October 3, 2022 • 40 mins
Busy Bee Baking Company, Jodi Jefferson 21 USAF Veteran
Listen to Jodi Jefferson as she explains her WHY. Listen to the connection. She will be participating in the 50 Mile March in 2023!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jay Miralles (00:00):
Hello I want to say thank you for joining us
(00:09):
here on the connection numberone, subscribe, follow, like,
share, share the energy, right?
Let's jump right into this. I'mso excited because I have a
special guest on today. Andthey're all special because if
they're not, they're not on theshow. When we talk about the
connection, we don't alwaysnotice all the connections
around us. And I want tointroduce you to Jody Jefferson.
(00:29):
I met Jody at a wedding, right?
No, not a wedding that weattended a wedding that we
worked at. But as busy as weare, I approached her because
her work was amazing. Um, sheowns Zb bakery. And I just saw
her creation. I was like, Oh mygosh, everyone else was like,
(00:52):
Oh, my God, this is amazing. SoI approached her. And when I
approached her, we had a shortconversation, Jodi, I want you
to pick up from there. How didthat conversation go? Take Take
us back slowly and take yourtime, no rush. What do you
remember from that day.
Jodi Jefferson (01:11):
Um, so I was so excited to meet you. It was at a
wedding at the Bennington bar.
And it was my first time doingan event at that venue. And it
was such a beautiful venue. AndI just absolutely love how my
clients can bring me into theserelationships with other people.
(01:35):
No matter what, what they'redoing. And that's exactly what
happened that day. With you andI, I was setting up this
beautiful desert charcuterietable for 300 people I had never
done before. And so I wasmethodically, like taking my
(01:59):
time with every piece and everydetail table. And you just came
by and just commented on thetable, as I remember. And
obviously, it just calmed me andmade me feel like, you know,
what I was doing was right. Andit looked good. Because again,
(02:21):
it was my first time doing acharcuterie dessert table, which
was what for the bride's visionfor that for her special day,
obviously. And we just struck upa quick conversation. And it
just went in a whole differentdirection from what I would have
(02:42):
ever anticipated. From what Irecall, we talked about how my
mom and I, in the in the lastthree years have done a mother
daughter Thanksgiving bake salefor charity is how this next
year in 2022. We are looking wewere currently looking for our
(03:07):
charity partner for this year.
And this was I think back inMarch, April May timeframe. Yes,
yes. So yeah, just trying toprepare and set our hearts on
what was going to be best forour mission this year. And me
being a veteran myself, I knewthis year, it needed to be
(03:32):
something that dealt withveterans. In the previous years,
we had done something thattouched the hearts of our church
in 2017. Or no, I'm sorry, 20.
Our first year was 2017, Ibelieve 2018. We touched the
hearts of the folks at theRainbow House. And then in the
(03:55):
next year, we did the mustachesfor kids, which touches the
lives of many children in theOmaha area. And so this year, I
knew as a veteran myself, weneeded to do something to help
the veterans that struggle. Imyself struggle with severe
(04:18):
anxiety and have have seen seenmany fellow servicemen and women
that have struggled themselves,and also a very close friend,
who had unfortunately taken herown life because of mental
illness due to her time in theservice and prior things that
(04:41):
she struggled with. And so it'svery important that we take care
of those veterans and so, again,Jay and I just got to talking
that night as I was at thistable and he just I was briefly
You explaining like that we werelooking for a charity and I
(05:02):
wanted it specifically to be forveterans. And he said, I think
I've got what you're lookingfor. And just a couple short
days later, he sent me this thisamazing video of what the 50
mile mark is all about. Andimmediately, like, as soon as I
(05:22):
watched the video, I was like,yes, yes, absolutely. We are all
in 100% with this. And sincethat day, I follow their
journey. I follow theirpreparation for their, their
march in August. And I mean,like, it was just amazing. Like
(05:46):
I followed up until the day thatthey march, I vividly remember
the day before sending Jay amessage saying we're thinking
about you. I remember going tochurch with my children on
Sunday that the day that theywere marching, and saying when
we get out of church, we'regoing to find this group of
(06:09):
people because I know they'regoing to be in our area. And
we've found them at near 100/32and Prairie Queen Lake and we,
my my kids flew flags outside ofthe car and we cheered you on.
And then we ran home and wepackage up some cookies. And we
ran them up to the brewery andwe dropped them off. And then as
(06:33):
we were coming back home, we youguys were just crossing 100/20
and Giles, and we we rate wavedyou want some more. And we told
you about the incredible crowdthat was waiting for you at
Nebraska Brewing Company. And ifit weren't for my son's football
(06:54):
game that afternoon, we wouldhave absolutely been there. Just
cheering you on. Because what anamazing thing that you guys did
that day. Immediately that day Iwent home and I signed up to
walk for 2023 I'm proud to saythat since that day, I have
(07:17):
walked four miles every day.
Wow. I have made time. Beforemeeting Jay and learning about
the 50 mile march I I didn'thave time, you know a and
recently, I listened to a churchsermon that talked about time,
(07:41):
and how we make time for what'simportant for us. Yes, and we
all have 24 hours a day. Andbefore this. It was easy to say
I don't have time. But now Imake time I make time for that
(08:01):
one hour a day. And not a dayhas gone by that I haven't
thought about Amy. Amy is thereason that I will walk 50 miles
in August of 2023. And Amy isbehind my right left shoulder.
Jay Miralles (08:25):
Make sure that we put a picture up as well.
Jodi Jefferson (08:27):
She's a beautiful soul. And Amy cannot
let go of the demons thatfollowed her. And I will make I
will make time we often say thatwe will never forget when
someone passes and it's easy toforget. It's easy to not think
about those people every day.
But not a day has gone past inthe last 30 days would I have
(08:52):
walked for one hour that I havenot thought about Amy Gilliland.
And not a day will go by untilAugust of 2023 When I walk that
50 miles, you Gilliland.
Jay Miralles (09:12):
Amen. You will let's I want to back up and
honor your entire story. You seta great framework. I want to
bring perspective because I loveyour heart, your energy and what
your I can. When I met you, I'lltake us back when I met you.
There are people that youconverse with. And then there
are people you connect with.
There's a difference. I praisedyour work because it was
(09:36):
impeccable. People were gawking.
They were like, Oh, wow. And youknow, let's be honest. There's a
lot of people in the space God.
