Fit For Radio

She Gave Up Her Career to Save Her Son

• Drew Tydeman

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Nikole Vaughn was forced to grow up fast. As a child, she stepped into responsibility early while navigating the chaos of her mother’s grand mal seizures—moments that were as unpredictable as they were life-altering, including a terrifying incident behind the wheel. That early exposure to adversity shaped a mindset built on resilience, responsibility, and drive.

She carried that same determination into adulthood, climbing the ranks of corporate America while building a family and supporting her husband’s demanding military career—and his pursuit of making the Olympic track and field team. On paper, it was a life of ambition and upward momentum.

Then everything changed.

When her children were born, Nikole was faced with a reality few can truly comprehend. Both gifted and facing serious challenges, her kids required a level of care that would completely redefine her life. Her son alone would endure more than 30 surgeries and over 1,800 hospital and doctor visits.

In a moment that would alter her path forever, Nikole made the difficult decision to step away from her career to become a full-time caregiver—trading boardrooms for hospital rooms, and ambition for advocacy.

But what makes her story remarkable isn’t just the sacrifice—it’s what she built from it.

Refusing to stand still, Nikole channeled her strength into launching her own business, stepping into the role of CEO while continuing to fight tirelessly for her family’s health, stability, and future.

This is a story about resilience at its highest level. About redefining success. And about what it truly means to show up—every single day—when everything is on the line.

SPEAKER_03

With open heart surgery came blood transfusion. And I didn't know this until then, but you can only donate a certain amount of blood per human for a transfusion. Well, I didn't want him to get community blood. And so I had to petition. It was actually the first time I've gone before a board. I had to petition to the blood and tissue board to allow them to let me take more blood product from my body than the normal allowance, so that my blood product would be what was put in him.

SPEAKER_04

It's a family. Bring your family, make new family here. Come check them out at staffordhills.com and hit me up or tell them I sent you for half off your initiation. Today, my guest is an amazing lady. Um, she has done it all, really, and has so much more to give navigating the waters from thriving and high-level corporate leadership to navigating Olympic dreams and Navy deployments, homeschooling, and even some serious medical challenges at home. And as a parent, I promise you that isn't lost on me. That is uh one of the toughest things to deal with. And she does it all with grace and with walking right into the wind. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show, Nikki Vaughn. Thank you for having me, Drew. Oh, I'm so glad you're here. Um, and you are a you're a perfect example of strength and you know, overcoming the odds. We talk on this show all the time about how it really isn't about what happens to you that writes your story. It's how you react to the things that happen to you, and you are a perfect testament to that. Um, multiple people calling you an innovator and a community builder. And really, when you and I had our initial meeting on the phone, I just I felt uh a presence of a strong person and somebody who can overcome some adversity. Now, I wonder if some of that comes from your upbringing because you were kind of thrust into um I won't put words in your mouth. It feels like an adult role for me very early because you had to initially move homes. What was it, seven or five times? Seven times? How many times did you move?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, we moved five times. Well, total of eight, because in one of the cities we moved three times, but yeah, five different cities. I was born in Carbondale, Illinois, little small town. And then my parents were divorced, so we moved to Austin, Texas. My mom met someone, was remarried within a year. So we moved to San Antonio, Texas. We moved three different homes there in San Antonio, and then we moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and then Los Angeles, California.

SPEAKER_04

So that was the back by the time I was seventh grade, yeah. Wow, by seventh grade. And you know, I moved once in sixth grade and it turned my world upside down. And I I think I whined about it for two years. So very strong of you to get through that. And when you were growing up, you also had to deal with your mom was dealing with some medical issues that forced you into more of an adult role as well, right?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, interestingly enough, um, when we moved from Illinois to Texas, you know, she was just divorced. She was actually, we were actually on government assistance. I didn't know it because she made uh we would eat on the ground on a tablecloth, but she called it a picnic. So she was really good at um building resilience for me. Um, but then once she remarried and we moved to San Antonio, she had a grandma seizure and ran into the football stadium of UT Austin. And from then on, from the time I was four to the time I was 16 years old, she could no longer drive or work. And there were times where she would have seizures and I was the one around to help work through that. I remember one time it happened at a mall. We were at the mall in Atlanta, Georgia. And um at the time I was in fifth grade, the back half of fifth grade, and I had to explain to security that I got it. I'm good, I got it. And they just can't, you know, because I'm a short person, you can't tell on the podcast, but I'm only five, two now as a full adult. So back then I was even shorter.

SPEAKER_04

And they're like, they're thinking this is a fifth grader. We can we're step aside and we're gonna take care of this. But you you knew what was going on.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so I learned quickly, I guess as you alluded to, I didn't realize it at the time, but I had to mature pretty fast to be able to um be able to navigate those waters, help her and make sure that she was always seen in the role of a of my mother, right? Always seen as the authority, but also help her at the same time. And then, you know, try to live a kid's life. But then once we moved to um Los Angeles, I would we were living in a location where, you know, with her not driving and then my dad having to go to work, I was walking every day home from school. And um again, didn't realize it until I was grew older, but it was 2.8 miles, you know, walking, um, which was an hour and about hour and a 15-minute walk coming home. And then it's this steep incline. Um, you know, I looked it up one day because I was just curious, and it was it's a 650-foot incline. So people do this now for recreation, you know, like when they say they're going on a hike.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But for me, I could not get home unless I climbed that hill. There was no transit system that went up into that hill. So I had to walk every day. Um, and it was so much a part of my life that a neighbor of ours, because I guess I had lost a lot of weight from the walk, you know, because I'm doing PE at school and then walking.

SPEAKER_01

It's a lot of steps.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and then up the incline, um, I had lost a ton of weight. And so she thought there was something going on with me, you know. And and this is when my enterprise spirit was first revealed because when they asked me, they've, you know, they found out that I was taking my lunch money. Instead of buying lunch, I was saving it so that I would have money to do what I wanted to do. So I just wouldn't eat at school. I would wait till I got home, but then yet I was doing all that walking and running, and so I was just losing a ton of weight.

SPEAKER_04

Now was that was that the beginning of that whole time with the seizures and then walking to school those distances? Was that the beginning of kind of like the hardening process where resilience kind of steps in? Or are you even thinking about it at that age where you just think that's the normal behavior? Where is your head at?

SPEAKER_03

You know, Drew, it yes, you're right. I never thought it was different from anything else because that was my life. Not until I was an adult and I went back to that area and drove around with my own kids and realized what my life was. Not until then did I think it was different. Back then, all I knew is school's over, you gotta get home. I never questioned it. Um and so, but I when I I do think that that helped create some of my resilience and my endurance because there isn't much now that happens that causes me to stop. Sometimes I pause, but I I rarely stop because I just take things as this is how it is, this is how life works.

