September 17, 2025 • 62 mins
Ever wonder how your earliest experiences shape your entire worldview? Steve Scheidt knows firsthand. After spending his first five years in Nairobi, Kenya, his return to the United States came with a startling question at the Chicago Zoo: "Why are all the animals behind bars?" Having only known wildlife in their natural habitat, Steve's perspective was forever changed by these formative experiences.
From those unique beginnings, Steve shares his journey through athletics, education, and family life that led him to his current role at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management. His story weaves through college rowing practices at dawn, the warmth of Italian family gatherings centered around food, and the unexpected path from journalism student to education professional.
The conversation takes a profound turn when Steve reflects on parenting and the accelerating nature of time as we age. "You don't want to be the person saying 'I wish I would have done that,'" he advises, emphasizing the critical importance of being fully present in each moment with loved ones. His observations about how technology affects today's students compared to previous generations offers thought-provoking insights about connection in the digital age.
Throughout the episode, Steve's warmth and wisdom shine through, particularly when discussing the value of meaningful relationships and genuine human connection. His final message about kindness and inclusion serves as a powerful reminder that how we treat others ultimately defines our legacy as we measure our lives not in months, but in decades.
Join us for this heartfelt conversation about worldview, presence, and the moments that truly matter. Whether you're navigating career choices, parenting challenges, or simply seeking to live more intentionally, Steve's journey offers valuable perspective that will resonate long after the episode ends.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is, as always, your host,mike Bono.
I have a great guest from ustoday.
He comes to us from Cleveland,ohio.
He works at Case WesternUniversity at the Weatherhead
School of Management in theGraduate Admissions Program, and
(00:21):
that is Steve Scheidt.
Joins the show.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Steve, thank you for joining me yeah, it's fantastic
to be here, boy with uh, withthat intro.
Uh, you really uh build thingsup.
That's fantastic and much, muchappreciated, I might say that's
what I like to do here.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I like to build people up on this show.
That that's kind of what I liketo do here.
Um, you're originally from ohioand you grew up in the, I
believe, in the suburbs.
Which town did you actuallygrow up in?
Tell the folks a little bitabout yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, I consider myself a Clevelander in Ohio and
, even though I wasn't born here, originally a Chicago native,
but I say Cleveland by way ofNairobi, kenya.
I'm originally from Chicago andwhen I was very, very young one
(01:09):
years old at the time my fatherhad an opportunity to work and
travel to Nairobi, kenya to getsome international experience.
It was supposed to be a year ofinternational experience and
somehow he convinced my mom whowas then pregnant with my sister
at the time to move to Nairobi,kenya and relocate the growing
(01:32):
family there and spent the first, well, essentially the first
five years of my life in Africabefore eventually coming back to
Cleveland.
And then, and uh, and then youknow, settling down and living
and working here.
But but that that was mybeginning.
My, my worldview started withum nairobi, kenya.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
so that's uh, and I'll never forget that that is
just an awesome start toeverything you know.
Going thinking it was justgoing to be talking about the
suburbs of Iowa yeah, I threwyou for a loop there.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
But everyone's journey, as you know, whether
it's people are born and raisedin the same place or maybe have
had different world experiencesand have traveled the state, the
country, the world, you justappreciate different ways of
living and different ways ofbeing when you have a chance to
(02:30):
experience that.
For example, when I came backfrom Nairobi, I was still not
even in elementary school andwent to the Chicago Zoo and one
of the first questions I askedwas why are all the animals
behind bars and in cages?
Because I didn't know anydifferent.
I just thought you go on safariand you see lions and zebras
and elephants and all thosethings, and we have pictures.
(02:53):
You know, we got pictures andthey're just right next to the
car.
But that's your worldview andit's shaped by the people, the
conditions, the images aroundyou at the time.
And that was my worldview and Ididn't even know what a zoo was
.
So can you believe it?
And here we are, back inCleveland and we've got a
phenomenal zoo, and so I thinkeverything does come full circle
(03:16):
.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
That would be a big culture shock, I guess.
If you're used to seeing amountain safari and then all of
a sudden you're in a zoo, likewhat the heck's going on here?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Like, why are they all locked up?
Yeah, and you know what?
Uh, the one of the things thatI I'll, I'll never forget and
that I always take with me isthat some of the these creatures
, you know, these, these animalsthat I got to see up close in
the natural habitat, in the wild, you know, some of them are
endangered and likely at somepoint, you know, will be, you
know, be extinct, and that'sjust kind of one of the things
(03:52):
that you think about, like thatnot everyone is going to have
the opportunity, whether a zooor in the natural environment,
to see some of these creaturesthat you know.
Again, I sort of grew up with,you know, many, many, many years
ago.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah, that's a great start, you know, and to
everything especially you knowgetting that experience and
growing up.
But I believe you also, onceyou got back to the States, you
played some sports growing up.
You know which sports did youplay and you know how did that
help shape you into where you'reat today.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Oh yeah, and we'll fast forward a lot because we're
going way back into the vaulthere.
I've got to start telling somecompelling stories if this is
going to get some traction.
No, I'm just kidding.
But in all seriousness,whatever the activity, whether
it's athletics or someco-curricular activity, as far
as what I got involved withearly and I'm really glad I did
(04:49):
my dad introduced me to the gameof golf when I was in middle
school.
That's not maybe particularlyexciting for a lot of people,
but guess what?
Most of us at some point oranother are going to get invited
to a golf outing or we've got agolf fundraiser and you got to
know how to do it, but anyway.
(05:11):
So I just thought that was afantastic sport because you you
get individual, you know skillset, development and
contribution, but you're part ofan aggregate team, uh, so you
kind of get the best of both,but you're you're not
necessarily playing with yourteammates at the same time,
which is kind of ironic, whichis what it is very interesting.
As far as sports, when youthink about it, but relative to
the other sports.
(05:31):
So golf, I'm so glad I gotintroduced to the game of golf
and then later coach golf at thehigh school level and ended up
also rowing in college inbetween there.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, I'm a big golf guy, love the golf.
Not very good at it, but I lovethe game of golf Actually,
believe me.
You know two of the sponsors ofthe show are golf companies
with Schenken Golf and SweetHand Sports.
So yeah, I love anything golf.
(06:10):
My grandfather on my mom's sideactually held his pro card for
a while, so got me into golf fora little bit.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, good, good, and actually back in the day, this
is just part of my fun fact.
At least it's fun to me.
For a second, I've actually,speaking of golf have witnessed
two different holes in one.
One was in high school ateammate I'm sorry, a competitor
.
I wish it were a teammate, butit was a competitor.
(06:41):
He got a hole in one and uh.
But the irony is and I like totell this part of it because it
kind of pains me the ball wassailing in the air.
It was a beautiful looking shotand we all thought it was gonna
end up okay and I was the nextperson to hit on the tee.
So I bent down while the ballwas in the air, teed up my ball
(07:02):
and everyone started cheering asit went in the cup and as I was
teeing up my ball.
So technically I didn't see it,but for all intents and
purposes I did so anyway.
That was the first one.
The second one, um, was, uh,seeing my, my dad, get a
hole-in-one and that was reallycool too.
Um, but my, my dream, bucketlist, number one on my bucket
(07:24):
list is being able to get a holein one and playing with my dad
and having him see my hole inone, just like I saw, just like
I saw his hole in one.
So that would be.
That's my dream bucket list.
So I got to get a lot more golfin uh this summer and fall just
to get enough par threes tohave that chance.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Absolutely.
When I was oh, I think I wasgoing into my freshman year of
high school there was a littlepar three course right where I
grew up in a little town inFollinsby, west Virginia.
We would go from time to time alittle nine-hole par three.
You can kind of work on yourshort game a little bit and I
(08:06):
hit a hole in one there.
Uh, myself, I shanked it realbad off the off the rip and I
was like, oh man, and I kind oflike turned away.
But there was the green, wasnext to a hill.
It bounced off the hill, rolleddown and just couldn't have
played it better if I tried toplay it this way.
It rolled right into the cupand my buddies had to tell me
that I hit a hole in one likecause I was already turned
(08:27):
around and like walking back toput my club away and be like, oh
and I gotta go find this balland ended up hitting a hole in
one and it was pretty cool.
The, the little course that itwas, went to the local paper
paper and actually had my namein the paper.
My parents still have the paperclipping.
I hit a hole in one at thelittle local nine-hole par-3
(08:53):
course up on Highland Hills inFollinsbury, west Virginia.
So it was a pretty coolexperience.
Haven't hit one since, haven'teven came close to hitting one
since, but it was just one ofthose freak bounces that I had
that kind of worked out for me.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Well, you've got a story that many, many golfers
wish to tell one day, so we'llkeep trying.
I will keep trying, and Iappreciate you sharing your
story.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you did grow up, I believe,in an Italian family.
So what was it like growing upafter, when you got back from
Africa and everything like that,but growing up in an Italian
family?
As a fellow Italian myself, Ialways love to hear how it
differs, but it's the same, youknow.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
It seems like yeah, and I guess I'm 50% Italian by
birth.
Okay, my mother made me inPalumbo and I know you asked
about coming back in the Italianfamily, but this is important
for context.
Mother's father, um, back inthe day, was a restaurateur and
(10:07):
owned a different, you know,restaurants called palumbos, so
they would serve breakfast,lunch, dinner and italian food.
But, uh, but I guess, growingup in at least through my uh, my
mom's side, because my dad is agerman, croatian but just the
whole idea of uh, of havingpeople come together over food
you know whether that washomemade meatballs with a pinch
(10:28):
of this and a pinch of that, norecipes written down.
You know from, from, uh, fromdifferent aunts and grandmas and
people and uh and and just onlycertain smells of the kitchen
that you can get from those.
You know particular people,particular people preparing the
meals.
It's just amazing when you thinkabout the things that people
pass down, and so what Iremember is just having a very,
(10:53):
very enjoyable times andmeaningful conversation and
experiences over, you know, homecooked meals and just
appreciating that time and andreally, you know that
understanding that we, we can dothat and we should learn from
from different cultures whospend hours at the dinner table
(11:15):
or at the lunch table, um, evenduring the work day, um, over a
good conversation, if it's uh,if it's fruitful, and you're
connecting with that person.
So I think just makingmeaningful connections is just
in life, is probably one of themost important things, if not
most important, because in theend, well, we're kind of all
(11:36):
going to be nearing a halfcentury I'm almost there right
now but it's really just aboutthe quality of the relationships
you have with people and makinga mark, and that's what I was
taught is just.
It's all about people andmaking sure that you're one of
the good people when you gettalked about.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Thousand percent on that one.
It's always about it.
It always seems to revolvearound food.
When it comes to Italian tier,I am a smidge under, I always
say I'm a smidge.
I always say I'm full blood.
It always seems to revolvearound food.
When it comes to two Italianshere, I am a smidge under, I
always say I'm a smidge.
I always say I'm full-blooded,I'm a smidge under full-blooded
Italian.
My dad is full-blooded Italian,my mom is half Italian, half
Slovak, so it's about 75%Italian.
(12:21):
So grew up in a very big familyand it was always Sunday sauce,
as we called it it was.
My grandmother's would cookbasically all day, starting from
after church in the morninguntil it was dinner time and
then we all met at one table andit was hours.