But I remember with grace aspeople were almost overstepping,
like, oh, you know, like almostwanting to touch the table. You
handled it with grace. I'll behonest, I was like everyone get
back. You know, I didn't saythat. But the time you took to
prepare, I thought that was your100 40th time. Let's be honest,
(09:59):
I didn't know is your firsttime? It's not amateur when your
hearts in it right? It's neveramateur when your hearts and if
so I want to praise you forthat. Number two is I heard what
you said, you know, I'm so gladwe connected you know and with
the veteran background and whenyou meet people you detect
energy. That's all I care aboutwhen someone says oh, do you do
(10:22):
like Jodie, do you like, youknow, Matt, do you like Dave? I
don't like people, Jodi, I amattracted to energy. So when
somebody says, Oh, would youlike to work with these people
on this project, it's not amatter of like is I'm attracted
to the energy. So yes, I willwork on that project. I can tell
when someone is all the way inand all the way out or semi. You
(10:42):
know, I don't have time. I don'thave time for semi lukewarm. So
I want to go back and let's talkabout your business for a
minute, because I want tocelebrate that and I'm going to
put that here on the screen. Butwhile you talk about it, tell me
we were busy be started andwhere it's grown. And just tell
the viewers that story. And I'mgonna bring that up on the
(11:04):
screen right now.
Jodi Jefferson (11:08):
Wow, so I can't really put a date or time on
when busy bees started. So I wasstationed in Washington DC, from
2003 until 2013. During thattime, I flew from from 2003 to
(11:32):
2005. I flew with SecretariesRumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice,
Colin Powell, Vice PresidentCheney, Mrs. Bush, a lot of
dignitaries, and then five, Iwas very fortunately, hand
(11:55):
selected to become a part of thepresidential Airlift Group where
I flew with Presidents Bush andPresidents Obama, their staff,
their families, and during thattime, I baked for them I cooked
for them, women, their staff.
And so just such a fortunateevent. And during that time, I
(12:16):
this was before I had children,of course, and so I I built up a
clientele there and I was ableduring my downtime to bake and
cook for those individuals. Soit was very difficult as you
know, when you when you're inthe military and you move from
one duty location to another,it's just like a hairdresser or
(12:39):
anyone else who really relies ontheir clientele. To build that
back up,
Jay Miralles (12:47):
yes. You got to start over tell the story over
again. Absolutely. So
Jodi Jefferson (12:51):
when I I moved.
Fortunately, on a humanitarianassignment in 2015, I was able
to get stationed back home toNebraska, basically, because of
due to the unfortunatecircumstances of my mom having
terminal cancer, and my husband,also dual military PCs into
(13:14):
Korea. At the time, we had sixmonth old twins, and three and a
half year old. So I decided thatthe best route forward was for
me to put in a humanitarianassignment. Yes, closest to my
family. And fortunately enoughoften did have flight attendant
(13:38):
positions at the time. So let'scome to off it or come home as a
flight attendant. So there Ibecame, I flew on the e4
Jay Miralles (13:54):
e4 B's is that right? Am I ready for B? Is that
Jodi Jefferson (13:57):
flying on the ark? Are they flying with the
Secretary of Defense when heflew abroad, and so I was able
to fly with them be at homehelping my mom but also also her
helping us while my husband wasin Korea. And I fully believe
(14:23):
that God has a plan and that mymom is still with us today.
Because he retired from her joband Kearney she moved she lived
with me and based housing andtook care of my kids while I was
flying. And she was a full timegrandma and she knew that her
(14:48):
grandkids needed her. Yes thather own kids needed her and I
fully believe that 10 yearslater, she is still fighting
cancer but she's still are withus. And so we praise for that
every day and we pray. We thankhim every day for that. During
that time I flew for five yearson the e4. It was probably the
(15:16):
most difficult time of mycareer. When I was at the
Presidential Airlift Squadron,flying on Air Force One, I was
in my comfort zone. I was atechnical expert, I loved what I
did. I was behind the scenes,and I made the magic happen.
(15:36):
Yes, when I came to off it. AndI was very quickly taken out of
my comfort zone, I was put in aleadership role, which I had
never really been groomed for. Ididn't really know how to take
care of people. So it was verydifficult for me. I'm a people
(15:59):
pleaser. And so it was hard tomake 20 to 25 flight attendants
happy because I was used tobeing behind the scenes making
the magic happen and makingpeople are happy that way. All
while my husband was gone. Momwas sick. And I had three
(16:22):
little, little babies. So it wasdifficult. It was by far the
most difficult time of mycareer. And probably what caused
my severe anxiety? I wouldimagine.
Jay Miralles (16:40):
Yes, I want to I want to I want to unpack
something. Jody, you said peoplepleaser? Okay, first of all,
thank you for being brave enoughto say that, because there are
people that will not admit it.
And that's a real thing. I loveto please people as well. Can I
ask you a question? How do youuse that for your superpower?
Instead of just a weakness,though? Do you? Do you see that
(17:02):
as a weakness? Or do you see itas a superpower? Or both?
Jodi Jefferson (17:10):
That's tough.
Um, I think. I think in mycurrent role, I can use it as a
superpower. Because I can behonest with people and I can
really tell them if I'mcomfortable creating or
recreating their vision. If I'mnot, I can easily decline. I'm
(17:32):
very particular myself when itcomes to how I want something to
look. If if a client comes to mewith a certain design, and I
don't feel again, I'm I'mcompletely self taught. So if,
if it's something that I don'tfeel comfortable making or
(17:54):
creating for them, I will gladlytell them that because I'm not
here to fake the funk.
Jay Miralles (18:02):
Right? When I knew that
Jodi Jefferson (18:06):
I didn't have a choice but to fake the funk if I
didn't know what I was doing,honestly. And that that was hard
for me, because I couldn't Icouldn't make 20 or 25 flight
attendants happy there was noway. Because I might have made
(18:26):
15 Happy, I've might have made24 happy and one wasn't happy.
And that that would just weighon me and instead such an
unhealthy way. There was therewas a very low point where,
again, my husband was gone. AndI drove myself to the hospital.
(18:49):
And I mean, I was in at such alow point and just stress
induced I thought I was dyingbecause I didn't know what was
happening. I have never I hadnever been that stressed before.
One of my twins was at home thatday because she was already
(19:10):
sick. And I thought you knowwhat, there's no way I can go
home and take care of thesethree children in the condition
that I'm in and later did I findout that it was it was all
stress induced? Yes. And sostress is a real thing. And see
(19:31):
consume our bodies in physicalin physical ways and not just
not just mentally andemotionally weight but emotional
ways. And so educating peopleyou know, on the signs to look
for and that it really can takecontrol of you and your life
(19:52):
even when you least expect.
Jay Miralles (19:55):
Think about this god hand selected, decorated,
you know and hence selectedamongst your peers to be at the
elite service of, you know, thenation's leadership, and
probably crisp in the uniform aswell and just really focused on
people and making sure she didher job. Well that describes
(20:18):
Jody. But what they don't see isthe brave Jodi here, unfolding
in front of us telling us thetruth. There's someone listening
right now, Jodi saying, oh mygosh, me to Jodi, there's
someone listening. If they werelistening to you right now,
what's the best bit of advice ifthey can identify with what
(20:38):
you're talking about? There'ssomebody struggling right now.
