December 10, 2024 • 36 mins
In this heartfelt and final episode of Our Life Beyond, Scott Dibben and Connie King reflect on the incredible journey of their podcast. From candid conversations about life's biggest transitions to stories of resilience, growth, and authenticity, they look back at the moments and lessons that made this project so special.
With over 2,000 unique listeners from around the world, Scott and Connie explore the profound impact of their guests' stories, the connection with their audience, and the personal growth they experienced along the way. They share the reasons behind their decision to close this chapter, the gratitude they feel for their listeners, and a hopeful message for the future.
This is more than just a goodbye; it’s a celebration of the connections made, the stories told, and the enduring message that life beyond any challenge is possible. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. Stay strong, stay positive, and keep moving forward.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Well, hello, hello, hello. Welcome to Our Life Beyond the podcast where we explore how
(00:12):
to navigate and hopefully thrive through some of life's biggest transitions. I'm your
co-host Scott Dibben and I've teamed up with my great friend and mentor Connie King to
share some stories, strategies and insights that helped us adapt to the ever-changing
seasons of our life. Whether your life transition is divorce, death of a loved one, switching
(00:34):
careers, moving to a new city or just trying to figure out what the hell is next, where
with you every step of the way. But always remember we're not therapists, just fellow
travelers with a knack for finding humor in the chaos and maybe some untraditional method
of overcoming what life dishes out to us. Hopefully you'll have fun embarking on this
(00:55):
journey. So now let's get started.
This episode of Our Life Beyond is proudly sponsored by Habit Coffee Company. Located
right off Highway 60 in Rogersville, Habit Coffee is more than just your average coffee
shop. They serve up delicious scratch-made breakfast and lunch options daily. And they
(01:17):
even specialize in catering local events. With their state-inspected kitchen and a passion
for quality, every visit to Habit Coffee is a treat.
Now that the construction is complete, getting to Habit Coffee is easier than ever. Thank
you to Habit Coffee for being a proud sponsor of Our Life Beyond. Make Habit Coffee your
new habit today. Hello Scott.
(01:39):
Hello Connie, how are you?
I'm doing good, how are you?
I'm doing good, it's been a really good week. We got through the Thanksgiving.
Oh yeah, you had so many Thanksgiving to go through. So what else is going on with you?
Well this will be our 20th episode.
Wow. Did you think we'd do 20?
(02:01):
Absolutely not. That sounds bad probably, but so 20 episodes equals for us, that would
be two seasons. And if you remember Connie at the beginning, or at the end of our first
season, we sat down and talked and tried to figure out did it make sense to continue on
season two. And we thought it did make sense. We had quite a few stories that we still wanted
(02:24):
to continue to tell and we had people that wanted to tell the stories and I thought it
made sense. So I think we did the same thing. We come to the end of this season two and
I think we made a decision. You want to tell everybody what the decision is Connie?
Well I think we are going to, I don't even know how to say it, but we're going to pause
our life beyond or we are no longer going to record for now. Scott and I had to sit
(02:50):
down and we both just decided that we have loved the podcast, we have loved our time
on it. We didn't even think we'd do a second season and we did and so I'm really proud
of that fact. But we both learned so much and we learned we want to do other things.
And with that, this was almost a project for us in a sense. It wasn't, it was a passion
(03:15):
but it was also a project. We knew what we wanted to achieve and I think we achieved
it Connie. We talked about that. You know, what else would we achieve on the podcast?
I think we would be getting down to smaller subjects, more finite stuff that I don't know
if it makes sense for us to be involved in. We wanted to hit the really big issues. We
knew that we were starting this during an election period which was going to be a lot
(03:37):
of turmoil. We have so many people around us that had so many powerful stories that
we thought needed to be out, you know, not just for us to hear but that everybody could
hear. And with that, and I know I've shared this with you Connie, but we've had over
6,000 people listen to our podcast worldwide. One of them just this last time was in Australia
(04:00):
which probably doesn't count because Pam's in Australia which is our friend Pam. And
now I'm beginning to wonder if all of our international come from Pam as much as she
travels but maybe not. We're just going to count it as we've got a bunch of international
people with that. Yeah, let's do that. Well, you know what's
funny to me is when we first started, I think you and I were like, well, if we have a few
(04:25):
of our friends listening, it was kind of an outlet for us. And then we started seeing
more and more people listen and we were like, what? What? We have that many people listening.
So that was fun. And I think we got to a point now that we were either going to take this
really far. We were going to start doing some big advertising, some big...
(04:47):
And I don't think you and I, either of us really, that's not where we were with this.
That wasn't our goal. I think our goal was to make this personable. Or for me it was.
It was to really listen to people's stories and to connect with people. And you said this
a few episodes ago because we talked about going big with it, buying an advertisement,
(05:09):
pushing it hard and you're like, but the people that we're going to get on, who knows where
they're from, this could just turn into something that we didn't see that we wanted to go down.
Right. Yeah, this was always kind of our... It wasn't a passion project as far as being
a big time thing, but it was definitely hearing stories, telling stories. And it was all the
(05:35):
people we've known. And that was what made it so personable to us, I think.
And it was a project for us in the sense, we were not going to do this half-ass. We
wanted to do it right. So we set everything up properly. We've trimmed audio. We've set
up our microphones. We've set up everything as professional as we could. The next step
(05:57):
was going to be video, which was going to be getting us a little more maybe professional
setup. And it was just going... It was going to escalate from there. And I know the time
that it was going to take. And there's some other things that I really want to get involved
with, I think, other than the podcast. And I know it's the same for you, Connie.
Right. Yeah, exactly.
But I also want to say, we were going to do 10 episodes. We've doubled what we said we
(06:21):
were going to do. And this was really something that we did because we thought people needed
to hear the stories that we had.
Yeah. And I did love that. And just so others know, this was not a hard decision for Scott
and I. A couple episodes back, we had to sit down and talk about what was going to happen
in season three if we were going to continue. And almost immediately, he and I were both
(06:46):
like, that's going to get... That's going to start taking away from what our life really
is because it is getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
And we just didn't want to do that. That's not where we wanted to go with this and didn't
think about that.
So we've had episodes that we've had 300, 400 people listen to across the world. And
when you get too large, you start getting the negative inputs and you start getting
(07:10):
the social media beat up on whatever it is. I don't think we want to get to that point
where we're defending ourselves, which is something that was honestly right around the
corner. I don't want to be the Jerry Springer show.
Well, yeah, that stuff doesn't bother me as much. It bounces off me pretty good. But
yeah, so let's talk a little bit about what you learned from this. What are some of the
(07:32):
highlights of the podcast for you?
It was interesting. And I was telling you this, Connie, I went out for a run today and
this stuff just started coming into my head, flowing in my head. And I had to get back
pretty quick so I could write it down because I'm 53 years old and I forget things in about
30 minutes. But so there's five things that just popped in my mind as I was running that
(07:54):
I thought I got from this and I hope others did too. So let's walk through them and let's
talk about the first one. We live in Midwest Missouri and we know that and we've got outside
of Midwest Missouri by having some of the people on our show. Not only that, I know
I've traveled the world and I know there's good in every person out there. So with that,
the first one for me is stay open to change and being okay with what how other people
(08:20):
are. I don't think we should be trying to change our neighbors much less somebody that's
across the country or the world. I don't think we should think bad of them. I don't think
that we have that right. I think we should appreciate them for what they are. We should
be okay with that. It doesn't mean they have to be our best friend. But you know, with
that, also, I can tell you for a fact, the more people you're around, if you broaden
(08:44):
that audience, you will change some and be open to that change.