SPEAKER_04

That's incredible to me. I mean, I've got three kids, and it's hard to get one of them to walk their plate into the kitchen, let alone walk miles to school every day. I can't get them to carry their own backpack to my car from a playground. So I is very commendable what you're doing there. And then also just to backtrack a little, I think that one of the things that is so amazing about you is that when your mom has the seizure, the fifth grader has the composure to be able to sit in that. So, like, you know, and and we're we're gonna get to some things about your life later that, you know, I have a question that I'm gonna circle back to about, you know, are you afraid or are you do you sometimes have to put on a face? And and we'll get to that, but I wonder, just to touch on it with your mom, are you afraid when your mom is seizing or are you confident that you have it?

SPEAKER_03

No, I'm confident I have it. You're bringing up some things I had never considered, actually, as we're talking now. I I never, in the moment, it was my time to handle it. I I never thought twice. You when the when the security guards came, I I said, Oh no, no, I got it. I I got it. Because I was kind of conditioned that what's in our family, you keep in the family, you don't you cover. So I was always taught love covers. So you don't you don't display any issues or drama publicly. We got it. And so, you know, when the security guards came, I was like, no, no, I got it, I got it, we're good, we're good. Trust me, I got it. And they're looking at me like little girl.

SPEAKER_04

What are you talking about? Which is funny though, because since it's your mom, you're kind of, I mean, you're not book smart about her issue, but you're educated on it. And these guys are two mall security guards, and not to paint them with a broad brush, but the guarantees that they know what to do with a seizure, I'm if it's my mom, I might go with the fifth graders. So I I think that because it was your thing, not just a random fifth grader in front of an orange Julius, but but you. Um, and and that's amazing to me. Now, as you're walking all those distances, you already start taking leadership roles, though. Do you know early that you want to be um in a leadership role, or are you just kind of this thing happens and then this thing happens?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it was just this thing and this thing. And actually, I never considered myself worthy of leadership. And it first came to bear when I was in middle school. There was an election. You know, in middle school is the first time you have these officers of the class. And I was asked by one of the teachers, hey, why don't you run for president? And there's no way I'm I can run for president. I can't, I'm I'm not, I I cannot manage that responsibility. So they were confused because, you know, Drew, like what you're recognizing is they they were adult people, right? Interacting with me at that time in eighth grade, knowing what my life was, but I I knew I thought my life was normal, right? So when they're saying to me you could be president, I'm saying there's no way I can't take on that responsibility because in my mind, I wasn't eligible, I wasn't able to lead anybody or have that type of role. So I went for vice president just so I could help out my friend.

SPEAKER_04

And did you get it? I did get vice president. Nice. Nice. You know, I was actually I was an officer at one point. I um in sixth grade, they it was sixth, seventh, and eighth, they and they let you all you could be was sergeant at arms. And so I ran on a campaign that was just Drew It. And it was like the early 90s, I had that, you know, that Nike Orange uh poster board, and I won on the term just drew it.

SPEAKER_02

I love that. I love it. Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_04

I'm surprised I didn't get a cease and desist, but it it they let me use it and we got the job done. Yeah, I won that. So when you're transitioning uh into schooling, is it when is it that you decide that uh school is going to be, you know, because you take a pretty uh northbound uh trajectory at a point. At what point do you do you really lock into the whole uh schooling and higher education?

SPEAKER_03

Um, so it was never something that I thought was an option for me. So in the area that I grew up in, this is what you do. So even the kids that were bust in from all over LA, this our mindsets were you're going to college, some kind of college. And so um it was never something where I said, okay, this is a goal of mine, and then I've got to do this, this, and this to get there. It just everything that I did was about getting to college. Now I I wanted to go to UC Berkeley, and my family at that time were moving back to Texas, and so um my father, my stepfather asked me to please consider Texas, and I and I said, no, I I I want to be at Berkeley. But then he had a discussion with me about finances and he said, Listen, if you come to Texas, if you get a job, it'll be spending money for you. And and these things were topics that I understood, right? Because I started working when I was like 13, trying to babysit. Well, you heard me say earlier, I was saving my lunch money so I'd have money. Then I was started babysitting to get money. Then when I turned 16, I got a job at the um at a chicken place so that I could have money. So then now here I am, 17, and he's talking to me about finances and you know, everybody's moving to Texas. If you stay in California, you will have to get a job. You will have to find a way to make it because it's just so much more expensive. And so um that was the real discussion of me. Okay, let me go to Texas so at least I'll have some support, a little bit of support.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and it would allow you to use your lunch money on lunch, because even to this day, there's no lunch in Los Angeles unless you're crushing it. Um so you so you choose UT Austin, right? Which is which if if you're you know paying any attention, am I correct that this is the exact same place that your mom crashed the car into it? Correct, full circle moment. Yeah, so is it uh don't tell me there's a little dent on the stadium there for you to remember it by.

SPEAKER_03

There isn't, but um yeah, and the car is totaled and gone, but you're right, Drew, it was a full circle moment. And so not only did she crash the car there, I was there, and I met my husband there too at UT Austin. So full circle.

SPEAKER_04

Which it was all destiny for you. You know, if you if you don't listen to that conversation about finances, you never meet him and and it never happens that way.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04

And I think those things are so important. You know, we we see that all the time where it's like we get disappointed by something because we want it to go directly down this street, you know, and you've got a you've got a picture of how beautiful that's gonna be. And you look over here and it looks like a shadier way, but just around a couple of turns is some sunshine and uh and something that you you desperately need. You just don't know it yet, right?

SPEAKER_03

That's right, dude. I I I really appreciate this conversation. You're you're bringing me back to some really good places in my life. I appreciate this.

SPEAKER_04

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SPEAKER_03

Okay, so this guy he was in the business school. So we were both in the business school at UT Austin. He was business school, R O T C and track and field. So he was captain of the track team. So he was a busy dude.

SPEAKER_04

And so is that the Olympic dream was the uh was the running?

SPEAKER_03

Yes. He wanted to run the 400 and 800 in the Olympics. And so he was training for that while also having to serve. So once we graduated, he still had to serve his time in the military. And so after he would deploy and run on the ship because he was a surface warfare officer. And then um sometimes they would allow him to go run meets when they were back in port, and then he negotiated for a surface job so that he could train with his coach and run. That is a full plate. Yeah, he actually was only 0.04 seconds from qualifying, and so he had to make a decision about whether or not he would continue with running or what we say become a regular guy. And so uh because we were married and he knew that we would have kids one day, and the military requires a lot, the Navy requires a lot of away deployments, so he would be deployed plus gone for track. Um, he chose to become a regular guy and get into and now he's a fintech executive, so which is cool, you know, and it's you those things are hard to let go of.

