkers, my loved ones, and my husband or wife. So this is a real tactical book, and you're walking out of this book at the end of the book with hope, viability, and a plan to move forward.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, you know, understand we talked about your 20 years as an executive in the health care industry. And obviously, during COVID, you face so many pressures and that burnout you talked about. And I know you're the CEO and co-founder, pardon me, of She Shatters. What is She Shatters?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. So we are an organizational wellness company specializing in the prevention of burnout. So we do individual coaching for women and men who are suffering from burnout or at a pivotal point in their life. And then on the second arm is our organizational wellness strategy team, where we go into large scale organizations and teach the managers and leaders, frankly, how to care. how to treat the person as a whole person, as an employee, how to keep staff. So we have retention packages as well as burnout prevention packages. And I'm traveling around the country, Angie, speaking and sharing the Burn Bright formula and the message of Hello Head, Meet Heart and lighting up organizations from the inside out, tapping into that joy in the organization again.
SPEAKER 04 :
So what's next for you? Is this it? Is this what you'll continue to do?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, writing this book, Angie, was the easiest thing I've ever done. It was like breathing to me. I dumped all of my heart and soul, I don't know if you've read it yet, into this book. It's very, very deeply personal and it's resonating with so many people. My goal is just to start a wildfire within people's hearts, whether it's through my podcast, through organizational wellness. My next dream would be to write a second book, but I'm still enjoying this wild ride.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it sounds like you're traveling around the country, helping other people, that you have a real passion for this now, but obviously that passion springing from what you went through.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I mean, I do believe that, you know, this darkest moment that I had a year and a half ago, I've really used it as rocket fuel. And I always like to say that the deepest wounds in us allow for the greatest growth.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, when you're meeting people and you're traveling around the country, what's a common theme you're hearing or what are some of the big mistakes people are making? What are they? Because I know that when you speak at an event like this, when it resonates with someone, I know they come up to you and start kind of baring their soul. So what are you hearing?
SPEAKER 03 :
They do. It's really like going to church, Angie. I was presented at the Indiana Conference for Women, and we had 500 chairs in the audience, and they had to bring in more chairs because the women were just loving the session. And it's a real compliment and true testament to the mission that I'm spreading, which is, you know, you have the puzzle pieces inside you all along, right, Angie? You just need to kind of shuffle them around and lock the pieces in place that you want to keep. And no longer do you have to work the 10-hour days versus the eight-hour days that the guys around you work. You need to do what's best for you and chart your course towards your career and your own personal growth. And so I love creating a plan with these women and men as well to set the stage for what are they reaching for and create some accountability. And the Hello Head Meet Heart is just a tool, a vehicle for them to actually do the homework, right? Do the exercises, heads down. And then together we can create their extraordinary life, whatever that is, pivoting to a new job, getting a divorce. We're really making, creating a movement, Angie, around growth and joy.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, in all of this coaching and in writing the book, Hello Head, Meet Heart, what about success stories? Are you already hearing feedback from people who are saying like, you know, I know you can't use names, but any stories of success already through working with you?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, one of my favorite story is actually from a 75-year-old woman who, you know, I never intended this book to be read by people who are retired. I thought, who's retired and burned out? But this woman said, one of my friends referred your book and I read it and she said, I've been retired for 15 years. I've been feeling a sense of worthlessness and loneliness and for what's next. And, you know, is it my turn to just shrivel up and die at, you know, 75 or is there something more out there for me? And so she said she did one of the exercises and she's decided to take a dance class again. And she invited her husband to take a dance class, which is frankly unlocked some intimacy, which is good for them, but also an opportunity for her to reconnect with herself and her goals and get healthy again. So she's now off her blood pressure medication and her marriage is stronger than ever. And it's just I never intended for that type of audience to resonate with the book. And that's been the greatest joy.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's really cool, because I mean, a lot of seniors have so much to give and give back. I was just talking to a friend of mine who was really depressed, like you were just talking about. And I said, you know, one of my mentors, Jim Stovall, he's written over 60 books. He said the best way to help when you're feeling down, the best way to feel better is to help someone else. And so I suggested maybe she get out there and, you know, and get moving. And I was just doing an interview with Dr. Michael Royce from the Cleveland Clinic. He's also written a lot of books with Dr. Oz about you know the mind the body health and longevity that's like his area of expertise living longer and healthier and he just said today one of the biggest things we can do to stave off you know dementia in our older years this is going to surprise you because i thought oh it's going to be diet exercise omega-3s or some supplement having a tribe well he actually said posse which cracked my me up since he's near 80 that he said posse but he said having a posse you know having a tribe having a group of people that care about you and then she's getting out there with these dancers and reconnecting with her husband it's so important to our vitality but I think when we get depressed when we feel low many of us tend to isolate and we do not have anything to do with our posse
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. And COVID, you know, maximized that, right? We were all lonely and we were all kind of displaced and in isolation. And I think now that people are kind of coming out of their cocoon and feeling like it's reintegrating again, you know, we have to find that void for loneliness and connection. But the first thing, Angie, is connecting with yourself. And I think that's what Hello Heart is a reminder of, is every time you feel a little bit lonely, just return to yourself first.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I like that. I like that. How is this making you feel? I mean, you know, going through what you went through, making such a U-turn in your life, I mean, or a right turn, doing something completely different than healthcare and high stress and setting up morgues. Now you're doing joy-filled, you know, big speaking engagements and helping people find their self-worth again and purpose in life. How has this made you feel? It must feel pretty great.
SPEAKER 03 :
I feel like for the first time in my life, I'm doing what I'm destined to do. And that is what fuels me every day to want this feeling for you, for someone else, whoever. Whatever I can do to unlock that joy, unlock that fire, I'm here, right? I'm a fire starter, right? I don't want to be put out. I want to keep igniting these fires in people because we deserve to live an extraordinary life.
SPEAKER 04 :
I love it. All right, give us your website.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, sure. So you're welcome to find me at SheShatters.com, www.SheShatters.com. And the book is on Amazon. And we have a Kindle edition and a paperback.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I'm in the midst of reading it right now. Thank you so much. What a pleasure the interview is. And congratulations for all you're doing for others. What a blessing for you and for them.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, Angie, for your time today.