And that's when you say be open to that change and you will change some. That's absolutely
true. You will change for the better if you are surrounding yourself with decent humans.
And I'm telling you, I've been all around this world. You know, I've spent time in
China, I've spent time in India, everywhere. There are good people all around the world.
(09:07):
You know, whenever we say, whenever we say this country's bad, it may be the government
that's bad, but the people inside that company, I could introduce you to people all around
the world that are so good, so kind hearted. They're trying to raise a family just like
everybody is here. And they're just trying to get by. So just remember that. We have
(09:27):
to remember that, you know, we have a big world around us, this Midwest that we live
in. We don't know everything about the world and we aren't right about everything.
Yeah, I agree. What's your second point?
This one's personal for me and it may just be for me, but invest in your health. And
I always thought I was investing in my health. I run and there for a long time I was lifting
(09:48):
weights. I had quite a bit of muscle mass on me and you go to the doctor, which I appreciate
Alan forcing me to push the issue at the doctor, as I explained in one of the episodes this
season. But you know, I ended up, you know, a heart valve issue and I still have it. I've
got to go in January 6th, get an echo. So I get an echo every once a year and once and
every year I also get a CT scan. So, you know, I could have not went and got that done. And
(10:14):
I once again have to appreciate Alan pushing me to get it done because I may not have without
her. But once you get it done and that fear is gone, you just figure out to pass forward,
you know, I know that within two to four years or five years or who knows, six months I may
have to have a valve replacement. But I think getting over that initial fear and knowing
what's in front of you is a good thing. Knowing what you can do to help it. Knowing what you
(10:38):
shouldn't do to, you know, cause further damage. I think that's a good thing. And I think we
need to do that more. So why did this podcast, why did that bring that about? Why did it
bring it about for me? Why did it bring that the appreciation or the take care of yourself?
How did that come to be through this podcast? Cause these are things that you said, you
(11:00):
know, you learned. We listen to Nigel's story and you know, stress is one of the biggest
factors on a body. It can cause all kinds of problems. And I know, you know, we had Nigel
's story about his upbringing and you know, going through some of the stuff he went through
and we had Brad's story, you know, he went through so much to get to a good place where
he's at. I mean, think of all the stories we listen to and the stress because I think
(11:24):
stress is so bad on the body. And just listening to these people, I think it just brought it
to me that keep up with your health and that I should have been doing this far before now.
And I didn't, I should have, you know, at the age of 40, I should have probably been
really watching things a lot closer than I was, but I look at the people around and
I look how stressful the world is from all of our episodes. And I think maybe, maybe
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we should get those checkups more often. Maybe we should push the doctors to help us. And
it also takes me back, you know, talking about health, there's mental health. We've talked
about going to counseling or a therapist. I don't think there should be any dilemma
around that if you think you need it. I don't think you should be concerned with what other
people think. We've openly talked about, we've both went to it, to therapist, and that's
(12:12):
a good thing. I think that helps you going forward.
Yes, absolutely. And I agree with you. I think a lot of times when you can get your mental
health intact, it's much easier to be physically healthy or vice versa.
Yes, I agree.
So I understand that. Yeah. What's your third point?
Third one, surround yourself with the right people.
(12:33):
Yeah.
I mean, every one of our episodes was built around that, but, you know, getting the confidence,
having their, not really the approval, but the right people around you that will help
you through that change that will stand beside you instead of negatively pushing you the
other direction. Also, with that, I mean, you've got to be able to, you know, we talked
(12:54):
on our last episode about not having that victim mindset. So you also have to have
those people around you that are willing to sit down and tell you, hey, quit playing
that victim.
Right. And, you know, I have a group of women who are phenomenal.
Oh, yeah, you do.
And I could not live the life I live. I couldn't be as confident as I am. I couldn't be as,
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I think confidence has brought on so much kindness for me because I have really good
boundaries, which allow me to go, oh, I can be kind to them. If that boundary starts getting
pushed, I know immediately that I just need to be away from that situation. And I have
women that support me in that. And I think surrounding yourself, I mean, I think of Joe
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Ellen, you know, who had leave it on the porch, she has to have a great people around her,
a great support group because she is amazingly successful. And she's built that from ground
zero. And I just think about all those people and how they got there. And yes, you have
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to surround yourself with amazing people. And you and I have great friends that support
us.
Yeah, we absolutely do. It was so interesting. This just popped in my head when you said,
Joe Ellen, you know, the biggest thing I got from Joe Ellen, I mean, it was a great story.
But the, the, the aha moment for me was the consistent she, she talked about, you cannot
(14:24):
achieve the level that she has been or that she's gotten to without the consistency. And
that's one thing we tried to do, Connie, every Tuesday at four a.m. our podcast goes out,
you know, we tried to have that consistency because I do think that that, that is what
makes a success or a failure a lot of times.
Right. Yes.
All right. Number four, focus on being authentic.
(14:48):
Mmm. You know, I love that.
Yeah. Of course you do.
So what'd you learn?
Well, being authentic, once again, going to the, the story we had with Jesse, she is
now her authentic self is the way I guess I would put it and her figuring out what that
looks like and being happy. And I can tell you from personal experience, I'm the happiest
I've been in a long time. I am the authentic me. The 20 year old or 20 years ago, I wouldn't
(15:13):
have been on this podcast. 20 years ago, me and you probably wouldn't have had the frank
conversations that we've, we've had with each other and it's made me a much better person.
But you like the authentic Scott. You don't like the polished. God, you like the raw
form of me, which I can appreciate. And I think a lot of people think they have to be
polished in front of other people. And our friend group, we don't have to do that, which
(15:37):
is awesome.
You know, that's funny. I remember one time somebody said to me, you, you have some weird
friends and I was thinking, what in the world? And when I thought about that as I was older,
you know, what it is, is I have friends who are very authentic and honest and real and
kind. And I'm really drawn to, I don't care that they're a little different or that they
(16:04):
don't meet the, the societal norms, maybe.
Sure.
And I don't think my friends are weird. Let's just go there. But what I'm saying is, I think
sometimes the expectation is for people to be that polished person. And when they're not,
others go, oh, they're weird. And I remember taking that as such a huge compliment and
(16:24):
being like, yeah, I do. I have a really cool, authentic friends. And you know, what comes
with that is a lot of vulnerability, which is my favorite thing because I feel like vulnerability
allows people to connect.
Yeah, of course.
And so I think authenticity and vulnerability are huge. And every one of our guests had that.
(16:48):
When you can show somebody your imperfect self, it makes it easier for them to connect with
you because they can show their imperfect self instead of them having to be perfect every
time they're in front of you.
Exactly. Yes. Exactly. So which are, is this your fifth one, your last one?
Fifth one and final one, yes. So I've got a, I've got a phrase of what it is. And then
(17:09):
I've got a quote that I found that I want to read. So what I come up with was define
your own path. And that once again, come from like Jesse, you know, defining that path forward,
what it's going to look like. Well, actually it's from all of us. I mean, kind of you defined
your own path after, after the death of Rob, everybody's defining that path forward, you
(17:30):
know, and it's your path. It doesn't have to look like your brothers or your sisters.
