Have you ever wondered how a simple text message could change your life forever? Brenda and Isaiah Stearns joins Kevin Shook on Life Unscripted to share their extraordinary love story that began with a misdirected Bible verse. Their tale is a beautiful reminder of the power of chance encounters and divine timing, as they reflect on the serendipity that led to a lifetime of happiness. We also celebrate their journey with a special 3D-printed memento, symbolizing the year their lives intertwined in the most unexpected way.
Our episode also takes you on a journey through the intricate dance of love and family. Meet a couple who navigated the unpredictable waters of online dating and long-distance challenges, culminating in a joyful first meeting in December. With anecdotes of meeting family members before even meeting each other, their story highlights the humor, excitement, and commitment that come with setting intentions for a lasting relationship. Hear about the pivotal leap of faith taken to prioritize love over career, capturing the essence of meaningful connections.
Exploring the charm of old homes, we share tales of acquiring a dream Victorian house and the history it holds. Delight in stories of personal growth and the courage to embrace life’s imperfections and vulnerabilities. This episode uncovers the beauty of authentic experiences and the joy of making lasting memories. From the unexpected viral success of a TikTok video to spreading hope in a world often filled with negativity, we celebrate the power of positivity and genuine human connection.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Life Inscripted with Kevin Shipp.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Today I have a couple really special people I met
when I was doing real estatephotography.
Obviously, I'm kind of ajack-of-all-trades master of
none, and one of those trades isreal estate photography.
So it was really cool knockingon their doors and like, hey, I
hope you're expecting aphotographer.
And then we got to talking moreand, um, I learned more about
(00:29):
this couple, so I present to youuh, isaiah and brenda sterns,
and, um, they're here withouttheir six sidekicks yep, six
right, yep.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
And then um, I noticed uh, on right, yep.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
And then, um, I noticed um on your Instagram
that you skipped two years.
There's a couple of years inthere, but um, I needed a break.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, and he's just like yep, yes, she did Um so
okay, um, brenda, how did thisstory start?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So okay, brenda, how did this story start?
Because I know it started withsomething that you did in 2009,
I believe.
So, yeah, go ahead and tell us.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
So it all started because I sent a text to the
wrong number.
Obviously, I didn't mean to.
I had this habit of sendinginspirational text messages to
my friends, my contacts.
At the time I mean, you'retalking 2009 smartphones weren't
really a thing, I had the Nokiabig, huge one Was it, yeah, wow
.
And so I had, like I don't know,10, 11 contacts at the most,
(01:39):
and so and four of those were,three of those were my sister,
so I would like click all ofthem and I would send the same
text to everybody.
And I was getting ready to dothat in the morning and the
phone at the office where Iworked at rang and so I was like
, okay, I'll send this textlater.
I'm busy with work.
And I completely forgot aboutthat text until later that
evening when I got to myapartment Like, oh, my goodness,
(02:02):
I was, was gonna send this textin the morning.
Let me go ahead and send it now.
And I did, and within 20, 30minutes I got a text back saying
amen to that.
Who is this?
And I was like, hey, it'sBrenda Roxy's sister.
You're my mom's neighbor,remember me?
Because the phone I had onthere was for a family friend
that lived in Ohio near where mymom lived.
(02:24):
And he's like, no, I don'tthink we've ever met.
My name is Isaiah Stearns.
And then I was like, oh sorry,like I didn't mean to send this
to you.
And then he continued on sayinghey, by the looks of your text I
can tell that you like love God, and that's awesome, and that's
(02:44):
kind of what sparked thebeginning of our conversation.
We started texting back for alittle bit and then I was like,
okay, well, you know, sorry forthe text, it was a mistake and
hope you have a good day, andthat was it.
And then he said if, if youdon't mind, maybe I can text you
or call you and keep in touch.
Yeah, Keep in touch, orsomething like that, and I
thought it was really weird butI was like sure, why not?
(03:06):
But before all of this I say Ihad just gotten a new phone plan
and they messed up or something.
Why don't you tell them thatpart of the part of the story?
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, so, uh, I wanted to get a new phone plan.
So I reached out to the phonecompany and they said okay,
here's your new phone number.
Call this other number.
You should be able to set it up.
So I did and it didn't work.
And I called them back and theysaid well, whoever set that
phone number up in the system,they didn't do it right.
So here's a new phone numberfor you.
Call that same number again.
That should be able to work foryou.
(03:36):
So I called it.
It worked.
And then, 30 minutes laterthat's when I got the text- so
if I had sent that text in themorning when I got it he would
never have.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Nope.
So it was like all at theperfect time.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
That second phone number was a family friend's
phone number that she had in herphone.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
He changed.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
It moved to California or something like
that.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
So what was the text?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
It was a Bible verse, I believe.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I don't remember exactly, yeah, it was.
It was a Bible verse.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I believe I don't remember exactly which one
Philippians 2.
Yeah, it was.
I remember it had something todo with like be more like Christ
, how he lived on earth andSelflessness.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Like not being selfish.
Focus less on self.
So I made something for you andthis might help you remember I
won't be the car.
Be like a kid, throw the cardout.
She reads everything.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I'm a little sentimental.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
She doesn't keep cards but she gets sentimental
with words.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I will read the card.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You might not be able to understand the card.
It's my handwriting.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I will read it later.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
It's a little fragile , so that's why I used every
paper in the package.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Oh my goodness, this is so cool.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Oh, wow, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Thank you yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Thank you, I'll help you remember now.
I will remember now.
Oh, it says the Stearns 2009.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Oh, that is beautiful thank you, yeah that is very
kind of you and it's now youremember.
Now you remember what you saidI will remember what I said
aesthetically pleasing.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
She's gonna keep that I, I will, I like the little
heart too.
Did you print this?
Yeah, yeah that is so cool Ilove 3d printing printing.
I love it.
Thank you, you're welcome.
Appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But that's just.
It's such a cool story.
It has me replying back torandom numbers.
Yeah, and the other day I gotone.
Some lady wanted me to buyhealthcare insurance and I'm
like, do you want to go on adate?
Guess what?
They don't reply.
No, they don't.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
They don't reply after that, that's a good way to
get rid of spam.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yeah, yeah.
So you know you're keeping mehopeful.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Every time I make like a real about our story,
there's people like oh, I'mgoing to send texts to random
numbers and see what comes out.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Back to my days when I drank drunk texting.
It's not the same thing andthere's a reason it doesn't work
out.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And plus it's different times.
Now, 2009 was completelydifferent.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
With text, random text, you'd be like, okay, this
is somebody that's not asolicitor.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Trying to sell health care insurance to self-employed
.
So after you've sent a text,you've connected, so you talked
a few times.
How did the vetting process go?
How did you make sure that hewas legit?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
So I remember the.
The following day he called meand I purpose I saw my phone
ring and I did not answer onpurpose because I was like I
really hope he leaves avoicemail so that I can hear his
voice.
Maybe by the sound of his voiceI can kind of get an idea.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I mean, does he sound like a crazy guy?
How do I sound right now?
How you doing?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
He did leave a voicemail and I remember I was
like listening to it I'm like,okay, he sounds kind of cute,
maybe I'll call him back.
And I did.
And we started talking on thephone and I felt like we
connected super quick.
Um, and I was at a point in mylife where I was never into like
just dating, just to date.
And let's go here, and I wantedto be a wife, I wanted to be a
(07:14):
mom and I wanted a family, andso I was looking for qualities
like what would make you a gooddad, what would make you a good
husband, things like that.
And so we initially startedconversing and it was like deep
conversations.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I think it was right away yeah, but we we also
exchanged facebooks oh yeah, itwas fairly new back then, yeah,
and mine had a picture of mewith my cat on my shoulders and
your head like you had shaved.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, I used to shave my hair no, no facial hair.
No, I mean, I shaved todayactually and I've never been a
cat person, so that was like oh,he has a cat.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So a cat's a red flag ?
Huh, was was Orange flag.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Orange.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Okay, that's good to know.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
But vetting she.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Oh.
So we started talking and I waslike, oh, my goodness, I really
like him, I feel like I'mfalling in love, but also, hey,
you've never met him.
So I didn't really know what todo.
And then I was like, hey, mymom lives in Ohio, I am going to
tell my mom about this guy.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
And I called my mom that was actually Newport
Kentucky, so it's right over theborder I mean she used to live
in Centerville.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Ohio and then moved to Newport Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Cincinnati area yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So I Newport, kentucky, cincinnati area, yeah.
So I called my mom and I'm like, hey, there's this guy that
like I met by accident and Ikind of really like him, but
also he could be a total creep,like I don't know.
And my mom was excited.
She's like, well, where does hework at?
What gym does he go to?
I will go and check him out foryou she said mom, oh yeah and
I'm like, well, if you want tomeet him, why don't I tell
isaiah that you're interested inmeeting him and maybe you guys
(08:48):
can talk?
And so I told isaiah.
I'm like, hey, my mom wouldlike to meet you.
Uh, why don't you give her acall?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
this is her phone number yeah, so we set up a date
.
Uh, it was me and her mom andher younger sister, because her
younger sister roxanna livedwith her mom, and her younger
sister because her youngersister Roxanna lived with her
mom at the time.
We went to El Mason on WestAlex in the Miamisburg area,
west Carrollton, ohio, and wehad our date there Before I met
(09:19):
Brenda.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
He actually met my mom younger sister before me.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Did they make a little cut out of you Like
sitting at the table Like?
This is what she looks like.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Well, we already knew what we looked like because of
our Facebooks.
It went well.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
She was sitting at home waiting for her mom to call
.
I was pantsing back and forth.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I was nervous yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Really, yeah, Well, now what if mom fell for him and
then and then and then?
She never called you.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
No, no way, he is not her type.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Well, hopefully she doesn't watch this.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
No, she knows, I'm joking.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
That's funny.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
And then, so I remember, my sister called and
they went to the restroom andthey called me and I'm like so
you know what's going on?
And my sister's like, oh mygoodness, brenda, he is huge,
he's bigger than the door.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I'm only six foot one .
Speaker 3 (10:22):
We're like tiny petite Mexicans short.
So it was like I don't know,he's huge.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
So what were you doing for a living down there?
What was everybody doing beforethey came together?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Oh, my goodness, I was doing so many things.
So I ended up moving to Georgiabecause I wanted to be closer
to my sister, who was livingthere at the time.
She was recently married.
I was like okay, my sister whowas living there at the time,
she was recently married.
I was like, okay, I'm going togo hang out with you.
And when I was living there, Iwas working at a photography
studio and that's where I sentthe accidental text.
Um, and then when I moved toOhio, I had quit my job.
(10:59):
I actually gave my resignationletter, cause I I had to ask for
some days off for Christmas,and then, very last minute, was
like, oh, you can't have thesebecause, like, we're going on a
vacation, you have to stay atthis studio.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah it's like some old mill stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
And so I was like I've never been alone for
Christmas and this is not goingto be my first time.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
So backpedal on that story.
That's part of how we met.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
So I was, like we're going to, I'm going to resign,
and I packed my car and moved toOhio.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So that area, that part of the story.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The reason why I quit .
He'll tell you.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah.
So we kept talking.
And then her mom invited me toMinnesota for Christmas and I
was working at Kroger at thetime and retail's busy.
I was like, well, I asked forthe time off.
They gave me the time off andso, uh, the plan was to go meet
her, uh, family up in Minnesotafor Christmas.
(11:57):
And then, uh, that happenedwith her work, she had the time
scheduled off, she ended uptaking it, she ended up
resigning, and then we actuallymet each other December 1st and,
face to face, we saw each otherthe first time December 1st and
we made it official that wewere going to date with the
intention to get married.
And, uh, christmas went well.
(12:19):
We drove up there from Ohiowith her sister along with us.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
My sister's always been the third wheeler.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Oh really, she's lived with us a few times.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I love her.
Yeah, she's great and she looksa lot like me too.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Well, we'll talk about that later.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So we went to Minnesota and that went very
well.