SPEAKER 04 :
You're welcome.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Longron is listening to the mighty 670 KLT Denver.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hello, hello, Angie Austin here. This is The Good News with Angie Austin. Hello, friend. All right, yesterday I was going over some notes to self. I get a kick out of these like thought-provoking, self-help-y kind of think these things through and so I like just kind of chit-chatting with you about them because it makes me think as well and I'll review the ones we did yesterday and then coming up we've got more tips on getting the new year started off on the right foot whether it be finances or working out etc finances that's a big one for me because I if you listen to a show ever you know that I grew up with no money and low-income housing and my mom Yeah. And my mom was a single mom, four kids, very little education, left high school, the middle of high school, worked in factories. And yeah, so I just really wanted to learn how to be, you know, wise with my money. And so I think that, you know, it's, I think the only thing I splurge on, which you may know if you listen, is experiences. So it would be trips and I'll drop, you know, what they're going to learn something, you know, if it's like history or like when we went to the Titan missile recently, the decommissioned and, you know, museums and flights and hotels. I'm not one big I'm not big on spending a lot of hotels. That's not really my thing, unless we did with the lazy river. The last place we stayed had a lazy river and huge slides like you'd see at a water park. And like some hotels have like a wave pool or a flow rider. You know, I'll pay more for those hotels because the kids get those experiences. And if you stay one night and it's outrageous, and this last one was outrageous, then the kids get two days of like the water park and everything. And I like a good lazy river. I don't know why. All right, let's get into these notes to self again. I get a kick out of these. And again, I'll review the ones we already went over. All right. The first one we went over, and why did my computer screen just go blank? There we go. But the first one we went over, note to self, be better with electronics. Ha ha ha ha ha. So these, I need professional help because I'm obviously cracking myself up and not you. Okay, note to self, happiness is letting go of what you assume your life is supposed to be. We did that. Learning to ignore certain people and things is one of the great paths to inner peace. I'm very good at ignoring, and I don't mean making them think I'm ignoring them. I mean ignoring them by not letting them get to me with something they're saying. I don't know, it's just not worth my time if they're trying to like poke me with a stick verbally, you know? Number three, when things aren't adding up in your life, begin subtracting. Life gets a lot simpler when you clear the clutter. That's a good one for me. Yeah, I'm sure anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not good with clutter. All right, number four, note to self, do your best to take a deep breath. And another, remind yourself that the strongest sign of your growth is knowing you're no longer stressed out by petty things that once used to drain you. I mean, when you really sit down and think about the things we worry about, some of them are so ridiculous. and you just have to go is this going to matter like in a year in a month even tomorrow in an hour will this even matter if i can let this go and yet i do not have to be right that's like one of my things that i definitely don't when i was younger i probably did not now it's not important to me at all my ego is tiny compared to what it was when i was younger i do not need to be right let them believe they're right even if i'm right i know i'm right what do i why do i need to prove it to them right Number five, we won't get through all these, but I just get a kick out of them. You can't control how other people behave. You can't control everything that happens to you. What you can control is how you respond to it. I've got to get better at that because definitely with the kids, my response sometimes, like if I'm just at the end of my rope, as they say, my mom used to always say that, I'm about to go off the deep end. She would say to me, oh my gosh, my mom has sayings that I just, yeah. My mom's still with us, so I can, you know, giggle about her because she's a character. And those of you who know her know I'm telling the truth. All right, you can't control how other people behave, but your response. And that's, again, something I really need to work on with the kids because you're letting them control you and your emotions if you cannot learn how to respond properly to people, you know? uh number six the trick is to enjoy life don't wish away all of your days waiting for the better ones ahead just appreciate where you are right now and that's such a beautiful gift if you can do that to appreciate where you are right now i mean just think about that like just take a second and think about the good things in your life right now and i know there's bad but no let's just focus on the positive because as they say it could always be worse right so let's do that think about some of the good things All right. All right. There. If we can focus on some of those, I just think that life looks a lot better, you know, and it's all a matter of perception, you know, and I don't know if you have people with like cloudy glasses in your life and everything's like an Eeyore. Oh, it's so exhausting, isn't it? Yeah, it is. All right. I'm going to get to more of these because we've got a guest coming up that I get a real kick out of. Oh, here's another one. You know, my big thing is forgiveness. Forgive yourself, forgive others, forgive yourself for bad decisions, uh, for maybe the way you've treated people in the past. Make amends if you need to. That's a big one. I mean, that certainly helps. There's no doubt about that. It certainly helps. All right. If you are just joining us, this is Angie Austin with the good news and, uh, You know, the beginning of each year is a chance for us to reset and make resolutions for the future. That's kind of why I was going over some of those notes to self. And here was some New Year's inspiration is lifestyle expert Emily Loftus, who is also a celebrity stylist and a former Radio City Rockette. And she's been. on lots of popular shows like Hollywood Today Live, Wendy Williams Show, The Real, Doctors, Steve Harvey. I can go on and on. Good Day L.A., which, you know, a lot of my friends worked out when I worked for NBC in L.A. So she's got quite a great career. Welcome back, Emily Loftus. Always great to have you. All right, so let's just start right off with what you, as an expert, think is the top tip for setting goals for the new year, because I'm trying to help all my teenagers with this right now. In fact, I was just texting one of them.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I really think it's so important to have goals that are attainable, that are reasonable. Whether it's getting in shape, getting your finances in order, or even like time management skills, don't just shoot for the rafters. I have some really great tips to share with your audience today.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Well, let's do the one that we were just talking about, the gym. We do family gym nights, so we're all there together. I would say six times a week, but somebody's there each day of the week. We use that membership more than any other family I think I know. So let's start with a suggestion for helping people get fit because I see a lot. It's doubled. The numbers I'm serious have doubled at the gym.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, wait till you hear this statistic. Most people get up the resolutions by mid-February with an 80% drop-off rate. So just wait till mid-February. You'll be good to go.
SPEAKER 04 :
Sheesh, that is crazy.
SPEAKER 05 :
The key is to find a fitness program that is right for you. I feel like your family needs to try this one. I recommend F45. They offer this unique blend of HIIT, circuit training, and functional training designed to keep people motivated and engaged. In just 45 minutes, you can experience a full-body workout that delivers real results. Through January 31st, F45 is offering a special deal for new members to break a sweat and guess what? Enjoy three classes for just $30 at select studio locations.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's a really good deal. And I like diversity. Sometimes I get stuck in that rut of walking, but I've got to, especially at my age, do resistance training, lifting. You've got to throw other things in there as well.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely, and you know what's really great that I've had my mother on to is throw a weighted vest on. If you love walking, just throw a weighted vest on and you're good to go.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, yes, I actually did buy one of those. Okay, I've got to dig that baby out. All right, give us something that can, you know, get us a little more excited about the new year.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, so I have a feeling you are like me, especially because you are in cold Denver, and travel is what makes me excited.
SPEAKER 04 :
Me too.
SPEAKER 05 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
30% is good because, you know, I'm in a lot of different cards and this and that and the other to get bonuses. And I get like maybe 10 or 20. I can't think of the last time where they offered me 30.
SPEAKER 05 :
30 is a game changer, especially if you're taking your whole family. But maybe sometimes you just leave the kids behind and it's just you and your person.
SPEAKER 1 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
My person has to be my husband, Emily. Yeah, or your best friend. It doesn't have to be your husband. Oh, that's, oh my gosh, it's so funny you say that because my best friends that I work with at NBC in LA, we're all starting to travel together again like we did in our 20s because our kids are older now.
SPEAKER 05 :
What a gift. Exactly. So call one of those people and the honey can come next time.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. What about, you know, other tools that, you know, um, you know, ways for us to start the new year off strong financially. That's a big one for a lot of people who've spent a lot of money over the holidays.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, absolutely. We all want to get our finances in order. So start the year strong with a refund advanced loan available at participating H&R Block offices. You can get $4,000 within minutes of filing your taxes at H&R Block. There's no interest, no loan fees to worry about, and there's no impact to your credit score, which is huge. Plus, you could get money today unlike some other providers that make you wait until IRS opens late January. So kickstart your 2025, apply for a refund advance loan when you file with H&R Block. Get started by scheduling an appointment at hrblock.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, that's interesting. I've never heard of that. All right. Other tools you think that can help keep resolutions in terms of finances?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so this is a great solution, especially if you are on the go, go, go, go, go. Tackle your finances with help from Spruce, an all-in-one mobile banking app built by H&R Block. Spruce is designed to help money go further through saving and budgeting tools and more. It comes with 3.50% APY on savings when you opt in, the ability to set up saving goals, and automatic spending tracking with the watch list, and even saving recommendations for that refund you're expecting. Spruce has no sign-up fees, no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirements. And you can sign up for Spruce today at sprucemoney.com. That'd actually be really great for your kids to learn about financial...