And they're listening. Andthey're saying, Oh, my gosh, I
need help. But talk to thatperson.
Jodi Jefferson (20:49):
Yeah, so unfortunately, when you're in
uniform, holding the the mosttop secret of top secret
security clearances, you'retold, you know, just figure it
out, handle it, you know, if yougo to mental health, you'll have
there's a stigma that comes withthat. And so, unfortunately,
(21:12):
we're just trained to carrythat. And for 21 years, you
know, I carried that. And Iremember that day that I went to
the hospital thinking I wasdying, calling my husband later
while he was in Korea, and himbasically talking me off the
ledge saying it's gonna be okay.
Even that next day, it was like,Don't go to mental health. Do
(21:40):
you have a top secret securityclearance? You have?
Jay Miralles (21:45):
Are you crazy, you're gonna lose it all. Yeah,
right.
Jodi Jefferson (21:48):
Now CI, you have a iqi, you don't want to put it
on the line. You know, and nowthat I'm retired, I do go to the
VA. And I do see a provider ofmental health. And we talk about
ways that I can cope with that.
And sometimes, you know, thingsthat she tells me, as simple as
(22:08):
the amount of caffeine that Iintake, or the amount of sleep
that I get, or the 10 minutes ofrelaxation exercises that I can
find on a YouTube VA site. Imean, those are simple little
things that can can reallychange your day.
Jay Miralles (22:33):
They sound very simple, but they're not
practiced.
Jodi Jefferson (22:37):
They sound very simple. And even to this day, I
struggle with putting that 10minutes 15 minutes in my
calendar, and making it apriority. I do feel like the
hour that I take to walk everyday now for 30 plus days. That
(23:01):
is something that I look forwardto. I've made it a priority
before it was so easy to justsay, I don't have time. But now
it's where am I going to fit itin? I'm not a morning person.
But there's been days where theonly time to do it is that five.
I have caterings I have cakes, Ihave this, I have that. And so
(23:25):
I've I've made it a point thosedays that might be slower. Those
days. I haven't had my caffeineyet. But I've I've gotten it
done. And so I think making thatchange is huge. And today, I
knew I was coming on here. And Ioften pass the L Street corridor
(23:47):
near the Home Depot and theSam's where if you're familiar
with that area, you know thatthere's often several homeless
people that you'll
Jay Miralles (23:58):
absolutely, because it's a hub of a big
intersection and easy access andhigh traffic.
Jodi Jefferson (24:05):
It is and during the summer months. I made it a
point that if I was in that areawith my children, and I felt
compelled. There was a coupletimes where we saw the same
gentleman. And my childrenpointed about and I said yeah,
(24:31):
we're going to help them. We'renot going to give him money.
Because I don't I don't thinkthat that's appropriate. But
what we believe is we will gointo Walmart and we will buy him
a meal and I'm going to pick outthat meal. That meal when we get
(24:52):
to the stop sign, and so we didthat a couple times over the
summer. Today I encountered adifferent gentleman And
obviously, it wasn't the sameman. But I'm always intrigued by
what their sign says. And thisgentleman sign said that he was
a veteran, and that he was justrecovering from a nine month
(25:16):
illness and that he was lookingfor work. And as I sat at that
stop sign, I did have money inmy purse, I had nothing else to
give him. I refuse to give himmoney, because I felt that if he
had an addiction, it would onlyfuel that addiction. Yes. But I
(25:40):
did wonder to myself, why, as aveteran, is this man sitting at
a stop sign? If all this manneeds his work? Why has someone
not picked him up and taken himto the appropriate place, and
given him the work that he'sasking for? And so I feel that's
(26:02):
why I feel so compelled to helpwith the 50 mile march, because
there's just so many, there's somany veterans, no matter what
their struggle, whether it beaddiction, whether it be mental
health, whether it be they justfell on a bad time. Mr.
(26:25):
Hernandez was that rodHernandez? Yes. That spoke at
the dinner, about the familythat worked at the restroom.
They literally were just at thewrong place at the wrong time.
And they were worse hard toprovide for their family. They
were just in the wrong industryat the time, and it happened to
(26:49):
just take them out. So what howcan we hope to get veterans the
help that they need?
Jay Miralles (27:02):
Number one, Jodi's we have to you and I, together
with the whole army, the wholesquadron, we have to walk the
walk by educating people whodon't know, right, and we don't
know everything, either. We'relearning as we go on this
journey. And God, the reason whythere's a gap is because the
(27:22):
people who are able are not wellequipped enough by organizations
to learn how to engage like God.
You know, when friends tell you,Oh, my gosh, I'm having a hard
time. Isn't that hard enough?
When a friend tells you, they'rehaving a hard time, you know
them, you trust them, you likethem, and then you carry this
burden? And then you're like,Oh, my God, I don't know what to
(27:43):
do with my hands. But I can tellyou that if you and I are this
close to the issue, you and Iare this close? We are in the
face of that demon, right. Weknow what we know what he looks
like. But how many people are?
Here's my donation. Thanks. Idon't want to engage. I don't
(28:04):
want to look, I don't even knowwhat where to drop them. Press
press this for one, dial eight.
There's so many billboards, andI know I'm going on and on God.
But what I'm saying is, you andI, our job is to wake up the
general population who is onautopilot right now in their
(28:25):
comfort zone. And I'm not askingthem, how dare they not, I'm
saying please, help. Please,please share the word.
Jodi Jefferson (28:35):
It's as simple as this is. Think of tunnels,
tunnels to towers. You know, Idonate to them. That's a
national organization. Think ofthe 50 mile march as the tunnels
to towers of Omaha? Yes. I mean,this is Touching Lives. This is
touching those lives that yousee on those street corners at
(28:57):
those stoplights. Yeah, so wehave to make this relatable to
the people that are right herein our community. I donate to
tunnels to towers, and I thinkit's an amazing organization and
the things that they do areincredible. And I think we can
(29:20):
do that. I know that we can dothat right here in Omaha.
Jay Miralles (29:27):
And, you know, again, I agree,
Jodi Jefferson (29:30):
an entire list of things that I can't wait to
talk to you about of ideas.
Because when I when I getsomething, I'm like shoot for
the stars. And if we get turneddown, we get turned down, but
you're never gonna go back andsay I wish I would rather say so
and so told me no, then I wish Iwould have
Jay Miralles (29:52):
absolutely so. So Jodi, let's talk about that. So
you know, you said hey, I go tothe VA. Jodi one When people see
you, when I saw you, oh,successful caterer or successful
chef, successful Baker, thelabel, the label, oh my gosh,
she must have her stufftogether. You know, and and now
(30:13):
you're saying, wait a minute, Igo to the VA for help. I want
people to pay attention to that.