(12:43):
You didn't feel like you wereat the table for hours, but just
course after course and justplate after plate and just
conversations going oneverywhere.
Everyone was kind of having adifferent conversation but the
same conversation at the sametime and it's just a great
experience for anybody towitness that To this day, like
(13:04):
my wife, even every Sunday wehave sauce and we don't.
We moved to Ohio.
I'm about two hours away fromthe Italian portion of my family
a little closer to my wife'sfamily here, but every every
Sunday we know it's it's sauceday and Sunday sauce and she
keeps that tradition going andit's just me, her and my son.
(13:27):
I think it's the only time weactually sit down at our dinner
table to actually eat a mealtogether.
With our work schedules and myson's school and
extracurriculars, we don'talways get to eat together, but
Sundays for sure we make surethat we sit down to a meal.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, we're there for hours just sitting there
picking at stuff and just justtalking and catching up on our
week and it's just a great thingto to have happen and I I wish
a lot more people had thatexperience to sit down to a meal
, uh, with someone right and andthis observation isn't
particular to like the, the italItalian community, but one
thing I do think it's it alwayskind of tickles me when I think
(14:08):
about it is after a huge meal ofspaghetti and and you know, and
meatballs and sausage and thisand that, and you're all ready
to go, and you're ready to goback home and you're you're kind
of getting wrapped up.
The the hosts usually have aanian, you know meal makes you a
(14:29):
sandwich just in case you gethungry on the way home.
Just just just in case you gethungry or in case you get stuck
in traffic.
Just just take this dessert.
Just you'll need this, uh, incase you need it.
I just thought it was alwaysfunny that, uh, just to get from
point a to point, you need asandwich.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
It's funny that you mentioned that, because my wife
is still always shocked Everytime we visit my family back
home, whether it's a holiday,just get together, we can get
together all together.
They're always sending us withleftovers.
Does your family just not likeleftovers?
Why are they always giving usleftovers?
No, that's so we can eat it allthe way home.
(15:07):
That that's.
That's literally going to bethe snack for the ride home.
Now we have a little bit biggerof a commute than most people
do when they're coming from anitalian family.
But, um, she's, she's still.
I mean, it's been 10 years andshe's still just like.
They're just always giving usleftovers.
I was like like, yeah, that'sjust, it's either a sandwich and
some dessert or it's somethingthat's left over.
(15:28):
And I was like, yeah, that'sactually meant to eat on the way
home, that's not, that's not.
There's no way that's supposedto make it home.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Right, and I'm convinced that there's.
There's going to be anotherversion or a category of food or
snack that is meant for thefrom the front door to the car,
in case you get hungry.
Yeah, front door to the car,because we've already got the
car to the way home covered withthat, that extra snack.
There's still that walk to thecar, because that can.
(15:57):
I mean there can be some longwalks, driveways can be long and
not everyone has digested thedinner.
It's just, yeah, you can't.
You might need something forthat.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
That walk to the car, yeah that I I really feel like
that's gonna be a thing herevery soon.
I I hope it is like well, again10 years we've been together.
My wife's just still shocked.
She's like I don't know likehow you eat that much and you
stay as thin as you are.
(16:27):
She's like I don't understandit.
Where does it all go?
I was like I wish I had ananswer for you.
I really do.
I was like, but since I've metyou I've put on about 60 pounds,
so let's not say I'm still thinhere.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
I don't know, I might not say that too often out loud
, but but hey, maybe, maybe it'sfun that you guys go out and do
stuff.
Yeah, that means that you, thatmeans you're enjoying some
stuff and some food, that'sabsolutely for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Getting back to a little bit more about you, I
believe you went to theuniversity of Dayton for both
undergrad and your graduateschool.
You know why did you pickDayton and what are your degrees
in.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, going back, and it's interesting because my son
is a senior in high school, soit's just fitting that you ask
that question.
I'm thinking back on my ownhigh school, I'm sorry, college
decision days.
I'm sorry college decision days, but I was the kind of person
that you know.
I wanted to be close enough toa home where I could get back on
(17:31):
a weekend and get some thingsdone or maybe get some good food
to bring back or laundry, youknow the thing.
So I wanted to be close enoughto Cleveland where that could
happen.
And you know, interestingly,back when I went to school, you
(17:52):
kind of went into a counselor'soffice and there was some
brochures and you looked atbrochures and whatever looked
good.
That's kind of you know whereyou went.
But fortunately, though, I hada good counselor and the
brochure was a very goodbrochure, because one of them
was Dayton, and so I just Iexplored it was in Ohio, it was
close enough and size was, youknow, conducive, convenient, not
(18:13):
too small, not too large, youknow.
So I just felt thatconnectedness, that closeness
that you know, that you kind ofwant in a college, just like you
can get in the high schoolsetting.
But really I spent time oncampus and I didn't know what I
wanted to major in going intocollege, so that wasn't a
(18:36):
decision, I just had to be, youknow again a place where I feel
like I could just thrive and beme, and you know, I did the
overnight and where you had tospend the night in the dorm and
go to class and and, and youknow the dining hall and all
that, which was great becauseyou really got to see, like,
what life is like, at least alittle bit what life is like and
(18:58):
, um, you know, in the dorm andthat type of thing.
But I just sat on a bench, youknow, the next day before I was
getting picked up and felt likeI could just be me, you know,
there in that setting, and Ithink it was important too to
have a faith-based, you knowenvironment to go to school as
well.
That would provide a strong,you know, well-rounded
foundation.
(19:18):
But yeah, so Dayton wasundergrad and stayed there for
two more years for graduates, soactually six years.
But Cleveland ever since hasbeen my home.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, I get that with , you know, because I went to
Bethany College in West Virginia.
It was close enough to home, towhere I could go home if need
be, get a good meal, you know,visit family, get some laundry
done for sure, if need be get agood meal, you know, visit
family, get some laundry donefor sure.
But it was far enough away thatI could kind of build my own
(19:51):
path.
If you will, had a swimmingscholarship to swim there in
college.
That was a big part of it tooas well, especially after coming
off a pretty bad shoulderinjury and Bethany keeping their
scholarship for me, whichshoulder injuries for swimmers
is pretty much the kiss of death, it seems like.
(20:12):
So they allowed me to be aquote unquote manager of the
team my freshman year so that Icould rehab and still keep my
scholarship because being partof the team, which was I thought
was awesome of them to do and,like I said, yeah it was.
It was close enough to where,like I said, if I could go home
(20:34):
if need be, and far enough awaythat you know the parents
couldn't get there quickly ifthey, if something were not
going to their liking and I hadsome time to plan out.
You know the the old collegeexcuse if things were not going
to their liking.
And I had some time to plan out.
You know the old college excuseif things weren't going the way
they thought it should be goingout there.
But kind of like you, I went inwith a different mindset.
(20:55):
I thought I was going intobusiness administration, as my
major Quickly realized that, youknow, economics classes weren't
really my forte.
So I ended up switching mymajor to broadcasting,
journalism and communicationsand earned an accounting minor
(21:20):
in the process of the time being.
For the first two years that Iwas a business major there, I
thought that was, it was goingto be.
The path and I think that'ssomething that most college
students will realize is youthink you have a plan going in
and that plan is probablyprobably going to change some
way, shape or form.
I think is like a lot of peoplethat I've talked to have gone
(21:41):
in with one goal in mind andhave ended up leaving with
another and it's worked outfantastically for them.
So did you kind of have thatwith your college career?
And I know you were also anathlete there too as well.
We'll get into that in a minute.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Well, with the major in college.
I think that's one of thethings that even now you know.
Nowadays people are asked allthe time what's your major, what
do you want to study?
I, I didn't know going in, andadvice that I got going in was
hey, just start taking classesof things that you enjoy and see
what happens.
Maybe that'll be a major.
(22:16):
And at the time I reallyenjoyed writing and what,
whatever type of writing thatwas for for for class To me.
I had a knack for it and Istarted taking some courses in
addition to the regular corecourses and all of a sudden I
had a journalism major.
So, okay, well, that's juniorsenior year and I wasn't sure
(22:40):
exactly what was going to happenwith that.
I did join the campus newspaper, which was a wonderful
experience uh, twice weekly,totally student produced campus
newspaper.
And again, for those that are alittle bit younger, you know
who listen or your audience likenewspaper, what, what?
but, yeah, well, at the timeit's still the same concept you
(23:03):
know you got to produce and thisday it would just be like the
e-newspaper, but anyway.
So my point is I took thoseclasses and I had that major and
that's how I decided to pursuejournalism.
But then senior year camearound and didn't really have an
(23:24):
idea of what I wanted to dopost-undergrad.
And again, for those that arein a similar spot, or maybe
going to be or have kids, thatare kind of at that age where
you're graduating and you're notsure of your job and the market
and stuff, graduate school isalways a great option, whether
it was when I went to schoolsome time ago I was going to say
(23:48):
decades, but okay, some timeago or now and it was an option
for me and I, well, at the timeI sort of joke and say that I
didn't see that dream job at GQmagazine knocking on my door,
writing feature stories andtraveling the world.
It was probably going to becovering the Strawberry Festival
(24:08):
at Solon Times, which wasprobably pretty exciting in some
years, depending on the harvestcovering the strawberry
festival at Seoul, and you knowSeoul and times um, which which
you know was probably prettyexciting, you know in some years
, depending on the harvest, butI didn't know what I wanted to
do, uh, but they said, hey, whydon't you stick around and you
get a graduate degree in the youknow, in communication,
organizational communication,take a lot of different graduate
courses and this and that and,but you get to teach for two
(24:32):
years.
You have to teach the COM 101class that the freshmen or you
know the required course thatwas.
You have to do that you knowand teach that every semester.
So I thought, okay, that wasgreat and that's kind of how I
stayed on at Dayton for mygraduate degree and the
education bug, if you will bitme there, that's how I got into
(24:54):
education admissions, helpingpeople find their path or
journey and make thoseconnections and providing that
bridge, that pathway, if youwill, to help people get to
their next threshold and whatthey want to do.
It was all of I.
I stayed on graduate school andtaught and was in education and
(25:17):
then have been in education asfar as an industry ever since
yeah, that I mean I back.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
It was still in the early 2000s.
I worked with the newspaper,which quickly shifted to the
e-newspaper, the e-letter asthey called it out at Bethany
Also ended up being the sportsdirector for the radio station
out there, so I actually got toannounce every home football,
(25:45):
baseball, basketball game, anysporting event that that
happened there from about 2009into 2010,.
You heard my voice on the radioand on the streaming platform.
My class kind of helped produceand get the TV station and the
streaming services up andrunning for the next generations
(26:08):
.
We quickly realized that therewas a lot of students that were
coming from out of state to playsports there and their parents
couldn't get to to watch them.
So what better way, uh, toreach them is to start that
streaming platform and addeverything out there.
And it's really grown and I Istill follow it to to this day,
you know.
And after graduating in 2012 andrealizing that it's now 2025,
(26:35):
almost 2026, and it's been thatlong since I've been in college,
it's great to see somethingthat kind of started with my
class and what we did and it'sbuilt up to where it is today.
It's an awesome feeling to seeup to where it is today.
It's an awesome feeling to seeand being able to watch the swim
(26:55):
team.
