EXPERIENCE 7 | Karen Fournier, Owner and Founder of Starstream Productions and Impact Storyteller

Welcome to the LOCO Experience Podcast with LOCO Think Tank Founder Kurt Bear. Listen in as Kurt digs deep into the business and life stories of business owners and thought leaders at different stages of growth from all walks of life. Launching and growing anything can be a crazy experience, so expand your thinking and level up your understanding of what it takes to find success in the world of free enterprise. Welcome back to the LOCO Experience. My guest today is Karen Fornier. Fornier. And Karen is the owner and creator founder of Star Stream Productions in Loveland. And Star Stream is a multifaceted creative company that has won a lot of national awards and has really made an impact both within your immediate community here in Loveland, Fort Collins region, but also serving nationwide clients. So Karen why don't you start and just tell us a little bit about what you do today, what your kind of main enterprise is. Okay so I am a video producer and I've worked with a bunch of different kinds of clients, nonprofits. Just a little closer. Oh, there you go. Okay, sorry, they'll have to cut that up. Yeah, keep it. Oh yeah. No, that's the way we do it. We can't have any mistakes, in other words, okay. No, we just roll. Yeah, so okay, so I am a video producer for Star Stream Productions and I've worked with nonprofits, businesses, entrepreneurs, it's been really amazing. A lot of fun. I learn all the time. No, two days or a like. I do everything from script writing to interviewing people. I've interviewed over 600 people in my career. I got about 593 left. So interviewing is part of it's a way to get a lot of content out of people. You kind of pre-assess your objectives and you make a really great set of questions. Yeah. Kind of do your work on the front end. And understand the organization that you're working for, like topic or the cause based on the interview. Right, or it could be a person who's, you know, like for example, like one of my current clients is a PTSD and trauma expert. So I interviewed him about his knowledge base about PTSD and it's amazing. Oh, and then you just cut those clips and they use that footage to kind of create stuff. We literally got an hour and 10 minutes uncut, but then the footage ended up being 31 videos. So he got 31 videos out of an hour and something of an interview. So what I did is we kind of broke it down into subtopics so that he can roll those out over time. Well, and somebody going on his website could be like, I mentioned in this particular topic. Right. And you don't put them out all at one time. You drip them out of time. You make a content drip. Sure. So that way you're able to use your content for a long time to come. You don't throw them all out there on one day. Sure. Okay. What that does do it bumps up your SEO every time you refresh your content. So is that part of your expertise is like how to do stuff as well as just create in the great videos and the clips. So my expertise is more of the content creation itself, but in doing this. You've accidentally been learning a bunch of stuff. Yeah. So I have to create strategically for people. So a lot of times people come to me and they know that any videos but they don't really know how to go about it. Sure. So sometimes it's the form of an interview that which is more candid and sometimes more heartfelt. But then other times the other way we get to content is just basically script writing. So we'll take you know what they want to convey and we'll create a series of educational videos like maybe a dozen of them. And each one will be a minute or two long and it could be on a variety of topics that that person is really an expert about. And then what we do is we create concise scripts. So scripting is a lot more concise than an interview because an interview you're more meandering. Yeah. Is this making you look crazy here? This totally unscripted, unplanned engagement. Well, I do like to be prepared, but it's okay. Well, we just need your brain here. Yeah. I guess in your ears. That's okay. We'll have all of the above. So in wine. Yeah. And thanks for the corona carrot and had some corona lingering in her fridge that she said, can I bring you guys these and get my fridge cleaned out? I know. See, wasn't that kind of nice to me? I know what he's brought me beer to the local experience. It was really just to clean out my fridge, but you know, it was a win-win. So we say we shoot for the win-win-win-win at local thing tank, but we'll settle for the win-win-win. Well, there you go. I want to talk about who your clients are. Like I've heard already a little bit of educational emphasis, but then also some heartfelt stuff. Is there certain niches that you especially focus on or that people find you through? So I guess what I'm most known for is, you know, the award-winning things that I've done which have been with nonprofits. And the nonprofit world has been more of an emotive telling stories and that kind of thing. So you're telling the story of, you know, impact of what this nonprofit has done for people. But what's happened is it's evolved. Now that I have my own filming studio, which is amazing. People can just step in there. And so it's allowed me to get into a whole other realm, which is really enjoyable. And it's creating marketing materials. And sometimes it has an educational slant. So if I say it's an educational video, for example, this week I worked with Lance Livestat. And he's with secure American insurance. So he's the head of that. And so what we did is we created a whole series of a dozen videos about different, you know, myths about insurance or top three mistakes people made. And so we did all different topics. This is stuff that people put on their website or something that are linked in and that kind of stuff. An email you can embed in your email if you have a permission marketing list already a mask. That's a great thing to use it for too. And I don't, okay, so what I say is I'm the car maker. So let's say I'm making cars, right? Sure. So let's just do this analogy. So sometimes we make a fleet of cars. And I think it's better to have a fleet than it is to have one car. Sure. A lot more is you just get one custom. Right. And the fleet is going to go out to different places. And they'll see you over in an over. And it's just like having a branded vehicle, right? But they see different things over time. And it's you and it's you again. And it's you again. Instead of the same video over and over and over, who's going to watch that multiple times? But if you have 12 videos on different topics, it's like, oh, yeah, and maybe on the same theme or this. Yeah, it's a tie. So I like that. So I say the website is like your garage. So don't park the car just in the garage because you want the car to go. So that's why we make fleets. Yeah. And then you push them out on Facebook, you know, yeah, you might have your best car in the garage. Right. Or you might it might be in the garage. Or maybe different cars in the garage. Right. And what you're sending out or the same car might be parked there in a replica of that car might be out on social media driving around. Sure. So don't just park the car in the garage. That's kind of what sounds like a business tip. So yeah, it's using videos for your marketing. What other? So so nonprofit works obviously educational elements. Yeah, educational. And then just small businesses insurance companies and whatnot. So let me give you an example. That was this wonderful editor. She's amazing. She's actually writing for the great courses right now. She's being recorded to be teaching other editors how to edit. So she's here in Port Collins, Molly McCowen, and she's with Incbot editing. So Incbot was the name of her company is because she collects these robots. So she had like 75 robots that she collects. So she had one of her robots in her website. So we started brainstorming and we're like, well, why not use more of your robots and have them be like your staff. Sure. Yeah. So once, you know, like the editor and one does this and the one's the big picture and the little picture and you know, so they all have different kind of jobs. So yeah, so I think we did maybe 10 or 12 of them. So what we did is we put them in the studio on green screen. And so I was able to take the green out and then I was able to make them walk and you know, and then we put them on different colored backgrounds that reprise her branding. So and then we she wrote the script because she's an amazing writer. Yeah. And normally I write with my clients, you know, to get to their objectives. But so what we did is the script kind of shows what each one does and as each one is introduced, you know, it kind of explains what each robot does for the company, but really what it's doing. It gives you a little something to talk to people about what we do and it's super creative and it was, you know, some people don't want to go there like you say, let's be creative and let's do something. And they'll be like, oh, I don't want the dog to talk. Like the guy called Gecko, you know, that was yeah, it's, you know, going out on a limb, right? Because sometimes it falls flat and it's just silly and then it doesn't look professional. It's a little scary. So but today, for example, the church fellow I was telling you about I went to his office and I got everyone on camera. And so I had a blue backdrop. And so what I did is I was able to take everybody and do like a like an introduction, right? Yeah. But then what we did is we took a gingerbread house and and we did a holiday greeting. So I took an illustration of a gingerbread house and I zoomed in on the window and in the window. Yeah. So I filmed them just on blue. So when I edit, I'm going to put them in the window of the gingerbread house. So to me, and it's just going to be real quick. I'm unfolding because some of what I've heard so far is is a excellent writer. Video producer editor. But now I'm like, you know, like that's somewhat challenging technology, right? To put faces in gingerbread house windows and stuff or once you figure it out, it's not as hard as you think. No, it's not too bad. It's just sizing people down and, you know, relative to the size of that. Yeah. And then editing. But also, yeah, editing. A big part of I imagine what you do is imagining the customers or the people that are going to be up taking this content, right? Like, what are they trying to learn? Right. So with this, obviously, what I feel something like this is is that added value or like something to show that personal touch, you know, I mean, it's like, look how fun loving we are and we're much different than. Yeah. And then you send that out to your existing customers. But then they're more likely to share something like that, right? Right. Or talk about it to someone, right? Are they really going to forward to your newsletter to one of their friends? Right. Right. But if it's a really cool fun little thing, it's like they'll maybe mention it. And you know what I mean? So it brings you up into conversation that they're having. Oh, who is your insurance fellow? Oh, wow. I love him. He's amazing. And, you know, so then it starts the conversation. Sure. Sure. So it's really top of mind awareness, right? Well, it's individual branding kind of a little bit, whether it's that company or that person or whatever. Right. Right. Right. And kind of sticking a claim into this space. So it's just you. Is that right? You have. Oh, wow. I'm trying at this time to get an intern. Okay. Also, because I'm just like, oh, I can't do it all. It's hard to wear all the hats. Well, it is. And here's the thing is like, you know, you can't be great at everything. And I'm, you know, you have those that you're better at than others. Yeah. But and it's evolved over time. My skill set in different areas. And what I really love and what starts to become to feel more of a chore, you know? And in the beginning, I was really very, um, oh, I was afraid of technology like 13 years ago, right? I had a Sony handycam. And I didn't know how to use, you know, a really nice camera that can really do what you need it today. Interesting. You know, really good microphones and all of that kind of thing. So I taught people, I actually, I had, I paid people to come film with me and teach me how to, I bought a really great camera and I'm like, teach me how to use it. Yeah. So in other words, it was like, I learned best when I do something. Right. But I wanted that to be a guided doing. So I paid some other professionals to come shoot with me in the very beginning. Then did you like use that as something that you could teach other people how to use that thing? No, it was more for me to get better, um, at my own skill set and to know like, okay, you know, how do you like correctly? How do you get the best angle or how do you use your camera settings? Not, you're not going to put it on auto. I mean, you just can't as a professional. Right. Right. You know, so you want to know how to expose correctly, how to do white balance, you know, how to focus and all that. And there's another like that, all that photo related stuff as another skill that you folded in. Yeah. Got all these skills and then you still got to keep the books and send the invoices. Yes. Return the emails and the phone calls and all that stuff. Yes, it's really pretty multifaceted. But, you know, I've had a lot of different experiences in my past and, for example, I was a high school reporter for three years. I did a weekly call in for three years in high school. And so that just taught me to be a concise writer from a very early age. Right. Right. Well, and that's kind of what it's all about, right? Just putting those skills in your backpack along the way. I want to, uh, well, one thing I want to observe about, I always say that, when I've had job descriptions, it always looks like a list