SPEAKER 04 :
accuracy and being on top of it because i know when i went off to college i had no idea what i was doing girl girl you are singing to the choir because my 19 year olds are freshmen in college and he's been saving for a down payment on a house in boulder where he goes to school in colorado and it's not it's it's a pretty tough market so he's been doing that the other two and he started his investment account when he was 13 he started this business when he was 12 and he does better than i do emily and then the other two they started their investment accounts i think when they were 13 or 14 right in there so we're on top of them because i grew up really poor and suffice it to say i'm not now and it's all because i learned about investing in finances so i'm all 100 on board with that
SPEAKER 05 :
I mean, I applaud your whole family because it was just my mom, a single mom, and she really was not good with this. So I really did not learn it. And I'm 44 now, and I'm really trying to learn. And so it's so great to have H&R Block that can help me because it's just not something that comes naturally to me. And so it really is something that I kind of have to dig in to learn to really save up for the future.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good for you, though. My mom was single, too. We lived in low-income housing. She worked in a factory. She had a 10th grade education. And I'm like, girl, I am educating myself out of poverty. I am out of here. And so, yeah, like you and I, we taught ourselves how to be financially secure. And it's a game changer. It changes your whole life.
SPEAKER 05 :
It changes your whole life. And just because you're not good at something... automatically you can learn exactly exactly or outsource you know I don't know if I'll ever really understand it but I can always outsource to people that are better than me oh you're so funny alright give us the website one more time yes so for Angie everything that we talked about today head on over to tipsontv.com yes tipsontv.com I always like to give it a few times it's easy thank you honey yes thank you happy new year alright Emily you too
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
Angie welcomes renowned businessman Joe Carr, founder of the successful Josh Cellars, discussed in the context of Dry January. Joe shares his heartfelt journey from starting a wine business to honoring his father’s legacy. Gain inspiration from Joe’s passionate storytelling and insight into how non-alcoholic beverages play a role in inclusive celebrations. This episode promises rich narratives that capture the essence of living a life filled with purpose, family, and connection.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome to the good news with Angie Austin. Now with the good news, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 03 :
Angie Austin here with the good news along with Dr. Cheryl Lentz, academic entrepreneur. And we are talking about leadership and goal setting today because you've got a lot of students as a professor. And then you've had a lot of foreign exchange students come through your doors in the last six months. And so you are working with kids full time. Kids isn't young people, sorry. And so let's talk about this whole leadership and goal setting that you've been working on them with. Welcome.
SPEAKER 01 :
Good. Hello, everyone. It's really nice to see you. I think this is a really good example for all of us because all of this really, in my opinion, no matter what someone tells me they're having issues with, whether it's relationships, whether it's stuff at the office, the rest of it all comes down to leadership and goal setting. And most people's like, well, I set goals of what I want to do. It's like, great, but do you set intentions for what you want an exchange to look like? It's the same similar concept of goal setting. When I'm going to have a meeting this afternoon with one of my bosses, I have an intention of, here's how I want the meeting to go. Here's the intention. Here's the agenda. Here's that leadership thing that I'm going to prepare for ahead of time, rather than the reactive response, which is a, well, I'm going to react in the moment. And students who look at that and understand that they're in control of that choice, because remember, we show up differently, the rest of the world shows up differently. But when I can point to them that no matter what issue that they're having, It comes down to a leadership, whether it's leadership of self or response to leadership in our external environment. And you have talked extensively about the idea of goal setting with your kids and what you want them to do. It's like, great, can we now granularize it, put it into a little bit? Let's have a few seconds before we have that exchange with our professor, before we have that exchange with our boss, before we have that exchange for our kids that we have a, well, what do I want to have happen there? And just take a few moments. The conversation goes so differently, Angie, when you have that. And people are like, yeah, it does. I'm like, imagine that. Surprise.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you have the whole goal setting. I have gone over that with my kids lightly. I don't know that we've really written them down. I think that'd be a good thing for us to talk about tonight during our learning moment. I have an alarm that goes off. And some of the things we've taught in the learning moment recently have had to do with We had a situation where a friend, her husband hasn't worked since 2008. And my husband said to the kids, he was talking about how you want to marry someone who's financially responsible and, you know, an equally hard worker so that you're working together as a team for your future because financial arguments can cause so many problems in marriages. And he talked about, you know, being on the same page and, you know, compounding interest was one of our talks. Recently, we talked about these kids on Snapchat. There's two, there's a trend on social media right now of like the choking game where you choke yourself and get some kind of euphoria and that, but some kids pass out and then they die, right? and you know my kids all know not to do that but you have to reiterate these things because it's a fad but the other one is this whole fentanyl where they think these kids on snapchat are able to get a hold of drugs that maybe they couldn't be you know before easily find before and fentanyl is in so many different goes to china then goes to mexico then comes into our country and Apparently, the people making money in the labs in China, they don't care how many Americans die. And the people making money in Mexico don't care apparently how many people die. And so these things are loaded with too much fentanyl accidentally because they're probably mixing it up in a bathtub or something. Who knows? And so many kids are dying. I just read an article to them about four kids in this high school dying over the course of I don't know how long, but the fourth one dying of a fentanyl overdose. And they have a friend that took what they thought was a – a pill uh you know uh i don't know some kind of opioid she thought it was like a valium i think or a xanax and she is still in a wheelchair about two years later and recovering like learning how to speak again etc etc and they did not think she would survive and so do you
SPEAKER 01 :
Do you think we're too trusting these kids are willing to take a pill that they don't know what's in it, that they're just too naive because they've never seen the consequences, that we need to go back to the here's your brain on drugs and show them all these situations you're talking about about what could happen, or they just are bulletproof and 10 feet tall?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, well, my kids know all about this, but I brought it up in front of some other high school kids, and they seemed completely oblivious. And I talked about your drink. There was a girl recently that was hit. Okay, she was at a bar. She was three times the legal limit. Did someone put something in her drink? I don't know. She left with four boys between the age of 17 and, well, the oldest was 28. So 17, 18, 18, and 28. I think she was a teenager still, not old enough to drink. Left the bar with them, and then there was either a sexual assault or consensual sex in the backseat of this car, allegedly. And then, allegedly consensual, according to the boys. And then they dropped her off, and she got hit by an Uber in the middle of the street at 3 a.m. They just dumped her out of the car. So I went over that story with my kids and explained about, you know, you drink a bottled water with a lid on it or you never leave your drink in a bar or establishment, you know, as you get older.
SPEAKER 01 :
I've had to do this with dating 101 with my age and dating with the same things of being able to be cautious and almost paranoid because of not. Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
And not having the person meet you at your house. You meet at a coffee shop or something.
SPEAKER 01 :
Exactly. And it's always a struggling. I have a Vegas phone number and now I keep it because it's very convenient in the dating world that they couldn't find me because it's a Vegas number and I'm in Chicago. Right. It's sad. That's why I'm looking at the fact that so many people are either not aware of the consequences, which is how I do the leadership aspect is we want to be able to look at spinning out the scenario of the what ifs so they can look at. the possibilities and how to protect yourself. Because in the event that you don't put yourself in that situation, you wouldn't have to be reacting to it. Meaning if you're not that drunk in a bar, you wouldn't have had that situation. Not that the girl is ever responsible for what happens to her. That's not my point. But we can increase our odds of good things continuing to happen to us if we can find a way of preventing
SPEAKER 03 :
being our putting ourselves in that situation to begin well and our learning moment is in fact i included you and some of your foreign exchange students because our learning moment is just common sense stuff that maybe parents don't teach their kids about manners and about you know they've learned how to do laundry they have every night a chore list and it's not big it takes them 15 minutes one person does the dishes one the counters and putting the food away and packaging it the other takes care of the pets you know and it rotates And but they have to do those things before they go to bed, even if they've had sports. You know, it's all, you know, got to be done.