If I want to catch a meet and Ican it's a quick go to a link
on the website and I can watchthe event to watch my alma mater
swim.
It's great for everybody to beable to see.
And do you guys kind of havethat with?
Like you said you were, like Isaid you were, part of the
rowing team at Dayton.
(27:17):
So what was that portion likewith the sports and the school,
with being an athlete and astudent at the same time?
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, and the rowing team, the decision to pursue a
crew, I guess, as they say, uhhappened during the orientation
uh week, you know, at freshmanyear, and uh, when different
clubs were setting up tables allover campus and whatnot.
I saw this very, very long.
Uh, well, what's called aracing shell, the boat, you know
(27:48):
, that houses the eight peopleand uh, and when you see it up
close you realize, like boy,this is like well, it has to
house eight people, so it'sgotta be a pretty big um you
know vessel or whatnot.
But I just saw that and, um, acouple of people, really nice
people, said, hey, are you newhere?
Uh, you're looking to joinsomething.
Have you ever considered thecrew team?
(28:09):
I said, tell me more.
You know, and that's kind of howit started, um, and at the time
it was a club team.
It's it's been varsity for many, many years and actually it's
one of the stronger uh programsaround um, so we were kind of
one of the early teams, um, atthe, I guess, the inception of
the program.
But anyway, I any type oforganized activity, whether it's
(28:33):
a sport or a or a group, butbut in this case it was a
athletic activity.
But I would always encouragethat for anyone, whether it's,
you know, varsity or orotherwise, because you get to be
part of something that requirescoordinating, literally
coordinating activities andefforts with other people at the
(28:53):
same moment in time, whenyou're rowing on the water.
And it's just such a precisesport that, looking from the
shore, if you ever see peoplerowing in the an eight person or
four person or even just asingle, uh you know boat or
shell, uh, it looks effortlessbut what's happening is grueling
(29:13):
on the water.
But to have the opportunity toeven freshman year, uh, well, I
say opportunity now but to wakeup before 8 am class and to go
down to the river, get in theboat, go up and down the river
several times, mind you, this isit's dark and you see the sun
(29:35):
rise over the city of dayton, soyou see some like beautiful
things, um, all before an 8 amclass and then when everyone
else is finishing their omeletsand heading to english, you're,
you're, just you, you got done,you know, on the water for an
hour and a half of the gruelingactivity and still have to be
(29:56):
ready for that class.
So it just puts you in adifferent frame and I think,
ultimately, anytime anyone cando that the discipline, the
focus, the structure, theorganization, the being part of
something that requires otherpeople to help you and you to
help other people Wow, can yoube part of something better than
(30:17):
that?
And I was fortunate to be partof that program for four years
and it's one of those uniquesports that not many people get
exposed to, because most people,let's face it, it's not.
It wasn't at my high school, itwasn't at a lot of people's
high schools, it's not, probablynot going to be at a lot of
people's colleges, but, uh, butrowing or crew, uh for those who
(30:40):
know it's, uh, it's, it's anunbelievable life experience.
Um, just because of the, thelessons that you learn about,
you know, camaraderie and focusand grit and all those great
things yeah, uh, I get thatabout the early morning workouts
at uh, the, the swim team outbethany.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
We were in the water at 6 am every morning and you
know we'd we'd get that hourworkout in and end up swimming
probably close to uh, me being asprinter was like a mile and a
half, two miles and then gettinginto the showers, getting back
and then we're off to, like yousaid, the 8 am 8.30 classes and
(31:26):
people were just getting up and,you know, getting their coffees
and starting their days.
And you know a lot of peopleask me, like how do you get to
this 8 am class?
And you're like bright-eyed andbushy-tailed, it seems like,
and you're just, you're moreawake for somebody who hasn't
had any coffee yet.
Like how do you do this?
Like I've already swam twomiles today, like I've been up
since 5.30 to get myself to thepool and to the natatorium on
(31:50):
time so that I can be changedand ready and in the water and
start my workout at 6 am.
And you know I wouldn't changeit for anything because it
helped me start my day.
I got to be with my teammates,not only the male teammates but
the female teammates, becauseeverybody was put into
(32:11):
individual lanes based on thestrokes that you did and the if
you were a sprinter, if you weredistance.
So you got to to be with somedifferent uh, some different
people, different teammates andyou know, bouncing ideas off of
each other early in the morningin the freezing cold water.
Uh, those pools were not, notheated that that well as they
(32:32):
should be.
If you're wanting to get in andgo as fast as you can, I don't
want to stay in cold water thatlong.
That's my kind of thoughtprocess behind it.
But you know, get that wake-upcall and to think back to it now
, a lot of people don't likethese cold plunges and
everything like that and it'ssupposed to revive the body and
I think that's kind of what Iwas doing early on in my career
(32:55):
at swimming at Bethany.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Man, you were like way ahead of the curve, just
like just totally light yearsahead of that curve and with the
cold bath and stuff, I likethat transition.
That was a good one.
I've actually never done thecold, the true cold plunge,
where you're jumping into thatbarrel and you're doing the
whole thing and I don't know howlong you stay in there.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
But Like I even like if my shower is not to the right
temperature that I like it, itstarts getting cold.
It's time to end the shower,but you know it's it.
Yeah, I think back to myyounger days and you know,
(33:38):
getting in the pool, I think wasa max of like I think 75
degrees was the was the warmestI got, which sounds warm, but
when you're talking about waterlike that's, that's pretty cold.
But when you're talking aboutwater like that's, that's pretty
cold.
So, yeah, like I can't do thecold plunges now, like the cold
(33:59):
water just just bugs me to deathright now.
Well, yeah, let's just hope youdon't have to encounter that
anytime I try not to the bestthat I can.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
I'll keep an eye out for cold water so that way you
don't have to encounter coldwater.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, we don't want thatcausing a ruckus.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Absolutely so.
Like me here, you are a prouddad and husband.
So like me, here you know youare a proud dad and husband and
I always am interested to hearhow other people balance that.
You know work life, homebalance, and how does that work
for you?
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Yeah, no, I'm really glad you brought that up and
because it's really the fabricand the part of well, I mean,
any of any of us who are luckyto to be a parent.
You know that, thatresponsibility to, of course, to
be a parent, you know that,that responsibility too, of
course.
But but you realize thatwhether and we have a son, our
only child, but you know, if youhave one, two, three, whatever,
(35:01):
when you, when you're balancingjust any thing or a number of
things, but if you have anotherhuman being, you know in in the
picture, that's like that's a's100 dependent on you for
everything literally, likegetting to and from food, this
and that and everything inbetween.
You just realize the magnitudeof that.
(35:23):
But one thing I will say is, andI think that anyone who moves
on in life, as you get older,you start measuring time in
longer increments, like has itbeen three years, has it been
five years, has it been 10 years?
Wow, you don't start sayingit's been two months, it's been
six months, you start sayingyears, years and decades and all
(35:46):
of a sudden you're 40 and 45and 50, and and my point is, if,
if you're, you know if you're aparent or if you're a family
member or whatever.
Um, you know, time moves on,but seemingly moves on more
quickly as you get older andalmost to the point where you
feel like the the acceleratorson and you have to buckle up.
(36:09):
And then and then all thosetimes that you think, oh yeah,
we'll get lunch, we're gonna getlunch one of these days.
We're gonna get lunch.
You keep, you're gonna getlunch.
For 10 years yeah and I know thequestion was you've got a son,
you know, and how do you balance?
You know that, but but I guessthe the bigger point is, um, you
(36:32):
know, be present and and likeactually be present in the
moments that you have, likelooking at like what just popped
up on your phone, but bepresent with that person, cause
(36:53):
there's something powerful whentwo people are, you know, or any
number of people areexperiencing something.
So you just want to make surethat there's the humanness of it
all, there's a connectedness,and that you're actually like
experiencing life with thatperson.
And there's going to betechnology and digital stuff
here and there along the way,but, but it's scary when there's
no blueprint.
Be technology and digital stuffhere and there along the way,
but, um, but uh, it's scary whenthere's no blueprint or roadmap
(37:15):
or instruction manual.
And I joke about that with mywife all the time and and even
when we first brought him homein the carrier, we videotaped it
from the car ride home from thehospital and we sat down in the
living room and I think I saidsomething like you know now what
you know?
Like, oh, like, what do we donow?
Like, oh, my gosh, like this islike it's a big moment, but but
(37:39):
you know, everyone has thosethose types of moments If it's a
new job or if it's a family ora life change.
But my point again, life islike it moves quicker as we get
older.
So you, just you don't want to,you don't want to be the person
saying I wish I would have donethat, I wish I, you know, would
(38:00):
have done that.
Like you don't want to be that,like people keep saying that to
me and it's like I, I want to,I want to follow that advice
absolutely, I used to, I stillremember, used to, like my
parents are.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
But I'm like, oh, don't, don't take this for
granted, it's going to go fasterthan you think it.
You know life hits you, hitsyou harder than you than you
think, you know it comes quickerthan you think.
And to to think back to youknow the, the, the wife and I, I
and we've we've been together10 years.
And just saying that, you knowwe haven't been married for 10
(38:37):
years, but we've been togetherfor the better part of 10 years
now.
And that's just to think like Ican still remember the, the
first day, like I used to be,like I used to ask my grandpa,
like how do you remember thefirst day you and grandma met?
And you can still recall thatday?
It's because it goes back.
It seems like it was yesterdaythat we met each other and we
(38:59):
got together.
And when you're with the rightperson, I don't think you
realize how long it's been since, since you got, since you were
together.
And um, I always say, you know,I have, uh, my son, he is, he is
a stepson to me, uh, his, hisbiological dad, not the picture.
(39:20):
So we don't even, I don't evensay like to say, say, stepson
anymore, um, but you know, Ialso have two other bonus kids
and stepdaughters that are grownolder.
One just graduated nursing andbecame an RN.
So it's just the nostalgia ofthings and thinking, wow, yeah,
(39:45):
I'm in my 30s, almost my 40s,and I technically have three
kids.
I never thought it would be tothat point and you know, I don't
know when it happened or how ithappened, but here I am 10
years later, uh, with a littlebit more gray in my beard than I
(40:05):
had, uh then before, for sure,um, but it I wouldn't change it
for the world.
Uh, and you were right bepresent, being present with
whatever is going on, no matterwhat it is, um, sporting events,
schooling things, anything, orjust being together at at the
(40:28):
house and being present withthat person.
If I'm, if I'm around my sonand we're hanging out or doing
anything at all, like I prettymuch turn my phone off, every
electronic that I have, just soI can just be there, cause I
know the time's going to comewhen he's not home anymore and
he's off doing his own thing,and I, as as a dad, you don't
want that day to come, but youknow, as as a man.
(40:50):
You want him to grow as intohis own person.
So it's kind of a kind of abalance you have to have to have
with that too as well.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
It's just it's it's great to see him grow and it it
become his own man yeah, theysay, um, you know, you're the
center of the tent, their centerof attention, like for for
their whole lives.
And there's that one momentwhere they say where your kids
might say, or whoever you knowif you're a guardian or whatever
, um, oh, you can just drop meoff, like a little bit further
(41:19):
down the drive, like like downin the street, not in front of
the house, just like down here,and then you, you kind of like,
don't become the center, so tospeak.
