February 13, 2025 • 12 mins
In this episode of the Veronica Edwards Show, host Veronica Edwards shares her journey back to podcasting after a significant hiatus due to Hurricane Helene. She discusses the impact of the hurricane on her community, the resilience shown by locals, and her transition to an independent podcasting platform. Veronica also outlines exciting new segments and guest appearances planned for the upcoming season, emphasizing the importance of community support and entrepreneurship.
02-04-2025
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the Veronica Edwards show, where we
have fun financial conversationsthat everyone listening can
apply to their personal andprofessional life.
I'm your host, veronica Edwards, and I'm so excited to be back
in 2025.
We have a new home, we areindependent and this is the
(00:26):
first time ever, the show is100% sponsored by Balance,
virtually.
I definitely do want to thankthe Biz Radio family, especially
Matt and Tan, the creator, forallowing me to have the Veronica
Edwards show on the Biz Radioplatform for the last four years
, but unfortunately, due toHurricane Helene, we had to
(00:47):
transition into a differentplatform.
But again, I definitely willalways be grateful to biz radio
and making this transition soeasy.
So let's jump right into what'sbeen taking place since the
last time that I chatted withyou guys.
So I last recorded in Septemberand one of the last shows aired
(01:10):
the beginning of October.
And if anybody's been watchingthe news or you know me, we were
affected September 27th withHurricane Helene in western
North Carolina, in Western NorthCarolina.
So Hurricane Helene was one ofthe deadliest US mainland
strikes since Hurricane Katrinaback in 2005,.
(01:31):
So 20 years ago.
And just some facts, becauseyou guys know I like the facts
to let you know what we've dealtwith in the last four months.
You know we had over 19 inchesof rain in two days.
We had over 50 mile per hourgusts.
We had over 600 road closures,including I-26 and I-40.
(01:51):
Some parts of that highway isstill closed.
You cannot get into Tennesseethrough 40.
Currently in North Carolina 60billion not million 60 billion
in damages and for us personallymy family we went without power
for nine days.
We had no water for 17 days and, most importantly, no wifi for
(02:15):
24 days.
So public schools were closedfor four to five weeks.
Many businesses were completelydestroyed.
We have two major rivers thatflooded.
The French Broad River reached25 feet.
The Swannanoa River reached 26feet.
These rivers usually crest atone and a half feet, just to put
(02:37):
it in perspective.
So we basically were floodedand we're surrounded by
mountains, so we were just stuck.
I mean, these are records thatgo back over 200 years, like
even some for Swannanoa goingback to the 1700s.
So just wanted to say it's beena lot going on, but we are so
thankful We've been using thatlogo Asheville Strong.
(03:00):
We've been hanging in there.
The community has really pulledtogether.
That's one thing that I noticedthe differences between the
pandemic that took place in 2020versus Hurricane Helene.
It brought the communitytogether.
We weren't isolated.
We couldn't be isolated becausewe went, as I said, nine days
(03:20):
without power and Wi-Fi andwater, which means we had to go
out for everything.
So there were T-Mobile, verizon, all of these different booths
and mobile areas where you canget Wi-Fi.
There were water stations whereyou can get fresh water so you
can then cook and then you cantake baths.
(03:42):
We had to boil our water on thegrill.
I mean, it was all kinds ofstuff.
We were listening to the radioto get updates on the news.
So it really was a humblingexperience.
It really showed us how blessedwe really are to have a roof
over our heads, to have water,to have electricity.
Wi-fi is like a luxury.
(04:03):
Now, you know, we're sothankful that we didn't have any
injuries for our family.
Our fence just went down, butit definitely kind of put things
into perspective, for me atleast personally, of what's
important and what's not, andI'm just again so thankful that,
even though it's been fourmonths, that I'm able to come
(04:24):
back and I can update you guysand we can continue forward with
the Veronica Edwards show.
And a lot of people ask mebefore we move off of Hurricane
Helene is you know how can wesupport Western North Carolina?
I tell people to go toAshevilleNCgov and they have all
kinds of information of how youcan support people in Asheville
(04:47):
.
But there's also differentsupport efforts for anybody in
Western North Carolina andhonestly I say, just come up to
Western North Carolina.
Tourism brings in $3 billion ayear and supports over 30,000
jobs and just last quarter,after the storm in October,
(05:08):
november, december, tourism wasdown by 70%.
Lodging was down by 30%.
These are like the pandemictype rates when people cannot
get out.
So that's an easy, sure waythat you can support us.
The Biltmore is back open.
There's still a lot ofrestaurants and breweries open.
They're opening up the BlueRidge Parkway, a lot of the
(05:31):
outdoor adventures with kayaking.
So we really would love ifpeople come back and financially
support Western North Carolinaby visiting.
So again, this kind ofaccelerated me going independent
with the show.