SPEAKER 01 :
And why, Angie? Because I know this is something I've had an incredible epiphany with teaching. And we've known this since Knowles in 1953 is the adult learner. And I think even the adolescent learner, they just want to know why. Well, you're not making me do the pet and take out the garbage because you have to teach the girl. No, I'm teaching you self-sufficiency so that when you are in your own apartment and You know how to keep yourself clean. You know how to keep yourself away from disease. You know how to be able to do your own laundry so that you don't have to hire somebody. I was just amazed when I went to college how many of the kids weren't prepared to do all those life skills. And you need that, whether you're 12 or 55, you know? Yeah, I love it, 12 or 55.
SPEAKER 03 :
So this learning moment with the goal setting, that's what I'm going to do tonight. Oh, but by the way, I did use your foreign exchange students saying that one group of your students did not know how to load a dishwasher, take care of cell phone problems, take care of computer problems, that they were more like, an American 12 year old, I won't say which students are where they were from, but that, you know, wiping the counter, uh, being courteous, uh, you know, cause they are so wealthy in their own country that maybe they're entitled here and they really don't know how to do the basics of laundry, et cetera, uh, driving, et cetera. And that they're used to having, you know, the chauffeur, the chef, the maid, and that's not the American experience. And so, um,
SPEAKER 01 :
some who do have that American experience when it's the same principle. And I don't think that it matters. Myles Law would say it doesn't matter whether you're from India, Japan, or from Australia. These self-sufficiency skills in order to perpetuate an independent, self-sufficient adult is what we're looking at. And for some that come from maybe a wealthier condition, whether it's in, you know, the upstate New York or if it's in, you know, upstate England, for that matter. The same skills apply. A 20-year-old here is a 20-year-old everywhere. And we need to prepare our students. And I see so much that my job in the classroom is supposed to prepare them for teaching leadership, for example. But they don't see necessarily of all the other life skills that's part of self-leadership and self-sufficiency and possibly why some of these kids are set up to fail when they're out on their own or they're afraid to be out on their own because their parents may do too much for them and that may be the hardest part of all is doing for them out of love maybe actually the wrong thing to do is to let them do for themselves so they can do for themselves that's a good point so when I discuss goal setting with the kids tonight and leadership what are some of the things you're teaching your students I would ask them why. It's like, tell me what the important is. Let's spin this out that I'm not just harping on this. It's not just Dr. C being on her soapbox. I want them to come to determine why am I teaching you this? Because especially with my doctoral students, the biggest argument I have is you can't blame me when you're in your oral defense and you're defending your final study. It says, oh, well, Doc C made me do it. No, that will never come up or they'll fail. I want to know why did Doc C ask you to do that? Why did Dr. Smith on the committee ask you to do this? Why did any of your teachers, undergrad, master's, associate's degree, it doesn't matter. The question is, I want the student to know, well, the reason you're asking me this is because you want to be able to prepare me to be self-sufficient so that I can become the independent thinker. Absolutely. Now, why is that a point? So I go through this whole litany of why, why, why, and they're like, all right, I've got to be able to do this and I have to be able to do this. And when this goes wrong, I have to see it. So I'm training them to help so that they can do instead of me doing for them. And a few of my students, I annoy them because I will say, I'm not going to give you the answer. Of course, I know the answer. I've been teaching 23 years. I'm going to teach you how to find the answer because you need to be able to do that. And the helping hand is the one at the end of your wrist
SPEAKER 03 :
not mine oh my oh my gosh you and my husband would love each other i mean he is the king like you know he'll obviously millennials coming to work and it's a startup i mean they're 10 years in but it's not like they have an it department or an hr department you know and so let's say there's 12 of them they'll be like oh um my computer came in you know who's gonna help who's gonna set it up and my my husband said you're a millennial you know how to set up a good So he said so many people come to him with problems that he used to fix them all, you know. And now I feel like he's tough on our kids sometimes because he'll be like, you know, I need to get the oil changed and go get everything you need to do an oil change because I'm going to teach you how to change the oil. And I'm like, well, could we tell him like what kind of oil to buy or could we, you know, put it in the cart at First Sam's Club? So, you know, like the, you know, online app cart thing. So, um, you know, he can just go pick it up. So, you know, or, you know, like the pan, do we, you know, do we, do we get that? Does he get that? And my husband made him get everything. I mean, I ended up buying the oil with my husband because we bought it in bulk because we had like four cars. So, um, they were in the garage with the heat on changing all the oil and learning all that. And he's going to teach the girls and my son how to change a tire. That's the next thing.
SPEAKER 01 :
I love it. Well, here's what I would recommend is We do something called lecture wrappers. We're going to teach them the process, but not the final answer. So I'm going to teach them. So if we were talking about cars, my response to your husband would be something like this. All right, today, kids, here's what we're going to do is I'm going to be able to show you here's the end result. We're going to be able to teach you how to change your own oil. We're going to be able to teach you how to be able to buy all the products. We're going to teach you how to be able to get everything. So by the time we finish today, you're going to have all the skills you need to have done all of this yourself. So now they get the game. Now you're going to have to back up the truck and you as the parents to find out what level of detail are they ready for at their age to know to just say, hey, figure it out. Here's your car. Here's the website. Here are the things you know. And you teach them the parameters. You give them the boundaries. You give them the tools. And then you say, here's the end result. Go find it. Or you do it with them. you're able to be able to show them and again it depends on the student maturity but if you tell them the goal is and you give them the end result they said oh so the reason we're doing this is so when dad's not here i can do the oil myself i'm like you got it yes and you know when we're at the airport we're almost at a time but when we're at the airport i remember once my husband said well here's the keys go find the car and bring it around to you know passenger pickup
SPEAKER 03 :
And I said, do you mind going with him? Because it's a huge airport because I didn't want to be stuck there waiting for two hours. I said, you don't have to say anything to him. You just follow him and see if he can figure out, you know, how to do it and to get the car in the right place. And he only made one wrong turn getting to the passenger pickup or whatever, but he located the car and did it all. But I wanted my husband to escort him. Dr. Cheryl Lentz dot com. Always a joy to have you on the program. Thank you so much, friend. Talk to you next week.
SPEAKER 01 :
Absolutely. Thanks so much, Andy. Take care.