Long story short, we ended upgetting engaged February 14th
2010, and got married the monththat she was planning on moving
here initially, if she was goingto stay in Georgia until her
lease was up, which was June2010.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Wow, you guys like once you know, you know, you
know you know, yeah, there's noreason to wait around when the
chemistry is there.
Yeah, wow, no reason to waitaround when the chemistry is
there.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Wow, no reason to be engaged for years.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Oh, dragging it on.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
For us, right, it's okay if people do that, but for
us there was no reason yeah,it's going to look different for
everybody, yep.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Oh, this is wild.
It's just wild because youdon't hear much of this.
So when this happened, uh, yougot.
You got married.
What year?
June 2010,.
June of 2010.
So about okay.
So when did the first baby comealong?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I mean, I literally got pregnant the month after we
got married.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
April, april 2011.
So you did it by the book, butbarely.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, honeymoon, let's get this done, it's
honeymoon?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Yeah, for sure, wow, and so all right.
So tell us about the kids.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
There's a few of them right.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Just a few, a little bit I love them.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I would hope you do, we would have a problem.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
But not only do I love them normal, like how any
mom, I think, would love theirkid.
I like I am obsessed with mykids.
Like I love them.
I love everything about them.
I'm so proud of them.
I like I am in awe of liketheir personalities and the
choices that they make now thatthey're growing up.
I'm just like how did you comeout from like this?
(14:24):
You know what I mean.
Like it's just crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
We're both messed up.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
It's crazy, they are amazing.
So, yeah, I got pregnant rightaway.
Victoria was born in 2011.
And then Veronica was born 2012.
Sammy, 2014.
Vanessa, 2015.
Benjamin, 2018.
And Ezra, our last one, 2021.
He was our COVID baby.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
COVID baby.
Everybody's got one of those.
Now A lot of people do we'rehome.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
What should we do?
All right, let's make a baby.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Do what we're good at .
Yep.
I started working from home in2019 and been since Changed jobs
a few times, but been doingthat since.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
And what is it you do ?
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I'm a contractor for the government.
Oh, okay, I remember.
Yeah, I've changed a few, I'mstill a contractor for the
government, just differentthings.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Nice, that's exciting .
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I had no idea where to start.
With that, I review.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I can say it, I do FOIA requests, so those are
called Federal Acquisition.
No Federal Freedom ofInformations Act, no Federal
Freedom of Informations Act.
So people can requestinformation about different
(15:51):
contracts that have been awardedand there's a process they have
to go through and I'm involvedwith releasing those documents
to the requesters.
In a nutshell, that's what I doright now.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, that sounds crazy, that sounds really
intense.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
There could be a lot of stuff there, intense like
camping there could be a lot ofintel, yeah but it's all.
It's all free to the public ifthey request it.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
All those yeah, you just gather the information for
them.
Yep Gotcha.
And you are everything underthe sun, from social media
influencer to mother, to houserenovator.
I love watching all of theInstagram and watching your
house just come together.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I'm having so much fun.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Tell us about this house.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Well, first of all, I'm excited because you moved
here to Wayne County, cambridgeCity.
Are you liking it?
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So far.
Yeah, yeah, the town is amazingwhere we live.
People are so friendly, verywelcoming.
It feels peaceful.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Nice, I thought you'd love it.
I know, when we talked beforeyou moved from like main street
down there, it's just like socool Antiques, everything right
up your alley, and then you know, uh, the number nine grill.
We'll have to do that sometime.
That's a.
That's a.
If you haven't been there, yetit was good, yeah, yeah,
beautiful place, but yeah, sotell us about this home.
(17:20):
It's special.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
This house is everything I've ever dreamed for
, and more so when our wholeprocess for selling our house
was very draining emotionally.
It was a nightmare.
I almost wanted to give up somany times and I was like we're
never going to find our, our,the house that we need as a
(17:42):
family, or the house that I'vealways dreamed of.
And so I was like I'm done,don't show me any more houses, I
don't want to see anythinganymore.
We're done Like I give up.
And then some days went by andhe sent me he'd send me a text
for a link for the house and Iopened the link and I'm like
Isaiah, we have to.
I know I told you I gave up,but now we have to come see this
(18:05):
house.
The pictures were just likeamazing the Tulsa.
I was like I have to go see it.
I have to go see it Cause youknow, sometimes the pictures
will look really nice.
And then you go and it's like,oh, this is crap.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I'm guilty of doing that to some homes.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
So I was like I want to see it in person.
And the moment I stepped footin the front door I was like
this has to be my house, like Idon't know how, but it has to be
mine.
I want it, and it took us anentire year maybe a little bit
over that to get it.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yeah, so we backed out of selling our house.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Had some issues.
A few months in Selling is sofrustrating.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
After I came over and took pictures no, that was the
second time we relisted it withyou, okay, but the first time it
was a nuisance and so we backedout.
We're like, forget it, we'renot going to move.
And then I got on one of thehouse listing sites and that
house was still up for sale.
So I was like, hey, brenda,it's still up for sale, are you
(19:02):
interested in maybe?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
getting out of this house.
Not only was it still for sale,but they had cut the price down
a bit.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Yeah, they did Really , so I was like okay.
So we got a hold of our realtoragain who showed us it initially
, and he said, yeah, let's getout there, met the owner and a
few other individuals, came outto check some things for us that
I requested and otherindividuals came out to check
some things for us that Irequested and went really well.
(19:30):
And then we started.
We relisted our house.
And that's when it was, I knew,since they asked for like 10
different things, I dideverything they asked, but it
was, it was hard, it was tight,uh, time and money and all that
stuff, but we did it, pushedthrough, kept telling myself do
we really want this house?
I can either just stop doingthis and just be comfortable in
(19:51):
this place or push forward.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
It was too small.
Though it was too small.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, it was too small and so I chose to bite the
bullet and keep going.
Get the things done that theywanted and we were able to close
and sell the other house.
Things done that they wantedand we were able to close and
sell the other house.
It was huge burden off of theshoulders because that was uh
much needed so this is a 1800svictorian, is that?
Speaker 3 (20:16):
yeah, so it's like italianist italianist, I don't
know how to pronounce it stylehouse.
Um, it was built in 1850s.
From what I've gathered online,it could be 1845.
I'm not completely sure.
A beautiful house.
It's historically known as theChurchill Birch's home.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Churchill.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Dritchell.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Dritchell.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Andrew Dritchell.
He was a baker and a farmer.
He immigrated here from Germanywith his wife Katherine, and
they both died on the propertyof natural causes.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Insert spooky music here.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
We don't have any issues.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
I know, but people love learning about that.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
So where did you go to the library, or did you
research?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
So before the house became ours, I told you I became
obsessed with this house and Iwas like looking online for all
the history.
I went on Ancestry and Isubscribed and was paying a
monthly subscription just so Icould do the family tree for
every single family that livedin the house before.
That's how crazy, I am.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
What'd you get yourself into I?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
was just fascinated.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
I'm like I want to know everything about this house
, who lived here and what theydo and how many kids that they
have.
And I found so many newsarticles of like um, I guess
Andrew, uh, used to like hostparties and you know, back then
they didn't have any like radiosor anything like that.
So they would print newspaperto like let people from the town
know what's going on and theywould put oh, andrew, george,
(21:57):
ellen's family are hosting aparty.
Um, his house is great forhosting and blah blah, and I'm
like that's my house now.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
That's, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
It's super cool.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
That's really amazing .
I get, you know, I see allthese houses.
I've seen tons of houses doingpictures and stuff and I've
always.
You know, you get out in thecountry, the back roads, and you
see some of these homes and I'mthe same way kind of although I
don't't go to ancestrycom andsee what their DNA was but I
(22:29):
love like just seeing thesehomes, especially like vacant
they're old like, and justthinking about like who the
families were that maybe livedthere, what kind of celebrations
they had outside.
I was on one the other day thathad an old porch swing out in
the middle of the woods and Iwas just kind of thinking like
imagine the conversations hadand stuff like that, like how
(22:51):
life was back then for them.
Right.
So it's kind of neat thatyou're kind of like reviving
this old house you went from.
I know we talked about off ofthe air.
You went from how many squarefeet to how many square feet
1800 to about 5,600.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
That's crazy, it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
It's crazy, like our hallway is the size of what my
dining room used to be.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Like it is it's.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
It still takes me a while to like.
I walk around the house and I'mlike it feels like I'm renting
someone's Airbnb and it's notfully mine.
And then I'm like, wait aminute, no, it is mine.
Like I get to live here with myfamily.
This is crazy.
The backyard it's amazing.
We got like five and a halfacres.
Most of it is woods.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Put a zip line up for the kids.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
You did or you are.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
No, I did.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
I got another one on the way but uh, now are they for
the kids.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
No, I ride it, I ride it too.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
It can hold me.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
So I'm, I'm on it.
It's fun.
You should come.
That's the next one.
We'll do another episode out.
There Sounds good, That'll befine.
That's crazy.
That's.
That's cool, though.
I really love this cause.
Um, you know, this is not everyday.
Um, you get a random textmessage and then it turns into
this Um, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Our backstories are kind of a knowing, knowing how
both of us were before we evenmet each other and where we are
now.
It makes it even more powerfulastounding share some of that
you.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
You go first well, I mean, mine is not as interesting
as yours depends on who youtalk.
I was born and raised in mexicoand I moved to the usa when I
was 12, about to be 13, um, andwe went straight from Monterrey,
mexico, to Minnesota, brooklynPark, minnesota.
So huge change, not onlyculturally, but like I didn't
(24:55):
speak any English back then, sothat was a huge shock.
The area where we lived it wasnot how do you say it it was
mostly predominantly white.
There was no Hispanics, latinosor anything like that.
So I was very rare.
I was a rare specimen.
(25:16):
Even the high school that wewent to it was tough.
I did not like high school atall.
Was it's the time that I don'treally like to talk about that
much?
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I feel like it was kind of traumatic maybe she was
topping her class in mexico, andwhen she came over here, it
wasn't the same well, when youadd like language to it, there's
a huge barrier.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
that's why I fell in love with math, because numbers
are the same no matter whatcountry you're from.
Like math is still gonna thesame.
But all the other subjects Iwas struggling, um, and then I
was taking ESL English as asecond language.
Um, so that's how I learned myEnglish, by immersion and um, so
, anyway, yeah, I lived inMinnesota for I don't know 10,
(26:02):
11 years, maybe, I don't know 1011 years maybe, and after that
I moved to Georgia and a bunchof other places.
Wow, okay, um, but yeah, again,my story's not as interesting.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I can't imagine moving to Minnesota from Mexico.
Yeah, it was crazy and we movedhere.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I remember I got there it was like middle of
October, so that's like at thebeginning of winter Crazy.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
The food's not even the same, is it?
No, no.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
I mean not even here.
I go to a Mexican restaurant,it's like that's not even close,
not even our like.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
We have French and cheese.
We have hole in the walls likeEl Tribol.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
I have been to that one.
That one is good.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Is it close?
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Yes, there's another one in Miamisburg.
I had some tacos there and theywere amazing I can't remember
the name of it and then anotherone.
If you want authentic Mexicanfood from Oaxaca, go to Sueño in
Dayton.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
That's an Ohio, very good place.
It's an Oregon district.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Yeah, Going to uh Jeff Ruby's tonight.
It's not Mexican food, but it'sa nice steakhouse in Cincinnati
somewhere.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Oh nice, yeah, I mean , I'm sure there's a lot of
really good places.
I am just not a foodie, likeI'm not out there going out in
restaurants and stuff like that,so I wouldn't know so what was
your backstory?
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I feel like you might have murdered somebody or
something.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Man, she used to say, you look like a she said I,
when I used to shave my head.
She said I looked like amurderer's like stop wearing
those You're intimidating me.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
You look like a criminal.
You're going to Kroger withthis, like your shaved head,
your wife beater shirts.
I'm like at least smile.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
They're just going to give you their money.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
He is very intimidating.
Here's a ticket, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
So I grew up in Ohio, dayton, ohio, actually sorry,
waynesville first, no, sorry,dayton, then Waynesville, then
back to Centerville, which isclose to Dayton.