It was something I was thinkingabout doing, but I just was
(05:52):
nervous.
So, as we've talked aboutbefore on the show, sometimes,
sometimes some bad things haveto happen.
I hate that that happened.
Some people lost their lives,lost their jobs, but sometimes
things like this has to happento push us out of our comfort
zone and do the things thatwe've been saying we wanted to
do for a while, but now we haveno choice.
So here we are.
I will be celebrating four yearshaving my show, I believe, so
(06:17):
this is officially season five.
So I'm super excited to beindependent after four years and
I still have my same producer.
I want to shout out Aaron Matan, who's also my concealed carry
instructor and securityinstructor, and he will
definitely be on the VeronicaEverett show season five talking
(06:37):
about the importance of all thegun laws and safety, and that's
something that my family takesvery seriously.
And, stay tuned, I will becarrying concealing, of course.
So this season I'm so lookingforward to having young adults
(06:58):
and teenager entrepreneurs.
That's something that I wantedto do before the storm, but of
course, things happen.
I also want to continue havinga very interesting conversation.
One of the most popular showsthat we've had in the last four
years is when I had good friendof mine, lakeisha Moten, on,
(07:19):
who's a master's candidate atthe University of Maryland for
medical cannabis science andtherapeutics.
So she's going to be my firstguest and we're going to be
talking about pediatric medicalcannabis, which I know can be
very taboo.
It's not a kid just sparking up.
It could be gummies, it couldbe oils.
There's all kinds of thingsthat are out there for pediatric
(07:41):
medical cannabis.
So stay tuned for that, becausethat is going to be my first
show with my first guest in 2025.
So that's going to be coming onlater this month where we're
(08:02):
going to have a tax CPA chatwith a friend of mine and fellow
CPA, ms Elena Anthony.
We also are bringing back smallbiz tips with Ebony Sullivan,
coo of Cassie Electric, the onlymajority Black female owned
electrical business in SouthCarolina, and that was a very
popular, reoccurring show wherewe give small business owners
different best practices andespecially we try to relate to
(08:25):
double minorities like myselfand Ms Sullivan.
We also are going to bring alsofriends to the show.
Ms Diana Castile, on owner ofPies by Dye.
She is a social media sensation.
She makes gluten-free,sugar-free, dairy-free desserts.
I just had an amazing sherbetshortcake that I ordered from
her for my husband's 43rdbirthday.
(08:48):
Mr Carlos Edwards, he will alsobe on the show.
He's always dying to be on theshow, you know, so I got to
throw him a bone.
He's going to be on the show aswell.
So I just encourage thoselistening.
If you have any ideas or if youwould like to be on the show,
you can go on my website,balancevirtuallycom.
Hit, contact us.
Let me know if you want to beon the show, any ideas?
(09:10):
You also can send me a DM.
I'm on TikTok, I'm on Facebook,I'm on Instagram because we
really want to continue pushingthe envelope with the show.
Now that we're independent, wecould talk about whatever we
want to talk about.
The show will still have afocus on folks that are doing
things in the community, if it'sthrough nonprofits, if it's
(09:32):
through for-profit.
So we're still all aboutentrepreneurship and positivity.
But at the same time, there'sall kinds of things that we can
talk about that can benefit usas a whole.
And, of course, this show isairing in Black History Month.
We still celebrate BlackHistory Month here on the
Veronica Edwards Show.
So, again, I'm just excited tobe back.
(09:54):
I'm so thankful and gratefulthat we're on the other side of
this storm.
We still have a long ways to go.
Like I said, we had over 600closures.
There's still people that don'thave electricity, there's still
people that are missing.
So we're still pushing forwardand I'm just thankful that you
(10:14):
guys have continued to listenbecause, guess what?
I've been checking the statsand even though I have not had a
new show in the last fourmonths, we're almost reaching
5,000 downloads.
So I think I've had over 500downloads during this break.
So I appreciate you guys.
So we're going to be pushingthat 5,000 downloads for season
(10:35):
five.
So again, I'm back.
I'm excited.
We're going to have new things.
We're going to start addingsome video to the podcast in
addition to audio.
We're going to definitely bebringing in new segments, things
that you guys want to talkabout.
So please stay tuned.
You can listen to this episode,prior episodes at
(10:58):
VeronicaEdwards, atBuzzsproutcom.
You can also find all the priorshows and the current show on
my website, balancevirtuallycom,and if anybody's interested in
being a sponsor, you definitelycan contact me and we can set
you up with a press kit of whatwe can provide in different
(11:20):
sponsor levels.
But again, we're just happy tobe back in 2025.
So stay tuned.
We will have two episodestypically a month.
I will be providing socialmedia updates with my social
media and marketing ambassador,ms Jylan Farr, who's a new mommy
(11:41):
.
That also happened around thetime of the storm, so just a lot
of good things.