SPEAKER 02 :
Goodwin, Kansas is tuned to the mighty 670 KLT Denver.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with the Good News. We've got an interesting businessman joining us in just a bit. He's going to talk about Dry January, which I actually know a lot of people are taking part in, but also his passion for starting his business and growing his company. that's become very successful. And I'm always interested in those stories where it's kind of like for family and in honor of family. So interesting story. Joe Carr will be joining us in just a bit. But I wanted to start off with just some notes to self. And some of these I really like. These are like thought provokers. And I'm going to jump all the way down to number three because there's a dozen of them. When things aren't adding up in your life, begin subtracting. Life gets a lot simpler when you clear the clutter that makes it complicated. Bring your attention back to what's important and move forward. I think that's a good reset for the beginning of the year. And I think about my daughter, the one that has ADHD and how she can't keep her room like straight, you know, and it's always cluttered. Like people can spend days or grandmother can spend days working with her and getting organized. And a week after her grandma leaves, it's just chaos again. And I'm not organized either. So I can kind of relate, you know, to her to some degree, um, that things easily get cluttered, uh, you know, for me, but that if you simplify your life and have less clutter, um, It really does enable you to focus on those focus better in general, but on what's important. So I'm going to send that note to self to her right now. When things aren't adding up in your life, begin subtracting and focus on what's important. All right. I like this one, too. Learning this note to self learning to ignore certain people and things is of is one of the great paths to inner peace. I'm going to reread that. Learning to ignore certain people and things is one of the great paths to inner peace. And I think just choosing to react in a way and ignoring their behavior, their comments, their trying to dig at you, which some people do. I know someone very closely, not in the family, but close enough through work that just wants to poke, poke, poke and gets a kick out of it. Really wants to get a rise. And actually went after one of my kids the other day saying something about how his kid's school was better than my son's school to my son. You know, he goes to CU Boulder. And then I looked him up and actually my son's school was better. My son kind of knew the guy was trying to get a rise out of him. And so I just learning to ignore these people and like why they want to boost their own egos by bringing other people down. It's so transparent to me that for some reason it makes it easy for me to ignore. My husband wants to like one up them and be like, well, what about this? You know, and I'm like, I just laugh it off because to me it's so comical and immature. So learning to ignore certain people and things is one of the great paths to inner peace. Once you begin to value your inner peace over your need to react or your need to be right, you will in fact experience more inner peace and happiness. surprisingly i've gotten a lot better at that than when i was younger i had more of a need i think to be right when i was younger uh here's another good note to self happiness is letting go of what you assume your life is supposed to be like right now and sincerely appreciating it your life right now for everything that it is so relax you are enough you have enough you do enough breathe deep let go and live right now and in the moment and i think so many times we if we appreciate what we already have, it adds a whole new glow to our lives, you know, just to be appreciative for what we already have in life. I love these stories of passion and, you know, all the years I've done news and the thousands of people I've, you know, interviewed, you'll often hear me ask them why they have a certain passion, you know, for what they're doing. So if you are just joining us, this is Angie Austin with the good news. Well, dry January is a fairly new trend, but it is definitely a growing tradition. When people, you know, they basically press pause on drinking alcohol for 31 days to give, you know, your body, your mind a little rest after the holiday season. Joining us today with some dry January sips and tips is Joseph Carr, founder of Josh Sellers, which is now offering a new non-alcoholic sparkling. Hey, welcome to the show, Joe.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thanks for having me. You know, I started Josh Sellers. Almost 20 years ago, my wife and I, I left a really good job and started making wine in California. And my dad, he passed away when I was young. He wasn't a winemaker. He was a lumberjack. And he was this hardworking, real blue collar, always put his family first. And Dee and I thought one day, you know, why don't we make the wine as a tribute to him? Oh, cool. Give me an opportunity. opportunity to make a really quality wine and also talk a little bit about my dad. And it's grown into this amazing pop culture favorite. And now Josh Sellers is America's number one premium wine. And I couldn't possibly have imagined that 20 years ago.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I'll bet. And I love the idea of the non-alcoholic sparkling. I don't know why, and there's no real reason, but I just don't really drink that much. It probably was like, you know, being pregnant with all those kids and then, you know, and you can't drink then. So I love the idea of the, you know, non-alcoholics because, you know, some of us can't drink at certain times or whatever, and you kind of still maybe want to fit in or you like the idea of something fun and sparkling.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I know. When we first started, I only made one wine. I made California Cabernet, sold it out of the back of my truck. Oh, I love it. And now we're a well-varied. And what happened is a few years ago, I met the Daniel Posey family, fifth-generation winemaking family from Veneto, Italy. And we wound up building an amazing winery in Italy and producing Prosecco and Prosecco Rosé. You'll find them in Europe. You'll find them in Spain and Italy and lots of places and not as many here. We thought, why can't we do that? And my mom, my late mom, she was diabetic. And so she couldn't have alcohol. And she always kept saying, hey, Joe, when are you going to make an NA wine? I want to come to the party. I want to be part of the party. And Gene Carr was the barista, let me tell you. So we came up with this beautiful, you know, sparkling wine, a non-A sparkling wine produced up in the Prosecco region of Italy. And it's fantastic.
SPEAKER 03 :
I love that. I love that, that Jean made that, you know, a calling for you to fulfill for her. And I love it, too. Like, I like hearing about how you, you know, left a job to start this. Like, that takes a lot of guts. My husband did a startup, like, a little bit over 10 years ago, I think. And I don't think we made any money, probably. Well, he didn't for three years, so I really had to do extra. I think I must have had, like... 10 you know w2s that year from like i did a commercial and then i i'm from my old station i did these things and then i did the radio show and blah blah blah just you know to keep us afloat it takes a lot of guts to do that you obviously have a lot of charisma and energy what gave you like tell me a little bit about your passion for you know for doing this well you know i i worked uh i was a sommelier when i was a young man working really hard jobs and then i
SPEAKER 07 :
I wound up working for wineries all over the world. And, and one day my wife and I sat down and said, well, we're going to work. If you're going to work this hard, why don't we work with each other? And, uh, we, I quit my job and our, our desk was a picnic table in our garage and sold the wine out of the back of our truck. And, you know, we didn't make a lot of money, but we got each other and it was, it was a lot of fun. And I really, Really, it's been an amazing journey. You know, if you want to go on JoshSellers.com, you can find all about our wines. Or you can go on YouTube and look up Josh Sellers commercials. And we've got 150 million views on YouTube. And it tells about our journey. It tells about our story about my dad and my late wife and me and the American dream. And I'm really proud of that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, that's awesome. Okay, I'm going to do that. I can see why you've got a lot of views. All right, well, I want to make sure, give us the website again, and then anything else you want to be sure that we know about the sparkling, as I definitely want to check that out.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, it's joshsellers.com, and then you go on YouTube, Josh Sellers Commercial. You can find out where the product is there and find out all the stories behind it. Did I mention mocktails?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, you didn't mention mocktails.
SPEAKER 07 :
Colleges today, they understand this movement, so they're coming up with these things called mocktails. We came up with a Josh Bellini, which is a famous Bellini drink from Harry's Bar in Venice. I was just there in October. Nice. We mixed our N.A. sparkling wine with peach and raspberry juices, and there's the Josh Bellini. And those type of things are for people that, you know, want to come to the party and be socially accepted, and this is their answer. So we're very excited about being able to offer a product in this segment.
SPEAKER 03 :
Can you tell, Joe, because you guys are so popular now, you started off in your truck, but now you're so trendy. Can you tell just by purchases in January that people really are doing dry January? I know it's a fairly new phenomenon, but can you notice that people are doing that and then things pick back up in February? Is it noticeable?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, yeah. Our marketing department, when we do a project, we want to do two things. We don't want to be a fad. And we want to be best in class. So before we did this, the marketing department really looked at trends and things that were happening in January, February, and other months. And it was compelling. It was compelling. So we thought, why not? Let's get in the game.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I just love that, I don't know, I just love that other option. I obviously, I mean, I have an issue in my family where there was an alcohol problem with some of my brothers. And so I love it that you offer something that makes them feel not left out. I've never felt left out when I can get other things, but it's fun to be able to have an option. But I think for people who feel awkward or weird about not drinking alcohol and like with your mom with the diabetes, to have something that makes them feel like they aren't an anomaly or a spectacle or why aren't you drinking? When did you stop? Why do you have a problem? A lot of people just don't want to talk about it. And when I say I actually like Prosecco when you mentioned that, like when you mentioned that. like i actually i'm not saying i don't drink but there's certain things like that that i'm like oh that that sounds amazing to me like i'm all i'm all in on that but some people just really don't want to talk about it and i've had people say to me like well why aren't you drinking did you have a problem they just assume that right so i like the idea of you offering something that makes them feel like they can blend in and not have to answer weird questions if they decide they don't want to drink yeah you know i have a twin sister who doesn't drink she's she's never drank uh
SPEAKER 07 :
And she got the first case. Oh, I love it. Like my mom, you know, she's the center of the party.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, I love that. I love that, too, when you can be the center of the party and you can do that on your non-alcoholic sparkling and still be the center of the party. That's awesome. All right, give us your website again and where we see the videos about how you started this and honoring your father and, as you mentioned, your late wife and doing this for your mom. I love the family connection. I was just talking to someone about the Harvard Happiness Study, and it went on for decades, and it's about... The biggest indicator of happiness is connections, relationships, your family. And obviously, that's a big part of what you do, Joe.