Here's a fully capable personwho's being authentic and being
vulnerable, and saying, I'mgetting help. But Jodi, here's
what we hear. VA is terrible.
And sounds listen, here's what'sterrible. The connection is the
(30:34):
conduit is because if we can getthe gentleman you're talking
about to the center, there's asystem for them to vet him why
he doesn't go. That's, that's awhole nother issue. But what
programs are there to say you'rea veteran? Alright, let's verify
because there's a verificationprocess that you can do with
them. Did you know that it's anapp, and I need to get that if
(30:57):
they tell you enoughinformation, you can verify them
that they were either activeduty or served out or served at
one time, I should say, it's ait's a database, but we're not
doing that. Plus, I don't wantto talk to the crazy person. Oh,
they're dangerous. I get it. I'mnot condoning jump out of your
car and start praying therosary. I'm not saying that. I'm
(31:17):
saying, Okay, how do we getthis? How do we equip the right
people, and I believe the 50mile march aren't our mission is
to, is to bridge that gap. Idon't want to go into the
details of the 50 mile marchbecause that's not important.
What's important is God story.
So now I want to relate, youknow, to your mission, and how
your bakery, your your busybakery connects with your
(31:39):
mission and your heart. You saidsomething very profound to me.
And you said it, you know, like,Hey, I've, I've been blessed
beyond my grateful cup. I needto give back. Can you tell me
what that's like, when you dothat? And you're playing in your
gift? Like, you're just in yourgift? What does that feel like
to you?
Jodi Jefferson (32:04):
Yeah, so I was raised in a church home, and I
just, it was instilled into meand my sister at a young age
that we were to give back, wealready give back to our church
and give back to our community.
And we always give back to ourchurch, you know, our 10%. And
(32:25):
then I can remember small thingsgiving back to our community as
kids. I grew up in Hampton,Nebraska, which is about two
hours west of Omaha, a tinylittle town. Join the military
shortly after high school. Andbut I just have vivid memories
(32:46):
of raking leaves for theelderly. singing Christmas
carols to the elderly. doinglittle things like that not not
huge things not like, you know,you know, we weren't moving
mountains, we were these werejust little things that made
people happy. And were expectedus, of us as children of our
(33:09):
community.
Jay Miralles (33:15):
You said, you know, you said you're not moving
mountains. I'm sorry. I don'tmean to interrupt you. But this
is so good. Okay. I love yourmodesty and your humbleness and
your gratitude, right? I canfeel it. But okay, we're not
moving mountains, okay. But yourmom did. And here's how she
moved mountains. Your mom setthe example. The ripple effect
is so strong, that even in abody of water, the smallest
(33:38):
pebble can go from one wave fromone end to the other. So let's
talk about the mountain for asecond, your mom, or your mom
and dad or your family. Whenyou're kids. There's three
things you can give time, talentand treasure, time, talent and
treasure. Those are the threethings every human can give,
right? Some choose time. Somesay here's my check, take my
(34:00):
treasure. And some people sayhere's my talent. God, don't
ever say you didn't movemountains. I get it right. Maybe
it wasn't writing a check for147,000. At the time you were
raking leaves, but your mommoved mountains with her actions
because it's going to you andguess what you're going to do?
(34:20):
Your ripple effect plays intothe 50 mile march it plays into
honoring, you know, your friend,it goes into honoring all these
veterans and it goes to someonelistening to this podcast going
I can be Jody, I can be herright now. So sorry, I just
needed to lean into that for asecond.
Jodi Jefferson (34:37):
Yeah. I love it.
So. So yeah, that's just how Iwas raised and then
being in the military, there wasplenty of times where, you know,
you're just grinding it out asan airman you're doing what
you're supposed to be doing, youknow, plenty of community
service along the way. But Ifelt when I was a flight
(35:02):
attendant at Air Force One. Iactually looked it up earlier.
And I want to say it was 2009.
So I got hired there in 2005.
And then, a few years after Idecided to start a Thanksgiving
bake sale there, which seemedkind of crazy, but I sold it on
(35:28):
my own. And basically, the firstfew years was to raise money for
our annual Christmas party. Itwas very in house, we had a
couple of 100 people that workthere. And I had a set menu,
same thing, and I would bake abunch of stuff, and I would sell
it. And then I would basicallyturn that money over to the
(35:51):
front office, and they would usethat money to help kick off our
Christmas party. Well, afterabout three years of doing that,
it was like, Okay, I want tosee, I want to, I want to reap
some, some benefits. And I wantto see where these dividends are
going. Right. And so I said,Okay, this year, I think it was
(36:15):
in 2009. I said, we're going todo the same big sale, but all of
the money that we raised, we'regoing to take it and we're going
to go up to Bethesda, WalterReed. And we're going to, we're
going to talk to some woundedwarriors, and we're going to
find out what they need. We'regoing to purchase magazine
(36:39):
subscriptions, we're going topurchase tablets, we're going to
purchase gift cards. We're goingto we're going to make make a
difference in more than just thelives of people at the
Presidential Airlift Group. Yes.
And tonight, as I was preparingfor this, I scrolled way back in
my phone. And, and I found thosepictures and I found pictures
(37:04):
who have about 10 flightattendants standing around the
bedside of a few men that youknow, I don't know why they were
there. I don't know what limbswere missing. Um, but what I do
know is that we made adifference that day. We may not
(37:32):
have made a difference thatyear, that month. But that day,
and it might have been a CD atthe time, it might have been a
tablet that gave themindependence or something to
(37:53):
take their mind off ofwhat they were going through and
in those pictures was my friendAvi it it just made it all the
more real as to why I'm doingthis because I'm sorry.
Jay Miralles (38:20):
No, do not apologize
Jodi Jefferson (38:25):
that she is what she would have wanted. That's
how we were raised presidential.
That's how I was raised. We wereraised to care about people. Not
ourselves. But those that neededsomething. And so it was just it
was nice to look back on thosepictures and be able to know
(38:48):
that we made a difference thatyear. And so after I left there,
obviously with my family, myhusband going to Korea, my mom's
health having three smallchildren moving to Nebraska, you
know, it was hard to justimmediately jumped back into
(39:12):
another bake sale. So it took acouple of years. And then in 20
Jay Miralles (39:21):
You went dormant.
You went dormant on baking youleft your gift for a while
Jodi Jefferson (39:26):
I was doing it the for the for the crew. It
wasn't it wasn't Air Force One.
It wasn't a clientele you knowon the side it was I was trying
to keep my head above water withthree babies in a full time
career. Wow.