Yes, we had a major, majornatural disaster, but so many
beautiful things bloomed out ofthat and I just want to continue
spreading positivity, spreadinggood information to you guys.
So stay tuned, because theVeronica Everett Show is back.
Welcome to the Veronica Edwards show, where we
have fun financial conversationsthat everyone listening can
apply to their personal andprofessional life.
I'm your host, veronica Edwards, and I'm so excited to be back
in 2025.
We have a new home, we areindependent and this is the
(00:26):
first time ever, the show is100% sponsored by Balance,
virtually.
I definitely do want to thankthe Biz Radio family, especially
Matt and Tan, the creator, forallowing me to have the Veronica
Edwards show on the Biz Radioplatform for the last four years
, but unfortunately, due toHurricane Helene, we had to
(00:47):
transition into a differentplatform.
But again, I definitely willalways be grateful to biz radio
and making this transition soeasy.
So let's jump right into what'sbeen taking place since the
last time that I chatted withyou guys.
So I last recorded in Septemberand one of the last shows aired
(01:10):
the beginning of October.
And if anybody's been watchingthe news or you know me, we were
affected September 27th withHurricane Helene in western
North Carolina, in Western NorthCarolina.
So Hurricane Helene was one ofthe deadliest US mainland
strikes since Hurricane Katrinaback in 2005,.
(01:31):
So 20 years ago.
And just some facts, becauseyou guys know I like the facts
to let you know what we've dealtwith in the last four months.
You know we had over 19 inchesof rain in two days.
We had over 50 mile per hourgusts.
We had over 600 road closures,including I-26 and I-40.
(01:51):
Some parts of that highway isstill closed.
You cannot get into Tennesseethrough 40.
Currently in North Carolina 60billion not million 60 billion
in damages and for us personallymy family we went without power
for nine days.
We had no water for 17 days and, most importantly, no wifi for
(02:15):
24 days.
So public schools were closedfor four to five weeks.
Many businesses were completelydestroyed.
We have two major rivers thatflooded.
The French Broad River reached25 feet.
The Swannanoa River reached 26feet.
These rivers usually crest atone and a half feet, just to put
(02:37):
it in perspective.
So we basically were floodedand we're surrounded by
mountains, so we were just stuck.
I mean, these are records thatgo back over 200 years, like
even some for Swannanoa goingback to the 1700s.
So just wanted to say it's beena lot going on, but we are so
thankful We've been using thatlogo Asheville Strong.
(03:00):
We've been hanging in there.
The community has really pulledtogether.
That's one thing that I noticedthe differences between the
pandemic that took place in 2020versus Hurricane Helene.
It brought the communitytogether.
We weren't isolated.
We couldn't be isolated becausewe went, as I said, nine days
(03:20):
without power and Wi-Fi andwater, which means we had to go
out for everything.
So there were T-Mobile, verizon, all of these different booths
and mobile areas where you canget Wi-Fi.
There were water stations whereyou can get fresh water so you
can then cook and then you cantake baths.
(03:42):
We had to boil our water on thegrill.
I mean, it was all kinds ofstuff.
We were listening to the radioto get updates on the news.
So it really was a humblingexperience.
It really showed us how blessedwe really are to have a roof
over our heads, to have water,to have electricity.
Wi-fi is like a luxury.
(04:03):
Now, you know, we're sothankful that we didn't have any
injuries for our family.
Our fence just went down, butit definitely kind of put things
into perspective, for me atleast personally, of what's
important and what's not, andI'm just again so thankful that,
even though it's been fourmonths, that I'm able to come
(04:24):
back and I can update you guysand we can continue forward with
the Veronica Edwards show.
And a lot of people ask mebefore we move off of Hurricane
Helene is you know how can wesupport Western North Carolina?
I tell people to go toAshevilleNCgov and they have all
kinds of information of how youcan support people in Asheville
(04:47):
.
But there's also differentsupport efforts for anybody in
Western North Carolina andhonestly I say, just come up to
Western North Carolina.
Tourism brings in $3 billion ayear and supports over 30,000
jobs and just last quarter,after the storm in October,
(05:08):
november, december, tourism wasdown by 70%.
Lodging was down by 30%.
These are like the pandemictype rates when people cannot
get out.
So that's an easy, sure waythat you can support us.
The Biltmore is back open.
There's still a lot ofrestaurants and breweries open.
They're opening up the BlueRidge Parkway, a lot of the
(05:31):
outdoor adventures with kayaking.
So we really would love ifpeople come back and financially
support Western North Carolinaby visiting.
So again, this kind ofaccelerated me going independent
with the show.
It was something I was thinkingabout doing, but I just was
(05:52):
nervous.
So, as we've talked aboutbefore on the show, sometimes,
sometimes some bad things haveto happen.
I hate that that happened.