And that's a big thing also, you know, a lot of times, especially if you're in a, in a
certain family that believes that you should be a lawyer like them or that you should be
as successful like them or you should have a desk job, whatever that is, they put that
pressure on you. And I don't think that's good. I think define your own path. And the quote
(17:53):
that I wanted to share with everybody that I have is, you are the author of your life
story while challenges and obstacles may appear in your path, how you respond to them defines
your journey, which is absolutely true. Wow. Yep. Interesting.
Whenever we started connecting as friends, Connie, I can tell you that you were the one
(18:15):
person out there and it was so funny that I felt like was the best at defining your
own path. I could call you and say, Hey, let's go do this because all the friends are doing
this and you're like, Nope, I'm going, you know, I'm staying home or I'm doing this.
And I would try and convince you and you're like, Nope. I mean, when you get your way
set, you, you know, you define your and you do that on multiple things. And I've learned
(18:41):
that from you. Oh, well, you know, it's funny because I have, I have FOMO, I have a fear
of missing out, but I think what has happened after Rob's death, I enriched my life with
so many friends that now I know I do have to miss out sometimes because I can exhaust
(19:02):
myself being with the people I love because I could be with them all the time. So for
my own mental health, I also have to just, again, you know, me and boundaries, I have,
I have boundaries that I really put in place. And I try really hard not to feel guilty or
bad about it. And I think what that has led to is exactly that creating my own path. Everybody
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knows, I hope all my friends know that, yes, I'm going to hang out with you at some point.
I mean, that's what's going to happen. We're going to hang out. We're going to go have
coffee. We're going to go have a drink, whatever it is. But I think that also translates into
business and into family life. And, you know, you, you have to have boundaries to create
your path for me.
(19:49):
Sure. And I think you do that better than anybody in our friend group. I get, sometimes
I'll get guilted into doing things, especially me and, me and Ellen, because we're so busy
and we feel like we haven't done something with some. And I talked about this just last
week. I'm like, I've got so much going on and we just try to cram something else in
the middle of it. And then I always remember, man, Connie doesn't do this. And I can even
(20:12):
talk to you and you're like, I'm not doing that. Good for you.
Well, we need to be really honest with our listeners because one of the reasons that
we are not really, really uber sad about leaving the podcast is because we said, okay, during
our recording time, we're so used to a recording time.
Sure.
We're just going to FaceTime each other and have a drink. Cause that seems to be when
(20:35):
you and I get to connect, you know, is during the podcast. And so that was something we're
just going to put our FaceTimes on you and Ellen will sit on one side, me and Jeff will
sit on the other side and we'll have a drink together.
And we'll have a drink. That is perfect.
There you go. So I think the last thing really is what's next for us, Connie? What's next
for you?
(20:55):
Well, I think for me, we have added a division to the company. And so we're trying to build
that up, still in the process of getting, you know, websites and things like that up.
So we're still in the beginning stages, but once we start advertising and pulling that
aspect of our business together, I think I'll be pretty busy. And then I also want to start
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doing some, I've done speaking in the past and it's been, you know, mostly free. And
I have discovered that, you know, I could get paid for this. So I'm, I'm starting to
do some paid speaking gigs and, you know, eventually want to do quite a bit of that.
So that's what I'm working on right now. That's where I'm going to go. How about you? What
(21:41):
are your plans?
Well, my plans are a little bit different. I have got, I've got quite a bit in front
of me before the holidays, but by next spring, I'm in, as you know, I'm in the middle of
remodel hell right now in my house. I have to get that done. And right now I just not
spending enough time doing that. But between that, you know, I do have a marriage, hopefully
(22:03):
in my future unless Ellen decides to hang me up for somebody else. And then I've got
health. You know, I got to continue on my health. And I've got kind of a plan in front
of me on what that looks like every six months. So, you know, I've got a lot of the typical
stuff like that going on, but I want to volunteer, but in a very specific way. So it's probably
(22:25):
going to be after the house is done. And it could be before I get married. But Ellen has
even kind of pushed me to do some volunteering. And they're one of them that's out there.
It's called jobs for life. I don't know if it'll be the right one for me. And being able
to help do resumes, explaining what what does an interview look like doing mock interviews
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so that they understand where they should not talk and what they should maybe ask. I would
just love to be able to help people figure out that path forward. And almost what we've
talked about here, you know, every change that you have out there is stress on people.
And if they're in that wrong environment and they're stressed out and they don't have anybody
to help with a resume or with getting the interview set up, I would love to be able
(23:07):
to help do that. I guess is what I'm saying. Right. So that's the next thing for me.
You know, that's funny that you mentioned that. And this is just kind of an offshoot,
but my son had come to me the other day and he was like, well, you look over my resume
and can we kind of go through some interview questions? And it was so interesting because
I homeschooled the boys thinking, Oh, I've given them all the tools. Well, guess what?
(23:30):
Those tools have changed. And the way people hire has changed. And he and I had to go through
so many little things. And so I think that maybe not just needed for underprivileged,
which is absolutely a great place to be. But, you know, I think that's needed for older
adults. It is. Like if I had to go look for a job again, I wouldn't know what to do, you
(23:54):
know, I mean,
And interviewing so different now in the previous job, I, I probably, I honestly, I probably
interviewed 200 people and, you know, it can be the littlest things that is almost when
I say a trigger for them. A lot of, a lot of companies have scoring systems and stuff
like that, that, that makes it a little unbiased, which helps the person being interviewed.
(24:15):
But still with that, the point systems are set up with the structure that the person
being interviewed has to interact as much as the interviewee, I guess is what I'm saying.
Interesting. So what, what do you think the impact of our web of our podcast has been?
It's a great question. And that's almost a, probably a better question for the audience,
(24:37):
but we've had over 2000 people worldwide listen to it. That's unique individuals. You know,
I shared a map, I think we put it on social media once and since then it has grown all
across the world. And, you know, I look at some of the subjects that we had on here.
These were not easy subjects. I mean, think about it, Connie, we had, I believe it was
Jesse that was married that, you know, ended up transitioning into a life as a lesbian.
(25:04):
And but, but think about that transition. You know, if there's three people out there
that listened to that, that got something from it, that's huge. We had Brad talking
about addiction and that was probably one of the most powerful things for me, which
he is very well spoken. He, you know, he, he is so structured and what he's doing, I
can appreciate his methods to that and having him on, you know, that was one of our most
(25:28):
listened to podcast. Yes. Even worldwide. And think about it, if one person was struggling
with addiction and listened to that and, and got one point out of that, that helped them
in their recovery. I mean, that's worth, that's worth everything we've done. And, you know,
and that doesn't include, we've talked about, you know, being kind to your neighbors through
this transition that we're having with presidents, you know, because I know it was a heated, very
(25:54):
heated political, what am I trying to say, a political atmosphere, season this year.
Yeah. So, you know, I think everything that we've done, if, if somebody could take something
from just each of those episodes, and I know that's happened, I mean, once again, we're
way over 2000 people worldwide that's listened to this. I think we've done some good. I hope
we have. I mean, that was, that was really our goal was to have fun, listen to stories
(26:18):
and to let everybody know that you don't have to be perfect.