I was raised in a BaptistPentecostal church.
My parents got divorced when Iwas I don't know early teens I
(28:27):
want to say 13, 14, 15, maybesomewhere around there.
I have one older sister, oneyounger brother, joshua and
Hannah.
We lived with my mom in anapartment in Centerville after
my parents got divorced.
My mom would interpret for thedeaf during the weekdays at, uh,
(28:51):
I think, mainly at Sinclaircommunity college, and then on
the weekends she would uh takecare of mentally handicapped
women.
So as older women she wouldstay in the as a group home.
She would stay there Friday,Saturday, come back Sunday.
So I say that to say uh had alot of free time.
Mom wasn't home ever.
Um, I, uh, I want to say uh I w.
(29:15):
I went to private school upuntil my parents got divorced
and then I got introduced in thepublic school no, sorry, got
introduced to public school whenwe moved to waynesville after
we moved there from daytonbecause it was just cheaper you
didn't have to pay for it, um,and so I got introduced to a lot
of different things.
uh uh, language and signlanguage diversity, yeah, no not
(29:40):
not nice sign language stuff,yeah, um, and so I got
introduced to a lot of thingsthat I was never I was.
That's one thing.
Uh, I was.
I want to say I was shelteredas growing up in that Christian
home.
Um, and looking back, I feel,raising our kids, it's better to
(30:02):
insulate your children thanisolate them, because if you
isolate them, if you isolateyourself from stuff like uh and
you get exposed to differentthings, you're going to be
weaker, but if you insulate,then you're prepared for
whatever the things may be.
Um, so I take that approach toraising our children insulate
(30:24):
them, don't isolate, because wewere made for relationships and
for not to isolate ourselvesfrom people that are different
than us either.
It's important to be exposed toall different walks of life so
that we can love each otherbetter.
(30:45):
That's what it's all about.
But so I was always by myself.
My mom was never home, and so Istarted smoking cigarettes,
then marijuana, then gotinvolved with alcohol, mad Dog,
2020.
I guess people are comingacross that now they're like, oh
(31:08):
, this is the newest thing.
It's like, no, that stuff isthat stuff is bad.
Bad news.
Local village pantry, right, anduh, I used to go to heavy metal
concerts every weekend.
Uh, static x, system of StaticX, system of a Down, slipknot,
system of a Down.
I saw them when they first cameover here to the US.
(31:30):
A lot of heavy metal concerts.
I would drink a bottle oftequila from Centerville to
Cincinnati.
That took it's about an hourdrive-ish, so I would drink a
whole bottle and be toasted bythe time we got there.
I got involved with a lot ofdrugs, everything you can think
of, except for heroin.
(31:50):
Wow, I did all that stuff and Iwould sell it to, and warm and
cheerful Centerville.
I don't know how it?
is now, I'm sure it's worse, andthis was back in 2000.
Also, school-wise, I was notgood in school.
I did not like school.
I would probably be labeled asADHD.
(32:12):
Uh, just a side note, I thinkthat some schools label kids
ADHD just cause they're notlearning how they're supposed to
be learning according to thesystem.
Because, uh, because everybodylearns differently.
But I didn't like school.
I was a second-year senior.
I was in the OWE, owa and thesuccess programs.
(32:32):
They were pilot programs forkids who didn't like school and
who just always got in trouble,and I learned how to do my taxes
and useful things, how tointerview for jobs, so that was
beneficial.
How to interview for jobs, sothat was beneficial.
But I did all those differentthings for gosh, probably about
three or four years, really deepinto it, when I went to
(32:55):
people's houses, I would drink40 beers a night.
I would shotgun them, just finda spot next to the sink and
just shotgun.
I was up to 40.
I didn't.
I didn't drink them every night, but when I was drinking I
drank with a purpose, um, and soI did that for about three or
four years.
And, uh, I remember laying inbed at night just feeling empty,
(33:19):
um, and I believe personallythat we all have a God-spaced
hole and only God can fill it.
We try to find it, fill it withother different things, but
personally I feel like that'sthe only thing that can really
make us feel fulfilled arelationship with him, and of
(33:44):
course I don't force that uponanybody.
With him and, uh, and of courseI don't force that upon anybody
.
Um, with my background and all,I should be able to interact
with just about anybody.
Yeah, so um and uh.
I'll say there is no moment intime where I uh made a turn.
It was more gradual.
I remember being in the barwith my buddies, um and I, just
(34:06):
I was drinking and it just feltempty and and uh, I w I lost the
desire for things One thingafter another.
I was not, I was not trying toquit.
I and uh.
I went to my grandpa's funeralone time and, uh, one of his,
this individual, came up to meand said hey, is your name
Isaiah?
I said yeah.
He said, uh, your grandpaprayed for you every day at
(34:27):
prayer breakfast, and thatreally hit me.
So I started church hopping.
I used to bar hop, so I tookthe same concept.
I was like I'm going to gochurch hopping see what this God
is all about.
I slept with a Bible next to me.
I had my Bible since I was alittle before my parents got
(34:48):
divorced.
I still have it.
It's missing all of Genesis andExodus though, because the
cover fell off, so pages havebeen falling out slowly.
So I would go church hoppingand I went to Lutheran churches,
catholic churches,non-denominationals and
Pentecostals and all thedifferent ones.
(35:09):
And my friend invited me to aRevelation seminar at a
Seventh-day Adventist church,and so I went, and don't Google
it, google will tell you allkinds of lies.
What's it called?
Seventh-day Adventist church?
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Okay, Now he's going to Google it.
Oh, you know I will.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Well yeah, I'm going to chat GPT.
Yeah, so I'll tell you.
I went to the seminar.
I didn't go to every singlenight, but the pastor who was
there, he stayed after and wouldanswer all my questions like an
hour or two after I just had somany questions.
I decided to get baptized, notbecause I wanted to secure a
(36:00):
place in heaven, because it'smore of an outward showing of
what's going on inside of theheart.
I believe in a relationship withJesus is what saves us, not
works and different things likethat.
I believe that when you lovesomebody, you do things that
make them happy.
That's what a marriage issupposed to be, and I believe
(36:22):
that relationship with Godshould be the same way.
And what's cool is, everyperson has a different one with
him, has a differentrelationship.
It's not a set way of how to dothings.
Of course, there are the TenCommandments, but our walk with
God is different.
(36:43):
Everybody's is, and so weshould never hold ourselves up
on a pedestal looking down uponothers because they're not
attaining to the level thatwe're at with God, because if we
have that mindset, then we needto check ourselves.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
I love that.
I love that a lot because thatkeeps a lot of people like me
away from church.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Yeah, it kept me away from church.
Actually, my friends would cometo me while I was drinking and
be like, oh God is going to burnyou one day.
I was like, I don't care aboutyour God, I'm not interested in
him at all.
Um and uh.
But going to the church and allthat stuff, I I found out what
he was like and uh, it made abig impact on me and uh, I lost
(37:30):
a lot of friends.
I don't want to say I pushedhim away, but lifestyle changed
and uh that lifestyle changed.
I think I maybe keep in contactwith one or two of them still,
but I have what I need my wifeand my kids.
That's my main focus right now.
But I say all that to say,coming from all that to where
(37:55):
I'm at now, it's a miracle.
Miracle, I should say it is andit's.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
It's all um shit that I need to hear, I think we all,
I think we all know it hitshome really well.
Um so when you you said youdidn't have anything that
happened where you just likeflip the light switch, so like
when you were church hopping,were you still, uh, drinking
(38:21):
occasionally?
Were you still anything?
Speaker 1 (38:24):
when I went to the catholic church for communion.
Yeah, well, they have to Iguess it's like it's fermented
there.
Uh, so it was at the lutheranchurch too, but when I was going
to do the church hopping no, Idid not.
I wasn't involved with any ofthat stuff at that point in my
life and, like I said, it wasjust one thing after another
(38:48):
Just lost the desire, and Inever had the desire after that
either.
That's what's weird, but it'snot really weird.
I'm grateful.
I know my parents were prayingfor me.
I'm sure they still do, and Ibelieve that was just an answer
(39:11):
to prayer.
I know some people can say well, on this date I accepted Jesus
and different things like that.
I don't work that way.
It's a progression in therelationship of getting to know
who God is, and he's verypatient, unlike us.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Right, we're so fast-paced, we want everything
now, yep, everything yesterday,yeah, and yeah, everything
yesterday yeah.
And it's like all or nothing.
Yep, I don't think how I don'tthink.
I think, if we take an all ornothing approach, that's what
sets us up for failure.
And not just, you know, findingJesus, but everything our diets
(39:52):
, our exercise programs, andthat's, it's not all or nothing.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
I think our diets, our exercise programs are, and
that's.
It's not all or nothing, yep,it's.
You got the main goal righthere, but there's, there's the
little, the little steps, andyou may not get there to the
final goal that you want in youreyes, but as long as uh, there
was a good example, uh, uh,pastor Winston Baldwin.
He passed away a couple ofyears ago.
He was the one who I spent alot of time with after the
(40:18):
seminars, answering all myquestions.
We built a good relationship,but he once told me, he said
your relationship with God.
And you can take this and applyit to just about everything in
life.
When you're you got a targetand you're aiming your bow and
arrow at it, you may miss, butyou're still in the right
(40:42):
direction, right?
You're not turning around awayfrom the target.
And as long as you're facingthat target, you're trying,
you're choosing to make choicesto attain towards that, whatever
it may be, um, in this instance, a relationship with God.
He blesses you for that and hedoesn't look down on you for
(41:03):
screwing up like humans do.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Man.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
I told you, his story is more interesting than mine.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Well, it's crazy because I'm, you know, I've went
through a lot of stuff and alot of it's self-inflicted and
everything else, but alcohol wasalways the common denominator,
you know.
So it's kind of cool when Imeet people that aren't perfect,
because everyone, you know,whether it's social media or big
(41:38):
marketing, corporate stuff,makes you want like you know,
the magazines makes you feellike everyone's perfect.
Then you have a hard timesaying, well, I'm not, you know.
So the power of vulnerabilityhas been huge with me, and then
it's great hearing your story.
I am.
This makes me think of someone,um, down in suburbial Tennessee
(42:02):
that I met.
Um, he was a uh, alcoholic, uh,and then he did a lot of
cocaine and everything else and,uh, he was a radio DJ.
So I don't know if it was liketheir MO or what, but, um, hey,
he, he got his shit together andthen he met summer and, uh, he,
(42:23):
he met her, uh, she was awaitress at a restaurant, um,
and he would go in and see, youknow, she, she talked him into
trying the pie they had.
It was like a little countryrestaurant in Tennessee and
stuff, stuff, and he had thebiggest crush on her and they
got married and um they got twotwo daughters beautiful
daughters and their um summer'smom and dad own hidden mountain
(42:46):
resort.
So that's how I got to knowthem really well, and so it's
just I love seeing people likeyou and and then him um people
like you and and then him umfuck up a lot in life, like I
have before and still overcomethose demons.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
It's encouraging.
Yeah, we all need that.
I'll tell you when, uh, covethit.
I feel like that's when peopleneeded that.
That's when, like, for instance, brenda's, her instagram took
off because of postpartum stuffthat she would share on there.
People weren't talking about itand she shared her personal
experience with that and thatreally, a lot of people were
(43:26):
like, yeah, this is.
I can relate.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Well, yeah, it's what they can relate to, what they
see on social media.
If they can relate to it, theycan relate to that.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Like you said, social media it's like all about this
perfect life, you know, likeyour highlight reels, and
obviously you highlight thebeautiful part of your life and
while I still do that obviouslyI'm not going to lie, it's still
pretty pictures and stillpretty things I'm still very,
I'm an empath, I'm very, veryvulnerable.
I have an open book andbasically what you see is what
(44:01):
you get, and so I'm very um openwith my struggles with
postpartum depression and likebody image and all of these
different things that I wentthrough after I had my babies
and I started sharing thoseonline and women related to that
and you help people feel seenand heard and valued and they're
(44:23):
gonna gravitate towards you,because that's what we need.