But you know, it's all part ofthe journey and um, um, you know
, yeah, there's there, I guessyou, you want to, uh, to instill
, you know, behaviors andcharacteristics and emotions and
(41:41):
skills that can help prepareyoung people or whoever, to
become independent and decisionmakers.
And, boy, it's not easy, butyou get to in some way relive,
like childhood or high schooland or whatever it might be,
through the, through the eyes ofsomeone else.
But you realize that, boy, wethought it was tough when we
(42:02):
were in school.
Every generation they alwayssays, oh, it was so tough when
we were in school, but now, withtechnology and instant
information, and, boy, it'stough.
I give a lot of credit toschools, especially like
elementary high schools, butcertainly, like you know,
especially like elementary highschools, but certainly, like you
(42:22):
know, the higher education,because it's a formative time
for people and young people andwe have to be support structures
for that growth and developmentabsolutely.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
My wife and I joke around all the time like you
couldn't pay me to go back toand be a high schooler.
These days, versus what we didwhen we were, there was just the
instant gratification and theinstant everything's there.
It's to the technology age.
I don't envy them.
I would not want to do it now,knowing how it was when I grew
(42:55):
up in the 90s and the early2000s, and you know it was a
much simpler time and yeah, wejoke about it all the time and
my son's just like but we haveeverything right here.
It's like, yeah, but do youlike?
I mean, I still remember my dadwhen I would get home from
school like is your homeworkdone?
(43:16):
Yeah, you came home frompractice.
All right, get out of the house, I'll see you at dark.
Like you know, we didn't havephones or video games or things
that we were tied to.
But I guess they're makingmemories in their own ways and
in different ways, and you knowthey'll be telling their kids
that, oh, it was so differentwhen I was growing up.
(43:36):
It was simpler then, you know.
So I'm sure everyone thinks itwas simpler in their time.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
It's funny because I think our kids and I'm thinking
of my son's, a senior in highschool they'll be telling
stories about you know what wehad to get to school?
Put our phone in a pouch theentire day, we couldn't get it
until the end of the day.
And then the kids are like noway you had to put your phone in
(44:06):
a pouch, no way.
That's what they're talkingabout and it's happening because
this is the first year that, atleast in my son's school,
that's happening, but I knowit's been happening, you know,
at other places for a while.
But this can you imagine aworld like one year you have
access to that device all daytech you know conceivably or you
(44:27):
don't have access to it.
I think it might.
This might be interesting.
Like all these younger students, these children, or whatever
you want to call it, are withouttheir devices during the day.
That might be a good thing, butit's just interesting because
it's think about what would yoube like if someone said, hey,
from from 8 to 3, 15, uh, yougotta put your phone over here
(44:51):
and you can't touch it.
Like just think about that.
That's for the, for their kids.
This is what their life is likewhen you do that and just so I
always think of what would thatbe like if we impose that on us
right, that's a.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
That's a big change.
You know, you don't realize howmuch you use your devices and
technology and all that nowadaysuntil it's until you can't, you
know, or you're not allowed touse it or anything like that.
So, yeah, it's definitely,definitely a big change With you
being there at Case WesternReserves University.
You actually worked with formerguests of the show we talked
(45:27):
about this a little bit beforewe got started and Cole
Schneider, but also, formerly ofCase Western, the wonderful
manager of the podcast, johnnyFitty Falcone.
What was it like working withthese guys?
Speaker 2 (45:39):
Yeah, I would say uh, total chaos.
No, I'm just kidding that's sogood.
I'm just kidding, um, honestlylike these, both.
Both of these guys are just, uh,phenomenal people, um, and I
know they're both affiliatedwith the show in different ways,
uh, but, uh, you know, when you, when you, just when you have
(46:03):
quality human beings, you knowthe people that you can talk to
and actually like, ask likesubstantive questions and and
have a good conversation.
You know you've got I, um, youknow someone who's good to know
and you want on your side, but,uh, but I'm very, yeah,
fortunate to uh have had theopportunity to work with, uh,
john, uh, johnny Falcone, who'spart of the podcast, and Cole, a
(46:26):
guest uh on the show, and um,but, uh, yeah, just great, great
guys and um, they say you know,you've heard of this, uh, that
you're known by the company youkeep and yeah, um, so I'd be,
I'm proud to to know, know theseguys and uh, but that's just a
good, it's a good message.
You know, just just be aroundpeople that you want to.
(46:48):
You know, um, either learnsomething from or get you in
that didn't make you feel better, that didn't pick you up, that
inspire you and um, because,yeah, because you want to
surround yourself with thosepeople, even if that's not like
all day, every day, but it'sjust like parts of your day,
parts of the you know the weekoh yeah, I mean I think johnny
(47:11):
and I talk on a daily basis, uh,whether it's via text or or
call um, it's always super early.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
We both know we're early risers and it seems like
my phone's going off with thetext message tone before my
alarm sometimes with Johnny andgetting texts about what's going
on, what ideas he has for theshow and everything like that.
And a lot of times it's just usjust shooting the shit and just
kind of bouncing ideas off ofeach other.
(47:39):
And I think you need thosepeople around you for sure.
And you know a lot of formerguests still, you know, message
me to this day.
A lot of them are, you know,some are former college athletes
, some are still collegeathletes, some are pro athletes.
I follow everybody that hasbeen on the show, um, um and,
(48:02):
you know, try to keep up with asmany people as I can, but we're
we're coming down near episode260, 261.
So it's getting a little harderand harder to try to keep up
with everybody.
Speaker 2 (48:14):
Let me, uh, let me ask you something.
I mean, you've, uh, you'vetalked to a lot of people and a
lot of different topics and alot of different things.
You know, what do you know?
Like what trend do you noticeamong the people that you're
talking to as far as, um, if youhad to like extrapolate like
high level life lessons, likewhat are the things that you're
(48:37):
just even hearing from time totime from your guests about how
they live, what they do, lessonsthey've learned, anything just
like kind of emerge as like highlevel takeaways from all these
conversations you've had?
Speaker 1 (48:51):
Oh man, Um, there's so many, um, a lot of it.
It comes down to, um, to kindof along the lines of what you
were saying being present andjust being in the moment and not
trying to look too far aheadinto the future, because if you
(49:15):
start looking that far ahead,you're going to miss stuff
that's happening right now.
That's been a lot of the bigthings that I've noticed and
just a lot of like.
Even you know, like I said,I've talked to a lot of former
athletes, a lot of currentathletes, professional athletes
and that, and you know havingdreams and goals and everything
(49:36):
like that, but knowing thosedon't define you.
If, if you have to take a loss,take a loss and learn from it,
it's, it's.
You're not losing your learning.
Um, that has been, you know, alot of the biggest things, but
the main one is always, you know, just be present, just don't
think too far ahead, becauseyou're going to miss what's
(49:58):
happening right in front of you.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Right, yeah, and and and just like thinking and
planning and this and that, yeah, the moment is the moment and
and that's yeah, and then themoment is gone.
You know five seconds ago, youknow now because, but that's
okay, because you experienced itand it's worth experiencing it,
and this whole thing calledlife that we're on, it's a
(50:30):
privilege and it's a journey.
And, as they say, someone toldme once, when you're networking,
like in an event, you don'twant to sit on the aisle, like
on the end, because you miss outon, like a chance to meet
someone.
So you sit where you havesomeone on either side of you,
so you have two chances to meetsomeone.
Or when you're in line in abuffet, anywhere assuming it's
(50:51):
an event where you should bemeeting people, you know that's
a great chance to talk to theperson in front of you or behind
you, like, these are built inways to like have warm
conversations, um.
But again, the lesson is just,you know people, you know you,
you can connect with people inways that are low pressure.
(51:11):
That you know have.
You know, uh, potentially, youknow high, uh, high value, high
outcome.
You just have to look for theopportunity and sometimes it
pans out.
Sometimes it doesn't, but whynot right, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (51:28):
Why not Absolutely.
And yeah, that's always howI've tried to live and grow my
careers as somebody who's beenworking at becoming, uh, you
know, a full-time stand-upcomedian, uh, for the past 13
years.
You know it.
It's definitely a grind, notfor the faint of heart, but I'm
(51:48):
not looking too far ahead.
I'm trying to stay grounded ineverything that that I'm doing
with this.
But uh, steve, I just realizedhow long we've been sitting here
and talking.
We are running down.
Speaker 2 (52:01):
Yeah, we can.
No, no, we're good.
Well, yeah, that's fine.
Well, this session maybe we'llwe'll wrap up this episode, but
you got the wheel, you got thecommand.
Speaker 1 (52:13):
So I would say well, I have one more segment I have
to get in here near the end ofthe episode.
Anybody who's listened to it?
It is the Fast 55, and that isfive random questions from the
wonderful manager of the podcast, johnny Fitty Falcone.
These are kind of rapid firefor the new listeners out there.
Steve, you can't elaborate ifyou need to, but if you already
(52:37):
have someone who's worked withJohnny for these questions,
we'll go ahead and we'll startthe Fast 55.
Alright, let's do it Alright.
Question number one Would yourather be a famous sumo wrestler
or a famous keyboard player?
Keyboard player Okay, Numbertwo what's the best place you've
(53:01):
ever visited?
Speaker 2 (53:10):
Maui, maui.
Speaker 1 (53:12):
Okay, Question number three what's the last book you
read?
Speaker 2 (53:19):
what's the last book you read?
Uh, becoming a resident leader.
Okay, well, actually no thewell.
That was the textbook, the.
The book was uh, residentleadership by richard boyatzis
okay, yeah, what?
Speaker 1 (53:37):
question number four who is your favorite actor ever?
Speaker 2 (53:44):
actor ever robin williams.
Speaker 1 (53:55):
that's a phenomenal answer.
On that one, I don't thinkanybody would disagree on that
one.
For sure, that's a phenomenalchoice.
And last but not least, if youhad to be either the color brown
or purple, which color wouldyou be?
Purple, purple, it's a goodchoice.
(54:16):
It's my favorite color.
I'll go with that one.
I'll go with that one.
That was a fast 85.
I feel like, since he's workedwith you, he took it a little
easier than usual for people onthat one.
But yeah, it's just a fun waywe like to try to wind down the
episode here.
But, steve, I do give everyguest this opportunity at the
end of the show.
(54:36):
If there's anything you want toget out there I know we've
already talked about a couplegood messages in there, but if
it's that, or if it's somethingfor case western reserves,
anything you want to get outthere, I'm going to give you
about a minute and the floor isyours all right, thanks, no,
appreciate being on here.
Speaker 2 (54:51):
I would say to anyone , at any stage of their lives
always remember to be kind, begood.
Don't do it because you expectkindness in return.
Make sure that you treat otherpeople, uh, with inclusion and
(55:13):
welcome, and make people feelsafe.
Uh, that's what I would say.
That's how you should treatpeople in life.
And if you're looking to expandyour other parts of your life,
your academic parts, yourleadership, of course the
weather head in case can assistyou with that.
(55:34):
But just make sure that you begood, because you'll start
measuring time by decades andyou want to make sure that
you've got a lot of good thingsto talk about when you talk
about those decades that aregoing by.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
That's phenomenal and I always love it when guests
have a good message at the endof the show.