You're right. And you know, one of the things that I heard from a lot of people was, I didn't
know that about, and then it would go on with the next sentence. And I think that was the
impact we had is that we made people think past their own thoughts. And when they heard
(26:39):
the stories of our listeners, they went, Oh, that's never what I would thought, not even
about the listener, but let's say about, you know, being authentic addiction about starting
your own business, about being a business owner, about, I loved the political ones because
I think what we saw was neither person was an ugly person, neither both wanted something
(27:05):
different than the other. But ultimately, both wanted to be heard, both wanted to be
protected, both wanted to feel safety and security. And they felt like their party was
the one that was going to give it. And I think that was a beautiful message on both parts.
I went back and listened to Beth's episode, I think twice as a guy, I don't have those
(27:28):
same feelings that she had. And everybody's different in the world, of course, and hearing
her story and why she chose the, you know, the direction that she voted, it was interesting
to me because there was a lot of points in there that I'm like, I didn't have any idea
that people thought that way. So that one, and then even going over, you know, which
(27:49):
our good friend, Chet shared death of his twin brother, I knew that story, but it was
for me, being able to hear it from start to finish like Chet did, which he put a lot of
detail in there. And I didn't know all of the details that from childhood all the way
through, you know, because we don't understand what it's like to be a twin. You know, if
(28:11):
you lose a brother or sister, I've done that. And I know it hurts, but it's nothing like
a twin. So just getting that or understanding that emotions and understanding how much harder
that is is something that I don't think I would have ever understood if we wouldn't
have had him on the podcast.
When he had a lot of emotion, I got a message one day that said, I'm listening to Chet's
(28:32):
podcast and I'm having to stop because I'm having to cry a little and I'm having to,
she's like, it was so deep. It's so deep. And this is a person who doesn't know Chet.
And it was so sweet and so beautiful. And those are the stories that I really want people
to stop and listen to others about where we can all get so busy and so rude and just kind
(28:57):
of form an opinion in our own mind when if we just stop for one second, you know, people
are willing to share those things with you.
But I think so hard nowadays, the way we're set up, even over dinner with a group of people
to have those type of discussions. But whenever we were able to set down and say, Chet, we
(29:18):
want to listen to your story, what made it feel like for me is I, for that hour, I was
almost like part of that twin. You know, I understood those emotions. I understood how
he tried to differentiate himself whenever he was in school and how they talked. So,
you know, I did, I got to understand that connection a lot deeper than I think I ever
(29:39):
would have over a drink or coffee or dinner.
Right.
Because it was his, it was his episode and he was able to tell his story.
Yes, I agree with that.
So with that, I think we've done everything we could do. I hope that we've done the podcast
justice. I hope that we've done what we were supposed to do. And, you know, when I went
(30:01):
back and looked at it, we had a Trello set up of what we were trying to accomplish in
the episodes, the things that we had missing that were still on the list, honestly, what's
terrible is I looked at them and I'm like, I wouldn't do that now. I wouldn't do that
now. We've learned so much. And that's, that's the problem is I think that if we was to do
it now, we would have to upscale this thing so much that it would, it would actually consume
(30:25):
probably a couple of days a week of our life to do.
And we just don't have that time.
Yeah, it would become a job and we, both of us are very happy where we're at and I agree
with that. I agree. It would be too much work. So, will the website still be up? Can listeners
still get ahold of us? How's that going to work?
We're going to keep the website up. We're going to keep all the podcasts will be out
(30:48):
there. Anybody can re-listen to that. I don't plan to take any of that down. You know, me
and you own all rights to our life beyond.
We don't plan to get rid of that, at least in the short term for any reason. There's
no reason to. And who knows, you know, if something dramatic happens in the world, six
months from now, me and Connie may jump back on and say, we want to do a couple episodes.
(31:09):
We want to, we want to help people through this. So that's my plan.
Yeah.
Okay. Well, I'm on board with that.
So I guess the only thing we have now is kind of the closing, which is to say, you know,
I want to think every listener out there, I want to, I want to think everybody that
spent the time to come on the show that was willing to tell the story, their story. And
(31:30):
I can tell you their stories had so much emotion and it connected with so many people because
me and you, Connie would have never had 2000 unique listeners, actually 2400 unique listeners.
We would have never had that on our own. It was because we had the right people telling
the right story.
Well, we had amazing guests, amazing. Every single one of them, I swear I'm in love with
(31:55):
because they taught me something. They lived their life with grace. They, you know, all
the adjectives that you want to use, that's what I want to use for our guests. And I know
our listeners also were so impressed with our guests. And I want to thank both listeners,
the guests and, you know, the Habit Coffee Company, our sponsor.
(32:17):
Absolutely.
We hooked them up early on and they were like, yeah, great, go ahead. So that was, that was
fun too.
Yeah. And we learned so much about building a podcast.
Yep.
All right.
So with that, I think we can close this out. Once again, I want to thank everybody. Connie,
I want to thank you because there is absolutely no way I would have ever done this without
(32:40):
you. We've talked about this for, well, probably two years. And then all at once we said, if
we're going to do it, we're going to do it. And I remember we sat down and we made a commitment
to each other and said, if we're going to do this, we're going to do 10 episodes. And
we said, all right. And from there, we've doubled what we intended to do. So thank you
so much for your time because I know that's valuable. And I know that time wasn't at the
(33:04):
best spot in your life with you having the leg and the surgery and having to go through
some of your physical therapy. So all along that way, we kept releasing episodes every
week. And that was with Connie sitting over there with her leg up and Jeff assisting all
along the way and her yelling, Jeff, get in here. I need something. So I want to say you
(33:24):
didn't have to do that, but I really do appreciate it.
Well, I want to say thank you to you. I don't. So here's, this sounds so terrible and I don't
want our listeners or our guests to take offense at this. But the thing I'm going to miss the
most is working with Scott. If I could work with Scott every day and I say this, Scott's
like hell no, Connie showed up. If I could work with Scott every single day, I would
(33:51):
work with him again. I want to do like a grand and this isn't going to work. This is like
the dream, but I want to do a grand speaking gig where it's you and I and we travel the
world or travel the United States. You know, I'm not, I don't love going over the ocean,
but okay, I would. Yeah, I do. And that together, that would be fun.
(34:13):
But you never know what could happen, Connie.
I know. I, that's the thing I'm going to miss the most is working with you.
Well, I appreciate it. The same here. You're, you're very professional at what you do,
but also, I mean, you're the one that brought in the guest. You're the one that put some
structure to it. You're the one that introduced and built out the introductions each time.
I was just the one that was editing and doing the technical stuff, but we make a hell of
(34:38):
a team. We really do.
Well, I appreciate that. So, well, last message, you get to say it.
I just want to thank everybody once again. I hope that everybody got something out of
it. And you know, really the message going forward is just be kind to people. Not everybody's
like us. Not everybody's going to be the exact replica of who we are. But if we're kind
(35:01):
of like us, we're going to be the exact replica of who we are.
And we just show a little bit of compassion. I think it goes a long way in this world.
Yes. Your turn, Connie.
Life beyond any challenge is possible. Stay strong, stay positive and keep moving forward.