We need to feel like we're notalone and that's really what
made me grow on social media wasjust like sharing who I am,
without any covers on.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Right, that's, that's big and you got like 119,000
followers and stuff.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Yeah, right now yes.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
You know I, I tell people um, you know it's easy to
like, oh, I got 119.
You, you're, you don't bragabout that.
No, you enjoy what you do onyour platform.
You, if you had three followers, if you had millions of
followers or whatever, you enjoywhat you're doing and you're
connecting with people becauseyou can relate to people.
Speaker 3 (45:10):
Exactly.
I always tell they're like oh,my goodness, you're popular in
your families.
Speaker 2 (45:12):
I'm like, I'm literally just a mom with an
iphone, just like sharing myliving, my best living, my best
life I'm not like I I could careless.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
I mean, obviously I care because I want people to
like I wanna.
If, at the end of the day, Ican make somebody feel like they
are not alone, then I've donemy job.
I've done like my mission.
That's why I care.
But the numbers and all thatstuff, like it could be just one
person following me and it'sfine.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
That's what I call vanity metrics.
Those don't count, but you'veprobably saved lives.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
I hope so.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
You probably like, and you know I've talked to the
J Creek Cloggers.
I don't know if do you do?
Do you flip over tick tock?
I am on tech talk, mostly toscroll okay, but I'm not
familiar so do you rememberduring covered um, long-haired
guy with the blue shirt doingthe clog dancing, and it was a
(46:13):
team jake creek cloggers, zebross he went viral on everything
, on everything.
Um, they didn't even know whattick tock was.
Uh, someone else posted a videoof them.
They went viral and it's justthe friendliest looking, happy,
go lucky.
People called dancing in thebackwoods of the Carolinas and,
(46:34):
um, I was in my darkest dayswhen I think, when I seen that
stuff, and so when you're in adark world, you just rely on
this all day long.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Because you're disassociating.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
You're trying to get out of the real world.
So I would watch TikTok likenonstop.
And I came across Zeb and theJCree cloggers doing their
dancing and they were just ashappy as could be.
They weren't drunk, theyweren't doing stupid shit, they
weren't like all this thing, butthey were still happy and they
loved life.
And so I just like gravitatedtowards all of this and I just I
(47:10):
didn't, I couldn't figure outwho he was because none of them
were on social media.
And then he was, because none ofthem were on social media.
And then, um, I found hismother on facebook and I sent
her her a message and, um, andthen I was just like you guys
are amazing.
Uh, is there any way?
(47:31):
Um, you guys would want to do apodcast with me sometime?
And she was like sure, and shecalled me and she talked to me
for like hours and I'm like thisis just wild, because at that
point they just he just openedup for Cole Swindell.
And then he, they had him onthe CMAs, not the last round,
(47:55):
but the year before he was onthe CMAs, peyton Manning, but
the year before he was on theCMAs, peyton Manning had him
jump up on the stage and do hisclog dancing and stuff.
But yeah, we did a podcast.
We did it remotely but we gotto talking about this, about the
mental health aspect ofdelivering that content.
That does relate with people.
(48:16):
Delivering that content thatdoes it does relate with people.
And, um, mom, she's, she toldme, she said she got a message
one time from a guy who was likeliterally in his vehicle with a
gun that was just scrollingendlessly on Tik TOK and he, he
was about to, um, end it all butjust kept seeing all these
happy faces and stuff.
And then he's like youliterally saved my life at night
(48:37):
.
And so there's probably, youknow, um, I used paramedic and
stuff, so I dealt with pregnantwomen and in their postpartum
depression and all that stuff.
That's real, that's real andit's it's it's bad.
So if you're, if you share themstories on your Instagram and
(48:57):
stuff like that, I imagineyou've reached people that I'm
sure you've saved at least oneor two lives.
Speaker 3 (49:04):
I hope so, I hope so.
Speaker 2 (49:07):
That's super cool.
It's really cool.
Today is my 555th day sober.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Talking about, the alcohol stuff.
That's awesome.
So my buddy that you kind ofreminded me of with your story,
he said nothing's more powerfulthan a sober alcoholic, and
you're proof of that.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
Yeah, yeah, I jack of all trades addictions, but yeah
well, I mean it's, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
I think I think when you're at that rock bottom and
then you're like, no, I gotplaces to be, you know, I got
things I need to accomplish inlife here's the funny, though is
I didn't plan any of this.
Speaker 1 (49:59):
You're just on your phone.
I didn't plan Well no, I didn'teven plan what I'm doing for
work.
I didn't plan to have a family.
I didn't plan to have kids.
I didn't plan to even live in ahouse.
My plan was to stay working atKroger, keep drinking on the
(50:19):
weekends and just live with myfriends in apartments the rest
of my life.
That's what my goal was.
I don't think my goal andoutlook on life changed until
God got a hold of me.
It says delight yourself in theLord and he will give you the
(50:39):
desires of your heart.
And I believe, on a deeperlevel, when he comes into your
life, he gives you new desires,Because none of these desires
were there, Not a one, Not a oneBack then you would have been
like kids no, no, never, kids.
(51:01):
No, there's no way I couldhandle that.
Child support no, yeah, but I'mvery thankful of where I'm at
today.
Like you said, what was it?
Something alcoholic?
Nothing more powerful than asober alcoholic.
Yeah, like you said, what wasit?
Speaker 2 (51:16):
something alcoholic nothing more powerful than a
sober alcoholic.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:20):
I believe those stories that people have getting
delivered from those differentlifestyles gives hope to people
also, because there's a lot ofpeople that feel like they can't
do anything with their lives,they're just at the bottom and
they're just going to stay there.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
And it's not the case it's, it is easy to get
discouraged um it is but it's,it's, it's not the case.
You're living proof, I'm livingproof, paul, he was living proof
.
Um, because I, you know, Iwasn't brought up in a household
that you know.
(51:59):
My parents they split rightwhen I was born, pretty much and
stuff and a family ofaddictions and everything else
and yada, yada, yada, and Icould, I could chalk everything
up to that and stay at home allday and until the world until
life ends, I guess.
But there's a lot of peoplethat do that.
Yeah, it's not good.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Not cool.
Well, way out, there's a wayout?
Speaker 2 (52:22):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, um, any closing
remarks, any, anything that youguys want to say.
I mean, I appreciate you comingup here.
Speaker 1 (52:32):
I'm thinking there's a few things.
Speaker 3 (52:38):
Um, I'm thinking there's a few things, gosh, my
biggest thing with, like ussharing our story of how we met
and stuff like that is like Isay I said we are made for
relationships.
I think nowadays, becausethere's so much spam and so much
junk and things like that, weput up all of these walls and
all of these masks and we kindof hide who we are.
Um, but we're made forrelationships and you cannot
(53:01):
have a genuine relationship ifyou don't have vulnerability.
Um, so you have to unmaskyourself, you have to work on
yourself, um, mental health, allthat stuff.
Like go deeper, peel thoselayers, figure out what it is
that's causing these triggers,or go to therapy and like heal
yourself so that you can havehealthy relationships with those
(53:21):
around us.
Because that's truly what Ithink being human is all about
is relationships loving peoplethe healthy, right way and then
being loved in return.
There's nothing more beautifuland powerful than that.
Speaker 1 (53:37):
And staying away from perfect people.
Yeah, there's yeah.
There's a lot of surface levelconversation.
I don't want to buildrelationships with people that
want surface level conversations.
I don't have time for thatanymore.
Need relationships on a deeperlevel where you can actually
(53:59):
connect because we needconnection.
This world is going to crap wesee it all around North Carolina
, all that stuff and people needpeople and in the end, that's
where a lot of the help is goingto come from is from people who
(54:20):
actually love and care forothers.
Back to that right.
Speaker 3 (54:27):
And you really don't have to look hard.
Love truly is all around us, inlittle ways and little things.
I was just sharing a story onmy Instagram on our way here.
I'm like the world is full ofopportunities and beautiful
people, like just how we met youby us selling our house and you
coming to take pictures.
And now we get to be here andshare our story in your platform
(54:48):
and like that's amazing, that'sbeautiful, that's love, it's
everywhere.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Cause none of that.
And it's everywhere.
Because none of that and it's.
Yeah, there's just so manythings that the stars align.
It's like how did that happen?
Yeah you get to the point youdon't even question how anymore
yeah, it's the ripple effect.
Speaker 3 (55:07):
It just keeps growing bigger and bigger just in for
the ride.
Speaker 2 (55:11):
Right, that's what I'm doing it's a wild ride ride
yeah.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
Yeah, cause I, I went to, so I told you I ended up
getting my GED.
I was a two year senior.
I didn't graduate high school.
We got my GED, got married andthen, uh, didn't know what to do
.
So I was like, oh, just go tocollege online and get an
associates in healthcareadministration, then got a
bachelor's in businessmanagement.
(55:35):
Business, not business,business, all about that
business.
That's 2000s, early 2000s songs.
I got my bachelor's in businessmanagement, didn't know what to
do with it.
I'm using it now, but I justdidn't know what to do, didn't
have any direction.
(55:55):
But I'm just riding now, justgoing with the flow, and it's
going good.
Speaker 2 (56:03):
It'd be hard to change anything.
You got a team of seven againstyou now.
I don't think you're changingmuch, nope.
Well, I'm excited to come outand see these zip lines.
Yeah for sure, you got anotherone on the way.
Speaker 1 (56:21):
Yeah, I'll probably set it up on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (56:25):
I feel like there'll be a lot of videos to be had.
Speaker 3 (56:27):
Oh yeah, everywhere in the house is just so fun, so
fun to live there.
It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (56:34):
Like a field trip yeah, it feels like a there it's
so cool.
Like a field trip yeah, itfeels like every day.
Speaker 3 (56:37):
I'm like it's just.
I am like living the best life.
Speaker 2 (56:41):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (56:42):
I love.
I love everything about my life.
Speaker 2 (56:45):
That's amazing.
Well, thanks for coming up hereand uh being on this episode of
life unscripted, and uh, itwon't be the last time either,
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (56:55):
I hope not.
I've enjoyed this a lot.
Speaker 1 (56:57):
Yeah, absolutely yeah thanks for having us there was
one other thing the reason whywe got on the Tamron Hall show
and interviewed by USA Today andall the different newspapers
because of a TikTok video it was.
I don't remember the song.
Speaker 3 (57:17):
I don't remember, but it was basically like a trend
where you would have the startof a nice relationship and how
it like went to crap, basicallyhow it ended up being toxic.
And so I used that trend tolike kind of show the opposite
of how.
Like we started crazy andrandom, but then like turned
into this amazing thing and itwent viral.
(57:38):
It got like over five millionviews and I started getting
reached by magazines, newspapersand but she did not want to do
anything that year.
Speaker 1 (57:50):
That was year 2022, right?
Speaker 3 (57:54):
um 2023.
Speaker 1 (57:55):
Yeah, I think so, yeah, her dad, died my dad
passed away in january and shesaid she was going to take time
off from social media at the endof january.
She's like oh, I saw this, I'mjust gonna do this post on
tiktok didn't really thinkanybody would see it, I mean
yeah, no intentions yeah, wowand then he went crazy and we
(58:16):
got invited by all.
Speaker 3 (58:18):
I even had a movie producer reached out to me and
be like hey, I want to.
I work with son Sonny.
So, I think he made uh themovie respect.
He was the producer for thatmovie.
And he's like we would love tomake a movie about your story.
Um, nothing really came out ofthat.
Then had a strike, uh thewriter's strike, so that gonna
(58:38):
push back and he never reachedback.
But just having somebody reachout to you with that potential
opportunity, it was like, ah,this is amazing there's a um
lamford's his first or his lastname.
Speaker 2 (58:51):
He's from richmond but he's a director of
photography for like Top Gun anda lot of other movies.
So I wonder, if that would besomething he'd want to look at.
Speaker 3 (59:00):
Yeah, we did a bunch of interviews and like FaceTimed
and like he took a lot of notesand he was really excited, but
then like nothing came out of it.