SPEAKER_04

You know, it's the same thing with like a college football player, or you make it to the pros, and it's like, well, you can keep grinding. That grind requires every inch of your being and and your motivation to get those things done. You know, I interviewed this lady a few weeks ago, Liz, who she was trying to get on the Olympics in the marathon, and you're training and you're training, and you're you're you know the sacrificing everything for your diet, and you're just and with it's minutes and marathons, but it's it's a millisecond. And it's it's just this fine little hair difference, but and it seems obtainable, but it's so hard to hit that perfect optimization to get there.

SPEAKER_03

Right, especially if you're not if you're not willing to do things um that are illegal, to be honest. I mean, there've been people who've been caught now, but at that time people weren't caught. So he was actually competing against what we say superheroes that were um oh, it's all it's all documented.

SPEAKER_04

I mean, though those the guys that he's running against, because I'm doing the math on the time because the Bill Clinton thing, so I'm circling back in my head. And I mean, those are the biggest names in the history of track and field, and a bunch of them. Uh you could look it up for yourself. Balco, the the whole thing where the synthetic steroids and trying to you know manipulate the system, it's all in track and it's all right then. So I'm actually pretty glad for him that he decided to become a quote unquote regular guy because you're you're fighting against an unstoppable force, which is PEDs.

SPEAKER_03

Well, and think about it for him to be completely natural and only 0.04 seconds from qualifying.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, he's the guy. It should have been him.

SPEAKER_03

Right.

SPEAKER_04

And that's that's the frustrating thing. So as you guys are dating, now when do you guys decide to make this uh official? Like you do you get married in college? Do you guys get out of college and then enter your your business life, or how do you do it?

SPEAKER_03

So we dated for four years. We we knew each other two years in college, and then two years after college, we were managing our careers. And so there was an agreement for us and our families that we would manage our careers and let our let our careers take us where they needed to go. Um, I was working for a consulting company, joined and started working in the SAP program for that company and was making great money. Uh, you know, within uh six weeks, I had a 25% pay increase, and then a year later a 19% pay increase because I'm a performer. You know, I was top 10% performer in that organization every year once I figured out this the strategy for hitting metrics. Um, and so I was performing and then he was deploying in the Navy. And then um at some point his father asked him, you know, what are you gonna do about Nikki? Because sh you all won't be able Be just best friends for your whole life, and yeah, she's gonna take off in her career, and you're gonna continue to do your thing, and there won't be any reason for you all to come back together unless you make a decision. And so I remember him telling me that he didn't know, you know, if he was gonna marry, asked me to marry him, and then his dad asked him, Can you see your life without her? Yes or no? Or would you be okay if she were to meet someone else and go on with her life without you being a part of it because you can't be best friends the way you are? And LaSalle decided, no, I want her to be a part of my life all the time. And so I've got to marry her. And so we got married. We were young. I was 24 and he was 25 years old.

SPEAKER_04

Which it obviously ends up being a great decision. It's the same kind of thing that happened to me where my parents are like, she's not gonna be here forever. Like you can't you can't just drag your feet through an entire life. And that's what we do as guys a little bit. We're like, well, we're comfortable here right now, and and everything seems fine, but especially with deployments, that's gotta be tough because the statistics aren't great there for couples who try to survive deployments. That's right.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and you're gone six months, it's six months at a time, and you may or may not be able to talk on the phone, you know. And I was traveling for my job, and I I was working 60 hours a week because that's how I worked. Um, so that's trust.

SPEAKER_04

You're you're going on trust alone at that point, right? Because you're not allowed to talk on the phone. He can't reassure you from a distance. And now it's not in a time like now where everything is instant gratification and a phone is just stimulating us on repeat. So you're a little more conditioned for it, but it's that had to have been a tough time for you.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, absolutely, because there would be weeks where we wouldn't speak, and I'm just praying that he's okay and praying that we're okay. And I relied a lot on my friends. My friends are really good to me during that time, kept me busy. But I also worked 60 hours a week, which helped. Um, and so yeah, there was a lot of there were times he said one time we we did get into a little bit of an argument, and he said that phone bill cost him like$600 because you know it was a per minute charge then. And he said that was enough, that was his second reason why he said we just need to get married because he said it was too expensive to argue and with all these unsure um conversations. And he said, If I I need her to be sure that I love her and that there isn't no one else for me.

SPEAKER_04

So and those phone calls, they're important. Uh, my brother did the same thing, a long distance relationship, and we always used to joke that they would buy so many calling cards. He used to be able to buy like a sheet of calling cards, and we always said to him, It's like, you you look like an international criminal with the amount of calling cards that you purchase at the local Minimart, uh, but they they were in love and they're still married 20 plus years later. So I think that when you know, you know. And that's kind of what you did there. I I'm impressed. So, what year do you get married? 1998. In 98. And how long is the honeymoon phase? Uh well, you're also working, you're both grinding, working, building your careers. What at what point do you guys entertain this idea of having kids?

SPEAKER_03

Uh, we waited five years.

SPEAKER_04

And so you're working in you're you're building your career for five.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, I did not um, I you know, I didn't know what motherhood would bring, but I I I knew that it would be more than what I was working with, just trying to work through everything on my own. And like I said, I I worked a ton of hours a week. I traveled all the time. And so we waited five years because I I had two goals at the time. One, I wanted to reach a certain level in the consulting company that I was working for before I made any changes in my life. I wanted to uh be certain that I was, it was called senior manager, which was a year away from what we called partner. And then I also wanted to save up a year's worth of my salary in cash so that if anything were to ever happen in our life, that we could still still live and not change our lifestyle. And so those were my two goals, those were my drivers. And then, and then we got pregnant.

SPEAKER_04

So was this so when you guys was that a conscious decision at that point, or were you uh did was it kind of like a oh, we're we're no longer chasing the corporate goal because we got pregnant?

SPEAKER_03

Uh well no, I um I planned to continue to work. So did you plan the did uh did you plan on having kids that early or that so I we were in a stage where we were okay with it, but it was never like some couples, they make a plan and they say would buy this time and all the things. We didn't do that. It was okay, we're at a place now where if it happens, then it's okay.

SPEAKER_04

Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I've been through both. I've been through the one um where it's a plan and there's a lot of pressure on me, and I'm like, what this is something I this is something I thought that I wanted all the time, and I don't. This is a lot. Um, and so there's that version. And then the other version, which I was kind of alluding to, is the not so planned, but I uh I actually corrected a friend of mine at the uh out at a soccer field over the weekend who said was comparing one of my kids to her kid and said, Well, that's my accident. And I said, It's actually that's your surprise. Because it it it's a different, it's a different look at it because once they're here, they're the miracle, right? And so accidents, you know, great things do accidentally happen, but usually they involve an insurance claim. So I would prefer uh to call it a surprise. Yeah, and we're adults.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, we know what you're doing, right?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, exactly. We've we read the book. They teach you early. Um so when you do finally you get pregnant with your first uh child, which is gonna be a daughter. Um, did you know that ahead of time, or did that just come uh on delivery day, knowing that you had a little girl?