Okay. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Our Life Beyond. We really hope
(35:22):
that you found our discussion insightful and inspiring or at least brought us a smile to
the broadcast on your favorite platform and leave us a review. For more information, resources
or show notes, visit our website at ourlifebeyond.com. You can also follow us on social media, search
for us on Facebook at Our Life Beyond. We would love to hear from you, our listeners,
(35:44):
so feel free to reach out with your questions, comments or suggestions through our contact
us page at ourlifebeyond.com or on social media. And once again, thank you for joining
us on this journey. Till next time, remember, life beyond any challenge is possible and
we're here to navigate it with you. Stay strong, stay positive and keep moving forward.
Well, hello, hello, hello. Welcome to Our Life Beyond the podcast where we explore how
(00:12):
to navigate and hopefully thrive through some of life's biggest transitions. I'm your
co-host Scott Dibben and I've teamed up with my great friend and mentor Connie King to
share some stories, strategies and insights that helped us adapt to the ever-changing
seasons of our life. Whether your life transition is divorce, death of a loved one, switching
(00:34):
careers, moving to a new city or just trying to figure out what the hell is next, where
with you every step of the way. But always remember we're not therapists, just fellow
travelers with a knack for finding humor in the chaos and maybe some untraditional method
of overcoming what life dishes out to us. Hopefully you'll have fun embarking on this
(00:55):
journey. So now let's get started.
This episode of Our Life Beyond is proudly sponsored by Habit Coffee Company. Located
right off Highway 60 in Rogersville, Habit Coffee is more than just your average coffee
shop. They serve up delicious scratch-made breakfast and lunch options daily. And they
(01:17):
even specialize in catering local events. With their state-inspected kitchen and a passion
for quality, every visit to Habit Coffee is a treat.
Now that the construction is complete, getting to Habit Coffee is easier than ever. Thank
you to Habit Coffee for being a proud sponsor of Our Life Beyond. Make Habit Coffee your
new habit today. Hello Scott.
(01:39):
Hello Connie, how are you?
I'm doing good, how are you?
I'm doing good, it's been a really good week. We got through the Thanksgiving.
Oh yeah, you had so many Thanksgiving to go through. So what else is going on with you?
Well this will be our 20th episode.
Wow. Did you think we'd do 20?
(02:01):
Absolutely not. That sounds bad probably, but so 20 episodes equals for us, that would
be two seasons. And if you remember Connie at the beginning, or at the end of our first
season, we sat down and talked and tried to figure out did it make sense to continue on
season two. And we thought it did make sense. We had quite a few stories that we still wanted
(02:24):
to continue to tell and we had people that wanted to tell the stories and I thought it
made sense. So I think we did the same thing. We come to the end of this season two and
I think we made a decision. You want to tell everybody what the decision is Connie?
Well I think we are going to, I don't even know how to say it, but we're going to pause
our life beyond or we are no longer going to record for now. Scott and I had to sit
(02:50):
down and we both just decided that we have loved the podcast, we have loved our time
on it. We didn't even think we'd do a second season and we did and so I'm really proud
of that fact. But we both learned so much and we learned we want to do other things.
And with that, this was almost a project for us in a sense. It wasn't, it was a passion
(03:15):
but it was also a project. We knew what we wanted to achieve and I think we achieved
it Connie. We talked about that. You know, what else would we achieve on the podcast?
I think we would be getting down to smaller subjects, more finite stuff that I don't know
if it makes sense for us to be involved in. We wanted to hit the really big issues. We
knew that we were starting this during an election period which was going to be a lot
(03:37):
of turmoil. We have so many people around us that had so many powerful stories that
we thought needed to be out, you know, not just for us to hear but that everybody could
hear. And with that, and I know I've shared this with you Connie, but we've had over
6,000 people listen to our podcast worldwide. One of them just this last time was in Australia
(04:00):
which probably doesn't count because Pam's in Australia which is our friend Pam. And
now I'm beginning to wonder if all of our international come from Pam as much as she
travels but maybe not. We're just going to count it as we've got a bunch of international
people with that. Yeah, let's do that. Well, you know what's
funny to me is when we first started, I think you and I were like, well, if we have a few
(04:25):
of our friends listening, it was kind of an outlet for us. And then we started seeing
more and more people listen and we were like, what? What? We have that many people listening.
So that was fun. And I think we got to a point now that we were either going to take this
really far. We were going to start doing some big advertising, some big...
(04:47):
And I don't think you and I, either of us really, that's not where we were with this.
That wasn't our goal. I think our goal was to make this personable. Or for me it was.
It was to really listen to people's stories and to connect with people. And you said this
a few episodes ago because we talked about going big with it, buying an advertisement,
(05:09):
pushing it hard and you're like, but the people that we're going to get on, who knows where
they're from, this could just turn into something that we didn't see that we wanted to go down.
Right. Yeah, this was always kind of our... It wasn't a passion project as far as being
a big time thing, but it was definitely hearing stories, telling stories. And it was all the
(05:35):
people we've known. And that was what made it so personable to us, I think.
And it was a project for us in the sense, we were not going to do this half-ass. We
wanted to do it right. So we set everything up properly. We've trimmed audio. We've set
up our microphones. We've set up everything as professional as we could. The next step
(05:57):
was going to be video, which was going to be getting us a little more maybe professional
setup. And it was just going... It was going to escalate from there. And I know the time
that it was going to take. And there's some other things that I really want to get involved
with, I think, other than the podcast. And I know it's the same for you, Connie.
Right. Yeah, exactly.
But I also want to say, we were going to do 10 episodes. We've doubled what we said we
(06:21):
were going to do. And this was really something that we did because we thought people needed
to hear the stories that we had.
Yeah. And I did love that. And just so others know, this was not a hard decision for Scott
and I. A couple episodes back, we had to sit down and talk about what was going to happen
in season three if we were going to continue. And almost immediately, he and I were both
(06:46):
like, that's going to get... That's going to start taking away from what our life really
is because it is getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
And we just didn't want to do that. That's not where we wanted to go with this and didn't
think about that.
So we've had episodes that we've had 300, 400 people listen to across the world. And
when you get too large, you start getting the negative inputs and you start getting
(07:10):
the social media beat up on whatever it is. I don't think we want to get to that point
where we're defending ourselves, which is something that was honestly right around the
corner. I don't want to be the Jerry Springer show.
Well, yeah, that stuff doesn't bother me as much. It bounces off me pretty good. But
yeah, so let's talk a little bit about what you learned from this. What are some of the
(07:32):
highlights of the podcast for you?
It was interesting. And I was telling you this, Connie, I went out for a run today and
this stuff just started coming into my head, flowing in my head. And I had to get back
pretty quick so I could write it down because I'm 53 years old and I forget things in about
30 minutes. But so there's five things that just popped in my mind as I was running that
(07:54):
I thought I got from this and I hope others did too. So let's walk through them and let's
talk about the first one. We live in Midwest Missouri and we know that and we've got outside
of Midwest Missouri by having some of the people on our show. Not only that, I know
I've traveled the world and I know there's good in every person out there. So with that,
the first one for me is stay open to change and being okay with what how other people
(08:20):
are. I don't think we should be trying to change our neighbors much less somebody that's
across the country or the world. I don't think we should think bad of them. I don't think
that we have that right. I think we should appreciate them for what they are. We should
be okay with that. It doesn't mean they have to be our best friend. But you know, with
that, also, I can tell you for a fact, the more people you're around, if you broaden
(08:44):
that audience, you will change some and be open to that change.
And that's when you say be open to that change and you will change some. That's absolutely
true. You will change for the better if you are surrounding yourself with decent humans.