Speaker 2 (59:10):
Yep the strike screwed things up.
Well, it's a positive story andpeople need that.
Speaker 3 (59:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (59:15):
People need that.
You know.
Uh admits GTA on their Xbox andstuff Great.
Speaker 3 (59:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (59:21):
All the bad stuff out there.
They need to hear the story andsee.
Speaker 3 (59:25):
Yeah, it's uplifting.
It's gives people hope andhappiness.
Speaker 2 (59:31):
Very cool.
Well, let's wrap this up.
Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (59:35):
Life Inscripted with
Life Inscripted with Kevin Shipp.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Today I have a couple really special people I met
when I was doing real estatephotography.
Obviously, I'm kind of ajack-of-all-trades master of
none, and one of those trades isreal estate photography.
So it was really cool knockingon their doors and like, hey, I
hope you're expecting aphotographer.
And then we got to talking moreand, um, I learned more about
(00:29):
this couple, so I present to youuh, isaiah and brenda sterns,
and, um, they're here withouttheir six sidekicks yep, six
right, yep.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
And then um, I noticed uh, on right, yep.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
And then, um, I noticed um on your Instagram
that you skipped two years.
There's a couple of years inthere, but um, I needed a break.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, and he's just like yep, yes, she did Um so
okay, um, brenda, how did thisstory start?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So okay, brenda, how did this story start?
Because I know it started withsomething that you did in 2009,
I believe.
So, yeah, go ahead and tell us.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
So it all started because I sent a text to the
wrong number.
Obviously, I didn't mean to.
I had this habit of sendinginspirational text messages to
my friends, my contacts.
At the time I mean, you'retalking 2009 smartphones weren't
really a thing, I had the Nokiabig, huge one Was it, yeah, wow
.
And so I had, like I don't know,10, 11 contacts at the most,
(01:39):
and so and four of those were,three of those were my sister,
so I would like click all ofthem and I would send the same
text to everybody.
And I was getting ready to dothat in the morning and the
phone at the office where Iworked at rang and so I was like
, okay, I'll send this textlater.
I'm busy with work.
And I completely forgot aboutthat text until later that
evening when I got to myapartment Like, oh, my goodness,
(02:02):
I was, was gonna send this textin the morning.
Let me go ahead and send it now.
And I did, and within 20, 30minutes I got a text back saying
amen to that.
Who is this?
And I was like, hey, it'sBrenda Roxy's sister.
You're my mom's neighbor,remember me?
Because the phone I had onthere was for a family friend
that lived in Ohio near where mymom lived.
(02:24):
And he's like, no, I don'tthink we've ever met.
My name is Isaiah Stearns.
And then I was like, oh sorry,like I didn't mean to send this
to you.
And then he continued on sayinghey, by the looks of your text I
can tell that you like love God, and that's awesome, and that's
(02:44):
kind of what sparked thebeginning of our conversation.
We started texting back for alittle bit and then I was like,
okay, well, you know, sorry forthe text, it was a mistake and
hope you have a good day, andthat was it.
And then he said if, if youdon't mind, maybe I can text you
or call you and keep in touch.
Yeah, Keep in touch, orsomething like that, and I
thought it was really weird butI was like sure, why not?
(03:06):
But before all of this I say Ihad just gotten a new phone plan
and they messed up or something.
Why don't you tell them thatpart of the part of the story?
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, so, uh, I wanted to get a new phone plan.
So I reached out to the phonecompany and they said okay,
here's your new phone number.
Call this other number.
You should be able to set it up.
So I did and it didn't work.
And I called them back and theysaid well, whoever set that
phone number up in the system,they didn't do it right.
So here's a new phone numberfor you.
Call that same number again.
That should be able to work foryou.
(03:36):
So I called it.
It worked.
And then, 30 minutes laterthat's when I got the text- so
if I had sent that text in themorning when I got it he would
never have.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Nope.
So it was like all at theperfect time.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
That second phone number was a family friend's
phone number that she had in herphone.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
He changed.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
It moved to California or something like
that.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
So what was the text?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
It was a Bible verse, I believe.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I don't remember exactly, yeah, it was.
It was a Bible verse.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I believe I don't remember exactly which one
Philippians 2.
Yeah, it was.
I remember it had something todo with like be more like Christ
, how he lived on earth andSelflessness.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Like not being selfish.
Focus less on self.
So I made something for you andthis might help you remember I
won't be the car.
Be like a kid, throw the cardout.
She reads everything.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I'm a little sentimental.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
She doesn't keep cards but she gets sentimental
with words.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I will read the card.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You might not be able to understand the card.
It's my handwriting.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I will read it later.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
It's a little fragile , so that's why I used every
paper in the package.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Oh my goodness, this is so cool.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Oh, wow, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Thank you yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Thank you, I'll help you remember now.
I will remember now.
Oh, it says the Stearns 2009.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Oh, that is beautiful thank you, yeah that is very
kind of you and it's now youremember.
Now you remember what you saidI will remember what I said
aesthetically pleasing.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
She's gonna keep that I, I will, I like the little
heart too.
Did you print this?
Yeah, yeah that is so cool Ilove 3d printing printing.
I love it.
Thank you, you're welcome.
Appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But that's just.
It's such a cool story.
It has me replying back torandom numbers.
Yeah, and the other day I gotone.
Some lady wanted me to buyhealthcare insurance and I'm
like, do you want to go on adate?
Guess what?
They don't reply.
No, they don't.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
They don't reply after that, that's a good way to
get rid of spam.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yeah, yeah.
So you know you're keeping mehopeful.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Every time I make like a real about our story,
there's people like oh, I'mgoing to send texts to random
numbers and see what comes out.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Back to my days when I drank drunk texting.
It's not the same thing andthere's a reason it doesn't work
out.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And plus it's different times.
Now, 2009 was completelydifferent.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
With text, random text, you'd be like, okay, this
is somebody that's not asolicitor.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Trying to sell health care insurance to self-employed
.
So after you've sent a text,you've connected, so you talked
a few times.
How did the vetting process go?
How did you make sure that hewas legit?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
So I remember the.
The following day he called meand I purpose I saw my phone
ring and I did not answer onpurpose because I was like I
really hope he leaves avoicemail so that I can hear his
voice.
Maybe by the sound of his voiceI can kind of get an idea.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I mean, does he sound like a crazy guy?
How do I sound right now?
How you doing?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
He did leave a voicemail and I remember I was
like listening to it I'm like,okay, he sounds kind of cute,
maybe I'll call him back.
And I did.
And we started talking on thephone and I felt like we
connected super quick.
Um, and I was at a point in mylife where I was never into like
just dating, just to date.
And let's go here, and I wantedto be a wife, I wanted to be a
(07:14):
mom and I wanted a family, andso I was looking for qualities
like what would make you a gooddad, what would make you a good
husband, things like that.
And so we initially startedconversing and it was like deep
conversations.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I think it was right away yeah, but we we also
exchanged facebooks oh yeah, itwas fairly new back then, yeah,
and mine had a picture of mewith my cat on my shoulders and
your head like you had shaved.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, I used to shave my hair no, no facial hair.
No, I mean, I shaved todayactually and I've never been a
cat person, so that was like oh,he has a cat.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So a cat's a red flag ?
Huh, was was Orange flag.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Orange.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Okay, that's good to know.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
But vetting she.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Oh.
So we started talking and I waslike, oh, my goodness, I really
like him, I feel like I'mfalling in love, but also, hey,
you've never met him.
So I didn't really know what todo.
And then I was like, hey, mymom lives in Ohio, I am going to
tell my mom about this guy.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
And I called my mom that was actually Newport
Kentucky, so it's right over theborder I mean she used to live
in Centerville.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Ohio and then moved to Newport Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Cincinnati area yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So I Newport, kentucky, cincinnati area, yeah.
So I called my mom and I'm like, hey, there's this guy that
like I met by accident and Ikind of really like him, but
also he could be a total creep,like I don't know.
And my mom was excited.
She's like, well, where does hework at?
What gym does he go to?
I will go and check him out foryou she said mom, oh yeah and
I'm like, well, if you want tomeet him, why don't I tell
isaiah that you're interested inmeeting him and maybe you guys
(08:48):
can talk?
And so I told isaiah.
I'm like, hey, my mom wouldlike to meet you.
Uh, why don't you give her acall?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
this is her phone number yeah, so we set up a date
.
Uh, it was me and her mom andher younger sister, because her
younger sister roxanna livedwith her mom, and her younger
sister because her youngersister Roxanna lived with her
mom at the time.
We went to El Mason on WestAlex in the Miamisburg area,
west Carrollton, ohio, and wehad our date there Before I met
(09:19):
Brenda.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
He actually met my mom younger sister before me.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Did they make a little cut out of you Like
sitting at the table Like?
This is what she looks like.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Well, we already knew what we looked like because of
our Facebooks.
It went well.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
She was sitting at home waiting for her mom to call
.
I was pantsing back and forth.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I was nervous yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Really, yeah, Well, now what if mom fell for him and
then and then and then?
She never called you.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
No, no way, he is not her type.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Well, hopefully she doesn't watch this.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
No, she knows, I'm joking.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
That's funny.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
And then, so I remember, my sister called and
they went to the restroom andthey called me and I'm like so
you know what's going on?
And my sister's like, oh mygoodness, brenda, he is huge,
he's bigger than the door.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I'm only six foot one .
Speaker 3 (10:22):
We're like tiny petite Mexicans short.
So it was like I don't know,he's huge.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
So what were you doing for a living down there?
What was everybody doing beforethey came together?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Oh, my goodness, I was doing so many things.
So I ended up moving to Georgiabecause I wanted to be closer
to my sister, who was livingthere at the time.
She was recently married.
I was like okay, my sister whowas living there at the time,
she was recently married.
I was like, okay, I'm going togo hang out with you.
And when I was living there, Iwas working at a photography
studio and that's where I sentthe accidental text.
Um, and then when I moved toOhio, I had quit my job.
(10:59):
I actually gave my resignationletter, cause I I had to ask for
some days off for Christmas,and then, very last minute, was
like, oh, you can't have thesebecause, like, we're going on a
vacation, you have to stay atthis studio.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah it's like some old mill stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
And so I was like I've never been alone for
Christmas and this is not goingto be my first time.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
So backpedal on that story.
That's part of how we met.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
So I was, like we're going to, I'm going to resign,
and I packed my car and moved toOhio.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So that area, that part of the story.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The reason why I quit .
He'll tell you.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah.
So we kept talking.
And then her mom invited me toMinnesota for Christmas and I
was working at Kroger at thetime and retail's busy.
I was like, well, I asked forthe time off.
They gave me the time off andso, uh, the plan was to go meet
her, uh, family up in Minnesotafor Christmas.
(11:57):
And then, uh, that happenedwith her work, she had the time
scheduled off, she ended uptaking it, she ended up
resigning, and then we actuallymet each other December 1st and,
face to face, we saw each otherthe first time December 1st and
we made it official that wewere going to date with the
intention to get married.
And, uh, christmas went well.
(12:19):
We drove up there from Ohiowith her sister along with us.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
My sister's always been the third wheeler.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Oh really, she's lived with us a few times.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I love her.
Yeah, she's great and she looksa lot like me too.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Well, we'll talk about that later.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So we went to Minnesota and that went very
well.
Long story short, we ended upgetting engaged February 14th
2010, and got married the monththat she was planning on moving
here initially, if she was goingto stay in Georgia until her
lease was up, which was June2010.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Wow, you guys like once you know, you know, you
know you know, yeah, there's noreason to wait around when the
chemistry is there.
Yeah, wow, no reason to waitaround when the chemistry is
there.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Wow, no reason to be engaged for years.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Oh, dragging it on.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
For us, right, it's okay if people do that, but for
us there was no reason yeah,it's going to look different for
everybody, yep.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Oh, this is wild.
It's just wild because youdon't hear much of this.
So when this happened, uh, yougot.
You got married.
What year?
June 2010,.