SPEAKER 07 :
It sure is. It certainly is. So it's JoshSellers.com. And then go on YouTube and look up Josh Sellers commercial. There's a whole bunch of them. really talks about our story and our journey and the people that believed in us along the way.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's awesome, Joe. Fun talking to you. I've done news in L.A. and all around the world for, I mean, gosh, 30 years. I've interviewed thousands of people, and I love to hear passionate stories like yours. So thanks for joining us, and I'm going to check out joshsillars.com. Thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you. Have a great new year.
SPEAKER 03 :
You too.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
SPEAKER 06 :
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In this compelling episode, Angie Austin welcomes back author Grace Fox to delve into her latest book, 'Moving from Fear to Freedom.' They explore the common fears that hold people back and discuss practical ways to overcome them through faith and trust in a higher power. With personal anecdotes and insightful stories, both Angie and Grace illustrate the difference between healthy and unhealthy fears, and how understanding them can lead to true freedom in life.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome to the good news with Angie Austin. Now with the good news, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 07 :
Angie Austin here with the good news, along with Grace Fox, one of our favorites. We're talking about her book today, Moving from Fear to Freedom. And what a great thing to do as we move through 2023. Welcome back, Grace.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thanks so much, Angie. It's great to be back again.
SPEAKER 07 :
OK, so this is a topic that when you first sent me all your books, because a lot of them are really inspirational, devotionals and, you know, a happy place, a fresh hope for today. And I thought, you know, a lot of women still are in that fear. fear zone. And you and I talked about some of our women's retreats that we've spoken at. And I remember, I think I told you all those sheets of paper that women submitted about their deeper secrets. And it was shocking to me, the sadness and the guilt and the shame within those notes that were, of course, anonymous. And so I thought, you know what, when we get into 2023, which we are now, that I wanted to start tackling this moving from fear to freedom. Where do you want to focus today?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I think it's really important to identify the fact that there are healthy fears and there are unhealthy fears. And so maybe we can talk a little bit about that today, what the difference is.
SPEAKER 07 :
I think that's good because I think all of us see just fear is fear, you know, and we just lump it all together. But it can limit us and keep us from doing things which really would be great for our lives. So let's get started. How do we identify?
SPEAKER 06 :
So unhealthy fears are the ones that hold us back. So healthy fears are good for us. Let's be specific about some of those things. Like when we're raising our kids, we teach them to look both ways before you cross the street. That's a healthy fear because we know that if you step out onto the street and there's a car coming, you're going to get hurt. So there's that. There's a healthy fear. A lot of us, as we begin a new year, we think, okay, I'm going to get back to exercise. I'm going to eat properly. Well, that's kind of based in a healthy fear because we want our bodies to be in a good place. We want to live long and strong. And so a healthy fear is, okay, I'm going to look after myself so I don't die of an unnecessary disease, right? Yeah. So those are healthy fears that... I would say kick us into action that stir us into doing something that is good for us or for other people.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. Okay. So some healthy fears.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, healthy fears. So unhealthy fears. Those are the ones that keep us stuck. So let's say an unhealthy fear would be, I can't turn the lights off at night because I'm afraid of, I'll just go ahead and I'll say it like a child might say the boogeyman. The boogeyman's out there. If I turn the lights off, he's going to get me in the dark. That is an unhealthy fear. I had that. You want to hear a story about that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I've got one for you just from this morning. okay who wants to go first you want no you go ahead oh sure sure mine's quick and simple uh every time i come down to the basement that's where we have a walkout basement so it's not like your scary basement right and so my daughter has a huge room down there it's really more like an apartment she's 15 her friends come over she has a bunk bed set up and then like a queen bed and then a cot like she can have six girls in there and they have tons of room it's literally like two or three bedrooms in one okay well There is a living room and a kitchen down there, but there's also the storage room. And so every time I come down the stairs, the storage room, which we just cleaned, it's even got carpeting in it now. It's real friendly now. And my office is hidden away behind the storage room. It's kind of like an escape room, right? Where I am, it's real quiet because no one would come into the storage room to hang out or make noise. So my office is built, or my studio... off of the storage room. So no one would even know that I'm down here. If they came in the house, they wouldn't find a door at the back of the storage room that goes to, you know, a studio. So anyway, every time I come down the stairs, including this morning, the door to the storage room is wide open. And keep in mind, it's not heated and we're in Colorado. So I'd really prefer it be cold so we don't have to heat it. And the lights, every single light in the storage room in my office are blaring on full blast. So what she must do at night, and I'll say like, well, why do you do that? Well, it's scary. It's scary. And so I'm like, but we don't really want to use that electricity. Can't you just shut, keep the door shut? No, I need to know what's in there with all the lights on. And I like it open because it's scary. And I'm like, okay. So she's almost 16 and still she's doing that with the door. So I'm assuming that is her teenage boogeyman. She believes it's in there.
SPEAKER 06 :
I totally get it because I had the grown-up boogeyman thing happening. So when my kids were small, my husband worked overseas a lot. So he had to go overseas. He was going to be gone a week at a time. And we were robbed at one point. Yeah. And I didn't know that we were robbed. Somebody had broken into our house and we were gone. And little by little, I discovered, where's my camera? It's gone. And then one day, I went looking for a little set of cheap pearl earrings. and they were gone. And I had a silver charm bracelet that I collected charms from the time I was in high school, right to Bible college. If I traveled someplace, I bought a charm and it was gone. And that's how I discovered, you know, somebody had robbed us and we had a suspicious neighbor living right next door. People were coming and going. We sort of wondered if he was dealing drugs out of his house or whatever, but you know, we, we had our suspicions, but nothing was ever proven nothing. And so when my husband would travel overseas, All I could think of was I'm a sitting duck. I'm home alone as a young mom with three preschoolers. And we lived in a double-wide mobile home at the time. So our master bedroom was at one end of the mobile home and the kids' bedrooms were all at the far end and the big house in between. All I could think of was if somebody breaks in, how am I going to get to my kids to get out of the house? How am I going to rest my children? And so I would sleep with a light on beside the bed because I think at least if somebody breaks in, I'm going to catch a glimpse of his face so I can identify him in a lineup. That was my thought. And so I, but then problem was, if I wasn't sleeping, I would get really grouchy because I was overtired. And so then I'd start being grouchy with my little kids. And I finally said one night, I can't do this. I need to sleep. I need to be rested so that I can parent my children. Come on already. And so I remember praying this. Okay, God. I actually, the Psalm 127 just popped into my head that night. And so I turned to it, and this is what I read. It says, unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. And I thought, whoa! You know, that's so true, because I can try to guard my space by turning a light on and trying to sleep with a light on, which isn't working for me. Or... I can trust the Lord to post his angels around my home and, and just let him do his job. And I'm going to go to sleep so that I can do my job. And that's what I did. I remember just saying, okay, God, I am so done with being exhausted out of fear. I need to sleep. So would you just post an angel at both doors, front and back and at every corner of this mobile home? Would you do that please? So that I can get some rest. And Angie said, that prayer set me free like i slept that night i never slept with the light on again and i've traveled around the world sometimes by myself where i've had to sleep in hotel rooms and and i've just been able to turn the light off lock the door turn the light off and get rest and oh oh my you know that was my aha moment that night that was my turning point but i i It just changed my life when I just finally realized that I could do everything to protect myself out of fear or I could say, God, do this. Do this for me. I still get my doors locked. You know, I took common sense precautions.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right, right.