SPEAKER_03

No, we knew ahead of time, and actually her name is Sydney because when my husband stopped running and decided to no longer pursue his Olympic dreams, it was the year of the Sydney Olympics.

SPEAKER_04

Oh.

SPEAKER_03

And so we agreed that he could name the first child Sydney in a commemoration of that change of life where he decided he was going to devote his his time and efforts towards his family. That's cool. So yeah. So we had her, and then 18 months later, we had my son, LaSalle.

SPEAKER_04

That's really cool. So when you when you had your first baby, so you said 18 months later? Is that what you said? Oh, so they're close in age. Now my kids are two years apart, the two oldest, and then the surprise is quite a bit younger. She's uh she's a I got a 10 and 8 and a two-year-old. So it is nice to have them kind of close together like you did there, because and this didn't work out for us, but it's supposed to be like that season of your life, like where you you do all that, and then you're not supposed to have to anymore. But you actually uh you get uh dealt a few curveballs along the way, right? So with your and it's and it's two different ways for you. Your tell us what it was like, uh what Sydney was like as a kid and kind of like her progression.

SPEAKER_03

Sure. So it's Sydney, you know, at 18 months, she was, I I was going to take her to a Mother's Day Out program, super excited that I found an inexpensive solution to childcare. And, you know, the little pretend kitchen, um, those pretend kitchen devices, right? They're plastic, right? She walks over to it and she puts her hands underneath the sink and she keeps trying to turn the sink on. And then she's looking at me through the window of this Mother's Day out and going like this, you know, she's 18 months old.

SPEAKER_02

Like, and I'm telling her, pretend, pretend.

SPEAKER_03

And she's like, And then she just sat down and she's like, and so I went and picked her up and I said, What's going on? She said, Don't work, you know. Oh my gosh, pretend.

SPEAKER_02

Why? You know, and so that's when I knew, okay, she's a little different. Thought she thinks differently.

SPEAKER_03

So I took her to another preschool that was much more expensive. And she walks over to the sink that works, turns it on, the water comes out, and she looks at me and does this. She's 18 months, right? And so then at that preschool, her teacher came to me when she's about 24 months and said, Listen, she cries all day. And I said, Why? And she said, Because I can't keep her stimulated. She's the kind of kid who wants a calculator in her hand all the time. And I just can't keep her stimulated. And she said, You've got to find a place that has more going on. I was like, Okay. So I learned quickly that she was what we yeah, we call her our accelerator. So when we wanted to be smooth and coast through this childhood, she made us run fast. She was our accelerator. Everything she's done has been early, right? Um, and so we had she's been in private school the whole time because we had to find private, uh, private schools that were accelerated but allowed her to still be a kid. Um and so she was in yeah, private preschool, private elementary, private middle school, went to a Montessori school, and then uh private high school. And now she's in a it's called a BAMD program. So this it's phenomenal. She at age 17, she was accepted into this program where you you uh earn your undergraduate degree and you're auto-accepted into the med school. Oh, wow. So there's a 1.9% acceptance rate at this university she's at. And she she got in. And so we're thrilled because now she can fulfill her dreams of being a physician, potentially a surgeon. Um, but she she was auto-accepted at age 17.

SPEAKER_04

Which is great. I mean, I'm glad I'm glad that you made the extra effort and it and because where the story goes from here is it I wish for you partially that you know it would you get the easy road somewhere, you know, because even though she's brilliant and she's gonna be a doctor and all these things, you had to pay more, pay more attention, make sure that it's almost an incubation of because kids are cruel too. They don't understand, like they don't like if you're different. So if you're brilliant or you're smart or well spoken, that might also be considered too different from them, and then they push you down.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. That's exactly right. That's why we had to put her in these environments where everyone had that brilliance, and it took work, it took a lot of work.

SPEAKER_04

Now you put in work there, but you put in another kind of work here when your son is born 18 months later, LaSalle the Fourth. Now, he is he shares a name with dad, so um I might have to like over-explain a little bit if I've got them both in the same story. Um but he was born 18 months later, and explain to me that process just a tiny bit. The Fit for Radio podcast is brought to you by the Stafford Hills Club. And if you've never come here and taken one of their classes, you really should do so. Their instructors are really good. I took the Pilates Reformer class here, and she made me feel like I could be comfortable in the room. Let's get it right, though. I've got a lot to learn when it comes to Pilates, but that's how you do it. You just got to show up and give it your best, right here at Stafford Hills. They make you feel comfortable, and it's a family environment, not just being able to bring your family here, but also the people together feel like a family. Check out everything to offer at staffordhills.com. Tell them Drew sent you for half off your initiation.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So when LaSalle was born, my world changed and and stays in this state of change every moment. It's hard to describe in words, but when he was born, he was in the NICU, and there's other babies in the NICU, so I thought we were fine. But by day nine, I started to wonder where we were headed. But my sacrifice had already begun. And so what I mean by that is he's born, he's taken to the NICU with my daughter. I was able to stay in the same room with her until we both left the hospital. With him, we were separated because they found a hole in his heart, so it's a VSD repair was needed, and they couldn't do it at the time. Um, when you're a baby, your heart is not if you could see it, but it's like the size of your pinky um tip. So they didn't want to touch that. And so I pleaded with my physician to find a reason for me to have to stay in the hospital as long as possible. But once day four hit, there was nothing else that he could write. So I left, but I had made up in my mind that I was gonna breastfeed and I couldn't drive because I had a C-section and my husband needed to work. And so I was home, and this was before the days of Uber Lyft and all the thing, all the um things. So I called a cab every three hours to take me to the hospital so I could breastfeed and then drive me home and then back. So I did this all day to the point where the people at the NICU said, Oh, he's fine, you don't need to come. Just stay home and rest. Well, I tried it and then he was in the incubator. So, no, I'm coming back every three hours. More days persisted to the point where the cab driver says, ma'am, I I cannot charge you anymore for these trips. I'm coming to get you and I'm taking you. I I can't charge you anymore because now we're at day nine. And um, once the cab driver said, I can't charge you anymore, my something in my brain shifted, realized, okay, this isn't normal, right? Like this isn't normal. But you hear with me, I never think these tra what some people would call tragedies or hardships, I never consider them as hard in the moment because I'm just motivated by getting the thing done. You know, the mission was breastfeed this kid and get him home. That was the mission, right? So if I had to take a cab, you take a cab. Um, and so finally I realized okay, the cab driver doesn't want to pick me up anymore. I need to get home. So I asked the nurse and the attending physician if there was a way for me to buy the equipment that they were using at the hospital and put it at my house. Can I get it on eBay? Can I, what can I do? And so they realized how motivated I was to get my son home and that I would go through whatever training I needed to go through to be able to keep him stable at home. And so they released him home. But then I had to get him to checkups very often so that they could continue to see him. Yeah. That's when I realized this life is going to be a different life.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, because it's not for a couple of weeks. This is a this is a thing that's gonna go on.