Some people lost their lives,lost their jobs, but sometimes
things like this has to happento push us out of our comfort
zone and do the things thatwe've been saying we wanted to
do for a while, but now we haveno choice.
So here we are.
I will be celebrating four yearshaving my show, I believe, so
(06:17):
this is officially season five.
So I'm super excited to beindependent after four years and
I still have my same producer.
I want to shout out Aaron Matan, who's also my concealed carry
instructor and securityinstructor, and he will
definitely be on the VeronicaEverett show season five talking
(06:37):
about the importance of all thegun laws and safety, and that's
something that my family takesvery seriously.
And, stay tuned, I will becarrying concealing, of course.
So this season I'm so lookingforward to having young adults
(06:58):
and teenager entrepreneurs.
That's something that I wantedto do before the storm, but of
course, things happen.
I also want to continue havinga very interesting conversation.
One of the most popular showsthat we've had in the last four
years is when I had good friendof mine, lakeisha Moten, on,
(07:19):
who's a master's candidate atthe University of Maryland for
medical cannabis science andtherapeutics.
So she's going to be my firstguest and we're going to be
talking about pediatric medicalcannabis, which I know can be
very taboo.
It's not a kid just sparking up.
It could be gummies, it couldbe oils.
There's all kinds of thingsthat are out there for pediatric
(07:41):
medical cannabis.
So stay tuned for that, becausethat is going to be my first
show with my first guest in 2025.
So that's going to be coming onlater this month where we're
(08:02):
going to have a tax CPA chatwith a friend of mine and fellow
CPA, ms Elena Anthony.
We also are bringing back smallbiz tips with Ebony Sullivan,
coo of Cassie Electric, the onlymajority Black female owned
electrical business in SouthCarolina, and that was a very
popular, reoccurring show wherewe give small business owners
different best practices andespecially we try to relate to
(08:25):
double minorities like myselfand Ms Sullivan.
We also are going to bring alsofriends to the show.
Ms Diana Castile, on owner ofPies by Dye.
She is a social media sensation.
She makes gluten-free,sugar-free, dairy-free desserts.
I just had an amazing sherbetshortcake that I ordered from
her for my husband's 43rdbirthday.
(08:48):
Mr Carlos Edwards, he will alsobe on the show.
He's always dying to be on theshow, you know, so I got to
throw him a bone.
He's going to be on the show aswell.
So I just encourage thoselistening.
If you have any ideas or if youwould like to be on the show,
you can go on my website,balancevirtuallycom.
Hit, contact us.
Let me know if you want to beon the show, any ideas?
(09:10):
You also can send me a DM.
I'm on TikTok, I'm on Facebook,I'm on Instagram because we
really want to continue pushingthe envelope with the show.
Now that we're independent, wecould talk about whatever we
want to talk about.
The show will still have afocus on folks that are doing
things in the community, if it'sthrough nonprofits, if it's
(09:32):
through for-profit.
So we're still all aboutentrepreneurship and positivity.
But at the same time, there'sall kinds of things that we can
talk about that can benefit usas a whole.
And, of course, this show isairing in Black History Month.
We still celebrate BlackHistory Month here on the
Veronica Edwards Show.
So, again, I'm just excited tobe back.
(09:54):
I'm so thankful and gratefulthat we're on the other side of
this storm.
We still have a long ways to go.
Like I said, we had over 600closures.
There's still people that don'thave electricity, there's still
people that are missing.
So we're still pushing forwardand I'm just thankful that you
(10:14):
guys have continued to listenbecause, guess what?
I've been checking the statsand even though I have not had a
new show in the last fourmonths, we're almost reaching
5,000 downloads.
So I think I've had over 500downloads during this break.
So I appreciate you guys.
So we're going to be pushingthat 5,000 downloads for season
(10:35):
five.
So again, I'm back.
I'm excited.
We're going to have new things.
We're going to start addingsome video to the podcast in
addition to audio.
We're going to definitely bebringing in new segments, things
that you guys want to talkabout.
So please stay tuned.
You can listen to this episode,prior episodes at
(10:58):
VeronicaEdwards, atBuzzsproutcom.
You can also find all the priorshows and the current show on
my website, balancevirtuallycom,and if anybody's interested in
being a sponsor, you definitelycan contact me and we can set
you up with a press kit of whatwe can provide in different
(11:20):
sponsor levels.
But again, we're just happy tobe back in 2025.
So stay tuned.
We will have two episodestypically a month.
I will be providing socialmedia updates with my social
media and marketing ambassador,ms Jylan Farr, who's a new mommy
(11:41):
.
That also happened around thetime of the storm, so just a lot
of good things.
Yes, we had a major, majornatural disaster, but so many
beautiful things bloomed out ofthat and I just want to continue
spreading positivity, spreadinggood information to you guys.
So stay tuned, because theVeronica Everett Show is back.
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