of things that I don't know how to do or don't enjoy doing. So keep that in mind as you look for your intern here. I know. Exactly. Like, what do I, you know, what can I give off at this time? But a lot of it is more administrative type things that are just so time consuming. Totally. Because I want to free up my time to do more of the creative brain work, but then teach the intern also. Sure. Well, that's part of your value at, right? As you can upskill somebody in a bunch of different ways that they would never get an experience like that in a large organization because they're going to be wearing five hats right off the bat. Right. So, yeah, definitely. And there's a good luck. If you guys, uh, if you guys, as you would listen to this and know somebody that needs to talk to Karen, uh, she'll be, uh, looking at interns, but we'll unfold the story a little more first. Let's start with, um, sounds like you were totally bootstrapped and got into this, uh, after a career doing other things. Yeah. Let's, let's talk about those earliest days. Just the 13 years ago, you had a Sony handy cam and the dream. Yep. And a little bit of money. Uh, so I'll tell you about your camera. Well, actually, that, this all just kind of happened because I had a two-year-old at home who was extremely independent. Uh, and my other two were in, um, school. And my two-year-old, I'd say, oh, do you want mom to play with you? I was a state home mom. And she's like, oh, I'm all right. She's, she's always been like that. She likes being alone. And I realized that about her, which is just, yeah, wonderful. She's comfortable in her own skin. And she doesn't need, you know, always to have people around her. And she enjoys her solace, which is fine. And so I just started to get bored. And I just started creating projects. And so I started doing 50th anniversary projects. And that's kind of how it all evolved was just kind of accidentally. And then I just started getting better and better equipment and learning and, um, you know, everything I've done has been. And every time I do something, I think, oh, you know, I could have done that. Yeah. You know, I could have tweaked that or I would, I should have put the light here or whatever. Sure. Yeah. Well, that's, like, again, that's the same thing of piled this skill on top of the other one, right? Yeah. And you learn as you go and experiences by far the best teacher. And that's what I felt like in my whole life, uh, everything that I've done that I'm the best at is just because I've done it a lot. And I've been, you know, open to learning from others. And, you know, not just being like, oh, I know enough. That, that thing that they talk about so much, you know, naturally talented. That's usually grown from a lot of time spent. Yes. Doing that thing. Yeah. I think you can have intuitions that are naturally an inclination to be sure that something. But really, it takes a lot of time and experience to hone your skill. For sure. For skill level. Yeah. You know, there's talent, but then there's skill. And that's, to me, yeah, I think talent is the raw material, but then the skill is like fine tuning that. So it becomes useful. Right. Right. It's not just a lump of iron. It's a sword. Right. Or whatever. And what I love about what I do too is that I'm using my skills for the good of other people. Yeah. So that makes me happy because almost 100% of everyone I work with is passionate. Yeah. So I feed up their passion. And that's why you and I resonated too. Because that's, I love people that are passionate about something. Yeah. And sometimes even if I disagree with what they're passionate about, or I'm not indifferent to it, I'm like, oh, but I love what you're, how passionate you are about your thing. Right. Right. Exactly. So talk to me about like those first few paying customers. Like what did you do for them? And you can, you can name them or not name them or whatever, but just like what kinds of projects did you actually start to make a buck? Or it wasn't like grandma's 50th anniversary thing because that was for free, right? Yeah. Well, so there's two distinctly that I, you know, recall and they were pivotal because it allowed me to realize the potential for what I could do in the future because I didn't really know where this was going. It just kind of evolved into what it is. But so I used to live at Carter Lake and I was driving by hearts and horses every day. And there was one day I stopped by and I said, can I make a documentary for you? I didn't even know how to cut a clip. I'm not even kidding. Like I didn't know anything. So we hired a film crew or they, you know, volunteered from CSU. Yeah. And they did all the filming and all of that. And like you designed the script and we pulled the story out of by interviewing people. That's what I did. I interviewed a bunch of people that rode there and then, you know, directed kind of what they would film. And then I put that together and it was, my gosh, it was nine minutes long. I would never do a nine minute on my video now because no one will watch. Right. They see those nine minutes are like next. But this was for an event. And so it's really exciting to be there when it was shown because I could see people respond to it. And I thought, oh my gosh, you're like, I think I have a knack for this. Yeah. You see people tearing up in the audience and stuff. You're like, wow, this is actually impacting. And then, you know, you apply people with wine at a fundraiser and you show this emotive video and then suddenly their wallets are cracking open. Totally. So it's having a lot of impact. So that really resonated with me in the beginning. And then my first, so that was a free one that I did. Right. But it was, it was a big project. Yeah. And it was kind of that revelation like, wow, I think I have this knack for how to do this. And then the first paid one was McDonald family charity, which unfortunately does not exist anymore. And it was granting dreams to children who were chronically ill or might have been like, you know, struggling in a maybe low income home or something like that. Like a child that was struggling somewhere. Yeah. But it was local. A make a wish. Yeah. Kind of make a wish. Oh, it was so wonderful. And, you know, it's funny. Look at, I look at that now. And I'm like, oh my gosh, my editing. You know, like, but then other people looked at it and cried, right? Right. But I look at it and see where I was. We're always our worst critic to you. But it's okay because I've grown in skills. Yeah. You know, and you're making people cry in your first being. Well, then that was, you know, so it was that really helps to fulfill that confidence that actually, I can, I can make a living this way. Yeah. It was really amazing. It's Molly and A.J. McDonnell were the founders of that. Okay. And A.J. McDonnell, he's a financial, yeah, locally. Yeah. Really amazing people. And they just started this nonprofit. And it was just really one of those serendipitous things. And one little boy got to meet a country singer. Oh, my gosh, I'm going to forget this. No. No. Oh, I can't think. And there's just, I meet so many people. I'll sing it if you come up with a name. I'll try to sing my favorite song with that. He sings fly away. One, two, three. I see. Anyway, but and he saw he's saying the song and but he had epilepsy. And he was, you know, it was life-threatening. So he's saying the song, Timograph, Timograph. Oh, yeah. And so he was so excited. Or anyway, it was amazing. And he got to go to his concert and meet him in person. Right. They granted that wish for him. Another girl loved Ariel. And she got to go to Disney and meet Ariel. And this other little boy loved monster trucks. He had heart issues. He got to play with these monster trucks and go to the monster truck rally. So they gave him some new monster trucks. But then they also gave him this experience at the rally. I think he's in Las Vegas. So they granted dreams to these families. And oh, my gosh, it was so emotive. And it was right up my alley. So tell me about your place in life at that time. Was that like right away when you first started virtually? So you got this two-year-old or maybe three-year-old. Yeah. And you start getting some business cards and put a website up and stuff like that. Is that kind of how that should go? It was kind of a wing-interpreter. And you know, you have to say, like I know that everybody has experienced this. But when you really don't know yet what you're doing or where you're going, sometimes there's people that are naysayers and they just doubt you. And they don't sometimes always come out and say it. Yeah. But and it's true that in the beginning, you don't have the skill set that you would later either. But there are people that don't, I don't know, it's hard to explain, but they don't see the vision that you see. Sure. So I, you know, I would say like if you know in your heart that what you're doing is right and you know you can get there, like just do it. Right. Because if you listen to the naysayers and they put that seat of doubt that you already have in your own mind. Oh, sure. And that just grows and then suddenly you're never going to do it. I left my banking job in career of 15 years, seven years ago last month, I guess. And I've been a long-time 10-year member of the Breakfast Rotary Club in Fort Collins. And I remember right when I, you know, when people learned what had happened about half the people were like high five of me and and stuff. Because I was going to try to start at restaurant. I started a banking consulting company that later became the local think tank. And then the other half of the people were like, what have you done? You fool. I know. Just like, well, that's because you should go ask for your job back right now. I know. But I think people are afraid that people, some people just aren't comfortable with risk. Yeah. Yeah. And they're afraid for you. Yeah. And they, I'm sure they all, these people that said they loved you when they cared about you. It wasn't that. It's not like me. Yeah. Yeah. It's just fear. Yeah. Right. Because if you feel fearful for someone, you're going to go, don't do that. Oh my gosh. I never have a paycheck again. Well, here we are only five feet six inches apart right now with no masks on. And it's, I guess, because we're not afraid. Even though we know it's real. I know. But you know, you have to live to some degree. But that's one of the biggest things I'm concerned about is just how much fear has been cultivated in people in this whole thing. And that's not to say we shouldn't wear masks. I want to say that. I'm just saying that you can choose what to do and what not to do and not judge people for the risk profile. Right. And that's a personal preference. And I just think if everybody could just get to the mindset of encouragement and support. I can do it. And if somebody else wants to take that risk, that's on them. Like you don't have to be afraid for them and you don't need to be the naysayer. So do you think more people would successfully launch enterprises and ventures and businesses and stuff if there weren't so many naysayers out there or do some people thrive on overcoming that? You know, I don't. Here's the thing because sometimes people do that and it's not really what they should have done. Right. So you can't say that everyone who does it is going to be successful. Because that's not true either. So that is true what they're saying to some degree. So in some ways, it's almost like you need to be a prize of what could happen. And if you're ready for the worst case scenario, because encouragement doesn't make a successful business. Well, that yes. And hope is not a business plan. No, exactly. That's true. So it's like, oh, I'm so passionate. Well, it doesn't matter. Right. Right. Because if you don't do things strategically or if it's not the right time or whatever, there's a lot of things, it could be the best idea, but it's just not the right time. Did you struggle to charge enough for in those early years? Yes. And it's I still do. I think everybody does that. That's at least an artist type of person. Yeah. Yeah. Because but I I got over that. Yeah. Well, you have to because here's the thing you can spend the same amount of time for people that are niggling and diming your talent. Yeah. Or you can spend the same amount of time that people that value with people that value it. Right. Who are actually going to pay more. And you may even be able to create from the space to give one away once in a while. Yeah. If you charge the right amount to the rest of the people. There's always a way to get back. And you know, I do if people like the if the same client will do more with me like multiple instead of just one, the per item cost goes down and all that kind of stuff. Of course. Because it's one, you know, if it's one person with 20 videos versus 20 people with one video. Totally. Oh, yeah. That's a lot work. In the banking world, you know, it was a lot easier to make one million dollar loan than it was to make $10,000. Right. Right. It's one relationship. Yeah. One person you need to get to know one, you know, cultivation of, you know, so is that a business tip there? Maybe in just, you know, trying to work on the with the types of people and projects that you really especially want to work with. Yes. But the hard thing is when you're in that zone of, you know, not having all the cash flow. Yeah. Right. I will do anything that anybody wants to give me. I'll take that one. And even though I'm going to tear my hair out because, you know, they're just expecting a lot for very little or something like that. Or, uh, I don't know, you know, I think it's a trade off. But the thing is you have to get to that leap of faith where you're just saying, okay, you know what? This is what I'm worth. Yeah. I'm worth this. And I'm sorry, you know, if somebody doesn't want to pay that somebody else will. Yeah. So leave that space open for the next person who's going to really value you. So take me into the, um, have you always been a solopreneur along your business journey? Or did you have you hire people and, and had departures or take me through your journey a little bit? And also, uh, let's talk about some of those award winning things too. What those journeys work. All right. So, um, this is just the star stream section because I've had other careers too before this too. Well, we'll get back there. Yeah. Because I'm going to unpack where you got all these weird skills and interests that led you up to that. Yes. Uh, it's been, yeah, it's been a really cool road actually. And I'm very grateful for everything. But okay, so your question was if I, uh, I'd take me through that the first few years is that business journey. And then maybe the first time you got really recognized or maybe that was one of those early, you didn't get a price for hard to purchase. So, well, I did actually. I did not the, not the first one. Oh, but they hired me again and those were paid gigs a couple of years down the road. And actually, I won two tele awards for Hearts and Horses. There was an Alzheimer's piece. That was beautiful and a war veterans piece. That was also really beautiful. And so in one year, I won three tele awards, which is really like, it was, it was really awesome. It was cool. So, and then that same year, I also won one for Hope Lives, which is a breast cancer support services, Lydia Dodie. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So she, they still do a lot of breast cancer support. Yeah, she's so amazing. She is. She's, she went through breast cancer herself. And so she made it her mission to help other women that with services, you know, if you have breast cancer, you can get a free house cleaning or somebody can go do errands for you. Yeah, because there's a lot, I've had to breast cancer brushes in my recent path. There's a lot to go with that fight. It's emotionally and physically draining. Yeah, for sure. So she's been a really amazing icon in our community. I really adore her. She's a wonderful woman. So I did a few interviews and melted them into one piece. And that was the, the whole place. Yeah, that was the award winning one. But I've done other projects for them also over the years. But so in that one year, I won the Alzheimer's piece, the war veterans piece, and then the breast cancer. Was that your first year of winning one? Or what was your first telly? I think the first telly. Yeah, it was those three. And then I won another one of those. What's a telly for people that don't know the industry? Telly award. Like a Grammy, I guess. Well, it's kind of like, yeah, it's like Emmy or whatever. But, you know, obviously, the Emmys are extremely prestigious. But nobody, some people don't even know what telly's are. But it's really for the marketing and online video world and, you know, that TV and stuff like that. So, um, these are like a limited number per year that it can issue or it's a category of things like that. It's, it all depends because it's all based on a rating scale. So you get a zero through 10 rating scale. Oh, if you get a seven or an eight point up to a seven to an eight point nine, if you're in that realm, it's a silver or bronze. I'm sorry. And then the top level of nine to a 10 is a silver. Okay. So all three of mine were bronze. Oh, I see. Yeah. But, but the cool thing is you look at the list and it's like ESPN, you know, Sesame Street Workshop. There's not that many stars from production, you know, but, you know, there's also other, you know, just like you haven't heard of either because that's not what they do. Right. There's small firms nationwide that also want to telly's. And it's not one of those like, oh, you know, if you get pay us for the statuette, we'll give you one. It was not that way because I've tried other times and not one. Right. And there is an independent council of really high caliber judges that judge. So that was really. That's cool. It was a really affirming, let's say. Yeah. You get a gift card or anything, too, or just cool. Well, the certificate certificate. And then you can buy, you know, a statuette they're made by the same company as the Oscars. See? And you can kill a burglar with them who are really happy. Right. Yeah. No, I want something actually not plastic for my for my trophy shelf. Really nice. Yeah. So go ahead. Oh, no. And then there was a couple of other awards for Davey awards. And they were spotlights. One was a meth story for a gal for a Colorado woman of influence woman of vision. Yeah. There's 12 women every year who are honored for being visionaries in our community in this gal turned her life around. She was addicted to math and she was her life was a mess and she turned it around and she's just an amazing woman. And I've kept in touch with her since. And so I won a Davey award for that one and then senior Raphael at the Mexican Inn. Okay. Some of you eat there. Yeah. It's in Loveland and great food, great people. And I did a series of videos for dancing with the stars, which wasn't it was a local fundraiser done by the chamber. Okay. Yeah. I remember that. Yeah. Yeah. And they did several I did maybe three, four years in a row. And it was always a different recipient for the fundraising. Sure. That of that night. So this particular year was the year of the floods. Oh, yeah. And so what the chamber was doing was putting together funding to give to businesses. So that businesses could because you know, when you when your place is flooded and then sometimes the federal government doesn't give you money right away. I know like and here you are trying to you know, survive. So they put together this fund. And so what we did is these different dancers that night danced a song in honor of a business in town. So we picked six different businesses. Oh, cool. paired them with each a dancer. So what I did is I created a video about their devastation. Sure. So I did. Yeah. You're a pocketbook opener. Yeah. There's a lot of what you're skilled. Yeah. And a mine expander I suppose with your educational work. Yeah. So those kind of videos are emotive and they get people feeling the heart and the mission. Yeah. Yeah. And the last one of the night was Sylvan Dale. Oh my gosh. And they had some. Oh, that probably in that. Oh. And they had some footage. Yeah. It's it was really an amazing place. So that that place got decimated. And it's so beautiful. And so many of us have been there. Right. From the area and memories. Oh, yeah. Launched there. Well, lots of people have moved to Northern Colorado because their family came out 23 years ago. Right. Horse ride at Sylvan Dale. Right. Right. It's just an iconic place and beautiful. And so I got to interview Susan Jessup. Sure. And she was so, you know, she's like, we will rebuild. And oh, she was so passionate and heartbroken. And, you know, and everybody felt her heart. And they had filmed their own footage after the flood. And they there was pic footage of her walking across. It looked like the moon. It was like a rubble of stone where a building used to be where their lodge was. She was just walking across there. And it was just the imagery was just so striking and sad because it was what was there. You know, picture of it. And then we, you know, faded into like, look, it's just gone. And the devastation was really sad. Yeah. Yeah. Does that hurt your heart sometimes? Like all these projects? Yes. It does. It does. I'm very, um, what's the word empathic, I guess. And that, but I think that's what makes my work, uh, I have an intention. You couldn't do it otherwise, right? Yeah. I think I feel like I know where the story is because I feel where the emotion is. Sure. And I know what's going to make someone else feel emotional. And you don't have to overdue it. Right. You don't need somebody sobbing. I mean, because people are uncomfortable with that for one thing. Right. Right. But, you know, but a little, a little tear at the point of the eye is pretty good for everybody. Yeah. And it just doesn't take much. I mean, just even that, you know, you don't have to go overboard. Like your audience is way smarter than, you know, you need to give your audience credit, right? For sure. Um, and not like overdo it. So let's go on the way back machine. Okay. And, uh, where did you come from? Like, were you an empathetic five-year-old girl or were telling me about some of those deep roots and, and that journey, um, along the way? So, I guess my, uh, empathetic side comes from both of my parents who were extremely amazing. We, um, my mother was a teacher. My dad was a farmer and they worked so hard and they were just so kind to everybody. Yeah. Literally. And my father, one time, uh, sold a car to someone and it broke down a week later and he bought it back. All right. So who does that? My father. So he was, he had a lot of integrity and so, and then, you know, I spent 14 hours in the fields picking potatoes northern Maine. Northern Maine. So it was a bilingual community, French and English. Oh, yeah. That's cool. Right on the Canadian border. Sure. Yeah. So, I didn't know they'd grow anything up there. Oh gosh, yeah. Barely. They eat out two months of growth, you know. Right. Uh, so, yeah. And it was really hard work and it was very humbling and, you know, when you're 14 hours of dirt and, uh, just out there in the cold sometimes or sometimes it would have been snowing or raining or it was miserable. Yeah. And then you get in rot and potato fights and you were just filthy and you stonked and, and you'd go to bed at night and you'd hear that I've never been in rot and potato fights. Oh, yeah. Well, it's epic. Sure. Yeah. I haven't been in rot and tomato fight. Yeah. Well, not same. Potatoes sound a little more violent. Well, they're really smelly. So, yeah. And so, um, and you go to bed at night and you would see the conveyor belts across your eyes and you'd hear that when you see the potatoes, yeah, that's all you'd, you stood on a machine and you sorted rocks and potatoes all day. That's all you did. And, uh, some people, well, you're working a lot more creatives than that today. Well, it is, but, you know, boredom does leave room for creativity. Right. So, I think that's, is that where it started? I don't know. I've always had a good imagination. I guess. So, are you one of a few kiddos as well? The fourth of five. So, all of us were out there in the fields. Sure. Sister and I on the harvester and my brothers were, uh, driving trucks that were collecting the potatoes to go to the storage. All that stuff. Yeah. So, we were all in my dad, you know, was at the helm and driving the tractor. And so, it was hard, hard work. So, nothing, nothing, nothing that I've ever done in my life has been as hard as that. So, it just gave me this work ethic that I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid to work hard. I resonate so much with that. When I was a young banker, a few years in, people be like, oh, you work so hard curtains, doesn't it? I'm like, shoot, I'm coasting, man. Apparently, I grew up at the far of it. Yeah. Oh, you were on a farm team. I'm a farm kid from North Dakota. Oh, okay. Slightly lower longitude. We're a wheat farm at that time. Oh, okay. My dad did potatoes and buckwheat. Oh, interesting. Yeah. So, he, you know, did, uh, rotation, yeah. Sure, because you can't grow potatoes on potatoes otherwise. Well, the mold comes around and stuff like that. Yeah, and it pleats the soil after a while. Sure. Same minerals and everything. So, he actually wanted a soil conservation award. Yeah. He was a really awesome guy. Sounds like. Yeah. So, your potato picking until, uh, through the high school years, probably, and stuff like that, and then did you venture off, or did you stay local there to maybe? So, I went to a college at, uh, Humane, Orno, and, uh, Central Maine, and I actually have a psychology degree. Oh, okay. But then after that, I ended up getting a teaching certificate. Okay. And so, what I did right after I graduated, it's kind of a hot podge of, uh, psychology and education, but I was, uh, tutor in a group home for, okay, so I was a tutor in a psychiatric hospital. So, that was tough because the kids were really, you know, having a hard time and, but I was there an hour a day with each of them and it was usually really positive. And then I was a counselor who lived in a group home with, uh, 12, 12 boys, ages five through 12, who were emotionally disturbed. Wow. So they, I mean, I've had knives thrown at me and I've had to learn how to take down a child who's attacking me and things like that. So, you have to learn how to gently, you know, but, uh, take, yeah, you take their legs out and you just like sweet, right? Yeah, you kind of have to sit on their, the back of their legs and hold their arms behind their back and put them face down on the ground until they get regain control and not hurt you. Yeah. Yeah. So it's kind of surreal to think that I had to do that with kids because, you know, I haven't worked with that level sense, you know, of, uh, kids, but then I ended up teaching gifted and talented children. So I was, um, didn't have to sit on them as much. No. But, you know, that, that can coexist. Totally. Oh, yeah, you can be gifted and challenged at the same time. Sure. But anyway, but not in a, you know, in a public school, you wouldn't have kids behaving that way. They wouldn't be there. So, um, it was eye-opening to me to see how sad a lot of these kids' lives had been because one of them was a twin and his brother had died from the abuse from his parents. Oh, well. Um, you know, another one had almost been beat to death with a belt by his parent, his mother. Yeah. And, you know, that, so they're removed from the home situation. Yeah. So you carry that burden around. Yeah. And sometimes they are able to go back home, but other times they're adopted out and fostered. So it was really eye-opening