SPEAKER_03

Right. He didn't have his open heart surgery until month five. Um, and I was still technically working, but the company that I worked for, because I was such a high performer, um, and I saved a lot of revenue uh for my customers and helped my company um access a lot of profit. Yeah. And I was in charge of large teams. I mean, when I was 30 years old, I had 60 people on my team. So always a very high performer. They came to me and said they didn't want me to leave. They negotiated that they would pay me half of my salary for the year to stay home with him as long as I was accessible. That was unheard of back then, but they did that for me. And so that allowed me to have peace of mind and care for him for the year to get through the open heart surgery. Um, but I also knew that things would be very different with me for him because with open heart surgery came blood transfusion. And uh I didn't know this until then, but you can only donate a certain amount of blood per human for um for a trans a transfusion. Well, I didn't want him to get community blood. So if anybody ever goes to the blood bank, you'll see people outside who get pay who get money for donating plasma. And, you know, it's not usually people, you know, that have great lives who are standing in line to donate money for, you know, donate their plasma to be paid. It's consistent.

SPEAKER_04

It's kind of like you wouldn't want to put old oil in a car, right? You want to, if you have a chance to put synthetic oil into it, then you're gonna do that and try and because you're trying to stack the deck, right? You're you're trying to do everything in your power so he can fight for his health.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. And so I had to petition is it was actually the first time I've gone before a board. I had to petition to the blood and tissue board to allow them to let me take more blood product from my body than the normal allowance, so that my blood product would be what was put in him. And they um they accepted and allowed me to donate. So I had I kept a spreadsheet of all the vials of blood and all the blood products. And so it was me and a principal, a school principal who had the correct blood type that we knew who donated. And um, and that's when I realized, okay, now I'm sacrificing time, money, but I'm also sacrifice having to literally petition to give my blood.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. And now are you dealing with other side effects because you're crossing the the line with the blood? Are you uh having a fatigue? Are you dealing with like an iron deficiency? Are there is there any side effects for you?

SPEAKER_03

Drew, I again, I've never thought about it until you're asking me these questions. And um, but yeah, my whole body composition changed. So now um I can't eat certain foods. I yeah, my whole body composition has changed completely. Uh little things like I can't eat chicken, red meat. I mean, just my everything about how my intake changed when I made that alteration in my blood flow.

SPEAKER_04

Which isn't that amazing. And that's probably why it's the the board has to say yes, because you know there it's like a pick your poison thing. You know, like, well, we want to save the boy, but we don't want to hurt the mom, and they just kind of have to make a decision. But I think when a mom is standing there wide-eyed and saying, I, you know, kind of like you back at the mall, I got this, they kind of have to let you go.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and they could tell that it didn't matter to me what changed with me. I I would it would have hurt me more to not know that I've done everything I could do for him.

SPEAKER_04

Mm-hmm. And you would continue to do that because you go through some wild stuff with him. So it's not just the open heart surgery. You have a bunch more procedures, like a lot of procedures, lots of specialists. Just kind of uh the overview. Yeah what what are we looking at?

SPEAKER_03

So we've been to the OR 30 times. We've been to the OR so much so that now they have me scrub in. I put on everything and I go in with him so that I can help put him down before anesthesia comes. To the point where I'm my head hurts because I'm lying next to him while the mask comes with the anesthesia. And so I have to help get myself back together afterwards because now I'm kind of uh Dazed.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, you feel like it's college again. You got to take a deep breath, get back in the game.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, 30, yeah, 30 OR visits. Um, we would have therapies three times a week. So I did the math. It was like 2,800 therapy sessions that we've been through for speech, OT. So speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, auditory therapy, vision therapy, uh every, you know, every therapy, occupy um there's uh play therapy, all the therapies you could think of.

SPEAKER_04

So did he also, you mentioned to me before, did he have an issue with his teeth?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he's never lost a tooth on its own. So every tooth that he's lost, we'd have to go in, we'd go to the OR to get it extracted. And then it's just a progressive issue because then he ended up with a cyst in his gum that had to be removed and biopsied. He's had a cyst on his eardrum where they had to remove the cyst from his eardrum, reconstruct his eardrum. Um, so he has two uh cochular bajas right now, and we're waiting to get implants for for his hearing. Um yeah, I I always go head to toe in terms of all the procedures that he's had um in his life. If you meet him, he's a pretty cool kid and he doesn't know anything different, but yeah, the nurses, there have been times where I have a spreadsheet um for information that I need about the procedure, and the nurses have been really kind. They'll take my spreadsheet into the OR with them and check off my questions and bring it back out to me so that I'm clear.

SPEAKER_04

It's it's a thing, you know, as a parent of three kids myself, you know, it's the thing that you dread the most is when something's happening with their health. Were there times for you, because you are the strong one, you are you're the face of it's okay, because if you break down, then that just goes right down the line. Were there times that you would dip away and have to take time for yourself to scream it out, to you know, uh shake your fist at whatever it is, you know, whether it's the odds or you know, a higher power or or whatever was there, why me times for you? You know, or why us, I guess is what I mean.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. So when I think back, we never had a time where we would scream it out or have any of those types of emotions um because we have a consistent engagement, a consistent regiment of prayer daily, a consistent engagement with church. So, you know, on a on a family calendar, things can go awry, right? There's always activities, maybe this, maybe that. But I noticed the the activity that stays consistent every Sunday, no matter what city we're in, it says church. And I know that that kept has kept us consistent and it helps us understand that all things will work together for good. I've grown so much as a human when I was an executive working and consulting, one of my projects. I I didn't realize it until my husband explained to me what I did. But he's like, no, Nick, you literally brought Wi-Fi into the homes of America. That was my project. I I negotiate I worked through the processes to get the what the Wi-Fi towers delivered to all the homes, worked through the customer care solution, the IVR solution that everyone, when you call in and you push one, two, three to get to who you need to talk to to get your tower working. I built all of that. And so I was, you know, very type A personality. Now that I've had LaSalle, I am very appreciative of every human experience. And every person who comes into my life, I see them as a gift and I seek to understand um how I am trusted to be a part of their life. I wasn't that way before. Um, and so yeah, we haven't really had moments of why me or what have I done to deserve this? None of that. It's you know, thank you for trusting me. Thank God with such an intricate gift of life because it takes trust to have a person's life in your hands that has 30 surgeries. You know, some families wouldn't tolerate it. We even moved. So we live now in Dallas, Texas, only because we found a school that will help him thrive into and transition into his adulthood. None of us have jobs in Dallas, Texas. There, there's no reason for us to be here except for him. So but I think about that and say, dear God, like gee, we're able to do that for him.