I love to end the show that way.
I'm all for helping people getout what they have to get out.
When guests have a good messageat the end of the show, I love
to end the show that way.
I'm all for helping people getout what they have to get out.
But when it's a good messagelike that, it's a great way to
end the episode and, on thatnote, that is going to do it for
this week's episode of the ridehome rants podcast.
(56:13):
I want to thank my guest, steveScheidt, for joining the show.
This was a lot of fun to get tosit and talk with you, learn a
little bit more about your storyand everything that you got
going on.
Really appreciate you coming on, as always if you enjoyed the
show, be a friend, tell a friend.
If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it just
because you didn't.
That's going to do it for meand I will see y'all next week.
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is, as always, your host,mike Bono.
I have a great guest from ustoday.
He comes to us from Cleveland,ohio.
He works at Case WesternUniversity at the Weatherhead
School of Management in theGraduate Admissions Program, and
(00:21):
that is Steve Scheidt.
Joins the show.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Steve, thank you for joining me yeah, it's fantastic
to be here, boy with uh, withthat intro.
Uh, you really uh build thingsup.
That's fantastic and much, muchappreciated, I might say that's
what I like to do here.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I like to build people up on this show.
That that's kind of what I liketo do here.
Um, you're originally from ohioand you grew up in the, I
believe, in the suburbs.
Which town did you actuallygrow up in?
Tell the folks a little bitabout yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, I consider myself a Clevelander in Ohio and
, even though I wasn't born here, originally a Chicago native,
but I say Cleveland by way ofNairobi, kenya.
I'm originally from Chicago andwhen I was very, very young one
(01:09):
years old at the time my fatherhad an opportunity to work and
travel to Nairobi, kenya to getsome international experience.
It was supposed to be a year ofinternational experience and
somehow he convinced my mom whowas then pregnant with my sister
at the time to move to Nairobi,kenya and relocate the growing
(01:32):
family there and spent the first, well, essentially the first
five years of my life in Africabefore eventually coming back to
Cleveland.
And then, and uh, and then youknow, settling down and living
and working here.
But but that that was mybeginning.
My, my worldview started withum nairobi, kenya.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
so that's uh, and I'll never forget that that is
just an awesome start toeverything you know.
Going thinking it was justgoing to be talking about the
suburbs of Iowa yeah, I threwyou for a loop there.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
But everyone's journey, as you know, whether
it's people are born and raisedin the same place or maybe have
had different world experiencesand have traveled the state, the
country, the world, you justappreciate different ways of
living and different ways ofbeing when you have a chance to
(02:30):
experience that.
For example, when I came backfrom Nairobi, I was still not
even in elementary school andwent to the Chicago Zoo and one
of the first questions I askedwas why are all the animals
behind bars and in cages?
Because I didn't know anydifferent.
I just thought you go on safariand you see lions and zebras
and elephants and all thosethings, and we have pictures.
(02:53):
You know, we got pictures andthey're just right next to the
car.
But that's your worldview andit's shaped by the people, the
conditions, the images aroundyou at the time.
And that was my worldview and Ididn't even know what a zoo was
.
So can you believe it?
And here we are, back inCleveland and we've got a
phenomenal zoo, and so I thinkeverything does come full circle
(03:16):
.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
That would be a big culture shock, I guess.
If you're used to seeing amountain safari and then all of
a sudden you're in a zoo, likewhat the heck's going on here?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Like, why are they all locked up?
Yeah, and you know what?
Uh, the one of the things thatI I'll, I'll never forget and
that I always take with me isthat some of the these creatures
, you know, these, these animalsthat I got to see up close in
the natural habitat, in the wild, you know, some of them are
endangered and likely at somepoint, you know, will be, you
know, be extinct, and that'sjust kind of one of the things
(03:52):
that you think about, like thatnot everyone is going to have
the opportunity, whether a zooor in the natural environment,
to see some of these creaturesthat you know.
Again, I sort of grew up with,you know, many, many, many years
ago.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah, that's a great start, you know, and to
everything especially you knowgetting that experience and
growing up.
But I believe you also, onceyou got back to the States, you
played some sports growing up.
You know which sports did youplay and you know how did that
help shape you into where you'reat today.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Oh yeah, and we'll fast forward a lot because we're
going way back into the vaulthere.
I've got to start telling somecompelling stories if this is
going to get some traction.
No, I'm just kidding.
But in all seriousness,whatever the activity, whether
it's athletics or someco-curricular activity, as far
as what I got involved withearly and I'm really glad I did
(04:49):
my dad introduced me to the gameof golf when I was in middle
school.
That's not maybe particularlyexciting for a lot of people,
but guess what?
Most of us at some point oranother are going to get invited
to a golf outing or we've got agolf fundraiser and you got to
know how to do it, but anyway.
(05:11):
So I just thought that was afantastic sport because you you
get individual, you know skillset, development and
contribution, but you're part ofan aggregate team, uh, so you
kind of get the best of both,but you're you're not
necessarily playing with yourteammates at the same time,
which is kind of ironic, whichis what it is very interesting.
As far as sports, when youthink about it, but relative to
the other sports.
(05:31):
So golf, I'm so glad I gotintroduced to the game of golf
and then later coach golf at thehigh school level and ended up
also rowing in college inbetween there.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, I'm a big golf guy, love the golf.
Not very good at it, but I lovethe game of golf Actually,
believe me.
You know two of the sponsors ofthe show are golf companies
with Schenken Golf and SweetHand Sports.
So yeah, I love anything golf.
(06:10):
My grandfather on my mom's sideactually held his pro card for
a while, so got me into golf fora little bit.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, good, good, and actually back in the day, this
is just part of my fun fact.
At least it's fun to me.
For a second, I've actually,speaking of golf have witnessed
two different holes in one.
One was in high school ateammate I'm sorry, a competitor
.
I wish it were a teammate, butit was a competitor.
(06:41):
He got a hole in one and uh.
But the irony is and I like totell this part of it because it
kind of pains me the ball wassailing in the air.
It was a beautiful looking shotand we all thought it was gonna
end up okay and I was the nextperson to hit on the tee.
So I bent down while the ballwas in the air, teed up my ball
(07:02):
and everyone started cheering asit went in the cup and as I was
teeing up my ball.
So technically I didn't see it,but for all intents and
purposes I did so anyway.
That was the first one.
The second one, um, was, uh,seeing my, my dad, get a
hole-in-one and that was reallycool too.
Um, but my, my dream, bucketlist, number one on my bucket
(07:24):
list is being able to get a holein one and playing with my dad
and having him see my hole inone, just like I saw, just like
I saw his hole in one.
So that would be.
That's my dream bucket list.
So I got to get a lot more golfin uh this summer and fall just
to get enough par threes tohave that chance.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Absolutely.
When I was oh, I think I wasgoing into my freshman year of
high school there was a littlepar three course right where I
grew up in a little town inFollinsby, west Virginia.
We would go from time to time alittle nine-hole par three.
You can kind of work on yourshort game a little bit and I
(08:06):
hit a hole in one there.
Uh, myself, I shanked it realbad off the off the rip and I
was like, oh man, and I kind oflike turned away.
But there was the green, wasnext to a hill.
It bounced off the hill, rolleddown and just couldn't have
played it better if I tried toplay it this way.
It rolled right into the cupand my buddies had to tell me
that I hit a hole in one likecause I was already turned
(08:27):
around and like walking back toput my club away and be like, oh
and I gotta go find this balland ended up hitting a hole in
one and it was pretty cool.
The, the little course that itwas, went to the local paper
paper and actually had my namein the paper.
My parents still have the paperclipping.
I hit a hole in one at thelittle local nine-hole par-3
(08:53):
course up on Highland Hills inFollinsbury, west Virginia.
So it was a pretty coolexperience.
Haven't hit one since, haven'teven came close to hitting one
since, but it was just one ofthose freak bounces that I had
that kind of worked out for me.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Well, you've got a story that many, many golfers
wish to tell one day, so we'llkeep trying.
I will keep trying, and Iappreciate you sharing your
story.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you did grow up, I believe,in an Italian family.
So what was it like growing upafter, when you got back from
Africa and everything like that,but growing up in an Italian
family?
As a fellow Italian myself, Ialways love to hear how it
differs, but it's the same, youknow.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
It seems like yeah, and I guess I'm 50% Italian by
birth.
Okay, my mother made me inPalumbo and I know you asked
about coming back in the Italianfamily, but this is important
for context.
Mother's father, um, back inthe day, was a restaurateur and
(10:07):
owned a different, you know,restaurants called palumbos, so
they would serve breakfast,lunch, dinner and italian food.
But, uh, but I guess, growingup in at least through my uh, my
mom's side, because my dad is agerman, croatian but just the
whole idea of uh, of havingpeople come together over food
you know whether that washomemade meatballs with a pinch
(10:28):
of this and a pinch of that, norecipes written down.
You know from, from, uh, fromdifferent aunts and grandmas and
people and uh and and just onlycertain smells of the kitchen
that you can get from those.
You know particular people,particular people preparing the
meals.
It's just amazing when you thinkabout the things that people
pass down, and so what Iremember is just having a very,
(10:53):
very enjoyable times andmeaningful conversation and
experiences over, you know, homecooked meals and just
appreciating that time and andreally, you know that
understanding that we, we can dothat and we should learn from
from different cultures whospend hours at the dinner table
(11:15):
or at the lunch table, um, evenduring the work day, um, over a
good conversation, if it's uh,if it's fruitful, and you're
connecting with that person.
So I think just makingmeaningful connections is just
in life, is probably one of themost important things, if not
most important, because in theend, well, we're kind of all
(11:36):
going to be nearing a halfcentury I'm almost there right
now but it's really just aboutthe quality of the relationships
you have with people and makinga mark, and that's what I was
taught is just.
It's all about people andmaking sure that you're one of
the good people when you gettalked about.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Thousand percent on that one.
It's always about it.
It always seems to revolvearound food.
When it comes to Italian tier,I am a smidge under, I always
say I'm a smidge.
I always say I'm full blood.
It always seems to revolvearound food.
When it comes to two Italianshere, I am a smidge under, I
always say I'm a smidge.
I always say I'm full-blooded,I'm a smidge under full-blooded
Italian.
My dad is full-blooded Italian,my mom is half Italian, half
Slovak, so it's about 75%Italian.
(12:21):
So grew up in a very big familyand it was always Sunday sauce,
as we called it it was.
My grandmother's would cookbasically all day, starting from
after church in the morninguntil it was dinner time and
then we all met at one table andit was hours.
(12:43):
You didn't feel like you wereat the table for hours, but just
course after course and justplate after plate and just
conversations going oneverywhere.
Everyone was kind of having adifferent conversation but the
same conversation at the sametime and it's just a great
experience for anybody towitness that To this day, like
(13:04):
my wife, even every Sunday wehave sauce and we don't.
We moved to Ohio.
I'm about two hours away fromthe Italian portion of my family
a little closer to my wife'sfamily here, but every every
Sunday we know it's it's sauceday and Sunday sauce and she
keeps that tradition going andit's just me, her and my son.
(13:27):
I think it's the only time weactually sit down at our dinner
table to actually eat a mealtogether.