Jay Miralles (39:50):
Jodi, I feel your passion and your and I hear some
of your pain come out you knowwhich is which is healthy right
and Blessed are the people whowatch this because they will see
who you are and whose workyou're doing
Hello I want to say thank you for joining us
(00:09):
here on the connection numberone, subscribe, follow, like,
share, share the energy, right?
Let's jump right into this. I'mso excited because I have a
special guest on today. Andthey're all special because if
they're not, they're not on theshow. When we talk about the
connection, we don't alwaysnotice all the connections
around us. And I want tointroduce you to Jody Jefferson.
(00:29):
I met Jody at a wedding, right?
No, not a wedding that weattended a wedding that we
worked at. But as busy as weare, I approached her because
her work was amazing. Um, sheowns Zb bakery. And I just saw
her creation. I was like, Oh mygosh, everyone else was like,
(00:52):
Oh, my God, this is amazing. SoI approached her. And when I
approached her, we had a shortconversation, Jodi, I want you
to pick up from there. How didthat conversation go? Take Take
us back slowly and take yourtime, no rush. What do you
remember from that day.
Jodi Jefferson (01:11):
Um, so I was so excited to meet you. It was at a
wedding at the Bennington bar.
And it was my first time doingan event at that venue. And it
was such a beautiful venue. AndI just absolutely love how my
clients can bring me into theserelationships with other people.
(01:35):
No matter what, what they'redoing. And that's exactly what
happened that day. With you andI, I was setting up this
beautiful desert charcuterietable for 300 people I had never
done before. And so I wasmethodically, like taking my
(01:59):
time with every piece and everydetail table. And you just came
by and just commented on thetable, as I remember. And
obviously, it just calmed me andmade me feel like, you know,
what I was doing was right. Andit looked good. Because again,
(02:21):
it was my first time doing acharcuterie dessert table, which
was what for the bride's visionfor that for her special day,
obviously. And we just struck upa quick conversation. And it
just went in a whole differentdirection from what I would have
(02:42):
ever anticipated. From what Irecall, we talked about how my
mom and I, in the in the lastthree years have done a mother
daughter Thanksgiving bake salefor charity is how this next
year in 2022. We are looking wewere currently looking for our
(03:07):
charity partner for this year.
And this was I think back inMarch, April May timeframe. Yes,
yes. So yeah, just trying toprepare and set our hearts on
what was going to be best forour mission this year. And me
being a veteran myself, I knewthis year, it needed to be
(03:32):
something that dealt withveterans. In the previous years,
we had done something thattouched the hearts of our church
in 2017. Or no, I'm sorry, 20.
Our first year was 2017, Ibelieve 2018. We touched the
hearts of the folks at theRainbow House. And then in the
(03:55):
next year, we did the mustachesfor kids, which touches the
lives of many children in theOmaha area. And so this year, I
knew as a veteran myself, weneeded to do something to help
the veterans that struggle. Imyself struggle with severe
(04:18):
anxiety and have have seen seenmany fellow servicemen and women
that have struggled themselves,and also a very close friend,
who had unfortunately taken herown life because of mental
illness due to her time in theservice and prior things that
(04:41):
she struggled with. And so it'svery important that we take care
of those veterans and so, again,Jay and I just got to talking
that night as I was at thistable and he just I was briefly
You explaining like that we werelooking for a charity and I
(05:02):
wanted it specifically to be forveterans. And he said, I think
I've got what you're lookingfor. And just a couple short
days later, he sent me this thisamazing video of what the 50
mile mark is all about. Andimmediately, like, as soon as I
(05:22):
watched the video, I was like,yes, yes, absolutely. We are all
in 100% with this. And sincethat day, I follow their
journey. I follow theirpreparation for their, their
march in August. And I mean,like, it was just amazing. Like
(05:46):
I followed up until the day thatthey march, I vividly remember
the day before sending Jay amessage saying we're thinking
about you. I remember going tochurch with my children on
Sunday that the day that theywere marching, and saying when
we get out of church, we'regoing to find this group of
(06:09):
people because I know they'regoing to be in our area. And
we've found them at near 100/32and Prairie Queen Lake and we,
my my kids flew flags outside ofthe car and we cheered you on.
And then we ran home and wepackage up some cookies. And we
ran them up to the brewery andwe dropped them off. And then as
(06:33):
we were coming back home, we youguys were just crossing 100/20
and Giles, and we we rate wavedyou want some more. And we told
you about the incredible crowdthat was waiting for you at
Nebraska Brewing Company. And ifit weren't for my son's football
(06:54):
game that afternoon, we wouldhave absolutely been there. Just
cheering you on. Because what anamazing thing that you guys did
that day. Immediately that day Iwent home and I signed up to
walk for 2023 I'm proud to saythat since that day, I have
(07:17):
walked four miles every day.
Wow. I have made time. Beforemeeting Jay and learning about
the 50 mile march I I didn'thave time, you know a and
recently, I listened to a churchsermon that talked about time,
(07:41):
and how we make time for what'simportant for us. Yes, and we
all have 24 hours a day. Andbefore this. It was easy to say
I don't have time. But now Imake time I make time for that
(08:01):
one hour a day. And not a dayhas gone by that I haven't
thought about Amy. Amy is thereason that I will walk 50 miles
in August of 2023. And Amy isbehind my right left shoulder.
Jay Miralles (08:25):
Make sure that we put a picture up as well.
Jodi Jefferson (08:27):
She's a beautiful soul. And Amy cannot
let go of the demons thatfollowed her. And I will make I
will make time we often say thatwe will never forget when
someone passes and it's easy toforget. It's easy to not think
about those people every day.
But not a day has gone past inthe last 30 days would I have
(08:52):
walked for one hour that I havenot thought about Amy Gilliland.
And not a day will go by untilAugust of 2023 When I walk that
50 miles, you Gilliland.
Jay Miralles (09:12):
Amen. You will let's I want to back up and
honor your entire story. You seta great framework. I want to
bring perspective because I loveyour heart, your energy and what
your I can. When I met you, I'lltake us back when I met you.
There are people that youconverse with. And then there
are people you connect with.
There's a difference. I praisedyour work because it was
(09:36):
impeccable. People were gawking.
They were like, Oh, wow. And youknow, let's be honest. There's a
lot of people in the space God.