And I'm telling you, I've been all around this world. You know, I've spent time in
China, I've spent time in India, everywhere. There are good people all around the world.
(09:07):
You know, whenever we say, whenever we say this country's bad, it may be the government
that's bad, but the people inside that company, I could introduce you to people all around
the world that are so good, so kind hearted. They're trying to raise a family just like
everybody is here. And they're just trying to get by. So just remember that. We have
(09:27):
to remember that, you know, we have a big world around us, this Midwest that we live
in. We don't know everything about the world and we aren't right about everything.
Yeah, I agree. What's your second point?
This one's personal for me and it may just be for me, but invest in your health. And
I always thought I was investing in my health. I run and there for a long time I was lifting
(09:48):
weights. I had quite a bit of muscle mass on me and you go to the doctor, which I appreciate
Alan forcing me to push the issue at the doctor, as I explained in one of the episodes this
season. But you know, I ended up, you know, a heart valve issue and I still have it. I've
got to go in January 6th, get an echo. So I get an echo every once a year and once and
every year I also get a CT scan. So, you know, I could have not went and got that done. And
(10:14):
I once again have to appreciate Alan pushing me to get it done because I may not have without
her. But once you get it done and that fear is gone, you just figure out to pass forward,
you know, I know that within two to four years or five years or who knows, six months I may
have to have a valve replacement. But I think getting over that initial fear and knowing
what's in front of you is a good thing. Knowing what you can do to help it. Knowing what you
(10:38):
shouldn't do to, you know, cause further damage. I think that's a good thing. And I think we
need to do that more. So why did this podcast, why did that bring that about? Why did it
bring it about for me? Why did it bring that the appreciation or the take care of yourself?
How did that come to be through this podcast? Cause these are things that you said, you
(11:00):
know, you learned. We listen to Nigel's story and you know, stress is one of the biggest
factors on a body. It can cause all kinds of problems. And I know, you know, we had Nigel
's story about his upbringing and you know, going through some of the stuff he went through
and we had Brad's story, you know, he went through so much to get to a good place where
he's at. I mean, think of all the stories we listen to and the stress because I think
(11:24):
stress is so bad on the body. And just listening to these people, I think it just brought it
to me that keep up with your health and that I should have been doing this far before now.
And I didn't, I should have, you know, at the age of 40, I should have probably been
really watching things a lot closer than I was, but I look at the people around and
I look how stressful the world is from all of our episodes. And I think maybe, maybe
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we should get those checkups more often. Maybe we should push the doctors to help us. And
it also takes me back, you know, talking about health, there's mental health. We've talked
about going to counseling or a therapist. I don't think there should be any dilemma
around that if you think you need it. I don't think you should be concerned with what other
people think. We've openly talked about, we've both went to it, to therapist, and that's
(12:12):
a good thing. I think that helps you going forward.
Yes, absolutely. And I agree with you. I think a lot of times when you can get your mental
health intact, it's much easier to be physically healthy or vice versa.
Yes, I agree.
So I understand that. Yeah. What's your third point?
Third one, surround yourself with the right people.
(12:33):
Yeah.
I mean, every one of our episodes was built around that, but, you know, getting the confidence,
having their, not really the approval, but the right people around you that will help
you through that change that will stand beside you instead of negatively pushing you the
other direction. Also, with that, I mean, you've got to be able to, you know, we talked
(12:54):
on our last episode about not having that victim mindset. So you also have to have
those people around you that are willing to sit down and tell you, hey, quit playing
that victim.
Right. And, you know, I have a group of women who are phenomenal.
Oh, yeah, you do.
And I could not live the life I live. I couldn't be as confident as I am. I couldn't be as,
(13:18):
I think confidence has brought on so much kindness for me because I have really good
boundaries, which allow me to go, oh, I can be kind to them. If that boundary starts getting
pushed, I know immediately that I just need to be away from that situation. And I have
women that support me in that. And I think surrounding yourself, I mean, I think of Joe
(13:42):
Ellen, you know, who had leave it on the porch, she has to have a great people around her,
a great support group because she is amazingly successful. And she's built that from ground
zero. And I just think about all those people and how they got there. And yes, you have
(14:02):
to surround yourself with amazing people. And you and I have great friends that support
us.
Yeah, we absolutely do. It was so interesting. This just popped in my head when you said,
Joe Ellen, you know, the biggest thing I got from Joe Ellen, I mean, it was a great story.
But the, the, the aha moment for me was the consistent she, she talked about, you cannot
(14:24):
achieve the level that she has been or that she's gotten to without the consistency. And
that's one thing we tried to do, Connie, every Tuesday at four a.m. our podcast goes out,
you know, we tried to have that consistency because I do think that that, that is what
makes a success or a failure a lot of times.
Right. Yes.
All right. Number four, focus on being authentic.
(14:48):
Mmm. You know, I love that.
Yeah. Of course you do.
So what'd you learn?
Well, being authentic, once again, going to the, the story we had with Jesse, she is
now her authentic self is the way I guess I would put it and her figuring out what that
looks like and being happy. And I can tell you from personal experience, I'm the happiest
I've been in a long time. I am the authentic me. The 20 year old or 20 years ago, I wouldn't
(15:13):
have been on this podcast. 20 years ago, me and you probably wouldn't have had the frank
conversations that we've, we've had with each other and it's made me a much better person.
But you like the authentic Scott. You don't like the polished. God, you like the raw
form of me, which I can appreciate. And I think a lot of people think they have to be
polished in front of other people. And our friend group, we don't have to do that, which
(15:37):
is awesome.
You know, that's funny. I remember one time somebody said to me, you, you have some weird
friends and I was thinking, what in the world? And when I thought about that as I was older,
you know, what it is, is I have friends who are very authentic and honest and real and
kind. And I'm really drawn to, I don't care that they're a little different or that they
(16:04):
don't meet the, the societal norms, maybe.
Sure.
And I don't think my friends are weird. Let's just go there. But what I'm saying is, I think
sometimes the expectation is for people to be that polished person. And when they're not,
others go, oh, they're weird. And I remember taking that as such a huge compliment and
(16:24):
being like, yeah, I do. I have a really cool, authentic friends. And you know, what comes
with that is a lot of vulnerability, which is my favorite thing because I feel like vulnerability
allows people to connect.
Yeah, of course.
And so I think authenticity and vulnerability are huge. And every one of our guests had that.
(16:48):
When you can show somebody your imperfect self, it makes it easier for them to connect with
you because they can show their imperfect self instead of them having to be perfect every
time they're in front of you.
Exactly. Yes. Exactly. So which are, is this your fifth one, your last one?
Fifth one and final one, yes. So I've got a, I've got a phrase of what it is. And then
(17:09):
I've got a quote that I found that I want to read. So what I come up with was define
your own path. And that once again, come from like Jesse, you know, defining that path forward,
what it's going to look like. Well, actually it's from all of us. I mean, kind of you defined
your own path after, after the death of Rob, everybody's defining that path forward, you
(17:30):
know, and it's your path. It doesn't have to look like your brothers or your sisters.
And that's a big thing also, you know, a lot of times, especially if you're in a, in a
certain family that believes that you should be a lawyer like them or that you should be
as successful like them or you should have a desk job, whatever that is, they put that
pressure on you. And I don't think that's good. I think define your own path. And the quote
(17:53):
that I wanted to share with everybody that I have is, you are the author of your life
story while challenges and obstacles may appear in your path, how you respond to them defines
your journey, which is absolutely true. Wow. Yep. Interesting.