With our work schedules and myson's school and
extracurriculars, we don'talways get to eat together, but
Sundays for sure we make surethat we sit down to a meal.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, we're there for hours just sitting there
picking at stuff and just justtalking and catching up on our
week and it's just a great thingto to have happen and I I wish
a lot more people had thatexperience to sit down to a meal
, uh, with someone right and andthis observation isn't
particular to like the, the italItalian community, but one
thing I do think it's it alwayskind of tickles me when I think
(14:08):
about it is after a huge meal ofspaghetti and and you know, and
meatballs and sausage and thisand that, and you're all ready
to go, and you're ready to goback home and you're you're kind
of getting wrapped up.
The the hosts usually have aanian, you know meal makes you a
(14:29):
sandwich just in case you gethungry on the way home.
Just just just in case you gethungry or in case you get stuck
in traffic.
Just just take this dessert.
Just you'll need this, uh, incase you need it.
I just thought it was alwaysfunny that, uh, just to get from
point a to point, you need asandwich.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
It's funny that you mentioned that, because my wife
is still always shocked Everytime we visit my family back
home, whether it's a holiday,just get together, we can get
together all together.
They're always sending us withleftovers.
Does your family just not likeleftovers?
Why are they always giving usleftovers?
No, that's so we can eat it allthe way home.
(15:07):
That that's.
That's literally going to bethe snack for the ride home.
Now we have a little bit biggerof a commute than most people
do when they're coming from anitalian family.
But, um, she's, she's still.
I mean, it's been 10 years andshe's still just like.
They're just always giving usleftovers.
I was like like, yeah, that'sjust, it's either a sandwich and
some dessert or it's somethingthat's left over.
(15:28):
And I was like, yeah, that'sactually meant to eat on the way
home, that's not, that's not.
There's no way that's supposedto make it home.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Right, and I'm convinced that there's.
There's going to be anotherversion or a category of food or
snack that is meant for thefrom the front door to the car,
in case you get hungry.
Yeah, front door to the car,because we've already got the
car to the way home covered withthat, that extra snack.
There's still that walk to thecar, because that can.
(15:57):
I mean there can be some longwalks, driveways can be long and
not everyone has digested thedinner.
It's just, yeah, you can't.
You might need something forthat.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
That walk to the car, yeah that I I really feel like
that's gonna be a thing herevery soon.
I I hope it is like well, again10 years we've been together.
My wife's just still shocked.
She's like I don't know likehow you eat that much and you
stay as thin as you are.
(16:27):
She's like I don't understandit.
Where does it all go?
I was like I wish I had ananswer for you.
I really do.
I was like, but since I've metyou I've put on about 60 pounds,
so let's not say I'm still thinhere.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
I don't know, I might not say that too often out loud
, but but hey, maybe, maybe it'sfun that you guys go out and do
stuff.
Yeah, that means that you, thatmeans you're enjoying some
stuff and some food, that'sabsolutely for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Getting back to a little bit more about you, I
believe you went to theuniversity of Dayton for both
undergrad and your graduateschool.
You know why did you pickDayton and what are your degrees
in.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, going back, and it's interesting because my son
is a senior in high school, soit's just fitting that you ask
that question.
I'm thinking back on my ownhigh school, I'm sorry, college
decision days.
I'm sorry college decision days, but I was the kind of person
that you know.
I wanted to be close enough toa home where I could get back on
(17:31):
a weekend and get some thingsdone or maybe get some good food
to bring back or laundry, youknow the thing.
So I wanted to be close enoughto Cleveland where that could
happen.
And you know, interestingly,back when I went to school, you
(17:52):
kind of went into a counselor'soffice and there was some
brochures and you looked atbrochures and whatever looked
good.
That's kind of you know whereyou went.
But fortunately, though, I hada good counselor and the
brochure was a very goodbrochure, because one of them
was Dayton, and so I just Iexplored it was in Ohio, it was
close enough and size was, youknow, conducive, convenient, not
(18:13):
too small, not too large, youknow.
So I just felt thatconnectedness, that closeness
that you know, that you kind ofwant in a college, just like you
can get in the high schoolsetting.
But really I spent time oncampus and I didn't know what I
wanted to major in going intocollege, so that wasn't a
(18:36):
decision, I just had to be, youknow again a place where I feel
like I could just thrive and beme, and you know, I did the
overnight and where you had tospend the night in the dorm and
go to class and and, and youknow the dining hall and all
that, which was great becauseyou really got to see, like,
what life is like, at least alittle bit what life is like and
(18:58):
, um, you know, in the dorm andthat type of thing.
But I just sat on a bench, youknow, the next day before I was
getting picked up and felt likeI could just be me, you know,
there in that setting, and Ithink it was important too to
have a faith-based, you knowenvironment to go to school as
well.
That would provide a strong,you know, well-rounded
foundation.
(19:18):
But yeah, so Dayton wasundergrad and stayed there for
two more years for graduates, soactually six years.
But Cleveland ever since hasbeen my home.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, I get that with , you know, because I went to
Bethany College in West Virginia.
It was close enough to home, towhere I could go home if need
be, get a good meal, you know,visit family, get some laundry
done for sure, if need be get agood meal, you know, visit
family, get some laundry donefor sure.
But it was far enough away thatI could kind of build my own
(19:51):
path.
If you will, had a swimmingscholarship to swim there in
college.
That was a big part of it tooas well, especially after coming
off a pretty bad shoulderinjury and Bethany keeping their
scholarship for me, whichshoulder injuries for swimmers
is pretty much the kiss of death, it seems like.
(20:12):
So they allowed me to be aquote unquote manager of the
team my freshman year so that Icould rehab and still keep my
scholarship because being partof the team, which was I thought
was awesome of them to do and,like I said, yeah it was.
It was close enough to where,like I said, if I could go home
(20:34):
if need be, and far enough awaythat you know the parents
couldn't get there quickly ifthey, if something were not
going to their liking and I hadsome time to plan out.
You know the the old collegeexcuse if things were not going
to their liking.
And I had some time to plan out.
You know the old college excuseif things weren't going the way
they thought it should be goingout there.
But kind of like you, I went inwith a different mindset.
(20:55):
I thought I was going intobusiness administration, as my
major Quickly realized that, youknow, economics classes weren't
really my forte.
So I ended up switching mymajor to broadcasting,
journalism and communicationsand earned an accounting minor
(21:20):
in the process of the time being.
For the first two years that Iwas a business major there, I
thought that was, it was goingto be.
The path and I think that'ssomething that most college
students will realize is youthink you have a plan going in
and that plan is probablyprobably going to change some
way, shape or form.
I think is like a lot of peoplethat I've talked to have gone
(21:41):
in with one goal in mind andhave ended up leaving with
another and it's worked outfantastically for them.
So did you kind of have thatwith your college career?
And I know you were also anathlete there too as well.
We'll get into that in a minute.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Well, with the major in college.
I think that's one of thethings that even now you know.
Nowadays people are asked allthe time what's your major, what
do you want to study?
I, I didn't know going in, andadvice that I got going in was
hey, just start taking classesof things that you enjoy and see
what happens.
Maybe that'll be a major.
(22:16):
And at the time I reallyenjoyed writing and what,
whatever type of writing thatwas for for for class To me.
I had a knack for it and Istarted taking some courses in
addition to the regular corecourses and all of a sudden I
had a journalism major.
So, okay, well, that's juniorsenior year and I wasn't sure
(22:40):
exactly what was going to happenwith that.
I did join the campus newspaper, which was a wonderful
experience uh, twice weekly,totally student produced campus
newspaper.
And again, for those that are alittle bit younger, you know
who listen or your audience likenewspaper, what, what?
but, yeah, well, at the timeit's still the same concept you
(23:03):
know you got to produce and thisday it would just be like the
e-newspaper, but anyway.
So my point is I took thoseclasses and I had that major and
that's how I decided to pursuejournalism.
But then senior year camearound and didn't really have an
(23:24):
idea of what I wanted to dopost-undergrad.
And again, for those that arein a similar spot, or maybe
going to be or have kids, thatare kind of at that age where
you're graduating and you're notsure of your job and the market
and stuff, graduate school isalways a great option, whether
it was when I went to schoolsome time ago I was going to say
(23:48):
decades, but okay, some timeago or now and it was an option
for me and I, well, at the timeI sort of joke and say that I
didn't see that dream job at GQmagazine knocking on my door,
writing feature stories andtraveling the world.
It was probably going to becovering the Strawberry Festival
(24:08):
at Solon Times, which wasprobably pretty exciting in some
years, depending on the harvestcovering the strawberry
festival at Seoul, and you knowSeoul and times um, which which
you know was probably prettyexciting, you know in some years
, depending on the harvest, butI didn't know what I wanted to
do, uh, but they said, hey, whydon't you stick around and you
get a graduate degree in the youknow, in communication,
organizational communication,take a lot of different graduate
courses and this and that and,but you get to teach for two
(24:32):
years.
You have to teach the COM 101class that the freshmen or you
know the required course thatwas.
You have to do that you knowand teach that every semester.
So I thought, okay, that wasgreat and that's kind of how I
stayed on at Dayton for mygraduate degree and the
education bug, if you will bitme there, that's how I got into
(24:54):
education admissions, helpingpeople find their path or
journey and make thoseconnections and providing that
bridge, that pathway, if youwill, to help people get to
their next threshold and whatthey want to do.
It was all of I.
I stayed on graduate school andtaught and was in education and
(25:17):
then have been in education asfar as an industry ever since
yeah, that I mean I back.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
It was still in the early 2000s.
I worked with the newspaper,which quickly shifted to the
e-newspaper, the e-letter asthey called it out at Bethany
Also ended up being the sportsdirector for the radio station
out there, so I actually got toannounce every home football,
(25:45):
baseball, basketball game, anysporting event that that
happened there from about 2009into 2010,.
You heard my voice on the radioand on the streaming platform.
My class kind of helped produceand get the TV station and the
streaming services up andrunning for the next generations
(26:08):
.
We quickly realized that therewas a lot of students that were
coming from out of state to playsports there and their parents
couldn't get to to watch them.
So what better way, uh, toreach them is to start that
streaming platform and addeverything out there.
And it's really grown and I Istill follow it to to this day,
you know.
And after graduating in 2012 andrealizing that it's now 2025,
(26:35):
almost 2026, and it's been thatlong since I've been in college,
it's great to see somethingthat kind of started with my
class and what we did and it'sbuilt up to where it is today.
It's an awesome feeling to seeup to where it is today.
It's an awesome feeling to seeand being able to watch the swim
(26:55):
team.
If I want to catch a meet and Ican it's a quick go to a link
on the website and I can watchthe event to watch my alma mater
swim.
It's great for everybody to beable to see.
And do you guys kind of havethat with?
Like you said you were, like Isaid you were, part of the
rowing team at Dayton.
(27:17):
So what was that portion likewith the sports and the school,
with being an athlete and astudent at the same time?
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, and the rowing team, the decision to pursue a
crew, I guess, as they say, uhhappened during the orientation
uh week, you know, at freshmanyear, and uh, when different
clubs were setting up tables allover campus and whatnot.
I saw this very, very long.