But I remember with grace aspeople were almost overstepping,
like, oh, you know, like almostwanting to touch the table. You
handled it with grace. I'll behonest, I was like everyone get
back. You know, I didn't saythat. But the time you took to
prepare, I thought that was your100 40th time. Let's be honest,
(09:59):
I didn't know is your firsttime? It's not amateur when your
hearts in it right? It's neveramateur when your hearts and if
so I want to praise you forthat. Number two is I heard what
you said, you know, I'm so gladwe connected you know and with
the veteran background and whenyou meet people you detect
energy. That's all I care aboutwhen someone says oh, do you do
(10:22):
like Jodie, do you like, youknow, Matt, do you like Dave? I
don't like people, Jodi, I amattracted to energy. So when
somebody says, Oh, would youlike to work with these people
on this project, it's not amatter of like is I'm attracted
to the energy. So yes, I willwork on that project. I can tell
when someone is all the way inand all the way out or semi. You
(10:42):
know, I don't have time. I don'thave time for semi lukewarm. So
I want to go back and let's talkabout your business for a
minute, because I want tocelebrate that and I'm going to
put that here on the screen. Butwhile you talk about it, tell me
we were busy be started andwhere it's grown. And just tell
the viewers that story. And I'mgonna bring that up on the
(11:04):
screen right now.
Jodi Jefferson (11:08):
Wow, so I can't really put a date or time on
when busy bees started. So I wasstationed in Washington DC, from
2003 until 2013. During thattime, I flew from from 2003 to
(11:32):
2005. I flew with SecretariesRumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice,
Colin Powell, Vice PresidentCheney, Mrs. Bush, a lot of
dignitaries, and then five, Iwas very fortunately, hand
(11:55):
selected to become a part of thepresidential Airlift Group where
I flew with Presidents Bush andPresidents Obama, their staff,
their families, and during thattime, I baked for them I cooked
for them, women, their staff.
And so just such a fortunateevent. And during that time, I
(12:16):
this was before I had children,of course, and so I I built up a
clientele there and I was ableduring my downtime to bake and
cook for those individuals. Soit was very difficult as you
know, when you when you're inthe military and you move from
one duty location to another,it's just like a hairdresser or
(12:39):
anyone else who really relies ontheir clientele. To build that
back up,
Jay Miralles (12:47):
yes. You got to start over tell the story over
again. Absolutely. So
Jodi Jefferson (12:51):
when I I moved.
Fortunately, on a humanitarianassignment in 2015, I was able
to get stationed back home toNebraska, basically, because of
due to the unfortunatecircumstances of my mom having
terminal cancer, and my husband,also dual military PCs into
(13:14):
Korea. At the time, we had sixmonth old twins, and three and a
half year old. So I decided thatthe best route forward was for
me to put in a humanitarianassignment. Yes, closest to my
family. And fortunately enoughoften did have flight attendant
(13:38):
positions at the time. So let'scome to off it or come home as a
flight attendant. So there Ibecame, I flew on the e4
Jay Miralles (13:54):
e4 B's is that right? Am I ready for B? Is that
Jodi Jefferson (13:57):
flying on the ark? Are they flying with the
Secretary of Defense when heflew abroad, and so I was able
to fly with them be at homehelping my mom but also also her
helping us while my husband wasin Korea. And I fully believe
(14:23):
that God has a plan and that mymom is still with us today.
Because he retired from her joband Kearney she moved she lived
with me and based housing andtook care of my kids while I was
flying. And she was a full timegrandma and she knew that her
(14:48):
grandkids needed her. Yes thather own kids needed her and I
fully believe that 10 yearslater, she is still fighting
cancer but she's still are withus. And so we praise for that
every day and we pray. We thankhim every day for that. During
that time I flew for five yearson the e4. It was probably the
(15:16):
most difficult time of mycareer. When I was at the
Presidential Airlift Squadron,flying on Air Force One, I was
in my comfort zone. I was atechnical expert, I loved what I
did. I was behind the scenes,and I made the magic happen.
(15:36):
Yes, when I came to off it. AndI was very quickly taken out of
my comfort zone, I was put in aleadership role, which I had
never really been groomed for. Ididn't really know how to take
care of people. So it was verydifficult for me. I'm a people
(15:59):
pleaser. And so it was hard tomake 20 to 25 flight attendants
happy because I was used tobeing behind the scenes making
the magic happen and makingpeople are happy that way. All
while my husband was gone. Momwas sick. And I had three
(16:22):
little, little babies. So it wasdifficult. It was by far the
most difficult time of mycareer. And probably what caused
my severe anxiety? I wouldimagine.
Jay Miralles (16:40):
Yes, I want to I want to I want to unpack
something. Jody, you said peoplepleaser? Okay, first of all,
thank you for being brave enoughto say that, because there are
people that will not admit it.
And that's a real thing. I loveto please people as well. Can I
ask you a question? How do youuse that for your superpower?
Instead of just a weakness,though? Do you? Do you see that
(17:02):
as a weakness? Or do you see itas a superpower? Or both?
Jodi Jefferson (17:10):
That's tough.
Um, I think. I think in mycurrent role, I can use it as a
superpower. Because I can behonest with people and I can
really tell them if I'mcomfortable creating or
recreating their vision. If I'mnot, I can easily decline. I'm
(17:32):
very particular myself when itcomes to how I want something to
look. If if a client comes to mewith a certain design, and I
don't feel again, I'm I'mcompletely self taught. So if,
if it's something that I don'tfeel comfortable making or
(17:54):
creating for them, I will gladlytell them that because I'm not
here to fake the funk.
Jay Miralles (18:02):
Right? When I knew that
Jodi Jefferson (18:06):
I didn't have a choice but to fake the funk if I
didn't know what I was doing,honestly. And that that was hard
for me, because I couldn't Icouldn't make 20 or 25 flight
attendants happy there was noway. Because I might have made
(18:26):
15 Happy, I've might have made24 happy and one wasn't happy.
And that that would just weighon me and instead such an
unhealthy way. There was therewas a very low point where,
again, my husband was gone. AndI drove myself to the hospital.
(18:49):
And I mean, I was in at such alow point and just stress
induced I thought I was dyingbecause I didn't know what was
happening. I have never I hadnever been that stressed before.
One of my twins was at home thatday because she was already
(19:10):
sick. And I thought you knowwhat, there's no way I can go
home and take care of thesethree children in the condition
that I'm in and later did I findout that it was it was all
stress induced? Yes. And sostress is a real thing. And see
(19:31):
consume our bodies in physicalin physical ways and not just
not just mentally andemotionally weight but emotional
ways. And so educating peopleyou know, on the signs to look
for and that it really can takecontrol of you and your life
(19:52):
even when you least expect.
Jay Miralles (19:55):
Think about this god hand selected, decorated,
you know and hence selectedamongst your peers to be at the
elite service of, you know, thenation's leadership, and
probably crisp in the uniform aswell and just really focused on
people and making sure she didher job. Well that describes
(20:18):
Jody. But what they don't see isthe brave Jodi here, unfolding
in front of us telling us thetruth. There's someone listening
right now, Jodi saying, oh mygosh, me to Jodi, there's
someone listening. If they werelistening to you right now,
what's the best bit of advice ifthey can identify with what
(20:38):
you're talking about? There'ssomebody struggling right now.