SPEAKER_04

And that's a good perspective, too. And I think that faith is important because it's e it's a lot easier to say what you just said in a in passing or in um, you know, a fender bender or you know, some little thing that happened that feels like the world or the weight is all on you. But when it's your children, your kids are they're so important. I mean, the very reason you live in Dallas and don't work in Dallas, they're so important, right? That it's gotta be hard for a lot of people who face the adversity that you're faced to not get a little bit of snow in their goggles and to be like, you know, why, why did I deserve this? I'm a good person. I I hold doors for people, I care about people, like, why me? And and I think your perspective is impressive because you know, to say that it's not a why me, it's it's me because I can and because I'm capable of taking care of this child who is my angel. You know, it's if it's the same thing with me. And you know, my mom is a is a character a lot like you, where uh and it's not even always friends. Like my mom will spend a month in a at the hospital every day because one of her friends has gone down and she's not gonna leave them there, you know, and so it's that type of mentality, which was taught to me as a child too. But I can't say that I'm perfect and that, you know, when something happens to my kid, I don't get a little bummed, right? So I'm I I love your perspective and keeping it kind of out in front of you.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so it's interesting because you remember you mentioned that full circle moment earlier. I often think about, okay, when I see, for example, my mom now. Um, and when we were having, we were running a business, a family business, where she was my uh stepfather passed away. And so I became executive vice president, she's president, and we're running this business. She's a very different woman now than she was when she couldn't drive and couldn't have a job. And I'll and I would ask, okay, God, why did you have her in that position so long? You know, I would from age when I was age four, we both got our driver's license the same year when I was 16. You know, I was like, God, why would you have her down like that? Right? Like, that's how I would talk. But then I see the woman that she is now, super busy, doesn't stay home, you know, just doesn't sit still. And I realized maybe God paused her life to raise me. Yeah. And so I've seen the proof that nothing happens on accident. You know, if you believe your life is father filtered, then you know that you may not understand. Like I know, I'm I don't understand, but I know that there's something going on here that's for my good. And it's not just delusional or making it up. I I have proof time and time and time again that I don't understand, but it's going to be for my good. My daughter had to go to all those appointments with us. And now she wants to be a physician and a surgeon. And if you were to ask her why, it's because she said, I saw the humans saving my brother's life every day. And I want to be able to do that for another family. And then if you ask her, well, would you like to be a physician that works in a clinic or a surgeon? She says, I feel like I want to be a surgeon because I want to use my hands to fix the problem. And I want families to know that there's someone who actually cares who's trying to help save the life of their loved one because she saw what we went through and the trust that we had to have in the physicians that were helping us. So you see what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_04

Like it's perhaps a whole it's so funny you say that because I want to share something with you that, and I want you to share this with your daughter. I think, especially with her trajectory. My grandfather um grew up in Chicago in like the 30s or something, and him and his brothers went sledding in the snow one time, and this is no joke, a train ran over his foot and ripped it in half. So when I was a kid, he had like a it would look like a half of a clothes iron for a foot. And you know, as a kid, you're we were all frightened by it and like hope he had his shoes on. But that though that's not the moral of the story. The moral is that his brother carried him in the snow, bleeding two miles to a hospital that saved his life. And what he saw in that hospital over the course of, because back then the medicine wasn't as advanced, he was there a long time as they tried to save his life, and he was so awestruck by it that he actually dedicated his entire life to becoming a doctor, became a bone surgeon, became the head of surgery in his hospital. And he's also a religious man. And he just believed that this was his calling and that he knew that they saved his life and he wanted to save lives, and that he did. He saved many lives. I don't remember a Christmas for many years where his beeper didn't go off and he didn't leave the room, and it would have never happened. That's the multiplier, Drew. It's the Fit for Radio podcast, and spring is here, and so are the deals at Motosport Hillsboro. If you haven't been out there, it is the best spot to get everything for your off-road adventures where gas prices they're on the rise, but the deals just keep getting sweeter and the prices are dropping at Motorsport Hillsboro, where you can get a gas-gas e-bike while supplies last for up to 60% off. You're not going to find those deals anywhere else. And this is why people love Motorsport Hillsboro. And you want another one? How about$8,000 off MSRP if you're trying to get yourself into a Kawasaki Ridge side-by-side? So awesome and a lot of fun to play around in. And the amenities just go on for days. So Motorsport Hillsboro, also your KO connection, where you'll get all the love that you won't find online and the Northwest best financing. It's Motorsport Hillsboro. Go see them today. And of course, stay rad, save gas.

SPEAKER_03

So, like in your story, your grandfather is one person who unfortunately had to sacrifice. And then his brother now is saving the lives of many. So there's a multiplier there. And I've noticed that with my family, right? We've endured in many areas, but every lesson we learn, we give to others, and it becomes a multiplier. And so that's why I say I know that, you know, all things work together for good.

SPEAKER_04

I think that I think it's really cool that your daughter's doing that because that also goes back to your son. You know, he's he didn't choose these things that have had that he's had to endure, but he will always be associated to that legacy of of the lives that she will save.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. And I've heard from the people that interact with him that he changes their hearts too.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and I could totally see that. And he's a fighter. You know, I I was looking through some of the stats. Um, actually, your daughter sent over some stats, and she is very well written. Um, and to just tell us a little bit about your son, LaSalle, and the fact that some of the things, his achievements, because I thought that was pretty impressive as well, the things he's been able to do.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, so through the fact, even though he's hearing impaired, visually impaired, speech impaired, uh neurologically impaired, he he reads, he writes, and people are shocked by that. They they are blown away with the fact that he can read. Um, and I mean, literally yesterday we were in a circle, a group, and because my son and husband have the same name, he was sitting next to me and they were calling on my husband to read something. And so they said, LaSalle, you read, and my son read instead, and people were shocked. But he also in Special Olympics medalists, you know, gold, silver, and platinum medalist, um, he's an avid golfer. Um, the guys, when he's golfing, the grown men that um golf with him say that they love golfing with him because of his sweet spirit, his and his calmness. And so when on the course, when other guys are getting all anxious, agitated, upset, my son is stays very calm, cool, and collected. And he's he's a short in stature. He's like 5'2, and he just walks up calmly and hits. And these men say it teaches them that it doesn't require all of that angst to play the game because he'll outdrive them sometimes.