June of 2010.
So about okay.
So when did the first baby comealong?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I mean, I literally got pregnant the month after we
got married.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
April, april 2011.
So you did it by the book, butbarely.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, honeymoon, let's get this done, it's
honeymoon?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Yeah, for sure, wow, and so all right.
So tell us about the kids.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
There's a few of them right.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Just a few, a little bit I love them.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I would hope you do, we would have a problem.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
But not only do I love them normal, like how any
mom, I think, would love theirkid.
I like I am obsessed with mykids.
Like I love them.
I love everything about them.
I'm so proud of them.
I like I am in awe of liketheir personalities and the
choices that they make now thatthey're growing up.
I'm just like how did you comeout from like this?
(14:24):
You know what I mean.
Like it's just crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
We're both messed up.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
It's crazy, they are amazing.
So, yeah, I got pregnant rightaway.
Victoria was born in 2011.
And then Veronica was born 2012.
Sammy, 2014.
Vanessa, 2015.
Benjamin, 2018.
And Ezra, our last one, 2021.
He was our COVID baby.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
COVID baby.
Everybody's got one of those.
Now A lot of people do we'rehome.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
What should we do?
All right, let's make a baby.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Do what we're good at .
Yep.
I started working from home in2019 and been since Changed jobs
a few times, but been doingthat since.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
And what is it you do ?
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I'm a contractor for the government.
Oh, okay, I remember.
Yeah, I've changed a few, I'mstill a contractor for the
government, just differentthings.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Nice, that's exciting .
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I had no idea where to start.
With that, I review.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I can say it, I do FOIA requests, so those are
called Federal Acquisition.
No Federal Freedom ofInformations Act, no Federal
Freedom of Informations Act.
So people can requestinformation about different
(15:51):
contracts that have been awardedand there's a process they have
to go through and I'm involvedwith releasing those documents
to the requesters.
In a nutshell, that's what I doright now.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, that sounds crazy, that sounds really
intense.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
There could be a lot of stuff there, intense like
camping there could be a lot ofintel, yeah but it's all.
It's all free to the public ifthey request it.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
All those yeah, you just gather the information for
them.
Yep Gotcha.
And you are everything underthe sun, from social media
influencer to mother, to houserenovator.
I love watching all of theInstagram and watching your
house just come together.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I'm having so much fun.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Tell us about this house.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Well, first of all, I'm excited because you moved
here to Wayne County, cambridgeCity.
Are you liking it?
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So far.
Yeah, yeah, the town is amazingwhere we live.
People are so friendly, verywelcoming.
It feels peaceful.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Nice, I thought you'd love it.
I know, when we talked beforeyou moved from like main street
down there, it's just like socool Antiques, everything right
up your alley, and then you know, uh, the number nine grill.
We'll have to do that sometime.
That's a.
That's a.
If you haven't been there, yetit was good, yeah, yeah,
beautiful place, but yeah, sotell us about this home.
(17:20):
It's special.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
This house is everything I've ever dreamed for
, and more so when our wholeprocess for selling our house
was very draining emotionally.
It was a nightmare.
I almost wanted to give up somany times and I was like we're
never going to find our, our,the house that we need as a
(17:42):
family, or the house that I'vealways dreamed of.
And so I was like I'm done,don't show me any more houses, I
don't want to see anythinganymore.
We're done Like I give up.
And then some days went by andhe sent me he'd send me a text
for a link for the house and Iopened the link and I'm like
Isaiah, we have to.
I know I told you I gave up,but now we have to come see this
(18:05):
house.
The pictures were just likeamazing the Tulsa.
I was like I have to go see it.
I have to go see it Cause youknow, sometimes the pictures
will look really nice.
And then you go and it's like,oh, this is crap.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I'm guilty of doing that to some homes.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
So I was like I want to see it in person.
And the moment I stepped footin the front door I was like
this has to be my house, like Idon't know how, but it has to be
mine.
I want it, and it took us anentire year maybe a little bit
over that to get it.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yeah, so we backed out of selling our house.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Had some issues.
A few months in Selling is sofrustrating.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
After I came over and took pictures no, that was the
second time we relisted it withyou, okay, but the first time it
was a nuisance and so we backedout.
We're like, forget it, we'renot going to move.
And then I got on one of thehouse listing sites and that
house was still up for sale.
So I was like, hey, brenda,it's still up for sale, are you
(19:02):
interested in maybe?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
getting out of this house.
Not only was it still for sale,but they had cut the price down
a bit.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Yeah, they did Really , so I was like okay.
So we got a hold of our realtoragain who showed us it initially
, and he said, yeah, let's getout there, met the owner and a
few other individuals, came outto check some things for us that
I requested and otherindividuals came out to check
some things for us that Irequested and went really well.
(19:30):
And then we started.
We relisted our house.
And that's when it was, I knew,since they asked for like 10
different things, I dideverything they asked, but it
was, it was hard, it was tight,uh, time and money and all that
stuff, but we did it, pushedthrough, kept telling myself do
we really want this house?
I can either just stop doingthis and just be comfortable in
(19:51):
this place or push forward.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
It was too small.
Though it was too small.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, it was too small and so I chose to bite the
bullet and keep going.
Get the things done that theywanted and we were able to close
and sell the other house.
Things done that they wantedand we were able to close and
sell the other house.
It was huge burden off of theshoulders because that was uh
much needed so this is a 1800svictorian, is that?
Speaker 3 (20:16):
yeah, so it's like italianist italianist, I don't
know how to pronounce it stylehouse.
Um, it was built in 1850s.
From what I've gathered online,it could be 1845.
I'm not completely sure.
A beautiful house.
It's historically known as theChurchill Birch's home.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Churchill.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Dritchell.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Dritchell.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Andrew Dritchell.
He was a baker and a farmer.
He immigrated here from Germanywith his wife Katherine, and
they both died on the propertyof natural causes.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Insert spooky music here.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
We don't have any issues.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
I know, but people love learning about that.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
So where did you go to the library, or did you
research?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
So before the house became ours, I told you I became
obsessed with this house and Iwas like looking online for all
the history.
I went on Ancestry and Isubscribed and was paying a
monthly subscription just so Icould do the family tree for
every single family that livedin the house before.
That's how crazy, I am.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
What'd you get yourself into I?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
was just fascinated.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
I'm like I want to know everything about this house
, who lived here and what theydo and how many kids that they
have.
And I found so many newsarticles of like um, I guess
Andrew, uh, used to like hostparties and you know, back then
they didn't have any like radiosor anything like that.
So they would print newspaperto like let people from the town
know what's going on and theywould put oh, andrew, george,
(21:57):
ellen's family are hosting aparty.
Um, his house is great forhosting and blah blah, and I'm
like that's my house now.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
That's, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
It's super cool.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
That's really amazing .
I get, you know, I see allthese houses.
I've seen tons of houses doingpictures and stuff and I've
always.
You know, you get out in thecountry, the back roads, and you
see some of these homes and I'mthe same way kind of although I
don't't go to ancestrycom andsee what their DNA was but I
(22:29):
love like just seeing thesehomes, especially like vacant
they're old like, and justthinking about like who the
families were that maybe livedthere, what kind of celebrations
they had outside.
I was on one the other day thathad an old porch swing out in
the middle of the woods and Iwas just kind of thinking like
imagine the conversations hadand stuff like that, like how
(22:51):
life was back then for them.
Right.
So it's kind of neat thatyou're kind of like reviving
this old house you went from.
I know we talked about off ofthe air.
You went from how many squarefeet to how many square feet
1800 to about 5,600.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
That's crazy, it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
It's crazy, like our hallway is the size of what my
dining room used to be.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Like it is it's.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
It still takes me a while to like.
I walk around the house and I'mlike it feels like I'm renting
someone's Airbnb and it's notfully mine.
And then I'm like, wait aminute, no, it is mine.
Like I get to live here with myfamily.
This is crazy.
The backyard it's amazing.
We got like five and a halfacres.
Most of it is woods.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Put a zip line up for the kids.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
You did or you are.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
No, I did.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
I got another one on the way but uh, now are they for
the kids.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
No, I ride it, I ride it too.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
It can hold me.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
So I'm, I'm on it.
It's fun.
You should come.
That's the next one.
We'll do another episode out.
There Sounds good, That'll befine.
That's crazy.
That's.
That's cool, though.
I really love this cause.
Um, you know, this is not everyday.
Um, you get a random textmessage and then it turns into
this Um, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Our backstories are kind of a knowing, knowing how
both of us were before we evenmet each other and where we are
now.
It makes it even more powerfulastounding share some of that
you.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
You go first well, I mean, mine is not as interesting
as yours depends on who youtalk.
I was born and raised in mexicoand I moved to the usa when I
was 12, about to be 13, um, andwe went straight from Monterrey,
mexico, to Minnesota, brooklynPark, minnesota.
So huge change, not onlyculturally, but like I didn't
(24:55):
speak any English back then, sothat was a huge shock.
The area where we lived it wasnot how do you say it it was
mostly predominantly white.
There was no Hispanics, latinosor anything like that.
So I was very rare.
I was a rare specimen.
(25:16):
Even the high school that wewent to it was tough.
I did not like high school atall.
Was it's the time that I don'treally like to talk about that
much?
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I feel like it was kind of traumatic maybe she was
topping her class in mexico, andwhen she came over here, it
wasn't the same well, when youadd like language to it, there's
a huge barrier.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
that's why I fell in love with math, because numbers
are the same no matter whatcountry you're from.
Like math is still gonna thesame.
But all the other subjects Iwas struggling, um, and then I
was taking ESL English as asecond language.
Um, so that's how I learned myEnglish, by immersion and um, so
, anyway, yeah, I lived inMinnesota for I don't know 10,
(26:02):
11 years, maybe, I don't know 1011 years maybe, and after that
I moved to Georgia and a bunchof other places.
Wow, okay, um, but yeah, again,my story's not as interesting.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I can't imagine moving to Minnesota from Mexico.
Yeah, it was crazy and we movedhere.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I remember I got there it was like middle of
October, so that's like at thebeginning of winter Crazy.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
The food's not even the same, is it?
No, no.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
I mean not even here.
I go to a Mexican restaurant,it's like that's not even close,
not even our like.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
We have French and cheese.
We have hole in the walls likeEl Tribol.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
I have been to that one.
That one is good.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Is it close?
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Yes, there's another one in Miamisburg.
I had some tacos there and theywere amazing I can't remember
the name of it and then anotherone.
If you want authentic Mexicanfood from Oaxaca, go to Sueño in
Dayton.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
That's an Ohio, very good place.
It's an Oregon district.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Yeah, Going to uh Jeff Ruby's tonight.
It's not Mexican food, but it'sa nice steakhouse in Cincinnati
somewhere.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Oh nice, yeah, I mean , I'm sure there's a lot of
really good places.
I am just not a foodie, likeI'm not out there going out in
restaurants and stuff like that,so I wouldn't know so what was
your backstory?
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I feel like you might have murdered somebody or
something.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Man, she used to say, you look like a she said I,
when I used to shave my head.
She said I looked like amurderer's like stop wearing
those You're intimidating me.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
You look like a criminal.
You're going to Kroger withthis, like your shaved head,
your wife beater shirts.
I'm like at least smile.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
They're just going to give you their money.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
He is very intimidating.
Here's a ticket, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
So I grew up in Ohio, dayton, ohio, actually sorry,
waynesville first, no, sorry,dayton, then Waynesville, then
back to Centerville, which isclose to Dayton.
I was raised in a BaptistPentecostal church.
My parents got divorced when Iwas I don't know early teens I
(28:27):
want to say 13, 14, 15, maybesomewhere around there.
I have one older sister, oneyounger brother, joshua and
Hannah.
We lived with my mom in anapartment in Centerville after
my parents got divorced.
My mom would interpret for thedeaf during the weekdays at, uh,
(28:51):
I think, mainly at Sinclaircommunity college, and then on
the weekends she would uh takecare of mentally handicapped
women.
So as older women she wouldstay in the as a group home.