to me because I had such a wonderful upbringing. Sure. Really strong, solid, wonderful, loving parents. Yeah. Yeah. It gives a car back after it broke down. Yeah. Like, you know, and then you have, you know, this eye-opening realization, but that not all parents are. That's one of the hard things, right? Like, you know, the playing field isn't level at all and a lot of it has to do with the, you know, just which house you were born in or which apartment or whatever. And that's sad. And, and also to me, it's also economic advantage as well. Totally. Yeah. Because, you know, um, I'll talk about this more later, but for mental illness, I know that they're, you know, if you can't afford the $8,000 program because you don't have insurance and your child is struggling, then, you know, future homeless probably. Yeah. It could be somebody who's struggling really badly and doesn't get the help, but it's just because they can't afford it. I just don't think that's fair or right. But yeah, it's very sad to me. So there's a lot of inequity. And, you know, like you said, where you're born, I mean, you don't pick your parents and, you know, it's a tragedy. What some kids have to go through, um, and 30 million kids a year are abused in our country. Wow. This is staggering. So is that where, um, like some of your heart for just the under-trodden, if you will, and the challenge and things like that really started developing with story in those years, or you probably had it a little bit before, but it really opened your eyes to the, the need. Yeah, I have an advocate. I guess, you know, everything I've done in my career, but including my video career, I've met so many people. I've met people in wheelchairs. I've met, you know, I've interviewed so many people who are struggling in so many ways. And so it gives me a feeling of gratitude for everything in life. Yeah. Because I'm thinking, you know, I try not to be negative. It's hard, you know, because there's so much to complain about sometimes, right? And you can find it if you really look, um, but to me, it just makes me grateful. I mean, I'm so grateful. Yeah. I'm healthy. I'm alive. I had great parents. I'm strong-willed. I'm strong-minded. Strong-hearted. You know, you're doing good. Yeah, yeah. So far, so good. Yeah. Right. So, no, I just feel grateful. So, and that's because I've met a lot of people who have not had a really good experience and it makes me sad. And I think that's a natural outpouring of gratefulness is like, I'm been blessed. I'm grateful. And now I want to spill over into some other lives in some ways and make some impact. Yeah. You paint forward. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So, um, one of the reasons, I wanted to have you on today was to talk a little bit. You've also started a podcast recently. And you've got some interesting projects in the loop and you've nearly written a book or written most of the book and you're doing some stuff. But do you want to like take me into the journey to right now first? Is that the right way to jump into this story? Yeah. I'll start with kind of how everything came about. So, there's a whole other venture I'm doing involving mental illness and children. So, what happened was through the course of having children and all of that, I've had three daughters. They're now 21, 18, 16 and they're wonderful. They're also very compassionate and kindhearted and I love them. So, four years ago, one of my daughters became severely depressed. And we had two suicide attempts in two months. Wow. And so, she nearly died both times. Especially the second time was, you know, the doctor was saying her heart has an arrhythmia. That means it's about to stop. Wow. So, I was like... Like pills or something? Yeah. It was overdosing. And so, it was just really... How old was she? She was 14 at the time. Not she's 18. Okay. So, the good news is I'll fast forward and give you the ending. She's doing amazing today. So, that's really awesome. So, she's had struggles and everything that way, which is heartbreaking. And then my oldest this spring was also suicidal. Oh my gosh. And she had undugnosed PTSD, which I did not realize. And so, there's... I didn't know that PTSD actually is 10 times more likely to happen in civilians than it is in a veteran. Or there's 10 times more civilians with PTSD than veterans. It's more likely in a veteran perhaps, but there's more civilians over there. So, I think people... I didn't know that PTSD was a... I just thought it wasn't a veteran thing. Like, you know, I didn't realize the signs of it. It's just, you know, so... I didn't realize what I didn't know. And then my youngest daughter has had really bad panic attacks and anxiety. And so, she started to have suicidal thoughts. By that point, I had been through it with the other two. So, we're like, okay, we're jumping on this now. We're not letting this sit, you know, if you're feeling this sad, we're getting a heart rate. So, we've had a ton of really amazing professionals in this area. Very wonderful non-judgmental exceptional professionals that we've dealt with from therapists to intensive outpatient programs, you know, partial hospitalization programs. Not that unusual anymore, right? Well, it isn't, but it's the... It's not that it ever was, perhaps, but it's really been a growing problem in young ladies from what I read. So, it's the second leading cause of death in ages 10 through 34. But in this area, it's now the first cause. And for some reason, Lamar County and our area, I don't know why, but we have a very, very high suicide rate in comparison to the rest of the country. I mean, it's everywhere, obviously. Sure. It's rampant and it's bad because... Can I ask to go back to that first incident? Was it, like, what she kind of, like, moody and stuff for a long time, or was it like a switch of sorts, or was there a trigger, or was it something that now that you look back? I'm sure it was the rear-view mirror that you needed either way. So, there was a lot of factors with that one and... And we don't get any need any good food. No, it's okay. No, that's okay. And my daughters know that I'm doing this kind of sharing and they're on board with it because they know that my ultimate goal is to help other people. Sure. And I'll get into that in a second once I tell you a little more about the backstory. So, that daughter, what happened was there was a divorce in our family and that was really hard on everyone. So, there was one dresser that was going on. She was 14, so that right there, anyone with a 14, you know, is right there. That's just, they're just wonky at that time anyway, or only, you know, otherwise. And then there was diagnosed bipolar, which was, and, you know, just like a really severe mood swings, like, just so angry for nothing and so sad. And, you know, it was just, like, really big pendulum swings of that. But what I didn't realize, and it came to my attention later, was there were a lot of online influences. And, for example, there was a prosooside Instagram group that was encouraging each other to do it. So, you know, and they were posting funny memes and, like, drink Lee Chaha, you know, and pointing like a funny picture, quote unquote, of a fellow with a pointing a gun to his head, or, you know, things like that, like, kind of making light of suicide. And it was just horrible. So, anyway, there was, there's those kind of groups are out there, and it's really sick. And you always think, oh, my child, this won't happen, because they know better. But I can tell you that the predators know better than your child. So, don't think that you've taught your child everything, and they know better, if I could say anything, and all I'd say, don't ever think that, because you can have really the most level-headed, wonderful child, and this can still happen to them, because they know how to do, how to get them involved with them. They know how to reach out. They're, doing it. We're such a mix of both emotion and capability, but also just frankly, kind of relative ignorance about the world and the way people are and think and stuff. They're kids. I mean, you know, they don't know that they're being played. So, the other thing was, there was a point where she was coming back from the hospital, and my friend and I were trying to suicide-proof the house, which means you try to take things away that they could harm themselves when they're back home, right? Because now they don't have constant supervision when you try, but you can't always. So, you know, locking up those trophies. Yeah, right. Sorry. Those were in boxes. Okay. Well, honestly, it's like. I'm aware of my brain. I know. It's a fix for laughing instead of like layering at me. No, no, it's fine. I mean, you got to, oh my gosh, it's so like, you just find the humor where you can, honestly. So, what happened was we went online and we googled how to suicide-proof a house. Sure. And on page one, how to kill yourself was right there. Like, click here. This is how you kill yourself. So, we clicked and we're like, what is this? And so, you know, you're trying to do something safe, and then as a result, this is being profiled to you, right? So, we look there, and what do we know? There was all these sketches of ways you could do it, and like, it was all these little black and white fun little sketches, like a little martini party, and then there's a little blue liquid in the glasses, and it's supposed to be window cleaner. And then it tells you, drink X ounces of window cleaner to die. So, it was teaching you how to die. Horrible, horrible. So, you want to get into some free speech action, though? Do you want to pull that stuff down? Is that the right thing? Well, that's the thing. I don't know. I've looked for it since- You can say it's parody, or this or that, or whatever, right? I don't know, but I mean, I don't know. It's evil. It's just evil. I don't care if they have a right to do it or not. It's still evil. Yeah. And it's disgusting, and it's hard enough when your child is very down and depressed and looking to die, and then they're on the razor edge, razor edge between life and death. Every day, it could happen again. And when they come back from a suicide attempt, there are 100 times more likely to do it again than the first time, because they already did try. And so, it's really scary when they come back home. So, what are we doing? So, bring us up to what you're doing? So, then what happened as a result is COVID hit this spring, right? Yep. I would remember. And so, I just like slept for two weeks, because I was like, wow, I was really tired, and emotionally and physically from all the things we've been dealing with as a family, and having a business, and being a single mom, and everything. So, I- Shout out to your sweetie, though. I've met your sweetie. Yes, he's very sweet. So, okay, so then what happened was a friend of mine, Natalie Phillips, I don't know if you know her. She has a podcast. That's really amazing. And so, anyway, she, I met with her, and I didn't know her very well, and I was just telling her the story of my girls, and she said, you need to write about this. So, the next morning, I got up, and I did. And so, I just, I wrote for 10 days straight. I was up at three in the morning writing, and I was just, I couldn't stop. And so, coincidentally, at the same time, my editor, client, Molly McCowan, I was working with her, so I hired her to edit my book. And so, as a result, she's had me grow the book into something that's even bigger than just telling the story. It's resources, advice, advice for my girls. My girls are each going to write a chapter, and what it feels like to be depressed, what it feels like to feel suicidal. Why did that happen? And how did they come out of it? Because that they're all three doing so much better. And there's a variety of reasons around it. But so, the book is coming out in April. Okay. Yep. And I'm currently still writing it, and I have an IndieGoGo. IndieGoGo, it's hard to say. And that is... I'll put the link to that into the show I was here before. Yeah, I appreciate that. And that goes till January 20th. So, if you, you can just donate outright to get it up and running, or you can pre-order a book, basically. So, that's in the works. And so, what happened was, I started to realize, because I was a teacher, you know, for 13 years or 12 years, and I had had all that experience with kids in the past, that I thought probably the average parent doesn't really just offhand know, you know, about mental illness or depression, or maybe what are some of the things that might be ticking our kids down into depression. Yeah, yeah. So, what I did is I decided to do this in a proactive way, but make it around the things that are causing our kids to get depressed. So, you could be a parent, maybe that doesn't have a depressed child, but you might want to be a parent that just learns about emotional wellness. Sure. So, it's called empowered parenting for emotional wellness. And that's launching early January. Okay. And I'm really excited about this, because I interviewed all these people in my career. It's like 600 plus people. So, interviewing people is something that I do in my sleep, right? I just know how to get content out of people that's useful and meaningful. So, in this case, I'm interviewing. Which I had that skill. I think you do. Sorry, keep going. No, it's fine. So, I'm interviewing mental wellness experts, therapists, psychiatrists or people that work in the mental health field, that kind of thing. And I have a huge list of topics. So, I've already recorded six of them. And I have just a variety of topics like abuse, bullying, PTSD, you know, but what it is designed so that we can all learn together. And I'm learning at the same time. So, my questions are as a representative parent who wants to hear from this expert. And so, the whole podcast is focused on emotional wellness. But in a proactive way, or if your child is