Whenever we started connecting as friends, Connie, I can tell you that you were the one
(18:15):
person out there and it was so funny that I felt like was the best at defining your
own path. I could call you and say, Hey, let's go do this because all the friends are doing
this and you're like, Nope, I'm going, you know, I'm staying home or I'm doing this.
And I would try and convince you and you're like, Nope. I mean, when you get your way
set, you, you know, you define your and you do that on multiple things. And I've learned
(18:41):
that from you. Oh, well, you know, it's funny because I have, I have FOMO, I have a fear
of missing out, but I think what has happened after Rob's death, I enriched my life with
so many friends that now I know I do have to miss out sometimes because I can exhaust
(19:02):
myself being with the people I love because I could be with them all the time. So for
my own mental health, I also have to just, again, you know, me and boundaries, I have,
I have boundaries that I really put in place. And I try really hard not to feel guilty or
bad about it. And I think what that has led to is exactly that creating my own path. Everybody
(19:28):
knows, I hope all my friends know that, yes, I'm going to hang out with you at some point.
I mean, that's what's going to happen. We're going to hang out. We're going to go have
coffee. We're going to go have a drink, whatever it is. But I think that also translates into
business and into family life. And, you know, you, you have to have boundaries to create
your path for me.
(19:49):
Sure. And I think you do that better than anybody in our friend group. I get, sometimes
I'll get guilted into doing things, especially me and, me and Ellen, because we're so busy
and we feel like we haven't done something with some. And I talked about this just last
week. I'm like, I've got so much going on and we just try to cram something else in
the middle of it. And then I always remember, man, Connie doesn't do this. And I can even
(20:12):
talk to you and you're like, I'm not doing that. Good for you.
Well, we need to be really honest with our listeners because one of the reasons that
we are not really, really uber sad about leaving the podcast is because we said, okay, during
our recording time, we're so used to a recording time.
Sure.
We're just going to FaceTime each other and have a drink. Cause that seems to be when
(20:35):
you and I get to connect, you know, is during the podcast. And so that was something we're
just going to put our FaceTimes on you and Ellen will sit on one side, me and Jeff will
sit on the other side and we'll have a drink together.
And we'll have a drink. That is perfect.
There you go. So I think the last thing really is what's next for us, Connie? What's next
for you?
(20:55):
Well, I think for me, we have added a division to the company. And so we're trying to build
that up, still in the process of getting, you know, websites and things like that up.
So we're still in the beginning stages, but once we start advertising and pulling that
aspect of our business together, I think I'll be pretty busy. And then I also want to start
(21:19):
doing some, I've done speaking in the past and it's been, you know, mostly free. And
I have discovered that, you know, I could get paid for this. So I'm, I'm starting to
do some paid speaking gigs and, you know, eventually want to do quite a bit of that.
So that's what I'm working on right now. That's where I'm going to go. How about you? What
(21:41):
are your plans?
Well, my plans are a little bit different. I have got, I've got quite a bit in front
of me before the holidays, but by next spring, I'm in, as you know, I'm in the middle of
remodel hell right now in my house. I have to get that done. And right now I just not
spending enough time doing that. But between that, you know, I do have a marriage, hopefully
(22:03):
in my future unless Ellen decides to hang me up for somebody else. And then I've got
health. You know, I got to continue on my health. And I've got kind of a plan in front
of me on what that looks like every six months. So, you know, I've got a lot of the typical
stuff like that going on, but I want to volunteer, but in a very specific way. So it's probably
(22:25):
going to be after the house is done. And it could be before I get married. But Ellen has
even kind of pushed me to do some volunteering. And they're one of them that's out there.
It's called jobs for life. I don't know if it'll be the right one for me. And being able
to help do resumes, explaining what what does an interview look like doing mock interviews
(22:45):
so that they understand where they should not talk and what they should maybe ask. I would
just love to be able to help people figure out that path forward. And almost what we've
talked about here, you know, every change that you have out there is stress on people.
And if they're in that wrong environment and they're stressed out and they don't have anybody
to help with a resume or with getting the interview set up, I would love to be able
(23:07):
to help do that. I guess is what I'm saying. Right. So that's the next thing for me.
You know, that's funny that you mentioned that. And this is just kind of an offshoot,
but my son had come to me the other day and he was like, well, you look over my resume
and can we kind of go through some interview questions? And it was so interesting because
I homeschooled the boys thinking, Oh, I've given them all the tools. Well, guess what?
(23:30):
Those tools have changed. And the way people hire has changed. And he and I had to go through
so many little things. And so I think that maybe not just needed for underprivileged,
which is absolutely a great place to be. But, you know, I think that's needed for older
adults. It is. Like if I had to go look for a job again, I wouldn't know what to do, you
(23:54):
know, I mean,
And interviewing so different now in the previous job, I, I probably, I honestly, I probably
interviewed 200 people and, you know, it can be the littlest things that is almost when
I say a trigger for them. A lot of, a lot of companies have scoring systems and stuff
like that, that, that makes it a little unbiased, which helps the person being interviewed.
(24:15):
But still with that, the point systems are set up with the structure that the person
being interviewed has to interact as much as the interviewee, I guess is what I'm saying.
Interesting. So what, what do you think the impact of our web of our podcast has been?
It's a great question. And that's almost a, probably a better question for the audience,
(24:37):
but we've had over 2000 people worldwide listen to it. That's unique individuals. You know,
I shared a map, I think we put it on social media once and since then it has grown all
across the world. And, you know, I look at some of the subjects that we had on here.
These were not easy subjects. I mean, think about it, Connie, we had, I believe it was
Jesse that was married that, you know, ended up transitioning into a life as a lesbian.
(25:04):
And but, but think about that transition. You know, if there's three people out there
that listened to that, that got something from it, that's huge. We had Brad talking
about addiction and that was probably one of the most powerful things for me, which
he is very well spoken. He, you know, he, he is so structured and what he's doing, I
can appreciate his methods to that and having him on, you know, that was one of our most
(25:28):
listened to podcast. Yes. Even worldwide. And think about it, if one person was struggling
with addiction and listened to that and, and got one point out of that, that helped them
in their recovery. I mean, that's worth, that's worth everything we've done. And, you know,
and that doesn't include, we've talked about, you know, being kind to your neighbors through
this transition that we're having with presidents, you know, because I know it was a heated, very
(25:54):
heated political, what am I trying to say, a political atmosphere, season this year.
Yeah. So, you know, I think everything that we've done, if, if somebody could take something
from just each of those episodes, and I know that's happened, I mean, once again, we're
way over 2000 people worldwide that's listened to this. I think we've done some good. I hope
we have. I mean, that was, that was really our goal was to have fun, listen to stories
(26:18):
and to let everybody know that you don't have to be perfect.
You're right. And you know, one of the things that I heard from a lot of people was, I didn't
know that about, and then it would go on with the next sentence. And I think that was the
impact we had is that we made people think past their own thoughts. And when they heard
(26:39):
the stories of our listeners, they went, Oh, that's never what I would thought, not even
about the listener, but let's say about, you know, being authentic addiction about starting
your own business, about being a business owner, about, I loved the political ones because
I think what we saw was neither person was an ugly person, neither both wanted something
(27:05):
different than the other. But ultimately, both wanted to be heard, both wanted to be
protected, both wanted to feel safety and security. And they felt like their party was
the one that was going to give it. And I think that was a beautiful message on both parts.