SPEAKER 06 :
But I trusted him to look after me and it set me free.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, trusted him once we've done everything, you know, that we're supposed to do common sense wise to protect our family, not leave the doors unlocked, make sure the windows are locked. We put like in the sliding doors a little. stick in there or whatever some little device that keeps it from sliding and you know all the normal things you do to protect your home maybe even you know an alarm some of us have a security system but that peace of mind and I was thinking as you were telling the story I'm like well you're better than I'd be I'd actually have all the kids in the bed with me or I'd be in one of the bedrooms with the kids and we'd camp out while dad was gone in one room that I like put a chair or something or a dresser up against the door so I was like oh well you were better than I was because you actually slept in your tried to sleep in your own
SPEAKER 06 :
bed yeah yeah i get you i hear what you're saying i i think so many of us um start out even as kids with those fears like i can totally relate to what you're talking about with the storage room and all that i remember as a kid you know my mom would say to me as a child grace would you go downstairs and get a jar of peaches because she had all this canning room right she did all the food preservation and whatnot and so there was this little cool room down in the basement and And I hated it when she said something like that, because in my head, I had visions of the boogeyman. And so I'd go down the stairs. I'd make sure it had a light switch at the top of the stairs and a light switch at the bottom of the stairs for the same light. So I'd click on the switch at the top of the stairs. So, of course, that was flooded with lights. I'd go down the stairs, you know, into the furnace room and then into the storage room, get the jar of peaches. But then I'd have to come back up the stairs. And that's where the problem was because I'd have to turn my back on, right, turn my back on the basement. And all I could envision was this. monster whatever he looked like just coming after me chasing me and i would take those stairs by twos and then i get to the top and quickly compose myself because i didn't want anybody to think i was scared right but i that's just we develop these fears in in childhood and and carry them with us into adulthood but only jesus can set us free turn the lights on can't always set us free right put the alarm system in we still might have panic attacks but Jesus is the one who sets us free.
SPEAKER 07 :
I love your example. I hope we have enough time for it. You talk about living jitter-free, and you're talking about Jesus allowing you to, and not just being scared of the boogeyman. Other things, you talk about living in Nepal, and you saw people carrying these immense loads, and you saw a man with a 200-pound sack of sugar on his back, and you thought that he wasn't built to carry that, but he lived several days' walk from the bazaar. No roads existed, and he didn't own a horse or a mule, and if he wanted the sugar supply, he had to carry it several days on his back. And so you talk about that living in the fear for our kids' well-being is like piggybacking a huge weight. I love that example. Explain that a little bit.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and that's exactly the way it is. But the people in Nepal, the ones where I was at, they were a small-boned people. And I was amazed at what they could carry on their backs. But you know what? We, spiritually, are not meant to carry those kinds of loads. God never designed us in our heart and our spirit to carry huge burdens like that, whether it be the fear for our kids' well-being or The fear of, you know, what if cancer strikes or what if this year just brings all out nuclear war? We just are not meant to carry those kinds of burdens. And that's why Jesus has come to me. I love that invitation. You can just envision him putting his hands out, you know, extending his arms to us with his hands out and saying, Come here. Come to me. Because you're not meant to carry those kinds of loads. If you're weary from carrying that load, I will carry that for you. And sometimes we say, oh, no, no, I'm good. I can do this. No problem. But we're not good. It is a problem because we're losing sleep and we're developing ulcers and we're turning to alcohol or whatever else to try to soothe those fears.
SPEAKER 05 :
When Jesus is saying, give it to me. Let me carry it for you because I care for you. Mm hmm.
SPEAKER 07 :
I love having your book on Kindle. And just for people that don't have a Kindle, I'm sure most of you know this, but on my smartphone, I have the Kindle app. And it's really great. These phones are so wonderful. I have so many books on Kindle, including Moving from Fear to Freedom. And I just pop it up when I'm like yesterday, I spent the entire day at a volleyball game. and my husband was at a basketball tournament, and we had to get up at 4.30 in the morning. So I had at least three hours in my car before and in between and blah, blah, blah. And I just pop this out and start reading, and my mom does the same thing when she drives with the kids that have permits. She has to sit in the car during practices. She does the same thing. And also, I'd love to get your website as well, Grace.
SPEAKER 06 :
Sure. My website is so simple. It's just gracefox.com.
SPEAKER 07 :
Love talking to you. It's always a fun day when I have you on the show. I love your books and I love your speaking.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, I'm just so thrilled to be able to do this with you, Angie. It's great to be able to talk about life and to talk about real life and how faith affects it.
SPEAKER 07 :
I love it. Talk to you next week. Bye, Grace.
SPEAKER 06 :
You bet. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
Castle Rock is locked in to the mighty 670 KLT Denver.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin with the good news, along with Beatrice Bruno and Michelle Ron. Always a great day when they're on the program. Hello, my good news gal, Beatrice.
SPEAKER 02 :
Praise the Lord and God bless you. Good to be here today, Angie.
SPEAKER 07 :
Praise the Lord and God bless you. Michelle Ron, welcome, my friend.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you, and that's a hard act to follow. I'm just thrilled to be with both of you. Thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, the day I met Beatrice. Wait a minute. No, Beatrice, the day I met you, I had to follow your 30-second elevator speech. Never in my life have I worried about following anyone with my 30-second elevator speech. Oh, my gosh. Because after you went, I'm like, this is the first girl, the first gal that might best me in her presentation of the 30-second elevator speech.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, my gosh. You know, when I go into places and they introduce me or, you know, I'm speaking to people, I say, well, praise the Lord and God bless you today. And people really are taken aback. They're like, huh? Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
They have to listen again. This is good.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, they do. You got their attention. That's just me. That's me. That's who I am. And you know something? I'm finding that I'm not going to change that. No. Nor could you. No.
SPEAKER 07 :
No. We don't want any changes to take place in the drill sergeant of life. Every week, ladies, we do the old word of the week. And last week, Arbitrus, you missed it. And I think you took the day off on purpose because the word was sin.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, Lord. A nice easy word there. There we go. Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
What's our word this week?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, this week our word is metal. Metal. M-E-T-T-L-E. And these past few weeks... I've been witness to friends who are going through really, really tough situations as all of us have some point in our life journey. And my point, my word this week again is metal. And the first thing that comes to my mind when I when I. came across this word was my generation used to have the saying, put the pedal to the metal. And that was used mainly to describe drag racing. But that is not what I'm talking about. Nope, that's not it. Because my metal is spelled M-E-T-T-L-E. And what it refers to, it's a noun that refers to determination or stamina when doing something difficult. And my husband loves watching old cowboy movies. I think he's seen every single one of them twice. But in the cowboy movies, they call that word grit.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
And it's all about the strength of will and persevering through stuff. And right now. Those of you that are listening, I know there are some of you, in fact, a lot of you that something is challenging you. And are you dreading it? And are you confused as to a solution? So what I've observed. And being honored to observe is that I'm watching these three dear ones traversing their way through chemo. And I'm observing how each one is showing their mettle in this challenge. But the best thing that I'm observing in each one of these friends is that they are each digging down deep in their trust of their jesus even when their pain is overwhelming and they are demonstrating to me that nothing and no one in this world is stronger than god and when we suffer as they are suffering god allows us to experience his nearness in very very real ways so i'm seeing them using this metal of his strength, and they are persevering. And it's an honor to be able to watch this because it's a lesson for me, and I would bet that it's a lesson for each of you also.