She would stay there Friday,Saturday, come back Sunday.
So I say that to say uh had alot of free time.
Mom wasn't home ever.
Um, I, uh, I want to say uh I w.
(29:15):
I went to private school upuntil my parents got divorced
and then I got introduced in thepublic school no, sorry, got
introduced to public school whenwe moved to waynesville after
we moved there from daytonbecause it was just cheaper you
didn't have to pay for it, um,and so I got introduced to a lot
of different things.
uh uh, language and signlanguage diversity, yeah, no not
(29:40):
not nice sign language stuff,yeah, um, and so I got
introduced to a lot of thingsthat I was never I was.
That's one thing.
Uh, I was.
I want to say I was shelteredas growing up in that Christian
home.
Um, and looking back, I feel,raising our kids, it's better to
(30:02):
insulate your children thanisolate them, because if you
isolate them, if you isolateyourself from stuff like uh and
you get exposed to differentthings, you're going to be
weaker, but if you insulate,then you're prepared for
whatever the things may be.
Um, so I take that approach toraising our children insulate
(30:24):
them, don't isolate, because wewere made for relationships and
for not to isolate ourselvesfrom people that are different
than us either.
It's important to be exposed toall different walks of life so
that we can love each otherbetter.
(30:45):
That's what it's all about.
But so I was always by myself.
My mom was never home, and so Istarted smoking cigarettes,
then marijuana, then gotinvolved with alcohol, mad Dog,
2020.
I guess people are comingacross that now they're like, oh
(31:08):
, this is the newest thing.
It's like, no, that stuff isthat stuff is bad.
Bad news.
Local village pantry, right, anduh, I used to go to heavy metal
concerts every weekend.
Uh, static x, system of StaticX, system of a Down, slipknot,
system of a Down.
I saw them when they first cameover here to the US.
(31:30):
A lot of heavy metal concerts.
I would drink a bottle oftequila from Centerville to
Cincinnati.
That took it's about an hourdrive-ish, so I would drink a
whole bottle and be toasted bythe time we got there.
I got involved with a lot ofdrugs, everything you can think
of, except for heroin.
(31:50):
Wow, I did all that stuff and Iwould sell it to, and warm and
cheerful Centerville.
I don't know how it?
is now, I'm sure it's worse, andthis was back in 2000.
Also, school-wise, I was notgood in school.
I did not like school.
I would probably be labeled asADHD.
(32:12):
Uh, just a side note, I thinkthat some schools label kids
ADHD just cause they're notlearning how they're supposed to
be learning according to thesystem.
Because, uh, because everybodylearns differently.
But I didn't like school.
I was a second-year senior.
I was in the OWE, owa and thesuccess programs.
(32:32):
They were pilot programs forkids who didn't like school and
who just always got in trouble,and I learned how to do my taxes
and useful things, how tointerview for jobs, so that was
beneficial.
How to interview for jobs, sothat was beneficial.
But I did all those differentthings for gosh, probably about
three or four years, really deepinto it, when I went to
(32:55):
people's houses, I would drink40 beers a night.
I would shotgun them, just finda spot next to the sink and
just shotgun.
I was up to 40.
I didn't.
I didn't drink them every night, but when I was drinking I
drank with a purpose, um, and soI did that for about three or
four years.
And, uh, I remember laying inbed at night just feeling empty,
(33:19):
um, and I believe personallythat we all have a God-spaced
hole and only God can fill it.
We try to find it, fill it withother different things, but
personally I feel like that'sthe only thing that can really
make us feel fulfilled arelationship with him, and of
(33:44):
course I don't force that uponanybody.
With him and, uh, and of courseI don't force that upon anybody
.
Um, with my background and all,I should be able to interact
with just about anybody.
Yeah, so um and uh.
I'll say there is no moment intime where I uh made a turn.
It was more gradual.
I remember being in the barwith my buddies, um and I, just
(34:06):
I was drinking and it just feltempty and and uh, I w I lost the
desire for things One thingafter another.
I was not, I was not trying toquit.
I and uh.
I went to my grandpa's funeralone time and, uh, one of his,
this individual, came up to meand said hey, is your name
Isaiah?
I said yeah.
He said, uh, your grandpaprayed for you every day at
(34:27):
prayer breakfast, and thatreally hit me.
So I started church hopping.
I used to bar hop, so I tookthe same concept.
I was like I'm going to gochurch hopping see what this God
is all about.
I slept with a Bible next to me.
I had my Bible since I was alittle before my parents got
(34:48):
divorced.
I still have it.
It's missing all of Genesis andExodus though, because the
cover fell off, so pages havebeen falling out slowly.
So I would go church hoppingand I went to Lutheran churches,
catholic churches,non-denominationals and
Pentecostals and all thedifferent ones.
(35:09):
And my friend invited me to aRevelation seminar at a
Seventh-day Adventist church,and so I went, and don't Google
it, google will tell you allkinds of lies.
What's it called?
Seventh-day Adventist church?
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Okay, Now he's going to Google it.
Oh, you know I will.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Well yeah, I'm going to chat GPT.
Yeah, so I'll tell you.
I went to the seminar.
I didn't go to every singlenight, but the pastor who was
there, he stayed after and wouldanswer all my questions like an
hour or two after I just had somany questions.
I decided to get baptized, notbecause I wanted to secure a
(36:00):
place in heaven, because it'smore of an outward showing of
what's going on inside of theheart.
I believe in a relationship withJesus is what saves us, not
works and different things likethat.
I believe that when you lovesomebody, you do things that
make them happy.
That's what a marriage issupposed to be, and I believe
(36:22):
that relationship with Godshould be the same way.
And what's cool is, everyperson has a different one with
him, has a differentrelationship.
It's not a set way of how to dothings.
Of course, there are the TenCommandments, but our walk with
God is different.
(36:43):
Everybody's is, and so weshould never hold ourselves up
on a pedestal looking down uponothers because they're not
attaining to the level thatwe're at with God, because if we
have that mindset, then we needto check ourselves.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
I love that.
I love that a lot because thatkeeps a lot of people like me
away from church.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Yeah, it kept me away from church.
Actually, my friends would cometo me while I was drinking and
be like, oh God is going to burnyou one day.
I was like, I don't care aboutyour God, I'm not interested in
him at all.
Um and uh.
But going to the church and allthat stuff, I I found out what
he was like and uh, it made abig impact on me and uh, I lost
(37:30):
a lot of friends.
I don't want to say I pushedhim away, but lifestyle changed
and uh that lifestyle changed.
I think I maybe keep in contactwith one or two of them still,
but I have what I need my wifeand my kids.
That's my main focus right now.
But I say all that to say,coming from all that to where
(37:55):
I'm at now, it's a miracle.
Miracle, I should say it is andit's.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
It's all um shit that I need to hear, I think we all,
I think we all know it hitshome really well.
Um so when you you said youdidn't have anything that
happened where you just likeflip the light switch, so like
when you were church hopping,were you still, uh, drinking
(38:21):
occasionally?
Were you still anything?
Speaker 1 (38:24):
when I went to the catholic church for communion.
Yeah, well, they have to Iguess it's like it's fermented
there.
Uh, so it was at the lutheranchurch too, but when I was going
to do the church hopping no, Idid not.
I wasn't involved with any ofthat stuff at that point in my
life and, like I said, it wasjust one thing after another
(38:48):
Just lost the desire, and Inever had the desire after that
either.
That's what's weird, but it'snot really weird.
I'm grateful.
I know my parents were prayingfor me.
I'm sure they still do, and Ibelieve that was just an answer
(39:11):
to prayer.
I know some people can say well, on this date I accepted Jesus
and different things like that.
I don't work that way.
It's a progression in therelationship of getting to know
who God is, and he's verypatient, unlike us.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Right, we're so fast-paced, we want everything
now, yep, everything yesterday,yeah, and yeah, everything
yesterday yeah.
And it's like all or nothing.
Yep, I don't think how I don'tthink.
I think, if we take an all ornothing approach, that's what
sets us up for failure.
And not just, you know, findingJesus, but everything our diets
(39:52):
, our exercise programs, andthat's, it's not all or nothing.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
I think our diets, our exercise programs are, and
that's.
It's not all or nothing, yep,it's.
You got the main goal righthere, but there's, there's the
little, the little steps, andyou may not get there to the
final goal that you want in youreyes, but as long as uh, there
was a good example, uh, uh,pastor Winston Baldwin.
He passed away a couple ofyears ago.
He was the one who I spent alot of time with after the
(40:18):
seminars, answering all myquestions.
We built a good relationship,but he once told me, he said
your relationship with God.
And you can take this and applyit to just about everything in
life.
When you're you got a targetand you're aiming your bow and
arrow at it, you may miss, butyou're still in the right
(40:42):
direction, right?
You're not turning around awayfrom the target.
And as long as you're facingthat target, you're trying,
you're choosing to make choicesto attain towards that, whatever
it may be, um, in this instance, a relationship with God.
He blesses you for that and hedoesn't look down on you for
(41:03):
screwing up like humans do.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Man.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
I told you, his story is more interesting than mine.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Well, it's crazy because I'm, you know, I've went
through a lot of stuff and alot of it's self-inflicted and
everything else, but alcohol wasalways the common denominator,
you know.
So it's kind of cool when Imeet people that aren't perfect,
because everyone, you know,whether it's social media or big
(41:38):
marketing, corporate stuff,makes you want like you know,
the magazines makes you feellike everyone's perfect.
Then you have a hard timesaying, well, I'm not, you know.
So the power of vulnerabilityhas been huge with me, and then
it's great hearing your story.
I am.
This makes me think of someone,um, down in suburbial Tennessee
(42:02):
that I met.
Um, he was a uh, alcoholic, uh,and then he did a lot of
cocaine and everything else and,uh, he was a radio DJ.
So I don't know if it was liketheir MO or what, but, um, hey,
he, he got his shit together andthen he met summer and, uh, he,
(42:23):
he met her, uh, she was awaitress at a restaurant, um,
and he would go in and see, youknow, she, she talked him into
trying the pie they had.
It was like a little countryrestaurant in Tennessee and
stuff, stuff, and he had thebiggest crush on her and they
got married and um they got twotwo daughters beautiful
daughters and their um summer'smom and dad own hidden mountain
(42:46):
resort.
So that's how I got to knowthem really well, and so it's
just I love seeing people likeyou and and then him um people
like you and and then him umfuck up a lot in life, like I
have before and still overcomethose demons.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
It's encouraging.
Yeah, we all need that.
I'll tell you when, uh, covethit.
I feel like that's when peopleneeded that.
That's when, like, for instance, brenda's, her instagram took
off because of postpartum stuffthat she would share on there.
People weren't talking about itand she shared her personal
experience with that and thatreally, a lot of people were
(43:26):
like, yeah, this is.
I can relate.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Well, yeah, it's what they can relate to, what they
see on social media.
If they can relate to it, theycan relate to that.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Like you said, social media it's like all about this
perfect life, you know, likeyour highlight reels, and
obviously you highlight thebeautiful part of your life and
while I still do that obviouslyI'm not going to lie, it's still
pretty pictures and stillpretty things I'm still very,
I'm an empath, I'm very, veryvulnerable.
I have an open book andbasically what you see is what
(44:01):
you get, and so I'm very um openwith my struggles with
postpartum depression and likebody image and all of these
different things that I wentthrough after I had my babies
and I started sharing thoseonline and women related to that
and you help people feel seenand heard and valued and they're
(44:23):
gonna gravitate towards you,because that's what we need.
We need to feel like we're notalone and that's really what
made me grow on social media wasjust like sharing who I am,
without any covers on.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Right, that's, that's big and you got like 119,000
followers and stuff.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Yeah, right now yes.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
You know I, I tell people um, you know it's easy to
like, oh, I got 119.
You, you're, you don't bragabout that.
No, you enjoy what you do onyour platform.
You, if you had three followers, if you had millions of
followers or whatever, you enjoywhat you're doing and you're
connecting with people becauseyou can relate to people.
Speaker 3 (45:10):
Exactly.