depressed, it's also very helpful. Sure. So, either one or the other, you know, so it's kind of like the thread. Because there are parenting podcasts out there. Sure, of course. But this focuses on emotional wellness. Yeah. Yeah. Like, how do we get our kids to be healthier emotionally? Yeah. So, I, and I mean, tell me, you've learned a lot about this. My sense is is that a lot of kids don't really know what the purpose of their whole life existence is these days. And it's just a real struggle to know even what, you know, when you, when you got a potatoes to sort and pick and throw at each other once they get rotten, then at least you got something that you're, but we've got all these different videos and these amazing celebrities and a lot to be jealous about and a lot to be angry about and a lot of abuse and all these things. Yeah, there's a lot and there's a lot of. And there's no secrets, right? Like, people kids used to be kind of innocent. Like, I found a dirty magazine when I was like 12 or 14 or something like that. I was like, whoa. Yeah. There's no, there's no 12 year olds that haven't seen a seen boobies before. Well, and there's a thing though. Well, that's the sad thing. And the other sad thing is like, okay, like finding a magazine, that's natural curiosity. But then bombarding yourself or being bombarded by other people who are sexually soliciting you when you're 12 or 10 or 11 or whatever. I mean, it's really sad and sick and it's out there and there are a lot of predators and there's so much bombardment with sexual things, but also negative things. Just even think about your phone, right? So this is my theory, like, or opinion. You know, let's say 200 years ago, you were on a farm, right? And you had your neighbors over there and your neighbors were, you know, having their problems and you had your problems and you helped each other. But you didn't hear about the neighbors in Europe and Africa and all that. So if there's some serial killer, you know, to tsunami or anything that happens in the world today, it's on your phone. Sure. And you know it in five minutes. Right. So I don't think we as human beings are wired to accept this constant broad level of catastrophe that's constantly always happening. Yeah, but you get desensitized after while you just can't care anymore because but then we're not wired for that. So we're I think we're all pushed down over and over again by the things that go on in the toxicity in our country today. Yeah. Yeah. You know, all kinds of things. And why does a 10 year old even need to know any of this right? At 10 year old should be out playing in a tree house and building a tree house or doing whatever or going out and playing what I would say tree house production has gone way down in this country over the last 20 years. It's crazy. And they, you know, we're so afraid of having our kids go playing. They can't go across the street to the park and play with themselves. We're so afraid. So it is it's very sad to be. I would definitely be a free range parent. We don't have any kids. Maybe we'll adopt some some days. We can have some free range kids. Yeah, yeah, free range. They're not fully free range. You got to have like carry your phone with a certain radius or so. They're a little harder than chickens. I'll just tell you that. I'm sure. Yes. But so let's get back into the time. Yeah. Yeah. So you've got this the podcast. Yep. The book. Yes. And there's more I think. So okay. Yep. Yeah. So when the book takes off and start selling and everything, I'm donating a percentage of the proceeds to go towards scholarships for kids to be able to participate in PHP. It's called partial hospitalization programs. And so basically it's three days a week, three to six hours a day and maybe 10 weeks. So it's retraining your mind on how to deal with stress and emotional. Well, overwhelmed and how is this like through talking to counselors and things like that? Or is it like some of that electronic stuff I hear about? It's called dialectical behavior therapy DBT. Yeah. This is one that two of my daughters did. And it was amazingly successful. And one of my daughters even said, oh my gosh, I used to feel my emotions controlled me and that I had to just be at their mercy. And now I feel like I can control them. Like I know how to, you know, they even give you if then scenarios, you know, okay, this is what you're feeling. Is this true? Yes or no? Is this true? Yes or no? So they take you through this whole sequence of like trying to process what's going on. Yeah. And so it's actually very logical. And so you can start to get more removed from your own emotional craziness, you know, not craziness. That's the terrible word to say. But just phonetic list, phonetic message. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When your emotions are just taking over and I've had lots of periods of that in the last 12 months, especially. Yeah. Oh my gosh. For a, you know, an extroverted person to be strapped down and kept away from people at periods of times. And we've had, I know it's not normal to be away from others. No. And isolation is one is a trigger for depression. It's one of the causes. Right. So that is creating depression in many people because we feel Japan, they're like teenage suicides is like our suicides in general is now way higher than COVID in their country. Yeah. Yeah. And it's sad, you know, but it is very sad. So I don't know. I just feel, I feel like everything that I've done in my life, including being mother of these girls who have struggled and they've I'm so proud of them for coming, for doing the hard work that it took, you know, and trying to get better because, you know, well, and frankly, they're bravery for coming alongside you and even encouraging you in this venture of writing a book. Oh my gosh. And you know, you're a lot of people would, it speaks to your willingness to communicate well with them what your intentions are and what the, you know, yeah, but where they see my drive and they agree with it. Yeah. If I can help somebody, right? And there's somebody that can help a whole bunch of somebody's well, that's what the intention is because it is one of the hardest roads and you don't always know somebody that's also going through it in your immediate circle. Yeah. So I found these online groups that are actually really supportive of, you know, kids with depression or anxiety and, you know, they, all they want to do is just tell somebody who understands. Yeah. So they all day after day, it's like, my child is in hospital for an attempt or, oh, I mean, there's that and there's 18,000 people in this one group. So that's just one group. It's so prevalent and it's really sad what people are going through. So I just want to help people not feel so alone. Yeah. And to know that knowledge brings light. That's my tagline. I love that. It brings light because if you can shore yourself up at least with what understanding what is going on. Oh, they behave this way because this happened or this triggered them or this is a symptom of the illness. There is so much resonance with like local think tank principles and values in what you're saying right now. One of our model, my model before local think tank was even a glimmer in my mother's eye, whatever, you know, the metaphor was ask if your needs and share of your abundance and that ask if your needs thing was really to my mind a little more important part of it in some ways because you bring it into the light, you know, because people tend to hide their needs. Yeah. You know, even your daughter as I suspect that they were, they were hiring, trying to hide how much they were struggling when they were struggling. You know, yes and no. Sometimes where it's when it's that bad, you don't care at all. Like you will let it rip because you're just angry and you're done. So there is a lot of behavior sometimes that is very difficult to deal with and you're just like, what are you saying right now? And then you're saying this in front of people. So they're sharing what they need is by acting on various things in our signals. Yes. And there's a lot of that that you have to deal with, but then you have to separate and have that compassion part because you need the tough love. Like, okay, I'm not putting up with like you, you know, yelling at me or whatever is going to happen because they're just at their end. But you also have to have the compassion to know that it's coming from a place of pain. Sure. And, you know, it's really hard. Somebody's hurting you to love them. There's so much pain. It's amazing how much pain. It's just painful to go through that when you're the recipient of it, but it's also painful to know that they're suffering. That's the most pain of all. And, you know, a big part of this experience was people not understanding the journey and judging, you know, saying them, you know, oh, she's so selfish for wanting to die. It's like depression is not selfish. Depression is hopeless. Depression is feeling so despondent that nothing matters anymore. And you just, it's painful. It's really hard to go through. Can I ask, and this might be a personal question, but have you ever felt depressed? And did you face those kinds of ups and downs that some of your daughters have a long way? Yeah. I did. I got to the point where everything just got so overwhelming that I was getting very severely depressed. Like I could not, being an entrepreneur is great because you have freedom. Right. But that doesn't mean you have to be somewhere at 8 a.m. Yeah. So I had a friend call me one day and she's like, oh, it was 11 a.m. She said, what are you doing? I'm in bed. Why? I can't move. My legs won't move. And she said, I'm coming over right now. So she said, we're going for a walk. And so we walked and I had this intense runner's high after walking. It was just from walking because I was so depressed physiologically that just walking two miles. Yeah. Like released a bunch of the door. It released it. Oh my gosh. It was amazing. So I thought, wow, that is. You have to lay around it for a couple of months. It's crazy. So you can get a runner's high from a good walk. It was crazy. Or just go running more. I know. I mean, physical exercises. And actually my middle daughter now is an amazing runner. And last night she said, my goal is now to run a marathon. She told me last night. She's like, she's so into running now. And she said, this helps me feel better emotionally. Yeah. It does for me too, actually. I'm probably on the border of some of those spectrums and things like that. I definitely have a lot of up and down in my personality whenever and when I'm sad, I'm real sad. And when I'm happy, I'm real happy. And there's a gift in being a deep feeler in that you can have the compassion for others. And you can really feel happy. But when you're sad, it's really bad. Yeah. It's hard. Totally. Totally. And it's I think important to have that understanding. I'm like I said, I'm from North Dakota, probably from Maine where you're from. You know, you don't mention unless it's something you pull yourself up by your boost reps and get better. But I've I've had some some family rushes and myself and you know, I have seen marriage counselors and therapists and things just in part just to help balance that that stress and get some perspective. I think that's a big part of what's not in people's lives as much as they get perspectives. They get perspectives from the Facebook or the CNN or they said that or this, but to get real honest, clear, educated outside perspective on what you're feeling right now. What the impact of that is. And also helping you even realize your own patterns and thoughts and behaviors and how what you're doing is affecting, you know, the bigger picture. Yeah. Because you don't see it sometimes you're in it, right? And you don't know. So I think that was a big part of it too. And we had some not so helpful professional leader that were not the therapy people, but like the doctors, you know, like the regular doctor that was like, oh, wow, you know, if you would have wanted to kill yourself when you've done it by now, like telling me, daughter, that and like rolling their eyes at me as we're walking out like, oh, lock with that piece of work, you know, I'm thinking, wow, where's your compassion for a suicidal person? We're here to help right to get meds to, you know, to try to get through until we can see the psychiatrists in 90 days. Right. Because there's such a shortage. Right. I mean, this is an economically vibrant area. So why do we have bed shortages? Why do we why? Why do we have so much vibrancy around us? But then we can't take care of when people are sick. Well, why should we have a high suicide rate here in Northern Colorado when it's like the one of the best places? I don't know. And any theories? I don't know. I've heard, I've literally heard a theory that it's the thinner air in the less oxygen. I don't know if that's true at all. I haven't researched this that much. But I will, I think like MS is like super high in Colorado compared to low birth weight babies, lower birth weight. Right. And that's probably just from slimmer, more athletic parents. Yeah. Well, yeah, but that because there's less oxygen in the air. Oh, right. Cozybaby doesn't get enough juice. Yeah. Yeah. And so I've heard that also. So I don't know. It's it would be interesting to to to to find out right to study the problem so that we can actually address what the heck's going on. Because you know, how many kids need to die? In my daughter's high school, two kids committed suicide in one year. Yeah. You know, devastating that was it was so devastating for those families. But for the kids that knew them for the entire school, all those kids at the rest of the year were so depressed. It was so sad. Um, that's just sad. That was one of the things that that we bonded were really first connected was I mentioned that one of our think tanks had two members