SPEAKER_04

Can I borrow him and can he come out with my friends? Because I think they could take a chill pill at some point. Yeah, I'm bringing LaSalle just so we can get a little bit of peace out there. Yes, that's it. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02

And that's what he does.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he walks in and it it he calms the the atmosphere because people say, Wow, if this guy can calmly engage, why can't I? Right? Um, he also this summer he had his job. He worked um, you know, 80 hours at his job, and the women there, um, it was a fast food place. They said they miss him because he'll do work that others won't. Yeah. Right? He's happy to work, right? So he would stand for two hours uh making salsa and putting salsa in containers where others who are fully able and capable complain about that type of job, right? And and so his boss, she texted me actually last week and said, we miss him, right? And so this kid who has had 30 OR procedures, who should not be able to do much, is now, you know, not at work because of school. And his boss is saying she misses him. It's just miraculous. And then he spent uh two weeks this summer on his own at a college campus, inner inner, um, engaged in a program there. And now he's in a program where he's learning a culinary certificate at a junior college. So it's just phenomenal. But you know, I'm his I'm his aide, so I have to be with him. Um, but you know, he's in this culinary program. I'm learning too.

SPEAKER_04

And I just You're kind of like a sous chef, you know, you'll be dicing up carrots in the corner as he's putting the soup together. I I really do believe that cooking is a is a great thing to know. And so many people do not know how to cook. And so for him to have that, if he can play golf and he can do that, he's quite the catch.

SPEAKER_02

Right. It's funny you say that. We were at a wedding and a woman was dancing with him to be nice, right? But then afterwards, she came over to me and she said, actually, you know, he treated me better than many people I've been with.

SPEAKER_04

Exactly. And that's a testament to you guys as parents as well. And I I wonder for you, and I just want to, before I move on, I want to say how amazing it is that your kids are so different, but you found a path. It was so different as in the the road they were given, you know, but you found a path for both of them to find success, and that's really impressive to me. Um, my question for you though is is that you know, you do all this sacrifice. At what point do you do something for you? Like, are there things that you do because let's be honest, if you over-exert to the point where you have a breakdown or something happened, it's you are such an important part of the ecosystem over there. Is there anything that you're doing consciously to try and keep yourself from self-destructing? Because you know, you've been at it a while and there's no end in sight. But do you ever get a like a chance, like, okay, I'm getting a pedicure, or I'm going to like you know, me and my girls are gonna go have a glass of wine. I don't know what you do for recreation, but is there any time for you to to be Nikki?

SPEAKER_03

Uh I walk. And so I have um, especially in California, I had a group of friends that we met to walk all the time. I'll walk three to five miles, and that's a good walk for me. Um, and so that's helpful to me. I'm learning how to play mahjong, so I'm excited about that.

SPEAKER_04

Nice.

SPEAKER_03

And so there's a group of friends who'll text me and say, Hey, we're going here. You come in, and they know that I can't go long. Um, you know, my husband and I have never gone on a trip, you know, on our own because there aren't many people who can stay with with um our kids, but they're older now, so we're hopeful. Um but yeah, I I would say I walk and I yeah, I I guess I mostly walk and just it spend time outdoors. That's what I do for me. My my husband is getting on me because he says that my you know there's a book called Your The Body Keeps the Score. And and it's true. So 10 years ago, I had a car accident and it uh jacked my hip. And so, and I don't care for it because I'm I focus all my appointments on LaSalle. I don't make appointments for myself. And but this year my husband asked me to get a trainer, and so now I go two times a week to the gym with a trainer.

SPEAKER_04

I'm glad you're being proactive. I'm glad that you're conscientious of it. And, you know, I didn't always care about health and fitness and mental health so much. I was just like, I'm tough, I'll be fine. But now I try and do things as a preventative for, you know, that I am, you know, I had a kid when I was 42 years old. So the math on that says that you have got to be around for a while. So a lot of a lot of things happen there, but I'm I'm proud of you for taking a little time because the walking is important. That's like mental health. I I write a Peloton in the morning before the kids get up, and that clears my anxieties uh in my head just by just and I'll do it on a scenic background. So I'm like going through Austria or something, and it just gives me a time while I'm still thinking about them and my problems and my issues. It's it's not me imploding inside of them. It's I feel like it's a more constructive way to work through it and using my energy as a way to squash the anxiety bug.

SPEAKER_00

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And I also read and um take notes and really reflect on my life and and what God has for me in my life and trying to make sure that I'm positioned properly so that I can help the people around me. And that gives me peace and joy, actually.

SPEAKER_04

Do you, and I I'm guessing that this will be go back to faith as well, but do you have to fight that out of your mind that with the trajectory you were on, you were likely on your way to an early retirement, if you so pleased, and that you probably would be in the middle of the Bahamas. Somewhere doing a thing, and uh do you do you have to push that stuff because you're human, you're like you say the right things, you do the right things, but you're a human being. Does that ever creep in?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it creeps in when I see my friends who have stayed in consulting. You know, when I was because I was a high performer, um, when I by the age 35, I would have been up for partner. And people can Google this in consulting. If you're a directing manager or partner, your salary range at that age is between 260 and 350. And and my career counselor had a conversation with me to help me understand what I would walk away from if I left and encouraged me to think twice about it. And so, you know, years later, so if you were 35 making that, you know, millions of dollars. Right. And and so I do pause, Drew, and it makes me emotional sometimes when I think about the amount of money that I've walked away from that I could have made. Um and it's not for the money, but it's the lifestyle, you know, for example. When you have that type of access, if you if your insurance doesn't pay for a surgery, you could pay for it yourself. It wouldn't matter.

SPEAKER_04

Right? Just get it done.