Uh, well, what's called aracing shell, the boat, you know
(27:48):
, that houses the eight peopleand uh, and when you see it up
close you realize, like boy,this is like well, it has to
house eight people, so it'sgotta be a pretty big um you
know vessel or whatnot.
But I just saw that and, um, acouple of people, really nice
people, said, hey, are you newhere?
Uh, you're looking to joinsomething.
Have you ever considered thecrew team?
(28:09):
I said, tell me more.
You know, and that's kind of howit started, um, and at the time
it was a club team.
It's it's been varsity for many, many years and actually it's
one of the stronger uh programsaround um, so we were kind of
one of the early teams, um, atthe, I guess, the inception of
the program.
But anyway, I any type oforganized activity, whether it's
(28:33):
a sport or a or a group, butbut in this case it was a
athletic activity.
But I would always encouragethat for anyone, whether it's,
you know, varsity or orotherwise, because you get to be
part of something that requirescoordinating, literally
coordinating activities andefforts with other people at the
(28:53):
same moment in time, whenyou're rowing on the water.
And it's just such a precisesport that, looking from the
shore, if you ever see peoplerowing in the an eight person or
four person or even just asingle, uh you know boat or
shell, uh, it looks effortlessbut what's happening is grueling
(29:13):
on the water.
But to have the opportunity toeven freshman year, uh, well, I
say opportunity now but to wakeup before 8 am class and to go
down to the river, get in theboat, go up and down the river
several times, mind you, this isit's dark and you see the sun
(29:35):
rise over the city of dayton, soyou see some like beautiful
things, um, all before an 8 amclass and then when everyone
else is finishing their omeletsand heading to english, you're,
you're, just you, you got done,you know, on the water for an
hour and a half of the gruelingactivity and still have to be
(29:56):
ready for that class.
So it just puts you in adifferent frame and I think,
ultimately, anytime anyone cando that the discipline, the
focus, the structure, theorganization, the being part of
something that requires otherpeople to help you and you to
help other people Wow, can yoube part of something better than
(30:17):
that?
And I was fortunate to be partof that program for four years
and it's one of those uniquesports that not many people get
exposed to, because most people,let's face it, it's not.
It wasn't at my high school, itwasn't at a lot of people's
high schools, it's not, probablynot going to be at a lot of
people's colleges, but, uh, butrowing or crew, uh for those who
(30:40):
know it's, uh, it's, it's anunbelievable life experience.
Um, just because of the, thelessons that you learn about,
you know, camaraderie and focusand grit and all those great
things yeah, uh, I get thatabout the early morning workouts
at uh, the, the swim team outbethany.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
We were in the water at 6 am every morning and you
know we'd we'd get that hourworkout in and end up swimming
probably close to uh, me being asprinter was like a mile and a
half, two miles and then gettinginto the showers, getting back
and then we're off to, like yousaid, the 8 am 8.30 classes and
(31:26):
people were just getting up and,you know, getting their coffees
and starting their days.
And you know a lot of peopleask me, like how do you get to
this 8 am class?
And you're like bright-eyed andbushy-tailed, it seems like,
and you're just, you're moreawake for somebody who hasn't
had any coffee yet.
Like how do you do this?
Like I've already swam twomiles today, like I've been up
since 5.30 to get myself to thepool and to the natatorium on
(31:50):
time so that I can be changedand ready and in the water and
start my workout at 6 am.
And you know I wouldn't changeit for anything because it
helped me start my day.
I got to be with my teammates,not only the male teammates but
the female teammates, becauseeverybody was put into
(32:11):
individual lanes based on thestrokes that you did and the if
you were a sprinter, if you weredistance.
So you got to to be with somedifferent uh, some different
people, different teammates andyou know, bouncing ideas off of
each other early in the morningin the freezing cold water.
Uh, those pools were not, notheated that that well as they
(32:32):
should be.
If you're wanting to get in andgo as fast as you can, I don't
want to stay in cold water thatlong.
That's my kind of thoughtprocess behind it.
But you know, get that wake-upcall and to think back to it now
, a lot of people don't likethese cold plunges and
everything like that and it'ssupposed to revive the body and
I think that's kind of what Iwas doing early on in my career
(32:55):
at swimming at Bethany.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Man, you were like way ahead of the curve, just
like just totally light yearsahead of that curve and with the
cold bath and stuff, I likethat transition.
That was a good one.
I've actually never done thecold, the true cold plunge,
where you're jumping into thatbarrel and you're doing the
whole thing and I don't know howlong you stay in there.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
But Like I even like if my shower is not to the right
temperature that I like it, itstarts getting cold.
It's time to end the shower,but you know it's it.
Yeah, I think back to myyounger days and you know,
(33:38):
getting in the pool, I think wasa max of like I think 75
degrees was the was the warmestI got, which sounds warm, but
when you're talking about waterlike that's, that's pretty cold.
But when you're talking aboutwater like that's, that's pretty
cold.
So, yeah, like I can't do thecold plunges now, like the cold
(33:59):
water just just bugs me to deathright now.
Well, yeah, let's just hope youdon't have to encounter that
anytime I try not to the bestthat I can.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
I'll keep an eye out for cold water so that way you
don't have to encounter coldwater.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, we don't want thatcausing a ruckus.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Absolutely so.
Like me here, you are a prouddad and husband.
So like me, here you know youare a proud dad and husband and
I always am interested to hearhow other people balance that.
You know work life, homebalance, and how does that work
for you?
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Yeah, no, I'm really glad you brought that up and
because it's really the fabricand the part of well, I mean,
any of any of us who are luckyto to be a parent.
You know that, thatresponsibility to, of course, to
be a parent, you know that,that responsibility too, of
course.
But but you realize thatwhether and we have a son, our
only child, but you know, if youhave one, two, three, whatever,
(35:01):
when you, when you're balancingjust any thing or a number of
things, but if you have anotherhuman being, you know in in the
picture, that's like that's a's100 dependent on you for
everything literally, likegetting to and from food, this
and that and everything inbetween.
You just realize the magnitudeof that.
(35:23):
But one thing I will say is, andI think that anyone who moves
on in life, as you get older,you start measuring time in
longer increments, like has itbeen three years, has it been
five years, has it been 10 years?
Wow, you don't start sayingit's been two months, it's been
six months, you start sayingyears, years and decades and all
(35:46):
of a sudden you're 40 and 45and 50, and and my point is, if,
if you're, you know if you're aparent or if you're a family
member or whatever.
Um, you know, time moves on,but seemingly moves on more
quickly as you get older andalmost to the point where you
feel like the the acceleratorson and you have to buckle up.
(36:09):
And then and then all thosetimes that you think, oh yeah,
we'll get lunch, we're gonna getlunch one of these days.
We're gonna get lunch.
You keep, you're gonna getlunch.
For 10 years yeah and I know thequestion was you've got a son,
you know, and how do you balance?
You know that, but but I guessthe the bigger point is, um, you
(36:32):
know, be present and and likeactually be present in the
moments that you have, likelooking at like what just popped
up on your phone, but bepresent with that person, cause
(36:53):
there's something powerful whentwo people are, you know, or any
number of people areexperiencing something.
So you just want to make surethat there's the humanness of it
all, there's a connectedness,and that you're actually like
experiencing life with thatperson.
And there's going to betechnology and digital stuff
here and there along the way,but, but it's scary when there's
no blueprint.
Be technology and digital stuffhere and there along the way,
but, um, but uh, it's scary whenthere's no blueprint or roadmap
(37:15):
or instruction manual.
And I joke about that with mywife all the time and and even
when we first brought him homein the carrier, we videotaped it
from the car ride home from thehospital and we sat down in the
living room and I think I saidsomething like you know now what
you know?
Like, oh, like, what do we donow?
Like, oh, my gosh, like this islike it's a big moment, but but
(37:39):
you know, everyone has thosethose types of moments If it's a
new job or if it's a family ora life change.
But my point again, life islike it moves quicker as we get
older.
So you, just you don't want to,you don't want to be the person
saying I wish I would have donethat, I wish I, you know, would
(38:00):
have done that.
Like you don't want to be that,like people keep saying that to
me and it's like I, I want to,I want to follow that advice
absolutely, I used to, I stillremember, used to, like my
parents are.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
But I'm like, oh, don't, don't take this for
granted, it's going to go fasterthan you think it.
You know life hits you, hitsyou harder than you than you
think, you know it comes quickerthan you think.
And to to think back to youknow the, the, the wife and I, I
and we've we've been together10 years.
And just saying that, you knowwe haven't been married for 10
(38:37):
years, but we've been togetherfor the better part of 10 years
now.
And that's just to think like Ican still remember the, the
first day, like I used to be,like I used to ask my grandpa,
like how do you remember thefirst day you and grandma met?
And you can still recall thatday?
It's because it goes back.
It seems like it was yesterdaythat we met each other and we
(38:59):
got together.
And when you're with the rightperson, I don't think you
realize how long it's been since, since you got, since you were
together.
And um, I always say, you know,I have, uh, my son, he is, he is
a stepson to me, uh, his, hisbiological dad, not the picture.
(39:20):
So we don't even, I don't evensay like to say, say, stepson
anymore, um, but you know, Ialso have two other bonus kids
and stepdaughters that are grownolder.
One just graduated nursing andbecame an RN.
So it's just the nostalgia ofthings and thinking, wow, yeah,
(39:45):
I'm in my 30s, almost my 40s,and I technically have three
kids.
I never thought it would be tothat point and you know, I don't
know when it happened or how ithappened, but here I am 10
years later, uh, with a littlebit more gray in my beard than I
(40:05):
had, uh then before, for sure,um, but it I wouldn't change it
for the world.
Uh, and you were right bepresent, being present with
whatever is going on, no matterwhat it is, um, sporting events,
schooling things, anything, orjust being together at at the
(40:28):
house and being present withthat person.
If I'm, if I'm around my sonand we're hanging out or doing
anything at all, like I prettymuch turn my phone off, every
electronic that I have, just soI can just be there, cause I
know the time's going to comewhen he's not home anymore and
he's off doing his own thing,and I, as as a dad, you don't
want that day to come, but youknow, as as a man.
(40:50):
You want him to grow as intohis own person.
So it's kind of a kind of abalance you have to have to have
with that too as well.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
It's just it's it's great to see him grow and it it
become his own man yeah, theysay, um, you know, you're the
center of the tent, their centerof attention, like for for
their whole lives.
And there's that one momentwhere they say where your kids
might say, or whoever you knowif you're a guardian or whatever
, um, oh, you can just drop meoff, like a little bit further
(41:19):
down the drive, like like downin the street, not in front of
the house, just like down here,and then you, you kind of like,
don't become the center, so tospeak.
But you know, it's all part ofthe journey and um, um, you know
, yeah, there's there, I guessyou, you want to, uh, to instill
, you know, behaviors andcharacteristics and emotions and
(41:41):
skills that can help prepareyoung people or whoever, to
become independent and decisionmakers.
And, boy, it's not easy, butyou get to in some way relive,
like childhood or high schooland or whatever it might be,
through the, through the eyes ofsomeone else.
But you realize that, boy, wethought it was tough when we
(42:02):
were in school.
Every generation they alwayssays, oh, it was so tough when
we were in school, but now, withtechnology and instant
information, and, boy, it'stough.