whose daughters had had suicide attempts in, you know, span of like two months. Yeah. And you know, to have that safe place to talk about that and process that for them was was just really clutch. Um, let's talk about some business lessons because we've okay. Or yeah, we'll link all the anything more you want to say about your ventures. I know you've got a bigger master plan really about building connections communities so that right. So that there's like, Oh, that was where I was going with that other thought. We straight off. But is that that's the other part of the local think tank. How we vibrant? Because why did you start this? Somebody asked me their data is like, well, because because business owners are really lonely sometimes. Right. You know, and so are people, whether they're parents or teens that are dealing with these kind of challenges that they're lonely too. And you know, I know there's a whatever a big group on Facebook or whatever, but but a big group is a big group. But yeah, like certainly there's enough challenge in a community like this to be able to have small groups that they can talk to. Right. So I know there are, you know, parents support groups in NAMI and AMI. They are they have I haven't looked into it myself, but I attended a parent support group when my daughter was in the programming here at Mountain Crust for intense about patient. And so that once a week they would have a parent session. That was really good because, you know, we could spill our gilts and you know, like, Oh, I feel so guilty. And what did I do wrong? And, you know, it was very reassuring to see how do you get through that? Was that a big part of what got you through that guilt? Because it doesn't seem like you're carrying it around anymore. Well, but it had to have been that you almost get to the point where you just have to reach a point where you know you've done all you can. Yeah. And you have to give yourself grace. And you know that not everything is in your control. Sure. And there was a point. And I write about this in the book that I literally I'm not extremely religious, but I am, I believe in God. And I just got to a point where I knew that I had done everything I could. And there she was in the bed. Right. You know, and her heart was about to stop. Wow. And I just, I gave it up to God. And I said, I knew that whatever happened, I would have to accept it. And that, uh, that I just had to forgive myself for all the things I did or didn't do. Like, I have so many regrets. You know, sure. Like, oh, I should have done this. I should have known better. I should have, you know, should have should have should have. Yeah. So you have to move on. Don't shoot on yourself. Yeah. Exactly. It's, it's tough, man. It's tough because it's, you feel so responsible. It's your child's right in your house to keep them safe. And, but the truth is, you know, where there's a will, there's always a way. Yeah. And you can't stop that, but you can do everything you can to keep them safe in the moment. So, um, it's just, I don't know, I've, I've just had to come to a point of giving myself grace that I've done all I can. And my daughter is, oh my gosh, they're so wonderful. They've granted you know, oh my gosh. Like, anytime I'm like, oh, I'm so sorry that this or that. And they'd be like, mom, you were there for us. And, you know, they, they always like, you know what I mean? So anytime I express like regret or doubt or they're just so kind-hearted anyway. And they wouldn't do that. Yeah. You know, they, you know, it's just, it's give ourselves grace. That's all I can say. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Forgive others and forgive yourself. Yeah. That's the big one. One of those things. Yeah. That's the hard one. So talk to me about, um, well, what, oh, you know, one thing I always like to do is when you're talking about your kids or your family, uh, give me a one word, uh, description of that, of those, of those girls you got at home. Okay. And let you do any prep or anything like that. Oh, that's fine. Um, okay. So my oldest Sierra, uh, she is, um, what, they're all wonderful. So I'm going to just say that one first. That's automatically. Yeah. That's the top one for all of them. But she is, uh, passionate. Cool. She plays the harp. She's like so passionate about music and she's on a tuition scholarship and she's doing amazing. Awesome for her. Yeah. And then, my middle daughter is, uh, determined. Oh, that's useful. Oh, yeah. So she, yeah, what's her name? Alissa. Alissa. And she's the runner now. So she's the one that wants to remember. That's one thing. A marathon requires is a journey. Oh, yeah. She has it. So she can, that's why she's a driver today. That's why because she overcame, it's amazing to see the 180. She just decided to push through and know I'm good. Yeah. And, um, so she turned her determination to the good, you know what I'm saying? So that's just amazing to see. And then my youngest Lydia, the word for her is wondrous. Ooh. And, uh, with her, she'll look at the sky and be like, oh, my gosh, these clouds are beautiful. I love it. And it's just you're walking a lot. And she's just so in the moment and so grateful and joyous and sweet and just so easy going. I think that's awesome. Yeah. Um, it's clear that, uh, that you've got a lot of passion for your girls and the impact that you can have not on your girls, but all the other girls and boys and parents that that feel lonely in this journey right now. Oh, it's awful. It is awful. And eventually there's a phase two. I think I might have mentioned this to you separately, but I want to create videos with kids for kids about emotions and emotional healthy outlets and things like that. But that's phase two. I mean, have a lot to do. I'm getting the podcast up and finishing the book. But later on, uh, next year, that's the goal there is to get some content out there that's actually resonating with kids and a healthy, positively. I think that's super important. And because frankly, when you're a kid and you got all these old people telling you what you should do, it doesn't resonate as much as it does if you've got other kids that have been through it. Right. You know, that peer experience. Yeah. And I want to do discussion forums with teens and just have them talk about topics that are important to them. And so my 16 year old and her friends, they sat with me for two hours and just brainstormed like storyboard. What do you guys want to talk about? You know, what's important to you? So, yeah, I have my own little research crew there. You got quite the, uh, quite the community to build out. Let's talk about, we spend a lot of time on family already, a little bit of time on business, but this is a business oriented podcast. So, I want to get a little bit of business stuff in there. If you had a couple of, and then we always, we make sure we touch on faith family and politics every, every episode just as really a testimony just that we're not going to learn about each other or from each other unless we can talk about anything. Yeah. And so it's my rebellious side a little bit. We've talked about your family the whole time, business tips, like what were some of the big learnings or the crazy business experiences, maybe that that taught you something along the way? Is there anything that stands out or any clients that taught you something, especially? Trying to think, oh my gosh, I learned from my clients every day, like every day because they all are so knowledgeable about what they do. So that is amazing. My mind just expands all the time. You have to learn about all their, like every time you learn about their whole business a lot of times, right? So I guess, you know, I'm not a PTSD expert, like my client, right? So, and I'm not an insurance expert, like my other client this week and, uh, you know, I have a culinary expert coming in and so I don't know what they know, right? So that can be intimidating. But I choose not to be intimidated by it. I choose to have curiosity instead and to embrace it as a learning opportunity. And, uh, so I would say that sounds like business 101 right there. Yeah, right there. Yeah, like don't be intimidated if you don't know something because you can always learn, you can, and people just really, really, really appreciate it. If you do a little bit of research in the front end and come prepared and, yeah, right? Don't go to a meeting with, like, not even looking at their website. Right. Because it's like, oh, you know, who are you? What are you doing? Like, hello, like, and then from there, you can ask questions and not do everything. And then you're at least at a foundation, right? But your questions can be more guided than at that point because you have an idea of what's going on. So, uh, come prepared and curious. Yes. So we write that on the whiteboard. Yes. Here we go. And then, um, I had to interview this gal one time. And she had been on all these, you know, big TV shows like CNN and all this. And she was, um, wonderful. Oh my gosh. What a wonderful lady. Deborah Benton. Okay. And she's a, um, CEO coach. So she coaches like the CEO's of like, journals and this and that. So I was, and I was, it was a little earlier in my career. So I thought, oh my gosh, you know, here I am. This little tiny operation. Right, right. This lady walks on water. Yeah. And so, and she, oh my gosh, she was so down to earth and wonderful and everything. And we really hit it off. And so what I had to do is I said, well, what can I do to get to a point where I'm not feeling that way? And it was preparation. And that's always what it's been for me, like with teaching, right? You don't just show up and teach. You gotta do the research. You gotta figure it out. You gotta plan ahead and you have to make everything well planned. So what I did is a friend of mine, um, and Clark, she's the head of Colorado woman. She's awesome. She's an amazing man. She's been a long time mentor and I love her. They honored, uh, Jerry Schmitz from the Matthews house a couple of years back. I was well, I remember. Anyway, but Anna is a superstar. She is amazing. So she had all her books. So I said, can I borrow your books? So overnight, all I did was I went on in the books. I couldn't read, you know, ten books in a night or whatever it was eight. And so I just all I did was I looked at the table of contents of all her books and I got an idea of what she's all about by just looking at what she writes about. Sure. So then I fashioned my questions accordingly for the interview and there it was. So it was pretty cool. Yeah, I love that. So and she was like, oh my gosh. And she was so touched that I actually, like, you know, she was glad that I kind of knew what she was about. Right, right, totally. And it just took a little bit of effort. Right. So that's what I would say is preparation is huge. Yeah. And your output was so much stronger than it could have been otherwise, right? Because otherwise you spend a bunch of time just trying to get to the good stuff. Right. And you have a half hour with someone, which you condense down to two to three minute piece. But still you want really good quality, you know, content that is actually going to capture the essence of your person. That's what I do in my interviews when I'm creating content, right? So if you come there and you don't know about them at all, you're starting from ground zero. And so if you come with a mindset of what your purpose is, then you can start that interview and not be like, who are you and all of that? Right. I already know who you are. But this is what I want to get out of this. This is why you're being honored. You're being honored because you have these accolades and this is your knowledge base and this is who you've impacted. So now I know that. So now I confess my questions accordingly. And then the content is better. So that's my big thing is be prepared. Have you read the book a more beautiful question? No. You should. You will like it a lot. It's right up that alley of, you know, you get better answers if you ask better questions. Right. And we actually, yeah, we do the same kind of thing in our chapter sometimes. Like was this really the question or is this the question? Because we should answer the right question, not the wrong question. And in fact, that's creative problems of solving. Have you heard of that? No. Because I have a creativity training that was part of my, you know, education along the way. But if you are working on solving a problem, but you're actually identifying the wrong thing, you're not even identifying what the real problem is. Then you're actually going to just hit your head against the wall because you haven't really identified even what the problem is. So problem identification is the key. I'm laughing because five and a half years ago now, I asked the question, you know, should I expand my mobile food business? And I had been running it for a while. And after clarifying questions and suggestions, the obvious question was out, which was, should I close this stupid mobile food business and focus on local think tank instead? Because this thing is driving me crazy. So instead of saying expand, you can make it more neutral. Like, what should I do? Yeah, what should I do with my business? Or whatever by saying in that case? Yeah, by saying should I expand it? You already have it in your mind. Well, and I wasn't even thinking about shutting it whole thing down at the time, not until people made it obvious that that was the right path. It's kind of cool. Don't you love that about what you do is that when you have other people that help you flush out your ideas? Oh, yeah. Then all of a sudden, you're like, oh my gosh, I never even thought that. Yeah, I was so focused on not failing at the food business that I didn't realize that I would probably be miserable for the rest of my life if I had built a successful food business. Well, that's pretty cool. So I have another