I went back and listened to Beth's episode, I think twice as a guy, I don't have those
(27:28):
same feelings that she had. And everybody's different in the world, of course, and hearing
her story and why she chose the, you know, the direction that she voted, it was interesting
to me because there was a lot of points in there that I'm like, I didn't have any idea
that people thought that way. So that one, and then even going over, you know, which
(27:49):
our good friend, Chet shared death of his twin brother, I knew that story, but it was
for me, being able to hear it from start to finish like Chet did, which he put a lot of
detail in there. And I didn't know all of the details that from childhood all the way
through, you know, because we don't understand what it's like to be a twin. You know, if
(28:11):
you lose a brother or sister, I've done that. And I know it hurts, but it's nothing like
a twin. So just getting that or understanding that emotions and understanding how much harder
that is is something that I don't think I would have ever understood if we wouldn't
have had him on the podcast.
When he had a lot of emotion, I got a message one day that said, I'm listening to Chet's
(28:32):
podcast and I'm having to stop because I'm having to cry a little and I'm having to,
she's like, it was so deep. It's so deep. And this is a person who doesn't know Chet.
And it was so sweet and so beautiful. And those are the stories that I really want people
to stop and listen to others about where we can all get so busy and so rude and just kind
(28:57):
of form an opinion in our own mind when if we just stop for one second, you know, people
are willing to share those things with you.
But I think so hard nowadays, the way we're set up, even over dinner with a group of people
to have those type of discussions. But whenever we were able to set down and say, Chet, we
(29:18):
want to listen to your story, what made it feel like for me is I, for that hour, I was
almost like part of that twin. You know, I understood those emotions. I understood how
he tried to differentiate himself whenever he was in school and how they talked. So,
you know, I did, I got to understand that connection a lot deeper than I think I ever
(29:39):
would have over a drink or coffee or dinner.
Right.
Because it was his, it was his episode and he was able to tell his story.
Yes, I agree with that.
So with that, I think we've done everything we could do. I hope that we've done the podcast
justice. I hope that we've done what we were supposed to do. And, you know, when I went
(30:01):
back and looked at it, we had a Trello set up of what we were trying to accomplish in
the episodes, the things that we had missing that were still on the list, honestly, what's
terrible is I looked at them and I'm like, I wouldn't do that now. I wouldn't do that
now. We've learned so much. And that's, that's the problem is I think that if we was to do
it now, we would have to upscale this thing so much that it would, it would actually consume
(30:25):
probably a couple of days a week of our life to do.
And we just don't have that time.
Yeah, it would become a job and we, both of us are very happy where we're at and I agree
with that. I agree. It would be too much work. So, will the website still be up? Can listeners
still get ahold of us? How's that going to work?
We're going to keep the website up. We're going to keep all the podcasts will be out
(30:48):
there. Anybody can re-listen to that. I don't plan to take any of that down. You know, me
and you own all rights to our life beyond.
We don't plan to get rid of that, at least in the short term for any reason. There's
no reason to. And who knows, you know, if something dramatic happens in the world, six
months from now, me and Connie may jump back on and say, we want to do a couple episodes.
(31:09):
We want to, we want to help people through this. So that's my plan.
Yeah.
Okay. Well, I'm on board with that.
So I guess the only thing we have now is kind of the closing, which is to say, you know,
I want to think every listener out there, I want to, I want to think everybody that
spent the time to come on the show that was willing to tell the story, their story. And
(31:30):
I can tell you their stories had so much emotion and it connected with so many people because
me and you, Connie would have never had 2000 unique listeners, actually 2400 unique listeners.
We would have never had that on our own. It was because we had the right people telling
the right story.
Well, we had amazing guests, amazing. Every single one of them, I swear I'm in love with
(31:55):
because they taught me something. They lived their life with grace. They, you know, all
the adjectives that you want to use, that's what I want to use for our guests. And I know
our listeners also were so impressed with our guests. And I want to thank both listeners,
the guests and, you know, the Habit Coffee Company, our sponsor.
(32:17):
Absolutely.
We hooked them up early on and they were like, yeah, great, go ahead. So that was, that was
fun too.
Yeah. And we learned so much about building a podcast.
Yep.
All right.
So with that, I think we can close this out. Once again, I want to thank everybody. Connie,
I want to thank you because there is absolutely no way I would have ever done this without
(32:40):
you. We've talked about this for, well, probably two years. And then all at once we said, if
we're going to do it, we're going to do it. And I remember we sat down and we made a commitment
to each other and said, if we're going to do this, we're going to do 10 episodes. And
we said, all right. And from there, we've doubled what we intended to do. So thank you
so much for your time because I know that's valuable. And I know that time wasn't at the
(33:04):
best spot in your life with you having the leg and the surgery and having to go through
some of your physical therapy. So all along that way, we kept releasing episodes every
week. And that was with Connie sitting over there with her leg up and Jeff assisting all
along the way and her yelling, Jeff, get in here. I need something. So I want to say you
(33:24):
didn't have to do that, but I really do appreciate it.
Well, I want to say thank you to you. I don't. So here's, this sounds so terrible and I don't
want our listeners or our guests to take offense at this. But the thing I'm going to miss the
most is working with Scott. If I could work with Scott every day and I say this, Scott's
like hell no, Connie showed up. If I could work with Scott every single day, I would
(33:51):
work with him again. I want to do like a grand and this isn't going to work. This is like
the dream, but I want to do a grand speaking gig where it's you and I and we travel the
world or travel the United States. You know, I'm not, I don't love going over the ocean,
but okay, I would. Yeah, I do. And that together, that would be fun.
(34:13):
But you never know what could happen, Connie.
I know. I, that's the thing I'm going to miss the most is working with you.
Well, I appreciate it. The same here. You're, you're very professional at what you do,
but also, I mean, you're the one that brought in the guest. You're the one that put some
structure to it. You're the one that introduced and built out the introductions each time.
I was just the one that was editing and doing the technical stuff, but we make a hell of
(34:38):
a team. We really do.
Well, I appreciate that. So, well, last message, you get to say it.
I just want to thank everybody once again. I hope that everybody got something out of
it. And you know, really the message going forward is just be kind to people. Not everybody's
like us. Not everybody's going to be the exact replica of who we are. But if we're kind
(35:01):
of like us, we're going to be the exact replica of who we are.
And we just show a little bit of compassion. I think it goes a long way in this world.
Yes. Your turn, Connie.
Life beyond any challenge is possible. Stay strong, stay positive and keep moving forward.
Okay. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Our Life Beyond. We really hope
(35:22):
that you found our discussion insightful and inspiring or at least brought us a smile to
the broadcast on your favorite platform and leave us a review. For more information, resources
or show notes, visit our website at ourlifebeyond.com. You can also follow us on social media, search
for us on Facebook at Our Life Beyond. We would love to hear from you, our listeners,
(35:44):
so feel free to reach out with your questions, comments or suggestions through our contact
us page at ourlifebeyond.com or on social media. And once again, thank you for joining
us on this journey. Till next time, remember, life beyond any challenge is possible and
we're here to navigate it with you. Stay strong, stay positive and keep moving forward.
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