I give a lot of credit toschools, especially like
elementary high schools, butcertainly, like you know,
especially like elementary highschools, but certainly, like you
(42:22):
know, the higher education,because it's a formative time
for people and young people andwe have to be support structures
for that growth and developmentabsolutely.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
My wife and I joke around all the time like you
couldn't pay me to go back toand be a high schooler.
These days, versus what we didwhen we were, there was just the
instant gratification and theinstant everything's there.
It's to the technology age.
I don't envy them.
I would not want to do it now,knowing how it was when I grew
(42:55):
up in the 90s and the early2000s, and you know it was a
much simpler time and yeah, wejoke about it all the time and
my son's just like but we haveeverything right here.
It's like, yeah, but do youlike?
I mean, I still remember my dadwhen I would get home from
school like is your homeworkdone?
(43:16):
Yeah, you came home frompractice.
All right, get out of the house, I'll see you at dark.
Like you know, we didn't havephones or video games or things
that we were tied to.
But I guess they're makingmemories in their own ways and
in different ways, and you knowthey'll be telling their kids
that, oh, it was so differentwhen I was growing up.
(43:36):
It was simpler then, you know.
So I'm sure everyone thinks itwas simpler in their time.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
It's funny because I think our kids and I'm thinking
of my son's, a senior in highschool they'll be telling
stories about you know what wehad to get to school?
Put our phone in a pouch theentire day, we couldn't get it
until the end of the day.
And then the kids are like noway you had to put your phone in
(44:06):
a pouch, no way.
That's what they're talkingabout and it's happening because
this is the first year that, atleast in my son's school,
that's happening, but I knowit's been happening, you know,
at other places for a while.
But this can you imagine aworld like one year you have
access to that device all daytech you know conceivably or you
(44:27):
don't have access to it.
I think it might.
This might be interesting.
Like all these younger students, these children, or whatever
you want to call it, are withouttheir devices during the day.
That might be a good thing, butit's just interesting because
it's think about what would yoube like if someone said, hey,
from from 8 to 3, 15, uh, yougotta put your phone over here
(44:51):
and you can't touch it.
Like just think about that.
That's for the, for their kids.
This is what their life is likewhen you do that and just so I
always think of what would thatbe like if we impose that on us
right, that's a.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
That's a big change.
You know, you don't realize howmuch you use your devices and
technology and all that nowadaysuntil it's until you can't, you
know, or you're not allowed touse it or anything like that.
So, yeah, it's definitely,definitely a big change With you
being there at Case WesternReserves University.
You actually worked with formerguests of the show we talked
(45:27):
about this a little bit beforewe got started and Cole
Schneider, but also, formerly ofCase Western, the wonderful
manager of the podcast, johnnyFitty Falcone.
What was it like working withthese guys?
Speaker 2 (45:39):
Yeah, I would say uh, total chaos.
No, I'm just kidding that's sogood.
I'm just kidding, um, honestlylike these, both.
Both of these guys are just, uh,phenomenal people, um, and I
know they're both affiliatedwith the show in different ways,
uh, but, uh, you know, when you, when you, just when you have
(46:03):
quality human beings, you knowthe people that you can talk to
and actually like, ask likesubstantive questions and and
have a good conversation.
You know you've got I, um, youknow someone who's good to know
and you want on your side, but,uh, but I'm very, yeah,
fortunate to uh have had theopportunity to work with, uh,
john, uh, johnny Falcone, who'spart of the podcast, and Cole, a
(46:26):
guest uh on the show, and um,but, uh, yeah, just great, great
guys and um, they say you know,you've heard of this, uh, that
you're known by the company youkeep and yeah, um, so I'd be,
I'm proud to to know, know theseguys and uh, but that's just a
good, it's a good message.
You know, just just be aroundpeople that you want to.
(46:48):
You know, um, either learnsomething from or get you in
that didn't make you feel better, that didn't pick you up, that
inspire you and um, because,yeah, because you want to
surround yourself with thosepeople, even if that's not like
all day, every day, but it'sjust like parts of your day,
parts of the you know the weekoh yeah, I mean I think johnny
(47:11):
and I talk on a daily basis, uh,whether it's via text or or
call um, it's always super early.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
We both know we're early risers and it seems like
my phone's going off with thetext message tone before my
alarm sometimes with Johnny andgetting texts about what's going
on, what ideas he has for theshow and everything like that.
And a lot of times it's just usjust shooting the shit and just
kind of bouncing ideas off ofeach other.
(47:39):
And I think you need thosepeople around you for sure.
And you know a lot of formerguests still, you know, message
me to this day.
A lot of them are, you know,some are former college athletes
, some are still collegeathletes, some are pro athletes.
I follow everybody that hasbeen on the show, um, um and,
(48:02):
you know, try to keep up with asmany people as I can, but we're
we're coming down near episode260, 261.
So it's getting a little harderand harder to try to keep up
with everybody.
Speaker 2 (48:14):
Let me, uh, let me ask you something.
I mean, you've, uh, you'vetalked to a lot of people and a
lot of different topics and alot of different things.
You know, what do you know?
Like what trend do you noticeamong the people that you're
talking to as far as, um, if youhad to like extrapolate like
high level life lessons, likewhat are the things that you're
(48:37):
just even hearing from time totime from your guests about how
they live, what they do, lessonsthey've learned, anything just
like kind of emerge as like highlevel takeaways from all these
conversations you've had?
Speaker 1 (48:51):
Oh man, Um, there's so many, um, a lot of it.
It comes down to, um, to kindof along the lines of what you
were saying being present andjust being in the moment and not
trying to look too far aheadinto the future, because if you
(49:15):
start looking that far ahead,you're going to miss stuff
that's happening right now.
That's been a lot of the bigthings that I've noticed and
just a lot of like.
Even you know, like I said,I've talked to a lot of former
athletes, a lot of currentathletes, professional athletes
and that, and you know havingdreams and goals and everything
(49:36):
like that, but knowing thosedon't define you.
If, if you have to take a loss,take a loss and learn from it,
it's, it's.
You're not losing your learning.
Um, that has been, you know, alot of the biggest things, but
the main one is always, you know, just be present, just don't
think too far ahead, becauseyou're going to miss what's
(49:58):
happening right in front of you.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Right, yeah, and and and just like thinking and
planning and this and that, yeah, the moment is the moment and
and that's yeah, and then themoment is gone.
You know five seconds ago, youknow now because, but that's
okay, because you experienced itand it's worth experiencing it,
and this whole thing calledlife that we're on, it's a
(50:30):
privilege and it's a journey.
And, as they say, someone toldme once, when you're networking,
like in an event, you don'twant to sit on the aisle, like
on the end, because you miss outon, like a chance to meet
someone.
So you sit where you havesomeone on either side of you,
so you have two chances to meetsomeone.
Or when you're in line in abuffet, anywhere assuming it's
(50:51):
an event where you should bemeeting people, you know that's
a great chance to talk to theperson in front of you or behind
you, like, these are built inways to like have warm
conversations, um.
But again, the lesson is just,you know people, you know you,
you can connect with people inways that are low pressure.
(51:11):
That you know have.
You know, uh, potentially, youknow high, uh, high value, high
outcome.
You just have to look for theopportunity and sometimes it
pans out.
Sometimes it doesn't, but whynot right, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (51:28):
Why not Absolutely.
And yeah, that's always howI've tried to live and grow my
careers as somebody who's beenworking at becoming, uh, you
know, a full-time stand-upcomedian, uh, for the past 13
years.
You know it.
It's definitely a grind, notfor the faint of heart, but I'm
(51:48):
not looking too far ahead.
I'm trying to stay grounded ineverything that that I'm doing
with this.
But uh, steve, I just realizedhow long we've been sitting here
and talking.
We are running down.
Speaker 2 (52:01):
Yeah, we can.
No, no, we're good.
Well, yeah, that's fine.
Well, this session maybe we'llwe'll wrap up this episode, but
you got the wheel, you got thecommand.
Speaker 1 (52:13):
So I would say well, I have one more segment I have
to get in here near the end ofthe episode.
Anybody who's listened to it?
It is the Fast 55, and that isfive random questions from the
wonderful manager of the podcast, johnny Fitty Falcone.
These are kind of rapid firefor the new listeners out there.
Steve, you can't elaborate ifyou need to, but if you already
(52:37):
have someone who's worked withJohnny for these questions,
we'll go ahead and we'll startthe Fast 55.
Alright, let's do it Alright.
Question number one Would yourather be a famous sumo wrestler
or a famous keyboard player?
Keyboard player Okay, Numbertwo what's the best place you've
(53:01):
ever visited?
Speaker 2 (53:10):
Maui, maui.
Speaker 1 (53:12):
Okay, Question number three what's the last book you
read?
Speaker 2 (53:19):
what's the last book you read?
Uh, becoming a resident leader.
Okay, well, actually no thewell.
That was the textbook, the.
The book was uh, residentleadership by richard boyatzis
okay, yeah, what?
Speaker 1 (53:37):
question number four who is your favorite actor ever?
Speaker 2 (53:44):
actor ever robin williams.
Speaker 1 (53:55):
that's a phenomenal answer.
On that one, I don't thinkanybody would disagree on that
one.
For sure, that's a phenomenalchoice.
And last but not least, if youhad to be either the color brown
or purple, which color wouldyou be?
Purple, purple, it's a goodchoice.
(54:16):
It's my favorite color.
I'll go with that one.
I'll go with that one.
That was a fast 85.
I feel like, since he's workedwith you, he took it a little
easier than usual for people onthat one.
But yeah, it's just a fun waywe like to try to wind down the
episode here.
But, steve, I do give everyguest this opportunity at the
end of the show.
(54:36):
If there's anything you want toget out there I know we've
already talked about a couplegood messages in there, but if
it's that, or if it's somethingfor case western reserves,
anything you want to get outthere, I'm going to give you
about a minute and the floor isyours all right, thanks, no,
appreciate being on here.
Speaker 2 (54:51):
I would say to anyone , at any stage of their lives
always remember to be kind, begood.
Don't do it because you expectkindness in return.
Make sure that you treat otherpeople, uh, with inclusion and
(55:13):
welcome, and make people feelsafe.
Uh, that's what I would say.
That's how you should treatpeople in life.
And if you're looking to expandyour other parts of your life,
your academic parts, yourleadership, of course the
weather head in case can assistyou with that.
(55:34):
But just make sure that you begood, because you'll start
measuring time by decades andyou want to make sure that
you've got a lot of good thingsto talk about when you talk
about those decades that aregoing by.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
That's phenomenal and I always love it when guests
have a good message at the endof the show.
I love to end the show that way.
I'm all for helping people getout what they have to get out.
When guests have a good messageat the end of the show, I love
to end the show that way.
I'm all for helping people getout what they have to get out.
But when it's a good messagelike that, it's a great way to
end the episode and, on thatnote, that is going to do it for
this week's episode of the ridehome rants podcast.
(56:13):
I want to thank my guest, steveScheidt, for joining the show.
This was a lot of fun to get tosit and talk with you, learn a
little bit more about your storyand everything that you got
going on.
Really appreciate you coming on, as always if you enjoyed the
show, be a friend, tell a friend.
If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it just
because you didn't.
That's going to do it for meand I will see y'all next week.
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