question. Yeah, so I might have a copy of it. Well, I got it digitally, I guess. A more beautiful question, but it's definitely a book that you will enjoy a lot, I think. Very cool. Yeah, I'd love that. So, um, let's, uh, do you prefer to talk about politics or faith first week? We have to talk about all three eventually and we talked about your family a lot. Politics or faith? Yeah, um, neither one. It's up to you. Well, it's your show. Okay, let's see. Uh, I can set you up with a question if you'd like. You said you're not too into faith, but you did put it, God, but I did grow up, you know, going to church every week in a giant cathedral in a tiny little town that was full like eight times a weekend, you know, and they had a front man. So church was a big part of your upbringing? Yeah, definitely. My parents were extremely religious and, you know, I do not, you know, disdain at all or anything. It's just that I didn't like the judgmental part of it. Like it was Catholic that I grew up, which is wonderful. Well, in faith and religious, I like to talk about faith more than religion, because religion is all the, to me, it's all the things and all the expectations and the organizations and stuff like that, but faith is what moves you to do things or make decisions about how you're going to act your life. Okay. So if we're not talking about religion, faith, are you kidding me? I have faith. Yes. Lots of it. I have faith in my girls surviving, because if I didn't, you know, I would have given up. I have faith in my own ability, because if I didn't, I wouldn't be where I am today. Yeah. I have faith that I can still learn and grow. And you know, I just have faith in our world. I have faith and the goodness of people. I think that pretty much there's goodness in just about anybody. Yeah. It's just been buried sometimes and pushed aside, because we know how to be good. We know how to feel good and not feel good in a selfish way, like self gratuitous. Yeah. Yeah. But we feel good when we serve. And that's why I feel I have faith is because I, I've seen so much good and so many people persevere over, you know, the people that have interviewed that are, you know, have just overcome so many crazy things that are just so hard. And people are inspirational, you know. So I have faith in humanity. Yeah. I like it. That's my faith. Fair enough. Fair enough. Who did you pray to when you prayed for your daughter then? To God, definitely. Yeah. I did. And I, oh, I'm not saying that I don't believe in God at all. But I have faith in each other, you know, to carry forth the goodness of God. What I'm afraid of this stuff wouldn't have made us such like caring people even though we're broken. Yeah. You know, because it is. I think what do you think about those people that are the predators and the evil doers out there? You think that they've got some some good still in them and it's just tamped down that much or they're just broken at this point? I think well, I think there's hope for anybody at any time. You know, you always have to have hope. But I think the predators have are sick. Sure. They're emotionally old themselves. Sure. And what's really sad to me is, so I used to be a teacher and I was telling the story to someone there was a group of girls. They were, you know, straighty kids. They were nice girls, right? Well, they were going out on the playground and ridiculing other people's shoes or their hair or, you know, they were being bullied basically. Right. So I pulled the man and I was just so upset by that because my big thing was you must respect each other no matter what. And so I brought the man and I said, you know, you are actually being bullied and their eyes are huge. I'm not a bully. You know, like that's not my image of myself. Yeah, you are bully. You are being bullied. Once they were called out on it, it stopped. Right. Right. And then there was peace and goodness. But what's wrong online is there is nobody out there. There's no, there's no, there's no, there's no adult supervising what's going on. These kids are running rampant and all these, you know, if, if something happened or someone was even mean to someone or said a mean comment, you'd say, Johnny, you know, that's really, think, let's think about what you just said. Okay. Does that sound like it's kind, you know, would that make you feel like, no, when they're online, they're like, oh, you're a jerk or whatever. Sure. And then, you know, so yeah, like everything is left all to its own devices out there. So there's no supervision, adult. So all these kids are just doing whatever. And so that's what I think has become sick and broken. Yeah. Is there's a lot of things left rampant that are just don't, people don't even know that it's happening because it's underground. For the same reason that I talk about faith instead of religion, you know, I talk about politics instead of parties. So there's a lot of like broken things about our world, a lot of broken things about our political systems, ups, right? And so what are some of the things that we should really do different? Like, how do we address the broken things of this world? Because that's really what politics is about is like, how do we fix the broken parts, right? Right. And I think. So what are we doing wrong right now? I think what's happened is that both sides have an opinion about what the priorities are for one thing. And I think social media, especially, yeah, have you seen the social dilemma? Yeah, for sure. Like with Facebook after that. Yeah. So I was on my way there already. Yeah. So one person's truth is another person's lie. Sure. And the other person's truth is that other person's lie. So and it's you cannot believe that people feel one way or another whichever side you're on. Sure. So that's what I feel is going on is we become cleaved into camps. Yeah. Yeah. And it's really sad. And there's a variety of factors that have contributed to it. And that's I think what is sad is nobody even wants to listen anymore. But you can't you're not going to change someone's mind on Facebook by commenting. Totally. It's just creating more division. So why even go there? I literally, and it was Anne Clark who told me this, do not talk about politics on your social media because you will lose clients one way or another. Right. And it's a good piece of advice because it is it really doesn't have a place in your, you know, if you're going to be. Whether you make good videos or not, isn't really relevant. No. And it doesn't matter if one is one or the other. And it shouldn't matter. Aren't we are, you know, just we have our own decisions to make. When I think an interesting thing with all of your writing and script creation and just thinking through the eyes of other people in my background, I was in debate a bit back in the day. And I'd like to say, you know, I you pick your side of the argument. I'll win with whichever side you leave behind me because I do feel like my ability to see both sides of most of those challenging topics is is really pretty robust. And I suspect yours is kind of the same. I try to stay non judgmental because I've been judged. Right. You know, even recent. I mean, as a parent, you know, it's like, oh, wow, you know, she really doesn't know how to keep it together over there. What's going on? And I'm more compassionate to as a result. And so I think that judgment has been the really, when we're not open anymore to even discussing, we already have our opinions. Right. Whether or not they're informed, either we just have a hunt or an intuition, or it on TV, right. And whichever station you're watching, right. You'll have an opinion or another. So that's, you know, because of all the people, that's who I judge the most right now is people that don't intentionally try to get diverse perspectives on if they're going to get the news, like you got to fish around because nobody's telling the truth. Well, that's it. But where is the truth? No, I don't know. You just distill it from a bunch of different intake sources. What I do, I don't know, sources, but, you know, and who's to know? Like, and there's all these conspiracies. And just makes it up to fill in the gaps. Yeah. But, you know, who I do judge the people that are creating the frenetic debate on the newscasters on both sides that are doing that. Right. It's horrible. It's like, if you really listen and be very neutral and try to dissect, and is this person just reporting facts? Right. Or are they literally like, oh, this is terrible. And you should be feeling this and don't you? You know, oh my gosh, I can't believe you know. So there's that kind of feeling and like that is just, oh, that's just those people too. Yeah, I think they're the ones that should be judged more than anything. They're the ones creating us. Oh, they will. Our divisions. Their day will come. Their day will come. What, uh, you know, to my mind, we've covered most of the agenda here. Um, you've still got half a glass of wine left. So we didn't even get you lubed up properly to get loose. But what would you like, if you're, if we attract a lot of listeners that are in particular concerned about teenage mental health and stuff, do you have any things that, because you've got a lot of data from people both in your own family, but just in this journey of learning. Right. Are there, you know, I'm sure you can go to the internet and look for warning signs and things like that. But one of the things that gave you the most strength or, or that maybe flipped your switch, uh, to understand in a different way. I'm sure there was a lot of confusion. This movie distilled from now or I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't know where your head's at. But like, what do they need to really know? Uh, I, that they'll learn later if they don't hear it now. You know, I, I have to say, you always know intuitively, if something is up with your child, but sometimes you're too busy or you're too or maybe you don't want to admit, you don't want to admit. Yeah, because it's like, oh no, they're not, they're okay. Yeah. And all that happens with that is it gets repressed, you know, either by them or you, and sometimes it's not acknowledged by you, which is can be really bad too, because then they're trying to tell you in a certain way, and they don't even know how sometimes. So that's the big thing I would say is listen to what you know is true. If you know something is up with your child, you, you will feel it at some level. Keep working that. Stay open. Yeah, stay open and, and keep talking to them. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It's crazy. I interviewed Kim Swainey from Happiness Through Horses. She's down in Firestone area. And so it's a teen writing center, specifically for trouble teams. So she says, you know, Todd, let, just listen to anything they say and do not judge. Like, because if they know you're going to jump on them immediately, then they'll stop telling you things. Right. Right. I've tried to be open minded about what my kids say is like, okay, that's your thought today. Okay. Well, that's what I'm going to listen to. All right. We'll talk about this again. You know, just try not to be too judgmental, because then they'll just shut down against you. Yeah. That's a huge part there. Yeah. Like, and it's not just for teens, but it's also for your neighbor too, probably. Yeah. Just people in general, you know, I think people are much more opinionated than they ever used to be. Don't you? opinionated. Yeah. Yeah. I would say so probably. Instead of just like listening and learning, everyone has an opinion about that thing. Right. And then, and then you have to either defend it or deflect against it. Right. And then it creates a battle. It's like this little contest of wills of these different right wrong decisions. Why can't we just talk? Yes. Coke Pepsi. I like Coke. You can like Pepsi. It's fine. The world won't end. Right. Right. So I feel there's a contentious underlayment there. But anyway, and then I interviewed Kyle Talbert. He's a men's therapist. Okay. We talked about gender differences in emotional expression and how boys feel the same, but they express it different. So that was really cool. That's going to be one of the first podcasts. Is that going to be like especially on that? Because there is a dichotomy now, right? Like, used to be boys committed to a side a lot more than girls. And now in some demographics, at least girls are catching up or passing? Well, girls attempt far more, but boys are more successful. Oh, I got you. Because their method is usually firearms. And firearms are extremely successful. Right. And, you know, overdosing is like a 4% death rate, which oh, wow. And most girls are doing that like poisoning and most boys are doing firearms. So 75% of suicides are boys because they're using firearms. And there's actually, I forget the name of the it's a nonprofit in Wyoming and they're they're actually giving people locks for their homes for their firearms for their cases. So because even if you don't think your child is depressed, suicide can be a very impulsive thing. Yeah. One thing happens in boom, you know, it was just this decision if they have that available. Yeah. That could be the difference between life and death at that moment. Because if you can get them through and they don't have access to it. Sure. Then they'll survive. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what they're trying to do in that nonprofit is to just, you know, bring down the access levels to firearms. So maybe just one last significant topic for me anyway is who's helped you along the way? Like have you had business mentors or life mentors or just friends right now that you'd love to just give a shout out to because this is an extremely popular podcast. So I've had a lot of really amazing mentors business wise and otherwise I've used SVDC for years. Awesome. You know, from Franklin Taggart to Lee Porter to you know, Robin Choucle when she was doing this years ago and then in Clark has been an amazing mentor to me. Sure. And right now I have this business slash life coach Linda Colterberg and she actually was in this area but now she's in Oregon. Okay. I've never met her in person. I've been working with her. I've heard of her name in the years ago, but we've never been a person there. She's amazing. She's intuitive psychic, but also extremely savvy about business strategy and things like that. And she's taken me from states of like low points of just energy and personal, you know, things that are weighing me down and she helps me flush out like, okay, what do you need to do? And then I'll come back and I'll be like, okay, I did these eight things. She's like, you did eight things. It's like, wow, you know, so I'm just sort of this over Jever when it comes to goals. But yeah. Well, and that's that was that was the first not to divert you, but the first blog I ever wrote when I left Manking to start to start all my things. The title was, uh, there's nobody to tell me what to do. And that's one of the big great challenges of being a self-employed person, especially, right? It is. I think it's really important to have that opportunity for self-reflection and having the mirror held up. And with this whole, with the book, the podcast, you got so many things going on. Oh, my gosh. There's a lot. They're all these pieces together. And she's even to the point of like, you know, what logo colors should I use them? You know, we'll put it up on this green. She's like, okay, look at this. How does it make you feel? Look at that. How does it make you feel? Like, she helps me process what one resonates with you. And so I've gotten really like intuitively grounded with her of making decisions based on what I know to be right. And so when you do that, when you're in alignment. Yeah. And you're making your decisions based on doing good for others, for one thing, but also what you know to be the right thing to do, like not just in the right of wrong sense, but in like, it feels good. Yeah. You know when you're in the flow. Yeah. And it just gets like, wow, you just start cooking because the one thing needs to another. And then you, you know, you made the right choices here. And it builds on that. Yeah. It's I like to say, you know, and whether you're, you know, walking in tune with God, whether you're going with the flow, whether you're the the universe's balance in your favor, whatever. Yeah. But you can tell when you're trying to swim upstream or going cross current, or if you're just kind of cruising. Yeah. And it doesn't mean you're not putting an effort. It just means that everything is going with you. Right. Are you going the way you're supposed to go? Yeah. It's a mind, right? So you're not going against these cross currents of like resistance. And I have to say like that's been the big thing is like, I used to always feel like, you know, a hand pushing against another hand. So I'm one hand pushing. And the other hand is pushing me back. That's it was this resistant energy. Yeah, resistant energy. And so I was and some of that involves releasing toxic relationships from your life. And that was something that I did that released my negative energy that was pushing me back. And then once that was removed, I was like, holy moly, like explosion explosion of energy. And it was really freeing and just like, wow, what can I do now? You know, so that's the other thing too is surrounding yourself with people who are in flow with you, who will move you forward and not push you back. You know what I'm saying? Totally. Not saying that they're not honest with you or whatever, but that they're not going to negate your energy. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's really important. And that's the big thing that I found is when you find these people and my fellow, John, who you met. Sure. He does that for me. He's so encouraging. And these times I'm like, oh, what am I doing? Why am I writing this book and doing this? It's like so much work. And I already have my other job before these things. Yeah. But you know, I already loved my job. Like I still love my video production. And I didn't do another job. No, I didn't think I was unhappy. But this passion purpose has like fueled me forward. And so when they I have these moments of like, just it's too much, just too much investment of time and money. And he'll be like, you have to do it. You just have to because if you don't, you'll always wonder why you won't be happy if you didn't do that. Yeah, because you'll always wonder like, what could I have done? Well, in the flow is taking it here. You know, it's like one of those things. These things probably wouldn't have happened to you with all your mix of talents and abilities to extract knowledge from different things. It's exactly. You're putting up here for a place like this. Well, you know, my so my coach Linda, she says, it's all about breadcrumbs. So she says that everything that you've done in your life from, you know, the psychology background to working in, you know, with mostly disturbed children to having children who have suffered and having the pain that you've had. But then also at concurrently having these skills of writing and. Well, in the gift of talent to kids too. Yeah. And learning how to interview people. I mean, for the podcast, that's like not even I know how to interview people. So this is like, I can do it for a purpose now. And so she said, everything that you've done in your life has been little breadcrumbs that have been leading, been leading you to this moment and time and purpose and putting you forward for such a place as this. Yeah, like to do good in the world for other people is really what I want to do. I'll show you that verse in scripture when when we get done here. Yeah, so cool. I the book is called. So it's helpless night hopeful dawn. And the subtitle is staying positive and proactive when your child is suicidal. Okay. And that's on Indiegogo right now, but it'll be released in April on Amazon. Yep. And then the podcast is empowered parenting for emotional wellness. Okay. And that's should be launching first week of January. So by the time this time we put this episode up, so it'll be out there. Yeah, you can start checking it out. But I have, oh my gosh, I have like 50 or 60 topics. Wow. Out of that from the people I've even met in my career and knowing the community, I'm like, okay, I can interview that person for this and you know, all that kind of thing. So I already have a lot of people I can tap into. Well, thank you. I just want to say on behalf of both the like the nonprofit community and the people that are passionate about causes out there, but also all those people that are struggling or lonely or wondering what to do in this situation right now. Like, thank you for putting a shoulder to this problem. You're welcome. I feel like it's driving me. I'm not driving it. It's driving me. So it's kind of inevitable. Let it be the thing that it needs to be. Yeah, it's pushing me forward and it feels like it just needs to happen. So I'm happy to talk about it. I know it's hard to talk about emotional problems. And a lot of people don't you'll tell someone you broke an ankle, but you won't tell them that you're pressed. Right. Right. So why don't we start talking about it? It's okay. Yeah. It's normal. Actually, everybody gets it just about. Yeah. And, you know, we need to have our mental health be better covered because why does a broken angle get covered? But then if you are feeling despondent, depression is the number one cause of disability. Wow. Yeah. And it's 80 to 90% treatable, but only half get treated. Wow. So all these people are suffering and they don't need to because you can't get help. So and it's not permanent, usually not. Yeah, you can be a moment in time in your life. So yeah, so many people, so many great succeeders, business people and things like that. I mean, look at this. Who was the Zappos guy? You know that story? No. Zappos, the shoe company became like the dominant online shoe platform, best culture, best work, place, best, best, best guy retired a couple of years ago and just went into a spiral of depression, drugs, alcohol drugs and died at a house fire. Oh, sad. Yeah. Yeah. 46 year old super multimillionaire. Well, and that, you know, like it obviously could happen anybody. Oh, anybody. We're all human beings. And just because you're rich or successful or whatever, the, you know, parameters are that you think anybody can get depressed. Well, and not just that, but he created amazing machine and culture besides. Yeah. You know, so those people that are sometimes, you know, you have a season, get through that season and you might have a beautiful thing that you can create. Right. And if you're feeling tough, uh, finds them help. Right. Definitely get help. That's the hugeest, biggest piece of advice. And parents trust your gut. Oh, if your kid says everything is fine, but your gut says it isn't. Yep. You know, you know, uh, you know if they're off, you know, it's fine. Yeah. Because sometimes they're not telling you. Yeah. You don't know in the online world. Oh my gosh, find out like, um, whatever, put some safe stuff on there or monitor the pressing. There's apps that can monitor. I mean, there's all kinds of ways that you can do it or limiting the time that they can even turn the phone on and stuff like that. But you know, it's not a right or a privilege to have your, it's not a right to have a telephone when you're 14. Right. It's not a right. It's okay. Like, but I wouldn't say take it away entirely because then they really are cut off and that's isolating. But definitely monitor. Yeah, definitely. Stuff. Do you have any final words wisdom for those maybe, uh, considering a career in videography or in your industry or field or that would like to learn more about it? Well, I would say there's the sky's the limit with video because it's so, uh, pervasive and impactful and so many things are online now and a lot of it is video based. And you can really make your own path in this, whether you want to tell stories or do marketing or, you know, there's entertainment, education, yeah, entertainment. So, you know, find where you want to express yourself and, um, you know, do it. Yeah. And don't be daunted if you don't have like the best equipment anymore. Nobody even, we're watching terrible audio and lighting right now because everybody's doing their homes, you know, like I'm watching the news and I'm like, oh, I can't take it anymore. You know, somebody give these people good audio. But, you know, that's what we're all getting used to. So, and I didn't have amazing equipment in the beginning. So don't let anybody don't you, you know, and just learn as you go. Would you, would you recommend like working for somebody else learning and doing some of these things if they can or would you recommend just kind of doing what you do and just do it. It depends, but either way, I would say you can get started, but don't charge more than what where you are. If your skill set isn't there, you're not going to, because then people will just be like, you just won't get customers or they'll be happy with the work or whatever. So, charge minimally as you go and build. Keep building your pricing as you build your skill. Yeah, and then you actually build your portfolio and then you have more to show and then people are more, it's more credible as you go and everything and then you can start charging more and so I would say that and then when you do have the skills, definitely value yourself. Don't forget to charge for it. Yeah, charge and see what other people are charging and if are you doing very similar work, how are you the same or different than them, you know, are you a better storyteller, lighter designer, what, you know, how do you compare? Get in your sweet spot. Yeah, and just see where your niche is and what you like to do. There's so much opportunity out there. I've done quilting videos and really fun stuff, you know, it's just, there's a whole opportunity out there and it's really fun and you can meet a lot of really great people. Yeah, it sounds like a fun journey. You're excited for the next step and Karen, I just want to say thank you for sharing your heart, your talents and your knowledge of this, of your industry, but especially of this challenge for the youth of our country and then really for throwing your shoulder behind making like the important stuff happen. Thank you very much for having me on and giving me a voice on this platform and I appreciate it and I think you are an amazing person. Also, I know people do know that about you and your vision for what you're doing is really great. So keep going. I'm blushing. Have faith. Have faith. Sure will. All right. If you're faith, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for listening to today's episode of the LOCO Experience Podcast. This is Kurt Baer, founder of the LOCO Think Tank and host of the LOCO Experience. And I'm here with Rory Shar, LOCO Business Developer and host of the LOCO Shorts episodes. We hope you heard some new ideas and business perspectives in this episode. Our mission and all that we do, including this podcast, is to share collaborative business ideas and solutions that uplift the business community. Subscribe and follow us for you listening to podcasts to get new episodes as they are released. Curious about LOCO? You can learn more about us at LOCOthinktakes.com where you'll find more information about our chapters, business resources and events for business owners and readers. If you're looking for perspective, accountability and encouragement along your business journey, why not apply for a chapter near you today? Why not? Why not? Why not? We'll catch you next time on the in-depth LOCO Experience Podcast with me, Kurt. And with me, Rory, for Bite Size Business Lessons in the LOCO Shorts. Bye!