And they're listening. Andthey're saying, Oh, my gosh, I
need help. But talk to thatperson.
Jodi Jefferson (20:49):
Yeah, so unfortunately, when you're in
uniform, holding the the mosttop secret of top secret
security clearances, you'retold, you know, just figure it
out, handle it, you know, if yougo to mental health, you'll have
there's a stigma that comes withthat. And so, unfortunately,
(21:12):
we're just trained to carrythat. And for 21 years, you
know, I carried that. And Iremember that day that I went to
the hospital thinking I wasdying, calling my husband later
while he was in Korea, and himbasically talking me off the
ledge saying it's gonna be okay.
Even that next day, it was like,Don't go to mental health. Do
(21:40):
you have a top secret securityclearance? You have?
Jay Miralles (21:45):
Are you crazy, you're gonna lose it all. Yeah,
right.
Jodi Jefferson (21:48):
Now CI, you have a iqi, you don't want to put it
on the line. You know, and nowthat I'm retired, I do go to the
VA. And I do see a provider ofmental health. And we talk about
ways that I can cope with that.
And sometimes, you know, thingsthat she tells me, as simple as
(22:08):
the amount of caffeine that Iintake, or the amount of sleep
that I get, or the 10 minutes ofrelaxation exercises that I can
find on a YouTube VA site. Imean, those are simple little
things that can can reallychange your day.
Jay Miralles (22:33):
They sound very simple, but they're not
practiced.
Jodi Jefferson (22:37):
They sound very simple. And even to this day, I
struggle with putting that 10minutes 15 minutes in my
calendar, and making it apriority. I do feel like the
hour that I take to walk everyday now for 30 plus days. That
(23:01):
is something that I look forwardto. I've made it a priority
before it was so easy to justsay, I don't have time. But now
it's where am I going to fit itin? I'm not a morning person.
But there's been days where theonly time to do it is that five.
I have caterings I have cakes, Ihave this, I have that. And so
(23:25):
I've I've made it a point thosedays that might be slower. Those
days. I haven't had my caffeineyet. But I've I've gotten it
done. And so I think making thatchange is huge. And today, I
knew I was coming on here. And Ioften pass the L Street corridor
(23:47):
near the Home Depot and theSam's where if you're familiar
with that area, you know thatthere's often several homeless
people that you'll
Jay Miralles (23:58):
absolutely, because it's a hub of a big
intersection and easy access andhigh traffic.
Jodi Jefferson (24:05):
It is and during the summer months. I made it a
point that if I was in that areawith my children, and I felt
compelled. There was a coupletimes where we saw the same
gentleman. And my childrenpointed about and I said yeah,
(24:31):
we're going to help them. We'renot going to give him money.
Because I don't I don't thinkthat that's appropriate. But
what we believe is we will gointo Walmart and we will buy him
a meal and I'm going to pick outthat meal. That meal when we get
(24:52):
to the stop sign, and so we didthat a couple times over the
summer. Today I encountered adifferent gentleman And
obviously, it wasn't the sameman. But I'm always intrigued by
what their sign says. And thisgentleman sign said that he was
a veteran, and that he was justrecovering from a nine month
(25:16):
illness and that he was lookingfor work. And as I sat at that
stop sign, I did have money inmy purse, I had nothing else to
give him. I refuse to give himmoney, because I felt that if he
had an addiction, it would onlyfuel that addiction. Yes. But I
(25:40):
did wonder to myself, why, as aveteran, is this man sitting at
a stop sign? If all this manneeds his work? Why has someone
not picked him up and taken himto the appropriate place, and
given him the work that he'sasking for? And so I feel that's
(26:02):
why I feel so compelled to helpwith the 50 mile march, because
there's just so many, there's somany veterans, no matter what
their struggle, whether it beaddiction, whether it be mental
health, whether it be they justfell on a bad time. Mr.
(26:25):
Hernandez was that rodHernandez? Yes. That spoke at
the dinner, about the familythat worked at the restroom.
They literally were just at thewrong place at the wrong time.
And they were worse hard toprovide for their family. They
were just in the wrong industryat the time, and it happened to
(26:49):
just take them out. So what howcan we hope to get veterans the
help that they need?
Jay Miralles (27:02):
Number one, Jodi's we have to you and I, together
with the whole army, the wholesquadron, we have to walk the
walk by educating people whodon't know, right, and we don't
know everything, either. We'relearning as we go on this
journey. And God, the reason whythere's a gap is because the
(27:22):
people who are able are not wellequipped enough by organizations
to learn how to engage like God.
You know, when friends tell you,Oh, my gosh, I'm having a hard
time. Isn't that hard enough?
When a friend tells you, they'rehaving a hard time, you know
them, you trust them, you likethem, and then you carry this
burden? And then you're like,Oh, my God, I don't know what to
(27:43):
do with my hands. But I can tellyou that if you and I are this
close to the issue, you and Iare this close? We are in the
face of that demon, right. Weknow what we know what he looks
like. But how many people are?
Here's my donation. Thanks. Idon't want to engage. I don't
(28:04):
want to look, I don't even knowwhat where to drop them. Press
press this for one, dial eight.
There's so many billboards, andI know I'm going on and on God.
But what I'm saying is, you andI, our job is to wake up the
general population who is onautopilot right now in their
(28:25):
comfort zone. And I'm not askingthem, how dare they not, I'm
saying please, help. Please,please share the word.
Jodi Jefferson (28:35):
It's as simple as this is. Think of tunnels,
tunnels to towers. You know, Idonate to them. That's a
national organization. Think ofthe 50 mile march as the tunnels
to towers of Omaha? Yes. I mean,this is Touching Lives. This is
touching those lives that yousee on those street corners at
(28:57):
those stoplights. Yeah, so wehave to make this relatable to
the people that are right herein our community. I donate to
tunnels to towers, and I thinkit's an amazing organization and
the things that they do areincredible. And I think we can
(29:20):
do that. I know that we can dothat right here in Omaha.
Jay Miralles (29:27):
And, you know, again, I agree,
Jodi Jefferson (29:30):
an entire list of things that I can't wait to
talk to you about of ideas.
Because when I when I getsomething, I'm like shoot for
the stars. And if we get turneddown, we get turned down, but
you're never gonna go back andsay I wish I would rather say so
and so told me no, then I wish Iwould have
Jay Miralles (29:52):
absolutely so. So Jodi, let's talk about that. So
you know, you said hey, I go tothe VA. Jodi one When people see
you, when I saw you, oh,successful caterer or successful
chef, successful Baker, thelabel, the label, oh my gosh,
she must have her stufftogether. You know, and and now
(30:13):
you're saying, wait a minute, Igo to the VA for help. I want
people to pay attention to that.