I always tell they're like oh,my goodness, you're popular in
your families.
Speaker 2 (45:12):
I'm like, I'm literally just a mom with an
iphone, just like sharing myliving, my best living, my best
life I'm not like I I could careless.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
I mean, obviously I care because I want people to
like I wanna.
If, at the end of the day, Ican make somebody feel like they
are not alone, then I've donemy job.
I've done like my mission.
That's why I care.
But the numbers and all thatstuff, like it could be just one
person following me and it'sfine.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
That's what I call vanity metrics.
Those don't count, but you'veprobably saved lives.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
I hope so.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
You probably like, and you know I've talked to the
J Creek Cloggers.
I don't know if do you do?
Do you flip over tick tock?
I am on tech talk, mostly toscroll okay, but I'm not
familiar so do you rememberduring covered um, long-haired
guy with the blue shirt doingthe clog dancing, and it was a
(46:13):
team jake creek cloggers, zebross he went viral on everything
, on everything.
Um, they didn't even know whattick tock was.
Uh, someone else posted a videoof them.
They went viral and it's justthe friendliest looking, happy,
go lucky.
People called dancing in thebackwoods of the Carolinas and,
(46:34):
um, I was in my darkest dayswhen I think, when I seen that
stuff, and so when you're in adark world, you just rely on
this all day long.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Because you're disassociating.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
You're trying to get out of the real world.
So I would watch TikTok likenonstop.
And I came across Zeb and theJCree cloggers doing their
dancing and they were just ashappy as could be.
They weren't drunk, theyweren't doing stupid shit, they
weren't like all this thing, butthey were still happy and they
loved life.
And so I just like gravitatedtowards all of this and I just I
(47:10):
didn't, I couldn't figure outwho he was because none of them
were on social media.
And then he was, because none ofthem were on social media.
And then, um, I found hismother on facebook and I sent
her her a message and, um, andthen I was just like you guys
are amazing.
Uh, is there any way?
(47:31):
Um, you guys would want to do apodcast with me sometime?
And she was like sure, and shecalled me and she talked to me
for like hours and I'm like thisis just wild, because at that
point they just he just openedup for Cole Swindell.
And then he, they had him onthe CMAs, not the last round,
(47:55):
but the year before he was onthe CMAs, peyton Manning, but
the year before he was on theCMAs, peyton Manning had him
jump up on the stage and do hisclog dancing and stuff.
But yeah, we did a podcast.
We did it remotely but we gotto talking about this, about the
mental health aspect ofdelivering that content.
That does relate with people.
(48:16):
Delivering that content thatdoes it does relate with people.
And, um, mom, she's, she toldme, she said she got a message
one time from a guy who was likeliterally in his vehicle with a
gun that was just scrollingendlessly on Tik TOK and he, he
was about to, um, end it all butjust kept seeing all these
happy faces and stuff.
And then he's like youliterally saved my life at night
(48:37):
.
And so there's probably, youknow, um, I used paramedic and
stuff, so I dealt with pregnantwomen and in their postpartum
depression and all that stuff.
That's real, that's real andit's it's it's bad.
So if you're, if you share themstories on your Instagram and
(48:57):
stuff like that, I imagineyou've reached people that I'm
sure you've saved at least oneor two lives.
Speaker 3 (49:04):
I hope so, I hope so.
Speaker 2 (49:07):
That's super cool.
It's really cool.
Today is my 555th day sober.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Talking about, the alcohol stuff.
That's awesome.
So my buddy that you kind ofreminded me of with your story,
he said nothing's more powerfulthan a sober alcoholic, and
you're proof of that.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
Yeah, yeah, I jack of all trades addictions, but yeah
well, I mean it's, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
I think I think when you're at that rock bottom and
then you're like, no, I gotplaces to be, you know, I got
things I need to accomplish inlife here's the funny, though is
I didn't plan any of this.
Speaker 1 (49:59):
You're just on your phone.
I didn't plan Well no, I didn'teven plan what I'm doing for
work.
I didn't plan to have a family.
I didn't plan to have kids.
I didn't plan to even live in ahouse.
My plan was to stay working atKroger, keep drinking on the
(50:19):
weekends and just live with myfriends in apartments the rest
of my life.
That's what my goal was.
I don't think my goal andoutlook on life changed until
God got a hold of me.
It says delight yourself in theLord and he will give you the
(50:39):
desires of your heart.
And I believe, on a deeperlevel, when he comes into your
life, he gives you new desires,Because none of these desires
were there, Not a one, Not a oneBack then you would have been
like kids no, no, never, kids.
(51:01):
No, there's no way I couldhandle that.
Child support no, yeah, but I'mvery thankful of where I'm at
today.
Like you said, what was it?
Something alcoholic?
Nothing more powerful than asober alcoholic.
Yeah, like you said, what wasit?
Speaker 2 (51:16):
something alcoholic nothing more powerful than a
sober alcoholic.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:20):
I believe those stories that people have getting
delivered from those differentlifestyles gives hope to people
also, because there's a lot ofpeople that feel like they can't
do anything with their lives,they're just at the bottom and
they're just going to stay there.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
And it's not the case it's, it is easy to get
discouraged um it is but it's,it's, it's not the case.
You're living proof, I'm livingproof, paul, he was living proof
.
Um, because I, you know, Iwasn't brought up in a household
that you know.
(51:59):
My parents they split rightwhen I was born, pretty much and
stuff and a family ofaddictions and everything else
and yada, yada, yada, and Icould, I could chalk everything
up to that and stay at home allday and until the world until
life ends, I guess.
But there's a lot of peoplethat do that.
Yeah, it's not good.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Not cool.
Well, way out, there's a wayout?
Speaker 2 (52:22):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, um, any closing
remarks, any, anything that youguys want to say.
I mean, I appreciate you comingup here.
Speaker 1 (52:32):
I'm thinking there's a few things.
Speaker 3 (52:38):
Um, I'm thinking there's a few things, gosh, my
biggest thing with, like ussharing our story of how we met
and stuff like that is like Isay I said we are made for
relationships.
I think nowadays, becausethere's so much spam and so much
junk and things like that, weput up all of these walls and
all of these masks and we kindof hide who we are.
Um, but we're made forrelationships and you cannot
(53:01):
have a genuine relationship ifyou don't have vulnerability.
Um, so you have to unmaskyourself, you have to work on
yourself, um, mental health, allthat stuff.
Like go deeper, peel thoselayers, figure out what it is
that's causing these triggers,or go to therapy and like heal
yourself so that you can havehealthy relationships with those
(53:21):
around us.
Because that's truly what Ithink being human is all about
is relationships loving peoplethe healthy, right way and then
being loved in return.
There's nothing more beautifuland powerful than that.
Speaker 1 (53:37):
And staying away from perfect people.
Yeah, there's yeah.
There's a lot of surface levelconversation.
I don't want to buildrelationships with people that
want surface level conversations.
I don't have time for thatanymore.
Need relationships on a deeperlevel where you can actually
(53:59):
connect because we needconnection.
This world is going to crap wesee it all around North Carolina
, all that stuff and people needpeople and in the end, that's
where a lot of the help is goingto come from is from people who
(54:20):
actually love and care forothers.
Back to that right.
Speaker 3 (54:27):
And you really don't have to look hard.
Love truly is all around us, inlittle ways and little things.
I was just sharing a story onmy Instagram on our way here.
I'm like the world is full ofopportunities and beautiful
people, like just how we met youby us selling our house and you
coming to take pictures.
And now we get to be here andshare our story in your platform
(54:48):
and like that's amazing, that'sbeautiful, that's love, it's
everywhere.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Cause none of that.
And it's everywhere.
Because none of that and it's.
Yeah, there's just so manythings that the stars align.
It's like how did that happen?
Yeah you get to the point youdon't even question how anymore
yeah, it's the ripple effect.
Speaker 3 (55:07):
It just keeps growing bigger and bigger just in for
the ride.
Speaker 2 (55:11):
Right, that's what I'm doing it's a wild ride ride
yeah.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
Yeah, cause I, I went to, so I told you I ended up
getting my GED.
I was a two year senior.
I didn't graduate high school.
We got my GED, got married andthen, uh, didn't know what to do
.
So I was like, oh, just go tocollege online and get an
associates in healthcareadministration, then got a
bachelor's in businessmanagement.
(55:35):
Business, not business,business, all about that
business.
That's 2000s, early 2000s songs.
I got my bachelor's in businessmanagement, didn't know what to
do with it.
I'm using it now, but I justdidn't know what to do, didn't
have any direction.
(55:55):
But I'm just riding now, justgoing with the flow, and it's
going good.
Speaker 2 (56:03):
It'd be hard to change anything.
You got a team of seven againstyou now.
I don't think you're changingmuch, nope.
Well, I'm excited to come outand see these zip lines.
Yeah for sure, you got anotherone on the way.
Speaker 1 (56:21):
Yeah, I'll probably set it up on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (56:25):
I feel like there'll be a lot of videos to be had.
Speaker 3 (56:27):
Oh yeah, everywhere in the house is just so fun, so
fun to live there.
It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (56:34):
Like a field trip yeah, it feels like a there it's
so cool.
Like a field trip yeah, itfeels like every day.
Speaker 3 (56:37):
I'm like it's just.
I am like living the best life.
Speaker 2 (56:41):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (56:42):
I love.
I love everything about my life.
Speaker 2 (56:45):
That's amazing.
Well, thanks for coming up hereand uh being on this episode of
life unscripted, and uh, itwon't be the last time either,
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (56:55):
I hope not.
I've enjoyed this a lot.
Speaker 1 (56:57):
Yeah, absolutely yeah thanks for having us there was
one other thing the reason whywe got on the Tamron Hall show
and interviewed by USA Today andall the different newspapers
because of a TikTok video it was.
I don't remember the song.
Speaker 3 (57:17):
I don't remember, but it was basically like a trend
where you would have the startof a nice relationship and how
it like went to crap, basicallyhow it ended up being toxic.
And so I used that trend tolike kind of show the opposite
of how.
Like we started crazy andrandom, but then like turned
into this amazing thing and itwent viral.
(57:38):
It got like over five millionviews and I started getting
reached by magazines, newspapersand but she did not want to do
anything that year.
Speaker 1 (57:50):
That was year 2022, right?
Speaker 3 (57:54):
um 2023.
Speaker 1 (57:55):
Yeah, I think so, yeah, her dad, died my dad
passed away in january and shesaid she was going to take time
off from social media at the endof january.
She's like oh, I saw this, I'mjust gonna do this post on
tiktok didn't really thinkanybody would see it, I mean
yeah, no intentions yeah, wowand then he went crazy and we
(58:16):
got invited by all.
Speaker 3 (58:18):
I even had a movie producer reached out to me and
be like hey, I want to.
I work with son Sonny.
So, I think he made uh themovie respect.
He was the producer for thatmovie.
And he's like we would love tomake a movie about your story.
Um, nothing really came out ofthat.
Then had a strike, uh thewriter's strike, so that gonna
(58:38):
push back and he never reachedback.
But just having somebody reachout to you with that potential
opportunity, it was like, ah,this is amazing there's a um
lamford's his first or his lastname.
Speaker 2 (58:51):
He's from richmond but he's a director of
photography for like Top Gun anda lot of other movies.
So I wonder, if that would besomething he'd want to look at.
Speaker 3 (59:00):
Yeah, we did a bunch of interviews and like FaceTimed
and like he took a lot of notesand he was really excited, but
then like nothing came out of it.
Speaker 2 (59:10):
Yep the strike screwed things up.
Well, it's a positive story andpeople need that.
Speaker 3 (59:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (59:15):
People need that.
You know.
Uh admits GTA on their Xbox andstuff Great.
Speaker 3 (59:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (59:21):
All the bad stuff out there.
They need to hear the story andsee.
Speaker 3 (59:25):
Yeah, it's uplifting.
It's gives people hope andhappiness.
Speaker 2 (59:31):
Very cool.
Well, let's wrap this up.
Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (59:35):
Life Inscripted with
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