SPEAKER_03

You just get it done. You know, so those are the times when I say, man. Uh okay, God, I know you got us. But that those are the times I pause because I know that I've walked away from millions of dollars based on the performance level that I worked in then and what I'm able to do now. I mean, I it's very complex managing. Uh we were on a meeting for a school district last week for services. There were 17 people on that team's call. And I'm managing that conversation. They've sent me a 51-page document to review, and then there's 17 people that work for the school district on that call, and I'm working through that with LaSalle um engaged at the same time. I'm only able to do that because I was an executive, right? No one else would have been able to manage working through a 51-page legal document and 17 people on the call. So I just I know what I'm capable of. And so those are the times when I pause and say, golly, God, I know you you've got you've got us. And I'm I'm waiting for the time where we're able to maneuver a little bit more financially because I know what I'm I would have been capable of.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and it's it is tough, you know, because for me, I, you know, I'm in, I'm in kind of this the same boat where you you look at the coulda, shoulda, woulda's, but then, you know, it doesn't you never know that it's gonna end positive. You know, like money is one thing. Love, don't need me to tell you this, is way more important. But it's like I I just pivoted recently in my career and going from making a pretty good amount of money to now being self-employed, and you're looking at these kids, and there's the panic of what if this and uh honestly, three weeks ago my furnace went kaput. I had to buy a new furnace, and I'm just thinking, like, this none of this is ideal. Like, this isn't this isn't what I uh asked for, but at the same time, in perspective, you know, I could look at someone like you and be like, okay, I'm sitting here worried because maybe my middle kid doesn't want to sit still or through a fit in a park, or another one of my kids doesn't want to eat the fish on her or her plate. And you think that, and as a parent, sometimes you just get overwhelmed by stuff that isn't that big of a deal. And to look at somebody like you who has done it gracefully and is prepared for the future of it too, which it's you know, some people get out of murky water and it's like one more jab and they're going down, you know. And I don't see that from you. I see that you're like, bring it, you know. I've I've got this. And and I just what I want for you is I want you to get both. You know, I want you to be able to do what you're doing to support your family, and I know how important it is. That's not lost on me, but you're also super talented and like just some of the things that you're continuing to do while you are doing all the other things. So some people would think that we just had this whole conversation and that you just do that and that's it. But that's not the deal. Like you do so many other things, and uh just for example, I'm just gonna read off some of these things and tell me if these are are wrong. Um, serves on the board of the big heart philanthropy. Um, you also junior league chairs the careful study of children task force for Jack and Jill of America uh in your region, helped update curriculum uh for higher education institutions for infusing AI, and also um hosted a business accelerator AI pop-up. Now, which is wild to me because when you were doing all of your training, it was way before AI. So you're you're being like in an innovative position now while looking after your son and doing all of these things.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, I well, I love AI. I'm an AI advocate. It helps me in my day tremendously. Um, I use it, you know, some people just say it because it's a buzzword. No, for me, it's a lifeline, uh, truly a lifeline. When I'm preparing for like careful study of children task force, where we have thousands of students. So we are looking, we're doing a study on teens and what helps them in their day and how parents need to show up for their teens to help their teens live lives where they feel seen, heard, and loved. When I'm preparing for those meetings or for those engagements, I use tools to help me um help me with my slides, help me with my scripts, help me with my editing of the videos, just all the things. And that helps me um with efficiencies in my time. So I I really do appreciate AI um and the tools that it it brings for me. So yeah, I do that. And I also um for years I led the co the coding collaborative. And so we had hundreds of kids come through our coding classes so that we could help set them up for success. And we did that for free because it was just the right thing to do. Um and you know, LaSalle was allowed to code, my daughter was allowed to code, and so it so we did it because it was the right thing to do.

SPEAKER_04

That's awesome. The Fit for Radio podcast is brought to you by the Stafford Hills Club. And when you come here, you will notice the difference. The sense of community is amazing. People smiling, happy. They hold the door for you around here. And of course, it's one of those clubs that when you sign up, they want you to come back. They want you to be happy and healthy, because then we can all be together for a long time. Check out all the amenities and everything they have to offer at staffordhills.com. Tell them Drew sent you and get half off your initiation. Now, I don't think that anybody could argue that you're um that you don't check all the boxes. You know, you're outgoing, you're a fierce, strong, loving mother, which I think is such an important attribute in a person. Um, I feel like I I married one of those. I feel like my mother is one of those people, and they they're necessary in this life uh because fierce love is what I like to call it. And um, you seem to be that. And I know that I don't need to ask you, you know, questions about family anymore because I know that you will always be there for them. You will help guide that path for all three of your people and your extended family. But what is like if I were to have you back on in a couple of years and I were to ask you, what's the ideal situation for you, like where you're spending some of your energy, your brain power, your leadership skills, uh, while still being able to manage the things that you need to oversee with the family? What what does that look like?

SPEAKER_03

Well, it's a hard question, Drew, because I've spent so much of my life helping others reach their purpose that I've not concerned myself with my own. And so it's a tough question. If I if I could rule the world and and do it all, I would love to be, I would love to get a PhD in um something related to um the human factor of technology, how I've noticed the human experience change over time with the infusion of technology in our lives. So I'd love to be able to create content real related to that. And when I say content, I don't mean social media, I mean like get a PhD in that. Um I don't know if that would ever be possible because I don't know if I would have the time. I I usually spend all my time with helping others in their purpose. If if my dreams came true, I I would be a pilot. That's what I would read. You want to fly? Yeah. Um have you flown a plane before or I have, yeah. So um when I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a flight attendant because that's what I saw. You know, people that looked like me were flight attendants, right? And um over time I realized I didn't want to just serve people drinks in the aisles, you know. Some people are okay with that, but I I didn't want to do that because I wanted to maybe be able to go where I wanted to go and have my own plane. Um, and you have to be the pilot to do that, or you got to pay for a pilot. So I wish I could be a pilot. So my husband, he's he's actually gotten me three um lessons. The first lesson, I was a passenger and just learning how to um understand the traffic. The second lesson, I actually I took off, I flew, and I landed. Whoa, cool. Yeah, that was in Northern California. They're they're more trusting, I guess. And then um, and then two years a year ago, I flew again. And so I I wish I could be a pilot. I wish I could get my PhD. But at the end of the day, if I could spend my time truly helping people reach their full potential, that brings me joy. Uh it really brings me joy when I meet someone and I can tell that they are not operating in all of the gifts that they've been given. If I can help them move from there to a place where they're operating in the fullness of who they're called to be, uh, that brings me joy.

SPEAKER_04

So hopefully we can get a combination of those things. You know, you can do that and bring them joy, and you can fly on the weekends, and everybody can get their cake and eat it too. And I will tell you, I I worked with a guy, he had a great job in radio. He was the he was the program director, which is the boss of like the biggest top 40 station in both Seattle and Portland. And one day they do what they do in radio and they just cut his cord. And you know what he did? He went to flight school and he went and he and he did all of his hours, and his wife supported his change, even though it was a completely frightening time, and he went through all of it, and now he is a pilot for Alaska.

SPEAKER_03

And so Oh my gosh, I'd love to meet him.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, he's a great guy, and and he also in the middle of that got a cancer diagnosis, had to stop. So he was the pilot, got the job, got the diagnosis. And what people don't know is when you can't fly, you lose your hours, and then you are no longer qualified to fly. And so he had to go back and do it again. And now he's in remission and is back as a pilot and a true inspiration. So I will uh I'll I'll let you know his more about his story another time. But it's it's that type of thing. Never say never, and you have that type of mentality. And I'm so glad uh that we were able to find the time for you and I to sit down, and uh I feel like I'm going back into my parenting when I get home a little stronger, a little more fierce, and I got this.

SPEAKER_03

You got it.

SPEAKER_04

You got it. All right. Well, thank you so much for coming on, and I really do appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you for your time, Drew. I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_04

You got it. We are here at the Stafford Hills Club, as we are all the time, where work meets play. Check them out, staffordhills.com.