Here's a fully capable personwho's being authentic and being
vulnerable, and saying, I'mgetting help. But Jodi, here's
what we hear. VA is terrible.
And sounds listen, here's what'sterrible. The connection is the
(30:34):
conduit is because if we can getthe gentleman you're talking
about to the center, there's asystem for them to vet him why
he doesn't go. That's, that's awhole nother issue. But what
programs are there to say you'rea veteran? Alright, let's verify
because there's a verificationprocess that you can do with
them. Did you know that it's anapp, and I need to get that if
(30:57):
they tell you enoughinformation, you can verify them
that they were either activeduty or served out or served at
one time, I should say, it's ait's a database, but we're not
doing that. Plus, I don't wantto talk to the crazy person. Oh,
they're dangerous. I get it. I'mnot condoning jump out of your
car and start praying therosary. I'm not saying that. I'm
(31:17):
saying, Okay, how do we getthis? How do we equip the right
people, and I believe the 50mile march aren't our mission is
to, is to bridge that gap. Idon't want to go into the
details of the 50 mile marchbecause that's not important.
What's important is God story.
So now I want to relate, youknow, to your mission, and how
your bakery, your your busybakery connects with your
(31:39):
mission and your heart. You saidsomething very profound to me.
And you said it, you know, like,Hey, I've, I've been blessed
beyond my grateful cup. I needto give back. Can you tell me
what that's like, when you dothat? And you're playing in your
gift? Like, you're just in yourgift? What does that feel like
to you?
Jodi Jefferson (32:04):
Yeah, so I was raised in a church home, and I
just, it was instilled into meand my sister at a young age
that we were to give back, wealready give back to our church
and give back to our community.
And we always give back to ourchurch, you know, our 10%. And
(32:25):
then I can remember small thingsgiving back to our community as
kids. I grew up in Hampton,Nebraska, which is about two
hours west of Omaha, a tinylittle town. Join the military
shortly after high school. Andbut I just have vivid memories
(32:46):
of raking leaves for theelderly. singing Christmas
carols to the elderly. doinglittle things like that not not
huge things not like, you know,you know, we weren't moving
mountains, we were these werejust little things that made
people happy. And were expectedus, of us as children of our
(33:09):
community.
Jay Miralles (33:15):
You said, you know, you said you're not moving
mountains. I'm sorry. I don'tmean to interrupt you. But this
is so good. Okay. I love yourmodesty and your humbleness and
your gratitude, right? I canfeel it. But okay, we're not
moving mountains, okay. But yourmom did. And here's how she
moved mountains. Your mom setthe example. The ripple effect
is so strong, that even in abody of water, the smallest
(33:38):
pebble can go from one wave fromone end to the other. So let's
talk about the mountain for asecond, your mom, or your mom
and dad or your family. Whenyou're kids. There's three
things you can give time, talentand treasure, time, talent and
treasure. Those are the threethings every human can give,
right? Some choose time. Somesay here's my check, take my
(34:00):
treasure. And some people sayhere's my talent. God, don't
ever say you didn't movemountains. I get it right. Maybe
it wasn't writing a check for147,000. At the time you were
raking leaves, but your mommoved mountains with her actions
because it's going to you andguess what you're going to do?
(34:20):
Your ripple effect plays intothe 50 mile march it plays into
honoring, you know, your friend,it goes into honoring all these
veterans and it goes to someonelistening to this podcast going
I can be Jody, I can be herright now. So sorry, I just
needed to lean into that for asecond.
Jodi Jefferson (34:37):
Yeah. I love it.
So. So yeah, that's just how Iwas raised and then
being in the military, there wasplenty of times where, you know,
you're just grinding it out asan airman you're doing what
you're supposed to be doing, youknow, plenty of community
service along the way. But Ifelt when I was a flight
(35:02):
attendant at Air Force One. Iactually looked it up earlier.
And I want to say it was 2009.
So I got hired there in 2005.
And then, a few years after Idecided to start a Thanksgiving
bake sale there, which seemedkind of crazy, but I sold it on
(35:28):
my own. And basically, the firstfew years was to raise money for
our annual Christmas party. Itwas very in house, we had a
couple of 100 people that workthere. And I had a set menu,
same thing, and I would bake abunch of stuff, and I would sell
it. And then I would basicallyturn that money over to the
(35:51):
front office, and they would usethat money to help kick off our
Christmas party. Well, afterabout three years of doing that,
it was like, Okay, I want tosee, I want to, I want to reap
some, some benefits. And I wantto see where these dividends are
going. Right. And so I said,Okay, this year, I think it was
(36:15):
in 2009. I said, we're going todo the same big sale, but all of
the money that we raised, we'regoing to take it and we're going
to go up to Bethesda, WalterReed. And we're going to, we're
going to talk to some woundedwarriors, and we're going to
find out what they need. We'regoing to purchase magazine
(36:39):
subscriptions, we're going topurchase tablets, we're going to
purchase gift cards. We're goingto we're going to make make a
difference in more than just thelives of people at the
Presidential Airlift Group. Yes.
And tonight, as I was preparingfor this, I scrolled way back in
my phone. And, and I found thosepictures and I found pictures
(37:04):
who have about 10 flightattendants standing around the
bedside of a few men that youknow, I don't know why they were
there. I don't know what limbswere missing. Um, but what I do
know is that we made adifference that day. We may not
(37:32):
have made a difference thatyear, that month. But that day,
and it might have been a CD atthe time, it might have been a
tablet that gave themindependence or something to
(37:53):
take their mind off ofwhat they were going through and
in those pictures was my friendAvi it it just made it all the
more real as to why I'm doingthis because I'm sorry.
Jay Miralles (38:20):
No, do not apologize
Jodi Jefferson (38:25):
that she is what she would have wanted. That's
how we were raised presidential.
That's how I was raised. We wereraised to care about people. Not
ourselves. But those that neededsomething. And so it was just it
was nice to look back on thosepictures and be able to know
(38:48):
that we made a difference thatyear. And so after I left there,
obviously with my family, myhusband going to Korea, my mom's
health having three smallchildren moving to Nebraska, you
know, it was hard to justimmediately jumped back into
(39:12):
another bake sale. So it took acouple of years. And then in 20
Jay Miralles (39:21):
You went dormant.
You went dormant on baking youleft your gift for a while
Jodi Jefferson (39:26):
I was doing it the for the for the crew. It
wasn't it wasn't Air Force One.
It wasn't a clientele you knowon the side it was I was trying
to keep my head above water withthree babies in a full time
career. Wow.
Jay Miralles (39:50):
Jodi, I feel your passion and your and I hear some
of your pain come out you knowwhich is which is healthy right
and Blessed are the people whowatch this because they will see
who you are and whose workyou're doing
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