SPEAKER 07 :
I like that word. And I so rarely hear it. And when I spelled it and explained it again, and when he was such a teacher, metal, metal, M-E-T-T-L-E, metal. That's the way, you know, like when you do your vocabulary tests in school.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. Right. I first thought in school. in a devotional that i was doing and that was a couple months ago so i i didn't i couldn't find the particular devotion but um i i did look up the word and remember the word so yeah it is interesting to me well beatrice you've got it yep you know i'm finding that as i rebuild
SPEAKER 02 :
and revamp the drill sergeant of life, that metal is a huge part of what I have to use to utilize in order to get to where I need to be for such a time as this. Because as we all know, my husband passed, it'll be five years in August. On August the 7th, my husband will have been gone for five years. Yeah, already. Well, think about this. My granddaughter is getting ready to turn six months on Thursday. So it's like time is just going. But, you know, as I look at myself and what I need to do to accomplish what rebuilding the drill sergeant of life and taking the drill sergeant of life to where I want it to be. I've got to be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. And that's what metal is to me, determination, stamina of being the Christian that I am, you know, in all parts of my life. And I've got to utilize that steadfast and unmovable trait as the drill sergeant of life, because the scripture says, be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as we know that the work that we do for the Lord is not in vain. And when we start talking about using metal in our lives, M-E-T-T-L-E. When we start talking about using that in our lives, we have to be steadfast and unmovable at who we are. When we look at our friend, our good friend, Angie Austin, and see where she's come from, you know, starting out as the weather girl, you know, with CBS and doing that out there on the West Coast and stuff and the things that she's done here in the Denver metropolitan. You know, and she's still steadfast and unmovable because people know who Angie Austin is. They know what she does, what she represents. They know that she's, you know, one of the top notches, as far as I'm concerned, in media. She has proven her mettle. because that's what's inside of her. As the drill sergeant of life, I have to prove that metal because that's what's inside of me. God allowed me to go into the army to be a drill sergeant for the amount of time I did and to serve in the army for the amount of time I did so that when I came out, I would have that inside of me. And that's like, it sets my backbone up so that my backbone is, I'm just, I am who I am. And that metal is a part of me so that when I stand up on a stage, you know exactly who that is. That's the drill sergeant of life. And so that's what that metal means to me.
SPEAKER 07 :
You know, teaching the kids, and we use the word grit a lot, Michelle and Beatrice. Yeah, we use grit. And, you know, I'll use an example of – Well, like last night, my husband said we must have had, you know, my mom's not here anymore. She did a lot of laundry. We must have had like eight laundry baskets full of laundry. And so my husband calls it a folding party. He's like nine o'clock in our room. Everybody, we're having a folding party. Well, for them, it's not. There wasn't a party atmosphere, you know, there. They're kind of griping or this, that, and the other. And then they have jobs at night like the pets and the kitchen and the dishes. So I'd say we spent a good hour, hour and a half doing all this stuff last night after they'd done all their sports. They're all in sports right now, volleyball and basketball. Uh-huh. Well, the one hope, speaking of grit, and they all did it, you know, and we also told them last night, I'd learned a lot from a sleep doctor yesterday about those phones. And I was thinking they were all napping after school or after their practices, their teenagers. And he said, you should they should not be looking at that phone at night. It's like being at a slot machine in a in a casino. And so I said to my husband, I'm like, they're not going to like it. We've got to take them away again. And my son's almost 18. I mean, he threw a fit at first. But you know what? All those phones were downstairs. They all got charged down there. They all woke up this morning. We have a new routine. But the grit that I wanted to tell you about involves hope. She was not starting in her club volleyball team. She's on the top team for her age group. And there were returning kids that had already proved themselves. And so we said to her, Don't worry about it yet because these kids have already proved themselves. They're coming back. They've been on this team, you know, some numerous years and you're brand new. They have to learn to trust you. So when you get that chance to go in, that's when you can prove yourself. Well, we also decided that she would adjust her diet to gain muscle. Like she added a lot more protein in there and, you know, took out like the whole bag, the family size bag of potato chips that you select. Remember I used to tell her that just because you're in a family doesn't mean you eat a family size bag by yourself. Yeah. She's like, it's family size. I'm in a family. And I'm like, no, not the whole bag. So she adjusted her diet, added more protein and vegetables, blah, blah, blah. And she trains with her father like five nights a week at the gym and goes to all of her practices and has private practices. And we get the court for her and put up the volleyball net. And then she works with her dad and her brother. They're 6'2 and 6'6. So she really gets some good volleyball work with blocking. Wonderful. guess what her coach said last night at practice because she started the last um two tournaments she was the starter and she played a lot she said in front of my daughter and in front of the other coach well looks like we have a new right side starter it looks like it's hope i mean she went from sitting on the bench like a month and a half ago to being the starter out of you know i think it's 11 or 12 girls on this team and six play at a time and all of a sudden she's a starter
SPEAKER 04 :
Good for her. Grit. Grit. Grit and stamina. Grit.
SPEAKER 07 :
There you go. She went to a birthday party. She came home. She was starving. I'm like, why are you starving? I'm like, they had tacos and enchiladas and cupcakes. All they had was junk food, and I'm trying to eat like an athlete. So she came home and ate a giant chicken Caesar salad. How many 15-year-olds do that? That's right. Grit, girl. Yeah. So we're trying to, you know, put that into the kids. But, you know, I'm trying to, you know, walk a tightrope of not being, you know, to having too high of expectations because I told my son, oh, you should go to the gym with them. And he turned to me, goes, it's never good enough. It isn't. I run my own business. I'm getting vintage clothing downtown on the weekends. I'm going through the bins for like six hours a day, Saturday and Sunday. I do all my chores. I do volleyball and I've got school and I'm taking college classes every when is it enough mom and I thought oh maybe I go you don't have to go to the gym with dad never mind good good to listen to him that's it all right wow wow
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you know, and you are you are such an example. You really are, you know, and just looking at you and how you interact with your husband, your kids and your family in general. And just the things that you do, because you keep you just like to energize a buddy bunny. You take a lick. Well, no, I'm sorry. Timex, you take a licking sometimes, but you keep on taking, you know, and I think that's what your kids see in you. Because as your kids, especially your littlest one, with her basketball playing self, that's a basketball playing little girl, you know. But look at what she has had to go through just to get to where she is. And then when we look at one of our friend's daughters, she was just in the newspaper on Sunday, Michelle's daughter. You know who I'm talking about.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, she won a Sienna. She won the Gatorade top, you know, and they won the they won the state championship. Grandview did. Wait, I didn't tell you. Faith is on the feeder team because she's going to be in ninth grade next year. And their feeder team just won their championship and beat out all of the other eighth grade middle schoolers.
SPEAKER 02 :
Excellent. Excellent. And see, Faith got that from you because she's looked at you and she has said, well, if mommy can do it, I know I can do it. And she's doing it. And look at Hope. Look at how she's doing that. She said, well, I don't want to eat all that junk food. I need some good stuff because I'm trying to get somewhere. And I think if we as a people will... Take on some of that stuff because all that's part of metal and grit, as you say, because we need to have that mentality that, well, wait a minute, I'm looking at my good friend, one of my besties, Angie, and she's persevering. She's doing this. She's doing that. Well, I'm not doing the same thing she does, but in my field, I need to be able to use that same amount of grit to get to where I need to go to. And when we look at other folks, you know, and use it positively so that we can get to where we're going.
SPEAKER 07 :
When they're working out, I do my like 10 to 15,000 steps. Like I'll walk for like an hour and a half. I mean, it's not the same level of working out, but I want to make sure people can find both of you. Beatrice Books, and she's a speaker, thedrillsargentoflife.com. And then Michelle, she'd love to speak for you, michellearon.com. Love you both. Thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
